I am pro-life, in all aspects. . . . . .

I am pro-life!!  I am for life- I am for equal opportunity for all.  I am for equal treatment among victims.  I am for equal treatment among convicts.  I am for equal treatment among born babies.  I am for equal treatmen among unborn babies.  I am for equal treatment for all who have the opportunity to be the best that they can be.  If a person murders another, they should get the harshest sentance available for murder.  The harshest sentance should apply if the murder victim is white, black, male, female, homosexual, heterosexual, born, unborn, chinese, japanese, Christian, or atheist.  One murder is no worse than another.  A murder is a murder just like the good Lord teaches that a sin is a sin. 

My point is: I just received a voice your opinion to your senator re: ENDA- employee non-discrimination act.  Employers should be allowed to hire the best person for the job.  Period.  They should be allowed to fire a person who does not do their job.  Period.  There should be no scale or  rule that says a white heterosexual woman can be fired for not doing her job but an asian homosexual man cannot be fired for failure to do his job(for example).  People are hired to do their job.  Period.  If you do not do your job to the standard set by your employer, they should have the right to fire you! 

Today’s world is all about me, me, me!  What can I get for nothing?  What can I take advantage of today.  How little can I do and still receive a paycheck?  Who can I badger into protecting me when I screw up?  Who can I manipulate into doing my bidding?  Narcissism or Narcissistic personality disorder is still in the psychiatric diagnostic manual, as far as I know.  It seems these days much of our world has this diagnosis!! 

Love your neighbor doesn’t mean that you can screw your neighbor if they don’t do what you want!!!!  It doesn’t mean that we can bomb abortion clinics because they are breaking God’s laws.  It doesn’t mean we can kill someone because they are different than us. When my kids whine or tattle on each other, I tell them, “when you are perfect, then you can tattle and whine about others!”   Let the Lord be our judge.  When you know without a doubt that you are doing what the good Lord has called upon you to do, then you can ask him to judge those who are judging you.  It is still not up to you to judge- it is up to you to call upon Jesus to help you!

A sin is a sin!  We all sin!  You focus on changing your own sinful behavior and God will help you better yourself.  You focus on doing the job you were hired for and then you deserve a paycheck.  You focus on being kind to those around you and then you get an extra jewel in your crown.

I heard on the radio today:  A Christian is a sinner who feels terrible about their sin.  A non-Chrisitan is a sinner who enjoys their sin.  Why can’t we just all admit we are sinners?  Why can’t we just focus on doing our jobs the way our job descriptions say we are to do them?  Why can’t we focus on adapting to the world around us as God has created it to be?

Go voice your political opinion!  Go to church and smile at that lady across the way who grates your nerves!!  Go to the store and wait patiently for that old codger who drives so slow. When you know you have done all that God has asked of you, then you can be the one who throws the first stone!  If we all just did our jobs the way God wanted us to.  All this equal rights bologna would be unnecessary!

Happy Birthday, Andy!

today would have been my brother’s 40th birthday.  I wonder if the stranger named Kathryn Covey Thomas or her friend Colleen will leave a note at my brother’s grave today?  It was a year ago that we found the first note from her.  I’d love to figure out who she is.  He’s been gone 21 years!

Flooded bathroom

Well, I just got done cleaning up a pond in my bathroom and hallway.  Our bathroom is approximately 5 x6, including the bathtub.  My 5 year old just emptied half of the bathtub onto the floor!  I was talking to my mother on the phone when I went to check on him (for the 520th time since he got in the tub) and her first question was, “How do you put half of a bathtub on the floor?!”  Now there was like 6 -9 inches of water in the tub and I am really trying to figure this grand question out myself!  I heard splashing but that is a lot of water to get out of the tub in a very short amount of time!!!  We live in an old house and so the water ran for the valley- out in the hall and down the heat register.  Just lovely!!  I sopped up the water, threw away the newspaper/magazine collection that was now ruined (that’s one way to get rid of that stuff w/out much complaint from my husband! lol), and took the antique cabinet that holds the bath towels  out to the porch to dry out.  Well, this is one way to clean the bathroom!!!  Later!

