Which Way is the Opposite Way?

Opposite Way - Leeland

Living in the same town
For all these years
Doing the same old things
Hanging with the same crowd
And it’s starting to get crippling
You’ve never felt in place
And you tell yourself it’s all okay
But something’s different today
You want to run the opposite way

And it seems like you’re locked in a cage
And you need to find a way of escape
When everyone is setting the pace
It’s okay to run the opposite way

The Father sent His Son down
The light of men
The cross He bore was crippling
Rejected in His own town
They couldn’t see the sun shining
He knelt in the garden and prayed
Father, let this cup pass from me
It’s not Your will for me to stay
Your will for me is the opposite way

And it seemed like He was locked in a cage
And He couldn’t find away of escape
But through the cross He conquered the grave
My Jesus ran the opposite way

Oh, and through the cross He conquered the grave
Oh, He ran the opposite way
Yeah, through the cross He conquered the grave
So you could run the opposite way

Better Questions

If You Wanted Me - Todd Agnew

I'll admit I'm glad we're not disciples
Out on a lake paralyzed with fright
'Cause I'm afraid I might have laughed at Peter
Until he stepped into that stormy night

If You wanted me to walk on water
Why'd You make this solid ground seem so right?

I'll admit I'm glad I'm not King David
Ruling over everything I see
'Cause I think I've fallen for more than Bathsheba
Your creation's a temptation for me

If You wanted me to love You only
Why'd you make the moonlight sparkle in her eyes?

I'll admit I'm glad I'm not John the Baptist
In a jail cell waiting for my day to die
'Cause at least down here I know what we're chasing
And it's hard to trust Your dreams are so much better than mine

If You wanted me to die to myself
Why'd You make me fall so deeply in love with life?

If You wanted me to surrender
Why'd You make these hands able to hold on so tight?

If You wanted me to be like You
Why'd You make me like me?

The value of a life

Once again, we have decided that the value of a human life isn't much. If you're under the age of 18, it'll only cost you up to 30 days in juvy to let someone die by preventing them getting aid (second-degree manslaughter). That is unless there was an adult who is slightly less responsible who gets a harsher sentencing. Then you'll get 2 years, to make it fair.

A poem.

I wrote a simple poem just now. Would you like to read it?

Click here: redbubble

Siblings.

I realized that I never posted anything about my birthday this year, so here's a photo from dinner that night at Rock Pizza.

Car fire

Just to let you all know, I am fine. All I did was roll into someone's bumper while stopped at the light. It had turned green and I took my foot off the brake and decided to mess with the CD player at that moment. My license plate fell off and I scratched the trucks trailer hitch logo as well as dented it's bumper (though I'm not sure how). The other lady was real nice, but seemed a bit concerned that their could be structural damage as well. When I got home and logged on to file a claim online, my account already had one. She's on the ball.

Also, in my inbox was this email from my sister-in-law Caren:

Well, tonight we went to a friends house for dinner and we went into
the house and 5 minutes later someone said is your car smoking??? Our
van had started on fire. We had to call 911 and they ended up putting
the fire out. Before they got there the flames had melted the hood
and completely destroyed everything under the hood and the front
windshield. We are so thankful for God's hand of protection over our
lives.

I guess it's that time of year.

PS - My hair was already bad, Jami, but thanks for asking.

Darn.

Know what stinks? Rear ending someone when you don't have a job and you're getting ready to start school.

I really can't believe I did that. So lame. Ugh.

I've added a new label: Nonsense

Your opinion please!

Dearest Readers,

I am wondering what it is you like reading on my blog the best. Is it my random thoughts and metaphors, it is my day-to-day blips, it is seeing my latest photo, reading my story starts, or something else entirely? Not to say that I would ever eliminate any of these elements, but it's nice to give the people more of what they want!

I was thinking of posting some personal thoughts that could be seen by some as controversial, but perhaps this isn't the place. Maybe a new blog would be ideal for those sorts of tough spurts. I've been thinking of a new blog for a while now, one that would be focused on Christianity and my spiritual journey more specifically than any other topics.

