Raccoon Update

A few nights ago I was giving my dogs one last late-night trip outdoors. We checked out the mailbox, where the third generation of petunias was newly planted and in full bloom. And there they were--two petunia stumps with fresh bite marks! And there, hopping away across the empty lot next door--two rabbits! One stopped to look at us, and it really only took a little bit of imagination to hear a chuckle....

So my apologies to the raccoon. I don't know what he's doing in my backyard (besides visiting the back deck and leaving souvenirs), but I have new villains the petunia saga. So I'm not planting any more petunias out there. Maybe after the rabbits have finished them off, I'll replace them with marigolds.
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A few of my tomatoes are blushing. Just a day or two....
Yesterday when I woke up I just couldn't resist a peek at them. So I headed out the back sliding glass door, which is just ten feet or so from the garden. And there he was--a rabbit, nibbling on the wildflowers I planted behind the tomatoes! I chased him off and assessed the damage. The wildflowers I can live without. But it was the fresh smell of butterhead lettuce that concerned me. A closer inspection told me that one was gone. And the other three had lost their outer leaves.

So I headed out to the local discount store for rabbit fencing. By 11:30 am I had cooled down some, stakes were sawed down and pounded in, and rabbit fencing was mounted. I stepped back and surveyed my kingdom.

Well, it's not so pretty anymore. I planted my garden for looks as much as for food. A little pebblestone path winds around the bean section, with lettuce and (at one time) spinach dotting the borders. The idea was to be able to wander outdoors at will, pick a few beans for supper, and maybe sit and rest in the shade with a glass of lemonade or a morning cup of coffee.

So now I've sacrificed some of the aesthetic value. It's a utilitarian garden. But on the other hand, if the whole idea of the garden was to have a place to de-stress (I have young kids, after all), I'm certainly not gaining any peace from watching my lettuce and baby bean leaves slowly disappear.

If the bunnies are hungry--well, the crabgrass around here is free.

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We're facing some hard choices right now for democracy in America. Do we keep our freedoms at the expense of terror strikes? Or do we restrict our freedoms and make ourselves safe? I don't know where I stand anymore. I would have thought I stood for freedom at all cost. But as we can see from my real, practical, hands-on life, I chose to close the borders of my garden, restricting my own free access (I just don't have the skills to make a gate--I have to step over the fence to get in). I believe our little choices tell us a lot about our larger ideals. So I guess it's a good thing the running of this country is not up to me.

However, I believe every time you're faced with impossible choices like we have now, there's always a hidden third choice. What about--GOD? There's a popular praise song people were singing ten years ago. "God will make a way where there seems to be no way." (Don Moen, ©1990, Integrity's Hosanna! Music.) I also believe God has things he would do if somebody would ask him. That's called prayer. And if God doesn't intervene for our country, and I didn't pray about it, am I partly responsible? Just because I didn't pray? I don't know, but I'd prefer not to take any chances. So I find myself praying for our country more these days.

Dreams

6-28

Does God speak to us through dreams? Heiress asked the question last week, and A. addressed it. I'd like to talk about it, too.

First of all, I believe God speaks to us primarily through the Bible. Hebrews 1:1,2 says that "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, (2) but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son..." So you're not going to find new doctrine coming to you in dreams, visions, or direct messages from God. When people believe God has given them a new kind of "theology" thing which can't be found in the Bible, if they last at all they usually end up breaking off from Christianity and becoming a different religion.

That being said, I've seen tons of examples of people in the Bible hearing very specific messages from God about what they were supposed to do with their lives. Abraham, for example, Noah and Jonah, all heard God telling them to do specific things or go to specific places. I definitely believe God can do that to people today. After all, if Jonah were living today, there's nothing in the Bible (outside the book of Jonah) that would tell him to go to Nineveh.

My dad grew up in an era when it was really very common for people to believe God had a specific call on their lives. The remnants of the Great Awakening of the 1800's were still at work, and still are. It was very common for a person to "tarry" (wait) at an altar of prayer, until you received your "breakthrough," and knew in your heart of hearts what it was that God wanted you to do.

