Again this morning I got a email from Classmates.com that someone signed my guestbook.   Yes, I do have a profile on classmates, but I also refuse to pay to be able to communicate with others and see a full profile.   So even though 21 people have signed my guestbook, they will forever remain a mystery to me.

However, I recently discovered facebook.com and am having a blast getting in touch with college friends (about 50 so far), friends I grew up with from church, and even a high school friend that moved away in high school whom I hadn't heard from since.    Its free, you only add friends who you want to be friends with (I personally have a policy that I only add friends whom I know in real life).   You can add photos, etc. etc.   Its also private, so although I do have my full name on there, you'd have to know me in real life to find me.   And I can set my settings so that only those who are freinds can see photos, or my profile, etc.

I haven't really checked out myspace, and perhaps its similar, but facebook has much more of a professional feel about, it in my opinion.

So check it out, and if you know me in real life, look me up, and we'll be friends!  :)

Our church started a Dinners for Six last year. Every 4 months they start a new one where you can sign up, then you get assigned to 2 other couples. For three months you each take a turn one time hosting a dinner at your house. The other 2 couples bring one side dish.

I had wanted to do this for a long time, but we finally signed up this last time.

We had our dinner last night here at our house.  I made beef/cheese enchiladas, refried beans, guacamole and chips. One family brought Spanish rice, the other family brought dessert.

It was so nice:

* It was incentive for me to clean the house really good
* Its so nice gettting to know other families in a more relaxed setting
* It was great having people over, its been way too long since we've had anyone over
* One family homeschools also and they have 4 boys (my boys had a blast - as did the other boys - their little one asked their parents when they were leaving if they could come back the next day.    When they told him they didn't think so, he said, "well, could you just leave me here then?")

My mil's (mother in-law's) church did something similar with 4 couples they called it Table for 8.

Has your church ever done something like this?  or do you have people over on a regular basis?  I wish I could say we did, I think hospitality is not like it used to be. 

I think its a great thing for  a church to do - a nice way for people to get to know each other, especially families or couples that may not get asked out otherwise.

I'm pretty sure singles could sign up too - it wasn't just for couples.    And although they advertised it as just for couples (as in get a babysitter for the night), we brought our kids with us when the other family hosted, and wanted the familes to bring their kids to our house as well.   We were a little cramped, but it was fun.

 I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes on evolution recently when over at SusannahCox's blog.   She posted an article written in newscientist.com that was very anti-homeschooling.  I actually found the author's lack of logic, reasoning and facts laughable.

But anyway, on to one of my favorite quotes regarding evolution:

  "One of the reasons I started taking this anti-evolutionary view, was ... it struck me that I had been working on this stuff for twenty years and there was not one thing I knew about it.
    That's quite a shock to learn that one can be so misled so long. ...so for the last few weeks I've tried putting a simple question to various people and groups of people.
    Question: 'Can you tell me anything you know about evolution, any one thing that is true?'
    I tried that question on the geology staff at the Field Museum of Natural History and the only answer I got was silence.
    I tried it on the members of the Evolutionary Morphology Seminar in the University of Chicago, a very prestigious body of evolutionists, and all I got there was silence for a long time and eventually one person said, 'I do know one thing – it ought not to be taught in high school'."

Dr. Colin Patterson,
Senior Palaeontologist. British Museum of Natural History, London. Keynote address at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City,

November 5,1981

For more interesting quotes on evolution, visit this site from Answers in Genesis.

A friend shared this link with me and I thought I would share it with you:

Pro-life mainstream video "Can I live"

Rap isn't my favorite choice of music (although I did make up a rap about myself once when I was in college  - oh the silly things college students do).   But hopefully this video will have an impact and influence a girl who may be asking herself "should I have an abortion" and realize that she is carrying a life.   Apparently Nick Cannon's mom decided to choose life.

Anytime I'm working with a mom in the hospital who chooses to give her baby up for adoption, I always try to commend her on a brave decision.  I've heard nurses say, "I don't understand how someone could give their baby up."  I look at it differently and say, "Wow, this girl has chosen to give life to her baby even when she knew that she couldn't be a mom to her, and is giving this beautiful gift to a family who can't have a baby.   It would have been so much easier to have an abortion, but she chose to give life to her baby."

One really neat thing about keeping a blog is getting comments from those who read it.  Hopefully I've encouraged someone, or given someone a laugh (more likely), or made someone more eager to visit Alaska someday (most likely).

But occasionally I am encouraged by an email.   I received an email from from someone named Alinda Tony from the Arua district in Uganda in Africa.   I asked him a slew of questions, and he was kind enough to write back, 

 I am a man, Alinda is my late granddad's name, meaning (trouble causer), derived may be from the olden days of ethnic wars, and my dad suggests me to use it. Otherwise, my first name is Andruvile, which cannot be pronounced well, by the Bagandan tribes living in Kampala.

Dear Madam Kim, My wife is Christine Afekuru, Enrolled nurse.  Our two children are called Noel and Sharon aged 10 and 3 years respectively.