Halloween tips

I took the boys to the neighbors for a birthday party last night.  Because it is so close to Halloween, they had a Halloween theme.  She did the cutest thing with the punch!  She put gummy worms in the punch!   We got to talking about different ideas and here’s the list.  Some of the ideas are passed down from her mom, some I read in magazines, and some are mine.

Gummy worms in the punch

Slice potatoes and cut jack 0 lantern faces in each slice- french fry

Frost the cake and bury gummy worms half way in the frosting so it looks like they are crawling out of the cake

Use bell peppers for making personal size jack o lanterns.  Fill them with spagetti and sauce (mixed together) to resemble brains.

Make a pumpkin jack o lantern and fill it with spagetti and sauce for a brainy center piece/main course.  Both this and the bell peppers can then be baked in a slow oven to make the jack 0 lantern edible too!

Hairy buffalo was always a favorite drink for halloween when I was a kid.  Have each child coming to the party bring their favorite soda or koolaid or juice.  Poor all of them together in the same punch bowl!  My church youth group did this and used a clean/new garbage can for the punch bowl!

Haunted house? 

My brothers did this one year (I am the youngest and only girl).  At the entrance they put cotton balls in a glass jar and filled the jar with green colored water.  Pickled eye balls!  Under flashlight light, this is eerie!

Many haunted walks use rope or string to lead the visiters in the dark.  They keep their hand on the rope as they walk through to keep them on the path.  Every once in a while, put cooked spagetti on the rope.  It will gross them out- worms? moss? guts?  Fun!

The large globe type grapes (round, not egg shaped) are perfect eye ball props too.  If you want people to touch things, cover the grapes with oil.   Eeeew!

Finger props?  Baby carrots and pretzels resemble bones if they can’t be seen but just felt!

Don’t forget the simple ideas  for a great fall party!

Hay ride  (you could have some neighbors waiting in the dark along the path to scare everyone!)

Hot Cocoa

Nice Bon fire

Smores

Hot Cider (cider can be heated by itself, you can by seasoning mix at the grocery, you can make your own mulling spices: tie in cheesecloth some whole cloves, cinnamon sticks.  Let that simmer for 20 min. or so and then remove the cheesecloth before serving.  Cranberry juice makes a great addition to cider also)

Sloppy Joes

chili

Campfire songs

Playing in the leaves

Bobbing for apples

Donut tied on a string eating contest

Singing with the television

It’s not quite 7:30 in the morning and my kids have had 3 late nights in a row.  However, and even with a cold, my oldest is up and singing the Pokemon theme song with the t.v.!!!  He loves Pokemon!  I love to hear him singing.  Now, none of my kids are singing prodigies or anything but I love to hear them sing.  I love to sing.  Somehow, my kids picked up on that fear of singing in public at a very early age.  (I blame this on the public school system)  So when they sing when they believe no one is listening, it is so cool!!! 

Everyone (me too) but their dad has caught a cold and I wish I could get these boys to blow their nose on a regular basis.  The sniffing drives me crazy.  I actually took one to the doctor last cold season and asked the doctor about the sniffing instead of blowing.  She said it is detrimental to not blow it out.  It slows down the recovery from a cold and will keep them sick longer which can increase their risk of getting an infection as a result of the cold virus.

I can get them to drink herbal tea with honey and lemon.  I know this helps with the congestion so I feel better knowing that they at least have one good habit related to their cold! lol 

Off to sing with the television . . . . . . .

God is a verb.

What is it with people these days!??  What is more important- the structure and rules of a program or entity or showing our kids and peers that Jesus love us- each and every one of us!!  God is love!  God is not regulated by structure or rules of engagement!!! 

