My husband's not a zombie, right?

2:43 AM

I know it was just a crazy, horrible nightmare, but I'm still shaking as I write this.

I stood at the gate outside the 4' chain-link fence surrounding the cemetery. My husband came over the top of the hill inside the cemetery. He looked fine, except for the cast on his left hand.

I heard my cultured British tones calling him to hurry. I was almost dancing with joy, my hands clasping the outside of the wide double gate.

photo courtesy of graur codrin@freedititalphotos.net

Jake reached the gate and began pushing against it. "Sweetheart, just lift the latch," I said.

Instead he stared at me, unblinking, and continued to push the gate. The metal began to buckle outward.

I jerked my hands away as he tore his cast off, his eyes never leaving mine.

My elation melted into horror as the truth struck me:

He's dead, and he wants me dead too.

I turned and ran screaming into the two lane road behind me. An elderly man in a passenger van slowed. I rushed to his side of the vehicle and jerked open the door behind him. I jumped in screaming, "Go, go!"

The old man slowly pressed the accelerator and we inched ahead, but it was too late.

My dead husband jumped onto the passenger side of the van. His hands grasped the luggage rack on top of the vehicle, his legs gained a foothold against its sides.

I screamed again and struggled to shut my door as he crawled over the van's roof in his single-minded pursuit to catch me.

That's when I woke up, my heart pounding so hard it literally reverberated in my ears.

My thoughts jumbled together: Why am I on the sofa? Why did I have a British accent? I'm so glad Jake's not bald. Or dead.

It's now 3:18 AM, and my heart is finally slowing into its normal rhythm.

Photo courtesy of Michal Marcol@freedititalphotos.net

Where did that nightmare come from? I'm blaming it on the cable...even though I know it was my lack of self control. My husband and I stayed up late stuffing ourselves with sugar cookies, taking advantage of our last few days of cable TV.

The dream would have made sense if we had on "The Walking Dead" (which he loves, and I refuse to watch.) But we had kicked back to watch a fun Star Trek movie (the one where all the actors look like they're 17.)

When the movie ended I told my husband, "The replay is starting. I just want to see the beginning of the show, since we came in at the middle." Jake kissed me goodnight and staggered off to bed. Kinda zombie-like.

I hit the TV's sleep timer and settled down to watch young James T. Kirk go from barfly to Starfleet. The next thing I knew was waking up in the dark living room, heart pounding. You know the rest.

Photo courtesy of Anusorn P nachol@freedititalphotos.net

To shake the remnants of that dream out of my head I'm trying this tip from the bible. "Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about." Phil 4:8

 

Cause and effect. I knew I should have gone to bed. I knew I shouldn't have been eating late at night.

I'm eager to see what impact cutting the cable will make. I'll keep you up to date.

 

Meanwhile, how are you doing on your comfort zone/bad habit break-out? Any zombie attacks on your good intentions? I'd love to hear.

Easter Recap

Did you spend Easter with family and friends? Have an egg hunt for the little ones?

Eat the ears off chocolate bunnies? (My personal favorite.)

At Bible Truth Ministries Church the children presented the Easter service.

They opened with a hilarious puppet show. The puppet characters explain what Easter is all about.

The rabbit says it's about the bunnies: chocolate, marshmallow, caramel, etc.

The Fox insists it's about the eggs.

The lion declares it's about the big meals, especially the ham. At this point all the puppets turn to face the pig puppet.

Finally the pig reveals the true meaning of Easter: that Jesus came to save us.

Celebrating Easter without Jesus at the center is like having a birthday party without inviting the birthday person.

What does Jesus have to do with you? This link http://peacewithgod.jesus.net/ makes it plain.

The bottom line is this:

Jesus loves you, and wants a relationship with you. His arms are wide open, waiting to hold you.

He did the hard part. All it takes on our part is a simple prayer.

"Jesus, please forgive my sins, and be my Savior."

 

The Easter eggs and chocolates will eventually be gone, but new life with Jesus will last for all eternity.

Bunny photo courtesy of Jeroen van Oostrom @free digitalphotos.net

Cross photo courtesy of njaj @free digitalphotos.net

Blog hop derailment in Omaha, NE

 

Angela D. Meyer, one of my mentors from the Wordsowers Christian Writers Group, invited me to participate in a blog hop. Anything with the word "hop" sounds like fun, so I was in.

