Truly Thankful

What is Hard?

My father taught me this:

En este mundo traidor,
nada es verdad ni mentira.
Todo es según el color del cristal con que se ve.

Translation:

In this treacherous world,
nothing is truth nor lie.
All is according to the color of the crystal with which it is seen.

There are fewer people who know my heart than there are fingers on my right hand.  But with age, it is increasingly difficult to maintain the silence of my life.  What holds the tongue is the sad reality that wisdom is wasted on the populace.  Yet, a glimmer of hope should always remain.  The possibility always exists that the right words to the right spirit will save at least one soul.

My greatest love is Christ Jesus.  I willingly and joyously enslave myself to Him. 

To truly know Christ as I know him, you MUST, without exception, read the bible from cover to cover just like you would read a Harry Potter book, or "Mr. Popper's Penguins", or any other novel.  You can not skip around picking out a few words here and there.  You'll walk away from the experience more lost and confused than when you first began.

Additionally, you must read it in a language you truly understand.  For those of us who speak english, I strongly suggest the "New Living Translation" (NLT).

Anyone who tells you that they are Christian and that I am incorrect is a wolf in sheeps clothing.  That is in accordance with the scriptures.  Scriptures say that the path to hell is wide and crowded.  Read the scriptures and you'll know beyond a shadow of a doubt who it is that is walking on the wide path.  Those that are on the narrow path will shine out like beacons of light on a dark and rainy night.

To God be the glory, for which I am TRULY THANKFUL.

Good Job Mr. President!

I'm proud of MY president!  I think Barak Obama is doing a fabulous job considering the pack of bloodthisty, money worshiping dogs he has to go up against daily. 

I am disgusted with all the members of both houses for their incompentence.  I am amazed that we, the majority of the voting citizenry are so shockingly stupid that we continually vote into office these monied parasites.  They attach themselves firmly to our collective juglar veins and siphon our blood directly into their corporate supporters Swiss bank accounts.  Still, simpering fools that we are, we put the same garbage or their clones into office over and over again!

DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO READ?  DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO THINK?  Boehner isn't out for the "common" man!  He wants to suck you dry then rape your sons and daughters before your dying eyes.

For those of you who think you are Christian, it's what scripture refers to as "sacraficing your children to molech".  Oh, wait...  most of you don't know how to think for yourselves. I'm sorry, I forget, you just do and think what the guy at the front of the building tells you to do and think.  You probably won't be there to see what happens to him on judgement day anyhow.  Though, if you are curious, the scriptures say a whole lot about what will happen to "false teachers".  It won't be fun.

Barack Obama as EARNED a nice vacation.  You republicans don't know what it means to actually "earn" anything.  Though you're all pretty good at screwing the middle class over.

Next election, wise up people and vote middle class folks into office!

Thoughts from the Shower

A wise person is keenly aware of her/his lack of knowledge and is humble when speaking because of it.

A fool is unthinking about her/his ignorance and speaks with arrogant self-confidence.

~<*>~

Are you really a Christian?

How many times do parents chuckle to themselves as their children complain that mom and dad “don’t understand me”.  Why do we chuckle?  Because we have been children ourselves and we do understand, all to well, what our children are going through.  We also know that it is the children who are being foolish and unwise.  And how do we know this?  Because we are older, we have lived and lived through those times. 

That living has given us the tools of understanding, wisdom, and skill to not only understand, but move forward in our lives.  They are working to achieve and grow our tools.  Some will survive these times healthy and intact.  Some will not.  Their outcome will depend a great deal, if not entirely, on us and how well we are willing and able to guide them through this age.

So what does this have to do with being a Christian?  Everything.  Why?  Because we we fail to recognize and give credit to satan for being millennium older and therefore millennium wiser than we are.  Granted, he is a fool before God, but not before us.

Scripture warns us over and over how sneaky and devious satan is and how easy it is for him to manipulate us.  What do you suppose is his favorite tool?  I believe his best and most frequently used tool is keeping us from fully understanding scripture.

 If you have not read scripture from cover to cover you are not following the stated will of God.  If you stand before a congregation in this condition and claim to speak for God, you are placing yourself in a position of being a curse to yourself, your family, and every person who looks up to you as a teacher or pastor.

My Grandmother was an URBAN HOMESTEADER!

My Grandmother, Ollie Henrietta Jones, was an urban homesteader.  She taught me most of what I know about urban homesteading.  Without her skill, knowledge, and wisdom, I would not be an urban homesteader now, nor would I be able to teach and guide my children into the urban homesteading lifestyle now.

Even now, I can smell the apples she had stored in the mud room when she lived on 11th Street between, Laura and Silver streets.  I can remember her telling me about her own life as a young girl in Georgia and watching her mother, aunts, and grandmother, creating soap from essentially nothing, along with sewing all their own clothes, gardening to produce all their own fruits and vegetables, and so much more.

