June is Ending

So, here we are at the close of another month. Hard to believe that the first six months of June are already ending. 2008 is in a hurry to end. I love Autumn, but I'm in no hurry for it to arrive. I am in a place where I can finally enjoy the pleasures of each season. Which reminds I talk about that in my book, The Real Paige Turner (on bookstore shelves in the future)! Sorry for the shameless plug!

With July upon us I of course think of the 4th of July and all that is wrapped up in celebrating America's birthday. We have so much to celebrate, so many freedoms. Even with gas over the $4/gallon mark, our gas is still less expensive than a majority of the other developed nations, so I grumble too, and I wonder how I will stretch my budget to fill up Mr. Roboto, but I am also thankful to be able to afford a car to drive where I need go (esp. since I don't have a bike anymore, wish I did).

America is so amazing,wonderful and blessed. I'm thankful to all the men and women who have ever put on a uniform to protect and bring about the blessings of America. I am also thankful for their friends and families. It is hard to be left behind, wondering if Bobby and Sally are safe and healthy. Yet, millions of us are here holding down the home front. And soldiers are still dying to protect America.

We have such a well trained military, and in the 21st century it is an all volunteer military. We don't have to worry if we will get a draft notice in the mail, or if our children will be grabbed at work and forced to go to Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea. The people serving chose to serve, and because of that they are better trained and perform their duties better. Do they wish that they didn't have to be in Iraq or Afghanistan, and that they could be home with their friends and family? Oh I bet they do, but they go because they love America. So THANKS!

Freedom. It sounds like such an easy word to say, and we fling it around. Yet it is a precious precious word. Freedom. I have the freedom to write this blog, and say whatever I want, and you have the freedom to read it. I have the freedom to drive my car and wear whatever I want as I drive the car. I can get whatever job I want, be whatever I want to be. I can bow down and worship whomever I want, and so can you. I can go out and buy a handgun or rifle and the government won't take it away. I get to vote!

I get to say who I think should make my laws, and if I don't like the laws they make, I can protest that, and there is recourse to change the laws and remove the lawmakers. We in America are so blessed. We have the freedom to watch whatever we want on television. We can live with whomever we want, and in the privacy of our homes, do whatever we want with them (as long as it doesn't infringe on their right to life and liberty).

As much as I disagree with some lifestyles, I respect that they have the right in America to live them, because the same rights that protect them, protect me. Do I think same sex couples should be granted marriage licenses? Not really. Union licenses maybe, but not a marriage license. But I do think they have the right to live together and be happy, because I want my rights to live with my husband to be protected.

We go to the store and can buy whatever we want, whenever we want. How often do we pause and think how amazing that is. There are places around the globe where women can't do that, where women aren't given driver's licenses and are told exactly how to dress and have rules and when they can go to certain places and who has to be with them.

Even worse than that, as if that isn't enough bondage there are places where if a woman is RAPED, so can be stoned to death for allowing herself to be raped and bringing shame to her family!!! Not being a virgin at your wedding is a crime punishable by death! And we here in America treat virtue and purity like a cheap candy bar. Tragic, both cases.

It makes me wonder sometimes just how wonderful our society is in America, and yet how much of a toilet bowl it can be. We are so focused on celebrating our rights and freedoms that we go too far and nothing has value anymore. Sad. I wonder what God thinks as HE looks down on us as a nation. Does HE weep for America, or is HE angered, or both? We have been given a gift to live here as citizens, and look how we use it!

It is our job as Christians to show the world what it means to enjoy the freedoms of America and to live a life that is holy and pleasing to God. We can have fun and enjoy life. God is not a killjoy. He is a fun God. Why else would HE create so many unique creatures and features to this earth? God wants us to enjoy this life, and we can, but we can do it in a way that brings glory to HIM at the same time.

