Obama

Here is a photo of Barack with his family. Fortunately, his children survived Roe v. Wade.

Barack thinks the Constitution guarantees the right to suck the brains out of unborn children and disagrees with the Supreme Court decision that upholds the law making the procedure illegal. He said:

"I strongly disagree with today’s Supreme Court ruling, which dramatically departs from previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women. As Justice Ginsburg emphasized in her dissenting opinion, this ruling signals an alarming willingness on the part of the conservative majority to disregard its prior rulings respecting a woman’s medical concerns and the very personal decisions between a doctor and patient. I am extremely concerned that this ruling will embolden state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman's right to choose, and that the conservative Supreme Court justices will look for other opportunities to erode Roe v. Wade, which is established federal law and a matter of equal rights for women."

All I can say is : I hope this decision emboldens state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman's right to murder her baby and that the conservative Supreme Court justices will look for other opportunities to overturn Roe v. Wade which is not a matter of equal rights for women.

Choose Life

Here is a photo of President Bush signing the partial birth abortion ban.

As we remember the tragedy of Virginia Tech, we need to remember that 4,000 unborn babies are murdered in this country each day. How can we expect post Roe v. Wade generations to value life when the weakest among us are allowed to be killed up until the moment they are born.

The Supreme Court did an amazing thing today.

I am adding a link to the National Right to Life web page where you can see just what a partial birth abortion is and read about other pro life issues.

And, speaking of the NRLC, to those of you (Dahlens) who were with our family at the big NRLC rally in DC in April of 1990 (nearly 17 years ago, yikes) all I have to say is, "Water, water, water..."

About Virginia Tech

This is a good article.

Dick Cheney vs. Nancy Pelosi: The Blink-Off

I was searching You Tube for the Pelosi interview on Leno last week. Couldn't find it, but found this and decided to post it because after I tell you what she said, you might need a good laugh. Nancy thinks the government should provide national health care, education, and jobs for everyone. Just a friendly reminder, health care, education, and jobs are all good things, but it is not the job of "The Government" to provide them. This has been a public service message from Hip-Hop Co-op.

There is such a thing as a free lunch!

Go here and read all about it.

We just got home from dinner at Chipotle. Here's the deal. Buy a burrito (other tasty Chipotle menu items work, as well) at Chipotle today or tomorrow (April 14th or 15th). When you pay, they hand you your receipt and a 2006 Burrito EZ Form. Bring your form and receipt back on Monday the 16th and you will receive a free burrito!

Guys and Dolls

Amazing! Sky Masterson or maybe it's Nathan Detroit has come to life and is now doing fundraising on Trinity Broadcasting. I saw him on the T and V set yesterday and today in a brown pinstripe suit with a pink shirt and large pink silk scarf billowing out of the front pocket. And, here's the best part, since 2007 is the year of completion (Paula White told me), all's I gotta do is send Trinity Broadcasting $77 a month, $777, or $7,777 and whatever it is in my life that I need, I will get. I didn't phone in a pledge yesterday, so I missed the hundred fold anointing of my pledge. That anointing expired at midnight. Shucks.

I'm Married to...

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: The Most Honourable Terry the Educated of Fiddlehope in the Marsh Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Second Try

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Entirely Miss Reverend Lady Linda the Pompous of Hopton Goosnargh Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

My Aristocratic Name is...

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Very Lady Linda the Antique of Colquhoun St Cahoon Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

This title came courtesy of a link from His Most Serene Highness Lord Aaron the Convincing of Bampton Underhoop.

I took the first title it gave me. I'm not sure I like the "Antique" part.

Sunday...to be continued

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, After three days I will rise. Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, He has risen from the dead, and the last fraud will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can. So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.

To Be Continued...on Sunday...

From Matthew 26

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.

And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, I am the Son of God. And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, This man is calling Elijah. And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, Truly this was the Son of God! There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

Blonde Antelope

It's You Tube week. Here's another I found by random blogging.

Today anchor Meredith falls on ice with Will ferrell

Two comments.

First, Meredith Viera is 8 months older than me. She should not be on ice skates or anywhere near ice.

Second point. Look carefully like Mr. D did and you will note that Ms. Viera has a price tag dangling from her coat. Must be her tribute to the late Minnie Pearl.

Please don't wake me

Falling asleep during lunch is something I will never do!

Introducing the book

No comment needed here. Just watch.

Clustr Map

I finally got my clustr map up and running! It says I've had 45 hits since December 19th since it was on that day that I signed up for a clustr map, but it took me till March 29 to figure out how to get it going on my blog. Actually, Timmy had to help me.

I read the instructions carefully and it came up at the top of the right hand column above "my" photo. Tim asked my why I wanted it there and I told him I didn't, but had no idea how to move it. A minute later it was where I wanted it, so "Thank you, Tim."

I had 45 hits my first day. I think most of them were me refreshing or checking my blog, but the fun thing is that there was hit from Florida, California, and Illinois. So, thank you to my out of state readers for giving me some little red dots on my map and making me feel so special!

