search our site with Google 
 

October 28, 2005 Is the boat going to capsize?   It seems, in life, that when everything looks bleak and seemingly *everyone* is thinking the same thing or that everyone is repeating a mantra, that there’s something suspect about it all.  That’s sort of how I see it today anyway.   It’s sort of like everyone has run to  one side of the boat… trampling one another to get to the rail, shouting and  pointing at some object in the deep.  Only, that object or objects can’t really be seen, and conformity is drummed up in the crowd and so the crowd begins to chant along with the blind guides.   Trouble is, the blind guides can’t figure out what to do next---but the crowd is in near chaos and wrought with emotion.  Pandemonium fuels the throng of people leaning over the edge and the boat takes on water…    that’s how these days seem to be, to me, in America.  But God. But God who is rich in mercy. May He have mercy on us. May He remove the scales from the eyes and make the blind to see. “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:   Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”  ---Ephesians 2.1-7   October 27, 2005 Thoughts on the day...   When Wes woke me up this morning, I’d been dreaming an intricate, bizarre dream in which my husband and I were attending a large church where instead of being a place of worship and praise to the LORD, it was a sort of theater/banquet/recreation hall where distinct features of all religions were being practiced --- like a conglomeration of language, slang, cultural ritual, fetish or idol worship, etc.  I wondered why this was being embraced and celebrated so enthusiastically.  O, the dream went on and on and as my husband and I watched---moved our chairs to another location, his video camera was confiscated----there would be no reporting of this.  So… I guess I was glad to be awakened from that dream.  So glad for my husband’s tenderness that helped transition into the day.  Proverbs 27.9 “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.”  So… dreading the thoughts with which my day began  we studied the Word together, and as a family, had our Bible study.  For the month of October we’ve made a change in our usual “read straight through” the Bible and have been reading Psalms and Proverbs beginning with the Psalm corresponding with the calendar date and every thirtieth psalm after that and the chapter of Proverbs that corresponds with the date (Psalms 27, 57, 87, 117, 147; Proverbs 27).  We used do this all the time but now only do this every once in a while during the year with our family.  Proverbs  27.17 “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”  As I consider the strangeness hovering over the day even before it started … curiously, it’s remained strange.  After Wes and the boys left for work, and as we got things underway here in our home, I sat down to reflect on a few things… to scan the mail and news, then to consider an email my husband received from a friend of ours regarding the economic state of our country, etc., etc.  This, after yesterday where I’d spent some time reading a bit of the Humanist Manifesto and the NEA (National Education Association) and the “foundation” of the public school system in America.  I was researching this as I was seeking to compare the foundation of family as instituted by God and then considering home-schooling as opposed to the government system set in place and the agenda that can do nothing but undermine and destroy the family.   Proverbs  27.13 “Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.”  Then as I’ve been writing the “Someday An Heirloom Marriage” Bible study for women, I’ve been considering the things that erode marriage, sabotage the relationship between husbands and wives.  I’ve been considering the immoral-amoral society in which we live and the near destruction of propriety, modesty and innocence---the lack of respect, manners, decency.  I consider that our society doesn’t blush at immodest or profane things---that honesty and wholesomeness are waning qualities in much our society----including the “church!”  Modesty… a blog for another day. Proverbs 27.20  “Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.”  What amazing thoughts have collided---related, unrelated, interrelated.    I was thinking yesterday… poor, poor America.  The once great country.  Poor, poor, pitiful America… the once strong nation… now like an self destructive, adulterous, drug addict: anemic and  hemorrhaging to death.    America, addicted to everything it loves---but seeming unaware that everything it loves is empty---like a Hollywood set: a façade with actors playing roles and portraying lives of other plastic people. And the “church” seeming to happily subsist on twinkies and kool-aid of whatever purposes that meet its felt-needs today---instead being nourished and living out the Way,.. on the milk and meat of the Word.  I’ve been thinking this a long time… it was especially powerful to me yesterday---and it had *nothing* to do with the wonderful events of yesterday --- the wonderful joy of having our son home.  So, as I finished my mail, a cursory glance at the News… I was thinking… yes, you just had to know that the Miers nomination was a fiasco from the beginning and that from the beginning, it was going to fail; and you just had to know that because our society is based on an entitlement mentality, many would be griping that *only* ice was provided the first day after yet another  catastrophic hurricane.  Yes, you had to know that Exxon-Mobil and Shell were going to post record profits---while you and I spent record high prices at the pump.  You just had to know that in today’s news there would be story after story of doom and gloom.  Scarier, though, is that though perhaps some of the actual stories being reported are lies… it’s what’s not being reported that’s alarming.   Proverbs  27.12 “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.” And then I read Peggy Noonan’s piece in the Journal.  In “A Separate Peace,” she writes  “that the wheels are off the trolley and the trolley's off the tracks…” And the, I consider that I need to get going... or the wheels on this family's trolley will come off... unless the trolley's already off the tracks… Your Comments email:   pamela AT achristianhome.org     Or... just sign Our Guestbook   October 26, 2005 Today's the day of days!!   In our family, there’s nothing like are reunion!  Be it a reunion at the end of the work-day,  a reunion after any length of time apart is reason to celebrate.  But I think probably tops on the list are reunions that happen at SeaTac.  Not so much because of the often emotional setting of the airport, but because arriving at SeaTac generally means a reunion that follows a long-distance separation---not just a length of time apart.  It means that the separation signifies some event or some adventure to be recounted to the family.  It means some element of risk or was experienced---or grief or loss or the joy and excitement of some grand adventure… like Wes’s trip to Liberia several weeks ago, and the boys’ “Most Excellent Adventure” last month---or of Kathryn’s a couple of weeks later---and mother’s visit from Indiana in a couple of weeks from now.  All of these and many, many more---endearing events in the seasons of life. The trip to SeaTac is shorter each time I drive it because each time I make the trip---I recognize as a genuine gift from the LORD---I don’t take days for granted like I used to.  I don’t esteem time lightly like I used to do.  When I discovered that life wasn’t all about me---but it is all about everyone---then those trips became very meaningful.    So, today... it's not all about the trip for *me* to see my boy--- whom I adore and have ached for and have missed daily-hourly since he left (ooops, I almost slipped back into the all-about-me syndrome of motherhood).  No, now I have the awesome privilege to be the driver of the van that carries a whole bunch of thrilled brothers and sisters who will have the distinct privilege of going into the airport to greet their brother after he disembarks the plane and makes his way down the corridor to find them jumping and straining to see a glimpse of him in the crowd of other people’s loved ones.  I will have that precious time of anticipation as I circle the airport---waiting to see them all standing on the walkway… I can’t wait. Tell ya all about it later.  ;-) October 25, 2005 The Blessings of the LORD...     In frequent consideration of the blessings of the LORD, I’m humbled by His care and provision.  In great things and in small things… I often feel as if the LORD has blessed as Ruth was blessed.  But more so than this because He has been Careful when I’ve been careless, Mindful when I’ve been indifferent, Providing though I’ve wasted, Protective though I’ve wandered.      Ruth 2.8-10 says: “Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:  Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? Then I consider, why are You mindful of me, LORD?  Why do You lavish on me all that You have---seeing You *know* who I am.  On days like today, when there is devastation all around being reported in the news, grief and loss, hardness of heart and sorrow all around---I’m mindful of His great love for His children which He loves with everlasting love---no matter how things *seem* today.   “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…”  ---Deuteronomy 33.27  Many times it’s as if the LORD has set a bound for me as Boaz set for Ruth,  “And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.”   Ruth 2.16,  because it so often seems as though handfuls of blessings have been literally sprinkled over my life---I find it impossible to fathom the love and mercy of the LORD---I never want to neglect or be forgetful of His dealings---I never want to take them lightly or for granted---nor do I want to presume that I had anything to do with some of the ways in which He has so blessed.  Considering the children He’s lent me to care for---how astounding it is to comprehend these matchless gifts---each one  precious, unique and so full of “potentiality!”    