Random Musings

One of the books I started in 2009 and hope to finish this year is Because He Loves Me by Elyse Fitzpatrick. Today I finished a young adult biography about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian, and the similarities in themes amazed me. Below is an excerpt from Bonhoeffer's writings: If our Christianity has ceased to be serious about discipleship, if we have watered down the gospel into emotional uplift which makes no costly demands and which fails to distinguish between natural and Christian existence, then we cannot help regrading the cross as an everyday ordinary calamity, like one of the trials and tribulations of life. We have then forgotten that the cross means rejection and shame as well as suffering. The psalmist was lamenting that he was despised and rejected of men, and that is an essential quality of the suffering of the cross. But this notion has ceased to be intelligible to a Christianity which can no longer see any difference between an ordinary human life and a ...

I think (and is my totally biased opinion) that one of the reasons Barak Obama was so popular with younger and older people is because of his positive attitude during the campaign. His promise of hope and cooperation had a refreshing and resonating ideal that everyone wants to dream is possible. And now comes reality. Given that Obama was one of the more liberal members of the Senate prior to the Presidency, it's not a big surprise that his policies and viewpoints are in direct disagreement with so many moderate Democrats and Republicans. His staunch and steadfast adherence to his principles (yes, even liberals can staunchly stand by immoral policies) in the past shouldn't cause anyone to be surprised that his current motto could easily be: Agree with me and friends we'll be. Obama's unwillingness to meet half-way, his irritation at being questioned, and his arrogance in deriding others who disagree with him has eroded his very campaign promise of stopping politics a...

60. 1. 60.1. 24. 7. 4. 12 60 seconds lasts forever when doing one footed jumps in aerobics. 1 Minute is nothing when it's time to leave for choir practice and I'm still not ready. 60 minutes flies by when I'm reading or listening to music. An hour is an eternity when I'm ironing. 24 hours looks like a lot of time when I'm staring at my calendar. One day is nothing when I've booked several events back to back and need space to get things ready for different event.s 7 days a week appears to be plenty of time to clean house and work on a project. One week is a blink when we factor in church, work, and routine jobs. 4 weeks in a month: ample time for company, a project, to lose 2-3 pounds, plan a few activities. One month: sickness, rain (more housework), yardwork, a holiday, and exhaustion 12 months of busyness. 1 year of life. Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour , that appeareth for a little time, and then va...

I have a house full of cool gadgets like ceiling fans, computer, microwave, washing machine and dryer: Delights my three little monkeys oohed, aaahed , touched, and exclaimed over: Equipment I take for granted. I live in a country where I can easily apply for a passport. It doesn't take several months salary, or a bribe, or trips to the country's capitol. And yet travel isn't exactly easy for us. If I needed to work, I would have several options before me: retail, fast food, design, administrative assistant, housekeeping, childcare, and the list goes on. Our "little girl" is cleaning houses. Not a job she hoped for, not a job she chose, not a job for which anyone ever trained her. But I am thankful she has one, and pray that she has a warm, dry and safe place to put her head each night. So many orphans don't. Lord, forgive me. I have been given so stinkin ' much, both in material possessions and in opportunities, and yet I am so guilty of taking them for...

"And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." ~ Galatians 6:9 Approximately six months ago I joined Rex Wellness Center in Garner. There's been days when the last thing I wanted to do was go work out. There have been days I've been so sore I could hardly move. And there have been some days when I've come home and just literally crashed. Thankfully those get fewer and fewer. Then last September I took things a step further and half-heartily started trying to make us eat more "healthy". I haven't given up chocolate, but I have drastically cut back on it. And yet, when all is said and done, my weight loss has plateaued. I'm not gaining (whoohoo!) but I'm not losing, either. And this after ramping up our healthy eating another notch. It's discouraging. As a teen I'd quote that verse "bodily exercise profits little" as an excuse on why I didn't need to exercise. After all, ...

"God is concerned with making me strong. He isn't concerned with making me comfortable." ~ Sharon Daniels, first session I've never been a big group kind of person. Prior to this weekend, I had previously been to two ladies retreats in my whole life and hadn't overly enjoyed either one. So I entered this weekend with more than a little trepidation. I shouldn't have. Yes, it did stretch me a little past my comfort zone to be with that many people for three whole days, but I can honestly say I enjoyed it! Bobby laughingly commented last night that he sent me to a retreat for rest and I came home exhausted! I told him that was true, but at least I was recharged! It's a good thing I didn't stay up late to play games or I really would have been wiped out! I can't even begin to list all the things I enjoyed (there was way too many!) but here's just a few of my more favorite memories: Rhamatu during the "God and I" time I loved being ab...

