How do you pray for the increase of God's love?

May God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus make it possible for us to come to you very soon. And may the Lord make your love grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else, just as our love overflows toward you. As a result, Christ will make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy when you stand before God our Father on that day when our Lord Jesus comes with all those who belong to him.

1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 NLT

A prayer for love

When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, his love and concern for them were apparent in every word. When he prayed for them, he asked the Lord to make their love for one another overflow. Paul prayed that the Thessalonian church might become a loving, supporting community of faith. The strong, silent, loner Christian didn't fit into Paul's understanding of how God works among his people.

Each of us needs each other. God uses other believers to strengthen us and make us holy. As you pray for strength to be faithful to God, you should expect his answer to come through those believers who worship every Sunday with you. Likewise, you should earnestly pray that God might use you to strengthen other believers.

Prayer for today:

O God, help my love to grow and overflow to other believers…

from The One Year Book of Bible Prayers edited by Bruce Barton, Tyndale House Publishers (2000), entry for February 12

It's raining.. I knew it before I rolled out of bed. Charlie's chickens were waiting for me and I knew I had to get up and moving. Ugh.. it's wet and smelly in the chicken coup.. I took some newspaper out to lay on the floor so my feet wouldn't get mucky. I'm amazed that the layer boxes are dry. Wednesday I collected 16 eggs and marveled over it. Yesterday I collected a bucket full of eggs.. 35 of them! I took them inside Charlie's place and scrubbed them and placed them carefully in egg boxes and directly into the refrigerator.
I'm hoping to make it till Charlie gets home Saturday. I'm allergic to molds, fungus, etc.. and the chicken coop is loaded I'm certain, judging from my asthma exacerbation. Today I'm wheezing.


Inspection on our car fell due this month. We took the car to have the sticker applied, and were shocked to find that our 'struts' were virtually non-existant, the 'sway bars' (never heard of that) were both damaged beyond recognition, and I needed front brakes, as they were worn nearly to metal. The car is 8 yr old and has nearly 90,000 miles on it. We have the original everything. Never needed brakes replaced or anything else. We have bought tires for it every 2 years, and changed the oil and filters.. but no other maintenence in all that time. We were due to be hit. I was just hoping it wouldn't be THIS inspection. The bill was astronomical when one considers our meager income.. might as well be the national debt. Next Monday they will cash the check when my pension is deposited. I'm so thankful for that pension. They were kind enough to let me take the car home last night.

Who is "the least" in your life?

I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it for me!

Matthew 25:40 NLT

Loving the Least

I remember a poster on a dorm-room wall during my days in college. The poster was a picture of a homeless man lying in a dirty gutter holding a bottle in a paper bag by his side. The inscription on the bottom was a quote from Mother Teresa. It read, "You love Jesus only as much as the person you love the least."

For all we don't understand about the life of Jesus and the true nature of God, there is one truth that he made completely clear. The Christian faith is about service and humility. It's about helping those who can't help themselves. It's about loving others more than we love ourselves—even the most unlovable among us.

What is the sign of true followers? Is it the amount of knowledge that we have? Is it the money we give to missions? the degrees we've earned? the number of people we've preached to? the hours we've spent worshiping in church? the books we've read or written?

According to Jesus, the sign of the saved is their love for the least.

It is said that when Francis of Assisi left his wealth behind to seek God, he stripped naked and walked out of the city. The first person he encountered on his journey was a leper on the side of the road. He first passed him, then turned back. He embraced the leper in his arms before continuing his journey. A few steps down the road he turned and saw that the leper was gone. Until his dying day, Francis of Assisi was convinced that the leper was Jesus. Even if he was wrong, he was right.

adapted from Embracing Eternity by Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins and Frank M. Martin,, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), p 3

start and stop

4 degrees.. brrrrrr! that's cold! But that's the temperature right now. Maybe the groundhog...nah, he was wrong. Today is forecast at 30 and tomorrow at 45.. we are going up.
Today is office day.. remember to pray for us.. patients as well as me. We rely on you.
Nothing much happening here.. just another quiet day hopefully..

another round of winter

What's this? Yet another advisory.. Yesterday we got approximately 3 1/2" of snow, but today we are forecast to have 3-6" .. and the advisory is lifted at 1pm.. that means we are in for another round of winter and it's gonna hit hard and heavy and now.. I better go look outside...back in a moment....

