That Hobbit Lady

Well, it seems like it’s been way too long since I’ve been here. I could say I’ve been busy, and I have been, but that’s no excuse. I used to enjoy posting here quite a bit, but lately I’ve just gotten out of the habit. Of course there are other places where I’m constantly posting—see the picture links on the right for Whimsieville, The Marvelous Zone, The Drawing Room. Russ and I recently took a month’s vacation from The Drawing Room, because we’ve just been too busy, but now we’re back, watching and recording our comments about Dark Shadows, and it feels good to be back in the routine. I’m hoping I can also get back into the routine of posting a word or two here every now and then.

I guess it’s because I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve been having so many dreams. In fact, I’ve been dreaming so much, it’s really starting to bother me. I never have trouble getting to sleep, and if I wake up in the middle of the night (usually once, to use the bathroom), I almost never have trouble getting back to sleep. Sleep and I are very good friends. Sometimes, if life is especially stressful, and if I let myself start thinking about what’s going on during the day, then it’s hard to get back to sleep, but that doesn’t happen too often. It’s the rare exception, rather than the rule.

But here’s the thing: lately, I’m remembering my dreams a lot more. They’re not nightmares or anything terrible like that, it’s just that they’re so vivid. I’ve categorized my dreams into three categories. The first is “Oh yeah….I was dreaming…I think…” The second is, “Wow! What a crazy dream!” and the third is “Call Hollywood! I’ve got the plot for the next blockbuster!!”

Dreams are supposed to NOT make sense, right? They’re just a bunch of symbols, crazy disjointed stuff that would never happen in the real world. So when I have one of those “Call Hollywood” dreams, it makes me worry about myself. In the “Call Hollywood” dreams, there’s usually a narrative thread that makes absolute sense, characters with motivations, escalating plotlines, suspense. I can’t remember any of these dreams in detail now (and that’s probably a good thing) but I’m starting to think I should write them down when I wake up, because I might be able to put a good story together from all this.

So, as I say, the excessive dreaming has been bothering me for a while. Sometimes I think I must not be getting very good sleep. (Though I think most of the dreaming happens in the latter part of the night, towards morning. It seems I do sleep well during the first half of the night—so I should at least be thankful for that, right?) I’ve tried eating or drinking certain things before bed, and NOT eating and drinking certain things before bed. I’ve tried Melatonin and antihistimines. None of it makes any difference. I think I’m going to keep on dreaming, no matter what.

Is it a factor of age? Do we dream more as we get older? Why do we dream a lot at certain times in our lives, and not so much at other times? Is it as a result of something psychological, or physical?

The other day I came up with a new idea about all this dreaming. Instead of stressing about it, why not embrace it? I have an active and imaginative mind. If I listen to my dreams, maybe I’ll learn something. And maybe, if I learned whatever it is I’m supposed to learn, my brain could flip a switch and finally take a break from all this dreaming!!

As much as I say I’m going to “embrace” the dreaming, the idea of a full night’s sleep without the memory of a single dream sounds awfully nice.

I break my months-long silence on this site to ask this utterly perplexing question:

Why is it that a huge super-store like Wal-Mart, which must rake in billions of dollars each year, only cares to place ONE divider stick at each checkout? Huh? Would it break them to spring for two?

Russ and I have been watching the new Cosmos series and really enjoying it. I’m learning a lot about science—all that stuff they tried to teach you back in grade school and junior high, but the classroom teacher didn’t have all these cool graphics at their disposal, so it was way too easy to lose interest. Well, it also probably has something to do with me now being older and wiser, and taking in this information because I want to, not because I have to. I was in my thirties before I learned to enjoy math, and now I’m in my fifties and learning to enjoy science.

Schooling is wasted on the young.

