Saturday, February 28, 2009

Stephanie & Mark's Wedding

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Today, I had the pleasure of watching one of my nieces, Stephanie, walk down the aisle and join herself to her now-husband, Mark. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful and Stephanie was radiant. It's days like today that I am so proud of all the family that I acquired nearly 12 years ago when Rob and I walked down the aisle and committed ourselves to each other.

We took Nadine to the ceremony, and of course, it was a full Catholic mass w/communion so she was quickly bored with the whole thing. Jourdyn went as well, and she followed suit with her sister. We took Nadine home after the ceremony and just Rob, Jourdyn and I headed to the reception which was at Tamaron Country Club. That was a first for us being there. We had a wonderful dinner - Roast beef, chicken, mashed potatoes and corn.

One of the scripture readings today was from Proverbs 31.

Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil. All the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands. She is like the merchant ships. She brings her food from afar. She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household. And a portion for her maidservants....her children rise up and call her blessed, Her husband also, and he praises her.

It is said that the woman in this passage is the ideal woman, that we shouldn't look at the entirety of the passage (which it is not all here), and think wow! I could never live up to that! However, I believe that we can't live up to but with God all things are possible, and with Him on my side working things for his glory, my children and husband can call me blessed and I can be a Proverbs 31 woman.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

25/25

No that's not my vision! I wish! Is that even possible? I don't know! Anyways, that is my score on my "Death Becomes Us" paper! WooHoo!!! I am very excited about it! I am right now in a great theological discussion on Ryan's blog. I absolutely love to discuss this stuff. And the fun part is, hold on to your seats, that I 100% believe that there will be Baptists, Nazarenes and even Catholics in heaven! Whoa! (And other denominations as well that preach, teach and testify to Jesus Christ and his saving grace) I am more and more convinced each day that we are all here for a purpose and that through our following of God's will in our lives that purpose can be realized.

It's hard to explain why I believe denominations are an essential part of the Church today. The easiest words are that people need because of their makeup, their personality, their experiences, for whatever reason, people need differing denominational views to get them to a point of decision. God in his sovereignty has allowed denominations to prosper and grow the Church and for this there must be a purpose. Praise be to God that he is not willing that one should perish! Praise be to God that there is hope for all who choose to see it and believe in it! Praise be to God that He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, for me, who like Paul can say I am the worst of sinners! Praise be to God for the restoration He has given my soul, my life and my very being! Praise be to God for the opportunity to daily praise Him for all that He is and all that He promises to be in the future!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Another Essay

Same disclaimer as before: PLEASE DO NOT COPY OR USE THIS MATERIAL WITHOUT ASKING ME FIRST AND ALWAYS CITE ME.
This was my first essay for my current class. I received a 25/25 on it! :)
Christian Perfection:
A Process Not A Status

By
Sharon McQueary
B.A. - Bowling Green State University, 2003

Submitted to Dr. Edwin Crawford, Professor
for PL 551 Philosophical Foundations of Ministry
at Northwest Nazarene University
February 8, 2009

