Southern Porch Extension

[Green Leaves]

I missed the aspirin post earlier too...maybe it was while you were having trouble with your computer.

Thanks, Edy, for red lining my requests.

I had forgotten u til you mentioned it again, Mariane, about Day By Day being one of your mother's favorites. The words really seemed to minister to both my mother and I during that time, what a gift some of these writers had! I meant to mention...I was once extremely moved by a young widow who sang that song shortly after the death of her husband and both in-laws in an accident. Her testimony in doing it at that time was profound. Her husband had been on staff with our church.

[forHIM]

PRAYER GEM FOR TODAY . . .

“ When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.

Jonah 2:7

Sometimes, I feel like a big old fish has swallowed me up and that I am lying in the darkness not knowing what or where God is leading me . . . . but my prayers I know have gone up to Him and into His holy ears and He is still working on coming up with the answers. Although I feel as if I may faint at times from being left in the pit of the unknown . . . I keep on keeping on ~ always remebering His grace,mercy and love for me . . . and therein lies my light and my hope!

Amen and Amen

[ready2go]

Do you remember this blast from the past?

When I was little kid living in Ohio between 1945 and 1949, I recall my parents taking me to shoe stores for new shoes. Back then, most/all of the shoe stores had an x-ray machine. As I remember, it was a 2'-3' tall box-like gadget with a large opening in the bottom and a viewing screen on the top.

After the sales guy tied the laces on the new shoes, he would lead the customer over to the machine to check for "proper fit." The customer would place his/her feet into the large opening at the bottom of the box, then, after the power was turned on, one could look through the screen to see toe and foot bones, flesh, and the shoe construction. The sales guy would then determine if there was enough clearance for comfort or foot growth.

When we moved back to South Dakota in late 1949, I don't ever remember seeing another one of those x-ray gadgets. Either such high technology was not yet available that far west, or perhaps they had been removed from stores because people complained of their toes glowing in the dark.

Don

[ready2go]

Another blast from the past?

When I was a little kid, we would sometimes go shopping at the "Monkey Wards" store in a larger neighboring town. I recall seeing sloped, tight wires extending from the shopping floor and up through an opening in the wall of the second story level. Every once in a while a two-wheeled roller skate like device would go zipping up or down the wires.

When a sale was made, the clerk would place a transaction slip and money into a cup that was screwed onto the bottom of the "roller skate." Then, the clerk would firmly pull on a hanging cord...quickly sending the "roller skate" upstairs to the cashier office. In a few minutes the "roller skate" would come zipping back down with the change and stamped receipt inside.

For some reason those things went the way of the dinosaurs. But, it seems to me that they would an effective way to discourage armed robberies since the store's cash was high up in a inaccessable bunker.

My first bicycle came fro Monkey Wards. The brand was "Hawthorn" with white wall balloon tires, a horn, a headlight, a passenger carrier over the rear fender, and it was red color. Wow! I was about 6 years old at the time.

Don

[ready2go]

Okay...more past blast stuff.

Way back in the 50's, there was a little town named Lone Tree, South Dakota that was about 30 miles from my little town. Actually, nobody lived in Lone Tree...population zero. However, there was a gas station there...and there was a big tree...the only tree for miles around, thus the name. That tree was probably a mature tree even before the great Sioux uprising a couple of centuries ago.

The highway to Lone Tree was aimed directly at that tree, so they split the highway and made a lane passing on each side. They couldn't cut down that old tree, ya know, so they named a town after it.

Just down the road from Lone Tree, and also in the middle of nowhere, was a popular place called the Dells Park Ballroom. Big name entertainers of that period would perform there an Friday and Saturday nights...people like the Everly Brothers, the Four Lads, Dion and the Belmonts, Ricky Nelson, the Kingston Trio, and many more.

I think I was there to hear all of them over the years.

