GIGO

With a father who was instrumental in much of the cutting edge computer technology, GIGO was a term that I grew up with, thinking that it was commonplace. I remember the first time I used it in context – in a setting where people other than family were about. It was at school. I saw someone throw up a school lunch. It was a rather ungracious response on my part – but they HAD served macaroni & cheese. (Did anyone else suffer through the school movie that was so popular back in the 70’s with the African tribe that killed the giraffe and skinned it and ate the giraffe meat? Anyone else have a teacher that showed it right before lunch on the day the school was serving macaroni & cheese?!!! OKAY THEN, you understand WHY the kid threw up.)

GIGO, for the uninitiated (although I can’t imagine any of us are any more) is a term that I think may have originated at IBM, at the time my Dad was working there, which stands for “garbage in, garbage out”. I don’t believe it had anything to do with lunches served in the corporate dining hall, however.

Today, during my morning walk, I was going over, in my head, the list of things we needed to purchase for holiday baking. I was trying to decide how many bags of chocolate Kisses we were going to need for our Peanut Butter Blossoms. I was trying to decide how many bags of Starlight mints we’d need for our Double Fudgamintalicious Cookies. (Healthy things to do while walking, don’t you think?)

While I was walking, I passed the library – and gave thanks that it was open this week. You see, last week, for the first time in the history of the library, they had to shut the doors for a day, because ALL the librarians were sick. Now, I know that this is a HUGE issue, having worked there. I know that one winter, we opened the doors with only one librarian working – and that was a big deal – but NO librarians?? Unthinkable.

Suddenly it hit me, I was living in a town where people are already wrestling with winter-like viruses and I was planning on filling my family’s bodies with multiple batches of cookies and other…(dare I say this??!!) garbage.

I decided right then and there, that I would blog about this – that I would remind you that what we eat this month will determine the health of our cells in – for all practical purposes – 2 months. That means the really lousy food we eat this month and next will be what will nourish our cells for January and February. Did I really want that to be garbage, in the thick of winter flu?! (When we’ve already had a go’round with a nasty virus this past weekend?!!)

So, I’ve been pondering what that means for the month of December, so that we could be as healthy as possible in the thick of winter. For us, it means making certain that every meal includes something “real” – something raw. It means making certain that the whole crew is drinking lemon water. It means that I only make one batch of each of our holiday goodies. It means that we will all be taking an after dinner walk – whether it’s nice out or not. It means that we will all putting Thieves on our feet at bedtime. It means we will be drinking our kefir before bed, to keep our tummys rich in flora. It means that I will make sure that we have our ginger root in the freezer, ready for a refreshing “Get Unsick Quick” drink.      (Lemons, apples, parsley, celery and ginger root through the juicer.  Just so you know, I got my juicer from ebay for $20, including shipping.  If this is something you feel you need for your household, by all means, take it to Father in prayer.  At worst, He’ll say no.  At best, He may bless you with a new juicer, like He did for me.)

So, since misery loves company I care so much about you, I want to remind you that while eating special goodies this season is part of the fun, we must be mindful to keep our bodies well nourished despite that, so when February comes around, we have the strength and health to….MAKE DOUBLE FUDGAMINTALICIOUS COOKIES FOR VALENTINES DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edit: As I’m reading through this, I’m certain some of you are thinking “Uh, you’re talking about expensive stuff here, Lady!”  Please keep in mind that we’re new entrepreneurs who just recently were rescued by the Most High God from having their home foreclosed upon. If you feel that this is something that the Lord is laying on your heart for your family – take it to your prayer closet.  We have miraculously seen the Lord provide many things to allow us to make the food choices that we’re making.  It may not necessarily be the choices we’d prefer (ie: organic, rather than some from Aldis), but they are still decent choices.  