My dad experienced this for himself. He had a very strong "visitation"-type of experience, when he was at Bible college. He was studying to become a pastor. He says he was walking home from church one Sunday, and the Holy Spirit came alongside him and told him to go into teaching to work with children. Not out loud, mind you, but he said he could feel a "Presence" walking alongside him. The only thing is, he was in college on the GI bill after WWII. You weren't allowed to change majors. When he tried to change majors, his dean told him he couldn't do it and keep his GI bill. He said he'd rather do what God said than what the GI bill said, and he would work his way through if he had to. A few days later he was walking by the dean's office, and was called in, and informed that he was the first GI in the history of the GI bill to be allowed to change majors. :-) He did, too! He taught history and Bible at Christian school for years. When he eventually did become a pastor, he was a chaplain for kids. So there's an example of God speaking to him, followed by a verifiable sign so that he could know it was not just his imagination, and after he stepped out to do it, it happened in his life.

Back to dreams. Why not? IF God wants to get a message to us, this is a means He's used before. God spoke in dreams to people in the Bible. To Joseph, Mary's husband, for instance. He even used that method to get his message to an ungodly Pharaoh in Egypt. And to Nebuchadnezzar.

I think we all have "touch points" in our lives. Something God can touch, just for us, to let us know He's here, and He knows we're here. For Heiress, I think I heard a "touchpoint" in your Cherokee tradition. He knew the cardinal would mean something to you. : ) For me, it's music. My dreams are usually full of background music. I don't think it's always something God is specifically doing, but I hear music through my dreams. When I was a kid, my room was next to the bathroom, and my dad always had a radio in there playing loud music while he shaved. I always seemed to be in REM sleep at that time, dreaming away, and that music would blare away in the background. So ever since, I've always had that music playing in the background while I dream. Well--I've learned from experience that if I happen to think about the last song I heard in my dream, it will always carry a message for me. Usually it's about exactly what I've been going through, or it may hold an answer to something I was asking God about. But I don't usually remember the last song. I think God just prompts me when I'm supposed to notice.

With all that being said, do I think God was talking to me in my dream about my campfire? Really, I don't think so. I think it was my subconscious, which knew I had been healed before I knew it myself. I may be wrong. Maybe God used my subconscious to speak to me. One thing I DO know--the healing itself came from God.

-Godseeker

How to Peel an Orange--A Father's Day Tribute

From as early as I can remember my dad made a ritual of peeling an orange. He would get an orange and a paper towel from the kitchen, sit down at the table and pull out his old, yellowed bone handle knife. He would turn the orange over so that the stem bud was on top, then carefully insert the knife. He slowly drew a pencil straight line all the way around the orange, ending again at the stem bud. Then he turned the orange at a 45 degree angle and began again--starting at the stem bud, always intersecting the first line exactly at the bottom of the orange, and ending again at the stem bud. Thus he had four quarters, and he would carefully peel back each quarter, leaving them on the paper towel.

I was always amazed by the fact that he never punctured the meat of the orange. Never. Every now and then he would remind me that he had learned this technique from his father, who had learned it from HIS father. That made me feel important as I sat there watching him, bare feet swinging under the table, learning a lesson from my forefathers. I know many people probably quarter their oranges when they peel them. But there was something special about how those lines always intersected at the dot on the bottom, and about the way he never pierced the meat.

My father passed away during a cold January night, and we held the funeral in a deep snow. When my mother and sister and I went through his things, I received that old yellow bone handled knife. Through that winter I carried the knife in my coat pocket, and every now and then I would reach in and clasp that knife. The weight of it was comforting somehow.

I still try to master his method of peeling an orange. I have the intersecting lines down right, but I still sometimes puncture the orange meat. But that's the way it is with generations, I guess. I'll try and try, and someday maybe I'll get it right. Then when I'm too old to safely hold a knife, maybe the next generation will be at it, doing their best to peel an orange with perfectly intersected lines, without puncturing the meat.

