Nana Renanalogies

Fight or Flight? Ever heard of it? Evolutionists would tell us it's what's kept the various and assorted species alive. A core tenet of the "survival of the fittest" theory. Of course, I don't have to tell you -- I can see it, but I believe our Creator put it in us, not happenstance. Its part of that whole set of "instinct" that we've all experienced at one time or another -- I believe "instinct" and "Mother's intuition" is just God or His angels, whispering in our ear -- warning us "RUN!" Clearly it is often vital to our physical survival. But I'm here to write about the spiritual. Where fight or flight is a completely different ball game. We've all experienced the urge to RUN, spiritually. Or, in some cases Drop and Play Dead. Spiritual battles are wearying at best and exhausting, painful, frightening at worst. The temptation to run is sometimes overpowering. But at what cost...? I've run. More than onc...

(Note from Pam: I don't know who Mary Crowe is, Google turned up nothing for me. And I don't know where I found this, but I scribbled it down in some notebook ages ago and ran across it today. It is beautifully and humbly written and I hope that it touches you like it touched me.) Good Morning, God!! Thank You for the night's rest and for this new day. Will You accompany me as I go on my way, thinking through my mind, speaking through my lips, living in my heart, guiding my feet in the paths You wish me to follow? Bless me with robust health and the physical strength to carry my share of the world's load. Give me a clear knowledge of what is right and the courage to stand steadfastly by my convictions. Make my will strong, but let my voice and my touch be gentle. Teach me to be patient and to be kind. Grant me the wisdom to guide only to their greatest good those to whom I offer counsel or care. Make me so scrupulously honest that the slightest trust will not ...

Okay -- sorry for the overly dramatic title. :-) It's not a 'secret'. I'm 'addicted' to Hatchlings . For the uninformed -- it's a fun little app on Facebook that lets you hunt for amazingly clever and artistically intriguing "Easter Eggs". Some of them hatch into pets, many don't. Over two million people play -- so I have lots of 'company'. Now to a lot of people it seems like a 'waste of time'. But, it's MY "preferred" waste of time. We ALL waste time at one time or another. How many hands of Solitaire or rounds of Tetris have you played while sitting on hold on the phone? .... waiting for your husband or kids to finish getting ready to walk out the door? .... waiting for the oven timer to let you know dinner is ready? Don't deny it. Your time wasting may not occur on the computer -- it may involve a remote control and a recliner or a telephone or some other device....maybe even just a pencil and a...

58 years ago today, an event occurred that always has and always will impact my life. My mother gave birth to my big sister , Regenia . Just shy of her 11 th birthday, she became just that -- My Big Sister. As the youngest of two, I don't have any childhood memories that don't involve her presence or influence. She was always the yardstick I tried to measure up to. Most of the time I failed miserably. She had smarts I couldn't touch academically. She knew way more people than I did, with a memory like an elephant. Artistic talents that I couldn't begin to copy. Amazing technical architectural skills. In other words, as older siblings go, she set the bar pretty darn high. There's an old saying, "Reach for the moon, even if you miss you'll land among the stars." or something to that affect. I guess even though I can't begin to attain any of her levels in any realm, I'm a much better person because I've tried so hard to emulate her. M...

Wow -- looking back at my last post, I realize how tumultuous the last few months have been. It seems every month a new battle breaks out. People push and pull - straining your patience, twist and corrupt your words and generally just feel free to verbally abuse you. Now, for those who don't know me, my mother would tell you that I will argue with a fence post. LOL I'm not quite THAT bad, but I will keep at the argument -- not necessarily to win it, but just to make sure you are not looking at it from just one angle. My primary goal is to get it across to my "opponent" that there are varying perspectives and rarely is there only ONE reality. My husband is fond of saying "Each person's perception IS their reality." That's fine. I get it. Just don't deny me the right to my OWN reality. We can agree to disagree. Anyhow, each one of these Battle Royales has gotten closer and closer to my heart. People I love and care about. And it hurts. ...

Today I was catching up on my Facebook friends and I noticed a quote Bro. Matt Maddix has saved on his page. "Never explain yourself. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe it." Wow. I must've heard that from my husband several hundred times over the last 30 years. (Okay, 29 years, 10 months and 21 days, but who's counting!) His version goes like this....usually following some subterfuge revealed or a direct and public personal attack.... "Honey, let it go. People who know and love you know you aren't like that. And it doesn't matter what people who don't love you think." **sigh** I 'know' in my heart he is right. What I don't know is WHY it hurts so bad? Is it maybe a particular device the enemy uses against me -- because I have a tender heart? I don't know. Typically I think of myself as a very strong, resilient and flexible person. While I don't think I've had all that much real Job-like suffe...

