"knucklehead emergency"

I coined a new phrase, ya'll. Here's how it happened.
"It's not a life or death emergency, it's a knucklehead emergency." So said I, to the administrative assistant who answered the phone at the high school. My teenager was the last one to have something important of mine or Big Daddy's. Think car keys, cell phone, etc. Yes, we looked everywhere. Lesson learned, I hope.

It's the little things...

My children gifted me with planted flowers in pots they decorated for Mother's Day in their Sunday school class last May. The plants are 'full sun' tolerant, but the trouble is our extreme heat. They withered and had to be watered daily. I replanted them in a bigger bin and they have thrived. It makes me happy to see them brightening our front porch.



I was gloriously loitering around the drugstore yesterday morning when I found the above toy and bought it for myself. (Have you ever gloriously loitered? If not you should try it.) I was relishing my return to stay-at-home-parenthood, sans any kids during school hours, and was able to make my necessary purchases without the usual distractions. What are the usual distractions when I have to foray into a store with my offspring? Pressing requests for junky toys or foods we don't need; appeals for the latest and most aggressively marketed man-scented personal care or acne products; pointing out racy, potty-humored or noisy greeting cards; and the list goes on. Now you might understand why an opportunity to shop alone is a big deal for me.

Anyway, I found this Matchbox car and I had to have it. Matchbox cars were among my most favorite childhood toys. I think I liked playing with them and my Barbie Dolls with equal enthusiasm, though not at the same time, of course, nor with the same playmates. How many roads or block garages did my little brother and I make for our cars? Many afternoons were spent low to the ground, scooping out mini-highways with our hands in the dirt and pea gravel of the "driveway" of our parents' little summer place. Ahh, I remember it well, it was a cozy little corner spot near a big lake and a small Pennsylvania town.

On Sundays after church our good-natured Dad would take us to the general store where Matchbox cars were displayed in a window case. I know we anticipated this nearly weekly ritual as we would pick a new little car. Good days and good times. I found a picture of the same store.

The Recipe Box

picture from Vintageprintable1

My cousin sent out a facebook request for a corn cake recipe. I obliged with the closest thing I had. It was a recipe for a corn casserole from my Aunt E. When I opened my little recipe box to dig around for the right one, I had a real warm fuzzy moment. My Aunt E and my Aunt D had passed away some years ago. Seeing their recipes on the cards in there, a few in their own handwriting made me feel so good. To be reminded of all the good times we spent together, usually involving a delicious meal, well, it made my heart glad. My Mom has contributed many recipes. The recipe box itself was a wedding shower gift from my Sister-in-law T and included a few of her own good recipes. If my memory is correct, ones she collected from some of the other women at the shower.

Then, there are all the recipes I've collected over the years, many from people who pass in and out of our lives, former coworkers, former church friends, and people who we no longer see because of life's circumstances and situations. We move, our lives change but this little look into my recipe box reminded me of some people who left a special mark in our lives and in our hearts. Food has such a connection with the human race, I think we were made to share meals together socially on a regular basis. (I think that is just a part of what Jesus was doing when He instituted the celebration of communion.)

Finding their recipes in my little recipe box gave me a special reminder of family times around the table, good memories and love.


~Blessings and ♥

Missouri Corn Pie/Casserole from Aunt E

1/4 cup butter (or margarine)

1 box of corn muffin mix

2 eggs beaten

1 cup sour cream

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1 can creamed corn



Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Melt butter in a baking dish, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Bake at 400 for 35 minutes.

Today is the First Day

Today is the First Day...of the next season of my life. I have a child who is a high school senior, a child in middle school and one in elementary school. I quit my job, because I need a part time job that will allow my late afternoons and evenings to be free. I need to be here for my family more than my recent job permitted. It was good while it lasted and now it's time to move one. I have big plans for myself. I have things I want to do for God and ministry. I have things I want to do for me (artist & hula-hooper-woot!) and my family. What does God want me to do? Some areas and things I can sense and feel a prompting from Him, and I think there will be somethings that are a surprise and a challenge. God, please help me, I need it.

I'm feeling good...BUT I don't walk by feeling I walk by faith.

hula-hoop? I can't but I'm trying

Photo by Tony the Misfit
I can only do about 5 rotations. I work with a woman who used to be a hula-hoop champ back in 'her day.' One of my summer camp students could hula-hoop for a good 15-30 minutes. My goal was to have them impart this groovy technique to me, before summer ends and I quit my job. Re-read the first sentence. Am I hopeless when it comes to hula-hooping? I fear I am. Stay tuned. I am not giving up! I shall hula-hoop.

Nature Boy, part 2 (Journal Entry)

I am working through feelings and issues that impact me and my family. Addiction, co-dependency and dysfunction used to put an undue burden on my life and my heart. Over time, and most importantly through faith in a real and living God, healthier ways of living and coping are being sought and implemented in my life. Journaling is one tool on the road to healing. It helps me process and understand things in a more productive way.



