Daisypath Anniversary tickers

Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Deeper you go...the more you don't wanna!

So I'm researching on the Emergent Church and the emerging church and low and behold, don't I find a whole website devoted to bashing Catholics yet again.
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/contemplativeterms.htm this link will take you there to the nasty and outrageous if you like. I'm trying hard not to get bogged down with over analysing The Shack but find myself going there. So the Emergent Church is being compared to Catholic Mysticism and Rick Warren and Zondervann Publishers are leading the pack. This folks, is a new one on me! So basically, if you follow Rick Warrens teachings or the Popes your in a cult. Eeegads! How bad does it have to get before we get it. Its all about love love love love love...sing it Steven!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

The Shack

HHmmmmm....I haven't read like that in a long time. The Shack, couldn't put it down and when I finished it, wanted to pick it up again. It's a great read. I'm struggling with parts of it, but for the most, Loved it. There were parts that verged on 'new agey' type things like the night scene and perfect vision are described. But over all, understanding this is a work of faith and a desire to express Trinitarian love, then a work from the Emergent Church has done quite well. I'm troubled by the desire to disconnect people from 'institution' type religion. I love going to 'church' a building to fellowship with those who worship God the way I do. I love going to other peoples 'church' buildings to enjoy and share in their expression together. I don't think we can 'church' alone. So that brings it back to the central theme of the book, relationship in love. A complicated work this is and one that will take a lot of time to digest. I think I need to read it again. In the mean time, I highly recommend it as a great summer read. Watch out for the late nights though...its hard to put down for certain.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Snow in July

Just because we haven't seen it doesn't mean it hasn't happened before. However, the weather in our neck of the woods these days has been wild! On Saturday (my birthday) there were wild winds, huge rains and insane thunder and lightening just on my side of town. Our next door neighbours gazebo flipped over and was destroyed. Across the road same thing only it landed in their pool. Trees down and other such damage. Last night, funnel clouds were spotted int he area and severe damaging winds crushed the produce crops. Wine will be hard to come by this vintage. It seems that a local farmer has sustained losses of 70% on his Winona farm location. The amount of hail that fell piled up over a foot in the drainage ditches and the leaves from many trees were stripped off and plastered against cars and buildings. It looks creepy downtown today. And a huge beautiful old tree about 3 blocks from me fell over from the roots and crashed into a house taking out its corner. Unreal!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of my 30th Birthday


Well, it happened. I'm 40. I'm fabulous and 40. That sounds so good together. And I'm excited about it too. My sweet DH booked a surprise wine tour for me and some friends on Saturday which was just wonderful. I think it didn't go the way he wanted but I'm not asking for details on that because it was just wonderful the way it was. He is the sweetest guy ever on the planet (sorry ladies, let me have a moment here) and I just love him so much. Planning isn't his area. He leaves that to me most of the time. For him to step out and do this for me makes me feel like the most loved woman who ever turned 40. That said, my friends rock too. People came back from the past to say Happy Birthday and new friends too. I've been blessed with so many lovely gifts that were so simply awesome. I love good books, devotionals, great tea and great wine and my friends blessed me with all of the above. And a mani/pedi that I can't wait to enjoy! Awesome. It's a neat feeling to be celebrated. A little overwhelming but really neat. I enjoyed the evening with my family at my mom's. My in-loves came, my brother and aunt. My mom just had some surgery and she pulled off this incredible dinner on her own. It was so good. And she gave me a gift that was so fun. In a huge gift bag were all little presents and each one had a card that introduced the gift. One was for dreaming, one was for feeding the spirit, one was relaxing and my favorite was to remember my dad. What an amazing gift. My DH and kids gave me a Pandora bracelet with 3 charms to remember my 40th by. Just wonderful. And honestly, the day started with breaky in bed, a surprise gathering, dinner at my moms and ended with a shooting star streaking through the big dipper. A wink from my daddy! Perfect, just perfect!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Is this really the image we give????