But, don't worry, little penguins at the bottom of my page. I am not going to get rid of you just because you are in an awkward place, kind of clunky, and have been replaced by a cool map. I am too sentimental to do that to you.

Plus, I would have no idea how to remove you even if I wanted.

Ask, Seek, Knock

Matthew 7:7-12

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12 So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

When you pause to consider that God is infinitely strong and can do all that he pleases, and that he is infinitely righteous so that he only does what is right, and that he is infinitely good so that everything he does is perfectly good, and that he is infinitely wise so that he always knows perfectly what is right and good, and that he is infinitely loving so that in all his strength and righteousness and goodness and wisdom he raises the eternal joy of his loved ones as high as it can be raised—when you pause to consider this, then the lavish invitations of this God to ask him for good things, with the promise that he will give them, is unimaginably wonderful.

Go here to read the rest.

Mind Your P's & Q's

I was giving announcements at Co-op today. During announcement time we also pray, do the Pledge of Allegiance, and lately we have been working on "The Gospel Alphabet".

"The Gospel Alphabet" is on a little card I received from Samaritan's Purse last year. Each letter of the alphabet stands for a word that begins a Bible verse.

For example, "A" stands for "all' and the verse is "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." "B" is "behold". The verse is "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

We were going through the letters and when we got to the letter "D", I said to the students. "Does anyone know the "d" word?" As soon as I said it I saw Barb in the back snickering. I was really glad that her snickering got me to rephrase my little Bible memory exercise before I said, "Does anyone here know the "f" word?"

And, those innocent children did know the "D" word. It was "draw".

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

Here I am Daddy...

The late Joe Bayly included this psalm in his book "Psalms of my Life".

His son Tim recently posted it on the blog he shares with his brother David.

I liked it and hope you do, too.

A Psalm on Being

The little child says
Here I am daddy
as he bursts
on father’s sight
from behind the chair
where he’s been hiding.
He doesn’t say
What can I do for you?
How can I help you?
I want to serve you
seeking somehow
to work and gain
the father’s favor
and delight.
He knows that they are his
without exhausting effort
to achieve.
They are his always.
Here I am daddy
—Abba Father—
not working
just being your eternal son.

-Joe Bayly

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO HIP-HOP CO-OP

Today is the first anniversary of the day Chris set up my blog.

Just thought you might want to know that!

What I have learned in the last year is that blogging can be lots of fun and by doing it you can make new friends and get rid of old ones.

My Days are in His Hands and I am Glad

Here's a quote from a recent Piper message. I blogged part of it a few days ago, but it is worth repeating:

You know, when someone asks you, “Who were the key influences in your life that made you what you are?” your answer to that question is only as valid as your memory. And you don’t remember but a tiny fraction of the influences that made you what you are. Many decisive influences came into your life before they could even register in your memory. And millions upon millions of influences have entered your life of which you have no memory. This is not only because you have forgotten millions of moments in your life, but because thousands of influences on you you never knew about in the first place. For example, the prayers of others for you. You don’t know about them, but they shape your life.

This fact has two effects on me. One is to make me thankful for the sovereignty of God. He governs all the influences over my life. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” I am glad that neither I nor any other human governs my life. God does. My days are in his hands. And I am glad.

Therapy to get through Therapy

Today was my 6th appointment with Novacare, the hand therapy people.

I'm thinking I will need some "emotional" therapy to recover from my experience there.

Also, I'm not only strengthening my wrist, but I'm strengthening my opinion that National Health Care is BAD.

Here's my story.

After wrist surgery, doctor recommends hand therapy. Tells me to see Mary or Stephanie at Novacare because they have both been doing this for 30 years.

I call and make an appointment with Stephanie. Mary is on vacation. Stephanie is only available on the Thursday that the blizzard was predicted. I decide that I need to get going on the wrist, make an appointment with Stephanie, and find myself driving in a blizzard to see her.

I get to the office and Karen comes out and says, "Hi, I am Karen, Stephanie is doing a phone interview so I will be your therapist today."

I say (feeling kind of sheepish), "Um, I came out in a blizzard to see Stephanie, I don't mean to offend you, Karen, but my doctor told me to see Mary or Stephanie."

Karen gets Stephanie and she postpones her phone conversation.

Four days later, I arrive for my appointment with Stephanie. Terri comes out and says, "Hi, I'm Terri. Stephanie isn't here today, so I will be doing your therapy." Turns out she is a "substitute" hand therapist who floats from office to hospital filling in as needed.

Three days later at my next appointment, Stephanie comes out and says, "Hi, this is Lance, he is training in and will be assisting me today." Lance is nice enough, but does all the measurements differently than Stephanie, so all my comparisons are off.

Next appointment, I get Stephanie for the full hour.

