The one about MWS' Tweet.

"Church is not a gallery for the self-righteous. it is a shelter for the tired, weak, and impoverished. The outcasts and outsiders." ""It is for those who have examined the darkest corners of their imperfect lives. For those who seek peace, truth, and the greatest of all,.. GOD'S LOVE!!!!!!!!!! "

The other day I was listening to the Christian Station, Life 100.3,  

The dj in the morning read a 'tweet'. 

(I don't use Twitter, and don't really care for it but this one caught my attention)

Michael W Smith, Christian singer, songwriter 'tweeted' the above quote. 

Now I listened to MWS when I was young and loved his music.  

He had great lyrics and fun songs.  

He is now not anywhere near the top of my music interests but he was a huge impact on introducing me to Christians in music.

I honestly still can't believe that he is out there singing and touring, but why not?  

he has a great voice, a hoarde of followers and solid truths to sing about.  

just because I don't listen to him anymore does not mean that he needed to retire - there would be a lot of artists retired if it was all up to who I listened to or not.... 

and it would be a little self-centered of me to think that i was really that important!

anyway, what I was really coming here to write about was his 'tweet'. 

is the church a shelter? somewhere for the tired, outcasts, imperfect?

well i would have to agree with MWS.  

it should be.  

unfortunately for many who have hurt, are hurting, or fall into any of the categories mentioned above, the church has failed. 

and I don't know how to change that.

i can make sure i can do my part.  let's not keep church as the social club it has become. 

does anyone else agree?  disagree? 

MWS, thank you for all you do.  and thank you for your words of inspiration.

My dad's having a birthday.

My dad is having a birthday this weekend.

Hope I remember to call.

I forgot my parent's anniversary - well not completely, I remembered the day before and the day after.

My dad was born in Ireland.  

I am proud to have his Irish heritage.

He is an amazing man. 

He is a man of few words, and when he speaks you listen.  

Partly because you don't want to miss it, and also because he is so quiet spoken.

I don't know if I've ever heard my dad yell.  he is not a loud man, but he doesn't need to be.

I love my dad.

He shows love.

He cares for others.

He respects.

He works hard, and has shown me a great work ethic.

He genuinely cares for and cherishes his wife, kids, grandkids, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, his in-laws, and his parents, who have passed on now.

He is always right where someone needs him to be when he is needed.

He has wise advice, all i have to do is ask.

He is funny.

He is selfless.

I thank my dad for the great man he is.  

I love my dad whole-heartedly, and am blessed to have a man like that as my father.

He is always willing to take the babies in the family and walk them around, whistling quietly until they fall asleep - or at least calm down, if upset.

My dad set an amazing example for me, he showed me how a man should be and what I should desire when finding my husband.  

I feel my husband is a lot like my dad, and I am so blessed to have 2 men like that in my life.

I can only ask that my son can see the example set for him by his Papa.

Happy Birthday Dad, I love you.

 check out my brother's blog entry about our dad - 

i think he describes my dad so much better than I do.

Remember

Remember.

we're asked to remember.

we're asked to remember for one day a year.

not fight, not complain, not argue, not hate, not forget.

one day a year we're to stop what we're doing and remember. 

remember the lives given. 

lives were given in many ways. 

Lives that ended. 

Lives that were physically changed by injuries sustained.

Lives that were emotionally and psychologically changed by what they experienced and witnessed.

Lives completely torn apart by the loss of a dear loved one (physically or emotionally).

We need to remember the sacrifices people made.  Normal people. 

These people were/are not superheroes - although I'd say facing what they did/do and standing strong (even when scared) is more heroic than spiderman or batman. 

We need to remember these people who fought in the wars and remember them with honor. 

One day a year we are asked to remember, and be thankful.

I live in a country called Canada.

I am free to love God, and openly worship Him.

I am able to vote and add my voice to the election of our rulers.

I am free to speak my mind (although I don't most of the time).

those are a few things I am free to do because of the millions of men and women who have given their lives for our country. 

Instead of berating the military and what it does, lets remember the people who step up to the plate. (whether you agree with it or not).  People who place themselves in situations i could never imagine. 

I'll be completely honest with you; I struggle remembering anything I learned about the wars - i struggle remembering, and sometimes understanding, why battles are fought.. but I do know one thing.  I am so glad there have been people willing to make the sacrifices made and that has helped make this country what it is today.

I thank the Lord God for our military personnel... i thank the family members who love them and anticipate their return home... I thank the men and women who have died in battles and those who have come home.

each of you have my respect, admiration, and thankfulness.

Let's remember and not forget.

JONES

Alright, I love Jones Soda.

I don't buy it very much - in fact I purchase it only on a rare occassion.

Last night was that rare occassion - and i actually purchased a 12pack - 4 flavors..

I LOVE the Orange and Cream Soda. so yummy!

(that's the extent of my description today - sorry.)

I love the pictures on the bottles and one day I will actually send in a photo and see if they like it enough to put it on a bottle. that'd sure be pretty sweet, in my mind at least.

last night as I opened my bottle of Green Apple Soda I checked out the photo of a tiny guy pushing at the front bumper of a massive truck and anticipated my quote/fortune on the inside of the bottle cap. - - I know it's not a fortune but I like to think of them as that - 

i am also a huge fortune cookie fan too - also purchased seldomly.

in fact i just read the small...ok, tiny, print on the inside of the cap. 

It says they swiped these quotes from fortune cookies.

anyway, i read my 'fortune'.

"Next Week, you should unveil your idea. Be ready to act."

What idea?????

I didn't know that I had a sweet idea in my brain that I was even preparing to unveil. 

I wish I knew what it was. 

I sure hope that i'm ready to unveil it when the time comes. 

and by ready I actually mean that I even know what my idea is.

I'll be ready to act, if I know what idea i have.

I have a feeling that I may have a stressful week if I dwell on this fortune...sigh...

maybe i will just have to sit back, relax, and have another soda.