Friday the 13th

Benny’s 5th Birthday.  Or rather, Benny’s 4th Birt-hay.

That’s what Benny’s birthday will always be reduced to:  a birthay.

One time, when Benny turned 2 i decided I would go to Sam’sclub for a cake.  On the day of his party.  On a sunday afternoon.  After church.  While all the samples were out, not to mention the samplers that were milling around, you get the picture?

Well, at the bakery there was a sweet old lady.  She was unsure about putting a name on the cake. Very very unsure.  But I was insistant.  “Please”  I said, “I don’t care what it looks like, just put:  ‘BEN’ in royal blue icing…that would be great!”

“Okay…” she said.  Hesitantly.  Hesitant for a  good reason.

Poor Benny. Poor lady.

She came back with this.

and Benny reacted like this:

And a good day was had by all. Well, maybe except the birthay boy…

But I digress.  So yesterday was a crazy day and we finally closed on the house we’ve been in the process of getting since, like, January.  And in all the craziness…of closing and school and work and delays and cancellations and finding sitters I didn’t even really consider that we had no presents handy (wrapped).

So I told Ben his present was the new house.

And he told me he already knew about that and then he held my face in both of his grimy hands and said:

“Next time you need to not tell me what the present is, okay?”

And he still has no idea that there are better things coming, just on a less crazy day than Friday the thirteenth.

Sweet boy.  Love that kid.

Jesus and the Nanny State.

Did Jesus ever give money to the poor?

Clothes?

Food?

A job?

Not that I can see.

In fact, I can recall Him relaying an encouraging message to John the Baptist: “Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. (Luke 7:22)

Only the gospel? Really Jesus? Is that real compassion…? You raise the dead, but you can’t give the poor a little moo-la?

Jesus, who could get a coin from a fish for tax money, couldn’t tell the poor where to find money?
Jesus, who could feed a spiritually hungry multitude a godly message AND a fish and bread, couldn’t produce food for the hungry?

And then He said, “The poor you will always have with you.” (Mark 14:7) What about the WAR on poverty? Shouldn’t we as compassionate Americans abolish poverty?

If you think you can provide better than Jesus Christ Himself then you I guess you should try! But wait, isn’t that a little prideful (to think we know better than HE), and what does pride come before?

The thing of it is that Jesus knew that handouts never help the needy. A free ride is never free. That a welfare state could never prosper, only cause failure.

Jesus wasn’t broke or stingy. He gave us His life and with it, His mind (1 Cor 2:16). When we make Him the Lord of our lives we take on a new way of thinking, new innovations, new, God-given thoughts about production, business, budgets, and on and on.

If we, as Americans, could put down our prideful attitude of ‘we should all provide for those in need’ and adopted Jesus’ philosophy about the needy, our lives would be much much more fulfilling and we’d all have more than enough.

2011

So several months ago I threw a fit on facebook. It went kinda like this: “I need a bigger house. I need it. I NEED IT!!!!!!!”

It’s so true. We have 4 boys and they’re only getting bigger. Our house is 1357 sq ft which means we each have about 226.17 sq ft of space a piece.

Now I realize that in comparison to those living in Haiti this is considerable luxury, but here in America, where I live, it is considered cramped. I could make due for a year or two more, but with 2 sets of bunk beds and dressers for 4 different sized children why bother!! I’m an American and I want a bigger house! So there.

Anyways…we began to find a remedy to soothe my temper tantrum in the form of a new house.

We found several: an old farm house on 11 acres, a fixer upper near Lafortune park, a large large home in a desirable neighborhood, a brand new foreclosure, etc…there are houses galore to chose from.

But we’ve been thwarted at every turn: two houses show available, but are really under contract, our offer wasn’t considered on two homes and on and on it goes.

I began to pray and think about it. Does Jesus say anything about homes? Houses? Oh yeah…John 14:2 (King James Version)

2In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Hmmm…interesting. Now, some versions say rooms, some mansions, some say dwelling places, you understand, but they all refer to living spaces.

Then I remembered how Jesus told us to pray: Matthew 6:10 (New International Version, ©2010)

10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Hmmm..on earth as it is in heaven? Really Jesus? Fer real! So Josh and I prayed: “Lord, please prepare a house for us on earth as You are in heaven. Thank You Sir.” And now we just thank Him, “Thank you Lord for preparing a place for us here on earth, just as You are in heaven!”

So simple to take what Jesus says and apply it.