And what am I learning? That the Universe is an awesome place. That’s what I’m getting from all this. But I’m also getting something I’m sure the creators of Cosmos never intended. I know that the creators of the Cosmos series, particularly Carl Sagan and Neil Degrasse Tyson, are scientists, and do not consider themselves “spiritual” men. No, not at all: they are all about the science.

They see science as something real that exists in the real world, an explanation for the real world. But, unfortunately, the makers of Cosmos would have you believe that because science is so awesome, it explains away the existence of God.

I take a different view.

Science exists. Of course it exists. It’s the way we explain the world. But it doesn’t exist instead of God. It exists alongside God. Or more precisely, science is God’s way of letting us understand what He is doing.

Now, I am no scientist, and I can’t offer any scientific proof for what I’m saying, other than it’s my experience, and it’s common sense. To me, a lot of what I’m learning on Cosmos makes a lot of sense. I have no problem with it.

But, what I do have a problem with, is this definition for Atheism—which is also, to some extent, what the creators of Cosmos are proposing:

The belief that there was nothing & nothing happened to nothing & then nothing magically exploded for no reason creating everything & then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason which then turned into dinosaurs.

Sure, that’s somewhat flippant, but at its core, it’s basically a sound definition. Some scientists, and some atheists, want you to believe that everything evolved out of nothing.

But everything didn’t evolve out of nothing. Nothing can come from “nothing.” There has to be a spark of life somewhere way back at the beginning. And that spark is God.

Again: nothing does not come from nothing.

Somewhere, there has to be something.

If I’m understanding this correctly, scientists agree that electrical force holds atoms together, but have no idea what holds the nucleus of an atom together. Unless something has changed since the last time I watched Cosmos, scientists are still looking for the answer to the question, “What force or forces are holding a nucleus together?”

It’s not very scientific of me, but I have the answer:

Colossians 1:16-17:
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

God is the force that holds the universe together. In HIM, all things hold together.

I know that’s not going to be good enough for the scientists. But it’s good enough for me.

And one more thing before I go. Evolution vs. Creationism. Why does it have to be either/or? Why can’t it be both? Why can’t evolution be a TOOL that God uses to accomplish His work in our world? God doesn’t always do things miraculously and instantaneously. Nature is at God’s command. Why do some people have such a hard time believing that God might USE time and nature and science and evolution to accomplish His work? I don’t have a hard time believing that somehow, to some extent, BOTH can be true.

This is not science. This is not religion. This is just me, trying to make sense of it all.

I ordered this little book, Food Rules, by Michael Pollan, which contains 64 basic principles about food and nutrition. It arrives tomorrow, and I’m really looking forward to reading it.

I know I just got done a short time ago with a post here in which I whittled it down to “Real food. Mostly. Not too much of it. Avoid sugar. Avoid wheat.” But that is, in fact, extremely basic, so I’m open to the idea that there can be more specific guidelines, without the rules having to get all crazy out of control.

I can imagine some of the points that will be contained in this book. A lot of it I probably already know, so it will just serve as a refresher course. In the meantime, thinking about this whole issue of food and nutrition and health and weight loss, I looked backwards at the times in my life when I have lost weight and felt great, and it seems that I have some basic principles of my own.

I’m going to list them here, as a refresher for myself, and also in anticipation of receiving this book in the mail tomorrow. I wonder how many of my points will mirror the points in this book.

Okay, here goes.

My Lucky Thirteen for Weight Loss and Good Health

1. Avoid eating white flour as much as possible. (After being exposed to the ideas in Wheat Belly, by Dr. William Davis, I’m expanding this to “Avoid eating wheat products.”)

2. Avoid eating foods with white sugar.

3. An apple, a banana and a citrus a day…well, you know the rest…

4. Eat a salad for lunch.

5. Eat dinner as early as possible, and don’t eat anything else after dinner.

6. Don’t drink soda.

7. Don’t drink alcohol.

8. Drink a LOT of water.

9. Eat limited amounts of red meat.

10. Eat a lot of salmon.

11. Grazing is okay.

12. Eat oatmeal (and sometimes it’s okay to have oatmeal for dinner!)

13. Plain yogurt is okay.

Now, I’m not saying I do all of this all the time, but the more of these principles I incorporate into my everyday life, the better I feel, and the more weight I lose. It’s worked for me in the past, and it’s working for me again.

