Thursday, December 19, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Top 10 Christmas Gifts
Top Ten Christmas Gifts:
10. Boundaries. Telling a child where they can and cannot go sets a foundation of security. "Someone cares enough about me to not want me to get hurt, even though I'm going to grumble and whine about them being 'bossy'." They will get over the bossiness, but they won't get over the fact that you care.
9. Questions. "Who will you be with, where will you be, and what time will you be home?" Nothing wrong with them, and nothing like having to be accountable to mom and dad to teach them that they must be accountable ALL their lives and not shove things off on someone else.
8. Bed times. Ever been to the store with a self-absorbed mother and a whining child after 10:00 p.m. at night? Crying, whining, rubbing eyes and blubbering--they are TIRED. Their little bodies and minds NEED rest. A quiet dark room with a bed and covers and security surrounding them. To hell with the latest sale. If it's not there in the morning chances are you didn't need it to begin with.
7. Good hygiene guidelines. I distinctly remember a little girl in the second grade that smelled like soiled underwear and body odor. At age six, Alison was wearing deodorant because she needed it. As long as you can find running water and can buy a bar of soap, you can be clean. It's up to you to teach them how.
6. Good grammar. You can be beautiful and well dressed, but if you want to “axe” a question ‘cause you "seen" something and are "orientated" with the neighborhood, hang it up. You sound Walmart and your children don't need to sound like you. Read a book and learn to speak properly.
5. Don't gossip. I grew up with a mother that gossiped about everyone in the family, neighborhood, street, town, county--you get the picture. Thank God for my husband that taught me that it cheapens me to talk about others and God's not too happy with gossips either. Don't believe me? Check it out in the Bible. It's right there, and it's a really crappy way for adults to behave. I quit, she hasn't. I'm happy, she's not.
4. Pay attention to your kids. I'm willing to bet if you asked your daughter if she wanted a trip to the toy store or an afternoon with mom pretending you're at a spa doing nails and hair she'd opt for the latter and not the former. Toys end up in a a heap, eventually not looked at. Memories are treasured and taken out over a lifetime, looked over, and cherished.
3. Parent vs. Friend. I have told both my girls, "I am your parent, not your friend. If we survive your childhood, I'm sure we will be good friends one day." They don't want a friend. They want a parent. There is security there, for both of you.
2. Things vs. Love. There is no store-bought item that can say "I Love You" but you can. And mean it. Look your kid in the eye, even if it embarrasses them, and say, "I love you." They will never forget it.
1. Listen. You can't gift-wrap your ear, but that is a huge gift. Just sitting down and listening to them. Turn off the television, cell phone, stereo, computer, everything. Just have a conversation and really LISTEN to them. Sometimes without even coming out and saying anything they can be asking for help, attention, direction, anything--but you don't hear it if you don't LISTEN.
So if you're worried about what to get your kids for Christmas, look list over. It's all free. One size fits all. No return line. No duplication worries. And they're good 365 days out of the year.
10. Boundaries. Telling a child where they can and cannot go sets a foundation of security. "Someone cares enough about me to not want me to get hurt, even though I'm going to grumble and whine about them being 'bossy'." They will get over the bossiness, but they won't get over the fact that you care.
9. Questions. "Who will you be with, where will you be, and what time will you be home?" Nothing wrong with them, and nothing like having to be accountable to mom and dad to teach them that they must be accountable ALL their lives and not shove things off on someone else.
8. Bed times. Ever been to the store with a self-absorbed mother and a whining child after 10:00 p.m. at night? Crying, whining, rubbing eyes and blubbering--they are TIRED. Their little bodies and minds NEED rest. A quiet dark room with a bed and covers and security surrounding them. To hell with the latest sale. If it's not there in the morning chances are you didn't need it to begin with.
7. Good hygiene guidelines. I distinctly remember a little girl in the second grade that smelled like soiled underwear and body odor. At age six, Alison was wearing deodorant because she needed it. As long as you can find running water and can buy a bar of soap, you can be clean. It's up to you to teach them how.
6. Good grammar. You can be beautiful and well dressed, but if you want to “axe” a question ‘cause you "seen" something and are "orientated" with the neighborhood, hang it up. You sound Walmart and your children don't need to sound like you. Read a book and learn to speak properly.
5. Don't gossip. I grew up with a mother that gossiped about everyone in the family, neighborhood, street, town, county--you get the picture. Thank God for my husband that taught me that it cheapens me to talk about others and God's not too happy with gossips either. Don't believe me? Check it out in the Bible. It's right there, and it's a really crappy way for adults to behave. I quit, she hasn't. I'm happy, she's not.
4. Pay attention to your kids. I'm willing to bet if you asked your daughter if she wanted a trip to the toy store or an afternoon with mom pretending you're at a spa doing nails and hair she'd opt for the latter and not the former. Toys end up in a a heap, eventually not looked at. Memories are treasured and taken out over a lifetime, looked over, and cherished.
3. Parent vs. Friend. I have told both my girls, "I am your parent, not your friend. If we survive your childhood, I'm sure we will be good friends one day." They don't want a friend. They want a parent. There is security there, for both of you.
2. Things vs. Love. There is no store-bought item that can say "I Love You" but you can. And mean it. Look your kid in the eye, even if it embarrasses them, and say, "I love you." They will never forget it.
1. Listen. You can't gift-wrap your ear, but that is a huge gift. Just sitting down and listening to them. Turn off the television, cell phone, stereo, computer, everything. Just have a conversation and really LISTEN to them. Sometimes without even coming out and saying anything they can be asking for help, attention, direction, anything--but you don't hear it if you don't LISTEN.
So if you're worried about what to get your kids for Christmas, look list over. It's all free. One size fits all. No return line. No duplication worries. And they're good 365 days out of the year.
Fresh Start
December 6: You
all know how I love to give God the glory when He blesses us! Today we
woke up chilly and wondering what was happening with getting a new
furnace, we faced snow outside and COLD temperatures, yet we all slept
well, stayed warm, and were alive for another day! We will be getting a
brand new furnace at noon tomorrow and I do believe that God allowed
this short delay so as to bring my attention to all the goodness He can give you if you are willing to wait on Him.
A client of mine paid me this morning and I was a woman on a mission. We have a beautiful fireplace and no wood, so as I drove off to get some groceries, I called a local tree service that sells cords of wood from trees they cut down. They had no seasoned cords but was I aware that Marion County Juvenile Department had firewood for sale? I wasn't but now I am and I am here to toot a horn for Fresh Start Market and Espresso.
Located on Center Street in Salem just down a block or so from Oregon State Hospital (where One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was filmed 40+ years ago), Fresh Start is in a darling little building next door to a juvenile correctional facility. R&R Tree Service, the company I'd originally called for firewood, donates some of their wood to this business to sell either in cords or by cart. Carts are four feet long, three feet high, and a foot deep for $35; I bought two carts of wood. A young man named Jacob loaded the wood into the back of the Dodge for me. Inside Fresh Start is a little cafe/coffee shop. All the workers there are juvenile offenders that are on probation. Everything they earn working there goes to pay restitution for their crimes until it's paid in full. Jacob was SO polite, very hard working, very pleasant. I told him I was really proud of him, and that I didn't mind patronizing this business if it meant encouraging him and other juvenile offenders to stay on the straight path and not end up at the prison. I told him about Mike and that he'd worked in four max prisons and would do anything to see kids get going down the right path and leaving a life of crime. Some other business has donated Christmas trees and they range in price from $5-$40 and Jacob was only too happy to show me a few of them. The menu for the cafe is small and simple, just enough to create the basics but excellent prices and all made by the kids. This entire operation is overseen by adults. The cafe was clean, organized, and full of customers, which was nice to see. They sell seasonal produce which is either grown in their gardens or purchased from local farmers. They have a summer plant sale including large hanging baskets, as well as cedar planters, garden art, holiday gifts, and recycled wood and metal art made by the youth there. Their address is 3020 Center Street, Salem, 503.585.4956.
One of the sweetest compliments my husband has ever given me was that I'm his ideal of the Proverbs 31 woman. High praise from a man that has hated women most of his life because of his childhood and first marriage. It was such a wonderful feeling to get paid by a client and be able to go find the firewood, on my own and bring it home to warm up the house. Groceries purchased, firewood stacked (Alison--what a little trooper, helping me unload and stack in 25 degree weather. Couldn't have done it without her.) Tonight, the house is toasty, a beautiful fire going, husband showered, leg, dressed and bandaged, you'd never know the furnace is dead, it's so warm in here thanks to Him leading me to Fresh Start. His provision is always just PERFECT for what we need.
A client of mine paid me this morning and I was a woman on a mission. We have a beautiful fireplace and no wood, so as I drove off to get some groceries, I called a local tree service that sells cords of wood from trees they cut down. They had no seasoned cords but was I aware that Marion County Juvenile Department had firewood for sale? I wasn't but now I am and I am here to toot a horn for Fresh Start Market and Espresso.
Located on Center Street in Salem just down a block or so from Oregon State Hospital (where One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was filmed 40+ years ago), Fresh Start is in a darling little building next door to a juvenile correctional facility. R&R Tree Service, the company I'd originally called for firewood, donates some of their wood to this business to sell either in cords or by cart. Carts are four feet long, three feet high, and a foot deep for $35; I bought two carts of wood. A young man named Jacob loaded the wood into the back of the Dodge for me. Inside Fresh Start is a little cafe/coffee shop. All the workers there are juvenile offenders that are on probation. Everything they earn working there goes to pay restitution for their crimes until it's paid in full. Jacob was SO polite, very hard working, very pleasant. I told him I was really proud of him, and that I didn't mind patronizing this business if it meant encouraging him and other juvenile offenders to stay on the straight path and not end up at the prison. I told him about Mike and that he'd worked in four max prisons and would do anything to see kids get going down the right path and leaving a life of crime. Some other business has donated Christmas trees and they range in price from $5-$40 and Jacob was only too happy to show me a few of them. The menu for the cafe is small and simple, just enough to create the basics but excellent prices and all made by the kids. This entire operation is overseen by adults. The cafe was clean, organized, and full of customers, which was nice to see. They sell seasonal produce which is either grown in their gardens or purchased from local farmers. They have a summer plant sale including large hanging baskets, as well as cedar planters, garden art, holiday gifts, and recycled wood and metal art made by the youth there. Their address is 3020 Center Street, Salem, 503.585.4956.
One of the sweetest compliments my husband has ever given me was that I'm his ideal of the Proverbs 31 woman. High praise from a man that has hated women most of his life because of his childhood and first marriage. It was such a wonderful feeling to get paid by a client and be able to go find the firewood, on my own and bring it home to warm up the house. Groceries purchased, firewood stacked (Alison--what a little trooper, helping me unload and stack in 25 degree weather. Couldn't have done it without her.) Tonight, the house is toasty, a beautiful fire going, husband showered, leg, dressed and bandaged, you'd never know the furnace is dead, it's so warm in here thanks to Him leading me to Fresh Start. His provision is always just PERFECT for what we need.
Stupid n****r
One of my sweet co-workers experienced firsthand the beauty of the holidays and the gentle heart of the American consumer on Sunday.
