Another week has come to an end–it’s Friday! I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday to get some Aida cloth and they have everything out for Thanksgiving and Christmas! The year is barreling by as usual. Time to take a deep breathe and consider…
This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
–Psalm 118:2
I am catching up after my wonderful interlude with the prairie fam. It has been dark and rainy, but I am crossing things off my to-do list. I am looking forward to a quiet weekend.
And I am always in the mood for this hymn. Here’s another terrific version:
Pray for the day ahead and that I might bring Glory to God, in word, thought and deed. I thank God thathis mercies are new to me every morning. I thank God that his grace is sufficient for all situations that I may encounter.
How was your weekend? Mine was quite busy, so I needed a whole day to recover. Friday was a full day plus the fam came over for a little party that night. Then I spent the whole day Saturday at Innsbrook with my small group from church.
We had a wonderful time sitting around talking, eating our potluck lunch, sharing our spiritual concerns. And I got to take a ride on the pontoon boat. I was pretty tired by the time I got home! Nevertheless I roused myself and went to the early service at church on Sunday. I heard a good sermon on Psalm 33–our hope is in our faith in God, not in the things of this world. I was impressed by our young pastor who made a reference to The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and its star Errol Flynn in the middle of his exegesis. Props to him for owning that movie! Then we had another great adult ed class on meditation and prayer, chapter 10 of Tim Keller’s book. This week it was led by my friend Dan, the optometrist. This has been such a good series!
After church I went to an estate sale at a really nice house. It was the second day, but I did find something–two lamps for daughter #2. Score!
Then I went to daughter #1’s pool with her, but we were only able to float for a short time before a storm rolled through and everyone had to clear the deck. C’est la vie. Wine time started a little early! Then I went home and collapsed, literally, before going back to church for the evening service which included a review of the PCA’s General Assembly meeting a few weeks ago. I was pleased to hear the update of our denomination, which is actually growing.
Here’s Andrew Ripp’s new song, which I really like (note pontoon boat):
Oh, I be singing! (and whistling)
Also, Union Pacific’s massive steam-powered Big Boy No. 4014 — 133 feet long and weighing in at 1.2 million pounds — passed through my flyover town yesterday and I heard it from my house. Quite a commotion of loud whistling–much more than the usual coal trains going through.
Crowds watch the train go through Kirkwood in 2021. (Webster-Kirkwood Times photo)
I was listening to the Christian radio station in my car and they were playing a John Reddick song–Holding On–and I was reminded of a funny story daughter #2 told me. Her daughters, aged 6 and 3 were discussing what they would do if a giant kidnapped their baby brother and they had to fight to get him back. The six-year old said, “We would say, ‘You come in strength but we come in the name of the Lord.” The 3-year old said, “We would poke him in the EYE and sit on him.”
Several thoughts come to mind, but I have to say, I was impressed with the 6-year old’s answer. Sure, she hears Bible stories at church and listens to an exegesical sermon every week, but I think she picks up a lot from listening to Christian music from the back seat.
My help comes from the Lord And I don’t have to carry this anymore Let the world bring me to my knees I’m holding on to God ‘Cause I know my God is holding on to me
And the three-year old’s answer seems typical of second-born daughters:
Anyway, this is another reason to support your local Christian radio station, a great ministry outreach tool.
Tonight the boy and his fam, plus daughter #1 are coming over for dinner and a prosecco toast to daughter #3 for finishing radiation treatments. Praise the Lord, they seem to have nipped that cancer in the bud.
Are you having a good summer? It is half over already! Not that that matters to us retired folks.
Today we remember the day in 1799 when the Rosetta Stone was discovered in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napolean’s Egyptian Campaign. The stone is famous for being inscribed with three versions of a decree in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic (the cursive Egyptian script used for daily purposes, meaning ‘language of the people’), and the Ancient Greek script. The Ancient Greek was translated into English in 1803. This allowed for the Egyptian hieroglyphics to be deciphered for the first time, by Jean-François Champollion in 1822. It now resides in the British Museum in London.
Pretty cool.
Here are a few things from the internet.
Yesterday was the first anniversary of the passing into glory of the great John MacArthur. Here’s a video reflecting on his life and ministry.
Interesting! Here’s a video about a German who moved to America to get married, only to discover most of what he thought he knew was wrong. “Two years ago, on July 1st, I moved from Germany to the United States of America. And I did not just move countries. I moved from a culture of caution into a culture of courage. And I was not ready for what [that] would do to me.”
Good advice! “The 80-year-olds I admire most were not born different. They made a thousand small choices, over decades, that compounded in their favor. You are making those same choices right now, whether you notice them or not. It is never too late, nor too early, to begin.”
And here’s a little Billy Strings for your Wednesday music treat:
Have a good day. Watch an old movie. Read an old book. Listen to some good Bluegrass music.
Well, June is gone and half the year has flown by with it. We are under an extreme heat warning here–it reached 98 degrees on Monday. Par for the course, as we like to say in flyover country. Thank goodness we have air conditioning and know how to use it so our senior citizens don’t die in droves. Personally, I get my chores done and run my errands early so I can stay home when it’s really hot. I can’t complain.
