What happened to Respect?

It all comes down to respect. In order for a team to function at it’s best, players must show respect for their team mates. I have heard some say “I’m not going to show them respect until they show me they deserve it”. What is that all about. Imagine if everyone had that idea, then no one would ever get along. I say respect should be shown to everyone until such a time as they show they do not deserve it. If everyone started simply showing respect to all they meet, what a wonderful world we could have. Kid’s especially are no longer taught to respect others, and they don’t have a lot of roll models. Here while back there was a Doritos commercial that really upset me. The kid ended up hitting a guy in the head and then just shrugged his shoulders like, “so what?”. It was a perfect example of how sad kids have become. Even in lieu of genuine respect, good manners dictates we should be nicer to each other. What ever happened to manners? Maybe it’s a southern thing, I can’t help but say please, thank-you, yes ma’am, no ma’am, yes sir, no sir, etc. I don’t even think about it. It bothers me when someone shows good manners and the person they are talking to ask them to quit. Especially when they discourage children from exhibiting good manners. We get so caught up in the big issues that we forget the everyday things; the things that truly impact how society functions. Things such as respect and manners.

Evolution vs. Creation

I think it went like this… God creates the universe, it takes time and during the creation doesn’t pay any particular attention to any particular place. Eventually He begins His work on our planet, but by then a lot of natural occurrences had appeared.. hence evolution.
God created man in His image on day 6 and told him to go forth and REPLENISH the earth. Gen. 1:27-28 In order to replenish, something has to have been here before. Could both sides be right?
Ever notice how Genesis says “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:”. Ever wonder who the “us” is? Also all the living things were made “after their kind”. That in itself opens the door for all kinds of things to have been living here before. I have no trouble believing there were strange things creeping and crawling on the planet; I also have no trouble believing God came in and improved the situation.

Thanksgiving

Since my car is down, others have been picking up things for me. On Monday a neighbor went to town with a big list of mine but forgot the cranberry sauce. I was just so happy she did this for me I wasn’t about to bring it up, but the next morning she called. She had laid down that night and was going over the list in her head and realized what she had forgotten. She reminded me of another neighbor who goes in on Tuesdays so I called her and she agreed to pick up the sauce. She calls later and it’s the wrong sauce, I was wanting the whole berry. She went back to town today and finally I have my sauce. It was the biggest thing to happen around here in a while. I sure am glad neighbor #1 remembered about neighbor #2. As I have said before, this is the best hood.
Thanksgiving was as perfect as it could be. The in-law’s sent food and when I opened the bags I had to laugh. There was a can of whole berry cranberry sauce. Too cool. My car may also be fixed and if it is it’s one of those happy and sad things. Happy its OK but sad because it was so simple and I feel so dumb for not figuring it out sooner. May be as simple as the ground wire on the battery. There was a car for sale sitting out on the highway for a while and it had the same symptoms as my car; it’s problem was the ground wire. My battery is off being charged now and I am optimistic. I gave the ground a good cleaning with Coca-Cola. I love that stuff but it freaks me out that it works so well on batteries.
I feel so blessed and although I know God doesn’t have favorites, it sure feels like I get special treatment. All I can figure is I must be on the right track and I am so grateful the track has been there all my life. There are people who find God and turn there life’s around. They are full of spirit to the point of overflowing and although I am happy for them, I can’t really understand how they feel. I am one of the fortunate ones who doesn’t remember a time when God’s presence wasn’t first and foremost in my life. You can look at the lack of lines in my face for my age and lifestyle and see that the miles of my life have been easier than most. There were some tough years, but even through the abuse my spirit was strong. Our heavenly Father is wise.
The transition from giver to receiver was harder than it should have been. A friend offered the following advice which is good for all in need, “remember that good feeling you got from helping others?” yes “well, if you don’t accept what is offered to you, you are denying others that same feeling. It’s almost an obligation to accept help when its offered”. Life got a lot easier when I learned to accept.

Thanks for the Charity

The last Saturday in June several men representing six churches in the area showed up early and constructed a roof over our trailer. Yes, a good old fashioned barn raising. That’s the kind of people we are blessed to live among. Just today I had decided to go ahead and fix some dressing when out of the blue a man pulled up and dropped off a smoked turkey. Not only do I not know who he was, I no longer ask. People just come by and bring me things I need. I have received so much help from the community that I am no longer surprised by their kindness, but the timing still catches me off guard. Over the last few years, my Mother-in-law has brought us Thanksgiving dinner. Imagine, meals-on-wheels with Mom’s home cooking. Could it be any better? With that thought in mind I wanted a small bit of my dressing and pies so I started cooking this morning. Who could have guessed a turkey would fall out of the sky. We have so much to be thankful for. I am writing this on a computer that was given to me, using an internet provider that has been provided by my cousin, sleeping under a quilt made by the elderly lady across the street just before she died, and wearing clothes provided by others. Every aspect of my life is a tribute to the kindness of others. I wrote before about life being all about teamwork, and that spirit sure is alive around here.
Arkansas and Mississippi are often on the bottom of the list in categories such as income and such but since 1999 these two states have toped the list of the most charitable states. Isn't it something how those who have least give the most?