Anywho! You opinion is coveted on all matters mentioned hereto in this post.

You Never Have to Recover from a Good Start

{Originally drafted 26 July 06}

If you've ever run in a race, you know the importance of a good start. It's one of those things that you may overlook because it's not noticeable until the negative effects take place. Sort of like breathing. Until you have trouble with it, you take it for granted. Getting off on the right foot can set the pace for an entire race.

When a runner is training for a race, he not only builds his endurance and strength, he also practices his starts. Three - Two - One - BANG! He can't start to early, or too late. If he jumps the gun he can be disqualified. If he lingers, he can set himself up for a race of struggling to keep up. The timing must be right. So he practices.

How do you practice your starts before beginning a race?

Who is your secret date?

Mine was the 'cute surfer guy'.

Have fun!

New Deck

Have I told you about the new deck my dad made for us this summer?

Rainy days

Mr. Steele and I went for walk this morning. We enjoyed the rain. Actually, I enjoyed the rain, he just tried to avoid as much water as he could. We walked down the block to the neighborhood park, and Mr. Steele enjoyed seeing some friends. They had missed him very much and were rather sad to see him go once we headed home. I think we ought to make rain walks a more common event. The air was really refreshing, and puddle jumping is dangerously therapeutic.

Triple birthday fun!

This evening I attended a triple birthday party for Nathan, Davie, & Elaina who all turned 5 - today! Lainy is on the left with her mom, Nathan and Davie are in the photo on the right with the Spiderman cake that Joe decorated himself! Fantastic work! There were burgers to be eaten, presents to be opened, a pinata to be smashed, and jumper toys to be explored. It was really a blast! There are more photos posted to my picasa album if you're interested.

Achy Breaky Heart

This story really hits me hard. It makes me want to help. But what I can do? There must be something. Any ideas?

A gal who lives in the mobile home park, wrote an ad on craigslist asking for help. These people don't know where else to turn. They've notified the news stations and the papers, spoken with the city council, but are still at a loss.

Any chance my readers have an extra $350,000 to spare?

There is a huge opportunity before us to see something amazing take place. Will we answer the call?

"Go forth and multiply"

The other day, the question came up, what's the most number of children delivered to one woman during a single birth w/o the use of fertility drugs? I just got around to searching for the answer. Here are some interesting facts I found along the way:


The world record for having the most number of children officially recorded is 69 by the first of two wives of Feodor Vassilyev (1707-1782), a peasant from Shuya, 150 miles east of Moscow. In 27 confinements, she gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets. The children were born between 1725-1765. OUCH

The youngest mother whose history is authenticated is Lina Medina, who delivered a 6½-pound boy by cesarean section in Lima, Peru in 1939, at an age of 5 years and 7 months. The child was raised as her brother and only discovered that Lina was his mother when he was 10. AND THE FATHER WAS?


Bobbie McCaughey is the mother who holds the record for the most surviving children from a single birth. She gave birth to the first set of surviving septuplets - four boys and three girls -on November 19, 1997, at the University Hospital, Iowa. Conceived by in vitro fertilization, the babies were delivered after 31 weeks by caesarean in the space of 16 minutes. YOU GO BOBBIE

Jayne Bleackley is the mother who holds the record for the shortest interval between two children born in separate confinements. She gave birth to Joseph Robert on September 3, 1999, and Annie Jessica Joyce on March 30, 2000. The babies were born 208 days apart. I GUESS THE COUPLE WAS EXCITED ABOUT THEIR SON'S BIRTH

Elizabeth Ann Buttle is the mother who holds the record for the longest interval between the birth of two children. She gave birth to Belinda on May 19,1956 and Joseph on November 20, 1997. The babies were born 41 years 185 days apart. The mother was 60 years old when her son Joseph was born. MAYBE BELINDA TOOK TOO LONG TO GIVE HER MOTHER GRANDCHILDREN?

