Dribs and Drabs

 ~ cozy mornings ~

Usually, the dogs and I are early morning risers; this morning we left the warmth of our bed at 5 a.m. They go outside, most of the time, as I'm making coffee and readying early morning dog treats, then, we all go into the sun room where the gas logs are lit and I read my Bible. Lately, it's been Job; always welcome and, these days, speaking directly to my heart like an arrow from the sling of the Almighty.

~ Canada geese ~

Almost every day, we see huge flocks of Canada geese, not Canadian geese as that's entirely incorrect. There are times the flock can be counted but, usually, they are too numerous. They have flown so close overhead I can hear the "whomp, whomp, whomp" of their wings and the absolute wildness of it all, stirs my heart and makes me want to jump into the air like a child playing chase. It is that restless longing for true freedom, only to be found in God, for which I long and seek.

As St. Augustine said, "GREAT art Thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is Thy power, and of Thy wisdom there is no end. And man, being a part of Thy creation, desires to praise Thee, man, who bears about with him his mortality, the witness of his sin, even the witness that Thou "resistest the proud,"(2) -- yet man, this part of Thy creation, desires to praise Thee. Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee? Lord, teach me to know and understand which of these should be first, to call on Thee, or to praise Thee; and likewise to know Thee, or to call upon Thee. But who is there that calls upon Thee without knowing Thee? For he that knows Thee not may call upon Thee as other than Thou art. Or perhaps we call on Thee that we may know Thee. "But how shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? or how shall they believe without a preacher?"(5) And those who seek the Lord shall praise Him. For those who seek shall find Him,(7) and those who find Him shall praise Him. Let me seek Thee, Lord, in calling on Thee, and call on Thee in believing in Thee; for Thou hast been preached unto us. O Lord, my faith calls on Thee,--that faith which Thou hast imparted to me, which Thou hast breathed into me through the incarnation of Thy Son, through the ministry of Thy preacher."

Are you familiar with the browser Mozilla Firefox? In a word, it's fabulous! Dave is the high tech geek around here and he found and installed Firefox for us. I wasn't too thrilled one way or the other, as long as the computer will boot up and take me where I want to go, I'm a happy camper. With Firefox, if the font on a particular page is too small, just click Control and the + sign at the same time. The font will enlarge each time you click! If the font is too large, click on Control and the - sign and the font size decreases. Is that cool or what? Another thing...Firefox has wonderful themes that appear around the edges of your screen. Right now, I'm looking at Aslan, peering rather majestically at me over the top of my g-mail. Okay, it's not really Aslan but he is a majestic lion and, as I love Narnia, I pretend it's Aslan. Does my heart good too, knowing Aslan is right here with me both in spirit and on the screen. 

Is it just me and Sarah Palin or have you noticed grocery store prices are, just about, through the roof? Do you know about the National Inflation Association? It's all about "preparing Americans for hyperinflation" and if you're a person, such as I, who best understands things put rather simply, go read some of the articles. Be sure your shoes are tightly tied as you're about to be frightened out of your socks! Food price projections are strikingly obscene! Forecasts of +$23 for a pound and half loaf of bread or +$45 for a 64 ounce container of orange juice...YIKES! Other forecast include, by the end of this decade which is not so very far in the future, a plain white cotton men's tee shirt costing more than $55 at Wal-Mart. NIA expectations are all retailers will soon substantially raise food prices and at the same time, this "will ensure that this Holiday shopping season will be the worst in recorded American history." I urge everyone to run to the grocery and make purchases now, while we can still afford to buy! Stock up on beans, rice and the basics; learn to cook from scratch, prepare yourselves and your families, as best you can, for what is to come.

"Why," you ask, "is this happening?" Because the Federal Reserve has announced they will implement $600 Billion in additional quantitative easing by end of June 2011. Simply put, they keep printing money and that causes inflation! Quite effectively, it steals from the purchasing power of income and savings of ALL of us! As the NIA puts it, "While Americans are distracted by the mainstream media with daily debates by the Democrats and Republicans about taxes, U.S. taxes have almost no where near the effect on the lives of middle class Americans as does the Federal Reserve's monetary policy and quantitative easing. Instead of millions of Americans attending "tea party" events in Washington with Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, they should be marching outside of the Federal Reserve building in New York chanting "End the Fed"."

Works for me, ending big government.The Republicans have announced they will attempt to "stop the pork". Now you and I both know, that's not going to happen, not in a million lifetimes but what they, Dems and Republicans, can do is "end the Fed". That's probably not going to happen either but a woman can dream, can't she? I dream of change, real change, and I don't mean chump change either.

~ eye candy ~

These are perilous times and the blessing/curse "may you live in interesting times" is certainly true. In keeping with Rebecca Writes, my heart is grateful that even though I live in interesting times, my times are in God's hands. It is He who holds sway over me and not man. Man may mean it for evil but God is able to work it for His good. Bless His name forever.

Blessings ~ the view from each window ~ Aslan ~ St. Augustine ~ Canada geese ~ cozy fire ~ faith ~ seeking ~

Grace and Peace,
Sandra