It's Raining, It's Pouring

It's raining; it's pouring.

The old man is snoring.

He went to bed and bumped his head,

And he wouldn't get up in the morning.

Did you sing this song as a child too? I don't remember where I learned it or at what age in school but I've never forgotten it.  In those days I lived in a small city where it seldom rained except prairie type downpours in the summer month. These downpours came complete with thunder claps and light shows (lightening). Some days or nights I would be babysitting and when the thunder and lightening began at the same time, I was terrified.  I can remember it would be so loud and the lightening would literally light up the entire house (with lights off) as we were taught to unplug and disconnect all power sources once a big storm came through.

Photo:  Looking toward downtown and False Creek from the waiting room of a doctor's office.  You can make out the reflected lights of the doctors office, some chairs and a person in the corner (bottom right).

Once or twice I remember we kids hid under the bed because the lightening was so powerful and it was difficult to escape. Our house had windows all over the place and the front room had a whole row of windows and more in the front porch.

It's funny what you remember from childhood. To this day I do not like rain storms that come with thunder and lightening at the same time. The few times I have been on the Canadian prairies when this kind of storm came up was rather terrifying too.

Photo:  Looking west on West Broadway, Vancouver, BC. I'm in the waiting room of a doctor's office hence the reflected lights.
You can make out the reflected lights of the doctor's office.

Where I live now we get a lot of rain so I always think of the little nursery rhyme about the pouring rain. Our rain storms don't usually come with thunder and lightening at the same time and when they do, the lightening doesn't light up my home like a Christmas tree!

Thank God for small mercies.

It's been pouring rain all day today and very windy tonight. That usually means a clear sky the next day. Indeed some sunshine is forecast for tomorrow but then it is rain for another week.

It was a very busy day today filled with phone calls and appointments.

I did manage to finally get to the movie

"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom".

I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it.
Idris Elba is a formidable presence on the screen and captures the essence of Mandela very well. Naomi Harris also does a wonderful job portraying Winnie Mandela.

Here is trailer of this touching & inspiring movie.

I hope you are all staying warm and dry wherever you are.

I will be joining in with Skywatch Friday 

and

Weekend Reflections

and add the links later :-)

Bible App

Photo Credit:  Fountain Hills Christian Center, Arizona (website)

Last year I made a goal to read through the Bible chronologically. I got as far as the 2 Chronicles in the the Old Testament. I've probably read the Bible several times over since I was a child but I've never done it chronologically and I've always felt there was something missing as a result. I've renewed my commitment to reading through the Bible chronologically in 2014.

One thing I discovered is that I really like to "read" the Bible by listening to it and reading along silently or out LOUD,  rather than just reading the Bible like I would any other book.   I used the on-line resource Bible Gateway last year to hear someone read the Bible out loud.

The problem is that in order to listen to the day's readings it took me a good hour and more if I want to include time for praise, prayer and study.  What happened is after spending time doing Bible readings I would then sit at the computer to do other things.  This led me to sit at the computer for too long each day.  I was also a "captive" to my headset at the computer for listening to the Bible readings for the day. Ultimately the lack of flexibility about where I could do my readings (I prefer my desktop to my laptop for ease of use), led to my inability to sustain a reading schedule.

Recently, I wrote here, about how I picked two words to help guide me through the year and help to set the tone and direction for where I want to go with my goals for the year.

The words are "simplify" and "streamline".

In 2014,  I plan to resume my readings and "simplify" and "streamline" by using a "new to me" and free Bible app on my cell phone.  I've downloaded the app and I listened to 6 chapters of the Book of John.  I enjoyed it as much as listening on my desktop or laptop and I also love the freedom and flexibility that listening to the Bible on the cell phone brings. Listening on my portable cell phone is much easier than listening on my desktop computer. Also I can make notes about where I left off in my readings (literal notes rather than bookmarks) instead of keeping track on a separate paper or computer document.

It took me a short while to discover that I can read the Bible chronologically using the app, instead of using one of the Bible Study Plans or devotions.  I still have to navigate through the app and figure out if there is a way to mark where I've left off each day beyond making a note.

