Monthly Archives: January 2020

January 17, 2020 · 12:00 pm

Friday Photos–An Object Lesson in Persistence

Creek at bridge (where we feed the fish)

Author’s Photo

bare-trees-creek-flowing-over-rocks

Author’s Photo

Creek and railroad bridge

Author’s Photo

A problem I have is my lack of persistence. It’s all too easy for me to give up.

One day as I gazed at a little country creek , I realized God provided an object lesson for me. The creek contends with rocks, fallen trees, the remnant of an old railroad bridge, and other obstacles on its way to its destination, a larger creek. Nothing holds the little creek back. It keeps on going–over, under, around or through the obstacle. It never gives up, never gives in, and eventually reaches the merger with the bigger creek.

What a lesson for me, given anew every time I look at the creek. How well am I learning? Slowly, but I am improving.

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”  James 1:3,4, King James Version

©P. Booher

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January 15, 2020 · 12:00 pm

A Remedy for My Impatience

Sometimes I get impatient when helping my mother around the house. I want to move faster, get things done quicker, but she’s not able to. Lately I’ve been praying and asking others to pray about our relationship. One answer that came from those prayers is this: when I’m in a situation and feel impatient, ask myself: what practical steps can I do to move things forward? Is there something else that contributes to the project I can do–move objects out of the way, for instance? Asking myself those questions gets rid of my impatience and the stress that comes from it. My mindset switches from me to her.

©P. Booher

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Filed under Faith Matters, Life Issues, Tips to Manage Stress

January 13, 2020 · 12:00 pm

Easy Tips to Save on Car Insurance

jeep

One tip that’s often listed as a way to save on car insurance is to review your policy and check rates from different companies for the same type of policy. You may find you can save significantly on your premiums by going with another company.

Another way to possibly gain some money is to review the continuation notice the insurance company sends. Make sure the information shown–for example, number of miles driven, what coverage is on the vehicle, and, if the vehicle is paid off, that no liens are listed against the auto–is correct. In my case, I discovered that although my car had been paid off for almost a year, there was still a lien listed on it. Correction of this error and another error on the notice resulted in a savings of $76.00. Taking the time to go over the information yielded money found. Why give the insurance company more of your hard-earned money than you have to?

Last month the premium for my car insurance increased. Reason given? “Change in distance driven”. Knowing I hadn’t been driving any more than usual, I drove over to the agent’s office and after I gave the secretary the odometer reading, the secretary entered the mileage in the system and the bill was reduced on the spot. Lesson learned: know my usage, and speak up if warranted.

©P. Booher

 

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January 10, 2020 · 12:00 pm

Friday Photos–A Restaurant for the Birds

Bird Restaurant

Author’s Photo

This stone serves as a bird “restaurant”. Although the menu consists of only black-oil sunflower seeds, the restaurant, located close by a lilac bush, is a popular destination cold or snowy days. Black-capped chickadees swoop down from the lilac bush, grab a seed, then fly back to the bush to eat the seed. Titmice, song sparrows, doves, cardinals, purple finches, and gold finches fly in one by one to eat. Sometimes three or four birds are in the lilac bush, while several are on the ground hunting for seeds, their heads bobbing up and down. Blue jays are well-known bullies; when they arrive on the scene, everybody else leaves. Squirrels, experts at finding opportunities, appear often. Sometimes the birds leave when the squirrels show up, other times, the birds stay in peaceful co-existence.

The stone didn’t become a bird restaurant until twenty years ago or so. It was unearthed back in the 1990’s when a crew did excavating for a water line. Since it was nice and flat, we thought it would make a good stone for the yard–sort of a conversation piece. We got it for the asking. Some years later, I decided to make it the start of my bird-feeding route. Visible from the house, the stone is a conversation piece as we enjoy watching the varieties of birds coming to eat.

©P. Booher

 

 

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January 9, 2020 · 12:00 pm

God, Calling, and Creativity

kaitlyn-baker-422999

Photo Credit: Kaitlyn Baker, Unsplash.com

 

photo of woman painting in brown wooden easel

Photo by Burst on Pexels.com

I believe God is the original Creator (see the Book of Genesis, Chapters 1 and 2). Those chapters vividly describe God’s creativity. I also believe God calls people to creative work, whether it be writing, painting, sculpting, gardening, architecture, finding better ways to solve problems, or any other way creativity displays itself. God is the Caller; we are the callees.

