Ok, I can't believe I'm doing this, because I hardly ever even open forwards and if I do, I certainly never SEND them to anyone else. Much less use one as my blog entry. This one came at a time when I needed to read it though. (See more about that after the story.) If you've already gotten this from a friend, forgive me. If not, read on. . .


A few months before I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Arkansas town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family.

The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me the word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it.

But the stranger? He was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies. If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.

Sometimes Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to her room and read her books. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home .. not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.

My Dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in the home, not even for cooking. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked ... and NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first.

Still, if you were to walk into my parents' living room today you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him.

His name?

We just call him TV.


Author Unknown

It's me again. :) Here's the weird thing. Some of you know that we didn't have any television channels in our house for many years. The area we live in is unable to pick up any local channels and we didn't want cable. We would watch videos or DVDs but no TV shows. This year around Thanksgiving we decided to get DISH. We had it in the office for awhile a couple of years ago, but never had time to get up there and watch anything at night. So this time we had it moved to our living room, and the kids never have time to do anything BUT watch it!

I woke up this morning with this problem on my mind. I hate to get rid of DISH because we spent quite a bit getting the programming set up. I could simply turn the TV off and be more selective about viewing hours. After going back and forth on the issue this morning, I found an email in my inbox with the subject line Stranger in the House. I knew it was a forward but I opened it anyway having no idea what it referred to. And there this was.

I'm going to keep DISH the rest of this month and then get rid of it. Even though I keep the parental controls set pretty strict, it's just not worth it for me. (Emphasis on ME, because what's right for me may not be for you.)

Isn't God wonderful to guide us each one when we ask him?

I've heard men say, "I wish I knew what made women tick." Well, join the crowd. I don't even know what makes ME tick, much less anybody else. Tonight, I'm unexplainably blue. Ok, I admit it. I could probably explain it if I tried hard enough. But I'd rather just think of myself as a melancholy baby. That's more romantic, don't you think? :)

I've been reading the old ACRW archives and that particular stroll down memory lane has left me with mixed emotions. When I joined the group back in early 2000, I wasn't published. But my posts were so danged full of hope and a fervent desire to learn and improve my craft. I still have that hope and desire, but a part of me thinks, hmm. . .if I haven't got the hang of it after all these years, might as well forget it. See? Told you I was feeling a little out of sorts.

I've had the flu for eight days. Ok, I already admitted my blues weren't really unexplainable. I want to be well!!! My head feels like it's stuffed with cotton and even my eyes are sore. My lips. . .well, just forget about kissing. Chapped beyond recognition. Yes, I've done it again and wondered into the realm of TMI, as my kids would say. (Too much information, for those of you who might not know.)

So, let's move on to - What I wish I was watching at the movie - HITCH - I've been dying to see this Will Smith romantic comedy ever since I first laughed through the preview, but now that it's finally come to our little twin cinema, I'm sick! Oh, yeah. I was changing the subject. Oops. Anyway, here's the great news. It's held over. So, hopefully by this time next week, I can do a movie review for you!! Or you can post a comment below and tell me what YOU thought about it.

What I'm reading - My husband took Obsessed away from me before I got thru with chapter two and he's now halfway through it, so I guess I can't officially say I'm reading it. I just finished The Broker by John Grisham. It was good, but not as good as some of his. I misplaced One Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury just as I was about to get started on it. Maybe I'll find it tomorrow.

What diet I've not been doing - Weight Watcher's Online. This is my public confession to my two friends I'm supposed to be doing this with. Since I've been sick, I've just been shoveling in the soup with no regards to points. And washing it down with chocolate cake. (My oldest daughter made it for me as a surprise get well offering. How could I turn it down?) I'll be ready to get right back on the wagon, though, as soon as I get better.

Go be nice to a sick person. They deserve it. :)

Just back from a chiropractic convention. We stayed at The Peabody in Little Rock. My idea of a fine hotel is a Holiday Inn with an indoor pool, so I was a little intimidated. The Peabody has just finished a huge renovation and it was very impressive. But no indoor pool. The girls were crushed. But at least there were the ducks. For those of you who don't know the tradition, at eleven a.m. every day, amid much fanfare, the master of ceremonies rolls out the red carpet and the Peabody ducks ride the glass elevator down from their duck palace, promenade down the runner, and march up the stairs and into the fountain. The pampered ducks frolic there until 5 p.m. when they have the same ceremony, only in reverse. It's exciting! And there's no charge to watch it! But for everything else. . . there is. $13.50 a day for valet parking - the only kind available. There is a fitness room in the hotel, BUT it's $5.00 to go in. No kidding. :) If money is no object, I recommend the Peabody, though. Everyone was friendly and competent.

