Praises – All of God’s blessings to us including our health; devoted church families around us
Prayers – Mower repairs and/or grinding wheel for sharpening blades; good insurance agent for auto, RV, and rental property
“Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us – He calls us children of God! It’s true; we are His beloved children. And in the same way the world didn’t recognize Him, the world does not recognize us either. My loved ones, we have been adopted into God’s family; and we are officially His children now . . .”
1 John 3:1-2a VOICE
Hello to our family, friends, and followers:
Our addition was very close to being finished at the end of the month. The contractor had it mostly enclosed on the 3rd; completed the trenching, main panel, wiring, and outlets; metal roof; luan wall board; and the door, exhaust vent and air conditioner are installed. The siding and insulation are almost complete. John was very busy locating and hand digging around the sewer lines for the wire trench, stripping and connecting some heavy wires, installing the heater and swim spa boxes, disconnecting the electric from the house panel, and repairing the consequential broken sink drain. Together we made many decisions (mostly in agreement) about locations for almost everything.
The multi-purpose area has progressed rapidly this month. We removed several old carpet sections to make permanent homes for storage. John modified an existing door and frame, cut the opening, and we now have a door joining the two rooms! We participated in the Marketplace merry-go-round losing some beautiful cabinets to a bulldozer (we were about 5 miles from home on our way to get them when the text came through showing the unexpected dozer with building flattened), finding cabinets much cheaper but with more work needed, and getting the ‘high priority’ work bench from north Memphis. Counter top was purchased on the 29th and one set of upper and lower cabinets are in place. Painting was finished for these areas, and the ‘kitchenette’ area is being prepared for the last of the cabinets.
Most of July seemed to be ‘heat index’ days with high humidity and temperatures in the upper 90’s. Most of these warning days would start by 10 am, with feels like temperatures of 105; some days it would still feel like 100 at 7 pm! Connie managed but had a few ‘inside only’ days. There were several mild thunder storms bringing heavy downpours as well as almost a week of rain. Our bathroom ceiling fan leaked twice (only happens when rain velocity and direction combine magically) and Connie finally got John to move the tarp over some wood under the tongue of the trailer so there was no more dripping sound keeping her awake at night! We had our second tornado warning this year, John watched the skies and heavy rain from our new porch, and we enjoyed an evening walk with bit of a cooler breeze. Our shopping trips managed to avoid heavy rain except the morning we had our driver’s license photos (thankfully it was the first stop). There were four stops in and out with light rain; Connie arrived back home with really frizzy hair!! We are official MISSISSIPPI residents now, with voter registration cards, but still have to get our insurance changed.
The first of the month is always busy with music trips. We remain part of the dulcimer club with two practice afternoons, two hours at the visitor’s center, and three care facility programs (followed by lunch) all before the 18th. The first Wednesday was music for the senior group and the last two Sundays we were able to provide the worship music at Journey Church. We became bold this month and took the dulcimers to our church booth for the July 4th celebration in Jacinto a mile down the road. It was a glorious sunny, blue sky, HOT day so we (Connie) didn’t stay very long.
We had some interesting visitors to our addition at home; one was ready for the hot tub, the other remained on the porch. Summertime churches typically, in our experience, have plenty of fresh produce from gardens; no garden produce in the south but, this month there were lots of free eggs! We were able to visit Cross Point Church for Sunday School and worship in Iuka once this month with the other Sundays at Journey Community Church, part of the Freewill Baptist Association. The Pastor and several others attended the National Convention in Florida and we provided the worship music while they were gone. We also participated in several evening services as well. One Wednesday evening with another couple, we drove a bit, had supper at JT’s Bar and Grill, and attended an evening service in one area of the establishment – there were laser lights flashing and we all wore ear plugs, but the music and message were excellent!
The end of the month brought our first home health visit from our insurance company. It was interesting, we got a few pointers, and of course the expected “you really should” information. We thank God that He has kept us healthy all these years and consider our few aches, pains, and heat struggles as minor inconveniences as we look around us. There have been a few unambitious, unmotivated, weak feeling days and some new aches from exercising more. John has had a few stiff back days, and banged his thumb/wrist under the house while pulling some wire early in the month. His nail is still there but not looking any better. Connie sleeps poorly when it is so hot, and was too tired to drive home one evening since John doesn’t like night driving. She easily gets over heated and has to rest inside, seems to attract biting ants, and had another episode of ‘sun spot’ eyes turning into a migraine early this month.
