Like Rolling off a Blog

A new trip seems to indicate a new camera around here. I couldn't see myself heading to Israel with just a 3x optical zoom jobber. So with a reimbursement we got, we paid for a new Panasonic 10x optical zoom, and all kinds of bells and whistles in a compact digital. With the new Leica iris...captured the iris.

It's odd to watch the DNA travel down time. Looks, syndromes, behavior patterns even, seem to jump out at me from the tapestry being woven up ahead. For example, I totally get Ashley. The teeter totter between confidence and approval, the silliness and the serious side. Here is the before picture, and I didn't bother to take an "after" with the swollen red eyes. She really did need and want someone to explore unknown territory with her. I understand. The first time, it helps to have a sherpa. The second time, I'm the sherpa!

I can never figure out where the apostrophe is supposed to go in today's holiday. Is it one mother? Every mother? Does the day belong to the mothers? Oh, well, it started out very rainy and blustery. But coffee and church and a few lovely gifts brightened the day. See one of them? I just love pictures, and this gift from Marshall and Lara was perfect. It made me teary-eyed. Which brings me to the song of the day. I posted it on our church's blog, and not too many will remember this one. M is for the many things she gave me... O is only that she's growing old... T is for the tears she shed to save me... H is for the hands I used to hold. E is everything she did to help me ... R is right and right she'll always be! Put them all together, they spell MOTHER... The woman that means all the world to me! My mom is actually on a Mediterranean cruise this Mother's Day (or Mothers'...). Nice work if you can get it. So I thought I'd just call and leave a message singin...

Wow, has it really been that long since I blogged? Well, no, because I started a blog for our church women's group, and also one for our weight loss group (don't ask). But I just thought for sure I had more on my own blog. What a wimp I am. But guess what? My job has changed a bit and I'm feeling very good about it. Our marketing department is rounding out nicely, and I can be creative, stay ultra busy, and be where God wants me (I think this is an assumption). But for now, I'm heading off to read fiction by Debbie Fuller Thomas. It makes me long for northern CA, though, as it takes place in Sacramento and the foothills. The title is Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon. If you try to order it right now, you'll get a notice that it is on backorder. I'm reading an advance reading copy. The many perks of working for a publisher. The premise of the story is that two babies are switched at birth and through the death of one of them it is discovered that the mother had bur...

Here's something you can discuss at your next small group meeting. Especially if you are of childbearing years. But, I warn you, get ready for some hefty dissent. The audio file is 24 minutes long.

Yesterday was quite pleasant. It was Easter, but as my family knows, I prefer to refer to it as Resurrection Sunday. Go ahead and call me weird. (You're weird) The picture reminds me that we found it difficult to explain to Ashley what the day was about. If you go to the Flickr account you'll see pictures of jelly beans, Easter bunny cake, grass nests with candy, etc. Those are all fun, and I've succumbed to all of them (see picture below of the Easter Bunny!!!). Ashley wanted to know whose birthday it was because of the cake. Was it the Easter Bunny's birthday? This made me quasi-sad, because we really have supplanted the most important day we can remember - the day that Jesus gave us eternal life - with the pagan remnants of days gone by. So, what are we to do? I think if we lived in a time of tribulation (and there are certainly parts of the world who are living through it right now), we might be more prone to take the real impact of the day seriously, and throw the...

I miss my mind the most. Well, it's just that while I was in Nashville , I thought of some wonderful blog posts I was going to write, and then just totally lost my train of thought and never did them. And when I got back, volunteer work at WMBI's "Share" was waiting for me, followed by live-in grandchildren for three days. So, you see, I really can't remember what was so important that I just had to blog about it. Was it the president's visit ? No, I had to sit in the booth while all the attendees waited in line for 40 minutes, then sat for three hours. But I hear it was worth it. Was it my ever-present fatigue? No, that's not it, because I really did have a good time. And just because I didn't have my coworker to help me, it still got done - and in fine fashion. Perhaps it was my disenchantment with folks attending a Christian convention, and stealing the product off the displays! Yes, I think that might have been it!

