How was your weekend? We had another lovely fall weekend with a stupendous sunrise on Sunday. What a view out the kitchen window!
In church the choir sang and the wee bud stood up and applauded. I wanted to applaud after our sermon by our guest preacher Dan Doriani on the “I believe; help thou mine unbelief!” passage from Mark 9. How great is it to feel like that after a sermon? Yes, pretty great. We also found out that a new senior pastor has been called and it will be announced next week after he has had time to tell his current church that he is leaving. It has been nearly two years since our senior pastor left, but I think we have been doin’ all right.
The boy and the wee bud and daughter #1 came over after church. (Lottie went to another birthday party.) We had bagels and prosecco and good conversation. Then he moved a few things for me and turned one of the carseats around so baby Ida can use it. We are almost ready for a visit from daughter #2 and family.
By the way, the wee bud hit a milestone this weekend, scoring his first goal in a game with his indoor soccer team.
It was rather momentous! His other grandma, Mom and aunt cried. I would probably have too had I been there!
Miss Katie is also showing promise in her backyard…
…and Ida is the tunnel queen.
And hold the phone, Mizzou beat Florida with a field goal in the last 7 seconds! 😂😂😂
I tell you the world is falling apart, but there is still plenty about which to rejoice and be thankful.
Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed, For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid; I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.
I am told that Katie requested a “countdown calendar”–I gather that she is pretty excited to be headed our way in a few days. Of course, we are excited too and I have been busily cleaning the house and getting ready for their arrival. I’m not sure we will be adequately prepared for the dynamo that is Ida–she is a girl on the go these days!
Thanksgiving is just around the corner! We should rejoice and be thankful, despite our manifold sins and general wickedness, all year round, but I especially do at this time of year. As always, it is the little things that stand out for me, such as the chip fest we enjoyed on Saturday night when the boy dropped off Lottie while the wee bud went to a birthday party. (Their Mom was in Dallas this weekend.)
Daughter #1 and Mr. Smith joined the OM and Lottie and me to watch The Gnome-Mobile (1967)–a vintage Disney film in which a multi-millionaire lumberman (Walter Brennan) and his two young grandchildren (played by the kids from Mary Poppins) encounter two gnomes in the Redwood forest of California who are supposedly the last of their kind. Hilarity ensues. Although there is no princess in this film, I think Lottie enjoyed it. At least now she knows what a gnome is.
On Sunday we all went to Sunday School, but then the boy took Lottie to a birthday party and the bud stayed with us through church. He came over to our house after church to hang out with daughter #1 and Mr. Smith who joined us for total depravity casserole. Of course, Lottie had told her brother all about The Gnome-Mobile (including the car chase) and he wanted to watch it, but I was like, um no, not right now.
The boy and Lottie came over after her party. We hung out on the driveway for awhile, probably for the last time til next year.
It was another beautiful weekend.
And Mizzou beat the pants off Tennessee! Hometowner Cody Schrader, a graduate of Lutheran South, was the star of the game. According to the AP, “Cody Schrader put together one of the most impressive performances in Missouri history Saturday night, running for 205 yards and a touchdown, catching five passes for 116 yards, and leading the No. 16 Tigers to a 36-7 rout of No. 14 Tennessee.” Normally I could care less about Mizzou football, much less watch a game, but Matt Mitchell gives them so much grief for being in the SEC, I have become an interested partisan. Anyway, I was pleased that they won.
In honor of Veterans Day we watched Gettysburg (1993) which is based on Michael Shaara’s fine book The Killer Angels. It is a good movie, except for the miscast Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee. But I much prefer old Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain anyway. As you know, he is a hero of mine.
This is a different kind of army. If you look back through history you will see men fighting for pay, for women, for some other kind of loot. They fight for land, power, because a king leads them, or just because they like killing. But we are here for something new, this has not happened much, in the history of the world. We are an army out to set other men free. America should be free ground, all of it, not divided by a line between slave states and free – all the way from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow. No man born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was. Here you can be something. Here is the place to build a home. But it’s not the land, there’s always more land. It’s the idea that we all have value – you and me. What we are fighting for, in the end, we’re fighting for each other. Sorry, I didn’t mean to preach. …Gentlemen, I think if we lose this fight we lose the war, so if you choose to join us I will be personally very grateful.
(Jeff Daniels as Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain)
Well, continue to cultivate gratitude, appreciate your freedom and enjoy your Monday.
Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. He will subdue the peoples under us, And the nations under our feet. He will choose our inheritance for us, The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah
We are experiencing Indian Summer this week in flyover country–absolutely beautiful days in the 70s and even 80s with the sun hitting the orange leaves in a really spectacular way. And the leaf blowers are out in full force. I do get tired of all the noise, like a bajillion bees coming in waves to attack us. 🙄
My friend Don sent this photo of his birdbath with “the neighborhood bluebirds”.
