Week 32 - Proverbs 27

My favorite proverb

  27 Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth.
2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.
3 A stone is heavy and the sand weighty,
But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.
4 Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood,
But who can stand before jealousy?
5 Better is open rebuke
Than love that is concealed.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.
7 A sated man loathes honey,
But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet.
8 Like a bird that wanders from her nest,
So is a man who wanders from his home.
9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend.
10 Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,
And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;
Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.
11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
That I may reply to him who reproaches me.
12 A prudent man sees evil and hides himself,
The naive proceed and pay the penalty.
13 Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger;
And for an adulterous woman hold him in pledge.
14 He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,
It will be reckoned a curse to him.
15 A constant dripping on a day of steady rain
And a contentious woman are alike;
16 He who would restrain her restrains the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.
17 Iron sharpens iron,
So one man sharpens another.
18 He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit,
And he who cares for his master will be honored.
19 As in water face reflects face,
So the heart of man reflects man.
20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.
21 The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And each is tested by the praise accorded him.
22 Though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

23 Know well the condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;
24 For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
25 When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
26 The lambs will be for your clothing,
And the goats will bring the price of a field,
27 And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your maidens.

Week 31 - Hell’s Front Porch

We’ve have nothing but 100° days for the past 15 days with no end in sight. The next few days are forecast to be 104-106°, with the coolest day (Wednesday forecast to be 101°. I hate this heat. Those who love summer should do a stint in West Texas before they go around boasting about how great it is *eyeroll.

So far this is the best description of the seasons of Texas I’ve ever come across.

Winter
Fool’s Spring
Second Winter
Spring of Deception
Third Winter
The Pollening
Actual Spring
Summer
Hell’s Front Porch (That’s where we are now)
False Fall
Second Summer
Actual Fall (This lasts about as long as it takes to order a Pumpkin Spiced Latte at Starbucks)

Week 30 - UGH! Summer

I hate the summer in Texas. Up until now, it has been rather mild, but as I've told everyone I come in contact with, August will have its revenge! We had a cold front come through and we were graced with a brisk 99 degrees, rather than 103. I hate summer!

Week 29 - Mortality

It's been a month now that my Grandmother went to be with the Lord. I have her Bible and read it from time to time, just to remember, and to be grateful to the Lord for the wonderful gifts he gave me through my Grandmother.  I like to think about my own mortality as often as possible. It causes me to soak in life, breathe deep, and experience more fully, and more deeply the moments I get to have and share with others.

Week 28 - Nothing New

     

These are back in style. People are actually buying vinyl albums again. Surely, there is nothing new under the sun.

        3What advantage does man have in all his work
            Which he does under the sun?

      4A generation goes and a generation comes,
            But the earth remains forever.

      5Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
            And hastening to its place it rises there again.

      6Blowing toward the south,
            Then turning toward the north,
            The wind continues swirling along;
            And on its circular courses the wind returns.

      7All the rivers flow into the sea,
            Yet the sea is not full.
            To the place where the rivers flow,
            There they flow again.

      8All things are wearisome;
            Man is not able to tell it.
            The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
            Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

      9That which has been is that which will be,
            And that which has been done is that which will be done.
            So there is nothing new under the sun.

      10Is there anything of which one might say,
            “See this, it is new”?
            Already it has existed for ages
            Which were before us.

      11There is no remembrance of earlier things;
            And also of the later things which will occur,
            There will be for them no remembrance
            Among those who will come later still.

Ecclesiastes 1:3-11

Week 27 - Grandmother

My Grandmother died, and in a moment, I remembered how kind she was, the smell of her home-cooked breakfast in the morning, and how she filled the words "hi hun" with so much love and affection. My Grandmother died and I miss her, but in the sweet by and by we will meet on that beautiful shore.

Week 26 - Merica

This week is half way and it just so happens to be July 4th! I’ve been to Ukraine, Guatemala, Canada, and France, but The United States of America is still the best country in the WORLD! This flag is NOT made in China. It’s made right here in the USA, with cotton farmed on US soil! I remember my time in Waterton Lake National Park in Canada. We took a hike that brought us close to the US boarder. My friend Jon said, “there is it, on the other side of that lake, the United States of America”. Y’ALL! I nearly leaped into the lake and swam across, I’d missed that gorgeous Red, White, and Blue SO bad!!

Happy 4th of July, y’all!