He was working the register and had a really mouthy, awful young woman, about early 20's or so, and she apparently was with her mother who'd been rude to Eric before on another trip to Michaels. Mom was roaming the store while her daughter was paying for her items. This young lady was giving Eric an attitude about a part of her purchase and he apologized. She was mouthy, telling him to shut up, quit saying you're sorry you're just sounding stupid, to which he apologized AGAIN, this went on a couple of times, he's a really sweet kid and was totally blown away by her rudeness. Her mom walks up to the register and asks her daughter if she was having trouble.
"I wouldn't be but this stupid n****r is pissing me off."
Out. Loud. Eric is black. One of the SWEETEST guys you will ever meet. We get along fabulously, he's a hard worker, studying to be a nurse to work with the elderly. And he was absolutely crushed. We had a chat about this last night. I told him that there are ugly people everywhere, she was ugly before she walked in the store, you just happened to see the side that day and you can't take it personally, she probably treats everyone she encounters this way. Just look at people like that right in the eye and tell them, "Well, God bless you! He loves you, too!" They won't know how to handle it and you will totally knock them off course.
Last evening one of the girls in the floral department had to get on the speaker and kindly ask people to NOT let their children race around the store with merchandise in their hands and PLEASE do not let them lay on the floor and roll round and LICK the floor. Honest to Pete, you have to ask people to not let their kids LICK the floor. I found three carts of merchandise last night, packed to the gills and overflowing with items that people had picked up through the store and then DITCHED. I often wonder how they'd feel if we showed up at their door, helped ourselves inside, and then went room-to-room picking up their belongings in one room and leaving it in another, dumping it on the floor, tossing it in a corner--destruction is always easy when you don't have to clean it up.
If you want to see the worst of mankind, go to a store during the holidays. If you want to see the best of mankind, go to a store during the holidays. You see and hear things you never thought possible. There are some people that you just want to toss a slab of raw meat to and hope you pull back all your fingers. Then there are those, like the ragged biker and his girlfriend, that cried while telling me about their biker club president who'd died at the age of 33 from heart disease and "I looked at his face after he died and I saw the face of a man that had seen the face of Jesus when he went Home!" It blows your mind--the vastness of personalities and attitudes, the ugly and beautiful, every letter of the alphabet from A-Z that describes the human race walks through those doors.
To hurl a racial epithet at a young man that is putting himself through college and working his tail off like the rest of us is to crawl on the elevator of attitude and descend three floors below human. For every jerk that comes in the store there are 10 lovely people and I'm sure escorts would have been climbing over each other to escort her out the doors. Eric was absolutely crestfallen but I told him this won't be the last time someone looks at the color of your skin and says something horrible to you, sad as it is, but you have to pull yourself together, hold your head high, and not let their ignorance dictate how you face life.
Festering jackasses have been around since the dawn of man. Look at Cain. We have gone from a man killing his brother in a field over a fit of jealousy to black kids racing up to people and slamming them in the head so hard they pass out, or in some cases, die of their injuries, and I'm not being racist, every episode of this behavior caught on camera shows the perps to be black and the victims to be white. Just the facts, ma'am, and video doesn't lie. Does a white woman calling a black man a stupid n****r trump a black kid hitting a white woman so hard she dies of brain injuries? No. The enemy walks among us like a roaring lion looking to destroy us, whether with words or fists irregardless of color. When you walk through life with a moral ambiguity, afraid to take a stand lest you offend someone you will be a target, behavior like this will continue. If you see behavior like this, do you take a stand and call that person out? Or do you swallow yourself and walk away, knowing someone else will have to wade through the carnage of someone's feelings crushed by words or property being destroyed or people being put out by a child's behavior? I would hope I have the moral conviction if that should happen again to grab the phone, activate the store loud speaker, and inform the buying public there is an ignorant young woman at register five that has called my co-worker a racial epithet and would anyone volunteer to show this young woman the door and make it clear she is to never return again? Do you say something to a parent who's letting their child destroy public property or hinder someone walking down an aisle because the child is throwing store merchandise across the aisles or running dangerously around corners and could bump an older person and knock them over? Does this behavior stop when we stop crawling inside our safe place to hide and start standing up and saying and doing what's right? To not say anything is to endorse such behavior.
Now, what are you willing to do?
He was working the register and had a really mouthy, awful young woman, about early 20's or so, and she apparently was with her mother who'd been rude to Eric before on another trip to Michaels. Mom was roaming the store while her daughter was paying for her items. This young lady was giving Eric an attitude about a part of her purchase and he apologized. She was mouthy, telling him to shut up, quit saying you're sorry you're just sounding stupid, to which he apologized AGAIN, this went on a couple of times, he's a really sweet kid and was totally blown away by her rudeness. Her mom walks up to the register and asks her daughter if she was having trouble.
"I wouldn't be but this stupid n****r is pissing me off."
Out. Loud. Eric is black. One of the SWEETEST guys you will ever meet. We get along fabulously, he's a hard worker, studying to be a nurse to work with the elderly. And he was absolutely crushed. We had a chat about this last night. I told him that there are ugly people everywhere, she was ugly before she walked in the store, you just happened to see the side that day and you can't take it personally, she probably treats everyone she encounters this way. Just look at people like that right in the eye and tell them, "Well, God bless you! He loves you, too!" They won't know how to handle it and you will totally knock them off course.
Last evening one of the girls in the floral department had to get on the speaker and kindly ask people to NOT let their children race around the store with merchandise in their hands and PLEASE do not let them lay on the floor and roll round and LICK the floor. Honest to Pete, you have to ask people to not let their kids LICK the floor. I found three carts of merchandise last night, packed to the gills and overflowing with items that people had picked up through the store and then DITCHED. I often wonder how they'd feel if we showed up at their door, helped ourselves inside, and then went room-to-room picking up their belongings in one room and leaving it in another, dumping it on the floor, tossing it in a corner--destruction is always easy when you don't have to clean it up.
If you want to see the worst of mankind, go to a store during the holidays. If you want to see the best of mankind, go to a store during the holidays. You see and hear things you never thought possible. There are some people that you just want to toss a slab of raw meat to and hope you pull back all your fingers. Then there are those, like the ragged biker and his girlfriend, that cried while telling me about their biker club president who'd died at the age of 33 from heart disease and "I looked at his face after he died and I saw the face of a man that had seen the face of Jesus when he went Home!" It blows your mind--the vastness of personalities and attitudes, the ugly and beautiful, every letter of the alphabet from A-Z that describes the human race walks through those doors.
To hurl a racial epithet at a young man that is putting himself through college and working his tail off like the rest of us is to crawl on the elevator of attitude and descend three floors below human. For every jerk that comes in the store there are 10 lovely people and I'm sure escorts would have been climbing over each other to escort her out the doors. Eric was absolutely crestfallen but I told him this won't be the last time someone looks at the color of your skin and says something horrible to you, sad as it is, but you have to pull yourself together, hold your head high, and not let their ignorance dictate how you face life.
Festering jackasses have been around since the dawn of man. Look at Cain. We have gone from a man killing his brother in a field over a fit of jealousy to black kids racing up to people and slamming them in the head so hard they pass out, or in some cases, die of their injuries, and I'm not being racist, every episode of this behavior caught on camera shows the perps to be black and the victims to be white. Just the facts, ma'am, and video doesn't lie. Does a white woman calling a black man a stupid n****r trump a black kid hitting a white woman so hard she dies of brain injuries? No. The enemy walks among us like a roaring lion looking to destroy us, whether with words or fists irregardless of color. When you walk through life with a moral ambiguity, afraid to take a stand lest you offend someone you will be a target, behavior like this will continue. If you see behavior like this, do you take a stand and call that person out? Or do you swallow yourself and walk away, knowing someone else will have to wade through the carnage of someone's feelings crushed by words or property being destroyed or people being put out by a child's behavior? I would hope I have the moral conviction if that should happen again to grab the phone, activate the store loud speaker, and inform the buying public there is an ignorant young woman at register five that has called my co-worker a racial epithet and would anyone volunteer to show this young woman the door and make it clear she is to never return again? Do you say something to a parent who's letting their child destroy public property or hinder someone walking down an aisle because the child is throwing store merchandise across the aisles or running dangerously around corners and could bump an older person and knock them over? Does this behavior stop when we stop crawling inside our safe place to hide and start standing up and saying and doing what's right? To not say anything is to endorse such behavior.
Now, what are you willing to do?
Sunday, December 1, 2013
To be a storm in Oregon...
This weather--has Oregon weather become like Oregon residents?
"I don't know what I want to do! Do I want to rage through here and bring 100 mph winds and blow leaves and limbs everywhere? Do I want to be politically correct and blow up to an intersection and hem and haw and not insult the other winds and wait until someone motions me to blow through so I don't look like I actually WANT to blow through? Do I blow over and rain on conservatives to appease the flaming libs? Or do I want to blow over and rain on libs and make the conservatives happy? Do I want to unleash total destruction and cause the state government to spend tax payer dollars on something besides the failed Cover Oregon plan and giving illegal aliens driver permits, or do I just blow ENOUGH destruction so that all those horrible, piggish Obama haters have to leave the comfort of their homes and go rake leaves out of their neighbors yards?
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooh, what do I do? Decisions, decisions, decisions! (Much swirling around in place of hand-wringing....)
In the end I think I'll just gust up like I mean business and then act like an impotent ass and just blow a lot of stuff around. Oh, to be a storm in Oregon......."
"I don't know what I want to do! Do I want to rage through here and bring 100 mph winds and blow leaves and limbs everywhere? Do I want to be politically correct and blow up to an intersection and hem and haw and not insult the other winds and wait until someone motions me to blow through so I don't look like I actually WANT to blow through? Do I blow over and rain on conservatives to appease the flaming libs? Or do I want to blow over and rain on libs and make the conservatives happy? Do I want to unleash total destruction and cause the state government to spend tax payer dollars on something besides the failed Cover Oregon plan and giving illegal aliens driver permits, or do I just blow ENOUGH destruction so that all those horrible, piggish Obama haters have to leave the comfort of their homes and go rake leaves out of their neighbors yards?
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooh, what do I do? Decisions, decisions, decisions! (Much swirling around in place of hand-wringing....)
In the end I think I'll just gust up like I mean business and then act like an impotent ass and just blow a lot of stuff around. Oh, to be a storm in Oregon......."
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Giving Thanks
I am grateful for so much this day.
I woke to Mike in the kitchen making his famous and SO delicious stuffing. I checked a year ago and I don't believe I posted anything about Thanksgiving because Mike was busy falling down in the shower and trying to pass out from weakness just walking through the house. We were a month past the skin graft and still had so many unknowns in our lives. What a difference a year makes. Mike was so excited to be up and mobile this year and began planning his stuffing weeks ago. He's a MUCH better cook than I and I'm so thankful he makes the bulk of Thanksgiving dinner or we would be giving thanks for toilets and Tums after I get done. His stuffing is amazing and only made once a year so we can savor it, but I'm savoring so much more. Just his being alive I am savoring. We have come so far and I am grateful for healing, for God's mighty hand in our lives, transforming people that needed transforming, loving us along the way, teaching--always teaching. He is such a loving and gracious God. Our lives are a testament to that.
