BREAD

On my first cruise, the evening meal was served with every type of bread you could imagine.  The bread basket held delicate white rolls, hearty wheat rolls, herb rolls, and other rolls with spices I could not name.  I just knew that the bread offered was amazing!!!  My bread plate was never empty.  The moment I took my last bite, the server would add a new roll to complement my meal.  And I would waddle away from the table, full to overflowing.  Swearing I would never need to eat again.

Never eat again?  Sounded good until our seating time rolled around, the next evening.  I wanted to run to the table and begin partaking of the evening bread.  Just the memory of that bread made me smile.  I was not disappointed.  When I sat down, the server put a roll on my plate saying, “I do believe this was your favorite last night.”  Oh, a hot roll with butter!  The evening meal could begin.  The entree would change each evening, but the bread was the highlight.  An unending basket of bread held the favorites and new breads to try.  I was in heaven……

…..  until about 3:00 PM the next day.  My tummy would growl.  My mind would picture those sweet rolls.  I knew I would generously tip our server.  He had supplied my bread each evening.  Bless his heart.

BUT then, I had to get off the ship and go home to sliced bread out of a plastic wrapper.  I sure did miss that basket of bread.  I remember reading something in the Bible about bread.

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.  Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

 

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

John 6:25-35

NEVER GO HUNGRY?  NEVER GO THIRSTY?  I ate bread until I was full, but full was just an illusion … a fleeting feeling.  The bread I went after every day would eventually spoil.  Is that the bread I want?  Bread that tastes amazing, but does not last?

NO!!  I want the bread that fills my soul and gives me eternal life.  I want the true bread so I am never hungry or thirsty.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Guess that bread, on the cruise, wasn’t that great after all.

MANNERS

When I absolutely cannot think of something to write, I open Etiquette,  by Emily Post.  As I look through the book, I realize I would never – that is NEVER – be invited to a formal dinner.  I do not have attire for between the hours of one and six.  Known as important day dresses.  I do not own a hat and my gloves seem to be misplaced.  I might be invited to a “frumpy party.”  What is a frumpy party?  It is a collection of badly dressed persons.  Not even the most beautiful background could in itself suggest a brilliant gathering if the majority of those present were frumps – or vulgarians! 

I could never be the hostess for a formal dinner.  Our silverware stops after the knife, spoon, fork, and dessert/salad fork.  I have no bouillon cups and saucers.  Nor fingerbowls.  If I hosted a formal dinner, society would move me to the frumpy party list the very next day.

Oh well.  At least I know a few etiquette rules. 

• I do not put my left arm around the plate while eating with the right hand. 
• I do not put liquid into my mouth if I have already taken a bite of food.
• I do not dunk food unless I am in a lunch wagon.

I might break a few of the rules.

• My elbows seem to enjoy being on the table.
• I eat a chicken leg with my fingers.
• I have been known to lean back and say, “I’m through.”
• And that pesky napkin refuses to stay on my lap.

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him,  and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”     Luke:5:27-32

Now I would fit right in the banquet Levi threw.  Bon appétit

A FEW WORDS ARE ENOUGH

I have had Grammarly on my computer since February 9, 2025, and 1,073,116 words have been analyzed. 

During one week, 10,956 words were analyzed and I was more productive than 75% of Grammarly users.  I used 940 unique words and did not agree with everywhere they wanted me to put a comma.  I am glad to know that my writing seems confident and encouraging.

1,073,116 seems like a lot of words and that does not include my iPad.  If my spoken words were added into the mix, the number would be unbelievable.  (I have been accused of rattling on like a junk car.)  Are all those words necessary?

🖨️.  🖨️.  🖨️

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?”  And I said, “Here am I.  Send me!”     Isaiah 6:8

Three words:  Here am I.

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  For no word from God will ever fail.”

 

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered.  “May your word to me be fulfilled.”  Then the angel left her.     Luke 1:35-38

Five words: I am the Lord’s servant. 

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias.  The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”  “Yes, Lord,” he answered.     Acts 9:10

One word:  Yes

                                                                         - - - - - -

Here am I.  How sweet those three words must have sounded to God.  Do I trust God’s plan enough to utter those words?

