Friday, January 28, 2011

Booga Booga

Recently my son and I got to watch The Adventures of Booga Booga Land by Richard Milner, this movie was so touching to us. The beginning of it skipped a little but once it got going my son did not move from the television and was so intrigued by it. I am so glad that www.booksneeze.com was able to send us a copy of this movie. Marty the Monkey was our favorite character, but we enjoyed all of the characters in the movie. I enjoyed watching my son learn about Jesus and how he repeated after the characters, especially Marty and Mr. Squid Squishi; along their journey of 10,000 different jobs, journeys and lessons all made from biblical parables that Jesus taught many years ago. I let my son save a chocolate muffin so he would feel like he got to help them save the chocolate cake. It is hard for me to find cartoons for my son to watch as nothing compares to the famous Veggie Tales; however he did enjoy these at the age of two and I hope that he will be able to understand them better when he gets older and to be able to help teach other children about Jesus. Each part is about 10 minutes long and perfect enough to show one clip at a time and then talk about it to older children and explain to them more on where the cartoons are coming from and make sure they understand it fully.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Columbine Shooting Facts

It happened on April 20, 1999 in Littleton, Colorado by Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, two senior students at Columbine. It happened in the middle of the day with guns, knives and multiple bombs killing 12 students, 1 teacher and the two murderers themselves.
Klebold and Harris met at Ken Caryl middle school in 1993 and both could not make friends in high school. They both got picked on and worked at a pizza parlor together and playing a video game called Doom during their free time. Klebold thought of suicide in 1997 and both boys started planning the massacre in 1998. They had a history of breaking into cars. Their record was expunged after 11 months of workshops, counselors and volunteer projects.
Klebold and Harris hated everyone except a select few people. On Harris's journal he wrote that he hates racists, martial arts experts and people who brag about their cars. He said that Star Wars fans needed to get a life. He stated that he hated people who mispronounces words. He hated slow drivers and the WB Network.
In yearbooks they had drawn out their plots and the people that would die in 1998. There was history found on their computers where they had researched how to make homemade bombs and other explosives. They had eventually got an arsenal of guns, knives, and 99 explosives. There was evidence that they studied the cafeteria nothing that after 11:15 there would be over 500 people. They planned to plant propane bombs to explode at 11:17 and shoot any survivors running out. There was proof that they boys had planned on it happening on April 19th which is the anniversary of the Oklahoma city bombing or April 20th being the 110th anniversary of Adolf Hitlers birthday.
They were friends with those that were in the "Trench Coat Mafia", but were not part of it. They only wore trench coats that day to conceal their weapons.
They arrived at school at 11:10am. At 11:14 they went after the cafeteria carrying 2 20-lb bombs in duffel bags times to go off at 11:17. They went back to their cars and waited for the explosion that didn't go off that would have killed 488 people. Klebold armed with a 9-mm semi-automatic handgun and a 12-gauge double-barrel sawed off shotgun and both boys had utility belts filled with ammo. Klebold had a black glove on his left hand and Harris one on his right hand. They had knives, backpacks and duffel bags full of bombs.
11:19 the 2 pipe bombs they had planted in a field nearby as a distraction went off alerting the police. They started firing their first shots at students outside the lunch room. Immediately, 17 year old Rachel Scott was killed and Richard Castillo was injured. Harris removed his trench coat while they kept firing. A group of boys thought it was a senior prank and paintball guns so they walked right into them; injuring them. They then shot at 5 people in the grass, injuring them. They almost continually kept throwing bombs while shooting. Some students pretended to be dead. A policeman had arrived and exchanged shots with Harris, none were injured.
11:25 They entered the school. They threw 2 pipe bombs in the cafeteria where 52 students and 4 staff were hiding.
11:29 They entered the library. They shouted at everyone to "Get Up", nobody stood up. They asked all of the white caps to stand up, who were the jocks, and nobody did so, so they started firing at everyone. Killed 3 guys under a table, then banged 2 times on a table and said "Peek-a-boo" then shot and killed 1 girl, the kick from the gun broke his nose. 10 were killed in the library, 12 were injured and 34 escaped uninjured.
11:44 they went into the hall then into the cafeteria. They tried to ignite the bombs and couldn't. They shot at the bombs causing a fire but the sprinklers put the fires out.
12 o'clock they went upstairs to the library. 12:02-12:05 they shot out the windows and toward the policeman and paramedics. 12:05-12:08 they shot themselves in their heads. Ending the massacre. It lasted from 10am to Noon. Over 2,000 students were at Columbine that day.
The remaining students were sent to the Elementary school and put on stage for parents to claim. Some were still at the high school and waited hours to be rescued. Klebold and Harris had fired 188 rounds, 76 bombs although only 30 exploded, 13 bombs in their cars and 8 at home didn't explode.
Looking back at the tell tale hints: There are sayings that the video games they played, the journals they kept, the guns and bombs in their rooms- All stuff easily found if the parents had looked in their rooms. Harris had also kept a very hateful website.