I'm grateful for a daughter and son-in-law, Katherine and Chad, that are growing and trying to find their way in the world, blazing their trails however they choose. Both so smart and talented and enjoying building their marriage, coming up on their second anniversary. I am so grateful for her friends that consider me a second mom and bless me with sharing their lives so I can watch them grow as they get older, delight in their victories and joys and try to comfort them in their times of tears.
I am grateful for Alison, the light God gave us that has shone brightly in some very dark years. She's literally kept us going and laughing and marveling and enjoying life through the eyes of this truly remarkable little girl. Just one more bit of proof to me that she is why He's God and I'm not because never in my life would I have dreamed up this surprise we weren't expecting. The past few years would have been so much darker and desperate without this life force we call Alison in our lives. She truly is a life force and brings life and smiles and lots of hugs everywhere she goes.
I am so grateful for the incredible abundance of friends I have. Heidi, my sister from another mister, my sister in Christ, my sister in arms. Love her so much. Amy, Gina, Nikki, Rachel, Michelle, Sherry, Liz, Tracy, Barbara Ann, Nora, Wendy Kimberly,....so many if I named them all here I'd be working through my turkey dinner. Many I have known for years, many I've never met face-to-face, but all have a special place in my life and my heart, and I am blessed to call them all my friends. Heaven is going to be BLISSFUL with my friends to spend eternity with.
I have to work today from 4-8 but I'm not upset because God always, ALWAYS brings someone through my line that either blesses me, or I'm able to bless THEM with a kind word or a praise to God. So what if businesses are open today? Capitalism is still alive and fighting to stay alive in America and if it means that they're open today, God bless America. We keep capitalism alive however we have to. That means there are people working and still able to put food on their family's table.
I am grateful for the flag that flies freely as a symbol of our freedom, and I am grateful for a Constitution that lays the foundation of our freedoms. I am grateful for the many men and women that volunteer to serve our country and die on foreign shores so we may have those freedoms set forth in the Constitution and the hearts of our founding fathers. They pay a price we cannot begin go fathom so we don't have to live a life we cannot begin to fathom. I am grateful for the people that continue to stand up and fight to keep our country free, whatever the cost, for the First Amendment that keeps those voices loud and heard. I am thankful for voices that refuse to be stilled or quieted so evil cannot completely destroy what was begun in the hearts and minds of God-fearing men that saw possibility on our shores over two centuries ago, not the rule and oppression that they fled from.
I am grateful for churches with open doors because God and men won't allow them to be shuttered. I am grateful for the Bible and the gospel that many bravely share, sometimes at the top of their lungs while standing on a box on a street corner, or quietly in a home or pulpit with the faithful gathered around. I am grateful for the men and women that literally give their lives to spread the gospel around the world putting on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6) to take Jesus to the lost and hurting in the darkest and furthest corners of the world. I am grateful for pastors that are sticking true to the word of God and not straying into gospel that tickles the itching ears of the lazy or corrupt. I am grateful for God's word that never changes or returns void to the heart that sent the words out. I am grateful for the faithful and loving that reach out to the lost and lonely to share God's love and pray for them to add their number of saved to the folds of His robe. I am grateful for PRAYER, our conduit to talk to God, our means of lifting people to him for blessing, our line of peace that allows Him to speak to our hearts. More problems and mysteries would disappear if more heads were bowed in prayer and submission than noses pointed haughtily in the air in pride and defiance.
Take the time to today to pray for someone that is enduring a rough time in their life, for love lost, for life stilled, for job taken away, for housing, for a pet that is suffering or gone, for a child that has been sick or strayed or gone Home ahead of a parent, for a marriage that has disintegrated or hit a speed bump. Give freely of your heart, your time, and if you have any spare, your dollars. If you see a Salvation Army bell ringer, buy them a cup of hot chocolate or coffee and say a prayer with them. I've done both and believe me, it sustains them. Give happily with a joyful heart and drop that dollar into the bucket with a prayer that it blesses someone in need.
Enjoy this day and take time to thank Him for what He has given you. Put down your list of "wants" and look over your list of "haves" and you will see, I'm sure, that the list of "haves" is far longer than your list of "wants" and probably much happier, too. I pray you use this day for true "thanksgiving" and take the time to thank Him from whom your blessings flow.
I woke to Mike in the kitchen making his famous and SO delicious stuffing. I checked a year ago and I don't believe I posted anything about Thanksgiving because Mike was busy falling down in the shower and trying to pass out from weakness just walking through the house. We were a month past the skin graft and still had so many unknowns in our lives. What a difference a year makes. Mike was so excited to be up and mobile this year and began planning his stuffing weeks ago. He's a MUCH better cook than I and I'm so thankful he makes the bulk of Thanksgiving dinner or we would be giving thanks for toilets and Tums after I get done. His stuffing is amazing and only made once a year so we can savor it, but I'm savoring so much more. Just his being alive I am savoring. We have come so far and I am grateful for healing, for God's mighty hand in our lives, transforming people that needed transforming, loving us along the way, teaching--always teaching. He is such a loving and gracious God. Our lives are a testament to that.
I'm grateful for a daughter and son-in-law, Katherine and Chad, that are growing and trying to find their way in the world, blazing their trails however they choose. Both so smart and talented and enjoying building their marriage, coming up on their second anniversary. I am so grateful for her friends that consider me a second mom and bless me with sharing their lives so I can watch them grow as they get older, delight in their victories and joys and try to comfort them in their times of tears.
I am grateful for Alison, the light God gave us that has shone brightly in some very dark years. She's literally kept us going and laughing and marveling and enjoying life through the eyes of this truly remarkable little girl. Just one more bit of proof to me that she is why He's God and I'm not because never in my life would I have dreamed up this surprise we weren't expecting. The past few years would have been so much darker and desperate without this life force we call Alison in our lives. She truly is a life force and brings life and smiles and lots of hugs everywhere she goes.
I am so grateful for the incredible abundance of friends I have. Heidi, my sister from another mister, my sister in Christ, my sister in arms. Love her so much. Amy, Gina, Nikki, Rachel, Michelle, Sherry, Liz, Tracy, Barbara Ann, Nora, Wendy Kimberly,....so many if I named them all here I'd be working through my turkey dinner. Many I have known for years, many I've never met face-to-face, but all have a special place in my life and my heart, and I am blessed to call them all my friends. Heaven is going to be BLISSFUL with my friends to spend eternity with.
I have to work today from 4-8 but I'm not upset because God always, ALWAYS brings someone through my line that either blesses me, or I'm able to bless THEM with a kind word or a praise to God. So what if businesses are open today? Capitalism is still alive and fighting to stay alive in America and if it means that they're open today, God bless America. We keep capitalism alive however we have to. That means there are people working and still able to put food on their family's table.
I am grateful for the flag that flies freely as a symbol of our freedom, and I am grateful for a Constitution that lays the foundation of our freedoms. I am grateful for the many men and women that volunteer to serve our country and die on foreign shores so we may have those freedoms set forth in the Constitution and the hearts of our founding fathers. They pay a price we cannot begin go fathom so we don't have to live a life we cannot begin to fathom. I am grateful for the people that continue to stand up and fight to keep our country free, whatever the cost, for the First Amendment that keeps those voices loud and heard. I am thankful for voices that refuse to be stilled or quieted so evil cannot completely destroy what was begun in the hearts and minds of God-fearing men that saw possibility on our shores over two centuries ago, not the rule and oppression that they fled from.
I am grateful for churches with open doors because God and men won't allow them to be shuttered. I am grateful for the Bible and the gospel that many bravely share, sometimes at the top of their lungs while standing on a box on a street corner, or quietly in a home or pulpit with the faithful gathered around. I am grateful for the men and women that literally give their lives to spread the gospel around the world putting on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6) to take Jesus to the lost and hurting in the darkest and furthest corners of the world. I am grateful for pastors that are sticking true to the word of God and not straying into gospel that tickles the itching ears of the lazy or corrupt. I am grateful for God's word that never changes or returns void to the heart that sent the words out. I am grateful for the faithful and loving that reach out to the lost and lonely to share God's love and pray for them to add their number of saved to the folds of His robe. I am grateful for PRAYER, our conduit to talk to God, our means of lifting people to him for blessing, our line of peace that allows Him to speak to our hearts. More problems and mysteries would disappear if more heads were bowed in prayer and submission than noses pointed haughtily in the air in pride and defiance.
Take the time to today to pray for someone that is enduring a rough time in their life, for love lost, for life stilled, for job taken away, for housing, for a pet that is suffering or gone, for a child that has been sick or strayed or gone Home ahead of a parent, for a marriage that has disintegrated or hit a speed bump. Give freely of your heart, your time, and if you have any spare, your dollars. If you see a Salvation Army bell ringer, buy them a cup of hot chocolate or coffee and say a prayer with them. I've done both and believe me, it sustains them. Give happily with a joyful heart and drop that dollar into the bucket with a prayer that it blesses someone in need.
Enjoy this day and take time to thank Him for what He has given you. Put down your list of "wants" and look over your list of "haves" and you will see, I'm sure, that the list of "haves" is far longer than your list of "wants" and probably much happier, too. I pray you use this day for true "thanksgiving" and take the time to thank Him from whom your blessings flow.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Seasons
Today I am grateful for the changing seasons.
Fall is so beautiful here, bright colored leaves, crisp air, apples and pumpkins and the smell of smoke in the air from wood stoves and fireplaces. All the seasons are so symbolic of God's love for us, he loves us so much that He not only gave us His Son, but the seasons are a moving display of His majesty and creation.
Summer is warm and active, we work hard outside and enjoy the evenings as they cool down and we can watch the beauty of the stars. Clear days watching the ocean waters come in and go out, hiking in the mountains, walking alongside cool streams, fishing, swimming, driving along beautiful country roads. It reminds me of Christ walking along the streets of Jerusalem with the disciples, the Sermon on the Mount, feeding the crowds, sailing on the sea with the disciples, touching those that needed to feel the hand of God to be healed and were forgiven of their sins. Summer to me is the fullness of life that Christ had while He walked among the people.
Fall, life is winding down, the trees are shedding the leaves that have kept us cool in breezes, cooled our homes, animals scurry to put food away for the winter, we break down our outdoor lives and put it all away, and if we're smart, we bundle up, strike a fire, and enjoy the cool nights and leaves floating around. Fall is my favorite time. It's like the world is winding down for a long nap. It's that time between putting your child to bed and when they actually go to sleep. The end of fall reminds me of Christ carrying his cross along the Via Dolorosa (Latin,"Way of Grief", "Way of Sorrows", "Way of Suffering" or simply "Painful Way"), then on up to Golgotha, the hill on which his cross was placed as he was crucified. We put the world to rest in the fall, as He prepared to spend three days in the tomb.
Winter is cold. If you live here in the Pacific Northwest, it's dark and rainy, it can be dreary, but that's why I think our falls and springs are so beautiful. We know what was, we know what is coming. In Colorado the days are bright and crisp and the cold sucks the air out of you on really cold days and then with the snap of a finger, you can have 18 inches of snow in the ground. Crystal powdery flakes that shimmer and sparkle, like God dumped millions upon millions of diamonds over everything. Winter for me reminds me of the the three days that Christ lay in the tomb, conquering death and hell and was preparing to rise again.