It’s humbling---it’s staggering---really.  I often mull over  passages of my book: A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie ---I think of all the books we have, aside from the Bible,  it’s surely one of my most favourite treasures.  Well, so, the first day's prayer entry is this:   Eternal Father of my soul, let my first thought today be of Thee, let my first impulse be to worship Thee, let my first speech be Thy name, let my first action be to kneel before Thee in prayer.      For Thy perfect wisdom and perfect goodness:      For the love wherewith Thou lovest mankind:      For the love wherewith Thou lovest me:      For the great and mysterious opportunity of my life:      For the indwelling of Thy Spirit in my heart:      For the sevenfold gifts of Thy Spirit:                   I praise and worship Thee, O Lord      Yet let me not, when this morning prayer is said, think my worship ended and spend the day in forgetfulness of Thee.  Rather from these moments of quietness let light go forth, and joy, and power, that will remain with me through all the hours of the day;      Keeping me chaste in thought:      Keeping me temperate and truthful in speech:      Keeping me faithful and diligent in my work:      Keeping me honourable and generous in my dealings with others:      Keeping me loyal to every hallowed memory of the past:      Keeping me mindful of my eternal destiny as a child of Thine.      O God, who has been the Refuge of my fathers through many generations, be my Refuge today in every time and circumstance of need.  Be my guide though all that is dark and doubtful.  Be my guard against all that threatens my spirit's welfare. Be my strength in time of testing.  Gladden my heart with Thy peace; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.  A Diary of Private Prayer---John Baillie October 24, 2005 The Bookstore...    Tell us about the bookstore.  (That is a line from “You’ve Got Mail”)  Well… to answer some of the questions we’ve been receiving: we are still working out lots of little quirks that we’re fine-tuning as we get “The Welcome Home bookstore” in order.    What we’re trying to provide is a simple location for people to obtain the books they’re looking for --- a place we can recommend many titles at reasonable prices.  We were attempting to do a small scale version of this ourselves, but found it to be entirely too cost prohibitive as far as added expenses and :time goes --- and, in addition, as far as developing an inventory: that would’ve been exorbitant.   As we’ve been preparing to offer items to create a “welcoming” environment in homes, we also have found the cost of commercial accounts and merchant accounts to be expensive---a monthly expense we couldn’t reconcile.  So, when the opportunity came along for us to create our “own” Bookstore within an online book distributor, we decided to explore it further.  We’re pleased with what we’ve discovered thus far.  Now we’re facing the happy dilemma of acquiring some resources that aren’t available from mainstream Christian book distributors so that we can offer them through our store.   In all of these endeavors, we are cognizant of the fact that there are lower prices elsewhere and there are different resources elsewhere, but even knowing this, we’ve decided to simply make them available, give our recommendations and highlight the books we feel are most helpful to Christian homes.  The difficult part of all this, for us, has been that we are book-lovers and so we are having to exercise tremendous self restraint when browsing the books to add to our “top picks” list on the front page.  We know that because of other online book-sellers and the steep discounts they can offer, we’ll not be able to compete with the absolute lowest prices---especially with used books garnering such a large share of the market---but no matter, it’s fine with us.  Over the many years of having  “A Christian Home” website and making articles and links available to Christian families, money has never been an object or a question.  The LORD has provided each month what’s been needed and we’ve never sought to profit or to solicit advertising to cover expenses---they’ve just been covered adequately---so, that’s what we’re trusting with the online bookstore---and that’s simply what it’s for: another great resource to add to the innumerable resources we offer for free on this site.    We pray families will be changed by the LORD working through the books and articles they read and through the music they listen to----we just want to make an attempt to provide a path for that to happen.   October 22, 2005 I need more hours in my day...     All the while I've been blogging, I find it most interesting to read about other people---much more interesting than the "News," unless it's people writing about what *they* think about the news---and I frequently link to what others are saying/doing, bcz their lives are far more interesting than my own and what they've got to say, far more instructional that what I can piece together.   So then, I must tell you, I write about her, share her comments from time to time, highly recommend her books and Blog-entries, but I have never met Barbara Curtis.  When she shares things about her husband, I sometimes think he must be related to mine---thus, we'd be related, too.  When she shared about her husband's garage... I thought about mine. Well, you've gotta read her entry here about her husband and the treasures he finds.  I love what she shared about him---about her mother-in-law and her observations of  "then and now."   My husband has treasures, too.  His treasures, his dad's treasures, his grandpa's treasures...  He has, I think, every receipt, contract, important paper or file he ever had.  I think that his dresser contains more treasures of other people in this family than his own clothing.  His garage/shop is a young man's dream of a treasure hunt.  You may not find just what you're looking for at the time (though, Wes can) you will find things you never thought of needing or never knew existed.  It's certainly no Ikea out there and a wide-eyed professional organizer would turn down the job and run the other way in fear and trembling, but his shop's a pretty interesting place to hang out.  I'll bet Tripp's garage is a pretty cool place to hang out, too.   Your Comments email:   pamela AT achristianhome.org   My great big thanks to those of you who have written to let me know of all the broken links!!  *YES* there are *M*A*N*Y* October 21, 2005 I need more hours in my day...     What a common phrase---I even have the book, More Hours in my Day, by Emilie Barnes.  I can't remember when I last read from that book---it's obviously been awhile.   I sort of have this terrible habit of picking up a book, really getting into about four chapters and then putting it down to do teh same with another great book and then years laterr coming back to the first to read (or reread) more or the rest of the book.  I know authors don't write for people to simply get the gist of the book---they write for people to read the whole thing---to digest the whole thing--I know when I write something, it is intended that the whole piece be read.  But we don't have time---we don't have enough hours in our day to do all we intend to do, do we?  I know I don't.  But on the other hand, I do realize that I have all the hours this day that God intends for me to have---I just need to set about ordering the time I do have instead of wasting time I don't have to waste. So, I was scurrying about the kitchen doing a quick tidy up---I have this little game I play many times each day: I heat my coffee (yes, sometimes for the umpteenth time) for a minute and a half.  In that amount of time I race to see just how much cleaning I can get done in the kitchen.  Or sometime I  might heat the water in the tea-kettle and use that time to spotlitize our house.  Spot-li-tiz-ing is a word we use aroun our home and it simply means to make the place look spotless---it's a word I use when I don't want to spend the time explaining what needs to be done to those who *already* know what I mean when I want get it all spotless.  Spotlitize.  It is amazing just how much can be done before the tea-kettle whistles.  I can unload the dishwasher or fold a load of clothes---unless, it's a "white-load" or I can totally sweep the floor or do a quick once-over tidy.  It's not spotlitized---but it's tidy.  When others are working alongside---we can divvy up the rooms and each take five minutes to make a difference!! in that room.  It's really amazing to do this a couple of times a day---things stay pretty neat---but invariably, this plan will break down at the most inopportune times. When someone is baking cookies or especially brownies, someone always wants to be the one to spatulate the bowl.  They don't just want the beater, they want the beater, spatula *and* the bowl.  This little word came about during a time when one of the children, while licking spatula & bowl, was  commenting that the others had taken quite a few samples from the cookie batter earlier and one said to that one: "O, yes ___________, you say that as you're spatulating the bowl!"  So: Spatulate. Well, so the reason we are looking for more hours in our day is bcz we've been burning the midnight oil trying to get things set up for our online bookstore.  We've still got a long way to go before we can present some of the  things we'd like offer---but we are learning.  Plus there are several logistical things to be worked out---we just need some more time to put them in place.  We've been wanting to set up a book/gift shoppe here for some time, but don't have the "system" set up to do so.  So, when the opportunity came along to have an on-line bookstore *and* a place for us to sell other items along with our own in the future, we decided to pursue it.  There are several books that we recommend that aren't listed in the bookstore yet--- and so those are the sorts of things we need to continue to explore.  