December 12, 2012

  • Bullying

    The hobbit you just called fat? He’s skipping 2nd breakfast. The dwarf woman you called ugly? She spends hours braiding her beard so you can differentiate her from a dwarf man. The Uruk-Hai you just killed? He’s been abused by Saruman. See that Gollum creature with the gangly limbs and large eyes? For 500 years the Ring poisoned his mind. That Elf you just made fun of for crying? She just lost her wizard friend to a Balrog. That tree you you hung toilet paper in, lost his wife. (LIKE LITERALLY HE LOST HER AND DOESN’T KNOW WHERE THE HECK SHE WENT) Share this if you’re against bullying in Middle-Earth.

December 9, 2012

  • Church was rough today.  I got all weepy during communion and felt like a little child clinging, crying to Jesus.  He must be very patient with me because I'm so whiny to him. 

    I couldn't stop thinking about how Advent is waiting, longing.  I drew a parallel about how I'm longing so much for marriage.  Sometimes my heart feels sick with yearning.  Advent is good because we know the joy that came into the world in Jesus.  And we yearn now but we know He'll come again.  I don't know if God has a husband for me.  If God wants me all to Himself, I hope I feel peace in that. 

    Either way, I want to enjoy each day knowing my very life is in God's hands.  I belong to Christ and no one else.  I am my beloved's and HE is mine.  I shall hold onto hope that God's way is the best.

    If I already know my future husband, may I be kind to him.  If I don't know him, may others be kind in my stead.  And if he doesn't exist, may I inspire future husbands to love their future wives, and vice versa.  Christ be glorified.  Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

December 5, 2012

  • WFAA News story about Caleb's death

    Story with video: Cleburne teen's death remains a mystery.

    by JIM DOUGLAS

    CLEBURNE — A Cleburne family is waiting for answers about the sudden, unexplained death of a 13-year-old boy.

    An autopsy revealed no apparent cause for the death of Caleb Midkiff.  But that's only one of the mysteries he left behind.

    The others include the wonders of faith and honor, and a sense of obligation to a six-man football team in the playoffs.

    Caleb died the afternoon before the Cleburne Christian Academy Lions were to play their state semi-final. He was on the junior varsity squad. Caleb was also the son of the coach and the little brother of the quarterback.

    "Honestly, I don't remember much of Saturday," said 16-year-old Aaron Midkiff. "All I remember is after every touchdown, I was crying my eyes out."

    Just hours before, on the day after Thanksgiving, Aaron said goodbye to Caleb in a hospital emergency room.

    "Still unreal. Like a dream," Aaron said. "Like he's not really dead."

    Caleb was an athlete, dancer and actor. His father, Mark Midkiff, was driving him to a rehearsal at Casa Manana when the teen suddenly went rigid and his eyes rolled back.

    "I grabbed his wrist and felt his pulse," Midkiff said.

    They were almost right in front of Huguley Hospital when it happened. Medical treatment was immediate.

    "We pulled into the parking lot at Huguley, and lost his pulse," Mark Midkiff said. "At that point, I knew we were in trouble."

    The elder Midkiff said doctors tried for two hours to bring his son back as family members rushed in, including Caleb's mom, four brothers, and one sister.

    Mark Midkiff said the effort to save his son was heroic.  "I asked the medical people there, I said, 'Please just keep working on him for a little bit longer while I go tell his brothers and sister we're going to have to say goodbye.'"

    "When it came time to stop, everyone — nurses, doctors — everyone in there was just crying," Aaron Midkiff recalled.

    Aaron was still crying when he took the field the next day against Bastrop after a long, reflective drive to Brenham for the game.

    Aaron ran or threw for seven touchdowns. His dad coached through the tears, watching Aaron on the field... seeing Caleb in his mind.

    Mark Midkiff said he never doubted what he had to do.

    "Something you wouldn't wish on anyone," he said, adding: "There are also other people counting on you ...  we play as a team, we finish as a team."

    Coach Midkiff said Aaron and both teams worked hard all season for this game. Aaron said it wasn't like any other playoff. "They would hit me, and they would pick me up, and they would always say, 'Hey, we're praying for you, man. Keep it up. You're playing a good game.'"

    Aaron said Caleb would have loved that. "We play TCAL, Texas Christian Athletic League, and want to show that we are living what God wants in playing the way we need to play," Aaron said.

    The Cleburne Christian Academy Lions lost the game 78 to 57.

    Coach Midkiff said he told his team at the start of the season they'll face life's lessons together with faith and character.

    The football team wore their jerseys to Caleb's funeral, and bore his casket to the grave.

    E-mail jdouglas@wfaa.com

    ___________________________________

    I am still very sad.  It doesn't seem real, indeed.
    When I die, may my story be as clear about the Lord Jesus Christ as Caleb's. 

December 2, 2012

November 30, 2012

November 23, 2012

  • RIP Caleb

    The boy who played my little brother (Winthrop) in the Music Man a few years back has died suddenly.  He was 13 and had a heart attack on the way to rehearsal.  His dad was driving him, and his mom was home cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

      I'm bummed, not as much as his family, but bummed nonetheless.  If you could say a prayer for them, that would be great. 

