This One’s For The Girls – Celebrating International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day.

Generally, I’m not a big fan of days like this.  I mean, shouldn’t women be honored and respected every day?  Just like fathers and mothers and grandparents and spouses?  But when I saw that today is IWD I couldn’t help but think of the women who have influenced my life.  They are too many to count;  My mother, grandmother and aunts, my teachers and neighbors and friends, my bosses and coworkers….

And then I thought of my sisters.

I come from a family of “yours, mine, ours and hers” for a total of 8 whole, half and step siblings, but it was the 2 gorgeous girls pictured above with me who were really a part of my life, growing up.

They have grown into extraordinary women (which in itself  says a lot about the hardworking woman who raised us!).

One is a music teacher:  A really, truly, wonderful award-winning music teacher.  She’s the kind of teacher that kids want to stay in touch with the rest of their lives.  She is gentle and kind and so smart it’s overwhelming.  She married an awesome guy and, in doing so, gave us all another brother whom the whole family loves.  She plays Devil’s Advocate all the time and she’s good at it (see “so smart,” above) but she’s never hurtful. She is always there for her little sisters.

The other works in a hospital maternity ward, giving her help to women in one of the most important moments of their lives, and she loves it.  She knows exactly what they are going through, as she, herself, gave birth to four children in 3 years.   (Yes, you read that right.  Four children under age 3.)  When faced with the challenges of divorce and becoming a single mom, through no choice of her own, she showed stunning strength and powerful, inspirational love for her children.  She is funny and clever and brave.  She makes friends more easily than anyone I’ve ever known.

I am blessed beyond measure to have these women in my life!  They help me be a better woman.

Women do amazing things.  Yet women face some extraordinary challenges.  Did you know that, globally, nearly SEVEN OUT OF TEN women will experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime?  70%!!!  What a horrible, staggering number!  We can do better.  We must.

Maybe, as a way to pay it forward, for all the women who have helped you, you could help other women.  There are some great ideas here and here and here.

No matter what, please take a moment, today to honor the women who have made a difference in your life.  There are few things a woman appreciates more than knowing she’s appreciated.

On that note, I’ll leave you with one of the greatest quotes about women, ever, by one of the funniest and most-loved women of our time.

Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?

Why not follow LazyHippieMama on WordPress, by email or Facebook to get all the updates.

If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!

Today Is My One Year Blogiversary!

It’s my one year blogiversary!  Hooray!

Hippies in love.

It’s been a wonderful, fun year full of growth and learning.  I “officially” have 226 followers plus 50 (lots of crossover, I’m sure) on Facebook.  That’s seriously awesome!  It makes me feel like maybe I’m not all alone in my crazy quest to find a way to promote world peace, save the earth and raise productive citizens (without expending too much effort).

In one year, there were nearly 14,000 views of my 204 posts.  Take THAT Professor “you’ll never be a writer people want to read.”

Those readers came from 94 different countries.  NINETY FOUR!  That is my very most favorite stat!  It makes me feel so… connected.

Below, is my first ever post.  As I researched and wrote the posts that followed that one, some things changed.

I stopped using hybrid diapers.  I came to realize that the liners I was flushing were a resource suck, just like disposables.  The poo isn’t really so bad to deal with.  Usually.  Most days. Sometimes.

I stopped buying the $1.25 spaghetti sauce with high fructose corn syrup.  I learned that if you shop carefully you can find some really great stuff for just a smidge more.  The sauce I bought today was more expensive.  It was $2.  But it had no sugar, no ingredients that I wouldn’t be able to identify in their raw form, organic tomatoes, it’s packaged in glass instead of a plastic lined can (no BPA)  and it’s much, MUCH tastier than the other stuff.

I don’t watch Glee anymore.  I’m stuck on Once Upon a Time now.

I use more than one spelling and grammar checker now.  Oiy.  That first post was a mess.

But for all that, the sentiment remains the same and I believe it more passionately than ever.  If we all made just a bit of an effort,  it would  make a huge difference.

