HEADLINE!!!!    BANNER DAY!!!  KATHY DAVIDSON SENT ME ROLLS.  FIVE PANS OF ROLLS.  

Love is a pan of rolls.  A lot of pans of rolls is a lot of love.  Five pans of rolls is so over the top it is impossible to imagine how long it took her to do it.  For me.  Who would do that....!  Twenty four rolls in each pan.  I’m in heaven.

Thing is, I don’t deserve that kind of love.  Kathy just simply made a decision to love me years ago and keeps on loving.  It makes me so very aware that I need to do better--be better--love better.  You can’t order those kinds of friends from a Sears and Roebuck catalog.  They are gifts.  Kathy knows how much I love yeast bread and for at least twenty years has been the undeserved “Yeast” in my life.

God is good.  He blesses us with friends who really care.  Don’t send me roses; don’t send me chocolate.  And you don’t need to send me yeast rolls.  Kathy has that covered.

  

So, the words Spirit, Holy Spirit, God’s gift, etc. through the book of Romans have been colored in blue.  We will finish the New Testament soon.  It became obvious that the book of Acts holds the record number of those notations--by far.

And since Luke wrote the book of Acts, it is an interesting take on what was important to him.  He had never met Jesus, so the Holy Spirit was of critical importance for him to.  (As it is to us.) He mentioned how people received the Spirit, where they were when the Spirit came, what they were doing at the time, and how the Spirit changed their lives.

Luke is my favorite New Testament person...Paul is my favorite writer.  Luke is very exact--he was a physician and always got the “prescription” correct.  Although I am sure Luke knew the disciples and heard what they had to say, Luke went to the source, the women, to get his stories about Jesus--Martha and Mary. He records their experiences and the story of Herod killing the babies, the birth of Christ, the shepherds, and wise men.  Other writers don’t do that.

It has been an interesting experience for me to color words in my Bible.  “Faith” is purple, “The kingdom of God” is in yellow, “Priest and High Priest,” are in orange...and so on.  Now when I read, I am much more aware of the author, and his word preference and subject preference.  Note that Paul uses the word “mystery” over and over again.  To him, it is no longer the priests and the law, it is the indwelling Spirit--and he calls that the mystery that God has hidden from the ages only to reveal to us with the resurrection.  “Christ in you...the hope of glory.”

 I am on point today.  Even though the girls came to clean the house, I didn’t let it interfere with my schedule list!  Even though Squig got up three times in the night to go outside and of course I am sleepy....I’m doing the next thing on the list...blog!

Today, I am going to color in blue all the times in the Word where the Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, etc. is mentioned in the book of Acts.  My friend Jeanette has prodded me because I mentioned it Sunday in class and she has already got it done.  She said that she would walk me through it.  And she has already done the entire Bible!!!

The reason I mentioned it Sunday was because of the discrepancies in the book of Acts as to how, when, where etc. the Spirit comes into our lives.  Of course we believe that we receive God’s Spirit when we allow Him--through repentance and our belief in the death of Jesus for our sins, and his resurrection.

And we believe that the Spirit is the Life within us.  And we believe that God breathed into Adam the breath of “Life.”  But that after Adam and Eve disobeyed, sin entered the world,  and people were subsequently born dead in trespasses and sin--without the Spirit of God within them.  We needed a redeemer.

However, read the Book of Acts and pay attention to the subject of the Spirit.  Let me know if you have an epiphany.  I know believers have the Spirit.  That’s all I need to know, but I’m curious about the book of Acts and the written record of what happened to the new believers back then.  Curiosity is like the itch.

I did it!!!! I submitted a book for review.  And it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.  I have no secretarial skills, Nada, zilch, none...and as I have said before, I hold the title for the world’s greatest procrastinator.  I lost 10 pounds of anxiety in the process...however...the next time I do this, send something to a publisher, I will already have typed up all the stuff they want...so it will be easier.   

With procrastinators, there is always a feeling of anxiety because you know you are failing, and you know that whatever it is that you are putting off, you have to do it.  You can’t escape.  You are just delaying the necessary.  Why?  I don’t know. 

The solution is to do what you have to do.  Now!  Since I know I will put something off that I don’t want to do, I have a list in my head for the mornings that I follow religiously.  I have a rule in my head that if I don’t do the first things on my list, I can’t have my morning cup of Darjeeling tea.  And I am a psychotic rule follower!  That’s why I say I would have made an excellent Pharisee. 

