Maybe I'll Blog

Love Your Enemies....

2011-03-12T12:06:00.004-05:00

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you

I know many of us look at this Scripture and sigh! Oh, no! It's so hard! The Lord recently has worked great wonders in my life to bring me to a fuller understanding of this simple, but difficult Scripture.

We've all had those days where out of nowhere someone acts abusively towards us, and we get mad! We get hopping mad, and we think, 'No, I can't love my enemies. No, I can't pray for those who persecute me!'

Well, let me tell you how God has worked in my life to change that for me.

Recently, I've been dealing with something that was unsettling me and on my mind a lot. I won't go into details, but it is - what it is. Now the Bible tells us to forgive those who trespass against us, etc. And people, I know, because I've been there that it's soooo hard!

But very recently God convicted me in a way that I became very able to love my enemies, and pray for those who persecute me.

First off, I have the ability to do that not because I'm holier than someone else, and most definitely not because I'm better than someone else. God gave me this ability through the Holy Spirit that lives within me. He did the work I received the blessing.

The Bible tells us at 2 Timothy 1:14:

By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

And at 1 Corinthians 6:19:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.

And at 1 Corinthians 3:16:

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

And at 1 John 2:27:

But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Did I give you enough Scripture to prove to you that the Holy Spirit lives within us?

Most of us know the fruit of the Spirit, but we don't actually get to the "fruit" part, because we don't access the Spirit of God that lives within us.

The fruit of the Spirit:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Do you have peace? Do you have joy? Do you have love? Do you have kindness? Do you have gentleness?

Do you say like I used to, "Well, yeah, I try to have peace, joy, love, kindness etc. etc, etc, but sometimes I fail" And to be perfectly honest, I do fail! A lot!

But then I remember that God gave me the Holy Spirit as a gift of love. He gave me the Spirit, in order to display those qualities that are the "fruit."

One of the biggest stumbling blocks in our lives is our minds. The mind can be stumbling block if we let it. One of the biggest strongholds that Satan loves to deceive us with is the mind. Now I'm not talking about craziness, or demon possession. I'm talking about Satan being a liar! You know he is!

John 8:44:

He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

You say, Oh yeah! Satan is a liar. I knew that! But do you believe him when he tells you lies? Do you believe that you can never forgive someone who's done you wrong? Do you believe that you can't come to love your enemies? If you do - then tell Satan to get lost! Really? Yes!

I've heard people say that they can't lose weight because they can't resist certain food. Yes, I know! Yes, that's true (if you let it be true)! But who gave you that lie? Who told you that you couldn't resist that cookie? Who told you that when you eat one cookie, you have to eat the whole box? Come on! Be determined! You are a Spirit-filled, born again, saved child of God, and you're going to let a cookie get the best of you? If so, then you certainly aren't going to be able to withstand the devil, are you? Yes, you can!

We condition ourselves to believe all those little lies that Satan puts into our minds and heart. We think of how evil some people can be. We've thought about how hurt we are when someone says something about us that isn't true. We think about how unfair it seems that some can do certain things and never be reprimanded or scolded for their actions. See, the whole point is first off - Don't compare yourselves to other people!

Don't fall into that trap! Don't compare yourself to anyone! It's hard! It's really hard! I've done it! It's torture! You know?

"They can get away with that, and I can't."

"How come they get all the good things in life, and they don't even have any faith?"

or maybe:

"That's not fair. They've been promoted (or patted on the back, or put upon a pedestal) and what they're doing is wrong, wrong, wrong!"

When we give into Satan's lies, we do just that - we become as little babies who whine and complain all the time. Satan loves when you do that! He's looking to continue that attack, if you let him. Whining and complaining is the biggest thing we all do (myself included) that is so destructive. Stop whining! Stop complaining! (I'm not yelling that to you all, I'm reminding myself of it!)

Have you ever prayed to God to give you a gentle heart, a meek disposition, peace, joy and all those other "fruits" of the Spirit. You don't need to! You have those qualities within you, because the Holy Spirit lives within you. Don't listen to Satan's lies!

You are:

filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:11

You are!

Whenever I start to feel myself get into that old habit of comparing myself to others I repeat Philippians 1:11 to myself over and over again. You know - after awhile it sinks into my thick skull, and I start believing the truth, not Satan's lies! It doesn't matter how I stack up to someone else, because I am "filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God." Remember that!

The next thing that God convicted me to do is to take myself out of the equation. What do I mean by that? Well, if someone or something has upset you - then instead of thinking of the hurt or issues that problem bring, think of the issue or problem OR person in relationship to God without "you" in the picture. Think of what their actions are or what the problem would be if you weren't there smack dab in the middle of it. Hard? Yes, very hard to do, but if you pray that God show you this, He will! When you are no longer the target, or in the center of the issue - you will see things more from God's point of view better than ever.

Suddenly that person or thing doesn't hold any power over you anymore. It/They become a person to pray for - to love - to enlighten them of the joys, peace, comfort we can find in the Lord and the Holy Spirit that we are already experiencing. You come to realize also that the person/problem isn't going to be any different whether it was you or not. The problem lies in the fact that Satan utilizes every opportunity he can to separate us from God. But don't let him! Let me repeat that: Don't let him!

Become determined in your mindset that you won't fall prey to Satan and his machinations. Become determined that you will be obedient to God and God only! Become determined to fight a good fight! Become determined to stop listening to the lies!

Here's the Project!

2011-01-30T12:41:00.001-05:00

Some of you may already be aware of this, but we (hubby and I) are presently trying to switch over our "I Can't Drive 55" Travel Blog over to Blogger.

We are trying to post them in the same order that we did last summer, and it's taking some time with (of course) the pictures.

Come join us on our journey from New York to California of over 25 years ago. We also plan on continuing the journey from where we left off before.

Here's the link: Travel National Parks

I'm Working on a Project!

2011-01-07T19:12:00.000-05:00

Sorry, can't give out any details, but when I finish with this project - well, I'll let you all know. I think? some of you might be pleased! I hope so any way~!

Is that mysterious enough or what?

My 200th Post!

2010-08-10T20:20:00.000-04:00

What's wrong with me? I've been sitting on my 200th post for a few weeks now, and haven't even noticed!

Interestingly, I looked at my stats through Blogger, and I have less hits on this blog, which I have posted 200 posts in 2 years than our other blog got in the first 2 weeks. Interesting!

Happy 200th post!

What's New at My House?

2010-07-22T17:54:00.000-04:00

My house has been pretty busy this summer!

Riding my bike to work and back! Only had to hitch a ride once when it was going to storm just as I was getting out of work. I ride "like the wind" in between rain drops most of the time, but thunder and lightening scare me little bit! I ain't riding through that!

I have frozen 32 quarts of yellow beans! I did a lot over the weekend, then added another 6 quarts last night! It makes me tired when I'm up until almost midnight cutting (snapping), washing, blanching yellow beans!

Other than that the typical same old same old around here!

Hope you all are having a wonderful summer!

When You're Really Married!

2010-07-14T21:30:00.001-04:00

You know you're really married when your spouse and you start to resemble each other in so many different ways!

You know you're really married when you look back through the years and think, "I've become him and he's become me!" Aaaaak! That's scary!

Example: You know you're really married when you think about those first married years, and hubby snored like a siren all night long. You had a hard time sleeping most nights between the snorts and grumbles. But then you know you're really married when hubby doesn't snore anymore, but he says that you're keeping him up nights, because, yes, you snore! Aaaaak! That's scary!

Another example: You know you're really married when you think of those early years of wedded bliss, and he was always hot! "It's hot in here," he'd say as he wiped his sweaty brow! Meanwhile, I would be covered with three blankets and could hear my teeth chatter! Now, I can't seem to get rid of the internal heat while hubby curls up under a wool blanket and says, "Do you really need that air conditioner on? I'm freezing!" Aaaak! That's scary!

One more example: You know you're really married when you used to wake up at the least little peep from your child stirring in the other room. Or perhaps they gently call out to you in the middle of the night, and you pop up out of bed then rush to their side. Now, I'll ask hubby, "Did you hear the boy come in last night? I didn't hear him come in. I must have been sleeping like a log." Hubby will tell me the time to the exact minute that the boy got home, and say, "Didn't you hear me talking to him while he stood in the doorway of our bedroom?" NO! Aaaak! That's scary!

That's why I think you can tell when you're really married! When he's become you, and you've become him! Aaaak! That's scary!

How Many Hours are in a Day?

2010-07-13T16:01:00.001-04:00

I'd say there are exactly 3 hours in each day! Whatt??? That's what I feel like on those days that I rush to work, work all day, and come home. I rush in the door, and think to myself, "Peace! I have 5 whole minutes to relax!"

Wrong! Those pesky phone salesmen must have my house staked out, because typically five minutes after walking in the door the phone rings! I think to myself, "Nice, this must be my BFF, B; or maybe it's my mom."

Wrong again! An automated voice comes through the telephone stating, "We are not selling anything....we want...." I usually don't know what they really want, because I hang up! Just like that! I'm not even remotely curious as to what they wanted, and that's saying a lot, because I'm usually a very curious person!

Then I rush into the living room, kick my shoes off, stretch my feet out for what I think is going to be about 3 minutes (two of my five minutes were eaten up by answering the phone, then walking away grumbling about it), when suddenly....my son walks into the door from work and says, "Hey Mom! I'm in a hurry! The guys and I are going fishing! What's for dinner?"

Well, need I tell you there go my remaining three minutes out the window!

So I get up fix dinner, then I realize that I really need to do a load of laundry. Then it's time to eat dinner, wash those dishes, then back to the laundry. Oh yeah! The bathroom could use a good scrubbing, and the counter needs to be cleaned of the debris that's hanging out on it! Next thing I know, it's well getting near my bedtime! Off to the shower I go.....dry my hair, put my jamies on, and think, "Okay, I must have 5 minutes of peace and quiet!"

When suddenly the boy bursts through the door and exclaims, "Hey MOM! I caught 5 bass, I'm going to clean them now!"

Okay, son, just be sure to clean up your mess when you're done!

When he suddenly has a great idea! "Hey MOM! Could you take some pictures of me filleting a fish for my blog."

It's 10:30 p.m! I'm dog tired, but I love my son!

Go check it out on his blog! Click Here!

Am I a Blog Killer?

2010-07-12T08:00:00.002-04:00

Recently I found a few really nice blogs that I enjoyed reading. I'd been reading them for a while as I had added them into my google reader. With great anticipation, I would click on their blog when I saw a new post. Then I decided to give them a bit of comment luv by posting a comment.....you know, it's a very nice thing to do to post some bloggy luv when you enjoy someones blog!

I noticed that suddenly all these bloggers that I posted comments to just closed up shop. Not that they made their blogs private, but just like that - the moment I posted a comment they quite blogging!

What's up with that? Am I a blog killer?

P.S. Hubby who is much more sensible about things told me that "It's summer, they're busier now." Okay, I guess he has a good point, but I was starting to get a complex!

The Boys Went Fishing!

2010-07-11T14:36:00.001-04:00

First I'd like to say:

"Dear Maybe I'll Blog, Maybe I Won't,

I'm so sorry that I have recently neglected you! I've been very busy lately, but it is with great pleasure that I return to you dear Google Blogger! I've recently fought a battle with Wordpess, and it wasn't pretty! It's such a comfort to come back to the familiar and user friendly Blogger for awhile!

Thank you,
Your dear friend, Laurie"

Okay, so without further ado, let's turn to the topic of "The Boys Went Fishing!"

My son is an avid fisherman, and he also likes to hunt. Right now it's bass season in our little section of the world, and you can only guess what he's been up to? Right? Well, of course...fishing!

Hubby doesn't always have the opportunity, time, or energy to fish as frequent as my son, but when the boy was little his daddy took him fishing often! Now that the boy is nearing his 21st birthday, he can go alone, and daddy doesn't always go with him. A few weeks ago, they did get themselves out to Otter Lake, and enjoyed bass fishing together.

They were so proud of their catch:

Six Bass on a Stringer

I bet you all figure we had bass for dinner! Incorrect! My son is going to be living in an apartment with his buddy when he returns to college. They both are stashing their 'catches' in the freezer, so they can eat for free all school year!

I'll let you all know how that turns out in the fall!

One more thing: My son has a new blog that I want to promote! Go check it out! Click Here!

What's for Dinner on a Hot Day?

2010-06-30T16:58:00.000-04:00

We've all faced that dilemma, when it's so muggy and hot you just don't have the energy nor the desire to heat up the whole house to have dinner.

We use our grill a lot during the summer, and we use it for the entire meal on those hot, hazy, crazy days!

The other night we had fish done on the grill. Normally, I don't do fish on the grill, but well, you guessed it - it was just too hot for indoor cooking!

I took a sheet of aluminum foil, placed the frozen fish on it after spraying the foil with cooking oil. Then I drizzled a little olive oil with lemon juice right onto the fish fillets. I proceeded to chop up some onion and roasted peppers, threw those on top, then crushed some garlic, sprinkled some parm cheese onto the entire packet.

This is how I put it all together before wrapping it up in the foil.


Fish Fillets

Then we prepared the tators pretty much the same way, except no lemon juice!

Potatoes

Then you just wrap it up before plopping it on the grill.


Ready for the grill

You can actually add any assortment of veggies and herbs to the foiled packets that you desire. We change it up pretty frequently. Throw the foil packets onto the grill, then cook over medium high heat for about 30 - 40 minutes. Poke through the foil for tenderness to determine when it's done!

I would have taken a picture of it when it came off the grill, but it was demolished rather quickly. I wasn't quick enough!

Earthquake!

2010-06-23T18:46:00.002-04:00

There was an earthquake in Ottawa, Canada today around 1:40 p.m.

I was at work and I thought maybe I was having a moment of vertigo, or perhaps, the girl standing near my desk was tapping the floor hard with her foot. I didn't think too much about it until just moments later when two of my fellow employees walked in the office, and said, "Did you feel the earth move?" The gym teacher (who happened to be in the gym by himself) called the office and said, "Did the building just shift, move or something like that?" He said the doors rattled, and the floor swayed.

I called my parent across town to see if they felt it, and they hadn't. We were starting to wonder if it was the over 100 year old building getting ready to sway and crumble, or....

One of the teachers came into the main office and stated that the local news channel had a notice up on their website stating that they also had felt the trembling. They were investigating to see if it was a likely earthquake. Apparently so!

You know, I lived in California, earthquake capitol of the world, for almost 10 years, and not once felt an earthquake. I didn't even feel the rather large scale earthquake that postponed the World Series in 1989, even though I was less than 100 miles from the epicenter.

But I have experienced two earthquakes while living in upstate New York. One occurred about 25 years ago right before hubby and I got married, and the other one was today! Hmmm, interesting!

Allow Me to.....

2010-06-20T11:24:00.001-04:00

Allow me to brag (just for a moment).

Hubby and I have the new blog rolling! We're making about 3 - 4 posts per week. It's about our 3-month trip from New York to California, when we first got married!

Now here comes the bragging.....

We are getting tremendous hits on the site. We got 24 hits in an hour after I posted our newest post.

To check it out: Click Here!

Enjoy!

Frugal Tips!

2010-06-19T12:50:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I just do certain things out of years of habit, then I realize they save me more money than I realize.

During these tough economic times, I noticed that my blog gets a lot of hits on "Homemade Syrup Recipe", and other frugal tip posts.

I thought it might be nice to share a few more of my everyday money saving tips.

We don't hardly ever use paper towels in our house. I have a large basket full of rags that I store in a closet. It's just as easy to grab the basket of rags to clean up a mess than it is to tear off a paper towel. Now, I do have a roll of paper towels on my kitchen counter for those messy, gross, clean ups that I don't want to contaminate my wash when I launder the rags; but we hardly ever use them. If some messy chemical gets spilled, I use the paper towels, because I can throw it away and rid my household of the chemical. I'm annul like that about chemicals. A roll of paper towels usually lasts our household about six months until the boy comes home from college:( He gets very used to using paper towels in his dorm room (and I can't blame him), so it takes a few weeks for him to get on track by looking for the rag basket.

I also have an old coffee container (it's plastic) that I store homemade liquid soap in. I don't use this soap for dish washing or cleaning, but I put it into an old dish soap container for the guys to use for hand washing. There's nothing more annoying for me than the hubby and my son coming in from outdoors, their hands are filthy; and they use half my squirt bottle of dish soap to wash their hands. How do I make this homemade liquid soap? I take bars of soap (I have a plethora of hotel soaps someone gave me for free), and I grate a couple of those little bars into the old plastic coffee container. Then I add water. I usually add about 10 times the quantity of water that I have in soap grains. Then I put it in the container under my sink, and let it sit, and sit, and sit. That's it! In about 2 - 3 weeks, the soap particles actually dissolve in the water, and it makes a cloudy white liquid soap. Great for washing up after dirty jobs in the yard or basement. I also found it to be a fantastic cleaner for my stove top. I just squirt a portion on the top of the stove (where someone other than me has left boiled over food:), and let it sit. After 5 minutes, I just use one of those rags from the rag basket to rinse it off. Bye-bye cooked on stains!

Just thought I'd share a couple of easy frugal tips with you all. Sometimes we just do things out of habit to pinch a penny or two, but I've recently found myself becoming more mindful of those things.

Finished Crocheted Project!

2010-06-15T16:56:00.005-04:00

I started this crocheted top back in April, and it's finished!

I'm not too good about finishing projects, but this one got done rather quickly. The pattern was easy and went along smoothly.

Here's a picture of it just hanging.

Then we took some pictures while I modeled it! I cut my head out of the picture due to the fact that my hair hadn't been washed, I had been cleaning all day, and I looked every bit of my almost 50 years!

I know, it almost makes me look pregnant - which I'm not! So we took some more pictures that didn't make me look so bloated!

And here's one more!

I just happened to already have the mint green turtle neck, and didn't even realize what a great match it was until I tried it on.

I got the pattern over at Lion Brand Yarns. They have oodles of crocheted and knitted patterns for free over there. I made this particular top with baby light weight worsted yarn. Once I had the pattern set in my head, it was easy to make. The skirt section is actually done in the round, so there is no seam either.

A nice easy, quick project!

My next project is a pair of socks to match - I had quite a bit of yarn left over. I'm knitting the socks, but I've never completed a pair of socks before, so I hope they turn out okay. I'll decide whether to post a pic of the socks once their finished:)

The Wedding Post!

2010-06-12T14:29:00.001-04:00

Hubby and I have added our wedding day to our new blog!

Go check it out!

I Can't Drive 55

Enjoy!

Another Blog????

2010-06-11T06:59:00.001-04:00

You may be wondering why I have a new blog, but it's not just my own blog, nor is it going to replace this blog.

I've opened up a new Wordpress blog (actually hubby and I have) so we can document our trip from NY to California 25 years ago. We had just gotten married, and we traveled.....

Well, go read the blog. Here's the link: http://icantdrive55.wordpress.com/

Let me know what you all think. We'll be updating it as time permits, so I'll probably point you in that direction when we've made a new post.

Enjoy!

Update of Sorts!

2010-06-04T06:26:00.000-04:00

I have ridden my bicycle 3 of the 4 days of work this week. It rained yesterday, so the boy suggested he give me a ride to work. It had stopped raining by the time I would have left, but he insisted.

The bike is going to the boy when he goes off to college as there are many on campus who use them to get around.

Today is Friday, and I'm so looking forward to the weekend!

The boy has a new job working in cement! He's working full time, and we are so grateful as many of his college buddies haven't been able to obtain summer work this year.

Last night he pattied up the hamburger for me in the kitchen, and was mumbling something about cement burgers. I looked at him in horror! He laughed and assured me he had washed his hands like a good boy.

An internet friend of mine could use all your prayers, if you feel inclined. She has cancer of the spine and the statistics are dismal.

Although the sun is supposed to shine today, it is foggy out right now! What's up with that?

I hope you all have a blessed Friday!

Mode of Transportation!

2010-06-01T20:48:00.000-04:00

I have a new mode of transportation!

New 2009 Optima Kia

No, that's not it! That's the new car that hubby and I bought last October, but that's not my new mode of transportation! Hubby drives the new Optima Kia to work every day!

Let's see! My new mode of transportation doesn't need to make a stop at the gas station. It is man- powered all the way! Have you guessed yet?

Here is my new mode of transportation!

My brand new Cruiser bicycle!

Okay, so you're thinking that I must be crazy, right? Well, I only travel about a mile to get to work. I have been constantly complaining that I just don't have time to exercise! AND my son got a new job for the summer, and he travels 8 miles to work! I told hubby that I thought if I got a bike it would serve a dual purpose - I would be able to transport myself to work (while letting my son drive our old beat up truck) and I will get some much needed exercise!