Words are highly effective. They infuse emotion. They make or break many relationships. They control our lives. How we define each word that we choose to utter may not be a universal definition of the word. There will be quite likely differing attitudes towards and characterizations to any given word that we speak. The word “perfection” is one such word. Many describe perfection (as Plato did) as an ideal, as an almost always unattainable status in which faults or mistakes do not exist. This is true no matter what object or concept one would apply the word “perfection” or “perfect” to (i.e. the perfect house, the perfect child). Anyone would question such claims. The same is true when the word “perfection” and all its innuendos are coupled with the term “Christian” – Christian Perfection. John Wesley said, “whosoever preaches perfection (as the phrase is,) that is, asserts that it is attainable in this life, runs great hazard of being accounted by them worse than a heathen man or a publican.[1]” Even hundreds of years ago, how one chose to speak about perfection had to be well thought out and executed. Wesley later argues in his 40th sermon that the idea of Christian perfection is laid out in the Bible; it cannot be avoided or ignored because of one’s apprehensiveness to the word. If Christian perfection is indeed real and attainable, it must be thoroughly explained. Our words must be not only intentional, but more significantly, believable. Christian perfection must have accurate characterization carried to the minds and hearts of those who find their prior understanding of perfection to be offensive.
The Apostle Paul in describing his Christian walk said, "I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward--to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.[2]” Other versions of the Bible use the word perfect in this passage. The NIV and KJV both speak of being made perfect; tying the Christian walk to a movement towards perfection. The writings of Aristotle, a student of Plato’s, lend much credence the concept of Christian perfection. Through Aristotle’s understanding of the nature of reality, Christian perfection becomes more than a status rarely ever attained. Christian perfection is the process in which one is becoming all that they were intended by their Creator to be. Christian perfection becomes a process that is lived out in our lives, not a rank or position that places us higher than others.
This paper will argue that Christian perfection juxtaposed with Aristotle’s view of reality provides a believable case for one’s ability, through a process of continual forward-motion, to move towards Christian perfection in this life. Defining humanity’s purpose for existence is the first step; afterwards we will visit Aristotle’s idea of potentiality and actuality in regards to living a life of just being or advancing to a life of becoming.
“Men do not think they know a thing till they have grasped the ‘why’ of. So we too must do this as regards both coming to be and passing away and every kind of physical change, in order that, knowing their principles, we may try to refer to these principles each of our problems.[3]” The simple fact is that we wonder who we are, why we are and is there more. As far back as Adam and Eve in the garden, humanity has pondered the meaning and purpose of life.
Aristotle’s method of teleology “claims that there is purpose in existence.[4]” Being created for a purpose is familiar to all Christians. An essential part of believing in Jesus Christ is an understanding that all humanity has an eternal purpose, whether it is realized or unrealized. (Ephesians 3:14-17, Amplified, Ephesians 1:3-14, NIV)
The most basic explanation of our purpose in existence is that God created humans to commune with Him, to be in relationship with Him. From that premise, our purpose is stretched out almost endlessly. When created Adam and Eve could be said to have been created in perfect being. They were in relationship with God living there intended purpose.
Something happened in the Garden of Eden with the first humans. They chose to break fellowship with God; they chose to stop being what they were intended to be and the ensuing result was the fall of humanity. A barrier was placed between God and His creation, most simply defined as ourselves. Humanity had placed itself before their purpose of relationship with God. The idea of just being, of fulfilling our purpose, was now impossible.
Thousands of years later, God provided a way to once and for all restore that divine purpose of existence through Jesus Christ. Through his life, death, burial and resurrection Jesus Christ poured grace on the broken wounds of humanity and if acknowledged His grace gives the ability to restore one’s purpose in existence, to be in relationship with God. What once was with Adam and Eve, just simply being had been lost forever. God’s grace endows the believer with the ability to recapture that purpose in a new way - through becoming. Christian perfection is through the grace of God perpetual movement toward our divine purpose of existence to become what God made us to be.
Aristotle’s perceptions of potentiality and actuality are reasonably applicable to finding an authentic understanding of what biblical Christian perfection is. “Potentiality is what a thing is capable of doing or being acted upon, if it is not prevented by something else…Actuality is the fulfillment of the end of the potentiality.[5]” An example is that of a sunflower seed. When placed in soil, the sunflower seed has the potential to become a towering sunflower. When and only when the seed becomes a sunflower has it reached its actuality.
Recalling Adam and Eve for a moment, they were created in a category of being their intended purpose. They were actuality. As we’ve already discussed this soon changed and left humanity unable to “be” their purpose. Humanity actuality was taken away, humanity was moved to a status of potentiality. Humanity was left with only the potential to become or actualize their purpose in existence. “The Wesleyan claim is that the grace of God (in Christ Jesus) can restore humans to the original purpose that God intended.”[6] Once Jesus Christ and His grace realized, and no longer hindered ourselves, our potential is set on track to become actuality. This being on track is a process. It is the process of Christian Perfection. Christian perfection is not about attaining a status, in fact, when viewed as a status, it is never able to be reached. For Wesley, “there is no absolute perfection on earth…so that how much soever any man hath attained, or in how high a degree soever he is perfect, he hath still need to ‘grow in grace’ [2 Pet. 3:18] and daily to advance in the knowledge and love of God his Savior.[7]” Christian perfection is about “reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out”[8] for us.
If one lays aside their preconceived notions of perfection that have been adopted (maybe unknowingly) from Plato’s explanation of perfection as a status, Christian perfection is not something to be scuffed off. It cannot be ignored or dismissed. With appropriate phraseology all ambiguity concerning the words Christian perfection can be released from our imaginations and we can begin to become what God intended us to be!
[1] Wesley Center for Applied Theology, “Sermon Forty, Christian Perfection,” The Sermons of John Wesley 1872 Edition, February 4, 2009, http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/sermons/040.htm
[2] Philippians 3:12-14 (The Message).
[3] Aristotle, Physics.
[4] Crawford, Edwin. Lecture 2 Week One – Tuesday.
[5] Wikipedia, Aristotle, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle
[6] Crawford, Edwin. Lecture 2 Week One – Tuesday.
[7] Wesley Center for Applied Theology, “Sermon Forty, Christian Perfection,” The Sermons of John Wesley 1872 Edition, February 4, 2009, http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/sermons/040.htm
[8] Philippians 3:12

