Over the Counter Meds

A couple of days ago I got a forwarded email from a friend entitled "Interesting Medications from the Past." And interesting they are indeed. Here are a couple of the meds from that email:

This one, Bayer's Heroin, was sold between 1890 and 1910 as a non-addictive substitute for morphine. And get this: it was used to treat children with a strong cough. Well now, what do you think of that?

And how about this one? Cocaine drops for a toothache. According to the email, this product was very popular for children in 1885. Apparently, it not only relieved the pain, but made the children happy! No comment on that one.

There were more medicines pictured in the email, such as opium for asthma and others. I just don't know what to think, do you? Oh, by the way, did you notice the price on the toothache drops?

None Other Lamb

Do you sometimes feel the weight of weariness of this life? As I visit other blogs and read about the trials of others, I felt inclined to post this hymn. Christina Rossetti was a well known Christian poet and these words were written by her. I don't know about you, but I'm needing to be reminded of something: "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." Psalm 73:25. Jesus is all I need. Praise His Name.

None other Lamb, none other Name,
None other Hope in heav'n or earth or sea,
None other Hiding place from guilt and shame,
None beside thee!

My faith burns low, my hope burns low;
Only my heart's desire cries out in me
By the deep thunder of its want and woe,
Cries out to thee.

Lord, thou art Life, though I be dead;
Love's fire thou art, however cold I be:
Nor heav'n have I, nor place to lay my head,
Nor home, but thee.

I love the tune. Sing it to the glory of God. He is worthy.

Dare to Be a Daniel

Our church theme for VBS last week was the life of Daniel from the OT book of that name. And of course the theme song for the week was "Dare to be a Daniel." I want my children and grandchildren to have Daniel hearts. Do you want the same for your yours? Here is a video reminder of what the "lion's den" is like for children in some countries. I hope we never forget them.

Have Blog, Will Post

Yesterday, I came upon a blog which I thoroughly enjoyed. It's the blog of a Christian man, rather young, married and the father of two little children. The reason I'm mentioning this is because this fellow's blog was a real inspiration to me, not in the way that you would probably first think. You see, I have a pretty full plate these days and blogging always seems to need to take a back seat. I somehow just don't get to it, and a big reason is the time it takes me to do a post. Why is that? It's because I normally feel that I need to write something somewhat substantial, such as an article about a certain topic. So, waiting for the time to do a post ends up being none done at all.

Now, what was it that I liked so much about this guy's posts yesterday? First of all, most of them were short. He posts almost every day, giving little tidbits of info on a wide variety of topics, including religious news and thoughts, political items, family updates and even some humor. If you're wondering what was there about that which affected me so much, it's because it started me to thinking about my own blogging experience, or lack thereof, lately. I really don't have the time with all the pressing needs; I'm not a fast writer; but I'm not wanting to give up blogging. I thought about how this busy young man still has time to regularly keep up his place on the internet, and I really think it's because I doubt if he spends more than ten minutes tops to make a post. That is really appealing! I don't know how much time he spends finding material to use, but I 'd be surprised if it's much.

I've decided to be a copycat! He doesn't know me from Adam, so he won't mind. The way he does his blog is a perfect solution for me to keep up mine, so I'm going to give it a try. So if you notice a change around here you'll know why. Keeping it up on a daily basis is a bit much, but certainly I hope to do better. And I hope also to go back to my original intent with my devotional blog, Scraps of Glory, by doing just short pieces of inspirational writings from time to time. A couple of my blog friends already have a similar approach to the young man I visited and I like making quick stops over at those places too.

Thanks for listening. I sure have been struggling over this issue of late and feel a lot better about it now. I still love all you wonderful friends I've made here on the web and have no intentions of letting you guys go. Be over when I can and thanks for always understanding that it may not be as often as it could be if life weren't so busy! And keep making all those God-inspiring posts that so many of you bless my soul with. I need to read them when I steal the time. They help keep me sane in this journey through a sin cursed world.

