Guess It Wasnt Meant

The Twins baseball season ended tonight. They lost to Chicago in a playoff game. Only one run scored and it was not the Twins that scored it. I dont know why, if it is just my way of dealing or looking at things, but I had a feeling it would be this way. Oh well, there is always next yeat. At the beginning of the year most people thought the Twins would end up last in thier division but here they were fighting to win it at the last game of the year. Good going Twins.. I look forward to next year!!

Sandi

Who Is Man?

That was the topic our lesson was on last night at the Truth Project. And where does evil come from. What I learned was that man was/is created in the image of God and because of the fall (disobeying God) we were separated from God which leads to hell. The only way back is to have a Saviour or a Redemption. Which God provided through His son Jesus.

Evil comes from man. Because of the fall, man is born with an evil nature. So many people today will try to tell us that we are all basically good. But come on folks,,, look around you. Don't you see evil being done on every front? And if you ask some people they will say,, well it is because of someone else or something else. But what is something else, if it doesn't boil down to other people.

The fact is that we ARE born with a free choice, and we can choose to do good or evil. We can never be good enough to face God in our fallen state, so we need a Saviour to be the intermediate for us.

Some people will say,, well how can there be a God when there is so much evil in the world. Why dosent he stop it? The answer to that is He created us with free wills. Could he have created us without a free will? I am sure he could have. But consider this. If you wanted a dog as a pet. Would you want a stuffed poseable dog or one that will at times drive you nuts but at the same time totally adore you? Does that make sense to you? God didn't want to create a bunch of "stuffed" people. He wanted people who are alive and can decide if they want to love and honor him or be brats. The fact that he loves us even if that love is returned to him or not can be realized in parents loving the child that isn't always the obedient one or respectful one.

Well that is my take on last nights lesson. A good one I think. And to add to that yesterday morning we had a sermon via DVD from a man that loves science and showed us through science how truly GREAT is God. It was truly humbling.

Well that's it for today.

Blessings to all that let me know they were here.

Sandi

What is my "World view"?

Last night Jim and I started a class at our church. The name of the whole series is The Truth Project. It is a video class with discussion afterwards. Last night it was on philosophy and what is our world view. Now most of what I believe I have believed as long as I can remember. And I don't buy into the "crap" that is being spread out there about the cosmos, and that everything that is has always been and ever was and ever will be and what we see and feel is all that there is. I DO believe in God and that He is outside our realm of what we see and feel as well as inside it. But when you really start to think about it, it is hard to put into words. And I think it is because there is that element of faith that cannot be denied. Some people say, well if I have to believe in God based on faith, then I cant buy it. But the fact of the matter is those people DO have faith in the unseen. They believe that there was a civil war in the US even tho there were not there to see it. They believe the things that writers have told them about and that takes faith. Soooo, it is not so far fetched that faith is what is needed to believe in a God that is so huge that we cannot totally grasp who he is. I have been grappling with the whole lesson last night off and on today. And I am sure that it wont be the last time in my life that I do.

Just wanted to share that.

Blessings
Sandi

And Then The Vikings Won,,,,

Awwww it was a great weekend for Minnesota sports fans. Saturday the UofM Golden Gophers football team won their 4 game (still undefeated this year,,,, well until they play Ohio next weekend, but hey,,, who knows,, they may beat them) and yesterday both the Twins and the Vikings won and best of all I had my son and family there to celebrate with me. It was fun to have someone hippin and hollerin with me.

The Vikings coach, Brad Childress, FINALLY benched T. Jackson. He was sure he could turn that young man into a QB, but the fact is there was a reason that he was playing for a small collage in Missouri.. he just doesn't have the hootspa to make it in the big league. So I am hoping for better things for the Vikings from here on out.

OK,, well I spouted out about how bad last Sunday Vikings game was, I just had to tell you how great this past Sunday was.


Blessings
Sandi

The Last Day Of Summer

It is an absolutely beautiful day here in Minnesota. It is the last day of summer and it feels like summer out there. It got into the low 80s and I know tonight it will be in the upper 50's to lower 60's. Perfect sleeping weather.