I am the Lord’s servant.  So young and yet so sure.  Am I sure in my desire to be the Lord’s servant?

Yes, Lord.  Recognizing who had called him, a simple reply was given.  Would I recognize the voice calling me?

Am I ever quiet enough to even hear God calling me?  Or am I running on like a junk car?

WAKE UP AMERICA!

Don’t panic.  This is not a political post.  I turned the TV on and the announcer was saying, “Wake Up America.”  What I heard was “Wake Up, Mary.”  I wonder what I am supposed to wake up to.  What news flash am I to hear?  What needs to be pointed out?  Have I not been listening — again?  What ………..  WAIT?  PATIENT ?

WAIT:  to be ready and available or a state or attitude of watchfulness and expectancy.

PATIENT:  bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint, steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity

Oh great.  Two things I would rather avoid.  I hate to wait and I am not the most patient person.  Maybe — no maybe about it — I need to work on this.  It is scriptural.  God uses this time of waiting for HIS reasons.  BUT how do I do this?  How do I wait and be patient?

MY BODY HURTS! MANY PEOPLE ARE IN CONSTANT PAIN.  How do we wait and be patient when pain can make it hard to function? Hard to even think rationally.

What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?          Job 6:11

THE WORLD IS GOING CRAZY! WRONG IS BEING CALLED RIGHT.  How do I wait when Satan is attacking our children? Our churches.  Why doesn’t God fix this?

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.         Psalms 27:14

I WANT IT NOW! WHY SHOULD I WAIT? Our society is becoming an instant society.  If we can get the latest gadget instantly, why won’t God give me what I want now?

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.     Romans 8:25

WHAT DO I LEARN WHILE WAITING?

Now my answer might be nothing except frustration.  That is not the correct answer.  There are more than four reasons, but I found this article helpful.  Here are four good reasons we have to wait:

• Growth — we are still being shaped and molded
• Protection — often, we are stopped from making the wrong decisions
• It is a test — are we wanting what we want or what God wants
• Purify us — what needs to be refined out of us

 https://outreachmagazine.com/resources/81080-reasons-for-the-waiting.html

This is a great summary from the link below.

Waiting means submitting to his glory.  Waiting means understanding that you were given life and breath for the glory of another.  Waiting gives you opportunity to forsake the delusion of your own glory and rest in the God of awesome glory.  Only when you do that will you find what you seek, and what you were meant to have: lasting identity, meaning, purpose, and peace in Christ.  In this way waiting is much more than a burden for you to bear; it is a precious gift for you to receive with joy.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/5-reasons-why-god-calls-us-to-wait/

WAIT?  BE PATIENT?  I really need to “Wake Up Mary.”  I have been doing this wait thing all wrong.  I have never looked at waiting as a precious gift.  Who knew…..

 

 THINGS

THINGS I CANNOT Do

• Sing on key
• Jump
• Walk on water
• Be quiet
• Remember phone numbers
• Stop at one more puzzle piece before going to bed

THINGS I CAN DO

• Write
• Balance the checkbook
• Listen
• Organize
• Read a map
• Deliver a calf

THINGS I DIDN’T DO

• Ride a motorcycle
• Go to college
• Drive a combine
• Go to all the grandkids ball games
• Say no to a piece of cheesecake
• Live in a big city

THINGS I SHOULD HAVE DONE

• Worked in advertising
• Been physically active 
• Talked with my dad more
• Skydived
• Written a book
• Had self-confidence

Making these lists was fun and not so fun.  I am okay with everything on my can do list  and cannot do list.  BUT then comes the didn’t do list and should have done list.  There I see “regrets” and “it is too late now.”  

Oh, I still could ride a motorcycle or write a book.  I see no reason to turn down cheesecake. I did not sit through games, but I did many other things with the grandkids.  I don’t think I would have made a good college student.  No professor would put up with all my questions.  I do think I would have been good in advertising.  I watch a commercial and think, “If that is the best they can do, they need a new advertising agent.”  My common sense and imagination would have been valuable assists to any company that would hire a small town girl with no degree.

