The Triumphal Entry and the Ultimate Triumph Topic: Holidays/Vacations
John 12:12-16 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!"
Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
Revelation 7:9-12 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
"Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"
Surfing through music tonight Topic: People/Family stories
My husband is out camping under the stars on Table Mesa tonight. Some men from church have ATV's (quads) and they plan these outings once in a while. They always invite Charles along and he comes home all dusty, windblown, sunburned and sore, saying he's had a great time.
So I am surfing around the net, not able to sleep.
I put in an order with Columbia House...so look for CD reviews soon. I've been listening to some songs from the CD's tonight, here is what I've found:
Michael W. Smith Stand He's always got great songs and Charles loves his music. Okay, here's a new one by Smitty: It's all in the Serve And here is a reeeeaaalllly old one: I am Up I'm just gonna say...he's come a long way. =)
Jars Of Clay Good Monsters I'm finally getting their new CD. I've been listening to their new songs on youtube. If you want to hear a very moving song of repentence (personal, or as the Church or country...or world), this is it....(Hannah, you will really get charged up about it) Oh, My God Oh and they have a blog, I discovered tonight while I was out surfing. Listen to the podcast on there of the Swedish chef singing GL's Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald.....very silly.
Chris Rice Short Term Memories It's not his newest CD, but it's got a song on it that makes me think of my dad. If I could sing, I would have sung it at his funeral. Chris Rice singing it: Come to Jesus Here's a ballet to the song, performed at Saddleback church: Come to Jesus worship dance And he has a blog too.
Starfield Beauty In The Broken I don't know anything about this group. I wanted something new though. It was between this and Leeland. Here is a sample though: Filled with your Glory
Newsboys Go I love the Newsboys.....they rock. (dude) Here are clips from this new CD, Go.
Adie Don't Wait I don't know why, but this girl grabbed my attention from the first time I saw the Benjamin's Gate video with her in a quilted pink satan bathrobe and moonboots. She's mellowed out now in her music and it's beautiful! What have I done?
Friday's Feast #137 Topic: Humor/memes Appetizer What are you proud of? My husband! He is my best friend, he's my pastor and he reads my blog. (which makes me proud too) And my daughters. They are each growing into really cool young women with a heart for laying down their lives and following God.
Soup What is the best thing you’ve ever won as a prize? I never win things, but a friend once entered me into a contest and I won (in her name) this really cool wooden bench for a front porch. It was very country looking, which fit our house in Williams great, but our house in Phoenix is southwesternish, so it now resides at my friend Lisa's house.
Salad Name something you do that is a waste of time. Probably this meme.....but mostly sudokus...what is the plural of that? Sudoki?
Main Course In what year of your life did you change the most? That is a hard question. I feel like there have been several of those kinds of years. Good grief...I started listing them and it's way too long! It goes something like this though: years when there was great personal loss (my brother, friends, 2 preborn babies, my dad) or gain (marriage, babies, friends) or some kind of spiritual decision and there have been several.
Dessert Where is a place you consider to be very tranquil? Floating in my pool, lying in the hammock when we're out camping, my screened in porch on a cool morning.
Birds and Bees...it's nice outside Topic: People/Family stories It has been perfect weather in Phoenix lately folks.
Sitting in my screened in porch in the mornings with a cup of strong coffee in a long sleeved, cotton shirt over my jammies is perfection. I read my Bible and I try to listen. I have to try hard, because I find the mockingbirds howling at the mourning doves (who are making a spectacle of themselves with the male doing the hoochy coochie dance of love while the female totally ignores him and walks along under the mockingbird's nest pecking at invisible specks) and woodpeckers tapping on the palm trees and pigeons eating my dog's dry food very distracting. I am reading in Psalms and have gotten to the Psalms of Ascent. It makes me long for the New Jerusalem and makes me wonder about future things. (I heard that Beth Moore is preparing a new Bible study on these Psalms and I can't wait!)
By mid-morning it is warm enough outside that you want to be in the shade. That is, unless you are a senseless teen who wants a tan. Last week being Spring Break, 2 of my girls went out to broil themselves several times. Hannah went home with at least 3 different tan lines on her back...actually burn lines. This is somehow supposed to make her look better in a halter style bridesmaid dress in May. (remember Hannah, lighten up lol) I had a dream last night that she was walking down the aisle at the wedding with a perfect tan, except for one streak of white, the size of a bathing suit tie. I woke up half alarmed for her and half cracking up.
