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Home is my happy place.
I told one of my bosses that he needed to make sure there were tissues on my desk when I return to the physical office, ’cause I’m gonna cry.
I love being at home.
I’m never bored there.
It’s nothing fancy. Yet I’m comfortable.
Years ago I started praying, not to get wealthy, but to have enough.
Enough to pay the bills. To eat. To go on a nice beach vacation once a year. .
But other than that, I don’t need a lot.
Having a family that I love and that loves me back makes me rich.
And God has always provided. Even when my husband’s company moved to a different part of the country, and he had to look for another job.
The Bible reminds me that . . .
19 And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4: 19)
빌립보서 4:19 Korean Living Bible
19 나의 하나님이 그리스도 예수님을 통해 영광 가운데서 그의 풍성함으로 여러분에게 필요한 모든 것을 넘치게 채워 주실 것입니다.
BTS has a cute song called Home.
BUT
My Favorite song called HOME is sung by another South Korean band, Levistance. (I’m sorry ARMY, but it’s true)
I’m so thankful I have the Father’s loving arms to run home to. (Read the Prodigal Son Story here or here for the Korean Version)
1 Timothy 6:6-12 Christian Standard Bible
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and[a] we can take nothing out. 8 If we have food and clothing,[b] we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root[c] of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Fight the Good Fight
11 But you, man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you have made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
디모데전서 6:6-12Korean Living Bible
6 그러나 만족하는 마음으로 경건하게 사는 사람에게 신앙은 큰 유익이 됩니다.
7 우리가 세상에 아무것도 가지고 오지 않았으므로 아무것도 가지고 가지 못합니다.
8 우리는 먹을 것과 입을 것이 있으면 그것으로 만족해야 합니다.
9 부자가 되려고 애쓰는 사람은 시험과 함정에 빠지고 사람을 파멸시키는 여러 가지 어리석고 해로운 욕망에 떨어집니다.
10 돈을 사랑하는 것이 온갖 악의 뿌리가 됩니다. 이것을 가지려고 열망하는 사람들이 믿음에서 떠나 방황하다가 많은 고통을 당하고 마음의 상처를 입습니다.
11 그러나 하나님의 사람인 그대는 이런 것들을 피하고 의와 경건과 믿음과 사랑과 인내와 온유함을 추구하시오.
12 믿음의 선한 싸움을 싸우고 영원한 생명을 굳게 잡으시오. 이것을 위해 그대가 부르심을 받았고 많은 증인 앞에서 그대의 신앙을 고백하였습니다.
Matthew 19:23-26 Christian Standard Bible
Possessions and the Kingdom
23 Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and asked, “Then who can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
There is hope for the rich man. Jesus said so.
마태복음 19:23-26 Korean Living Bible
23 그때 예수님이 제자들에게 이렇게 말씀하셨다. “내가 분명히 너희에게 말한다. 부자는 하늘 나라에 들어가기가 매우 어렵다.
24 내가 다시 말하지만 부자가 하나님의 나라에 들어가는 것보다 낙타가 바늘귀로 통과하는 것이 더 쉽다.”
25 제자들이 이 말씀을 듣고 몹시 놀라 “그렇다면 누가 구원받을 수 있겠습니까?” 하고 물었다.
26 예수님은 제자들을 바라보시며 “사람의 힘으로는 할 수 없지만 하나님께서는 다 하실 수 있다” 하고 대답하셨다.
It is generally assumed that as you age you start to forget things.
That may be why the most important dates in my life also coincide with special dates on the calendar.
My husband and I celebrated 32 years of marriage on New Year’s Eve. I didn’t want to hear the excuse “I forgot our anniversary”.
My sweet boy was born on Halloween. I can’t forget that date either. He’s my little pumpkin. (He got his height from me–I was saving it all for him).
My youngest niece (on the right) was born on my wedding anniversary/New Year’s Eve. She was the best anniversary gift my sister ever gave me.
Forgetfulness in a relationship can be a good thing.
Don’t keep a record of wrongs. Forgive them. Forget them. — Please watch the youtube video below for a beautiful story and a beautiful song.
1 Corinthians 13:4-6 Christian Standard Bible
4 Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, 5 is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. 6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.
고린도전서 13:4-6 Korean Living Bible
4 사랑은 오래 참고 친절하며 질투하지 않고 자랑하지 않으며 잘난 체하지 않습니다.
5 사랑은 버릇없이 행동하지 않고 이기적이거나 성내지 않으며 악한 것을 생각하지 않습니다.
6 사랑은 불의를 기뻐하지 않고 진리와 함께 기뻐합니다.
