sheya joie

That was one of the first things I saw when I got online this evening. Jack Klugman was in a whole lot of my favorite shows from when I was a kid, especially his four times on Twilight Zone. Sad to read that he's gone.

For my part, through 7 babies, it happened that I never used bottles at all, and never had a changing table. (I changed them on my own bed, with a very large waterproof mat under the baby.)

And acrophobic Sheya says: No. Just... no.

I can remember as a child lying in bed one night trying to reconcile in my mind what my parents had taught me about Santa (that he was real) with what they had taught me about Jesus (also real). I just could not believe that both could be real, and found it very confusing. I didn't want my kids to go through that, so I didn't teach them that Santa was real, only Jesus.

Rope.

<-- Holiday drop-out.

I've been seeing SECEDE Texas flag bumper stickers down here for years. It's not exactly a new thing.

Well, for my part, when I read the OP, it sounded like something they do on the tv show Supernatural, which has extremely dubious theology to say the least.

Come to think of it, one thing in particular that I missed him doing for me was that he did all my grocery shopping for me. I had to learn how to shop for food all over again after my husband passed away. He knew all the stores and which place had the best prices on various items.

Well........ He had all these cheesy jokes, such as if one of the kids said, "I'm hungry," he would respond, "Hello, hungry, I'm Dad." And I still do that one! The kids all are so tired of hearing it. He wanted lots of kids (so did I) and when our 7th was born, he held her in his arms and said how she was the cherry on top, and if the Lord didn't bless us with any more kids, he would be content. Well, she was our last, and he died in his sleep of a heart attack right after she turned two. How he died is quite a story. As I said, he had a heart attack in his sleep. About three hours before I went to wake him up and found I couldn't, I had overheard him saying, "Hallelujah! Praise you, Father!" and he was swinging his arm the way he would do when he was really into worship at church. So when I later tried to wake him and found that he was gone, I remembered what I'd heard and realized he was halfway home to Heaven and rejoicing before the throne, and I hadn't figured it out.

Holiday drop-out here.

Ten years widowed, and I can tell you that I miss every little thing about him. Just last week I dreamed two nights in a row that he was back. What can I say? He was a great guy, and he loved the Lord. Fantastic combination.

An essay to consider: the path through the valley One day about six months after my husband died, I was bathing my youngest daughter (she was 2 then), when she pointed at the mirror in the bathroom and asked me to read it. The mirror had been my husband's. It has King David's beautiful 23rd Psalm printed on it. Whenever my husband used to give our little girl a bath, he would read it to her. So that day when she asked me to, I read it through to her. And then she asked me to read it again. It was on that second read-through that I saw something. And it amazed me, because I have known the 23rd Psalm most of my life. I memorized it for a prize back when I was in kindergarten - lo, these many years ago. But this time, as I read it, I noticed something that really struck me. For the first time, I saw that verse 3, which says, 'HE leads me in the paths of righteousness for HIS name's sake' - leads immediately into verse 4, which says, 'yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...' And I got to wondering - if I am being led by the LORD my Shepherd in the paths of righteousness - then how did I suddenly wind up in the valley of the shadow of death? Unless... ...the LORD led me here? Now, there are some people who have told me at this point, when I am relating this story, that for someone to be in the valley of the shadow of death means that they have strayed off the path of righteousness, straying away from the LORD. But I don't think that's necessarily so. Look at the rest of verse 4: 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for THOU art with me; THY rod and THY staff they comfort me.' If someone was really straying from the LORD, could they say that? Could they fear no evil if they were straying? And then David plainly states that the LORD his Shepherd is with him. He's not straying; he's right where the Shepherd wants him to be. He's being safely led, even in the darkness of the valley. We are being safely led, even through the darkest valleys. The Shepherd is leading us. The dark valley - IS the path of righteousness. And I think of this passage, also in the Psalms: Psalms 66:10-12 KJV 10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. 11 Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. 12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. Why would the LORD do this to HIS people? Silver is tried by putting it into the fire, to melt away all the dross and impurities - all the scum. HE puts us in the fire? HE brings us into a net? Lays affliction on us? Even causes men to ride over our heads? (Riding on war horses, is how I picture that.) But why? Why would HE do such things to HIS people - to the ones HE loves? HE does these things because it is by taking us through the fire and through the water - it is by melting the gunk out of us, and by taking us through deep waters up to our necks and even deeper - it is by bringing us through such things, that the LORD can then bring us out into the wealthy place. In other words, sometimes the only way for us to get to the good place, the wonderful gracious place the LORD our Shepherd wants to bring us to - is by us first going through the hard and the fiery and the killing places - till we have died to Self and can truly live for HIM. For HIM and to HIM. And in HIM. Where HE leads - there follow. Though the darkness be so complete you can see only the faint glow of HIS footprints leading away into the blackness - follow. The place of richness in HIM is ahead, through the fire and the water. As HE leads.

*cringe* While I'm definitely partial to KJV, I think Romans 14 applies here. Arguing over this is not likely to convince anyone of the other's point of view, but is more likely to simply harden those on each side of the question in the opinion they already hold. If one really wants to persuade others to accept (or even consider) the opinion one holds, one needs to reason with them, not quarrel with them.

I like good ol' King Jimmie, and love the sound of the early modern English, but I also like NKJV for the kids' sakes. And E-sword is great, because you can download so very many translations!

Wow! So it works using interference patterns?

Or maybe the Doctor gave the neutrinos a lift aboard the TARDIS, just to freak people out...

Oh, is it because it's on top? When I put an egg in, I break the egg first and scramble it a little, then put the noodle block on top, add the water and packet stuff, and into the microwave with it. So my egg winds up on the bottom -- out of sight, so don't freak out, ok?

Really? When I make myself ramens, and it's not that often that I do, I like to put an egg in.

I've also seen it spelled snerk...

They are still making Doctor Who - they're on the eleventh Doctor now, played by Matt Smith.

I've heard they may be redoing Wild Wild West as a series. Oy! Did they learn nothing from the travesty that was the 1999 movie??? My daughter, however, thinks Misha Collins could play Artie - and that Warwick Davis would be a good Dr Loveless.

I cannot drink because the smell makes me queasy.

John Jesus Isaac Ishmael Josiah Solomon Samson?

I can remember when my kiddos were small (and my youngest is still only 11), we would go out to a restaurant to eat and I would be dealing with the toddler in the high chair and so forth, and the kids would be kinda noisy but sitting at the table - not running about, you know. And people would come over and smile at us and say what good kids we had. And I would look around and think, You talking about these kids? One thing we always taught the kids was that once Mom or Dad said, 'No' - that was it - 'No' would not change. And that pitching a fit or whining or wheedling to get their way would always get them an immediate 'No.'