The evenings are perfectly cool, just right for eating outside and lighting the fire in the chiminea. It's also perfect for inspiring this blog post as I sit by the pool with my laptop. (It's kind of dangerous too. A HUGE, orange blossom glutting, black bumble bee just flew by, wondering if I was an orange tree and swooped in front of me. My first reaction was to swing my open laptop around at him, because he scared the bejeebers out of me! But I came to my senses and just tossed my hair around wildly....pretty stupid-looking, but it worked!)The scent of orange blossoms is so strong this time of year that you literally smell it ALL the time, except when you are in a building with no windows open. There are so many orange trees in Phoenix that it wafts in and out of every neighborhood, in your windows on the highway and even in parking lots when you get out of your car. I love that smell...no artificial 'orange blossom' scent has ever come close to the actual smell I think. I am so glad I never developed an allergy to it, because believe me, if you have allergies to orange blossoms, you are in deep, deep misery for several weeks every March!
Then all night long, weve been sleeping with a fan in the window, bringing in the scent of orange blossoms and fresh rain. Three days of wonderful rain this week! My chamomile plants are very happy and ready to be plucked.
Well, the sun is gone from the sky, the dusk is settling in and I need to go throw some frozen pizzas in the oven for my kids who keep peeking out here and asking if I'm going to make dinner tonight. =)
Friday's Feast #136 Topic: Humor/memes Please read:First a general announcement. I learned this morning that my blog is causing some frustration with pop up ads. I do not see the pop up ads usually, because I am on a MacIntosh computer. (most of those ads are not formatted to pop up on Macs) So if you could...even if you never, ever comment.....please drop me a note if you are getting pop ups or if they are keeping you from leaving comments, just email me a short note?? My email is: crickandchas at yahoo dot com. This will help me to write an email to my blog provider (angelfire) and let them know of any trouble people are having. They are usually good about fixing things.
I did notice that all the ads are gone from my actual page. (at least from my computer) So maybe these pop ups are replacing the ads on the page. I'm really sorry if it's causing frustration. I used to despise pop up ads when I had a pc.
Thank you to M for letting me know!
Now here's the feast:
Appetizer Who is your favorite news anchor/reporter? Why? I like the evening news anchors on our local Fox channel here in Phoenix. They are not too serious, they seem to be informed and not just reading a script, and they seem to be neutral in their opinions on social and political things.
Soup Name 3 foods that are currently in your freezer. 1. Christmas biscotti, pfeffernuese cookies and undecorated gingerbread boys....I don't know what I"m keeping it for. I should put it out to be eaten! 2. Meat....a box of preshaped burger patties from Sam's club, a bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts from the club also, corned beef, and steaks and pork chops I found on sale! 3. Lots of caked up frost in my outside freezer. My husband has informed me that we WILL empty out that freezer before summer (it pulls a lot of energy and runs too much in summer to keep cold) and just use our side by side freezer. So I will be cooking a lot in April!
Salad If you were to have the opportunity to name a new town or city, what would you call it? cricklwood or cricklhollow....lol Actually crickhollow is a town in the Fellowship of the Rings book.
Main Course What will most likely be the next book you read? A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, the diary of Isabella L. Bird. She was a middle-aged English lady, who in 1873 in the autumn/early winter, set out on horse back through the Rocky Mountains, mainly the Estes Park area.....by herself! I've read it before several years ago and my husband found it for me again on Amazon. If you have a chance to read it and love Colorado, you'll love it.
Dessert What's the first thing you notice about the opposite gender? Well this question is a little uncomfortable for me since I'm married! But the first thing I notice about anyone I meet is their eyes and eye contact. I have no idea why.
A break from my break to bring you Passover ideas! Topic: People/Family stories
So, Spring Break is half way over and we haven't even had a chance to sit down to a meal all together yet! It's just been a busy week with teenagers and their social lives, pastor husband with weddings and funerals to do, and me trying to jump through all the hoops to get approved by the school district for a part time job. (more on that another time) I feel stressed out and not rested at all.
Thankfully the next 2 days and part of the third day, are all our own as a family. I seem to feel most rested when we've all been together....falling back from the busyness of life into our simple nest, we find the comfort that is there in each other's company.
Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh, nice.
Now here is an assignment for you....should you choose to do it. Go over to Chrysalis and read e-mom's wonderfully simple ideas to bring the full, rich meaning of Passover into our modern, weirdly bunnyish Easter. (yes, we do bunnies too, but it's still a weird way to celebrate a wonderful holiday) It's a simple start to making Easter so much more....sooooo much....
