Long Absences

Dear friends, my long absences are unavoidable. I'm having a multitude of health issues. Hopefully my newly scheduled hysterectomy will alleviate some of them.

I have found a wonderful website, HysterSisters. Women helping and supporting other women. It isn't an overtly Christian site, but the premise is absolutely Biblical. Titus 2. ;-)

If you have had, are considering or are curious about a hysterectomy please visit this wonderful site! There's a link to the right.

For my FB friend...

I've been invited by a treasured friend from my past to join the "United Against Westboro Baptist" group. My initial reaction was "Oh Yeah!" - a reaction stemming from my emotions more than my brain.

First,from a Constitutional standpoint, I cannot join. Because taking away their right to peacefully assemble (no matter how hateful their rhetoric), it becomes the first domino on a downhill slant. Next could be the Tea Partiers, then Christians engaged in street preaching, then Christians in general, then Jews, and so on. So no, as much as I hate what they say, I cannot support revoking their First Amendment rights. (Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.)

Instead, I will support Rolling Thunder, a great group of bikers, several of whom I'm privileged to know (albeit online). Here's part of what they do: One other task that Rolling Thunder undertakes is protecting family members of fallen soldiers from protesters, namely representatives of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church, who claim that soldiers are dying due to God's punishment for America's stand on gay rights." To learn more, check out this article: http://www.rollingthundertn1.com/Newsarticles.htm

Now, from a Christian standpoint. I find Westboro's actions repulsive. Their actions are a blot on the Christian community. Not because they call sin sin but because of their lack of love. I suppose I need to put out a disclaimer: I am a sinner saved by grace. A horribly flawed person whose sins were numerous. The only claim I have to Heaven is through the grace of God through the birth, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. The only right I have to name sin as sin is by the written word of God, the Bible.

But the Bible doesn't only teach us about sin and sinners, it teaches how to know God's own. Those who have come to saving grace through Christ and are living according to his word. Jesus said you will know them by their fruits. (Mat. 7:16) The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. (Gal. 5:22)

Now, back to Westboro. They love to protest at military funerals. They love to hoist their signs that say things like "God hates Gays" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers". I'm trying to figure out which of the fruit those signs exemplify....hmmmm....waiting.....waiting.... I got nothin.

Okay, so how about their signs, God hates Gays? Why don't we see what God himself has to say about that? K, I got one for that..."For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) So now we see that God loved the world. That includes old people, fat people, ugly people, pretty people, (we're all okay with that so far, huh?) gay people, tax evaders (hey, wait!), athiests, witches, satanists, murderers. Don't argue with me. God means what He says. And He said "the world". That's everybody, all of us. Now, let's not get too shook up...there's a requirement there. They've got to believe in Him to not perish...and once you have become a sinner saved by grace, there is still a lot of work to be done. So we can't just very flippantly say, "Oh, I believe in Jesus." and expect to have eternal life. God's Son didn't die on a cross so we could get our "fire insurance" and then live the way we want, but that's a lesson for another day.

Westboro is wrong...God does love gay people. And so should we. You've heard "love the sinner, hate the sin"? That's entirely doable. I love my son very much. But I really hate it when his attitude is snotty, or when he lies to me. In fact, all that does is cement the fact to me that I am to raise him in fear and admonition of the Lord. It creates in me a love greater than that of a mother -- that of a child of God praying for His salvation and assurance of Heaven. I have many gay friends. I love each and every one of them. I cannot and will not condone their lifestyle, as God's word teaches that homosexuality is sin, but I will continue to love them enough to pray for them.

Back to Westboro, I cannot judge their relationship with God. But I can look at fruit (or the lack thereof). And for those who don't know it, I can reference the entire chapter of Matthew 7. If you're not familiar with it, here is a link to it online. My version of choice, the New American Standard Version. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+7&version=NASB

This has been a really long note, I know. I thank you for hanging in to the end. I love you. Each and every one. I'd love to spend eternity with you...praising God throughout the ages.

On the Menu this week....

I really love menu planning! Not only does it keep me organized in my shopping, it has saved us a great deal of money. It's much easier to just go out to eat when you don't have a plan! That's why I participate in Organizing Junkie's Menu Planning Monday! And away we go!!! By the way, if you'd like the recipe for anything you see, just let me know and I'll post it!

Monday - Breakfast: Cereal (because I'm planning! LOL)

Lunch: Leftover Soup and Sammies

Dinner: Salmon croquettes, pinto beans, fried potatoes and cornbread.

Dessert: Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Tuesday - Breakfast: Apple/Cinnamon Muffins

Lunch: Homemade pizza & tossed salad

Dinner: At my son's Scout Blue and Gold banquet. He's bridging to big Boy Scouts!

Wednesday - Breakfast: Sausage/Egg Breakfast casserole

Lunch: Chicken Chunks, Mac & Cheese, Peas

Dinner: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn pudding

Thursday - Breakfast: Blueberry Pancakes

Lunch: Ham & Cheese Hoagies, chips

Dinner: Lasagna, tossed salad & garlic butter biscuits (Red Lobster type)

Friday - Breakfast: Oatmeal & Toast

Lunch: Lasagna & Garlic Biscuits (IF there are any left!)

