Kitchen Theology

Angry Birds?

2011-08-19T20:03:00.000-05:00

by Linda Rempel
Is it just me or is this the time for "groaning"???

I DON'T WANT TO GET UP AND GO TO SCHOOL!!

I DON'T WANT TO GO TO WORK

I DON'T WANT TO EXERCISE!

THIS HOMEWORK IS SOOOOO HARD!!

I AM SO TIRED!!

I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO I WILL NEVER GET IT ALL DONE!!

My mother said to me yesterday... doesn't it seem like even the earth is angry with all the bad weather.... ANGRY!!

Hmmmm.. angry weather... a huge tree in my neighborhood fell last night... just came out by the roots and fell on two houses...what is up with that? 25 years and I have never seen so many trees ... huge trees... just blown over by strange twisting winds..
and then everything hurts... my back hurts from lifting too much... groooannnn!..

Really... the weather is not worse... the aching is not worse.. (however we are horrible whiners.. would you like some cheese with that whine?) it is as old as the beginning of time...famine.. drought ... earthquakes.. tsunamis.. blizzards... tornados.. sick kids.. tired parents… financial distress.. scarred relationships...

and yes death…

and then... (and yes i know there are a lot of "and thens" in here)

I opened the email reading sent out by Faith Bible and it was Romans 8...

v.22 For we know that the whole creation GROANS and suffer the pain of childbirth together until now... (OUCH)

v. 23 AND NOT ONLY THIS, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, EVEN WE ourselves, GROAN within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as son, the redemption of our body... (eagerly??)

v. 26 And in the SAME WAY (groaning) the Spirit also helps our weakness for we do now know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with GROANINGS too deep for words... (AH HA!! a word of hope)

READ Romans 8 in it's entirety ..

The earth is cursed..living under the curse of sin... yes it is angry... GROANING ... waiting for what God first intended... perfection.. true fellowship with God unhindered by sin... age... illness... sin... pain... storms... fear...sin... sin .. sin...

but... GOOD NEWS...
V.37... BUT in ALL these things ( persecution, famine, nakedness, peril,, sword) illness.. exhaustion... whining... unforseen circumstances...etc. etc..

We overwhelmingly conquer through HIM who loved us.. for I am convinced that neither... DEATH nor LIFE nor ANGELS (good)… nor PRINCIPALITIES (bad)… nor THINGS TO COME... nor POWERS, nor HEIGHT, nor DEPTH, nor ANY OTHER CREATED THING,,, shall be able to separate us from the LOVE OF GOD, WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD...

Yes... the weather is bad... (going out to clean up more of the mess)...yes we are tired... yes the kids are tired... yes bad things happen... (lots of them)

and good... (harder for some to see than bad ... sadly)

But in the end... we will see THE PLAN... all creation will be redeemed and we will see that..

All things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to HIS purpose... and so until HE comes and completes what was intended in the beginning…

Can't do much about the weather… Probably can't control a lot of what comes your way.. But you can relax knowing it DOES all work out rightly in the end…

Til then, how about a little unwinding as you wait in your Swagger Wagon for the kids to get out…

May I suggest an iPhone game of Angry Birds? :-)

From Generation to Generation

2011-03-05T15:54:00.000-06:00

I believe God prepared me for this time in my life several years ago when I read Francine Rivers' book LEOTA'S GARDEN about the institutionalizing of the elderly..

Two years ago this February my Mother moved in with me, making my house one with four generations under one roof for many days of the week...

When my mother (and I do call her Mother and the grandchildren and great-grandchildren call her Grandmother) came, I had no idea the impact her presence would have on our family...

A few things my mother has taught me over the years...

1. Always put your makeup on first in the morning.
2. DO NOT drink hot coffee... causes burns in your throat leading to big problems
3. A tablespoon of metamucil every evening will cure many ills...
4. Eat light in the evening.
5. Don't use "fake" anything... ie: heavy cream.. real butter .. eggs.. hence the reason I have rejoined Weight Watcher's.
6. Sit and think.. Just think
7. No one has died here Linda... (technically they have)
8. Rinse your hair in vinegar for no flakes and beautiful shine
9. Vitamin E... take too much... the doctor's are wrong.
10. It is just stuff... it doesn't matter.

