May 2. Summer is coming. Up in the 80’s now. The girls have been running the AC. So far the prophets chamber has stayed cool since we leave it closed up and don’t go in and out all day. It’s been a busy day. After breakfast and quiet time this morning, I went out front and took pictures of the roses. Then we loaded up the car and headed for the girls’ house. The first job, before the day got too warm, was to clean off the carport. Daddy helped me take the two rocking chairs to the front porch. He also set up the little folding TV table between the two chairs and took two of the vases to the front porch which I later set by either side of the front door. I started sweeping off the carport so we could move the rest of the cargo to the back. Took a couple boxes/bags of cargo into the house, and just had a handful of things left on the carport. Then there were all the empty boxes. What should we do with them? We decided to flatten them—the smaller ones first, and those were then taken out to the recycle bin which was by the road waiting for pickup today. The bigger ones next—the biggest of those were stood up behind the rolling cart, and the not-so-big were piled up at the edge of the carport. Then the rest of the carport was swept off, and voila! Lots of space for Christy to pull her car in under the carport when she got home from work. Time for sit-down work next. Made a birthday “card” for my dear sister Ruth and send it to her via e-mail. Then I got last week’s journal notes ready for Connie. Transferred pictures to the computer and started editing them. That is a job and a half. Continued that job until nap time and finished it afterward. Then sent the journal notes and some pics off to Connie. Daddy went off to Gaffney around 11:15 to get milk for the girls. After getting the e-mail sent to Connie, I rearranged a few things on the craft shelves again so I could make room for some more glass items which we found. Also unpacked wooden things from the bottom of the box with the glass things and repacked those into a smaller box. Daddy hung up a couple “pictures” above Connie’s craft desk. After that, I wrote the shopping list for tomorrow and then made tuna salad for this evening’s sandwiches. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.” II Corinthians 13:14 May 3. What a lovely day God gave us—warm with low humidity and a nice breeze! Up a little later this morning, but we went out early to shop—a little before 8:30—and were home by about 10:15. I was happy to still have half a morning left to accomplish some other things at the house. We went first to Lidl this morning and then to WM. That was all we did today. I was happy to find a pretty bangle watch at WM for just a few cents under $10. After we arrived home, put away the food, and had a snack, I looked over some more of Acts, packed a box of items for PNG, looked over more of Acts, fixed and ate lunch, and looked over the last few verses of Acts. Praise the Lord, Acts is now ready to be printed so the two of us can do the final checking. After nap, I finished proofreading the Proverbs lessons that Daddy had prepared for the youth and started making corrections in the computer. Daddy did the dishes. Later, I washed and cut up carrots, zucchini, and onion and put them on to cook for my supper. Cut up a couple tomatoes for sandwiches as well. This evening, I sorted all the greeting card papers by color and put them into plastic storage bags. “9I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. 10For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. 11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.” Psalm 57:9-11 This is my desire—to praise the Lord among the people and to sing unto Him among the nations, because of His great mercy and truth, and even more, because of God’s own greatness and glory.
