Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Catching up


Now this is getting ridiculous -- blogging once a week or less is just not the way I prefer to blog.  However, I know that these days it is not life as usual for most of us, and I am no exception. 

So first, I hope that each of you is having a good week so far and that if you are among those who ordinarily celebrate St. Patrick's Day that it has been a fine day for you.  For a great St. Patrick's Day read, may I suggest Blessed, Not Lucky by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings.

I made some gluten free, refined sugar free, Irish soda bread for our Sunday snack time at church and it went over well.  Today we're not having anything Irish (in spite of some Irish heritage on my dad's side), but I've put together a casserole with leftover turkey.  Trying not to waste any food these days!  It was a new recipe and eventually I'll blog about it.

I've not taken time to share much concerning COVID-19.  There is so much information out there, and some of it is conflicting.  I will say that I was pretty conflicted about it in my own mind for awhile.  Not worried, not afraid -- I know for sure that my all-wise, all-powerful God is in control of every facet of this situation.  But so much information concerning possible causes, the sure knowledge that in our town grocery shelves are emptying as fast as they are stocked,  and the nagging feeling that maybe as citizens we aren't being told everything, had me sort of riled up inside.  On Sunday I came to a conclusion about this: none of that matters in the end.  It's here, it's real, it's serious -- and regardless of the cause or whether we like it or not, we have to deal with it.  And the only way I can deal with it is by remembering what I know to be true about God, and by seeking to live my life in light of that.

Although I haven't done this personally, I've seen that a number of other Instagrammers have been sharing powerful Scripture verses almost every day.  Those are a huge encouragement.  And some bloggers have been writing wonderfully encouraging posts.  Here are a few that I heartily recommend:

What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do, by Whitney at Come Home for Comfort.  Whitney shares from her own quiet time and a look at Proverbs 14 some intensely practical, helpful, and God-honoring ideas.

And from Brenda at Coffee, Tea, Books and Me, two wonderfully helpful posts:

Turning My Thoughts to That Which Brings Peace and
Cultivating Peace in Turbulent Times.  In fact, if you browse around more on Brenda's site, you are likely to find even more posts you will want to read.

I hope that these posts will encourage you as they did me!

Let's see, what else?  My life has been so busy lately that I just don't get much time at the computer.  Hence my lack of posts.  I currently have eight posts started -- everything from the 40-day sugar fast to summer memories to books recently read to easy recipes and more.    I can't even begin to speculate when I will get to finishing and posting these, but I will do the best I can as I really miss blogging regularly.  My Christmas blog has suffered even more from neglect than this one!  And again it's not for lack of ideas, but time.

My major busyness has been spending a couple of hours each day at my childhood home, trying to clean it out.  I've also had to declutter here at our home, to make room for things I'm keeping.  Drinking glasses (or maybe you call them tumblers) are a case in point.  I had some green ones and some amber ones, along with a special set of strawberry themed glasses and then various odds and ends of other glassware.  To make room for the green set I found at my parents' home (which I'm pretty sure I had given them originally, but was still in the box), I had to remove the amber ones and the odd ones.  Off to the thrift store they went!  Mr. T also found a set of 12 glasses with sort of a white gingham look, and he felt there are are often times when we could use a set of twelve.  He's right, and with all that I removed from our own cabinets there was plenty of room for them.  (Eventually I'll do a post on that decluttering, too!)

We've also been busy with some church related things -- hospitality for pulpit supply friends, and, most recently, helping to prepare our church building so that another church body can use it for Sunday afternoon services, having been displaced from their rented facility by recent events.

Of course we are trying to walk as often as possible and stick with the sugar fast.  We're just finishing up Day 23!

Our supper is nearly ready so I'd best go and set the table. 




14 comments:

  1. So nice to find you home! Yes, the times are most unusual and I do not like them. I try not to fret because it does no good so taking things to The Lord in prayer is the way to go. How nice to find things that you can use in your home. Very good to let things go. It’s so necessary because otherwise homes become over full like mine! It’s an awful state of affairs. Hang tight and have a great week. ☺️

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    1. Vee, it's nice to *be* home! I am glad and thankful that you stopped in.