One of those things I have to do is microwave a sweet potato.  It is one of the only things left that Squig can eat that he likes.  He has almost quit eating canned or dry dog food at all.  He has almost quit eating period.  He sleeps all of the time, but doesn’t seem to be in pain.  He no longer gets me up in the morning.  Bless him.  He doesn’t feel good and so on my mental morning list, I fix a sweet potato before I drink tea.  But every now and then, he brings me a toy and asks me to throw it, which I do.  But only occasionally does he have the strength to go get it.  So I go get it and throw it again.  He wants to play, and having me play seems to make him happy even through he can’t participate.  I love this sweet creature. 

I have got to got to get my act together.  My system  and the order of what I do in the morning isn’t working.  Too many of you are having to remind me to post---which I  been doing over 2500 times.  I’m trying (!) to do better.  But....

Have you ever been consumed by something you are trying to get done?  That’s where I am.  I had to write a resume...which I had never done before...the college  hired me to teach math for 20 years without one--I guess because they knew me and what I could do.  Who knows.  But this publishing company wanted one--and so I did it last week.  It took a week because  I had never reviewed myself, what I do, what I have done, who I am, or what my talents are.  I guess I just floated through life?  I found it very difficult.

And then, they wanted referrals from people in the business.  I don’t know anyone in the business of writing novels.  And they want email addresses...which I’m not going to give them!  I would lose all my friends if I did that.  Anyway, I spent a lot of time staring at my computer screen, frustrated.  It was much, much, much harder than writing the books.

I would have given up, but this publishing company is interested, and the story of my brother’s life underground in China setting up medical clinics for the Communists so he could use them to establish underground churches is too important a story to give up on.  He should have been dead a dozen times at least.  The publisher wants one chapter to read.  I chose the one where he got into a war zone, set up a tent to treat people, and the commander of an army brought his dying father to be treated, implying that Bill had to cure him or he would kill Bill.  That story was a tie with the chapter where the war in Viet Nam was raging, he was in a medical tent when a bomb hit, and he had to wade out through swamp and spent the evening picking leaches off of his legs. Or....or....or...it goes on and on.  I’m trying to get it out there.

It is 8 PM in the evening, and Rebecca Perkins texted, “You didn’t blog today.” Ahhh....my friends.  You keep me balanced.

I spent the entire day trying to write a proposal for this book about my brother.  Then realized it was supposed to start with a thesis statement.  I condensed two pages down to two sentences.  It is the hardest writing I have ever done.  

I spent hours and hours doing it.  I live for adjectives, and I had to eliminate all of them.  And of course, getting up every fifteen minutes to eat something bad for me. 

By this time every night, my neighbor across the street has called to tell me to turn my porch lights on.  All of you, my friends, take care of me.  Oh my!! How God has blessed me.  It’s becoming obvious that I can’t make it without all of you.  Kathy Davidson called this morning.  Becky Bacon did as well.  And Jeanette, Jamie and Carol picked me up and took me to lunch.  It is called assisted living in your own home!

I sincerely thank all of you who stay with my blog as I get erratic in my schedule.  Today I got up really early, took Squig to the groomer, left him there and drove to Luther.  I needed help writing a “cover-letter” a publisher wanted.  Pat is my go-to gal for computer stuff.  And since she works in the library, I can sit there and work on writing and when I get stuck, I can ask questions. (Thank Carnegie for our National Library system.)

And then, on the way home, I got a dash board light about my tires, and any time that happens I go into apoplexy.  I don’t do dash lights.  And I just got new tires anyway.

I was so bumfuzzled that I forgot to go out and get the newspaper, do my crossword and cryptogram.  It is now four in the afternoon, and I just brought the paper in.

And then, AT&T, my least favorite company in the world, has raised my “bundle” that is supposed to save me money by $45.  Why?  They don’t seem to know.  And nobody I get speaks English--I take that back.  They read it, they just don’t understand the questions I ask.  I think I’m being forced to have 5G. ??? 

And Becky Bacon just called to ask why I hadn’t blogged...and her eyes are doing remarkably well.  Which means she won’t be coming to see her Okla. City doctor.  I told her she needed to get a new disease so she will have to come stay with me!!  (I may have to drive to Pryor. I miss my Pryor friends.)  Tomorrow, I will go get the paper first thing and then blog.  I promise.  Unless I forget again.  The cure for forgetfulness is to quit having birthdays which is too drastic a solution.

