Let's Groove Tonight: The Weekly Digest and Hodgepodge

NOTE:  This week I am combining my (semi-) weekly digest with my (semi-) weekly hodgepodge.  See the "I am thinking about" section for a few of this week's hodgepodge questions.  

Looking out the window....

These Rubber Rabbitbrush plants were outside the 
Green Mountain Rec Center.

 

I've been meaning to get in a walk at Union Square Park before the summer flower beds stopped blooming. I finally made it.

These are called Scabiosa, or Pincushion flowers.

 

I never tire of photographing hibiscus flowers...

 

...or black-eyed Susans...

...or daisies.

Favorite quote(s) of the week...

We have here an ever-living gospel, as full of life as when it first came from the lips of God. It is as strong to convince and convert, to regenerate and comfort, and to sustain and sanctify as ever it was in its first days of working wonders. We have an unchanging gospel that is not green grass today and dry hay tomorrow, but is always the abiding truth of the immutable God. Opinions change, but truth certified by God can no more change than the God who uttered it.- Charles Spurgeon, Faith's Checkbook, p. 255.

 

God will never alter the terms of His relationship with us. - Pastor Randy Conway, Table Mountain Baptist Church, 8/31/25 AM service.

 

"Just the way we want it" is not a bad paraphrase for "amen."  What is needed at the end of this great prayer [the Lord's Prayer] is a ringing affirmation of the goodness of God and God's world.  If your nerves can take it, you might (occasionally?) try "Whoopee!"  I imagine God himself will not mind. - Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, p. 269.

 

I'm thinking about...

Join the fun! 

Come on over to 

From This Side of the Pond 

for the Hodgepodge link-up!

What's a quote from a book (besides The Bible) that has stayed with you? 

"Sober alkies are often asked, ‘When did you hit rock bottom?’ But a more informed question might be, ‘How many times did you hit rock bottom?'" - American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson 

What's your number one food pet peeve? 

About food or involving food?   Well, I've already gone on a rant here about food fads, so I'm not going there again today.  My biggest pet peeve involving food is people who smack loudly, chew with their mouths open, or worse, go on camera and turn eating into a grotesque freak show for dollars (one of MANY reasons I avoid TikTok like the plague--I care too much about my brain).

What's one thing about you that is still the same as it was when you were young? 

My musical tastes are pretty much the same.  I enjoy many genres and eras of music, but the sounds of the 70s and 80s are still my go-to.  If you look at my Happy 911 playlist on Spotify, a good bit of it is both Christian and secular music from the 80s.  That's my groove right there!

What I've read since the last digest...

• Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton ✮✮✮1/2 
• The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard ✮✮✮✮ (Please see my "first thoughts" and "last thoughts" on this book here.

I'm currently reading...

• Finding the Groove by Robert Gelinas
• The Oxford Inklings by Colin Duriez 
• The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• Mansions of the Heart by R. Thomas Ashbrook 
• Streams of Living Water by Richard J. Foster 
• On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
• Faith's Checkbook by Charles Spurgeon

Recent blog posts...

• My previous digest, "Almost Autumn'" is here. 
• My previous hodgepodge, "Scraps and Such 04" is here. 
• My "25 for 2025" challenge is here. (Updated regularly)
• My "I Can Only Blame MyShelf" reading challenge is here.  (Updated regularly). 

From the Workshop...

 

I am thankful for...

• Insulated tumblers that don't cost as much as two weeks worth of groceries and a tank of gas to purchase.
• A successful "gym rat" summer.
• A good report at my recent physical.
• Getting to see my friends at Table Mountain Baptist.
• Easy to follow YouTube tutorials. 
• Free air at the tire store down the street from my apartment.  Also thankful for the tech who showed me how to use the air myself in case they were too busy to do it. 
• Rice cakes (both flavored and plain).
• God continuing to provide pretty papers and supplies with which to make cards. 
• Businesses that still take checks.
• Enjoying my first class of the year.  I'll be teaching the course again in a few weeks. 
    

Almost Autumn: The Weekly Digest

Looking out the window.... 

Saw all these beauties in the flower beds outside my doctor's office.

Favorite quote(s) of the week...

Souls indifferent to the achievement of human things cannot be expected to exert themselves in divine things.- Robert Miner, quoted in Karen Swallow Prior's On Reading Well, p. 133. 

 

When people are treated as objects for long enough, they see themselves as someone else’s property. They don’t value self-stewardship because they relate to themselves the same way that significant others have related to them. Many people are told over and over again that nurturing and maintaining their souls is selfish and wrong. After a while, they develop a deep conviction that this is true. And at that point, they place little value on taking care of the feelings, talents, thoughts, attitudes, behavior, body, and resources God entrusted to them.. - Cloud and Townsend, Boundaries, p. 306.

