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Our Daily Thread 1-3-15

Good Morning!

Welcome to the first weekend of 2015. 🙂

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On this day in 1521 Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther. 

In 1777, at the Battle of Princeton, George Washington defeated the British forces, led by Cornwallis. 

In 1868 the Shogunate was abolished in Japan and Meiji dynasty was restored. 

And in 1967 Jack Ruby died in a Dallas, TX, hospital. 

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Quotes of the Day

“Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.”

J. R. R. Tolkien

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Yesterday Little Jimmy Dickins passed away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfYFx6MOTYU&feature=player_detailpage

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Anyone have a QoD?

131 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 1-3-15”

  4. Good morning, Chas & Aj. Both girls had a friend spend the night last night. The little girls came down around 6:30; I’m sure we won’t see the teenagers until much later… I slept horribly last night. I couldn’t fall asleep until 1:00 and then awakened at 4:30 and could not go back to sleep…Ugh! I feel fine right now, but know I’ll hit a wall around 3:00.

    Who’s Alyssa Barlow?

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  6. Grampy pa went shopping yesterday. He forgot a few things so I will have to go get them today. We have to get a new battery for his truck today. Then we have dogs to get settled. Lulabelle is going to Pensacola to spend the week with Youngest Stepson and Amos is going to spend the week with Nana, George, and Baby Girl.

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  7. Good Morning…sun shiny here this morning…snow this afternoon…
    Hope you all have a most blessed weekend..oh the thought of holding a newborn Kim…there is just nothing like it is there? Hope you get in a nap or two this afternoon Ann…I so well remember the giggles of our daughter’s friends when they had sleepovers…and the naps I took once they left the premises… 🙂

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  9. Another red-bellied woodpecker (or probably the same one). Is that a cottonwood it’s on? The bark of the trunk behind it looks like our cottonwood trees.

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  10. I was going to ask who the Alyssa person no one likes was, too —

    Cute woodpecker.

    Ah, it’s Saturday, at last. And the holidays are officially over. I love October-November-December and the build up to the grand finale of the year — but I am usually ready when it’s all said and done.

    Still, January and February can be dreary months. And officially we don’t get another holiday at work until … Memorial Day. It’s a long, holiday-free slog through the first half of the year for us.

    Well, I should spend the day picking up around here … And rededicating myself to salad lunches for work. I’ve been taking left-over lasagna for most days this past week, not really a very healthy option, but always good comfort food.

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  13. I am most excited because I have had to hire someone to come in a couple or three times next week to check on the cat. She is also a fantastic house cleaner. I told her I didn’t want my house Kim clean, I wanted it G- clean. She does baseboards, light fixtures, the works. Not only will I get to spend a week with a baby I will get to come home to a really clean house!!!!!

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  14. Paul David Tripp @PaulTripp ·

    Grace will decimate your silly delusions of self-sufficiency while it gives you powerful reasons for confidence, security and hope.

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  15. Donna, Aj posted Jimmy Dickens on the R&R thread, doing “Sleepin’ at the Foot of the Bed”.
    That is more what Jimmy Dickens was. Most who heard him knew what he was talking about.
    The generations past the baby boomers can’t relate to that because families cater to the children now. It wasn’t always that way. When we had company, we ate last. Hence “Take a ‘tater and wait”. “Sleepin’ at the foot of the bed”, “I got my education back behind the barn”. etc. It’s different now.

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  17. so on Monday I go with a friend an hour and a half away to pick up the van I will have until July. It was pretty funny driving a stick shift yesterday. I know how, but my car in PNG has the shift on the other side, so it was confusing.
    Anyway I also have a dental appointment on Tuesday and then a Bible study on Thursday evening. After that if my son hasn’t sent me tickets, I am going to drive to Portland to meet my nine month old grandson and see the other two. I cannot wait any longer.

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  18. question: I am watching season 24 of the Amazing Race online. Episode 7 is not available and I can purchase the one episode from amazon. I have a choice of hd or sd, and I am not sure what they are (hd = high definition?) So if I purchase this episode does that mean that I can then just watch it on my computer? so confusing

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  19. I may have heard the name of Jimmy Dickins in passing, but I’m certain my father used to quote that line, “May the bird of paradise fly up your nose.” Our local radio station, in announcing Dickins’s death, said that he was the first country singer to use a rhinestone studded suit. Seeing the video clip, I have to say it’s more tastefully done than later studded suits.

