When God Speaks Out Of The Whirlwind

The Book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible. It was written during the time of the Patriarchs (Methusalah,Abraham,Isaac,Jacob, Joseph)~somewhere in that time period.Last night I didn't sleep well. Several things were going through my mind concerning a friend who is hurting a great deal.Her 5 year old son passed away several months ago.I thought of Job, a man who hadstrong convictions and a strong relationship with and love for God.So does my friend and her husband.However, a strong relationship with God will not sidestep grief or its' stages .And so, Job ran through my mind.I realized during my night musings that Job was written BEFORE Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers ,Deuteronomy.This was nothing new to me but it suddenly occurred to me that since God inspired the writing of the scriptures that He determined it should be written long before the account of Creation was given to Moses and long before the giving of the Law.The Hurting of Job preceded the Ten Commandments.It preceded the 613 Laws given in the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible).I wondered if it was because God is not distanced from us but is acutely in tune with our sorrows .Laughter, grief,anger,fear,frustration ,relief,hope,despair,etc are all emotions that are part of the soul.
Two interesting verses in Exodus 6:2-3 state "And God spake unto Moses,and said unto him,I am the LORD :And I appeared unto Abraham,unto Isaac,and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them." The Hebrew words for God Almighty are El Shaddai .('El' equivalent to 'power'and means God.'Shaddai' refers to the Almighty but the root of the word, 'Shad' is also the word for a woman's breast. God is the nurturer and all sufficient One.(NO, he's not female).He lacks nothing to provide for our needs.As you get into the Books of the Law, especially Leviticus, you learn of the Holiness of God, hence His name Jehovah.It comes from a combination of two root hebrew words~ "Yah" and "Havah" meaning 'To Be ' and the 'Self Existant One' (another study all in itself).
Job understood God as his provider,that He nurtured him and his understanding of God was that if he(Job) conducted himself righteously and obeyed God than he would not be cursed .Job genuinely wanted to please God .



The above picture suggests that while you think that you are in the darkest of night,something worse beyond your wildest imagination is coming toward you. What do you do?
Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch woman who lived in Holland during the German occupation under Hitler. Her family hid Jews and helped them escape out of the country.Eventually they were caught.The father died of a heart attack before he was shipped to a concentration camp,her brother and his wife were killed.They managed a nursing home and cared for mentally retarded people.I forget what happened to Nollie, her sister but I know she died.She also lost another sister in the concentration to starvation & illness that ensued.Corrie survived and held onto her faith in Jesus Christ that she and her sister shared with others in the camps they were sent to.But she survived alone.All of her family were dead.Christmas would never be the same.Her famous story I never forgot was one her father told her.She asked her dad, when she was very young,a question that would require an explanation about the 'birds & the bees'.She was too young to understand at the time. Her father said to her, "Corrie, do you remember when we went to the train station and had the heavy suitcase?" She said, "Yes", she remembered. "It was too heavy for you to carry, although you struggled and tried. I said, 'Corrie, Let me carry this for you',and so we got on the train and continued on.". Corrie said that some things are too heavy a burden to carry and we must surrender them to God to carry for us.
It was not over for Corrie Ten Boom when she was released from the concentration camp.After the War she prayed for where God would use her. She would surrender her life to Him and serve Him. She became involved in Half Way Houses for concentration camp survivors to help them recover.One day she was at a speaking engagement where a large group of people gathered and she spoke of the Forgiveness of God and Salvation that was given freely to all . Lo and behold, who stood in the group but a German soldier who was in the camp where Corrie was imprisoned.He was involved with the death of her sister.Out of nowhere a darkness and hatred for this man resurrected itself. She wanted others to be Saved, but he was different.Not him. She wanted him punished, to suffer like her sister and so many others had.After she spoke, this man approached her with tears in his eyes ,broken and filled with remorse.As I recall, he did not remember her but she sure remembered him.Her most difficult decision and SURRENDER to God was to forgive this man.She later told him who she was and her concentration camp story and gave him her forgiveness. She said that at that moment a very great weight was lifted from her.Consider how she became a commrade to Christ in spiritual warfare and learned, first hand,the first lesson of agape' love~ forgiveness.
The New Jerusalem, the capital city of God,is described in Revelation.It is surrounded by 12 gates in its walls. The foundations are jewels and a huge pearl is in each gate.You must enter through a pearl. What is involved in the making of a pearl? It is the only ORGANIC jewel. 'Google' the making of a pearl and see what YOU come up with.All things like this are significant and represent something.
Bible study is a bottomless well of Living Water.~~~ ENJOY!!

