Friday, March 31, 2006

Tree Monkey



Here is Elizabeth climbing a tree at the park on Wed. They really do have some good climbing trees. Jesse was up in them too. I just didn't get any pictures of him. I just pray the guardian angels are staying right behind them. :)

Yesterday was my free day, sort of. I had some errands to run as usual. My grandpa came to the house and picked up Elizabeth to take her out to lunch for her birthday present. She wanted to go to the place with the waterfall.... so that is where she got to go (Crystal Tree - across from airport). It is really beautiful. When I was little, he took me there once in a while. Either there or some type of steakhouse or Italian restaurant - I am trying to remember some of the names; Fatino's and Warren's Steakhouse (niether one is there anymore), red lobster. In fact I was spoiled and every weekend my grandpa would take my grandma out to dinner. Most of the time, I went along. They picked me up almost every weekend unless there were other plans. He lived on a farm. I loved it out there and that is where I chose to spend most of my time.... exploring in the pasture and by the creek and going fishing in my grandpa's pond, riding his horses, chasing the sheep, playing tag off the ground by jumping from building to building, shed to fence, etc... It was a lot of fun. When we got older, he bought us mopeds and we would ride them through the pasture. I miss days like that. Now we just take nature walks at the parks and along the river. I miss kittens and lambs and riding horses.... Maybe we better look for a farmhouse & acreage instead of a house in Adel.

After Elizabeth left, I took the boys to my mom's house and went to do errands. I am looking for a special calendar and can't find one anywhere. I went to 1/2 price books and Borders to start with. Nobody carries calendars cause it is not the time of year. The one I want is a special hebrew calendar - mainly for the pictures, but it gives the dates of the feasts too.
Then I went to Aldi's to get a few things, then to the Goodwill to look around. I found a really neat picture for my mom and bought that and some camouflage pants for Jesse. His other ones are too small and he was bumming because I had to put them in the get rid of pile. Then on to Sam's club and to my mom's to drop off the stuff I got for her, then home. The kids were in bed when I got home. Edgey picked on me for a while and we watched "The Prince and Me 2". I am not going to let Elizabeth watch it. She was begging me to watch it. It is just too "old" for her right now.

After that we went to bed and talked for a while. He wanted to know if I had been writing about him on my blog. Who me??? : ) I just told him I talked about him running around in the church. He just looked at me.... so I had to explain the whole thing and that got me to thinking about the subject again.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Freedom

Wednesday seemed busy but I guess it was not in reality. The kids were all up late the night before because some husband let them stay up late with him. So - they all slept late. Elizabeth was up first and she was crabby and didn't want to do school. My children need routine or they don't do well.
I had planned on going out and about since it was supposed to be a nice day and arranged to meet at the good old McDonalds to get happy meals then we went to a park for about 2 hours and they played outside. They had gotten spy gear in the happy meals, so they played spy with some other kids that had the same brilliant idea and had gone to McD's too. Elizabeth was climbing in the trees. She is getting very tall. Her birthday is coming this next week and she just wants to have a family party and go to the teddy bear store. I am not sure what it is called, but we walked through one time and that is all she ever talks about for her birthday.
That is going to be her main present from us I guess. She wants the new Barbie movie too "Mermadia" and I heard from another mother of 4 girls that they watch it over and over and love it. I am not really that hip on Barbie. I wish they had some other doll that was more popular, but they really don't. And I figure Barbie is definitely better than those stupid Bratz dolls. When Elizabeth was smaller she wanted the Bratz dolls because her cousins had them, but she couldn't even say the name right. She called them Rats, which is what I still call them, at least in my mind.
She definitely does not need new clothes...at least until summer, then we will see. She is getting so tall (gone through 2 sizes this fall/winter, but she is still a skinny minnie so the shorts are not going to be a problem. The waists will fit without having to worry about the length.
I have the urge to get all the spring stuff out now. I am bored with my winter clothes and the kids' winter clothes and want some color! I want flowers. I'm sure it will come soon enough.
After the park, we went home and they were all nasty from playing outside so they all took showers and I buzzed Jesse Boy's hair. He wanted me to shave it all off like daddy's but it is still a little bit chilly out, so I am waiting on that one.


Then we went to church. Service was awesome. B- preached and Pastor Larry had ministry time and had people pray for others. During worship time, we were singing that song "I'm Free" and I kept looking out at the congregation and thinking -they don't look free, they look dead... and I was just about to say something about how if we are the body of Christ, and each one of us is if we have accepted his gift of salvation, and if we are the body of Christ - HE has already died and been resurrected - His Body (us) was resurrected and is alive. How can we stand here and look and act dead if we are really Alive - if we are really free - if we as HIS body are resurrected from the dead.... then Edgey took off running around the sanctuary.
You know, the thing I love about my husband is we are so much one. Even though he is a little wild and crazy sometimes, he physically takes my thoughts.... and sometime actions are so much louder than any words. I was so thankful that he was FREE to run. I have seen Emma (a girl in our church) want to run and be held back. And although, there are times when it may be inappropriate and we need to have order, what kind of message is that saying to everyone else? What if some other kid or adult wants to run and that just gets squashed out of them because they want to conform to all the other christians around them? When we were at the inner city church, it was a weekly thing, the kids would ALL get in a line and dance and sort of run around the outer edge of the entire sanctuary. THAT is freedom. Even Ethan did it and he was only about 4 years old at the time. The bible says to come as a little child. We want people like Emma to grow-up, but mentally and emotionally she is like a little child and she just wants to do what is in her to do - what her spirit is telling her to do and wants to do. How many times do we hold off because we are worried about what other people think? We have to lead by example. It may not be our nature - we have a fallen nature (natural body), but it IS our spirit. Let it be acceptable in our church to feel freedom to do what needs to be done. Let's not raise our eyebrows and stand off like the Pharisees and Sadducees and think we are "better" than that. In the WORLD's eyes it is odd. If we are worldly, it is odd, but when we have the spirit of Christ we should be all bubbled up inside and ready to run and shout and encourage the forerunners and stand behind them and run with them - not just stand back and look and watch. Just like a boxing match or a football or basketball game: Who do you really want to win? Who are we cheering for? Who's side are we on? Jesus is not the underdog - He is the champion. He is already victorious.

Anyway, after worship was over - I got my answer why everyone looked dead. B- preached it. We are dead when we carry all our dead weight baggage and worry and suffering and sickness and don't give it to God. Jesus bore it. He already did it. And we just have to step into agreement and walk in it. Church just better be hopping next week!
The whole thing reminded me of a song I used to listen to all the time....it's one of those songs you just want to turn up loud in the car and open the sunroof or put the top down and drive fast....
Once upon a time, I was searchin' for
Love that would break thru chains of mine
i was broken, hurt and abandoned,
By a life not quite what I had in mind

Then I fell down on my knees and
Prayed release me from this pain,
Take away these clouds and
let the sun shine down again
all at once I felt the ceasing of
the pouring rain
a blaze of light shot thru my soul and tore away my chains

and now I'm free, free at last,
free to live the life I want, forget about the past,
I am free, I'm free at last,
free to hope, free to dream, free to love at last.

But ever since my independence day I've been released
from things that used to hold me back from finding perfect
peace.
Walls I'd built around my life have crumbled around me
my old life has passed away I'm keeping it deceased

and now I'm free, free at last,
free to live the life I want, forget about the past,
I am free, I'm free at last,
free to hope, free to dream, free to love at last.


