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?

more animals

I have a spam filter that traps thousands of spam comments every week. I used to do spot checks and found that everything it caught truly was spam, most of which gave me the willies just seeing as comments…no need to go to the sites they linked to.

But I happened to spot check yesterday…day before?…anyway, and found a genuine comment amongst all that spam. So if anyone has ever posted a comment to my blog and found that it never appeared. I apologize. It is entirely possible that it simply got caught up in the thousands of spams the filter caught and sent out with the trash. I wish I could say it will never happen again, but I can’t. When you get as many spam comments as I get (Astounding considering how few real ones there are), you just can’t check them all.

And trust me, you wouldn’t want to.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

I keep Jack and myself amused by continually changing my desktop to reflect a current favorite photo. These are almost always gems I’ve borrowed from I Can Has Cheezburger.com and I’ve decided it’s high time I start sharing the fun.

So today’s choice, in honor of my son the sound engineer….

Meow Mix

more animals

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

They say that what you’re doing at midnight on New Year’s Eve is what you’ll be doing all year long. Knowing this, I intentionally spent the last part of 2007 and the first part of 2008 in the Word of God. Guess what? The saying held true for me. I’ve now officially read the Bible through four times in two years, but the majority of the reading was done this year, so it’s really almost three times in one year.

I cannot tell you how much of a difference spending so much time in the Word has made in my life. The difference, of course, is in ME. I’ve learned that if my attitude stinks I need only go to the Word and God will use it to help adjust my attitude. That’s one of the most recent discoveries, as I’ve had a few times lately when my attitude needed serious adjusting. I’ve learned so much about the Word that it astounds me at times - and this not from actively studying it so much as reading it with an ear tuned to what the Holy Spirit had to say. Too, just as you gain more each time you reread a favorite novel, so you gain more -  MUCH MORE - every time you reread the Bible.

This past year has been one of myriad challenges and even more blessings. The blessings have been great. The challenges? Well, I can honestly say that if it weren’t for the Word, the Holy Spirit, God my Father, my Big Brother Jesus…my ship would have been swamped many many times. I honestly do not know how people who don’t have a relationship with God can go through the challenges most of us face and still remain sane.

Anyway…

So I’m looking forward to 2009 now and I believe that on December 31, 2008 I’m going to do the very same thing I did on December 31, 2007; I’m going to intentionally see the old year out and the new year in with those closest to me (Yep - The Word/Jesus/God/the Holy Spirit) in hopes that next year will see me growing more, learning more, coming closer to the woman of God that my heavenly Father wants me to be.

If you’ve been reading a while, you know that my past four rereads have been reading "through" the Bible, not so much stopping to study as making quick margin notes so that I could study later. My plan is to approach this next "readthrough" slightly differently. I’m going to pull my copy of The Message back out and turn to the book of Matthew. I’ve learned so much by my multiple readings of the Old Testament that I’m ready to approach the New Testament a little more in-depth. This time I’ll read with a notebook and pen handy, taking notes as I go along. I may or may not pull out such study aids as my Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible; we’ll have to see. My plan, on finishing the New Testament, is to then turn back to Genesis 1:1 and do the same.

However the details develop, I know the adventure will be just as rewarding as this year’s has been.

And now I leave you with the words I read only a few minutes ago, from Revelation 22:21.

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

This is the type of story I wish I’d see more often. You’ll find the full article at ESPN The Magazine

They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.

It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.

Did you hear that? The other team’s fans?

They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions.

"I WOULDN’T EXPECT ANOTHER PARENT TO TELL SOMEBODY TO HIT THEIR KIDS. BUT THEY WANTED US TO!"

It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name.

And I loved this part too..

This all started when Faith’s head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. "Here’s the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth."

I highly recommend that you go read the whole article, because it really helps build your faith in your fellow man. But if you have any heart at all you’ll want to grab a box of tissues first.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Jack’s blood pressure and blood sugar levels are finally coming under control. Even so, he had a mini-stroke on the 22nd. There were no lasting effects other than slurred speech, which the doctor assures him will pass within a couple weeks or so. It was nerve-wracking, though, and now I’m jumpy. He’s not feeling well at the moment, says he’s just tired, but since I know that "tired" is one of the signs of stroke I’m battling fear.

Fear is not of God. I know this well.

Please keep us lifted up in your prayers.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

I had a great time shopping for my family’s gifts this year, and it seems everything was appreciated. At least I hope so. All other gifts were eclipsed, however, by the most unlikely.

And knowing my kids as I do, I should have expected it.

It’s Flarp, and I found it on the dollar aisle. Apparently you can’t get this product anymore. At full price, I’d certainly never have bought it, but as a funny for a nearly-four-year-old it was a great deal at a buck.

Thing is, Connor couldn’t figure out how to make it make noise, so he took it to his dad. HE started playing with it and started laughing, then tossed it to his brother with the challenge, "I dare you not to laugh." Terry had to laugh too, and things went downhill from there. That ball of noisy stuff was made to "burp," fly through the air, and simulate snot for well over an hour…well over.

Maybe I shoulda spent my days shopping at the dollar store. LOL!

Here’s hoping your Christmas was joyous!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Photo by Graphic Original Designs

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Two great things belong together, yes? In this case, the two greats are Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash. I grew up listening to Johnny Cash (And Lawrence Welk’s band and a wiiiiiiiiiiide variety of other music), but never knew he had a television show. Even if I’d known, I’d never have guessed that Louis Armstrong had once appeared, or that Satchmo had ever played with the "father of country music."

Enjoy the YouTube video.

I’m glad I have friends who track down such jewels. It’s nice to come across things like this in those moments when I need a lift.

Celebrating Jesus!

Okay, this may sound ridiculous, but for the first time ever I’m actually enjoying wrapping Christmas gifts. Why? Because I finally figured out where to do it! LOL!

Maybe it would be different if I were shorter, but  I’ve found that if I wrap gifts sitting on the floor my back starts hurting far too quickly thanks to all the bending over. And tables are too low, which means my back still hurts from bending over. This year, however, I stumbled upon the ironing board, set to just the right height for me, and it is working out to be the perfect solution. Now, maybe it would be less than ideal if my gifts were larger, but still…I’ve wrapped some decently-sized gifts and haven’t have a bit of trouble - no frustrations, no back aches, and no wishing I didn’t have one more thing to wrap.

Indeed, I’m rejoicing that I do have more to wrap just as soon as I can get out and buy more paper. For the first time in more years than I care to think about, I actually have money to buy gifts for my family. I’m still not getting everyone as much as I would like, but I’m really quite pleased with what I’ve got and very much look forward to our Christmas day gathering.

Hey, here’s a tip in case you could use it. Bath and Body Works has a huge canvas bag that’s on sale for $5 right now (At least it was when I worked on Sunday). If you have large gifts, this makes a FABULOUS large gift bag, especially if you get the matching luggage tag (75% off) and use it as the gift tag. I’m actually trying to see if I can have my grandson’s name put on the bag I plan to use for him.

This is my only day off between now and Christmas, so quite possibly the only time you’ll hear from me until then. With this in mind, I bid you all a very merry and fabulously blessed Christmas!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C