Some churches and christian entities these days (and I do mean SOME, not all- most churches and christian agencies are full of the love of Jesus- I am venting today!!!!) have forgotten what God has called us to do as Christians.  Proverbs 10:12 says that love covers all sins.  It does not say that love covers only certain sins that are considered acceptable by the general population.   Leviticus 19:18 says that you shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  The Lord commands this.  He does not speak lightly!!  John 15:12 says that we are to love one another as I (Jesus) have loved you.  It says this is a commandment!!  It doesn’t say that love is necessary only if someone deserves it or when a person has done something that we agree with.  It says that we are to love as Christ loved.  Christ loved so much that he died for us.  Now that is a lot of love!! Romans 13:10 says that love does no harm.  NO HARM!!  Have you ever heard of people who get their feelings hurt by someone in Christian leadership who then leave the church and never return.  These people were harmed!!!  They were harmed by either harsh words, condemnation, lies, or misinterpretations!!  It doesn’t matter what the harm was really, it only matters that the person doing the harm doesn’t realize that they are harming until it’s all done and over with.  The person doing the harming may even think that they are doing God’s work by telling a fellow Christian something that they are doing wrong or inappropriate.  It is true that we are to go to people when there is a wrong but we are to do this OUT OF LOVE and not condemnation. 

Nothing sickens me more than when I hear of people representing themselves as one of God’s people or a Christian who then go and knowingly condemn, ridicule, or otherwise cause harm to someone else.  Or people who are asked to be in Christian leadership who then let their position turn others into their slaves to do exactly as they are told, lest they be condemned or ridiculed publically or in private later.  God is the judge.  We are His servants.  Sharing the love of Christ is about the love not the program.  It’s okay to have people with less ability than yourself in leadership positions-  God uses all walks of life to promote his kingdom!  It’s okay if little Johnny is too shy to go to his own class and needs to go to Sunday School with his big brother. It’s okay if little Shakira dirties her diaper every Sunday and mom forgets the diaper!  It’s okay if little Suzie insists on getting a drink as soon as church starts.  It’s okay if the teenagers are in the back pew whispering and having a good time.  It’s okay if the newborn baby cries during worship and the new mom is not ready to send the child to the nursery just yet.  It’s okay of little Joey insists on playing with the microphone instead of listening to the children’s sermon.  It’s okay if little Sarah is technically too young but comes anyway to the current program that her siblings attend.  It’s okay if young Bobbie has behavior problems and squeels insessantly right during prayer time.  It’s okay if the old lady in the back pew insists on using real plates and not styrofoam at church dinners.  It’s okay if there are typo’s in the church meeting minutes.  It’s okay if the chairman of that committee can’t come to every board meeting or comes without his report ready.  It’s okay if JimBob has to smoke one last cigarrette at the entrance of the church right before coming in.  It’s okay if the local Harley Davidson bikers club shows up in the church parking lot and disrupts the offering as they walk in the door.  It’s okay that the local drunk is at the church again begging for money.  It’s okay that George, who has a wonderful voice, can no longer sing in church since his dad died.  It’s okay if the only person to accept the position of song leader sings so quietly that you can’t hear them.  It’s okay that the pianist plays too  slow or too fast.  It’s okay that technically, you don’t agree with the theology of the pastor.  It’s okay if the Jones’s  show up 10 min late every Sunday and march to the front of the church.  It’s okay if the “tweenager” brings his gameboy to church.  It’s okay if the cleaning lady forgot to swish one of the toilets.  It’s okay if the local mice population decided to move into the fellowship hall.  It’s all okay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Each of these people needs the love of Jesus not the judgement of man!!!!  God is good.  It’s all good.  Love is a verb!!!!  God is a verb.  He only asks that we remember that love is a verb too.  What would Jesus do if one of the above people showed up at his house?  WWJD????  He would welcome them in!!  And He would love them!!!!

School Delay

I woke up this morning in a fog, coffee didn’t help much.  I hurried the kids around reminding my behavior problem child that his teacher’s goal for him is to “get on the bus”.  We hurried and hurried and I lost my patience a time or two.  We opened the door to send the boys to the bus and my oldest says, “Geez, it’s foggy!”  I never even turned on the radio this morning in my own fog nor did I ever look outside!!!!  Sure enough- everyone is ready and we have a 2 hour delay!  The boys are now jumping up and down- “2 whole hours of T.V.!!!!”  If I was really with it this morning, I’d give them something to do but I’m not so they probably will watch t.v. the whole time.  Call me bad, but I don’t think so. 