By the way B- did an awesome job. I want to be just like her when I grow up. :)

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Escape


Today has been a bit busy. I got up early and did laundry and then was sitting on my bed deciding whether or not to lay down until the kids got up, when my Supervising teacher (for homeschool) called and was coming into town today for errands. We had been having a hard time getting together so she decided to come over today. So I came down to make sure everything was in order and vaccuumed the floor well because she has asthma and allergy problems and I didn't want her to be bothered by dog hair. The dog hair has just been sticking to everything lately. She must be shedding some of her winter coat. Yuck.

Then the little kids got up and wanted breakfast. There was nothing in the house cause I needed to go to the store. So today I made some yogurt/milk/juice smoothies in the blender. They loved them. It was berry yogurt with milk and grape juice and a little splenda. I have a new morning breakfast hit now. At least it is good for them. They are always wanting sugar cereal and we have been out for a while now. I am trying real hard not to buy it. Sometimes the whining is overpowering though.

Then my supervising teacher came over. She went through everything with the kids and they shared all the stuff they are doing and read to her, etc... She is a lot of fun and I love her as a friend. It was totally a God thing that I even found her. So when they finally were done showing off, we chatted for another hour or so.

After that, my dad called and wanted Ethan to come help him clean up around his house/yard. I loaded up the kids and took them over there. Then I took mom and the little kids and ran some errand; Took cans and bottles for redemption, Wallyworld run, and bread store run. Then took mom home and came home to rest. I feel like taking a nap but my mind is busy so I figured I would write for the day and get that over with.

I have my class tonight. Last one for the term. Tonight we are having a special music ministry so I am looking completely forward to that. I hope I am not tired during class time and start falling asleep.

Monday, March 27, 2006


Tip for the day - Don't eat yellow snow.
Good Morning! I was very tired last night and went to bed by 9:30 p.m. and then woke up at 4 a.m. tossing and turning and couldn't go back to sleep. At one point I remember dreaming about work and was taking care of some psycho girl and her mother and she ran off with the baby and it wasn't time to leave yet. I put the baby back into the special crib and some other patient came up to talk to me and the psycho chick took off with the baby again. The thing that made me mad was that I was trying to remember how to call the code pink (missing baby) and the operator wouldn't answer and the phone buttons were sticking on the phone like somebody spilled pop on it. Finally the charge person came and called for me. Then I woke up. Sometimes I just hate dreams. What does that one mean? Do I feel incompetent? or am I just playing out frustrations from psycho patients? I don't know.
Anyway, I decided to just get up after that and get something productive done...like laundry. You should see it from the weekend. AAARRGGHH!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I worked Saturday but got call on Sunday. Saturday night I was getting ready to leave work and put my coat on the chair. I turned around to do something and ran smack, dab into the ultrasound table which was metal. I have a HUGE bruise on my leg and it swelled up so it looked and felt like someone had cut a Johnsonville Brat lengthwise, in half and slid it under the skin on my thigh. It hurt to even move, because the cloth from the scrubs was making it hurt and especially when I changed into my jeans. OWWWW. I went home and took my Aleve and went to bed. I was very glad to stay home, cause it hurt to walk on Sunday.
I met the family for Chinese buffet at Sunday lunch and Edgey was being loving and touched my leg and I about choked on my food. It's just in a really bad place. My mom's dog jumped up and nailed it a couple of times too. Ok. Enough whining.

My mother has gotten me hooked on a TV series now called "24". I rented the season DVD's from the video store. By the way, we spend $14.99/month on videos and have the special MVP thing at hollywood video store. You can check out 3 at a time as often as you want to for the monthly price. The only catch is that they can't be the brand spankin' new videos. They have to have the special stickers on them or older ones. Eventually the brand new ones get the stickers.... so we just wait. When we first started doing it, it was only $9.99/month. Now it has gone up, but it is still worth it because you just rent even 3 videos and you're up to at least $12 just for that one time.

Yesterday I spent a few hours watching the series. It really is pretty interesting, but I like CSI, Without a Trace, and stuff like that anyway. You definitely have to be able to watch people get shot. I guess I have been desensitized now. You can laugh if you want, but at one point in my life, I was going to be a polk county deputy sheriff. I had taken the written exam and was practicing the physical exam, but I didn't pass the eye test. Didn't realize you had to have a certain eyesight uncorrected. BUMMER! If I had only known about the lazer eye surgery back then.
I still wear contacts though. I think I might be a chicken to go have my eyes sliced up into pie shapes by a lazer. But I keep thinking about it.

Enough for now. I need to go eat something for breakfast and have a coffee. I'm sure the kids will be up soon and I need to get school stuff ready for this week.

Friday, March 24, 2006

Maxine on Housework


HOW TO CLEAN THE HOUSE

1. Open a new file in your PC.
2. Name it "Housework."
3. Send it to the RECYCLE BIN.
4. Empty the RECYCLE BIN.
5. Your PC will ask you, "Are you sure you want to delete Housework permanently?"
6. Calmly answer, "Yes," and press the mouse button firmly......
7. Feel better?

Works for me! : )

I worked on my exam for most of the day yesterday. At least I finished it. Since the van was out of commission, my mommy came and picked up the kids for me. Yay! Then Edgey picked them up when he got off work. I did no housework except laundry.... laundry is just too scary if you skip a day. For those that don't understand, just wait till you have more kids!
We made an appointment for the van and Edgey followed me to the shop then took me to lunch and brought me back home.
I took a nice little nap too since my sleep was so messed up last night. Edgey tried to wake me up and talk to me but I was totally out. He said he tried a couple of times and I didn't budge. LOL Oh well.
Edgey took Ethan to his karate class and they went swimming after the workout. He was excited when he got home. He only has a couple more classes before he pretests for his brown belt. He is hoping to go to a small competition in Nebraska the first week in April. They don't do weapons at that dojo so Ethan will get to perform his bo kata for the class. The bo is like a long bamboo staff thing and they do a routine (kata) with it.

This morning we got up early and we went and picked up the van from the dealers. It was even cheaper than they quoted us. $230 instead of $344. Yippeee!! That made my morning. After that we went and got a coffee at Caribou and chatted for a 1/2 hour before he had to go to work. When I got home at 7:45, Elizabeth and Ethan were both up and neither one of them was working on what they were supposed to be working on first thing in the morning. They were both in the TV room watching something on PBS. I was ticked. Needless to say, the TV room got locked. Then they finished their lists and did their school. Jesse boy is still in bed asleep.
Sometimes I really hate the TV. We have locked up the TV room for weeks at a time when the kids start taking advantage of their privileges. We all need wake up calls at one time or another. Death to our little idols that take up our time or thoughts.
It's Friday. TGIF for most of you. For me it's the weekend dread. Gotta work tomorrow. Once I get there it will be fine. It's just the anticipation that's the kicker. Tonight we are supposed to go to a little dinner party. That sounds like fun. My mom is going to come over and watch the kids and bring her attack dogs. She is still babysitting for the older lady that is in the hospital with the broken hip. I was on the phone with her last night and they were both barking at my dad cause he had just pulled in the driveway. I could hardly hear my mom talking. She said the two dogs just egg each other on and try to outbark each other. That's nuts.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Bummer

I missed church last night. I was really bummed out!!!!!!! Dumb van. It just hit 100,000 miles. Just got it out of the shop on Friday and spent $1700 on it.

