I don’t know if I’ll be able to post this before the end of the weekend or not, since my IT people said not to get into the blog site until they are done doing something to it. I want to have things ready, just in case, so here I sit, sweltering in my living room, every fan in the house going, sipping an icy glass of something delicious and wishing God would turn down the thermostat. I feel a pounding in the base of my skull that I always get when it’s hot out. Rather than getting a lot done today, I stuck around the house puttering here and there on things that didn’t take a great deal of energy. I’m betting that plan will be a good one for tomorrow too. UPDATE: Obviously I got the go ahead to post! Yippee! Because this is so late, and I need to fix dinner, I’m only going to post a few pictures that I have all the time, since finding new ones takes a long time. I’m sure you’ll understand.
Verse of the Day
July 14, 2018
(Jesus said) “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”
—John 15:10
Thoughts on the Verse of the Day
Love is not just a feeling. Love is action. For believers, the action that most shows our love for Jesus is for us to be obedient to his words, his will, and his example.
July 15, 2018
Get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
—James 1:21
Thoughts on the Verse of the Day
Isn’t it true! When we find ourselves caught in the clutches of the moral filth of our culture, we find the Word of God boring and irrelevant. Yet even in those moments when Satan uses sin to harden our hearts, God’s Spirit calls us to change at a level deeper than just the mere understanding of the words of Scripture. Thank God for his Spirit which can use his Word like a surgeon’s scalpel and do the needed surgery on our hearts.
www.verseofthedaycom
Food for Thought
Sometimes having faith that everything is going to be OK isn’t easy, is it? I am enjoying not working right now, since it’s not something I have ever done before. It hasn’t been long enough to establish a set schedule for projects, and much of it has been spent going to the dentist, but I like being home to putter around the house. I’m not silly though. I know that unemployment isn’t going to cover the bills completely when I run out of severance pay, and that is, of course, a worry. I’ve had three interviews that I felt went OK, but one of the positions went to someone else, and I haven’t heard back from one, even though they said they would be contacting me. They either haven’t made a decision yet, or they forgot that they promised to let me know, one way or the other. To be fair the lady DID say it would be several weeks, and it’s just about to that point now, but I would like to know. And then there was the interview on Friday afternoon. Part of me felt good about it, the other part doesn’t know how it went. The person I interviewed with wasn’t all that easy to read. OK, to be honest, I couldn’t really read her at all, and I’m not a fan of that. It’s a job I know I can do, and it’s at a pay scale I feel is fair. The commute won’t be fun, since it’s in heavy ferry traffic both coming and going, but truthfully, I could do worse. I have given the situation to God and I KNOW He is looking out for me, but I can’t help but be concerned. Timing is everything, and He knows what the needs are. I’m the one who is impatient and getting a bit worried. Why do we do that? Pray about a situation, but instead of being at peace that it’s all going to be OK, we keep worrying it?
July 14 –
Bald is In – It is funny, I hear men who are losing their hair going on about how horrible it is. They cover up their heads with hats and when faced with a situation where their heads can’t be covered up – say in church, at a wedding, etc. – they are truly uncomfortable. I find this to be sad since there are quite a few guys who are downright sexy without hair or with reduced hair – for example, if they have a receding hairline. It is socially acceptable for men to be bald. Women lose their hair too, but it isn’t as common so it isn’t in any way considered to be beautiful or acceptable. Though I can’t find anything to back up who started this celebration, I can assume it was because someone found bald to be very attractive! Personally, I don’t base my judgment on a guy by whether or not he has hair. I MAY judge if he has a ridiculous comb over, or if he is bare on top but has a long, scraggly pony tail. Yuck! But having a well-trimmed head of what is left up there is perfectly fine and even very attractive. Celebrate your head today, whether it has hair on top or not!
Body Painting Day – Well, I can’t say this is one I will ever celebrate because seriously, nobody wants to see this body naked and painted. Even if I had the perfect form, I wouldn’t celebrate this one. The thought of 100 people stripping down, having their bodies painted, then traipsing all over the city, any city, really strikes me as disturbing. To each their own, I guess. If you are in the NYC area, keep your eyes open, or downcast to avoid, for the spectacle that is this celebration.
National Nude Day – Have you ever watched a small child after they have proudly figured out how to get out of their clothes? They run through the house or yard, giggling and free of all constraints. There is no shame, there are no self-esteem issues based on how they look. In their innocence, they are beautiful, displaying the very nature that God gave us when we were born. Sadly, that changes and I can honestly say that even if we didn’t have one single issue or moral problem with running around naked, the percentage of us who could get away with it without causing the rest of the population to throw up is very small. I can honestly say, and this includes myself, that there are very few people who wouldn’t gross me out if they were to streak past. For Nudists though, this is a serious event! They do not consider themselves to be perverts. They believe that the body is beautiful and meant to be displayed, no matter the condition it is in. There are nudist colonies, beaches and other venues where they can walk around as bare as the moment they were born. I won’t pass judgment as to whether this is right or wrong – that’s up to the individual to decide, but I can say that I’ve seen enough men with big old beer guts hanging out shirtless lately that there’s not a chance on the planet I want the misfortune of seeing them in their nothings, and I know that there are at least an equal number of women who shouldn’t be seen that way either. Blech! What is sort of funny though, there are a lot of sites that promote this celebration with Nude Day T-shirts? Doesn’t that rather defeat their point? A T-Shirt on National Nude Day?
