Category Archives: Faith

7 Quick Takes: How Many Controversial Things Can I Say This Week, Promise Walk Sponsorships, and Grumping About Basketball

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

o.O I will readily admit that I had never pondered the theological powers of Superman before. The questions posed by Cari’s oldest son sound like the question from teaching Confirmation about whether or not God could create a boulder so big that He couldn’t lift it Himself. For the record, I’m with Lotus — Jesus is stronger than Superman.

— 2 —

The “Why I Am Not Homeschooling Daniel” post series. Post #1 started some good discussion and brought a few trolls to the blog. Post #2 served as some kind of explanation. Post #3 was all about my reasons for not homeschooling him. I’m also inviting people to email and tell me succinctly (75 words or less) what decision you made (public/private/parochial/homeschool) and why you made it so that we can crowdsource some ideas for Bonnie. Email me by Wednesday of next week (the email address is jen @ this domain) and I’ll print all the things that fit. **UPDATE** Someone just emailed me to tell me that Elena rebutted what I had to say to her. In the interest of fairness, I’m linking the rebuttal here. I still stand by everything I said 100% but I also would rather let y’all see what she has to say and let you draw your own conclusions.

— 3 —

More obsessing about food. Actually, it isn’t really obsessing as much as it’s reporting that if I eat in such a fashion as to not irritate the ulcers (which may have healed by now), my IBS symptoms go away. If I eat one thing on the forbidden list, I return to IBS hell. I haven’t had any Coke in almost a month and I still miss it even though I’ve found some alternatives that have less of a carb load and aren’t going to corrode my insides. I haven’t checked to see if I have celiac issues yet, mostly because I’m already having to limit my diet and I’m trying not to do too much at once. I’ll be with my parents this weekend and they have a scale so I’ll see if I’ve actually lost any weight at that point.

— 4 —

Orphans. Do you see these three adorable munchkins?

First row: Brett and Iris.
Second row: Kaia.

BrettIrisKaia

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her. Kaia has a family committed to her who will be traveling to her country at the end of July to meet her on July 26th! Click on their names to see their Reece’s Rainbow pages.

— 5 —

Hmph. Wipeout! was pre-empted by some stupid basketball game. NBA basketball is overrated and I say this even coming from a city that just fought tooth-and-claw to keep their team.

— 6 —

*facepalm* Could I ask a favor of the Catholic blogosphere? Could you please actually *READ* a news story in its entirety and not look for random soundbites to use as evidence that Obama is Satan? The FULL TEXT of the quote that everyone got so flipped out about yesterday is…

If towns remain divided ?? if Catholics have their schools and buildings, and Protestants have theirs, if we can’t see ourselves in one another, if fear or resentment are allowed to harden ?? that too encourages division. It discourages cooperation. (Source)

The word “theirs” in the phrase “Protestants have theirs” replaces “their schools and buildings”. He is referring to the fact that in most places, Catholics and Protestants live in separate neighborhoods divided by “peace lines” — barricades made of bricks, steel, and barbed wire. (I actually saw these in Belfast when I was there in 1998.) He is not calling for an end to Catholic education in general in either Northern Ireland or in the USA — he is calling for Catholics to integrate with Protestants for the purposes of working for peace the same way whites had to integrate with blacks in this country 50 years ago. Mining articles like that for soundbites is juvenile and shows an inability to play well with others, so can y’all please behave in a Christ-like fashion? I refrained from mining stories for Romney soundbites during the last election and I know y’all can do the same regarding Obama.

— 7 —

Promise Walk for Preeclampsia. Wanna sponsor me in the Promise Walk this weekend? Preeclampsia affects 1 in 8 pregnancies in some fashion and 1/5 of affected women lose their babies because the only cure is to deliver the baby, regardless of how premature they are. I’m blessed in that I had a doctor who caught it in time and got me transferred to the BIG hospital in Great Falls where my awesome high-risk specialist could do an emergency c-section and where there was a Level III NICU for Daniel. If you can’t sponsor me, please at least keep me and the other participants in prayer on Sunday morning.

Daniel and I at the 2012 Promise Walk.

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

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: Who Am I?

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Because I totally need another meme to help me post, right? 🙂 I’ll be joining Becky’s new “Blogging with a Purpose” link-up.

