Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you from our corner of Iowa where the temperatures continue most days in the 40's with a record breaking 54 degrees on Wednesday.  Our snow has vanished!  Joel actually got his bike out and rode a couple days. So strange for the end of January and early February.   What an unusual year.

I'm thinking the animals might be a bit confused too.  We've had a lot of deer in our yard and the squirrels are rambunctious!  I wonder if they realize how out of sync nature is..

Besides biking, Joel has been in his office working most days.  Editing his second book....getting ready to preach again....getting tax stuff together.   He took a friend to coffee this week and is at Gabby Grandpas this morning.   He loves his coffee and he loves to talk!  

I'm still walking indoors 25-30 minutes a day,  doing a little cleaning and cooking daily, and staying occupied with my phone!  Gotta love how easy it is to text and call...besides Facebook connections.   All in all?  A pretty normal and yes, boring week except for February 1st when one of our grandsons celebrated his 16th birthday and my sister Jan celebrates her birthday on the same day!  Jan is 11 yrs older than me BUT looks younger!  A beauty inside and out.   We have a history together that runs deep.  I took my first steps to her. She provided me with a home at times and nurtured my soul.  She makes me laugh.  She is a gift from God in my life and the lives of so many others.  

This past week God has been highlighting the parable of the Persistent Widow in Luke 18.  We have received the story, the scriptures 3x so far from different sources of our usual devotionals.  When God highlights, we pay attention.  Persistant prayer......Jesus tells his disciples....Keep praying, don't lose heart. And then he tells the parable of the persistent widow.  Yes...Justice will come to His righteous ones.  A family member is being greatly challenged and I had been asking God for a verse to stand on......Then this passage came.  It tells us justice for the righteous will come.  And our part in this?  Be obedient by being persistent in prayer.   We want to do more, right?  But we are called to persist in prayer.  We can do that.  

Speaking of that I want to thank you friends and family who have persisted in prayer for us over the years.  Prayer is a powerful weapon.  It has blessed us more that we can say.

I have little to share this week so will close with a few things I am grateful for today.  Grateful for a good report from the glaucoma check up.  Grateful for the prayers of others and the privilege to pray. Grateful for walks, talks, and texts.  Grateful for God highlighting passages for us to pay attention to.  Grateful for warm temps, good weather, and visiting deer.  Grateful for our grandson turning 16, and my sister Jan's birthday too!  Grateful for all this and so much more...

Enjoy your weekend!