The following ideas are from thinking about The Soul Tells A Story:Engaging Creativity with Spirituality in the Writing Life by Vinita Hampton Wright.

  1. You can fulfill your calling from God in a variety of ways, depending on your situation and the time you have available in any one day. There’s flexibility. A calling never ends. You may do one kind of creativity for awhile, then start another, but it still falls under your calling.
  2. No one else can (or should) judge how you go about fulfilling your calling. That’s between you and God. Any person who does judge has no qualification to do so.
  3. Calling isn’t necessarily something you do for money. It might be, but often it is not. Calling goes “deeper” than work. It is in who you are and what you are gifted (in reality, created) to do. Calling makes God and you happy, and you aren’t happy until you are in some way fulfilling that calling.

 

©P. Booher

 

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January 8, 2020 · 12:00 pm

Inexpensive Substitutes that Work

Here’s a couple inexpensive, easy-to-obtain substitutes for more expensive products.

  1. Talc powder is under increased scrutiny because of the ingredients in it. I use corn starch–used to thicken homemade pudding and in other food preparation–for dusting powder. Granted, it’s not as fine in texture as talc powder, though you could sift it and probably get it that way, but it works. I put corn starch in a small container with holes on the top and sprinkle it on.
  2. Readers in the Southern Hemisphere and in warmer areas than here may appreciate this tip: medicated menthol ointment makes a good insect repellent. I read or heard that somewhere and decided to give it a try this past summer. I put it on my arms before doing yard work, and while the bugs come around, they don’t bite. They smell the ointment on my skin and leave! Now I keep a jar specifically for that purpose. Store-brand varieties work fine and are much lower in cost than brand names.

 

©P. Booher

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January 7, 2020 · 6:03 pm

When I Feel As Though My Life Isn’t Worth Much

Earlier today the impression entered my mind: “Who are you to think you’re anyone special?  Your life isn’t worth much.”

At first glance circumstances agree: I am just one of six or seven billion plus people on this planet; lower sales after Christmas means I am working fewer hours on my retail job, so don’t have a sense of productivity/ worth there; I don’t have a boyfriend or husband who can lift my spirits. Even the weather got in on the act. The sun shone dimly through an overcast sky, so it was gloomy inside, even with lights on.

I prayed about that impression. Immediately Faith kicked in and said, “No! Your life is worth much because God loves you and created you. He sent His Son to die for you. You are valuable.”

God reminded me that the earlier impression of low worth didn’t come from Him; those were not His words.

After this, I called a relative who, like me, wants to put more emphasis on spending time with family. We agreed to meet tomorrow.

Then I spent some time outside (being in the fresh air always raises my spirits) feeding the birds, and raking leaves for mulch. It was cold, but I was helping the birds, doing something productive, and I could always warm up with a cup or two of tea back inside. As I raked leaves, the sun shone a little stronger, and beautiful blue sky appeared on the horizon.

Lastly, I am writing this blog post for anyone else who hears those words, “Your life isn’t worth much”. I am writing to tell you not to believe them. You are valuable.

©P. Booher

 

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January 6, 2020 · 6:05 pm

The Abby Chronicles–My Human Has a Reputation!

abby-ready-to-write

Here I am, ready to write my story!

Chapter XIV

I’ve noticed something about the humans I live with:  every time the younger human comes home from work or shopping, the humans sit down and eat something. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in the morning, afternoon, or night, for some reason, they eat! So, I figure, hmmm, if the humans eat when the younger human comes home, I should eat too, right? I mean, I’m the one and only fabulous feline of this house. So, I sit in front of my dish, and eventually, one of the humans feeds me.

The humans laugh and say that the younger human has a reputation–when she comes home, we eat!!

Oh–here she comes through the door now!

P.S. In case anyone gets the wrong idea, I want to say my humans do feed me other times, too.

Abby

P. Booher, secretary

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