What I really need to do to be a better mom...and old stuff...

I have this one thing about me that may be a negative effect of something, but, I never like to take for granted that the joy I have today will be here tomorrow. It makes me plan ahead and appreciate today. One thing that's always been interesting to me and that I've often thought of, though I have no family directly involved, is the Holocaust. 

I often think of the Jews living their lives, doing their thing, and then suddenly they're herded up and treated like animals...and they lost everything. People went to medical school, law school, started businesses and families and everyone looked forward to their futures of enjoying the fruits of their labors...kicking back someday on a rocking chair and admiring their grandkids. No one expected it. No one ever would have fathomed it, yet, it happened.

Right now in 2013 my life is pretty much "plugged in." Everything seems to revolve around electricity and electronics. I download school stuff for my kids on my computer. I communicate with many friends here. And, rather than my annual diaries that I've had since 2nd grade...now I type here and my words are stored somewhere that I don't know.

I have more than one blog and part of my motivation is my ancestors. I'd love it if my ancestors woulda' had blogs that I could have read what thoughts got them excited...what made them tick? I'd have loved it! So, part of the reason I do this is for my descendants. 

But, should I just expect that this world is ever going to go insane again? Should I just expect that this blog will always be here and be accessible? Should I expect that it will never happen that I'll go to log onto my computer and the internet will be gone? That "blogspot" will be gone?

I like to plan for the worst, I guess.

So, there is a service that you can get your blog printed. Pretty cool, eh? (I don't actually say, eh) And, I checked today to see a sample of what my blog would look like printed. It was neat! I noticed then, however, that when I 1st started this blog I didn't have a "rhythm" yet, and so all the fonts weren't the same, the way I quoted the Bible was randomly formatted, and I didn't always put a photo on each post. 

So, I spent a while today trying to un-randomize the formatting in my older posts. Starting at the oldest post from 2011 and moving forward thru them it was interesting to see what I was thinking about way back then. (haha whoa! 2 whole years ago!) A lot of what I "thought about" before involved the Bible and things and slowly I guess I've funneled my thoughts more toward "child care" in these last days.

Then, of course...being preoccupied by that task as well as doing laundry, making lunch, vacuuming, doing dishes, uploading homeschool end-of-the-year stuff, and so forth...I was snippy and irritable with the kids. 

Around 5 I was driving just Josh (11) to go to gymnastics and I was ruminating on the day...all the things I'd thought about...all the focus in my posts on taking God seriously and being a non-hypocritical Christian and having respect for children was like this huge neon, "FAILURE" sign over my head after my crap attitude at times today.

So, I said to Josh, "Josh, you know...I am just not the mom I wanna be. There is so much stuff I wish I would do and stuff I wish I wouldn't do. I am trying to get better, though."

He said, "I think I know what you need to do."

I almost cringe waiting for some blow that will crush my heart with an observation about something I'm doing wrong...when he says, "You need to take a vacation to the Keys. And, we need to strap you into one of those chairs and go fishing."

:)

He explained to me that they have these chairs with straps on them to keep you from being pulled overboard by the fish you catch.

His idea for me to become everything I wanna be in life was for me to go fishing with him...in his "dream fishing vacation spot"...the Florida Keys...and he thought right away that me being his MOM that I'd need a strap to help me not fall overboard. 

Made me smile. 
Made me feel happy.

Anyway...

In case anyone's interested...here are some of my oldest posts...

Like a gun that's made to kill

Not saying, "Oh my God!"

Are all Bible versions the same?

Wrestling with God

You can't sin with your body

Pleasure comes from God

No one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition

Lost Abrahams

"Light" in the mirror

I'll pray about it

Falling flat on your face

How we teach morality

Teaching empathy to your baby

"That one is mine!" Apology accepted.

Learning to skate. Learning morality.

Where's you get that idea?

How do you get into heaven?

Love

Today's post is post #146

I hope my grandkids do get to read this stuff so they know that crazy Granny (me) used to be able to think!!! 

me (44), Josh (11), and Evy (9)

Thanks to "Oldify" via iPhone 5

Would you use McDonald's Bible Version?

I was just thinking about something that really bugs me...

This, as we all know...is food. Pure, healthy food that will nourish our bodies, fight disease, and make us happy and healthy.

This...as we all know...is what is now thought of by the masses as "food." 

We even have special versions specifically for children...

So accustomed to thinking of this as "food" now that we've even gone so far as to think the food in the 1st picture...is "health food." It's somehow different from normal food. And, we now think and speak of those who go out of their way to eat this...are "health food nuts."

We have been led astray by taste, packaging, and convenience to eat things which are not good for us at all. We have become so accustomed to eating food that way that we actually prefer that food full of ingredients we can't even pronounce to the food which will make us healthy. And, when the food we are eating is making us sick, unhappy or fat...we don't even realize it.

