Tough Parts of Loving People

in my job i sometimes have to do tough things concerning people. because life is so much more important than gpa's, iq's, $$, success, etc., i have to sometimes be a HUGE brick wall...or bulldozer. man, i can't tell you how hard that is sometimes...especially when some people really think life IS about entitlement, self-esteem, consequence-free lessons, and tons of "little" things.

and more than work...real LIFE is full of moments like these. the tough parts of really loving people.

it's funny because when that stuff has to go down, it's like some people think we just love being hard on people. that we must not care at all. that we like to see misery and inflict "pain".

and...it's so not like that.

it's just hard to convince someone of that in the heat of it all.

so today, i chose to do that part of loving that i don't relish to the fullest. seeing the bigger picture of life and who we are all destined to be, it was a good and right thing to do. but the "doing" of it...kinda felt heavy.

...especially because i'm familiar with the backlash that comes...

so, do we keep on keeping on? i guess i like to think people's hearts are worth it...

"I'll Stand"

i was singing this song in my head this morning and decided to find it on youtube. i love, love it...because it's a cool declaration right from the heart.

it talks about standing...with a heart that's abandoned to god and his wild love. i think it's a beautiful picture of what true life in christ is destined to look like.

and it makes me think...this is what i hope is said of me someday. hopefully, in god's eyes, i'll have finished well...with a life that looks like this.

Political Non-Sense...

sometimes, i think people are so...stupid. i heard on the "today show" this morning that some people are concerned that sarah palin may be too inexperienced to be a vice president...and possibly president should "circumstances dictate" (i.e. mccain passes on...)

uhhhh...heh?

and yet those people aren't just a tad bit concerned that obama has a similar lack of experience for being a president????

oh my gosh....duh.

i'm sorry but while sarah palin's been actually doing something with the issues in her state...heck, actually having an opinion and making decisions even if it wasn't popular...proving that she's well qualified to attack problems and make decisions without party drama...well, while she's been doing that, obama's been doing a HUGE nothing to advance his career. he actually voted "present" (not "for", not "against") in over 100 federal senate votes...not committing any way on many issues. AND...when he did vote, he voted "against" actually regulating 'freddie' and 'fannie'...voting with the partisan split. that's GREAT experience...pllllease! AND...he was the only senator to vote that babies who actually dare to survive an abortion procedure should be set on a table to die of neglect and exposure. all that because he's concerned that if his daughter ever got pregnant someday, he'd not want her to be "punished with a baby".

so, i'm wondering why a "willing to work and actually prove it" sarah palin...who's looking at a second-in-command position is getting so much drama as opposed to a "who the heck knows what he really thinks about ANYTHING" (oh, except a super bad decision building to economic debt and an infanticide perspective on abortion) obama who's looking for the top job!!!

the latter makes me wayyyyyy more nervous than the prior.

Getting Ready...Batgirl!

i'm home sick today with a killer cold...ah, yes! school is back in session...as are the germs.

so i decided to try to raise my spirits a bit by trying on some of my costumes. over the years, i've acquired a variety. some were purchased in my "princess" push...gotta have the prom dresses to go with the crown. :) others were purchased for costume parties and "just in case" whims.

so today...with a kleenex shoved up each nostril, i landed on my costume for this year's costume party.

batgirl!...complete with mask and arm guards.

the pic...in light of my illness today...wasn't too pretty. but i'm confident that time will help me get in the swing of things....and become the batgirl that i'm meant to be. :)

Where Are YOUR Parts?

i'm telling you...working with junior high kids can be a real trip sometimes.

yesterday, in health class we began talking about the endocrine system, hormones and glands. the students had to complete a worksheet about the various glands, describing function and location. well, the sheet also listed "gonads" (the reproductive organs). within my earshot, one of the students asked another where gonads were located... he replied in a whisper, "below the waist and...uhh...above the knees."

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

i haven't laughed so hard in a while.

so, just in case you aren't sure where your parts are...check below the waist and...above the knees. should be somewhere in there...!

