New Adventures Await

On Wednesdays, I had been posting about my travels, most recently our spring break trip to Kentucky. Those stories ran out three weeks and there have been no trips since.  

We were going to go camping the weekend of May 12 and had planned trips to Seattle, WA, next week and South Dakota the week after. We cancelled all of that because of my stupid back.

I know you’re tired of hearing about it; or you should be. I’ve become such a frustrated whiner. But the back is getting better and I’m going to stop letting it get me down.

On top of that, our cat Emma has been having more seizures so we had to add a new medication. I really didn’t want to leave her home, with our cat sitter coming in once a day, until we knew how the new meds would work for her. So far, so good. No seizures for a week now.

We still have two camping trips scheduled this summer and I have my big trip to Cambodia in the fall. Nothing will cancel any of those plans. Nothing.

And I’m retired from the clinic now, as you all know. I told Hubby that starting next week, we should try to take a ride somewhere once a week, do a little exploring, let me snap some pictures. Heavens, about the only pictures I’ve taken in the last month were of things we were trying to sell! That’s sad.

So here, I go. New life, new adventures, hopefully new rehabilitated back very soon. 

Haven't had a chance to pick up anything for the garden yet either. Flowers were pretty picked over at the garden center, but I did get some pansies and got them planted yesterday. 

 

Definitely went down the rabbit hole today

 Yesterday’s Bible verse on the BibleGateway website was Acts chapter 20, verse 24. The version of the Bible which I had read from there last was the New Century Version; it’s a pretty modernized, easy to read translation of the Bible.

New Century Version – I don’t care about my own life. The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.

But saying that “I don’t care about my own life” sounded a little harsh to me, so I looked up the passage in different Bible editions.

New Life Version – But I am not worried about this. I do not think of my life as worth much, but I do want to finish the work the Lord Jesus gave me to do. My work is to preach the Good News of God’s loving-favor.

Living Bible – But life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love.

New King James Version – But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Good News Translation – But I reckon my own life to be worth nothing to me; I only want to complete my mission and finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do, which is to declare the Good News about the grace of God.

Hmm? Interesting, huh? I would love to be fluent in the Hebrew language and the other languages which the original manuscripts of the Bible were written in. Imagine reading the words as they were first penned.

This weekend in church, we celebrate Pentecost. One of the things we remember during this time is that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples allowing them to speak in other languages. This equipped them to go out into the world to tell all nations and people about Jesus.

They didn’t need the internet; God wanted to be sure they were prepared to spread the word of Jesus Christ without having to be assured of a WiFi connection. And I think that most of us struggle sharing the Gospel even in our own language. Something for each of us to pray about. 

Just for fun, here are some more translations:

Hawai‘i Pidgin – But den, fo me, fo stay alive, dass notting. I ony like do everyting da Boss Jesus wen tell me fo do to da end. He wen tell me fo tell everybody da Good Stuff bout how plenny good tings God do fo us.

Luther Bibel 1545 – Aber ich achte der keines, ich halte mein Leben auch nicht selbst teuer, auf daß ich vollende meinen Lauf mit Freuden und das Amt, das ich empfangen habe von dem HERRN Jesus, zu bezeugen das Evangelium von der Gnade Gottes.

Biblia del Jubileo – Mas de ninguna cosa hago caso, ni estimo mi vida preciosa para mí mismo; solamente que acabe mi carrera con gozo, y el ministerio que recibí del Señor Jesús, para dar testimonio del Evangelio de la gracia de Dios.

Anyway, Friday was my last day of work at the clinic. Retirement! Maybe I should learn a foreign language now that I’ll have the time.

Encouragement Needed

 

May the patience and encouragement that come from God allow you to live in harmony with each other the way Christ Jesus wants. Then you will all be joined together, and you will give glory to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5-6, New Century Version)

It wasn’t that I had a blank mind when it came to writing today’s blog post. It was more like I didn’t have the energy to write what was on my mind. Hopefully, next time I will write that long and somewhat oddball metaphor I have been thinking about it.

In the meantime, I pulled up the BibleGateway website, and this was the verse they listed for today. Another reminder that we need to get along with each other. And if that is a struggle in some cases, pray to God for the patience to deal with those people. You might not know what they are dealing with or that they really need encouragement from you.  

Ready to go Camping

This past weekend, we were supposed to go camping. Not one, not two, but four issues kept us from going. Maybe there were five things, I can’t remember now.

To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. The weather had been so nice, and I needed so badly to get away. I guess it is what it is. Life goes on. Sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t.

The one good thing that happened was that we brought Carlton, our camping trailer, home from storage. And Hubby even backed it into its spot on the first try. Yeah, Hubs!

I have only another week to work, and then the summer festivities can begin – lots of other trips to plan and look forward to. As well as a long list of projects to start work on, as soon as my back is better.

Anyway, also, we’ll be listing our pop-up camper for sale as soon as we can set it up, and I’m satisfied that it’s clean and everything is in working order. With my ongoing back pain, I can't do much to help Hubby put it up, so I'm not sure when that will happen. One reason for buying the travel trailer is that I don’t have to climb under it to set it up. But let me know if you are interested, and we’ll figure something out.  The pictures are from a couple years ago.  

