The Lilies of the Field

You wake up every morning, cursing the sun because you have to get up when you would rather be sleeping. You’re in a bad mood because you’re having to go to work when you’d rather do almost anything else. For no reason other than because you had to pull yourself out of bed and be productive you’re in a foul mood. What if you didn’t wake up in the morning, though? What if the last time you laid your head down on your pillow was the last time period?

This morning I found out that a friend since childhood, Heath Sullivan, passed away, presumably in his sleep. He was a year younger than me, and though we didn’t attend the same elementary school, we attended the same church for most of our lives. We attended church camps together, high school together, and most everything else because we grew up in a small community.

Heath was the friend that I took to my Junior Prom. He was the cantankerous guy who broke into my car while I was at band practice one night and received a busted lip, courtesy of my class ring as a reward. He was “the Worm,” and always made every church gathering a little more fun. I hadn’t really seen him much since high school. We never know when the last time we see a person will be.

We grow up, go our own ways, lose touch, and then when you hear something like this, it’s a reminder of how precious every breath we take really is. We may not be our happiest where we are at this moment, but still, we awoke today. Each day, each hour, nay each moment is a gift from God. Let us be thankful for each moment we have here with our friends and loved ones and make the most of this fragile gift.

25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[b]?28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. – Matthew 6:25-34, New International Version.

Eating Politcal Crow

As adults, we’re often made to eat our words – sometimes when we don’t really want to but must for the greater good.  During the primary season, I swore up and down that I would never-ever vote for John McCain.  I stated all the reasons I didn’t trust him, and how I believed he was more liberal than conservative.  I have to admit that come November, my vote will undoubtedly be cast for John McCain because despite my desires for a more conservative candidate (i.e. Mitt Romney) he is the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party.

Am I voting for him because he is a Republican?  No.  I’m voting for him because when you compare him to Barack Obama in the role of Commander and Chief, there is no comparison.  I have to admit that earlier this year I was a little intrigued by the media circus surround Obama, but what I’ve learned of the man since the primaries gives me no choice but to vote McCain.  Obama will raise taxes – for everyone.  He believes in the redistribution of wealth (i.e. Communism).  He thinks that the government should control health care.  Uh,, haven’t the glowing reviews of the systems in Canada and the U.K. shown us that it won’t work?  When has the government ever taken control of anything and made it better, more functional, and streamlined?  Never.  just look at any of the other entitlement programs that exist.  They’re consumed with red tape and are broken.

I cannot vote for a man whose wife says that she’s never been proud of her country as an adult.  I don’t care how much whining they do, but the beliefs and actions of the President’s spouse matter.  The spouse is supposed to be the closest confidant of the President, and often times the closest adviser.  The Clinton marriage should never be an example of what a Presidential marriage should be.

I will cast my vote for McCain because he is for off-shore drilling.  He believes that an embryo is a human life at conception.  He doesn’t think of having children as punishment.  He’s ready to be the Commander and Chief of our armed forces on day one.  We can’t have Barack stumble through while we’re still fighting a war.

So you see, I’ve had no choice but to change my stance, to eat my words, politically speaking.  I can’t allow the media with their hormonal school-girl crush decide who our next President will be.  I don’t care how many times Chris Matthews’s leg tingles.

Thoughts While Sitting In Traffic and Other Busy Nothings

Yesterday as I was stuck in obscene traffic on 71B (College Ave. in Fayetteville) due to the fact that for some reason the City of Fayetteville has decided for some reason to start tearing up College around the 5PM rush hour every day. Just getting out of downtown Fayetteville is a ridiculous hassle these days. This did lead me to some random thoughts and observations though.

It always seems rather curious and extremely frustrating that the City of Fayetteville partakes in these road construction ventures just when all of the students are returning to the University of Arkansas, just around the time when footballs season is near. I wish I lived in Fayetteville’s city limits because I would put my vote to good use. It’s just frustrating.

Another observation and rant about the City of Fayetteville is with its Parking Management Office. Yesterday, I put my customary $.85 in an eight-hour meter that would last me until my lunch hour at 1:30. However, the meter decided to not register the money. I was running late, and out of principle I wasn’t going to park elsewhere, paying even more money. Well, I of course ended up with two five dollar tickets from the Parking Nazis. I just went ahead and paid it because I didn’t feel quite like a fight – yet, but I did insert a note with the money and the tickets. There is no bigger scam than parking management, I believe.