Thank you all so much for being a part of this community.  You have brought me great joy!  You have challenged me to think and grow and do more and BE more than I thought I could be.  Thank you!

One final, closing request… I’m sort of needy.  I feed on the little orange “notification stars” on my WordPress page like a… a…. a…. ah, geez.  Here we go with my metaphor issues again.  Let’s just say they make me really happy.  I should probably just write for the joy of it, but the truth is I love being loved.  It’s a sickness.  So I beg you, feed the madness!  Click “like” or, better yet, leave a comment.  You’ll make my day!  Even better, become a follower of the blog or on Facebook.  OR you could “share” so that MORE people send little orange stars and then you can go to bed with the knowledge that, somewhere in Michigan a Hippie Mama is doing the happy dance and it’s all because of your kindness.

Thanks again, for a great year.  Here’s to many more years of sharing and growing together.

ONE LAZY HIPPIE

I think hippies are awesome.  I don’t mean the pot-smoking music lovers of the 1960′s.  I mean the new-millennium hippies.  Think about it… they want to save the earth and stop war and animal abuse and promote family and small business and all that good stuff.  Who doesn’t think those are great, worthy causes?

My family and friends call me a hippie.

Among my circle of acquaintances I am one of the few who is an adamant supporter of breastfeeding. I use cloth diapers. I put marigold tea on my little girl’s mosquito bites.  I wanted very much to have a waterbirth and railed against the universe when it became medically necessary for me to have a c-section.  Both times! (Ugh! I’m getting frustrated just thinking about it!).  I have an inordinate fondness for very long skirts and dresses (though, admittedly this has more to do with covering up my hamhockesque legs than with any kind of social statement).  They roll their eyes and (not always) patiently listen while I talk about the evils of the political establishment and I’m quite certain that they talk behind my back about whether or not I’ve had my children vaccinated. (I could tell, but it’s more fun to keep people guessing).  Those closest to me always knew I was a hippie at heart, forever wandering the earth in search of….. well…. I’m not really sure. But I had fun wandering! 10 years ago I married a guy who totally gets it.  When I have a bad headache he touches my feet and tones for me.  When I had trouble with my pregnancy he enrolled me in an energetic balancing program.  He’s the one who told me about the marigolds.

But I am lazy.  And, hippies of the new millennium aren’t.  I mean…. have you ever read what it takes to make a proper compost pile?  I did it my way and just ended up with a pile of old banana peels and egg shells that the neighbors complained about.

The only reason I use cloth diapers is because someone smarter (and no doubt more ambitious) than me invented “hybrid” diapers that allow me to flush the poo away instead of actually cleaning it up. Otherwise?  Ew! No! I wouldn’t deal with that mess!

My daughter went to preschool with a hippie mama who ONLY bought organic food.  I absolutely believe that organics are healthier and we should all be eating them.  But this lady?  She drove 45 minutes from our little rural community to buy it. She paid astronomical prices and bought produce in bulk so she could can or freeze everything herself.  When Red Baron comes out with a $4 organic frozen pizza that is sold at the local Walmart I will be all over that.  Until then, my efforts are half-hearted at best.

Which brings up another point.  Being a hippie in 1968 meant living in a park in California and bathing less often.  These days it’s quite pricey!  Organics cost a fortune.  So do vaccinations, for that matter! Anyway…. that’s a blog for another day.  But being one of the 99% makes a lot of my decisions too.  I buy the $1.25 spaghetti sauce with High Fructose Corn Syrup (gasp!) instead of the $7 all natural stuff on the top shelf.

A hippie mama (in my mind) spends time with her child picking wildflowers and composing music to the beat of the bongos.  Mostly I watch TV with my kids.  Only educational TV though. Well. Mostly. But I have discovered a few cheap, easy ways to make a bit of an effort toward saving the earth, protecting animals, promoting family time, etc.  And, let’s face it, if we all made just a bit of an effort, wouldn’t it make a huge difference?

So, now I have a blog and I hope to share all my lazy hippie tips. And maybe… just maybe… we can save the earth, promote love and peace AND have time left over to watch Glee.  Uhm… I mean, educational television.

Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?

Why not follow LazyHippieMama on WordPress, by email or Facebook to get all the updates.

If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!

The Plague and Sexy Mamas

I’m pretty sure the plague has come to Michigan.

The little hippies have had a very pukey few days.  Thanks to the wonders of social networking I know that there are at least five other families nearby fighting off the same crud, so this brief but heartfelt post is for all those sleep deprived Mamas out there who are being nurse, maid, cook, comforter and so much more.

You may be wearing the same yoga pants you had on for the past 3 days, smell slightly like kid-sick or have disturbing mysterious stains on your shirt but, come on… admit it… you’re sexy and you know it.

Image from quickmeme.com

Here’s to a quick and total eradication of the plague!

Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?

Why not follow LazyHippieMama on WordPress, by email or Facebook to get all the updates.

If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!

Did You Lose Your Rule Book at Walmart – The Followup

A picture of the book

Earlier this week, I asked everyone to check and see if they’d lost their rule book at Walmart. I have great news!  The precious collection of 157 (and counting) rules was returned to the original authors, 10-year-old Isabelle Busath and 8-year-old Isabella Thordson on Wednesday.

Apparently the girls and the man who found the book have been invited to be on The Today Show, but no dates have been released yet.

Hopefully these bright young girls will share much more of their wisdom with the world in the years to come!

 

Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?

Why not follow LazyHippieMama on WordPress, by email or Facebook to get all the updates.

If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!

On Reaching 201 And A New Award

It’s a major award! I won it!  Mind power, you know.

If I have learned anything about blogging in the past months it is that the blogosphere is a big community.  The community contributes to the success and growth of a blogger or else the blog withers and dies.

Lazy Hippie Mama is not the breakout success story of 2012 but, thanks to each and every one of you it has slowly and steadily grown and developed into something I am proud of and that I enjoy very much.  I sincerely hope that my posts are an encouragement to you.

Since the beginning, my “1st milestone” goal was to reach 200 followers, and this past week I got there!

A special thanks to FunnyGurl2 at I’m Not Stalking You for being my inspiration to start this blog and for being my very 1st follower all the way through Poppyunderhill over at the Book of Shadows and Blessings for being there when I needed just ONE MORE to reach my goal and to Pura Vida/Costa Rica Travel Blog for being #201 – first toward the next goal.

In preparing to write this, I scrolled through my followers, and I was so very blessed and humbled.  There are writers and photographers, teenagers and grandparents, Christians, Pagans and atheists.   There are vegetarians and carnivores, home schoolers, government officials, professional athletes, recovering addicts, health “nuts”, hippies, yuppies and geeks.   There are followers from dozens of nations, in every part of the world.

The diversity of the group is overwhelming and amazing and beautiful!  I LOVE that so many of my followers are so different from me!  Do you realize what that means?

To me, it means that men and women, young and old, people of every faith and belief system ALL want to achieve world peace, save the Earth and raise productive citizens (perhaps while expending as little energy as possible).

If we are all working together toward such a beautiful end, it seems our differences become a minor issue.

I am SO encouraged and So blessed and made SO very hopeful by this!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

While I’m passing out thanks, I would like to offer a HUGE thanks to Pixie from Pixiecraft, for nominating me for the Liebster Award!  I would like to note that, when she gave it to me, I only had 199 followers, so I’m going to gladly accept and credit Pixie with pushing me past my goal!

“The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. The word “Liebster” comes from German and can mean the sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, most beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.”

So, here are the Rules:

Thank the person who nominated you.

When you receive the award, you post 11 random facts about yourself and answer the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you.  I skipped this last part because I’m a LAZY hippie.

Pass the award onto 11 other blogs (while making sure you notify the blogger that you nominated them!) You write up 11 NEW questions directed towards YOUR nominees. (See above: “LAZY)

You are not allowed to nominate the blog who nominated your own blog!

You paste the award picture into your blog. (You can Google the image, there are plenty of them!)

So… random facts about me:

1) I love fuzzy socks. I don’t put much effort into matching them before I put them on.