Oh... there's about 4 inches of new stuff.. sigh.....

Wendell took a spill this morning.. fell off the porch. He's okay. That snow is soft thankfully. He didn't hit the porch but the snow beside it.

I decided to go outside to assess the snow damages for the morning. The snow is very heavy (moist).. it's hard to brush off my car. The roof of the car held 3" of new snow.. and it was coming down and covering the whole car as fast as I could brush it off... alas! I got one side cleared, but by the time I got the other side cleared, the first side had another layer of the stuff!!! Now, that's frustrating.

I'm not in church today.. I do wish spring would appear soon.. and the snow would just go away.
We got better than an inch of snow this morning.. it's still coming down..the car is encased in it. I have slept poorly.
Pretty lousy excuses when it comes right down to it.. especially since our pastor spends time preparing a message for us to feed us for the week. I always think of that when I miss church. It's only 1 hour of my week.. and shamefully, I'm not there because of my wimpiness. I don't remember my parents being like this.. they made the effort no matter what the weather.. of course, Mum didn't drive later on in her years and depended on either Charlie or us to get her to church.
But she was always dressed and ready to go on time.

How can God be in charge when some rulers are such tyrants?

The king's heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he turns it wherever he pleases.
Proverbs 21:1 NLT

God's authority
God rules his creation. Nothing is outside his authority—not even the leaders of the nations and kingdoms of this world.
No person is placed in a position of power outside of God's will.
This can be a great comfort when we see leaders take over in various places, especially leaders with whom we do not agree.

So what does this mean for the cruel tyrants of the world?
It means that they too are under God's authority.
Satan may author their evil acts, but their wrongdoing can only occur within the boundaries God sets.
Why those boundaries are where they are for some nations is a question only God can answer.
But we can rest assured that no power is in authority outside of God's plan. God always accomplishes his will, even through the most wicked leaders. God is always the final authority.

How will you pray today for the leaders of your country, as well as for leaders around the world?

Today, Lord, may I trust that you are the sovereign authority over all that happens in my nation. May I trust you, even as I work on your behalf.

adapted from The One Year Book of Proverbs by Neil S. Wilson, Tyndale House Publishers (2002), entry for February 21

It's snowing. I just looked out and we have about an inch of new snow. UGH. This is not what I expected tonite. I do hope it'll be gone in the morning, but according to the weather report, the high will be 25 today (Sabbath). Not good.
I'll be so glad when spring arrives for sure!

Romans 8:31-39

If God is for us, who can be against us?
32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
36As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

O God, declare [my enemies] guilty. Let them be caught in their own traps.
Drive them away because of their many sins, for they rebel against you.
Psalm 5:10 NLT

A refuge to rejoice
Things didn't look good for Martin Luther when he was summoned to Augsburg in late October 1518.
He was being charged with heresy.
Up to this point Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony, had protected Luther from the church authorities, but now the prince was under pressure to withdraw his protection.
It seemed only a matter of time before he would.
In Augsburg, Luther was asked, "If the elector of Saxony abandons you, where will you find shelter?"
The Reformer responded, "Under the shelter of heaven."

In the last part of Psalm 5, we find that David, like Luther, trusted in the Lord to rescue him from his enemies.
Did the psalmist escape from the trap? We don't know, but the psalm closes with "joyful praises," because David knew that he was now surrounded by God's protection.
Like Martin Luther, he found refuge under the shelter of heaven.

Under his wings, O what precious enjoyment!
There will I hide till life's trials are o'er.
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me;
Resting in Jesus I'm safe evermore.
WILLIAM O. CUSHING

adapted from The One Year Book of Psalms by William J. Petersen and Randy Petersen,, Tyndale House Publishers (1999), entry for January 8

low maintenence

I'm low maintenence.. I don't require a lot to be content. Besides the little that I spend on my make-up or now my hair color.. (I'm still wondering if I'm totally gray yet???hehehe) I don't spend a lot on myself. I do purchase certain things new, like my undies and shoes, but most of my clothes are thrift store selections that I've found now and again.. some with tags still on them. And of course, the clothes that Jane has passed on to me. I have no lack of clothes at the moment.

