Yes, it worked, Mike! Welcome!

Folks … the post below is from a friend of mine in California. It took us awhile to figure out how to get him in here but even with the blind leading the blind, we finally did it. Ha! By the way … he lived in Texas for awhile so I’m sure he understands my post about this fine state. (heh heh heh)

Mike, feel free to post whatever you want … this is, after all, the WHINE BAR and whining is definitely allowed.

Glad you’re here!

If this works I think I got all the bugs worked out and it will post to the website, if not I am typing and sending this to somewhere! Sara, Thanks for the help and its a privilege to be able to post here.

I just couldn’t resist posting this. I received it from my friend, Carolynette. Anyone out there who has never been to Texas (or lived there) probably won’t understand … but those of us who are Texans, do understand. Enjoy:

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Heaven, God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael the Archangel found him, resting on the seventh day. He inquired of God. “Where have you been?” God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, “Look, Michael. Look what I’ve made.”

Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, “What is it?”

“It’s a planet,” replied God, “and I’ve put Life on it. I’m going to call it Earth and it’s going to be a great place of balance.” “Balance?” Inquired Michael, still confused. God explained, pointing to different parts of earth. “For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth but cold and harsh while southern Europe is going to be poor but sunny and pleasant. “I have made some lands abundant in water and other lands parched deserts. This one will be extremely hot and while this one will be very cold and covered in ice.”

The Archangel, impressed by God’s work, then pointed to a land mass and said “What’s that one?”

“Ah,” said God. “That’s TEXAS — the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful beaches, streams, hills, and forests. The people from TEXAS are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent and humorous and they are going to be found traveling the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking and high achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats and carriers of peace.”

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed, “What about balance, God? You said there would be balance!”

God replied wisely, “Wait until you see the idiots I put in AUSTIN.”

PS: For those who don’t know … Austin is the State Capitol of Texas.

I hope each of you had a great Memorial Day. But most of all, I hope you remembered WHY we celebrate this day. Let each of us remember those who are fighting, at this very moment even, for us to have the freedom that we have. And let us also remember those of the past who have brought us this far.

Well this week Mike and Erica are at TJOC … that’s Texas Junior Orienteering Camp. It’s a camp our orienteering team/school started about 10 years ago. It’s an intensive week of orienteering training … learning how to read maps, actually practicing on courses of different levels of difficulty, etc. It’s not for beginners because it’s assumed when you attend TJOC that you already have had some orienteering experience. So Mike and Erica left Friday and won’t be back until a week from today. The house is very quiet. Too quiet actually. And to make it worse, I wish Erica wasn’t at TJOC this week because Victor is there.

I know Erica reads this website from time to time but I’m still going to write stuff that I know she doesn’t want to hear. I know I should just leave the subject alone, but I can’t. So Erica … and even Victor … if you’re reading this and you don’t want to hear me whine … log out and go somewhere else. This is my Whine Bar.

Okay … it’s no secret that I’m not happy about the fact that Erica and Victor are still going out. I know she could have picked a guy that was into drugs or alcohol or whatever … and Victor isn’t like that … but the habit he has of lying is just as bad, in MY opinion. Notice I said it was my opinion. Lying is a big character flaw. Lying never leads to anything good because you have to keep lying to cover up your lies. Pretty soon your whole life is nothing but a lie and eventually it gets to the point where you can’t remember what’s real and what’s not real. I think integrity is important. I feel that’s something our society lacks. What ever happened to saying what you mean and meaning what you say? Lying is the opposite of that and I guess because my ex-husband lied all the time, that’s why I feel so strongly about it. With someone who lies you’re always in the dark.

And contrary to what Erica will admit, Victor is emotionally abusive to her. I hear this from her friends … close girlfriends that I know wouldn’t lie about something like that. You know, some people think to be abuse it has to be physical. Not true. As bad as physical abuse is, bruises and broken bones do heal. But with emotional abuse, the bruised psyche and broken heart take a lot longer to heal. Sometimes an entire lifetime. People spend thousands of dollars going to psychiatrists to try to heal themselves. I speak from personal experience because my ex started out with the emotional abuse which escalated to physical abuse once we were married. It has taken me a long time to work through the emotional upheaval he caused in my life.

So at TJOC, Erica will have an entire week to be with Victor … and he’s been grounded for about 2 weeks so she hasn’t seen him at all during that time. That means she’ll be wanting to spend as much time around him as possible. She’ll be drawn back into his web of lies. I guess I feel so adamant about it because I want to save her from making the same mistakes I did at her age, although I know that’s how we learn … from our mistakes.

