For Me, Being Silent is HARD!

I told the Lord and my husband that I would be quiet about politics, the government, the world conditions, and other happenings that have been driving me crazy lately.  This is one of the hardest things ever and it's only been a few days.  I don't know how I am going to be able to be silent about all of this.  It's as hard as staying on a diet!!

I have spent the evening reading about a woman who wrote about her life of poverty and posted it on a blog site.  This all happened in the week and now she is writing full time in a couple of places.  She is writing/working and getting paid to write/work!  Her story is down to earth and true.  It is life at the hardest. It is worth the read and I am happy for her.

I do not think she believes in God but regardless He has opened these doors for her and her family and she is being blessed.  Stories like this are amazing and wonderful.  It's those little miracles in life that can get lost but for now, here she is. Here are links to Linda Tirado's first and second writings on the Huffington Post site.  Well worth your read (please excuse her F-bombs):

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/why-poor-peoples-bad-decisions-make-perfect-sense_b_4326233.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/meet-the-woman-who-accide_b_4334428.html

So while I am taking a break from US politics (for only as long as I can stand it without going completely crazy) I will do a lot of reading and hopefully find the positive things that are still happening in our world today.  God doesn't stop blessing just because the government tries to take it all away!

Lost in Politics, But Only for a Season

For the past month and a half I have been on a soapbox on social media sites.  I have always paid attention to what is going on in the political spectrum of our world but just held my tongue.  It was during the government shutdown that my tongue could not be held any longer.  The final straw for me was when the feds said the money for the families of the deceased soldiers would not be available.  Those families were not financially assisted in getting their loved ones home.  The people on food stamps were still getting their money.  The politicians were still getting their paychecks.  The old people were still getting their social security checks.  But the families who sacrificed a son, daughter, husband, wife, they were getting nothing.  I came unglued.

And so it all went from hell in a hand basket from there:

Government shutdown, blaming and name calling on both sides of the House, Senate, and administration,

Roll out of Obamacare, blaming and name calling on both sides of the House, Senate, and administration,

Failure of Obamacare website, blaming and name calling on both sides of the House, Senate, and administration,

Cancellation of  millions and millions of valid health insurance policies,  blaming and name calling on both sides of the House, Senate, and administration,

and all of the other things hashed out, hashed over and beat to death in the media and social media,

and then to top it off Oprah wants me dead because she thinks that all old white people are racists!

I am labeled a conservative Christian.  I do not consider myself over the top or without compassion for all points of view.  I draw the line on biblical sin but will try hard not judge should you choose to live in sin.  God's judgement will be harsh enough on sinners, of which I am one.  I am not a liberal, which I find out is someone who believes the government is here to take care of the people.  I believe God takes care of people first.  I believe we have to take care of ourselves.  I believe we have to take care of each other. Then, once all of that has been done, the government can come in and help.  But from what I understand the liberal mentality puts the government before anything, even God.  This does not work for my mentality.

For forty days I spouted off on Facebook, Twitter and email how mad I was about all that was happening in our nation and to our liberties.  I pretty well ranted and raved about each an everything going on through the day.  It seems like there was something every single day that fired me up and made me want to make sure that everyone else knew it was happening.  I watched as some fired back either with me or against me.  The rest of the people went about their own business, oblivious to what was happening, so I thought.  It seemed to me like most did not care and were not interested in our national woes.

Most of my Christian friends were fairly quiet on the subjects I brought up.  As I think about all of this now I realize that most care but do not know how to respond.  I still think most people do not think they can do anything to change anything.  Most are willing to let it all play out and as long as it does not affect them directly, they will live with it.  As a Christian I know that God has the ability to change all things but He also lets many things happen as they are supposed to happen.  He does not change the outcome of destiny in many instances.  He has given mankind free will to choose and does not intervene in that free will the majority of the time.  He is a God of love but He is also the God of free will whether or not the free will decision is good or evil.  He is not a master manipulator.

