True Grit and Comforts

We are told that Wednesday, September 2, is National Grits Day. There seems to be a day for everything. My taste buds read them as "bland." They're not my favorite; but since I am now a "southerner," I do eat them when served. (combined with cheese, they are better)

In my last post I asked if and how any of you have used Chatgpt. The responses have been varied and interesting. I appreciate every one of your comments. Thanks!

my most recent Chatgpt project

Here is my latest project. I asked Chatgpt to picture a woman checking off her To Do List. After viewing their initial drawing, I asked them to change the hair style from long to a bob, change the long-sleeved sweater to a sleeveless top (appropriate for today's hot weather), personalized the items on the "To Do" list, and added a framed photo of my husband with the classic 2002 Ford T-Bird that he purchased the week of our first date. 

It's amazing what Chatgpt can do! On the maybe scary side, Chatgpt knew which initial to put on the coffee mug.

💐   💐   💐

Here are Joyce's Hodgepodge questions for this week. Click on the link if you want to join up with your blog.

http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2026/08/hodgepodge-questions-volume-669.html 

1. What's something you wanted to do this summer that you never got around to doing? 

Frankly, nothing. My goal during this summer has been to survive the heat and humidity without a cranky attitude. The feeling of relief every time we entered our home after a bike ride has been a sincere sigh of gratitude for air conditioning. 

I look forward to our local weatherman's prediction that (historically) our nighttime low temps tend to slip down into the upper 60s during the first week of September. 

remembering the gold Aspen trees 
in Colorado's autumn
Photo by Lars Leber, Colorado Springs

2. Were you the student who sat in the front row or hid in the back of the class? If you could go back and take one high school class again just for fun, which would it be? 

I usually preferred to be in the 2nd or 3rd row. I wanted to be able to see and hear what the teacher was saying but feel maybe less likely to be called on too much if I'm not in the front row. The misbehaving kids tended to sit at the back. I was a well-behaved student and did not want to get caught up in any of their trouble. 

What class might I want to re-visit? Glee Club, harmonizing with the altos.

3. What characteristics do you think are essential in a good teacher (this can be applied to anyone who teaches, not just classroom teachers)? 

Patience and forbearance, compassion, a good sense of humor, and of course, a thorough understanding and reasonable experience with the subject being taught.

4.  September 2nd is National Grits Day. Have you ever eaten grits? Are you a fan? If so how do you like yours? Would people describe you as 'having grit'? 

Grits are okay but if given a choice, I prefer hash browns. 

Do I have grit? Nope, not in my own strength at least. The recent past has tested my character with just the stuff of life. Any "grit" I may have has been in short supply. I continue to daily thank the Lord for being my help and my strength, and for giving me Gary to help me think straight when I feel overwhelmed.

As you may already know, Gary is my editor and proof-reader. So when he read the above paragraph, he strongly disagreed. He says I don't let people walk all over me and I set goals and achieve them. That's nice.

5. What's something you're never too old or too young to enjoy? 

A good clean joke. And ice cream. Let's include ice cream.

All customers at Southern Pig and Cattle
get a free ice cream cone with their meals

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Returning to the subject of "grits," earlier this week, while Gary's patience was being tested, he told me that his disposition would vastly improve if I were to make him some Rice Krispy treats. 

They are disappearing fast!

Until next time, grace and peace,

Barbara

Happy Places

 

designed by author with Chatgpt

Today's post is lengthy and may come across as disjointed as I try to wrap my thoughts around this past week. For my part,  recent days have been mostly calm.  

I said, "mostly calm" because there were a couple of days where prayer for family was increased. The newest member of our large, blended family had to spend an unexpected 2 nights in the hospital. Tests were run that produced good results, so we are thankful to the Lord for bringing everybody through that, whatever it was. 

On the world stage, it's been nothing but full of commotion. 

I don't generally write about politics. Today will be no different but we all know that here in the USA there's been a disturbing parade of events, revelations, proclamations, and whatever else can describe it. 

I'm going to unabashedly put in an unsolicited plug for Samaritan's Purse as my favorite relief agency for disasters. Here on our side of the world, we pray for the situation in Nepal, and if we feel led to do so, we can help in a very practical way with donations. 

contact Samaritan's Purse
by clicking here

Beyond natural disasters, I have become aware of an unusual number of deaths in families of my friends, neighbors, and of course in the media. While I won't list any names of the deceased, I have something to say about that. 

