Leaving it all for Jesus?

At church last Sunday, a scripture was read during Sunday school. It was Luke 14:33 "..whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." After reading that I was stuck, does Jesus really mean for us to leave everything?

I couldn't shake it and still can't. I drove home on auto-pilot that day playing that question over and over in my head. So I looked it up on the internet and see what others said about. Letts just say not very helpful. All everyone was saying is that we must "leave the past in the past". That we only had to give up the bad stuff and..... lets just say I did not find my answer.

When I think of people that gave everything to follow him I think of Nuns, Priests, and Moncks.
 Then there is an occasional stories of missionaries that just sell everything and go to another country to teach about Jesus.

Weird as it might seem I have been reading books about India. And a thought crossed my mind, would America look and be in the same state as India is with we had the same priorities as they do? I mean come on, they have 4 and more festivals a month in Hinduism. The only religious holiday we have is Easter and Christmas (if you still call it a religious holiday anymore).

I thought about our "American dream", a good job, a house with a mortgage, our 2.5 kids and a dog. Is our "American dream" our excuse for having things? Is it feeding our selfness? We were ounce a Christian nation. I don't know if you watch or listen to the news but we are thronging our Christianity out the door so we don't offend anyone. Think of all the wars we had to protect our Religion, community, and family.

So, I say "YES" give it up. All the extra's, all the nick knacks that you have to dust every week or day and I know you do this...you ask your self "why do I have this stuff?"  If you sold or donated everything thing you DO NOT NEED, how much time would you have on your hands to do something for your neighbor? If you tell ourselves we are to busy to pray or read or scripture's, we are to busy, and doing more then God intended for us (I think I saw that on Facebook ounce).

We as Christians or suppose to be sympathetic to other people and there religion's. But we are not suppose to hide our beliefs just because they might offend someone. I listened to a talk were it was said, the more people that hate you is how you know you are doing it right. Think about we didn't get to this point by being quiet and doing what were told.

Mark 8:34-35 "..Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's the same shall save it."

We can't live in our little protective bubble anymore. Just because you don't see people dying because of there faith does not mean it's not happening. People are dying for what we are taking for granted everyday. Go to you tube and enter Christian Persecution.

Here are some great videos to check out now-

Risking it all and following Jesus - David Platt

The Insanity of Obedience by Nik Ripken https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz-k7CvBT6Y

True story- RISKING HIS LIFE FOR A BIBLE!  

CBN News - Christian persecution

Also check out this site. You can also write letters to those that are being persecuted here.

Yes, I know I can't write

So lately I have been trying to get a little extra cash by writing. Mostly by writing book reviews. I signed up here to give it a go. They have a section for you to sign up to do book reviews. Or you can just sign up and talk about everything books in there forums.

Oh, let me make this clear, I am not saying anything bad about this site.

Ok, so anyway, I just heard back from the editors about my first review, and I suck at grammar. So I have decided to try my hardest to learn how to use grammar. Ugh...... so I went to the library and checked out some books.

What I'm reading:
Nitty-Gritty Grammar: A Not-So-Serious Guide to Clear Communication
By Edith H. Fine and Judith P. Josephson

Clean, Well-lighted Sentences: A Guide to Avoiding the Most Common Errors in Grammar and Punctuation
By Janis Bell

I have always been bad at grammar. Even in school I would get really good grades in every subject except English. I was reading a forum and looking at what people suggested on how to improve my grammar. One of the suggests was to read more, haha, (I do read and I have always read a lot), but that has done nothing for my grammar. I was reading this ladies blog, and I love her title.... "I'm not a writer, I'm a reader". Yah, that sums me up!

Winter Ménière's experiment

I should start by saying I live in Indiana. So, it seems winter is here early. I'm not ready, ok I am but I'm dredging it. We have all our winter prep stuff done.

So this winter I have decided to not have a winter like last years. For those that don't know I have Ménière's Syndrome, but I'm guessing you figured that out by the title. Anyways, last winter was the worst. So bad that I ended up being checked for MS. Which come to find out are the same symptoms of Ménière's but the symptoms envole into MS. The only way to tell them apart is a cat-scan. The test cam back no MS.