So, as we celebrate this wonderful holiday and think of all the sacrifices that have been made so we can be here in the wonderful country. Let us all remember that our lives are to be living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

Reflecting

So yes I have finished my book. It is written, there is a beginning a middle and an end, and then an appendix. I have done my part, now it is up to my editors to take her and make her rock, and then it will be up to an agent to be interested in it and sell it to a publisher, who will sell it bookstores, who will sell it to, YOU and ALL YOUR NEIGHBORS, FRIENDS, and PEOPLE YOU SEE! The journey just to get to this point has been years in the making, and I figure the journey to get my book from where it sits on my desk (and on a flash drive, and a molly drive, and two computers, you can't say I don't back things up!) to the bookstore could be a few more years, but I pray that the process can begin to speed up.

It is fun to see it finished, to hold the manuscript in my hands, and know that each word on those 158 pages is something I wrote! Each word is mine, and that is so cool! So exciting. I just pray that my editors enjoy it, an agent appreciates it and is willing to take a gamble on me, because all unknown, previously unpublished authors are a gamble. Mostly I pray that the Lord uses this book to help guide people to Him. I want this book to be a blessing to someone, because it has already been a blessing to me. This book is dedicated to HIM, because w/o HIM I would not have been able to write a single paragraph, and I would not have been able to be as honest and vulnerable as I get in some of it (especially the journal sections).

So, please pray with me that I can find the right people to publish my book and get it out to the readers of the world! THANKS!!! The journey continues...

It is FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AMEN!!! HAPPY DAYS!!!! WOOT!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, so I am taking a short break from my happy dance to let y'all know that I just finished writing my book! It is done, the beginning, middle, end and appendix are all finished! It is a book, an official book. I love it. I needs a lot of work in the editing, but I just wrote a book! Oh my! I am one step closer to being a published author! Wow! Exciting I must say!

I would chat more, but I have to do my happy dance again and in 3 minutes is day 1 (on NBC) of the US Olympic Trials: Ladies Artistic Gymnastics! So I gotta dance!

LOVE Y'All! Can't wait for you to be able to buy my book!

Boys, Boys, Boys!

So what makes a normally sane girl fall head over heels in love? Why would a girl that normally spends 10-15 minutes doing hair and make-up all of a sudden start spend twice or 3 x's that in the bathroom? What is it about the opposite gender that brings out our more feminine side? Darwinist people might say, that it all has to do with attraction and wanting to procreate, so that the species can survive. In other words, we are programmed to act like this.

That just sounds too clinical for me. I'm sorry, but I'm not a bird that is programmed to attract a mate, I'm a human with a soul and free will. So, what is it exactly about love that makes us crazy. We stop spending time with our other friends, so that we can be with our significant other, we hug, hold hands, kiss... love makes us do crazy things!

Yet, love is almost like being drunk or high. While you're in love, everything you are doing seems perfectly sane at the time. Of course I spend 3 hours choosing a shirt to wear, just in case I run into johnny billy bob at the grocery store! Who doesn't doodle hearts all over the place, or spend 4 hours going over the 30 second conversation we just had and try to find all the hidden meanings in what we each said!

Being in the new stage of love is fun, but is also stressful. Boys are stressful, maybe it is the simplicity, maybe it is the girl over-reacting to the situation (not that we girls EVER do that, what am I thinking!), maybe it is how it is designed to work. The excitement of waiting for the next phone call, e-mail, or date. It is all new and exciting. Yet, there is also the naggling fear and doubt.

Is he the one? Will this relationship finally go the distance? What did he really think of my outfit? I bet he DOES think I'm fat, and I ate 2 scoops of ice-cream!?! What is he telling his friends? Why hasn't he called, it has been like 4 whole hours since we were together!?! Why hasn't he called? What did I do, did I just F*** everything up?

Being in a new relationship is fun, but hard on the girl. Which is why we need girlfriends around, so we can hash everything out and get their perspective, to make sure that we are not screwing up! Sorry boys, but we DO talk, and we talk about EVERYTHING! We are girls, it is what we do. Now, we do know how to keep things private, and we respect that. We do have limits as to what we will tell our girlfriends, so don't worry, those secret nuclear codes you told us are safe! It is just that, we will probably talk to our girlfriends about a lot of stuff, we need to, it keeps the relationship we have with you healthier, trust me!

