Thursday Thoughts And Friday

Thursday, May 12

Convincing myself to get up is a continual battle.  I feel great when I do, getting coffee and dressing- sort of gives me a little boost.  Anyone know if juices, particularly OJ is a diuretic?  I am trying to find a job.  I worked hard on applications last night.  I want to do in-home care, but have applied to Walmart and Petco.  Walmart will help me with the lack of work in the past 3 years, and my learning disabilities.  Also, working with disabled people is right up my ally.  That is what I did for 11 years with the School District.  Now I just need to go and check on the progress- need encouragement.  

I have made Thursdays my "fling and toss" or "Boogie" (depending on how you like to phrase it) day.  Today I plan on doing the cabinet under the sink in the kitchen.  It is so filled with junk, I may need 2 days.  Same goes for the car.  I hop to get a start on it- Or should I have the kids do it and pay them?  (Update:  I did the sink in about a half hour and the car was done on Friday, except details)  Here is my results on my microwave.  

Totally cool results wouldn't you agree?

Since this is errand day, I didn't really have any, so I ate a frog.  Here is my cabinet before and after;

Pretty icky.  There was muck under the garbage can from icky garbage, and under all the stuff on the right, due to dish soap spilling!

Well, pretty good, if you ask me!

Putting others before yourself

¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a  One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. ² There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. ³ Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” ⁴ But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.

 ⁵ Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child^[a] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” ⁶ And they had nothing to say.

 ⁷ When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹ If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. ¹¹ For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

My Thoughts

seating arrangements corresponded to the host's assessment of his guests.  Seating the hierarchical guests at the head of the table.   The purpose to this parable was to point out that the seating of the banquet, although the pharisees may be of "upper crust" compared to the other guests behind them, they should give their seat to those seated lower.  Also, He says that when you put on your own banquet, we should not invite just those we are comfortable with, fellowshipping with people who are of the same belief system as ourselves.  We should be inviting those who don't know Him, or that are drunks, homeless, and people living lifestyles that are not appropriate.  I am reminded of a story:

The Love of Jesus Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at their church, the Pastor and his 11-year-old son would go out into their town and hand out Gospel tracts. This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his son to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside as well as pouring down rain. The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said "Okay Dad, I'm ready." His Pastor Dad asked, "Ready for what? "Dad, it's time we gather our tracts together and go out." Dad responds, "Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring down rain." The boy gives his Dad a surprised look, asking, "But Dad, aren't people still going to Hell, even though it's raining?" Dad answers, "Son, I am not going out in this weather." Despondently the boy asks, "Dad, can I go -- Please?" His father hesitated for a moment then said, "Son, you can go. Here's the tracts; be careful son." "Thanks, Dad!" And with that he was off and out into the rain. This 11-year-old boy walked the streets of the town going door-to-door and handing everybody he met in the street a Gospel tract. After 2-hours of walking in the rain he was soaking bone-chilled wet and down to his very last tract. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a tract to but the streets were totally deserted. Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell -- but nobody answered. He rang it again and again bit still no one answered. He waited but still no answer. Finally this 11-year-old trooper turned to leave but something stopped him. Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch. He rang again, and this time the door slowly opened. Standing in the doorway was a very sad looking elderly lady. She softly asked, "What can I do for you, son?" With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy said, "Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU! I came to give you my very last Gospel tract which will tell you all about Jesus and His great love." With that he handed her his last tract, and turned to leave. She called to him as he departed, "Thank you, son! And God bless you!" Well, the following Sunday morning in church, Pastor Dad was in the pulpit and as the service began he asked, "Does anybody have a testimony or want to say anything?" Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to her feet. As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her face. "None of you in this church know me. I've never been here before. You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband has passed on, some time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday, being a particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart as I came to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will to live. "So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. "Standing on that chair, so lonely and brokenhearted, I was about to leap off when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought, 'I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.' "I waited and waited -- but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more insistent and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly. I thought to myself again, 'Who on earth could this be?! Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me!' "I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder. When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes! "There on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life! His smile! Oh, I could never describe it to you! And the words that came from his mouth caused my heart, that had long been dead, to leap to life as he exclaimed with cherub-like voice, 'Ma'am, I just came to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU.' "Then he gave me this Gospel tract that I now hold in my hand. As the little angel disappeared back out, into the cold and rain, I closed my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel tract. Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them any more. "You see, I am now a happy child of the KING, and since the address of your church was on the back of this Gospel tract I have come here to personally say, 'Thank you to God's little angel who came just in the nick of time, and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in Hell.'" There were now no dry eyes in the church. As shouts of praise and honor to the KING resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was seated. He took him in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Probably no church has had a more glorious moment and probably this Universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love and honor for his son, except for one: This Father, God, also allowed His Son, Jesus, to go out into a cold and dark world. He received His Son back with joy unspeakable, and as all of Heaven shouted praises and honor to the King, the Father sat His beloved Son on a throne far above all principality and power and every name that is named. There may be someone, reading this, who is also going through a dark, cold and lonely time in your soul. You may be a Christian, for we are not without problems, or you may not yet know the King. Whatever the case, and whatever the problem or situation you find yourself in, and no matter how dark it may seem, I want you to know that I just came to tell you, "JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU!"

So, get out of your comfort zone today.  As you are running your errands (yes this is beyond the day, but it still applies)- say hi to someone and give them a quick smile,  You will be surprised at how good it makes you feel! Now just pray that I can go tackle my car- you have NO idea! Friday, May, 13; Morning routine; I am on autopilot.  I keep trying to check my list, you know I love lists!  Well when I do I am already done!  I get a zone done quickly too.  What I love- Getting done before DH gets up in the morning!  Sometimes I feel unproductive when I get done early in the am and don't do anything the rest of the day.  I could tackle some frog-eating (man that phrase brings up an image I don't like)  I have so many that is like the plague of the frogs around here. Well, I got the car done. My challenge to you This video was shot in my home town, Salem, Oregon.  I feel close to it, so I think I am going to do it.  After you watch the video, then scroll down to see my challenge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWE4zAlEbK8&sns=fb I have a challenge that I believe, whatever your faith, or no faith at all; we can all do this.  We can all go down to the place that we see homeless people and just talk to them.  What a wonderful thing to do.  Just a simple hello or see how they are.  That is all they want.  I plan on taking these names and finding them.  Asking them to share their friends with me.  I even would like to take my kids (more likely my DS11)  and doing what these kids did.  Good for them! God Bless your day! Amy