Parasitic Men...and why they should be banned from dating!

"i'll treat you like a priority so that YOU don't go off and pursue other options...but as soon as I have other options, you'll move from a priority to an option."

SURPRISE!...wham!

a friend of mine quoted this the other day over lunch. she's had some negative experiences with a certain type of man...no, "guy" is the better word, i think.

can i just say that this is not an uncommon thing? i've heard four stories of this in the last 5 days!!!

it's so frustrating!!!

living in a culture that doesn't raise up and release real men...is hugely depressing. they bounce from woman to woman trying to work out their wounds...leaving hoards of feminine broken hearts who couldn't be medicine enough to make it all better...

simply because this type of guy can't help but be parasitic...

it's so hard...and heart-breaking. so many girls are walking around dazed and confused at how they must have been the problem...classicly too much or too little...not pretty enough...not tough enough...not enough of a doormat...the sick disease of the heart left in the wake of his sailing ship.

and the thing is...no girl can solve this for him.

it takes a "man" to teach a "guy" to be a "man"...

but "getting some" and moving on...or "putting down to build up"...and on and on and on...it's just way easier to do than get it together.

how will we even recognize a real man when he comes along anymore? looks are so deceiving...

and few realize how truly terrifying it is to risk it all...all over again...

just has me thinking of late...more common than not, it seems.

My McCain Vote...another of many reasons...

How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis: Kevin Hassett
Commentary by Kevin Hassett

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aSKSoiNbnQY0

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The financial crisis of the past year has provided a number of surprising twists and turns, and from Bear Stearns Cos. to American International Group Inc., ambiguity has been a big part of the story.

Why did Bear Stearns fail, and how does that relate to AIG? It all seems so complex.
But really, it isn't. Enough cards on this table have been turned over that the story is now clear. The economic history books will describe this episode in simple and understandable terms: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exploded, and many bystanders were injured in the blast, some fatally.

Fannie and Freddie did this by becoming a key enabler of the mortgage crisis. They fueled Wall Street's efforts to securitize subprime loans by becoming the primary customer of all AAA-rated subprime-mortgage pools. In addition, they held an enormous portfolio of mortgages themselves.

In the times that Fannie and Freddie couldn't make the market, they became the market. Over the years, it added up to an enormous obligation. As of last June, Fannie alone owned or guaranteed more than $388 billion in high-risk mortgage investments. Their large presence created an environment within which even mortgage-backed securities assembled by others could find a ready home.

The problem was that the trillions of dollars in play were only low-risk investments if real estate prices continued to rise. Once they began to fall, the entire house of cards came down with them.
Turning Point
Take away Fannie and Freddie, or regulate them more wisely, and it's hard to imagine how these highly liquid markets would ever have emerged. This whole mess would never have happened.

It is easy to identify the historical turning point that marked the beginning of the end.
Back in 2005, Fannie and Freddie were, after years of dominating Washington, on the ropes. They were enmeshed in accounting scandals that led to turnover at the top. At one telling moment in late 2004, captured in an article by my American Enterprise Institute colleague Peter Wallison, the Securities and Exchange Comiission's chief accountant told disgraced Fannie Mae chief Franklin Raines that Fannie's position on the relevant accounting issue was not even ``on the page'' of allowable interpretations.

Then legislative momentum emerged for an attempt to create a ``world-class regulator'' that would oversee the pair more like banks, imposing strict requirements on their ability to take excessive risks. Politicians who previously had associated themselves proudly with the two accounting miscreants were less eager to be associated with them. The time was ripe.

Greenspan's Warning
The clear gravity of the situation pushed the legislation forward. Some might say the current mess couldn't be foreseen, yet in 2005 Alan Greenspan told Congress how urgent it was for it to act in the clearest possible terms: If Fannie and Freddie ``continue to grow, continue to have the low capital that they have, continue to engage in the dynamic hedging of their portfolios, which they need to do for interest rate risk aversion, they potentially create ever-growing potential systemic risk down the road,'' he said. ``We are placing the total financial system of the future at a substantial risk.''

