Minnesota

Vigilance

Vigilance is the act of being alertly watchful especially to avoid danger. Vigilance is only necessary when there is an interest to protect. Apathy is its greatest enemy, comfort its greatest temptation.

Thomas Jefferson is well known for saying "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance".
That is because freedom must be protected or it will be lost. It is not something that is easily obtained or kept, but its value and price is so great that once obtained it must be fought for and consistently maintained.

How much more valuable are our souls? How much more valuable is the unity found in the body of Christ? Are we striving to protect it?

I've noticed in the last month some negative talk and thought circulating amongst believers..and yes, even in my own head as well. And the only reason I have been apathetic to the danger of it is that I am both lazy and comfortable and that I have forgotten the treasure that I have in the body of believers I am apart of.

2 Timothy says,
Share in the troubles we have like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. A soldier wants to please the enlisting officer, so no one serving in the army wastes time with everyday matters. (NCV)

Don't be a fairweather Christian. Get in the trenches.
I hate war...blatantly. But there is a lot to be learned from this analogy. A soldier puts himself under the authority of his commanding officer. He understands that his life is not his. He doesn't follow his own judgements, he only follows orders. His life is completely given to the mission of his unit. He understands the constant danger around him and it makes him alert and cautious for signs of danger. I once heard about how in World War 2, metal toys were even collected in mass in order to make weapons to be sent to the troops. In time of war people make sacrifices for the good of the cause.

In 2 Corinthians 10 Paul says,
We do live in the world, but we do not fight in the same way the world fights. We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy's strong places. We destroy people's arguments and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ. (NCV)

As Christians we are called not to fight in the flesh. We are to control our tempers and not seek vengeance. However we are stilled called to fight. But our fight is spiritual. That's why its so easy to let down our guards. Its very similar to fighting to retain freedom. This is because we are fighting for something that we can't see with the naked eye. Freedom is not tangible and neither is unity in the body of Christ. We are in this fight for the long haul. Because freedom and unity are both lost gradually. They are gradually degraded, until suddenly you are left defenseless and overpowered.

Suffering

I've been really mulling over what I heard the other night at the downtown church. It's the idea that suffering is almost always self-induced. That really struck me. Oh sure, I've always understood that Jesus went to the cross voluntarily..he gave his life in death. That much was obvious. But the fact that the 12 disciples chose the path of suffering. That everyday we are choosing to suffer, whether it be for our career, our dreams, family, popularity, money...whatever it may be. We make that choice. I know that so often I have avoided suffering for the sake of Christ. Lets face it, I often try to avoid it like the plague. So what am I suffering for...really? That's the question I've been asking myself and will be evaluating in my life in the next few weeks.

Chickady China...the Chinese Chicken.

i made chinese food! and that makes me happy, because it should have been hard but it wasn't. and it was delicious. here's what i did:



Bring water to boil, add rice and let simmer.
Thaw boneless chicken and cut into
bite size pieces. Cook in stovetop skillet
in tsp or two of olive oil until slightly golden.
Drain off any liquid. Add the following mixture:



soy sauce(3-4 T.)
water(1 T.)
ground ginger(1/2 tsp.)
garlic(1 tsp.)
slivered almonds

Let cook for 3-5 minutes, until chicken
is well saturated. Serve over rice.

Mighty Mouse

we have a third roomate, my sister and i.

speedy gonzales...he was coined, as we barely caught sight of his sporadic trips from kitchen fridge to dining room bookshelf to living room radiator. i once heard a scurry while putting dinner in the oven and expected to soon smell broiled mouse wafting through the air and setting the smoke alarms wailing. i was falsely alarmed. the mouse lives. for at least two weeks he went into hiding. this was near to the holidays and we thought that he had perhaps ventured into the radiator pipes and rapelled to the basement or some other such daredevil stunt that would be so like him. but then he made a live appearance in our living room as my sister was hosting a guest and we knew this little Mus musculis was no ordinary mouse. my best bet is that he storehoused the cheese cubes i'd been rationing out to him the week prior to his disappearance. i am no mouse nazi. this is why we have a humane trap. well sort of humane. it leaves less guilt than the wooden guillotine ones. so as you can see this trap is well designed and functional. our neighbors upstairs gave it to us after catching speedy's second cousin in a trap of the same making. speedy must have read the obituaries in the musculis chronicles or be the champion of natural selection because this mouse chewed through the top of the trap. why does he have to be so unconventional like that?! he can't just go in through the door. he has to take off the roof of the joint. but if he's managed to survive this long, i say we let him go for the gold. i'll be rooting him on to spring as long as he stays out of our pantry and keeps turd production to a minimum.

