Wednesday June 23, 2021

Today was interesting. We decided to go to the Mote Marine right after breakfast. Too many cars and we did not enter as Emmy has not been vaccinated. We drove to Selby Botanical Gardens. Same thing. We came home. We introduced Lilly and Emmy to "Bob Marley's Music" in the car!!! We had a good pool time. A good lunch at home and a nap. Emmy and I played chess. She won of course! I had fun too. I am a happy looser to my 9 years old grand daughter who is teaching me how to play Chess. Dinner was Tilapia Lilly's recipe. And Cod my made up recipe. Delicious!!! Neighbor and friend John made and brought us Haluski. So deliciuos!!! After dinner, Cat mad Will's Birthday Cake for tomorrow. Yum! The house smells so very good. It is a Carrott Cake. Life is good. I am thankful.

Sunday June 20, 2021

Happy Father's Day to all good and loving fahters in the world still here and departed alike. I sure miss my father who was my best friend, who is now with God the FATHER. I give thanks to God for my father. I had a good quiet time with God as the grand daughters slept in this morning. Breakfast with them followed by an hour swim or rather move about in the pool was really good for me. As the two fathers, Will and Francis both love Indian foods, we had take out Indian feast at home. The foods from Rasoi was really delicious. We celebrated them both appropricately with lots of love, cards and presents. Will recieved the gift and card from even LT from afar. We ate so much at lunch. We all took a nap after - just like in India. Sietsta. More swimming of the grand kids in the afternoon. Salad and Peanut butter and Jelly sandwitch was dinner. Francis helped Will replace light bulbs that are hight above. Video call to grandpa Ed and grandma Anne happed after dinner. I opened my St.Francis Port 2003 to celebrte Will and Franxis as fathers. So deliciou!!! We boutht it at the Winery in Cafilfornia in 2003. I kept it all these year for today. A great day. Thanks be to God.

Saturday June 19, 2021

How wonderful to be greeted by Emmy my younger granddaughter as I came out of the bedroom at 7:00 AM. Lilly came running to greet me good morning as well. I felt well spoiled already and the day just got started. God is good. I said my quiet prayers and had breakfast with the granddaughters. Lilly is only 13 and talking about her research on the "Victorian Time Feminism" I had no idea there was Faminism then. Lilly gave me a short lecture on how it exited. I was so impressed by her. Cat and Francis are doing a great job raising my granddaughters to be open minded and forward thinkers not to mention inclusive pepple. Litte Emmy was quiet as most of the time. We both listened to Lilly's lecture very happily. Did I mentioned that I was very impressed by Lilly. After breakfast the gradkids went into the pool. Boy,can they swim! I joined them for about an hour. And Will joined us for about half an hour. Fun it was. Lunch was simple. Cat taught me how to make 4 cheese Quesadilla for the childern and for us we added meat from last evening and spices. So delicuous. After lunch all went to read and nap. We made Slow cooker chicken for supper... I will write more later. Emmy started teaching me how to play Chess. She is a good teacher and I learn something. My first Chess lesson ever and I am so thankful to Emmy. So, we ate one of the simplest but most delicious chicken for dinner with stir fired Celery, mushrooms and onion, and Quinoa. A wonderful conversation over dinner and after. Thank you God for a lovely day.

Friday June 18, 2021

Quiet time with God. I tended to my potted garden. I found all 3 pots of Orchids that I had put outside of the Lanai with frastration several months ago. I watered them whenever I remembered them and God does with the rain too. Well... I am humbled to see that they were budding and growing with beautiful green leaves and canes. So, I reorganized them and brought one of them back in to the Lanai. I learned a lesson. Do not disregard God's creation. We power wash the Lanai as my grandkids are coming this evening. They are good swimmers and the lanai must be at its cleanest for them. Out to lunch at the Skillet with Will. Home and an afternoon nap was delicious. Francis, Cat, Llly and Emmy arrived just before 6:00 PM. So fun to finally see them in person. Lilly is taller than me now. Emmy is pretty colse to my height also. Such gorgeous young ladies they have become. We had good visit and dinner.

Wednesday June 16, 2021

Quiet time with God in the morning reading the Psalms and prayer was good Devotinon with Will was good too. By mid day, I finished "Children's sermons. All 52 of them. Well, first draft. Much ediing need to be done but I still say Wahoo!!! Thank God!!! I went shopping in the afternoon - getting ready for the arrival of Francis and famiy. So exciting!! Anne Owen's siser was killed by bus in NY. It was aweful. We had Anne and Bill over for dinner. We had a good visit.

