Dec 12

Thought for the day:
"Sin is pleasure for the moment but creates memories of regret that last a lifetime."
Been feeling about the same - up and down. I seem to be tired most of the time. My always cheerful wife keeps me going. It amazes me how well she has accepted her role in life. I would get depressed being around someone in my condition night and day.

Christy's kids will all be home for Christmas as well as our own who are always home.

I would write in my blog more often but don't have much to write about. If you want to write in my blog I will reply.

Don

Nov 19,2009

Hi faithful blog viewers -

Well we did it. Made it to our 50th year wedding anniversary. (nov 8th) We opted out of a big to do. Neither of us wanted it so we didn't do it and we are very comfortable about out decision. Had a family dinner with out kids and also celebrated Andy's 10th at the same time.

My best friend from High school and my best friend from college both phoned us last week and it was great to hear their voices and catch up on their news and reflect on many wonderful memories.

We are doing about the same. Some good days and some bad ones. Get to church weekly and usually one or two outings a week. Usually see the young grand kids about once a week. Sunday heading for Christy and Gregs for a Sunday dinner and to a concert at the college on Monday night.

We continue to be thankful for God's care shown to us by family and friends and my my caregiver.

Barb has been reading more than I (you know - football season) but the books one or the other of us have read include:
Mosiac - a chronicle of generations
Count of Monte Crisco book and video
Sense of the World - blind man who traveled the world
Rebecca - Book and Video
Jane Eyre - book and movie

by Anne Rice: (secular writer of the Vampire series who has recently become a Christian )
Christ the Lord
Out of Egypt
Road to Cana
Out of Darkness

Book Thief
Same Kind of Different as me (THE BEST OF THE LOT IN OUR OPINION)
Finding Calcutta - Mary Poplin (very good)
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
Still Alice
Strength in What Remains Tracy Kidder
The Help
Home

Continue to recomend the Video - Doubt and also liked the almost three hour video -
The Tunnel

We have a new renter in the barn and are seeking a new renter for the basement as our renter of four years has bought a condo and in the process of moving out.

I have several friends who visit me almost every week.

Spend lots of time watch news on our computer.

If you have questions about us - just ask.

God's blessings on you.

Don (and Barb)

sept 1st

We have had a wonderful summer - lots and lots of sun and warm weather. Barbara and Suzanne and the grands are on Vancouver Island for a short vacation. Barbara gets home tomorrow evening. I have been looked after by my friends and the guy who lives in the basement.
My sister Carol and her husband Denny were here for a few days and left yesterday.
It was wonderful to have them and they have agreed to try to get up twice a year which will be wonderful for me to look forward to.
Our son Tim is off on a trip to New England for 6 days with his girlfriend for a wedding and to visit her relatives. Kayti, (Christy's daughter) is off to New Zeland for quarter of school. Kelly is off to North Carolina to see her boyfriend. Kara in now living in Manhattan, NY working to interviewing canadates to teach in a private school system called uncommon schools.
Felt really good all the time guests were here.
Great Movie -"Radio" about a retarded black boy who is befriended by the local football coach. I highly suggest it.
Been reading books on apologetics that only a theological nerdly guy like me would like so I won't recommend (God, Reason and Theistic Proofs).
Any recommends of books from anyone would be appreciated.
Thanks for your prayers to keep my spirits up.
Best Wishes and Blessings,
Don

Hi

Great day today. Sunny weather for book club at a home on the Lake. Good discussion of "Finding Calcutta" by Mary Poplin. Tomorrow we are all to the county fair with the Grand kids and Suzanne.
Keep looking up.

