Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Technical Difficulties...

So, I know that sporadic blogging is a sure way to lose readers, and I determined that as soon as school was out, I would not feel guilty spending a few hours writing and organizing the blog.  But...Murphy set in, literally the day school let out!  It began with my laptop catching a virus, and making all of my files inaccessible.  Being completely overwhelmed with a myriad of other responsibilities and frustrations, I put the thing in the bag tried to forget about it for the next 10 days.  A technology diet can be a good thing...take away the computer, and suddenly there are more hours in the day! But because of my varied responsibilities I really needed the thing, and a friend helped us revive it.  I still can't retrieve photos, but hopefully that issue will be worked out soon, as I had taken some pics for one of our high school seniors.  I had just downloaded them the night before, and hadn't had time to print them.  Priceless graduation photos.  :(  
The weekend of the pc crash, we were in MI for the wedding of our niece.  Just before hitching up the 5th wheel to bring it home, Greg took our "new to us" truck to fuel up.  Sitting at Speedway, the battery light came on.  He immediately went to Advanced Auto for a diagnostic, and the battery was fine, but the alternator was on its way out, so the "Burley Bros" installed a new one on the spot.  The truck is a 1999, and the alternator was original.  It was time.
(So, they'll probably kill me for this one...)
Just a couple of hours later, as we were barreling down the highway in Memorial Day traffic, another driver signaled to us that something was wrong.  I checked my mirror to see rubber flying behind us.  Ugh.  This is what we found when we pulled off:


I had no idea a blown tire could do all this!

Poor guy...it had to be 95 degrees, his hands were bleeding,
he was putting every ounce of his muscle into wrenching off one of the
lug nuts.  I, on the other hand, was standing at the back of the camper
hoping that my bright red skirt would alert distracted drivers who kept
wandering over the line.  Yikes!
Anyway, we made it home safely - way later than intended - and have been enjoying a different pace...3/4 of the children being with grandpa and grandma sure makes for an abnormal environment in our home!
The morning after our highway mishap, I was working in a public education setting, and was sharing a couple of minutes of small talk to get the adult students comfortable before testing.  I began to tell them about the incidents of the weekend, and then shared how through my frustrations I was reminded of Joplin, MO and Pleasant Grove, AL and how my little laptop of photos and documents was nothing compared to the great losses they had experienced during the tornado tragedies.  Before I knew it, I began to give praise for blessings, and about bit my tongue off when I realized what I was getting ready to say!  It's definite proof that I wouldn't last long as a teacher for the Ohio Dept of Education...there is zero chance of me being able to lecture without prayin', praisin', and preachin'!  Hahaha!  Now I am seriously rambling, so I'll quit and hopefully things will get back to "normal" around here. 
For those of you who had an uneventful Memorial Day, count your blessings!  :)

5 comments:

  1. Interesting post. We went to Evangelyn's graduation today, which was quite a trip. Come to find out, the gov. of Ohio was the speaker. So much for separation of church and state. Before long, I started feeling amens creeping out. He spoke about finding out why God put you here and doing your best to follow it. Pretty good speech. About time politicians speak up with something worthwhile to say. I was impressed.

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  2. That's classic Gov. Kasich. No surprises there!Although raised Catholic, he converted to Christianity more than 20 years ago. He is outspoken regarding morals, ethics, and values, and has a couple of books on the topic. What is surprising is the fact that he was the invited speaker, considering he is the arch enemy of the public education system in Ohio right now. He is pushing legislation to allow parental choice (vouchers for those who wish to attend private schools), which would effectively allow hundreds of the "best" students to leave their system at taxpayer expense. He is also slashing budgets like crazy. His children, twin daughters, attend Worthington Christian Schools, which is probably another thorn in the side of the ODOE. I'm guessing he was invited as a courtesy since this is his first year as governor. Whatever the reason, I'm glad he had a few moments to share truth!
    You mentioned in church yesterday that you have basically given up following politics. It is disheartening, but I feel like as long as we pay taxes and own property, it is important to know what is happening...the good, the bad, and the ugly. If my children were being educated by the government, I would be following votes, decisions, candidates, and elections like a hawk because my children's education (and ultimately much of their value system) would be in the hands of these people, for better or for worse.

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  3. The school they attend, though public funded, is a charter school. This school is supported by the governor because it allows parental choice, which he fights for. I support parental choice also.
    What I meant by giving up on politics is that I believe our hope is not in a broken system. Government is not the answer. Many times government is the problem. Our only hope is in Jesus Christ and He is the only answer. He gives the values that really matter, whether a student attends a public or Christian school. It is possible for a student to be a strong witness in a public school. A child needs the strong foundation that a Christian home and church provides.

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  4. Not sure that I support parental choice (in its current presented form) for a lot of reasons that I won't discuss here (this blog is not intended to be polarizing, and these topics tend to be), and I completely agree that government is not the answer. I have yet to see a successful government program: welfare, social security, education, medicare/medicaid (definitely not an exhaustive list) - they are all broken. It's no wonder, though, because none of them fit within Biblical guidlines of the responsiblities of government. Fortunately, our military rocks! :)
    God can empower our kids to be good witnesses wherever they are...my kids face temptation every day in our own front yard, from 'Christian' and non-Christian kids. Satan doesn't really care how or where he tempts. I ask God to strengthen all of our kids, and give them all an opportunity to learn truth and then the courage to live the truth. The battle for the heart is many times fought in the mind, and I tremble at the responsibility that I have to help mold four of them. Well, I've spent way too much time on the computer, so it's back to work for me! Have a good week!

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  5. Wow! Bless y'all's hearts! That was quite the trip! Glad y'all were safe! Can't believe that Harmony got married...where does time go?
    =)
    ~Heather~

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Thanks for joining the conversation!