Common Ground Coffee House #116

[annsni]

Oh Barnabas! I'm SO glad you are healing!! I had a car accident in January and while I didn't have much more than bruises, I STILL have muscle issues from that accident and my daughter has a permanently dislocated collarbone. It takes a LONG time to recover from accidents so give yourself time!

Well, we've had a lot of stuff going on here - mostly having to do with church and ministry. It's a confusing time and a time that we need to seek God and at times put down our own desires and will in order to follow Him. Right now I am feeling a bit angry again and I need to decide how to handle an offense and I guess it will mostly come to a head on Tuesday. But I will wait to worry about that until then. For now, I'm going to enjoy a quiet weekend. Hubby is on the men's retreat and it's just me and the kids. The big girls will be out much of the weekend with work and stuff so that leaves me with the two little ones. We'll have a nice time!

 

[Barnabas H.]

Yes, Ann. It will take time. And I removed coughing and sneezing from my to-do list.... for it is a no no. :laugh:

Ann, do enjoy the quality time with your two little ones! And wait upon the Lord.... don't rush it. All you need to do is - get yourself in the will of God, and all things will fall into proper perspective.

I have been praying for you and your family ever since you asked for it. If you have an issue with a felow believer, be sure you heap on his/her head "coals of fire" (actually, the proper transliteration of that Bible quote is as follows: "cover his/her head with agape love"). Someone said that you need to throw love at the person's head to melt the heart of ice. Ann, may the good Lord be with you and your family! :type:

 

[annsni]

Yes, Ann. It will take time. And I removed coughing and sneezing from my to-do list.... for it is a no no. :laugh:

Ann, do enjoy the quality time with your two little ones! And wait upon the Lord.... don't rush it. All you need to do is - get yourself in the will of God, and all things will fall into proper perspective.

I have been praying for you and your family ever since you asked for it. If you have an issue with a felow believer, be sure you heap on his/her head "coals of fire" (actually, the proper transliteration of that Bible quote is as follows: "cover his/her head with agape love"). Someone said that you need to throw love at the person's head to melt the heart of ice. Ann, may the good Lord be with you and your family! :type:

Thank you so much Barnabas. Yes, it's been a tough time. I know God called us to this and I was expecting issues in the ministry from the congregation - not so much from the leadership and staff. But God is amazing and has given us so many gifts as we go through this time. I know He's in control and we'll follow Him through whatever He wants us to do - I just wish sometimes we didn't have to deal with other people.

So far it's been a great weekend. Very relaxing and I got some organizational things done which I'm happy about! I'm about to make a kid-friendly dinner, then send the kids for showers and to get ready for bed. Tomorrow is church so we need to prepare tonight so we don't have a bad morning.

 

[Melanie]

Oh dear, Barnabas you have had a challenging time indeed.

I was agog at the tornado and stuff...which I have only ever seen on the news. I have seen a waterspout but a long way off.What is the Tarheels state? Is that Kansas or ?????

Thank God, you are on the mend from the vehicle accident. Ribs are no fun when busted, I like my ribs well done and slathered in BBQ sauce.
Keep up the deep breathing to prevent infection, and while laughing and coughing is ghastly, splint with your hand. If it IS TOO painful, your analgesia is inadequate.

Nothing much this way, a very dry Autumn, lavender is doing well, the cat brought in a mouse for my delectation (dead).

I had a wonderful Easter.

 

[Barnabas H.]

Melanie, I love the way you bottom-line the important events in your life, with a great sense of humor. I can even detect your Aussie accent...

Well, Tar Heel is referring to the State of North Carolina. You can brush up on a little history at the link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_Heel

Nice kitty you have... bringing you a dead mouse!!!

 

[Melanie]

Thank you Barnabas for clarifying the mysterious term "tar heel". Wikipedia is good fun for that sort of knowledge. North Carolina sounds so exotic (please do NOT roll your eyes Barnabas), it is on the itinerary should I win lotto (not likely as I hardly ever buy a ticket!), I would also like to visit Zanzibar, the Channel Islands, the Chatham Islands and the Mediterranean and Carribean.:wavey:

The local New Zealanders love the Aussie accent, it is like bees to the honey pot to poke fun at their bigger and brasher cuzzies. New Zealanders HATE being thought tobe Aussies, like Canadians go spare when they are lump with Americans.

 

[Gina B]

Barnabas, I order you to knock it off! You've been through plenty. BTW, did you ever keep a diary or some type of remembrance of your past? I found what you've told before to be very gripping, sure hope there's a written account somewhere.