So my experiment this winter is I'm going to see if I keep myself as active as I am during the summer if I don't have as many or as bad Ménière's attacks. My plan is to run everyother day, or so. And to do my fluidity stretching. I bought a Jawbone Up24, that will keep track of my steps and sleeping and what not. You can check them out on the Jawbone Site or on Amazon.

Since it winterish outside now I've been working on this now. We have had a few snow falls already an it dosent seem to be helping. But I'm determined to push thru this. I don't know what the difference is between snow and rain that makes my head spin so much more. I told my husband that if it dosent work I might have to move to a non snowing place.

So far the only difference is that I'm more happy when I'm running regularly. If I skip a day I'm irate-able. I got some under armor winter running clothes so I don't freeze my but off, even though I could use to lose my butt.

Update Feb. 11, 2015

I have been having a way better winter then last year. But I am not sure if it's because of the milder winter or the changes I have made. Something new that I have changed since January, I'm now eating a vegetarian diet.
It does seem that my worst days are when its really cold outside, 31 and below. Does the cold bother you even if it not going to rain or snow?

Why I joined the Sea Shepherd Onshore Crew

There wasn't one moment that lead me to this decision, there were many moments.

I first saw the show Whale Wars on the animal plant a few years ago. I only saw two episodes though. There were two thing that suck in my mind. One was the images of a whale being dragged up the ramp of the Japanese factory ship. The other was of this guy Peter Hammarstedt he put his ship I between the two Japanese ships. And the two Japanese ships squeezing this young captain ship. How many of us stand up for anything willing to die for it?

My family and I went to the zoo this summer. I love the zoo, it lets people see anamials to see these great animals that they would never see. We went in to see the dolphin show. We sat there and watched the show. There came a time when one of the dolphins glideded by and our eyes met. And this feeling just hit me and my heart sank. I immediately left the show.

My son Caleb has autism. We went to doctors, fought with school. Went to one doctor after the next. They either couldn't help, or after a year of seeing them they tell us that we should see someone that specializes in autism (Like why did they think we we're here). So we finally found this doctor this summer who is a biomedical doctor. He is also a D.O and has a son with sever autism then my son. So we went to his seminar. And it was great, and like "duh". We're feeding are children toxins and poisons. There poor little bodies are fighting all these toxins and dealing with sensory issues. Then you want them to sit in a class room for 6 hours. How do you fell going to work for 6+ hours at work with a cold or flu?

So we started cleaning out our food, cookware, cleaning products. I'm going to start working on cloths. I started, and im still reading, more books about environmental impacts on our food and well everything. One was Captain Paul Watson: An interview with a pirate. Awesome book. Captain Paul Watson (founder of Sea Shepard) touched on a lot of issues in the book.

I've always been reading and watching documentaries about all environmental issues before I had a reason standing in front of me. I've always wanted to do something to help, but felt there really wasn't anything I could do. So I went on to there web site Seashepard.org and read all there stuff. Found out I didn't have to go to sea to be a volunteer. Which was a good thing since I have Meniere's Disease. And that I could do more then just send them money every month. I finally felt like I can do something now (Other then hide in my home). My kids can even help out on some of the volunteering stuff.

One of the things im trying to work on is I always say "it's not my flat your uneducated on (whatever issue)". But now that saying is bugging me. So much that it plays over and over in my head. Maybe it is my flat. I've been learning about all these issues about our Environment and I never shared what I learned.

I accepted what they told us. "We can't do anything about", "your not an expert", "your just one person you cant change anything". I have looked at other organizations, but there all the same, "become a member for this $10 a month." They make you fell like your small. Have you ever pinned your house on google map, then zoomed out to you can see the earth. You are small. But we (I) have to start doing things and talking about these issues.

