Mid-Week Hymn

This morning I was reading Psalm 87, and verse 3 says, "Glorious things are said of you, O city of God". And I started humming the hymn "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken" (thanks to years of the Psalter Hymnal). I had to look it up to get all of the lyrics.

Here is is for you to enjoy:

Sunday Stuff

Pastor Mike started preaching on the armor of God today. I liked what he had to say, especially about it being an analogy and not reading too much into each part. I've heard a lot of talk about why salvation is a helmet and righteousness is a breastplate. He said that it's like a parable: take the main ideas and don't worry a lot about the details. The main focus is on: how does righteousness and truth and the rest enable you to stand firm against the enemy. He only got through the first three pieces, and next week Pastor James is back, so we'll have to wait for the rest. It will be nice to have James back, though; he just started 1 Corinthians 13 last week, so we're also waiting for the next bit of that!

We welcomed several new members into the church today, and said good-bye to the family who is going back to India. It was a bit of a mix there!

I had friends over for supper. They don't attend my church, but the mom attends the ladies' study and the kids are in my home school rooms. This was the first time I'd met the dad, although I know two of his brothers. We ordered pizza (since it's too hot to cook) and talked and laughed and played cards. It was fun, and nice to get to know them.

Next week will be crazy busy at work. It's the last week of school, report cards are going home, and people are looking into getting help over the summer. I'm relaxing this evening in preparation for craziness.

Last Night's Walk

It is too hot out this week. I don't like too hot, and this is "how are we even alive, a person could die out here" hot. It's been in the very high 20s (or mid-80s, depending on how you measure temperature). I know some people like this much heat, but I do not.

As such, my evening walk last night started around 10:00 when it was no longer insanely hot and was nicely cooled off. By then the sun was just a red streak in the west, but it wasn't actually dark. Even when I got home 45 minutes later, it was only getting dark, but not fully dark. It's a nice time to walk.

As a side note for any readers who are wondering about the "light at 10:00" part (I know there are places where that's not a thing): I live rather far north (although not quite "midnight sun" far north). Right now the sun rises at 5:04 am and sets at 10:06 pm. And it's light for a while after sunset.

There are walking paths all over my neighbourhood, between and behind housing complexes, and through green spaces. There's a pond that I often walk past because it's usually peaceful and I can feel myself slowing down and relaxing when I reach it. Last night as I turned onto the path leading to the pond there was a lady coming up the path with her dogs. She stopped to tell me how still the pond was, and how peaceful it was, and there were no other people there. We both smiled at that last point; it's always nicest to be alone at the pond to enjoy the peace. She was right: it was still and peaceful and there were birds singing and it was nice. I saw the beaver swimming by, so that was an added bonus.

On the way home it was quiet and dusky and I could feel the world settling down for the night. The playground was deserted and there were only a few other people out walking. I got home relaxed and ready to sleep well.

Sunday Stuff

Yesterday was good.

Pastor James started on 1 Corinthians 13 and the primacy of love. You can listen to that here.

We had a potluck lunch. There is a family from India who has been attending the church for a couple years. They are moving back to India to be part of a church plant and minister to their people. They made us a delicious meal and everyone else brought something to share. I had butter chicken, a samosa, and an egg salad sandwich (among other food), so I was happy.

Six people were baptized. Listening to their testimonies reminded me of how God works in people's lives in different ways to bring them to Himself.

A family from the church came over for the afternoon. We ordered pizza for supper and talked and laughed a lot.

It's been a while, so here's a hymn for you:

Grocery Shopping

When I go to the grocery store, it seems to be a mark of pride for some of the cashiers/baggers to fit as many items into one bag as possible. I understand that when they charge for bags, people will want their items in fewer bags, but even when I bring my own bags, and hand them all three bags, they seem impressed with their ability to fit everything in one bag. I am less impressed, as I have to walk home and it's easier with more bags (at least 2 to balance things out).

Earlier this week I ordered groceries on-line for delivery. You need to understand that when I get groceries delivered, they don't charge for the bags. You'd think they would use fewer bags, right? Not a chance. I do not know what goes on in the store, but I image it goes something like this:

"One small package of deli meat? It's special; it deserves its own bag!"
"Let's put the bread in its own bag. That way, it won't get squished."
"Great plan! Hey, I'm going to put these frozen perogies in their own bag as well."
"No, wait: we're using too many bags. I know: you put the bag with the perogies into the bag with the bread. Then it we're using fewer bags, right?"
"Okay, this is getting out of hand. We'll put all three types of cheese into their own bag. Just don't let them into the bag with the one small package of deli meat or there'll be trouble."
"The rest is all big stuff. It doesn't get bags."

I'm glad someone came to their senses and realized that the 3-pack of tissues, the 24-pack of toilet paper, and the 24-pack of yogurt didn't need bags (they have everything in bins when they deliver it, so it wasn't a problem for the delivery guy). I'm concerned about how many bags they would have used otherwise.