Bachelor Uncles

 This week we reach a milestone in the lives of Dominick and Charlie.  Dominick is moving into Charlies house off of Cooper Ave.  We have been hoping for them to live together for a long time.  Finally it is going to happen.  They are both pumped for it.  I pray that the house rocks with the joy of the Lord in every way, and that they continue to get along together.  They will have one roommate, Patrick.  He is a sweet fellow with some verbal outburst problems but I expect Charlie to enjoy him as Dom has learned to do.  He has been Dominicks roommate for a couple of years now.  

  So this week we have been cleaning out drawers and closets trying to reduce their clutter.  Charlie runs a pretty tight ship, but Dom is quite different.  He has a hard time letting go of things.  Clean out has been hard to do with him unable to throw away almost anything.  So we are organizing for him.  Bins and boxes are handy at this point.  Thank God for them.  We also have taken many articles of clothing for "laundering" and hopefully he won't miss the ones he doesn't get back.

They will be living only a mile away from us.  This is great as they spend a lot of time with us each week. Being able to gather them up quickly and deliver back home for either us or their sisters will be a pleasant change of pace.  

  When the guys were born the Lord gave me a Scripture for each of them.  For Dom He gave me 

Isaiah 58:12b  And you shall be calked the Repairer of the Breach, 

The restore of Streets to dwell in.

And for Charlie,    Deuteronomy 28:13a  And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you 

shall be above only and not beneath 

Deut. 28:6  Blessed shall you be when you come in,

and bless shall you be when you go out.

These are the Scriptures I pray for them the most often.  I have seen the Lord to be faithful to them to do it.  Personally, I would have been sunk many times over if I had not had these Scriptures to cling to.  They have been a lifeline to me as I/we waded through the unknown raising these two very special men of God.  Praise Him for His kindness to us.  He is faithful.

Time

 We have a grandfather clock.  I purchased it about eight years ago from a neighbors estate sale.  He was a rather dubious fellow until I was able to figure him out.  Now he keeps good time if I go by his rules.  I must restart him after each winding or he randomly quits working.  It took me some time to understand just what he required of me.  It seemed as if it needed winding nearly every time I walked down the hall past him.  That was not true, of course, for he has an eight day winding mechanism.  But it seemed like it.  

 Since the start of the Co-Vid pandemic, it is just the opposite.  I walk past him just as often but he just rarely appears to be in need.  I think the Lord is readjusting time for me.  He is slowing things down to a pace I was familiar with as a younger me.  What am I doing with the extra time?  That is a question that has begun to make me uncomfortable.  

  Scripture says to redeem the time for the days are evil.  See Ephesians 5:16.  How is my prayer life.  How about my thought life?  How are the relationships the Lord has graciously given?  Am I nurturing them  or neglecting them?  What is going on with my commitments in the Lord?  Am I able to say I am faithful to all He has laid before me?  

 And the list goes on...

 Ephesians 5:15-17  Therefore be very careful how you live -                                                                  not as unwise but as wise,                                                                                                                          take advantage of every opportunity,                                                                                                       because the days are evil.                                                                                                                            For this reason do not be foolish,                                                                                                                           but be wise by understanding what the Lord's will is.

Repair and Mend

My computer wouldn't let me into my blog last week.  Andy, my son-in-law expert was out with a cold, so, I apologize for being late again.  Technology!  The blessing and bane of my life.

On Friday Jim is getting his colostomy redirected and the surgical sight closed up.  Hopefully it all goes according to plan.  It has been five months since we've seen normal.   This is major surgery again and we've been careful to keep distance from others for the most part.  Not an easy task.  I had to play "dirty cop" and say "No.  You are not going to play bass," three times this weekend.  He has never had so many opportunities in one weekend.  It was hard to keep saying no.  

I too am on the pro active mend.  Friday I had my right neck radio frequency done.  It is a minor procedure where the pain receptor nerves in the upper neck are burned to reduce pain. I have had it done several times before and this went very well.  I am already benefitting from it.  I am having the left side done on the 14th and then my hands and wrists.  They have been giving me trouble for well over a year and it is high time I do something about it.  Some cortisone injection was prescribed and because the pain from neuropathy is bad, I am having it done at the pain center.  

That brings us to the end of August.   And suddenly summer is over.  

Since the pandemic began in mid March, it seems to me that Father is adjusting time.  We have a grandfather clock (more on him next week) and it seems as though every time I pass him by in the hallway, I want to wind him up.  He hasn't been  needing winding near as often as he used to.  I believe Father has slowed time down for me.  

Ecclesiastes 3:17b for there is a time there

for every purpose

and for every work.