Tag: Blessing

Bragging on a Gift

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©jb katke

Did you ever have one of those days? Maybe that ran into a week? Mine are running into two weeks. Possibly three. Consecutive. It’s best I don’t keep track.

Mine began with coffee. Spilling it. The first time was at Bible Study. “Oh, it’s not that bad,” said a friend. Looking at my no longer snow-white sweater forced me to disagree.

“I have to go change, but I’ll be right back.”

The second instance was spilling all over the puzzle table. Fortunately, not on the puzzle that was on loan from a friend. Things can always be worse. Right? The puzzle was spared of the unintentional baptism. That was a down-right blessing, because it was not ours, but a gift from his kids. And there are those who do not believe in God!

My third escapade with coffee was again at home. During a personal Bible study. Working at an already full tabletop, I juggled a couple books on my lap as I held the coffee cup. The books shifted and you can figure the rest out. I was glad we had ripped out the carpet and installed LVP flooring.

Back at church with my Bible Study table ladies, I shared the above. The consensus was I should not be allowed coffee. But I like my coffee.

I tried to make light of it. “I’s not hard and I don’t mean to brag, it’s a gift.”

And it keeps on giving. A couple weeks ago, my beloved Dave came upstairs from his shop. “What’s that smell?”

Pecking away at my computer, “I don’t know. What does it smell like?”

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t have asked what the smell was.”  Silence.

Last week, again coming up from the lower depths of his basement shop, “I figured out what that smell was.”

“Oh?” I was again at the computer.

“Yeah, it’s you thinking of what you are writing.”

Funny, but true words. It takes time and thought to give voice to things. Nor should it be rushed.

For that matter, neither should I. Quickly I changed my shirt before heading to the beauty shop for a trim job. Getting out of her chair, my hairdresser, “Turn around. Your shirt is on backwards, your pockets are on your back!”

In the words of Charlie Brown, “Good grief.”

Phase One 1/2

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© jb katke

What have I done?

The cutting table is gone, the mat along with it. They were my identity. Who am I now?

Too late I understand how my husband Dave felt selling his compressor. It was part of his identity. A valuable tool in his remodeling business.

All sold.

Time moves on and things have a way of changing. My cutting table held many a vision of quilts I would make. Most of which never came to be. Like a child standing before a smorgasbord of tempting food, everything looked appetizing. Only my stomach could not hold all that I piled on my food tray.

Likewise, my fabric stash held tantalizing visions of potential quilts—like sugar plums dancing in my head. But my cutting table was unable to make my workmanship satisfactory. Dave liked my work—except he never saw a quality quilt. What did he know? He was just a staunch encourager to my efforts.

At least Dave’s compressor provided a living. Quilting only provided me with a calm frustration.

We see Phase two coming. The quilt room will no longer be just that. The sewing machine remains, but will be accompanied with a massive bookshelf. It’s gonna be great! The walls are painted, soon new flooring will be laid.

It has been a project of mixed feelings. Never have we ripped out a perfectly good wall-to-wall carpet. The most damage it had ever seen was loose threads. Disposing of it was a conundrum. Our best means of removal was to give it away. Done. It blessed the receiver and gave us the space we needed to continue with the transition.

But I had this brainstorm of an idea that you could help me with. We are the proud owners of Dave’s dads high school letter. L. Because the quilt room will be more than that soon, I hope to frame that L and give the room a new name. But it has to begin with L.

Suggestions please.

Wise Words

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 © jb katke

Mom’s words come back to me., “If you know what your problem is, you’ve got it half solved.” As an adolescent I hated that she knew me so well. Even more, I resented that she was right. Hard as it is to give ear to what we need to hear, it’s tougher yet to put myself into action.

Probably you have heard the definition of a fool. Do the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Necessary changes are in direct conflict with what I am accustomed to doing.

It seems there was am animated movie for children that put it well, “Life is tough.”

What is my problem? It’s so trivial, something we all cope with on a regular basis. Time management and priorities, and the struggle is real. Throw in old age mixed with a lack of energy and I have a recipe for frustration. I’m not cooking this up. Sorry I had to throw that in.

What I need to do is return to my previous pattern of getting into the Good Book and allow its truth to marinate in me. (What is all this cooking lingo about? It’s not my thing!)