Today is...wow, early. I woke up before the alarm. Crabby mood for no good reason, am both looking forward and dreading the school year being over. Happy because everyone could use the break, including myself, sad because of the seniors leaving (and of course no paycheck in summer!) and not looking forward to the summer heat, though since we've had so much already, maybe it won't be as bad as last year. We hit the 90's in March, but it does keep bouncing.

Oh, the neighbors are letting me attack their flower bed, so that'll be something fun after school is out. I was trimming up some stuff in mine and him and his wife happened to be walking by and one of my plants had started spreading to there and I asked if they wanted me to pull it up. Nope, let it look pretty, so I said "you know, I love this stuff, want me to make it look even prettier?" I was told to go for it all I want, so go for it I shall! It's something else to look forward to. :-D

 

[Dan Todd]

Wife out of hospital

I brought my wife home - yesterday - after a 15 day stay in the hospital. She had abdominal surgery on April 11 - and was in the ICU until April 23.
A song that blessed us both - as we went through her recovery - is one that is sung by Brooklyn, Courtney, and Kim Collingsworth - "Fear Not Tomorrow" - the lyrics go on to say - "God is already there!" When I talk about the song - verbally - I have a tough time not choking up - especially when I get to "God is already there."

You can hear the song on line - as well as by DVD and CD. I recommend the music of the Collingsworth family - Mom - Kim; Dad - Phil; Daughters - Brooklyn, Courtney, and Olivia; and Son - Phil Jr. They are straight up one of the best - if not the best - family groups I've ever heard.

Have a great day,
Dan Todd

 

[annsni]

Praise God that your wife is home!! It was a year ago tomorrow that my daughter had serious abdominal surgery to remove her gallbladder, spleen and about 1/3 of her pancreas that contained a softball sized tumor. She was just 21! She had a lot of complications so she didn't come home until May 10th - the day before my birthday and what a birthday it was!

Well, my meeting at church on Tuesday went well and God shut my mouth for a lot of things. I guess it was best for me to just let the full reasoning for my stepping down from the website to go by the wayside and to do it instead in just a business manner. But it's done and I no longer have any oversight on the church website after having full oversight of it for 6 years. That's OK. Just moving to the new graphics program for the projection will keep me in plenty of hours!

By this time next week, our sailboat should be in the water and all spiffy clean! Hubby is going down now to check out some issues with the new canvas (the canvas parts that go on the sailboat to protect the cabin doorway and also covers the outside area where we sit in the back) and he'll pick up the paint to paint the bottom. Once he gets the bottom painted, he needs to just put stripes on the hull and she's ready for yet another boating season!

But for me today, I'm home. It should be pouring rain later which means no riding for me. We'll see if I go to the barn just to feed Whirl but his owner oftentimes says not to worry and she will feed him so I don't have to come down. Other than that? It's homeschooling and cleaning as usual.

 

[Barnabas H.]

Gina, if it is an order, then I must obey. I will knock it off. Just give me a wee bit of time to get my bearings together. OK? By the way, no, I do not keep a diary. So, everything I have written, I have written (no, I am no Pilate), and only trust that it has touched some hearts along the way to praise the Lord for His amazing grace. Oh my, Gina. Shame on you girl! Do I understand that you are attacking the neighbor’s flower bed??? Naughty, naughty. Curb yourself, please! ;-)

Dan, I am so glad to hear that your dear wife is out of the hospital and is home with you. May the good Lord give her strength and healing!!!

Ann, while in the Bible there are numerous occasions that God opened the mouth of His servants, I was chuckling on your statement that God has shut yours! I am so glad things resolved according to God’s will, and you found peace for yourself. May the good Lord be with you in your continuous service.

A praise: Wednesday was the 4th week after the accident and I am doing markedly better. A simple sneezing is no longer feels like somebody tears my heart out…. It is now tolerable. Our Lord is a great healer!

 

[Melanie]

I was appalled to read that Kansas is toying with the idea to force churches of all faiths to solemnise same sex "marriages". Is this true? If so won't it drive religion underground?

It has been cold but sunny here, I am off to Lake Taupo for a few days r and r. It is a fabulous spot being a crater, lots of thermal oddities abound like steam venting in paddocks and if you can believe it steam coming out of the hills. Probably will go to sulphurous Rotaroua for the day (it stinks!!)

www.greatlaketaupo.com/

Stay well.....:thumbsup:

 

[annsni]

I was appalled to read that Kansas is toying with the idea to force churches of all faiths to solemnise same sex "marriages". Is this true? If so won't it drive religion underground?