Spring Break Topic: Blogging
Sorry I haven't posted much lately. This is spring break week for all my kids, even one home from college, so I will probably be scarce for a few more days!
Friday's Feast #135 Topic: Humor/memes
**Get your own Friday Feast menu here.**
Appetizer Name two things that made you smile this week.
1. We saw a guy dressed up like Uncle Sam, waving a little flag, advertising an income tax service on the sidewalk of a busy intersection. He was leaning out, almost into oncoming traffic, staring with a silly smile on his face, making eye contact with oncoming drivers and just frozen with that silly smile. (I couldn't help it) I'm glad he likes his job so much.
2. A commercial came on a few nights ago advertising the television show Malcolm in the Middle. The boys' frog had died and they were all gathered for a backyard funeral, when all of a sudden one of them lights a fire cracker rocket and off it went, ''shooooosh'', into the sky.
Then one of the boys quips, "May he rest in pieces." (they shot the dead frog into the sky on a fire cracker!) I half choked, it caught me so much by surprise. I *instantly* found myself in pieces, snarfing and choking and laughing so hard I think I had an asthma attack.
My daughter, who was sitting there watching it too, just looked at me like I was nutso. I guess some people just don't have a very well developed sense of humor.
Soup Fill in the blank: Don't you hate it when ________?
Don't you hate it when people don't find something the slightest bit humorous when you are having an asthma attack from laughing so hard? *sheesh*
Salad When you can't go to sleep, what is your personal remedy to help yourself drift into Lullabyland?
Main Course What is something about which you've always wondered but have not yet found a good answer?
March Madness =(
Dessert What is your favorite pasta dish?
1. Seafood Alfredo 2. Jumbo ravioli (stuffed with Ricotta cheese, covered in red sauce and lots of cheese) 3. Chicken Linguini (cooked pasta...sometimes linguini....tossed with leftover chicken, crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar cheese and any kinds of cooked veggies....the sprinkle with parmessan cheese...yum!)
Rain Topic: God things
I was over at Life in a Fishbowl World today and found this wonderful teaching video. It's 10 minutes long, but it is powerful and I hope you will watch it. The pastor speaking is Rob Bell. I have heard a lot of second hand information about him as a teacher, but this is the first teaching of his that I have seen or heard and I love it.....
All of us go through trials in life and this is a totally cool word picture of how God comforts us through it all.
I am From Topic: People/Family stories
Some friends I know are doing the I am From poetry on a forum I go to. This is mine....I kinda got into it! lol Here is the template if you want to do one too. Let me know if you do and I'll come read yours!
Where do crickls come from?
I am from orange popsicles, dripping down my chin and elbow, from hula hoops, roller skates with keys and a purple Huffy ten speed From the influence of hippies and the 60’s and 70’s, The Beattles, Monkees, James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel. From air raid drills and the Viet Nam War. Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan.
I am from the suburbs of a growing desert city, loving homes and big families, neighbors talking and borrowing, playing hide and seek, football and kickball under the streetlight. From a friend dying in the night in her bed. From go-go boots, peasant tops and bell bottom jeans.
I am from the dust storms and cactus and grit in hair and teeth, from toasting in the sun, floating on the Salt River, neighborhood swimming pools, Dr. Pepper and fresh blue skies. From Bonanza, the Beaver, the Brady Bunch and Charlie’s Angels.
I am from camping in the mountains and brown hair, from Bob and Jackie, From far off grandparents and relations, And the reputations of 4 older siblings. A wayward sister, a far off brother in the navy.
I am from spoons balanced on noses at holiday dinners and loud laughter. Inside jokes and practical jokes. What are nose pants?
From don’t talk to strangers, do unto others and stand up straight.
I am from a small Baptist church full of love and mercy. From a large Baptist church that drew people in with love and mercy. From FSBC, big G, youth group, choir tours and busses full of kids. The tunnels, the pink sidewalk and Slide Rock.
I'm from Scots and Kilts and bagpipes in my imagination, from the South and the Northwest and the Southwest. Beef stew and chimichangas, biscuits and tortillas.
From the death of a brother in an airplane crash, the silence of grieving parents. Looking at old photos and slides, trying to remember. From the disillusions of older siblings’ divorces. And the 60 year marriage of my parents.