Tuesday night, on the way to my class, I heard a thump, thump, whack sound while I was praying in the Holy Ghost. It lasted for about 3 seconds and then quit. I thought it was just a chunk of ice or something flopping around somewhere on the van and then flew off. Didn't hear it again until last night on the way to church. We were on the east side of I-35 and it started going thump thump thump and didn't quit. Edgey had me pull over and took a look at the motor. The serpentine belt was shredded and it was thwacking stuff when it turned. Thank God it happened where it did. We just drove over to the Dodge dealer 1/2 block down across from Menards and the guy looked at it. He cut the flappy piece off and said we needed to get a new belt and new pulley because a new belt would shred too due to the pulley in an inappropriate position on the motor. So Edgey didn't want to chance it and we drove home. We even had an Tristan with us cause he was on spring break and bored and wanted to go to church.
We came back home and I made a big supper and Tristan ate with us. I made pork chops with some garlic/butter noodles and veggies. Tristan ate a bunch. I was surprised. He probably had as much as Edgey. After supper, we sent him home and made the kids get ready for bed and put them to bed early. We started to watch some movie called "Supernova." Typical volcano, earthquake, meteor type movie. I'm sure you know what I mean. Edgey didn't finish it. He fell asleep in the chair and went to bed. I had to tell him what happened before he went to work this a.m.

I woke up early this morning and have been working on my exam for my class. It is an open book exam and a lot of the answers I know in my heart but it takes a long time to look everything up and give exact scripture references and details and stuff. Stuff I have never heard of too.... eg Palestinian covenant (Deut 30). I have heard of Abrahamic & Mosaic, Davidic and New Covenants but not that one. It's keeping me challenged. I am so thankful for the foundational teaching I have already received since I became a christian. We have a good pastor.

Oh and speaking of pastor..... who tattled on me about my hormones? Or is he really reading my blog even if he says he isn't? He sent me some video (here's a link to it) that I wish I could figure out how to put on here because it is absolutely hilarious and goes right along with my hormones blog from a couple of days ago.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Snow, Snow, Snow

Snow, snow, snow...... At least it is melting. Ethan went out and shoveled the walks yesterday, but he probably didn't even need to. It has pretty much melted already except on the grass. It did look very pretty yesterday. It was sticking to all the bushes and branches in the trees and piled on the swing set bars and I almost took a picture of it. It was almost like the perfect picture. I kept watching for our male Cardinal to contrast.....then the dumb dog had to go run around in it and mess it all up. Oh well. She was out there standing in the snow in the sunshine and just barking for no good reason. I was watching to see what she was barking at. NOTHING. No people walking by, no dogs next door, no squirrels, no birds, NADA. Just barking to hear herself bark. I opened the window for 2 seconds and yelled at her to "SHUT UP!" She is the only person in our family who we are allowed to yell "shut up" at. Otherwise it is kind of a naughty word. That's all she understands though, thanks to her prior owners.

I am soooooo ready for sunshine. The kids keep asking when we get to start going to the park to play and eat. During the summertime the parks & rec and public schools have a lunch program where the kids can have free lunches. I love it. My hard earned tax dollars at work. I figure I should be able to take advantage of this. I have friends that have a hard time going there because they think it is for more disadvantaged children who don't have 3 meals a day and they shouldn't take away from that. Not me man. Besides my children are disadvantaged; they are homeschooled. They don't have the privilege of eating school lunches during the regular school year or having the same socialization as the thousands of other rotten attitude little kids that run in packs.... Note to self: Let's don't go there today.

I have a much better attitude today. Can't you tell? : )

I had class last night and that was great. We are on the last 2 weeks of classes already. Time flies. We had communion and the instructor anointed each of us with oil. It really was awesome. The only thing was that everyone was real emotional and teary and I kept wondering if I wasn't thankful enough, or repentant enough. I kept searching my heart and self. Then I thought maybe I am just done with the hormonal thing now, and have no emotions left..... but that wasn't the case either, cause later when the classes were over and we had our chapel time I was really touched by the speaker. It was a black sister that was taking the classes. I guess I just really miss the black church sometimes. There is just so much passion there.... This gal was talking about some of the stuff she went through and got to preachin' and even got the sing-songy thing going (without the backup organ).

My kids are wanting to go outside and play in the snow now. They didn't want to yesterday. I was going to do school with them, but I guess it's alright because hopefully this will be the last snow for the season! I wan't it to melt ASAP.


Monday, March 20, 2006

Hormones

I heard one time that a woman would take dishes out to her shed way behind her home and throw them at the shed when she was angry or frustrated. It made her feel better. That is how I feel today. If I had any old dishes I would take them outside and throw them at the house and maybe I would feel better, but I doubt it, because I am positive no one would come clean up the broken ceramic when I was finished.
I am not even angry or frustrated.... Women's hormones are just really unbelievable. I feel like causing pain to something but I don't want to take it out on my children or my husband. Luckily the dog's in the kennel.... (just kidding). My grandpa used to do that - kick the dog when he was mad. Dumb dog still loved him. It would just yip and take off running for the garage. I have pushed my dog down the stairs with my foot, however, after she has been digging in the kitchen trash.
Today I did laundry, cleaned up after the weekend,drank coffee, read the Sunday paper (well 1/2 of it anyway), more laundry, made lunch, argued about doing school, gave up, ran errands, went to Aldi's, put groceries away, did more laundry, sat down in the lazy boy and spaced off thinking about all the things I need to do but really didn't feel like doing, talked to Edgey when he got home from work, made supper, went to Sam's Club and Hy-Vee and the video store..... now I am on here. Still haven't accomplished much.
Now it's snowing - on the first day of spring... like the news people haven't run that one into the ground today! My father in law lives in Nebraska and he doesn't even know how much snow he has because it hasn't stopped yet - more than 13 inches so far. Here I was ready to go rake out the bed in the front yard to get it ready. Grrrrr. Maybe if we move the new house will already have perennials planted for me to enjoy. I can dream.....
So what is it with hormones? Why do we feel this way for absolutely no good reason? The worst part is that I really just want people to leave me alone and they don't. They are very demanding and want everything their way. They want food when I don't feel like making it and want to have the TV up as loud as possible when I don't want any noise. Then they ask me "What's wrong with you?" and expect an answer. Someday my head is going to turn completely around and I am going to scream. Oh well, it will be over in about 12 more hours. By lunchtime I should be fine again and hopefully will be heading for that cleaning streak nesting thing. Then maybe I will get something done that is productive.... like throwing out every single toy in the entire house.


Maxine On Gas

Sunday, March 19, 2006

My Weekend

I haven't written since last thursday. I have had a busy weekend. Friday night we had a children's church meeting. I had a good time- I'm sure Edgey did. He really didn't want to go because he was having a bad day, so when we got there he was being his naughty, normal self and picking on me the whole time. We had a brainstorming session to come up with our own curriculum for the children's church for the next month. I thought it was fun... but I like doing that kind of thing. That's what I do for homeschooling stuff alot. Pick a subject, find games or activities, verse to go with it, main concept, etc... voila! a unit study. Anyway, I could do that kind of stuff all day too. That's fun to me. Pathetic huh?