Don

sorry

I have not been blogging lately because the news is not much fun. I am asked often "how are you". I normally give the pat answer that everyone else does "I am fine", but I am no no longer going that. I am going to say "not so well. Ever since my accident life has been difficult for Barb and and I'. It continues to be so. The pain in my chest has been awful for several days. See the Doc next week but don't expect much. This is part of the deal for many folks with paralysis. The guys in the wheel chair group have told me so.
BUT, as long as we are alive we can hope for better days.
Barb Christy and Kara are at a cooking movie today. I was delighted not to be invited.
Finished re reading "The Woman in White" It is the third time I have read it. It is a 600 page adventure, mystery and romance. The author - Wilkie Collings was more popular in the 1900's than Charles Dickens. I will read it again sometime.
It has been a joy to sit in the yard the last few weeks. Warm and sunny but do hate to see the winter come but it is the prelude to next Spring.
Have had lots of help lately doing the stuff I used to do around the yard. Walls repaired, Gate fixed and lots of clean up near the barn, which has been rented to a woman for the past two months. She has a good job but likes privacy. She also has a border collie like our but they do NOT get along.
Barb continues to be a brick but our life is not as much fun as it used to be, at least I don't think I am as much fun for her as I was.
"Casting all your cared upon Him because He cares for you."
Blessings to all
Don

thought

I have never had much patience with pacifism and their fuzzy thinking. They are always asking 'can you picture Jesus shooting someone with a guy?' I just realized that there is a perfectly good answer - 'yes' if you can picture Him putting a millstone (millstones weigh about 200 pounds) around a persons neck and throwing them into the sea. This is exactly what he suggested and it is recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke. (So what would He say about abortionist?) Jesus said that 'they' (the person with the millstone) would be better off - presumably because it would stop them from doing further harm to their own souls.

No news here. Our book club book this month is "The Cellist of Sarajevo" - The story of how three different people coped with life under bombardment and snipers. I do suggest for your reading.

My friend John Granger's new book "Harry Potter bookshelf" came out last week and is doing well. After Barb read it she is back reading the Potter books again.

How to post more frequently.

Don

Hi

Still here. The pain in my chest which has been with me ever since in got home seems to be letting up. It that continues, I will be a very happy camper.
Days are pretty much the same. Friends come over to visit. The grand kids stop by often after Suzanne recuperated from her operation. All appears to be will with her.
John Granger, My friend who writes books about Harry Potter was here for a day and it was great to see him. He acknowledges being THE authority on the Harry Potter books.
Am reading his book "The Harry Potter bookshelf". Over my head but good reading anyway. Also reading a bio of Henry Jackson who was President before Lincoln and another book for book club.
Tim gets off the boat for 6 straight weeks before going back to his two weeks on, two weeks off schedule.
Christy and Greg are in Hawaii for two weeks.

Drop me a note at "Holmesdb@gmail.com" if you wish.

He sustains us,
Don

suggestion

Go to 'samekindofdifferentasme.com' and look at the video and read about the book.
It was our book club discussion book today.
We are o.k.
Don

a prayer

O Dear Lord, come quickly

To heal the millions of folks who have lost their minds and spend every day staring into space;
To heal the millions of friendless folks who live in rest homes who have no future to look forward to;
To rescue the millions of women in forced prostitution around the world;
To rescue the millions ow women who are stuck with men who abuse them;
To rescue the millions of men, women and kids who are hungry and dying;
To relive the millions of folks who live with daily pain;
To rescue the millions who live in fear of the daily violence of war:
To rescue those who are bewilder by the pain and suffering in the world;
To heal the minds of the millions in prisons and jails all over the world;
To heal the millions of folks blinded by their own sin and can not see the beauty of God's goodness.

O Dear Lord please come quickly to heal us all.

hi

It is a beautiful day in Bellingham. Barb is delighted to sit on the patio and read after doing her gardening. She has a beautiful flower garden to enjoy when the sun is out.

Life continues to get better for us. A year ago I could not have imagined it ever being this good again. Not driving yet. It is hard to practice as we have to take the driver seat out, etc. Reading lots and doing stuff - church, lecture at the college, little league softball (Dull, as no one can throw strikes) but the whole family is there so we visit. Also enjoy sitting in the sun - I sometime feel like a 95 years old man just enjoying the sun.