Nothing Between

One of my pastors posted the words to this hymn on a Facebook note this morning and tagged me. I told him I just had to post it here. I remember folks singing this often in the church I grew up in; it was beloved then and no doubt still is in many of the old churches from my culture.

These words were penned by a man named Charles Tindley. He comes from a slavery background--one of my sources says he was born to slave parents, but Wikipedia says his father was a slave but his mother was free and that he was considered to be free. However, according to that article, he grew up among slaves. According to one of my sources, he taught himself to read and write when he was 17 and completed seminary training through correspondence. This man eventually ended up in Philadelphia and became the janitor of a church there. He continued his education while a janitor, eventually earning a doctorate. In due time, he became the pastor of that same church of which he had been janitor. Crowds of all races came to hear this humble man, I've heard, so that larger sanctuaries eventually needed to be built. It sounds to me that if I want to teach my children and grandchildren some success stories, one would be a story like his, rather than about some of the more famous personalities we often read and hear about.

One thing is for sure. Mr. Tindley did not grovel in his unfortunate circumstances, but set his heart and life on the One who could give him true success. Success in this life can only be through Christ, and he knew it. Of his many hymns, this is perhaps my favorite. There are a few others I like very much also.

As we meditate on these words, we should think about the words of Romans 12:1-2. It seems to me that this dear writer had an appreciation and longing for that truth in his own life that we are not to be conformed to this world. Amen, Mr. Tindley. May the Lord Almighty help his saints of today, severely challenged as we are, to have the same longing as this saint from a time gone by.

Nothing between my soul and my Savior,
Naught of this world’s delusive dream;
I have renounced all sinful pleasure;
Jesus is mine, there’s nothing between.

Nothing between, like worldly pleasure;
Habits of life, though harmless they seem;
Must not my heart from Him ever sever;
He is my all, there’s nothing between.

Nothing between, like pride or station;
Self or friends shall not intervene;
Though it may cost me much tribulation,
I am resolved, there’s nothing between.

Nothing between, e’en many hard trials,
Though the whole world against me convene;
Watching with prayer and much self denial,
I’ll triumph at last, there’s nothing between.

Refrain:
Nothing between my soul and my Savior,
So that His blessed face may be seen;
Nothing preventing the least of His favor;
Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.

~Charles A. Tindley (1851-1933)

I always remember it sung with a great deal of inflection and emotion and the tune is quite lovely. I found this video with someone playing it quite simply on the guitar. I wanted you to have an idea what it sounds like if you didn't know.

The Latest

Thought you might like to see the latest in the fashion world.

The Healthcare Distortion

As some of you know, Voddie Baucham is a man whose ministry I have a good deal of respect for. So much is being said about this healthcare issue, as it should be, and he brings up some very important considerations on this. Look at the two short videos in the following link, but then be sure to read what he has to say about what he and his family's position is on health insurance. Very interesting.

Pastor Baucham's post

After hearing what I am about how our country intends to deal with older people under this administration's much touted healthcare solution, I have to admit I've been a bit shaken that it's come to this. It's no small matter, and one that all people with any moral scruples should address with our representatives in Congress. If you are an older individual or anywhere approaching your senior years OR if you have parents or others whom you love who fall into this category, and don't know about this, THIS IS A MUST READ:

Article at World Net Daily

Also please read this article by one of my favorite journalists at one of my favorite blogs. It has a bit more of a hopeful tone:

Star Parker at FJM Blog

Belated Vacation Notes

Isn't it terrible when people make promises that they don't keep? Guilty here! I promised pictures of our vacation when we got back and never did what I said I would do. And I have no really good excuse, so please forgive. And not only that, but I'm going to cheat because I'm lazy--too lazy to do the uploading to Blogger myself.

I only uploaded this one picture of the lovely place which was the vacation home for a week for my husband and me, and our daughter Neesie, and our daughter Bev and her husband and their two little ones. It was a blessed place to be for all of us. This house is situated on the back of a lovely horse farm (our view was wonderful) with woods behind us where we saw deer in the mornings and evenings and other wildlife. It's strategically located in Frederick County, MD, so that we were able to travel to Washington, D.C. one day (via the Metro train); Gettysburg, Pa on another day (my favorite trip); and to Annapolis to the Naval Academy on another day. We did other little fun things, ate big meals at the vacation house, and went to eat out a few times. Also, we got to worship at a sister church with some old friends on that Sunday.

