so thankful

First, the quilt page has been updated (I posted the final, quilted version of my third quilt of valour).

This last week I read the book Growing Up bin Laden by Osama bin Laden's first wife and fourth son. It was heart-wrenching, sad, and enlightening, all at the same time.  But so far, every book I've ever read about the middle east that involve women in the book, except one, have left me feeling overwhelmed and a little flabbergasted that God chose me to be born to American parents.

I do not consider myself a feminist, though the older I get the more I see many Christian males as male chauvinists. For example, a Christian group I know recently posted that they need assistance moving things. They specifically requested men to come move furniture and dismantle desk units, and for women to come pack up the office supplies. I do understand that most women do not enjoy lifting heavy objects and that men are typically stronger. But it also made me laugh. a little.  My roommate and I actually took one of those desk units apart and put it back together (Okay...I took it apart and she helped me put it back together and then cleaned up the mess I made on her side of the room...and never complained). I know women who move furniture and paint their own houses while their husbands are away on business trips or at work, women who till their own gardens (GO, go, GO! Barbara Ann (she has a pink tractor) and Charlotte (who used a small hand tiller), women who repair the washing machine and refrigerator and toilet because there's no money to call the plumber and hubby is working his tail off at work (thank you YouTube!), and women who build their own stone steps and patios and driveways. I also know men who want to help out but have injured backs or severe health issues that limit their movement, but gladly will sort paperwork or make phone calls. When we (and I use the church/Christian groups here as an example because those are the groups I work with the most) limit certain activities to male/female roles, we alienate potential workers...for no reason. I understand there are very clear God-given roles for men and women in the Bible...but these things do not fall in those categories.

Yet every time I read a book about women in the middle east, I am SO thankful to have grown up in a country with parents who encouraged me to use my mind, who allowed me to work and learn to drive, who saw me as more than "just a girl".  I am thankful for their Biblical teachings: that God made me and loved me, that I am not incomplete because I am a female, and that God clearly teaches every thing we do should be for His glory and honor - not mine. That, when the apostle Paul wrote Timothy to "study to show yourself approved as a workman to God", it's a good principle for every believer, and not just males who are becoming preachers.

There's a lot to be said for respecting your husband and being a keeper of the home, but I would never want to see that taken to the extreme where a wife can never question her husband or leave the home without his permission or an escort. I cannot imagine my only duties in life to be that of cooking food, cleaning house, and reproducing. I am so thankful that God gave me a godly example in my father, who has never seen it as a threat to his manhood to lovingly help around the house. As he used to inform us if we ever asked for an allowance for doing our chores "You live here. You're a part of the team. You don't get paid for teamwork."

But I was also reminded of why we should reach out to the downtrodden and those on the fringes of society...they're the ones desperate for acceptance and meaning to their life.

For me, reading about another culture and from a different viewpoint is a great reminder of why I believe as I do, and how important it is to truly listen and understand where a person is coming from before we make snap judgments about who they are and what they will do. Things are not always as they seem.

Do ya love me?

This past weekend a young mother-to-be from a small town in Wake County was shot to death behind the Party City where she worked. Her boyfriend has now been arrested and charged with her murder. So far the baby is surviving.

The day after the arrest, the media interviewed several of her friends from high school (her family is not talking to the media). They talked about her singing in praise band and how much she loved Jesus. So in the back of my mind, I'm thinking "What changed?" The news article in the paper the next day described her as being "very active" in her church and that she was planning to move in with her boyfriend soon. And that little voice in my head is saying "It's not a Bible-believing church."

Today, in her obituary in the paper, it listed the name of the church and that she had a "passionate love for Jesus".  And the church she attends? It is Bible-believing. Which leaves me asking "How? Why?"

There's some very simple commands and statements made by Jesus Christ:

If you love me, keep my commandments. ~ John 14:15

By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. ~ John 13:35

He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him...If anyone loves me, he will keep My word...He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me. ~ John 14:21, 23, 24

and some other descriptions about God's love and us:

For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face. ~ Psalm 11:7

The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but He loves one who pursues righteousness. ~ Proverbs 15:9

I am totally baffled how anyone, even someone whose heart has been ripped in pain with such a tragedy, can make such warped statements as "she passionately loved Jesus" when her life's fruit showed the exact opposite. Love Jesus? Okay, I'll just disobey his commands and commit adultery. Love Jesus? Sure, instead of "going and sinning no more" I'll not only commit the sin of adultery but plan to live the life of a wanton woman. I love Jesus so much that even though he commanded his followers to obey his commands (which included the law His Father gave), I'll not only NOT obey his commands, I'll brag to everyone about my disobedient lifestyle.

