Everybody has had the flu and now daughter #2 is sick, so our plan to go to the prairie this weekend is cancelled. The three kids were scheduled to be baptized on Sunday, but that will have to be re-scheduled. C’est la vie.
Well, I am nothing if not flexible, so we’ll see how things go.
Here’s a poem about “Disappointment” by Jane Taylor (1783-1824):
(Jane Taylor was an English poet and novelist best known for the lyrics of the widely known “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. )
Meanwhile daughter #1 returned from her successful business strip to Arizona and I picked up Mr. Smith from the kennel where he had a wonderful time and ate all his food like a champ. All is well.
Yesterday’s psalm (in my Bible reading plan) was Psalm 30:
I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. 3 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.[a]
4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.[b] 5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime.[c] Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” 7 By your favor, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed.
8 To you, O Lord, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: 9 “What profit is there in my death,[d] if I go down to the pit?[e] Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? 10 Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!”
11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, 12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
It is a psalm about answered prayer. Speaking for myself, I do not give enough time to contemplating answered prayer. It is good to remember the 10,000 things God is doing for you every day.
I’ve read quite a bit about former senator Ben Sasse and his terminal cancer recently. Here’s a good one.
Sad to see that actor Robert Carradine has died by his own hand. Kind of what Carl Trueman was talking about here.
And the boy came over and changed my lamp post light bulb! It’s real handy to be 6’2″ sometimes.
It’s okay to ask for help if you need it–from your own son or from God. Never grow weary of crying out, “Be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!”
Yesterday it got up to 70 degrees in my flyover town and the sky was blue. Lovely, lovely, lovely.
Everyone was out walking their dogs.
I could hear the woodpeckers drilling, but I never saw one.
I went to my local park and walked around the pond, where the water was very low. There were men there fishing however. I saw some big hawks and also my friend Chris, who was walking into the park with his fishing rod (and one granddaughter).
I read this about Jonathan Edwards’ most (in)famous sermon by the much loved former pastor of my church. “God is angry at the lost condition of the world. He is angry at the sin that ruins you. But He is not angry because He is insecure or easily offended. He is angry because He loves you.” Amen.
As you can see, the snow is mostly all gone except where those big piles are slowly melting.
Yesterday I didn’t wear a coat when I went out to lunch! (Of course, as to be expected, there were people out and about wearing shorts and t-shirts, but that’s ridiculous!)
Here is John Piper talking about aging, which I find very relevant and you might too. “Between now and the moment we die, we are walking into an unknown country. No matter how many steps you have taken to make it feel secure, it’s not — not in this world.”
“For age is opportunity no less Than youth itself, though in another dress, And as the evening twilight fades away The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.”
Today we remember American poet Marianne Moore (b. 1887) who died on this day in 1972. Moore was born in Kirkwood, Missouri in the manse of the Presbyterian Church where her maternal grandfather, John Riddle Warner, served as pastor. By the time of her death, she had received many honorary degrees and virtually every honor available to an American poet. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The New York Times printed a full-page obituary.
Like her mother and her brother, Moore remained a devoted Presbyterian throughout her life. I spent a pleasant afternoon yesterday reading her poetry. Here’s one: The Past is the Present
So look up at the sky on this beautiful day, read a poem, embrace the silence.
*From the poem “Silence”–read the whole poem here.
Yesterday was a beautiful day–cold, but beautiful. Blue sky, untouched white snow reflecting the sunlight. Very nice. I sat in my office and watched a huge red-tailed hawk cruise around.
Here’s a poem, “Shovelling Snow” by Harry Edward Mills, written around 1901:
And Don shared this lovely Dan Fogelberg piece with me:
More cold weather coming up, so I’ll be sitting by my window for the foreseeable future.
“Every bit we eat, and every drop we drink is mercy; every step we take, and every breath we draw, mercy. [These are] what we have reason to acknowledge with thankfulness to God’s praise.” (Matthew Henry, 1662-1713)
Our week is turning out to be fair and mild–what a relief! Love those upper 50s temperatures. Isn’t it so much more pleasant to run errands around town when you don’t have to get all bundled up to go out?
In other news, my son-in-law gave me a book for Christmas, Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations, which I have been reading. It is from the Literary Conversation Series. It prompted me to read this poem by Borges: Another Poem of Gifts
We should all be writing our own poem on this subject every day.
(By the way, Frances Haslam was Borges’s English grandmother.)
It got very cold indeed here in flyover country. From 78 degrees on Sunday it dropped over 50 degrees! (A 70 degree change if you count the wind chill!) Yikes. We missed a new record by one degree! (Set in 1911.) I’m feeling a little jealous of the twins down in Florida!
Well, anyway, I am starting to get back on my feet, getting some things done around the house. And that’s a good thing.
Today we toast country singer Suzy Bogguss on her birthday. She was born in 1956 and grew up in Aledo, Illinois. We always liked Suzy back in the day–what a voice–and we are happy that she is finally being inducted as the next new member of the Grand Ole Opry on January 16, 2026.
Way to go, Suzy!
And here’s a poem by James Crews, “Winter Morning”:
I made it safely to the snow-covered prairie–a very windy trip, but uneventful. I controlled my 241 horses and raced north, arriving in good time. Praise the Lord.
All is well.
*And all shall be well and All manner of thing shall be well When the tongues of flames are in-folded Into the crowned knot of fire And the fire and the rose are one.
Well, we got more snow–how about that? Luckily I had gone out early in the morning to run errands, so I could just stay home and watch the snow fall. Thankfully, daughter #1 had cancelled her drive to Indiana for work, but she still had to drive home from downtown and that was moderately traumatizing.
The snow was really coming down when I took this picture, but the iPhone does not capture that adequately at all!
dual personalities 