    Chas, now don’t go tarrin’ all young people – or their parents – with the same brush. We always made sure our company was served first. My parents didn’t haul us out behind the woodshed for our spankings, but we had them just the same. As for sleeping at the foot of the bed, even Jimmy Dickins admitted in the song that not everyone had that experience. It is better living conditions which have removed that necessity, not parents catering to children. I have shared beds or slept on couches and floors in order to make room for guests, but none of us kids’ beds were really wide, or long, enough to sleep along the foot.

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  20. Today I remembered a true blessing from years past. I have told you before of my Mama Ruth and have asked you to pray for her. I have also told you before about the 5 years it took for me to have Baby Girl.
    In getting ready to go to Austin for Grandpa and me to keep a Tiny Baby, we asked the Mommy what we could bring that would make her life easier since she will be flying into Austin and we will be driving. She will be handling her luggage, a baby, a car seat, and a stroller. She asked that we get two packs of Pampers diapers, 2 packs of wipes, and a few other things. Gramps added the 10 cloth diapers to use as burp cloths.
    All of this preparation reminded me of the blessing I received. Because of Mama Ruth I had never bought diapers before–ever! I used disposable diapers with BG, but I collected Huggies coupons, gave them to Mama Ruth and she bought every pack of diapers I ever needed. That represents a mother’s love to me. Mama Ruth and her husband loved me and my baby enough that they committed to buying every diaper that ever touched her. So now I sit here with sparkly eyes remembering that love.

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  22. Kim, I saw your 4:11 comment, but your gravatar hadn’t changed yet. Then I refreshed the page and now see King Amos Isaac. 😉

    Sweet post at 4:04. Enjoy that baby! 🙂

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  23. First Arrow had to work overnight New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day. When he was leaving for work, he announced, “See you next year!”

    To which Sixth Arrow, seven years old, responded after her oldest brother left, “He’s staying at work ALL week?!” 🙂

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  24. I woke up January 1 to the most gorgeous sunrise I think I’ve ever seen at our house.

    When I awoke in the morning, the blinds on our west window of our bedroom had a deep pinkish-orange glow to them. I couldn’t figure out why they looked like that at that time of day, and on that side of the house.

    I walked out to the living room and looked out the window (to the east), and much of the eastern and southern sky was lit up with the most vivid color blend of pink, orange and yellow I had ever seen in the morning.

    After about five minutes, the colors faded, and by ten minutes after I’d gotten up, there was just a pale yellow glow in the sky behind the trees on the hill next to our house, just before the sun would be visible to us in our wooded area.

    What a glorious gift God gave us on that first morning of the new year! Truly how awesome are the blessings God gives us in nature.

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  25. I have eaten Moo Goo Gai Pan since I switched from beef fried rice as a very small child. I cannot find a Chinese restaurant that makes it like it is supposed to be made with water chestnuts, bamboo shoot, bok choy, snow peas, and chicken. They have ruined it! Since when did zucchini become a Chinese vegetable?????????

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  26. Well, I never did get that nap…I think it’ll be an early one for me tonight. Becca’s at the neighbor’s playing. L. is upstairs taking a nap and Hubby is working on “projects.” So the house is very quiet and I could take a nap now, but am afraid I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if I do it this late, so I’m catching up with y’all instead. Hubby “worked” from home yesterday, which was so nice, but it made today feel like Sunday. I’m glad it’s not as that would mean back-to-school and extracurricular activities–it’s been really nice to have a break from most of it.

    6 arrows: Sounds like it was an amazing sunrise–glad you got to witness it! I know you’ve been longing to see the sun.

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  28. Did I ever long to see the sun, Ann, after so many cloudy/foggy days in a row — most of December up to Christmas time. It was a great blessing the first day the sun came out and stayed out after the long gloomy stretch! And the way the sunrise looked on New Year’s Day was an unexpected bonus.

    Awesome, too, that AJ’s Psalm of the Day that day was Psalm 19, which started with “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

    Stunning beauty.

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  31. I just read an interesting article by Marvin Rosenthal. He alleges that the great passage on Christology in Philippians 2:5-11 is due to a disagreement between two women, Euodia and Syntyche; both of whom were important to him.

    The epistle was written because Epaphroditus brought a gift from the church. He apparently told Paul that the ladies were feuding. If so, it makes sense that he also told Paul what it was about. And, it makes sense that Paul would address the problem. Which he does, without mentioning either name.

