EMOTION & ACTION

Relative to LOVE, I've been pondering the following for sometime ...

Love is both an emotion and an action
If either is missing, it is incomplete
If both are missing, it is dead
The journey from death of love to its rebirth
Can start with either ... yes, emotion or action
And with fanning, lead to the fullness of both

This morning in my quiet time with the Lord, I felt revealed
That this truth of the process of Love in our life
Is also true of many other quality and character issues ...

Obedience
Diligence
Love, Joy, Peace
Patience, Kindness, Goodness
Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control
Faith, Hope & Charity

All our incomplete with either only the emotion or the action
And we can start from either the emotion or action
And once we have one-half
We can fan the flames to lead to the fullness of both in our lives

Today, my heart is set on the fullness of diligence

Much love, Sherrie

A mother ...

A mother is only as happy as her least happy child.

(a line heard today on the radio -- I liked it)

I am so thankful to have children filled with love, joy, and peace!
It is such a blessing to share their journeys, smiles, laughs & friendship :)

Breckinridge House Weekend!

We were so blessed to be allowed by a fellow IBS-STL Board Member the honor of renting his mountain home in Breckenridge, Colorado for a weekend with Jules and her family.

This was at the end of our time with Hannah, Ingrid, and Lars;
and although Hannah could not be with us, we had a delightful goodbye with Ingrid & Lars.
We were able to join forces with Henry, Susan, Kaitlin & Bridget as well
and enjoyed a beautiful day on the slopes of Beaver Creek,
an evening at their place slope side, and a great day at Keystone, complete with tubing.

So here come the pictures ... enjoy!

Mike's beautiful Breck House, which is now on the market ...One of our tasty breakfast meals, excuse the PJs ;)The boys playing in the snow with the fun neighbor dog ...
The day at Beaver Creek - skiing, eating, ice skating, and swimming ...
My favorite lunch lodge ...Ingrid, Jules & Lars ...
Bridget & Kaitlin ...
Henry & Susan ...
Dave ...
Jules ...
Who's this beautiful guy?Bridget taking on Beaver Creek ...Ingrid & Lars hamming it up ...
Kaitlin ...
Trey ...
The ice skating team ... Trey, Brian, Ingrid, Jake & Sean ...Pre-dinner munchies at Susan's parents' place ....The pool and hot tubs were great fun for Sherrie & the kids ...
Tubing at Keystone ...
Our favorite "driver" ~ a slow turning e-ticket ride please!Sean, Jake & Lars ...Jules on the cool magic carpet ...Lars, Jake, Sean, Ingrid, Brian, & Trey ...Goofball Dave!Jules having a ball, or tube as it were :)
The arrival of Susan & Kaitlin ...Henry & Bridget, Susan & Kaitlin ...And a fun goodbye for the crazy team ...What great memories ~ swoosh!!

Bug Terrorism??

Pennsylvania Post Office Discovers Giant Beetles in Package

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

PHILADELPHIA — Customs agents seized more than two dozen giant beetles — some the size of a child's hand — from an overseas package after postal workers heard the insects making scratching noises.

The large bugs arrived last week from Taiwan at a post office in Mohnton, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia, in a box whose contents were labeled as toys, gifts and jellies, officials said Wednesday.

But the postmaster suspected the package contained live organisms and notified authorities, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. The package was sent to Philadelphia, where it was X-rayed and then opened.

"The specimens were some of the largest of their kind, and some of the largest I've ever seen, averaging five to six inches in diameter," John Plummer, an agency agriculture specialist, said in a statement Wednesday. "They are highly destructive insect pests that can cause extensive damage to fruit and vegetable crops, trees, shrubs and turf grasses."

In all, authorities found 26 Hercules, rhinoceros and Goliath beetles. It is illegal to ship live beetles into the United States without a permit from the Department of Agriculture.

Seven of the beetles were in containers labeled by gender, which means they could have been intended for breeding, customs agency spokesman Steve Sapp said Wednesday.

The sender and recipient have been identified, Sapp said. An investigation is under way, but no decision has been made whether to file charges, he said.

'Crazy' Ants Swarm Houston Area, Ruin Electronic Devices

Thursday, May 15, 2008

DALLAS — In what sounds like a really low-budget horror film, voracious swarming ants that apparently arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship are invading homes and yards across the Houston area, shorting out electrical boxes and messing up computers.