Just found a new renter for the barn I had almost finished remodeling when I got sidelined. He is a 49 year old parts manager for the local Ford Dealer. Just moving to Bellingham from a nearby town. I think we will be friends. He goes on mission trips every year so will be a Christian friend for us.

Trying to do some writing but not very successful at it. It is hard.

Suzanne is going to have an operation on the 28 of May so Barb will be busy either at the hospital or with the kids for several days or more.

Christy and Greg are out sailing today and Tim gets back on his boat for another two week stint starting tomorrow.

We look forward to our netflix fix every week. Saw the the "Illusionist" last night. A complicated mystery. Enjoyed it but do not give it a high recommendation.

Barb is reading Ann Rice's books. She is a VERY famous secular writer that has become a Christian and is now writing 'for Christ' as she puts it. I have never heard of her but my literary friends says she has a huge following. You can look her up on the web -'Annrice.com"

Hope all is well with you,

Blessing
don

thought for the day

It is a great relief and benefit to be caught in our sins. It, at least temporarily, frees us from the illusion of our own righteousness and forces us to fall humbly at the feet of Christ. B. R. Pembly

book

Finding Calcatta by Mary Poplin - go get at the Library
Bookfinder.com new for about $12.00
Can read reviews at Amazon.com
Happy to be alive.
Don

hi

Heard jo ann poplin speak at the college last week - She teaches PHD students at Clairmont in California - a very heady school.

She has spend her live in a religious quest before spending 6 weeks with Mother Teresa and was completely converted to Christ. She spoke very openly to about 200 students at the college.

A girl asked "why can't I be good without God". I went away thinking she was answered:
"You may be able, relatively to others, to be a good person but God will make you a better person than you could be without Him." i.e. If you are interested in being a good person, why not be the best you can be and you will need God to do that. If you are only interested in moderately good compared to other people then you can probably to that on your own. An specific individual Christian may not be as good as a specific non Christian but they would be a better Christian with God than without God.
I thought this was a great answer. Hitler might not have been a very good person even with God but he would have been better than he was. Mother Teresa might have been a pretty good person without God but was even a better person with Him.

Does everyone know about netflix? We have been in it for two years. WE have recently teamed up with another couple that we see ofter so for $5.00 a month per couple we can get new movies as fast as we send them in. Two a week if we watch the day we get them. Net flix pays the postage both ways. No trip to the video store and no $8.00 movie tickets and no late fees. Go to netflix.com for full info. WE watch histories, documentaries but mostly dramas. They have thousands of great dramas. You can click on a title and get a synopsis, the industry rating, the average viewer rating (1-5 stars)

Just saw Rebecca - one of the best mysteries we have ever seen. Master Piece Theater. We will watch it again some time.

Great to have summer here again. Love to sit in the Sun and read and watch the dot.

Would be open to good book or Video suggestions.

Don (watching the obituaries)

hi

No new news -
Must see Video - Woman named Golda - Great documentary on the 3rd prime minister of Israel and a great survey of what has been going on in the middle east.
Barbara just got back from Hawaii where she and Tim (our youngest) spent a week on Lawai. It is wonderful for her to get away once and a while from her ball and chain (me)

I was well looked after in her absence by a friend who moved in with us for a week.


All is well.


Don

note

Did you hear about the atheist tht was complaining about Christian holidays and was told to relax because there was also a day to honor his beliefs - April 1st -
The fool has said in his heart 'there is no God'

another early morning thought

Does prayer work?
Of course it does EVERY time.
The only problem is that we don't know HOW it works.
It is perfectly obvious that prayer APPEARS to be an unreasonable activity:
God does not need our advice or information or even our praise.
We pray: 1) because we can't help but do it some times and 2) because
we are commanded to pray by a very good Authority.

When something happens that we pray to happen, we can never know for sure if our prayers had anything to do with it or not. It might have happened even if we had not prayed. The command still stands and we should not get attached to the results.
Thy will be done - - .