2) I think dill pickles are the perfect complement to peanut butter sandwiches, which I find too sweet by themselves.

3) I minored in Political Science but never finished that degree because I tried and failed 3 times to pass American Diplomatic History and finally decided I just didn’t care enough to take a 4th go at it.

4) As a child I had a fatal kidney disease that was healed in what can only be described as a miraculous way.

5) I have given up watching TV at night and entertain myself, instead, by commenting on zillions of Huffington Post articles.

6) I dream in disturbing detail about apocalyptic events almost every night but rarely share my dreams with others as they are… well… disturbing.

7) I am just a little jealous of my daughter’s bravery in regard to being in front of people.  That girl feeds on the spotlight!

8) I still use plastic water bottles, even though I am trying to be a good hippie and I know that they are very bad.

9) My favorite car I ever owned was my Mercury Capri convertible   It was a piece of crap. It broke down every other time I drove it.  But I looked GOOD in that car!

10) I sometimes go in the bathroom and pretend to be “busy” so that I can read a really intense part of a book without being disturbed.

11) I ran out of time while taking my ACT in high school and started randomly filling in bubbles and ended up one point away from a perfect score.  I’ve always been lucky that way.

These 11 blogs are not random.  They are people who are close to my heart personally or as bloggers. I’m not sure how many followers they all have, so it’s possible some of them have more than 200, but they are a few of my most favorites:

1) I’m Not Stalking You – my asbestos friend in the whole world writes this blog.  She is funny and talented and not really even a little bit hippie.  You should go see what she has to say!

2) Joy of Service – my Handsome Hippie Hubby has been journaling about his call to give 50% of his (our) income for 31 days in an effort to inspire and encourage.  Go! Be inspired and encouraged!

3) Awesome Hippie Girl – since there is no rule about blatant nepotism attached to this award, I’m nominating my Sweet Hippie Daughter.  She is funny and silly and she has been working on her writing skills by blogging.  If you like sweet, funny, silly stuff you should read what she wrote.

4) Fathead Follies -  I’m nominating her because she’s funny and clever and smart and did I mention very very funny? and I think you would enjoy her site.

5)  The Kovies - Again, I’m not sure how many followers she has, but “Lexie’s Nana” is the nana we all wish she had.  I swear her blog smells like fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.  Go and see and tell me if you think so too.

6) Half Past Normal – Angela is strong and brave and funny and loving and the world needs more people like her.  She inspires me to be a better mom.

7) The Usual Bliss – Indeed, I feel blissful seeing the pictures and reading all the descriptions of basking in the tropical sun and sipping tea while watching the soft snow fall and eating rich, glorious plates full of steaming hot comfort food.  I love this blog!

8) Rebecca Vincent - writes with purity and love and a gift for words that I, as a wanna-be writer am, admittedly, a little jealous of.  If you, too, enjoy words, you will enjoy this blog!

9)The Student Disciple – this blog challenges me at every turn and I always feel like I’ve grown a little after I’ve read it.  I enjoy the well-thought-out theology very much.

10) Growing up in a Hippie Commune – Doesn’t the title tell you everything?  I am utterly fascinated by this blog!

11) Skinny and Striving – I am so inspired by this young woman’s courage and her determination and her very very worthy goal of wanting to save 3 lives.

So, there you have it!  I hope you enjoy these places as much as I have!

One final note – I think there were one or two awards in the past few months that I was nominated for and that I failed to pass along.  Please don’t think that I don’t appreciate them (and you!) with all my heart.  Sometimes, timing is everything.  Every so often I get overwhelmed by life and things slip through the cracks.  I’m sorry for that.

Now, I have to dash.  It is an exciting day for me.  My husband is taking me out and, not only are we not taking the kids, we are going to a place that doesn’t even allow children!  I honestly can’t remember the last time I went to such a place!  Not a giant singing mouse in sight!

I’ll meet you back here soon.

Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort? 

Why not follow LazyHippieMama on WordPress, by email or Facebook to get all the updates. 

If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!

