According to GOD - Worthy of Honor

According to GOD, I, as a parent am worthy of honor.  In spite of the FACT that I was not a particularly honorable parent.  There is no greater frustration than knowing that, as a parent, I should have done better.  Quite frankly, I could have done better.  I was too busy taking care of myself, my needs, my desires, my wants.

If there were any bits of advice or wisdom I could impart to parents of young children, it would be this.  If, in your heart, you know you are not being the best you can be for your children or you are not making the proper sacrifices, change now!

What is being the best you can be as far as parenting goes?  Being the best parent means making those hard choices.  It means NOT giving your children the latest, greatest most powerful game or electronic toy to occupy their time.  

It means teaching them by close association with them.  Training them to be a GODLY man or woman.  Allowing them to enjoy the moment they have as a child but helping them to put away childish things as they mature.  Encouraging their maturity and rejoicing with them through their milestones.  It means that you do not listen to the social engineers and the Femmi-Nazi's that rail against the norms established by GOD HIMSELF.  It means that you do not rely upon a government entity to tell you to bring your baby from the delivery room to the daycare so he/she can be "properly raised" in a gender neutral environment and indoctrinated in the government's  newest "politically correct" attitude free from the messy ideas of morality and a knowledge of GOD.

Hitler believed that if he could get the youth for just one generation, he would own the Germany.  He did and he did.  He also believed that if you watered down Christianity to make it palatable to the masses, you could change the law to allow the killing of the infirm, of the unwanted, of the undesirables.  He did and he did.  

"It's the economy, stupid!"  That was the rallying cry for Bill Clinton's second term in office, if I remember correctly.  What he and others who think like him fail to understand is when the family disintegrates and the social structure is demolished so is the economy.  Just eliminate 40 or 50 million people and their descendants from the payroll equation and you no longer have a self-paying Social Security program.  Which of those millions could have discovered the cure for something like Cancer, AIDS or maybe toe fungus?  And what about the discoveries that might have been made?  A totally free and renewable energy source would have been good.  OR, maybe a way to feed the world's hungry?  How about a cure for Alzheimer's?    

Did we destroy peace-makers along with the war-mongers?  Of course we did!  We created this society of death and destruction and instituted a scorched earth policy in order to allow our darkest deeds to go unchallenged.  We say nothing.  We raise our children to "make up their own minds" regarding GOD, which only gives the opposition free reign to indoctrinate our children with "tolerance" for everything and a belief in nothing but self.

Living under the delusion that you do not want to "brainwash" your child you fail to arm them with the only thing that will protect them and guide them.  Not wanting to be labeled a fanatic, you forgo religious indoctrination for the T-Ball and Softball fields.  Soon it becomes obvious that it is not necessary to be so immersed in Sunday School or Church activities and you become oblivious to the pleadings of the HOLY SPIRIT.  Grieving THE SPIRIT is not difficult and gets easier as time goes on.  While THE SPIRIT groans within you, missing the communion with THE LORD, missing the fellowship with other Believers. 

As the child grows without the benefit of the protection of THE HOLY SPIRIT, it becomes easier for the mind of the child to be filled with false doctrine and intoxicating spirits.  The lure of the world is strong and without the help of THE HOLY SPIRIT, it is nearly impossible to resist fleshly and worldly desires.

Be with your child.  Train you child.  Take your child to Church, don't just "send" them to Sunday School.  Read Scripture to them and with them.  Study the BIBLE stories and fill them with the Blessed Hope of Salvation through JESUS CHRIST and HIS Sacrifice on THE CROSS OF CALVARY.

That is our HOPE.  That is the only way we can truly be worthy of honor as parents.

Shalom!  Pray for THE PEACE of Jerusalem! 

But I didn't

34 Years ago I was pregnant. I did not have a college degree and neither did my husband. We lived in a shack of a house on the bad side of town. There were those who thought that having a baby at that time was inconvenient since we could not "afford" to have one. 

