A little break

Well, it's clearly been a few months since I last posted.  I got a little sidetracked while finishing up my new book, "Hand in Hand with God: Finding Your Path to Forgiveness."  Its hot off the press now and it feels a little odd writing about it on a blog bearing the title of my last book.  I'll work that out--stand by for a new blog.  I'll post the information here.  Thanks for checking in on me.

Warnings

     When parents tell their small children, "No, no! Don't touch the stove.  You'll get burned!"  it comes from their love and protective concern.  They are not saying, "Don't touch the stove because if you do I will punish you by burning you."  That's ridiculous and we never would assume otherwise.
     How strange that we judge the commands of God from a different point of view.  "...you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."  (Gen. 2:16).
     This was not the rash threat of an angry, hard-to-please God; this was the plea of a loving Father who knows what is best for us.  His warnings are to protect us, not to spoil our fun or look for reasons to be mad at us.
     No command of God is unkind or irrational--although, we sometimes judge them to be.  Each expressed command of God was carefully designed to be a blessing to our lives if we would but obey.

Psalm 33:5
The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.

Tip for the Day

          Do not schedule your passport renewal appointment right before your orthopedic appointment for a cortisone injection in your knee.
          This may be an irrelevant piece of advice for most or you, but for those to whom it applies, let me explain.  The proximity of the regional post office where I could renew my passport is a stone"s throw (so to speak--not that I throw stones) from my doctor.  Efficiency dictated that I make these appointments back to back.  (I habitually think shortest-route, best-organized-procedures).
          I pulled into to the post office parking lot to discover that whatever architect had laid out exterior plans had placed the parking lot approximately a half-marathon's length from the front door.  This may have been a San Diego idea to promote physical fitness with a vigorous walk, but if your fitness is already on the demise, it constitutes punishment.
          Then I discovered that having an appointment in no way guarantees that you will be seen at your scheduled time.  I know the federal government is not rolling in dough these days (in spite of my tax bill and the hefty fee they were charging me to renew my passport), but it seems a chair or two would have been a worthy investment, given their frequent and, probably predictable, delays.  Maybe having us stand is designed to give us the illusion that the wait will be a short one.  On the other hand, if standing on a concrete floor for a length of time produces any kind of discomfort, it has quite the opposite effect:  minutes seem like hours.
          I will spare you a description of the pain in my left knee..  Unfortunately, by the time I was in front of the camera for a photo for my passport, the closest I could come to a smile was an agonized grimace.
          The result was a picture in which I closely resembled an angry terrorist.  This is not going to be good when I next try to get through security at the airport.  I'm rethinking all trips abroad.

OUT OF CONTEXT

Ephesians 5:25-27
...Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  

In the context of this scripture these words are simply a backdrop illustration for the kind of love God intended for husbands to have for their wives. I have never heard this scripture used except in a lesson on marriage and that is certainly appropriate and the import of the text. But it is interesting that these words stand powerfully alone.  When taken out of context, they summarize the context of the entire Bible.

Cookies and Football

          During last week's playoff game, my grandson called his friend, Kevin, to come over and watch the Seahawks play the 49er's.  The conversation went like this:

Jason:  "Hey, ya wanna watch the game over here?"
Kevin:  "Maybe later.  I'm gonna do some stuff and take a shower first."
Jason:  "My mom's making cookies."
Kevin: "I'll be right there."

          Deja vu.  When my kids were young--especially in high school--they requested extra homemade cookies in their lunches because they needed to share with their friends.  This was not a ploy to gain popularity.  They all had adequate personalities to garner multiple friends.  It was just that those friends were hard to say "no' to. 

          I had grown to love having little personal identity apart from being somebody's mom when I was introduced or referred to.  I was genuinely proud to be their mom--in fact nothing else gave me as much fulfillment and pride.  But this was a new era--the era of the cookie-identity.  But it didn't so much define me as it did their friends.  They would introduce me to their friends like this:  "Mom. this is Bill.  He likes your walnut shortbread."  Or, "Mom. this is Susan.  Your chocolate chip cookies are her favorite."

          I don't want to brag, but it's my old recipe that had Kevin changing his priorities.

ADJUSTING

          We've been official San Diego residents for almost 3 months now.  We have our driver's licenses; we are registered to vote and we've done a change of address with all our subscriptions and creditors.  We have new bank accounts and new routines.  It's all good.  We know we made the right decision, but inevitably we miss "home."
          It takes a while for a new city to feel like home.  The things that I loved about where I came from just pop into my mind with a sweet sadness that tempts me to wonder if we made the right decision.  Top of the list, of course, are the people we left behind.  I can pick up the phone, but it's not like leaning in over a cup of coffee at Starbucks, confiding leisurely and intimately nose to nose.
          But it's time to focus on the things I love about my new city and new friends.  They are enough to ease the angst.  Even better is anticipating all the things I are going to grow to love that haven't even appeared or taken shape yet.
          Today it hit me that I can have suede shoes.  I love suede shoes, but they were an expensive luxury in Seattle.  The chances of getting caught in the rain or stepping in a puddle were constant--a sure death notice for suede shoes.  Since I've been in San Diego, I've purchased THREE pair of suede shoes!   I now own a black pair, a brown pair and the piece de resistance is a pair of Charger-blue open-toed wedges.
          I wore them for what turned out to be the Charger's last game in the playoffs.  My grandsons commented that I missed the whole effect because I should've had my toenails painted yellow--next year....
          In the meantime, my all-time favorite team is still a contender for the Superbowl and they play on this Sunday.  I've put away my Charger-blue suede  wedges (supremely cute, though they be) and this Sunday it will be all Seahawk blue and green.  And if it had happened that the Chargers had played the Seahawks?  It's Hawks all the way, baby!  Go hawks!!!
          I'm adjusting, but some things just take time!