The Friday Night Knitting Club

Manhattan.


Walker and Daughter.  A boutique yarn shop.


Peanutty cookies.


A typical Friday evening in New York.  The work week at last has ended.  Those crazy hours...that office job where you sit facing a computer boxed in by walls around you...  Wow, it sure feels nice to step out into the noisy street.  People rush past left and right, and when you take that first step onto the sidewalk you flow along with the current of the masses.  Freedom.  Time is now your own.  You shoulder your bag and with a smile head towards Broadway where you'll spend the next few hours with a group of ladies talking, laughing, eating, and knitting.


Welcome to The Friday Night Knitting Club.


I truly enjoyed the story.  Once I started I looked forward to the next opportunity I had to continue reading it.  The book incorporates a slew of characters, and the author Kate Jacobs tries to give us a glimpse into each one of their lives.


There's Georgia, the main character and owner of the yarn boutique.  Her 12 year old daughter, Dakota.  


And there's Anita, a well-to-do widow who is an accomplished knitter and is Georgia's best friend and confidante.  


James: Georgia's former flame and Dakota's father.


Cat: Georgia's former high-school best friend who became a New York socialite.


Lucie: an aspiring film producer.


Darwin: a geekish, feminist who abhorred the notion of knitting.


Peri: a part-time worker at Walker and Daughter


Marty: Anita's secret crush and owner of the deli located downstairs from the yarn shop.


K.C.: Georgia's former coworker at a publishing firm 


The overall story is about second chances.  People make mistakes...stupid ones, big ones...all of which were life-altering ones.  And as a result life doesn't turn out the way one expects.  The bumps and turns along life's journeys can either make you grit your teeth and be determined to still follow your dream or give up and feel sorry for yourself.  What was refreshing to me about the story was that the characters in the book gave people in their lives 'a second chance' despite the hurts and disappointments in the past.  It didn't mean it was easy, but I think the lesson learned is that people are people.  No body's perfect.  People will disappoint.  However...if you're a person...you will too.  So if you want to be given 'a second chance' then it would behove you to do likewise for others.


As I mentioned I truly did enjoy the story.  However, I also wished that the supporting characters could have been developed more.  There was so much potential!  One certainly can tell whom the author favored in how much story development she/he received in the book. 


This week was our book club meeting.  We discussed The Friday Night Knitting Club over antipasti of hard salami, cheese and a variety of olives, main entree of baked spaghetti casserole with breadsticks and two types of pudding cakes. 

Tablescape

Planning for next month's book...with dessert

Me

The Veronica Files: Fizzled Contentment

Skewed priorities lead to discontentment.

With hindsight I see that with crisp 20/20 vision.  It’s not difficult to get caught up with everyday living.  In fact, it really does not require  any thought to do so.  Life’s routine can become just that...routine, monotonous.  Rituals, duties, things that need to be done for the sake of living and keeping oneself and one’s environment intact.  It’s when I don’t give thought to them that I should ‘wake up and smell the coffee.’  For it is then that I’m about to enter dangerous territory. 

In the thick of the repetitious same-old, same-old, the desire to do and pursue what I really enjoy strive to take precedence.  Rather than pray or read the Bible or be reflective, it’s too easy to want to do THAT thing that would produce gratification to my senses.  Afterall I hardly have time for myself as it is.

I didn’t blindly allow my priorities to teeter.  In the back of my mind I knew I should pay more attention in ordering my priorities correctly.  With disregard to what I knew better, I catered to my SELF.  In time--it didn’t happen right away--my contentment fizzled.  Almost at every turn I had something over which to complain.  I was like the grumpy child who refused to take a nap.  I was miserable, and no matter what I did to please me I couldn’t latch on to that ease of contentment.

When I finally decided to get my priorities back on track, old grouch took a backseat.  It’s presence hasn’t disappear; I know it’s there, but it’s no longer in the forefront.  It’s just a reminder to me that old grouch was not a figment of my imagination.  It does exist, but now I know how to keep an eye on it and not let it come close.

With my priorities in line, it’s refreshing to see with clarity the serene vista contentment creates.

Veronica Thesbit

Homemade Pop-Tarts

Came home from work and decided this was the day to make those strawberry pop-tarts I saw in Bon Appetit.


I got started a little late in the evening, but they are now baking in the oven.  I can already smell the aroma.  Instead of strawberry preserves, I used my mom's organic homemade plum preserves.  What I did was I grabbed the wrong jar. Oops.  Nevertheless, I was quite curious as to how the tarts will taste with Mom's tart and sweet preserves.


