Tag Archives: choice and accountability

Challenges, choice and accountability, First Matriarch

Life with Sparky

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Our son set the small purebred Siamese kitten into my husband’s arms. “You need something to keep you active,” he said, only a little in jest. “Besides, he is scratching the baby.”
Before Jack could do more than pet him twice, the cat leapt from his arms and raced to the back of the house.
“Sparky. His name is Sparky, like the sparks of fire. Look how fast he goes.”
With that, we inherited another animal from our sons.
We already have turtles, and their fish, (We gave them the fish to eat. They kept them as pets!) one son left home when he moved out.
We also had a love bird, left behind when he got married.
Now, we had a cat.
He’s a beautiful Siamese, but he is feisty!!!
When we pried him out from under the bed, he took an interest in the lovebird. He’d stand on his hind legs, trying to see what was in the cage.

Then, on the second or third day, he knocked the cage off the stool it had been perched on for nine years with no disasters.
The cage collapsed.
Eryl escaped.
We thought he was fine.
Wrong.
In less than a week, I found her with his wings splayed out like she was too hot.
We pulled him from his cage and loved on her for the hour we had left before she drew her last breath.
And then, we cried.
Apparently, her escape from the collapsed cage wasn’t without injury.
We are back to two kinds of pets. Turtles, and their fish, and the cat.

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Adam and Eve, Challenges

A Conversation with Adam

We have another character from my books who stopped by for a short interview. Welcome to Adam, husband of Eve, our guest last week. As the first man on earth, and the first prophet of Jehovah, you must wonder about what has happened to the world you first settled.

ADAM: I am saddened by all the hatred and violence that pervades the earth. Father showed me what would happen to the earth and its peoples early in my life. I know how the world will end. Because of that, I can accept the challenges of today’s world. Jehovah will win the final battle against the Destroyer. Man will learn to trust and depend on God.

ME: We would love to hear your answers to the same questions we asked Eve last week. Are you ready?

ADAM: I have only a short time. I will do what I can. What is your first question?

ME: A reader asked what it was like to anger God.

ADAM: I thought I had angered him in the beginning. That is why we hid from Him in the garden. God was not angry with Eve and Me. He expected us to eat the fruit. However, not yet. The time was not right. The person who gave it to us was had no right to offer it to us. Father’s anger was for the Destroyer. For us, he felt sorrow and grief. We had to suffer, as do all of our children.
Even though Father knew this would happen, he had to allow us to make the choice on our own. He could not force it on us. It had to come from Eve and me.

ME: A connecting question, for you. What was it like to receive God’s forgiveness?

ADAM: We had to live a time in this world and prove we our obedience before Father forgave us. The day I knew I had received forgiveness came when the Spirit took me to our pond and baptized me. That was a special and sacred day. I still cannot share what happened, except to say that I received Father’s forgiveness on that day.

ME: A reader wants to know: Is God to be loved or feared?

ADAM: In the years since the words “fear God” were written, the meaning has changed. You think of fear as something painful, fearing punishment for sin. I think of fear as an awesome love. I am constantly awed by the love I receive from Father. For that reason, my answer is yes. God, my Father, is to be loved and feared as you would love and respect and hold in awe your earthly father.

ME: I know you must leave us soon. One last question before you go. Do you still like apples?

ADAM: Eve warned me that you would be asking this question. Yes. I still like apples. However, the fruit of good and evil was not an apple. Sometime in the future, when you are ready, you will know what that fruit was. Until then, enjoy your apples.

ME: Thank you for your time, Adam.

ADAM: You are welcome. Remember to obey Jehovah’s commands. I look forward to seeing you at the judgment bar. Farewell for now.

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Mothers

Thoughts of Mother’s Day

For all you mothers, I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day is always interesting in our home. In the early days of our marriage, we didn’t have children, though we wanted them. In those days, I spent a lot of time crying when the little children sang to their moms and talks were given honoring mothers. It filled me with despair, believing this would never be my joy.

