Pet Peeves: Idolatry

Ok, for those of you who are also my facebook friends (and since I techinally only have 4 followers, I am going to assume that most of you are my fb friends) you have read my statuses about my dislike of the St. Louis Cardinals. Yes, I said I disliked the Cardinals! Alright, alright, alright you need to either calm down or breathe again, ok? Please let me explain why before you kill yourself from the shock of those brief words written above.

On the face of it, I don’t really dislike the Cardinals for any sincere reason, such as being a Cubs or Braves fan. While I am not a particular fan of baseball, that is not really the rub either. Initially I disliked the Cardinals just for spite. Stephen refuses to like or watch the Arkansas Razorbacks, so I in turn began to dislike the Cardinals. However, that “surface hatred” per se has grown into true dislike of all things regarding professional sports. NFL, NBA, MLB, Tennis, etc., I am not discriminating. I don’t any of them! Or maybe that is not a fair statement. It might be best to say instead that I dislike what they have done to our society. Please let me explain further.

Do you realize how many people watch professional sports? According to http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/15/comment-of-the-day-how-many-people-really-watch-mlb-games   1.65 billion Americans watch the NFL and an estimated 1.01 billion watch the MLB. Wow, really??  Isn’t that just amazing? All those folks who gather to watch a man throw, catch or run somewhere on a field. All those people who pay big bucks to attend games and buy different memorabilia with their favorite team(s) displayed on them. While it is mostly men who tend to be diehard fans, women are also guilty of obsessing over professional sports teams also. There is no telling how many parents (dad & mom) who put off chores, rush home from family events, turn on the radio to listen to the games, etc. They are DEDICATED, hardcore, not going to miss a game type of fans. At this point you are probably asking “And your point is?” My point is how many of those same dedicated, hardcore, not going to miss a game fan also attends church or opens up their Bible on a daily, let alone weekly basis? Huh? How many???

According to http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/15/comment-of-the-day-how-many-people-really-watch-mlb-games  while 49% of Americans report attending church on Sunday mornings on a weekly basis half of them are lying. They estimate that really only 20% of American attend church on Sunday mornings on a weekly basis. 20% people!!! Am I the only one who is bothered by that number? If you look at http://www.gallup.com/poll/1786/More-Americans-Fans-Pro-Football-Than-Any-Other-Sport.aspx  31% of Americans claim to be a fan of professional hockey! Professional hockey, are you kidding me?! Both of these sources are based on 1999-2001 numbers so it wouldn’t surprise me to find that even fewer people are attending church and more are now fans of hockey. Pretty sad, isn’t it?

When you look up “idolatry” on dicationary.com it says the following: 1. the religious worship of idols; 2. excessive or blind adoration, reverence, devotion, etc. Does that sound familiar to you? I never thought of this type of thing as idolatry until my childhood preacher gave a sermon over the subject of idols one Sunday morning. I don’t remember the details, but what I do remember is that he pointed out how young people today (and that was 15 yrs ago) tend to put music artists, ball players, NASCAR drivers, or just famous people in general on a type of pedistool in which they are the ultimate role model in society. Kids hang posters of their favorite ball player or music star in their rooms, buy all the magazines with them on the cover, buy their cds (or download it to their i-Pod), wear their clothes, etc. I am sure you get the point. Do you have any idea how many Cardinals t-shirts I saw Wednesday, the first game of the world series? Unbelievable the dedication people have to this team! That is all they talk about. Who hit what, who pitched or didn’t pictch, what Tony LaRussa “shoulda, woulda, coulda” done and when the next game is. It is absolutely amazing, and yet very rarely is anything mentioned about God. You don’t hear about what the preacher spoke about on Sunday or didn’t say, what Sunday school was about, what your current Bible study is. Nope, those things are either “mum” or just not on our agenda at all.

Uh, oh? Did I ruffle some of your feathers? Well, good! I have ruffled plenty of my own to be honest with you. While I feel that many have put professional (and college, to be perfect honest) sports in the idolatry category, I truly believe it was unintentional. I am guilty of the same sin. While I was thinking about this blog, it hit home that I have done the same thing, just not with sports. My idol is currently TV shows in general or sleep. I turn on the tube instead of opening the Bible or just lay my head down on the pillow instead of teaching my 2 year old how to pray to her Father in Heaven. So, while I am scolding many of you for your over zealousness for sports, I am also scolding myself. I have also realized that if I am not careful I will create an idol for Hadley: Dora. After her birthday party I realized just how many things we bought for her that had Dora on it. So, I am going to have to cut back on that stuff and remedy myself as well.

