The Grace of God

I have great kids. And I am a great Mom. And the Almighty really loves us. These are things I know.

My son, for the second time in 3 weeks, was involved in a car accident. The first one was one his motor scooter: he ended up laying it down and slid into a car. The second one was last night: he was rear-ended. It wasn't entirely the other guy's fault (although legally that's not the way the insurance companies look at it.) A dog was off leash walking with its owner and all of a sudden it darted into the road, and the owner darted into traffic after it. Four cars were able to slam on their brakes in time to avoid both dog and idiot owner, one couldn't. My son was car #4 who had the unfortunate position of being #4 in front of #5 who couldn't stop in time.

Idiot dog owner scooped up his dog and ran from the scene. Fortunately, the other drivers stayed to help deal with the police.

Cars are replaceable. People aren't. The other guy's car is likely totaled. My youngest, who was also in the car at the time, took pictures. His engine block looks bent. , I can't imagine how fast he was going. Although side note: physics lesson. You don't have to be going "that fast" when you hit an immovable object to sustain major damage. Especially if you are a little car hitting a solid SUV.

My son, training to be a paramedic, went into emergency triage mode for all parties involved. Kind of cool actually. No one was (thank God) seriously injured, and my son's matter of fact approach helped calm everyone down.

When we got home, we were reflecting on the accident. My son said, "God must really love this family." I believe it's true, but it's an odd thing for an 18 year old to say. I asked why he said that? He replied, "look at all the accidents we've been in." (There have only been 3 but this month it sure feels like more!) "--------- (his sister) was hit by a car and could have been killed or a paraplegic," he recounted, "I laid down the scooter and slid into a car and could have been killed or a paraplegic, and then tonight, us or at least the other driver, could have been seriously hurt. God must really love us and have great plans for our family."

He's right on all accounts (including the God is actively invested in our lives part.) My daughter was hit by a car while she and her brother were riding their bikes, pinned underneath and dragged 25 feet before other drivers who saw it, were able to make the woman who hit her, stop. My son slid his scooter right into the car's undercarriage. The other guy, who is justifiably shaken up, is walking away from it. 

It's funny (this is the great Mom part coming up), it hasn't occurred to either of my boys that they are victims, even though from a day to day standpoint, this throws a major wrench in our daily operations. Part of that comes from being prepared to deal with emergencies: a small emergency fund, really great insurance including car rental coverage. And it comes from handing down a legacy from my father which my kids have been drilled with virtually every day of their lives: when an emergency happens, take care of business first, there's time to panic and become hysterical later. My kids used to sigh a heavy sigh and roll their eyes....until an emergency happened (notably when my daughter was hit), and that mantra sprang right into action on autopilot for my son.

Most importantly, my son is right. God loves us. He loves you too. Bad things happen to good people. Sometimes (not tonight) those things are really, really terrible. Tonight could have been really terrible. The idiot dog owner could have been killed by drivers #1 or #2. Driver #5 could have gone through a windshield. But even if things had gone horribly wrong, the fact that God loves us, cares about us, and stands ready to lift us up, are all true. Tonight my family was forcibly reminded of that fact. 

I hope your family is reminded is as well (albeit second hand!)

I THINK I NEED TO FIND A DIFFERENT CHURCH....

At least on major holiday weekends.

I am always disappointed, but no longer surprised, when I attend church on Memorial Day weekend and there is ZERO homage paid to those who paid for our right to worship freely in America. 

In contrast, my two oldest daughters were invited decades ago, to participate in a scouting flag ceremony in this huge, huge cathedral for a Memorial Day Sunday service. It was quite the televised production.

I don't expect anything as grand in a little congregation, but truly....we can't bother with a sermon on freedom? We can't have a 10 minute talk about how God established America as a promised land, a land of freedom, opportunity and how we will lose it if we can't obey the law governing this land which are the 10 commandments?

At least our music people fought back <grin.> They saw the music chosen for the day was "regular" stuff, and they completely switched it up on the fly. GOOD FOR THEM (and us.)

This is the second major holiday weekend in my church where the sermons have not even resembled what the day was to commemorate. I try to stick with tradition and hit Midnight Mass at Christmas because it was what my whole neighborhood did growing up. I do Lent, we celebrate Passover and sit Seder, all events which my congregation doesn't really participate. But we do it because I love the connection to the eras gone by, connecting us to our past, reminding us "that if it were not for our ancestors, we would have remained slaves in Egypt."

We're going to add Memorial Day to that list. I hope we find one with a Memorial Day tradition. I came across a website with suggestions for Memorial Day sermons: http://www.desperatepreacher.com/a_memorialday.htm. I'm not sure if I'm relieved or sad to see the same problem crosses through all denominational lines.