After four years, and three miscarriages, I brought our first-born to church, gladly listening to the children and the speeches of honor given to mothers. Other years of songs and addresses followed, usually wrestling our little children. Five young children were not easy to handle in a long meeting on my own. My sweet husband spent many of those years on the stand, conducting the meetings, leaving me to deal with the children on my own. By child number 3, though, our oldest son and daughter were more of a help. For that, I was grateful. Each year became easier, until one day, they were gone.

Now, I am the grandmother, sitting with my husband with no children in church, again. My children and grandchildren live elsewhere and don’t come to my church building. One Mother’s Day in the future, we’ll all be together again. (A mom can always hope.)

This year, we left the next morning for Arizona to visit our youngest son and his family, including our youngest grandchild, a little guy not yet 2. We reveled in his joyous play, and spent time as adults together. We enjoyed a baseball game together—my first “big league” game.

Soon, we leave to visit the grandchildren north of us. It will be a time of love and joy. We’ll enjoy a couple more games there, a Little League baseball game and a softball game that our grandson and granddaughter will play in. I’m certain those games will be more fun than the professional game.

Over the past week and into the next, we will have seen all five of our children and seven of our nine grandchildren, plus all of our foster grandchildren. These times with the children and grandchildren are the best gift I receive from my family—time to love the little ones and share time and love with our children. I can’t think of anything better.

What did you do for Mother’s Day? Did you take the time to visit with your mother? I hope you spent a happy weekend together with your children and mother.

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choice and accountability

The Consequences of our Actions

It’s funny how people do stupid things and expect to get away with them and yet if that same thing is done to them, they scream for justice.

We passed a driver on a busy freeway who was texting while driving. We’ve all seen the advertisements about the dangers of this. If this person caused an accident, she would have wanted to find a way to avoid all consequences. However, if she had been the recipient of an accident because another person was texting, you can be certain she would press a suit for as much compensation as possible.

A story recently made the rounds on Facebook about a young teen boy who put on a set of brass knuckles and decided to hit a smaller, younger boy. He didn’t want to face the legal results of such stupidity. But you can bet he would be crying for protection if a man, bigger and stronger than him, beat him up with brass knuckles.

In his laws of motion, Newton said something like, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This fits well when considering personal actions. I think a better saying would be:

For every action there is a consequence, not always equal, not always immediately visible.

Recently I announced the pre-sale of my second book in my Ancient Matriarchs series, Into the Storms: Ganet Wife of Seth. A friend asked me “What are you most excited about writing this one?”

After some thought, I responded.

“There were some things about in this book that reminded me that choice and accountability for those choices are important to remember. Sometimes we have to face the consequences for the choices others make. Others times, we are accountable for our own choices. Regardless of who made the choice, how we respond to the consequences makes all the difference in our lives.

I have made some decisions and choices that have been good, and others bad. I’ve had to live with the consequences of other’s actions. It helps to remember my ultimate goal to understand and respond well.”

In Into the Storms, Ganet learns to be responsible for her choices and live with the consequences of other’s decisions and actions.

When have you made choices that led to consequences you were required to face and respond to? How did it go for you? How have you moved through the consequences of these choices?

I look forward to hearing from you.

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Earth

Thoughts of Earth Day

April 22 is celebrated as Earth Day. People celebrate this day as a day to remember the Earth, a day to consider the ways to keep the earth healthy and protect it from pollution in all its forms. The ocean is filled with garbage and filth, killing off species of ocean animals. The skies are filled with pollutants, making it hard to breathe, and destroying plant and animal life. Because of the numbers of people in cities, there is a light pollution that prevents us from seeing the stars and the wonders of the heavens. All of this is caused by humans.

Some claim the melting of the ice caps and warming of the earth is also human caused. Perhaps, though ice melting and refreezing has been one of the natural cycles of the earth. Add to that the, also natural, recent increase in volcanic activity.

I think the Earth cries at its pollutants, all of these I’ve mentioned, and others. Consider the pollutants of evil pervading the earth. Violence, wars, abortions, selfishness, pornography, and calling good evil and evil good.

We need to be more careful of the ways we manage our resources, throw away less, work to keep the pollutants out of the earth, water, and air. Each of us, in our own understanding of God, need to return to Him, become obedient to His laws, and work to live better lives.