What a difference a year makes, folks! She not only wanted to see the Bunny at the mall, but she actually engaged in conversation, danced with "him", sat on his lap, gave him a high five, a fist pound, and smiled all the way through the photo shoot. Yes, this savvy three year old is really coming up in the world. Cute, huh? I wish the grandsons were close - we'd get some comparisons for coming years.

Today was a sweet and sour day... The sweet of it was the wedding shower that Janis and I had for Lori in the office. I made a strawberry pretzel salad and brought a decorated cake. We all got together, had devotions, a bit of fun, and gave her all sorts of containers with ingredients in them, along with a recipe for that ingredient. Sweet! The sour of it - that ended up sweet - happened this morning at 0-dark-thirty, and I heard of it through a coworker. Not a good way to hear that your husband has been in an accident... but I'll let him tell you about it from the email I got later this morning: I was in the center lane and came up on a snow plow. People had passed him on the left so I went into that lane. As I approached the plow, I noticed he was in the MIDDLE of the left and center lanes and I couldn’t get by. So I slowed down and pulled back in the center lane and then moved to the right lane. However, I did not see the semi in the right lane who banged into me, causing me...

See the picture I use on my blog these days? It is a mirror image found on the Mac camera effects. But something just struck me... does that make me duplicitous? Do I say one thing and do another? Am I one person at work and another at home? One at church and another anywhere else? Truth be told, that's probably true. I've always believed that example is a better teacher than words, but don't always live like I believe that. And since I "believe" that example is more important, I act one way around those whom I really feel need my good example, and then totally trash my spiritual integrity with those who know me best. How duplicitous is that? You know what scares me? "Because you are lukewarm I will spit you out of my mouth." Does that include those of us who swing from one side of the spectrum to another on a daily basis? I mean, I point to the Scripture that says "let no unwholesome thing come from your mouth" and then damn the driver who cut...

I'm pretending no one can read this but me. Blogs are short for "web logs", which in turn are online journals. So this is my private journal for today. Depression hit me about 2 this afternoon. I thought I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, but it went out. I thought we had an option somewhere, but it went away. I didn't realize just how much I had counted on there being some option other than where we currently find ourselves. But I was wrong. Tears welled and spilled most of the way home. Then I turned to my drug of choice ... any food I can get my hands on. Which starts the vicious cycle of depression, eating, guilt, depression, eating, guilt. It's a good thing I don't drink...

I really like the ability to talk across the miles and see the person to whom I am speaking. (you kids will appreciate that I did the best I could not to end in a preposition...) Diane got to see Sunny give her rendition of "His Eye is on the Sparrow." And I got to see her guinea pig do his rendition of "scramble down the arm." It especially comes in handy with the grandbabies I can't see on a regular basis. Oh, how I miss those guys. If I were independently wealthy, I'd just book flights every two weeks to go see them (alternating weekends, of course). But, alas, I am not. So, thanks to those creative people who developed video cams for the computer, and a free way to see into the lives of our friends and families elsewhere. Go ahead, look us up!

I wouldn't normally do this ... recommend a movie that is full of foul language and that you wouldn't take a "good" kid to. The movie, Juno , is the case in point. I think it is probably the most effective pro-life movie for where teens are living today. It's one of those movies that's hard to peg, because it brings its point across without being preachy, and in the language of the very audience it is trying to reach. But if you're hoping to go be entertained (we were) by some good clean movie, this isn't it. So if you've seen it, tell me what you think. And if you haven't, just know what to expect when you go. It was touching, it was encouraging, it was sad, it was raunchy. So, although jello is good to eat, it sure is hard to grasp with your bare hands... And that's all I got to say about that.

I got only five hours of sleep last night, maybe. But it was worth it. Last week, Ingrid and I attended the anonymous group, but last night (even though it was her birthday) we tried a different one. Thin Within. Great group of women (small in numbers, but dedicated). Ingrid and I will most likely get the materials and start attending regularly. The premise is almost identical to Weigh Down Workshop, in that we are called to focus on God, the author and finisher of our faith, rather than all those things that we think will fill us - here, namely food! So, we are to watch for the hunger signs, because God has built that into us to notify us that we need food. And to be careful to stop when we have had just enough for the need. How freeing, though, because ALL the foods out there that we so enjoy are "legal." Because we only eat them when we need them, and only eat as much as we need. So, brownies for breakfast? Sure! If that's what you have a taste for and will allow God t...