Politics & Flowers

First Lady Laura Bush spoke at the correspondent’s dinner this year and made a profound statement that I wish she would have made years ago. She stated that “George’s solution to problems on the ranch, cut it down with a chainsaw”. That philosophy may be OK on a ranch, but it is inappropriate and irresponsible to take that attitude with the rest of the world.
I don’t blame the President for this mess in the Middle East as much as I do the U.S. Congress and the media. Boy, didn’t the media let us down in the lead up to war. Too bad no one was paying attention back in the mid 90’s when the FCC changed the rules and now there are few choices for news. Your radio, TV, and whatever are all owned by the same people. The media cares more about it’s advertisers than the public. It’s the public’s airwaves, but we sure don’t get the right to use them to convey several different opinions on the events of the day. What ever happened to investigative reporting? If anyone did ask tough questions, they were shot down by the administration and they just gave up. There is so much happening we don’t know about. As I always say when someone ask, “how are you?” SO FAR SO GOOD. It’s the same with life, so far so good.
I left the work force in late ‘99 to care for my husband. I thought if I could stay with him and devote all my time and energy, maybe I could give him another year. That was 6 years ago and he is still here. As Letterman would say, I wouldn’t give his troubles to a monkey on a rock. His life consists of sitting on the couch during the day and sleeping there at night. The only time he leaves the couch is to stumble to the bathroom. He has been doing this for years. He sits by a picture window so I have been working on his view. From the street my yard looks kinda strange, but from where he sits, it is too cool. I have brought in numerous birds to the yard along with some strange things for this area. Roadrunners came by for a while and they were neat. The dog kills pack rats but doesn’t eat them. The roadrunners would come through and clean up the carcasses. A red shouldered hawk has been eyeing my little bannie hen. Bobcat wiped out the rabbits. The rabbits were cool, this was a retirement home for rabbits that had been in a production facility. After years of breeding and having babies, a few select rabbits deserved to relax in their golden years. Here there were no more cages and they just roamed the yard at will and hung out under the trailer. The neighbors enjoyed seeing white rabbits running around. Now you may understand why this blog is called the crazy ramblings…..
Back to all the years just hanging out. I have finally had a change of attitude and now think about the future. I have been told I have healing abilities, may be. Husband is still here and doesn’t appear to be leaving. It is quite a change from waking up at night just to see if he was alive to now no longer even looking in on him at night. If I have learned anything through this adventure it’s that attitude matters. I make sure he laughs each and every day and provide a no stress zone around him. So far so good.
Lesson for the day: TO WORRY IS TO LOSE FAITH
We never face more than we can handle, just sometimes more than we believe we can handle.

My View on Iraq

Is it just me or is the world really going to hell in a hand basket. Seems everyone has an opinion on Iraq, and here’s mine. We owe them a huge apology, and by them I mean the citizens of Iraq. I want to know who decided Iraqi’s were too stupid to rebuild their own country and needed outsiders to come in and do it for them. Iraq was not a third world country; there are engineers, plumbers, carpenters, etc. They built their power plants, sewer plants, bridges, and more originally, but someone decided they were incapable of rebuilding. How dare us go in and take jobs and self respect from the citizens of Iraq. What ever happened to the idea of winning the hearts and minds? I for one am so sorry for the treatment the citizens of Iraq have had to endure.
How can this war be a war of last resort when U.N. weapons inspectors had to stop destruction of illegal long range weapons they had found and evacuate the country of Iraq? No one mentions that anymore. In case you have forgotten, here are a couple of articles from just a few days before the invasion to refresh your memory. “Inspectors Call U.S. Tips ‘Garbage’ cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/18/Iraq/printable537096.shtml and cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/02/Iraq/printable542460.shtml “Iraq Begins Destroying Missiles“. I recommend you go back and reread several things from before the war. I wonder if our President was even aware of all the dissention around the world.

What's It All About?

Today we celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. You sure never know where life is going to take you, which is kinda funny because I believe we are here because we chose to be. Before we started this earth walk we sat down with our Heavenly Father and charted a plan which included situations which would allow us to grow. After we have decided on the lessons we need to learn we begin our adventure. To God, it‘s like sending a child off to college. I believe we also have the choice of beginning this trip at the moment of conception or the first breath of life. I choose the breath and I think that’s why it never bothered me I couldn’t have kids. My husband chose the scenic route, the moment of conception, and although we started out at the same time, he showed up 9 months later. His parents were married the day after I was born. Talk about a true soul mate. After this earth walk is over, we return home to our Heavenly Father and discuss our repot card. Some people call this Judgment day.