Monday, February 23, 2009

Keeping Busy

Jourdyn is a junior higher this year, which means new and exciting things. One of those things is BLAST. The Nazarene church does this for its youth ministries. It's basically a talent competition but it includes sports, art, math, singing, instruments, prose, etc. Jourdyn has decided to complete in vocal performance, piano, entering a painting and taking the math test. She is going to play "Forever" on the piano. And she is going to sing "Me and Jesus" by StellarKart. We will be going to Hobby Lobby to purchase a canvas and paints for her to do her painting. She is thinking of copying a Matisse or Van Gogh with her own twist, but really hasn't decided.

I can tell you though it is going to make for one busy month of March. All of the kids birthday's are just around the corner. Nadine and Rowan first. They are having a combined birthday party with just some of our friends, including Ju, Bro and Dad. Then Jourdyn has hers at the end of the month. Party wise we were going to have one but she decided to participate in BLAST so now we are going to just have to see if time allows for one. But she also has two quiz meets in March. One on the 7th and the other on the 21st.

Nadine was invited to her first Tea on the 7th as well and that's Rowan's birthday. So that day will definitely be busy. March is just going to be a really busy month! But it will definitely be fun!

I cannot believe that Rowan will be 3, Nadine 5 and Jourdyn 12.

Also we FINALLY got Rowan's sleep study results back. Good news is his EEG was negative, which means that it is not his brain causing the sleep apnea (which he does have). So they are sending him to see good ole Peds Pulm at Toledo Hospital. They will have to determine the next steps to take. But he is experiencing apnea on a nightly basis. They cannot get him in until April 23rd! Two months away! Could you imagine how long he would have to wait if we had socialized/universal health care? This time next year we'd still be waiting.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Death Becomes Us

So here is the paper that I wrote about Nietzsche's statement "God is dead." PLEASE DO NOT COPY IT AND POST IT ELSEWHERE. IF YOU USE PORTIONS OF IT PLEASE ASK ME (hint: I'll say yes! I just want to know who's using it!) AND CITE ME.

Death Becomes Us

By
Sharon McQueary
B.A. - Bowling Green State University, 2003

Submitted to Dr. Edwin Crawford, Professor
for PL 551 Philosophical Foundations of Ministry
at Northwest Nazarene University
February 21, 2009

