Fear

Fear reigns in many people's lives. They are always consumed with a fear of mice or other crawly creatures, fear of heights, fear of the number 13, fear of flying, fear of getting rid of clutter, fear of leaving the house, fear of this or a fear of that. They never seem to go through a day without some small fear creeping up on them with the possibility of growing into an incapacitating fear that leaves them incapable of living a completely fulfilled life.

For Christians, that isn't the way to live. God has not created us to live in fear. Fear is a tool used by Satan to keep us from accomplishing what God has for our lives. It may be as small as a fear of one of God's creatures or as large as a fear of leaving the home. Either way, those fears cause us to focus on ourselves and to never look outward and forward into God's will for each of us.

I readily admit that I have my own fears, but I purposely try to not dwell on them. Life is meant to be lived and not spent cowering in a corner. God is our Strength and Shield and is always going before us in everything we do. Nothing will happen to us that hasn't already come through His almighty hand first.

II Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Romans 8:15
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father.

Namby-pamby

I absolutely love the Geico commercial with the former drill sergeant working in a new career as a therapist. For those who haven't seen it or taken too much notice in it, the "patient" is on a chair whining about how the color yellow makes him sad. The "therapist" then says, "You know what makes me sad? You do!" He then proceeds to tell him that they should proceed over to "Namby-pamby land" to find some self-confidence for him and calls him a "Jackwagon". After those loving words of support, he then throws a box of tissues at him while calling him a "Crybaby".

This commercial is me up one side and down the other. I, of course, mean the former drill sergeant turned therapist. I have the same feelings about most of the whining that goes on today. People just need to grow up. After all the drama of the teen years, one would think that people would learn that life will not always go their way. Yes, there will be hard times and unfair times and times when you wished you were dead, but when one starts wallowing in self-pity and despair and whines, cries, and yells "woe is me" with their hand placed dramatically upon their forehead, it becomes more than I can take. I have compassion, but my compassion only runs so deep. When my well of compassion has been tapped dry, I tend to want to tell the individual to grow up and then avoid anymore contact with that individual.

So, remember all you whiners, make sure you keep them down to a low sound around me. Once you've exhausted my day's supply of concern for your feelings, you will be in real danger of me buying you a one-way bus ticket to Namby-pamby land. Don't expect any tissues either.

Oh, one more thing...

Call me "Sarg".

Grandparents

Today is National Grandparents Day. It's not very widely know nor celebrated as Mother's Day or Father's Day. There are no TV or radio ads touting huge sales. There are no special gifts. For most people it's just another day.

But it should be a special day. Grandparents are very special people and deserve some recognition. They are just as concerned about their grandchildren as they were about their own children. They aren't directly involved in their everyday lives for the most part, but they still love them very much.

Grandparents have a special role in the family. Sometimes, they are the calming influence in an otherwise stormy relationship between parents and children. They understand both sides and try to help negotiate an agreement. Other times, they spoil their grandchildren rotten and send them home to their parents. Two wonderful sides of the grandparent coin.

At times, I feel a twinge of regret or maybe even jealousy for kids with grandparents. I never really had them. My mom's mother died before I was born and my grandfather remarried not long after and my mom wasn't close to her step-mother. He then died when I was 8. My dad's mother died when I was 10 and his dad died when I was 13 after suffering from poor health for a while. Through circumstances in life, I never really had the chance to have grandparents to the fullest extent that their role could have played in my life.

So here's to all the grandparents out there today. God bless them all and here's to many more years of having them around.

They are a treasure!

Remember

Anniversaries are usually special times that are looked back on with fondness. Weddings, graduations, birthdays, special dates are all remembered when the date rolls around each year.

Today's date is different.

September 11, 2001, is burned into the collective consciousness of every American alive and old enough to understand what happened on that fateful day. Even after 9 years, every time I see the combination of 9 and 11, I flash back to that day...

Where I was.

What I was doing.

The roiling feelings coursing through my entire being as I tried to grasp what had just happened and why it had happened.

