Sunday Wrapup--December 20, 2015

Any pretense of organization regarding my blog posting habits or pretense about well-thought-out content will be laid to rest with this post.  I'm reasonably sure of this.  I have two posts waiting in the wings, but they're not ready, and for tonight I'm pretending they don't exist--in favor of posting rambling shallow content.

***************

The trustees at church got a bunch more of the wonderfully comfortable black padded chairs with armrests that were initially purchased for the convenience of those who have trouble getting into and out of other chairs.  Everyone in our Sunday School class who regularly sees the difficulty some of our class members have in this department appreciates the wisdom of this purchase.  It shows kindness and respect for our elders.  The chairs have the added benefit of being stackable.

****************

The cupboards for the new church kitchen are being made at Bontragers.  Today we had a chance to cast a vote between two finish alternatives.  Earlier, anyone who wished to do so could provide input on selection of wood.  Hickory was chosen, and an oak stain or a clear stain are options.

I'm very pleased with the open, input-seeking modus operandi of this committee of trustees.

****************

A different placement is being considered for my cousin, Linford, who has resided at Faith Mission Home for a number of years.  The match between the program there and his needs no longer seems as workable as it once did.

****************

My cousin, Landon B. was in church this morning--to the surprise of his relatives here--except for Gary's family.  He came through on his truck on a run between Texas and Nebraska? and stopped in for the day.  After his current load is dropped off he heads home to Iowa for Christmas.

****************

Other guests in church were Phil and Ellen N.  Phil's presence there meant that we had six members of the class together that went through grade school in the same class.  That was only about half of us, but it's more than are usually together on a Sunday morning.

***************

The students from Faith Builders are home for the holidays.  This includes Hannah and Frieda.  Anita Yoder came here with them and is visiting in the home of her sister's family--the Gideon and Esther Yutzy household.

**************

Arlynn Mast, who has lived and worked in South Carolina for several years, is home to stay, for the present at least.

**************

My brother Ronald turned 50 today.  He and his family had gotten the urge to treat their entire church family to a meal after church today--on their regular carry-in Sunday.  He announced this to everyone at church, after which Christoper, his oldest son, added his own announcement--that the meal was also a birthday surprise for Ronald.  Ronald reports that he started feeling a little weird about his first announcement at about the time the second one was made.

Ronald shared a birthday with my Grandma Beachy, who died at the age of 98--in the late 1980s.  

***************

Long after I got home from church today, Hiromi pointed out a sizeable white spot on the shoulder of the dark purple dress I had worn to church.  That was the first time I realized that little Cedric must have left behind a spit-up gift when he was squirming on my shoulder during church today.  I wonder how many other people saw it.  I hope it didn't bother them any more than it bothered me--ignorant as I was of its presence.

***************

Just in case you're wondering, I'll tell you that two puppies are probably the only "thing" worse in the cluttering department than one puppy.  Every bit of soft fabric we have provided as bedding material inside the doghouse or in any puppy-selected sleeping places has disappeared from that original spot and been dragged or shredded all over the place.  My sympathies are greatly aroused when the weather is wet or cold or windy, but my best efforts to provide comfort for these little guys are regularly thwarted.  The puppies and the cat would all be happy to cohabit with us, and sometimes it looks tempting, but so far common sense has prevailed.

We actually own only one puppy, but Barney has company right now, while Grant and Clare's family is visiting her parental family in Washington.  Buck and Barney fight like brothers--which they are.
**************

I passed my final test for the Master Gardener class.  One question I missed was due to a grading error on an earlier quiz.  I had it wrong, but it wasn't checked wrong.  The question reappeared on the final and I answered it as before.  This time it was wrong.  I should have followed up on my hunch when the quiz came back with a perfect score earlier.  Just for the record, blackberries bear fruit on floricanes--not primocanes.

***************

More fresh garden goodies made it to the house last week.  I'm still marveling at the good fortune of this very productive fall gardening season.  I have yet to see if the one tiny cauliflower head and the one tiny cabbage head that is still out there will continue to develop.  All the heads we harvested last week had grown to eating size since the 22 degree night when we thought surely we had completed the last harvest of the season.  Everything we're bringing in is pest free and delicious--from lettuce to broccoli.