“God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife – who will wipe the blood from us?” These are the words of Friedrich Nietzsche in his work, The Gay Science, in which he makes the extraordinary claim that God is dead and that He died at the hands of His most prized creation.
Since written Nietzsche’s words have catapulted him to infamy. Either regarded as a pioneer in modern atheism or as a blasphemous heretic who had no respect for God. With careful reading one might see that Nietzsche was not delighting in the death of God. In The Gay Science it is very clear that he is indeed lamenting the death of God. In the story of The Madman, the portion of The Gay Science that contains this claim that God is dead, the madman that proclaims this tragedy is met with an audience that does not understand his plight leading him to claim that he has “come too early.” He was “not yet at the right time. This prodigious event is still on its way and is traveling.” This paper will attempt to show that over 100 years later the madman’s foresight of the death of God has come to fruition. “God is dead! And we have killed him...What are these churches now, if they are not the tombs and monuments of God?”
We will begin with looking at how it is that modern science has redefined the meaning and purpose of humanity and how this incorrect perception has delivered the fatal wound. Then we will move towards two visible symptoms of death that plague the Church today. Lastly, this paper will attempt to guide towards a revival, the resurrection for the Church today.
Several philosophers, including Nietzsche not only claim that God is dead but they also know how it is that he has come to be murdered. Walter Stace proposed that religion cannot survive the science of purposelessness. “The real turning point between the medieval age of faith and the modern age of unfaith came when the scientists of the seventeenth century turned their backs upon what used to be called ‘final causes.’ The final cause of a thing or event meant the purpose which it was supposed to serve in the universe, its cosmic purpose.”[1] Death has come because we have been talked out of living a life of purpose. The message of the Bible is that there is meaning and purpose in life. We were created to be in relationship with God. We have a divine purpose. When that purpose is laid aside, we are in outright defiance of our Creator, God. Modern science says not only that there is no creator to be called to account to, but more poignantly that there is no purpose in life at all. Humanity’s existence is random and pointless. “In Nietzsche’s view, developments in modern science and the increasing secularization of western society had effectively ‘killed’ the Christian God, who had served as the basis for meaning and value in the West for more than a thousand years.”[2]
This concept of living a life that is meaningless and random has caused a great dilemma for Christianity. “The thought that man is not free, that he is the helpless plaything of forces over which he has no control, has deeply penetrated the modern mind,”[3] including the Church. If life is a random sequence of events, in which we have no control, there is not much sense in living as if there is purpose and for sure, it’s idiotic to live as if we have a specific purpose. It is in this vein that “Nietzsche announces that God is dead and it is we who have killed him.”[4] It is this view that “his claim must be taken seriously”[5] and that one can vividly see the symptoms of death in the Church today. Let’s discuss just two of those symptoms.
Symptom 1: Death is evident in our worship. “If Nietzsche was to walk into one of our churches, he might watch what we do and claim that our behaviors and our values give sufficient evidence that, for us, God is dead.”[6] For many, much of worship is spent watching the clock, reading the bulletin, doing all that we can to not express any form of gratitude or emotion towards God. One standing and watching, as if behind a screen, hidden from those they are observing, would see people who claim to be worshipping. Yet they are not singing praises to the living God, their King as the Psalmists did. They are not showing signs of the awe-filled experience that happens when one comes spirit-to-spirit with a living God. Even amidst all the excitement of Sunday morning worship today we are somehow missing the glory, the majesty and the splendor of a living God who has indeed created us for a divine purpose with his moral values.
Symptom 2: Death is evident because our faith has become something we do on Sunday mornings, instead of our faith defining who we are in every waking breath.” Today, the world has become an all about me society, a modern day Babylon, in which we spend our lives serving ourselves in an empty vacuum that sucks our spirits of any hope and meaning. Sadly, many Christians today have taken a first class ticket on this train to nowhere, bringing our ‘needs’ to worship on Sunday, expecting that God somehow fill them up to make it through the week, until they return next Sunday for their refill. God is dead to us in our daily lives. Our faith is just another notch on the belt of life and holds no real meaning in our day-to-day activities.
My proposal is that this has occurred because we have spent time trying to combat the little daggers that modern science/thought has thrown at Christianity and have neglected to tend to the hacksaw that has been slowing, for generations, sawing away at the jugular of Christianity: the life of purpose and meaning that we were created for. These little daggers have effectively smoke-screened the real attack, the attack that has ended in death. We have spent time masterminding dogmas and doctrines to protect our faith from these little daggers and have overlooked the need to be firmly grounded in our faith through the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. “When our faith is reduced to nothing more than doctrinal statements or dogmatic positions--void of the relational and inspirational activity of the Holy Spirit--then church buildings, indeed, become little more than mausoleums...”[7]
Indeed, Nietzsche could say today that “God is dead! And we have killed him...What are these churches now, if they are not the tombs and monuments of God?”[8] Now is the time that purposelessness has plundered and savagely killed. However, it is not God who has died. It is us. It is humanity that has died and our hope is in our Resurrected God, our living Savior, Jesus Christ. Modern science/thought cannot claim the final victory. The final victory is in Jesus Christ. Our resurrection is found in rekindling our faith. It lies in our refocusing and reestablishing our faith in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word.

[1] Walter T. Stace, Man Against Darkness.
[2] Wikipedia.org, Friedrich Nietzsche, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_nietzsche.
[3] Walter T. Stace, Man Against Darkness.
[4] Dr. Edwin Crawford, Week 3, Thursday Lecture for Philosophical Foundations for Ministry.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Rich Hadley via electronic communication.
[8] Nietzsche, The Gay Science.