There’s definitely something to be said for Experience being the best teacher.

The other night my mom called to say my uncle Chet passed away. He was one one my father’s three brothers. I didn’t really know him all that well, since we moved from New York when I was fifteen, so all my memories are those of a child, and an adolescent. But I’ll share them with you anyway.

I have three main memories of Chet. First, that he was very tall. Now, that could have just been me, as a small child, thinking everyone was tall, but it seems when we would go to Babcie & Dzydzie’s house, and he would come into the room, he was very tall. He and my uncle Richie, both enormous giants.

Next, I remember that at one time he had the most peculiar occupation of being a House-Sitter. In fact, the local Sunday newspaper magazine did an article about housesitters, and he was on the cover. I saved that cover, because how often does one of your relatives get on the cover of a magazine? And also because I thought the picture was cool.

Next I remember that one year for Christmas, Uncle Chet gave me a really cool little container for what-nots. As you can see, it’s covered with images of animals. I’ve always thought of them as antelopes, though I could be wrong. On the bottom it only says “India” in a strange handwriting. I was surely a pre-teen when I got this, so by now it’s very old, bordering on antique?? It’s made many many moves with me. Currently it’s holding safety pins. Every time I look at it, I remember the gift giver, and how honored I was, as a young girl, that my older and much taller uncle thought enough of me to give me such an international gift. I hate to keep using the word “cool,” but really….how cool!

I started out saying there Are only two things I remember about my uncle, then changed it to three, and have need to change it again to “four,” but I won’t change it, I’ll just tell you now the most important thing I remember. Speaking of gifts, one year, when I was no older than fifteen, for Christmas he gave me a Seals & Crofts album. At that time, I was just coming out of the Monkees and the Cowsills, had maybe advanced to Donovan and John Denver. I had no idea who Seals & Crofts were. He said, “Just listen, they’re really good, you’ll like them.” And I did, and they were…and I did!

When I look back on it now, this was probably my first experience of someone introducing me to “New Music.” Nowadays, finding New Music is always such a joy for me. Some of my favorite musical artists today I found because someone (usually one of my kids) sends me a text, or a You Tube link, saying “Hey! Try this!”

There’s always that possibility that there is music out there in the world somewhere that is going to be the best music I have ever heard, and most likely I will not find it unless some kind soul says, “Just listen, they’re really good, you’ll like them.” My Uncle Chet was the first person to open that door for me, and I’ll always remember and appreciate that. I hope he’s now in the place with the best music ever, and someday we can listen to it together.

Yesterday’s snow caught us unawares. We were forecast for a “dusting,” with maybe 1/2 inch accumulation. Nobody was taking it very seriously. Until about 9:30 yesterday morning, it started to snow. And didn’t stop. By 10:30, work was called off, and Russ and I set off in the car to make our way home. The trip, which usually takes 15-20 minutes (25, if there’s a LOT of traffic) was nearly two hours. But we were happy to arrive home safely.

Many people were not so fortunate. Some were stuck in traffic for hours, some never made it home at all and had to abandon their cars on the side of the highway, walking for miles to find shelter at hotels, motels, churches, wherever they could find a safe, warm place. (Hopefully nobody actually spent the night in their car, on the side of the road.) Some children couldn’t get out of their schools and had to spend the night there with their teachers. I hear some power is out in some places, but not too much, thankfully. We have power, and a good thing too, because the temperature outside this morning is 14 degrees.

No work today! We have been given the gift of time, a day off to catch up on the podcast, and putter around the house, looking for things to throw in the Goodwill box. I’ve got the front room mostly under control by this time, and hope to make some further progress later today.

