Sunday, October 04, 2009

Trippin' Through Genesis 6

Labels: Bible, TTTB

Mused by Jenster :: 4:35 PM :: 0 People musing:

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Tuesday, May 05, 2009

TTTB - Genesis 2 - 3

Got the next one up --

Labels: Bible, TTTB

Mused by Jenster :: 8:18 AM :: 0 People musing:

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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The Best Book

I played some more with Precious yesterday as the sun was getting low and coming in through the dining room window. I managed to get some pretty good pictures (a collage of which will be forthcoming) but this was by far my favorite.

Labels: Bible, photography

Mused by Jenster :: 7:09 AM :: 15 People musing:

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Sunday, March 08, 2009

What A Trip!

I'm starting a series of posts on the CLEAR blog - Trippin' Through the Bible. You can get to it by clicking on the button below.

Labels: Bible, CLEAR

Mused by Jenster :: 8:26 PM :: 9 People musing:

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Friday, February 20, 2009

It's All Good





As some of you so graciously pointed out to me, it is now Saturday. Life is mostly good with a little of the not so great thrown in to keep things interesting.

When last we met I told you I had nothing going on after I picked the kids up from play practice at 5:30. Wednesday night I should have been using my time to clean the kitchen, put the stuff back under the sink, catch up on laundry, go through the junk pile (really "pile" should be plural, maybe even the plural of plural, but I don't want you all to know what an incredible slob I am) on the counter and that sort of thing. Instead I was curled up in the big green chair trying not to move for fear my head would explode (a common happening for migraine sufferers) and ended up going to bed between 9:30 and 10:00.

Whilst I happily snoozed and dreamed of a clean kitchen, healthy puppies and chocolate that makes you lose weight the phone rang. Looking at the clock as I picked up the receiver, I was not pleased to see it was 4:00. It was Todd. He had left Princeton at 2-ish because he felt so horrible and didn't want me to freak out when I heard the garage door open in the next 15 minutes or so. "Just go back to sleep and I'll see you when you come down. I'm going to hang downstairs with Sookie and probably snooze on the couch."

So I rolled over to go back to sleep, but all I could think about was all the stuff in the middle of the kitchen floor and the nasty dishes and the junk piles (we've already established the extent of this). I thought I'd had until Friday to get the house back into some semblance of order! Todd is not a demanding man and I thank God daily for that, but seriously the kitchen looked condemnable.

Finally I dozed off for another 30 minutes or so until my alarm went off and I came downstairs to the man and the dog curled up on the couch, blissfully asleep. I hated that he had to come home because he was sick, but it made going to work on Thursday so much easier on me for worrying about Sookie.

Todd went to the doctor that day and he was diagnosed with a severe case of bronchitis - which we already knew. He had a horrible case of pneumonia several years ago and ever since then he's been terribly susceptible to bronchitis. Sookie wasn't eating, drinking or taking her medicine so he took her to the vet and had her admitted for IV fluids and antibiotics.

Thursday night was another one of those nights - work late; pick up Katie and Shelby at 4:00; get home close to 4:30; leave at 5:30 to get Taylor to play practice and Katie to voice lessons by 6:00 (I like taking Katie to voice, though, because I sit and read for 30 minutes); go from voice lessons to the church for band practice because Katie is singing Sunday night; leave band practice and pick up Taylor at 9:00.

Friday mornings are when I get to hang out with my Homies. I always come away revived and had really been looking forward to my weekly refreshing. BUT... I hadn't been able to do my laundry or clean or anything so I skipped the Homies and tried to catch up on laundry. I didn't finish, but I did make a significant dent.

Todd was home with bronchitis; Katie ended up staying home from school with a sore, scratchy throat and major head congestion; Taylor texted me from school (bad Taylor!) asking if I could come pick him up because he felt horrible, but he decided it was allergies and he thought he could probably make it the rest of the day; Sookie was at the animal hospital. It was like the plague or something! Happily, though, I picked up the Sookster and she is back to her normal, hyper self. She's eating, drinking, jumping, playing - all that stuff and her nose is wet! She is on a ton of medicine and they're still not sure what caused the fever, but I'm happy she's doing so much better.

Which brings us to today. Sookie is good. Katie is good. Taylor is good. My kitchen is CLEAN. No junk piles and no dirty dishes. The laundry still isn't caught up because Taylor did his laundry all day and it's too late for me to start now. Wine club is in an hour.

The only bad thing in the mix is Todd. Well, HE'S not bad, but he is bad sick. Now I've mentioned this several times before and I'll say it again. Compassion is not my thing. It doesn't matter how many times I take a spiritual gifts inventory, compassion is always looooooow. (That means really, really low.) But even I feel bad for him. His fever will hardly break and he says he feels like an elephant is sitting on his chest. He was really looking forward to getting together with the neighbors this evening, too. I guess I'll just have to have a good enough time for both of us!