    I had never thought of it that way before.

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  32. I never slept at the foot of the bed either. They made pallets for us on the floor.
    Caden brings his sleeping bag when he comes to our house. He likes that. He’s the boy.

    Elvera never had disposable diapers. She thinks that is mankind’s greatest invention.

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  33. I was an only child in a three bedroom home. We did however go “up in the country” to a cabin from time to time. It usually involved my parents, my grandparents, my grandmother’s sister, her daughter, and granddaughter. The cabin was two rooms in the front and one large one in the back that included the kitchen==notice there was no fourth room for a bathroom.
    I either slept with my parents or my grandparents when we went up there.

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  34. I won’t tell Cowboy that Misten is making eyes at another guy. A short guy at that.

    I had to stock up on pet food today and so I also stopped at Target, which was very busy, on the way back. Feeling at loose ends today, so much I *should* be doing … But I did get my Bible reading done for the day — Day 3. I’ll miss eventually, but I’m going to try not to let that stop me. If I run behind, I run behind.

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  38. ~~Football post~~ (Maybe this should be in Rants & Raves)

    There are too many bowl games. I mean, what’s a 6-7 team or even a 6-6 team doing in the post season? “Hey folks- mediocrity will get you extra bucks for your mediocre football team!”

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  41. Is it too late to still turn on your outdoor Christmas lights? Mine are on but I’m wondering if they’re the only ones …. 🙂

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  44. Quick hello!
    Warming today as we head home.

    I started this hours ago. It was a difficult drive home with foggy weather mixed with rain, holiday traffic, and a number of accidents.

    We got gas for $1.99 in S.C. Of course the savings went toward paying for our second turkey breast. I did not want to risk illness so I sadly put the first down the trash bin. I finally told husband about having to make an amendment” to the turkey breast. He said he had never heard of a frozen turkey breast that did not need to thaw. Live and learn! I had never seen those before myself. Always take a moment to read packaging. Also the freezer to oven turkey did not have an expiration date. I did not like that either.

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  47. Donna- You’re in LA. The Latin Americans still haven’t celebrated the Day of the Three Kings on January 6 (most of us call it Epiphany). Keep the lights up. Then do what some around here do: keep the red light up for Valentine’s Day. Then use the green ones for St. Patrick’s Day, and the purple and orange for Easter. Then, use the red, white and blue ones for July 4th. Then save the orange ones for Halloween. If you set them up the right way, you never have to take them down!

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  49. Donna, we like to go by Ukrainian Christmas – January 6 and their epiphany is January 19 – we have lots of Ukrainians up here 🙂

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  50. Gas here is still $2.70ish + . And we have a new gas tax starting this year so we can fund the green alternative energy. 🙄

    I peeked out the front door and only one neighbor wayyy down the street had their lights on. So I’ve turned mine off. For the night anyway.

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  52. We took down our Christmas tree today, which means our lights came down, too, as the ones on the tree were the only lights we had. We haven’t used outdoor lights for a number of years now.

    Christmas decorations came down, too. Usually we keep the Christmas things out until at least Epiphany, but I was more eager to get our living room more open again, and a weekend day seemed the best time to take everything down. And a bunch of lights at the top of the tree and at the bottom had burned out, so the tree wasn’t exactly aesthetically pleasing anymore, with only the middle of the tree lit up.

    I swept and dusted in the living room, and straightened up around the piano and on the tables we have in the room, so the room looks clean and uncluttered, spacious, again.

    Sixth Arrow and I stood at the window tonight, where the tree had been, looking out at the evening sky, watching the moon rise, listening to Third Arrow playing the piano in the room.

    All in all, a very nice day today.

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  56. I say turn the lights on Donna…my neighbors across the road from us are out of town…their lights have been on 24/7 for 3 weeks…we are enjoying the view 🙂
    I needed to get out of the house today…I filled the car in the town of Elizabeth..about 25 minutes away from here…I paid 2.27 a gallon. I got caught in a snowstorm coming home…driving the county roads where there was no traffic but white outs and drifting snow…I took it slow and easy and it is just what I needed today….what beauty to behold. The moonlight is making the most amazing shadows on the snow covered land tonight….I would go out and take a walk, but it is only 3 degrees outside…I’ll just gaze out the window 🙂

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  58. Grandpa woke me a little bit ago. He has been up since 4. I am afraid we are going to look somewhat like the Clampetts when we check into the hotel. It’s only a week but he has planned for ever contingency. He just explained to me which cup his trail mix goes in so that he can eat and drive. I was just told that he is an efficiency expert, to which I was accused of rolling my eyes…LOL. I did NOT roll my eyes. I made a different face. 😉

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  59. Chas?
    Chas work up and looked at the clock. He thought it said 6, so he got up and went to the bath room. When he came back, he noticed that it was really five, so he went back to bed. Then he looked at the clock again and thought it was 5:30, so he got up anyhow. But it was 6:30. An hour and a half, just like that.

