I went to lunch with some of my Sunday class and they made me promise not to move any more furniture by myself.  I finally committed that I wouldn't.  That day.  I didn't promise I wouldn't move any furniture the next day???

"How do you do that!" One of them asked.  

"She sits on the floor and pushes furniture with her feet," another replied.

That's true, but now that I have those little round disk sliders, I don't have to work as hard. The only difficult part is getting the slider under the foot of the object to be moved.  Some things are too heavy for me to lift.  And that irritates me.  I want to be who I was.  Even ten years ago would work for me.

Youth is wasted on the young.  They have no idea what they have.  But maybe that is true with all our accumulating ages, not just youth.  We lose something in our life and only then do we appreciate what we had.  Until it's gone.

Strength, health, mobility, quickness, memory...and on and on.  Not counting body parts. Thank God I still have my own teeth!  Eating is at the top of my "things to do."  

The Bible says, "In everything give thanks, for this the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1Thes. 5:18.  Good thing it doesn't say, "...for everything..." because there are some things I'm not thankful for.  But "in" the middle of everything, I can lift my voice and find things to be thankful for.  

And as I lift my heart in thankfulness and itemize things God has blessed me with--instead of griping about what is wrong--my attitude is lifted, my spirit soars and I find that I am very satisfied with the life he has given me.  God is good.  Be thankful "in" your condition.  Not "for" it.

Those little round disks that you put under the four legs--feet--of a piece of furniture have changed my life.  I can move things around like a pro.

Becky had an estate sale in which there were two matched sofas that didn't sell and went to half-price day.  She sent a picture of them, (don't you love the I-phone camera) so Jeanette drove me to South Oklahoma City to "Touch" them.  You know what I mean--a picture doesn't tell the whole story.  You have to touch the fabric.

I bought them.  They were six inches shorter than the two matched sofas I currently had.  The six fewer inches on each of them made all the difference in in the world as to how my family room could be arranged.  That's where the slider disks came in.  I could move whatever I wanted moved--by myself!!!  Which I did.

It is going to be great.  I gained enough inches be able to move another cabinet in next to my chair.  So that I can get a ton of stuff up off the floor.  I have existed in my chair for the last couple of years in the middle of a "nest" of papers, books, bills, etc.  

Everything that I want is now near me in a cabinet so that I don't have to go to another room to get it.  Everything now has a place!!  I'm very happy.

But since I was moving stuff from one room to another, both rooms are in disarray.  And of course, every picture in both rooms will have to be adjusted.  Which I dread doing.  But I'll get it done.  Everybody get out of my way!! For the first time since last August when I moved into this house, I feel like it is going to work for me. 

I hope so.  I really don't like moving stuff around. 

Here's a funny story.

I met with my cardiologist this last year and asked him a question.  "I'm curious.  How will you know when I've checked out and left this earthly domain?

Background:  I had open heart surgery 49 years ago; I was a guinea pig for a surgery that hadn't ever been done before.  It left me pacemaker dependent--I'm on my third (or fourth--I've lost track) pacemaker;  I have no beats of my own.  (The beat goes on.)  If I faint, no need for CPR--I need a battery!!  

So if my pacemaker keeps my heart beating, how would someone know that I had died and gone on to Glory?  That was my question.

I was telling my friend Jeanette that story and she said: "Oh, Janie, we'll know.  You'll stop talking."  Ha ha ha.  That's what good friends are for?  Count on Jeanette to come up with the perfect punch line. 

I admit, anyone who knows me, knows that my favorite mode of communicating is verbal.  I love conversation.  I love to hear your voice.  And I guess that I must love to hear my own voice...I admit, I'm full of words. 

My children say that I've always got to make a story better--by improving it.  And perhaps exaggeration is one of my "gifts?" I know I have a talent for expanding stories. I do love adjectives.

But the truth is "in there" somewhere. 

Maybe that's why I started writing when I was 75!!  I needed somewhere to put all of the words, all of the adjectives that are in my head.

God bless my adjectives.  And may my readers benefit.

Lost Wii Fi today.  Storms.  Hook up behind a huge antique bed I couldn't move.  I'll catch you Monday.

