Wanna Buy Some Steak?
Published by Kim on Tagged From My LifeI’ve seen some strange things in my day. From coast to coast of these United States, I’ve definitely seen my fair share of weirdos and bizarre occurrences.
Take, for instance, the man that got stuck in a revolving door at the World Trade Center in New York City in 1992. It may be slightly irreverent to laugh about it now, and I’m sure the man who got stuck didn’t find it funny, but my friend and I still share a laugh about it to this day. Hundreds of thousands of people or more passed quickly and easily through those revolving doors, many immediately before this poor gentleman. For whatever reason, his trip through them was not destined to be successful. As he pushed forward on the doors he got about half-way through and the doors just stopped, causing the unsuspecting man to slam full force and face first into the glass in front of him. Along with the “smack” came a priceless look somewhere between sheer terror and extreme embarrassment. Plenty of fodder for 2 college age women to find hysterical. Once the man regained his composure, he pushed on the doors again, and they began to move as if nothing was wrong.
In 2002, in a Wal-mart parking lot in Oxnard California (maybe an hour North of L.A.) I was walking across the parking lot when a man in the back of a pickup truck said to me “hey, do you like steak?” Now, there was a part of my brain that thought this was some pervert, but there were plenty of people around, and quite frankly in my younger days I was always looking for an opportunity to use my martial arts training, so I said “sure.” The man pointed down to a large cooler he had sitting in the back of the pick-up truck and said “do you want to buy some?” At that point I admit that I (yes, the person who has an answer for everything) was caught off guard and just stared for a second trying to wrap my brain around the idea that some guy was trying to sell “steak” from the back of a pick-up in the Wal-mart parking lot. “Um, no thanks” was the brilliant retort I came up with. Oh well, only in California I thought.
This morning, while driving to work, I was behind a red pickup truck and noticed, at a stoplight, that the man was rinsing off a toothbrush outside his window with a bottle of water. I thought to myself, ‘what kind of weirdo brushes his teeth in the car?’ We continued driving, and then at the next stoplight, I noticed the man’s arm moving vigorously back and forth in front of his face - and when I said vigorously, you’d think he was trying to remove his teeth, not just brush them. This went on even after the light turned green. Needless to say, I dropped back another car length - just in case. I was still watching as we rolled up to the next red light. By that time the brushing had stopped and the man took the time to admire himself in both his rearview and sideview mirror. You’d think the guy was shaving with the toothpaste too, considering how much of it was running down his chin. His admiration continued for a couple of seconds (maybe foaming at the mouth is some kind of indication of good luck on whatever planet this guy came from) and then he took a swig of water, still not bothering to wipe his face. For the next 2 miles we drove on and repeatedly the whole time - while the car was still moving - he stuck his head out the side window and spit white foam all over the road. Finally, he turned off onto a different street. I guess driving is just something you do while performing personal hygiene.
I’m sure that people have seen me do things that they consider strange or amusing, but generally they usually occur from lack of balance or coordination, not mental illness (although my husband may disagree with that assessment). It reaches a point where common sense has to take over, right? Right? In hindsight, maybe common sense is not so common…..
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The Messages Keep Coming
Published by Kim on Tagged FaithToday’s verse from Heartlight is another of those in a string lately that really hits home for me, especially with the added key thought and prayer, this one is really appropriate.
I tend to be a bit of a worrier…ok maybe more than a bit. I don’t think I let on much, as I come off as fairly optismistic…..ok well maybe not optimistic, because I tend to be cynical, but I pretty much hope for the best all the while expecting the worst. I know God doesn’t want me to live that way, in fact, it shows a weakness on my part in my faith. It shows I am not placing my full trust in his plan because I falsely assume that I have some kind of control over it. Worry is nothing more than the false assumption that you can affect the outcome simply by thinking about something. That’s got to be some form of mental illness….
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\ / WHAT JESUS DID! — http://www.heartlight.org/
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Friday, August 17, 2007
Why the Bigger Things
Jesus said to his followers, “So I tell you, don’t worry
about the food you need to live. Don’t worry about the
clothes you need for your body. Life is more important than
food. And the body is more important than clothes. Look at
the birds. They don’t plant or harvest. Birds don’t save food
in houses or barns. But God takes care of them. And you are
worth much more than birds. None of you can add any time to
your life by worrying about it. If you cannot do the little
things, then why worry about the big things?”