So far, we're happy with what we're learning and what we'll be able to make available in a pretty simple format and process.  We'll still also promote books that have been helpful to us which are sold by individuals---one, in particular is The Hope Chest - A Legacy of Love by Rebekah Wilson.  And there are products we'll continue to highlight and recommend here on our site---so, nothing's changed in that respect.  In the six years we've had this website, that's always been one of the foundational objectives: to be a, not ---the--- but ---a---  web-resource companion ---after the manner of Titus 2.  Not just Titus 2.3-5, but Titus 2 in general.  We're thinking that a bookstore simply broadens our ability to encourage families.   We're beginning the countdown of the days till Timothy returns home.  Three months has felt like a very long time for him to have been gone---O, we love our boy and, O how we've missed him!  As we've been watching the weather at Catalina, it's pretty obvious that the waters have been pretty rough and that has necessitated a trip back to Long Beach on the Express and leaving the boat moored at the island instead of taking the boat back to Long Beach.   I asked Timothy if it was unnerving to leave the boat behind---and he said,  Yes, a little!   Well---today they've gone back to the Island---hopefully they've returned to find everything "ship-shape" ;-)   Your Comments email:   pamela AT achristianhome.org October 19, 2005  Old love, old friends   I have the sweetest smelling candle on my desk---on this misty, dreary afternoon, candlelight is somehow inspirational to me as I sit here occasionally looking out the window to see the light swishing of the weeping willow branches that hang from the  nearly one-hundred year old tree.   I treasure a bunch of old things.  I treasure the Word---I treasure God's faithfulness and His promises.  Of all the things I treasure most, in addition to these and in addition to my family, I suppose it's old love and old friends.  One of the greatest treasures long marriage has given me is: old love;  years have given me: old friends.  Old love and old friends can't be bought, can't be hurried along, cannot be contrived and cannot occur by accident or happenstance.  Old love is the marvelous product of years of shared experiences, shared trials---shared joys and a common pursuit of wellbeing and happiness within a bond of contentment and commitment.  I suppose much of the same can be said of old friendship thought oftentimes the daily , weekly or even yearly communication is sporadic.  There are some old friends that I rarely see or rarely spend time with and yet each next conversation occurs with seeming unfettered ease and without awkward hesitations in communication or nervous pauses that some separations produce.   I love that a phone call from an old friend can seem like a mere continuation of a previous conversation even if months or years have transpired between conversations.   I love that old friends need no reintroduction and no stumbling for excuses or defenses---and I love that old friends overlook failings or character flaws or physical imperfections.  I love that about old love, too.  My husband, my old love, overlooks my failings---my many imperfections and yet helps me correct or improve without being critical or harsh---O, how I seek to emulate his loving behaviour---he's been the inspiration the LORD has used.   These are the things that reveal the distinction between close acquaintances and close friendships.  I sometimes think you gotta have plenty of both to recognize the difference. A phone call from an old friend confirmed these thoughts in my heart today.   O, how timely was that call.  I was writing up another lesson in the marriage study and was contemplating the keys to strong "go-the-whole-distance" marriages.  Receiving that phone call was a breath of fresh air---like a sweet memory I'd not reviewed in a while.  This happens from time to time ---  I love to reconnect with old friends---to affirm them and to give and receive love and concern.  Old friendship takes a firmly held decision to overlook faults and be willing to travel the distance as companions.  I treasure the people in my life who've gone this distance with me and who've allowed me the privilege of the same.  Time is sort of the cement and then  commitment and forgiveness characterize the foundation of both old love and old friendship. I love the old weeping willow tree outside my window... it's a continual reminder to me the enduring of winds, rain, floods, sunshine, tire-swings, songs of birds and the winds of the passing of many, many seasons and the continued existence and steadiness of something planted "forever ago" as a little tree----it's sort of my objective for marriage----what started with a couple of simple words: I do---is my enduring hope: still saying I do, a hundred years from now. Your Comments email:   pamela AT achristianhome.orgOr... just sign Our Guestbook October 17, 2005   ~Halfy Birthday~ to Kathryn!  Lessons from the easel of life   It always feels a bit like being up on the easel when situations occur that seem unexplainable or that are just simply exasperating.  Over the course of a couple of weeks I've been experiencing some ongoing trials with my computer and, try as I might, I can't seem to get everything reconciled.   When this website goes down or files get lost or mixed up, I'm sort of nuts with emotion until they get resolved.  —Sort of like when relationships are messed up and things can't seem to be ironed out----I just ache over them inside---even if it seems on the outside that I am not bothered---I am in turmoil on the inside until things are resolved.  I don't particularly like being on the easel.  I don't like it when life's colours seem to be running together or when smudges from misunderstandings distort my picture.   I ache when I'm painted with a broad brush by people who don't mind broad-brushing away my existence—or the horrible feeling of shame when I've broad-brushed them in like manner.  I don't like being splattered with paint and sometimes resist being redrawn or touched-up by the Master Painter.  But I know when He's doing a work I am going to be so glad in the end and so grateful for His handiwork for His glory.   Still... I've continued to be puzzled by so many things---I can't seem to understand.  So, analogous to this, when troubles come up with this program or when our host drops files or whatever, this site seems to really burden my thoughts with worries.  And then---and I'm actually really happy to get the feedback---when I receive letters telling me that links don't work or pages are missing or whatever---O, I feel awful.    Especially when I don't know where in the world some files went and why some links don't work or outside articles are no longer available---or how files were rewritten.  I say, Doh!  [I think you gotta have teenage sons to know what: Doh! sounds like.  It's not: duh... and it's not: dough... it's got the inflection of the "Uh" in "Uh-Oh!" but has more punch! to it.  Try it.  Say: DOH! and you'll understand what I mean]   I need to get this resolved and sometimes the only thing to do is shut it down and walk away.  For a day.  Or, two.  I know when I stop laughing at trouble---then I really need to walk away.  It's when troubles happen, I often laugh the most.  Like, for example, one time,  I was placing a 48ounce container of Rojo's Salsa in the fridge---and suddenly, it dropped and cracked as it hit the floor and salsa went flying, it seemed, everywhere.  I called to the children: Quick, get the chips! and we laughed so hard as we sat there eating chips and salsa. I know... it's sort of gross---you go visual on that one.  We were laughing so hard and ate bites between fits of laughter.  And, no, I do not know if the floor was actually clean enough to eat from.  But there was enough salsa on the floor for everyone and it all worked out.   And we lived... and still laugh abut that.  When there is trouble---I guess I just laugh from shear panic.   However----this does break down---- I DO NOT laugh when I see a new batch of kittens ---- there is *nothing* funny to me about a new batch of kittens.  I don't think they are cute and I certainly don't call them adorable.  I never laugh any of the six or eight times a year one of the children gleefully bursts through the door announcing, "Mama! Guess what?!?!  We have new kittens!"  Picking myself up off the floor-----another: Doh!   I say to them---carefully enunciating every word,  "WE do not have new kittens-----daddy has new kittens---*you* have new kittens, but *WE* do not have new kittens!" Well, so, In my latest computer/website fiasco, my husband was helping me and, at one point, I said something like... O, just pull it all down---we'll just start over.  That turned out to be a good idea---but not the way I had originally meant.  I meant let's just, as it were, pull the plug and drain the tub.  My husband, ever calm and practical, said he'd take care of the basic problem.  Grateful for those tech-support guys who are working during, what is for us, the middle of the night.  As they were changing over files and routes I was just standing here drinking coffee.  It's taken about 7 years to compile this site and so, I am so glad Wes didn't listen to me.  And for the man (and others) who reminded me that he wrote a year ago to tell me that links were broken... and then again a few days ago, wrote again, I apologize.  As for the number of women's pages outweighing the number of men's pages... well, let's see, hmmm---I will work at putting up a few of the gazillion files I've been meaning to put up as they're steadily accumulating over the years as my husband sends me links and ideas and as our friends continually find cool stuff for me to read and post.  These problems can be corrected and pages improved... and  for something like 396 hours to do it all, I would be delighted to get busy at the task... but for today, I'm just sort of reveling in the fact that we even got this far.  That, and I'm still decompressing following the ladies retreat this past weekend where Kathryn and I did a couple of workshops and stayed awake too much of the night after drinking waaaay too much coffee.  