I was thinking more about this song and my wayward loved one. The song itself, has a sort of positive message: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return." Yet, the overall impact of the song is somber (in my opinion). It feels sad. Beautiful, but sad, particularly in the Jazz versions of the tune.

My loved one seems to want love very badly but as best as I can tell, they look for that love in the wrong places and in the wrong way. This is my own limited knowledge and observation. I know that my loved one lies so much about so many things and inevitably the truth comes out sooner or later. Then the people who have been lied too act and react, and my loved one is further isolated. You cannot build relationships on lies. I know substance abuse is a factor. I suspect mental illness, because the lack of care toward others and the lies go beyond more typical addiction behaviour, if you will. Let me clarify, they are not lies to cover up and otherwise aid my loved one in getting high. Not ranting and babbling while under the influence. They are often grandiose lies that make my loved one look favorable, but often at the expense and hurt of others: slander.

Addiction, mental illness, what came first? Again, I'm not sure. If my loved one was not actively using alcohol and/or drugs, would the lies stop? In the past, and again it's difficult to tell, they have decreased somewhat but not stopped completely. Which has led to my suspicions of mental illness. Is my loved one capable of being truthful and having what I would call a "normal" relationship with people? And by that I mean any type of normal long-term relationship, be it friendships, romantic, etc., where there is give and take. A very strange and enchanted one, indeed, and lonely and prone to wander as well.

I hope my loved one will discover the truth of loving and being loved. We all have choices to make. My loved one can choose to stop lying and choose to be truthful. They can choose to let light in their life instead of darkness. They can choose to reach up for help. That help is available, only a prayer away, for God calls us out of darkness and into His glorious light (here, v. 9). They can choose to stop hurting their own self and others. I pray for that to happen soon.

...on Anne Rice quitting Christianity

photo credit Grevy Photography
Much has been said and written about Anne Rice's recent announcement, here. Though I have never actually left the church, nor do I think I will, I can relate to what she wrote. I can only guess what prompted it for her. I know what did (and does) prompt 'feeling like that' for me: Some fellow church member's callous or gossipy remark. Some fellow church member yelling at me or my family over a perceived** or actual wrong*. Some scandal within the church or so-called-church. An un-biblical or misconstrued pronouncement from a church leader. Christian friends and relatives that are consistently (not occasionally!) un-Christian in how they interact with others. Fill in the blank. What I can say is that most of us Christians have been there, feeling like she feels. I love what Dave Burchett blogged about Anne Rice here and here. He says what I would say, if I could say it quite that way.

I was a fan of Anne Rice's earlier books until the time I had a spiritual awakening*** in my mid-20s, and felt the need to make a clean break from my former life and pastimes. That included my entertainment choices like adult fairy tales and sexy vampires. (I still think Interview With The Vampire is a classic and puts other, newer Vampire-fare that shall remain un-designated to shame.) I know I've mentioned before, how during that time I was focusing on building my spiritual self and feeding my flesh with fantasy was not productive at that time. So I sort of lost track of Anne Rice for awhile, while God was doing some much needed, heavy duty work on me.

I read Christ The Lord, Out of Egypt a fictionalized account of Jesus' early years, after seeing the sound bytes about Anne Rice's conversion when it first became news. I thought it was really good. It was from a decidedly Roman Catholic perspective. That might bother some people, but it didn't me. She guesstimates that Jesus' brothers and sisters were step-siblings and that Joseph was a widower before he married Mary. Roman Catholic readers, many of whom believe the siblings were cousins, can leave their idea of Mary's perpetual virginity intact. Non-Catholics can say, well, maybe you believe that but we are literally convinced of literal full-blooded brothers and sisters (born after Jesus) but it's an interesting idea. However, none of that impacts our salvation in Christ alone, and it makes for an interesting read.

What impressed me about the book was how through her gift and talent of writing Anne Rice made certain aspects of Jewish culture and history come alive for me. Her description of the Mikveh bath, and other aspects the times and family life during that period gave me a sense and understanding that frankly blessed me and helped me understand better. It was like adding an illustrated picture to a set of directions for greater clarity. I had read and heard about these things before, but she painted a picture for me, but also gave it a practical application. Then there was the testimony part of the book, so beautifully written and explained, I enjoyed that aspect so much.

I can pray that she will continue to follow Christ the Lord (She didn't give up on Him, after all, only "Christian Religion"). She has much offer the body of Christ and it would seem, and much to learn herself. I think if she dedicates herself to unbiased, open-minded scholarship, as she did in the first Christ book she wrote, and prayerful vigilance to God and his Word she can and will overcome her disillusionment with some aspects of Christianity and its followers. There are certainly very difficult and unpalatable facets of the various aspects of our faith, Jesus' Crucifixion is the cornerstone prime example of that.



*We are a ministry family but we are not perfect. If we say or do anything un-biblical, please confront us calmly and in love the way you would like to be confronted, yelling and demeaning us makes us less likely to really hear what you are saying.
**We are a ministry family and therefore called to exhort, if the shoe fits...don't clobber us with it, just repent. ;)
***Commonly called "getting saved" or giving one's heart to the Lord.