The Problem With Dust

House cleaning is no longer my favorite thing to do. I'd rather be reading a book. My husband is very helpful, especially with the vacuuming. He knows it hurts my back. While my hand was disabled, John did everything. I appreciated it so much.

I put off dusting until I can see my initials in the dastardly dust. Our house creates too much dust. I only like dusting the wood floors because they look so much better when I am done. Dusting the furniture is a task that no one notices. I have a lot of stuff to work around on my furniture so that makes it worse to do. I do feel better about things once I have dusted. But I still don't like it.

All that is left is polishing the stainless steel in my kitchen and cleaning the bathrooms. (Well, there are more than these but I've listed the basics.) I don't mind doing either of these things. I like the results of polishing the stainless. I don't like messy looking stainless steel so I usually clean it as soon as it looks dirty. Same with the bathrooms. I keep them clean and don't mind cleaning them.  

"In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you," (John 14:2 NIV).

My guess is: there is no dust in heaven.

Lord God, thank you for our homes and the things we dust. Give me a better attitude when it comes to cleaning my house. Give me energy and motivation to help me complete the tasks that are waiting. Amen.

Snowy Winter

Winter is upon us in Iowa. Everything is snow-covered and white. There are mounds of snow where the shoveling and snowblowers deposited their work. Evergreens hang heavy. Fog leaves a coating of sparkles  over all things and makes the world beautiful. Winter at its peaceful best.

Then there is the sharp cold wind that blasts from the north, penetrating the layers and slapping us in the face. The weather is bitter cold and the forecast is for below zero, cutting through gloves and boots leaving fingers and toes stiff and aching. Frozen lakes and ponds wear a coating of white. Winter at its cruelest. 

If only we could choose, wouldn't it be wonderful! Maybe a day of Florida warm or Arizona dry dropped in the long stretches of cold. Or perhaps a quiet snow day of beautiful flakes falling from the sky, covering up the dirty plowed ridges that line the streets. Oh, winter, if only you'd be kind and gentle, not rude and pushy.

"It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter," (Psalm 74:17 NIV).

God designed our weather patterns and perhaps if it weren't for Adam and Eve, we'd still be living in the Garden of Eden. Now, though, we endure whatever weather comes our way during the seasons of the year.

"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease," (Genesis 8:22 NIV).

Lord, please bless us with sunshine days and starry nights as often as You can. Help us bear the other days with tolerance and preparation. Thank you, Lord, for the variety you give us in Iowa. Amen.

God Has Done Great Things

Back when I was still waiting on my hand to heal I wasn't sure if I would still have the same penmanship or if I would have to learn to write all over again. To my amazement there was no learning curve; my hand was just like before only with new parts and realigned! I realize now that I haven't given God the praise for my "new" hand. 

God has healed my hand fully. There is barely a scar that remains. I am able to write as I did before. I can do almost everything again with my hand. I have no pain. God gave the skill to the doctor. I want to testify about what God has done for me. If I witness about what God has done for me, who can argue with that?

""The Lord has done great things for them." The Lord had done great things for us, and we are filled with joy," (Psalm 126:2b and 3 NIV).

I put my trust in God and He healed me. I put my trust in God and my nephew got through his nearly 12 hour heart surgery and is up walking! Praise God! Praise God! From whom all blessings flow! Praise Him! Praise Him for the wonders of His love!

If you have something scary ahead of you, put your trust in God and be confident in His presence and care. God is good! 

The Forgotten Task

This morning my only concern was the bright and heavy snow outdoors. I forgot to write my blog. It seems my husband missed it. He went to read it and found there wasn't one for today. My mind must have been somewhere else. I guess I forgot what day it was. Sometimes a blog doesn't seem like it's important enough to worry about. But maybe someone needs a word from the Father that I can provide. 

It is still Thursday so I have the chance to put together a blog. My thoughts were on my nephew who is having heart surgery today in Omaha. I've been praying for him throughout the day as doctors make repairs and replace his aortic valve. 

It is just a down day for me. It has been deeply gray the last two days and I need sunshine to lift my spirits. Like the Rexulti commercial on television where the lady holds a smiling face on a stick up in front of her own face, masking her real feelings, that is how I feel sometimes. Whether the sky is gray or blue, or my concerns are in overdrive, God is in control. It is time to trust Him with all my heart.

"Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen," (Psalm 72:18-19 NIV).

#870 gds

Full Body Exam

During the past few months I have been treated for various kinds of skin cancer. All because I'm a blue-eyed blonde who spent too much time in the sun getting sunburns. I'm fortunate that none of the cancers have been melanoma. Mine have been basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas or benign actinic keratosis. I've had two Mohs surgeries to remove cancers on my left arm and hand.

The Mohs surgery was something I hadn't heard of before. It is common in treating skin cancer, following a biopsy of the sight. The Mohs surgeon removes the skin cancer including a border all around the area then has a lab analysis of the tissue while the patient waits. If the margins are clear the wound is closed, if there is still cancer on the margins the area is processed again and repeated until the area is clear of cancer.