What happened next was extraordinary. For the first time in history, a serious Fannie and Freddie reform bill was passed by the Senate Banking Committee. The bill gave a regulator power to crack down, and would have required the companies to eliminate their investments in risky assets.

Different World
If that bill had become law, then the world today would be different. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, a blizzard of terrible mortgage paper fluttered out of the Fannie and Freddie clouds, burying many of our oldest and most venerable institutions. Without their checkbooks keeping the market liquid and buying up excess supply, the market would likely have not existed.

But the bill didn't become law, for a simple reason: Democrats opposed it on a party-line vote in the committee, signaling that this would be a partisan issue. Republicans, tied in knots by the tight Democratic opposition, couldn't even get the Senate to vote on the matter.

That such a reckless political stand could have been taken by the Democrats was obscene even then. Wallison wrote at the time: ``It is a classic case of socializing the risk while privatizing the profit. The Democrats and the few Republicans who oppose portfolio limitations could not possibly do so if their constituents understood what they were doing.''

Mounds of Materials
Now that the collapse has occurred, the roadblock built by Senate Democrats in 2005 is unforgivable. Many who opposed the bill doubtlessly did so for honorable reasons. Fannie and Freddie provided mounds of materials defending their practices. Perhaps some found their propaganda convincing.

But we now know that many of the senators who protected Fannie and Freddie, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Christopher Dodd, have received mind-boggling levels of financial support from them over the years.

Throughout his political career, Obama has gotten more than $125,000 in campaign contributions from employees and political action committees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, second only to Dodd, the Senate Banking Committee chairman, who received more than $165,000.

Clinton, the 12th-ranked recipient of Fannie and Freddie PAC and employee contributions, has received more than $75,000 from the two enterprises and their employees. The private profit found its way back to the senators who killed the fix.

There has been a lot of talk about who is to blame for this crisis. A look back at the story of 2005 makes the answer pretty clear.

Oh, and there is one little footnote to the story that's worth keeping in mind while Democrats point fingers between now and Nov. 4: Senator John McCain was one of the three cosponsors of S.190, the bill that would have averted this mess.

(Kevin Hassett, director of economic-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, is a Bloomberg News columnist. He is an adviser to Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona in the 2008 presidential election. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Kevin Hassett at khassett@aei.org Last Updated: September 22, 2008 00:04 EDT

Needing to Walk-On?

a friend sent this to me on facebook. and i was so moved by it...

if you are in a place of needing to walk through something, walk away, step into something deeper...this is for you!

walking through things...dealing with stuff...you meet more and more of the real you...the wonderful, beautiful, strong you. and you meet god there...the loving, adventurous, awesome god.

Nostalgic...

To Be A Mother...More Than You Think

To Mother 09/19/2008 (online devotional from Ransomed Heart)

As large as the role our mothers have played, the word “mother” is more powerful when used as a verb than as a noun. All women are not mothers but all women are called to mother. To mother is to nurture, to train, to educate, to rear. As daughters of Eve, all women are uniquely gifted to help others in their lives become more of who they truly are - to encourage, nurture and mother them towards their true selves. In doing this, women partner with Christ in the vital mission of bringing forth life.

The nurturing of life is a high and holy calling. And as a woman, it is yours. Yes, it takes many shapes and has a myriad of faces. Yes, men are called to this as well. But uniquely and deeply, this calling makes up part of the very fiber of a woman’s soul – the calling to mother.

All women are called to mother. And all women are called to give birth. Women give birth to all kinds of things – to a book (it’s nearly as hard as a child, believe me), to a church or to a movement. Women give birth to ideas, to creative expressions, to ministries. We birth life in others by inviting them into deeper realms of healing, to deeper walks with God, to deeper intimacy with Jesus. A woman is not less of a woman because she is not a wife or has not physically born a child. The heart and life of a woman is much vaster than that. All women are made in the image of God in that we bring forth life. When we enter into our world and into the lives of those we love and offer our tender and strong feminine hearts, we cannot help but mother them.