Boss Update

I was thinking about A.'s post "what a differnce a day makes". Well in my case 5 to 7 days. I think a day at work is an enternity sometimes. I realized how whiney I am being over all of this. Bottom line, I didn't get what I want and I am VERY used to things going my way. In fact if they don't go my way I MAKE them go my way. Or I have a fit. Really I do. I noticed this when watching my beautiful boy #1. He is the same way. This is my type A child. I was reprimanding him for not being more flexible. When it hit me. THIS IS ME! When bb#1 doesn't get things his way he stomps a foot, huffs really loud, tries to persuade, claims life is unfair and storms off. I have been doing the same thing, just not as openly.
Guess what life IS unfair. No one ever said it would be FAIR. In fact I have been told and shown repeatedly just how unfair life is.
BUT I have been show how wonderful it is too. GOD allows me to be here. He gives me THIS day. ANd it's all a matter of perspective. Remember, perception is 90% of the deal. If I go in to my work week feeling sorry for myself, (Yes that's what I was doing and you were all so polite not to say so)then I feed off of that and it spirals down. But if I kick back do a good job and remember this job is just that, a J-O-B not the end all be all. G-O-D is the end all be all. HE is the reason I am here.
We had a staff meeting. We met the boss. She actually spoke to us. It's not going to be fun or fair. But the 2 hour meeting went a lot faster for me when I remembered it's just a job. It's the one God has me in with the people that are there for now. It's a new challenege and adventure. I think it would be a heck of a lot easier to be a Christian and NOT be in the world, but that's not what we were called to do. So I will remain centered on God, the fire should help (see post time to build a fire)

Selah

Maybe you've heard us allude to the term "Selah." What IS it? Some kind of inside thing? Well, not really.

If you check the book of Psalms in the Bible, you'll find psalms (ancient Hebrew songs) with the word "Selah" interspersed here and there between the lyrics. "Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. (Selah.)" (Psalm 24:9,10 NASB)

Most Bible experts believe that "Selah" meant "pause." In other words, "Stop and think." Or a better way to put it, "Stop and savor." Sometimes a Psalm leads us to stop and savor the majesty of God. Sometimes we stop and think about the things he's done. But that was an important part of these ancient songs--the moment when you stop--and savor.

So the ladies of our Bible study have come to think of our weekly time together as a "Selah" to our week. The evening we stop--savor God's word for a while--and go back to our week.

Maybe Jomama, who has taught on the "Selah," would like to comment.

-Godseeker

Time To Build A Fire

My youngest son is now 31/2 going on 4 and he is a reminder of my fire. I think it’s time to build one. No, I’m not crazy or all of a sudden struck with an inability to communicate in any articulate form. I have a story to share and then you will understand.

I was pregnant with this beautiful baby. Not my first, but my second miracle baby. See, I had been told at 19 to have a hysterectomy due to recurring difficulties with endometriosis and ovarian cysts and there was no way I could ever have children. Thanks to God and my mother and some very encouraging Doctors (and my husband) I conceived and successfully delivered baby boy #1.

Then, after three years of frustration, I found myself blessed with the unheard of and unprecedented baby boy #2. I was working with a local parks and recreation department at the time. I was not a Christian, but believed in God in my way but not His way.

My job was stressful, my marriage was going downhill and my attitude stunk. Well, God knew me before I knew him. I am always amazed to look back at my life, at the times God loved me and cared for me even before I acknowledged Him. It shouldn’t surprise me though, the wind blows weather I believe in it or not. The sun will still shine even if I don’t think it should. And God was and is and will be I AM.

So God took me and placed me at a conference. I am a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist and thus have to attend conferences and things to maintain this credential. Another important point to the story is I have a Native American Heritage that is dear to me.