I hope this blog has made you reexamine your life and love affair with your “idol.” We all have them, what is yours? It could be reading a book, looking at magazines, keeping up with your facebook or email, your job, or all kinds of things that you put before our God.  Exodus 20:14 states: And God spoke these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship  them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing hte children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of  those who love me and keep my commandments."  Keep in mind that dictionary.com lists "god" as the following: any person or thing to which excessive attention is given. Hmmmm.......given much attention to something besides God lately?

The next time to strike up a conversation about the Cardinals or something else, why don’t you ask yourself when was the last time to talk about Jesus to someone? Or wore something about Him? Or read something about Him? Or attended Church?

Please look at the picture below. When is the last time you saw or have you ever seen this many people crazy over the Lord? The point of this blog is that people "worship" professional sports more than they do God. We spend more time watching TV in general than we do in a pew or reading out Bibles.

However, for the record, good luck tonight Cards!

Pet Pleasers: Birthdays

One of my favorite things to do is celebrate birthdays, well, others birthdays that is! J This past Friday my daughter turned 2 years old. We had some cake and steaks with our parents, oh, and a ‘few’ presents. Wait, did I say 2 years old?!? Where did the time go? It seems like only yesterday Stephen and I were staring at each other that first night saying: “Why does she keep crying?” haha The following morning we were at his parents’ house for some much needed help AND sleep. We stayed for the whole week….it seems just like yesterday. I cannot believe how much Hadley has changed in just these 2 short years. And one day (Lord willing) I will be writing a blog about her first day of school, her 13^th birthday, her time in high school, and her 16^th & 18^th birthday, not to mention baptism, boyfriends, weddings and children. *sigh However, I don’t want to think about what is to come, but instead focus on what we have enjoyed so far with this little stinker!

I found out I was pregnant with Hadley the week of Valentine’s Day, 2009. A month after Stephen and I had decided that maybe having a baby just wasn’t in the cards for us at this time, 3 weeks after the Ice Storm that tore throw the Bootheel leaving devastation and many people still without electricity (including us!). I was so excited! I had prayed for a very long time and both of my closest friends has already conceived back in July 2007, so in my mind I was “behind.” But at that point I was just so thankful that God had blessed me a baby of my own, I didn’t much care that my child would be 6 months younger than my friends’ little girls. Stephen’s reaction to the news was disbelief! I mean, we had been trying since I found my friends were preggers, so he was quite stunned and unsure of the “cheap” (as he called it) pregnancy test. So, for Valentine’s Day I bought an expensive digital test that plainly stated “pregnant” or “not pregnant” and but that baby in an old bracelet case I had. I wrapped it up and gave it to him as one of his Valentine’s Day presents. Needless to say, when he opened that baby up, he read “pregnant” on it. Can’t get much plainer than that!

By the next week, I had horrible, horrible, horrible morning sickness. I don’t even want to think about it! *ugh!  But I made it through, and it was definitely worth it. Besides the sickness (and the fact that I blew up like a hot air balloon) I had a very enjoyable pregnancy. In fact, I miss being pregnant, knowing that a child is growing inside of you, that you are nurturing something to life. Ok, back to the story…..so Monday, October 13^th rolls around and I go to my weekly visit (my due date was for Sunday, October 18^th).  Dr. Graham informed me that she would be going out of town Wednesday, but if I wanted to I could try a homemade recipe of hers to induce labor since she was on call on Tuesday (the next day). So I bought the nasty stuff (gaster-oil? Or something like that) and went to drinking the concoction Tuesday. No baby Tuesday, but bright and early (ok, not so bright; it was like 5 am or so) the next morning my water broke right before I got in the shower to get ready for work. I was like “Did I just pee on myself?” LOL And it was soooooo NOT like in the movies, it was barely a trickle and it continued every so often till after I was admitted to the hospital at 11:30 am.