Fast Friday – Chickens Love the Beautiful People and Other Things You Didn’t Know

In my research for something far away from today’s topic, I found myself at the website, “The Book of Barely Imagined Things.“

It was just too fun!

I learned that chickens like pretty people better than ugly ones, and saw this seriously crazy-looking chicken:

image from http://www.barlelyimaginedbeings.com

I learned that an octopus can feel, smell and taste with its tentacles in an oddly intimate paragraph about a particular octopus (octopi?).

I read the most disturbing description of what cancer is I have ever heard.

I’m fascinated.

I’m hooked.

I’m sending you over there so you can love it too!

Have a great weekend!  Meet you back here soon.

How Do You See The World?

I once heard Dr. Wayne Dyer say, “If you want to see the world differently, change the way you look at the world.”

What a powerful statement!

Look at this famous optical illusion:

image from http://www.moillusions.com

Do you see an old lady or a young woman?

Look at it a little differently.

What do you see now?

What you see depends upon where you place your focus.

Viewing the world around us works in much the same way.

Do you see the world as full of hopeless, endless pain and suffering?

I bet it’s easy to see that all around you.  It’s exhausting and demoralizing to live in such a world, I’m sure!

If you have found that particular worldview to be less than fulfilling I suggest you try to look at the world differently.

When you make a conscious effort to see what is good and just and beautiful you will find that those things are all around you as well.

When you find yourself in a world that is full of such Goodness, you will find that you are inspired to live a life that is full of love and justice and beauty.

Guess what happens then?

Other people become inspired by YOU!

It is a gorgeous cycle of positive growth!

It is life changing.

It is world changing!

Recently, I discovered the most wonderful little thing that helps me remember how I want to see the world:  Huffington Post Good News.

I “liked” them on Facebook and all day long they send me happy little stories.

It may be a story as “small” as a rescued pet or as “large” as a community coming together to create something extraordinary, but every story shows the beauty of the human experience.

And it really is beautiful.

If you find yourself wishing the world was a better place, I suggest you turn off the evening news and go looking for good news (at Huffington or anywhere).  I can guarantee, once you start looking for it you will find that it was there all along.

When you find it, pass it along.  When the day comes that we are all focusing on the good, perhaps the bad will cease to exist.

Baking Cookies, Stealing Ideas, Awards and Thankfulness

hahahaha! It’s a Hippie Turkey from Zazzle.com!

I’m not really a very creative or crafty person.

There are a few reasons for this.

#1 – LAZY hippie mama.  Why spend a whole bunch of time hand-crocheting a blanket when I can, for about the same amount of money (have you priced good yarn lately?!) buy one at a craft show or local shop?  Maybe when I don’t have kids in the house and am not working and so forth I’ll feel more inspired to direct some energies toward being a producer and not just a consumer.  Time will tell.

#2 – I totally lack artistic talent of any kind.  I distinctly remember a sixth grade art project in which we were to draw our “dream room” in perspective using a pencil to draw as well as to shade.  I seriously labored over that project for weeks.  I thought of every little detail and studied pictures to notice how things appeared bigger or smaller as you looked at them from different angles.  I don’t think there were many school projects I ever threw myself into with such passion.  As I turned it in I was practically bursting with pride.  I had finally created a real work of art… not just one of those childish elementary school construction paper projects.  A few days later I got it back with a C- grade.  My dreams were crushed.  I gave up all hope of ever succeeding as an artist.  When, years later, I saw “A Christmas Story” I totally empathized with poor Ralphie who’s Wicked Witch of the West teacher just didn’t understand his efforts.

#3 – The Destructor.  If you don’t know about my Little Hippie Baby you can get some idea of what he’s like by reading this or this or this.  Perhaps when he reaches that special age where he knows not to drink the glue or try to cut the dog’s tail off with the scissors we can have some crafty supplies about the house.

So, knowing that, you will understand my bafflement when people say, “You should ask Hippie Mama to design the ultra-cool Christmas play sets.  She’s SO CREATIVE!”

I’m really not.

But I am pretty good at copying other people’s clever ideas… you know… when I feel ambitious.  A few times a year.

