Is It Safe To Come Out Yet?

Is it safe to come out yet?

 This Tufted Titmouse has taken up residence in the birdhouse that was originally intended for bluebirds, but they never came back to move in.

The Bluebird when he was just visiting with Bobby the Squirrel earlier this spring.

 And then the Chickadee started to set up housekeeping in there, but apparently they decided to go elsewhere too.

One day I peeked inside and saw this lizard in there, and I closed it back up real quick. He's a funny looking bird.

And so I was happy to see this Tufted Titmouse poke his head out the other day. I hope she's going to actually stick with it and maybe  we will finally see some baby birds around here.  Sometimes I think they are just all "playing house" and aren't really serious about staying.  Time will tell.

Other activity in the bird kingdom beside Still Waters Pond...This Blue Jay was scolding this Hawk. They were making quite a racket, and then they flew away. Apparently the hawk was getting too close to the Blue Jay's nest or baby birds...

I guess we are all asking if it is "safe to come out yet?"  I've spoken with several different people, and depending upon their age and location, their opinions are varied.  Some refuse to leave the house without a mask...and others do not feel that a mask is really protecting them or anyone else and could even cause some harm to the wearer. I personally think it is a decision that each person must make for themselves, depending upon their own comfort level and health factors.  I do not believe that people should be forced to wear a mask, nor should they be ridiculed if they don't. Likewise, those who do not wear a mask should also be respectful of those who do wear a mask. There are so many conflicting opinions on this subject even among the medical community that I don't think anyone really has a totally correct answer.  So therefore, at this point in time, and depending upon where you live and other factors involved, each person needs to decide for themselves and do what you are most comfortable doing. 

I know that some people are still not comfortable going out to eat in restaurants or being in other public places.  And again, that is something that each person must decide for themselves. If you are not comfortable...please don't go! But on the other hand, for those who are ready to get out and enjoy some good food and fellowship with some friends, by all means go! Yes, we need to be respectful of those around us and maintain a safe "social distance", but again, I think we need to be realistic and realize that at some point in time we have to be ready and willing to embrace life again, and walk in faith and not by fear.

For those who truly need to get back to work, I pray that you are able to do so freely. There are some who have lost businesses or are in danger of losing their business, and they really need to get back and try to bring it back if they are able. Praying it's not already too late for them.  Others may not have a job to go back to and don't have any other source of income. and the government stimulus check has run out long ago. People have children to feed, mortgages/rent to pay, car payments, other bills that are pressing...and not all lenders are able to be that forgiving for very long. They also  have overhead bills to pay.  My heart goes out to these people, and I pray they are able to recapture what they've lost.

Most of all, we know that there are many who have been touched by this pandemic in a deeply sorrowful way. I know of those who have lost loved ones, others who have been sick but have recovered thankfully,  and/or there are those who have been working non-stop on the front lines, rescuing the perishing, caring for the dying. They've put their own lives at risk to save those who can't help themselves. Their lives have been painful, heart-breaking, exhausting. To them, our need to "get out and go somewhere" is the last thing on their minds.  We need to be respectful and sympathetic to their grief and pain.

I guess I am writing all of these thoughts because I've been touched by each and every aspect of this crisis in one way or another. My heart goes out to those who are truly, truly hurting. I do not want my desire to be "out and about" to cause hurt to those who are caught in the crossfires of this tragedy and can't see any way out of it at this time.

Thinking about these things reminds me of a gospel song that I have loved to sing in the past.

Does Jesus Care?

"Does Jesus care when my heart is pained

Too deeply for mirth or song,

As the burdens press, and the cares distress,

And the way grows weary and long?

Chorus:

Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,

His heart is touched with my grief;

When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,

I know my Savior cares.

Does Jesus care when my way is dark

With a nameless dread and fear?

As the daylight fades into deep night shades,

Does He care enough to be near?

(chorus)

Does Jesus care when I've tried and failed

To resist some temptation strong;

When for my deep grief there is no relief,

Though my tears flow all the night long?

