Sane, Simple, Sacred

Not a Season...a Savior

We (well mostly my husband)

finished this puzzle this afternoon.

Admiring its beauty,

a phrase keeps crossing

my mind--

A Savior. Not a Season.

So insistent is this phrase,

I'm working on a poem

featuring this line.

Seasons come and go.

Not the Savior!

Pre-Thanksgiving Christmas Outing

Head Start

I spent the majority of 2018 trying to keep a calendar and other notes, shopping

lists, birthdays, etc. on my cell phone.

While there are many advantages to doing it that way,

I've decided to return to a more familiar format.

I was really excited to find this beauty at our local Walmart!

The format is familiar--

one I've used several years in a row.

It fits easily into my purse.

I spent some time last evening recording birthdays

and look forward to a productive year

thanks to this head start.

I'm sure I'll be using my phone as a back up--

it IS helpful.

But for me, it's hard to improve on the security of paper and pen.

All the Time

She (to me): You see beauty in "everyday" things.

Me (to her): All. The. Time. Yes, I do!

There's NO beauty like God's!

Ode to Late Bloomers

Iris in October

Vigorous and fully formed

she wears her white

with confidence

amidst

wilted stems and faded blooms.

Few know or remember

where she came from,

but all who see her

notice her unexpected beauty

calling forth

admiration

and sparking

hope.

Calendar Girl

A local mortuary is going away

two versions of a 2019 calendar--

a "Christian" version and a "Catholic" one.

I chose the Catholic one for its

beautiful pictures and explanations.

Although I use calendars less and less,

I couldn't pass up this high-quality gift.

I will find a good use for it!

I'm still an old-fashioned Calendar Girl

at heart

In Some of our Spare Time

In our spare time, we look for interesting (and free) events in our area--

like this Cruise-In.

It was a near-perfect day, weather-wise.

A good time was had by all, including my

91-year-old father.

I'm so thankful to be sharing these experiences with him.

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. ❤️

"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