I am well aware not everyone is into Jesus. They have their reasons. But I happen to know what a positive difference he makes in life…if I let him in. Due to the tyranny of the urgent, I have set my Bible aside. Today I suffer the consequences. I can’t think of anything more disruptive than unrest. A lot of that is going on in our world today.

I have been blessed with just the right amount of pain. It’s keeping me from sleep and driving me to my Good Book. When all else fails, go do what I knew was missing all along. I dug out my Bible to play catch up with the reading program I had started.

I read about this guy; I’ll call him Neil. He was high up in a military position that lived in a wealthy part of town. Neil received access to spiritual truth. He took it to heart and was directed to seek out a particular person, Pete, that was going around teaching of Jesus. Normally Pete would not have given Neil the time of day. But he too was directed to do something out of the norm. The two men eventually met.

I have left a bunch of crucial details out. Neil was of a different nationality and religion than Pete. The teacher was focused on one people group only. Period. . Translation, the two men would probably never have crossed paths. The word ‘direct’ I used, is actually an angel and a vision. The end result was a whole other group of people got to hear about Jesus that under normal circumstances would not have been privy to. How Jesus came from heaven, healed sick folks, was nailed and left hanging on a cross until he died, and came back to life, ultimately returning to heaven. I know, it sounds unbelievable. You can fact check it in Acts 10.

But here is the deal. The Good Book is the only book I have read that includes, real life  characters, history, romance, wars, dysfunctional families, futuristic events, drama, and more than I can think of right now. Literally, there is something for everyone.

Even though the Good Book doesn’t need anything additional, many writers have produced books that in their own way direct readers to Jesus. I’m telling you this in what I refer to as my take away.

To me it means: A persons status or location in life doesn’t meet inner needs. Jesus’s dad uses all manner of things to communicate with us. And about those aforementioned writers, by all appearances I am one of them.

I’m just a regular person that usually only talks about Jesus with folks close to me. However, in many of my blogs I aim to point others to Jesus. Folks  from all parts of the world have read some of my writing and I am genuinely humbled. Pete got to see the skin and bones Jesus, I have seen Jesus work more subtly, through circumstances and people, that only he could do.

I enjoy hearing from those who read my words. If you have questions; there are things I don’t understand too.  I can’t guarantee wise answers, but I can point you to someone who does…if you ask him.

In The Navy Now

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Dave at Navy Court in Milligton Tenn ©jb katke

The woman behind the counter leaned forward to better hear my husbands’ words.

“I beg your pardon, would you mind repeating what you just said?’

Dave patiently repeated the purpose of our visit, “I’ve just got out of boot camp and returned home to get my wife. I am to report for training classes tomorrow so we need to get housing.”

Eyes wide with amazement, the woman replied, “That’s what I thought you said.  Excuse me while I see what we can do.”

She disappeared behind an office door.  We glanced at each other, wondering why there was confusion over something the housing office does on a daily basis.  The woman returned along with the housing manager.

“It just so happens that yesterday we got an unexpected vacancy. We have a duplex available for rent.”  We signed the paperwork and promptly took possession.

We were into our marriage ten months and had missed each other terribly during the month long boot camp.  We were young and in love; separation was unthinkable to either of us.

Nevertheless, the Viet Nam War made some decisions for us. Dave realized his draft number was coming up.  He preferred the Navy so he had to take action or he would automatically be inducted into the Army.

Needless to say, our first year of marriage had not played out as I had anticipated.

Both of us were clueless to a thing called military protocol or a housing waiting list two years long.

Looking back, I see several miracles:

A couple moving unexpectedly. We walked into the military housing office at just the right time.

The people next in line on the waiting list hadn’t been notified yet,

The manager taking compassion on our situation.

Even now I can’t believe all that was a mere coincidence.  Stupidity yes, but Jesus had everything covered unbeknownst to us.

He didn’t have to provide for us the way he did.  At that time in our spiritual life, a relationship with God was nonexistent.  Both of us grew up in moral homes and went to church each week prior to our wedding.

But attendance doesn’t automatically make you a Christian any more than going to a fast food restaurant turns you into a hamburger.   Having any kind of friendship with Jesus wasn’t in our mindset at that time.

Fortunately Jesus doesn’t wait until we get life straightened out with him before he starts blessing us. Looking back I can see his love was already at work as he patiently waited for us to realize his presence.