Furthermore, when I first started my study of natural health – oh, let’s see my daughter used to sleep in her swing during our classes and she just turned 13 this summer, so it’s been a few years – the first thing that my Natural Health Mom taught me was about the value of prayer over our food. (Not that I didn’t know it…I just didn’t know it from THIS perspective)

She had a study (I’ll look it up, if anyone else wants to see it – it was REALLY cool) of a school that, hired a pastor or Jewish rabbi as I recall, to pray over the food they were studying.  They used thermal imaging pictures to show the amount of energy that the food was giving off both before and after the prayers – in every trial, the food that had been prayed for had more energy coming from it.  THAT ought to be a good challenge to us, huh?  So rather than fuss, if the Lord doesn’t make a way for you to get the food you think you need, pray over it.  It surely wouldn’t qualify as garbage going in then! 

An idea to make next year’s turkey dance!

We just heard of the most amazing idea for a Thanksgiving celebration….rather, we have just been the recipients of the most amazing idea for celebrating Thanksgiving.

Here is the letter that was attached to the gift:

Dear Family, We wanted you all to have some money for Christmas. This money is for you to spend on someone else…either in your family or someone else who has a need. We are blessed by giving to you; you will be blessed by giving to someone else; and God is blessed when we give from hearts of thanksgiving to Him! Merry Thanksgiving!

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever AMEN!!”

 Pretty stinking cool, huh?  The family that blessed us with the money is in the same place we are – they are stepping out in faith to do all that Father has asked of them, with no obvious means of provision.  (Know anyone else like that??)       And you know what?  They were absolutely GIDDY at being able to share the blessing with us.  And we will share the blessing with someone else, as well.  That means one anonymous donor will have blessed at least three families by the time it’s all said and done. 

I have yet to cease being amazed by all that the Lord does in our lives during this season.  It truly is more than I can think or imagine.  Blessed be the Name of the Lord for He is worthy of all praise.  His thoughts are above our thoughts and His ways above our own.  We are His children, the sheep of His pasture and the Shepherd is attentive and wise and gentle and protective of His flock.  Great is the Lord!

PS If the Lord has providentially brought you here, because you seek to be encouraged that the Lord is faithful and will care for His children, please don’t hesitate to write me at javamama seven at g mail dot com.  (Using the proper “format” and turning the word into the number)  I would be honored to encourage you and minister to you, for the Lord  has shown Himself faithful in our lives over the last year in HUGE ways…and silly me, I thought we’d already seen that occur.  I was so wrong.

Sometimes stirring the soup is really yukky

The smell of incense was cloying, especially when it was coupled with the smell of hot grease, but it didn’t matter. We were in our very favorite Chinese restaurant in the whole world. (Well, all of Chinatown, anyway.)

The table linens were pure white, and the napkins were blood red. The glasses had….(gasp) STEMS and there was no silver ware, just chop sticks. “Kids, we’re going to have something very special tonight. I want you to try it and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat any more, BUT I will serve it to you, okay?” We all agreed – hey, we had our drinks with little paper umbrellas and maraschino cherries in it, why wouldn’t we agree?!!!

Dinner came and the very special food arrived, as well. It was in a beautiful, large blue and white tureen. Around the tureen were glass spoons with large flat bottoms to them. The waiter threw in a handful of rice noodles, which snapped, crackled and popped so much Kelloggs would have been green with envy.

My Dad scooped each of us a small bowlful of soup – which we ate with some hesitancy. (Keep in mind this is the same Dad who used those same words, “very special food”, the time that he had brought home chocolate covered grasshoppers. No, I’m not kidding!) This time, however, it wasn’t bad. The broth was very much like a light chicken broth and the rice noodles were fun to eat. I ate my entire bowl and then attacked my sweet and sour chicken with a vengeance.

At some point during the meal, my little brother needed to use the restroom, so he and Dad disappeared for a few minutes. While they were gone, I decided that some more soup was in order. (Must have been a growth spurt.) So, like any wise young lady – I mean doesn’t EVERYONE know that all the good things sink to the bottom of the tureen?!! oysters being the exception – I stirred the soup.

