Human instinct must have been kicking in. Still remember the exact place, and the thoughts

running through my 6 or 7 year old brain.  Was the first time i was witnessed to.  Neighbor girl, Lois, was from a churchgoing family.  She said something about God being angry with sinners.  No, don't recall her exact words, but do recall - as if my reaction to her words happened last Tuesday - thinking, along the lines of, i'm in serious trouble.  Being that my folks didn't do church, though Dad's mom did - gram went to a for-real church - anyway, i barely looked skyward, out of fear, in knowing that, that i could be zapped with a bolt of lightening.  i remember not even thinking about quarreling with that angry "white bearded old man" (okay, can't resist taking that little pot shot at Lord-bashers :).

Then, my neighbor told me about Jesus.  And no, can't remember her exact words, but do recall my reaction to her words.  Such relief.  i then knew, i wouldn't get zapped, or whatever, because Jesus likes kids.  Here's what else that popped into my little noggin.  Instinct at work?  i knew that, that "white bearded" old sky warrior loved his son, and because he loved his son, the old king wouldn't zap me.  In short, Jesus protected kids (like me) from his father's anger.

And there's something else, i recall.  Simply accepting things as they were.  Basically, not even considering wanting to question or judge the relationship between Father and Son - the father being angry, while the son being protecting.  All's i knew was, Father and Son were close, and just plain accepted that.

So, did i come to a saving knowledge that day?   Even though i did not fault God for his anger toward me (YES, i remember not even for one second, harboring any resentment, only accepting things as they were.)  Seriously believe, i had come within an inch of salvation.  But i don't recall asking Jesus to save me.

Getting across that final inch, didn't happen until around this time of year, twelve years ago.  

Anyway, mr.agnostic/atheist rolled out his reasons to not believe. Not surprised,

having been the bright little boy he was (and now, a bright mid-40s man) his questions had been met with ... number one:  VICIOUS mind games, and about NO honest "well, I don't know."   Had to about laugh, (not funny, just no-brainer) when he made the statement, that churches have, amongst them, more than one or two evil people, and that most people there, are faking it.  Uhm, didn't Jesus say, " on that day, many will say, Lord, Lord, haven't we, in your name do many wonderful works..."  And doesn't Jude, who i think was Jesus's half brother, warn the church that "ravenous wolves" were in the church, planning and plotting bad trouble.

He didn't go into alot of detail about the mind gaming he had experienced as a youngster, but what he said, was enough.  YES hell is real, and it is eternal, but a four year old does NOT need to have the horrid details pounded into his little brain.  Kids need to learn about grace, forgiveness, love - and turning away from bratty behavior,  and that sin is a human condition, that even the best and brightest of us, struggle against it.

Nope, the little boy was threatened with hell-fire, because he was ... what!  Looking out the window, watching some squirrel, that's what.

Next up, was the slaughter of the caananites.  Oh yeah, that was one i struggled with, for several years.  He said, they had just been living their lives.  Yeah, what i used to think too - i had thought they were just pot-smoking hippies, going to the high places where they grooved to grateful dead melodies.  No, seriously, that music is ancient.

Needless to say, how naive.   The caananites were into some nasty stuff.  They had been practicing...ugh, for centuries.  And didn't the Lord warn the israelites, that if they did the same, the "land would vomit them out."

An individual, who believes that when we die, we just cease to exist. Not surprised, he went on

to say things like, there being no proof.  That brought to mind the account of the freed hebrews crossing the red sea - and where they crossed, their sandals didn't get muddy.  Uh, how did that exposed bit of ground dry, within ... what?  A few hours?  Oh wait, i know i know, the Lord has this turbo hand dryer ... ya know, the kind that plumbers use, but like 80 zillion times more powerful.   But laying all jokes aside, that ground WAS dry.  How do i know this?  Uhm, it's in the (King James) Bible.

And tthheeenn, in the nick of time, when the last of the hebrews got to the other side, and the pharoah and company were hot on hebrew heels, the water came crashing down.  Then, some days later, their canteens were empty, Moses struck a rock, and out flows water.

Evidence that the Lord is real?  How much evidence does a person need?  We know the rest of the story - many of them did not believe.  They wanted their cucumbers and some bull image to party around.

So much for evidence.  Meanwhile, here in the "real" world, it's so commonplace for people to spend money they don't have on things that don't last.  You'd think that, after a few "please remit" statements arrive in the box, a person would consider this clear  evidence, that he or she is headed for trouble.

Nope.  

It's out the door and down to the qwik-way...after all, that last trip yielded $100 (never mind, the months of $10s, $20 - and maybe a random return of $3 or $5.  Uhm, didn't we all learn about this in 8th grade?  Btw, this blogger struggles with basic math, but i know that if you earn $10 dollars, it's a dog gone good idea to put aside atleast a little bit of it, because your weed whacker might quit.

More later, godda git.

Oh brother! Gramma's in debt up to her eyeballs, works a tedious job, and retirement..?

