THE RAPTURE

The other day I read an article in our local newspaper.  It was about the "Rapture".  Evidently there is a guy who is an atheist and not only does he not believe in God, he also does not believe in the Rapture. But I guess what he does believe in is making money.  He has a business for people who DO believe in the Rapture.  What he advertises is that if YOU are going to be Raptured, what is going to happen to your pets, your livestock and other animals?  Who will feed them?  Who will take care of them?  This is what his business offers.  All you have to do is pay him $250 and he will have someone come to your house within 24 hours and feed and water your animals.  That way, when you are Raptured up to heaven, you will be able to be trouble free, knowing that your animals will be taken care of for as long as you are gone.  What a guy!  Some people think of everything!   Rapture in peace!  :0)

ANOTHER SEPTIC UPDATE

I think our septic tank is finally really draining.  It's been lower this week than any other week - between 12-13".  Yesterday I actually did a load of dishes in the dishwasher.  Of course I had to use the "Eco" dishwashing detergent my husband ordered for me online, but I was surprised how well it cleaned the dishes.  We haven't had to shower at Amber's for over a week, and that's really been nice.  I've practically had to sit on my husband to get him to keep waiting.  Every day before it started draining good, he'd say we just needed to dig a new leech field.  I kept telling him that we had an agreement to wait until the end of May.  Glad we waited now.  Hope it keeps this up!  A few more inches and I'll be able to wash clothes at home instead of going to the laundromat!  Woo-hoo!  :0)

TRIALS, AFFLICTIONS, AND BURDENS....OH MY!

I have a twisted mentality.  Many of you may have already come to that conclusion.  This last week we've had  our share of, shall we say, "drama" in our life.  When you get that much going on, you have to resort sometimes, to a sense of humor even though the situations are not humorous in the least degree.  One day I was contemplating the trials we were going through and all of a sudden several phrases from the scriptures starting coming to my mind.  These were scripture phrases that described the trials and afflictions we may encounter in our life.  I actually started laughing as I remembered some of these.  This led to me searching my scriptures via the topical guide to find all the phrases that describe trials, burdens and afflictions.  Here's my list:
- Not even feel them on your back
- More than you can bear
- Fiery trials
- Supported in your trial
- Trial of affliction
- Affliction shall be but a small moment
- Comfort in my affliction
- Afflictions in the wilderness
- All manner of afflictions
- Sore afflictions
- Great afflictions
- Joy in my afflictions
- In the day of mine afflictions
- Yoke of affliction
- Burden upon my shoulders
- Cannot feel afflictions on your back
- Visited in mine afflictions
- Famine and afflictions
- Time of my affliction
- Notwithstanding my afflictions
- Many afflictions
- In the midst of my afflictions
- Grievous burdens
- Burden of Babylon
- Heavy burdens
- False burdens
- One another’s burdens
- bread of affliction
- water of affliction
- one day rest from all your afflictions
- bear with those afflictions
- because of my afflictions
- mine afflictions were great above all
- in the furnace of affliction
- communicate with my affliction
- patient in afflictions
- remembering mine affliction
- affliction shall not rise up the second time
- the affliction of our fathers
- in the land of my affliction
- bound in affliction
- add affliction to my bonds
- great were their afflictions
- endure afflictions
- suffer afflictions
- our light affliction
- a great trial of affliction
- affliction in the day of their calamity
- much affliction in the wilderness
- yoke of affliction
- tremendous affliction
- burdens grievous to be borne
- the yoke of his burden
- great trial of affliction
There you go.... :0)

MOTORCYCLE CRAZY

I had lunch with a couple of my daughters yesterday. On the way back home I was driving north up the freeway and noticed a guy on a motorcycle that was weaving in and out of traffic. He caught my eye because he was a bit eratic when he was weaving in and out. We reached a straight stretch and I saw him look back over his shoulder at a pickup truck, then he changed lanes to the far left lane. The truck changed to the same lane. I noticed that there was no one in front of the motorcycle. Then he made his move. He stood up on the pedals and lifted his right leg over the motorcycle and then stood on the pedal (or whatever). He then changed feet, so his right leg was on the pedal - his body still being on the left side of the motorcycle. He is still doing 65 mph down the freeway and his hands are still on the handlebars. Then he leans down a bit towards the front of the cycle and lifts his left leg perfectly perpendicular to the motorcycle. It is sticking straight out at a 90 degree angle. He drives like that for a few seconds (still at 65 mph), then he puts it back down, changes his feet again so his left foot is on the pedal, and then puts his right leg back over the motorcycle and then sits down. Then he immediately changes lanes across 3 more lanes of traffic and exits on the big interchange to another freeway going west. I was also taking that interchange, and was about 4 cars behind him, but by the time I got down off of the overpass onto the freeway,he was gone. He must have taken the first exit. I have no idea where the pickup truck went . I wondered if someone in the pickup truck was video-taping his motorcyle stunt for either YouTube or one of those stunt TV shows? It was a bit scary, but it was quite impressive!

HOW WINDY IS IT?

I am so sick of wind.  Sick.  Of.  It. However in trying to not complain and whine, I thought of another time that it was so windy - The Dustbowl, or "The Dirty Thirties".  I looked The Dustbowl up on Wikopedia and found some interesting info.  The Dustbowl was from 1930-1936 (and 1940 in some areas).   It was basically caused by a severe drought coupled with decades of farming without crop rotation.  The dust blackened the sky reaching all the way to the East Coast.  Much of the soil ended up in the Atlantic Ocean.   The dust storms were called, "Black Blizzards" or "Black Rollers."  It affected 100,000,000 acres in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas.  People got so tired of the wind and dust that some people actually went crazy. 

The biggest storm was on April 14th, 1935,  known as "Black Sunday" and twenty of the worst storms occurred.   Visability was reduced to a few feet.  The dirt was so thick that a man could get lost a half a mile from his house.  Children died of "dust pneumonia", by literally suffocating.  Animals would suffocate on dirt, their insides packed with soil.  Anyone caught outside dropped to the ground and was in danger of being buried alive.  The dirt actually blew all the way to Chicago, where dirt fell like snow.  

Last night the wind started blowing like crazy here when we went to bed.  It blew ALL night long and continued - in the same strength - all day long today until tonight.  Along with that, it snowed here - at least on the east side of town where Gilbert Girl lives.  We had some of the weirdest looking clouds in the sky today.  But with all the crazy weather going on in the US - tornados, flooding, wild fires - I'll take the wind, even though I'll probably keep complaining about it.  :0)