I am a retired painter, but people continue to call me for work—so I agree to do it. As long as I am able and willing I’ll do it. But I feel a bit weaker in body and mind. Much prayer is needed!
I’m reading more now. I like especially reading the short biographies of famous preachers—or should I say preachers that were great for God, like George Whitfield, Charles Simeon, and Christmas Evans (the one I read about today). This reading is a great encouragement to me and is a great supplement to the bible.
I am plodding along in my writing. I’m writing a book now on heaven. I have finished the outline; now I’m taking one point at a time and putting words on paper and then on the computer. Soon I will break it up into blogs so you all can see it before the book comes out.
I’m struggling with diabetes—trying to keep my blood sugar down. For someone who loves food (like me) that’s hard. I’m supposed to exercise everyday too. I’ve decided to walk everyday—about 2 miles. I don’t mind it. I use the time for prayer, meditation and also photography. The days here (in Minn.) are starting to get warmer so that will be good. And if it rains I’ll walk in the mall (not as good). Well, sighing off.
Ps. Prayers for Israel and Ukraine people. Always praying for Donald Trump—so unfair! Prayers for all people everywhere—to resist the temptation of the flesh and the evil world, until the Savior comes!
Today I’m going to do some complaining. I hope you don’t mind too much. Ha ha.
Talking Too Loud
I like to sit in my favorite restaurant in the morning for breakfast and read. So, I like it quiet. I don’t mind normal conversation, but there are always a few people that talk too loudly. Their voice is heard almost no matter where I sit, and it’s hard to concentrate on my reading. It’s very annoying! I almost want to say something to them, but I don’t want to embarrass them. You know, it’s almost as if they want people to hear them. It’s like they take pride in being heard by many people. Maybe they have a secret desire to be a preacher or a politician or a comedian—but never get the chance.
Derek Chauvin
I’m not a fan of his, but I think he got a bum deal. I don’t think he is guilty of murder. He was just doing his job. In fact, he acted in accordance with how he was trained. When Floyd resisted arrest, Chauvin used an approved method of restraint.
Last night I listened to a segment on Newsmax. I heard that it has recently been found that there was no evidence that Chauvin killed Floyd. Yes, there was never any scientific evidence that his knee caused any trauma to Floyd. There was “No life-threatening injury identified.” In fact, did you know that the actual prosecutors did not believe that any of the officers should have been criminally charged? They thought the case should have been thrown outfor lack of evidence. It was suggested that since Floyd had 16.6 grams of Fentanyl in his system, maybe that was more the cause of his death, since 2 grams is considered to be a lethal dose.
Then why and how was Chauvin convicted of murder? Two reasons: 1) Keith Elison (Minnesota’s AG) decided that he would take over the case. He saw to it that Chauvin would be seen as racist and would be convicted. 2) Chauvin was convicted not based on evidence, but on political and media driven pressure. The public convicted him!This sounds to me an awful lot like Jesus’ trial. Pilot rendered Jesus guilty based only on what the crowd wanted. They said, Crucify Him! So He was!
Like I said, I am no fan of Chauvin, but I am disappointed in this country and in my state of Minnesota, that we will sentence a person based not on evidence but on popular opinion. Where is the justice?
My writing
I’m not presently writing any books. I’ve been going back and re-writing—editing. Truthfully, I’m kind of discouraged. I like to write, but not many are buying. I may look into a different self-publishing company, one that is more Christian based. Lulu is open for anything. I also need more money and more direction and support. I can’t do it all myself—which is what I have been doing. Enough complaining!
My reading
I would like to write a book on heaven. But before I start I need to do more reading on the subject. I read the book Heaven, by Randy Alcorn and now I am reading a book on heaven by John MacArthur. So far, I don’t like it—too negative. He spends too much time in telling the false teaching of heaven. I already know that. I want to know what the truth is about heaven. I may have to just do my own Bible Study, to go through the entire Bible and see what it says. That’s the best way anyway.