And today's lesson in the parking lot at the dentist??

WHAT YOU DON'T BRUSH YOUR TONGUE.. THAT IS HORRIBLE YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE BAD BREATH... STICK YOUR TONGUE OUT (I did) LOOK AT THAT.. YUCK... ( I came straight home and brushed my tongue and gagged until I almost ... well you know.

And a multitude of others…..
I LOVE LOVE having my mother here...

She thinks before she speaks...

She prays.... really prays... for me .. for Tom .. for her great grandchildren... for her grandchildren ... all of whom adore her...
She read me letters yesterday that her mother wrote her from the nursing home about how afraid she was and how she didn't understand why she was there and that she was going home soon... I listened and we cried for my grandmother.

We talked about how her mother-in-law taught her to cook and keep house and my grandfather who died of a heart attack at 42 and left my grandmother and the rest of the family floundering...

About her life as a young mother and how God provided for her young family in dire circumstances..

She has told me about her successes and her mistakes both as a mother and a wife, reflecting on her life having been left both by my Father and her second husband...

She tells me about the discipline of God...and His mercy... how He talks to her .. (and He does) and strangely I hear her now... I never did before...

I knew it all.. I had the answers before there were any questions and it is amazing how much my mother has "learned " over the years..
And the door opens and the grandchildren come in (hers) and say... Hi Mom.. and head straight for the "house in the back" and sit and talk to Grandmother about everything.. and everything stays"in the vault" It is safe there.

No advice (well maybe a little) No judgment... Just love and listening...
And the door opens and the Great-grandchildren come in and say... Hi Nana... and head to the "house in the back" and say...
Hi Grandmother.. Can I use your bathroom? YES

Hi Grandmuder... Can I have some dawk chocowate? YES

Hi Grandmother- What are you doing today? WAITING FOR YOU TO COME

Hi Grandmother- I love you... I LOVE YOU TOO

Hi Grandmother.. I got my braces off today.. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL

Hi Grandmother-- Look at my diamond... What do you think? IT IS BEAUTIFUL.

Four generations in one house... Wisdom.. Love .. Regrets.. New beginnings... passed from one generation.. to the next.. to the next... to the next....

Not a day goes by that my precious mother does not say to me... Thank you Linda for everything you do for me...

NO MOTHER..... THANK YOU...

Psalm 145:4 One generation shall praise Your works to another and declare Your mights acts.

Christmas Crowds

2010-12-09T13:54:00.000-06:00

by Linda Rempel

I HATE CROWDS... am I the only one?

I DO NOT go to Black Friday... I could never stand in line that long and I could for sure never ever try to get something from a bunch of screaming fighting women...
Ask Debi about this for details... (she on the other hand will )

I don't wait in lines at restaurants so Tom and I go out on Monday...or if it is a Friday we have to go by six and get done ... Have you seen the lines at Lazlos or the Char Grill after six thirty??? And now what? They are opening an Egg and I in Clocktower... My family is flipping out and I said to Deborah... DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG THE LINES WILL BE ON SUNDAY NOON????

NOOOOOO...

I must confess I am the person who DOES NOT want to slide in for late comers at church... really? I got my seat at 7:30... so I could sit on the end and now... they have one service and Steve sits on the end with Amy and I have been shoved to the middle...and there is no seat on either side of me...

Basketball and Volleyball games... I like reserved seats... I worry that there won't be a seat or what if I go up and ask if these seats are saved and they say yes and I have to go all the way back down...So I stay home... Or how will we ever get out of the parking lot with all those cars?

And picking up kids at school? When I pick up Debi at East High School on Tuesday you cannot believe the lines and if I don't go early I drive around the school literally ten times before she comes out...So I go at one thirty for a 2:10 pickup so I can be first in line... I LOVE THAT... and then Cavett??? The pickup lane is so long for a 2:53 pickup so I leave my house at two and guess what??? Yup first in line and I read or do word searches ... and I suspect I am not the only one because there is the same car across the crosswalk in that "first place".

