The Grapefruit Story

I didn’t always like grapefruit.  I don’t remember when I started to like it.  It probably had something to do with a diet.

My brother Bill has a beautiful grapefruit tree in his backyard.  When he told me about it, I was looking forward to nice fresh, (free) grapefruit.

You know the grapefruit is like the Word of God.  Yes really, let me show you.  Look at these verses that have always remained favorites.

Ezekiel 3: 1 And he said to me, "Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, "Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it." Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.
And also. Psalm 119: 103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Just as the grapefruit provides nourishment to our bodies, the Word of God provides nourishment to our souls.

It’s a wonderful beautiful tree that was planted here by someone, probably a few years back.  My brother waters it with just a nearby hose.  The tree has beautiful leaves and can provide very much shade. It has a large amount of fruit on it now!
When I wanted to get a grapefruit, I had to use a tool to pick it.  It just didn’t fall on my head. I had to make an effort just as we have to consciously make an effort to pickup the Book and open it.

I easily picked about 8 grapefruit.  I put them in a dish to admire them for a few days.  They also added a wonderful aroma to the house. 

If you want, you can go on-line to Christianbook.com and find 4,570 Bibles to choose from.  But the important one is the one in your home.  It is probably a very nice book, some are hardcover or leather, it could be a study Bible or reference Bible, and it could be very large or very small.  Your Bible can be admired sitting on the coffee table or on the shelf.

So now comes the work.  You cannot just bite into a grapefruit like an apple.  You have to peel it. I used 2 tools in my work – a little plastic peeler and a knife.

Sometimes when we want to peel away at God’s Word we need tools to help us.  It could be a Bible study guide or even another person to explain it.  To get to the fruit, it takes an effort.

The fresh fruit tastes delicious plus the vitamins and nutrition we get from the fruit are wonderful. 

Have you had your fruit today?

It's a beautiful day!

I was just wondering if I would say this if I were back in PA at 24 degrees. (Ok, it is going to be a high of 74 here in Arizona today.)  My conclusion is YES.  The weather does not make the day.  I woke up this morning and talked to my Lord the same as I always do.  That is what makes a beautiful day.

Our trip out here was great.  We had such a wonderful visit with our friend Joanie (some may know her as Laurie Avery's mom.)  She is so much fun and so sweet to be around.  Again, friends make a beautiful day.  We didn't have to do anything else but enjoy each other.

We stayed in Arkansas an extra day because of snow.  We just didn't want to drive on wet roads and we had no deadline.  On Tuesday we drove about 14 hours.  The road was straight and the speed limit was 75 and there was very little traffic.  So we stayed in Albuquerque NM.  Going west as sun was gong down was a beauty.  I tried to capture some as we drove.

We took our time on Wednesday since we were only about 8 hours away.  We decided to take  I-25 south and then I-10 over to Tempe.  It was a wonderful ride. Frank did most of the driving. We listened to a podcast from James MacDonald and I have to mention one thing he said.  The subject was how to find the will of God.  "God's will is about who you are, not where you are."

After 2387.6 miles, it was so great to see my brother Bill.  He has a very nice house and has made us very comfortable.  (Of course I will reorganize the kitchen. He doesn't cook very much.)  We are really going to enjoy spending time with him because as you might have guessed, being with family also makes a beautiful day.

Thoughts on the new year

Just read the funniest thing from a FB friend.  Pam said, "Wow it's almost noon....this year is flying!  But you know she is right.  We can depend on the fact that this year will fly by as last year did.  

Did you get everything done you planned on doing in 2010? Of course not, we never do.  But isn't it great to make plans and have visions of what we want to do? Don't give up.  I am going to finish an afghan I started 9 years ago for my grandson.  I was going to make one for each grandchild but at this rate I am not going to live long enough!

But really the main things for me this new year are:

1.   Grow in my spiritual life - am I living a life pleasing to God?
2.   Be more sensitive to others needs - family, friends or even strangers - am I willing to put them first when needed?
3.   And I want to take care of myself mentally and physically so I am able to do one and two.

