Stinky Circumstances

Stinky Circumstances

I'm in a funk today. Can anyone relate? That feeling that everything is heavy. I'm weepy and feeling very dull...... There are circumstances going on that are painful and out of my control. A few of my friends have circumstances in their lives that are stinky too.

There's a song that came to mind with a verse from Psalm 42:5 which reads, Why are you downcast, O my soul? and I Thess. 5:16-18 also came to mind. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all stinky circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. You won't find stinky in the NIV version. It's only in the "Kelly" version.

My prayer is... even when my eyes are weepy and my heart is heavy, I will feel joy. And, even though there are stinky circumstances, I will truly be thankful IN the circumstances because it is God's will for me in Christ Jesus. My comfort is, as promised, that God faithfully shows up everyday, even when there are stinky circumstances.

My hope for you is that you will look for and see God in your stinky circumstances today.

JELL-O OR NO JELL-O

I'm a JELL-O fan. Yes, I like molded JELL-O salads, finger JELL-O, strawberry JELL-O pretzel salad, and Mom's Raspberry JELL-O Salad. Anything gelatin, except if you combine it with cottage cheese. The Thanksgiving table isn't complete without my Mom's Raspberry JELL-O Salad. For the last several years our Thanksgiving has been spent with my husband's family. My in-laws are "no JELL-O on the Thanksgiving table people." Five years ago I wanted to bring my Mom's Raspberry JELL-O Salad for Thanksgiving to the in-laws. Communicating through my husband I was asked, or told to bring a different dish. I was crushed. And then I got a little peeved. What? Why NOT JELL-O? For several days I stewed. Then, I vented to my friends and anyone who would listen. Actually, I was whining. I proudly took Mom's Raspberry JELL-O Salad to dinner anyway. Spiteful, I know. Ugly, yes I know.

I hadn't thought about the menu for Thanksgiving this year until I had three people in one day ask if I was taking JELL-O to my in-laws for dinner! Wow! Don't get me started! Well, it did. I easily fell back into whining about the JELL-O saga to all who would listen. And then, all of a sudden, I started thinking about my BSF study from two weeks ago. Moses. He loved, respected, and honored his father-in-law. Honor thy father and thy mother even if they don't like JELL-O on the Thanksgiving table. With a heavy heart I asked God to forgive me. Today, I decided I can't tell the JELL-O story ever again. It's over. No JELL-O on Thanksgiving and no whining about it. My in-laws are dear people and I need to love, respect, and honor them. .

Maybe, you're a JELL-O fan or maybe you're the other type.... :-) If you're the first, I'm including my Mom's Raspberry JELL-O Salad for you to consider for your Thanksgiving menu. If you're the latter, maybe you could try it out some other time. It will definitely be on our table for Christmas dinner.

Greta's Raspberry JELL-O Salad
2 - lg.(6oz.) boxes raspberry JELL-O
3 Cups water
1 regular size(12 oz. ?) bag frozen raspberries
1/2 gallon or 4 Cups vanilla ice cream

Dissolve JELL-O in 1 Cup boiling water, let cool slightly.
Stir in 2 Cups cold water.
Stir in frozen raspberries and ice cream,
Poor in serving dish and chill.

That's it. It's a Family favorite.

I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving, JELL-O or no JELL-O.

Poor Chester

Poor Chester


This post came after reading a post on Jeanine's blog. :-) My 13 yo daughter is an animal lover. Her coined phrase is, "Oh, so cute..." She sees cute in a dog who could win an ugliest dog in the world award! This trait of seeing cute in all living things is sweet, but can be blind. Chester was described as cute, smart, clean, lovable, and came free with a cage. I'm embarassed to admit what kind of animal... Chester was a rat. My daughter was smitten even before she met Chester. Chester's family needed to find him a home because one of the kids was alergic. I admit going to "just look" wasn't wise. Also, it's not wise to take pity on a rat. But, poor Chester needed a home. Chester became Chester Anderson and came home with us. After a few weeks of new rat ownership bliss we found out that Chester was a rat with special needs. A call to his first family confirmed his ailments. Chester suffered from a skin problem and lost most of his hair soon after we adopted him. Even my daughter couldn't use the word cute to describe Chester. He also had a pooping problem... Anyone holding him got pooped on. Well, after doing a little research on rats, I discovered a few remedies to try for the skin problem. A couple of trips to the pet store for advice, many baths, and special lotions were of no help to poor Chester. He was bald until he died. No suggestions for the pooping problem could be found. One of the first rules of rat ownership that was established was Chester could only come out of his cage if he was wrapped in a towel. Research also showed that rats usually only live 2-3 years. Chester was a little over a year at the time of the adoption. Given Chester's special needs and expected life span, I was feeling ok about our poor little rat with special needs. It was probable that we would be the owners of a rat for a short amount of time. Who knew that losing your hair and not being able to control when you poop doesn't effect the life span of a rat! Chester lived past his expected 3 years.

Lessons learned: Don't ever go to "just look." This can be applied to many situations, not just rats. Puppies, cars, shoes, and bags come to mind also. And, don't ever take pity on a rat.