 

We need our God. He is to be had for the seeking, and He will not deny Himself to any of us if we personally seek His face. It is not if you deserve Him, or if you earn His approval, but simply if you seek Him. - Charles Spurgeon, Faith's Checkbook, p. 242.

 

I'm thinking about...

Fall.  Most of my friends are in back to school mode right now.  Most--if not all--of the K-12 schools have resumed classes and both online and in-seat classes at CCU begin tomorrow (08/25).  Since my teaching schedule for the year started more than a month ago, I've been in school mode since late July (my own version of it anyway).  Football season starts for JSU on Thursday, Alabama on Saturday, and the Broncos on September 7th.  I'm just not sure how to get into the swing of Autumn.  Maybe I'll think of something by the time the first day of fall rolls around on the 22nd.

 

What I've read since the last digest...

• The Road by Cormac McCarthy ✮✮✮1/2  
• The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy ✮✮✮1/2   

I'm currently reading...

• Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
• The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard
• Mansions of the Heart by R. Thomas Ashbrook 
• Streams of Living Water by Richard J. Foster 
• On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
• Faith's Checkbook by Charles Spurgeon

Recent blog posts...

• My previous digest, "Mind Meld'" is here.
  
• Where No Couch Has Gone Before:  The Weekly Hodgepodge is here. 
• First Line Friday #38: The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard is here.  
• My "25 for 2025" challenge is here. (Updated regularly)
• My "I Can Only Blame MyShelf" reading challenge is here.  (Updated regularly). 

I am thankful for...

• Being able to work from the couch in my bedclothes when I don't feel well (and don't have Zoom meetings).
• YouTuber creators who curate TikTok videos so I don't have to swim in this cesspool of brain rot. 
• Modern medicine.
• The much-needed rain we've gotten the past couple of days.
• Cooler temperatures.
• My old faithful Singer sewing machine (I call her "Big Mama.")  

 

Mind Meld: The Weekly Digest

Looking out the window....

The Feather Reed Grass in the church parking lot is interesting.

I know that this is a terrible shot, but I've been passing (and ogling over) these plantings all summer and there's no way for me to safely get out of the car to get a shot.  They are along 1st Avenue in Denver from the intersection of University Blvd up a few blocks.  They are full of gorgeous blooms and greenery.  I hope they fill them with seasonal plants as the weather changes.  BTW--I did take the picture while I was stopped at the light, not while I was driving.

Favorite quote(s) of the week...

Prayer is all the more sure to succeed because it is for the Father’s glory through the Son. It glorifies His truth, His faithfulness, His power, and His grace. The granting of prayer, when offered in the name of Jesus, reveals the Father’s love to Him and the honor that He has put upon Him.- Charles Spurgeon, Faith's Checkbook, p. 239. 

 

Some people feel so hopeless because they have no memory of being helped in the past. - Cloud and Townsend, Boundaries, p. 291. 

 

Egotism is pathological self-obsession, a reaction to anxiety about whether one really does count. It is a form of acute self-consciousness and can be prevented and healed only by the experience of being adequately loved.  It is, indeed, a desperate response to frustration of the need we all have to count for something and be held to be irreplaceable, without price. - Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, p.  15.

 

I'm thinking about...

Yes, I know I shouldn't be thinking of it, but I am.
This too shall pass.

 

  What I've read since the last digest...

• Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend ✮✮✮✮ (a glorious reread)
• Silence by Shusaku Endo ✮✮✮1/2   
• Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster ✮✮✮✮ ( a glorious reread)
• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin ✮✮✮✮ (a glorious reread) 
• Letters to a Young Pastor by Eric Peterson & Eugene Peterson ✮ (an impulse read)  
• Freckle Juice by Judy Blume  ✮✮✮1/2 (Kiddie Lit) 

I'm currently reading...

• The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard
• Mansions of the Heart by R. Thomas Ashbrook 
• Streams of Living Water by Richard J. Foster 
• On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
• Faith's Checkbook by Charles Spurgeon

Recent blog posts...

• My previous digest, "Big Nasty'" is here.
  
• Where No Couch Has Gone Before:  The Weekly Hodgepodge is here. 
• First Line Friday #38: The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard is here.  
• My "25 for 2025" challenge is here. (Updated regularly)
• My "I Can Only Blame MyShelf" reading challenge is here.  (Updated regularly). 

From the Workshop... 

Miss Betsy and I had a painting party this past weekend.
She painted this adorable frog for her grandson's birthday present.

"Jeremiah Was a Tree Frog" Acrylic on 11x14-inch canvas.

  

I am thankful for...

• My new living room furniture.  
• A friend to help assemble said furniture.
• Coffee.
• Naps.
• I am thankful to not use TikTok.  The more content I see curated from that app from YouTube creators, the less interest I have in this brain rot.
• G-U-M toothpicks. 
• Funny and encouraging memes. 
• Rubber bands. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big Nasty: The Weekly Digest

Looking out the window....

