February 15, 2015

Salvation Sermon

February 15, 2015

Last night I did not sleep well.  I went to sleep early, but woke up at 2:00 a.m. and tossed and turned for 2 hours.  At 4:00 a.m. I started reading until 5:00 a.m. and then gave up and got up.  I baked muffins for breakfast and wrote my blog for the previous day.

Ron left for church a little before I did.  We had a good group in class and very good discussion.  Ron brought a good lesson and always encourages discussion.

Mom had asked me to call this morning to see if she wanted me to pick her up for church.  She had a bad cough yesterday and wasn't sure if she would be up to going today, but she was, so I picked her up and we returned in time for church.  She lives close to the church.  We had a guest preacher today and he is excellent in explaining the gospel and telling people what they must do to be saved.  Using the scripture in John 3:16, he very clearly laid out what one must do to come to the Lord for salvation.  Several adults responded to the sermon, coming forward to ask God to forgive their sins, ask Him to come into their hearts and to ask Him to become the Lord of their lives.

The pastor speaking this morning was Dr. Gene Williams.  He has preached here many times before and is very good at presenting the message of salvation in a very clear way.  He is getting well up in years and his health is failing.  As you watch him walk, you worry he may not make the next step, but once he is behind the pulpit, the Word of God pours from him flawlessly.  What a blessing it was to have him in our church today.

After the service Mom went with the Lunch Bunch and we went with Jeff's family to Buddy's Bar-B-Que place along with another family, the Benders.  It was a fun lunch and all the children enjoyed each other's company.

Ron and I came home and relaxed.  We both had headaches for some reason and so it was a quiet afternoon.  He went to his Mom's to take a few things to her that she needed.  He got a late afternoon nap.  I  am trying not to go to sleep early so I can get back on schedule.

Hearing in the restaurant again was hard.  I could hear my grandson sitting on one side of me, my daughter-in-law at the end of the table on the other side of me, and our friend across from me.  That really isn't too bad, but this place is shaped like a barn with very high ceilings, and concrete floor, so I think hearing could be hard for others also.

In church, using my transistor radio and the cable for the Cochlear Sound Processor, I could hear probably 98% of the sermon.  That was great.  The biggest problem there is that if I have the radio hooked to the sound processor I can't hear people next to me speaking to me or hear guests I may be greeting.  So I must make a choice which I want to hear.

February 14, 2015

Valentine's Day 2015

February 14, 2015

Flowers from a sweet young lady at church.

The day was a rather unproductive, laid-back kind of day.  I slept until 7:00, spent time at the computer until 8:00, spent a little time in the yard filling ponds and feeders for the birds.  Ron had left early and left me a note saying he saw four green jays in the yard before he left.  I later saw one, but that was all.

Around 9:30 I left for the grocery store and had a rather frustrating time.  I did fine with the shopping at the Wal-Mart on the port road, but when I got ready to check out, there were only 2 lanes open for people with a lot of items and many open for people with a few items.  There were only 2 people in front of me but the clerk was slow and chatty and somehow messed up the change for the man in front of me and someone had to be called over to take care of the problem.

It was well over 20 minutes before I got checked out.  I found a manager and mentioned three problems I encountered.  One that bugged me is that they run your check through and return it to you but when you sign the agreement for that, you don't see the total and there was something about additional fees.  The manager said she agreed that was wrong and would have them check on the software.  She said they had been short handed and that was why they didn't have more lanes open (didn't explain why the express lanes were all open). 

Once, home I unloaded the groceries, but only put away the cold things and sat down to relax and read.  I had a scare while at the store.  I thought I had lost my Discover card.  (I found it.)  I was buying a lot of supplies for the office and use that to pay for office purchases.  The last I remembered using it was in Harlingen and I had put it in my right hand pocket next to my phone.  A complete search of my purse proved it was not there.  Once in the car, I felt down on the right hand side of the driver's seat and sure enough, it was there.  It took a while to get my brain to relax over that concern.  So I sat down to read and of course, fell asleep - reading does that to me.