My heart is breaking for our country if churches who proclaim the saving grace of Jesus Christ and his power to transform lives allow its members to live the exact opposite. I'm reminded of King Josiah (in 2 Kings 22) who was given the "forgotten" book of the law, and when he read it, responded: ...for great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according all that is written concerning us."  It is as if we have forgotten God's commands and that they apply to our lives, that if we truly love Him, we'll obey his commands.

My heart hurts for this family. Death is hard. An unexpected, tragedy such as this is even harder. But to turn a blind eye to God's commands and believe a lie, that's to face the wrath of God.

May He have mercy on the American church.

a slightly different approach

With the Maryland parents allowing their two children to "free-range" and having their children abducted by social services for the second time, there's been a lot of discussion and debate (though nowhere near enough) about the differences in helicopter parenting and free-range parenting, between government oversight of child-rearing and the authority of parents, and obedience to the rules of judges and social workers vs. obedience to the personal beliefs of parents.

But I can't help but think about another facet of this saga that I've not heard mentioned...the people filing the reports. Despite all the animosity and fear I've heard when people talk about social services, I've yet to hear anyone badmouth the neighbor or friend who called in the report in the first place. And I find that interesting. Without the first report of abuse or neglect, social services would never investigate or send out police in the first place.

So what would the scenario be if the police officer showed up at a park, knew how to talk to kids (that's another topic), assessed that the children were safe and not neglected, and then proceeded to send the reporter a warning for "filing a false report".  Because really, that's all this boils down to. A person watched kids walking down a street and playing in a park without any sign of an adult present. They never approached the children or asked them questions. The children looked both ways before crossing the street. They held hands when crossing the street. They kept on eye on each other. The older child had a cell phone. They didn't appear to be malnourished. And yet, this person, concerned that no adult was hovering over the children, called and reported a case of abandonment and neglect.

If I had children, would I allow them to walk a mile to the Garner soccer park and play on the swing set? No. As teenagers, maybe.  But I'm not going to fault a parent that does. I might call that parent privately and suggest she check out sex offenders in the area and offer to keep an eye out for her kids while they're walking in front of my house, but those are her children to be parented as she sees best. As long as there are no signs of abuse or neglect, the only thing to report is a difference of opinion...and that is not a crime.

Imagine the reaction if an overly opinionated mom received either a written or a personal notice from the police department or social services that her claim had been investigated and was determined to be be baseless and unsubstantiated, that they appreciated her concerns for the well-being of society, but such serious charges and allegations about fellow citizens was paramount to libel and slander, and if a second baseless claim was made, it would be treated as such. It would eliminate a lot of this mess. It would force callers to stop and truly access a situation and whether or not it is truly dangerous and neglectful, or just very different from what the caller would do.

There are too many cases of true neglect and abandonment in our society for us to be obsessed with minute things that are matters of opinion.

disturbing, but not surprising

Yesterday I read a disturbing article in the News & Observer about adults taking (abusing) ADHD medicine for the sole purpose of being able to work more/sleep less. For example, people working in the corporate world, Wall Street is specifically mentioned, do not "have time" to sleep more than four hours a night. Some of them get less. The article also high lights that this is a common practice in colleges around exam time and when many projects are due.

I attended a Christian college. And yet, there were several students in the girls dorm that would buy caffeine pills or stimulants to help them focus when they "needed" to pull an all-nighter. I had a roommate that used them so much her sleeping habits were altered, forcing her to use sleeping pills, which opened up a whole new can of worms.

So here's one thing that baffled me after reading the article. If places of higher education are full of people who are not disciplining themselves to maintain a manageable schedule, to say no, and to be realistic, and have been for years, then why is everyone so surprised and shocked and concerned that the upper echelons of working society are now continuing the same practice they employed in college/their formative adult years?

When I visited third world countries and lived in China, I was often struck at how they perceived Americans as "controlling" or "arrogant".  I asked some of my students once exactly what they meant by that, and they responded with time change as an example. Instead of getting up earlier and staying in sync with nature's time clock, we change our clock and schedules to keep the sunlight and our routines on the same path. They saw that as an American attempt to control nature. I as totally blown away by such a thought process, but since being back in the states, I do observe this "I'm in control attitude" when I never had before my time overseas. And I think this news article is yet another example of that. Instead of admitting that we are human, which means our bodies are require rest and times to recharge, we instead seek ways to give ourselves more energy to become more invincible, all-powerful, ever alert and cognisant, never sleeping, never slumbering. In essence, like Lucifer, we're still striving to be like God.