I was thinking about the day I asked my mother what my dad's gross income was for the year.. I say YEAR... and she said 'about $2000'... WOW! Now that was about poverty level back then, and I wasn't aware we were so poor. We always had enough food and clothes and though we didn't have the latest of every new fad, we didn't feel deprived in any way.. at least I didn't. I remember Mum taking us to Murphy's 5&10 and selecting 'shirt waist' dresses for us.. I had a lavender one and I was always so proud to wear that dress. It lasted a long time. Mum taught me how to make a simple pleated skirt with a piece of fabric, and I had several of them.

I later learned how to make my own wrap around skirts when they were popular.. really nice ones.. I had a wardrobe!

I put myself through nursing school. I remember taking Mum to the old Logans Ferry A&P and telling her 'go ahead and fill the cart with whatever you want..' I had my first paycheck as a nurse in the bank, and could cover whatever she chose.

Computing taxes this week has made me very aware of how close to that poverty level we are at the moment.. and though we live from paycheck to paycheck, and sometimes the balance is less than a dollar just before the next check comes, we are keenly aware that God does provide for us. The next check comes and we are off and running again.

There is precious little extra money after bills, but we always seem to have enough for whatever things come up.. birthdays, or whatever.

Today I borrowed from my next paycheck (next week) to buy yarn.

I searched JoAnn fabric and found some lovely pink yarn that was marked $2 off /skein, and with the extra yarn I have at home, I'm making JJ the afghan she has been wishing for.. pink.

As I said, I'm low maintenence, and require little.. but I like a bargain and will buy if I find something we need.
So tonite and probably tomorrow, I'll be crocheting. It's good for my hands that have so much arthritis. I dare not leave them quiet for long. They need moved frequently.. I even purposely wash the dishes by hand instead of the dishwasher sometimes just to get the warmth to the joints that I don't seem to be able to do otherwise. I've been trying to convince Wendell to try crochet, but so far, he doesn't want to try. I think it would be good for him, and certainly there are many men who crochet.. or do other needlework.. Rosie Greer?



It's been very cold here. Tonite it's about 16 degrees.. and the wind has been blowing pretty hard.. I don't know what the wind chill factor is, but it must be about 3 degrees. At least it's not snowing.



We had a great time tonite with our little Valentine family. Pray for their safe return home tomorrow if you would. I'll miss them all. Eli gave me a wonderful hug tonite which surprised me no end, as he hasn't been making much association with me this time. He is a busy little 2 yr old.. He has unloaded and loaded our tupperware cupboard at least 30 times. It's at his level and he can't get hurt.. so it's all good. He seemed content to do it.

Isaac and Essie both told me they want me to bring my SkipBo cards with me when we go to visit mid March for Eli's birthday.



I'm tired. I need some sleep and I think I may even sleep in tomorrow. Wendell and I have been fighting sore joints and muscles the past couple of days.. it's been pretty bad. I mentioned to anyone who would listen.. it's not much fun growing old... I wish someone had warned me.. come to think of it, I think my mother mentioned that a few times. She said "I feel like a 20 year old most of the time.... and then I try to get out of my chair".. yeah.. that's me too.

Heading for bed here..

My changes for congress..

"Rank-and-file Members of Congress currently make an annual salary of $174,000 (more than double the median household income of about $80,000 for the Washington, D.C. metro area, including wealthy suburbs). This sum doesn't include taxpayer funds used for lavish pensions, health plans, and generous allowances for travel, staff, and office expenses. Especially in light of troubled economic indicators, Congress should reject an automatic pay hike that would pad an already sizeable Congressional compensation package." That raise is in the amount of $4700/yr.

I think that it is too lucretive a business being in politics.. here's my plan:

1. Every congressman/woman receives $20,000/yr salary provided they are present when congress is in session with 3 days off as personal/sick days.

For every day missed after that, the employee will forfeit $100 until $1000/mo is met.

2. You may vacation when congress is not in session. That's it.. go where you want with the money you've saved like the rest of us. Taxpayers will not pay for your vacation. We will not pay for private jets. You will have to use other than 1st class and use the same airlines as the rest of us. You may travel 12 times a year at taxpayer expense, no more, and only as necessary.