At 10:30 p.m. the pop-tarts are done.  A bit of the preserves did leak, but not a whole lot.  The baking time was considerably less than what was instructed in the recipe.  While the pop-tarts cooled, I boiled water for my French press coffee.  By 10:40 p.m. I was happily enjoying the fruits of my labor.  YUM!  The day ended on a sweet note.  

Homemade Pop-Tarts

The Veronica Files: The Folly of Selfishness

I almost lost the one I love.

Looking back on it I marvel at how utterly trivial it was.  With subtle elegance selfishness eased it’s way into my bosom.  So enterprising was it that I failed to think twice of my behavior.

My dearest Gregory and I were in the middle stage of our courtship.  We’ve past the introductory stage, past the part where we’ve discovered one another’s irksome habits--not all but some.  We were at that stage where we’ve grown fondly comfortable with one another and progressing towards engagement.  It was at this point in our relationship that Gregory’s business began to flourish significantly.  The referrals and word-of-mouth advertisement made by his happy customers (which was but a handful) paid off.  New demands kept Gregory working longer hours at the office.  Our usual weekend dates now became every other weekend get-togethers.  

It was easy to be understanding in the beginning.  However, when Gregory began to schedule appointments with clientele during non-business hours (a.k.a the weekend) it didn’t take long for me to feel snubbed.  Scraps, I told him.  That’s all I received now were scraps of his time.  Morsels he could afford to dispose of without it affecting his business.  Gregory, though, assured me that was not the case.  He was torn between growing the business, looking after his widowed mother, selling the house he currently had so that we might purchase one closer to the side of town we wanted to live and spending time with me.

I, on the other hand, with a recent teaching degree taught second graders at the local elementary school.  There was not much else to occupy my time other than the students and my mother’s ladies society.  I missed Gregory terribly.  Even though we lived but a few short distance from each other, it might as well have been the Atlantic Ocean, for I rarely saw him.

My feelings and love for him were martyred (so I was convinced to believe).  Now that Gregory was more occupied with important things, seeing me was no longer a priority.  This led to tearful nights, swollen eyelids and red noses.  Where once I would pounce upon the ringing telephone in my father’s study, I grew to ignore it.  When Gregory would call I refused to answer (which placed my parents in a predicament).  A taste of his own medicine was what I figured I’d teach him.  But those days for me were not filled with gleeful delight at the thought of him suffering.  No, rather they were painful...more so than I care to admit.  No matter how justified I convinced myself I would, at the same time, hope for the phone to ring that I might ignore it.  Then came the day when the phone did not ring at all.  Neither did it ring the second day.

Oh, the folly of the thoughtless head and stupid heart!  After much a-grievance over those two silent days, I finally called his office.  No answer.  I called his mother’s home.  He was not there.  There was no comfort, for I called him intermittently all day.  No Gregory.  It was as if epiphany seized me and I was paralyzed by my selfish behavior.  What if Gregory had washed his hands of me?  What if he contemplated and came to the conclusion that life without me was breezier.  I couldn’t stomach the thought.  I didn’t want to lose Gregory.  Of all the times to learn that lesson, I learned it right in the ugly middle of that mess.  I loved him dearly.  My fault was that I had grown too comfortable to expect him whenever it pleased me.  Now that I wasn’t pleased because business was doing so well for him, I had actually believed I had the right to be offended.  How wrong I was.

I never would have dreamed of behaving such during the early days of our relationship.  However as time progressed, as our love blossomed for each other, as the everyday ordinaries piled one on top of the other the newness faded.  There was no excuse for the way I behaved.  Why couldn’t I consider all the things he had to juggle? I could have been more understanding; I could have pitched in and helped in some manner.  Instead I looked only at how the change was affecting me.   How I plead with God that my stupidity did not lead me down the path of no return.  Albeit, if it did then I would not blame Gregory one bit.  Not even an ounce.  

I prayed I have irrevocably learned my lesson.  That was something I wished never to repeat again.  When you have found the one you love, don’t ever let go...no matter how forceful things pull and tug at you to break free, don’t.  

Gregory was not angry, although he sounded wearied when we finally spoke with each other.  “I’m sorry, love,” I told him.  What blissful relief when he pulled me into his arms and whispered in my hair, “I love you, Veronica.”