Erica thinks I want her to break up with Victor and start dating someone else … someone whose name I won’t mention here because other people read this and it might cause problems. But that’s not why I want to see her distance herself from Victor. I want Erica back … the old Erica that didn’t base her self-worth on pleasing anyone … who had a mind of her own … who didn’t hesitate one minute to speak her mind even if her opinion was different than yours … I want the Erica that feels she deserves to be treated like a princess, not a pauper. I wonder if I’ll ever see that Erica again …

Have you ever been in a flood? Water is unique in that it both helps and hinders. It helps nourish us just as it does plants, trees and animals. It helps generate energy when it’s dammed up. But a quick change from calm to raging is what catches us off guard, making things dangerous. It’s like a flash flood that appears and moves quickly with little or no warning at all. It can move boulders, tear out trees, destroy buildings, and obliterate bridges.

King David found himself in a similar situation. I Chronicles 14:8-13 relates the story of how God “burst through” to save the Israelites. The Philistines heard that David had been annointed King so they mobilized all their forces to capture him. They were unhappy he was king. The Philistines had a reputation and that reputation struck fear in the hearts of every town they came near. But isn’t that just like Satan? I mean, he tries to use intimidation to defeat us before the battle even starts.

Well anyway, David found out they were going to attack so he and his men marched out to meet them. David made an important decision. He wasn’t going to let this challenge move quickly like flood waters. He took action. He faced his enemy head on. How? Well not without adequate protection, of course. Yes, he had his army, but human strength alone can’t defeat our “enemy.” So David asked God “Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” and God said “Yes, go ahead. I will give you the victory.” We should be that way, too, when we’re facing our own army whether it’s a person or a circumstance. Ever heard the old saying “you can’t steer a ship if it’s not moving”? Well God doesn’t want us to be like that ship at the dock. We need to ask God’s direction and then believe and trust that He will be with us through the battle.

To go on … David and his troops went to a place called Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. David was excited and exclaimed “God has done it! He used me to burst through my enemies like a raging flood!” So David named that place Baal-perasim which means “the Lord who bursts through.” Notice here that after David’s men won the battle, David rejoiced and praised God for giving them the victory. David didn’t just SAY it, he EXCLAIMED it!

As we go through difficult times, we may feel that the rushing waters are about to swallow us. But God is thee with us in the place of rushing waters and He is moving in the midst of the rustling trees.

“I know a place where we can go.
It’s down by the river where the wind gently blows.
Listen to the rushing waters as the wind blows through the trees.
Leave your troubles behind and come with Me.”

(Anonymous)

Who, or what, is your army? Will you let God be the “Lord who bursts through”?

Depression is a nasty word. No, I’m not talking about the kind of depression you have every once in awhile. Everybody has one of those “blue” days. Nope. The depression I’m talking about is the type that an individual can’t control. It overwhelms us. People don’t understand us. They say “just snap out of it!”

Oh … if only if were that easy! There have been times in recent months when I’ve felt like Job in Job 5:17-18 when he said: “If my sadness could be weighed and my troubles be put on the scales, they would be heavier than the sands of the sea.”

I’ve battled depression most of my adult life although if I could go back to my childhood and adolescent years, I probably suffered from it then as well. I just wasn’t diagnosed until adulthood. My parents were just plain, old country folks from Mississippi and back then people didn’t talk much about mental illness. When it WAS discussed, it was something whispered about behind closed doors. I remember hearing my Grandma use the word “touched” to describe my Aunt Beatrice. Every so often Aunt Beatrice would have to be taken to a place called Whitley Field. As a child of 8 years old, I imagined Whitley Field to be something like Frankenstein’s laboratory. I heard talk of “shock treatments” and other things my young mind refused to accept. And it was all done is hushed tones … “I guess ya’ll heard Earl had to take Bea back to Whitley Field, didn’t you?” which would be followed by murmurnings of “God bless her soul” and “Sure hate to hear that” comments.

Well, like I said earlier, battling depression has made me feel a lot like Job throughout the years. Sometimes it was circumstance but a lot of it were direct consequences of choices I made. God has “gotten after me” a lot, especially so in the last year because I strayed really, really far away from Him. The Bible says that God does that to His children. I wasted a lot of time trying to run away from God to avoid those spankings! Which sort of reminds me of Mike’s nephew. Whenever he was in trouble and knew a spanking was near, he’d hop around like he was standing on hot coals! It was darn near impossible to catch the boy long enough to administer the punishment!