Today was the first day of riding the bike to work! Listen, I must look either extremely odd, or everyone is admiring my bike, because I got a lot of stares! But I also got a phone call from a friend of mine about an hour after I got to work. She told me that she wanted to congratulate me for "going green." Then I had a janitor who was eying my bike (which I kept in the janitor's room as it was raining). She told me that she wanted one! Then while peddling through town I rode past two ladies on the street; and one of them yelled out, "Hey lady, I love your bike."

It has no fancy speed adjustments. It's just plain old leg power that makes it go! I live in a small town that has a lot of little drumlins that were left by the glaciers long long ago! Those little drumlins are a lot steeper than I realized once I started climbing them with my new mode of transportation! It gives me a lot more exercise than walking to work. It only takes me 5 minutes to pedal my way to work. It also takes me 5 minutes to drive the car - so I figure that's another great reason for using the bike!

One of my son's friends stopped his car this afternoon next to me and yelled out, "Do you want a ride?" I smiled and said, "No way." I'm loving it!

Write a Pretty Email!

2010-05-26T20:27:00.004-04:00

That's what I told him to do~! Yup! I said, "Boy, you need to write a pretty email!" So he did! He saved me mucho mullah, and I'm proud of him.

When your kids go to college they learn way more than you ever bargain. For instance, my son knows how to put on the charm, smile, lean over to kiss my cheek, and say, "I love you, mom" in a very special way that gets me to grinning, then I kiss him back and say, "How much is it going to cost me now?"

Sound pretty mushy for a 20 year old, but it certainly catches at my heart strings when he does it, even if I know it means I'll most likely be cracking my wallet open!

My son has also learned how to scream at the top of his lungs, "You IDIOT! Don't do that!" Okay, he doesn't scream at me like that, but he's told me that he's had to use this particular tactic on his roommates this semester in the wonderful realm of dorm life! All the while, he's puffing out his chest like a proud rooster, of course, and trying to make his not quite 5 foot 9 inch frame look more like 6' 10".

But one thing that I'm especially proud of him for is his way of writing what I call a "pretty email." While fighting off drunken roommates, while knocking out computer hackers, while taking College Biology (with lab class) and College Chemistry (with lab class) all in one semester, while being obnoxious (to I don't know who) while I'm talking to him on the phone this semester - he learned to write a "pretty email."

During the semester he had voiced to me his displeasure at the uncleanliness of his roommates. This is coming from a boy who showers 2 - 3 times per day at least. Although he's kind of messy when it comes to clothes, meaning he can be standing 6 inches from the clothes hamper, but somehow his most recent outfit ends up on the floor. He also spills coffee everywhere he goes. When I want to know where the boy is, I just follow the spilled coffee trail.

The other day he received a letter from the college that stated he and his roommates were responsible for the damage left in their dorm room. It didn't sound too good - one stained couch, two torn couches, and a dirty sink. Sigh! I figured this was going to cost me a pretty penny, and I wasn't pleased. He told me that he certainly wasn't responsible for all those damages.

In very tiny writing at the bottom of the letter, it stated if you wanted to dispute the charges that were most likely to be charged, you needed to write an email to a certain lady in residential housing. After the boy explained how he wasn't responsible for all those damages, I told him to write a pretty email. So he did!

I'm sure the head of residential housing has heard every excuse in the book through the years, but I told the boy to use his charm!

He received an email about 30 minutes later from the residential housing lady stating that she typically didn't waive housing damages upon the statements made by one single student. She usually liked to have others in the room back up their statements. But she said that she was so pleased with his response to her letter that she waived his fees for damages. She told him to have a great summer too!

How in the world did I know he could write a "pretty email" like that? Well, truth be told, when I was upset with him this year, I'd email him, and I always received a "pretty email" in reply:)

That education that is putting a hole in my pocket is sure paying off!

Plain Secrets by Joe Mackall

2010-05-16T17:37:00.005-04:00

This is a very close look at the Swartzentruber Ordnung of the Amish people. Joe Mackall lives in West Salem, Ohio where a large number of Amish live today. Many believe that Amish is Amish is Amish, but Joe shows us that different ordnungs have different ways of living. The Swartzentruber Ordnung is the most strict of all the Amish ordnungs.

Mackall presents many details of the Swartzentruber in comparison to other ordnungs among the Amish. He also gives us the history of the Swartzentruber group and how they broke away from the Old Order Ordnung. The differences are astounding.

For example, and Old Order obeys the law of the state to post an orange triangular sign on the back of their buggies to warn fast zooming cars that they are approaching a slow moving vehicle. The Swartzentrubers believe that the signs are too showy, so they refuse to post them on their buggies. The Ordnung finally agreed with the state to run a slim line of reflective tape on the back bottom side of their buggies to warn vehicles most especially at night, when their black colored buggies are hard to see. The Swartzentrubers still see many of their people killed in accidents every year by colliding with cars.

Mackall gives a lot of other examples of how the Swartzentrubers live by following Samuel, who is a Swartzentruber bishop and Mackall's neighbor, during his daily routine of chores, prayer, dining, and family entertainment. The two men become fast friends, but Mackall notes that it is limited whenever other Amish are present. Mackall has a deep founded love for his Amish friend and his family, but he's also very understanding of the boundaries that Samuel places around his loved ones.

Mackall takes his readers on a 1 1/2 hour trip in Samuel's buggy to travel 10 miles to the local Home Depot. He spends a few hours helping Samuel save every penny he can on the building supplies that Samuel is purchasing for the house he is building to Swartzentruber specifications, then they make the 1 1/2 hour trip back home. The trip takes more than 1/2 the day to accomplish by horse and buggy.

The author comes in contact with a youth, Jonas, who has left the Amish way of life, but is finding it ever so difficult to break into the "English" world. Jonas felt he could no long be called Amish, but he most definitely couldn't be considered English either. The young man becomes one of the many that are known as the "ex-Amish" trying to make a life in the English world. The Swartzentrubers don't have any identifying markings of the world, so the children do not get social security numbers, driver's licenses, and other documents that the average teenager in the world has easy access to. Unfortunately since Jonas was born in Canada, he had a two year battle just proving he was an American citizen so he could qualify for a social security number. Due to that, Jonas could only work jobs that paid cash under the table to support himself. Mackall gives us a peek into the other side of the fence by describing many of the issues that arise in Jonas' life.

Mackall walks a slim line of possibly alienating his good friend, Samuel, and trying to equate the value of the Swartzentruber's way of life. Mackall's book oozes with the love and affection he has for these simple people, but he also doesn't understand the hazards that they place themselves and their families in by some of the 'rules' from the Ordnung. On the other hand, Mackall does quote verses of Scripture to explain the beliefs and decisions that are ordained by the Ordnung.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has even remotely been interested or intrigued by the Amish way of life.

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

2010-05-13T07:09:00.005-04:00

I've finished the book Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich.

I must admit that I found the book to be interesting. Not one of my most favorite reads, but interesting!

Barbara Enrenreich is a journalist by trade. She was disturbed when welfare reform claimed that most people receiving welfare could have a comfortable life if they would just get out and get a job. Barbara decided to perform what she calls an 'experiment' by trying to obtain jobs available to the unskilled worker, which is typically what welfare recipients are. She didn't display any of her skills that she obtained through her profession as journalist, and she didn't utilize any of her education (she has a Ph.D. in biology) to acquire the jobs she worked during her summertime experiment.

Barbara's main goal was to try to prove or not prove that unskilled workers can land work that enables them to pay the rent, and put food on the table. Barbara worked menial, hard working jobs such as, waiting on tables, cleaning homes through a maid service, and Wal-mart. She traveled to three major cities (Key West, Florida; Portland, Maine; and Minneapolis, Minnesota) to carry out her experiment.

Enrenreich vowed that she would not use any funds from her 'other life', and she wanted a true picture of what a person with no money (such as a recent welfare recipient) could do to obtain work and survive. Enrenreich did actually utilize funds from her 'other' life's savings account. It was either that or live in the streets at one point. The major conclusion that she came to after her experiment was over is that unskilled workers most likely must work 2 full-time jobs if they desire to live indoors.

She also found that many of her co-workers within the establishments that she was employed by were not living in an apartment, or a duplex (and none of them owned a home). She found that all of them either lived in their car, truck, in a hotel room, or with family members. The biggest hardship for unskilled workers is to put a roof over their heads that is affordable. Unfortunately, due to the first and last month rent rule along with security deposit for most apartments, many of her co-workers were forced to live in non-traditional 'homes.' Many were paying 3 to 4 times the monthly rent of an affordable apartment due to the hardship of saving for those deposits. Daily and even monthly rents for a hotel room are quite steep. Many hotel rooms have no accommodations for preparing food, so another cost that her co-workers and she faced was cheap take-out or fast food.

Enrenreich is a bit rough around the edges for all her education. Remember she has a Ph.D. in biology (which she reminds you of several times throughout her lengthy introduction "Getting Ready.") She doesn't converse with her co-workers other than to share a cigarette on break with them - she was a non-smoker, but she lit up when she wanted to pump one of her co-workers for information, or a soda at the local convenience store. She doesn't utilize any kind of network that most people in their every day life fall back upon for help and support. She admits to being an atheist, but ironically when she does eventually spends a day to interview a person who has come off welfare quite successfully; this fine Christian lady reveals to her that the secret for unskilled workers to overcome their obstacles is the network of support they establish through their church. Ehrenreich also notes that this lovely lady doesn't come near to living among the middle class - yet. She still struggles with living in poverty each and every day.

Enrenreich brings up the point that she's a healthy, muscle-toned 50's woman who visits her local gym regularly in her 'other life.' She finds the physical work of one job grueling, demeaning, and often bone weary. Her observation of the unskilled worker is that they are most likely the people in society who have bad backs, and other physical ailments that wear them down by doing the jobs they are paid to do. She summarizes that the physical work that is supposed to move the unskilled worker to a better life, indeed moves them almost into traction. Unfortunately, almost all unskilled workers don't have any health insurance to fall back upon - so many never visit the doctor for their ailments.

I found it interesting that most of Enrenreich's employers were some of the meanest alive. Many of the incidents that she described sounded almost illegal to me in the world of employment, but she has a lot of footnotes letting you know that most of these practices are not illegal. She felt the drug testing procedures were demeaning, not instilling trust in the potential employee; and she gives a vivid description of one of the two drug testing incidents that she had to endure.

While reading this book, I learned some facts about Wal-mart as an employer, and I honestly feel a bit sheepish for shopping there. I'm not a huge Wal-mart fan to begin with, but I assure you that in the future, I'm making my stops at Wal-mart even fewer.

Barbara Enrenreich finishes her summer working experiment, but her book continues on for one more lengthy dissertation of her 'evaluation' of the whole experiment. Honestly, this part of the book is where my interest started to wain. She goes on and on and on for 39 whole pages telling her view on what her experiment revealed about our government and the passage of employment laws for the last few decades. I wanted to say, "Really, Barbara? Really! You have been living in the twilight zone your whole life." Did you know that the cost of living in areas (mostly cities) has risen to the point where the average minimum wage employee can't put food on their table? Did you know that most of those minimum wage employees have no health insurance? Did you know that the cost of housing has tripled in the last decade?

Really, Barbara, I knew! Where were you?

All in all it's a good read, but it is also very much a bash fest in the end. If you choose to read this book, I'd recommend skipping the 'Evaluation' piece of this book. I mean, it really did nothing other than peeve me off at the author, mainly because Barbara Enrenreich would be perfectly happy to go back to her cushy, elegant life and do nothing; because she feels that the government is the only one who can rectify this situation with more government.

Too Much Reading Material??

2010-05-07T18:52:00.002-04:00

Can anyone have too much reading material?

I went to the local pharmacy last Sunday afternoon. There was a huge Boy Scout Used Book Sale. Fill up a bag of books for $5.00! Okay, so I bought a bag of books!

What did I get? Much!

Fabric and Dress by Lucy Rathbone and Elizabeth Tarpley. This book is an ancient home-ec book from 1946. I found one listed at amazon.com for $40.00. Hmmm, interesting!

Kingdom of God Series Bible History by William Newton and Ellamay Horan. This was published in 1940. Yeah, someone cleaned out a lot of old books from somewhere.

Under His Wings by Patsy Clairmont.

The Best Is Yet To Be by Eve Fisher.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells.

Straight Talk by Joyce Meyer.

The Ebony Swan by Phyllis A. Whitney.

I might have read this book before, but I'm not sure. When I was first married I became a huge fan of Phyllis Whitney, and I read a ton and gobs of her books. My mother recently discovered her books, so we've been sharing. Oh, well, if I've read this one before - I'll just read it again!

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich.

I've started to read this particular book, and I plan on doing a book review of it real soon. I'm about 2/3 of the way through it so far.

Then I went to Borders to buy some books online as my mother and father had gotten me a gift certificate for Christmas.

I chose these two books for my reading pleasure:

Then today when I was looking at the Books Are Fun display at work, I purchased this book for $6.00!

So guess what I'm going to be doing for quite awhile! Reading, reading, and reading some more!

The Last of the Vacation!

2010-05-04T18:01:00.003-04:00

Since the drive to South Carolina was so grueling, hubby and I had decided when we drove back home from vacation to take two days with the driving.

So, we decided to do a little side trip which added another 250 miles onto our trip home, but it was so worth it!

We drove through the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway, then kept right on going which meant we were able to visit the Shenandoah National Park. What beautiful scenery we got to see!

Here's just a small taste of what we got to see!

Bridge on Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway

Scenery on the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway

It was a bit of a hazy day. We had a few raindrops along the way, so the pictures could have been a bit clearer if only the weather had cooperated.

The Valley Below

And since hubby and I were there alone, we opted to take separate pictures of each other. There was hardly anyone on the road or inside the park to help us out by getting a picture with both of us in it, so we did the best we could.

Laurie in the Blue Ridge Mountains

It was a wonderful vacation, and unfortunately, it's over, but we have some great memories of our trip to South Carolina!

More Vacation!

2010-04-29T16:27:00.001-04:00

I just had to share some more pictures of the beautiful area that my BIL and SIL live. It's beautiful! Their house sets back into a lovely wooded area, and it is so unique!

Here's their beautiful house! It's gorgeous inside!

BIL and SIL's House

These are the woods that surround the house. There is just enough light that comes through the sparse woods to make it warm and cozy, but shaded enough to find a cool spot!


The Woods

We spent a lot of time down by the creek behind the house. Hubby did some gold prospecting down there, and I spent time taking pictures and just looking!

The Creek

I sat down on the this huge slab of bedrock and played all day.


More Creek

Hubby spent most of his day in this little gap digging out silt, sand, and some gold with his gold pan.

Hubby's Digging Spot

It was a beautiful day for the most part, but around 4:00 p.m. it stated to rain, so back to the house we went. But overall I will remember it as a glorious day by the creek side!

Betcha Didn't Think.....

2010-04-27T20:56:00.001-04:00

Betcha didn't think it could snow in April!! Well, here's the proof. I took this picture this afternoon when I came home for lunch.

Snow in April

Yes, that big white blob is actually a snowflake. The snowflakes were huge, gigantic, white balls of fluff!

And here's another picture for your viewing pleasure!

And More Snow in April

Yes, tomorrow the forecast is predicting more snow!

But there is hope on the horizon. Friday's forecast is calling for temperatures in the 70's!

No wonder I can't figure out if I'm experiencing allergies or a cold. It's hard to tell! Sniff! Sniff!

Vacation!

2010-04-25T13:01:00.005-04:00

I took a vacation from blogging. Didn't really think I would be gone that long, but alas, I was.

But I'm back, again!

One of the wonderful tings that hubby and I did while I was taking my blogging vacation, was to actually go on vacation.

We went to South Carolina to visit family.

We had a wonderful time.

What did we do on this vacation?

Well, we did lots of things, but one of the things that we did was to go gold digging.

Hubby loves to go gold prospecting (we once lived in CA, where it's quite popular). So, we did a little of that. We went to a pay-to-dig site in North Carolina for the day. We had a lot of fun. The sun was out and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Wanna see what it looked like?


Laurie Gold Digging with a Keene High Banker

What's a Keene High Banker? That's this pictured contraption. See the pilings of dirt behind the high banker. Well, you scoop a shovel full of dirt into the top bucket of the high banker, then the dirt breaks up and flows through the sluice (the long arm under the bucket). The whole thing is operated by water that is pumped into the bucket. There are sprays of high powered water that criss-cross inside the bucket, which is how the dirt gets broken up. Then the water carries the dirt, gravel, and rocks through the sluice underneath. Gold is a very heavy metal, so it gets trapped within the sluice's rivulets, carpeting, and mesh. When you're all done shoveling the dirt into the high banker, you literally take it apart. Wash up the carpeting and mesh. Throw it all into a bucket, then you can pan out the little gold pieces.

Okay, I know what you're all thinking, what? What are you doing on vacation 'working' so hard? Well, hubby likes doing it, and I don't mind, so we spent a day just digging in the dirt. I think it paid off as hubby has cleaned and panned some of the dirt that we brought home - let's just say it was worth it! It was a beautiful, warm day! We did have fun! We went to a real, live working gold mine to do this, so we got to see a whole lot of operations going on! It was interesting!

This particular mine was called Thermal City Mine. It was nestled between two mountains. We were in the valley between the two mountains. There was all other kinds of gold prospecting equipment lying around here and there.

For instance, this here contraption is called a trommel.

Gold Prospecting Trommel

A trommel was used back in the olden, golden days of prospecting, but they are still used today. This is only a picture of a partial trommel from the 1800's. This is the back side of it pictured above. Trommels move a lot more dirt, sand, and gravel than a high banker can. It looks like a huge cement mixer with rolling tub (which isn't pictured here). The tub rotates to turn the dirt over and over and breaks it up, then it moves down into the sluice type area (which looks very much like the arm of the high banker which I posted in the first picture). That's what catches the gold.

Well, now that I've thoroughly bored you with a little gold prospecting history, I'll leave it at that.

I plan to post some other pictures of our trip at a later date. So stay tuned!

Old Pictures!

2010-04-08T19:22:00.001-04:00

While perusing Facebook, I've noticed that ehart has changed her profile picture quite frequently with some oldies but goodies! So I'm following her lead and changing my profile.

I probably should have saved this picture for June when hubby and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, but I was really tired of looking at that other beady-eyed profile pic that I previously had up! That picture was the total pits!

I'm thinking that it might be interesting for some to see the pictures that hubby and I took during our 3-month honeymoon! We traveled for 3 months after we were married, and traveled across the whole country. We saw some pretty awsome things along the way.

Since I just had to dig to the bottom of the picture box to find this old wedding picture, I guess I might continue to dig.

Remember when...June 1985!

Romans 8:28

2010-03-18T06:00:00.001-04:00

Have you ever read Romans 8:28, and actually felt the power behind those words?

Romans 8:28 is one of my all time favorite Scriptures. Of course, I have hundreds of all time favorite Scriptures, but Romans 8:28 is one of them.

Romans 8:29 - "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." NKJV

I also like the NASB - "And we know that God causesall things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

My Bible study has recently touched upon the storms, trials, and tribulations that we face in the flesh. We all have them. We can't escape them, and most likely, if you are Christian, you expect them.

Knowing that while you are enduring the most difficult things in life, God has a plan. God may have brought your present troubles upon you, but most likely if you have troubles, they are coming from other sources, such as: the devil, your sinful life (we all have sin whether we like it or not), or maybe God has allowed a certain situation in your life to bring you closer to Him.

For whatever reason you might be facing a turbulent time, you can be assured "that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love" Him.

I find so much comfort knowing that. I look at that Scripture almost daily - must be I've had a lot of trials recently. But every time I read that Scripture, I feel the power of the Holy Spirit leading me to comfort and peace. The anxieties of my life drift out of my mind, and I focus my attention to God and His good works.

A perfect Scriptural example of this very thing is in 2 Corinthians 11. Paul was three times beaten with rods, shipwrecked; spent a night and a day in the deep; he had seen perils of water, robbers, of the Gentiles and much, much more. Yet, if we look at some of these trials that Paul endured, we also see that Romans 8:28 is pure truth.

Look at Acts 16:22, 23 - " The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely."

When Paul was thrown into jail after being 'beaten with rods' do you know what happens next? Well, verses 25-34 of Acts 16 tells us that while Paul and Silas were singing praises, hymns, and praying to God while in jail, a great earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. The doors were opened. The keeper of the prison woke up, seeing the doors open, supposed that the prisoners had escaped, and was about to kill himself. Why was he going to kill himself? Well, apparently, a Roman soldier could expect execution if he let a prisoner escape through his negligence - falling asleep and letting the prisoners escape would have been considered negligence. Therefore the jailer was willing to kill himself rather than face the humiliation of execution.

But Paul called out and told the jailer to not harm himself, because even though they could have escaped prison at that time with the doors opened wide, they had remained. The jailer running in to Paul witnessed the prisoners all in their designated places, asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They told him that he needed to 'believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." They spoke the Word of God to the man; and he and all his household were saved!