Veronica Thesbit

Purple

Have your cake...


The color was purple.  A rainbow of purple.

The bride and groom danced to Unforgettable sung by Natalie Cole and her father.

They departed with a fanfare of sparklers.

The wedding cake was Italian Cream.  The mini dessert cakes were lemon flavored.

In the Rain

It rained the previous weekend.  The clouds blocked enough of the sun to only allow for a faint illumination to seep through the misty rain.  It cast a soft yellow glow upon the glistening leaves and dark brown, wet trunks.  The tree's greenness seemed most unusually vibrant as if it was the only color in a washed out photograph.  It reminded me of England.


On the second day of my visit in England it rained, of course.  The air was chilly, but it was too beautiful to dampen the spirit.  Stone houses that lined the streets were accustomed to the perpetual wetness as indicated by the moss that colored the bottom stones.  


There was a park in the center of town.  It was situated upon a hill.  Crossing the street from our hotel was the opera house, and across the street from that was a path that lead up to the park.  Mom and I huddled under our umbrellas and embarked on the ascent.  It was paved with steps.  An elderly couple were ahead of us.  They wore dark green parkas. Arm in arm they walked to the park bench situated under a couple of magnificent trees.  Their branches provided somewhat of a shield against the drizzle.  They situated themselves upon the bench and opened what looked like a picnic hamper.  From it they withdrew a thermos and proceeded to have tea right there...in the park...in the rain.  


That memory will forever be photographed in my mind.  I know I wouldn't have thought about enjoying tea in the wet.  But then again I'm American.  If it rains, I like to stay indoors.  If Britons stayed indoors when it rained, no one would ever have the opportunity to venture out much.  They probably think nothing of the rain, as we think nothing of the sunshine.  It's common.  Part of every day life.  So what if one must carry an umbrella.  Babies there know about rain the time that they're born.  

I love the rain.  Many a time it has been fuel for the imagination.  Although I admit I'm not accustomed to it as the Brits are.  I prefer to stay dry when it's wet outside.  But I love England...and I love the idea of walking to the park with the one you love...arm in arm...enjoying tea while listening to the pitter patter of rain upon the leaves.

Baubles & Brunch

Bought new baubles for spring.  

Such happy colors. 

Reminds me of summer fruit drinks and lazy roses...

Mesh...

Friend and I went to brunch.  Enjoyed eggs benedict, pancakes, 

fresh fruit salad, crispy bacon,

delicious cake...

peach baubles...

Angelology: Book Review

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni


My rating: 2 of 5 stars


What a great concept!


I was immediately intrigued by the story's concept that the Nephilim are still among the human race. They are the offspring of angels and humans and are the evil, powerful players in society.


However, the further I delved into the story the more I realized that it tells more than it shows. There's lots of explanations but little dialogue. What dialogue that did exist, the majority of it was used for explanation. 

The beginning of the story started with a good pace and steadily built momentum, but it came to a screeching halt when the author transported the story back in time. When I finally thought the action was going to pick up again, I was disappointed to discover that the part to which the momentum was gearing towards was not exciting. There were several parts in the story where I wished the author could have fleshed it out more and SHOWED me what happened--transport me to that place and time and engage my emotions. Such as...the relationship between Gabrielle and Percival...the abduction of Dr. Seriphina...Gabrielle's torture... The main characters seemed to be quite intriguing in the beginning, but they all ended up being one-dimensional. I didn't get any sense of friendship or camaraderie between Celestine and Gabrielle. I was just told that they used to be good friends (this was iterated often) but at the same time they were rivals. The rivalry part I believed because I 'saw' the distance between the two...the avoidance of one of the other...the distrust...the jealousy. However, the friendship part...of all the things that should have been the easiest thing to believe in this book. Yet, I didn't get a picture of the friendship. What friendship? 

The climax. This was the part where your fingers should be itching to turn the page and read the next sentence. It ended up turning to be a hodge-podge. The confrontation between good and evil was so non-confrontational. The ending was flat; it seemed as if the author got bored and just wanted to be finished with the book.

Sunday Afternoon

Rainy afternoon.  I love rainy weather.  


I redressed my sofa.  Put away the winter pillows (the golds and reds) and brought out the spring ones (lemon yellow, spring green, cream).  I also put the new place mats my mom purchased for me.  Makes me think of the French country side.  


The rain is on pause right now.  I want to venture out...look at some fabric...select some more spring pillows...buy some flowers.  There's still dishes in the sink to be washed.