This article made me laugh...obviously, this author didn't do his homework and chose to lump all homeschoolers into the same box. Funny how that happens.

Home-Schoolers Threaten Our Cultural Comfort

You see them at the grocery, or in a discount store.
It's a big family by today's standards - "just like stair steps," as the old folks say. Freshly scrubbed boys with neatly trimmed hair and girls with braids, in clean but unfashionable clothes follow mom through the store as she fills her no-frills shopping list.
There's no begging for gimcracks, no fretting, and no threats from mom.
The older watch the younger, freeing mom to go peacefully about her task. You are looking at some of the estimated 2 million children being home schooled in the U.S. , and the number is growing. Their reputation for academic achievement has caused colleges to begin aggressively recruiting them. Savings to the taxpayers in instructional costs are conservatively estimated at $4 billion, and some place the figure as high as $9 billion. When you consider that these families pay taxes to
support public schools, but demand nothing from them, it seems quite a deal for the public.
Home schooling parents are usually better educated than the norm, and
are more likely to attend worship services. Their motives are many and
varied. Some fear contagion from the anti-clericalism, coarse speech,
suggestive behavior and hedonistic values that characterize secular
schools. Others are concerned for their children's safety. Some want
their children to be challenged beyond the minimal competencies of the
public schools. Concern for a theistic world view largely permeates the
movement.
Indications are that home schooling is working well for the kids, and
the parents are pleased with their choice, but the practice is coming
under increasing suspicion, and even official attack, as in California .

Why do we hate (or at least distrust) these people so much?

Methinks American middle-class people are uncomfortable around the home
schooled for the same reason the alcoholic is uneasy around the teetotaler.
Their very existence represents a rejection of our values, and an
indictment of our lifestyles. Those families are willing to render unto
Caesar the things that Caesar's be, but they draw the line at their
children. Those of us who have put our trust in the secular state (and
effectively surrendered our children to it) recognize this act of
defiance as a rejection of our values, and we reject them in return.
Just as the jealous Chaldeans schemed to bring the wrath of the king
upon the Hebrew eunuchs, we are happy to sic the state's bureaucrats on
these "trouble makers." Their implicit rejection of America 's most
venerated idol, Materialism, (a.k.a. "Individualism") spurs us to heat
the furnace and feed the lions.
Young families must make the decision: Will junior go to day care and
day school, or will mom stay home and raise him? The rationalizations
begin. "A family just can't make it on one income." (Our parents did.)
"It just costs so much to raise a child nowadays." (Yeah, if you buy
brand-name clothing, pre-prepared food, join every club and activity,
and spend half the cost of a house on the daughter's wedding, it does.)
And so, the decision is made. We give up the bulk of our waking hours
with our children, as well as the formation of their minds,
philosophies, and attitudes, to strangers. We compensate by getting a
boat to take them to the river, a van to carry them to Little League, a
2,800-square-foot house, an ATV, a zero-turn Cub Cadet, and a fund to
finance a brand-name college education. And most significantly, we claim
"our right" to pursue a career for our own "self-fulfillment."
Deep down, however, we know that our generation has eaten its seed corn.
We lack the discipline and the vision to deny ourselves in the hope of
something enduring and worthy for our posterity. We are tired from
working extra jobs, and the looming depression threatens our 401k's.
Credit cards are nearly maxed, and it costs a $100 to fuel the Suburban.
Now the kid is raising hell again, demanding the latest Play Station as
his price for doing his school work ... and there goes that modest young
woman in the home-made dress with her four bright-eyed, well-behaved
home-schooled children in tow. Wouldn't you just love to wipe that
serene look right off her smug face?

Is it any wonder we hate her so?