The capacity of a woman’s heart for meaningful relationships is vast. There is no way your husband or your children can ever provide the intimacy and relational satisfaction you need. A woman must have women friends.

It is here, in the realm of relationship that women receive the most joy and the profoundest sorrows. The friendships of women inhabit a terrain of great mystery. There is a fierce jealousy, a fiery devotion and a great loyalty between women friends. Our friendships flow in the deep waters of the heart where God dwells and transformation takes place. It is here, in this holy place that a woman can partner with God in impacting another and be impacted by another for lasting good. It is here that she can mother, nurture, encourage and call forth Life.

To have a woman friend is to relax into another soul and be welcomed in all that you are and all that you are not. To know that, as a woman, you are not alone. Friendships between women provide a safe place to share in the experiences of life as a woman.

(Captivating, 176-180)

'The Shack' Controversy

i read a book this summer that was really interesting. it wasn't the absolute best thing i've read, but it certainly got my mind and heart thinking.

and boy, does this book seem to cause drama!...which probably is a good thing (in my opinion). maybe we need a little shake up from time to time. ;)

the book presents a relational view of god...what it could be like to share real life with the father, son and holy spirit. and to be honest, modern christianity often prefers the bullet point truths about doctrine over the uncomfortable relationship with the divine. i guess it's more comfortable to the mind...and easier for the "boxed" life.

and it's not that theology isn't a big deal...it's just that i've come to find that the foundation isn't bullet points...it really is, was and will be...relationship with the trinity. all the rest can and should rest on that pillow...

a beautiful...realer real...deeper deep...

so, i honestly found that perspective to be a RELIEF!

but the other interesting point of conflict with the book is...DON'T READ FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT SOMETHING SPOILED!!!...god the father is presented as a woman for the first part. i guess some really think that's so NOT god...to appear as a woman.

ok...but here's my problem...

why is that such a problem?

question #1: god created man...and woman...in his image. this means that there is something of god's identity reflected and displayed in a woman. if god was summed up and reflected completely in a man...there would have been no need for eve. so, what's the big deal? seems a bit like a "box" to me... in truth, the very fact that he created BOTH a man and woman so clearly shows that he's a relational being at the core...and so aching to interact with us...probably more so than you having to be his walking encyclopedia to the world.

question #2: there are verses in the bible where god describes his care for and treatment of his people through a female perspective. for example, Isaiah 66:13 says, "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem." or Luke 13:34"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"

so...why is it such a big deal? it's not like the author is saying, "hey everyone...god's a girl!" totally NOT what he's saying. in fact, i thought it presented such a wonderful picture of god's heart...meeting us where we are at in our pain sometimes. beautiful!

so...i might have just gotten myself kicked out of the bullet point boxer's pew...but...am i really disappointed? ummm....

The Hummingbird

about a month ago i went to my window and was surprised to see a hummingbird at my flowers...i go a little bit flower "postal" in the summers because i love them so much. ;) i rarely get to see hummingbirds, though, and so this day was very, very special. i got to watch the little bird for about 15 minutes...darting from flower to flower, it's wings beating so quickly that they almost looked transparent. it was spectaculor!

well, in a tiny blurt i asked god if i could see one up close someday...just to catch a glimpse of their settled little bodies.

and then the thought left my mind...

until today!!!

my office is right across the hall from the adorable first graders, and one of them had a special 'show and tell'...a hummingbird! the little boy had found it outside their house...wounded from hitting a window. so he and his parents had it in a little cage while they nursed it back to health. he brought it to school today because it had just started darting around in the cage. together, they were going to release it.

so, i got to see it resting in the bottom of it's container...only a thin barrier of plastic between us. oh my!...it's little tummy jumping with it's tiny little breaths. it's delicate narrow beak. it was even more spectacular than i'd imagined.

and then i remembered that i had asked god for that...:)

sweet!...and special!

so for the hummingbird lovers, here's someone's video of one. they are amazing!

