Against all my common sense

Gloom, doom and despair. The media and Democrats are trying to stir up such a panic over the economy that people will beg the government for help. It's their way of scaring the American people into allowing them to pass that "stimulus" package.

Obama is spending $200 MILLION to re-seed the mall in Washington b/c his worshipers destroyed it during the inauguration.

Citi Group is spending $400 MILLION of OUR taxpayer bail-out money for vanity rights to name the Yankees stadium after themselves.

The list goes on...

Then there's that guy in CA who lost his job and murdered his family before turning the gun on himself.

Scary stuff.

Saturday I was driving down Pierce on my way to Columbine HS for a winter guard show. Midway, I felt my chest tighten, my breathing shallowed and those weird star things poked into my peripheral vision.

IRS wants our money (peanuts compared to the dude Obama appt'd to take it over - the dude who is filthy stinking rich and "forgot" to pay taxes? The dude who they are letting it slide?). Excell energy wants to turn off the power (again). I need refills on my medications and my prayers for provision have not been answered. My husband is panicking. He's considering a night shift at Taco Bell if he can compete with illegal aliens for the job.

Panic, panic, panic.

I read Oswald Chamber's My Utmost for His Highest yesterday and came across this (again). "Jesus said if we would obey the life of God within us, He would look after all other things. Did Jesus Christ lie to us?...If we are not experience the "much more" He promised...we are not living the life God has given us and have cluttered our minds with confusing thoughts and worries."

A long time ago I read a biography about Oswald Chambers. He wasn't some prune-faced guru sitting in a zen garden smoking lotus leaves. He was a missionary in India. He died in his mid-thirties. All that wisdom in someone who died at my current age. Oswald lived everything he preached. His wife compiles Utmost so his example would live on.

All the disgusting thievery going on in our government and all those other money-grubbing institutions is feeding my fear, my worry, my anxiety. Due dates for essential bills have come and gone. And come and gone. And come and gone. We've prayed, we've cried, we've taken on extra work projects in hopes to make money to meet our basic needs of food, water, electricity, shelter and medicine. And it's far from enough.

Where is God? Where'd He go? Anyone see Him?

He promised to meet our needs.

I stopped believing Him and have been trying to take matters into my own hands (again).

Then I read that little phrase by Oswald: "Did Jesus Christ lie to us?"

Y'know, that thought was stabbing me in the brain before I read those words. The passage in Matt 6 seems to follow me wherever I try to hide. "Do you think I'm a liar?"

How do I answer that to my Lord?

"Oh no, Jesus, you're God for hiccuping out loud! You can't lie!"

"Darcie, you sure live like I'm a liar. Actions are louder than words. I'm hurt."

Then last night a Words for the Journey, my friend Kim Woodhouse spoke to us about writing through adversity. She changed it up a lot since I heard her speak in the fall.

Her family was in great need. Her daughter has a life-threatening condition and they were no-where Alaska. They needed the basics (food, electricity, water and medical stuff). Kim laid on the floor and cried out to God. "Don't you see our need? We are missionaries. We gave up everything to serve you and we are in such great need with no means of meeting them ourselves."

She and God went back and forth. He finally made it clear that she didn't need anything. Not food. Not water. Not clothing or medicine. She only needed Him. He had to be enough.

Slinking down in my chair, I twiddled my thumbs, counted canned lighting in the ceiling.

Kim's dynamic in her presentation and uses her hands. When she told about her begging God and His response, she clamped her hand on my shoulder.

Lord Jesus, could you be a little more obvious?

All that in one day.

The freak-fest in our home isn't only confined to me. My poor husband is a quivering mass of cellular matter. He freaks, I freak. He freaks more, I spaz and get headaches.

My other friend Kay told me (and Kim backed her up - double teamed) I need to focus on the God/me relationship. Let Him take care of John. John needs to focus on his God/John relationship.

But...but... the IRS...

Do I believe my God is bigger than the IRS? Excell Energy? Denver Water? Kaiser Permanente?
Maybe I need to rewrite the Veggie-Tales song, "God is bigger than the boogey man" to "God is bigger than the (pause) IRS".

Here goes. I'm gonna go against any and all common sense I might have and trust God. Not allow myself to get confused and distracted by all the crap swirling around in our world. When I want to panic, I need to run to my Bible. I need to let my friends know so they can pray me through it.

I don't have the strength or intestinal fortitude to do this.

But doesn't He promise He is strong in our weaknesses?

If you Digg, you'll find some treasure

I've recently discovered an information site on which writers can post blogs and articles and what not then hope readers "digg" their stuff.

Reading and "digging" other writer's stuff helps you get noticed. digg.com is a tool to drive traffic to your webpages.

For example, I found this article on Yarnbombing. I found it on digg and "digged" it.