To our veterans: THANK YOU for your service. With a parent who fled a communist country, and relatives still stuck there, a daughter and a nephew currently deployed, I value your sacrifice, and the sacrifice of our military community past, present and future, to keep this the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

Yes GWC, You Can Dance

I had the privilege of attending Golden West College's** "Yes, We Can Dance!" concert, performed by college dance students of Nanette Brodie, as well as guest dancers Ismael Murillo, Seth Contreras, Shaquan Ferguson, Javier Gonzalez and Cristina Kole.

It was a superior performance with a broad range of styles, though most centered on jazz and modern. By mid point, Ms. Brodie's distinctive choreography was apparent. Graceful arm movement with extended lines added a dreamlike quality to many pieces. Particularly noteworthy was Madam Meets the Dragon, which captured the essence of Chinese dance with grace, power and beauty.

Stunning performances by Contreras, Ferguson, Gonzalez and Murillo in Fuerza, choreographed by Javier Gonzalez, produced a piece which was masculine, strong, powerful, and danced with near perfect, precise, energy. Dos Pactos, choreographed by Ismael Murillo and danced by him and his partner Cristina Kole, echoed this strength, demonstrated control, and illustrated the results of many years of hard work and training.

A few pieces reminded one that these are largely still students, learning and honing their craft. This was particularly evident in Le Village Africain, a stirring piece with eclectic choreography by Kelly Ray and music by Madou Djembe. Unfortunately, the dancers were frequently off beat, and for most of the performance lacked grounding (body weight "up" when it should have been "down"), strength and power, required elements of African dance.

Volaron Las Calandrias, choreographed by Murillo, was an exciting piece, filled with energy and enthusiasm, flawlessly danced in traditional Spanish costume by Angela Beutel, Teylor Caesar, Teresa Rios, Christina Morley, and Anan Yu (who also danced lead in Madame Meets the Dragon.) The choreography of Volaron instantly transported you to Madrid or perhaps Mexico City, leaving the mundane world behind. A Bit of Waltz Time choreographed by Brodie, similarly lifted ones spirits, transporting one into another dreamlike world of peace and beauty.

**Huntington Beach, California

Blueberry Plants

Blueberry plants cost an outrageous $33 a plant here in southern California. You need at least two to pollinate and put out fruit.

Always looking for a great deal, I ordered 3 plants for $12 (including shipping) from Gardener's Collection.

Hmmm. Now I understand why blueberry plants run $33 each. 

Clearly, the $33 variety are established bushes, flowering and ready to put out fruit.

Contrast that with three blueberry stalks. It will be years (at least one, if not two) before these have grown enough to flower and bear fruit. Very disappointing. 

I'm sure 3-4 years from now I'll be thrilled. Allegedly, this variety--blueberry giant-- once established, puts out 'thousands' of blueberries. But I'm still waiting for the grapevines I planted last season to do something, so if blueberries are similar, I'm in for a long, long wait.

Sigh. I guess I'll be investing $66 in blueberry bushes from my nursery after all. Lo barato sale caro.

GAZELLE INTENSITY, LIVING IN GRATITUDE

I realized the other day, IRS and the State of California excluded, we are less than $10,000 in debt.

That's a huge accomplishment. When we started out on our journey to be debt free, we were over $30,000 in debt, and were at least 45-60 days out on utilities. I remember hearing that the first thing we needed to do, before we even gathered together a $1,000 emergency fund, was to bring our utilities current. That was a HUGE, hard step for us. I didn't even know how we were going to do that, given bringing everything current was going to run close to $800+. 

Last month our paid-for vehicle came to its mechanical demise. There was already about $2,000 worth of work which needed to be done (thankfully, I hadn't gotten far enough to do it) when the engine died. Spending another $2,500+ to put another engine in, (totalling $4,500) to get it barely roadworthy didn't seem like a good move.

Enter our long lost mechanic, we had lost contact with him but managed to find some mutual friends who put us back in contact. He had just finished restoring a 1995 Toyota 4Runner. You can just feel how much more solid it is. So we bought it and paid cash for it, diverting our debt snowball.

Then we spent $825 in April on gas for two vehicles. OUCH!!! Most of that is from taking my daughter, who does not drive, to and from work a total of 46 miles per day. In the 4Runner, that's about 4 gallons a day. So we took another deep breath, and diverted our debt snowball again to pay for a relatively inexpensive, brand new 150cc motor scooter. 

