MENE, MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN

I watched a movie' last week about a guy who spurned a woman's pure love by his own philandering practices. When he finally went back to the woman who loved him, she shut the door in his face.

"Mene, mene, tekel" he had been weighed and found waiting.

This got me to thinking about how many times in life are we unknowingly weighed; judged by God and our peers? We cringe at the thought that we are judged and others determine if we don't measure up. But often, these times of judgment only expose the truth that we have kept hidden.

I once asked a man, a friend, if he were interested in me did he think I'd be willing to marry him. The correct answer, was no, because even though I cared for him as a friend, as a husband he would be found to be wanting. But this is not the only time of judgment. We are weighed and we weigh others, when we meet new friends, interview for jobs, and look to share our confidences. And when are quietly sent away, we don't realize that we are found wanting. Or if we do, we are disappointed at the other person's "unrealistic expectations." Instead of dealing with the truth and aspiring to be all that God made us to be, we snub our nose at their snobbishness and proudly keep our low standards at our own comfort level.

Mene, mene tekel, upharsin. Are we weighed and found to be wanting?

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"And this is the writing that was written, MENE , MENE , TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE ; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." Daniel 5:25

Life and dropped-stitches

I was driving down the interstate this afternoon, thinking about how far behind I am in things I need to do, and I wondered if I need to recreate my life…Then I realized that, no, it’s more like my life is a dropped stitch in a knitted afghan, that leaves behind a run. Like my grandmother used to do when she pulled out her crochet hook and worked the stitch back up through the rows, I need to go back and reconnect the drop stitches in my life.

Over the years, as I’ve added interests and responsibilities other things drop off the edge. Google my name and you’ll find a trail of interests that have fallen by the wayside, including this blog. (And that’s without looking up my aliases. ;) ) But six months of caring for a sick old dog, and six months of training a new puppy add up, add to that the fact that I’ve increased my dinnertime guests to 25, and my favorite sous-chef married and left home, and I, at least, understand how I’ve fallen behind in the less important things. Of course, there is satisfaction in faithfully caring out the important responsibilities God has given me, though I’m not sure that I shouldn’t find a way to be more faithful with using some of the other talent He’s given me.

So here’s my attempt at picking up, at least one “dropped-stitch.”

Our Private Lake

We've had more snow than usual this year, which added variety to our winter sports. In January we plowed the snow into a mammoth backyard snow hill that ended in a skating ring. In March, the weather warmed, it rained, the snow melted, and the ground remained frozen giving us our own private lake, and we took up rafting.

Chocolate mousse Dessert

Tonight, we had 30 for our traditional Friday night spaghetti dinner. While spaghetti is traditional, Friday also gives me a regular opportunity to make dessert, to experment, perfect, and try-out, recipes that I'd normally not have the opportunity to make.



Tonight it was Chocolate mousse, served in a waffle cone bowl, and topped with white chocolate shavings, and a strawberry. Tasted delicious, the cone complimented the sweetness of the mousse well, and the white chocolate shavings not only looked great but were the perfect accent.



Chocolate Mousse

1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
1 c. (6 oz. pkg) semi-sweet chocolate chips (add another 1/2 c. when using as a filling for this cake)
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. heavy cream, whipped
(1 t. vanilla, optional)

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Melt chocolate chips and add to sugar syrup. Beat for 6 seconds. Add eggs (and vanilla if desired) and blend for 1 minute. Fold mixture into whipped cream. Spoon into individual serving dishes. Refrigerate until firm. NOTE: Use more chocolate when using for cake filling to make it stiffer. Spread between layers. (Pipe a dam around edge of bottom layer with Frosting, then fill with Mousse. If needed, refrigerate until frosting and filling are stiff, before adding second layer.)

Thoughts on the Election

I’ve had a week to digest the election results. Yes, I'm disappointed that Obama will be president, but I'm far more discouraged that "Obama's way" is the direction the majority of Americans want to go. To me, the elections of 2000, and then again in 2004, God made it unusually clear that He in control of the outcome of all elections.
God's hand is still at work. He is just as much in control now as He was then. No "king" reigns without His permission. Trust that He will take care of you, and that He will take care of this country. And then do your best to raise Godly offspring to help lead this nation back to a more moral and Godly understanding of life.
We need a grassroots effort, not to change the presidency, but to change the hearts of the people. Obama is not murdering innocent children, Obama is for allowing parents to murder their own. In America, we have tried to force people to be moral by constricting them with laws...in a democracy that will only work for so long.

