Author Archives: Jen

About Jen

Jen isn't quite sure when she lost her mind, but it is probably documented here on Meditatio. She blogs because the world needs her snark at all hours of the night... and she probably can't sleep anyway.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: January 14, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY January 14, 2013

Outside my window… dark. Today had a high of 48F and we’ll get down to 29F tonight. I’m aware that the rest of the country is laughing at California whining about these temperatures but it’s actually not a good thing for our citrus industry.

I am thinking… about Vicki, Trace, and Cammi as well as the rest of Rick’s family as they bury him today.

I am thankful… for Rick’s life and the way he blessed mine, especially in the first couple years of Jon’s ministry when I needed a friend.

In the kitchen… I need to go grocery shopping.

I am wearing… charcoal grey shirt and fleece pajama bottoms. If only I could go to the grocery store like this. #firstworldproblems

I am creating… plans for Reece’s Rainbow fundraisers and patches for a stained glass blanket to auction off for Kaia.

I am going… to the store eventually tonight.

I am wondering… if people realize that if the science teacher at Taft Union High School had been armed on Thursday, there would have been one more casualty — the teacher disarmed the gunman by talking him down. The student that was shot is recovering.

I am reading… The Buzzard Table by Margaret Maron.

I am hoping… to get back to my normal self soon.

I am looking forward to… Morning Prayer tomorrow.

I am learning how to use Scrivner.

A favorite quote for today… “God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.” — Martin Luther

One of my favorite things… purring tabbies.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Morning Prayer (hopefully) tomorrow and WIC on Thursday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

Because Bloggers Get Nothing Done…

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Rage Against the Minivan: dear pastor mark: pontificate this.

Back story: Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church decided to mouth off via Twitter and claim the following:

Mark Driscoll's tweet

Kristen Howerton of Rage Against the Minivan excoriated him in this post and one of my Twitter buddies (whose name I am forgetting at the moment — sorry!) listed off a whole host of things with the tag #bloggersgetthingsdone.

By the way, have I mentioned that Mars Hill Church sues other churches that try to use the name Mars Hill? I hadn’t realized that they had copyrighted Acts 17. Huh. [/sarcasm]

My take on all this: I will readily admit that I do a fair amount of pontificating — I blog to get the unhealthy crap out of my head and sometimes that means that I blather about how the world should be. However, it’s not all I do. Kristen listed the things she’s been part of as a blogger so maybe I should do the same. 😉

[+] Raised money for Afghani women and put together an afghan to send over there. (2005)
[+] Raised money for Lutheran World Relief (2006), International Justice Mission (2007), First Book (2008), the Preeclampsia Foundation (2009), Direct Relief (2010), and Reece’s Rainbow (2012).
[+] Discussed the issues involved with food stamps/WIC/being part of the 47% and worked with blogger Thomas Fuller Jr to think of solutions.
[+] Raised awareness and advocacy for preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome so that other moms won’t have to go through what I did.
[+] Worked to get two special needs children (Brett and Kaia) adopted through Reece’s Rainbow.
[+] Raised money for sex trafficking victims.

These are just the things off the top of my head. Whether you want to argue that *I* personally got those things done is irrelevant — I feel like it’s a team effort and there are so many bloggers that contribute. I participated in Blogathons for 5 years and saw people raise awareness of resources for rape victims, make schools safer places for GLBTQ kids, and put their health/bodies/minds on the line to stay up for 24 hours because they had something to say.

I will readily admit that my faith in Jesus Christ is what motivates me to do all these things but there are bloggers who aren’t religious that do the same things. All of us understand that we have voices and that these voices when combined can change the world.

So tell me, Mark Driscoll, what have YOU accomplished today?

I Am Stunned and Saddened

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Social media guru RickCaffeinated dies of natural causes before crash.

I met Rick through blogs4God in late 2002/early 2003 where we were both moderators. He and I exchanged friendly barbs via our blogs and got to be friends. When I was denied candidacy for ministry in the ELCA in 2003, he was one of the people who helped me pick up the shattered pieces of my confidence. When I had an ovarian cyst and insurance decided not to pay for it, he sent me some money to help me pay some of my medical bills with the stipulation that I not worry about paying him back. He guest-posted when I was on vacation and we exchanged Christmas cards. Our friendship continued on Twitter where I would mock him and his wife when their tweets got too mushy for me.

