11.12.2023

41⁰F cloudy SSW@16mph SR0653 SS1640

Morning Offering given

Village sleeps

The man sleeps

Coffee good

New Daily Devotion “CRIB TO CROSS” meditations on the life of Christ. Angelus Press 2019. Translated from the French “De la crèche au calvaire” Messieurs Poussielque Freres Paris 1884 The Crib St. Luke 2:7. Help me, O my God, to keep my thoughts for a few moments from wandering so that I may remain recollected in Thy presence and solely intent on Thee.

Today, my brother Jeff would have turned 66. May he rest in peace.

MV Delhi musical today at 2pm. Looking forward to it.

Bible Study lesson on the Torah needs to be completed.

My plants need attention.

The boy got a dog. “CHOPPER”, some kind of hound.

Can we discuss the ugly face of alcoholism without giving offense? Without pointing fingers? Without taking offense?

. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Know you are prayed for.

11.05.2023

35⁰F cloudy S@12mph SR0644 SS1648

Morning Offering given

Village sleeps

Coffee good

The man sleeps

Standard Time has returned…PTL! Perhaps now life will return to nature. There is nothing new in my thoughts regarding daylight saving time… I still believe it is man’s desire to control everything he touches. While trying to convince others, he is doing this for them.

Mother Nature has one controller… God.

Yesterday’s play at Monticello High was good. Next week, we do Maquoketa Valley’s.

Thanksgiving is in less than 20 days. Have you pondered the blessings of this past year? Perhaps today is a good time to do that.

I will be getting ready for Bible Study class.

Know you are prayed for.

10.31.2023

29⁰F snow NW@16mph SR0737 SS1755

Morning Offering given

Village Chilly

Coffee good

50 yrs ago, the Love of My Life asked me to marry him. Best decision I ever made. 18 yrs old, attending McConnell in Minneapolis. He 22 yr old factory worker, army reservist.

Happy Anniversary, H&L.

A dusting of snow noticeable in the driveway this morning. 26 more snows till spring; old wives tale. The date the first snowfall lands on is how many snows there will be. Our first snow was on the 28th.

Today’s ponder from Bacci…

“It is folly to glory in things which do not belong to us, but are merely gifts from God.“

Humility is the most difficult virtue. It is very difficult to deny ourselves and acknowledge our nothingness. Being humble takes practice. (Js4:6, Mt18:3)

Know you are prayed for.

10.30.2023

24⁰F clear WNW@10mph SR0736 SS1756

Morning Offering given

Village Chilly

Coffee good

Monday has arrived. We’re on the cusp of a new month. DST is in its last week (thank goodness). Thanksgiving is 24 days into the future. The year is close to ending 62 more days. If you had goals for 2023, now is the time to look them over to see if you will reach them or reassess them. The big question… did you get to know Jesus better?

Grateful/thankful list. Make one.

Get your Thanksgiving cards written and sent.

Begin writing your Christmas letter. Purchase Madonna stamps. Find the perfect Christmas card. One that talks about Christ. One that says Merry Christmas. Forget the toys, snowmen, or words like seasons or holidays. Make this year about Jesus. His birth. His gift. Be simple and practical in gift selection.

Today’s ponder… from Bacci

“Will humility & understanding help me solve the problems I encounter today?

It is useless and harmful to fly into a passion and to brood over our rights and other people’s wrongs.”

Know you are prayed for.

10.29.2023

31⁰ F overcast NW@8mph SR0734 SS1758

Morning Offering given

Village peaceful

Coffee good

The man sleeps

Snowed yesterday. I can still see it on the hood of the car. I’m not ready for it.

Intermittent Fasting water goal met. Spent lots of time in the necessary.

Need to finish up on Bible Study Lesson for Tuesday’s class.

Sleep study equipment needs to go back today. Meet for consultation on Friday.

Today’s Ponder…

“Human praise adds nothing to us. Human criticism takes nothing from us. We remain as we were beforehand.“

Why is it we crave that praise and recognition? That notoriety. That adulation? Why is it we fear the criticism? Fear our mistakes? Why is it we want to be in the limelight so much?

Know you are prayed for.

10.24.2023

62⁰F SSW@13mph SR0728 SS1805

Morning Offering given

Village sleeps

Coffee good

The man sleeps

Happy (posthumous) Birthday, Dad! Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.

This man stepped into my life when I was in 3rd grade. He married my mother and adopted her children. Not one time did he act like I was not his child. Not one time did he fail to be the dad I needed. This is not to say he was perfect because he was not. This is to say he knew how to love a child who was difficult. He accepted me where I was, patiently guided me, firmly disciplined me, and taught me to set boundaries, be true to myself, and believe there was something better ahead. I thank God for his time in my life.

Lightning, flashing this morning. No rain, but rain is coming, just a matter of time.

Today’s ponder

“Lead us not into temptation“

James 1:13-15

No one experiencing temptation should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one.h

Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.

Bacci hits the nail on the head again. For those who don’t have his book but do have FB… https://m.facebook.com/cardinalbacci/?wtsid=rdr_07Dtx4GJryjpEfqSW

Know you are prayed for.