So I have been contemplating this "crowd phobia" and let's face it we all have some kind of issue...If you don't well please stay away from the rest of us because you might "catch one from us" and being perfect is exhausting anyway....

Christmas is "crowd o mania" everywhere people running around getting wrap.. getting a present... or frantically searching the internet at home for one... only to find it snatched from your shopping cart because you waited too long to push ORDER....

Ironically Jesus started His life here on the earth and spent most of it in crowds of people ... so much so that He would have to get in a boat and row to the other side of the lake to rest and get away...

Consider that all the rooms in the city of Bethlehem were taken and there were so many people that Mary and Joseph had to go to the stable... to sleep and then Mary gave birth to Jesus among the animals...in the hay...

When the shepherds were told of the Saviors birth they were in the fields "keeping watch over their sheep" AND SUDDENLY THERE APPEARED WITH THE ANGEL A MULTITUDE OF THE HEAVENLY HOST PRAISING GOD, AND SAYING ...GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST AND PEACE AMONG MEN WITH WHOM HE IS PLEASED...

And when He was 12 he was in Jerusalem (Luke 2) and his parents assumed he was "in the crowd" going home and found he was missing and it took them three days to find him because of the crowds...

Everywhere Jesus went (read the gospels) He was followed and pressed upon by crowds of people

Consider the woman with the issue of blood that crowded in to touch the hem of his garment.

What about the crowds on the shores of Galilee where Jesus had to get in a boat and row to the other side to be alone and pray.

What about the crowd in Mark 2 where he was teaching and they lowered the man through the roof to see Jesus to heal him because they could not get near the door...

And Zaccheus??? ... So many people He could not see ..Zacheus He climbed up in the sycamore tree (I hate sycamore trees ... I have one.. nasty... drops everything .. but great branches)the Savior for to see.... lalalala

And what about Luke 5 where Jesus was eating with a crowd of sinners and tax-gathers... not nice people...

And then the angry mobs who cried.. CRUCIFY HIM CRUCIFY HIM...

Ironically no crowds were left to bury him.. and no crowds were there to see the empty tomb but that is probably a different subject... I digress....

I was thinking about all this this morning and wondering whether I can ever change and get in there with the crowd and just do what needs to be done.... and still be comfortable...and NO I AM NOT AGORAPHOBIC... so there... but have you ever tried to
get across the auditorium in the back after church... or out into the aisle to leave... AHHHHHH you could be trampled... :-)

And then I thought ... AHHH YESSSS I think I will have this problem solved eventually....

Revelation 7:9-17 says AFTER THESE THINGS I LOOKED, AND BEHOLD, A GREAT MULTITUDE, WHICH NO ONE COULD COUNT, FROM EVERY NATION AND ALL TRIBES AND PEOPLES AND TONGUES STANDING BEFORE THE THRONE AND BEFORE THE LAMB, CLOTHED IN WHITE ROBES,AND PALM BRANCHES WERE IN THEIR HANDS;AND THEY WERE CRYING OUT SALVATION TO OUR GOD WHO SITS ON THE THRONE AND TO THE LAMB.....AMEN, BLESSING AND GLORY AND WISDOM AND THANKSGIVING AND HONOR AND POWER AND MIGHT, BE TO OUR GOD FOREVER AND EVER. "AMEN (hmmmm... sounds like it might make a great song... :-) )

Revelation 19:1 -AFTER THESE THINGS I HEARD AS IT WERE A LOUD VOICE OF A GREAT
MULTITUDE IN HEAVEN, SAYING HALLELUJAH!!!!! SALVATION AND GLORY AND POWER BELONG TO OUR GOD......

According to Revelation 20 every person who has every lived or died will be standing before the throne of God either in judgment because they rejected His free gift... or covered by the blood of the precious Son of God... who died alone.... feeling forsaken even by God the Father...