I don’t know if I really screamed or not. I know that I sure felt like it, as there, floating to the top of the soup – the soup I had ALREADY eaten – was bird feathers, bugs and small sticks. I thought I was going to be sick. “MOM!!” was all I’m CERTAIN I screamed said. She had been helping my little sister with her food, so she missed my big girl attempts to serve myself. As I recall, she laughed until I thought she was going to be sick too. (My Dad, upon his return was no better. It’s a wonder I don’t have more emotional issues from my youth and childhood.)

I am finding that this process of becoming an entrepreneur is a lot like stirring the soup. There has been so much nasty stuff that has risen to the top, in this process. Jeff and I are finding that the Lord is using this process to further cleanse us from unrighteousness and to refine us deeper and deeper. I say, without hesitation that this has been hard….very hard. I can also say without hesitation that I’m grateful…very grateful for all that Father is teaching and working in us and our lives.

For those of you that are following even remotely in our footsteps, please know that there is a special gracing for this time, but it is hard, nonetheless… and it will stretch you and work deeper in you than you could ever imagine. But the joy of seeing this birthed is a amazing, as well. Especially when you are doing so, with your eyes focused on the importance of seeking first the Kingdom of God.

It is then that we are able to receive all that Father has for us, including all the sticks, feathers and bugs – the yukky stuff. And just for the record, should you ever find yourself being served Bird’s Nest soup – take my word on this and DO NOT STIR IT! It’ll put a real damper on your meal. It might even cause emotional issues that will need to be dealt with later.

The North versus the South?

On day while I was working in my office (switchboard) a guest lecturer came up to ask me some questions regarding the location of her teaching session.  There was another  woman there, cleaning my office (and I use this term loosely – it was a 6 x 8 glass fronted box with a large desk and two file cabinets in it!)  She greeted the speaker warmly and the two began to chat immediately.

In very short order, it became obvious to me that the two knew one another from a previous speaking engagement that the older woman had there at IU a few years prior to this time.  Ellie, the cleaning woman, was animatedly sharing with the instructor what she had gleaned from the woman’s class.

She thanked her for empowering her to do what was necessary to remove herself from the physically abusive marriage that she had been in.  The instructor listened quietly and in her sweet Southern drawl said, “Darlin, whah I NEVAH told you to heit thayat mahn!!”  Ellie looked gobsmacked.

“Of COURSE you did.  You said that I should use whatever means I needed to, to get his attention.  The vacuum cleaner cord seemed like the means I needed.”  Now, it was the instructor’s turn to look gobsmacked.

She then went on to explain that what she had intended Ellie to garner, was the understanding for the need to perhaps employ some…feminine wiles in order to remove herself from such a relationship, but hitting him with the vacuum cleaner cord never, ever, E.V.E.R. entered her realm of thinking.

At the time, to a funky college student who had a disdain for all jerky men, I thought it served the man right.  If he was going to beat his wife, he deserved it.  This morning, as the memory came rushing back to me, I have a different perspective all together.  (And it has nothing to do with men abusing women – as that is one soapbox I will not climb on today!)   (You can thank me later.)    

This morning, after continuing to ponder how utterly astounded I was to think that the Lord really HAS given women much more power than we are aware of, I read Elizabeth’s comment where she mentioned she was from the south.  I didn’t think a thing of it, until I read her response to my “Don’t be a pain in the neck!” post.  She had a much better grasp of what was nigh on leaving me speechless.  I suddenly put the two together.

Ellie, my cleaning lady friend, couldn’t begin to comprehend how this woman could mean anything BUT decking this guy.  And this precious Southern Belle who was speaking, couldn’t begin to understand how Ellie could have possibly gotten THAT from her class.  Do southern woman, a la Miss Scarlet, have a better understanding of the power of their words and their ability to influence a man with them?

