Stuff That Matters in Life

Katy’s Weblog

If  you have the YouVersion Bible app, you know there’s a 14 Days devotional plan by Tim Keller. The selected readings are from his new book.

I am on Day 9.

“The question the book of Job is posed in it’s very beginning. Is it possible that a man or woman can come to love God for himself alone so that there is a fundamental contentment in life regardless of circumstances (Job 1:9)? Yes, this is possible, but only through prayer.”

I find this to be true in my life. Whenever I pray, I have God’s perspective and I can rest in his sovereignty. When I do not pray, I feel out of control and everything seems to depend on me.

Thank you God, for the gift of prayer.

2015

Filed under Thoughts on lifeby Joyful

I don’t want to call them resolutions. Let’s just say they are notes to self for 2015.

  • Read the Bible – each book 20 times.
  • Focus my life and daily activities on love. “…the foundation for people-transforming ministry is not sound theology; it is love.” (Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul Tripp, p117).
  • Declutter.
  • Laugh more.

There’s one leftover from last year.

  • Read one book at a time, finish one book every 2 months.

My theme for 2015 – Kindness. A pleasant disposition and concern for others.

 

 

Every time I want to blog, something comes up  – fold the laundry, answer that email, water the plants.

Blogging is one of those things, like exercising, that is a good thing to do and you would actually enjoy it once you start, but you find an excuse to procrastinate. Next thing you know, the day is gone and “there’s always tomorrow.”

I would like to engage my blogging discipline again. When a thought comes, just do it. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t even have to make sense. I know I’ll enjoy it once I start.

Raindrops are forming continuous hundreds of thousands of circles on our pool as I look out the window. It reminds me of the simplicity of life. Let’s not make it complicated.

“He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?”

Tech

Filed under Thoughts on lifeby Joyful

I appear to people my age that I am tech savvy. I have a blog 🙂  I actually don’t know much.

I credit my son and husband for helping me overcome my fear of technology. They help me with everything.

I only know enough to get by and do what I want to do.  And that’s enough for me.

So thank you, son, for helping me engage the 21st century and beyond. Please help me stay connected to the world.

Thank you, hubby, for taking care of all the details in the things that I don’t want to learn.

 

There were many good reviews of this book, so I was really looking forward to reading it.

The plot itself did not disappoint. However, I found the heroine, a precocious 11-year old written by her in first person, rather annoying. I know the pranks she played on her sisters are suppose to add human interest to the story, but to me, she was rather mean and vengeful. It was hard to put up with her throughout the first half of the book.

The murder mystery part of the book was very good. The resolution was satisfying. But I confess I skipped many parts because it got laborious reading detailed descriptions of people and settings that does not contribute to the mystery.

I give it a 3.75 stars.

Mary Roberts Rinehart is often called the American Agatha Christie. But if The After House is typical of her books, then I am not impressed. NOT Agatha Christie.

I do like Rinehart’s writing style, but the resolution to the mystery was not satisfying. She was a prolific writer, so if the library has anymore of her books, I’ll read another, just to make sure I’m not missing anything.

 

You know that feeling of coming home after a fun vacation, a let-down of being back to the usual, the mundane, back to the mess you made before you took off for vacation? I’m feeling it now, after a fun 5 days in Seattle.

Here are my reflections about that: It made me realize that I have much to learn to have my JOY anchored in Jesus, not in my circumstances. The “happiness” that I have from my great life is not always true JOY.  If it were I would not lose it. Rather it is happiness based on circumstances that I mistaken for JOY.

I have a great life, no complaints, I love my  regular ordinary life. But I am so satisfied that I don’t seek true JOY. As C.S. Lewis says, ““It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

I make a lot of mud pies.

 

Too bad my favorite authors are dead. Dorothy Sayers’ books has humor, mystery, character development, and the style that I like.

Strong Poison was fun to read though the ending was not completely satisfying. There were too many coincidences in favor of the good guys. Nevertheless, Sayers is one of my favorite mystery authors.