The highest recorded number of children to be born in a single birth is nine. Geraldine Brodrick of Australia delivered five boys and four girls on June 13, 1971. However, two boys were stillborn, and all of the children were dead after six days. NO INFO ON WHETHER OR NOT DRUGS WERE USE TO CONCEIVE

I give up.

Light lunch

I had a rather light lunch today...


But it was
finger
lickin'
good!

Painted Red

I've really enjoyed JJ Heller's newest release, Painted Red. She is offering it free of charge right now, so feel free to click the image above and have a gander. This is an artist who's music will never go out of style and who is able to impress again and again.

Surprised by Dance

This evening our youth group joined another church, the Crossing, in Tacoma. They were hosting a dance troop from Florida called, Infusion. Usually, I'm not thrilled with interpretive dance, I generally think it's sort of weird. However, this group affected me. Not sure why. Take a peek at their website if you'd like to know more.

Books: Old & New

Another forward propelling day! I was able to take about a dozen or so old books to the library to donate them. The librarian practically ripped the books from my hands when I said "donation". I was glad to help (and I'll be glad if it helps get me some tax relief next spring).

After some bumps in the road, I was finally able to get down to Clover Park to register for classes, which means, I'll be needing some NEW books fairly soon. I'm hoping to make the class Orientation this Wednesday so I can find out which books will be necessary and start my hunt to find them at bargain prices! My first quarter is Tuesdays thru Friday, only three courses at a time, instead of the M-F five courses schedule I thought I would have. I decided to not take math this quarter and instead try to refresh my algebra skills so I can take the course that will qualify for the degree. As of right now, I have to take a lower level math before I can take the qualifying course. It would be nice if I could CLEP out of math entirely, but I'm not sure I could do that. In fact, I may be fooling myself thinking I can refresh my math skills on my own. Any volunteers to quiz me?

Next step..... pay tuition.

Productivity

Remember that dirty comforter and those Salvation Army items I had laying around waiting for me to take care of them? Well, yesterday and today I did just that. The comforter will be ready on Saturday and my little section in the garage is that much emptier.

I used them as courage builders. Since I decided to go back to school, I knew I'd have to go down to the Administration offices and talk with strangers about what I need to do in order to get my hiney in a classroom chair this fall. That sort of thing scares me. I just dread going in there not having a clue about anything, and then leaving feeling the same way. Which is exactly what happened when I walked out of the building this afternoon. But, I did it. I started. And if starting is half the battle, then I'm well on my way! This quote has been on my dry erase board for way too long.

"You don't have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great."

Clover Park Tech College. Media & Design Production - Digital Video Emphasis. Associate of Applied Technology.

Jury Duty

I started jury duty yesterday. Yup. On my birthday. I wanted to go, I thought it'd be cool to experience. It was interesting, but really boring. I pretty much just sat around all day hoping my name would be called. It never was. I would have been in the selection group for a municipal court trial, but the defendant never showed, so along with the rest of the leftover jurors, I was released. Perhaps next time. We shall see!

And now off to take dad to the airport!

911

Yesterday morning was kinda crazy. While out playing soccer, one of the gals dislocated her knee. It was in the last few minutes of play too. No one there had any idea how to fix it, so we called 911 and waited for the pros to show up. 45 minutes later she was being loaded into an ambulance. It didn't take that long for them to show, it just took that long to prep her. Anyway, Jeff, the man running the soccer practices, went with her so he'd know how she was. He called me later in the evening to let me know that Andy would be alright. They popped her knee back in place and she was walking around after a couple hours. Whew!!

Later, I went birthday shopping with my mom, her treat. That was fun, but I was sort of out of it, so I didn't have full energy for great decision making.

Also, while trying to look for that 'grown up' job, I decided that I want to work in the media field somehow, and that some schooling would do me good. I'm looking into CPTC on Monday to see if they have opening for their Video Production/Broadcasting program. They have a 2-year degree program and a 1-year certificate program. I believe I just want to do the one year, though it'd be nice to have some letters after my name. CPTC seems to have a reputation for job placement of their students, so I could get that job I'm after. Woo Hoo!