Take It Up with God!

I am writing this post in response to a Facebook friend's situation of someone tearing down her political signs. The scenario went like this over the course of the last few days.

LINDA - Now I am MAD and venting to my FB friends. I have the American right to post candidate signs of my choice on my property and some idiots ripped them out last night and scattered them. If they did it for their party, I don't want them in mine!!!!!


SHERILYN - That other party is just crazy!

JANET - I have a feeling we ALL think the "other" party is just crazy, guess that's a part of all our problems

LINDA - you got that right. How many Americans have fought and died for us to vote however we want. How would they feel if they knew how this privlidge is abused! The thing is, I rode up and down the street searching and remarkably, the other party signs were intact...hmmm

JANET - ....and in another neighborhood the "other" signs mysteriously disappear. We are all but mirrors of each other.

LINDA - yes and no..I am not going to retaliate by stooping that low

CAROL - I know how you feel. I pay for my real estate signs and they always come up missing, or someone mows them over and just leaves them lie. I guess its just a part of doing business, but irritates you non the less.

ALICE - dem idiots! can't believe someone would DO that!

ME - You shall know a tree by its fruits! Amen?

TIM - why don't we all just join the "other party", then we could be like china and work 16 hour days for $3/week with no bennies. our products could be in walmart too. wow i think i'm going to run for something now lol.

CINDY -  I'm almost afraid to ask but so curious, who is the "other party" you suspect did this?

JANET - To each of us, the other party IS the "Other" party. If we all joined the "other" party, we'd still be in the exact same fix we're in now, two extreme groups with a growing abyss between. Perhaps a wiser way would be for us all to become more central rather than more divided in our thinking?!

JANET - Linda, I never meant to imply you'd personally do it, just that in other areas the same thing happens, only the party-name changes.

LINDA - Janet I can see we are related. Laid back but passionate about some things. Having an opinion is way better than doing nothing. You go girl

ME- It would be great if everything had a center position, Janet, but some things are just black and white. Regarding the pro-life vs. abortion issue, either the baby lives or dies. It's plain and simple as that. If you are on the left, you probably support abortion and if you are on the right, you oppose it. A center position doesn't exist. Truth will always be truth and lies will always be lies. 
Someone moved Linda's signs and no matter what party they stand with, they are opposed to the party which the signs represent. I personally think we need to get everyone out of Washington and get representatives working in the area they represent. We should be voting on the issues instead. More would get accomplished. With the technology we have today, politicians shouldn't have to go to Washington to do their voting either. It's archaic.
Just my 2 cents!

TIM - ok, i'm voting for theresa.

LINDA - boy, I had no idea. Every once in awhile you hit upon a good conversation starter. That was fun!

ME - Funny, Tim, I was going to vote for you! LOL

TIM -  well ok, i'm back in the race. i now have 6 votes; you and me plus 4 in the cemetery down the street. that's how it works around here lol. linda, religion and politics will get you a responce from everybody. VOTE 4 TIM!!! EVERYONE ELSE IS A LIAR, CHEATER, AND LOSER.

While the banter was lively, it wasn't without its tension. I later received a message from my sister that really sums this all up. Here is her comment:

I have observed that being "liberal" tends to get us outside the zone that is "best for us" as outlined in that great book. The more we move to the center the more liberal we get. So to me being liberal is in part a political way to rationalize freedom to sin. An ugly word to some, sin is also known as doing what we want to while ignoring our conscience and how those actions affect others and the environment. A perversion of freedom! Even professing conservatives rationalize liberal tendencies when it suits them… Don’t get mad at me. Take it up with God!

We have become an ungodly nation. We have lost our way. We have lost faith and reason. Without faith and reason, what is left? Nothing but relativism - the privy to decide what is right and wrong for ourselves - and therefore play God.

The Old Testament is filled with stories of how the Israelites were unfaithful and how God sent them into exile to learn to be faithful to Him again. If we keep up the way we are, we can look forward to a time of testing in order to learn again to trust and obey God.

Let us quickly turn toward God. Stand up for traditional values this November! Vote for real change and real freedom as the children of God! Vote for LIFE!

Deep Seated Problems with Obama's Health Care Bill

How slick can our president get? Can anything good come out of Chicago politicians?

What is not explicitly omitted is permitted. Our tax dollars will indeed go to pay for abortions. Vote for life on Tuesday.

Introducing Kayleigh Elizabeth

It has taken me a while to recover from our last trip. My husband and I flew to Washington to see my oldest son and his family with their newest edition, Kayleigh Elizabeth. She was 3 weeks old then.

It was a great family time. Kayleigh is such a good baby - just eats, sleeps and poops! LOL It just felt so good to hold her. Kayleigh is the first girl since the previous generation since I had 3 boys. She is simply a treat for all of us. Even big brother, Drake, is taking things in stride. He loves on his baby "ti-ter". I even have proof!

