Freedom's Never Free

“These heroes are dead. They died for liberty - they died for us. They are at rest. They sleep in the land they made free, under the flag they rendered stainless, under the solemn pines, the sad hemlocks, the tearful willows, and the embracing vines. They sleep beneath the shadows of the clouds, careless alike of sunshine or of storm, each in the windowless Place of Rest. Earth may run red with other wars - they are at peace. In the midst of battle, in the roar of conflict, they found the serenity of death. I have one sentiment for soldiers living and dead: cheers for the living; tears for the dead.” ~Robert G. Ingersoll

Philippians 1:3:
3I thank my God every time I remember you.
Psalm 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
As Memorial Day approaches tomorrow I am reminded of those who have served my country even unto death, in order that I might have the freedom to even make this post. Were it not for the men who served in the Revolutionary War the path to religious freedom may have been much different. I might not be free to post my beliefs and scriptures that give me comfort here. I might not be free to search for a church that fits the beliefs and needs of my family. I might have no choice but to join the National Church. I often hear a lot of controversy about this belief versus that belief; who’s are right and who’s are wrong and the like. We have these men and many more men and women who came after them to thank because they gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we are free to follow our beliefs and speak them freely. It humbles me to know that there are still those who are fighting today for a cause in which they may not believe, but they volunteered to serve. It is way beyond anything that I have ever or probably will ever do. It makes me want to make sure I take the appropriate attitude towards remembrance tomorrow. As I gather around my family I will give thanks and honor to those who were much braver than I.

I Gotta Be Me

"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy."
Norman Vincent Peale

Passage Psalm 131:1: 1 My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.
Passage Psalm 139:13-14: 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

I am not a very organized person. I often wait till the last minute to finish (start?) projects. I am capable of seeing details, but the big picture is often more important to me. Math is a foreign language to me. I have a deep fear of failure. All of these negative things have a positive counterpart, but sometimes it is easier for me to dwell on the negative, especially when I am in a position of leadership. People are counting on me and I fear that the appearance is that I don't know what is going on.

I am the President of my PTA this year. The previous President was super organized and always on top of things. She is a great person and I admire her a lot, but I'm not her. I don't work the same way she does. When I was younger I would have tried to emulate her and driven myself crazy trying to be something that I am not. I have to do things the way that my instincts tell me to. It flows so much more nicely when I don't try to force things.
I am a creative person. I can only work on one project at a time. I may have to look things up (but I know exactly where to look). I learn by doing, not planning - I won't have a check list or a diagram. These traits can drive a left brained person to distraction because it may appear that I don't care or that I am not going to follow through as planned. Not so. I am dedicated and dependable, if not predictable.

This is the way I was made. For some reason God wanted me to be this way. I have to embrace that; it is the only way to have peace and success in life. Everyone is the way they are for some reason and once we quit trying to force ourselves to imitate others and be the best that we can be, the better things will fall into place. What we need is a healthy does of humble self esteem and life is good.


Fingerprints of God - Steven Curtis Chapman

Imagine what it is like when your child can't breath. His lips turn blue. You watch helplessly as he struggles for every breath. He looks at you imploringly "do something" his eys say to you. You've tried every trick that is at your disposal, and he still struggles to breathe. Off to the emergency room you go. This is life as the parent of an asthmatic child. It sucks big time. The only thing they will be able to do at the emergency room is give your child steroids. The drugs themselves have some pretty scary potential side effects, but what is a parent to do. You have to give them to him. He will die otherwise. Not a good option, obviously, so you give him the steroids and pray that he will have no long term damage done to his bones or internal organs to deal with.
My son had his first bout with reactive airway disease (a precursor to asthma) when he was 2 months old. Every time he got a cold he would have wheezing and trouble breathing. He developed allergies and full blown asthma at age 4. When he was in kindergarten I picked him up from school one day. His lips were blue and he was struggling for every breath. He had been in PE and the PE teacher did not know the signs of an asthma attack. You better believe I informed her after that. He could have died that day. He could also have died from a life threatening allergy to penicillin. There are other times when I wondered if he would be okay.
He does everything a normal kid does. He runs, plays sports, plays the trumpet in his middle school band. He loves to fish and do all sorts of outdoor activities. He has never let it slow him down a bit. I admire him for that. He is a survivor. He not only survives - he thrives.
May 6th (Tuesday) is World Asthma Day. I am spreading the word and promoting awareness for this dreadful disease. It affects 1 in every 13 children. That is a staggering amount of children. If your child is not affected, chances are there is at least one child in his/her class at school who is. This makes it something that I feel everyone should be aware of.