Job 5:17-18 says: “But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the chastening of the Almighty when you sin. For though He wounds, He bandages. He strikes, but His hands also heal.”

I thought about that verse all day on the day I read it. My choices this past year were nothing more than sin. Call it whatever. Try to rationalize it. It was still sin. Finally I stopped “hopping around” on those hot coals and that’s when God was able to do a miracle in my life. I was wounded – cut to the very core of my heart! But God did a heart transplant and bandaged me back up. He allowed me to be struck down and live in the pit of depression, but at the same time He stretched out His hand and healed me.

I was walking in a dark forest so thick with trees that I couldn’t see any light at all. I was searching for a way out! But I wasn’t sure there WAS a way out! I was running in all directions like a crazed person and the entire time I was running, I was going in the wrong direction. But when I stopped running I could see that there was light and I found my way to the other side of that forest … out into the clearing. Now I can look back and say with confidence that God was with me through that period of time. And I’m absolutely positive He didn’t get anywhere near as tired of chasing me as I did of running from Him!

So because of that, I can encourage others that He is also with themduring their battle … whatever that battle is. I’m walking in the same shoes you are now. Won’t you let me help you find the Light?

This entry is going to be a long one, so go get a cup of coffee, relax and sit back, and read about the Armor of God.

All my Christian life I’ve been curious about the Armor of God that I read about in the Bible. Ephesians 6:10-17 tells us we should put on the armor of Christ. But how? That’s always been my question and nobody has ever address it. So I decided to do a study for myself. Knowing nothing meant I had to start at the very beginning. And while I don’t know everything now, I at least know more than I did before I began this study. So I thought a good starting place would be to learn about the armor a Roman Soldier would wear since every mention about the armor of God is based on that analogy. What I learned was really interesting. What I’m going to share with you is what the Holy Spirit revealed to me. You need to do your own study to let Him speak to you.

The Armor
Just as Ephesians 6:11 tells us that a “soldier” who only puts on part of his armor is not afforded protection, the same was true with Roman soldiers. If even one piece of their armor was missing, this was where the enemy would attack. It’s no different with the armor of Christ. Here are the pieces of armor the Bible speaks of:

The Belt (Truth): This held the soldier’s dagger and sword and was also used to hold the breastplate in place so it was a very important part of a soldier’s armor. In the same way, when we put on the belt of truth, it is God’s TRUTH that holds together everything we believe. There are different ways to discover God’s truth. (1) Hearing the Word of God - which means going to church where you can hear His word; (2) Reading the Word of God - which means reading every day in order to shape our moral and social ideas to what God would want; (3) Studying the Word of God - which means we become familiar with God’s rules; (4) Memorizing the Word of God - which means hiding it in our heart so we can have spiritual empowerment when we face the enemy; (5) Meditating on the Word of God - which means filling our mind with God’s truth; and (6) Applying the Word of God - which means discovering practical applications for our life.

The Breastplate (Righteousness): A Roman soldier’s breastplate was held in place by the belt (truth). The breastplate protected the soldier’s heart and vital organs from injury. When we put on the breastplate of righteousness, we are protecting our heart from Satan’s attacks. One thing we know for sure … our conflict with Satan is spiritual so no tangible weapon can be effectively used against him and his demons. We know that Satan is the “father of lies” (John 8:44). We need to be aware that the enemies we face are real forces from the “powers of darkness” (Ephesians 6:12). As Christians, we’re not enslaved to Satan but that doesn’t mean we’re immune from the temptations he puts in front of us. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He answered every question with Scripture (Matthew 4:1-11). That’s why memorizing God’s Word is so important!

The Shoe (Gospel of Peace): Roman soldiers had unique sandals. They were thick-soled and had hobnails on the underside for traction. It was said that the Roman soldiers were known for their ability to quick-march 50 miles in one day over various types of terrain. When the command was given to stand and hold, the soldier was able to do so because of his hobnailed sandals. Our shoe should be thick-”souled” too. By that I mean we should be full of God’s Word. Maybe the hobnails in our shoes are the battle scars from previous battles that God has won for us. Just like the Roman soldier, we have been able to stand and hold … and remain standing after the battle!

