SUNDAY PRAISE

 

Good morning, friends!  Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday.  Let's hop right in with today's lesson.

FISHERS OF MEN

Simon and Andrew were two brothers.  After a long night of fishing, they caught nothing.  Simon and Andrew were busy sorting their nets when they heard Jesus teaching nearby.

More and more people came to listen to Jesus.  Jesus asked Simon if he would take Him out a little way in his boat so He could speak to all the people.  When Jesus finished teaching the people, He asked Simon to go fishing.

Simon didn't think this made any sense.  He had fished all night and caught nothing, but because Jesus asked him, he did it.  Jesus told Simon to throw the net over the other side of the boat.  He caught so many fish he had to call his friends to come and help.

When they arrived back on land, Jesus invited the fishermen to leave their boats behind and follow Him.  Jesus told them it was time to fish for people and share God's love with them.  Straightaway the fishermen left everything behind to follow Jesus.

Have you ever tried to do something and failed?  Failure is a part of all our lives.  These fishermen had fished all night and caught nothing.  They were experienced fishermen and knew what they were doing.  By morning they must have been tired and discouraged.  I think all of us have reached the point of being tired and discouraged after trying to do something for a long time.  We all get frustrated and want to give up.  Would you want to try to do your task again because a stranger showed up and told you to?  Probably not.

But even though Simon Peter was tired and thought he knew better he chose to trust Jesus.  Like Simon we need to trust Jesus no matter how we feel.

At times it's hard to trust Jesus.  We think we know best.  But ultimately we know who is in charge.

I so enjoy sharing these Bible stories with you each week and I hope you do also.  It certainly gives me something to think about.  I think the teacher learns more than the students.

I hope to be back later this week with another post for you.  March is coming!  And so is Spring.

Until later...

Kathy

VALENTINE'S DAY

Hello, friends!  Here it is almost the end of the month and I am just getting around to tell you about Valentine's Day.  I am so behind on everything!

It was a really low-key day.  So much so that I don't remember a lot about it.  The biggest thing about it was that we had our new dishwasher delivered.  And that was a big thing.  We have been without a dishwasher since the end of October, so this was a wonderful thing.  I'm going to do another post about that.

I had asked for a tea kettle for Valentine's Day.  Ever since Joe got the new Keurig, all of my tea was tasting of coffee.  Joe came through with it and I got a beautiful whistling tea kettle that I had been looking at on Amazon.  I am so happy with it and my tea tastes so good.

The other thing he gave me was this pretty little silver heart necklace.

It is tiny but just right.  I have worn it every day since I got it.  He got it at Cracker Barrel when we were there for Carole's birthday.

We were going to go out for dinner (my gift to Joe) but it got later and later.  We ended up just having dinner at home.  I made pork chops, mashed potatoes and green beans.  We are still waiting to go to dinner.  Maybe tomorrow?  We want to go to Yamato's.  We both love that place.

I want to show you some of the decorations I put up.  I do not have a lot of Valentine's Day decor.  And it was so cold that I didn't even get the garden flag up.  But here is what I did do.

I kept my star candle holder on the shelf but put up a love picture and a little stuffed red gingham heart.

My little cupid.  The only Valentine's figurine that I have.

Every year Joe gives me one red rose.  Something he has done ever since our first Valentine's Day together.  Each year it is different.  If you look back through my posts, you can see all the different red roses he has given to me.  This year it was this one.

Isn't it beautiful?  Look closely.  It is made out of crepe paper.  It looks so realistic that unless you get up close like this, you can't tell.  I love it and best of all I can keep it forever.

This is the wreath on the front door.  Joe bought it for me last year.  It is so pretty, and I love it.

So that's about it.  I hope to get a few more posts up this week.  Can you believe it is the end of February already?  I am so looking forward to March and (hopefully) better weather and warmer temperatures.  This has been a cold month!