 

 After a visit from my nephew who is in residency in Seattle, we made a trip over to a harvest festival near Olympia, the state's capitol. We had a grand time. Drake loved the pumpkin patch and the petting zoo. We even took a ride on a wagon pulled by a tractor. It was glorious! I think I will just let you enjoy it in photos. After all, they do speak louder than words.

  

Here we have arrived at the site of the harvest festival.

 

There were apples, corn and pumpkins to buy and eat.

Picking a pumpkin is hard work

At the petting zoo with the goats - baa-aa-aa!

Oh the fun of an old fashioned wagon ride!

Look at the joy and delight on this little face. 

A pose with mom before buying apples and corn to take home

- and, oh, a hot dog to eat.

Soon it was time to return home to Texas. We took the ferry across the Puget Sound over to Seattle. It was only heavy fog at first, but it soon began to clear.

The sun shining on the water through the low lying clouds was magical!

 The sense of mystery changed from moment to moment.

Passing close to the shoreline, we could see a little of the fall foliage through the mist.

Soon, the Seattle skyline appeared in the distance. It was beautiful!

I can hardly wait until I see my son and his precious family in January!

Since we returned home, we have seen professional photos of the family that are just precious. See them here.

Freedom in Truth

The Truth will set us free. He promised it. I believe it!

"If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." ~ John 8:31-32

When we do not have the truth we become slaves to the latest trends.

Do not winnow with every wind, nor follow every path: the double-tongued sinner does that. ~ Sirach 5:9

Happily Ever After

It seems to be one thing after another in my life these days. I am SO busy!!! First I had the CRHP Renewal Weekend. Then last week I was busy baking cakes and helping make last minute preparations for my niece's wedding on Saturday. Again it's that family tradition of celebrating with family-baked cakes. This time, it was not only the bride's cake but the groom's cake as well. And one of my sisters did all the silk flowers.

We got off to a slow start early in the week because we were looking for identical pairs of earrings for the bridesmaids. We hit 5 Beall's stores in 2 days and found 4 pair - all at different stores. Then we got down to baking the cakes - groom's cake first. We froze the layers so that when we put on the frosting, the cakes wouldn't crumb into the frosting so much. It's a process. What can I say?

The groom's cake was a basic devil's food cake. But it had the most incredible chocolate frosting that was like a thick chocolate amaretto mousse - almost a gnocche. We could have thinned it, but we decided to put on a textured frosting rather than smooth it on. It fit the venue of a wedding in the woods at Angel Mountain. The center of the tiers had a layer of frosting mixed with strawberry jam. Mmmmmm! Good! When we finally put the tiers together, we topped it off with chocolate covered strawberries. Now how's that for decadence?

The bride's cake got a late start too. We were just not getting things off the ground on Wednesday, so I spent the day making batches of white frosting and refrigerating them. So it was Thursday - after getting new hair styles - before the white cakes were baked and frozen.

My sister - the mother of the bride - took a cake decorating class last spring and she used all the technology she learned to make the cakes the best they could be. So the cakes would cook more evenly, it included using moistened bake even strips pinned to the sides of the layers - then wrapped in foil - and rose nails placed in the larger layers. Patricia even timed the mixing of the layers. I'm not sure I would like baking everyday cakes like this, but the finished product was excellent!

We iced the cake with a basic pure white buttercream frosting flavored with almond extract. The layers were filled with frosting mixed with strawberry jam. Once the tiers were stacked, the final touches were added - gum past flowers made by my sisters. The flowers were a mixture of orchids, roses and freesias. They look pretty real, don't you think? The only thing I would have done differently would have been to put pearls of frosting to separate the layers and I would have put the bottom tier directly onto the cake stand.

When all was said and done, the bride and groom were happy and that is all that matters. May this be the first of many cakes that will celebrate their lives together.

This was definitely a family affair.

Mary Ann with her husband, Ken. She arranged all the silk flowers as well as worked on the gum paste flowers for the cake. She also worked on the final assembly of the cakes

Susan, with her husband Kenny. Susan helped make the gum past flowers, added the cocoa to make the chocolate frosting, and she helped frost the cakes.

Karen helped with the gum paste flowers and the final assembly of the cakes. She is her with her husband, Butch.

Sarah, another niece, pictured here with her husband, Daniel, dipped the strawberries and worked on final assembly of the groom's cake.

My son, Chris, with his wife, Diane, who sifted powered sugar for the frosting and ironed table clothes.

Of course, there is my sister, Patricia, the mother of the bride (on the right). I didn't get a photo of her with Ragan at the wedding, so separately will have to do. Too bad I didn't get one of Patricia in her dress. It was beautiful! And so was Belinda's!

Well, actually, I did get one, although it isn't very good of Patricia. I think I was confusing the guys here. They should have been looking at the main photographer. I was just a back-up.

May Belinda and Marshall live happily ever after!