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11/16/2008

old and full of days

I slept very poorly last night thanks to a consistent cough. I wish some genius would create cough drops and/or cough syrup for those like myself who can't partake of most sweeteners on the market. Hot tea helps me a great deal in this way, but I just didn't feel like getting out of bed every hour to fire up the tea kettle. Water did help somewhat, thanks to Johnny who delivered a glass to my bedside in the wee hours.

So I stayed home from Church which is never my desire, but if you're sick, you're sick. These have been excellent for what ails me today:

-"In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them; in His love and His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old."
[Isaiah 63:9]



-The caption below Barry Moser's illustration (in our entryway), "Job, old and full of days", as in:

"And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold. Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died, old and full of days."
[Job 42:10-17]

I can't wait to chat with Job one day.

-Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness,
leave the gloomy haunts of sadness,
come into the daylight's splendor,
there with joy thy praises render
unto Him whose grace unbounded
hath this wondrous banquet founded;
high o'er all the heavens He reigneth,
yet to dwell with thee He deigneth
.
[from the hymn, "Deck Thyself, My Soul, With Gladness" by Johann Franck, 1645]

-Good radio: Fresh Air Weekend followed by This American Life. Episodes of This American Life - like today's "Home Alone" - never cease to amaze me in the way a good memoir does; if they lived through that, I will surely make it.

-andrea (scout)'s photographs. I love her home, and those red leaves.

-mav's autumn prints hanging in our living room.





-Finding Milo curled up on my brown sweater, previously washed and laid flat to dry; and Harley sprawled upside down in my rocking chair.

-The very thought of a crackling fire tonight, and hanging with both my Dad's and Mom's families in just 11 days.

-A bountiful supply of Kleenex and vitamins.

-Mucinex. I can't be natural all the time.

-The neti pot. I'm a believer.



-A spiced pear candle which smells amazing, flame or no flame.

-Honey lip balm.

-Inexplicable faith in what I know and believe though I'm often perplexed. My love of thinking only goes so far, then I have to lay it all down. This faith wasn't happening last night, so I give thanks today.

-And now, soup for lunch, a nap, reading the Sunday Times, and the new issue of dwell.

6 comments:

Jennifer said...

Jenni, I really pray your health is restored. My 9 year old sons favorite Bible person is Job. He loves how Job still praised God while he was suffering. My boys have pretty severe eczema and Josh really related to Job taken a piece of broken pottery to stratch himself. Many nights my son would read about Job being restored in the wee hours of the morning. It breaks my heart that that is on his mind, but it makes me proud that my son understands more than most kids his age. Thank you for reminding me of that.

jenni said...

Thank you, Jennifer. I'm so sorry about both of your sons' eczema, but Josh sounds like such a wise little man. I bet he's destined for greatness. :)

Jennifer said...

Thanks Jenni! He tells people he is special because he has eczema. It makes him much more compassionate than most kids. He also looks beyond what is on the outside with people he meets.
Oh and that was supposed to say "scratch" I don't do well while multitasking.

Kimberly said...

I hope you get to feeling better soon. We swear by Mucinex and Zycam swabs. Haven't gotten the netti pot yet but it's on the list of things to get soon, espically with cold season upon us.

Robyn Jones Clark said...

i'm a believer in the neti pot too!! woo hoo and mucinex.. it works! i'm praying for you too.. i'm at the hospital now with cecil. he had a lung biopsy this morning. he is doing good... sleeping. turns out we think he may have an autoimmune disorder called sarcadosis. treatible with steriods... but it sure helps to finally find out what is wrong.

jenni said...

Kimberly, I do highly recommend the neti pot. You'll get used to it and then you'll thank me. :)

Robyn, I'm relieved to hear Cecil is relatively OK!