Saturday, I got another call in the a.m 0500 and they wanted to know if I would stay home because one of the other gals really wanted to work. I was fine with that, but I had a feeling I would get called in. OOOPS. I fell back asleep. At 6:50 a.m. they called and said they were sorry but they needed me already. Normally I would have gotten up and gotten ready already, but I had to rush around and shower and stuff because I fell back asleep. Oh well. I still made it on time. I hate rushing though. It was a fairly decent slow day and I ended up getting to leave early because I sent all of my patients home. I went home and watched a really gross movie. I can't even tell you what it was because I can't remember the name of it. Something about the mind. It was a cross between CSI and some horror flick. Won't be watching that one again. I told Edgey not to even attempt it, because he is really a big chicken and hates anything that jumps out at you. It's kind of funny actually.

Sunday, I had to work again, only today, it was horribly busy for me. I had 3 patients that all had psycho problems or their families were nutso. I kept shaking my head and running around. One was fine but when she was on the phone with her boyfriend she was really demanding and ordering and threatening stuff. I wanted to send her away and finally got my wish. She was already delivered and got to go to the postpartum floor. yeah! The second gal was ticked off because she was requesting pain meds and the Dr. wouldn't give them to her so she ripped out her IV got dressed and left AMA (against medical advise). I told the Dr. and he said "Perfect!" and he meant it. By the way that is y'all's favorite dr. You know who you are......
My 3rd pt was very sweet herself, but her family was wacko. The mother had anxiety attacks and was having a claustrophobic fit because the room her daughter was getting put in was too small. The pt hadn't even got there yet. That's when I started shaking my head.... I have to keep saying to myself, "Try to be nice, try to be nice." Shut up and pedal! as Edgey would say.
The mother finally went home to take a shower. She hadn't had one for 3 stinkin' days. Hello, did I say stinkin?
So finally the shift is over. I am done for another week. PTL. Today I kept thinking, I hope gas prices keep going up. Is that awful or what? I don't want to pay more for gas. I just want to sell pills so I can stay home till Jesus comes back.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Lesson 3

Yesterday we did the McDonalds thing. The kids had fun. I still don't understand how kids can eat one minute and be starving in about an hour. They played for a couple hours there while we talked and chased Anna around a few times. We got home and by 2:30 they were already asking me for a snack and then again at 4:30. So I just made sandwiches for their dinner and then we went to church.
Pastor had a good sermon on framing your world with the spoken word and how it relates to the Holy Spirit. Still preaching on Holy Spirit - That's a good thing. Praise and Worship was good. I could even hear Edgey shouting out there. What was really neat, was that the little kids (Elizabeth and Jesse's class) came marching in at the end of service to a Christian soldier song and they had made the armor of God. It was really cute. I listened to them talk about killing "hideous devils" on the way home in the back of the van. They are still playing with the armor this morning. They were also talking about blood and guts on their shields. I was trying to explain it is not blood and guts we are fighting but principalities and powers and the shields were to keep off fiery darts. They want to go outside and make a fort this morning. It's a bit too cold and they still have to do their school work.
Anyway, we got home and sent the kids to bed, of course, after they had another snack. Then we sat down to have dinner by ourselves. That was nice. I don't really like eating that late but we talked for a while.
Edgey has to go do an estimate tonight for L&B Remodeling then we are going to fellowship with them. : ) I can't wait. Ethan wants to go to karate, so I am not sure what we are going to do with him yet.

**************************************************************************************
Lesson 3

How was the Word of God preserved?

There were 8 rules that the Jews had to follow to preserve scripture:

1 - The parchment must be made from the skin of clean animals; must be prepared by a Jew only, and the skins must be fastened together with strings taken from clean animals.

2-Each column must have no less than 48 nor more than 60 lines. The entire copy must be first lined.

3-The ink must be of no other color than black, and it must be prepared according to a special recipe.

4-No word nor letter could be written from memory; the scribe must have an authentic copy before him, and he must read and pronounce aloud each word before writing it.

5-He must reverently wipe his pen each time before writing the word for "God" (Elohim) and he must wash his whole body before writing the name "Jehovah" (translated Lord) otherwise the holy name would be contaminated.

6-Strict rules were given concerning forms of the letters, spaces between letters, words, and sections, the use of the pen, the color of the parchment, etc...

7-The revision of a roll must be made withing 30 days after the work was finished; otherwise it was worthless. Once mistake on a sheet condemned the sheet; if three mistakes were found on any page, the entire manuscript was condemned.

8-Every word and every letter was counted and if a letter were omitted, an extra letter inserted, or if one letter touched another, the manuscript was condemned and destroyed at once. Another person would check to see what the middle letter was on the copy and the original. They must match.

So just per say a scribe is working on Gen chapter 2:7 It says (of course this is Hebrew language) And (pronounce out loud and write it) the (pronounce out loud and write) Lord (go take a bath - come back and pronounce and write) God (wipe off pen, pronounce and write) formed (pronounce aloud and write) man (pronounce aloud and write) .... can you imagine? The next sentence Gen 2:8 again says Lord God - another bath, next vs 2:9 says again Lord God - another bath...... and so on and so on.
And I think my hands are dry when I am at work washing between each patient. This is just 3 verses.
This would be very meticulous work and I wonder how long it would take just to get one page done. Can you imagine if the count was off after you spent all that time? I would feel like a total failure. What if you got from Genesis all the way through Malachi and there were 3 mistakes?
UGH!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Lesson 2

So..... Do we have the Inspired, Infallible Word of God?

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

In order to have the Word of God, it had to have been preserved down through the years. Is this possible? If God desires to communicate His Word to us, wouldn't he also want to guard and protect His Word?

Are we saying? This is Gods Word! It's perfect, infallible, inerrant, the very words of God himself! or I believe all this about the original writings, but this is a mistake filled translation.

When pastor has us hold our bibles in the air and repeat.... This is my bible, I believe what my bible says, more than what the devil says, more than what people say, more than what my circumstances say.... Do we really mean it? do we believe it is the true word of God?

We must believe what it says if we are going to stand boldly in the same type of faith that Abraham, David, even Christ himself and the apostles did. Otherwise, where is the strength of the Word? It would have no effect. It would be works without faith.

Psalm 12:6-7 The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

Psalm 105:8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. (if a generation is approximately 40-60 years, then this would be at least 40,000 years - we are only at 6,000)

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Most books only survive a short time, few survive over 100 years, and a fraction represent those which have lasted a thousand years. Of all the ancient literature, the Holy Scriptures stick out like a sore thumb; the last survivor of an extinct race..... The very fact of the Bible's continued existence is an indication that, like it's Author, it is indestructible. When you think about it- consider that the Bible is the subject of a never-ending persecution, the fact that it has even survived is a Miracle in itself.

If there is perversion in the Word of God, where has it come from?

Jeremiah 23:36 ...ye, have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.

Perversion comes from man. Satan desires to be worshipped. He has the ability, even as he has in the past, to counterfeit God's actions and will be attempting to destroy God's Word and/or our confidence in that Word while seeking to replace it with his own version. He will cause us to doubt and question... Hath God said?

Psalm 12:6-7 The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

This is from the King James Version. God intends to preserve his pure words.
Notice how the new versions try to destroy this promise by making you think the context is people not words....

