Easter

I can't remember the last time we didn't go to church on Easter morning, but we didn't get to go yesterday. Beth had pink eye and we didn't get it diagnosed until Saturday. She needed to be on antibiotic drops 24 hours before we took her to church, so that ruled out Sunday morning. Neal still felt really bad Saturday evening. He had a cough, congestion, and he kept running a fever off and on. I let both of them sleep in yesterday and they didn't get up until 11:00! Beth woke up with clear eyes, and when Neal woke up he felt fine, too!

Around 1:00 we went to Neal's grandfather's house for lunch. (Beth had strict orders not to shake hands with anyone :o) There were 25 people there, and we all had a nice time catching up and eating.

Last night, since everyone was feeling better and Beth has her drops in for 24 hours, we went to church. It ended up mostly being a song service, and was so worshipful. The last song we sang touched me deeply. It's an old song that I've known all my life, but I guess with what we're going through right now it was very comforting.

Because He Lives

God sent His Son - they called Him Jesus,
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

Chorus:

Because He lives I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

How sweet to hold a newborn baby
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because Christ lives.

(Chorus)

And then one day I'll cross the river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain;
And then, as death gives way to victory,
I'll see the lights of glory - and I'll know He lives.

(Chorus)

Written by Bill and Gloria Gaither

Tonight Neal and I have to have our "what if" talk. "What if something goes wrong and Neal doesn't make it through surgery," or "what if something happens before he makes it to surgery." I really don't think this shows a lack of faith. I believe God wants us to be prepared at all times to take care of our families. We've actually had this talk before, but Neal has more to add to it this time. He's put more thought into it, and wants to write it down for me. I can't say I'm looking forward to it, but I know it needs to be done.

We are hoping to go out on a date Friday night, so I told him to get this talk over with and not bring that up on the date. :o) He agreed.

Happy Easter Monday!

Lots on my Plate

And I'm not talking about food. :o) I'm actually trying to have less food on my plate. LOL

It's beautiful outside today. I went out to the courtyard on my lunch break. There's a picnic table out there and I sat on the side that faces the mountains. The sky was blue, and the mountains looked an even deeper blue. Gorgeous! The sun was shining, but their was a continual breeze that made the 57 degrees feel a bit cooler.

I wasn't hungry, so I took my Bible out and read some. I came across a really neat verse: Psalm 39:6 "We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it." Verse 7 goes on to say "And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you."

Moving shadows...

Speaking of shadows, last night Neal, the kids, and I went to see the play "Shadowlands." It was about C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia author), or rather about a short time in his life...the time from when he met his wife Joy - until her death. A short time...only a few years. There was a movie made in the 90's by the same name. Anthony Hopkins played Lewis (don't know if I can get past the Hannibal Lecter image here) and Debra Winger played Joy.

We are blessed to live in an area with a University with an excellent drama department. We've been to every production this year with the exception of one -- Much Ado About Nothing. That played last month when I had the stomach flu. I'd already purchased 4 tickets, so Grandma and Grandpa took the kids. They loved it. Next month is West Side Story...I can't wait!

I'm continuing to work part-time at our Registrar's office. My last day will be March 31st. I've really enjoyed the job and the extra money, but I look forward to being home full-time again!

Right now I'm busy planning a single mom's retreat for April. Our theme is Extreme Make-Over: Heart Edition. I have two speakers lined up, plus me. One lady will speak Saturday night, I'll do an early Sunday devotional and then the other lady will speak later Sunday morning. I still have lots of planning and preparing to do, but the final pieces are falling into place.

The fireplace is still not operating yet! We did find an insert and logs to fit, but we're waiting on a blower to come in. We ordered one and it came in and didn't work. We got another one, brought it home and it didn't work. Now they're ordering another. We also have to have the gas lines run for us. That should happen any day now.

Our new microwave came in and Neal picked it up yesterday. Yaah! We should install it tomorrow night. We borrowed one from a friend and it's been sitting on our counter. It'll be nice to have one installed over our stove again...out of the way! What a blessing the borrowed microwave has been though!

Oh, I just finished a really good book: The Healing Quilt by Lauraine Snelling. It's a book that deals with loss...loss of a child, parent, marriage, a child through abortion, etc. Although it's fictionalized, it has a lot of good truths in it, and was a book to really make me take stock and think about what I have in my life!

Now I'm going to be reading LORD, I Want to Know You by Kay Arthur...not fiction. This is a study on the Names of God. I'm so excited about doing this. I'll not be going through it at a leisurely pace though, as I want to use some of this material at our retreat next month. I may be sharing some of what I learn here.

