Cosmo, Hillary, and Some Darn Good Peanut Brittle

Pretty good Sunday afternoon, I'd say. Rain! Thank you, God! I was just curled up in the chair with my cat, Cosmo...what a snuggler (I think that's a word) he is. I was eating some awesome peanut brittle made for me by a friend, Marlene Hagstrom. I ate the entire container of it this afternoon, and if you saw how much there was...well...you'd be as embarrassed for me as I am! Good stuff.

While I was enjoying the brittle and my cat, I was watching a Hillary Clinton rally from Maquoketa, Iowa. I love politics. I've been a "political junkie" for most of my adult life, and I love all of this! If you know me, you know I'm a Democrat through and through. I am definitely 100% behind Senator Clinton, and am excited about the future with her as President.

I didn't really want to talk about her, but about the attitudes I see about the election season. I am well aware that I am the abnormality and most people do not enjoy any of the political process. I give you that. I just get so frustrated when I hear people say things like, "I don't trust any of them."(candidates) That saddens me. It's cynicism, and cynicism is just an excuse for not helping. When people say things like that, I just think it is so unpatriotic. Patriotism is more than putting a yellow ribbon on your car. I believe patriotism requires me to cast a vote that is educated.

I may disagree with your views, and you may disagree with mine. Cynicism is not a "view" I accept, though. Read up on the candidates. What's important to you? You don't have to watch C-Span 18 hours a day, but pay attention to what is happening. It's pretty important stuff. Way too important for cynicism.

Courage?

Mom and Dad gave me a great little book for Christmas by Robert T. Ketcham. It's called "I Shall Not Want" and was written in 1953 and is now out of print. It's an amazing book that delves into just what Psalm 23 is all about. I think that one psalm is one a lot of us could quote, but I know I have missed a lot of WHO our shepherd really is.

"I will fear no evil, for You are with me." (v.4)

Below is some of the text taken directly from the chapter on courage. These two paragraphs are sticking with me.

"If there is one thing above another that a sheep needs, it is courage - but not courage to fight. A sheep cannot fight. She has nothing to fight with. In fact, she is about the most helpless animal in the domestic world. Why, then, does the sheep need courage? It could have all the courage of a lion and still be utterly helpless in the face of a little sheep-killing dog. THE SHEEP NEEDS COURAGE, NOT TO FIGHT THE LION, BUT TO TRUST THE SHEPHERD. And I may say to you most emphatically that it takes more courage to trust the Shepherd than it does to fight the lion.

If we only have a sense of "doing something" to defend ourselves; if we can only feel that we, in our own strength, have delivered a knockout blow to Satan at some point in our life, how good we feel! But we have nothing within ourselves with which to deliver knockout blows to Satan. We are not equipped with a single solitary thing with which to fight; we are just helpless sheep. And unless the Shepherd can take care of the enemies, we are sure to be found somewhere on the desert of life torn and bleeding.

Now, into this situation comes the Lord Jesus Christ and offers Himself to every believer as a Shepherd who is sufficient for every emergency and danger of life."

BAAAAAA.

Benazir Bhutto

How sad. I've been watching CNN and MSNBC's coverage of today's assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. My prayers go out to her husband, her three children, her supporters, and the nation of Pakistan.

I have been reading about Bhutto for a couple of years now, and was fascinated that she chose to return to her country in October after a self-imposed eight year exile. She had such passion for her homeland and believed that it could be reformed by democracy and hope.

I like spunky women. Bhutto was the first female Prime Minister of an Islamic nation. She was educated at both Harvard and Oxford. She took her passion seriously and never wavered from the risks that were always present. She was just one of the greats that proved that nobody tells a woman what she may or may not do.

So...here's to you, Benazir Bhutto.

More Cowbell

I really was serious about "embracing" the holidays. Really. I can get selfish and get myself in a true funk over missing Beth and the way things were when she was here. I bought a string of $6.99 multi-colored lights at Target today and I strung them over my bannister and bookcase. Beth would have hated it...very tacky. It kind of puts me in the Christmas mood, though, and it's at least an effort to enjoy this time of year.

Today, I took the time to listen to an awesome middle school band at Crabtree Valley Mall. I was working there, but took a break to hear them. WOW. Martin Magnet Middle School Jazz Band was awesome! I played in the band in high school, and ours never sounded as good as they did today. In fact, our college pep band never sounded so good! These kids blew me away, and I admired the relationship they obviously have with their director.

There was this great enthusiasm permeating the whole concert. Before one song, a young girl stepped forward...cowbell in hand...and a huge smile on her face. She was waiting for her BIG moment. Sure...you can yearn to have the trumpet solo on "Frosty the Snowman" or the sax solo on "Jingle Bell Rock"...but we need more cowbell! This student smiled waiting for her big moment, almost aware of how silly it all was. When her time came, she came through HUGE and returned to her seat.

It reminded me that "whatever I do...I should be doing it as unto the Lord!" We all like the big feature solos where we get the adoration. However, there is a time when we just hit that cowbell once and sit down. God is preparing us for something else. We wait. I learned to not just look ahead to the big feature solos, but to enjoy where God has me now.

That song just wouldn't have been the same without the cowbell.