rambling rosemarie

I have been trying to live in two places at once. I am tired and I am officially cranky. So, I am packing it in and taking a nap. Probably going to nap all day long too. Well, as much as I can having a puppy in the house. Since I haven't posted in a while and since there are some things I've read that worth checking out... I thought I would post them. Anyone with a child or a computer should read Carla's post here . Anyone who is considering voting for or dismissing Obama should check out this post on Steve Camp's blog. Or this one on the NYTimes. H.T. Keith Plummer at The Christian Mind Anyone who is done reading and wants to watch and listen to something worth seeing and hearing, just click the play button below.

My great grandmother had some unique expressions. When the gaggle of kids that made up her great grandchildren would run barefoot through her tiny home and yard you could hear her in exasperation yelling at us to put our shoes. She didn't use our names preferring to describe us a bunch of "heathens" or "yahoos." The latter of which she pronounced with a long a sound. If she caught you doing something silly she would say, "If they put your brain in a hummingbird it would fly backwards!" Of course we would giggle and tell her, "But Grandma, they do fly backwards!" One of the things she said most often when we were naughty, "You're going to hell in a hand basket!" I still don't know what a hand basket is precisely but I do know, praise God, I am not headed to hell. Not that I don't deserve to go there directly, I do. God in His mercy has seen fit to spare me. I can't tell you why. It's not about me, that...

Ah! Memories! mighty.wav

My pastor has been teaching through Philippians. I have been reading the tiny but meaty book in the mornings. It was an easy jump for me to go from Philippians to Colossians . In Colossians , Paul is focused on the preeminence of Christ. Today I sat on my deck and read and thought about Colossians . I have been enjoying my mornings on my deck. I read a little, talk to God a little and then go play in the garden. Usually I harvest some onions and spinach and anything else I can find and come in and make an omelette . There is something satisfying about working for my food. This morning I was out in the garden pulling weeds when I remembered something my agronomy teacher said during a lecture. "Any plant is a weed when it is growing where you don't want it to grow." I was busy pulling out volunteer tomato plants. They volunteered to grow in the middle of my squash patch, in my flowers, and just about everywhere else. As I pulled out volunteer tomatoes, bluegrass, clover, w...

You know you want one!

I have recently read Three Cups of Tea , a book about Greg Mortenson and how he failed an attempt at climbing K2 , the second highest mountain in the world. I want to find someone whose faith is similar to mine and discuss the book. It's had a strange impact on me. One of the things that fascinates me about Greg Mortenson is that grew up a missionary kid in Africa. MK's are a unique breed. They are third culture kids. They never really belong to the culture they are from and always seem to stand out in the culture they go to. I loved working with the MK's at the Christian college I worked for and have officially adopted two of them, Chris and David. Chris and David grew up in the jungles of Ecuador. They are two white boys who speak perfect Spanish. One is from Maine, the other is Canadian. They came to a private college in California without a concept of American pop culture. Using lines from movies and television shows popular when they were young are lost on them. T...

There are certain hymns that make me cry from somewhere deep within my soul. It's not the melody nor the association with hearing them at someone's funeral that triggers the tears. It's the words. I can scarcely hold myself together when it comes to certain stanzas. We sang one at church today. In Christ Alone . It's an amazing hymn, and I get all choked up right from the start, but it is this verse that undoes me: No guilt in life, no fear in death— This is the pow'r of Christ in me; From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man, Can ever pluck me from His hand; Till He returns or calls me home— Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand . It's a new er hymn, but it's a good one. Augustus Toplady would certainly approve of the hymns Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend are writing. They are full of the meat of the gospel. Another one that renders me speechless is Come Thou Fount . O to g...

I have been asked by a couple folks what has prompted my post on biblical confrontation. I guess it's a fair question but not one I can answer with the details I think folks are hoping for. As I said before, what really spun my wheels is not my story to tell. There's been more than one incident that prompted the post. As a biblical counselor it's my privilege to know things about people that they might not share with everyone. Biblical counselors do not hold to the world's idea of confidentiality, but we do hold to God's. What I mean by that is I have had more than one occasion to share what I have been told by someone seeking my counsel to an appropriate person, more than likely their pastor or a person in authority. This has never been a surprise to my counselee- they get full disclosure on what level of confidentiality they can expect from me. Additionally, they get the first opportunity to tell the person or to have me with them as support when they tell t...