And, in addition,  I'm mulling over the incredible experience our family had... [Our former next door neighbor's wife died after many years enduring Alzheimer's] as we attended her Catholic funeral Mass today.  It was a really instructive occasion for us all---for our children, especially, to experience another passing, but more importantly, for them to witness things we have told them about----we have told them about the bondage of adding to Scripture and bondage that comes from deviating from Scripture.  The were able to witness first hand----and more importantly, as we learned in the van on our drive home, they *saw* the deviations from Scripture----they *saw* the religious service and and *saw* the misrepresentation of the elements that were served in "communion."  They heard Scriptures being read---in part---and they *knew* the story was incomplete.  O, how I praise the LORD for His wonderful works.  I was glad to be there today bcz the husband, our former next-door-neighbor, is a treasure to us.  I trust the LORD to finish the story there---in all those lives and in ours.  It was a different kind of being up on the easel or on the Potter's wheel today.  And perhaps bcz I've been up on the easel or on the Potter's wheel a whole lot in the last eighteen months or so, I am glad for the work and the reshaping and highlighting He's doing.   By the way... I really liked a piece I got today---It's an editorial written by Rush Limbaugh and I think it was extremely well written and I think an accurate account of conservative thinking regarding American politics/way of life and consideration of the current debacle over the nomination of Harriet Miers.  The piece is entitled, Holding Court--- I'm glad I got it, glad I read it and am posting it here.   Your Comments email:   pamela AT achristianhome.org comments: Pamela, I love your writing: your style, your eloquence, and your thought patterns! :-) I want to thank you for the hours you and your family spend and the sacrifice you make to maintain this website. It's no small thing. I have mentioned to you before, but it bears repeating, that your site is a great encouragement and "friend" to me. We are on the foreign mission field and while I love the ministry and doing what God had called us to do (I love Jesus with all my heart and would never ever trade His will and purpose for my life), sometimes those old home sickness pangs kick in and it's so nice to go to your site during those times. It helps to take the focus off "me" and put it back on Jesus and on others where it belongs! Your site and your wonderful "slices of life" have become an oasis for me. My first priority is the Word of God, of course, but after that, I enjoy the friendliness and, for want of a better word, camaraderie I find on your website. I always feel like I've come home! Many, many thanks. Keep up the good work! And may the Master Painter continue to create the masterpiece He has begun in you. I know He will because His Word says so! Lots of love to you and to your family! Whew--- I'm so filled, blessed and humbled by this letter-----and it's for reasons like this that we have the privilege  to take care of this website.  This letter is to me like feeling the warm sunshine and a soft breeze while dangling my feet in the water and watching the children... I needed this sweet letter.  We do pray the LORD will bless you and others who are far from home or are serving in situations that take them away from familiar things and other people they love.  O, that He would just be willing to continue working with us---with me---I am already blessed beyond measure.  Love to you, too---------ps   Really early.... October 17th And then there were some more late nights and a few more troubles and some more coffee...  but joy comes in the morning, and in the early morning hours, we think we got some of the problems solved and attempted to republish this website... and then went to bed while visions of sugarwebsites danced through our heads. Much Trouble with site program & server --- more later And then my husband sent me this: 10/12  "Trials are medicines which our gracious and wise Physician prescribes because we need them; and He proportions the frequency and weight of them to what the case requires. Let us trust His skill and thank Him for His prescription."  Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) October 11, 2005  Life's Great Hindrances   I find, more and more, that what I used to consider my greatest hindrance was actually my greatest teacher.  I used to believe that all my troubles were attributable to lack of finances and consequently, thought all of them could be solved by a surplus.  I considered all the disadvantages and often almost totally overlooked the great trust and creativity I was developing and gaining over the years.   I used to overlook what God was placing right before my eyes.  Troubled with how things were going to work out---crippled by fear that they wouldn't, days were difficult and money seemed so scarce.  Little did I know at the time that I would look back on the more difficult days and remember them with sort of bittersweet emotion.  Sorry for the young woman who was so fearful but happy for the way the LORD did provide and for all they ways she learned to cope, learned to be creative, learned to be hopeful.  But the younger woman who used to live in my shoes was often plagued by the "what will people think" albatross, and was sometimes shackled by doubts and insecurities as I suppose we all are from time to time, but when they become interwoven in every thought, then they're like that albatross.  The LORD worked through all those sorts of situations and blessed me with a sort of "blindness" to my situation---sort of a "rose coloured glasses" tenor to my life---and brought me through those valleys.  I began to see things less and less for what they were and more and more for what I hoped they would be.  Sure, the lack of finances still was a hindrance, but I stopped allowing myself to feel as though that defined me or my family.  I decided to stop getting tripped up in the trappings of the have's and have not's in life---they weren't helping me.  I decided to not let my possessions define who I was or who I am---other people may have judged me in that manner---but I never wanted to be that shallow and I knew the LORD didn't want that for me either.  He was taking me through the school of contentment. Learning to trust God for things unseen or things unknown is perhaps more difficult for some than for others---I know that for myself, it was a struggle to trust that what I could not see was already seen and covered by the LORD.  My fretting and my doubting never helped me or the situation I faced, regardless of whether the situation was financial, physical or vocational.  Looking back, some of the times of the greatest doubt or greatest fear are now the sweetest memories to me.   Some of the deepest valleys produced the richest fruit and it's faith from those lessons that has guided me through the more recent years and the struggles or trials we've faced.  When trails have been forged or mountains scaled, the path is a bit less daunting each time it's traversed and with each passing, faith is strengthened and trust is deepened.  With each passing year, the have's and the have not's are less and less noticeable to me and my concern is less self-focused.   Gains and losses are the great equalizers in life---they happen to all of us.  Same with fear and doubt---but some people are just better at hiding fears and doubts than others. Because I know my Redeemer lives and ever lives to make intercession for me---for us---, I know that I can trust Him beyond a shadow of doubt, that what He has promised to do, that will He do---He promised to never leave me nor forsake me and He promises in His Word that He will complete that which He has begun.  So the LORD has used trials as teachers, loss as gain, and lack: to fill me.   His faithfulness truly has been great and His mercies have been new every morning.  Now when financial set backs come or when there seem to lack of funds, I have learned to anticipate the Hand of the LORD and to watch for what He will do.  Twenty-two years in the swimming-pool business in the chilly Northwest has given our family ample opportunity to watch the Hand of the LORD both guide and provide---sometimes in the most surprising and unusual ways.  As with so many other things in life, I'm learning to see this much more quickly than I did in the early years. I want to share a poem Glenys sent me and then share a comment she made regarding the regulations for safe sleep for children. One Who Understands   Of all life’s pain and sufferings nothing can surpass Agonies of parents whose child’s taken in death’s grasp. The emptiness, the anger, the denial and disbelief Seem like your only companions as you struggle in your grief. The awkward silence of others shows no words can convey The depth of their sharing in the pain that’s come your way. For platitudes and sympathy can do little to relieve The pain of separation of the parent left to grieve. Until you lose a child, no one can fully comprehend The brokenness and sorrow that makes your heart rend. But through shared prayer and God’s grace one can see a ray of light In this time of deep loneliness of the soul’s darkest night, For there’s One who’s borne this pain whilst even knowing why His only Son had to suffer and then to slowly die.. For as His own Son once resurrected, returned at last to Him, So too your own dear child will return to you again. For by sharing the pain you’re suffering, God can take you by the hand In the tender love and compassion of One Who understands.   © Glenys Robyn Hicks 2004   ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.’ 