Praying For...Since I don't do grandchild of the week during December, I pray for them and my children as a group...I ask health, happiness, safety, security, peace, plenty, prosperity, vision, courage, faith in and loyalty to Jesus Christ. I beg that they may be blessed with gospel strong friends and a desire to embrace the good life that living the gospel brings. I plead that they will choose that better part and focus on the building their families in Christ. I hope their burdens and trials will feel light, that they will be of good cheer, and that joy will fill their souls. These things can be reality IF they put trust in the Lord and follow His ways even if they face trials and tribulation. I pray for peace on Earth and good will between all men.
Jesus Word...We left early yesterday morning, so I never put up my Christmas Advent Scriptures. The following is for two days. "And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men," Luke 2:12-14. WooHoo! The Messiah again!
Cucina Fresca...This has happened to me before. When I eat tons of greens and fruit, my eyes loose the brown. Right now they are a blue/grey with a tiny bit of brown around the center. Weird! Most of my life my hazel eyes have been almost entirely brown. I can't say I've ever loved navel oranges before, but the ones on my tree taste almost like orange sherbet. Eating spinach and orange smoothies for breakfast, lentils and sprout/lemon/orange salad for lunch, and beans/grains/kale for dinner with an orange cut like a grapefruit, I feel so light and happy. Then yesterday I ate out and was sick until morning. Gratitude fills my heart that the oil that gave me such trouble last night wasn't soy, or my throat would have closed up in addition to all the other undesirable symptoms. Uuuuugh. To me yummy taste is NOT worth hours or days or a lifetime of pain and suffering. Some people close to me don't agree, which boggles my mind. The other day a couple ladies came over to visit. During the visit, they asked for some of my citrus. Surely, they said, you can't eat it all. I indicated that I could but would still share. I really didn't want to give any away, it's so yummy and they aren't exactly too poor to buy their own oranges and lemons. We plan to use it up before heading up for tax season. What we don't eat here, we'll take.
Bibliophilia...read Secret Daughter and The Whispering Season this week. Both were interesting and enjoyable. I highly recommend them. I also started Royal Road to Fotheringhay about the life of Mary Stuart. She had a privileged life but was brought up a pawn for political intrigue and gain. Life was cheap in those days and seems to be returning to that low level. What a horrible story! History is hard to stomach but so important to understand. Enjoying the free classes given by Hillside College and looking forward to others I plan to take with BYUI soon.
Family History...so enjoying the ability to work on this from the comfort of my own home. Actually, anywhere I can use wifi with my laptop, I can do genealogy. With ancestry and family search, my lines are combining with others. Some go back 20 or more generations now. Some of those people I can learn about in history books. Before delving into their lives, it was exciting to learn that kings and queens are my direct ancestors (not the back door illegitimates intimated by family legend). Being a student of history for academic pleasure is entirely different than reading it to learn about one's grandparents. What horrors! But I suppose I can't judge them by today's standards. Life was different....but the commandments have always been the same...murder, stealing, and immoralities of all sorts are forbidden. Glad I'm not the judge.
Movement...with the rain, my walks have been hit and miss. However, all the other things help on house confinement days. The rain also brings out sore joints, but arthritis is not nearly as bad as it was years ago. Eating a diet free of allergens, I've experienced a huge difference with inflammation of all sorts. Add in the foam rolling, stretching, and strength exercises, and I don't often have much trouble. At least it's not debilitating as it once was.
Garden Gate...the darn rabbits ate my gogi berry bushes down to the dirt. Cotton tails are so cute, but I can't stand them. Really, it's my fault for not putting hardware cloth around them. I guess I'll buy some more gogi bushes on the way home from buying hardware cloth.