In that day believe you me... I will be in the crowd with I pray my entire family and many many of you falling before the throne of God saying ...WORTHY IS THE LAMB WHO WAS SLAIN TO RECEIVE... BLESSING AND HONOR AND GLORY AND POWER...

and so until that day ... I will just keep working on it...

Revelation 22:20

YES, I AM COMING QUICKLY

AMEN.

COME LORD JESUS....

Merry Christmas...

Big Girls Do Cry (and little ones and boys and big boys)

2010-10-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

by Linda Rempel

So I have been crying a lot lately... (why do i always start these blogs with so... or hmmmm.?) Anyway... there it goes again...

I have been thinking about crying and in our "rough and tough" be a man ... be a girl/man world we are uncomfortable with anyone who cries... I cannot tell you how many times people have apologized to me for "making me cry"…Really? Like I don't remember if you don't mention the subject at hand? Really?

Anyway throughout the scripture God talks about weeping... crying... lamenting...TEARS...
I was flabbergasted when I looked up these words in the concordance…and then each scripture with the tears and weeping and wailing and gnashing... and groaning...a few for your consideration....and space prevents me from doing the context... if you are a crier like me I suggest you read them or do a study on your own....
2 Kings 20:5: God says to Hezekiah ... I have seen your TEARS
Psalm 56:8: God keeps all your TEARS in a bottle....
Psalms 126:5: Those who sow in TEARS will reap in joy....
Is. 16:9: WEEP BITTERLY ... I will drench you with my TEARS
Jer. 9:1: Oh that my eyes were a fountain of TEARS…that i might WEEP day and night
Luke 7:58: And she wiped HIS feet with her TEARS....
John 11:35: Jesus WEPT....
John 20:13: Why are you WEEPING
Job 16:20: My eye WEEPS to God
Matt. 26:75: Peter went out and WEPT bitterly...
SERIOUSLY????

The scriptures are full of crying and weeping and wailing ... WHY?

Genesis.... AND EVE TOOK AND ATE... AND GAVE TO HER HUSBAND AND HE ATE TOO...
(paraphrase... go with it....) and crying and weeping entered the world and sin and bitterness and sickness and pain...(I know, depressing but there is a point here...)

For all you young moms (and dads and grandmas and grandpas.. ) who sit and tell your little tiny ids and big kids and grownup kids to SHUT IT UP... SHUT IT OFF... STOP CRYING...I would present to you...
JESUS CRIED...JOB CRIED...PETER CRIED...THE WOMEN AT THE TOMB CRIED...HEZEKIAH CRIED… JEREMIAH CRIED…MARY CRIED… MARY AND MARTHA CRIED...AND ON AND ON AND ON....

The Bible actually says that God keeps all our tears in a bottle... wonder how big my bottle is...
Tears are healing... Tears are therapy... Tears are from God...

So consider this... next time you are tempted to tell your little one to STOP CRYING... (this would not include tantrums... lol) DON'T....

Consider this... everytime they are hurt and crying or sad and crying and we say STOP... and they choke it back…a callous forms ..(just a little ) over their heart... until it is hard... and when they need to cry they can't... or OH THEY ARE CRYING IT IS JUST INSIDE....

(Can you tell this is a soap box for me?????)

Next time you pass by someone who needs someone to "weep with" stop and weep with them...
Next time someone cries... don't stop them...
Next time the person next to you in church cries... don't judge them…pray for them...
Consider the saddest cry of all...Matthew 13:42...And they were cast into a furnace of fire ... where there is WEEPING and gnashing of teeth...

God help those to see the free gift of salvation offered to them...may He open their eyes....

And so in this world of "TOUGHEN UP" " BE A MAN" " GROW UP" "STOP CRYING" "TOUGH IT OUT" consider the only one who can wipe away the tears ... my favorite and my license plate....21 REV 4...AND GOD SHALL WIPE AWAY ALL THE TEARS FROM THEIR EYES AND THERE WILL BE NO MORE CRYING....I wait and wait for that day... but until then....