— Luke 12:22-26
(ERV)
KEY THOUGHT:
Life is more than food and clothing. God has reminded us of that
throughout the Scriptures. Jesus reminded us of it when he faced
temptation from Satan. So we shouldn’t worry, because God will take
care of the big stuff and the little stuff! Worrying doesn’t change
things, big or small, except to make those problems appear worse than
they really are. So why let ourselves get so worked up into a frenzy
over “big things?” Let’s cast our cares on God and then trust in his
providence.
TODAY’S PRAYER:
Holy God, my loving Abba Father, you knew I really needed to hear this
passage tonight and think through its meaning in my life. “Don’t
worry!” you’re telling me! Even more so, you’re telling me, “Quit
worrying!” I know my worries about little things can’t change them. So
then please give me faith that you are already working on the big
things and that I can trust you to see me through. Give me wisdom,
strength, courage and love. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Church Won’t Hold Funeral for Gay Man
Published by Kim on Tagged News You NeedChurch won’t hold funeral for gay man
The above article from the Dallas morning news discusses a church in Texas that changed their mind about holding a funeral. The man who the funeral was to remember was apparently not a member of any church and, it turns out, was a homosexual. The way I understand it, the service was going to entail elements from this man’s life that blantantly displayed his lifestyle, possibly even celebrated it. I’m not sure if that was why the church chose not to perform the funeral, or if it was simply because he was a homosexual.
The American Family Association is presenting a letter they say was written by High Point Church, the church in the story. That letter can be found here.
The letter clearly indicates that their decision was based NOT upon a judgement of the man’s lifestyle, as that is not their job. They state that the decision was based upon the type of service that the family and friends of this man wanted to hold - a service that appeared to honor and celebrate a lifestyle that is sinful. They were not opposed to honoring the man, but must be opposed to celebrating his sins.
Before reading the statement from the church, I was torn on this issue wondering if they were simply denying a sinner a funeral - because his sin was being gay. But it appears to have gone way beyond that. We’re all sinners, but to honor our lives by celebrating that sin is not something the church can nor should do. The church is not the final judge and jury, but the church must uphold the beliefs that it is founded upon, and celebrating sin, any sin, is quite in opposition to it’s core beliefs.
I hope this does not become a media circus with the propaganda machines turning this into something akin to discrimination. They want to remove God from our schools and our very core value system, they better not start spouting off about how this man should then have certain “rights” to have whatever kind of funeral he wants in a Christian church.
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Rich is a Matter of Perspective
Published by Kim on Tagged FaithThe following verse and its subsequent key thought and prayer from Heartlight certainly inspired me yesterday. With all the doubts, fears and questions I’ve had about my decision to stay home with my kids really can be summed up quite well with that verse.
Working so that we can have “more stuff” will not make us rich, in fact it likely can do the opposite.
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\ / WHAT JESUS DID! — http://www.heartlight.org/
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Thursday, August 16, 2007
True Wealth!
Then Jesus used this story: “There was a rich man that had
some land. His land grew a very good crop of food. The rich
man thought to himself, ‘What will I do? I have no place to
keep all my crops.’ Then the rich man said, ‘I know what I
will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger barns! I
will put all my wheat and good things together in my new
barns. Then I can say to myself, I have many good things
stored. I have saved enough for many years. Rest, eat, drink,
and enjoy life!’ But God said to that man, ‘Foolish man!
Tonight you will die. So what about the things you prepared
for yourself? Who will get those things now?’ This is how it
will be for the person that saves things only for himself. To
God that person is not rich.”
— Luke 12:16-21 (ERV)
KEY THOUGHT:
When we are blessed financially, we can easily become arrogant and
think that we are blessed because we are smarter, better, or just work
harder than anyone else. While many of us with computers can see how we
have been financially blessed because of our Christian values, we must
remember that many Christians in the world today live in very
impoverished conditions. Those of us who are blessed with financial
wealth — and God’s definition of wealth is anyone who has more than
food, clothes, and a place to sleep — have been blessed to be a
blessing. This principle goes back to God’s call of Abraham and is
reiterated by Paul to the Corinthians. Our financial blessings are
simply God’s way of entrusting us with his money to do his work! We are
blessed to be a blessing — not to hoard, gloat, or become
self-satisfied.