So life is much better today, just as I prayed it would be. Todd shouldn't have to travel for a few weeks and hopefully he'll start to feel better ASAP. I sure am glad God is more merciful than I am!!

Here's an aside. Taylor loves shock value. Really a lot. He was waiting for Kristen to come over this afternoon and she was bringing a sack of sugar that she's going to have to take care of for a class she has at school. He said they were going to decorate it together. "What?" I asked. And he said, "When Kristen gets here we're going to make a baby together." Oh yes he did!! Those exact words!! Not something a mother wants to hear her 16-year-old say! I have no idea where he gets that sort of behavior.

Labels: Bible, family, God, Health, puppy, weekend plans

Mused by Jenster :: 7:43 PM :: 13 People musing:

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Sunday, February 01, 2009

It Is What It Is

This morning in church our pastor asked us what the shortest verse in the Bible is. I shouted out, "Jesus Wept". Brian said, "No, it's pray continually." So I sent him an email when I got home:

Pray continually - 15 letters
Jesus wept - 9 letters

I'm just sayin'.

He replied with:

1 Timothy 2:12

I grabbed my Bible, looked it up and proceeded to laugh my head off.

I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.

Labels: Bible, humor

Mused by Jenster :: 9:51 PM :: 13 People musing:

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Sunday, September 28, 2008

A Good Day??

I think today was a pretty good day despite the fact we decided to attend the new 8:00 service this morning. We've been going to the 11:30 service from the beginning, but now that we've outgrown our parking lot and building and need to spread out the attendance, the church has added a fourth service - 8:00. A couple weeks ago they asked for volunteers and Todd made me write on the attendance card that we would go to the 8:00 service until the new building is finished in April. APRIL! 8:00! A!M!

In case you're new to the party, I do not do mornings very well. So I consider this a sacrifice for Jesus because that's how I roll.

A nice little surprise was seeing my friend, Beans, at the same service. She came and sat with us so that was good.

Today's message was the first in a series called Everything I Learned About Life I Learned From The Beatles. That went a long way in assuaging my gripey, too-early, caffeine-deprived self because I love me some Beatles. Today's song was Help!, one of my favorites. Brian Jones, the pastor, transitioned nicely from the rock song to Psalm 121.

Another score! This is one of my favorite passages of scripture. I was challenged to memorize it several years ago in a women's bible study, only to cling to it and make it my anthem, if you will, when I was diagnosed. Funny thing is I just commented this very thing on our women's blog about prayers and such yesterday.

One more bonus about going to the 8:00 service is that we were home about the time we usually start getting ready for church. Sunday mornings have been slow and lazy, but I actually like having a longer day. Especially when it's rainy like today. Even if it does mean I have to get up earlier than I think is appropriate on God's day of rest.

I've also had some moments today I don't necessarily enjoy. I'm working on two separate writing projects, both dealing with cancer, and it makes me go places I'd rather forget about. But I know I have to - not just for the writing, but because ignoring the still raw spots don't make them go away. And I keep thinking I'm past the hurt, but obviously I'm not. Oh, it's very true that time heals old wounds, but the scars never completely fade.

But this stirring of emotions wasn't enough to ruin my day. Strangely, I think it added to the goodness. Because even though these memories remind me of sad and sometimes terrible things, they also remind me that my help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. The whole time I was in the bad and scary place he watched over me, never sleeping even a second. And it just doesn't get any gooder than that.

Labels: Bible, blessings, breast cancer, church, God, nostalgia, prayer, worship

Mused by Jenster :: 11:58 AM :: 11 People musing:

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Friday, September 05, 2008

A Little Less Random...

Hannah is supposed to hit here tonight. Since yesterday afternoon I've been getting text messages and email warnings from the National Weather Service about heavy rains and flooding in our area all day tomorrow. We're supposed to have the kids who work the tech booth on Sunday nights over for burgers tomorrow evening.

Most of you who know me in real life know I'm a pretty laid back, worry free, Hakuna Matata kind of gal. But bad weather always concerns me greatly, especially when 16 and 17 year olds are going to be driving in it. Of course, the other parents know their children's driving skills better than I do and they may not have a problem with it.

Addendum - They're still coming, but now they're going to be picked up.



Guess what this morning was! Go ahead! Guess!

Yes, it was Friday morning. Yes, it was the 5th. Good answers. But not the right one. It was the first get together following summer for my Homies!! Not my Little Homies. My Homies. And I won't call them my Big Homies, because we're all women and will take great offense to being called Big. So it's just my Homies, as opposed to the Little Homies, who are nearly all taller than me.