Sonny Scott a community columnist, lives on Sparta Road in Chickasaw
County and his e-mail address is sonnyscott@yahoo.com.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Cruisin' in on 40

Yep...its coming...40. Less than a week away. Alot of people are asking me how I feel about it and to be honest, I feel great about it. I'm happy, healthy and alive. I know my saviour, I'm in love with my husband and I adore my kids who adore me back. Really, life is just that good. And I know its that good because God blesses me. That and that fact that 40 is the new 30...what's to be worried about?

Friday, July 11, 2008

It's a baby, not a choice

“Is This What You Mean?”

We in the pro-life community have been fed up for a long time with “public servants” who can’t seem to tell the difference between serving the public and killing the public. They mask the violence of abortion with the smooth language of “choice,” and refuse to protect the victims.

These politicians are found in both major political parties; some hold public office and others seek it. And many Church leaders have been hesitant to discipline such individuals, even though many of them claim to practice their faith.

These abortion supporting politicians get away with what they are doing in large measure because they refuse to talk about what the “choice” actually is. They try to avoid the word “abortion” altogether; but even when they use it, the word has lost practically all its meaning. Voters hear the word but are left with little or no awareness of the gruesome horror it represents.

This election season, it’s time for that to change. No matter what politicians or voters or Church officials are or are not going to do, it’s time that we who know what abortion is draw a line in the sand and give candidates and office-holders alike this challenge:

If you’re going to take a position on abortion, then you’re going to have to come clean about what it is. We are no longer going to let you obscure or trivialize the issue. Whether people agree with you or not, you owe it to them to be honest about what you’re talking about.

Therefore we issue this simple call to honesty: We will describe abortion to you, and you tell us if that’s what you’re talking about.

That’s it, pure and simple. This is not a debate, nor a threat. It’s a call to clarity, a demand for honesty. That is not partisan, nor is it unreasonable; it is not fanatical or inappropriate in any way. Nor is this about religion or morality.

We just want to make sure that we’re hearing you. When you say “abortion,” we just want to make sure we’re both talking about the same thing.

I recently posted videos on You Tube in which I describe and demonstrate the most common abortion techniques, using the actual instruments of abortion and the words found in medical textbooks and court testimony. Below you will see the links to these videos, as well as brief quotes you can use from abortionists themselves.

For example, Dr. Carolyn Westhoff testified, “In the dismemberment D&E…it is necessary to insert our forceps…and then crush the head.” (National Abortion Federation v. Ashcroft, April 2004, US District Court, Southern District of New York).

Then simply ask “pro-choice” politicians (whether they are candidates or already in public office) if this is what they mean when they say “abortion.” Yes or no. Ask it publicly. Ask it repeatedly. Ask it at town meetings, on blogs, in editorials. Those whose support they are seeking deserve to know.

Father Frank Pavone

You Tube links on the abortion procedures:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us_y9GP_-DA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBOAPleF1t0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDpcj1DUcTw



Is this really what you mean when you say you support pro-choice?


First Trimester Suction Abortion

"The physician will usually first notice a quantity of amniotic fluid, followed by placenta and fetal parts, which may be more or less identifiable." (From the medical textbook Abortion Practice – Dr. Warren Hern, p.114, in section on First Trimester Abortion).

***

“When we do a suction curettage abortion, you know, roughly one of three things is going to happen during the abortion. One would be that the catheter as it approaches the fetus, you know, tears it and kills it at that instant inside the uterus. The second would be that the fetus is small enough and the catheter is large enough that the fetus passes through the catheter and either dies in transit as it’s passing through the catheter or dies in the suction bottle after it’s actually all the way out.” (Sworn testimony given in US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin (Madison, WI, May 27, 1999, Case No. 98-C-0305-S), by Dr. Martin Haskell, an abortionist. He describes legal activity.)

***

Question: Can the heart of a fetus or embryo still be beating during a suction curettage abortion as the fetus or embryo comes down the cannula? Answer: For a few seconds to a minute, yes.
(Sworn testimony given in US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin (Madison, WI, May 27, 1999, Case No. 98-C-0305-S), by Dr. Harlan Raymond Giles, an abortionist. He describes legal activity.)