I haven't heard about that but I don't believe by the Constitution they can do it.

Things are quiet here for now. My oldest got sick over the weekend - probably just a cold but she had a low grade fever (99.7) which means SOMETHING is going on and now with her not having a spleen, we had to be more proactive. So I took her to the doctor and she's on antibiotics. It's so weird because we never go to the doctors unless we're really sick and I'm sure we need medications. But now I have to take her any time she has a fever.

We had a great weekend with a dear pastor friend coming down to preach at our church on Sunday. He did an amazing job and really encouraged our little campus. We then went to another friend's house with the ministry team and this pastor and his family to have a time of teaching from him. He's planted two churches so he's quite familiar with what we're doing (although we're not church planting but starting another campus). He gave us some great ideas and thoughts to mull over.

 

[Barnabas H.]

I was appalled to read that Kansas is toying with the idea to force churches of all faiths to solemnise same sex "marriages". Is this true?

Hi Melanie. No, that is not acurate. As you may know, same sex marriages are illegal in Kansas. The article you may refer to can be found at the following link (stay well!):

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...proves-amended-anti-discrimination-ordinance/

Ann, we trust that your daughter is feeling better and the antibiotic has done its job. Blessings to you and your dear family!

 

[annsni]

Ann, we trust that your daughter is feeling better and the antibiotic has done its job. Blessings to you and your dear family!

Thank you Barnabas - she is feeling great and is finishing up school then her observations so that she will be ready for her hernia surgery on June 9th.

This weekend was great weather-wise and so we did a lot of work in the yard. It looks great! We finished up the weekend with dinner cooked on the boat and awatched a great sunset. Now we are ready for days of rain. Ick!

 

[Melanie]

I am relieved that your daughter is ok again Ann.

Well, after lazing about at the bach (NZ colloquialism for holiday home) overlooking Lake Taupo. The weather was a bit iffy, but we took our friend to see bubbling mud, and steam vents and a truely awesome hole full of bubbling, stinks and gurgling and thought it could be a portal to hell.

The Autumn colours were at their best for Hope (Asian) and me from the subtropics. We drove home down the Desert Road looking forward to seeing Mt. Ruapehu and the others but the weather had closed in so much the mountains might have gone on holiday to Fiji.

Whizzed down to Wellington called Windy Welly because that is what it does best.www.[B]wellington[/B]nz.com We were fortunate with some good sunny patches when we were out and MORE importantly it was as calm as a pond wind wise. I was excited over the number of 2nd hand book shops and music joints and of course I spent too much.My friend Jane had never eaten Indian food in her almost 60 years....I was staggered, and our Asian friend HATES spicy food (I was gob-smacked).

A good time was had by all. It is getting pretty nippy here after sunset.

 

[annsni]

It's so funny hearing you going into winter when we're going into summer!!!

Today is icky rainy but the kids did their standardized testing this morning and now it's a day home. I need to figure out the menu for the week though!! I have no idea what to make......

 

[Melanie]

For Teenagers.......make huge bowls of salad.....they will dine elsewhere!!!

Had a miserable day today, it is the anniversary of my little brother's death.....10 years ago whilst overseas with the UN. It was so painful chasing mum over Europe by phone to tell her every mother's nightmare, but the UN was very very good.

Darn, it hurts so bad....:tear:

 

[annsni]

For Teenagers.......make huge bowls of salad.....they will dine elsewhere!!!

Had a miserable day today, it is the anniversary of my little brother's death.....10 years ago whilst overseas with the UN. It was so painful chasing mum over Europe by phone to tell her every mother's nightmare, but the UN was very very good.

Darn, it hurts so bad....:tear:

Oh Melanie!! I'm so sorry about your brother's death and that today will be a sad day for you. ((HUGS))

 

[Melanie]

Thank you Ann, it surprised me how I felt when I last wrote on the thread.

Well, it has been all go with the family. My mother (77) bless her cotton socks has just returned home to Brisbane after 6 weeks in Europe and special focus on Bulgaria and Cyprus, places she has never been to, one being communist and the other embroiled in civil war in the mid 1950s, and then there are so many places to visit.

My 2 sisters have gone to visit France and Italy for a month or so.
My brother will be off to Germany AGAIN shortly.

Me....I walked to the shops, and down to the sea for my prayers etc.

Trust all you folks are keeping cool on your verandas and enjoying pleasant evenings etc. Do you have twilight?

 

[Barnabas H.]

Do you have twilight?

Yes, we do, in our National Anthem.

Hi Melanie! Boy, your family has been all over the globe. World travelers they are. Do they speak any other language?