Phil’s history - Omaha the good years part one

Recently I posted about loss of my mother when I was 10 and in fifth grade. I would like to go back further now to the years where we had pretty much a very normal upbringing. The attached photo shows our first house. It was across the street from an elementary school called Oak Valley. This photo shows the house. I joked about it with a former coworker that it was a memorial to the boyhood home of Phil Gorman! She has a son who lives in Omaha and while visiting she went by my boyhood home. That is her in the picture. She used to be a model on the Price Is Right. Just kidding but she could’ve been.

We moved there a little before I started kindergarten. We were brought up Catholic and my sister started kindergarten in a Catholic school but when we moved we went to Oak Valley. The years between kindergarten and fifth grade were pretty much idyllic and so normal based on what was considered normal then. Our dad worked and was away from home most of the week traveling Eastern Nebraska mostly. In the summer I got to go with him quite a bit. He works for a publisher and went around the stores and updated the TV Guide section. I really enjoy these trips but I think I annoyed him with my constant fidgeting and questions.

My sister and I had a very simple upbringing during this time. We had friends our age and when the friends were unavailable my sister and I were constantly together. Across one street was a vacant field and in it was the "mulberry tree". We would make hikes to this tree every chance we got. It was easy to climb and many times we would take a sack lunch and spend the day there. We often came home with mulberry stains which were difficult to get out of our clothes but our mother never complained about that. She probably like the little bit of peace and quiet she got because when my sister and I were together we often argued like siblings tend to do. There was also a Creek that ran along the edge of this field and behind our house. Behind our house it was a cement channel. On the field side of the creek there was a golf course so the creek was more natural in character. We played in the creek a lot also.

There was an awning out front of the house and we would get to play out there as long as the rain wasn't blowing toward the house. It was pretty neat being outside in heavy rain. We also had a fort built on to the back of the shed where the garage is now. We used to love playing there to. Other than school all I remember from those years is having fun with my sister or my friends.

To be continued.

History of Phil – Grandparents Part 2

As I mentioned before my father and his extended family were from Fairmont Minnesota. My father was the third in a group of four sons of my grandparents Mark and Marie Gorman. All of my grandparents were first-generation Americans. My grandfather McNeal was all Scottish. My grandmother McNeal was Irish. My grandfather Gorman was Irish. My grandmother Gorman was French. It is her side of the family that I look like. All four of my grandparents came to this country in the late 1800s or early 1900s. None of my relatives were here during the Civil War but immigrated due to turmoil in Europe in the following decades. My grandfather Gorman was the son of a farm implement dealer in southern Minnesota. My grandmother Gorman was one of 13 children, many of whom were born in France. They immigrated and then traveled to Minnesota to settle. My grandmother's youngest sister was lost on the trip over to Minnesota. It was in Illinois and they thought she may have been taken by the Indians and sold or and wandered off and ended up with a different wagon train. They never really found out. Her father was a banker and she said he was the first millionaire in Minnesota. When he died each of the surviving 12 children received a farm. I asked her what happened to it and she said they promptly lost it in the Great Depression. So much for earthly wealth.

My grandma and grandpa Gorman were kind of the opposite of the McNeal's. We loved going to visit. We visited them at least two or more times a year. When we were there we often played with my cousins that were children of two of my dad's brothers. Two brothers, Jim and Pat, lived in Fairmont. The youngest Tom and moved out east after college and was a vice president of Gallup.

Pat had six children, two of which were near my age. John and Bob. I played with them a lot when we were there. Mostly though we look forward to visiting uncle Jim and aunt Betty. Their sons were all older than me and used to tease me mercilessly but I loved the warm environment that Betty gave out. The girl cousins, Susan, Nancy and Cindy were more my age and my sister Cathy's age. I found I could tease Cindy but Susan and Nancy were big enough to hurt me so I left them alone. Later on Amy came along and she was a cute little thing.

So we lived in Omaha and visited my grandparents in Fairmont quite often. We loved grandpa Gorman he was so gentle and quiet. Grandma Gorman raised four boys so she was a little tougher. We love both of them dearly and grandma Gorman was a fantastic cook. I always got pie when we visited. Years later she taught me how to make pie!

So for many years I had friends in Omaha near my age. We also add cousins who were like siblings. This went on and I would say I had an ideal childhood my mother passed away in the fall of when I was 10. I will cover more of the years in Omaha and the effect of my mother's passing in later posts.