Second Trimester D&E Abortion

"The procedure changes significantly at 21 weeks because the fetal tissues become much more cohesive and difficult to dismember. This problem is accentuated by the fact that the fetal pelvis may be as much as 5cm in width. The calvaria [head] is no longer the principal problem; it can be collapsed. Other structures, such as the pelvis, present more difficulty….A long curved Mayo scissors may be necessary to decapitate and dismember the fetus…" (From the medical textbook Abortion Practice – Dr. Warren Hern, p.154)

***

“The doctor grips a fetal part with the forceps and pulls it back through the cervix and vagina, continuing to pull even after meeting resistance from the cervix. The friction causes the fetus to tear apart. For example, a leg might be ripped off the fetus as it is pulled through the cervix and out of the woman. The process of evacuating the fetus piece by piece continues until it has been completely re-moved.” (US Supreme Court, Gonzales vs. Carhart, April 18, 2007, describing the D&E procedure).

***

"Let's just say for instance we took a different view, a different tact and we left the leg in the uterus just to dismember it. Well, we'd probably have to dismember it at several different levels because we don't have firm control over it, so we would attack the lower part of the lower extremity first, remove, you know, possibly a foot, then the lower leg at the knee and then finally we get to the hip."

"And typically when the abortion procedure is started we typically know that the fetus is still alive because either we can feel it move as we're making our initial grasps or if we're using some ultrasound visualization when we actually see a heartbeat as we're starting the procedure. It's not unusual at the start of D&E procedures that a limb is acquired first and that that limb is brought through the cervix and even out of the vagina prior to disarticulation and prior to anything having been done that would have caused the fetal demise up to that point."

"When you're doing a dismemberment D&E, usually the last part to be removed is the skull itself and it's floating free inside the uterine cavity…So it's rather like a ping-pong ball floating around and the surgeon is using his forcep to reach up to try to grasp something that's freely floating around and is quite large relative to the forcep we're using. So typically there's several misdirections, misattempts to grasp. Finally at some point either the instruments are managed to be place around the skull or a nip is made out of some area of the skull that allows it to start to decompress. And then once that happens typically the skull is brought out in fragments rather than as a unified piece…" (Sworn testimony given in US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin (Madison, WI, May 27, 1999, Case No. 98-C-0305-S), by Dr. Martin Haskell, an abortionist. He describes legal activity.)



News and Blog Links



John Smeaton, Society for the Protection of Unborn Children:
http://spuc-director.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-pro-life-video.html

Catholic Online: www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=27584
Catholic Online Homepage: www.catholic.org

Catholic News Agency: http://catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=12318

OpinionEditorials.com: True Face of an Abortion by Kevin Roeten

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

...and one more for fun

He gets better as he goes along making these...nice to see Canada in this one.

Just a great laugh

I LOVE this guys youtube post...its nothing earth shattering but its just simply fun and wonderful and pure joy. Unfortunate title, buy hey, as Christians we live by different rules that perhaps this young man is not bound by. None the less...in a day when oil costs are rising, people are stealing and killing over a tank of gas, and all the other world sadnesses, this brings a smile...enjoy.

Missed it...

How on earth did I miss posting my son's 10th Birthday? Well, traveling home the day before kinda threw me off my thang a bit...but, here it is, better late than not at all. So my youngest is a Canada Day Baby...he loves that because he says the whole country celebrates his birthday with firecrackers and everyone has their own party at their houses for him. He's also a patriotic young man and dresses in white and red to celebrate and sings Happy Birthday to Canada too. Such a cutie. So here's to my baby who's not A baby but is MY baby...Happy Birthday John-Patrick, you are priceless. Quite the ham...but priceless.



Friday, July 4, 2008

True North Girl Strong and Free...






I wish I was still up north sometimes...that place gets in your blood...I miss the smell, the water, the pace. HHHmmmmm...I love being there.