Sabbath Keeping

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb,

sweet to the soul and

healing to the bones."

~ Proverbs 16:24 ~

If you can't say anything nice

Don't say anything at all. 

~ Mom ~

For most folks, it doesn't cost anything extra to be nice.

"Not only do I think being nice and kind is easy, but being kind, in my opinion, is important."
~ Dwayne Johnson ~

"I still get weepy when I see a father being nice to his child. It so affects me." ~ Pat Conroy ~

"Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." ~ Mark Twain ~

Kindness is never wasted.

"Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you." ~ Princess Diana ~

"Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate." ~ Albert Schweitzer ~

"Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them and they bless you, the giver." ~ Barbara de Angelis ~

"It's nice to be important

but it's more important to be nice."

~ John Templeton ~

"I'm just one woman away, my mother, from being the same as Mike Tyson. I would have ended up like him if my mama had not been so tough and strong. A lot of people, including Mike, don't know I came from the ghetto. They think I'm too nice and proper. But that's the way my mama raised me - to look people in the eye and respect them." ~ Evander Holyfield ~

"Wherever there is a human being,

there is an opportunity for a kindness."

~ Seneca ~

"Three things in life are important.

The first is to be kind.

The second is to be kind.

The third is to be kind."

~ Henry James ~

"Always be a little kinder than necessary." ~ J. M. Barrie ~

"There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity." ~ Nathaniel Branden ~

"Be kind to one another,

tenderhearted, forgiving one another

as God in Christ forgave you."

~ Ephesians 4:29 ~

Please pray for ~ Katie, JW  & Mason ~  and me, as there might be great change in my life ~

(Apologies all...my home internet isn't working and, lately, life is chaotic, thus, no blog updates nor blog visits and am at the county library doing this update.  I've used this time to take a vacation (see photo above and tell me where...), try and catch up with mowing, take a quick trip to visit family, celebrated July 4th and dealing with "the rest of life". To those who've written to say, "You're missed"...many grateful thanks and to those who've stuck with me...many grateful thanks. It's been a mess and as Dave would say, "Some days you eat the bear and some days the bear eats you." As Julian of Norwich said, "All shall be well..." and so it is.)

Sabbath Keeping

"Let him who boasts boast about this:

that he understands and knows me,

that I am the LORD, who exercises 

kindness, justice and righteousness on earth,

for in these I delight,"

declares the LORD."

~ Jeremiah 9:24~ 

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others;

for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness;

and for poise, walk with the knowledge 

that you are never alone."

~ Audrey Hepburn ~ 

"The greatest thing a man can do for his heavenly Father 

is to be kind to some of his other children."

~ Henry Drummond ~ 

"You cannot do a kindness too soon,

for you never know how soon it will be too late."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~ 

"Want to snatch a day from the manacles of boredom? Do overgenerous deeds, acts beyond reimbursement. Kindness without compensation. Do a deed for which you cannot be repaid."
~ Max Lucado ~

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." 

~ Aesop ~ 

"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again." ~ Og Mandino ~

"Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate." ~ Albert Schweitzer ~

"Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning." ~ Frederick W. Faber ~

"There's no use doing a kindness if you do it a day too late." 

~ Charles Kingsley ~

"Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows." 

~ Robert Green Ingersoll ~ 

"Let us hide our pains and sorrows. But, while we hide them, let them also be spurs within us to urge us on to all manner of overflowing kindness and sunny humor to those around us. When the very darkness within us creates a sunshine around us, then has the spirit of Jesus taken possession of our souls." ~ Frederick W. Faber ~

"Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness." 

~ C. S. Lewis ~

"Unseasonable kindness gets no thanks." 

~ Thomas Fuller ~ 

"No matter how low down you are; no matter what your disposition has been; you may be low in your thoughts, words, and actions; you may be selfish; your heart may be overflowing with corruption and wickedness; yet Jesus will have compassion upon you. He will speak comforting words to you; not treat you coldly or spurn you, as perhaps those of earth would, but will speak tender words, and words of love and affection and kindness. Just come at once. He is a faithful friend - a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." ~ D. L. Moody ~

"God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him

 in the heavenly realm in Christ Jesus, 

in order that in the coming ages He might show 

the incomparable riches of His grace, 

expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus."

~ Ephesians 2:6-7 ~ 

Please pray for ~ Stephanie ~ Rose ~ Jim ~ Dewena ~ Laura ~ JP ~ Maxine ~ the Roberts ~ Diana and her Hero  ~ President Trump and other leaders ~ Sandra ~ 

An Overwhelming Kindness

Dang. No photos due to some kind of computer or blogger glitch; oh well, it is what it is.

The last two weeks plus have been overwhelming in a variety of ways. We went from Blackberry Blizzard with a "wintery mix" to, a week later, 3 or 4 inches of rain in thirty-six hours. As Andy Griffith said, "It rained and it rained and it rained...it was a real frog strangler!" It's been raining for about the last eight days and, not to disrespect God or anything like that, I'm a mite tad tard of rain. As they would say around here
-smile-. That horrendous rain came with an electrical storm of ginormous magnitude. Not only did it blow out my telephone system, it blew out three house phones and my computer tower. YEOUCH!

Speaking of Mayberry, the Jasper, Alabama native George Lindsey passed away; remember Goober? What a classic that show was and is fondly remembered. I still watch Mayberry, it's comfort television for me; how about you? Mr. Lindsey via his celebrity golf tournament raised more than $1 million for the Alabama Special Olympics and will be missed by many. Prayers are with his family during these difficult days.

Another icon of my youth, Dick Clark, passed away. Rememer American Bandstand?

