Turned a Corner

Ever have a moment when everything seemed to change direction, and a new door opened, unexpectedly?

I'm having one.
Just so you know, the dire, dour thoughts in my stuffy room are cleared out. I must have made room for something else.

Out with the old, in with the new!

Somebody Open a Window; It's Stuffy in Here

"No thank you, gentlemen. My own business occupies me constantly" Ebeneezer Scrooge replied when asked to help the poor.

I get a little preoccupied with my own affairs too when, for example, my checking account balance is under, well...let's just say under, and it's only one day after the paycheck went in. And I'm no Scrooge.

Sometimes I forget that there are people in hospitals saying their last goodbye to a loved one, or on an army base far away from anyone and anything familiar, or on a mission field with others whose cultural traditions seem to suck the life out of their family, or people who just got word that they lost their job.

The room gets quite stuffy when I'm only thinking of myself. Today I need to let some air in, to open the windows of my soul long enough to remember the things I have been blessed with, and to remember that I'm not the only one with troubles, and this is not the first or last of them.

Joseph's words do me good, too. "God meant it for good..."

In the overall scheme of things, and in the broad stroke of history, the graph of my fortune and prosperity would be quite high, even now. So would the spiritual blessing graph.

So let the breezes blow. I'm breathing in a new thought. It's just wonderful to be alive!

Royal Teas is Fit for a Queen

I am a coffee drinker who would like to switch to tea on occasion. Royal Teas with Grace and Style was just the nudge I needed to cross the beverage bridge into the delicate world of tea.

Filled with delectable pictures of tea table settings and luscious recipes, such as home-made clotted cream and salmon sandwiches for tea time, Eileen Shafer’s book is a treasure as a coffee table book (or a tea table book, if one may be permitted) and as an invaluable reference for the conscientious hostess. Her travels in England and in several areas of the American South, as well as many years of experience as a tea shop proprietor in the Midwest lend credence to her collection of interesting facts about the customs and traditions of serving tea. It is this expertise and passion which fuels her admonition to the reader to delight ourselves and our loved ones with an ancient pastime of refreshment.

Numerous quotations about tea from famous figures, a surprising number of them men, are sprinkled about the pages like ornamental blessings. Whether you are preparing a tea service for one or many Shafer’s genteel guidance will help you to serve like a queen. This lovely book compels one to try once again the age-old custom of taking tea.

I received a complimentary copy of Royal Teas as a member of the    

Dorrance Publishing Book Review Team.  Visit dorrancebookstore.com

to learn how you can become a member of the Book Review Team.

Shootout at the Willow Oak Corral: Another Amazed by God Post

Okay, y'all. Jest cuz I saw Cowboys and Aliens and LOVED IT, doesn't give me the right to post about shootouts, right?

How about gunshots on my block, a hole in a neighbor's truck, and a miraculous escape from a gunman?
Will that do it?

Lat Saturday night around one o'clock in the morning, I heard what sounded like a cap gun. You know the sound. Tinny, small, quick pop, pop, pop. Three in a row.
It's always just firecrackers when I hear these. I ignored it.
Till the dogs started barking.

Then hubby went outside, being the brave masculine protector of the family that he is, and hid behind our van to see if anyone was, by chance, on our street. We lady folk huddled in the master bedroom at the back of the house and, well, freaked out. Everyone except me. I tend to be pretty low key most of the time. Mostly I just prayed for whoever it was out there, and for my husband.

He saw a man walking slowly down the middle of the street (there was a half moon out) and called out, "Hello?"
When there was no answer, and the guy kept walking toward him, my gallant hubby decided to save himself for his family and ran inside the front door, locking it behind him.

It was then that we heard , "Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop." Five more of those.

They were not, in fact firecrackers, or caps from a cap gun.

Turns out some guys came to a neighbor's house to collect some money he owed them. One of the girls of the house was just returning home and seeing trouble ran into the house just when he fired the five shots. She felt the air rush past her, but she was not hit. One of the bullets made a pretty hefty hole in the neighbor's truck.

We'd called 9-11 after the eighth shot, and apparently they caught the guys.

"I'm glad you're okay." I told my neighbor. And once again, I was thankful.

If You Give a Moose a Muffin

I started out today hoping to get one basket of laundry done, namely the one in my bedroom. It wasn't even that full. Easy task for one day, right?

Going over to the washing machine, I noticed the clothes in it were dampish and not as sweet. They'd sat all night. I re-soaped and washed them. In the meantime, I'd unload what was in the dryer. When I took the clothes out of the dryer, I noticed there was a pile of unfolded clothes in the living room. As I walked past, I saw the movie that I'd been wanting to watch. "I'll fold clothes and keep doing laundry as I watch it", I rationalized. I even got someone else to do this with me. But I should clean up the kitchen up, first. So, I did. Then I sat down to fold clothes and watch the movie.  The person watching with me could only watch half of the movie, because she had to go somewhere at 12. I turned it off. By then I was hungry for lunch. I made myself a grilled cheese, and ate it, making a small list of things I didn't want to forget to do today.

While I made the list, my husband called, reminding me to send an e-mail I had forgotten about. Just then my daughters needed help getting a bike fixed so they could take a bike ride. As I settled in upstairs to send the e-mail,  my husband called. In the middle of that phone call, a piano student showed up unexpectedly at the door, so I taught a piano lesson. Then I came back upstairs to finish the e-mail, and I got a long distance call from my sister-in law. In the middle of that call I got a call from one of my daughters telling me she'd aced her job interview.

I just now remembered the laundry.

It is 3 pm. I decided posting about this is a much better use of my time than doing the laundry.

I'm going downstairs right now to finish the laundry.

Really.

Right after I take this phone call...

Rumors of God Creates Hunger

Two friends who met in the southern hemisphere, and now have successful ministries in North America, deliver their own take on how the modern church can find God in the middle of today's culture. Looking in all the wrong places is the first barrier, they explain, and Jon Tyson and Darren Whitehead have, as the forward by bill Hybels so aptly states, ‘succeeded in slipping 3-D glasses over our eyes’.

They share stories of prostitutes, rich young execs, drug addicts and harried young mothers, all finding an experience of God that transcends the typical and supporting their underlying premise - that the way up is down, and involves cultivating humility, forgiveness, and other unpopular values. The way to God, contrary to advertisement, Disney or Hollywood is not to be found in the seen, but rather the unseen. What often passes for evangelism or faith, often fails to go deeper than a personalized ‘Christian’ license plate. 

Often, while reading I felt a sense of envy, at the stories of people who’d found a deeper existence. Rumors, indeed. They abound. This book is for the seeking, hungry soul. 

I was given a complementary copy of this book from the booksneeze program in return for my honest opinion.

Dread or Rest?

What do you do when you suspect there's tough going ahead? As the day dawns, you already see trouble, not opportunity. You have some things coming up, and you're just not sure how you're going to handle it all? Your resources are limited, and as far as you can see, you're in over your head?

Dreading it is one option. That uses emotional energy that you'll need for the upcoming difficulty. I've certainly done my share of that!

Ignoring it is another choice. You know, the ulcer and stomach trouble technique. I have friends who do that. 

The only really positive thing I know to do is look back on how God has helped me in the past and thank Him ahead of time for what He has planned. He is God, after all, whether the week is good or bad. It's all in the plan.

And who knows what miracles or surprises He has up His sleeve that I haven't even thought of?

"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt 11:28 KJV

This is what he said to some other people a long time ago who might have been looking forward to some rough stuff ahead. It's still relevant.

Cheers to the coming week.  Bring it on!