We just closed out 2008. Simple as that. One minute it is 11:59 PM on December 31, 2008, and two minutes later, it is 12:01 AM on January 1, 2009. Wouldn't it be great if life were that simple?
Closing out relationships with people is more difficult. Whether it is by choice or by circumstances, closure in realtionships can be tricky. We try our best to be careful with the other person, but in the end, someone always gets hurt.
I had to hurt a friend like that this month. I didn't want to do it, but circumstances required that I end a friendship. I feel awful about it. I hope one day, my friend can and will forgive me for ending the friendship. I think the friend will because the friend is that type or person.
Be careful out there with your friendships. They are sweet as honey, but fragile as glass.
Living and Learning,
Beth
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
O Night Divine
Tonight my family went to Christmas Eve services at my church. It was one of the most emotionally and spiritually moving worship services I have attended in years. As I lifted my voice to join the choirs of angels worshiping the newborn King, I felt Heaven come down and the Christ child dwell in my heart. I have known the Lord for years, and tonight was one of those special nights where HIS presence was palpable.
Listening to the choir and the congregation sing about the Light, Immanuel, the Babe in the manger and the coming of our Savior was a moving experience, but more moving than that were two people I in the congregation. The first was my daughter. Her eyes lit up and her sweet voice sang the praises of our Lord. Charlie, who has a beautiful ear for pitch, sang with her to help her with pitch, but her sweet voice didn't quite make the notes. It didn't matter. She was singing with all her heart and soul to her Creator! Our Creator met Grace where she was in worship, and I know it was pleasing to Him. The second person in the congreation was a Hindu woman. Yes, the Lord brought a Hindu woman to a Christian service. I know it must have seem odd to this woman watching us celebrate the Life. I hope that He reached down and touched her so that she is never the same again.
I love Christmas Eve worship. God is good.
Listening to the choir and the congregation sing about the Light, Immanuel, the Babe in the manger and the coming of our Savior was a moving experience, but more moving than that were two people I in the congregation. The first was my daughter. Her eyes lit up and her sweet voice sang the praises of our Lord. Charlie, who has a beautiful ear for pitch, sang with her to help her with pitch, but her sweet voice didn't quite make the notes. It didn't matter. She was singing with all her heart and soul to her Creator! Our Creator met Grace where she was in worship, and I know it was pleasing to Him. The second person in the congreation was a Hindu woman. Yes, the Lord brought a Hindu woman to a Christian service. I know it must have seem odd to this woman watching us celebrate the Life. I hope that He reached down and touched her so that she is never the same again.
I love Christmas Eve worship. God is good.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
OOOPS, I Did It Again
Those of you who know your Bible, forgive these generalizations. For those of you new to the Word, let me share about a group of people: Israel.
At one point in ancient history, God had enough of the Israelites messing up. They kept making big mistakes (worshipping gods other than Jahovah God, comes to mind) that were not what God desired for them. At one point, God had the the Israelites wondering the desert for years. God kept forgiving each time the Isrealites messed up; He never abandoned them. It took so very many times for the Israelites to learn who their God was and that He was their salvation. He stayed faithful to His people through it all.
So many times I am like the Israelites. I do the same thing over and over, though in my innermost being I KNOW it is not the right thing. Yesterday, I did it AGAIN! I had two glasses of Mountain Dew yesterday. I was up unitl 6 AM or so this morning. You would think I would have all ready learned my lesson. I had told myself that the previous incident *really* didn't happen, but in my innermost being, I knew better. I knew better.
Paul says in Romans 7 "...When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being, I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war agianst the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."
The Mountain Dew incident is but an insignificant speck on the body of sin I do daily. The only way I know to deal with this sin is to take it to the cross. Jesus is the One who washes spots, big or small, significant or insignificant, ALL of our spots, away! That's the essence of the God News!
On this December 23 Christians all over the world prepare to celebrate the arrival of our Salvation some 2000 years ago in a stable in Bethlehem. How can we not rejoice for the one who redeems us? We can not ignore the one who says, "Forgiven," when we...ooops..do it again, or in my case, DEW it again!
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government wil be on hsi shoulders. And he wil be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Celebrate the Christ! Merry Christmas to One and All!
~Beth
At one point in ancient history, God had enough of the Israelites messing up. They kept making big mistakes (worshipping gods other than Jahovah God, comes to mind) that were not what God desired for them. At one point, God had the the Israelites wondering the desert for years. God kept forgiving each time the Isrealites messed up; He never abandoned them. It took so very many times for the Israelites to learn who their God was and that He was their salvation. He stayed faithful to His people through it all.
So many times I am like the Israelites. I do the same thing over and over, though in my innermost being I KNOW it is not the right thing. Yesterday, I did it AGAIN! I had two glasses of Mountain Dew yesterday. I was up unitl 6 AM or so this morning. You would think I would have all ready learned my lesson. I had told myself that the previous incident *really* didn't happen, but in my innermost being, I knew better. I knew better.