TODAY’S PRAYER:
Father, thank you for all of my blessings. Help me have the wisdom to
use them in ways that honor you, bless others, and bring you joy. In
Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
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What’s With all the Poop?
Published by Kim on Tagged From My LifeI’m not sure what you were thinking as you read the title of my post today but you may be disappointed to know that I meant exactly what I asked: “what’s with all the poop?”.
You might have to be a dog owner to appreciate the question, so if you are not you may want to go play solitaire or else something productive (not sure why but some people like to have a purpose).
Anyhoo….this morning when I let my dogs out, their little potty area was nice and clean with the faint whiff of the vinegar I sprayed on it the evening before. If you are wondering why I sprayed vinegar on it I can assure you that it is not because I like pickle flavored poop. If you are wondering why I said flavored and not odored, well, because it’s just funny. So, back to the vinegar. Bottom line - the vinegar kills the stinky doggy potty smell. You will have to deal with the pickle smell for a day or 2 but for a week or so afterwards, your yard will smell like a normal residential yard and not the inside of a port-a-john. Oh, I almost forgot….vinegar kills grass so only use it on hard surfaces such as stones, asphalt etc. Our dogs have a gravel/stone area where they do their business to keep it off the lawn.
Ok, so I lost my train of thought…. (look out, pregnancy brain looming)
Oh yea, this morning their potty area was nice and clean. Not a single brown land mine anywhere to be found. This afternoon I came home to find not 1, not 2 (we have 2 dogs) but no less than 8…yes, I said 8, brown smelly land mines. Hence the question, “what’s with all the poop?”. Seriously….what are my choices here? The way I see it, I have only 2: 1. they eat too much or 2. they are harboring a small family of furry woodland creatures somewhere in the yard and have them trained to potty in the proper area so we won’t get suspicious if we find land mines elsewhere. Oh, I thought of option 3…they ate the mailman, but really that one is not very realistic.
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How Could she Not Have Known?
Published by Kim on Tagged News You NeedIf you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Coincidence? I doubt it…
Published by Kim on Tagged Faith“Todays Verse” from Heartlight.org is hauntingly appropriate to my last post: From High to Low in a Matter of Hours
VERSE:
He leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.
– Psalm 23:2-3
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Psalm+23:2-3
THOUGHT:
When we are exhausted, depleted, and on the edge of burn out, we
need to have our souls restored! But who can restore our souls?
Only the One who will lead us beside still waters! The Lord is our
Shepherd. He alone can fully bring the nourishment and
replenishment that we need. Yet why do we sometimes find it so hard
to set aside time to be with him? Could it be that we keep our
lives so busy that we miss out on the one thing that matters most?
PRAYER:
As you have shown me time and time again, dear Father, I know
that being with you restores me in a place within my heart that no
one else can reach. Forgive me for seeking nourishment and
refreshment from places that are unholy and unhelpful. Reinvigorate
me with your presence and power so that I can serve you more
victoriously. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
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From High to Low in a Matter of Hours
Published by Kim on Tagged From My LifeLast night was my husband’s hearing date for his highly criminal offense of fireworks possession. On July 4th, the Village issued him a ticket and then scheduled a court date. The original reported fines for this heinous act was possibly up to $750. Neither of us was pleased, but technically he broke the law.
Anyhow, he had learned through an “informant” that if he plead guilty and didn’t cause any problems they would offer him a very low fine. So he left early for the hearing and sat waiting with a group of other hardened fireworks criminals. Right before the hearings were scheduled to begin, an officer called around the room for my husband, by name. He stood up and went over to the officer and he told him that the hearing officer wanted to see him in the hallway.
Let’s just say we didn’t have to pay a fine and the charges were dismissed.
When my husband got home he was glowing. His years of service to this country in the Navy certainly has ways of helping him out in a jam. So we celebrated with a much desired sub sandwich from a local restaurant.