People talk about how the Internet is a faceless place. I beg to differ. He was part of a community of people online who came with me on every one of my moves as a pastor’s wife. My world is definitely better place because he was part of it.

Please pray for his wife Vicki and their kids Trace and Cammi.

As a way of paying tribute to him here, I’m linking his guest posts.

Guest Blogging & Politics
Giving Props
HBD
Travellin??
Winter Weather

God speed, Rick. I look forward to you showing me all the cool coffee places when we meet again someday in Heaven.

7 Quick Takes: The State of My Hand, Basketball, and Me Being Opinionated

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Advocating for Brett and Kaia. We have a new Facebook group for Brett as well as one for Kaia. Click on their pictures for more information.

Brett Miss Kaia

— 2 —

O.M.G. NCIS!!!! It was an emotional episode this week and of course, it’s a two-parter so I have to wait until next week to get some resolution. Argh… **SPOILER ALERT** It was almost tear-jerking to see Ziva holding her father’s dead body and to see Vance when he found out his wife was dead. I’m sure this will cause an international incident of some nature and I can’t wait to find out what the two sides are.

— 3 —

I want to be Rachel Held Evans when I grow up. I finished A Year of Biblical Womanhood on the drive to Claremont as well as reading Evolving in Monkey Town. I’m currently re-reading the Biblical Womanhood book for the simple reason that she manages to strike a balance between being faithful to Scripture and decrying practices that are wrong. She also takes Debi Pearl to task which makes my heart sing because Michael and Debi Pearl are sick people whose books have caused deaths from child abuse and domestic violence.

— 4 —

Holy basketball franchise, Batman! The Sacramento Kings might be moving to Seattle so the news tonight (Wednesday — I write my Quick Takes over the period of Tuesday to Thursday) is pretty much all focused on the fact that it might happen. Their owners are a bit of a joke here so I think it’s 50/50 in terms of how people feel about this. I think it would be a bummer for Sacramento to lose the Kings but I’ve also never been tempted to go to a game so it’s one of those things that I wouldn’t miss.

— 5 —

The People’s Choice Awards. I missed the People’s Choice Awards tonight because I was at Ladies’ Night Out for church so I went online to see who won. I thought it was kind of a mixed bag. I’m glad that “The Big Bang Theory”, Steve Harvey, Nathan Fillion, Emma Watson, and the Hunger Games won. However, Twihards winning? Gag me! I also think that the Potterheads, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Emily Deschanel, CSI, and NCIS were shortchanged. Oh well… it’s viewers voting and there’s no accounting for taste.

— 6 —

The state of Jen’s hand. I really should have bitten the bullet and headed to the ER on Thursday because my hand was locked up and throbbing by the time I got into see my nice LCMS PA on Friday. She gave me antibiotics and a tetanus shot. I like her but her medical assistant is a wench. It’s like she hates patients because she was incredibly testy with me when she found out that I hadn’t filed an incident report about the bite. (I’ve been bitten 15 million times by my cats.) Miss Congeniality also had to give me my tetanus shot and while it didn’t hurt, I had to lie down to do it (upper arm) and I have a knot in the spot where she gave me the shot. When I asked her about pain, she dismissively told me to take Tylenol or Advil. Given that they gave me Darvocet the last time I had one of these (which also included a 102F fever for a week), I was not feeling happy about that and sent her to ask the PA. She acted like I was giving her an impossible task and I told her sweetly that I was going to occupy her waiting room until I got a satisfactory answer. (I know how to be a condescending wench when it suits my purposes.) After 5 minutes, she grudgingly came out and told me what my PA had said about the dosing (which is what I expected — 600 mg ibuprofen 4 times a day). The antibiotics and shot helped to unlock the joints in my hand and helped with most of the pain. Driving is still horrific and I’m still having pain in my fingers. Thankfully, this shall pass.

— 7 —

A Compelling Question. One of my Facebook friends posted an article from the New York Times that posits the question of whether forgiveness can play a role in criminal justice. I highly recommend the article as it asks a question that effectively turns the justice system upside down, especially when it comes to capital cases. The defendant still ended up serving a large chunk of time but the victim’s parents got closure and forgiveness. It was fascinating and I recommend it as reading material.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: January 7, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY January 7, 2013

Outside my window… dark. It’s almost 2 a.m.

