My sewing machine died last week. This event saddened me beyond what I could imagine. It was like moving from sunny southern California to rainy Seattle with no warning. We took it in to be looked at and the lady said that I've gotten my money's worth from the machine. Folks, I have done no more than 15 or 20 projects with it. If the machine cost $110, that's over $5 per project. Cheap sewing machines are not worth the price - at least the way I use a sewing machine.
But you know, God still opens windows. This tragic event will be leading to a much better machine that will not require me pulling out every other seam sewn. And a button holer and 9 extra feet. Basically, something better that can be used a long time. Hopefully it will give me the confidence to begin to make wearable garments. Gotta love Mom and Pa.
On that note, Mom is improving dramatically. Yesterday, she gave up the walker for most of the day. She now knows that she does not need to depend on it all the time. Today, she lasted for an hour in church. We can leave her alone for 5 minutes or so. And, she is looking forward to driving again. Mom has not driven in over 2 years. There's a hope for you.
It's amazing to watch this miracle happen. It's not only the miracle that her body is healing, for we all know that our bodies are designed to do so. The emotional trauma that the Holy Spirit is healing is so much more amazing.
Last week, in church - yes, I did visit home for two days - pastor asked those of us who need to be set free from what holds us back to come up and receive prayer. I went up for my mother. They asked for grace and strength for me, but they asked that my mother's chains of pessimism and lack of self-confidence be cast off. Never has prayer ever been so immediately effective in my mother's life. Well, except for the prayers that have made her right before God.
The Holy Spirit heard and moved. Pastor, thanks for listening to the move of the Holy Spirit. I might make it home sooner than I thought.
So pray that physical therapy will make her stronger. That God will show her the confidence that she has already received, the confidence that she is a new creation in Christ and that he is continuing to make her whole again.
Thanks folks. I love you all. I apologize if I missed some of you on my visit from last week. It was short and surprising for some. I will be back again soon. Bisous!
10.26.2008
10.17.2008
Tina's Mom update: day 39
It's been just under 40 days - wowie.
I know I haven't kept this space updated, but lets just say that no news is nearly all good news. No major mishaps with mom, and she is well on her way to recovery, albiet sloooowly.
Still no job, but busy season for my father ended yesterday so that I now have another chance to go out looking.
Big news: I have rekindled my romance with my sewing machine. I could sew all day, given the opportunity. In the past two weeks I have finished 3 projects fully, I am nearly done with 2 more and just started 3. If I finish what I have plan to finish over the next couple days, I will have 6 projects done in two weeks. That's amazing! Pics forthcoming...
My friend who had surgery was out two days early and is healing nicely. The tissue results came back from pathology negative - praise Jesus! As I was walking out the door to visit him in the hospital on Saturday, he sent me a text message saying not to come, he was leaving in a half an hour. Shame he missed a pretty girl visiting him in the hospital.
For all of you following the political side of me, I will post a response to Prop 8's comments soon, as well as what I think about other propositions, some of which will probably effect us more than we think. (Prop 11, for instance.)
I love you all! Muah!
I know I haven't kept this space updated, but lets just say that no news is nearly all good news. No major mishaps with mom, and she is well on her way to recovery, albiet sloooowly.
Still no job, but busy season for my father ended yesterday so that I now have another chance to go out looking.
Big news: I have rekindled my romance with my sewing machine. I could sew all day, given the opportunity. In the past two weeks I have finished 3 projects fully, I am nearly done with 2 more and just started 3. If I finish what I have plan to finish over the next couple days, I will have 6 projects done in two weeks. That's amazing! Pics forthcoming...
My friend who had surgery was out two days early and is healing nicely. The tissue results came back from pathology negative - praise Jesus! As I was walking out the door to visit him in the hospital on Saturday, he sent me a text message saying not to come, he was leaving in a half an hour. Shame he missed a pretty girl visiting him in the hospital.
For all of you following the political side of me, I will post a response to Prop 8's comments soon, as well as what I think about other propositions, some of which will probably effect us more than we think. (Prop 11, for instance.)
I love you all! Muah!
10.08.2008
Tina's Mom update: Month one
I came to OC exactly one month ago. Here is the run-down:
1. Mom had back surgery one week after my arrival. The surgery was ultimately a good thing, although the recovery was a little rough. This included another fall with a hip contusion. And my knight in shiny pants arrived.
2. Overall, my mother is doing better. All types pain, from surgery, from the hip contusion, from tension in her neck and upper back is doing much better. She's also on a new course of meds which has given her a new outlook on life to say the least. She still has her "crutches" and cannot be alone for long, but is improving overall. Hallelujah.