Angela D. Meyer lives in Omaha, NE with her husband of more than 22 years. She homeschools their daughter and recently graduated their son who is now a Marine. She has taught Bible class for over 35 years and served for almost three years on the leadership team of her local Christian writers group. She loves God, her family, the ocean, good stories, connecting with friends, taking pictures, quiet evenings and a good laugh. Someday she wants to ride in a hot air balloon and vacation by the sea. Her first novel, Where Hope Starts, shares the story of God’s redemption in the middle of a crumbling marriage.

We interrupt this blog to bring you a late-breaking news story.

4/11/14 Omaha, NE (Wordsowers Press) --

A piece of the Internet-wide blog hop has hippity-hopped off the writing trail in Omaha NE.



What's a blog hop? Our investigation uncovered a rabbit trail of authors who used their own blogs to introduce 3 fellow authors. Like a keyboarding pyramid scheme gone wild, each of those 3 invited 3 more to join.

photo courtesy of pakorn @freedigialphotos.net

Insider sources revealed that Rhonda Hall brought in author Kim Stokely, who in turn lured Angela D. Meyer.

The pyramid began to crumble with two of Angela's responders, David Williamson and Jeanie Jacobson.

 

In a shocking admission David Williamson labeled his involvement an "Author Blog Flop." This family man and grammar Nazi, serving in the Air Force, is recovering from surgery. Despite heavy involvement in his church and community, he posts daily in the April A-Z blogging challenge between writing a novel and preparing for an overseas move.
(Quite the slacker in this reporter's opinion.)

Now local authors are in a frantic search for other participants.

Kat Crawford, author of Capsules of Hope, stated, "I invited 3 writers, but nobody even responded." A mystery indeed, as Ms. Crawford is friends with 97.3% of the population of the United States.

The same holds true for non-fiction writer Teresa Tierney, Wordsowers Leadership team member and blogger of "Roadblocks To Forgiveness."

Ms. Tierney echoed Kat's sentiments, but was too overcome to finish giving her statement. No word yet as to whether forgiveness guru Teresa pardoned those who snubbed her invitation.

Editorial disclaimer: Sources close to the author revealed this is not a photo of Teresa Tierney, as she is too polite to point. Photo courtesy of imagerymajestic @ freedigitalphots.net

Will this be the end of the blog-hop trail, or will these talented authors find someone to jump in with them?

Stay tuned for updates.

(This reporter suggests you don't hold your breath.)

BIO:
Katherine J. Crawford, author of Capsules of Hope: Survival Guide for
Caregivers, is published in sixteen compilations and numerous articles. Known as
the Lionhearted Kat, she resides in Omaha, Nebraska. Visit Kat’s latest website
“From the Eyes of a Joyful Widow found at www.lionhearted.info and her website
“www.lionheartedkat.com filled with writing info, devotions and stories about
her husband’s rare cancer. You will also find her journal through breast cancer
and the loss of her husband at  www.caringbridge.org/visit/kat2009.


Teresa Tierney is a freelance writer who earns her daily bread in the healthcare field.
She has been married to her high school sweetheart for 38 years and is the passionate spoiler of three grandchildren.
She writes about overcoming the roadblocks to forgiving those who have hurt us. Her prayer is that all would be free of the wounding they’ve suffered and find peace in God’s grace. You can find her at http://www.roadblockstoforgiveness.com/.

 Next up: Bellevue Cable Cutting Caper Backfires.

Cutting the Cable

In my last blog I admitted my weakness. I'd created a late night TV and junk food comfort zone.

I'd tried to break the habit. The trail of nacho cheese Doritos gave me away.



photo courtesy of vectorolie@freedititalphotos.net

I came across Psalm 138:3

"As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength."

Oh yeah, baby, that's what I needed. Strength.

So I prayed for it, expecting be endowed with super-human strength. A sudden disdain for chocolate. A potato chip aversion. Instead, my husband Jake, himself a TV junkie, asked if I'd be willing to cut out cable.