I've had many precancerous spots frozen off with liquid nitrogen. Now, I see my dermatologist every six months for a full body exam, checking for cancerous spots. This will probably continue the rest of my life.

Cancer spots are a lot like sin. They invade the body making it less than pure. If allowed to continue to grow there will be the consequence of death until Jesus is chosen as the Savior.

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life," (1 Timothy 1:15-16 NIV).

I'm so thankful for Jesus' sacrificial love, of His dying on the cross for my sins. Just as I am thankful for dermatologists who treat the cancers on my body. God sent His Son to save us from our blemishes of sin. God is so good.

The Rich Became Poor

Think back for a minute to the manger scene. Though most have packed away their crèches, I know at least one person who keeps hers out all year long. Consider the manger that Mary placed baby Jesus in, inside a stable, probably a cave where they took shelter because there was no room in the inn. The donkey, Mary rode on to Bethlehem, and perhaps other animals were already there in the stable. There must have been hay or straw in the manger for the animals to eat, creating a soft bed for baby Jesus who was born there.

Jesus came to earth as a baby, born in such humble surroundings, to teach us the meaning of grace. The King came down to earth to be a human - that is how He was made poor. From His place on high with God, He came to earth to teach us about God's love and how we are to live and how we can be free of our sins. Jesus lived a sinless life so we could see how far from perfect we are. And how much we need a Savior. 

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich," (2 Corinthians 8:9 NIV).  

Grace, "God's free and unmerited favor for sinful humanity," as defined in my Bible dictionary, is given in the action of Jesus coming to earth as a sinless human. Who had the same temptations we have, only He never sinned. Then He took our sins to the cross and He was nailed there and left to die.

God's grace is ours to claim. Jesus, rich in majesty and power, came as a baby to live a human's life, yet with the power to save us, and He did. All we need to do is believe and trust in Him and we become rich.

Books

Books. I love to read books. Last year I read 26 books. That isn't the most I could do; I could read one book a week usually, if it isn't a long book. I'm being realistic. There is house work and cooking to do and I sleep at night. Through the Christmas season I started the book that is the basis for my Bible study group's study book. It has gone very slowly because it required more thinking.

There are so many books to read. It is overwhelming to think about. My first real job was at Waldenbooks. For five years I worked with the books we sold and became very familiar with titles and authors and I bought a lot of books at a discount. Only in the past two years have I started reading fiction. I was primarily a non-fiction reader before that. 

Most of my time was spent reading the Bible and that is what I still need to be reading the most of. The Bible is the best book for reading. I have read through the Bible in a year many times in many versions. Though some books of the Bible are hard to stay focused on, most of them are filled with insight and reminders of how I should live my life. And I need those reminders.

John concludes his first book in the Bible with the following. "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written," (John 21:25 NIV).

May we use the Bible to read and learn more about Jesus. Keeping the Word of God in our hearts and minds, makes us strong in our faith. 

The Perfect Arrangement

Every year I fill out my calendar with birthdays and anniversaries, doctor appointments and other things I need to remember. John always encourages me to put everything on my phone calendar but I still rely on my paper calendar the most. I have several things in January and a few other dates to remember throughout the year. Even though I can't know how 2023 will end, God knows. He has a complete plan for our lives. That is amazing.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you," (Jeremiah 29:11-12 NIV). 

Most often the above scripture is given with just verse 11. But when I read it again this morning I liked the second verse as well. It gives our part of the promise. We are to call upon God and pray to Him and He will listen to us. We can do that! We are to pray and God will listen. Easy peasy. Then why do we make it so hard?

I love that God has plans for us. That he gives us hope and a future. He knows what lies ahead and we don't need to know because we might try to change something, to have it turn out a different way. God knows not all of our life will go the way we might choose. But, He's got us. He is there for us. Even in our toughest times, God is there for us, helping us through. He is teaching us, helping us grow in our faith. It is the perfect arrangement.

May we all reach out to God today and let Him prosper us and give us hope and a future. Let us pray and listen to what God has to tell us today. It's the perfect arrangement for life.

Setting Goals

Happy New Year 2023! It still sounds a bit strange, yet we have been talking about it for months now. Traditionally, this is the time for making resolutions. I was never good about keeping resolutions so I quit making them a long time ago. I still set goals for myself but they aren't big, unrealistic goals. 

I want to read more books. I want to get back into the routine of exercising. I want to write letters and reconnect with some old friends. I want to appreciate my new friends. I want to dig in the dirt next spring. I want to lose five pounds and keep it off. I want to read the Bible everyday. I want to pray more.

It is good to challenge myself each new year and really consider what I want the year ahead to look like. One way that it will be better is that I have two hands to work with. It's been several years since I had full use of my right hand so that will be exciting. I want to make more noodles for the grandkids. 

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness," (Lamentations 3:21-23 NIV).

May your new year be filled with God's faithfulness every morning. Make goals. Have hope. God bless you.