I woke up when Ron came home and we went out in the yard so I could show him a couple of trees I wanted removed.  He accomplished that during the afternoon.  I called to see if I could go to Mom's to pick up her and Carmen.  She said she had a bad cough and would I just come get Carmen - she was going back to bed.  Carmen worked all afternoon and got my house clean and shiny.  She is a hard worker. 

I cut out pieces for 6 quilt squares, but did not do any sewing.  I did laundry and a little cleaning.  At one point, the door bell rang, which is rather rare.  It was a sweet friend bringing me some flowers.  I think they were birthday flowers and so unexpected. 

Then I took Carmen to Mom's and stopped to pick up supper for them on my way.  Mom was much better when we got there.  It was good to see her bright smile again - it had been missing earlier.

Hearing issues were fine most of the day.  The grocery store caused no problems,  I do fairly well with clerks now.  With Carmen, it is not the hearing, it is the understanding since she speaks Spanish.  She knows a little English and I know a little Spanish.  We manage.  It was really an uneventful day and I was ready for one of those!

I added some fern from the yard to the arrangement.  I transplanted this fern to our yard from my grandmother's house almost 38 years ago.  I think of her every time I see it.

February 13, 2015

Just a Few Quick Words

February 13, 2015

Green Parakeets

Friday the 13th was a good day.  No tragic things happened.  We had a little rain in the morning and gray skies for the rest of the day. 

Ron was out of the office all morning at the doctor's office where he got good reports on his blood work done during the visit and last week.  He is feeling a little better and they are running one more blood test.

At the office, during the morning, I paid some bills, waited on lots of customers, and sent my reports off to the accountant who is suffering with shingles.  I gathered trash and sorted papers on my desk. Ron returned about noon and Mom, Janet and Joe Bob stopped by for a visit.  Soon the visit was over and they left so Janet and Joe Bob could pack to return to their home.  They helped Mom get a lot of errands run.

Ron was in and out a time or two in the afternoon and worked on the items I had taken in from customers during the morning.  He made a trip to check on his Mom and I waited on most of the customers so he could do the errands and counter work.

Just before closing, I saw part of the flock of green parakeets about a block away and went out to take some photos.  This one was taken a block from where they were.

I kept hearing some closer, and it turned out to be two on the power lines behind the shop.  I got a couple of photos, but it was so gray and windy, the photos are not great.

I love being able to HEAR them!

After closing, we went to meet our friends for our Friday night dinner.  They are always fun to chat with.  We had a good visit, but in the beginning, I was picking up a lot of noise on the sound processor and it was hard to hear.  After a bit, we had the room to ourselves and it got better.  The audiologist suggests that I sit across the table from my friend to hear better and if it was only the two of us, that might work, but with four of us at the table, side by side works better and after we eat, I turn toward her and that puts my deaf ear to the guys and we get along better.  Hearing in restaurants is so very hard.

Once we got home, I read for a while in the recliner and Ron woke me later to get me to go to bed instead of sleeping in the recliner.  A medication I am on seems to make me sleepy and I know I need the sleep, but I am not getting all the things done that I want.

February 12, 2015

Mom's 92nd Birthday!

February 12, 2015

Growing up, I used to feel sorry for my dad.  In February my mom and dad had their wedding anniversary on the 8th.  On the 11th was my birthday and on the 12th was my mother's birthday and my sister, Debbie's birthday.  Now we  have added my sister Janet's anniversary on the 11th.  I felt like Daddy had this big hit to his pocket book just after Christmas.  Then my sister Janet seemed left out since her birthday didn't come until the middle of summer.  Now I see it as a blessing for all of us since as many of us as can, get together during February. 

Carmen sang the birthday song used in Mexico to Mom in Spanish and then the rest of us sang Happy Birthday to Mom in English.  Carmen has a beautiful voice.

My brother came a week or so ago and now my sister Janet and her husband are here.  We say with all the events to celebrate, we can party all week.  Since my friend Tiny was here we did a lot of eating out this week and Tuesday night the quilters honored Mom and me.  Wednesday night we were at Jeff and Barb's for supper and tonight we had dinner at Mom's.  I like this!