I am thinking… that the antibiotics might be working — I’m not in half as much pain as I’ve been in this week. (Stupid cat bite infection!)

I am thankful… for my awesome LCMS PA who saw me on Friday and gave me antibiotics. Apparently, all the stuff I was dealing with in December was in my chart or the providers talk amongst themselves because she knew all about Daniel’s illness last month. It was nice that she asked.

In the kitchen… dishes to do.

I am wearing… blue shirt and black sweat capris.

I am creating… squares for an afghan when my hand isn’t throbbing.

I am going… to hope I can get to sleep tonight.

I am wondering… about the true use of the word “engage” in theological practice and discussion.

I am reading… A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans — re-reading it after my long drive back from southern California. I tried reading Montana by Debbie Macomber and threw it in the back seat after 30 pages because it was crap. I lived in Montana for 4 1/2 years and I can’t say that I knew of any militias while I lived here, especially in Sweetgrass proper or the Sweet Grass Hills. I used to *work* in Sweetgrass — there’s nothing up there except a bunch of import brokerages, ICE, and Border Patrol. It would be the stupidest place to have a militia with that much government around.

I am hoping… that my citrus-colored tabby decides to come and hang out with me after I get this done.

I am looking forward to… NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles on Tuesday as well as Ladies’ Night Out on Wednesday.

I am learning patience and self-care. (I’m craptastic at both.)

Around the house… toys and Christmas stuff.

I am pondering… way too many things which is why I’m up blogging.

A favorite quote for today… ??Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.??
— C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

One of my favorite things… a half steak/half chicken burrito bowl from Chipotle

A few plans for the rest of the week: home with Daniel today (tomorrow), Morning Prayer on Tuesday, Ladies’ Night Out on Wednesday, and copy-editing the rest of the week while the bear child is at school or sleeping.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes: Lots of Orphans, A Cat Bite Infection, and Harry Reid

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Prayer Request. I have an issue with my right hand that I *think* is a cat bite infection. It’s painful and swollen and my joints are really stiff. I can’t get in with my awesome LCMS physician assistant until tomorrow (Friday) morning at 10 so could you pray that whatever is going on would please not get worse before that point? Thanks!

— 2 —

Urgent diaper drive. A family “in country” adopting two little girls is having a diaper drive because their daughters’ baby house is too poor to afford enough diapers for all the kids and it’s at the level of a child getting one diaper per day. They’re raising funds to buy as many packages of diapers as they can to donate to them. If you’re interested, click here to go to the entry on Orphan Report with the Chip-In link.

— 3 —

Brett needs a mama. Brett is back on the Reece’s Rainbow website after the Basas were unable to complete his adoption due to his needs added to Dariya’s (“Delilah” on Reece’s Rainbow) being too much for his adopted family to handle. It was a painful decision for them to have to make and they are still really feeling the emotional repercussions of making it. On the other hand, watching them go through it means that I know better how to advocate for him. So… if you know a family who needs an adorable little boy who *loves* books, let them know that he is available.

Brett

— 4 —

Kaia also needs a mama. This is Kaia.

Kaia

She also needs a mama. Could you be that person? Click on her picture to learn more about her.

— 5 —

Giveaway for Katya. I heard from Hevel about a giveaway to help Katya, another little girl adopted from an orphanage, the dental work she needs. The prize is a $tarbux giftcard, some chocolate and peanut butter candy, and a beautiful flower pin.

— 6 —

What Harry Reid did yesterday at 5:03 p.m. while we were waiting for the House to vote. I pondered whether or not to link this because Lawrence O’Donnell was making it all “rah rah Harry Reid” but I thought the fact that O’Donnell talked about how Senator Reid was able to do it with the active though invisible help of Senator Mitch McConnell was cool. I still think Senator McConnell is a putz but it was refreshing to hear about how things actually *do* get done other than the public fights that the media reports.

— 7 —

One more prayer request. Please keep Jen Fulwiler (our usual Quick Takes host) in your prayers as she’s dealing with bi-lateral pulmonary embolisms. They just announced that they’ll discharge her and treat them at home but she’s still “standing in the need of prayer”.

For more Quick Takes, visit Hallie at MoxieWife.Com.