Today I am feeling lonely. Its because I wont have an email from my sister Judy for over a week. She went out to Washington with my niece to see my oldest sister, Viv. She will turn 80 in December and they are having an early surprise birthday party for her this weekend. Her other 2 daughters are also going there to surprise her. Fun fun!! I so want to be there. But,,, when you work full time and have so little vacation (I get only 3 weeks, but I am going to negotiate for another week this coming year) the vacation gets burned up quickly. Especially when you have children and grandchildren that you want to take time off now and again to be with and part of their activities.

The reason for no email is because Viv has not entered into the computer age. She thinks she is too old. But I know if she got one and got used to it, she would love it. It is an amazing tool.

Well that's about all that is on my mind. I am waiting for the mattress cover for our bed to get dry so I can get the bed all made. It will be great going to bed in there tonight. I washed ALL of the bedding and hung the pillows out to air out. mmmmmmm it will smell sweet to fall into bed tonight

Toodles.

Blessings to all who enter and read and double blessings to those that let me know they were here.

Sandi

View From The Bridge

That is the name of the play we saw last night. I enter on line contests a lot and once in a while I win. I entered a contest with one of our local radio stations and won tickets to see Arthur Miller's View From The Bridge It was fabulous. It takes place in 1955 in Brooklyn, NY. It was riveting. Both Jim and I enjoyed it immensely.

It was a late night for us for a week night, but worth it. We didn't get home until 11 and of course it takes 30 min or so to unwind and do a few things for the next day. I went to bed at 11:30 and at 12:30 I was up and went to the recliner, where I spent the remainder of the night. I had a scratchy throat and my shoulders and arms ached. Oh the joys of growing old.

Today it is just the admin assistant and I here. And we were told when we were done with our work, we could go home. Heck, if that were the case, there is nothing on my desk that could not have waited until Monday. But I came in just in case some funds came in that I needed to deal with. The mail should be in shortly and if that is all clear, then I think I will be heading home around noon. I love my job.

Well just a little update from me.

Blessings
Sandi

GGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I know this may sound strange, even funny to some and just stupid to others, but to me it is VERY real. I REALLY hate being married to Jim during Vikings football season. When we attempt to watch the game together, he gets me so mad that I want to kick him out. I don't like watching the game alone, and I am used to watching it with fellow Vikings fans and we rejoice and are sad together,,, but NOOOOOOO that doesn't happen at our house. I cant help that I am such a Vikings fan, but I am... I know women are not suppose to be so into sports, but I do like sports, but I do NOT like the fact that the man I am married to HATES the Vikings and he makes watching the game with him just plain not a good experience!!!!

OK,, I got that off my chest

Sandi

Happy Birthday Kim

Today is my daughter-in-law, Kim's birthday. On Sunday they came over for dinner and we celebrated her birthday on Sunday. I am so thankful that God gave my son such a loving and Godly woman. I am truely blessed.

Happy Birthday Kim. I am so glad you are part of our family.

I love you

Mom

Barracuda

I just read that Heart had a conniption fit that their song "Barracuda" was played at the RNC. Come on..... GET A LIFE... I bet they wont turn down the money they make on that 70's song that they will make by people buying that CD after hearing it!!!!!

Sometimes people bug the beejeebees out of me

Political Conventions

Here we are in September. The weather in Minnesota has cooled off and I am loving it. But with the cooler weather has come the heating up in the political arena. I have to admit, I did not watch the DNC with much diligence, just caught bits and pieces of it. I did however watch the RNC with a bit more interest. I am a true conservative in my thinking. I want big government off my back. I want to have control of more of my money. I don't WANT the government taking care of me. I want to be FREE!!!! Because you see as one politician once said "What the government gives, the government can take away". Then what? We will be like the Russians when communism fell in their country, they had no idea how to act. How to be industrious, how to take care of themselves. They had lost the desire to do better. For lack of another word, they had become lazy.

