So Obama won....wow....There's all kinds of reasons I could give, but I think this video points out a HUGE part of the reason....
What do YOU think?

Chips

Chips are a wonderful invention. They compliment one's sandwiches so well. Some people even put the chips INSIDE their sandwiches, which seems a little strange to me, but who am I to burst their happy chip bubble?
As I sat here reveling in this wonderful addition to our American diet, I remembered my long-standing frustration with this food item. Namely, why are chips made in anything BUT bite-size? Why are the large chips considered the "normal" size? The regular size should be re-named "crumble on your shirt" size! Why do they even make a chip that doesn't fit in a normal person's mouth? (some of you are pretty good a putting a shoe in your mouth so I imagine that a chip is nothing!)
Think about it, either you attempt to stuff a whole chip in your mouth and end up with a nacho cheese powder ring around your lips, or you try to politely bite off a piece, and the whole chip crumbles into your lap!

Maybe the first person who invented chips had an abnormally large mouth, but why should we all have to suffer because of it! The reason we see no change is that the elitists in the chip manufacturing world are disconnected with the real world. They don't know the chip-eating struggles of the working middle-class! Who's gonna stand up for the little guy?
Let me encourage all of you to join my "Bite The Big Chip" campaign and boycott anything but bite-size chips. Together, we can send a message to all those big-city chip manufacturers!


....Why do I keep writing about food?......

Popcorn

I love popcorn....I mean really love it. I get a craving for it about every other day. But just last night as I was getting ready to indulge my craving, I realized that the popcorn industry has apparently had some communication problems with the microwave manufacturers. If you'll notice on the back of most microwave popcorn bags, you are firmly instructed to NOT use the popcorn button on your microwave. Apparently the microwave industry has not gotten the memo because every microwave I see STILL has that button proudly displayed.

You'd think that the popcorn people would take the time to call the microwave people and either tell them how they could make a better popcorn button, or else enlighten them to the fact that popcorn never obeys time constraints, therefore a set time will not yield the best results, helloooo!!

Maybe that's the point! Sometime long ago, there was a fight between the industries and this is how they annoy each other....hmmm.....I should look into this....

McCain

John McCain was never my first choice for Republican nominee. I didn't like a lot about him. But not long ago, I read a speech by a trusted Congressman (suprisingly not an oxy-moron in this case!) that gave me hope. And by hope, I mean what that word used to mean before the Obama Dictionary came out, in which it is defined as "....................". For real! Look it up yourself! I guarantee you will find an empty space in his dictionary.

Congressman Mike Pence gave a speech earlier this year in South Carolina at the Silver Elephant Dinner. I highly recommend the whole speech, which you can read here.

The following is the excerpt that gave me a new respect for John McCain:

"...it was a moment in Iraq last year, traveling with Senator McCain and with Senator Lindsey Graham, that convinces me that Republican voters have chosen the right man at the right time to lead this nation.

It was spring of 2007. We were at the Marine Corps base in Ramadi, Iraq. We’d been escorted to a small room to meet with Sunni Sheik Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, founder of the Anbar Awakening Movement that transformed the Anbar Province and all of Iraq from hostility to U.S. forces to extraordinary cooperation that continues to this day. He was a man who would soon be assassinated by his own bodyguards.

The Sheik entered in flowing robes, a man about my age, with intense eyes and a manner both regal and humble at the same time. He greeted us one by one. He lowered his head and took my hand, telling me through his interpreter, “It is an honor to meet you.” Then he grasped Lindsey’s hand, telling him the same: “It is an honor to meet you.”

Then he moved to John McCain. The Sheik bowed deeply, then took both of Senator McCain’s hands in his. “It is a special privilege to meet you, Senator McCain,” and then, alluding to McCain's record as a Navy airman, P.O.W. and upbringing as the son and the grandson of 4-Star Admirals in the Navy, he said. “We know of you and your warrior past and of we know of your proud family of warriors and we respect you".

In that moment, it became clear to me that Senator McCain possessed a currency in this part of the world that transcended titles and position; a currency of immeasurable value that cannot be underestimated and cannot be manufactured.

And this currency could save American lives."

Worship

I feel very inadequate to write about this subject .It encompasses something larger than I’ll ever be able to comprehend while I’m still in this world. Nevertheless, I shall attempt to share what little bits I AM learning.