NIV you will keep us safe
NASB Thou wilt preserve him
Living Bible you will forever preserve your own
NAB You, O Lord, will keep us
NLT Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed

note: I checked for context in this- The entire psalm is comparing the words of the wicked with the Words of God.
Class was good last night. They have a great short chapel time after the classes are finished. A couple of praise and worship songs, then a short message of encouragement. When I got home I was still all pumped up so I did the homework for the lesson. I learn new stuff and my spirit won't let me go to sleep. I got to bed around 2 a.m.
The kids are working on their school right now. In a little while we are going to go pick up Guthries and meet my other friend and her kids at the McDonalds for cheap happy meal day.

I will write more later.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Lesson 1

Yesterday was a lazy day for me. I tried to be productive but it just didn't happen. I was wiped out from the busy day on Sunday at work. I had to send a lady with twins to deliver. Transfers are busy, especially when they are rushed. We had a lot of new patients but sent a lot home also. So, yesterday I just did the minimal amount required. Ever have those kind of days? We did school and the kids had yogurt and granola bars and cheese sticks for lunch (no cooking) and then I cleaned up the kitchen from the weekend and took a nap while the kids played. I think they did play the playstation for a while too.

I was supposed to pick up Auntie at the airport around 4:30 but her flight was delayed in MN because of some blizzard they were having. She was supposed to come in at 5:00 so I went to the airport about 4:45 and ended up waiting until 6:15 when she her plane finally got there. Then we had to wait for luggage and it didn't show up. So we had to wait and fill out information so they could get it to her later. They had double booked her on a flight and probably sent the luggage on the later flight.
When we got back to the house to pick up her dog, Edgey already had made the kids supper and they had eaten. The rest of us were hungry so Auntie bought us Popeye's chicken. Yummmmmm. I made salads too. We visited for a while. She had a nice time on her trip. Her dog was excited to see her.
The kids went to bed and Curt and I watched TV. He fell asleep but I was awake for a while because I had a nap earlier. I was really naughty and ate some girlscout cookies that I had already signed up to buy before we started low carb stuff. Then, of course, I had heartburn so I did not want to go to bed with that.

*************************************************************************************

Tonight is my class. I am excited about that. I have really been getting a lot out of the study.
I told you I would expound on it at some point. Maybe I will share a bit of it today.

First of all we are in a war between God and satan. God created the angel Lucifer who was very special; His brilliance was like a star. He had tremendous wisdom and was God's special angel. But Lucifer became jealous. He wanted to become even as God and to receive worship which only rightfully belonged to God.
Isaiah 14:12-17 says "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou has said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
The war with satan began with his I WILL. He was cast out of heaven, dishonored, dethroned and abased below the stars of God, doomed to isolation, away from the presence of God and he will never be like the most High.

NIV says How you have fallen from heaven O morning star, son of the dawn... but you are brought down to the grave.
NASB says How you have fallen from heaven O star of the morning, son of the dawn...you will be thrust down to Sheol.
KJV says How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!...Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell.

Revelation 22:16 says I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Who is the bright and morning star? Jesus is. What does the NIV and NASB call Lucifer?

So Lucifer has now fallen to the earth and he is bitter and angry and he is hate. He thinks he should be justified because God kicked him out of heaven and if it wasn't for God, surely wouldn't he be ruler over all?
Why does satan keep trying to win the battle when his is already defeated?

Maybe he wants to wound God - to destroy God's communication and flow of love to man.
Maybe he wants to destroy as many people as he can, even as he was destroyed and to try to keep them from seeing the truth and reality of the love of God towards us, destroy the fellowship with God and Maybe he is still hoping for a time of actually being glorified and worshipped.

So, we see satan in the Garden of Eden, standing before Eve and saying "Hath God said?" This is doubt and confusion. Did God really say that? What has God said? Did God mean what He said? Were those the exact words that God said? Is that what he really meant? Surely Eve would not die! Surely God didn't mean what He said in this one particular instance! "Hath God said?"
Did He say what was in the KJV? Did He say what was in the NIV? Surely God wouldn't mean what He said in the KJV, so that really couldn't be true, could it? Doubt, confusion.... Is the doctrine of God diluted here? Or is it diluted there? Could satan still be blocking the true word of God to us?
Do you believe that we have the Inspired, Infallible Word of God or Do we have a Word which talks about God, but is not directly from God????

Ok End of the first lesson....... are you interested?

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Re: Thoughts by Mary Lynn

Music is my life and I want to sing it,
Music is my life and I want to bring it,
Music is my life and I want to share it,
Music makes my life worthwile.
Music, Music - Beautiful music
I love Mu-u-sic, Music is my life

Trumpets, banjos, singing, playing,
there are many ways of making music
clarinet, voices, tubas too, MU-U-SIC.

That is a song clear back when I was in the 3rd grade. I got to sing in a special citywide kids concert at vets. That was the song. But what made such a huge impact on me was the parts of the voices in the entire auditorium. Can you imagine thousands of kids singing the same song in parts. That is what really started my interest in music. I always loved singing since I was really little. My grandpa would always comment because I could mimic and do the voice fluctuations even when I was 3 and 4 years old. He always wanted me to sing him "Delta Dawn". That probably shows my age there.
Anyway, I loved the harmonizing. That is what I love to do. In choir, chamber chorale, swing choir, music theory in college, singing hymns at church. I have said in prior posts, I don't know what I would do without music. If I could do anything all day long with a passion, it would be to sing..... all day. When my voice died out I would just listen. Now saying that I like to sing, does not mean I am that good at it. Sometimes it sounds good, sometimes it doesn't. Any singer knows when they are having an off day... well at least I hope they would. : )

That said, I have come to the topic of worship. I have been singing in church for many years now. First just in the congregation, then was asked to do solo stuff with tracks, then I was asked to join a group of gals that travelled around to different churches ministering, then I was the choir director at another church for a couple of years, then sang on the worship team in a multicultural church (if you know what I mean), then did nothing for a while and now am on a worship team again.

I have learned a lot in that time of serving in different positions.
In the congregation, sometimes it is difficult to enter into worship. People have to be able to let go of their messes and enter in to God's presence and worship. As a young (baby sucking on milk) christian you try to put the blame on the worship team sometimes because you cannot enter in on your own; it's much easier to say, the song was off beat, piano player or organist wasn't doing a good job, the music was boring, I don't like contemporary, I don't like hymns, blah blah blah. When people do that - I just consider them baby christians. They need to grow up.

As a soloist, I had sung solo and duet in Swing Choir and made it through that peer pressure. I figured, if the people at church didn't love me who would. But then again after having thoughts as I mentioned above about the songs or singing, I would be nervous singing anyway. I still get nervous. I don't want to but I do. I want it to sound just right and am very critical of myself. It gets less and less as the years go by, because I have matured in that area. You start worrying more about what God thinks instead of what people think.

Then travelling around and ministering in song to different churches was a totally different experience. It was awesome. A couple of the other gals did most of the talking but I loved doing the singing part and praying with the people that came up for prayer. I loved it when certain songs would touch people and God used us.

When I moved to a different part of town my car died and I couldn't get to my regular church. I was so far away from it, I didn't feel it was right to ask for rides sometimes. So I moped around until I figured out I could walk a 1/2 block to a church on my street. I lived right across the street from the pastor. The people there were awesome and loving. I had done a couple of solo things there and then was approached about giving voice lessons to one of the gals which lead to being asked to lead the choir there. Talk about a learning experience. You learn to love each person as an individual and help them to become what God is trying to make them. I quickly got over "off key notes" and old ladies with warbly voices, and we made a joyful noise unto the Lord.