Imagine if Paul had not gone to jail, if he had quietly sat around in a comfortable home, not going out on the road to preach - this man and his household would not have been saved at this time. Romans 8:29 baby! Paul could have been sitting in jail, crying, and moaning from his wounds received after having been beaten by rods, but no, he was singing hymns, and praying, praising the Lord! This man (the jailer) had obviously heard Paul and Silas singing and praying before the earthquake hit. I'm sure he wondered how these 2 men could have had such joy during a time of deep trial.

Acts 15:19,20 also is a great example of Romans 8:28 at work. Paul had been stoned, and dragged outside the city of Lystria. The Jews who had stoned Paul had left him as dead. I'm sure the news spread throughout the city. Many had probably heard how Paul had been killed by being stoned. But if we read on Paul returned to Lystria, 'strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.'" Imagine their surprise at finding Paul not only alive, but also strengthening and exhorting them to continue in faith! God took a bad situation and turned it into a strengthening of faith lesson. How awesome!

So when we face tribulations, trials, and hard times; I think it's important to keep an eye open for the 'good things' of the Lord too. It's easy to whine, and moan, and groan, about our trials (I know I have), but truly, the Lord usually uses those things to help us grow in faith. Don't let that opportunity pass without seeing the good that God has brought about through that particular hardship. It may take days, weeks, months, or years to experience what God has in store for you from dealing with the trials of your life, but one thing to always remember is that God is faithful (thank you once again, Ella).

None of us like to be tried. None of us enjoy going through trials to reach the 'good things.' But the Word lets us know that "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

How refreshing, how comforting, and how awesome!

Please! Don't Put God in a Box!

2010-03-17T16:24:00.006-04:00

I've contemplated whether I should do this post or not, but I think I can do it without being too critical of others. In fact, that is my intent with this post - to not be critical, but to point out what I think is a flaw in a certain train of thinking.

Here goes -

A lady (and a very fine one, indeed, who is a God-fearing, loving person) stated that she didn't immunize her children, because 'you need to trust in God.' Maybe I'm assuming too much here, but I take the 'trust in God' part to mean that one trusts the Lord to either prevent your children from receiving childhood illness (instead of vaccination) or you 'trust in God' that if your children do acquire said childhood diseases, then you know He will protect them and His will be done. For some reason though I get the impression that it's more the former than the latter.

On that note - I must say that I have a very strong opinion about such sayings and cliche-type expressions. Why? Well, let's see, it kind of reminds me of the Quiverfill movement. 'Trust in God' and He'll be sure to give you the amount of children that you should be having. Well, unfortunately, I feel there is a bit of human interference with that kind of thinking, basically, because men and women share intimacy (which is the human element in all this), then the woman may find that she's 'with child.' So, my thoughts are this, "Did God tell you to have relations with your husband last night?" He might have. "Did God tell you not to use any type of protection while engaging in said activity?" He might have. But to me - well, it sounds so much more like 'testing God' than worshiping Him. The human life is a precious thing. We do have a 'choice' to have or not to have children. We 'know' that engaging in marital bliss can result in a pregnancy, so we do have a 'choice.' So, therefore, when people 'give it to God' I often wonder if they do. Do they pray before having relations with their husbands to see if God approves? I doubt it, but if you are giving it to God, then you MUST need to consult Him before taking action with your hubby. KWIM?

Anyway, back to the lady who stated that she doesn't immunize her children, because she's given it to God. Well, apparently, a childhood disease is making the rounds throughout her community, and she refuses to 'go out' with the kids, because she doesn't want them to catch it. Okay, where is the trust in the Lord there? I really don't see it! Do you?

I mean, if you trust in the Lord to the point that you don't inoculate, but you don't trust Him to prevent your children from getting the diseases - well, where's the trust? Or perhaps you need to trust in the Lord that if your children get the disease, He'll take care of them. Or on the other hand, you may need to trust in the Lord that if he doesn't make them well, it just might be His will. I know that sounds cold and harsh, but truly, that's the main reason I find this kind of thinking dangerous.

The good Lord doesn't want to do us harm! He wants us to come and surrender our life to Him fully - not just trust Him on one aspect, and doubt the rest.

Personally, I had my son vaccinated. I don't like to think that I have put something before the Lord to say, "There you go, God, here's this situation in my life, and I'm going to find out how You deal with it." That's what I mean by 'testing God.' I'm not going to ignore the great medical advances in the world today to say, "God, I choose not to vaccinate my children, so therefore, You must take care of them." I just don't think that's what God wants us to do.

I feel the Lord speaks to us through His word. Have you ever been in a quandary about what to do with a certain issue in your life? You search the Scripture for answer, and you just come up dry. You pray that God will show you in which direction you should move in. Then next thing you know, when you least expect it, you pick up your Bible, start reading without even considering the issue that you've been facing, and the Lord 'speaks to you through His word.' Suddenly, the tears well up in your eyes, you bow down on your knees, and thank God for showing you what you need to do.

I think the Lord has given the medical field great advances down through the generations, and He doesn't mind if we use them. Personally, I also think this fine lady has children that have major health issues, and she doesn't want them to catch that bad, old disease. That's fine! But to say you don't inoculate your children, because you 'trust in the Lord', then I think you need to also consider 'trusting in Him' to let His will be done. Which, I'll say it again, this smacks to me too much like 'testing the Lord.'

When my mother was in the hospital with pneumonia, and we thought we might lose her - I'll be very honest with you all in telling you that whenever someone coughed at work, I sprayed the Lysol. Whenever anyone came near me to talk, then told me, "I've been feverish all night." I sprayed Lysol. Then, I stopped myself. I don't think the Lord wanted me to carry another illness to my mother in the hospital that she most likely would have succumbed to, but I wasn't really thinking of that. I was thinking of Mom, not the Lord - and well, that's where I think I got into a bit of a thought process about "How do I show that I trust the Lord?" Once I examined the situation, I realized that indeed, I wasn't putting my faith in God, I was putting my faith in a can of Lysol.

Unfortunately, I often see very well-meaning people put God in a box. They start to shove our Big, Awesome, Holy God down, down, down into a little tiny box, where they never really get to experience the loving-kindness that only He is so capable of showing.

Sometimes, we go through some very difficult times in our life. Believe me, I've been through a few myself. I often find when I totally surrender myself to the Lord a comfort and peace come over me that I've never felt before. I've even experienced that comfort and peace when the most awful things have happened, and someone I love passes on.

So, as I said, during the everyday issues of our life, as mundane as they may seem, I really think we need to keep our focus on the Lord. We need to trust that He will take care of us no matter what it is that we have to face. As my very dear friend, Ella, always says, "God is faithful." Amen, sister!

Like the New Look?

2010-03-16T06:22:00.003-04:00

There's a new feature with blogger called 'Blogger in Draft.' If you have blogger and you look in the dashboard, you can check mark the 'Blogger in Draft' then get to try out their 'new features' before everyone else.

Well, quite a while ago I checked that 'Blogger in Draft' button, but never saw anything new to try other than your posts will 'save' automatically without pushing the 'save' button. Nice feature, but not anything to write about.

But Blogger's new feature of vamping up your template is really cool. No more fiddling with HTML code to get three-columned blogs, or colorful blogs, or making your blog columns wider, etc.

So I tried it last night.

Not sure what I think of this design, but I'm hoping they come out with a whole bunch more as time goes on.

All you have to do to use this wonderful feature is to click the little box for 'Blogger in Draft' then go to 'Layout.' There's a new heading called 'Designer Templates.' Use that to change up your blog look by just clicking on the choices that you like. Just be aware of the fact that whatever design you had before (if from another blogging designer) will be gone.

What do you think?

When You Can Smile About It....

2010-02-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

Since yesterday's post was titled "When You Can Laugh About It..." and I poked some fun at my hubby, I thought it would be nice to show you what a wonderfully handy guy he is.

I had a hunkering for wanting a shelf to put my toaster, spice rack, bread machine, and many other little items onto - for storage.

Hubby had some old rough-cut lumber in the garage (alongside all those computer parts and broken down appliances that he tears apart).

He made this handy little shelf to fit right along the wall between my stove and counter.

The thrifty part about this cute little shelf is that it cost practically nothing! I bought some contact paper at the Dollar Store and tacked it onto the shelving. I didn't want to bother painting it. The contact paper cost only $2.00.

So for a very minimal amount of money, I have this cute little shelf.

And it makes me smile every time I look at it!

When You Can Laugh About It....

2010-02-25T07:19:00.002-05:00

My dear sweet hubby and I have been married for almost 25 years. Our anniversary is in June, and that will be our Silver Anniversary!

One of the major successes to our marriage has been to know when to laugh. You know, when something is so 'bad' you really need to laugh or else you'll cry.

Please note that what you are about to see is most definitely a 'joke' among family and friends. I'm not bashing my hubby in any way, he 'knows' what I'm talking about here, and he laughs right along with us!

A little background (in case you aren't aware), I'm kinda sorta a neat freak. Not excessively so, just kinda sorta. I didn't become a neat freak overnight (just ask hubby - because that's another 'joke' in our marriage). I used to be the kind of person that could have a cluttered, dusty house; but through the years, I've transformed into a better housekeeper. And since my son has traveled off to college, I most definitely find it easier to keep things "neat and tidy."

My freakiness about being neat and organized probably transpired due to the fact that hubby is a 'collector of things.' He is an organized collector, but nonetheless, he's a collector. I think I like to overcompensate for his, umm, well, collecting.

Sidenote: My dear, sweet mother-in-law, who has since passed away, once told me that Bill was once-upon-a-time a huge neat freak himself. She had 10 children, and she did laundry for 12 people when all the kids were living at home. She was an immaculate housekeeper. But apparently, she didn't put laundry away to my husband's liking when he was a kid living at home. She needed to put his clean laundry at the foot of his bed, and she let him put it all away, because there was a designated spot for black socks, another area for white socks and on and on. Everything had a very specific place to be properly put away.

So - sigh! You can understand why I marvel at the man that I've now been married to for almost 25 years when we get to the pics.

Bill collects old computers, printers, monitors for scraping the copper, brass and other precious metals that they contain. Did you know that a computer motherboard has a small amount of gold? Do you know the current market rate for gold? My husband can spout off the current price for any scrap metal that exists!

Sometimes Bill picks up an old washer or dryer from someone who wants to be rid of it. He breaks all these items down in our basement and garage. He removes all the scrap metals, then takes them in for hard, cold cash. It's a great side business for him. With a son in college, it really helps!

Bill can be very organized and he can 'organize' the piles of junk quite nicely. Such as this pictures depicts of the neatly stacked printers that he hasn't torn down yet:

Or take a look at this neatly stacked pile of containers and boxes that are filled to the brim with computer parts - but notice my neatly stacked laundry baskets vie for that particular spot in the basement too:

But unfortunately, through the years of my hubby's hobby, he has gotten to the point where neatness doesn't always count. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that he's run out of room for all his collectibles, but I haven't told him that yet. Here's another pile in my basement that lies almost (but not quite) within my pathway to the washer and dryer. Yes, I have a precariously, narrow path leading to my washer and dryer. I balance the laundry basket above my head (it's a great workout, girls), but sometimes when hubby knows I'm planning laundry - he carries it down to the basement for me and weaves his way through the collected parts and pieces to deposit my laundry basket right next to the washer. Oh, yeah, right - here's the not-so-neatly piled piles:

These parts are waiting to be cut in to little pieces. Are you laughing yet?

The next pile, I don't know - I'm not sure what he has planned for this one. I do know that it certainly proves that he has bypassed those days when socks had a designated area in his drawer:

Are you laughing yet?

Truly, we do laugh about this. One reason is that my hubby makes a little extra money when he turns his copper, brass, and gold in for cash. I really like that part! We joke that he's laughing all the way to the bank.

But one of the ways that I overcompensate for the 'mess' that I have in my basement and garage is by making sure everything that *I* have control over is neat and tidy to a fault. Such as my washer and dryer area:

And no, I didn't tidy the area just to take the picture, it really looks that way daily. I guess sometimes, I get trapped amongst the 'junk' and I clean that area a lot, ward off the ever encroaching mess, then I trek back through the narrow, winding path to the staircase up out of the dungeon!

I Get More Action from Spammers!

2010-02-24T16:13:00.000-05:00

Have any of you been experiencing a round of spammers on your blogs?

I think I have more spammers than readers!

Probably due to the fact that my blog is most of the time blogless!

You know how it goes - you open your dashboard to your blog. You smile with glee, because those big, blue, bold letters are standing out in the middle of the screen: "1 New Comment."

To my dismay, I click on those big, blue, bold letters to discover an Asian language that I can't even read!

Go figure!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T14:07:00.003-05:00

Winter Blah!

2010-02-12T06:52:00.001-05:00

Here in the Great White North, we don't consider it Winter Blah time until March (because, you see, winter is so long, we're not supposed to get the blahs until March).

I have the Winter Blahs now, and it's only February.

What are the Winter Blahs?

Well, you wake up in the morning, and you really don't want to get out of your nice, warm, cozy bed, because it's winter outside.

You get ready to go to your car, and you really don't want to clean off the snow accumulation that has somehow accumulated there once again magically overnight.

You get to work, and you really don't want to be there, you'd rather be curled up with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa instead.

You come home, and you really don't want to cook dinner, because nothing really sounds good.

You should be doing laundry or other household chores, but you really don't want to get up off the couch, because the quilt you're cuddling up with is so nice!

You should get up off the couch and go to bed, but you really don't want to, because the sheets in the bed are probably freezing!

Tonight I decided to make Jackie's Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe. It just might lift me out of my Winter Blahs! I need some good food with a good book or a good movie or Spring!

Yeah, that's what I need - Spring!

Hmmmm, I hope Spring is really right around the corner! Just thinking about Spring helps!

Check Up and Update on College Life!

2010-02-10T18:21:00.000-05:00

My mother has been home for three whole weeks tomorrow. She's been a very good girl, and the respiratory doctor told her that her progress was excellent! Yippppeee! God is so faithful!

She's going to see the rheumatologist on Friday morning due to the fact that the doctor believes her double pneumonia is linked to the Lupus.

The boy called last night. He loves his new campus. He loves the food. He loves his Chemistry professor. He told me he's probably the best professor he's ever had.

He has an extremely tough course load this semester, but he's determined to do his best.

He's taking College Chemistry, College Biology and some level of College Math. He has two evenings that he has labs (one for Chemistry, one for Biology). He told me he spent his whole weekend studying. That's good!

So life is getting back to more 'normal' whatever that might be!

My mom and I have started a bible study together as she hasn't been able to get to church (she's supposed to avoid large crowds), but she's thinking she might go to church this Sunday, but no hugging! Her and I have become huge germaphobics recently! We carry antibiotic lotion in our purses, I have it in my desk drawer at work; I even keep it in the car!

Mom and I have also started crocheting shawls for the elderly in nursing homes. It's a program through church, and we're really enjoying it. I go over to mom's house every day after work and we sit and crochet and talk for about an hour, then I come home and start dinner.

My days are long, and I haven't had much time for blogging, but we are all doing well!

Growing Up Is Hard To Do!

2010-02-02T16:49:00.002-05:00

I'm one year shy of hitting the 1/2 century mark, and even I find growing up is hard to do!

But the boy, well, he's just 20 years old - and I admit that growing up is so hard to do at that age. But they gotta do it!

My son transferred to Brockport State College this January. It's a whole different world for him. Buffalo is big - really big. Buffalo State was okay, but I think he's going to like Brockport, oh so much better.

The first week of attending Brockport had it's touch and go moments. It's a new campus, new roommates (more about them later), and it's a small town compared to the big city of Buffalo.

The first night we dropped him off around 5:00 p.m. He waited until after 9:00 p.m. to unpack, as his roommate (sharing the one very tiny bedroom within the suite of 6 boys), didn't come back to the dorm until then. Bryce had wanted to unpack before then, but when he opened all the dresser drawers, they were full. Huh? Come to find out the student that had been in the room last semester had left mid-semester, so the remaining student had kind of spread out his stuff to encompass the entire room. Guess he didn't think to prepare for my son's arrival until 9:00 p.m. the night before classes started.

So instead of unpacking, getting dinner, and checking out campus to find out where all his classes were the next day, the boy sat in the room and waited, and waited, and waited for said roommate to return from Band practice. Yes, ehart, he's a band member. Apparently Bryce isn't sure what instrument he plays, but he knows that he's in the band. Can you tell Bryce wasn't much interested in asking him his instrument when he returned at 9:00?

Then Bryce said that 10 minutes after arriving, another suitemate asked him to go and partake in some 'extra-curricular' activity that Bryce wanted no part of. Can you believe he asked him to go do that just 10 minutes after he arrived???? I can! Colleges are full of that kind of thing.

Another of his suitemates is from the Ukraine. He has a bad liver. Bryce told me that "they have no drinking age over there, so he's been drinking since he was 4 years old, and now he has a bad liver."

The first day of classes, I received a few phone calls at work. Each class the boy went to he reported to me immediately following to let me know the cost of the textbook. Did you know that the book, workbook, lab book, and internet OWL (something like Angel, but costs $50) for College Chemistry cost almost $500!!!

The College Math book bought 'used' only cost $125!! He called in a panic and said, "Mom, books for 2 classes already cost me more than a whole semester of books at Buff State!" He actually shrieked this to me over the phone while I was working. If you knew my son, you'd know that he typically never shrieks!

I told him to relax, relax, relax, because I could (if I knew the money was going for books) deposit some money into his bank account back here at home. He's very independent and didn't like the idea (doncha love him?), but I convinced him it would be all right!

Now, I haven't heard from him since last week, so I'm thinking he's getting it all figured out! Right?! I hope so!

Can I just say this: Growing up is hard to do, AND it's going to be a loooooong semester!

Quickie Dinners

2010-01-27T16:18:00.002-05:00

Do you and your family have some easy, fast quickie dinners that you resort to when things get a little hectic?

We do, but I find that they are usually egg dinners, and I really don't like eating eggs all that often for healthy reasons.

Since my mother is less than a week out of the hospital and my dad just finished radiation treatment; I stop by and spend at least an hour every night after work with them. So by the time I get home, I'm looking for something quick and easy. I use my crockpot a lot, but sometimes you just want to do something different!

I have a recipe for Crustless Quiche! Thanks Denise! We love having this, and I can whip it up pretty fast. Here's the link to Denise's blog that has the recipe: Click here!

Then there's the good old breakfast for dinner, which I find easy and quick, but once again it involves eggs.

I also found a recipe for baked eggs, which is awesome even if it doesn't sound that great, it tastes great! Here's the link for that one: Click here!

So if anyone can help me out with quick and easy dinners, it would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Back to a New School Home!

2010-01-24T09:37:00.001-05:00

After church today, we are taking my 20-year old son back to college - well, not the college that he went to for 1 1/2 years, but the 'new' college.

He's transferring to a new school, and I like several things about this 'new' school:

It's closer (by over an hour when traveling both ways).

It's smaller.

It's not in the big, evil, mean city.

It's in a small Podunk town, which is what he's more used to.

He's has two great Christian buddies that go to college there too.

There are 1/2 the students at the 'new' college compared to his 'old' college.

They have many more luxuries on campus that the boy didn't experience at the 'old' college, such as: free laundry (no more quarter collecting), breakfast in the cafeteria, and a free bicycle service for students without cars.

The only thing that has him a bit apprehensive at this point are the first names of a couple of his roommates. One is named Yoter, and the other one was blessed with the name of Yvegen. (How do you pronounce that? Yvegen?)

His two buddies (which are brothers) have been forewarned: "I might be seeing a lot of you two this semester. Got an extra bed?"

All in all, the boy is very easy going, so he'll probably be fine. It's become more of a joke amongst us rather than concern. Somehow, the boy always manages!

Released Today and Coming Home!

2010-01-21T12:24:00.002-05:00

That has been my heart's desire for the last 2 weeks! Praise God!

Running the Halls!

2010-01-20T12:50:00.000-05:00

Here's my life in a nutshell today:

I called the hospital to see how my mom was doing. She had a procedure done this morning which I'm sure involved sedation. I wanted to be sure she wasn't sleeping when I went up to see her. The nurse told me (get this one): "Oh, she's not sleepy at all - she's running the halls."

That's my mama! She's not hooked up to anything anymore, so she's really taking advantage of her new freedom!

In other news:

My son is out ice fishing AGAIN!

My freezer is getting full of perch AGAIN!

My hubby is working!

It's snowing AGAIN!

I had a rough day at work AGAIN!

I keep thinking that I'd like to mop my kitchen floor AGAIN!

How's your Wednesday shaping up???

The Phone Call!