Last Thursday I go to my 10:00 am appointment. Stephanie comes out of her office at 10:05 and says, "Linda, you are a half hour late." I said, "No, I'm not. My appointment was at 10:00. I have a printout at home that your office gave me." Stephanie says, "Your appointment was at 9:30, I have another appointment at 10:30, so unless you can come back at 1:00 I can only give you a half hour, and can try to find another therapist to fill in."

MamaD turns into MaMad at this point. I say very little and take my half hour with her, wait 10 minutes for Karen to finish up with a patient and give me 15 more minutes. i'm guessing Blue Cross got billed for a full 60 minutes. Stephanie tells me to bring in the printout showing the appointment time.

Today I go in with my appointment sheet in hand showing that my appointment was indeed for 10:00 last week. Stephanie looks at it and suggests that perhaps I have done the highlighting on the sheet. (It was a crazy printout that showed all available morning appointments, very odd printout system.) I assure her that her fellow employee had highlighted said paper and I also tell her that I felt like I was treated like a second hand patient.

Stephanie never apologizes. When the appointment ends, Stephanie takes the printout and says, "I will go up with you to the desk and you can explain the scheduling problem to them." MaMad musters up all of her Scandinavian courage and says, "Um, I am not comfortable doing that. I think this is a problem in your office scheduling that should be addressed and corrected by you.

I made my next appointment with Karen.

If this is the way paying customers are treated, can you imagine how it will be when the government gets ahold of it.

I was thinking about how this would work in any other business. Say, for example, my hair stylist. For 15 years, Sandy has cut my hair. When she is unavailable, I go to Amy. What would happen if I went in to see Sandy and "Karen" came up and said, "Sandy is on the phone, so I will cut your hair," and the next time "Terri" came up and said, "Sandy didn't come in today, so I am filling in for her," or the next time Sandy was there and said, "Lance is going to do a few snips today, he's training in," or another time Sandy said, "Linda, you are a half hour late, so I am not going to be able to dry and style your hair."

Here's what would happen. Sandy would not be cutting my hair anymore!

But, alas, I want my wrist to move, and probably wouldn't be served best by changing therapist offices halfway through my treatment, so I will stick with Novacare, but I am eying the "evaluation" forms on the counter by the front desk, and when I'm done I will refer them to my blog!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

My cyber-friend Holly put this on her blog today. I liked it so much I'm putting it on my blog. So, thanks to St. Patrick and Holly for reminding me of God's sufficiency.

Here it is:

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIKKI WALLACE!

First fire, then the wheel, then this...

This is the most brilliant invention since the wheel.

Original Theologians Tend to be Heretics!

It is no secret that in the last few months, we have been devouring the teaching of John Piper. I think the thing that impresses me the most is that his messages are so full of the cross and devoid of John Piper. He leads people to the cross, not to human authority.

John's father passed away last week. If you need inspiration and encouragement go read the entries on the Desiring God blog that speak of the life of his father.

Here is an excerpt from the funeral message Piper preached:

"This fact has two effects on me. One is to make me thankful for the sovereignty of God. He governs all the influences over my life. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” I am glad that neither I nor any other human governs my life. God does. My days are in his hands. And I am glad.

The other effect this truth has on me is to send me back to my father’s preaching to uncover more deeply my roots. I have seven of my father’s books here. The more that I read them, the more I marvel at how unoriginal I am. And this makes me very happy. Original theologians tend be heretics. I want what I say to have roots. I don’t want to be new in what I believe. I want to be true."

Oops!

When I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep, I sometimes turn to one of the two "worship" channels we now have through Direct TV. In the middle of the night, they play worship songs softly and show videos of babbling brooks, and deer panting for water, and purple mountains majesty with inspiring Bible verses on an overlay.

So, last night I noticed that for one of the verses they just labeled it "Corinthians 4:something". I thought to myself whoever typed that didn't realize that there is a I and a II Corinthians. Then, I signed on to my blog, looked at my previous post and noted that the verse I quoted read "Corinthians 2:4,5".

Oops! But if you look closely, you will see the 1 at the end of the previous sentence. I guess it happened when I tried to center the verse and the program doesn't recognize books of the Bible!

I will leave you with a couple verses from James that have meant a lot to me lately.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Persuasive Words, Bad Idea

And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:4,5

Picking up on my previous post, here is the verse that jumped out at me a few months back and is why I no longer am a fan of the "seeker church".

It is not our style of cutting edge music, or latest trend clothes, or hip lingo and naughty words that attract people to Christ. It is the Holy Spirit.

This isn't to deny the need of sound preaching or being kind to people.

It does remove the "cool" factor from our witness.

Words to Reach the Next Generation

I remember well the first time I heard a pastor use the word "sucks" in a sermon.

I had noticed that ever since we started attending a certain church one of my children was using that word. I asked said high school child to please not use that word and, much to my dismay, a couple days later said pastor used it in a sermon.

Way to go in helping parents train their children, Mr. Pastor.

I didn't know that this particular pastor also liked to reach the younger generation by dropping the f-bomb at youth retreats. I found that out a year and a half after we left.