Today two of my friends came over for lunch after church.  Yesterday I worked on preparing the most of the meal a little at a time so that today was a cinch.  All that needed to be done was grate the cheese for the enchiladas, assemble the enchiladas and bake them.


Good food...good conversation...good Sunday afternoon.

Texas Caviar with Frito's Scoops

Chicken Enchilada with Salsa Verde

Apple Pouches

"Butter Bean" joined us

Enchilada...

Pouches...

Acceptable Gift

By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain...
Hebrews 11:4


A friend and I discussed Cain and Abel the other day and what each of their occupations and offerings signified.

• Cain was a farmer and therefore bound to the land...tied down to the acres he cultivated. He had restricted mobility because of his occupation. Because of farming though came the advent of towns and cities.  People stayed put rather than replenishing the earth (Genesis 1:28).
• As a farmer Cain tilled the soil, planted seeds and worked to produce his harvests.  In essence he was being self-sufficient.
• Abel was a shepherd.  He wasn't restricted to a particular location.  Should God tell him to such and such a place, Abel could go...taking his sheep with him.
• As a shepherd Abel's increase in flock was not the result of what his hands could produce, so to speak.

During our discussion we did not conclude that being a shepherd was the better profession and that Cain missed his calling.  We were just noticing the symbolisms and what we thought they meant.

God must have spoken to Cain and Abel concerning the manner in which they could approach Him.  Even after the fall of man, God was never inaccessible to man. Though man had fallen, God was not silent.  Man was the one who separated himself from God; God didn't separate Himself from man.  God never abandoned man.

Genesis 1 records the creation of man.

Genesis 2 records man's communion with God.

Genesis 3 records the fall of man.

In Genesis 4 the way back to God is made known.

Abel heard and believed what God had spoken.  Cain heard but didn't believe what God had spoken.  The "sweat of his brow" could be no substitute for the "blood of the lamb."

Cain was not godless, as is often represented.  On the contrary he was most religious, and the offering which he brought cost him much more than Abel's did.

In all this we are show the great fact there there never have been but these two ways in the world's history.

• The one rests of what God has said, the other rests on what man thinks.
• The one rests on what Christ has done, the other rests on what man can do.
• These two words sum up and embody the two ways--DONE and DO.

--E.W. Bullinger

Snubbed by Smirnoff

Vodka and puritans don't mix.

It's a no brainer...but sometimes you find out the hard way who really has your back.


Here goes the story I was privy to learn...


It's vacation time.  Alas, the opportunity to leave ordinary life behind for five glorious days of beach bliss has arrived.  Nothing...nothing could be more welcoming than getting to wake up when you feel like it and having the sheer luxury of doing absolutely nothing.  No time schedules (other than catching the plane and getting the rental car in time), no weekly meetings, no sitting at your desk staring at the monitor.  It's going to be a great time with a great group of co-workers...so you think.


Once your feet is firmly planted on beach soil, once your suitcase is unpacked, once you're in your comfy wear; it's time to savor the relaxation and celebrate the first night of vacation with a luscious seafood dinner.  Before vacation bliss could fully evolve the horror of reality slaps you in the face that will keep your ears ringing for days...you're debit card is not with you. It would have been fine, and the blood would have returned to your face much quicker had it been that you forgot the card back at the bungalow, but the thing is...it's not there.  It's not anywhere within your belongings.  Vacation nightmare has struck...you...of all people, it happened to you.  All the money you gathered and saved for this fun-in-the-sun get-away hopefully is still safely tucked in your bank account, but now you have no way of waking up the cash to come play with you.  Reality bites.


Condolences from friends are all well and good, but unless they have a wad of cash they can hand you; it does no good materially.  What to do now?  They Eyore syndrome...with the overcast rain cloud...has come to stay.  No!  You have to shake it.  Vacation cannot be so easily ruined this way.  Just shake it off.  Relax.  You've got your credit card with a couple hundred left under the limit.  You'll just have to play it safe.  Hey, there's the beach if nothing else.  


So, to help perk up the mood...and for those lazy days on the beach...a case of Smirnoff Ice sounds oh so soothing.  It's not everyday that you can purchase Smirnoff at the local grocery store back at home.  This is vacation...you're MILES away from home.  It will be a nice treat.