This story has come up several times in the last couple of weeks -- guess it just needs to be told. All things considered, my family was inordinately blessed during Hurricane Ike. We were all able to gather here at our house and we good- naturedly "hunkered down" and rode out the storm -- everyone "first-timers" in a hurricane except for me! -- like coastal natives. When daylight broke the morning after we quickly assessed our damage was VERY superficial -- some shingles gone off of the new tool shed and a few sections of wood fencing downed. Most of our immediate neighbors fared pretty well but a few had considerable damage. When we finally emerged from our neighborhood we saw the damage was catastrophic in places and right next door or across the street NOTHING. That is the fickleness of extreme weather. The unifying factor at THAT point was the absence of electricity! We'd finally lost power in the wee hours of Saturday, September 12 during 110 mph sustain...

For the last few years I've suggested to Mike that we buy all the kids a SonicCare toothbrush for Christmas. They're young adluts. They're busy. They may or may not have dental insurance and even if they do that doesn't mean they're maximizing that option. But they DO still brush daily, so a great tool like that would be well worth the investment! It just didn't register on his " great-gifts-they'll-enjoy-getting " meter so it didn't happen. Until this past year when I just made a co-executive decision and DID it!!And they DID love it! Now -- the big question is "Why didn't I buy one for US!!?!" We both take pretty good care of our teeth -- regular check-ups and maintenance for all the years we've been blessed with great dental insurance. I reached adulthood with no cavities -- despite only seeing a dentist once or twice as a kid -- but a less than "perfect" smile and minus a few teeth the Good Lord saw fit to ...

Jeff Steinsholt (26) is a very sick young man who has spent almost ALL of the last 8 months in the hospital. He is on dialysis, but his condition has been complicated by multiple infections, surgeries and procedures. Doctors repeatedly think they've figured out the problem, only to have things go awry again with the return of the unexplained nausea, vomiting, & weight-loss!! All they can do is scratch their head and run more tests. Needless to say, Jeff is very discouraged. If you or a loved one has ever had an extended hospital stay, you know how mentally and emotionally exhausting the days that drag on and on can be. He longs to be able to attend church and just go eat at Gringo’s, his favorite Mexican restaurant. His mother, Pat, -- a woman of amazing faith and determination -- is desperate for something grand to raise his spirits. We've all heard of drives to send cards to a sick child. Why can't we send them to a very sick man!!?! She would LOVE to see his room FI...

I don't remember where I first heard this saying, or else I would give proper credit -- but it's been a comfort to me for years. God answers EVERY prayer. Sometimes He says, "Yes." Sometimes He says, "No." And sometimes He says, "Wait." It's that last one that we struggle against the MOST. Like a child on Christmas morning, we can easily accept the "Yeses!" It puts a smile on our face and, hopefully, gives us reason to pause and give Him thanks and to testify of His goodness to others. We absolve ourselves from feeling greedy by reminding us that it is HIS WILL to bless His children. Conversely, we use that same logic to accept when His answer is "No." As mature adults, struggling to mature as Christians, we take a deep cleansing breath, straighten our posture and begin the process of accepting the realization that THIS TIME, we didn't get what we wanted. We remind ourselves that "all things work together for goo...

(I'm not actually, just needed a catchy title!) Remember the guy a few years back who (I THINK!) won a Super Bowl and when asked what he was going to do next, he replied, "I'm Going To Disney World" Well, I feel like that guy right now. 'Cept I need a week long NAP before I try it! LOL With the help of my darling children and some very, VERY precious friends, I pulled off the impossible today. We threw my husband a 50th birthday party and managed to COMPLETELY and TOTALLY surprise him. It was MY Super Bowl Victory!! To any and all who know Mike one little whit -- they know this was NOT an easy task. I have been more deceitful and duplicitous in the last two weeks than at any time since I was a sophomore skipping Coach Murray's Gym Class. (Of course, anyone who went to BHS knows Coach Murry never showed up for that class EITHER!) LOL To set the stage for those who DON'T have the pleasure of knowing Mike, this next bit will make him sound like a sus...

....try not to pay attention to how long it's been since I blogged. I've wanted to, TRULY, I think of really good things and then I forget them. Sort of like when you have a really vivid dream and go to tell someone about it and it just evaporates....? Hopefully it will get better. I've started text messaging myself with keywords and ideas....so maybe I can piece the tho'ts back together when I finally have a chance to sit down at the computer. This one came on quite suddenly a little while ago, so I'm gonna post it real quick like. You may have heard me say this before (I DO repeat myself and often, hence the need to blog about it and be done with it!) -- following my Weight Loss Surgery I learned that a lot of obesity issues aren't so much about your taste buds and appetite, but swim around in the gray matter gravy between your ears. Last night I happened to say to my pastor -- who's encountered his own weight loss in relation to correcting other physical...