Beyond my complaints with the City of Fayetteville, while sitting in traffic I was somehow reminded of some of the boys with whom I once believed myself to be in love. Of course just almost every time a girl finds herself attracted to someone, she believes herself in love. That’s why when real love comes it’s such a shock because it’s never how you imagine it. It’s more subtle and a connection far deeper than that of raging hormones and even loneliness. Of the boys I used to dream of, I realized that there’s not one that comes to mind very often. I imagine in time I may forget most of them all-together, and I don’t mourn this loss at all. There are no feelings except maybe a few of friendship left for any of these people. I have a strong, solid marriage to a man I love, admire, and respect. Those other things just don’t matter. Many of the things I felt were so important just six, ten, fourteen years ago really weren’t important at all, in the big scheme of things.

My Joyful Heart

Sometimes I wish every day was Sunday.  I’ve always loved Sundays, I guess because of the joy and peace that fills my heart before, during, and after church services.  Some Sundays Bart and I struggle with the decision of whether of not to attend church due to fatigue, slight illness, and other reasons, but we never regret it when we do go.  Today was one of those days when we could have slept till ten.  I’ve personally been struggling with my sinuses for about two weeks, but I’m glad we went to church.

Today we were blessed with listening to not one but two wonderful pianists on Steinway Grand Pianos playing as the choir and congregation sang those wonderful, old Gospel songs that can’t help but bring out the “Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy, down...” in your heart.
Why do I have this Joy in my heart? Why is it that I can’t help but be happy when rejoicing my Lord? This joy comes only from Him who washed away my sins with his own blood, shed for me on the cross.

“Without shedding of blood there is no anything… Everything, it seems to me, has to be purchased by self-sacrifice. Our race has marked every step of its painful ascent with blood. And now torrents of it must flow again… I don’t think the war has been sent as a punishment for sin. I think it is the price humanity must pay for some blessing – some advance great enough to be worth the price which we may not live to see but which our children’s children will inherit.” – Rilla of Ingleside Chapter 5.

22And according to the Law, one may (A)almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and (B)without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. – Hebrews 9:22 NASV

You see, I have joy because all of my worries, my cares, my burdens were nailed to the cross, and Jesus has carried all of my burdens for me. Does that mean I will never worry, that my life will never see trying times and tribulations? No, but I have Faith in One who is greater that all the things this world can throw at me. That, that is why I have “… joy deep down in my heart…”

Marking Milestones

We’re always reaching milestones in our life; points where from there forward, things are at least slightly different than they were yesterday and will always remain different. It seems that my family’s week is full of milestones. Just yesterday Bart officially finished is Masters, thus ending (for now) his formal education, while today our youngest niece, Emma, is starting Pre-K. As one education is ending, another is just beginning.

Emma just turned four Sunday, she had her school shots yesterday, and now she’s attending “the green one” Greenwood Elementary in Tahlequah with her older sister, Kelsey. Today is the fifteenth birthday of one of my two sets of twin cousins, Devyn and Charity. I recall the day they were born with the utmost clarity. It was the second day of eighth grade. I went to school, anxious for word because we knew they would be taking the twins that day, and when Mom picked Heather and me up at 3, I couldn’t wait to go to the hospital to see my two new baby cousins. Last Thursday was their first day as Freshmen at Dear Ole’ Heavener High.

The final milestone was the passing of our great-aunt this past weekend. I’m not sure, but I think she may have been the last of my grandparents’ generation still living. At least she was the last in the vicinity. Her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren now must grow accustomed to the fact that every day forward, she’ll no longer be here. Some milestones are more bitter than sweet, though they can rest in the knowledge that she is no longer suffering.

No matter our age, no matter how much we think we’ve learned and accomplished, there will always be some milestone to reach.

I Don’t LIKE Pie

I love free stuff. I love having extra incentive to buy a burger here, or my groceries there. Just yesterday we bought a few items at Harps, due to our growing dislike of Wal-Mart and especially their meat, and were given a voucher for eleven cents of per gallon of gas that we bought at Harps up to 15 gallons. With gas prices what they’ve been, that was wonderful incentive – a freebie I appreciated. That said, sometimes I don’t always want to take advantage of whatever is being offered.

Today was one of those days. I still sometimes feel the urge to drive-thru McDonald’s and order a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, no onions Extra Value Meal with large fries and Coke, AKA a #3. It seems if you order a large extra value meal right now, they’re giving away free apple of cherry pies. I don’t like pie of any sort, period, and this is the conversation I had with the guy on the intercom after my initial order.

“Would you like an apple or a cherry pie with that?”

My response what very polite, “Neither, please.”

“But they’re FREE-EEE-EE!”

At this point I understood that he would not take “no” for an answer. In the same sing-song voice that he used I answered, “I don’t like Pie-ie-ie!” He got the picture.

You know, it’s OK not to accept something just because it’s free. I’m not in the habit of taking things that I neither need nor want. Take polite “no’s” for an answer, or don’t complain when the next reply is far from polite.