Okay, Linda, deep cleansing breath...you don't go to that church anymore, remember...

Here's the article from Lark News that reminded me:

Staff split over 'sucks'
BROOKLINE, Mass. — Pastor Terry McCann was pleased to see his associate pastor interviewed on the local news about helping to solve school truancy. But he was mortified when the associate used the word "sucks."
"I called him immediately and said, 'What on earth are you doing?'" says McCann. "He told me, 'Relating to the younger generation.'"
The staff of Rolling Hills church is evenly divided over whether the word "sucks" is appropriate or not.
"I don't think twice about it," says the youth pastor who uses it commonly with youth. He bonded with his new associate pastor by using the word.
"When you can freely say something sucks, it feels good. It's like letting your heart out," he says.
But he catches continual flak from pastors who find the word offensive.
"Do people know what it means?" says the executive pastor incredulously. "I don't care if everyone says it. It's beneath us."
He and others send out emails that remind their co-workers to "Let no unclean words proceed from your mouth." Some roll their eyes at the "sucks police." The singles pastor, a die-hard "sucks" devotee, responded one time with a reply that said simply, "That sucks!" He included a photo of a vacuum cleaner in the message, to cover himself.
During a recent sermon while McCann was on vacation, the college and career pastor used the word "sucks" off-the-cuff. When his wife pointed it out, he absconded with the sermon recording so McCann wouldn't hear it. But McCann found out anyway because members of the church sent him angry emails.
McCann finally insisted that no church staff member use the word, especially during ministry. He suggested alternatives like "that stinks" and "that's terrible."
"Saying something stinks sounds like you're just afraid to say 'sucks,'" gripes one staff member who says it "may take me a while to get around to changing my habit."
Meanwhile, McCann recently used the words "scumbag" and "brown-nose" in a mid-week sermon. Staff members later called him on the carpet.
"Do you know what those words mean?" they said with mock outrage. McCann looked up the definitions, turned red and vowed to ban the words from his vocabulary. •

Thoughts on a Snow Day

Today is a "Snow Day" at Heritage Academy. It's time to sip some Caribou (thanks Katie!) and think some deep thoughts. To see how deep the snow is, check out Chris's bedroom view.

First, therapy yesterday was more boring than painful. All that dread of her putting me on a rack to bend my wrist didn't pan out. That worry was totally wasted. (My wrist aches, but that's why they invented Motrin).

Terry and I have been reflecting on the past decade or so and have decided that life has gotten too complicated. The word simplify comes to mind. We don't want to always be running, we want to have time for family, friends, and neighbors, we want to enjoy God, not "be busy" for God, we want to find some widows and orphans and help them. We want to figure out the church thing and think it's something way different than a certified non-profit with a building.

I was reading Life as a Vapor by John Piper last night. It is a book of 31 meditations, and as I often do--mostly with novels (bad me, my family tells me this is wrong), I read the last page. It's the prayer for that day and it's my prayer for right now.

Here it is:

Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
And while you tarry, keep us free
from the sin of this world.
Oh, make our little lives count
for the glory of Your name
and for the fame of Your Father.
Rivet our attention on Your cross,
and fuse our affections to Yourself,
Waken our compassion for all who suffer,
especially those who are rushing toward
everlasting misery because of unbelief.
So open our mouths and open our hands
and open our wallets while we have breath,
and make us the most radically loving people
on earth, for the joy of all peoples
and the renown of Your name.
Amen.

Therapy

I went to the doctor yesterday for my 4 week check-up after the removal of the splint. (Friday will mark the 6 week after surgery, 7 week after fracture anniversary).

The good news is that the titanium plate and 10 screws, and bottled bone graft didn't move and did the job in holding together all broken parts. They have healed just fine and I can lift up to 50 pounds (if I had the strength in that wrist to do that, right now I can barely lift a glass of water.) The bad news is that I'm not really moving my wrist like I should be so I need to get my range of motion back before I lose it forever.

So, I am scheduled for 6 weeks of hand therapy, twice a week, starting tomorrow.

My first thought was, "This sounds great, hand therapy, how soothing."

I had visions of soaking my wrist in warm soothing whirlpools, massages with soothing oils that smelled of fragrant perfumes that would have been fit for Queen Esther, followed by massages with soothing lotions, and then a manicure. (You should see the nails on my left hand, they have never been so long!)

I received the "order" for hand therapy from the doctor followed by the question, "Do you have enough Percocet? You will probably be needing to take it in the evening following therapy."

I said I had 25 left and she wrote me out a prescription for 30 more!

I am thinking that this means soothing might not be the word to use to describe physical therapy and I probably won't be getting a manicure there either.

Big Mac vs. Duchy Cornish Organic Pasty

Prince Chuck has a line of organic products under the "Duchy" label. Check out the nutritional comparison between his organic pasty and a Big Mac.

Looks like he and Al Gore share a common hypocrisy gene!

And the Oscar goes to...

Just can't resist sharing this tidbit from the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. Enjoy!

Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”

Gore’s home uses more than 20 times the national average

Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.

Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).

In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.

Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.

“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.

In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.

Person of the Week - Bert Brady - Welcome Home - ABC News

Jean Miller sent this in an e-mail.

I found it on You Tube so I have posted it here.

Take the time to watch it, then, think about all the soldiers you know (and those that you don't), and pray for them and their families.

Point to Ponder

Jesus is not a polygamist.

John Piper mentioned that in passing during a service a few weeks ago as he made the point that there is only ONE church, not lots of little local churches/brides, but just one church/bride.

To view each local church as a separate bride would make Jesus a polygamist. So, whatever your view of your local church is, you had better not think of it as a separate bride or you are calling the Groom a polygamist.

I thought it was an interesting point that I needed to hear to confirm one of the things that God has been teaching me in the past two years.

Denied: Part Two, TCF Fraud Prevention

First of all, the good news.

I got back on the horse, so to speak, and tried my TCF check card at Lund's last Thursday. Worked like a charm.

Now for the rest of the story.

About two years ago, I had a few errands to run. Three errands in fact. A trip to the gas station on the way to Southdale where I purchased a wedding present at Crate & Barrel (if you have ever received a wedding present from us you will know what I purchased...a picnic basket...much to my dismay C & B no longer carries their classic Picnic Basket, but I have digressed...), and a $20 purchase at the Gap next door. Three charges on the Visa Check card.

When I arrived home about 5:15, Mr. D. smiled, gave me a peculiar look, and said, "You must have been having a fun afternoon."

I said, "Huh?"

Mr. D. said, the TCF check card fraud people called about some unusual purchases on your account and they wanted me to call them back. I told him about my three not so unusual purchases and called the Visa people.

They said that using a card at a gas station followed by a trip to a Mall kicks out a fraud alert. Apparently, people use the card at a gas station to see if it will work before they head to C & B to buy picnic baskets and The Gap to buy socks. I asked them why they just didn't have the Gap people ask for an ID and they had no idea. Instead, they let me use the card and called home to see if I was there and alert my husband that I was making purchases!

A few months later, I had made my annual trip to Papyrus at The Galleria for their day after Christmas deals. I purchased $100 in useless stuff that collects in the garage. When I arrived home, my TCF Visa check card friends called to ask about my $1000 purchase at Papyrus. I said, "What?"

Sure enough, the girl had keyed in an extra zero and MUCH TO MY DISMAY, I HAD SIGNED THE PAPER WITHOUT LOOKING CLOSELY!

The manager had caught the error and corrected it. However, instead of voiding the transaction and putting through the correct charge, she had put through the correct charge and treated the wrong one as a return. When you do that, the money comes out of your account that day (so we were out $1,100) for a few days. Then, they refund the $1000 a week or so later. Seems like a scam to me and fortunately, there was enough in the account to cover the error, but the bottom line is to look at the amount when you sign (that's the obvious, but when I am in a hurry, I forget).

Then there's the story of the potato ricer at Williams Sonoma...I'll give you the brief version. Don't use your Visa at the airport trying to make a long distance call (this was before cell phones) to Appleton to someone who is on the phone. Every time you swipe your card, the Visa people know it even if the call doesn't go through, so if you try 10 times, it looks fishy. But, they just asked me if I had swiped the card at the airport and believed my story and I went home with a lovely potato ricer and can now make creamy mashed potatoes.

Denied!

Yep, that's what the lady at Lund's said to me last night after she slid my TCF check card through the machine. I said, "What?" And, she said, "Your card has been denied." And, really she didn't have to say it so loudly.

This was puzzling (not to mention embarrassing) to me since I had just checked my balance yesterday afternoon after Terry made a large (the kind that covers the house payment) deposit. Plus, at the time of Terry's deposit there was enough already in the account to cover another house payment.

Terry and I had purchased some Valentine's yesterday and I had used the card a lot, but still, all totaled, I think my purchases were under $200 and that included lunch and a treat at Caribou where we stopped by to see Katie who was working there yesterday.

So, I looked at the lady (as I noticed all the others in line irritated that I was taking so much time and wondering about how out of control my life was that I couldn't purchase a lemon, a small personal size heart cake for my mom, and a heart gift bag without being denied...I'm not paranoid or anything!) and I said, "What does it say?"

She said, "It says blocked." I said, "Blocked?" At this point the not so helpful bagger girl says loudly, "Oh, you have probably gone over your maximum purchases allowed in a day." I said, "I don't have a maximum amount in purchases per day."

Then, I said to the lady, "Can I write a check?" She said, "Sure." So, I wrote out a check for $8.79 (out of the same account that was denied!), came home, and called TCF to see why my account was blocked. I told her that my card had been denied and she looked at my records and said, "No, it wasn't. Nothing was showing as having been submitted even. If they had submitted it and it was denied, she would be able to tell me why, but they hadn't even submitted it."