Now, I didn’t mention that I did NOT know the gender of the child I was carrying. Stephen was the only person, besides the ultrasound tech, that knew the gender. My mom, his mom, me and him spent most of the day discussing boy names, b/c we just could not agree on one. Eventually the pitosin became too much and I had to break down and get an epi. (Yes, I was planning on natural childbirth) That was around 9 pm or so that night. I told Stephen to go ahead and get something to eat since I was better, so he took off. When the nurse came in about 30 minutes later to check me, she said “You’re ready!” We called Stephen and told him to get back ASAP! He hadn’t eaten yet so he brought it back to the room. LOL But you can’t really blame the guy, I checked in at a 5 and had only dilated to a 6-7 when they gave me the epi. Who would have thought I would have dilated to a 10 so quickly after that epi?

At 10:27 I gave birth to a beautiful daughter, Hadley Elayne. Stephen actually announced the gender before the doctor could! I had forgotten all about not knowing the gender, I had envisioned myself hurrying to get the baby out so I would know, but it wasn’t even a part of my thoughts during labor. Originally, we had planned on her middle name being Elise, but after the birth we chose Elaine instead. Then Stephen called the next day and wanted it spelled with a “y” instead of an “i” so that is how that worked out. Her first name we saw in a car ad in the Thrifty Nickel one Friday night at McCormicks. We fell in love with it and never deviated from it.

Now that Hadley is two, it’s hard to believe that night in the hospital was so long ago. She is walking (well, more like running) everywhere and is sharper than a tack. Her speech skills are really great for her age and I know every day that God has truly blessed me beyond anything I deserve. What a great Father we have! Well, I hope I haven’t bored you too much with my story of Hadley’s journey. J

This first picture is of Hadley before I went to work on Friday morning. And the second is of her eating her Causbies cake on Friday night.

Tootles!~ Jenifer

Pet Peeves: Class Warfare

Ok, first of all let me start by stating that I am a REPUBLICAN. Therefore, if you are a Democrat, you read the rest of this blog at your own risk. I would be highly surprised if you agreed with anything I am about to say. Reading beyond these first few lines would just make you mad or sick to your stomach. Undoubtedly, you would feel the need to make a comment about my views in which case I would have to delete them because to be perfectly honest, I don't want to hear it. Let's be real and just come to terms with the fact that we don't agree. And that's ok with me, but since this is my blog, I am going to write what I want to regardless of what you say or think. So please save yourself some time and exit this page if you have liberal leanings, because I guarantee that what is written here will not be something you will want to hear. However, if you are by chance an open minded Democrat that can read another’s opinion without making comments or without trying to force your viewpoint onto others then by all means, read on......

Now, onto business: Like a good little Conservative and American, I watch Fox & Friends in the mornings when I can. Mostly, I just listen to it as I get ready for work. But that is neither here nor there…..This week they have been talking quite a bit about the protestors down on Wall Street, the “99%” or some such thing. From what I understand this “99%” are supposed to represent the population of people who are not rich in this country. They are currently protesting on Wall Street because of all the rich folks who work down there, you know the “1%.” Anyway, back to Fox & Friends. One of the hosts, Gretchen Carlson asked some top notch Democrat chick this week if she thought President Obama’s talk of class warfare was spurring on this “99%” protest that was occurring. Of course, the chick being interviewed never really answered the question out right; she wasn’t going to admit that Obama’s talk of higher taxes might be a cause of the unrest in New York City.

This interview has been on my mind most of the week. It made me start thinking about Obama’s policy towards those he considers “rich,” you know, the folks who make more than $250,000 a year. The rich, huh? $250,000 is rich? Well, then that makes him and the rest of the law makers virtual millionaires doesn’t it? I mean we pay the President a cool $500,000, twice the amount he has labeled as rich in America. But wait, not only do we pay the Presidents salary (and the other lawmakers) we also pay ALL their bills, their rent, their gas, their food, their health insurance, and the list goes on, and on, and on. A regular energizer bunny!

Nothing burns my hide more than a hypocrite. Just say it like it is, mean what you say, don’t talk in circles or out of your booty. The double standard that flows out of most Democrats mouths just makes me want to puke. Here are all these Liberal politicians that talk about the rich needing to pay their fair share, people need to buy green, take better care of the environment, etc., etc. And here they sit in Washington or in a state capitol living off of OUR money, pocketing the pay checks that we write to them, riding around in limos, dining in the fanciest restaurants and they have the nerve to tell us we need to give a little more. Are you kidding???? How about they give up some of their pay check? How about they get a personal insurance policy? How about not getting a retirement check for life or secret service? Why do normal, everyday citizens who already give up so much have to continue to keep giving? At some point people have to realize that you just cannot get blood out of a turnip.