Yep, that's right...no telephone service for the last fifteen days or thereabouts. I cannot begin to tell you how much time and expense the V...and it doesn't stand for Victory!...phone company has cost me. They promised me a "one time credit of $25" the first week and a "one time credit of $40" the second week and are now trying to weasel out of paying. Additionally, I'm not paying for the days I didn't have telephone service and am not paying the fifty cents per day for 911 service...which I didn't have.

Did you know V. charges tax on services they don't provide? That's right, boys and girls. On my bill from February, when they were strong arm twisted into giving gave me what they promised, they charged me tax, state and federal, on services not rendered. Did you know, (on a roll here...) that whenever a V. employee is able to not give you what they owe you, that employee gets a bonus?! That is so immoral and unethical! I recently was told the top V. ceo's, presidents, vp's, etc. were given $1.2 billion dollars in salaaries, bonuses, perks, golden parachutes and the like. So, ya think employees are learning from example? Looks like to me.

 I'm a big letter writer. I write to friends, family, folks I don't know...and to the State Corporation Commission.  This will be my third letter to the SCC this year and each time, they have been able to prod V. into giving me what V. promised me. Let's see if it works this time. If you're having problems with a utility company, put the problem in writing and send the letter to your State Corporation Commission. I guarantee you'll get results.

The boots on the ground guys are fantastic to deal with; they work in all kinds of weather and I've never dealt with one who had a bad attitude. Of course, I hand out shortbread when they get here so perhaps that helps. -smile-

Remember Russell and the fire? So many of you have sent help to Russell and his family; thank you! He has been overwhelmed by your kindness and several times has begun crying at the outpouring of kindness. May God bless each of you tenfold for reaching out to a stranger and making his life, and the lives of his family, a bit easier.

Before the rain started, I was able to plant a couple of rows of potatoes and beans but still have so much to plant. I like to raise extra because there are always folks who enjoy fresh produce and it's not all that difficult to raise extra.

It's late for me and no matter there's more to say, I'm hitting the hay. Tomorrow is a l.o.n.g. day and miles to go before I sleep so good-night for now. God bless you and keep you; He does me.

Blessings ~ sleep ~ phone service that works ~ boots on the ground guys and gals ~ gardens ~ 

Kindness Guards the Entry

 ~ rear end of a goose ~

Tears, ever close, threaten to bruise my eyes and spill over the dam of lids to slide down my face and drip drip drip from my chin. Every person a has story: a past, present and a hope for the future. Some stories are held tightly, choking the dismal thoughts at bay. Other stories are close to the surface and sift through fingers wide open held close to the heart.

We're one-third of the way through chemo and a bit more with radiation. Every day we see some of the same folks and, always, new folks who clutch their blanket of hope as they wander the maze of the hospital system. Some people have friends or family to help guide them; others sit, alone, as they wait for someone to collect them for their next step or consult.

There's no privacy, none, meaning, there aren't any patient/staff rooms where one can go to hear what the next step will be, the next treatment, the bits of good news, the bad news tsunamis. It's impossible not to overhear - the clinical, sometimes dulcet, voices of the nurses or staff and the wistful hopeful prayerful pleadful tones of the patients. It's gut wrenching and I am in awe of the capability of the staff to both do their job and, generally, do it with compassion and tender care.

Why is it, do you suppose, the architects and other building planners, seemingly, have absolutely no concept of the needs of the people for whom the facility is, ultimately, designed? The waiting room and adjacent seating areas are one huge space...one huge loud noisy space where, even on the quietest of days, voices clammer to be heard...by each other and by staff. The din is amazing but, even so, overshadowed by the voices not heard. The voices of people who are withdrawn, consumed in their own thoughts while the white silence threatens to overshadow the actual noise, to bring noise to his knees. The white silence is deafening, a white blanket that is densely weighty and threatens to suffocate yet is not sufficient to prevent one from hearing the hope, always hope, lingering around and over the crowd, unseen but felt, sometimes warm and welcoming, other times shunted aside because it's become cold and foreign. Hope is an angel of tender mercies sent to comfort but sometimes hope isn't enough. Sometimes the news is so weighty a gut punch that one can hear the breath being sucked out of the body. I find myself holding my breath, tears gathering for someone I don't know, the only prayer being "Jesus, help" said over and over and over as a mantra until, bodies realize they need breath to sustain even the nightmares, breath sucks inward and the process begins anew.

So many of us can handle the bad news. It's then we muster ourselves, our prayers, our hopes, our family, our friends and begin the battle. The good news is even more easily handled, carried joyfully to the heart, sounds of exclamation of "thank God". There have been many kind people on this journey, as well as some not so kind people, but everyone is entitled to an off day. I'm finding out what  means a 'help meet'; taking the admonition "for better and worse" truly to heart, stepping up to the plate and...some days doing my absolute worst simply because I'm human and fall down on the job. But I'm here and will always be here and, surely, that counts against the times I fall down. There are too many stories of both men and women who walked away from the bad news, who "couldn't take it" and left. I cannot imagine. I can't imagine how one would sleep at night or face the day should one just walk away. I can't imagine not having the Holy Spirit to comfort, Christ to intercede or God to hear. I can't imagine trying...wry smile...to do any of this on my own. Why? What could possibly be the use?

It's hard, it's difficult and, even on a good day, there are still bad things happening. We soldier on, gallows humor and all, sharing a kind smile with others on the same journey, saying a prayer for those who are in evident, immediate need, squeezing in life and love and joy and laughter amongst the tears and, yes, even on those days when we feel like the rear end of a goose.

But, above all and always, allowing kindness to guard the entry to our heart.


Blessings ~ MCV ~ staff ~ volunteers ~ family ~ friends ~ prayers ~ ever present hope ~

Soli Deo Gloria,
Sandra