From a Cluttered Desk

I am Tammy Cardwell, she of the cluttered desk. (Hey, you think I'm kidding?!) I'm having a blast here in Blogland and invite to you to peruse my ramblings. Like a buffet, they offer variety - essentially whatever makes it to the top of the piles that sometimes clutter my brain. We'll eventually cover it all - homeschooling, God, our church, the Eclectic Homeschool Online, books I'm writing and publishing, conferences I speak at, the joys of grandmotherhood, and hopefully chocolate. Of course, this is only what's near the top now. Who knows what's in those piles?

I’ve been getting some mindless necessities taken care of around here and giving my thoughts a chance to wander has led to some wishful thinking. These are things that are so UNLIKELY ever to happen…but oh, it would be nice.

I wish…

…that I could tell John that I forgave him long ago. About 25 years ago, he let his younger brother borrow my car (I’d loaned it to John) and younger brother totaled it while doing donuts in a parking lot . Recently I realized that in my last conversation with him I was still VERY upset, particularly since I’d already decided to give the car to John as soon as his parents returned from a ministry trip. Those plans got squashed along with the car and I felt like we’d both been robbed, but that didn’t stop me from forgiving him.

I wish…

…that Karen, my best friend from junior high, would pop up out of the blue. We wrote each other for YEARS after she moved away, but when I sold out to Jesus and she became an athiest the relationship was more than she could take. She informed me in her last letter that if I ever mentioned God again she would never speak to me. I told her in my last letter that He was such a huge part of my life that there was no way I could NOT mention Him. It would have been like asking someone whose language consists primarily of curse words to stop cursing. I couldn’t do what she asked, but I regretted losing her friendship.

I wish…

…that I could somehow "find" Lynn’s lost pendant. Now this one really WOULD take a hugenormous miracle! We were given matching pendants, bronze with claddaghs on the front. Her oldest daughter teethed on her pendant and left a tooth mark on the back. When she was playing a part in a renaissance festival about 15 years ago she lost it and she was devastated. Getting that pendant back into her hands would be the very best gift I think anyone could ever give her. (Hey, if you found such a pendant in the woods in Tennessee…)

I wish a lot of things. Fortunately, most of my wishes are more easily attainable than these three.

Blessings!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

I love this quote by S. Augustine. It so concisely sums up my own thoughts on the issue.

We are talking about God. What wonder is it that you do not understand?
If you do understand, then it is not God.
~ St. Augustine

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

If you read my blog much, you know I am in one of the areas that was hardest hit by Hurricane Ike. Baytown suffered destruction that rivals what you saw on the national news about Galveston, but our loss is NOTHING compared to that suffered by those who call Oak Island home. One of my managers spent some time down there helping her family last week and she says it’s still total devastation. This place isn’t even a city, so they’re really on their own. Even FEMA only JUST went in and large numbers of people are "living" in tents without walls. And did I mention that it’s officially fall?

But there is help coming to them, even from one of my old favorites, Neil Diamond.

Because Oak Island is not a city, residents have had no mayor or city council to turn to for help. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has also offered little to residents. Only now - two months later - has FEMA begun coming in to set up temporary housing and run power lines. Still, Oak Island residents have been working together night and day to survive. Shauberger said those who had never attended Oak Island’s only church are now there working and praying together as a single community. It is there they cook, eat and live together.

“Just last week these Vietnamese folks who had never set foot in the church before the storm came up to me and gave me an envelopes,” Shauberger said. “They said, ‘here Pastor this is some money for you for your gas. You’ve been driving all over trying to get us some help.’”

Riding on such offerings of fellowship, Shauberger has dedicated his time to telling people about Oak Island. Celebrity Neil Diamond has taken note, traveling to the little community for their monthly “business meeting” and promising 100 percent of the merchandise profits from his next 20 concerts to the community.

For the complete article, read Ike recovery coming slowly for Oak Island. Please pray for those who live there and, if you are so inclined, send them some help. You can contact Chambers County officials at 409-267-8295 and they’ll assist you in your giving.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

I said in a post, not too long ago, that I was reading The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel. I anticipated the book being a winner and I was totally right.