Pandemonium Day – What is pandemonium? It is sheer bedlam and utter chaos! Turn on the news today and you’ll see that Pandemonium is running free on all the news channels. Log onto Facebook and you’ll see that rather than intelligent discourse, you find rampant idiocy. It’s crazy out there! Every once in awhile everyone has a day that is like this, but lately it seems to be more intense than it usually would be. With the attacks on President Trump, the police, on our constitutional rights, on our religious beliefs, etc. life is the very definition of pandemonium. Pandemonium can be defined as a day when all sorts of unexpected things can happen. A time when everything is happening all at the same time and at a very fast pace. It’s sort of like growing up in a daycare! Ten kids running in different directions at the same time, all doing a different activity, making different noises based on that activity . . . pandemonium in motion. If you find yourself in the middle of a whirlwind where Pandemonium prevails, just go with the flow in a calm, cool manner. If it gets to be too much, just quietly remove yourself from the situation. There’s always going to be another confusing day to try again. Sanity usually returns . . . I hope.
Shark Awareness Day – Sharks are impressive hunters and predators, but the sad truth is that these amazing creatures are more threatened by people than we are by the sharks. There is a worldwide demand for shark-fin soup, shark-tooth medallions, with millions of them being killed every year. Sharks play a very important role keeping the seas healthy and productive. No one expects anyone to get all huggy and kissy with a shark, but we can at least respect them and leave them alone. And just a thought – if you are vacationing on a beach where there have been many shark attacks in recent days? STAY OUT OF THE WATER!
July 15 –
Be a Dork Day – The fine folks at Wellcat.com came up with this one, and while I appreciate their intentions, I feel like it deserves a deeper look than the surface fun of having a silly day of wearing goofy clothes, not brushing your teeth (dorks don’t brush?), eating yucky food and falling off of a swing set. Honestly, their description sort of confuses me. The literal definition of a dork from the dictionary is a “silly out-of-touch person who tends to look odd or behave ridiculously around others; a social misfit.” There are other definitions though -one of them being that a dork is a slow-witted person or a social misfit. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t what the Wellcat folks were thinking about celebrating. The word “dork” made its appearance in common use a little bit in the 1950’s but commonly by the 1960’s. At first it was used by American college students to refer to someone who was socially awkward – sort of a form of early bullying, in my opinion. Since that time, it has been reclaimed by the people it used to poke fun at, and sometimes can even be thought of as a positive thing, maybe even a compliment! There are several words used to describe people who are awkward. There are nerds, geeks and dweebs to go along with dorks. Nerds and geeks are thought of as more intelligent, and dweebs are supposedly boring and studious, without many social skills. I do find myself calling people a dork when I’m teasing them, but the reality is that it is a negative word that has vulgar beginnings referencing male genitalia. I’ve heard it was a word for “pig’s penis” and others say it was a word for “whale penis”. It isn’t used for that any more, but the shadow of the original intent still hovers over the word. I guess I should be better about choosing my words to tease people! I’m not quite sure how to celebrate this one, but I suppose we should just embrace our inner dork, allow being socially awkward to be OK today, perhaps every day if the dork-hat fits.
Cow Appreciation Day – Cows are a pretty important part of our culture, in terms of food anyway. Think about it, they provide us with food, leather, milk and all of the wonderful things we make from it. And honestly, they are pretty cute too, with their big, brown eyes surrounded by lashes. The babies are especially adorable.
Lake Superior Day – Of the five Great Lakes, Lake Superior is the largest, the deepest and the coldest. It is also the only Great Lake that has it’s very own day! Always held on the 3rd Sunday in July, this day was started in the early 1990’s by a group of Thunder Bay residents who wanted to celebrate the body of water than dominated and defined where they lived. Other organizations and communities got on the band wagon, and now they have a weekend full of festivities that celebrate their lake. Fun, right? If you live in that area do some celebrating!
National Give Something Away Day – We are so blessed in our country. Even when we feel like we have fallen upon hard times economically, we are still so blessed to have so much that we likely have many things that we don’t use and don’t need, but we are holding on to them because they are ours and we don’t wish to be parted from our stuff. Today is an opportunity to share some of our good fortune with others. We can buy a meal for someone who serves our community, give clothing or shoes to someone less fortunate, or give flowers to someone who is confined to their home with ill health or infirmity. Just a small thing can have a positive impact on someone’s life and give them hope for a better tomorrow.
National Pet Fire Safety Day – Did you know that, according to the National Fire Protection Association, there are about 500,000 pets affected each year by home fires? Just about 1,000 of these fires are started accidentally by the pets themselves. I’ve had pets my entire life and to be honest, I’ve never had one start a fire – or even get close to starting a fire – yet! Let’s hope it stays that way! Here are some tips that will help prevent fires and keep our pets, and homes, safe from this happening.