Disappointing news today. A get-together I was really looking forward to fell through. There'll be other times, though. And they'll be sweeter because of this disappointment. :) On the other side of the balance, I got some fantastic news right before we left for the conference. An answered prayer. (I know all prayers are answered, but this one was a "Yes")

What I'm reading -
Obsessed by Ted Dekker - Another gem from this amazing man.
Chill Out, Josey! by Susan May Warren - book two in a series, not out for awhile, but you'll laugh all the way home from the store when you do get it. (If you can find someone to drive while you read, otherwise keep your hands on the wheel!)Look for book one soon from Steeple Hill Cafe` - Everything's Coming Up Josey!!
Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass - FANTASTIC!! I'm barely started, but I highly recommend this workbook to any of you who want to take your writing to the elusive "next level."

What I'm eating -
I'm doing Weight Watchers online with a couple of friends. It's going pretty good, although the abovementioned trip sort of blew it. I think this is going to be a fantastic week, though. I feel strong. (Uh-oh, pride comes before a fall. I hope my husband doesn't get me chocolate for Valentine's Day. On second thought, maybe just a small box. I can count the points.)

What I'm working on -
A cozy mystery I'm writing with my sisters - I'm having so much fun with this. More details later.

Thought for the Day - Love is a choice. From that choice comes the emotion.

Give for the sake of giving, serve for the sake of serving, and love for the sake of loving.

Today when I say "I'm living in a fog" I mean it very literally. This is the foggiest day I've ever seen. On the way to take the girls to school, I met a big car with NO lights. It had just come around a curve with the two driver's side wheels on my side of the yellow line. If I'd been ten seconds ahead of time, I feel sure there'd have been a head-on collision. When it comes to how much God protects us, I think we really are living in a fog -- even on sunny days. We have no idea how many close calls we escape from unharmed. I knew today though and I'm so thankful for that line of traffic I had to wait on instead of getting to turn straight on to the school road like usual. That slowed me down about . . . ten seconds. :) Blessings in disguise. . .

OH, the Wizard of Oz was great! And yes, the girls liked it. My oldest didn't love it, but she did at least say it was good. We all agreed we'd like to go again when they do a different show. Culture is alive and well in the Ozark Mountains. :)

I have to clean house today because the air conditioning man is coming this afternoon. UNLESS, the book I ordered - Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook - comes in and then the AC man is on his own in the jungle we call home. :) (I mean after all, the vents are in the ceiling. That's the one clean place in the house.) I've been holding off on plotting that southern lit I'm so excited about, waiting for this workbook to come in so I can use it.

Quote from yesterday's sermon - "God's mercy is greater than any mercy man can ever show." It took me a minute of thinking, but I realized how right that is. I think of myself as extremely merciful, but you know what most often motivates me? Realizing what a goof-up I am sometimes. That makes it a lot easier for me to cut others some slack. But, God in all His infinite perfection, why should He give us a break? He shouldn't. He has no basis for saying, Ah, well, we all mess up now and then. Thinking about his unwarranted mercy and grace makes the depth of His love that much more unfathomable, doesn't it?

Peace out!

Tomorrow's the big day. Anxious to expand the cultural horizons of our daughters, I bought tickets for a dinner theatre production of The Wizard of Oz. My eleven-year-old summed up her enthusiasm in one question. "Can I stay with someone while y'all go?" Her little sister chimed in. "Me, too, me, too." Excuse me for choking, but I spent $70 so I can make them go have fun?

I'm not a betting gal, but if I were, I'd bet that tomorrow night when I report back to you all, the girls will be singing a different tune. (Hopefully, Follow the Yellow Brick Road.) If not, then I'll think twice next time before exposing them to culture without assessing their interest level first. Unless it's free, then they can suffer through it. :) Just for the record, I think it'll be a blast! Dinner and a show to me usually means getting there in time to order nachos at the snack counter before the movie.

Annie over at www.dancingword.net had Ted Dekker in for a chat tonight. Thanks, Annie! I loved listening (with my eyes, of course. . .I've been online waaaaaay too long) to one of my favorite authors answer questions. If you haven't read any of his books, grab one as soon as you can. Blink is my favorite, but that's sort of like saying milk chocolate is my favorite chocolate. Is there any bad kind? If you missed the chat and love Ted Dekker as much as I do, check out the transcript. It should be up by Monday, Annie said.

I ordered Ted's new book, Obsessed. I should have it Monday and promise to report back what I think asap. :)

Scripture for today - Psalm 100 - Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

My wish for all of you - May God's love be the place you live, a place of comfort and joy and gratitude -- a safe haven from the troubles of this world. Get some rest.