dual personalities

Tag: Weekend

October 6, 2025

My heart is filled with thankfulness

by chuckofish

Yes, that season is upon us–even the boy has a giant skeleton in his front yard. (He inherited it from his in-laws.) Well, to each his own.

Anyway, I had a nice weekend. Pizza night at the boy’s house. A couple of estate sales. A trip to Hobby Lobby. Mr. Smith and daughter #1 came over Saturday night for Chick-fil-a and a movie.

We watched The Man Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain (1995)–a favorite of ours from the good ol’ Harvey Weinstein Miramax days. It is a perfect movie–the kind they don’t know how to make anymore.

Highly recommended!

Sunday I went to church as usual and heard a good sermon on Philippians 2:5-11. We had our final Sunday School class on the Power of Story in the Works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. I wish it were not over! I brought the twins new notebooks from the dollar store for them to draw/take notes/journal in. They were very pleased. After church we went to the bud’s soccer game which was very pleasant, even if it was a little on the warm side. We will be freezing soon enough.

After the game I went home and took it easy.

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who bore my pain;
Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace
And gave me life again.
Who crushed my curse of sinfulness,
And clothed me with His light,
And wrote His law of righteousness
With power upon my heart.

For every day I have on earth
Is given by the King.
So I will give my life, my all,
To love and follow Him.

4 Comments
September 29, 2025

Come, ye weary, heavy laden

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? We had blue skies overhead, but it did get kind of toasty watching the bud play soccer on Sunday afternoon!

On Saturday morning daughter #1 and I ventured to Saint Charles across the Missouri River to a DAR cemetery marker ceremony. The SAR Color Guard was there in full regalia to lend support and authenticity to the event. Much appreciated, guys. (Sometimes I do think we live in Mayberry.)

In case you have forgotten, the Battle of Fort San Carlos, was fought on May 26, 1780, between British-allied Indians and defenders of the Franco-Spanish village of St. Louis (Louisiana Territory) during the American Revolutionary War. The garrison, a motley assortment of regulars and militiamen led by Upper Louisiana’s lieutenant governor, Captain Fernando de Leyba, suffered a small number of casualties. A few of the veterans of that battle were buried in Saint Charles. Their graves were later moved to the Saint Charles Borromeo Cemetery in Saint Charles and that is where the marker was dedicated. Lest we forget.

Afterwards we went to old town St. Charles and walked up and down Main Street visiting some “vintique” stores, and ate lunch on the patio of Llewellyn’s Pub, which was delightful.

Meanwhile, I was glad to see that the twins were practicing their BB gun marksmanship in their backyard.

On Sunday I went to church and heard a good sermon on Philippians 1:27-2:4: “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents.”

We sang “Come Ye Sinners” and I wept from start to finish. The choir was back and in fine fettle and sang “Land of Pure Delight”. Lovely.

And now the inimitable Voddie Baucham has entered into eternity (last Thursday) at the age of 56. It is a lot to process.

Voddie was an American pastor, author and educator. He served nine years as Dean of Theology from 2015 to 2024 at African Christian University in Zambia. Rest in peace, brother.

Well, we go on. Read some history, pet a nice dog. Come to Jesus.

3 Comments
September 22, 2025

Our hope springs eternal

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Since daughter #1 was out of town and I had no plans of my own, it was a pretty quiet one for me. There wasn’t even a good estate sale to go to!

I did watch some good movies…

Friday night I watched The Natural (1984) and it was great. Just great. I loved everything about it. Robert Redford was perfect as were all the supporting characters–especially Richard Farnsworth with his sad blue eyes.

The cinematography was exceptional, the music was perfect, the direction A+. The script was unusually restrained and, may I say, profound. I cried at the beginning. I cried at the end.

I also watched Tom Horn (1980) which is Steve McQueen’s penultimate movie and a favorite of mine. It also stars Richard Farnsworth.

Directed by William Wiard and adapted to the screen by Thomas McGuane and Bud Schrake from Horn’s own autobiography, it is a sad, serious movie about changing times.

I highly recommend both movies.

We went to church as usual on Sunday; the twins were great. Lottie took good notes–writing down the words she didn’t know for clarification later: “vindicate ungodly”. I hope her dad obliged!

We had a great sermon on Philippians 1:18-26 and a wonderful adult class on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

After church the boy and the twins and I stopped at the kennel to pick up Mr. Smith. He rode to my house with the boy and behaved himself.

(He was a little bedraggled from having played in his water dish.)

When we got home, the boy helped me move some furniture out to the curb where it will be picked up on Bulky Trash Pick-up day. So grateful for that help!

After they went home, I watched the livestream of the memorial service for Charlie Kirk–100,000+ (original estimates of 100K bumped to up to 300,000) people in a stadium and the President of the U.S. plus most of his cabinet and Elon Musk in attendance. Impressive. You can watch it on Youtube.

Yup.

Daughter #2 arrived back from the prairie and she picked up Mr. Smith and stayed for a glass of wine.

Happy Monday–have a good week!

