Marshfield man credits late British cardinal in healing - The Boston Globe
Spirit Daily - AT A TIME OF ENDLESS THREATS TO HEALTH, REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR 'PROPHETIC' HEALING
Posted from Diigo. The rest of Catholic group favorite links are here.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
My Daily Domestic Diigolet 05/01/2009
Posted from Diigo. The rest of Catholic group favorite links are here.
Small Successes
1. I got up every morning, got dressed, typed, taught school, did laundry, straightened the house, cooked dinner, drove kids around, typed, visited my mother, went to bed, repeat just about every day this week.
2. My EFC (Evil First Cousin if you're new) has decided to be a contender in "How low can you go." Just as she and the her attorney and the trustees were about to go into a meeting to literally give her the farm, Mr. Pete finds an attorney to represent us who basically says, "Oh no you didn't!" I am relieved
3. Calvin and Grandma have never gotten along too well. My mom moved here when he was only 8 but because of her brain disorder at the time she made a bad first impression and they have been on each other's nerves every since. But Sunday Calvin took me to the nursing home. He sat down by her bed and acted genuinely interested to hear how she was doing and feeling. They had a very nice visit and I was very proud of both of them!
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Some aplogetics things I just don't get:
Some time spent over at the Squirrel's web site last week reminded me of when I was reverting back to the Catholic church. At that time, I was totally willing to start from square one, look at both sides, and make the move out of the church if the answers took me there. But the answers never took me there. The rebuttals to Catholic apologetic from the Protestant apologists were never satisfying or were so twisted and convoluted I couldn't believe that's REALLY what Jesus intended.
For example, I read an explanation from James White that the church referred to in 1 Timothy was merely the local church... so does that mean that anything in Colossians is only for the church there? or anything in Thessalonians was just for them? In fact couldn't I construe then that most of the Epistles were simply just to the people at the time and place they were written too? It kind of blows the mind doesn't it? Of course I don't think THEY really think that, because I've been beaten over the head with the book of Romans more times than I care to count. So it must be that at least some non-Catholic Christians think the Epistles apply to us today as well.
Another blogger takes the Catholic interpretation of John 6 to task as being only a metaphor. The blogger goes to great lengths to point out that Jesus loved to speak metaphorically. In my mind then that begs the question, is the resurrection metaphorical too? I'm assuming this blogger doesn't think so, but since they take the literal Greek words of eat (phago) and 'to chew slowly' (trogo) as metaphors why would they come to the conclusion that anything He said was literal?
Enjoying my life on this side of the Tiber.
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For example, I read an explanation from James White that the church referred to in 1 Timothy was merely the local church... so does that mean that anything in Colossians is only for the church there? or anything in Thessalonians was just for them? In fact couldn't I construe then that most of the Epistles were simply just to the people at the time and place they were written too? It kind of blows the mind doesn't it? Of course I don't think THEY really think that, because I've been beaten over the head with the book of Romans more times than I care to count. So it must be that at least some non-Catholic Christians think the Epistles apply to us today as well.
Another blogger takes the Catholic interpretation of John 6 to task as being only a metaphor. The blogger goes to great lengths to point out that Jesus loved to speak metaphorically. In my mind then that begs the question, is the resurrection metaphorical too? I'm assuming this blogger doesn't think so, but since they take the literal Greek words of eat (phago) and 'to chew slowly' (trogo) as metaphors why would they come to the conclusion that anything He said was literal?
Enjoying my life on this side of the Tiber.
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My Daily Domestic Diigolet 04/30/2009
The pro-death administration of Barrack Obama.
I wonder what Beethoven would think of this?
Must be that stimulus package at work.
WASHINGTON -- Unemployment rates rose in all of the nation's largest metropolitan areas for the third straight month in
March, with Indiana's Elkhart-Goshen once again logging the biggest gain.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
My Daily Domestic Diigolet 04/30/2009
Church announces dates for 2010 exposition of Shroud of Turin
Christ Conquers, He Reigns, He Commands! | Catholic Exchange
Father Jack Durkin | Catholic Homily
podcasts on our holy faith
Posted from Diigo. The rest of Catholic group favorite links are here.
Catherine of Seinna
Saint Catherine should give mothers with large families, or moms contemplating the pros and cons of having another baby, some encouragement and hope. St. Catherine was the youngest of a very large family. She went on to become one of the most respected women in the church and of the middle ages! What a loss to the world it would have been if her parents opted not to have her.