It's sad that a nation that was once so powerful is now so prideful and unwilling to recognize the dangers of defying nature and natural processes in the name of "getting ahead" and "staying in the game". Days of reckoning do come, whether its an obese person realizing their body is no longer coping with the abuse heaped on it over the years, or a person who has drugged himself/herself to the point of exhaustion and their body shuts down or malfunctions from the neglect and abuse. Wealth without common sense will not remain wealth for long.

What month is this?

Last month I shocked a friend by saying my mind was still thinking it was February, and I was NOT ready to admit that March had arrived. She looked at me and responded "You know April will be here in 2 weeks, don't you?!" And then we both laughed as she shook her head.

This morning I had many errands to run. I was hoping that the opening crowd of the new Cabela's would have slowed down and we might stop there as we made our loop, but that was NOT to be. This is the sight we saw leaving Bojangles (heading from Jones Sausage Rd back toward White Oak/Hwy 70).

The far ends of the overflow parking lot (the old ConAgra plant).

and the entrance to the parking lot. This doesn't show the line of 50+ people waiting for the shuttle bus.

and the far corner of the parking lot (which circled around to the far end of the property)

These vehicles were NOT there thirty minutes earlier!

I was trying to get the traffic backed up at White Oak and Hwy 70, but the crowd in the unpaved parking lot here (where the hotel is going) and the line of vehicles attempting to turn in to Cabela's  conveys the crowd.

This sign has been up at White Oak for at least a week, and it makes us laugh and cringe a little every time we see it. 

You would think this was Black Friday or the week before Christmas the way traffic was everywhere today, not April! I'm excited that Garner has a store that is so popular, we were laughing a little at how busy Bojangles was (almost as busy as the one at 40/42!), and were totally dumbfounded to arrive at Agri-Supply and find a crowded parking lot. Evidently a lot of people decided since they couldn't easily get to Cabela's, they'd visit Agri-Supply. After all, it sells camo stuff, has a gun shop, hunting/camping supplies, plus everything farm related! Granted, they don't have fishing stuff and most of their supplies are living related instead of hobby/play related (although I consider my chickens more of a hobby), but after I stopped and thought about it, it did make sense for people to go there. At least other businesses are benefiting from the crowds.

fabrics of Easter, day 2

While I was in college, one of my classmates grew up in a Catholic area. All the churches in her town, whether Catholic or Protestant, truly celebrated both Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. I was amazed to hear some of her stories and her favorite memories, and could then easily understand how disappointed Easter was to her when she arrived and attended Baptist churches in the South. I think about her now every Palm Sunday, and wonder how people would respond if we started truly celebrating our most important Christian holiday.

Palm Sunday - the triumphant entry. I always thought it stupid as a child when I read fairy tales and a man or knight would place his cape or coat on the ground for a queen or princess to walk over.  It seemed most of my childhood I was reprimanded for "getting dirty" (as in playing in the dirt and pine straw...NOT how today's society uses that phrase). And I was always a bit puzzled by this passage in Sunday school:

6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. 8 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. ~ Matthew 21:6-8

I get verse six and seven.  I've seen Moms use their coats or sweatshirts to roll up for a pillow or backrest for a small child or elderly relative. I've watched Dads take off their coats at a a cold football game and put it on the hard concrete for the Moms or kids to sit on...a way of helping them stay warm. And using coats to make both the donkey and Jesus more comfortable is a nice gesture...though I would have hesitated because Mom would have had a fit had I used my one good coat to put on a stinky animal that would ride off...with my coat...never to be seen again. Can you imagine how many times you would have to hear that same lecture over and over and over in the months to come? And then you get to verse eight...most of the crowd put their coats on the ground (ancestors of PETA people, perhaps?) but others used tree branches. I would have been one of the tree branch people.  I find it interesting that John's account includes the tree branches, but not the part about the coats, whereas Luke is the total opposite - he mentions only the coats, and that they did this throughout his ride, but no mention whatsoever of tree branches.

As much as I like to think I'd have paid Christ his due homage as he rode the donkey into Jerusalem, I don't think I would have been a throwing of the coat person, especially as a child or teenager. But tearing off a tree limb (even better having to climb the tree to do it!) or waving one up and down  while running up and down the road....that would have been much more in line with my character.

craziness

Last night I watched the Duke/Carolina game. For my AL family, it's the basketball equivalent of the Iron Bowl, except weirder.

