Letting Go | by Linda Brendle

Kitty made her third and highest trip into the black gum tree outside our dining room window this week. When I went out to feed her Sunday morning, I heard her faint meowing, but I couldn’t see her, hidden as she was in the thick leaves.

I interrupted David’s shower with the news. “Kitty is in distress, and I can’t find her.”

By the time he made it outside, I had located our little adventurer, and we spent the next hour or so craning our necks and giving her advice as if we expected her to understand what we were saying.

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How did we survive the heat? | by Linda Brendle

“It’s 99 outside, feels like 101,” said David, looking at the weather on his phone. “Triple digits for at least the next week. I don’t know how we survived before air conditioning.”

We’ve had this same conversation several times since summer finally came to Texas – especially when our air conditioning unit stopped working the Thursday before the Fourth of July. For several days David worked with a repairman and two helpful neighbors, but due to a series of replacement parts that were unavailable or didn’t work, our central unit sat idle until Monday. Thankfully, we had installed a window unit in the bedroom a few weeks before, so we survived the weekend by closing ourselves in and watching lots of old movies – and we talked about how we kept cool before Freon became available to the masses.

Kitty Drama | by Linda Brendle

How did you get up there, Kitty?

My blogs have been relatively serious the last two weeks, but several people have asked me about Kitty, so it’s time for an update. Besides, she has provided some very good writing material.

First things first – her name is officially Kitty. We took her to the vet for her first shots, and when the receptionist asked for her name, David and I hesitated. “Shall I just put ‘Stray Cat’?” she asked. We couldn’t have that, so we quickly agreed that Kitty would work for all of us.

Book Review: Pig and Sheep by Mike Breen

Pig and Sheep Mike Breen is a delightful picture book that will entertain children of all ages while offering a message of grace and hope. Little Pig is happy living in the grand pigsty, eating slops and playing in the mud, until he sees the sheep on the beautiful, green hillside under the loving care of the Shepherd. He longs to share their peaceful life, but he doesn’t believe it is possible. Imagine his delight when the Shepherd performs a “heart transplant” and makes him one of his own. Little Pig is happy in his new life, but one day temptation gets the better of him, and he ends up back in the gooey garbage of the pigsty. Even then, the Shepherd seeks him out, cleans him up, and restores him to the flock.

Community | by Linda Brendle

The most common definition of community is “a group of people living in the same place.” When David and I left our home group Bible study on Friday night, I turned to him and said, “Now that’s what community is all about.” While Emory is a wonderful place to live, I was referring to the kind of community that is defined as “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.”

Our home group began meeting over a year ago, and we’ve been through a lot together. The obvious purpose of the group is to study the Bible. Darren Brumit, the Student Minister at Believers’ Baptist Church, has led us through a ten-month study of the book of Hebrews, and now we’re working our way through the Minor Prophets. As you might have guessed, speed is not a high priority. We ask lots of questions, and we don’t move on until everyone is ready. Through the process, we learn a lot about God, and we learn a lot about each other.