As a woman born and bred in the north, I have no clue.  My grandfather was a Rice from Tennessee (Rice Grist mill type), but he certainly didn’t offer me any teaching on what it means to be a southern belle.  My grandmother, his wife, was a tough big city woman who vamped him into submission, which he remained until his death.

Granted, it was definitely with her words that she held him in submission (okay, so he was just totally smitten by her from the moment he set her milk on her front stoop until the day he took his last breath, even though she had died several years before him) but they weren’t words dripping with honey and charm.

And I followed in her footsteps.  I could slice, dice and serve a man on a platter with my words.    I could field dress him where he stood, if he was in need of it.  (And I have, in my time, I fear.)  And yes, those kind of words do indeed influence a man, but I don’t recall any Ashley-types being willing to fall all over himself for my affirmations, as Mr Wilkes did for Miss Scarlet.  

So y’all….what do you think?  Are the young ladies bred in the south wiser about the power of their sweet words?  Or is it just MY lack of breeding?    (You won’t hurt my feelings if you say yes.  I promise.  And if you do, no worries, I’ll just chew you up and spit you out with my words.)       

This is a test

This is a test of the Emergency Christmas Letter System.

The blogger in this area, in voluntary cooperation of the FCC (Family Christmas Correspondence) and other authorities is employing this system to keep you informed.

Since it’s not December yet, it’s not a real emergency, however, had this been an actual emergency, you would be instructed where to tune in your area for news and other information.

This is only a test.

(However, if you come back toward the end of the week, it won’t be. I have something up my sleeve that I’m going to post, which will instruct you where to tune in for news and other information – and I hope you enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed doing it.)

(And yes, before you ask, I DO enjoy tormenting you.)

Don’t be a pain in the neck!

He was a nice enough guy. I’d known him my entire high school “career.” We’d never dated or anything even remotely like that. Although, we had eaten lunch at the same table in the cafeteria a couple times. So, when he called me when he came home from college on Spring break, to ask me out, I was a rawther surprised.

Because I didn’t want to hurt him, I BEGGED a friend of mine from college to pretend like she was visiting me from out of town, so I could tell him “No” gently. I did and he insisted that there was no reason she couldn’t go with us. So, off we went for a night of pizza and the movies….as F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

I have no idea what movie we saw that night, it has long since disappeared from my memory. What hasn’t left my memory however, is what happened part way through the movie.

There was a tall, young man sitting a few rows to the left of us. He reminded me of someone I went to school (college) with and I was looking at him, trying to see if he was the same hilarious guy that entertained me in my psychology course. (And despite the fact that “hilarious, tall young man that entertained me” would be a good description of Jeff, it wasn’t him) Throughout the evening I turned my head to see if it was who I thought it was.

All of a sudden, in the dark of the theatre, a splash of ice cold and sticky Coke plunged into my lap. My lap that was clad in white jeans, I might add… I was befuddled. I turned to Keith, the perpetrator of this hate crime and said, “What was THAT about?” “To remind you that you’re here with me” he said.

Shock is an understatement to describe the emotion that went raging through me. (Raging being an operative word, I might add)

This morning, in my prayer closet, I had a similar sort of “soda in the seat” kind of experience.

Our oldest daughter belongs to an online group of young people, called “NarniaWeb.” In this group there have been some truly thrilling, rich and deep discussions about the Lord and His work in the lives of the young people who belong to the group. Some of the participants of these discussions have been young men.

Now, these young men (and the young ladies, too) all understand that at any time, the conversation that they are participating in may be a) monitored or b) preempted by either Mum or Dad. They are cool with that, in fact, they welcome our participation and are both personable and delightful to talk to.

HOWEVER, we have still limited the amount of conversations that our daughter participates in, telling her that she simply has no concept of the power that the words she speaks could wield in the life of a young man. Even a young man who is just a friend.

We jokingly remind her of the old expression, “The man may be the head, but the woman is the neck.” We keep asking her to acknowledge that her words could distract a young man from the purposes that the Lord has for him if he so much as thinks that she is a common representative of how young women think and her thinking differs from his own.

