If You Think!

I got this link from Pat's blog. It so touched me that I just had to share it with you all, too.

If You Think...

It really made me stop and think about how very blessed I truly am. May I always remember that...and may I do what I can to make someone else's life easier!

A Birthday, Water Leaks & Gratitude!

Today is a beautiful day. The sun is shining. A breeze is blowing. The contractor is here trying to find that last water leak. It is so wierd. The thing that spins to indicate a leak has gone off and on. It went off. Then when he found a leak and fixed it, it went back on. He is a bit beside himself, poor guy, trying to find where all the water is leaking at. I really feel for him and have been praying that he can find it.

In the meantime, I am so thankful that we have tanks for water. They are getting low, so I am not sure how much we have left. I don't particularly feel like pulling the front of the couch off to eyeball it. Hmmm...that sounds like a "Kodak" moment! *smile*

Today is my birthday and the anniversary of my sister's death. I am pretty much spending it in quiet contemplation listening to the beautiful and soothing music of PBN. Pat has played some especially mellow, soothing sets in the last few days. It is ministering so much to my heart. I am feeling very much in our Abba's arms. Right now, all the struggles of this life seem so far away as the music helps to sweep me into the presence of Almighty God. He has it all under control.

I am taking advantage of the contractor being here to let our son follow him around to watch, help and learn. The contractor is a young brother in the Lord who has had no business in the last couple of months or so due to construction slowing way down. We are praying for him and his young family.

I feel better than I have in along time. I cannot explain why...other than this day marks a personal milestone in more ways than one. So, I sit and think of my sister and of how very blessed I am...and I am thankful.

Straw and Hay Bales Around the Rig!

Pat and Claudia at PBN Radio have mentioned several times that we had to put bales around our RV during the previous winter to keep the cold out. I figured I would post some pictures of what that looked like.

Beautiful Music!

When I can, I love to start my day listening to beautiful music. I have some podcasts that I listen to that I absolutely love. They are called "Praise Until Dawn". I have even saved some of them and edited the titles to reflect what kind of music is on the different segments of the podcast. It is all worship music...and quite a few of my favorite worshippers and music styles. So, I can pick and choose what I want/need to listen to.

If I am going to work out...well, what I call a "workout" which is, I admit, pretty pitiful...I will listen to some of the faster paced stuff. I love to dance to music...but an 11' x 7 1/2' living space filled with counters, sofa, table, etc. just does not leave a whole lot of room! **grin**

Sometimes I am in the mood for the softer more melodic stuff. That is a lot of what is played. There is quite a variety, but it is all music that is worshipful and lifts my soul and spirit to the Lord above. They also sometimes mix in beautiful instrumentals, which I also very much enjoy.

As a singer at heart, one thing I really like, too, is that I can hear all the words in the songs. I like to experience a full expression within the music. If there are words...I want to HEAR them! I want to know what my heart is agreeing to in the listening. That is very important for me. Not all songs are really biblically correct. So, if the music is not mixed properly (this goes for church services, too), it really bothers me.

Praise Until Dawn (PUD) plays at Praise Broadcasting Network (PBN). It is the two hour "quiet time" of Pat and Claudia Rutherford...that time when they quiet their souls and spirits before the Lord. They start off with some music and then slide into about 25 minutes of welcoming people to join them while they banter back and forth and read emails on the air. Pat usually shares a bit of his take on what is going on in the world at large and with life on this planet in general as believers. Throughout his "commentary" he shares what he believes our "Instruction Manual" (what he calls the Bible) is saying about how we should respond to the things going on in this life. It is very rare that I disagree with him...so rare in fact that I could not even tell where we differ.

That is another thing I like about Pat and Claudia...they are who they are...no pretensions. They are just down to earth people with foibles like the rest of us. They don't pretend to have "arrived". They just love you the way you are and are more than willing to simply agree to disagree about something. There is no pressure to believe the way they do about anything. They have encouraged me a lot as we have built up an email relationship. I hope to some day meet them on this side of the veil...but if not, I know I will meet them on the other side.

I so love it when Claudia reads the emails they get from listeners. In them, people from all over the world share how PUD and PBN has blessed them so much. They also share how Yahweh/God has moved in their lives. It is very encouraging.

After that there is a brief episode of "Unshackled", followed by one and half hours of beautiful music, with another "Unshackled" in there later on. One of the best things about PUD is the way Pat and Claudia will share some verses that God has put on their heart. Pat is always praying inside and asking the Holy Spirit to show him what to play next. It is the only live segment on PBN and it is very much a working of the Holy Spirit through the selecting of the music throughout.