For one thing, it's a private college (Duke) against the state's oldest public university (UNC). When my sister-in-law was accepted to both schools many years ago, her acceptance letter from Duke included the amount and deadline for the first payment. The amount of the payment decided that Duke was not an option.

Another thing that is insanely crazy is this ticket system they have for awarding students tickets to the games. Students at Duke have to camp outside in the dead of winter. They take roll every morning (rumor has it many students don't sleep there but just put there stuff up and register and then show up at roll call) and the ones surviving at the end of the time period get tickets to certain games.

The Duke fans call themselves Cameron Crazies. (Cameron is the name of the stadium.) And after watching them during the ballgame last night, no one has to ask WHY they're called crazies. It's the dead of winter. We had the coldest weather EVER in the record of the state last night, and these kids went to the game, without coats, wearing shorts and body paint. Even some of the band members were shirtless and had painted their bodies to look like they were band shirts. Somehow I can't see that flying with the million dollar band (although few people watch the basketball games, so who would know what the AL band does when they're off the field?). As the camera zoomed into the stands between plays, three things came to mind: Smurfs, Dr. Seuss characters, and an insane asylum. I will say the cookie monster outfits in support of Cook were a smart and unique play on words.

And the last thing that still baffles this transplant is the bonfires. No, not for pep rallies...for victory parties. One year the Duke kids even burned their own park benches. No kidding.  And at UNC it's even worse...the drunken idiots (let's hope they're drunk to do something so stupid) try to JUMP the smaller fires. I'm not kidding! They actually play "Jack be nimble..." from the old nursery rhyme and jump over the FIRE! I've always wondered why the media shows and reports on this every year as if it's a great thing, but they never report the next week how many students showed up at the UNC burn center or the student campus medical facilities for treatment.

Even though it seems almost everyone here pulls for UNC (which many years ago I ignorantly insulted my brother in law Todd by asking him why he was wearing a t-shirt with a muddy foot), their rancor over their team rivals the most abnoxious Alabama fans, and I hate listening to them taunt/whine (depending on their win/loss) so I can't bring myself to pull for them.

While Duke is known as a place of excellence, they also excel in all things, even perversion, and their liberal bent is as bad, if not worse, than UNC. Sometimes I tell people I pull for Duke because they're the Blue Devils and my high school mascot was the Blue Devils, but the reality is - it's not my fight. Sports does not run in my veins, and picking a team in a sport that I've never followed, well, my transplanted roots haven't run that deep, yet.

But I have to admit...it was a great game. :)

brief update

Well, since my last post on body piercings, we went to Krispy Kreme Saturday evening to get a hot doughnut (something we've never done before). As soon as we made it through the door (the line was long), I was face to face with another customer who had the "all over" piercing...except this girl had one I had never seen before.  She had about 5 holes in each ear, the eyebrow, the upper lip, the lower lip, the tongue...and a fingernail size stud above the nose on each side of the beginning of her eyebrows. It's one of those scenarios where you don't want to look but you have a hard time not looking. I wanted so badly to pull out my camera and snap her picture and post it (it was almost too incredible to see), but I knew that would be rude and I wouldn't want someone doing that of me. Can't you just imagine that post?  I saw the craziest girl today. Her hair had NO color in it AT all and NO tattoos or facial piercings. Is she a total prude or what? Except I don't think the language would be that drab.

In case you haven't seen what I've been talking about, this website shows both the eyebrow piercing (you'll have to scroll down), as well as the ear disks, plus many other things. A few will make you squirm.

When I first read the Hunger Games trilogy, I remember laughing a little at Katniss' description of the people in the capital and how they dressed. No one could be that bizarre, I thought. Now I'm starting to understand.

medical precautions

The last few years there have been several studies out about how American hospitals are not the safest places to be when you are sick. Quite a few people come out worse than when they went in to the hospital. While we've not had that happen, we have left a few times with a different problem than the one we went seeking treatment for.

One of those problems, we learned the hard way, is quite common in hospitals and nursing homes. It's a bacterial infection called C-diff. It is often an extended result of antibiotics destroying bacteria in the body, including the good kind of bacteria your intestines need. C-diff is highly contagious, and if your body is missing those good bacteria, well you get it. The craziest part of C-diff is that nurses or doctors transport it from room to room. If a patient has it, anyone visiting is supposed to don a gown and gloves (in extreme cases a mask), and trash those supplies between the curtain and door while scrubbing hands before exiting the room. I can't tell you the number of times I watched a nurse come from a different room into ours without changing gowns, saying "It's okay. I'm still in protective gear."  So because you have germs on you from one room, it's okay to walk out into the hallway, touch charts, and into our room because we have the same germs?