The real problem with the weather in our area (Tuscaloosa/Birmingham) is that the weatherman never predicted it would be this bad. If this level of crippling weather had been predicted, schools and businesses would have been closed down yesterday before the day even got started, and we wouldn’t have had thousands of people out on the roads, trying to get home. There would have been HUNDREDS of less traffic accidents, and no kids would have had to spend the night at their school. I can only imagine how anxious those parents must feel, and this morning conditions still are not good enough to allow anyone back on the roads. Tuscaloosa is under a state of emergency, with all roads deemed “impassable,” and no one allowed out and about except emergency, health & safety personnel.

Okay for me and Russ. We can keep ourselves occupied at home—as I said, we’ve been given the gift of time. We’ll find out later today what the plan is for tomorrow.

But getting back to those erring weatherman, the station we usually watch for news, the one that prides itself on “accuracy” (with the slogan “Accuracy Matters,” I’ve talked about them before) really screwed up big time, don’t you think? On last night’s newscast, they kept talking about the horrible traffic conditions, but never got anywhere NEAR the topic of WHY any of this had to be so bad in the first place. Interestingly, we didn’t hear the phrase “Accuracy Matters” too many times last night either.

There’s another news station in town, the ABC affiliate, with a well-respected weatherman James Spann, who is the one everyone always turn to when tornadoes are headed our way. Yesterday he kept admitting that there had been a HUGE FORCAST ERROR (freely using the word “error”) and telling people, “Don’t blame the schools, don’t blame your boss, if you’ve got to blame anyone, blame me.”

I really respect his willingness to take responsibility for a poor forecast that caused so much trouble (although he was not the only weatherman to do so), and to admit that when predicting the weather, it’s sometimes next to impossible to be “accurate.” I’m so annoyed with our usual news station at this point, and Russ agrees with me, we might just be switching over to ABC in the mornings for our news and weather report.

I think if I hear that phrase “Accuracy Matters” one more time, I’m going to scream. You know, in TV News and Weather, (same as in life in general) it’s not the worst thing in the world to make a mistake now and then. But when you do make a mistake, own up to it and say you’re sorry. Is that too much to ask?

I have on my bookshelf a book called The Simple Living Guide, by Janet Luhrs, which my mom gave me many years ago. I haven’t looked at it in quite a while, but recently pulled it from the shelf for some bedtime reading. I think perhaps it’s reading this book that is making me feel, more than ever, that life, in general, is just too complicated.

Offered into evidence: this article, Stop Eating! Everything is bad for you! Doesn’t it seem like every time we turn on the TV news or get on the internet, someone else is telling us there’s some new threat to our health and safety? At the rate we’re going, to be completely healthy and safe, you would never venture outside your own house, and would make soap in your garage. Actually, my grandmother used to make soap in her garage, but not because she was concerned about chemicals. I think she used cooking fat to create soap. It was a creative and frugal use of resources. Of course, in today’s world, the experts would never allow you to eat anything that produced enough fat to fashion into a bar of soap, so I guess that whole idea is out the window.

But who has TIME nowadays to make their own soap, anyway? And I don’t have the luxury (though I sometimes wish I did) of never leaving my house. Maybe it’s a tradeoff of modern life that we get exposed to a few chemicals now and then so that we have enough time to enjoy the years we’re yet going to be allowed to live, even though we are exposing ourselves to the heinous chemicals present in the evil soap we’re buying at the grocery store.

In other words: what good is it to live to be over 100, if you’re spending the bulk of those years constantly concocting your own household soaps and potions, keeping an orchard and a garden in the Spring and Summer, then drying and canning your fruits and vegetables in the Fall to last you through the Winter, cooking and baking every single thing you eat from scratch, and avoiding every possible convenience because it might be bad for you?