4 Comments
September 14, 2025

O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise

by chuckofish

Well, how was your weekend? I enjoyed some quality time with my therapy dog…

We celebrated daughter #1’s birthday, but it was pretty low-key–burgers ‘n fries at the boy’s house and a French Silk pie…

It was quite hot on Saturday so we bailed on the Greentree Festival in our flyover town. I did, however, go to the bud’s soccer game on Sunday–so hot–96 degrees–but I am a devoted Mamu!

We went after church and Sunday School and a change of clothes at my house. By 1:30 I was wiped out!

Our current sermon series is on Philippians, so Sunday’s verses were very appropriate to what is going on in our country.

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. (Phil. 1:12-14)

Christ reframes everything, including the way we see our trials. Never forget that God is in control. Our Sunday School class on C.S. Lewis was also excellent and I appreciated that our teacher opened up the last 15 minutes of class to a discussion about Charlie Kirk–something we would never do in church or our sermon.

And this is the transcript of a podcast with Kevin DeYoung which is very helpful about processing violence and grief. “We never want to normalize evil, but we are trying to normalize that God has been with his people and has been with us personally through difficulties, national tragedies, and that same God is going to be with you…They need to know and hear from us a faith that we have, that God has not left the throne, that this did not take him by surprise, and that the end of the story has not yet been written for us, but it has been for God, and it’s ultimately a good story, right?”

Amen.

This is a new Lauren Daigle song (at least to me)–a re-working of the well-known Frances Ridley Havergal (1874) Anglican hymn:

Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.

3 Comments
September 8, 2025

“Oh, God. I can’t wait to get into bed and stretch out. You know, there’s a Bob Hope movie on television later.”*

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Mine was lovely. The weather was perfect. The sky was blue. I enjoyed great conversation, good fellowship at my mini-retreat in a beautiful setting…

I watched a good movie with daughter #1–in fact, my favorite Woody Allen movie (besides Annie Hall)–Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993). There is no bad language, no sex–just middle aged neurotics trying to solve a murder! I love the end where Woody is so relieved to find his wife (Diane Keaton) bound and gagged, but okay–he is so relieved and happy! It is like Cary Grant and Irene Dunne!

And you have to love Diane in a turtleneck, a blouse, a tweed jacket, and a belt!

Meanwhile we are back on our fall schedule of going to the 8:30 a.m. service at church, followed by Sunday School, and then on to a soccer game at 12:15. The boy and I went to the class on “The Power of Story in the Works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien” taught by our favorite college professor with a ponytail. It was very good. Also, our Associate Pastor is back from sabbatical and he gave a really good sermon on Philippians 1: 1-11.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 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. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,[d] both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

And BTW I heartily agree with this article by Albert Mohler Jr.: “I try to be appropriately respectful of all elected officials, but Sen. Kaine uttered one of the most profoundly wrong, dangerous, and downright stupid comments a member of the Senate might articulate.” Who are these ignorant people?

Have a good week! Pray hard.

*Larry Lipton in Manhattan Murder Mystery

3 Comments
September 1, 2025

Postcards from the weekend

by chuckofish

How was your holiday weekend? Mine was delightful. We sat outside and enjoyed the lovely flyover weather and good company.

On Saturday we went to an estate sale where daughter #1 scored a Lane cedar chest for a very reasonable price. Then we went to Meijers in Champaign, which actually blew our minds. So big, so clean. There were even tropical fish.

But then, it doesn’t take much to please us.

We went to church on Sunday at daughter #2’s church in Urbana and heard a good sermon on Genesis 38–God works through what is sinful and shameful to accomplish his glorious redemptive purpose.

And Mr. Smith was a good boy.

I never took a picture of our hosts, but c’est la vie. Mea culpa. Everything was wonderful.

“Lord, help me to glorify Thee; I am poor, help me to trust Thee; I am weak, help me to lean on Thee; I am foolish, help me to learn of Thee.” (Charles Spurgeon – 1834-1892)

3 Comments
August 25, 2025

Deepening personal humility and the amazing bounty of God

by chuckofish

August continues to wind down. I have been thinking more about small joys and I ran across this quote from Pilgrim’s Inn, which I have quoted before:

“…Hilary enjoyed himself, just as he had enjoyed himself drinking the port. Increasingly, as he got older, he enjoyed things. As his personal humility deepened, so did his awareness of the amazing bounty of God…so many things…The mellow warmth of the port, the pleasure of the game, the sight of Lucilla’s lovely old face in the firelight, and David’s fine hands holding the cards, his awareness of Margaret’s endearing simplicity, and the contentment of the two old dogs dozing on the hearth…One by one the small joys fell. Only to Hilary no joy was small; each had its own mystery, aflame with the glory of God.”

I can really relate to this, can’t you? Coffee with a friend, a glass of wine with my daughters and joking about New Jersey “Charbonnay”. The satisfaction of filling in a hole in the driveway with Quik-crete (just add water!) with the boy.

