Our Earth Day Celebration

We're celebrating Earth Day! First we DROVE our 7 passenger mini-van (just the 2 of us) to a printing company to pick up their payment. They paid me with a check using profit they get from killing trees.Then, we went to the bank. Then we went and ate at KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN. We used styro plates and plastic forks. Paper napkins and to go cups.

Later today, instead of being frugal and having common sense in using dish towels - I will use paper towels to clean the sink. I will spray WINDEX on the surfaces, then flush the rinse water down the DRAIN. Later, I plan to take a 20 minute shower. At 8:00 this evening for the great "lights out" thingie we will be turning on every light in the house.Tomorrow I will return to my frugal ways, using dishtowels, not wasting water, using natural inexpensive cleaning products. I will cook & eat at home to conserve energy, money and gasoline. I will use my china and glassware and cloth napkins like I do every day.

In short, my "footprint" is smaller than most people's. And it is because of frugality and God's admonition to care for the earth and all in it.But on this day I refuse to participate in the environmentalism practiced by those who have nothing more meaningful than foisting their near religious ferver on the rest of us. I'll reject their admonition to "save the earth". I'm just not that narcissistic. I know one person can make a difference. That much is true. But teaching children that they can "save the earth" and there will be a utopian society is just setting them up for a fall. Sure, teach your children responsibility to our temporary home. Even non-Christians know they're but a wave tossed in the ocean when you look at the whole of history. But when your child is 30 and still hearing about the dying polar bears, they're going to figure it out. Hopefully.

The best way to celebrate Earth Day is each day to be sensible in your consumerism. Not letting the water run isn't just careless, it is costly. So is using disposables. And harsh chemicals that induce asthma attacks. Be each day a good steward of the home God has given us. But lets not worship it. After all, it is temporary.

Was It A Morning Like This

Was it a morning like this
When the Son still hid from Jerusalem?
And Mary rose from her bed
To tend the Lord She thought was dead

What is a morning like this,
When Mary walked down from Jerusalem?
And two angels stood at the tomb,
Bearers of news she would hear soon.

Did the grass sing?
Did the earth rejoice
To feel you again?
Over and over like a
Trumpet underground,
Did the earth seem to pound:
“He is risen”
over and over
in a never ending round
“He is risen, alleluia, alleluia!”

Was it an morning like this,
When Peter and John from Jerusalem?
And as they raced for the tomb,
Beneath their feet was there a tune?

Was it a morning like this,
When my Lord looked out
On Jerusalem?
He is risen, alleluia, alleluia.

By Request

We have some kids playing their music way too loud. I asked some friends for mucis suggestions to have a little fun and make a point. I now have a polka-Barry Manilow loaded boom box on the front porch. ;-) Someone wanted to know more, so here goes:

This is a nice neighborhood. No mcMansions here, but good, modestly sized houses. We still live here because a child born 3 months early at Vanderbilt costs around $1 million and we don’t do bankruptcy.

The first full day we lived here, there was a little boy with a deep, dark tan playing in our back yard. He was a cute little thing, around 6 and left to pretty much raise himself. Mama was an alcoholic. He hid when hubs called him down for throwing rocks at our metal outbuilding because he liked the sound.

Through the years, we befriended this little one and introduced him to our friend Jesus. When he was left outside on his own, we took him in and gave him a good meal. We always returned him back home safe and sound when his mom sobered up. One night hubby even picked his mama up out of the front yard and got her in when then-preteen boy could not.

Finally, the lure of money and the empty “love” offered by the streets in the city got him. For years we would only see him occasionally at WalMart (where he would yell - Mom! Dad! Caused some confusion, lol.) or when the police came looking for him. 9 years or so ago we found out he’d been dealing drugs and all the other bad stuff. He knew these other boys even then - and unbeknownst to us put the word out that anyone harming us or our home would be dealing with him and his gang.

3 years ago he showed up with the prettiest 2 children I’ve ever seen. The next day he sat on my porch (I don’t allow men inside when hubs isn’t home) and talked with my pastor. That day, he met - and accepted - my friend Jesus.

These are not bad children. Even if they were, they don’t really scare me. First I have my Father watching over me day and night. Secondly, I have Smith & Wesson doing the same. If I deal with them creatively, I know they will come asking. And I will have a chance to begin the cycle over again.

What joy!