Yesterday, so many of my facebook friends extended precious greetings for my birthday, that it took a couple of hours to respond to all of them.  Thank you to all of you who made the day special.  If I overlooked your post, please forgive me.  There have been cards in the mail and a wonderful variety of gifts.  I do feel loved.

 Left to right:  Me, Mom, my sister Janet - the baby of the family

Today at the office, I had to get there early so Ron could leave on jobs.  He was out most of the morning and some of the afternoon.  I did have a very good conversation with one of the customers.  Ron had talked them a few days ago.  A woman had brought her dad in to have some work done of something and she got to talking to Ron about her dad's poor hearing.  Ron told her about my Cochlear Implant.  She wanted to talk to me a little about it today.  She was sort of apologizing for him being loud and I said that is part of the deafness.  She said she realized that but was still embarrassed about it.  I understand.  Ron goes around explaining to people why I am sometimes loud.

Another customer and I had a longer conversation and it was very interesting.  As I have mentioned before, being able to converse with customers like this is such a joy.  I have had too much time where I avoided talking to them because it was just going to be too hard.  In so many ways, my Cochlear Implant has changed my life.  This man told me how he had come from Mexico as a young man and had been questioning his family's church's beliefs.  He began studying the Bible and visiting churches and in time accepted Christ as his Savior.  When I asked where he was attending church, he said right now they weren't.  Something had happened at his previous church and he had ended up dropping out.  The situation he explained, was a true problem, but it is time to find a new church and get active serving the Lord again.  I invited him to our church but told him if he found a church that taught the Bible closer to his home, he should give it a try.  He lives about 12 miles from our church.

It is easy to drop out of church for lots of reasons, and after just a few Sundays it becomes a habit.  I hope he will seek a church that is teaching God's Word and get involved.  From our conversation, I feel sure he knows his Bible well and will be able to tell if a church is teaching God's Word. 

Back to my day.  As I mentioned earlier in the week, I was having trouble balancing the business checkbook.  This morning, refreshed and alert, I quickly found my problem.  I had picked up a wrong number off the bank statement and once I put the correct number in, it immediately balanced.  Now I am ready to send the papers to our accountant. 

During the afternoon I waited on customers and prepared a bank deposit.  After we closed the office, I went to the bank and on the way, spotted a large flock of the Green Parakeets (small parrots).  On my way back from the bank, I found them again and my guess is that there were well over 300 in the flock.  They were gathering in the trees near the First Presbyterian Church and I stopped to take some photos.

It was very windy and taking the photos was a challenge, but I will keep looking for them and hope to find them on a day that provides the proper conditions for photographing them.  Their colors blend so well with the palm trees, that they are hard to spot, but if you roll down your car window, you can easily hear them.

They are hard to see, but I counted 125 in this photo of a small portion of the flock.  

( I enlarged the photo and did a head count.)

I spent about 10 minutes taking pictures before leaving to go to Mom's house for a birthday supper.  Janet and Joe Bob had picked up Bar-B-Q at Rudy's and it was so good!  Being with family is great!  Celebrating with family is spectacular! 

Mom serving the cake

 

February 11, 2015

Hello, 69!

February 11, 2015

This is being written on the 12th of February, but it covers the 11th so I am dating it that way.  The 11th, my 69th birthday was so packed with fun, food, family, and friends, that I was too sleepy to try write the blog last night.  Talking to my daughter-in-law, Vickey, I kept almost falling asleep and she realized it was time to let me go to bed.  I had not talked to her in about a week and a half and had so many things to ask her about, but my brain had turned to fluff.

My 69th birthday was one of the best.  My friend Tiny was still with us until early afternoon and so we packed a lot into the morning.  Ron was up early and went to Shipley Donuts to get me my favorite donuts (cherry filled) for breakfast.  Then he had a nice assortment of gifts for me.  He did a great job with the help of his personal shopper, David.  He left for work about the time Tiny got up.  We took our time getting ready as Tiny was taking her luggage with us since the plan was to go to the airport from work.