    😆

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  61. Easy enough to do Chas.
    Mr P wanted to know how soon I could be ready to leave. He was taking my bags to the truck before I could get my teeth brushed. I told him I could leave by 6. Guess which one of us is waiting on the other.

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  63. Good morning, all. I slept great last night–all the way from 10:30 to 6:30!!! What a wonderful gift is a goodnight’s sleep…

    Becca is busy making cheddar cheese biscuits…L. is, of course, still sleeping…We’ll probably have to awaken her for church, even though we go to late service at 11:00…We plan to begin looking for a new church next week as ours has gotten extremely loud during the worship time (it’s like the praise band is out of control and thinks their at a rock concert)…I do enjoy the sermons, but church is about more than just the sermon… Even at the Christmas Eve service, it was so loud that I couldn’t hear myself singing (or thinking)…

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  65. Kim, your Clampett comment made me laugh out loud. 😀

    I slept forever last night, went to bed fairly early and didn’t get up until 8 (which means a very short run-up time to get ready and out of here for church, plus I’m picking up Norma again every week now).

    But I certainly feel rested.

    Prayers for church decisions, Ann, it’s always a tough one. I dislike LOUD praise bands, too; all our singing is corporate in our church and I love being able to hear us all sing. 🙂

    Downton Abbey returns tonight, folks. 🙂

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  67. I hope most here got to enjoy an edifying church service this morning. I stayed home since I have a bit of the crud. I don’t seem to have a fever, just yucky congestion.

    Kim ‘ s comment about the Campers was funny!

    Miss Bosley returns from boarding school tomorrow. She will be full of chatters and cuddles. I expect a major case of the clings.

    I got caught up with Bible reading since I got off track yesterday with the traveling homeward distractions. I did read in my Bible a little last night, but I was so tired that I fell asleep.

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  68. I do not know why this phone insists on changing that family name to Campers….grrrr….!!!! Otherwise the phone has been behaving itself.

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  69. I have had several notices from T-MOBILE that there is an update for my phone to make it more stable. It also says it could lose some things I have stored and go back to default configurations. It says I need to back up my info in case it should lose anything while doing the update. I am not sure how to back it up on the phone. So this next week will include time at the phone store to deal with all three of our phones.

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  70. I have also received confusing mail from Aetna that possibly indicates I may have insurance if I pay what they have invoiced me for. More time (hours) on the phone with them is planned for this week, too.

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  71. Our minister of music has a PhD. Albeit in music.
    After singing, he says, “You can sit down.”
    It’s the small stuff. It doesn’t matter, but I think about it every time.

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  72. Is there an economic charting of gross national product lost because of various systems that fail to work as they are suppose to in our nation? Communications, healthcare, etc., to start with two?

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  73. Seven year old often asks me if I can get a bowl out of the cupboard for her. I tell her yes and then go about my business. She then asks me if I will please get one down for her. And I do.

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  78. My husband usually wakes me up for church, somewhere around 7:30 because we go to Sunday school. This morning I figured he’d wake me up, but after a while I figured it must be close to time, so I got up enough that I could see the clock. My husband is sick, and we ladies weren’t planning on Sunday school, but it was 9:15 and thus definitely time to get up, so I did. Generally Sunday is the one day I really can’t sleep in, but I guess I did today. (It was probably about 11:15 when I went to bed, though I never go to sleep right away. Still, I went to bed based on the usual Sunday wake-up time, not on sleeping in, so I did get plenty of sleep.)

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  79. I back my phone up by plugging it into my computer. Your devices show up and you can select what to do. But that way stuff supposedly doesn’t get lost (although with my recent password issues I was having trouble).

    I’m also trying to download a new free app that is a support for the daily Bible reading plan I’m using but it won’t open, it keeps closing out. I’ve killed out the app to try re-downloading it, but the same thing happened that time, so must be a problem with the app. I figure I’ll wait a few days and try it again, I’m probably not the only person having that issue.