The Shield (Faith): I’ve always imagined the shield as being something like I’ve seen in movies. But no! The Roman soldier’s shield was anything but that! It was four feet long, two feet wide, and resembled a door! It was constructed of wood and wicker with animal skins stretched across it with the edges studded with iron to protect the leather. Its specific use was to stop and extinguish the flaming projectiles the enemy would shoot. Roman soldiers sometimes used a battle technique called “movement of the tortoise.” This was accomplished by closing ranks and locking the shields in the front, on the sides, and over the top. The shields had hooks that allowed them to be locked together. When they were in this formation, they were practicually invulnerable. When a Christian puts on the shield of faith, our shield is stretched and covered with righteousness (animal skins) and studded with truth (iron). This allows the shield to put out the flaming arrows Satan sends our way. Our faith (shield) is our al in all in the hour of temptation.

The Helmet (Salvation): The helmet worn by the Roman soldier in the First Century was flared out on the sides and back to protect the neck area as well as the head. If the soldier became tired and let down his guard, the helmet protected him from a sword strike that might have been fatal. Sometimes the soldiers even placed some kind of plumage on the tops of their helmets. When they were observed from a distance, the enemy thought they looked to be seven feet tall! The helmet of salvation also protects our head … which is our mind and thoughts. We are covered and protected on all sides. We are sealed until the day of redemption. There are times when we become tired of the battle also. These are the times when we need to make sure we have been faithful to pray every day.

The Sword (Word of God): The sword Roman soldiers used was quiet unique. It was called a Spanish gladius and was two-edged, two feet long, and two and one-half inches wide. It was used as a thrusting weapon and required a great amount of skill to use. Roman authorities typically made soldiers train up to five years before they ever saw combat. The soldiers would practice with swords twice as heavy as the gladius. Then the soldier was able to use the gladius very effectively. The soldier also had to learn not to use the gladius to slash. The thrusting is what made the sword so deadly. Most of the armies that fought the Romans used swords designed for slashing. When an enemy soldier lifted his arm to slash with his sword, the Roman soldier would block his swing with his shield and thrust the gladius into the armpit of the enemy. The breastplate did not protect that part of the body. For a Christian, the sword is the Word of God and the Bible says it is sharper than any “two-edged sword.” Like the Roman soldiers, we need to “train” for the battle, which means staying in the Word daily. By doing this not only do we curb our evil desires, but when Satan assaults us with unbelief or challenges our belief, we have our weapon handy to thrust in his face!

Most of all, we need to remember that Jesus has already won the battle for us!

One of my favorite things to do is read the comic strips in the newspaper. Our local newspaper is chock full of comic strips, most of which I have no interest in reading. But there are a few I do like to read and Family Circle is one of those. I enjoy seeing all the silly things Dolly and her little brother P.J. get into.

In this cartoon above, Dolly and P.J. are playing hide and seek. Apparently P.J. wanted to hide rather than seek, but so did Dolly. Now I’m certain Dolly wanted to be the one to hide because she was better at it than her little brother. And being the oldest she felt it was her duty to explain to P.J. how things worked since he didn’t seem to “get it.”

So here stands Dolly with her hands out to her side. She’s exasperated with P.J. and she tells him: “This time we can’t both hide. One of us has to seek!” Of course, P.J. looks dejected. His little shoulders are slumped down. You can almost see the pout forming on his little mouth because once again, he’s going to have to be the one who seeks.

Isn’t that how we Christians are sometimes? When it comes to sharing Jesus with others we want to be the one to HIDE. Why not? It’s easier to hide than seek and if we’re really good at hiding, people won’t know we’re Christians. We won’t be “found” out. That way we can be one person when we’re in church and a different person when we’re not.

Funny thing, though … God doesn’t give us a choice in the matter. We don’t get to choose whether we hide or seek. We are told to SEEK out those who don’t have a personal relationship with Him. The good thing about seeking in God’s “game” is that those who are hiding aren’t very good at hiding. They’re easy to find.

We’d all do well to take Dolly’s advice because at least “One of us has to seek!”

When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long. Day and night Your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord,” and You forgave me! All my guilt is gone! Psalm 32:3-5

At the time I read this passage of Scripture my life fit it perfectly. One sentence, however, really stood out … “strength evaporating like water in the summer heat.” That gave me a unique and personal understanding of what the writer of this psalm was trying to express.

