Simple

For Today
Tuesday, February 23rd

Outside my window... black, black, and more black! It's 5:30am and there's no evidence of the morning yet. But I am reminded to be grateful for the assurance that as I sit and write the day will arrive, the sun will rise, and the birds will sing.

I am thankful... that God holds all things together and is faithful to send the sun each morning across the sky like a strong man running his course for joy, like a bridegroom leaving his chamber.

I am thinking... of Mary's question yesterday as we were driving home from school that was basically about euthanasia, about why if someone is in pain with a terminal illness we don't just end the suffering for them. (This might seem a startling question for a ten-year-old, but it comes from two things: one - some friends had to put down their beloved 15-year-old golden retriever Sunday because he could no longer stand up and two - another family friend is walking through terminal cancer.) What an opportunity to talk to her about the sanctity and holiness of life, of the value of it in God's eyes even when the world sees it as worthless, of the dangers of becoming like God and deciding whose life is worth living and whose is not. I'm looking forward to some follow up discussions as she's had time to digest yesterday's conversation.

I am pondering.... how fleeting our lives are here on Earth after reading Psalm 90 this morning:

You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.

Teach me to number my days, Lord. How appropriate after Mary's question above!

I am creating... two things for friends. 1) Some art remembrance journals one friend wants to create for her granddaughter and 2) a blog header for a new book club another friend is starting.

I am remembering... my grandmothers today. Last night Ellen curled up in the bed with me and we talked for about an hour. I told her about both my grandmothers, her great-grandmothers, one of whom she is named after. (The one she's NOT named after was Effie Eulene. As much as I would have liked to have some part of her name carried on with my girls, I just couldn't do it to them. Ellen thinks Buriece is bad enough to carry even as a middle name, but I think it is beautiful.) It was good to remember them and to try to make sure their memories are given to the next generation. They were both interesting women, strong in the face of adversity. I wish I knew more. I wish they had lived longer. At least one of them I know I will see again in Heaven.

I am reading... the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament and Numbers in the Old plus a Psalms here and there (Life Journal). Also, started reading Alas, Babylon and am captured by it. I had to stop listening to The School of Essential Ingredients. Just didn't like it. So, I started listening to The Blood of Flowers and I think it will definitely keep my attention.

I am hoping... to get my rear end in gear and start walking again. The weather's a-changing! It's time to get moving!

I am hearing... my dog Molly snore as she lays on the stool at my feet and my dog Sadie dream-barking in her sleep as she lays wedged between me and the arm of my chair. Love my puppies!

From the kitchen... the corn casserole turned out to be a big hit as did this curried chicken soup.

One of my favorite things... long, hot showers.

A few plans for the rest of the week... work, another art date with a friend one night this week, church book club Friday night, and a visit to a friend in Charlotte hopefully on Saturday. Hooray!

From my picture journal... I was going through old photos yesterday and came across this one I took of a group of friends that used to meet for breakfast every Wednesday morning for years. (I'm not in the picture, but was standing on a chair taking it!) This was a good season of life, a time when we all needed a place to gather once a week to drink coffee, eat breakfast, and just share our joys and sorrows. Sometimes there would only be two of us there and sometimes as many as ten. I'm thankful for that time and for each of the women that were part of it. We're all in such different places and seasons now. It makes me sad, but grateful to have had the experience. And grateful for old friends and new!

For more "Simple" entries, go to The Simple Woman's Daybook. Blessings, bloggy friends!