I'm enjoying the changing blooms in the flower beds around the Green Mountain Recreation Center. 

Veronica.

Canada Goldenrod.

I noticed something at the church that's probably not new, but it was new to me.  There are flower boxes strategically placed in different areas of the outside of the building: 

These Hostas remind me of the ones from my mom's flower garden.

These are called Coral Bells.

Favorite quote(s) of the week...

In this day’s labors or trials say, The Lord God helps Me. Go forth boldly. Set your face like a flint (Isaiah 50:7), and resolve that no weakness or shame will come near you. If God helps, who can hinder? If you are certain of omnipotent aid, what can be too heavy for you? Begin the day joyously, and let no shadow of doubt come between you and the eternal sunshine. - Charles Spurgeon, Faith's Checkbook, p. 232. 

 

Refusing to be happy because someone else is unhappy, though, is a bit like cleaning your plate because babies are starving in India. Your unhappiness isn’t making anyone else happier—in fact, quite the opposite, given the fact that happier people are more likely to act altruistically. - Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project, p. 216.

 

Practice purposeful giving to increase your freedom. Sometimes people who are building boundaries feel that to do someone a favor is codependent. Nothing is further from the truth. Doing good for someone, when you freely choose to do it, is boundary enhancing. Codependents are not doing good; they are allowing evil because they are afraid. - Cloud and Townsend, Boundaries, p. 138. 

 

On makeup foundation:   There's full coverage and then there's 'calm down' coverage. - Robert Walsh, Professional Makeup Artist.

 

Social media has made y'all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it. - Mike Tyson

 

Don't train like you're having a panic attack and your psychiatrist is not around. - Dr. Mike Israetel, Exercise Scientist 

 

I'm thinking about...

 

Nasty gym rats:  This is a mini rant, but it needs to be said.  I went to the community center gym the other day.  Green Mountain has two stationary bikes that don't cause taint trauma.  BTW--I tagged the city recreation department in my first post about this when I shared the link on Facebook.  All I've gotten is crickets.  Very tacky.

 

Anyway...

 

A patron was cleaning off one bike (the center provides disinfecting spray and paper towels).  As I adjust and prep the bike for use, I watched the patron on the other bike get off, walk away, and NEVER come back to clean it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep in mind gyms, community centers, and YMCAs providing some means of cleaning off equipment has been the norm for a long time.  So, after everything we went through during "the thing" with sickness, viruses, quarantine, masks, and death, who in his right mind gets off a piece of publicly used equipment and doesn't clean his germy goo and butt sweat off the machine?  There's spray and paper towels on BOTH ends of the cardio room. 

Why?  Just.  Why?  

 

To the nasty gym rat:  May a rabid dog bite you and pee on your leg and may a sick toddler sneeze directly into your mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 Chew and swallow it, you big nasty! 

   

What I've read since the last digest...

• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.  ✮✮✮✮   (Category:  Kiddie Lit)  
• Changes that Heal by Henry Cloud ✮✮✮✮
• The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson ✮✮✮✮ (Category:  Glorious Reread)  
• How to Be Filled With the Holy Spirit by A. W. Tozer ✮✮✮✮  
• The New American Standard Bible ✮✮✮✮    
• The Dangers of a Shallow Faith by A. W. Tozer  ✮✮✮1/2  
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain  ✮✮✮✮ 
• Real Artists Don't Starve by Jeff Goins ✮✮✮✮ (a glorious reread).  Please see my review here.
• A Theory of Everything (That Matters) by Alister McGrath ✮✮✮1/2 (An impulse read). 
• Experiencing Prayer with Jesus by Henry and Norman Blackaby ✮✮   (An impulse read). 

I'm currently reading...

• Silence by Shusaku Endo
• Mansions of the Heart by R. Thomas Ashbrook 
• Streams of Living Water by Richard J. Foster 
• Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend 
• On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
• Faith's Checkbook by Charles Spurgeon
  
• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
  
• Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster

Recent blog posts...

• My previous digest, "Reset the Play Clock'" is here.
  
• First Line Friday #38: The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard is here. 
• Sometime In the Morning:  The Weekly Hodgepodge is here. 
• My "25 for 2025" challenge is here. (Updated regularly)
• My "I Can Only Blame MyShelf" reading challenge is here.  (Updated regularly). 

From the Workshop... 

I am thankful for...

• Street sweepers.
• This weekend's sermon.
• Honest mechanics.
• IKEA.
• Insulated car mugs that are actually insulated and keep things hot or cold longer than eight seconds.
• Colored pencils.
• Journals with paper thick enough that I can write on both sides without bleed through. 
• My prize for completing Jefferson County Public Library's summer reading program.