We cannot force others to live by our standards, but we can live the best lives we know how. Perhaps living well will encourage others to follow our examples. I think of the lives Eve and Adam lived, trying always to be obedient to the laws of Jehovah. They taught their children, and worked to help them understand. The battle for righteousness over evil continues. Until it is won, we must choose, in every way we can, to cleanse the earth of the pollutants of mind and soul, as well as the filth that destroys the physical earth.

What can you do to cleanse the earth of its pollutions? How can you be a better example for others, and encourage clean living?

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Challenges, Uncategorized

In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lamb?

 

Do you remember the old saw: If March comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb. Or: If March comes in like a lamb, it will go out like a lion.

When I taught kindergarten, many years ago, we created lions and lambs on the first of March and talked about the old saying. We decided if the weather was acting like a lamb or a lion. Often, in the Rockies, that weather was snowy and miserable. The children, rightly, determining that the weather was lion-like. It was amazing how many times the saying was right.

At the beginning of the month, it was beautiful and warm here in southern Nevada. The weather was on its way toward 90, much too hot for this time of year. I looked at my husband and asked if he thought the old saw would follow for this year.

Here it is, the end of March and oh, how the lion roars!

The weather forecaster on our local channel warned of overturned semi-trailers, huge dust storms, and uprooted trees last night. We hoped he was wrong, but usually he isn’t.

Around noon, my husband returned to the living room from the end of our apartment facing the west, telling me, “It feels like we are back on Adak.” Adak, Alaska, is a place we lived twice during our sojourn in the U. S. Navy known as the “Birthplace of the Winds”, and well named.

This evening I went outside for something. A gale of cold wind about blew me over! He was right. I love clouds and sunsets, so of course, I had to stop to take a picture. I was nearly blown over!

My kindergartners would have loved it if they had predicted lion weather.

How is it for you? Lion or Lamb?

Windy Day

 

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Author, choice and accountability

A Sneak Peek

Happy Spring!

My next book is nearly ready to publish!

Ancient Matriarchs 
Into the Storms,
Ganet, Wife of Seth

The manuscript is receiving a last review by my editor. I finally found a new cover editor and now have a cover for it.

What do you think?

 

I have been thinking about Eve, First Matriarch.

My favorite part of the story is also the saddest for me. I was amazed when her first children, Absalom and Bilhah chose to leave their home and their family because of differences of belief. I loved how Eve and Adam allowed them to leave, giving them the right of personal choice. It was hard for them, allowing them to think, act, and believe differently than they did. Yet, they allowed it. The right to choose is a gift from God, and no one can take it away. Thus, they allowed it, though they sorrowed for the choices their children made.

What is your favorite part? Please share it with me.

Have you shared your review with Amazon? As an independent author, I publish my books without the backing of a major publisher. That means no six-figure advances and no advertising budget. One of the best ways you can help me is to give an honest review. I’m not asking for a school book report—horrors! I would appreciate a star rating and a couple of sentences on Amazon. Or, tell your friends about it on Facebook or Twitter.

If there was something you didn’t like, or that needs work, share that, too. I’m all about constructive criticism. It helps me write a better book next time.

But, please, No Spoilers!

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Christmas, Peace

Share Peace and End Fear

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War continues to scourge the earth. The Royal Army and the Royal Navy (Great Britain) have had only one year without some kind of conflict since the reign of Queen Victoria. We, who abhor war and killing, are disheartened by this. Additionally, we see increased numbers of murders in our cities and states. When will it end? Will it ever end?

If you read popular fiction, the end will arrive in some sort of apocalypse, followed by a dissolution of civilization. If you read the Bible, it will end with the return of the King of King and Lord of Lords, even Jesus Christ. He will bring a peace beyond all understanding, and a certain a cessation of war, murder, hate, and anger. If you read neither, what do you expect?

As we observe the hatred and fear caused by the recent elections in the United States, added to the fears and frustrations caused by  stories of atrocities caused by refugees from Syria, a subterranean shudder fills our hearts and rattles the soles of our feet like a San Francisco earthquake. Social media quivers with fear mongering. Like a virus, the plague of fear spreads across the land.

Natural gas is odorless, colorless, and highly flammable. It can fill a room or a building without anyone knowing—until there is some kind of spark. Then, the resultant flames burn hot, wild, and long. The effects of hatred and fear spreading among us will be like natural gas, exploding out of control.

