Retired

Now that Gary & I are both retired, I hope to get back to blogging, which I have neglected for a year & a half. Bear with me until I learn how to post pictures, etc. We have our house on the market & hope to downsize & move to the Newberg area to be closer to our 8 grandchildren.

back

It's been a year since I blogged anything, so I'm trying to get back to it.

Thought for today: Our God is a covenant-maker & covenant-keeper.

Margaret

"Each of us chase after God through our own religious constructs, and at times the experience devolves to little more than being a fan of a particular sports team . We wanted our team to win and crush all the opponents. We had it right, everyone else had it wrong, and we found security and peace in this smug belief. In a word, we had God in a box of our own making.

Legalism involves seeking spiritual fulfillment through our behavior only, performing religious acts based on fear or the belief that our lives will work out because we're doing what God wants.

So many times during my Christian life, I have been told that if only I would do this thing or that thing, I would experience fresh intimacy with God and mature as a Christian. There is something undeniably attractive about a system that enables us to do right and avoid wrong. The problem lies in promoting one narrow view of spirituality, especially one focused on the externals rather than on the heart, and at the expense of other legitimate forms of spiritual expression. Such restrictions lead to smugness and self-righteousness, a sense that we have God under our control. They can also lead to despair when we fail to measure up to what we believe is expected of us or when the legalistic system we follow proves inadequate for the tough issues of our lives.
And it will, because religious legalism is essentially a lie. Legalism is at heart idolatry. Sinful, selfish people do not like the idea of a God who is more powerful that they are. Through idolatry we try to pare God down to our size."

Breaking the Idols of Your Heart
Dan B. Allender & Tremper Longman III

"The act of prayer brings together Creator and creature, eternity and time, in all the fathomless mystery implied by that convergence." Phillip Yancy

It's been 5 weeks since I've blogged. I doubt there are any people who still check this, but I'm going to be more disciplined about posting. We will be going up to Sultan this weekend for a few days of vacation & helping out. We were hoping for nice, sunny, spring weather, but what we are going to get is just typical Northwest spring weather. Snow showers are even predicted for Sun., the 20th. Macy will be doing a birthday party for Melaney's local fans. Her actual birthday is 4-27, & she'll be celebrating at our house with her cousins. On the 26th, her Diefenbaugh cousins will be celebrating their collective birthdays (Brennan - Apr. 30, Kyler - May 3, Ella - May 19)

Merrick & Hannah will be down May 3 (Merrick's birthday) & May 4th. They will be running a half marathan. It's good to see them stay in shape.

The following week I'll be back in Sultan to babysit because Macy has some training that will tie her up early in the morning until late at night.

On May 19th, I will have an 8-hour orientation to the new Sacred Heart building. Its width is the length of a football field, & its length is as long as 2 football fields. So, better get out the Heelys.

Our calendar is filled up through August, so boredom is not operating in our lives.
Let us know if any of you have blogs.

Closing thought: Since God is infinite, his attention can be infinitely divided, & he can give 100% of his attention to everyone at all times.

Margaret

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted anything on the blog; I'll try to be more consistent.

Here are some of R.C. Sproul's thoughts on prayer:

"Prayer, like everything else in the Christian life, is for God's glory & for our benefit, in that order. Everything that God does, everything that God allows and ordains, is in the supreme sense for His glory. It is also true that while God seeks His own glory supremely, man benefits when God is glorified. We pray to glorify God, but also to receive the benefits of prayer from His hand. Prayer is for our benefit, even in light of the fact that God knows the end from the beginning. It is our privilege to bring the whole of our finite existence into the glory of His infinite presence."

It's our prayer that God blesses you lavishly with His love.

We have only a few patches of snow left over from last week's snow storm. I'm starting to think "spring", but I know there's a bit of winter left. However, camelias are blooming, & daffodils will be in glorious bloom by the end of this month.

Here's a thought from our church bulletin.:

"People all over the country shop for churches that "work for them." This attitude is terribly wrong. "Church" is not an event. It is people --people whom God calls us to love. What is more, it is in a very important sense an involuntary community of people: we don't choose our brothers and sisters--God does. And sometimes (often times) those people are not terribly compatible with us--not the people we would choose to hang out with. But it is this very incompatibility that is so mportant, for at least two reasons. First, learning to love the people I don't like is by far the best way to learn how to love (it's easy to love people I happen to like). Second, the church is supposed to be a sociological miracle--a demonstration that Jesus has died and risen to create a new humanity composed of all sorts of people.
Charles Drew from A Journey Worth Taking

Worship is to be an act, rather than a receiving of an experience.

We will be moving to our new hospital (Riverbend) in August. No one gets vacation from May through September.) The current site will still be in use, with an emergency room, 4-bed ICU, inpatient care for geriatric patients, among other things. I will be working at Riverbend, as pulmonary function testing will be done there.

All for now.

Margaret

Meaningful quotation from John Calvin:

"Our Neighbor bears the image of God: to use him, abuse him, or misuse him is to do violence to the person of God who images himself in every human soul, the Fall not withstanding. Not only do I despise my flesh when I wish to oppress someone, but I violate the image of God which is in me."

I haven't had time to keep up the blog, but now that Christmas is over, I'll get back to it. It was good to have all the family (with the exception of Matt, who couldn't get the time off) together for our Christmas celebration on the 23rd. We had our usual dinner @ the Oregon electric station, & this year, since Mariah's age is in double digits, she was allowed to order steak from the adult menu, much to her delight.

On Dec. 16, we were able to attend a Christmas concert by harpist Bronn Journey in Auburn, WA. Matt played cello & guitar in Bronn's orchestra. The music was great, & Bronn's humor kept the crowd engaged.

