Cheap Thrills

To those of you who read my entries, I want to say thank you. Thank you for your comments! I've made a decision that I am no longer going to state on my blog any intentions of blogging more! Because it seems that every time I do that, I blog less instead of more. My intentions of blogging more are overrun with the activities of each day. And then I feel guilty like, “I said I’d blog more…gotta blog....gotta blog more...aaaaaaah!!” I wonder how many times I’ve typed about how much I want to blog, and then don’t post anything for weeks. That must be really frustrating to those of you who faithfully check and read my entries! So...nuff said...I shall "write" on Paint the Truth when I can, instead of when I want to (which is way more often than I can). And when so much time passes with no new postings, it's usually because there’s too much “other stuff” going on, or I’m just not mentally or emotionally at a place where I feel “up to it”…hope that makes sense. I’ve had a challenging last few weeks! (Nothing horrible---just challenging.) A few times I sat down to blog and just couldn’t keep my mind on it. When my mind is severely distracted, I can’t write a paragraph to save my life!

OK, so now---about the cheap thrills. I will tell you about two items of fun that we have recently been enjoying. One is a $7.00 electric fly swatter.

I know that $7.00 may seem like a ridiculous amount to spend on a contraption invented to end the already-short lifespan of an insect, but this contraption is really not just a fly swatter. It’s an hour of free entertainment on a Friday night! It even provides some traces of physical exercise (trying to chase the bug), which is always a good thing. This bug-zapper actually electrocutes the bugs when you touch them with it. We have had the windows and screen door open this summer, so we get our share of flies and little pests coming in the apartment. It used to be annoying, but now it’s like FUN when they come in—because we get to ZAP them. It’s kind of mean, but hey-God gave us dominion, right!?? A-HA! When those little critters meander into our living room, they don’t know what they’re in for! ZAP-o!

When I was in 3rd grade, we lived on a ranch in Tecate, CA and it was across the street from a chicken farm. We had so many flies, it was really disgusting. I remember it so clearly. Dad used to pay us a nickel for each fly we could kill, and we took that income offer very seriously. But we did it the old-fashioned way! If only we could have had the bug-zapper back then! Dad would not have been able to supply us with enough nickels! We would have been raking it in!

The other fun item I want to recommend-especially to those of you who have feline friends-is a laser light which I found at Wal-Mart for about $2.50. It's a small little laser-beam-on-a-keychain, battery operated. This is hands-down THE BEST CAT TOY we've ever owned! Our kitties go CRAZY chasing the red dot down the hallway and all around the living room, even part-way up the wall. They cannot resist the red dot, and they are soooo cute chasing it everywhere. They get all tired out and then they’re really cuddly afterwards, which is always nice.

Sometimes the best fun comes from unexpected sources. ;-)

My First "Star Party"

Isn’t it great when you come across something fun unexpectedly? That happened to me yesterday. I was in Wal-Mart returning an item, and while standing in line at the Customer Service Desk, a small flyer caught my eye. It was a promotional flyer for the Vancouver Sidewalk Astronomers, a group of people who have made astronomy either a career or a hobby. They all own telescopes and they bring their telescopes to certain locations to give people a peek at the planets, the moon, star nebulae, etc. Matthew has recently had a big interest in outer space, especially the moon and MARS. He learned a lot about the solar system this year in school. And I want to encourage this interest.

So I realized that this group of freelance astronomers would be hosting one of their “star parties” right there at Wal-Mart, from 9-11 PM. So I took the kids to it. We had such a great time! It was the first time for the 3 of us to see anything in space with a BIG telescope. One of the men had made his own telescope, and it was impressive. He told us all about how he made it and how long it took, etc. etc. It was quite educational for Hannah and Matthew (and me!). We saw Jupiter and the orange bands around it, and 4 of its moons. We saw Saturn with its rings and moons, VERY clearly. We saw the moon up-close and personal---I could not believe the detail I could see, and how CLOSE it was!

On the way home, we called my Mom in Texas and she asked Matthew if he saw the man in the moon. His reply was, “Well, no---we could only see HALF of the moon, so we didn’t get to see everything on it.”

I think our little space tour spurred a desire to SEE MORE and do more things like that…planetarium, here we come!?! ;-)

I love Psalm 19 and especially the first few verses. Psalm 19:1 was written on the front of our science building at BJU. I always would read and appreciate it while walking through those double doors into the building. And I walked into that building A LOT. Here's the verse: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” How true it is.

Bargain Hunting

I recently joined “Freecycle”— the local community’s network of giving and taking things that people don’t want anymore. Like an online garage sale where everything’s free. People send messages about the items they are giving away, and you e-mail back to “claim” the items you want. I was hoping to find FREE BIKES for me and the kids—and maybe some camping gear. Unfortunately, I haven’t had much luck with the bikes OR the camping gear, but I’ve seen lots of other interesting stuff. I may be getting myself a free scanner today---been wanting one of those for a long time!