Anyone who has ever lived along the Gulf coast of Texas knows about summer heat and temperatures. It doesn’t matter if you live right on the coast or not. Summers are still hot and humid. We live our lives in air conditioning … air conditioned homes, cars, offices, malls, and churches. We know that the hottest part of the day isn’t at noontime. The hottest part of the day is from about 2:00 o’clock until sunset. Sometimes I think we would be wise to learn from our neighbor to the south and take a siesta during that time of day!

I thought about the psalmist and his phrase “strength evaporated.” I thought about the opposite of strength, which is weakness. I also thought about the word evaporation, so I went online and did a quick study. I learned that weakness is a reduction in the strength of one or more muscles. (I knew that!) I learned that evaporation is the process by which water changes from a liquid to a vapor. (I knew that!) I learned that evaporation is dependent upon heat (energy) and the amount of surface exposed. (I knew that, too!) In the instances of evaporation from oceans or lakes, less evaporation takes place during periods of calm winds than during windy times.

So, taking some artistic liberty here … I related this to he heart of a Christian, since the heart is a MUSCLE. I believe when we are in a state of rebellion our heart, or “love” for God, is weakened. When we’re in a state of rebellion the “winds” of our life are definitely NOT calm. We could even stretch that thought and say that during those times the “heat” is on. And usually more of our “surface” is exposed because we’re out from under the protection of God. It’s no wonder we’re weak and miserable and groan all day long!

But think about how nice it is to get back in that air conditioned place … ahhhh …. to confess our sins … to stop trying to hide them. He forgives us! All our guilt is gone!

A lecturer was explaining about stress management to his audience. He raised a glass of water and asked: “How heavy is this glass of water?” The answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. Then the lecturer made an astonishing statement: “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. What does matter is how long you try to hold it.”

He went on to explain: “If I hold this glass for one minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for an entire day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it’s the same weight but the longer I hold onto it, the heavier it becomes. The same is true with our burdens. If we carry them all the time, sooner or later … as the burden becomes increasingly heavy … we won’t be able to carry on.”

This is a good analogy for our spiritual life. We carry our burdens around with us. Okay … call it baggage or whatever. We still carry it around. At first maybe it’s just for a short time and we figure we can handle it. Then the length of time increases and before we realize what’s happening, we’re at the point where our burden is overwhelming us.

Jesus tells us when we’re weak and weary to come to Him for rest. He promises to take our burden so we can rest and be refreshed. The most important thing to remember is not to pick it back up after we’ve rested. We do that all too often. Now I do believe there will be times when our burden will be one that we need to carry a bit longer in order to strengthen our faith and build God’s character in our lives.

But for the most part … once we take a burden to Jesus, we need to lay it down, turn around, and walk the other direction.

I was riding my bike the other day and as I rode through my neighborhood I noticed all the beautiful flowers, plants and trees. Spring was finally here … a renewing, if you will … of God’s creation. This started me thinking about us … God’s children. We’re His creation, too and the Bible says we should be renewed. But how?

Well think of the life of a believer as a tree. Young trees need to be fed and provided protection in order to grow into mature trees. They need water, nutrients and sunlight to grow. As a tree comes to maturity the tree’s roots reach deep into the soil. This provides a two-fold purpose. First, it keeps the tree from falling down. Second, the root system is where the tree stores food for later use.

You know, someone once told me that a tree’s root system reaches as far down into the soil as it’s branches stretch and reach upward. So how do trees grow? Okay I could use a lot of fancy words like seeds, germinating, humus … but I’m not a scientist and know little or nothing about these type of things, so I’m going to simplify it. This is how I see it. The leaves make food for the tree. There’s a process called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll absorbs the sunlight and begins a process called photosynthesis. Photosynthesis uses the energy produced by chlorophyll to begin growth. The branches of the tree are connected to the trunk … the leaves are connected to the branches … you already know that. Okay … trees also help us in a lot of ways, too. They give us air. They give us shade. They provide us with things we need to live such as wood and paper.

So how does this relate to the life of a believer? Well some of the analogies are obvious such as “I am the vine, you are the branches.” But think about these things. First of all, like trees, we need certain things in order to live. While some people enjoy going to the beach and soaking up sunlight, Christians need to soak up SONlight. This provides us with the FOOD we need in order to mature. When we soak up SONlight we begin the process of producing growth in our lives in a similar way that a tree does with chlorophyll and photosynthesis.

Then our roots need to go deep into the soil of God’s Word. That will keep us from “falling” away and heading down the wrong paths in life. The deeper our roots are in God’s Word, the stronger and healthier we will be. And just like a tree, we need to “store” or “hide God’s Word in our heart.” Then when tough times comes along, as surely they will, we will have nourishment to get through the trial.