Boys are great, they keep us girls on our toes, and what else would we talk about, if it wasn't for boys? Cosmo would only be like 10 pages long each month, if that! Dishing about boys, giving advice and dealing with relationships is a big part of life for us.

Yet, longer, more permanent relationships are great too. There is a feeling of security. You know what the other person is thinking, you know that this fight isn't going to end the relationship. You know that he thinks you are fat, and you don't care, because he also thinks that you are sexy, sweet, and fun. It is that ultimate goal of feeling safe and secure no matter that we all strive for.

Marriages survive or fail based on how safe and secure each person feels. If I begin to feel like I can't be myself anymore, there is big trouble. The problem in America (and around the world, but I live in America, so I focus on America) is that we bail here. Trouble arises and we bail, why try to fix it, when divorce is so in fashion these days? It would be better, I think if people would remember that there was a reason they got married, and more often than not, it was because they loved each other. Why not give love another chance, try to make the marriage work! Counseling involves less heartache than a divorce.

Besides, once you get divorced you are back in the game, back out playing the field and having to deal with all the rejection, insecurities and frustrations that you were so excited to be finished with when you found your soul mate.

Love is not an easy thing. It takes time to develop and commitment to sustain. Love is not a passive feeling. It is work and dedication. Yes, there are some people we just love, but in a romantic relationship love requires action from both sides. It requires not just a willingness, but a hunger to remain loyal. Love is so many things. Love is forgiving, patient, kind, etc. The Bible was right on, but it is also a need to work, it is active. You do things for the person you love because you love them.

Love is always changing and growing, or it should be. The longer a couple is together the more they should want to be together, because the roots of love run deep and connect them. Love is amazing.

Ok, so enough of that for today! I didn't plan on going in this direction... interesting! I must have a certain boy on my mind... Well, happy FLAG DAY!!!

Anticipation

First of all, I want to say "thanks" to the Lord for finally cooling things off around here! 86 is so much better than having a heat index in the 100's. I am very appreciative of the cooler weather, though I wouldn't go so far as 1 weather person did and call it a "cold front", that is a bit of hyperbole!!!

I'm excited because one of my best friends is going to be here VERY soon (tomorrow) for a few days and I haven't seen her in what seems like YEARS (we did lunch over Christmas, but that wasn't nearly enough time)!!!

It is times like this, when I am anticipating something that I am reminded of how God made us for relationships. Relationships of all kinds. Of course the most important relationship we can have is with HIM, but God made us for more than that. God made us for each other.

Back in the Garden of Eden, God created everything and it was good. Then God made man, and though Adam (the 1st man) was there with the plants, animals and holy GOD, it wasn't good yet. God knew that something was missing. God then created Eve, a woman and another human. Once Eve was created, then God deemed it good.

Interesting to note that creation wasn't finished till there were 2 humans. God knew that we needed each other, Adam and Eve talked and walked with GOD in the garden, and as awesome as that was, it was not enough. Because God created us for relationships. If God had designed man differently, than Adam wouldn't have needed Eve, but we are created in the image of God, and God is relational, therefore we are relational.

We need our friends and family. It is important that we spend time with other people. Spend the time relaxing, comforting, teaching, encouraging, loving, laughing, and just being together. We need to spend the time helping each other meet and accept Christ and grow in relationship with Him. He should be the most important relationship we have, and out of our love for Him should flow a love for all others as well.

As many of you may know one of my pet peeves is bad/stupid drivers and my current home has LOTS of them... so as I've been trying to grow and mature in Christ, I am trying to learn to not let other drivers annoy and frustrate me so much. Now, in lieu of getting mad and cussing, which I've done once or twice...or probably more! I now I pray for them, generally something like this "Lord please love and protect the other drivers, because I'm having a hard time right now, and work on my attitude as well."

I should love those other drivers, most of whom I will probably never meet, because Christ loves them as much as HE loves you and me.