And it’s not just the Washington Democrats that get under my skin. It’s also those silly little hotty-totty Hollywood wackos that drive me insane! They are constantly talking about giving money to the sick and hungry all over the world; they urge us to make “green” decisions such as driving an electric car or getting solar panels for your house. I feel like screaming at my T.V. “Right, I have a load of cash lying around, let me jump right on that for you….oh, wait a minute, that’s not me, that you!” These idiots spout out this nonsense about caring for the Earth, making the world a better place by helping those in need, eat healthier, blah, blah, blah. And yet, they have 5 sports cars, and another 3 SUVs, not to mention the 3 or 4 mansions they own (which are not solar powered), a private chef and personal trainer. I mean are they all just that messed up in the head? Do they really think that we are a bunch of zombies who are just going to fall in line because they, the mighty and beautiful, have set forth unattainable goals? Where do they get off asking us to do anything when they still have more than any one person needs in life?! Get real Hollywood, and put your money where your mouth is, or rather first put your money where you want us to put ours. Then maybe we will “fall in line” until then, go lay in a tanning bed.

Basically, I can’t stand the Washington and Hollywood Liberals because they are such hypocrites. Now, I don’t mean to imply that Conservatives are perfect by any means; we have lots of flaws too. Many people don’t like Republicans because they believe that the party is only for the rich and spit on the poor. However, I see it as we believe that if you earn it, you should keep it. Period, end of story. Why should we have to pay more when we worked to get here? But that is whole other blog within itself so I better not get started on THAT at the moment. To be honest, Republicans might be for the rich, but at least they admit that. Hey, we work hard for our money and we think we should keep it. You won’t find us with any bleeding hearts anytime soon. As far as class warfare is concerned we stand firm on the fact this concept is ridiculous.

So all you Socialists, oops, I mean Democrats grow up and just admit how you really feel. While you might really want to help those in the lower classes, the real agenda in Washington is to keep the lower classes in “line.” If the poor continues to rely on D.C. for their money, the politicians keep the control in their own hands, all the while bleeding the middle class dry, making a larger poverty class to control. Oh, and they get their votes. Can’t forget about those votes, huh? But my question is what happens when the “triangle/pyramid” of society gets turned upside down and the point is on the bottom trying to balance and hold up the heavy, overburdened base in the air? Any person with common sense (which seems to be quite few these days) knows that the triangle/pyramid is going to fall on one side or the other. My prayer is that if falls to the Right and we can turn this once great nation back to what it once was. If not, then I guess we need to all invest in some Rosetta Stone software so we can speak Chinese well enough to understand the instructions we receive from our new “managers” when they arrive…….

Grap those life vests! 2012 is going to be a long one! ~Jen

Pet Pleasers: Being Humbled

This will probably sound bad, but as I sat in Church Sunday morning I was inspired to write my next blog. Before I begin, I might need to explain the title. I wanted to keep with the theme "pet peeves" but I needed something for the things that I love about life. "Pleasers" seemed like the best choice of all the antonyms for peeve. So, here we are: my first blog about things that make me happy. :)

Right, back to my story......Sunday morning we had the opportunity to listen to one of our "foreign" brothers from Albania teach our class and preach the morning service. His name is Eduart Hoxha (Edi to us) and he has been in the States for about a week & half or so. Edi and another Albanian, Altin, are our resident missionaries in Fier, Albania. This was Edi's first time in the U.S. and it was really neat to hear him speak about the different things that he has been able to experience. There are so many things we take for granted as Americans, SO MANY THINGS! One thing that Edi said that stood out to me was that America was "well organized." I had never thought of it that way, although I suppose we are. We have highways & paved roads that go all over, commerical areas and residential areas of our cities, etc. Something very basic that most of us do not think twice about.

But, enough about that. That is really not the inspiration of this particular blog. While I think America is great, (well, with the exception of our government and the idiots we seem to be electing ) it was Edi's love of the Lord that caught my attention. Here is this man, this human being, who lives in a distant land in which the government is just beginning to be okay with religion other than Islam; a man who lives far from his "home" church, in which Christianity is a minor religion and yet he is not deterred. Edi wants to tell everyone about Jesus, he wants to bring others to Christ and works at achieving that goal daily. He does not let "life" make excuses for not attending church or not being a disciple for the Lord. How often can you say you do those things? Not much, huh? Me either.......