What Fun!

after church and the growth groups, i got to take an adventure with my friend jen and her hubbie rusty. we went stomping around in the woods to find a treasure...yes, an actual treasure hunt!

apparently, there is this whole global adventure going on where people head off into wildernesses, parking lots, wherever...in search of little jars full of trinkets (literally 650,000 of them worldwide!). people use their gps devices and coordinates from a website..and set off on the adventure! when the jar is found, people take a trinket and leave one in it's place, and they sign a little log book and date it.

the other cool thing is that people are supposed to clean up the area in the hunt as well...so it's eco-friendly.

anyway, i'm so doing this! what a cool adventure...anytime you want!

check it out! http://www.geocaching.com

I...Uhhh...Ya...

a good reminder for any gal. i have a few i can think of who maybe need to see this...

Momentary Vent...

just a second to vent...do you have people in your life who chronically are incapable of following through on what they commit to do? drives me nuts!

it's not like it's the most horrible thing in the world to NOT agree to do something!!!...but for some it seems like an affirmative to a request is a necessary formality statement of which they have no intent of following through. frustrating!

there's an episode of 'friends' where phoebe is asked if she is able to help with something, and she replies, "i'm sorry! no, i can't." and when asked "why not?", she just simply replies, "oh, because i don't want to." just simple...factual...non-commitment.

and respectful in a weird way...

i'd rather have that than the "sure, i'll help" or whatever the commitment is...followed by a big NOTHING!

@##$#$%#$!

k, i feel better...:)

Paintball Lessons To Remember

the men at my church went on a paintball adventure after the service on sunday. they've been going through some of the 'wild at heart' material and decided to have "man time" in a cool pseudo-killing field. what an awesome thing to do! more stuff like that should happen in my opinion. "together" is the important goal.

well, my uncle was telling us all the tales of war and "splat", and i thought there was a great illustration in there. one that generation after generation in the church (heck, western culture as a whole) has really neglected.

when the games began earlier in the day, it was mostly mass chaos. everyone would take off in a direction with their own plan to advance and "kill". as the day progressed, though, the chaos turned to strategy...one that allowed each man to express his particular bent. interestingly, the strategy was one that just happened...it wasn't discussed, planned...it just occured naturally.

when the whistle would blow to begin...the older guys would form a line up the middle...they'd advance slowly...usually crawling through, over...but progressing at a steady pace. the younger guys would run out on the sides...full of energy blasts...and "charge" out in hopes of flanking the enemy.

both groups totally needed the other to do what came naturally...how they approached the battle...in order to achieve success.

have you noticed how much animousity there is sometimes between the generations? the older generation usually thinks the younger is undisciplined, unwise, "rogue"... and the younger generation believes the older is slow, cautious, "stuck in their ways"...

and no one works together...and instead becomes distracted by the "other's" obvious issues...

stagnation...due to both sides...!

i thought the illustration was such a beautiful one...in the event that both groups could actually see the worth in the other...

and advance while fully respecting and expressing the passion of youth and the wisdom of age...

i wonder what it would be like for the younger generations to let go of the fact that "they know how everything should be done" AND the older generations to let go of the fact that "they've seen how everything's been tried and not done"...and instead, combine forces...passion joined with wisdom...energy and mentoring...

that's the kind of ministry, community, life that i want to be a member of...and it's completely possible!