Before I end, the world events lie heavy on my heart tonight.  I follow two YouTubers in Ukraine and one in Russia.  I am keeping on top of everything they post.  It is sad and frightening what is going on in the war.  None of them want the war.  They all believed that war would never happen.  Now it is on their doorstep.  One of the Ukrainians (Olga) has two little children is trying to get to friends in Poland.  The last post she had up she was leaving and trying to find gas.  Pavlo has decided to stay in his apartment right outside of Kyev.  He is definitely frightened.  Vinca in Russia is in shock and can't believe it is happening.  They all ask for prayer.  I am praying all day and night for this situation.  I hope you will join me.

Until later...

Kathy

SUNDAY PRAISE

 

Hello, friends!  How did it get to be Sunday again so quickly?  I have things to share with you, but got so busy this week that I never got to it.  This coming week for sure.

I want to share this week's story though.  It is Jesus and Nicodemus.

Nicodemus was a very important man.  He was a leader of Israel. He was also a pharisee. He studied and memorized the Bible every day and did his best to obey it. Nicodemus wanted to know more about Jesus.

One night Nicodemus came to speak to Jesus in secret. He didn't want anyone else to see him. Nicodemus knew that Jesus was special because he had heard Jesus teach and saw him do miracles. Nicodemus had lots of questions to ask Jesus.

Jesus told Nicodemus that to go to heaven you must be born again. This didn't make any sense to Nicodemus. He knew it was impossible to be born two times. But Jesus was talking about spiritual birth. Jesus explained that like as we are born as babies, we must be born again into a relationship with God.

Jesus spoke some amazing words to Nicodemus. Jesus said, "For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

Nicodemus understood. The only way to have eternal life is to believe and trust in Jesus.

Some questions are easier to answer than others.  Nicodemus had big questions that he wanted answered.  And Nicodemus knew who to go to to get his answers.  We too can go to Jesus to get the answers to our difficult questions.  Don't we all have difficult questions in this life?  I know I do.  All the time.  But sometimes we feel as if we don't get answers.  I know I would love to have a list all printed out that first I do this and then I can do that and my life will turn out perfectly.  Well...  it just doesn't work that way.  I don't know about you, but lots of times I'm not really sure what God wants me to do.  Or where He wants me to go.  Or who He wants me to talk to.  And the thing is, I don't need to know all the answers.  But I do need to trust that God knows the answers to my questions and He is in control.

Friends, it's so hard to let go and let God, isn't it.  I'm going to try harder and I hope you will too.

I'll be back this week (promise!) and show you some things going on.  I did post a YouTube video this week, so if you want to head on over there, I would love for you to see it.  Kathy's Happy Home.

See you soon.

Kathy

SUNDAY PRAISE

 Hello, friends!  Happy Sunday.  I hope you are having a wonderful day.  I am still cleaning the house.  So much to do!

I thought I would give you another Bible story today.  In light of Valentine's Day this week the story is Jesus' first miracle -- the wedding in Cana.

Not long after Jesus began His ministry, He was invited to a wedding.  Everyone was happy, dancing and celebrating.  Then there was a big problem.  They ran out of wine to drink.  This was a bad thing to do at a wedding.

Jesus' mother Mary was also at the wedding. When she heard of the problem, she knew what to do.  She told Jesus. Then she told the people at the wedding to do whatever Jesus said.

Jesus wanted to help His mother.  He told the people working at the wedding to fill six large pots with water.  When they were all full, Jesus told them to take a taste of the water to the man in charge of the wedding feast.

When the man tasted it, he couldn't believe it.  It was the best wine he had ever tasted.  How could water become the best wine?  Jesus had performed a miracle.

John 2:1-11

What is a miracle?  We know that a miracle is something that can't be explained by normal means, but happens by the intervention of God. Was this turning of water to wine a miracle?  Of course it was.

But what about miracles today?  Do they still happen?  Or is it like a magician, just a trick?  I believe that miracles happen today.  They may not be dramatic like this was, but we see miracles every day.  I think we just don't recognize them.  Or we take them for granted.