Quilt with a Friend

this is becoming more of a quilting/politics blog than anything else, bazaar combo, but fun! so here's my latest endeavor of a quilt. my friend meghan wanted to learn how, although she was afraid of the sewing machine. on the other hand, she did do an amazing job at the ironing board. if you are wondering we did a twisted nine patch and this is how it turned out. kinda rushed and random, but still cool and yay for teal...meghan's favorite color. on a political note...a twisted nine patch kind of resembles a swastika, but i won't tell meghan that.

Timeline of a society

In 1787 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinbergh spoke of how a democracy is never a permanent form of government and that the average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been about 200 years. During those 200 years nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith
2. From spiritual faith to great courage
3. From courage to liberty
4. From liberty to abundance
5. From abundance to complacency
6. From complacency to apathy
7. From apathy to dependence
8. From dependence back into bondage

Its anyone's guess where America stands in that timeline.

One Wild and Crazy Guy

Peter Schiff..he might be my new hero. not that i am ditching my last obsession...ron paul, but i am adding him to my list of cool dudes. he's big on austrian economics and the man knows what he's talking about when it comes to the economy. The following facts and statements were taken directly off wikipedia:

In an August 2006 interview Schiff generated much controversy when he repeated his long-held investment thesis: "The United States Economy is like the Titanic and I am here with the lifeboat trying to get people to leave the ship ...I see a real financial crisis coming for the United States." On May 16, 2006 in debate on Fox News, Schiff accurately forecast that the U.S. housing market was a bubble that would soon burst.
Schiff has said on numerous occasions that the current economic crisis is not the problem; it is the solution. According to him, the transition from borrowing and spending to saving and producing cannot be accomplished without a severe recession, given the current imbalances of the US economy. But according to him, that transition needs to happen. He also thinks the government is doing no one a favor by trying to "ease the pain" with stimulus packages, bailouts and such. Schiff believes these actions will only make the situation worse and possibly result in hyperinflation if the government continues to "replace legitimate savings with a printing press."
Schiff is a firm believer in reducing government regulation of the economy. Schiff worries that Barack Obama will increase such regulation. Schiff has been accused of "anti-American" views for his pessimistic assessment of the US economy. In October 2007 Charles Payne of [Wstreet.com] accused Schiff of "Anti-Americanism in the guise of financial advice." on Fox News' "Bull's & Bears" program. Schiff has rejected such criticism "misplaced".
In the same segment Mr. Payne suggested purchasing the stock of Washington Mutual, a company which less than 52 weeks later was seized by federal authorities in what amounted to the greatest bank failure in history.

And did I mention that Schiff was an economic advisor for Ron Paul's 2008 presidential campaign. yup, yup, yup. Schiff also predicts that the dollar will bottom out and that people should invest in foreign stock and precious metals. hmm...they call him Dr. Doom, but i'd take him over Fox news or Rush Limbaugh any day.

Windmill Quilt

This is my quilt top ready to be hand quilted and bound. The color scheme ended up being a little over the top, but its definitely a lot of fun! I am excited to quilt it, my favorite part of the process other than picking fabrics.

Change

Seasons come and go
leaves fall and time passes on
and as i experience its passing, i understand
more and more how i need to
embrace change because i cannot
run from it, i cannot hide myself
sometimes i want to because
change brings out my insecurities, my uncertainties
but it also allows me to grow, to trust, to discover
life is an adventure, each step full of possibility,
each moment waiting to be seized and enjoyed.

My 7th Quilt

I finished my 7th quilt today...a Christmas gift for my brother.

The color scheme is kind of crazy, but i used scrap fabric and it

was the most manly...so there you go. I made it super fast-

since it had to be done for Christmas, thus I tied it and didn't hand quilt it.