And Now For Something Completely Different

"And Now For Something Completely Different" Does anyone remember that line? It was the usual segue from one sketch to another on Monty Python. Loved that show!

After I came to Christ many years ago, I wanted very much to sing and play hymns in worship of Jesus. I had no formal training, but was able to pick up piano by ear very quickly. I very much enjoyed playing; it was my gift of worship to Jesus and it was very personal. At some point, I was asked to use this gift to lead worship for my church. Intially, this was a good thing and very enjoyable, but that all changed when the church leaders decided they wanted to go in a newer style and be the first on the block to debut new songs put out by a certain ministry that shall not be named. For three years, I accommodated and worked hard to learn the new songs. When hubby took a job in another area, it was a relief to be able to stop, but the damage had been done ... I lost that love of playing for the Lord. It had become a job and the pressure killed my love for music. Or so I thought.

I've been looking at other instruments for some time now, primarily a dulcimer and autoharp. Lo and behold, there is a major autoharp festival this week in our area. All connections have been made and there's a rental harp with my name on it waiting for me at the beginners' workshop tomorrow. I think my love of music isn't dead, the wound suffered is healed and I'm ready to move on, with great excitement! Simple hymns are swirling in my head again, along with lovely little folk tunes, ready to be sung when I get this harp in my hands.

Blessed be the Lord.

Callie Update

I'm worred about my dog, again. She has been stable with the EPI since winter, but is dropping weight again. This is not a good sign. In every other way, she seems healthy, happy and energetic and that is a good sign. We may have to have the dreaded blood tests again and see what's going on; she hates that, hence, I hate it ... moms are like that.

**UPDATE (again)** She is picking up weight again, just that fast! Methinks I may worry too much about this little yellow creature. Ups and downs are just part of the whole ugly EPI condition.

Discrimination

Before I moved to this area, I held the position of a director of a crisis pregnancy center. I liked what I was doing and knew I had done a good job for the center. This small-town center was supported by all the local churches, regardless of denominations. Sure, there were the occasional conflicts over doctrine, but it was always able to be worked out for the greater good of helping women in crisis pregnancies.

When I came here, I wanted a break and took a position as an office manager for a non-profit. During the last year, I thought I'd look around and try to get back into CPC work, but what I found disappointed me greatly. CPC's in this area can't seem to 'play nice' with each other; specifically, the evangelicals don't want any type of support from the Catholic and Orthodox. I find this so sad and so detrimental to the pro-life cause. I don't really think the baby saved from a gruesome murder gives a rat's a$$ whether the person helping was from a Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Pentecostal, etc. background. Once again, the schism's ongoing affect rears it's ugly head.

Lord, have mercy!

So I'm looking outside of CPC work now for something a bit more meaningful that that of an office manager. But I find there may be another type of discrimination at play ... age discrimination. I'm 54 now and it's really easy to find a person's age online, even without paying for an internet search. As long as you have a phone that is listed, a person can use 411.com, put in a name and the phone, address and age bracket (within 5 years) comes up. Makes it easy for a company to practice this type of discrimination without asking the unlawful question.

In the end, I will never know if, indeed, age is a factor, but the bottom line is this: I trust that God our heavenly Father knows what we need before we even ask and He will be the one to supply what He wants me to have. Amen!

Gabby Girl

Here's some recent pics of my little granddaughter. She's four months old now and has started "lounging" whilst sleeping. My daughter sends me pics just about every morning of her in this position - pretty funny! I've never seen a baby sleep like this before!


Here's one of her after dipping her hand into a bowl of icing her mom made yesterday. She had it up to her face before mom could do anything to stop her. Doesn't the look on her face seem to say, "Whaddaya gonna do bout it?"


And in a few more weeks, there will be a new grandbaby born to my youngest daughter, a boy named River.

Whew!!

"Anonymity can be a good thing for a blogger unless the aim is to report all the news that is the news."

But I do have news ... good news! Last month I had my routine mammogram. Something didn't look quite right so an ultrasound was performed, which revealed a solid looking lump. Docs recommended an appointment with a breast surgeon for a possible biopsy. I made the appointment for one month after the initial tests. The surgeon was preparing to do the biopsy and had to perform another ultrasound to pinpoint exact location for needle place and found that the lump was gone ... not there ... nothing to biopsy! She wants to follow up in a few months, but for now, I'm fine and praising God for His mercy.

Ouch!

I haven't had much to say lately; too many curve balls coming much too fast at me.

Anyway, if there's anyone out there, I have a question: is the rising price of gasoline changing the frequency of your church attendance? Have you considered attending a church closer to home, be it whatever, because of gas pump ouchies?

Inquiring minds want to know.