2010-01-17T11:29:00.001-05:00

When you have sick parents and you hear the phone ring..........cringe! I sometimes don't want to answer the phone.

But yesterday afternoon I got the very besteset of phone calls that I've ever received in my entire life.

I picked up the phone in irritation as I had been trying for over 30 minutes to get out the door to go see my mother in the hospital - but the phone kept ringing.

Suddenly I heard a very familiar voice say, "Hello?!?!"

I screamed (well, maybe not screamed, but almost), "Mom???? Is that you?????"

The answer was a joyful, "Yes!!!"

The ventilator has been removed. She remained in ICU for the night, but this morning while visiting my dad (who is possibly sick with the stomach thingy) the ICU nurse called and told me they are moving my mother out of ICU as we speak.

Praise God!

I want to sincerely thank everyone for their thoughtfulness and prayers. I can't even properly thank you all with words. They just aren't 'enough' for what I feel for the kindness that has been shown to my family throughout this ordeal.

But if you're still tuned in and willing to pray, please pray for continuing wellness for my mama, but I also ask that you pray for my dad. He's very frustrated and a bit down from the radiation, the diarrhea (that we're not sure is from radiation or bug), and he could really use an uplifting from the Lord!

Baby Steps!

2010-01-16T14:12:00.001-05:00

My mother has been doing a bit better. She's one tough cookie!

She's been on a ventilator for almost a week. Well, this is the start of the 4th day that they have it set at 40%, and her oxygen levels keep holding.

Did I say that my mama is one tough cookie?

We went into the hospital last night, the nurse had the curtain drawn, so we waited. And we waited, and we waited.....

Finally, the nurse pulls the curtain back, says, "I was changing her bedding for her, but come look! She's exercising!"

What?

We went in and my mama (who can't talk with the ventilator on) is sitting up in bed and pumping her legs. My 78 year old mama, pumping her legs back and forth, back and forth!

My brother speaks up and says, "Are you taking a walk, mom?"

She gives him the thumbs up, grinning, and chuckling (the best she can with a huge tube shoved down her throat).

They extracted 800 cc's of fluid off her lungs yesterday! One thousand cc's equals one liter!

Did I say my mama is one tough cookie? Oh yeah....

We still have concerns that the fluid doesn't reform (then we could be back to square one), and we also pray that her lungs haven't been damaged.

So - if you're still out there praying, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my tough cookie heart (I think I inherited a tiny portion of that tough cookieness!)

Blessed be the God in Heaven Who hears our prayers!

My mama is one tough cookie (with the help, love and support of our Lord).

Continuing....

2010-01-13T06:35:00.000-05:00

My mother took baby steps towards improvement, but she's a very sick lady. If you are praying for her, I thank you with all my heart! If you continue to pray, I thank you with all my heart.

Today is my son's 20th birthday! Bye! Bye! to those teen years. Happy Birthday, son! You are a blessing to your family!

Prayers Please!

2010-01-08T10:59:00.000-05:00

If you are a praying person, and you feel so led, please pray for my entire family.

My dad is at this very moment receiving a radiation treatment, but last night my mom was taken by ambulance to the local hospital. She has pneumonia. She is currently being moved to ICU, so I'm on my way up to see her.

I know that I have a lot of friends who are prayer warriors, so I'm asking that you keep all of us in your prayers.

Much appreciated!

Holy Cat?

2010-01-07T16:34:00.003-05:00

Hmmmm, I read my Bible every day. Sometimes it ends up on the kitchen table, sometimes my Bible ends up on my bed, and sometimes my Bible ends up on the end table.

Doesn't matter where I put my leather covered Bible, the cat finds it; and promptly lays on it.

If I leave it open, she sprawls her entire body over the pages of my Bible. If I close it, she lays her little head on the leather cover, and she uses it for a pillow!

Hmmmm, I'd call that a 'holy cat.'

Can You Believe????

2010-01-04T21:01:00.001-05:00

Did you know that I've been nominated for the world's worst blogger for 2009?

How awfully rude of me to leave so many hanging out there about the knitting project - and how awful that I haven't updated anyone about my dad's condition.

I humbly apologize and ask for you all to forgive me!

First off! My dad is scheduled to start his 5 treatments of radiation on Wednesday. If you feel led to pray, I appreciate it so much! He's having 2 - 2 1/2 hour treatments for 5 days (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week; and Monday and Tuesday of next week). On a good note for dad: He was recently diagnosed with the beginning stages of diabetes, so he got determined more than ever to take action. He lost almost 50 pounds, and he started exercising daily. His doctor has reduced his blood pressure meds in half, and is thinking that his meds for the diabetes might be altered too.

Here's a picture of him on Christmas Eve. He was giving my son some of his old hats. The boy has taken up ice fishing again this winter, and his head gets cold. So Grandpa was sorting through all his hats, and offering a few to the boy. See that silly orange hat the boy is wearing? It's his favorite ice fishing hat now! Really! It is! BTW, the boy had just woke up from his 'after dinner' nap, so he does look just a teeny bit groggy. Doesn't dad look great?

Now, for the knitting project! Here it is! It's an afghan! Can you believe it? I finally finished it! I was so bad about finishing this project, but it was a relief to get 'er done!

Here it is: but beware - my feline friend couldn't resist - she sat on it, and she wouldn't get off, so I let her get her pic taken!

She's a nut!

I really need to get better at this blogging thing! I couldn't believe how many people e-mailed me, commented on their own blogs, and let me know LOUDLY that they were upset I wasn't blogging! I'm sorry, I really didn't realize all that many people even read my blog!

And ehart, my dear friend, I owe you a lengthy, wordy, talky, squawky (not sure if that's a word or not) e-mail. I plan on it - this week, I promise!

Here's wishing everyone a Happy New Year! May 2010 bring you peace, comfort and happiness!

Later!!!!

Edited Profile Pic!

2009-11-27T16:52:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! Our celebration was fabulous!

It's always nice to see all the family and gather together for a few hours.

I'm diligently working on the knitting machine project, and as soon as it's finished I'll post pictures...hopefully, they'll look better than my new profile picture. Ooops, didn't notice, did ya?

Okay, ehart, so the profile pic was old! Ugh! I hate displaying my pic, because I never think the pictures look that good.

This one is actually my picture taken for the yearbook at school THIS YEAR.

It doesn't look that great, because I had to resize it, and it got a bit fuzzy!

But, it is current!

College Football, Cancer Treatments, and Reading List

2009-11-15T11:37:00.008-05:00

What an odd title! But that's what I'm going to be writing about in this post. I don't often put my life out there on the World Wide Web, but if I don't talk about my life and what's going on in it, well, I don't have much to tak about! Self absorption? Maybe...

Yesterday, hubby and I drove up to Buffalo to watch the boy's last game of the year. I got a lot of pictures of him on the sidelines, then I got tired of holding the camera, and put it away! It's hard to sit in a stadium full of spectators trying to get a good shot of your own personal college football player, so forgive me!

There he is - #17, my son!

I'm thrilled that the Mohawk is gone! Bryce decided that it started to look grossssssss! I'm thrilled also that one of his suitemates can cut hair - even if he does give a Mohawk or two, the good feature is that he can also shave them off!!

I don't see that frown very often, but hmmmm, I'm really wondering what he was thinking at that moment??

It was a hot, hot day! Can you believe it? It was so hot that hubby and I turned the air on in the car when we got to Buffalo. Unfortunately, the Buffalo Bengals play on a field that typically has a great deal of wind that sweeps in from Canada, or Lake Erie, or Lake Ontario, or all three. Usually the temps are very low there this time of year, and typically we shiver throughout most of my son's games. So being the last game of the season, we figured for sure, it would be unbearably cold. We both donned our thermal underwear (hey, it was freezing when we left), and we felt like furnaces for most of the game. Hubby got a sunburn!

Okay, so I took most of the pictures before the game started, so Bryce has his helmet off in all the pictures that I took, except this one:

Ooops! I cut his head off! That probably happened as I was trying to balance the camera with one hand and my other hand was high in the air waving to him and his teammate. He had turned around and was pointing out his floozy of a mother, standing there in all her Bengal gear, and sweating! I guess I should be grateful that he's not too embarrassed to say, "See that lady standing there with the Bengal shirt, Bengal hat, jumping up and down with the camera screaming 'Bryce, Bryce, over here, honey'.....well that's my mom."

The Bengals lost, but we all enjoyed going out to dinner with an old classmate of Bryce's and his family after the game. Bryce and the old classmate played high school football together and were (and still are) pretty good buddies. The old classmate played for the winning team, not the Bengals! It always feels so strange sitting in the crowd watching two boys who played together in high school, play against each other in college. They actually are pretty comical! They pat each other on the butts (what's that all about anyway?), they slap each other on the backs, they smile and laugh! Whatever!!!!!!!!!

We had a safe ride home without incident, and we were tired, but happy that we spent time with our son!

On a not so happy note, my father has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. If you are a praying person, and feel so led, please pray for him. He has a lot of health issues (although to look at him you'd never know). He has a super great attitude, and we're all rooting for him. He actually laughed when he told us how he left the doctor's office the other day and overheard the nurse say, "That poor man has so much wrong with him! But such a nice man!" Yupper, that's my dad!

He starts his intensive radiation treatments at the end of the month. He has a few other health issues that they want to get under control before they start.

Now on to my reading list:

I finished Reading Lolita in Tehran. I enjoyed reading the book, but it was an eye-opener to me also. It shows the terrible oppression that so many on the other side of the world live with every single day of their lives.

Hubby and I had a wonderfully, rich conversation on the ride to Buffalo about the mentality, and most of the time, ignorance, that plagues these poor people. Many have very little in regards to worldly goods. They grow up feeding and nurturing themselves from their family's political and moral values. Many don't have the luxury of having much of an education. We, as Americans, often feel that it is our right to an education, but in other parts of the world, it's not even considered nor is it a priority. Their 'education' stems from watching censored political agendas that the main message is: "Hate Americans! Kill Americans! They are of the devil!" It's easy to understand the methods of their government (brainwashing, in my opinion), but it's also easier to understand the 'why' of the hatred they feel towards the western world.

The author, Azar Nafisi, lived in the United States for over a decade while obtaining her education, having been born and raised in Tehran. She had always loved her country of Iran, but when The Ayatollah Khomeini usurped power of her country, she started to see the ripping seams of what her country had been built upon, which was basically a hatred that was so consuming that many were willing to sacrifice themselves for a cause that they had been totally misinformed about. Or perhaps their views were so skewed that they couldn't grasp the reality of what their country was submitting them to. Many ideals taught within the 'home and hearth' atmosphere, obviously, will shape that person's reality.

Once per week, Azar meets with a few select students that she had previously taught at the University of Tehran. Although she is not a professor at the University of Tehran while meeting with these young ladies, she realizes how much influence she had upon her students while teaching them Western Literature. Many of those who had appeared withdrawn or perhaps, disagreeable during her years of teaching, were actually staunch supporters of her ideology. It wasn't until the girls were in the privacy of Azar's home that they would admit to their allegiance. Surprisingly, she invited women to partake in their literature meeting, when she hadn't seen their support of her beforehand. Personally, I think that was pretty brave of her!

All in all, it is a book that I would recommend. It's not a 'sit back and let things happen' kind of book. It's of the genre that make the mind work. It also stayed with me long after I read the last page.

Another book that I'm in the process of reading is The Red Tent by Anita Diamanti.

It's a little different than what I thought it would be. It's the story of Dinah, Jacob's daughter. It's not to be confused as Biblical, as Anita Diamanti has made it clear that she is writing in the novel format.

I'll review the book properly once I've finished reading.

Do You Know What This Is?

2009-11-13T06:00:00.003-05:00

It's my Bond Knitting Machine! I bought it, let's see, around 15 years ago. I used it frequently in the first few years that I had it. I made lots of kiddie sweaters for the nieces and nephews, then I don't know what happened. I got tired of using it, I started working full time...I'm not quite sure why I stopped using it, but I did.

Well, I dug it out one day (almost a year ago), and hubby made this nice little stand for me. Actually, this was a watchamacallit that he had laying around in the garage for a long time. I said that I wanted a place to put my knitting machine in the living room, but out of the way in a corner, so I would use it more frequently. Previously, I had it setting in its box upstairs. You know, out of sight out of mind.

So, my very creative husband showed me this old, grease-covered wathamacallit out in the garage one day, and said, "I'm going to use that to make you a knitting machine stand." I rolled my eyes, walked away, and said to myself, "That thing will never enter the doorway of my house in a million years." Well, as typical of me, I underestimated how talented my husband is about 'creating' something useful out of something that looks like it should be in the dump!

Voila! My knitting machine stand is in it's proper place - off in the corner of my rather large livingroom. I love it!

In fact, I have a project (as you can see) that I'm in the midst of working on.

Stay tuned in the near future for an update as to what it's going to be! Any guesses?

She Thinks She's Human!

2009-11-12T06:00:00.003-05:00

This is her favorite position on the couch (other than curled up in a ball to sleep). She sits and watches television with hubby and I. In fact, she sits smack dab in between the two of us.

The Fish Story!

2009-11-11T11:21:00.005-05:00

My son came home last weekend, and brought one of his suitemates with him. It was a wonderful visit. The boy's friend, M, is such a great kid! I can see why they are such great friends:) He's from downstate, and he had never been to this area before. So, of course, the boy became 'tourist guide' over the weekend, and showed him the sights.

They visited our local BassPro Shop. If you've never been to a BassPro shop and get the opportunity to, don't miss out. They are an awesome store. We are fortunate that we have one about 10 miles from the house. It's my hubby and son's favorite store.

They came home all excited and M was telling me all about the big fish tank and all the huge fish in it! His eyes were lit up, and he was so enthused. He was reminding me of a 10 year old, not a 20 year old!

Then the boys went to cheer on our local high school football team at the Syracuse Dome, where they were playing the Sectional Final game. They lost, but they can be proud of their season, and the way they played. Go Warriors!

Next morning, two very tired young men dragged their sleepy heads out of bed, and went fishing. They got skunked. (In case you're not familiar with fishing verbiage, 'skunked' means they didn't catch a thing). In fact, they didn't even get a bite! They were discouraged, but had decided to give themselves another go of it the next day.

Sunday afternoon the boys were prepared to get skunked again, but alas, their fortune was a complete turn around from the day before.

M caught this beauty of a large mouth bass. He was 5.7 pounds, and 20 1/2 inches long! What a beauty! He posed for me to get a picture for my blog. He was quite touched that I wanted to post it on my blog. He must not totally understand the low readership of my blog, because he said he felt like a celebrity! Sorry, M, not to trounce on your beloved dreams, but my readership isn't quite the celebrity status....yet!

Oh, yeah, the picture!

Ain't it a beauty?

Oh, please don't mind my totally un-remodeled kitchen! It's just one of those things that we've never quite gotten to, since I always seem to be using it!

Speaking of cooking - M is such a nice kid, that he not only thanked me once, nor twice, but something close to 3 or 4 times for the dinners that I cooked while he was here. I laughed and told the boys that the college food must be pretty bad! They enthusiastically agreed!

All in all it was a beautiful weekend. And M, come back and see us any time! We loved having you!

My Blog and 150 Hits!

2009-10-25T11:20:00.002-04:00

That's right, good ol' Laurie somehow got 150 hits to her blog in the last couple of weeks! How? Well, seems that the "Funny Halloween Stories" was a big hit. Who'd 've thunk? I can't believe how many people have been googling those very words, then visiting my blog. Apparently, I show up on the first page of links, so I guess it goes to show how a simple title can get your blog a ton of traffic.

Life on the home front has been quiet, for the most part. My son has been calling regularly from college. It's a big change from last year when he hardly called at all. He's facing some major decisions in his college career, and he's struggling. If you feel inclined, please pray for him. He's having a rough time of it.

We have several kids out sick with flu-like symptoms. I saw on the news the other day that if you have flu-like symptoms, to just assume you have H1N1. Okay.........So Lysol wipes, Purell, and Lysol spray have been getting a lot of use in the office by yours truly. A few teachers have fallen victim to the bug, so it's really making the rounds.

A bit of good news is that I got on the scales the other day, and found that I have lost 17 pounds in little less than a year. That may not sound like much, but I didn't think I was carrying too much extra weight, but 17 pounds sounds like a lot. How did I do it? I cut portion sizes down to something more normal, and I quit putting sugar in my coffee! That's it! Well, I've also been trying to avoid sugary snacks and baked goods. I still eat them, I just cut back.

I've just finished reading a wonderful book.

Greg Mortenson has become my hero!

He climbed the mountain K2 in Pakistan, the second highest mountain in the world. He didn't quite make it to the peak. Upon coming off the mountain, he recuperated in a small Pakistani village where he witnessed the village children traipsing off to 'school' with sticks in their hands. Their 'school' was a pile of dirt that they sat upon with sticks in hand, writing their letters and sums. Their 'school' had no walls, no bathrooms, and no cafeteria. This view into their poverty-stricken life compelled Mortenson to make a promise that was difficult in the keeping, but he did, indeed, keep his promise. His promise to these school-aged children and their families was to build them a school. It was the beginning of the organization known as Central Asia Institute. Greg has gone on to build numerous schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan throughout the years as the director of the organization.

If you're looking for something to read that might inspire you or lift you out of a bad mood, read it! Yes, read it! I enjoyed it so much. It brought home to me that with all our worries and anxieties, we don't have it quite as bad as we think we do.

My reading has taken on a few too many books at once, but I'm enjoying the opportunity to stretch myself through my reading list. Well, okay, that Barbra Streisand biography might not be stretching me much, but it's an interesting read.

I'm also reading a book called Reading Lolita in Tehran. For some reason, I have been gravitating toward that portion of the world where turmoil is a way of life. Reading Lolita in Tehran is written by Azar Nafisi.

Now, personally, I think that Nafisi is a bit full of her self, mainly because she tries really hard to prove that she's academial, but once you get past that point, it's a pretty good read. Nafisi was once a Western Literature professor at the University of Tehran. Born in Iran, she was educated in the United States, but returned to Tehran to teach. The memoir she presents takes place before, during, and after the revolution that kicked the Shah out, and planted the Ayatollah Khomeini in his place. (You know, I personally remember all those news stories way back then).

Being a Supreme Ruler - which basically means he was the highest ranking political and religious leader of Iran - he pronounced severe changes to society as a whole, mainly towards women. Nafisi would gather together weekly with a small number of her former students. They would read and discuss Western Literature within the realm of Fitzgerald (Gatsby), Austen (Pride and Prejudice), James, and Nabokov. All this literature had been banned by the Ayatollah, so it was during these covert meetings that the women got to know each other, and the trials they faced as women living in Iran. I'm not finished reading it yet, so I'll let you know what I think when I'm finished. So far, I like it! It brings to forefront the struggles that women in that kind of society face.

I'm also reading A.W. Pink's An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount. I've read Pink before, so I'm sure that I'll like this one too. If you are interested in checking out some of his books, they are online for your reading pleasure here. I happened upon this site a few years back while visiting Theology from a Bunch of Dead Guys which is part of the Spurgeon archives.

Well, I certainly have a lot of reading on my list, but once your house becomes the 'empty nest' you find you have a lot more time for all those things you've wanted to do for years. I'm also working to complete an afghan that I put on my knitting machine around 2 months ago. I'm getting there, and when I'm finished I'll post a picture.

I guess we've caught up by now! As you can see, I've been pretty busy!

Can You Pick Out The Boy?

2009-10-19T19:21:00.001-04:00

Hubby and I think he's the one in the 4th row, all the way over in the last seat on the right-hand side. You can click the picture to slightly enlarge it. What do you think?

Funny Halloween Stories!

2009-10-08T10:06:00.002-04:00

I'm not the biggest fan when it comes to Halloween. I think maybe it's all those ghost and goblin stories that turn me off. But with Halloween just around the corner, I got to thinking of some really funny things that have happened to me and my family on Halloween.

My husband worked nights for years, so I was the designated adult for all trick or treat outings. When my son was around 8 years old, we were doing our neighborly outing. We naturally went to one of our friend's houses around the corner. We never strayed very far from home.

We approached the house across the dark, tree shadowed yard to climb the front porch leading to the door. This house appeared as if it was a haunted house in respect to the worn, peeled paint on the old clapboards. I think it might have had a few sagging shutters at the windows, too, which really made it look haunted.

My son had visited this house several times through the years, mainly due to the fact that they had a son that was just a year older than Bryce, and they were friends. But I distinctly remember him say, "Gee, Mom, it looks like a real haunted house."

With the thoughts of ghosts and goblins and eerie things that go bump in the night, we proceeded to go up to the door. Next to the door was an elaborate table laid out with all kinds of Halloween treats. There were candy bars, bags of candy corn, and caramel apples on sticks which made a lovely display on the fall table-clothed, candlelit table. A sign was displayed next to the table that read: "Please help yourself."

