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I’m lucky to have a mother. And I’m blessed that she was/is a good mother. I’ve taken that for granted before. And I regret that.

Not once in my life have I doubted my mother’s love. Not once. Even amid our most heated arguments and the occasional lengthy silent treatments, I never doubt that my mother loves me deeply.

Not everybody can say that. But I can. And for that, I am grateful.

As much as I hate admitting this, my mother and I are very much alike. We are both passionate, emotional, sentimental, attention deficient people. We have the best of intentions, yet we both sometimes lack good common sense. We are both feelers, encouragers, closeted Pentecostals, and occasionally enablers. Both of us are quite impressed with our ability to look in the mirror and not only see what ails us but what ails everybody else. We love big. We hope bigger. We both are prone to believe that every bump, lump, or skin abnormality is cancer (or wants to be cancer).

It’s true. Mom and I are as emotionally and mentally alike as two peas in the same pod. Or two hypochondriacs in the same Web MD forum.

Potentially, my mother’s greatest weakness was her love for her kids. Nobody messed with us kids, at least, not without feeling the consequences that was/is my mother. Mom stood up for me even when it was stupid to stand up for me. Even when she knew I wasn’t completely right, Mom fought the good fight for me.

Mom isn’t perfect. But she is thoughtful. She isn’t always right. But her heart is good. She does talk too much about Beth Moore. But she usually does this on the phone, so I can hang up if I need to…

As I’ve gotten older and free enough to form my own opinions about things, it took Mom and I a little bit of time to learn how to navigate those waters. I had to stop poking fun at what I called her Fox News addiction. (Though I still say that most sons, even those convinced that Fox News is fair and balanced, would flinch at the thought of his mother’s mood swings being seduced by Britt Hume’s teleprompter. Shivers.) And we both have had to learn (and we’re still learning) that arguing over politics and theologies is mostly silly and pointless. Our relationship is more important than those things.

I need my mom. Sometimes I call her and ask her for advice about parenting Elias and Adeline. Sometimes I just call her because I need her affirmation to know that my parenting doesn’t suck. Sometimes I just call her because well, just because…

I want my kids to know my mother, to experience the passionate loving slightly crazy woman that she is. Because to know my mom is to know me, to know where I came from, to understand some of my quirks and passions, to comprehend my strengths and my weaknesses.

I’m grateful for my mother, for all that she has been and is in my life. Oh, she drives me crazy sometimes. But I drive her crazy sometimes, too. I do pray that someday she will learn how to use Skype without having to call me for assistance. And I’m sure she prays that I will learn to have patience when teaching her again how to use Skype.

Still, I am grateful for my mom.

Because she was/is present.

Because she wasn’t/isn’t afraid to tell me what she thinks…

Because her love for me was/is tangible.

And I needed all of those things… I still do.

Wow. Paul Cameron certainly sounds like a nice guy, just like Jesus.

Your thoughts?

Adam sent this to me.

Sent to me by @jonneygee…

For those who can’t view the video, here’s the story…

A church pastor is suing a mother and daughter for $500,000 because they gave the church bad reviews online.

The family being sued left the church a few years ago and Julie Anne Smith says she and her family were shunned and couldn’t understand why. So she went online and wrote Google and DEX reviews of the church and then started a blog.

“I thought, I’m just going to post a review,” Smith said. “We do it with restaurants and hotels and whatnot, and I thought, why not do it with this church?”

Never did she think Beaverton Grace Bible Church and Pastor Charles O’Neal would slap her with the lawsuit.

“I’m a stay-at-home mom. I teach my kids at home, and this is just not the amount of money that normal moms have.”

When the family left the church, Smith says friends were told to end all contact with her.

“If I went to Costco or any place in town, if I ran into somebody, they would turn their heads and walk the other way,” she said. “All we did was asked questions. We just raised concerns. There’s no sin in that.”

Dissatisfied, she went online to write reviews. Other church members counteracted them with church praise. So Smith started a blog called “Beaverton Grace Bible Church Survivors.”

But the pastor claims in the lawsuit he filed that her words, “creepy,” “cult,” “control tactics,” and “spiritual abuse,” are defamation.

“What somebody does in the church is one thing, but when you get out into society we have the right to free speech, and it may not be what people want to hear, but we absolutely have that right,” Smith said.

The lawsuit didn’t just target Smith. Her daughter and three other commenters are also being sued.