I think for all of us, however, our favorite times were when we we spent cozy hours at the house. God was gracious to give us this time to rest and have fun both. And for the cheating part: Since Neesie had already posted photos on her blog I thought I'd link to her post so that you could see a few more pictures. There you'll see pictures of some of the horses--we fell in love with them --and Neesie even got to help out with their care and feeding one morning! Horses have been dear to her heart since a little girl, so that was special. Please go see!

Paper Momentos

I've been having some days of reading old notes, letters, and cards this week, all from the past. I wasn't sure whether to post about it here or at my other blog, and decided it was more appropriate there. But I sure would like some of you guys to read it too, so would please you take a quick trip over to my devotional blog and read some of my thoughts about these paper momentos and what they mean to me, especially some from my mom, still speaking to me from glory. God bless. A few pictures from vacation next week. I promise.

Having Fun!

Why is it that this modern Nanna usually doesn't have pictures in my purse to show off my granddaughters. That's because all my photos are online. Anyway, I snitched this video off of Bev's Facebook. Had to show it to my NR friends.

For some reason, I can't get the video to work. If you have a couple of minutes could you go here to view it? Thanks!

I love these two little girls! You grandmoms know how it is.

The Return of the Enemy

"The other day, while walking about my home, attending to the normal duties of a housewife, minding my own business and causing no hurt or harm to a single soul, I was attacked by a vicious assailant. This assailant had no mercy, but deliberately and cruelly ambushed me. I made an attempt to retaliate, but to no avail. The culprit was gone. As quick as had been the attack, just as quick was the retreat. My enemy was a flea. And, unfortunately for me and my household, he was not alone."

The above words are a direct quote from one of the first blog entries that I made almost exactly three years ago. When I wrote these words, I was in the midst of a fierce battle with one of the Lord's tiniest creatures, and I am sorry to say, he is back. He is indeed a tiny foe, but one of the most difficult to defeat due to his best weapon: the power of numbers. His strategy could be envied by the best military operatives in the world--he sneaks in by hiding in the woolly coats of our most beloved family pets. After causing them hours of misery if you don't catch him in time, lo and behold, he (or should I be saying she) can leave behind a growing army in your carpet and you don't even know they are there. That is, until they attack!


Get the picture? That's what greeted us on our return from vacation, and this weary housewife has added to the many duties needing finishing up upon our return, warfare against this dreaded enemy. I'm getting there. Three days ago I resorted to lethal weaponry in our home and on our poor Frodo, who returned from his visit to the kennel to become the victim of a savage and brutal attempt on his well being.

We're beginning to relax again. I'm starting to taste victory. I think I see signs of retreat on the part of the enemy. I'm still constantly using what is considered to be the most effective piece of artillery--the vacuum cleaner--hoping with all my might that things are getting back to normal.

So, I'm finally getting to make a blog post. Thanks for all your little notes of concern. I hope to post a few pictures of our vacation soon. I didn't get too many good ones, so I may have to steal a couple from one or both of my daughters. My neck is tons better, but I cannot say that it's gone, as I still can feel signs that this is a chronic problem that will probably always be with me. I only hope it's nothing too serious, but if it gets painful again, I may have to go to see about it. For now, though, the new pillow has been a blessing.

One more thing: Sometimes as I'm vacuuming around my house, I've been thinking about how the flea reminds me of sin. You see, this was all my fault--I was not diligent. I didn't treat my dog soon enough in the spring and I was so busy with neck problems and vacation preps that I wasn't looking for the enemy as I usually do. So he got a stronghold on us, which makes him much more difficult to do away with. Sin is like that in our lives and hearts. If we're not diligent, it will bunker down, get a good strong hold on us, and be much more difficult to eradicate. Our best weapons are the Word of God and prayer. It's so easy to become busy with our daily lives, that we begin to neglect our relationship with our Jesus. It's best not to let sin sneak in because of our lack of diligence, like the almighty flea did in the furry abode of our Fro.