Matthew 18:21-22 Christian Standard Bible
21 Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?”
22 “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.[a]
마태복음 18:21-22 Korean Living Bible
21 그때 베드로가 예수님께 와서 “주님, 형제가 내게 죄를 지었을 때 몇 번이나 용서해야 합니까? 일곱 번까지면 되겠습니까?” 하고 묻자
22 예수님은 이렇게 말씀하셨다. “일곱 번만 아니라 [a]일흔 번씩 일곱 번이라도 용서하여라.
Psalm 25:7 Christian Standard Bible
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth
or my acts of rebellion;
in keeping with your faithful love, remember me
because of your goodness, Lord.
시편 25:7 Korean Living Bible
7 내 어릴 때의 죄와 허물을
기억하지 마시고
주의 한결같은 사랑과
선하심을 따라 나를 기억하소서.
John 16:21 Christian Standard Bible
21 When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world.
요한복음 16:21 Korean Living Bible
21 해산할 날이 가까워진 여자는 겪어야 할 진통 때문에 근심한다. 그러나 아기를 낳으면 세상에 사람이 태어났다는 기쁨에 그 고통을 잊게 된다.
Hebrews 8:12Christian Standard Bible
12 For I will forgive their wrongdoing,
and I will never again remember their sins.
히브리서 8:12 Korean Living Bible
12 내가 그들의 잘못을 용서하고 다시는 그들의 죄를 기억하지 않을 것이다.
A beautiful story. A beautiful song.
(2274) Matthew West – Forgiveness (Live) – YouTube
My favorite color is . . .
wait for it . . .
GREEN.
So what does that say about me?
Does it mean that I’m a tree hugger? Or I’m someone who lobbies for clean air? Or maybe I’m in love with money? Or I’m envious of others? Or I’m a little bit Irish?
I’ve taken many writing classes. Some of them focus on character development using extensive questionnaires that delve into the personality, family history, education, etc. of a character in a novel.
One such question is what is the character’s favorite color.
Now you might think this is irrelevant in a novel, but maybe it is not so irrelevant.
If a character’s favorite color is green, she/he might choose clothing that is green or paint his/her room green.
But that is just superficial.
How would knowing their favorite color show a character’s character(pardon the repetition)?
I’ll explain how it could show more about the character by telling you why my favorite color is green.
When I was little, my mother made me a birthday cake every year and decorated it with the usual “Happy Birthday, Anita” in pink letters. Sometimes my age was on the cake. But always there were pink roses with green leaves.
Mama had one small bowl of frosting with pink food coloring and another bowl of frosting with green food coloring. Because the pink was used more to make the letters and the roses, there was always more green frosting left over.
It was a treat to eat what remained of the frosting after the cake was decorated. To get more of that sweet stuff, I said my favorite color was green, so my sister was stuck with the pink leftovers(not much).
It was not that I really liked green more than pink, but that the green gave more to satisfy an extremely overactive sweet tooth.
So knowing my favorite color is green reveals that I have a sweet tooth, but it also reveals that I’m a selfish person. I’m not proud of that character flaw. On the contrary, I want to be less selfish.
Maybe your character realizes he/she has a selfish streak, but wants to overcome it.
What might that look like in a novel?
What is your character’s favorite color?
I have spoken before about my son’s seizure disorder. I’m so blessed that medication works for him. We had a recent scare when we were half-way to the beach and realized he had left his pills at home. Not wanting to turn around, I called our insurance provider and his doctor to get his prescription called in to a pharmacy near our resort. We had to get the generic version because the brand would have costed $1100 for a 30 day supply. For the few days at the beach we thought we could get by with the generic.
Anyway, because my son has a disorder dealing with the brain, I have studied aspects of the brain I would not normally study.
The brain is fascinating.
I’ve learned about brain plasticity and seizures and tumors, etc. But with all that knowledge available about the brain, scientists are still baffled by some things that happen there.
I have learned that the criminal brain is different from the “normal” brain (like mine, lol). MRIs done on criminal brains have shown striking abnormalities. Click here for an article on the subject.
I ran across this video by someone who had no regard for right or wrong. He would have been labeled a Psychopath.
I hope you watch it to the end and then read the rest of my post.
I would say that this man had a criminal brain.
BUT
He met the creator of that brain.
AND
SUPERNATURALLY
His mind was made new.
Transformed.
I don’t know if David Wood had MRIs before, but I know he has a different brain now.
Romans 12:2New International Version (NIV)
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Ephesians 4:21-24New International Version (NIV)
21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
My husband is an enigma. He could fit into several Love Language categories.