Well, here I was, pregnant, down in the dumps, feeling sorry for myself and hating life. There was a camp fire lit in a clearing throughout the entire conference. An Ojibwa man I did not know tended the fire all day and all evening every day for the 4 days we were there. He explained the fire had been lit from coals from another fire months before. And that fire had been started from the one before it and so on going back to the original fire. It was a ripple effect. There is a group of people spreading Peace by spreading the fire.(I have to hunt down the website because this fire has been spread all over the world-kinda like the WORD)

The fire gave me both warmth and comfort inside and out. At night it gave me peace and safety. But the fire also gave so many things I was not aware of at the time. I was impressed how much care this man gave to the fire. Not worship, by any means. But just as A. and Godseeker tend to their plants, this man tended to his fire. At the end of the conference the fire had to go out. But not the concept. The man took pieces of cloth and twine and wrapped the now cool coals. Each person took one to take home. His instructions to me were to keep the coals for when you know to build the fire.

I have had the coals for almost 4 years. I have thought once or twice about building a fire with them, but it never seemed right. It does now. You see I was at a turning point then as I feel I am now. I had decisions to make that were looming and the Lord gave me the solitude and peace I needed to sort it out. Shortly after that conference I had my baby. I had a new job. I began to attend a church and search for God. I believe the Lord used that fire and the Native American to reach me. This was a person I could relate to and spend time with just sitting, not talking. That is what I did most of the days of that conference.
I keep thinking how the Cherokee believe fire comes from The Creator as a gift. As tradition, you would light the first fire of the season from the coals of the season before. Each fire had coals from the previous one. A weaving of the lives from year to year, a ripple effect.

I believe in the great Creator God. He is the one who created fire and man. He ties us together from year to year, generation to generation. He was the fire in the desert in OT times that led and guided. He is the fire in my life now. Just like the Ojibwa I enjoyed being with so many years ago, I need to tend to my fire. I need to keep it stoked and allow God to burn in my life. I have been wandering in my heart, mind and spirit for a few months now.
I think it’s time to build a fire.

Feeding the Fish

Have you had fish before? If you have, and perhaps even if you haven't you know about feeding fish. Fish food comes in a little round container with a screw on lid. Every few days, or so you remember that you should throw a pinch of fish food in them to keep them swimming. I always thought that this proceedure was the only way to feed fish. I haven't had fish in years but last summer when I set up the fish tank for my darling child, I really wanted to do it right. I checked every kind of chemical level possible to get the water just right, and I even read the label on the fish food. Feed the fish 3 times a day! No wonder I never had amazing luck with fish. You will be glad to know that we have only lost a small percentage of our fish.

This spring we were gifted with a pair of newts. The newts came with food, but the previous owners admitted that it wasn't the right variety. We needed to do some research to find out what they would eat. I learned a lot about newts and incidentally a little about fish too. I hope you aren't eating your breakfast. I found a chart that details the best possible food and the worst possible food for newts. The worst possible food is what came with the newts, which explains why they wouldn't eat it. And fish flakes were also on the chart with a comment about fish not eating them either!? My fish seemed to eat them, right. So they had several things that were better for newts that we could probably find at the store, and the suggestion that the best thing would be to dig for worms in the backyard. Not that I'm against this. But I'd prefer to buy something that would entail less work. So we go and make a couple purchases trying to find what the newts like the best. One bottle of freeze dried compressed worm cubes, and a package of larva preserved in gel. I won't drag this out for ever. But the newts prefer the larva, in fact that is the only thing they will eat. As for the worm cubes, the label also indicated that fish would eat them. So we gave that a try. Sure enough those fish got pretty excited!

Tonight as I was watching the fish enjoy their treat - have they grown since being introduced to it! As Christians do we put ourselves on fish flake diets? Occassionally, giving ourselves a few well mulled over, preprocessed flakes of scripture? Allowing others to direct how we think. Do we go so far as to go about this excersize often? There is a whole Christian merchandise market. If you have a catchy take on scripture you can make a mint off of Christians. 40 days of fish food, anybody? (These things have their place, but when they are as "phenomenal" within the church as they are, is something wrong?)