After dinner it was back to fixing some odds and ends around the house because we are selling it to move. I was upstairs putting my desk and it’s associated jungle of computer cables back together after the painter was finished in that area and my husband was downstairs patching a hole in the bathroom wall. It was, all in all, a nice relaxing evening especially coming off the news of NOT having to pay a $750 fine.
After awhile I heard my husband swear, but that is a common occurrence while he’s doing work to the house. I did take note of how calm the swearing was rather than his usual frustrated blurts of profanity. A second later he said - again calmly, “Kim, I need your help.” I said “ok” and headed down the stairs figuring he was having trouble holding something up and nailing it at the same time.
He met me at the bottom of the stairs holding his hand with his shirt. I did not see blood but figured he needed a band-aid. He said “I got a nail in here.” I then figured it was sticking out and he was planning on pulling it out but just needed me to get him something to catch the blood. He lifted his shirt way and all I saw was a single tiny red dot on his skin. He said “it’s in here,” meaning it was literally in his hand - like gone - inside. I must have had a look of sheer terror because he said “calm down.”
After trying frantically to find someone to come sit with our 3 year old son who was asleep by that time, I called 911 because he said he couldn’t feel his hand and he looked about to pass out. I didn’t feel a pregnant woman toting a 3 year old would be the best transport to the ER. The police and paramedics came and checked him out. After a round of laughter (must be a guy/power tool thing) they took him to the local hospital where I met him about 1/2 hour later after finally getting a hold of my sister to come sit with our son.
In the ER, they did the standard x-rays to locate the nail and called in a surgeon. With-in a time span of about 2 hours, the surgeon had decided he needed pretty immediate surgery to remove the nail. Waiting too long would greatly increase the risk of infection. Prior to his determination he spent what seemed like 10 minutes pressing on prodding on my husband’s hand while he writhed in pain (and I tried my best to hold it together seeing him that way).
The surgeon then went over all the risks which included: loss of the use of his fingers or even whole hand; infection that would cause him to lose his hand…and a few other fantastic descriptions of what could happen. I’m sure I was white as a ghost by then. After some arguments about when my husband last ate and some discussions about the best type of anesthesia considering he’d eaten in the last 6 hours, they began to prep him for surgery.
It actually all happened fairly quickly. Overall neither the ER, nor the surgery area was crowded….in fact my husband was the only patient in triage in the ER and in the prep room for surgery. I guess people were too busy sleeping, considering it was 12:00 a.m. by then. During the course of prepping him, the surgeon indicated that the reason he was manipulating my husbands hand earlier and put him through so much pain doing it, was to see if the nail was close enough to the surface to push it back out. It wasn’t, and that description had me reeling from the thought of the pain involved.
The nail itself appeared to be in the carpal area of the wrist so the opening of it was similar to routine carpal tunnel surgery. He indicated that my husband’s future use of his hand depended upon how much damage he did to nerves and tendons. Currently, with the nail in there, he couldn’t move or feel a couple of his fingers.
So, they send me off to the waiting room and sent my husband off to surgery. The surgery itself was estimated to take 1/2 hour, with most of the work involved in sewing him back up. The waiting room was deserted by this time, not even a security guard at him post. They did have a television but it was strangely eerie to be sitting alone at midnight watching CNN in an empty hospital waiting room with the front doors looming so close and the general public free to walk in at any time. Occasionally there were sounds from behind me from places I could not identify, like closing of doors and faint voices. Overall, in addition to being worried about my husband and the outcome of his surgery, I was quite ill at ease with my surroundings. Not to mention totally uncomfortable….6 months pregnant, hospital couches (might as well be concrete) and way past my bedtime.
After almost an hour, the surgeon came out and gave me the good news. It went well, the nail did not impact his wrist as much as they had thought and he can now move all his fingers. He had to stay the night but will come home this evening.
What an emotional day. From the relief of not having the fireworks fine, to the terror of my husband possibly losing the use of his hand. I don’t think I’ve ever prayed more in a day than yesterday. From thankfulness over the fireworks hearing to asking for protection and strength for the surgeon and for my husband. It’s funny when I first sat down in that ER waiting room while they sent my husband for x-rays, how uncomfortable and selfish I was feeling. I kept thinking how I didn’t want to sit here with all these sick people, watching the Disney channel and getting increasingly more physically uncomfortable with every minute that went by. I wanted to be with my husband but I couldn’t just yet and so I was forced to wait (along with many others) and I was annoyed by it. 4 hours later, instead of being irritated at the circumstances, I took the time to talk with God a bit. Why I didn’t do that from the beginning, I don’t know (well, I could come up with excuses, but what’s the point?).