Dinner: Chili, grilled cheese sammies

Saturday - Breakfast: Ham/Cheese omlettes

Lunch: Chili dogs, twice baked potatoes, baked beans

Dinner: Fish, rice, steamed veggies

Sunday - Breakfast: at Church

Lunch: Out

Dinner: Stuffed Peppers, hashbrown casserole, glazed carrots

Dessert: Honeybun Cake

If I read every blog I love,

I would never get anything done! I've started adding some buttons to the right. I encourage you to visit Mad in Crafts...what a beautiful, informative blog! I spent a lot of time there today and will be posting some of my own Dollar Store makeover crafts in the near future. (Really! Like tomorrow! I promise!)

Works for Me Wednesday!

Today is Works for Me Wednesday, hosted here. I'm participating this week with my tip for making those wonderful magic erasers last longer!

I don't know about you, but I am completely ADD when I have one of those wonderful little bits of foam in my hand. I clean and scrub one very grungy area only to notice a spot on the wall or woodwork. Without thinking, I swipe it and leave behind...a most decidedly NOT improved area of my home. The grunge on the exterior of the sponge has created another chore.

One day, after just such an experience I eyed the offending sponge. I just KNEW that there was clean, useable sponge under the grime. So, I grabbed a serrated knife and...


Suspicion confirmed! Look at that lovely, clean interior! I tried just peeling the top layer off to use the interior, but it crumbled in my hand.

So, I decided to cut the larger sponges into smaller ones first.

Worked like a charm, and now I make much better use of this valuable cleaning tool.

Works for me!

I'm finally on the road to wellness and organization...

and I will be updating this blog at least weekly. I'm sorry for the absence!

Todays entry is a semi-rant.

Dear Can Opener, It's not like I want you to fix the entire meal. Just open the stinkin' tomatoes. I'm already irritated that I'm out of home canned tomatoes, so don't push your luck. Signed, The Cook

God's Way, by Lydia S. Leach

God’s way is the best way,
though I may not see
Why sorrows and trials
oft gather ’round me;

He ever is seeking my gold to refine,
So humbly I trust Him, my Savior divine.

Refrain:
God’s way is the best way,
God’s way is the right way,
I’ll trust in Him alway,
He knoweth the best.

God’s way is the best way,
my path He has planned,
I’ll trust in Him alway
while holding His hand;
In shadows or sunshine He ever is near,
With Him for my refuge, I never need fear.

God’s way shall be my way,
He knoweth the best;
And leaning upon Him,
sweet, sweet is my rest,
No harm can befall me,
safe, safe shall I be,
I’ll cling to Him ever,
so precious is He.

Happy "Day Off"?

Today - on my day off - I'm washing clothes, washing dishes, organizing, cleaning, planting, entertaining, sweating and more. And griping. Oh yes, I was griping about it.

Then it occurred to me that those clothes I'm washing -- they're ours. Mine and my family's. We own them. They don't belong to my employer or worse yet, my owner. They're unique clothes - chosen to fit and compliment someone in my family. They're not oppressively hot with only a window for the eyes. They're weren't given us because we had none. Even better, they don't bear the stripes of a prison or the Star of a concentration camp. Our clothes. Purchased, worn and washed in freedom.

Those dishes? They're dirty because we have enjoyed meals on them. Simple meals, prepared in love and enjoyed around a table under a watertight roof. The scraps placed in the dog's bowl show how very blessed we are to have not only enough, but more than enough. And we ate at our leisure with utensils and cold or hot drinks. Food served on plates, not out of plastic pouches. We didn't huddle over our food in vain effort to keep out the flying sand or the rain. We dined in freedom because others ate MREs and wished for Mom's cooking.

Cleaning, organizing and planting are tiring work when done for one's own family. Imagine those who clean the mansions of a madman only to return home to squalor. Those who plant and harvest gardens and rice all day, then cradle a starving child at night. Those who cook for thousands of troops until they're too tired to nourish their own body. Those whose organizational duties include getting ammunition, food and other supplies for several platoons from point A to point B -- while being shot at. Imagine if you will having only one thing to clean...your weapon. Feel the burden not lighten from less cleaning responsibilities, but weigh down on shoulders barely out of high school. Shoulders that left wives and children behind in the states. Shoulders that have seen too much war and carried too many bodies. So in freedom I will organize my closet and remember.

Later this evening I will visit with friends. Friends of my own choosing who have seen good times and bad. But not compatriots. Compatriots are thrown together in the very worst of situations and their lives are forever intertwined. Whether they don envelope hats and march in parades or go on to live quiet lives out of the spotlight, on days like today they are never far from one another's mind. In their own gruff way, they love each other. Sometimes they even miss their buddy from their time at Normandy, or in Seoul or Saigon...the Delta, the jungle, on under or over the seas. Some, if not all, will think today of their buddy "Joe" or "Don" or "Rick" who didn't come back. For whom the wail of Taps echoed off the headstones of those gone on before. I'll think of "Joe" today as I sit - a free woman - and sip iced tea with friends.

And then, later, in a quiet time and a quiet place I'll speak the prayer my heart has been murmering all day long, "Oh God...thank you for the GIJoes and Janes who have given all that I may live in freedom. Thank you God that even today someone fights not only to ensure my continued freedom but to enable someone who hasn't known freedom the chance to breath it's fresh, clean air. Thank you God especially for those Joes and Janes who are serving Your higher calling. Those who, even as they obey the orders of men are praying for those still in bondage. Give them strength today and always Lord."

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.