I’ve never really gotten into apologetics before. They tell me this book is all about apologetics, but it doesn’t read like I would expect an apologetics book to read. It’s fascinating and full of personality. It also, on page after page after page, presents extremely strong evidence in favor of Jesus being the resurrected Christ, the Messiah the Jews are looking for. My biggest problem, while reading, was making myself put the book down.

I encourage every Christian to read this oldie, even if you don’t think you "need" it. I would also challenge every non-believer to read it. Though if you’re determined to remain a non-believer you’d best not; you’re too likely to find your convictions changing as Strobel, an experienced legal journalist, shoots down every argument I’ve ever heard raised against Jesus being who He is.

HIGHLY recommended!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Evidently some states are realizing what homeschoolers have known for decades, that it isn’t absolutely necessary for kids to stay in school for 12 years. A Time Magazine article asks the question, "Should Kids Be Able to Graduate After 10th Grade?"

A snippet…

High school sophomores should be ready for college by age 16. That’s the message from New Hampshire education officials, who announced plans Oct. 30 for a new rigorous state board of exams to be given to 10th graders. Students who pass will be prepared to move on to the state’s community or technical colleges, skipping the last two years of high school.

Lynda Coats, of Far Above Rubies, has been saying for years that junior high is pretty much a waste since most of what is presented comes up again in high school, and that if we allow our children to start high school work when they would normally be entering 6th grade they do quite well. I know my own son (The younger one) graduated somewhat ahead of the usual schedule and he’s doing very well as an adult.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

I just read a blog entry entitled "Contagious Joy" and was really hit between the eyes. I started yesterday in a not-good mood.

Not-good moods are just that. They’re not bad moods, exactly, but they’re not good moods either. Unfortunately, my destination was my job at Bath & Body Works at the mall and not-good moods aren’t overly beneficial in such settings. I tried to "turn it on" (I learned decades ago that you smile and give the best possible service whether you’re feeling it or not), but inside I knew something was lacking and things got worse as the day went on and sales were seriously not good. I’m a manager now, so seriously not good sales reflect seriously badly on me. After ending last week with really nice numbers, I started this week thoroughly disgusted.

What I should have done was carve out some time…maybe at my meal break…to go be by myself somewhere in the mall and get with God. I’m sure He could have affected the needed attitude adjustment if I’d only given Him the chance.

Note to Self: In the future…

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Our church is hosting The Glory and the Fire this week and last night’s service was AWESOME. This is a group that comes into churches, sets up their own sound and lighting systems, and trains your church’s people to act with them in a variety of scenes depicting real life situations and their real "after life" consequences. In our church, because of the height of our sanctuary, they’re also able to use pyrotechnics and believe me, they add to the effect. Inspiring tears, laughter, and "OhmyGodHellisreal" reactions, this is one of the most consistently powerful dramatic ministries I’ve ever seen, one that inevitably bears fruit. For instance, last night we had over 300 people respond to the altar call.

I wish I could give you a website for them, but they don’t have one. I have been told they have a MySpace, though, if you happen to play around in that neck of the woods.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Like many bloggers, I regularly look at my site stats. I watch where people come from and what brings them here. One of the most interesting things to watch is search strings - the words people type into search engines when they’re seeking out specific information. Sometimes these searches are absolutely hysterical and I wonder how in the world the search engine thought my blog fit the criteria, then I’m curious about what made the seeker click on my link, and I’ll often run the same search to see what else pops up. Other times it’s encouraging because I know that somehow, some way, things I’m saying are attracting people’s attention. If I were more business oriented, I might even figure out a way to work with the search strings to bring more visitors to my blog…but that’s another post.

Other times the search strings are far from funny, like the ones I found yesterday. They varied slightly, but in essence were…

free copy see i told me so

Now, it is possible that this person  was searching for some other book entitled See, I Told Me So, but even if they were I’m going to say what I have to say on that author’s behalf as well as my own.

For the benefit of those who do not know, See, I Told Me So! is one of my ebooks. I and a group of homeschool parents and graduates wrote it to encourage anxious homeschoolers, to reassure them that no matter what your life looks like it is possible to homeschool and raise responsible children….to look back at homeschooling and say, "See, I told me so! I knew it was going to come out all right!" We, as a group, put countless hours into writing this book, and then I put even more hours into editing it and prepping it to publish as an ebook and then to market it. Because I want as many people to be able to read it as possible, I’ve priced it at $9.95, which is about as low as you can go and people not think a book must be worthless.

