I'm a Book Girl

I went to the public library tonight to study. I was studying my "Fundamentals of Accounting" materials... trying to work on some extra credit problems that I put off until the last minute. I thought it would be a good place to study, but it was actually hard to concentrate with all those books around me wanting to be picked up, skimmed over, caressed and read.I tried to resist, but that proved to be too hard and I found a book I wanted to take home. So I went to the counter to check it out. I haven't been to the library in a long time and was informed I had a $9 fine on my card. This is the part where you need to keep in mind I was at the library for the purpose of studying Accounting. I had only a $20 bill and a couple of Ones, so I handed her the twenty and asked if they had change, to which she replied, "I think so", to which I replied, "Would it help if I gave you a $1, too?" She just stared at me, confused. Okay, so in what possible way would it help to give her $21 to pay a $9 fine??!!!! So then we both started laughing and she said, "Don't confuse me with math, I'm a book girl". And I said, "Me too" So I got back to my table to return to my studying... and stared at my Accounting book and, feeling sort-of sad, sort-of tired, sort-of wistful, I asked myself the obvious question... "Why is a 'book girl' studying Accounting?" Someone please tell me what to do with my life! :-)

Financially Confident

Financially confident woman? Not me. Not in my whole 40 years. But I'm excited about becoming one now, especially since it has become a necessity. :-) This book was recommended by Dr. Hayden several months ago and I have just gotten around to reading it. Written by a christian woman who got herself and her family into deep financial trouble and then dug her way back out again... so far, I am really enjoying it and learning from it. I hope to never be that woman digging myself out of serious financial trouble by learning from her mistakes.

She includes chapters on investing, saving, debt, giving, your credit, etc. with very helpful information about making a budget, etc. But she begins the book with lots of "heart issue" encouragement... changing your attitudes, learning to be content and grateful, etc.

Good book. :-)

In The Past

An interesting thing I have learned about the past is that it doesn't exist. As soon as I have lived a moment, it is gone never to be reclaimed. We say something is "in the past" just like we would say something is "in the bedroom" or "in the closet".... when in actuality... nothing is in the past because the past is gone. If there is something in the closet, that presumes I can go and get it. If something is in the past... I cannot go and get it. I cannot touch it, relive it or change it..... I can do nothing with it. I can see the CONSEQUENCES of things that have happened in the past... I can see the scars (and the beauty)... but I cannot see the past. God is the "I AM". He is here in this moment. And I want to be where He is.

So I was told... when something comes into my head that is "in the past" and I hurt because of it, or I carry it around with me...... or let myself be accused because of it ... I am to tell myself it doesn't exist.

Surprisingly... repeatedly telling myself something doesn't exist has given me a great deal of freedom. I know it happened. But I also know it is NOT currently happening and does not exist any longer. All there is ... is now.


So here I am. Today. Now. Free of the past.

Punching Bag

I've noticed that people in our apartment complex often place things by the dumpster that seem to be perfectly good and I suppose they are just wanting someone to take it so they don't have to deal with it when they are moving out. Not long after moving here, I saw this punching bag and stopped and picked it up. It is in excellent condition and I checked online and it probably costs about $50 to $60 new. It has water in the base to weigh it down. Jacob loves it!

But it does give me an uncomfortable feeling to have a punching bag of this sort in my house. :-) Some of you know where I'm going with this. But I thought I would tell a story of a sweet little 5 or 6 year old girl and an unfortunate event involving a punching bag. This particular punching bag was similar to the one I picked up by the dumpster, but the pole was much more narrow- about the width of a pencil, I think. Somehow, the bag had been removed while the little girl and her baby brother and sister were playing. As the poor little girl was carrying her baby brother, she dropped him and he landed on the punching bag pole. With his head. It went straight up through his head, sort-of behind his ear, and out the top! She ran to get her mother, but her mother had already heard the screams and was on her way to the bedoom. She arrived to find her only son impaled on the punching bag pole. All she could think to do was run to him and pull him up off the pole.

As bad luck would have it, this horrific incident happened during a Michigan blizzard. While the mom held a towel to her son's head, which was gushing blood, the dad of the family went to shovel the car out of the garage so they could get to the hospital, and, in such a panic, as you can imagine, backed the car out of the garage.... twice... with the driver's side door open, damaging the door and the garage. (Okay, that's kind-of funny, right? Don't worry, this story has a happy ending).

The elderly couple across the street were called to come and get the sisters. The elderly lady asked the girls where their "stockings" were and they didn't know she just meant "socks".

As it turned out, according to the x-ray, the pole narrowly missed anything really important in the brother's head. And he got a stuffed elephant while he was in the hospital, which he named "Elly". But the guilt-ridden sister drew pictures of herself crying.

Yes, my dear readers, that little girl was me. And yes, I nearly killed my brother Matthew 35 years ago... on a punching bag. And it's funny to me that what I remember most clearly about all of this was Mrs Pichey asking me to get my "stockings" on.

So, even though the pole on this punching bag I got for Jacob is much, much thicker and doesn't really appear that it could cause anyone serious damage... the rule is that the bag stays on, or it goes back to the dumpster. No bagless punching bags in my house, even free ones.

:-)

Another Quilt

When my mom started quilting as a hobby, I don't think she realized the entire family was going to want their own. (That's like 15 or 16 quilts!) Today Jacob's arrived. He was SOOO excited..... I think she out-did herself.....

When I asked Jacob if he wanted to call his grandmother and thank her, he said, "She knows I'm thankful". :-) He will call you later, mom!

Faith Comes By Hearing

My new favorite way to access God's Word... how cool is this? I saw this on my cousin Kristy's blog and ordered one right away from this website. It's available in different versions... I chose the New Testament in the ESV. It comes with the MP3 player, battery and head phones...

And in just 28 minutes per day, you can listen to the entire New Testament in 40 days!

I will be keeping this in my purse!

I love the mission of this company- to distribute God's Word in audio format.... great for people who can't read!!!! Love it!!!

Holy Ground

One time...
Tending sheep, working, working....
I saw...
a bush ablaze...
burning
burning
....never burnt.

Wow.

Drawn, I go toward
those signs
from God..
they are
are mysterious and thrilling.

I can't resist them.

I wait and wait on them
I chase and chase them
I crave and crave them
I love them.

I wonder....
Would I
wait
and chase
and crave
and love...
"just" God?

Close to the sizzling, sparkling bush....
A voice....
Stop.
This ground
is holy,
holy,
holy.

Because God.

Look down.
Feet made by God
Dirt made by God

Sandals....
made by Clarks of England.

Between us,
God and I,
should be nothing
man-made.

Not my......
opinions,
biases,
misinterpretations,
plans,
knowledge,
arrogance,
religion,
schemes,
sin,
good works,

sandals.
Brenda, take them off.