I've thought about those 3 CCIU days in a Raleigh hospital a lot today, as the media keeps talking about the nurse in Dallas who has the Ebola virus. Our media has slammed African nations because of their poor hygiene and religions that have tremendously impacted the spread of the virus there. But for all our education about germs, expensive gear, and proper protocols in hospital facilities, a nurse now has a potentially fatal disease because "she didn't follow procedures".  Simply having great facilities is not enough. Rules must be followed, not broken. And I think that will be the monstrous hurdle that will bring America's health situation to its knees. We are a nation that does not like rules or absolutes. Take off medical gowns here or there? What does it matter as long as they're properly trashed?  And hence we spread germs. Wear protective gloves. But what good are those gloves if they're not removed properly and a bare hand touches the germy glove on the other hand? (Yes, they do actually teach that to CNAs and nurses.)

I don't think we'll find Ebola spreading as rapidly or as severely as it's being seen in Africa, but I do think it will get worse. And despite what crazy people are saying about revoking visas or limiting flights in or out of countries, if it does spread here, it won't be from those situations, but rather from our own shortcomings in health and hygiene.

a Christian principle from childhood

There's certain fundamental, childhood Christian truths my Mom and my Sunday school teachers impounded into my brain:

• Be kind (Eph. 4:32)
• Treat Others the Way you WANT to be treated (Luke 6:31)
• Tell the truth to everyone. (Rom.17:11)
• Be thankful. (I Thess.5:18)
• Don't complain (Philippians 2:14)
• Don't retaliate (Prov. 25:21-22, Matt 5:38-40, Rom 12:19)

Sometimes I forget that not everyone had those principles drilled into their heads.
Complaining? Oh, that's just what teenagers/adults do. We call it venting, and it's good for you. Kindness? Every man for himself!  It's all about ME!
The Golden Rule? No way! He/she wouldn't do that for me!
Gratefulness? Say what? I DESERVE that! Why should I say thank you? You OWE me!
Revenge? If I don't stand up for myself, no one else will. Eat or be eaten!

And those things seem small, and minor, and not all that important. But the older I get, the more I realize how dysfunctional our society is as we remove ourselves from the core priniciples that God intended for us to follow in our interactions with others.

Yesterday I read this article about America's use of torture for POWs from the War on Terror (and I use that term because so many of the detainees at Guatanamo Bay were from so many different countries that you can't say it's just from the Afghanistan or Iraqi wars). And I was absolutely sickened. Some of it I already knew. But some of it made me sick at heart and soul.

I've had so many friends and family serve in the military or government positions over the years later make comments like "If Americans knew what our country really does...." or "I almost dropped out of ABCXYZ  training because I found out some truths about country and its history and didn't know if I could hold my head up in this profession..." and deep down I question and remind myself that no country is perfect, and without the standards I listed above, even a democratic country can and does go awry.

The reality is, our young soldiers who serve as guards in military prisons, who are the same age as college students across America, are not a whole lot different from the college students who rape, assault, beat up, harrass, haze, or torment their classmates. Actually, in same ways it's even worse because there's no hatred against an enemy, just drugs, alcohol, or sheer hedonism is at play. On the other hand, it's worse because these young adults are representatives of our country to the rest of the world.

I'm reminded of the two people I know who've served as POWs: one in Germany, and the other in Canada (as a German soldier). Both had very different experiences, though one would tell you that the German guards didn't have a whole lot more to eat than the prisoners did. People here make a very big deal about how starved our American POWs were when they came home, but in my adult years as I've met people from Germany, they talk about how starved the average population in Germany was during that time period. Why would you feed a POW three meals a day when your own children only get two on good days? 

When we lose our guidepost that everyone is created in the image of God and is worth something, we lose our bearings on how to treat our enemies, and sometimes even our neighbors. I'm sad for our country. I fear we've strayed, even the church people, much further than anyone has realised.

fact check

On Mother's Day, a friend of mine posted a link to this blog post that made me both sympathetic and mad at the same time.

I've read many articles, most by Moms, a few by nurses, addressing the whole medical terminology of "abortion".  Bascially, the term abort means "to stop", so an abortion means a stop or termination of the pregenancy. Medically, it has always been used to define a miscarriage. After the 1970s in America, it also came to mean a voluntary ending to a pregnancy, often labeled as a "selective" abortion after numerous women began complaining after learning their miscarriage was on their medical charts as an abortion. My heart goes out to any woman who has to deal with such a situation, especially in the case where something was medically coded incorrectly.  But I fear the author of this post is totally ignorant when it comes to our country's history, specifically in cultural matters.