You bought your Smirnoff, put it in the fridge, power up your laptop to check your bank account when your group of buddies come ask to talk to you.  Long story short, they tell you to get rid of the Smirnoff--pour it down the sink.  Why?  you ask.  You shouldn't be drinking, they tell you.  But I'm on vacation.  


The entire group are all of a sudden pitted against you all because of a few bottles of Smirnoff.  You tell them your intention is not to get smashed.  Heck, you haven't even drank one yet.  So rather than one person coming directly to you to talk to you about 'this', the person gathered all the other buddies to discuss your situation amongst themselves first before approaching you.  Very nice.  It's the kind of behavior one would expect on the playground amongst second graders...but amongst 40+ year olds?  To top it all off, the person called your boss and told him 'the situation' before talking to you.  What a friend.  Now the boss knows and your buddies are insinuating that your job is on the line.  (Did I forget to mention that your place of employment speaks against drinking...yet at the same time a family or families within the organization openly owns a liquor store?)


Vacation is quickly turning into hell.


Fine.  You call the boss...after you dump all the Smirnoff down the drain.  You didn't even get a sip.  You feel betrayed and alone amongst your once close-knit group of friends.  You might not even have a job when you return home.  You regret deeply for even coming.  You called the boss.  Instead of hearing the reiteration of what your buddies told you, your boss just wanted to make sure you're not drinking to get stupid.  Absolutely not; it's just something to enjoy while I'm on the beach.  Your boss was totally fine with it.  So much for group intervention.


When I heard this story, I was amazed at the group's actions.  These are adults.  They were quick to point that out (what they believed to be) the sin, make a big deal about it, involve everyone in the group, and leave the person feeling that their job is on the line.  What happened to the verse that says love covers a multitude of sins?  Rather than the one person who was bothered by the Smirnoff speaking directly and privately to the individual, that person decided to talk to everyone else first.  Jesus said in Matthew that if your brother sins against you, go and tell him is fault between you and him alone.  But if he will not hear, take one or two more with you. 


From what I gathered, the group was more concerned about proving that they were right rather than watch over and protect a friend.  Which is more import: to be right or to be kind?


We all have our faults.  Nobody is perfect.  Why can't Christians cut each other some slack?  They are harder on fellow believers than God--the One Who has every right to send us all to hell.  Yet...God suffered hell on our behalf so that we might get to experience heaven.  


Jesus said that it's not what goes into a man that defiles him, but rather it is what comes out of man.

St. Augustine: Discussion on Suicide

Today is Friday...and there is a slight chance for rain. It is going to be a good day.


This week I have read some of St. Augustine's The City of God.  Yesterday I read up to the sections where the discusses the issue of suicide. 'Is it ok to kill oneself in order to prevent a sin from being committed to one's person?' More specifically: Is it ok to kill yourself to prevent a person from raping you?  Which is the greater evil?  At the time when St. Augustine wrote his series of essays the Goths had sacked Rome and many atrocities were committed upon the conquered by the conqueror.


St. Augustine rationalized that when a woman is violated, she is not consenting her will the to deed being done upon her body.  Thus even though a horrible crime is being committed upon her, she is innocent...without sin.  For purity is of the soul not the body.  However, if the woman chose to kill herself before someone raped her, Augustine pointed out that she is committing the greater evil.  The scriptures commanded 'Thou shalt not kill.'  Likewise it also commanded 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self.'  The extent to which you love your neighbor is in direct connection to how much to love yourself.  Hence then, if the thought of killing oneself in order to preserve one's purity was considered a noble deed, Augustine begged to differ.  


But they who have laid violent hands on themselves are perhaps to be admired for their greatness of soul, though they cannot be applauded for the soundness of their judgment. However, if you look at the matter more closely, you will scarcely call it greatness of soul, which prompts a [person] to kill [himself/herself] rather than bear up against some hardships of fortune, or sins which [he/she] is not implicated. Is it not rather proof of a feeble mind, to be unable to bear either the pains of bodily servitude or the foolish opinion of the vulgar? And is not that to be pronounced the greater mind, which rather faces than flees the ills of life, and which, in comparison of the light and purity of conscience, holds in small esteem the judgment of men, and specially the vulgar, which is frequently involved in a mist of error?

What is Truth?

How can we identify truth?  Is it easily recognizable?  Is truth relevant...what is true for me may not be true for you?


If truth is irrelevant, then how can it be...TRUTH?


What...is...truth?


Truth is conformity with fact or reality; verity.  Truth is a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle or the like.