So anyway, it’s been downright entertaining to read the Freecycle e-mails and see all the STUFF people are giving away! I’ve seen a WIDE RANGE of stuff—from freshly-plucked chicken feathers to a tadpole/frog habitat (which I actually could have used a few weeks ago!) to an iPod. You know what they say---“One man’s junk—another man’s treasure!” I have noticed the “good stuff” gets claimed insanely fast. I’ve also been seriously thinking of using this as a means to make a little “supplemental income”. I want to claim some of these items and then try selling them on eBay or Craig’s List! Cha-CHING!!??! What a way to make extra money!

A friend recently told me that she knew someone who went around to goodwill stores once a week, purchased items she knew she could sell for profit on eBay/Craig’s List, and she did just that. I gotta finish de-junking my own place before I THINK of selling anyone ELSE’S “junk”! But between that and the Freecycle thing---this just may work! I’ll let ya know if it pans out. ;-)

So last night I was looking on Craig’s List for a bike, and I came across one posting that made me laugh a little. It was a Unicycle for sale. Here is the picture and the description:

“This unicycle is like new. It was purchased from River City Bicycles and has only been ridden a couple times.”

Imagine that---someone bought a unicycle but only rode it a few times!? Mark and I were giggling about that---like what if we went to the home to look at it, and the man answered the door with a cast on his arm, a head dressing and crutches?

Just kind of a funny mental picture.

Testifying with Tracts

Tract evangelism is not as commonly practiced as it used to be. Have you noticed this? It seems that the use of tracts by Christians as a means of sharing Christ is a habit that is rapidly dying out. I went into a Christian bookstore the other day to look for a certain tract (the one pictured above), and not only did they not carry it----they hardly had ANY to choose from! I was kind of surprised--and disappointed-- at how few there were to choose from, and the ones they did have were less than appealing to the eye. And they were dusty!

I remember when churches had “tract walls” where you could pick through and take some tracts to give to people you met. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen such a wall in a church (especially a “new” church, less than 20 years old). And I’ve visited LOTS of churches. Don’t get me wrong---I am NOT condemning churches with no tract rack!! (Our church doesn’t have one either!) No prejudice intended—just an observation.

I do strongly feel that part of our responsibility as the church body is to train believers in HOW to share their faith, and to lead by example, especially new believers. It’s so easy to “complicate” witnessing with lots of books and training seminars. And while I’m all in favor of books and training seminars, I think that a well-written, simple tract is a really great, perfectly sufficient witnessing tool that ANYONE can use, whether they’ve known the Lord for a few weeks or a few decades. It is an EASY way to strike up the conversation and to quickly but effectively explain God’s plan of salvation to anybody.

We all continually hear about how it is every Christian’s responsibility to represent Jesus in their daily activities. And we know we’re supposed to share Christ with those around us. To actively SOW SEEDS by planting the truth in people’s hearts and minds, maybe even for the first time. You really cannot tell where a person is spiritually just looking at them. Even the roughest looking person might be on the verge of accepting Christ, but he needs a little friendly “nudge”. Likewise, the “nicest”-looking person may have a horribly corrupt heart and will have nothing to do with the Word of God. But most people out there are searching for TRUTH. Searching for answers to the big questions. “Why am I here? What’s the point of all this? What’s going to happen when I die?”

If we are REAL with people and communicate a true love for them in what we say and how we say it---if they sense in us a genuine care for their eternal well-being---I have found they respond very positively. They appreciate it. They may not jump at it right away. They may give you no indication that they are going to accept Christ any time soon. But they’ll remember their encounter with you if it was authentic and honest. And it may lead to further conversation—either with you or with someone else in the body of Christ---that WILL lead them to salvation.

A tract is small and easy for a person to keep and refer to later on. It’s not as “intimidating” as being handed a big heavy Bible. You can tweak a tract to make it more personal, with a hand-written verse or note of care that the person can re-read when they’re alone and searching. You can write info about your church on the back or inside the cover, so they aren’t left hanging. The Holy Spirit will work in hearts. But we gotta sow seeds!

It can be hard to talk about Christ and eternity with someone you don’t know well---like the person who waits on you at the restaurant. Or the cashier you always seem to see in line at the grocery store. Or your neighbors. People you work with. But the more you do it, the easier it becomes. And a tract makes it SO MUCH EASIER to witness to someone you don't know. Because it’s something you can SHOW the person as you’re talking to him. He can hold it in his hand and take it home with him. He can SEE a representation of what you're telling him.

