A Pebble in a Pond

I've been thinking of my circle of influence this month and I liken it to a pebble in a pond. Have you ever thrown a pebble into a body of water and watched the ripples spread out in a circle away from the initial point of contact? I've got friends who I touch in some way. Some are really close and some are less and I appreciate them all. 

I was having a pity party for myself this month. I think I must be rather BORING to you readers cause I have so little feedback and therefore that must be why I have so few subscriptions on my blogs or at YouTube. But then a saying came across my path on Pinterest that must be a God-thing because it reminded me that my sphere of influence may be small, but at least, I'm a member of the circle of friendship with Jesus. It said: 

"The number of 'followers' you have does not make you better than anyone else. Hitler had millions, Jesus had 12." 

Now I'm ashamed of my self-pity, because Jesus began with twelve followers and his sphere of influence of goodness, light and love has widened quite a bit over the centuries. Hitler's "kingdom of death, evil, and fear" lasted just about a decade, thank God.

I found a autobiography that my grandmother had written sometime before her death on a pile that I cleaned up and began typing up for my Ancestry family tree. She became a friend of Jesus under the influence of her minister brother-in-law after he preached a Friday evening service at camp-meeting. Now I understand why she loved camp-meeting. If we were visiting during camp-meeting time, we went unless we were sick. My parents met at camp-meeting too and my other pair of grandparents met at a camp-meeting as well. Both of my grandparents' marriages lasted longer than 50 years for we helped them celebrate. My father suddenly died a few days shy of my parent's 33rd wedding anniversary. I have a lot of good memories of camp-meeting, like making plastic dip flowers with my cousin to donate to sell in the missionary house to help support missionaries like Edna Thimes and my grandmothers' giving us pocket money to purchase something for ourselves at the publishing house table in the back of the tabernacle. I remember purchasing small gifts for my family there, like an oval plastic squeeze coin keeper for my dad or mints to share or a tiny beaded coin purse for myself or a book to read. I went and hoped I got to see friends that I had met at church camp earlier that summer. 

Music Can Boost Your Brain. Dr. Daniel Amen & Barry Goldstein. YouTube. 

A list of my favorite music - here.

THREE PRAISES - I do not have idiopathic macular telangiectasia, type 2, like my 1st sister. She signed up for the Mac Tel Project and they wanted siblings to sign up also. However, I do have pigmentary glaucoma and our other sister has dry eyes from Sjoden Syndrome.

Also, my grandfather's memorial on Findagrave gained a new photo. It came all the way from a thrift store in Virginia. A gal purchased two pen-pal photo albums there that were created by a Naomi Dutrow, of Elkton, VA. in the 1920s and she decided to scan the photos in the albums that had names on them to kindly share them with relatives on the appropriate memorials at Findagrave. I urged her to donate scans of the unknown people to Dead Fred, a genealogical photograph archive. 

And my MIL and SIL were not hurt in a T-bone accident much like ours. Their new van had to be towed away, but they are okay! 😇 PTL! 

SUMMER READING PROGRAM: 

I'm currently reading a book called "Gratitude: Affirming One Another Through Stories" by Len Froyen. It gave me the idea for one of my pages in my journal called HEIRLOOMS. To write a line or two about the heirlooms we've inherited from our relatives. I have created the list here with photos. 

I also ordered two books to read by Patti Page. I knew she sang, but didn't know she was an author as well. The first one is called "Once Upon a Dream: A Personal Chat with All Teenagers." By Patti Page. 1960. and "This is My Song: A Memoir." By Patti Page with Skip Press. 2009. I have a YouTube playlist of Patti's songs here. 

Then I have several books I want to re-read from my home library such as "The Spirit of Loveliness: Bringing Beauty, Creativity, and Order to Your Life." by Emilie Barnes. 1992. 

By the way, how do you like my new Mary Engelbreit cartoons on the side menu? They are FREE from Mary herself! 

39 DOODLES this month = 116 to go. 

Wonderful CARDS from several friends, one being our pastor to my husband and myself and two THANK YOU cards too!

SCRIPTURE:
Documented Faith

Proverbs: 15:1 = A soft (gentle) answer turns away wrath (out-of-control bitter hatred and vindictive rage), but a harsh word stirs up anger (displeasure).

Proverbs 24:3-4 = By wisdom a house is built and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.

Proverbs 31:30 = Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Isaiah 46:9-10 = "I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'"

Ephesians 4:26-27 = In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold. 

1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 = We were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.

PROJECTS: Watch video here. 

We're still working on projects, however, many of the projects we were going to spray paint have been put on hold as we've had many rainy days this month. We've hauled off three bags of stuff to the thrift store so far and I've got a fourth bag begun. 

QUOTES & SAYINGS:

"Home should be an anchor, a port in a storm, a refuge, a happy place in which to dwell, a place where we are loved and where we can love." (~ Marvin J. Ashton).

"Is your home just another place for unmet expectations, to-do lists, and exhaustion? Or is your home a haven, the safest place on earth, a place to come back to, a place to heal, a place to create, a place to risk and simply be? You get to decide." (~ Myquillyn Smith, The Nesting Place.)

Mnemonic device to help me remember which leg goes first walking up and down stairs with my canes: "Good Leg Leads to Heaven (upstairs); Bad Leg Leads down to the other place (downstairs)."  

Our home is just a little house, but God knows where we live.

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade! 

"You don't need what you think you do. (But keep) what makes you feel happy, what feels like home to you." (~ Amanda Burger, owner of a tiny home.)

POSITIVE WORD OF THE MONTH: LOVE

My favorite coloring sheet this month!