    I read about meeting CS Lewis (who happened to be going to this church I was visiting — I remember thinking, wow, I didn’t think he was still alive) and then I dreamed about riding a horse and wondering if I had enough room to keep him in the backyard.

    I’m busy-busy at night in my dreams, I’ll tell you.

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  84. Funny story — My friend Norma, whom I drive to church, is something of a backseat driver, always telling you when a car or person or bike is coming, etc.; she tends to drive extremely slow and exceedingly carefully the few times she does drive anymore.

    She was telling me today that our mutual friend Karen was driving her to a doctor’s appointment one day and they were running a tad late. Norma, who’d already hinted that Karen was driving too fast, finally blurted out “Oh, I’m just going to close my eyes!”

    Karen said, “Please do.”

    🙂

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  87. When Miss Bosley is boarded, she is in a room with quite an assortment of other cats, each contained within their own personal learning pod. Without the distraction of their owners’ silliness they all trade secrets about catty behavior, body language, and new termonologies. Our family went to Hilton Head Island for a too short vacation. I think husband borders on depression over the upcoming tax season. We need Miss Bosley to get back home to cheer him up. Her boarding school does not allow pickup on Sat.afternoon or Sunday.

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  88. Ah, ok.

    Tess is limping this afternoon, can’t seem to put any weight on her right front paw. Hoping she just tweaked it a bit …

    Shortly after I adopted her she broke her little toe on one of her front paws which required many weeks of pink and other colorful, hard-case wrappings, some with little hearts on them.

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  91. Ninety posts now. Some of you can race to 100.
    I’m messing around with my IPhone. I may learn to like it. I can tell where my wife and kids at any time, and I can tell the time and temperature anyplace in the country. 😦
    If I cared about that.

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  92. I’ve been having dreams lately about jogging/running, so I think I will join the race to 100. 😉

    Although it probably won’t be fair if Donna gets into the race, riding on her horse. 🙂

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  97. I’m going to the dog park in about an hour. It’s cold in my house but I’m wearing 3 layers (including a heavy sweatshirt).

    I’m still an owl, I think, though I think I “peak” somewhere in the late morning 🙂 Mornings are hard for me, but I am thinking about getting back to a morning dog walk. I did that for years and it really did help me feel perkier. But I’m going to need to start getting more exercise, I know, and that would be one natural way to add some to my existing schedule.

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  103. My best quarter in college (we were on the quarter system rather than semesters when I went) was the term I didn’t have my first class until 11:00 a.m. Perfectly suited to my body clock, starting classes at that time of day, rather than 8:00, or even 9:00.

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  108. Donna, your story about your backseat driver friend reminded me of one day a friend and I went somewhere in Chicago. When the two of us went somewhere together, she was more likely than I to be the driver (or we’d walk, if it was close to our workplace or to her home or mine). One day her car was in the shop, so she asked a couple of days in advance if I could be the one to drive.

    Well, our driving styles were very different, with her being more aggressive, whipping in and out of traffic, consistently going through a stop sign even when she was second in line, and so forth. As we drove through downtown with its parked cars, girders for the el, and so forth, she fretted that we would be late with me driving. (We weren’t; we were early.) And she said something about wishing she had driven. And no, she didn’t mean she was wishing she had driven her car (which wasn’t available), but wishing that she’d taken my keys and driven my car. I didn’t say anything, but I didn’t like her driving any more than she liked mine, and I wouldn’t have given her the keys if she had been rude enough to ask for them! (I drove for nine years in Chicago with never a ticket or an accident–not counting the no-front-license-plate ticket–so by objective standards I was a good Chicago driver, just not as aggressive as some of them.)

    Being a passenger takes patience and sometimes the ability to bite one’s tongue. I will occasionally speak, if I’m not sure my husband has seen a pedestrian or something along that line, because occasionally a second pair of eyes really is useful. (If I see deer near the road, I tell him, even though he has nearly always seen them as well, because they can blend in pretty well and they can cause an accident quite quickly.) But I know how annoying it is to have people make more than a really occasional comment, so I refrain. Although I have made mental notes to avoid riding with so and so in the future if the driving is reckless enough.

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  109. From the sleep schedule link: “The energetic people slept about a half-hour less overall than the other three groups, netting about 7.5 hours of sleep each night.” Um, they’re saying the other groups actually do sleep about eight hours a day? I thought that people are encouraged to get eight hours a day, but most people get less. ???

