We live in a great nation, with incredible privileges (and accompanying responsibilities). But, "This world is not my home, I'm just a passing thru..."
We sing this song in our wealth and prosperity, in our comfortable homes, travelling speedily wherever we wish, whenever we wish. We have selections of essentials that we purchase, not to mention the non-essentials.
We have spiritual family in places of tremedous political/social/economic trouble. We do not have 700-800% inflation (with few products to buy even if we had the money); we do not have govenmental officials that refuse to step down to allow the newly-elected officials to take office, hanging on illegally with brute force. We teach what the Lord would have us, not what the government allows. We meet in public, not in hushed tones in private.
We, in this country, are a spoiled people (Yes, I know I may sound like your father). Things might be different, might be unsavory to us, might not be just the way we want them to be. Dissapointing? OK. Just don't jump off of the ledge. We call this disaster? Crisis? Reality check, please.
"There is a God. He is alive. In Him we live, and we survive."
Thank you, Hugh, for your voice of reason, strength and encouragment. I have come to the point that all the talk of "dome, dispair and agony" gets me depressed. Not because I agree with it, or buy into it, but because I hear it from people in all areas of my life: work, church, family, etc. It bothers me the most when I hear it from fellow Christians. So again, thank you. I hope your calm voice of reason becomes as rampant as the talk of calmity
THANKS you two for being excited with us! Yes, I will have to give you the whole story soon. A friend introduced us back in April and the more I got to know him, the more I liked him. :)
lol Of course Christians can root for Notre Dame, just like they can root for TCU, Baylor, etc! Unfortunately they didn't say enough Hail Mary's before their game on Saturday though. :( lol
Is it okay to root for a school that has "Christian" in its title? Or a "Christian" based school even if it is a denominational "Christian" ideal?? Not much difference between TCU and Notre Dame, I don't think. I may be mistaken but just like at Florida College, going there doesn't mean you are going to heaven or hell! maybe?? (I'm just kidding FC Alumni, you are going to heaven!! lol)
Ya'll are so nice to offer your home. I was so happy to get a visit even though it wasn't prompted by a good thing. I'm glad all are okay. I hope Linda had a safe trip home. I'm sure she enjoyed her visit. :)
Zach and Audrey evac'ed to Austin to stay with Amber and Derek.
Bubba and Angie (Audrey's sister) Gates, Santa Fe, seemed to weather Ike OK.
Not sure about some of the brethren/building in Baycliff...doesn't sound good.
Grandson Taylor rode it out with his parents...lost a big tree, back fence, and the chimney...all other of their extended family are OK.
My mom in Opelousas, LA lost power this morning for a few hours, but all is restored.
The LaRue's (Alan and Larry) seemed to suffer some damage, but all are OK...nothing major.
Joe Scarborough et al are OK, just a few shingles.
Bill and Lauri Baker evac'ed to Palestine (problems there, now)...Bill is on the way back to check their home and building
in Baycliff.
I think that is all I know.
Glad to know as of now, there was no one hurt. We lost some trees (but they were dead trees that we wanted to come down anyway--we saw them fall). We are out of power and have been for about 6 hours. I think we are out of the storm now.
We all (from Alief) seem to be OK. Some roof damage to a few member's houses but no injuries (thank God). Our building took it hard though! We have canceled services at Alief for the time being... :-( We're all encouraged to meet in house groups.
A GREAT singing at Campbell Road Friday night. Uplifting, very uplifting.
My mom is "in the path" of Mr. G. Actually, he seems to be travelling so that she will be just northeast...not the best place to be. He is weakening, so that is good. My brother (and family), and some other brethren are with her (she's 83), she has a generator, plenty of candles....and lots of BlueBell and spoons!!! We are hoping to get some much needed rain from him.
We've thoroughly enjoyed having Ara and Isshah for the early part of the weekend, and now enjoy Isshah, Adam and AshleyM, and soon to enjoy AshleyL and a friend for lunch.