The topic this week is “Who Am I” and it brings the Casting Crown’s song to mind.

The last line, “I am Yours” is especially significant to me because of my identity as a child of God, one redeemed from sin by the Precious Blood of Jesus. God loved me so much that He sent His Son to die for me so that I could enjoy life with Him. This is amazing beyond words.

In addition to being a child of the living God, I am also…

-a mother
-a wife
-a daughter
-a blogger
-a reader
-a computer geek
-a HELLP Syndrome survivor
-a lover of baroque sacred music
-a singer
-a pianist
-a scholar of religions and Biblical languages
-an advocate for orphans
-a Trader Joe’s addict
-a cat slave
-a CBS junkie, especially relating to NCIS, The Big Bang Theory, and CSI

All these things contribute to who I am but not one of these things is solely the totality of me.

Why I Am Not Homeschooling Daniel (II): About That Last Entry…

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For all those who are engaging in discussion on the first post in this series, right on! I’ve appreciated what almost all of you have to say. There has been one person whose comments have been marked as spam and then I.P. banned for spamming me but that’s been it. I’ve been impressed that the discussion has been civil and I don’t know if y’all know how much I appreciate that.

Of all the people who have commented, the only two I specifically asked for feedback are Sara of A Shower of Roses and my friend Crystal. Sara has homeschooled/is homeschooling all 6 of her kids up until high school. She seems to have seriously found something that works for her family and which I thought people might appreciate knowing about. Crystal was educated in California public schools from K-college and teaches English at a private Catholic school. I figured that she could talk about curriculum and how decisions are made.

“Zelie Martin” raises the point that Elena isn’t here to refute what I’ve said. The reason for this is that she was I.P. banned last Friday for leaving me a really hateful comment here that went into moderation. I don’t tolerate drama in my combox and while I’m fine with people disagreeing with me, I have zero tolerance for people attacking me personally. Additionally, a friend of mine from college attempted to refute Elena on that entry over at her blog and had her comment deleted. (I personally went over and checked. Katia commented twice and only one comment is there.)

The commenter “Zelie Martin” (whose username is profaning the name of Bl. Zélie Martin, mother of St. Thérèse of Lisieux) went over and attacked my friend Katia, mentioning me as the cause. Her comment has now been marked as spam and she has been I.P. banned. Seriously? Drama is not necessary.

Tomorrow, I’ll post my personal reasons for not homeschooling my son Daniel.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: June 18, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY June 18, 2013

Outside my window… dark. It was kind of warm yesterday (it’s past midnight here) and I think we’re supposed to warm up this weekend.

I am thinking… snarky thoughts at the moment about the person whose blog entry I am ripping apart and I am trying to remind myself to be charitable. I am unfortunately failing at this.

I am thankful… for a nice getaway on Saturday night and getting to go hang out with my parents this weekend.

In the kitchen… grilled chicken and turkey. I’m trying not to thinking about the box of Trader Joe’s Hold the Cone! Ice Cream Cones I just inhaled, 7/8 of it in one sitting.

I am wearing… holey navy maternity shirt and my super comfy light blue striped pj pants.

I am creating… a series of posts on why I am not homeschooling Daniel.

I am going… slowly crazy 1 2 3 4 5 6 switch! Crazy going slowly am I 6 5 4 3 2 1 switch!

I am wondering… if/when my stupid ulcers will go the duck away!!!

I am reading… Maphead by Ken Jennings and Agony of the Leaves by Laura Childs when my NOOK needs re-charging (meaning that I have to put Maphead on hold).

I am hoping… I can get all my writing done tonight and do so without being a snarky wench in the homeschooling entry.

I am looking forward to… the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia on Sunday. You *KNOW* you want to sponsor me.

Around the house… I am probably doing a mountain of laundry tomorrow and must re-appropriate the laundry basket from Daniel.

I am pondering… various moves on Words With Friends.

One of my favorite things… playing on the swings with Daniel. I can’t wait until he can sit on a regular swing and pump his legs so I can swing too!!!

