Christmas Crowds

Posted by Liz Voss

Thursday, December 9, 2010

by Linda Rempel

I HATE CROWDS... am I the only one?

I DO NOT go to Black Friday... I could never stand in line that long and I could for sure never ever try to get something from a bunch of screaming fighting women...
Ask Debi about this for details... (she on the other hand will )

I don't wait in lines at restaurants so Tom and I go out on Monday...or if it is a Friday we have to go by six and get done ... Have you seen the lines at Lazlos or the Char Grill after six thirty??? And now what? They are opening an Egg and I in Clocktower... My family is flipping out and I said to Deborah... DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG THE LINES WILL BE ON SUNDAY NOON????

NOOOOOO...

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Big Girls Do Cry (and little ones and boys and big boys)

Posted by Liz Voss

Saturday, October 2, 2010

by Linda Rempel

So I have been crying a lot lately... (why do i always start these blogs with so... or hmmmm.?) Anyway... there it goes again...

I have been thinking about crying and in our "rough and tough" be a man ... be a girl/man world we are uncomfortable with anyone who cries... I cannot tell you how many times people have apologized to me for "making me cry"…Really? Like I don't remember if you don't mention the subject at hand? Really?

Anyway throughout the scripture God talks about weeping... crying... lamenting...TEARS...

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A Note to the Pastor

Posted by Liz Voss

Thursday, September 16, 2010

by Linda Rempel  

                                                                                                        

HMMMMMM.... thought I would blog my letter to Tom the other day... a spontaneous email while cleaning my filthy van... if Tom and I ever had words it was over these things.... just shows an old dog can learn new tricks.... :-)

As one who knows you better than anyone but God, I wanted to say that what I have seen in the last few years is a man who has learned that a footprint on the dash of the van or a scratch in the plastic is a sign that your grandaughters were picked up with their backpacks after school, and that smoothie splashed on the seats means that Nu Vibe was bought for them and they drank it while telling things to you that they won't tell their parents...

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The Road Not Traveled...

Posted by Liz Voss

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

by Linda Rempel


So this is the deal... I have been thinking a lot about the "paths" of my life and how decisions about moving... jobs... discipline... rules... eating... not eating... have affected my life...

My Mother lives with us... She is a multi talented self taught woman who is an artistic beyond belief... poetic... journaling ... thinking woman... and brought with her to my house all her books of poetry
one of them being the title of this blog....
Most of my life has been wished away as I have told you before and full of decisions to make... some of them life changing... some of them life threatening... some of them... irreversible...

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Empty Again...

Posted by Liz Voss

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

by Linda Rempel

So the first day of school is over... empty nest... again... everyone is in school... i was thinking about this and am a firm believer in seizing the day... much of my life was wished away ... i wish this was over... i want to know the end of this chapter ....sometimes when the end came i did not want to know...

there are seasons of life... i love love the summer... hot as it is i hate to be cold... so i wish away the winter... and dread the fall... love love spring..(the most) and then comes summer when everything is green and there are flowers in the yard and watermelon and strawberries and blueberries and tomatoes and cucumbers with buttermilk on them or "wemon" pepper as Chloe says....

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Without Wax

Posted by Liz Voss

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

by Linda Rempel

So... evidently I don't even know how old my grandchildren are... now when i wrote the last blog... anna was 16... but now??? not so much... 17,  however... caleb is 10 not eleven .. lydia is 6 not 5... and well that is all i have for you on that... Amy called and said... MUUUUUUTHER.... the kids ages are all wrong... that is what you get for your money that is what i say... lol...My mom moved in with us last february and we have had many many conversations over the last year... my mother is very wise in many ways... she is a thinker , unlike me... who spouts my mouth off in general without a thought to what i am saying... (this is why i don't talk to alot of people...) blabby syndrome i call it... anyway we were talking about "role playing" and how much of our lives we pretend to be something we are not...our kids never misbehave they always sleep in their own beds...never sass...never have accidents... we never disagree with our husbands (strongly)...we are never mad at God...we are fine,...just fine..well i have news for you...EVERYONE IS NOOOOOTTTTTTT FINE...

