jacolily’s Neighborhood

I love those freecreditreport.com commercials with that guy who sings those little songs.  I think they're funny.

Did you just totally lose all respect for me?

Show us your favorite person.

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I tell him all the time, "Do you know you're my favorite person?" He really is!

Today is the first game!

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Caged bananas?!?

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I don't have a lot of time, but here are some of my main thoughts re: the election.

• I'm getting tired of the "experience" debate.  The fact is, whether Sarah Palin was running a town of 9,000 or 9 million, she has RUN SOMETHING.  Obama has not.
• And why are we comparing Obama and Palin, anyway?  Sarah Palin is not running for president.  John McCain is running for president.  But Obama doesn't even begin to compare with McCain on issues of foreign policy or energy or - hm - experience.  Yes, yes, obviously I know that Palin could be called upon to be president.  But why is everyone so certain that McCain is going to keel over while he's in office?  Ronald Reagan was at 70 years old when he took office and he served 8 years.
• What's with the questions about whether Sarah Palin should be at home with her kids?  What is this, 1950?  Think what you like about it, but why is no one questioning whether Barack Obama should be running for an office that's such a big time committment?  He's got young kids at home too.  It's called grasping at straws.  If Palin was a Democrat, she'd be lauded for being progressive and "doing it all."
• The purpose of Palin's speech last night was not to talk policy.  Her purpose was to introduce herself and fire up the Republicans, which she did smashingly.  The policy talk will begin after tonight.
• And speaking of her speech, she was fantastic.  She was articulate, poised, intelligent, and funny.  (The styrofoam column comment cracked me up.)  And she looked great too.  She's the real thing, for sure, and a real live threat, which is why MSNBC, the New York Times, and all their liberal friends are shaking in their boots and looking for any dirt they can find.  If the American public is intelligent enough to not blindly eat up everything the mainstream media throws out there, this could be an excellent election season!

The baby kitties are gone.  Some friends of ours are moving from town out to the country and they just came and got them.  So they're going to a good home, and they got to stay together, which I'd hoped for.

I'd secretly hoped we'd get to keep them.  :(

1. Get kids up and to school.
2. Stop at McKay's, the best store in all of St. Mary's County and get stuff to make flammenkuchen. I've got to use my creme fraiche before it goes bad!
3. Clean a whole bunch after a week of holidays, lunches with friends, breakfast/bible study with friends, afternoons hanging out with friends.
4. Upload the first day of school pictures from oh, um, over a week ago. Post 'em to Vox. E-mail them to people.
5. Hang out and watch the kids' sports practices. Or hang out while they practice and attempt to get farther into Persuasion by Jane Austen(or whoever the chick is that wrote Pride and Predjudice). Seriously, I feel like a dunce, but I have to read and reread sometimes. I'm determined to finish this one, unlike War and Peace. Fortunately, this is a much easier read than War and Peace.
6. Make a delicious dinner for TV Thursday, which is quickly become Theological Thursday. Lately, it's been me, Steve, Rob and Kirsten at the table talking Bible, while poor Gary just wants to start playing Jeopardy. Funny thing, I actually have a question written down to ask Rob. Convenient having your brother in law also be your pastor. Although, that also means he knows me better than your average pastor. Not sure if that's a good thing. ;-)
7. Go to bed. Seriously, I love going to bed. Nothing like curling up underneath our down comforter on our comfy featherbed. It's like sleeping wrapped up in a cloud. Oooh, and you know what? In about an hour, that is exactly where I'll be. Yay!

I've talked a lot of politics lately.  Not here, but on others' blogs, and at work, and at home.  Sometimes you need a break.  And what better way to break it up than with something that everyone loves: KITTIES!!

(If you hate cats and don't need a break from politics, then you can pretend that one's Obama and one's McCain.)

The high cost of removing our guilt

Jesus paid a high price—his life—in order to remove our guilt before a holy God. While Jesus paid the price only he could pay, freedom from guilt is costly for us in other ways. The high price for us is the difficult task of admitting to God (and often others) that we were wrong and that we need forgiveness. This is called confession. As costly as confession is, the rewards are even greater: peace with ourselves and others, restored relationships, the removal of sin, and a renewed relationship with God.

But pride is a powerful force in our lives. Pride tells us, "All is well! You're OK!" Pride denies the reality of sin; in contrast, guilt warns us that all is not well. Guilt acknowledges the presence of sin and urges us to confess it. So these two—guilt and pride—battle it out in our souls. When guilt wins, a sin that separated us from God is removed. When pride wins, we remain isolated from God's grace, love, and care. There may be a high cost to removing guilt, but there is a higher cost to keeping it.