After encouraging my son to not be a pig and grab all that was in sight, we proceeded to turn around and descend the front porch stairway. Upon arriving I had noticed on the trek up the stairway that there was an old, battered, rather largely-stuffed scarecrow propped into a chair at the foot of the steps. I hadn't paid much attention to it on the way up the steps, nor on the way down.

As my son and I proceeded to meander our way through the dark-shadowy, dreary lawn, we were suddenly pounced upon by the largely-stuffed scarecrow. He jumped out of his seat, and screamed, "Bwaaaah, ooh, I'm coming to get you." Bryce and I grabbed each other and starting screaming. Then we jumped up and down, and we screamed some more!

Finally, we realized that it was the owner of the home. He had sat patiently in the chair, playing the part of old Mr. Scarecrow, waiting for the perfect moment to really scare the daylights out of us. Well, he did! We laughed about this for years and years. I know he had been listening to all that Bryce and I had been saying on the way to the door, because he commented, "It really does look like an authentic haunted house, doesn't it?" Ooops! I hope I didn't say anything inappropriate before realizing he was there. For the life of me, I can't remember anything else that we might have said while going up those porch steps, but it did make me a bit paranoid for awhile.

Another Halloween many years before the haunted house episode when I was younger, vainer, and very much into being a 'girl,' I was destined to wear the same costume for something like 10 years. Well, maybe it wasn't 10 whole years, but it sure felt like it. We lived in the country (I'm talking about backwoods here) when I was a kid. Our nearest neighbor was over a mile away, and that was by route of 'where the crow flies.' In my childhood pea-brain the distance to our next neighbor by traveling roads was 'really far away.'

So, my mom always came home from work, plied us with soup from a can (to keep our little bones warm, because it's always cold on Halloween night in the great white north), and we donned our costumes, which usually was a mask, and a winter coat and gloves. The easiest thing and the warmest alternative for me through the years was to wear this silly Martian mask. That's it! Well, that's almost it. I had to wear my winter coat, gloves, and a few years it was so cold, I remember wearing my snow pants. I tell ya, I was deprived (just kidding, not really deprived, but I was envious). I was envious of all the little girls who wore Cinderella or Snow White costumes. But I always had to wear the Mr. Martian mask!

One year, my 'really far away' neighbor (who also was a great seamstress) told my mom that she would sew me a Little Bo Peep costume. It was awesome, cute, girly-girl, and perfect!!! I anxiously awaited for her to finish the full hoop skirt with beautifully embroidered bodice. It fit perfectly! I was feeling quite proud of my Little Bo Peep costume! I remember my mom getting me a big ribbon for my hair. I remember the shepherd's crook that my mother found for me to prod my little Peep home.

This particular year my father was in the hospital, so my mom had made special arrangements with our other 'really far away' neighbor to take my two brothers and I along with her group of Halloweeners. Her group of Halloweeners (I'm not even sure if that's a real word) was huge by my standards. There were her four children, my brothers, and I, and a few other kids from church. This neighbor decided to take us all to the small, tiny village that was nearby. It was almost the size of a city in my mind, but as a grown up, I realize it had all of 30 residents.

We went through the tiny village in our large group, knocking on doors, screaming, "Trick or Treat", and opening our bags at the door to receive our goodies. I was one of the smallest children, along with my younger brother, Johnnie. I was always a doting mother hen to my little brother, Johnnie, and this particular Halloween night was no different. Because we were so tiny, we kept getting pushed to the back of the large group of kids when we arrived at a welcoming home. We were at the back of the line once again at an elderly lady's house, and of course, she noticed my cute little costume and was admiring it.

I pirouetted and pranced around on her front porch for quite some time showing off how my full hoop skirt swayed while I moved. Oh, I was eating up all the attention that this old lady had shown me. After receiving my candy, I started down the steps to the roadway. I came to a complete halt. No one and I mean, NO ONE of my group was anywhere to be seen. I looked up and down the street. I looked over at the little village store, and passing cars. No one I knew! I sat down on that little old lady's porch and cried. And what about Johnnie? He was nowhere to be seen either.

The kind, sweet, rickety, old lady sat down on the porch with me, and said, "There, there, what's your name?" I told her, and of course, since we lived in such a little, tiny backwoods, she knew my parents. She took me into her house, called my mother (who happened to be just arriving home from visiting my dad in the hospital), and mom came to pick me up.

What did I learn from that whole experience? Well, mostly I learned to never like Halloween, but I also learned that my vanity put me into a beautiful, gorgeous Halloween costume that all of about 3 people got to see, because my mother promptly came and got me, and off to bed I went!

The following year, I had outgrown the Little Bo Peep costume. I was back to being Mr. Martian!

Clueless and Blogless!

2009-10-06T16:55:00.002-04:00

It's been a long time since I've posted anything new! I am just clueless as to what to blog about. Maybe someone can give me some suggestions!?!

Anyway, another Monday Night Football game. No, not the one on television, but the one in Buffalo.

Hubby and I drove to Buffalo to watch the boy play.

They won! The score was 21 - 13. Go Bengals!

I took lots of pics!

Here's one right before the team took the field. The boy is #17!!!

Here's another one after taking the field, but right before the kickoff!

During the game, the boy did very well....Here's a picture of him jumping really, really high. I'm not sure if he tapped that ball or not! If he didn't, it was close!

Then, he almost had an interceptions. By the way, the opponent didn't complete the pass.

Since the boy only plays defense (which is odd, because he didn't play a lot of defense in high school) when the offense is on the field, he's doing this.

Then, here's after the game.

Yes, Amy, I did the 'good mother' thing and fixed dinner for his entire suite, all six of them, with paper plates and plastic silverware included. He couldn't wait to get up to his room with THAT package.

It was great to see him, and even better to see his team win!

Game Day!

2009-09-23T22:53:00.005-04:00

Monday evening my hubby and I drove almost 2 1/2 hours to go watch my son play in a college football game.

How does the team travel, you ask?

I know, it's not the greatest of pictures, but it was the best one I got. That smoke is the exhaust that was coming out of the back end of that monster. Yeah, a lot of smoke!

So as I was about to faint from the diesel fumes, I decided to walk around to the side of the bus and got a picture of where they put all the football gear.

A lot of smelly, dirty football gear could fit down there. As you might be able to tell there wasn't too much in there when I snapped the picture, but there was all the team gear and the individual gear of about 40 - 50 boys in the storage area. Not all of the boys had come out of the locker room yet, so that was only part of the team's gear.

Wanna see what a smelly, Mohawk-cut, football player looks like coming off the field at the end of the game?

No, that's not hubby and I! That's friends of ours from our little Po'dunkville who have a son who played on the opposing team.

See those football pants?

That's medical tape wrapped around the knees. They were too big and baggy to stay up, so the boy just taped them up in place. Comical!

Hubby said, "Bryce, tell your coach I pay way too much money for you to attend Buff State and be given those raggy pants." Of course, we all laughed!

Anyway, the boy played the entire game. He played well, but they lost.

Right as he was getting ready to jump on the bus back to Buffalo, I gave him a bagged lunch. He hugged me and said, "Mom, you always think of everything. I'm starved!"

I guess he had to fight off all his teammates as they were starved, but he was a rather selfish boy, and didn't share!

My Life In a Nutshell

2009-09-23T17:07:00.002-04:00

Oh, I know, I haven't blogged in a long time. Busy! That's my life in a nutshell.

We took my son back to college in August and I've been going non-stop ever since.

What have I been doing, you might ask?

Well, I've cleaned out a few closets. I've started on setting up a new office space for myself. I've been knitting on a project for longer than I'd like to. But all in all, I like being busy, so please don't think I'm complaining.

I just wanted to make a short post to let you all know that I haven't forgotten that I have a blog.

I Wanted a Picture!

2009-09-13T23:24:00.001-04:00

The boy came home on Friday afternoon and we just returned him back to college this evening.

Can I say I miss him very much???

Okay, I miss him very much!

Hubby and I were going to go get him at college after work on Friday evening. I totally dislike driving to Buffalo after a day of work, but oh, well, I wanted to see my boy!

Ten minutes after I walked in the door on Friday after a rough and tough week at the elementary school (and a full week it was as it was the first week of having the kiddos back in the building), I got a phone call.

It was a great phone call. I had just put on a pot of coffee and figured that DH and I would share that pot of coffee before making the 4 hour round trip. But, alas, the phone rang and it was the boy saying, "You don't need to come pick me up."

What? Am I dreaming?

Apparently, the boy's best friend, J, drove to Buffalo and was at the dorm to bring him home as we were speaking.

When they got home, I had J's favorite meal prepared. I figured he really earned it. But before the boys got into the house, I got staring at my son's hair and thinking, "What did he do? His hair looks different!"

He spoke up and said, "How do you like my Mohawk?"

I almost fell down in the driveway (I was in the driveway, because I always run out and kiss and hug and kiss and hug him, until he says, "Aw, mom!").

This is the boy that when the entire high school basketball team got a Mohawk, he wouldn't. This is the boy that when almost all the boys in his class got Mohawks just a few weeks shy of graduation, he wouldn't.

Well, I really got a good laugh, because DS keeps his hair so extremely short (think buzz cut) that there was a hardly discernible tuff of hair on the tippy top of his head.

I really wanted a picture, but every time I got the camera out this weekend, he ran, he ducked, he covered the lens.

I wanted a picture, but instead I got pictures of the walls of my living room, the clear blue sky, and the palm of his hand.

I really wanted that picture!

Twelve Extraordinary Women: Lydia

2009-09-05T12:01:00.002-04:00

My life has been busy, and although I read in my Bible every day, I have to admit that getting to this chapter on Lydia has not been a priority for me. After reading through the chapter and writing my post, I have to admit that I'm sorry that I haven't done it earlier. It is a rich chapter with a lot of detail as McArthur gets quite involved in a lot of different features surrounding the extraordinary woman of Lydia in this chapter.


Here is Ehart's post regarding this chapter of the Twelve Extraordinary Women book.

Lydia was a "first" in a couple aspects regarding Paul's missionary work. She was the first convert for the gospel in Europe. She was also the first to respond to Paul's message of Christ during Paul's first missionary journey into Europe.


Although Lydia resided in Europe, she was not European. Lydia's name was the same name of a large Asian province. This province was most likely the region of her birth.

The capital city of Lydia was Sardis. Long before Paul's day, back in the sixth century B.C., the region of Lydia was ruled over by Croesus. Croesus' name was often associated with wealth. Ironically, Croesus was defeated by Cyrus, who utilized the wealth he had usurped from Croesus to conquer most of the known world at that time. Cyrus, king of Persia, was the instrument who God used to release Israel from their bondage and returned His people back to the land to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

Isn't it amazing how characters from the Old Testament weave themselves into the fabric of the New Testament?

While studying different regions from Biblical times, I often use this wonderful resource: http://biblos.com/. The "Atlas" and "Places" icons can link you to hours of viewing concerning historical facts regarding Biblical regions.

This site also has a feature that is helpful for any person studying the Bible in depth. By searching for a particular verse in the Bible (they have many versions of the Bible available for your usage), you can click on the actual verse; and arrive at the Biblical location by simply clicking the maps on the sidebar.

But now, back to Lydia.

Acts 16:14 tells us that Lydia's hometown was Thyratia. Thyratia was one of the seven churches referred to in Revelation (Rev. 2:18-29).

Thyratia was located in Asia Minor, where Paul, Silas, and Timothy "were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word" just previously mentioned in Acts 16:6.

At this point we read in the Scriptures about a woman who was from the very region that the Holy Spirit had forbidden the missionary party access, but it depicts her coming to the Lord and accepting Him into her heart. This is a great example of how God sovereingnly works through His servants by shutting a door in one respect, but opening another. The workings and motives behind the Holy Spirit's work is often hidden from man's view. But as my good friend, Ella, so correctly says, "God is faithful."

The missionary group of Silas, Timothy, Paul, and Luke (as he had just previously joined them on their journey) arrived in Phillippi, but waited for the Sabbath day before they went out and about to share the gospel.

Typically, Paul would arrive at a new location and visit the local synagogue. Phillippi was a Gentile town and a synagogue had not yet been established. Instead, Paul and his group went to the riverside where the women were known to gather for prayer.

The men meet Lydia among the women prayer gathering. Lydia was "a seller of purple." Lydia's hometown of Thyratia has been uncovered by archeologists who have discovered that Thyatira had a thriving guild of dyers of cloth. The purple dye was associated with royalty, and was an expensive commodity in the ancient world.


We can assume that Lydia was a wealthy woman by means of her occupation, but also by reading in verse 5 that she maintained a house in Phillipi. Obviously, Lydia maintained a house in the city for the purposes of her business. We can also note that this particular house was large enough to accommodate the four men, in addition to herself and any servants that she employed to maintain the house while she pursued her career.


Acts 16:14 states that Lydia "worshiped God." So one may wonder how Lydia could be considered a convert? Apparently, Lydia knew that there was one true God, but she had not yet converted to Judaism.


Remember Cornelius, the centurion from the Italian Regiment? (Acts 11). He was "a devout man and one who feared God with all his household." Yet Cornelius after hearing Peter preach the gospel "the Holy Spirit fell upon all those (Cornelius and his household) who heard the word." Following that Cornelius and his household were baptized in water as a symbol of proclaiming their new-found faith.

Luke tells us in Acts 16:14 that Lydia "heard us." She opened her ears, and through that the Holy Spirit drew her heart towards accepting the gospel message.


Lydia was truly an extraordinary woman. Her exceptional quality was exemplified by the works of God through His grace in bringing her to the truth.

Opportunities

2009-08-31T21:48:00.008-04:00

My son had become a bit discouraged when he was 3 1/2 days 'benched' during Football camp this year, basically due to a clerical error by the college. They forgot to get 'written' permission from the doctor for him to practice due to his newly acquired heart murmur.

Anyway, we're all really grateful that he's healthy, strong and able to play this year.

One of my son's goals this year was to make the varsity team. My boy is a kid who could play on the JV team and play a lot, but nope, he wants in on the varsity team as a sophomore.

During the 3 1/2 days that Bryce was donning his yellow jersey (benched), the coaching staff looked at all the eligible and practicing players for the position of Free Safety. Now the boy had his eye on that position of Free Safety, but unfortunately he was benched, so he was overlooked.

He was a bit discouraged and said, "Well, it might take me a few more weeks into the season to make the varsity bus and actually make the varsity team."

I told him that considering what had happened that was to be expected.

He told me that he just wished in practice he was given more opportunities to prove himself. He said if coach didn't pick him for the varsity roster, but he had been given opportunities, then he'd know he had more work to do. But unfortunately, he wasn't given many opportunities, so he didn't really know where he stood in his chances of moving up.

Today his opportunity arose!

Bryce told me that a couple of players had been benched for drinking. A few more had been benched for attending a party off campus (during Football Camp they are not allowed off campus at all).

During team meetings there are tables for Defensive Backs (where only Defensive Backs are allowed to sit), a table for the Free Safeties, a table for Quarterbacks, etc.

So, while they were having a team meeting, the coach looked at the 2nd string Free Safety on Varsity and said, "You're not paying attention to me."

Bryce said the kid rolled his eyes and gave Coach some gruff. Coach said, "Out, you're out!"

Mr. Talk Back to Coach vacated the chair.

Coach then said, "Now, I need a Free Safety to come sit at this table with the others."

Bryce said he didn't wait for coach to appoint someone to come sit there......instead Bryce dived head first over the table and landed in the chair. He said everyone laughed and expected coach to tell him to get out of the chair.

But, nope, Bryce said by the time he had gotten himself sitting upright in the chair, and was able to see coach's reaction, he realized that coach had just continued on with his discussion.

I asked him if Coach was going to let him stay at 2nd string Free Safety on the Varsity. Bryce said the official roster was written up and there was his name as big as life as 2nd string Free Safety.

Then the boy laughed and said, "Well, I got my opportunity!"

New England Clam Chowder!

2009-08-28T17:01:00.003-04:00

One of my all time favorite internet friends has asked for help!

GrammyGoo has asked for a New England Clam Chowder recipe that has been tried, tested and passed the test.

Well, GG, my dear MIL, may she rest in peace, once asked DH and I to make Clam Chowder for a family picnic. We followed this recipe and MIL made it every single family get-together thereafter. It's especially easy too!

It's delicious if you make it and then let it sit in a crock pot all day.

New England Clam Chowder

1 medium onion, choppped (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup cut-up bacon or lean salt pork (we always used bacon)
2 cans (8 ounces) minced clams, drained (reserve liquid)
1 cup finely chopped potato
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
2 cups milk

Notations (we also added a slight bit of celery with the onion as it was cooking with the bacon)

Cook and stir onion and bacon in 2-quart saucepan until onion is tender and bacon is crisp. Ad enough water, if necessary, to reserved clam liquid to measure 1 cup. Stir clams, liquid, potato, salt and pepper into onion mixture. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until potato is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in milk; heat through, stirring occasionally. (6 servings)

This is a light, wholesome, yet creamy soup! Not too heavy!

Now, Grammy, we used to have over 50 people (with 10 children, just immediate family was 50 people) at the family get-togethers, so we quadrupled this recipe! Yummmy!

Enjoy!

He's Back in the Saddle Again!

2009-08-21T15:55:00.011-04:00

My son called this morning.

He went to the Health Center at the college and haunted them until they got the echo-cardiogram results! In fact, I think the receptionist was so tired of seeing his sorry face, that Bryce said she called the cardiologist twice while he was waiting!

Then, finally, he got the written papers to play!

I want to thank everyone for their prayers!

When he called, he sounded so cute! He was running to the football field on the other side of campus and talking a mile a minute!

I know when he arrived at the field, because I had just said, "Go get 'em, Bryce. Be a bear out there today."

And he laughed and said, "Awwww, Mom, I will and I love you!"

Melted my heart, it did!

Homemade Bread Recipe!

2009-08-19T20:36:00.003-04:00

I bake bread every Saturday morning (well, almost every Saturday morning). I bake four golden loaves of whole wheat bread.

The recipe that I use is the one listed below, except I multiply it by 4. I like baking bread once per week for my family.

I have calculated the four loaves of bread to equal 92 cents for all four loaves.

Heavenly Whole Wheat Bread
(makes a 1 pound loaf)

3/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup bread flour *I just use self-rising white flour...works fine!
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons instant potato flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Enjoy!

Pray for My Boy!

2009-08-18T17:49:00.008-04:00

My son arrived on campus for his new year of Football Camp on Friday. All athletes must have a physical for the upcoming sporting season by the campus doctor.

Unfortunately, the doctor heard a slight heart murmur. She told my son that it would be a good idea to have it 'checked out.' We've been down this road before, and the pediatric heart specialist could never 'find' the murmur. Hmmmm!

The physician told the boy that he could practice. He asked! I know, he asked, because he wanted to be absolutely sure that there was no problem with him practicing. After all that's why he had to return 2 weeks before all the other students need to for classes....it's football time.

The doctor told him that it could be as simple as he's in great shape, etc., etc., yadda, yadda! She just wants to be sure. I agree!

Well, apparently it's not football time *yet* for my son. Even though the doctor told him that he could practice, she made the big, huge mistake of not putting it in writing. She 'verbally' told him that he could practice unless a doctor told him that he couldn't.

The doctor set up an appointment for him with a local doctor that is 20 minutes away from campus. Unfortunately, sophomores cannot have vehicles, so my son has no idea how he's supposed to get there with no car and no familiarity with the area that they have made the appointment.

So, after 3 days of strenuous testing and practicing, the football trainer decided to contact the health center at the college and see if there was anything in writing saying that my son could practice. You got it! There was nothing in writing. Hence, he's been benched until they have something in writing. Nothing in writing = no practice!

The doctor will be on campus again on Thursday afternoon. Once they have something from her in writing, he can practice. He begged someone to possibly call the doctor at home, but no, they won't do that!

So, he's been donning a yellow jersey (benched) and will be sitting on the sidelines until at least Thursday. He's so disappointed as he had a position secured so far on the team, and he's so afraid that he might lose it since he can't practice for 2 1/2 - 3 days.

Also, he knows that on late Thursday he may get permission to practice, but Friday is the day that they scheduled the doctor's appointment in Tinbucktoo. So, he knows he'll miss that day of practice also!

I know that he isn't at college to just play football, but football is his passion. Believe me, he's a much better baseball player than he ever was a football player, but football is his passion!!! He also works out and trains 12 months per year...... because well, he loves it!

If you feel inclined, please pray that my son can endure this waiting period, and that he gets a clean bill of health.

Back to School!

2009-08-14T08:11:00.003-04:00

Today is the day!

It's back to college for the boy!

Can I say that I never dreamed I'd be the parent to say, "He needs to go." Well, I've joined the ranks of those that I used to turn my nose up to and think, "I'll never in a million years think that way!"