November 18, 2012

  • Harvest at church

    England doesn't have Thanksgiving, but they do have Harvest.  And the church in England celebrates harvest by bringing harvested things into the church and decorating with them.  This was strange to me at first when I lived there, but it was so lovely!

    The church where I sing is Anglican, so it has strong British influences.  Today before we start Advent, they decorated the church with harvest things.  So pretty!

    Harvest, for the Christian, is a time to thank God for the work He's done in giving us ground, seed, the sun, and water to grow these things.  We have lost touch with that aspect of life in our modern lives.  Let us take time to truly thank God for what He's done in giving us our sustenance.

    Mary and Jesus :) I love the blue candles.

    Happy Sunday everyone.  Rejoice and be glad, for our sins are forgiven in Christ.

November 17, 2012

November 12, 2012

  • Socialized Healthcare

    I'd just like to point something out to those who think socialized medicine is a great thing.

    In a free market, if you want to buy something, you buy it.  The person selling it competes for your business with others selling it, and the prices go lower and higher based on the law of supply and demand.  I know that healthcare has a lot of complex things that affect cost.  But basically if I buy my own insurance and want to go to the doctor, I pay for it myself and get the services I pay for.  Insurance might pay for some of it, but if I want the service, I can pay out of pocket.
    In socialized medicine (which some of you seem to love), it's not quite that way.  You think that medicine is "free" and that I can always have access to what I need.  Not quite.  You see, when someone else is taking care of you, you become indebted to them and at their mercy.  If I stay in someone's house for the weekend, they decide how long I sleep by banging around in the kitchen at 3 am or letting their kids run through the hallways screaming.  "Free" is kind of an illusion.  
    In "free" medicine, someone who makes more money than me pays part of what they earn, and that goes into a pool.  When I need to go to the doctor, that pool is where the money comes from.  Now here is the tricky part!  Because there is only a certain amount of money in that pool, not everyone who wants that money can get at it.  By getting "free" healthcare, you gave away your power to buy what you want and need.  
    If you are 25 years old and need heart surgery, you might get it.  But here's where it gets sticky.  What if you are 70 years old?  Someone, who is not you, decides if you get surgery or not.  Your name goes before a committee and they decide if the pool of (my) tax money will pay for your surgery.  Hopefully you will get it.  But you might not.  And because you were depending on "free" healthcare, the cost of trying to pay for the surgery yourself will be ridiculously expensive.  Good luck paying for it.
    When I lived in England, I knew a man who had lost his father.  I asked what his father died of.  It was an illness that is commonly treated in the USA by private healthcare, but the NHS wouldn't pay for treatment, so his father died. 
    I am not an expert in Obamacare, or socialized medicine.  But this is the basics of it.  I just want all of you who think "Oh yay! now I get free healthcare and someone else pays for it!" to think about this.  It will go great for you until you are too old or too sick to warrant someone paying for your medicine/surgery.  And good luck if it's something you caused yourself (anorexia, drinking too much, obesity, smoking).  "Free" isn't so free, after all.  

November 10, 2012

  • My First Highland Competition!

    Today I got up at 4 am and drove to Salado, Texas to the Scottish Gathering and Highland Games.  I got a great night's sleep due to some trazodone, and I was able to enjoy the 2 1/2 hour drive while bopping along to some great tunes.  I didn't mind getting up early because I got to see this the sunrise.  This is a rare sight for me because I'm definitely a night owl!

     

    A little blurry, but you get the idea.  I think that Texas sunrises are particularly beautiful.

    I don't have many pics from the competition because I was busy and not near my phone.  I'm in the beginner category, and the age range changes based on how many they have that day.  Ours ended up being 15 and up .  But it wasn't that bad because there were only 6 of us.  They place 1 through 6, so I was pretty excited that I'd at least get something in each dance!

    First was Highland Fling.  I don't have any videos or anything, and I wouldn't show you if I did.  Yikes!  I was going along great, smiling, doing well...and all the sudden I got confused and completely turned the wrong way.  Not only did I do it once, but twice.  Yowsa!  I kept going and laughed it off afterwards.  My general dance training has given me some grace and poise.  It must have been enough to redeem me, because I ended up placing 4th in that one.  Actually, it was a tie for 4th.  Very cool.

    The other dance I did was Swords.  This is the one I posted last week.  Swords is my favorite dance so far.  It's intricate and requires concentration.  You get to look down at your feet the whole time.  It was super windy today and a few of the girls in our group actually kicked their swords a bit and displaced them.  I didn't mess up at all in this one and I placed 3rd! 

    The way it works is this: When you get a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in one of the Highland dances, you get a stamp on the back of your card.  You fill it up and then move to the next level.  So since I got 3rd today in a dance, I got one stamp.  Not bad for my first competition after learning it for 2 months.  Yay!  I had so much fun!

    Afterwards I ate some yummy food, heard good bands play, found my clan tent (Clan Gregor!), and listened to the bagpipes play.  Even now, after being home a few hours, I can still hear them in my head.  If you have a drop of Scots blood in you, the pipes will get under your skin and make you feel bursting with pride.  I want to watch Rob Roy and Braveheart now.  I am proud to be a Scots girl!