Blessings,

Healthy Voyage

I'm really, really trying to lead a more healthy lifestyle! It's so difficult sometimes though, isn't it? I mean you have fast food on every corner (who really wants to cook a "made from scratch" meal every day? It's terribly tempting to run into KFC and pick up a bucket of chicken (or even get some at the grocery store for that matter). I do enjoy cooking, but on days when I'm really busy or running lots of errands those Golden Arches big buckets of chicken call my name!

This week I sat down and wrote out my menu for the rest of the month. It's very daunting at the time ... even the grocery trip is daunting ... but the ease of mind it brings the rest of the month is priceless! I just look at my menu in the morning and see if I need to pull anything out of the freezer and then plan my day around what time I need to prepare the meal. If it's a day I'm working, or we have basketball practice, or 4-H, I try to make a crock pot meal or a casserole that I've prepared ahead of time. It's all in the planning, which is sometimes easier said than done!

The bread baking is still going really well. My family truly does enjoy it, and so do I. I've got the sandwich rolls down pretty well now, so it doesn't take me long to fix them. I made some brownies tonight using freshly ground soft white wheat. I tasted them a little while ago and they tasted pretty good. Hopefully the kids will think so. Ben's having a friend over tomorrow and I like to have a special dessert prepared when we have company. I also made pizza crusts today for lunch tomorrow, and while they were baking I prepared the toppings and stuck them in the fridge. When we get home from church tomorrow I'll just have to throw the pizzas together and put them in the oven.

Neal and I have gotten back into exercising again. We actually worked out six days this past week! I got up to 2 miles on the elliptical, so I was pretty pleased with that. I'm at a 10 minute mile. I'm so thankful for a disciplined husband! Other than Monday morning, I would have slept in every morning this past week! Neal had to resort to tickling to get me out of bed one morning. I'm pretty bad!

Anyway, that's part of my healthy voyage plan. Eat healthier and exercise regularly. I'm bound to lose weight...right???

Hello Operator?

As I mentioned before, I'm working a temporary, part-time job. I answer the phones, I enter data and print out reports, etc, etc.

But today I felt like saying "Do I look like a phone book?" Why would anyone call up an office to ask for the telephone number of a completely different workplace? Since I've been working there I've had this happen at least 5 times! Helloooo??? I don't know enough about the office I'm in, let alone the phone number of every other office in our town!

Lesson Learned

For the last several months I had begun to have the desire to go back to work part time. It wasn't so much that I felt like we needed the money...although that wouldn't hurt...it was more of a desire to work outside the home. Well, an opportunity presented itself in December. My FIL had a part time secretary that needed to go on a leave of absence for a few months. She only works on Mondays and Wednesdays and the pay is pretty good. I talked to Neal about it and we thought we could make it work since it is temporary. I started the week before Christmas and it's going pretty well. It's an easy job...doing a bit of computer work and answering telephones. If I need to take the kids with me I can (I did take Ben last Wednesday). I really do enjoy it...BUT I'm ready for it to end already. Even though it's only two days a week, I miss my kids! I'll gladly finish out the time, but I won't be sad when his real secretary says she's ready to come back!

So, what am I doing with my extra $$$? I'm buying a gas log fireplace! I've already purchased the mantel and it's in place in our living room. I'll have to post some pictures of it. Next I'll save up for the firebox and logs. Then I'll have to save up for the propane tank. I'm about halfway there for the box and logs, but I don't foresee us warming our toes by the fire this winter!

Some thoughts on....

The Golden Compass.

No surprise...I'm not going to watch it, and I will not allow my children to watch it. I read an excellent post on a blog that I read that explains very succinctly the way I feel about supporting this movie. I'm going to paraphrase a part of her post for those of you who don't have the time to go over and read her entire post:

There are missionaries all over the word who are dying (yes, dying)or risking their lives due to their commitment to spread the gospel and tell others of Christ. So why in the world would I want to go and support a movie that does the exact opposite of what these missionaries are doing?

Instead, take that money and do something worthwhile with it: support a missionary, or an orphan in a foreign country, or, heck, why not right here in the good ol' USA?! Help out a homeless mission. You don't even have to be a "Believer" to see the common sense in using your money in a more worthwhile way.