Puzzled, I said, "But, she told me it said blocked." Oh, said TCF lady, "Blocked is a totally different thing. When it says blocked, that is a problem in the Lund's system that is preventing the purchase from even being submitted for payment."

It did explain why the bagger girl also told me not to worry, this had happened to a lot of people today!

Someday, I will tell you all my exciting adventures with the TCF check card fraud people....who like to put holds on your card after you use it because they are not sure you are you!

Princess Nancy

The article begins: "Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she might decline the use of Air Force planes to travel from Washington to her San Francisco district because the Pentagon won't guarantee her an aircraft that can make the trip non-stop. "I have said that I am happy to ride commercial if the plane they have doesn't go coast to coast,'' Pelosi said today."

I say, excuse me? Nancy won't take advantage of a free plane ride if she has to make a stop to refuel? "Nancy" the ride is free (for you). Free, Nancy. The proper response is to say, "Golly, that's nice of you to offer me a free plane. I think it will be great to stop in Peoria (or wherever) to refuel and don't mind one little bit."

Isn't this Stealing?

Things I Can Do By Myself

I can:

Put on my socks
Tie my tennis shoes
Button my shirt
Do the princess wave (sort of)
Make a fist (almost)
Lather a bar of soap with two hands
Type with punctuation and capital letters

Barbaro

The article begins, "Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was euthanized Monday after complications from his breakdown at the Preakness last May."

It continues, "We just reached a point where it was going to be difficult for him to go on without pain," co-owner Roy Jackson said. "It was the right decision, it was the right thing to do. We said all along if there was a situation where it would become more difficult for him then it would be time."

Roy and Gretchen Jackson were with Barbaro on Monday morning, with the owners making the decision in consultation with chief surgeon Dean Richardson.

It was a series of complications, including laminitis in the left rear hoof and a recent abscess in the right rear hoof, that proved to be too much for the gallant colt, whose breakdown brought an outpouring of support across the country."

I just wanted to let you know that MamaD is experiencing no laminitis in her left rear hoof. Good news.

Tacos

Ethanol is all the rage...unless you like tacos. There seems to be trouble.

Bears-Colts

Need a laugh? Watch this.

Everybody's Doing It

Your Dominant Intelligence is Interpersonal Intelligence

You shine in your ability to relate to and understand others. Good at seeing others' points of view, you get how people think and feel. You have an uncanny ability to sense true feelings, intentions, and motivations. A natural born leader, you are great at teaching and mediating conflict. You would make a good counselor, salesperson, politician, or business person.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

The One Armed Man

This is not the real fugitive.

This guy is the real one.

Having said that, I think we all need take a moment and think about that poor one armed man. Life can't have been that easy for him, you know.

More about living the one arm life is coming soon...probably when I can use that other arm and blog about it.

Platinum Ring Mix-up

In June Mr. D and I will celebrate 30 years of wedded bliss.

I was hoping for a platinum & diamond ring, but there was some confusion and he is getting me a titanium plate instead. It will arrive on Friday afternoon.

Linda Scissorhands

When you break your wrist and it needs to be put back in place it is called a "reduction". They block the nerve to the arm and give an extra dose of pain killer into the break. Then they bring in the device seen in the photo. They put a "chinese handcuff-like" thing on each finger, hook it to the device, and hang weights from your arm. Within minutes the bone is moved up or down enough to pop that sucker over and back in place, put on a cast, and send you on your merry way with a weekend's supply of Vicodin.

Of course, when I saw what they were doing and how ridiculous it was, I asked Terry to take a photo for my blog. The nurse heard me and went running to get a polaroid (good thing since my camera was not in my bag). He took two shots. In the first I don't look so puffy and my eyes are open, but Terry's dark shirt makes this the better photo as it offsets the finger contraption nicely. So, I will set vanity aside in the interest of educating you, my dear blog reader.

Distal Radius Fracture

This is an x-ray of a typical distal radius fracture.

There are many ways to get one of your very own. One of the more fun ways is to go skating at Centennial Lakes.

Humility and Class

This is what humility and class looks like to me.

Here is a person who cares about what he says and how he says it and goes the extra mile to avoid unnecessarily offending others. Here is a leader who leads by example and demonstrates humility not by telling us how humble he is, but by being humble.

Junk Brothers

We switched to Direct TV last July in one of those attempts to bundle and save with Qwest. Lots of trouble and I still haven't figured out how to read the bill to see if we are actually saving $$$, but that's for another blog post, or, perhaps, for a letter to the attorney general's office.

At any rate, the channels are all weird at Direct TV. There seems to be no particular rhyme or reason, so I have memorized some channels (Fox News is 360, The Food Network is 231, CNN is 202, etc.). I discovered if you go to 231 (Food) and click down two channels, you get the Home and Garden TV and if you do it at the right time (I don't know what time that would be since I don't know how to find the schedule yet), you come across a very entertaining show called The Junk Brothers.

They are two guys from Canada who go out at night lurking. Their goal is to find furniture that people have put out in their garbage, but that the Junk Brothers think just needs some TLC and creativity.