History of Phil – Grandparents Part One

I suppose I should start out my history with some early info and some things about my grandparents. I was born in May 1957 in Cedar Rapids Iowa. I am the son of Mark and Geraldine (McNeal). I have a sister who was born a little over a year older than me, Cathy. My little brother Joe came along when I was nine so he doesn't figure into the early days very much.

My dad was from Fairmont Minnesota. He attended Mankato State University for three years. He quit after three years to help out with his father. His father, Mark, was stricken with polio and lost the use of his left arm. Since my father was no longer in school he ended up getting drafted and he was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. On leave in St. Louis he met my mother and as they say the rest is history. I'm not sure how long their engagement was but I know my father loved my mother dearly. I admit I was a mommy's boy and loved my mother so much it's hard to put into words. She had a soft Southern way about her and she was so kind. I'm not sure how she ended up being so gentle and kind since neither of her parents were like that. She was a beautiful person inside and out and everyone who knew her thought the world of her.

My mother's parents were the McNeal's and they were from St. Louis. I am told that when I was about six months old we moved from Cedar Rapids to St. Louis and lived with my mother's parents. One story I remember is that they stored their furniture in the garage. My mother's brothers were named Tom and Bob. I'm not sure which one but one of them ran with a rough crowd but they were smoking in the garage and set my parents furniture on fire. They lost all their furniture. Later when my sister was ready to start school we moved to Omaha Nebraska where my dad got a job with the publishing company. My memories of the McNeal's were never good. I remember being terrified of my grandparents and never felt comfortable around them. They owned two standard poodles that looked identical to me. I was told one of them was mean and do not leave my hands out. It was made clear that if the dog bit me it was my fault. This was something that made me feel scared all the time.

After we moved to Omaha we visited a few times. We took the train which was exciting to me to St. Louis and back. We went one Easter and the dogs ate all of my Easter candy when we were at church. The dog then threw up. Of course this was my fault and my grandfather yelled at me. I've never forgotten that. They never came to Omaha to visit us and I know they had problems with my mother marrying a Catholic. The McNeal's were Protestant and really objected to the Catholic attitude toward birth control. This was a source of much friction and they often accused my father relating to her getting pregnant with me so soon after my sister.

My mother also had a miscarriage and I think was after me. She didn't have another child until my brother came along nine years after me. I have very few memories of the McNeal's but I do remember the few times we visited my grandmother she was so mean to my mom that she was crying. They were very mean people I do remember that.

I really don't have much to report about them other than negative things so I will leave off here and pick up my other set of grandparents in a later post.

Hard to decipher posts

When I read some of my posts in my blog and Facebook as well as emails I think what an uneducated bumpkin! My voice software often gets the tense of my words wrong. I never know what's going to show up when I say her or him. It often puts me in instead and I find when I read mine they are very confusing. As one of thank you that you overlooked these things and I am very frustrated that I come across as an uneducated chump. I am educated and I have all my teeth. I have never owned a rebel flag nor had a gun rack with a rifle in my pickup truck. Once again thank you for overlooking these flaws in my posts. Sometimes I want to yell at my software and I do but that doesn't help it. Supposedly I can ask it to spell things. A lot of times even this doesn't work. It cannot hear the V no matter how I do it. I have to type it in. Even though I proofread my things they still come out with errors. Oh well it's the best I can do so I shouldn't whine about it.

Crazy numbers!

A few weeks ago a visitor who also works at a assisted care facility mentioned that the cost of that one was $5500 a month. I was staggered by that amount. She said assisted care facilities range from $4000 a month to $6000 a month. I think Social Security will be around $2400 a month. I realize now why they tell you to have $1 million or more saved up for retirement per person.
If everything works out perfect I would leave about half of that amount. I don't wish to be morbid but truthful. I would need to die before I was 77 because of my life insurance policy. When I took it out 20 years ago I was pretty sure I could save quite a lot of money after our kids were grown and before I retired. So 77 seems like a pretty good number. The insurance gets more expensive every five years and the cost after that age seem prohibitive. Now I find my work life was cut short by about 10 years. One thing that stopped when I went on disability is the ability to add to my retirement savings.
I'm so glad I have people we care for me in my home. The cost of professional care seem so far out of reach I try not to think about it. My dear wife assures me he will take care of me as long as humanly possible. Course I trust the Lord for everything to work out. If I trusted my retirement savings I would be a basket case.

One step forward, one step back.