Women who lived prior to Roe v. Wade will tell you that people didn't discuss sex back then - period. The word pregnant was simply not used, at least not by polite society. The term "with child" or "expecting" was most often said. I've heard countless women in their 80's talk about their shock or horror the first time they heard a preacher or Christmas program refer to Mary as being "pregnant" with Jesus.  It was revolting, crude, and scandalous to them.  (and people certainly didn't tell their other children they had babies in their tummy or wear clothes that revealed your "condition" to others...that subject will keep my mother-in-law talking for quite a while!) And just as pregnancy in and of itself wasn't discussed, neither was a miscarriage. I've heard more than one older woman tell a young woman who was grieving or hurting after a miscarriage "At least you can talk about it. When I was your age, it was never, ever mentioned. I lost two (and at this point their son's or daughter's mouth would drop open in shock) and it was never mentioned by anyone, except my husband who said something once or twice in private." And the irony of some of those settings was that prior to that elderly person coming in and saying that, the young, grieving mother had just moaned that no one seemed to care, not realizing the fact that a) people knew and b) she could publicly state that was monumental in and of itself.

Yes, there is a small degree where America's abortion industry has destroyed the right to mourn the loss of a child. But I think the larger reasoning behind that is because historically people have not mourned the loss of children who didn't survive the birth process...children died far too often and easily to mourn one who had never been held, fed, or legally named (ie, one that didn't exist by community or government standards). That's cruel and hard to read/write, but it's true. I've heard many, many older women say after hearing about a miscarriage, "Well, that's God's way of taking care of things" (or those not Christians would say "nature's way") and I think those statements, while perhaps true, are even worse to tell someone than not saying anything at all.

How do you grieve or express sympathy for the loss of someone you've never met, never held, never clothed? For all but the mother and father, that child was simply an unfulfilled hope and promise. No one (on earth anyway) but the parents had felt that child kick and grow; no one but the parents (or grandparents) had begun to dream or plan for that child's life.

My heart hurts for anyone who has suffered in this way. But despite the suffering, we can't say our refusal to mourn or grieve in these situations is a result of the abortion industry. Neither history nor reality supports that social theory. And I think we as Christians, especially Christians, need to continue to "provide things honest in the sight of all men". (Romans 12:17 -KJV)

design at its worst

I am proud to be an American. I am thankful that our teams have people who attempt to create uniforms that enable them to go faster, move better. But this uniform for the speed skaters needed a grandma or a graphic designer to give it an overview:

 

 Here's what it makes me think of:

Yep, the Chinese split-pants, which eliminates disgusting American diapers and are environmentally friendly, not to mention much easier on the laundry pile during potty-training days.

I know nothing of uniforms, but seriously, this was an esthetic epic failure. We can do so much better than that.

design at its best

I've never watched a whole lot of winter olympics before (other than ice skating), but with being sick this year, I've actually seen quite a bit.  And I must say, I was very impressed with China's uniforms for the speed skaters. I wasn't surprised to see the flag on their uniform, that's a given, but the usage of the dragon on the shoulder was very creative. It looks like it's running, and I love its 3D design. Personally, there's nothing better than incorporating your history and culture into your uniform, and this is probably one of the most tasteful and yet modern designs I've seen this olympics. Go Chinese designers!

courtrooms

A few years ago I sat in on a court session (they were handling eviction cases). Everyone was super quiet, the cases moved very quickly, and I was a bit intimidated at how austerely the judge ruled the courtroom. Every time the doors opened, he briefly stopped and stared at the person coming inside.

Yesterday Bobby needed to be at a courtroom in another county, and since his wheelchair is still not repaired I needed to drive him. I was also curious to see how this type of court (superior court, as opposed to magistrate court) would be handled. I expected it to be even more somber and serious.

The courthouse was relatively new, meaning very nice and very clean, the guards at the metal detectors were very nice (and Bobby left his fork in the van instead of in his pouch since the Wake County Courthouse officials are not ADA friendly and were going to confiscate it because it "could be a weapon"), they didn't ask Bobby to take his pouch off the side of his wheelchair or treat him like a suicide bomber, but the courtroom itself was very informal.

After the judge came in, all the different lawyers for the different lawyers were whispering among themselves and in no particular oder addressed issues with upcoming cases (clients currently in custody and not able to attend, in session in a court downstairs, etc). The lack of organization was bothering me more than a little.

