Anger, Hate and Forgiveness

Ever have one of those vine weeds in your garden? You know the ones that you try to pull and the weed actually has roots and branches that run under the ground from one end of the garden to the other and then some. No matter how much you pull that darn weed is still there. If you don't get every little piece of it out it comes right back, you have to get every speck of root out to get rid of the pest.
Anger and hate are just like that weed! Something gets to you, you stuff it down inside you and it takes root. There it grows, just like that weed. It begins to take over your body, your mind and your life. It makes you think irrationality, do things you wouldn't ordinarily do. Eventually it becomes your way of life, and you don't even realize it happened. You can't run from it, but you will try to share it with others. You are infected with it!
The only weed killer is Forgiveness. You have to forgive quickly before the roots take hold and it is to late. Well, I say to late, but really you can always forgive, it is just harder once that weed has consumed your life.
God calls for forgiveness. He demonstrates it throughout the Bible. It is so important to Him that it is talked about over 50 times in the Bible (the number varies depending on translation, but the topic is the same). He tells that if you want his forgiveness you have to forgive yourself. This topic is so important that the word "Forgiveness" is written in 14 verses in the New International Version of the Bible, but the word "Forgive" is written 64 times!! Over and over we are told we can't have what we can't give.
If you don't forgive that root that takes hold turns to hate. Hate...ah the Devils ultimate playground. He moves on in your life and gets comfortable. Your life begins to spiral downwards, your anger grows, everything reminds you of that one wrong that started it all. You can become someone no one wants to be around, that person in the neighborhood that no one wants to talk to because you are just down right cranky! Now don't think you can run from it, really you are just running from yourself. You can move to China, but hate and anger is just going to tag along. Life won't be any better for you there, you just take your baggage right along with you.
Now lets talk about forgiveness. As I said this is an important topic to God. I believe he has put this towards the top of His list because He doesn't what his children carrying around this weed with them. It ruins His beautiful creation, YOU! He knows that once that seed is rooted the chances of the Enemy taking over are almost a sure bet, at least for quite some time!! He put this act of forgiveness in place for our protection. Really, think about it, someone does something to you, big or small, they go about their life when they are done. You walk around angry, then hateful..remember where they are? Yep still going on with their life, oblivious to the fact that you are miserable. That anger and hate and forgivingness only makes YOUR life miserable, ok and those around you now aren't to happy either, but you get my point, right? The impact of that hate and anger doesn't ever reach the person that caused it, it just trickles down to those who had nothing to do with it!
So, how do we forgive? How do we forgive someone for something really awful? You just do! You ask God to help you. Trust me He knows all about it! Ok, you aren't comfortable with that, don't squirm, listen up. Then just do it! You don't even have to see that person face to face, you just have to forgive in YOUR heart. Let it go, write it down, burn it, yell it in the woods, but let it out and let it go.
There is a fantastic book on forgiveness. It is called "Forgiving the Dead Man Walking". It is written by Debbie Morris and is available on Amazon. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is dealing with this issue. Her story will shock you, her ability to forgive will astound you and truly touch your heart.
Its time to let things go and move on to the wonderful life right in front of you!!! Its time for a brand new day, a new start. Try it, the flowers will smell sweeter, the sky will be a more beautiful shade of blue, you will smile more, love more and most of all you will be happier for it!!

Well Now You Know......