A few plans for the rest of the week: height/weight/iron check at the clinic on Wednesday, WIC on Thursday (dreading this), massage on Friday, heading to San Jose on Friday, and coffee with mi amiga Rebecca on Saturday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (VI)

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Five Favorites

Salah

Kym. Kym and I met via Livejournal more than 10 years ago. We comiserate about faith things, cat herding, life, and just… everything. She baked muffins and cookies for the NICU staff at Daniel’s hospital, sent me baby clothes and baby cookbooks when he was born, and has kept me as sane as she can in the midst of everything. She was recently diagnosed with stage 1 uterine cancer and it’s looking more and more like a hysterectomy is going to be necessary to wipe out the cancer. She’s self-employed and without insurance so she needs to raise $60,000 for the surgery, anethetists, hospital stay, etc. If you can help at all, hop on over to Kym’s Hysterical (Not) Hysterectomy and toss a few bucks her way. If you happen to know of any grant program that can help her out, please also let us know.

Dua

Trader Joe’s Coffee Latté and Cream Bars. These are beyond awesome. Granted, they’re tiny (about 1/2 the size of a popsicle) but they’re low-calorie (90 calories per bar) and low-carb (9g of carb per bar) so they’re a good indulgence, especially when I’ve had to give up my iced vanilla lattés. I’d post a picture but Trader Joe’s doesn’t have one on their site.

Tiga

These two memories. When we lived in Minnesota, I had two wonderful women who were supportive of me. There were two times when we had visitors in the congregation and one or the other of them introduced me by saying, “This is Jen. She’s our pastor’s wife but she’s also a wonderful person in her own right. She’s also a talented musician and knows her Bible!” I’m bringing them up not to toot my own horn but because I really liked being told that I had worthwhile gifts that were separate from my husband. I’m still in contact with one of them and she is a serious source of encouragement for me.

Empat

Postcrossing. I’ve been postcrossing for 3 years now and have Beth Anne addicted now. It’s fun to receive the postcards from all over the world and find out what other people find important. Tonight, I got one from Russia from a man who has a set of vintage Russian alphabet ones and he has a project going to send them all over the world. I got “A” for “Angel” (although the word “angel” is written in the Cyrillic alphabet).

Lima

My body. I’ve had body images all my life because I’ve always been the fat kid or the short kid for whom major retailers don’t make clothes. This meant no Gap khakis in high school and having to roll up the legs of my jeans. Lands’ End used to be really good for this because they would hem pants to my inseam for free. (Their selection now is craptastic at best — thankfully, my postpartum fat jeans are still going strong 4 years later.) I’m also built stocky with no chest (thanks PCOS!) so shopping is a pain and since having Daniel (and gaining 40ish pounds since gallbladder surgery despite eating well and exercising), I feel like a whale. Doing the whole charting what I eat is helping because it’s keeping the bad stuff out of my diet (or mostly out) and it’s showing me where my weak spots are. Jon is also really reiterating how much he thinks I’m beautiful as is and how much all the flaws I see on me are invisible to him. For the first time in years, I’m actually starting to be OK with myself.

Go love up Hallie and the others.

7 Quick Takes: Prayer Requests, Whining About Heat, and Opinionated Rantings

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Prayer Requests. Lots of prayer requests for people this week in my life so if you’re so inclined, please pray for…

[-] healing for Hevel from encephalitis.
[-] healing for Josh as he spends another night in the hospital getting things back on track after severe nausea.
[-] emotional peace for Josh’s parents Alex and Susan in the midst of his illness.
[-] healing for my father-in-law.
[-] adjustment to some kind of schedule for my brother-in-law (Chris) and sister-in-law (Joanna) now that Joanna and Patrick (my adorable nephew) are home from the hospital.

— 2 —

Orphans Do you see these three adorable kidlets?

First row: Brett and Iris.
Second row: Kaia.

BrettIrisKaia

Brett and Iris need a mama and papa. Kaia has a family committed to her. Click on their names to see their Reece’s Rainbow pages.

— 3 —

Anti-smoking spiel of the week. Are there any of readers who aren’t aware that I think the term “smoker’s rights” is an oxymoron? Their right to smoke ends where my air supply begins which means that they effectively have no rights. This NPR story talks about the cost of employees that smoke and I can attest to this based on the complete lack of productivity of one of my co-workers in Montana. Between all her smoke breaks and the fines leveled by Customs due to her complete incompetence, she probably cost my company the equivalent of her salary yearly. (I have no idea why she wasn’t fired.)