I found this essay to be insightful and rich in food for thought. “We cannot follow Jesus if our eyes follow everyone else. Chances are, if we spend significant time dwelling on our neighbors’ irksome habits and measuring their blessings against our own, we see little of God. Jesus redirects our gaze. If we study God’s infinite beauties, then when Jesus says, “Follow me!” no one will be able to stop us.” I dealt with envy early on, but I have suffered with a critical spirit most of my life. Seriously, I learned to be critical in kindergarten. I regret to say, I still wrestle with this particular sin. It is an ongoing battle…
Here’s good news! Scotland is not entirely lost. “First, the idea of buying and renovating an old granite Presbyterian church in downtown Aberdeen was impossible, then it was difficult, then it was done.” And thank God for Sinclair Ferguson!
Check out the beautiful plains coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria) in Don’s yard!
Another busy, but rainy, weekend flew by. The twins came over on Friday morning and we had fun hanging out.
Eventually we went down to the basement to poke around–a favorite activity of theirs. We brought up a box of ANCIII’s painted soldiers which the bud set up. He ended up taking them home with him and I was glad.
Lottie and I went through some old doll clothes and I promised her I would look for my old Chatty Cathy doll.
Later, after Mr. Smith got his shampoo, he and daughter #1 came over for wine time and music…
mostly 90s country classics…
On Saturday I crashed daughter #1’s date with the twins and we had breakfast/lunch at the Sunny Street diner in Wildwood…
…and then introduced them to the joys of going to an antique mall. (Not that different from going down to Mamu’s basement.)
Don’t worry, they found something to buy (and so did I)…
On Sunday the sun shone brightly and I enjoyed a good sermon on Psalm 30.
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
–Psalm 30: 4-5
Then we had a terrific adult ed class on Prayer–this time focusing on Augustine, Luther and Calvin and what they had to say about it. Disordered loves, etc. You will recall that Augustine believed that unhappiness stems from loving things in the wrong order, prioritizing less important things over more important ones, particularly in relation to God and others. True fulfillment comes from aligning our loves correctly, placing God first and higher virtues above lesser desires. All you have to do is look around the world today to see how right he was! This week the class was led by a young man who is not a seminary student–he works for a software company–but what a good teacher!
Sunday afternoon I went to an outdoor concert featuring my friend Gary and his band Colonel Ford…
Nothing is better than wine and dips for dinner outside in the sunshine. Seriously, live music! What are you waiting for?
How was your weekend? Mine was pretty quiet and it was off-and-on rainy but c’est la vie. I did make it to my local electronics recycling event where I dropped off an old microwave and a printer. I felt such a sense of accomplishment! I stopped at the grocery store on the way back and made it home before 8:30 a.m.!
Later in the day I took a trip down to Ted Drewes (in the rain) for some frozen custard. Quelle treat! (I deserved it!)
As usual, I went to church with the boy and the twins, who are out of school and fourth graders now. We heard a good sermon on the end of the book of Joshua (Joshua 24: 1-33).
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15)
There is nothing you can do to save yourself. Only God can do that. So put away the foreign gods, and serve the Lord. Excellent exegesis by our pastor and we sang good hymns including “It Is Well With My Soul”. Adult Sunday School is one big class on prayer in the fellowship hall for the next six weeks. It was so good! It is based on Tim Keller’s book Prayer, which I have and will now re-read. As a recovering Episcopalian, this is all so life-changing. Everything makes me want to cry.
In the afternoon daughter #1 and I went to Lottie’s dance recital which was, as always, very special.
Another highlight of my weekend was daughter #2 sending me a video of 3-year old Ida singing her rendition of Jamie MacDonald’s song “Left It In the River”, while accompanying herself on the xylophone. Here’s Jamie singing Ida’s new favorite song:
The week is almost over and so is the month of May. Time, like an ever-rolling stream, and all that.
I don’t have many plans for the weekend, which is kind of nice. I have the new Walt Longmire mystery, which was released on Tuesday, so I am already back in Absaroka County.
I am 70 pages in and Henry has not appeared, so I am a bit dubious, but we shall see.
I liked this post about “the beauty of the unnamed and the unnoticed…the glory of mundane faithfulness.”
And let’s not forget to toast Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), one of the most influential composers in Hollywood history, on his birthday. Winner of two Academy Awards–for Anthony Adverse (1936) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)–his scores were brilliant and influential (think Star Wars, entirely derivative).
Yesterday I had lunch with one of my old friends from my flyover university. In the past I have met him at his retirement community and we eat lunch there, but he wanted to go out, so I took him to Shake Shack which is nearby and has good parking. I was a little nervous about getting in and out of my car with his walker and generally maneuvering around safely, but all went well. We had a delightful time talking about poetry and J.D. Salinger, the University of Illinois, and getting older. Quite a free-wheeling conversation. He believes the universe is all particles and energy, but we recited the 23rd psalm together and it was nice.
On the way to pick him up, Joy99 played this new Matt Maher song, so I knew everything would be all right:
dual personalities 