Wordless Wednesday: Reading

A Good Book

What book was so good you ask:

Read our review of IN THE AFTER at our book blog by clicking on the link.

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Why I Was Almost Late For Church

On my way to church this morning, I stopped to watch these deer playing on the soccer field right at the end of our street.


At first I thought it was a couple big dogs running, but then as I got closer, I could see it was two young deer.  They sure were having a great time and mom was just watching.  They put on a nice little show for me.  What a great way to start my day!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend.  Anything going on in your city today?

Joining in the Sundays In My City blog hop.

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Sunday Sharing: Dry Bones Come To Life

My scripture highlight this week is just something I thought was a cool vision Ezekiel had that God used to communicate His intentions of restoring Israel.  It is commonly referred to as the vision of dry bones.

I felt the power of the Lord was on me.  He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord.  And he put me down in the middle of a valley.  It was full of bones.  The Lord led me around among the bones.  There were many bones on the bottom of the valley.  I saw the bones were very dry.  Then he asked me, "Human being, can these bones live?"

I answered, "Lord God, only you know." [God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones.]

So I prophesied as I was commanded.  While I prophesied, there was a noise and a rattling.  The bones came together, bone to bone.  I looked and saw muscles come on the bones.  Flesh grew, and skin covered the bones.  But there was no breath in them.

  Then the Lord said to me, "Prophesy to the wind."  Prophesy, human being, and say to the wind:  'This is what the Lord God says:  Wind, come from the four winds.  Breathe on these people who were killed so they can live again.'"  So I prophesied as the Lord commanded me.  And the breath came into them, and they came to life.  They stood on their feet.  They were a very large army. --Ezekiel 37:1-11

This reminds of skeletons at Halloween.  I was a skeleton for many years.  Sorry, I digress.

Israel was depressed.  Verse 11 says:

Then the Lord said to me:  "Human being, these bones are like all the people of Israel.  They say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope has gone.  We are destroyed.'  

Then in verses 12-14, God tells Ezekiel to prophecy this message of hope to Israel:

So, prophesy, and say to them:  'This is what the Lord God says:  My people, I will open your graves.  And I will cause you to come up out of your graves.  Then I will bring you into the land of Israel.  This is how you, my people, will know that I am the Lord.  I will open your graves and cause you to come up from them.  And I will put my Spirit inside you.  You will come to life.  Then I will put you in your own land.  And you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it, says the Lord.'"

God did not forsake Israel and he won't forsake me.  Whenever I get depressed or overwhelmed, I immediately start praising God, and quote Colossians 3:2 which says, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."   I say a prayer of thanks and it always relieves my stress.  When we know God, there is no reason to be depressed! 

(All scripture is from the International Children's Bible because I can understand it better and don't have to think so hard early in the morning when I first arise.)

Feel free to share a scripture highlight you came across this week in the comments.  I'd really love to hear it or just comment on this post.

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Friday Fragments (reading, sleeping, pets, sports)

Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post to give Mrs. 4444 a break for the summer. Here we go:

Goodreads

Here is an email we got from Goodreads:

On behalf of the Goodreads team, I want to say thank you. You’re in the top 1% of reviewers on Goodreads! Your many thoughtful book reviews help make us a vibrant place for book lovers.

Books

Last week I forgot to share our favorite reads for July. I'm sure you all are wondering, right? Anyway, Gerard's was a YA science fiction, Proxy and mine, a collection of mail-order bride novellas by four different authors: A Bride For All Seasons. You can click the links to see our reviews.

Yum Yum

Good news, Yum Yum seems to be feeling better. This cat needs surgery and Tim is asking bloggers to help by chipping in. He is about half way to what he needs. Here is an update: Yum Yum Update 8/5. Can you help?

Street Cat

Not at all surprised this guy got more donations when Bob, the street cat, was with him! We have his book on order from our library!

Book Crossing

Released HER at this bus stop.

Over at It's Just LIfe I read a post: "Releasing Books Into the Wild" where you can read all about it. It introduced me to www.bookcrossing.com, a website which seeks to turn the world into a big library by having people register a book, then release it by just leaving it somewhere for someone to find. Some may even enter the book number on the site to let you know who got it. It's a fun way to share books. My user name on the site is "BookDumper" so if you sign up, you can list me as your referral. Both books I left were picked up quick.

Toothbrushes

I read this week that people should replace their toothbrush every three to four months. I know we don't come anywhere close to this. Do you?

Sleeping Couples

Just heard on a morning news show that to get a restful nights sleep with a partner who snores or tosses and turns, 40% of couples sleep in separate beds! I was surprised it was such a high percentage. I tend to snore if I sleep on my back and Gerard tosses and turns, bouncing the bed but usually it's just when he first comes to bed. Sometimes I feel like I'm on a boat but so far we have both managed to weather through and stay together.

Fruit for Dogs

Aww, c'mon, give me some more treats--the vet said it was OK..

Our vet confirmed that a few blueberries, cranberries and watermelon is okay to give to dogs. Does your dog like any of these We haven't given our dog, Abby, any yet thought because I think it's better she doesn't eat any people food because she wouldn't understand why some is okay and not others. Raisins and cranberries look an awful lot alike and raisins are harmful. Maybe I'll share some watermelon with her on a hot day though.

Baseball

This is an exciting season with so many hot teams, unfortunately, the Indians are now on a 4-game losing streak thanks to Detroit, putting the tribe 7 games behind. I am disappointed, but the Indians played tough the first three games, the third going 14 innings! Boston is on a roll too which is my husband's favorite team so that is good. I hope the Indians will bounce back! Francona (Indians Manager) Reflects on Tough Series. Here is a silly video Gerard made with two of our stuffed animals, Leo and Benny in honor of the Tigers win:

Cleveland Browns

The bright side of Cleveland sports is the Browns pre-season game win this year--they looked very good and I have high hopes for this season. It was fun watching them and they scored way more than I thought they would! I usually wear my Indians polo shirt on casual Fridays to work, but today I am wearing my Browns polo shirt. I like the coaching staff too!

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Wordless Wednesday with Abby

Our Sunday pizza run, yes, we took Abby along so the manager could see her.  (She missed Abby the week before)

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