We had no medical insurance and I had to sit in the "free" welfare clinic seen by the same doctors that the women with insurance would see in their nice clean office just a few blocks away. We could not give our child anything that I had wanted to give a child. I could have had an abortion. 

But I didn't. 

There was not a day that went by that I wished things were different sitting in that nasty waiting room. There were those who still said, "you can fix that 'mistake'." 

But I didn't. 

My husband was terrified of becoming a father. Instead of giving in to his fear as I had done in a previous marriage, I steeled myself for the trials to come. I could have given up. 

But I didn't. 

I had a wonderful pregnancy. I absolutely glowed with anticipation of the new life within me. I could have gotten depressed over what I was missing and what we could not give this child. 

But I didn't. 

I had our baby. He was so wonderful. He was cute. He was the best thing that I had ever done in my life. I would not trade his life for a piece of paper on the wall that said I spent years to get a degree so I could work at a job I 'love" and retire with an immense IRA or 401K or investment portfolio. I could have spent years regretting my "choice". 

But I didn't! 

My son will be 34 in just a few weeks. I imagine he and his wife are also glad that I didn't.

Shalom!  Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem!  

Sometimes I want to be a Carpenter (revised 2/4/12)

I made a recording of the text.  It follows pretty close with the written text.  

I have a new project going. YAAYY!  

Sometimes I get these crazy ideas that it would be fun to do manual labor. And for the most part it is fun because I don't have to do it to eat. I have worked in an office for more than 30 years and worked with computers for most of that time.

The first job I ever had, other than babysitting, was working in a hospital laundry. I made $1.00 per hour. What I remember most about the job is not how hot it was or how heavy the wet laundry was, but how cruel my co-workers were. I remember it, not because they were cruel to me, but it was their cruelty to one woman that stuck out.

I can still picture her standing there trying to work and ignore their crude, callous remarks. There was nothing particularly outstanding about her. She was not oozing with ugly nor was she strikingly beautiful. She had a teased up hairdo. Her makeup was just a bit heavy. She liked that eyeliner. She wore red lipstick and her clothes were just a bit too tight. Her persecutors were somewhat younger, but were no more striking than she. But their ugly grew like a cancer right down to the bone with each passing day.

One day the youngest of the trio, came in with obviously too much rouge on her cheeks and the others just cackled. It was the whispers, snickers and eye-rolling and their crudeness that made working there unbearable. After while if the object of their persecution had any flaws, I didn't see them. I began to focus on their warts and wonder why they did what they did. Why did they get such perverse pleasure out of tormenting another?

The job lasted through the summer and after I left I worked as a waitress in several places and made really good tips, but wanted something more or something different. I sang in a bar in Lawton OK one night. It was a country bar and I was singing folk songs. They were drunk and I was wishing I was. When they looked like they were going to start throwing stuff, I thanked them, smiled sweetly and made a well-timed exit.

I eventually made my way east. Found out I liked working in offices and in one way or another with some time spent in College up and down the east coast, I worked in offices, managed offices, set up offices and Policies and Procedures until I decided to move to Mississippi and spend almost 17 years doing what I did best, working in an office and on computers.

My hobbies have consisted of doing anything that required some type of creativity. When I was in high school, besides wanting to become a nuclear physicist, I was a pretty good artist. I even got paid for some of my work. Now, I piddle. I doodle.

I always liked what other people did with wood. Carving it into intricate shapes or making furniture. Once in high school, I carved a fish out of 2x4's glued together. It wasn't very good and was probably burned up or used for target practice. I was always intrigued when my mother brought some old piece of chicken poop encrusted furniture home to clean up and use in the house.

This brings me to my new thought of working with wood and my new project.

About 1985 I purchased a bedroom suite when I moved to the Boston area. Since that time I have moved several times and since it was made of that modern invention called particle board, most of it has been long gone. I managed to save a night stand intact and the 6 drawers from the dresser. Yep, I saved the drawers.

At one point in time, I made 3 cabinets out of 1/2" plywood and each cabinet had 2 drawers. I could stack them or put them side by side for a bench. 1/2" plywood is not very sturdy so those also went by the wayside after a couple of years use, but I still saved the drawers. Uh huh! Still had the drawers.

