You made that?!!

My grand-mother is the most amazing woman I know.  Is it just a grand-mother thang, or was it just that my grand-mother, while I am/was growing up, both had the power to put the fear of God into me and then make me feel like I was resting in cotton candy every time she hugged me and kissed my forehead?  Amazing woman!!  She has done so much in her lifetime.  It amazed me to learn that she hated picking cotton when she was a little girl in Mississippi.  This woman who worked so hard!!  But who WOULD like picking cotton in those times?  When she told me that we would be sisters in Heaven, I was struck dumb.  My heart stopped for a moment.  Just to think of "my grandma" as my sister, blows my mind.  She's my (she has over 30-something grand-children, and great(s) yet she's been "mine" since I could say it) GRANDMA!  This amazing, beautiful enigma in human form.  I LOVE HER!!

Anyway, she gardened, could find the perfect switch (or had the power to send me to find it), made the best corn bread and greens.  Ok, my grandpa made the best corn bread, but don't tell her I said it.  She could crochet and knit.  In so many ways, I want to be like her.  So, as a kid, I taught myself to knit and crochet..  My grandma is a wonderful, talented teacher.  However, I could never keep up with her .  She, and my mom are two women I could never keep up with.  They literally move fast.  And then, of course, as a kid I was so exasperated and exhausted when they would have to tell me to keep up several times, and then get annoyed with me because they had to say it more than once .

So, lately, I've been working on my skills, surprised to find that I could actually make, and somewhat design different items.  I love using my creativity in this way!!  What fun!  Now, people have encouraged me to make them to sell.  So I will do it here and rely on word of mouth.  Contact me for more information. Follow this blog to receive updates. I will post some pics to show a little of what you can order.  As I learn and try more, more pics will be posted.

Most of what I do make, comes from my heart of serving and gifting.  Giving is an amazing gift for the giver, as well as the receiver, especially when a little love is in there somewhere.  Gifts can produce smiles.  They can result in tears of joy.  Love and sharing is a powerful gift.  I learned this from my grandma.  Smile and enjoy! 

Don't forget, Mother's Day is coming up May 8, 2011 this year.  Get your order in to receive it in time to surprise the women in your life.

Spring Cleaning Again

Spring cleaning time again.  Actually, we are unofficially under the umbrella of cleaning, de-cluttering, and getting rid of things we do not need.  This is an open task, especially with a not-so-organized pack-rat, such as myself.  

A broken basket, where the rim along the top came off, attached to the handle.  Every time I have attempted to move it, I thought I would eventually get around to repairing it.  Just need some short nails and maybe some wood glue.  This has not happened in two years, yet I think I would get to it soon.  This week, I finally put it in the trash pile feeling pretty pleased with myself.

All the things I have held on to sit waiting for me to attend to them.  Just as the clutter in my mind does.  The grudges filed away awaiting attention.  The bitterness collecting cobwebs in my head.  The anger on the shelf.  No better time than the present to take care of those things.  I do not desire a dust cloud of all that in my mind any longer.  Time to sweep that away, or when necessary, deal with all that before it explodes and crumbles at the most inconvenient time.  

Forgiveness brings healing to the bearer, more lightness in existing, the light in the darkness of being wronged.  Forgiveness does not make everything vanish that has ripped our hearts.  It is the salve, Neosporin with pain relief, we apply onto our own wounds.  It may take more than one application.  

I sometimes am reminded of a wrong from way back when, and have to bring myself back to forgiving mode, whether the person is still in my life or not.  It becomes part of my prayers, because I need God's power to help me forgive.  Ezekiel 36:26 and 27 says, "26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."


This passage reminds me how God can work in me.  Though it was written for the Israelites way back in the day, it still holds true about what He can do today.
 

Spring signifies new birth, new beginnings.  Rain washing away all the mud splatters from Winter.  Planting, tending to our lawns and gardens.  Being witness to lush green sprout from the earth, attracting other creatures we consider to be helpful and beautiful, along with the pest creatures.  Flowers bloom adding bright colors to decorate the landscape.  Animals give birth to their young.  

Ahhhh!  

We sigh at the wonder of God's creation when we choose to acknowledge it.  I won't go into the whole allergy suffering, forest fires, flooding, tornadoes, I-forgot-the-sunscreen, etc.  With the good, we accept the bad, or at least we have no choice but to accept the whole kit and caboodle.  Even so, it is so much more bearable to focus on the wonderful things.


2 Corinthians 5:17 through 21 says,


"17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.:  19 That God was reconciling  the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ's behalf:  Be reconciled to God.  21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

    

Leave God out of it? Really? Is that possible?

Something on Facebook got me thinking, and I just had to write about it.

So there was a recent poll on Facebook asking whether pollsters support same-sex marriage.  Yesterday there was approximately a whopping 1,300 for and 30 against, with 13 needing more information.  Today there are approximately 80,000 for, 3,900 against, and 740 needing more information.

What would some interpret this to mean?  One might think that this proposition is supported by a majority of United States citizens, since nearly half of this countries' citizens are on Facebook.

This poll does not include a proper, melting pot sampling to represent an “even” sampling of society.  If placed under an objective, candid microscope, this poll tells us that there is a group of folks who feel they should not rock the boat openly and publicly, showing love, inclusivity {Did I make up another word?  So fun!  Try it.}, and acceptance for everyone involved.

However, if this were an anonymous poll, the votes would be more authentic, with folks unabashedly voting the way their personal sense of morality and conscience leads.

I love and respect my homosexual family members and friends.  You all may think I do not know, but I do.  Though some think I am a goody-two-shoes, “religious” fanatic, I truly am a sinner, no better or worse than anyone, who has accepted God’s gracious gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, Who was given for everyone to receive, and accept.  I do not understand this Grace completely, but am trying to gain knowledge more.  Period.  I do not adhere to any propaganda, religious or secular.  I have, however, learned that the things expressed in the Holy Bible are not just words in a book.  It is a phenomenon beyond all comprehension worth studying and excavating.

The propaganda which took hold in the 1990s, of teaching “tolerance” to children, so that moral differences are more acceptable to younger generations, is the downfall, creating moral chaos in our country.  All for the cause of a ubiquitous definition of “FREEDOM” for all, outside of anything related to God.  How does a society continue to stand when morals and ethics become less integrity infused?

The standards which held our country high, and as a society, the world wished to emulate, are crumbling and unraveling the very foundation our country stood firm upon.  This is not merely an opinion, it is evident in the state of our economic, educational, social, corporate, etc. structures.

Inflation has exceeded what our budgets can handle, causing most middle class folks to pinch their pennies, spending less and opting for inexpensive products, no matter where they are manufactured or produced.  How does this support our country?  In this vain, how would same-sex marriage?

The threads are unraveling.  Unity in this country is in the process of unraveling increasingly so.  With the individualistic mindset of “taking care of me” or “gettin’ mine” first, does not lend much support to what is good for keeping the micro- or macro- community of the United States strong.  With standards changing after every generation, the world becomes less beauty-evidenced, bestowing hopelessness to the multitudes.

Just look at Sodom, Gomorrah (interesting article at http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/cultures/sodom_gomorrah_01.shtml) Rome, the mighty Egypt, the English monarchy {uh-oh - yes, I know you Great Brits don‘t take them seriously any longer}…history repeats its self.

Anyway, with so much of our reflected standards on the line, people need to vote what they truly believe their conscience tells them.  Even if your vote is not in proportion with what is popular, do not be afraid.  The future of this country rests on it.  And yes, we all have freedom of speech in the United States.  Speak up!  What are your thoughts?