Reruns

Can you believe that I have been so busy that I haven't written anything in my blog in ten months?! Neither can I. Of course that is because I haven't been too busy. Oh I've been busy, but what I have been busy with is doing nothing. This has actually been a pretty eventful ten months, with our oldest grandson starting high school, our granddaughter starting middle school, our church getting a new pastor (a great one!), and my medical tests turning around from abnormal to normal. James and I started a new way of eating and we are doing pretty well on it. We started "The Sugar Blockers Diet" by Dr. Rob Thompson. Basically we have cut out most starches. Anyway, more on all that later. Today I was checking a friend's new blog, and I found an old blog I started in 2008. I had totally forgotten about it. I don't need two blogs running at the same time (especially when I am so bad about writing), so I am sticking with this one. However, I thought I would copy and paste a couple of my entries from that one here.  :)  So, without further ado, here they are:

From January 30, 2008

In a Serious Mood Tonight

I have been a Christian for many years, since I was a teenager.  The last few years, though, I have really slipped in one area (others too, but big-time here), and that is reading my Bible.  I would look verses up all the time, but I wasn't devoting time to really studying the Word.  It really upset me that I could find time for so many other things, but I did not take the time to read the Bible.  Almost seven months ago I decided that I need to make that effort.  Am I going about it the right way?  Not according to some, and they may be right.  But I am doing it in a way that makes sense to me.  While I am still reading the New Testament (in a casual way, and looking up verses to help with situations), I decided that I didn't know enough background information.  How can I understand some of what Jesus was talking about if I don’t know more of the Old Testament?

 I have been pretty good about reading every morning.  I’ll admit I don’t usually read on the weekends, but I need to change that.  I've gotten off track, so to get back to how I am choosing to read, I decided to start at the beginning and read straight through.  I have started to do that before, many years ago, and I didn't make it very far.  I didn't have the same focus then though.  Back then I was just reading to get through it, but now I am really paying attention to what I am reading.  Because I am focused and am reading with a purpose, I am really enjoying reading the Old Testament.  I’m not going to lie, there are some parts that are as boring as all get out, but the history is amazing.  I have read enough and heard enough in the past to know a lot of some parts and at least the bare bones of the rest, but I had never delved so deeply into it.  I’m so glad I chose to do it this way. 

I used to read pretty fast, and I don’t anymore.  That doesn't bother me.  I’m not trying to get through the Bible in one year.  My goal is to really get into the Word and to gain a deeper understanding of God’s plan for me.  I have always been a daydreamer, and I have a hard time keeping my mind on some things for very long.  I am doing two things to help with that problem.  The first thing is, I always pray for understanding and focus before I start reading each day.  Sometimes I have to stop, take a breath, and say a quick “refresher” prayer if I find my mind wandering.  The other thing I am doing is reading out loud.  I read years ago that if you see it and hear it at the same time, what you read will stay with you longer.  I know that is the only way I was able to get through some of my college textbooks! 

 I am about halfway through Nehemiah right now.  I just finished a long stretch of name after name after name sections, and it is good to be on to more interesting things now. 

What I took away from my reading today: It is all too often easier to value other peoples’ opinions above God’s opinion.  We (yeah, I am definitely a big part of that we) are sometimes so concerned about looking stupid, undignified, silly, “whatever,” to other people that we forget that their opinions about us don’t matter at all in the scheme of things.  So it is my prayer that I will always trust in God above all others.  I know that if  trust in Him, things will work out for the best.

From January 31, 2008

Frustrated by Stupidity/Being Judgmental

There is an argument going on at a site I belong to.  I’m not going to get into what the argument is about, but it is about something a teen did wrong at school and was punished for.  The parent wanted to know if the other members thought the punishment fit the wrongdoing. 

 It started out okay, with people offering their opinions about the punishment.  Several posts later, however, things went nuts.  They started focusing on the wrongdoing itself (okay, it was swearing), and tempers started to flair, since some saw nothing wrong with swearing at all, some saw nothing wrong with swearing but thought kids shouldn't do it around their teachers and some adults, and some were very opposed to swearing. 

 It was all kind of silly in my opinion, but the part that really drove me nuts, the part that leaves me frustrated with people, is when people started saying things like, “It’s not the worst thing she could have done,” and “There are a lot of things worse than swearing.”  Why am I frustrated?  Because it doesn't matter that there are worse things than swearing.  Yes, there are worse things.  There are things that aren't as bad.  That was not the point of the whole question to begin with. 