There are several "children's" movies/tv shows that we do not allow our children to watch simply because they're a waste of time, or the kids have terrible attitudes that I don't want to portray as okay to my kids, or for other reasons. This movie, however, I will not support just because it is dangerous. Yes, the movie is supposedly watered down and does not have an overtly anti-religious theme (although there are some things in there that I've seen even in movie trailers), but it will just lead children to want to read the books which when you get into the 2nd and 3rd books in the series are very anti-God. Why would I want to support that or the man who wrote the books?

By the way, if you're an athiest doesn't that mean you don't believe in God? So, if God's not real why spend so much time and money trying to kill Him in the eyes of children?

Have You Ever...

You know when you pay for something with a credit card at Walmart or some other store, and one of the last questions the credit card swipey machine asks you is "Is this Total okay?" Don't you seriously just want to look at the clerk and say "No, I would like a lower total, please?" And then just stand there with a deadpan look on your face and watch her squirm?

Too much FOX news???

At the Awana Grand Prix on Saturday (which I promise to blog about very soon) we all had to say the Pledge of Allegiance. As I was standing there saluting the flag and proudly lifting my voice in pledge, I heard this come out of my mouth: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republican for which it stands..."

Can you tell I've been thinking about elections too much lately? LOL

A Man of God

I've been contemplating what to write about Jerry Falwell, or if I should even try to write anything. I've decided to just write what's on my mind.

There are so many people I've talked to through the years who have nothing but negative things to say about Jerry. I can understand that. He was very controversial. I do believe, however, that he was made to look much worse by the media and press. That makes sense, doesn't it? The media rarely gives unbiased reports, and they certainly wouldn't support Jerry's views.

I was visiting with an aunt and uncle in Kentucky last summer. This was the first time I'd really spent any time with this particular aunt and she asked me if I lived near Jerry's church. As I told her that I do live nearby, I fully expected to hear something negative about him. Boy, was I surprised! She just went on and on about how wonderful she thought Jerry was, and what a great ministry he has out there in Virginia. She told me all about his kids -- naming them by name and telling me what their careers are. She was telling me about the new church. It was all stuff that I knew, but it was so neat to hear her enthusiasm over the ministry.

Sometimes Jerry spoke first and thought second...don't we all? Fortunately our comments don't make front page news! If Jerry did say something that he felt bad about or regretted, he was good about apologizing for it. If he didn't believe he was wrong he would stand by his words and not give in to the pressure of the media. I admire that.

What most people who have not had personal contact with Jerry, or who do not live in the area, don't realize is that he was a very "real" person. He wasn't a standoffish celebrity. He was known for remembering people's names. It was not uncommon for him to meet someone one time and then be able to call them by name from then on. He always waved when we passed him on the road. He loved to pull practical jokes. He was very generous.

I met him for the first time in 1985 at Liberty University. My Dad was a supporter of the Moral Majority, so I grew up hearing about Jerry even though I lived in Ohio. When I had the opportunity to go to Liberty University (Jerry's college) I was so excited. Our church received a few Pastor's Scholarships in 1985 that covered our room and board. My best friend and I both received one and packed our bags for Lynchburg, Virginia! I remember be extremely excited and my friend not really wanting to stay. She ended up loving it and I got homesick and barely made it through my first year! LOL I headed back home the following spring and said I'd never move back to Lynchburg. My friend stayed on in L'burg and got married to a local boy. Then I ended up moving back in 1988, met a "local boy," got married, and I've been here ever since (minus a 5 year stint in Georgia). God does have a sense of humor!

Back to the story...it was very common to see Dr. Falwell walking around campus chatting with the students. He was a hands-on Chancellor. He liked to meet the students and get feedback from them. I even heard that he was up on the mountain talking to students the day before he died.

I also had the privilege to visit with him at some family reunions. My husband's grandfather was first cousins with Jerry. Our families do not do things together, but he would come to our family reunions. At our last reunion he had his museum opened up just for us. The museum is on campus at the university and was a birthday gift to Jerry a few years back (I believe for his 70th birthday). It goes through his entire life. So part of it was of great interest to my husband's family since pictures of some of their family and ancestors were displayed. Our reunions were usually on Sundays and Jerry didn't have a lot of free time on Sundays, but he always stopped by and would stay about an hour or so.

For those of you who have read this and do not have a good opinion of Jerry Falwell, I hope that you can see that he was more than what the media portrayed. He was a man who truly loved God and wanted to serve Him to his fullest extent. Many lives have been changed for the better because of Jerry's ministry. I will always be grateful to him and his vision of Liberty University. I would never have come to Lynchburg or met my husband if he had not followed God's calling on his life.

