"Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Writing Well"
Know what I love about this video? Aside from the fact that it’s my firstborn learning to propel himself backward?
The sheer JOY on Dude’s face. I LOVE watching babies’ expressions – it’s like they have so much joy and wonder bottled up inside them they can barely contain it – it just seems to explode out of them.
Also? The whole “da da” thing? ANNOYING. Sorry about that. *sigh*
(Click the blue arrow to play)
(Glee “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”)
We went to Jazz’s winter concert tonight – it was AWESOME. No really. The kids sounded phenomenal. Jazz is in advance band this year and it just warms my heart to see how much he’s grown both as a musician and as a person.
I taped their performance, but I have no idea when I’ll have the time to convert it and upload it – maybe by this weekend? I really enjoyed the concert. Not like last year when I felt like I was going to explode because my colon was blocked and I couldn’t pass, er, anything solid or in gas form.
*ahem*
Last year was not a good year for our family.
We went to Simply Yo afterwards. It’s a self-serve, low-fat, non-fat yogurt place. They were having a fundraiaser for the band, so of course, we went to try and help out. We would MUCH rather participate in something like this than say, having to pawn off catalog items that no one really wants. Heck, we’d rather give money, straight out, than have to go through the catalog nightmare.
Dude was really fun to be around. Usually, he’s so awkward and self-conscious that he’s rather difficult, but I can tell a HUGE difference in him since I’ve been working and he’s been hanging out with Kevin more. I think Kevin forcing him out into the public more is really paying off – he acts like he’s feeling more comfortable with himself and with other people. I also think it’s really been good for me not to be around to baby him. He’s been forced to make his own decisions and Kevin has given him a key to the office, so most days, Dude actually opens up the office while Kevin goes to visit with clients. He’s taking on more and more responsibility and it’s starting to make a difference, I think.
I just can’t tell you how much I’m going to miss these band outings. Me, Kevin and Jazz are talking about going to band functions even after he graduates, too. In fact, quite a few school graduates show up at events to offer moral support.
Which I think is just awesome and goes to show just how tight these band “geeks” really are.
If you’re a parent of a pre-teen or a teenager, I can’t stress ENOUGH how IMPORTANT it is to get your kids involved in a school activity. I really wish we had pushed Dude to become involved in SOMETHING in high school. I think his life might have been different right now if we had.
“Hi. Do you need to schedule for something?”
That’s what I usually ask patients when they approach my desk (above).
I’m one of the last people patients see when they check out of the clinic. (Well. They have to see the cashier, but I’m more fun. ha!) My job is to set patients up for further testing: MRI’s, CT’s, Xrays, Injections, Physical Therapy, referrals to other specialists. I’m also responsible to make sure that the insurance companies will PAY for these tests. I’m learning which insurance companies will likely approve these procedures and which will likely give me trouble.
I don’t care dealing with the trouble companies. But I do it because A. it’s my job and B. because I have an honest desire to take care of these patients. Because they can’t move forward on their problem until they have these tests so the doctors can tell what is going on inside them.
It’s terribly interesting and completely challenging. It’s also mentally exhausting. Because each patient is different and has unique problems, no two procedures are ever really the same.
I’m on the phone WAY more than I want to be. You all know how I feel about talking on the phone – I HATE IT. So isn’t it ironic that I now have a job where I’m pretty much on the phone eight hours out of each day? I’m calling patients, I’m setting up appointments, I’m calling insurance companies … the list goes on and on. In fact, I’m on the phone SO MUCH, that I wear headphones so I can keep my hands free to type and/or write at the same time.
This is a picture of the back of my desk:
I have post-it’s everywhere. I go through an alarming number of post-it notes. At first, I wrote myself notes on how to do things, but now that I’ve been working there nearly three months (!?!), I’m starting to get the hang of my job and I no longer have to write myself notes. Now, I use post-its mainly to make notes on specific patients that I need to contact and/or take care of.
I take great pride in my job. The doctors I work for are MY doctors. In fact, I get a little jealous whenever any of the other girls take care of patients for MY doctors. I’m learning their techniques, their preferences, and their habits. I feel protective of the patients they see and I go out of my way to make sure they are taken care of. I honestly care about our patients. I honestly feel for these patients. Because if they have gotten to the point that they are seeing MY doctors? They are in some SERIOUS pain. It warms my heart whenever patients come back after surgeries and praise MY doctors. I’m proud of them for doing such a great job and I’m thankful for their talents.
