such small hands

Total Relaxation

Any night of the week, when I settle in on the loveseat to watch a little TV, this is what inevitably results. Maybe it's me, or maybe it's just the soft fleece throw, but as soon as I get comfortable, Gidget sees an open invitation to use my lap as her personal resting place. (Note my toes in the upper left corner of the photo.) Sometimes, it is not so great, as anyone knows that a cat gains 20 pounds when they lie down on your lap. Other times, it's nice to snorgle with my bebbeh kitteh.

Sharing a Special Bible

The Internet Monk posted recently about a special Bible that influenced his life. I guess every Christian has one ... maybe the first Bible he or she ever owned or the first Bible that really was studied and pored over.

That's the case for me. My special Bible is a 1971 version of the New American Standard Bible. It was the first Bible I purchased for my own personal study. It has been well-used ... through conferences, retreats, Bible study, expository preaching and my own quiet times. The pages are filled with notes in the margins and underlined verses. The inside covers and blank pages are filled with yet more notes from various Bible speakers I've heard over the years, especially in the years when I was a new Christian. I've noted verses that are God's promises in prayer, God's sovereignty and power, verses that indicate the Holy Spirit is God, verses to use when Satan attacks.

Since this was the early 1970s, I bought a hand-tooled leather cover for the Bible. That's pretty much all that is holding it together, since the original binding long since parted company with the pages. Repeated attempts to tape it back together have been pretty fruitless.

While I now am using a New International Version most often, I still like my old NASB for its extensive cross-references and footnotes, which are invaluable for study.

Do you have a special Bible? Tell us about it.

Halloween in the Office

Every year our office decorates for Halloween. The different sections pick a theme and compete for a free lunch. This year, my team picked a Hollywood theme. Now, I had no plans to dress up ... but one of my friends sort of talked me into it. "You have 'red carpet' clothes, don't you? Just bring out the bling!" she said. Well, I do have bling, although I don't have a chance to wear it much any more.

I dug out the rhinestones, the sparkly gown and the fabulous burgundy velvet opera cloak. Added a pair of cheap target sunglasses and ... I was Hollywood, baby. See for yourself in the picture. But let me tell you, by the end of the day, I was ready to ditch those sequinned pumps for something more comfortable. It's exhausting being fabulous.

I'll let you know how I did in the costume competition.

Answered Prayer

In the last month or so, I've been having some minor issues with my fistula (my dialysis access). It was taking a long time to stop bleeding after we took the needles out. And there was one area that was raised and the skin seemed kind of thin.

So a couple weeks ago, I went back to the dialysis access center and the doctors there did an angiogram and angioplasty on the fistula because there was one area of narrowing. The doctors suggested I go see the vascular surgeon about possibly reworking or putting in a new fistula.

I'd like to say that I took that news with grace and peace, but I did not. I was mad and frustrated for a couple of days. But I prayed about it and shared my concerns with my "Experiencing God" small group. Some of them had some good insights from the Lord that helped to give me peace in whatever was going to happen.

I saw the vascular surgeon yesterday afternoon. He is the guy who put in my fistula originally. He looked over his work, felt around the veins on my arm for a few minutes. His verdict is that he really doesn't want to do anything right now. He says it's still a really nice fistula. If it does come to the point where I need a new one, starting a new fistula in my upper arm pretty much will make the forearm fistula unworkable. At that point, I'll need a permacath until the new fistula matures enough to be used.

Since my existing fistula is still giving me good clearances, the surgeon sees no reason to mess with it at this point.

Hallelujah. God's love endures forever. His care for His children is endless as the ocean.

My Car on TV

How cool is this? I drive the same car as Jim Halpert on "The Office." In the minute or two in last night's episode, when Jim and Pam were driving to Schrute Farms, Jim's car sure seemed familiar. That brushed-silver tone center stack, the climate controls, the Saab logo in the center of the steering wheel. Could it be my own Saab 9-2x? Yep. The hood scoop was a dead giveaway that Jim's model was an Aero with the turbocharged engine, like mine. His was silver and mine is black (a far cooler color IMHO), but Jim drives my car, all right. I am such a car geek.

Hissy Fits

Never underestimate the entertainment value of cats.

Amy brought Ari, her kitten, home with her for the weekend. Our resident cat, Gidget, couldn’t understand why suddenly her whole world had been turned upside down.

Who was this little stranger invading her territory? And why was she suddenly getting all the attention of her favorite humans?

When we introduced the two cats, there was a little of the expected puffed-out tails, laid-back ears and hissing. What I didn’t expect was that the larger and older Gidget would retreat to the basement and hide for the better part of a day. Meanwhile, Ari merrily took possession of the first and second floors, fearlessly investigating everything and playing with some of Gidget's long-abandoned toys.

Mealtime was especially challenging, as they each tried to steal one another’s food. Accompanied by much hissing and glaring.

By Saturday night, however, Gidget had had enough. She came upstairs and refused to back down, even though Ari was acting submissive, appealing and playful. Gidget would have none of it and hissed mightily if Ari came within less than a couple feet of her. It was as if Gidget were saying, “This is MY house, ya little runt, so you can forget about me running down to that basement again!”

Watching the two of them was better than anything on TV. I thought Ken was going to hurt himself, he was laughing so hard.

The little visitor went back home Sunday afternoon, so all was back to normal last night. But they’ll be back for Thanksgiving. More hilarity to ensue.

Olio

The title is a crossword puzzle word meaning a little of this and a little of that.

The last weekend of September, Ken and I played 18 holes of par 3 golf. After weeks of practicing on the driving range, we were longing just to PLAY the game. And a par-3 course is just easy enough and just hard enough for a beginner golfer like me to have fun. My scores were awful, mostly because my putting was awful and the greens were tough. But I hit some very good tee shots and improved my score on the back 9 holes by more than 10 strokes. Just enough to keep me coming back for more.

This past weekend we went up to Lost Lake, the last visit until next spring. Played golf on Sunday (bloody hot) and Monday (only slightly better). My game pretty much stank. But my score wasn’t really any worse than the last time we played the course. The thing about golf is that the few really good shots you make are enough to sustain you through all of the crummy shots.

Watched “The Children of Men.” We just joined Netflix, so we’re catching up on movies I’ve been meaning to see for months. Pretty scary stuff in light of Europe’s declining birth rate. I think we can’t imagine the despair of a world without children.

In health news, I had another angiogram and angioplasty on my fistula. It is working better, but the doctors want me to go back to the vascular surgeon and see about having a new fistula created or this one reworked a bit. This was disappointing news, and I was really angry and frustrated about it for a couple of days. Now I am at peace about it. I believe God is having this happen now because He really wants the best for me. If this fistula is wearing out, it's best to start a new one now, so that it will be ready to use when needed. And the better the fistula works, the better my health will be.

Amy will be home for a visit this weekend. Sunday is her birthday. I can’t believe I’m the mother of a 20-year-old. A 20-year-old who wants a chocolate cake with white icing. She has been having a meltdown over all of the projects she has to complete before the end of the semester. I have been trying to encourage her to stay calm and focused. Do you parents of college students ever pray that your kids will just buckle down and succeed so they won’t be dependent on you forever?