This past week has been a beautiful week here in Oregon with temperatures in the high 70’s and bright, clear skies.  It’s about this time when we let our cats out, as they’ve had cabin fever all winter and spring.  Our cats usually don’t wander too far from home.  In fact, of our three cats, we only have one who has wanderlust.  Amazingly, though, he hasn’t wandered too far away since the one time he ended up in another neighborhood and some Good Samaritans called us to come get him.  Heh.

Well, the cat still hasn’t wandered far, however, he did happen upon a nest of scrub jays.  I don’t know where it was, although our neighbors say it was in their tree.  But I never saw the nest.  What did happen was a little traumatic, though.  My kitty grabbed one of the baby scrub jays and brought it back into the house.  Alive.

My kids were yelling for me because they heard some screaming chirps and didn’t know what was going on.  I went downstairs only to find the cat toying with a baby bird that didn’t know how to unfurl its own wings yet.  It still had it’s grey feathers, but was just beginning to grow it’s blue ones.

After chasing the cat through the house (because he’d grabbed it again and took off), I picked it up and examined it for wounds.  It wasn’t bleeding, and didn’t cry out when I moved it’s wings or legs, but finding it’s nest and putting it back was pretty much impossible at that point.  I had no idea where it was, and even so, my cat now knew the location.

And to make matters worse, when I went outside to look for the nest, my damn cat scooted by me despite my kicking to keep him in the house.  I suppose juggling an injured bird and the back door is a situation a determined cat can take advantage of.  After searching for the cat and the nest to no avail, he came back a few minutes later – with another baby bird in his mouth, the bastard!

The second little bird was dead, the poor thing. 

After yelling at and smacking my cat, I kept thinking to myself, what am I going to do now with the poor little bird I was holding?  I mean, the thing was pathetic, opening it’s little beak as if I were it’s Mama giving it food.  I scoured the back and front yards for a place to put it where it wouldn’t get found by my dog or cats, but that “place” was not to be found.  I laid it in a crook in a tree just on the other side of our backyard fence, but I still didn’t feel good about it.

Going back inside, I felt more and more guilty just leaving it out there.  Despite it’s injuries, it was going to die anyway, whether by getting found by an animal, or just starving without it’s mother.  As I was doing dishes, that little voice in my head kept on nagging… “Just call the vet! What could it hurt? See what they say.”

FINE!  If it will let me feel better, I’ll call the danged vet.  They suggested I call the Audubon Society, as they don’t take random birds.  I look it up online and give them a call.  Sure, they’ll take the bird!  And I don’t even have to pay a fee or anything – they just ask for donations.

Unfortunately, they’re 15 miles away, and it’s already 3:45pm, people are getting ready to come home from work and I know by the time I get home I’ll have to hurry up and make dinner.  Well, I’ve already wasted most of the afternoon looking for the nest, and I figure I’ve come this far with the little thing, I should get it the help it needs.  And despite the pain in the butt, it’s a good lesson for the kids to learn.

You see, in my mind, I can’t profess to live what I believe if I don’t help out the baby bird.  Sure, some could argue to let nature take its course, but all I could think about was my Bible verses…  “His eye is on the sparrow” and whatnot, meaning, God watches over every creature of His creation and they all are important to Him.  Who am I to decide if that bird should die in my backyard?

So, I pack up all the kids and take a drive to the Wildlife Care Center with the birdy all snug in some crocheted dishtowels.  Once we get there, they take my info and take the bird, dishtowels and all, giving me a number just in case I wanted to check on the little guy later on.

I decided to call them today to see how he was doing.  He survived the weekend, but unfortunately, he died early this morning.    You might think all I did for the little bird was in vain, but I don’t believe that.  I made the decision to help the little guy, and the people at the Audubon Society were more than happy to help him out as well.  But his injuries were too extensive in the long run, and ultimately, it was the Good Lord who decided to take him, not my lack of intervention.

Sure, maybe I did “waste my time” in trying to save a little bird who would have died anyway.  But I taught my kids a valuable lesson; that we should take care of God’s creation, no matter how insignificant (a common scrub jay) they may be.  A life is a life and it’s our responsibility to help out if we can.  Hopefully, they’ll take from this experience to be kind to animals and be good stewards of nature.

Godspeed, little Jay.  May you be flying the skies of Glory!

~~Becka

Wildlife Care Center

503-292-0304

www.audubonportland.org

urbanwildlife@audubonportland.org

Awhile ago, my DH turned me on to a woman on You Tube who does her own make-up in tutorials, to show you how to properly apply it and get that gorgeous professional look.  We’d both watch this lady in awe, because it was quite fascinating.  Her name is Lauren Luke, and she’s from England with a THICK accent, I swear, sometimes it’s hard to understand her.  LOL

Anyhow, her videos would be posted with her son watching TV in the background or her pugs snoring away on her bed.    Over the course of two years, she’s become a You Tube celebrity with a few copy-cats who also post their own make-up tutorials.

