He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:29-31
What I hope to see in a couple of weeks when we travel to Austin!
For over a month now, I have been attending a Messianic congregation in our area! I absolutely LOVE it because it, of course, is a mix of our Jewish foundation, and the knowledge and teaching of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Last week the pastor/rabbi began a series on the Gospel of John which he estimates will take about a year and a half to cover. It is my hope to attend every Saturday, although I know there will always be circumstances that won't allow, but I'm still going to aim for that! The above is a word cloud of the main words from the Gospel of John, which I think is really cool. You notice the biggest words are the ones that are repeated in the Gospel most often. Believe! Know! Disciple!
Spring begins on the March or vernal equinox, which is when the amount of sunshine is approximately 12 hours long. The amount of sunlight will incrementally increase until the first day of Summer.
The vernal equinox marks the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator. This is the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator, from south to north. This happens on March 19, 20 or 21 every year in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, this same event marks the beginning of fall. Meteorologists actually mark the spring from March 1 through May 31st.
In 2016, spring arrived a little earlier due to it being a leap year. On Leap Day, there’s a little math lesson regarding the Gregorian calendar. To keep our calendar following the seasons so that spring happens when flowers grow and winter arrives when snow falls, an additional day was figured into years divisible by the number four. This has caused the 2016 spring to occur earlier than any living human being alive had ever seen. Before 2016, the earliest spring on record took place in 1896.
Get ready for longer days and increased sunshine. Tune up the lawn mower. More sunshine means the grass will be growing. Use #SpringBegins to post on social media.
HISTORY
Human beings have been following the sun and creating a calendar based on seasons since the beginning of time.
1. The first spring flowers are usually daffodils, dandelions, lilies, tulips, iris. and lilacs. Which one of those choices is your favorite?
I’m going with tulips, then iris a close second, and daffodils third. Have you seen any yet? No, only in pictures. I’m ready to see some.
But I know Spring has arrived when I see these bursting out around the neighborhood!
I wish they stayed in bloom longer.
2. What is your least favorite thing about spring?
Seeing the weeds pop out first and then the bugs!
3. Okay, what puts a spring in your step?
Getting good reports from doctors does seem to cause a spring in your step when you sometimes feel you have been dragging a bit dealing with stuff.
4. What is your favorite springtime song?
It has to be A Beautiful Morning by the Rascals.
5. What really says spring to you?
Stepping outside and the sun feels sweet as a gentle kiss … there’s no wind ... the air just seems to caress you with that feeling of perfection in the great outdoors. No mosquitos yet, the sun won’t burn, the wind is kind, and the air smells sweet. Everybody comes out to walk, ride bikes, visits with neighbors!
6. Tell us something random about your week.
Pretty much the usual routine. Bible studies, dinner with friends, breakfast on Wednesday with the guys, preschool tomorrow evening. I like routine. I have it on my calendar this week to attend a meeting about fostering children ... not that I will foster, but there are ways for us to help those who do foster.
Well, the bad news last week when I took DH to the dentist for teeth cleaning, was that his pulse rate and blood pressure were extreme! They were hesitant to complete the work, but after getting the cardiologist on the phone and the dentist keeping constant check as they did their work, the numbers went back to normal. Although we attributed the high numbers to anxiety and exerting himself walking from the car to the office, I decided I better get him in with the cardiologist.
On Monday morning, we already had an appointment with his neurologist so the cardiologist worked him in first thing this morning in time for us to make it over to the neurologist's office. (Good news.) I am sooooooo thankful they scheduled him prior to the neurologist because an ECG revealed he was in Afib, (Bad news) which is not good and which we had suspected last week.
And I am giving thanks that we met the cardiologist prior to the neurologist as she has been wanting to put DH on a new medication which DOES NOT work with meds for Afib! Yay! High Five! We dodged the bullet on that one!
The cardiologist will be scheduling him for a test to make sure no blood clots are present and then will be doing the electroshock treatment for the Afib. (Well, that's bad news/good news as nobody wants to have to do that and yet, you certainly don't want to be in Afib.
So this morning singing praises to our Father for the blessings and the timing of all these events and trusting the Afib will be taken care of very soon.
In between appointments, we stopped for a quick breakfast and there would be no Mickey D EggMcMuffin and no biscuits and gravy (bad news) as we were warned again about the salt intake! Here is a photo of our lovely breakfast (good news)!
All this fruit and a blueberry muffin!
A great way to kill time between appointments!