A Blessed Fourth!

I'm still here! We've been back from a great vacation for a week now and for lots of reasons, I haven't gotten around to posting. Just wanted to take a moment to wish all of you a blessed Independence Day. We all need to be praying for this dear country of ours.

Hope you are all well. I don't know when this blogging break will be over but I hope it won't be too very long that I can get over to see you folks. God bless!

Going Away

Next week my family will be away on vacation so I won't be around. Just stopping by with another quickie. Hope you are all well; I have been making a few pop visits this evening, but if I missed you I'll try to catch you when I get back. I've just finished having a birthday and an anniversary and these are the flowers that have been prettying our table for those occasions. Thought I'd leave them here while I'm gone.

My neck is somewhat better but the problem is still with me; I'm afraid it's probably going to be a chronic one. At least I'm not needing Advil for these last three days, so that's something to be thankful for. Maybe I can enjoy vacation after all. Got a new cervical pillow for my birthday! I am so excited about it and hope it helps; it just came yesterday and I'm still just "breaking it in" and will continue to do so when I go away (it's going with me!) so I'll let you know. So far, so good. If any of you have upper back, headache or neck problems, go take a look at it here; you may be interested.

God bless! Have a great weekend looking unto Jesus! Pray for us, please.

Hi Friends!

This is a picture of how I feel these days. The old brain isn't working very well and sitting at the computer isn't the best thing because of a pain in the neck I picked up somehow. Now, I am referring to literal pain, not to any person that I may know. Don't ask me how I got it; I woke up like this on Saturday morning. So for now I'm just "doctoring" this thing, hoping with all my might that it goes away before we leave for vacation the end of next week. I'll try to make pop visits to see some of you here and there, but I doubt if I'll be posting for a couple of days. Hope summer's off to a good start for all of you!

By the way, this is a picture of a "peafowl." Maybe that's what a female peacock is called or is it a separate breed?

Primary Day

Here in our state it's primary voting day and there's a hotly contested race on the Republican side for the governorship. (Is that a word?) Well, we went and voted for the candidate of our choice. You may remember some things I said back at the general election about the community we live in. We are VERY much in the minority. So one of the ladies who waited on us was so shocked when she saw that we were voting on the "REP" side of things. She was so excited (quite obviously because she too was another of those strange R's in the community) that she actually kissed my hand in jest and whispered her thankfulness to see another of us come in. It was quite obvious that the other lady behind the table did not share her view. Actually, it was all quite amusing to say the least. It was late morning, and I was only number 2 to vote in our district for our political party. I wonder who the other one was? Oh, it was probably that lady. Well, my husband followed along as number 3 and she was all the more tickled.

Not that I think any particular political party is the answer to all the woes that we are enduring as a nation. Our only hope and answer is the Lord. This country needs Him desperately. We need to RETURN to Him. We never were following Him perfectly, of course, but there was a day when we at least showed some semblance of seeking God. That's why the button you see above was not an offense to me. You see, while I am thankful for many of the advances we have made here in America, there are so many ways that I would indeed like to go backwards. Actually, this button made me think. How and where would I like to see this country of mine go backward? Here are a few:

1. There was a day when it was considered an abomination to intentionally kill a child in the womb, let alone that it would be legally sanctioned by the government.

2. There was a day when there would have been absolutely no question whatsoever that marriage was between a man and a woman. The fact that it would even be questioned at all would have been unheard of.

3. There was a day when prayer and Bible reading in public schools would never have been considered an offense to anyone. It was just a normal part of the school day.

4. There was a day when teaching abstinence was not questioned.

5. There was a day when you could turn on your TV to look at regular network programs, sit down and watch them with your children, and not worry what was going to be seen or heard from across the airwaves.

6. There was a day when stores and other places of business honored the Lord's Day.

I could do more, but I have to go start dinner so I'll stop for now. I wish I had time to go on, but maybe some of you have something you could add.