Something has pumped my cookies. Aren't you lucky enough to get to hear my thoughts on it!
I know I promised you my thoughts on Political Correctness, so here are some of them.
Lets start with Kenneth Cole's "faux pas". Ok, so a bunch of Egyptians don't like their president (bear with me, I am NOT a big news watcher) and have decided to make a mess of their own country to let him know. Well, whatever works, hope they realize someone has to clean it up. So..Kenneth Cole (a big time fashion designer for those of you like me who are completely out of the loop) "tweeted" this: "Millions are in uproar #Cairo. Rumor has it they heard our spring collection was available online...." This set off people saying he was insensitive to what was going on and he removed the tweet. I say BLAH BLAH BLAH!! I mean really...REALLY? Why on Earth is this a problem? Did Kenneth Cole go out and tell these people to riot and act like fools just to promote his clothes line? Now that would be wrong. I am so tired of people getting in an uproar about things that are trivial! LET IT GO PEOPLE!!! There are more important things in America to worry about other than if everyone has selected the proper words when they speak as not to offend ANYONE.
Think about that, is it really possible to never offend ANYONE? There will always be someone who doesn't like something that is said. Especially when you are speaking to a large group. Haven't we learned that you just can't please everyone? Today everyone is so worried about offending people that they change words daily to where no one can keep up with what is proper to say anymore. Is there one person in charge of that task? I would like to have the "word chooser" job. What are the requirements for that position? I really don't think they would hire me!
Ok, on to the next topic! Did anyone see the story on the woman on Dr. Phil who put hot sauce in her sons mouth when he lied and made him take cold showers? In fairness I didn't see the show, I am not a fan of it, but I read an article on her. She is now arrested and charged with child abuse because PEOPLE were outraged and got the police involved saying she was abusing her son. Ok so I have to say cold showers are a bit over the top for my taste. We tried hot sauce, but my daughter liked it, so soap was our choice. Now here is what gets my cookies...we are not to correct our children for lying, how about stealing? Is that a correctable offense? Is there a manual telling us the legal way to teach our children to be respectable, responsible adults? Do people realize that these children will one day be leaders of our country? Wait, sorry I forgot that being truthful is NOT a requirement for that job.
So, we can't spank, use soap,or hot sauce so that leaves time outs. Well those work for toddlers (insert eye roll here). How about for older children, lets say 6 and up. Are we allowed to send them to their rooms? What form of punishment is allowed? Maybe if we went back to the day when you got soap or hot sauce in your mouth for lying and cursing and a spanking for misbehaving this world wouldn't be such a mess. Maybe, just maybe, the jails wouldn't be so full, kids wouldn't think they were above the law, and we just might raise decent, respectable children.....but I guess that wouldn't be politically correct!

A Sad Day

On Sunday night we lost our sweet little dog, Azima (pronounced Ozzie-ma). She was the best dog I have ever owned, and trust me I have had a few! She got sick on Saturday and died in just over 24 hours. We have no idea what happened.
I blame the dog food (got to blame something right) so I have been cooking for our other two dogs for all of this week. I can honestly say, I love them, but this is getting old! Of course I won't feed them the dog food in question, I will buy new.
Our dear sweet little dog left behind 4 beautiful, healthy little pups. Three of which will make some family very happy pet owners. Yes, you read right three. Ok, so that runt is the one my husband is "undecided on keeping". Clearly we have all decided that keeping him is a good idea. I mean Azima would have wanted that, right? And certainly we can't have just two dogs! Our youngest isn't allowed to sleep in our bed yet, I don't want him to sleep alone. Not to mention we are insane around here and one more dog wouldn't be noticed...much.
We will all miss Azima very much. She was playful yet laid back, you could always count on her to give you loves when you needed it most. We rescued her and gave her a wonderful life.
My girls have learned to much about death in the past year. Time for a new lesson. Time to rediscover how wonderfully complicated life can be, yet simple at the same time. Time to notice the little things. Time to slow down and be thankful for everything, not just the good, but the bad to. Yes, that means thankful for even the pee on the floor that we have to clean up caused by the two healthy puppies we have. Going to pat their sweet little heads and clean up the trash they just pulled out now! =)

Sorry, This is Just Plain Ranting!

