Since I am new to blogging and just starting out in facebook world too, I have a lot to learn. My son-in-law, Billy, told me yesterday to get with it because he had emailed me (friended me) and I still had not been online to reply. He told me that facebooking manners included checking in with your friends more than once in a blue moon! I think he was only sort of kidding.
So here I am this morning sitting in my pretty, little living room with coffee in hand, sun shinning in the picture window, Hallmark CD called Amazing Grace playing in the background, ready to get serious about online community responsibility. I have taken my laptop from it's drawer, plugged it in and powered up. I am ready to upload, download, email, blog or whatever else is required to get up to speed, mind my online manners and connect.
Ready, set and ARRGGHH! Windows Defender is running its full scan on my computer to keep me safe and protected from online evil! When I go several days between power-ups, the Windows Defender doesn't get to do its daily thing. So, when I do power up, the software does what it is supposed to and goes into full scan mode to protect the system.
The problem is that when I decide to power up, I want full power and full use of my computer. I don't want to sit around waiting on Windows Defender to scan, correct, clean-up or update. I want to get going with MY stuff minus delays or slow downs. However, I still want to be protected, thank you very much.
Sometimes I stop Windows Defender while it's in progress. I go around the very safeguards built into the system, ignoring the program so I can do what I want to do. Warn me later. Update me later. I've got things to do right now! Sometimes I forget to go back and allow the scan to run. I finish my desired tasks, put the computer back in the drawer and go on with my plans never giving the ignored Defender another thought until next time. That's what happened today.
One of the things I love about being a Christian is when those little "hello my child" tap-on-the-shoulder moments come from the Lord to sweetly teach me something. It happened this morning when I went ARRGGHH over Windows Defender. Without any effort on my part the entire incident dropped clearly into view as an analogy for my sometimes less than perfect spiritual life. Here is this little one minute tap-on-the-shoulder lesson.
The Lord is my Defender. He is the "program" that provides warning, protection and correction so I am safe from the evils of the world, the flesh and the devil. If I hurriedly power-up, but don't take time to listen to His wisdom, I'm putting my whole system in danger. If I insist on putting my Bible "in the drawer" or have my prayer time on the fly several days in a row, pulling these things out only briefly for the fastest possible update, then bad things can happen that just don't have to happen.
When I do then finally settle down and share with the Lord the time He so wants to spend with me, it takes longer to have the "scans" run! I know it sounds silly, but it is true. It takes longer for the corrections to be made because there are more of them. It takes longer for the warnings to be issued and understood. It takes longer to download the updates to my spiritual file so that everything is cleaned up and running in the best and safest mode for my life.
If I would power up every day and take time for my Defender to work with me before I dash into my life then everything about my system (my life) would run more smoothly.
Isn't this a great little lesson. I am always touched and amazed by how God will use whatever is important to us to draw us toward him rather than allowing it to draw us away from Him. He is so awesome.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Marking Time
How do you mark the times in your life? I think this would be a good party question. Do you know what I mean by party question? These are the questions you think up in front of the mirror while you are getting ready to go someplace where there will be people you don't know well but maybe would like to get to know. A party question can get people talking without having to regurgitate the usual tidbits like where they work (risky these days since so many people are out of work) or if they have kids (not always a comfy spot during a party). I love a good party question because you can put it out there and see what happens. "So, Mary, how do you mark the different times of your life?" With my luck, Mary would take one look at me and say, "Um, I need more dip for my chips. Please excuse me." But in spite of the Mary-types out there, I still think it is a thought-provoking question.
How do I mark the times of my life? Over the past three years as I have continued to update the memorial website for my deceased hubby, Brad, I have realized how much music marks the times of my life. I have always been a music-loving gal. My parents played all types of music in our home. I was allowed to have music in my room and to play away on the piano (not well but with joy) just about anytime I wanted. Then I married a young man who sang like a song bird, and music was the way he took up residence in my heart. He did in fact name our first child Melody!
How do I mark the times of my life? When I became a mom, music filled the days and provided an almost clock-like service. You would have usually been able to know the time of day in our home by the type of music playing. Quiet music to start the morning. Nursery music to sing to the babies during play time. Hymns and Bible songs on the piano after lunch while everyone settled down for a nap. Spirited Rocky/Eye of the Tiger style music blaring loudly for house-cleaning chores and Barry Manilow, Captain & Tenille or John Denver for "daddy's home" and dinnertime. After the kids were in bed, we might listen to some great harmony from the Beach Boys or the Sons of the Pioneers unless we were watching a movie.
How do I mark the times of my life? Movies and music are strongly linked since our other shared passion was movies especially old ones. And movies have some of the most beautiful music ever written. The love scenes and the drama all take on so much depth for me when scored by a beautiful or exciting melody. When I was updating Brad's memorial website this week I was struck by how much music I have lived and loved to that was composed by John Barry. In fact, the title of this blog is from one of his most romantic movie scores.
How do I mark the times of my life? I love it that the Creator of all things including time has seen fit to provide such a variety of beauty in this world. I know some who mark the times of their life by where they've lived, what jobs they've had, what world event was taking place, what vacation or trip they took or by what some other person was doing as part of their life whether their child, parent or spouse. For me, it is music. Every place I've lived, every job I've had, every significant event whether good or bad, is marked by the music of my life. Sometimes the music is linked to a movie, but always, there is music.
How do I mark the times of my life? One of the most poignant things about Brad's death and marking the times of my life with music is the knowledge that every new song that I hear now is not a shared song, not a shared memory being built with someone who also marked his life by music and by sharing that music with me. This has been a difficult adjustment, but yet, the music is still there and God uses it to comfort, bless, uplift and fill me with wonder and joy and even energy!