Spring. Bursting forth with flowers, buds on trees, cool mornings, chilly evenings, rain showers, beautiful billowing clouds and fluffy displays of afternoon sunlight after a rainstorm. April in Oregon is wonderful. The new flowers bursting up and new leaves bursting out on the limbs are symbolic to me of Christ coming out of the tomb and bringing His beauty with Him. The newness of growth is the growth of Christ in us as we celebrate His resurrection and victory over the death of winter.
God gave us the seasons to enjoy His masterful, artful hand, to savor His creation, and to see His Son and life as Christ lived. I'm SO grateful for the beautiful seasons!
Fall is so beautiful here, bright colored leaves, crisp air, apples and pumpkins and the smell of smoke in the air from wood stoves and fireplaces. All the seasons are so symbolic of God's love for us, he loves us so much that He not only gave us His Son, but the seasons are a moving display of His majesty and creation.
Summer is warm and active, we work hard outside and enjoy the evenings as they cool down and we can watch the beauty of the stars. Clear days watching the ocean waters come in and go out, hiking in the mountains, walking alongside cool streams, fishing, swimming, driving along beautiful country roads. It reminds me of Christ walking along the streets of Jerusalem with the disciples, the Sermon on the Mount, feeding the crowds, sailing on the sea with the disciples, touching those that needed to feel the hand of God to be healed and were forgiven of their sins. Summer to me is the fullness of life that Christ had while He walked among the people.
Fall, life is winding down, the trees are shedding the leaves that have kept us cool in breezes, cooled our homes, animals scurry to put food away for the winter, we break down our outdoor lives and put it all away, and if we're smart, we bundle up, strike a fire, and enjoy the cool nights and leaves floating around. Fall is my favorite time. It's like the world is winding down for a long nap. It's that time between putting your child to bed and when they actually go to sleep. The end of fall reminds me of Christ carrying his cross along the Via Dolorosa (Latin,"Way of Grief", "Way of Sorrows", "Way of Suffering" or simply "Painful Way"), then on up to Golgotha, the hill on which his cross was placed as he was crucified. We put the world to rest in the fall, as He prepared to spend three days in the tomb.
Winter is cold. If you live here in the Pacific Northwest, it's dark and rainy, it can be dreary, but that's why I think our falls and springs are so beautiful. We know what was, we know what is coming. In Colorado the days are bright and crisp and the cold sucks the air out of you on really cold days and then with the snap of a finger, you can have 18 inches of snow in the ground. Crystal powdery flakes that shimmer and sparkle, like God dumped millions upon millions of diamonds over everything. Winter for me reminds me of the the three days that Christ lay in the tomb, conquering death and hell and was preparing to rise again.
Spring. Bursting forth with flowers, buds on trees, cool mornings, chilly evenings, rain showers, beautiful billowing clouds and fluffy displays of afternoon sunlight after a rainstorm. April in Oregon is wonderful. The new flowers bursting up and new leaves bursting out on the limbs are symbolic to me of Christ coming out of the tomb and bringing His beauty with Him. The newness of growth is the growth of Christ in us as we celebrate His resurrection and victory over the death of winter.
God gave us the seasons to enjoy His masterful, artful hand, to savor His creation, and to see His Son and life as Christ lived. I'm SO grateful for the beautiful seasons!
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Control
We have a ginormous yard with lots of old trees in the back and two VERY industrious little squirrels in ot. There is a walnut tree in the back neighbor's property and branches from it cover our yard and we get to keep the walnuts that fall from it every year--unless Squirrel 1 and Squirrel 2 beat me to them. It's a race every year.
I'm sitting here at the window working on the book and out of the corner of my eye I see one of them on the patio searching. Always searching. He's always on the lookout for anything he can, pardon the pun, squirrel away for winter. Here it is early November and he's still out looking. At this point hope springs eternal.
Seeing him still searching for provision to keep the family fed I was sadly reminded of a sizable contingent of our society (and don't anyone get panties in a wad because I'm not talking about those that have been laid off or are truly hard workers) that are content to allow others to do the hard work so they can collect a welfare check or add one more child to the food stamp rolls. Even a squirrel in this country is willing to work harder for his food than some Americans. There's no one there to hand him Obamamoney or an Obamaphone or Obamacare.
But they can be trained to become THAT dependent. My great grandmother and great great grandmother lived with my dad as he was growing up and they would sit for hours on the back porch feeding the squirrels peanuts while they sewed by hand the beautiful wedding ring quilt top that I now have. The squirrels became quite tame and never missed a day when all they had to do was show up and peanuts would be tossed their way. Had these two women not been there the squirrels would have had to go out and forage for food to survive. Much like the squirrels that got spoiled by two little old women, that sizable contingent in our society showed up one day and someone began throwing bites their way. Checks. Food stamps. Anything and everything the people could toss their way to keep them coming back. The squirrels were controlled by the peanuts tossed their direction. The people kept coming back and have become controlled by the things someone tosses their direction.
When you get right down to it, control is not hard to create when you have something someone wants but becomes too lazy to go out and work for.
I'm sitting here at the window working on the book and out of the corner of my eye I see one of them on the patio searching. Always searching. He's always on the lookout for anything he can, pardon the pun, squirrel away for winter. Here it is early November and he's still out looking. At this point hope springs eternal.
Seeing him still searching for provision to keep the family fed I was sadly reminded of a sizable contingent of our society (and don't anyone get panties in a wad because I'm not talking about those that have been laid off or are truly hard workers) that are content to allow others to do the hard work so they can collect a welfare check or add one more child to the food stamp rolls. Even a squirrel in this country is willing to work harder for his food than some Americans. There's no one there to hand him Obamamoney or an Obamaphone or Obamacare.
But they can be trained to become THAT dependent. My great grandmother and great great grandmother lived with my dad as he was growing up and they would sit for hours on the back porch feeding the squirrels peanuts while they sewed by hand the beautiful wedding ring quilt top that I now have. The squirrels became quite tame and never missed a day when all they had to do was show up and peanuts would be tossed their way. Had these two women not been there the squirrels would have had to go out and forage for food to survive. Much like the squirrels that got spoiled by two little old women, that sizable contingent in our society showed up one day and someone began throwing bites their way. Checks. Food stamps. Anything and everything the people could toss their way to keep them coming back. The squirrels were controlled by the peanuts tossed their direction. The people kept coming back and have become controlled by the things someone tosses their direction.
When you get right down to it, control is not hard to create when you have something someone wants but becomes too lazy to go out and work for.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Goodbye to the old, hello to the new
I have a friend that has chosen to close down her old life in the wedding industry and open a new door. She and I both have a passion for writing and I've been so encouraged by friends to pursue what I've always just considered my pressure valve for letting off steam: writing.
I am working on a book, nearly done, and already I have three or four other things in the hopper to work on. I really don't want to go back to doing the same thing I've been doing for 12 years in the wedding industry. It's exhausting and takes time away from my family. I cannot begin to count the hours I've lost with my family because there was always work to be done. I came home from church yesterday and remarked to my husband about how nice it was to be able to take my time cleaning up and getting a few things done so I could sit down and work on the book. For years it's been, "Hurry home, throw something together to eat, and then sit for 12 hours working on envelopes." While it's been a good way to stay home and be with my family, it's taken a toll and now I'm ready to turn over a new leaf. I will never completely leave it behind, but the work I've done on the Quaker Marriage Certificates has been so rewarding. I will focus on those and keep a foot in the door.
But writing! I so enjoy weaving things together to share a story. To touch someone's life, to speak encouragement, to educate someone--what an incredible gift that is, both to the reader and the writer. Computers have completely revolutionized it so I can literally write a book and publish it from my laptop. I wonder how many people over the years had really worthwhile things to say yet their subject wasn't considered relevant by a few that sat in an office high up in New York. We can now take our words to any number of websites and in a matter of days have those words reach millions. Amazing.
So, my "office" will now be this laptop and I can write wherever I want on whatever I want and know I at least have a fighting chance of those words reaching people.
My teens were some fun years, working hard, planning for the future. My twenties were hard, although I became a mother for the first time and I'd have to say that was one of the best things ever to happen to me, becoming a mother, heartache and happiness, every bit of it. My thirties were difficult, but I found the love of my life and gave birth to another precious child. My forties have been challenging but oh! the wisdom I've gained! I wouldn't trade my wisdom for anything. I have one and a half years left of my forties and I'm looking forward to seeing how I can wrap up this decade.
But my fifties--now, that will be a sight to behold. With each new decade new opportunities have come along and I do believe this one, should the Lord tarry, will be one of my best so far and on this keyboard I pray I can capture it all.
Join me for this new adventure!
I am working on a book, nearly done, and already I have three or four other things in the hopper to work on. I really don't want to go back to doing the same thing I've been doing for 12 years in the wedding industry. It's exhausting and takes time away from my family. I cannot begin to count the hours I've lost with my family because there was always work to be done. I came home from church yesterday and remarked to my husband about how nice it was to be able to take my time cleaning up and getting a few things done so I could sit down and work on the book. For years it's been, "Hurry home, throw something together to eat, and then sit for 12 hours working on envelopes." While it's been a good way to stay home and be with my family, it's taken a toll and now I'm ready to turn over a new leaf. I will never completely leave it behind, but the work I've done on the Quaker Marriage Certificates has been so rewarding. I will focus on those and keep a foot in the door.
But writing! I so enjoy weaving things together to share a story. To touch someone's life, to speak encouragement, to educate someone--what an incredible gift that is, both to the reader and the writer. Computers have completely revolutionized it so I can literally write a book and publish it from my laptop. I wonder how many people over the years had really worthwhile things to say yet their subject wasn't considered relevant by a few that sat in an office high up in New York. We can now take our words to any number of websites and in a matter of days have those words reach millions. Amazing.
So, my "office" will now be this laptop and I can write wherever I want on whatever I want and know I at least have a fighting chance of those words reaching people.
My teens were some fun years, working hard, planning for the future. My twenties were hard, although I became a mother for the first time and I'd have to say that was one of the best things ever to happen to me, becoming a mother, heartache and happiness, every bit of it. My thirties were difficult, but I found the love of my life and gave birth to another precious child. My forties have been challenging but oh! the wisdom I've gained! I wouldn't trade my wisdom for anything. I have one and a half years left of my forties and I'm looking forward to seeing how I can wrap up this decade.
But my fifties--now, that will be a sight to behold. With each new decade new opportunities have come along and I do believe this one, should the Lord tarry, will be one of my best so far and on this keyboard I pray I can capture it all.
Join me for this new adventure!
Sunday, October 13, 2013
A black writer summarizes Obama
I make no secret of my absolute disdain and disgust for the current squatter of the White House but this is PERFECTION. Read on....