So for now I am off the political soapbox and will sit on the sidelines with the rest of the nation and watch things play out.  Just because I am not speaking out does not mean I have quit caring.  I will just pray in the quiet of my own life that one by one the people in our nation will arise and sound the alarm.  We do not have to live in fear of what is coming because God is with us and He does care what happens to us.  All of us! Christian, non-Christian.  Liberal, conservative. Good, evil.  He cares about all of this and all of us.  He doesn't need me to be His mouthpiece even though I thought He did for 40 days.  I did what I thought was right and I am still doing what I think is right.  Sometimes silence speaks more than words.

You are Somebody to Someone

You are not a nobody.

You are somebody to someone.

Someone is watching you and listening to you. 

You may think no one is, but there is at least one person looking at you and hearing what you have to say.  As long as you are walking and talking someone is watching you.  Even the 5 year old watches to see what the 10 year old is doing.  Even the 80 year old watches the 90 year old. 

Someone in your circle sees you.

Someone hears you.

It might be the clerk in the grocery store.  It might be the kid who pumps your gas.  It might be the person who normally sits behind you in church.  They are watching you and what you do and what you say can have an impact on them. 

Don’t ever think you do not have an impact on someone or that you are nobody.

If you sit by quietly and say nothing you will not be heard but you will still be seen. 

Someone will eventually ask you a question. 

You will eventually have to speak.

You are somebody to someone and you are here on this earth for a reason and that reason may only be for one other person. 

You are not nobody.
 
You are a voice in this world, your world.

You do make a difference and you can make a difference.

You are somebody to someone.

Labels

I feel like we all get labeled. We are either a demonic delusional democrat or a rabid radical republican. We are idiots or geniuses. We are right or wrong.  We are winners or losers.  We are for or against.  We either need to shut-up or speak-out.  If we can't have it our way then we don't want it at all.  We gorge ourselves or we starve.

I don't like labels.  I consider myself honest, fair, loving, kind, apparent, and open.  I like people and I don't mind if their opinion does not match mine.  I always liked Fox News' motto "Fair and Balanced" and if you didn't think they were, okay.  Watch or read something else.

I am opinionated and always have been.  Just ask my family and friends.

Wildfires and Firefighters the Unsung Heroes

My son was dispatched today to fight a wildfire near The Dalles.  It is his first time going out on a fire since his employment with Washington DNR (Department of Natural Resources), less than 6 months ago,  which is their version of Oregon's Department of Forestry.  He went through the training but was a bit nervous when I spoke with him earlier after he got the call that he was actually going out.  He had time to pack and spend a bit of time with his wife, son and daughter.

I am sure the DNR and ODF would never put a firefighter in dangerous conditions beyond their capabilities but as a mother I am going to be concerned no matter what.  I started praying the minute he called and told me and I will not stop until he is home safe and sound with his family.

Firefighters are unsung heroes.  At least most of the time.  The country took notice on 9-11 but since then not so much.  Those who have had a fire or been involved with a fire know they are heroes but most of the others do not pay a lot of attention.  I have been involved with our local fire district for 20 plus years as a board member and I have always said I would get a firefighter anything he or she asked for if it was in my capabilities.  If they need new equipment I will do whatever I can to get it for them.  If they need a new vehicle I will do whatever I can to get them that vehicle.  My city has about 50 volunteer firefighters that do not get a paycheck for fighting fires or responding to accidents.  They do it for a minimal stipend that barely pays for their gas to get to the station and home. They are volunteers and they are awesome!!

My son will receive payment for his services on this forest fire.  He will get the experience he needs to help fight forest fires in the future.  Lightning will keep on striking.  Campers will still be careless.  Homeowners will still burn their trash even when the fire season has closed all burning. 

Mother, fathers, wives and children will still keep praying for their firefighter to come home safely.

The LAST WORD or LW Gene

I fear I have my father's gene.  I know you are saying, "Well of course you have your father's genes!  He's your father!"  But I have one gene in particular that I am not sure I want to admit I have.  