But I will say this: I was impressed with the judge, even if he didn't run an austere courtroom. When he talked to the defendant, he was clear, asked some very good questions, asked for clarifications when he needed it, and lectured the defendant with some history about how he would have been sentenced in the past in NC, as well as reviewing the potential sentencing he could receive before handing down the sentence.

When I was in college, a group of boys would go downtown Nashville on weekends to watch "night court". They described it as Judge Judy with a lot more action. For some reason that never instilled any desire in me to go. Yesterday, I was impressed with some of the lawyers, how they defended people who were wrong without attempting to sugarcoat the crimes, how they saw their clients as humans who had made mistakes, but still needed to be treated as humans. I was also a tad appalled as lawyers from both sides discussed a case on the docket (the client who was supposed to be present was in jail), and were postponing a hearing until next April (so much for swift justice) and the Assistant DA shrugged and said "I doubt he'll make it until then." (the guy had coded in prison and was transferred to a prison hospital).  I think like the medical field, the court system is very complex with a lot of ethical situations people don't consider until they've actually had to deal with all the details of a case. It's a bit scary how people's lives are impacted by a few short minutes.

Courtroom watching is not my thing. I can't say I'll never go again, but it's not something I hope to do in what little spare time I have, either.

the dusting

Yes, we are southerners.
Yesterday was my planned day to go to the grocery store for the week. When they announced on the news at lunch that Wake County was cancelling afterschool activities, Bobby looked at me and said "You better get on to the store now."  And he was right.
I parked at the very end of the parking lot (think malls at Christmas time), and was expecting the bread and milk to be almost gone (which they weren't, thanks to the bread and milk men making a new delivery). That evening I was telling my mother-in-law about it, and she said, "Oh, you know Tuesday is senior citizen day. That's why everyone was there, for there discount."  So now Bobby wants to go grocery shopping on Tuesdays. Sorry buddy-o, but I'm not there yet. I'm not fighting a huge crowd for a discount they won't give me anyway. I'll stick to my shop on the day I need to go plan.

And at 6:30pm, we turned on our floodlights so we could see the snow when it began to fall. And when it had changed over from rain to snow enough to officially call it "snowing", he sent e-mails to all the kids who've been talking to him the last month about their prayers for snow. :)

I've enjoyed seeing pics on Facebook this morning, and we're laughing a little that the snow was so light that Bobby was actually able to go out in his wheelchair and get the newspaper without any problems whatsoever (which would be impossible in anything more than a dusting), and vehicles are flying by on our dirt road (which would be frozen mud if we'd had a true snow). In a few hours, we'll head out for our day's appointment, get home this evening, and then venture back out to church.

Shakespeare could have written his play "Much Ado About Nothing" about snow in the south, but I'd much prefer a title like "When Hope Springs Eternal".  There's something about that childhood fervor of desperately desiring this thing called snow and being amazed once you finally see it. It is mesmerizing, and I wouldn't trade our southern snow for anything.

And after being stuck in the horrendous icing that happened in 15 minutes around 2pm a few years back, I now understand the panic behind the prediction of snow or precipitation and freezing weather. Gridlock and on the interstate and wrecked police and tow trucks? No thank you!

two up; one down

Earlier this fall I bought three books to give one of my nieces for Christmas. (Before you gasp in horror, this is for one of the nieces who enjoys reading as much as I do.) Two of the books were based on recommendations from World Magazine. One of them I haven't finished and I'm quite appalled by it (I won't be gifting it); the other, Letters to a Young Progressive, I actually enjoyed reading and am happy to gift it.

The third book I picked up out of curiosity in a Christian bookstore. A college friend of mine works in Afghanistan, and has for the last 13 or so years, and several of my high school classmates have spent time serving with our military in Afghanistan. Needless to say, their viewpoints and experiences are very different. It has taken me a while to work through the book, but In the Land of Blue Burqas has to be one of the best Christian non-fiction books I have read in a very long time. So many times I interrupted Bobby's reading to share a passage with him, and I have repeatedly found myself thinking on passages of Scripture and thinking back to George W. Bush's autobiography where he talked about how the Bible's influences on our society and our lives are profound. Reading this book has made me appreciate my faith on a deeper level, as well as forced a new appreciation for how dramatically worldviews alter society.

So if you're looking for a graduation gift next spring, especially if that graduate is heading toward a secular university, Letters to a Young Progressive, written by a M.Adams, a UNC-W professor, will make an awesome gift.  But if you're wanting to read to be enlightened, entertained, revived, and challenged, then I highly recommend Kate McCord (not her real name)'s In the Land of Blue Burqas. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

free but unusual advertising

Last month (yes, I'm finally downloading pics off my camera) we ate at IHOP, but due to the crowd had to park in the back. (You know, their two handicap spots are almost always taken!)  As we got out of the van, this is what we saw:

 I was expecting this to be typical graffitti with a girl's phone number or curse words, but no.

