It's a Fabulous Fall Friday--time For some Funnies! (Can you tell I felt the need for some alliteration this morning?)
Next weekend, I'm speaking at a women's retreat at Mecklenburg Community Church, so please pray for me and for the event. Also, pray for my friend Sara who is the other speaker, and my daughter-in-law Nichole who will be leading worship. The retreat theme (From the Inside Out) is exciting in itself, but there are so many amazing elements including dance, drama, etc., that have gone into the planning of this retreat I just can't wait!
In preparation for the opportunity to encourage women, I discovered these thought provoking truths that I don't plan to include in my talk next weekend, so I decided to share them here:
1.Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
2.Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.
3.If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
4.Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
5.Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.
6.The quickest way to double your money in this tough economy is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
7.There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
8.Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
Happy Friday!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Good-bye Supper Time...
Last week, we closed a chapter in our lives. For those who don't know, we were 1/3 partners in a Super Suppers Franchise in Huntersville. We have now officially closed our doors, but we'd hoped that the great concept of being able create and take home 12 gourmet quality dinner entrees in only 2 hours would be a business that would thrive as it served to bring families back together around their own dinner tables.
One of the hardest things for me when I had a young family was thinking of creative meals that were healthy but not overwhelming to prepare. We made it a priority to eat dinner AT the table rather than on the run or in front of the tube as many nights a week as possible when my kids were growing up. It was often difficult and some weeks it was almost impossible, but I believe that having that goal contributed to the great relationship we enjoy to this day with Leslie and David (and their beloveds). The dinner table was where we laughed, solved world problems, debated, and discussed what was happening in our lives. We discovered things around our table that we'd never have known about each other if not for that practice, and I cherish those memories.
It's sad that we've had to close Super Suppers for many reasons, not the least of which is that we are saying good-bye to some very disappointed loyal customers, but the fact is, there just weren't enough of them.
Okay...before this starts to sound like a "woe is us" post let me say that my purpose isn't a plea for pity. I actually want to praise God for the hard lessons learned as we've labored to stay afloat. But my primary reason for writing is to take the opportunity to urge young couples who have children to turn off the television and eat dinner together at the table as often as you can. You'll be doing yourself a favor and giving yourself a gift because the best happy meal happens at home!
One of the hardest things for me when I had a young family was thinking of creative meals that were healthy but not overwhelming to prepare. We made it a priority to eat dinner AT the table rather than on the run or in front of the tube as many nights a week as possible when my kids were growing up. It was often difficult and some weeks it was almost impossible, but I believe that having that goal contributed to the great relationship we enjoy to this day with Leslie and David (and their beloveds). The dinner table was where we laughed, solved world problems, debated, and discussed what was happening in our lives. We discovered things around our table that we'd never have known about each other if not for that practice, and I cherish those memories.
It's sad that we've had to close Super Suppers for many reasons, not the least of which is that we are saying good-bye to some very disappointed loyal customers, but the fact is, there just weren't enough of them.
Okay...before this starts to sound like a "woe is us" post let me say that my purpose isn't a plea for pity. I actually want to praise God for the hard lessons learned as we've labored to stay afloat. But my primary reason for writing is to take the opportunity to urge young couples who have children to turn off the television and eat dinner together at the table as often as you can. You'll be doing yourself a favor and giving yourself a gift because the best happy meal happens at home!
Politics...
This morning I was lamenting the arrival of my favorite season because I'm so disgusted with the barrage of political ads that all contradict each other and sling mud and muck that is beyond ridiculous. Honestly, I'll be glad to see election day come and go, even though I am a passionate believer in the need to be informed and involved.
That said, the Women for Sarah Palin blog links an article from "National Review" that every concerned American should read this morning. Please take a moment to consider the disturbing information reported in this piece and join me in adding another prayer request to my previous post. Pray for America--God is either going to judge us, rescue us, or allow us to suffer the consequences of our own apathy.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=M2MxMWJlNzcwMDU3ZTJkYjRmZjU3N2U0OGNlZmE1ZDg=
That said, the Women for Sarah Palin blog links an article from "National Review" that every concerned American should read this morning. Please take a moment to consider the disturbing information reported in this piece and join me in adding another prayer request to my previous post. Pray for America--God is either going to judge us, rescue us, or allow us to suffer the consequences of our own apathy.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=M2MxMWJlNzcwMDU3ZTJkYjRmZjU3N2U0OGNlZmE1ZDg=
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Prayer matters...