The hairy, reddish-brown creatures are known as "crazy rasberry ants" — crazy, because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and "rasberry" after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on.

"They're itty-bitty things about the size of fleas, and they're just running everywhere," said Patsy Morphew of Pearland, who is constantly sweeping them off her patio and scooping them out of her pool by the cupful. "There's just thousands and thousands of them. If you've seen a car racing, that's how they are. They're going fast, fast, fast. They're crazy."

The ants — formally known as "paratrenicha species near pubens" — have spread to five Houston-area counties since they were first spotted in Texas in 2002.

The newly recognized species is believed to have arrived in a cargo shipment through the port of Houston. Scientists are not sure exactly where the ants came from, but their cousins, commonly called crazy ants, are found in the Southeast and the Caribbean.

"At this point, it would be nearly impossible to eradicate the ant because it is so widely dispersed," said Roger Gold, a Texas A&M University entomologist.

The good news? They eat fire ants, the stinging red terrors of Texas summers.

But the ants also like to suck the sweet juices from plants, feed on such beneficial insects as ladybugs, and eat the hatchlings of a small, endangered type of grouse known as the Attwater prairie chicken.

They also bite humans, though not with a stinger like fire ants.

Worse, they, like some other species of ants, are attracted to electrical equipment, for reasons that are not well understood by scientists.

They have ruined pumps at sewage pumping stations, fouled computers and at least one homeowner's gas meter, and caused fire alarms to malfunction. They have been spotted at NASA's Johnson Space Center and close to Hobby Airport, though they haven't caused any major problems there yet.

Exterminators say calls from frustrated homeowners and businesses are increasing because the ants — which are starting to emerge by the billions with the onset of the warm, humid season — appear to be resistant to over-the-counter ant killers.

"The population built up so high that typical ant controls simply did no good," said Jason Meyers, an A&M doctoral student who is writing his dissertation on the one-eighth-inch-long ant.

It's not enough just to kill the queen. Experts say each colony has multiple queens that have to be taken out.

At the same time, the ants aren't taking the bait usually left out in traps, according to exterminators, who want the Environmental Protection Agency to loosen restrictions on the use of more powerful pesticides.

And when you do kill these ants, the survivors turn it to their advantage: They pile up the dead, sometimes using them as a bridge to cross safely over surfaces treated with pesticide.

"It looked like someone had come along and poured coffee granules all around the perimeter of the rooms," said Lisa Calhoun, who paid exterminators $1,200 to treat an infestation of her parents' home in the Houston suburb of Pearland.

The Texas Department of Agriculture is working with A&M researchers and the EPA on how to stop the ants.

"This one seems to be like lava flowing and filling an entire area, getting bigger and bigger," said Ron Harrison, director of training for the big pest-control company Orkin Inc.

A tribute ...

A friend sent this to me - it was a tribute recently given at a memorial service for a comrade in ministry who had recently passed on. It had touched her so deeply and I found too that it stirred my soul ...

A Crowd Gathers On The Dock

A crowd gathers on the dock as the ship readies for departure.
People huddle around the lone passenger as he prepares to board.
Many tears, many hugs, handshakes, gentle pats on the back.
A few short remembrances, farewells, blessings, quick prayers.
Saying goodbye is always tough.
The most stoic of men have watery eyes.
Finally, the passenger - alone, bent, tired, frail - shuffles up the gangplank.
One last feeble wave to the crowd, a tear down his cheek.
The ship sets sail.
The crowd begins to disperse;
Numbly returning to the routine of life – which seems so mundane yet so urgent.
Cell phones ring. Engines start. Traffic is a mess.
The ship is moving quickly now.
Only a few are left on the dock.
An occasional wave, more tears, deep sighs.
The mast slips quietly over the horizon.
The ship with its only passenger disappears.
The final three people turn to walk into an unknown future.
They have suffered a great loss.

