Test of Faith

Yesterday was overwhelming. In a matter of hours the well stopped working, Grace's elbow swelled to the size of a tennis ball, and my father had to be admitted to the hospital. It was more than I could handle, not feeling well myself, so I had to put them all in God's hands.

Now, 24 hours later, I sit here in amazement at God's faithfulness. Dad has the best doctor he has ever had at the hospital, and appears to be recovering. Grace's vet saw us right away, and did not charge for the visit. Finally, the well is working again.

Praise God!

New Christmas Traditions

Christmas has always been an important time of the year in my family. We had many traditions that are now impossible, due to my father's poor health. So now, we have new Christmas traditions that we celebrate at my father's nursing home.

Each year the nursing home has a dinner to which all family members are invited. For the last three years, they have had a guest musician, who plays the clarinet, Andrew Kendle, with Suncoast Jazz Legends. His knowledge of music is amazing to me. He takes requests from the residents, and he always knows the tune. Dad's favorite instrument has always been the clarinet , so as soon as he hears the music he perks up, and starts moving in time to the music.

My father was always the primary photographer in the family. This year I gave him the digital camera to see if he could still use a camera. He has Parkinson's Disease and has trouble moving his hands. Here is a comparison of my photograph of him, and his photograph of me. I think he did the better job in spite of his physical limitations

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Great Fun at the Dog Park

The dogs thought it was a perfect day at the dog park. The temperature was around 50 degrees, the sun was shining, and some of their friends were there.

After saying hello, the fun began.



The Look



The Attack



Let's Wrestle




Our Friends: Tucker and his new sister

Getting Organized

Twice a year, a few months before planting season for the garden, I spend weeks going through books getting my garden plans together for the coming season. Even though the books are a great resource, and I am very thankful that the authors have taken the time to write them, they are not organized in the way that I think.

This year I am finally taking the time to get all the information together in a way that I can use it. Although I know this will save an amazing amount of time in the future, it is bottom-numbing work. I have found out how difficult it is for me to sit still for an extended period. I am so greatful that I don't have a desk job. I would never make it.

Life Long Learning

I started using a personal computer in 1988. I was one of the first of my friends to own a computer, and the first to have a web site. In 2000, I started taking care of my parents, and I no longer even had time to check my email, let alone keep up with the changes in technology. Today I decided to take a step back into web page development. It is amazing how much has changed in just a few years. The terms used were totally unfamiliar to me, and I had no idea how to write the code necessary to work in today's internet. It will take more time than I have available to learn this new skill.

Learning is a life-long process, but I can't help but think that the demands on my brain are greater than my grandmother's, and I have less to show for the effort. My grandmother never learned to drive a car, use a microwave oven, or a remote control, but her life was full and happy. She was always surrounded by friends and family, rather than sitting alone in front of a computer. Although technology has added much to my life, I feel that I have lost some of the blessings that my grandmother took for granted.

Vandals Say "NO" to Yes

I went outside this morning to find that the "Yes to Marriage" sign in my yard had been vandalized.

Is Joe Biden Correct?

October 20, 2208 The New York Post quoted Joe Biden speaking at a fundraiser:

“Mark my words,” Biden told donors at a Seattle fund-raiser Sunday night.

“It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America.

“Watch. We’re going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.

“And he’s going to need help . . . to stand with him. Because it’s not going to be apparent initially; it’s not going to be apparent that we’re right.”

McCain treated Biden’s comments as a gift while stumping across Missouri yesterday.

“The next president won’t have time to get used to the office. We face many challenges here at home and many enemies abroad in this dangerous world,” McCain said. “We don’t want a president who invites ‘testing’ from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting two wars.”

McCain said it was even “more troubling” that Biden suggested supporters stick by Obama if the actions he takes are wrong or unpopular.

“Senator Obama won’t have the right response, and we know that because we’ve seen the wrong response from him over and over during this campaign,” he said.

In the recent history of elections all over the free world, the election of a new leader has brought an attack within months. I pray that we are spared after this election, but we should all consider who we would want to be in charge if the worst should happen.

You Can Make the Difference

The presidential election is rapidly approaching. We have only two weeks until election day, and the McCain/Palin campaign needs volunteers. You don't even have to leave the house to volunteer. Check the campaign website for volunteer opportunities.
johnmccain.com

Purpose in Life

If we look for the purpose of life in ourselves, we will only find emptiness. Only in faithfulness and obedience to Christ can we find fulfillment. The Bible gives us the all that we need to know to find joy, peace and purpose.

In Titus, the Bible gives clear instruction for older adults:

Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Titus 2:2-5 NIV

Mary's Place

I spent the day at my friend Mary's home. She has a wonderful garden that has provided a plentiful harvest for her family.
















She also has chickens that provide eggs, and cows to provide milk.

God has blessed her family with a great place, but it all comes with a lot of work. I hear many people talk about how they would love to live a rural life, but these are frequently the same people who would rather go out to dinner than cook. I can't imagine them getting up at 5am to milk the cow.

Mary has earned my respect over the years. She moved to the country as a city slicker and has applied herself diligently to learn the skills necessary to give her family the life she dreamed of for them when they were living in the suburbs.

Will There be Enough Food?

I generally don't read the New York Times, but they had an article that I actually agree with that I would like for all of you to read.

The Food Issue
Farmer in Chief

The author discusses the way we have been poor stewards of the earth, and we will soon not be able to produce enough food to feed ourselves. As a result, the price of food will rapidly escalate.

The article is not all gloom and doom. The best thing about this article is that the author, Michael Pollan, makes numerous suggestions on how to have an impact.
1. Resolarize the farm
2. Reregionalizing the food system
3. Rebuilding America's food culture

In the article he suggests numerous ways that the government could change policies to improve the food production in the U.S., and which issues to contact our representatives for action.

Amazing Grace

Grace is my catahoula hound dog. I adopted her two years ago, and she is now between 5 and 8 years old. She had a very rough start in life as a bait dog for a dog fighting ring, but is one of the most amazing dogs I have ever owned.

Grace is gentle with children and other dogs. My other dog is deaf, and she acts as an assistance dog for him, letting him know that I am home, or that I am fixing their dinner. She loves to cuddle and is always obedient.

When she first came home she was not housebroken, and had severe separation anxiety (she ate through the door). But she has overcome her problems, and is now a happy well adjusted dog.

Recently she has started doing the most amazing thing. She is taking her toys and arranging them in like groups, even separating the different groups in different locations in the room.

Here she has placed all the long bones together in her kennel.
Then she took all her Nylabone Hercules toys into the other dog’s kennel. She obviously was not happy that I took this picture. I guess I interrupted her plan.

Chew Time

Twice a day my dogs and I have “chew time.” We all cuddle up on the dog bed and the dogs happily chew on their bones while I scratch ears and bellies. I read recently that the act of chewing produces endorphin like substances in dogs, so I thought the activity would be a great bonding experience for our little pack.

So now I have started my equivalent activity; a time at the computer to journal to reduce stress and bond with my readers.