 Where am I going with this, you might be wondering.  I’m thinking about the way people think about sin, in general.  People love to feel good about themselves, even when they are sinning, by comparing their sin to that of others.  We think that because all we did was tell a “little white lie” or cheat on our taxes and such, it is okay because there are worse sins.  We love to look to people like Charles Manson when thinking about our sins because that makes us feel better about what we did.  But we are comparing ourselves and our sins to the wrong example.  We are only supposed to compare ourselves and our sins to Jesus.  And we don’t compare at all. 

There are so many directions I could go with this right now.  It started out with frustration about a particular situation, but it is something that really affects our lives more than we know.  Because when we compare our sins to those of others, we are being judgmental.  And it is not our job to judge.  We don’t have to like or condone the sins of others, but it is not our job to judge them for their sins.  God can do a pretty good job of it all by Himself.  I kind of like having the burden of judging others off of me.  It leaves me free to worry about my own sins and asking forgiveness for them.  

Happy New Year -- 2012!

Sheesh, I can't believe how long it has been since I have written. I probably won't write much now, but I just felt that I needed to say something.

I am glad 2011 is over and we have moved on to a new year. I don't know what this year will bring, but it has to be better than last year.  The year 2011 was the year that my dad was diagnosed with a bad cancerous brain tumor, a Glioblastoma Multiforme to be exact, and it is the year he died from said tumor. A lot of bad stuff, and a couple bad people, came along with the tumor, but that is all in the past and I won't go into it here.

There were some good things about last year as well.  I got to spend more time with Nancy, Steve, Andrew, Hannah, and Thomas. I also got to spend more time with my sister Diana, and I saw my nephew Justin for the first time in a few years and was able to spend a little time with him. We all got to spend some time with Daddy as his illness progressed.  We got to say a lot of things that needed to be said, and we came closer, in some ways, as a family.

Daddy died peacefully in his sleep at about 7:10 p.m. on November 12, 2011.  With the exception of James (unfortunately we couldn't afford a ticket for him to come) we were all there with Daddy when he left us.  We miss him, but he is in Heaven now with Mama and with Jesus, and that is a good thing.

I am looking forward to 2012.  I hope to come closer and closer to God.  I don't want to be a Christian in name only--I want to live a life that cannot be mistaken for anything other than a Christian life.  I want to delve deeper into God's Word, and I want to cultivate a richer prayer life.  I have a long way to go.

A Totally Frivolous Want

I just posted this at DiscussCooking.com and thought it would be a good topic for today.  :)


There are things we all need and things we want, but what is the one thing that you have always wanted but have never gotten? This has to be a "want" and not a "need."

For me it is a pool table. When I was around 10 my mom and dad, Aunt Janet and Uncle Ted, and my Uncle Glen all went together and bought a pool table. It was kept in Aunt Janet's and Uncle Ted's garage, and we spent a lot of time there. It was mostly the adults who played, but we did get a chance now and then. When my aunt and uncle moved, no one had room for the pool table, so it was sold. It has been over 40 years since then, but the strong desire to have one has never gone away.

What is it that you have always wanted?

Tiredness + Thirst = Yuck!

Wow, did I do something stupid the other night.

I have been waking up at night not only very thirsty, but also with my mouth and throat as dry as cotton. I try to keep a bottle of water next to the bed for those occasions.

The other night I woke up incredibly dry and thirsty. I was also still very tired. I grabbed the bottle that was next to my clock, sat up, and opened it. Then, for some reason, a still small voice inside of me said, "What if it's not water?" I barely gave it a thought, but instead of gulping and swallowing almost in one fluid motion as usual, I just poured some of it into my mouth and held it for a second. That was definitely long enough to realize that what I had in my mouth was not water, but witch hazel (with rubbing alcohol). I spit it out and rinsed my mouth a lot, then drank from the water bottle that had been sitting right behind the witch hazel.

YUCK!

Fortunately, even if I had swallowed the mouthful of witch hazel solution it would not have killed me, but it scared me to think of what could have happened if it had been something more dangerous. I will definitely be more careful about what I leave near my bed!