Madam Kim, I live in the village 10km Kampala road, from Arua town, it takes me one hour or so, to reach where I do my voluntary work, and I use a bicycle. Everyday I set off from home at 6.15am, and I reach at 7.45am, if there is no rain. We stop the office at 5.45pm, if there is less work. But sometimes we finish at 7.00pm. ...

2 Cor 5:21  For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Reflecting this Easter Sunday on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I am reminded that it was my sin that nailed Jesus to the cross.  When  Pilate asked the crowd, "what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" it was I who shouted, "Crucify Him."  It was my hands that pushed the crown of thorns into His skull, yet Jesus chose this death.  He was innocent, but not a victim.  He gave His life freely, and died a tortuous crucifixion, out of love - for me.   He was the perfect, unblemished, Passover lamb, sacrificed for the sins of mankind.  Fulfilling the law, He conquered death, and whispered for all time, "It is finished." 

Easter reminds us that the grave couldn't contain Him, for he was not just a "good person", a "wise teacher", a "philosopher for all ages."   He was God, and He was resurrected to life, for all to see.  He is Risen, and He Lives.

He died for all, a gift of eternal life, but it must be received.  Its there for the giving, but we must take it.  We have to take that step of faith, into the ark of salvation, into the promised land.   Jesus doesn't ask perfection from us, only that we have faith in Him, believing that He died and was resurrected, recognizing that it is our sin that He died for, and hating that sin so much that we want to rid it from our lives and only live for Him.  Upon asking Him to become our personal Lord and saviour, He forgives our sins, and makes His dwelling within us.  As we develop this relationship with God we experience the fruit of the Holy Spirit living in us, loving our enemies, experiencing the peace that surpasses all understanding, even in the midst of trials and persecution, and welling with unspeakable joy at just the thought of our Saviour's love on calvary.

Amazing Grace ... how sweet the sound...

My great-grandmother Stinky's funeral was on Sunday.  Being here in Alaska, I wasn't able to attend the funeral.  My sister sent me the life history that they read at her funeral.  There's so many great stories in here, I had to copy it here, for others to enjoy.  Whether you knew her or not, I think you'll agree that she was a unique person.

HAZEL _________ 

Bells announced Hazel _______'s  entrance and departure from this world.  The Angeles church bells began clanging at high noon when she was born and 98 years later, the bell on her alarm clock proclaimed her death.

An era ended with her passing on.  She was a person who made a lasting impression on all who knew her.  Some knew her as the best schoolteacher they ever had.  Others knew her as the unconventional, mischievous sister, daughter, mother, grandmother, or friend, who held no equal.  Still others knew her—especially in her prime—as the woman who stepped out of the ordinary bounds of womanhood—to take her horse and buggy to (the little town she lived near), or to roller skate down the street when it was unseemly for a woman to do so.

But we knew her as someone who loved deeply, and wasn’t afraid to show it.  We heard her say, “I love you” more than anyone else, and she said it not only with words, but in her tone, in the twinkle of her eyes, in her smile, and in her hugs.  She loved in her generosity to others.  Living through the Great Depression, she knew the value of a dollar, and later in life, was known to chase the gasman down to deliver her payment rather than spend 37 cents on a stamp.  She would turn lights off as she left each room rather than waste electricity, and would eat the same meal four days in a row rather than let any food go to waste.

And yet, in spite of her own sacrifice, she would generously give to others.  After meeting kind-hearted Bill ____, they eloped, and throughout their 73 years of marriage aided family members time after time when they were in need, providing a place to live and a helping hand.

And yet, she was not a pushover in any respect.  She was a shrewd businesswoman who could make a decision, and a good one, at the drop of a hat.  She had a stubborn streak a mile long, and if she’d made up her mind about something, there was no use trying to change it.

She was not much for sympathy or compassion.  Oh, it grew on her as she aged—but for the most part, she couldn’t stand for anyone to wallow in self-pity, whine, cry, or show any signs of weakness.  She was a confident and optimistic person who noticed the beauty of each day, who knew what she wanted, and she wanted everyone else to show that same kind of confidence, too.

She was very educated, graduating as valedictorian of her class at the age of 16, and going on to college for her degree as a schoolteacher.  She loved books and learning and sometimes was up into the wee hours of the night reading a book she just couldn’t put down.  She was reading a book up until the day she died.

She was unafraid to try new things.  She bought a motorcycle at the age of 70 to ride with the great-grandsons, acquired a Kawasaki mule at the age of 87 to ride in the back pasture, took a daring ride on a flying machine at the age of 90, and bought a scooter to maintain her freedom driving up and down the ranch road at the age of 95.

One story told is how she got her nickname “Stinky”.  As a baby she was crawling across the floor, found a baby bottle, and began sucking on it.  Her mother snatched it away because it had been used to feed the baby pigs.  She said she was called “Stinky,” because of drinking from the pig’s bottle.

When she was six years old, her brother threw her into the creek, saying, “Either swim or drown!”  She swam, and from that day forward, she loved swimming and swam until her mid-nineties.

