2 Degrees

   

So just a little blurb to let you know I am still around. I know I haven't blogged much in a long time, and keep hoping to do more; I seem to have tons of great ideas, but never seem to be able to make the time to sit down and put them down together. Most times, my brain is so scattered and I am unable to think clearly enough to collect the thoughts running through my mind. But today I will try as I had a thought I wanted to share.
I checked the weather this morning and it was plus 2 degrees. For those on other systems, that is in celcius.
After a run of extreme cold, plus 2 feels like heaven. It feels like spring. We undo layers, and open the top button on our coats, take off our scarves and hats or headbands. This is February, where any temperatures above -15 are welcomed with open arms.
But if it were say, September. After a short warm summer and just barely having time to get used to 20 degrees, plus 2 feels like winter again. On goes the layers, we turn on the heat on our homes.
2 degrees feels much colder in September than it does in February. But 2 degrees is 2 degrees.  The temperature doesn't change, our perception of it does. Plus 2 will always be plus 2.
And I think of our lives as christians. How we can be cold or hot, how we can be lukewarm.
If we aren't growing closer to God every day and learning more, we are lukewarm. We are stagnant. We are 2 degrees. So the question is, are we bringing cold to the warmth? In a church on fire for God, will our 2 degrees stay at 2 degrees and cool the fire? Or are we heating up the cold? Are we bringing that fire to a world that is cold, detached, far from God?
I don't know about you, but I can't stand being cold. Perhaps it's time to turn up the heat. :P

 I recently read a post about a woman who wrote how proud she was to be an escort for an abortion clinic. Over 700 supporters, and only 4 who stood ground against what they call prochoice, and anyone who disagrees is branded a hater. So many blind and lost confused people out there. So many angry bitter women too. It is a sad situation that in the states they feel the need to have protection for these women walking into a clinic, but no protection for the child they wish to end the life of. What a backwards twisted society if you ask me. There was talk about free will and having a choice. But having free will to choose doesn't mean you are making the right choice. Scripture speaks of things being  permissable but not profitable.Just because the law says you can doesn't mean it is right or just or moral. Everyone is free to make mistakes and hate and hurt others as well as do good.  Children are a blessing that many don't have the option of, and never will. Far as I know, noone who has ever decided against aborting their child after first intending to do so and kept their child, has ever regretted it. There's a reason for that. Or am I completely alone in this thought? The reality is that everyone does have a choice. You can choose good, or you can choose evil.  

 And she said hearing her unborn baby’s heartbeat “was the most beautiful music I ever heard in my life.”~~ Beyonce Knowles
 http://liveactionnews.org/unborn-childs-heartbeat-the-most-beautiful-music-says-beyonce/ 

Let's make it clear, Deuteronomy 30 speaks of this. Verse 19 says “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!" Read the whole chapter and see, THIS is the TRUTH about real pro choice from a biblical perspective.
  

Short note for tonight

I might find the energy to write something if substance this week. But for now , who needs makeup when you have an app that can turn you into a cat? ; p