3. Phones.. the government will foot the bill up to $500/mo. /congressman. You pay the rest. These will be business related expenses- the rest will be YOUR bill for personal calls. Your bills will be monitored if necessary.

4.Office? We the people will give you $500/mo for rental space. If you need more.. take it out of your own pocket. There may need to be an office building built to house all of you. Your office space won't be large.

5.Secretary? You will be alloted 1 secretary @ $850/mo

1 computer will be provided @$2400. If you need something better, buy it yourself. Other office equipment will be provided, but the amounts spent will be Under $2000 total. Paper? 4 reams/month... Printer/fax upkeep will be $200/month and receipts will be required for reimbursement for every purchase - be careful not to be wasteful. Other office expenses will be at $150/month with the same directives using receipts for reimbursements. New equipment will be provided every 3 years. The old equipment will be given to school students.

6. Expense account? You will be alloted $300/month on a special card that will not pay for call girls or alcohol. We don't want dead beats or drunken congressmen in our employ, especially during working hours.

7.Need a car? Used cars are wonderful. You may be alloted 1 vehicle for your personal use and a log book that goes with it. You pay for your own fuel.. and upkeep.. be frugal. New cars are much too expensive. You may use your own car if you wish. Don't expect the taxpayers to pay for it's upkeep.

8.There will be NO increases in your pay until the taxpayers vote on it in general elections.

9.I would suggest that an efficiency apartment be built locally to Washington DC to accommodate our congressmen. No charge to live there.. one bed, one dresser, one table and 4 chairs and a sofa and chair to be provided, along with a small stove and refrigerator. You buy your own food. Efficiency type apartments would be perfect with one bedroom. You provide your own phone/service, and other general furnishings- ie tv, radio, toaster, and other small appliances. You supply your own dishes and flatware, pots/pans.

10. There will be a general laundry on each floor of the apartment building with 10 washers/10 dryers provided at a cost of $2/washer and $2/dryer.

You do your own laundry. The taxpayers will not pay for laundry services for you.

11. The present pension system will be neutralized and put into the Social Security account where you will put your own money like the rest of the public. You will fall under the SS system totally. You owe it to the people for creating it in the first place and then robbing the public blind.

Your pension will not be secured after serving for one year as it is now. After 2 terms, you will be retired from office and not able to be reelected.

All persons in office at the present may finish their term.

12. You will buy your own health care as we do. If we have Socialized health care as you are planning, YOU will also share in that and nothing more.

Well, that's for starters.. I just did our taxes and realized that we are living on extremely meager wages, but we are doing okay. The amounts listed here are generous.. and will clear the riff-raff from the playing field called congress. I wonder how many would really stay faced with these guidelines? I daresay, only the serious and really patriotic.

What do you think? How would you change things?

Well... finally! I just got to my email and found an emergency note from the National Weather Service sent out at noon today telling me what I already know. By 8am, I had 2" of snow on my car and roads were more than treacherous. I had my cell phone in my hand and was going to turn around and go home if Rt 8 was anywhere close to what I'd experienced on the 2ndary roads. ICE, SNOW, and WIND. I saw numerous cars in ditches..and I never made a stop at any stopsign.. not my choice, the car had a mind of it's own. I nearly slid into a bus going 2mph.. while trying to stop. Tow trucks were pulling people out of ditches along the main drag.. not a good morning to be on the roads. The snow came down hard and never let up till there was a good 2".
Coming home 4 hours later, I have found that the wind has caused some major drifting across the roads and some of them are only one lane. UGH
On the happier side, all of the patients made it safely for their infusions, and all did very well.. and so did I. Thanks for praying for us.

Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity.
1 Timothy 2:2 NLT

I just looked outside- it's snowing and in the past half hour we have about a half inch. It's quite beautiful out there.. 31 degrees.
Pray the roads are safe for buses and my patients and me too.

Pray for Caleb who is in basic training and having a hard time with the depravity around him.

Pray for sovereignty of all 50 states. United we stand, divided, we fall. For brave conservative leaders to be placed in our midst- godly men of character and humility, strong and patriotic. And pray for revival in our country and in the world.

