Tuesday, October 19, 2004

marriage = a man and a woman (and nothing else)

I was discussing election issues with my husband - specifically the amendments and some of the confusing wording. He said, "amendment 3 clearly defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and nothing else."

I flippantly said, "you mean no animals?" hahahaha

Sheesh. What a scary, profound thought. Is that where we are headed? Don’t laugh. I used to have a co-worker who used sick time to take her dog to the vet! And our boss let her!!! Company policy specifically said sick time was to be used for personal illness or to attend to IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS.

I know it sounds absurd. Who would ever think that could happen? But who would have ever thought we would be voting on THIS? It sort of reminds me of the email in current circulation about the other humorous combinations...

Saturday, October 16, 2004

meal planning for men

I was only kidding the other day when I told a friend, "It would be easy to plan meals for my husband only. We would have ham on Sunday, burgers on Monday, barbacue on Tuesday, eat supper at church on Wednesday, then start the cycle over. Ham on Thursday, barbacue on Friday (maybe fried catfish occasionally), and hamburgers on Saturday. Simple!

Unfortunately, I need a bit more variety - and - when you have children, sometimes they have different ideas about what is good. AKA, the kid in our family who does not like potatoes! Who ever heard of such a thing!

My nutrition background and training just leaves me wanting more. And there is such a world of culinary adventure to explore! I used to love to cook and experiment with lots of different things. Of late, I'm about ready to settle for the ham-burger-barbacue cycle, and just be happy that the lack of variety takes the edge off my appetite, which serves as my new weight-loss plan.
=)

Thursday, October 14, 2004

happy birthday to meeeeeee

Yea, it’s my birthday. It’s a beautiful day, as ALWAYS! My birthday is always the most beautiful day in the whole year. Every year. Never missed.

A little nip in the air. The sky – lapis – azure – not just blue! The leaves turning those incredible colors. Well, I'm in an office with no windows ... but I'm sure that is how it will look when I go out =)

Thank you, God, for breath in my lungs, light in my eyes, the anticipation of the smells and tastes of autumn and Thanksgiving, the warmth of home and family.

Hitherto has the Lord helped me.
1 Samuel 7:12

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Do you need that number...

I love my job but I’m having a hard time finding job satisfaction right now. I’ve been at my place of employment for 10 years and I’m very proud of what I / we do. Cancer research.

So what’s the problem? Agh – people can be so demanding! It’s great to have job security, but dang, I have more than one project to work on! I am a liaison of sorts between drug companies that want to try new cancer treatments, and the doctors who want to participate in the research, and the patients who want treatment and ultimately benefit from what we do. It is a compassion-driven endeavor – at least from where I sit. But sometimes … ah … sometimes …

Example. A person from a drug company called a few days ago, and said they needed me to complete some document or something TODAY. Well, good luck! Feeling very frustrated (and a little pestiferous) that particular day, I told the person, “I can tell you I will work on it today if that will make you happy, but that does not mean I actually can.”

“Well, when CAN you do it?” As if tomorrow morning might be acceptable.

“Um, I honestly do not know. I have several projects that have urgent priority, that I’m currently working on.”

“Well, I’m going to have to call Dr. Higher Up, and notify him that this project is behind schedule.”

Silence. I hate it when adults act like they are on the school playground or neighborhood parking lot, and play the “I’m gonna tell” game. I hate it, not because I’m intimidated, but because I think it’s – well – childish. I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying “Can I give you that number, or do you have it?” I didn’t say it, and I guess some people would call my reaction “passive-aggressive”.

But you know, when everyone is screaming, it’s hard to hear what’s really important. And that’s where I am … at least this week. I love my job.

In all labor there is profit. Proverb 14:23

Friday, October 08, 2004

reading thru - part 3

Soon after I began my project of reading the Bible, I went to spend part of the summer with an aunt and uncle. A summer rain came along, and I (making reference to a verse that had stuck in my mind) commented, ''the rain falls on the just and the unjust.''

My uncle seemed impressed for some unknown reason, mused a moment, then said, “Shakespeare.”
I said, ''No, the Bible.'' I was pretty sure it was from Matthew, since that was early in my pursuit (though I could not cite chapter and verse), and I was certain I had not read Shakespeare.
''It's from Shakespeare,'' he said confidently, and went on to quote Hamlet or something.

Well, it might have been from Shakespeare, but I knew which came first, and I knew Shakespeare had plagiarized, err, quoted without credit. But, not wanting to be an argumentative, know-it-all-smarty-alec teenager, I decided to let it drop. Previously, I thought my uncle knew everything, but he seemed a bit less wise from that day forward. It’s ok. To be less than perfect is perfectly normal.

reading thru - part 2

I always read with a goal. Always for understanding – not just a checkmark. The first go-thru, I was confident yet challenged by the thought that I HAD been exposed to the entire Bible. After all, I had attended church since infancy. Fifty-two weeks a year (more or less), four services a week (Sunday school, Sunday morning sermon, Sunday evening sermon, Wednesday evening Bible study), fifteen years, plus an extra few services here and there - a week or two of revival , a week of church camp, a week of Bible School every year ... I'll let you figure it up. Suffice to say - plenty of opportunities to have heard the entire Bible ... IF it had been presented ... and IF I had been paying attention to every single presentation. Hmmm...

The first time through, I was eager to see just how much of it was recognizable to me. I was pretty sure it would all be as familiar as John 3:16, Psalm 23, the Lord's prayer, the Christmas story, Daniel in the lion's den, Noah, Moses … hehe

Thursday, October 07, 2004

reading thru

I just completed my goal of reading the entire Holy Bible. I remember setting this goal at a fairly young age (as a teenager), shortly after I became a Christian. And I remember thinking, starting at Genesis is just too daunting (and ordinary and *expected*). My plan would be to begin in the New Testament - with Matthew. My theory was, the NT would be a quick read, swiftly accomplished (I had probably already heard most of it, right?), and would give me a feeling of success that would motivate me to tackle the Old Testament (AKA Boring History Stuff).

I would be ashamed to tell you how long it took to complete my first read-through. Notice I said ''first''. There have been several now. But the truth is, God knows how long it took, and I don't think God is as concerned with the time as He is with the results. But it was a considerable length of time with lots of starts and stops. Finally as a young adult, I scrapped my previous efforts, and started over - again.

I know the concept of ''reading through'' may seem unimportant to many - even some Christians. After all, if you go to church every Sunday (or attend a Bible class regularly) you will eventually cover it all, right?

Wrong. Just let me sweetly say, I've read MANY things in the Bible which I've never heard covered in a sermon or Bible study. But I’ll stay on topic and save those details are for another day. Don't worry, it will come up again.

=)