Thursday, November 12, 2009

Prayers for Fort Hood

I just read the text of the speech Obama made Tuesday honoring the 13 people killed in the recent Fort Hood shooting. He named each of their names and told their stories, and I was saddened and moved as I read; Moved by the lives that they lived, saddened by the breadth of the loss. For those who pray, I encourage you to read this speech, praying for the families of each person named as you read...and for the Fort Hood community and the wounded still recovering.

I'd also like to share something a woman I knew shared with me shortly after the 9/11 tragedy. I was reminded of it as I wrote this today. The following is her words:

Trying to explain today's tragedies to my 6 year old son, I said, "Jonah, we need to pray to Jesus, because bad people have crashed airplanes into big buildings, and lots of people have had one of their family members die today."

Jonah said, "O.k. Mommy" and he folded his hands, then on his own initiative, he began to pray outloud. He prayed a prayer that both surprised me and humbled me.

Jonah said, "Dear Jesus, show those bad men your goodness. Blast the devil from their hearts Jesus, and blast it full of your goodness."

I was shocked. I had not asked Jonah to pray for the "bad men", in fact, it had not even crossed my mind to pray for the terrorists behind these awful events.

Just a few weeks ago in Children's Church, Jonah's memory verse had been "Love your enemy". Jonah had been very impressed by this particular verse, because he talked about it with me and his Daddy, and his prayer today proved that he took that verse to heart.

Today God used my son to show me that we are truly to be "as little children", and to put our trust in Him, our Father. In such a fearful time, He is the only one we can turn to who can bring comfort and healing to our hearts, and to the hearts of those grieving.

Only God can bring change to a heart, and God desires that we pray for all who have been effected by todays tragedies, the innocent hearts, as well as the guilty hearts.

With this in mind, remembering Jesus' call to love our enemies and pray for those persecute us, I believe that God would also want us to also pray for the shooter who caused the Fort Hood tragedy, Nidal Malik Hasan.


What's Hot - What's Not Hot

Decided to join in on a meme I stumbled on: What's Hot/What's Not Hot Wednesdays (even though technically it's not Wednessday anymore.)

HOT


A trip to Austin with no kids...first trip we've taken without any children since our oldest was born. And might I mention that Austin is the most un-Texan city I've been too. It's sort of like the artsier places in California...without as much of the Hollywood fake glam.

HOT

My husband, for various reasons!

HOT

My in-laws for taking the kids. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

HOT

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. It's GORGEOUS! Check out the picture my husband took below.




HOT

Stumbling on the same little Mexican restaurant we had eaten at but forgotten the name of during our last trip to Austin (Curras Grill), and feasting on unique food the kids would have turned their nose up at.

NOT

The parking at Curras. They really need more parking...though I suppose it does keep the place from getting overcrowded.

HOT

Google maps on I-phone. Saved us from much mis-direction, traffic jams, and other frustration.

HOT BECAUSE IT'S NOT HOT

The weather! It's been wonderfully NOT HOT and NOT COLD! It's been gorgeous!

NOT


My living room, bedroom, bathroom, etc. They're a disaster. No, you can not see pictures.

NOT

The quantity of posts on this blog...sorry I've been slacking here. It's because I've been not slacking other places. Check out my Art Blog (and yeah...I did the hot/not hot meme there too, with a few changes).

Thursday, September 10, 2009

California Roll

This shirt I found on Zazzle made me smile...




.

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Cake Wrecks Book Tour !!!

Jen Yates of Cake Wrecks, which is possibly the most hilarious blog on the internet, recently wrote a book by the same name, and her book tour is passing through both California and Texas, giving me a perfect excuse to share about it here. Now, if you have never visited Cake Wrecks, you must. First time I visited I stayed up till 1:00 in the morning laughing so hard I cried. On her blog, she shares pictures of professional cakes that go horribly wrong (and a few Sunday Sweets that go amazingly right). The photos themselves are funny on their own, but it's her commentary that will make you fall out of your chair.

Anyways, here's when she's be visiting our parts of the world:

California:
Petaluma (9/28/09)
San Francisco (9/28/09)

Texas:
Dallas (10/3/09)
Austin (10/4/09)


.

88 Year Old Woman Comments on Texas Snowstorms (and other things)

A friend shared this with me...gather it's been around forever, but this is my first time seeing it. In it Ellen DeGeneres returns a call from a 88 lady named Gladys from Austin Texas. The whole thing is hilarious, but I especially loved Gladys' commentary on the hullabaloo over a snowstorm in Austin. Snow is more common here in Texas than in most of California (I was lucky enough to live in one of the few places that got it regularly when I lived there)...but the reaction to it is pretty much the same.

Anyways, enjoy!