Musings on matters

Well, that was fast, you say! No blogging since June and now 2 days in a row?  (yep, that's me! One minute I'm here and then, POOF! I'm gone! HA! ). God has been urging my spirit to write again. Yep.He. Has. When that happens, then blogging consumes me. Like , it's weird, but it does. So, after I told Him, "yes, I'll blog for a BIT" (I know God gets SOOO tired of me with my blabbing mouth),  I  told him "yeah, God, I'll write a little bit", so I was thinking before I dozed off last night (yeah, that's always a bit scary), about our world in general. Now, writing these words will make my 5 grown kids GROAN, (play on words is my bag!), but dang if it's not the gospel. Well, almost the gospel. no, not the gospel at all but still true. THE WORLD HAS CHANGED ! and not in a GOOD way! I remember my parents and grandparents echoing like statements and it used to make my eyes roll so hard they almost got stuck in my frontal lobe. But, Heck, they were right ! Because I see the same thing NOW! (and, I guess the people of Corinth said the same thing, lol!!!)! And, heck, we are playing with fire just like the Corinthians did! CASE IN POINT: (do I need to even say it?) THE ELECTION! My mind is blown every day with the latest news of these 2 who are running.  I am not going to politicize here but those who know me, REALLY know me, know how I feel.  Having written that, both sides have lots of issues. LOTS of issues. How do we go forward from all that? It's scary and Halloween just passed! Again, sounding like a street preacher but here goes: we've lost all sense of right and wrong. "It's ok to kill a baby in the womb---even a baby who is close to birth. His/her rights don't matter". (OR DO THEY?).It's ok to marry the same sex  person as you. It's ok, now>>>? (FYI, just don't read that part in the Bible)--- we hear instead, "it isn't relevant in today's times".   And my personal fav: "Do whatever the heck you want to b/c you can do whatever and be forgiven". That's not even cheap grace if you ask me! I call that the CHEAPEST grace. And don't try and paint Jesus as One who said all that's ok---yes, He ate with sinners/ He loved deeply and fully. But He also had a temper and He also spoke of separating his sheep from the goats....and for those who do not believe in hell? Father Lyle has said MANY times that hell is mentioned more times that heaven. And here it is from Jesus' (holy) mouth: "and these will go away into every lasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life". I am ASSUMING  that "everlasting" is everlasting hell. But, maybe I'm wrong. I'm sure there are some who twist, even our Savior's words.  Yeah, now I'm fired up! Back off, people, when you try and twist God's Word around me. These words are not from ME, Janice Louise Powell Fry, but God's Word.  And  THAT  IS the gospel truth!!!! So, what does that mean to us? For me, it means being careful in everything you do/think/participate in/vote for. A big responsibility.
 ( oh and it means trying to read lots of cross outs in my entry, haha).

*Flashback time!* (I promise it ties together, haha)
I remember my daddy would get SOOO mad at me if I said, "I'm just dumb". I would say this while sitting  (after standing until he made me sit) at our dining room table with the math book in front of us. I can see it now so clearly. Daddy sitting at the end of the table and me standing beside him (ready to make a run for it , if possible) and him pointing to the chair and say"sit down for a minute so I can explain this to you" (agony. Pure agony). Then  he would say, "This is VERY SIMPLE (?, for YOU, Daddy).Let  me explain this (again) to you". He would put down examples of math problems while my hands got sweaty and my stomach started turning. He would slide the paper to me and there would be math problems he made with his perfect handwriting. And my stomach would turn. I tried. I really did. MATH was NOT my strong suit.  Now ENGLISH? it WAS. I could spell like a champ. I flew through writing essays with A's. But, math? I was happy to sometimes get a "D"! Daddy was fairly patient. I say "fairly" as he would definitely get frustrated with his youngest pupil. Mimi would walk by and wring her hands because she knew I was stressing (and would later say"I was the same way, he'll get over it"). But this was Daddy's time with me and I had to endure it and try and figure out how to do the darn problems. Let me re-word that. the damn problems. Sorry.  And, then I would finally pull out the last straw  that I had left in my pitiful arsenal :  "I'm just dumb". ....OH. MY. GOSH. Daddy would go ballistic. And that's a nice way to say it. He would go on a rant. He would say "Don't you EVER say you are dumb. Don't you EVER think you cannot DO something. You are SMART. You can DO  this. You are NOT living up to your potential...." and on and on and on. And Daddy was right. TO A CERTAIN DEGREE. yes, I was smart in the fact that I could deflect him during his rant by getting him some ice cream! HA! But, to this day, I can still feel that pit in my tummy when "math time" came. I know I disappointed Daddy because I dropped out of college to get my MRS. degree. And I hate that I disappointed the man who encouraged me more than anyone else ever did. The one who would laugh till he cried at my silly jokes. The one whose arms were open wide when the door opened when he came in from work. The one who told me I was so beautiful, over and over, as I walked down the aisle to meet my husband. The one who adored each one of my children like they were the most special on earth. And, who, a week before he died , told me how much he loved me. This MAN taught me that I was NOT dumb. That, maybe I had a little handicap when it came to MATH, but the same man who was thrilled when I would write an essay and would wipe a tear from his eye after reading. The times we spent at the dining room table were brutal to me. BUT, those lessons were a discipline. This is something that our world needs now.  DISCIPLINE. Someone to say "THIS IS WRONG. Fix it!" Today it's ok because "WHATEVER you do because I will forgive you! "!And I can promise  you, if I had ever walked in to my Daddy and said, "I'm marrying a woman", it would've made the math lesson look like a fairy tale. YES, he would've loved me regardless , but he would've been stern and told me that was wrong. He would've said, "Janice, that is not acceptable. You need to turn back to God" We will sit at this dining room table until we figure out how you came to this conclusion and I will point out why it is not right". ....SO, maybe that is what our country needs. A "math lesson" from my Daddy.Or "Someone" who can be honest. (Honesty? really? I don't see any of that in our leaders). Be forewarned, tho, of someone tells the truth, it's not always the most pleasant, but , in the end,  the right choice. the ONLY choice.  calling it: PRO LIFE .And that is, doing what is morally RIGHT. 

 I LOVE the fact that Jesus called His Father, "ABBA". That is similar to the word "Daddy" of today. Jesus called his Father..."DADDY"! How awesome is that?! And how perfect that is the term that we use for our earthly fathers now. (or many do).  

Right now, I can almost see  my Daddy's face and him nodding his head and telling me how proud he is of me. That smile he had that was so heartwarming to me. I would do ANYTHING (even math) to earn that smile from ear to ear. And, though he has been gone now for 13 years, I swear, right this moment I can hear him saying, "see, I told you that you were not dumb".