Catherine Benincasa, born in 1347, was the youngest (one of my sources says the 23rd) of twenty-five children of a wealthy dyer of Sienna (or Siena). At the age of six, she had a vision of Christ in glory, surrounded by His saints. From that time on, she spent most of her time in prayer and meditation, over the opposition of her parents, who wanted her to be more like the average girl of her social class. Eventually they gave in, and at the age of sixteen she joined the Third Order of St. Dominic (First Order = friars, Second Order = nuns, Third Order = laypersons), where she became a nurse, caring for patients with leprosy and advanced cancer whom other nurses disliked to treat.
She began to acquire a reputation as a person of insight and sound judgement, and many persons from all walks of life sought her spiritual advice, both in person and by letter. (We have a book containing about four hundred letters from her to bishops, kings, scholars, merchants, and obscure peasants.) She persuaded many priests who were living in luxury to give away their goods and to live simply.
Also here.
Catherine of Sienna Year
She made peace between worldly princes. The heads of Church and State bowed to her words. She weaned Italy away from an anti-pope, and made cardinals and princes promise allegiance to the rightful pontiff. She journeyed to Avignon and persuaded Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome. Even though she barely reached the age of thirty-three her accomplishments place her among the great women of the Middle Ages. The virgin Catherine was espoused to Christ by a precious nuptial ring which, although visible only to her, always remained on her finger.
St. Catherine's My Space!
Catherine went to Rome at the request of Urban VI to organize spiritual help towards ending the schism. Before leaving Siena for the last time, she dictated a book called The Dialogue of St. Catherine; this and her four hundred Letters comprise a great treasury of spiritual writing.
Once again in Rome she pitted herself against the powers of evil that threatened to engulf the church. For a whole year she lived corporally on the Blessed Sacrament and took less than an hour's sleep every night while she sent her zealous letters all over Europe, beseeching help for the restoration of unity and for peace, as daily she offered her life for this cause. One evening in January, 1380, while dictating a letter to Urban, she had a stroke. Partially recovering, she lived in a mystical agony, convinced that she was wrestling physically with demons. She had a second stroke while at prayer in St. Peter's and died three weeks later on April 29th, 1380, aged thirty-three. She was buried under the high altar in the Dominican church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, but her head was afterwards removed and taken to Siena, where it is enshrined in the Dominican church. She was canonized eighty-one years after her death. Her feast is celebrated in Siena on April 29th, but elsewhere in the church on the next day.
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From my e-mail
From the Desk of:
Steve Elliott, President
Grassfire.org Alliance
Elena,
Both the House and the Senate are expected to vote TODAY on
the budget resolution that includes over $2 trillion in
tax increases in the next 10 years and fast-track provisions
for socialized healthcare.
I'm asking you to take action in two important ways:
+ + Action Item #1 -- Flood The Phone Lines!
We must let these members of Congress know that we oppose
the tax increases and the fast-tracking of socialized healthcare.
Call your two Senators:
Sen. Voinovich 202-224-3353
Sen. Brown 202-224-2315
Call your Congressman:
Rep. Sutton 202-225-3401
Also, call these 12 key Senate Democrats who have opposed
fast-tracking and urge them to oppose the rules trickery
in the budget:
Senator Mark Begich 202-224-3004
Senator Robert Casey 202-224-6324
Senator Mary Landrieu 202-224-5824
Senator Max Baucus 202-224-2651
Senator Daniel Inouye 202-224-3934
Senator Mark Pryor 202-224-2353
Senator Amy Klobuchar 202-224-3244
Senator Carl Levin 202-224-6221
Senator Blanche Lincoln 202-224-4843
Senator Robert Byrd 202-224-3954
Senator Evan Bayh 202-224-5623
Senator Ben Nelson 202-223-6551
+ + Action #2: Send Your Faxes
If you haven't done so already, send your faxes now.
We have redirected our FaxFire to target the 12 Senate Democrats
who are on record opposing the fast-track provisions -- along
with your two Senators and your Representative.
Go here to send your faxes:
http://www.grassfire.net/r.asp?U=18656&CID=112&RID=19071093
As always, if you would prefer to send your own faxes, please
do so! We provide all the contact information and sample
letters for your convenience at the above link.
The back-room deal struck by Obama and his cohorts on Capitol
Hill to fast-track socialized healthcare is an outrage.
Sen Judd Gregg compared it to Hugo Chavez' strong-arming tactics.
Please alert your friends and take action!
Steve Elliott, President
Grassfire.org
P.S. Our research team has prepared a more detailed explanation
of how Obama and the Democrats are using rules trickery to
stifle debate and fast-track socialized healthcare. To access
that report, go here:
http://www.grassfire.net/r.asp?U=18657&RID=19071093
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Steve Elliott, President
Grassfire.org Alliance
Elena,
Both the House and the Senate are expected to vote TODAY on
the budget resolution that includes over $2 trillion in
tax increases in the next 10 years and fast-track provisions
for socialized healthcare.