Thank You God for that still small voice.  :)

To Pluck or Not to Pluck

A while back I wrote about God speaking to me. Sometimes I recognize when He is speaking to me, but I'm sure there are times that I am too "busy" to listen. I really hope not, but I'm human, and fallible, so I'm sure I have. Today though, God spoke pretty clearly to me, in a direct answer to something I asked Him.

For the last 20 years, give or take, I have had a few gray hairs pop up on my head. There were only about three of them the first ten years, and I routinely plucked them, but they have slowly been increasing. I still pluck the obvious ones, but I know that if I continue to pluck all of them, I won't have a lot of hair soon! There are not enough gray hairs to warrant dying my hair, and since I love my hair color, I don't want to take a chance on ending up with a bad dye job.

This brings me to my conversation with God this morning. Right after my shower, as I was plucking a couple stubborn gray hairs that were standing straight up toward the back of my head, I remembered hearing some time ago a verse in the Bible about gray hair being a crown of glory. I told God right then and there that I would love to be able to find that verse, and that if gray hair is a crown of glory, I wouldn't mind going gray so much.

After my shower, it was time for my daily devotions and Bible time. I read two short devotional pages, then I am working on reading the Bible through in a year. First I read the devotion in my Daily Guideposts (a gift from my dear friend Maxine). Next I read today's entry in "Open Windows" (a small periodical published by LifeWay).

For today's devotions, "Open Windows" had me read Proverbs 16:27-32. The main focus of today's devotions focused on verse 32, but imagine my delight when I read verse 31. Remember my question to God? Well, here was His response to me:

The silver-haired head is a crown of glory,
If it is found in the way of righteousness. Proverbs 16:31.

I asked God to show me the verse, and there it was. I didn't have to go digging through the Bible. I didn't have to look at the concordance. I read the "assigned" verse, and there it was.

Now I just have to keep working on the righteousness part.

The Strangest Dream I Have Had in My Entire Life!

In my 53 years of life, I have had some crazy dreams. In fact, normal dreams are not the norm for me. Fortunately I love my crazy dreams, as they keep me well entertained. In my dreams I have been stalked by large wild animals, I have been lost, I lost my toddler grandson on a walk, and once I dreamed that I walked into a 7-11, grabbed a frozen pizza, folded it, stuffed it in my purse, and walked out. I don't often dream about people I know, and in fact, I'm not usually myself in my dreams.

I had one dream that I woke up from, crying. When I dream about my mom, who passed away over ten years ago, I wake up feeling happy. Last night's dream however, was without a doubt the strangest dream I have ever had.

I don't remember most of the dream, although it was all strange. The part I do remember is still very vivid to me. In my dream I felt something heavy hanging from my left eye. I could see that there was something hanging, but I couldn't see what it was, so I looked in the mirror. Woven into my eyebrows, and hanging about to my chin was some kind of soft woven nest. I looked inside, through the reflection in the mirror, and inside the nest were two baby voles! I have never seen a vole in my life, other than in pictures many years ago, but I remember in my dream saying that they were voles, and not moles. I had my husband cut the nest out of my eyebrows, and that is when the dream ended.

The strange thing is, I know what caused me to dream this strange dream! I don't know why the nest contained voles rather than moles, but the mind works in crazy ways.  To see a vole, you can check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vole,

Where did the dream come from? I believe it came from the skin tags my husband has on his eyelids. I have a small one as well, but his were large enough to bother him and we have been working on removing them. The doctor told us we could tie a thread around them and they would eventually fall off. We have removed a couple that way. Unfortunately, before they die and fall off, they double in size, but that's another story. :)

The reason I believe the skin tags are behind my dream is that for years before we knew what they were called, James called them "floppy moles." So in my mind, I transformed floppy moles on the eyelid into a nest of voles hanging from my eyebrows.

Well, it is time for bed. I wonder what crazy world I will visit tonight?!

Sweet dreams!!

Giggling Doggies!

James and I were acting silly with each other not long ago. Cubbie was just lying down and relaxing. I noticed that when we would act silly, Cubbie would wag just the tip of his tail. That is when I realized that dogs can giggle! 

When Cubbie is happy or interested in something, he wags his tail. When he is all-out excited, he wags not just his tail, but his whole body. But sometimes, as he did the other day, he just giggles!! 

When Cubbie giggles, I can't help but giggle back!