My dad (Elmer) was a deacon in the Baptist church.  It was a position of service.  When something was needed within the church, nine times out of ten they called my Dad.  He was a "yes" man.  When the church would call and say "Can you drive Mrs. Elsie to Tulsa to her doctor's appointment?  She needs help and her kids don't live close. He always said yes to the church staff's requests. After he retired, he did things like that  almost every day.

 When someone needed to go to the grocery store, to the baseball practice, to the dentist or doctor--whatever,  Dad took care of it.  If they needed to go vote, Daddy was your man.  Dad always said yes.  He had the heart of a servant. He liked to help people.  And back then, not everyone had transportation.

After they retired,  he and my mom would help sponsor church youth bus trips.  Solving problems as they arose, always happy to help.   

Everyone loved him.  He carried Juicy Fruit Gum in his pockets and handed it out one stick at a time to every kid who came to church on Sunday.

He lived to be 94.  And when he died, the preacher compared my dad to Barnabus--who was a helper for Paul on his journeys.  He called my dad Elmerbus.  He was God's helper.  That's exactly what he was.

As people passed the casket, many of them slipped a stick of Juicy Fruit gum in dad's shirt pocket. He left earth with Juicy Fruit in his pocket.

My dad was a great man.  Quiet, simple, unobtrusive, always in the background, always smiling.  Always happy.  He never finished college.  He wasn't the CEO of a company.  He never made a lot of money,  But he was a gold star father.  

God blessed me with a father who lived the Christian life every single day.  He was the most Godly man I ever knew. 

As long as we are talking about faith, there is a very interesting verse in the Bible on the subject:  Ephesians 2:8.  "For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:  It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast."

This verse says a number of things.  Foremost, that salvation, being saved from eternal death, is a gift from God.  You can't earn it.  It is not a bargaining chip. There are no balance scales where the good things you have done can outweigh the bad.  You have nothing to do with it at all. God himself took your sin upon himself.  Crucified.  He paid the price for you.  Completely.  Once and for all.

It is a 100% gift from God.  He gives it to us.  Through His grace.  None of the payment for sin can be worked out by you.  "...that not of yourselves."  But when you are grieved by the things you have done and ask for forgiveness through belief in Jesus the sacrificial lamb of God, He says he will forgive you, if it is true repentance.  Being sorry is not enough. You must give him your life.

But another thought is in there.  It is possible that the verse is also saying that even the faith you have is not of yourself--it also is the gift of God.  "...saved through faith, and (even) that is not of yourself...

Where does our faith come from?!!  Could it be that God gives us an inner light to respond to His voice.  And we choose to ignore it, or act upon it--in faith.

I think that God speaks to everyone at some point in their life.  But if we push His voice away, (the Bible calls that "quenching" the Spirit) we become hardened to the voice of God--hard hearted.  And there is another voice that comes to us that presses us to ignore the voice of God's Spirit.

The Bible says "Be...alert.  Your adversary the devil is prowling the earth like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Peter 5:8  Satan is a faith killer. 

Faith is a funny thing.  You either have it, or you don't.  

The Bible says that, "So then, Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."  Romans 10:17  You can't have faith in something you haven't heard about.  So hearing is the first step.  Read history.  Read.  Read.  Read.  

Then, you have to believe that what you are hearing is true.  Some people never get past this point because they attach themselves to a lie, and can't move on They are emotionally stuck where they are.  Changing their minds to admit that they are wrong would imply that they were stupid, and they just can't go there.  Get over it.  Move on toward truth. Truth is always true.  Never changing.

I can't tell you how many times in my life someone has told me something that wasn't true.  If you look at Facebook, you will find a zillion stupid things touted as truth.  Then repeated over and over again until there is an entire following of people (group of buddies) who believe and place their faith in what they are telling each other.  Doesn't matter if it is true or not. They support each other's opinions.  They have a following and they gang up on people who disagree.

Never disagree with a crusader who is headed in the wrong direction.  They are bullies. They will try to run you over with loud words.  

Now, Faith is the evidence of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." 

Hebrews 11:1  So look for evidence.  I hope you aren't depending on Facebook.

Read, read, read.  Then examine the lives of people in the world.  Who lives in peace.  Who loves and cares for people.  Who is fair.  Who is honest...etc...you know what I'm talking about.  Yes, the church is full of hypocrites.  So is the world.  But in the middle of all that are people who are living the Christian life by faith.  And their lives are the evidence.  It gives me hope for the world.