You might say I followed a rabbit trail by asking, "Is it wrong to speak ill of the dead?" Here are some thoughts I found (courtesy of Wikipedia, AI, and other sources):

- "De mortuis niul nisi bonum" is Latin for "Of the dead, say nothing but good." 

- You should not criticize someone who has passed away because they can no longer defend themselves.

- speaking badly of the deceased can deeply hurt those who are mourning.

But then there is this, a more modern thought:

- strict politeness can protect abusers or toxic people

- not speaking of a person's bad actions prevents learning the whole truth about a person's impact on the world.

- those who have survived bad relationships with the dead often need to speak honestly so they can proceed with healing.

Conclusions on this topic: 

Harsh gossip and small-minded insults serve little good. Factual truths about historical harm or public wrongdoing is generally considered acceptable. 

In pondering all of that, I find a certain amount of solace in my happy places, of which I have at least 3 right here in my house -- and this is the one I am sitting in now:

Ahhh.... the lanai. I think I mention it ALMOST as often as I type out my dear husband's name (both give me a lot of comfort and satisfaction). Gary tends to sit in the chair to the right of mine (not pictured) while I have begun to tuck myself into this corner where I can see much of whatever is going on (since the glass slider beside the chair is never opened but allows me to see into the rest of the house, clear to the front door). 

The lanai is not air conditioned (or heated, for that matter), so we depend on the ceiling fan and also a portable tower fan to make the temperature bearable in this Florida summer (and a space heater in the depths of winter, which right now sounds a long time off, and it is).

When adversity strikes, in any form, we do well to spend a little time sorting out what's really happening, praying about how we can learn from it and how to adapt, and then move on. The Lord always has something helpful/beneficial for us to learn in all of our adversities. 

..... we rejoice in our sufferings, 

knowing that suffering produces endurance, 

and endurance produces character, 

and character produces hope, 

and hope does not put us to shame, 

because God's love has been poured into our hearts 

through the Holy Spirit 

who has been given to us.

Romans 5:3-5 ESV

Since my previous snapshot (above) from the lanai, Gary announced that, even with all the lanai windows open and 2 fans blowing on us, it was just too hot to stay out there. So now we have moved inside and I'm sitting in another of my happy places: 

My place is on the right, with the small pillow (Mary Engelbreit's "The Best Things in Life Aren't Things"), which I place at the small of my back and then often fall asleep! 🤭 (but not this time since I'm busy visiting with YOU!)

My other "happy place" is my desk in the sitting room. This is where I journal, blog, check the banks, correspond, and keep the calendar updated. Gary has his office on the other side of the house and this is my space. I go to this place every day, immediately after breakfast, to remind myself of who I am, where I'm headed, and to make plans to proceed. It's my Quiet Time with the Lord. On the exceedingly rare occasions when I can't do this, it's like I've run out into public in my pajamas without my glasses, unprepared to face [whatever].

Moving on..... have you done anything with Chatgpt? That's a real question. Feel free to share your experiences with it in the comments at the end of this post. 

I've done several things with it of late, always doing my best to be wise and careful to not reveal more about myself than what is already "out there," but to also take beneficial (and ENJOYABLE!!!) advantage of this new creative tool.  Note: everything I've done has been completely free, which is an option they make readily known; but if a person wants to pay for more advantages, that is available, too. Thus far, my needs have not found it necessary to pay for anything.

my Chatgpt creation on August 29, 2026 
of a peaceful beach picnic

My most recent creation with Chagpt is the above water color picture. I can't give you a blow-by-blow explanation of how I did this -- just Google Chatgpt and poke around for yourself. I told it what I wanted, and in just a few short minutes, this is what it presented to me. 

When it asked me what I wanted, this is exactly what I typed in: 

water color ocean beach crashing waves sand sea oats blue sky croissant sandwich on blue and white gingham napkin glass sweet tea

I have learned that if I want to take something out of the picture, or add something else, or make any other changes at all, just type that in and after a quick minute or two, it gives me the new version. It's very fun!! It's a new "happy place"!!

