KETCHUP AND MUSTARD SATURDAY
(Catch Up and Must Do)
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When I sit at my computer, on the second floor of our home, I am facing north. Therefore, my left shoulder is close to a window on the west side of our house. To the north of us is NYC by several hours. To the NW of us, by 18 miles, is Philadelphia. Our world is filled with people everywhere and major traffic congestion most of the time. In fact, Wikipedia says that our state of New Jersey has the most dense population of any state per square mile - 1,171.1 people (someone needs to explain the .1 for me).
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Yet, God has also made spectacular greenery on this eastern peninsula state. This week, as I sat at my computer during the day, this is the view that I saw out the window on my left. I praise God for His marvelous creation! I'm looking forward to experiencing more of His wonders in the state known as The Garden State - New Jersey. Maybe you can join me on some Ketchup and Mustard Saturday for a cook-out!
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What has your week been like? Mine's been a little rough. It started out with Steve having the stomach bug. Both our girls have had a rough week healthwise. Plus, I've had lots going on for the end of the semester. I'm trying to get things wrapped up this next week and give my students a take home final so I can go see Chloe:)
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I've had to work hard to focus on living the "Beattitudes" because nothing "felt" quite right. Often times, the change of the seasons makes people feel different and require more sleep. That's been me! I noticed on Facebook that many people had status comments about being tired. Several talked about their feelings (emotions) and their fears. The daily battle is often to keep FEELINGS and FEAR from messing with our FAITH! I thought alot about that this week as it relates to lighting my world. Here are a few musings:
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- DAVE RAMSEY spoke for a nationwide streaming to 6,000 sites on Thursday night. We hosted people at the Pitman church to see and hear him. I wasn't FEELING my best and toyed with the idea of not going. I was so thankful that I let my FAITH win out over my FEELINGS. Of course, Dave talked alot about financial freedom. He also encouraged us to have hope in this time of great financial unrest. He was speaking to "people of FAITH", yet it was important for him to remind us to let our FAITH conquer our FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real) . He summarized with 3 things to do if struggling with hope: 1. Get up and take action!; 2. Don't participate in loser talk!; 3. Learn to give again! He was very encouraging and I am so thankful that I chose FAITH!
- JORDAN and JACQUELINE have a new baby at home. Baby Chloe is our first grandchild! J & J have been so encouraging to me this week as they have just kept one foot in front of the other and kept going. Jacqueline has kept her blog updated and been so thankful. Jordan has been in his last two weeks of medical school which have been very exhausting. Yesterday, on his very last day, he did his longest surgery yet... 8.5 hours. When it was over, on his way home to Jacqueline and Chloe, he remembered his daddy and mommy and gave us a call. Sweet! I have seen this young couple time and again put their FEARS and FEELINGS aside and choose FAITH (what would Jesus do?). http://jordandjacqueline.blogspot.com/
- As parents, each of us try to train our children to do "the right thing." We want them to master their FEELINGS and FEARS with their FAITH. Our daughter CRYSTAL, who is away at college got stung by a bee a few weeks ago and seems to be battling some repercussions and side effects. She had a speech to give in class yesterday morning, yet was sick all night long. Amazingly, I learned that although she was FEELING horrible and much too weak to give her speech, she walked across campus to her professor's office to let him see how sick she was. She had the FAITH that if he saw her, he would tell her to go back to bed... and he did.
- GIGATTAATTGIG are 13 letters that stand for 13 words. It is the concept of choosing to have FAITH in our FAITHFUL God no matter what our FEELINGS or FEARS. I have started a Facebook group to celebrate what these letters stand for AND another blog that I invite you to go to after finishing this one: http://gigattaattgig.blogspot.com/
- A few of my FACEBOOK FRIENDS had some huge battles with FEAR and FEELINGS this past week. I was encouraged by some of their comments and status posts of FAITH:
- "So thankful God uses broken people!"
- "I pray that God's grace chases you down and catches you!"
- "Found the end of my rope today!"
- "Just got back from the ER... remembering in sickness that GIGATTAATTGIG!"
- "Thankful for her sisters in Christ, younger, older, an inbetweeny. They display to me their hope, wisdom, and joy...3 things that I need double doses of... GIGATTAATTGIG....
- Three broken cars in one day... it was the perfect ending to a bad week! Still remembering that GIGATTAATTGIG...
- Hope this encourages someone...GIGATTAATTGIG....
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