So this year, 2011, we’ll be praying for the will of Jesus to be done in our lives as it is in heaven!
Will we be sick in heaven?
Poor?
Unloving?
Impatient?
Worried?

If not, then it should not be so here on earth. At least, not according to what Jesus said!!!

So, here’s to 2011, on earth as it is in heaven!

All I’ve heard is stop the violent political rhetoric.   Really?

Oh, that’s what to blame for the shootings in Tucson!

So glad that’s been cleared up for me, cause I guess I was wrong all along!  See, I thought it was the act of one crazy lunatic who loved Hitler’s writings and hated his fellow man, all of whom (I’d assume) where not as intelligent as himself.    Silly me!

But now I know I was wrong!  He’s not at fault!  Violent Rhetoric is at fault!  Kill the Rhetoric!  No more aggressive words! No more “Fired Up, Ready to go!”    It must be stopped, It is to blame!  No more words that incite!  NO MORE FREE SPEECH!  It MUST be Regulated!!!!  RESTRICTED!!!

THE WORDS MADE HIM DO IT!!!

I’m all for shutting people up.  It’s the only logical thing to do in a free society.

But wait, how do we know he even cared about politics?  He was like, what, 20, 21?  Was he that angry over health care?

Or did he just feel superior over his fellow man, above the law, invincible, and eager to make us all see what a genius he is, how much power he has.  Did he listen to, or laugh at Sarah Palin?  Was he a Glenn Beck watcher?  Passionate about the Founding Fathers?  I just don’t really think he highly esteems the Constitution.

Can we all just take a breath, take a minute and realize that there’s ‘nothing new under the sun’(Ecc 1:9).  There have been crazy people throughout all of history.  People who ignore the importance of other people’s right to life.  And, unfortunately, those people will always be with us.  Some more visible than others.

So what can we do?

We live fully, love wholly, and focus on the important things, Jesus, and showing others His saving power.  Because, let’s face it, we’ll all be facing eternity at some point, and then life really begins, but where?

Benny’s day :)

Today was Ben’s 4th birthday.  It was a great day filled with all sorts of celebration.

Aww…my baby boy.

It all began last night at about 1:48a.m.  Benny woke up.  And then again about 15 min. later. And then again at about 3:30a.m.  Why?  He told Josh at 3 am that he wanted to celebrate his birthday now.  Ummm… Ben, it’s dark out.  And mommy and daddy were sleeping.  And you should be too.

So this morning, at 8:10 a.m. Josh, Noah, Jake, Sam and I all went in and woke our sleeping birthday boy with a rousing rendition of HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Now, you would think that he would have jumped out of his bed and smiled ear to ear, asking for his presents and 14 balloons.  And you would be dead wrong.  He did none of those things.  He tried pulling his blanket up around his shoulders to facilitate 5 more minutes.

Justice.

Off to school with the cupcakes we picked out yesterday.  He told me about 15 times to not forget them. Even though they were sitting right in front of him!  Sheesh, 4 year olds.

The day went on in a similar fashion…so excited about lunch with dad, at the doctor’s he got special, exciting treats (a bouncy ball with the diameter of a quarter and a pinwheel), we got to go to a friend’s house where he was able to play outside, etc, etc…  He had a great day, and I am happy to oblige him with fun and frivolity.

Love that Ben.  Four years old already?  Where does the time go?

Grapes!!!

Once upon a time I wanted to have grapes.  I wanted it BAAAADDDD  and I thought we had the perfect yard for it.  I just thought Josh needed to get to work and build a trelis for them, and I KNEW that he would and so I purchased a grape vine.  In a bag.  yes, i bought a Grapevine in a bag.  You gotta problem with that?

Anyways, it never got planted.  As a matter of fact the purchase was made like, 3 weeks ago, and the vine is still sitting on our patio table (otherwise known as my plant table), in its bag, sprouting out of the top.  Oh well.  Grapes maybe were never intended to be my garden forte.

So fast forward to today:  My friend (Wendy) and I were inspecting my acre of mess and land and came across an ugly fence.  Now, a word about this fence.  My friend (Wendy) has always liked this fence, saying it gives our land a little character, she even went so far as to say I could never create the kind of character that fence imparted to my yard, but my GG and my mother both hate the fence, calling it ugly and obtrusive.  But I like the fence and so I planted azaleas and hostas in front of it in order to hide it.

So, Wendy and I were looking at the sunside side of the fence and discussing how to hide that side of it when she noticed that one of the vines growing up it had big grape-vine looking leaves and little grape-cluster looking seedlings hanging from it.  WHAT????  could it be????  A grapevine growing, established, fruiting, in my very own backyard???