Here are more of my snapshots (NOT from Chatgpt) of good things from this past week:

Gary's World Famous Chili Throw-Together:
Fritos, canned no-bean chili, sliced weiners, diced onion, 
shredded cheese and sour cream

Gary does the majority of the cooking. He had to be the Chef In Charge for quite some time before I came along, so when we married, after my lifetime of cooking, I acquiesced and let him continue. He says he would like for me to take over the kitchen, but he has not relinquished total authority in there yet (smile) and I have come to accept love the way he spoils me! 🥰

my dog plates

However, when I do take a turn in the kitchen, there are often surprises in store for Gary. We don't do things the same, and I sometimes pull out the unfamiliar. Today was an example of that. In preparing one of my favorites, quesadillas, I served them on my dog plates. 

beef -onion-cheese quesadillas with Ranch dressing

Prepared with two large flour tortillas, browned ground beef cooked with diced onion, and then "glued together" with shredded cheese and toasted on both sides in my electric skillet, four wedges for each of us was just the right amount. I heard no complaints and was even told it was good. (I know. It's a 'can't fail' type of concoction!)

an opera voice in a gorgeous gown

Last weekend we attended a concert with opera-type voices and classy costumes. But even with that said, most of the attendees were wearing what Gary calls, "Florida casual" (shorts, capris, sandals, and for some, glittery jewelry). I've come to accept that is just the way it is here. I don't dress up like I used to, but I did wear a fancier top and my dressier jewelry with black capri pants.

the National Anthem at the 
Freedom Grand Prix of Washington DC

Also last weekend we watched much of the car race through the middle of Washington DC. While the race itself was interesting, I especially enjoyed the drone and/or helicopter views of the city. Both Gary and I lived in the surrounding suburbs of DC many years ago (a looong time before we met down here in Florida) so re-visiting that fascinating place during the race was pleasant.

the puzzle library

When we're not watching races, attending concerts, riding our bikes, doing yard work, cleaning the house, paying bills, and cooking in the kitchen, working our jigsaw puzzles has become a daily thing with both of us. The above snapshot is the library in our community center where we borrow the puzzles. I bring home 3 at a time, which takes about a week for us (as a joint effort) to complete before returning them for more.

a recent completion

I usually bring home puzzles with 500 to 750 pieces, although our current project is 1,000. It's pretty challenging, too. Gary has already said, "This one's going to take a while." I choose puzzles with bright, cheerful colors and distinctive images. Those with huge forests of trees with indistinct branches and leaves and dark, murky lakes are depressing to assemble. 

water break this morning; 
I'm on the right; Gary's on the left

This has been a long post, but it's been over a week since my last writing and a lot has gone on in that length of time. However, I'll start heading for the finish line with a snapshot I took with my phone this morning at our first of two water stops during our usual bike ride. 

One day this past week I drove the route of our Monday-Saturday rides in our truck, making note of the dashboard, to find out just how far we are riding. It was a little farther than I expected! 5.6 miles! (I need to measure the different route we take on Sundays. It surely is about the same.)

Let me assure you, we are NOT the fast racer-type bicyclists who are bent forward over their handlebars on the shoulders of high-traffic roads. A good portion of our rides are on wide, often heavily-shaded asphalt multi-purpose paths here inside the gate of our +55 retirement community. When those paths are not convenient, we are on quiet residential streets. 

But even with that idyllic description, I am not exaggerating when I say I pray EVERY DAY, for our safety, as we ride our bikes, and for good reason!!! Even within a retirement community, there are a shocking number of drivers who speed, ignore stop signs and display other signs of rudeness. Our "guardian angels" know to keep a close watch on us!

sincere encouragement 

Here is an item I bought from Hobby Lobby after my first husband passed. I keep it on a window sill where I see it many times every day. May it's message minister to you as it has to me.

Until next time, grace and peace,

Barbara

P.S. If you feel so inclined, leave a comment about experiences you've had with Chatgpt. We learn from each other!

A Method For Book Study

just some of our books

Today I am sharing with you a book report and some of my methods for Bible and book study. 