Guess that won't be happening anytime soon.  Anyway, her 35-ish daughter just had a baby, and also has been living paycheck to paycheck...guess not now, her baby is like two weeks old.  She also works a tedious job, and yeah, she is single.  Don't know whether or not dad is even in the picture.  The baby is a boy, who, stastically, will grow up fatherless.  

Back in '91, Daniel Amneus had published a readable study about boys who grow up without their dads.  While fatherless girls tend to hook up with the wrong sort of men, the boys tend to become those men.  And so, another troubled generation.  Another generation whose productivity will be lacking - to put it mildly.

A certain preacher had said, to paraphrase, "there is no one more bitter than a [child born out of wedlock], he (or she) knows his (other) parent didn't love him enough to raise him."   He had said, to the effect that these kids are prone into growing up with a vicious mindset.  

And NO, killing kids (abortion) isn't the solution.  But taking that mtv, and hollywood rubbish, and tossing it in the pit ... that would be smart.  Hollywood is nothing but low-down scoffers - they make fun of anything even approaching decent.   

Ya know, the skinny kid, who goes to church, cuts the grass - without his dad having to remind him thirty times - does his homework, gets a decent job, gets promoted...bla, bla, bla... Those achieving young men have been held to scorn for decades.   Why?   Well, heaven forbid, back in the day, the typical decent young guy wanted to meet a decent young gal, marry her and raise a family.

What's wrong with that?  The weirdos in the entertainment industry, hate families - and have for decades.  Hollywood and such, has so many devils, they're parked on the roof, and hanging on the sides.

Rant done, bye for now.

Well, i didn't know that - per fmla, when you're on leave w/o pay, for x-amount of time,

you have to make up the difference of what your employer pays for health benefits.  And those payments have to be on time.  So, how does that work?  Getting a reduced, if any, pay, and now you owe, yet another bill?  All's i know is, about half the time, the ill person is not you, but a child, or other family member.  And you can bet your reduced check, it's the women who end up eff'd out of their pay checks - if not their future earning power.  But she isn't the only one who gets a bum steer.

So, the pages in her inbasket continue to accumulate.  But the work has to be done ... by someone.  Yep, give it to that co-worker in the next cube.   And that co-worker probably doesn't have family obligations  -  yep, here we go with the mommy/non-mommy track wars.  

Ya hear the child-free party rant.  And yeah, they've a point.  Unfortunately, way more often than not, their socio-politics is ssso rooted in hedonI$m...so much for credibility:/  Because the Biblical FACT remains:  we're supposed to want kids, and people who don't, are some 99 out of 100, just plain self centered - want their stupid little hobbIe$ (which don't amount to...well, much of anything, really) and whatever other entertaInment$.  Gag. With. Spoon :/

From a worldling point of view, you wonder why our economy is on life support??  It's because there are not enough young people to pass the baton to, as we 60-somethings - having been working for the past 40-some years - either want to, or have to, go part-time or full retIrement.   Meanwhile, young people are tax burdened - for things (like boomers) for which they won't benefit...and young people cop an attitude??  Well, duh.

All just comes back around, to what happens when, sadly, the Bible gets ignored, and women get pushed into the workforce.  Yes pushed, because when the kids are little, mom would rather be home with them - and not having to straddle two completely different worlds, and trying to deal with the mediocrity...because, most of us can only multitask so much, for so long.

Yep, we ignore the Word, and then beef about the mess we're all in.

Speaking of "t-rash," (what we used to call "crumb-bums") have a hard time believing that women of privilege actually chase after

such low-life's.  And yeah, i get it, a gal wants a masculine man - and that's why men who've gone to war/fight fires/chase crooks/restore power during high winds usually have their choice of attractive women.  

Needful to say, it sure doesn't help matters affecting men, with mtv-ism defining masculinity.  Please, LORD, help us all out here; only YOU have the power to take mtv and cast it into hell - where it came from.  Speaking of hollywood and such, it's sorta funny how people rattle off about big-gubment being such a waste...oh, kindly move over, fed and state bureaucrats, you've all been bested - the REAL waste of resources is the entertainment industry...Period.

Shift about to start, bye!

Thinking about buying "Curse of High IQ." Not that i am smart, it's just that, can somehow understand

what it would be like to find very, very few people to relate to.  Anyway, the book is by Aaron Clarey - and he has some other interesting titles (ya can't find interesting stuff just any old where).  One thing that stands out is:  most people are of average iq, and so, are able to share common interests.  But if you're really smart, there is likely three other people in town with whom you could share interests - oh wait, Carl is 90 and doesn't hear so well, and Mike?  Well, he has some issues (couldn't have anything to do with those mean t-rash's back in junior high...could it??).

Anyway, it doesn't take a rocket science degree to atleast have some understanding of what loneliness must feel like.  And it doesn't take a mega-brain to know that most people are more extrovert than are introvert.  Btw, being the latter is a real hurdle, because the Scriptures say so much about doing this, that, and the other for other people - where introverts would rather just steer clear of people-drama.

Yikes, godda roll.  (Being on other people's timetable...inhales).