Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Thought Bubbles

Thoughts that have been pent up in my brain and have bounced around enough. They need to get out. Now.

Circumstances don't tweak truth but truth can tweak circumstances.

My beliefs don't disturb truth. Truth is truth. Gravity is gravity no matter what I do to lessen it's control over me.

Human beings need each other. I don't think that Lone Wolves are happy wolves.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Grace Struck

Quote: (from Surprised by Worship Travis Cottrell)

"I find it interesting that we tend to base our beliefs regarding God's goodness and love on the nature of the surprises He gives us. As long as His surprises are happy ones, like birthday parties, we remain confident and secure: He really is good! He evidently loves me a lot! But all too often unwanted surprises have a way of turning our theology upside down."

I do...do...do...do hold God to a standard wherein He "LOVES me (insert balloons and teddy bears here) when I am getting exactly what I asked for...as long as it's good. But, I tend to doubt and pout when He gives me what I ask for by working that thing out in flesh squeezingly difficult moments of struggle.

Not only is this spot on, it's convicting.

I spent Saturday at a Beth Moore simulcast and her subject was convicting as well. (Her worship leader is the guy quoted above -- so you could maybe imagine that worship was rich, too.)

Her topic. Opening the mouth in wisdom and possessing the Law of Kindness upon my tongue.

Augh!!!! Why does He put up with me.?

Then I had two encounters today where I was blessed by the words of a friend. And I was GRACE STRUCK by the infinitesimally, magnificently massive workings of God behind the scenes, and how He answers prayers, even those prayed long ago. And I'm frustrated about being GRACE STRUCK because I want to just know that He listens, that He is good all the time, that He loves me.

Lord, forgive me because I am a sheep of very little brain. But then You already knew that...didn't you?

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ You Know You've Got a Great Bladder When...

Isn't this carrot gnawing dog cute? Awww.

Well, she wasn't so cute on Wednesday.

We've been working on nice, appropriate guest greetings. This particular little sweetie, Lola, is very barky. And a 70 lb barking dog can be a little scary for those who a) aren't dog fans b) aren't big dog fans or c) anyone else who might be annoyed by that behavior. I do fall into the c category.

When we know someone is coming we try to set the stage to succeed. We issue a "NO BARK!" command and get them to sit and stay. We release them when they are calm, they usually take a few sniffs and go about their business. Win. Win. Win.

Mom came over. All went well. Very well, actually. Lola also has this sweet thing she does... a little kiss planted directly on the lips. Of course she has to jump up on her hind legs to pull that off, but usually she only kisses me or her dog-mom. So I was watching her carefully...no sign of that quirk, so I relaxed.

Then Feral strode into the room and slunk past my Mom.

And Lola barked. One sharp, "I see you, you weaselly cat!" bark...which echoed nicely in the cavernous room.

Unfortunately. Not only was the bark loud and sudden. But it was directly behind my unsuspecting Mom.

YIKES! It is totally impolite to laugh at someone who may have just wet their pants because your animals double teamed them...but I am a terribly impolite person who often apologizes while choking back gales of laughter.

My mom decided that she might need to use the ladies restroom after all.

Fortunately, today we were able to laugh about it and find the positive. Sometimes, as we age our muscles sag and by golly, laughing, sneezing and a sudden fright can all wreak havoc on our kegels. Right, Ladies? But this little incident proved that my mother can still call her bladder Ol Ironsides. We decided that the animals were maybe working in concert to test that out for her.... we'll just call it a homemade Cat Scan.

Sorry Mom, and thanks for the Dregs fodder.

And let me know if any of you would like to schedule one.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Plinky Challenge

Create a new recipe with just five ingredients....

Fabulous Tortilla Filler...

1 can drained black beans
1 small onion chopped
1 cup cooked brown rice
Juice of 1 lime
Garlic powder/salt 1/2 teaspoon or so.

So...now for more ingredients...or the stuff that goes with...

Slather on a tortilla. Top with lettuce, tomato, sour cream/plain yogurt, guac or avocado slices... or whatever else you can think of.

Yummy

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Happy Dancing

Short but super sweet.

Meet Eleanor. This is her happy little countenance after doing the jig that locked the car. I can only imagine the hi-jinx involved in getting the little fuzz-bundle to recreate her dance. And, oh my, the game that she and her daddy created. Which everyone but the dog daddy enjoyed immensely.

Ha. Scroll down to Monday if you aren't picking up what I'm laying down. The rest of the story is there.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Weekend Adventures

If the balloon extravaganza wasn't enough fun... we had even more on the weekend agenda.

A tea party at a local historical home Sunday afternoon, to be specific. This was a budget cruncher but the lady who invited us wanted us to come along, in the worst way, so much so that paid for half the ticket price. And the ten bones it took from the September budget was worth it.

The food was good. Tea cakes, cookies, cucumber sandwiches, scones, the basic tea party goodies. But the information was fascinating.

Did you know that The Underground Railroad has a legend attached to it?

There are locations within my town that were part of The Underground Railroad, the pathway formed for Civil War slaves from the south to travel as fugitives to the freedom found in the north during. But I didn't even think about the cleverness needed for communicating whether it was safe to approach the homes, or for directions along the way. Of course, with legends, there are always questions. But the speakers at the tea went through the significance of the Civil War sampler quilts that contained multiple quilt blocks with specific and helpful meaning.

Based on information found by author Jacqueline Tobin, the story is fascinating to consider.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Up in the Air, But Not Locked Out

We had a few adventures this past weekend. Not like my poor cousin, Scott, who got detained at a gas station for an hour in an attempt to get his 6-month-old Wheaten Terrier to retrace the steps she took when triggering the electric locking system. Bet he'll never leave his keys in the car again, ever!

I'll be sharing some of our weekend adventures which did NOT include locking ourselves or anyone else out of a car.

Friday night was to be a night of fun, music, and balloons. But it rained. However, there were three more opportunities to see floating balloons and we thought we'd for sure catch one of them. The next mornings' 6:30 a.m. flight was out of question since we had to begin a road trip at 8:00 a.m. But that evening as we rolled back into town we got to experience a little bit of the thrill.

(Sorry for the lack of photographic integrity. (aka poopy pictures) The photos were snapped on my phone and edited so that we could actually see the balloons. Ha. My good camera was at home. Right where I left it.)

I am really glad I got the pictures I did. Because when we rose at 5:45 to get decent for the 6:30 a.m. flight the next morning, I did grab the good camera. We got there a little late, parked, hiked and joined the throng of people. However, the whole thing lacked something. There were trucks and official looking ballooners and even a random basket here and there. But there were no balloons in sight. And we knew that balloons are touchy and weather has to be just right, etc. etc. etc. but...... Apparently the "start" of the event was a suggested, maybe even random, time. Turns out they weren't even starting til 45 minutes later... the exact time we all needed to be home so we could get ready for church.

: ( Oh, sad.

So. We sucked it up, called it an adventure, and are clutching these substandard pictures to our breast and calling them souvenirs.