Lion and Lambs

Listening to all this Christmas music makes me wonder if “they” will try to ban or change our classic tunes. For instance, “Have Yourself a Happy Little Holiday” or “although it’s been said many times many ways, Happy Holidays to you”? I’m dreaming of a “White Holiday”? We can now call it “The Holiday Song” so as not to offend anyone. Though they know we are not singing about Hannukah, or Kwanza, let’s try to make everyone feel good. The next generation can just ask which holiday we are singing about. The list is endless.

Then there are all the Christmas specials and movies. How about “A Charlie Brown Holiday”? “A Holiday Carol”? “The Holiday Star”? And a favorite for many, “The Holiday Story” where the little boy wants his red rider BB gun under his holiday tree.

It’s a good thing “they” don’t have anything constructive to do because changing all the songs and movies to be politically correct could take years.

Just a reminder about an excellent source for Christmas music, especially while you are working at your computer. It opens in a seperate window so you can keep on surfing working!

Over at Quizillia, there is a fun quiz to see which Peanuts character you would be. Here is my result:

While we are on the Peanuts subject, A Charlie Brown Christmas is on TV Tuesday night, December 6. It is one of the few that maintains Christmas as the time of Jesus’ birth.

In the meantime, click on the link (which Peanuts character) above and then let me know which nut Peanut you are.

There is an advisory weather warning on the forecast over at Vox’s site. She dwells in the Phoenix area. My curiousity was pumped so I had to click on it. They have a freeze warning for tonight. It may get down to 38°.

Our high didn’t even get to that today!

As always God’s pick is the perfect one. This gift didn’t come with a card so I don’t know who to thank, but the timing is great! Did I mention how cold it is here? Well just in case, our high was 20° colder than yesterday and the windchill dropped it another 20. There was no way we were going near a door let alone going outside. D and J just happened to be in my room enjoying the sunshine, so I told them I needed to open a gift. I had them guess what it was because it was so heavy, and D got it right, much to our shock. Here it is:

Now, for all you brainy folks that think we just laid the dominoes out at random for the picture, you are mistaken. We learned a new game called Matador, where all the adjoining dominoes have to equal ten. It was much more fun than the original version. The kicker is that it is a twelves set, so anything over a ten blocked that row. We enjoyed it so much that we went back tonight for a second session.
Much thanks to whoever sent it!

And it stuck…

I bet D a hot fudge sundae that it would snow and she said we were too low. I told her those were snow clouds out there, and she said it isn’t cold enough. Not cold enough? 20°!?!? Right now it is all the way up to 30° but the wind chill factor makes it 19° and my ‘from Phoenix factor’ makes it

Anyway, I WIN!!! and when I find a raw hot fudge sundae with no chocolate on it, I am going for it!!

I was originally supposed to be heading home tomorrow, but plans didn’t work out that way. I am learning to wait on the Lord. Well I just clicked on the forecast, and the day I was supposed to leave is forecast to be 18°!! This will truly test my “waiting patiently” when our high is lower than the low at home.

Not that I am not thankful for being here, not that I am not learning and growing here, not that I don’t appreciate the graciousness of my hosts, not that I don’t look good in blue,

but this cannot be good for my back, and I’ll bet I can get a note from my chiropractor!!

I am so glad I stayed home today. From AOL news:

Things got out of hand at a Wal-Mart store in Orlando, Fla., where a man who allegedly cut in line to get a discounted laptop computer was wrestled to the ground, according to a video shown by an ABC affiliate, WFTV-TV. The store’s manager referred questions to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., where officials had no immediate comment.

There was trouble at another Wal-Mart in Renton, Wash., south of Seattle, where extra police were called to control crowds of zealous shoppers who shoved their way into the electronics department, pushing some counters out of position as they tried to get their hands on a limited supply of laptop computers, KIRO-TV reported.

If you click the link, you can view an amazing video of what greed does to us.

I am sure that is not even the worst of it, or the worst we will hear about these “Happy Holidays.” Are THINGS really that important? May God have mercy on us.

I had three friends send me Jaquie Lawson’s Thanksgiving card that is a basket filling up with vegies to the tune of “Turkey in the Straw.” My friend D attached a note that Thanksgiving isn’t all about the turkey.

For me it wasn’t about the turkey at all. One of the things I thought I would miss the most was the sweet potatoes, so I found a recipe for raw sweet potato soup, and it surprised even me at how good it was. This I followed with an asparagus and avocado wrap; apple orchard salad, which had cranberries,cinnamon, and walnuts; and dessert was completely raw vegan strawnana ice cream.

When I first sat down, I was really challenged by all the traditional foods set around the table. However, once the plates were full and we were eating and visiting, I didn’t even notice that I was eating anything different from anyone else. Everyone was talking and chewing, so it just seemed we were all eating the same thing.

I must confess that I stumbled over the pie though. I ate a pecan off the pecan pie, and I had to eat a cherry out of the cherry pie. Our hostess, D’s mom, grew the cherries in her back yard and pitted them and everything. Far be it for me to offend my hostess!

I am sorry, I should have had this out earlier this week, but better late than never when the news is so exciting; and during our Thanksgiving holiday what a great thing to give thanks for!

Regarding the death threat we heard about through Gospel For Asia:

11/22/2005: Threat to Burn Indian Believers Thwarted

Working through a professional Christian news network, Gospel for Asia has learned that the threat against 60 believers in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh has been thwarted.

Here is the rest of the story.