Some people find listening to music to be relaxing. Others like the silence. White noise lulls other people, and still others can fall asleep with chaos all around them. Of all those things, the most soothing things to me are listening to the quiet breathing of someone you love while they sleep, the sigh of a light breeze through the trees, or the soft percussion of raindrops on a warm evening. We haven’t had rain for awhile so listening to it fall last night, smelling the freshness that you only get after a summer rain, and absorbing the peace that goes along with it gave me a calm feeling that all was right with my world. In that moment, troubles and concerns were very far away. As we head into this Friday, and onward to the weekend, find the sounds and aromas that create a peaceful place for your head and heart. If you think about it, it’s quite magical!
Verse of the Day
August 3, 2018
The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
Thoughts on the Verse of the Day
Have you ever wondered how many potentially good friends you may have lost simply by judging them on your first impression of them? I’m amazed at how the first impression very seldom tells us much of substance about another person. We’re not really going to be able to evaluate people properly until the Lord reveals at judgment what is really in their hearts. Don’t you think that we should give them time to reveal what is in their hearts before we make a decision about them?! Let’s don’t just look on the outward appearance!
Food for Thought
The other day when I was hanging out with my daughter, we went to a quaint little diner that had obviously been in the town she’s moving to for a long time. You know it’s a good place to eat when the locals hang out there, and this one was filled with them. As we approached the front of the building we passed between three men who were standing on the sidewalk smoking. Our first thoughts were probably a little derogatory based on their appearance. They were dressed comfortably, but not in a way that is conventional in our area. For example, one was in overalls with a tank top – commonly called a wife-beater. I hate that term, but it gives you a mental image. We said good morning to them as we walked by and into the diner. After we were seated the three of them trooped in and to their table. They finished their meal more quickly than we did – they’d already ordered and had been out smoking while they waited for it to arrive at their table – and left the building. When we left, there they were, in the very same places as when we came in, talking and smoking on the sidewalk. We all got a good chuckle as we told them to have a good day, and they wished the same for us. When we were driving past them as we left our parking spot my daughter rolled down her window and waved and shouted good-bye. All three were jovially waving and laughing, and one leaned into his car and honked the horn at us. Those three, actually everyone in the diner around us, were so friendly and filled with a welcoming attitude – especially after it was mentioned that my daughter will be moving there in a week. Judging anyone by their appearance isn’t nice, and I felt really bad for my initial impression. I don’t like it when people do that to me, and I was guilty of doing it myself. There are so many mixed feelings in my heart about my daughter moving – she will be further away, and I won’t be able to see her as often or easily – but I know she is moving to a friendly area, where people seem to be kind to each other, and that’s truly all I can hope for my children and grandchildren. By the way, country diners make AWESOME breakfasts!
Friendship Day – Today is the day to nurture relationships, whether they are new or old. It’s a very easy and fun day to celebrate because it can be as simple as just getting in touch with some old friends. A simple phone call, email or even an E-Card are great tools to do that. See if you can make plans to meet for coffee or lunch soon but make the invitation today so it honors this celebration. No matter what way you choose to follow the spirit of the day, if you put your whole heart into it, it will be a wonderful day. Happy Friendship Day to Everyone!
Twins Day – First full weekend of the month – I have to say, I bet there is a lot of deja vu in Twinsburg, Ohio this weekend! This incredible festival is open to all people from multiple births – identical, fraternal, young and old, twins, triplets, quads and more! There have been as many as 2000 sets of twins at this festival at a time before! How incredibly fun is THAT? I always wished I’d either been a twin or had had twins. Chaos, yes, but what fun and happy chaos, right?
This Day in History –
1958 – The Nautilus, a nuclear-powered submarine is the first submarine to cross the North Pole under water.
Food Celebration of the Day –
Braham Pie / Homemade Pie Day – This is MY kind of celebration! Every year on August First, Braham, Minnesota has PIE DAY! Seriously! An entire day dedicated to pie! They have pie baking contests, pie eating contests, booths with pies and all sorts of other things too! Here’s the link and if you’re anywhere NEAR Braham, check it out. If not, break out the ingredients and bake a pie in their honor. AWESOME!
Grab Some Nuts Day – This one could have more than one meaning, right? Are we talking about the nuts you eat? How about nuts as in people who are a little off center? Or MAYBE we are talking about the nuts from nuts and bolts! Since the person who created this day didn’t specify, I decided to interpret it is as the nuts we eat, since they so delicious.
Watermelon Day – Now HERE’S a fruit that deserves its own special day! Sweet and tasty, watermelons are one of summer’s favorite fruits. It is a must have at picnics and BBQ’s. Watermelon is over 90% water and it sure does taste wonderful! Stores carry watermelon all year long, but they are the very best when they are actually in season during the summer. They have a richer, sweeter flavor. Mark Twain even made this famous quote, “When one has tasted watermelon he knows what the angels eat.” Obviously, he really loved watermelon!
Apart from their wonderful flavor and thirst-quenching abilities, watermelons are very nutritious. Almost every part of the watermelon is edible, from its inner flesh, to its seeds being roasted as snacks and its rind being pickled or stir fried in certain regions. Even the thick outer skin can be used, along with the flesh, while making juice. I’ve never heard of roasted watermelon seeds until looking up this celebration, but I have heard of pickled watermelon rind. I think my Grandma used to make that.
Rich in water low in calories, watermelon has considerable amounts of vitamins A and C. It is rich in carotenoids and is free of fats and cholesterol. It is thought that watermelons kept at room temperature are more nutritious than those kept in the refrigerator – but for the life of me I can’t figure out how cold watermelon would change much from room temp. This nutrition table is based on 100 grams of raw fruit:
Vitamin C – 8.1 mg Calcium – 7 mg Vitamin A – 569 IU Potassium – 112 mg Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) – 0.045 mg Magnesium – 10 mg Vitamin B1 (thiamin) – 0.033 mg Phosphorous – 11 mg Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) – 0.021mg Iron – 0.24 mg Folate – 3 mcg Sodium – 1 mg Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) – 0.221 mg Fluoride – 1.5 mcg
100 grams of this fruit amounts to 30 calories and contains 91.5 grams water, 0.15 gram fat, 7.55 grams carbohydrates, 0.4 gram dietary fiber, 6.2 grams sugar and 0.61 gram protein. Seeds of watermelon also contain certain nutrients in trace amounts. 50% of watermelon seeds consists of oil and the other half includes 35% protein and 5% dietary fiber.
There’s a LOT more nutrition information about this wonderful fruit – but I didn’t want anyone to fall asleep while reading. While buying watermelons, select the ones with smooth skin, which is dark green. Go for the ones that are heavy and with a white or yellow patch as a sign of ripening. The seeds should be dark black, and the flesh should be dark pink or red. You can hear a hollow sound, while thumping a ripe watermelon. Hubby has a knack for picking out the perfect watermelon every time. Me? It’s hit and miss.
Lloyd Bright of Arkansas holds the world record for growing the heaviest watermelon in 2005. His melon weighed almost 270 pounds! That’s a BIG watermelon and at the average .69 per pound, an expensive one!
I’m off to make some low carb chocolate chip cookies and ice cream so I can put together some ice cream sandwiches. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Have a great end to your week. God bless you and I’ll see you tomorrow.
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Celebration list sources:
www.verseoftheday.com www.brownielocks.com www.holidayinsights.com www.thenibble.com www.foodimentary.com