I'm asking you to take action in two important ways:
+ + Action Item #1 -- Flood The Phone Lines!
We must let these members of Congress know that we oppose
the tax increases and the fast-tracking of socialized healthcare.
Call your two Senators:
Sen. Voinovich 202-224-3353
Sen. Brown 202-224-2315
Call your Congressman:
Rep. Sutton 202-225-3401
Also, call these 12 key Senate Democrats who have opposed
fast-tracking and urge them to oppose the rules trickery
in the budget:
Senator Mark Begich 202-224-3004
Senator Robert Casey 202-224-6324
Senator Mary Landrieu 202-224-5824
Senator Max Baucus 202-224-2651
Senator Daniel Inouye 202-224-3934
Senator Mark Pryor 202-224-2353
Senator Amy Klobuchar 202-224-3244
Senator Carl Levin 202-224-6221
Senator Blanche Lincoln 202-224-4843
Senator Robert Byrd 202-224-3954
Senator Evan Bayh 202-224-5623
Senator Ben Nelson 202-223-6551
+ + Action #2: Send Your Faxes
If you haven't done so already, send your faxes now.
We have redirected our FaxFire to target the 12 Senate Democrats
who are on record opposing the fast-track provisions -- along
with your two Senators and your Representative.
Go here to send your faxes:
http://www.grassfire.net/r.asp?U=18656&CID=112&RID=19071093
As always, if you would prefer to send your own faxes, please
do so! We provide all the contact information and sample
letters for your convenience at the above link.
The back-room deal struck by Obama and his cohorts on Capitol
Hill to fast-track socialized healthcare is an outrage.
Sen Judd Gregg compared it to Hugo Chavez' strong-arming tactics.
Please alert your friends and take action!
Steve Elliott, President
Grassfire.org
P.S. Our research team has prepared a more detailed explanation
of how Obama and the Democrats are using rules trickery to
stifle debate and fast-track socialized healthcare. To access
that report, go here:
http://www.grassfire.net/r.asp?U=18657&RID=19071093
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Works for me Wednesday- Birthworks
The article I blogged on a couple of days ago regarding birth choices made me remember an amazing course I took before my first VBAC. This class, called
Birthworks helped me to really get in touch with my mind, body and belief systems about birth to help me believe in myself and my body's ability to grow a baby and give birth to it.
This was unlike the hospital birth class that I took with my first son. That course, while teaching a lot about what to expect in the hospital setting didn't really prepare us for the physical and mental challenge of birth (and a whopping 2/3 of us ended up with C-sections).
Some of the highlights of the course that I used through my subsequent labors included vocalization techniques during contractions, and giving birth in a squatting position, something that was never even suggested for my first baby, but that I used successfully for two 9+ pound babies and my 10+ pounder!
For a mom who wants to try something a little different in childbirth education, this might just be the class.
Works for Me!
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Rosie and her "Best Friend"
P1050205
Originally uploaded by elliemom
Rosie and this other little homeschooled girl have become best friends.
I have two adult friends, a blond and a brunette, who always send cards to each other featuring little girls with dark and blond hair. When one of the ladies saw the pictures in my Flickr account she asked for some of them, to turn into cards to keep the card tradition going with her friend. I thought that was sweet!
Note Rosie's dimple in her left cheek! The first time I ever saw her little face that dimple was there! Now she can make it appear and disappear at will. It definitely makes her unique!
My Daily Domestic Diigolet 04/29/2009
Swine flu fears may hammer travel industry - USATODAY.com
- This is kind of the one-two-three-four-five punch," says Jan Freitag, a vice president at the hotel-tracking firm Smith Travel Research. "You have a global recession; business travel has been severely curtailed; leisure travel is curtailed because people are not sure they're going to have jobs; you have a lot of new hotel supply in the pipeline; and oops, now we have the European Union suggesting that travel to the United States is a mistake."
How Bush Prepared for the Outbreak - WSJ.com
President Bush- the most under appreciated president!
Swine flu has presented the Obama administration with its first major public-health crisis. Fortunately for the Obama team, the Bush administration developed new tools that will prove critical in meeting this challenge.
Under President Bush, the federal government worked with manufacturers to accelerate vaccine development, stockpiled crucial antivirals like Tamiflu, war-gamed pandemic scenarios with senior officials, and increased the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) sample identification capabilities. These activities are bearing fruit today.