Operatic turkeys

This morning an email directed my attention to a hilarious YouTube recording of Florence Foster Jenkins singing Mozart.I said,"OK, I'm game.Let's hear it." It turned out to be HILARIOUS and I replayed it 4 times, at least.What made it even funnier was every turkey and rooster came running over to the house and gathered outside my dining room window to listen and sing along with her!! The whole crowd of turkeys was there purring, clucking and singing along with roosters crowing.It was like Times Square on New Years Eve.You can't make this stuff up!! My husband was trying to sleep upstairs with this loud rackett going on and I'm rolling on the floor laughing.Now I know the perfect turkey call for next hunting season~ the Florence Foster Jenkins call.They will come running from every tree and hiding spot as I walk through the woods playing her recordings.

Below is a newspaper account of her performances and here is the YouTube address so YOU TOO can start your day with a laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h4f77T-LoM

New York Daily News, Big Town

"She had enthusiasm, and she had enough money to finance her operatic career.

What she didn't have was talent.

For 30 years, Manhattan's upper crust paid good money to hear this hefty woman murder the melodies. Her name was Florence Foster Jenkins: the dire diva of din, the caterwauling countess of cacophony. At private recitals, she usually donned her Angel of Inspiration costume, a tulle gown and a tinsel tiara buttressed with a pair of feathered wings that made her resemble an overgrown turkey. To the accompaniment of a beleaguered pianist who rejoiced in the name Cosme McMoon, she would launch into her opening number, usually the Queen of the Night's aria from Mozart's "Magic Flute." The audience got caught full-blast with a sound like alley cats pitching whoopee.

She billed herself as a coloratura soprano, but Florence Foster Jenkins couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. Her voice shifted abruptly between a shriek and a whisper. Utterly tone-deaf, she wandered all over the scale, occasionally singing the right note by sheer accident. When attempting the high notes of an aria, her mouth would continue forming the words but no sound would emerge from her throat. Audience members would cram handkerchiefs into their mouths to muffle their guffaws.

After mangling "The May Night" by Brahms, La Jenkins would announce a brief intermission, then return dressed as Carmen, with a lace shawl and jeweled combs, clutching castanets and a wicker basket of red roses. The audience would remain riveted while she screeched her way through the Spanish waltz "Clavelitos," clicking the castanets and tossing the roses out one by one. When she ran out of roses, she flung the basket too. And then she threw the castanets.

Her fans - and she had many - knew that "Clavelitos" was her favorite song, so there were usually calls for an encore. This prompted her to send Cosme McMoon into the audience to retrieve roses, basket and castanets. Props back in hand, she would sing the entire number again.

After another intermission came the grand finale, and this time the matronly madame would return costumed as the dainty chambermaid Adele from "Die Fledermaus." Her closing number was usually that opera's "Laughing Song" - a good choice, since by this point the audience could no longer suppress their gleeful howls. She always finished to thunderous applause. Possibly accompanied by the rattles of dead composers turning over in their graves.




Florence Foster Jenkins died at the age of 76 fully believing she could not only sing but sing beautifully.

Here is a youtube video of Florence Foster Jenkins' infamous rendition of "Der Holle Rache" - Mozart's "Queen of the Night" aria from "The Magic Flute". But I caution, it can be unbearable to listen to if you have a musical ear. "




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The Ocean

I miss the ocean .It's the best exercise I get all year.I can jump up and down like an idiot and no one notices.I love the feel the the surf swirling around my legs at low tide.When I was a kid, my cousin Carolyn & I would pretend we were in a washing machine. I love BIG waves.Watching for their ridges thinning out like razorbacks seconds before they curl and crash down on your head.Of course I outsmart them and dive beneath them bobbing up on the otherside.Some days they come in quick succession so as not to give you a moments rest.Treading water becomes tiresome and your biceps scream for a break.The tide is coming in and your toes cannot touch to get a brief respite.Treading and diving under, treading and diving under.There was one of those days,years ago, I was sure I was going to drown .Fatigue was getting the best of me.My arms were becoming limp egg noodles.I couldn't 'ride one in',they were breaking too close together.I took care of enough broken necks in ICU in one of the shore hospitals and knew not to gamble with them.Anyway, eventually enough distance came between those beastly waves and here I am to tell it.
I miss the sound of the sea ,especially on soft summer nights.I loved getting to the jetti long before dawn, while the sky was still black and stars still bright.Strap my corkers over my sneakers to grip the boulders and hop from one slippery rock to the other.My son-in-law taught me all kinds of neat tricks to keep me from getting killed.Hang the flashlight with a cord around my neck to free my hands and it was amazing the periphery that was illuminated to see.Safer than a hat light which spoiled night vision.I could never decide which fishing pole to use, so I brought two.Then bait and bucket and bag of lures,knife,pliers,etc in tow and find the perfect rock to sit on and wait for the tide to come in.Gradually other fishermen would start arriving or I would suddenly realize there were others at the far end of the jetti on the point fishing for stripers long before I arrived. I didn't often see too many women there unless they were reading a book while their husbands fished. That amazed me.Many fishermen told me they wished their wives would come with them.It's a fun place! I remember one day fishing on the channel side of the jetti in Manasquan.There were a lot of Mexican and Chinese fishing that day. They are very good fishermen .The wind was at my back and I tossed my line 3/4's of the way across the channel. They, all at once ,leaped up and cheered! It was hilarious!
I love the quiet peacefulness of fishing.The salt air and smells and seagulls circling overhead.The grey pink dawn and the sun rising out of the sea.Did you know that the sun sleeps in the sea and rises out of it every morning ? I was there. I've seen it happen many times.