(chorus)

Does Jesus care when I've said "goodbye"

To the dearest on earth to me,

And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks—

Is it aught to Him? Does He see?

(Chorus)

Sung by "The Isaacs"

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: William J. Gaither / Lily Isaacs

So, to sum this up...we are each responsible to make decisions that are right for ourselves and our own family situations. I realize that some are stuck in locations where their government leaders have made life very difficult, and in many cases, unrealistically overburdening their people. Praying that God will give people in those situations the grace and patience to hang in there, hoping that things will soon get better...but again, each person needs to make choices that are right for them.

The important thing to remember is that you are not alone in your struggles. God is with you. Yes, Jesus DOES care...He sees the pain and difficulties you are going through, and He is there ready and willing to help.  We don't always understand why we are stuck in such difficult situations, but one thing I have learned in life is that when the way gets rough, God is there, and He is helping me get through.   He brings us through to rich fulfillment.

Psalm 66:10-12, 18-20

10.  "For You, O God, have tested us;

You have refined us as silver is refined.

11.  You brought us into the net;

You laid affliction on our backs.

12.  You have caused men to ride over our heads;

We went through fire and through water;

But YOU brought us out to rich fulfillment."

18.  If I regard iniquity in my heart,

The Lord will not hear.

19.  But certainly God has heard me;

He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

20.  Blessed be God,

Who has not turned away my prayer,

Nor His mercy from me!"

I have a "footnote" in my Bible by these last verses, dated 5/25/2014, "The Day Matthew died."  I read these verses in my devotional that morning, the day that our son died from cancer. That anniversary is coming up next Monday, I just realized.    Those were very hard days; much harder than anything we personally are going through right now.  But God was with us, and He heard our cries, and He gave us His love and mercy. He showed us He cared. Yes, our son died. But Jesus comforted us. We grieved, but He was touched with our grief and dried our tears. We went through "fire and through water" in our souls, but GOD brought us out to rich fulfillment.  

These times are difficult, and they have been very trying for many...perhaps someone who is reading this now.  But please know, you are not alone. Jesus does care...and He WILL see you through.  And soon we will all be able to say, "Yes, it is safe to come out now"....

Have a blessed week my friends.

New House Saga Update

If you follow me on Facebook, you've been keeping up with the progress on our new house.  But if not, maybe I should take a few moments to record the week's activities so far...for my own record as well as for your entertainment. ...

The good news is on this past Monday we finally closed on our "new to us" house...

Here we are with our sweet real estate agent, Miss "Libby". (She is the agent who helped us buy our house).   I've teased her several times by singing the old commercial jingle: "If it says Libby's, Libby's, Libby's on the label, label, label, you will like it, like it, like it, on your table,  table, table...It says Libby's Libby's Libby's on the label label label"...
Thankfully she has a good sense of humor and is such a sweetheart to work with. She put up with all of my "I want to see this house even if we can't buy it until we sell our house" requests over the past year...and her patience finally paid off! On Monday she was happily sitting down with us as we signed our life away and became a member of the "Thirty Year Club" again, as the Closing Agent dubbed us.   Lord willing, our new house will be paid off in the year 2049...and I'll only be 99 years old! Isn't life grand?

So immediately following the closing we began the work list of things to do to get the house ready to move into.  The list is lengthy and involves a lot of hard work (and more money), but thankfully God has provided us with some good workers who do odd jobs and are great at helping folks like us who don't have a lot of "fixer upper" type skills...and they come reasonably priced, all things considered.

I teased our #1 son when he heard the list of things we are having done that we are spending all of his inheritance now so he won't have to worry about it in the future...I think he was just as glad that we weren't asking him to do all of these jobs since he has plenty to do on his own list...(did you see that our kids' business, "Ben & Rose's Country Woodshop" got a new workshop shed last week? Here's a link to their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BenandRosesCountryWoodshop/ where you can check out their products and projects. Here's Ben with their brand new shed workshop that will greatly help them expand their business:

God is so good...and He is blessing them in so many wonderful ways! We are so proud and happy for them. And we are very thankful to the Lord for making this all possible.

