Politically Incorrect

I'm sure that most of you have received tons of political emails from people that are incorrect, untrue and just plain biased (or worse, racist/sexist). It is easy to just click on the delete button and forget about it, but what do you do when it is a member of your congregation? And they are sending it out to other church members.....

Give me your insights!!

BTW

I just spoke about the "Balancing Act" of my life. This is another aspect, which I am finding very hard right now.

So, I wanted to report that my Official Project Outline has been approved by the Doctoral committee, with only a couple of simple changes.

Can you say??

YIPPEEE!!!

Balancing Act

I know that all of you can relate to this, especially those of you with children in school. It is a struggle to balance our duties to the church, parishioners, and our children. Finding time to blog, to read, to write, to exercise, and sometimes to even sleep becomes a balancing act.

I have found a new ability which helps.....I can now read while on the exercise bike. The key is NOT to rest the book on my belly (which is not a stable platform, no laughing).

I broke down and joined one of the city park's health centers. It allows Ryss to train for her new thing (running in a marathon) in relative safety. It has a pool which is kind to my joints. And, of course, the infamous stationary bicycle. I've decided that maybe if I have invested money in it, I might actually do it (exercise). It really has one great side-effect, which is I sleep much better. This afternoon Ryss is trying Kick-boxing. She asked me to do it too. I said, "Absolutely Not, my knees have trouble walking across the parking lot. I'm not doing that it will kill me!!"

And so the balancing act goes on. I am in charge of both services this Sunday, so everyone else can take Labor Day Week-End off.

Life is good!!

Shame

I watched the funeral services this week for Mr. Gwatney who was the Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman. He was gunned down at party headquarters by a man who apparently had absolutely no connection with Mr. Gwatney at all. It was a random act of violence.

The part that totally disgusted me was held outside the funeral services. Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka Kansas came down and protested outside of the funeral services. You might remember them as the protesters of soldiers that have given their lives in service to the USA.

They had signs that said:

"God hates You"
"Don't Worship the Dead"
"God sent the Shooter"

I found this so outside the pale that it still makes me angry.

Beautiful Christian Sister

BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN SISTER by Maya Angelou
'A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.' When I say ... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean livin'' I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say ... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide. When I say ... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess. When I say ... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect, My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say ... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain.. I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name. When I say ... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou, I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow! Pretty is as Pretty does ... but beautiful is just plain beautiful!

Hunger

I was asked to help feed the homeless last Sunday night at "Our House". I can't describe the feeling of satisfaction that you get from helping do God's work. I left that place feeling truly blessed.

There was one young lady with an infant only a couple of weeks old eating dinner. It was obvious that she was extremely hungry. Jesus said that we will always have the poor with us but it was sad to witness this level of hunger in the United States. I'm afraid that with this economy it is going to get worse.

Many of the people came to thank us for providing the meal. Spiritually I know that I received far more than I gave that day.

Poetry

So Ryss has two weeks to do the entire summer's homework assignments for her new school. And we had already made plans for her to spend the last week of summer with her best friend in Texas (which she left for today). It is amazing what that child can get done with sufficient motivation. And now it is quiet in my house again. I know that it won't last long though and with school she will be busy, busy, busy.

Anyway, we had to go to the book store (my favorite place) to buy a couple of books for her assignments. I said, "I'm going to the poetry section to pick out a couple of books." She said, "Mom, you don't read poetry". Strange guy said, "It's never too late to start". Gee thanks, Strange Guy.

I found a book for poetry and it is really cool. Strange Guy was right, "It's never too late to start".

I received a wonderful compliment from a parishioner the other day. He said that I'm the best thing that has happened at the church in a long time. How Sweet. Of course, he was on pain meds at the time but it was still sweet.

Now time for me to get back to watching the Olympics. Every two years, I have a special favorites list on my satellite named "Olympics". I love watching them and I'm not a big sports watcher. There is something special about it. I watched the Saber Fencing this morning and saw the US women sweep the medals. It was so cool.

(Was this post random or what?)

Wing Walking

I watched the video of the couple who had their marriage ceremony conducted while strapped on the wings of an airplane. I watched as the pastor/official that officiated at the service was strapped on and thought "Not only No but Hell No!!". There is no way that I would be strapped onto the wings of an airplane to marry a couple.

Good news to report: Ryss found out yesterday that she got assigned to the school that she desperately wanted to go to. She was assigned to the "International Baccalaureate" program because of her academics. Apparently there are only 400 middle schools in the United States that have this program. I'm much more excited that she will be taking a Violin Class and a High School Spanish class. At our last school, she would have had to wait another year before she started a foreign language. I have never understood waiting until High School for foreign languages. I believe that we should start them in Kindergarten like other nations, when it is easier to learn a foreign language.

Country Roads Take Me Home

Well, I spent two days driving close to 1,000 miles but it was totally worth it. I got my little girl back. We were able to have several good debates over Free Will, Destiny and an Omniscient God. I can honestly say that the trip home was more interesting than the trip up. Plus, I saw some beautiful country that I had never driven through before.

She is already making plans to go back next year. There were lots of tears and hugs and more tears during the leave-taking. Her professor was a very nice man and gave Ryss an "exceeded expectations" rating for her time there. I told her that was kind of subjective since we didn't know what the expectations were in the first place. It could have been that the expectations were getting out of bed every morning on time. I have a good time teasing her.

I am tired of school myself which is a shame since I still have several years left in my D.Min. program. I think that all the excitement of the summer is starting to give way to exhaustion. Between all the drama of leaving Texas, starting a new appointment, getting settled in a new house, my seminar, Ryss's time at KU, I am tired. I have three papers due by August 15th. I don't want to do them. I'm such a whiner!!!!