2 Corinthians 3-5    More about Verse for Loving Hearts - and glenys' work   comments: Oh Pamela, it is heartbreaking enough to lose a child without someone adding to the torment by covertly pointing the finger at you... making you agonize forever if it was your fault by giving the child a blanket! All my children slept with us and had blankets that were super-glued around their mouths! There was no way they would sleep without their blankey! Give them their blanket and their eyes would glaze over as they pulled it up to their face! And most of them rolled over to sleep on their tummies! I find today that there are so many regulations on how to bring your children up that the parents are losing not only their confidence but their authority to bring their children up well! As in all things, bureaucracy has gone mad! May the LORD comfort not only that poor mother but all mothers who have lost children. That's hard enough to deal with, without these know-it-alls adding to the pain! It is the same here in Oz. The bureaucracy and finger pointing if a child dies of SIDS makes the parents look like murderers! God have mercy on the parents! Thank you for allowing me to let off steam! Glenys And thank you for sharing your heart. October 10.5, 2005  A slice of life in a large family   It was a little less than a week away and it felt like an eternity.  But it was worth it all to Kathryn and to us for her to have the privilege to go to California to visit Timothy and Aunt Martha and to spend the time with them on the boat at Catalina.  Now, if I were just reading this for the first time, I'd think what in the world were they doing running around, flying here and going there... well, life's as strange to me to live it as it might be to read it.   It's sort of like me receiving all the credit card or bank loan offers that I receive.   I have no job, no income, no marketable skills and made no request to receive the offers.  They just happen---  Well, that's how it's seemed the trips to California have been for some of our children.  No outside jobs... little tiny income, limited and yet budding marketable skills... and so on and so on.  So when Timothy called and asked if Kathryn could fly down that morning... and we said yes... and she left... and had a wonderful time with them.  Just before she was to return home, I asked her what I might fix for her for when she got home and she said nothing---really, nothing.  She'd had everything anyone could want to have and really felt blessed to have been there with them.  While she was gone, we'd made some changes we knew would be a happy surprise for her. While we were visiting friends on our way to our family reunion this past summer, we had the great joy of spending a couple of nights with our friends in their home.  We came away refreshed and filled with encouragement and some ideas we could use in our home.  The encouragement has lingered and some of the ideas were just recently implemented.   The greatest idea we received from them was how to accommodate overnight guests in our home and have it be obvious to the guests that they were really being welcomed home when they're here.  We always seem to manage quite well---but I often feel like the sleeping arrangements are inadequate or are a bit uncomfortable!   At our friend's home (8 children/four bedroom home) we stayed in a bedroom with a comfortable double bed and a table that was cleared for us to use for our things.  That wasn't the unique part or the part that grabbed our attention---the part that grabbed our attention was the fact that the bedroom belonged to the oldest son and he had the distinct privilege of having his own room.  Anyone who has many children might gasp at the thought of one of the children having that luxury.  But I could see the wisdom in that decision right away.  That decision was not made lightly, nor was it without some strong qualifications.  The first was that the son's strong character, wise behaviour and attitude preceded the decision and he could be trusted with the privilege.  Second (and there may have been more---I don't know) there was an agreement made that that room would be used solely for guests whenever the need arose.  And the computer that was in that room was, I believe, the family computer.   So... over the past several weeks we've been thinking and thinking about implementing that Idea here in our home--sans a computer in that room.  So, we made an initial adjustment to move a bunk-bed and all of one of the boys' things into the other boys' room---this meant chopping another bunk-bed end off.  Old farmhouse attic bedrooms aren't conducive to bunk-beds and tall bookshelves, so Wes has had to be pretty clever in reducing the height (on one end) without compromising the design too much.  And this time, it was especially challenging bcz he this particular bunk-bed was his when he was a young boy, it was Daniel & Michael's and it was Timothy & Samuel's.  Now it's a shortened bed for Samuel and Stephen.  We then placed everything of Timothy's in a tall dresser and kept the rest of his room (books, books, and more books) intact.  The room seemed virtually empty!  Now, four of the boys in two bunk-beds in the other room has worked out very nicely---Stephen was always in there anyway, so there wasn't much of a change in many ways (not uncommon in large families is the fact that the children never seem to sleep in their own beds---and seem to never mind sharing small spaces). While Kathryn was gone, we made plans to have another family stay with us over the weekend.  Then the idea really began to take shape.  Kathryn had a "sleigh bed" in storage---while she had the double bed (which she shared with 'melia) on a platform in her bedroom.  So, while she was gone, we brought down the sleigh bed---head and footboards, and we set up her bed in Timothy's bedroom.  This left a gaping space in the girls' room---where Kathryn's bed had been... thus our Craig's List search intensified as we scoured the list for bunk-beds.  Had to be the right kind---attic bedrooms, dontchaknow.   But we found one---and for a great price *and* it was pretty close to our home!  It's the kind we thought would be best for the girl's room---A "C" style bunk-bed with a futon that folds out into a bed for the lower bunk.     A funny IM conversation before she came home: Kathryn IM'ed, and suggested that we quickly pack up her extra things in her room, then set up her bed in Timothy's room and then the girls in the other family could sleep on the floor in our girls' room, and....  Little did she know that we had already done all that --- that we had already set up a new futon bunk-bed in her room, and had already packed her special things in plastic bins and had already set up her computer in another area in their room.  It was sure fun to surprise her when she got home.  So now, Naomi loves her new "top bunk" and little 'melia slept alone in her bed all night for the first time in her life---at four years old, that's pretty amazing.  For the little girl who comes to me at night and asks, "Canjou hold me in your arms so I can go to sleep?" this is a big step.  Maybe tonight the sweet little dolly will ask me if I can hold her in my arms so she can go to sleep---I will say yes.   I'm happy to watch her blossom into a sweet little girl, but I'm so sad to say this long goodbye to the last baby as I watch her slowly slip away.    As an aside... (thinking back on babies and bedding and all) in perusing the news just now---what an astonishing article regarding new safe-sleep regs for babies.  Now: no babies sleeping on their sides.  No blankets. No teddybears.  Infants should sleep alone, on their backs, in their own cribs or approved beds.   Another overstepping of government---another frenzy for parents---more panic stricken first-timers.  There are so many laws and regulations that we're probably breaking them everyday and don't know it.  In that article, a mother had put her child to bed (on his back with his blanket) after giving fever-reducer and woke the next morning to find the child had died.  From the article: "An autopsy said Riley had a respiratory virus and bacterial sepsis. Still, there was the issue of his blanket."  Do you see how twisted things have gotten?  The autopsy didn't show the baby was asphyxiated. (!!!!)  This could begin an entirely new lengthy blog regarding the sleep of babies.  11 of 11 of our children slept with us.  11 of 11 had favourite blankets.  And slept with them.  And teddybears.  And slept with them.  And when they napped, probably more than half slept on their tummies---or were sleeping on their backs and rolled over to their stomachs.  11 of 11 werebreastfed.  Were they the "lucky" ones?  Much as many would hope, the efforts of what seems like the safe-sleep police cannot prevent deaths in ---all--- babies.  There will be incidents that could've been prevented---but to allow (as in the aforementioned article) a mom to linger wondering if it was the blanket is cruel.  A bold statement for the newspaper to make demonstrates how these things can be blown out of proportion. Now this may sound insensitive to those who've had a baby die in their sleep---I actually hope these parents will see the Truth---you cared for your baby, the LORD chose to take the baby home---and it is/was His to choose. ——blink——  So, back to the bedroom saga... It was fun to continue putting things in place in both the rooms with Kathryn's & Hannah's help (Naomi and dolly watched with great pleasure!) and to get ready for friends to stay.  Since we've never had a "guest room" before, this added to the happiness of preparing the room.   Our friends seemed to enjoy having it prepared for them.  And, though it still needs painting, which I hope to get done before his return, I was glad for the special opportunity.   I smile as I think:  It's sure going to be a surprise to Timothy what's been done in his absence---however, his great reading chair, table and light are still in the same place, as is his wall of books----Bible studies, commentaries, missionary books, biographies and his school books.  Ahhh, about school... Timothy is still in school---he just doesn't know it. ;-)   I'm wondering if Timothy will dare leave home again for awhile---I don't want him to feel he's in a guest room---it's still his room---and no telling might happen if he leaves!  