You often hear people ask, “Why are we here?” I believe, in addition to our own personal growth we seek, we are here to learn to work as a team. Think about it. All the great religions teach the same underlying message….LOVE EACH OTHER, put others before yourself, take care of each other, in other words, work as a team.

God created us in His image and God is pure energy so the true essence that is us is energy. Our bodies are just vessels. God is real big on this free will thing so He doesn’t get directly involved. This begs the question, “then how does God answer prayers?”. He doesn’t, but He did give us the ability to bring change if we follow the basic plan and work together. Since we are pure energy (just like God), when several people come together and combine their energies for a common goal, they can cause miracles to happen.

I am a child of God and it’s offends me to no end to have my faith questioned just because I don’t attend church. The majority of people of faith don’t attend church. Instead of just being close to God on certain days in certain buildings, I chose to have God as a part of my life every moment. Speaking of moments, I want to share a poem with you that has helped me stay sane.

If you live in the past with it’s doubts and regrets, it is hard.
For I am not with you.
My name is not I Was.

If you live in the future with it’s doubts and uncertainties, it is hard.
For I am not with you.
My name is not I Will Be

But if you live in this moment, right now, it is easy.
For I am with you.
My name is I AM.
Unknown

From Scientist to Caregiver

I hadn’t realized how much my life had changed until I realized I was absolutely giddy over a can of oven cleaner which came in my food box. Just a few short years earlier, I had been an environmental scientist working for a major company with more perks than I could count. Now here I was years later, full time caregiver for my husband, who is totally disabled and homebound. It sure is a good thing we are friends. I don’t know a lot of couples who could spend 24 hours a day 7 days a week together. The only time I get away is during the 14 hours a week when his attendant is here. We live in a 38’ travel trailer and sometimes the walls start closing in, but as long as I can get up and walk outside I will be OK. It’s more than my husband can do and watching him keeps things in perspective. Such as the difference between a want and a need. I don’t need the Sunday paper, but I want one. When you live on as tight a budget as we do, you start to think about the little things you can do without. The only reason I am able to write this is because of the kindness of others. Even this computer was given to me. If not for the kindness of others I would go insane. This summer the community came together and gave us an old fashioned barn raising. It is awesome to be out of the sun and rain. This little trailer sure could get hot. About this trailer, it is a physical example of God’s promise to meet our needs if we will just turn over our problems to Him. It was 1995 and I could tell the time was coming when my husband would need full time care so I started cutting overhead. Since he had been a house husband for years and had no SS to speak of, my goal was to be able to live on $500 a month. It turned out to be only $400, but it’s OK. Anyway, it was a Saturday morning and we were homeless, not knowing where we would be sleeping that night. We were moving the last of our stuff out of the garage that went with the 4 bedroom house we had to let go, when a friend stopped by. He told us there was a woman in his trailer park who was moving that day and wanted to sell her trailer. He said it was old but she only wanted $240. We counted up and amazingly we had exactly $240. We went and saw, bought, and slept there that night. We still live in our $240 trailer. It is the coolest antique you can imagine. A 1954 model in excellent shape. She had bought it new, lost her husband within a few years, and never had kids. All the screens are still in tact. We may be poor as church mice but in every way that matters, we are a couple of the richest people you will ever meet.

Ouachita Mountains

Welcome to the Ouachita mountains, the second oldest mountain range in North America (the Appalachians are a little older). We are unique in that our range runs east-west, unlike the others running north-south. Perhaps that is why this is a geologist dream. The quartz crystal capital of the world, Mt. Ida, is towards the eastern end of the range and at the far eastern end is Hot Springs National Park. It's drives me nuts that Hot Springs doesn't emphasis the age of the water from the springs, it's an average of 4,000 years old. Years ago I meet a lady whose home well water tested out at over 9,000 years old. It was an amazing experience. I knocked on her door, introduced myself and asked her for a glass of water. The only water she had coming into her home was a hand pump at the kitchen sink. Sweetest little old lady you ever met and perfect water. Just think, 4,000 years ago while the pyramids are Bing built, the rain falling in Arkansas is just now bubbling out of the ground. How cool is that.

Needles to say I love this place and hope to share more of special attributes with you as we go along. I am a news junkie so will often have an opinion on current events, will be keeping the family posted on happenings (which aren't much), and basically vent. I love the fact I can sit here in the back woods of Arkansas and share my thoughts with the world. A big shout out and THANK-YOU to cousin Susie, without whose help none of this would be possible.

More later,