Relative Perspectives

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers for Bubba!  He is doing better but I really felt like we were on the edge of losing him this time.  When a 4.5 lb dog loses 1 lb it is not a good thing!  I can gain or lose five times that much overnight!  But his tiny little body just doesn’t run very well on no food and no water.

He ate about 1/4 c baby food for a day, then 1/4 c baby food three times the next day, then 1/4c baby food plus rice four times a day and now today he is eating 1/2 c chicken, baby food and rice four times a day.  He is also running around playing with his toys, bright eyed and bushy tailed (well, as bushy as a Chihuahua tail can be).

Just want to say - God hears our prayers and He is faithful to answer them.  His answers are not always what we want, but we trust that His plans are always better than whatever we can come up with.  Thank you again for praying.

Peace.

Kathy’s little dog is very sick and she is just beside herself.  Kathy is a fixer - tell her your problem and she has every answer in the book for how to fix it.  She is not belligerent about it - she is very sincere.  She likes order - She likes closure - She likes peace.  Who doesn’t, for that matter.  But tonight her baby Bubba is hurting and she is feeling helpless as to how to heal him.

She doesn’t have the answer for what to do to make things right again for Bubba.  She is looking to me to help, and I’ve suggested everything I know to try.  I helped figure the medicine dosage - I felt his stomach - looking for possible locations of pain/problems - but I don’t have the answer.  She wants me to give her the answer, but I just can’t - I don’t have the answer.  This leaves me feeling helpless as to how to help her.  Maybe I’m a fixer too?

I know Who has the answer though.  The Almighty Creator Fixer Who already knows the outcome of Bubba’s illness.  He is in control and all we can do is trust that He will give us the wisdom to do whatever it takes to help him, and accept whatever the outcome.

My friends, will you please say a little prayer for Bubba that he might be well?  I’ll be praying for him too.  Thank you.

Peace.

Although yesterday was officially the first day of semester classes, my new classes did not start until today - Women’s Ministry, Cultural Anthropology and Ecclesiastes.  I am excited about all of these, especially the Cultural Anthropology class.  Relative to relational perspectives, cross-cultural awareness is quite necessary.  I have always been fascinated by peoples’ traditions, reasons for behavior and thought processes, and I am excited to have the ability to apply this knowledge to future relationships.

For example, there is a student here who is from China.  I had always heard that the Chinese people treated the elderly with respect, in both word and deed.  Although my encounters with this student have been respectful in word, they have not been very respectful in deed.  Let me explain:

In my culture, I was raised to give other people their own space.  I suppose that means, in our self-centered, individualistic culture, we do not assume that everyone is a “good ol’ boy” and we allow a respectable amount of physical distance from one another, especially cross-gender.  But my Chinese friend will inevitably greet me with a hardy sideways bump and a walloping slap on the back.  And, even more confusing, he will walk up to my desk space and grab whatever homework or paper that is lying in front of me and read it.  Go figure.

I am not particularly offended by all of this as I am sure he is unaware of my feelings of the intrusion into my personal space - but it does puzzle me as to how his culture would condone such behavior. Maybe someone has not clued him into the fact that “good ol’ boys” behavior is limited to, well,  “boys”?  Maybe this cultural anthropology class will help me to understand.  In the meantime, I wave to him from across the room just about when class is ready to begin so as not to experience another “good ol’ boy” beating greeting - and, of course, to keep me from making a cross cultural blunder myself!  Who knows - he may be avoiding my subdued, low-key greetings?   : )

Peace.

Favorite quotes of the day:

“Heaven is just a fairy tale for those who are afraid of the dark” - Stephen Hawking

“Atheism is just a fairy tale for those who are afraid of the Light” - Prof. John Lennox

Peace.

It’ll take awhile to get used to writing 2012.  Every once in awhile I catch myself writing 19-something before realizing we’re more than a decade past 19-anything.  I justify this error quickly by rationalizing that I’ve lived far longer in 19-something than in 20-something. Lifetime habits die hard. Seriously, 1974 just doesn’t seem like that far in the past to me.  And yet,  people born in 2000 will be 12 years old this year.  In four more years they’ll be driving.  They won’t even know what 19-something was.

The last dream I can remember having (a couple of days ago)  featured my son and I.  The scene took place a few years back - maybe 30 - and he and I were laughing and playing. He has always been fun to be with - great sense of humor and quick as a whip!  The dream was so realistic to me I remember waking up looking forward to going to wake him up for the day.  It might sound funny but I actually felt disappointment after remembering that he was all grown up with a family of his own. Now he wakes up anticipating waking his own sons up to spend the day with them.

Ah well - it happens to the best of us.   The years go by - we get older.  I’m missing my son, his wife and my grandsons.  It is mid-winter and I’m already looking forward to next summer.  Happy New Year.

Peace

I once had a hair stylist tell me that I was the type of person who looked better with the “wind-blown” look than a fine coiffure.  Was that a compliment?  I’m not quite sure.

Kathy has a really cool metal watering can displayed on the cabinet-top above the sink in the kitchen.  It is filled with stalks of wheat. When she first brought it home the wheat was randomly thrown into the can and looked very natural.  She spent a good half hour arranging the wheat stalks and now they look - well - they look arranged.  Relative to nature, in my perspectives, this arrangement looked better with the “wind-blown” look.

