Meditations on Psalm 1

I know I've sung (written) the praises of this psalm many times before, but just this week I have gained a new appreciation of it. I have seen concretely how true it is that those who love and live by God's law are protected from so much foolishness that would be easily avoided by heeding the advice of God given in Proverbs and in other books of the Bible. How much more pleasant would our lives be if we took to heart the many admonitions in Proverbs to think carefully before we speak? Meditating on God's law has saved me a lot of heartache, and kept me from making foolish and hasty decisions based solely on fluctuating emotions. Thank God for His written guidance!

Money Matters

I don't know if my money motto, "It all evens out in the end" (accompanied by a shrug) is too simplistic, but it seems to hold true. Yesterday, I returned some books to Amazon (because I had been impulsive and spent too much money without looking at cheaper ways to buy the same books), and then I took my friend to lunch, spending about the same amount as I had saved by returning the books. Trader Joe's was right on the way home from the restaurant, and I had had a hankering for chocolate covered blueberries for a while. So I went in and bought a box. I got in the car and thought it was a nice day for Starbucks. I reasoned with myself, though, that a drink from Starbucks would cost about the same as the box of blueberries, and if I went home and had some o.j., my finances for the day would be Even Steven. So I had my orange juice, and enjoyed the feeling of not feeling guilty for any impulse buys.

Conflict Resolution, OR Relationships Are Hard, And We All Do Dumb Things.

I've known many couples in my life, and the lack of good conflict resolution skills of one young couple comes frequently to mind. The couple got in an argument one morning before work. While Mr. ________ was taking his hot morning shower in preparation for the day, Mrs.________ went through the house and let the hot water run from every faucet.

They now have a water heater that provides an endless supply of hot water.

. . . and then we played Jenga.

The other night, I was helping my friend move into an apartment. All the doors looked the same. We disassembled a large desk in her old apt. and moved it into the new one. Someone was cooking some delicious-smelling curry. We kept working, though. We were soon moving smaller items, such as loaves of bread. I ventured out by myself for the first time, into this maze of identical apartment doors. I walked a certain distance with my loaf of bread, and opened the apt. door. To my great embarrassment, it wasn't my friend's apt. It was the source of the delicious smelling curry. The (very friendly) Indian family had just finished their dinner, and graciously invited me in for leftovers. So I graciously accepted with joy in my heart and my tummy, and I partook of the curry over rice as they were having dessert. They all waited at the table while I ended the meal with a dessert of home made rice pudding with nutmeg and dates, and then we played Jenga.

BLOOD

I saw my neurologist last week. We've known for years that my ataxia is caused by a mutated gene in my genetic code, or DNA. DNA is made of RNA. (DNA is the double helix you learned about, and probably diagrammed, in high school.) My mutated RNA (#32, to be exact) is overgrown and splits apart. The problem is that when the splitting occurs, toxins are released in my blood. The more splitting, the more toxins. So, the prestigious medical research university here in CA has 2 vials of my blood, complete with DNA and RNA, as does a research lab at a Florida university. Exciting things are happening!