I'm really not sure how to say this. I'm losing the ability of my right hand and this week it is been made abundantly clear that some of my function is gone. When I wake up both my left-hand and right-hand are balled up and difficult to un-curl. I can still do a little bit if I stretch my right hand and keep my fingers flat on the surface. It is getting more difficult to operate my PC manually. Even with the voice software I still have to move the mouse a number of times to post or operated all. Many times it gets confused and won't work with the voice at all so I have to reboot. Logging in is not easy. When I dictate I still have to move the mouse manually To move the text into the blog. That being said I have some successes to report.
I have finally figured out how to stop the mouse after I tell it to move. For a year now I knew how to move the mouse by boys but could not get it to stop. I tried saying mouse cancel, cancel mouse, stop mouse and mouse stop. None of these work. In my frustration a few weeks ago I just yelled stop at it and it stopped the mouse. I have to include the word mouse when I want to move it but I can't include it when I wanted to stop. It really helps on many things now especially Facebook.
My hope is to get something of my history posted by months end. After that I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post. I hope to keep it going but am not sure what the future holds. 

Two stories about Atlas

My first a story about Atlas is from Saturday. I'm not sure if I mentioned it but my oldest son was getting married on Sunday and the nearby park. The brides grandmother, mother and sister graciously flew to Cedar Rapids for the wedding because I cannot travel very far. It was very kind of them. We went out to listen to music on Friday and then there were activities Saturday with my wife's sister's and the brides family. That night we went to dinner as a rehearsal dinner. I probably overdid it and was feeling pretty bummed out Saturday afternoon and evening. I went to bed that night extremely sad mostly due to my MS and the restrictions it has on me. Our son Tom left Atlas at our house for the week and through the weekend.
That night my wife got him to put his paws on my chest and lay his head down to say "night night to Papa". He must've sensed my sadness because he stayed on the bed next to my side the whole night. He also put his head of my him for a while and then put his head on my ankle. It was as if he had to be in contact with me and he definitely cheered me up. I can see why labradors make good service dog's.
The second story is pretty funny. Late in the week this 80+ pound dog turned into a ninja. He Following people out into the garage and then would stay out there. We would hear him barking to get back in and no one can figure out how he was able to silently go out. Later that weekend he was found in the garage more than once, at the next-door neighbors playing with their dog and downstairs in the basement. I know he's a black lab but How does a dog that big sneak around without being noticed? Somewhere he must've learned ninja skills!

Atlas Gets a New Toy

My wife bought Atlas a new ball the other night. This one has lights in it that go on when it moves. He loved it that night but was lukewarm toward it the next day. My wife gets him a new ball almost every time she is at a store that sells dog toys. This may seem excessive but he is extremely good at losing his toys, kind of like a little kid.
We have found his toys in so many places all of which require someone getting down on the floor and fishing around for them. Not so easy for us old people. It seems be easier to buy new ones and then one Tom is home send him around to find the old ones. He never seems to find all of them though
.I can't believe how many places we found his toys. Most of them are toy balls because that's what he likes the best but they tend to roll underthings. So far we have found them under a lot of things and here's a list of some of them.As most of them are balls they tend to roll underthings but not always. We found them under: small sectional couch, large part of the sectional couch, lamp tables, faux leather footstool will, blue footstool, my wheelchair, antique cabinet, dining table, dining buffet, our bed, My bedroom dresser, my wife bedroom dresser and other places. On our bed, in our closet, on the screen porch, in shoes it in our entry room and on the screen porch. I'm sure there are some I forgot but he is a master at misplacing them. It is easier to buy new ones and then when Tom comes home make him crawl around to find the missing once. We never seem to find as many as he is lost. Silly puppy!

Watching The Chew brings up memories.