If you want to change the American presidency, start by changing the hearts of your neighbors.

Ranger's Anti-tumor Diet

I don't like change, and I don't like facing bad news, I'd much rather it pop up and surprise me.

My summer has been full of change--My sister-in-law had a baby, my brother married, and my sister married. And the potential for bad news was there as well; In the middle of wedding preparations with my sister, I discovered a large mass on my dog's neck. I didn't want to rush him to the vet...I really don't like facing bad news. To be told what? He had cancer, and that one week before my sister married. And what if he did? Ranger is 9 years old, and if it was malignant, with medical treatment it might add a year to his life. Instead, I put Ranger on an Anti-Cancer diet and chose to put the visit to the vet off until life settled down, and my sister returned from her honeymoon.

Unfortunately, in the meantime my bird got sick. I really only wanted to take one trip the vet, and after having been told that my bird had a tumor didn't want to be told the next day that my dog had a tumor. (Yes, I procrastinate.)

So a week ago, October 28, Joy and I took Ranger to the vet, and it was confirmed that he does have a mass, apparently in his lymph node. The needle biopsy showed cells that have the same characteristics of cancer cells. At that time we discussed the options with the vet. The mass is not in an area that easily operable. So we decided to not proceed with any further medical intervention. However, I have decided to continue with some natural healing techniques. And so for the curious here it is.

On September 8, I started Ranger on the Budwig Diet. I'd originally read about this years ago, in a book my grandfather had. I've studied it on and off since this. Basically it's flax seed oil, blended with cottage cheese into a paste. The cottage cheese is supposed to break down the oil and it's supposed to carry oxygen to the cellular level. Cancer dies in an oxygen rich environment. So I've been giving Ranger 1/4 cup of the flax seed oil mixture a day.

I also started him on systemic enzymes, which is supposed to help rid the body of fibrin. Supposedly there's a fibrin coating around cancer cells to keep it from being recognized by the body's immune system. I thought enzymes would help the immune system as well to allow the flax seed oil mixture to work more effectively. Beginning Sept. 8 I gave him 5 a day for the first week, gave him a week off, to help his body adjust and then increase it to 8 a day. After we came home from the vet, I doubled the amount I gave him, giving him 8 in the morning and 8 in the evening. I also switched to Omnizyme Forte because the pancreatic enzymes is supposed to be a strong fibrin fighter.

I added 300 mg of CO-Enzyme Q10. Which is supposed to be a powerful anti-oxidant, as well as boosting the immune system, and is included in many cancer diets.

For really no explainable reason (because there's hundreds of possible things to take to try and fight cancer.) I also put Ranger on 1200 mg. Red Rice Yeast. Early research shows that it may inhibit and even reduce tumor growth.

We'll see how it goes.



Cody (blond) and Ranger (black)

Eleven years ago today...

Today is the eleventh anniversary of my grandmother's death. It was the first time I lost someone close to me. And having grown up as neighbors, I was very close to her.

Unlike today, which was sunny and warm, that day was cool and rainy. A fitting day to die, I thought at the time. For her, it was the end of a year-long struggle with ALS.

What a coincidence that it happened on the day that the rest of the world took joy in celebrating death and all things evil. It turned my stomach. Going to the hospital that day, I shut my eyes against the hanging skeletons, open caskets and the images of Death carrying his sickle. Obviously, these people couldn't have ever felt the heart-wrenching loss of death, or they would never celebrate it.

This year, like that year, we had a beautiful fall. For the most part the weather was lovely and the colors were gorgeous. The day we buried my grandmother we drove into the cemetery, with the sun shining through the yellow maple leaves, looking like we were entering the gates of heaven, as indeed my grandmother was.

"Heaven's" Entrance

My grandparents' last earthly resting place.