I appreciate that there are people who may want to get “back to nature” and are willing to put in the hard labor that entails simply to survive, but that is NOT for me, thank you very much. Personally, I’m willing to make a few trade offs along the way, in the interest of having a little more time for the things I ENJOY.

But getting back to food, I’m looking for that “middle of the road.” If you read the article referenced above, you’ll see that the conclusion of it is something along the lines of “Hey, people, let’s keep everything in perspective.” Eat real food. But not too much of it.

Duh.

The author talks about a time in her life when she had a gazillion rules about food. I kind of relate to that. The more I read, the more I know, and the more complicated it gets. Do all our vegetables need to be organic? If not, which ones must absolutely be organic if we don’t want to keel over from pesticide exposure? If I eat “Paleo,” why can’t I have beans? Am I getting enough beta-carotene? Is my calcium coming from a pure source? Which is better, olive oil or coconut oil? And if olive oil is better, does that mean coconut oil is from the devil? And if coconut oil is from the devil, why are there so many people who insist it’s the healthiest food on earth?

If I combine proteins and carbohydrates in one meal is that good for me…or bad? If I eat fruit with other food groups will any of it be properly digested? If meat is too rare, will it contain bacteria? If it’s too cooked, will it contain carcinogens? Or should I only eat meat from grass-fed animals? Or should I not eat animals at all?

Can you see why I’m confused and irritated?

Does anyone remember Adelle Davis, who wrote a bunch of (ahead of her time) hippie-type “health” books in the 50’s and 60’s? Despite all her strict nutritional advice, she died of cancer at 70. The healthiest woman on the planet…and she gets cancer and dies. What does this tell you? That it doesn’t matter two figs what you eat? Well, I wouldn’t take it that far. But I will say this: you can do everything absolutely right, and still die of cancer.

So what is my response? Throw up my hands in frustration and say “The hell with it!” ? I don’t think so. I think there’s got to be a middle of the road somewhere. Let’s face it, we’re all going to die of something sooner or later. This whole food issue for me is not so much about prolonging life as it is about increasing the quality of my life while I’m yet alive. I want to feel good, I want to feel healthy. Day by day, how healthy do I feel? That’s what it’s all about.

Okay, let me see if I can put something down quickly to get back to basics. Here are my rules:

1. As Mom always used to say, “If God made it, you can eat it.” Any real food in its natural state is just fine to eat. I don’t want anyone telling me I can’t eat carrots or bananas because they’ll make me fat, or whatever. (The author of The Simple Living Guide puts it this way: “Eat only those foods that spoil, rot, or decay, and eat them before they do.”)

2. Of course, I don’t see myself eating ONLY fruits and vegetables. To be realistic, there will always be occasions when you need to eat outside the plant world. I don’t mind a little meat now and then—just not too much of it. I don’t mind a little yogurt now and then—as long as it’s not full of sugar and food starch modifiers. Even our non-plant foods should be as close to their natural state as possible.

3. And, within those boundaries, obviously: All things in moderation.

4. Now, my qualifiers. First: Limit white sugar. I don’t think there’s anybody out there who will argue that processed sugar foods are GOOD for you. They are good (that is: “taste good,” and are fun) now and then for a treat, on those special occasions when a treat is warranted. But on a regular basis, my plan is to pretty much avoid white sugar. (And of course that goes for artificial sweeteners—even moreso! They act the same in your body as real sugar, and have the added whammy of being full of unnecessary and unhealthy chemicals. And besides, they don’t even taste good.)

5. Qualifier #2: No wheat. This may not be for everyone, but it works for me. In the past, whenever I’ve lost weight, it’s happened while I’ve been avoiding wheat. There’s a school of thought out there now that the wheat we eat today is nothing at all like the wheat our ancestors ate, and that it’s this wheat that is aggravating our obesity epidemic. Fat, sure. Sugar, yes. But also WHEAT. Now, I haven’t actually read the book yet, but my personal experience tells me that I do better and feel better when I’m not consuming wheat, so that’s what I’m going to do.