      I don't like the situation, either. It is not looking good, but I do pray every day for those who are in the unenviable position of having to make decisions for lots of people.

      Yes, decluttering and letting things so is the only way to make room for other people's belongings. Sometimes there's not time for that, though.

      You hang tight too and have a great week also. Praying for you!

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  2. I have limited my news viewing and my Facebook time. I think both can cause anxiety and fear. We will do what we can and pray for the best. I do have many things here at home that I can work on during this time. Also it is getting warmer here and I hope this will cause the illnesses to slow and finally cease. Take care!!

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    1. Yes, limiting news viewing and Facebook is a great idea. Both are very anxiety-provoking and the news broadcasters make me very angry as well, so it's best to just not listen very much.

      I have lots of projects too, not the least of which is working on that house. It's coming along very slowly.

      You take care also. Praying for you!

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  3. Good to hear from you. I am busy and haven't even read blogs like I would like to. I have had every range of emotions as you have had and I suspect they are similar. I have decided to unplug from things that make me crazy feeling and concentrate on what I can do and spend time with the Lord. In light of things, we truly only have our faith to get through it.

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  4. So very true, Sandy. Concentrate on what we can do, spend quality time with the Lord -- and I would add get some exercise, sunshine and fresh air daily. And for sure unplug from things that make us anxious or fearful! Praying for you, my friend!

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  5. Hi, Mrs. T! Thank you for the resources you linked to. I haven't been terribly worried, but certainly preoccupied with the virus over the last couple of weeks. I don't have a FB account, but sometimes I venture onto my husband's for the funny memes I can find there. Otherwise, I try limit my internet "virus exposure" to sites that just give me current information. I don't need or want to bathe in the emotions, or hyped up talk, or listen to those who dismiss this as "just the flu". You said it well: "It's here, it's real, it's serious -- and regardless of the cause or whether we like it or not, we have to deal with it."

    I'm glad I have faith in our Creator God and know that nothing about this escapes His notice. I don't need to know the outcome, or even my own outcome. I just need to trust the Prince of Peace and my heart can rest. Bless you, dear lady.

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    1. Wonderfully encouraging thoughts, Becki! Thank you for the reminder that nothing about this escapes the notice of our great God. He has a purpose in allowing this and His purposes are always, only good.

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  6. Sounds like you are staying very busy and that is a good thing. It is better to stay busy than to sit idle and fret over the world situation. I am somewhat confined as I am still recuperating from surgery and can't really go far anyway at this time, but I enjoy watching our Canadian Geese on the pond and other birds and just keeping up with whatever I can do in the house. We've had our youngest son's 43rd birthday festivities over the past few days with our local family. But now our church is closed until April, and we don't have anyplace to go, so we stay here and pray!

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    1. Thanks for the visit and the encouragement, Pamela. Our church is closed until April as well. We could have still met according to our governor's guidelines (gatherings of less than 50 are still permitted here), but we decided to follow the president's recommendation of less than 10. Yes, we do find ourselves doing a lot more praying.

      April is "birthday season" in my local daughter's family, so we will no doubt be seeing them a few times throughout the month.

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  7. Thank you for sharing your most encouraging thoughts concerning the situation we are all facing, I too have been so busy with things at hand, and have missed blogging.
    I can only imagine the wonderful memories you have had while being at your childhood home, also gathering most treasured items and bringing them home to share with others.
    You mentioned finding strawberry glasses, I have only one from my grandmother's home, I treasure it, and I wonder if it is like yours.

    Thank you for sharing the links, I will visit.
    Blessings,
    Sue

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    1. Sue, I am so glad that the thoughts encouraged you, and I hope that the links are a blessing to you as well. Yesterday I posted a few more links that I hope might be an encouragement. Just felt led to do so.

      What is your strawberry glass like? I don't think I have any photos of mine, but I may. I'll have to look!

      Have a blessed weekend and thanks so much for your encouraging visit!

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  8. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Mrs T! And it's always good to stop by and hear what has been going on in your world and what you've been busy with!
    Have a blessed weekend!

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  9. You are welcome, Kelly-Anne! I need to go and check out your latest post -- I see that you have written one. You have a blessed weekend as well!

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