I am from looking through the cedar chest at memories, sitting in a dark, cool closet and imagining. I could never have imagined all that God has brought me through And all that life has put me through …..but I am thankful for it all.
Crime doesn't pay....unless you do car repairs for a living..... Topic: People/Family stories
Victim: an aggrieved or disadvantaged party in a crime or disaster.
Living in a big city after life in Small town, USA is a learning experience....to put it mildly. To put it honestly: I want my mommy!!!!
Two weeks ago, I was pulling out of the driveway to take the girls to school when I noticed our other vehicle, a Ford F150 pickup, no longer had a tailgate. We finally reasoned that it was either stolen in our driveway during the night, or it was taken while my daughter was working at the mall the night before until 10pm. We filed a police report and priced the replacement......EEEgads! Even with our car insurance, the deductible would be $500. A used one is several hundred too. So we are currently tailgate-less. I don't know what we'll do during football season...beg off of someone else's tailgate I guess. It was infuriating that someone would just take a part off our car for their own benefit. It's evil...it's selfish and criminal. I wanted to hurt someone. *blush*
Crime tip number one: If you have a pickup truck, please lock the tailgate. It makes it much harder to steal....so we have since been told.
Last night I was picking up our daughter from the mall, about 10pm. We no longer let her take the truck and park it there if she is working evenings. She was waiting there, two of the other employees waiting with her until she was safely picked up. (I really appreciate that!) She plopped into the car and I circled around between rows of empty parking spaces. *CRUNCH pop pop pop pop* (It seems that even if you don't let the teenager take the car to work, you can still be a victim of vandals.) She got out of the car and looked at the tire, thinking we'd run over glass. But there were domino-looking plastic things stuck into the tire. They were security tags off of stolen clothing! Four of them, poked into my back tire.
She pulled them off and exclaimed, "OH, I'm bleeding....am I bleeding? ....is that blood?....What IS that? ewwwww, it's all over me!"
It was then that we realized, while listening to that hissing sound of air escaping a tire, that the were ink tags. Yeah, my daughter is now at school with ink stained fingers, probably causing lots of suspicion among peers and teachers. And I reeeeeally want to hurt someone. I'm getting extremely vivid mental pictures of ways to punish vandals. =( I guess the shoplifters were angry about the ink, which ruins the stolen merchandise, so they left the tags sharp side up, in the parking lot among some paper trash from a fast food place.
Crime tip number two: never, EVER run over trash in a parking lot. More often than you may think (or not be thinking much at all) it is disguising all sorts of tire popping devices.
So the car repair place is getting some business today, patching holes in our tire. At least someone benefits from this.
I'm disgusted with humanity today. (including my own)
It has been perfect weather in Phoenix lately folks. 
ads usually, because I am on a MacIntosh computer. (most of those ads are not formatted to pop up on Macs) So if you could...even if you never, ever comment.....please drop me a note if you are getting pop ups or if they are keeping you from leaving comments, just email me a short note?? My email is: crickandchas at yahoo dot com. This will help me to write an email to my blog provider (angelfire) and let them know of any trouble people are having. They are usually good about fixing things. 
Appetizer
I am from spoons balanced on noses at holiday dinners and loud laughter.
Two weeks ago, I was pulling out of the driveway to take the girls to school when I noticed our other vehicle, a Ford F150 pickup, no longer had a tailgate. We finally reasoned that it was either stolen in our driveway during the night, or it was taken while my daughter was working at the mall the night before until 10pm. We filed a police report and priced the replacement......EEEgads! Even with our car insurance, the deductible would be $500. A used one is several hundred too. So we are currently tailgate-less. I don't know what we'll do during football season...beg off of someone else's tailgate I guess. It was infuriating that someone would just take a part off our car for their own benefit. It's evil...it's selfish and criminal. I wanted to hurt someone. *blush* 
Last night I was picking up our daughter from the mall, about 10pm. We no longer let her take the truck and park it there if she is working evenings. She was waiting there, two of the other employees waiting with her until she was safely picked up. (I really appreciate that!) She plopped into the car and I circled around between rows of empty parking spaces. *CRUNCH pop pop pop pop* (It seems that even if you don't let the teenager take the car to work, you can still be a victim of vandals.) She got out of the car and looked at the tire, thinking we'd run over glass. But there were domino-looking plastic things stuck into the tire. They were security tags off of stolen clothing! Four of them, poked into my back tire. 