Monday June 14th, 2021

Psalm 134 1 Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! 2 Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the Lord. 3 May the Lord, maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion. I started my day in quiet time with God and this Psalm and prayers. Good morning devotion with Will as well. By 11:00 AM I had written 5 more Children's Sermons. Now I need to write only 8 more to accomplish Liturgial Year C ( 52 Sundays). Yay! It has been fun to re read Luke and some John and the Psalms to write this. I thank God and Church of the Palms for this Sabbatical time. My friend Anne's sister was hit by a car infront of her own store in New York City this morning. Anne texted me. She did not make it. Joan died this afternoon in the hospital. I am so very sorry. I talked with Anne a few times today. She is such a friend - more like a mother to me. A saint, a sage and a mentor too. This afternoon was very domestically productive for me. I ironed several clothings and a table cloth. I discover or rather rediscoverd some beautiful Indian hand painted batik pieces of Will's. I ironed them as well 3 of them. In the evening we at delicious chicken soup I made. Oh, yes, my sundried tomatoes are so delicous. I am literally addicted to them. I had learned one more thing. How to sun dry tomatoes. Life is good. I am thankful.

Sunday June 13, 2021

It is Sunday and I went to Churh Will to his Church. People there are kind and so good to be there with them. I wrote 5 Children's Sermon today. Yay! I got to read lots more Bible stories from the Gospel and some from the Psalm. God is good.

June 12, 2021

Quite time with God and scripture was good. Devotion with Will after breakfast was good too. 1.5 hours in the pool refresh our souls and a trip to Trader Joe's for the coming week's food shopping was. also productive. My friend John Kennedy's mother Lucy went home to God yesterday and John let me know. I quickly cooked Salmon, mix vegetables and quinoir for him. Will and I took them over to John and had a little visit. Will prayed. It is not a pastoral visit we paid him but a friend's visit and a neighbors as they live a few houses away from ours. I got to know Lucy and she was a wonderful person. In the evening we ate simple stuff like stuffed pretzels. We watched Be Witched in the night. God is good.

Friday June 11, 2021

Quiet time with God and Psalm reading and meditation was wonderful. Devotional with Will reading Psalm 136 and prayer after breakfast was also very soul fulfilling. At 10:00 AM All in One Kitchen people came to replace our Fire place stones. They left by 12:30 PM. Fantastic work they had done. The new blue stone or Granite found in Brazil is now in and is gorgeous. Goes so well with the needle point dad Browne had mad and the new carpet all go together so beautifully. We love it. I wrote 7 children's sermon today. Yes! That means I got to read more scriptures or rather listened to Will read them to me. One at a time. We managed to spend 1 hour in the pool in the early evening, water the garden and had a good chat. I poached Alaskan Cod from Trader Joes' Frozen department in Pinot Grigio and steamed Broccoli. The sauce was made of Sesame oil, Korean soy sauce, water, rice vineger, fresh ginger and green oinion. So delicious. Of course it is a recipe from my late fancy friend June LaBell of NYC. She was such a beauty. I miss her some times. Now on to watching something funny on TV.

Thursday June 10, 2021

A fishing day. Morning with God was good. Coffee with Will and a devotional too was good. I left the house at 8:15 AM to go fishing with David Twible. We went to the same place Saphire Shore Public Park. He caught a big trout and a couple of small trash fish as he called them. I caught a few Mangrove Snappers but we kept the biggest ( about 11" long) and a smaller one about 8" long. David was generous and gave me his big fish about 18" long. I gave him my Mangrove Snappers.We had fun. Such a peaceful activity, calming too. I am thankful that David would go fishing with me. We had lunch at the Olive Garden. I had a good nap in the afternoon. In the evening I learn to filet fish for hte first time! I feel so accomplished. One more new learning in the Sabbatical Time. I roasted it with black pepper, salt and olive oil. We had it with steamed zuchinni. Will loved it. Thank you God. I also wrote 7 Children's sermon in late afternoon and evening. Thanks be to God.

Wednesday June 9, 2021

A quiet time with God in prayer and reading of the psalms in the morning was good. Today I went with Will to his office in Arcadia. I painted the little kitchen there with a pretty blue color her had chosen. He painted the last big wall as well. We worked in silent as introverted people that we are for until almost 2 PM. So peaceful and productive. I cleaned out the cabinets too. We had KFC in the car for lunch and went to the grocery store. I stocked up water, diet soda and cutlery for im in the little kitchen. We came home late long after 6:00 PM. I watered my little garden and we spent about an hour in the pool. I roasted chicken and we had dnner at 10:00 PM. I wrote 4 Children's sermons today. Yay!!! That marked 20 - finished. 32 more to go. Life is good and I am grateful.