There are lots of great tracts out there, but my favorite one and the one I want to recommend to you is called “Bridge to Life”. It is a little booklet with illustrations and a very SIMPLE outline of the Gospel. It is excellent. It's more than a sheet of paper, which I think makes it less likely to get tossed in a wastebasket. If you’d like to order some Bridge to Life tracts, go to www.navpress.com And if you don't like this one, I encourage you to find one that you do like, and GIVE IT AWAY!!


Mark 16:15 & 16—“ Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

Lazy Days of Summer

I'm LOVIN’ this summer vacation! So far it has been so wonderful. Not having a schedule and not having to get up at 5:30 ANY morning! Not having to GRADE papers or write lesson plans. I have been keeping very busy not being busy. Doing FUN things like swimming with the kids. And having energy to do things I normally don’t during the school year, like cook real meals. It’s been GREAT to spend time with Mark and the kids with little to “distract” me mentally the way school does during the year.

Each day goes by fast, but it's restful. I don’t take this time for granted.

I’ve also been organizing stuff in our apartment, trying to de-clutter and get rid of things we don’t need. I have several little piles and bags of things to give away or sell. It’s coming along, slowly. I made $140 last weekend just selling 8 items on eBay. It’s time-consuming but sooo worth it. I’ve also been able to get some things I’ve needed for a long time, like new glasses and a good pair of running shoes (not actually for running, but they’re the best for my foot problem). Anyway, it’s been great to get caught up on stuff and just get things in better order. We are probably going to move to a different apartment in a few weeks---more on that later---and moving is just all the more reason to get rid of STUFF we don't need.

We had a fun 4th of July yesterday. I wanted to go to the rodeo but didn’t get to. {Maybe next year?!?!} The kids and I went to the big 4th of July event here in Vancouver. We rode a city bus from the mall to the event, rode carnival rides and ate some fair food, heard some live music, then perched on the grass and watched the fireworks before boarding the bus to go back home. It was fun. We decided to do that instead of buying our own fireworks this year, but then tonight I remembered we had some little fireworks left over from last year. So now we’re off to light some sparklers and flowers and lightning flashes (hopefully they’ll work!!). I will blog again tomorrow. Until then, take it easy and enjoy these summer days!

Par for the Course

Several weeks ago, Mark came across a children’s golf course in Portland that just looked too cool. It’s a full course with driving range, designed with kids in mind--ages 7-17. Matthew and Hannah both love the game of golf, what they’ve come to know of it. But up until now it’s been mostly video-game golfing, glow golf, and putt-putt for us. But Hannah and Matthew do have a good “base knowledge” of the actual game (Hannah especially) and so it seems they are ready to go play FOR REAL.

So Mark found out that the Children’s Course has summertime programs where the kids get weekly instruction (like golf lessons) and get to play with other kids, etc. We asked the kids what they thought, and they got soooo excited. So we signed them up (this was over a month ago). But we didn’t have the money at the time to pay for the program. We kept waiting…you know how that goes…and as time passed and no money was dropping from the sky, we finally had to tell the kids we weren’t sure it was going to happen.

Our “spots” were reserved but I was on the verge of cancelling, and then I remembered seeing something about “scholarships”. So for a few days I have been trying to get in touch with the manager woman who grants these “scholarships”. I thought it would be just a partial discount. Oh me of little faith!! I am happy to report that BOTH Hannah and Matthew are going to go all summer, every Tuesday afternoon, FREE OF CHARGE. Full “scholarships” for both of them! They start tomorrow!! And we didn't have to "DO" anything. No application, no signatures, no going down there, nothing. It was literally a 2-minute phone call conversation.

I am SO happy tonight because I know that this was a very obvious working of God to give our kids the desires of their hearts. They understand about God’s provisions. The provisions have been amazing this entire year. But this golf thing is something even above and beyond food and clothes. This is something EXTRA, something FUN, and something JUST FOR THEM. I am in awe of God’s goodness.

We serve a great God. His love endures forever.

II Samuel 22—WOW what a great chapter!! I LOVE it. I took some of these verses to heart tonight as I was thinking about how much God loves Hannah and Matthew.

verses 20, 23, and 31:
“The Lord has brought {them} out into a broad place. He delivered {them} because He delighted in them. As for His statutes, {I pray} they will not depart from them! As for God, His way is perfect. The Word of the Lord is proven!!”

My Mom used to tell me how much she loved me, and then she would often add on, “but God loves you even more, Davida.” And my Mother’s love was REAL to me as a kid. I saw it all the time demonstrated in her words, her actions, her words. I KNEW she loved me. And to think that God loved me more?!? That did help me understand the magnitude of His love even when I was young. God is now teaching MY kids the same thing, and drawing them to Himself. I hope they remember for a long time how He made a way for them to go to golf club. I know I will.