Just Another Day

I did get my housework all done yesterday and managed to do it unto the Lord. It was as if I were cleaning His house. Things look better now and I feel better knowing it's done. I even thought to vacuum under the refrigerator. I try to do that around the 1st of every month and I decided it was close enough yesterday. If I don't vacuum regularly under there the animal hair builds up and I don't like that to happen. I know my fridge runs smoother and better if I keep those coils clean. I suppose I should pull it out from the wall and vacuum the back too but it wasn't too long ago when our waterline to the ice maker cracked and we had to pull it out to replace the plastic piping. I vacuumed the back then and I was surprised to find it wasn't all that bad considering how long it had been. So I figure if I don't do that very often it'll still be okay.

I woke up earlier than usual and thought to water my bushes out front. It's too hot around that area for much of anything to grow but we do have some junipers and a couple other super hardy bushes. I've tried planting flowers out there but they just end up dying in the heat of summer. We hit 105 on our deck again yesterday. It wasn't that hot down in our yard under the tree. But we don't live down in the yard under the tree. The 105 degree temp is what slams against our house from the vacant lot next door. It's also 105 when you open our front door. So I usually go by the temp reading on the deck. The sensor stays in the shade at all times so it gives us a fairly righteous reading of what we live with. But it got pretty cool last night so I slept well, thank goodness.

There's not much happening around here today. I have no plans to go anywhere or do anything. Michael needs to drive to the next town and pick up a prescription this afternoon but I decided not to go with him because of the heat. There are few things I hate worse than sweating and since our air conditioner isn't working in our car, sweat just comes with the territory. So I'll stay home and enjoy the quiet. Besides, Pepper gets lonely when we both go away. He's very attached to us.

My Bible verse this morning was Isa. 40:8. "The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of our God stands forever." I never seem to be content with the time I spend in Scripture. I always want more and yet it takes discipline. I've been going through the book of Revelation for the past 6 months or so. But the heavy symbolism takes its toll on me and so I only get a little done and then I find I have to take a break from it. I puzzle over Revelation. It had to have made some sense to the first century Christians. And very little of it makes sense to me. By far, most of it is way over my head. I don't want to go through it using any kinds of aids or commentaries. I want the Holy Spirit to teach me this time. I've been through it before using study aids. But this time I thought I'd like to do it with just the Spirit and me. No other voices. So far I'm mostly just trying to figure out who's talking and then jotting that into the margin. I'll go back through again and pay more attention to the writing itself. I guess there is no easy way to study Revelation. But I try to find some time to get into the Word every day, even if it's just for a few verses, because I know God speaks to me through Scripture. That's one of the ways He reveals Himself to me. I know that in this ever-changing world, the Word stands forever. When I first became a Christian I poured over Scripture for hours at a time, day after day. It seemed there were endless things to learn and I was so curious about everything. I've read the New Testament probably 20 times since then and every time I go through it I learn something more. But in recent years what I learn aren't just facts and names and places. There's a more casual sense of deeper understanding. I am much better now at taking Scripture and applying it to my life. It's in the application where we find fulfillment and understanding. Everything else in life is perishable, but the Word of God stands forever. So I try to discipline myself to open it every day. Sometimes I get busy and forget. Sometimes I remember. But always I try.

Two months I had my hairstylist cut my hair really short and I just love it. I'd always worn longer hair to hide my hearing aids since I started wearing them. But a couple months ago I just decided that people could stare at my aids if they wanted to but, by golly, I was going to wear it short again. It's so much easier to take care of now and everyone tells me I look younger in short hair. (That alone is enough to get me to keep it short, LOL!) I'm still two weeks away from a cut and the back is getting too long for me so I'm thinking about having her use the shears (clippers) in the back around the bottom next time. To go even shorter. On Sundays I blow it dry and style it with a round brush. But during the week I just wash it, goop it, and finger style it. Then when it's dry, I comb it, fluff it, and spray it. It's wonderful!!! I wish I had the nerve to get it cut in a long-ish butch because I've seen women wearing their hair that way and they look surprisingly good. But so far I haven't mustarded up that kind of bravery. But I may some day. Who knows?!

Just stepped outside to clear my head and, ugh!, it's going to be hot again. A rain would be nice. We haven't had a measurable rain in a long time. That's one thing about our summers here, they're usually quite dry. I'd love to have a storm once in awhile. But then we'd have to worry about lightning in the high country starting a forest fire so I guess it's good that we don't get the rain. One nice thing about living in the Colorado Rocky mountains was it rained just about every afternoon. I used to love that. We always woke up to a gloriously clear day, but then in the afternoons it would cloud up and rain for about an hour and then clear up again. It was wonderful. It kept the temperatures down and the dust washed off all the trees and bushes. I loved it. Of course we had a bolt of lightning strike the mountain above our house and it peppered our deck with rocks and sticks, but it was so exciting. What an adventure we had, moving to Colorado for a couple years. The moves were difficult but the adventure was great.

Tomorrow is Saturday. That means it's almost time to wash the car again. Washing the car every Saturday is another new discipline I've added to my life. I finally decided it wasn't going to wash itself and if I wanted it clean, then I was going to have to wash it every week myself. It would be nice to just run it through the carwash every week but we don't have a carwash here in town and I wouldn't spend the money to have it washed anyway. With Michael on Social Security and me on Disability we have to be careful what we spend our money on. It's really been hard the last year or two because the cost of everything has gone up so sharply but our income level hasn't changed. Oh well, being poor keeps me humble. It opens my eyes to see the difference between "wants" and "needs." The Lord will supply me with all my needs. He didn't say anything about my wants. Paul said, "I have learned to be content in all things..." The operative word there is "learned." Yes, it's a learning process and I'm learning, I'm learning! LOL

Well, it's noon and I don't have this blog posted yet so I need to do that. I don't know for sure but I probably won't blog on weekends. I'll tell you all about my weekends on Mondays. Probably. Have a terrific end of your week and stay close to the Lord.