Monday Nothings

The older I get, the less I like people as a whole. I know it’s wrong to bunch everyone in one category, but it seems to me that the bad, the rude, and stupid, and the absolutley asinine form a much larger group than those who are none of the above at least 75 percent of the time. We all have our days, but when you see and hear more from the negative side, that begins to form your opinion.

It’s sort of like how the media loves to paint the picture of utter doom and despair all the time. Nothing is good, everything is horrible, and apparently “the messiah,” Obama must be the cure to all of the evils of the world. Thankfully a growing majority of people are learning that the mainstream media basically feeds us a plate full of crap multiple times a day. Their recent school-girl like crush on the man has revealed their utter stupidity.

What do we know of this man, running for President? Nothing really. Every time someone asks him a difficult question he cries that it’s not fair to ask such questions, or that it’s racially motivated. I suppose what really bothers me about society is this belief that things will be better with him as President. How will things be better? Because he plans to bring “change” and “hope.” What change? I imagine after he taxes the hell out of all of us, tries to make us live in the stone age regarding energy and pollution, and skews us further from democracy to communism, he’ll make all of us hope a great deal. We’ll hope that all of his changes can be reversed, if we’re not invaded and defeated due to his Neville Chamberlain-like attitude toward appeasement.

Lazy Sundays

• Personal Quote of the Day:  “Mothers are proud when their children can do tricks, not when they turn them.”

Today was what we in our family like to call a “Lazy Sunday.”  Most weeks we like to come home from church on Sunday and relax in preparation for another busy, tiring week.  After lunch I’ll clear the dishes if there are any, do a few chores, then spend some quality snoozing time on the couch with Lucy.  She loves Lazy Sundays.  There’s little that makes Lucy happier than the three of us cuddled up on the couch together.  Then I try to find time to read and/or write some as well as play with Lucy.  Some weeks we don’t get any rest at all, like last week, when we stayed busy from Friday night through Sunday evening.  After a week such as that, we were specially tired and not particularly healthy.  My sinuses have been getting the best of me, and Bart and I realized that we weren’t even in shape to go to church today.

Sadly, my body relaxed some at this thought, and though we went to bed at our usual time, we all three slept clear through to the time Bart and I would usually be arriving at church for Sunday Morning Services.  Though I know we should go as often as possible, I’m pretty sure God is OK with us using today as he intended as well, as a day of some badly needed rest.  If was even as though He gave us his blessing with a day perfect for ease and rest.  It’s the middle of August, and we’ve had a cool, rainy weekend.  That in itself is a rare, odd, and wonderful blessing; a day perfect for naps and rest.

It was also a day perfect for playing in the back yard.  The air smells clean, cool, and fresh from the rain, and the ground in just soggy enough for Lucy to leave a trail of water spraying behind her as she chases racket balls across the yard.

I love these cool, wet, autumnlike days.  There’s something about trouncing across soggy grass, letting the water seep through your shoes, down to your socks as the wind cools your face.  It feels like Autumn, the most beautiful, wonderful time of the year to me.  It feels like football weather, and I’m thankful we have two weeks of Olympics to carry us through until Opening Day.  The wet, slightly muddy grass, the cool, gentle breeze, the lingering scent of rain in the air, it feels like football weather.  It feels like Lazy Sunday

Lucy’s Television Debut

Last night, Lucy made her TV debut on the KNWA 10 O’Clock News, during Dan Skoff’s Weather.

Also, here’s a video from that night of her bobbing for ice cubes. She’s the only dog I’ve ever seen just lie down in a pool.

Random Thoughts and Observations – August 4, 2008 Edition

I’ve started several posts today that have all been discarded to the vacuous limbo of things Internet lost. Each post seemed more like a complaint or a gripe. Though most posts have some complaints, I hope to have a lighter side to each of them. I have no desire to be a Debby Downer. I had a rather interesting weekend, and though it has left me somewhat tired as well as having my sinuses on overdrive, I wish to share some “thoughts and observations.”

• Saturday morning I learned how much it costs to take a golden retriever in to the NWA Emergency Vet Clinic to have vomiting induced after eating a Folgers Single at 6:30 AM on a Saturday – $116.00.
• I also learned that it isn’t worth braving the heat to go the “Yards and Yards of Yard Sales” in Eureka Springs.
• I learned that when the temperature is over 100°, Lucy will lay down in the cool, fresh water of her pool while playing with her new Kong Wubba. Yes, she got a new toy after her ordeal.
• While watching the Hall of Fame Game, last night, I decided that I’m even more ready for football season to begin. I’m more ready for NCAA football then NFL, of course.