Truth must then be coherent.  It must make sense reasonably and logically.


"What is truth?  Let me answer straightforwardly.  In the biblical view, truth is that which is ultimately, finally, and absolutely REAL, or the 'way it is', and therefore is utterly trustworthy and dependable, being grounded and anchored in God's own reality and truthfulness.  But, this stress on the personal foundation of truth is not--as in postmodernism--at the expense of the preposition.  Both accuracy and authenticity are important to truth.


"Belief in something doesn't make it true; only TRUTH makes a belief true."


-- Os Guinness




Truth by nature is:


1.    Noncontradictory.  It does not violate the basic laws of logic.
2.    Absolute.  It does not depend upon any time, place, or condition.
3.    Discovered.  It exists independently of our minds; we do not create it.
4.    Descriptive.  It is the agreement of the mind with reality (coherence).
5.    Inescapable.  To deny its existence is to affirm it.
6.    Unchanging.  It is the firm standard by which truth claims are measured.

Stewardship vs. Ownership....which is it?

I came across a person the other day who was passionate about being a steward—a faithful steward.  Their stance was that everything we have is not ours.  They basically said: I understand my role as a steward not as an owner.  But yet…in nearly the same breath the person also spoke about taking complete ownership of the area in which they serve.  We are to OWN that.


How can that be?  Either one is a steward or an owner.


I've often liken the environment in which I work to Oz.  So, one day I mentioned this to a coworker friend of mine and asked his opinion.  I posed the question: how can the position a person takes on stewardship coincide with what Jesus said?


I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.


I have given you the keys to the kingdom.


It is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.


If we are sons and daughters of God, does that not make us owners?  The Father has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.  He has given us all things richly to enjoy.


So...based on stewardship vs. ownership...and Oz, here is my friend's response.


Actually, Oz is a good segue into my answer to your question...“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!”I 
My point with that is this, without a clear, concrete, measurable standard, men tend to make things up to suite themselves...because we don’t really measure up at the end of the day.

In Oz, the wizard was the one person who could do anything. Even the movie was even named after him! The main theme song was named after him! The main four characters NEEDED him (or so they believed). Yet, when they arrived (finally), it even required a special privilege for them JUST to get in to see him!!! (Sheesh) And after all that, the one being who could do anything, who represented the answer for all things, who should have ALSO taken the responsibility of “stewardship” for being all things to all; was simply just a man, with a (PC-based) projector behind a curtain.

There never was an actual standard of measurement for what the “all Powerful Wizard of Oz” could really do. There was only “the ideal”, based on “how big that floating head was” having all that fire blasting everywhere. That would make anybody say, “Surely he must be able to do anything, right!?!”

Regardless of the title (stewardship vs ownership), the “standard” by which we can begin to measure ourselves remains the same:

Psalm 82

1 God stands in the congregation of the mighty; he judges among the gods.

2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

As Abraham’s Seed (because we belong to Christ), God’s strategy for prospering and blessing mankind is through the Church. Hence the reason why “all things are ours”. We’re suppose to use all things to be the blessing to all men!

You see, if we were who we are supposed to be, how then can there be a jacked up economy in our midst?

...Sorry...there I go again...moving right along...

We’re held accountable for what we do, by our works, whether they be good or bad. Yet we are instructed to do ALL things in “whose name”? So again, the standard remains the same, “the works that I do shall you do also, and greater shall you do because I go to the Father.” Jesus went about DOING GOOD...

Men tend to hold fast to things which in the end only proves that they actually live behind the curtain of their own making. With a big ol head that produces no GOOD results!

“All that we ‘have’ is not ours but rather they are for our use”
That really sounds good on paper and in theory, but I just want to know where this place is, so I can go set up camp there! (dear father) LOL!!!!

Ownership on the other hand puts us out there for all to see, which now makes us accountable for representing Who and what we truly believe.

The scriptures do say’ “all things are yours”, however it also says, “you are Christ and Christ is Gods”. All things are created by Him, and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist!

The “standard” for “us” regarding the communication and distribution of “all things” which concerns mankind is to this end...”That God may be all in all”.

What would Jesus Do (WWJD) may have sold a lot of T-shirts and accessories, but I’m not sure if we’ve ever answered that question or learned how to walk that out yet! 

Stay or Go

A pastor said that if a member were to leave the church for any other reason besides God saying so, then the member is leaving for the wrong reasons.