Say WHAT?

My husband spends the majority of his at-home time camped out in his Lazy Boy in his secret lair--the basement.

But the day after I prayed Jake said, "I have too much to do around the house to waste my time watching TV. How would you feel about canceling the cable?"

Say WHAT?            

photo courtesy of Ambro@freedigitalphoto.net

After I picked my jaw off the floor we pulled out the cable bill and checked the latest rate increase. That clinched it.

March 31st will be our last day. No cable TV as of April Fools' Day. Ironic, huh?

Jake & I are getting prepared.

• Instead of turning on the Weather channel, I stick my head out the front door.

• Rather than checking in with Cramer and the gang, Jake's going online for stock market reports.
• For breaking news stories we have our dads on standby. If Walter Cronkite was alive, they'd scoop him. Both fathers know everything happening locally, nationally, and around the world.

I think we're covered.

God answered my prayer in a totally unexpected way. Has He ever answered yours in a way that caught you by surprise? I'd love to hear it.

Meanwhile, I'll keep you up to date on our cable-cutting experiment.

Goodbye Turner Classic Movies. I hope Robert Osborne will be OK without me.



Photo courtesy of imagerymajestic@freedigitalphoto.net
 

As Walter would say, "…and that's the way it is, March 26th, 2014"

Possum, anyone?

Ever had a possum in your oven?

Not some animal that accidentally scurried into your home and holed up behind an appliance.

I'm talking about cooking a critter. One so far outside the norm that people give you "THE LOOK" if you mention it.

A hunk of wildlife that the Duck Dynasty family might enjoy for lunch.

Roasting a possum puts me WAY out of my comfort zone. Seriously, how many guests does a marsupial feed? Looking at its small foil wrapped body, I was pretty sure there wouldn't be enough to even satisfy Uncle Si.

But my parents are pretty light eaters...

I called my mother and said, "You and Dad are invited to dinner. I'm making possum."

There was a long silence on the other end of the line, then my mother burst out laughing. "Sweetheart, I though you said you're cooking a POSSUM."

"Yeah. I was kinda queasy at first, but with the fur off it looks like meat you'd get in the supermarket. Except for the little legs sticking out. Can you come?"

Without missing a beat my refined mother replied, "Thank you anyway, but we had rat for dinner. We're stuffed."

Evidently possum is out of her comfort zone too.

Sometime I let my comfort zones become Grand Canyon-sized ruts. Have you ever been there? The rut, not the Grand Canyon.

Seeing Nick Vujicic on YouTube took away all of my excuses.

http://www.attitudeisaltitude.com/

This Australian-born man doesn't have arms or legs, but he's a father, swimmer, and world-wide inspirational speaker.

He shared how the Lord transformed his life from "A life without limbs to a life without limits."

 

 

Watching him inspired me (OK, guilted me) into addressing one of my literal comfort zones: The Late Night TV & Snack Food Couch Potato Arena.

I'm struggling with this one. Here's the scenario: It's bedtime, but the pull of mindless TV and potato chips draws me to the couch. I sit there like a zombie until I nod off. I wake up in the middle of the night disoriented and covered with crumbs. I stagger off to bed, and wake up in the morning exhausted. Am I the only one?

I've tried to break the habit in my own strength. My attempts were as effective as using honey for fly repellent. If you relate, don't give us hope. God knew we'd be challenged. I came across this reminder today:

"As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength."     Psalm 138:3 NLT

Nick Vujicic crosses the globe to inspire and encourage people. With God's help I can get off the sofa and cross the street to do the same.

How about you? What's your comfort zone? Are you ready to come out of it?

Let's ask God for the strength to do what we were created to do, and make a positive difference in the world.

And leave the roasted possum to Uncle Si and the family.

Photo courtesy of Grant Cochrane @ freedigitalphotos.net

Lost in (Cyber) Space

In the 1960's series, "Lost In Space," the Robinson family's spaceship is sabotaged. They spend the next several TV seasons cruising the galaxy. Whichever planet they're on, every week danger arises.

At the point of greatest peril an actor in a hokey tin robot suit entered the scene with his accordion arms flapping wildly to warn, "Danger Will Robinson! Danger!"