East River Drive & Date Night

Last night, Rob and I went out with our great friends, Chuck and Charlene. We headed to Nagoya for dinner at Levis Commons. We had contemplated heading downtown to the new PizzaPapalis and Blarney Pub, but in the end decided against it. There's free parking in P-burg and not much walking outside in the freezing cold that has decided to grace us again here in Ohio.
After dinner we strolled over to Fat Fish Blue/The Funny Bone to see the 10:15 show. We were a few minutes early so Char and I kicked it old school on the dance floor to the smooth sounds of East River Drive, a local band. Just a couple songs though and we were off to laugh the night away with a couple of comedians in the Funny Bone. After watching them, we headed back to the dance floor for just a couple more songs and then called it a night.

Here are some great pictures! And sorry for the absence of our husbands! It was date night they were there - I promise!!! Char has picks to prove it!

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Friday, February 20, 2009

God is Dead and we have killed him!

As you well know, my class right now is a philosophy class. I was very concerned at the beginning of the class. I have always HATED philosophy classes. The main reason is that all that I have taken int he past have been about tearing down religion, about proving (as if they could) that there is no God and that life is in all actuality only what we make of it and for the most part meaningless outside of ourselves. So naturally I started this class nervous and scared that I would have to deal with that attitude again.

The class from the beginning has gone exceptionally well. Not at all what I had expected it to be. Maybe it was a fresh outlook on it. Philosophy being used to explain my religion instead of tear it down. Philosophy giving the words to be able to speak to others who have no real clue about philosophy but for some reason understand its principals enough to be dangerous. Anyways, it has been going very well. I received a 25/25 on my first essay. I will post it later. I have been cautious to do that since, anyone could pick it up and plagerize me. But I will post it later.

So that all being said, this past week, I was introduced to Nietzsche who is the author of the quote I have chosen for the title of this post. And wow, was I ready to scream. My class that I had just learned to deal with and appreciate was about to be thrown out the window. Until I read it in context and at that point I nearly cried like a baby because what he was saying has come to fruition today. Read it and let me know your gut reaction. It may take a time or two to really get what he is saying. But tell me what it makes you feel! I'm writing my next essay on this. (And I don't know why it is called "The Gay Science." I haven't read the whole book, just this portion. I am going to go buy it though.)

THE GAY SCIENCE
Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich W. Nietzsche (1844-1944), a German Romantic philosopher, was born in Rochen, a Prussian province Saxony. His academic training was in Theology, Classical Languages and literature at the University of Bonn. He was a Professor at
the University of Basle until 1879 when he resigned for health reasons.

The Madman. Have you ever heard of the madman who on a bright morning lighted a lantern and ran to the market-place calling out unceasingly: "I seek God! I seek God!" As there were many people standing aboutwho did not believe in God, he caused a great deal of amusement. Why? is he lost? said one. Has he strayed away like a child? Said another. Or does he keep himself hidden? Is he afraid of us? Has he taken a sea voyage? Has he emigrated? - the people cried out laughingly, all in a hubbub. The insane man jumped into their midst and transfixed them with his glances. "Where is God gone?" he called out. "I mean to tell you! We have killed him, you and I! We are all his murderers! But how have we done it? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the whole horizon? What did we do when we loosened this earth from its sun? Whither does it now move? Whither do we move? Away from all suns? Do we not dash on unceasingly? Backwards, sideways, forwards, in all directions? Is there still an above and below? Do we not
stray, as through infinite nothingness? Does not empty space breathe upon us? Has it not become colder? Does not night come on continually, darker and darker? Shall we not have to light lanterns in the morning? Do we not hear the noise of the grave-diggers who are burying God? Do we not smell the divine putrefaction? - for even Gods putrefy! God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife - who will wipe the blood from us? With what water could we cleanse ourselves? What lustrums, what sacred games shall we have to devise? Is not the magnitude of this deed too great for us? Shall we not ourselves have to become Gods, merely to seem worthy of it? There never was a greater event - and on account of it, all who are born after us belong to a higher history than any history hitherto!"

Here the madman was silent and looked again at his hearers; they also were silent and looked at him in surprise. At last he threw his lantern on the ground, so that it broke in pieces and was extinguished. "I come too early," he then said. "I am not yet at the right time. This prodigious event is still on its way, and is traveling - it has not yet reached men's ears. Lightning and thunder need time, the light of the stars needs time, deeds need time, even after they are done, to be seen and heard. This deed is as yet further from them than the furthest star - and yet they have done it themselves!"

