Monday, January 05, 2015

Snippets...

 To add a little life to January, I like a few green things growing, indoors of course.  My Christmas Cactus (AKA:  Holiday Cactus) continues to bloom, but not as profusely as it did last year.  At my kitchen sink window, I have four paperwhite bulbs shooting upward.  They should be a cheery spot during the bleak days of January.

Despite the cold, snow, and wind, I took a little walk-about with Sue.  Although it started out very cold, in the teens, the temp jumped up to about 35* and that's when I stepped out the door for a tramp through the trees.  The wind was harsh so staying in the trees made it more bearable.  We spotted quite a few mostly-white jackrabbits and a couple white-tailed deer and just one sharptail grouse.


Two burners on my gas range won't light.  I've been online trying to figure out why and what parts I might need to fix them.  I think I need another set of eyes to look at the burner assembly.  One of the sons will be best at figuring that out. 

I've almost got all of the family photos from 2014 assembled into albums, but I ran out of space so I'll go find another book tomorrow, I hope.  It seems so 1980s to put photographs into books now, doesn't it?  Depending on the road conditions, I hope I can do a quick shop in town along with a couple errands so I can wrap that little project up.  Then it's on to taxes.  Bah!

I've been thinking about this anonymously written poem a lot lately.  I hunted it down after hearing Ravi Zacharias recite it on a Blaze TV interview.   I just loved how the words so articulately and precisely flowed from his mouth.




When God wants to drill a man, and thrill a man, and skill a man;
When God wants to mold a man to play the noblest part;
When He yearns with all his heart to create so great and bold a man that all the world might be amazed;
Watch His methods, watch His ways.
How He ruthlessly perfects whom He royally elects.
How He hammers and hurts him,
and with mighty blows converts him,
Into trial shapes of clay that only God understands,
while his tortured heart is crying and he lifts beseeching hands.
How He bends but never breaks, when His good He undertakes.
How He uses whom He chooses and with every purpose fuses him,
With mighty acts induces him to try His splendor out.
God knows what He’s about.


-Author Unknown

11 comments:

  1. Wow...that's quite the poem. I can see why you are thinking about it. Hope your burners get fixed quick and easy!

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  2. Sue! She's a good girl, isn't she? That is a good poem, Jody!
    Stay warm and snug!

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  3. Oh but that is a very wise poem. Hard though? I was given a very lovely plant in a very lovely holder for Christmas and am DETERMINED not to kill it the way I do all else!

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  4. Lovely poem, I do love Ravi Zacharias. Your paperwhites will be lovely. I like them in that bucket. Your dog is your friend. I like that she goes with you. Stay warm, my oven is out so I have had to get creative. :)

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  5. Yes, it does seem old-fashioned to be putting paper pictures into albums. I'm still struggling along. I'm so far behind, but when I get to a certain point I know I'll run out of paper photos and everything from that point on is in my digital camera or computer. No way am I printing those out!! :)
    I love the paper whites!

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    1. I had a hard time even finding a photo album. There were 3 or 4 in the clearance section of my local Shopko. It is evidently not a "now" kind of thing to put pictures in books. Next year I'll likely make a book through shutterfly or snapfish using just the best of the best of my many, many photo snaps.

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  6. Nice poem. I have been out snowshoeing also. You were talking about your new smart phone in the last blog. I use the Map My Walk app to track my miles. I am also addicted to Words with Friends. The album sounds nice. My albums got dropped when we moved and now I have photos in all the wrong places. Someday I will sit down and sort it all out.

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  7. I'm so happy your Christmas cactus is still blooming. Someone gave me a CC a few weeks ago, and I love it (and thought of you, of course). My hope now is to not kill it--I'm notoriously bad with house plants. Any words of wisdom?

    xofrances

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    1. Don't fuss to much with the Christmas cactus. I have it near a south window, water it weekly, and only fertilize in summer -- a little bit. That's really it. They aren't difficult plants to care for. At least mine isn't .

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  8. I could hear Ravi's voice in my head as I read that poem which I love. And as I sit here looking at your snow and hearing of your wind our own wind is blowing and whistling outside. I haven't printed off pictures in years but I wonder sometimes...they are hard to share when you don't so maybe I should. I'm going to think about that...

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  9. What a strong poem! I love that next-to-last line -- inducing the man to try God's splendors out! I do think a person must be worked on, worked over, worked out, by God, before he can even attempt to see the splendor.

    I can't help wondering how you kept Sue from flying after all those white animals on your walk! She must be a good dog :) Sounds like cold fun.

    Do gas burners sometimes get blocked up? Seems like I've heard of people needed to clean them out -- kind of unblock them -- to get them working again. But I don't have a gas stove. I hope you get it worked out so you can get back to all that good cookin'!

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