So there!!!!!

driving !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drove the Van Yesterday - first time driving for 2 1/2 - Our son Tim went with me to the parking lot of a Park near here. Harder than I thought. Lack of trunk control of my body made it hard to turn. The gas and brake are fine, just turning is a challenge.
I will probably have to practice a lot before taking the driving test.
Finished the book Amish Grace. Rather tedious and too much praise for the Amish tradition. I have no respect for the Pacifist tradition. To refuse to fight to protect the weak is not a Christian idea.
Don

Who

I received a comment from Rebecca but do now who she is?

wake up early

I wake up early and lay in bed thinking - my thought today was:

Most Christians believe that God is always present with them.
Some Christians feel this presence at some time or another, which means that at other times they don't feel his presence at least not in the same way.

One could therefore conclude that when His presence is felt, the feelings correspond to reality and that when we don't feel his presence then our feelings do not correspond to reality. He is obviously present even if we don't feel it.

One ought to conclude from this that we should pay no attention to our feelings because they are not a reliable guide to reality. We should consult what we know from what HE said about His presence - I will Never leave you or forsake you.

Feelings are not a good guide as to what we ought to believe or what we ought to do. Our conscience is related to our minds more than to our feelings. The word conscience broken down is 'con' and 'science' (with knowledge)

Now you can go to sleep.

Have not tried to drive yet even though my hand controls in the van are ready to go.
Don

great day

The on going pain in my chest was the best it has been since I got home. A GREAT JOY!!!
Hand controls have been put on my car and I should get it back tomorrow. FINALLY.

Finished the book Voyage for Madmen - 8 men set out alone in different boats in the 60ties to sail around the world without ever touching land and getting not help of any kind from any one. 1 Made it, six quit and one committed suicide. One Frenchman who was ahead in the race decided not to go back to England after getting around the world, and headed for a second trip. Quite a story.
Starting Amish Grace - our book club book this month about how the Amish community dealt the the murder of a group of their school children by a man who was mad at God for some losses in his life.

God bless you all,
Don

tip

Procrastination is the thief of time.

correction

The movie I recommended last blog was not 'hidden children' but "Secret Lives" Sorry
My van went to the shop today to get the hand controls put on - FINALLY.
Don

movie must

GO rent Hidden Children - a tragic and inspiring documentary about the people who hid Jewish children at the risk of their lives and the lives of their children all over Europe during WW II.

Active day - Bank, Trader Joes and Costco (great piece of peperoni pizza)

We do not witness to what we have seen and touched but to what they (the disciples) have seen and touched. We pervert the Gospel if we think we have to add our experience to their witness. D. Bonoeffer.

Bed time.
Don

day

Beautify sunny day -

Life is Good

Our caretaker who is usually here every day for 3 hours is sick so my friends have been filling in. Miss the caretaker - a 26 year old pre-nursing student who is wonderful but I can't praise him too much or he might read this blog and want a raise.

Stock market up lately - great.

Don

convinced

"I am convinced that the suffering of this present world are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be in us."

"Casting all your cares upon Him for he cares for you"

the eagle

The Eagle
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

?

not as good as i have been
but better than i was

go figure

Wednesday

Went to a Lenten service tonight at church. Saw friends - rather a superficial discussion about Lent.

Barb went to hear a speaker at a bookstore that had written a book about care givers.
She thought it was helpful. No one who has ever been a caregiver can understand what a life-changing experience it is. She said by what she heard that she thought we were doing fairly well.

Suzanne brought me a new book today - Rebecca - will report.

Grand kids by today for an hour and will be here for a longer stay tomorrow.

Hope to get my Leviticus notes from my power point presentation on the blog soon.

Please pray for our daughter - Suzanne's back as she is in serious pain, sees doctor on Thursday.

My pain comes and goes - was o.k. today.

Lewis - "love is not an emotion but an attitude of the will, that attitude that we have naturally toward ourselves but my learn to have about other people."

