What Goes Around

We stopped at Heaven On Earth so I could try one of their famous huge cinnamon rolls.  We just got one to share, the three of us.  I was extremely disappointed.  After wondering for years if it was really the best in the world, I finally decided to stop and try it.  It was DRY!  Well at least I now know and I never need to stop and buy another one.  Makes me want to try making my own.

Grandpa said we would leave at 6 AM, but I think he was joking.  We woke up at 8 and I went for a walk.  I came back and made some toast, with the greatest bread of all times, Dave's Killer Bread.  I read my Bible.  The family started getting ready.  We had to clean out the RV since it hadn't been used in several months.  I held the baby for a while while his mommy helped clean.  Then we all had a fruit shake, except grandpa forgot to make some for Katie, so he had to make more when she walked in and said, "Where's mine?" We packed our stuff up for the beach.  Grandma tripped and fell in the garage.  She got a hurt knee.  Grandpa said, "Why are you carrying the bird seed anyway?"  We kept loading up more and more stuff.  Baby needs all his stuff, stroller, car seat... might as well take everything.  I got in the RV and started to read one of the magazines I brought.  More and more trips were made out to the RV with...

Christmas is always a great time of year.  As a child I remember road trips to go to my grandparents home.  The road trip itself was an adventure.  We would wake up at O'dark-thirty and get into our van in our pajamas.  There was a bed in the back that we would snuggle up in.  I remember one winter when we didn't have heat in the van, so my dad wore a snowsuit while driving and we were in sleeping bags in the back.  Sometimes it was snowing and treacherous conditions.  One time it was so snowy we ended up staying in a hotel along the way instead of making it in one day like we usually did. My sister and I liked to sing in the car.  We could sing for hours on end.  Now a days kids don't enjoy the trip.  They watch movies or play games on their devices instead of looking out the window.  We would play car bingo, where you have to find car makes and models.  Or we would play the alphabet game.  Mostly we would sing through...

I was reading an article online today about an organization in Portland that is helping young women who have been sex trafficked.  It is a day house that trains them in jewelry making and other activities.  They also set up foster families for the girls.  And they happen to be Christian.  So, like I often do, I read the comments of readers.  Most of them, maybe 95% were saying how horrible it is that the vulnerable are being forced to become Christians in order to avail the services (which is not true).  Or the comments are saying how horrible Christians are and how coercive it is.  My blood is boiling right now!!!!  The atmosphere in America towards Christians is so hostile.  Only one comment said that this is good work happening to help these girls.  

I have a very creative mind.  I make beautiful earrings and bracelets.  I sew fancy shirts and pants.  I make fun pillow covers.  I do basket weaving.  I paint lovely scenery pictures. My mind is full of business ideas.  I have started a bookstore, a coffee shop, a gym (that is true), a gift store. In my mind I have written sermons, wrote stories, and oh so many amazing blog postings. I must have a brain injury or something, because when I try to get the things in my mind to come out they get all jumbled up and turn into something totally different and usually quite inferior to what was inside my mind.

Isaiah 49:15   "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you!" We have girls that come to the home I work at who have been abused by a family member.  Some of the mothers of these girls accuse the girl of lying.  They basically disown the daughter in favor of the abuser staying out of jail, usually to provide financially for the family.   Many times I am so taken aback that a mother can be so cruel to their daughter.  How can you throw your daughter out?  Is it all about survival?  Fear?  Shame?  Or do they really not have love for the girl? The Isaiah 49:15 verse reminds us that God will never forget us.  He is not like a mother who has no compassion on her own child.  God's love is perfect.  No matter what we do he will continue to love us.  It is good to know that there is always someone who loves these girls eve...

I just finished reading the story of Jesus' crucifixion.  I thought it was a good way to start out my Good Friday.  I want to think about Jesus' death today.  The verse that really stuck out to me today was Luke 23:48 "And all the multitudes who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return beating their breasts." This verse made me think about those I know who either mock Jesus or find our belief in Jesus foolish.  I was thinking that if Jesus' death were to happen now, and all of humanity could be watching by TV, who would be cheering his death?  Some would be happy that he was dying so that it would put an end to the "foolishness" of his followers.  But when Jesus died, there were signs that happened, the sky going dark, the veil being torn in two, and an earthquake.  I wonder what it was that convinced the people watching Jesus die that they were wrong.  Was it the way he died or the accompanying si...