shows – Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner

I want to share a few things going on in my life right now, so if that isn’t anything you want to read, feel free to move on.

Update on Daisy

Daisy was pretty well-behaved at the vet yesterday and the vet was wonderful with her. The blood work came back normal, so no problems with her major organs and the doctor couldn’t find any signs of tumors. After talking and doing a flow chart, the doctor wants to start with the least problematic thing first and change her diet, so she is on a special food now. She just started it yesterday evening, but so far, so good. If she starts vomiting again, I have to call back to schedule an x-ray that will require me to make her fast for twelve hours. Anyway, so far, so good and I appreciate your prayers.

What I am reading now

There are so many good books and so many launch teams that I am a part of that I don’t know where to start. These are the top books that I am reading now, but I am actually reading about fifteen of them. I am trying to discipline myself to put the first book to launch at the top of my list and stay with it until I move on to the next one, but that is hard for me since I habitually read more than five or so books at a time. Anyway, these wonderful books are coming soon and if you enjoy Christian fiction, you should check them out!

What I am watching now

I watch TV shows for about an hour every other day. I generally watch the family shows with our granddaughter Teya. They are too “mushy” for my husband, so we watch The Night Agent together. I like the family shows better, but Harry enjoys the action of The Night Agent and it is mostly drama and secrets and spying instead of blood and gore.

What I am listening to now

I subscribed to Audible to try to knock off some books from my reading list without having to use my eyes all the time. I also like Christian music to listen to as I do my devotional and some of my reading.

I am almost finished with Dana Mentink’s Love Inspired Suspense book and I really enjoy Divine Sound…99 Christian songs by various artists, including Brandon Lake and Anne Wilson.

How’s my health

Hard topic, but I will try to keep it short. My spine is giving me fits, depending on how long I have been standing or walking that day. I see my ortho doctor on Monday and he is supposed to have met with the “team” to decide what the next step is for my five herniated discs and pinched nerve. I feel as though I am on a tight schedule to get anything done because Teya gets married (a wedding!) in northern PA in August. I also developed a bronchial infection this week, so I am on multiple meds for that and have to keep a written list each day of the times of breathing treatments and oral meds. But I am improving and have been sleeping a little better at night.

My scripture for the day

I hope you enjoyed Snippet Saturday. Feel free to share your own activities, listening, books, shows, etc. Let’s spend time getting to know each other so we know better how to pray for each other.

As a Spanish teacher for over almost four decades, verb tenses have always interested me. I notice verb tenses as most people note adjectives and adverbs. I want to know when something happened or if it’s a progressive, ongoing thing. Look at the tenses in this scripture verse today.

The verse starts with God shows His love for us. Some translations say demonstrates, but no matter which version you read, this verb is in the present tense. This is an ongoing action…it happens constantly. We are sinners saved by grace, but we are still sinners. And God’s love keeps showing up for us, helping us to clean up our act and to be more like His Son.

The next verb says that Christ died for us. That is a completed action. Christ died once for all and he said “It is finished.” The sacrifice that God the Father sent Him to earth to complete is done, one time, on the cross. We are still sinners, but He died so that we can leave that sinful life behind and be washed clean in His blood. He died once but He loves forever. Tenses are interesting, but they are also important.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being around people who need to take a shower or bath. The smell often makes me try to hold my breath or I gag. I have come across homeless people who smell like this and it is not a pleasant odor. Now, consider that we were all unclean, wallowing in our sins, but God loved us right then, no more or no less than after we accepted His Son as our Savior. God loves the sinner even in the midst of our pig sty of sin and guilt and shame. Then, when we accept the sacrifice He made for us, He is the One who cleans us up with the precious blood of His Son and makes us righteous before Him. We didn’t have to get clean first and then come to the Lord. In fact, we cannot do anything to clean ourselves of our sin. That takes the blood of the Lamb, and that is the free gift of a loving Father.

Washed in the Blood-Faith&Grace