Small and Wonderful Things

  

"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny?...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard 

A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best. 

 

 

(source)

We have no paid clergy/leadership in the local and stake areas of our church.  Everyone is a volunteer, called by the Lord to do whatever it is that they have been asked to do. They are called and given the opportunity to accept or refuse, and if accepted, they are set apart by the laying on of hands by someone with authority to do so.  This means that someone like our Bishop (the equivalent of a Pastor) would just be an ordinary man, who would have a day job that he works at, and a family, would take on the reponsibility of the pastorship of our local church voluntarily.  It is a huge responsability, as he is responsible for the spiritual and physical welfare for all the members under his care, both active and inactive.  Yesterday our Bishop was released from his calling along with his counselors (two) and a new Bishop and counselors were called. Most Bishops only serve for five years and then they are more than due a rest and are replaced.  Our Bishop had served for almost 6 years as Bishop, and done so admirably  He was only 26 when he was called to be our Bishop, with a young wife.  During his time as our Bishop they had two children.  There were tears all over yesterday during our sacrament meeting when this all came about.  He has been a brilliant Bishop.  He has served with humility and a sense of humour and great love for his flock.  I never ever felt invisible or unimportant and I always felt loved by him.  I was sad to see him being released, but I knew it had to happen eventually.  The new Bishop will also be brilliant.  He is a young man with a young family also, an amazing man.  Oddly enough I had said to him several weeks back that I thought he was going to be our next Bishop and I was right.  He  will do so admirably.  The outgoing Bishop and his wife bore their testimonies yesterday, as did the new Bishop.  Tear all around, both on the podium and in the congregation.  It was a very touching service.

 

Every Sister who is a member of our church has two Sisters who are assigned and called to be her Visiting Teachers. These two Sisters are assigned to minister to her needs and to visit her regularly, pray for her, comfort and strengthen her when needed, be her friend, care, etc.  I was given a new Visit Teaching parter yesterday in Relief Society, and new sisters to visit teach,  and also new Visiting Teachers to visit me.   

 

 

 This is an inspired program which greatly blesses the lives of all who are involved and who participate in it diligently.  I have always come to love the Sisters that I visit and my partner that I visit with.  We have become more than just Sisters in the Gospel, but friends.  I have had visits over the years that were nothing more than spending an hour helping someone fold laundry and talking. You see a need and you fill it, with love. Its as simple as that.  I love Visit Teaching. My new partner is the woman who was my first friend when I moved over here.  She was my Matron of Honor at our wedding, so I am very excited about that and about the Sisters we will visit together.  I am also excited to know who my new Visiting Teachers are! 

 

Warm milk and custard creams. That was my Sunday night snack last evening. They were very good.  I had not had a custard cream in a long time. It went down a real treat.  Okay, I had more than one.  True confessions.

 

Outlander 3 and Claire and Jamie have been finally reunited.  So romantic.  I am sure that things will not run smoothly for the two, it never has, but I was so happy to see them back together.  I am a romantic at heart.  It is a bit disconcerting that so much time has passed and yet they look no older, but that is just the pedantic me trying to spoil a good party. The romantic me will not take any notice of the pedantic me. So there.

 

Whole wheat toast.  I can't believe now that for most of my life I only ate white bread.  I have a great love for whole wheat now.  And if I can get a seeded whole wheat so much the better.  It has so much more flavour and I love the slightly nuttier texture. 

  

The last roses of the season  . . .  the stragglers, hanging on to share their beauty with us.  That is why I love roses.  They are the last of the garden flowers to give up the ghost before the onslaught of winter.  So beautiful amidst the decay all around them.  We will give all of them a good pruning this year and the hydrangea also. Its good to do that every now and then. 

  I also love the deepening autumn colours of the hydrangea in the garden . . .  some are almost scarlet and still amongst them I see a few buds . . .  My ex boss used to have the gardener clips armloads of the scarlet and deep mauve autumn blooms off the hydrangea bushes and they would dry in the laundry room for several weeks before she used them to create a huge arrangement which always stood on a large oak table in the entry hall of the manor.  The housekeeper would lay sheets all over the floor and table so the Mrs could do her magic.  She would make an awful mess when she was doing it and the sheets helped the housekeeper with her clean up afterwards.  It was the same when there were dinner parties.  The Estate Manager would go early to the flower market in London and bring back what she had asked for, sometimes close to £1000 worth of flowers, (I know, the mind boggles) and in the hours before the dinner party she would be in the laundry room creating her beautiful arrangements and making a huge mess for the housekeeper to clean up.   Oftimes when the guests were arriving, she hadn't even gone up yet to get ready herself, but would still be in the laundry room putting together the flowers.  I will give her that, her flower arrangements were fantastically beautiful, even if they were a huge pain in the butt for everyone else, lol, not to mention creating a huge dent in the Mr's wallet.

 

The smell of a Christmas Pudding steaming.  Its amazing.  Its all you can do not to tuck into it once it is done, but you can't because . . .  its for Christmas.  It is fruity and spicy and a tiny bit boozy smelling, but mostly fruity and spicy.  Bring on the figgy pudding!  Can't wait.  I do believe I will really enjoy this years. (Even though I shouldn't.)

 

Next weekend it will be time to bake my Christmas Cake.  That will be even harder not to tuck into it.  Todd and I both adore fruit cake. This year I am going to make two, a light and a dark.  And I may even make mum's warcake.  We will see, best laid plans and all that.  There are only two of us . . . 

 

 And with that I best leave you with a thought for the day.  I have a Doctors appointment this morning and I need to do the dishes from last night. (Oh, I was such a lazy pup yesterday.)

.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *.˛.°Your muscles will ache along the way,
from pushing yourself to the limit that day,
and you might have to keep going anyway,
but you are going to be okay . . . 
~bravegirls club  .° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 

Spiritual Enlightenment
 

 

BOOK OF MORMON CORNER - Today's reading -1 Nephi 8:16-38
 Question - If the rod of iron is the word of God and the tree is Jesus Christ, what do these verses teach you about the role of the scriptures? How have the scriptures worked for you in your life? 
What I learned - The rod of iron led straight to the tree. The scriptures take us to God. They are His voice beckoning us, teaching us, enlightening us, chastising us, and showing us all things that we need to do, until we fall down at His feet and partake of His goodness. When I read the scriptures, I feel enlightened. I feel like the fog has lifted from my eyes and I can see the Saviour clearly. There is so much I want to know, and I know that all the answers are contained in them. From them I gain comfort when the world tries to take over my life and I need some calm from everyday toils and troubles. From them I gain sustenance and the strength to carry on. All cars come with a User Manual to help the driver get the most and the best out of their car and driving experience.  The scriptures are like the User Manual for life.  I don't know how I would ever be able to cope without them.
Tomorrow (Day 11) - 1 Nephi 9:1-10:10
Question -  How can remembering that "the Lord knoweth all things" help you in your life? 

 

In The English Kitchen today  . . . Crock Pot Ham, Beans and Potatoes.  Quite simply delicious.

Have a brilliant week.  May your days ahead be filled to overflowing with small and wonderful things . . . don't forget!

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And I do too!