I realized in 6 weeks we had (gratefully) spent $3300 (plus gas) on transportation. Which happens to be about the total of our credit card debt. On the one hand, I'm a little sad we're not debt free but for the other SUV. But it is really great to know that if we did the same thing for the next 6 weeks, we could be debt free except for the other SUV.

WOW!

Talk about a paradigm shift. We're now spending about $10 a week on gas taking the daughter to and from work every day (down from $80 a week!), about another $5 a week for my son, who does drive, running to and from school, to and from work, running around, and I think I have spent $20 this week on gas for the 4Runner (granted, it happens to be a lighter driving week.)

Basically we're able to drop our transportation costs from $200+ a week to about $80 for all 3 vehicles. What a huge savings! And my husband came home last night from work saying that he had found a person with whom to carpool to/from work. I asked if they were going to drive one week on, one week off, and he said no, the other guy's car isn't all that roadworthy. So I asked, "would he be able to kick in $100 a paycheck (every two weeks)?" He's going to talk to the guy today, but can you imagine? We (gratefully) spend $100 a week on gas for him to get to work (versus say, spending zero because he's NOT working!!) If they can work things out, our gas bill for that vehicle will go down to $200 a month.

God is good.

Live in gratitude. Get Gazelle Intense and free your family from the bondage of debt.

HYPOCRITICAL OUTCRIES FROM DEATH PENALTY OPPPONENTS

Hobby Lobby & Conestoga Wagon v. Sebelius, Little Sisters of the Poor v. Sebelius, Elane Photography v. Willock, Craig v. Masterpiece Cake Shop, Perry v. Schwarzeneger, Mozilla v. Eich.

Lundbeck v. Oklahoma (and Texas.)

As the Sesame Street song goes, "one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong..."

What the court cases in the first paragraph have in common is the left forcing a company to engage in practices which the company's owners, find objectionable. (Hobby Lobby, Conestoga, Little Sisters object to paying for certain abortifaceants; Elane objecting to photographing a gay ceremony, Mullins objecting to providing a cake for similar reasons, Perry overriding the voting will of the people.)

The left howled in force (pun intended) to inflict their personal will; state and national courts with no backbone acted like many parents when faced with a two-year-old's tantrum: they caved in and buckled. Like many two-year-olds, the left screams and stomps their feet not on principle, but simply because they can.

They do it to force unwilling participants to do what the left wants, regardless of the business owner's personal beliefs. And the left (and the courts) applaud that standard "as the price of citizenship." (Justice Rosson, Willock v. Elane Photography)

If this is the legal standard the left wants to impose on the rest of us, why is the left taking no action against Lundbeck the Danish firm which supplies pentobarbitol in the United States? Pentobarbitol has many uses, and is widely sold in the U.S. as an effective treatment for epilepsy. It is currently in the news as the drug used for legal executions in the U.S. Pressure from the left has influenced Lundbeck to "restrict for sale the use of its product if it is intended to be used for executions, based on our personal opposition to the death penalty."

Wait, WHAT? Where are all the leftist lawyers? Why aren't they marching en masse on Lundbeck, filing lawsuit after lawsuit, to force Lundbeck to sell to Oklahoma and Texas state governments? After all, the legal standard the "rest of us" have to live by is: YOU aren't ALLOWED A PERSONAL OPINION or VIEWPOINT, especially if you run a company.

So Lundbeck should be FORCED to sell to Oklahoma or Texas, if they want to do business in the United States at all, right?

I mean, that's only fair. Right?

The silence from the left is deafening.

After all, "a person can pray to whatever God" (or not) "they want to, but when they decide to do business, they must leave their personal beliefs at the door" (Justice Rosson, ibid.)

Or how about Tobias Barrington Wolff, a University of Pennsylvania law professor who supported the witch hunt against Elane when he said, "no court has ever found that a company business selling commercial services to the general public" (that would be Lundbeck, widely selling its pentobarbitol to treat epilepsy in the U.S.) "has a (First Amendment) right to turn away customers."

Except when you're opposed to the death penalty. Then it's ok.

Or that great defender of personal freedom, the ACLU (in reference to Elane and other litigation), "every business has to play by the same rules to protect customers from discrimination in the marketplace."

Except when you're opposed to the death penalty. Then it's ok.

If you as a business owner are NOT ALLOWED to object to killing a child in the womb, then you certainly shouldn't be allowed to object to killing a murderer. 

That's the legal standard the left wants. Except when it doesn't work for them.

If you as a business owner are NOT ALLOWED to decline services on religious or moral grounds, then you shouldn't be allowed to DECLINE the purchase of your product on moral grounds. 

That's the legal standard the left wants. Except when it doesn't work for them.

Don't be confused. The left isn't interested in defending rights. Its targeted objective is to eliminate them.