Doctors/nurses, heck, health care professionals, are truly wonderful people. Think how MUCH they help people!!
Sure. They make good money. They SHOULD make good money! They work hard to fine tune their talents to do what very few humans can do – they FIX our bodies. They are caring, patient individuals who see it all. They deserve our respect. They deserve to be compensated for their hard work.
Our doctors never take lunches. They grab bites to eat in between patients. Our doctors attend out-of-town clinics in order to reach those people who would have a difficult time getting into town. Our doctors take Medicaid patients, even though they don’t get paid to see them. They have huge hearts.
So. It makes me really angry whenever people start treating health care professionals as if they exist to SERVE them. They exist to HELP them. They exist to FIX problems whenever they arise. They DO NOT exist to fix bad personal choices. They DO NOT exist to be anyone’s slave, or scape goat. People take our health care professionals for granted. So much so that they now insist that these people not get paid for what they sacrifice – YEARS AND TIME – from their lives in order to educate themselves on how to help people.
Is our health care costs out of control? Absolutely. It needs reform. Insurance companies need reform. But if we take too much away, then we will be left with nothing at all.
We must find a healthy balance. Because in the end, these health care professionals? Need to feed their families and pay their bills, too. They don’t HAVE to help anyone, if they choose not to. But they do. And I, for one, am damn grateful that they do.
Sorry. I sort of got off on a tangent there. But I get so sick of people vilifying our health care system. There is NO DOUBT ABOUT IT – our health care system needs help. It DOES NOT need to be destroyed.
For then, where would we be?
I shudder to think.
(Click the blue arrow to play)
(Michael Buble “White Christmas”)
http://twitter.com/#!/iowahawkblog/status/123781589254684672
Makes TOTAL sense, doesn’t it.
Exactly.
I’m kidding, of course. For those out there that don’t have a sense of humor.
You know who you are.
Jazz’s driving “lessons” are going well. He’s catching on pretty quickly. We’re still having trouble staying in the lane – he tends to drive on the edge of the road, which makes me ride on the edge of my seat. I’m constantly having to point to his side of the car to indicate he needs to get over.
His corners are better – we no longer turn them on two wheels. (You only THINK I’m joking).
He’s been driving to school – We almost hit a kid in the school parking lot the other day. To be fair, it wasn’t totally Jazz’s fault. These high school kids have a tendency to walk in front of the cars without bothering to get over. I guess they think they’re being “tough” and “cool” when we know they’re being “idiots.” There’s a portion of the parking lot where you have to turn left. In the meantime, there are kids driving toward the back lot and you have kids that have parked in the back lot that are walking to the school.
So. You are trying to avoid being T-boned by an oncoming car and trying to drive around teenagers who refuse to yield.
Fun stuff.
We drove the busier roads today. He did really well. We drove all around the outskirts of town. We’ll drive those roads several more times before hitting the highways. It’s supposed to rain Wednesday – I’ll probably have him drive to school that day too, so he can start getting some experience driving in rain.
Then. Night driving. *gulp*
And parallel parking. But Kevin is in charge of that because I SUCK at parallel parking. I always have.
I’m thinking he will be ready to take his test in March. Since it’s dark when I get off work, that only leaves the weekends to practice driving, so we don’t really have very many opportunities to drive.
I took a short video of him today. He was cranky because I made him stop playing his precious video game and go driving. (*GASP* Tough toenails). I would have pushed it (because I’m mean like that), but I didn’t want to distract him too much.
I have to say, I’m ready for him to get his license. It will make it SO MUCH easier on everyone when he’s driving on his own.
(Click the blue arrow to play)
(Glee “Merry Christmas, Darling”)
Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.
If you would like to read my views on religion and how we got started with the ministry, you can read this.
Let’s get started:
The Bible is the Word of God. It tells us about the life and death — and resurrected life — of the greatest man who ever lived. His name is Jesus Christ. For centuries men have debated the identity of this unique man. Was he God? Was he a “mere” man? How did he do the things he did?
