a Post of MaNY ThinGs

[Note: this post contains a series of comments regarding flu symptoms that I knew you would want to read all about. Enjoy!]

Instead of many words, the month of March showed my life in a series of pictures. It was so much fun! I really enjoyed the challenge of finding something unique to take a picture of. Actually, not only unique in subject; shape, composition, angle, size, color and many other things that make up a good photograph made it a good month for me and my camera.

The big question now is: will I decide to take another photo challenge in April? The answer is... I don't know. ;-)

There are a couple reasons I am hesitating but mostly, the problem is that my energy level is way down because of this cold/flu. Sam had it first, then Di; Jesse got it next... and of course, I was the last in line. Jesse was getting well by the time I got it. I don't think I have it as badly as any of the other three. I have no idea about Sam's symptoms, but Di and Jesse were coughing badly, had a fever, no strength whatsoever, etc, etc. They were so sick. There was a day when I thought I was going to have to take Jesse to the hospital. But he started getting better and he is on the tail-end of it now.

As I said, I didn't get it as badly. Part of that is due to my overdosing of oregano oil, vitamin D and ginseng. I don't have the cough, thank goodness! But there is an down side to my version of this: my symptoms seem to come and go as they please. For instance, a week ago Thursday, I started feeling sick. I was sick until Monday night, then I suddenly felt better and was improving until Friday. Suddenly, in the afternoon, my air was cut off. I could not get my throat to open up. I was wheezing and coughing and could not catch my breath. Between Jen and myself, we got it fixed (luckily, I was at work). Saturday, I was feeling much better... even great. Sunday, I was sick all day. All solids and fluids were through me in a flash. I was getting dehydrated. I managed to stop the flow by evening and come morning, there I was: feeling GREAT. All morning, I was feeling awesome. Noon rolled around and suddenly, I was feeling horrible. It felt like I got slugged in the stomach. Stuff was going through me again... I had to leave work at 1 pm and go home. I was so disappointed.

But I have decided that there are a couple ways of dealing with this. I could complain and moan. I could just think about myself. I could ask God, "Why?" Or, I can be thankful for the rest... the chance to read... the ability to write blog posts and share my little universe with people across the world... I can trust that He doeth all things well.... I can be full of faith and love in this very moment... I can rest content in His love for me. I think I'll choose the "Or" option. :-)

...even the very hairs on your head are all numbered... 

Because of the past week or so, I have been able to do a lot of reading. I finished "The Golden Compass" trilogy and "The Hunger Games" trilogy. I found both series to be amazing in their own way. "The Golden Compass" is written from an atheist/agnostic perspective. While I certainly did not agree with some of his theories, I did carefully consider what he had to say. I really enjoyed The Dust. I have had a similar theory for a couple years because I see colors. People, living objects, sounds/tones all have different colors. I feel that these colors come from their souls or spirits. These colors are the equivalent, or at least have similarities to Pullman's Dust. But there is one major difference in our beliefs: I believe God is in Dust or the colors (or whatever you wish to call it). Pullman does not. I believe that God is an Infinite Being with no beginning or end. Pullman teaches... well, the exactly opposite.

I did agree with his view of religion and the Church: both have been the destruction of many souls... snuffing out life after life. Is this to say that The Church is at fault? Partially. But it is up to us, as human beings, to seek out Truth. People can order us about, confiscate, bully, manipulate, try to hide the inside of the tomb or whatever they choose to do. However, I think it is easier to follow orders than to seek our way to God and Truth. When it's just me and God having a chat in eternity, I will not be able to say, "He/she/it made me do that." No, it was MY choice. It was MY choice to sit around helplessly and let people tell me what to do or to learn to walk on my own. It was MY choice to allow the abuse or to stand up for what was right. MY choice to remain in a bad situation or move on. MY choice to react in anger or in love. No one made me do anything. God didn't even make me do anything. He threw open doors, even pushed me a bit. But in the end, it was up to me to make the decision. Such is a scary realization. This is why people do not want to think for themselves: the responsibility of freedom feels threatening. That is why the Church, religion or even our communities and our homes, have so much power. But only because we allow it.

And Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me....

Just to clarify, just as I have a right to make decisions means that other human beings do as well. They may hold beliefs that I do not agree with at all. That does not mean that I judge them or do not take them seriously. I change my mind all the time. That means that I used to be wrong or may be wrong now. So, I expect others to have different ideas than I do, or wrong ideas. I respect the learning process... I must admit that I respect it more for having been there so many times myself.