As I was watching the pretty orange fish gathering around greedly picking out from the cube the choice morsels, I thought of our bible study. Selah ladies are greedy for the choice morsels of scripture. I have learned to really dig and seek Him out in the word. I'm so glad I can be in a gathering of friends and seek the Lord through the scriptures. When I haven't been feed I find that I get hungry.

Ooops, there I go talking about food again :)

The Story of My Rock

In my desk drawer is a small piece of concrete in a drawstring bag. I've kept it for years, and every now and then I pull it out and look at it, feel its roughness, put it back in the bag, draw the string, and return it to the back of the drawer. It's a piece of the Berlin Wall.

I didn't buy it as a souvenir. It was sent to the radio station where I worked at the time of the wall's collapse. Some record company was using it as a promotional gimmick to get us to notice their artist's Wall-related song.

I had watched the news as the wall fell, and had felt so happy for the families who were re-united after so many years, and for the people who would be free now, and were dancing and feeling the joy of it. I remember thinking at the time, "God did this." Like I've said, that's how I think, and I believe it's true. Too many people had prayed for this day. And now it was here.

Then I thought, if God can do this with a concrete wall that represents so much, he can do it with the walls in my little life. And believe me, there were walls. Then the piece of the wall came to us, and nobody knew what to do with it, so I took it.

And sure enough, over the next few years I became less of a loner, and more a part of the community of believers that was around me. I'd pull out that rock often back then, and think, "It's happening!" And I'd feel a little of the joy those East Germans must have felt at the time.


I used to have a recurring dream. Maybe I read too much apocalyptic fiction as a kid. I probably read too much of Tarzan and Robinson Crusoe, but I'd dream that the world was coming to an end, they were going after the Christians, and I would head out into the wilderness to hide and live off the land. But then I would somehow circle back and end up back in civilization. I remember the frustration I'd feel as I woke up. I wanted to be away from everyone! Then one night, maybe a year or two after the concrete rock came to me, I dreamed the dream again. This time I had a good campfire going, the kind that would put out the least amount of smoke, and it happened. People started showing up. They were from my church, completely oblivious to my desire to be alone. They turned up in two's and three's, armed with smiles, marshmallows, hot dogs and chocolate for s'mores, and before I knew it, people were cooking, laughing, sitting around talking and eating s´mores. I was dumbstruck. I looked around, helpless to explain that this was MY camp, MY escape, and nobody had been invited. Then I just laughed and gave up, made s'mores and enjoyed the company. They were my community. My family.

That was the last time I had that dream, and it was years ago. One wall, I guess, came down.

-Godseeker

Its a mystery

Do you know how a lot of times God has things planned in your life that really just broadside you? You never saw it coming, yay, all the signs were there, but you were ignoring them weren't you?

Well its happened. I have a mystery plant in my garden. :) I know that the seed came out of the cucumber package. I placed it there myself. The crowning glory of my whole row of cukes, is an enormous rambling mystery squash vine. Yep, it came up several days earlier then the rest of the cucumbers, and yes it is growing a lot faster. But it really didn't hit until that huge floppy bold orange blossom opened up smiling to the world and announcing loudly that it was different, and liking it. I really should have seen it coming. All the rest of the cucumbers are blooming to with their petite, geometric, yellow stars, punctuating the organic chaos the mystery plant is. Even the leaves are in sharp contrast, big - small, floppy - shapely. The six foot vines reaching out into the onions, the yard the zukes and covering some of the cukes - versus their nice compact tendrils. I keep pulling the vines around back to the rows, though so that the mower won't get them. And while this is so wrong, I marvel at the huge beauty. Even though I buy all my seeds in the package and I think that I'm in control, God knows I planted way to many cukes and need more of something else.