Romans 12:9 says "let love be without hypocrisy"... i doubt there are many left who have not heard the illustration of that being the vase... cracked and broken...filled in with wax so that one cannot see the crack but when held up to the sun... ???? AHHHHHHHH filled with wax...it is broken.., it is interesting as i looked up this verse so i would have something biblical to say... (not really)what verse three says... DO NOT THINK MORE HIGHLY OF YOURSELF THAN YOU OUGHT...and verse 16 says.... what ??? DO NOT BE WISE IN YOUR OWN EYES... and between those two... (in the context of serving others and using your gifts???) don't be a hypocrite... be what you are...for in pretending that everything is okay and we are fine all the time .. we put forth the image that we are better than the person struggling... (i have personal experience with this) and elevate ourselves to think... i could never do that.. i could never be like that... well guess what... you might

i am no hero... i feel sorry for myself... i cry...alot... i mean alot... and no i do not understand the why of my life or what God has allowed nor will i ever understand until i stand before Him... that being said... no we don't get to say everything we think... we cannot use the excuse.. THIS IS WHO I AM.. YOU CAN LIVE WITH IT...God requires we use our gifts ... that we are faithful to the task He has set before us... and for each of us it is different... so... what??? God knows ... He knows before He brings the trial.. allows the trial.. whether it is your kids or your husband or a flat time or a job loss or the loss of your grandchildren's mother.. what it would do to you and He is not threatened or diminished in who He is by your sorrow or questions or tears... and so when those among us are hurting or questioning ....AND NOT FINE... it is okay... we pray... we hug... we shake our heads... and say... as amy says... I GOT NOTHING FOR YOU...

and let God be God... for He is and we are not...

Some Kind of Introduction

Posted by Liz Voss

Sunday, January 31, 2010

by Linda Rempel

Okay... so I am supposed to blog... I looked this word up... (very 2010 of me) on Google and it is a web term... a noun... for telling stuff about yourself... wow... I have read a few blogs... they are all about me... or you... I could never understand why people blogged and now I am one... for we all know.. IT IS ALL ABOUT ME...For those of you that care... (all two of you) I am 58 years old... I have been a "pastor's wife" (albeit a pathetic one) for about 39 years in four different churches...I have three children... Robb ... Amy... and Dawn-Marie.. (who went to be with the Lord two and a half years ago)... I have nine grandchildren.... six girls and three boys... ages 16.. 15 ..14..13... 11 ..8... and three-five-year olds... yes three... two of them in the same family. Amy has four children (16, 14, 11, and 5), Robb has two (15 & 13) and Dawn Marie has three (8 and two-five-year olds) ... I taught piano for 32 years and quit to take care of my daughter and her children during her illness and now am helping their dad raise them...fulltime... I raised my children and now I am raising my daughter’s children for the time being... okay... so that is that... oh yes... my mom moved in with us in February and Tom has been building an addition on the house since march... he is almost done I could go on and on and have and will ...If you are looking for "all the answers" this is not the blog for you...if you are looking for traditional advice this is not the blog for you...if you are looking for sympathy... oh you might get a little but as Amy says... YOU GET NOTHING... LOL (laugh out loud)...

I hate introductions... so this one is done... next blog???? "WITHOUT WAX" and no that would not be what we do when we pluck our eyebrows...I am beyond busy... way, way beyond... so look for thoughts... Kitchen theology....Hands in the dirty dishwater...Cleaning up little bunsies, or... hello they threw up in the bed, or...the dog threw up... or worse yet...he (the dog) did his duty by the back door and the five-year-old stepped and sat in it...Dust on the shelves...making dinner....doing homework...practicing piano...and fourteen trips to school and back and back. And how will I get up the next day...(and we must and we do only to do it all over again.) and all that after we get home from work...Okay, I am done...