Now, as anyone knows me can attest, I rarely wear make-up.  I only wear it on special occasions, either a party with friends, going out with my hubby, or anniversaries, etc.  Otherwise, going to the store or doing errands around town, I’ve got nothing on.  However, this lady still fascinates me.

I’ve been following her for a little while now, and am happy to let all my readers know she’s been “discovered” by a make-up company, and now, she has her very own make-up line, just released TODAY!  It’s so awesome.  She’s such a cutie on her videos, definitely someone you could be friends with, and she’s so danged happy to be living her dream.  She’s asked her viewers to spread the word, so I’m spreading the word to my little corner of Internet followers.

Her kits come in five colors, greens, blues, purples, smokey, and pink/violet glam.  They’re awesome.  They come with eyeshadow primer, to help the shadows stay on and not crease in your lid, three shades of shadow, liner, blush, and two choices of lipsticks all in a flat palette-looking box set.  (You have to provide your own brushes right now, however, Lauren has said more things are in the works for her make-up line like individual shadows, brushes, blushes, etc.)

You get the entire palette of colors of your choice for $32.50 (plus shipping), but I think that’s a deal for all the products you get in the kit.  If you buy two or more kits, you can forego the shipping cost.

Here’s the link if you’re interested:

http://shop.bylaurenluke.com/products.html/

Just thought I’d pass this along because I LOVE watching her videos (she even copies famous looks on celebs) and she’s known on YouTube as Panacea81 just in case you want to find her.  Here’s a direct link to her channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/panacea81

Good luck with your make-up line, Lauren!  My faves are the smokeys and the vintage glams.  Might just have to buy me a set.  Thought I’d spread the word for another lady who’s living her dream! 

~~Becka

He is Risen

To one and all, rejoice, for our Savior is risen!  Happy Easter!  I hope you enjoy the following video.  I posted it for the song, mainly, as there isn’t really a “video”.  Keith Green was/is one of the pillars of Christian music.  I say “was” because he was killed in a plane crash in 1982, yet his music still vastly impacts people today.

You might be familiar with the song that’s simply called “Easter Song”, but if you haven’t heard Keith sing it, you haven’t heard it.  No one else captures the joy of the Resurrection quite like Keith Green.  So I hope you enjoy your holiday and enjoy the music.  Mr. Green was only 28 years old when he was taken up to Heaven.  But he was a genius on the piano and crammed more into his short life than you or I could ever dream.  I can’t wait to meet him one day. 

Happy Easter and praise the Lord!

~~Becka

Waxing religious, folks, FYI.  Move along if you don’t want to hear it.

~*~*~

“Can God create a rock so heavy, He cannot lift it?”

I’m sure somewhere in your wanderings, you’ve heard this question before and even wondered how to answer it.  Athiests like to ask this question to trip up believers, as it’s a circular argument.  Either answer you give has a negative outcome.  If God *is* so powerful to create a rock so heavy He cannot lift it, then how can He be “God” if He cannot lift it?  And if it’s impossible for God to make a rock He cannot lift, then how can He be God if nothing is impossible for Him?

But the question itself is flawed.

From the outset, the question assumes God is governed by time and space.  If God IS God, then logic concludes He created time and space, yes?  Therefore He exists outside of time and space, and outside the realms of the question.

There’s a few things we know about God, or at least, a few things the Bible tells us about Him.  He is Spirit.  He is in three persons.  He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.  This means He knows all, He is everywhere, and He is all powerful.  This makes sense, as a creator would know the ins and outs of his creation.  God is able to manipulate His creation, He knows everything about it, and is everywhere at every time.

Now, to even put God in the “human box” is flawed.  We, as humans, cannot fathom having three personalities in one Being.  We cannot fathom being everywhere at once, because we are physical, we are not Spirit.  And obviously, we don’t know everything.

While we were made in His image, He is not made in ours.  That means we are like Him, not the other way around.

So, within time and space, God could make a rock any size He wants; it would still be contained within time and space, and therefore, He would be able to manipulate it however He saw fit.  This does not violate the question and does not trap you with the “how could God create something bigger than Himself?” argument.

I believe that in the same way we cannot wrap our minds around the “three persons/omniscient/Spirit” aspects of God, we also cannot fathom God’s “size”.  Because He’s Spirit, He doesn’t have a physical body, aside from Jesus Christ.  This size issue is *still* measuring God by the time and space yardstick.  He is not a being like us, therefore, He cannot be measured in the same way we are.