He is always looking out for my best interests. I could very easily rid the garden of my huge squatter, but I'm curious to see what God knows this squash is, I'll loving accept whatever it is, too. But I wonder, sometimes our lives feel like this. We think that we know which seeds we have sown, but sometimes the rambling vines grow into something besides what it clearly states on the package. Do we lovingly accept it, care for it and nurture it anyway? Or do we pout and holler up to God that this isn't what we ordered in our nice neat well thought out prayer? Do we leave room for His work?

And with our own kids. I know that ds comes up with new interests I'm not so fond of. I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that ds is all about prehistoric times, archeology, and chemistry. But who knows what the fruits of ds's life will turn, so I try my best to be nurturing and caring. Maybe he will discover something unprecedented, or maybe he will just be a collector of dinosaur models. Whatever God has planned, I want to be there. I want to be the best encourager for him.

Selah
Edited to Add picture
Picture should be here! how did you get yours to be in the post?

These tomatoes need sun!! 

Rain and Sun

Okay, now I'm really getting ticked off. I went out and bought a huge flat of petunias. I planted a bunch of them by the mailbox, and treated them so they'd be too stinky for any creature to eat. Then it rained and washed off all the stinky stuff. Now two are missing. I have some more petunias waiting to be planted, so it's not a real loss, but it's still frustrating.

Which leads to another question. Why so much rain? Yesterday was rainy. Today is rainy. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy. The Bible study girls were talking about it, and almost everyone I know is dealing with some level of depression. My guy and I have been snapping at each other more lately than in the last five years or so. I know we need some rain. A.'s blog this weekend dealt with that balance so nicely. But you know—like A. said, we need sun, too. I have eight tomato plants in my back yard just going wild. They're growing up over their five foot enclosure, and it's just June! And I have tons of little green tomatoes on them, thirty little green grape tomatoes to a cluster, thanks to the rain, but they aren't ripening. They need sun.

So here's my take on the sun and the rain in our lives. God sends us both. I can personally tell you it's true. And when I get a lot of rain--or hard times--my spiritual self can grow like a weed if I have the right attitude. Then the sun comes out again, and I can pull together all the things that I've learned--all that wild growth--and I can begin to share it. That's the fruit.

I think that's how it works in my life. But, you know, I've seen people who were going through just awful times--cancer, persecution--really bad things, and were able to share and help people grow, and bear fruit anyway. So maybe when I get a little bit more mature I'll be able to reach out of bad times to help people--to bear fruit in the rainy season.

-Godseeker

Another Introduction

Well since Godseeker and A. wrote their intros I guess I should do mine.
I am a mother, wife, daughter and child of God (not necessarily in that order). I work full time at a job and then work time and a half at home trying to raise two boys in a Christian home. I say trying because the world gets a little crazy with what is acceptable and it is sometimes hard to raise children in this world.
I have a wonderful husband who is the love of my life, and at times the pain in my neck. I grew up in a large Midwest town (think Chicago) and moved to a small Midwest town to settle down and raise the family.
Let’s see... what else? I tend to be a leader or instigator (depending who you ask). I am constantly involved and moving I really can’t sit. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad it just is.
I am excited that Godseeker started this blog and privileged to be invited to be a part of it. God is the center of my all. I just sometimes forget or loose track and let other things creep in. I am hoping this will give me another reminder to keep him as my center.

Another Monday

Just another Monday and I was worrying. Things are pretty tense on the job right now. New boss and all. Everyone is on edge, including me. The "new guy" has not so much as said hello. Which is odd. I try to walk a mile in her shoes. But I can't help but to think if I was new I would go say hi to everyone.
I am painfully reminded that I'm not quite like everybody else. See I have no problem saying hi, breaking the ice or sticking my neck out. So I tend to forget that is some times hard for folks to do.
In all honesty I am offended that she doesn't come say hello.
I have anticipated this day for some time now. I prayed this morning for God to get me through it. A verse cam to mind from Mathew, who has ever added one day to his life by worrying? (Not an exact quote, I am on a break from work). The writer of Mathew also talks about worrying about the future and says tomorrow will worry about itself. I find comfort in these words.
My prayer is answered, not in the way I thought it would be, but answered. I worry about the new boss and how things will be. I pray. God comforts me with His Word. But funny, I was worried what this person might say to me and instead she says nothing and I worry about that. Huh? I will take comfort from my creator. He has a plan.
I just wish I knew what this part of it was.