A Black Reporter Summarizes Barack The below summarization of Barack and Michelle Obama’s 5 year reign in the White House is by far the best I’ve ever read as it squarely hits the nail on the head. And it took a black reporter writing it to make it as effective as it is. A white man’s account would be instantly criticized by the liberal media as pure racism. But, how can anyone scream Racist when an exacting description of the Obamas is penned by a well known journalist of color? BEST SUMMATION OF BARACK AND MICHELLE EVER! Mychal Massie is a respected writer and talk show host in Los Angeles. The other evening on my twitter, a person asked me why I didn't like the Obama's? Specifically I was asked: "I have to ask, why do you hate the Obama's? It seems personal, not policy related. You even dissed (disrespect) their Christmas family picture." The truth is I do not like the Obamas, what they represent, their ideology, and I certainly do not like his policies and legislation. I've made no secret of my contempt for the Obamas. As I responded to the person who asked me the aforementioned question, I don't like them because they are committed to the fundamental change of my/our country into what can only be regarded as a Communist state. I don't hate them per definition, but I condemn them because they are the worst kind of racialists, they are elitist Leninists with contempt for traditional America. They display disrespect for the sanctity of the office he holds, and for those who are willing to admit same, Michelle Obama's raw contempt for white America is transpicuous. I don't like them because they comport themselves as emperor and empress. I expect, no I demand respect, for the Office of President and a love of our country and her citizenry from the leader entrusted with the governance of same. President and Mrs. Reagan displayed an unparalleled love for the country and her people. The Reagan's made Americans feel good about themselves and about what we could accomplish. Obama's arrogance by appointing 32 leftist czars and constantly bypassing congress is impeachable. Eric Holder is probably the MOST incompetent and arrogant DOJ head to ever hold the job. Could you envision President Reagan instructing his Justice Department to act like jack-booted thugs? Presidents are politicians and all politicians are known and pretty much expected to manipulate the truth, if not outright lie, but even using that low standard, the Obama's have taken lies, dishonesty, deceit, mendacity, subterfuge and obfuscation to new depths. They are verbally abusive to the citizenry, and they display an animus for civility. I do not like them, because they both display bigotry overtly, as in the case of Harvard Professor Louis Gates, when he accused the Cambridge Police of acting stupidly, and her code speak pursuant to not being able to be proud of America. I view that statement and that mindset as an insult to those who died to provide a country where a Kenyan, his illegal alien relatives, and his alleged progeny, could come and not only live freely, but rise to the highest, most powerful, position in the world. Michelle Obama is free to hate and disparage whites because Americans of every description paid with their blood to ensure her right to do same. I have a saying, that "the only reason a person hides things, is because they have something to hide." No president in history has spent millions of dollars to keep his records and his past sealed. And what the two of them have shared has been proved to be lies. He lied about when and how they met, he lied about his mother's death and problems with insurance, Michelle lied to a crowd pursuant to nearly $500,000 bank stocks they inherited from his family. He has lied about his father's military service, about the civil rights movement, ad nausea. He lied to the world about the Supreme Court in a State of the Union address. He berated and publicly insulted a sitting Congressman. He has surrounded himself with the most rabidly, radical, socialist academicians today. He opposed rulings that protected women and children that even Planned Parenthood did not seek to support. He is openly hostile to business and aggressively hostile to Israel. His wife treats being the First Lady as her personal American Express Black Card (arguably the most prestigious credit card in the world). I condemn them because, as people are suffering, losing their homes, their jobs, their retirements, he and his family are arrogantly showing off their life of entitlement - as he goes about creating and fomenting class warfare. I don't like them, and I neither apologize nor retreat from my public condemnation of them and of his policies. We should condemn them for the disrespect they show our people, for his willful and unconstitutional actions pursuant to obeying the Constitutional parameters he is bound by, and his willful disregard for Congressional authority. Dislike for them has nothing to do with the color of their skin; it has everything to do with their behavior, attitudes, and policies. And I have open scorn for their constantly playing the race card. I could go on, but let me conclude with this. I condemn in the strongest possible terms the media for refusing to investigate them, as they did President Bush and President Clinton, and for refusing to label them for what they truly are. There is no scenario known to man, whereby a white president and his wife could ignore laws, flaunt their position, and lord over the people, as these two are permitted out of fear for their color. As I wrote in a syndicated column titled, "Nero In The White House" - "Never in my life, inside or outside of politics, have I witnessed such dishonesty in a political leader. He is the most mendacious political figure I have ever witnessed. Even by the low standards of his presidential predecessors, his narcissistic, contumacious arrogance is unequalled. Using Obama as the bar, Nero would have to be elevated to sainthood... Many in America wanted to be proud when the first person of color was elected president, but instead, they have been witness to a congenital liar, a woman who has been ashamed of America her entire life, failed policies, intimidation, and a commonality hitherto not witnessed in political leaders. He and his wife view their life at our expense as an entitlement - while America's people go homeless, hungry and unemployed."
A Black Reporter Summarizes Barack The below summarization of Barack and Michelle Obama’s 5 year reign in the White House is by far the best I’ve ever read as it squarely hits the nail on the head. And it took a black reporter writing it to make it as effective as it is. A white man’s account would be instantly criticized by the liberal media as pure racism. But, how can anyone scream Racist when an exacting description of the Obamas is penned by a well known journalist of color? BEST SUMMATION OF BARACK AND MICHELLE EVER! Mychal Massie is a respected writer and talk show host in Los Angeles. The other evening on my twitter, a person asked me why I didn't like the Obama's? Specifically I was asked: "I have to ask, why do you hate the Obama's? It seems personal, not policy related. You even dissed (disrespect) their Christmas family picture." The truth is I do not like the Obamas, what they represent, their ideology, and I certainly do not like his policies and legislation. I've made no secret of my contempt for the Obamas. As I responded to the person who asked me the aforementioned question, I don't like them because they are committed to the fundamental change of my/our country into what can only be regarded as a Communist state. I don't hate them per definition, but I condemn them because they are the worst kind of racialists, they are elitist Leninists with contempt for traditional America. They display disrespect for the sanctity of the office he holds, and for those who are willing to admit same, Michelle Obama's raw contempt for white America is transpicuous. I don't like them because they comport themselves as emperor and empress. I expect, no I demand respect, for the Office of President and a love of our country and her citizenry from the leader entrusted with the governance of same. President and Mrs. Reagan displayed an unparalleled love for the country and her people. The Reagan's made Americans feel good about themselves and about what we could accomplish. Obama's arrogance by appointing 32 leftist czars and constantly bypassing congress is impeachable. Eric Holder is probably the MOST incompetent and arrogant DOJ head to ever hold the job. Could you envision President Reagan instructing his Justice Department to act like jack-booted thugs? Presidents are politicians and all politicians are known and pretty much expected to manipulate the truth, if not outright lie, but even using that low standard, the Obama's have taken lies, dishonesty, deceit, mendacity, subterfuge and obfuscation to new depths. They are verbally abusive to the citizenry, and they display an animus for civility. I do not like them, because they both display bigotry overtly, as in the case of Harvard Professor Louis Gates, when he accused the Cambridge Police of acting stupidly, and her code speak pursuant to not being able to be proud of America. I view that statement and that mindset as an insult to those who died to provide a country where a Kenyan, his illegal alien relatives, and his alleged progeny, could come and not only live freely, but rise to the highest, most powerful, position in the world. Michelle Obama is free to hate and disparage whites because Americans of every description paid with their blood to ensure her right to do same. I have a saying, that "the only reason a person hides things, is because they have something to hide." No president in history has spent millions of dollars to keep his records and his past sealed. And what the two of them have shared has been proved to be lies. He lied about when and how they met, he lied about his mother's death and problems with insurance, Michelle lied to a crowd pursuant to nearly $500,000 bank stocks they inherited from his family. He has lied about his father's military service, about the civil rights movement, ad nausea. He lied to the world about the Supreme Court in a State of the Union address. He berated and publicly insulted a sitting Congressman. He has surrounded himself with the most rabidly, radical, socialist academicians today. He opposed rulings that protected women and children that even Planned Parenthood did not seek to support. He is openly hostile to business and aggressively hostile to Israel. His wife treats being the First Lady as her personal American Express Black Card (arguably the most prestigious credit card in the world). I condemn them because, as people are suffering, losing their homes, their jobs, their retirements, he and his family are arrogantly showing off their life of entitlement - as he goes about creating and fomenting class warfare. I don't like them, and I neither apologize nor retreat from my public condemnation of them and of his policies. We should condemn them for the disrespect they show our people, for his willful and unconstitutional actions pursuant to obeying the Constitutional parameters he is bound by, and his willful disregard for Congressional authority. Dislike for them has nothing to do with the color of their skin; it has everything to do with their behavior, attitudes, and policies. And I have open scorn for their constantly playing the race card. I could go on, but let me conclude with this. I condemn in the strongest possible terms the media for refusing to investigate them, as they did President Bush and President Clinton, and for refusing to label them for what they truly are. There is no scenario known to man, whereby a white president and his wife could ignore laws, flaunt their position, and lord over the people, as these two are permitted out of fear for their color. As I wrote in a syndicated column titled, "Nero In The White House" - "Never in my life, inside or outside of politics, have I witnessed such dishonesty in a political leader. He is the most mendacious political figure I have ever witnessed. Even by the low standards of his presidential predecessors, his narcissistic, contumacious arrogance is unequalled. Using Obama as the bar, Nero would have to be elevated to sainthood... Many in America wanted to be proud when the first person of color was elected president, but instead, they have been witness to a congenital liar, a woman who has been ashamed of America her entire life, failed policies, intimidation, and a commonality hitherto not witnessed in political leaders. He and his wife view their life at our expense as an entitlement - while America's people go homeless, hungry and unemployed."
Friday, October 4, 2013
The after-bath
You
would think that once a cat's bath is over, it's done, gone, buried,
never to be brought up again. Not with Gus, apparently. My once
normally loving biscuit maker who loved nothing more than snuggling up
to me last night wouldn't come out from behind the couch, despite
copious coaching and begging on my part.
This morning, he climbs up on the bed, flounces past me, steps on my pillow to jump into the window sill for his morning gaze at the world. I awoke looking straight up into his ass hanging over my end of the headboard. "Yeah, look at THAT, human. That's how I roll when you violate ME."
All day long, he's skirted past me as quickly as possible. I've not had any kitty whoring on the floor--not once has he dropped to his back to show me his tummy and beg for rubs and loves. I'm persona non grata. When he gets upset or wants to prove a point to me, Gus will crawl into the litter box and not just move stuff around. No. He SHOVELS it out the door to where our laundry room floor looks like a giant sand dune. I awoke to about a bucket full of dry cat litter on the floor. I could just see him unloading over night.
"She dumped me in the (swish!) tub, and she (swish!) got me soaking wet, and (swish!) she soaped me up, and (swish!) she tried to love on me while pouring water over me.....and (swish!)" as the litter went flying.
As I'm sweeping up the mess he was sitting in the dining room observing me with a look. "Take THAT if you think you'll ever bathe me again," as he turned with a flounce and headed back down the hall to hide under the bed.
Sweep it up, dump it back in, mop the floor. Little turd.
Today he crawled up into Mike's arms and I SWEAR he looked back over his shoulder at me with a look that said, "That's right. I USED to love YOU. Now I love HIM. Suck on THAT, human. This human won't do to me what you did to me."