Along those lines, daughter #1 and I went to a good estate sale on Saturday. It was at a big old, well-maintained three-story house in the old neighborhood where I grew up. We got a few books and some pretty blue juice glasses and Lamar gave us our usual discount. We drove by the old manse on Westgate and it was good to see it totally renovated and looking good. Interestingly, it is owned now by a law professor who is also a faculty fellow with the Carver Project. The world is more than we know.

Meanwhile the twins went to the farmers’ market out in their neck of the woods. And the prairie girls got ice cream.

After church on Sunday, daughter #1 and I went to our favorite winery in Hillsboro for the first time this year!

We had a lovely time sitting outside listening to live music on a really lovely day.

So remember, no joy is really small, after all, and all are aflame with God’s glory.

And don’t miss this:

Go Mizzou! What?! (Not a joke.)

4 Comments
August 8, 2025

Infinite serenity

by chuckofish

Well, it’s Friday again. The summer is winding down…Daughter #2 and her family are in Michigan…

…and the boy and his family are in Oklahoma.

I am looking forward to a quiet weekend after a very busy week. Tonight daughter #1 and I are venturing out to a special lecture by Mark Meynell, a Church of England priest, who is speaking at my church. I’m not sure what to expect, but we’ll see.

O GOD MOST HIGH, MOST GLORIOUS,

The thought of thine infinite serenity
      cheers me,
For I am toiling and moiling, troubled
    and distressed,
  but thou art for ever at perfect peace.
Thy designs cause thee no fear or care
    of unfulfilment,
  they stand fast as the eternal hills.
Thy power knows no bond,
  thy goodness no stint.
Thou bringest order out of confusion,
  and my defeats are thy victories:
The Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
I come to thee as a sinner with cares and sorrows,
  to leave every concern entirely to thee,
  every sin calling for Christ’s precious blood;
Revive deep spirituality in my heart;
Let me live near to the great Shepherd,
  hear his voice, know its tones, follow its calls.
Keep me from deception by causing me to abide
    in the truth,
  from harm by helping me to walk in the power
    of the Spirit.
Give me intenser faith in the eternal verities,
  burning into me by experience the things I know;
Let me never be ashamed of the truth of the gospel,
  that I may bear its reproach,
  vindicate it,
  see Jesus as its essence,
  know in it the power of the Spirit.
Lord, help me, for I am often lukewarm and chill;
  unbelief mars my confidence,
  sin makes me forget thee.
Let the weeds that grow in my soul be cut
    at their roots;
Grant me to know that I truly live only
    when I live to thee,
  that all else is trifling.
Thy presence alone can make me holy, devout,
    strong and happy.
Abide in me, gracious God.

–The Valley of Vision

Have a good weekend! Go to church!

1 Comment
August 4, 2025

Delighting in your will

by chuckofish

Well, how was your weekend? I crossed things off my to-do list and added yet more things. I drank a prodigious amount of wine with daughter #1 and ate dips. I made it to church where I recognized our corporate confession of sin from the BCP:

Most merciful God,
We confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent,
for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Needless to say, I take this much more seriously than when I was an Episcopalian. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

Daughter #2 arrived avec famille on Sunday afternoon and soon DN will be taking apart our twin beds which have been used by sisters in my family since the 1930s…

…and will grace the bedroom of a fourth generation shortly.

I mean, isn’t that great? DN and the boy will set up a full size bed later today in the bedroom where the twin beds were, so we will end up par for the course. They will then load up a rented truck with the twin beds (and more stuff) and DN will drive it back to Illinois on Tuesday. I am very happy that they are taking things!

Life is good. Carry on.

3 Comments
July 28, 2025

They’ll be no quittin’ along the way

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty quiet despite Mr. Smith visiting. I had dinner with the boy and his family on Friday (pizza night) and that was delightful. I went to one estate sale on Saturday but it was a depressing one–a beautiful old house that had fallen to wrack and ruin, a real Miss Havisham experience. Daughter #1 came by on her way home from Indiana to pick up Mr. Smith and we enjoyed Happy Hour and dinner together.

You may recall that Saturday was the National Day of the Cowboy, one of my favorite days–“recognizing the contributions of cowboys and cowgirls to American culture and heritage.”

I did not celebrate until Sunday when I watched Red River (1948) which is my traditional choice. John Wayne, Montgomery Clift and a slew of great cowboys–the best. “We’re goung to Missouri with 10,000 head…”

The boy dropped the twins off at church with me on Sunday so that he could open his store. They were as good as gold and earned an A+ for their behavior. In fact, the wee bud announced “A+!” at the end of the service. As usual, as we arrived and sat in our pew, I thought it seemed like there weren’t many people. But as soon as the first hymn began, I looked around and the church was full of congregants and their voices rang out. When will I learn that Presbyterians do not arrive early! We sang great hymns and heard a very good sermon on Psalm 21. I left refreshed and restored.

Today I am getting ready to drive up to visit daughter #2 and her prairie family for a few days. I am also babysitting for the twins tonight while their parents go out to celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary.

Bon anniversaire, you guys! L’chaim!

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