Month: August 2023

So Many Questions

ShirleyjdietzLeave a comment

Today I am doing some reading in the book of Judges, in the Holy Bible. I love scripture and believe it is one way in which God tells us things we need to know, so don’t get me wrong when I say that it quite often confuses me. I read it anyway, for the parts that aren’t confusing.

There is the story of Samson mid way through this book. He was an Israelite during a time when the country was being persecuted by another tribe of people, the Philistines. God used him to provide some relief for Israel. Even though he did some very dumb things, overall, he paid the Philistines back for all their evil deeds.

One of his early accomplishments was burning down a good many of the Philistines fields of grain. He went to a lot of work to do this, and this is where my questions start overwhelming me.

“So he went out and caught three hundred foxes.” I stop reading and can’t go any further. Three hundred foxes? How do you “catch” a fox? Where do you find 300 of them? Are they just everywhere, like rabbits? Where do you keep them while you’re catching them? Does no one notice when you finally get 300 and have them in your barn, or wherever? No one complains, not even your parents?

“He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines.” Wow, I try to think how I would orchestrate a project like this. Would I take two foxes at a time to a field? How would I get them to stand still while I tied a torch between their tails? What would I tie them with? Should I muzzle them while I’m doing the prep, probably…

Or do I tie all their tails together with torches attached while I’m still at home, and then transport them all at once? In my fox wagon. Once I start, I’ll probably have to do it quickly or someone will try to stop me.

My only conclusion is that this project would take a good deal of prayer first, but I don’t think Samson did that. He apparently was a bit of a hot head.

The most telling statement about this story is found early in the narrative, and is in parenthesis. “(His parents did not know this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)” There you have it. Miraculous intervention. There’s no other explanation that I can think of.

The way I see it, there is a principle involved in today’s reading. For me, it is – when something is “of the Lord” you might not see it coming. God, who invented imagination in the first place, is still way better at it than any of us.

Where Am I to Sleep?

Shirleyjdietz3 Comments

That was the question in my mind as I traveled south to be with my daughter’s family for a few weeks. And not just to sleep, but to lay out my suitcase, charge my computer, and all the other things that people do when they live someplace. I have stuff with me. Where am I going to put it?

River Bend Farm has a large farmhouse with four bedrooms. However, the rooms are occupied with Julia’s three stepchildren, and of course, Julia and husband Kevin. They don’t even have a designated spot for the baby when she comes.

My plan was to look for something portable, like a camper trailer, and to do it as soon as possible after arriving. During the first week, while I was borrowing one of the children’s rooms, I started looking on Facebook marketplace for used campers. Having never owned an RV of any kind I knew nothing.

I looked at little, cute and retro. But there wasn’t even room to set my suitcase. I looked at large and roomy but it was 16 years old and I wasn’t sure I could handle that much brown in my living space. I was saved from further deliberation when my son-in-law said a friend had a nice later model camper and was willing to sell it underpriced, as a personal favor. It had space for 10 people to sleep, which was a little frightening, but we went to see it. I now own it and have jumped on the learning curve of RV life.

Quibble

I have named it Quibble (model 295QBLE). It came none too soon. I got sick and needed a place to retreat and quarantine. It came home with Kevin and I the same day we went to see it. He parked it close to the barn where there was an electrical outlet. That’s when I learned that you have to be somewhat of an electrician (which I am not) to match your electricity with your camper. Even after watching a You Tube video on amps, volts and watts, the thought of having to figure out that equation for every one of my devices was too much. Kevin kindly drove to town and got adapters, so I could run the AC. That was enough for one night.

You also have to be somewhat of a plumber (sorry, also not) to feel peaceful about your faucets, toilets, water and pumps. Kevin and I finally got a small stream of water to run into the kitchen sink by hooking a hose up to a hole labeled “city water”, no city anywhere close. But who knew that I needed a drinking water hose, a water filter and a pressure regulator. Not me. My water pump, which shouldn’t have been turned on at all, was supposed to be whisper quiet. It started making enough noise that I could hear it even above the AC unit. I may have made it permanently very quiet. I have watched videos on water, gray water, and black water. Even I could figure out what those were.

One day I figured out the refrigerator. The next day I got a ladder and gave Quibble a good washing. Yesterday I drove back to meet the previous owner and got the title transferred and notarized. Today I tried to figure out insurance and registration. And in the days ahead I will learn about the stove and the propane tanks and the outdoor kitchen, and why the lights in the slide out don’t work. There are YouTube videos about all these things. I am discovering a whole new world of fun things to do.

But now I have my space. I almost feel guilty retreating to my air conditioned fiberglass box

Out by the barn, where I belong.