"Gus, of course he won't, you walking slipper, he CAN'T get down on the floor to give you a bath. But I can. Oh, I can and I WILL. And the next time? I have a surprise for you. Meet my little friend. I call him SHOWER MASSAGE."
This morning, he climbs up on the bed, flounces past me, steps on my pillow to jump into the window sill for his morning gaze at the world. I awoke looking straight up into his ass hanging over my end of the headboard. "Yeah, look at THAT, human. That's how I roll when you violate ME."
All day long, he's skirted past me as quickly as possible. I've not had any kitty whoring on the floor--not once has he dropped to his back to show me his tummy and beg for rubs and loves. I'm persona non grata. When he gets upset or wants to prove a point to me, Gus will crawl into the litter box and not just move stuff around. No. He SHOVELS it out the door to where our laundry room floor looks like a giant sand dune. I awoke to about a bucket full of dry cat litter on the floor. I could just see him unloading over night.
"She dumped me in the (swish!) tub, and she (swish!) got me soaking wet, and (swish!) she soaped me up, and (swish!) she tried to love on me while pouring water over me.....and (swish!)" as the litter went flying.
As I'm sweeping up the mess he was sitting in the dining room observing me with a look. "Take THAT if you think you'll ever bathe me again," as he turned with a flounce and headed back down the hall to hide under the bed.
Sweep it up, dump it back in, mop the floor. Little turd.
Today he crawled up into Mike's arms and I SWEAR he looked back over his shoulder at me with a look that said, "That's right. I USED to love YOU. Now I love HIM. Suck on THAT, human. This human won't do to me what you did to me."
"Gus, of course he won't, you walking slipper, he CAN'T get down on the floor to give you a bath. But I can. Oh, I can and I WILL. And the next time? I have a surprise for you. Meet my little friend. I call him SHOWER MASSAGE."
Gus got a bath
September 19, 2013
In my life I've had about 15 or 16 cats. I've never had a cat that liked getting a bath and have been fileted, shredded, chewed up, spit out, ripped to bits, and basically destroy giving them baths. Petco charges $40 to bathe a cat and that's way too much for me, so today I bravely decided I would bathe Gus, our big orange male. He's a big lover.....as long as you let him do everything your way. He can be an asshat when he's done something wrong and you discipline him. He's also very, very smart. He has adopted Mike as his own human and he's forced himself into Mike's heart and Mike's had no choice but to accept his new buddy.
But Gus stunk. Bad.
Today was the day. I changed my will, kissed my loved ones goodbye, filled the tub with about 3 inches of water and animal soap, got the bubbles going, put on my gloves and went to get Gus. Water was warm and the bathroom was quiet, I was thinking that if worst came to worst......Gus would just die. Kidding. I'd just crawl into the tub and sit on him. Until he died.
I closed all the doors and rounded him up. Took him in the bathroom, shut the door, he saw the tub and kind of started to squirm and I hugged him, then lowered him into the tub, expecting to play soccer goalie, catch the kitty, throw the kitty back into the tub, catch the kitty, throw the kitty......
The strangest thing: His feet hit the water and he sank down into the tub gently and lowered himself into the water to get wet, then sat up on his haunches, straight back, and allowed me to wash him. Every inch got lathered up up and rubbed down. Turned him this way--no hassle. Turned him around that way--no squirming. No growling, no hissing, no biting, scratching, latching on. And then he really blew me away.
I turned on the water, expecting him to bolt and get stupid, and as I began pouring water over him, he began PURRING. I have NEVER experienced a cat bath like this. Whoever had him before us washed him often because what I was expecting would be a fight ended up being a treat for him. The running water didn't freak him out, he let me rinse him thoroughly, and kept purring until I turned off the water and took him out of the tub.
I dried him off, thanked him for being a good boy. He turned around, glared at me and hissed. He HISSED at me. After all that. Turd.
In my life I've had about 15 or 16 cats. I've never had a cat that liked getting a bath and have been fileted, shredded, chewed up, spit out, ripped to bits, and basically destroy giving them baths. Petco charges $40 to bathe a cat and that's way too much for me, so today I bravely decided I would bathe Gus, our big orange male. He's a big lover.....as long as you let him do everything your way. He can be an asshat when he's done something wrong and you discipline him. He's also very, very smart. He has adopted Mike as his own human and he's forced himself into Mike's heart and Mike's had no choice but to accept his new buddy.
But Gus stunk. Bad.
Today was the day. I changed my will, kissed my loved ones goodbye, filled the tub with about 3 inches of water and animal soap, got the bubbles going, put on my gloves and went to get Gus. Water was warm and the bathroom was quiet, I was thinking that if worst came to worst......Gus would just die. Kidding. I'd just crawl into the tub and sit on him. Until he died.
I closed all the doors and rounded him up. Took him in the bathroom, shut the door, he saw the tub and kind of started to squirm and I hugged him, then lowered him into the tub, expecting to play soccer goalie, catch the kitty, throw the kitty back into the tub, catch the kitty, throw the kitty......
The strangest thing: His feet hit the water and he sank down into the tub gently and lowered himself into the water to get wet, then sat up on his haunches, straight back, and allowed me to wash him. Every inch got lathered up up and rubbed down. Turned him this way--no hassle. Turned him around that way--no squirming. No growling, no hissing, no biting, scratching, latching on. And then he really blew me away.
I turned on the water, expecting him to bolt and get stupid, and as I began pouring water over him, he began PURRING. I have NEVER experienced a cat bath like this. Whoever had him before us washed him often because what I was expecting would be a fight ended up being a treat for him. The running water didn't freak him out, he let me rinse him thoroughly, and kept purring until I turned off the water and took him out of the tub.
I dried him off, thanked him for being a good boy. He turned around, glared at me and hissed. He HISSED at me. After all that. Turd.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Miss Mo
Spring
of 8th grade I became friends with a girl at Ackerman Jr. High.
Thirty-four years later, we are still best buds and tighter than ever.
Only God could have known how our differences would compliment each
other, and it's those differences that have kept our friendship so alive
for so many years. We have walked with each other through boyfriends,
jobs, parties (and a few hangovers), movies,
books, Rocky Horror Picture Show, college, parents, siblings, a few
concerts, MANY MANY late nights giggling until we were gasping for air,
road trips, weddings, marriages, divorce (mine), pregnancies (her twin
boys, my two girls) husbands, homes, families, lives. I was her matron
of honor with a beautiful wedding. I was happy to just go to the
courthouse for my wedding. She wanted the biggest crown she could find
in the bridal store for her veil. I got married to Mike in a dress I
got off the clearance rack at Sears. I think I paid $2.75 for it. In
many ways we are so opposite and in other ways we are scary alike.
As life stepped in and made us grow up (dammit) our times together grew further and further apart, as it's supposed to, but our hearts and minds stayed as close or closer. I called her when my uncle was murdered, she called me when her brother-in-law was killed in a freak accident. We both know the Lord and I cannot begin to wrap my mind around heaven with her as my friend. It's going to be AWESOME. "Hey Heidi, let's go get Noah to do the Time Warp with us on a cloud!"
One day she called me. "I'm having my hysterectomy in a few days" and it was a two hour conversation giggling about everything from painkillers to "happy little period my ass!" We are both now members of the Hysterectomy Sorority and life is MUCH funnier now. I can go to her with a problem, a worry, a fear, a thought, and I'm NEVER belittled, put down, laughed at (unless I'm laughing with her),or argued with. We each know when the other is at the end of our rope and we are the snapping turtle that chases the other right back up that rope to keep fighting the fight. She's my life ship's ballast and I can talk her down out of trees. Our parents are getting older and now our conversations are peppered with talk about those issues. I hate flying. After college she became a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines where she eventually met her husband on a layover. They've been married 21 years this month. I love her husband. Quiet, hard-working, tall (6'5"), conservative. Heidi and I were laughing about how excited we were when Bill Clinton was elected. Then Tim, her husband, quietly worked on her and she came over from the dark side (liberalism) (again, thank you, Tim), at about the same time I left the dark side and began the conservative life. Now we wonder what we were smoking when we were happy about Bill Clinton getting elected.
She married into a family that was a perfect fit for her, enjoying their vacation house at Lake Arrowhead, going on the cruises her in-laws put together, a beautiful house in CA with a pool. But she never lost that girl whose above-ground pool I flopped in summer after summer, she knows my life is much more sedate and quiet and there's no looking down her nose. She knows that's just how I live, it's how I am. That's just how life turned out. Her in-laws are the most delightful, unassuming people in the world. I don't have in-laws. So many things in our lives are polar opposites, yet we are still bonded together. Through all of our dark days here, she's been one of my biggest supporters and prayer warrior. She's a spin instructor at a fitness center, I've gained weight over the years (you give up smoking, get pregnant, have a successful business where you sit for 12 hours a day and see what happens) and looks fabulous yet never shines the light where she knows it's going to hurt me. I know it's time to take care of me now that I have Mike moving forward and I have to be healthy. She looked fabulous and I was OK with that and the truths in my life: Time to do something for me now.
She was in town this last week for our 30th high school reunion, she attended, I didn't, and yesterday for the first time since our 20th reunion we were able to spend some time together. She showed up at 3 and at 9:30 she looked up at the clock and said, "When did it get to be 9:30? I need to hit the road!" Time just stands still when you have that person in your life. Five minutes after she finally found our house, it was if we hadn't skipped a beat. There was no great RUSH of catching up because we communicate often in so many ways. That's what I love about her, we just CONTINUE whatever is going on with us and it doesn't skip a beat. She's the voice of kindness and calm that I need when my voice gets too critical or bombastic. She met Mike for the first time yesterday. He was so embarrassed about our life and worried she would look down at him, but Heidi was Heidi, and five minutes into their introduction they were chatting it up. He was over the moon that she loved his car. She has that magical ability to put ANYONE at ease. I've said she could venture into a mortuary and in five minutes have the corpses sitting up chatting like old friends. Alison fell in love with her and didn't want her to leave. When Ali was 3 she saw the photo on my office wall of Heidi and I taken at her wedding. "Mommy! You know a REAL Disney Princess?" I DIED. Yesterday, she brought Alison a Hallmark Keepsake Cinderella Princess Ornament. The minute she spotted Ali when she came in the house she came to a halt. "Oh, my Lord, it's a mini-me for you, Lor!" Truly, Ali is a dead wringer for me when I was a young girl. Within no time they were like macaroni and cheese. Ali is a toucher and a hugger and she just couldn't get enough of Miss Heidi.
I didn't want to turn her loose last night. I found me again for a little bit. I found the girl that giggled uncontrollably about Roseanne Rosanadana. We both still remember the lyrics to "Let's talk dirty to the animals", I'll sing it for you sometime. Or maybe not on second thought...... Sometimes all it takes is a look from one of us and we're giggling. I lost that girl in me for a long time. I need her back. Yesterday was such a gift because it reminded me that she's still there under the layers of doctor appointments, diabetes supplies, homeschool, weddings, politics, life. I saw Heidi and remembered just because I'm 48 I don't have to act 78. Our time together breathed that spark of life into me that I needed. What a GIFT He gave us that day in the library at Ackerman when somehow we ended up at the same table to work. And yes, I have a brain for things like that. I can't remember half of what I've cooked this week but I can remember the candle she gave me one year for Christmas. THAT is friendship.