And here we live in a "Christian" nation (a term that is loosely used, I assure you), and yet very few of us actually burn for Christ. Few of us tell others about Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross. We know the good news, but do we tell others? Do we take for granted that they already know? How would WE fare if we lived a place where being a Christian was far from the norm? Now, granted, many Americans do not truly know the meaning of Christ, but many have at least a base understanding of how Christianity is supposed to work. Edi and Altin go out into Fier and spread that Word to anyone who will let them. They build friendships and pray that one day their example will lead their friends to Christ. I realized that I need to do the same here at home as well. Not only my words, but also my behavior needs to reflect well on our Father. I need to have a more "foreign" mind set to my daily life.

What a wonderfully humbling experience I had on Sunday. And I hope and pray that I can go to Albania one day and serve those people in that country. I pray that my children and I will make mission trips to foreign lands and spread the good Word of Christ and his sacrifice for all of humanity. I pray that I make time for mission work. That is now officially in the top 5 of my bucket list!

Have you made time for the Lord today? Do you have a church family to lean on? A church family to encourage you and humble you when you need it? I can't imagine my life without Slicer Street Church of Christ. The people there have been such a great influence in my life and I am so very, very thankful for them. If you do not have a church family, please, please, please check us out! We would LOVE to have you as apart of our family. You can visit our website at http://slicerstreetchurchofchrist.org/. You can listen to any sermon, even the one from Edi this past Sunday morning.

God Bless y'all!~ Jen

Pet Peeves: Misspelling My Name

So, here this goes! :) A few months ago one of my closest friends began writing her very own blog. I looked forward to reading it and became disappointed if she didn't write a new one in a "timely" manner. Throughout the day I found myself thinking of random topics that I would like to write about myself. Things such as the way people drive, things people say, our government, and other random acts of idiocy that seems to torment me on a weekly, or even daily basis. This bring me to my first blog post topic, my pet peeves.

Today I encountered my #1 pet peeve: the spelling of my name. Yes, yes, I know you just took a look at my blog title to check my name out. Those of you who know me personally have already heard this "song & dance" many times before. For that I apologize! hehe OK, back to task here. So, I am sure you noticed that my first name is spelled with only "1" n, instead of the usual 2. My mom decided to do this after seeing it spelled like this while in the hospital after giving birth to me. It was either "Tara" or Jennifer." Obviously I was given the latter. My mom not only named me what was to become one of THE most common names for at least a decade, but she spelled it "wrong" to boot. Now, please don't misunderstand me, the fact that mom did all this does it annoy me, however, it is NOT the reason for my first blog. My ultimate pet peeve is that fact that people misspell it ALL THE TIME! And since it's one of my first pet peeves (that I can think of) and the most re-occurring one it seems only fitting for it to be my first post.

You would not believe how many people spell my name wrong and it super-duper annoying. It drives me up the wall! I have tried several times to just let it "roll off my back." But for some reason I just can't let it go. Before you accuse of me of being heartless or being too hard on folks, let me be clear and state that I don't blame those people who spell my name without me spelling it for them or who do not see it printed in black and white.....or whichever color it might happen to be.

You would not believe the number of times my "friends" on facebook have misspelled my name while commenting on a status update or on a wall post. Are you serious???? I mean it is right there! Right there on my profile, right there on my status! *GRR! It really makes me unhinged when co-workers do it or when it is on my paperwork. It just makes me want to scream! Today I gave a lady my check which plainly has my name printed on the top left. But (yep, you guessed it!) when I got the receipt my name was spelled with 2 ' n's. I just rolled my eyes and left. I have often contemplated saying, "Excuse me, do I look stupid? Did you spell "Jennifer" with 2 ns because you assumed I was an idiot and spelled my name wrong or are you just too lazy to take the time to look at it correctly? Or are YOU stupid?" However, I do not because it would be rude and not nice in the least, so I try to just bite my tongue and go about my business. But for the record it irks me to no end!

The moral of this story is to please, please, please pay attention to what you are writing. I know people make mistakes, me included (though very rarely....hehe). But a mistake is when something happens once or not very often, but from my experience people are just idiots or lazy.

Tootles! ~J