Steve Camp at "Camp on This" posted an encore presentation of something that dovetails well with my post on anonymous confrontations not being biblical. It's worth a read and so I thought I would link to it. It deals with our rights as Christians and gossip. Here , read it for yourself.

I have been ruminating on a few things and haven't had the ability to write about them because I couldn't separate what was good from what was bad. It's best to keep quiet when you cannot tell the difference between your sanctified and unsanctified thoughts. I am going to write a few articles on biblical confrontation. James White, a scholar and apologist says this: What you win them with is what you win them to. As an apologist he is talking about presenting unbelievers with the gospel in its entirety. No watering it down, no repackaging it to make it more marketable... just the biblical facts. I agree and would carry it further. Christians need to heed the same admonition when dealing with other believers as well. Cut the Word straight and present it as it stands. No cutting corners. No making up your own rules as you go along. One of the hard things about being a counselor is that you are brought into circumstances that don't involve you personally but they s...

I took my sister to the airport today. She's on her way home via the friendly skies of United. We had a great time but she was anxious to get back to her daughter. I certainly can't blame her for that. My house is empty... unless you count Chet the Wonder Dog, Somalia Celeste and the Fabulous Ms. Thibodeaux. I imagine they are my proof that I am getting old. A house full of animals under 20 pounds. Blue hair is right around the corner. I am a bit exhausted. Could be the driving, or the sadness or the new puppy crying all night. Or a combination of them all coupled with the natural tendencies of sisters to stay up and chat all night long. I need sleep and lots of it. I failed in my attempts to bring the gospel to my sister. Instead I found myself slipping into the person I was when we were younger.... my B.C. days. It's amazing how that happens. I had every intention of keeping my routines of prayer and reading my bible... instead I fell back into the patterns of sin...

She is 5.8 pounds of attitude. Why shouldn't she be full of herself? She flew in first class from California. Her fans call her Thibby. Her brother, Chet the Wonder Dog is hoping she is flying back when my sister leaves. No such luck. She's staying. She is a hoot to watch as she explores the wonders of Kentucky. It's a far cry from the cement jungles of the East Bay. She is eating the cicadas and chasing fireflies.

My sister is visiting me and she brought me a new puppy. The puppy is a Chihuahua, Bichon Frise and Yorkie Terrier mix. She is too cute and her big brother, Chet the Wonder Dog, doesn't think too much of her at all. Her sister, Somalia Celeste thinks even less. I think they both are hoping my sister will take the puppy back home with her when she returns. I am wondering why I thought it was a good idea to have a puppy. Wait... it wasn't my idea... my oldest girl rescued a dog who didn't have her surgery quite soon enough and .. well.. what do you do when your kidlet sends you a mutt puppy all the way from California? You love it. Her name is The Bodacious Agapanthus Maria Consuella Thibodeaux Jones. Mostly she gets called Thibby (Tibby). She thinks her name is "Bad dog, no no!" I thought I would have more time to blog. Right now I am enjoying the puppy and my sister's company more than I enjoy sitting at my computer. Today we are making plans to...

It would be an exaggeration to say that I haven't any discipline. I manage to pay my bills on time. My dog gets his heartworm medicine every month and I am fairly good at turning off lights when I am not using them. OK, that last bit about the lights is a stretch. In fact, my living room lights are on a timer so I don't have to worry about turning them off. Discipline. I say I want discipline but I keep putting off really working at it. If procrastination could be an Olympic event, I would win gold. No doubt about it. I would like to blame my inability to see a task to completion on my artistic personality, Attention Deficit Disorder or being an absent minded professor type. You know... so busy saving lives and creating formulas that I just can't cope with the mundane chores of life. In fact, my want to is broken for doing just about anything that is good for me. Good for me things cramp my style. I can sit and do nothing all day long. If I try to sit and read my bib...