People who listen!

Do you ever wonder who listens to what and how people know certain things? Here is a list of people that a lot of the time listen to other peoples dirty laundry that is thrown out there:
-Hair Stylists
-Nail Techs.
-Bartenders
-Waitresses
-Preachers
-Teachers
-Salesmen/women
-Classmates
-Cabdrivers
-Bus drivers
-Accountants/Banks
-Cashiers
-Barbers
-Police/Jailers
-Social Workers
-Colleagues
-Mistresses
-Doctors
-Attorneys
-Reality TV shows like Dr. Phil, Opera, Nancy Grace, etc.
-Mail Carriers
-EMS
-Firefighters
-Bill Collectors
-Utility company
-Deliver People
-Unemployment office
-Friend/Family/Neighbor
-Principal
-People at the Gym
-Janitor
-Coaches
-Church Members
-Daycare Members
-People on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Blogs and Email.
-County and Probate Judges
-Elected Officials
There are a lot more but I think this is a pretty good list of them.

Teachers Good and Bad

I had a teacher in 8th grade that I very much disliked with every passionate bone in my body. She always took extra points off of my homework, classwork and tests for no reason. She would say it was too sloppy or too small or too big; yet she never took points off of anyone else's work like she did mine. If I ever had a question about anything I had to go ask another teacher, because she would laugh at me and tell me that I was dumb and should just not even try to strain my brain that hard. She tried to fail me and told the board that I was dumb and could not read or write. I will have to say she was the worst English teacher I ever had.
I also had a teacher in the 8th grade that I loved very much and could not wait to attend her class everyday. She always praised me and told me what good work I did and that I was a very good writer. I loved it when she would talk about my writing skills. Both of those teachers were moved up to teach high school as my class moved up into the high school. My favorite teacher went from teaching reading to advanced English classes. I will never forget her and how I refused to go to the other teachers class, so that the school was forced to place me in advanced English so that I could have a different teacher. I will not say that I wish I was still in school there, but I am glad that I do not have to deal with that anymore. Although, I do still refer back to my advanced English teacher when I have questions on my college work and when I need her to review my papers before I submit them.

January 21, 2011

According to my spiffy little calendar, today is National Hug Day! Take advantage of it and Hug the ones you love! You never know when it will be too late and all you want is to hug that person one more time.
That is my son and I hugging in the snow :)

Monday, January 17, 2011

Prayer with Children

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all of my life." -Abraham Lincoln...This is the second time I have heard someone speak of their mothers prayers and how it affected them. Do you pray with and infront of your children? If not, then who teaches them to pray? That is something everyone should think about.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

January 16, 2011

Today my special calender states that it is "Do Nothing Day".  When I saw that yesterday I just laughed out loud. I thought of all the laundry to be put away, the dishes to be washed, the floors to sweep, mop and scrub (as I do not have any carpet in my home), the homework to prepare for, and the grocery shopping to do. Then I kind of had an AHA moment and decided to go to my boyfriends dads' church and listen to him preach. I woke up this morning and spent all morning getting myself and my son ready, we went to church, then had lunch at the local Mexican restaurant with my boyfriends family, went for a long country drive, spent time with my father, nanny, brothers and nieces, then came home to relax watch Hellboy 1 and 2, and now I am relaxing getting ready for sleep and then a very busy day tomorrow. I find it funny that my calender knew I would do nothing; as much as I may laugh and try to defy my calender. It always knows best! I believe from now on I will do what my calender tells me to do. Ha!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

