How Steve Harvey might introduce Jesus

I love this!

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In the quest for cleverness…

I got nothin’.

Things are surprisingly quiet at the moment, and I can’t seem to come up with any cleverness to astound you with. Not that I ever DID.

Our house now has a foundation. It sure looks tiny…yet it is supposed to  be 500 sq. ft. more than we have at present. Those I’ve spoken to that have had homes built assure me that this is normal. To just wait it out and have faith. Yeah, well, okay. I’m still not going to breathe a sigh of relief until we are actually living in the home. We’ve had our house on the market for a YEAR now.  I hope  something  unforseen doesn’t happen to screw us out  of this deal.

I’m starting to let myself get excited. Something I didn’t do when we picked out colors and tile and all that good stuff.

Ladybug and Girlchild have fun going by the land and seeing te progress. They are supposed  to have it finished by the end of August, but I’ll be shocked to my toes if that happens.

Speaking  of the girls–

They are doing splendidly. Ladybug has knocked off telling lies so much. Either that,or she’s getting better at it. The kind of fibs we had problems with her telling  stemmed from insecurity and the need to make herself more that she thought she was. The fact that she has started to let that habit go is encouraging. Girlchild is seeming more secure too, more relaxed with  us. Morewilling to go withthe fact we are fulfilling a parental role, without trying to replace her natural parents. Which I wouldn’t hesitate to do, if asked.

But both still speak  of missing their parents, which is only natural. I pray,  for the sake of these kids, that the parents can get it together.

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I’m having a summer lull in my business. Ick. You know, if someone with some dough laying around wanted to toss a few thousand my way, it would be greatly appreciated. I have PayPal, just let me know. RIGHT…..

The ol’ second job at the grocery store isn’t really helping out. Much. Between my availability and their scheduling…5 hours a week isn’t going to cut it. I’m thinking about turning in my notice.

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I was so excited when a  friend  at the salon gave me a copy of the latest PEOPLE magazine (well, last week’s anyway),  pointing out Linda Castillo’s great placement and review for SWORN TO SILENCE in the “books” section.  I’m  tellin’ ya, this book, and Linda, really deserve all the kudos that are popping up everywhere. This is an exciting series, and  not to be missed! Read this article in Cleveland.com! And this letter from Linda  at a cool website I just found, She Loves Hot Reads.com!

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Jennifer Archer and Mary Schramski’s new blog, Menopause Musing: Writing Without Periods, is getting better and better! If  you need a lift to your day, make sure  and stop  by!

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My own writing has been nil, as usual. I just don’t know what to say about that. The excuses just aren’t cutting it any more.  They are tiresome,  in fact.  Blah.

But it feels good to blog again, even when  I don’t really have anything to say.

Happy Father’s Day!

We love you. We Miss You.

SWORN TO SILENCE by Linda Castillo–MUST READ!

Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
In Sworn to Silence, Linda Castillo creates a strong, vivid characters within a suspenseful, heart-thumping thrill-ride of a story.

Kate Burkholder,the lead protagonist, is refreshingly unique and possesses a depth that makes a reader want to know more about her, and why she abandoned the Amish life, yet came home to serve and protect the community she left behind. Kate’s counterpart, John Tomasetti, fighting demons of his own, is more than a match for her, with an intriguing multi-layered character of his own that magnetizes our attention to the page. Each struggles to come to terms with their past, while focusing on a very real evil haunting Painters Mill.

If those two weren’t enough, Sworn to Silence boasts a community of players that add rich texture and flavor to the novel.

I look forward to reading more about Kate and Tomasetti, and more intrigue in Painters Mill.

View all my reviews.

New Blog you need to see!

Brother is blogging!  Go on over and see. http://digishark.wordpress.com

He’s a smart guy, with lots of advice on computers and other gadget stuff.  He’s funny, too.

AFV: a VERY talkative baby 12 months old!

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Wow, this is flattering…

My blog is listed in the top 100 creative writing blogs by The Best Colleges  Online. Hmm..

Introducing…..

A CHARMED LIFE!

SisM has plunged into the world of blogging. She is a charming and interesting woman, so  be sure to drop by and welcome her to the net…and check out her header pic.

More Toddler stories on  the way? Hmmmm…..I suspect so.   Along with other thought-provoking,humorous, and interesting insights on life.

But, Wait….