Grandma Ball's footstool is now recovered. I measured the foam, cut it, measured the fabric, hemmed the edges, made an elastic holder, inserted the elastic and...it wouldn't go on. I didn't measure the elastic and it was too short. So I pulled the elastic out, whipped out my staple gun, and BAM ! It's not professional-looking. I don't think I cut the foam evenly, but IT IS FINISHED! and it matches my couch and rocking chair and Bobby actually thought it looked nice. This just goes to show how crazy I am. My mother-in-law will be staying at our house while I'm gone to the Ladies' Retreat, (my first time away in 10 years!) and my brother-in-law will be coming in every evening to help out with other things. So what do I do instead of cleaning house and getting things organized for them? Work on projects! Of course, to my crazily wired brain this makes perfect since. See, the fabric for the footstool and the rocking chair (which is not done and hidden ...

the mirror we brought home from Grandma Ball's house And the same mirror after glass cleaner wipes and gold leaf wax polish. Now that it's out of the laundry room doorway, I guess have no excuse not to iron now. I also worked on a few other projects: updating pictures in frames, though I still have a mat to cut for one picture before tomorrow; cutting out the foam and material for the footstool from Grandma Ball's house, and I started cleaning out my art room which seems to stay in perpetual mess. It may not be completion, but at least there's project progress!

I've had a full and interesting morning. We added/replaced some hens to the flock last night, so it's been interesting to watch the scurrying this morning as the birds all check each other out and determine the pecking order. We also bought a gander (a male goose), but I've yet to see him this morning, though I can hear him. The rest of my morning has been here in front of the computer working on a website for my portfolio. I've spent almost three hours, and I still have another two hours to go. I don't know if I'll finish today or night, but just knowing that I'm this close is exciting! It's not the professional looking site I had wanted, but it will do to showcase my work until I'm ready (if ever) for something larger. Meanwhile, there's housework to be done. Anyone care to come iron for an hour or two?

Last fall at the annual Wake County Library Sale, one of the books I bought, written by a podiatrist, dealt with why people's feet hurt. While the author discusses evolution in the introduction, so far the chapters have dealt with both scientific facts about the body and experiences from her own life and her practice. After reading four chapters, I can't help but put the book down and think of the verse from Psalms "we are fearfully and wonderfully made". Did you know most of the bones in a child's foot remains cartilage until well after puberty? It's only after the foot stops growing that the cartilage solidifies to bone. How well designed is that? A female's foot will change sizes twice after that...during or after childbearing, and in the early 60's/ late 70's...due to relaxing of muscles, which allows the bones to spread. Again, how well thought out! Also, circulatory problems can be detected in their early 30's (such as emphysema from ...

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. I must confess, I often switch the nouns around in that verse and had to look it up before I typed this to make sure I had it correct. Does the treasure follow the heart, or our heart our treasure? A Christian mission agency where many of my friends are employed have been dramatically impacted by the economic situation. Between America's declining economy and jobs (resulting in a decline in donations) and the rise of the Euro and fall of the Dollar, financially things are looking grim. So dire in fact, that for the first time in the organization's fifty year history, they may actually have to "lay off" missionaries. I've heard from two friends today directing attention to sites to help the people in Haiti. And no one disputes that Haiti's need is desperate. We have so many people in our church who are financially struggling, and many of them through no fault of their own. When I think about these t...

In my fridge I had some lemon juice, egg whites, and 2 pie crusts that needed to be used before they went bad. I plan to use one of the pie crusts for a quiche, but since the other ingredients were screaming for use as well, I pulled out my Granny's recipes and tried my hand at a lemon meringue pie (aka, lemon ice box pie). The pie itself turned out well. And I was quite surprised that my meringue was fluffy and spread beautifully into high peaks. I did have to call my mother-in-law to find out how long to cook the meringue. Granny's recipe didn't have that on it (I guess that's something all good cooks should know), and I couldn't remember if it was broil on high or bake at 350. For some reason it seems most foods are cooked on one of those two numbers. So I'm pleased, as well as enjoying the thought of surprising my husband who happens to like meringue. Imagine my disappointment when I pulled the pie out of the oven and the meringue is flat with the tin...

Everyone has to eat. Or at least they should. You cook, the fam eats supper, and then the kitchen is a mess. So there's a choice: read the paper or wash the dishes. And here's where I envision Nancy Knight in her quiet little voice and hand motions: "Two choices on the shelf: pleasing God or pleasing self." Don't get me wrong. I don't equate washing dishes with godliness. But if I choose to relax and leave the mess until the next day, there's a slim possibility that I might even put them off yet another day. After all, there's few extra dishes from heating up leftovers. And so the saga goes. I sweep and mop the floor. Bobby comes home. The shiny floor now has wheel tracks through it. The wind blows at night, filling the garage floor with dust and feathers. We track it in the next day. And the floor? Oh, it was mopped you say? And so the saga goes. Devotions. Yeah, did those yesterday. What? You mean it has to be done AGAIN? Today? And so the saga...

