Hello!

In my present job, I answer the phone all day long. In the process of doing so, I rarely fail to identify myself. Doing so is just common courtesy.
I say, to each and every caller, "This is Nancy. How may I help you?"
The logical reply should be, "This is "identify ones self" and then perhaps say, "I would like to speak to  whatever or whomever". Oh, no. Almost never happens.
So, my next inquiry is....,"May I ask who's calling?" Sometimes the caller will tell me, sometimes not. And, often as not. my callers can't name the party with whom they wish to speak!
So, why do you need to know about all of this? Because, today I got a new phone.
Well, its not exactly new. But, it's like a new, used car. It's new to me. I have dozens of buttons and they can all light up. Those buttons, believe it or not, are bound to make my life easier. My new phone is a blessing.
Life is full of great blessings and small ones. We should appreciate all of them.

Oh Lord. We are never Thankful enough for our many blessings. Don't give up on us. We are a work in progress.

Last, but not least.

I'm working on my Self-Control, these days. For those of you, who might have forgotten, Self-Control is the last of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit.
The problem is ....Sometimes, I find it extremely hard to keep to keep my mouth shut. Just the other day someone reported that his TV kept playing the same program over and over. My smart mouth first inclination was to suggest that he switch channels. But, my Self Control prevailed. I suggested, instead, that he unplug his set from either the wall or the cable box, wait a few minutes  and plug it back in.  That action would reset his modem and his set just might work. Lo and behold, magic!
Biting my tongue sometimes helps. Using a Roll-a-tor Walker, as a wheelchair, is extremely dangerous and strictly forbidden by both our facility and the manufacturer of the device. Yet, every once in a while I will look up and see someone rolling himself down the hall, backwards of course, seated on his walker. Rather than say something smart about how stupid it is to pull such a stunt, and remind the culprit that a walker means WALK...not RIDE, I usually confront the individual and point out the sign  ON the walker that says, DO NOT USE AS A CHAIR WHILE MOVING. Then, I will offer to put the culprit in a wheel chair and give them a free ride to wherever they are headed. Most of the time they refuse to do what I suggest, yet I smile and let them roll on. I cannot save everyone, from themselves.
Most everyone I know has difficulty hearing. Many people have purchased hearing aids. They are very expensive (I know) and they are generally effective. However, they don't work in your ears...if you leave them on your bathroom counter. At least once a day I want to yell (because they can't hear normal speech) that at someone. But, I never do.
Other times my mouth just opens and my brain disengages. I'm still a work in progress.

Dear Lord. Forgive my mouth.

Chapter 2 of Ma Bell

Last month I wrote about trouble on our land phone line. Eventually we did have a return of service, and in spite of a distinct buzz on the line, we have had phone service at home for several weeks..
Last week, my husband decided to contact the phone company and see if they would fix the annoying buzz.
We were amazed and thrilled that they sent someone out, several days later, and the repairman could, himself, actually hear the buzz on his end of the phone line. He did the best he could to fix the issue, but felt that we needed a completely new line, from the house to the pole. (The 20th Century is still alive an well in the Heartland. The only underground utility we have, is the sewer.)
Later that same day, we received a survey call, regarding our "recent service call." " On a scale of One to Five, with Five being the highest, how would you rate your recent service call ?", and so on and so forth. I was conflicted. How do you rate a nice friendly young man, who came and tried to fix the phone.. 5, but didn't...0. Would that be a 2 or 3?
Life is like that, isn't it? We are often asked to rate this or that, and 1 to 5, just doesn't really do it. Real life cannot be categorized as a number between 1 and 5.
That said, please have a number 5 day!

Dear Lord, we are so grateful for our many blessings. Show us how to be less judgmental. Help us to always seek out the bright side of life

Seeds of Wisdom

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about the Biblical Fruits of the Spirit. (This is a spiritual concept, not a brand of underwear.). Each and every word, on this short list of virtues, seems to be valuable characteristic that I should spend some time in reflection.
The list is: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and finally Self-Control. The amazing fact, about all of these virtues, is that if you have genuine grasp on any one of them, you will have increased your grasp of all of the others.
This is sort of difficult to comprehend, but in the process of trying to Love more, we gain more Joy, Peace, Patience, etc. If we work at finding more Joy in our lives, we will increase our levels of Peace, Patience, Kindness, and so on.
What a great list! Won't you think about joining me on my Fruitful journey?