More later.

updates

Hi,

Haven't had a chance to blog lately. We had Thanksgiving at Merrick & Hannah's this year - their first Thanksgiving in their first home. It was a wonderful meal, & we had a great time with everyone, especially the Grandkids. Diefenbaughs were in North Bend this year for Thanksgiving, but they stopped by on their way down & back.

We are on vacation this week & are presently at the Diefenbaughs. I presented a German lesson to Kyler's 1st grade class at Veritas School in Newberg. We'll head up to Hillsboro to spend some time with Gracie, oh, & Merrick & Hannah too. Then on up to Sultan to the Haverlys. We' re celebrating Maleah's 7th birthday on Dec. 1 (real birthday is Dec. 5). She's having a ballet party at the dance studio in Monroe where she takes lessons.

Mariah has the lead role in her church's Christmas play: Hark the Herald Angel who Sang Off-key. (She's Hark.) Hopefully singing off-key is just acting, as she will be singing a solo in the school's Christmas program. All of the grandchildren are doing well & developing their God-given talents

All for today. Hope this day you become closer to the Lord.

Interesting thought from our church bulletin:

"We are a nation obsessed.

American culture is nothing more than a pastiche (hodgepodge) of fixations. We are obsessed with health. We are obsessed with pleasure. We are obsessed with speed. We are obsessed with efficiency. In simplest terms, we are obsessed by the desire to accelerate every element of our existence in a futile attempt to experience as much of life as we can in the shortest possible time. We have all entered a race to devour the largest volume of gratification before it kills us."

A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas
"The Amazing McNugget Diet (November 1996)
Chuck Klosterman IV

This evening we will go to our Bible study in Cottage Grove. As I mentioned before, we are studying Phillip Yancy's book on Prayer. Here's another good thought from the book:

"I realize that my image of God, more than anything else, determines my degree of honesty in prayer. Do I trust God with my naked self? Foolishly, I hide myself in fear that God will be displeased, though in fact the hiding may be what displeases God most. From my side, the wall seems like self-protection; from God's side it looks like lack of trust. In either case, the wall will keep us apart until I acknowledge my need and God's surpassing desire to meet it. When I finally approach God, in fear and trembling, I find not a tyrant, but a lover.

The apostle Paul prayed 'that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.' I doubt Paul prayed this prayer once only; for my part I have to pray it every day. The most important purpose of prayer may be to let our true selves be loved by God."

Hope you have a wonderful week!

Reformation Day

Happy REFORMATION DAY !

On this day in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. These papers debated doctrine & practices within the Catholic Church & sparked the Protestant Reformation. We have reaped the benefits ever since.

More excerpts from Phillip Yancy's book on Prayer:

"In the process of writing, however, I have come to see prayer as a privilege, not a duty. Like all good things, prayer requires some discipline. Yet I believe that life with God should seem more like friendship than duty. Prayer includes moments of ecstasy and also dullness, mindless distraction and acute concentration, flashes of joy and bouts of irritation. In other words, prayer has features in common with all relationships that matter."

Melaney & Gracie:

At 6 months Melaney is 28.5 inches long (off the charts) and 17# (50th percentile). When corrected for being born 1 month early, Gracie (@ 4 months) is in the 50th percentile for both height & weight. Both are a joy & a blessing.

All for today.

Margaret

Thoughts for today

Here are some quotations from our church bulletin:

"The great paradox of our time is that many of us are busy and bored at the same time. While running from one event to the next, we wonder in our innermost selves if anything is really happening. While we can hardly keep up with our many tasks and obligations, we are not so sure that it would make any difference if we did nothing at all. While people keep pushing us in all directions, we doubt if anyone really cares. In short, while our lives are full, we are unfulfilled." Henri Nouwen

"My father says that almost the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know, everybody you see, everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake, and they live in a state of constant, total amazement." Patricia Graynamore in Joe Vs. The Volcano

"Dance and game are frivolous and unimportant down here --for 'down here' is not their natural place. Here, they are a moment's rest from the life we were placed here to live. But in this world everything is upside down...Joy is the serious business of Heaven. C. S. Lewis

October in the Northwest is always enjoyable, with plentiful days of sunshine, crisp mornings, & leaves that look as if a dedicated & imaginative artist had loaded His brush with intense chroma and left His mark for the world to enjoy.

It was just such a day that we spent at Remlinger Farms in Carnation, WA to celebrate Mariah's (oldest granddaughter) 10th birthday. There was a huge pumpkin patch, corn maze, & gift shop with restaurant, a hay jump, train ride & ponyrides. The ponies walked a winding path among tall green hedges. In the carnival area there were small-scale rides, which the kids loved. Around each ride was a short stone wall with nicely-done landscaping behind. This will undoubtedly be a repeat destination next year.

Thanksgiving will be at Merrick & Hannah's in Hillsboro this year. But everyday we like to reflect on the things for which we are thankful. Today I am thankful for the technology that allow us to so easily communicate. Hope you have a day full of blessings.

Margaret

We have just begun a blog to share thoughts & experiences with friends & family.

Every 3-6 weeks we meet in Cottage Grove with 2 other couples, Mike & Janet Thompson, Pat & Heather Hughes, for Bible study. We are currently examining Phillip Yancy's book PRAYER.
There are so many pithy statements that we'd like to share. Here are a few:

"Prayer invites me to lower defenses & present the self that no other person fully knows to a God who already knows."

"I must ensure that my prayers are heartfelt & not a performance."

"To pray is to walk in the full light of God, and to say simply, without holding back, 'I am human, & you are God.' " Henri Nouwen

As we learn more about blogging, we hope to make this site more graphically appealing & to update you on our activities.

Margaret