I grew up VERY poor on a farm in ND. Gil grew up very poor in northern Minnesota. Yet planted inside each of us was the knowledge that if we wanted better, we could have it. I don't blame either of our parents for where they were. They did the best they could with what they had and both of our parents gave us so much love. Maybe that love was the driving force that made us know that we could do better, we could rise above. Although I am not rich by any stretch of the imagination, I want for nothing. I can remember as a little girl wanting to have a whole banana and being told, I had to share one with my sister as mom didn't have enough money to buy us one each. Also I remember wanting a small bag of chocolate covered peanuts and being told no, there is no money for that. I remember thinking to myself, and I was not very old, maybe around 9 or 10 "When I grow up, I will work hard and no one will tell me I cant have something I want". Maybe that is the problem with the children of us "baby boomers" they grew up in an affluent society where so much was handed to them and they now feel they are entitled to what they want, thus they are looking to the government to give them their wants... NO!!!! NO!!!! NO!!!! That will not give you freedom. That will only make you a slave to your government.

The fact that our national debt is so stupendous ,that we cant even begin to imagine the atrocity of it, saddens my heart. Unless something is done to bring our national budget into balance my grandchildren will not know the USA that I knew. Will it hurt to bring a balanced budget to our country. You bet!!! You know in your own lives when you are forced to live on a budget there are things you canNOT have unless you put extra work and earn more for it. Same with our national budget. We need to elect officials and especially a president that will not be afraid to use the veto. Is it easy to tell our kids no when we are on a budget? No it isn't, and it wont be easy for our president and congress to tell the people of this nation "No" to more spending, espeicaly to those who they have been giving entitlements to . But it has to be done.

I guess I am writing here because I am so frustrated. I have friends that are liberal minded and they cant seem to see that making a bigger government is not going to balance our budget. It will only be a bigger burden on our backs. I try so hard to see it from their point of view, but I just cant seem to wrap my mind around it. Maybe that is why politics is something that should never be discussed with friends??? I don't know.

Anyway, I best quit for this time.

Blessings
Sandi

Just putting down thoughts

This past weekend was really one that I did hardly a thing. Sat morning, I did get the refrigerator all cleaned out and washed, and Sunday afternoon I helped Jim mow the lawn and Monday I baked some banana bars, but that was ALL that I did outside of the normal stuff of living. But Saturday afternoon Jim and I went to Civic Fest. It was held at the Minneapolis convention center. It was awesome. It had so much information about the presidents of our country and it had replicas of Air Force One, and the Oval Office, and the limousines of FDR and Ronald Regan, it had a huge replica of the White House and both wings, and decorated in the style it is decorated in today. There were speakers that spoke on different topics and well it was just a great display of Americanism. After that Jim took me to dinner at a Greek restaurant called Christos. I had a chicken dish that was sooooo good. When we got home, I turned on the TV and caught the rebroadcast of the Saddleback Church interviews with Obama and McCain. If I ever had any doubt who I was going to vote for they were all washed away. Obama is a very charismatic person, but the man finds it impossible to give a straight answer. Because of McCains age, I had some doubts about him, but after hearing his answers which were straight forward and yes and no, I had a fresh outlook on him and he is the man that will gain my vote. And to top that off, he picked a woman who is fresh and not the "Old Washington" people to be his running mate. It will be hard for the Democrats to say it is same old, same old with that pick. Then Monday I was proud of the RNC for postponing the opening Who Ha when the gulf states were being threatened by a hurricane. WHICH,,, I am totally convinced it was God's hand that lessened that hurricane to a 2 instead of increasing to a 4 which was predicted by ALL the weather people. Today I have been reading some reports about it, and most reports have people scratching their heads saying,,, What? What happened,,, it came ashore all discombobulated. Praise be to God!!!!

Sunday I felt fine in the morning and we went to church and in the afternoon I started to get a belly ache. By evening it was a full fledged upset tummy. So I was feeling pretty under the weather. But I woke up feeling pretty good on Monday morning, and after my shower, made the bars and then putzed around the kitchen before getting ready to go to lunch with some friends.

So,,, all in all, I guess I celebrated Labor Day as it is intended to be. A day to give laborers some time off just to kick back and relax,,, and that I did.

Tonight I go to get my tooth filled, and I hope and pray we don't have a disaster like last time I tried!! Then home to watch some of the RNC and not sure what else.

Hugs and blessings to all
Sandi