There are many different forms of relationships: there is the marriage or spousal relationship, which is unique, special and exciting. It is intimate and should last from the wedding day till death. There is the parent/child relationship and is one of love. We love our children more than any other children simply because they are ours, made out of love, incubated (for lack of a better term) out of love, and raised (hopefully) in love. This love lasts from conception (or should) till death. Your child will always be your child, even when they are 55 years old and have children and grandchildren of their own.

Then there are friends, and friends come in all types. We have our best or closest friends. These people are there for life. We tell them things we don't tell others, we trust them with our lives. We may not see them as often and we would like, but when we do it is like no time has past. These friends are a type of family. They should be cherished, because they are treasures.

Then we have our everyday friends. These are people we see often and do things with. They could be our college friends, co-workers, church members, or people we met at Krogers and really like. We feel comfortable around them, and have fun with them, but there is a part of us that we don't share with them. They are good people that we enjoy being with, but they are not part of "inner circle" and these people come and go. If we move, we lose touch. Yeah, we may send Christmas cards back and forth, and talk on the phone once in a blue moon, but we don't feel the need to contact them when we get a raise in our new town, or something.

Then, we have acquaintances. These are people that where we know their names, we greet them in the store, at church at a concert. We may have a class or two with them, but we don't put them on our Christmas card list, we don't know the names of their children, or much about them really, but we recognize them.

Then there are the faces we come across- the teller at the bank, the cashier at Target, the pizza delivery girl, the drivers we past. Faces, we may say hello, and hopefully we are polite, but aside from a brief encounter we don't know them.

Relationships. They are start with Christ and trickle down. The types of relationships goes to show how important the idea is to Christ and why He knew that creation wasn't finished, it wasn't complete until Adam had Eve. Christ yearns for us to make Him number 1. He won't accept 2nd place. We are number to HIM, so why should we relegate HIM to less than the best!?! We need others for our lives to be as they were created to be, but before we pursue other relationships we need to secure our relationship with the Savior. It starts with Him, it did in the Garden, and it ends with Him.

It doesn't matter what relationships we had here on earth, if we die without having HIM as our savior, that is it, we condemned ourselves. As I anticipate seeing one of my best friends, I am also using the time to spend it with other friends, and to let Jesus know just how much I love HIM. He is so amazing, I can talk to HIM about anything, everything and nothing, because HE knows it all anyway, it sometimes I just need to talk (shocker I know!!!). So, don't look at me like I'm weird, I'm not talking to myself, but to my Savior!!!

Happy Friday the 13th. I think maybe I will go find a ladder to walk under, while I follow a black cat... Or maybe I will just go jogging!!!

IN CHRIST,
ME

T-I-R-E-D!!!

So right now I am thinking that I am pretty durn crazy!!! I couldn't sleep last night, and I awoke about 4:45am after an amazingly awful dream. All I remember about my dream is that it was terrifying, but not my usual nightmare. But it was only a dream.

When the sun came up I was fully awake and restless, so I put on jogging clothes, jogging shoes, grabbed my iPod and cell phone and got in my car and drove to the foot of Candler's/LU mountain and jogged up to the gazebo! Boy am I tired! It is a good workout, especially in the heat (I drank lots of h20 b4 and after). Even the early mornings are hot these days!

I forced myself to jog the whole way up and rested at the gazebo for about 5 minutes and then jogged down. It felt so good to get home and hop in a cool shower! As tired as I am, I also feel a sense of accomplishment. It is great to know that I did it. I did what I set out to do!

Hopefully I will sleep the sleep of the just and exhausted tonight and not dream. I think that I am going to make this excursion a weekly event! Right now I am relaxing. Church was good this morning. I am going to spend a couple of hours on my book tonight. I changed my mind on the topic of the chapter I am working on, and I am really enjoying the new topic, but it requires internet research! FUN! I think my new topic will be more interesting and more in keeping with the rest of the book.

Have a wonderful afternoon and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to GRANDMA on Tuesday!!!!!!!!!