Paul says in Romans 7 "...When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being, I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war agianst the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."
The Mountain Dew incident is but an insignificant speck on the body of sin I do daily. The only way I know to deal with this sin is to take it to the cross. Jesus is the One who washes spots, big or small, significant or insignificant, ALL of our spots, away! That's the essence of the God News!
On this December 23 Christians all over the world prepare to celebrate the arrival of our Salvation some 2000 years ago in a stable in Bethlehem. How can we not rejoice for the one who redeems us? We can not ignore the one who says, "Forgiven," when we...ooops..do it again, or in my case, DEW it again!
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government wil be on hsi shoulders. And he wil be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Celebrate the Christ! Merry Christmas to One and All!
~Beth
Thursday, December 18, 2008
DON'T do the DEW!
Sometimes I just don't get it. Those of you who went to junior high and high school with me realize that I really didn't get into a whole lot of anything growing up. The friends I have made as an adult did not think that people like me really exist. Sometimes, I wonder how I managed to get to be 40 without knowing a few things. Take Mountain Dew for instance...
I work two nights a week really late hours. I usually have a diet coke about 8:00 or 9:00. That one diet coke seems to work just long enough for me to finish my work (about midnight) and drive home safely.
One night back in October, we had some the A2C (middle school aged kids) over for a fall party. They left, and I started cleaning up. I saw there was a bit of Mountain Dew left over, so I poured a glass. It was so good! I haven't had Mountain Dew in YEARS. I poured another two glasses to finish out the liter.
After I cleaned up, I went to bed. You guessed it. I couldn't sleep. I could not figure out what was happening. I seemed to be quite awake.
I don't recall now whether it was my 15 year old son, my husband, or my best friend that told me the next day that it was the Mountain Dew that kept me up. Whoever it was could hardly believe that I didn't know the large caffeine content of Mountain Dew.
Here was my thought process that night...I wanted a little soda. There was some Sprite, but there is no caffeine in Sprite, and I needed a little pick me up. There was Diet Coke, but I thought that would be too strong. I needed something in between... Since Sprite is clear and Diet Coke is dark, I thought the yellow Mountain Dew would have just a hint of caffeine.
Needless to say, that is another cultural lesson that I should have known, but did not. Where was I when they held classes on things like this???
Living and Learning,
Beth
I work two nights a week really late hours. I usually have a diet coke about 8:00 or 9:00. That one diet coke seems to work just long enough for me to finish my work (about midnight) and drive home safely.
One night back in October, we had some the A2C (middle school aged kids) over for a fall party. They left, and I started cleaning up. I saw there was a bit of Mountain Dew left over, so I poured a glass. It was so good! I haven't had Mountain Dew in YEARS. I poured another two glasses to finish out the liter.
After I cleaned up, I went to bed. You guessed it. I couldn't sleep. I could not figure out what was happening. I seemed to be quite awake.
I don't recall now whether it was my 15 year old son, my husband, or my best friend that told me the next day that it was the Mountain Dew that kept me up. Whoever it was could hardly believe that I didn't know the large caffeine content of Mountain Dew.
Here was my thought process that night...I wanted a little soda. There was some Sprite, but there is no caffeine in Sprite, and I needed a little pick me up. There was Diet Coke, but I thought that would be too strong. I needed something in between... Since Sprite is clear and Diet Coke is dark, I thought the yellow Mountain Dew would have just a hint of caffeine.
Needless to say, that is another cultural lesson that I should have known, but did not. Where was I when they held classes on things like this???
Living and Learning,
Beth
Lost Friend
Well, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I joined Facebook. I intended to join, check it out to see if I thought it was OK for my teenager, and then deactivate my account. It just hasn't worked that way!
I found a friend, R.A. He and I went to high school together. We had some classes together and knew one another - sort of. He was this extremely smart guy. One of the things that really stuck in my mind was that he had the nifty hand-held computer thing. (We are talking WAY back in 1987. ) We joked around some and were friendly to one another, but nothing that stands out for either one of us, I think. He was a computer guy; I was only interested in Charlie...yes, even at 16!
A time lapse of 21 years has passed since high school graduation. No surprise he is out running around the world working for our military doing something with lasers...I am not doing his job justice here; just take my word...its a very modern techie job with travel benefits. He and I both married spouses we adore. We both are living lives we really like, and we are having a good time catching up on facebook. It is like we are being the friends we should have been in high school.
Ah, high school....maybe I should restate that last sentence....It is like we are being the friends we could not be because of who we were in high school. Time is cool....R.A. is cool...It is fun to have a high school chum again!
Living and Learning,
Beth
I found a friend, R.A. He and I went to high school together. We had some classes together and knew one another - sort of. He was this extremely smart guy. One of the things that really stuck in my mind was that he had the nifty hand-held computer thing. (We are talking WAY back in 1987. ) We joked around some and were friendly to one another, but nothing that stands out for either one of us, I think. He was a computer guy; I was only interested in Charlie...yes, even at 16!