WE JUST CRY.... for crying out loud.... :-)

A Note to the Pastor

2010-09-16T16:45:00.001-05:00

by Linda Rempel

HMMMMMM.... thought I would blog my letter to Tom the other day... a spontaneous email while cleaning my filthy van... if Tom and I ever had words it was over these things.... just shows an old dog can learn new tricks.... :-)

As one who knows you better than anyone but God, I wanted to say that what I have seen in the last few years is a man who has learned that a footprint on the dash of the van or a scratch in the plastic is a sign that your grandaughters were picked up with their backpacks after school, and that smoothie splashed on the seats means that Nu Vibe was bought for them and they drank it while telling things to you that they won't tell their parents...

that scratches in the bumper that have to be repaired mean that Nana took them to the movies and turned too soon and hit the cart corrall at Target or was rushing to back up and hit the fence.. ($2,500) while running to get grandkids....hmmm (I didn't hear anything...how did that happen?)

and money spent... way too much at Rocket Fizz... only lasts for a time... and grease on the drycleaned suit means little babies with donuts or bagels and butter in their hands were walking the halls with you before you preached...and marks on the walls in your office???... same thing..,

and for me??? fingerprints on the windows mean the kids were squishing their noses to see in while they waited for me to answer the door.... and a birthday cake upside down on the floor before anyone could eat it was the best birthday ever and the only one we will remember.... and the entire box of minute rice upside down on the floor... picked up thrown away but not forgotten..

remember the time Nana????

and messes and crumbs and spills can be cleaned up... and if they cannot??? gives us something to look at and say...REMEMBER THE TIME CHLOE POOPED ON THE NEW COUCH... so so funny.....things do not matter....people do...

and yes i have been paying off my Visa for 42 years... (BUT IT IS ALMOST DONE.. ) BUT SADLY ... THE KIDS ARE GONE...if only we could have learned this lesson while our kids were little...but perhaps that is why grandchildren are the glory of old men...(and women... )

as I cleaned the filthy van today.. soggy cups from Runza... melted fruit snacks in the cubbies...popcorn in the cracks of the seats.. Coke in the floor mats ... coffee dripped from the cup holder... crayons and pencils and color books and jackets and one flip flop and swimming noodles and a half inflated Strawberry Shortcake floaty from July..... and many other things "too numerous to mention".

I love you more now than I did way back when....
xoxoxo

Linda

P.S. and YES we did eat the cake... :-)

The Road Not Traveled...

2010-09-01T16:13:00.003-05:00

by Linda Rempel

So this is the deal... I have been thinking a lot about the "paths" of my life and how decisions about moving... jobs... discipline... rules... eating... not eating... have affected my life...

My Mother lives with us... She is a multi talented self taught woman who is an artistic beyond belief... poetic... journaling ... thinking woman... and brought with her to my house all her books of poetry
one of them being the title of this blog....
Most of my life has been wished away as I have told you before and full of decisions to make... some of them life changing... some of them life threatening... some of them... irreversible...

I remember when we moved to Lincoln.. " the BIG city" from Gothenburg where our children walked to school ... and went to the store alone and we didn't worry about them... and that decision at a time in our lives having children that were... a senior in high school... an eighth grader and a six year old ... to move our family to the other side of the state...

Changed the course of our lives forever....

They went to high school here.... they met their spouses here as opposed to Gothenburg.. (except for Robb who married a little girl from where???? Gothenburg... lol) our grandchildren were born here... are growing up here and will probably meet their spouses here... all because (humanly speaking) we took one road over the other...
There were multiple times in our lives where we took one road instead of the other...many many times the "road less traveled" and it changed everything...

Edith Schaeffer in her book "What is a family" ( which I would highly recommend if you can even find a copy) says..."THE WILL OF GOD IS ONLY SEEN IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR".