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April 30. After breakfast and Bible reading this morning, Daddy and I headed for Forest City to shop. It was about 8:30. The sun was shining, and the sky was clear blue. The Lord gave us a beautiful day. Went to J’s first and spent quite a while in there—as usual. There are so many isles and so much stuff to look through. Thankful to have found a good number of bargains. After J’s, we made a shorter stop at Ollie’s and bought a handful of items. Then headed home. Put groceries away, except for a box of items we had bought for the girls. Then had lunch and nap before coming over to the girl’s house. It was already mid-afternoon. My project for this afternoon was to finish the painting. Praise the Lord for His help in completing that project. Wish I could paint quickly and nicely like the people who do the “how-to-paint” videos. But I just plod along until the job is done. After cleaning up the mess, I washed and peeled potatoes and put them on to cook. Cooked a dish of frozen peas in the microwave because there weren’t any small clean pans. Once the potatoes were done, I whipped them up, and there was leftover chicken and gravy that Daddy could warm up to go with them. Then I sat down with my supper and relaxed for a while before doing dishes. We noticed today that a pair of wrens are building a nest in the green flower box hanging on the wall outside the back door. “12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Romans 13:12-14 May 1. Woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep. Kept feeling hungrier and hungrier, I thought. Finally got up to get something to eat, and then realized that I wasn’t hungry, but was sick to my stomach. Took a couple activated charcoal and ate about three snack crackers. Went back to sleep shortly after I went to bed. This morning, there were two loads of wash to do. The first load was Daddy’s sheets and towels and went into the dryer, and the second was brought over to C&C’s house to be hung out back. Daddy did the dishes while I was doing the laundry and having breakfast and quiet time. He also called Dr. Cook and cancelled my appointment for today. I didn’t really feel like going, and I didn’t think it was a good idea to expose other people. It was about 9:30 when we got to the girls’ house. Daddy hung out the clothes, and I put the first coat of varnish on the painting on the blue shelf. Did a little work on checking Acts, but my stomach didn’t feel that well when I used my eyes at the computer. So I spent a good while helping Connie with some of the unpacking in her room. After nap, I did a little more unpacking, and Daddy put up curtain rod hardware on the two tall wooden bookshelves in the craft room so I could hang curtains. Then I put a second coat of varnish on the painting. This evening, I searched for painting books on Amazon as Connie wants to buy me one for Mother’s Day. Then I did the dishes before writing in my journal and spending time reading and praying with the family. “20Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation: 21But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.” Romans 15:20,21 America has heard the gospel again and again and again. It is God’s desire that others hear as well so that they might see and understand and believe the gospel.
April 29. Daddy woke me up at 6:15. Had to make pancakes this morning and get ready to go early to C&C’s house. We were thankful that Christy was feeling better today, but she stayed home with me and we “attended” the church meetings livestream. In the early morning meeting, the five ABC graduates gave their testimonies—Hanna V, Amanda S, Anna R, Rachel P, & Christian G. Christian also did the preaching today – from Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” His emphasis was on the word of God (the vision, the law) that is so vital for our happiness. After Sunday school today, there was a farewell brunch in honor of the graduates. Then Pastor Ogle’s message went along well with Christian’s. He diverted from his regular teaching on Peter and gave a challenge today from Joshua 1:1-9. The message was entitled “Something’s Different.” His theme “No matter how impossible or scary a task may appear, when we rely on the Lord, it can be done.” In between meetings, I painted the blue flowers on the scene on the blue shelf unit. Just have the daisies left to paint. Then the scene will need to be varnished. After Daddy and Connie got home, and Daddy had had his lunch, we headed back to the prophets’ chamber for the afternoon. I was really tired as I had had a somewhat restless night last night, seeing dreams and hearing noises in the attic above my head. Consequently, I slept hard at nap time and was thankful to get that needed rest. After nap, I read a sermon that Daddy had read in the “Sword of the Lord” and had recommended its reading. It is called “Truth Is Fallen in the Street” by Dr. Joe Arthur, pastor of Harvest Baptist Tabernacle in Jonesboro, GA. Based on Isaiah 59:14, it encourages God’s people to “cry aloud spare not” (Isaiah 58:1); to lift up our voices like trumpets; to declare the goodness of God, the commandments of God, the judgments of God, the mercy of God, and the ways of God. Those who believe the truth need to fear the Lord again, get filled with God’s Holy Spirit again, and teach it to our children and our children’s children… It is time for God’s men to stand up and speak up. It is time that the salt and the light take their place in this world. We have the remedy for every problem in America—God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ. It is time for us to step out and openly pledge our allegiance to the Lamb of God. Later this afternoon and this evening, I looked over a couple more chapters of Acts. Two more chapters to go, and then it can be printed out for Daddy and me to proofread together. Afterward I did the dishes and cooked a small pot of quinoa, so I can have some for breakfast in the morning. “12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Romans 13:12-14