My daughter gave her grandfather her Christmas list today. My dad called me to ask about a few things listed. #3 on the list was Two Rats. He wanted to know if I thought this would be a good gift. I said, "Sure! But they have to live at your house!"

What's Your Hobby?

What's your hobby? This is one of the questions I try to avoid answering. Yes, there are others. It's embarassing, but I don't have a hobby! My sister is great at scrapbooking and she can knit too! She's also really into exercising, which I consider a hobby as well. Hmm.. not my hobby... I love to read. I don't know if it's a hobby, but I always list it when asked. There are many things that I like to do, but I'm not really passionate about any one thing... Confession: I always list gardening and cooking too. I don't have a garden, but I've had gardens in previous seasons in my life. Cooking? I cook everyday. It sounds better when I say it's a hobby! Well, I've decided that blogging or playing with my blog is my newest and latest hobby.
Thanks to Jill and Wendi I learned how to put a link in my blog and I have a "blog list." I also "met" new friends. Wendi, Grace, Kim, & Jeanine ! Thanks for leaving comments on my posts. It felt great that someone had actually read what I wrote! I also heard from Leslie who I haven't seen in a very long time. And, now I know that both Beth & I can belong to the Sisterhood of Lurking. Thank you Beth. And Lori, I would love to be on your "fav list." I feel like I've arrived in the world of blogging!

So, back to hobbies. Do you have one or maybe many? I'd love to hear what you say when you're asked, "What's your hobby?"

Wanting To Be Organized

Thought I'd share a giveaway that goes great with Jamie's post about her plan to be organized for the holidays. At thefreebieblogger.com you can enter to win a Christmas list organizer. I know Jamie, my "list friend," will want to check it out! Sorry, I can only give you the address to the blog. I don't know how to put the link on my blog. Maybe, I'll try..... I've decided I need a personal tutor to learn how to be a true blogger. :-)

Oh, I did it. Look to the right! Yahoo! Go ahead, try it! Just one click away! That was very satisfying...

Ok., now how do I show all of your blogs with the # of days or hours since the last post?

Rough Draft

Rough Draft
Creating a Blog… My dear blogger (Ginger, is that a word?) friends, who are really my friends outside of blogging(I haven't met friends from blogging yet) had to slowly explain what a blog is and why I should have one. I understood the purpose much better than what a blog really is. I liked the idea of communicating with my friends whenever I wanted. This seemed to fit right into my plan to simplify.

Besides the purpose of a blog, my friends also explained a little bit about the guidelines of blogging and that creating a blog was so easy, even I could do it. Also, lurking really stood out in the conversation. I knew from the comments that I shouldn't lurk.

Hmm…. Blogging….Simple and I can do it. Communicate with friends whenever. And, no lurking.
That’s it. Well, that’s what I took away from the “the blog talk.”

I came to the conclusion that I needed a blog. I couldn't explain why I needed one to my husband, but I knew I did indeed need a blog. It seemed like life, that I'm trying to simplify, wouldn’t be complete unless I entered the world of blogging. He couldn’t relate to needing a blog for the purpose of communicating with friends. His comment was that it’s corny. I told him that using the word corny is corny.

So, on a quiet evening, after the kids were fast asleep and my husband was having a date with the TV, I visited my friend’s blogs and their friend’s blogs. Then, I left my first comments. Ohhh, it was great! I was feeling pretty good about my new found blogging skills and that lead to the decision of creating my own blog. Simple is what my friends told me. As you know, I'm all about simple- at least I'm working towards simple. Well, I created a blog. A very simple, boring blog. Not very satisfying. But, knowing that it was in rough draft form and "Under Construction", as Beth has claimed on her blog, I claimed victory! I had created a blog! Still, not completely understanding how a blog worked I was ok with saving my rough draft blog and returning to it in the future. What I didn’t understand was as soon as I clicked on save, others could visit my rough draft thoughts on my blog. A few days later, to my surprise, my friend Jamie told me she had made a comment and Ginger had made a comment on my secret blog. I was mystified! How did they find my secret blog? Jamie’s a good friend and helped me understand what had happened. Blogging may be simple, but there’s a lot to learn.


This is my first official post. Corny? Maybe. Satisfying? Maybe. Rough draft? Definitely. Just like me.
So, you’re reading this post from my blog that’s still in the rough draft of something better. I hope. I’m not finished with it yet. Which makes me think of the song titled, “Wait and See” by Brandon Heath. A few of the lyrics say it well:
There is hope for me yet
Because God won’t forget
All the plans he’s made for me
I have to wait and see
He’s not finished with me yet

Rough draft is a great name for the season of life I’m in. God is working on me in many areas and thankfully, he’s not finished with me yet. So, friends, please be patient with me. The creator of this blog isn’t quite finished. And, my Creator isn’t finished with me yet.


Those who can’t handle random stop here…. A confession, an observation, comments, and questions….
Confession: I've already committed the lurking offense. Sorry. I will try to resist from lurking. I do want you to know that I didn't lurk just to lurk. So, I don't consider myself a "lurker." Observation: Blogging is tiring. Comments: My future blogs will be short or shorter… Also, I’m not sure all those links on my friend’s blogs are for real people… Question: What is a person called when you just “visit” their blog and have a link from your blog, but you don’t know them or have never met them?