3. Still no job. :( But, I do have two big leads, one at Nordstroms and one at Macaroni Grill. I think at this point, this is a good thing. My father is working under a tax deadline, so I get to help both him and my mother at home. I do have enough cash to make it through the month, but next month may be a different story.
4. I have reconnected with some good high school friends. We have Friday nites at Alcatraz. There is a guy who will have potentially life changing surgery on Thursday. Not that I want to be around when bad things happen - that's weird - but it is nice that my friend will have another person looking out for him, praying and hanging out.
5. Still have more friends to reconnect with. Can't wait to see some of you!
6. Orange county has some of the best thrift stores around. Now, if Mom didn't mind the sound of my sewing machine, I could make the 80s look cool and updated.
Much love and thanks for reading! Muah!
1. Mom had back surgery one week after my arrival. The surgery was ultimately a good thing, although the recovery was a little rough. This included another fall with a hip contusion. And my knight in shiny pants arrived.
2. Overall, my mother is doing better. All types pain, from surgery, from the hip contusion, from tension in her neck and upper back is doing much better. She's also on a new course of meds which has given her a new outlook on life to say the least. She still has her "crutches" and cannot be alone for long, but is improving overall. Hallelujah.
3. Still no job. :( But, I do have two big leads, one at Nordstroms and one at Macaroni Grill. I think at this point, this is a good thing. My father is working under a tax deadline, so I get to help both him and my mother at home. I do have enough cash to make it through the month, but next month may be a different story.
4. I have reconnected with some good high school friends. We have Friday nites at Alcatraz. There is a guy who will have potentially life changing surgery on Thursday. Not that I want to be around when bad things happen - that's weird - but it is nice that my friend will have another person looking out for him, praying and hanging out.
5. Still have more friends to reconnect with. Can't wait to see some of you!
6. Orange county has some of the best thrift stores around. Now, if Mom didn't mind the sound of my sewing machine, I could make the 80s look cool and updated.
Much love and thanks for reading! Muah!
10.07.2008
Prop 8
I was appalled to find out that if California does not add a so-called marriage clause to its Constitution or other sort of law book, then religious institutions may be in danger of oh, what's the word... discrimination; they also face a jail, a fine, or closure, whichever is applicable. That is, this would be the case if someone decides to bring a civil suit against a church or other religious institution or official at refuses to perform a same-sex couple ceremony. These disciniplary measures have already been enforced against religious organizations and clerics who have refused to marry same-sex couples.
Religion, by is very nature, is discriminatory. (Don't all of you gasp at once now.) Most of them are not so in that everyone is welcome to join in activities, but to truly practice, there are usually rules and codes of conduct to which its practioners adhere. For a same-sex couple to ask a discriminating organization to perfom a ceremony and expect that it be done oversteps their bounds. It's almost like me, a Protestant who is not baptized in an Orthodox church, asking the priest of St. Antha-whosit in IV to perform my wedding ceremony in his church. He cannot do so in adherence to his beliefs. For me to demand that he honor my request takes away one of his first amendment rights.
But, for the state to recognize only one definition of marriage is a violation of the same first amendment rights that same-sex couples have. To demand that the only marriage recognized by the state is one between a man and a woman is nearly peposterous. Soon they'll add another clause in which the state will only recognize a marriage between a man and a woman of the same race or a man and a woman of the same peer group. Lying within its nature is the ability to take away the freedom of individuals to live the life they choose.
If their lifestyle is an affront to you, flip the coin. Your worldview is an affront to them. Does it not offend or hurt you when an athiest calls you dumb because of your faith? And yet you call same-sex couples scandulous or degrade them from the pulpit. I have had more than one friend hurt because of your actions on this subject. Yeah, really winning people over here.
Personally, I am caught in the middle. I don't want my church building closed because it adheres to its beliefs, and I do not want to penalize someone for living a life that I don't think is right.
Is there a middle ground?
Religion, by is very nature, is discriminatory. (Don't all of you gasp at once now.) Most of them are not so in that everyone is welcome to join in activities, but to truly practice, there are usually rules and codes of conduct to which its practioners adhere. For a same-sex couple to ask a discriminating organization to perfom a ceremony and expect that it be done oversteps their bounds. It's almost like me, a Protestant who is not baptized in an Orthodox church, asking the priest of St. Antha-whosit in IV to perform my wedding ceremony in his church. He cannot do so in adherence to his beliefs. For me to demand that he honor my request takes away one of his first amendment rights.
But, for the state to recognize only one definition of marriage is a violation of the same first amendment rights that same-sex couples have. To demand that the only marriage recognized by the state is one between a man and a woman is nearly peposterous. Soon they'll add another clause in which the state will only recognize a marriage between a man and a woman of the same race or a man and a woman of the same peer group. Lying within its nature is the ability to take away the freedom of individuals to live the life they choose.