Corn pluckers

These are my cornpluckin' buddies.This is the first year in my life that I have had such bee-uuu-tee-ful perfect corn ! Usually I have to buy a case or two from the local farms, but not this year! I have hundreds.I've stashed zip lock bags of frozen kernals and corn-on-the-cob away in my freezer for the year. I read once to freeze your corn on the cob in its leaves;tight & unstripped (NO CHECKING!) Works better than ZipLock bags.But I store them in plastic bags in their leafy casings.Everybody's happy to see Corn~on~the~cob around here! MY horses greeted me (with their fly masks still on )and a big grin because they were getting a perfect, juicy, intact corncob.Sweet as summer.Fresh picked sugar~ no late picked starched taste.
Now~ my tomatoes did not do well at all! Blight hit this part of the state.I got 9 Qts and that was it! The plants are close to dead. So sad! Two years ago a similar problem hit.Cool nights,not enough sunny days and all green (no red) tomatoes.Fortunately I have farmers & Amish markets to buy 'canners' from.
But, we did well with most other veggies~ string beans,wax beans,cabbage(sauerkraut),broccoli,brussels sprouts lookin' good! Potatoes, peas, etc.
Tomorrow (Sunday) my twin grandsons will go home until next summer. I will miss them terribly! But we visit periodically during the year.

Thank You, LORD, for the Good Earth!

BOOKS

I love books with a passion.Two years ago I found a fantastic website www.paperbackswap.com where you can log on and get books free for a swap.When I joined they had 60,000 books accumulated through members.Now they have close to 4 million ! WOW !! I know there are books ONLINE and books recorded but there's something special about holding the book in your hand.Mulling over the words of a gifted writer is something very special.I recently read directions on How To Speed Read.That's fine if you're just reading some adventure or romance novel .Go ahead~ hydroplane through!But if you are lucky, you may alight upon the leaf of a Beryl Markham book who can turn words into jewels."West With The Night", published in 1942,was her account of her life as a bush pilot in British East Africa (Kenya).It was published at an untimely era and fell into obscurity in 1942 (the year Pearl Harbour was bombed). I suppose the interests of readers was reigned elsewhere.It was resurrected after "Out Of Africa" was filmed with Robt Redford & Meryl Streep .(Read it to find out why).I stumbled upon this book while doing a 'Book Search' as they were being posted by members.It takes awhile to scan through the junk usually posted,but suddenly a potential gem will appear.Grab it! Quick! Anything can be posted on this site~ cookbooks, textbooks, homeschooling textbooks,Classics,Elvis, Beatles,Lassie,Medical ,Gardening,HomeImprovement,CrossCountrySkiing, How to Build Your Own Boat,Animals, Birds,Harlequine( of which there is no end!),Adventure, Biography,Sci-Fi,Mystery,etc,etc. Whatever people want to put on is there~ Hardcover or Softcover.You can do an author search, topic or title search, NY Times Bestseller List or Oprah Book of the Month search. Maybe even an Adam Sandler search?
I have a little house. No room for a library.However, the bathroom had an unused wall. What better place for a wall of books?!! As you sit and think~~ponder the bookshelf! Read a page or two.Relax! Ponder and immerse yourself in AdventureLand.
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Yes, Yes~~ I know!! That's a plunger holding the bookcase upright. So What!!

Filly to learn Proper Dress

I awoke a moment too late. My 3 yr old filly was already up and dressed. I was exasperated ! She pulled on 3 black socks and one white ! NO, NO ,NO!! I repeated for the sixty fourth time. Either 4 white or 4 black! Does she care what the neighbors think when they drive by? What about the Belgian boys she nickers to across the street ? Tomorrow I'm signing her up for classes in DRESS~AGE !

"A GOOD HORSE IS NEVER A BAD COLOR !" ~ MARK RASHID

Misty

This is my girl Misty. She's a 3 yr old filly~ a black Percheron cross(probably with a Quarter horse).She's so pretty out there, especially when she's running and bucking.She just chased Alfalfa after meeting him tet'a'tet.Alfalfa is the 3 yr old ram.He's a pleasant boy with a cinder block head.