1. Extinguish open flames. Pets are curious and will investigate cooking appliances, candles or even your fireplace. Do not allow your pet to be left unattended around an open flame, and make sure to thoroughly extinguish any flames before leaving your home.
2. Remove stove knobs. Be sure to remove stove knobs, or protect them with covers before leaving the house. A stove or cook top is the No. 1 piece of equipment involved in your pet starting a fire. I have a baby gate between the kitchen and the rest of the house to keep the dogs out of the kitchen, but honestly, I’ve never had a dog even TRY to get up to the stove.
3. Give flameless candles a try. These candles contain a light bulb rather than an open flame and take the danger out the ambience of candlelight. Cats, in particular, are notorious for starting fires when their tails knock over lit candles.
4. Keep pets near exits. Keep collars on pets and leashes at the ready in case firefighters need to rescue your pet in the event of an emergency. When leaving pets home alone, keep them in areas or rooms near your home’s exits where they can be easily found.
5. Secure young pets. Especially with young puppies, it is important to keep them confined and away from potential fire-starting hazards when you are away from home. There are many options for safe, secure and comfortable crates and gates.
6. Hang a pet alert window cling. Write down the number of pets inside your home and attach the static cling to a front-facing window. This critical information saves rescuers time when locating your pets. This is a great idea that I hadn’t even thought of before this, so I think I need to do that!
Our pets are important to us, but so are our homes. Doing everything we can to make sure that both are safe should be a huge priority for all of us.
Saint Swithin’s Day – I love the celebrations that surround legends that go back for centuries. I find them to be utterly fascinating! Saint Swithin was a Saxon bishop who was famous for charitable gifts and building churches. His feast day is July 15th, and the emblems that represent him are rain drops and apples. He was the chaplain to Egbert, the 802-839 king of Wessex. Swithin educated Egbert’s son Ethelwulf, and Ethelwulf made him the bishop of Winchester in 852. Swithin only has one miracle attributed to him while he was alive, but it’s a sweet one. There was an old lady who had some eggs had been smashed by workmen who were building a church. Swithin picked the broken eggs up and it is said that they miraculously became whole again. According to the legend he has wanted to be buried humbly when died, so when he passed on July 2, 862, he was buried just outside the door of the west door of the Old Minster where people would walk across it and it would be rained on. This was what he wished. For some reason the decision was made to move him, so on July 15, 971, his remains were dug up and he was moved to a shrine in the cathedral by Bishop Ethelwold. It was said that there were miraculous cures of illness connected to this event, and that his feast day was set on the date of the removal of his remains, rather than on his death day. Another thing that came along with his removal was a ferocious and violent rain storm that lasted 40 days and 40 nights. It was thought that this storm was the indication that the Saint was unhappy that he was moved and his last wishes were ignored. All of this is the reason that the legent says that if it rains on Saint Swithin’s feast day, that it will continue to rain for 40 more days. Interesting!
This Day in History –
1867 – Alfred Nobel demonstrates dynamite.
1914 – Liquid rocket fuel is patented.
1844 – Vulcanized rubber is patented by Goodyear.
1869 – Margarine is patented.
Food Celebrations of the Day –
July 14 –
National Grand Marnier Day – Grand Marnier is a liquor invented by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle in 1880. It is an orange flavored liquor that is added to drinks or desserts. At the time it as invented, oranges were one of the most expensive fruits of the times, and when blended with a strong alcohol was a perfect blend. It is used in a pretty great and long list of desserts that include Yule log, cranberry sauce, souffles, etc. And there are many alcoholic drinks made with it too – Cosmopolitans, Margaritas, B-52s, etc. I’ve never had any, but it sounds like it is something I could use in a lot of different recipes!
National Macaroni Day – Mmmmm, macaroni and cheese – could it get any more comforting than this for food that just says home? Combining macaroni noodles with cream or milk, the ooey gooey goodness of cheese and it makes either an amazing side dish or a very filling main course. You can change it up with bacon, jalapenos, various meats and seasonings. Any way you make it, it’s incredible. Lately, because I’m eating low carb, I’ve been using shirataki noodles with all of the creamy cheesy goodness, and it fills that craving just fine! I know this is a repeat, but it appeared on more than one food calendar, so I’m posting about it twice.
July 15 –
National Gummi Worm Day – Kids seem to love gummy worms and there are some adults who turn from sophisticated grown-ups into kids when they open a package of them. Gummi candies were first created in Germany in 1922 by Hans Riegel Bonn. He created the gummi bear, which was a huge hit. The first gummi bears were manufactured in American in 1981, the same year the gummi worm was introduced. We have all sorts of different gummy candies, but the worms seem to be the most popular, and are the top-selling gummy candy in the world. The great news is that gummi candies can also be low carb!
I guess its better late than never. I need to go make some BBQ sauce so we can have dinner. It’s still hot so we are grilling chicken and it needs a nice keto sauce! I’m creating it myself, so when I come up with a great one, I’ll eventually share it with you! In the meantime, it’s a lot of trial and error. God bless you and I’ll see you tomorrow.