He's ready to go, and we're ready to take him back! Sigh!

Twelve Extraordinary Women: Mary Magdalene

2009-08-01T23:08:00.003-04:00

My life has been totally hectic and out of control, but I did want to get this post done.

See, my garden is producing faster than my full-time working schedule permits. I have gobs and gobs of waxed beans. I have oodles and oodles of rhubarb. I have green bell peppers coming along. We have had garden fresh salad every night. AND soon we'll be eating fresh tomatoes and I'll be doing a whole lot of sauce for the freezer.

Anyway, ehart has had her post up for awhile, and I'm just catching up to her. Here's her post.

In recent years the publishing of such books as The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown has added fuel to the hype of the supposed character of Mary Magdalene. Although Brown's book is classified as a novel, many have fallen prey to the blasphemous suggestion that Mary Magdalene secretly married Jesus then proceeded to have children.

The ancient cults and some early commentators of the Bible have often confused and stretched the facts surrounding this extraordinary woman from the Scriptures.

MacArthur starts out in this fascinating chapter to dispel the myths that cloud our vision concerning the ever-devoted follower of Jesus, Mary Magdalene.

In fact, MacArthur pointedly reveals that Scripture gives us very little background regarding Mary with the exception being the fact that she was at one point tortured by seven demons. Jesus through His goodness and grace freed Mary Magdalene from the grips of this horrific affliction.

It seems Luke and Mark mention the exorcism purely to celebrate Christ's goodness and grace toward her. Both authors don't offer gruesome details concerning Mary's demon possessed condition. They simply state that Jesus delivered her from seven demons.

Moving on to the role that Mary Magdalene played during Jesus' ministry and crucifixion. At Luke 8:1-3 we get a glimpse of the entourage attached to Jesus during His travels. Mary Magdalene is mentioned among the specifically named followers of Jesus throughout the cities and villages, and "provided for Him from their substance."

We can be sure that the relationship that Jesus had with the women disciples was always appropriate. Jesus' enemies were always searching out any kind of "proof" they could find to discredit Him. Never do the Scriptures reveal that Jesus' adversaries accused Him of any inappropriate behavior concerning His women followers. Therefore, we can be absolutely sure that Jesus and Mary Magdalene's relationship was one reflecting a loving servant supporting and helping her Master in His work.

The Bible never makes mention that Mary Magdalene was married or had children during her discipleship. She may have been a widow or possibly never married. She obviously had no housebound responsibilities as Jesus would have certainly directed her to those obligations had she been neglectful of them. Mary Magdalene along with the other followers had a means that "provided for Him from their substance." (Luke 8:3) This may have been property that she had turned into monetary value which she had received as an inheritance, from either the death of parents or a husband.

Mary Magdalene was present when Jesus was hung to the cross. The Scriptures offer more information regarding Mary Magdalene in the passages after Jesus' death than anywhere else.

Joseph of Arimathea requested from Pilate the body of Christ in order to give Him a proper burial.

Egyptians embalmed the dead, but Jews didn't. They wrapped the body in perfumed burial clothes.

Mark 15:47 tells us how Mary Magdalene; Mary, the mother of Joses, and a few other women watched where Joseph laid the body.

Joseph of Arimathea obtained the body of Christ, and Nicodemus brought the spices.

Mark 16:1 states that Mary Magdalene, Mary (mother of Joses), and Salome bought more spices to anoint the Lord's body. They had seen Joseph and Nicodemus lay Jesus' body to rest. Did they realize that the two Sanhedrins had done a hurried job of the anointing as the Sabbath was fast approaching? Or was it the fact that the two men were Sanhedrin that brought them back to re-anoint Jesus?

Either way, upon coming near the tomb, after the Sabbath, the women wondered how they might remove the stone that had been used to close the tomb. They were unaware that two guards had been placed at the tomb. The guards had been ordered to stand watch over the tomb after the women had left the grave site before the Sabbath. Upon approaching, an earthquake shook the ground all around them.

I find it very interesting that the Chief Priests and Pharisees had gone to Pilate to remind him that while Jesus was alive, He had stated that after three days He would rise again. That's why they had asked that the tomb be guarded and made secure. They didn't want Jesus' disciples to steal His body away in the middle of the night to verify that He had risen. Yet the women were alarmed when they found the tomb empty. They obviously didn't equate the empty tomb with the fact that Jesus had risen! At least not at this particular time

Mary Magdalene ran out of the tomb and came across the path of Peter and John on their way to the burial site. She tells them about the empty tomb, and they both ran to the burial site to confirm her statement.

While the remainder of the women, Peter and John were near the empty tomb; the resurrected Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene was to be the first person to lay eyes on the resurrected Lord. She clung to Him as she had during His lifetime.

She was granted a great honor for all time through the grace bestowed upon her.

Indeed, she was an extraordinary woman!

I'm Still Around!

2009-07-28T14:51:00.003-04:00

I haven't blogged in a very long time.

I guess you could say that I have the blogging blues.

I'm working on a couple of posts for the very near future, but I'm not exactly sure when they'll get posted. Soon, I hope!

A little look-see into my world:

Well, it may be summer and I work for a school district, but I still have to go to work every day. Ugh! I'd love to have a summer off of work. I do get to leave one hour early without a lunch (that's called our 'summer hours') and I'm grateful for that.

The boy's car is in the shop. We think it might be on it's last legs. Not a big, huge upset as he goes off to college in less than 3 weeks. WOW! Where did that summer go?

Summer? I think this has been the first week of summer for the Great White North. We have been having 80 degree days and higher. You laugh? Today is the second 80 degree day since April. Yup! The first over 80 degree day was yesterday!

My hubby calls this summer, 'the summer that wasn't.' I keep saying that the weatherman just forgot to schedule our summer this year.

I have been busy. We have gone to six grad parties this summer. We went to the last one on Saturday. Yipee! My pocket book was screaming pretty fiercely, but now it can have a rest of three weeks 'til the boy goes back to college.

Speaking of which....we got the bill for the boy's tuition, room and board, and all those other hidden fees. It went up a total of $4,000 for the year! Can you hear me screaming? Yeah, that's me screaming! Macaroli!

I'm in the process of making some new curtains for my son's bedroom. LOL! He leaves in 3 weeks, then I finally get around to it! Oh, well, they'll be there when he comes home for semester break in December. They are pretty! He picked out the fabric. Very boyish, you know!

Whew! This post has helped me to start getting over my blogging blues!

'Til next time!!!!

Challenges!

2009-07-10T06:20:00.001-04:00

This is the best 4 minute YouTube I've watched in a very long time!

It makes you ponder, and ask yourself a lot of questions.

Enjoy!

Check Out This Link!

2009-07-07T14:46:00.002-04:00

I have used the Cornell Barbeque Sauce in the past, and it is awesome. I eliminate the salt. It does taste different, but I don't like a lot of salt in my diet, so it works for me.

The link is right here.

If you try it, let me know what you think. It sounds bland, but if you baste it every few minutes while cooking, it is good, good, good!

It also tastes much better over a mesquite fire! My girlfriend's dad has a pit, and it's the best way to use this recipe, but regular old gas or charcoal is decent.

Happy Independence Day!

2009-07-04T11:07:00.001-04:00

Twelve Extraordinary Women: Martha and Mary

2009-07-04T08:45:00.004-04:00

Ehart has done a very nice piece about Martha and Mary here.

Mary and Martha were two sisters, along with their brother, Lazarus, who lived in Bethany. Reading the Scriptural accounts regarding this family, brings to our attention that Jesus cherished His friendship with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.

In fact, resurrecting Lazarus four days following his death caused Jesus' enemies to become fixated on putting Him to death. Jesus' prior two resurrections were immediately following death, whereas Lazarus was resurrected four whole days after his passing. Lazarus had been dead long enough that his body had started to decompose and a stench of death permeated the tomb. There was no question that Lazarus had indeed died.

Perhaps the previous two resurrections were questioned by the Jews as to whether the victim actually had died, as they occurred immediately following death. Jesus arrived during Lazarus' funeral to raise him back to life. It clearly showed that He was indeed the Savior. His powers displayed that He was who He claimed to be, namely the Son of God.

Martha and Mary, although sisters, worshiped and devoted themselves to Jesus in conflicting manners. Martha, being a hostess by nature, draws a clear picture in Luke 10 as a meticulous servant. Have you ever hosted a gathering where you've wanted everything to be perfect? Have you wanted the guests to leave exclaiming, "What a beautiful meal she presented! What a fabulous hostess!"? Perhaps Martha was looking for praise regarding her honed qualities as a fine hostess.

Mary on the other hand sat at Jesus' feet and hung onto every word He said. Martha asked Jesus in Luke 10, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me."

Martha shows us much about her character in those two short phrases. As women, we often find ourselves worrying and fussing over the details, and the minor to major items that need to be done to make a task complete, such as a dinner gathering. Martha was no different. I'm sure she wanted the Lord's meal to be perfect.

One could actually wonder at this point if Martha was advocating a life of works over faith. Some commentators have actually supported this ideal while examining the two sisters' lives. Martha was exhibiting the desire to 'work' her way into the Lord's heart, whereas as Mary was actually showing her faith by sitting at His feet attentively listening to all that He had to say.

Personally, I don't think that is the case here. It might be a nice reminder to us that faith comes before works, but I don't think that Martha was 'working' for her salvation. To support my theory on this, I have to remember that Jesus knew the hearts of all men (or women, in this particular case). He vehemently rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees throughout His ministry. He knew what was in their hearts. These Jewish leaders were so involved in the law and the following of that law, that they actually couldn't see Jesus fulfilling that law. They couldn't even begin to think of Jesus as their Savior.

Here in Luke 10, Jesus ever so slightly, but lovingly rebuked Martha. Notice that Jesus says, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

But in contrast, Jesus when rebuking the Jewish leaders used expressions such as "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!", "Woe to you, blind guides...", and "Serpents, brood of vipers..."

Jesus knew what was in the heart of the Pharisees. He knew that they had ulterior motives, and they didn't even recognize Him for who He was, the Son of God. But Jesus knew what was in Martha's heart. He knew that she most certainly knew and acknowledged Him as the Messiah. Note her statement in John 12: 27, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."

I think Jesus knew that Martha had a pure heart. She was trying to serve him a wonderful, awesome meal, because she loved Him. It wasn't that she was trying to 'work' her way into the Lord's good graces, she was trying to honor him. Through her service to Him, she hoped that she would be able to express her appreciation and to glorify Him.

Mary, on the other hand, honored Jesus by sitting at His feet with an attitude of worship and meditation. When we see Mary again in Scripture during Lazarus' funeral, we view her sitting among the mourners. We can see that she was most likely not the one that had planned or made arrangements for her brother's funeral.

When Jesus arrived at the funeral, Martha ran out to our Lord to meet Him. Martha is definitely a person of action. Mary, on the other hand, had stayed with the mourners. She was so involved in the funeral and the mourning of her brother that she hadn't realized Jesus had arrived. Hence, again we see the differences between the two sisters.

The last Scriptural encounter we have with Martha and Mary occurs during a sizable dinner party at the home of Simon. Martha was acting as hostess at this particular gathering also. Mary showed her gratitude by anointing Jesus' feet with spinkenard. Already Jesus had enemies that wanted to kill Him, mostly spurred on by His resurrection of Lazarus. Upon seeing Mary anointing Jesus' feet with the expensive oil, Judas Iscariot made the final decision to betray our Lord.

Once again Martha is the servant, planning and arranging the dinner. Once again Martha is sitting at our Lord's feet, and worshiping Him by anointing Him for His upcoming crucifixion. One large difference in this particular situation is that Martha is not noted for asking the Lord to take notice of Mary's non-participation of the party details. I'm sure that Martha more cheerfully fulfilled her duties for this particular dinner as she was serving the Lord in her own fashion, not expecting Mary to serve in the same capacity.

These two women are fine examples of how we can worship Jesus in different capacities. Not every one is meant to serve, not everyone is meant to do the anointing, but it all glorifies the Lord.

I Love a Good Deal!

2009-07-01T21:36:00.001-04:00

I love it when my 19 year old son comes up to me with a rather sheepish look and says, "Mom, can I ask a favor?"

That's exactly what he did last night!

Guess who's doing my laundry for a whole week!

You didn't think I'd do a favor for him for nothing, did you?

I laughed so hard this evening, when he ran home from work, gobbled his dinner, said he had to call his friend, J, to go fishing.

I heard on this end of the phone conversation, "I'll come get you in about 10 minutes, as soon as I'm done throwing in a load of laundry!"

Can you tell that I'm loving this?!!

Something New!

2009-06-27T15:45:00.003-04:00

Something new that I found, and I installed it, was the Google Analytics Feature.

Why? I don't know.

But you might want to check it out here.

It's a super great feature that you can paste into your HTML. It tracks how many visits you have had to your blog. It tracks how many people have you on their RSS Feeds. It tell you how long someone stayed at your site, and when they left your blog (site) and the method they used to leave.

Hmm, I can hardly wait to see how it all works. Of course, it doesn't tell me who you ALL are, so you don't need to worry that I'm trying to figure out who reads my blog or where you are from. It's more of an overview of the statistics of my blog.

I love it! Oh, and it absolutely free to install.

"A Random Survey for the Bored"

2009-06-22T19:23:00.005-04:00

I saw this over at Angelique's Blog and thought I'd share:

What is on your desktop wallpaper?
A picture of my son with his sweaty arm around me after his first college football game. He calls the pictures 'his silly freshman pictures' because ONLY freshmen were getting their pics taken by their parents that day. (Too bad, son, you only play in your first college football game ONCE!)

What is your favorite zoo animal?
Hippos!

What was your favorite toy as a child?
Twirly Girl Dancing Doll
You put your feet into the elastic loops on her feet and she danced with you. I got one way back in the 1960's. WOW! I'm old!

What food do you eat too much of?
Chocolate!

What kind of hairstyle do you have?
A rather lengthy bob, with a few layers built in!

What was your favorite activity in gym class?
Basketball!

What is on the shirt you are wearing right now?
I'm wearing a 'bulls-eye' type tie-dyed t-shirt that I wore to work for Play Day. It's a dark green and white.

What is the picture nearest to you of?
A picture that hubby painted when he was a teenager of his parents' house and barn. It's actually quite good. It hung in his parents house for years, but since they've both passed on, hubby wanted it back. It now sits near our computer desk.

What kind of salad dressing do you like?
Ranch.

Whats your least favorite food?
Beets!

What do you do on a Sunday night?
Get everything ready for the next day, Monday, as I have to go back to work. By everything, I mean, make my lunch, lay out my clothes. I know, Sunday is the only night of the week that I consistently do this. Monday mornings are a little tough on me!

If you could only use one condiment on your food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Mayonnaise.

What color are your sheets?
Green plaid.

How big is your computer display?
Okay, I had to measure! It's 17 inches on the diagonal.

What pair of shoes do you wear most often?
While I'm home, most definitely, my Minnetonka slippers that DS and DH gave me a few years back. They are stretched out, worn out, and I just am not giving them up no matter what! At least not until they give me another pair (hint, hint!)

What is your favorite game?
Burger Shop on games.com. I'm totally addicted!

What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?
Oooh, I like it all, but probably the oyster stew that mom makes is my all time fave!

What is your favorite pizza topping?
Cheese! Cheese! and more Cheese!

What time do you plan on waking up tomorrow?
I plan on waking at 6:00 a.m., but sometimes I wake up at 5:30 before the alarm goes off.

What is your favorite day of the year?
Today! June 22nd. My anniversary! (It has been my favorite day for 24 years now!)

The Wave!

2009-06-19T21:57:00.005-04:00

The elementary school which I work at has a wonderfully rich tradition that takes place the very last minute of the very last school day of the school year. Since next Tuesday is the 'Wave Day', I thought I would share!

The Wave is when every single staff member (and I mean every single one of them) gathers around the driveway of the bus circle. We wait until the buses start to pull away, and we wave to all the lovely little darlings that we won't see again until September.

Some years The Wave is full of laughter and joking and joshing and singing. For example, a few years back as the buses were pulling away from the school, the staff members all started singing that wonderul Banarama song "Na, na, na, na, hey, hey, goodbye." Remember that song! It stuck in my head for three whole days after the last day of school that year. We were all singing it 'round the clock with huge grins on our faces.

One year, as we were all waving goodbye, and the kids were all looking out the bus windows, and the bus drivers were honking their horns to beat the band; we all noticed that the kids were like dominoes dropping down into their seats and crying. Aaaah, that must have been a good year! None of them wanted to leave for the summer. I can tell ya, that year we didn't sing the Banarama song. We all went back into the building (because we still had another 1/2 day to work) and we were clearing our throats and wiping the tears from our eyes.

Last year, Kathy (my co-worker) started a chant of "Give me an S." Of course, we all echoed, "S." Then it was, "Give me a U, Give me an M, Give me another M, give me an E, give me an R. What's it spell? SUMMER!" Of course, you may think that it's odd for a grown woman to lead the superintendent, the principal, the teachers, and the rest of the elementary school staff in a cheer of "Summer, " but you must understand that Kathy is a retired cheerleading coach. I guess it just comes natural to her.

I eagerly await Tuesday. It's been a long, hard year. I can only wonder what this year will bring when we all line up to do The Wave!

Twelve Extraordinary Women: The Samaritan Woman

2009-06-15T06:04:00.005-04:00

Here's ehart's post on The Samaritan Woman.

John's main theme throughout his entire gospel was that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God.

In verses 25 and 26 of chapter 4, Jesus reveals not only His love and compassion towards people of any status, but He explicitly stated to this particular woman, who was a social outcast, that He was indeed the Messiah.

John 4:4 states that Jesus "needed to go through Samaria." Perhaps John was hinting at Jesus' spiritual necessity in meeting the Samaritan woman.

Samaria was the name give to the capital of the northern kingdom when the nation of Israel split. Therefore, the Samaritans were a people that resulted from the descendants of the few remaining Israelites after the Assyrians took control of the northern kingdom and the pagan Assyrians. The Samaritans built their culture around a religion that blended bits and pieces of Judaism and paganism. The apostate northern kingdom with their false priesthood, blended with the pagan rituals, made Samaritans very far from the true worship of God. The Jews had an intense dislike for anything Samaritan.

The Samaritans woman openly admitted to Jesus that she had no husband. Jesus promptly pointed out (John 4:17, 18) "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had 5 husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband."

The woman started to sense that Jesus was a prophet. Later, she was to declare, "He told me all that I ever did."

At the very moment that Jesus reveals to the woman at the well His messiahship, the apostles return from their trip to fetch food. Had they arrived earlier during the conversation, the woman would not have been fully informed as to Jesus' identity. Had they arrived later, they would not have heard His declaration. Jesus' divine control is clearly shown in this situation.

Many Samaritans came to see Jesus upon hearing the woman's report. Here was a woman drawing water at Jacob's well at a time when no one else was likely to appear. This clearly shows the status of this woman as being less than desirable. Yet as soon as Jesus reveals Himself as the Messiah, she immediately left the well to tell the townspeople, who she previously had been avoiding, of her experience.

Through divine grace this one lowly Samaritan woman not only became a believer of Christ, but literally led others to Him.

What a fine tribute to Almighty God!

My Son the Fisherman!

2009-06-10T18:21:00.005-04:00

Arising from my slumber this morning, I decided to take my domestic calling very seriously; and I went to the freezer to retrieve something, anything to thaw for dinner.

Upon opening the freezer door, I thought, "Hmmm, who put the orange Kinney's bag in the freezer?"

Yawn!

I opened the bag to discover this....this staring out at me!

YIKES!

So, upon seeing my son later today, I asked what might that be!

"Well, J and I went fishing. We got back late...after 11:00. You and dad were sleeping. We hadn't cleaned this beautiful fish! So, we popped it in the freezer."

Mr. Fish is now cuddled within his orange Kinney bag nestled in my kitchen sink. Defrosting! So the boy can gut and clean him later!

Joy!

School's NOT Out Yet!

2009-06-10T06:11:00.003-04:00

Can you believe it?

I've always known that our lovely state is the ONLY one that attends school during the month of June, but really! I'm starting to feel it this year. We will be attending school this particular year until June 23rd!

Whoa Nelly! I know! I know! Isn't that late?

Right now most of the kids have mentally checked out. The office (where I work) has a revolving door for the misbehaved. We have 5 little designated areas where we can 'hold' the bad behaviors. Recently, we've been finding that the 5 little designated areas aren't enough. We need an overflow room!

I think some of the teachers are ready to check out too. Students have been sent to the office for tiny infractions, but I assume the teachers are starting to feel the weariness of the school year, most especially when the temps are starting to get up near the 80's. The rooms feel like stuffy, little cubicles.

I remember while growing up and being in school during the month of June! It felt like you were breathing everyone else's air! Ugh! That's what this week has felt like!

