I think the hardest thing in the world is to learn something new and then repeat it again and again until we get it right. Let’s say I wanted to create a wire wrapped necklace. I study the “how to’s” and practice wire wrapping techniques until I understand what I am doing and then make a very cool necklace of brass wire and blue green agate and place it for sell in my online jewelry shop.

A month later, I discover that someone else, another jewelry maker has copied my original design, made a minor change, and is selling it in her online shop.

Would I be mad when find this out. No, but I would be rather hurt as would have put alot of time and thought into my necklace…..

Okay, this did happen to me and I began to get upset. Then I felt a niggling in my mind, a kind of tapping on my shoulder, as it were. The words “pride before the fall” or something like that floated into to mind.  Remembering this from my daughter’s video about Esther from Veggie Tales I suddenly wanted to find the actual quote and logged onto BibleGateway.com.

Proverbs 14:3 “In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.”
(Meaning to me, in so many words, to suck it up.)

Feeling reprimanded, for the briefest instance I felt like sulking. But, then realized that I, too, copied the basic concept from another (okay, I learned how to make this necklace from a jewelry making book, but you get the general idea.)

I believe that God or my guardian angel was reminding me that there will always be someone stronger, smarter, more skilled (sighhh) and prettier than me. There will even be those who copy what I do, but I can take comfort that I did my best….and there are alot, alot of jewelry buyers out there.

For those of you who have been questioning if you are indeed in an abusive relationship, I urge you to first, take a look at the above link (if possible) or contact  The National Domestic Abuse Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE  and you will be helped. Remember, you are not alone, you CAN get out of an abusive relationship, but it is YOU who need to take the first step. Save yourself, save your family, get the help you need. You cannot do it alone.  There are people out there who can help you.

You can do it, give them call.

Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…”

“Really, trust in the Lord? Why not just trust myself and others, why trust in God?” my biking buddy Anthony asked me the other day as we were sitting at a small wooden table in Starbucks enjoying our steaming hot lattes.

That was a good question I had to admit to him. My problem was how to talk to Anthony about God and the Bible without sounding like some crazed Jesus freak? I knew he was skeptical of the Bible and didn’t really believe in God, what could I say to him that would make any sense?

Then, it came to me, trusting in the Lord does not mean, letting go of personal responsibility to oneself or loved ones.  It means trusting in the Lord and then taking steps that will lead away from a particular problem, situation or sometimes lead you through it.  Then I realized that it might be the time to share my story with Anthony, on how the Lord has helped me. And, maybe, just maybe he might want to come with me to church on Sunday and we could continue our discussion afterwards.

So, I proceeded to tell Anthony about my first encounter with what could only be called “divine intervention” of a truly real and spiritual kind; of how Lord has helped me and continuing to do so.  To his credit, Anthony said nothing but did raise his brows in skepticism several times during my story, but he agreed to go with me to church on Sunday. It’s a start.

Love is gentle, love is kind...

What is love? Ah, the age old question. This is something I have pondered as well, so I decided to look it up in the Bible. Love is mentioned over 200 times in the King James Bible. I have heard it said that if something is mentioned in the Bible three times or more, it is a very important thing to know; so, if love is mentioned over 200 times, I guess that love is very, very important, eh? Below is my favorite quote about love in the NIV Bible:

1 Corinthians 13
“1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

If only this kind of love would be promoted more in the media, in schools, and (yes) in church, this concept could very well change the world.

Here in the Pacific Northwest it does rain quite a bit. (Play music, Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head) But, being a basically optimistic person (Play music, Sunshine On My Shoulder), I  look out the window at the liquid sunshine turning my lovely lawn turning into moss and thank the Lord (Play music You Alone) that he made the sunshine, rain, and moss.  (Hey, more moss, less lawn, less mowing!)

Psalm 127:3 "Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from Him."

Ever feel so frustrated as a mother that all you can think of are three things:

1. I don’t need this.

2. If  only (insert child’s name) would stop complaining and just do her homework.

3. (unprintable)!

4. I need chocolate NOW!

I have and there are days when I just want to go back to bed, curl up in my comforter and cry. But, I have found that even though having a teen with Autism can be physically and emotionally draining, I am also impressed by her persistence in learning as much as she can about certain subjects that interest her.  Art, for example, she is becoming an incredible Animae artist, adding her own “style” to each character so that you can actually see and feel the emotion each character she has drawn.

Language skills, her fictional stories which she writes down or works on with friends surpasses many of today’s authors in imagination, style and word usage. Her intelligence is amazing and yet her self-esteem fluctuates wildly. She is a loyal friend, a great daughter and I love her much.

A child with Autism can be many things, can do many things that will surprise me. And yet, I must remember that my child is a gift from God. He has entrusted me with this very lovely and special child. With His help I can do  no less that be the best parent possible.

Sometimes I think that being on the internet is like a box of chocolates. You know what you want, but are distracted by all the other choices.

Yesterday, I was reading the book by Steven Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. (Sorry to change tack, but  as I am trying to think of clever things to write being proactive, my dear, dear, 13 yr daughter, is joking and telling me about the secret life of Haggis. Frankly, this is so much more interesting than what I was going to write about I thought I would share her views about haggis with you.)

According to my dear girl, “Haggis secretly sneaks out at night and goes to raves and when he comes back he is hung over and stuff and that is why he tastes so bad. Moral of the story, never eat hung-over things.”)

Okay I am now a bit concerned about the imaginative life of my daughter; however, I am curious about what exactly does a Haggis looks like. After checking it out on photobucket.com and seeing pictures of haggis (a cooked and very sad looking sheep or cow bladder stuffed with various internal organs and spices), I think my daughter might be right!

Sometimes, okay, many times I know that I take alot for granted. I have a (relatively) warm house to live in; a solid roof over our heads (it may be leaking); I have food for myself and my children (love my freezer); I am in relatively good health (except for my allergies which I never knew I had before I moved up to the Pacific Northwest) and friends that I can count on (but sometimes I overstep my “can you help me” boundaries.)

If those sound like begrudging blessings, you are right. I really need to focus more on praising God for what I have, what we have….our lives could be so very much worse.  So, today is the day I will start acknowledging the blessings in my life, thanking God for all that we have. Today I will thank the Lord for the vibrant yellow beauty of a dandelion, rich green color the rain brings to us in the Pacific Northwest and of the simple beauty of my daughter’s smile. Thank you, Lord, for all of this and more.