JWalking: The Blog

I watch American Idol . It's true, and I'm not ashamed (most of the time). I do try to watch through healthy lenses, though. For me, the show is a singing competition. And when the producers decide to show singing, I'm thoroughly engaged. I have watched all seasons but the first, so I know what to expect most of the time. The judges' responses are rarely a surprise. They have added too many contestants this year, but that's just my opinion. Where the show falls apart is that someone has decided it needs to fit the mold of a traditional "reality" show. Carrying that character means the producers are forced to interject more "reality" than is truly necessary for a show that is a singing competition. Don't get me wrong: I like learning about the contestants. I like seeing where they are from, what they do, what their experience with music is (or isn't). I love seeing the unknown talent discovered. The unknown rendition of a song brought in

C hatty Kelly has an interesting forum going on at her blog today . "Does God Get Mad?" she asks. She continues forth to explain her perspective, drawing heavily from the Scriptures. I think some folks believe God is mad all the time--at them ! I think that's why they work so hard to try and please Him. These folks never have the feeling (or have read the supporting Scriptures) that God loves them above all else! It doesn't matter what we do--as we will never measure up to perfection--He still loves us. Now, quickly, so as not to be misunderstood, this doesn't mean that we can do anything we want and that God will be OK with it. God gave us freewill, but He didn't give us total freedom of rule. The Bible is our faithful boundary reminder reference guide. We can know from studying His Word what He requires of us--act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8), as a starting point. And when we don't follow His Word? Why should we think Go

Y ou'd think it Christmas or something! WOW!! What a Valentine's Day we had here! I thought it would be a simple celebration. I changed up our front-door Christmas wreath with a spangled heart from Michaels (before the Valentine's pricing went into effect). But, when the actual day came, we were flooded with cards to each other, and from family, and from classmates. (Mom, I now recognize your handiwork! Don't ever say you're not creative or anything like that..... See the Suzy's Zoo stamped card above.) There was quite a bit of chocolate and other candies, too. Hubby and I got a special wooden sculpture of a kissing couple to put together. And my sister surprised us with a copy of the gift she had made for our mom--a recipe book of special Mom recipes with some new additions from the rest of us daughters, complete with pictures of all of our Kitchen Aid mixers. (That's worth a post in itself, probably.) Then, as if that day's mail wasn't en

Yeah! Happy Birthday! ( This video repeats to the length of the music. )