— 4 —

Don’t make me turn this plane around! Apparently, 100 kids/adults were kicked off a plane headed to Atlanta because they wouldn’t sit down and turn off all their electronic devices. After several requests from flight attendants and the captain coming on and specifically announcing it to the kids, they still didn’t comply and were then told to disembark. They had to be squeezed onto later flights and I guess it took some of them 12 hours to make it to Atlanta. Southwest has offered them vouchers for future travel which I think is ridiculous because it’s punishing bad behavior. The kids should have complied from the beginning and it serves them right that they had to endure a bunch of transfers and more difficult travel. [insert rant about how this *never* would have happened when I was a kid]

— 5 —

Can we say “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face”? Apparently, there are churches who are cutting ties with the Boy Scouts because of the vote to allow openly gay scouts. OK… let me explain what this change *actually* means: The only big change is that openly gay scouts will still be able to earn their Eagle. There will be no orgies on camp-outs. Scouts will not be taught that being gay is totally acceptable — in fact, I’d kind of worry if my son came home from a Boy Scout meeting and told me that they discussed sex. I’ve been involved in both Boy Scouts (through my dad/evil twin/husband) and Girl Scouts for 25 years and I honestly can’t say that sex ever came up at any scout meeting. EVER. I worked on a camp staff that was 2/3 lesbian and I never knew that until one of my former co-workers brought it up a few years later. (I know that our girls were oblivious to it.) Scouting is a wonderful organization and both my husband and I are better people for being part of it. Heck, my husband was even a unit commissioner in Montana.

— 6 —

A good point. I read a brilliant article from Soujourners this week in which the author asked that people stop telling them what is anti-Christian. I concur. I’m a bit tired of people obsessing about how someone’s $tarbux habit is causing moral decay across the globe because $tarbux supports same-sex marriage. If you’re so completely offended by them, DON’T. BUY. THEIR. COFFEE. Support your local coffeeshop. Make your own at home. By the same token, the whole Chick-Fil-A debacle last year causes the same reaction in me — don’t buy their fried crap if you don’t like their corporate giving and don’t act incredibly self-righteous if you do decide to support them, claiming that it’s the “Christian” thing to do.

— 7 —

Hot Hot Hot! It’s supposed to be 110F here this weekend. Pray for me. I hate heat. I hate it! I hate it! I hate it!

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

Five Favorites: My Favorite Websites (I)

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Five Favorites

I thought I’d start doing my favorite websites this week. This will be a multi-week series so if there’s a subject you want covered, simply leave it in the comments.

Before I start, could y’all do me a favor and pray for/send positive thoughts to Hevel? He’s a participant in this meme and the Quick Takes and he’s been in the hospital with encephalitis for almost two weeks now. Thanks!

Pirmas

Online Bible. Have you ever wondered what the 23rd Psalm sounds like in Czech? What about John 3:16 in Amharic (the language of Ethiopia)? Bible Gateway and The Unbound Bible are my two favorites. Bible Gateway will give you straight text while a href=”http://unbound.biola.edu/” title=”The Unbound Bible”>The Unbound Bible will let you compare translations side-by-side and has a ton of resources for translation/Bible study/word studies. If I need to know what a Scripture reference is about quickly, I instinctively go to Bible Gateway.

Antras

Online Translation. I’m wholeheartedly a Google person so I love Google Translate. It has many more languages than Bing Translator though Bing Translator includes two dialects of Klingon. I also am a user of Google Chrome so Google Translate automatically pops up for me.

Trejetas

Online Bookstore. I’m going with BarnesandNoble.Com on this one because I have a NOOK. I think if I had a Kindle, I would be solely an Amazon.Com girl. (I use Amazon.Com for everything else.)

Ketvirtas

Blogging Software. I think there’s a WordPress button somewhere on my front page. 🙂 I’ve been using WordPress and its predecessor b2 for 10 years now. I haven’t been able to create my own templates from scratch since v. 1.5 (summer of 2005) but I still love it and could probably write my own template if I would bother to learn PHP.

Penktas

Feed Reader. As Google Reader will be heading the way of the dodo this summer, I’ve jumped on the Bloglovin bandwagon. It took a few days to adjust but it is an improvement over Google Reader as the feed is grouped by the order things are posted rather than being grouped by site and the Patheos.Com blogs actually display in full text in the reading frame.

Go love up Hallie and the others.