April 27. This morning, there was laundry to do. Just one load again so didn’t take long. Then we headed to C&C’s. Started sewing up the curtain we had bought yesterday to cover the girls’ food shelves. It needed to be shortened. At 9:30, we left for my appointment with Dr. Cook. Took the small PNG photo albums along so he could look at some pictures of our home and village. Once back at the house, I finished sewing the casing on the curtain, and then Daddy put up the hardware for the curtain rod so we could get it hung. By then I was getting hungry so had a little bit early lunch. After nap, I emptied two boxes. And around 3:45 the four of us climbed into the van and headed to Gaffney to meet Steve and Joy and Ellen and family. As it turned out, however, Ellen was the only one of their family who got to come. Mel had some urgent work to finish. Jeremy’s and Mary Ellen’s families were sick. Melvin and family were in Spartanburg getting things ready for Kylie’s graduation open house tomorrow. I was thankful for that time just to be with Steve and catch up on these past years. It was a good time together with just the small group of us. We met at Cracker Barrell around 4:30. After eating and talking at the table for a while, we decided to go outside and sit in the “old people’s chairs” (the rocking chairs), but the music was much too loud out there. So we all headed over to the food court of the outlet stores area. Things weren’t very busy there, and there was plenty of room for us to just sit and chat a while. It was around 7:30 or so before we said our final good-byes for the night and went our separate ways. Got back to the girls’ house around 8:30 and back to the prophets’ chamber around 9:00. “As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.” Joshua 11:15 Oh, that I, as Joshua, may leave nothing undone of all that the LORD has commanded! April 28. Slept in until 6:15 this morning. After shower, quiet time, and breakfast, Daddy washed up the dishes while I folded clothes, made my bed, and packed up soup-making stuff and a few other things to take to C&C’s house. When we got there, we saw a big deer out back in the woods again. Found out that Christy is sick with the stomach flu. Hasn’t been feeling well for a couple days but didn’t tell anyone. So we’ve all been exposed to the flu germs. Started taking some activated charcoal to try to cover ourselves. Since we were all away yesterday evening, and Christy didn’t get the dishes done, she was planning to do them this morning. But since she wasn’t feeling well enough to do them this morning, I washed the few dishes that were there and then got busy making my sweet potato soup. When everything was in the crockpot and the pot was turned on, it was time for a sit-down break. After a few minutes, I made myself a smoothie and sat down a little longer to drink that. Afterward I did a little more straightening up and organizing in the living/craft room, and now all boxes have been gone through and my part in that room is done. Praise the Lord! The rest is up to Connie to arrange things like she wants them. We had planned to help Christy make some headway in her room today, but that plan is off. Daddy and I went back to the prophets’ chamber for our nap. We didn’t want to sleep on Christy’s bed since she was sick. After we came back, I turned off the crockpot to let the soup cool for a while before pureeing it. Then spent about an hour painting the scene on the blue shelf unit, getting a good start on the flowers. Afterward, I pureed and bottled up the soup. In the evening, I did the dishes since there was a lot there for Christy to handle even though she was starting to feel a little better. Then we had family time. I had forgotten yesterday afternoon to make pancakes for Daddy, and was planning to do that today but forgot again. So took home the pancake mix, oil, vinegar, and blackstrap molasses so I can make some in the morning. After we got home, part of the time was spent working on greeting cards and part of the time on crocheting. “12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Romans 13:12-14 April 25. Nothing special to do this morning so as soon as we were ready, we headed to C&Cs. Spent a good part of the morning finishing the editing of the pictures I had started on yesterday. Then sent Connie an e-mail with the journal notes and a few pictures. After that, I emptied some containers that were on the shelves but hadn’t been gone through and organized. Rearranged all that stuff in a more orderly fashion. Also emptied a couple boxes and a tote. This evening, I did the dishes and listened to the Wednesday service livestream and did a little crocheting while pastor Ogle was preaching. He covered a number of emotions, talking about how each one was manifest throughout the book of Esther and how they are manifest in our lives. “8And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee…. 