Then, I got married and got pregnant. I couldn't breathe, therefore, I couldn't sing. After Ethan was born I didn't feel like I could go back to the committment. We attended another church which was required for Edgey's job at the time. That is when I was fed by TBN. We church hopped after he changed jobs. Then got hooked up with an inner city church. That is when I started to sing again. I was asked to sing on their worship team. That was totally exciting.... singin' with a bunch of sista's. There were only a couple of people standin around in that church. The presence of God was there every service and it was passionate and uninhibited. That is where I learned that it is important to back up the man of God that is preaching. Whatever he said during the worship & praise time, we echoed in some form or another. There is something about the worship team backing up the pastor and his anointing and I believe it makes that anointing stronger.

Then more pregnancies..... more changes, hurts and healing and now we are where we are. We have an awesome worship team. I am thankful to be part of it.

What is difficult is that we are worship leaders - a team - but also leaders. Therefore, people are going to look up to us as an example. That is why it is so important for us to just be there to please God and do our best at what we do. We all have strengths and we all have weaknesses and we need to be aware of those. I don't want to look out and see people not worshipping. That is why many times, I have my eyes closed. If people think its stupid, I don't care. I am trying to worship, I want God to try my heart, not them. I have been in that place where I don't want to be a hindrance to God, where I don't want people looking at me instead of Jesus. I don't want it to be a show. I have been there - Swing Choir was ALL show. Just like american idol. Put on a big smile and entertain. But you know what? God positions us where he wants us... if he wants us to lead he puts us there and HE anoints us. He calls us, He leads us or drags us in some cases... It's all about him. When people learn that, church will be a better place.

The only time I feel successful in praise and worship is when I can sense God's presence. When the music is good, I like it, but when the presence is there, I love it.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Home Again

I am home today. Got to be on call again. Work had tried to reach me but SOMEBODY turned off the ringer so I didn't know about it until I was getting my cell phone before I left and checking the batteries and there was a message from work on it.
Actually, today, I am glad I am home. I am feeling kind of yucky today. My stomach is queasy and I hate throwing up but I wish I could so I would feel better.
Anyway, I will probably work on my class stuff for a while. Edgey took the kids and went to his meeting at the church this a.m. and is going to work out there on some project he has going on. Then he is taking the minivan to get the oil and airfilter changed on it. Sounds good to me.
Maybe I will take a nap first.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Wow, I can't believe I didn't post yesterday. Yesterday I woke up later than normal. When I woke up I realized Jesse had come and gotten into bed with me. Maybe that's why I didn't realize what time it was; I probably thought Edgey was still in bed and it was early. Jesse ended up sleeping until 12:03 for whatever reason. Probably because we had gotten home from church and ate a big dinner. They didn't go to bed till about 10:30.
The kids went to my mom's for a while. I really didn't have anything specific to do for errands but I did want to go to the Family Christian Bookstore so I did that. I am trying to find a specific track and haven't had any luck. Maybe I will have to find the music and see if Larry (worship leader) can tape it for me. I spent a long time in the store looking around but never ended up getting anything. I need to look at Wellspring's.
After that, I really didn't feel like doing anything. I was kind of frustrated but I didn't know why. I ended up just going home. I made some chicken salad with grapes and walnuts chopped up in it. It was really good. Then I sat down to do some homework for my class. As soon as I did that Edgey came home with the kids. So I put that away and talked to him for a while. We all had dinner then went over to Guthrie's to talk for a bit. Edgey did an estimate bid to replace the windows in their home. Then we came home - watched TV for a little while and I fell asleep in the chair. Edgey went up to bed. About 1 a.m. I woke up. At some point I had turned the channel to TBN which I probably haven't seen in months. But last night it came in nice and clear. I watched Benny Hinn and then TD Jakes came on. The thing that really got to me was that he was preaching on the exact verses I had read that morning. I started crying. It was like he was talking directly to me and God was confirming everything that has been going through my head in the last few days. I just kept crying and took about 5 pages worth of notes.
Today we did school and then went to pick up the Van from getting the transmission fixed. They also fixed the air conditioner. Yeah! It was really hot last summer. Minivans don't have much for circulation - only the front 2 windows roll down. That was an extra $117. Total of $1700+ a few bucks, I can't remember the exact amount right now. One of those things where I don't want to remember.
Then the kids and I went to McDonalds to meet with Ryan about the BioPerformance Business. The kids all played together and we went through the business info. I can really see this taking off. Although it is only saving a minor amount of money at this point in time. Gas prices will be catching up with the rest of the world soon enough. If you have even seen the projections for China's automobile industry and consumer purchases you would understand this. China will be competing with U.S. and every other country for the same oil. The prices are expected to double by next year. Now, with that in mind. Can you imagine the savings of these little pills when gas is $3 to $5 per gallon and also helpful in preventing pollution emissions at the same time.
If you want to sign up, you better get on it now......
My website is www.kimlea.mybpbiz.com
Then I made some banking runs and transfers and got everything set up. Now let's see what happens. Personally hoping here, that at some point, I will be able to quit at the hospital on the weekends and be able to go to church like a normal person on Sundays.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Testing, Testing

Since yesterday was so boring, today was not. Today was like one of those days that was just a testing day. Everything that happened was like a character/obedience test from God. Edgey had to get up a 4:15 a.m. to take his Auntie to the airport. She was going to California to visit friends and go to a special conference at her old church. She will come back all on fire.

We get to babysit her large chihuahua, Penny. Penny and Amie (our dog) do NOT get along so they have to be separated at all times. When Auntie was living with us we tried to make them get along but no way did that happen. Auntie bought muzzles to put on them both and tried to introduce them in the yard and they were all over each other spitting and growling and slobber flying trying to rip each others throat out. Thank heavens for the muzzles. So we gave up. They have their turns as queen of the house till Auntie comes home next Monday.

Being that Edgey got up so early, and could not come back home and take a nap before going to work (drank too much coffee), he decided today was the day he would stay home from work and wreak havoc on my daily routine. I had to type up estimates for his side jobs and while I was still asleep in the wee hours of the morning, he made an appointment for my minivan to visit the minivan doctor. He didn't even ask me if I had plans today. So no McDonald's happy meals today and I was supposed to go pick up my house-imprisoned friend and rescue her from going insane with her children. Her car is dead. Thankfully we have Auntie's car or I would be stuck here in the house for the next 2 days. Hopefully they will have it done tomorrow.
The transmission in the van was going out and has been for a while. Most of the time I just try to drive forward at all times. Once in a while I have to back up and it will go into reverse but it slams into reverse and sounds absolutely horrible. It will not back up if it cold and hasn't warmed up. All winter I had to back it into a parking spot after I had driven it a ways and it warmed up a bit. It is a problem in that van for that year. The guy knew exactly what the problem was when we asked them about fixing it. So....$1500 later and hopefully not more than that.... Wish we had known back when we got it. Oh well. It has been a good van and I am not complaining.