NPR: Obama's First 100 Days: A Time For Media Obsession
- Truth be told, the 100th day has no significance whatever in terms of the Constitution, the executive calendar or the congressional calendar. It means not a thing to any legal or legislative process. Yet that has never restrained those who see a purpose in sizing up each new president after a few months in office, using the poetic interval of 100 days (much as Abraham Lincoln spoke of "four score and seven years" and not "eighty-seven"
- Even the White House has given up and joined the parade. After calling it a "Hallmark holiday" akin to Grandparents Day or Secretaries Week, the Obama team scrambled to mount a "100 days town hall meeting" and a primetime news conference to mark the date.
- So yes, the news media obsession with Obama has to do with the fate of the nation in parlous times; but it is also about the survival of the news business itself in a season of mortal peril.
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100 Days Of Epic Failure - How Obama Is Tanking America | Vancouver Secrets
Change you can believe in? yea, well, you better believe it because this guy is tanking this country faster than anyone predicted!
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
My Daily Domestic Diigolet 04/29/2009
Comments
I read somewhere that comments are good for blog traffic! Cool. Elizabeth Foss took hers completely out and hasn't seemed to lose any traffic. I have had halo scans mostly up for almost six years and plan to keep it that way. But my blogging buddy Cecily does NOT respond to comments (well she e-mails responses which might be a better way to go). I'm thinking of going that way too. So as an experiment, I am going to leave comments up, but I'm blocking them to my e-mail account so they won't tempt me to peak. I'll check them periodically on the Halo Scan site and respond to the ones that need responding to. Let's see how that experiment works!
But I will still stop attacks and bad behavior so be nice!
In the interest of
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But I will still stop attacks and bad behavior so be nice!
In the interest of
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Visit my new Amazon Store!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Simple Woman
Outside my window...
Blue skies, bright, sunny. And my favorite tree that makes me worry about it every year, is making me worry again this year. It still hasn't leafed out!
I am thinking...
about conversations. It took me a long time to identify destructive patterns in blog and forum discussions. And now I'm starting to identify them in real life conversations as well. Is my learning curve unusually slow? Or does it take so many hours of interaction to have enough data to see the patterns?
I am thankful for...the end of winter and more reasonable gas bills!
From the learning rooms...I am really hitting math for the rest of the school year!
From the kitchen...Pot roast. It's a little warm for that, but Mr. Pete requested it so, there ya go!
I am wearing... Big pink jumper and black T shirt. Comfortable yet nice churchgoing clothes- I have to play for a funeral today so I need both.
I am going... for a walk today. Also visit mom after the funeral.
I am reading...
about ovarian cancer. It's frightening how vague the symptoms are! Fatigue, indigestion, bloating... no wonder no one picks up on it early. I have this huge urge to rip mine out!
I am hoping...that mom improves this week, my kids get a lot done in school, and my house stays in reasonably good order.
I am hearing...the air conditioner! Mr. Pete put it in for me.
Around the house...we are enjoying spring.
A picture to share:
Visiting grandma at the nursing/rehab center.
Rosie and her "best friend" with their pony tails!
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My Daily Domestic Diigolet 04/27/2009
A Squirrel in Babylon: Is Roman Catholicism Christian? Part 3
This guy, is a jerk - I'm just saying.
But he's such a good...Christian?My Domestic Church: An epiphany moment on blog debates
Blogging/forum commenting tips that I wrote last year.
Excellent article on the state of birth in this country. I had a couple of thoughts while reading it.
A couple of years ago I had a discussion with a woman who had pretty much opted for a Cesarean at her first prenatal visit! She didn't with to be challenged on it either. I never considered the perspective that "high risk" in this country has come to mean "special." And that's how ACOG has come to make it so acceptable.
I also wonder why the feminists and "green" people haven't picked on this. Industrialized birth today takes power away from women. This is just as bad ad the old day when women were tied down during labor, like my mother was, back in the 50s and 60s. Yet other than Ricky Lake, I'm not hearing a peep from them.