It seems like I am thinking this a lot lately.   The inside of my lips should be raw from my biting  them.

You see, I have a different viewpoint from many people  I hang around  with. People I respect and think a LOT of.   They don’t seem to mind speaking  their minds,  and don’t seem to worry whether I like their opinion or not.

So why do I feel like I can’t express myself in the same manner?  Do I feel like their opinions of me or my viewpoints  will crush me? Do I feel like I am not free to express my opinion, because  in some conversations, I’ve been made  to  feel like because of my personal beliefs,  I am just stupid, or wrong?  Kinda.

Some tones have come across like, “Shame on you, you idiot.”

Which I find ironic, considering some  of these people have claimed to have received the very same  kind of treatment.

I feel like I’m supposed to shut up if I don’t agree,  and  I kinda  resent it.

Especially when I am not  even trying to force my beliefs on anyone.  I am merely trying to express  my opinion.

More often when  I’m joking around  or trying to be funny.  It seems I can’t even tease around without people taking things so seriously.

Perhaps it’s  my delivery.  I’m probably not a stand-up comedian for a reason. 

I can only hope, that before criticizing me, or taking  me down a peg, so  to speak, that you don’t lump me in with “All the other  people” who share some  of the same viewpoints I  do.  We’re not all alike, you know.  Stop, breathe, and take the facts that you know about me, and what kind of person I am before you jump to the defense.

I may disagree with you, but I am still a good person,and not an  idiot either.

I’ll try to reciprocate.

Tidbits

Well, as a week goes, it was pretty non-eventful! Working about half  as hard as I should,  yet fully-dedicated to avoiding writing. Except for the blog. In spite of that, Monday group and Wednesday group resumed our meetings. I missed those girls!

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I have been reading, reading, reading, adding  to my Goodreads and Shelfari lists.  I don’t know why I use both, but I do.

Goodreads is probably the most thorough. I have a LibraryThing, too, but without paying, I can only add 200 books. Just trying to maintain  exposure in the books and writing  world, just in  case I try to get up off my ass, or rather,  sit  on my ass and get off the Internet in order to write.

Oh, what have I been reading? Just catching up on my Karen Hawkins and Julia Quinn.  *SIGH* I just LOVE books I can totally immerse myself in.

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I was  playing with the new flash drive  Mr.Man gave me for Christmas, and I thought I’d just download my manuscripts onto  it.  But when I went to find them, they weren’t there!  Thank goodness for backups,  I thought. So I burrowed in my briefcase  for my thumb drive, but they weren’t on there, either.

Uh oh.

Had they decided to leave me, due to my neglect?  Crap.  But I was soo relieved to find them on  my desktop,  proving that by having my WIPs stashed in not one, not two, but THREE places paid off.

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While I was reading in between customers, I overheard a client a few chairs over talking  about her daughter, a  darling little girl she’d adopted from Russia at the tender age of 4 months. The child is now five,  with light brown hair kissed by just enough natural  curl to be precious, and a teeny pair of wire-rimmed glasses perched upon the bridge of her nose.

Wait–it gets better.

She sang “You Are My Sunshine” to her mother. In that sweet baby voice that makes  a heart melt.

And I missed Toddler with a ferociousness that brought a lump to my throat anda couple of tears to my eyes. WHAM– Right out of nowhere.

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I got an e-mail from SisM yesterday, one of those ‘getting to know you’ -type quizzes that makes the rounds every so often.  One of of her answers made me curious about something, so I called.  While we were talking, she says,”You are going to LOVE this.”

Evidently,out  of the blue a couple of days ago, Toddler says, “I love Uncle (Mr.Man) and Aunt Sis. I have so much fun when we’re there.”

“Well, that’s nice, Toddler,” says her mom.

“I REALLY love Aunt Sis.”

Oh,  my heart!  And how sweet of SisM to let me know Toddler said this. It made  my day.

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We’ve had  some lookers at our house, and we’re having an open house again on Sunday. The price on the home we’re hoping for  has dropped, too.  We’ll have to see what happens. As usual.

The new year so far…

Well,  so far, so good.

We had an open house, with positive responses. But what counts are the bites, and we don’t have that yet. It’ll happen when it’s supposed to happen.  I tell myself that over and over. Patience is not a virtue I possess in  large quantities. 