Ok, I know I promised you all that I would post about my feelings on Political Correctness. I am sure you were all waiting on the edge of your seats for those profound words. Well something else is stuck in my craw and you will just have to hear a little about that.
So, Christmas has come and gone. School has resumed and brought the promises of L.E.A.P right along with it. For those of you outside of Louisiana, L.E.A.P is a standardized test that fourth and eighth graders take. If they don't pass this test they will fail for the year. Doesn't matter what your grades for the year are (I mean you could have straight A's and still fail for the year) you will not pass.
Now personally L.E.A.P makes me want to do just that LEAP and not in a good way, like in the abandon ship way! I really think that all the pressure and stress that is being put on young children is appalling. Really I think it should be considered a form of child abuse! So far I have heard "The teacher says the test is real hard." "We are practicing our essays for L.E.A.P." "Tomorrow we have to practice the math part of L.E.A.P" So, where is Art, Music, or heck Reading, Spelling ect.? Oh I know they are in there too, but right now its all about stressing our kids out beyond belief. Like they don't have a lifetime to experience stress, lets add some adult created junk to the mix. What happened to just being able to be kids? What happened to Reading, Writing and Arithmetic? Its gone, all gone. Now reading counts for something, math has all new definitions of its own, and writing...well writing is directed and prompted.
Now I understand bullying, they are taking their frustrations out on other students! Yes, I know that is not necessarily a fact, but think about it....
L.E.A.P needs to go. Plain and simple it needs to go. It doesn't create better students or better teachers or even better schools. Its all about Federal Funding, REALLY?!?!?! The government makes schools EARN money to teach our kids at the sacrifice of our children.
Now don't you just feel warm and fuzzy inside?
Oh, and don't worry I promise to enlighten you with my thoughts on Political Correctness one day soon! Just kidding....maybe?

The World and Discontent and Other Rantings!

Theory of Relativity: No two objects can occupy the same space at the same time.
In the same way, my heart, my life, my soul cannot be occupied by both the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world at the same time.
Technology, I LOVE it! I have to admit, if someone offered me unlimited spending at any store of my choice I would pick Best Buy! Everyone would have the newest electronic devices, my TV would be powered by Google, my appliances would be top of the line...then what? What would be next? Really those things would be out of date by the time we walked out of the store. Wow, technology moves fast.
Wants move just as fast. My children want all the time. One wants a Barbie Jeep, one doesn't really know what she wants, EVER! Contentment never seems to come. As a adult it took major life events to reach contentment. God won't give you more until you are content with what he has given to you. Just like as parents we try not to overload our children with things that they are ungrateful for, God won't overload us until we show gratitude. How do you get this thru to a 10 year old or a 6 year old?
The world tells them they have to have more and more and more. Their friends tell them they have the best of the best, making them feel inferior.
Ah to go back to the simple life! George Carlin said it best "Do kids even play with sticks anymore?" Society has created indoor kids that don't have to use their imagination anymore. Schools tell them what to learn, how to learn it, and when to learn it. They color in the lines are told what to write about in their journals and that what they wrote isn't long enough or good enough.
Society tells adults that they don't do enough, make enough, have enough. They measure success by the car you drive, the house you live in, the clothes you wear, where you shop, where you get your hair done, the job you have, oh the list could go on. Who is setting these standards?
The MEDIA! All over TV we are told we are to fat, not politically correct (don't get me started on THAT one, that is a topic for another post), we need to stop bullying (again don't get me started) we have to accept everyone and everything that they do (oh and we HAVE to LIKE it!), that the government is on our side (LOL)ect......this list could go on forever.
When did we stop thinking for ourselves? Society has taught adults to color in the lines right along with our children. They even tell us how we should raise our children and how we should take care of our pets!
You can't have two Masters. Even Christians fall into the society rat trap. They pretend to live to a standard that they really can't meet. We are to strive to be Christ like, we can't obtain that. God knows this, he knows your heart, he knows your thoughts before they leave your lips. You can't hide from those thoughts and you sure can't hide them from God! Presenting yourself to others as perfect because you go to church isn't realistic. You turn to God because you are not perfect! He created you, He knows you, He loves you in spite of yourself!!
Discontentment comes because we have strayed away from being free thinkers. We have lost sight of what is really important. I am NOT pointing fingers at anyone, every single one of us are guilty of it at one time or another. God recognized this when he wrote the Ten Commandments. You know the ones, Thou shall not Kill ect...have you ever thought about the last one:
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:17. We covet all the time! How do you avoid doing this? Is it even possible? Clearly God knows it isn't.
So, back to my original statement...its time to get rid of this stinkin thinkin that society has pushed on us. Time to truly get our hearts, lives and souls occupied by the Kingdom of God not the Kingdom of Best Buy, Walmart, Disney ect.....Will we be perfect at this, I doubt it, will our imperfection be forgiven, DEFINITELY!! Will God help us attain it, sure He will all you have to do is ask. Will you trip over the latest and greatest new thing you just have to have, yeppers! (just being a realist here)When you do, just ask again. We really have to get back to basics!