They take the item, rework it into something creative, and bring it back all restored. They ring the doorbell and run and the owner comes out, looks at the reworked item, scratches his/her head and says, "Wasn't that the beat up dresser we threw out last week?"

Next time you're looking for some mindless entertainment, check out The Junk Brothers.

Noteworthy Quote from NYC Mayor Bloomberg

We are waiting for the gas to pass.
--Mayor Bloomberg

Caluiflower and Mark Twain

I think it's time to move on to a post that doesn't have the word "peeing" in it. While I was watching Rachel Ray make a pasta sauce out of mashed cauliflower, she offered the following Mark Twain quote. This, of course got me a googlin' (MamaD and the google search--a deadly combination) "Mark Twain quotes" and I came up with a few more for your reading pleasure.

Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.


"Be yourself" is about the worst advice you can give to people.

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.

Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run.

Substitute damn every time you're inclined to write very; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.

To succeed in life you need two things: ignorance and confidence.

Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.

Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable.

Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.

A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.

It takes your enemy and your friend, working together to hurt you: the one to slander you and the other to get the news to you.

And, finally, how many of you knew that Mr. Twain is credited with the next quote?

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.

From My Cousin Dale

SUCCESS:

At age 4  success is . . . not peeing in your pants.
At age 12 success is . . . having friends.
At age 16 success is . . . having a drivers license.
At age 35 success is . . . having money.
At age 50 success is . . . having money.
At age 70 success is . . . having a drivers license.
At age 75 success is . . . having friends.
At age 80 success is . . . not peeing in your pants.

Why I Homeschool

I homeschool so that I will not be in the same camp as this guy, Mr. Challies, whoever he is, who has bought into every cliche in the book about how idiotic and uninvolved with the culture us stupid homeschoolers are. Now I gotta quit blogging and get back to writing my latest tract, "The Evils of Halloween and the Excellencies of George W. Bush," then it's off to buy me a new blue denim jumper, but not till after I gather the eggs from the hen house and milk Bessie.

The other reason I homeschool is because of this:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7

In Spite of Myself

In spite of my recent blog post, I started my "read the Bible in a year" program in January. I did not, however, start with Genesis. I started with Zephaniah. One book down. 65 more to go!

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.
Zephaniah 3:17-19

Choose this One

Okay, so if you're only going to read one of my links, pick this one.

Terry and I went to Bethlehem last Sunday and were blessed, encouraged, and challenged by this message.

Another Tasty Morsel

I found yet another tasty morsel...and guess where it was!?

It relates to the discussion I referred to a couple posts ago.

Never in January

I found this article on the Desiring God web site and thought it was timely. Here's the link.

Preaching the Gospel

Ben and his fam were having an interesting discussion yesterday that he continued on his blog.

While pondering his question, I remembered a St. Francis of Assisi quote that got me "a googling" and I ran across yet another SFOA quote that I think is even better than the more familiar first one.

First quote:
Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.

Second quote:
It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.

Grace Upon Grace

And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1: 16, 17

Merry Christmas!

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
2 Corinthians 9:15

The "W" in Christmas

...and you know how much I love "W!"

Here's a little forward I received. Don't know if it's true, but I hope it is:

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six year old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant."

I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation.

All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.

So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats.

As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer.

So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads.

Those in the front row -center stage- held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song.

As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down - totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W".

The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W".

Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together.

A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen.

In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

And, I believe, He still is.

Amazed in His presence... humbled by His love.

Personal Church Shopper

Now, there's an idea.

Terry discovered The Sacred Sandwich site a few weeks ago and I just read their article on the family that hired the personal shopper to help them with their church shopping. Here are a couple choice tidbits from the article:

Growing bored with the outdated programs at their present church, the Henman family of Peoria, IL, recently hired Lucy Ditmer, a personal shopper, to find them a new church home to meet their spiritual needs. “Between my boy’s hockey games and my girl’s dance classes, I really don’t have the time to go church shopping,” said Helen Henman. “It’s a great relief to know that Lucy can take care of all that. The last thing Phil and I want to do right now is spend every Sunday morning going to strange churches just to see if they have cushioned seating and a proper food court.”

And it concludes:

As for the Henman family, they are anxious to see what Lucy finds for them. “Being without a church home these past few weeks has really taken a toll on our family,” Mrs. Henman admitted. “Just the other day Phil was dealing with a lot of stress at work and he needed a pastor to show him how Jesus dealt with project deadlines. If Lucy doesn’t hurry up and find us a church soon, we may be forced to open a Bible and look for the answer ourselves.”

Christmas Cards and Christmas Clutter

I love Christmas.

Besides the obvious "reason for the season", I love all the extra stuff that goes with Christmas.

I love the music. Even the cheesy music.

I love getting together with people.

I love making and eating all the goodies.

I love buying presents for people and wrapping them. (Isn't wired ribbon a fun and wonderful invention?)