The "Breathing" Exercise

i really enjoy teaching boys...always have. it's such a different world...so...much...fun!

well, i have a whole new batch of adventurous junior high students this year and the boys in this bunch are a kick in the pants.

i had a study hall with them on friday last week and after a while i heard this weird breathing. various lengths of exhales and inhales...to be honest, it was a little disturbing. hahahaha! so i looked back to this area where a couple of boys were sitting on the floor..also the general direction of the breathing. and i said, "ummm, guys...whatcha doing back there?" and they replied..."oh, we're communicating in morse code with our breath."...long, long, short, etc. "alllllrighty then"...and then i laughed myself silly.

boys!

the funny thing is...when i joked with them about it again today, they said to me, "don't you remember from a long time ago?" i had no idea what they were talking about. so the two of them told me about a time back when they were in 4th grade when i had to come in and sub for their teacher. and i said to them (and i guess i can see myself saying something like this...), "ok, guys, it needs to be quiet. so there's no talking...not even any breathing in morse code." they told me that they had been waiting since then to have me as a teacher to "play that trick on me".

hahahahahahaha!

boys!

i, of course, have no memory of that...due to old age and the chemical side effects of addictive levels of nutrasweet in my system. but it is hilarious the things we remember...and commit to remember...and act on.

wow!

Cleaning House...Encounters Part 2

Hebrews 12:1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

i love this verse. it's becoming so real...and so beyond "just sin". what a beautiful picture! throwing off everything that holds us back, dealing with sin...and running the race marked out for us and our beautiful, courageous hearts. AND...all that surrounded by so many cheerleaders. real life is so much more than we know...so much more than culture and even the church often realize.

i've been through seasons of facing the "hinderances". hahaha...man, that could mean so many things...and sometimes things we don't want to admit are real. strategies of the enemy, direct assaults, bondages, particular family "bents", the demonic. BUT...here's the deal!!!...the beautiful offer...all that crap CAN be thrown off...

so you can run the race you were meant for!

and don't get me wrong...the battle SUCKS! and it often makes no sense in the mind...and it's often so exhausting...and the enemy of your heart will do everything he can to scare you right back into the shadows of existence.

but if you step in...HE, the lover of your heart, will meet you!

and there will be freedom.

so, if you get an invitation to throw off some of that stuff, consider that it might be god's good timing to clean house a little more...

to open doors to life in the "wide open spaces of his grace"...

Encounters...

it has been just a bizarre day. the work day was great...no probs, sweet opportunities. but i've just had this nagging of bitterness today. when i least expect it, i'm reminded of old stuff and WHAM...i'm ticked.

makes me wonder if it's just "life", if it's god pushing a button, if it's an attack to get me where it hurts...would help to know so i could take care of it...HA, how about let god take care of it with me.

i am a little more aware of the chances that it's an attack, now that i think of it. i'm getting ready for a cool prayer thing tomorrow...have had some awesome and weird prep stuff for that one. so, i get that we are probably close to something that really counts. but boy am i shocked for how the accuser goes right for the big guns sometimes. i won't tell you what explitives come to mind regarding that one...

back to the bitterness stuff...i still amaze myself sometimes at my expectation that god "right" things according to my schedule. and i guess by "right", i now mean bring life out of death. that word used to have a much more vengeful meaning for me. now i'd just like god's full-circle peace. but, the thing to remember is that his peace is as much or more a state of heart as it is a re-ordering of things. i guess it makes me think of joseph (the coat of many colors kid). he actually went 20+ years before events resolved themselves in circumstantial peace. but his heart must have had to make peace..with true peace...long before that. not that it wasn't a struggle, i'm sure. but, his heart must have been touched by god's to actually get to the place he did regarding forgiveness.

his heart was in the position of peace...even if life or people weren't.

so today, i've had the weirdest onslaught of "you will always be dishonored by them, disrespected", "you'll always be the doormat", "you are the 'use me' option"...on and on...what the freak???

BUT...that's all not true...at least in my standing in christ...the place where things count. there are truer, deeper things inside now...

so, i guess i'll wrestle today...invite god in. we shall open that can...

rest assured...i want to be the girl of hope that he's made me to be...and part of that hope is that god will restore all things in his time...but in the meantime...i'll need to choose to walk in his peace.

probably not what satan had planned for this one...jerk.