The same pastor also said that if there are any outreaches or ministries that the members would like to see as part of the church but does not exist, then the members should find another church because the church isn't adding anything else to their plate.


Do the members only exist to fulfill the church's and pastor's visions?  Is it unreasonable to expect the church and pastor to help support and encourage the member's vision?

Table Topics

March 2010 book club meeting


Our book club doesn't have a name yet, and we're going into our third year.  We just call it the book club.  


In March we met at Mrs. P's house.  Rather than reading a book for that month, Mrs. P invited us over for stew and a game of Table Topics.  Not all the members we present, but we did gain a new member.  Two of the original members are no longer a part of the club.  One moved to another state to be with her husband, since he joined the military.  The other had too many things occupying her schedule.


So, there we were at Mrs. P's cozy home (minus one member who was in Utah for the birth on her grandbaby).  Mrs. P made stew, and we brought salad, little smokies, cheese, hummus, crackers, bread, and cookies.  It was a chilly, rainy evening; the perfect weather for hot stew.

The name of the game...

Our fearless leader...

My friend who invited me to first join the club...

Our newest member...

Our gracious hostess, Mrs. P...

Moi...

*Pictures were taken with my iPhone.

Man Down

A leader has resigned.

"X" has relinquished title and position because of things committed.  "X" has stepped down and publicly confessed.

I am shocked and saddened.  Indignant?  No.  Angry?  No.  Sadness overwhelms the shock.  C.S. Lewis penned: I, being what I am, can consider that I am in some sense a Christian, why should the different vices of those people in the next pew prove that their religion is merely hypocrisy and convention?"

Do we often get our eyes off of the Savior and become more interested in man, in someone we can see and touch?  We all have learned that people can and do let us down.  I have been guilty of that.  So my take on what I've learned in life is that people are people.  To follow a leader, there will always be that aspect of humanity that plagues us.  The non-perfect aspect.  Yet, I agree that there are standards for leaders to uphold, but not only for leaders, for us as well.  Why must leaders have the higher standard?  Shouldn't we all adhere to the higher standard?  It is our choice.

After hearing about this I asked myself how can we safeguard ourselves from 'falling'?  Is there a way to do so?  If a  person says I'll never do such a thing, I cringe.  For that alone is not enough to prevent a such a thing from happening.  We can't depend on our good intentions or strong moral fiber.  People are people.  I've seen the best of them make mistakes.  There has to be a higher power to help us.  Love is a strong power.  How can I let love permeate me so that I choose to do things that won't hurt others?

A Leader

Who would you follow to the frontline of battle?

So many people have the title of 'Leader' but don't exemplify that at all.  I sympathize for the ones who must follow.  

What kind of person is a good leader?  What is the genetic make-up of someone people want to follow or trust with their lives?  That's a heavy responsibility.  Something that shouldn't be taken lightly.  Perhaps that is why I'm leery of people who tout that they are leaders.  Good leaders don't need to advertise themselves.  

Many people want to attain the position of being a leader.  The perks that come with the title are often pretty nice.  However, have they really thought about what being a leader really means?  From what I have seen, leaders amass a group of followers who serve them at beck and call.  It's the servers who exist for the leaders.

Does a good leader ever think of himself/herself as a leader?  Or are they being who they are, doing their job, and helping those who are with them along the way?

One of the examples of good leadership I bring to mind is that of Major Dick Winters (of Band of Brothers).  As G.K. Chesterton once wrote: "And it is always the humble man who talks too much; the proud man watches himself too closely."

All or Nothing

To paraphrase G.K. Chesterton: To a Muslim there's no God but God.  Likewise abstainers need to remember that there is no satan but satan.


Chesterton made his comment in response to puritanism, the total and complete abstinence of anything that would 'bring pleasure'.  He was specifically referring to alcohol, tobacco, etc.  Those who subscribed to the puritan ideology of his time stressed that such things were evil; hence, if anyone imbibed or smoked that person committed sin.  On the other hand, Chesterton contrasted the puritanism of his day with paganism.  The practice of paganism involved the over indulgence of a thing, turning the thing into an idol.  These two extremes don't work.  According to Chesterton neither of them are right.  


The Apostle Paul in Romans 14 summed it up best.


12So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.13Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.14I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.15But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably . Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died .16Let not then your good be evil spoken of :17For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.18For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.19Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things where with one may edify another.20For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.21It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth ,or is offended, or is made weak .22Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.23And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.