Random Fun

Got a few minutes to kill?  Sure, we all do…right?

Well, today my mind wandered to Facebook and this is what I found:

1 – Go to wikipedia and hit random. The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band. 2 – Go to quotationspage.com and hit random. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. 3 – Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” Third picture, no matter what …it is, will be your album cover. 4 – Use photoshop or similar (picnik.com is a free online photo editor) to put it all together. 5 – Post it with this text in the “caption”

And this is what those directions got me:

Not bad

And that’s all I know for today.  Enjoy the little game.  :)

Be an Ambassador

Hello All!

This is one of those blogs that’s been rolling around in my head (plenty of room) since Sunday. So bear with me while I try to tell this story.

At our church we have a family who have been foster parents FOREVER. They have adopted the seven-year-old son of a former foster daughter. They’re the only family he’s ever had. He has many special needs and challenges. However, his physical appearance and bubbly personality are so much like his adopted family you’d think he was blood kin.

Nate (left) and his younger uncle peeking at me through my office window. You'd think they were blood kin!

Nate is known at our church for his loving personality. Whether you’ve known him all his life, or walking through our doors for the first time, you are going to hug Nate. No really…you’ll have no choice. Nate approaches every man and woman through the doors with a hug. Then he turns to his mother seated near by and tells you “hug my mom too”! And…if there’s any one else around you’ll hear “now hug him/her”. He genuinely has unconditional love for everyone who enters, whether stranger or long-time friend. As the family makes their way into the building and sanctuary the hugs will continue. It’s very common to see this little redhead hugging those already seated for the worship service. We share the vivid memory of him embracing our dear Grandma Ruth each week. They were best buddies and shared the unconditional-love spirit. Last Sunday his mother and I dubbed him our “Ambassador of Hugs”.

WHAT IF WE were more childlike and loving? WHAT IF WE hugged all who entered our church doors each Sunday (physically or verbally)? WHAT IF WE loved with such a pure and unconditional heart? Shame on us that we don’t.

A familiar verse:

Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19: 13-14

Here’s another one you know:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Luke 13: 34-35

RIP to Bil Keane by the way! 1922-2011

My sincere hope for you is that you show someone UNCONDITIONAL LOVE today. Maybe a hug. Maybe a kind word. Use your imagination. Show this love to a dear friend or a complete stranger. Then come back here and share your story with us. I think you’ll find that in seeking to bless someone, you’ll be blessed yourself!

And, at the risk of being completely “corny”… here’s a big ol’ Internet (((HUG))) for you all.

What’s a QR Code?

This is a QR Code.  You need to have an app-for-that to read it.  You can include any and all info about yourself you want the world to know.  You can get a more technical description online at sites such as Wikipedia.

It's all about ME!

OK, so now what do I do with it? It’s a cool thing for business cards/calling cards.  If I had a personal calling card, which I don’t.  It might be useful as my avatar. Humm…you might be seeing more of this boring image yet.

Anyway…it’s “high-tech” and it’s fun.

A Lesson in Greed and Contentment

Hello!  Did you think I’d disappeared?  I guess I kind of did.  Haven’t blogged since September 23rd.

Have I mentioned that we got a puppy in July?  Sigh…yes a puppy.  We have a 13-year-old Jack Russell Terrier (Robbie) and for some unknown stupid reason we got a brand new little baby JRT the beginning of July (Bruiser).  He was only 2.5 pounds when we got him.

"Bruiser" because of the black eye. 2 1/2 pounds of sweetness. You can see why we fell in love with him.

He was so tiny compared to 13-year-old Robbie

Now, at six-months-old he is almost as tall as Robbie and definitely the dominate dog.

This is actually play!

He's gotten even taller since this was taken.

Little Bruiser is soooo big!

And now, a lesson in greed and contentment.

We still have to keep Bruiser crated at night and when we are gone.  If we don’t he keeps very busy by being destructive.

Yesterday, as I was preparing to leave for the afternoon, I lured Bruiser into his crate with a little rawhide chewy bone.  Of course, I gave Robbie one as well. But Robbie gets to sleep on the sofa while we’re away.  He’s old and better behaved.

When I got home, there was Robbie’s bone in the middle of the living room floor…unchewed.  Robbie was uncharacteristically anxious for me to let Bruiser out of his crate.  Because he wanted Bruiser’s bone!  After all those hours, Bruiser had not finished and Robbie knew it.  I can only imagine what transpired when I was gone as Robbie stood outside Bruiser’s crate wanting what the puppy had.  His own bone not enough.  He wanted both.  Back and forth they go with the bit of bone left from bruiser and the new fresh bone from Robbie. Robbie ends up with the little leftover soggy piece and somehow Bruiser gets the new unchewed bone.  Therefore, Bruiser really has had two.  Robbie with only the little soggy leftover.  Bruiser is fully aware that Robbie’s greed has back fired on him again and lays next to the old dog while chewing the new bone.

This morning it happened again.  While trying to lure Bruiser with a bone I do the same thing.  Give Robbie his first and “encourage” him to get lost while I catch Bruiser.  (Yeah, right)  But will Robbie move on and just enjoy what he’s been given?  Nooooo!  He leaves what he has been given (the bigger bone by the way) and MUST have what I’m trying to give Bruiser!  Before all is said and done, somehow Bruiser ends up with BOTH bones!  Again.