I read a lot of scripture (the Holy Bible), and faith-based motivational and psychology publications. Occasionally I'll read historical books, and biographies, or fiction; but mostly I just want to know what life is about, what God wants me to be doing, and how to best get it done.

Gary reads a great deal, too. He leans toward war stories, particularly WWII, the Korean War, and Viet Nam (the latter of which he is a veteran, by the way, serving in Thailand). 

I have followed him in some of those books because lots of practical wisdom comes out of those accounts. It has been accurately said that we can't make all the mistakes, so if we read the accounts of others, we should spare ourselves some anguish and terrible consequences.

It's nearly impossible for me to read without at least a pen in hand to make margin notes. The most salient points are often very personal to me. I do not lend my books to anyone because my notes come across as a private journal (much more personal than this blog, I assure you).

To illustrate my methods, I'll use a recently-completed book by one of my favorite authors, Dr. Robert Jeffress. He is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, We watch his half-hour program on TV every Sunday, Pathway to Victory.

He is a prolific author. In the two years since I've been following him, I've read several of his books (maybe 6) with another one having arrived just yesterday. His topics have been (for me) addressing the very subjects that my state of spirit and mind have needed. Here is a list of the chapters in the above book:

How Can I Know There is a God?

How Can I Know the Bible Is True?

How Can I Know Christianity Is The Right Religion?

How Can I Know God is Good with All the Suffering in the World?

How Can I Know I'm Going to Heaven When I Die?

How Can I Know How to Forgive Someone Who Has Hurt Me?

How Can I Know How to Start Oven When I've Blown It?

Since I was raised in a deeply devoted and conservative Christian home, before reading this book I was already well-versed in the answers to many of the questions addressed. But as life progressed and blind-sided me with the unexpected, reading this book was instructive, encouraging and validating. 

That is all I will say specifically about the book's content and its personal application. But I do want to share a study method that I've been using over the past 5+ years that has benefitted me greatly.

image created with chatgpt

The practice all began when I was about Kindergarten age, sitting beside my Daddy in church with his Bible open on his lap. I saw that he had underlined or hi-lited sentences with a red pencil. When I asked him why he was coloring in his Bible, he said those were things he wanted to remember. Years later, when I was given my first Bible, I used a red pencil to do the same.

Then much later into my adult years, I was introduced to the Precept method of Bible studies created by the late Kay Arthur. For those of you who are familiar with her, the practice of writing/marking in our Bibles was a dominant study practice. This fascinated me to the point that one weekend in 1992 I flew by myself to her ministry headquarters in Chattanooga, TN to attend a training seminar.

While her methods were a little too detailed for me, I did come away with a stronger desire to capture what God is saying to me in His Word and how to help myself to retain the information, or at least how to find it again within the 66 books of the Bible. 

Then in 2021 while attending a GriefShare support group at church, one of the leaders made a comment about the many times scripture mentions widows. I decided to start hi-liting the word, "widow," every time I came across it in my Bible because I wanted to know what God has to say about and to widows -- now that I was one.

Shortly after that I made up a habit with specific colored pencils and began using this same procedure with other books in addition to my Bible. 

Green pencil used for anything directed to me, as in "do this"

Purple pencil for who God is, what He does, what He desires, and what He says

Blue pencil with a squiggly line for sin, things to avoid

Red pencil for general statements of fact and history

Gold for making a star with something especially meaningful, applicable or that really touches me

Then in this past year or so, I added one more habit. When I finish reading a book, such as the one featured today, I find a blank area where I make a list of all the pages where I had drawn a gold star of the most meaningful points. It's a summation of what meant the most to me as a result of reading that book. 

After making that list, if there is one single point out of all of them that REALLY stands out to me, I add a gold star to that one. Later, if I want to be reminded what helped me the most in a book (and my Bible), this color-coded method with occasional gold stars is a big help.

In closing I'm sharing a verse that's shown up on this blog many times, Jeremiah 33:3. But this time I'm quoting only part of it, a phrase that really stood out to me this week and lifted my heart:

Call unto Me

and I will answer thee...

How wonderful it is to be reminded that when we call out to God, He answers. 