What a Day!

Well, I say "What a Day!", but really it started yesterday about 2:30pm. That was when I got the phone call from school saying my little one was running fever. I headed out and picked up both girls. We gave Magic Motrin and all seemed fine. Of course we woke up with fever again this morning. No big deal, fevers come and go, but this time it brought a rash! YIKES! What the heck is that? Of course I called the Dr.s office and went in. We are the proud owners of a virus. Yep, we are right up there with the rest of the world. Guess it was only a matter of time before something hit us. I will take it, so far its a mild little thing just causing us to slow down and get some rest. Rest is good!
Soooo, I come home to my poor hubby looking so sad sitting at the kitchen table. I tell you he had tears in his eyes. Did I mention that our 6 month old puppy was locked in the dog crate desperately pleading his case? Still not sure what happened, I hated to ask actually, but of course I went there. Hubby had come in and caught the puppy in the middle of the kitchen table. No big deal...right? Nope, he had knocked over a glass of Coke, which of course spread across the entire table top right under (here is the tears in his eyes part) my precious laptop!!! Bless my hubby's heart, right after disciplining the dog he took to drying my laptop for a half and hour. I could tell how much it pained him to tell me all of this! Well the dog was blessed with the grace of God and my laptop is just fine.
Sooo, I took out a pack of frozen pork chops to cook for dinner. Did I mention that something is wrong with our central heat, it just doesn't seem to be doing the best job in the world. Kind of explains the almost 300.00 light bill! YIKES! Ok, so I digress (get used to it, I do it often) Anyway, the pork chops, I come home from the doctors office and after the laptop fun, I realize it was time to start dinner. Now I am really trying to cook home way more often, no stop laughing, I mean it really! Can you believe it, they are still frozen solid!! Dollar menu here we come. I was so annoyed!
Ah so this day will pass. All the things that need to get done will get done, somehow. The list is long for this week and the week is running out. Somehow I have to get out back and help clean this nice new kitchen so we can get work started, however right now I am going to give this day back to the Lord and relax! I guess you could say I quit, at least for now! LOL

UGH!!!!! Quit Stirring in God's Kool-aid!

UGH!!! Ever feel like that? That is exactly how I felt this afternoon. My poor, dear, sweet friend happened to call me during this UGH moment. Bless her sweet heart she listened to my ranting and raving and venting, I feel so bad that I still don't even know the reason for her call. (so sorry chickie!!) I can't tell you how thankful I was that she just listened to me!
Now I know that this UGH moment was just that feisty devil stirring in my Kool-aid. And, sadly, I let him stir away. I think he even tried to change the flavor!
Ever forget that God really is in control, that He set plans in motion and has the end of those plans in His hands. Ever try to take that mess on by yourself and forget to stop and ask for His help. I am so guilty of that this afternoon.
I am over it now, God will prevail, His plan will be unfolded and successful. I just have to remember to quit stirring in God's Kool-aid!!!!!