Today was just about getting together and talking and eating ('cause we do those things really well), but next Friday we'll start a short series on the book of James. I may go purchase some steel toed boots before next Friday because he always steps on my feet.

I don't think I can adequately express how happy I am about starting back up. You know how hectic summer is and we just don't manage to get together very often. But I love being in the routine and getting together with these ladies weekly. It was such a pleasure to just be with them for a few hours this morning. And now we have two new victims ladies joining the group.

All is right in my little corner of the world.



Except... I hate election year. The same kind of hate I reserve for mosquitoes. And humid, sweaty weather. I tire quickly of seeing the candidates at every turn. I become easily exasperated when I hear democrats and republicans berating each other.

This is NOT a political post. I may talk religion sometimes, but I refuse to talk politics. Other than to say this. Regardless of what side of the party line you stand on, please don't tell me the other side is dead wrong or evil or stupid or anything like that. Call me Pollyanna if you must, but I firmly believe both sides have the same basic goals. To keep America safe and to take care of Americans. The problem is simply they don't agree on how to do that.

I'm not terribly excited about any of the candidates. I see good points and bad points to all of them. I suppose I'll do what I usually do. Choose who I perceive to be the lesser of two evils, figuratively speaking.

Okay. That's all the political mumbojumbo I'll be writing about. Until something else strikes my fancy, anyway.



Last, but most definitely not least, are a few Sookie pictures.

One of her new favorite places. This way she can see upstairs and into the kitchen:


Watching the kids walk up the street to the bus stop. This is her pretty permanent place in the morning until the last bus has left:



Here's she's taking a nap with Dad on the futon in the basement:

Labels: Bible, homies, random, weather, weekend plans

Mused by Jenster :: 1:05 PM :: 9 People musing:

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Monday, August 11, 2008

New Beginnings

If someone were to ask me what my favorite day is I would normally answer "Saturday". I do love Saturday. Somewhere in my archives I mentioned I love Saturday so much I would marry it if it would have me and I weren't already married. But right now I think Monday is my favorite day. A fresh start to the week. A chance to do better than last week.

If you're depraved enough you could probably go through my blog and figure out how many times I've started Weight Watchers in the last two years. If you're my friend, please don't waste your time. Just trust me when I say it's a bunch. But I'm starting again today.

Last Thursday I wrote this post and I'm pleased to report that I've been more disciplined in my study and time with God. I'm already reaping the benefits. Look at the verse that jumped off the page of my Bible and fairly smacked me upside my head.




It's nothing new or revolutionary. In fact it's something that I know as sure as I know my name. But for some reason it was a total "Ah Ha" moment when I read it this morning. I wrote it on a note card so I can refer to it at any given second. Like when I want to eat M&Ms instead of something with fewer points. Or when I want to read instead of cleaning the kitchen. Or when I want to watch TV instead of taking the dog for a walk. Or when I want to surf the net instead of writing.

I have the feeling I'm going to be referring to this note card several times an hour.

Labels: Bible, blessings, change, God, time management, wisdom

Mused by Jenster :: 11:17 AM :: 10 People musing:

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Thursday, August 07, 2008

I Love It, I Love It Not

I can never decide if I love summer or hate it. I don't welcome the heat and humidity, though this summer hasn't been bad at all. I love the beginning of summer. A respite from early mornings, hanging out with the kids, the promise of fun things to do. By the same token I love the end of summer. A respite from the kids, hanging out with my homies, a structure to the chaos.

The biggest problem I've had with summer since I started staying home is the lack of routine. Everything suffers, but nothing more acutely than my quiet time. When the kids were younger it was easy for me to blame it on them. That was back during the days when they were up early and demanded much more attention. Now I'm the one demanding attention so I can't use them for an excuse anymore.

Right now I feel like a total poser. I've been a Christian for a long time now so I've learned how to talk the talk and even look like I'm walking the walk. If it weren't for my loathing of drama I would have made a great actress.

My Distance-Between-Me-And-Christ litmus test is my thoughts more than my actions. Generally my actions belie the turmoil in my head and my heart. I become more judgmental, but I keep those thoughts to myself. I become less patient, but... okay. Maybe this one is seen by my family. I become more hateful in my head. I find myself desiring more in the way of possessions. Jealousy, envy, and a whole host of ugliness take up residence in my heart when I'm far from God.

Being a Christian is a responsibility. It's my responsibility to be a good example to my children. Um, I think they're doing way better than I am at the moment. It's a responsibility to my friends - iron sharpening iron and all that. I have my Little Homies to think of and women in and out of church as I embark on an incredible Women's Ministry adventure.