The live segment comes on at 5PM EST M-F and is then repeated three times during the following 24 hours. On the weekends, they play repeats of two of the PUD's from that same week. If they are not able to go live, for some reason, they insert a PUD from a previous broadcast. They also simulcast on KNTV, which has a link on their home page. During that 5PM live segment you can actually see them in the studio via either KNTV or the webcam they have set up. That is...if Pat remembers to flip the switch over for KNTV. LOL

The webcam shows the studio 24/7, whether they are live or not. KNTV, however, has a real treat. There is a support team who volunteer their time to help Pat and Claudia out. You can see this on the website. On the home page there is a slide show that plays along with scriptures that keep changing. On KNTV, Elisa has taken those pictures and created absolutely beautiful moving slide shows with scriptures right on the pictures. You have to see it to believe it. It is incredibly beautiful!

There are other things on the site, including a prayer forum where listeners can read and post prayer requests. It is a wonderful ministry. There is a "store", a blog, etc.

So, you can't tell that I love these people and their team and what they are doing, can you? I have the link to PBN in the links section of the column on the left. But I will put it here, too, to make it easy for anyone who wants to check them out...which I highly encourage you to do. There is music playing on PBN in between the PUD segments, along with a teaching by Zola Levitt once a day. All the music is hand picked by Pat and Claudia. It is music that really touches them and they work hard to try and keep it up and running 24/7. In between the PUD segments you can even see what song is playing and who is doing it.

Here is the link. I would love to see more people join the PBN "family" for that is what we really are..."family"! That is how they see the listeners and that is how I, as a listener, see them.

http://www.pbnradio.com/index.html

Ice Storms & Awnings!

Today we had snow off and on, followed by sleet. Tonight we have rain and tomorrow we get more sleet. There is supposed to be a buildup of 2 inches of ice tomorrow morning, but by the afternoon the rain is supposed to melt it. There is a lock in for the youth tomorrow night, but I am not sure it is going to happen. If the roads are bad, it will be put off.

Our awning is out, so whenever it snows or sleets, we have to shake the snow and ice off of the awning so that the weight won't cause it to collapse. What fun that would be if it came down on us! Right now, it creates a sort of porch on the door side of the rv.

The tarp that covers the roof hangs down over the side and across the awning. This keeps the insulation layer on the roof and the water out, especially since the roof leaks. As the snow and ice melts, the water runs down the tarp creating icicles hanging down from the edges. Where there is string, there is long strip of ice encasing it. Earlier, the thermometer hanging from the awning had several icicles hanging from it with a strip of ice running down both sides of it. I knocked the ice off of it, but fully expect to see more by tomorrow.

When I took off the insulation sheets from the window facing the meadow this morning, there was a thin sheet of ice on the lower portion. Amazingly, there was no ice dam in front of the sliding window and I did not need to unplug the track drain holes. The other window, which is under the awning, had less ice. That side tends to be a tad bit warmer if there is no wind.

Right now, Dave has our son down at our box. They are trying to heat the frozen padlocks so that they can get into it to look for his sleeping bag for the lock in. We have a full size bag up here, but it got left outside in a garbage bag that leaked. It is wet with frozen ice. So, unless we can wash it, he cannot use it because it might have mildew on it.

Ah, yes, mildew...another problem around here. But, I will address that another time. For now, I am going to sign off as I sit here looking out the window at the snow and sleet and listening to the beautiful music of PBN as the gray sky turns to twilight. The road is white already and I am so glad that we do not have to go out tonight. Dave came home early to avoid the ice buildup.

Snow! & Answer to ? About Icey Windows

We have snow! Only about 2-3 inches, but it is still very pretty. We also water dripping off the tarp that covers our roof, which means that it is melting and will probably turn to ice.  

I thought we would be moving back into the type of weather I remember as a child when we lived in this are for a few years. I have to admit it is disappointing having this weather, not to mention also difficult to work around with all the ice buildup.

Someone asked why our windows get icey. I will try to answer it as best I can. Our windows get cold from the outside. The cold glass is touched by the warm air inside and draws the moisture out of the warm air. This causes condensation on our windows. If we did not put anything in the windows, I don't think we would ever get ice because the warm air inside would keep leeching to the outside through the glass, keeping the condensation as water.

However, because we put insulation sheets in  there is a slight gap created. It is just enough to let a bit of warm air, forming condensation, but not enough to keep it warm enough to leave it water. So, the air in between the insulation sheet is cold enough to freeze the water to ice. When I take the sheets down in the morning, there is always a mix of water and ice. Water at the top, ice at the bottom. I guess it makes sense that it would water at the top since heat rises. Obviously, the warmer air would be higher up.

How much ice is there seems to be dependent on how low the temperature gets and how long it stays low enough to freeze the water.

I am sitting here listening to an older PBN podcast...one with Christmas music. I so love the Christmas music they play. It is very worshipful! It is something I can listen to any time of year as it reminds me of what Yahweh has done for us through His Son, Yeshua. I am always amazed when I think of the love of God. It is simply beyond my comprehension. So, I just sit and bask in it as He wraps His arms around my heart. mmmmmmmmmmm! How wonderful it can feel!