On Tuesday I was in the middle of an intersection crossing on a green light.  I had a car full of people with me that I was taking home from Bible Study.  Suddenly as I was halfway across a car came speeding through a red light right at me.  I immediately stopped and waited for the inevitable impact.  But there was none.  The driver of the other car stopped just inches from me.  He was very upset.  I breathed a prayer of thanks to God (as did the people with me) and continued through the intersection.  There was no way that the car should not have hit me.  I was right there and so was he.  I consider that a miracle.  God was letting me know that He is always there and always taking care of me.  Many times this week I have thanked Him for His protection.

I know if you think about it, you can see miracles around you.  I would love to hear about your miracles in the comments below.

Have a wonderful Sunday and I'll see you soon.

Kathy

OH WHAT A TIME WE ARE HAVING

 But then there's Friday nights.  Hello, friends!  I thought I would tell you about my night last night.  Well, afternoon and night.

Yesterday we had a plumber come over to unhook the old dishwasher.  It turns out that we will wait until the new one comes and then they will do everything at once.

After he left, Joe said he was still feeling bad and wanted to go to the Emergency Room at the VA Hospital.  For several days he had been having a bad headache and was dizzy.  Then on Thursday he began throwing up.  Trying to get from the bedroom to the bathroom he had a fall and ended up pulling down the shower curtain (he had grabbed it trying to stop himself from falling) and throwing up all over himself.  Poor Joe.  I called his doctor and the office said to take him to the Emergency Room.  But there was an 18-20 hour wait so we didn't go.  He just went to bed and later said he was feeling better.

But yesterday he was still sick.  So he got in touch with his doctor at the VA and was told to go to the ER.  As soon as the plumber left, that's just what we did.

There was no wait at all at that ER.  Joe was taken right back and I had to wait in the waiting room.  While there I met some really nice people.  We had a good talk and ended up praying for the lady's brother and Joe.  So nice to meet other believers.

I kept updating people on facebook and had so many people praying for Joe.  The nurses were wonderful and kept coming out to update me on what was going on.  After five hours Joe came walking out the the Emergency Room and looked wonderful.  They are still not sure what was going on but he was dehydrated and they had given him a lot of fluids.  All the tests they did on him came back negative.  So he has to get in touch with his primary and see him.

I am so very thankful that nothing serious was wrong.  We got out of there around 9:30 p.m. and still had not had anything to eat since breakfast.  So we went to McDonald's (one of the few places we knew that was still open) and got some burgers for dinner.

He seems much better today.  But I ended up sleeping most of today.  The new dishwasher is coming on Monday and the house is still a mess.  There is not enough room to get the machine through the living and dining rooms.  The rooms are very small and are also very cluttered.  I have to move so much.  Can you guess what I will be doing after church tomorrow?

All's well that ends well or so it is said.  It was much more important to get Joe medical help than to clean the house.  Wish me the best tomorrow, friends.  I'm going to need it.

And now it is after 11:00 and I have to take the clothes out of the washer and put them into the dryer.  I also have to bring up some clothes that I want to wear to church tomorrow.  It was a beautiful day today in the 60s, but tomorrow it is supposed to go to freezing and snow.  Crazy weather.  So I have to get some warm clothes out of the dryer.

See you soon.  I have a Sunday Praise coming up tomorrow.

Until later...

Kathy

DISHWASHER UPDATE

 Hello, friends!  This is going to be a short and sweet post today.  I wanted to update you about our dishwasher.

Last October we noticed a burning smell when we were running the dishwasher and it was hot to the touch.  Then toward the end of the month we saw water on the floor.  When Joe opened the door, he found that the gasket around the door had broken and part of it was missing.  So being the guy he is, he ordered a replacement and was going to do it himelf.

But that didn't work.  The door had to be removed and the old gasket taken off.  Then the new one had to be put on and the door replaced on its hinges.  A much bigger job than he expected.