I’m also reading a book about William Tyndale. I’m enjoying it. He lived in a difficult time and place—in the 1500’s in England and also Germany. He was brilliant. He was so dedicated to his work of translating the Bible into English, from Latin and Greek, and he also examined Luther’s German translation. He wanted the common man to have a bible to read in English. Since the Catholic Church was against his work and against his teaching, he was always moving around from place to place—hiding. They eventually labeled him a heretic and at the end was burned at the stake.
I am only halfway done with the book so that will not come until the last few pages. Terrible to think about!
I will end my complaints here. I hope I will have a better day—and that you will too.
I am seventy-two years old. I think I am in relatively good health for my age; but lately I haven’t been feeling as energetic, and I am in poorer health than I use to be. Well, I found out a couple of years ago that I have type II Diabetes, and my doctor says that I have to keep my carbs down and get regular exercise. And since I am retired now—or semi-retired—that is a little bit of a problem. I mean, I spend too much time on the couch; whereas, when I was working (as a house painter), I was active all day.
So anyway, it has been hard for me to change my lifestyle and do what I should—or what is required of me as a diabetic. One of the ways I have always found to help myself change is by reading in order to understand the problem, and then share it with others. So, what I have decided to do is read up on diabetes and then blog on it. I know this will get me moving and will help me to do what I need to do. Well, I have already done most of the reading, and here is an outline of what I will be blogging on.
What is diabetes
How to prevent and or treat diabetes
On carb counting, exercise, and blood testing
Lifestyle changes
These are my next four proposed blog posts. I am not an expert on this subject, nor am I a doctor, so please take this information for what it is—just my opinion and what I have found in my reading. I hope this information will be helpful to you.
Diabetes: What Is It?
If you don’t know anything about diabetes; if you don’t know the science of it or what causes it, you can still know that you probably have it, due to your symptoms. Here is a list of some things to look for.
Fatigue or a loss of energy
Drowsiness
Frequent urination
Unusual thirst
Blurred vision
Numbness in hands and feet
Itching of the skin
Infections
You may have just a few of these symptoms, or all of them, depending on how long you have had diabetes and how long you have let it get out of control.
What causes diabetes. Diabetes, according to my understanding of common knowledge, starts from a defect in the production of insulin by the pancreas. Yes, it seems like much of the problem is in the pancreas; it is not producing enough insulin, or enough that works properly.
Insulin is very necessary to the body. When it works as it should, it will act as a conduit or an agent to bring glucose (sugar) from your blood stream to your cells so that you will have the energy you need. But if your insulin is defective in some way, or if there is not enough insulin produced, then, well, that is why diabetics have low energy.
Another thing that happens is that because insulin is not breaking through to the cells as it should, there is a backup of glucose in the blood. Hence, there is too much glucose in the blood and not enough in the cells. So, when you eat food, the glucose goes into the blood stream, but does not get absorbed into the body tissues (the cells)—as is the job of the insulin. Thus, in type II diabetes, our blood sugar is too high and the sugar we need and crave in our cells is low.
Insulin resistance. Some scientists have used this term to describe what is going on in diabetes. They say that there is a resistance in the cells in my body to the insulin that is trying to bring me the glucose I need. And that resistance is mainly from the built-up fat in the body, a poor diet, and a lack of physical activity. But in many cases we can also put the blame on our parents, because most diabetes is genetic.
In the end, whoever we choose to blame, we must take responsibility for ourselves. If we don’t, if we don’t take some positive action to fight against this disease we will find that in the end it will catch up to us and be too late. If we don’t head off this disease early, we can be sure that the following things will occur:
Our blood vessels will become saturated with sugar and become brittle and useless.
Blindness
Our nervous system will break down and will result in amputations.
Your joints will stop moving.
Your kidneys will be destroyed.
Strokes and heart disease
Eventually, if left untreated, diabetes will kill you.
This morning I’m hanging out in one of my favorite places for breakfast: Panera Bread. It’s cool in here but hot outside. It will be 100 degrees today, the hottest day yet.