I love that girl. Heidi Fordham. Life would have been so much less hilarious, fashionable, musical, danceable, conversational, employable, enjoyable without you. You have blessed me in ways I will never be able to put into words, but we have Heaven for that. I'm so much richer for knowing you.
As life stepped in and made us grow up (dammit) our times together grew further and further apart, as it's supposed to, but our hearts and minds stayed as close or closer. I called her when my uncle was murdered, she called me when her brother-in-law was killed in a freak accident. We both know the Lord and I cannot begin to wrap my mind around heaven with her as my friend. It's going to be AWESOME. "Hey Heidi, let's go get Noah to do the Time Warp with us on a cloud!"
One day she called me. "I'm having my hysterectomy in a few days" and it was a two hour conversation giggling about everything from painkillers to "happy little period my ass!" We are both now members of the Hysterectomy Sorority and life is MUCH funnier now. I can go to her with a problem, a worry, a fear, a thought, and I'm NEVER belittled, put down, laughed at (unless I'm laughing with her),or argued with. We each know when the other is at the end of our rope and we are the snapping turtle that chases the other right back up that rope to keep fighting the fight. She's my life ship's ballast and I can talk her down out of trees. Our parents are getting older and now our conversations are peppered with talk about those issues. I hate flying. After college she became a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines where she eventually met her husband on a layover. They've been married 21 years this month. I love her husband. Quiet, hard-working, tall (6'5"), conservative. Heidi and I were laughing about how excited we were when Bill Clinton was elected. Then Tim, her husband, quietly worked on her and she came over from the dark side (liberalism) (again, thank you, Tim), at about the same time I left the dark side and began the conservative life. Now we wonder what we were smoking when we were happy about Bill Clinton getting elected.
She married into a family that was a perfect fit for her, enjoying their vacation house at Lake Arrowhead, going on the cruises her in-laws put together, a beautiful house in CA with a pool. But she never lost that girl whose above-ground pool I flopped in summer after summer, she knows my life is much more sedate and quiet and there's no looking down her nose. She knows that's just how I live, it's how I am. That's just how life turned out. Her in-laws are the most delightful, unassuming people in the world. I don't have in-laws. So many things in our lives are polar opposites, yet we are still bonded together. Through all of our dark days here, she's been one of my biggest supporters and prayer warrior. She's a spin instructor at a fitness center, I've gained weight over the years (you give up smoking, get pregnant, have a successful business where you sit for 12 hours a day and see what happens) and looks fabulous yet never shines the light where she knows it's going to hurt me. I know it's time to take care of me now that I have Mike moving forward and I have to be healthy. She looked fabulous and I was OK with that and the truths in my life: Time to do something for me now.
She was in town this last week for our 30th high school reunion, she attended, I didn't, and yesterday for the first time since our 20th reunion we were able to spend some time together. She showed up at 3 and at 9:30 she looked up at the clock and said, "When did it get to be 9:30? I need to hit the road!" Time just stands still when you have that person in your life. Five minutes after she finally found our house, it was if we hadn't skipped a beat. There was no great RUSH of catching up because we communicate often in so many ways. That's what I love about her, we just CONTINUE whatever is going on with us and it doesn't skip a beat. She's the voice of kindness and calm that I need when my voice gets too critical or bombastic. She met Mike for the first time yesterday. He was so embarrassed about our life and worried she would look down at him, but Heidi was Heidi, and five minutes into their introduction they were chatting it up. He was over the moon that she loved his car. She has that magical ability to put ANYONE at ease. I've said she could venture into a mortuary and in five minutes have the corpses sitting up chatting like old friends. Alison fell in love with her and didn't want her to leave. When Ali was 3 she saw the photo on my office wall of Heidi and I taken at her wedding. "Mommy! You know a REAL Disney Princess?" I DIED. Yesterday, she brought Alison a Hallmark Keepsake Cinderella Princess Ornament. The minute she spotted Ali when she came in the house she came to a halt. "Oh, my Lord, it's a mini-me for you, Lor!" Truly, Ali is a dead wringer for me when I was a young girl. Within no time they were like macaroni and cheese. Ali is a toucher and a hugger and she just couldn't get enough of Miss Heidi.
I didn't want to turn her loose last night. I found me again for a little bit. I found the girl that giggled uncontrollably about Roseanne Rosanadana. We both still remember the lyrics to "Let's talk dirty to the animals", I'll sing it for you sometime. Or maybe not on second thought...... Sometimes all it takes is a look from one of us and we're giggling. I lost that girl in me for a long time. I need her back. Yesterday was such a gift because it reminded me that she's still there under the layers of doctor appointments, diabetes supplies, homeschool, weddings, politics, life. I saw Heidi and remembered just because I'm 48 I don't have to act 78. Our time together breathed that spark of life into me that I needed. What a GIFT He gave us that day in the library at Ackerman when somehow we ended up at the same table to work. And yes, I have a brain for things like that. I can't remember half of what I've cooked this week but I can remember the candle she gave me one year for Christmas. THAT is friendship.
I love that girl. Heidi Fordham. Life would have been so much less hilarious, fashionable, musical, danceable, conversational, employable, enjoyable without you. You have blessed me in ways I will never be able to put into words, but we have Heaven for that. I'm so much richer for knowing you.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
Imagine.
I have never been a fan of this song. I never got into the hippy-dippy mindset from which this song came from, the peacenik, hippy, free-love age. I was thinking about these words this morning and have often wondered:
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Why would you want to even ENTERTAIN THE THOUGHT of there not being a heaven? There are days in this putrid, sin-filled world that the thought of heaven is the ONLY thing that gets me from wake up to good night. There IS a heaven and it was created for us to walk with our Lord and Savior after we leave this awful place called earth and all the pain and illness and sin and darkness. Contrary to popular thought, there is ONLY way to heaven, scripture tells us this in John 14:6: Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” and John 10:1, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.”
Hell is very real and it was created for the final resting place of satan at the end of the age, but society today doesn’t want that reality to cloud their view of hedonism and debauchery. It’s not cool to have to deny yourself that pleasure. You’ve earned it. Imagine all the people living for today? That’s what a majority of the world is doing. While it’s convenient, while they’re able, while they can. Live for today with no thought or consideration of tomorrow. How shallow, how empty, how lonely. Matthew 6:19-21 tells us, 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Heaven may or may not come for you today. But do you really want to live for today—to sacrifice eternity at the altar of the temporary?
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
Sorry, John, there are countries for a reason.
On the planes of Shinar, Nimrod, the king of Babylon, built the Tower of Babel. This was the symbol of Nimrod’s desire to establish himself as ruler of the world, a one-world government. God wasn’t having any of that and scattered man across the world, confusing races and tongues.
God seeks us, our hearts. He created us to have a relationship with Him. Imagine no religion? Ok. I can live with that. What I can’t live without is faith. I have to have faith that He created me, He loves me, He numbers my steps and my days, He sent His Son to the cross for me to pay the price for all of man’s sin, and as Jesus said, He’s created a place for me to live eternally. How do I know this? Hebrews 11:1: Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. I have faith. I don’t have religion.
Until satan is bound and chained to hell, there will be no peace on earth. Man is born with a sin nature. You can remove all of us pain in the behind Christians and you will STILL have that sin nature permeating every inch of this earth because Ephesians 6:12 tells us: 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Dreams aren’t going to bring peace to this world. Dreams are plans of happiness and success and peace and fortune. Dreamers are the ones that will likely be the first to fall should there be an attack or their lives have been destroyed by war because they did nothing to prepare. The definitions of “dreamers”—there are so many, some are happy and some are ridiculous, but a dreamer isn’t going to bring peace. The world won’t be as one as long as the sin nature of man still exists on this planet. I have yet to get through a day through the last several years where you don’t hear about a Muslim killing, raping, murdering, burning, stoning, hanging, or beheading someone that stood up to him or didn’t agree with him. While some do go off the reservation, you won’t hear of a believer, a true-saved-by-the-blood-of-Christ believer killing, raping, murdering, burning, stoning, hanging, or beheading someone that stood up to him. Woe to the man that calls himself one and then does any of those things. God’s righteous judgment is so much worse than anything a court of man can construct and anyone calling himself a child of God, yet commits any of those acts of aggression listed above is an unconverted convert and and an antichrist and will be keeping satan company in his final resting place. The world will NEVER be as one as long as man’s sin nature exists.
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people Sharing all the world...
Amazing. He’s describing heaven. The same heaven he denied in the first sentence of this song. If you wish to look cynically and humanistically at that paragraph, you have Section 8 ghetto housing. It’s called welfare.
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
Unless he’s talking about a commune, it’s not going to happen as long as evil walks among us. Even the Rajneeshies had some with loose screws and they were supposed to be a commune of peace, happiness, and love, as long as you gave up all your worldly possessions for money which was then given to the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh for another Rolls Royce. I believe he had something like 96 of them. But that totally blows the “Imagine no possessions” part of this song.
Imagine this.
Imagine one day all believers, Bible-believing Christians are gone. It may be coming sooner than you think. I can just hear some of you now. She’s gone. She’s totally blown an o-ring and is thumping on that Bible again. I’ve lost so many so-called “friends” for my unyielding beliefs that I refuse to tone down or apologize for that it no longer bothers me. But think about this.
You have a friend. That friend may not have been the one that you could run around with and have a good time with a bottle or two of beer, but he or she was the one you could always count on for an ear or to offer a prayer for you when life had you down or you were experiencing hurt or pain. Imagine that friend is gone. Disappeared. Who do you have left to turn to? You have other friends, the ones with the beer bottles. Ask them to pray for you or with you? How many ways can they tell you no and laugh at you? That’s what THOSE people did. The ones that believed in God. They don’t want any part of that. Now, where’s that bottle of beer I had…….
There’s now an ache in you. You need that friend, the one that tried to show you God’s love through Christ and you rebuffed them. Joked. Laughed. Admit it, you laughed at him or her behind their back most likely. And that was probably the one person that would have been there for you during this time of pain or question or hurt. That faith they had isn’t looking so bad now, I would imagine.
So, imagine a world with no heaven, no hell, none of the boundaries that make for a civilized society. It isn’t hard to do. And we are living in it and it’s getting worse each passing day. A world where heaven and hell are laughed at and mocked. Where Christians are killed, shouted down, harassed, arrested, sued, made fun of, and turned away. Not quite as pretty as a song now, is it? Not quite the utopia he had in mind when he wrote those lyrics.
Imagine.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Looking through the eyes of love.
Every
day I look at my husband, not only do I see love, I see hope. So many
people have commented that we have been through a lot, and yes, we have,
but there are others that have been through so much more, lost so much
more. We don't live in a country where my daughters might be the
victims of an honor killing or stoning for shaming the family. We don't
live in dry, cracked land in Africa where
I have to watch my child starve to death and take her last breaths in
my arms. We are humbly grateful for all the GOOD we have in our lives,
and there is much good to be had.
I see hope when I look at Mike because I am reminded that not only is God using him to hopefully show Himself to those that don't know Him, how he depends fully on God to get through each day, but I see eternity. I see the day where we will have the bodies that are perfect, healthy, strong, everlasting. No pain, no hurt, no disappointment, disease, abortion, murder, divorce, anguish, death.