If you don't already use a Bible app, and want to, you can use one of the many Bible reading and study plans and different study helps. You can also choose from different versions of the Bible.  For now, I prefer the King James Version (KJV) though I know many people don't use this Bible any longer. {I always find it difficult when Churches I attend use different Bible versions to what I prefer reading when they are giving the Sunday Sermon because the language in the KJV is so different. Maybe when I get more proficient on the app, I can simply read from it at Church too.}

There are a number of free Bible apps for smart phones.  The one I'm using is called You Version.

 Have any of you tried it?
I'd love to know what you think of it.

Guiding Words for 2014

{For my Skywatch Post, see here}

Hi friends, I trust you are all settling in to a New Year.

I love the changing of years where we say "goodbye" to one year and "hello" to another.  In recent years I've used it as a opportunity for reflection and planning.  A time to reflect on the year gone by to see what things went well and what things didn't go so well. A time to discover whether there are things that I have the ability to change or whether I need to "let go and let God". It is also a time to think about the coming year and plan and look forward to limitless possibilities.

If you have followed me for a few years you might remember reading my review of goals set for the year.  At the same time I consider whether I had to change my goals in mid-year, accomplished them or had to carry them forward for one reason or another.  I usually also plan and post my goals for the coming year in late December/early January.  This year however I felt the need to do something a bit different.



Instead of posting my goals publically I will be keeping them private. It isn't because they are so secret.  Rather I've just not been as passionate about blogging this past few months.  I still want to blog and connect with my readers.  At the same time, I want my readers to connect with me.  However, I'm trying to find a balance between the two objectives.  So I've started to blog less and visit blogs less often as well. {For now I won't be giving up blogging.}


It is all part of my desire to "simplify" and "streamline".

These two words will be my mantras for 2014. They will guide the goals I set for myself also.

I am a bit behind schedule in terms of what I've usually accomplished in the early days of the year.

But in keeping with my two words, "simplify" and "streamline" I've already spent a bit of time over the past several days doing just that.

Some of the things I've managed to accomplish in the early days of January:

• simplify - made New Year's dinner with less variety of foods to enjoy and didn't invite anyone over for dinner. {While I did have guests over Christmas having a few days to myself to recover from sickness was less stressful because I didn't have to entertain}.
• streamline ~ took down the Christmas decorations several days early. {I usually keep them up until January 2 but this year they came down on December 27th. I think this will be my new norm so I can start the year clutter free.}
• streamline ~  Deleted duplicate and triplicate entries for individuals in my email address book.  {Some people accumulate excessive emails in a short space of time when they switch internet providers.   It's one good reason to simplify by using a free email account.}  
• streamline ~  Got rid of old files and photos from my desktop.  {I should have done this sooner in preparation for installing Windows 8.  I have more streamlining to do from my hardrive folders & photo files.}

I hope that through more simplifying and streamlining there will be progress on the continual process of decluttering which is so necessary to living in a smaller space.  I also hope there there will be much more "me" time.  This "me" time is for reflecting on the deeper things of life and spending time on the things that are most important to me.  There will also be "me" time to take better care of my health.

I look forward to the year ahead and to connecting with you all.  I pray you all have a bountiful and blessed 2014!

Reminiscing

The weather has been very mild of late and we haven't had much rain for awhile. 

Thursday we were back to a bit of rain. (Thursday night was very windy so perhaps Friday will be clear skies again, woot, woot!)

 

It got me reminiscing about warmer and sunnier days. 

I went through my archives and found these beautiful sky photos from summer 2012.

 

I hope you enjoy them.

If all goes well a friend and I will finally go and see the new movie about Nelson Mandela's life, "A Long Walk to Freedom". Both of us have been wanting to see it since we first heard it would be released in December.

Have a wonderful weekend.

I am joining in at Skywatch Friday today.

Happy New Year

May you all have the most wonderful, magical and blessed 

New Year

in 

2014!

See you in 2014.