At the first of the year during his language study trip to Mexico, we began the now infamous while-you-were-out (of your mind) bathroom project---the project in which his bedroom closet was commandeered for what would become the spacious 3x6' shower room.   Many things get done when he's away... and many things don't get done, however, but he truly is clay squarely in the Hand of the Potter. And we couldn't ask for more.   Your Comments [moderated]     Some comments received will be posted below the original, related  blog entry   The Gaither Homecoming - Lynda Randle        One of the great blessings of the Gaither homecoming videos or concerts is the delight in hearing the old songs and old hymns sung by people with tremendous musical ability and talent.  And we sure we blessed to be able to hear all of that this past Friday night.  Thankful to enter the arena after standing in the rain for quite awhile, we quickly found our seats and listened to the music and sang along much of the time.  Our personal performances were greatly enhanced by our back up singers ~wink~ and those around us were probably blessed by the volume of the music drowning out our enthusiastic singing. It was a good time... but I must say,  I often cringe at the worldly glitz and glamour of some of the performers and the message that style gives to the watching world and the temptation to emulate what's inappropriate.  It's sad ---to me-- that Jesus is presented to the world in that way.  I heard a man from the Hollywood area one time say that the reason he dressed and performed in that manner is that the "movie stars" wouldn't relate to him were he to be dressed much differently than they---that the movie stars expect a certain appeal and appearance and they turn away from things that seem simple, straitlaced, too conservative and narrow-minded.  I suppose if it were up to us (meaning our works and not the work of the Holy Spirit) to draw people to Christ, we would contrive all sorts of ways to do so---and likely fail miserably.   But, in truth, the influence and one's socioeconomic position in the world do not matter at the foot of the cross---the ground is level there  (Praise God) and all the posturing and presentations mean nothing in the scheme of things eternal. One of the singers I so appreciate every time is, Lynda Randle.  Her sincere heart for the LORD is so evident both on and off stage.  We appreciated talking with her and her family so sincerely a living testimony to the LORD as demonstrated by their words and actions.   I'm thankful to have her book God on the Mountain, Seeing you through the valleys.  It was available there and is also on her website.  It's a small book with a great message.  If you like Mahalia Jackson, then you'll really like Lynda Randle.  Lynda sings in a range I can sing along with and feel like I am a compliment to her (ha)----she and I can get lots of work done together as we sing our way through mounds of laundry, piles of ironing or stacks of dishes---singing always seems to make it all breezy!     Your Comments email:   pamela AT achristianhome.org The comment below is in regards to my October 6 posting:  A very hot topic...and more comments: Hi Pam. I saw that in the Christianity Today article  [The "---"  means:xxx and is not a prngrphic site though I sure was hesitant to click it] ---church.com was the group hosting the events. My brother in-law is close friends with some of the guys who started that program. They have had quite an affect on the internet community as well as our communities in general. On Thursday night of last week my brother-in-law was on ABC world news tonight sharing about prnography and his choice to be accountable and honor God and give his wife the best gift-a godly and faithful husband. ---church.com has an online accountability program where you choose a couple people to be accountable to and the program e-mails those people any questionable sites you go to. My husband and his brothers all have this. This way they know that someone will be calling them to talk if a site pops up that is inappropriate. Granted the system isn't perfect and when my hubby checks his football team's scores sometimes they pop up but it is a great tool. It was actually kind of cool because when his laptop was stolen the person didn't disable the program so we still got e-mails telling us which sites they visited-we were able to track them to a phone number but unfortunately nothing came of it. We did however get to pray for them and hopefully all of Aaron's bible software (that he really wishes he still had) will be convicting. Maybe someday they will come to know the Lord who knows! Anyway, I am rambling. If you go to the ---church.com website on the left there is a link to ABC and you can watch the news segment ( if you have windows). Have a wonderful day! Emily Thank you, Em, for writing--- I know this is a critically important topic and yet I often hesitate to write what ought to be written regarding the epidemic proportions of the damage of prngrphy.    I was hesitant about the manner in which the "Prn Sunday" seemed to be presented---but as I've thought of it further, it seems to me that in that venue, it was/is appropriate---though I could not be more opposed to the new church-in-a-box phenomena today.  We're watching the total reformation of the church becoming a new and different gospel---.  I am thinking now, that the enemy would like nothing more than for the pulpits to be silent or to gloss over this blight in the church.  So, I see I was wrong on that... I don't regret questioning the packaging, but I guess I needed to be open to various methods used to address this "silent" and "secret" killer of the family.  I was hesitant to click the link in the original Christianity Today article.  See one prngrphic site and you've got an image imprinted on the mind forever.  So, ***church.com is not a prngrphic site.    There are programs, filters, etc. you can research there---though, a weak person may find it to be too informative and too candid.  I am not hot-linking it here.  You'll have to google it or type it in.  But---the way I see / hear men deal with each other----it's hard to understand, it is a fact that they don't first think of communicating with flowers and chocolates, lunches and scented thank-you notes and hours of affirming talking together.  This site ***church.com has none of that.  When dealing with an epidemic problem, I guess there's no time for flowers and chocolates or  teas and sprout sandwich lunches.  When a person is wallowing in mud and manure, drinking in the dregs of immorality, pretty scented notes aren't the answer and a long lunch won't take care of the problem.    Your Comments [moderated]     Some comments received will be posted below the original, related  blog entry   October 10, 2005  News today or a day long ago!         I receive a newsletter by email that always seems to have the most interesting facts.   It's called: History Buff and you can subscribe to received it by email.  The website is quite interesting and could captivate your attention for hours and hours!  This month's letter, for example, is noteworthy because of the topic and its current relevance regarding acts of terror.  You may have to reread parts if you skim it too quickly. ;-) This is part of what I received by email and I'm quoting it here: The Reign of Terrorism Picture this: There is a mad bomber on the loose that mails packages to important people that explode when opened and are meant to kill the person that opens the small package and anyone else near the opener at the time. Further, in the same era, a man drives up to a federal building, parks his vehicle and quietly walks away. The vehicle explodes shortly after and causes extensive damage to the building. Many people are killed in the explosion. The events, coming so close together, cause a panic among many Americans. In just one year the United States Congress submits no fewer than seventy new bills aimed at helping to prevent terrorism. When did these events happen? While most would answer that these events happened in the early 1990’s, (the Unabomber and the destruction of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City) the answer would be correct. However, these same two events also happened in America in 1919 and 1920. On April 29, 1919 a small package was delivered to the home of Senator Thomas Hardwick in Atlanta. Mrs. Hardwick sat at a table and began opening the day’s mail. Among the envelopes she found a small package. The return address was from Gimble Brothers, the famous department store in New York. The package also had the word “Sample” stamped on it. She handed the package to their maid and resumed opening the other mail. While the maid untied the string securing the package an explosion occurred. Shrapnel flew about the room. The maid’s hands were blown off. The upper third of Mrs. Hardwick’s body was severely burned. Both had extensive lacerations about their bodies. Amazingly, both women survived. Letter bombs were also mailed to several other influential people, including the mayor of Seattle, Washington, Ole Hanson; J. P. Morgan; John D. Rockefeller; Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes; U.S. Attorney General Mitchell Palmer; the Postmaster General Albert Sydney Burleson; as well as others. Fortunately, the only letter bomb to explode was the one delivered to Senator Hardwick. The same day, a letter bomb was delivered to the home of the mayor of Seattle. However, since he had already received several death threats due to his public denouncing of terrorism, he was cautious and called the police before opening it. The police were able to defuse the bomb without anyone being injured. Luckily, these were the only two to be actually delivered to the addressee. The rest were sent back due to insufficient postage on the packages. All were defused at various post offices by the police before doing any further harm. Also, fortunately, the bomber was discovered before he could send out his next round of letter bombs. The F.B.I and the C.I.A. were in their