Don

[Green Leaves]

Never knew or heard about the foot X-ray machine, but I remember the device that sent cash back and forth. In fact, my sister used to work in one of the stores office when that was in use. Haven't thought if that in ages.

An update on Carissa...

She thinks she has another sinus infection and the wheezing from asthma hasn't gotten any better. She is worn down physically and emotionally and really needs a healing touch from the Lord one way or another. Today was the first with the new sitter too. The girls absolutely love her.

[Edy]

GreenLeaves - I'm so happy for the new sitter and the girls' loving her. That should relieve a lot of stress for your daughter so she can rest and recover her health and strength. The Lord is such a good Shepherd!

Don - I loved the trips down memory lane. Only once do I recall seeing one of those foot machines. Were they really x-ray? Wow, I'm surprised they were allowed, considering the danger (even if it were fluoroscopy rather than x-ray, it's still radiation). And, I'd forgot about those fascinating "roller skate" cashier devices. That would have been considered "high tech" when we were kids. How times have changed - don'tcha feel sorry for the youngsters that missed all our childhood adventures? Like the lady elevator operators wearing gloves, who had two sets of doors to open, one of which was a metal folding lattice. They called out the floor as the car approached it, naming the sales departments available for each one. Sigh! Such service.

Here's another: Visiting hospitals (even though too young to do more than sit in the waiting room), I found the bell-tone paging system quite enchanting (it sounded almost heavenly in the otherwise hushed atmosphere). My mom explained that the doctors and nurses knew their own code, and would then phone the operator to retrieve the message. We didn't have those bells at my training hospital, as I recall, having it replaced with voice paging, by then. But, we still had a switchboard operator. Susan was a lot of fun. The switchboard was on main floor, right below the labor rooms on second. One night when I had a young screaming mimi in labor, Susan phoned me to ask what on earth I was doing for the poor gal. She told me she could actually hear her through the floor!

[ready2go]

Does anyone remember the days when you would pull into a gas station and the attendants would rush out to help? You could tell them you want a dollars worth of regular...and would actually get about 4 gallons for that dollar.

They would clean your outside windows...check your oil...and check the air in your tires, too. I used to work part time in a gas station, so I have that done plenty of times.

I remember $.22 per gallon one time during a gas war in the late 1950's. A new Ford would cost about $2000 and would get about 25 mpg with its V8 engine.

Don

[Green Leaves]

Okay, question for nurse Edy or anyone else in the know. Several months ago I went for a pedicure and the gal asked me what I had done to my toe. It wasn't bothering me so I said, nothing. Then last week I noticed that I have a huge tear on my toenail about 3/4 of the way back in the nail. It appears new nail is growing in behind it. It doesn't really bother me and, if possible, don't want to ha e a podiatrist mess with it. I would just like to let the nail grow out gradually and keep trimming it off until it is gone. Any problem with that? No bleeding seems to be involved. Should I be soaking it regularly in hydrogen peroxide or something to prevent infection? Or just try applying an antibiotic cream where the nail is torn?

[Edy]

GL - sounds to me like you can just let "nature take its course." As long as you aren't uncomfortable and have no evidence of infection (hot, red, swollen, painful), I'd just leave it be. New nail will push out the old one. If you're afraid of catching the tear and making it worse, you could put a band-aid over it for protection.

Once, while washing windows for my folks I had a heavy one fall on my index finger. Imagine a blood blister under the nail! The pain was so excruciating, I used a needle to dig under the nail in order to drain the blood and relieve the pressure. I was afraid my new nail would grow in looking deformed, but it didn't - it grew back looking as fresh as a baby's! We are fearfully and wonderfully made - thanks be to God!

[BeachGrandma]

We talked about how comforting the gospel song, "Day By Day" is to some of us the other day. Here's another person who was blessed by the lyrics.