My biggest regret is not talking to my dad more.  He was a trucker and drove a semi before power steering and CB Radios.  He did not have a dedicated route, so we never knew when he would be home.  Dad was hard to talk to.  He knew how to be a dad.  We played board games, croquet, and did a crazy Saturday night TV watching.  We would watch the end of a movie on one of the three channels.  Then we would watch the end of another movie.  Finally, the end of the last one before they put the test pattern on.  (You have to be old to understand a test pattern.) We did not know what any of the movies were about, but we were with dad.  That was fun,  but he didn’t know how to be a Father.  

When he was home, he sat at the kitchen table reading the newspapers, drinking coffee, and smoking. There were four of us kids and he never asked how we were or how we were getting along in school.  He looked at the report card and said we could do better.  He never told us three girls that we were pretty/looked nice or came to the pool to watch us swim.  

I never heard him pray and I never heard him say he loved me.  (Everyone says that men didn’t say “I love you” back then.)  BUT I still regret that dad and I never talked.  Maybe then, I could have understood him better.  Maybe then, I would have found a Father.

 BRIDGE OUT

The sign is big and very easy to see.  BRIDGE OUT.  And yet, car after car goes around the sign ….. a car pulling a boat goes around the sign ….. a semi goes around the sign ….. a pickup pulling a camper goes around the sign ….. then ….. they all turn around or back up.  My gosh.  The bridge is really out.

We have all done that.  We have gone around the road closed sign because we know there will be a side road we can get on.   Not this time.  No side road and they mean bridge out. 

THE LAST TOMATO

Hubby likes to garden and his garden is much, much smaller than usual.  Today, he gave me three tomatoes and said, “That is the last of the tomatoes.”  I don’t like those words.  Green peppers.  Red tomatoes.  Sweet corn.  Always sad when the fresh vegetables end.  Our last hope is turnips.  

The end of the garden.  It looks so … so empty.  

HARVEST AND FALLING LEAVES

Around here, soybean harvest has started.  When harvest starts, the landscape changes.  Then comes corn harvest.  The landscape really changes then.  No tall corn to block your view.

And those falling leaves?  The leaves are turning to red and yellow and brown.  It looks like it will be a pretty fall, but falling leaves means leaves on the front porch and the patio.  

SUMMER TO FALL

I love fall.  It is cooler and the leaves are pretty and the outdoor furniture needs to be stored for the winter.  The flowers need a final trimming.  And the ice cream freezer did not get used.

But the hamburger on the grill tastes extra good and the memory, of a cup of coffee, on a chilly morning, while wearing warm pjs and watching the sun come up, will last all winter.

NOT THE NORMAL BLOG

Have you realized this is not the normal blog?  Sorry but I had no idea what to write this week.  Then it hit me.  How often do we overlook something fun like watching cars turn around or the gift of the last tomato or how our world changes when harvest opens up our view or the leaves crunching under our feet or the season changes or a cup of coffee starts our morning.  Way too often we forget that life is made up of everyday happenings.  The normal things.  The small, routine things.  

Now what?  Look around.  What normal thing has been a blessing this week?  Was it a smile?  Was it having all the laundry done at once?  Was it making it through your morning routine without interruption? 

Celebrate each day and give thanks for the normal things.  

I belong to a Memoir Writing group and our topic was A FAVORITE QUOTE.  I had also written my blog, STATISTICS.  I thought, “These sorta go together.”  This week you have two writings for the price of one.

Memoir Writing:  A FAVORITE QUOTE

ONE DROP OF INK

A DROP OF INK MAY MAKE A MILLION THINK.

George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron), English poet (1788-1824)

These words made my imagination take off.  Vision after vision popped into my head.

One drop of ink.  Another drop of ink. ……………….

And on and on, until each signer picked up the pen and signed their name.  The Declaration of Independence was written.

A sharp.  A cleft.  A whole.  A half.  A quarter.  Each note working with the note before it and the note after it.  Handel’s Messiah was written.

The sound of jazz and an album needing an illustration caused David Stone Martin to put pen and ink to work.  His art decorated more than 100 album covers.

What started as a drop of ink on a napkin became, overall, the best-selling book series.  The Harry Potter series has sold more than 500 million books worldwide.

Sign and date require a drop of ink.  And, just like that, millions of people are married. They become licensed drivers.  They can have a credit card.  They are dismissed from the hospital.  And they sign papers that they wish would not require their signature. 