As far s the green movement, I guess it's okay to keep the earth clean and pure but to savage women's body with invasive medical procedures seems to be okay.- The cesarean rate in the US has been rising for decades, and in 2006 hit an all-time high of 31% (Hamilton, 2007.) This record is likely to stand for only a brief time, that is, until figures are
released for 2007. Can it really be that one-third of women are unable to birth without high-level technological support? And is there an endpoint in sight? “In the next decade or so the
industrial revolution in obstetrics could make Cesarean delivery consistently safer than the birth process that evolution gave us.” (Gawande, 2006, 8) Against such an argument, who could hope to
stand? - Although he lauds the
success—often unheralded-- of obstetrics in saving mothers’ and infants’ lives, I hear within the paean a threnody for the vanishing art. Skilled obstetricians like those legends of the past,
whose names lived on in the maneuvers they devised to usher babies into the world, are vanishing from current practice: goodbye, Lovset; hit the road, Rubin; Mauriceau, it’s been swell, but we’re
through. - If cesarean is a response to any
perceived risk, why would women at statistically lower risk of a poor outcome have higher cesarean delivery rates? New Jersey has the highest cesarean rate among states, (Denk 2006) but no lower
levels of maternal or perinatal mortality. (MacDorman 2007, CDC 1999) What it does have, however, is the highest median household income. (Census Bureau 2007) - Does this paradox reflect a differential understanding of risk? I have seen, over years of practice in maternal-fetal medicine, an odd and somewhat unsettling pride among women who announce that
they have a “high-risk pregnancy.” - In some cases it is difficult to persuade a low-risk woman to continue her care with a general OBGYN practice instead. “But I’m high-risk,” she says.
Does she really mean, “I’m high-status,” or “My baby is high-value,” specifically, more precious than someone else’s? Is it a statement of importance? Does it mean that she is special? Or is it a
Disneyfication of a primal human endeavor, longing for the synthetic and dramatized experience in preference to the authentic? These questions are raised, but cannot possibly be answered, in this
commentary. - Women who want to be high-risk (read: special) in their designation are nonetheless hugely risk-averse when it comes to the real thing. Obstetricians have tapped into that fear in daily practice.
Vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), for example, is associated with a very low although measurable risk of uterine rupture. Presented with the figures and asked to sign a consent for VBAC which
spells out that risk, most women now decline: the VBAC rate in 2005 was under 8%. (Martin, 2006) Whether this is driven by reluctance of doctors to offer or women to undergo VBAC is impossible to
ascertain, but it is clear that fear is contagious. - For developing or low-income countries, where
access to safe maternity care is an issue, a rise in national CS rates from 0% to 8-10% is accompanied by a drop in stillbirths, neonatal deaths, and maternal deaths. (Goldenberg 2007, McClure
2007.) But across the developed world, or across medium- and high-income countries, there is no additional benefit of further increase in cesarean rate (Althabe 2006.): - Nonetheless, seduced by the promise of pain-free, risk-free childbirth, women and their doctors are driving the cesarean rate ever higher. Rates approaching—or exceeding-- fifty percent are now
seen in some hospitals (New Jersey Star-Ledger.) This is the normalization of deviance. This is the new normal. - Let us enumerate what a full spectrum of childbirth choices entails. Women can give birth at home unaided; at home with family or with trained assistance; in a birth center, either freestanding
or hospital-based; in the hospital delivery room with trained assistance; or in the operating room where they are acted upon. But of all these choices, extending across the entire range of
reliance upon the medical profession (from none to total), exercising the options at the end of the spectrum where the physician has the least sway will get women the least support. The American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists calumniates not only women who want a home birth but anyone who advocates leaving that option open. (American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, 2008.) Once in the hospital, women who might like to exercise their right to self-determination by choosing vaginal birth after cesarean, or vaginal breech delivery, will have a
hard time of it. (Leeman and Plante, 2006) Is it not the opposite of autonomy to support only those choices which increase the woman’s reliance upon the physician? - Industrial obstetrics strips the locus of power definitively away from women.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
This That and the Other Thing: Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival
Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival is a weekly opportunity to share our best posts with the wider Catholic blogging community. To participate, create a post highlighting posts that would be of interest to Catholics and link to the host blog at http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com. Go to the host blog and leave a comment giving a link to your post.
I'd like to direct readers to my posting on "The message" based on 1 Corinthians and 2 Timothy.
Also another link to this ongoing discussion between Protestants and Catholics, which is for the most part, predictable. Other than the part where a commenter opines that one can't be a good Catholic and a good Christian, it's relatively civil.
Other than that I just want to blog a bit about selling Plan B birth control to 17 year olds.
Mr. Pete has had a nasty toenail fungus for years. Last year his dermatologist prescribed a special anti-fungal nailpolish to put on his toenails. So Mr. Pete had the cost of the office visit which I think was around $40 to get a prescription just to take care of a toenail problem. I should also mention that Mr. Pete was 50 and he pretty much knows a toenail problem when he sees it.
So basically the government, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that a 17 year old girl, who can't drink legally or vote, has enough wisdom and maturity to go into the drug store and buy potent hormones that will powerfully affect her body - but a 50 year old working man doesn't have it together enough to buy tonail fungus medicine?