                                                         

I started this blog last September by admitting I felt like Little Red Riding Hood wandering cyberspace with the Big Bad Blogging Wolf hot on my trail.

I'll be honest even though it's embarrassing. That wolf is still breathing down my neck.

I need to set up an email sign-up form so nice people like you have access to my newsletters and fun insider stuff. It should be so easy to create, but I keep getting arrested by the techno-police.

At this moment I'm lost in cyber space on Planet MailChimp.

Danger Jeanie Jacobson! Danger!

 

 

MailChimp is owned by a conglomerate of out-of-work flying monkeys, bitter because the Wizard Of Oz was their last gig.

To me their tutorials read something like:        

"Link the snarfbladt with the poofathon utilizing the source code. However, if you plan to use a RSS feed, copy the 1st line of HTML into your rebakalator before dancing a jig in your pajamas. If that doesn't work paste the last 3478 lines of code into the fizzmutter after pulling the flying giraffes from your doughnut maker."
 

I expect a flailing-armed robot to roll into my office shrieking, "Danger Jeanie Jacobson! Danger! Clicking any link will release flying monkeys and plunge humankind into utter Planet-of-the-Apes type chaos."

 

I get frustrated, stop working, and orbit Planet Craigslist instead.

"Danger Jeanie Jacobson! Danger!"

 

 

Can you relate? Do you want to pursue your dreams, but the flying monkeys of life keep sideswiping you? Please stop beating yourself up if you haven't accomplished everything you'd planned...or even started toward your goals.

 

 

You matter to God so much that He planned good things for your life:

I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope. Jer 29:11 God's Word Translation.

                                                                          

                                                    

Author Angela D. Meyer told me she made a list of her yearly accomplishments. When she felt she wasn't progressing, she'd look back at what she'd already done. It encouraged her to keep going, and her book, "Where Hope Starts," was published last fall.

 

 

What direction do you want to go? What's your dream? I'd love to hear it.

Remember, it's never too late to start.

 

Let's move forward together.

I'll even send the robot to keep the flying monkeys at bay.

 

Art courtesy of theyui @ http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/ (monkey) and

Dan @ http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/ (spaceship)

The Ultimate Top 10 Go-To List

Do you know The Ultimate Top 10 Go-To List for keeping out of trouble and having a great life?

Our grandson didn't...at first.

He'd gotten into trouble. The being-grounded-from-everything-including-his-new-tablet kind of trouble.

Our daughter called to tell us what happened, then put her son on the phone so he could admit to it.

"Oh Honey, why did you do that?" my husband and I asked him.

His first reply of, "I don't know," didn't cut it.

Since he was scheduled to spend the next week with us in Grandparent Play-Land, we knew we held an ace in the truth deck.

 

"Well, you can come over as soon as you give us the real reason."

Our grandson called me the next day to say, "I did it because I wanted to."

Hey, it was the truth. Fair enough.

I asked him, "OK, have you heard of the 10 Commandments?"

"The 10 Comma-what's?"

"It's God's Top 10 list. Do you want to learn them when you come over?"

I could almost hear his mental wheels turning. Learn the stuff and get my tablet back. Yes!

He agreed speedily.

Walking through the King James Version of the bible with a 3rd grader can be as effective as using bubble gum for hair gel. Painfully sticky.

So instead of memorizing obsolete language, we checked to see what God was saying.

And here it is courtesy of our 8 year old grandson:

God's Top 10 Go-To List For Keeping Out of Trouble and Having a Great Life

1) God is #1.

2) Don't worship idols.

3) Keep God's name holy. Skip the "OMG's."

4) Spend a holy day with God every week.

5) Listen to your parents, & be nice to them.

6) Don't murder people.

7) Only smooch with your own wife or husband.

8) Don't take stuff that's not yours.

9) Don't lie about people.

10) Don't crave other people's stuff.

Jesus condensed those ten to two:

1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul,

 all your mind, and all your strength.

2) Love your neighbor like you love yourself.

Great advice whether you're 8 or 80. And yes, our grandson got his tablet back.

Eventually.

Photos courtesy of Stuart Miles@freedigitalphotos.net
And foto76@freedigitalphotos.net