Times change.  Today, an almost seventy-nine-year-old, gray-haired woman, in a small rural town, puts fingers to a keyboard and, without one drop of ink, wishes she made a million people think. 

 STATISTICS

I write because I feel the need to put words on paper.  When I started the blog, I said that if my words helped one person, it was worth the effort.  For a long time, I did not check the statistics.  I didn’t want the number of people reading or not reading to influence my writing.  BUT, occasionally, I do check.  I am often amazed and honored by the number of people who view my blog.  During the last 30 days, my blog was viewed 2,420 times.

What really amazes me is where the readers are located.  During the last 30 days, the blog was viewed 2,700 times in the USA, 846 times in Hong Kong, and 595 times in Singapore.  These are all countries you have heard of.  When I went to the bottom of the list, one person from Naura had read my blog.  Naura?  Never fear, Google to the rescue.  Naura is a small island in the southeastern Micronesia, 25 miles south of the Equator.  By land mass, it is the third smallest country in the world.  They can collect rainwater, but, there are no streams, so they have to import water.

How did this one person find my blog?  Were they bored and spent time scrolling?  Did it appear in their feed? (To the one person, from Naura, who reads my blog, how did you find it?  Thank you for reading it.)

Google also said that four-fifths, of the islanders, are Christian.  How did they find out about Jesus? 

(Paul speaking) And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

1 Thessalonians 2:13

Four-fifths of the people are Christian.  Who was their “Paul”?  Who found this tiny island, stepped off the boat, and said, “I want to tell you that God loves you.  I want to tell you about his Son dying on the Cross so your sins are forgiven.  I want to tell you about grace and mercy and joy.” 

Who was your Paul?  Who told you about the sacrifice Jesus made?

 

AN ILLUSION

A long time ago, the entertainment, at a Christmas party, was a magician.  I enjoy magicians because I want to know, “How did you do that?”  I was enjoying the show.  Then he pointed at me.

“I want you to catch this new deck of imaginary cards,” he said.  With that, he threw the deck straight at me.  Of course, I caught it.  “Please take the cards out of the box.”  I did as instructed.  Since it was a new deck, I first took the wrapping off.  Made a big deal about that.  I put the wrapper on the table and tried to open the box.  Had a bit of trouble with the protective tab, but I finally got that peeled back and the cards out of the box.

“Hold up the deck for everyone to see.”  I held it high.  “Now, pick one card.”  I did.  “Show the card to the audience.”  I held the card up and turned it so everyone could see it.  “Now put the card back in the deck and put the deck back in the box.”  I made a really big deal of putting the imaginary cards back into the imaginary box.  I even secured the box with the tab.  “Please toss the deck to me.”  I did.

The magician put the imaginary cards into his pocket and picked up a deck of real cards.  He then asked me some questions.  “Have you and I met?”  No.  “Have I even talked to you before the show?”  No.  “Did you throw back the same deck that I threw to you?”  Yes.

He then took the real cards out of the box and said, “You are the only person who knows what card you picked.  Would you tell us what that card is?”  As I was getting ready to tell him the card, he took a card out of the deck.  I answered, “2 of Diamonds.”  He then turned the card around: a 2 of diamonds.

HOW DID HE DO THAT?  I have no idea.  Maybe, when I showed the card for all to see, he had a way of seeing through the back of the invisible card.  Magic?  An illusion?

Ohhhhhh, Satan is the master of magic and illusion.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

 

Genesis 3:1

Satan deceives today and still uses the question, “Did God really say ….” He will turn words around to make sin seem normal.  Acceptable.  And, just like Eve, we listen.  Then we sin.

And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

 

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

 

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:11-13

Also, like Eve, we try to blame others or make excuses:

• Everyone is doing it, so it must be okay.
• It is a small thing.  It didn’t hurt anyone.
• God will forgive me.  I might as well have fun.
• The minister had said, if I pray hard, everything I want will come to me.  Why did I not get the job?  Or win the Powerball?  Or be healed?

Satan will deceive you and he will use whatever illusion works.  Be prepared.  Stand on the Word.  Hold ministers and teachers accountable.  Practice saying, “NO!”