If their lifestyle is an affront to you, flip the coin. Your worldview is an affront to them. Does it not offend or hurt you when an athiest calls you dumb because of your faith? And yet you call same-sex couples scandulous or degrade them from the pulpit. I have had more than one friend hurt because of your actions on this subject. Yeah, really winning people over here.
Personally, I am caught in the middle. I don't want my church building closed because it adheres to its beliefs, and I do not want to penalize someone for living a life that I don't think is right.
Is there a middle ground?
10.02.2008
One more thing
Yes, I did not want to publish this with the below post. At this point, I want to keep my musings and my events seperate.
The other thing is that I really need to find a group of believers to hang out with. I have my friends that I've reconnected with from high school and I love them dearly, but none of them know Jesus - yet. I want to be with people who want to discover Jesus as I do.
There's a group at my parents' church that is forming for 20s/30s age range. I am slightly disenchanted with this church - they are fairly literal and rigid in Biblical interpretation, the demographic is mostly white middle class, and they won't put a woman on the platform to lead anything except women's or music ministries. But, I know that they love Jesus, too, and do not seek to hurt anyone. Yet all of these issues are important to me because all of these aspects have been areas of personal hurt and/or growth. (And one more thing - I asked them to call me, not email, and they still emailed me anyway.)
My question is, do I go to this study and allow their flavor to mix with mine to create something unique, or do I just go find somewhere that I am comfortable? Obviously, I have a heavy burden that I am bearing with Jesus, but would this be more weight?
In any case, I think I'll go - just once - to see how it is.
The other thing is that I really need to find a group of believers to hang out with. I have my friends that I've reconnected with from high school and I love them dearly, but none of them know Jesus - yet. I want to be with people who want to discover Jesus as I do.
There's a group at my parents' church that is forming for 20s/30s age range. I am slightly disenchanted with this church - they are fairly literal and rigid in Biblical interpretation, the demographic is mostly white middle class, and they won't put a woman on the platform to lead anything except women's or music ministries. But, I know that they love Jesus, too, and do not seek to hurt anyone. Yet all of these issues are important to me because all of these aspects have been areas of personal hurt and/or growth. (And one more thing - I asked them to call me, not email, and they still emailed me anyway.)
My question is, do I go to this study and allow their flavor to mix with mine to create something unique, or do I just go find somewhere that I am comfortable? Obviously, I have a heavy burden that I am bearing with Jesus, but would this be more weight?
In any case, I think I'll go - just once - to see how it is.
Tina's Mom update: day 23
Don't hate me if I incorrectly state the day of my time in Orange County - I'm having trouble doing simple math.
I have to admit, today was a terrible day. Without going into too much detail, my mother has been diagnosed with a treatable mental disorder, and she has probably had it for the past two decades, or more. Let's just say that today was probably a peak of emotion - for me too. We see the psychiatrist again tomorrow - pray that it goes well.
Oh, and this psychiatrist - connections all over the place! He studied philosophy is college. I studied philosophy in college. He has three boys. My friend Colleen has three boys - oh how I miss babysitting! - and both are the same age range. He grew up in Bellingham, WA. I've attended a conference in Bellingham, WA, and have been all over the state. He seeks the connection between God and the physical world in psychiatry. I have long believed that the Spiritual and physical worlds cannot be seperate.
It was a little strange meeting this guy, to say the least. Who knows - perhaps we have a mutual friend in common.
Not much in other news: I had my interview at Macaroni Grill and it seemed to go well. I hope to hear from them tomorrow.
Much love,
Tina-bo-bina
I have to admit, today was a terrible day. Without going into too much detail, my mother has been diagnosed with a treatable mental disorder, and she has probably had it for the past two decades, or more. Let's just say that today was probably a peak of emotion - for me too. We see the psychiatrist again tomorrow - pray that it goes well.
Oh, and this psychiatrist - connections all over the place! He studied philosophy is college. I studied philosophy in college. He has three boys. My friend Colleen has three boys - oh how I miss babysitting! - and both are the same age range. He grew up in Bellingham, WA. I've attended a conference in Bellingham, WA, and have been all over the state. He seeks the connection between God and the physical world in psychiatry. I have long believed that the Spiritual and physical worlds cannot be seperate.
It was a little strange meeting this guy, to say the least. Who knows - perhaps we have a mutual friend in common.
Not much in other news: I had my interview at Macaroni Grill and it seemed to go well. I hope to hear from them tomorrow.
Much love,
Tina-bo-bina
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