The difference a day makes

The brightness of the sun illuminated my dreams this morning. (between snooze buttons) As I slowly became aware of the day, I couldn't help thinking about what a difference a day makes. Today the sun bright and cheerful, dancing from behind the trees, rejoicing and calling me to His new day. Yesterday, the darkness and the constant patter of drops, like tears falling from the sky, mourning the morning. They urged me to stay in bed. Talking to others who echoed my sentiments about the drear, I knew that I had to come to grips with it and move on. When we anticipate change in our lives, or struggle with sadness, we wish that like the gloom it isn't there. I wonder "why God? The sun would be so much more happier."

But if I look beyond the gloom, like my gardens in which the plants (and weeds) are rejoicing in the nourishing water, my life needs this. It makes me stronger and it makes me turn my head towards heaven. There was an magazine ad by a laundry detergent company where this girl and her companions were completely covered in mud, but yet she was dancing and rejoicing with her head to the sky. Well, that's how I feel sometimes. God, in the fullness of time, the sun will come out and warm us, but as for now you have set the times and places for us so that we will glorify you, and so that we may grow.

While the sun is good, maybe the rain is even better?

A hungry raccoon and Reading Leviticus

I'm really not very good at landscaping my flower gardens. I'm the kind of artist (if I can even use that word) who needs a good eraser. Plus, I've never been good with colors. Anyhow, when you garden, you really can't erase. At least, I don't have the heart to pull up perfectly healthy flowers just because they don't look good where they are. So most summers I have to spend three months looking at my bad designs.

This summer I finally got an arrangement of petunias, dusty millers and salvia that I really liked. With a grass spike to set everything off. I was so proud. It stood right by the mailbox where people could look at it as they drove by. Then the petunias began to disappear. Maybe disappear is the wrong word. Most of the plant would still be there, lying on its side in the dirt. The base of the plant was still planted there, and it looked like some animal had feasted on the meat of the stem base and left the rest, including the flowers. A rabbit? I hadn't seen any around this year. Last year we had lots of rabbits and they never bothered the petunias.

Then more disappeared. Each morning I would find 1-2 plants in the dirt. Finally, I was left with no petunias. The only color left was the salvia. And once again I'm looking at a garden design that I don't like. I'll be looking at it for the next three months.

Last week I saw a raccoon sneaking, catlike, along the woodland fence that marks the back of my yard. That's him! I know it.

Now the critter's attacked the back garden, taking out a petunia or two each night. The last straw was two days ago when my 4-year-old daughter found her own three petunias plants missing.

A rotten egg cocktail is now mouldering in the garage. My brother-in-law told me about it: 4-5 eggs, a gallon of water, and 3-4 tablespoons of hot sauce. Let it rot for a couple of days, douse your flowers with it, and no animal will touch them. I should think not! That stuff is horrible. I'm dreading the application, but I want to save what's left of my garden.

Petunias are cheap right now. Maybe I'll get some more.

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I just finished the Biblical book of Numbers. It was some hard reading. When I was single, I worked second shift for a long time. I would read for hours in the morning, and got through the Bible a couple of times. Genesis is pretty interesting--it's about the beginning of all things. Then there's Exodus, which talks about Moses and the beginning of Israel. Both books have interesting stories to keep you engaged. Then you hit Leviticus, and things go downhill for a while.

Our Bible study teacher loves Leviticus. She says Leviticus and Hebrews (a New Testament book) go hand in hand. So I tried reading Leviticus and Hebrews together. For every Leviticus chapter I read a Hebrews chapter. Back and forth. One from each book every day. It actually did help, because Hebrews kind of explains Leviticus. And you read Hebrews twice when you do this, so I got more out of Hebrews the second time around.