My wife took today off of work two things to get ready for our sons wedding this weekend. So she had the TV on a different channel than I am used to. I watched The Chew. I'm not sure I've ever watched the show before but they had a commercial on for canned tomatoes. I had one of those cascading flashbacks to when I used to be able to cook. One of my favorite things to make was chili and I used the diced tomatoes that were shown in the commercial. It made me really miss cooking. I'm not sure I ever made chili the same way twice. I would usually use a packet of premade spice and then dress it up with things like cayenne and other spices. I usually use hamburger as a meat but sometimes would use smoked pork loin. The smoke meat was always the best. I would usually use chili beans but would often and in other types like kidney beans, pinto, black or garbanzo. Chili was always my favorite.
Another favorite meal I would make would be a chicken sausage based rigatoni. They have some flavored chicken sausages on the market now that are very tasty. I would cut them diagonally and then sauté them with onions in olive oil. Sometimes I would add tomato. Then I would cook the rigatoni noodles and after draining them will would add a liberal amount of butter and when it melted I would stirred in. Then I added the sautéed sausages to a better rigatoni and then add a liberal amount of Parmesan cheese or a grated cheese blend. The butter on the noodles would hold the grated cheese. I really love this dish, it was pretty simple. Of course I like both chili and my rigatoni more than my wife did but she did appreciate not having to cook.
I used to bike, jog, kayak and years ago trout fish. I don't really miss biking very much or jogging because they were a lot of work and done mostly for exercise. I can close my eyes and am transported by daydreaming to kayaking and or trout fishing. I don't miss these two activities is much because I could relive them in my memory. Cooking is not that way though, I really miss it!

Funny Atlas story and a Macy story!

I have a funny Atlas story and wish I had a photo to go with it. my hand doesn't work well enough to take pictures anymore so can only post one's that my family takes for me. Atlas is with us this week and he barks at pretty much anything outside. I found one way to stop them from barking, especially at the neighbors across the street, is to tell him to get off the couch and lay down on the floor. He always comes over by me and lays down and pouts. Then after a while I let him get back up on the couch. Today when he barked at the mailman I told him to get down off the couch. He came and laid by me for a while and then went back into our bedroom and got on the bed and stayed back there. I think he was tired of getting scolded. I think he's pretty sensitive because he gets upset if I scold him. He still barks at stuff but I think he's getting a little better.
This morning he got up on the bed and slept with me after my wife went to work around 6:30 AM. He laid close enough that he was always in contact with me and slept with his head on my ankle. He usually doesn't do this.
While I was awake Macy jumped up for morning ear and chin scratching. She actually sat so her rear and was on the dogs rear end. He ignored her but she fretted about being that close to him. That didn't stop her from waiting until I got done scratching her. She especially loves her forhead scratched. It seems she will put up with anything while she's getting scratched.

A few more thoughts on the book of Ruth

I have a few more thoughts on the book of Ruth. Below is part of the conversation between Ruth and Boaz. I can only recommend the entire book of Ruth be read to see the whole context.

“Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.” Ruth 2:10-12 KJV

One of the thoughts I had is similar to one from the posting the other Iday. Naomi left the land of promise, Israel, to go to a Gentile country with her husband and sons during a famine. While there Naomi lost her husband and two sons. She gained two daughter-in-law's one of which was Ruth. When Naomi returned to Israel with Ruth she told people to call her Mara which means bitter. She was a bitter woman. But Ruth saw through that and sawI like faith in the God of Israel. Ruth would not be denied when Naomi was going to go back to the land of promise. The thought I had was how many Christians are so imperfect. I have met Christians who are many negative things but it can still be seen that there is something a little different about them. That little difference would be a kernel of faith.

I've known Christians that were boasters, arrogant, ignorant, cursers, obnoxious, excessive drinkers, drug users, and etc. I have been and still I am some of this list. God looks upon the heart and sees that kernel of faith. It is good to remember that Christians are not perfect but are just the children of God by the work of Jesus Christ upon the cross. Of course this does not excuse sin or excess but it is good to see the faith and how it clings to the Lord.

Ruth looked past Naomi's bitterness and saw something in her demeanor that drew her to the Lord God of Israel. I especially love the last half of the last verse that I copied. "The Lord God of Israel under whose wings thou art come to trust". This is what Ruth saw in Naomi. I love the metaphor comparing God to a bird that protects its children with its wing. I remember seeing a print that showed a bird with her young under her wing during an awful storm. The caption was "Peace" there is no better place to be than under God's protecting power. As the storm rages around somehow the soul with faith finds peace.