So this question falls short of disproving God or His powers.  The question itself is in a box, if you will.

I suppose it’s possible God could create a rock outside of time and space.  However, “so heavy He couldn’t lift it” assumes gravity, and gravity is physics and physics is within the realms of time and space.  Once you begin putting “stipulations” on the question, then it becomes grasping at straws at that point, doesn’t it?

“Well, God is God, therefore He could create gravity outside of time and space…”

“To make a rock that big He’d have to create it outside of His creation…”

“To create it outside of His creation would have to be in another dimension…”

“But if He created it, it WOULD be a part of His creation, therefore He could manipulate it…”

When it breaks down into these crazy “but,but,but” stipulations, the question becomes absurd in and of itself.  It’s designed to trip up believers.  However, if you take the time to think about it, the question can also trip up the athiests.

Just a random pondering for the day.

~~Becka

Recently, my eldest daughter Hannah asked me what my favorite thing was that God has made.  I thought about it for a moment, thinking of mountains, golden sunsets, a starry night sky…  But my final answer was more sentimental.

My family, I answered.

My life has changed drastically from what it was 20 years ago.  Of course, anyone could probably say that, since 20 years is a long time.  True, I was just a kid 20 years ago, but it doesn’t make me any less thankful for the things I have today.  Sitting alone in my room, I would often dream of having a big, happy family.  Despite my teenage angst and depression and doubt it would ever truly happen (as I was one of those girls who never had a boyfriend in school – odd, I know because I’m such a looker *lol*), here I am two decades later with a loving husband, five beautiful children, a large house, two cars that are paid for, and my health, even though I still have to check my blood sugars.

The other day, I thought to myself – when the heck did I grow up?!  I’m an adult – when did that happen?  Even though I’m in my mid-thirties, I often still feel like a kid.  DH and I just celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary.  Seems like just yesterday we got married!  Time flies, I suppose.

But yes, my family is my favorite thing God has made.  He’s given me everything I asked Him for as a little girl – a man who adores me, many children to fill my heart, my dream of being a published author, my own house and cars, not to mention many material things that make life easier (or more fun!).

I don’t view God as some Cosmic Santa Claus, but He’s never ceased taking care of me or my family.

Psalm 127:3

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.

So yes, more than sunsets, more than rainbows, more than mountains, clouds, or the smell of fresh coffee (lol), my favorite thing God has made is my family. 

~~Becka

As you may or may not know, the familia and I went to go see my favorite Christian singer last night, Chris Tomlin.  (No, we didn’t take the baby, we got a sitter, but we did take the other four children.)

I bought the tickets the moment I got the pre-sale email back in December, so we were able to get really good seats.  In fact, they were better than I thought they’d be.  We were in the sixth row back, however technically, we were in the second row, because the first four rows were folding chairs (they created more seating next to the stage .

The concert was held at Rolling Hills Community Church in Tualatin, OR.  It’s a pretty big church.  If the Christian singers don’t go to the Rose Garden Arena, they pretty much go to Rolling Hills around here.

Israel Houghton and New Breed opened for Chris.  You might think, que?  Who’s that?  But Israel has written lots of songs we all sing in church every week – Here I Am to Worship, Lord You are Good, Friend of God…  He was really good, sang some songs off his new album which is released on March 24th.

After a brief intermission, Chris Tomlin took the stage and I was able to snap a few pics from my iPhone.  Of course, my iPhone doesn’t take the best pics in the world, but take my word for it – that’s Chris up there.  LOL  Here’s a pic I took of one of the giant monitor screens.  It’s sad that I was just a few rows away but the best pics of him were from the monitor.    If you’re a Chris Tomlin afficionado, you should be able to tell by the lyrics what song we were singing.

Here’s a pic of him on stage:

He was singing his big hit How Great is Our God here, same song as the other pic, but he went to the piano and sang it for us in Spanish and Russian while giving us stories about how the different countries worshipped.  In Brazil, they were dancing in the aisles a la The Blues Brothers.  LOL  In Russia, they were pretty stoic.    It was a funny story.  Guess you had to be there.

I was so jealous of the guy two rows in front of us, because he was able to get a full body shot of Chris.    I was tempted to hand him my phone.  LOL  Take pictures for me!  Hahah

This is the best I could get – but at least you can tell how close we were in this one.