It was great to sleep in today (7:00 for old folks is sleeping in).
The start of school has been good for both of us. Again, I am teaching some little darlings that Linda taught in Kinder...
Had a great lunch, with some great kids. All have returned home...praying for their safe travel.
Mom just called. The wind and the rain both increased. She has lost electricity (so far for about an hour), and lost a large tree in the back of the property which took out her storage building. Not much in it of value, but all is scattered over the yards in the area. All are well.
1. Migraines seem to be in check. Only 2 this entire summer. With school starting this may change, but I can increase preventative meds if needed.
2. Kidney function has "slightly" increased. Nothing near "normal", but probably just one of those "little" ups and downs. Still laying off of salt, and drinking mostly water.
3. Thyroid situation is a little confusing, however. Lately, I have been more restless at night, hot most of the time, and shaking a bit. It seems that my thyroid levels are increasing to a point above normal again. Doc reduced the level of daily hormone and will check again in about 6 weeks. It is "possible" that the "destroyed" thyroid gland, may be rebounding. If my levels are still up at the next checkup, he will reduce my meds a bit drastically.
Nothing life threatening, just a bit bothersome.
Thanks for your concerns and prayers.
Glad to know your mom survived the storm with minimal damage. We have been awaiting Gustav because it appeared it was coming straight for us. But, we haven't really seen or felt anything extremely serious. I think it moved more toward Shreveport. Have a good day at school!
My mom & I went to Central Market today and left with Lola Savannah Texas Pecan, Costa Rica Tarrazu, and Snickernut Coffee! We had the TX Pecan after dinner :)
OK, here I go. A veritable feast of sports, and other things. Other things? Yes, other things, like Synchronized Diving, Gymnastics, and all other events with SUBJECTIVE SCORINNG. Athletic? ABSOLUTELY! Artistic? YES! Sport? NO!
A sport is an event that has OBJECTIVE scoring...head to head against others, where there is a way to score a point or goal. Put a ball through a basket...get points. Hit a ball so far...score a run. Hit a ball that an opponent can't hit/catch...score a point. Objective scoring, no question, not depending on anything but the opponent/fence/or object of the game.
Subjective scoring is just that...subjective! It depends on...whatever...whether the judge(s) had a bad day, a good day, a like/dislike for the country of the competitor, etc. None of this, "Well, this was better than that, and I gave them a 6.0, so this will be a 6.2, it may be better, but someone may do this better, so I will only give it a 6.1, so I can give them a 6.2", or some such ridiculous thought process. NOT A SPORT!
Is there not some subjectivity to most "sports" in the olympics? Hit a ball so far, but if you don't swing, the judges may deem a ball to actually be a strike. You slide into second base and the judge rules you out even though you were under the tag. You shoot a three pointer but the judge feels your foot was on the line. The push under the basket isn't called because the judge is just "evening up the call". Same goes for almost all team "sports" in the Olympics, no? I have to stick up for Gymnastics!
Those aren't subjective judging issues? I've never known a gymnastics judge who "left room for better" as their job is to score a routine based upon a certain code.
"Table tennis is desperate to attract more viewers and some in the sport believe a simple enough solution exists: get the women to wear skirts and shirts with “curves”.
“We are trying to push the players to use skirts and also nicer shirts, not the shirts that are made for men, but ones with more curves,” International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) vice president Claude Bergeret said."
Wow! I was just having this conversation w/ Jonathan. If I were to choose a sport to participate in the Olympics I would go for one where it was clear if you were the WINNER or the LOSER. The point system is so unpredictable.
Sure, I'll have some copies made next time I have some pictures developed. I have one more that will hatch probably tomorrow. If I'm lucky enough I will take video of it emerging. They hatch really fast so it's a matter of knowing when they will do it.
Waiting to see where a storm is going has to be on my list of my least favorite activities -- waiting to find out the school district's plan is just a little higher on the list.