This morning, in my quiet time I’m reading in Deuteronomy 7 and I read, “Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods”

I felt like someone had just thrown soda in my lap. All the years I’ve been reading Scripture, I have NEVER noticed that Scripture doesn’t say that the sons will lead the daughters away – but only that the daughters will lead the sons away. WOWZA. What a weight – a holy burden of responsibility settled on my shoulders.

Suddenly the concept of having modest daughters extended much further than ever before. Now, not only is it vitally important that their attire be modest, their decorum be modest, but it’s important that we help them keep their words modest. (And I’m not talking about just refraining from flirting or any of the other obvious immodest forms of speech.) I realized for the first time that its not just women that are the neck, it’s our daughters, too.

Man!! I think it would have been easier to have someone throw soda in my lap, again – I have SIX daughters to keep from becoming a pain in the neck.

‘Tis the season

Thanksgiving was over. The house was quiet. It was just Jeff and I, enjoying a cup of coffee, while the crew slept in. Jeff was “thumbing” through our inbox, as we were expecting a response to a few business inquiries. We had just been discussing the plans for the day – a gentle walk, followed by brunch, then a trip to the Christmas tree farm, to pick and cut down our tree.

Suddenly, Jeff made a noise one might imagine that Daffy Duck would make were he hit in the gut by Foghorn Leghorn. (HEY – it’s MY blog. I can mix whatever cartoon people I want to. SO….beep, beep to you!)

“Honey, did you buy something from Overstock.com for $200?” I stared at this man I married. Last I knew he wasn’t showing obvious signs of dementia. I poured his coffee that morning, so I knew it hadn’t been compromised. I knew how much money we had – and I didn’t think we had $200 to spend on anything, let alone Overstock.com. “Uh, noooooo. Why might you be asking?” “Because we have a charge on our PayPal debit card for $200 to Overstock.com….and another two others for $120 each for a place called, “My Family Ancestrys”"

Now, let’s be gut honest – when one is wondering how the Lord intends to pay one’s electric bill, they generally don’t go gadding about, buying information to find more about their ancestors and any possible previously unknown family members who might then expect a gift – or at the very least – a Christmas card. No, no, no, no….

One quick call to PayPal determined that in fact, it wasn’t the coffee that had been compromised in the quiet of that morning – it was my debit card. Someone came across this number, and thought that they were going to get a holiday, compliments of the Clarks. What a surprise for them!

Inconvenience of waiting for new debit card to arrive – minimal

Inconvenience of waiting for the charges to fall off, since there is no money to cover them – a bit more

The potential for humor, and the opportunity to create our own Clark commercials about identity theft, a la’ Citibank- priceless

(Yes, I know this is a serious thing – and PayPal has been more than helpful – and they are working with us to get it all straightened out. But, honestly??!! There have to be very few people whose debit card number would be more useless to steal, than ours. What a maroon! What a nin-cow-poop!)  

PS The pic in my header is from our trip to the Christmas tree farm. Didn’t the Lord provide us a gorgeous day?!!! (Nods to Minijavabean’s camera talent.)

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Ones, how I pray that you are enjoying a wonderful holiday, with the knowledge that your Lord has supplied all your needs according to His riches in glory.

That sounds like quite a bit to be thankful for.

I’m so grateful for you and your encouragement and your wisdom.  YOU are one of the things that I’m quite thankful for!

Humbly grateful   ~Dawn

The long, long bridge

“And I just feel, as we’re praying, that Dawn, you have something coming into your life that will be very hard – it will break you.  It’s nothing that Jeff can do with or for you – it will be just you and God. I see you on a bridge – and you’re just getting ready to take the first steps onto it.  It will be very scary, but you can know that the Lord will be with you in the midst of it all.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, I just KNEW that the Lord was going to take all my children from me.  I just KNEW – with fear and terror – that it was likely, since she said that Jeff couldn’t deal with it for me, that he would be taken, as well.  I lived in stark raving terror for weeks.  I couldn’t plan anything, I couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t look to the future in any way, because I was certain that the destruction of my family was imminent.