What Weight are You Trying to Lift Today

But the Lord said to me, “My grace is enough for you. When you are weak, my power is made perfect in you.” So I am very happy to brag about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can live in me. For this reason I am happy when I have weaknesses, insults, hard times, sufferings, and all kinds of troubles for Christ. Because when I am weak, then I am truly strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, New Century Version)

Stop trying to carry all your troubles, even all the troubles of the world, on your own shoulders. Take everything that is worrying you and drop it all on God’s shoulders.

Turn everything over to Him. From the smallest to the largest load. His shoulders are much broader than yours, and He can carry any weight you place on Him.

Whatever is wrong in your life today, ask God, in prayer, to take care of it. Then release that it, imagine hoisting it right off of your back and placing it on God.

Trust me. You can’t handle it, but He can and He will.

The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. (Psalm 118:14, New International Version)

Creation

     Our last full day in Kentucky on Spring Break, Hubby and I made the short nine mile drive from our Airbnb to the Creation Museum in Petersburg.

I’m not gonna lie – I was pretty disappointed. It just felt like 75,000 square foot of propaganda. 

Yes, I believe in the Creation and that it happened just like it was written in the Bible. But I think that faith means you believe that because of your faith and not because some guy claims to have scientific proof of the whole thing, and that the earth is not billions of years old, but is only 6,000 years old. 

And that dinosaurs lived on earth with us. 

It just made me feel weird. Like I was at one of those multi-leveling marketing parties, being pushed to buy into the whole thing, insteading of believing what I believe. 

But many of the displays and exhibits were interesting and thought-provoking. I always enjoy imaging how people lived during different times. 

 I didn't think it was a total waste of time.

Anyway, after we left the building, we toured the grounds a bit, but it was cloudy and cool out and none of the gardens were blooming yet. I imagine it is beautiful this time of year, as opposed to the end of March. 

They had a small, barnyard zoo, with only a few animals.

But I liked the KuneKune pigs. They are from New Zealand and their name means “fat and round”. My kind of name. 

No matter what we see, though, Hubs and I always have a good time. 

Saving the Lost

Then Jesus told them this story: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep but loses one of them. Then he will leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the open field and go out and look for the lost sheep until he finds it. And when he finds it, he happily puts it on his shoulders and goes home. He calls to his friends and neighbors and says, ‘Be happy with me because I found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, I tell you there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes his heart and life, than over ninety-nine good people who don’t need to change. (Luke 15:3-7, New Century Version)

Pretty straight forward story. The shepherd (Jesus) leaves the majority of the flock, the ones who already believe, and goes after the one who is lost. And once the lost one is found there is rejoicing in heaven and earth.

There are several Christian songs that I’ve been hearing which talk about that one lost sheep. Below is the video with lyrics of the one by Cory Asbury. There is another song, but I can’t remember the name of it.

Anyway, but the real moral of the story, for me, is that God does not forget us when we go astray, and He will always bring us home. So, if you are praying for someone who has lost their way, never give up hope. Always believe. Always keep the faith. God saves all who are lost.    

The Pack Shrinks Some More

For many years, we had a fine pack of noble hounds - Dino, our dog, aka the Wonder Dog. Wesley, our son's dog, a lab rescue with several other breeds in his bloodline. Buddy, our daughter's first child, a lab/rott mix with an old soul. And Bleu, our daughter's lab/husky mix. 

 Sadly, Wes was the first to leave us in November of 2021, with bone cancer of his skull. 

Our pack dropped down to three. 

In January of this year, as you may remember, devoted Dino peacefully crossed the rainbow bridge to join Wes and the long list of cats he had lived with during his 16 years with us. 

The pack was down to my daughter's babies. 

I don't have words to express how devastated we were when Bleu left us this past Sunday night, a victim of vicious blastomycosis. 

He was an adorable pup 

but always lived his life listening to the beat of a different drum. 

He is irreplaceable. 

The Famous Ark – Spring Vacation Blog Post #5

Goodness how is it possible that five weeks ago we were in Kentucky on Spring Break, and it still doesn’t feel much like Spring here in the Northwoods.

Oh, well, I guess that means it’s okay that I am still sharing that trip.

On a day much like day, we arrived at the Ark Encounter with partly sunny skies up above and temps in the mid-forties.

Everyone I’ve talked to who has been there reports that the size of it is daunting, hard to believe that it was constructed by one man and his three sons so very long ago. It didn’t seem that massive to me, but then I guess I was only thinking that it was built in this century by a large team of engineers, contractors, and modern-day craftsmen. It took me a bit to put my head in the right time and place.

Inside, there were depictions of nearly every aspect of life on the Ark for Noah, his family, and the animals. From feeding systems to food and water storage.

 

From many of the various animals which were housed in the Ark. Including these interesting containment units for snakes.

Up to animals we have around today or who were somewhat different at that time.

But I don’t really believe that some sorts of animals were around at the time. There were long explanations trying to prove that dinosaurs were alive when the Ark set sail and that Noah welcomed them aboard. I don’t buy that.

There were also examples of what the living quarters for Noah, his wife, their three sons and their son’s wives might have looked like.

This might be how people lived on Earth at the time, but I’m not sure that Noah’s family would have taken the time to build things quite so nice.

But then again, those eight people were chosen by God to survive the flood, so maybe God saw to it that they were comfortable.

In any case, it was a huge boat, both inside and out, and accommodated the people and animals needed to repopulate the Earth. 

And there is no doubt in my mind, that the Ark did save humanity from the destruction of our sins.