A lot of changes

Things have been pretty crazy around here lately. I can't go into details, but suffice it to say that we have had our hands full. I'm thinking things are about settled down now!

I had to get a new computer a couple of weeks ago. I was very disappointed that my HP didn't last any longer than the two years that I used it. It had been cracked for quite a while and it got to where it wasn't charging well. Dennis had been wanting to find something to buy me for my 60th birthday present, so I told him a new computer would work. I went back to a Lenovo Yoga...which was what my first 2-in-1 laptop was. It still uses Windows 10, so transferring files and getting up to speed on how to use it was a little easier than last time I had to replace my computer. It still took an entire day to get things lined out the way I wanted. I'm enjoying it pretty well. It is smaller and more lightweight, which I love. The touch screen isn't as responsive, though, which can sometimes be a pain. But if it lasts as log as my original Yoga, I will be very pleased with it!

Nam started Pre-K today! Sheila took the day off, so she could be the one to pick him up today. She said he did great! When she asked him what he did, he told her "made friends".  ❤ He then elaborated and said that they also did numbers, the ABC's and "the park". When asked what his favorite thing was, he said "coloring", which is a BIG deal! We have had a hard time getting him interested in coloring or writing at all. I was hoping that school would help, but I didn't expect it to happen this fast! We will start our normal routine with him tomorrow. Sheila will take him to school, and we will pick him up (Mon-Wed). Gina will keep him on Thursdays, and we will have him all day on Fridays. This is going to be a big change for us!

Daddy is selling his car! Hallelujah!!! It only took 9 months after losing his license to reach this point. (ha ha) We plan to go pick it up tomorrow so Dennis can work on it. The battery is dead, the oil is VERY low, and it needs to be cleaned out really well. He isn't getting much for it, but he didn't pay much for it when they bought it...MANY miles ago! Another milestone reached!

We are back to working on our guest room. Since we "had the day off" today, we finished grinding all of the quickset off the concrete floor. It is a really dirty job! We hung a cloth over the exposed wall and doorway, put a fan in the window to blow out as much as possible, and I stood next to Dennis with a shop vac as he grinded. We were able to keep it out of the rest of the house as far as I can tell. We were sure covered in dust though! Now Dennis is finishing up scraping the popcorn off the ceiling. That will probably be all we get accomplished today. I'm really looking forward to starting putting things back together! We have the flooring and door and new light/fan fixture ready to go once we get the sheetrock up and textured.

Finding the right tool is SO helpful!

Yesterday was our monthly guest speaker/potluck/singing. Robbie H. was our guest speaker and did an excellent job! It was great to have some time to visit with him and Charlotte and Morgan. Kirk T. also showed up. He is planning to move to the area sometime in the fall and was bringing a load over. I'm glad that it happened to fall on potluck day! James and Renee hosted the lunch, again. They are so good to open their lovely home to everyone. We had a great turnout, great food, and great fellowship!

This coming weekend is the annual Labor Day Gathering at Haslet. We don't know, yet, if Bobbie will be out of rehab by then. She is determined to go though! We will just drive them back and forth, if they are able to make the festivities. We told them that Bobbie will have to go in her wheelchair though. She cannot afford any more falls! We are very thankful that she didn't break anything this time around!

Well, I guess that's about all for now. I hope everyone enjoys the upcoming 3-day-weekend!

Sincere Prayer

I read a line in a book yesterday that has stayed with me. The book is a novel, not Christian fiction, but it deals with brutal realities in some families and how people deal with them. The line that caught my attention is:  “If he’d gone for a genuine heartfelt, please-bless-Maisey sort of prayer, I might have stayed. It is quiet and peaceful here in the chapel. But I’m not going to hang around and listen to this fledgling boy–man use prayer as an opportunity to tell God what he already knows.” (King, Kerry Anne. Whisper Me This)

How often do we hear this kind of prayer being spoken? I have to admit that this has always been a pet peeve of mine, even though I can be as guilty as anyone of doing it. Even though the scriptures tell us not to use vain repetitions, but to be sincere and humble in our prayers, we too often fall back on the same prayers that we’ve always heard uttered. I remember going to church in California one summer and being amazed (not in a good way) to hear the same words being spoken there that I always heard in my home congregation.