10And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. 11And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.” Joshua 10:8-11 If we but trust the Lord and obey Him and do not fear our enemies, the Lord will fight our battles for us and do great things, far beyond what we could ever do in our own strength, and give great deliverance. April 26. Shopping day. Left the house around 8:45 and headed for WalMart. Spent about an hour there looking for things. Everything is very rearranged, and it will take getting used to the new locations of various goods. Next stop was Aldi for a few more groceries. Then to the post office to mail a couple greeting cards. Daddy then went by city hall to pay the utility bill. And last of all, we went to the house to drop a few things off for Christy and Connie—bananas, foam cups, water, and a curtain I had bought for the food cupboard. It will need to be shortened so I’ll work on that project tomorrow. Once back at the house, we put away food. Had bought a bunch of fresh kale at WalMart so got that on to cook. Put soup into the microwave to warm up for my lunch and went and put on the new house shoes I had bought at WalMart. Then it was time to eat. After lunch and after nap, I spent time looking over Acts, trying to get it ready to start checking together. Finished chapters 22 and 23. For a break in between chapters, Daddy and I went for a little walk around the property. Around 4:00, it started raining and rained for a good while, but not too hard. This evening, I looked over chapter 24 of Acts. “2Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. 3Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” Isaiah 12:2,3 Praise God that the LORD JEHOVAH is my salvation, my strength, and my song, and that daily, with joy, I can draw water from the wells of salvation because the Holy Spirit dwells within! “37In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37,38
April 23. It has been a very rainy and cool day. We are thankful for the much-needed rain. Up a little after 6:00 this morning. Tried to get ready quickly because Daddy wanted to stop at WalMart on the way to Dr. Cook’s. Somehow I was ready even earlier than expected so we left a little early. Daddy went into WM by himself. Got some bananas and water. I stayed in the car and prayed and crocheted. We arrived about ten minutes early at Dr. Cook’s. He was just finishing up with a patient. We were there for about an hour. He does enjoy chatting, and we have some interesting conversations with him. From there we headed to C&Cs. I spent the rest of the morning unpacking and putting things on shelves. Took care of a couple more boxes in the afternoon. Praise the Lord for his help with that. Around 4:00, I took up the paintbrushes and set out the paints to paint the grass on the blue shelf unit. Also fixed the tree branch I had messed up the other day, and added some brighter pink flowers to the tree. Maybe tomorrow, we can paint the flowers in front of the fence, or at least start them. We were all excited late this afternoon to see three deer out back at the edge of the woods. This evening I did a little more crocheting and also paper cutting for card making projects. “34And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.” Joshua 8:34,35 God gave all His word for all people (all men, women, and children) in all places for all times. All of God’s word should be read to His people. As apostle Paul said to the elders at Ephesus, in Acts 20:27, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” April 24. It was a mostly sleepless night for some reason. 11:00 went by; 12:00 went by; 1:00 went by; 2:00 went by. I was still awake. I prayed and sang and sang and prayed, but did not go to sleep. Probably caught a few winks between the hours after 2:00, but saw the clock at 3:00, 4:00, and 5:00. Woke up a little before 6:00, but went back to sleep for another half hour or less. There was lots to do so had better get up. Showered and washed hair. Started breakfast and quiet time. Put a load of clothes in to wash. Some of them went into the dryer afterward, and the rest were hung on the shower rod in the bathroom. It had rained all night and was still raining. Daddy washed the dishes while I made my bed up. When all that was done and we had packed a couple items into the car, we headed for Christy and Connie’s place. Spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon unpacking boxes. With the Lord’s help, quite a bit of progress was made today. All the boxes are now gone off the shelf. Yarn is all sorted out. There is a bit more floor space. And I’m tired out. So now it’s time to sit down a while. Daddy brought in the blue file cabinet, and I cleaned it up. Then he helped Connie move her tall dresser so there will be room for that file cabinet beside it. He also unjammed the top drawer in Connie’s other file cabinet. And hung up “hat makers” (round loom knitters) over Connie’s desk for her to hang things on. I didn’t do any painting today. This afternoon, I set up the journal notes file with last week’s journal notes, and transferred pictures to the computer and edited them. “….and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD.” Joshua 9:14b Oh, how important it is for us to ask counsel at the mouth of the LORD! We cannot know what the consequences will be if we go according to our own feelings and thinking. |
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