I have given hundreds…perhaps thousands…of copies away for free. I’ve spoken at conferences where I offered it to attendees as a free download. I’ve been part of benefits and fundraisers where I offered it as part of download packages people would receive after making donations. I’ve even given free copies to individuals as I felt the Lord lead. It is an important message that I and those who co-authored it with me want to get out and as a result I am open, on occasion, to taking part in projects that put it in the hands of other people without me making a dime.

But me choosing to give copies away for free and someone else choosing to give copies away for free are two different things. It is MY book. When someone stumbles across a link that was intended to be a private link for conference members to download their free copy and the discoverer - who is not a conference member - downloads a copy, they’re stealing. And when that person shares the link with others and those people download copies, that also is stealing. I’m using a concrete example here. This very thing has happened, where someone discovered just such a link and shared it on at least one homeschool list I know of.

Another scenario that has played out, more than once, is where "thrify" homeschoolers "share" their efiles of this and other ebooks. This can be as small as one homeschooler emailing a copy to a friend and as large as one woman I’m aware of who set up a yahoo group specifically so that she could share illegal copies of hundreds of homeschool products.

Even if you do find it as a supposedly free download online…that doesn’t mean it’s free.

With few exceptions, when someone purchases an ebook, they are purchasing THAT copy of the book. THAT copy is their copy. If they make a copy of it, there is no longer one copy; there are two - and the second is an illegal copy. This is because they did not buy copy right; they bought a single book. It may be easy to make copies of and share ebooks and other electronic products, but you have to think of them as if they were printed…at least if your ethics are right.

As harsh as it sounds, if someone’s hard drive crashes and they lose the book, it’s just as if they accidently left a regular book on a seat in the subway, they’ve lost the book and should buy another if they want it replaced. Now, most of the publishers I know personally would probably replace the ebook in this instance if it had originally been purchased directly from them (I almost surely would), but they’re certainly not required to by law or even ethics.

Yes, it bugged me to see that someone was trying to find a free copy of a book that I have a massive amount of hours, prayer, and effort invested in, a book that should be helping me make it financially.

::::thinking:::::

Okay, I’m going to be a little more open than usual. See, most seem to envision publishers as being people with money. Most of us are not; in fact, in the homeschool arena the opposite is usually the case. In point of fact, my monthly income is… Huh… I suppose I shouldn’t share hard figures. Let me just say this. I’m frugal. We’ve lived frugally for years because we’ve had to. At the very least, it would be nice if my publishing company could make enough money to keep me online, but when I leave the house I’m living in right now (returning to the old house even though Ike left it in even worse shape), there is every possibility - probability - that I will be offline, because paying the local cable company isn’t even remotely in the budget right now. I’m just rejoicing that I’ll be able to pay the electric company tomorrow. And the water company? Well, they’ll have to wait and so will running water. Normally, our grocery budget is about $50 a week, maybe $100 on a really good week. Splurges are rare and I was absolutely thrilled today when I was finally in a position financially that I could buy not one, but two pair of work shoes and a new pair of work slacks. (Shoe Carnival and Burlington Coat Factory…bless you!)

So you see, YES, it does impact me when people steal copies of See, I Told Me So! Just say ten copies are shared illegally every month. That’s $99.50 that, were the books purchased from me instead, would have been enough to keep me online…or put gas in the car…or bought groceries…or paid a chunk of the light bill…or…

It matters, which is why I finally decided to say something. I try really hard not to offend people, most of the time, but right now… I guess you’d say I’m the one who is offended.

Celebraing Jesus! (in the midst of everything)
Tammy C

Join the Campaign

It looks like we’re moving back into the old house this weekend, and unless God works something out that means no more Internet access for me for a while. Well, not unless I can fit trips to the library or wherever into my extremely busy schedule. We’ll see.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Like most Christians, I love the song Amazing Grace; it speaks to me in a powerful and unique way. A friend recently sent me a link to this YouTube video and not only do I recommend it as a great rendition of Amazing Grace, but also because it shares some fascinating information that I never knew before. The speaker/singer’s name is Wintley Phipps and oh man is he good!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C