****************

There's a dead possum on the road right by our driveway.  I suppose that might mean that he was a resident of this place, or at least he roamed about on this place.  I'm not sorry that we didn't have to take action to euthanize him.  I learned to use that term for killing nuisance animals at the Master Gardener class.  Sounds better than "kill" or "shoot."  Right?

****************

Last week when I had three grandsons here at the same time and it was nearing lunch time, I asked Carson (2) if he was hungry.  "Yes," he answered carefully.  "I'm hungry for rice and chicken." Wherever did that come from?  As it happened, I actually had a nice amount of leftover rice and turkey in the refrigerator, and, now that I knew what he wanted, I reheated it for all the little ones.  They happily snarfed it down.

The rice had been cooked biriyani style.  E. and L. left a recipe for this with us, along with some of the ingredients one of the last times they were home.  I've cooked it before, and our family has always enjoyed it.  The spices are Indian spices, and the rice is cooked with some dairy products.

This time I took a shortcut and used garam masala, which is ready-made mix of Indian spices.  I substituted the mix for the spices in my original recipe.  To my non-expert taste buds, it tasted just like the recipe I had followed originally.  I put the spices in a muslin bag and fished it out before serving the rice.  E. tells me it doesn't need to be done that way, but I'm opting for convenience over being a purist for Asian cooking techniques.

***************

I'm getting annoyed with Facebook for all the non-friend content clogging up my newsfeed.  I do my best not to encourage this obnoxious behavior by scrolling right on past the unsolicited content so Facebook gets the message that I'm not interested.  I don't think it's working.

Any ideas on what to do, other than abandoning Facebook?

**************

Dorcas pointed out another problem with Facebook recently when our children's families were here.  With reference to some disturbing posts we had read, she pointed out that if it weren't for social media we wouldn't know that certain people hold those disturbing viewpoints.  It doesn't come up in our regular interactions.

I agree that it would be more comfortable to know less.  I'm still trying to decide, however, if it would be better overall.  If it's there, is hiding it really helpful?

**************

I suppose the same logic could apply to following other kinds of news right now.  Not learning about it would be more comfortable.  Would that be better though?

When a public figure lacks a moral compass, it's not pretty to see on public display what vices and character flaws rush in to fill up the empty space.  Neither is it pleasant to see people "assassinated" for operating from a position of integrity.  Painful also is seeing integrity compromised for the sake of expediency.  Jesus' wisdom in not promoting change through political means becomes increasingly obvious during every election cycle.

*************

A month or more ago, in a sermon Dwight preached, he mentioned the fact that America had agreed to receive 70,000* immigrants, and that he hoped that our church could take at least one family under our wing.  He noted that the refugee problem was huge and it's easy to feel helpless in the face of such overwhelming need, but it's important to be willing to act in whatever ways are open to us, even if those acts seem small in comparison to the needs.  I heard later from Dorcas that Shane hopes that one of his rentals might be able to house such a family.  All this felt very right.

None of us could have guessed what a hot-button political issue the refugee/immigrant matter would soon become or what draconian measures would be advocated.  Some of the rhetoric from professing Christians seems utterly devoid of the suffering love Christ exemplified at Calvary, to which he calls those who follow him.

* The number of Syrian refugees who will be accepted is far lower than 70,000, and the governors of many states, including ours, have gone on record as forbidding the use of any state funds for resettlement of refugees within their own state borders.   Putting out the "unwelcome" mat is what I'm calling it.

************

World magazine is running a serial "Hank the Cow Dog" story, with one new chapter every day.  I used to shake my head at Grant's great fascination with these stories.  He and his buddy Ryan memorized portions of the books and could sing the "coyote song" by memory.  I did find the stories amusing--a little guiltily so, but I never ever expected to see them appear in World magazine.  Then yesterday I found out that the author is a Christian, someone who takes his faith seriously.  So maybe I don't have to feel guilty anymore about enjoying Hank the Cow Dog stories.

Hank has many "human" foibles, and the accounts of farm/ranch life on the plains always ring true, right down to Hank's being forced to tolerate cheap Co-op dog food.

*************

I found another Hiromi Iwashige on Facebook tonight.  She's a young girl living in Japan.

**************

My sister Clara is coming on Christmas Day.  The following day will be a family reception for my niece Emily and her new husband Andrew "Drew" Miller.  For this event the KC family contingent will be here, and the Labette County one as well (Ronald's family).  It's shaping up to be a fun time.