It's interesting that when Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness He said this to the devil...

Matthew 4:3-5
And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

It is said of literal food that the closer your food is to its original form, the healthier it is for you. The further from its original form, the more processing its gone thru, the worse it is for you. And, this is equally true of the nourishing words of God found in the original languages of the Bible...

Just like a ripe tomato on a vine in your back yard...the pure "fruit" of the word of God is available to us, even in 2013. Ripe and life giving and pure. Problem for most Americans would be that we don't read/speak ancient Hebrew. 

So! Just like the food that most of us without backyard gardens eat, that "fruit" of the word of God must be harvested by someone else and prepared for us in a form that we can "consume."

The amount of "processing" that the word of God goes through before it gets to us then will determine whether that word will nourish us or slowly but surely make us sick.

Here, you can see a chart that shows some of the different English versions of the Bible and how close to the original fruit they are. And, you can see that the Bible translations that are preferred by the masses are strikingly similar to the food we seem to prefer...highly altered, far from the original form, full of preservatives...

Interestingly, the word of God is presented to us in the bookstore just like literal food in the grocery store. There is a limited variety of pure food...and the rest of the store...90% of the store...is dedicated to highly processed and unhealthy food...brightly packaged and a wide variety in abundance. 

To the left of the chart would represent the produce section of the grocery store. And, you can see...that the most popular food of the word of God...the one most brightly packaged and most abundantly offered in the most variety in your local Christian bookstore...is quite processed and not very life-giving...

And, what we have come to accept as food in the word of God is much worse than junk food because...

Matthew 10:28
Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Even some Christians who will fuss over Monsanto and strive to eat a pure diet, are completely oblivious to the "Monsanto-GMO-fast food" spiritual food that they are dining on...

The food industry distorts and "destroys" food for profit...and has managed to make the whole world sick and fat... 

13% of adults in the US were obese in 1962.

35.7% of adults in the US were obese in 2010.

Obesity is the result of a body which spends too much time on its butt which also intakes a whole bunch of junk food.

And, likewise there is a force in our universe that profits from the distortion and destruction of the food of the word of God. 

For example...The first thing God ever said about humans was: "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Gen. 1:27)"

Why do we now have, read, or accept "genderless" Bibles when the first thing God says about us is that we're made in His image in genders?

There are many destructive and anti-God doctrines that are wildly popular among the church in 2013...which have resulted in a very stagnant church that misunderstands our most helpless (our children), sits on her butt most of the time, blames God for all the bad in the world, focuses more on equality rather than putting others first, fusses about which person is president of the USA as tho' this is the way to save the world, beats children with spatulas to raise godly children...and has watched as the world slowly but steadily slides farther and farther away from God...

Is it any coincidence that in the last 30 years the church has been attempting to get nourishment from nicely packaged junk food Bible versions and is in the current state that it is?

The problem in this world is not the government. 

The problem in this world is not that prayer has been taken our of schools.

The problem in this world is not the liberals.

The problem with marriage is not gays.

The biggest problem in the world is the voluntary spiritual famine among Christians who love the cover of their Bible more than its content...

The problem with the world is the fact that the church is sick and fat...and she is so used to functioning this way she doesn't even realize that she's sick and fat...or that being sickly and fat is abnormal...so much so that we even share memes about how fat is beautiful...

Amos 8:11
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the Lord." 

Matthew 5:6
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."

You would not choose your spouse by his cover, would you? 

You would not want to be judged by your own cover, would you?

Choose your lover...your bridegroom...by the quality of His insides and not by His brightly packaged cover...

Choose your Bible version the way you would choose your mate...your food...because your eternal health depends on it...

"What doesn't kill me makes me..."

It was around 3am. Something roused me from sleep. Flashes of light outside my window. I heard no thunder yet and there was no rain yet, but, the flashes kept coming. More and more frequently. A storm approached. And, I couldn't rest.

When I was little, I loved thunderstorms. I would hear one approaching and sometimes go outside until the rains arrived. The smell and feel of the storm was wonderful! Sometimes I'd sit on the porch during the storm. And, if that wasn't possible, I'd always open a window if there was a window that the wind wasn't pushing the rain into. Loved thunderstorms.

Today, not so much. Last night, once I realized there was lightning outside I was unable to relax or rest. I finally got up and unplugged my computer after having laid there fantasizing about all the things that would be destroyed if lightning hit our house. I also processed the "what if" the lightning hit the porch right outside the window where I was sleeping?

What happened?

Lightning "hurt" me once.

Last year it hit our house...and blew a piece of trim apart inside one of the kids' rooms and blew out our security cameras, our internet, three TVs, the apple TV, the apple Time Machine, the doorbell, and DirecTV. A few weeks later it struck our yard again and blew out our internet again.

I looked into it on the internet and realized that we now live in the "lightning strike capitol of the country" with more strikes per square km than any other state. Lovely!