I can, in my mind, see her in her urban homestead setting that she had at 189 Cottage Avenue.  I can see her hanging out the freshly washed sheets, towels, and clothing.  I can remember hearing the first cracks of thunder and the screams to get the wash off the line before the rain came followed by the mad scramble to follow that direction.  As a family we accomplished the deed in record and perfect time because everything would be the slightest bit damp and therefore much more easy to iron.  Ironing was my chore!

I can see the garden patches she tended so lovingly all my life.  I can smell the sweet pea flowers she would plant along the fence.  There would be tomato plants, turnips, onions, and corn.  My own urban homestead today has so much more in it than hers did.  But then I have nearly two acres of land and I think she only had half an acre.  On the other hand, she had a pecan tree that was more than 100 years old, had survived Hurricane Dora, and produced the sweetest and most delicious pecans imaginable. 

I've patterned my own urban homestead after her urban homestead in little patches of this and that coming together in a harmonious quilt of what I have always considered a perfect life.  We grow corn and greens on our urban homestead.  We grow peas and beans on our urban homestead.  We grow flowers and herbs on our urban homestead.  Our neighbors are urban homesteaders as well and we all come together through happy times, sad times, and even scary times. 

This weekend was one of those scary times.  Saturday was a ferociously windy day.  The grass is winter dry and there was not a whisper of moisture in the panting breaths of wind that swept our land and the land around us.  There were more than 30 fires in our area, 4 of them hitting the resources of the local volunteer firemen in the Haws Run, Southwest, and 9 Mile VFD.

Being an urban homesteader means that you don't need to buy a whole lot from a store, but we do need some things and we buy those things once a month with the goal being to keep driving to a minimum.  We really can't afford the gas! 

I brought home a special treat, Wendy's fast food.  My family and I were eating when there was a loud knocking at the back door.  The kids went running to see what was going on.  They were loud and excited as they always are when we have company.  I just sat and relaxed until I heard the word "FIRE".  I turned and saw that our shed, the lifeblood of our little urban homestead heaven was shooting flames through the roof.

"Lord GOD," my mind called out, "take me and guide me in what I need to do."  It wasn't easy to focus at first.  Mike moved the car that was between the house and the shed.  After he did that, the 3 propane tanks stored near the door of the shed started blowing flame like giant welding torches.  At first I was afraid that they would explode and I started to be afraid.  I caught myself though, rebuked the thought and moved to get the boys out of the house. 

By this time my oldest was beginning to panic.  I could see mounting panic in my husband as well.  My youngest was calmer but still confused and worried.  I knew only one way to overcome the situation and guarantee that we would not make things worse by doing something stupid and that was to pray.

We came together on the lawn near the "Tree of Unknown Species" and I said, "On your knees, we need to pray."  They resisted.  I repeated, "On your knees, now, we need to pray!"  I pulled on their hands and Mike and the youngest came down.  The oldest was still hopping around with increasing agitation, openly weeping by this time.  I gave his arm a firm tug and repeated, "NOW!" and he joined the circle. 

We prayed, short, sweet, and to the point.  When we got up, we were better able to focus on which actions needed to be taken most immediately.  We got our dog out of his kennel, about 200' from the fire.  We let the chickens out of their coops so they could move off to safety.  Michael moved his largest riding mower with his log splitter attached to the front of the house.  Then, we focused on getting water on the roof of the house.

We were still waiting for the fire department to show up and that was stretching our nerves but we also knew that they were stretched with other fires around the area.  The siding on the back of our house started to melt.  The flames licked their way across the parched and brittle grass towards the chicken coops.  It left a path of 10' or more around the dog kennel.  On it surged leaving a 5' margin around the chicken coops.  PRAISE GOD ON HIGH!

Now the flames fanned out with some continuing in haste towards the forest and down to the creek and others dancing towards the wood pile.  The last of the wood that we anticipate needing for the winter cold, but still needed.  The eager tongues reached out to taste a few scraps at the edge of the area used to cut and split huge trunks into fireplace sized chunks and then, as though disgusted with the flavor, moved on towards the road. 

By now the fire department responders had arrived and without hesitation they quenched the flames in record time.  They subdued the dancing demons.  They conquered the languishing wisps of smoke and steam.  They dissipated the roar into the soft and gentle crackling of substance surrendered to it's chemical origins.

Our little urban homestead is again, safe, and reasonably intact.  The insurance has to be dealt with, replacing the things that were destroyed, and of course the clean up.  None of which is as overwhelming and disconcerting as the event necessitating the activity.

For all we have, I am TRULY THANKFUL!

Boston Globe Article

Here's a very interesting article in today's Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/09/27/are_we_raising_a_generation_of_nincompoops/

It really made me think.  We are fighting this very thing in homeschooling our sons.  I often think about what their future will be like.  They can build viable structures, raise animals for food and prepare them from slaughter to table, they can save seed and grow them out for food, they have read the bible, have excellent cursive writing (needs improvement, but that is being worked on), in short, they can survive.