Introducing my soon-to-be...brother!

i stole this from his myspace page, so hopefully he won't get mad. :) but this...for those of you that don't know...is my new big brother, jay.

it's a long story with its happy things and sad...but my sister joy and i, along with jay, decided that we wanted to make official somehow what we feel in our hearts.

i don't know what we will do to announce or pronounce it...hopefully something complete with pledges or whatever...AND...a celebration!!!

OH...and...his wife dawn, whom i admire greatly, is a complete hottie...and i love her!

for those that don't know...i've had the privilege of growing up in a beautifully diverse family. my parents demonstrated for us a larger sense of family from the very beginning...letting it be more than blood...becoming a matter of the heart. i was blessed with my beautiful bio-sis, joy, when i was 2-years-old...and she has been the spice of my life, no question. when i was 3 or 4, i was introduced to my older sister shell who showed me even from a very young age what strength there is in sacrifice...even the kind that breaks your heart. when i was 12, i was introduced to yet another big sister, deb. she has just about the biggest heart in the world. later still, we adopted my ethiopian brother tilish...what a sweet and gentle man he was. and all together...this...my precious family...has given me 3 beautiful african nieces, 3 fun philippino nephews, two precious bio-nieces...what amazing gifts!

so...meeting jay...what god has done in the continuation of our stories...it just makes sense. and with that, my family grows all the more!

so there ya go! it is as it should be!

Get a Grip, Oprah!

has oprah completely lost her connection with people? it's like she doesn't even know who watches her show!!! i don't know...seems a little shifty...and definitely not un-biased media!

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3os.htm

so, i decided to email her...not that my opinion matters in the least...but hey, why not get my tiny opinion out there??? i'm sure there are two sides to every story...and in this case, i hope so...otherwise i WILL be convinced she's lost track of her watchers...and has misused her celebrity status.

Pro-Palin

i don't know about you, but my vote was won last night. i'm definitely a member of "palin camp" now.

i love how down to earth she seems. i love that she doesn't make her decisions based on party lines...but just good, common, respectful sense...tons of potential there. i love how much she values "small town america" and the weight of that life experience and contribution. i love that she loves. i love that she respects. i love that she actually makes decisions! i love the fight in her. i love her spicy nature.

i love that she is who she is.

'nuf said.

she's won my vote...hands down...with a tube of lipstick. :)

We are off and running!

well, i've now survived two whole days of school...and i'm not suicidal or anything! woo-hoo! (the weekend before was a little if-y...no comment...but...we lived!) i do have to admit that i'm massively tired...even now, i just tried to put on my workout pants and my brain thought it made complete sense to put the tag in front...yikes!

as always there are glitches in every start...but we've weathered them so far.

and...i just am so amazed at the ways that god sustains us. in a lower economic time, we actually have a higher enrollment than the last two years. that's just unbelievable...and wonderful. we still have big needs...but the faith bank is growing and growing. i believe he will provide.

one of the big things that i'm working on this year is a 'service learning day'. there are so many struggles lately...people with financial burdens, big challenges, such sadness...and i see kids growing up in the midst of this...in a fear-based culture. sadly, i've been noticing in them that it's difficult to have a hopeful outlook. kids without hope??...not something i want to see. so, i want the kids this year to see how they can always give...no matter the circumstances. we all can give of ourselves and make it better for others (and honestly ourselves too). we don't have to always throw money at problems...we can throw ourselves at them...haha! and if we all learned to throw ourselves at each other's challenges???...what a beautiful picture (strangely) of "community". so some of the teachers and i are organizing a whole day of giving...a huge variety of activities...for a variety of people. my prayer...that they'll see that they can make a difference...and that even a little is a LOT! people of hope create real solutions...people of fear make stupid decisions. so, i want my kids to be people of hope!

please pray for a place for my temp-daughter (foreign exchange student), by the way! she's the most wonderful girl in the world, but with my thesis and the craziness of my job (and that it's just me), she needs/deserves better.