I live a mile or so away and I have never seen a bluebird!
As we all know, the streaming platforms are a wasteland and I haven’t watched network tv for years. So I am forced to watch episodes of old shows like the old lady that I am. Lately, however, I have added Harry Wild to my watch list (on Acorn). It stars the lovely Jane Seymour as a recently retired English professor who discovers a knack for investigation and cannot help but interfere with the cases assigned to her police detective son.
Although she doesn’t quite look her age–she’s five years older than I am–she doesn’t hide the fact that she is an old retired lady. She dresses like I do. She drives an old (red) car and drinks (too much) red wine. She knows a lot about English literature. She speaks with grammatical precision and corrects those who don’t. I can actually relate to her. Also the show is filmed in Dublin and I have actually been there, so that is interesting and familiar. The show is not American, so the Irish are not stereotypes.
So I recommend it if you are looking for something to watch. And who isn’t?
Today we must not forget to remember that unsung hero Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) who was an American Presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper editor and abolitionist. He was murdered by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois, during their attack on his warehouse to destroy his press and abolitionist materials. As I’ve said before, Lovejoy’s life (and murder) is another reminder to us today of how rough and dangerous life was in my part of the country back in the mid-nineteenth century. And people think emotions run high these days!
We also remember Edna May Oliver who died on this day, her birthday, in 1942. She was an American stage and screen actress who specialized in formidable older women, such as Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Pride and Prejudice (1940) and Miss Pross in A Tale of Two Cities (1935). She was only nominated once for a supporting actress Oscar, but it was for a doozy–Mrs. McKlennar in Drums Along the Mohawk (1939).
I re-watched this movie recently and was really impressed by it. And Edna May Oliver is great; she never crosses the line into farce which a lesser actress might do. She is always 100% believable.
So enjoy these last beautiful days of fall, watch an old lady in a tv show or movie, remember some history, and praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Help me to see that although I am in the wilderness it is not all briars and barrenness. I have bread from heaven, streams from the rock, light by day, fire by night, thy dwelling place and thy mercy seat.
This week I am busy getting ready with joy and anticipation for our out-of-town guests–daughter #2 and her family–who will be visiting at Thanksgiving. I am rearranging things in our four bedrooms to accommodate them more easily. The boy brought our little antique brass bed upstairs from the furnace room where it has been stored for 27 years and assembled it so Miss Katie can use it. I cleaned and polished it and it looks pretty good.
Baby Ida will be sleeping in my office in a borrowed pack-n-play. I hope she will not be overstimulated.
We will be playing musical beds for a few days, but I think that’s fun and it’s great to be filling up our empty house with family.
Some readers may recall that I worked for (almost) twenty years in the field of lifelong learning at my flyover institute, so I found this to be very interesting. “God created his world and inspired his word to display his glory. A well-educated person sees the glory of God in the word that God inspired and in the world that God made. An educated person understands God’s glory and evaluates it and feels it and applies it and expresses it for others to see and enjoy. That outward bent is called love. Therefore, the aim of lifelong learning is to grow in our ability to glorify God and love people. We think the six habits of mind and heart are a description of that process of growth.”
This is a long one from Carl Trueman, but wow, so worth reading. “We are idolaters because we want to be. We are not hapless tools of a system that dominates our individual agency and thus absolves us of any responsibility. Isaiah notes the zeal with which Israel embraces idolatry. Paul links the lust of sexual sin to panting after idols. We want to reject God and create our own gods. Thus, the biblical critique is not only cultural but also spiritual. It convicts idolaters of their personal responsibility for the system within which they operate, a system within which they happily live, even as it contradicts the moral structure of the world God created.”
I will also remind you that today is the anniversary of the day Steve McQueen died back in 1980. It is also the birthday of Billy Graham, whom McQueen met on November 3, four days before his death. He’d wanted to meet the evangelist for some time, and on that day, Mr. Graham paid him a visit. The pair prayed together and talked about the afterlife, and McQueen told him how his faith in Christ helped him deal with the cancer. At the end of their meeting, Billy Graham left McQueen his personal Bible, the name “Billy Graham” printed on the front. Inside, he wrote the date, along with a message: “To my friend Steve McQueen, may God bless and keep you always.” He signed his name, along with a reference to a Bible verse, Philippians 1:6: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Another exciting weekend–mostly for Mr. Smith who went to the bud’s last soccer game of the season. Dogs are not allowed on the playing fields, but daughter #1 smuggled him in in a canvas tote bag. (There were three other dogs there as well.)
He was a good boy. And he didn’t distract the bud (too much)–especially when he was playing GOALIE!