How will these other children survive with nothing more useful than the ability to type?  I'm sure my sons will be happy to sell your sons some food, for a price.  But when your sons no longer have the ability to pay, what then?  Slavery?  Starvation?

Think about it.

Barak Obama proves his claim of Christianity.

Anyone who has read the scriptures knows that being Christian is not a matter of mere words but of actions as well. 

Anyone who has read the scriptures from cover to cover also knows that an anti-christ is a person who claims to be a christian then fails to act as a christian. 

Having read scripture cover to cover more than once, I am confident that Barak Obama is a Christian.  He is a strong man and I believe he is doing an excellent job.  I also think that the people who complain about him would not be doing as good a job as he is.

Jesus told the teachers of religious law, "Haven't YOU read the scriptures?  It ISN'T what you eat that makes you unclean.  It IS what is in your heart that defiles you."

I am TRULY THANKFUL that I can read and that I have been sufficiently wise to read scripture from the first page to the last.  I am TRULY THANKFUL that I have scripture to use as guideline for my life.  I am TRULY THANKFUL that scripture is not just a book in our house, but a book that is in my head where I can use it for my benefit and personal growth every minute of every day. 

Not Keen on Sarah Palin

I am not impressed with this person at all.  I am very concerned about how many people seem to support her.  The rhetoric used by folks who support her is most disturbing.  Here are some reasons I believe she should not be in a position of leadership:

1.  She failed to complete her term in office as governor of Alaska.

2.  She has relinquished much of the care of her special needs child to others.

3.  She failed to convey the importance of high moral standards to her children.

4.  She fails to adequately facilitate the decision making process for her immature children.

5.  She does not comprehend the importance or value of her role as a mother.

These few publicly demonstrated facts, failing to complete her term as governor most especially, tell me Sarah Palin would be a poor choice for any office.  I would not consider her for a term as PTA official.  Much less any position within even the lowest level of government.

After many sleepless nights thinking about this, I am TRULY THANKFUL that I have finally said it.

My Opinion on Same Sex Marriage

Recently, a supreme court judge over ruled the vote of the people with regard to same sex marriage.  I find this particular turn of events extremely disturbing on several levels.

1.  Marriage is a religious ceremony.  For government to play any part in the process is a clear violation of the separation of church and state.

2.  The issue of same sex marriage has been put forth to the people of California on multiple occasions and each time the people voted against it.  For this judge to set aside the people is to deny majority rule.  Majority rule is one of the founding principles of our nation.

Our nation is in a condition of erosion in many ways.  I hope that people take time to consider all aspects of this and other issues facing our people with a clear mind.  I feel that the judge who made this decision must have been acting with some sort of passion that prevent clear and unbiased thinking and wisdom.

New Stuff

I would like to say that "we've been busy" but that would be an understatement and it would fail to demonstrate how this time is different from the past.  We are always busy.  Busy is good by the way. 

There is, however; several new things going on.  Back in April I planted some mangel seed I received from a colleague.  Mangel is a close relative to sugar beets.  So close, in fact, that I could not tell you the differences.  In June, I began to cut greens from the tops of these lovely plants.  The leaves are very much like chard, but the ribs are neither as wide nor as flat.  The flavor is similar to a blend of spinach and chard.  Delicious in my opinion.  I like them best prepared using techniques and flavorings of Spain, Korea, or Italy.  So, very versatile to say the least.  They are a tender and fast cooking green which is also a major plus in my kitchen.

Yesterday I plucked about a dozen of these plants from the ground.  The roots are huge, up to a couple pounds in most cases.  A few were fed to the chickens to see what they think of them as they are being grown, in part, as winter fodder.  They seem to like radishes better.  The rest have been soaked, scrubbed, scraped, sliced and are now slowly simmering in a pot of water.  When they get mushy, they will be removed from the liquid to a cheesecloth lined strainer where they will be pressed to remove as much of the liquid as possible.  The liquid will be returned to the pot and the solids will be spread out to dry.  As the liquid evaporates I expect crystals to form around the pot.  These crystals will be my very first homemade sugar.  The dried solids will become bird food.  How's that for being self sufficient?

The other new item in the house is a spindle.  Nothing fancy or expensive.  Just a simple, sturdy, wooden spindle and a bundle of wool roving that I am learning to spin into thread.  Yet another step forward in becoming self sufficient.  I'll be working with my own homegrown cotton by fall, assuming the crop continues to progress well.  I'm pretty excited about it as some of it is supposed to be naturally red.

Let's see now.  Homemade sugar, homespun wool and cotton from home grown fibers.  Homegrown folks living a homegrown life.  Yep, if Wall Street fails, I doubt it will hit us as hard as it will hit city folk.  We will continue to have good food, sturdy clothes, warm homes, and happy times.  For all this, I am TRULY THANKFUL!