So I got through Leviticus and hit Numbers! A whole book devoted to numbering the people of Israel. A sort of census. Well, at least there are a few interesting stories to keep you going. And now I'm done with Numbers and starting Deuteronomy. Well, I've read the hardest part of the Bible (for me). Now on to the stories!!

My introduction

I would first like to thank "Godseeker" for setting up this blog. I know that this idea has been in her head for a while, and I'm glad that she went for it. And I pray that this blog will touch many lives and be a blessing.

So who am I? I'm Godseekers friend and we share many similarities as well as differences. We are both Christians, mothers, and we love the world that God created. I work out of my house, sometimes, making websites and graphics for others. My site. This allows me to stay home and take care of my only child during the summer and volunteer at his school during the school year. And I can run the household for my darling. God has blessed us with a good sized garden that I like to work in and preserve food from. I like to practice home arts like canning, bread making, cooking from scratch, sewing, etc.

I guess one of the major differences in the two of us is that I choose to isolate myself from current events. If its important enough, someone else will let me know, and of course its probably a thrill for others to tell the one person in the world who is oblivious about the latest. :)

So that's the short and sweet of it. I'm sure you will get to know me more later.

Love,
A.

A Moment of Great Value

Yesterday I watched President Reagan's motorcade wind its way around the California highways, making its way to the Presidential library. When I saw the cars in the opposite lanes slow and stop in respect, I guess that's when it hit home. This was not just a presidential motorcade, it was a funeral procession. Someone has been lost to us. Not just on a national level, although it's that, too. But this was personal loss--to a family left behind by their husband and father. And passersby slowed to honor the grief of the family as well as the loss of a former president.

Later my guy and I watched the private ceremony for President Reagan. And then that unforgettable moment when the former First Lady laid her head gently, as if for comfort, on the coffin of the President. I got a lump in my throat as I remembered my own mother facing this loss. My next thought was, I shouldn't be watching this. This was a private moment. But then I realized that the family had allowed the cameras to be there. And I learned something of the character of Nancy Reagan. For years we've watched her fiercely protect the privacy of her ailing husband, and we've kept our distance. But in this moment she set aside her own privacy to share a tender goodbye. Chief among a nation of mourners.

Maybe all these years Mrs. Reagan has never intended to jealously guard her own privacy. Maybe she was simply protecting the privacy of another, more vulnerable than herself.

That moment by the coffin was not a "money shot" or a photo op. It was a moment of great value, because the woman who valued it most chose to share it with us.

-Godseeker

Introductions

Welcome. I ought to let you know who I am, so you can decide whether or not you want to bookmark my blog and come back. I hope you will. It should be fun.

How to start? Good grief!! I'm a radio announcer who has access to fast, mostly accurate, information on current events. But who doesn't these days? I'm in the US, and because of my background, I'm a bit of a news junkie.

I'm also a wife and mother of two kids. And I stay at home. How do I do it? I head to the station, record my show, and get home in time to say goodbye to my guy and look after the kids all day. It's kind of cool. I get to be professional AND I get to roll down a hill with my kids all day if we want to.

I have an interest in history, but I don't like to get bogged down in it. So don't worry--that won't happen here. I just like to fit us all into a bigger picture.

I'm also a Christian, so that colors my perspective. I'm not a plastic, smiles-all-the-time, perfect Christian, though. So if you've been wondering what really goes through the mind of a Christian, this is a good place to find out. We grapple with issues just like everybody else. I'll share it with you sometimes, because it's only fair that you hear the struggles of a Christian--not just the answers they've come up with (although you'll hear some of those, too).

I have some friends who've been invited to join. They're all ladies, mostly moms, some professional, some stay home. They're the ladies of a Bible study I attend. If they all join, you'll hear about life from their perspectives, too. We'll be giving our take on cool stuff we find in the Bible, as well the daily grind. So drop by again, and find out if it's seven chatty women, or just chatty me.

-Godseeker