A commentary on Ruth would not be complete without noting that Ruth and Boaz had a son named Obed. This man became the father of Jesse who was the father of David the king. So Ruth the Moabite (Gentile) will was King David's great-grandmother. The Jews of Jesus's day knew this but never seem to grasp the significance and despised the Gentiles thinking they were doing God's work. Of course of faith is open to all and Jesus noted one Gentiles faith in particular saying he had not found so great of faith in all of Israel! I

Busy but not much substance today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDtf-AmedKfRc&v=BrnZv7fHGSE

I'm not getting much done today. I started the day with reading one of my e-books that is fictionalized but based on expectations of the Middle East. Then I listened to last chapter of Ruth and the first chapter of 1st Samuel. Then I started going through my Facebook newsfeed. This is where I got bogged down.
Jason da Silva, one of my MS heroes, had a nine minute video on his new apartment. That I listen to a video of friend posted of Little River band playing Night Owl. That led to listening to another Little River band video of Lonesome Loser. Some days it takes me an hour to go through my newsfeed because I can only do it on my PC. So I tend to go through it once a day and occasionally I have enough quiet to go through it at night. It is one of my contacts with the outside world so I really have come to appreciate it. So hopefully I will post something of more substance later in the week but today I'm not getting much done. Oh well it's Monday and even though I don't work Monday stink.
I have a funny story about Atlas from Sunday. He is here for the week and Tom was here Sunday morning to get me up. When he came in the room to give me up Macy was on the bed near where Atlas usually jumps up. When he started to jump up I told him to watch out for the kitty, don't step on her. So instead he jumps up steps on my man parts and then sits on my stomach so Tommy can pet him. It was quite funny and not very painful, just a little bit. We really love this dog and he is such a character.

Also today my voice software is acting very very finicky. At really slows me down. It misreads what I say and less I extremely Enough C8 everything I say. I hold my breath while I'm talking and then when I exhale it once to put the word will in. Maybe noticed it put enough C8 in for one I wanted annunciate. I could not get it to change that. Can't say I will ever understand software. You would think it would work the same every time. I don't think it's just me I think it's just fickle.
I left this last paragraph just as my software dictated it. I get very tired of correcting some of this stupid mistakes it makes. Perhaps you see how many. I just left it as it transcribed.

Book of Ruth – Kinsman Redeemer

I think the main theme of the book of Ruth is the theme of the "Kinsman Redeemer". There are two things that strike me about this that I wish to bring up. The first and foremost is the idea of the kinsman redeemer. When Naomi and her family went to Moab they had sold her husband's birthright inherited land. The Jewish law made provision so that a close relative could redeem this land for the original family ownership to remain in that family. This idea of a kinsman redeemer is a small picture of what our redeemer does for us. Jesus is our kinsman redeemer and he redeems our souls. He also took upon him the form of a man so that he could be our kinsman. So Jesus is our true kinsman redeemer to redeem us from the penalty of sin.

It also strikes me that Naomi and Ruth grasp this concept In the book of Judges this is contrasted. Even the faithful in the book of Judges seem to be casting about and happening upon the truth occasionally. They seem to of lost their connection with the Jewish law and set about doing "that which is right in their own eyes". The book of Ruth never instructs us as to how Naomi knew this facet of the Jewish law. We are left to our imaginations. I think she grew up and listened to those who taught and remembered. Then when she went to Moab with her husband and sons her daughter-in-law Ruth saw something in Naomi that drew her to the Lord. To me this is amazing that Naomi grasped the truth when so many in Israel could have but didn't. I think it says in Proverbs "buy the truth and sell it not". Naomi knew about the kinsman redeemer and gave Ruth testimony and Ruth believed. This reminds me of verse it says "faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God". We see these workings in Naomi's life even though we do not see directly how she learned them. She passed on something to Ruth and that is how faith works. One person's faith passes on to others so that they see Jesus and come to faith in him as their redeemer!

SWAT Visit – Sisters With A Task

Not having much success posting today. We are having a visit from the SWAT team. That would be (sisters with a task). Too much background noise for my voice to work. Glad for the visitors but any background noise seems to mess it up. People walking around, voices from outside since the windows are open, the TV and pretty much any sound. The SWAT team is now on a shopping errand so I'm here by myself with Macy and Atlas. I think the sisters got a lot done.
Along with her three sisters was her mom. It's so funny they can all talk at once and somehow they all know what the others are saying. They never seem to have to finish a sentence because the others already know what they're going to say. They are a delightful group and very entertaining.
We didn't have a very good Friday. After a week of back and forth between the doctor and Walgreens I was still without the medication I have been taking to control the MS spasms. Fortunately I have some left over muscle relaxers that helped a lot but not as much is the normal medication. Then we realized the refrigerator was trying to start the compressor and then stopping and then trying again to no avail. The timing is pretty bad. Our oldest son is to be married this next weekend and my wife had planned to get things ready for that. Our son Tom helped her take the frozen things downstairs to our freezer. She went to Home Depot and they couldn't deliver a new refrigerator until next Saturday. She called Lowe's and they were a month lead time. She finally got somewhere with a local small appliance dealer. He will bring a new one and take away the old one on Tuesday.
She also finally got my medication squared away with the doctor. He said it was their fault and that was good for her because she was mad at the doctor. I was mad at Walgreens because I think they were supposed to do all this calling and get things straightened out. I called them and left a message Thursday and they have never called back. We switched to Walgreens because it's close to where my wife works. We switched after I no longer work or drove. I wish there was a different supplier that was more convenient than the one near my work was.
So all my frustration and stress from Friday is now gone. My wife took care of these things I was fretting about. Yea!We are also having pizza for dinner so double yay!

