I Have Decided…

When I was a child, we used to sing a song in Sunday School called, “I Have Decided To Follow Jesus.” The lyrics go like this:

I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, I still will follow,
Though none go with me I still will follow,
Though none go with me, I still will follow;
No turning back, no turning back.


My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
My cross I’ll carry till I see Jesus,
My cross I’ll carry till I see Jesus;
No turning back, No turning back.


The world behind me, the cross before me,
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
No turning back, no turning back.

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Nearsighted And Farsighted

I’m continuing to ponder the ways that we see others and ourselves. These are all thoughts that I have worked through over the years as I have wrestled with how to see myself and others–especially difficult people.

In the last few days, I have been thinking about being nearsighted and farsighted in how we see others and ourselves.
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Shalom, Shalom

I’m sitting here trying to decide whether or not to take my dog Danny for his daily walk. He looks forward to his walk so much that I hate to disappoint him. It was misting, and I don’t mind walking in mist, but the mist is turning to a heavier–but not heavy–rain. I do not want to walk in heavy rain. I checked the weather radar and the rain will soon turn to snow. If it’s still early enough, I might take Danny when the rain turns to snow.

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Eagle, Mouse, and Ethics

All through the day today I thought about what I would write in my blog when I had the opportunity.

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Death (Life) By A Thousand Problems

I stayed up too late last night.

My Hebrew class gets over at 11 p.m. I enjoy the class. It is taught by a woman who is also learning Hebrew–she is taking a class using the same book. She is just farther into the book than we are. If we ask questions that she doesn’t know, she asks her Hebrew teacher. Also, sometimes people join the class that have greater knowledge of the language, and they are able to help us. We do a lot of reading and learning vocabulary words. It is very helpful and fun to have others to study with.

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The Blind Dog

When I was young, I read a story about a blind dog. He was able to roam free in his house and yard because he had such a good memory that he never bumped into anything more than once. If he bumped into anything, he’d avoid it from that point on. This worked fine for permanent things like trees or buildings, but the problem is that some items aren’t permanent. Sometimes a chair wasn’t pushed up to the table, or or a rake was not put away, or a car was in the driveway and then drove away. If the dog bumped into it, he’d avoid that place from them on, so as he walked across the room or house, he’d weave a curious path around things that weren’t there.

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