We assert that the answers lie in the Bible. If so, the question is: “What does the Bible say?” Here is a list of logical questions, with pertinent scripture verses, to help us know whether or not Jesus is God Almighty.
Question #1: If Jesus is God, how could he die for our sins?
1 Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
God cannot die, yet Jesus was killed and then resurrected (Acts 5:30). The Bible does not say that only his “human nature” died; it says that Jesus died, which would include all of Jesus (100%).
1 Corinthians 15:3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
Question #2: How can Jesus be “God” and have a “God” at the same time?
The God of the Bible is the Almighty, the Creator, the Most High, and no one compares to Him. Jesus Christ cannot be “God” if he says that our heavenly Father is his “God.”
You cannot be the “Most High God” and be in submission to the “Most High God” (1 Cor.15:28) and say that He is your God. This makes no sense. If words truly have meaning, then one cannot be “God” and have a “God” at the same time.
Check out the verses below that clearly show that our Father is the “God” of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Ephesians 1:17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
Romans 15:6 …so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort…
Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
1 Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
The above verses are very clear. Jesus Christ has a God. Who is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ? Ephesians 1:17 very clearly says that this God is our glorious Father. Jesus Christ himself called our Father his “God” and Father many different times in Scripture.
John 20:17 (KJV) …I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”
Revelation 3:12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.
Revelation 3:21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
Question #3: If Jesus was sitting at the right hand of God in heaven when the book of Revelation was written, why does Jesus continue to make such clear statements that our heavenly Father is his “God” if he himself is God?
Revelation 1:6 …[Jesus] has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father– to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
Revelation 3:12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.
Question #4: If God cannot be tempted by evil, yet Jesus was tempted in every way we are, how can he be God?
James 1:13 For God cannot be tempted by evil.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
The Bible never says that Jesus’ “human nature” was tempted, it says “Jesus” was tempted. Nowhere does it say that “part” of Jesus was tempted; it was “all” of him. If Jesus is God, this is a clear contradiction. Fortunately, Jesus is the human Son of God, so there is no contradiction.
Question #5: If Jesus is God, then why does he pray to God and call Him “the only true God” in John 17:3?
John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
In this verse, Jesus Christ makes a clear distinction between “the only true God” and himself. Jesus called his Father “the only true God,” and that doesn’t leave any room for Jesus to also be “God.”
Question #6: If Jesus is God, why did he pray at all?
Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
He would have been praying to himself, or another “part” of himself. Did he do it for our benefit alone? To be an example for us? If Jesus were praying to himself, or another part of himself, then he was just “acting.” It wasn’t real prayer (the way we know it), because we don’t pray to ourselves, we pray to God.
Was Jesus just “acting” when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane praying to God that there be another way, that “if it is possible, that the cup be taken” from him? He was asking God if there was another way (i.e., another way beside dying a horrible death on a cross). If Jesus is God, then all of his prayers “to God” make him look rather ludicrous.
Question #7: If Jesus is God, why did he say to his disciples: “Trust in God; trust also in me”?
John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”
Notice that Jesus didn’t say “the Father,” he just said “God.” Jesus once again makes a clear distinction between himself and God.
Question #8: According to the doctrine of the Trinity, the Father and Son are co-equal. If that is true, how can the Father be (in any way) greater than Jesus?
John 14:28 “I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”
Mark 13:32 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
1 Corinthians 15:27-28
(27) For he (God) “has put everything under his (Jesus) feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him (Jesus), it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.(28) When he (God) has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him (God) who put everything under him (Jesus), so that God may be all in all.
Clearly, 1 Corinthians 15:27-28 nullifies the idea that Jesus is God. It says: “Now when it says that ‘everything’ has been put under him (Jesus), it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.”
How could God make it more plain?
Then it goes on to say: “Then the Son himself will be made subject to him (God) who put everything under him (Jesus), so that God may be all in all.”
Right now Jesus is exalted at the right hand of God, given all authority in Heaven and on Earth, and is “functionally” equal with God. But after Jesus has finished the job of restoring paradise, he will eventually be “made subject” to God, so that God may be all in all.