There is a constant plague: man’s inhumanity to man—and women, as Mark Twain so eloquently described in Huckleberry Finn. There must be a way to turn off the gas, blanket the fire, minimize the fear, and reduce the hatred.

In this season of remembering the birth of Christ, the God of this earth, who promised us Peace, the challenge is to air out the fear and spread kindness. It is easy to focus on spending money on children, loved ones, and friends. That is nice, but there is more you can do.

My challenge to you is to give of yourself in a way you don’t usually. Give things that cost no money, and spread peace. Choose one or more of these things to do as your gift to humanity this month.

  • Smile at your neighbors.
  • Smile at strangers in the stores.
  • Say hello to someone who looks sad.
  • Strike up a conversation with someone in a store.
  • Laugh at a joke, even if it is stupid.
  • Give each family member a hug.
  • Read a story to a child.
  • Complement others~
    • On their dress
    • On their beautiful eyes
    • On their hair style
    • On their children
    • On their smile
    • On something~

I’m certain there are things I forgot. Add to my list.

What did you choose? What did you add? I look forward to hearing what you are doing! Leave a comment!

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choice and accountability, Freedom

Decision Time

san-marino-1Tuesday is a day of decision—the day many of us will enter our polling booths to cast our vote. Or not. It has been estimated that two-thirds or more who are registered will not take the time or trouble to actually vote. Some will believe their vote doesn’t count. Some believe it won’t matter, due to election fraud. Others can’t find someone to vote for. Others simply can’t be bothered.

I have a friend whose father was a popular elected official, so popular everyone expected him to be reelected. The expectation was so widespread many who supported him did not bother to vote. When the vote was counted, his competitor won by less than ten votes. Just ten friends, ten supporters, ten people who cared enough to take the time to vote would have changed the election and reelected the man.

This scenario has been multiplied many times every year, in all levels, of government, whether you are discussing local or federal elections. If a few hundred more had voted in each of the past elections, the results would be significantly different.

In addition to the big question of the presidential election, most localities have other questions on the ballot. These questions have the ability to significantly change lives in those localities. Some will impose increased taxes. Some may change attitudes about federal laws. Many states question the ability of individuals to use marijuana, either for medical or personal use. Other important questions are on ballots across the country. Those who do not vote will find their lives changes, happily or not

Do not be one of the two-thirds who choose not to vote. It is much too important, this year and every time there is a vote. Your vote makes all the difference, whether you cast it or stay home.

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choice and accountability, Eve

Should Kaepernick Kneel?

20150914_185748Last week the news was filled with outrage that Colin Kaepernick would choose not to stand for the National Anthem at the beginning of football games. He stated that he refused to “show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” In my city, many were outraged at his lack of respect.

Today, another sports figure chose to take a knee during the National Anthem in solidarity with Kaepernick. I’m certain the outrage will continue.

I do not agree with his reasons for not standing. I admit there continues to be some bias towards people of color. The media has highlighted excessive force, especially that force directed toward black people.

Excessive force is not appropriate, no matter who the offender is, no matter the color of their skin. Unfortunately, it happens to offenders of all nationalities. Though some say that the best way to avoid excessive force is to obey the laws, that is not always true. Some are treated badly, regardless of their actions.

I suspect refusing to stand for the National Anthem is a more responsible action than targeting random police officers for murder or participating in riots and destroying property belonging to others.

One of the benefits of living in the United States is the right to choose. We cannot choose which laws to obey or disregard, but we do have freedom of thought and freedom of expression. We all have the right to choose to stand,or not stand, for the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem. Kaepernick has a right to show his frustration by not standing.

Eve and Adam carefully protected the rights of their children to choose, even when those children chose things they did not like. As I wrote about their struggle with this, Eve and Adam discussed what they could do.

Though they wanted to insist, to force their children to obey the commands they were given when leaving Eden, they could not. Forcing them would be acting like the Destroyer, taking away their rights to choose. In order to allow agency, they had to accept alternate choices.

In the case of Kaepernick, we must allow him the same opportunity, to choose a behavior many of us would p

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