So in the middle of November he got in touch with the Navy/Marine PX and ordered a new one.  He showed me pictures and asked which one I wanted.  So everything was fine and he was told it would take about two weeks to get it.  OK.  I can do dishes by hand for a couple of weeks.

In the middle of December he got a call that the dishwasher we ordered was no longer available and could he pick another one.  Since I was asleep, he picked a very similar one to the one we had ordered.  That was fine.  The first order was cancelled and the new one put in.

A couple of weeks ago we got a call that the dishwasher we ordered was on backorder.  It would be 4 to 6 weeks to get it and maybe longer.  The best guess was the end of May.  Oh no!  I ended up talking to the lady and asked if instead of a white dishwasher I could get a stainless steel one.  "Oh yes," she said.  "White is the most popular color.  Most people don't want stainless steel anymore."  OK.  Let's just call me old fashioned.

Yesterday we got a call that the dishwasher is going to be delivered on Valentine's Day.  Isn't that sweet?  We have the plumber coming the next day to connect it and I will FINALLY be able to use it.  I will be sure to take pictures to show you the process.

I am excited, but now I have tons of cleaning to do.  It took me about two hours yesterday to clean out under the sink.  I keep lots of cleaning supplies and all my vases, hand soap, etc. under there.  I threw out a LOT of stuff.  Things just seem to accumulate.  Now for the next few days I am going to have to clear a path wide enough for them to move a dishwasher in and the old one out.  The coffee table will definitely have to move.  And so will the stand with the printer on it.  *sigh*  It's always something, but at least my house is getting clean.

Have a good night, everyone.  I will be talking to you later.

Valentine's Day is coming.

Kathy

CELEBRATING

 

Hello, friends!  Hope you had a great day.  Today was our friend Carole's birthday.  She is such a close friend that Joe and I call her "Ma."  Carole wasn't sure how her birthday was going to go this year.  Her husband died of Covid a few weeks before Christmas.  She had Covid at the same time and wasn't able to be with him or even see him.  It's been hard.

Joe and I decided that we would take her to lunch. She loves to eat out and doesn't like going by herself.  Who does?  She was thrilled that we wanted to go out with her.  We went to her favorite place, Cracker Barrel.  Carole loves to drive and knew exactly where the restaurant was, so she drove.  I was sort of glad because it was very foggy.  If I know where I'm going, fog is OK.  I just take it easy.  But not knowing, trying to figure out where I was, and not being able to see well would have been difficult.

The restaurant wasn't crowded and we got seated right away.  We had a really nice waiter named Jay.  We told him it was Carole's birthday and she was 21.  (She's really in her 80s.)  He smiled and wished her a happy birthday.

Carole and Joe both had the special of the day which was turkey and stuffing with mashed sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce.  As you all know I don't like turkey.  So I got meatloaf with mashed potatoes and broccoli.  They had coffee and I had tea.  Everything was so good.

We were sitting near the fireplace and it was the first time that I ever saw them light it.  Real flames in there.  I felt as if they could be cooking in it because it was pretty big.  That was great to see.

Before I went to pay the bill, I looked around the store.  I was looking for some Valentine's Day decorations because I don't have that many.  They didn't have any though.  In fact, there wasn't much holiday anything there.  I was sort of disappointed because I didn't see much I liked at all.  And I usually am overwhelmed with the choices they have.  Finally Carole and I saw a table with Easter decor on it.  And I fell in love with this little ceramic bunny holding a yellow daisy.  It was only $5 so I got it.  There were only 2 left.

As we were headed for the cash register, Carole saw these other bunnies and pointed them out to me.  They are wooden and say on the front of them "Everyone needs a friend who is all ears."  Of course the bunny has large ears.  So cute.  She urged me to get it and I did.  That one was $6.  I didn't spend much at all.

It was great spending some time with Carole.  We see her at church, but this was a chance to really sit and talk with her.  I'm so glad that we did this.