Hello???
This recent decision was not medical. It wasn't even based on sound logic. This was political.
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Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival is a weekly opportunity to share our best posts with the wider Catholic blogging community. To participate, create a post highlighting posts that would be of interest to Catholics and link to the host blog at http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com. Go to the host blog and leave a comment giving a link to your post.
I'd like to direct readers to my posting on "The message" based on 1 Corinthians and 2 Timothy.
Also another link to this ongoing discussion between Protestants and Catholics, which is for the most part, predictable. Other than the part where a commenter opines that one can't be a good Catholic and a good Christian, it's relatively civil.
Other than that I just want to blog a bit about selling Plan B birth control to 17 year olds.
Mr. Pete has had a nasty toenail fungus for years. Last year his dermatologist prescribed a special anti-fungal nailpolish to put on his toenails. So Mr. Pete had the cost of the office visit which I think was around $40 to get a prescription just to take care of a toenail problem. I should also mention that Mr. Pete was 50 and he pretty much knows a toenail problem when he sees it.
So basically the government, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that a 17 year old girl, who can't drink legally or vote, has enough wisdom and maturity to go into the drug store and buy potent hormones that will powerfully affect her body - but a 50 year old working man doesn't have it together enough to buy tonail fungus medicine?
Hello???
This recent decision was not medical. It wasn't even based on sound logic. This was political.
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Saturday, April 25, 2009
7- Quick Takes Friday the Saturday edition
Join Jen and the other Quicktakers over at the Conversion Diary.
1. Another exhausting week. I'm hopeful that my mom will continue to improve that she can find enjoyment in whatever life she has left. And I refuse to put limits on what that might be. I love what Whoopi Goldberg said of her friend Patrick Swayze, "He does not have an expiration date on his backside – none of us do – we just know at some point it's going to happen and that's how he's looking at it."
2. I talked about this with my 90-year-old Aunt Dot too. You know, I always wonder how your mindset must shift at age 90. Do you make plans? Do you have hopes for the future? And she told me you just get up and do what you can do. And if you die before hand, it wasn't meant to be! She has such a great attitude.
3. I just did a wedding for a middle aged couple. They served cake and punch in the church meeting room and I was supposed to help with the cake and the punch. I asked 9-year-old Izzy to help me! Oh... my heart just smiled when I saw her. She came right from her soccer game. She had put on a dress, pulled her hair back and had on her apron!! She was sooooo excited about helping. It must have showed because the groom slipped her a $5! She was very happy about that too!
4. I never mentioned this on the blog, but the day after my mom's BIG surgery, I had to take Izzy in for a surgery appointment. She was born with this lump on the bottom of her foot. It never hurt, it never bothered her, it was just there. UNTIL... this month when of course, it would start to hurt. There might be a couple of reasons for this. She is heavier now so maybe her weight is starting to irritate it. OR... maybe her bump doesn't like high heeled shoes, which she has also started wear to church. I dunno. But because it is right on the bottom of her foot, they have to take skin from her abdomen to make a graft for it. I guess there goes her chances for Miss USA! Which is okay with me too...
5. But anyway... this surgery is going to cost about a lot of money. Our deductible is $5000 but since this is an unusual procedure they don't do often, they have no clue how much this is going to cost. Then out of the blue, Mr. Pete started getting all of these side jobs! He has dry wall to lay, pipes to install... I think we're going to be able to cover the surgery, although we won't be seeing much of Mr. Pete on the weekends and evenings.
6. This $5 dollar eBay dress? I've been wearing it all over the place. I am going to keep an eye on that seller and see if I can get any more.
7. I took three kids out to start nature journaling yesterday. The 13 year old hated it, the 11 year old liked it okay, the 9 year old LOVED IT! Isn't it funny how three kids from the same family can all have such different thoughts on the same thing? God truly does make us all individuals!
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1. Another exhausting week. I'm hopeful that my mom will continue to improve that she can find enjoyment in whatever life she has left. And I refuse to put limits on what that might be. I love what Whoopi Goldberg said of her friend Patrick Swayze, "He does not have an expiration date on his backside – none of us do – we just know at some point it's going to happen and that's how he's looking at it."
2. I talked about this with my 90-year-old Aunt Dot too. You know, I always wonder how your mindset must shift at age 90. Do you make plans? Do you have hopes for the future? And she told me you just get up and do what you can do. And if you die before hand, it wasn't meant to be! She has such a great attitude.