Once we settled in at work, a man came to work on our Wi-fi and needed to be in my office in the spot where I sit.  We moved to the showroom, but soon decided it was going to take him a while and Ron planned to stay in the shop all day setting up locks for other jobs, so we left and let him handle it.

Earlier in her visit, Tiny had mentioned the possibility of shopping downtown and we had not had time so she asked about that.  I was more than willing to go, and we headed that way.  There was a perfect parking place on a corner between the two places we were going - perfect!  I got a car wash while I was at it.  Tiny found a few things at each of the two stores, so we felt successful in that project.  We picked up lunch at Chick-fil-A and took it to our house to eat and relax before time to go to the airport. 

We headed to Harlingen in plenty of time for her plane but as soon as we got to the expressway, it was backed up for a long way.  We stayed on the access road and managed to do fine and once back on the freeway, we were able to get her to the airport on time.  It was hard to say good-bye.  We both agreed we had a wonderful visit.  We also agreed that neither of us knew how it would go since it was her first trip back since her husband had died and that it was a long stay, but we had a great time.  If you ever want to know how to be a great house guest, ask Tiny; she knows the secret. 

From the airport I made a stop at the quilt shop in Harlingen but didn't buy anything.  Then on my way back into town I stopped to talk to a good friend.  We had not made time for each other lately and it was time to change that.  We had a great talk and we hope to start meeting for supper on a regular basis.  Friendships take time and we have neglected that. 

Next, I went to our son Jeff's house.  He was out of town and on his way back and made it about the time we finished eating.  It was good to be with his family.  I love to see my granddaughters designing with Legos.  I played with the youngest for a while with the Legos and then Barbara served a delicious Mexican food supper of rice, beans, and enchiladas. 

The four oldest children had left for activities at the church shortly after I got there and they were missed.  Our second oldest grandson had decorated my birthday cake that had been made by our oldest granddaughter.  What fun.  He got distracted by my sister as he was decorating and made one little error.  Maybe he is part Amish.  I know they choose to put a small error in their quilts so that they will be humble.  Only God is perfect.  Yummy cake.

Gifts were opened and we stayed to visit for a while.  The antics of the little kids kept us laughing.  It is always fun to be in their home.  When I first arrived, I had a call from our son in San Antonio and had a good talk with him.  He did have to repeat a lot.  On the way home I talked to our son in Albuquerque and later to his wife who is visiting her family in East Texas for a couple of weeks. 

Mom, Janet, and Joe Bob had gone out to Loop Farms during the afternoon and picked up this huge cabbage for me.  It is beautiful.  There were other gifts from them but this is unique.  Mom had also gotten me a lovely house plant.

Hearing is still hard on the phone.  Hearing at the dining table is a challenge, but thankfully my family is patient.

February 10, 2015

Good-Bye, 68

February 10, 2015

Current quilt in progress.

This was a beautiful day, after the fog burned off.  The afternoon got rather warm, but many of my customers commented on what a beautiful day it was.  It was the kind of day that I want to spend working in the yard.  It was my last day of being 68 years old.  I remember the year I turned 49.  All year long I kept thinking, "Next year I will be 50."  When 50 came it was not bad at all because I think I had thought about being 50 for a year.  I may be that way with 70.  For now, I will see what 69 is like, starting tomorrow.

My alarm went off at 6:00 but I was already awake and getting up.  Tiny and I left the house early this morning.  She was going to Ladies' Bible Study with Mom where she was speaking about an area of ministry she and her husband Gene served in before he passed away.  They were part of a group that helps at Speedway Race Tracks across the country by volunteering their time to keep things behind the scenes flowing well for the attendees and sharing God's love any way that they can.  I picked up Mom and took both of them to the church and then went to the office.

Sometimes Ron's work is just plain dirty! He spent two days working on the floor, under desks.  Thought about titling this  posting as "Ron Gets Down and Dirty" but wouldn't want to give anyone the wrong impression.  He is covered in a very fine dust from head to toe.  He was exhausted.