I still can't quite understand why so much hatred exists among humans other than the fact that Satan is the prince of this world and likes nothing better than to cause strife and pain and anguish.

With a tinge of sadness and lingering pain on this date, it's also a time to honor and pay tribute to those men and women who died that day. May they always be remembered for the ultimate sacrifice they paid and honored for their unselfish and self-sacrificing bravery and commitment on a very emotionally wrenching day.

Imagine

In 1971, John Lennon released the single "Imagine". It has become his most famous post-Beatles single and a rock classic. The lyrics are familiar to many people and it has continued to be covered my artists throughout the years. When one hears it, it brings feelings of good will, camaraderie, and peace. But upon closer inspection, the words end up being a delusional pipe dream that are not based on any kind of reality nor will they ever come true. The reason is that God has been totally removed from all aspects of this "peace". God is the only true source of peace and it will never occur until Christ reigns forevermore upon establishing His kingdom on Earth.

The first words, "imagine there's no heaven", set the tone for the whole song. John wanted us to believe that God doesn't exist. He doesn't want a heaven or hell, only sky. If they existed, that would mean there is a choice to be made. All he wants is "people living for today". I believe that he is getting is wish today. People go through life acting as if there is no heaven or hell. They only want to do it their way and have no thought of God. Satan is in full control of this thinking.

Next, he wants a world devoid of countries and religion. With those pesky restraints out of the way, people would have "nothing to kill or die for" and would be "living life in peace". But I disagree. People in the same "religion" and the same country kill each other and die everyday. War and death are part of this present life because of the curse. No releasing of such "boundaries" will cause peace to flood the earth. If anything, it could make things worse.

Lastly, he wants a world with no possessions. No one has anything but everyone has something. Excuse me, but that has been tried over and over again throughout the centuries and that type of living only ends up failing in the end. No matter what the situation, greed and selfishness will override the feelings of "brotherhood".

Yes, John. You were "a dreamer" and certainly "not the only one". I, myself, am also a dreamer. But my mindset is on another plane. I "imagine what it will be like when I walk by [His] side" and "what my eyes will see when [His] face is before me". I "imagine when all I will do is forever worship [Him]" and "to my knees [I will] fall" in awe and wonder of my Righteous God and Glorious Savior.

Now that's something to imagine...

Crying for Relish

For all my devoted fans out there, I am sure you know me well enough by now to know that I strongly dislike when someone doesn't follow the simple instructions in front of them. It's really not that hard to do when they are plainly told to you or written down in plain English. Following instructions makes like simpler and all the complications resulting from not following directions will be avoided.

I reiterated all of that to admit that it happened to me today!!!!!!

YES!!! Kevin didn't follow instructions!!!

Today was another day to can and pickle for the fair and to eat this winter. I had to go purchase some produce such as pears, bell peppers, onions, apples, and green tomatoes. At first, I was just going to pickle the pears. But after a trip to the Farmer's Market where we purchased the peppers, we decided to go ahead with the pepper relish because the red peppers were not so good looking and needed to be processed today. When writing down the list of ingredients I needed, I read that I needed 24 green and 24 red bell peppers to make the relish. And of course, we purchased that amount after digging and digging and digging through boxes to find the best red peppers.

Upon returning home and much to my chagrin, I re-read the recipe and discovered that it called for 24 total red and green peppers, not 24 each!!! Mom rolled her eyes. I heaved a big sigh. Now it looked like I would have to double the recipe. But according to the recipe, it only made 4 pints. I could deal with 8 pints of relish.

No big deal...

Until we started grinding...

And grinding...

And grinding...

By the time we finished grinding the ton of peppers and onions, our eyes were full of tears. Grinding onions makes a lot of sulphuric acid!!! Upon throwing all the ingredients into the pot, we had a very large pot full of ground peppers and onions. Nope...it's going to be waaaaayyyy more than 8 pints.

Total: 22

Did Kevin learn a lesson?

Yes.

Yes, he did.