My father was a logger when I was a little girl and I hung around and listened to him talk to others.  As I grew older I noticed he always got the last word in.  I mean, always!  So of course when you have a person that always has to get the last word in, there is the potential for trouble.  There are others who also have this gene and when they meet up, and start talking...look out!

Dad and I did not have a lot of communication as adults so I did not have to test out the theory I had that we both carried that same gene.  He went his way and I went mine and we only met up once in a while.  He passed away in 2009 so I will never know for sure if my theory is correct.

But I will go on to explain that I am almost, positively sure that I have passed that gene on to my children and my grandchildren.  Woe is me and woe are all those who have to deal with my offspring.  I have gotten a bit better with age but they are young and still learning to "choose your words wisely."  The grandchildren have a long way to go. I can pretty well name each child and grandchild that has this "LW" family gene.  As I sit here and think about it...OMG....it is all of them.  Sorry everyone! 

Myself, I have to keep working on letting go of the last word.  I am very passionate about certain things and that is where I get in trouble.  It's not that I think everyone needs to think like I do and believe in the things I do, but when there is an opinion I have given,  I will defend it to the last word.  This of course does not make me popular, especially with others that have the LW gene and do not agree with me.  They want the last word, I want the last word, they want the last word, I want the last word, and you get the picture.

My daughter-in-law has to deal with the LW gene with my son, my 11 year old grandson, and even my 7 year old granddaughter.  She calls often to complain about the LW gene and I listen and try not to talk too much.  She needs to get the last word in when she calls and I need to allow her to have it!  That is important!

My daughter, who has 4 children, knows exactly what I am saying about the LW gene.  She has it and so do all of her children.  Now that makes my heart really go out for her.  Can't you just hear it?  All five of them trying to get the last word in!  My son-in-law, bless his heart, smiles a lot.  I think he has the BIO gene.

BIO = BLOCK IT OUT

Hope I can do that one day when it comes to the last word.  I don't know.  LW is a pretty dominate gene.

Personally Known to Me Bloggers and My Thoughts

I have spent the last hour reading a blog by a man I went to school with and lives in our town, who is now retired and has the luxury of writing almost daily.  That and gardening.  I am jealous, since I still have to work and come home dead-dog tired most week days.  He writes wonderfully and I enjoyed the hour I spent with him this morning.  I guess it is a bit more meaningful, at least to me, when you know the Blogger personally and can relate to his stories.

The story about gardening made me laugh.  The story about suicide made me cry.  I had to leave my comments about the suicide story:

"My neighbors lost a son to suicide.  One of my very best friends lost her son to suicide.  I have several friends who lost children to suicide.  My husband lost his father and his grandfather to suicide.  I do not think there is a person who had not been affected by suicide in one way or another.  We all know it happens and we all know it happens in an instant but leading up to it takes a lifetime.  Love, patience, communication, forgiveness, peace, understanding, strength, and all of the goodness of life on earth play a part in this.  I believe in God the Father, the Creator of Life.  I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  I believe He can and will help each person who asks.  But not everyone believes like me.  Many do not know how, when or who can help.  We are all in this life together and need to try to be there for one another.  We cannot forget any of those who desperately decided they could not go on.  If we forget them we lose a part of ourselves.  It is imperative to remember each and every one of them, talk about them with love and forgive them. Never forget them!"

I am glad my friend (I think I can call him my friend) writes his blog and I will continue to read, as I admire him and appreciate his thoughts.

Blogging on a Rainy Day :)

I rarely blog.
I rarely do anything consistently.
I go from one thing to another, to another.
It is who I am.
I would be a lousy blogger for anyone to follow and you would be disappointed in me as a blogger.

I am a good friend though.
I like to help and I will listen.
I like to write but I do not want to write every day.  So...I am not a real blogger.  Real blogger's write every day don't they?

We are in Washington with our kids and grandkids as I write this.
It is pouring down rain so I thought I should find something to do.
Here I am at my computer.
It is a quiet, peaceful day with family.

I love my family.
That is the one consistency in my life.
I love the Lord Jesus Christ, the other consistency in my life.

Okay that is it for now. :)