So I have joined Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. In there direct action approach, to help people understand the issues of the ocean. And participating in solutions that really make a difference. If you would like more info about the Sea Shepherd, would like to volunteer or would like to make a donation please vist there site at seashepherd.org

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What exactly is obedience?

I guess this topic touches on a lot of subjects and unknowns. With raising children, religion and of course the compasaty of the autisic mind.

My 8 year old son with autism had a melt down today because he didn't want to do what he was told. He trew and broke stuff again and I got really mad. I sent him to his room and I went to mine. All I could think of was "I'm tired of being a quite mom and letting him get away with stuff. Everyone else has to pay the price for his actions. And sometimes it's we literally have to go buy something and replace what he broke. And other people have had to go and replace things that he has broken.

But I keep coming back to "What do I really except from him? Of course what can I really do about it? I can't punish him cause one In today's world it really leaves parents no option except to "let kids be kids" and on the other hand does he really understand what he's doing?

I want him to at least be good a least at school. But I know his days may be numbered at a public school.

Our neighbors are all about there children being in complete obdeance. So much so that the husband still does thing for his parents all the time. But really do you want your children to be completely obedient or do you want them to be sincer in what they do? I mean god want us to be sincer in our doing and not just going thru the motions.

I remember hearing something like this from somewhere, you can only except as much obedience as you would give to god.

I talked to my grandparents about this issue during there vist out here for the summer. And really it all came down to was, how much does my son really understand?

Does he understand that other people have feelings? Since he can't really express his own feelings very well, maybe not. Does he even really care?

Please share your toughts.

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No Shampoo aka "going poo-less"

I first heard of "going poo-less" off of a podcast where Paul Wheaton and some lady named Jocelyn talk about there own experiences using, or should I say not using shampoo. What pecked my interest was when Jocelyn was talking about how she use to have problems with here scalp getting, I think she called it eczema. And having to use shampoo that was $15 a bottle.
I personally have had that experience. I got this area of my scalp that itched and was always raw or scabed over. I finally went to my doc and he said it was some kind of fungi and he told me to us this over the counter shampoo. It went away and hasn't come back yet. But boy oh boy what a pain.
I also read a article on Mother Nature Network called Bubble Trouble. Very good. She talks about how her hair evolved and mistakes she made with her hair. She said she was counseled to "shampoo" with conditioner ounce a week. Also she says that "brushing every single night makes her wavy hair too straight, but 100 strokes twice a week helps to distribute the natural oils evenly."
So after thinking about it and wondering about it...... alright I'll try it. So I'm going to write about my experience and post pics of my hair. I'm going to add updates as the weeks and months go by. That way my whole experience will be on one page. I like picture so Im going to be posting a pic every two weeks. We'll se if that's over kill or not.
So here is my hair now. It has shine, body, and it's wavey/Curley. Problems I have are: dandruff, itchy scalp, frizz (as you can see) and occasionally spots that fill like pimples.

day 0ne

 

 

2 Week Update

I forgot to mention above that before I started doing this that I was only shampooing my hair every other day. So it's been 2 weeks now. The first week I was a little embarrassed by my hair and wore it up when I went to church. But this last Sunday I wore it down and my hair didn't feel so weird. My hair is diffently different. I noticed I don't have dandruff, my scalp has not been scratching my scalp. But I have noticed that weird tacky felling when I get my hair wet. I have been brushing my hair 100 times ounce a week and using just a quater size amount of conditioner ounce a week. As you can see from my pic below my hair still has body but is not so puffy. And you can see the waves in my hair more. It is still a little fuzzy at the top.

 

2 weeks

 

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Scraping of the wall paper in the kids room.

So i decided to final take the rest of the wall paper down in the kids room. Its a tall room with half of it done in wal paper. It was this striped wallpaper. I think is drove Caleb nuts, besause he tore the paper off around his bed. Aways so we pilled the rest of the top layer of paper off, then i went online to find a homemade wallpaper remover.

Half- and- half, Warm Water and vinager.

I sprayed it on the walpaper and let it sock in.

Then cause it not a chemicaly. I let Caleb scrap it off. He said it was his job. :)