Don

more Lewis

Progress can be made only with a resisting material.

Good day here - 2 inch snow but sunshine later

Reading "Voyage for Madmen" a report of the 1960 sail boat race around the world by eight contestants sailing along. Scary!!!!!!!!!

Finished Leviticus yesterday so now I can go back to church.

Don

Faith

FAith is the are of holding on to what your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods.
csl

hi

good book club meeting tonight - China Road - see previous blog

One of the book club members drove the van with 6 of us to a Restaurant on the Ocean for a great dinner -I think a great dinner is a good burger and a baked Potato.

Feeling quite good lately. Made arrangements to get controls on our Van in about two weeks - has taken for ever.

Heard a guy speak at a bookstore yesterday who was a fighter pilot (p38) in
ww II who got shot down and was in
Buchenwald for a time and saw the smoke from the burning Jews and others. Fascination evening.

Our grand daughter Kara age 26 just got a job in downtown Manhatton recruiting teachers for a charter school in New York and New jersey. She starts in Sept.

Don

from Barb

Note from Barb -

Greetings from 'nurse Jane fuzzy ears' (character from Uncle Wiggley). Since I am not a computer buff I shall have Don type in a note from me.

I want to rave about several books that brightened my gray February days: a book of poems - Diary of an Old Soul (George MacDonald) (of The Princess and the Curdy fame), Valley of Vision - puritan prayers, Mudhouse Sabbath by Laren Winte. You can't go wrong on any of them. Find them eBay, Amazon, Bookfinder, etc. Tell me what you think.


It's startling bring and beautiful today with about 8 inches of fresh sparking snow below us and our surround garden and trees. I think I'm in Narnia without the white witch.

Barbara

thinking

cs lewis -

"Logic is the king that all events in all possible worlds must obey"

In other words,if it is logical it must be true.

If you have the right information
and you process is accurately then you come to Truth every time.

But we must be humble because there is no way we can be positive that we have the right information or that we have processed accurately.
Don

one foot of snow tonight in the area

go buy this book

CHINA ROAD - Great story of a journalist traveling 3000 miles across China. Sometimes he gets the Impression that China will one day rule the world and the next day he is convinced that the whole thing is going to fall apart because of the corruption of the communist officials that run the show. Barb and I think it is a great book - it is our book club book for next month.
Been mostly staying home and enjoying the indoor winter. Get the grand kids overnight this Saturday - fun.
Pray for me if you wish that I would get serious about writing a book "Fire the Clergy and Burn down the churches" subtitled 'A modest proposal for Church renewal". Take a guess at how much money we spend on the staff and church up keep and how little we actually spend on the poor. The Bible says little about paying church workers and staff but a lot about the poor.
What is anyone reading that you recommend?
Don

update

Jan 12 Happy Birthday to me 74
Great Series on pbs tv from now to summer on Sunday nights= Classics
Last Sunday and yesterday a four movie - Tess by Thomas Hardy = Excellent - much better than the 2 hours movie.

Heading Christys tonight for bb dinnes.
Will post my SS notes from Yesterday on Leviticus later in the week.

Life is good.

Don

Hi

I have so many people telling me that they check my blog that I must say something more often. We have had a flood in the N.W. More water, snow and freezing than we have seen since we moved here. Basements getting water for us and both our daughters. Nothing major

Am studying for my Sunday School class that I am beginning this week and leading on the book of Leviticus. There is a lot to learn from this book. I may try to keep my notes posted on the blog site.

Barb and I are doing well. Things are going so well for us that we don't see how they could get much better but each week seems better than the last.

Expect to get the parts that go on my Van this week so maybe is a month I will be driving. Barb is not excited about this. If I can't run a chain saw, what makes me thing I can manage a van? We will see. Watch the obit pages.

I bet that Senator McCain may be the most relieved man in America. Who would want the job that Obama now faces.

Best Wishes.
Don