The book of Ruth – Loss and Life

I have a couple more thoughts on the book of Ruth. The one I'm thinking about today is what Naomi said when she returned to Israel after many years. She said don't call me Naomi which means "pleasant one" but call me Marah which means "bitter". She also said that she had gone out full and returned empty and the Lord and dealt harshly with her.

Naomi experienced great loss in life in losing her husband and two sons to death. I remember a quote but I don't remember where I heard it from but it says "life is loss". Many times it seems we lose everything in this life. This speaks to me because of what I've lost due to MS. The list is too long to put in this post. I find that I wrestle with feelings like Naomi had. It would be easy to become bitter about my condition and I have to admit many times I feel the same way most life,. That the Lord has dealt harshly with me. When I see that all that he has done for me and how God is good then that pushes these feelings of bitterness aside. I still feel sorry for myself too often. I truly have been blessed by the people in my life and my faith in Jesus. I think of Naomi's loss and when I think of which would I choose, her loss or mine I always think I would rather choose mine than what she went through. It's easy to say that God is good. It is a lot harder to feel that way all of the time. As the infirm man said to Jesus "Lord help my unbelief".

The other thing that strikes me about Naomi is that she said "I went out full". I think this is how we all may be, we forget the past as being bad and only remember it was good. They left because of famine. She did not go out full. I look back on my past and also forget the difficulties. It always seems the past is better than right now. I remember when I had to start using a cane to walk. I really hated that cane for a long time. I was forever dropping it when I went to do something or was sitting at my desk, it would fall over. I remember if I think honestly I admit how angry I would be about the stupid cane. It also clicked every time it hit the ground and people what draw their attention to me. While I'm in my wheelchair I now look back on this and think these were the good times. When I'm honest I think how upset and angry I was about it. I'm wondering now if in a couple years I'll look back on the condition I have now and think "oh boy those were the good years". Hopefully I'll be able to talk about one more lesson I have from the book of Ruth..

Book of Ruth – Faith Displayed in Confusing Times

In my last post I discussed the book of Judges. There’s a lot of sadness in this book because collectively the Hebrews did not grasp what their God could and would do for them. The book ends with the details of a Civil War started by a horrible act perpetrated and then defended by one of the 12 tribes of Israel.

What is really interesting to me is that after I decided to read the book of Judges I found a set of sermons on our church’s website relating to the book of Ruth. I was listening to the sermon in the morning before I got up and then read the book of Judges after I was out. Our pastor Steve pointed out so many things in the book of Ruth that I was extremely encouraged.

Of course there were too many things in his series of sermons that I can't address them all here. It starts out fairly sad. Naomi, an Israelite, is married and has two sons. Sadly there is a famine in the land of Israel. Her husband's else's land so they have money to live on. That runs out in the end up leaving Israel and going to the land of Moab, a Gentile country. I think you would have to say they were going the wrong way. It doesn't really mention how well-off they were in Moab. While they are there Naomi's husband dies. While they were in Moab her two sons marry Moabite girls. Later on both of Naomi's sons die and she is left not just a window but without our sons. It is just Naomi and her two daughter-in-law's.

She tells her do daughter-in-law's to go back to their families and one of them does. Ruth stays with her and I'm sure "from the following quotation that Ruth saw something of the Hebrews got in Naomi's and her family's behavior. The book is I really go into it as to the how but this quote is one of the grandest in the Bible to me:

“And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.”

Ruth 1:14-17 KJV

I especially like this exclamation from Ruth in the old English of the King James. To me it has so much more power to it then more modern translations. I hope to share a few more observations from the book of Ruth later on. Without a doubt is one of my favorite books of the Old Testament.