It is further stated that the madman made his way into different churches on the same day, and there intoned his Requiem aeternam deo. When led out and called to account, he always gave the reply: "What are these churches now, if they are not the tombs and monuments of God?"

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Sickness

The sickness is moving through our home! While Jourdyn and I were away, Nadine was sick. When we came home it was obvious that Rowan was getting sick and has since been miserable. Rob has been miserable for the last two days. Today, Jourdyn got off the bus and came running in, straight to the bathroom to puke. And now, I'm not feeling too hot.

Rowan has had a really bad sore throat since yesterday. He couldn't even talk or cough because it hurt so bad. And that is what I am feeling now. My throat aches and my stomach is turning. Please pray that this just goes away. However, I fear a respistory thing hanging around because Nadine has no other symptoms but a nasty cough.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

today Jourdyn had her final Bible Quiz Invitational. She has brought home a Gold again! She missed 4 questions out of 40. In three weeks she will go to Zone. If she gets Gold there she will qualify for District Quiz. If she makes it there then she will make it to Regionals and World competitions. World is the goal. It is in Orlando this year. so pray for her to stick with her studying.

Friday, February 13, 2009

We're Home

Well, my week at 6th grade camp is done! I am home and I am ready to hit my bed. (ooh, it's new, forgot to tell you that Rob and I got a new mattress - after 10 years we figured it was time to retire the one that was killing Rob's back nightly)

So how was camp? It is definitely hard to verbalize. It was good overall. I had one of those bad girls. You know the ones that everyone just expects to be bad, so they're bad. About mid-way through the week her friends started asking me if she was being bad. And I said "No my girls are great." She asked me why I would say that. I said, "because i have good girls, I wasn't lying to them." So we did good. Then on Thursday night, it was time for her to get back into her "i'm a bad girl role." Well, you know me, I didn't take that crap. So I just dished it back. And didn't give her any options. It worked out because I let her know that I wasn't stupid, I knew exactly what she was doing.

Beyond that, most was normal. I was shocked and amazed at the number of 6th grade girls that were falling all over the boys. I was shocked at the disrespect that many of the kids had for authority. But hey they are pre-teens....

We return from camp with Jourdyn still hating me and still thinking she shouldn't have to do anything but what she wants to do. But hey, I at least now have a list of girls that she will not ever be hanging out with! :)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

top l to r: rachel, andrea, maddy, nikki, kam bottom l to r: kaitlyn, kara, madelyn
It is our last night. The girls are wired for sound and it is time to go to bed. I was able to eat breakfast with Jourdyn this morning. It wasn't her choice. We did cabin leader shuffle and i ran for her table. We had cheese omelets and hasbrowns. I am ready to go home but have really enjoyed my time here at camp with the kids.
Tonight we square danced. It was quite fun. The kids actually got into it even when they thought they wouldn't. So we are off to bed and we get to sleep in in la mañana.
Oh yeah today we got to ride the pretty pretty ponies! I love horses!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

rob this one is for you. our lunch today was your favorite pizza.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

leave it to me to find a place at camp to shop! ourdyns boots are soaked and not drying so i was going to give her mine however today i found out they have a store. in that store i found these excellent columbia boots for 35 dollars. woohoo!

kiss the moose - no i didnt get mail but i was close to the moose. they have outlawed the kissing of the moose. id i have to agree he did stink and was falliong apart.

this is my group of girls. i had 8, now 7. one went home sick. we are building fires, shelters and tons of fun stuff!

Monday, February 9, 2009

we have thankfully warmer weather, however we have a muddy mess. mud or ice, thats are options - yeah!

we are now on the bus and passing cabelas. i had to dump my coffee. silly me - no food or drink on the bus. or gum...but sshhh, i have some!

this is just some of the bags. we are waiting in the gym for the busses to arrive. the kids are excited and i need more coffee!!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Heading out

Tomorrow morning, Monday, I am heading to Camp Storer for 6th grade camp with Jourdyn. I am one of the four parent chaperones. I haven't been to Storer since 6th grade myself, so I am excited! I don't know if I am thrilled to spend five days with about 200 tweens with raging hormones - the one I have at home has me at wit's end on her own - but alas, I will survive! I am woman! Hear me roar! (and lately, it's a lot so there's good chance you'll hear me!)