    For me personally, I do best when I get eight hours, and really nine is ideal . . . but I consider it a decent night when I get seven in two solid blocks. (In other words, if I sleep for five hours straight, wake up for half an hour and then sleep another two hours, that’s an unusually good night for me. Getting eight or nine nearly always means getting it in bits and pieces OR taking an antihistamine to get it, and usually still waking up repeatedly. Getting eight or nine hours, without medicine, with zero to one short period of wakefulness is extremely rare–once or twice a year rare.)

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  110. Somebody here — we won’t name names — is very much a backseat driver; it’s better for our marriage if somebody lets him do all the driving when it’s just us two. 😉

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  111. Hmm, that’s interesting. After I saw that Misten had posted on here, I changed it back to my name, but apparently my change didn’t stick. The posts today were all from me.

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  113. I may be stuck in my office, surrounded by all the memories and junk from the closet. Will someone call my husband to rescue me?

    🙂

    Part of it is the memories–too hard to see what I’m doing through all these tears. Look! Here are all the letters my husband and I exchanged when he was on the submarine. I don’t know if I dare read them–what would I have described my children as doing? 🙂

    The one time we found an audio tape I made of those years, the second child screamed in the background the entire tape–while child #1 and I had a friendly conversation. It was horrifying! And so funny, I laughed until I cried . . .

    I think I’ll go for a walk, once I climb out!

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  115. YF & I had a nasty little Facebook discussion a couple days ago. (Nasty on her part, not on mine.) Without going into too much detail, I will say that she took a comment of mine out of context, & …well, here are her words…

    “You just compared homosexuality to pedophilia in a one hundred percent serious tone and… if you ever do it again the words will not be kind and composed or contained neatly on this one post most people are pretty much ignoring.”

    IOW, she was threatening to write a public post shaming me. (I kind of chuckled at her saying her words wouldn’t be kind or composed, because they often are neither.)

    But no, I did not compare homosexuality to pedophilia, but she would not accept my insistence that I did not, nor my further explanation.

    She also made a reference in an analogy that I misunderstood. But it was the way she wrote it that made it easy to misinterpret, as she used a previous analogy but changed part of it (& Emily interpreted it the same way I did). To my comment expressing my misinterpretation, she wrote, “You know very d___ well that was talking about pedophiles…. And if you didn’t know it, read more carefully. “

    I finally realized, & I really should have “finally realized” this way before now, that trying to keep an open, polite communication on certain subjects with YF is completely futile. I wished I hadn’t even waded into this latest one, with what started out as an “innocent” comment, nothing argumentative, but then she argued with it. I decided this was the last time I will let myself comment on any of these hot-button issues in her posts.

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  116. Part of my final comment to her…

    “I am finished commenting on your posts on these particular issues. IMO, you don’t seem to read what I actually write with an open mind, but it seems you read into my words the stereotypes you have of others who might have similar opinions to me. You often seem to get very heated in your writing, which I think affects how you view what I write.

    “And quite frankly, I have had enough of your questioning my education on various subjects, saying here that I don’t understand very much about human sexuality, or rudely telling me to “read more carefully” (which you have written in similar ways before). Maybe you should write more carefully sometimes, paying more attention to the connotation & connections in what you’ve written.

    “As for that bit above, where I thought you were describing […], if you look at how it is framed […], you can see how I could take it the way I did. Often the things you tell me I didn’t read carefully enough were not presented clearly enough, or not as clearly as you thought they were, or were somehow ambiguous. That happens to me, too, sometimes, but I don’t attack the reading comprehension of the person who misunderstood my meaning.

    “You may not believe this, after this unfortunate exchange on this thread, but I pray for you & your sister every night, when I am praying for my own daughters. I may have worded this comment more strongly than I usually do, but I mean you no ill will.”

    This is the “harshest” or “bluntest” I have been with YF, but after her rudeness & condescension, I felt it was warranted. I did erase the part where I initially wrote “I have had enough of your condescending attitude…”, because I thought that would only inflame her. She is too easily inflamed.

    You all didn’t really need to know all this, but I appreciate you letting me share it with you to get it off my chest. I think I have finally learned my lesson.

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  118. Some topics have become very difficult to discuss. A few days ago (at the dog park) the issue of gays came up and there was one guy who genuinely was what could be called a “homophobe,” ridiculing and mimicking as he talked about gays — others were very liberal, but even I was cringing at some of that.