I guess my hair and stalks of wheat look better au natural?

Peace.

Today we say goodbye to 2011 and tomorrow (ok, maybe midnight tonight) we say hello to 2012.  Life is all about goodbyes and hellos - endings and beginnings - change.

If we’re not growing we’re stagnating, and with growth comes change.  I firmly believe that God planned things this way and that while some changes are not so much fun, all are necessary.  Necessary for growth.   The things we learn from change helps us handle future changes.

OK - enough philosophizing.  Perspectives relative to change, will change, just as certain as the inevitability of the calendar year changing at midnight tonight - no matter where you are in the world.

May God bless your New Year.  Peace.

No, I haven’t been nippin’ at the cooking sherry - I’m high on life! I never thought I’d live to see the new millennium (2000), let alone twelve years beyond it (2012)! God is so generous with His blessings.

I know - we’re not quite there yet but by my perspectives,  if the creek doesn’t rise and the wind stays calm enough to haul rocks, (and the Lord is willing) I think it is relatively safe to say we might last another four days.

Kathy and I have been cleaning gutters - getting ready for rain (and hopefully snow).  We had a scattering of snow on the yard this morning.  As it melted we noticed that no water was coming out of the gutter spouts.  The only conclusion we could make was that they must be clogged with leaves.  We were right! Leaves and dirt and probably 10 years worth of other yukky stuff.

What are your plans for the New Year?  As usual, we plan on staying home - off the roads - safe and warm and probably watching a movie and munching on popcorn.  I’ve been “thinking” about a New Year Resolution - but just “thinking”.  Haven’t made a commitment yet and not sure I will.  No broken resolutions this year…..

If I don’t get a chance to blog again before New Years - I wish you all a safe, prosperous, healthy and happy 2012. Thank you for all your emails and encouragement during 2011.  I really appreciate you!

Peace.

Today we picked up some furniture that a friend had given us. Since we had the help of a friend with a pickup we also finished moving Kathy’s business.  Whew!  We are so thankful for the help. The fellow who helped us is a quiet, gentle soul.  One rarely meets someone who is so unshakable.  I think an 8.0 on the Richter scale wouldn’t even rattle him.

He took his time moving stuff, did most of the back-breaking lifting, did everything we asked of him without complaint, tied down the load expertly, took his time driving and all the while had good natured humor and a spirit of peace.  We asked him to share a meal with us and he gratefully accepted.  I think it is the first time, in a long time, that I haven’t felt rushed at a meal!

My family comes from a  Swedish background.  My husbands Uncle used to watch his step around me and advised everyone he knew “don’t make that Swede mad.”  I’m not sure why he said that but I’m sure he must have witnessed my short fuse blowing over something. It’s not that I have a short temper - it takes a lot to really make me angry. The great thing about Swedes though is that once the fuse has blown, all is well.  The issue is done - gone - history. No need to dwell - it’s over.  On to better things.

I’m not sure what ethnic background our moving friend is from but it sure was a pleasure to get to know him - especially in the hustle and bustle of the holiday rush.  Most people’s perspectives relative to the ending days of a year are not aimed at peace and joy and hope and faith - but rather at obligations, responsibilities and schedules. Not that those things aren’t important - they just are NOT the MOST important things.

How are you doing this holiday?  Are you remembering to enjoy the journey?  I hope your journey includes Christ, as it is His birthday we are celebrating.  I pray you have peace this eve before Christmas eve, and as you celebrate the birth of the Christ and enter into a brand new year of adventures, I wish you true peace.

Four semesters completed ~ prayer works! Thanks for praying for me everyone - couldn’t do any of it without your help & encouragement.   Now that grades are final, I’d like to do an overall “review” of the semester as a whole:

Personal Evangelism-Exciting, heart-melting adventures as students revealed their “stories”.  The professor knows how to listen well (he’s a psychologist) and has a way of pulling the best out of a person. I’m very grateful to have been a part of that class.

Theory of Intelligent Design introduced me to another “world” that I didn’t even know existed! I can’t wait to use this information and will keep up to date with the latest news via The Discovery Institute and CSC. This professor is a teaching pro.  He knows how to engage those little gray cells between our ears by squeezing every ounce of strategy and thought contained therein. Great class!

Small Group Ministry - I made five dear friends in this class.  Hard to believe you can build such strong bonds in such a short time.  These five have impacted my life in ways I will never forget. The professor is wise, funny and excruciatingly painful with his red pen.

Research and Writing was just plain fun!  The information in this class is extremely valuable.  I really thought I could write - now I can write better thanks to the patient, talented, magically motivating professor of English. How she balances school, family and writing is beyond me.  By far a fabulous class.

History of Israel - So far I’ve had Old Testament Intro, Old Testament Survey and now History of Israel.  It’s sure a good thing they split all of this up into three classes because there’s enough information to make 20 semester’s worth of homework!!  Loved the class!!  This professor is a fine scholar.

I came across a mighty-fine quote today:

‘It is perfectly okay to write garbage–
as long as you edit brilliantly.’    ~C J Cherryh

So, now all I have to do is find enough time to edit brilliantly!

A WHOLE MONTH OFF!   Happy Holidays to you and yours.  Peace & God bless.