03 | July | 2019 | This Year's Bible Reading Guide

Three gifts God gave me were decorating, organizing, and decluttering. I changed my routine to use those gifts early in the day.

What if I didn’t watch the clock?

What if I gave all my attention to the task before me?

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We have an extra large bookshelf. It was built-in when we bought the house. We had to remove it to insulate. It’s at the bottom of the stairs now.

I cleared the top shelf on Monday and switched lamps. I needed the brass, candlestick lamps on the buffet. (They were too tall for the bookshelf.) I put a smaller metal lamp with a navy shade on one side and a kerosene lamp on the other. I filled a glass block with a string of white lights and placed it in the center.

After filling a window with clear vases, I decided to get the rest of my glass and crystal out of boxes. Today, I set a tall, lidded, crystal candy jar on one side of the glass block. On the other, I set an “egg plate,” put a dessert plate upside down on top, and placed a smaller, lidded candy jar on top. I put a flameless tea light in each candy jar.

I have coffee-table-sized books on decorating, household hints, needlework, and crafts. I don’t have a coffee table! 🙂

I stacked them in two piles between the lamps and candy jars. There were 2 books that extended beyond the shelf. I stood them up on the pile and leaned them against the wall. Both piles measured 15″ and I know only God could arrange that!

I sat on a chair and admired my work. The other 3 shelves were a mess. The 4th level is empty. We had so much rain this spring that many basements flooded. As a precaution, I moved the books up off of the lower shelf. Our basement stayed dry. (God gets credit for that, too!)

I considered stopping but decided to keep working. I assigned the 1st shelf for the Encyclopedia set, (Don’t laugh, they’re pretty!), and the antique books David inherited from his grandparents. I centered the Encyclopedias and put my favorite, topiary-shaped bookends on each side.

Grandpa Lester had a set of self-help books, carpentry, plumbing, auto repair, etc. I turned them vertically. I used funeral Bibles in wooden cases as bookends for the other antique books. I centered the large family Bible on the middle shelf.

I designated the second row of shelves for hardcover books. The medical books extended beyond the shelf. I angled them and leaned them against the back of the bookcase. I stacked the Dale Carnegie Course books in the center and angled the atlas with 2 other extra large books on the other side.

Then I went through my books and pulled out my favorites. I filled the other 2 sections of the 2nd shelf with hardcover books and organized the paperback books on the 3rd shelf.

Three hours and 3 boxes later, it all fit and I quit. I’ll just take a case of books with me every time I go to “Stuff Consignment Store.”

1 Corinthians 14:1, “Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it – because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you.” The Message

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Three new people started following frugalfish.org. Woo-hoo! It’s hilarious because I wrote my last post in 2017. I visited their blogs to thank them.

One blog talked about God as a “higher power.” They spoke of meditation and prayer as if they were the same thing.

Prayer is a conversation with God.
Meditation is talking to yourself. (We are to meditate on scripture.)

Today I read about God’s Glory. He reveals Himself in nature. The sun is a picture of God. The sun’s rays represent His Glory.

The moon is a picture of Jesus Christ. He reflects God’s Glory. He spent time in darkness apart from God just as the moon darkens to a sliver during the month.

The stars are a picture of the Holy Spirit. They are everywhere! When the sun is down and before the moon rises the earth is lit by star shine.

1 Corinthians 15:40, “You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies – sun, moon, stars – all these varieties of beauty and brightness.” The Message