So, to review:

Real food. Mostly.

Not too much of it.

Avoid sugar.

Avoid wheat.

That’s my own personal formula. I’m not saying it would work for everyone, but I’ve got to have some kind of idea about what’s going to work for me, and something that isn’t so complicated it puts my head in a tizzy. I don’t like being in a tizzy. Keep it simple, stupid.

So, today, when I go to MSN.com and read that scientists have discovered that a chemical in Pepsi is a carcinogen, I can say, “Yeah. So? What? Like you all didn’t already know that drinking soda is not good for you?” It doesn’t matter to me, because I don’t drink Pepsi. I don’t have to worry about the bad crap in crap food, because I don’t eat and drink crap. (Now, Russ drinks Pibb and Dr. Pepper, which are probably very similar to Pepsi, and I do worry about that, but that worry is a completely different story. I can’t MAKE him eat or drink anything in particular, these are choices he’ll have to make for himself.)

At McDonald’s, my standing order is a side salad with Ranch dressing (no croutons) and an unsweetened tea. And I don’t want anyone telling me about how much fat is in my Ranch dressing, or how the tea will stain my teeth, or anything else that’s going to make me question my humble McDonald’s meal. I mean, I guess I could go into McDonald’s and order a cup of WATER, and that would be healthier for me. Or maybe not, because who knows what’s really in the water, right? Or, I guess I could not go into McDonald’s at all, but I would still be eating a salad with Ranch dressing and drinking tea at home, so that’s not really the point, is it? PLEASE, leave me SOMETHING I can still eat and drink!!

This whole topic is making me so aggravated, so let me sum up:

We all eat, we all drink. We all have responsibility for our own health. There is a certain amount of basic knowledge we all have about what’s good for us and what’s bad, and there are certain experiences we all have about what works for us and what doesn’t. We make our own choices, and have to live with the consequences of those choices. Sometimes we make certain choices, and don’t get the consequences we were anticipating. Being too much one way or the other is not healthy. Obsessing about our eating habits and our health can be just as unhealthy as totally ignoring what we put in our bodies. There’s a middle of the road that is perfectly acceptable, where real food can be really enjoyed for what it is—a gift from God.

Well, that’s the first part of simplifying my life. Next time, I want to talk about projects. Not about reducing them, but defending them.

Ever been to a vet’s office where there’s an “office cat” that hangs out on the counter, regally owning the whole place? A more refined version of the “junkyard dog,” which is simply required to be scary and mean, the Office Cat is all about COOL.

How cool would it be to have a cat hanging around with you in your place of employment? It would be great to have a cat rubbing against your legs as you sat at your computer, purring under your desk lamp, looking all fat and happy. There’s something about a sleeping, purring cat that can be so calming…

Well, in most cases, unless you own your own business and don’t care about scaring off potential customers who may be allergic or afraid of cats, you can’t really have an Office Cat.

But I’ll do the next best thing.

For Christmas, one of my co-workers, knowing that I am a “Cat Person,” got me a Cat Calendar, where every day you tear off a page and see a new cat, and read their story. How delightful! Every day a new cat, to hang out with me in my office!

Right now, at home, I only have one cat: Squee. Throughout my life, though, I’ve had several cats (not always all at the same time) and I’ve found each one to be unique, their company so enjoyable. I think there’s real potential here for me to turn into a Crazy Old Cat Lady. I hope not. I mean, I wouldn’t want to have more cats than I could reasonably care for at one time. I wouldn’t mind having one or two more.

But…having recently gone through the traumatic experience of caring for a sick cat (Boogins, who I still miss…), Russ and I have agreed that we are looking forward to a time when we will be “childless,” having no responsibility for a pet, making traveling when we are retired that much easier. The reasonable part of me knows this is smart. So, for the moment, I will need to content myself with the cute kitties on my Cat Calendar.