Unlike the fat in my ass. Yes, Mom and I went back to Weight Watchers today. I’ve not quit, but it was our first trip back since the holidays.  At least the news wasn’t bad.  I gained, but only 2 pounds.  Considering the so-called national average 0f a 10 pound gain over Christmas, not too bad at all.

Today, I went to  get my eyes checked, and got spanked by the optometrist for not caring for my contacts as I should. He couldn’t give me a prescription because my corneas were too swollen, and had some abrasions. He also said he was 90 percent sure I’d need bifocals. But we’ll have to wait a couple of weeks to find out.  I’m almost resigned to going  back to glasses.  These days, they are more of  a fashion statement than they used to be.  And Tina Fey pulls it off, as does Sarah Palin and Bono, so why not? Why am I being vain about it, anyway? It was different when I was a schoolgirl worried about what boys thought of me.

I might just get a cool pair of frames I feel confident in and go for it. Besides, if I were really that vain, I would have lost all this weight long ago or never gained it in the first place. And the only man I need to impress or whose opinion I care about is Mr. Man’s.  Oh, well, there’s Brother and various uncles and cousins and friends who I care about, but you know what I mean. 

*sigh* I’m babbling again.  Have you missed it?

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A local  hospital has declared it will no longer employ people who smoke.  Even in the privacy of their own home.  I’ve heard that current employees will be given a few months to quit. There will be random blood tests todetermin if employees are smoking.

Okay, I will say right now that I am strongly against tobacco for many reasons.  Not the  least of which is that lung and throat cancer has wreaked devastation across my family. I’m even in favor of no smoking in public buildings, especially restaurants.   I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings when I say this.  I have very dear friends who smoke.  But since the consequences of it stole those nearest and dearest to my heart, I constantly have that fear that it will happen again and therefore, smoking is the enemy in my eyes. I hope those nearest and dearest to me can understand this.

HOWEVER, I think this policy crosses a line.

Yes, they do drug testing. But that is to test for illegal and  prescription drug abuse. Smoking, I’m sad to say, isn’t illegal.  I know, hospitals are in the business of promoting health and restoring health and retaining health.  And as a business, it can hire and fire whomever they please. They can even call smoking a bad moral, I suppose, and include it in a morals clause.

I just feel…icky about the policy. Those friends I told you about who smoke? I would never presume to tell them what to do, in their own home.

Next, the hospital could decide to not hire people because they are overweight, like me. Citing health issues.

Like many smokers who know they should quit, I know I should lose weight, so being anti-smoking makes me a big hypocrite, doesn’t it? In more ways than one. Pot and kettle and all that.

It’s all so darn complicated, isn’t it?

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Well,  I got a bit off track, didn’t I? 

What I’ll close with is that I think this year is going to be a very good year.

Merry Christmas!

Thought I’d share a thought-provoking  article from the Patriot Post that I found in my inbox today.

Christmas Special Edition
Vol. 08 No. 52
22 December 2008

THE FOUNDATION

“Religion in a Family is at once its brightest Ornament and its best Security.” –Samuel Adams

PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE

Christ’s Mass 2008: Our Guiding Light

By Mark Alexander

For my family, Christmas is much more than a day, a season or a collection of memories and rituals. Christmas is a lens through which we endeavor to view all things — the universe of our Creator and His purpose for us — every day.

However, it can be difficult at times to comprehend God’s plan for us — after all, how are we to discern our minuscule role in the enormity of His creation? In fact, in our home, we can become so distracted by the daily challenges, demands and routines that we sometimes neglect to seek His purpose for us.

On top of our efforts to maintain a strong marriage and manage our home, Ann and I are raising three children, ages 10, 13 and 15, who have three very distinct personalities, attend three different schools, and are off in three different directions most of their waking hours. (We have friends who have more children and greater challenges, and remain in awe of their ability to manage, and even thrive.)

Recently, my 15-year old son, a faithful and bright young Patriot, came to me with a heavy heart. He told me that sometimes he loses his bearing, feels disconnected from God, and that separation causes him distress.

I acknowledge to him that, similarly, there have been days in my life when I have felt detached from God, and in those times I also struggle with questions about meaning and purpose.

What I have learned (at considerable personal cost) about being disconnected from God is that this division is always the result of my looking to the world for purpose rather than our Creator. Inevitably, after some consternation, I awaken to the reality that our cultural compasses are perpetually disorienting.