Recently in the office, we've attended to a habitual screamer, a dirty talker, a toilet plugger, and two boys who are friends that were throwing food in the cafeteria at each other. Every single one of those students was a boy! Imagine that!

We have a boy who has a broken ankle. We have another boy who has a broken femur. Yikes! Boys and springtime/summertime! Now, I'm not bashing boys, I have one myself, thank you very much! They are just.....well.....more active, more troublesome, in some respects.

I really shouldn't complain! No, we could be dealing with drugs, knives, beatings, or other such things.

But all in all, June 23rd can't come quick enough. My solution would be to X out the whole month of June on the school calendar, but I guess the state doesn't see it that way! So, we have 10 days left and I'm most certainly counting!

Cold Remedies!

2009-06-04T16:07:00.004-04:00

Last Friday I came down with the flu. It started with a sore throat, overall achy joints and muscles...then the fever started.

I laid in bed all weekend. I went to work on Monday. By the time I arrived home from work that afternoon, I felt as if I could have slept a whole week straight.

By Tuesday my nose was so plugged that I could only breath through my mouth. The chills had returned and every joint and muscle in my body felt like they'd been stretched beyond their limit. I couldn't smell anything and my taste buds had gone on strike. Have you ever tried to eat when you have no sense of taste? Why bother eating if you can't taste it?

Typically, I"m a big fan of Vick's Vaporub and chicken noodle soup. DH and DS are more into the Nyquil/Dayquil combo for flu/cold symptoms. Call me old-fashioned, but I'll take Vick's over Nyquil any day.

But recently my husband purchased a product called Unkers Cream.

He found it at the local Mennonite market. It claims to cure and ease all your woes, such as colds, coughs, achy joints, achy muscles, rashes, dried and scaly feet, and on and on. Since the makers of the product seem to think it can cure anything and everything, I jokingly called it "snake oil." Remember those old, traveling salesmen of the 1800's that carried a tonic or cream that could cure anything that ails ya? Well, no, I can't remember them either, I'm not THAT old! But anyway, that's what I figured this cream was: a claim (only) of curing anything under the sun and then some.

Unkers cream smells worse than Vick's; it smells worse than Ben Gay; and it smells worse than my son's old, moldy gym socks. But, hey, I didn't have any sense of smell, so what could it hurt? Right?

I slathered a huge dollop onto my upper chest and neck area. I hadn't fully rubbed it in, when suddenly my nose became a faucet and a box of tissues later, I could breath. I could take deep down from the bottom of my diaphragm breaths! Ahhh! But then I could smell that horrible "snake oil." Let me just say, EEEWWWWW!!!

Oh well....one must sacrifice a bit of comfort when one is sick! Right?

As I sit here quietly savoring my chicken noodle soup, I'm wondering where my family had taken flight to the last few days? Hmmmm, I also wonder why no one stopped by my desk at work today to say hello? No one!

Twelve Extraordinary Women: Anna

2009-06-03T06:28:00.005-04:00

Click here for ehart's post.

The character of Anna is revealed in only a few short verses at Luke 2:36-38. They read as follows:

"Now there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem."

In those three short verses, a number of details can be considered. First of all, Anna is called a prophetess, of the tribe of Asher. MacArthur goes into great depth to point out just what Anna's role as a prophetess was. He suggests that she didn't predict the future, which we often think of when we think of a prophet. Rather he suggests that Anna was called a prophetess in regard to the fact that she spoke the word of God.

When you consider Anna's background, it is extraordinary that she did so. Anna was "the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher." The tribe of Asher was a part of the northern kingdom of Israel after the kingdom split. If you've read OT history, you know that Jerusalem was located within the boundaries of the southern kingdom of Judah. Judah had very few good kings, but Israel had none! All the kings of Israel had ignored the 'way of the Lord.' The northern kingdom also not having access to Jerusalem, the Holy City, built new alters and made sacrifices upon those alters. The northern kingdom established an alternative priesthood. In essence, MacArthur dubs them as the 'apostate northern Kingdom.'

Apparently, Anna's ancestors were among the small remnant of exiles who returned from captivity. She was a fine example of God's faithfulness during a time when the Scriptures were silent for 4 centuries, up until Jesus' birth. She was a part of the minuscule believing remnant that came from the northern kingdom.

Anna was a widow, which in those times usually meant a life of hardship. Yet she "did not depart from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers night and day." This verse expresses Anna's faithfulness and devotion to the Lord.

God has given us a glimpse at the woman that He chose to lay eyes upon the living Messiah. She was a descendant of the apostate northern kingdom with all their pagan rituals. She was most likely poor financially, having been so for many years, since she was a widow for decades. But by the grace of God, He placed her at the temple exactly at the moment when Simeon was declaring Jesus as Savior.

What an awesome God!

The verse continues, "She gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem." Anna lived out the remainder of her life continuing to fast and pray; and she enthusiastically shared her hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anna was truly an extraordinary woman!

Swiffer Wet Jet Solution (pun intended)

2009-05-28T15:58:00.004-04:00

I belong to a private message board. One of the members just had a baby, and she has limited mobility and time. She currently doesn't like to do the normal 'hands and knees' routine with her kitchen floor, because she has recently had a baby. She had a c-section, and her son is very little which means he needs her most of the day.

She posted that she kind of, sort of likes the idea of a Swiffer Wet Jet, but she isn't crazy about a few things. One of the issues she has with the Wet Jet is that the fluid is very expensive. The pads are very expensive and not re-usable.

I posted that I have a Swiffer Wet Jet and found I had the same issues as she did, but I had a few solutions. She liked my ideas, so I thought I would share them with you all.

I make my own solution and just add it to one of the old bottles. I had a problem disengaging the bottle from the mop unit without destroying it, so I poked a hole in the top and refilled it. The solution that I use is made as follows:

Squirt a small squirt of dish soap into the bottle, then fill almost to the top with warm water. Add a glug or two of ammonia (approximately 2 tablespoons). Cover the hole and shake well. This solution only costs me a fraction of a penny and it works really well.

Secondly, I don't buy the expensive pads that attach to the mop unit. I use a very heavy, old rag. I rubber band it on both ends to the mop head. I re-use the heavy, old rag as it is my favorite Wet Jet rag. Of course, I launder between uses.

Voila! A frugal solution to the expensive alternative.

I don't always use the Swiffer Wet Jet. I, too, am a 'hands and knee' kind of gal. But I do find that this works wonderful for those moments when you need a quick floor clean up.

Pigpen 101

2009-05-24T21:44:00.006-04:00

I'm starting to believe that one mandatory class for college freshmen must be Pigpen 101.

My son was not a messy kid before he went to college. He was, well, just average to slightly below average in the 'clean' department.

Before college, he actually used to put his clothes in the dirty clothes basket without missing.

After one year of college, he just throws his clothes on the floor of his bedroom.

Before college, he never used to track through the house with his shoes on; he used to take his shoes off before entering the house.

After one year of college, he not only doesn't take his shoes off, but he goes hunting, walks through a mountain of mud, THEN walks through my house.

Before college, he never used to spill coffee while walking across the room with a full cup.

After one year of college, if I come home and I'm not too sure where he is....I follow the spilled coffee trail (or even the mud trail). Yup, it leads right to him.

Before college, he used to keep his car immaculate.

After one year of college, I ask him where such and such is. His reply is, 'Oh, I left it in my car.' Recently, so many things have been 'left in the car,' I wonder if there's any room left in his car for him to sit and drive OR take friends along?!?

Before college, he never lost or mislaid things around the house.

After one year of college, I think if his head wasn't attached he'd lose that.

I told him the other day that I thought he must have gotten an A+ in Pigpen 101! He replied, "Don't worry, Mom, when you're a senior, they have a class called, Felix Unger(ness) 101!"

Blog Award!

2009-05-23T06:00:00.002-04:00

The One Lovely Blog Award sure does keep making the rounds! Thank you Mrs. Bee, I appreciate it!

Mrs. Bee has a wonderful blog over here. She takes some of the most awesome pictures. Go check it out!

Twelve Extraordinary Women: Mary

2009-05-22T19:24:00.005-04:00

Here is ehart's wonderful post on Mary.

Anyone, who has read the gospels, is familiar with the mother of Jesus, Mary.

Mary was a young woman of approximately 13 - 15 years old. She lived in a poor district of Galillee, Nazareth.

Imagine by today's measures a 13-year old preparing to wed and start a family. Obviously, in Mary's time, 13-year old girls were of marriageable age, making them more focused upon their life's plan than our modern-age teenagers are.

Picture Mary, preparing for her life's plan of marriage to Joseph, the carpenter, and settling into the role of wife and most likely, mother. I'm sure Mary had a plan for her life. When couples take on the commitment of marriage, whether they are 13, 33, or 103, they have plans for their life together.

In Mary's case, God also had a plan!

I have often wondered, as ehart states in her blog post about Mary:

Where was she when the angel, Gabriel came to her?
What was she doing at that time?
What was she thinking before, during, and after the angel's visit?

I also wonder:

Did she understand fully she was about to become the human instrument God was to utilize in bringing our Savior into the world?
Did she realize she was to play a role in the covenant God had given Abraham, way back there in Genesis?

Whether Mary was fully aware or not of what her capacity was to be in God's plan, one thing is clear: Mary had a strong faith and willingness to do God's will. This is illustrated in her reply to the angel in Luke 1:38, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word."

I'm sure Mary's plans from that point forward may have shifted more to a plan that was directed by God and for God.

But when I think about it, I realize God has a plan for us all. We just need to open our hearts to God, so He can direct us. We need to pray that God may reveal to us His plan, not our own agenda.

Can you imagine the struggle Mary went through learning to submit to her son, Jesus Christ as our Lord? As time goes on, the Scriptures clearly show Mary did learn to submit herself to her Lord and Savior, the son whom she gave birth to.

When Jesus was 12 years old, Joseph and Mary traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. On their return trip home upon discovering the missing Jesus, the parents returned to Jerusalem seeking Him. After three days they found Him in the temple.

Luke 2:48 and 49 reiterates the conversation between Mary and her son, Jesus, after they found Him:

"So when they saw Him, they were amazed, and the mother said to Him, 'Son, why have you done this to us? Look Your father and I have sought You anxiously.' And He said to them, 'Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?' "

At this young age, Jesus, states He was about His father's business, and He wasn't referring to Joseph, his legal father.

This passage illustrates Jesus had a clear understanding of His identity and mission. Although, Luke 2:50 states concerning his parents, "But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them."

Mary "kept all these things in her heart." Undoubtedly, she recalled "these things" throughout Jesus' lifetime here on earth, and obviously, came to understand the meaning of such expressions and sayings of Jesus.

At the crucifixion, we see Mary standing near the cross Jesus was hanging upon. Mary was a firm believer God's will was being fulfilled, and she gave herself to that will. How else could she have stood by and watched her Son die such a painful and humiliating death? What a fine example of her remarkable faith!

Mary was a truly blessed woman, but MacArthur gives scriptural evidence throughout that in no way should we escalate her to a position where we pray to her , or ask her to bless us. She was an extraordinary woman who God had chosen to bless through her and our own Savior, Jesus Christ.

How We Acquired a Cat!

2009-05-21T19:57:00.004-04:00

Okay, I have to admit, I was never crazy about cats! Not really!

When I was a child we had a dog. A little beagle/collie mix. She was sweet, cute and fun to play with.

We brought our dog home with us when I was about 5 years old. She was MINE! Everyone always called Tippy, "Laurie's dog!" She slept on my bed at night (shhh, my mother didn't know that). In fact, I used to put her head right up there on the pillow next to my own head.

Tippy lived a long life of 18 years, before we had opted to have her put to sleep. She had lost control of most of her bodily functions, and she was probably in a lot of pain from just being so old.

Dad said when he was digging her grave out in the back yard (behind the shed), Tippy kept sneaking out of the garage. She kept sniffin' around the hole he was digging and he'd shoo her back into the garage. Then she'd sneak back out again! He said he cried the whole time he was digging her last resting place.

I can remember after my college classes one particular day, while working at the local grocery store, I looked up at the clock. Knowing it was about the time that my dad was taking Tippy to the vet to put her down, I bawled like a baby! She was a part of my life for 18 years after all!

Sniff! Sniff!

Oh, yeah, where was I? That's right, the cat.

Well, the boy wanted a dog so bad when he was growing up. Now, you know my experience was so enjoyable growing up with a dog, you'd think I'd readily agree. No! Not so!

See, we live in town. There's a leash law. We have a small unfenced yard. The dog would have to be walked every single day. I knew my son and well, to be honest, I knew I would end up walking the dog. I was not going to give in to my son about having a dog. I mean, come on, he had a goldfish! Wasn't that enough? (I know I'm bad!)

But one day when the boy was about 13 years old, he had gone hunting down in the southern tier of the state with my hubby. They hunted on property that belonged to my hubby's high school buddy. They had a big, old farm. They had cats running hither and yon. They had barns and the cats loved being in the barns. The owners were happy to have them, because they kept the mouse population to a minimum.

Now the owner of the farm was married to a veterinarian. She usually caught most of the kitty cats at some point and spayed them, but there were a few that escaped her notice. Those are the cats that bred and populated their farm. The mighty mousers, they were!

When my son and hubby went hunting down on the farm, the boy noticed that they had this cute little liter of kitties! Yup! They were beautiful, most especially this one little runt of the liter. She was a beautiful, little calico cat.

The boy came home all excited and asked me if he could bring that pretty, little calico cat home next time they went to the farm. I told him that I'd rather he didn't. I knew it would become my cat to feed, clean the liter box, etc.

Long story short, the next time they went to the farm, hubby came into the house and said, "Please don't be mad at us! She's just too cute! We had to have her!"

Ugh! A kitten! They brought home that kitten!

They opened the box that they had put her in for the trip home.

Two beautiful, clear, green eyes peeped out between two pure white paws and were peering at me over the edge of the box as if to say, "Ain't I cute?"

I fell in love with her! She instantly became MINE! (although I do share her with my son, because he's crazy about her).

Her name is Calico and to me, she's beautiful!

Yes, I Have a Cat!

2009-05-21T06:00:00.000-04:00

Ain't she cute?

Blog Award!

2009-05-20T16:04:00.011-04:00

Karyn over at The Teakettle Corner has been kind enough to offer me "One Lovely Blog Award."

Thank you, Ma Teakettle! If you haven't visited her lovely blog, please go check it out! I love reading about the adventures of Ma and Pa Teakettle AND the brothers!

I have decided to pass the award on to a few of my favorite blogs. Enjoy your "One Lovely Blog Award." You may just simply enjoy it all to yourself, or you may pass it on to one of your favorite blogging buddies.

Hart's Heart

Lirazel

Domestically Inclined

Plain Ol' Food

Vintage Chicken

Enjoy! These blogs are some of my most favorites!

Transitioning!

2009-05-15T06:44:00.004-04:00

My son has been home exactly one whole day. Things are so different around the house!

We're going through a little transitioning period.

The basement floor next to my washer and dryer has my son's entire college wardrobe sitting in baskets and trash bags. Yup, it's the true Mt. Laundry. I don't think I've done that much laundry in total for hubby and I since he went to college in August.

Guess what MY SON is going to be doing this weekend?

I also came home from work to the television set on, but no one sitting in the room to watch.

I also came home and kicked up my feet for a few minutes and the boy came in and said, "What's for dinner?"

I reached into the crevices of my fried brain and replied, "Oh, I thought we'd have some of those perch that you caught and put in the freezer during your winter break."

As I sat contemplating what side dishes I would make to go with the fish (I don't always plan ahead too well), I heard pots, pans, and dishes being banged around in the kitchen. I pulled my tired, aching bones up from the couch, walked to the kitchen to find my son amongst 3 times the amount of cookware that I would be using to make dinner.

He smiled and said, "Mom, go relax, I'll get dinner on the table."

Can you tell why I love that boy so much?

Today is the Day!

2009-05-13T06:00:00.003-04:00

Today we bring my son home from college. I hope he's been packing!

He called me on Mother's Day! Awwwww! and told me he had 3 more tests, a couple of Football meetings, then jiggety jog, he would be ready for us to pick him up.

Hubby and I are taking the day off so we can leave early and get home early. It's going to take a while to pack up the van for the ride home. If we went after getting off work, it be really, really late.

He also snagged a free television for his dorm suite next year. Apparently his next year roommate (he actually gets to pick his roommate next year) has a television. But my son was just outside the dorm, and someone was leaving a television out by the trash. The boy, being of frugal mind like his mother, asked if it worked. The young man told him that it worked fine, but he didn't have room in his vehicle to take it home with him. So, he snagged a free television.

I asked if he needed two televisions in his room next year. He said he planned on putting it in the lounge area as it was free, and if it got trashed; he wouldn't feel so bad.

I'm so grateful that next year he gets to choose his roommates (he'll be in a suite with 5 other boys). This year, he had a couple of hoodlums as roommates, and it was an adjustment for him. My son is easy going, so he made due for the year, but next year should be better.

It will be so good to get him home! I can't wait!

Twleve Extraordinary Women: Hannah

2009-05-12T06:00:00.003-04:00

Ehart's thoughts on the Hannah chapter can be found here.

I love the few chapters of 1Samuel that tell the history of Hannah. I always have. So, this particular chapter was one that I read with pleasure, great pleasure.

The name Hannah means 'grace.' Thus far in the book, Twelve Extraordinary Women by John MacArthur, he has uniquely touched upon the amazing grace that was shown to the women he describes in the book. In fact, he usually recaps the chapter by stating that each woman is extraordinary due to the extraordinary grace that God has shown her. Hannah was no exception.

Hannah was married to Elkanah. Now Elkanah was a Levite, more specifically a Kohathite. Moses and Aaron were Kohathites. The Kohathites were responsible for the furnishings of the tabernacle, which included the ark of the convenant.

Hannah lived during a time period when Israel's spiritual life was most definitely on a downward spiral.

Eli's son's, Hophni and Phinehus, were what MacArthur labels "two of the worst priests we ever meet on the pages of Scripture." They were greedy and immoral. Eli wasn't always the best of patriarchs when it came to disciplining his son's behaviors. He made a weak attempt to rebuke them, even though he was the high priest.

Hannah's history parallels Sarah's in a few key points. First off, Hannah was barren, just as Sarah was. Also, Elkanah had taken a second wife, most likely to produce an heir as Abraham had. Poor Hannah! While Sarah manipulated the situation with Hagar, we are not given the same impression with Hannah. Hannah was dearly loved by her husband and even given a double portion of the peace offering by her husband, Elkanah, when they went to the tabernacle to worship.

While praying and weeping for a child, Eli observes Hannah praying, but assumes Hannah was drunk. Normally, Israelites prayed aloud, but Hannah knew God can see right into her heart, so there was no need for her to pray aloud. Her lips moved as she prayed, and apparently Eli thought she must have been drunk.

After rebuking her for her drunkenness, Hannah explained that she was not, but asked that she find favor in Eli's sight.

Hannah left the temple no longer sad. She had given her concern to God. I'm not so sure that Hannah had assurance her petition would be granted, but she had given the concern up to God. She strongly believed in the sovereignty of God to do His will.

This aspect of Hannah's faith is something I often ponder upon. When I have a low moment, and I'm confused and feeling weak in faith, I think of Hannah. That's one of the reasons that I love the history of Hannah so much. She is a fine example of a faith in God that helped support and comfort her in her trials.

MacArthur states that Hannah had three great loves that weave throughout her life as a godly wife and mother:

Love for her husband.
Love for heaven.
Love for home.

As you read the first few chapters of 1Samuel, it's easy to see Hannah's love for her husband. She desired to give her husband a child. The tender love and care Elkanah exhibits towards Hannah is reciprocated by this godly woman. She dearly loved her husband, even though the tension of having a second wife must have been trying for her. As you may already know, the second wife, Peninnah, was a taunting menace to Hannah. Peninnah had bore Elkanah children, and she didn't mind pointing it out to Hannah.

Hannah's love for heaven is apparent most especially when she finally had received the answer to her prayers by becoming pregnant. The prayer recorded at 1Samuel 2:1-10 is closely paralleled to Mary's Magnificat at Luke 1:46-55. MacArthur does a more detailed comparison of the two pieces of Scripture in the next chapter in the book, which is Mary.

Hannah had also made the vow to give her child (if she were to bear a child) to the Lord. She promptly adheres to this vow by sending Samuel to the tabernacle when he was but a small child. It shows her devotion and obedience to God in heaven.

Hannah had a great love for her home. Samuel grew up to be a devoted and godly man. Hannah influenced her son during the earlier years so he was prepared to devote his life in service to God. She realized the importance of the training she would give to this child, who was only to be living under her roof for a few short years.

Hannah was blessed with five more children. God blessed her with a rich and full family life.