I've always sort of wanted an icthus (Christian fish symbol) on the back of my car. I'm certainly not ashamed of my beliefs so shouldn't I let everyone know? But do you know what's held me back all these years? I've always said that Christians do the most harm to Christianity. What if I had a Christian symbol on the back of my car and yet drove like a demon? What if I lost my patience with the person in front of me? That happens way more than I like. I don't want to damage anyone's tenuous faith and sometimes all it takes is a "Christian" doing something less than Christ-like.

Well now I find myself living less than Christ-like and it's not just a moment. Oh, I'm not doing anything bad. I'm not leaving my husband or beating my children or drinking in the closet or, well, you get the idea. But I haven't been spending time with Jesus like I need to. My tank has been on empty for a while now and I'm cruising on fumes. But those fumes eventually run out.

When summer is over I'll have my daily routine. I'll be back in home team and studying the Bible with other women. I'll have my morning quiet time over coffee and things will be as they should. But school doesn't start for another two-plus weeks. I can't wait that long. So this morning I did what I should have been doing all summer. And that is I did NOTHING until I'd spent some time with God. Well, that's not entirely true. I did let Sookie out. THEN I spent some time with God and His word. I gave the reigns over to him and yet I felt more in control today than I have for a long time.

I love that God is such a gentleman and doesn't push himself onto us. When I'm so weak and undisciplined I almost wish he'd push just a little, though. Oh, I feel the nudges of the Spirit when my conscience twinges, but that gets easier to ignore over time. But more than God's polite and patient ways I love that He's right there, arms open and waiting for me. Every.Single.Time.

After thinking about it I've decided I really do love summer. Especially now.

Labels: Bible, God

Mused by Jenster :: 10:30 AM :: 17 People musing:

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Friday, February 08, 2008

Happy Friday!!

Friday means I get to sleep in as late as I want to tomorrow. I've been so tired lately that I may just stay in bed until lunch. Probably not, but just knowing I can makes me nigh giddy.

Friday also means that I get to meet with my Homies. I adore that about Fridays because I love my Homies. A few of them weren't able to make it this morning and I missed them, but I was sure happy to be with the ones who were there.

We're doing Beth Moore's study on the book of Daniel and it's some powerful stuff. I find it interesting because several years ago I wrote a play for VBS on the book of Daniel. I read the entire book a few times and then each chapter numerous times as I wrote each scene. It's fair to say I have a pretty decent knowledge of the whole book. But Beth Moore digs deep and reveals fascinating tidbits that writing a children's play just doesn't uncover.

***

I'm sick again. Not terribly so, but enough to be exhausted and feel a bit icky. No worries, though. As I said above, I get to sleep in tomorrow morning. And if I do nothing more than lay on the couch all day after that then no biggy.

***

Katie tried out for the school play and made it. We don't know what part she has, but the play is the comedy Lagooned. Here's a synopsis:

Just sit right down and enjoy a tale - a tale that combines parts of Fantasy Island, Treasure Island, and Gilligan's Island. Now you've got some idea of what's in store when you're lagooned. In this sequel to Tim Kelly's ever popular play, "Don't Rock the Boat," some favorite characters do their best to survive on a weird atoll in the South Pacific, the home of cannibals, jungle drums, and nasty wildlife including a gorilla! They don't realize the island is actually part of Fantasy Tours, an organization that stages shipwrecks for clients willing to pay the price. The phony natives think the ship's loonies are customers and the loonies think the natives are genuine. Naturally, when the belching volcano demands a bride, the hilarity explodes! Oh, yeah, the U.S. Navy has mistakenly designated the island for target practice!

Looks fun, doesn't it??

***

THIS JUST IN - Katie is watching Everyday Italian and Giada De Laurentiis throws in a "tablespoon" of butter. I made the comment that it was more than just a tablespoon and Katie says, "Mom, it's an Italian tablespoon. And not only that, but you know how the camera adds 10 pounds." The silly girl makes my heart smile.

***

The silly girl also frustrates me. Did you know that 13-year-olds know much more about applying makeup than middle aged women? Yeah. I'm not lying. Just ask Katie.

***

Taylor is off having an airsoft battle with three other 10th grade boys who think it's fun to be shot by little plastic b.b.s. Katie is going to a dance at school and then coming home with three other girls for a sleep over. Todd and I are probably going to watch more of season 1 of the Gilmore Girls tonight. It doesn't get more exciting than that!

Labels: Bible, food, homies, kids, random, sick

Mused by Jenster :: 3:33 PM :: 17 People musing:

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