Contemporary culture relentlessly encourages us, even seduces us, to irrevocably link our identity to its trappings — what we do, what we have, who we’re with, and the like. But all of these connections are temporal. In the end, if we take our bearings from the culture around us, we are destined to experience emptiness, which it then offers to fill with various distractions and forms of sedation.

I told my son that through my life’s trials, I have learned we must look up before we look out — that we must look to God in order to understand His purpose for us in the world. Indeed, if we define our purpose in cultural terms, or worse, if we try to understand Him through the world’s lens, we are destined to remain astray.

“But how do we know God is there?” he asked.

The New Testament’s epistle to the Hebrews (11:1) notes, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

However, I would offer that in those times when we sense our Creator’s absence, that sense is itself a strong affirmation of His presence. God has built into us a desire to know and to be in unity with Him. When we are not (and have not filled that void with cultural fodder), the emptiness we feel is ample confirmation of His presence.

My son and I talked further about a good metaphor for God’s presence on even the bleakest of days.

We both enjoy flying — it’s in our genes. My son is training for his first solo, and this time of year there is a lot of inclement weather. However, even in the worst weather with virtually no visibility at ground level, a few minutes after takeoff you climb out above the cloud cover into clear skies and endless visibility. This emergence into the blue from dense rough weather is awe-inspiring.

Sometimes in winter, our Tennessee mountaintop is shrouded in clouds that settle in for days and sometimes weeks. This absence of sun and blue sky can take its toll on the spirit. But it is a source of comfort to remember that above the clouds, the sun and stars always shine bright. Eventually the weather will break and light from the heavens will avail itself again.

Likewise, God is always there, even if temporarily obscured from our vision.

We talked about explorers who crossed vast oceans in tiny vessels, setting their course by the North Star.

When we make God our North Star, we are guided precisely along the path He has prepared for us, even though we do not know where it leads. However, as was the case with those early mariners, when we lose sight of our North Star, we must hold steady our direction until we find His guiding light again, correct our course and carry on.

However, light overtakes darkness only if we open our eyes.

“We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead.” (Isaiah 59:9-10)

And when we do open the eyes of our heart, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2)

Indeed, “Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.” (Psalm 97:11)

It is no small irony that a Christmas star guided the wise men from the East to the Christ Child in Jerusalem: “After they had heard [Herod], they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” (Matthew 2:9-10)

The birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecies of ages, and foretold in His time: “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” (John 1:9)

Jesus described himself in terms of light: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

And to those who follow him, he instructed: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

But I told my son that even on the brightest of days with my eyes wide open, there is so much about God that remains a mystery to me. These unknowns cause me no trepidation — long ago I discovered that I couldn’t hope to fully comprehend our Creator, whose wisdom is infinite.

My conversation with my son about knowing God and understanding His purpose for us will continue throughout our lives together, and I am grateful for his permission to share this slice of it with you, because I think it speaks to the heart of a universal desire to know our Creator.

In the midst of all the daily activities in our home, we make a point to have supper together as a family. When returning thanks for God’s provision, we always pray for “grateful hearts and joyful spirits,” that we would be grateful in heart to our Provider, and joyful in spirit as a reflection of that gratitude.

This prayer, I believe, draws upon the essence of Christmas, upon the essence of God’s gift to us.

In those moments when we feel apart from God and seem to have lost our way, if we ask ourselves, “Who or what am I serving?” that question will inevitably lead to some master in the culture around us, and it calls on us to once again open our eyes and see the One True Light.

As always, on behalf of our staff and National Advisory Committee, I am humbled to stand with you among the ranks of our Patriot countrymen. We wish peace and God’s blessing upon you and your family.

Merry Christmas!

Veritas vos Liberabit

Mark Alexander

(Regarding our Christmas edition, we take leave from the rigors of research and analysis of contemporaneous news, policy and opinion in order to focus on an eternal message, indeed a Christian message. To our Patriot readers of faiths other than Christianity, we hope this edition serves to deepen your understanding of our faith — the faith of our Founders and the faith upon which our nation’s Declaration and Constitution were founded.)

The Good News

“And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’ So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.’ And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying, which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things, which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.” (Luke 2:1-20)

(Permission to reprint, forward or repost granted by PatriotPost.US)

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Veritas vos Liberabit — Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark Alexander, Publisher, for The Patriot’s editors and staff.

(Please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm’s way around the world, and for their families — especially families of those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who granted their lives in defense of American liberty.)