I'll be posting pics through my phone on here throughout the week. So keep checking back!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Signs of the Times

Rob and I went to Franklin Park Mall today. We went just for a bit and really only hit Dick's (for some snow pants for Jourdyn for camp - all the other stores have gotten rid of them already - she usually wears mine, however I am going with her as a counselor so I will need mine) and just to walk around. I noticed something while there. I thought at first it was just in Wet Seal but then realized later, as I began to watch, that Motherhood Maternity, Gap, Lane Bryant, Express and many others were doing the same thing.

Now I notice weird things usually. This one jumped out at me because it would be of great help to me now that they are doing this!

Usually when you go into a mall retailer merchandise is hanging on the walls from floor to ceiling. You know, they put things all the way up, where even Shaq couldn't reach them. I'm sure it's to pack in as much as possible, but I more likely believe it's so that we are forced to ask for help. Once help is asked for we are only left to feel guilty if we don't actually purchase something.

Well, today, this was not the case. Again I noticed it first in one store, and thought perhaps they were just going out of business or something, but no such signs of that. No closing signs. No big sales. So I began watching the stores on our walk through the mall. And it wasn't just Wet Seal, it was numerous stores. Tons of the stores have lowered there racks. They were reachable by tall people. Not me, but tall people! They were low enough that Rob would have been able to reach up and remove something from the rack, which wasn't the case before.

Now of course, my mind pondered these things and when my wheels are turnin', it's usually quite obvious. So Rob asked me what I was doing, thinking maybe I was trying to scope out any sign of clearance racks. So I told him what I had noticed and that I was trying to figure out why that would be. Because I know they didn't all of the sudden decide to cater to short people (that's evident in the lack of my ability to find petite sizes anywhere but JCPenny's). I suggested that perhaps the mall had made some type of ruling or something. But duh! He had it to T!

If clothes are reachable and I don't need to ask for an employees help. That's one less employee they have to pay! Not only that, Wet Seal is a store that you cannot walk through really. It is usually so jammed packed with stuff that you just can't make it through without bumping something or someone. Not so today. The merchandise is just scaled back drastically. I'm sure the same could have been said about the other stores, but I was just too busy trying to figure out why they have empty walls up top!

And on a side note: Dillard had a HUGE shoe sale. A sidewalk one! Hundred's of shoes! Adorable shoes! and I just walked by! Well, okay I stopped at touched two pairs, but that's it! I didn't try them on! I didn't ask for any! I just touched a couple and moved on!!! Yeah, Me!!!!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Winter Artwork


Nadine was very proud and excited when she got in the car to come home today! "Mommy, you have to look in my backpack today, I have lots of stuff for you! There's something in it! you have to look!" This is what I found! A penguin puppet, a paper plate walrus, a tall snowman with buttons, a glitter snowflake and a warm purple mitten with circles!
It is always so neat to see the kids expressions when they have created something!

Monday, February 2, 2009

A long weekend...

My employer reopened this weekend! And what we thought might be a slow start turned into one major butt-kickin'! I went for what seemed the whole weekend without any sleep between working Friday night, arriving home to do homework and find a kidsitter fiasco and not going to bed till 3 am at least to waking up Saturday to having to find a new sitter for the day and having to be out the door at 10 am for a double shift.

Jourdyn is coming into the whole pre-teen. And like the month she was born (March), she is definitely roaring in like a lion. I can only pray that she go out like lamb because I am not going to be able to take much more of this!!! Her giftedness and strongwilled tendencies (of which she comes by naturally) really are a force to be reckoned with on their own, add puberty, change and emotions to the whole mess and you have one perfect storm waiting to pounce!

I spent most of Saturday, with little rest over night, an emotional basketcase at work! And boy, apparently you could tell! Because many people stopped me to ask if I was okay. This continued well into Sunday. I just had a rough weekend!

I found this online at a site about gifted children. And it has helped me understand Jourdyn's world tremendously! Maybe it will help others as well.

"The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this:
A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive.

To her...
a touch is a blow,
a sound is a noise,
a misfortune is a tragedy,
a joy is an ecstasy,
a friend is a lover,
a lover is a god,
and failure is death.
Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create - - - so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, her very breath is cut off from her. She must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency she is not really alive unless she is creating."
-Pearl Buck-

 
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