Guilt Trip Tickets on Sale NOW!!

For a while now, I've been observing (and collecting) what I've come to call "guilt-trip" pictures. Mostly on Facebook, they imply that if you do not repost, .. well, let's just take a look.

Because if you don't share, you don't accept Him?
Doesn't He already know what's in my heart??

1- Reliable b/c it's on FB, vs the news
2- If it were my child, I would still want people to be smart about it.

 

Nope, I have a heart, I just don't feel your manipulative attitude is healthy.

Ok, so I disliked this one a little less as my mom re-shared it.

Well, what if I actually do something for my neighbor vs reposting..
Does that mean I don't care?

Who remembers the chain letters of 20 years ago?
Who remembers the chain emails of 10 years ago?

 

.. And if you don't, you clearly think it's ok to bully!

Yes, God saw me read this. He also happens to be able to see what's in my heart.
I don't need to repost to prove that He is a part of my life and has a place there.

I'm not afraid to show my support for the Second Amendment.
I just choose to show it differently... like by getting my CC permit!

Nope. I'd rather put pix of Lolcats...
In the meantime, who cares what there's room for on my FB wall?
What about my heart???

Again, the Lord looks on the heart.
I think He's more interested in what's there than on my FB wall.

How heartless to not Like!
Or can you pray without "Liking" ... ?

 

Nope, I'm totally "size-ist".

Nope, definitely a 97%er who would cheer on the bullies..??

Again, I'm so darn heartless, just because I have better things to do than
spam my friends with guilt-trippy pictures like this.

No respect, either.

And what the heck are parents for??

I love my mom, and I don't feel the need to post this to prove it.

And guilt tripping like this isn't bullying?

Ok, enough sarcasm for the day. Yes, I love and am grateful for those who have what it takes to defend our country and those who know me know it. Yes, I love my mother and she knows it. Yes, I obey and honor my God and He knows it. Yes, I'm against bullying and I'll kick a bully in the teeth if need be. Yes, I'm for loving and protecting pets and my animals were all rescues. Yes, I feel people deserve love, no matter what they look like (color, sexual orientation, size, etc) and those who are in my life know it.

But I refuse to allow others to guilt me into posting something on my FB wall just to prove it to the rest of the world.

Mice and Other Invaders

This is a true story. It happened in late May of 2006 while my (now ex)husband and I were living in a super-old trailer home surrounded on all four sides by fields or farmland (which rates only slightly higher than a cardboard box in quality). No names have been changed, mostly b/c I don't care if anyone thinks I'm horrible for what I did.

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So, this was my early-morning adventure for today- Ugh!

3:15am, Jason gets up and hollers from the bathroom, "Do we have a trap under the sink in here?"

I mumble from the bed, "Yeah, why?"
 

"I think we caught a mouse and it's still alive"

Fan-freakin-tastic! So I got up, "Go get a large bowl from the dirty dishes, put some water in it and drown it."

He comes back with a 3-pound butter tub- perfect.... and the lid- huh? Anyway, I run about an inch and a half of water in the bottom, get the trap, and I'm holding the mouse under the water- still struggling, but I've got it all under control... till J decides to run some more water- cold... on my hand!!

It surprises me when I'm already tense, and I jump, freak, drop the trap. The mouse- which had been caught just by some belly-hair gets free of the trap and starts swimming around in the butter-tub... and my trying-to-be-helpful husband tries to run more water! "Don't do that! It'll be able to get out!.... Go get me a fork from the dirty dishes." No sense in dirtying more dishes than I need to...

So I used the fork to hold the mouse under till it drowned.

Moral of the story- Don't let Jason "help" me drown a mouse.
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And I'd do it again, given the chance! Wild mice in the house- they weren't invited, and since they're not sentient enough to politely leave when they're asked, they're gonna get killed!.. and same goes for spiders, beetles, moths, etc!

Peace for the Broken Heart

Recently, I've been struggling with feelings of inadequacy. I flip-flop from what I know in my head to the stormy seas in my heart. I struggle being patient with customers at work who are frustrated and afraid. I find myself feeling intolerant of those whose values and choices diverge wildly from my own. I struggle to stay kind with those who insult and offend. I have to tamp down my own impatience so I can be loving to those who need me.

I know in my head that their frustrations, differences in knowledge , views, attitudes, priorities, needs, circumstances, and even personal history all play a part in how they behave. But I still find myself feeling frustrated, getting unreasonably offended or angry at the smallest slights and the mildest of requests, or crying because it hurts so badly.


Why can't I stay kind and patient with those who are afraid or hurting or don't understand? Why am I not enough to inspire those with walls around their hearts to bring their walls down? What do I need to do differently to be the kind of person that everyone thinks I am?

The weight of this was heavy on my heart one night- Why am I so weak? Why am I not enough?

I know there's solace somewhere, but that night it was out of reach. My heart was so broken, I didn't even have the presence of mind to ask for help from Him whose name is seen as synonymous with comforting the broken, healing the sick and wounded, feeding the hungry soul.

A blog I follow is Women in the Scriptures. The author pulls references to a woman or group of women in the scriptures and does an abstract, from Eve to "the concubines of Judges 19." Other times she simply lists her Five things for Friday- things she is grateful for from the previous week. One time, she shared a review of a book, Glimpse of Heaven, an account of one LDS woman's death experience.

The part I found fascinating was that once the Veil of Forgetfulness was lifted from the book author's mind, she saw herself as our Father sees His children:

"Once the blocks were removed from my memory,  I was a completely different person. Gone were my insecurities and doubts. (Gone was my depression). Eternal truth and God's love dominated that realm. As a result, my confidence was supreme. I struggle to find the words that can even being to describe what it felt like to be me in that sphere of existence. My entire being was infused with love and  gratitude and devotion to God... Being allowed to know my strengths and my abilities again was the most wonderful reunion I have ever experienced, and the reunion was with the real me." (pg. 5)

All of our insecurities and doubts and handicaps- whether they're about our looks, abilities, temptations, fears, struggles that stem from health issues (mental or physical)- are foreign to our divine nature. We are His children and His children are awesome!


Now if I can just get this knowledge into my hear.