I've told you about my friend, a godly man in his late 60s,who was convicted of molesting his granddaughter when she was 5 (14 years ago). The girl has a history of mental illness and delusions and nobody thought my friend would be convicted in the trial in early February. He's so ill that he's in the prison hospital all the time and they wouldn't even give him an extra blanket when he was shivering with the cold. He finally persuaded them to give him an extra small towel which he put over his shoulders in the bed. (Convicted child molesters are despised like no others in prison, as you know). Here is part of an Email his wife wrote to me last night: (I've changed the names for obvious reasons).

Paul called me from the jail medical observation unit tonight. He told me the sheriff told him the extra security was for his protection, that if someone hated him they might come to the hospital to kill him or someone inside the prison could try. Life has certainly turned to drama on the high seas here. Medically, Paul had fluid on his heart and they put him on a diuretic yesterday, which they will continue. After heart surgery, he had been on a diuretic until last August when his blood pressure dropped radically low. The danger of the low blood pressure is failure of other organs, particularly the kidneys. I asked Paul when speaking to him on the phone to tell the staff what had happened in the past and ask them to closely monitor his blood pressure or should he start feeling weak or faint, to ask for a blood pressure check.

I asked him if he felt the Lord's presence with him and my love last night since I spent the night in prayer for him, and he responded with an enthusiastic "Absolutely".

As for me, I was an absolute basket case last night until I got alone with the Word and the Lord. Paul and I have been reading through a hymn book, reading each verse of every song. The one for yesterday was "Day by Day and With Each Passing Moment". I have enclosed a scan of the lyrics and story about the hymn's author. May the words bless you as they did me. I played the hymn over and over on the piano before going to bed. God gave me rest in the night as I prayed.

I hope you all will continue to pray for Paul. He told his wife he just wants to die in her arms, and he's so ready to meet Jesus.

[Verna]

I've just prayed for each request. I hope Laurie is getting some much-needed rest this week and that her mother is adjusting with God's comfort.

Thank you for posting hymns--one of my greatest inspirations. Vvonne Blake (FW) e-maila a hymn every day. I save them in a folder that I have put on CD--Just the words--but I know the melodies to all I've downloaded--so I can have a hymn singin' right by myself.

Don, I remember all you posted. I can still see those bones in green light.
Edy, our dormitory had a bell system like you mentioned, and when we had gentlemen callers, they could "call" us to pick us up for our dates. Now , that was a day or two ago.

Mariane, I'm so impressed with the dedication of your missionary friend. This week is missions emphasis at our church, and there are 18 missionary families visiting. I think one of the hardest things must be their separation from loved ones they leave behind to go to the mission fields.
I am praying the Lord will take your friend out of the miserable circumstances that have brought him to prison by deceit.

Debby, May God give you a special touch today of encouragement,
and Carol, may He touch Carissa with healing.

[ready2go]

.

Don, I remember all you posted. I can still see those bones in green light.
Edy, our dormitory had a bell system like you mentioned, and when we had gentlemen callers, they could "call" us to pick us up for our dates. Now , that was a day or two ago.

My toes aren't green anymore. They decomposed and fell off.


A bell system for gentlemen callers??? What's up with that? I always heard that the gals escaped out through the back window and down a ladder...held steady by the "gentleman."

Remember this one from yesteryear?

Carol Deene - James (Hold The Ladder Steady) - 1962 45rpm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOXo1cmC ... re=related


Don

[Green Leaves]

Thanks, Edy, for your input. I just didn't know if I needed to do anything to prevent infection. That blood blister sounds bad.

Mariane, I was so moved by your friend, "Paul's",story that I have added him to my prayer list. I pray that God will bring justice so that the world will know of his innocence. My heart goes out to him and his wife.

Praying for all my porch pals.

[Green Leaves]

I had mentioned some time ago that Marty and I had bought a set of Lou Giglio's Dvds. This weekend we watched "Indescribable". How totally awesome. If you want to be thoroughly blessed, this Dvd is available on YouTube in five parts. Here is Part One:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewKtSKbWZUI&noredirect=1