God provides to us many of the same things trees provide to nature. The Bible says God “breathed the breath of life” into us (air). The Bible says God “leads us beside still waters” and “restores our soul” (shade). And let’s not forget that God provides all the other things we need, too.

So you see? We’re not that different from trees after all! I think there’s one more lesson, though. If God takes care of trees why wouldn’t He take care of us? After all, we’re made in His image … we’re His children. We need to remember that the next time we think God can’t help us with our problems.

A young cowboy walks into a seedy cafe in a small town in West Texas. He sits at the counter and notices an older cowboy with his arms folded, staring blankly at a large bowl of chili. After fifteen minutes of just sitting there staring at it, the young cowboy bravely asks, “if you ain’t gonna eat that, mind if I do”? The older cowboy slowly turns his head toward the young wrangler and in his best cowboy manner says, “Nah, go ahead”.

Eagerly, the young cowboy reaches over and slides the bowl over to his place and starts spooning it in with delight. He gets nearly down to the bottom and notices a dead mouse in the chili. The sight was shocking, and he immediately puked the chili back into the bowl.

The old cowboy quietly says, “Yep, that’s as far as I got, too”.

I was so exhausted this morning, I slept until 9 o’clock. I guess all the stress of the last month with planning for prom and graduation finally caught up with me. I’m still tired but I hae managed to get up today and start washing clothes, prepare dessert for our small group Bible study tonight, and put dinner on in the crockpot.

For those of you out there who want to know what my life was like when I worked for City Government, this explains it better than I ever could.

SCIENTISTS DISCOVER NEW ELEMENT – GOVERNMENTIUM

A major research institution has just announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element has been named “Governmentium.”

Governmentium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 311.

These 311 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected, as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact.

A minute amount of Governmentium causes one reaction to take over 4 days to complete, when it would normally take less than a second.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 4 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each re-organization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as “Critical Morass.”

When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element which radiates just as much energy, since it has 1/2 as many peons but twice as many morons.

Are you ready? Can you hear me screaming with delight???

GRADUATION IS FINALLY, REALLY, TRULY OVER!!!!

The grad party just ended and everybody is gone. Ahhhh … peace and quiet at last …

Finally!! The graduation part is over! We got home about 10:30 last night. Sara Henehan (Erica’s best friend who now lives in Mississippi) flew down to surprise her for graduation. It was fun keeping a big secret like that from Erica. Sara had told Erica not too long ago that she would NOT be able to be here, so Erica wasn’t expecting her … and she was feeling disappointed. Then as Erica was marching with the rest of her class onto the field to take their seats, we yelled as she walked by and pointed to Sara. Ha! Ha!

Tomorrow … the final episode of “graduation” will be shown here at our house from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. That’s Erica’s grad party. We’re also celebrating Sara Austin’s and Kristin Hotz’ graduation as well. Since the girls all have the same social circle of friends, the grown ups figured we’d go in together and do one big party and hopefully save a little money at the same time. So before bedtime tonight I have to make up tuna salad, chicken salad (for finger sandwiches tomorrow) and wash and prepare veggies for the veggie tray I’ll put together after church tomorrow. Oh, and I also have to slice pepper jack cheese and get it ready to put with some Club Crackers. I’m going to be one tired momma by the time I hit the sack tonight.

Then we have to be at early service at church in the morning because that’s when they’re going to recognize the high school and college graduates. But that’ll work out better for me because then I’ll have about 2 1/2 hours to put the sandwiches together and do the rest of the stuff.

And AFTER everybody leaves tomorrow evening, I will truly be able to say GRADUATION IS OVER!!! YIPEEEEEE!

I’ve been dealing with this issue regarding some of the people I worked with at my previous job. I’ve realized that forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting what they did to me … it’s humanly impossible to forget. Forgiviness doesn’t mean what they did to me is okay … because it’s not. What forgiveness IS … is letting go and letting God handle it for me.

Yep, tonight is Alias night. Courtney, Alex, and Eddie are over here. Mike is at a ham radio club meeting. This is the season finale … 2 hours long!

This is a picture of me and my best friend, Ramona. She’s from Albuquerque, New Mexico. We met while I worked at the City of La Porte. Ramona is what I consider a true friend. She stood beside me during all the difficult times I went through while employed by the City. And she stands up for me even now that I’m no longer there. A faithful friend is an image of God. I thank God for Ramona.