We were so full that we just had a light dinner.  And I don't think I will need to eat again until tomorrow night.  I am so full.

With that I will end and get on with the other things I have to do tonight before I go to bed.  Talk to you all soon.

Until later...

Kathy

GROUNDHOG DAY

 

Hello, friends!  Happy Groundhog Day.  I woke up really early today and went downstairs to watch some YouTube videos.  I fell asleep, though, and when I woke up the 7:00 a.m. news was on and what should I see but Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, PA.  There were all these men in their top hats getting ready to pull poor Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog from his nice warm bed.  The one man has a special stick which he said was 130 years old.  He knocks on Phil's door to wake him up.

Then the other man opens the door and pulls Phil out.  Poor Phil, he just looked around at the hundreds of people and seemed so confused.  I'll bet he was.

The first man with the stick said he spoke fluent groundhog so he would see what Phil said.  After conferring with Phil, he read a proclamation that there would be six more weeks of winter.

Phil was then held high in the air with the people chanting, "Phil!  Phil! Phil!".  The newscaster said there were people from all over the world in the crowd.

Poor Phil.  But he is really cute.

I finally got all the dishes, pots, pans, silverware, etc. washed today.  Then I shined my sink.  That was a nice feeling.  But...  we ate dinner and it's piled up again.  *sigh*

There is so much to do to get the house under control and I am just so tired all the time that I never get it all done.  Well, tomorrow is another day.

Joe put in an order to Amazon for groceries a week ago and he put in another one that came today.  He found dairy free cream cheese of all things.  I am terribly allergic to anything dairy so if this does not make me sick, I may be ordering it all the time.  He also found dairy free cheddar cheese.  That would be great for my mac and cheese.

I am going to go now and try to get some decent sleep tonight.  Tomorrow is a very busy day.

Until later...

Kathy

YEAR OF THE TIGER

 Hello, friends.  Welcome to February.  For once it didn't seem as if the month flew by.  In fact, January seemed very long to me.  February seemed a long time in coming.

But here it is.  And it starts off with the celebration of the Lunar New Year.  It's the Year of the Water Tiger.  Let me tell you a little about it.

The tiger is the third in the twelve-year cycle of animals in the Chinese zodiac.  Its element is wood which is associated with bravery, courage and strength.  It is also an uplifting animal that can give people hope.  A good animal to have in this time of Covid-19.

Besides years being divided into twelve animals, each animal has four attributes.  This year is water.  Water brings confident and authoritative energy.  Sounds good to me.  

Tiger people are courageous and energetic and love a challenge.  They are prepared to take risks.  They love excitement and crave attention.  They can also be rebellious, short-tempered and outspoken.  They prefer to give orders rather than take them, which often leads to conflict.  I think a lot of us have this tendency.

I was just reading that interestingly the tiger is never mentioned in the Bible.  Hmm...

The best colors for this year are cerulean blue, fiery red, mint green and imperial yellow.

Now you know all that I know about this year.

Because of all the ice and snow, we didn't go out to get Chinese food.  Or even call to have it delivered.  The driving is still pretty bad.  Instead, I made peanut noodles for lunch.

For dinner I made fried rice.  The little bit of leftover rice I had from last night turned into an entire meal.

We are still waiting for our new dishwasher to arrive.  Now it looks like the end of this month.  We have been waiting since November.  I am getting tired of washing loads of dishes by hand.  But I am thankful that I have that option.  And that I have the food to eat off of those pots, pans and dishes.  Since all of the appliances in our kitchen are white, we ordered a white dishwasher.  It seems that is the most popular color and is the one that is out of stock and back ordered.  It would probably be March or April before we could get one.  I talked to the customer service person yesterday and now we are getting a stainless steel one that is in stock.  That is fine with me.  Maybe I will end up changing all of our appliances to stainless steel.

Well, I need to go and get some sleep,  I will be talking to you soon

Until later,,.

Kathy