There is a common way of thinking...that always annoys me and that is, "Whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger!" or, "You can't appreciate the good without the bad."

I already disagreed with that before this happened, and now, it's the first thing I think of when this fear strikes me. What doesn't kill you makes you weaker. What doesn't kill you hurts you and makes you afraid...and fear...isn't strength. Fear weakens you. I appreciated the beauty of a storm before. Now, I only fear them and wish they'd go away.

Don't be fooled into believing that God somehow has orchestrated some "bad" thing in your life to teach you to appreciate what you have or to make you stronger.

James 1:17

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Proverbs 10:22

It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it.

1 John 4:8

...God is love. 

Romans 13:10

Love does no wrong to a neighbor...

1 Corinthians 8:1

...love edifies. 

Love builds up.

Pain and fear tear down.

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

And, what this also makes me think of are the type of parents who think that somehow their kids are going to learn their lessons better if their parents hurt them somehow to drive the point home. The only thing spanking and punishing does 

is hurt your children and it instills a mistrust and fear inside their hearts that makes it so that you are not a safe place during a storm. You, too, are something in the world that your child needs to protect themselves from and so they will find something or someone else to think of as their safe place.

Proverbs 14:1

The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish tears it down with her own hands.

No one loves your children more than you do...but your belief in hurting them to teach them and show them your love will send them running into the "arms" of someone or something that doesn't love them with a self-sacrificial love.

You want to parent as God does? Leave the stealing of their comfort and their pleasure, the killing of their trust, and the destruction of their feelings of security and safety to the evil in this world...and you...you and how you use your hands...be their source of abundant safety, pleasure, and security...

Psalm 91:3-5

For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge;

His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day...

Plastic plates vs fine China

So, if you have plastic plates from Target (like I do) and you also have your grandmother's fine China...do you care for those differently?

Do you hand a toddler one of Grandma's china plates and let them play with them? Do you let your older children cook up experiments in the microwave with it? Do you cringe when someone drops one of the plastic plates? If you find one of the plastic plates still outside on the picnic table after a week, do you gasp?

You realize you treat the two completely differently. One you don't guard. You don't display. You don't treasure, show off, or pamper.

Why do you toss the plastic ones into the dishwasher, pile all together without concern, use every day and just basically not worry about? Because...for one thing it's cheap. But, really...it's because it's tough. It's strong, tough, and you're not going to hurt it. And, even if you do manage to damage it, it's replaceable. 

The China, on the other hand, is delicate. It's weak. You don't handle it roughly, but with reverence and care. You wash and dry the plates by hand and stack them carefully. You then put them into a piece of furniture specifically designed for showing them off.

If you hand a stack of plates to someone to take and put away and you say, "Oh, be careful!" have you just insulted the plates? Have you devalued the plates? Have you made the plates less important in your home? Have you made the handler of the plates more valuable? Actually, possibly, depending on who you've said it to, you might have actually insulted the handler, true?

What if you were to treat the China like any other plastic plate from Target? That would actually be an insult to Grandma's China, wouldn't it? And, it would show a lack of something worth respecting in the mis-handler...not in the China.

The truth when discussing plates is brilliantly clear. Yet, in 2013 if you talk to just about any woman...even a Christian one...they insist that they want to be treated like that plastic Target plate. They insist that to be treated like fine China is an insult to them!?

Human females...are the only female moral creatures spoken of in the Bible. Did you know that? God and all of the other moral creatures like the angels and the beings spoken of in Revelation are all referred to with masculine pronouns. In the moral realm...so far as we know...we women stand alone...

Human females are also God's final creation. And, Adam was given a special lesson to prepare him for the woman's arrival. She also, was not spoken into existence (like the earth, sky, and animals) and she was not formed out of the earth (dirt). Eve was the only thing made of a living creature. Part of the man God created in His image and breathed His breath of life into...became the woman.

And, we put China in a China cabinet and display its beauty for all to see?!

God so very clearly made women special. He made us almost as the crown of Creation. The beautiful icing on the cake. And, we are the beings from whom all new life (that Jesus died for) enters the earth.

Genesis 3:20

And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

And, women actually get offended by this verse...

1 Peter 3:7

Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel

Seriously, ladies. Where do you think this offense comes from? Reality? The God who made you more precious than fine China? Or from somewhere else?

John 10:10

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. 

It seems in many ways like we really have not ever learned the lesson from our foremother...

Genesis 3:13

And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Women need to stop eating from the hand of the deceiver and realize how precious, set apart, and valuable we are...not by acting like men and doing stuff men do...not by being "strong independent women" who are tough like plastic plates from Target...but as women...the beautiful crown of Creation thru whom God brings life to the world...

The Bible says very specific things about women but we have rejected all those things because of men who have abused us. We have rejected ourselves and God because of selfish men.

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. We have an enemy who knows that...it's time we know it, too.