Ask my mom... the decisions she made.. (and yes I have her permission to say this) and that my dad made, changed our family forever...and when Tom and I married we said... This is where it stops... We will travel this road ..(many times not understood by others) and our family will be different...(note to self and others.. God has a huge place in this and how it plays out... ) for notes on this listen to sermons on Proverbs... hmmmm... shall we say the Holy Spirit?....

So does the road you choose today make a difference? Yes it does... Can you do anything about the roads you have chosen in the past... not so much... MOVE ON PLEASE...

"Leaving the past behind we press on toward the high calling of God" Paraphrase.. Don't get all worked up...
That being said ...(as Tom says which drives me insane) every decision we make affects someone...We don't get to just BE OURSELVES and do as we wish...

Pray... Look at the roads... choose one.... and then forge ahead... knowing that God has led.. He will protect ...comfort and be with you every step of the way... even when you don't feel like it... :-)

Am i sorry for the path we chose...??? NOOOOO.. Would I change anything..? NOOOOO... The Road Not Traveled??? I don't know but the road I have traveled has made all the difference...

Deuteronomy 30:19 paraphrase and may be out of context... HUSH...
"Today I have set before you life and death.... choose life...that you may live and your descendants..."

P.S. I should have taken the road to the vacuum cleaner or the laundry room today instead of the computer...

Empty Again...

2010-08-18T22:00:00.010-05:00

by Linda Rempel

So the first day of school is over... empty nest... again... everyone is in school... i was thinking about this and am a firm believer in seizing the day... much of my life was wished away ... i wish this was over... i want to know the end of this chapter ....sometimes when the end came i did not want to know...

there are seasons of life... i love love the summer... hot as it is i hate to be cold... so i wish away the winter... and dread the fall... love love spring..(the most) and then comes summer when everything is green and there are flowers in the yard and watermelon and strawberries and blueberries and tomatoes and cucumbers with buttermilk on them or "wemon" pepper as Chloe says....

i have seen 59 summers... happy ones... horribly sad ones ... "it'll be a cold day in july ones" as my dad used to say about things... and many of them i wished away...

guess what... I know the end of 58 years.... but i do not know the end of the 59th... jeepers this is getting kind of depressing... so all i am saying is i have spent the last three years just surviving most of the time ....and now three years is over... the kids are all in school... and well

I AM WORKING ON GETTING A LIFE... :-) during school hours anyway...

take each day as it comes...

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR

Matthew 6:19-34 ( excerpts)

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon the earth... (shoes in my case) where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal..

lay up your treasures in heaven..... where your treasure is there will your heart be also... (my jewelry box)

we cannot serve two masters....God and our stuff....

FOR THIS REASON.... i say to you do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink.. (starbucks) nor for your body, as to what you shall put on...(for work)

and look at the birds of the air... they don't worry and God feeds them... (my paraphrase)

AND WHICH OF YOU BY BEING ANXIOUS ... CAN ADD THE LENGTH OF YOUR THUMB TO YOUR LITTLE FINGER (also a paraphrase)... to your life..

Seek first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness and all these things will be added to you... (not necessarily jewelry and shoes)

THEREFORE DO NOT BE ANXIOUS FOR TOMORROW; FOR TOMORROW WILL CARE FOR ITSELF.. EACH DAY HAS ENOUGH TROUBLE OF IT'S OWN....

So in my kitchen over my stove... are the words. CARPE DIEM........ SIEZE THE DAY...

Without Wax

2010-04-13T16:54:00.005-05:00

by Linda Rempel

So... evidently I don't even know how old my grandchildren are... now when i wrote the last blog... anna was 16... but now??? not so much... 17, however... caleb is 10 not eleven .. lydia is 6 not 5... and well that is all i have for you on that... Amy called and said... MUUUUUUTHER.... the kids ages are all wrong... that is what you get for your money that is what i say... lol...My mom moved in with us last february and we have had many many conversations over the last year... my mother is very wise in many ways... she is a thinker , unlike me... who spouts my mouth off in general without a thought to what i am saying... (this is why i don't talk to alot of people...) blabby syndrome i call it... anyway we were talking about "role playing" and how much of our lives we pretend to be something we are not...our kids never misbehave they always sleep in their own beds...never sass...never have accidents... we never disagree with our husbands (strongly)...we are never mad at God...we are fine,...just fine..well i have news for you...EVERYONE IS NOOOOOTTTTTTT FINE...