Hannah is a fine example of a godly woman making her way through a culture full of sin and ungodliness.

She was indeed an extraordinary woman.

I'm Obsessed!

2009-05-11T06:00:00.002-04:00

I was recently having a cyber-conversation with a friend about housekeeping. I got thinking on it, and I have to admit that I'm obsessed.

There's only two things that absolutely must be done in my house in order for me to relax. I can't sit and read a book; I can't sit down and enjoy a movie on television; I can't do anything in the form of relaxing unless my bed is made AND the kitty litter box is clean.

Whew! Okay, you know my secret.

The laundry can pile up and it might niggle at me. The sink can fill up with dishes and it might bother me a little bit. But pleeeeez, let me make my bed and clean the kitty box; then I'm good for anything.

The minute I get out of bed for the morning, I'm sleepy eyed and not really thinking very well, but I pop out of bed and make it. My next mission is to get to the kitty box. There! My day has begun on a positive note.

Call me strange (or even obsessed), the house can become a disaster, but if those two chores are done, I can sigh with relief and go enjoy myself!

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

2009-05-09T18:24:00.004-04:00

On Sunday, after church, we are all heading out to brunch for Mother's Day and my parent's anniversary celebration. My parents have been married for 52 years. WOW! That's a long time, baby!

Then we usually travel back to my parents' house to watch The Anniversary CD. When my parents celebrated their 50th Anniversary, they didn't want anything too elaborate. They are a very, simple couple; and they just wanted to have their family together for the day. We had taken them out to a wonderful, very classy, and expensive restaurant, then we took them home and gave them small tokens of our love for them. You know, the '50th Anniversary' picture frame with a picture of their wedding picture, then a picture of the loving parents at the present time set on the opposite side of the frame. Awww! It was very nice!

But we also put together a video of hundred of pictures that click from frame to frame with some of my parents' favorite music. The pictures exhibit some really silly moments, but they bring to mind some really serious moments also. For example, there was a picture of my brother with a pair of underwear (whitey tighties, to be exact) on his head. A few frames later is a picture of him all decked out with his date for the prom. While watching The Anniversary CD, there are moments of hilarious laughing; and there are moments of quiet resolve and maybe a tear or two.

Of course, you know, my peanut (who isn't a peanut anymore) was the most popular grandchild in the video. He has so many pictures in that video that tomorrow I will probably want to shed a tear or two myself AND I'm not given to shedding tears too easily. I just miss him so much, but he'll be home on Wednesday; and all will be right in my world.

I want you to know that I did not put all those pictures of my son in the video. My sister-in-law and my brother are the ones who picked out all the pictures. My brother said his wife kept throwing pictures of Bryce at him and saying, "You MUST add this picture too! It's soooo cute." Of course, I know how cute he was, so I certainly didn't mind.

I will take credit for the picture taking. When my son was little, we lived in California; and I used to send hundreds of pictures of him to his grandparents. On my side of the family, he was the first grandchild. He was pretty special, and hardly anyone got to see him as a baby.

But back to my parents anniversary. My parents have had a lot living in those 52 years. They gave birth to three children, two boys and one girl (that's me). We never really had a lot while I was growing up, but I never felt 'poor.' Okay, now we sound like the Waltons minus about 4 children, but I did have a good childhood.

I am thankful for my parents' commitment and resolve to bring us up in a loving atmosphere. I am truly blessed!

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-09T11:13:00.002-04:00

Twelve Extraordinary Women: Ruth

2009-05-06T06:30:00.007-04:00

This particular chapter in the book, is subtitled, "Loyalty and Love" and if you are familiar with Ruth's history, then you understand why MacArthur subtitled it such.

Ehart's post with regards to the chapter of Ruth can be found by clicking here.

The book of Ruth starts out by giving us a little bit of background. Elimelech was an Israelite married to Naomi. The famine in the land had become so severe that Elimelech and family took refuge in Moab.

The relationship between Moab and Israel was often tense, or at times even hostile. The Moabites were a pagan society that worshiped several gods. Their idolatry included a god named, Chemosh. When Solomon strayed from the one true God and became influenced by his pagan wives, he built an alter in the high places for Chemosh, which the Scripture calls "the abomination of Moab." With this knowledge of the kind of society that Elimelech was taking refuge within, we can only imagine that the famine was fierce in his land to have driven him there.

Elimelech died while living in Moab, which left Naomi alone with her two sons. Mahlon and Chilion (Elimelech and Naomi's two sons) took wives from the Moabite women. Orpah and Ruth are those two Moabite women. Times would have been difficult for Naomi, as her sons took wives from the pagan society, but she does seem to have accepted these daughters-in-law. Later, after the death of Mahlon and Chilion, Naomi was left in this foreign land with the two widowed wives.

Naomi receives word that the famine in her homeland had eased, so she prepares to return to her people. As we see in Ruth 1:6-14, Naomi encourages her daughters-in law to return to their people and their gods. Orpah makes the decision to return to Moab, but Ruth decides to remain with Naomi. What beautiful poetry Ruth states when pleading her case to her mother-in-law:

"Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me."
Ruth 1:16-17

Here is a fine example of Ruth proclaiming her faith in God. How beautiful!

Once Naomi saw the firm decision of Ruth, she accepted it. MacArthur suggests that perhaps Naomi was testing her daughters-in-law by requesting they return to their land and their gods. If so, Ruth passed the test.

Upon returning, Ruth and Naomi were greeted by the people and they remembered Naomi well. Of course, as we shall see, Naomi had relations among the people, so I wouldn't say that was surprising.

Ruth, being a young, physically strong, woman, knew that she needed to help support her aging mother-in-law. As commanded by God to the Israelites to leave the edges of the fields for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow, Ruth went to a certain field to glean barley for the two of them. She was noticed by Boaz, a relative of Naomi.

Boaz, despite the famine, had remained somewhat prosperous. Upon learning who Ruth was, Boaz recommended that Ruth only glean from his fields. He also gave her permission to drink from the water that was supplied to his servants, and he instructed the young men not to touch her. Ruth returns home to Naomi with an abundance of grain that she had gleaned from the fields under Boaz's protective watch.

Upon learning that Ruth had gleaned her abundance from Boaz's fields, Naomi 'helps' along the situation. She suggests at the end of the harvesting that Ruth go to the threshing floor where the grain was winnowed and give herself in marriage to Boaz. MacArthur suggests that Naomi's scheme was "bold and utterly unconventional....the propriety police certainly would have been up in arms."

Upon following Naomi's instructions, Boaz informs Ruth that there is another, who is a closer relative that could "perform the duty of a close relative for you." The very next day Boaz takes care of the matter and discovers that the closer relative was unwilling to ruin his inheritance by performing his right of redemption.

Boaz, being the next closest relative does as he promised Ruth on the threshing floor, and said, "You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day."

MacArthur states that Ruth is a symbol for all believers due to her being redeemed by Boaz. We, too, have a Redeemer. We are His own bride, and loved by Him with the affection that He demonstrated by sacrificing His life on the cross.

Isn't that a wonderful love story?

Twelve Extraordinary Women: Rahab

2009-05-03T13:00:00.002-04:00

This particular chapter has some amazing things in it. One of the things that I love the most is exactly what ehart wrote about this particular chapter and you can read her post here.

Rahab was the mother of Boaz, who later married Ruth. Of course, the next chapter in the book is 'Ruth', so I think it flows rather well. To get a really good insight into the connection of Rahab, Boaz, and Ruth you need to read ehart's post. She did a very nice recap of it.

Rahab was a harlot. Yes, there really isn't any way around it, that's what her profession was. MacArthur makes note later in the chapter that some rather 'scholastic rabbis' before Jesus' time were embarrassed that a harlot and her family were the only redeemed people at Jericho. They concocted a theory that Rahab was perhaps a innkeeper of sorts as the term used for harlot is similar to a Hebrew word 'to feed.' But MacArthur shows that the actual Hebrew word really can only mean 'harlot.' He explains that in the Septuagint the Greek word to describe Rahab is 'porne,' which can only be interpreted as 'harlot' which we get our English term 'pornography.'

So with that argument set aside, we have to look at Rahab's lifestyle and admit that it certainly wasn't the best from an Israelite's view point seeing that harlotry was forbidden. Yet, the two spies that Joshua sends out end up at Rahab's domain. It didn't take long for the king to receive information that the spies had visited Rahab, so he sent his men out to question her.

Upon the arrival of the king's men, Rahab hid the Israelite spies on her roof among the stalks of flax. Then she went to converse with the men who had come to question her. Hiding the Israelites was a dangerous action for Rahab. She was putting her life in jeopardy for these men. Perhaps before the king's men arrived the Israelites had expressed their purpose for being within the gates of Jericho. If so, then they would have most likely told Rahab about their God, YHWH.

Of course, we know that Rahab lied to these men when they questioned her. MacArthur asks the question as to whether Rahab was justified in telling the lie for the greater good. He states that many have argued over this through the centuries, but one thing you can't ignore is the fact that God hates a lie. Proverbs 12:22 states, "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord."

So then we ask, could God have saved Rahab and the spies without a lie? Absolutely! We must believe in God's power and strength to bring to fruition His will. There are many biblical accounts that justify God's will taking place even when things started to look like there was no way out. For example, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego might have lied and escaped punishment, but they told the truth and God saved them from the fiery furnace.

After the king's men leave Rahab, and they start to 'pursue' the Israelites as Rahab had told them that the Israelite men had left the city; Rahab goes back to the rooftop to converse with the two spies. During this time, Rahab confesses her faith to them.

You have to remember that Rahab had heard about how God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt by separating the Red Sea. In fact, during her proclamation of faith, she says, "For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt....And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you." But she continues, "For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath." That's quite a statement of faith when you consider that Rahab was living in a grossly, sinful, pagan world. She recognized the one true God and made her proclamation before the Israelite spies. Therefore, God bestowed grace upon her so that she and her family would survive Jericho's destruction.

Albeit, Rahab's statement of faith was spurred on by her fear. But fear is often the first emotion that we feel when we come to faith. Ps 111:10: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom."

Rahab's life represents an extraordinary woman who was saved by extraordinary grace.

A few points of interest that I found in the recap of Rahab's life are:

Rahab was the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth.
Rahab, a harlot, is included in the lineage of our Lord.
Rahab is the first Gentile that we meet in the Promised Land.
Rahab played a gigantic role in helping the Israelites to conquer the gateway to the Promised Land
Rahab is a reminder to us that the most demeaning life of a harlot can be redeemed by God's grace.

From Winter to Summer! and Stuff!

2009-04-28T06:07:00.002-04:00

We always joke in my part of the country that we go from winter to summer. Yes, we have a spring, but it is rather sporadic.

I woke up one morning and the outside thermometer read 30 degrees. Later in the day it was over 90 degrees. Talk about a huge temperature change.

Yes, yesterday we were in a heat wave (I'm not complaining), but who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Work is the zoo that I call it. It never changes. My mother loves to ask me 'How was work today?' I ALWAYS answer, 'It was a zoo!' She laughs, then we usually talk about the weather!

Saturday, hubby's sister and her family stopped by to visit. They live quite a distance from us, but they were visiting the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge. If you'd like to see the pictures that I took at Montezuma, please click here. They decided to come visit and take us out to dinner. Ooops! We had just eaten the church's chicken bbq dinner right before they called. So we told them to come on over, we'd go with them and visit. It was nice to actually get to talk to them. Most times the family gets together it's quite hectic. Hubby is one of 10 children, so when the family gets together, it's a huge get together.

The rest of the weekend was quiet. Hubby has the lawn all seeded for the spring rains, but we haven't seen too many raindrops recently, so he watered the front on Saturday. Our lawn has a tendency to get quite thin and scraggly looking after the winter snows melt. So, we've been mostly sitting around watching the grass grow. Nothing much, but I like it that way.

Twleve Extraordinary Women: Sarah

2009-04-26T17:51:00.009-04:00

I'm really enjoying this study and I'm finding things within the Biblical account that I hadn't noticed before. I'm also enjoying reading Ehart's posts. Ehart's post on this particular chapter can be found here.

The chapter on Sarah was a bit more difficult for me than the one on Eve. I can see things about Sarah that aren't always what one would expect from a woman of faith.

Yet, Hebrews 11:11 states within the Hall of Faith that "By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised."

Sarah did exhibit her lack of faith when she gave Haggar, her maid, to Abraham to secure herself a child that she could call her own. Perhaps Sarah reasoned that since Haggar was owned by herself, then any children she may have by Abraham would belong to her also. Interestingly, this is the first recorded case of polygamy in Scripture involving a righteous man.

If I'm really honest with myself, I have to admit that there have been times in my life where my faith has been weak. And, yes, just like Sarah, I have tried to 'help' things along in my life to assure myself that certain things might transpire to my satisfaction. In other words, I've manipulated certain aspects of my life, and it truly does illustrate my lack of faith. Maybe I haven't gone to the extreme that Sarah did, but I have done it. I think most people can admit to that, if they are truly honest with themselves.

At this point, Sarah was 75 years old. She had remained barren throughout her entire marriage, and she was becoming desperate. MacArthur points out that she was most likely post-menopausal.

But then God once again reveals to Abraham in Genesis 17 His covenant with Abraham, but this time, God includes Sarah. Up to this point, Sarah had never been mentioned. Scripture mentions that God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation (Genesis 12:3). It also mentions in Genesis 13:16 , 'so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.' God later promised in Genesis 15 that Abraham's seed would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. But not until Genesis 17 does God include Sarah in the covenant.

"I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her." Genesis 17:16 (NKJV)

Upon further reflection of Sarah's life, we realize that indeed she was faithful and indeed she was a proper role for women. She was nearing the century mark, yet she would become a mother to Isaac.

When Sarah had heard the angels conversing with Abraham (she was inside the tent listening), she laughed. Genesis 18:12-15 explains how the Lord had told Abraham that Sarah would bear a child within the year and Sarah laughed. The Lord then asked why had Sarah laughed, and she denied it. Verse 12 says that Sarah laughed 'within herself' which means she didn't laugh out loud. Sarah didn't want to admit that she had laughed, perhaps due to the fact that she was in fear. She probably came to the realization that this stranger was indeed the Lord, since He seemed to know that she had laughed, even though she hadn't laughed out loud.

Sarah was a fine example of submission to her husband. She was near 65 years old and she followed Abraham out of the land that she was born in. God had commanded Abraham to leave the land of his fathers and to travel to a land 'not knowing where he was going.' (Hebrews 11:8). Sarah followed her husband to the unknown.

In fact, Sarah is noted for her submissive behavior in 1 Peter 3:5,6 - "For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror."

While at first, I had a hard time finding Sarah to be the role model that any woman could follow, I slowly tried to envision what her barrenness meant to her. I finally realized that she was indeed a faithful person and submissive woman.

Twelve Extraordinary Women: Eve

2009-04-23T05:04:00.002-04:00

Ehart and I are doing an e-mail/blog book study. We've chosen the book Twelve Extraordinary Women by John MacArthur. Well, I bought the book while in the mall last week and since ehart owned the book, we decided to read it together.

Her first post on the book can be found here.

The first chapter is about Eve, 'the mother of all living.'

Whenever I've read the account of creation, the major theme that I pondered over is how awesome and wonderful God is. He created all that exists and it amazes me every time I stop to think about it. Everything created by God works hand in hand with each other to make the universe continue on as a fine tuned machine. But reading this brief chapter about Eve put my thoughts into another direction.

Eve was the first of many things. She was the first and only person created by God from another living being. It does make you think that Eve was very special in God's plan. You could extend that to think that women, in general, have a special place in God's divine plan. She was the first woman, wife, mother and the 'mother of all living.'

Eve was easily tempted and deceived, but she was also very innocent, in the fact that she knew only 'good.' She was living in perfect Eden without an inkling as to what 'wrong' or 'evil' was. She was unaware that any danger even existed. Then along comes the serpent and she was enticed into eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. I find this interesting, that Satan knew the very best way to encourage Eve to disobey God. Isn't that so true of us all? Satan does have a way of making things look 'not so bad,' or maybe 'good' to us. I constantly have to guard myself from the many desensitizing mechanisms that Satan uses in this day and age.

But anyway, Eve represents the essence of womanhood, whether you look at things before the fall or after, there are things to glean that we, as women, should put emphasis on in our lives.

For example, we were created to be helpers for our husbands. Women can fulfill this God-given role by numerous different actions. Being a helper to your husband is the major role that God has given us. Helping could be categorized by balancing the checkbook, cooking family meals, taking care of the children and 1001 other tasks. Helper can be defined as a partner.

I think many women mistake this to mean that we should be servants to our husbands. But being a helper, may include serving them, but not solely being a servant. It's important to note that God didn't make women less intelligent or less spiritual. Marriage becomes a partnership. It's not a dictatorship. 'One flesh' should not be torn in two by the mentality that women are to be subservient to men, nor the other way around. Subjection and subservient are not the same words in my vocabulary. Subjection is more about obeying and trusting, and the faith that you have in your spouse through your loving relationship. To be subservient is more about one person ruling over another with negative connotations and not always with the idea of love involved.

Each spouse can help and support the other, but the woman's role is to mainly give herself to 'helping' her mate through their endeavors.

God commanded that women be in subjection to their husbands. I think that being in subjection to your husband equates to some women always saying, "Yes, dear, anything you say." They lose the true essence of who they are and what God meant for them when He created them. Being in subjection doesn't mean you become a whole other being. You are still the same woman, you just have a new role in life, when you marry. Some of the roles that you fulfilled while single may change a little, but your role as a woman in many aspects remains the same.

Paul states in Ephesians 5:22, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body."

Therefore, God gave man the knowledge to be head over his wife. He gave him the ability to be that headship figure within the marriage partnership. Yes, we as women sometimes fight that leadership and headship in our day to day dealings. But in any arrangement where you have more than one person involved, someone needs to be the leader or chaos ensues. So, God has given man the ability to be the head of the marriage and household. We (women) just need to be reminded of that from time to time.

Usually whenever I get all huffed up about something and think I'm a know it all, God shows me that my husband has more common sense concerning most matters. He has a much better way of dealing with issues than I do. It's humbling, but it is true!

But I also find it interesting that a few verses down Paul says in Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her."

So, in being in subjection to your husband, hopefully, he will show love in his dealings with his wife. I find it interesting that Paul mentioned this immediately following the 'wives, submit...' because I think Paul didn't want man to 'lord' his headship over women in an uncaring or unloving manner. A loving partnership is the true essence of what marriage is. It's not about one member of the marriage partnership lording their every command and desire over the woman. (I know that word - partnership - sounds harsh, like business dealings sometimes, that's why I like using the words 'loving partnership')

John MacArthur states that the relationships with in the Trininity perfectly illustrate to us the essence of headship and submission. Christ was in no sense inferior to the Father, yet He was in subjection to Him. "I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me (John 5:30) and "I always do those things that please Him." (John 8:20) Both of those Scriptures are taken from the NKJV.

Ehart mentions in her blog that the spread of Christianity actually uplifted women's position in society. John MacArthur gives clear historical background to prove this point. Women in pagan societies were often treated little better than animals. Greek philosophers taught that women are inferior creatures by nature.

Christian women who were converted from the pagan dregs to Christianity often found themselves freed from a host of demeaning practices. Their position within the church often recognized women as givers of hospitality, minsters to the sick, and the caregiver and nurturer to their families with the loving labor of their hands.

I love it when John MacArthur states in his introduction to the book, "Women play prominent roles in many key biblical narratives. Wives are seen as venerated partners and cherished companions to their husbands, not merely slaves or pieces of household furniture."

Obviously not all marriage relationships are perfect, in fact, none are truly perfect. But I think if we refer to God's word, we have a better idea of what our marriage roles should be.

What Kind of Mom Am I?

2009-04-20T19:28:00.004-04:00

Okay, my son is grown, pretty much, but I thought this would be fun.

When I was in college no one had heard of the mosh pit before. So, I don't know what this all means, but yeah, I kind of want to re-take it and lie.

If you want to take the test, please Click here.

And I also remember the boy not liking McDonald's birthday parties, because he didn't like the food....But, he's left that all behind. He loves McDonald's now! Does that count for anything?

Results: Mosh-Pit Mama

(I want to take it again and this time lie…)

We know you're confused. But admit it, in college you did love the concert mosh pit, right? You're just a little nutty like that. You are a complex mama. You can't be pushed around by your kids, and you make sure they are fed the best organic food and get to bed on time. But, you are also able to chill out and let the little punks monkey around and get messy. You also don't mind getting messy with them. You're tons of fun: you throw yourself into kids play with great passion! Forts, crafts, soccer games, you do it all! It's hard to find fault with your type (unless your kid insists on Organic vegetables while at a playdate and is labeled "snooty") so please be prepared to have friends begin to hate you or exhibit extreme jealousy. Enjoy!