Last week, for instance.

Sweet Hippie Daughter has been struggling to master the skill of multiplying by 4, but she’s worked hard and I think she’s starting to get it.  (Please note that she has no trouble with 2s, 3s, or 5s.  I don’t get it either.)  I had the idea that she could bake cookies (she LOVES to cook) and quadruple the recipe.  Well… I didn’t have the idea.  I stole it from WeirdUnsocializedHomeschoolers.  They blogged about the benefits of setting your kids free (safely) in the kitchen a while back.

She did great!  She even multiplied the fractions (once I explained how that works)!  I was very proud of her.

Of course, this assignment had the pleasant side-effect of filling our kitchen with cookies.

Score!

It seemed only appropriate that we share the yummy abundance, so we made little Thanksgiving packages for all of our neighbors.  They really are great neighbors.  They are friendly and generally not too nosy and they don’t get mad at us when we are the last ones on the block to rake our leaves…. or at least, if they are mad they keep it to themselves.

We topped our cookies with a little homemade turkey note.

A few years ago I was at the library and they had a super cute turkey on the bulletin board made out of circles and triangles.  I can TOTALLY make circles and triangles!  So, now, that’s my go-to turkey design.

See what I mean about stealing other people’s ideas?

So, since this was such a rare and lovely day of creative expression and giving, I thought I would document it with pictures.

Cute, right?   Don’t you wish you were my neighbor?

In other news, Coffee Powered Mom gave me a great honor last week!  She awarded me the “Coffee Powered Writer Award” for my post “Is Home birth a Scary Option?”

This especially meant a lot to me because that post, in particular, is very close to my heart.  It was not a blast to the good doctors and nurses who have dedicated their lives to bringing babies safely into the world.  Rather, it was a plea to the American Medical System to empower women to make the choices that are best for them and their babies, without interference from the big businesses of pharmaceuticals and insurance.  I was trying to point out that we’ve gone so far from nature that natural now seems weird and unsafe to us.

Thank you CPM!  I love your blog, too!

If you, like me, enjoy stealing other people’s awesome ideas, CPM is a great resource!  This is one I’ve got great plans for.

Finally, it wouldn’t be thanksgiving week without making a thankful list!

Few things in the world make me happier than counting my blessings.  It can pull me out of a funk every time.  So here is a list of eight things I’m feeling especially thankful for today, in no particular order.

Why eight?

Because I told SHD to choose a number and that’s what she chose.

#1 I am thankful for my Handsome Hippy Hubby.  He really is the kindest, gentlest, most patient husband in the whole world.  He puts up with so much from me and gives so much of himself and, after all these years, he still kisses me and tells me he loves me every day.  I really love that guy!

#2 I am thankful for comfy shoes.

#3 I am thankful for baby wipes.  Seriously, I don’t know how a mommy could survive without them.

#4 I am thankful for my awesome office chair.  It’s just the right amount of tippy and swively so that I can be restless and productive at the same time.

#5 I am thankful for supportive undergarments.  Some things in life need to be firmly harnessed.  I have a feeling that this will only become more true as time goes on.

#6 I am thankful for my Kindle Fire.  It’s such a handy little tool!

#7 I am thankful for my BFF.  She’s always been there for me and she makes me laugh and she gave my Little Hippie Baby a very sweet little friend to have as his own BFF.

Little Hippie Baby and M. Love those boys!

#8 I’m thankful for people who respond to my blog posts by “liking” them or “commenting (even when they disagree)” or following me on Facebook.  All those little orange notification stars are like happy little surprises that come to me all day long and tell me, “Even though you can’t draw a picture in perspective and you are too lazy to knit your own socks, I think your writing is, at least occasionally, worth reading.”  They just make me feel good.

Happy Monday, dear readers!  It’s Thanksgiving week!  There is no better way to get your Hippie on than to give thanks.  Have fun with all that Thankfulness and I’ll see you back here in a day or two.

500 Likes and 2 Kind Awards

Click the picture to go back to where it all began!

