First Things First
I was in the back of the store, checking cartons of eggs to make sure none were broken. There were a couple of other people back there, too, getting their dairy items, when suddenly all of our heads shot up at the same time. Skunk. All of us were assaulted by the stench of fresh skunk spray, to the point that my eyes (and probably theirs, too) watered. It's one of those things that you can't reconcile in the moment. You're in a grocery store, yet you smell something that you normally only catch on a country breeze. OUTSIDE. I put the egg carton in my buggy and, like everyone else, started to clear out, fearing that there was an actual skunk that had been trapped in the storage area in the...
So They Will Know
If you check in here regularly, specifically from a Facebook link on your computer (mobile devices seem unaffected), you know I've had a bit of trouble this week. I've been posting the link to my daily post just like I do every other day, but instead of pulling the first few lines of my post up under the title, it has been pulling, all on its own, an online pharmaceutical ad. For Levitra. Which is another form of Viagra. Imagine my delight. I've been changing passwords, talking to the site host, etc., and it's been suggested that I quarantine my site while we get it figured out (so I'm posting it in full, here). I've been very frustrated by the whole affair because I'm one of those...
Midnight at the Oasis
It took about half a second. I glanced down my Facebook news feed - very quickly, I might add - and happened to catch a friend's post about an old Maria Muldaur song... Midnight at the oasis...send your camel to bed... (It's probably here that you're thinking, "where in the WORLD is she going to go with THOSE lyrics?" Let me assure you that the only place to go with those lyrics is CRAZY.) It only took that one glance, that tiny millisecond, before I was singing that one phrase of the song over and over and over. That was yesterday. I woke up, this morning, telling the camel it was no longer midnight, and that he should WAKE UP and MOVE ON. Our brains are marvelous things. Truly....
Trust. Forgive.
I listened to her address our little group, seeming hesitant, but determined at the same time. It was a hard topic, a hurtful situation that had many years under its belt, and it wasn't really met with open hearts. But she pressed on. She explained how new information had come to light. There were things we didn't know way back then, and conclusions were made with only half understandings of whole truths. And while the full story was not hers to tell, she asked us to consider stepping out in forgiveness. She asked us to believe what she had learned as the truth, because we trusted her. And with that sentence, an even brighter light exuded from her than usual. Her Jesus, the One...
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
He walked past me, head hung low, and miserable, as if he was heading in to a doctor to receive a difficult diagnosis. I guess he sort of knew what was coming, as I could hear part of the conversation in which he eventually found himself. His good qualities were listed, the things he'd done right counted off and commended. But it was explained to him that he was struggling so hard in his current position because it wasn't right for him, at least at this point in his life. Questions were asked about how much he needed to make to maintain his lifestyle, and suggestions were made about how he might be able to stay afloat until he was in a place to better support the risk required for...