One day while her mother was entertaining the local ladies club, mother Minnie glanced out the window and was horrified to see 13-year old Hazel driving her uncle’s Model A Ford with all the children crammed inside.  When scolded, she simply said that the children had dared her, and she was just proving that she could drive a car.

When asked by her mother to watch little sister Doris, she simply nailed Doris’s dress to the porch, and went off to play.  And whenever she misbehaved, she would climb the windmill, and stay up there until her mom begged her to come down, promising not to spank her.

She loved her grandchildren dearly.  One summer day in 1957, she yelled outside to the grandchildren, “Don’t come into the house!”  Minutes later, gunshots were heard from inside.  She had seen a snake under the huge radio, and shot it (and the radio) with the .22.

She was a remarkable person, a legend for our time.  God was good to her, and she knew where all her blessings came from.  She had a zest for living, which included a strong faith in God.  Each morning of her life was dedicated to spending time in prayer with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Many times, she would tell family members to be sure to pray for so-and-so.  We will miss her deeply.  The day we all dreaded has come.  An era has past.

The bells rang at her birth announcing her life, and again at her death, announcing her going home to be with Jesus for eternity in the mansion He has prepared for us.

I found out that this was my great-grandmothers favorite passage.  My mom said the pastor prayed this prayer at the end of the funeral. 

I Chron 29:10 

10 Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.

 

 11 Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

 

12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

 

13 Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

 

14 But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

 

15 For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.

 

I received sad news today that my great-grandmother went to be with the Lord this morning.   She was 98 years old, and quite a character.  Her name was Hazel, but we all called her Stinky.  Apparently the name Stinky came from my mom, who would go over to her grandmother's house when she was young.  Hazel would call my mom "Little Stinker" and then my mom would call her back "Big Stinker", then she just started calling her Stinky.  The name just stuck with her all these years, and  I never called her anything but Stinky.  One time a college friend went bowling with us and kept getting confused and called her Smelly, and she would just laugh.

She lived through the depression, and she and her husband, Bill, my great-grandfather who passed away in 1998, definitely knew the value of a dollar, and knew how to make that dollar stretch.  Even recently, she was known to go outside and chase down the gas man who was delivering gas to her house, just to give him her gas bill and payment - all so she could save a stamp.  She never spent money on herself in luxury, but was more than generous in giving to all in her family. 

She and Bill (who we called Poppie) bought the 600 acre ranch that she lived and died on, back in the 1940's.  They built a swimming pool there in the early 60's, and it is one of the highlights of the ranch still, used by my entire family each summer.  Up to a few years ago, Stinky would go down and swim in the pool each summer day, getting her daily exercise.  She could also float on her back better than anyone I've known.

She graduated from high school as valedictorian at age 16, and then went to the University of Texas at Austin.  While there, she met Poppie, who was driving Greyhound buses for a living.  She married and had two daughters, Billy and May.  She worked as a school teacher and was on the local library board for years.

Stinky was a bit of a stinker.  She was very strong-willed (hmmm...I see myself in her in many ways), and once she put her mind to it, nothing would stop her.  She would tell stories of growing up in Buda, TX.  After misbehaving she would climb the windmill, and stay up there until her mom begged her to come down, promising to not spank her. You never wanted to get into an argument with her, or try to talk her out of doing something she had set her mind to do, it was pointless.  Nathan jokingly says that the strong-willed blood runs thick in the female members of our family, but of course he is right.  She made the county newspaper at age 90 when she went up for a ride in a flying machine, flying over the ranch and seeing it from a bird's view. 

All during my college years in east Texas, I would bring different friends home with me on the breaks.  Stinky always hosted Thanksgiving, and besides the regular turkey and fixins, would make tons of pecan, cherry and pumpkin pies, with lots of extra whipped cream.  I remember one time someone praising her, "Stinky, this is sooo good, you sure are a good cook."  She looked at them and remarked, "Yep, I'm a good cook, I know it."   I still use that line sometimes when Nathan praises my cooking, and he just laughs. 

Her entire life, Stinky loved reading books.  My grandmother, Billy, would bring books to her each week from the library, and sometimes she would stay up until the wee hours of the night, finishing one that she couldn't put down.  Even the day before she died, she was reading.  She was always keeping her mind and hands active with other things as well - quilting, painting ceramics, and geneology. 

Stinky was fun, spunky and always seemed to really enjoy life.  When I'd visit, she always seemed to say something like, "Isn't life wonderful?"  I'm very much like her in many ways.  I know that she trusted in Jesus as her saviour, and I'm glad she is now with God, but sad because I will miss her so much.

This is a photo of the boys and Stinky before we moved to Alaska. 

We sang this song at Church on Sunday, the 3rd stanza really spoke to me:

Redeemed   (lyrics by Fanny J. Crosby, music by William J. Kirkpatrick)

I think of my blessed Redeemer,

I think of Him all the day long;

I sing, for I cannot be silent;

His love is the theme of my song.

Redeemed, redeemed, Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;

Redeemed, redeemed, His child, and forever, I am.