No matter what the new year brings, (little did I know last year at this time I would soon have a broken shoulder) I know that the Lord will take care of me.

Psalm 27:4-5

 One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

PS. I really do want to finish the afghan.

Happy New Year, Nancy

Story about Stephany

It is late December.  I cannot get Stephany out of my mind.  She was a beautiful lady that I only knew for short time but she made such an impact.

On a Sunday in October I noticed a couple sitting toward the front of the church on the opposite side of where I was sitting.  After the service I went over to introduce myself to them and welcome them.  Stephany and Steve.  They were from California and were only living in Pittsburgh temporally. Stephany was here for a multi-organ transplant at UPMC.

It seems that in this short conversation I got so much information.  They wanted to know where a good Italian restaurant was and I told them what we liked.  Later on, after talking to Frank I called and suggested that we take them to the restaurant since they were not familiar with the South Hills.  They were very agreeable to this idea but decided that we would wait until after the holidays.

Stephany had suffered many years from a blood disorder that caused clotting in her liver.  She had been to Florida in July for a liver transplant but they found that the damage was greater than thought and she needed multiple organs.  This had to be done in Pittsburgh.

Steff and Steve were not able to make it to church every Sunday because of Steff's illness.  Sometimes she was too sick, or even in the hospital.  Thankfully they were able to come to church for Thanksgiving dinner.  Our pastor and his family provide Thanksgiving for anyone who wants to come.  Frank and I had decided to spend our day there.  We sat with these delightful people and talked of California, her family and her love of horses.

One exciting thing that was to happen soon was that her son and family were coming for a visit.  She had a new grandchild born in July and had never seen him.  She was excited for this visit.  Putting my thoughts in her place, I asked her if we could help decorate her home for Christmas.  I figured that they wouldn't have anything and it would be hard to purchase all that was needed.  So with the help of our wonderful ladies at church, I collected a nice variety of things.

We made plans one day to take the decorations to their apartment at the Waterfront.  When we got there, there was a sadness in the air.  Steve had just gotten word that his father was ill.  He had skin cancer a year ago but it returned and was growing internally in his neck.  They were not sure of the course of treatment but Steve was torn because he knew he couldn't leave Stephany to be with his father at this time.

The kids came and had a wonderful visit.  As I said before, Steff had to go to the hospital often.  Actually, she had to go to the clinic every day now.  In mid December while she was at the clinic, they informed her that the organs were available and she would be prepped for surgery.  Just like that - all of a sudden everything changed.

Stephany had been writing a blog. That is one way I really got know her.  She loved the Lord and was depending on Him through this whole process.  She wrote about Pittsburgh.  They were growing to love this city and described it in a  way you don't see when you live here.  Steve added one last entry to this blog that shows his great love for his wife. You can see it at: http://www.steffsgreatadventure.blogspot.com/.

Steve called to ask for prayer for the operation.  I was able to put it out on our prayer chain.  It was exciting.  I called our assistant pastor, Brian, to tell him because he worked in Oakland and I thought maybe he could go give Steve some support while he waited.  Later that night, Brian called me with the news that Stephany was now home with the Lord!

Tears still flow even as I write this.  Such excitement and anticipation.  It is hard to understand.  In our finite world, it wan't suppose to happen like this.  We want our storybook ending - happily ever after - all the time.  Total organ rejection, not the right ending!

Steve is back in California, the Christmas decorations have been put away and everything back to normal.  But it really isn't.  I am different.  I can't explain it.  I am so grateful to God for putting Steve and Stephany in my life for this short time.  Steve and his family remain in our prayers and hopefully we will meet again.

What in the world is a blog?

I am not sure what I am doing about having a blog other than I feel like there are things I would like to say and no where to say them.  I wanted a place to log our travels and experiences - some old and some new.  So we picked the title Our Voyage - because that is what life is.  A voyage on this earth until we get to our permanent home.

I am including Frank as part of this blog because he is part of everything I do, email, Facebook, Twitter - whatever.  All these sites are set up for a single person use.  We don't operate like that. Just our thing.

I am learning how to use this site and I am sure I will get better at it as time passes and I have more interesting things to say.