Monday Jun 7, 2022

Quiet time with God in Psalm and prayers. Phone calls with family as usual and nice chat with Will. He decided to work at home today. So I made very late breakfast Bacon, eggs, toast and lots of good coffee. We had a good morning. I read lots of passages from Luke and John and wrote several stories for my project today. I am very happy about it. We spent 1.5 hours in the pool and had many good conversations. I tended my little potted garden. Many peppers of 3 kinds. I transplanted 4 pepper plants. I saw a rabit that ate my flowers. He looks cute but cost me lots of money. We decided to try Pincher's Seafood restaurant down below us. Nice water and an Aligator view. The food was so so. We will still return to eat there at least once.

Friday June 4, 2021

Quiet time and prayers in the morning. After breakfast Will and I ran around town looking for Granite for our fire place. We started at "All in One Kitchen" store. They were very kind and send us to another place to look. We found it. A blue one - found in Brazil, we fell in love with it right away. So, we went back to Mr. Lee who was at the One in All Kitchen Store. He will go from there and give us a quote. We hope and pray that we can afford it. we came back from Bradenton to Palmer Ranch to their other store to look at kitchen cabinetry etc as ours are old and peeling and need replacement. Nick spent almost 2 hours with us showing us the posibilities of what we may be able to have. Lots of work but fun. Will's day off was eten up just like that. Evening came and we ate at the Olive Garden as no time to cook as we were hugry as we left Nick at 5:45 P.M. Thank God for those who cook and serve for a living. We watched " Be Witched" at night. So fun.

Wed and Thursday (June 2 & 3, 2021) written on the morning of June 4th

God is good all the time indeed. the last twodays had been good always but I lost a way to get into my blog so I could not make an etry. Thank God, my husband hepled me this morning and here I am. So happy to write about the last 2 days. Yesterday/Thursday June 3rd After quiet time with God, prayers and reading of the Psalms, having coffee with Will, I took off to go fishing. David Twible and I went fishing at the Saphire Shore Public Park. It was breezy and not hot. We fished in the shade of the trees. There are other people there: some with a baby in the strollers, some with dogs in the stroller, some with dogs on a leash, some just walking along quietly, some walking with another person talking and laughing and smiling, some walking alone talking like a fool with their phone thing in the ear... Of course we too talked about the smartness of the fish that ate our shrimp bate and did not let us catch them. I caught 1 very small Mangrove Snapper which I asked David throw back in the water right away. A long time later I caught another small pretty fish. Back in the water. With the very last 2 shrimp David caught a pretty shinny little fish. Back in the water. I caught a 11"-12" good size for eating Mangro Snapper. Back in the water. We were merciful fisher people. We admire the flowering trees and the breeze and went to eat fish at Captain Bryant, a restaurant for luch. I did read a few more pages of Thomas Merton's My Argument with the Gestap. Evening was good at home with Will watching a movie called, " Last Chance Harvey starring Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman set in London, UK."

Wednesday June 2 Time with God. Started reading My Argument with the Gestapo by Thomas Merton. A good day. I made a Mizo chicken and did some more gardening. Will and I watched " Be Witched" in the evening. So very entertaining.

Tuesday June 1, 2021

Quiet time with God was short this morning as Will came into the familyroom/kitchen early. However I did get to read a Psalm and pray. On June 6th 1965 Thomas Merton wrote, "The great joy of solitary life is not found simply in quiet, in the beauty and peace of nature, song of birds, etc nor in the peace of one's own heart, but in the awakening and attuning of the heart to the voice of God..." I so appriciate it. I am reading a book of the collections of his diary everyday as well. Thomas Merton has been my spiritual guru along with Henry Nouwen via his books and lectures on tape and by being at the Getsemany in Bardstown, KY where he had lived as a hermit. By nature since birth, I am a quiet person with few words to say. Since I became a pastor I lerned to talk and became very talkative and noisy a person. I hated it most of the time. I would say that, it is polite talk for the sake others. What I love most during this past whole month of May on sabbatical is being free to be quiet. I don't have to talk to be polite. No polite talk required! Each day I only speak with and to my husband Will and my family far away over the video chat. Life is so much more peaceful as I get be fully myself. I am loving it. Oh, yes Well did leave for work and was gone the whole day. I have been listening to God. So far it is just quietness and peace. I have been also planting seeds and watching them grow, playing in the dirt planting, prunning and gardening. I am loving my time of peace, silent and peace. God is love. God is peace. God is here. Not much done today but reading a little and listening to God in silent. The evening is young yet. I may write a story for children before I go to bed.