10.23.2023

41⁰F cloudy SSE@13mph SR0727 SS1807

Morning Offering given

Village quiet

Coffee good

Intermittent Fast Day #11. Feels like my body is humming (vibrating). My breath is horrid. Hmmm, it’s working. Tomorrow, I weigh and measure. Kudos to my friend AM for bringing this plan to my attention.

Made it home yesterday to find the guys winterizing the front porch. The fountain put away for winter. The pre electrical work completed in the office.

It is good to be home. It was good to be north and spend time with family.

Back to normal today with a busy Monday ahead of me.

“ As we also forgive our debtors”

Is today’s meditation. In a nutshell, forgive, sincerely forgive from the heart, or Jesus will not forgive you. Many scoff at this thought because after all I took Jesus as my Savior. I am saved, heaven bound… it’s a given.

It is not a given.

Nope, it is not. Look what Jesus did while hanging on the cross.

Luke 23:34 “Father, forgive them they know not what they do.”

Again, he instructs…

Matthew 5:23-24

“If thou art offering thy gift at the altar and thou remember that thy brother has anything against thee, leave thy gift before the altar and go first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”

Convicted once again by the words of Christ. Looks like I have some work to do.

Know you are prayed for.

10.20.2023

38⁰F NW@9mph SR0723 SS1811

Morning Offering given

Village sleeps

The man sleeps

Coffee not good.

Day #8 Intermittent Fast down 4#. For this, I am grateful. Still short on the water & walking goals, but getting better.

Russian invasion of Ukraine… US has given 75 billion in aide to Ukraine. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine

Map of Israel… https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://media.istockphoto.com/id/487849408/vector/israel-political-map.jpg?s%3D612x612%26w%3D0%26k%3D20%26c%3D4Pyf9wMSAYxfQA_WIHBkT3YSMuSVYRwivvIDaBpL6zs%3D&imgrefurl=https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/israel-map&h=612&w=427&tbnid=kJVVkkI_A6eFnM&tbnh=136&tbnw=95&usg=AI4_-kRvSjVGremxg2tHU7doA8P1IpB1kw&vet=1&docid=4QFQQybMDdSbWM&hl=en-US#imgrc=6VmndvPijUoxhM&imgdii=igE9QPrUjizCuM

Gaza is a narrow strip of land bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and Israel. It used to be governed by Egypt. Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) is a political party that won the 2006 elections in the Gaza Strip (Palestinian). There has not been an election since. The West Bank is also Palestinian and used to be governed by Jordan… Israel siezed both Gaza & and the West Bank in 1967 after the Six Day War and is recognized by the UN as the occupier state.

God gave Israel this land. You can read about that in Exodus.

It’s complicated.

The question here is… How can the US afford to give money to both wars? We are not financially capable of doing this… REGARDLESS of what Yellen says. We must consider taking care of our own.

Pray the Rosary for America.

Know you are prayed for.

10.18.2023

44⁰F S@13mph SR0720 SS1815

Morning Offering given

Village quiet

Coffee good

The man sleeps

Day #6 Intermittent Fasting… continue to work on drinking more water and increase walking. Knee pain continues to be an issue. Not at all impressed with the recipes on this program nor the new age words they are using to coach or the assumption everyone struggles to fast. But there are some good things as well. No results as yet, but I am told that’s normal.

Another very interesting Bible Study class. No class next week.

DS#2 arrived yesterday. He mowed the lawn and gathered all the lawn furniture. It is now put away for the season. It’s so nice to have the help to get it done.

No word from friend HenryLinda after their move. A week today since they left.

Need to get 2 Hibiscus in the ground and 4 rose bushes moved. St. Francis should come in for the winter. Horseradish should be dug.

Need to have: hearing aides checked and updated, November cards ready, pick up paint for the office, trim paint for the house, car washed/vacuumed, and go to confession

K… ck with A for your stuff.

The Church struggles today. The parishioners struggle. It is hard to believe (at times) there is any interest in the parishioners other than the gaining of their $$. When is the last time your minister knocked on your door, called you on the phone, or even sent a txt? When was the last time you did this to them? What used to be set in stone isn’t any longer. At times, it seems to be the thought that those who continue as they were taught are considered ridged and judgemental. While reading Exodus, when Moses went up on Mt Sinai for 40 days and nights, he returned to find the people doing their own thing. I was thinking if that was today… someone would have canceled Moses and replaced him with someone less demanding. Someone who wouldn’t return to the mountain to get the 2nd copy of the commandments.

Know you are prayed for.

10.12.2023

44⁰F E@12mph SR0713 SS1825

Morning Offering given

Village waking

Coffee, left in travel mug on counter… dang it

Beautiful out here this morning. Perfect temp to enjoy what sky can be seen thru the clouds. Rain is coming. We need it. Summer flowers are fading. The tree leaves are past their prime. Gardens are being cleared. Last of the summer vegetables are enjoyed at table. Harvest is coming along nicely. Fallow time is coming.

I’m looking forward to fallow time. DST will end. Order will be restored. The ebb and flow of life’s tide will return to normal.

The celebration of gratitude and thankfulness will soon be upon us. Perhaps an inventory of God’s generosity should be made. We are sometimes neglectful in that area.

Know you are prayed for.