Every morning, Pat wakes me up at 7:30.  This morn, I rolled back over and went back to sleep.  Which means that I am late on everything today.

Yesterday, I was telling you that I am teaching from Paul’s letters to Timothy and how different the tone is from his other letters.  He describes how the world will become more and more rebellious and godless and for him not to be discouraged.  

It sounds like he is describing today.  He tells Timothy to remember what he has learned from Scripture, and remember who taught him what he knows--his mother and his grandmother.

I find it strange how many Christians go to church, participate in group gatherings, listen to people speak on TV, but never read the Bible for themselves.  I’ve been teaching classes since I was seventeen, and to be honest, I haven’t found very many people who read the Bible. 

They come.  They listen.  But they don’t read it themselves.  And I know that if you don’t set a regular time and place to read...you won’t get it done.

But the strange part for me is that they don’t want to read the Bible.  That’s the part I don’t understand.  The book that is the basis for belief in life eternal should spark some sort of curiosity in a person I would think.  

People say it is hard to read--that they don’t understand what they are reading.  All I can say is “Get another translation!”  It’s the communication from God.  Surely we should want to know what He has to say.  Every time I read, I learn something new.  Like yesterday when I found out that Peter endorsed Paul’s letters as “gospel.”  Although I love to read what the super-educated Paul writes, you have to love Peter as a person.  He was so very human...like us.

I have just finished teaching the book of Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians...books that Paul wrote to different groups.   One was to Gentiles, another to Jewish Christians...very different messages based on their knowledge of the Old Testament.   And the way Paul expresses truth is very different.

The Gentiles knew nothing, and needed to know who God was, what he had promised, and how Jesus fulfilled prophecy.  The Jewish Christians were transitioning from one religion with certain expectations, to another based on freedoms they had not known would happen.  They were having trouble letting go of their rituals

This morning, I began a different letter.  The second letter to Timothy--who Paul identified as being like a son to him.  It is written in an entirely different voice than his letters to Gentiles and Jewish Christians.

I love to read Paul.  He was educated by the top teacher in the Jewish religion, but  after he met Christ, he became an entirely new creature.  Instead of murdering Christians, locking them up, and tracking them down...he made a 180 degree turn from elitism to an humble servant of Jesus.  

Every now and then, I learn something new as I study.  I knew that writers spoke of Scripture as being old testament.  Except for one letter from Peter--who gave Paul honor by telling people to read the teachings of Paul.  (Remember that Paul chewed Peter out at a dinner they were out...so Peter’s praise is important--he could have been resentful.)  But in 2 Peter 3:15 Peter recognizes the importance of what Paul wrote as being something we should read...as truth--the only place in the New Testament where written words are equated along with Scripture of the Old. 

I guess it is obvious by now that I am not blogging every day.  I’m trying to get back in the groove...but the queries to the publishers and answering their replies has got me down.

I do not like the process of doing it.  Paper work.  (Now that would be email stuff.)  I never could have been a secretary who dealt with details and order.  I’ve told you before that I hold the world record  in procrastination. 

And I write notes on the back of anything that is paper, envelops, bills, Anderson Window ads.  Whatever...and can’t find what I wrote.

I have a goal of one query a day to a publisher.  And if they require an agent, I mark them off.  It means their company is too large to deal with me.  I need a small company who will get something printed.  

Money-making does not attract me any more.  I have enough--which means that I can cover my bills and go out to eat a couple of times a week.  The thing I want is for the story of my brother Bill to be heard.  The story of Ken to be heard.  Some lives should be remembered for what they did.

I’m trying.  It isn’t working very well.  I don’t have a lot to work with when it comes to working with me.  I’m the problem.

I successfully attached a document I had written with a “Paper clip” to an email I sent to a publisher.  I feel like a grown up!!!

 Just about the time I learn how to do things on my phone or my Mac, it becomes obsolete and I have to start over.  This generation throws things away without a care in the world.  I go into remission when I even think about throwing something away.

This generation also learns to do the new thing immediately.  I don’t.  I have to do it the wrong way at least a dozen times before I remember that isn’t how it is done. That’s the reason I haven’t let Craig talk me into buying a new car.  I don’t want to learn where any new switches, buttons or toggles are. I like the ones I’ve got. 

I learned to parallel park at 16 and can do it perfectly.  And I haven’t hit the curb yet.  Or anything else--if you don’t count the plastic garbage can sitting next to my driveway.