I’ve been a little overwhelmed by life in general in the past several days, but I’ve emerged from the fog of over-scheduling to find a note from WordPress announcing that there have been 500 times that someone has clicked “Like” on something I wrote.  I find that incredibly humbling!  I am very honored that you all have enjoyed my blog.  It is a joy for me to write it.

Adding blessing upon blessing, two of my favorite bloggers have nominated me for awards!

From The Kitchen Witch comes The Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  This is a great honor for me, as I find her blog to be a constant inspiration to me as well as a great source of information on all sorts of topics from politics to religion to which herbs to use to treat a nasty bruise.  If you have never visited her before I highly suggest it. I guarantee you’ll find something worthwhile.

From The Midwest Maven comes the One Lovely Blog Award.  The epitome of a helpful, feel-good blog, it is another that I truly enjoy.  There are great recipes, tips for entertaining, lots of life stories, a healthy dash of silliness, and a whole bunch of doggy love.  It really is a lovely blog.  Go!  Right now!  Check it out!  I’ll wait….

*singing* Ba da da da dum dum da da da. Ba da da da dum dum da da da. Ba da da dum dum da da da da doo.

You’re back?

Great!

Now I’m going to cheat, and condense.  Because I’m a LAZY Hippie Mama.  So, as stated by the rules (more or less), here are 7 interesting (not sure who determines interesting…) things about me:

1)  When I got my first official job I was 13 years old. I worked 10 hours a week as a janitor in a diesel fuel pump repair shop. I smelled like diesel fuel ALL the time. Not a great boost in the teenage social scene.

2) My first car was a 1976 Mercury Cougar.  It was a beast. It barely fit in an average parking space.  It was absolutely indestructible.  My grandfather had bought it new and it had less than 30,000 miles on it when he gave it to my mom.  She drove it for years and gave it to me with about 150,000 miles on it.  When I traded it in it had almost 300,000 miles on it and it had never had any repairs except a muffler, brakes, tires and a few batteries.   I think I changed the oil 3 times.  The cute, trendy, modern car I traded it for fell apart on the first major trip I took it on and continued to fall apart regularly  for 2 years until I scraped it out for junk.  *Sigh*  Live and learn.

3) The first time I ever got drunk I got SO DRUNK that I laid on the bathroom floor, vomiting, for 2 days.  I probably should have gone to the hospital but I couldn’t motivate myself to stand up so I just cried and wondered if I would die from alcohol poisoning.  I’ve never been that drunk again.  Not even close.

4) I used to live in a haunted apartment in a town so haunted that no one was impressed when my poltergeist threw my dishes around the room.

5) When I was a child, I thought babies were born out of their mom’s belly button.  When I learned the truth I was truly horrified. I still am, if I think about it too much.

6) Sometimes I sing songs from Yo Gabba Gabba!, Barney, The Wonderpets, and other annoying kid’s shows when there are no kids anywhere near me.

7) I have a great reputation for being efficient and getting huge amounts of things done, including big projects that no one else will tackle.  The truth is, I’m almost always throwing these things together in a panic at the last minute and, only by the Grace of God, do they ever work out.

And now, on to the very best part!

I love passing on the awards, just as a way to tell bloggers how much I’ve enjoyed what they do AND to share with you, dear readers, some great reads you may not already know about.  As inspiration and loveliness are rather subjective, these are a very eclectic bunch… I love them all, but if you don’t love the first (or second or third), keep clicking and you’ll find one you adore.

My nominees for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award are:

Inspire Til You Expire

Orange Spice Drop

Finding Joy

Global Child Prosperity

Live Revelation

4 Little Fergusons – This is a little unorthodox for me.  I have only discovered this blog today, but this post was the single most inspiring blog post I’ve ever read so I hope they will accept this award and I pray that it will be an encouragement to them!

And my nominees for the One Lovely Blog Award are:

Tresors De Luxe

Sober 4 Jesus

Adopting James

Semiblind

The Ramirez Three

Click! Read! Follow!  Enjoy!

I’m going to bed.

