wow I am bad at this blogging thing! I did more of it when i was sick than now that i am 'well'. and yes, i have had some after effects of the dag-nabbed pneumonia. chiefly fatigue, much much better now, but i have absolutely NO tolerance for humidity. never have had much, but it is worse this summer. and of course the ragweed is bad now too. we have been running the AC for several days straight now. it cools off outside at night, but the pollen and humidity never let up. i was sleeping so badly for so long, soon as we had the house closed up and AC on, i slept!

Friends

I have been lazy about keeping up my blog. There are things on my mind to say here, but i am challenged at sitting down and actually DOING something about it! it may be that i am mostly focusing on my work. I have a preaching gig out of town Aug 2, preaching at our church Aug 16 and a wedding in between!

Preaching this Sunday on friendship. the text is Mark 2:1-5:
¹ A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

I adore this story. The friends are SO very determined to get their pal to Jesus that they dig thru the roof! (Probably a flat thatched roof) My sermon will focus on true friendship, especially caring for one another, having compassion...all that good stuff that church is SUPPOSED to be....

Well HUMPH!! The news keeps saying the recession is better. Well I just stopped at my fave coffee shop, It is locally owned, not a franchise. the shop will be closing next week. And going thru my mail, one of the magazines I subscribe to is ceasing operations. I don't know whether to throw something or start crying.

book

Got a new book that I am loving with a Capital L. Prayers That Avail Much, the 25th anniversary edition. there are prayers for any occasion. For pastors, lay people, anyone who wants to pray better (and who doesn't?!) Every prayer is based on Scripture, with the Bible references listed at the end of the page for you to look up. I highly recommend! and no, i am not related to nor do I work for the publisher, the author, amazon.com or anyone else connected to this book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1577949242/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

Favorite

A friend, Pastor Karen, and I do weekly worship services at a nursing home. So many times as we are about to read the Bible passage for the day, one of us says, "Oh this is my favorite Scripture!" We have MANY favorites! I have finally come to the realization that my favorite Bible passage is whichever one I am reading right now!
So here is my current fave:

Isaiah 55:1-2 and 8-13
¹ "Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

² Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

...

⁸ "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

⁹ "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

¹² You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

¹³ Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD's renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed."

This passage is so beautiful and says so much. God speaks to each of us individually, and to all of creation! God speaks thru the Word, the Bible. And also thru the Word, Jesus Christ. (John chapter 1)

God's Word, (both the scriptures and Christ) will accomplish everything that has been promised. The Bible will speak to people. Prophecies will be fulfilled, the children of God will all turn towards God and worship. (Every knee will bow --Isaiah 45:23 and Romans 14:11)

When all of God's children have come home, have come to Christ, then ALL of creation will celebrate and worship! The trees will applaud, the mountains will sing, evergreen plants will replace thorny bushes. What an image! All of creation celebrating, all of creation being in the perfect harmony that we were designed for.

pneumonia continued

I am (hopefully) over the pneumonia, the active infection anyway. but i have NO energy. and, yes, I am grumpy about it! Been reading a LOT. lots of sudoku puzzles. have made a few notes on topics, but not done any real writing. Watching an awful lot of tv. Cable reruns of WKRP and other oldies, and i adore watching Cash Cab on Discovery. and a few Seinfeld episodes. And movies, the Natural and a League of Their Own, 2 of my faves.

I was VERY sick. Probably a whisker away from being hospitalized, and actually, maybe should have been. the next day after diagnosis, i was awfully short of breath. But now, 2 weeks later, i am rarely short of breath, even yesterday at church, singing. but i am soooooooooo tired! (whine)

(2 1/2 weeks later, I still tire more easily than I think I should, but I am definitely better! Patience...with myself. not in my skill set!)

pneumonia

well the cold/cough thing just kept getting worse, went to urgent care Sat AM. I have pneumonia in both lungs! and a sinus infection. got antibiotics and cough RX. i am weak as a newborn kitten. will not be doing much for a while, that is for sure. Decided i need to read some nice fiction for a change, so am reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. a bit 'dark' for my usual taste (that's sci fi for ya) I SO adore really good writing.

it is spring, the trees are blooming. It is a lovely weekend. I am going to have Martin take me for rides once in a while, till i am back on my feet. there is one block downtown that has a whole row of about 8 crabapple trees that are just breathtaking in the spring.

grumble.....woke up with a sore throat and laryngitis. very bad for a pastor to not have a voice. very bad for a gal who loves to laugh to not have a voice! So I am taking it easy today. With any luck I can take it easy for a few days. Got another full weekend, including preaching on Sunday. So I NEED to get better! years ago i worked thru a couple bouts of this and ever since then, my voice gets raspy at the slightest provocation. i'm afraid i may have slightly damaged my vocal cords. So now i baby myself when this happens.

This past weekend we renewed our wedding vows. Several couples did, as part of our church anniversary celebration. It was lovely. We gals were pretty glamorous! A couple of us were wishing we could duplicate the look, including professionally styled hair, on Sunday too! Then Martin and I went out for dinner and had a great meal. (i had filet mignon and triple chocolate cake for dessert, thank you very much) It was a bit pricey, but hey we only do this every 32 years!

Mercy

Bible study on mercy went great. wonderful discussion on forgiveness -need to add to next draft-does the bible say we must forgive, do other religions say to forgive, (yes and yes)
Jesus said "Father forgive them" (we can ask God to forgive if we can not right at that moment)

also ideas about mercy in every day life. being kind, do unto others etc. and not using sarcastic, mean spirited humor, (GIGO Garbage in, garbage out)

i am working on a Bible study for Thursday evening, on "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Matthew 5:7
a year and a half ago or so, I gave a pretty good sermon on forgiveness. but, it is one of the things that i lost when my old desktop computer died. :( I am just sick about it. i spent a lot of time on that sermon, and i hate to have to reinvent the wheel so to speak for this Bible study. I also have to put together my piece for the monthly newsletter. Guess i need to suck it up and get on with the writing!
P.S. I did get that sermon eventually-my genius sons got the hard drive out of the old computer and found it!

yummy

I am sipping my second mugful of coffee this morning. I added a splash of chocolate milk, and some hazelnut flavoring. mmmmmmm. Chocolate and hazelnut make the most extraordinary coffee.

Affirming one another

Yesterday, I presented a session at our WCA annual meeting on Congregational Care. The main point was that everyone...let me repeat that, EVERYONE, needs someone to listen and to affirm our feelings. People in a church setting, pastors and not, can always help out another by listening to what they have to say, without making a judgment. And by honoring their feelings. "you sound really (insert feeling here)" is all you have to say. "Thank you for sharing" As i told folks, there will be times when you want to scream "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?" but if we are practicing good care of one another we will not. much later, maybe, if asked for advice, we may say 'perhaps you want to consider the consequences..." or some such. but the crux of the matter is we need to listen and affirm. And each of us needs someone to listen and affirm as well. Especially if we are in a position of being the listener for many others.

thank you for listening to me today :)

Bible reading

This morning's Bible reading
Psalm 62:5-8 (NRSV)

For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. [Selah]

what a beautiful passage! and how true. people sooner or later WILL let us down. we will let someone else down. only God is ever present, ever loving, ever faithful.