Yep, It's my birthday

That's right Halloween and I'm 46

Wisdom from a cookie

I found this today while cleaning a shelf off.

The fortune cookie words ring so true.

Be careful! Straight trees often have crooked roots.

Today we can do big things in small ways.

It’s been crazy at work lately. We’ve been way short handed and they have fired three from my department in just a few short months. I won’t say why. Things at home have been a bit nuts with the kids going here and there schoolwork, homework, housework, work, work, and church work.

So how on earth do I find time to renew me to relax and stop? I find myself in such a hurry that I forget to let God into my day.

I spent some time not long ago at a mission with my son, two other teens, and another volunteer from church. Only a select few are invited to go and I had the privilege of being asked. We cleaned the room, served food, then cleaned up again. I delighted in seeing my son enjoy serving others. I loved listening to the teens talk about their lives. Such promise ahead. The men and women that came to eat were in need, they needed to hear God’s words and they needed to be fed. They were so happy to see the food and so thankful to be served. most of the men came back several times for more, they wanted the meat of the meal not the dessert.

I wonder how many come back to hear the meat of God’s word and not just to have a hot meal.

I need to do more things to renew my spirit.

I need to do the little things that let God into my moments.

What about you?

Can we?

Today we can do big things in small ways.

Hot Stove a look back

Codepoke responded to the Hot Stove post http://millytime.blogspot.com/2007/10/hot-stove.html and silly me hasn’t been checking down much at all these days. I thought this was quote worthy then again it’s CP so that doesn’t surprise those of us who know him. Here is what he said:


In my experience, God seldom repeats Himself. He walks quietly out of the room whispering, "I might not touch that stove if I were you," and never looks back. He's always just loud enough to be sure you heard Him, but quiet enough that you can pretend to yourself that you didn't. And when I burn myself silly, I find He was waiting right outside the door with the aloe lotion. Not a word passes between us unless it's the sound of my repentance, and then He changes the subject pretty quickly. He's not One for "I told you so."


Good stuff CodePoke!

I was gonna run away

Tonight I was thinking about where I would go if I ran away from home.

I have very little experience in running away I’ve only done it once and I was very young at the time. My dad worked in a juvenile home and we lived right next door, well actually our home was down a rather large hill, it looked large to me at the time. It seemed so far away. Across the street was an amusement park. No we didn’t spend a lot of time there. We did get to hear the noises from the rides. I still remember the laughing from one.

I have no idea now what set me off into the vast wilderness to the home. I wasn’t much more than four if that. The odd part to me was that I wasn’t in trouble at all when I arrived after my journey of the unknown. I thought it strange that my mom didn’t scold me for trekking alone to that large building where Miss M. was waiting with candy, a coke, and a kind smile for me. I can’t remember what we said to each other I just remember the treats and the love.

I also remember my mom asking where I got that box of candy from. I told her, all proud of my independence, that Miss M. gave it to me. She instructed me to save some to share. I didn’t, after all I earned it I made my own way it was my journey and I wasn’t gonna share any of what I had worked so hard to get. I wasn’t a brave kid at all so that was a huge thing for me to be out in the world all alone every step might have meant danger for me. I might have been eaten by some wild creature. So the candy was hard earned and well deserved. It was chocolate I think.

So tonight I was thinking of running away.

I could show up in one of you folks cities but chances are you’d just send me back home.

Would you give me a Diet Coke and some candy first?

KB asked a hard one

KB asked a rather hard question about whether a person should be allowed to die with dignity.
Go read it.

http://kansasbob.blogspot.com/2007/10/death-with-dignity.html

I can only give life experiences to this one.

My aunt hadn’t been married for very long when she was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or better know as Lou Gehrig’s disease. She remarried after her first husband died from emphysema. Here is where those around her learned a valuable lesson in choosing a mate. We are going to spend the rest of our lives together in sickness and health someone, as we grow older, is most likely going to need to be taken care of and if that’s you then you’ll want that person to take good care of you.

This is a horrible disease. We all took a sigh of relief when the tests came back saying it wasn’t hereditary. It started with her becoming a bit wobbly then she quickly lost her ability to speak. This was a woman who could quote Shakespeare, never let us use the ain’t word, gave me the love for opera, even Puccini’s ;-}, and the Passion for the theater. She was a brilliant woman who loved playing Trivial Pursuit with passion, my husband always wanted her as a partner.
Watching this illness take her speech, ability to walk, then ability to move was agonizing for all of us. But even harder was what her husband was doing, he was hurting and neglecting her. Why not just take her out of the situation? She didn’t want to go.

This disease took her dignity. I refuse to give more detail than that.
If at any point in this she had expressed the want to die my family might have given it a huge amount of thought. She didn’t she held on hard and in her finial days she fought. We have no idea really why.

I only know that when my friend Caroline was dying she held on and hard. She called me one evening after I had put the kids to bed and asked me to walk over with some ice. I came without question, my husband, son and I had been doing things for her before she became ill and when asked we did what she wanted. I reset her machine and helped her to bed. We spent some time talking about her grandchildren and how she wanted to see the picture that she had taken with them if only they could fix the yellow. She was now very yellow because the cancer had taken over. She wanted that picture with her and she wanted to hold on until it was ready. I knew that she needed to be in a hospital that night but she didn’t want to go. I honestly think that she wanted that picture in her hand when she died in her home. I would have found her. Instead she was taken to the hospital the next day she died shortly after in the hospital without seeing the picture. I’d like to think that some how God made it happen for her.
I don’t think that taking the choice away from a person is the best idea I don’t know what my aunt was waiting for, one more I love you mom from her daughter, one more loved one to tell her it’s ok to let go.

I don’t think that I would ever have the right to take a life but I do think that I should have the right to make that choice for myself.

No easy answer no easy out.

Could it be?

I think that Jobu from Major League was made in the image of Bob Uecker?

What do you think?

Hot stove

Karen put her feet in the fire on her last post and ya’ll know I like to jump right in.

First of all I don’t think that everyone is going to be saved. Those of us who know people who have yet to find God mourn the losses but still have hope for them. I believe that God mourned them before they came. The question that always seems to be the rebuttal is "Why Jesus?" Why? Because we who believe, SIN. No secret here. We are big sinners! And the reason that those sins are big is because we know better. We are the kid with his hand on the hot stove after being told time and time again not to do it. We have to get burned then cry out for help. We have to want forgiveness to be forgiven. If I hurt Codepoke’s feelings and I know it I must ask him to forgive me and I must ask God to forgive me.

Yes it’s that simple in my mind.

Now to turn up the heat.

None of us are actually worthy of the salvation that God has given us. I have a gay relative in a same sex marriage. Without a doubt I would trust my children with this couple. They have respect for others and in no way would ever do anything to hurt a child. Do I think that all couples are like that? Nope straight or gay some folks have no discernment as to right and wrong. I think that they are worthy of salvation and I know it’s up to where their hearts are with God, not up to us stupid stove touching human sinners.