infancy and very small in that period of American history. The attorney General at the time was a man named Mitchell Palmer. Two months after the Atlanta bombing, police were called to the home of Palmer as several reports of an explosion at his home had been reported. After investigating the agents discovered that in fact Palmer had been the mad bomber! Palmer had just spent the evening preparing another batch of letter bombs he intended to mail the next day. One of the bombs detonated prematurely and leveled Palmer’s home, killing him. Within his home were booklets published by radicals whose intent was to overtake the United States government. The following year on September 16, 1920 a man drove his horse and wagon to the front of the J. P. Morgan building on Wall Street and parked it there. He quietly walked away. This building was the hub of the nation’s financial district at the time. Five minutes later, at 12:05 the cart exploded. The only thing left of the cart and horse were the horse’s hoofs! The building was extensively damaged also. Witnesses described the explosion as a great cloud, like a mushroom, that rose high in the air and it rained debris back onto the street. Shock waves of the explosion could be felt as far away as across the river to Brooklyn. Many other buildings close to the Morgan building also received excessive damage. Windows for blocks around were blown out by the shock wave. With so much damage to buildings, it is fortunate that while two hundred were wounded, only thirty-five people were killed in the explosion. Officials traced to bombing back to radicals who were trying to over [this is a direct copy of the mail---the sentence is incomplete.]    To read an actual newspaper account of the bombing of the J.P. Morgan Building go to HistoryBuff Online Newspaper Archive. At least in this case, history does repeat itself. It was seven decades before Americans would experience another round of terrorist activities on American soil similar to those of 1919 and 1920.   Can you name a word in the English dictionary that contains all the vowels, in order (a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y?) The word is an adverb and means to be playfully jocular or humorous. Answer: Facetiously   Your Comments email:   pamela AT achristianhome.org   comments: Also abstemiously! Hi Pam - love the new look of the Welcome Home. And that story was riveting! It reminds me that progress forward is what we most remember - the victories and successes are glorified, not individual evil. I love that you knew that---Barbara, only *you* would know that. ~smile~ Thank you, thank you.  Because of my general lack of knowledge about this computer program, many times, changes you see are as much a surprise to me as they are new to you. ahahaha !  Yes---I went on to read more about that time in the early 1900's and hadn't realized the far reaching aspect of things we think unique to these days---letter/car bombs, terrorism, etc.  I think this generation thinks of itself as the first to have experienced all these things---and every other idea called a new wave.  The paradigm shift is not to a new thing necessarily---another thing, maybe, but not a uniquely new thing.  Thank you for writing----I had to look it up!  Abstemiously---you wrote abstemiously. Temperately, in a sparing manner, without overindulgence.  I'll remember that when I face the cookies... abstemious, dear, abstemious---that's what you use when: abstain, dear, abstain, doesn't work. ~wink~   visit her blog----Mommy Life   (Barbara Curtis) October 7, 2005 Today's Wes's day!         If you know my husband at all, you know that Southern Gospel music is his absolute favourite and you also know that he's sort of a collector of Gaither Homecoming videos.  Not that he is necessarily a Gaither fan so much as he is a fan of many of the "regulars" at their concerts and Homecoming shows.  Well... so... tonight's the night for the Gaither Homecoming concert at the Everett Events Center... and he's a happy ticket holder!  Kathryn, my mom,  and Daniel & Tara gave him two tickets to the concert (and a ticket for parking) for his birthday a couple of weeks ago---and they (the tickets, not the children) have been sitting in the envelope on his dresser ever since.  I suppose there've been many days where he has excitedly looked at those tickets and has been so thrilled to have them and the opportunity to attend.  In addition to this special treat, friends from the Chehalis area are going to have dinner with us and  stay the night with us, as well as to attend the concert, too.  They've also picked up a ticket for Kathryn and another friend to attend.  And so, it's quite a day around here---getting ready for them and for the evening together.   From your friends at the ACLU         I received this funny email this morning with a link to a hypothetical situation that is both humourous and chilling at the same time.  If it weren't so plausible, it would be very funny----but in the end, though you might be laughing... you'll be tempted to take cover!  Here you go:  Ordering from the Pizza Palace in 2010  (be careful... you might be tracked there) ;-)  No... seriously, if you click the "Take Action"  link on that page you will be taken to the ACLU website where you will be asked to enter information on a form to be sent to congress (right.) and they will be notified that you want to urge them to protect your privacy.  Then, if you leave a box "checked," then you will receive further updates from your friend and mine: the ACLU.   I would suggest leaving off with any communication involving the ACLU for any reason.  Protect your privacy: don't give your personal information to the ACLU.  Of course, they already have it, you know.  ;-)   Your Comments [moderated]     Some comments received will be posted below the original, related  blog entry  October 6, 2005  A very hot topic---and more Each day as I scale the mountain of email---and I don't mean personal letters and notes specifically written to me personally, but rather, the mail that worms its way into my computer.   No, not viruses or spiteful intrusions into my system but a more malicious intrusion than that and that is:  internetporn.  Not a day goes by that I don't find dozens of email offers to sell me some sort of drug to enhance a body part or correct a dysfunction or offers of pharmaceuticals claiming some remarkable transformation---either physical or mental.  But the distasteful mails don't stop there and aren't limited to pharmaceuticals only;  and while my filters don't actually let most of the mail through to the "inbox," some offers do clear that hurdle and I am faced with a decision to scan and delete the mail.  But then I wonder sometimes... while I am deleting the mail... someone, somewhere is not deleting.  In fact, tens of thousands aren't deleting those mails and the sewage of the internet is being pumped into millions of homes or offices around the world.  And so... I was sort of taken aback, at first---no, actually, I was shocked by a newsletter I received this morning---shocked that I might be reading a hijacked copy of Christianity Today.    I gasped as, while scanning the  newsletter, my eyes fell upon the title of article:  "Is You Church Ready for P*rn Sunday?"  I was thinking... WOW----we've been "out" of the "Institutional Church" for a bit now... but omygoodness, what's this?!?    Was this the next phase of the PDC (purpose driven church---oh, yes, that's trademarked) movement?  Is this the answer to the PDC's "felt needs"  service?  So, I read the article further and could see that the discussion might have value and serve a good purpose. [I cringe using that trademarked word, purpose,  lately!]   So--- then I clicked the link (this one) and read further.  It's an interesting premise---it's a topic (an epidemic , really) that needs to be addressed and as the author states, the church needs to address it for what it is: a scourge to families and homes.  Terrorism is relatively small compared to the stranglehold and problem of prnogrphy in our society.  Prnogrphy takes and terrorizes more hostages every day---it's just that it's often shrouded in such secrecy that there's an illusion of a small existence---another lie of the enemy of our souls---just like:   bread eaten in secret is pleasant.  (Proverbs  9.17 Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant...) So... then along comes Prn Sunday and all the related materials that you can order online to complete the experience---makes me think of the downloadable sermons available to pastors and teachers today.  Can you imagine bringing a guest to the service... come on in, we're going to hear all about prnogrphy.   It's a topic that screams to be addressed---I'm not so sure the no-accountability atmosphere of a Sunday am service is the appropriate venue. But the truth is, in many ways, the church has needed to address many things related to lust and immorality, modesty and modest behaviour for a long time---and it's obvious that a bit of judgment has come upon the church for its lukewarm approach  or response to sin and personal responsibility for sinful acts.    Speaking on modesty, by the way, and I was, we have copies of a thin book Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America  by Jeff Pollard  and in addition to that, we share many articles regarding modesty and modest behaviour, click here.   Your Comments     Some comments received will be posted below the original, related  blog entry     A comment on this topic is posted above the October 10 entry   It's sure a wonderful blessing to have Kathryn home again!  Another week... another trip to SeaTac airport!  It's amazing to me how short the once long and arduous trip to the airport is to me now!  I recall, in times past, that the hour-long trip seemed like it took forever and now, it seems such a short time until we reach mile marker 13 on the 405 and before I know it, we've reach mile 3 and then start to merge right to get into the lanes leading to the airport.  I'll write about Kathryn's trip to Catalina... later on. October 4, 2005