Besides all of that, Edgey also wanted to go out for lunch. We ended up going to Ryan's steakhouse for their mega-bar. The lady at the register charged us wrong. When we figured it out, we were trying to decide how christian we were going to be.... you know stuff like Thou shalt not lie, Thou shalt not steal, integrity, character, $$$$, good example to our children, $$$ ... those kinds of things were running through our minds. Edgey went back up for a plate of food and Ethan says, "We should tell them so they can fix it, mom." Well, of course he is right. I say, "Well, go tell your dad that." So anyway he comes back from fixing his plate and he asks me "What did you say to him?" frowning and trying to blame ME for making HIM feel guilty or something. The waiter dude comes over to the table and we showed him what happened and I was getting my money out so we could pay more and the guy just looked at it and started to walk up to the register then he turned back around and he said, "It's ok." shaking his head like it's no big deal, "You can pay right price next time you come." Whoohoo! was going through my mind. Favor. Edgey says, "That's what I'm talkin' about."

Then we went to Sam's Club. We were buying King James Versions of the Bible for Ethan and Edgey. That's a post in itself but I will expound at some point soon because I feel it is a life and death issue for our church and because the Holy Spirit practically made me puke when I was asking God about it in prayer (see previous post). I shouldn't feel embarrassed, and I know I shouldn't, but tell me why, in the middle of Sam's Club would we tell our children to shush when they are all 3 whining for a KJV bible. I should've been thrilled. Jesse was stomping his foot because he wanted his own and Elizabeth was frowning and folding her arms across her chest too. Can you imagine this sight in the store? 3 kids whining for a bible. It's one thing for a candy bar or something but for bibles?

After that we drove to the window store to finish getting papers for Edgey's side job and went home where I had a 1/2 hr nap. Then it was off to church service. During part of the worship service, I felt like I was supposed to share something but I couldn't remember the verse and I needed the verse to share it.... there was no bible up there... not that it would have made any difference because I couldn't remember where it was anyway. So by the time Pastor was saying the blessing over us as we were getting ready to leave.... the Holy Spirit finally told me where it was. Stink. So I guess I'll share it now.

Pastor was talking about how much God loves us. This morning I was showing Edgey some of the things I am learning in my class. There were some verses about how much God loves us.
Here is the verse I was trying to remember:

Psalm 139: 17-18 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how
great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.


The thing that made me think of this was the illustration the instructor had given. Her husband is a mathematician. She asked him to figure out how much sand was in a square cubit. Anyway, he figured by how big the pieces of sand were and the cubit was that it was approximately 2 billion grains of sand in just one square cubit. Too much for my little brain to figure. So what the psalmist was saying was that God's thoughts towards us are vastly more than even 2 billion times. Just think of how much sand there is on beaches. This is just 1 little cubit. God is totally obsessed with us. Is that amazing or what? It just went along with God's immeasurable love for us. He knew us even before we were born, knows how many hairs are on our heads, has us engraved on his hand. God loves us.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Walter

Today is boring. It is raining here and we are done with school. I have been doing some homework for my class that is interesting, but that is it. I got on the computer to read blogs and nobody has posted but Jeremy and Mary and it is in the afternoon now. Whas up wit y'all? as they would say around my neighborhood.

Last night I went out with my Mom and Aunt from California. We went to On the Border. They are having that special with salad, fahitas and a dessert for $9.99. We all had the same thing and it was really good. We had a good conversation then went over to Barnes and Noble to check out books. My Aunt used to be a teacher so she is a book lover like I am. We looked all over the kids sections. I could spend hours and hours in there. Fortunately for my mother they were closing so we could go home.
Anyway, my aunt bought all 3 of my kids a new book. The one we picked out for Jesse Boy was hilarious though. It is called "Walter the Farting Dog" and it is really funny. The dog farts all the time. It reminded me of our own dog. LOL. She is the gassiest dog I have ever been around and man, they stink rotten. Walter stinks so bad that the dad finally wants to send him back to the pound. Walter is bummed and hungry and eats a 25 lb bag of low fart dog biscuits. Burglars come into the house and meanwhile Walter is holding back the biggest gas bubble of his life because he has promised himself never to fart again. The burglars get everything and are ready to leave and Walter lets out the biggest fart in his life. The burglars race for the window and are so blinded by the fart they get caught by a police car coming down the street. Walter is a hero..... LOL All 3 of the kids were laughing hysterically.
Well, that was my entertainment for the day. I hope y'all had a more exciting day than I have had.


Just remember.....confucius says: to make egg roll, push it.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Mark of the Beast

This is a very interesting topic for me and one that also makes me sort of freak out too because it hits so close to home right now.

Rev 13:16-17 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast or the number of his name.

This is from the KJV. Most other versions say on the hand and on the foreheads so people believe the mark will be like a tattoo or some barcode to be read. KJV says IN. Also Mark is charagma; from Greek charax meaning to stake down into or "stick into" or etch into such as a badge of servitude.


Digital Angel.... doesn't that sound sweet? Digital Angel has developed a syringe-injected microchip implant called the Verichip which is slightly larger than a single grain of rice. It is encased in glass so it can be implanted under the skin. At first it was used for animals but is now being used in humans... right now. Some club in Spain is using it for their VIP customers. It is a new method of payment for the "beautiful men and women" so they could just zip past a reader that recognizes them and a credit balance and even automatically opens the doors for them to exclusive areas in the club. Don't you want one too? It is SO the in thing. It's just like getting a belly button ring or a tattoo. How cool! All they have to do to buy drinks is just wave their hand and you don't even have to carry a credit card or wallet. The CEO of VeriChip said that the company's goal is to market the system as a global implantable identification system.

Oh, and for you gun owners and lovers, the plans are to make firearms that will only work under the control of implantable chips. Only the owner of the gun would be able to fire the gun because a scanner in the gun would be able to recognize the owner. Cars are already being programmed to recognize owners.

So why is this close to home for me? Well, I work in the healthcare system. There are plans to be putting these chips into patients to help them be recognized and their diagnoses and allergies and whatever recognized if something should happen to them. For example: car accident, person is found, no ID available, rushed to hospital, ER scans person and immediately knows who person is, type of insurance or no insurance, allergies to medications, history of illnesses, etc, etc...
That seems a ways off.... not really. I am on a committee right now that will be implementing scanners to scan pt ID bands to match the patients with their medications all to prevent medication errors. This sounds great, but the implications here are astounding to me. Here come the scanners all ready to go. Supposedly the ID bands are going to have bar codes but what if they are the RFID chips that the world plans on implementing.... which at some point will be a simple transition to the implanted verichips in the pt hand or even on their forehead. Still sounds sci-fi. I'm not so sure anymore.