In his book Whatever Happened to Worship, A. W. Tozer makes an interesting observation: “…when man falls on his knees and stretches out his hands and says, “Our Father which art in heaven,” he is doing what seems natural to him.” Tozer also states “The fact is that God made us to worship Him, and if we had not fallen with Adam and Eve, worship would have been the most natural thing for us.” After pondering his statements, I am realizing that worship does comes naturally to man, but our sin nature causes us to worship anything BUT God until we are reconciled to Him.

I believe that worship is not only natural to us, it is also one of the most enjoyable experiences we can have. That statement might strike you as odd, but let me give an example. I love classical music. I naturally tend to ‘worship’ the great artists who have mastered an instrument. I watch them play with a sense of awe that makes me feel like a worm, and I scrutinize their technique with the hope of being able to imitate their greatness. Whenever I get to meet one of my favorite artists, I get a huge rush of excitement and happiness and energy! I love to talk about the experience, and later on, the memory still makes me grin from ear to ear. And this is only a human we’re talking about here!

My dad gave a sermon about heaven this morning using Isaiah 6. He made the point that worship is not all about us. A lot of the talk about heaven gives the idea of mansions, banquets, beautiful scenery, and reunions with friends. While all of this might be true, the focus seems to be on what will give US pleasure, and that is only a very small part of what heaven is about according to Isaiah 6. Worship and adoration of God will be the central theme of our heavenly experience. This was hard for me to accept until I understood how enjoyable and natural worship is for us. If we take so much pleasure in meeting those whom we worship here on earth, think about the joy, excitement, and energy we will experience when we get to meet God face-to-face!

I can think of no more perfect happiness than to worship the Perfect One.

Women

In a recent edition of our town’s newspaper, we received the monthly publication for women, “She” magazine.

Now you would think with such a name that it was filled with all things feminine. Not so. Posed on the front cover is a ‘biker woman’ in her black leather vest and weather-beaten skin. That should have warned me right there, but I caved to my reading appetite and cracked open the magazine.

As I perused the contents, my dissatisfaction level rose. First came an article about the editor’s family vacation...wow…I really wanted to know about that. Next, a conversation with a woman in healthcare…not too bad…oh, here’s the featured article. Lovely! A huge article about four women who love motorcycles. Yay for them! So inspiring! And I quote “It’s the freedom. It’s hard to explain. There’s just a lot of freedom when you’re on a bike.” Or this one: “It doesn’t matter what people ride as long as they enjoy it.” If you think freedom and enjoyment consists of getting soaked when sudden rain comes up, knowing you’ll be on the losing end in any accident, and wiping bug guts off your face, all I can say is more power to you.

Back to the magazine. Now we have a 2-page advertisement for Bud Lite. (How distinctly feminine. Definitely a must for entertaining at your next ladies luncheon!) The next article is about a woman who climbs mountains, followed by instructions about how to fish as part of an ongoing series that “takes women into life’s typically male-dominated tasks”. Hmm, can we say ‘déjà vu? Methinks we’ve been this way already. A few recipes are next (gasp! Isn’t that a little too…well…domestic??)followed by an article written by a guy. I guess this is to give us a little male flavor in the midst of all the flowery articles? He hits us hard with new and original thoughts never before seen in this issue about things like “the two genders [are] much more alike than we often acknowledge.” Oh really? I hadn’t caught onto that theme yet! He describes scenes from a recent major flood in our town and states that during this time “Gender stereotypes were obliterated in the blink of an eye.”

THIS, my friends, is what bothers me. He has expressed in one short sentence what should be the mission statement for the “She” magazine. At least, that’s the logical conclusion one must come to after reading the magazine. Someone remind me what’s wrong with a woman being different than a man because I must have missed that. If God wanted everyone to be the same, why did He create us as “male and female”? And why do women feel such a need to compete with men? Is it because they assume men look down on them? If this is the case, we are only proving their point by competing with them. This tells the world that we think the ‘womanly arts’ are not worthy to be compared with a man’s world; therefore we must prove ourselves by competing in their turf instead of excelling in what we were made to do.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying ‘manly’ activities occasionally. But when our focus and energy is spent on erasing any perceivable difference between men and women, I believe we are throwing away our real opportunity to influence as a woman.