The doctrine of the Trinity states that Jesus is 100% man and 100% God. Logically, you can’t be 100% of one thing and then even “a little” of something else. That is, if words and numbers have definite meanings.
Question #9: How can Jesus “be like us in every way” and still be “100% man and 100% God”?
Hebrews 2:17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
If Jesus is God and also “like us in every way,” that means we are all 100% man and 100% God. This makes no sense. Either Jesus is not God and truly like us in all ways (a man), or he is God and so are we.
What makes more sense?
The Devil and demons call Jesus the Son of God.
Question #10: If Jesus is God and God cannot be tempted, why would the Devil tempt Jesus?
The Bible says that “God cannot be tempted” (James 1:13) and we know that the Devil knows Scripture because he quoted it while trying to tempt Jesus (Matt. 4:6). The Devil is totally evil and persistent, but he is not dumb.
Why did the Devil continue to ask Jesus “if you are the Son of God…” when he was tempting him? Wouldn’t the Devil (Lucifer) and his demons know if they were speaking with the Almighty Himself?
In fact, he tauntingly said to Jesus:
Matthew 4:3 …“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Matthew 4:6 If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down.
The Devil knew that Jesus was a man, the Son of God, and the promised Messiah, and that is why he did his best to try to get him to sin. The Devil knew that if he could get Jesus to sin one time, he could not be the perfect sacrifice that was necessary for the forgiveness of our sins.
We believe that Jesus Christ is a unique man because he is the only man who was born of a virgin, who is the Last Adam, who by his free will choices to trust God lived a sinless life, always doing the will of his Father. He died as the perfect sacrifice for our sins so that we too could have a relationship with God. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our Savior, our Lord, and our Brother. Because of his obedience, God promoted Jesus to the highest place possible – “Lord” over heaven and earth (Acts 2:36; Matt. 28:18). He is now the Head of the Church, working with us to make known God’s love and truth on this earth. He is our Lord and we love him.
Thanks for reading.
(Comments have been turned off. The information is here to inform and bless you. God granted you the gift of free will – take it or leave it).
More from Write From Karen
Except for these guys, they were pretty awesome. 😀
When we received the information sheet about the Christmas parade from the band director on Thursday, it said that our kids were number 23!!!. We couldn’t understand why there were so many exclamation points behind that number – 23?!? That sounds like they were near the end of the parade to me. Why would he be happy about that??
We dropped Jazz off at the rendezvous point around 12:30 today, then me, Kevin and Dude went to Starbucks to grab some coffee (well, Dude and Kevin got coffee, I bought an apple cider because I had already had my allotted cup o’ joe for the day). Our intention was to make it back in time to watch our kids “step off”, but we were too late, they were gone.
No worries. We just parked at the end of the parade route and waited for them to show up.
When the parade started, I admit, I got excited. We haven’t been to a parade since the boys were little (Jazz was still in a stroller!) and I had forgotten how fun they were.
Only our parade? Was kind of lame, if you want the truth. And I was a little disappointed. All we saw were businesses and cops – not that cops aren’t exciting but … okay, fine. Cops aren’t all that exciting.
Though we DID see a concrete truck at one point so I suppose I shouldn’t complain all THAT much. *snort*
Anyway. Our kids marched by and as usual, they put on a fun show for the crowd.
Since we were at the end of the line, we just walked with them and stood by while they dispersed, collected Jazz and started home.
Was that it? I thought. We didn’t see anything after our kids came by so we just assumed that was the whole parade. But I suspect we only actually saw ONE FOURTH of the actual parade. I know for a fact there were several other schools that were scheduled to be in the parade that we didn’t see.
So that 26 our band director was excited about? Makes sense now. We were actually considered at the FRONT of the parade – there was so much more after us.
The guys were ready to leave and Jazz was pretty tired by the time it was over. I could have stayed and watched the rest of it, but I was out voted, so we drove home.
At least Jazz has marched in a parade now and can add that to his bag o’ experiences.
*Side note: A Coca-Cola truck rolled by at one point and they had people handing out soda. Kevin and I just looked at each other and raised our eyebrows. Then Dude noticed that it was DIET soda, which made it so much better, don’t you know. We burst out laughing. Only in America.
Write From Karen 