They say you speak your own love language. If that is so, then my husband’s love language is Gifts. But he could also be Touch, Acts of Service, and Words of Affirmation. Because he is good at all of those.
He is definitely a gift giver. He loves to shop for other people and he does it well and would make an excellent personal shopper.
If your love language is Gifts then you feel loved when people give you something. It doesn’t have to be big or expensive.
The greatest gift was given many years ago just for you. You should feel so much love.
The song below says it perfectly.
“The story of amazing love. The light of the world given for us. Noel”.
John 3:16New International Version (NIV)
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Matthew 7:11New International Version (NIV)
11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Merry Christmas!
Here is my gift giver. We celebrate our 28th wedding anniversary on New Years Eve.
Church services were canceled today, so I thought I’d post worship through music.
The Church Youth Ensemble plays “Amazing Grace”.
Worship the One whose Grace is Amazing.
My sweet son is on the trumpet. I love him.
Happy Birthday, Grandma.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles /FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
I’ve had my share of writing rejections, so they are not as depressing as they used to be. I’ve learned that the best writers have been rejected. It is all part of the journey.
But I had been waiting on a response from an agent for a while, so I sent a couple of emails to the agency asking if they had reviewed my proposal. I received no response which caused me to shut down.
I attributed my apathy to thinking I wasn’t good enough to even rate a rejection, so why bother.
Imagine my surprise when I was searching for something in my husband’s junk drawer a couple of weeks ago and found an envelope addressed to me in my own handwriting because the agent suggested sending a self-addressed envelope with the proposal submission.
It was indeed the rejection letter I had needed to get back to my writing– dated December 5, 2011.
I wasn’t upset at my husband for opening my mail because I have nothing to hide, but I was hurt that he kept the rejection from me. It was especially hurtful that he thought I was too weak to handle it.
The truth was the rejection wasn’t bad, and would have kept me working, and would have prevented this writing depression I’ve been in for almost a year.
The agent said, “while your project exhibits merit it is not quite what we are looking for at this time. . . This is a very creative approach to a Biblical parallel. And the pacing and characterization is fine. The problem is it felt too over the top or ‘formulaic’. But that is more my problem than yours.”
The agent went on to suggest I send it to one of the other agents in his agency who may have more enthusiasm for my project.
I consider that a good rejection, but I suppose my husband was afraid I’d be distraught and he wanted to protect me from heartbreak.
He has been a very supportive husband where my writing is concerned, but he is not perfect, and I forgave him, but I hate the time I’ve wasted moping over the lack of a response from this respected agent.
Now I must get to work, and hopefully send the project to other agents.
DichotoME
I am at war with my own self.
You see, on the Myers-Briggs test I am an introvert. This means I am drained around people and am re-charged by alone time.
BUT . . .
My Love Language is “Quality Time” which means I feel loved by knowing someone wants to spend time with me. And I don’t need my loved ones underfoot to feel loved, I need them to be there.
Do you see the problem?
These natures are at war with one another.
So, how do I manage them?
My favorite time is early morning when my husband and son are sleeping. The house is quiet, and the boys in my life are nearby. The perfect setting to satisfy my two natures.
My niece called one Saturday morning. “NeeNee, can you come to my house?”
“Why, Baby?”
“The show What Would You Do is having a contest for show ideas.”
As a writer mentoring this miniNee writer I couldn’t refuse. So, I packed up my family(they were more than happy to comply), took a notebook and headed into town where my sister lives.
Sadly, that is my horrible voice behind the camera. Notice my hesitations. I attribute those to dehydration and not old age. But it could be old age.
Anyway . . .
We submitted several ideas online. Sadly, none of ours was chosen. The winners were revealed a week or so ago.
But my sister’s idea should have gotten at least an honorable mention. My son was especially impressed with it.
Here’s her scenario:
A team of mimes are in a restaurant when one of them starts to choke. Would you believe he was really choking? Would you step in to give him/her the Heimlich maneuver even if you weren’t sure?
My favorite “what would you do” scenario was shared thousands of years ago. This is how it goes:
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
(From Luke Chapter 10: 30-36)
We would have many excuses for not stopping.
- Could have been a drug deal gone bad.
- It was a trap, like the police impersonator trying to lure unsuspecting people into his dangerous lair.
- I’m a female all alone. What could I do to help this man?
- I’m late for Bible study. I don’t have time to help.
- He’s dirty and bleeding. I don’t have my surgical gloves.
What would your excuse be? Would you help? Would you be a good neighbor?
What would you do?
Put A Ruffle On It 
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