Teaching an old dog new tricks

      Some say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I dare to say I used to agree with that, but now, I don't so much.
Maybe it's getting older, maybe wiser. OK, it's getting older lol.
I am a stubborn person, I get stuck in certain ways of doing things and change isn't always easy for me. Thinking outside the box, seeing shades of grey. For me, most everything is either black or white, there's a right way to do something, and a wrong way, and that's it. But over the years I have learned that's not always the case, and although it's been hard, I have started to learn that I can do some things more than one way, not only that but that I can learn new things that I never thought I'd be able to do before.
So it might seem simple to the majority of you by now, this old dog is learning a new trick. That's right. At 40 years old (wow, has it been that long?! We'll save that topic for another day lol), I am learning how to drive.
I had my learners license when I turned 15 and took drivers ed through the school. I had to go to Drayton Valley (we lived in the country) to take the lessons and our big city trip was to Edmonton. All I remember of it was that I loved the one thing everyone hated, traffic circles. After that I never went any further, I don't even remember if I passed that course. But I moved to Edmonton when I was 17 and I held onto my learners for many years, never driving never practicing. I never dreamed I would leave Edmonton and was happy with the bus, it never occurred to me that I would ever even need or want a license or to drive. So eventually, I let it expire. I couldn't afford to renew it one year, and decided it was not worth hanging onto. Skip forward 15 years to where I now live in Calgary and have a teenage daughter. Being here the last 4 years has been tough. As far as I see, transit sucks, especially being in such a large city that is so spread out. It has taken me 4 years to learn my way around and I am still learning, unlike Edmonton where, I knew every part of the city like the back of my hand, new places were easy to find, an the roads were so easy to figure out. So many subdivisions, cul-de-sacs, one way streets, freeways, overpasses and roads not meant for regular citizen driving. To get to the Northwest from the Northeast I have to take the bus to the train, go south and then head back north because there is no train or bus that goes east to west. At least not yet. Travel time is 3 or 4 times what it would take to drive, which, when you are working on the other end of the city and have appointments or emergencies, makes for a very long tiring day.
So I decided that I would get my license and be driving by the time I was 40. I know, I kept pushing the date back, but when I had to take my daughter on the bus across the city to various schools for volleyball and basketball games, the tightness of the schedules hit me. And I thought to myself, it isn't fair, for her, that I can't get her where she needs to go and I hated to see her have to miss out because we just couldn't get there fast enough on the bus and rides were unavailable. Being on a team means you have to be there all the time no matter what. Oh, we made it, but I felt bad for her, not that she minded, she was fine, and she understood, but still. So I decided, no more. I was going to be able to drive her to practices, and youth group, and activities.
So I took my learners test but I didn't have the money for the actual license, so as soon as I could afford it, I got it. I worked and saved as much as I could so I could take drivers ed again, and start from scratch because I had literally forgotten everything I learned about driving. I had to wait a month after the in class lessons to start the in car portion, and now I am on my third lesson. I found someone willing to give some extra practice, thanks Marc ur a godsend :P. I am hoping to finish the in-car and get some practice and be ready for my test by February sometime.
I think it's going well so far. I need a lot of practice, but I am looking forward to it now and the dream doesn't feel so out of reach.  It might not seem like too big of a deal to most of you but to me, it is. Setting goals, learning new things, and accomplishing them, has been hard. And I am excited! I can't wait to be able to go places the bus doesn't go, whenever I want to, and to give something to my daughter that she deserves! And so by spring break, I'm thinking, road trip!
And the picture? Just what everyone keeps telling me in various ways and forms LOL
 Phil 4:13 "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me." 

6 degrees of separation

Jan 13-13
     I'm sure you've all heard the term and know what it means. For those that haven't, it's the concept or idea that, every single person on the earth, is in one way or another connected. Through a chain of no more than 6 people, we are bound to be connected with others.
Lately I have found out that as hard as I try to ignore this fact, the more I find out that it is indeed true.

In some ways, its great. Like we are all a part of one big happy family. And its wonderful finding out how we all know each other. Its great for conversation and for making new acquaintances. On the other hand, it can be a bit.... unnerving, scary even. I used to say, well, I still do say, that its kind of neat that so and so knows so and so, but man if they all got together and discovered they knew ME in common, they could tell some awesome and horrific stories. Not exactly polite dinner conversation either, if you know what I mean hahaha.
And I was reminded of the world wide connection, yet again, this week, when I made a new friend and discovered, rather accidentally, they are friends with someone I know. I wonder if maybe my ex was right, ignorance IS bliss, because finding out such personal information about someone can really change how you look at that person. I mean, not necessarily in a negative way, but it does make a difference. I know, with finding out what I did this week, that I will never be able to look at that person the same way again. And it causes people to be more discreet, way more cautious about what personal information they reveal to others, especially those they haven't known for long. Because trust, is very hard to build for many, and way easier to destroy, and faster too.
I have my issues with trust. I can understand why people are wary, I am weary myself. But in trying to convince my new friend that he shouldn't have to worry so much, then finding out who he knew that I knew, made me think twice about being so quick to brush his caution off as something light and unnecessary.
Let's just say, if you are on the internet, what is posted can never really go away completely. And always remember, that at some point, peoples paths are bound to cross. So, don't do with your left hand what you don't want your right to know about, ever.
And that's my rant for tonight :D