For the Lord is a great God, the great King above all gods.
Psalm 95:3 NLT

When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan. A just king gives stability to his nation…
Proverbs 29:2,4 NLT

Getting ready for bed here.. just wanted to remind anyone who is reading the blog that tomorrow is office day.. I covet your prayers for me and for my patients. Remember us if you would. Thank you.

It's been 16 days since that groundhog tried to scare us out of our wits with a threat of 6 more weeks of winter.. He's been wrong so far.. seems like as soon as the prediction was made, the weather changed to more spring like and it's wonderful!!!

It's been a very long day here.. it was supposed to be our 'pool day', but I decided we'd better get started on our taxes.. and so I did. I started at around 8am and at 4pm I had about figured out the Federal taxes, and the PA taxes had me in total confusion. They don't send an instruction booklet out any more..well, that's not really the truth, they did send us a booklet, but with all the emphasis on filing electronically. Now, not everyone I know has a computer, and I really don't want to do this online. There were NO forms in my booklet..just a bunch of nonsense on how to file them elsewhere. I'm really not feeling well at the moment with all the headache I had all day. I get very frustrated with tax preparation, and realize how much I appreciated JJ doing them for us the past 2 years. She has no computer at the moment and I'm down to dial-up again for the moment.. so I feel frustrated. It makes me wonder how in the world an average person is able to complete the right forms? Mine isn't even hard.. but you have to have the right documentation. I struggled reading the book from the federal government.. I read it nearly cover to cover trying to find out what the standard mileage rate was for 2008. I finally threw my hands up in total disgust and went to the computer and googled it. There it was. But what if I didn't have a computer?

Yes, I could have it done by a professional.. but it's so expensive, and when one lives pretty much from paycheck to paycheck, there isn't a lot left to pay H&R Block the $200 they usually ask for. One year we tried another company and I was so horrified at the woman who did our taxes. I should have known we were in trouble when she sat cross legged in a tiny booth with us, chewing and cracking gum as she "worked". She saved us NOTHING and tossed most of our deductions. She charged us half of what Block did, but we got NOTHING back. At least with Block we usually got a refund. Never again.

I suppose I should get the numbers for the IRS and the PA-DOR and make some phone calls as I try to file these taxes. You know, a flat tax would be the most wonderful invention known to mankind.. or womankind as well. Our local taxes are just like that.. no added schedules.. just a flat rate according to one's earned income.

Maybe I should just drop it all for the day and go back to it next week. I can get another crochet project going and then just relax for a while.. SkipBo anyone?

I wondered how my day would be today when I woke up at 7am and needed to leave for the office at 7:30.. aacckk!

I had a great day really..Only 1 patient did I really struggle with for an IV access.. and she got 3 jags!!! Not my norm by a long shot. Things have been too good for too long I suppose. When I did get it in she looked at me and said.. "you are so good with needles. Even though you had to jag me 3 times, I never once felt any of them".. I guess I felt all the pain for her. She never flinched.. she has an extremely high pain tolerance.

I got home wearing sun glasses because the sun was so bright.. It was crispy cold, but not bad at all. I found all my little Valentines at the house and supper well on the way. We had pork roast tonite, and one of the best Mandy has ever made. The rest of the evening, I've been playing SkipBo with anyone who wanted.. and even Charlie came over for a few rounds after the kids had to go. I'm really tired. It's been a good day.

Lots more happened all day, but those were my highlights.. I'll likely sleep in again even later tomorrow.. we'll see.

It makes me sad to see my country following in the footsteps of history in a negative way.. here is a short passage of scripture that could be taken from the newspaper today.. if we had decent media coverage:

Romans 1:18 ff
(NLT)
18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.
22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.
23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.
25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.
27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.
30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.
31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.
32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

P3 is 10

I really love it when the whole family gets together. I look forward to these reunions when they come our way. How thankful and happy I am that the Valentines could visit this week and that we could all get together for a birthday celebration this evening. With snacks, games, and just a lot of good fellowship, we had cake and ice cream in Paul III's honor. It boggles my mind that he is now 10 yrs old. I still think of him as a cute little toddler.. now he's becoming a handsome young man..

gifts

Isaac,P3,David, Daniel

A Star Wars Belt

a Star Wars trading card box