Romans 12:9 says "let love be without hypocrisy"... i doubt there are many left who have not heard the illustration of that being the vase... cracked and broken...filled in with wax so that one cannot see the crack but when held up to the sun... ???? AHHHHHHHH filled with wax...it is broken.., it is interesting as i looked up this verse so i would have something biblical to say... (not really)what verse three says... DO NOT THINK MORE HIGHLY OF YOURSELF THAN YOU OUGHT...and verse 16 says.... what ??? DO NOT BE WISE IN YOUR OWN EYES... and between those two... (in the context of serving others and using your gifts???) don't be a hypocrite... be what you are...for in pretending that everything is okay and we are fine all the time .. we put forth the image that we are better than the person struggling... (i have personal experience with this) and elevate ourselves to think... i could never do that.. i could never be like that... well guess what... you might

i am no hero... i feel sorry for myself... i cry...alot... i mean alot... and no i do not understand the why of my life or what God has allowed nor will i ever understand until i stand before Him... that being said... no we don't get to say everything we think... we cannot use the excuse.. THIS IS WHO I AM.. YOU CAN LIVE WITH IT...God requires we use our gifts ... that we are faithful to the task He has set before us... and for each of us it is different... so... what??? God knows ... He knows before He brings the trial.. allows the trial.. whether it is your kids or your husband or a flat time or a job loss or the loss of your grandchildren's mother.. what it would do to you and He is not threatened or diminished in who He is by your sorrow or questions or tears... and so when those among us are hurting or questioning ....AND NOT FINE... it is okay... we pray... we hug... we shake our heads... and say... as amy says... I GOT NOTHING FOR YOU...

and let God be God... for He is and we are not...

Some Kind of Introduction

2010-01-31T00:01:00.009-06:00

by Linda Rempel

Okay... so I am supposed to blog... I looked this word up... (very 2010 of me) on Google and it is a web term... a noun... for telling stuff about yourself... wow... I have read a few blogs... they are all about me... or you... I could never understand why people blogged and now I am one... for we all know.. IT IS ALL ABOUT ME...For those of you that care... (all two of you) I am 58 years old... I have been a "pastor's wife" (albeit a pathetic one) for about 39 years in four different churches...I have three children... Robb ... Amy... and Dawn-Marie.. (who went to be with the Lord two and a half years ago)... I have nine grandchildren.... six girls and three boys... ages 16.. 15 ..14..13... 11 ..8... and three-five-year olds... yes three... two of them in the same family. Amy has four children (16, 14, 11, and 5), Robb has two (15 & 13) and Dawn Marie has three (8 and two-five-year olds) ... I taught piano for 32 years and quit to take care of my daughter and her children during her illness and now am helping their dad raise them...fulltime... I raised my children and now I am raising my daughter’s children for the time being... okay... so that is that... oh yes... my mom moved in with us in February and Tom has been building an addition on the house since march... he is almost done I could go on and on and have and will ...If you are looking for "all the answers" this is not the blog for you...if you are looking for traditional advice this is not the blog for you...if you are looking for sympathy... oh you might get a little but as Amy says... YOU GET NOTHING... LOL (laugh out loud)...

I hate introductions... so this one is done... next blog???? "WITHOUT WAX" and no that would not be what we do when we pluck our eyebrows...I am beyond busy... way, way beyond... so look for thoughts... Kitchen theology....Hands in the dirty dishwater...Cleaning up little bunsies, or... hello they threw up in the bed, or...the dog threw up... or worse yet...he (the dog) did his duty by the back door and the five-year-old stepped and sat in it...Dust on the shelves...making dinner....doing homework...practicing piano...and fourteen trips to school and back and back. And how will I get up the next day...(and we must and we do only to do it all over again.) and all that after we get home from work...Okay, I am done...