His focus was not exactly razor sharp, but he didn’t allow any goals–the other team hardly made it onto his side of the field. Yes, his team had an undefeated season! I will say the bud always seemed to have the biggest cheering section with at least seven family members in attendance (+ Lottie!). Two grandparents, two aunts, a great aunt, a great uncle, his Mom–I don’t think he even really noticed. But really, I ask, what would you rather be doing than sitting on folding chairs on a crisp fall day watching six-year olds run up and down the field?
After the game Lottie and I went over to daughter #1’s house while the bud went to his team party with his Dad. We unpacked all the dolls and filled up the doll case, which you will recall we had moved last weekend.
I’m sure there will be some rearranging going on, but we had super fun.
In other news I went to a DAR meeting and was brought up-to-date with all the patriotic doings of this group. It is that time of year when we promote Wreaths Across America, where wreaths are placed on veterans’ graves. I always sponsor two wreaths, one each for my father and father-in-law, who are both buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. Would you like to help us honor and remember as many fallen heroes as possible by sponsoring remembrance wreaths? You can do so here. More than two million volunteers and supporters will gather on December 16 to Remember, Honor and Teach at more than 4,000 participating locations in all 50 states, at sea and abroad. I think that’s pretty cool.
Everyone came over to our house for bagels after church on Sunday, even Mr. Smith, who ran laps around the house with the wee twins and their Dad.
Afterward the OM and I went to the kick-off of our friend Liz’s mayoral campaign down at the train station.
It was a busy weekend. I am thankful for family, friends and living in America!
And this babydoll tried on her hand-me-down Christmas dress…
It was a dark, rainy fall weekend and the wee bud had a bye in his soccer team’s schedule, so you will not be getting my usual repetitive weekend wrap-up. Go ahead and sigh with relief, oh loyal readers.
We did, however, arrange to have my large glass doll case moved from my house to daughter #1’s house and that was my major accomplishment of the weekend. Our friends in the crew at Davis Place Estate Sales obliged us and did the heavy lifting and carrying up and down several flights of stairs. I meant to take pictures, but forgot. But here it is home now in daughter #1’s craft room.
Sunday was Reformation Sunday and we sang “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” in church (with trumpet accompaniment) with appropriate gusto. Afterwards we enjoyed total depravity casserole (with tater tots!) at our house and our first fire of the season.
And Halloween Peeps from Aunt Mary!
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.
We enjoyed another really beautiful fall flyover weekend. We went to the pumpkin patch at the Methodist Church…
…and Mr. Smith proudly wore his pumpkin suit…
We went to 19North and officially switched back to our red blend for the fall. We asked if we could order french fries off-menu and were told, of course, that was no problem, because “we know someone.” I felt so seen.
On Sunday our church service was held outside on the lawn in front of the youth house.
It was our usual service with music, sermon and communion–I was a doubter, but I really enjoyed sitting in lawn chairs in the beautiful sunshine.
We sang my favorite new hymn, “Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy”, and I cried from start to finish. I cannot help myself. Here’s your weekly reminder to repent.
Come, ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall; if you tarry till you’re better, you will never come at all.
After church we had Episcopal Calvinist Souffle, which daughter #1 suggests we call Total Depravity Souffle, and later we went to the wee laddie’s soccer game.
The bud’s team is still undefeated and once again made the opposing team’s goalie cry (he made it to the third quarter at least). This is not due to anything the bud contributes, but at least he can act like Messi after each goal. This time I remembered to take a picture of our favorite coach/photographer.
In addition to all this, I also went to a funeral on Saturday–the 95-year old father of a high school friend. He was like a lot of the fathers I knew growing up. He was the captain of his high school baseball team and the president of his class. He went to Amherst and was the president of his fraternity. He was president of his company. He liked history and singing. He was an all-around good guy, a happy guy who knew that “Every day is the best day” and that God is the author of all things. He was a conservative man whose outspoken daughter must have taxed his soul, but he loved her and they got along despite their differences. He ended up happily living with her the last few years of his life. I mean, that is the ultimate reward–to have children who want you around.
Of course, the ultimate, ultimate reward is to be in heaven with Jesus, and my guess is he is there, having laid down his trophies at last.
His family went to church with me growing up, but I guess after his daughters graduated from high school and the Episcopal Church alienated a goodly portion of their members in the 1970s, he moved to the PCA and was a pillar of the church in which the funeral was held. He figured things out much sooner than I, but we ended up in the same place.
We sang “How Great Thou Art,” “The Old Rugged Cross” and “It Is Well With My Soul” and a bagpipe band piped us out with “Amazing Grace”. He had planned the whole service, scriptures and all. You guessed it; I cried through a lot of it and was undone by the pipers. You can bet I was taking notes!
Well done, good and faithful servant.
And when before the throne I stand in Him complete, “Jesus died my soul to save,” My lips shall still repeat.
Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
dual personalities 