I also don’t get the obsession with “The latest thing” or “New” or “Different.”   I’m perfectly happy with what I’ve got.  I’ll get something else when my old “thing” breaks.  

I am at war with AT&T over 5G right now.  Every time they find a new widget, I get it whether I want it or not.  And of course, I get (Have) to pay for it whether I want it or not.  I have fewer and fewer choices anymore.  

I am tired of springing forward and falling back.  I just want someone to decide what time it is and leave it alone.  It helps some people I am sure, but for most of us it just drives us crazy.

I like knowing when the sun comes up it is a certain time.  I like knowing when the sun goes down that bedtime is a certain amount of time away.  I like the changing hours of darkness and light as the days grow longer and the days grow shorter.

It reminds me that the world is rotating on its axis and God knows what he is doing to keep spring and winter within their bounds in Oklahoma.

You may like it, but....I don’t particularly care which way they set it, I would just like to have it one way or the other and leave it alone.

That said, It is growing dark right now. By 7:30 it will be totally dark.  When they change it to “fall back” it is going to be 6:30 instead when it is dark.  That’s awfully early for the sun to go down.

Thing is, I didn’t even get to vote on it.  Someone, somewhere, made the decision for somebody that wanted daylight “savings” time.  I haven’t saved any time.  I don’t know about you.  Maybe those people who need more sunlight in the morning, and the other group who need more sunlight at evening time could get together and come up with something that would be acceptable to both sides.  I’m not holding my breath.

It is time to start diddling with another book that I have finished, editing, revising and finishing it.  About Ken.  One chapter is about his invitation to join the Blue Angels.  They had shut down during the Korean War, were reactivating, and gave one slot to a Marine traditionally.

Ken said no, he wanted to do something useful for the Corps--those of you who knew him would understand. (He thought the Blues were a traveling show living out of a suitcase--and he had already done all of the precision flying he wanted to do as well as fighting in Korea for a year.)  So he said no, and suggested his best friend Pete for the job.  Zeke was leading the group at the time...so he called Pete and asked if he wanted to join them as they reactivated the Blues.

Pete had been assigned a job in DC.  Hated it.  Dress uniform every day and very little flying.  He took the job.  Solo for the Blues.  And rolled an F-9 into a dune at Corpus Christi while they were practicing.  If I hadn’t started writing the book, there would have been no record that he ever flew with the Blues.  I got my son Scott on it.  He knew who to call to get the history of Pete and a record of his role with the Blues into the records. So when you Google Pete...and the Blues, he will be remembered.

  

I did it!  I figured out how to submit a book to a publisher and got it done.  Now, they have to say “No.”  Or, by some miracle, say “Yes.”  That is where all of you come in.  I need some prayer.

It is the story of my brother’s life in China.  Eight people have read it, pushed me to do something with it, helped me edit, and finally, Carolyn hit me over the head with words of encouragement and wouldn’t let go of it.  I spent the last week editing (editing can go on for the rest of your life because it is never going to be perfect) and finally Carolyn forced me let go of it.  I was afraid she was going go quit on me if I didn’t do something.

It is good.  I got to the last paragraph and began to cry---I was so moved by what my brother had done with his life.  The fact that I had been able to write it in a way that did him justice was satisfying as well.

I lost a hundred pounds of emotional weight when I hit the “send” button.  My daughter Becky says her favorite word is “Done.”  I think I am going to agree.  It is done.  Hallelujah, Praise God Almighty.  Free at last.  I can’t get it back and change anything.  Without Carolyn, I would have diddled with it forever.

I have not blogged because I am trying to get a book to a different publisher.  It has consumed me.  I have read and reread and edited until I am exhausted.  Don’t give up on me.  I’ll get back to blogging soon.

Squig is doing well.  The vet is surprised.  So am I.  He has started eating again, and has quit throwing up.  Praise God.  He is my best friend right now.

Jeanette brought me sweet and sour chicken with pineapples.  It is so delicious that I have eaten it twice today.  

The book is about my brother’s life.  He should be dead a dozen times over from his exploits in China, Tibet, Mongolia, Viet Nam, Laos, Macau, and Korea.  To name a few places.   I sent it to Jack Hardy in Pryor (The Pryor Paper) and he wants me to get it out there.  All of the encouragement helps.  Carolyn is on me every day.  I wouldn’t have finished it if she hadn’t helped me.