Monday May 31st - Memorial Day in the USA

Psalm 16 11 You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures for evermore. This was my mantra for today after reading a few Psalms. In the morning, I remember to be quiet with God and pray and thank God for all those who had given their lives for this nation USA, my new home country. I give thanks to God for all those who are in the service to protect all of us. I thank God for their families. Will slept - in for a long time. I am happy for him. As always I talked with my sister Nutei in Myanmar. She is doing well and i thank God for that too. This is the day most Americans would make hamburger and hot dogs and potato salad and cole slaw and such and feast with families. I don't know how to make such a meal. I like to respect my American husband so, I did buy good ground beef for today's eating. I asked Will if he prefered to cook today making humburgers etc or let me make him meat loaf ( ground beef is ground beef!) or in a Chili form. He chose meat loaf. I made up the recepie from what I remembered of Kendra's recipe she gave me long ago. The meat loaf turned out to be good. Most importantly Will liked it very much. He ate a second helping. I will post pictures below. Will and I tended my little garden. We spent a long time in the pool with great thelogical conversations. Its been a real good day. Toast for supper. Oh, yes, I let Will harvest my Dragon Cayanne peppers and in the evrening, I pickled them with Mary's green mangoes- Indian style. Quite a lovely day really.

Sunday May 30th 2021 Trinity Sunday

One of my favorite Sundays- Trinity Sunday today is. We get to celebrate our triune God Father Son and Holy Spirit today. Thanks be to God. Of Course I went with Will to his Church - First Presbyterian Church in Arcadia, Florida. People were kind. My quiet time with God was short this morning with my mantra from the Psalms reading being: Psalm 99 9 Extol the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy. A fantastic thing happedned on the the way home. I called and we met Ethan Chhangte, the first born of Kimkim Chinzah and Shaun Chhangte in London, UK. Ethan is a few days old and so very cute. Thanks be to God for this child. We facetimed with Ziri and talked on the phone with Francis and family. Will grilled Cod which we ate with salad. Grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Pedicure for me also happened. I am begining to like sabbatical time. Thanking God for a good Trinity Sunday.

Saturday May 29 2021

A quiet time with God in prayers and medittion and a reading of Psalm 19 was followed by coffee and discussin with Will. I made a tuff one for my mantra today: Psalm 19 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Not much happened today. I am thankful for a restful day. I am thankful for the growing plants. I am thankful for the newky blooming orchids. I am thankful for the 3 Mongos from the Hailey's tree which they dropped off while we were gone to errands. Most of all I am thankful to God for this life.

Friday May 28: Pia Spivey- when friends share their children...

That would be yesterday. I had a good quiet time with God in the morning. In late morning, a man from M & M Window coverings Company came. We orered blinds to cover the living room sliding door (Finally - after 8.5 years of living in this house) and for our bedroom. Whew! Its time. Past time. Give cover to the doors. The best part of yesterday was celebrating Pia Spivey's College graduation. We had invited her for this quite sometimes ago and we planned it. We are so very proud of her. May God continue to guide her and bless her. Thank God for her nurturing parents too. Thanks be to God for friends who are generous in sharing their childen for us to love and to celebrate. Love, pride and gratitude all around.

Thursday May 27th

It is a very good day as it is my best friend Hmingtei Hmar's birthday. She is my best friend since June 1984 precisly on a Sunday afternoon at Church in Kolkotta, India. It is also a wonderful day that reminds us all in my family that God is so deeply kind and loving to us that Nutei lives. 7 years ago today Nutei was hit by a bus in Bangkok, Thailand. She lives to tell the story of God's healing power. Today she was offered a job by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Myanmar as Office Administrator. She will begin working on June 15th. God is good! and we give thanks. For the first time since Sabbatical started on May 1st, I went to out from home today. I went to visit and lunch with my friend Eddie Bellis, the new pastor of Cyprus Presbyterian Church, Fort Myers Florida. I drove parts of the way at 100 miles per hour. It was a lot of fun. The conversation was most delicious and the breafast he treated me to was very tasty too. On my way home I drove by Addison and Ford gardens. Beautiful looking. I will return to visit that plae but with Will in the future. The drive home was slow on a rout called 41 or Tamiami. I stopped at my favorite TJMAXX in Venice and bought a beautiful round platter for serving whole roasted chicken for $9.99 + tax. Unbelieveable as it is worthi $90 made by Lenoxx. My lucky day! My soul was norished today by a visit with my friend Eddie. Oh, yes we were class mates at Presbyterian School of Christian Education, Richmond, VA class of 1992. Loooong ago.