Affect or Effect

Does anyone else have trouble with these two words or is it just me? I can never remember how to use them correctly in a sentence. Remember? Perhaps I've never known how! Here's what www.dictionary.com has to say about them:

Affect1 and effect, each both noun and verb, share the sense of “influence,” and because of their similarity in pronunciation are sometimes confused in writing. As a verb affect1 means “to act on” or “to move” (His words affected the crowd so deeply that many wept); affect2 means “to pretend” or “to assume” (new students affecting a nonchalance they didn't feel). The verb effect means “to bring about, accomplish”: Her administration effected radical changes. The noun effect means “result, consequence”: the serious effects of the oil spill. The noun affect1 pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, is a technical term in psychology and psychiatry. Affect2 is not used as a noun.

Does that make it clear for you? It may have helped me for the moment, but I betcha when I have to write affect or effect again, I'll have to sit here and ponder whether or not I'm using it correctly!

Dear God

I got this in an email from a friend of mine and thought it was really good:


Dear God:
Why didn't you save the school children at...

Moses Lake, Washington 2/2/96
Bethel, Alaska 2/19/97
Pearl, Mississippi 10/1/97
West Paducah, Kentucky 12/1/97
Stamp, Arkansas 12/15/97
Jonesboro, Arkansas 3/24/98
Edinboro, Pennsylvania 4/24/98
Fayetteville, Tennessee 5/19/98
Springfield, Oregon 5/21/98
Richmond, Virginia 6/15/98
Littleton, Colorado 4/20/99
Taber, Alberta, Canada 5/28/99
Conyers, Georgia 5/20/99
Deming, New Mexico 11/19/99
Fort Gibson, Oklahoma 12/6/99
Santee, California 3/ 5/01
El Cajon, California 3/22/01
Grundy, VA 1/16/02
Cole Spring, MN 9/24/03
Miami, FL 2/3/04
Red Lake, MN 3/21/05
Jacksboro, Tennessee 11/8/05
Cazenovia, Wisconsin 9/29/06
Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania 10/2/06
Tacoma, Washington 1/03/07
Virginia Tech 04/16/2007?

Sincerely,Concerned Student
-----------------------------------------------------
Reply:Dear Concerned Student:
I am not allowed in schools.

Sincerely,
God
----------------------------------------------------------
How did this get started?
-----------------
Let's see,I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare complainedshe didn't want any prayer in our schools. And we said, OK..
------------------
Then, someone said you better not read the Bible in school,the Bible that says "thou shalt not kill,thou shalt not steal,and love your neighbors as yourself,"And we said, OK...
-----------------
Dr. Benjamin Spock saidwe shouldn't spank our children when they misbehaved because their little personalitieswould be warped and we might damage their self-esteem. And we said, an expert should know what he's talking about so we won't spank them anymore..
------------------
Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity,and we surely don't want to be sued. And we accepted their reasoning...
------------------
Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won't even have to tell their parents. And we said, that's a grand idea...
------------------
Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're going to do it anyway,let's give our sons all the condoms they want, so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said, that's another great idea...
------------------
Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. And we said, it doesn't matter what anybody, including the President, does in private as long as we have jobs and the economy is good....
------------------
And someone else took that appreciation a step furtherand published pictures of nude children and then stepped further still by making them available on the Internet. And we said, everyone's entitled to free speech....
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And the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence and illicit sex... And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes... And we said, it's just entertainment and it has no adverse effect and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.
------------------
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, classmates or even themselves.
------------------
Undoubtedly, if we thought about it long and hard enough, we could figure it out. I'm sure it has a great deal to do with...

"WE REAP WHAT WE SOW,"

Pray for Virginia Tech

Please pray for the students, faculty, and families at Virginia Tech. What a tragedy! My husband is an alumnus, and my SIL is a Junior Engineering major. Thankfully she is fine, but sadly there are many people tonight that cannot say that about their loved one.

Please also pray for the parents and family of the shooter. How awful it would be to find out your child was responsible for the death of 32 people.

Some Thoughts

This morning some thoughts were running around in my head and I had to write them down. I know they are a bit simplistic, but this is what was on my mind and in my heart:

A Better You

Controlling the tongue
Can be difficult to do.
But the Bible tells us to do so,
And it will make a better you!


Do Unto Others

Do not bear false witness
against your brother.
The sins of lies and gossip
will destroy your testimony
Like no other.

God's Word says, "Do unto others
as you would have them do unto you."
So why tear down fellow Christians
when we know that is what Satan
Wants us to do?