Understanding Asthma Attack Symptoms
An asthma attack is a sudden worsening of asthma symptoms caused by the tightening of muscles of your airways (bronchospasm). During the attack, the lining of the airways becomes swollen or inflamed and more and thicker mucus than normal is produced. All of these factors -- bronchospasm, inflammation, and mucus production -- cause asthma attack symptoms such as difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, and difficulty performing normal daily activities. Other symptoms of an asthma attack include:
Severe wheezing when breathing both in and out
Coughing that won't stop
Very rapid breathing
Chest pain or pressure
Tightened neck and chest muscles, called retractions
Difficulty talking
Feelings of anxiety or panic
Pale, sweaty face
Blue lips or fingernails
Or worsening symptoms despite use of your medications.
For more information visit this website http://www.epa.gov/asthma/awm/index.html

I haven't updated my blog in a while. I have been concentrating on another site where I have been posting journals consisting of quotes from Christians. Sometimes the quotes are bible verses, sometimes they are quotes from inspirational Christian authors, speakers, etc. Still other times I will find a song that I think really has an important message. This is one that I posted last Friday. I wanted to share it here on my blog.

I was sitting here this morning, praying, reading and listening to music to find some inspiration for my quote journal this morning and this song hit me in the heart. This week has been one of 'those' weeks. Busy to the point of apathy and exhaustion, I ended up with a migraine yesterday (that is still a dull throb behind my left eye). Two of my sons bikes were stolen yesterday. The dogs have all of a sudden become unhousebroken. The house is a mess and my hubby is not happy (his threshold for mess is lower than mine). The list of the negative things that have been happening this week goes on. That is why this song spoke to me. It talks about the gift that is in each day. Whether you are a Christian or not you should be able to appreciate the promise that each new day holds. We can start out with the baggage of yesterday hanging around our neck like a noose, or we can shed the past and look toward today as an opportunity for new and positive things to happen in our lives. I choose to believe that my days are a gift from my God, he is with me through the trials and through the triumphs.
Today I choose to have a good day. I hope you do too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK6D31c7oL8

Fernando Ortega
is an adult contemporary singer-songwriter in contemporary Christian music. He is noted for his interpretations of traditional hymns and songs, such as "Give Me Jesus", "Be Thou My Vision", and many others, but also for writing clear and accessible songs, such as "This Good Day".
Ortega grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico near the banks of the Rio Grande. Through his father's work, he also spent time in Ecuador and Barbados. His family lived in Chimayo, NM for eight generations, which has been cited as an influence on his music. It is from his heritage and classical training at The University of New Mexico where Ortega derives his unique sound, embracing country, classical, Celtic, Latin American, world, modern folk and rustic hymnody. His brother Armando is frontman for the Latin-flavored, world music band Wagogo

Conundrum

I love being a Christian. I even love the denomination that I belong to. What I do not love is the church to which I belong. I find it so difficult to even pretend to want to get up and go any more. This is not a new unhappiness. We have been attending this church for almost 10 years and I have felt this way almost from the beginning. I go in cycles where I am able to put my own discontent to the side and go to worship for the most important reason which is to worship the Lord and give glory to him. Then there are other times where I just can't do it because I feel so unhappy about the experience. The congregation is just so stodgy and set in its ways, I feel very stifled. In the 10 years we have been there very little has been done to affect real change and to move the church forward into the future. As far as the denomination goes, I think it is great, it is an open, liberal and progressive denomination. They stress "Freedom of belief. Disciples are called together around one essential of faith: belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Persons are free to follow their consciences guided by the Bible, the Holy Spirit study and prayer, and are expected to extend that freedom to others" But that is as a denomination, not as a congregation. Our congregation is so conservative and not very open minded. I realize that it shouldn't stop me from worshiping there, but it begins to grate on me after a time. I think it is mainly the area in which we live, everyone around me is conservative and i find myself the odd duck more times than not. One thing I won't do is put my comfort above that of my family though. If everyone else is happy at that church, then I will continue on. I will be in deep prayer about this situation over the next several weeks because I really need to resolve it in my mind; because at this point I am just running circles in my mind and getting nowhere, as evidenced by my writings here.
Proverbs 2:1-10:

1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,
3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.