 A Happy Birthday to you... 

It's our daughter-in-law, Tara's, twenty-ninth birthday today.  What a dear and patient daughter-in-law she is.  We celebrated birthdays here this past weekend and Daniel will be taking her out to dinner to celebrate her special day.... and a couple of our olders will go watch their children for the evening.  We're happy to help them and sure remember the days when going out was a treat but was difficult when the children were young and we needed helpers to watch them.   Days are long but weeks fly by!

So... Happy, happy birthday, sweet Tara.

 Mind boggling... still 

It still thoroughly amazes me: the selection of Harriet Miers as the nominee for the Supreme Court.  Such an incredibly weighty decision made with such *seeming*  disconnect from reality.  Really... I am thinking it's as plausible as needing a replacement chef for a renowned five star hotel restaurant and making the selection from... say...  a group of people who've owned five star restaurants.  You don't know how they'll cook---you don't know *what* they'll cook... you simply know they are great owners.  Okay, maybe that was far fetched.  So, maybe hire a Starbucks barista (since she makes terrific coffee) because that means she'll likely do very well as the head chef at the White House.  Okay... well, maybe that example wasn't that far fetched.  Sorry.  I'm still trying to figure this one out---so I'm doing some mental gymnastics here.  I wonder if the name wasn't one selected from slips of names that were placed in a hat.  Something like... hmmm... we need a woman here, so... write all the names of women in Washington who have law degrees---but make sure they've never sat on the bench or made any actual significant public decisions and make sure no one has ever heard of them... and make sure..... and then draw one of the names.  That oughtta do it. 

I think one of the other most significant and surprising things is the strange blanket approval she's (Harriet Miers) receiving from a broad spectrum of individuals and groups.  It's odd --- who's so whole-heartedly endorsing this nominee and odder still why John Roberts didn't receive such high accolades.   This will all be very interesting in the broad scheme of things.
 

Your Comments [moderated]     Some comments received will be posted below the original, related  blog entry

October 3, 2005

 You be the Judge. Or you, or you.

Sometimes I think I sure hope there'll be someone left in the country to turn out the light. 

Between the mails I've been receiving and the news I've been reading, I wonder what in the world is going on.  What a strange twist of events is presented each day in the news.  I sometimes think it's like all the events is are sort of pulsed in the blender and then posted on the news-sites.  On the one hand you have that skewed version of current events.  Then, on the other hand, you read of the "top pick" for the next Supreme Court nominee and you have to wonder if the phone book was o the middle... touch on Miers.  Okay---there you go!  So much for job experience and prior decisions for the public to use to form an opinion regarding President Bush's nominee to the Court.  I'm guessing a bride would use more discretion in choosing a cake decorator that what  *seems* to be the amount of discretion used in that decision.  So... like a bride who might choose a chef who's never baked a cake before, I guess that's what will have to happen here: watch and see how the first judicial decision is made and how you think she did... and then that will have to happen over and over again before her track record as a judge is established and can be evaluated.   

At this point, there's not much to go by.  See, now there's a new twist.  In his most clever move yet, President Bush has chosen a nominee who cannot cause division in the House, can't be fodder for division because there's really not much to deliberate and nothing to criticize.  A stroke of genius! 

In times past, senate deliberations were weighty and arduous; a candidate's qualifications were either altered, misrepresented or so blatantly obvious that a pretty fair assumption could be made regarding their future performance.   Not so, in this case----and really, the Senate ought to thank Mr. Bush for this relatively simple process.  In this case, there's really nothing to --judge-- about this potential judge:  she's never been one before.  Well... except perhaps her children (does she have children?) could be contacted and asked how their mother judged or handled childish squabbles.  Or, how about a chat with her husband.  Maybe he could shed some light on her judgment---how they handled where they'd spend Christmas and Easter---who would turn out the light or which way the tissue should hang from the roll (does she have a husband?).  Or, perhaps someone could contact her neighbors, relatives or friends and she how well they believe she made decisions----or maybe someone from the Enquirer could be contacted---no, wait, they usually have stories about *known* individuals.    In this case... the Justice will simply have the marvelous freedom to form her own persona from day to day... from case to case.  I wonder how long it will take to see why she was the choice.

Your Comments [moderated]
    Some comments received will be posted below the original, related  blog entry

October 2, 2005

 Another day...

Yet another attempt to get this page up and running!  I don't know what I did to foul up my computer ---I'd sure like to think it was not error between the chair and the keyboard----at least not while I was in the chair, anyway!  So... I hadn't realized how instantly a click could change everything in the box that sits next to my desk and contains what might be the strangest hobby I've ever undertaken----this website.  Well, I suppose it didn't change everything---however, I, in essence, have had my super highway system rewritten and I can't figure how to navigate with some key intersections missing.  Couple that with some very foolish keystrokes and I have eliminated a few days worth of work.  Next time I see something like this or that file is incompatible or exists on the remote site but not on the destination site---I won't be so hasty to say... hey, okay... overwrite them all.  Sometimes I have had to face the grim reality that sometimes me working on and attempting to maintain a webpage is almost as dangerous as granting 14 year old boys driver's licenses and giving them keys to sports cars and gasoline credit cards----there's often no telling what'll happen next.  My apologies to all the exceptional 14 year old boys who could be responsible at any age and would be the exception to the rule regarding young men and sports cars.

October 1, 2005

 And so it goes 

Happy Autumn!
What an amazing week this has turned out to be.  And I'm beginning to think: what week would be complete without a trip to the airport!  Or... what week would be complete without a birthday!?  Or what week would be complete without some deep stinging reminder that we're all in process and have not arrived!?

So... this week also brought a few computer glitches and mild exasperation attempting to get the situation resolved.  Thankfully, Daniel took care of my computer for me and it's up and running without much trouble now.  My trouble now consists of attempting to restore special links, files and programs that were lost or reconfigured.  However... the computer worked well enough to do what needed to be done earlier in the week.

So... about that trip to the airport.  Wes answered the phone Friday morning to have Timothy on the other end say something like... Dad? Yes(?) Hey... I have some bad news.  Oh?  Yes. Oh.  Yeah, the guests that were scheduled to be on the boat this weekend cancelled; hey, can Kathryn come down today? Uh..............(long pause and whispering to me: what do you think? I nod, sure!) Okay---that'd be fine.  Great... can she get online and check Alaska to see if they have a flight to Long Beach this morning?  Sure.    [Life is not always like this----these are bizarre days!]  

From the time we received the call to the time we left for the airport was a little over two hours... and what a blessing this was for Kathryn.   So, Timothy talked on the phone to each of the children---and then to each of the children "one more time," while Kathryn made her arrangements and ran up to pack her things in order to leave on time.

I was happy to have the time the drive to the airport allowed us.  It's been sort of a different week and so I can't think of a better opportunity for her than to get way and to be able to enjoy spending some time with Timothy and Aunt Martha.   It's been tough having him gone this long---but I guess I am really seeing how the LORD is softening the time all the while preparing us all for his eventual departure... and for me, the maturing of the children really shows me how short the time is and to savor the moments and treasure the memories.

We had the great privilege of celebrating birthdays here last night... Wes's fifty-something, Michael's 24th and Tara's 29th birthday.  I sure missed Kathryn as I prepared her Garlic Chicken pizza, Hawaiian pineapple and canadian bacon pizza and bread sticks.  They all said it was delicious---but I knew hers is better!  So while everyone was here, I thought of her...

For dessert, instead of making cakes (cake is an item few in our family really likes very much---except German Chocolate), I decided to make a "sundae-bar" and had all sorts of things for ice cream... toppings from the hershey's chocolate sauce to butterscotch, caramel, and pineapple toppings, along with whipped cream, sliced strawberries, bananas, apples, oreo's, peanuts and almonds.  I think the grandchildren liked the oreo's best and the caramel topping was more popular for sliced apples than with the ice cream.  I'm glad it all worked out so well... mostly for the "birthday boys" and "birthday girl," but for everyone else, too.

I've been making my way through the Making It Home magazine and I sure like it!  I guess there are some benefits to an ailing computer---though I don't know of many!  I had been waiting with great anticipation for the Making It Home magazine to arrive and have had to read it in small bits of free time.  With all the responsibilities of making it home(y) around here, and making it school and making it clean, there hasn't been enough time for Making it Home.  But... what great articles and great encouragement.

In between running to the airport ~smile~ we've been really trying to stay at the "dailies" and to not get sidetracked.  We've also been attempting to get every room clean, every drawer and cupboard clean and every closet clean.  I'd say we're making great progress---and this is the point we often fall behind in the game---when things are almost done and we get lax in our work.  So, knowing this, and recognizing the tendencies in us all to rest in our small successes, we are pressing on.

Your Comments
email:   pamela AT achristianhome.org