A Little Creepy

...but true.

You may want to know that your naked foot will never forget if it steps on a live spider especially if it's a big one.

It won't...forget.

What is the worst thing you've ever stepped on when you were barefoot?

Where's my Soapbox

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, children deserve a good childhood. All children should be loved, protected, parented, and have their needs provided.

There are ways parents should embarrass their children: 

• Kiss them in public.
• Wear a funky piece of clothing from another era.
• Just exist.
• Show parent dancing skills while chapperoning dances.
• Say ‘Cool’ or ‘Groovy’ loudly around their friends.

But, there are ways parents should never embarrass their children:

• Be drunk or high in public places. 
• Curse their children in public (or anytime is my vote).
• Use their sports events to get rid of anger.

Children aren't interested in perfect parents just parents who will love and take care of them until they are able to leave the nest.

“What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give.” ~P.D. James

And that's my soapbox for the day!

Quote source here

Life is one quote after another

This quote made me think of texting: “Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation.” Mark Twain

This quote made me think of Libya: “It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage that we move on to better things.” Theodore Roosevelt

This quote made me think of Bucking Change: “It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”
C. S. Lewis


Happy Monday,

~~JW

Quotes by: Brainy Quotes

 

Stepping in the Water

Being a rural child had many advantages. I played in creeks and rivers with my siblings and cousins. Because of our running and splashing, the water would become murky. Our actions created a reaction.

Before we clouded the water, we could see under the surface. There were cute little minnows that tickled your legs and fat tadpoles metamorphosing. There were smooth and jagged rocks to navigate around. Then there were the crawdads racing from under the rocks toward toes that were bigger than they were and of course there were snakes who tried desperately to escape.

Murky water. We “felt” ok when the water was clear, but when the water became murky we experienced some trepidation.

We’re like that in life. We want to control the water. We want to see clearly because we think if we do see everything, we’ll be all right. Not necessarily so. Seeing everything does not promise an easy road or a pain free existence.

But, that’s where faith comes in. As a Christian, we need to believe that even though we can’t see though the murk that God is in control.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.

This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1: 3-9 (NIV) (Emphasis mine)

We believe in so many things that leave our souls empty and our minds frayed. As a Christian, stepping in the murky water will require "geniuneness of your faith".  The rewards are great.

Have wonderful Sunday!

~~Teresa

I'm a winner, I am

My Winnings

I can’t believe I won three books in the last couple of weeks. Amazing I am. Ok, ok, the sites I visit are amazing.

I won and received Monarch by Michelle Davidson Argyle from the awesome site of Judy Crome: Author on the Prowl. I started reading it Sunday afternoon. Thanks, Judy.

I won HELP! FOR WRITERS by Roy Peter Clark and reviewed on the awesome blog of Thoughts in Progress! Thanks, Mason.

And, I won a book from Kathleen Ernst and I chose Clues in the Shadow. Kathleen was hosted on another awesome and favorite blog Mystery Writing isMurder. Thanks, Elizabeth and Kathleen.

Three awesome people and blogs (4 if you count me, IF YOU count me) where I won books.

I feel very lucky.  Too bad I don't play the lottery. Too bad.

My Aunt

I mentioned yesterday that we are mourning my aunt’s passing. Thanks, dear ones, for your sweet comments. My Aunt Mildred was an awesome woman. I feel sad with her passing, but at 88 years of age I happen to know she lived a wonderful life. She had great parents (my grandparents) and siblings with the youngest being the best of all – my mother. She had an awesome husband and two sons and grandchildren.

We will miss her very much.

I’ll be checked out this week and will look in on you when I can. My week at work promises to be murder by stress.

See you soon.

This weekend, my aunt Mildred died where Friday meets Saturday. She’s my mother’s sister and was 88 years old. She had a long and wonderful life. I've been compared to her many times and I have always taken the comparisons as a compliment.

I hadn’t seen her in years, so I didn’t think I would cry.

I did.

Then I thought what a great tribute it is to shed tears for someone we’ve loved and lost.  But, because of my faith, I know I will see her again in heaven along with many other family members and friends including a grandchild I’ve never met.

That’s the substance of my hope—my faith in Jesus Christ and a life after this. I am encouraged.

“Now also we would not have you ignorant, brethren, about those who fall asleep [in death], that you may not grieve [for them] as the rest do who have no hope [beyond the grave].

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him through Jesus those who have fallen asleep [in death].

For this we declare to you by the Lord's [own] word, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall in no way precede [into His presence] or have any advantage at all over those who have previously fallen asleep [in Him in death].

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first.

Then we, the living ones who remain [on the earth], shall simultaneously be caught up along with [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) we shall be with the Lord!

Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4:13-18 (Amplified Bible)

It is a great thing to believe that always - and through the eternities - we shall be with the Lord.

~~Teresa

Bible Source: Bible Gateway

Today

Today, I'm keeping my crazies under the bed in a box. No really I am. 

Have a good weekend!

Humor me?

It was going to happen...

At some point in time, someone on Craigslist was bound to post in the pet give away section-- a rock. I don't know why it was in the pet area, but it was there. I have so many opinions on people putting their pets on Craigslist to give away. But, this isn't a post about that.  No. This post is about me "rehoming" my pet rock.

A recent Craigslist ad:

	MY advertisement.
	_________________________________________________________________________________

Pet Rock  
Date: 2011-10-10, 5:07 p.m.

I have a pet rock whose name is….Rock…ee, that’s it… Rockee, that I can no longer take care of. Gender unknown (sorry but I don't know where to look).  Rockee has been a loyal door stop in my office, however, due to circumstances beyond my control, I can no longer keep it. I need to get rid of Rockee, because I’ve noticed he/she has no patience with kids. At first he/she would lay there like a good rock. But lately, Rockee is doing a wild rock stare when students pass by and well…I’m  afraid Rockee cannot be trusted.

This beloved pet rock (I inherited with my new job nine months ago--true story) comes with a bag of rock candy, a watering dish and a red bow.  I hate to give up Rockee, because it’s the best pet rock I've ever had-- especially at propping open doors.

I’m asking a rehoming fee of $5 to ensure my pet rock goes to a good home. A home visit is required. Serious inquiries only. Now look at this face and tell me Rockee isn't the cutest rock you've ever seen. Warning: Rockee will need training to help he/she stay off the furniture. (See below.)

Location: Rocky Ridge

·         it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

_____________________________________________________

      P.S. I changed my mind, Rockee had to go back to the school world.
          
          Sincerely, Journaling Woman

T   

God is

It's every person's right to believe or not believe in God who created the heavens and the earth and all that goes with it. But, no opinion will make God disappear or diminish who he is.

C.S. Lewis said, “A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.” (source here)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1: 1-5 (NIV)

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelations 1:8 (NIV)

Have a wonderful Sunday!



Scripture source: Holy Bible, BibleGateway.com

Out of Pocket

Out of pocket can mean more than when money leaves your wallet. Let me tell you about Heidi*.  

Heidi is a friend of mine and a fantastic teacher. When she taught high school, her students loved her teaching style and her ability to make them feel valued. She didn’t have classroom discipline issues. And, she made algebra and trigonometry interesting for her students; someone needed to.

One day she was lecturing in front of a class. Like many people, my friend uses her hands to help herself talk. She would use hand sweeps to emphasize her points. This particular day she had turned her back on the class which was ok because where other students in other classes might talk or throw things behind the teacher’s back, her students did not.

At one point, she wrote with her right hand an equation on the board and stuffed her left hand in her pant pocket. When she was finished, she turned back to an attentive class to explain the mathematical problem on the board.

It was at that moment that she pulled her left hand out of her pocket and began a grand sweep. Little did she know that stuffed deep inside her pocket was the biggest string of lint you’ve ever seen.  Somehow that stringy, ugly, gagging type of lint attached itself to a minute flaw of jagged nail and followed her hand to the outside world.

It was as if that lint had waited a lifetime to make its debut. Her hand had become—a kite and the lint a tail. She lectured; the lint flopped and flailed in the air.

The students didn’t giggle, no—no. The students went hysterical. Heidi became confused and was clueless until one of her students pointed to her hand and the long string of lint.

Out of pocket— and at her expense. But at least she didn’t have to pay out the nose. You know what I mean?

What’s in your pocket?

*Name change

Sunflowers

Remember the blizzard of 2011? Well I do. Remember how Mike, a neighbor, took his Bobcat from driveway to driveway to help his neighbors clear their driveways (read it here)?

Even though it's not their job most days, Mike and his wife Lisa have made me happy again.

They have planted an entire field with sunflowers.

Now, every morning, I have to adjust my drive to work taking the long way (5 minutes vs. 2 minutes) just to see the sunflowers look in my direction.

Have a great Monday!

Comfort

When my children were young and they were upset, frightened or ill they would search for me in a crowd of people just to find comfort. They trusted me. I hope I’m still a comfort to them.  

Sometimes we look to everything else in the world except God for comfort.  We get busy buying things, posting our status on social networks, and even turning to alcohol or drugs—trying to feel comforted.

Comfort comes in a calm and quiet soul where God can speak.  

My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.

But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.

Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore. Psalm 131 (NIV)

Scripture Source: Bible Gateway