Boasting

I am trying to read through the Bible in chronological order. Its taking a while. I always get stuck in Jeremiah. It was probably 15 years ago the last time I attempted it. Here I am slugging my way through it again.

Jeremiah 9 was just full of wailing, desolation, and sin hardly inspiring until I go to this:

²³Thus says the LORD:
"Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom,
let not the mighty man boast in his might,
let not the rich man boast in his riches,

²⁴but let him who boasts boast in this,
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD who
practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."

Can there be anything more inspiring that inspite of our sin, desolation, and tears we have a God who understands and know us. He practices (the NIV uses exercises) steadfast love, justice and righteousness. And he delights in in exercising love, justice and righteousness on us. All this right there in Jeremiah... I guess I will keep reading.

Images of Summer

The Couple
A couple times now, I have come to an intersection at the same time as them. Who is "them"?
A tall, gray haired couple holding hands and huffing at good clip up an incline. He has a Santa Claus beard and wiry, fly away hair. She always wears a kilt and a plaid shirt that doesn't remotely match. I always wait and let them cross the street first. I watch them and smile and I can just hear my friend say, "Bless their heart. Aren't they just precious." And they are.

Dad's Fig Tree
For years my dad has struggled with fig trees. In our area they require a lot of tender, love and care. He gave it amply but often received no fruit for his efforts. Now -finally- he has a fig tree that is so large. It looks to be budding with more fruit than he will know what to do with. I recall the bowlful of figs presented to us nearly 8 years ago when we were in Italy. I don't know if they will be comparable but its nice to see he is about to get some reward for all his work.

The Perfect Pool
I took a dip in the pool one day last week. It was delightful and refreshing and crystal clean. The temperature was perfect. That's a first for me and this pool.

The Peach Smoothie
With the removal of my useless blender-ing appliance and the receiving of a new one from mom's yardsale find, we have been enjoying peach smoothies. I froze the peaches for this purpose. I mixed them with apple juice and an occasional kiwi. They are perfectly sweet and coldly refreshing. Not to mention highly nutritious.

These are just a few images from my summer thus far. No pictures, you just have to use your imagination... particularly when imagining "them".