OK!....Sure!....Just don't tell Mommy. It will be our secret, alright? ...Anyway, what's wrong with chocolate chips for breakfast? Or Lunch? Or dinner? ...Oh, I see....Bacause you have all ready had ice cream? Well, that was just your snack...Not to worry...And, hey, look at those pretzels...There's another alternative if we want to add something healthy...

Glad my kids don't know anything about this.

Emmie....No!... Oh no, Emmie, we don't do that...We don't open the door while we are traveling down the I75...Now WHY didn't I think to autolock the doors before setting out?

A funny little memory that popped into my head a couple of days ago...Don't think I have written about it before...

I am ten years old and Mom has just bought a record player that comes with forty free records! It arrived in the mail and we have had such a good time listening to them all. My favorite is "Follow the Swallow" (back home)...

However, the real fun began when Laura bought one of her first ever records - The Bristol Stomp...

Kids in Bristol are sharp as a pistol when they do the Bristol stomp
Really something when they join in jumping when they do the Bristol stomp
Ohhhhhh oooooh.......

Laura can really dance

I can't

But if my big sister is doing it, I will too

So every noon hour I come home from school and head up to the bedroom I share with Liz. I put on the record, move the mat between the twin beds and

STOMP....STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

It was a small house and our bedroom was right over the living room....

Bless their hearts, no one ever said a word...I come from a kind family.

And I never did learn to....STOMP!

High Blood Pressure and the Job

My blood pressure is very high - I'm sure much is to be attributed to The Job...Please pray that I will get it down, that it will do no harm....

I am reading through the gospel of John...In his high priestly prayer, he says, "I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work you gave me to do...

It made me think again of "work" in the life of the Christian...As surely as Christ was given work to do, so are we..."For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."...

Why is it, that when we talk of "good works" - plural- we somehow divorce that from ordinary "work' - singular?....The "good works" given us to do are, primarily, our "work" done with a Christian attitude and Christian zeal...

In the biography I recently read of Jonathan Edwards, his wife, Sarah, said she had discovered that her work, done vigorously and joyfully, was as good as building her up spiritually as prayer...

I am so thankful that as we move into the new heavens and new earth, we will continue to be real people doing real work, though with the elements of toil and frustration taken away. I thank God that He is not super-spiritual!

Insomnia and the Job

OK...Eyes open and back erect...Wake Up!!!! I said, eyes open!...Me talking to me as I sit in front of the computer screen, Not too many calls and chats yet during daytime hours so lots of down time, but my eyes have to be on that screen almost all the time. When they do come in, there is no auditory notification. So...EYES OPEN....Besides, Joe might come in and wouldn't look good to be obviously semi-comatose...

Up, Barbara, up! Move around! Walk! But not too far! Eyes on the screen!

And the calls and chats begin....

Boyfriend problems and more boyfriend problems...Physical abuse. Sexual abuse. Foster homes. Stepfathers. Cutting. Suicide. Murder.

Think. Talk. Switch to the other program...No, not that one... Quick! You will lose the data! Make sure the feed doesn't time out...Are you writing the essential points down in case you lose them online?...Did you remember to recommend resources? Filled out that form properly? Can't! Lost the feed again!...Another chat! Help! How many can I do at once? We'll see...

I'm so tired...Work, brain, work!

And it seems it does, more-or-less...But I sure would like to know what the job would be like with a good night's sleep behind me.