Judalu's Blog

I’m reflecting on the birthdays of my children, since my oldest will be 50 next week. My, how time flies. It gives me pause, as I contemplate our vulnerability. It has actually been almost 52 years since my first daughter died at the age of 5 months. Except for the memories it doesn’t seem that long. It almost seems like yesterday. I now have three daughters in their 40’s, (it doesn’t seem possible!), and eight grandchildren (again, hard to believe). We just celebrated several birthdays over the course of a few months. Two granddaughters in August, two daughters in September, two grands in November and finally two daughters an another grand in December. Seems like the majority of us were born in the fall.

Maybe celebrate is to of a strong a word, we recognize these occasions in order to mark our journey from the cradle to the grave. It also gives us the opportunity to express our love and appreciation for our families and loved ones. We let them know how very thankful we are for them and how much they enrich our lives.

I happened to hear a heartwarming story on the radio about a church that gave back and passed on their blessing. This church in Chicago had bought a piece of rental property many years ago for a thousand dollars and recently sold it for 1.6 million dollars. They decided to give a tithe back to the congregation, with the stipulation that they do something good with it. They gave each person in their congregation a check for $500. It was neat how some of them used it. One man helped a lady in Africa get a prosthetic limb. Another started an after school project for needy children. Some used the money for much needed personal debt obligations, but most used the money for the good of others. They even heard that their story has spread to other areas. One school gave each student in their graduating class a $50 check and told them to do something good for others.

Sounds like a grassroots movement to me. Love this story.

How did it get so cold so soon? Middle of November and it is 21° this morning and it is supposed to snow tomorrow night. We are having an exceptionally beautiful fall with great color all around. After we mowed last Sunday, the next day the grass was covered with bright yellow leaves. I especially love the orange trees.

Yesterday I was stung on my palm. I picked something up and a wasp was on the bottom. I ran in the house and broke open a charcoal capsule, put it on the sting moistened, wrapped it up for a couple of hours. When I removed the wrap we couldn’t tell where the sting was. Today it is tender and slightly red, but fine. Many thanks to God for making natural remedies and for bringing it to my membrance.

A big thank you to all the service men and women who protect us and keep us safe. We honor those who survived and those who did not come home. May God bless you all.

We mowed the lawn yesterday and today it is covered anew with bright yellow leaves. Still, very pretty. Mandy (my daughter) put out the fall decorations and now ee are in a thanksgiving spirit. I am so thankful for the health and well-being of my family, as well as myself. Mandy is having allergies that are making her miserable, but it could be worse, it could be me (haha). But seriously, I am hoping she gets over it soon. I am also very thankful my son-in-law Tim was not hurt worse than he was on Friday. A heavy pipe fell two stories and after landing on the ground it fell over and hit him on the head. It took hours to get checked out at the e.r. but after a cat scan they found he did not have a concussion. He did have stitches, but it could have been much worse. I am totally blessed with three beautiful daughters and eight wonderful grandchildren. Thank you God.

We had great weather and warm friends to celebrate 50 years of the Church of God in Nashville Tn. I was sueprised to see how many of the people we meet with every week have been there from the beginning. I can’t believe it has been almost 20 years since we moved here. We’ve made a lot of good friends. At the get together yesterday we had a lot of good food, a video of past events and visits from friends that have moved to to other venues. Thanks to all who worked behind the scene to put this together.

Did you know the first time love is mentioned in the Bible is in Gen. 27:4? And, that it is talking about Issac’s love of savory meat? The next two times love is mentioned is in Gen 29:20 & 29:32, where it speaks of Jacob’s love for Rachel and his lack of love for Leah. It is not until Ex. 20:6 that love refers to love of God. The next three times love is used is in Ex. 21:50 and Lev. 19:18 & 19:34 where love of man is talked about: love of master & family; love for neighber and love toward strangers, respectively.

I always thought love of God was mentioned first since it is the first great commandment, so it is interesting that these mentions of love are so varied from the love of God.  So interesting that love of food, spouse, family, friends and strangers are spoken of before the love for God. What lesson can we learn from that?

I think the love we have from and for others, especially when we are young teaches us how to love God. How we treat others is how we treat God after all, for they are who we interact with daily. That love or lack thereof, sets the stage for our whole life and our spiritual life is tied to how we love others. After all, how can we love God whom we haven’t seen if we don’t love people that we have seen?