It still seems too good to be true!

So, we’ll see what comes out of this vine.

Ironically, Josh had just felt bad a couple of months ago for cutting that vine down to size.  He thought he had butchered it, but i guess he just pruned it!

Who knew?  I guess grapes ARE our forte!!!

Crazy world

I think our world is upside down.

The news is trying to convince us that tea partiers are anarchists and that ILLEGAL immigrants are victims.

seriously?

Have you seen images of the respective rallies. At one there’s not a person under 65 and at the other people are launching bottle rockets. Can you guess which is which? Not according to the news coverage.

And how about health care? I mean, to hear it being debated you’d think that having gov’t provided care means death will no longer be an issue.

Have people forgotten that EVERYONE dies, regardless of your insurance? Or are we trying to forget about death.

My husband once told me that religion is something to keep your mind off of the inevitable. The inevitable being, of course, that we all do die. In the same conversation he tried to convince me that our beliefs, whether they be in Christ, or in the fuzzy bunny, determine our reality after death.
lol
Like our beliefs can make something true or false. He told me that if I believed in the fuzzy bunny then I would go to fuzzy bunny land when I die.

No, really, that’s the exact example he used.

What an easy thing to believe. Just imagine, if you believe in reincarnation, than you will be reincarnated, if you believe in nothing, nothing will happen, if you believe in heaven, than heaven will be your reality.

I know, I know, it sounds so preposterous, but isn’t it sad that he was so deceived?

Being a devout believer in truth (not to mention a Rhema student at the time) I gently informed him that WHAT WE BELIEVE DOESN’T MATTER!!!

The truth doesn’t shape itself around our beliefs, but rather, our beliefs should shape itself around the truth. If they don’t, we end up being the fool.

Did I mention that this was all discussed on our first date. yep we have great communication.

The truth is like the sun. What we think about the sun doesn’t matter to it. It doesn’t change it’s rising and setting pattern based upon what we think. It doesn’t become purple no matter how much we believe it is. It won’t fall to infinity if we believe it will. So, we have to form our beliefs about the sun AROUND what the sun is and does.

It is the same with Jesus. He doesn’t become insignificant just because you don’t believe in him! And another form of salvation doesn’t appear just because you believe it will. We have to form our beliefs around the truth of who He is, what He said and what He has done.

I am looking at the world and I see people believing in the government for their health, provision, safety. And all I see is that same government being made up of self-serving human beings, some with genuinely good intentions, but never good resolutions, faulty, leading us to where only man in his incompleteness can lead, destruction.

I see people believing in the idea that there are multiple ways to salvation, despite the fact that Jesus said: ONE WAY. (and if that’s not true wouldn’t that mean He’s a liar? Voiding the idea that He’s just a good man, teacher, or prophet?)

And I am sad, because Jesus is being continuously portrayed as religion, an alternate belief, not as the death defying strongman who decided to sacrifice His life in a torturous (much worse than a mere water-boarding) death so that we could live with something a health care system could never provide: Victory over death.

And I don’t mean immortality, I mean that He purchased access to heaven for us.

I fully believe that when I die I will not be departing life, but rather stepping into a new life, more vibrant, more beautiful, more amazing than anything this world has to offer.
I believe that my sister, my aunt, my nephew will all be there, waiting for me to partake with them in a glorious reality of true life. I am not afraid of death. Could I feel this way without the confidence I have in Jesus? He wasn’t just any man. And He’s not just a good example for us.

He is life.

Death is not the end, but only the beginning of eternity. And I understand that people don’t want to die, but it’s not the worst thing.

The absolute worst thing is dying and believing you’re headed to fuzzy bunny land, but ending up in an actual hell, with a devil you didn’t believe in.

One of the most interesting things about parenting is teaching your kids how to have a healty dose of fear.  I mean, stranger danger…hello?!

And Josh and I do that by creating the opportunity for fear to arise.

It’s a team effort.

I try and shock and surprise them to tears by yelping loudly or giving them a scarry face and then Josh comforts and kisses them…telling them, “Don’t be afraid!  It’s just mommy!”.  At which point I would laugh and give them a goofy face and shower them with kisses, showing them there’s nothing to be jumpy about.

We’ve been doing this since Noah was a baby.  Awww…sweet No.

But one day Josh took it to a whole ‘nother level.

He became fear.

Causing them to doubt the sanity of their male role model.

See that uncertainty?

See the genuine concern?

