Socialism in Henderson County?

Really? Socialism! Here is the cradle of the south? Well, for sure, they are trying! I got a letter from my trash provider about our service. Henderson County is going to start fining trash pick up companies if they don't separate the things that can be recycled from the trash(per state mandate). The county board of commissioners(or whatever they are called) has also started pondering the idea of assigning certain companies to certain part of the county. So, let's address the first.
Recycling is a choice and now we are being forced to do it. I believe in taking care of God's creation and we do but does forcing someone to care about the earth really amount to them caring? NO!!!!!! You can't make someone care. If we have the option to murder our unborn babies, then we should have the option to set aside our plastic jugs or metal cans. However, in the era of big gubment, we are going to be forced to do it. My trash provider has asked that we separate our plastic, paper, and cans into different blue trash bags and put them on the road beside the trash cans. They will send a truck through on our pick up day to get the trash and then send another one to get the recycling. How does using the extra gas save the earth? Isn't the "carbon footprint" of my company increasing as they use more gas? I think so!
Now to the issue that really gets my goat. The county wants to assign trash pick up companies to different sections of the county. So if you are in the NW quadrant then you will use ABC Trash Guys(totally made up name). Now, ABC may charge whatever they want to provide this service to us. How does that allow me choice in my budget? We are on a tight budget due to my husband being laid off and we have the cheapest pick up service that we could find. The service from them is as good as the service that we received , if not better(we have forgotten to put out trash and they have come into the driveway to get it). This is pure socialism!!!! We will force you to use ABC because you live in NW quadrant and you have no competition to keep the prices from going up especially if they continue to have to send out 2 trucks to pick up from 1 customer.
I say stop it North Carolina!!!!! This is ridiculous! Consider this a promise, I will seek to make sure you don't get elected again. This is silly policy! As for the Board of Commissioners, consider this warning, you are now on my radar and I will seek to make sure you don't get reelected if you pass this measure assigning trash companies to certain parts of the county! It will become my personal mission!

Now that you aren't laughing

More tips for you! I may have stolen some that you commented to me so ha! That'll learn you not to send something that isn't copyrighted!
Tip #6 Swiffer your walls. If you have a Swiffer sweeper, put on a cloth and dust your walls. If your home is old, you know the dust problems and it does settle on the walls. I can reach all the way to my ceiling with the sweeper/mop thingy and I was surprised at how dirty it was.
Tip #7 After washing/drying your sheets, fold everything except 1 matching pillow case and stuff all the sheets and the other pillow case into it. This will keep your sheets or more likely your pillow cases from getting lost in the abyss that is your linen closet. You just pull out the pillow case and make the bed. Now, if I just had someone to make the bed.
Tip #8 Keep a box next to the dressers in your child or children's rooms. As you pick out an outfit, if you find something that is too little, then drop it into the box. When the box fills up, label it with size and season and either keep it for the next child or give them to your local charity. I have found that diaper boxes work well. What to do when we run out, hmmmmm?
Tip #9 Club soda. I stole this from a friend who read it in a book(thanks, JJE). It is, hands down, the best window cleaner I have ever used. It never streaks and it is chemical free. A bottle will go a long way and you can also put it over ice with a lime and drink it!
Tip #10 (This one is borrowed). Get a dog! When your child drops food on the floor, you have an automatic cleaner upper and the dog gets fed at the same time! However, I am not ready for anymore poop to clean up. I am already wiping too many bums around here!
I hope that you have enjoyed the tips from a mom who isn't the cleanest but who is efficient, if a little lazy!

No laughing......

I guess since I am a "mommy" blog, I should write some kind of useful tip or advice post. That is what other blogs do. Since I strive to be like everyone else, here goes: I am going to give you some tips on keeping your house clean and organized.
I think that I heard some of you laughing out there. Quit it!!!! I can offer some great ideas. Just cause my house looks like a train wreck or F5 tornado wreaked havoc doesn't mean that I don't try.
Tip #1: Keep stuff in baskets and when company shows up, place the baskets in a bedroom and shut the door. Be careful not to include the remote in there or you are likely to never find it!
Tip #2: Force your kids into slave labor by making them do chores like loading and unloading the dishwasher, putting away laundry and groceries. I learned this from my mother. She used to say that this was the reason she had kids. Hee Hee! They are also good for emptying trash and organizing the recycling items. My oldest can sort laundry and put it in the washer, where it sometimes stays until I say what is that smell? Just wait, kiddos, in a few years, I'll be home free. No mopping, sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, lawn mowing, etc. OOOOO, I better wake up! Daydreaming is detrimental to the health of this post.
Tip #3: Keep a lonely sock box. I have one that is full of socks. It was started by my mother-in-law and husband while I was in the hospital(2 years ago). Some of the same socks are still in there. I guess I am an eternal optimist. I am hoping they might show up eventually.
Tip #4: Pin Swiffer cloths to the belly and knees of your crawler and let him/her "sweep" the floors for you. My kids seem to get into spaces that even my most limber broom can't access.
Tip #5: Use baby wipes from the diaper bag to wipe the dashboard of your vehicle. We are environmentally aware around here and therefore wouldn't dare waste the water to wash any of cars. How dare we be so disrespectful to Mother Nature? So, while I am sitting in line at preschool, I wipe down everything with a wipe. Hey, if it can clean AJay's bottom, then it is industrial strength in nature and can surely wipe the dust and germs of the radio knobs and gear shift.
Tips #6-10 are coming tomorrow! Stay tuned........

Grief

I wrote this for a speech I did on the stages of grief that many women feel at the loss of a baby due to miscarriage, abortion, or stillbirth, but this can also apply to any experiencing grief for any reason: death of a spouse, death of a marriage, loss of a parent.
First, women in both situations are told to move on and get over it or to never talk about it all. They feel like that aren’t supposed to show emotion over a baby that “never was”. That common misconception, even among Christians, shows where we have succumbed to the world’s way of thinking. For women who have had abortions, they are told that the baby they carry isn’t a baby but a blob of tissue. For women who miscarry, they are often told well be grateful that you weren’t any farther along or at least the baby wasn’t born. The worldly view of life is that it begins when the woman decides that it begins. So it really wasn’t a life at all. But from the moment of conception, a soul entered that body as God has planned for every body whether 100 years old or 1 day old in the womb. Psalm 139
13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.
17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
God, I'll never comprehend them!
You have a right to mourn. That baby was your baby, created especially for you. No one else! If you haven’t mourned properly, then do so. Mourning is allowed in the Bible. Jesus wept! David mourned the illness and death of his & Bathsheeba’s son. Do not stay in denial for that will hold you prisoner. Those are chains that aren’t supposed to keep you locked up!
Second, there is the issue of pain and guilt. These are burdensome loads that you shouldn’t carry. Pain over what you have done or what happened to you and your baby. Pain over why God would allow such a thing. Pain over the choice you made. I cried in the recovery room after my abortion. The pain was a very real thing for me. I knew what I had done. When I was told that I was miscarrying my pregnancy and that there was nothing I could do to save the baby( I was only 6 weeks along), I felt such gut wrenching grief and pain. But feeling that pain and that grief is healthy. God gave us our emotions and that includes sadness and sorrow. Guilt is a feeling that doesn’t come from God but it is an attempt by our Enemy to mock God. Guilt can lead to all sorts of bad things like bitterness and shame. We weren’t meant to feel these things! Women who have had abortions feel guilt over the choice that they made or the fact that their baby is gone. Women who have miscarried feel guilt, too. I have heard women say if I had only done something differently or if I had gotten to the doctor sooner or that they cannot carry a child for very long and thus something must be wrong with them. All of these are lies set forth by our enemy who seeking to steal, kill, and destroy! Do not believe him. He has no power over you. Rid yourself of that condemnation! It is not healthy!
According to Matthew 27:5-8, guilt so consumed Judas the betrayer that he committed suicide.
Pain is laced through the Psalms and from Jeremiah. But they knew the source of their healer! They went straight to God instead of bottling it up.
1Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. 2Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Psalm 28
1Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! Jeremiah 9
Third, anger and bargaining. Anger is one of those toxic emotions. The Bible states that we should never let the sun go down on our anger! No more than 1 day of being angry. Some of us hold onto our anger for years. Imagine how being exposed to that poison can affect every aspect of our lives. Anger leads to bitterness and darkness. It allows Satan to get a foothold and wreak havoc.
Women who have had abortions can have anger at her parents, the father of the baby, the abortion doctors, the world for allowing these procedures and at herself. If these things aren’t ironed out and given to God then they lead to depression & loneliness
Women who have miscarried may be angry at God, their doctors, or themselves. These can also lead to the same things.
We can also bargain with God to save our babies. I know that I did it several times. God if you save this baby then I will ______________. You fill in the blank. Hezekiah bargained with God for his life in 2 Kings 20
1In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. 2Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, 3I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
The next thing that women who have lost a pregnancy suffer is depression, reflection, and loneliness. We often feel isolated because no one speaks of their own personal grief and loss. That is why I am speaking. You are not alone. God is with you and I understand about these things. 50 million babies have been aborted since 1973. Countless babies have been lost due to miscarriages and both are increasing. For every baby, there is a woman who carried that child. YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!!!! Jesus spent 40 days in the desert alone. He knew loneliness. Almost every prophet experienced loneliness. Do not let Satan isolate you from those who love you and that includes God! Several people in the Bible experience depression. King David did because of his sin with Bathsheeba and the death of his son. Job experienced depression in the aftermath of Satan’s testing. Elijah felt depressed in 1 Kings 20. Jeremiah also was depressed at the message of destruction he was instructed to deliver to the people of Israel. Depression takes your eyes off of God and puts them onto you. We call that “ingrown eyeballs” in our Bible study. Like an ingrown hair or nail, it is painful. Depression can lead to death faster than just about any other thing.
And yet somehow, we can begin the upward turn. We see the sun light. No longer do we let these things consume us and all of our thoughts and time. We have turned the corner. Sometimes this comes quickly and for others like me, it takes years. Some people never feel the upward turn. Joseph’s turn was when God interpreted pharaoh’s dream and he was promoted to overseer and 2nd in command to the king of Egypt. After many years of trials, his life finally began to change. When does your turn begin? When will things look up for you? When you give all the other things to God? He wants to clean up your vessel so that it can be used to reflect His glory. How do you do that? Quit beating yourself up all the time. God does not want you to do that. Ask Him to take the self-condemnation away and to bring the healing you need! Don’t mistake what I say, you cannot forgive yourself. Only God can do that and if you are a Christian, He has already done it. Just ask! James 4:2 says “you have not because you ask not.”
Step out into the light. For many of you, just speaking of it for the first time will be stepping into the light. Admitting that you have felt these emotions and felt guilty for feeling them is a step to recovery. Jesus says that He is the light of the world. Let Him light up your world!
Then we move on to reconstruction and working through the issues. Some of you have spent many years destroying the temple. Some of you face infertility or marriage problems due to your individual situation. Begin to work on those things. If you have had an abortion, our recovery group is a good place to start. I have also led a group for women who miscarry. Talk to someone who will be willing to listen to you and validate your emotions. I would be glad to do that. There are many great women whom I know would come alongside you. Talk to your pastor, get counseling for your marriage. Whatever God leads your heart to! Choose someone who will speak life into you and who has the same values that you do.
Finally we arrive at acceptance and hope. Accept what has happened to you! Not accepting it won’t change things. The only thing that it accomplishes is keeping you tethered down to your grief and keeping your focus off of God and His great plan for you according to Jeremiah 29:11. He wants to give you a hope and a future. Hope is a great thing because it doesn’t disappoint. Jesus is the only hope that we need. He will carry us along and when we are strong enough to stand on our own 2 feet, He will walk beside us to guide us and use us to further His kingdom! The disciples were in despair at the death of Jesus. When they found their hope, they changed the world. Are you ready to change the world? In whom does your strength lie? God or yourself? You may only change the world one person at a time but when you get to Heaven, you will hear well done, Good and Faithful servant.
I want to leave you with a verse that has been speaking to me lately. I often wonder why I have had to endure such painful things in my life. According to 2 Corinthians 1
3-5All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too. 6-7When we suffer for Jesus, it works out for your healing and salvation. If we are treated well, given a helping hand and encouraging word, that also works to your benefit, spurring you on, face forward, unflinching. Your hard times are also our hard times. When we see that you're just as willing to endure the hard times as to enjoy the good times, we know you're going to make it, no doubt about it.

What comfort have you received that you can pass on to someone else?

Isaiah 55

There is a new purse store here in town and I have been avoiding it like the plague. I love purses, handbags, wallets, pocketbooks whatever you call them. They are a desire of mine that I don't often get to partake in. I am not going in there because I know that I'll spend too much money. I do drive by and gaze in the window and dream. Next to shoes, I love purses!!!!! After reading Isaiah 55, I began to think about my love of purses. This passage talks about coming to the Lord for all the He can supply. But, one verse caught my attention: verse 2
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Why do we spend money and time on things that aren't the Real thing? I liken it to buying a purse that looks like a Coach but when you really look at the label it says Couch. After a few months, it falls apart and maybe the pleather fades. Why did I purchase something that is not the brand name when I could have gotten the actual for free? I do that all the time!!! I spend my time on things that don't bring me closer to God or reflect glory on Him. I give my energy to things that just seek to drain it and fade and break down with time. But, God is free!! His salvation is free!! There is no substitute! We try to be good but we can't be God. The things of the world and even ourselves are fakes in comparison. I want to seek to delight in the richest of fare. I want to spend all my resources on the one thing that will not fade or wear thin or become outdated. Help me, God, not to accept any substitutes!

Just a thought.....

Our president, so great and mighty, just 11 days after his inauguration was nominated and eventually awarded the Nobel Peace prize. What????? In 11 days, what had he done? Made promises? Let's see, we are 8 months into BHO's term and what has he done? Nothing, except break promises that he made to the people who elected him. He has a senate and house majority and he can get very little through. He has made Afghanistan worse according to the generals and aided his predecessor in destabilizing our dollar. He has, however, put into place a framework that will fundamentally change the USA. If, God forbid, something tragic happened, he could step in and seize power in a Chavez/Castro sort of way. He has brought unrest to our citizens who are now waking up and saying that we are not going to let you ruin our kids' futures. The war protesters would have a 100 and the media would make a big deal over it. Hundreds of thousands gather on 9/12 and it barely registers to the major news networks. He has put czars into place that are only accountable to him and not to the American people. Crazy people who believe that we should put sterilants into our water supply so that we can have population control! Where is the peace in that?
This award, like the previous 2, was given to be an anti-Bush statement, a last slap in the face of Bush. Al Gore(along with a committee) was awarded the prize in 2007 for his work on global warming, which is a working theory. Theories in our society are often regarded as fact i.e. evolution. Last year, it was given to Ahtisaari for his work on international treaties but some feel it was because he opposed Bush on the no weapons of mass destruction thing. This award is not really given to people who deserve it like Irena Sendler who literally saved 2500 Jewish children from being annihilated by the Nazis in WWII Poland by smuggling them out of the country in her truck or in coffins. She lost to Al Gore. Good job, panel! You picked the correct person. Remind me not to ask you for your judgment on important issues like whether I should wear black or brown shoes. I am not sure you could even get that one correct. Get your heads out of Barack's bum! He will throw you under the bus the minute he gets a chance.
So, Barack Hussein Obama, what are you going to do with this award? Nothing? Use it to propel your agenda to save the earth and screw America? That would be my best guess! BTW, good job on that Olympic thing. I see flying to airplanes to Europe and standing on the podium really worked out for you. You got something on your cheek....no, the other one. Yes, right there! You wiped the egg off yours and Oprah's faces yet?

The Sponge

I was cleaning my window sills the other day to get them ready to paint. I was using a kitchen scrubber that has a green scouring pad on one side and a yellow soft sponge on the other. My house was built in the late 60s and I don’t think the windows have been cleaned since they were installed. As I began to scrub with the harsher side to get the really crummy stuff off, I thought about how life is like this. If we live a long time with letting Christ clean us up, then sometimes God has to use His green scrubby thing to get all the junk off of our spirits and souls. There is mold and caked on dirt. Sometimes, the paint is peeling and must be scraped off. We have so dirtied our lives and are so disobedient that God must use harsher things to get our attention and make us clean. However, once the stuff that has been embedded have been brought to the surface, God turns the sponge over and uses the softer side to gently take away the dirt and make things sparkle. Like my window sills, I used the softer side of the sponge and wiped away the dirt that I had scrubbed up. I rinsed the sponge and used it to polish the sills. That is what God is doing. He uses His gentle Word to wipe off the residual dirt and make us clean and ready for Him to begin painting on our bare canvas. God’s masterpiece is more beautiful than the old dirt, mold, and flaky paint! What is God painting on your soul? Are you dipping your spirit & soul back into the dirty water thus messing up His artwork? Let the God of the universe make you clean!

The door shuts behind her with an echo and she turns to face what she knows will be an unpleasant experience, to say the least. She is led down a hallway that seems to go on forever. The smell is powerful: antiseptic, body fluids, and fear. She wants to turn back and run out the door but they won’t let her and so, she must continue. They place her in a chair and then leave her. She begins to take notice of her surroundings. Plastic covers everything and there is an instrument tray just in front of her with all sorts of torture devices. Her chest heaves with rapid, heavy breaths, in, out, in out. She is beginning to feel the same fear that she smelled in the air.
She waits what seems like hours but is essentially only minutes. The chair, also covered in plastic, in which she is resting is put into a reclining position, though she doesn’t think that she’ll get much rest. Suddenly, a face comes into her line of sight. She can see a mask covering most of the face and safety glasses covering the eyes. She looks prepared for battle. She is wearing a paper/plastic cloak over her clothes so as not to ruin her outfit. The masked woman shoves something into the mouth of her victim to keep the mouth open. The woman in the chair thinks she can hold out through anything except mouth issues. She may talk before this is over. But, she strengthens her resolve to hold out as long as possible. She notices a light over her head. It is encased in a plastic covering and is intensely bright. The masked woman nods to someone out of view and moves to the other side of the chair. Another masked face appears and says that he will fix this and they will get what they need. He has the same things on his face that the other woman does and a cap covering his hair. There are no distinguishing features with which the woman can identify him. He is covered from head to toe for his safety. He, then, picks up one of the instruments and shoves a wedge between her front teeth. That was unpleasant for her so far but not unbearable. Maybe she can do this! Then, the mini Dremel starts up. The noise alone strikes fear into her heart. He goes in and begins to grind her teeth. She’ll talk, she’ll talk! He says for her to wait until he is finished. Now, he brings a thing with a hook on it. She can stand it no more and succumbs to the fear and passes out. He’ll get nothing from her now. When she wakes up, she wonders if she has talked in her sleep. They escort her out saying that they got everything they needed. What has she done?
As she is going out the front, she can’t believe that they are actually letting her leave. Scot free! Then, she hears the 8 worst words of torture that anyone can hear, “Mrs. Edgerton, don’t forget to pay your bill.” AAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!