The Agony of Defeat

Well yesterday we all watched as Big Brown attempted to be the first horse in 30 years, and the 12th horse in all, to win the Triple Crown. By now the news has spread that not only did Big Brown not win the Belmont Stakes, he came in last! His jockey pulled him as they were coming down the stretch. This just shows how elusive this goal is, to win the Triple Crown. It just reminds me how amazing horses like Seattle Slew and Affirmed were. After watching the race live, and reading about it online. I think the jockey did the right thing. The health of the horse is more important than the title. Big Brown has already proven to the world that he is an amazing athlete. Yesterday was just not his day. Da' Tara the long shot gets his time in the spotlight, and he ran an amazing race, to take it wire to wire over 1.5 miles!!! What an athlete, and in the heat as well!

Talking about sports. I want to say that I'm praying for Paul Hamm as his hand continues to heal after he broke it at Nationals in Boston in May. I'm praying that he doesn't re-injure the hand as he prepares for Beijing. We need him healthy and at 100% for the Olympics! Gymnasts are tough people, to break your hand on the p-bars and then get back up and finish the routine with the broken hand! We are either tough or crazy or maybe a combo of the two!

It has bee H-O-T hot here these days, and the heat doesn't appear to be ready to leave any time soon. I am generally a person that prefers the cooler weather. Yet, I am reminded of God's grace in the heat. Even now, He is there and the heat is helping my herbs and tomato to grow. I like it, because Summer is generally a more relaxed time. Even if we are all working, people are just more relaxed and take time to be with each more. There are more bbq's on the weekends, trips to the lake or the beach, vacations to see family and friends. Not to mention in less than a month America celebrates her birthday and I just love July 4!!!

I am praying that y'all stay cool and dry this month and that the crazy weather does not wreck havoc on your towns. Happy June 8, 2008!

Technology

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The Primary Season Ends...Now What!?!

June is here, and with June came the end of the primary season in the presidential election. Now, I'm a big political junky but even I am fed up with the process. Especially the Michigan and Florida debacle!

Here is my take on MI and FL. They broke the rules, and should live with the repercussions. Now, that is not fair to all the citizenry that went out and voted, they did their duty and their votes should count, so they should be up in arms about the fiasco. As it stood, since the DNC felt they had to distribute the votes, the votes should go to the people who were on the ballots! Hillary chose to remain on the ballots. In MI Obama voluntarily took his name of the ballot. He wasn't told to take his name off, there was not pressure, he saw that MI's votes were not going to count (or so he thought) so he gave up and went else where! He shouldn't have been give 56 delegates. That is just plain old BS!!!

Well now, it is over and those 56 delegates, plus what he won in MT put him over the edge and he has the number needed to secure the nomination in August in Denver. Or so one would think, but Mrs. Clinton isn't about to give up, because the super delegates are allowed to change their minds between now and the convention. Do we have a crazy system or what!?!

All that this process is highlighting is that we are not a true democracy. We are a democratic-republic. We don't get to make the laws, vote on all the bills, etc. We elect people to do that for us, and then we hope that they do a good job and take the country down the road that She should go.

A true democracy would not work for a country as large and diverse as America, nothing would ever happen, there would be too many dissenting opinions. Some would say that not much is happening now, but be that as it may, we have a wonderful system, full of the checks and balances necessary to prevent too big a power coup.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks, who McCain and Obama pick as running mates. I think the Obama-Clinton ticket can be a double-edged sword and I could argure both for and against it, and be equally as convincing.

On the GOP side it is quite intriguing to see who McCain will pick. Will it be 1 of the former Pres. canidates, and if so will it be Romney or Huckabee, or someone else? Will it be any of the 5 govenors mentioned in the past few weeks? Will it be Condi Rice, a lot of people think she would be a great choice.

Only time will tell what will happen. I just pray that we as a nation make a decision to elect the ticket that will do their best to take us in a way that honors God and brings world wide respect back to our country, because we may be post-modern and no longer a "Christian" nation, but America still is a wonderful place to live and full of intriguing, interesting, patriotic, respectful, kind people.