Tuesday, July 23, is a date we will remember for a long time, official MISSISSIPPI residents and our first ‘swim’ experience! After having lunch Sunday with our church friends, three big guys came over and moved the beast about 2” on one corner so the swim spa cover would clear the ceiling. Then we started adding water – about half full after 3.5 hours. Monday it was filled and starting to heat; it went from 72 to 78 degrees by 7 pm. Now it’s nice and warm at 90 degrees, John has found his groove, and Connie is exercising in the water and improving (but still struggling) her regular swim stroke. While one is swimming, the other enjoys the spa jets. We have found the west setting sun does shine in the widows, wish our east windows were a bit taller, and have had some thunder booms as we swim.
Connie had another busy month both inside the RV and outside working on projects. Inside work included ordering spa supplies and an exhaust fan, sorting multiple canisters of screws/nuts/bolts, and getting worship music ready. She greatly enjoyed refining the chorizo sausage balls, making some brownie bites and chocolate chip cookies, marinating potatoes for air fryer fries, re-typing a Books of the Bible brain teaser to include an answer sheet, and defrosting our refrigerator (ice builds up under the refrigerator drawers). The newsletter was finally finished after one of our sons got us reconnected! There were some failures as well, onions were cut up for freezing while John was away having breakfast out, but the smell was still too strong when he returned, and spaghetti that was started early for supper ended up a bit mushy after it sat too long.
On our projects work Connie became a locksmith a few times, piecing together old knob parts for the addition door knob, a temporary inside door knob, and eventually installing a new privacy lock. It was great having ‘power’ in the addition through extension cords under the new doorway! She was an electrician a few times as well, turning outlets upside down (to accommodate big built-in GFCI cords that hang down) but quit after rewiring a GFCI outlet that worked until pushing it back into the box when sparks flew and fuses blew! There were two wall sections where old paneling seams were mudded, sanded, and painted two coats in preparation for cabinets and a work bench. Our used cabinets ($100 for all) needed to be cleaned and sanded inside (Connie’s way of quickly removing any debris) and both the swim spa and hot tub were wiped down, ready for use.
John organized and put things ‘sort of’ away as cabinets were installed, helped tie up old carpet and pad for the trash bin, burned a bunch of brush and old boxes, did lots of sweeping and vacuuming, mowed and trimmed a few times (although our lawn mower is losing power now and blades are dull), made several walks alone with a few in the woods, had some great naps, and gave some great reviews for Connie’s cooking experiments! The cabinets required some repairs that included making a new drawer front after hard-wiring his router, replacing the large base cabinet rotted sink floor, and adding a high shelf to the upper cabinets. His new work bench is a metal cabinet which he quickly cleaned up and spray painted; we rushed to get it back inside when it started to rain.
We remained faithful to our Friday night outings with other couples from Cross Point Church in Iuka, once at a couple’s home including another music jam, finger foods, and homemade Kit-Kat ice cream; we took the hammer dulcimer this time. We became unofficial Johnson Family members for their annual reunion held at a beautiful State Park on the Tennessee River, again with hammer dulcimer and another jam session. Some of our construction workers enjoyed our green apples along with the squirrels who found our extra yard plug made an excellent table. One of our shopping trips included a Marketplace metal cart on wheels purchase which is very handy now for tools; it will be under the kitchenette counter eventually for movable storage when we access the crawl space. A few of our longer work breaks we enjoyed some movies, usually with ice cream, finding “Man’s Best Friend” to be quite enjoyable (about a military service dog).
July Devotion Thoughts:
> The word “if” is conditional. There is a choice. <
> Warren Wiersbe writes, “God wants to bless His people. He wants them to be recipients and channels of blessing. God blesses us to make us a blessing to others.” > Reason acknowledges; faith believes. <
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity, keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Proverbs 4:23-26 NIV
Thanks for traveling with us and being part of our family too!
John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
Contact Information:
Mail: John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
NEW ADDRESS: 30A Hwy 367Burnsville, MS 38833
Phone – John 909-336-8910 or Connie 909-336-8912
Email – SaltyStrings@hotmail.com
Facebook – Salty Strings Music Ministry
Web site – SaltyStrings.com
ONLINE DONATIONS via PayPal through our web site
TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS
- August 21-26 – Travel, visit friends in Carlinville, IL
- August 26-October 8 – Travel, Little Galilee Christian Camp, volunteer, family visits
- August 28 and 30 – Salty Strings at Jolly Seniors and St. Anne’s, Lincoln, IL
- October 4-6 – Wisconsin motel; birthday party/family gatherings, visiting friends
- October 8-9 – Travel back to Mississippi