Goodnight.  :)

Theological Thursday – Meddling Pastors Made Me Write This

Da Vinchi’s “Vitruvian Man”

Have you ever considered your body and each and every one of it’s parts?

Think about it… how amazing is it that your spine holds you upright?  That it can bend so you can touch your toes (theoretically)?

How cool is it that you can put food in your mouth and it will travel through your body, leaving a trail of nutrients as it goes.  Your body will then rid itself of anything it can’t use, all fairly effortlessly (unless you’ve not eaten enough roughage.  Then things may take slightly more effort).

When you stand in the blaring sun your hair will protect your tender scalp from being burned.

When you reach out to touch something your fingertips will tell you when you’ve succeeded and your nails will protect you from cutting that delicate skin on the tips of your fingers.

If a dust cloud blows in your direction you instinctively (thanks to your brain) squint your eyelids, causing your lashes to cover your delicate eyeballs (a marvel unto themselves) and they are protected.

Did you know that even the appendix is now known to serve an important immune function, particularly in very young babies?

Do you know anyone who is missing a body part or who has a part that doesn’t function properly?

No matter how admirably a person may deal with that loss they are not whole – the body needs every single part to function with 100% efficiency.

I’m guessing that you wouldn’t miss your fingernails as much as you’d miss your arm.  You can live without an appendix, but you won’t last a second without a heart.  If you are post-menopausal you probably won’t really miss your uterus.  But if you are going to be perfectly, completely, 100% whole and healthy you need every single one of your parts to be in good working condition.

So, last Thursday I wrote about my reasons for going to church even though I have some pretty serious issues with The Church.

Three readers commented that I left out a very important concept, if I am basing my beliefs on the Bible.

Coincidentally, all three are pastors.  Darn those pastors.  Always meddling!  Hahaha.  Just kidding.  They didn’t really make me write this, just in case you were worried.  They were right and they all spoke gently and with love (thanks, guys, for being considerate of my feelings).  I needed them to point out that I’d neglected one of the most crucial reasons for going to church.

In my head, I had considered this, but I then I failed to write (type) it down.

Christians are to be a “body.”

1Corinithians, Chapter 12 discusses this in great depth and beauty.

The writer tells us that each of us are blessed with certain talents and gifts.  Some people are teachers, others healers.  Some people are great at knowing how to help their neighbors, others are wonderful administrators.  There are those who are prophets – the very voice of God – and those who are good at keeping the church carpet clean (I’m paraphrasing.  The Bible doesn’t actually talk about church carpet).

Each and every one of us, with our unique abilities, are vitally important to the well-being of the church as a whole… and to the world, as a whole!

If we have a whole bunch of prophets and no one that’s good at helping we are completely lacking in effectiveness.  If we have a whole bunch of healers, but no one good at preaching the Word, we are lacking in effectiveness.  Ask any pastor how far he (or she) would get without good Sunday School teachers.  Ask any Sunday School teacher how important the folks who maintain the building are.

God intended us to work together, as one, to do His (or her, if you prefer) work and show His love here on Earth.

The body needs all of its parts in order to function effectively.

Every single part.

“I don’t have a gift,”  you may say.

You are wrong.

Everyone has something to contribute.  Everyone.  Every. Single. Person. EVER.

The theologian, Emmanuel Swedenborg, said it like this:

The Church on earth is before the Lord as one Man.

Can you draw?  Can you write?  Are you good with technology?  Do you have a heart for the elderly?  Do you know how to comfort the grieving?  Do you consistently speak your mind?  Are you a fearless speaker?  Do you have a knack for foreign languages?  Are you super-organized?

The church needs you.  The world needs you!

So, you see, I go to church, at least in part, because I am meant to be a part of a body.  I am needed there.  I have skills and talents that contribute to the work of the church.  Also, I need others.  There are skills and talents that I lack completely.  I need the other parts of the body to complete me.

I stand by my statement that you don’t need to go to church to be in communion with God.  A church is just a building.  Even Jesus prayed alone sometimes.  But if you have been alone for a long time you may be missing out on something far more beautiful than the sum of its parts!