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. (Matthew 6:5-7 NKJV)

The first time I ever remember hearing a person praying like they were really talking to God was when I was in high school. That is really sad, because I have attended church 2-3 times a week since I was BORN! Then when Dennis and I moved to Nacogdoches, I was blown away by a brother there who uttered some of the most REAL and sincere prayers I’ve ever heard:  no pat phrases, no fancy language, just simply pouring out his heart to God.

I imagine (at least I hope) that most people pray this way in private, but then allow something (pride, fear of letting others see their hearts, etc.) to get in the way when leading a public prayer. I really don’t think this is what God wants to hear! Quoting scripture in prayer is just showing out…He already knows it all…He spoke it! One of my personal pet peeves is saying things in triplicate. It happens all the time. Someone will be praying and use two or three words that mean the same thing in a sentence. But rarely do you hear someone just speaking simply from their heart…which is what prayer really is.

I hope that some day people will move away from using prayer as an opportunity to make a speech or give a sermonette or try to impress people. That’s never what God intended and doesn’t serve any good purpose. The only person that I know of in the Bible that was praised for their prayer was the publican who prayed thusly: "And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:13-14 NKJV)

Health update and back to remodeling!

Well, I went back to my orthopedic doctor to get the results of my MRI on my shoulder. Turns out I DON'T have a torn rotator cuff! I have severe tendonitis and bursitis caused by an impingement. The only treatment (other than surgery to shave off bone to enlarge the impinged area) is steroid injections. The last one didn't really help much. The doctor thought that the medication might not have reached the area where it was needed, so this time he went deeper. He was reluctant to do that last time, because it is supposed to be pretty painful. However, it wasn't. I could feel it at one point, but it was pretty mild. So we are hoping that I will get some relief this time. If it does help, I can have them every 3 months, if needed. I still have to "baby" my left arm, since exercise only worsens the problem. Hopefully, I will be able to go about my normal activities with little pain with the shots though. The impingement is caused by a genetic defect in my shoulder in which the bone angles downward rather than being "parallel". There seems to be some spurs involved, too, which I seem to have more than my share of. So, it was better news than expected. It can't be "cured", but we might be able to keep the pain under control. If it does get to the point where it needs surgery, it won't be nearly as severe as it would be if the tendons were torn.

We spent most of Monday and Tuesday tearing up the guest room. We've gotten about 2/3 of the tile removed from the floor. It is pretty slow going! We took yesterday off to rest up. James and Debbie (and Renee) came over for a short visit to meet Nam. He took to James right off, which I knew he would. He started acting like he felt bad toward the end of their visit. He'd been having trouble with allergies for a couple of days. His left eye has been red and swollen and gunky. After our company left, I washed his eyes out with artificial tears and gave him a snack, and he perked right up! He really needs a regular routine of snacks to keep going.

He has done much better with the remodel than I expected. He loves to "help"! He actually is a pretty good help when it comes to sweeping up the debris from the tile and picking up the larger pieces and discarding them. When he gets tired of helping, he will go to his little bench in the dining room and play for a while. I think it is helping him sleep better at night, too.

Tuesday, we were watering the grass, and Nam wanted to play in the sprinkler. So I told him to take off his socks and shoes and have at it. He had a blast. We had two sprinklers going, so he would make them "fight" each other. Ha! He played for about a half hour and was totally drenched! I told Sheila he wouldn't need a bath that night!

Ricky went to Arkansas last weekend for his 30th birthday. He and a few friends got a cabin on Mt. Magazine and relaxed and enjoyed their time together. He got back Sunday night and had to immediately repack and get ready to go out of town for work Monday morning. So we haven't seen much of him for the past week!

I'm not sure how long it will take to finish the guest room job. We are going to replace all of the walls and strip the popcorn ceiling after finishing tearing up the tile. We plan to rework the closet, too. We have already bought the new flooring:  a laminate that looks a lot like the tile that we put in the kitchen/dining area. We have the new 36" door, but we won't hang it until after we get the new flooring laid. I'm sure we'll be working in there at least another couple of weeks. After finishing in there, Dennis wants to move onto the hall bathroom. We need to widen the door to it to a 36" one, also. To do that, we'll have to tear out the linen closet and reconfigure it, take out the cabinets and countertop (which we plan to replace with a ready-made one), and replace the tub with a walk-in shower unit. We'll also replace the tile with what we have in the kitchen area, too. It is really good to get back to working on the house. We've pretty much had it put on hold since I left for Vietnam last fall. We weren't sure how we'd be able to take care of Nam and remodel at the same time. I believe he is going to do just fine with it now.