    I stayed far away from that whole conversation, didn’t say a word.

    I weighed the options but decided what I would say would just be too nuanced (and there seemed to be no other people of faith) and would still be misunderstood.

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  119. “Galloping” was a relative term, apparently.

    I’m pretty good about not trying to drive or tell the driver how to do it, I think. A couple months ago there were several of us in a car heading to Pasadena for a work meeting at our sister paper and the young gal driving was fairly fast. Didn’t bother me but I started to see brake lights ahead and after a few moments thought “I don’t think she’s seeing those” so I said something. We barely stopped in time, she’d been chatting away with the reporter in the back seat.

    Norma’s pretty bad about it, but I try not to let it bother me. The first time she was in a car I was driving — years ago now — she made the comment “We don’t have to speed.” We were going all of 40 something, along with traffic, but I got the hint right away that this was a lady who liked to go slow on the road.

    Now I make a conscious effort to drive more slowly than I normally would when she’s in the car. But she still likes to tell me whenever there’s an impending, possible, you-never-know road conflict ahead. 🙂

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  120. She has told me she gets lots of horn honks and people scooting around & past her on the road — I suspect she always was a very slow, overly cautious driver, it’s sort of matches her general personality type, but it’s probably more pronounced now that she’s in her 80s.

    Her doctor suggested she stop driving not long ago, but she’s hesitant to give up her license. She drives rarely, and never any distance, just to the grocery store, for example, so I personally think she’s fine keeping her license for now. I don’t think she particularly likes to drive, I think it makes her nervous. I don’t think she ever drove on the freeway.

    She passed the drivers’ test last time she took it just a couple years ago. But I think the doctor felt with her abdominal surgery this summer that her muscles might not ever completely snap back and that quick pedal-work could prove to be a challenge when fast reflexes were needed.

    For now, there’s a few of us who can and do give her rides to most of the places she needs to go. I kind of anticipated her not wanting (or being able) to drive at some point a few years ago when I suggested I just pick her up for church from now on. She resisted, but the fellowship is nice and I really do think it helps her not to worry about getting there every week.

    Although now she has to worry about my driving … 🙂

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  122. Donna – Sadly, tragically really, we are now at the point where if you don’t fully believe & accept that homosexuals were “born that way”, that homosexuality is is as much a part of a person as their hair & eye color, then you can’t really say you love them or accept them as individuals. If you can’t accept this very important, integral part of who they are, then you don’t accept them at all. 😦

    We were warned it would come to this, & it has.

    And the thing is, as far as my exchanges with YF are concerned, I have posted that, although I don’t believe they are “born that way”, I also believe that to them it is not really a choice, not usually a consciously voluntary thing. You would think that that would mitigate some of her vitriol towards me, since I have a more complex view of the matter than “no, they chose their lifestyle”.

    But no, nothing less than full acceptance of the “born that way” party line will be tolerated.

    Interestingly, the articles I shared with YF were from gay & liberal sources, stating that the science still has not proved that homosexuality is inborn, & espousing a more complex view of homosexual identity (& they were not anti-gay at all). I chose those because I knew she wouldn’t read or accept anything from a Christian or conservative source, but she wouldn’t even take a look at them, at least not that she admitted.

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  123. Last night the weather and traffic was really bad. I was driving, and we finally poked along on the expressway near to Atlanta.I could see okay going about 20 to 30 miles per hour, but some in the car needed a bathroom break and dinner so we got off and went to a Chick-fil-A. I asked husband to drive since he has better vision at night. We decided to take surface roads we were unfamiliar with to get to a less congested expressway route. It was a really good thing I was watching the road because husband did not see that he was going forward into an intersection where another car, which was properly taking its turn, was coming right at us and would have hit husband and son. I yelled ,”Stop!” An accident was prevented due to the second set of eyes. Especially when visibility is limited by bad weather, four eyes can make a world of difference.

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  124. Karen, agreed — I tend to believe it’s something that gets started at very young ages and so, yes, it does “feel” inborn.

    And/But even if there is a genetic predisposition (the conversation at the dog park wound up on mixed-up chromosomes, “gray” areas of one’s sexuality, etc.), we have to say that biblically it is not a good thing for society to embrace gay marriage. Just as conditions such as alcoholism may have a genetic component — it should not lead to society condoning that as a lifestyle, as something that’s morally neutral.

