WOW…What a winter!
Friday, February 24, 2012. 6:45 am and it’s 65 degrees outside. That wouldn’t sound too farfetched fo someone living way down south in the tropics. But here in Tennessee that’s a little strange. Especially the mountains of East Tennessee. As I look out at the back yard it won’t be long till it’s going to need mowing. This isn’t a real problem and I’m not really complaining, but it’s different. Usually in February we have to hunker down and get through some cold weather. But not this year. This year has been a short sleeve winter. It’s been cold for a while and then just warms right back up. The last two days we have seen strong winds, lightening and lots of thunder. Actually we didn’t see the thunder, but we heard it. And the lightening was the all the way to the ground type. I remember when I was growing up that according to all the old wives tales, if it stormed during the winter months, it meant something would happen in the next 30 days. Can’t remember what, but as I recall, it’s not good. I think it means that there will be a big snow or frost or cold spell, which with it being winter, is not really that bad of a bet. It’s kind of like predicting that the wind will blow strong during the hurricane season in the Gulf region. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
I hope everyone is having a good winter and has been safe and warm or cool if you live where it’s warm. One blessing for us during this mild winter is that this is the winter that the heat pump decided to break. So that was a blessing for us, not because it broke, but because it broke during a warm season in a mild winter. Sometimes God works in small ways to bless us. We just need to look. For those who may think that a heat pump breaking is not a blessing, remember that heat pumps break from time to time. They are mechanical and as such will break down and need repairs. The fact that it happened during a warm spell is the blessing.
Now, here’s a which came first type question. Did God make the heat pump run till the weather warmed up or did he warm the weather up when the heat pump broke? I honestly don’t know, but somehow He worked it out and it broke at a good time and now it’s repaired ready for cold weather again. I just choose to look for the little blessings that God provides.
Have a great day and God bless you!
Android Camera Video
Still amazed at what I can do with the Samsung Infuse. Last Saturday, I attended a rally at our local high school of people who are beginning to rally together and call upon God through prayer to help deal with drugs, alcoholism, and other problems in our area. While I was listening, I thought someone needs to be making a video. So, I got out my phone and it was set for HD (if you can believe that) and started capturing video. I was trying to anticipate the speaker and looking for points to cut it off figuring I would later edit the clips and see what I could make of it. My video editing skills aren’t that great, but overall I was pleased with the outcome of this video.
While I don’t get the killer shots that come from the big glass lens that I use with the Nikon D300S, I am impressed that I could get a video of this quality with my phone. Still find that hard to believe for reasons I stated earlier. (See Post below) It’s just amazing what we have the ability to do today with our phones.
Android Camera
Higher Ground Sanctuary
Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Phillippians 4:9
Higher Ground Baptist Church
Groundhog Day 2012
Hard to believe but it’s already February 2, 2012. Groundhog day. I’m looking out the window and it’s sunny, close to 60 degrees and the report is that Phil seen his shadow. That means that we are in for 6 more weeks of this absolutely beautiful, wonderful mild weather. I used to like the cold weather and remember the old folks that would say we needed some cold weather to kill the bugs. Most people seemed to think that as it got really cold in the winter, it cut down on the bug population in spring and summer. I’m not sure that was the case because some say the bugs only went deeper to avoid the cold.
That reminds me of another time at work. I was going outside for a break and there were a few of the guys sitting there trying to “read the signs” and determine if we were going to get some snow. They were going over all the signs and someone mentioned smoke rising from a chimney. They couldn’t remember what it meant when the smoke was rising straight up, snow or not. It was about this time that I walked up and one of them said “we’re trying to figure out if it’s going to snow. What’s it mean when the smoke rises straight up out of the chimney?”. I told them I wasn’t too sure about the snow, but I did know how to read the smoke. It got quiet and I said, “If the smoke rises straight up out of the chimney, it means for sure that the wind ain’t blowing.” This made a couple of them laugh out loud and made a couple more mad. Funny how things like that can do that. Bless some and curse some.
Come to think of it, that’s the way it is with Jesus. To some, He is the door that opens to heaven. To others, He is the door that closes and keeps them from entering. Which one is Jesus for you? The open door or the shut door? It is your choice.
Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
Christmas Shopping 2011
Well, it’s almost Christmas and if you are like me, you have a ways to go before you are ready. I tried asking friends and family to postpone Christmas this year, but they didn’t want no part of that. Then I suggested that maybe we could just exclude me. For some strange reason they didn’t like that either. So it looks like, ready or not, I will be having Christmas this weekend beginning Saturday and continuing through Sunday. I remember all the great plans I had back in June and July, just don’t know what went wrong. This was the year that I was going to be ready before anyone else got started. That was even one of my new years resolutions. No wait a minute, that was from a few years ago. Anyway, I wanted to be ready. Right now it does not look like I’m gonna make it and my wife says it because of a personality trait that I have called….procrastination. I think it’s more of a medical condition that I need treatment for, but she disagrees.
What happens is I make good plans, then get sidetracked. Probably because of my ADD which won’t let me keep focused on anything for very long. Like when I go downstairs to get the check book and then check my facebook and then go back upstairs without the check book. Then later, I realize that I need the check book and I’ll be in town and of course it’s at home. So whatever bill I was going to pay or whatever item I was going to buy gets put off because I don’t have the check book. Not because I wanted to put it off, but because I can’t stay focused. And then the other side of that is that I think of something and for some reason, my brain “thinks” I actually did the something I thought of. For instance, I’ll think of a bill that needs to be paid. Then I’ll get sidetracked and a few days later, my wife will ask if I paid the bill and I’ll say “Yes” when I didn’t. This isn’t lying, because my mind thinks it did. Then we find out, usually just in time to pay it before it’s late, and she’ll say I put it off. In reality, my mind is the culprit. So, it’s not really procrastination. I suffer from a disease that is so rare, it’s not been discovered yet. It can’t be “willful procrastination”. There must be some other thing happening that is way beyond my control.
Now that I have made my case for the late preparations for Christmas, I must leave here and go shopping. (and I will as soon as I finish _________). I only have this evening and half of tomorrow to find this years presents. I know they are out there somewhere, I just need to find them. Have a great day and…………
M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S ! ! ! !