I want to thank you, Marshall, for the very well laid out thoughts on truly "what would Jesus do." I wholeheartedly agree. Sometimes it just gets lived out differently. And yes, sometimes a good argument can come across as personal attack. No offense taken. For anyone who happens upon this blog, I hope you will read the comments, because they represent a great struggle in my own life - the tension of law and grace. I, a sinner, am totally dependent on the grace of God through what Jesus did for me. There is absolutely no doubt about that. And knowing how much I have been forgiven causes me to give grace to those in similar situations. So when a person saved by that grace wants to show love back to the Lord by living the way He asked us to live, there it gets sticky. There are some very proactive things that Jesus mentions (and Marshall stated). And then there are more nebulous suggestions such as "whatever is pure, whatever is true, whatever is of good report, think on t...

Key words. We search on them. We find them. And Google is amazing at putting those little ad windows up according to the current blog. I think it is really amusing that when I ranted about avatars, there was an ad for them! And then I mention that I'm freezing and up pops an ad about home heating. Now THAT is funny! So, hmmm, what will it find in this teeny tiny post worthy of advertising? Perhaps "advertising?"

When I wrote about avatars, little did I think that the most vitriolic response would be from my own children. Just goes to show you, I guess. I was raised in a legalistic home - well, one of my parents was, and the other was hard to read. However, that legalism wasn't in the sense of doing only that which was holy. It was a confused mixture of social and theological liberalism, and straining at gnats. I certainly don't want to follow that pattern. However, as I got older (and hopefully wiser) and began to search the Scriptures myself, I came to find out that there was no foundation really to what I was taught. I felt like I had to learn all over again what was true, what was right, what was holy, what was salvation, who was Jesus. The combination of my upbringing and my study has brought me to a point where Truth is very important to me. And that acceptance of falsehood or of a creeping of falsehood (no matter under what guise) would not be tolerated. Okay, so maybe it doesn...

My toes are froze And so is my nose. A better prose You'll never knows. The heat is neat. It warms my feet. Sun is meet But oh, so fleet. Okay, I don't get paid for this. When I looked at the thermometer this morning, it read minus 3.6. Right now it is minus .4. And the wind chill has us at minus 20 or so (but who's counting?). So, I am really thankful that the heater comes on every few minutes. I'm also thankful that the sun is shining, so that there are spots in the house that are warmed by solar heat. And I'm very thankful that on days like this, I don't have to go anywhere, and if I do, my car has an automatic starter that allows it to warm up for 10 minutes before I get in it. What did they do in horse and buggy days?

And so Ingrid and I went to a meeting last night, at an undisclosed location, with a secret name, and anonymous participants. I already know I have an eating problem, careening from tight discipline to total food abandon. Sounds disgusting, doesn't it? Well, it probably isn't doing much for my body, either. Last year I lost 54 pounds, only to "find" 35 of them already. Hey, pounds! Keep hiding, would you??? My trouble is not knowledge - I've used almost every diet known to man and woman, and even led groups. So it would be mega humbling to have to join this group that sounded weird at best. It is too God "light" for me. I'm so disappointed that Gwen Shamblin took a nose dive in popularity and theology, because her program truly was the best around. And so, if I close my eyes to what she does with her theology on Sundays, can I go back and use her program? A program that isn't really a formula, but acknowledging that food worship is idolatry, and ...

Is it just me or does anyone else notice the prevalence of New Age polytheism creeping into our everyday vernacular? Frankly, I'm sick of it. I actually quit the Nutrisystem site due to the fact that they wanted me to "choose an avatar" to represent me. No thanks! And this morning, on the Fast Company blog I was greeted with touting Bank of America because they have "hired an avatar" - note this line: Despite Becker's reluctance to discuss specifics of his careers site, here's what I like about it: You're greeted by a video-based avatar of an actual bank employee who introduces you to the site. Despite the otherworldliness of an avatar, it has a warm feel to it. Wake up, people! Perhaps you need a primer on what an avatar is... but then, anyone but a Christian (or perhaps a Muslim or Jew) wouldn't really care. Avatar: (this is directly from an advocate of avatars) An Avatara is a personal form of the Supreme Being and innumerable such divine for...