God and Life

*I believe that God is making all things new. I believe that Christ overcame death and that pattern is apparent all through life and history: life from death, water from a stone, redemption from failure, connection from alienation. I believe that suffering is part of the narrative, and that nothing really good gets built when everything is easy. I believe that loss and emptiness and confusion often give way to new fullness and wisdom.*
*I believe that faith is less like following a GPS through a grid of city blocks, and more like being out at sea: a tricky journey, nonlinear and winding, the wind kicking up and then stalling.*
*The world is changing all the time, at every moment. Someone is falling in love right now, and someone is being born. A dream is coming true in some city or small town, and right at the same moment, another dream is crashing and crumbling. A marriage is ending somewhere, and it's somebody's wedding day, maybe even right in the same town. It's all happening.*
*Unclench your fists, unlock your knees and also the door to your heart, take a deep breath, and begin to swim. Begin to let the waves do their work in you and trust in God.*
*Fear is like a hand grenade: surprisingly powerful and surprisingly destructive.*
*It's easy to believe that having a child is as simple as growing tomatoes: you do the right things, you take your prenatal vitamins and avoid caffeine and nitrates, and the universe hands you a perfect life, right on schedule. But if you've ever tried to grow anything--a tomato plant, a baby, anything--you know it's more mysterious and more treacherous than that.*
*I love the illusion of being able to do it all, and I'm fascinated with people who seem to do that, who have challenging careers, beautiful homes, vibrant minds and well-tended abs. Throw in polite children and a garden, and I'm coming over for lessons.*
*Time is finite, as is energy. One day I will stand before God and account for what I did with my life. There is work that is only mine to do; a child that is mine to raise, stories that are mine to tell, friends that are mine to walk with. The grandest seduction of all is the myth that DOING EVERYTHING BETTER gets us where we want to be. It gets us somewhere, certainly, but not anywhere worth being.*
*If arithmetic is numbers, and if algebra is numbers and letters, then grace is numbers, letters, sounds, tears, feelings and dreams. Grace is smashing the calculator and using all the broken buttons and pieces to make a mosaic.*
*Grace is when you finally stop keeping score and when you realize that God never was, that his game is a different one entirely. Grade is when the silence is so complete that you can hear your own heartbeat, and right within your ribs, God's beating heart, too.*
*Age, like numbers on a scale and letters on a report card, tells us very little of who we are. You decide every year exactly how young and how old you want to be.*
*I believe deeply that God does his best work in our lives during times of great heartbreak and loss, and I believe that much of that rich work is done by the hands of people who love us, who dive into the wreckage with us and show us who God is, over and over and over.*

God can use anybody

Growing up we are all taught to be good and listen to our preachers, teachers and parents. If we get out of line or make a mistake we are taught that God doesn't love us until we ask for forgiveness. Well we do need to ask for forgiveness for our sins, but God loves everyone and uses a mixture of people to get his word out. Like the following:
Noah was a drunk as it states in Gen. 9:21
Jacob was a liar as it states in Gen. 27
Leah was ugly as it describes her in Gen 29:16-18
Joseph was abused as it goes through his story in Gen. 37: 22-28
Moses had a stuttering problem in Exod. 4:10
Gideon was afraid in Judg. 6:15
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer as it tells his story in Judg. 16:5-17
Rahab was a harlot in Josh. 2:1
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young as it describes in Jer. 1:6
David had an affair and was a murderer as it tells his story in 2 Sam. 11:2-4 and 14-17
Elijah was suicidal in 1 Kings 19:4
Isaiah preached naked in Isa. 20:2
Jonah ran from God in Jon. 1:3
Naomi was a widow in Ruth 1:3
Job went bankrupt in Job 1:21
Peter denied Christ in Mark 14:71
The disciples fell asleep while praying in Matt 26:40
Martha worried about everything in Luke 10:40-42
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once in John 4:17-18
Zaccheus was too small in Luke 19:2-3
Paul was too religious in Acts 22:1-5
Timothy had an ulcer in 1 Tim. 5:23
and Lazarus was dead in John 11

Next time you are feeling down about something or someone in your life you can revert back to these people and realize that God does use anyone and everyone :)