To be sure!

The world and the state of Nebraska was rocked last week when a lone gunman open fired in a crowded Omaha mall. He killed 5 before turning the gun on himself. I heard one report a customer saw a man (either a store employee or a customer I can’t remember which) standing when another person came up to him and stood right next to him. That person was gunned down while the first man was left standing.

The world wept on Sunday when we heard the news of the shootings in Arvada, Colorado and Colorado Springs. Two missionaries and two church members shot before the lone gunman, believed to be responsible for both shootings, was killed. It was originally thought he was killed by an armed security officer, it has since been determined her shots did not kill him, but he turned his own gun on himself and pulled the trigger.

No less tragic is the shooting at a Las Vegas bus stop. It seems there had been a fight in an elementary school and the children decided it wasn’t over yet and one started shooting at the bus stop.

It is all so senseless! But desperate people do desperate things in times of desperation.Christmas is a very desperate time for many people. A time of happiness and joy turns into a time of sadness and death. And it is no wonder. The enemy of our souls wants nothing more than to keep our focus off the babe in a manger and on our own wretchedness.

I have been challenged in reading out of Luke today to be actively looking for random acts of kindness to do in Jesus name. Not my own name. Not to bring glory to me. But to bring glory to Him and maybe just change the outlook and outcome of someone’s day.

A few ideas:

• Pay for the meal of the car behind you in the drive thru lane. Tell them you’re doing because you love Jesus.
• Pay for the coffee of the next person at Starbucks. Tell the barista “Just tell them Jesus bought their coffee.” You will  not only bless the person you bought coffee for, but the Starbucks employee will also be blessed.
• Shovel the snow for someone you don’t know.
• Leave hot cocoa for your mail man. Tell him “Be warmed on this cold day in the name of Jesus.”
• Let someone go ahead of you in line at the grocery store or WalMart. Do it with a smile!
• Help an older man/woman on the ice. Without being asked.
• Make goodies and deliver to a homeless shelter.

The list could go on and on.

I challenge you as well. Look for random acts of kindness to do for someone else everyday between now and Christmas. Be desperate about it. But don’t stop at just one a day. Do as many as you can.

Because the world is desperate for what we have and they desperately need it.

I was chatting with Beanie this morning over her Barbies choice of attire. Or Beanie’s choice of her Barbies’ attire.  Beanie told me, “Momma, Daddy would not approve of a dress like this for me. But for my barbie it is okay.”

Since when?

Why are we expected to buy clothes for barbies we won’t allow our children to wear? Why is that?

This morning we awoke to not quite an inch of snow on the ground and more falling from the sky. The forecast is for snow all day today, all night and tomorrow.  YIPPEEE!!!

I noticed my across-the-street neighbor out sweeping his sidewalks and another one shoveling. I was quite tempted holler across the street, “I’ll pay you a quarter to do mine.” But thought that might be too cheap.

So instead I hauled the girlies outside for PE. They played while I worked shoveling and sweeping all the snow.

Wasn’t it nice of them to stop playing so I could take pictures?  After the pictures it was inside for hot cocoa and lunch. That of course was followed by spelling tests, math and handwriting.

But now it’s blissfully quiet time.

I was listening to the girls as they played outside and I realized something. You know how children will play pretend with books, movies or whatever. I think my girls watch “If Walls Could Talk” too much or maybe they just do too much history. (and is it any wonder as I love history?) They were pretending to have mysteries around their house and find tombstones. I am sure one was Mike Siegel.

Good night.

I should have seen it coming. I’ve been struggling with Goober with her math. She pleasantly informed me this morning five minus 2 was 7. Her problem was ___ - 2=7. She was convinced the answer was 5. Until I showed it to her as an addition problem.

Believe it or not, she knocked off 5 pages today and did really well.  I was beginning to think I was really something until Beanie showed up at the school desk. Okay so it’s really just the dining room table but….

It was time for her to work on reading. Now, she has read books before. She knows how to read. All she has to do is decide to read and she’s a goner. She could not read the page. I was quite frustrated.  She has now been forbidden from checking out anything at the library until she decides she’ll read.

A fate worse than death or so I thought. I know it would be for me. Her response?

“I don’t care.”

That is until she learned her Millie Keith book on CD would have to be returned to the library.  Maybe it will work. If not, there’s always private schools…

Only half joking. After this week I’m really tempted to send them someplace and let someone else deal with the whole she-bang. But I know I would miss out on so much of their “getting it”.

I am frustrated with myself since I got so frustrated and angry with her. I just know she knows it and is choosing to miss out on so much. I can’t imagine not caring if I couldn’t check out library books. I think I would die without my books.

To top it off, I loaded the dishwasher, closed the door and prepared to start the cycle when I hear a “ping” followed by a muffled thud coming from the belly of the dishwasher. I opened it up, fearing the worst and hoping it wasn’t what I thought it was.  I was hoping it was just my large glass mixing bowl. I’ve been praying it would break.  That bowl was fine.

Of course.

No, it was my worst fear. The carafe on my coffee pot broke. This is the coffee pot I have had since spring, 1995. My chums and guards (3-6th grades) in AWANA gave it to me as a wedding gift.

I  should be happy it broke as now I can get a new coffee pot. But I’m not. I loved that machine!

Not at all. Not one little bit of me likes math. In teaching Goober, I am learning it again and again learning I don’t like it.

When I was in school learning fractions, I wasn’t all that thrilled.  I did fine with 1/2 and 1/4 and so on. But any more than that, I was lost.  Reducing fractions to the lowest common denominators went right over my head.

Care to wager a guess what Goober is learning in math right now?

Fractions!!!

She has crazy problems like 9/8 x 8  =?  And 3/2 x 8 =?  If 2/2 equals one whole, how can you possibly have 3/2? I know I know. reduce. But to what?

Why can’t we just go back to multiplication and division? That is easy. I am too old for this stuff.