Friday, May 27, 2011

Swimming Pool Saga

I really, really like to swim. Actually that’s not really true. I really, really, really like to float. I so enjoy laying on a float in a lake or a pool. I just find that so relaxing. So, last summer, I talked Les into buying a  pool, not big or fancy or expensive. It is big enough for me and a couple of friends to lay on floats, big enough for the grandchildren to have a great time swimming and playing in, just big enough.

Well, we worked very hard it putting up last year. First we pulled all the grass, treated the ground, leveled the ground, spread the vinyl out as smooth as possible, (which turned out to not be very smooth, after we filled it, it had a lot of little ripples in it). Then, we began to fill it with water. We pumped the ring around the top with air and, as the water went up, the inflated ring went up just like it was supposed to. After the pool was filled with many thousands of gallons of water, we realized that the inflated ring had a hole in it, not a big hole, but it did leak air. Since we had already filled the pool with water, we chose to keep the defective pool, and put a patch on the small hole. Les patched it, but the leak was on a seam and the patch did not work well. Every day we pumped up the ring, enjoyed the pool, pumped up the ring again, and so forth.

Another thing was that the ground was not quite level. It wasn’t real bad, but if the kids held on to the low side of the pool, the ring would drop down and the water would flow out.

We had a great time with the pool, although we had to be a little careful.

At the end of the summer, we decided to take the pool down and start over this year.

So, the first of May, we leveled the ground again, this time really, really level. We spread out the vinyl (this time we really got it smooth!) We put some water in the pool, and we pumped up the inflatable ring around the top. The ring immediately began to lose air. During the taking down, storing, and putting it back up, it had gotten a lot of little holes in it. We used the little vinyl patches that came with the pool, we used heavy vinyl from the shop to make patches. We used the vinyl glue from his shop. We used heavy duty waterproof duct tape. The ring kept drooping.

Today, we decided to fix it with a little creativity.  Les made slits in the ring, and we stuffed it…with styrofoam, packing popcorn, sheets of plastic crumpled up, Walmart bags. IT WORKED. The ring is full, although a little lumpy, and the pool is up!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Mother of All Living

Last week, I was looking at some verses that speak about women. I had the opportunity to speak some at church for Mother’s Day and I wanted to share some positive things that the Bible says about women. One verse that I was really interested in was Gen 3:20, “ The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.”

At creation, Adam said, “this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

After the fall, God told them of the consequences of their sin, which was death and all the pain and hardship that death brought, but within the consequences was also the promise that the woman would have an offspring who would bruise the head of the serpent.

Immediately afterward, Adam called his wife Eve. This was before Eve had born children. She was not actually a mother, but Adam said she was the mother of all living. Eve actually means “life-giver”.

I am intrigued by the fact that after the fall, Adam called his wife “life-giver”.  I’m thinking that he could have called her “death-bringer”,  but he did not.  Adam was speaking in faith.  God had promised that the woman would bear an offspring who would restore them, who would crush the head of the serpant. Adam was looking forward to the fulfillment of that promise. The woman had brought death into the world, both physical and spiritual death, when she disobeyed God. Now, the woman had the opportunity to bring life back to them, both physical and spiritual life. At this point, God had pronounced the consequences of their sin, ending with the statement, “for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return." (Gen 3:19). This had to be the lowest moment in the short history of humanity, but the very next verse brings hope,  “ The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living”. Adam was declaring that he knew there would be life.Life would not be the same. Their lives were forever changed.

Woman was created to be in relationship. The consequences of the fall made relationships hard. From the time of the fall, men and women have struggled to live together, they rarely understand each other and often hurt each other.  The man would have to work a ground that was cursed. Work would be hard and painful.  These were the very real, unchangeable consequences of their actions.

But, that is not the end.  God had promised an offspring who would restore them. When Adam called his wife “life-giver”, he was speaking in faith. The woman had brought death into the world, both physical and spiritual death, when she disobeyed God. Now, the woman had the opportunity to bring life back to them, both physical and spiritual life. 