    I had an uncle who was gay, he was with the same partner for 40+ years until death did them part … Wonderful guys, both professionals (businessman & doctor), they were savvy investors & became quite wealthy, great hosts, warm, giving. I spent most of my holidays with them after my mom died some 25 years ago. When my uncle died, it was so hard for his partner, I know. There obviously was a deep bond between them and it was impossible not to grieve that loss.

    On a personal level, I can sympathize — life gets messy. People don’t always fit into ‘boxes.’ I get it.

    But I also believe that God ordered the universe (and society) in a way that would be most beneficial and loving for his creation, male and female, distinct.

    My concern in the larger sense about society accepting/promoting gay marriage is that it will lead more young people — who may be momentarily confused — to go down that road when otherwise they would not have done so.

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  125. It’s cold here, and I’m not at a dog (or dag) park. 11°F now. Colder this week ahead. In fact, the high on Wednesday is supposed to be 0°!

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  126. Very well said, Donna. I have known of several ladies who have been in vulnerable situations, one a widow, who were led into that lifestyle. I have heard a male brag about leading a married guy out of his married life into that lifestyle. It just seems the majority of people involved that I have known did not start out being attracted to the same sex. I have really not felt as sympathetic as others might because I do feel disgust with the preying upon the vulnerable aspect. Mostly I don’t dwell on it, but I feel righteous anger when I really consider the subject. I think perhaps that is what Karen feels in a sense because Chrissy is a little vulnerable because of her differences in processing information. It is a major test of trusting in the Lord to take care of her in that situation. I don’t mean to stir up a hornet ‘ s nest with my comment. I don’t see anything to do other than pray and trust in God over Chrissy.

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  128. And my uncle’s partner was married, left his wife & family — though seemed to have re-established his connection with his kids & grandkids in later years, they often were part of our holiday get-togethers, even if only via short visits.

    Still, no denying the brokenness of all of this.

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  129. Janice, I think I may have prevented an accident a couple of weeks ago, too, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t think my husband saw a certain car (it was in a parking lot), and I spoke and he stopped. I didn’t ask him whether he had seen the car, but I was pretty sure he hadn’t. It wouldn’t have been a really serious accident, but any accident is better prevented.

    My husband and I have joked occasionally about one “near miss” we had on the road a couple of years ago, though. We were traveling, driving through some other state, and I was dozing. My husband said, “Hey, honey, did you see that” or something very casual like that, and opened my eyes to see a van about to slam into my side of the car. I’m not a screamer, but I screamed. It turned out he was calling my attention to a vehicle full of goats, not the vehicle about to kill me. But to open one’s eyes to one’s husband telling her very calmly to watch us have an accident was a moment of shock. Fortunately my husband honked and the vehicle swerved back into its own lane. But we still joke about the time my husband woke me because he wanted me to watch us get hit. On that same trip, in the same state, we had another driver pull over into our lane because she wanted to get ahead of merging traffic, not behind it. My husband had to slam on the brakes and honk, and even so it was a very close call. But the driver, instead of realizing “Whoops!” and pulling back into the lane she came from, kept coming over anyway. It was one of the rudest, most dangerous moves I’ve ever seen. She basically was driving parallel to the front third of our car and she decided to move over in spite of the fact there was a car in the space she was moving into. But hey, she didn’t have to drop behind the vehicle merging into the next lane, and I guess that’s all that mattered! She could have safely dropped behind it; she could not safely get ahead of it, but she chose the dangerous option.

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  130. Wow, Cheryl, close call …

    Back to Janice (10:55), that’s why there is a concrete danger, in my view, when society (not just government, that’s really the last step — but leading up to that also media, changing social acceptance, etc.) puts its stamp of approval on alternative sexual arrangements.

    Communal acceptance opens the way for individuals to not only experiment but to feel free about “choosing” their own sexuality, irregardless of biology or societal (informed by religious) norms.

    Homosexuality isn’t new — it’s been part of mankind’s history & struggle since biblical times and, most recently, has been growing in acceptance in the west since at least the 1970s. Now it’s come full circle, pretty much, with the U.S. recognizing and sanctioning gay marriage, ushering in a new era with all the challenges that come with it.

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  131. Our concern always should come down to love of God and love of neighbor — and this wider secular acceptance of gay marriage puts our neighbor more in danger of making decisions that will harm them and their families.

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