“He can say what he wants in the church and say, don’t talk about this or don’t talk about that, or don’t talk to this person, but when you’re out in the civil world, you don’t do that anymore,” Smith said. “And he’s not my pastor anymore. He does not have that right to keep people from talking.”

The Smiths filed a special free speech motion to dismiss the lawsuit. It goes before a judge later this month.

KATU News called the church, went there, went to the pastor’s home and spoke to his wife. KATU News also called the pastor’s attorney. All of them declined to give their side of the story.

SOURCE

This guy is hilarious. For all of the wrong reasons. If I didn’t know better, I’d say this video was a joke (a bad one, I should add), but a joke nonetheless.

But it’s not a joke. He’s a joke. But the video isn’t a joke.

My favorite comment about this video is one Youtube: “I’m sending this video to my mom for Mother’s Day.” -TheArchfiend

Found at American Jesus…

Thank you Mike Morrell!

What?

The name of the painting is (are you ready?)…

…”Jesus Broke Out the Lambchop Puppet and Hired an Angel to Try and Cheer Up a Clinically Depressed Paul McCartney”…

And I want it! It’s amazing. Not perfect. Though with a price tag of $177,000, it should be.

It should walk on water and sing Beatles’ songs…

Here’s an interview with the artist.

Thank you Tori for sending this to me!

Would you hang this photo in your house? Office? Church? Statehouse?

I think it would frighten my kids. It frightens me a little.

You can buy this for $500-$5000…

I’m serious. You really need to know Shawn Smucker. Why?

(Download Shawn Smucker’s book “Build A Life Out Of Words” for free!)

1) Because Shawn Smucker is an author, which means he’s slightly more messed up than you. And he writes about it.

2) Because Shawn Smucker is one of those guys that you meet and immediately like. He’s a little gross actually. He’s soooooo nice. But you can’t help but like him. He’s got a friendly likable spirit about him (just like this guy).

3) Because his last name rhymes with f*cker. And that is awesome. I always tell him he’s a little mother Smucker….

4) Because he’s giving away his e-book, Build A Life Out of Words! For free. For 24 hours. It’s free!

5) Because he’s not Mark Driscoll. And people who are not Mark Driscoll are awesome. Most of us anyway.

6) Because he’s also a blogger. And you shouldn’t hold that against him.

7) Because with a name like Smucker… never mind. I just can’t make myself write that…

8) Because if you download Shawn “Mother” Smucker’s book AND leave a comment on this post, you will be entered to win a copy of The Voice Bible! If you Tweet AND/OR Facebook this post, you can leave a second and third comment (which betters your chances of winning a copy of The Voice!)

9) Because he’s got a goatee. And you thought goatees were AWESOME in 1997.

10) Because I met Shawn Smucker for coffee in March. And what I thought was just another meeting turned into one of those two-hour-long-yet-too-short conversations about life, family, faith, frustrations, theology, writing, kids, fatherhood. It was a good talk, the kind of chat that leaves you feeling encouraged, filled, not alone. READING HIS FREE BOOK WILL GIVE YOU THESE FEELINGS TOO.

11) Because his book is about this:

There are times when life doesn’t turn out as you expected. Then there are times when life punches you in the gut, takes your wallet, and leaves you hanging upside down by your toenails.

2009 was one of those times for me (the gut-punching kind). My construction business faltered after the housing bubble burst, and my wife and I found ourselves in $50,000 worth of debt. Then came the toughest decision of our young lives: we left the community we loved and moved into my parents’ basement in search of a simpler life.

Part of the change included laying aside my aspirations for wealth and taking up the vocation of my dreams: I would try to make money writing full time. This is the story of my first year doing exactly that.

I would try to build a life out of words.

12) Because that right there is a pretty amazing premise for a book.

13) Because Shawn Smucker’s book cover has little tiny eggs on it… and the little tiny eggs are covered in baby-bird killing stickers…

SO… here’s the deal:

Get to know Shawn Smucker.

Go download Shawn Smucker’s new book! (It’s free… but only for a limited time.)

Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of The Voice Bible.

And then leave another comment if you post this post on Facebook…

And leave another comment if you Tweet this post…

Then wait (or read Shawn Smucker’s book) to see if you win The Voice Bible.

Now go. Download Shawn Smucker’s book.

It will make you want to stalk Shawn Smucker like he’s Gwyneth Paltrow.