How do I mark the times of my life? Music, music, music! And someday I'll hear the heavenly hosts singing and then nothing else will matter! Thank you, God, for music!
So --How do you mark the times of your life?
How do I mark the times of my life? Over the past three years as I have continued to update the memorial website for my deceased hubby, Brad, I have realized how much music marks the times of my life. I have always been a music-loving gal. My parents played all types of music in our home. I was allowed to have music in my room and to play away on the piano (not well but with joy) just about anytime I wanted. Then I married a young man who sang like a song bird, and music was the way he took up residence in my heart. He did in fact name our first child Melody!
How do I mark the times of my life? When I became a mom, music filled the days and provided an almost clock-like service. You would have usually been able to know the time of day in our home by the type of music playing. Quiet music to start the morning. Nursery music to sing to the babies during play time. Hymns and Bible songs on the piano after lunch while everyone settled down for a nap. Spirited Rocky/Eye of the Tiger style music blaring loudly for house-cleaning chores and Barry Manilow, Captain & Tenille or John Denver for "daddy's home" and dinnertime. After the kids were in bed, we might listen to some great harmony from the Beach Boys or the Sons of the Pioneers unless we were watching a movie.
How do I mark the times of my life? Movies and music are strongly linked since our other shared passion was movies especially old ones. And movies have some of the most beautiful music ever written. The love scenes and the drama all take on so much depth for me when scored by a beautiful or exciting melody. When I was updating Brad's memorial website this week I was struck by how much music I have lived and loved to that was composed by John Barry. In fact, the title of this blog is from one of his most romantic movie scores.
How do I mark the times of my life? I love it that the Creator of all things including time has seen fit to provide such a variety of beauty in this world. I know some who mark the times of their life by where they've lived, what jobs they've had, what world event was taking place, what vacation or trip they took or by what some other person was doing as part of their life whether their child, parent or spouse. For me, it is music. Every place I've lived, every job I've had, every significant event whether good or bad, is marked by the music of my life. Sometimes the music is linked to a movie, but always, there is music.
How do I mark the times of my life? One of the most poignant things about Brad's death and marking the times of my life with music is the knowledge that every new song that I hear now is not a shared song, not a shared memory being built with someone who also marked his life by music and by sharing that music with me. This has been a difficult adjustment, but yet, the music is still there and God uses it to comfort, bless, uplift and fill me with wonder and joy and even energy!
How do I mark the times of my life? Music, music, music! And someday I'll hear the heavenly hosts singing and then nothing else will matter! Thank you, God, for music!
So --How do you mark the times of your life?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
I would never...
This is the preamble for my blog site. If you know me, you already understand why I must have a preamble! There will not be anything here that smacks of precociousness related to blogging. I am a novice, and it will show.
There are some things you think you will never do. I have a little list mentally tucked away that starts with "I would never _________," and the blank gets filled in when some encounter, feeling or observation triggers my "I would never" thought process. One of the "I would never" list items has been, "I would never BLOG." Emphasis on the I and said, I suppose, with a mix of trepidation and superiority. I find I do this with things I'm unsure or uneasy about.
Here are some of my former "fill in the blank" thoughts about blogging:
I would never blog because____...
1) blogging forms a false sense of relationship
2) blogging is a self-centered activity
3) blogging is for people with important things to say and that's not me
3) blogging is a diversion from living life in the real world and that is dangerous
4) blogging is passe; everyone is doing it!
I have friends and family that blog. Over time I've learned from them what having a blog can mean. They have made friends, reached out with personal insights and wisdom, been lifted up in prayer by people they've never seen face-to-face and shared laughter and sorrow in this amazing online world. They've learned to be careful in how and what they share and how to pray for people that are obviously lonesome for some company. The bottom line is that perhaps because so many people are blogging, and I have seen the unusal potential in it, I have decided to join this online world too.
Not for one minute do I fool myself into thinking I have something monumental to say. I don't. If I'm being honest with myself, the reason I am here is because I want a spot, a little corner somewhere in time, that holds a portion of me. My friends and family will be able to step into this spot and connect to me even after I'm gone. I know it isn't the total me, the wholly real me, but that's alright. It's a part of me. Sometimes it is easier to put parts of ourselves in print than it is to be that open face to face. This is no doubt why people love to blog.
I am happy to be here.
There are some things you think you will never do. I have a little list mentally tucked away that starts with "I would never _________," and the blank gets filled in when some encounter, feeling or observation triggers my "I would never" thought process. One of the "I would never" list items has been, "I would never BLOG." Emphasis on the I and said, I suppose, with a mix of trepidation and superiority. I find I do this with things I'm unsure or uneasy about.
Here are some of my former "fill in the blank" thoughts about blogging:
I would never blog because____...
1) blogging forms a false sense of relationship
2) blogging is a self-centered activity
3) blogging is for people with important things to say and that's not me
3) blogging is a diversion from living life in the real world and that is dangerous
4) blogging is passe; everyone is doing it!
I have friends and family that blog. Over time I've learned from them what having a blog can mean. They have made friends, reached out with personal insights and wisdom, been lifted up in prayer by people they've never seen face-to-face and shared laughter and sorrow in this amazing online world. They've learned to be careful in how and what they share and how to pray for people that are obviously lonesome for some company. The bottom line is that perhaps because so many people are blogging, and I have seen the unusal potential in it, I have decided to join this online world too.
Not for one minute do I fool myself into thinking I have something monumental to say. I don't. If I'm being honest with myself, the reason I am here is because I want a spot, a little corner somewhere in time, that holds a portion of me. My friends and family will be able to step into this spot and connect to me even after I'm gone. I know it isn't the total me, the wholly real me, but that's alright. It's a part of me. Sometimes it is easier to put parts of ourselves in print than it is to be that open face to face. This is no doubt why people love to blog.
I am happy to be here.
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