Lord and Savior. There is a wealth of wisdom. out there, that we can gain by following Your words. When we start to worry or become discouraged, You are always there with the answers and the correct words. Open our eyes and ears to your message.

Ac-cen-tu-ate the Positive!

My mother-in-law was known for saying, no matter what the situation, "It's the best thing that could have happened." And, she seemed to make that statement, at what seemed to be, the most inappropriate times. I was always stunned as she repeated those words, when told of a car accident, or a broken marriage, or a lost job. Really? Was she crazy? How could those things be the "best thing that could have happened"?
As it turns out, she was right. Over the passing years, I have discovered that those folks, who have the ability to turn their misfortunes around and who are able to look at those same misfortunes as blessings, are really and truly winners at the game of life! And, those who refuse to let go of their problems and continue to dwell on the negative rarely get over their "oh, woe is me" persona. And, for them, things tend to never get any better.
How good are you at looking on the bright side of things? I know that I need to work, quite a bit, on my accent.

God is Good, all of the time. All of the time, God is Good.

Peace Like a River

The greatest flaw in human character just has to be our constant attempt to solve all of life's problems. We try to make sense of everything that happens. Our obsession is to find our the "why" and the reason for everything. We want to find the "be-cause", and we want to fix whatever it is.
Here's the real answer folks. We just can't do it! We are not supposed to understand everything. We will never be able to understand everything, to the point that there will be no more problems. We can never "explain" them away. Life is meant to be a mystery.
Have you ever heard of the following words? Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient? Believe me when I tell you that none of them can be applied to me or you! If I remember my Baltimore Catechism appropriately, Omnipotent means all powerful. Omnipresent means being everywhere, and Omniscient means knowing everything. Those characteristics belong only to the Supreme Being. To God, alone.
You and I are human.
Are you familiar with the camp song lyric..."I've got that peace that passes understanding, down in my heart." Peace comes NOT from our understanding why, it comes from understanding that God is in charge. Try reading Philippians 4:7, and don't forget to sing along, "down in your heart".

Lord. How do we learn to put it all in Your hands? How do we keep from worrying? Show us how to find Peace in You.

Grandma Bell

Everyone knows that I am not a fan of cell phones. It has been suggested, that I am too old understand how they work. That may be true, but in my aged opinion, it just doesn't seem worth my time and effort to learn the intricacies of apps, tweets and tunes. The purpose of a phone is to make phone calls, and I can do that just fine.

In fact, my husband and I are so old fashioned that we continue to pay an old fashioned telephone company (you know their initials) for a land phone. In fact, we have four phones on our archaic phone line. And, since this past weekend, none of them are working. No dial tone. Dead as a door nail!

So, today, which is three days into this saga, I contacted the phone company. It's no problem to contact the above mentioned phone company by computer. They have a lovely web site. Lots of options and easy to navigate. Upon clicking the appropriate button, I was put in touch with Ellen, whose attractive picture advertised that she had 25 years of telephone experience. A message flashed on my screen for me to type my problem. I wrote that we had no land line service at our home and I typed our phone number and our address. She replied by asking me what my problem was, with my smartphone. Again, I wrote that it was our land line. Her reply was to ask the model of my smartphone.

I then asked her, "Can you read, Ellen?" She replied with another question about my smartphone and an offer to let me "talk to a real person for just one dollar, charged to my phone bill. This is a service that I could cancel at any time."

I did not reply or wait for another question, because I sure as heck didn't want to talk to another idiot ...real or electronic.

Bottom line. Still no phone service at the house. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Dear God. I know that patience is a virtue, but does that apply when you are dealing with fools?
Lord, open my heart and calm my mind.