I’ve been reading Killing the Killers, by Bill O’Reilly. So far in the reading it’s just been a lot of killing by terrorists. I’m waiting for the good guys to show up.
I’m taking some time off from work—my painting. I know I will have some jobs coming up soon. I always do. People will call. Actually, some have called but I said no. I like my days off too much.
Divine Encounters
I’ve been thinking some on “divine encounters.” What I mean is the encounters I would have with people as an ambassador for Christ—when I am walking in the Spirit. Thus, when he or she meets and engages with someone, since we as Christians have the Holy Spirit in us, we normally have a divine encounter with them. And so, everything we say to them is as if God is talking to them through us. We are the instrument of God bringing His message to them. This is a concept that we don’t always think about, but it is true. And we realize it most when we are walking in the Spirit—walking close to God in obedience.
I want to remind myself constantly of this idea—that I am always His ambassador and that normally every encounter I have with people is divine. I must not waste my time. I must make the most of it. If I am walking in the spirt, everything I say to people will be from His (God’s) mouth—from His heart. But if I say what is trivial and not of the Spirit, I am blocking the flow of His Spirit through me. That is a tragedy, and unfortunately, it happens too often in too many Christians. Too many of us are walking around as zombies (dead to the Spirit), and what we say is contrary to what the Spirit is trying to say in and through us. We must open our heart to Him; we must clean out our mouth and let the Spirt flow through us and out to others—so that we have those natural “divine encounters.”
Lately, I’ve been giving some thought to finishing my life well. I’ve been asking myself these questions: what will I have achieved in my life? or, Will I have done all the things that God has called me to do?
I suppose the unspiritual person would concentrate on worldly achievements, on greatness, wealth, and popularity. And even the Christian may be tempted to measure himself with these things: how much wealth have I stored up? How popular am I? or even How great I am, as far as my position in the community?
Then when I looked at a few Scriptures, I was pulled another direction. I first looked at Ecclesiastes 12:13: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” It’s hard to judge how much I have done that. I would say that it’s a daily thing—to walk in His Spirit and obey Him every day.
I also looked at Micah 6:8: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” This is another one of those daily things and hard to judge how much I have kept up with this. It is something that I can only do when I am constantly walking in His Spirit.
Then I was led to a very familiar passage, Psalm 131:1-2:
1 Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.
2 Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.
It is a song of accent of David, and tells us of David’s childlike trust in the Lord. Here we can definitely see in David how we ought to conduct our lives; and if we are old, how we ought to finish our life.
For me, I ought not to give my thoughts to greatness or high achievements, even if they are regarded as spiritual, or “for the ministry.” I ought rather to quiet myself and be contented with the Lord—meditating on His word, listening to His voice, walking in His Spirit and doing His will.
Moreover, I ought not to pressure myself with how many books I should write, or blogs I should write, or with ministry goals. My focus should be to daily and hourly keep my heart right with Him and to walk humbly with Him—and then to be open to see where He leads me.
I think it’s always wise to plan the end of one’s life—to make the best of it. I’m almost 70, so I figure that I may have close to 20 years left, or at least 10. Of course, the Lord may return before then, so I’m all in favor of that. My doctor just told me that I was doing well, except that my cholesterol is high and she wants me to take something for it. I tried to talk her out of it, to just eat better, but she wouldn’t budge. She really recommended it. Since I talked to her this morning, I talked to a friend who is my age; and he has been taking cholesterol medication, and seems convinced that it’s doing him good. Well, I’m glad I talked to him, because now I feel better about going ahead and taking the medicine—I’m not sure what the name of it is; I’ll see.
I also think that I should keep eating healthy foods and exercise regularly—going for walks mostly. I am convinced that we should be good stewards of our bodies right to the end. And I think the last days of life are when it’s most necessary to eat good and exercise. Yes, I will run the whole race right to the end without stopping.
But to keep up the physical body is just one part of it. I strive to excel in all areas, especially in those areas of ministry, where I am making an influence on others. I think my greatest influence is through my writing. So, I will keep it up. And when the time comes to completely stop my painting, I plan on increasing my writing time. That is my plan anyway.