Can you blame them?

Icky…what’s wrong with that man…

Don’t be afraid Sam…it’s just your daddy!!

Well, it looks to me our lessons are taking hold.

Don’t bother trying to frighten my children, they have us as parents.

Are politics really petty?

 

alright, alright already.  I know you were hoping to come here and see another mundane blog that ignores politics, but I just can’t.  I JUST CAN’T ignore politics!!!!

forgive me?

Okay….I do not really believe that politics are petty, on the contrary I think they are increasingly important in defining ourselves.

You may not want to but THINK about it!  Your politics reflect how you believe about society…and what you believe about society reflects how you think about people…and what you think about people reflects how you see life.  period.

We cannot seperate ourselves from our politics.

A genius man I know well said, “I was a democrat until I became a Christian.”  So his entire perspective on God, love, life was reflected in his vote.

When he put God first and himself second, he realized his ability.  So much in that phrase, really.

When he put God first he saw the power of life, not to mention our responsibility to protect it.

When he put God first he realized that his ‘rules’ for life didn’t matter.  Only the moral code put into our hearts mattered.

When he put God first he knew that God had given him responsibility for taking care of himself…not relying on the gov’t to do so.

Another man I greatly admire said that who we vote into office is paramount.  We are responsible for who is ruling this land and the rules they are making!!!!!  GOD HOLDS US ACCOUNTABLE FOR THOSE WE’VE ELECTED!!!!!!

That is why I cannot vote pro-choice.  I do not want the abortions of American children on my hands!  The blood shed is being counted you know…if God knows the number of hairs on our heads, then He surely knows how many potential lives have been wiped out.  Lives that He created.  Lives that He had plans for.  Lives that He died for. 

And here we are, selfish Americans, who think that our votes don’t really count.  Can we be so ignorant?  So compassionLESS?

I am so sad to see the state of our nation.

I cried today listening to President Obama’s ‘remarks’ on the slaughter at Ft. Hood prefaced by “shout out”s to people who are alive.  Shouldn’t he have prioritized and made a “shout out” for those killed first?  Nope, apparently not.  I just can’t believe that we have elected someone who seems to care so little for those willing to give up so much.

Think about it!!!!  Here are so many dead.  Men and women loved their country, who enrolled, voluntarily, to defend to the death for it.  And their leader, their commander, doesn’t even give them the dignity of acknowledging the massacre before thanking his staff for organizing a conference no one has heard of.

But what is really amazing, and tragic, to me is how little people care about these things!  I don’t understand how people can see our national debt being TRIPLED, and not care!  How is that…how is it that my boys may not have the ability to prosper to their fullest ability because they will be paying for America’s healthcare.  Does anyone even realize that the healthcare system is not being reformed, it’s just that the bill is being transferred?  Frustrating…and heartbreaking.

Here is the part of this blog where I cheer up.  Politics may reflect our innermost belief, but we are all able to change, to look towards a better future, a future with less taxes and more personal responsibilty, not just talk about it. 

And I believe that we will see the true heart of America soon, at the ballot box.

hello reader…

So I am transferring my blogging desires from blogspot. to wordpress. in hopes of an easier route towards picture uploads.

Do you like my title?  PettyPolitics (NO, not pretty politics, petty politics) 

One day I was driving down the road, listening to some radio talk show and not really listening, but rather, considering God’s thoughts on our politics.  All of the sudden it hit me.  God didn’t really care about our politics, He is way more obsessed with our spirits, our moralities.

He couldn’t give a rip about this stupid health care debate, because He wants to be our Great Physician. 

 He doesn’t really care about our ideas of racism because He has always looked at the condition of the heart, not mans physical appearance. 

 Taxes?  Pshaaw…He don’t care!  Sure, pay Uncle Sam 60%, He’s still planning on providing for those who are trusting Him.

We (okay, I) get so so so riled up about the state of the United States

and my belief that it’s time of influence in the world is over

and my opinion that the government has flushed and we are now circling the drain

and how can we change our political landscape and get America back on track to being great

and Josh, I know it’s 1 a.m. but do you know what 3rd trimester abortion involves and how evil it is

and I get worried and want to buy chickens so will be totally self sufficient.  But then I take a deep breathe, exhale global-warming causing co2 and remind myself not to be afraid for my boys because, God saw this all coming, and He’s already made plans for us to be fine.  And lots of people don’t have that reassurance, and they NEED it, and God is relying on us the introduce them to the Prince of Peace.

 

 

And then politics seem so petty.