I see that one day I won't have to fill a syringe at 9:30 each evening with 90 units of Lantus, a slow release overnight insulin to keep blood sugar from spiking in the morning, and give him that shot in his arm because his abdomen is covered in large purple bruises, bruises caused by a needle going through a blood vessel. I won't have to watch him cringe in agony when I've hit a nerve in his arm (nearly every stinking night). I see that one day I won't have to be in touch with my nurse angel at the doctor's office who helps complete the paperwork for the Kwik Pens and Lantus that keep him alive as a Type 1 diabetic. There won't be the need for testing his glucose levels. Diabetes is an insidious disease. Literally thousands of dollars spent on a little piece of plastic absorbs a drop of blood to find out where his glucose levels are. I won't have to wonder when I fell asleep at night if I will be awakened by "that voice", "Lori, I'm at 33." That's all that needs to be said and I go from dead sleep to running to the kitchen where I've learned to make peanut butter sandwiches and a glass of milk in the dark in 30 seconds and get them to him. The lowest his blood sugar has been was in 2007, at 2:00 a.m. it was 23. Normal is about 100. Twenty-three, he's sweating a river, he's incoherent, barely able to keep awake. His body is shutting down and all the glucose that remains goes to his heart and his brain. The after affects of this drop are excruciating. His body aches for hours because a nutrient was pulled out of his tissues and muscles to keep his brain and heart going. We keep a vigilant watch over his feet so he won't end up sitting in a waiting room with a missing limb because he had a blister that became infected and gangrene eventually took a foot and part of the leg.
One day I see that HE will see, with both eyes. They won't hurt, and there won't be any hushed voices telling him, "Unless I can see the blood vessel, there's nothing I can do at this point. It's six months to a year at best." Doctors see limitations. We see possibilities. We know that even if the eyes no longer see here, one day they will both see perfectly, sitting inside that perfect body that we will have once we are no longer tied to this world. When he asks me, at his most upset or desperate, "Have I done something wrong, or let God down? Is that why?" I can only tell him, "Someone else needs to see God in you. That person won't see Him on their own. You are God's representative. Show that person eternity in YOU." With all my heart I believe that.
Job lost EVERYTHING. Children. Home. Livestock. All his worldly possessions. He sat on the ground, surrounded by his friends, and a wife that begged him to curse God. Job refused. That book is so amazing to me because even after all the pain and loss, Job would not curse God. He KNEW there was a reason for this. Just as I know there is a reason for this. In the end, Job was rewarded. In the end, Mike will be rewarded, and it will be a reward of peace, of strolling through Heaven on perfected legs, gazing in through perfected eyes as he looks upon Jesus. He will look at the wrists of Jesus and be reminded that they bore stakes through them so one day Mike wouldn't be hindered by this shell that fails him by the day. No more pain, no more worrying about the leg, no more cocking his head from side-to-side to see through the blur in his remaining eye. THIS is what we live for.
Monday night, we came back from Woodburn and he was hungry. We went to a favorite little Mexican restaurant in Salem. We are developing a little shorthand, he and I. I position myself to his left and he puts his hand on my right shoulder and he follows me. Right now, everything looks like he's looking through ivory cheesecloth. Sometimes there is more definition but right now that's about it. The restaurant was dark, he was confused as to locations, it was a stressful dinner. As we came out the door to the parking lot, he panicked and started patting the air around him looking for my shoulder.
For reasons I'm only now seeing, my ADD has actually been a benefit more than a hindrance. I can multi-task like a boss, but I also think about five steps ahead of myself. That serves a purpose now. I have to think five steps ahead for Mike. As we left the restaurant and entered the light of a setting sun, I project our direction.
"Seven feet ahead and then we will turn left and head to the truck." We did OK until we came to the slope in the sidewalk where wheelchairs roll up and down. I stopped him and said, "Slope to the right." He lurched a bit and then grabbed my shoulder.
"I am so afraid! Nothing feels familiar, I want to go home."
It's all a learning process and I am going to need Job's patience as Mike will need Job's faith. I must have patience, he must have patience. I need to not flip out when he calls for me for the tenth time that particular day. He needs to remember I'm keeping a lot of plates spinning right now. Ali gets to go to the zoo tomorrow with her church group. She goes to church camp next week. She gets to be a kid and I'm thrilled for her because this kiddo has been to a LOT of doctors appointments. Just go and have fun and I don't go along on these events. She needs to be away from me and dad for a day and just have fun. She really is a great little girl. So much more patient and understanding than a child her age should be but then again, we could live in a country where she's buried up to her neck and stoned for not wanting to be married to an old man at the age of nine, so I guess it's all about perspective.
Heaven is going to be so incredible, and the very fact that there won't be glucose monitors, needles, insulin, twice-a-week wrap changes, eyes failing, that keeps us going. Even with everything going to crap in this world, especially BECAUSE of all that's going to crap, it's easy for us to keep pushing forward because of what awaits us one day very soon.
Tonight as we pulled in the driveway, he had a clear vision moment and noticed that a headlight bulb was burned out. These were expensive bulbs and after he called O'Reilly and I went and picked up the replacement bulb (thank God for warranties), I promised I'd change it in the morning. Not good enough.
He went out to the garage, got one of his brightest lights out, and felt his way through replacing the bulb. Afterward he sat on his stool in the garage and was so happy with himself for still being able to do something.
"I guess I still have some value, huh? I changed this by myself." You have NO idea how much value you are right now, sweetheart.
I see hope when I look at Mike because I am reminded that not only is God using him to hopefully show Himself to those that don't know Him, how he depends fully on God to get through each day, but I see eternity. I see the day where we will have the bodies that are perfect, healthy, strong, everlasting. No pain, no hurt, no disappointment, disease, abortion, murder, divorce, anguish, death.
I see that one day I won't have to fill a syringe at 9:30 each evening with 90 units of Lantus, a slow release overnight insulin to keep blood sugar from spiking in the morning, and give him that shot in his arm because his abdomen is covered in large purple bruises, bruises caused by a needle going through a blood vessel. I won't have to watch him cringe in agony when I've hit a nerve in his arm (nearly every stinking night). I see that one day I won't have to be in touch with my nurse angel at the doctor's office who helps complete the paperwork for the Kwik Pens and Lantus that keep him alive as a Type 1 diabetic. There won't be the need for testing his glucose levels. Diabetes is an insidious disease. Literally thousands of dollars spent on a little piece of plastic absorbs a drop of blood to find out where his glucose levels are. I won't have to wonder when I fell asleep at night if I will be awakened by "that voice", "Lori, I'm at 33." That's all that needs to be said and I go from dead sleep to running to the kitchen where I've learned to make peanut butter sandwiches and a glass of milk in the dark in 30 seconds and get them to him. The lowest his blood sugar has been was in 2007, at 2:00 a.m. it was 23. Normal is about 100. Twenty-three, he's sweating a river, he's incoherent, barely able to keep awake. His body is shutting down and all the glucose that remains goes to his heart and his brain. The after affects of this drop are excruciating. His body aches for hours because a nutrient was pulled out of his tissues and muscles to keep his brain and heart going. We keep a vigilant watch over his feet so he won't end up sitting in a waiting room with a missing limb because he had a blister that became infected and gangrene eventually took a foot and part of the leg.
One day I see that HE will see, with both eyes. They won't hurt, and there won't be any hushed voices telling him, "Unless I can see the blood vessel, there's nothing I can do at this point. It's six months to a year at best." Doctors see limitations. We see possibilities. We know that even if the eyes no longer see here, one day they will both see perfectly, sitting inside that perfect body that we will have once we are no longer tied to this world. When he asks me, at his most upset or desperate, "Have I done something wrong, or let God down? Is that why?" I can only tell him, "Someone else needs to see God in you. That person won't see Him on their own. You are God's representative. Show that person eternity in YOU." With all my heart I believe that.
Job lost EVERYTHING. Children. Home. Livestock. All his worldly possessions. He sat on the ground, surrounded by his friends, and a wife that begged him to curse God. Job refused. That book is so amazing to me because even after all the pain and loss, Job would not curse God. He KNEW there was a reason for this. Just as I know there is a reason for this. In the end, Job was rewarded. In the end, Mike will be rewarded, and it will be a reward of peace, of strolling through Heaven on perfected legs, gazing in through perfected eyes as he looks upon Jesus. He will look at the wrists of Jesus and be reminded that they bore stakes through them so one day Mike wouldn't be hindered by this shell that fails him by the day. No more pain, no more worrying about the leg, no more cocking his head from side-to-side to see through the blur in his remaining eye. THIS is what we live for.
Monday night, we came back from Woodburn and he was hungry. We went to a favorite little Mexican restaurant in Salem. We are developing a little shorthand, he and I. I position myself to his left and he puts his hand on my right shoulder and he follows me. Right now, everything looks like he's looking through ivory cheesecloth. Sometimes there is more definition but right now that's about it. The restaurant was dark, he was confused as to locations, it was a stressful dinner. As we came out the door to the parking lot, he panicked and started patting the air around him looking for my shoulder.
For reasons I'm only now seeing, my ADD has actually been a benefit more than a hindrance. I can multi-task like a boss, but I also think about five steps ahead of myself. That serves a purpose now. I have to think five steps ahead for Mike. As we left the restaurant and entered the light of a setting sun, I project our direction.
"Seven feet ahead and then we will turn left and head to the truck." We did OK until we came to the slope in the sidewalk where wheelchairs roll up and down. I stopped him and said, "Slope to the right." He lurched a bit and then grabbed my shoulder.
"I am so afraid! Nothing feels familiar, I want to go home."
It's all a learning process and I am going to need Job's patience as Mike will need Job's faith. I must have patience, he must have patience. I need to not flip out when he calls for me for the tenth time that particular day. He needs to remember I'm keeping a lot of plates spinning right now. Ali gets to go to the zoo tomorrow with her church group. She goes to church camp next week. She gets to be a kid and I'm thrilled for her because this kiddo has been to a LOT of doctors appointments. Just go and have fun and I don't go along on these events. She needs to be away from me and dad for a day and just have fun. She really is a great little girl. So much more patient and understanding than a child her age should be but then again, we could live in a country where she's buried up to her neck and stoned for not wanting to be married to an old man at the age of nine, so I guess it's all about perspective.
Heaven is going to be so incredible, and the very fact that there won't be glucose monitors, needles, insulin, twice-a-week wrap changes, eyes failing, that keeps us going. Even with everything going to crap in this world, especially BECAUSE of all that's going to crap, it's easy for us to keep pushing forward because of what awaits us one day very soon.
Tonight as we pulled in the driveway, he had a clear vision moment and noticed that a headlight bulb was burned out. These were expensive bulbs and after he called O'Reilly and I went and picked up the replacement bulb (thank God for warranties), I promised I'd change it in the morning. Not good enough.
He went out to the garage, got one of his brightest lights out, and felt his way through replacing the bulb. Afterward he sat on his stool in the garage and was so happy with himself for still being able to do something.
"I guess I still have some value, huh? I changed this by myself." You have NO idea how much value you are right now, sweetheart.
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