I'm about to call it a day, but before I do, there are a few matters that I'd like to ask those of you who will to pray about.
First, my precious friend Tiffany continues her valiant fight against breast cancer. She's doing incredibly well, in fact, she makes a weekly trip to Crowder's Mountain for a hike to the top! Please keep praying because God is really doing a beautiful work through the ministry He's given her as a result of this trial. (You can check out her blog by clicking the link on my blog list.) I can't wait for the day that she can report to us all that she is completely cancer free and no longer needs chemo!
Until then, she'll make weekly trips to Duke for treatment. In October and November, two fundraisers will be held to help defray some of the non-covered medical expenses their family is incurring. Please pray specifically that the people organizing these efforts have wisdom as they make plans for these big events! I'll post details when I have them about times and places.
Next, please go to The Murray Family blog linked on my blog list and read about little Susannah. Let's all pray for this child's surgery and for her family as they endure this difficult time.
Be blessed tonight. I thank God for people who pray.
First, my precious friend Tiffany continues her valiant fight against breast cancer. She's doing incredibly well, in fact, she makes a weekly trip to Crowder's Mountain for a hike to the top! Please keep praying because God is really doing a beautiful work through the ministry He's given her as a result of this trial. (You can check out her blog by clicking the link on my blog list.) I can't wait for the day that she can report to us all that she is completely cancer free and no longer needs chemo!
Until then, she'll make weekly trips to Duke for treatment. In October and November, two fundraisers will be held to help defray some of the non-covered medical expenses their family is incurring. Please pray specifically that the people organizing these efforts have wisdom as they make plans for these big events! I'll post details when I have them about times and places.
Next, please go to The Murray Family blog linked on my blog list and read about little Susannah. Let's all pray for this child's surgery and for her family as they endure this difficult time.
Be blessed tonight. I thank God for people who pray.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
She's Here!
Lilia Carolyn greeted the world at 12:47 p.m. on September 19, 2008. She weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and is 21 inches long. We are all overjoyed and thankful that God has blessed our family with a beautiful addition!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Birthdays!
I LOVE birthdays! Tomorrow, we are expecting the birth of our second grandchild--Lilia ___?____! Pray for Leslie, Steven (and Ava Grace) as their family grows by one within the next 24 hours.
Next week (on the 26th) Ava Grace will be 1 year old! Time flies people!
And, my life-long friend Melanie has a significant birthday on Saturday--I won't divulge her age, but they make special cards for this one!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY special people!
Next week (on the 26th) Ava Grace will be 1 year old! Time flies people!
And, my life-long friend Melanie has a significant birthday on Saturday--I won't divulge her age, but they make special cards for this one!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY special people!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Obvious Bias
Before I begin this post, let me admit upfront that I like Sarah Palin. I believe it's because I can identify with her on many levels, not the least of which is our shared passion to see America remain the land of the free and the home of the brave. That stated, I watched the ABC interviews in which Charles "Charlie" Gibson attempted to prove his tough journalistic prowess while interviewing John McCain's running mate.
The New York Times ran an article on September 12 from which I've extracted the following:
"At times visibly nervous . . . Ms. Palin most visibly stumbled when she was asked by Mr. Gibson if she agreed with the Bush doctrine. Ms. Palin did not seem to know what he was talking about. Mr. Gibson, sounding like an impatient teacher, informed her that it meant the right of 'anticipatory self-defense.' "
In a brilliant response, Charles Krauthammer wrote in The Washington Post on September 13, that Charlie Gibson AND The New York Times both got it wrong.
He writes: "There is no single meaning of the Bush doctrine. In fact, there have been four distinct meanings, each one succeeding another over the eight years of this administration -- and the one Charlie Gibson cited is not the one in common usage today. It is utterly different.
He asked Palin, "Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?"
She responded, quite sensibly to a question that is ambiguous, "In what respect, Charlie?"