Of course, there is always the ministry of day to day contact with others, day to day communication. That is something I think we tend to forget about or underestimate. It is hard to know what influence just a few kind words may have on someone. So, I plan on keeping good communication going for as long as I live—no complaining about anything, but always doing good for others and thanking and praising God for all things.
I debated with myself as to whether I should include this section, because it might make me look bad. I know there are some bad programs, but I try to just watch the good ones. I do it to relax and for something fun to do. Here are the TV programs that I especially like:
In the morning I watch Fox news on channel 9 (in Minneapolis). It’s mainly local news and weather, but they have a little U.S. and world news too. Every once in a while, I will also flip over to MeTV and watch Leave It To Beaver. So funny. I love all those old shows.
If I’m not working and I’m home at noon, I like to watch Gunsmoke, also on MeTV. Call me old fashion, but I love it. Matt Dillion was the best lawman ever (on TV). He knew how to keep the peace and enforce the law, and he wasn’t afraid to gun down a few outlaws to do it. Somehow, I wish we could go back to those days to take care of all the rioters we are having now. Put them all in jail until they cool off. And if they resist, shoot them! Well maybe that is a little extreme, but keeping the law is important. It’s so sad that our country, and the world, is becoming more and more lawless.
In the evening I like to watch TheAndy Griffith Show—and Barny and Opie and Aunt B. Andy is another great Sheriff. Later on, I may watch Perry Mason. I can never figure out who the killer is, but I like watching Perry do his stuff.
Saturday morning is the best time to watch cooking shows and also woodworking shows. I love shows like that. Then Saturday evening I try to watch Tour of Duty, which is the best Vietnam war depiction I have ever seen; I know because I was there.
Sunday evening at 6 pm I will usually watch This Old House. That is my best show of all, even though there are so many re-runs. Those guys, all of them, are absolute experts at their craft. I admire them so much.
I’m a movie watcher too, but I need to see some new ones. Here are a few that I really like, that I have watched over and over:
Finding Forrester. This is a great story about the friendship between a16-year-old boy and an old, brilliant recluse (played by Sean Connery). A great story. I never get tired of watching it.
Red October. This is another Sean Connery movie. A great one.
You Got Mail. This may not be a classic, but I like it. I think it was very well written, staring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It has some great scenes that makes me laugh every time I see them.
Sea Biscuit. This is the best horse movie ever. I love the setting of the movie, at the time of the old Model-T cars. And the actors are so good.
I have included my walks in this section because it is also what I do for pleasure and to relax. Walking makes me feel good and I also feel good about taking photos along the way. I’m not necessarily a perfectionist as far as taking a good photo. I am more interested in trying to find beautiful scenes and all things in nature. And then, I do my best to capture them as they are. I think there is a skill in seeing what is out there. I know I miss so much, but sometimes if I look at something long enough, I will see it—something very beautiful: a tree, a cloud, a flower, or a combination of things that beautifully capture the glory of God.
Since I have a lot more time off now, I find that it’s helpful to have a daily routine—so I don’t end up wasting my time, and spending too much time on the couch. First of all, I’ll give you the morning routine; its so important to get a good start on the day. The first thing I do after waking up and getting my feet on the floor is to take my meds: eye drops for glaucoma and my little pill for my thyroid condition. Then I turn on the set to the news. I just mainly catch the weather, the news highlights, and to see the friendly faces. And if it’s Monday, Wednesday, or Friday I will do my floor exercises, mainly just a few leg lifts, which I do to keep my hips in shape, since I had surgery on one, and the other I hope to avoid surgery on. Then I wander into my study with a cup of tea I just made and have my quiet time: reading the bible and prayer. I’m set for the day. If I’m working that day, I will have a quick breakfast and go off to work. If I’m not working, I will usually plan on going out to eat while I also read the morning newspaper and work on my next blog post—like I’m doing right now.