The book of Judges – a difficult read

I recently read the book of Judges. Just a little background – after the Exodus from Egypt the Hebrews wandered around the desert for 40 years. Then they were supposed to cross the Jordan and go into the land that God had promised Abraham. He said he would be with them as they drove out the inhabitants that it cropped up in the years Israel was in Egypt. Overall the book of Judges is a very sad book and shows men of faith who rise up during confusing times and shows their strengths as well as their weaknesses.

In the book of Joshua the Hebrews went over Jordan to take their land that it been promised over 400 years ago. This land was very sparsely inhabited when it was promised to Abraham and his descendents. The people who were in the land now were squatters and had idols and worshiped false gods. The Hebrews did not displace these people but took the land that was promised them.

The biggest problem the Hebrews had was that they lacked the heart and faith to take all the land that God promised. Two tribes stayed on the opposite side of Jordan and inhabited those lives. The tribes that took the land that God promised stopped short of taking the luscious valleys. The people that were there were heavily armed and possessed chariots. In the low lands the chariots were dominant and the Hebrews avoided them and so we have the setting for the book of Judges.

The Hebrews drew back from trusting God and did not take all the land and peoples that dwelt there were a thorn in their side. The book of Judges is very sad book for the most part. But God faithfully raised up "judges" or deliverers who were men of faith and delivered some of the people from some of their enemies. At the end of the book of Judges it says that at that time "every man does that which is right in his own eyes"

I think the book of Judges is a difficult book to wade through. everyone did that which is right in his own eyes and results were very mixed. This book is followed by the wonderful book of Ruth! The book of Ruth is a breath of fresh air during this time of the judges. I would say the book of Judges is not complete without reading Ruth right after it. I will talk more about Ruth and a further post.

Animal Rescue night out at 1st Ave., Winehouse.

Last night the weather was fantastic so I was able to go to a dog rescue shelter function at the 1st Ave., Winehouse. Was able to set out on the deck and have dinner and wine. We met a lot of new people and ran into some old Ones.
We met a new gal that's working with my wife named Robin. She had a friend who was a University of Iowa Hospital nurse named Daphne. There was also a pretty girl who thought it was really cool that I got drink wine from a straw. I think chicks are attracted to me because I have a cool set of wheels! My brother-in-law Greg was there and he always make sure I have plenty of wine. My wife says he's an enabler but I was a good boy this time.
The animal rescue is called Fur Fun I think. They brought two boxer mixes. The one that looked more like a traditional boxer had eyeball cancer that they were going to treat and then adopt out if it passed a clean bill of health. The other dogs look like a boxer mix and was cream-colored and pretty big. That dog had a cancerous growth on his leg and as the other one it was going to get treated and if it passed a clean bill of health adopted out. The cream-colored one really liked me and got up on my legs and let me pet it. I wish I can adopt 10 dogs and 10 cats but I can't take care of them so I can't. I also wish I had somebody take photos of these dogs. Maybe next time I'll remember my phone so someone could take pictures.
I also ran into a guy went to high school with named Matt. He keeps in touch with a guy I grew up with in the same neighborhood. Not many people in my class keep in touch but a few do. It was a big class and it was hard to get to know very many people. It was great reconnecting with Matt.

Procrastination – Mañana

I'm not sure if it's that I got older are if it's a symptom of MS. Is probably a combination. I have become a terrible procrastinator where for years I was the opposite. While I was still working there were two project engineers and five project managers. Each project manager thought their project was the most important. I was always juggling priorities but then my MS started to limit my ability so that I need to focus on one thing at a time. That was when I learned what Mañana meant. I've been told for years it meant tomorrow but then it was explained to me it means "not today". I started adopting that because I could not control my priorities. I knew what I could start something I never knew how long it would take to finish it or how many interruptions there would be. So I started saying Mañana. This worked but would often make a couple of the project managers very angry. Jamie and Don were very understanding as was my boss Jeff. Other people would get pretty angry but I would just shrug it off. I did what I could the best I could and if that wasn't good enough I would tell them go find somebody you can do a better, works for me.
Now I find I am a procrastinator and sometimes I have real excuses. But sometimes my hands quit working very well and other times I probably could post but just don't feel like it. I've been working on a series of my history but in finding it difficult to focus on it. I think it would be good for my children to read it as well as some of my readers but I get bogged down because like most stories that are real it is somewhat sad. I really really hope to get it started in September.
There I said it, I gave myself a deadline. Now I feel obligated!