My last blog post was August 10th...what?! According to reliable information, August 11th is the day we conceived Caroline, and so I guess we could say I've been a little "occupied," both literally & figuratively.
So, to start back to blogging on a light-hearted note I will copy & paste from a hilarious email that Rob sent to me today. I just love chickens! I laughed out loud numerous times while reading.
Here it is - author unknown:
Why did the chicken cross the road?
SARAH PALIN: The chicken crossed the road because, gosh-darn it, he's a maverick!
BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for change! The chicken wanted change!
JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.
HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.
GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.
DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?
COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.
BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken.
AL GORE: I invented the chicken.
JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.
AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.
DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.
OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a NEW CAR so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.
NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.
PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.
MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.
DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.
JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth? That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, That chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the Liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side.' That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.
GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.
BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish it's lifelong dream of crossing the road.
ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.
JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.
BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2010, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2010. This new platform is much more stable and will never reboot.
ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?
COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?
Good night, all! Oh, and check out our new website - www.EggSongAcre.com
Monday, January 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
All or Nothing
If your "religion" (I prefer the term "spirituality" to "religion" because the latter term can carry a nasty stigma unfortunately) is EXCLUSIVE [by that, I mean, excludes people of any kind for any reason] then you are totally missing the boat. Jesus is for all people and God's word cannot be used just to suit your personal fancy. {Revelation 22:17-19} You can't pick and choose from the Bible - it's all or nothing.
If you are going to pick one verse, you have to pick them all. AND, if two verses seem to have conflicting ideas, don't get mad and throw the Book. STUDY, learn WHY and then SHARE with others what God has shown you. {Revelation 22:7}
Then, think, what does it all boil down to? Why am I spiritual (replacing the word "religious") anyway? Do I keep the two most important commandments? Do I know what are the two most important commandments? {Matthew 22:36-40} What does that mean for the whole big picture -- for me and everybody else?
If you are trying to share Jesus with others, shouldn't you figure out why everyone's lost before you can even begin to try and help them find Him? Wouldn't that make more sense than just shoving it down there throats "your" style? Isn't that what Jesus himself did? I believe so. He met people where they were (in whatever lifestyle or situation), instead of getting in their faces with, "This is who I am and this is how it is!" Consider the woman at the well. {John 4}
Church, or how ever you meet up with people who share your beliefs, has to be more than a social event. Use your spiritual time to learn & grow, and ultimately bring others to know God's boundless love for us ALL.
The plan for a life change on this topic:
- Don't dissect the Bible
- Study independently, even if it's just a little whenever you have time
- Meet people where they are
- Don't say or do things that make others feel excluded from knowing God's love
- Love God, your neighbor & try to love yourself (God does & He knows all your faults just like you do)
- Add what you learn in these experiences to your personal testimony
- Share your testimony with others
My friends, I pray my brief words for consideration on this topic somehow opened your hearts & minds to new ideas and ways of approaching your own spirituality & the spirituality of others. Love in Him...to you, from me!
If you are going to pick one verse, you have to pick them all. AND, if two verses seem to have conflicting ideas, don't get mad and throw the Book. STUDY, learn WHY and then SHARE with others what God has shown you. {Revelation 22:7}
Then, think, what does it all boil down to? Why am I spiritual (replacing the word "religious") anyway? Do I keep the two most important commandments? Do I know what are the two most important commandments? {Matthew 22:36-40} What does that mean for the whole big picture -- for me and everybody else?
If you are trying to share Jesus with others, shouldn't you figure out why everyone's lost before you can even begin to try and help them find Him? Wouldn't that make more sense than just shoving it down there throats "your" style? Isn't that what Jesus himself did? I believe so. He met people where they were (in whatever lifestyle or situation), instead of getting in their faces with, "This is who I am and this is how it is!" Consider the woman at the well. {John 4}
Church, or how ever you meet up with people who share your beliefs, has to be more than a social event. Use your spiritual time to learn & grow, and ultimately bring others to know God's boundless love for us ALL.
The plan for a life change on this topic:
- Don't dissect the Bible
- Study independently, even if it's just a little whenever you have time
- Meet people where they are
- Don't say or do things that make others feel excluded from knowing God's love
- Love God, your neighbor & try to love yourself (God does & He knows all your faults just like you do)
- Add what you learn in these experiences to your personal testimony
- Share your testimony with others
My friends, I pray my brief words for consideration on this topic somehow opened your hearts & minds to new ideas and ways of approaching your own spirituality & the spirituality of others. Love in Him...to you, from me!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Eggs: My First Customer
I'm excited to announce that I now have a non-family member egg customer!!
Strangely, I bought two new layers because one of my layers died last week & one went broody (sitting on eggs in the nest), and then today, Ginger, the momma hen to my chicks hatched July 3rd is MISSING. So is my blue laced red Wyandotte who was creeping up on point of lay (just about to start laying). I almost feel like I'm fighting a losing battle, but I will somehow get a handle on it.
I think that I will order some pullets from the hatchery and sell what I don't need. I know of a couple of ladies who would like girls for layers as well, so I'll contact them and see if they want to split an order. Anybody else interested in getting in on the order-splitting? Let me know!!
Strangely, I bought two new layers because one of my layers died last week & one went broody (sitting on eggs in the nest), and then today, Ginger, the momma hen to my chicks hatched July 3rd is MISSING. So is my blue laced red Wyandotte who was creeping up on point of lay (just about to start laying). I almost feel like I'm fighting a losing battle, but I will somehow get a handle on it.