Can you read it? Acts 2:38, in both Spanish and English, along with the words: Church Phone: 919.834.8892.  I was more than a bit shocked. Granted, it's empty space, not being used, but it seems a bit strange to advertise your church via graffitti. I'm now over the shock of seeing it, but I still can't seem to wrap my head around the idea, nor would it make me want to ever visit that church. What type of person/church vandalizes someone else's property in the name of the Gospel? I'm still shaking my head in befuddlement on this one.
 

jobs

Many years ago I stood on the second floor of the English building and watched below as about 100 Chinese men dig up a small section of cement with shovels. It reminded me of an ant hill,  as the men wore navy or black and were scurrying around the work place. The road needed to be repaved, which meant tearing up the existing road. One small section of the road would be closed, dismantled, removed and then swept before they would move on to the next section. Road projects took forever. I asked my students about it one day, pondering why they didn't just bring in machines to do the work and have it done in a week, as opposed to a year and a half project. They looked at me horrified and replied, "And put all those people out of work?"

I've thought about that many times since returning back to my homeland. I've watched ATMs become so commonplace that banks have cut back on the number of bank tellers needed. Cashiers in grocery or department stores become less as self-service lanes open, sack boys no longer bag and deliver groceries to the car, and gas stations are now self-service only, eliminating 2-3 positions at each gas station of young men who gladly pumped gas.

Yesterday the News & Observer talked about how technology is slowly eliminating middle class jobs. The most recent example was Duke Energy putting chips on our meter boxes that automatically send wattage usage to the company, eliminating the need for meter readers. Whereas the company used to have 60 meter readers, they now have 6. And the list went on, from car manufacturing positions to now librarians at NC State (which are now robots evidently).

And that always takes me back to that conversation with my little communist students. They understood what it meant to look after other people. Inconvenience was something everyone simply lived with if it was in the best interest for society, such as keeping people working and contributing. I think about that everytime I pay a bill via the mail and someone asks "why don't you pay that online?" and I think about our almost bankrupt postal system. I squirm a little when I need to get money from the bank, and the teller lines are long but the ATM is almost empty. Do I give Nancy a few more minutes of business, or imply her job is not important by using a machine that does her very job? Am I joining the throng of people saying "We need to do something about this economy?" while my actions are saying convenience and a buck or two is much more important than a person? At what point does "advancement" actually begin the downward assent on the other side of the mountain?

I don't have answers. I enjoy technology, as much as I hated searching for a job in high school for six months when no one, not even fast food places, were hiring. (And I'll save my rant on kids today who say they can't find a job when I drive by 20 fast food places with NOW HIRING signs up for another day.)  And each time I near an ATM or the self-checkout desk at the library, I'll ponder which is more important: a person's job or convenience.

Christmas decorations

I've been taking my time putting things up this year, instead of trying to get everything done in 2-3 days.

Here's our first tree to go up:

 

the topper :)

 

the bottom; what the state knows/does best

What? You didn't know the red & white of Christmas represented the Crimson Tide?

 

Different team, I know. But the fierce competition wouldn't be there without the rival!

 

 

Yeah. Even if it's the "other" team, it's still from my home state!

I've seen a few ornaments that have the state bird, motto, etc, but they were super expensive. Spending a large amount of money on a glass ornament is crazy, especially when you consider the floors are hardwood and my hands are clumsy. Those aren't good combinations. But since it's a small tree, I don't need to add much more. :)

And this is tree #1.

Look at me!

A few weeks ago I had to make the monthly trip to Agri-Supply to pick up chicken feed and bedding. It had been a very rough morning at the gym, so on the way I to the store I picked up a sweet tea from Mickey Ds. I pull into the parking lot (in front of the sign you see here) and EVERY SINGLE CAR or PERSON that drives/ walks by stops and STARES. I mean, totally giving the once over. It didn't matter the age of the farmer or the societal class, they stared. I'm starting to wonder if there's something weird in one of the grocery carts or has the extreme heat (it was mid 90's that day but felt much hotter) got everyone checking out my sweet tea when I finally realize what they are viewing as eye candy.

The above junky car. Yep. EVERY single boy of EVERY single age was ogling it like they had just seen Daisy Duke from the Dukes of Hazzard for the first time ever.  Personally, I think it's a tad ugly, but as Mother always said, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

So what things make you stop and do a double take?