I finally catch the pup with one bone in his mouth and toss him in the crate. While having to fend off Robbie who thinks he is going to follow him into the crate and take that bone!  Even though he still has one in the other room.  I’m betting that when I get home for lunch Robbie will have not chewed what is his, and is still fretting over the fact that Bruiser has something he thinks he needs.

Why does Robbie do this?  What is the moral of this story?  What are your thoughts on the greedy nature of a dog?  Does it apply to us?!  I think it does.

Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:15

Who of us doesn’t want to keep up with the Jones?  Or BE the Jones?  My husband and I are kind of gadget freaks.  GPS, laptop & desktop, iPod, cell phones etc. (Yeah, we’re in debt)  Yet what do I do?  I look longingly at the iPad ads and wish wish wish I had one of those too!  Shame on me!  I don’t need that.  No matter how much better it seems than what I already have.

My greed is not so unlike that of my old dog’s.  Life does NOT consist in an abundance of possessions!  He who has the most bones does not win the game.

The greed of my dog never pays off.  He wants it all, and will inevitably end up with nothing.  I need to learn from that and from what God’s word tells me.  I need to be content and grateful for what I have.  And so does my dog!  :)

Decide for Yourself

Not sure if I can even put this experience into words.  It has to be descriptive enough for the reader to understand.  I’m also concerned that if the right (or wrong?) person reads this I may very well be carted away in a straight jacket.  It’s a long story, so grab a fresh cup of coffee and an open mind…here goes…

I have been having debilitating migraine-type headaches for months.  I’ve missed a lot of work.  My boss has been wonderful but I can tell it’s getting difficult for him.  My husband has about had enough of my complaining and staying in bed all day.  The headaches are a combo platter of pain.  Temple and eye pressure and that horrible “spike” in the back of my head.  You know the one… at the base of your skull as if it’s in your brain stem!  That’s the part that has disabled me.  It’s been so severe that I can’t function and only want to sleep in a dark room.  I even had a CT scan, but nothin’ in there ‘cept the spiders.

Now,  I’ve started four new medications for various health concerns this year.  Let’s  sum that up by just saying “sucks to get old”!  Last weekend I started reading all the small-print warnings that come with each prescription.  Also, looking a the timeline of when I began and/or increased dosages of these over-priced pills.

It was then that I realized that in mid-July we’d doubled the dosage of one particular med.  Hey…that’s about when the horrible headaches began!  DUH!  Why didn’t I see this until September 18th?  So, feeling pretty stupid,  I decided to doctor myself and stop taking that particular med for a while to see if I felt better.  Assuming what’s wrong is simply side affects.

SIDE NOTE: To all those prone to panic, don’t worry.  I’m not NOT taking a med that my health depends on.  Such as a heart med.  It’s one I can afford to experiment with a little.

Throughout this week I have still not felt well.  Missing a few days or 1/2 days of work.  On Wednesday the headache pain was the worst ever.  I couldn’t leave my dark room and slept until 3:00 p.m.!

Then, on Thursday…around 6:00-6:30 a.m. as I lay in bed, curled up, trying to sleep through the pain that was with me all night… it happened.  Warning: here comes the part where you’ll want to have me committed.

My husband had left for work so I was home alone (except for our crazy dogs).  As I said, curled up in bed trying to ignore the headache.  When I heard “BOOM BOOM BOOM” as if someone was pounding at the front door downstairs!  I also felt the vibration of this in my old house.  (When the wind blows our windows rattle people!)  I wondered if I was having yet another wild dream, which has also been going on for months.  Then again…BOOM BOOM BOOM and the vibration!  In my half awake-half asleep state I was scared that someone was trying to get into the house.  But the dogs weren’t barking.  Was it my hubby come home and without keys?  That didn’t make sense, but the dogs wouldn’t bark at him.  (I still get the willies being home alone sometimes.)

After those booms and vibrations something even more odd happened.  The sound of my bedroom changed.  The fan somehow grew quieter.  Then I felt physically smaller some how.  Not child-like… just proportionately smaller in my bed.  I remained curled up as I was too scared to move.  A minute later I realized that…wait for it…

The spike-in-the-back-of-my-head pain was gone.  Yes, gone.  It’d had it for months and this round had gone through the night.  Now, it stopped.  I still had temple pressure and some dizziness, but the disabling ”spike” was gone!

TIME OUT: Let that all soak in for a minute and go refill your coffee.  I know it sounds way out, but it’s what happened.  If someone else was telling ME this story I’d certainly be listening with a bit of doubt.

OK… got a refill on that coffee?  Let’s continue.

Last night after I shared this wild story with my husband he said to me, “That was God, pounding out that spike from the inside.”  Whoa!  Wait a minute!  Yes!  Not crazy!  But experienced a miracle!  WHOO HOO!!  And who can’t use a miracle?!

Today when I woke up…NO spike in my head!  A bit of a headache, and some dizziness still, but no spike!!  I can function!

LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. – Psalm 30:2

Well, there it is.  My wild story.  You decide for yourself if you think I’ve lost my mind or experienced a miracle.  But the truth is…that pain is gone and I am healed.