Okay, since my work days are just work, work, work, I’ll give you the routine for my days off. After my breakfast time, along with the writing I do, I will always sit down and make a to do list for the day. But before I start on it, as a way of procrastination, I will check on a few things on my computer: 1) my blog sites, to see if I am getting any likes or comments; comments are especially encouraging to me. 2) I check Fox News clips to see what’s going on in the world. 3) I also check President Trump’s tweets. Most of them are very encouraging to me, and I root for him every day! 4) Bill O’Reilly has a daily news clip I like to listen to. He’s my kind of guy. Okay, I’m ready to start on my list.
Here’s the things I normally have on my list for the day, and I don’t usually spend more than 45 minutes on each item.
Dishes. There’s always dishes to do.
Writing. Writing means writing my book. I spend at least a half an hour on writing every day.
Typing blog. Most of my blog writing is in the morning with my coffee and breakfast. So, this is when I type it out.
Read. I like to read lying down on the couch, propped up by a big pillow. Right now, I’m reading The Presidents Fact Book. It sounds boring but it’s not. It gives you all the highlights on all the presidents and their wives.
Laundry. It seems like every 2 or 3 days there’s laundry.
Trash and recycling. Gotta do it, take it out.
Vacuum and cleaning. Not daily, just whenever I see the dust and crumbs getting too thick.
Books. Books means figuring my income, tax deductions, giving, making money transfers, paying bills, I like to do this once a week usually on Saturdays.
Walk. I like to go for walks a couple times a week on nice days. And I always take my camera and try to get nature pictures. I may also use the time for prayer.
I officially began my retirement in 2015… so I’m five years into it. A few things remain the same, but most things are a little different. I’m intentionally trying to slow things down, relax more and enjoy what is left of my life. I’m still painting, but not as much. I sort of feel like I can work as hard as I always have, but I know I’m getting older, so I made the decision to get rid of all my tall 32 ft. ladders (I recycled them). I just work now with a 20-footer. Besides not doing high work, I have also cut down on my hours. Instead of 8 or 9-hour days, I limit it to six hours; and I also take a 3 or 4-day break between jobs. But I want to tell you that my work is just as good as it always was, maybe even better. Since I’m trying to slow things down, I’m paying more attention to details. I love my work and also my faithful customers; and I will be working just as long as I can hold a brush and do a good job.
As for my writing, I think I am writing more now than ever. I have more time to write and I think I’m even better at it. I guess the more you read and write and experience life, the better you get at it. At present I am just finishing up my book After the Rapture, and I am also almost finished with this book on my life story—although I haven’t thought of a title for it yet. What’s next? I don’t know, but I’m sure God will nudge me to write something. I have some ideas but nothing solid yet.
Another area of my life that is constantly changing is my relationship with my kids. They are all adults now and their families are multiplying. I already have seven, almost eight grandkids. They came so fast. Justina, the oldest of my children, age 35, is married to Rusty, and they have two kids. They live in Virginia and they both work as nurses. Anthony, age 33, is married to Crystal and they will have two kids in a month. They live in Bloomington, just a half hour drive from me. They also are both working at very good jobs. Joshua, age 31, is single. I keep telling him to remain that way—ha! He also lives fairly close to me and we get together as much as we can. Abigail (Abi) is the youngest, at 29, and she just had her fourth kid. She lives in Texas with her husband Aaron who seem to always have two or three jobs going.
I really love my kids and pray for a them, but I don’t really know them that well. I put the blame mostly on our divorce arrangement, not being able to see them except for two hours a week. But I can’t put all the blame on that. I really could have worked harder to see them more. I could have fought for it, but didn’t. I’m not real sure why. I have sort of a hermit-like nature. I naturally don’t have a great desire to connect with people, not even my own kids. It’s my own selfish nature.
But I still have hope that things will get better. I think we all are working on connecting more—texting and even calling. And I think the more we pray for each other the better it will be. I also want to make regular trips to see my kids and grandkids in Virginia and Texas. That would be good—for them and for me.
Stephen Nielsen 