It was, but certainly not in the way that I had thought – it was the death of sin in my life….or at least, the beginning of it.  That day, a beautifully warm October Sunday afternoon, in the middle of the park, where we were gathered to seek the Lord’s face in prayer, began a process that has been long in coming into my life.

You see,  I have ALWAYS wrestled with fear.  My first memories are of fear. My first words were about fear.  I have vivid memories – to this day – of seeing things in the dark, knowing that they were there to take me captive.  I have memories of the walk, in the dark, to the bathroom nearly leaving me undone.  Fear has been a constant companion in my life.  (And in the lives of my mother’s family before me.)

Step by step, since that first time in the park, the Lord has been dealing with fear in me.  He has put His gracious and loving finger on an aspect of fear in my life, one tiny bit at a time.  Each time, it has been hard – VERY hard – and yet, each time it has been sweet, when all the dust settled.

The first thing that the Lord did is deal with my misunderstanding of fear.  Until then, I had always thought that I was a victim of fear.  That fear would come upon me and rule in my heart -when in fact, it was a matter of sin in me.  THAT was a huge issue.  That understanding was so very needful, in order to understand that I simply couldn’t stand and allow sin to have its way over me.

About 2 years after the original vision was given to Deb, we were praying together again and she said, “Wow, Dawn, I see you on that same bridge – only this time, you’re not just starting onto it – you’re in the middle of it.”  However, the difference is this time is that she described the bridge.  She told me that it was a rope bring hanging over a huge chasm.  Had she told me that the first time she shared the vision with me, it would have left me undone.

Deb moved not too long after that and we haven’t been able to pray together since then.  But, off and on, through out the last years of my life, the Lord has given me the same vision, with me further and further along the bridge.

This week, I believe I am standing at the very edge, about to step off the bridge.  There is one area of my life that has continued to be a struggle for me.  I believe (as does Jeff and a few other people being led to pray for me) that it is imperative that I wrestle this last vestige of fear out, in order to move ahead in what He has next for us.

I also believe that the Lord left this issue until the end, as I could then watch my mother fight the cancer battle – and win – in heaven’s eyes.  No, I’m not announcing I have cancer, but I am fighting some health issues that are really scary to me.

Both my parent’s families have had issues of heart disease and this last week, I’ve been showing some symptoms that would line up with that.  Of course, the more frightened I become at the possibility, the more stressed I am, the more they show up.  (What a lovely little circle they all make, huh?)   I have been in touch with two natural health people, so that I’m not flying blindly in this. I feel pretty well armed, in the physical realm, to do battle with this.  But, in the spiritual…..

I’m still struggling to see fear broken, once and for all, in my life.  I want to finish this walk across the bridge!  I can not tell you how much I am longing to see it fall; broken and crushed to smithereens.  Since I began this walk, my prayer has been the same, “Lord, let me and my family be ENEMIES to the spirit of fear.”  If Father would so lead, I’d covet your prayers for us, in that same vein.  Please pray that I leave this bridge more than a conquerer!  Please pray over me ” then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear”  (Job 11:15)

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For those of you who have battled with this sin, you know how pervasive and aggressive it can be – and how stinking illogical it is!!  Here are a few verses to soothe both my heart – and your own:

I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.

The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea – (this by the way is a Psalm by the sons of Korah – something that the Lord is working in our lives.  I can’t wait to share it with you.)

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;  (this is the putting ON of good fear)

He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.

The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.  (Another good fear to put on)

And I have plenty more where those came from.    Be at peace, dear friends, may we all walk in the Truth of His Word and may fear be far from us all!

The beauty of the Lord made manifest ~

in a very small package. 

If you haven’t already, go rejoice with Holly at the birth of Mariam Annaliese!!