This speaks to me of a responsibility to bring life to every situation; to speak words that would bring life, words of encouragement, hope, faith, and love;  instead of words of complaint, criticism, and grumbling that would bring discouragement and death.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

Prov 18:21

Friday, May 6, 2011

Mother’s Day Thoughts

Actually, I’m not sure this is about Mother’s Day. I just wanted to blog something light.

Actually, I am a really light hearted, fun loving kind of person, in case anyone out there reads this blog who doesn’t know me well. I take writing blog posts too seriously. I feel compelled to write something meaningful, but not tonight.

First of all, I have my 2 year old grand daughter Aspen for the weekend. I picked her up Thursday because her mother Melody was asked to spend that night at the children’s hospital with an 8 month old who has cancer so that her mother could spend one night at home with the rest of the family. This baby has been in the hospital fighting leukemia for 4 months, and will be there another 3 months.  (Well, that’s not light hearted is it).

Anyway, I was happy to keep Aspen. She is a delight. So, today, I picked up my 1 year old grand daughter Kylie so the two could play together. It did not go well. The two fought more than played, but I still enjoyed it. While I don’t like to see children fighting, toddlers fighting skills are not well honed and they are pretty funny.

This afternoon, I had both the girls in the car. Kylie looked at Aspen and said, “Eeew”. I don’t think she meant anything by it, but Aspen was offended. Aspen said, “Kydy, no say eeew me.” Kylie enjoyed that response and replied, “Eeew.” Aspen; “Kydy, top make eeew noise me.” Kylie, “Eeew.” Aspen had to appeal to me for help, “Mammo, Kydy make eeew noise me.”

Overall, we had a great time.

Now, really, I am at the computer working. On Sunday, I am going to be able to speak a little bit for Mother’s Day. We have decided to celebrate women, not just mothers, and I can share some. OK, so I am writing a little bit about what to say. The thing is, I have so much to say, I don’t know where to start. I believe that women are wonderful creatures who have a great ability to love God deeply, to nurture relationships, to worship with freedom, to be passionate about God’s work…well…maybe that is a place to start.

Monday, May 2, 2011

The End of an Enemy

Last night, it was announced that Osama Bin Ladan was killed by the U.S. military. I feel that this was a necessary action. Most Americans probably agree.

However, it seems that beyond that, there is a lot of disagreement.

My first thought was some relief that this leader and terrorist who have murdered many innocent people around the world is gone. My second thought was that this was a man, a human being who just died and went to spend an eternity in hell.

I saw on the news many Americans who celebrated. There were impromptu gatherings in Washington D.C, New York City, many college campuses, and other major cities, where people chanted and sang the National Anthem. One person said, “This is V-J for our generation.” That expressed the feeling of many who felt that the death of this man represents a great victory.

I have heard people say they don’t believe it. Some Americans are so suspicious of our government that they think the military would pretend to kill an enemy and lie to the people about it. They think this is part of some kind of conspiracy. I guess we have been lied to so many times that many of us just don’t believe anything. Our government has lost the trust of the people.

There are some who immediately made comments that made political points; some praising the President for the action, others making disparaging remarks about him.

Today, many people were quoting Bible verses in response to those who celebrated this death, verses that declare that God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked, and we are not to rejoice in the death of an enemy. This is truth. I wonder, though is it spoken in love? How would it feel to have lost loved ones on Sept. 11 or in the war in Afghanistan, or any of the other terrorist attacks the Bin Ladan planned.

Amazing how many different responses there can be to one action, and each person feels so sure that he or she is right, and justified, and reasonable.

I am not trying to vindicate or criticize any of these responses. I’m just thinking in blog form. America is a funny place. I am often shocked by responses of people. What seems perfectly reasonable to me, someone else thinks is naive or simple. A friend will say something that to him is flat-out truth, something that to me sounds like outlandish foolishness.  We need to treat each other with so much compassion, understanding, and respect.

Bottom line, it seems that an enemy is gone…unless you think it is a lie, then the truth remains to be seen.