For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies:
For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree, and flow'r,
Sun and moon, and stars of light:
For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child (spouse, aunts, uncles, nieces,
nephews, grandparents)
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild:
For Thy church that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Off'ring up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our sacrifice of praise.
--Folliott S. Pierpoint

And for His written word, which tells of His love and gifts and for the greatest gift, the Living Word who cane and died that we might have life and have it more abundantly....

"Thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (ICor. 15:57) To God be the glory!

"As Thy prospering hand hath blest, may we give Thee of our best
And by deeds of kindly love, for Thy mercies grateful prove."

Happy Thanksgiving!

So -- I'm watching television and all the people who are leaving their homes and don't know what if anything will be there when they return -- and I begin to look around my home thinking, "If I had to evacuate, what would I take and what could I leave?" And all the little trinkets and knick-knacks that I love to look at (but hate to dust!) suddenly don't look as important to me as they used to. Pictures for sure to take, and things that belonged to my mom or grandmother or John's family -- but no way the books could go, even my favorites. The teapots would have to stay... and I begin to realize how many of my belongings are just for pleasure ... and more thought-provoking, how much money I have spent on them. I've been trying to go through and clear out and edit, but I've hardly made a dent in all the "stuff". But maybe thinking about what I "need" and what I just enjoy will help me streamline more -- and buy less in future. One lesson learned from hurricanes....
A lesson on a higher level -- a reminder of the incredible power of nature -- and therefore, just a taste of the power of the Almighty God. How blessed we are that this power is exerted on our behalf and is available to us through prayer -- and how much these pictures should make us appreciate the verse "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Saturday as I was making our bed, I was pondering the cylical nature of housework. You make the bed, you sleep on it, you make the bed.... you cook the food, you wash the dishes, you cook.... and so on. You dust -- and you dust again. You do the laundry, fold the clothes, wear them, wash them.... And two ideas came into my mind....
First -- how blessed I am to have a bed to sleep on, with clean sheets, in my private bedroom in my nice house. How wonderful to get up and take a shower with soap and hot water, knowing I have clean clothes to put on, and then to go downstairs knowing I have food that I can cook and dishes to serve it and then again, soap and hot water to clean them and a refrigerator to store leftovers. And while I am enjoying all this, I have a reasonable assumption that no one is going to come in and try to take it away from me. This last week we have seen so many who have been deprived of anything like this.
And then, on a higher plane -- how often I have to ask God to "clean house" in my life -- sraightening out the same wrinkles, clearing away the same clutter, and yes, washing away the same soil and dirt. I am so thankful that He does not get tired of cleaning me up and starting me out refreshed and renewed. And if God does this for me, untiringly and lovingly, -- then to be like Him, I need to do the same thing for my family, untiringly and lovingly. And that puts the "housework" on a whole new footing.

At last -- something to blog about -- or about which to blog! Last night as I was sitting at my desk, suddenly everything seemed to jump, as if something heavy -- very, VERY heavy -- had been dropped just outside the window. And I thought to myself, "If I didn't know better, I'd think we had an earthquake. Probably somebody blasting somewhere." And I went nonchalantly on with my writing. Today, The Son (a.k.a JLManager) called and said, "Did you feel the earthquake last night?" And there really was one!
My last blog was apparently so bad that even Nature felt it had to do -- SOMETHING!

I have no news of worth, I have nothing exciting to report, but it is undoubtedly time to put up some new something. So-o-o, since I was recently accused by someone close to me of always finding a poem to quote....

A Tribute (?) to Pleonast and all you folks who keep me entertained with your frequent blogging....

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
Footprints that perhaps another
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
Some forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, may take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate.
Still acheiving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

While tempted to try a parody on Mr. Longfellow's lines, I'll leave that to you multi-creative folks! Enjoy your day!