My Slow Takes (vol. 36)

1. When I made my weekend in September 2010, there was a young man that was part of the team. He was only twenty-four years old. He exhibited a reverence for God that was sincere and noticeable to all present. One morning he played a CD introducing us to the Devine Mercy prayer. He said we could listen and if we felt inclined sing along with the CD. I don't remember when I started singing but slowly just like a finally choreographed musical production, others began to sing. The voices were low and soft, some us feeling unsure of ourselves. As we sang our voices became strong and confident reaching a crescendo that resembled a choir presentation at church. As each voice joined the prayer I felt a warmth within me, a confidence to sing and a chill went through my body. It was the most moving moment of my weekend. 

This young man, my brother in Christ, is going to be entering the seminary. His name is John Baab and I ask for your prayers so that soon we will be calling him Father John Baab.

2. We were sitting around the kitchen discussing various topics when one of our sons used the term, "healthy as a horse." Our daughter in law Lynne, who is a horse lover and a one time horse jumper asked, "where did that saying come from?" So, this week I went searching and located a website, wowhorses.com. It has a listing of horse sayings complete with definitions.

"Healthy as a Horse - To be very healthy. For example 'He never gets sick, he is healthy as a horse'. A similar expression which is often used in the same sense is 'Healthy as an Ox'."

A couple more that I like.

"Dog and Pony Show - Used to describe a presentation where the item or subject being presented is less interesting or less useful than indicated. For example, 'The meeting was supposed to describe a new sales strategy which will turn the company around, but it was really just the same old approach. It was really just a dog and pony show.' The term dates back to the 1800s, when touring circuses were common. Some of the smaller circuses could not afford exotic animals or performers, so offered only dog and pony tricks. Such circuses were often a disappointment to people who were expecting more when a circus came to town, especially since advance publicity often implied more interesting performances. Consequently, the term 'dog and pony show' came to be used for a presentation, speech or other exhibition which disappointed by offering less than what people expected based on advance publicity or based on the presenter's claims."

"You can lead a horse to water but can't make it drink - You can give someone good advice but you can't make them take it. The expression comes from the fact that horses will often not drink unfamiliar water (e.g. if they are away from home), even if they are thirsty and need to drink. As a sample of the expression 'I told him how to save a lot of money but he wasn't interested. Well, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.'."

3. The Super Bowl party was as enjoyable as last year. We have a great group of friends and really enjoyed sharing. I didn't win in the pool but that's okay. The stromboli that the wives made on Saturday were delicious. Each of us brings a bottle of wine to share. It's a great idea because it's just like a wine tasting event.  

4. Pastor Tuck of the Denbigh Church of Christ in Virginia Beach, Virginia wrote an interesting article on his blog this week. He wrote about praying for "your team" to win and is that something that we should be doing. His feeling is that God concentrates on more important things. Here is some of what he wrote. 

“God’s consumed by working on behalf of the usher who can’t figure out how to pay his chemo bill. Or the player going through a divorce. Or the assistant coach who lost his son to suicide. Or the trainer wrestling a gambling addiction. Or the recent immigrant, trying to pay one more bill by cleaning up the confetti that falls in Lucas Oil stadium. 

God sees the whole stadium, not the final score."

 "But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy this game or any other game.  It also doesn’t mean you can’t pray for your team. Because God is a father, God likes to hear from us—whatever the reason, even if our prayers might be childlike in nature." 

5. Thursday night Dee and I settled into our comfortable living room with a nice cup of hot coffee. I put on a recorded episode of "Castle," one of our favorite TV series. About ten minutes into the program both of our fire alarms activated. I had been procrastinating about changing the batteries so stopped everything and completed the task. However, Dee noticed an odor that wasn't truly a smoke odor but did hint that something was burning. She noticed a sort of haze in the office and a stronger odor as well. (My ability to notice odors is not very good, so I rely on Dee to help me.) A complete search of the house disclosed nothing. Dee got on the phone with the fire department and explained the situation. They instructed us to turn off the power and wait outside until they arrived. By the time I put my sweat suit on over my pajamas, and proceeded outside with a jacket and shoes, they were there.

It took them about twenty minutes to discover that the electric motor in the air handler had burned out. They advised calling our heating/ac company and getting it replaced. One cold night, but not freezing. I contacted our son Stephen and provided an update. Fortunately he knew exactly who to call. He called his neighbor and friend Peter and set up conference connection with the three of us. Peter was able to come out and replace the broken motor the next morning. And, my manager was kind enough to allow me to work from home.

Peter is a sole proprietor, very professional and an overall nice person. He is now our new heating/ac person.     


6. Completed my physical this week and everything is fine. Dr. G has recommended more exercise. Now I need to go research the local gyms and health clubs. More later.