Well, push has come to shove and in trying to clear things out, I had to make a decision - either lose the drawers or build another dresser. Since I had some 5/8" oak plywood from another project that didn't quite make it, I decided to use that to make the dresser. So, from scraps and leftover wood, I am finally going to make something useful.

Last week I rough cut my dresser sides and some of the other parts. This week I sanded and cut them to fit my design. I don't know if I'll get it done before the end of the year, but who knows? I may even post some pictures showing my progress.

I have discovered that although the table saw scares me every time I use it, I don't have to cut anything off if I'm careful.
 

<  I used the Kreg Jig to make the connections.  This is a picture of what they look like before screwing the 2 pieces of wood together.

This is all put together with a Kreg Jig and the screws that come with the Jig.  I have really liked working with it.  It is really easy to do.  >>>>> 

The photo to the left shows the positioning of the drawers.  This was a rough fit.  Because I was not using any kind of pattern, it took a while to get everything to fit just right.

I haven't quite figured out how to get these photos where I want them, but this is okay.   I still need to cut a piece of Luan (we have that) to cover the back and plane down a couple of trim pieces to go on the front down each side and it will match the trim piece on the top.  I painted it with a coat of undercoat specifically for unpainted wood.  I then painted it with 2 coats of an off-white.  Followed with 1 coat of water based polyurethane.  I lightly sanded with 320 sandpaper in between each coat.  It gives a much smoother surface when you sand between coats.  It is far from perfect, but since I only spent about $15.00 for additional screws and trim, it was well worth it to have a large dresser for $15.00.

In addition to job hunting every week in Tylertown, MS, I do like to do other things. 

Shalom! Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem!

Angst

We are not at war.  We have food to throw away.  Our relatives are not being dragged out of the house and told to live in squalor so someone of their choosing can live in their home or just so it can be demolished.  We are not being shot because we are different. Or lame.  Or old.  Or Christian.  At least not in the United States of America.

There are those who would change that through whatever means at their disposal.  While there are those who will wile it away by simply sitting back and watching, all the while saying, "It won't happen here.  It won't happen to me.  It won't happen to our town.  It won't happen to our state.  It won't happen to our country." 

There was someone who said after World War 2:
When they came for the sick and the mentally ill, I said nothing.
When they came for the degenerates, I said nothing.
When they came for the Jews, I said nothing.
When they came for me, there was no one left to speak.

It wasn't an exact quote, but you get the idea.  I am watching "The Pianist."  They kept thinking it could not get any worse.  What freedoms must we lose before we realize it IS getting worse?  Must history be doomed to repeat itself or can we heed the warnings and stave off the inevitable.  I say inevitable because we, the unruly mob of unrest in the land of plenty have no idea to what we aspire.  We languish in our own whining only to become that which we abhor.  We occupy things that are not ours and offer vain and perilous resistance to something that doesn't even exist.  Wall Street is a place NOT a person nor a business.

Get a plan.  Understand what you are kicking against and find a constructive way to deal with the unrest.  Try for a positive result.  Yes, there is greed and political shenanigans.  There always has been.  Read a few history books.  The BIBLE even shows what greed and political garbage can lead to.  So, it is nothing new.  Get over it and deal with it.

Life isn't fair and never has been.  Hard work doesn't guarantee anything except good character.  There has never been a guarantee!  It rains and shines on everyone.

It is only what you do with your particular circumstances that counts.  It is your perspective that counts.  The wind blows on everyone.  It is only the set of the sails that makes the difference.  Don't look at destroying what someone else has because you are full of angst and think no one understands. 

Remember that the only one that you can change is yourself.  You cannot change the world or your country or your city or your family without starting closer to home.  You have to change yourself.  Don't ask for fewer challenges.  Ask for more wisdom to handle the challenges you have.

Shalom!  Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem!

Dream Job Course

Dream Job Course

Dream today!

Don't quit dreaming!

Find that GOD given talent and be all that GOD has made you to be.

Shalom!  Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.