So back to the house story:

I told everyone on Facebook that one of my first chores was to clean the three toilets and bathrooms and install new toilet seats on the toilets.  Yes, we have three bathrooms...two of them are in our master bedroom! I've never seen two separate bathrooms in a master bedroom before,  but this one comes that way. We have  "his and hers" bathrooms...one comes equipped with a nice shower, and the other one comes with a nice garden tub. Guess which one I picked?  If you said the garden tub, you are right, however, I will be taking a shower in the other bathroom most of the time anyway...so it really doesn't work out like it was planned... But anyway...after I worked for several hours toiling away cleaning each bathroom and installing the new seats...hubby decided to try out one of the seats...and quickly exclaimed that "this seat is too small!"   And yes, I had to agree...they were the tiny little low, round "toidies" that seem better suited for a child than a 6'3" male senior citizen...or even a 5'7" female senior citizen...and so, while our erstwhile fixer upper workers were there replacing our front deck, hubby requested that they help us replace the three little potties with three taller, longer potties that are also more water efficient...especially since we are now paying for city water instead of having our own well.  I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures of my nicely cleaned tiny commodes before they were removed and thrown on the dump heap (not much market for used toilets)...but I did get pictures of the nice new ones that were installed today...wanna see?  I know, this is fully of "potty talk", but I do think it's important, don't you? I mean, this is something that everyone needs and uses sooner or later...(hopefully sooner rather than too late...Ha Ha)

 Yes, I know that all three bathrooms have the same "lovely" wall paper...remember this is a manufactured home, and they do things like that...and yes, eventually I intend to paint over this lovely wallpaper, but for now I have decided to live with it.  It's not as bad as it looks in these pictures...and with the right colors of accessories, towels, etc., it will be just fine...but don't you love my new potties?

Okay, it is time to change the subject.  I mentioned that we were replacing the front deck.  Some of the wood was still good enough to use, but that which wasn't was replaced with new pressure treated lumber that should last a long time.

It is my intention to stain or paint the deck in about 30 days, as you have to wait for pressure treated lumber to "dry out" before you can put any kind of stain or paint on it.  So here are some pictures of the work in progress and then the finished product after the whole exterior of the house was pressure washed today:

Before:

During reconstruction:

After:

 We will also be painting the new frame around the front door when it is "dried out" and will also be removing/relocating the chain link fence that is in  front of the deck. In addition we will be repainting the shutters and front door with a fresh new coat of paint that is similar in color to this, but with a little more "pop" of color to brighten it up. These shutters are faded and some of the paint is coming off in places, so they need a fresh paint job...

Meanwhile, inside, we have been busy taping, prepping and getting ready to paint the "lovely" border

that goes all the way around the living room and master bedroom...here's hubby resting after working hard to tape all around the edges, etc.:

And here's how it looks after my whole day was spent today using primer to get the walls ready for paint.  We are going to paint the bottom half of the wall (including the border) with a creamy white that will give some contrast to the upper wall and hopefully will look like wainscoting when we are done.  I think we still need another coat of primer over the border before we paint...but these two rooms took all day just doing this much, so we shall see how much more primer we will do...

Of course several people have already told me that once I get all my furniture in this house you won't be able to see the walls anyway...so why work so hard??? Well, I know what is there, and I know what I want...so we will keep on working...

So thus far this is what has been done. We hope to get the painting done this week,  and then next week we have other projects planned, but you will have to wait and see.  Meanwhile we will be taking a couple of days off from our labors to celebrate our 50th anniversary this weekend.

Here we are fifty years ago August 16, 1969   "I now introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. John Steiner"

Stay tuned for further developments in all of these activities!

Psalm 66: 1-3, 10, 12

1.  "Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!

2.  Sing out the honor of His name;

Make His praise glorious.

3.  Say to God,

How awesome are Your works!"

10.  "For You, O God, have tested us;

You have refined us as silver is refined....

12.  "...but You brought us out to rich fulfillment."