I love all the traditions our family has...MOA shopping day, the "girl's" Christmas Brunch (held yesterday), the shopping, the wrapping, the cards, driving by the Mount Normandale houses at midnight on Christmas Eve to see all the luminaries on the way home from Mom's listening to the Superamerica Christmas Collection that Terry bought 25 years ago, the Christmas tree pineapple upside down cake that we have every Christmas morning which our neighbors have faithfully delivered for 22 years (and they moved away 12 years ago so aren't our neighbors anymore!), the Christmas crackers that pop and have a toy, a riddle, a joke, and a crown in them that we all put on for the Christmas picture.

Right now, the basement is entirely covered with wrapping paper, ribbon, packages, shopping bags and tissue paper. It's great.

We watched "A Christmas Story" last night. And, I'm hoping to watch "Elf" sometime again this week.

The agenda today was the cards. From start to finish, we did it.

We have found that making an adventure out of life's chores is the way to go. So, today we had an adventure. It started out with the adventure of figuring out why my Applework's address book had a major glitch. We never figured out why that happened, but we did manage to get it good enough to print out the labels.

Then it was off to Terry's office to print the return address on the envelopes. Of course, we have had the envelopes for a few days, but, again, if you are looking for an adventure, you don't do things ahead of time. Terry got the envelopes printing and I slapped together a Christmas letter. It's not the most interesting letter ever, but it's written!

Then, it was off to Southdale to pick up Beth (she had been shopping with Katie and Tim). K and T went to a movie (Eragon) and Beth came with us to Kinkos to print the letter and then to Starbuck's at the Galleria where for the last several years, Terry and I have settled in and folded, stuffed, labeled, stamped, and sealed the Christmas cards.

Having Beth to help made for quick work and we were done in less than 2 hours. On the way home we "swung" by the airport, dropped them in the mail, and headed home. A productive day.

I hope there are no typos on the letter. A person, (for the sake of this blog post we shall call her "Diane") told me tonight that they had all their letters printed and her husband (for the sake of this blog post we shall call him "Steve") did one final proof of the letter. They had done some "tweaking" and wound up with a sentence that said something like, "Diane continues coordinating the Lord..." So, last minute tweaking is not always a good thing.

I really hope our letter is okay, because it is mailed.

And, that is the end of my blog post for today.

Tomorrow it's cleaning and cookies.

If John Piper did it, it must be okay!

If you go to this link, you can hear JP answering some questions that some High School students asked him about how he met his wife. It's kind of sweet. He has the unique gift of being direct and classy at the same time.

World's Best Cup of Coffee

I love the movie Elf.
Here's a little clip for your viewing pleasure.

The Welcome Does End

Thanks Lark News for this oldie, but goodie.

Friends not friends forever, even if the Lord's the Lord of them, former pals say SALEM, Mass. — Two former "best buddies" from Saratoga Nazarene Church say they learned the hard way that a lifetime is too long to live as friends, despite the claims of a popular Christian song.
Theresa and Dalia, both 13, became best friends the day they met in third grade. They soon realized they were the only serious Christians in the school, and both had major crushes on Michael W. Smith.
"We used to bounce on my bed using hairbrushes as microphones and singing 'Friends' to each other," says Theresa. "I'd sing Amy Grant's part and she'd sing Michael W. Smith's part. Then we'd laugh and roll around. We knew our friendship was forever, like the song said."
But at the end of eighth grade, things hit a rough patch. Dalia quit wearing her Amy Grant Hearts in Motion Concert Tour T-shirt to school on Fridays, as she and Theresa had done for years.
"That felt like betrayal," Theresa said. "I was totally alone."
Then both girls developed a crush on the same boy, Brad Loudermilk, the only decent-looking Christian in the school. Out of spite, Dalia switched her crush to a non-Christian guy, and the friendship with Theresa was effectively severed.
Theresa went home after school and ripped the Michael W. Smith poster from her wall, then crumpled onto her bed and sobbed.
"I guess friends will say never and the welcome does end," she said bitterly. •

I Like You, I'm Sorry, Chill Out

Insecure?

Bothered by something you said or did?

Or, are you just uptight today?

Go here.

Thanks, Mikey!

Note to Self

This Luther quote has been on my mind lately.

I'm posting it on my blog as a reminder to me.

"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.

"Wherever the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that one point."

- Martin Luther

Really Cool and Lots of Fun

Thanks for teaching the kids how to do this, Jeremy. We have been having all kinds of fun folding and refolding t-shirts.

Excommunicated from my society...hmmmm...

Which Star Wars Character Are You? Your Result: Jar Jar Binks "You are SOOO annoying!" I bet that you get told that a lot. Your flighty attitude is charming at first but tends to get you in a lot of trouble and gets excommunicated from your society. Be more careful!
Yoda
Luke SkyWalker
Princess Leia
Han Solo
Boba Fett
Darth Vader
Jabba the Hutt
Which Star Wars Character Are You? Create Your Own Quiz