recovery

Today marks the 4 year anniversary of my hometown being hit by two tornadoes, killing 4 people and demolishing Main Street. The first two years of recovery seemed to be nothing but meetings and paperwork as FEMA and the Alabama Historical Commission could not seem to get their requirements in line with each other and a tiny town with no insurance and little initiative seemed to find meeting the basic necessities of a town all it could handle. Today, I'm happy to report that things are still slowly improving, though there's still many miles ahead.

The new City Hall is under construction. (www.cityofcordova.org)

And the new Piggly Wiggly (located where the Hardware Store used to be, due to the 100 year flood plain guidelines), which opened last year (I think).  www.cityofcordova.org

I was thinking about it this morning as the news was showing coverage from Nepal. We are SO blessed to live in a country that can provide humanitary aid in times of crisis, and that no matter how bad things were in the state of Alabama (200 people died that day, and over 92 towns were tremendously destroyed), it's not even a blink of the trauma that is facing Nepal today. I was glad to read that India and China were immediately sending in assistance, both supplies and rescue workers, and that other nations were waiting on the airport to clear. It's sad that our world only works together during times of natural disasters, but at least we're still doing that.

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.

South Garner High update

I took this pictures 2 days ago, and as I downloaded them from my camera, they already seem out of date.

The side view of the educational bldg, from Clifford Rd. I was amazed at the walls going up. As of today, the scaffolding is down, it loos like the stairwell is completed, and the roof is totally on.

This shows the corner view of the education bldg (near Pat's house on Clifford). Sorry for the blind up in the back of the van. The metal framework was what you saw last week. Today, all of the bldg on the left is now walled and roofed in. They're in the process of walling in the wing of the bldg in the far right.

and a closer up of the metal structure of the right wing of the bldg

What I didn't get a shot of was the new building (or wing) going up between the educational building and the gym. I think it's the cafeteria, and I'm not sure whether or not it will connect to the gymnasium. Like the gym, it's currently cinderblock. For a view of it, you need to stay on Hebron Church Rd (headed towards New Bethel Church Rd). They're certainly making progress!

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.

habitats

A few weeks ago Bobby told me he saw an eagle. I missed it, but did see the shadow on the ground as it flew overhead. This morning I got a glimpse of it. It soared like the hawks that frequently hover, but it also dove into the pond. I've never seen a hawk do that. Grabbing the binoculars, I was even more baffled. Its feathers were mottled (a mixture of brown and white), but but the center of its head was white - like a mohawk. The rest of its face was brown, like a golden eagle, but it clearly had the short, hook nose. Its tail, in flight, showed stripes, but when perched on the tree appeared to be a solid dark color. I'm not sure but the underbelly was also lighter colored, like that of a hawk.

I spent some time reading this morning on wikipedia about birds in North Carolina. I don't know if golden eagles and bald eagles mix breed or not, but at this point we're leaning more towards a young bald eagle.

The last five years we have seen more wildlife than I have ever seen in my life. I've seen numerous foxes, a few coyote, wild rabbits, herds of deer, hawks, blue herons, beavers, o'possums, raccoons, a river otter (we think...could have been a mink), a groundhog (at church in the parking lot this past Sunday!), and now maybe an eagle. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with living near a pond, and some has to do with all the wooded areas nearby slowly being developed, but it can be a bit unnerving. The first time I saw a fox, I wasn't sure what I was seeing. My brain was processing details so fast it wasn't funny - cat ears, cat stance, dog size, bushy tail, funny legs/paws - can it be? Am I see a fox? It was very weird and strange. And they move so fast, that once they're gone you sit there thinking "Did I really see that?"

There are times that I really hate having a pond at our house. It brings a lot of visitors, both human and wild, and takes a little extra work to maintain. But I have absolutely loved seeing the wildlife, even when it scares me a little.