A different cat each day! By the end of the year, I will have had more than my fair share of cats! I just hope this will be enough to keep the unreasonable part of me from thinking about how nice it would be to get a new kitten…

Recently, the Whimsies had a post on their website, where they listed the things they are thankful for. I thought about doing something like that here, but decided against it…with two exceptions. Reviewing the list in my mind, I realized it ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. So instead of going into great detail about all the many, many things I am grateful for, I will now present the items on the very top and the very bottom of my list.

First, the bottom: Garbage Pick Up. I started thinking about this when I realized this Thursday is a holiday, and since our pickup days are Monday and Thursday, once again we’re going to miss a pickup. Of course, on the Monday & Thursday schedule, almost all the major holidays fall on a Monday, so there are many times a year when we miss a Monday pickup. And now, can you believe it? The ONE HOLIDAY that always falls on a specific DAY of the week also happens to be another one of our pickup days. How unfair is that?

But rolling all this around in my mind, I began to feel foolish. Am I really going to gripe about a missed garbage pickup? The good news, at least, is that it’s so cold outside right now, that leaving trash bags in the can in the garage (where it is typically ten degrees warmer than outside) is a better place for it to be than here in the house. So, let’s review: no trash in the house, cold trash is the garage, and the next pickup is only a few days away.

So I’m not going to fret about it. Thank goodness we live in a country where the trash is regularly picked up and we are not all overcome with disease and pestilence!

That was the “Ridiculous” part of this post. Now for the Sublime.

Salvation.

Of all the many, many things there are to be thankful for, what could possibly be better than eternal salvation, eternal life, getting to spend the rest of forever with Jesus and God? Nothing—and I mean, absolutely NOTHING—can ever come close to being as important and wonderful.

I’ve been a Christian for many years, in fact I just passed my 39th Spiritual Birthday last week. I admit that I haven’t always been the best Christian—and by that I don’t mean that I haven’t been a “good person” (though surely I have not always been a good person…) but I mean that I’ve spent a great deal of these last 39 years not giving God the full attention He deserves. He deserves to be contemplated, and praised, consulted, and sought out during every moment of every day. There was a time in my life when I did that, but then enthusiasm waned, and other concerns set in, and Jesus was kind of put on the back burner for a while.

But here’s the great part of all this: I know that it doesn’t matter in the long run, as far as my salvation goes. I know that God still loves me, has always loved me, and has always been waiting for me to come back and hang out with Him. It’s amazing to me that He would want that, but I know He does, and I know He’s always there, whenever I’m ready to say “Hey God, it’s me. Remember?”

Of course He remembers. Though the dry years, though I may have forgotten God, He has never forgotten me. And I have never lost my salvation. You can’t lose your salvation. I have only lost the opportunity to enjoy so many of God’s blessings, by depriving myself of His presence and His friendship.

I think these kinds of thoughts started coming back to me this past August, when Russ’ mom died and went to Heaven. It made the whole idea of Heaven that much more real to me, wondering where she is, what it’s like, who she sees there, what kinds of activities she’s enjoying. What must it be like? I know that I don’t know. I only know it’s better than anything we can imagine.

I feel my focus is getting sharper, that I’m starting to see the bigger picture more clearly. In this life, there are so many miniscule and annoying considerations (like taking out the trash), but in the long run, that’s not what life is all about. It’s about connecting with what’s real. I’m not saying I’m any kind of expert on that, but during this season of Thanksgiving, I’m just saying that I’m thankful that we can have a friend in Jesus, to take us to God the Father, and show us what’s real and what’s important.

It’s all a lot more than “We’re born, we do some stuff, and then we die.” Lots, lots more. And sometimes it helps to take your eyes off the garbage (or anything else) that’s always right in front of you, to look out into the distance and see the big picture, the beauty of all that is on the horizon.

Well, that’s me being reflective on Thanksgiving.