At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

The Hunger Games was quite a reading experience. They're brutal. If it had not been for the overlapping theme of Hope, getting through them would have been even more difficult. I don't want to give too much away because I want people everywhere to read these books but I shall allow myself a small comment: You may not enjoy these books but they are worth reading. And PLEASE do not stop after book one... or even book two. Read them all. The story is not complete until the very end.

And where is now my hope?

Charity's Place

Have you ever wanted to read about a movie before you watched it... just to check it out? There is a place that I love to read movie reviews. It's professional in every way; the quality of this site is amazing.

Charity Bishop has been writing for years. Her reviews are written from a fairly conservative viewpoint so if there is something in a movie that might offend a viewer, she will let you know.

Note: not all of the movies Charity Bishop reviews are Christian or conservative, so beware. You can look at the movies alphabetically, so it isn't as if you can accidentally run into something... plus, if there is something in her review that she thinks is PG-13, she warns you at the beginning of the review.

I may not condone every movie or book she reviews, but this site I do highly recommend. It's a gem.

http://www.charitysplace.com/

P.S. check out her blog at the same time: http://charitys-place.blogspot.com/

Recommendations... please :)

A friend of mine showed me this quote years ago and it went something like this: Read the best books first.

On that note, I would like to hear any and all book, film and music recommendations that you can offer me. Please. :-)

Does anyone out there like Karen Kingsbury?

Does anyone like mysteries?

“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.” -- Mark Twain

Does any like to read Cynthia Voigt? She wrote one of my favorite books entitled, “Jackaroo”.

What about Brock and Bodie Thoene?

And what about films? Period? Historical? Modern?

Some of my favorites are: Pride and Prejudice (1995; Jennifer Ehle), Pirates of the Carribean (Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom), The Cinderella Story (Hillary Duff), Amazing Grace (Ioan Gruffudd, Romola Garai, Benedict Cumberbatch), Fiddler on the Roof (Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey) and Miss Potter (Renee Zellweger, Ewan MacGregor).

April 2nd update with pictures. :-)

April 2nd, 2010

I intended to post this last week but as it turns out, a farmer driving through Preeceville caught a power pole on his seeder and snapped it off. So there was a power outage for several hours, in which, people at the library were tsking and murmuring about farmers who don't watch where they're going. Lol. I guess you can tell that Spring has arrived early in SK.

But I'm not holding my breath! We could still get dumped with snow. However, I am so thankful and happy for the warm weather. It's wonderful...

Sara is walking. This evening she walked the whole length of the living room. Everyone is applauding, cheering and making a general uproar over the new accomplishment. She's really cute. :-) It's fun watching her pitter-patter across the floor, enjoying the new found freedom and... (shall we say it?!) speed.

It's hard to believe that she's over a year old already. I remember last year at this time... we were just getting used to having a new baby around. She was so tiny and perfect (she's still perfect ;-)). I remember that her fingers were so fine that they were almost transparent.

Now she's laughing, walking, growing up so fast. She's not much of a baby anymore. I'm sounding ancient... and a little sad. How quickly time flies. How little I truly appreciate each day spent with her.

Btw, if my spelling starts looking like I'm under water, I am not. I just have the hiccups. They came on very suddenly and at full ::hic:: force.

Today I was reading in The Works of Robert Browning and found a poem about him reading a book he found not to be his liking. This particular piece of literature had been a “book in its time” but nevertheless, out of disgust, he tossed it into a hole in the trunk of plum-tree that had rain water in it. Then, he went to the house, brought out sustenance (bread, cheese, beverage) and his favorite book and forgot all about the poor book in the tree, slowly sinking into it's puddle. The next morning, however, he spotted a web of a spider across the opening of the tree and felt a prick of conscience. Out came the rake and he fished our unfortunate friend from it's watery grave where the “mother-beetles and father-efts” were wreaking havoc on it's besmeared pages and blistered binding.

I found this poem so endearing because I found it so... human. It makes Robert Browning seem more normal than a genius who's poems are and have been loved for over a century.

Robert Browning writes in such a fashion that even just a few words out of a poem are enough to convey what he expresses:

“Was it love or praise?

Speech half-asleep or song half-awake?”

(Garden Fancies – The Flower's Name)

“All I know

Of a certain star

Is, it can throw

(Like the angled spar)

Now a dart of red,

Now a dart of blue;

Till my friends have said

They would fain see, too,

My star that dartles the red and the blue!

Then it stops like a bird; like a flower, hangs unfurled:

They must solace themselves with the Saturn above it.

What matter to me if their star is a world?

Mine has opened its soul to me; therefore I love it.”

(My Star)

“That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,

Lest you should think he never could recapture

The first fine careless rapture!”

(Home Thoughts, From Abroad)

The other day, I went out to look at our creek, which I suspected might be running but wasn't sure. It was and it was very full, indeed. :-) I love the sound of running water! Of course, I had Lydia's camera along so I took quite a few pictures of the creek, melting snow, leaves, moss, etc. It is difficult at times to catch on film what you see with your eyes. For some reason, it just doesn't look the same on film. But I did manage to get some pictures that I liked, so I was happy. :-)

I read Clive Cussler's “Sahara” yesterday... I really enjoyed it. The story in the book is different than the movie but I didn't mind that they changed the movie. What is fine in a book is sometimes impossible to produce on screen without wrecking the essence of the story. Both were excellent, though the movie is for a younger audience.

Martha on up to Hannah are taking the hunting safety course in Preeceville. Our pastor is the assistant teacher and catches (or gives them) a ride to and from town, so they come home with lots of great stories to regal us with.

For instance, Brad gets into the van saying earnestly to Dad, “So last night I got chased by three cougars.”

Dad threw him an appalled look, “Whoa!”

Brad said, “Well, in my dream.”

::snort::

It's fun watching the kids studying their books and writing things down and quizzing each other about gun parts, different types of firearms, accident scenarios, how to load and hold guns, etc, etc. I don't think you can ever be too careful with guns or hunting. A few months ago at church, someone asked prayer for a family they knew... a guy had shot and killed his best friend while hunting. I can't imagine having to live with that grief for the rest of your life. I can't imagine how it would be for the family of the deceased, either.

Which brings to mind an (much happier) incident that happened at church last Sunday. Our pastor always has the kids come to the front of the church for a quick lesson before he starts the sermon and this morning he was talking about people dying and how when we have Jesus... About that time, a four year old boy spoke up, saying, “My Grandpa died. But he believed in Jesus and he's in Heaven and he's alive again!” It gave me such a glimpse into the faith of a little child that the Bible speaks of... I almost got tears in my eyes.

pictures... and odds and ends :-)

Babysitting. That's what I'm doing today. :-) It's a blessing to be able to do something that I love (watching and interacting with kids) while getting paid for it. ;-) Sometimes it's a little hairy because things can get a bit wild but we try to keep it under control. ;-) Today we built a high lego tower, using all of the legos. And we colored and painted pictures... went outside and played soccer (er... well, sort of) and swung on the swing. I'll have you know that I'm quite popular as an underdunker. Hehe! :-) Blesses my heart to no end... ;-) Hannah also made cookies.

Life has been pretty full for me lately. I've been reading... one book after another, as fast as I can get my hands on them. :-) Some of deeper, some are pretty light. I'm a great lover of good mysteries and I think Agatha Christie is among the better mystery authors. Any other fans out there? I recently read Nancy Rue's “Antonia's Choice”. It was a story that came to me just when I needed it... really blessed me and answered some questions I'd been asking. It's definitely not a story for anyone under eighteen... and for those very protected, you might want to wait until you're thirty-five. :-) ;-) But, regardless of the issues dealt with in this book, it was very good. I highly recommend it.

The family has been cutting firewood and bringing it in. Jesse said that he thinks we need another three or four cords more. We need in total about eleven, I believe. But it's been slow going for them because it rained for a few days (yeah, in October in Saskatchewan!) so the ground is pretty wet and mushy for hauling. But I think it's slowly drying out again and they're talking about going again soon.

Dad and the kids went hunting three times but didn't get anything. Jesse saw a couple of moose in range for a rifle but, alas, only had his bow. He is still kicking himself. LOL! I hope they do get a moose because it would sure help with the eating part of the winter. :-) Besides that, I know Jesse would feel especially pleased if they did. But God always provides in all ways. If He wants, we will. :-)

This coming week looks like it will be full of kids, music, reading and writing. And maybe a little picture taking. :-) Hopefully the sun will come out and warm up my toesies. Brrrr... and it's not even -40*. :-)

Contrary to popular belief, I am not complaining. :-) Or griping. Hehe. :-) :-)

Have a wonderful week!