P.S. It is my opinion and experience that even though God may seem to be silent at times, what He is actually saying is one of these:

Yes

No

Not yet; wait

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

Flying High With Gratitude

 

Japanese Tea Garden jigsaw puzzle

In the week since my last post, life has been good for us. Yes, the oppressive heat continues, but we are blessed with excellent air conditioning and our retired lifestyle does not require us to be outside much.

We are working on one jigsaw puzzle after another. I think Gary spends more time on them than me, but then, I have my blog community to occupy a lot of my time. Per the snapshot above, I baked chocolate chip cookies one afternoon while Gary "puzzled."

We have special news to report: Gary's 5th great-grandchild was born the other day. He's now got 3 boys and 2 girls, all under the age of 4. I'm not sharing pictures since the parents prefer it that way, and in this day and age, we all understand that. But take it from me (the step-great grandmother) that they're all cute cute cute!

Moving on to the Hodgepodge questions for this week, if you want to participate with your blog, click on this link:

http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2026/08/hodgepodge-questions-volume-667.html

1. August 19th is National Aviation Day...do you like to fly?

Flying itself is fine with me as long as it's in a pressurized jet. All of my life I've had a strong tendency to get air sick in small 4-seater-type airplanes. 

As far as travel via flying these days, no, I don't enjoy air travel any more. I'm a small person, so even though the seats are big enough for me, larger people on either side of me often think they can take up some of my space.

Using techie apps, my cell phone, and such to get a reservation, to sign in, etc -- all of that is fast becoming a mystery to me that I do not enjoy, especially if I'm flying by myself.

I will add that I come from an aviation family. My father was a career pilot, and one of my sons is, too, traveling all over the world as a Senior First Officer. 

Last time you were on an airplane? 2021

The date is chosen in honor of the history and development of aviation, and celebrated on the birthday of Orville Wright. Have you ever been to the Kitty Hawk area of North Carolina? The city of Dayton in Ohio (their birthplace)

I have not been to Kitty Hawk or Dayton.

2. In what area of your life do you tend to 'wing it'? Is this an area you should be winging? 

I can "wing it" very well with preparing salads, pasta meals, and putting stuff between 2 flour tortillas with melted cheese to "glue it together." Should I be winging it? There've been no complaints, so all is good.

3. A favorite book, song, or movie that relates to flight in some way?  

click here  for movie trailer

My family watched the first Top Gun movie, the one that came out 40 years ago, many times. (I teared up when Goose died). The more recent sequel is okay but I prefer the first one. 

4. Soft serve, gelato, sherbet, frozen yogurt, or good old fashioned ice cream...what's your pleasure? Your favorite flavor? How often do you indulge? 

Nothing can beat simple soft serve vanilla ice cream, but I also like sherbet.

5. I never get tired of______________________. 

I never get tired of a lot of things (the Lord's blessings are everywhere), but for the sake of brevity, I'll say I never get tired of my recliner. Right now I'm sitting where the little pillow is with my MacBook Air on my lap. The "feels like" temperature outside is about 112 degrees today (aughhhh!) but here in my chair, blogging with my friends in air conditioning -- it's really good!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

This thought has been turning over in my mind a lot lately. Every thought, word, and behavior is a seed for our future. If we are smart, we will sow [plant] the best seeds we can as much as possible.

Quoting the late Dr. Charles Stanley, "We reap what we sow, more than we sow, and later than we sow." 

The older I get, the more clearly I recognize that truth. I've seen it in my life with both the good and the bad seeds I've planted. For me, youthful impulses are pretty much a thing of the past (I hope!). My focus is setting myself up for more positive outcomes.

A simple morning prayer I learned as an adolescent goes like this:

Lord, I wake to a brand new day

in which to show my love for You.

In all I think, and do, and say,

help me to be good, and kind, and true."

On a light note, my parents taught both Sister and me to pray. The above photo (from the Internet) could easily have been both of us, back in the day. (smile)

And here is a "prayer" that circulated a few years ago. It  makes me smile but is also heavily weighted with truth:

"Lord, I've tried to live an honest life. I have not lied, gossiped, overeaten, been lazy, stole anything, or otherwise misbehaved. But now I'm getting ready to pull back the covers and put my feet on the floor, so I'm really going to need Your strength, protection, and guidance to get me through this day."

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara