JWalking: The Blog

O ver the weekend, Sonya at Truth 4 the Journey tagged me--and it's getting to be a long game of tag, here. Sonya and I started blogging within a few weeks of each other, though she is fresh off the 2008 She Speaks conference and has a bit more blogging knowledge under her belt than I do. Not to mention the fact that she is way wise in the ways of the faith and is generous in sharing with us how we can continue to grow and be like wise. O.K. Here are the rules of this tag: Link to the person who tagged you ( see above ) Post the rules on your blog ( this is what you are now reading ) Write 6 random things about yourself ( see below ) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them. (Well, I'm going to take a page from Chatty Kelly's blog and not tag everyone, necessarily. If you haven't played yet and you want to, copy the rules onto your site and go for it. If you don't, it's OK. And if you want to play but don't blog, write your 6 random things in th...

"It's not interpreted differently. It's viewed differently." --Don Sutton, Baseball Hall of Famer, on an umpire's view of the strike zone If you didn't read Part I, you might want to trek back a blog. T he Bible is not exempt from the interpretation/view discussion either. Believers vs. non-believers; believers vs. believers; denomination vs. denomination, etc. The viewpoints on the Bible are as varied as the people God has created. What's tricky about discussing the Bible is that even translation comes into question. What is really being said? If this is God's universal and absolute truth, is there any way we can all know what it is? What is God's strike zone?? False teachers and prophets were aplenty in the days after Jesus' resurrection. His disciples truly had their work laid out for them, and Jesus told them as much. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations... teaching them to observe all that I commanded you." --Matthe...

S ince moving to the Metro D.C. area--and that's a bit of a stretch being two hours away--I've become a big fan of the Washington Nationals. (That's baseball!) Former L.A. Dodger pitcher and Hall of Famer, Don Sutton, is one of the analysts announcing the games on MASN (the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network). He's probably the smartest commentator I have ever heard, except that he mixes up Nats pitcher Tim Redding with Braves pitcher Tim Hudson when the two teams compete. In one of the early games of this season, Sutton commented on the umpire's view of the strike zone. The behind-the-plate ump for the game seemed to be off in another zone, if you will. But, Sutton said he was being consistent, and that was OK. He further explained by saying the following: "It's (the strike zone) not interpreted differently. It's viewed differently." I'm thinking we sometimes interchange those words with a bit more freedom than we should. 'Interpretation' i...

D aughter #2 has major sleep issues. There is rarely a night that she can sleep through. Please don't send suggestions. It's a you-have-to-know-her issue. She will outgrow this stage in time (a relative term). So, it's one of those really bad nights when she cannot be settled back to sleep. She's up at 2 a.m., and I know she won't fall off again until 5! That's just how it goes on a really bad night. At least I know this so I'm mentally prepared, as much as one can be for 2 a.m. (I'm not a nursing mom anymore. The special post-midnight cognition hormones just aren't being produced.) I sleep on the floor in her room and try to "sh" her to sleep. Her sound machine (minus Miami Gloria and all the conga drums) is playing "rain," which is the nicest monotony over "white noise." She kicks and thrashes. I tell her, "You're OK." She tries to sleep, then starts talking about Blue's Clues. As pleased as I am tha...

W hat if God had meant for appliances, gadgets and household fixtures to have everlasting life on earth? We might not need any electricity or batteries, although everyone needs a re-charging now and again. (Can you imagine the Spa for Weary Appliances? Spin classes for washers and dryers. Toasters roasting in a tanning bed--#4, medium brown, please. Stove top massages. They don't even have a holiday , you know!) Everything would heat, cool, clean, light up, sound off and otherwise function according to expectations, right? But, that would imply that such items were without sin. Alas, even if God had planned for our appliances to have everlasting life, failure would still come into play sometime, figuring God made appliances a little lower than man and definitely lower than the angels. (The Bible also doesn't say that when Eve needed a helper(s!), that He crafted a dishwasher from her rib.) I'm non-electrically shocked at how the lifespan of appliances is on the decline....

S ince I only believe in a Godly coincidence, perhaps I should not have been surprised when my friend's blog about changing churches came out the same week as my pastor's letter announcing that he was changing churches. I have not yet experienced a pastor's leaving that I have enjoyed. I was a few months into my return to the church when the pastor left. An invaluable interim pastor that I helped bring on board was let go too soon. And then, there was the pastor who really focused me on my place in ministry, the one for whom I gave a speech at his "early retirement" party.... I would later learn he committed a trespass that would have led to his ouster from the ministry. Not an enjoyable time! I've been in few churches, but I have known some fine pastors. My current pastor is no exception. He's spent 20 years at my church, overseeing its growth from a congregation of less than 100 to one now some 1,000 in number. He is a gifted educator. A teaching pastor...

I have absolutely no confidence in my relationship with automobiles right now. Rattle-rattle thunder clatter BOOM-BOOM-BOOM...the Midas touch...Double A-(Beep-Beep)-M-C-O might as well all be plugged into my GPS. My car--my dark blue Volvo station wagon--has been in the shop for almost a week. In my last trip to the dealer (see blog ), the mechanics finally found the leak in the radiator that my husband suspected was there a year ago. "So, what's the next step?" I asked my dealer service guy. "Well, you need a new radiator," he said. Now, without much warranty left on the car, it was time to search out newer (i.e., better, less expensive, not the dealer) mechanics to take care of the job (and maybe reset my car's computer with the "Check Brake Light" warning message). I called a place that had serviced the car in the past, and they said they could take it. Would I mind bringing it by to make sure they got the right radiator? ( Good move ) I gave t...

A t the close of our church’s Vacation Bible School, I realized just how easy it can be to put God’s Word into practice. Yeah—easy, I said, given the proper preparation. We had been inundated with repetition of “Bible points" and “treasure verses.” We heard the same things in the worship time, the songs we sang, the descriptions of the “Bible Buddies” characters (who have the verses on them), the games we played, the stories we saw enacted, the videos we watched, and—yes—even the snack we ate (cheese and crackers arranged in the shape of a cross, for instance). And, there was repetition of prior lessons discussed the next day! The kids said the points out loud in all their stations. How could they not get the points?! Plus, they had quite a bit of fun learning the Bible. So, grown-ups, what’s our issue? I read Barrack Obama’s comment from a few weeks ago. “People are just not reading the Bible,” he said. Not to get into the James Dobson/Obama controversy, but Obama’s quote ...

" O ne berry Two berry Pick me a blueberry...." So starts Bruce Degen's delightful rhyming children's story, Jamberry . Both of my girls love the journey of a boy and a bear picking various kinds of berries for a "jam jamboree." Daughter #2 even enjoys the end of the book, hearing of Degen's personal account of picking berries with his grandparents, and making pies and jams, and eating fresh washed berries. My Ohio sister and her three children started us on an annual pilgrimage for blueberries. When Daughter #1 was very young--one or two--we picked with their family out there. She loved it! Spent most of her time picking the berries and popping them into her mouth! Now, because of the timing of our larger family reunion vacation at the beach, my sister's family misses going picking at their local farm. So, they have moved the tradition to Virginia. Whoever stays with us after the beach can enjoy--given a proper growing season--some very fine berry p...

B eing without a clothes dryer for a few days--and then working with a brand new one--gave me a startlingly new appreciation for the "workers" in my home. So, I'm proposing a new national holiday--because, goodness knows, we don't have enough of these made-up ones already. ( Drum roll, please ) National Appliance Appreciation Day ( Cymbal crash ) Why not?!? Do you ever stop to think about how many appliances we use in a day? Big ones. Little ones. Medium ones. Girly ones. Manly ones. Kiddos. Want to fill up your mind with useless stuffing? Make a list with me. Alarm clock Electric toothbrush Electric razor Hair dryer Curling, flat or other iron Fridge or freezer Toaster or toaster oven Microwave or full-blown oven Range, griddle, waffle iron Coffee maker, Hot-Shot, juicer Dishwasher, disposal, compactor Under-the-cabinet radio, TV, CD, DVD Computer Dustbuster or Robo-Vac And that's all before 8 a.m., probably. What do we give to these tireless personal assistants...

“ W hat’s that?” “My blog.” “My blog?” “Yeah…. I like it.” “Really? My blog…. Well, I’ve heard of it. It’s a nice presentation, but…. You don’t seem to be enjoying it much.” “Nah. You know, it’s funny but, lately, it’s actually been rather stale.” “Stale?!” ( Coughing ) “Sometimes it can be a little dry, and I like it that way, but….” “Toasted?” “Um… No, just dry. But it usually has a lot of fresh meat and tons of flavor. If anything, it goes overboard on the condiments. Some folks get lost in the condiments.” “Like too much spicy mustard?” “Spicy? No, my blog is rarely spicy.” “Pickles?” “Um…Sometimes my blog releases some well-preserved, vacuum-packed zinginess, but….” “Mayo? Ketchup? Salsa??” ( Sigh ) “It’s stale, like someone took it out of the fridge and left it on the hot sand for a week or more. The meat still lingers of smokiness, which I don’t like. It’s got this strange essence to it, like someone added too much sea salt. Yeah, it looks good. Nice brown color. But, it’s total...