Ron was again out on jobs most of the day and like yesterday, the morning was quiet, but the afternoon was busy.  One of our friends brought Tiny to the office after the Bible Study was over and we had lunch.  She finished making the blocks for her quilt in progress.  After lunch she ironed and trimmed them.  I worked on the bookkeeping but every time I would get started I would have a customer so I would have to start over.

When Tiny and I got home, this welcoming committee was standing

 on the bank of the resaca hoping I was bringing food for them.

 

We left the office a little early so we could get ready for the quilt group meeting at my house tonight.  The ladies honored me with birthday gifts and each was so useful and unique.  One brought a gift card to Hobby Lobby.  That works well!  One brought me a cookbook (with fabric for gift wrapping) to use with the Grandchildren when I want to take a break from quilting.  One lady brought me several pieces of fabric, and the other brought me small iron which will be good to use on the small ironing board beside my sewing machine.

At quilting, we are always ready for anyone to share their projects and Patty brought several last night.  She made this shawl that she was allowing Tiny to try on.  It is made from thousands of tiny "yo-yo" quilt pieces.  When she wears it, she must allow time for being stopped by people who want a closer look at the work.

 One of Patty's many scrap quilts.

I now have 42 blocks made for my quilt in progress.  I also found a pattern today that I think will work for the last square in another project that was on hold until I found the perfect pattern to finish it.  I had hoped to make more progress while Tiny was here, but I have made some mental progress, deciding on direction in some of the projects.  That is important, and I am refreshed after spending 12 days with a good friend who is a good listener with lots of good input on a variety of projects.  I will hate to see her head home.

Here is the project Tiny has been working on all week.  I am so impressed.  All blocks are now made and she is ready to sew the squares together, but that may have to wait a bit due to the busy schedule she has ahead.  It has been fun to watch it come together.  This is just a portion of the blocks.  She has many more made and this will be on a day bed in the future.  Good work, Tiny!

As for my hearing  today, it was not great. Tonight at quilting, all the voices blended together into a loud rumble.  One lady came and stood beside me to visit and that helped A LOT, but still other sounds in the room were overwhelming.  Poor Tiny has to repeat 90% of what she says to me.  She is soft spoken and I am sure she will be hoarse by the time she gets home.

February 9, 2015

Family, Friends, and Fantastic Food

February 9, 2015

Each meal today was very good.  Breakfast was nothing unusual, but was good.  Lunch was a very good stew that I had made last night and the last of the coconut cake the Lawlers had brought last night .  This evening we went with Mom to Oyster Bar - a local favorite, that serves shrimp that Tiny had been craving since she arrived. 

Back to the start of my day.  It was cloudy early in the morning, but cleared off as the day went on.  Tiny and I went to the office about 9:30.  She sewed much of the day and I worked on the bookkeeping.  I have a problem with the bank statement and it has been 20+ years since one stumped me.  I will get back to it tomorrow.

Ron was out almost all day and the morning was very slow.  The afternoon was a little busier.  I had a hard time getting to eat my lunch.  Each time I put a bite in my mouth a customer came in.  So funny how that happens.  Tiny and I have not run out of things to talk about and that leads sometimes to things to pray about for each other.  It is so good to spend time with a friend.  I am wondering if I should refuse to take her to Harlingen to the airport Wednesday.  I think it is too far for her to walk so maybe she would stay a little longer.

After work, Tiny and I came home and did a few things around the house before picking Mom up for supper.  Ron met us at Oyster Bar.  I think Tiny enjoyed every bite of her shrimp.  We were both tired when we got home.  She went to bed soon.  Ron went back to work and I worked on this blog, but had to finish it in the morning after I kept falling asleep at the computer desk.  Ron woke me when he got home, so I gave up and went to bed.

Oyster Bar has great seafood, but some how it was very noisy during our meal.  There were not too many tables filled, but it was still hard for me to hear.  I will try changing the filters on the Cochlear sound processor and see if that helps.