Sane, Simple, Sacred

buying and selling

This past week, I collected 20 tins scattered around our bedroom and posted them for sale. (It's been awhile since I have posted and sold anything on one of the Facebook sale groups I am part of.) We also listed the rusty farm implement parts shown below. They, too, sold. We'd used them as a border for a flower bed, but were ready for a different look. The buyer will paint and sell them as sunflowers and make a tidy profit, I'm sure!

Meanwhile, we did a bit of BUYING, too. Here is my husband at work on the piece we found for a very reasonable price. At first, I was going to redo it to sell. But then I got thinking that it would make a great television stand replacing a low buffet we had been using for this purpose. Soon I will post the finished project...

The Local Pony Parade

I'm a Beginner

...at prayer.

At almost 70 years old,

I'm still a beginner.

I'm learning prayer isn't reading books

about prayer.

It's not composing a prayer list.

It isn't only an oral or silent recitation

of requests.

I'm finding it to involve

much more listening than I imagined...

as much a response as an initiation.

But then again, as I said before,

I'm just a beginner.

It's All Good

Our latest completed jigsaw puzzle...

Purchased at a thrift store for a dime

and missing seven pieces.

Sigh.

A stack of books in our personal library

related to our church's current emphasis--

prayer.

A recent selfie taken for my

Facebook profile photo.

The game we've added to our evening reportoir.

A comfortable place for my feet...

and

My view across the dinner table. ❤️

Finished

I finished up my "I still cans" with

#8 - I still can get excited about poetry

#9 - I still can improvise in the kitchen, and

#10 - I still can enjoy the company of friends.

Now I'm going to compile a list of

"too many...too few" personal observations.

Keeps me occupied!

...a couple of recently acquired books of poetry...

I Still Can #7

I still can appreciate artistic talent!

A young friend of mine

has recently taken up water colors.

I sent her this photo of our house,

and this morning, she delivered!

I couldn't be happier with the result.

I Still Can--#5

I still can sing!

Well, sing along anyway...

So thankful for a heritage of music.

And I still can read (#6)!

Where would I be without books?

I Still Can--#4

I still can walk

(though these days with a little assistance).

Like Jacob, I am limping

because of my hip (Gen 32:31).

Already this morning, I've walked

to the bank and to the post office.

Thankful.

I Still Can #3

I still can win an occasional game of dominoes!

Most evenings my husband, father and I play

about an hour's worth of table games.

These are accompanied by cups of hot chocolate

and a time of devotions and prayer.

As the score sheet below shows,

I (R) win a game now and then...

I Still Can....

Several weeks ago, while retreating in the beautiful hills of Kentucky,

I memorized these lyrics.

Getting the stanzas in proper order was the hardest part.

Today I begin work on

"May Jesus Christ Be Praised".

I still can memorize!

What I Didn't Photograph this Week

Myself at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo (but then again, I was behind the camera...)

Crowded table at Tuesday morning coffee
Beautiful countryside seen during evening drives
The impressive Kendallville Public Library
McClish Lake on a quiet wwekday
My friend's remodeled lake cottage
Scenes from Hidden Figures, a movie I really enjoyed
The cover of Middlemarch, the lengthy but entertaining book I'm reading
The corn on the cob a friend just gave us

Life is good!

Following a lead in another book,

I ordered this through interlibrary loan.

Today I read a bit more and

suspect I've read it before...

at least THIS prayer.
God has taught me WAY more
than two times that He is love!
When will I ever learn,
"miserable ingrate" that I am?

Marginalia

I learned a new word and can't get it

out of my mind.

I'm pretty sure you could call me

a "marginalia-ist"!

At This Late Stage

The book I might have written

if I was 50 or so.....

For now, I'm reading all I can

of lives of early church

fathers and mothers

and asking the Lord

to use me as He can and will

at this late stage.

No Mars

I had good intentions,

but went to bed too early

and got up too late

(still managed to see a beautiful moon).

Fast and Furious

The hours we spent

with four of our grandchildren

were fast and furious!

Too much happened

to be captured by camera

but believe me when I say

we slept well at night!

"We simplify, not just to be less busy, even though we may be right to pursue that. Rather, we simplify to remove distractions from our pursuit of Christ. We prune activities from our lives, not only to get organized, but also that our devotion to Christ and service for His kingdom will be more fruitful. We simplify, not merely to save time, but to eliminate hindrances to the time we devote to knowing Christ. All the reasons we simplify should eventually lead us to Jesus Christ!" (Donald S. Whitney)

Dedicated to my sister-in-law, Beth--a TRUE home manager....

"I work for a King. He has put me in charge of his home. When He comes to see how I have managed His possessions and His children, I do not want to be found wanting. I want to do my best. Everything I have is on loan from Him. I have room and board and a job to do, but it is all for Him. Therefore I want to dress my best and do my best in all my work. I also want to be creative, for this is a sincere attempt to glorify Him and His beautiful creation. How I manage my home is a form of worship to Him." --Lydia Sherman

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry,
and see a fine picture every day of his life,
in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Contentment makes poor men rich.

-Benjamin Franklin

"What I am gradually discovering is that in the writing I come in touch with the Spirit of God." ~ Nouwen

~~"Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting."~~Edmund Burke

C.S. Lewis: "To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in trusting a person if you wouldn't take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him."

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this is my symphony." William Henry Channing

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Apostle Paul: "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

"It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. It stops us from taking anything for granted. It has also taught me alot about living in the immediate moment. I am somehow managing to live one day, one hour at a time." Madeleine L'Engle

FIVE CERTAINTIES
WITH WHICH TO
START YOUR DAY

God holds you. Each day he carries us in his arms. Psalm 68:19 NLT
God sustains you. THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. Psalm 23:1 AMP
God covers you. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust. Psalm 91:4 AMP
God pours His love upon you. Through each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me. Psalm 42:8 NLT
God will not fail you. The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! Lamentations 3:22 NLT

THE BLOGGER'S PRAYER Lord, help me to learn to spell without spellcheck, manage to visit all that visit me, and post regularly - all in 5 minutes a day, so that I can clean house and take care of my family. Help me to not look at every occurrence in my life as a blog post, and to quit taking pictures of weird things to share as well. Please Lord, help me to stop talking about my blog friends as though they are next door neighbors or someone I have known all of my life. And help me, dear Lord, to think of something witty and wise to post tomorrow.
Love, The Dust Bunny Hostage