A crowd gathers on the dock as the ship is expected to arrive.
Anticipation mounts.
Suddenly the watchman cries out, “I see the mast! There, just on the horizon!”
As the ship draws near, the crowd swells.
The lone passenger - standing tall, strong, remade - waves to the people he recognizes.
There’s Marilyn!
There’s Scott! He’s only been here a few weeks.
There’s Doug, LeRoy, Loren, even Daws & Lila.
And in the back there’s Abraham, Moses, David, John and Timothy.
The great cloud of witnesses.
The ship docks.
The passenger bounds down the gangplank to warm embraces, shouts of joy, beaming smiles.
Coming home is always wonderful.
The crowd naturally parts to let the Man in White pass though.
The passenger falls to the ground, grabbing the nail pierced feet.
Worshiping in humility, thanksgiving and joy.
The Man lifts him up, puts his hands on his shoulders, looks him in the eye.
“Well done, Ron, my faithful servant and loyal friend. Am I glad to see you!”
Jesus turns to the crowd and shouts, “My beloved Ron is home. Let the party begin.”
The crowd goes nuts: Clapping. Singing. Dancing. High fives.
Some Presbyterians are even smiling. One cautiously raises his hands.
(I can say that, being a Presbyterian myself.)
Jesus escorts Ron through the crowd up the hill to the banquet hall.
He whispers with a twinkle in his eye, “Just wait ‘til you see what I’ve got in store for you!”
Ron smiles bigger than ever.

Yes, Ron has passed from the land of the dying to the land of the living.
No more tears. No more pain. No more sorrow.
Only righteousness, peace and joy – for ever and ever. Amen.

Ryan wants to be an Astro Physicist

Ryan wants to be an Astro Physicist :)
here are a couple of cool links ...

This one is a place you can go everyday for The Astronomy Picture of the Day with a bit of education to go along: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

And here is a great article about some of the recent research in the field: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/05/09/physics.nima/index.html?iref=topnews

(the article is in the comment if you'd like to read it here :)

Karen & Zeus

A picture that makes me very happy ~ my dear friend Karen and her dog Zeus!

Child Molester(s) ...

My friend Mel posted recently on things that she 'hated' and in using that as a springboard, I too shall share ... albeit unpleasantly.

Here is a picture of Josef Fritzl the monster from Vienna, Austria who recently was discovered to have imprisoned his daughter in a windowless celler at age 18 and has fathered 7 children with her in the past 24 years of her imprisonment.

Men who look like this have always raised my ire and Dave has had to listen to me for 26 years mutter under my breath, "grrrrrr, child molester ...."

(with minor apologies to all of you who don't care for such generalizations)

PS ~ And why are all the Texas polygamy pictures of the women and children victims
rather than the men who have been abusing them? This I don't understand.

A Boulder Easter ...

Easter is such a special holiday ~ the one in which we celebrate our joy and hope! It's so awesome that Jesus was our sacrifice for sin making those who accept His gift of forgiveness holy & righteous in the eyes of God even with our many imperfections -- and that He capped it off with His victory over death and the promise of our eternal life with Him ... all the good things of life on earth that He created and intended for us will be there and I can't wait to marvel :)

This Easter we went to Boulder where Ryan's new church, High Way Community, had its very first service as it launched with a vision to save lost people and to unite the community of Christ across ministries and churches. Steve Crowder is an awesome pastor -- he and his wife Vicki obediently followed God's call and left Arkansas with their 3 children to start this church. Pastor Steve (David Crowder's brother, for those of you who know David's music :) has made a commitment to mentoring Ryan and the church views the India team as their first set of missionaries sent to share the Good News even to the ends of the earth.

Pastor Steve Crowder preaching the Good Word ... After church, we had a traditional Easter brunch of spiral cut ham, cheesy potatoes, and green beans almondine at Ryan's "house" with 3 other students that were unable to go home for Spring Break ... Christiana saved my life (yes literally -- it was a very bad situation) with the heimlich after a piece of ham got lodged in my throat while we were getting brunch ready ... although upsetting and scary (more for Christiana than me ;) it was kind of neat having a mini-resurrection on Easter day!

Drew, Christiana, Chelsea, Ryan, Mom's chair, Dave, Brittany, Sean, & Trey ...And of course ... we followed brunch with classic Easter Egg Hunt ~ it's pretty cool having younger kids around to provide a great "excuse" for searching for chocolate candy & cheap plastic toys :)

Ryan ... Christiana ... Brittany ... Dave ... Sean ... The volleyball court in front of the house ... Dave ... Trey ... Brittany ... Munchin' chocolate ... And flying parachute eggs ... Indoor basketball ~ plus scoop game ~ plus plastic bad mitten
(all the plastic Easter toy favorites!) Silly momma ...Our college students ... we sure do love these goofballs!
(how 'bout the reversal in hair ?! )
Happy Easter!!