The thing that is difficult with this is that it will seem like such a great idea that basically everyone will want to go with it. Unfortunately we may be easily forced into having to take the chips one way or another. Never!!! you say. Right?
If you want your baby to be immunized, you will have to have one in the baby or your insurance will not cover it, and besides that, the immunization record is on that chip anyway along with the baby's national identification number. You have to have one to be able to drive. Toll roads already have scanners built in that read a card as you drive by. What if there are road blocks set up and you don't have a chip? You will be stopped and arrested because you don't have a license to drive. Didn't get one because you didn't want the chip.
Don't want Big Brother watching you? Too late. They are already putting the RFID chips on tags that will be mass produced to put on all sorts of things that now have bar codes. This is so people will be able to track them to their destinations. Cars, license plates, lipstick tubes, airplanes. Satellite tracks truckers to make sure they only go their allotted amount of time, keep track of airline flight patterns - who knows when a terrorist will get hold of another airplane and my favorite. Walmart allowed lipsticks to be tracked through the store to see where they went and who knows how far they were watched.
Think I am joking? visit here... http://www.adsx.com/people.html

or if you want to see what it looks like, visit here...http://www.greaterthings.com/News/Chip_Implants/index.html

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Well, here I am at work. Just got done with the end of my shift. It is kind of cool that one of my patient's husband is someone I worked with on the heart floor (I worked in cardiac telemetry prior to this) so we got caught up on all the what for's on the floor gossip or whatever you want to call it. I was very tired this morning at 5 and hit the snooze until 5:30. I am glad I worked this weekend though, or I would have zippo zero for a paycheck and that's no fun.
I did get to read blogs yesterday when we had a slow spell. So I have been thinking about "The Great Transition". I suppose other non Christians would call this period of time a midlife crisis. When you reflect on your life and where you are now and where you want to go. Many times this is a time of regret and that is when you start acting crazy, doing things you never got to do, finding different spouses, leaving your kids to live a single selfish type of life, buying expensive sports cars or a motorcycle, etc... The thing that's great about B's hearfelt talk is that there is no regret. None. She is looking forward to good things and new options and anticipating what God has in store for her. That is what is awesome and comforting.

I had a good time at our dinner on Friday night. It was PT and Vicki, Warren & Connie, and Me & Edgey. Parkers couldn't come because of her Dad. Bummer. I prayed for peace to wrap her up this a.m. on the way to work.... Anyway, we had a great dinner and interesting discussion about our lives and then about some end times signs. God has really been throwing things my way regarding end times stuff. Some in my bible class, some emails, some internet stuff that I have found on my own and then even at dinner. It's interesting but some of it can really be freaky if I think about it too much. We talked about the European Union and gold, the euro Islam, superchips and the mark of the beast. All sorts of stuff.
I asked one of the girls here at work if she had ever heard of the mark of the beast and she had no idea what I was talking about. We had been discussing the rising prices of gas. China has had a huge consumer market for cars and the chinese people have been buying a lot of cars. They have no gas of thier own so now they are driving up the cost of oil because they are buying from the same places we do. Gas is going to go up a lot more because the cars are being manufactured like dust bunnies multiply. If people are not informed, it is going to be way too easy to be sucked into enemy plans and hands. I will try to share some more tomorrow.

Friday, March 03, 2006

My mom did watch the kids yesterday afternoon so I got some errands done. I went to the bread store and Wallyworld. I really like the Sara Lee delightful bread and bagels. They are low carb and low points (WW). I am not really on a diet per say, but I am just trying to eat better and healthier. My main thing, I guess, is just trying to stick with stuff that God made.... real butter, real cream, eggs, milk, cheese, lots of fruit and veggies, meat, grains and grain cereals and a little whole wheat light bread, bagels once in a while (the kids eat them so fast anyway, I hardly get them), and low carb whole wheat tortillas. That's pretty much my diet. I have lost 12 pounds so far - thats 48 sticks of slimy butter.
Now yesterday, however, I was really craving a fish sandwich. They are all on sale everywhere because of lent. I went to McDonalds because it was close to our house. I got my fish sandwich but all I could smell were french fries the entire time I was waiting in the drive through. So what do I order when I get up to the speaker? A fish sandwich AND french fries and water. Those french fries tasted soooooooooooooo good. I haven't had any forever. But then, you know what, I felt like crap the rest of the evening. I had a horrible headache and my wonder drug aleve could not fix it. I was miserable. So that's my punishment for putting junk into the temple.
It's just like with our minds. If we fix our minds on pure things, our spirit is happy. But when we see unholy, new age, humanistic thinking, murder, child abuse, hypocrisy, etc.... it makes our spirits cringe. Some kind of internal warning lights go off.
Last night we finally watched "The Gospel" movie. I liked the story line- pride to humility, lost is found, but it was a lower budget type film. I did like it though. The music was awesome of course... how could it not be with Fred Hammond, Donnie McClurkin, Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, etc... working on it. Wow. Anyway it was a 2 thumbs up.
Tonight we are going to get together with PT and Edgey's men's small group-Parkers, Poldbergs.... The wives actually get to go this time. I am supposed to bring dessert and I am waiting until the last minute to make the (low carb) brownies so I won't be tormented by the smell in my house all afternoon. The kids will be begging me for them too. It should be a fun time of fellowship.
Tomorrow it's back to work again. I wish there was some other way to make the money I make and be able to stay home all of the time. It is so nice to be able to go to church on Sundays and worship practice on Sat and hang out with my husband once in a while. If I have time this weekend I will post.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Blessings on your head!

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Praise God! somebody took that stroller! It was still sitting out there yesterday, but this morning it is gone.
Today I am thinking about spring. It's March now. It is windy and a draft is coming through the house so I am sitting by my little space heater ( I am such a wimp anymore when it comes to cold) and having a cup of coffee and typing. I am wishing I could go plant flowers in my little wheelbarrow in the front. I am wishing for flowers because everything looks so dreary this morning. I heard the birds singing yesterday... there were 3 robins out in the back yard.

I am not keeping up on my laundry very well this week. I try to do at least one load in the a.m. as soon as I wake up and one at night right before I go to bed. My dryer has not been drying very well. I am not sure what's going on with it and the handyman hasn't offered to look at it yet. I have to keep running the clothes through almost 2 dryer cycles. So then during the day I forget to check/switch loads because it is not my normal routine. Now I have 2 whole baskets (that's normal) plus another pile on the floor.... yuck. It won't seem to go away. I have to remember to go check on it soon.

I am not sure if I will get my free day today or not either. My Aunt from California (land of fruits, nuts and flakes = Edgey calls it the granola state-he should know- that is where he was born, there's yer sign) is here visiting my Grandpa for his birthday and I haven't heard any solid plans for the day yet. Sometimes they have a big family dinner/reunion and sometimes she just goes out with different family members to see everybody. No one has called me to tell me what is going on.

Yesterday I was doing homework all day. I started taking a class and it is called "Let's Weigh the Evidence". It is a great study of the word. It compares the different versions of the bible. It is kind of shocking actually. I will share more later when I have more to share. Edgey was really getting defensive because ever since he was saved he has used NIV and I have always used KJV except I have started to read from NLT a lot. When I was a kid I had a living bible. Come to find out- the living bible is just a paraphrase and that means that it is just some guys own interpretation of what he thinks the bible means and he was writing it for his own children to be able to read it easier. So it is not God's word - it is man's word. By the way it was revised again and now it is called "The Book".
Rev 22:18-19 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of
the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

There are actual cuss words in that version. I was pretty much ready to throw it away. So anyway, what happens to the guy? Time magazine July 24, 1972 "Mysteriously half way through the paraphrase Taylor lost his voice and still speaks in a hoarse whisper. A psychiatrist who examined him suggested that the voice failure was Taylor's psychological selfpunishment for tampering with what he believed to be the Word of God."

Hellooooooo........

Anyway - the class is interesting so far.

Have a blessed day!

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

I Wanna Be A Cowboy....


Riding on the range,
I've got my hat - on,
I've got my boots - dusty.

I've got my saddle
On my horse.
He's called....T-t-t-t-t-trigger
Of course.
Ethan at about 3 y.o.
I wanna be a cowboy....