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
Psalm 103:1-2 NLT
And, OH. MY. GOODNESS!!! How could I forget the good news from the neurologist????? In testing him this morning, she said his memory skills have actually improved from last year and that, my friends, is a very rare thing to happen, according to the expert neurologist!! Now that is what I call a huge piece of really good news!! It brings tears to my eyes!
Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!
1) Are you of Irish descent?
Aye, I have just a wee bit of Irish mixed with me British background.
2) Legend has it that the heroine of this week's Irish ballad was a real lass. 17th century birth and burial records confirm that a woman with that name lived in Dublin. Can you think of another song about a real historic figure?
The first one that came to mind was not a person, but was a real historic figure - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot.
3) Molly sold fish from a cart that she wheeled through the streets. What's the last seafood you ate?
Grilled whitefish on the lighter side at Cheddar’s.
4) The lyrics tell us that, after her death, her ghost continues to wander the streets of Dublin with her wheel barrow. Do you believe in ghosts? No.
5) This week's featured band, The Dubliners, are obviously from Dublin. They were introduced to American audiences on The Ed Sullivan Show. Today, Stephen Colbert tapes his show in The Ed Sullivan Theater. Who hosted the last talk show you watched? I don’t watch any talk shows.
6) Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick's Day dish. Is it a favorite of yours? No, I tried it once.
7) According to Irish legend, leprechauns earned the gold in the pot they guard by repairing shoes. Crazy Sam can't remember the last time she got a pair of shoes repaired. When the heels wear away, she discards the shoes and buys new ones. What about you? Do you get your shoes fixed (either by leprechauns or just by ordinary repairmen)? A few years ago I had a black pair of Clark’s that were especially comfortable, so much that I bought a brown pair just like them. The black pair wore down, but the shoe still looked so nice that I had the heel fixed. That may be the only time in the last 45 years I have had a pair repaired.
I always loved the story about the shoemaker and the little elves.
8) Do you look good in green, the signature color of St. Patrick's Day? It depends on the shade of green, more like forest green or Kelly green.
9) Random question: Did you more recently sneeze or cough?
I have been sneezing like crazy. I’m wondering if I am allergic to our dog. 😢 and I never sneeze just once. And I am a very loud, put your whole body into it and blow down the house kind of sneezer!
Now I am very aware that this is Thursday, but back on Monday, I was having a very Blue Monday. Couldn’t put my finger on exactly why, but I do have my suspicions, which I won’t go into. Just the blahs, down in the dumps!
In truth, Mondays and rain have never been a problem for me!
I didn’t really feel like it, but went ahead to the Memory Support group scheduled that day, and I’m so glad I did.
The speaker was from a ministry called Mind Heart Soul out of Saddleback Church in California in conjunction with Silverado Memory Care. His ministry to us on Monday was very upbeat and positive, greatly encouraging, even some funny stories. Here are a few of my notes from the tips he shared. Now most of these I already know and do, but it never hurts to be reminded, does it? (And because he was a pretty fast talker, some of my notes below may not make sense, but they do to me and so I want to save them here. I suppose I could clean up the list a bit but hey, if Meghan Markle can have a messy bun, I can have a messy blog!)
Ask God for direction of what I can do with what I have to help somebody else.
It’s all about the way I handle my circumstances in light of eternity and not how it affects me, but rather how it can benefit others.
Don’t be afraid. Think of more than yourself.
My time is not wasted. It’s being used. God uses the ugliness we are in. We are here to help others be connected to God.
There is a reason my DH is going through this.
God is changing me with this. (This was something I actually discovered as I watched DH go through this with his mom many years ago. As a friend of mine wondered why God allowed this to happen, it was my belief that God was working in DH as he showed great compassion and love to his mother. It was having a great effect not only on him, but his children (and me) were seeing the example of him as he cared for her.)
Dementia responds to joy ... happiness ... smiling. Not negative emotions like anger and depression or sadness.
Find a place to use your gifts.
You can’t live life without a purpose.
There is hope.
Focus on how to survive and be there for them. Get the stress off. All we have to do is get through the day.
Pray.
God will make the changes happen.
Walk by faith. Not by sight. Not in fear. Not in doubts.
This is to help me change.
I was having a blue Monday, but I felt so much better and uplifted in my spirit as I came home. God will make what I do work out ... As we go through these things, we need to encourage others ...We all need each other … Give grace ... Others think and respond differently than we do … Stop criticizing ...Stick to my convictions.
God isn’t surprised.
It’s part of our story and we have to trust. He will be there. Use the journey for others.
I believe Elizabeth Elliott wrote the following for mothers,