Really, the lesson learned here runs somewhat parallel to my previous post “A Prayer for Today and Everyday”
I definately did not approach much of yesterday with a “Christ-like” attitude. Looks like I have something new to pray about….
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Words to Live By
Published by Kim on Tagged Faith
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust
do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21, New International Version
I’ve always loved these few verses. They are especially haunting in today’s material world (apparantly Madonna was right…..nevermind…). Personally, these words that Jesus spoke are helping me to come to terms with a situation / dilemma I am currently dealing with.
With the upcoming birth of our second child, we have made the decision that I will not return to work. This is something I have always wanted and especially longed for after feeling like I missed so much in our son’s last 3 1/2 years while I was working full time. I had grappled with the idea of it even long before we knew our current miracle was on the way. One of the things that I struggled with and still do is the idea of God “calling” me to do this. I know He has, but often times the evil one creeps in and implants some thoughts that make me doubt the choice we’ve made.
The first kinds of thoughts involve me wondering if I am being selfish to our family by wanting to stay home. It sounds odd, but I feel that I am depriving them of something….the opportunities more income brings. Yes, yes, I know that what I am providing them by my mere presence is of far greater value - but that pesky devil makes a convincing argument anyway.
The other kinds of thoughts have me questioning, not God and that He does call us to certain things, but whether or not I heard Him right - is my desire so strong to leave behind the stress and other things that a full time job brings that I have convinced myself it is all part of God’s plan?
When these doubt wash over me, I usually can realize that they actually stem from the fear of being able to survive with a 40% cut in our income. The bottom line is not really about doubting our decision, but more about fear of the future and what that change will bring. The words of Christ above help me to allay the self doubts about my own motives, but how do I get over the fear?
That, my friends, come from faith and trust in God. It’s not always easy to let go of the reigns that I have foolishly told myself I have control of, but when I do, it’s so much more peaceful than dealing with the voices in my head (there’s a joke there, but since I’m being serious I’ll let it go).
One thing I pray for daily is for God to give me the strength to let go of my own will and trust in his plan, especially when I can’t understand it, or even don’t like it. Some days are better than others, but I can tell you one thing: I can’t wait until the day when I am finally home where I belong with my children doing the most important job of all!
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A Prayer for Today and Everyday
Published by Kim on Tagged FaithRighteous Father, please give me a holy hunger for the words of
Jesus. Help me as I seek to not only understand them, but also live
them. I want to make honoring you my life’s work just as it was
his. Please give me wisdom today, as I seek to make decisions and
face difficult circumstances with integrity, grace, and obedience.
In the name of the Lord Jesus I pray. Amen.
This prayer is from “Today’s Verse” at Heartlight.org
This prayer really hit me this morning as I read it. It’s so easy to forget the whole point of why we are here. We get so caught up in the day-to-day activity of this world that we react and respond through the eyes of this world, rather than as Christ would have us see it. Looking at the world through simply “secular” colored glasses makes the often mundane and frustrating things that happen throughout the day begin to slowly degrade our hearts and our spirit. This is not how Christ wants us to live. Sure, we’re just here for a little while, with a greater destiny awaiting us, but “here” is not meant simply as a stuck elevator that somehow people keep getting on and you get crammed tighter and tighter into the corner without any knowledge of when it will stop. In that scenario, yes you are looking forward to eternity in heaven just as we should be now, but in the elevator you want nothing more than to get off. I don’t believe our lives on earth are meant to have that purpose, where we hate it so much that we just want to leave. I think life in this world, if looked at the way Christ would, is meant to be good. Sure, it’s full of a wide range of emotion from, sheer joy to utter pain and tragedy, but it is through life in this world, and experiencing the joy of it, that we can truly honor God and experience everything he has planned for us.
So today and everyday, I will try and pray that prayer.
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