A time lapse of 21 years has passed since high school graduation. No surprise he is out running around the world working for our military doing something with lasers...I am not doing his job justice here; just take my word...its a very modern techie job with travel benefits. He and I both married spouses we adore. We both are living lives we really like, and we are having a good time catching up on facebook. It is like we are being the friends we should have been in high school.
Ah, high school....maybe I should restate that last sentence....It is like we are being the friends we could not be because of who we were in high school. Time is cool....R.A. is cool...It is fun to have a high school chum again!
Living and Learning,
Beth
Happy Birthday, Mary!
Today is my BFF's 35 birthday.
She is so young, sweet, and fun. We get into all sorts of silliness together. We joined Facebook together, only to have her husband join to "keep an eye on us". We laugh at funny or silly things easily; we cry at chick flicks readily. I just love her!
She is simply amazing! She knows the Lord and seeks His face. She is a loving, loyal wife, a loving, steadfast mother, and a loving, caring friend. She is a gentle one with a light, fun laugh.
I don't call her before noon, and she returns the favor by not calling me after 10pm on nights I'm not working.
Happy Birthday, dear one!
Living and Learning,
Beth
She is so young, sweet, and fun. We get into all sorts of silliness together. We joined Facebook together, only to have her husband join to "keep an eye on us". We laugh at funny or silly things easily; we cry at chick flicks readily. I just love her!
She is simply amazing! She knows the Lord and seeks His face. She is a loving, loyal wife, a loving, steadfast mother, and a loving, caring friend. She is a gentle one with a light, fun laugh.
I don't call her before noon, and she returns the favor by not calling me after 10pm on nights I'm not working.
Happy Birthday, dear one!
Living and Learning,
Beth
Work
I have been working part time outside the home for a few months. Who knew work could be such fun?
My boss is my BFF. She's a nut! She cracks me up everytime we are together....wait, maybe I'm the nut and she's the nut cracker? Anyhow, I can't imagine there is another job that is as fun as this job anywhere else in the world.
I work about 4 hours or less twice a week. We clean two car dealerships. You might think it is mindless, boring work, and well it could be. However, we make it our mission to entertain ourselves.
The salesmen working late, hunched over their desks, lift their heads and smile the biggest smiles when we walk in. Granted, the salesmen may be laughing at us and not smiling at us....um, let me explain. For holidays or other days that are deemed important, I dress up for work....hair in buns on either side of head (think Star Wars) with ribbons flowing down over them and/or a tiara, a magic wand (knitting needle with ribbons and lace), and a cleaning bucket (I do Special Services....more later). During this season of Christmas cheer, I also wear jingle bell ear rings and a jingle bell necklace. For those of you who know me, this is a little out of line with how I normally dress. It is rewarding to be greeted every night as I start work with a warm smile from the people whose offices I will be dusting (Special Services).
Some nights get to be long, especially when the younger staff decides to blow off work and the rest of us pick up the slack. On those nights, Mary and I get slap happy about 11:30 or so, IF we still have energy left. We have been known to sing at the top of our lungs, songs from the 1980's. I've done a bit of mop guitar. We have so much fun.
We end our nights at a building where we have access to tea and hot cocoa as well as the internet. We play games, check facebook, and chat while sitting there next to each other.
Silly, huh? I think that's why I like this job. I get to hang out with my very best friend, be silly, AND get paid! I can't think of a better match for me!
~Beth
My boss is my BFF. She's a nut! She cracks me up everytime we are together....wait, maybe I'm the nut and she's the nut cracker? Anyhow, I can't imagine there is another job that is as fun as this job anywhere else in the world.
I work about 4 hours or less twice a week. We clean two car dealerships. You might think it is mindless, boring work, and well it could be. However, we make it our mission to entertain ourselves.
The salesmen working late, hunched over their desks, lift their heads and smile the biggest smiles when we walk in. Granted, the salesmen may be laughing at us and not smiling at us....um, let me explain. For holidays or other days that are deemed important, I dress up for work....hair in buns on either side of head (think Star Wars) with ribbons flowing down over them and/or a tiara, a magic wand (knitting needle with ribbons and lace), and a cleaning bucket (I do Special Services....more later). During this season of Christmas cheer, I also wear jingle bell ear rings and a jingle bell necklace. For those of you who know me, this is a little out of line with how I normally dress. It is rewarding to be greeted every night as I start work with a warm smile from the people whose offices I will be dusting (Special Services).
Some nights get to be long, especially when the younger staff decides to blow off work and the rest of us pick up the slack. On those nights, Mary and I get slap happy about 11:30 or so, IF we still have energy left. We have been known to sing at the top of our lungs, songs from the 1980's. I've done a bit of mop guitar. We have so much fun.
We end our nights at a building where we have access to tea and hot cocoa as well as the internet. We play games, check facebook, and chat while sitting there next to each other.
Silly, huh? I think that's why I like this job. I get to hang out with my very best friend, be silly, AND get paid! I can't think of a better match for me!
~Beth
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