Today, I am thankful because: The sun is shining! I live in America, where repairmen actually REPAIR things. (As opposed to looking at a broken object and saying "It still works.") The broken shower was repairable and is now fixed! (as opposed to just a hole in the wall with water pouring out!) One of our chickens is laying eggs again! We think we've found a replacement pen for the dogs. I don't have to walk to the post office to get my mail. HEAT! Appliances (washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, freezers, and RADIOS!) Freedom of speech! Freedom of religion! Freedom to assemble! the Right to Bear Arms (now if I can just learn to hit where I aim!) Running hot water ALL the time! good health family & friends

One of my unwritten goals for the first half of 2010 was to start learning and applying some of the web design software that came with the graphic design software. My hope was to comprehend enough of it to create my own website by June. I'd still like to do that. However, learning new things is both time consuming and frustrating. Meanwhile, anyone looking for a freelance designer wants to see an on-line portfolio. So last night I found that Google has free sites available, with both templates and free-style pages. The site name isn't easy to remember, but for this point in time it will meet my need of having an online portfolio. So hopefully by tonight I will have enough of my work converted into pictures so they can be posted. A part of me says I'm taking the easy way out, this is cheating, and unprofessional. But on the other hand, I'll never be able to apply for freelance jobs unless there's a site where people can go to view my work. Hopefully by tonigh...

God's modern art the pond drain...water is still seeping in, despite the ice! I love how the wind froze the water in waves! walking on water What is this? Where's the water? Is this stuff safe to walk on? For the second time in 10 years, the pond has 98% frozen across the surface. (The geese keep one small section water by leaving two swimming at all times.) It was interesting to see that one end is frozen solid at the edges, while the side near the dam is water at the edge and 1/4" thick about a foot's width out. I love the patterns and being able to see clearly what is beneath and the brighter reflection of the moon on the ice. While my favorite season is spring, the starkness of winter is one of the many things I enjoy about this season (2nd to Christmas, of course!)

I love starry nights, full moons (most of the time) and seeing the reflection of the moon on the pond. It's the only time I see the water at night! Maybe I'll be able to get a shot tonight with the pond frozen so the water's not blurring everything up!

Several years ago one of the settings on our dryer quit working. I called a repairman who spent quite a bit of time checking out things, only to tell me there was nothing wrong. Uh-huh..yeah right. Fours year later and only one setting that semi-works, Bobby got tired of me complaining (or else finally realized it was taking 60-90 minutes to dry a load of clothes), and we gulped at the prices and bought a new dryer. It was delivered today. Whoohoo! But any time you build a nice cozy fire, these little things called sparks shoot out. I had to put up the ironing board and move all these gadgets stashed between the dryer and freezer before they came so they could get the old one out. And I discovered that the floor AND the baseboard behind the ironing board and the dryer was absolutely filthy. So instead of taking down Christmas decorations as planned today, I scrubbed 3/4 of one baseboard and a floor. So about the time I start getting ready to clean and organize the guest room (one of...

The week before Christmas an item that I have been wanting went on "sale". Three different stores had this electronic gadget for its regular price BUT all three had extra incentives to go with it. Wal-Mart was throwing in a free $50 itunes giftcard, BestBuy, for an extra $20, was offering $50 worth of merchandise, and Target was offering an extra pair of headphones for half-off. I didn't have time before leaving to thoroughly investigate prices and items, so when we got to AL and my sister was heading to Wally World late Christmas Eve, I sent her with my credit card and driver's license. (Our handwriting looks close enough and my DL pic is an old one so we could pass for each other on it.) She came back with the item in tow and I was so excited...until I saw it. It was green. I hate green. I like green in nature, but that's about it. So we stopped at Wal-Mart at 40/42 on the way home to see if we could exchange the item for a blue or black one, only to be told the...

Ready or not, 2010 is here. I never finalized the geese's nesting area, nor finished the painting for the living room, nor finished prepping the garden for winter, but that's okay! Maybe I'm actually growing up, but it's bothering me less and less for jobs to be left undone. I set goals to help me accomplish things, and it does help me tremendously! I still hope to finish these things (and soon!) but (as always) I've already compiled a new list of projects I want to tackle for this year. Yes, that noise you're hearing is Bobby's exasperated sigh that I'm already planning MORE projects before I finish the ones I have. Pastor Mike's challenge a few weeks ago really made me stop and think about my priorities. One thing I started last year was trying to read a book a month. I'm going to push myself out of my comfort zone this year and try to read at least 3 Christian related non-fiction books (this doesn't include biographies). I really dislike ...