Sensing his "gotcha" moment, Gibson refused to tell her. After making her fish for the answer, Gibson grudgingly explained to the moose-hunting rube that the Bush doctrine "is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense."
Krauthammer goes on to defend his contention that Gibson and The NY Times were both wrong by pointing out that HE, in fact, was the first person to ever use the phrase "Bush Doctrine" in an article published on June 4, 2001 in The Weekly Standard--verifiable by looking up "Bush Doctrine" in Wikipedia.
He continues: "If I were in any public foreign policy debate today, and my adversary were to raise the Bush doctrine, both I and the audience would assume -- unless my interlocutor annotated the reference otherwise -- that he was speaking about the grandly proclaimed (and widely attacked) freedom agenda of the Bush administration.
Not the Gibson doctrine of preemption...
Yes, Sarah Palin didn't know what it is. But neither does Charlie Gibson. And at least she didn't pretend to know -- while he looked down his nose and over his glasses with weary disdain, sighing and "sounding like an impatient teacher," as the Times noted. In doing so, he captured perfectly the establishment snobbery and intellectual condescension that has characterized the chattering classes' reaction to the mother of five who presumes to play on their stage."
Contrast the arrogance of the media elite against Sarah Palin (Krauthammer excepted) with their many polite excuses for Barack Obama's blunder when he said that he was campaigning in all 57 states..."He was tired from the tough campaigning." I'm sure he was. But I also know this and it's scary. There are 57 Islamic states. Could that have been his actual intent? I don't know and will never know. But this I do know--when he told George Stephanopoulos last Sunday morning that it was true that John McCain had never attacked his "MUSLIM" faith, I was watching.
The New York Times ran an article on September 12 from which I've extracted the following:
"At times visibly nervous . . . Ms. Palin most visibly stumbled when she was asked by Mr. Gibson if she agreed with the Bush doctrine. Ms. Palin did not seem to know what he was talking about. Mr. Gibson, sounding like an impatient teacher, informed her that it meant the right of 'anticipatory self-defense.' "
In a brilliant response, Charles Krauthammer wrote in The Washington Post on September 13, that Charlie Gibson AND The New York Times both got it wrong.
He writes: "There is no single meaning of the Bush doctrine. In fact, there have been four distinct meanings, each one succeeding another over the eight years of this administration -- and the one Charlie Gibson cited is not the one in common usage today. It is utterly different.
He asked Palin, "Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?"
She responded, quite sensibly to a question that is ambiguous, "In what respect, Charlie?"
Sensing his "gotcha" moment, Gibson refused to tell her. After making her fish for the answer, Gibson grudgingly explained to the moose-hunting rube that the Bush doctrine "is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense."
Krauthammer goes on to defend his contention that Gibson and The NY Times were both wrong by pointing out that HE, in fact, was the first person to ever use the phrase "Bush Doctrine" in an article published on June 4, 2001 in The Weekly Standard--verifiable by looking up "Bush Doctrine" in Wikipedia.
He continues: "If I were in any public foreign policy debate today, and my adversary were to raise the Bush doctrine, both I and the audience would assume -- unless my interlocutor annotated the reference otherwise -- that he was speaking about the grandly proclaimed (and widely attacked) freedom agenda of the Bush administration.
Not the Gibson doctrine of preemption...
Yes, Sarah Palin didn't know what it is. But neither does Charlie Gibson. And at least she didn't pretend to know -- while he looked down his nose and over his glasses with weary disdain, sighing and "sounding like an impatient teacher," as the Times noted. In doing so, he captured perfectly the establishment snobbery and intellectual condescension that has characterized the chattering classes' reaction to the mother of five who presumes to play on their stage."
Contrast the arrogance of the media elite against Sarah Palin (Krauthammer excepted) with their many polite excuses for Barack Obama's blunder when he said that he was campaigning in all 57 states..."He was tired from the tough campaigning." I'm sure he was. But I also know this and it's scary. There are 57 Islamic states. Could that have been his actual intent? I don't know and will never know. But this I do know--when he told George Stephanopoulos last Sunday morning that it was true that John McCain had never attacked his "MUSLIM" faith, I was watching.
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