Chris sang most of his songs from his new album, Hello Love, but he did a few favorites.  Everyone wanted him to sing Indescribable, and I think he was planning on doing that one for the encore.  BUT, he didn’t do an encore.  **sniffle**

I know, people.  I KNOW.  No encore?  That’s like…  not leaving a tip for your server.  The crowd was into it.  The crowd wanted it.  Chris left stage and the lights stayed dim for about a minute before the house lights came on.  You could hear the crowd give a collective, “Oh!” in a bummer way.  It was weird.  DH noticed it was straight-up 10pm when they turned the lights on.  They’d made mention of Day Light Savings and how a lot of the people in the audience had to go to church the next morning, so maybe that had something to do with not having the concert continue.  Or maybe they were just tired.

But that was very disappointing. 

I’ve only been to one other concert where they didn’t do an encore, and that was Blink 182, and that was only because they gave a temper tantrum because the crowd wasn’t singing their songs.  LOL  They left the stage with some profanities.  Great way to lose some fans, there.  While Chris didn’t leave the stage cursing the crowd, it still stung a bit.

WE ALL WANTED TO HEAR INDESCRIBABLE!!!  Darn it, Chris, if I ever meet you, I’m gonna hug you – then smack you.  LOL

The kids had a great time, however, even though they got a bit bored towards the end.  They couldn’t see over the crowd well, so they were stuck watching the monitors.  I had a great time as well and I think I made eye contact!  Woohoo!  Heheh

Anyhow, just wanted to share my experiences.  If you go to Chris Tomlin on this tour, be sure to shout out not to jip you on the encore. 

~~Becka

DH and I decided to go out to the Dollar Tree tonight to buy new ornaments for our Christmas tree.  Yes, we’re on a budget since DH lost his job, so we can’t (or shouldn’t) buy the uber-expensive nice Christmas ornaments.  Believe it or not, Dollar Tree had some decent stuff.  In fact, I’ll probably go back when it’s time to fill up on stocking stuffers.

I heard about Operation Christmas Child back in July, but decided to put off blogging about it until closer to… Christmas. I’d never heard of it before, but it’s apparently a big organization, bent on giving children in need gifts for Christmas from total strangers in a shoebox. Here’s the link to the webpage:

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/

It’s a Christian organization, in case you haven’t put 2+2 together, but you don’t have to have anything Christian in the shoebox or BE a Christian to donate. Here’s the link to how to pack the shoebox:

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/Pack_A_Shoe_Box/

Basically, you find a standard size shoebox OR one of those shoebox sized Rubbermaid containers. You don’t wrap the gifts inside, but you can wrap the box and the lid separately, so don’t wrap it as a single gift. They have to open the boxes to inspect what’s inside to make sure people aren’t giving knives and shards of glass, etc.

You determine if your box will be for a boy or a girl, and you print out their nifty boy/girl card on their site along with a $7 donation (to cover the cost of shipping and such) and put this inside your box as well. You also determine the age group of your child, so toddler, child, or teen.

Then, you go to any store you like and buy small items that would make a child happy. Here’s a list of their gift ideas.

GIFT IDEAS

TOYS
small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, jump ropes, small Etch A Sketch®, toys that light up or make noise (with extra batteries), Slinky®, etc.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES
pens, pencils and sharpener, crayons or markers, stamps and ink pad sets, writing pads or paper, solar calculators, coloring and picture books, etc.

HYGIENE ITEMS
toothbrush, toothpaste, mild bar soap (in a plastic bag), comb, washcloth, etc.

OTHER
Hard candy and lollipops (please double bag all candy), mints, gum, T-shirts, socks, ball caps; sunglasses, hair clips, toy jewelry, watches, flashlights (with extra batteries)

A PERSONAL NOTE
In a separate envelope, you may enclose a note to the child and a photo of yourself or your family. (If you include your name and address, the child may write back.)

DO NOT INCLUDE:
Used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figures; chocolate or food; out-of-date candy; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snowglobes or glass containers; aerosol can.

~*~*~

If you want to send a shoebox, you need to do it fairly quickly, as the drop off times are this month. Here’s the info:

Place a rubber band around each closed shoe box and drop off at the Collection Center nearest you during our collection week November 17 – 24.

For locations and hours of collection visit our Drop-Off Locations page where you can find the nearest place to take your shoe box by entering your ZIP Code or you can call 1-800-353-5949.

~*~*~

I just love this idea, it’s cheap, and if you go on You Tube and look up Operation Christmas Child, you’ll find so many inspiring videos of kids who literally light up upon opening their box full of awesome “wonders” to them. I’ve become a sap since I’ve had my own children, and watching TV shows and commercials with children in need, sad, or injured, makes me tear up and ball like a baby myself. So I think I’m going to do this, which means I need to get out and shop NOW, but how awesome for some little kid somewhere in the world who can have a Christmas morning because of you. Make the world a better place, one child at a time!

~~Becka