3. I just did a wedding for a middle aged couple. They served cake and punch in the church meeting room and I was supposed to help with the cake and the punch. I asked 9-year-old Izzy to help me! Oh... my heart just smiled when I saw her. She came right from her soccer game. She had put on a dress, pulled her hair back and had on her apron!! She was sooooo excited about helping. It must have showed because the groom slipped her a $5! She was very happy about that too!
4. I never mentioned this on the blog, but the day after my mom's BIG surgery, I had to take Izzy in for a surgery appointment. She was born with this lump on the bottom of her foot. It never hurt, it never bothered her, it was just there. UNTIL... this month when of course, it would start to hurt. There might be a couple of reasons for this. She is heavier now so maybe her weight is starting to irritate it. OR... maybe her bump doesn't like high heeled shoes, which she has also started wear to church. I dunno. But because it is right on the bottom of her foot, they have to take skin from her abdomen to make a graft for it. I guess there goes her chances for Miss USA! Which is okay with me too...
5. But anyway... this surgery is going to cost about a lot of money. Our deductible is $5000 but since this is an unusual procedure they don't do often, they have no clue how much this is going to cost. Then out of the blue, Mr. Pete started getting all of these side jobs! He has dry wall to lay, pipes to install... I think we're going to be able to cover the surgery, although we won't be seeing much of Mr. Pete on the weekends and evenings.
6. This $5 dollar eBay dress? I've been wearing it all over the place. I am going to keep an eye on that seller and see if I can get any more.
7. I took three kids out to start nature journaling yesterday. The 13 year old hated it, the 11 year old liked it okay, the 9 year old LOVED IT! Isn't it funny how three kids from the same family can all have such different thoughts on the same thing? God truly does make us all individuals!
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Another reason I reverted to- and continue to remain in Catholicism
A couple of weeks ago, my niece and I were discussing the faith and we were sharing parts of our faith stories with each other.
One of the things I shared with my niece was my early exposure to apologetics. When I was first coming back I read a lot of Catholic vs. Protestant stuff and something struck me. The Protestant would make a charge (against Mary, calling Pope father, traditions, etc.) The Catholic apologist would answer and usually that answer would AMAZE me. Because of course, as a Catholic school graduate I hadn't been taught the faith at all, let alone know anything about apologetics. So to me, to see the faith explained and defended logically, with scripture was a real treat.
Then I would await the Protestant rebuttal, and when it came it was always a disappointment. Always. The closest thing I ever saw to a challenging rebuttal came from a lady Presbyterian minister on an AOL message board. But the professional, learned responses always left me going... uh?
I'm seeing a similar example of that here in the comment section. For example, in this discussion of whether or not Catholics are really Christians, with a focus on sola scriptura, a Catholic, Patrick makes this statement:
I remember reading these arguments before. I've used them as well. But I have never read a satisfying rebuttal from the Protestant perspective and this was no exception.
He totally misses Patrick's point that Paul wasn't considering his own letter to be "scripture" at the time he was writing it! And how did we determine that Paul's letters were part of sacred scripture? The Catholic church gathered and codified them and told us they were! And it's those glaring admissions that I always found just so unsatisfying!
This thought by the blog host was equally irritating:
By implication? Does he mean that Paul was implying that there would be a New Testament and that it would come to be known as part of scripture? By whose authority?
See that thought to me is just a mess on a lot of levels including historically and logically.
And for those reasons, I have never found it to be persuasive enough to even budge me towards the other side of the Tiber.
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One of the things I shared with my niece was my early exposure to apologetics. When I was first coming back I read a lot of Catholic vs. Protestant stuff and something struck me. The Protestant would make a charge (against Mary, calling Pope father, traditions, etc.) The Catholic apologist would answer and usually that answer would AMAZE me. Because of course, as a Catholic school graduate I hadn't been taught the faith at all, let alone know anything about apologetics. So to me, to see the faith explained and defended logically, with scripture was a real treat.
Then I would await the Protestant rebuttal, and when it came it was always a disappointment. Always. The closest thing I ever saw to a challenging rebuttal came from a lady Presbyterian minister on an AOL message board. But the professional, learned responses always left me going... uh?
I'm seeing a similar example of that here in the comment section. For example, in this discussion of whether or not Catholics are really Christians, with a focus on sola scriptura, a Catholic, Patrick makes this statement:
First question: what Scripture is Paul referring to in 2 Tim 3? I believe it is the Old Testament. This is evident when he says Timothy has known these sacred writings "since childhood." We don't have exact dates here, but assuming Timothy was a young man at this time, his childhood would have been around the period of the Resurrection - at which point none of the New Testament had been written yet.