If you do go on digg, find me, befriend me and digg my articles. Hope to see you on there too!

Oh, give me a break

Oprah has a keychain that counts down the days, hours, minutes and seconds 'till Obama becomes president.

What do people expect? Instant wealth? Some kind of magical transformation?

QVC is selling anything and everything Obama. Plates, coins, mugs, T-shirts... I bet if I dig far enough there are sheets, pillows, boxer shorts and sunglasses! Wait, what about doggie dishes, leashes, diapers?

Or how 'bout some jewelry?

Rand McNally, the map maker is cashing in on the big O (is Oprah ready to share her letter?) with commemerative maps.

Better yet, get a load of this! The Democrats have a superstore with... you name it. So that's how they raise all their money. With the profit they bring in w/ the inaguration, they are sure to buy the world. Forget taking it over! Found the doggie wear on this site.

Personally, I think Mr. Obama is in for a shock. Terrorists don't do tea and crumpets, or share their toys. Nor does money grow on trees.

I hope Obama has a reality check and dives in to do what's best for the country, not what will make him popular. I want him to succeed so the US succeeds.

Until then, I guess I need to put my hope on a rope. (Take a look - a caricature of the to-be prez in soap !)

I'm crawling all over the web

I just started working as an Examiner for Denver. What is that, you ask? What am I examining?

examiner.com is an information site customized to a geographic location. On the Denver site, there are continual articles and feeds of entertainment news, heath issues, skiing article, and now my journalistic and adventuresome love of anything outdoors. I am the Outdoor Recreation Examiner.

I must submit four articles each week on anything outdoors that Denverites will find interesting. I get paid by traffic through my page, and comments etc. You can subscribe to my examiner feed by going to my site. It's free!

When my article goes up, I'll post the addy for it.

Also, I've started selling AVON and have my own website. AVON is doing well in these tight times b/c their products are reasonably priced. Some are priced lower than Wal-Mart! Soon, I'll do a post to show a comparison.

Ongoing medical expenses pushed us against the wall. My health costs more than we make currently, so I'm trying to do everything I can to bring in some extra $$.

Ever hear of Digg.com? It's a networking site for short articles on the web. Writers submit a post from a blog or other internet source, then people read it and if they like it, they digg it. Articles with the most diggs, get moved to the front of the line. to read the full article, readers are directed to your site which in turn icreases your traffic.

Digg, Facebook, Twitter, Examiner, Blogspot, AVON... I'm spreding. Come with!

Tedd Dekker rocks.

Dekker writes some of the twisty-turniest novels on the shelves or in your Kindle if you've gone e.

I think his masterful use of story and allegory rival Tolkein and Lewis in his own genre. Check out his Circle Trilogy.

Anyway, if you're up for an interesting read, take this link to Ted's blog. This entry is titled, "The challenge of being gay". I won't say anymore about it b/c that would ruin the point he's making.

Writers especially -take time to read this.

Forgive me, but this is beyond funny!

England is known for its cultured society and fine arts.

Or...

Farts.

Check out Mr. Methane (pronounced Mee-thane if your Brittish). This guy- no, you gotta see it to believe it! My words can't do this justice.

Tinker Toys: Girls vs. Boys

Something struck me this Christmas while my family lay scattered on the floor amidst a pile of Tinker Toys. What I was building was not even close to being in league with what my husband John was building. Then, add the element of Booger interest. Booger showed zero interest in my creations, but couldn't keep his tiny little fingers off of John's.

Clearly, boys and girls approach Tinker Toys in very different ways.

Blogger won't let me move my pictures and put captions. Grrrr. John's is the one with the wheels. It's a Uranusian Crater Rover, designed to explore the uncharted surfaces of Uranus.

I made the Snorkleblatt, Tinker Woman and Thing-a-ma-jiggy. Mine took about five minutes each. John spent four to six hours trying to perfect and Booger-proof his design.

Hmmmm.

Homeless teen blogs her journey

If you don't read suspense author, Brandilyn Collins' blog, take a hop on over.

One of Brandilyn's rabid readers (hmmm, that sounds like a facebook group name) lost her home and is living in her car with her 16 year old daughter. The woman may have a job possibility, but it requires a permanent address! I swear our system is so contrarian. Get a job to pay for a place to live. To have a job you have to have a place to live.

Brandilyn is taking donations on her PayPal account for this family. They are fellow beleivers and need help. I wish I could give $$, but my family is only a hair's width away from being where they are. What I can do, is make the need known among my group of readers.

To read Katy's blog (the 16 year old) go here.

Should you decide to help, let Brandilyn know you're a Litterbox reader! It will be interesting to see how the word spreads. Also, if you blog, link to Brandilyn's blog and to Katy's blog as well.