HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CATHY!!

Cathy and I have been friends for the longest time – since 1978, in fact. We went to church together back in those days; she played organ & I sang in the choir. Our kids played at Cecil’s and we went out for supper on Sunday nights. We even sang together – Christian music and country music.

Those of you who read her blog surely know she’s a free spirit – always has been – but her move south seems to have freed her spirit even more. We disagree on most things – theology, psychology, politics, social issues – but on this we do agree: we can love and respect each other despite the differences.

Even after all the years and miles between we can pick up conversations and talk as if we only spoke yesterday. I love her smile and her nervous laughter. Her insight into others’ motives and feelings is uncanny. She is not afraid to put her vulnerabilities out there for all to see. And she’s not afraid to step on toes with her opinions. (God love her)

Cathy, my friend, have a joyous, blessed day!

Friend Cathy has pointed me to a new technology that I hope will be an answer to my reading challenge. It's called a Kindle by Amazon.com. It uses a new technology known as ePaper that eliminates a lot of glare caused by backlighting. One feature that sold me on this reader is the ability to manipulate text size. But that would be useless if there were no books I wanted to read. Yea! There are plenty. Amazon carries a lot of my favorites in Kindle edition: Lucado, Swindoll, Lotz, LaHaye and many others. And there's a ton of other features. It's what Terry is getting me for Christmas...and it may be that late. It's on backorder and they keep pushing the ship date out; right now it stands at 12/6/07.

I hope my expectations don't exceed reality. I read all the pro/con reviews, and came to the conclusion that each person had to try it for themselves. It's pricey, but books are $9.99 and it holds over 200 titles. The only drawback is that right now I can't find a Bible in Kindle edition. If anyone sees one, please let me know.

Kids & Kidlettes are coming over today for Thanksgiving lunch. They're bringing food and I'm only required to make tea. Better get at it.

...in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus...Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, 23 NASB

Trustful thanks. It doesn’t roll off the tongue easily. Maybe they meant something else; maybe thankful trust? But, no, it stuck in my mind as trustful thanks. And here’s where it led me….

First, there’s praise. Praise is the awe-inspired, reverent acknowledgement that God is, well, God. He is Creator and Sovereign Ruler. He has always been and will always be. The Triune Godhead is three in Person and one in nature. Praise has nothing to do with me and everything to do with God.

Then, there’s thanks. Thanks is an acknowledgement that God in all His deity and sovereignty rules over my life for His purpose and my good. He has created a beautiful planet for me to live on, replete with all I need to exist. And there are the everyday blessings of family, health, job…I could go on for hours. Thanks is what I give for all the blessings.

But what is trustful thanks? It means giving thanks to God for what He will do in the future. It’s giving thanks when I don’t feel like it. It’s giving thanks when I have no clue how He will answer my petition, but trusting that He will answer to His purpose and my benefit. It’s giving thanks in an information vacuum and trusting Him to work it out.

Trustful thanks is important to where I am right now. Example: This morning it took over an hour for me to read three chapters in the gospel of John and one Psalm. Not too long ago it might have taken 30 minutes. My vision seems to be getting worse. My eyes don’t work together, giving the sense of being cross-eyed when I'm reading printed text. In the near future I may have to read my Bible on the computer. Nothing wrong with that; I just love to hold the book in my hands. Scripture has always been alive to me, running up through my fingers and arms to settle itself in my heart and mind. Reading on the computer will take some getting used to. (And to my friend: No, I don’t worship the Bible, but I do worship the Author and anything He writes to me is very special.)

So, back to trustful thanks. I’m going to thank God in advance for the way He’s going to work in all this. And I’ll thank Him for all the friends and family who pray for me. And I’ll thank Him for Jesus Christ, Who went through so much more than I can ever imagine.

O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness. Isaiah 25:1 (NASB)

Weeks of stress and pressure at work finally took a toll and I played hooky yesterday. Those of you who know me know that's way out of character. I don't call in sick unless I'm so physically ill that it would be harmful to others if I showed up. But yesterday was different. In fact, while talking to one of my direct reports (I have two) on Thursday she told me to take a sick day. And I hadn't even told her anything was wrong; she's a very astute person.

It's not that I'm irreplaceable; my parents raised me to know that there are plenty of folks out there who can do the job. My responsibility is to do the very best I can and stay strong. That means going to work every day even if a hangnail is bothering me. It means giving all I have to my job and the people I work with. None of us are owed a job or a paycheck unless we earn it and don't you forget it (I can hear my daddy say).

I'm taking full advantage of this mini retreat. Yesterday I spent some quality time reading the scriptures and praying; there was a little tv watching; a short nap; and Domino's delivered a pizza. {To digress: Laurie says it's a very pitiful thing when the pizza delivery place answers the phone saying, "Hi, Mrs. Peters. The usual?" Glenda & I eat pizza once a week at work and they know us well. It may help that we tip these folks well for bringing our lunch to us. That first bite of a deep dish double pepperoni pizza makes everything better. Talk about comfort food.}

Today will be much the same as yesterday, sans pizza. Some self-examination of my feelings, words and actions over the last few weeks may warrant a trip to the doctor. Or maybe I should just cut myself some slack, do the very best job possible at work and let the rest go. I certainly don't want to start taking anti-depressants again. They are a wonderful thing when prescribed appropriately, but they make me extremely hungry and the weight starts piling on. I'll probably just start using some of the vacation/sick time I've accumulated and see if that helps first. And there'll be a lot more prayer time. Jesus is still the answer.

Ordinal numbers. Do you know what they are? Early in the week Laurie called and asked, “What are ordinal numbers?” Absolutely nothing came to mind, but I didn’t feel too dumb until she said, “Carter brought home a worksheet and the instructions say to color the ordinal numbers. When I asked him if he knew what they were, he said, ‘Do you mean first, second, third…?’” Note: we should have listened to him.

Oh, yeah, it gets weirder. Not having a clue, I recommended she consult one of our family’s math whizzes. She called Katey and Katey said, “Do you mean first, second, third…?” OK. That cinched it, but we weren’t through yet. Katey said, “I wouldn’t have remembered but Tucker had homework on that subject last week.” Mind you, Carter is in kindergarten and Tucker is in first (ordinal number) grade. And the adults can’t even help them with their homework??

Weirder still…. Last night on So You Think You’re Smarter Than a Fifth (ordinal number) Grader one of the questions for Regis Philbin was “What is the ordinal number for ten?”

Stranger things have happened, but this one has made my week!

Merriam-Webster:
Main Entry: ordinal number
Function: noun
Date: 1607
1 : a number designating the place (as first, second, or third) occupied by an item in an ordered sequence — see number table 2 : a number assigned to an ordered set that designates both the order of its elements and its cardinal number

(Do you know what a cardinal number is?)