Crocus!

I saw white crocus in bud this afternoon. It was in the neighbor's garden. She has an amazing garden.

When I got home i checked my garden with very little hope... drum roll please ... i did see the tips of green poking through the dirt.

Yea! Spring is coming! Spring is coming!

However, it's supposed to be in the single digits tonight with wind chills down to minus 5.

ack!

Spring is coming

I keep hearing this. But i and many others are having a hard time believing it.

I have decided to do a first day of spring count down starting March 1st to help get us there.

Today is fat Tuesday. Four days left in February.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday.

I'm also starting "The Purpose Driven Life" with my Bible Study on Wednesday. It makes a good 40 day spiritual discipline. Wish me well and pray for us please.

It's still February

Tonight, Thursday February 19th, it's supposed to be in the single digits with quite a windchill.

A week ago Tuesday, on February 10th, it was sunny and 61. Woohoo! What a nice break from the typical winter weather.

Normal for this time of year is 30 degrees.

But this is Michigan. I'm not sure it knows what the definition of normal is.

Why you ask? If memory serves... First day of spring 1974 we had 21 inches of snow and two days off from school. Then four years later in mid-April we had 80 degrees. go figure.

Regardless of where you are and the type of weather you are enjoying, may God bless and watch over you abundantly.

Car Oil

I had a bit of a surprise the other night - my check oil light flickered on the way home from work. Repeatedly. That was Wednesday night. It was about -10 deg F that night. Yes, ladies and gents minus ten. I decided to wait til morning to check my oil because it was supposed to be warmer. It was warmer. Yea! My oil, however, was way low. sigh.

I ran over to an auto parts store. Called my mechanic who had changed my oil the last time. Asked him what kind of oil he used? 10w30 fully synthetic.

Another customer backed out of her parking spot directly into a third customer coming into the parking lot directly behind my car while i was on the phone. She kept saying, i was looking in my mirrors. I confirmed with my mechanic that in drivers ed they taught us to turn around and look out the back window when you back up. always. This concludes today's Public Service Announcement.

I went into the store. Found what i needed with the help of a store clerk and nearly fell over. It cost almost $8 a quart. ack! I needed two, i'm sorry to say, but only bought one. Next oil change i'm going back to Valvoline's MaxLife 5w30. It's only about $5 a quart. sigh.

If you're curious, it's been 3,000 miles since my last oil change.

Psalm 146:3

"Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save." Psalm 146:3 NIV

I was watching the Nightly News on Sunday. I think it was ABC. They had a segment about how many churches that day had prayed for Mr. Obama as he prepared to take the Oath of Office on Tuesday.

They mentioned Psalm 146:3 at the end of the segment. I was stunned, overjoyed, pleased, still am, but stunned.

Three Alarm Clocks

I don't know about you, but i have three alarm clocks to make sure i make it up in the morning. The first two are on the same clock and sit on the shelf above my pillow. I set the first alarm for ten minutes before i'm supposed to get up and the second alarm for five minutes before. However, usually, when the first one goes off, i turn them both off. The third alarm is battery operated and sits on my dresser across the room from my bed. I'm sure you get the picture.

Two weeks ago I began to realize that Buddy was waking me up before my first alarm would go off. Initially i thought i had lots of time between his attempts to wake me up and my first alarm. But oh no. He'd wake me up about five minutes before it would go off. You might think, k, he's just used to your schedule. Except that some days i'd set the alarms for 10:30am and sometimes for 9:30am. Friday morning i even set it for 8:30am and he still did it. go figure.

I think it's interesting, but i still want my five additional minutes of sleep. lol.

Happy New Year - some advice... forgive

My word of encouragement and advice for this new year is forgive.

A friend suggested a while back that when i have been offended to pray the following: "I forgive __________ . I release ______________ . I release God's blessing on _____________."

I don't normally like rote prayers. But i find if i sincerely pray this for someone and don't cringe by the end of it, then I'm free. If i cringe, i pray it again until i don't anymore.

God's blessing be on all of you throughout 2009.