My oldest 2 have been really helping out lately, since their little brother decided that kinderg. would be the year to let it all hang out.  Tantrums,  attitude, disrespect, you name it.  I have had to spend a lot of time with the little guy, getting things more routine in nature and focusing on rewarding positive behavior instead of encouraging him to have a tantrum by having one myself as I, out of desperation, found myself yelling and screaming at him more than a few times.  We have had him to see the chiropractor (some may find this wacky, but it is working) and I have been seeing a counselor to learn better ways to parent a child who has possible Asperger’s syndrome and/or Oppositional Defiant Disorder. 

 The chiropractor?  You might ask.  Yes, the chiropractor.  Chiropractor’s look at what is causing the problem and not at just alleviating the symptoms of a problem.  Our chiropractor has been giving him adjustments and has prescribed a variety of supplements (vitamins and herbs).  These supplements helped, noticeably,  the first dose!  They are not a magic pill by any means and the noticeable difference in our son was not a 0 to 100 type of thing.  After one dose he was noticeably calmer and after a few doses I did not give him any one night to see what happened.  He had one of the biggest tantrums of his career the following morning!  After he was able to calm down, he was able to carry on a coherent conversation about his behavior and recognized that the behavior was not something he wanted to do.  This was a first. 

We have since implemented (in addition to the supplelments) the “1 2 3 Magic” discipline technique and all 3 of our children receive rewards of “shiny stones” when they are caught being good.  The stones can be exchanged for 5 cents but so far all of the boys have just kept the stones!  A bag of stones at our local Meijer cost $1.oo.   Our son also has a book that I made (drawing stick figures and words) that has his entire bedtime routine.  One step on each page.  On days when he is having a really hard time controlling himself, he gets a stone for each page completed in a timely, calm, manner.  He also has a behavior chart that he gets stars for each thing completed (medicine, brush teeth, no tantrums, etc).  When the chart gets 30 stars we do something fun as a family.  The first time he reached his goal we went and picked out pumpkins for Halloween!

Prior to this, everything I tried for our son only worked for 2 days.  In desperation, I emailed a friend who also has a child with difficulties and she suggested that whatever the current parenting technique was that I stick with it for a full 30 days.  Our counselor agreed and that is what we are doing.  Why 30 days?  It takes a normal person 21 days to form a new habit.  30 days gives room for when I am not consistent and gives a “not normal” child extra room to learn the habit as well. 

Hope someone finds this helpful!  The good Lord has given me a plethora of friends, all with slightly different backgrounds or out looks.  Each of them is full of wisdom and I am so thankful for all of them.

Drain cleaner- call the kids for this one

dump 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain.  If it sticks at the entrance, help it go down a little further.  Dump 1/2 – 1 cup vinegar down the drain next.

Watch out!  This bubbles up like a volcano!  Kids love to watch the volcano. . . . . This can be done just for fun too! 

Strawberry Cake and Frosting

I created this today.  I made a vanilla cake mix but replaced the oil with applesauce and added:

8 Strawberries, chopped very fine

2 Heaping Tbl plain Yogurt

Bake as directed on the box

For the frosting:

1 Strawberry chopped and then mashed

1 heaping Tbl plain yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

2 drops red food coloring

1 Tbl soft butter

combine above with enough powdered sugar to make frosting.  When cake is cool, frost and enjoy!

Lord, I’m having a day. . . . .

Dear Heavenly Father- Thank you for this nice fall day that my children can be outside this afternoon.  Give me patience for my husband, Lord.  Encourage me to continue to strive forward no matter what kind of response I get.  Help me to know that I am doing what you want me to do and not my own agenda.    Give me energy to face this evening as it comes rolling in.  Keep my husband and father in-law safe as they harvest.   Give them opportunity to come to know you better.  Give me opportunity to show them through my actions and not my words that I love them and You.  Thank you, Jesus.  -amen