I think that I will order some pullets from the hatchery and sell what I don't need. I know of a couple of ladies who would like girls for layers as well, so I'll contact them and see if they want to split an order. Anybody else interested in getting in on the order-splitting? Let me know!!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Head First
Yea! My first ever blog post! I have wanted to blog for a long time; so, today -- SPLASH -- I just decided to jump in head first. "Head first" is normally how I function best. This blog will be a place for Rob & I to share ideas & communicate with you; although, I'm quite sure you will rarely hear from Rob as blogging is not really his thing.
Seems to me here lately that the topic of "comfort zones" is taking a forefront in conversations that I'm having with others. So, for this first post, I'm going to talk a little about comfort zones.
What's your comfort zone? Are you afraid to leave it? If so, why? Have you thought BEYOND the scary part? I mean, once you step out there, what will it really look, feel, smell, taste, sound like? Would it be a growing zone, a disaster zone, a happy zone -- more so than the zone you are in now? HAVE YOU EVER EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT YOUR ZONE? Well, you should! Where ever you are, you are in a zone & it's all yours. You've helped create it, and you are nestled down all snug and warm, but did you realize that in your moments of displeasure or despair that God is calling you out of hiding? Yep, He sure is. All the disgust you feel (in whatever form that may be) is an urging to explore ahead. There are great blessings waiting for you beyond your zone. I can state this idea so broadly because it really applies to everyone. All of us have blessings waiting for us on the other side of that scary thin line.
My most recent step across the scary thin line was when God called me to go to nursing school in 2008. It was nerve-racking, nausea-creating, marriage-trying, kid-neglecting, fear-facing horror! Most of you don't know that I used to get sick and faint at the sight of blood...even just a drop...I'm not kidding. You can imagine how many times I saw THE BLUE DOTS in nursing school (you know, the ones you see before you pass out) -- quite a few, but I called on God, breathed deeply, and trudged ahead. Today, I have NO PROBLEMS at all & I am a working RN. A true miracle, I kid you not. Before I was completely debilitated by my fear, and now I AM HEALED!!
So, how do you cross that scary thin line? I believe there are a couple of different ways to approach. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, there is the "head first" method, which is self-explanatory, and works well for me. Then, there is the "plan" method, which can work better for those big life changes. One could apply the Nursing Process here:
Assess your life and where you want to go from today onward -- or, even better, where does God want you to go...what is His plan for you?
Diagnose what's holding you back, what must be changed or left behind, what or who will help you cross that scary thin line.
Pray (in nursing this step is called Plan, but in life it really should be Pray).
Implement changes, omissions, inclusions (of people or events) as identified above.
Evaluate your new outcome related to your original Assessment goal.
Your evaluation will be very positive if you've indeed stepped across that scary thin line and prayed all the while, trusting & allowing God to take the lead.
Sounds easy, but it's hard. As the old folks say, though, "Nothing in life that's worth having comes easy."
I, your friend in Christ, Deanna, invite you to step out of your comfort zone!! Head first or make a plan -- the choice is yours -- do it!! Feel free to share stories about when you were called from your zone (did you jump, or plan, or do nothing at all) & how did it turn out?
Seems to me here lately that the topic of "comfort zones" is taking a forefront in conversations that I'm having with others. So, for this first post, I'm going to talk a little about comfort zones.
What's your comfort zone? Are you afraid to leave it? If so, why? Have you thought BEYOND the scary part? I mean, once you step out there, what will it really look, feel, smell, taste, sound like? Would it be a growing zone, a disaster zone, a happy zone -- more so than the zone you are in now? HAVE YOU EVER EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT YOUR ZONE? Well, you should! Where ever you are, you are in a zone & it's all yours. You've helped create it, and you are nestled down all snug and warm, but did you realize that in your moments of displeasure or despair that God is calling you out of hiding? Yep, He sure is. All the disgust you feel (in whatever form that may be) is an urging to explore ahead. There are great blessings waiting for you beyond your zone. I can state this idea so broadly because it really applies to everyone. All of us have blessings waiting for us on the other side of that scary thin line.
My most recent step across the scary thin line was when God called me to go to nursing school in 2008. It was nerve-racking, nausea-creating, marriage-trying, kid-neglecting, fear-facing horror! Most of you don't know that I used to get sick and faint at the sight of blood...even just a drop...I'm not kidding. You can imagine how many times I saw THE BLUE DOTS in nursing school (you know, the ones you see before you pass out) -- quite a few, but I called on God, breathed deeply, and trudged ahead. Today, I have NO PROBLEMS at all & I am a working RN. A true miracle, I kid you not. Before I was completely debilitated by my fear, and now I AM HEALED!!
So, how do you cross that scary thin line? I believe there are a couple of different ways to approach. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, there is the "head first" method, which is self-explanatory, and works well for me. Then, there is the "plan" method, which can work better for those big life changes. One could apply the Nursing Process here:
Assess your life and where you want to go from today onward -- or, even better, where does God want you to go...what is His plan for you?
Diagnose what's holding you back, what must be changed or left behind, what or who will help you cross that scary thin line.
Pray (in nursing this step is called Plan, but in life it really should be Pray).
Implement changes, omissions, inclusions (of people or events) as identified above.
Evaluate your new outcome related to your original Assessment goal.
Your evaluation will be very positive if you've indeed stepped across that scary thin line and prayed all the while, trusting & allowing God to take the lead.
Sounds easy, but it's hard. As the old folks say, though, "Nothing in life that's worth having comes easy."
I, your friend in Christ, Deanna, invite you to step out of your comfort zone!! Head first or make a plan -- the choice is yours -- do it!! Feel free to share stories about when you were called from your zone (did you jump, or plan, or do nothing at all) & how did it turn out?
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