Also, while the passage says Scripture inspired, profitable etc, it nowhere says that ONLY scripture has these characteristics. Indeed, in his earlier letter to Timothy Paul said that it is the Church - not Scripture - which is the "pillar and foundation of the Truth." (1 Tim 3:15).
I remember reading these arguments before. I've used them as well. But I have never read a satisfying rebuttal from the Protestant perspective and this was no exception.
Patrick: even if it is the Old Testament, that still doesn't change the point being made: the Scriptures are the source of wisdom and knowledge. Paul tells his charge Timothy (and also Titus) to preach the word. It is all centered on Scripture.
He totally misses Patrick's point that Paul wasn't considering his own letter to be "scripture" at the time he was writing it! And how did we determine that Paul's letters were part of sacred scripture? The Catholic church gathered and codified them and told us they were! And it's those glaring admissions that I always found just so unsatisfying!
This thought by the blog host was equally irritating:
While Paul is referring specifically , in 2 Timothy, to the Old Testament, his remarks do, by implication, do include the New Testament Scriptures, as "all" would include Scripture not yet recorded.
By implication? Does he mean that Paul was implying that there would be a New Testament and that it would come to be known as part of scripture? By whose authority?
See that thought to me is just a mess on a lot of levels including historically and logically.
And for those reasons, I have never found it to be persuasive enough to even budge me towards the other side of the Tiber.
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My Daily Domestic Diigolet 04/25/2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
A new ebay scam!
New to me any way.
We had a bidder with "private feedback" win one of our auctions. Private feedback means no one can read the comments left for them or see what they purchased. And since sellers can no longer leave feedback on buyers, the feedback system is less than helpful when trying to size up your trading partner!
Anyway, this person with "private feedback" outbids all of the other bidders and wins our musical instrument. We pack it up and send it. Today I get an e-mail that according to this buyer, the instrument is not as described, is not in good condition and they want a refund! So I offer to have them send it back, let us do whatever work they want on it. I even offered to refund her shipping costs. But this buyer will have none of that and escalates it to claim, demanding a partial refund!
At first I was tempted to give it just to get her out of my hair. But Mr. Pete was adamant that we get the entire instrument back and issue a full refund. He's right and here's why! If the buyer got a partial refund and got to keep the instrument, she would have cheated all of the other bidders who made higher bids! In other words, she would have gotten the instrument for a lot lower price than the people she bid against. In addition it's a very good instrument (she's delusional if she really believes it's not!) and since this person owns a music store, she will be able to sell it for a very good price - a real win for her!
And although I'm ticked because Paypal froze our account until I used a credit card to bring it up to date, she has ten days to return the instrument with tracking and a proven signature, and SHE HAS TO PAY FOR SHIPPING!
So for those of you following along at home, she just lost about $30, and the instrument. We break even and get to either offer a second chance offer to the second highest bidder, or try to sell it again.
Rule here for eBay sellers, especially if you sell high priced items, is to NEVER give a partial refund. It's all or nothing! I'm also never trading a gain with a "private feedback" person.
Please browse my eBay items!
Visit my new Amazon Store!
We had a bidder with "private feedback" win one of our auctions. Private feedback means no one can read the comments left for them or see what they purchased. And since sellers can no longer leave feedback on buyers, the feedback system is less than helpful when trying to size up your trading partner!
Anyway, this person with "private feedback" outbids all of the other bidders and wins our musical instrument. We pack it up and send it. Today I get an e-mail that according to this buyer, the instrument is not as described, is not in good condition and they want a refund! So I offer to have them send it back, let us do whatever work they want on it. I even offered to refund her shipping costs. But this buyer will have none of that and escalates it to claim, demanding a partial refund!
At first I was tempted to give it just to get her out of my hair. But Mr. Pete was adamant that we get the entire instrument back and issue a full refund. He's right and here's why! If the buyer got a partial refund and got to keep the instrument, she would have cheated all of the other bidders who made higher bids! In other words, she would have gotten the instrument for a lot lower price than the people she bid against. In addition it's a very good instrument (she's delusional if she really believes it's not!) and since this person owns a music store, she will be able to sell it for a very good price - a real win for her!
And although I'm ticked because Paypal froze our account until I used a credit card to bring it up to date, she has ten days to return the instrument with tracking and a proven signature, and SHE HAS TO PAY FOR SHIPPING!
So for those of you following along at home, she just lost about $30, and the instrument. We break even and get to either offer a second chance offer to the second highest bidder, or try to sell it again.
Rule here for eBay sellers, especially if you sell high priced items, is to NEVER give a partial refund. It's all or nothing! I'm also never trading a gain with a "private feedback" person.
Please browse my eBay items!
Visit my new Amazon Store!
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