warning_dca

Him

In the context of the quote, "justify" means the act of explaining or reasoning something as good. In the Bible, "justify" means the act of God of declaring someone righteous in His sight. This is done on the basis of faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus as Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

 

 

Me

It appears to me that you are modifying the meaning of text greatly to give your definition spin.

"Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"

Are they justified by faith? or is their faith now justified... there is a huge difference between these two things.

If they are justified by faith - then all actions and thoughts held based on faith - regardless of what that faith is, are Just: This means that the "peace with God" has only come because they believed NOT because the bore witness to a proof. This explanation does -not- fit in with the reading at all.

If Faith is Justified (which is more likely what this line read as before translation) - then that means that through an act they bore witness to, their faith has been proved - and peace with God obtained through seeing proof of that belief which prior had no reason or explanation to hold - trust without evidence.

Neither of these explanations though, explain how God determines who is and is not just. It explains how the people came to peace with the notion of God existing... not how God found acceptance and righteousness in his people. So this concept of Just being something divinely mandated based on this quote, is ill conceived.

 

 

Him November 5 at 10:25pm Report

Evidently the text of the Bible is highly esteemed by you, since you are concerned about me putting my "spin" on it. I totally share that concern as I believe God will judge me for meddling with His revelation if I were to do that. For this reason I spent many years learning the Greek and Hebrew in which the Bible was written. I can assure you based on the rules of grammar, context and common usage that my plain explanation is correct.

 

 

Me November 5 at 11:10pm

David, were it only as easy as simply believing any man who claimed his interpretation was the correct one - then no one would have bothered to repeat the process of seeking to understand it for themselves at all... and so many versions would cease to exist in present day... and you and I would never have need to have this conversation.

But it is not that simple. You are a man, but you are not Christ, nor are you God, so the best you can deliver, even through your readings, is -your- understanding. Which I find conflict with; as I have detailed; so you are going to have to do better than saying "because I said so." Parts of the Bible were also written in Aramaic, it also was not called The Bible til it was written in Latin - are you a scholar or these languages as well? The Bible is a collective anthology, not the works of one or even two authors, and regardless of rules of grammar - which you can only assume the writers followed and were not at all deigning to be poetic or to make implications rather than speaking in the plain. Further more what you have provided to me is not a reasonable explanation and answer to the questions posed to you - if you have honest scholarly reason you should be able to refute in detail why and how what I have said is off base and why and how you are...just.. in your application

Or it was.
With the immediate possibility of going under the knife suddenly an option I  had to start examining if it was really what I wanted, something didn't sit right. I needed to know what.  And then it came to me through a week of real self  examination.

I have made up my mind, and decided not to pursue a breast reduction. This decision was something that when I arrived at it I felt relief. Extreme relief. I realized that on the aesthetic end, folk find me plenty pleasing as is - and those that don't can go somewhere else. All that really matters is that I don't become unattractive to those people who already matter, and once again, to quote Heinlein: A man does not insist on physical beauty in a woman who builds up his morale. After a while he realizes that she is beautiful – he just hadn't noticed it at first.

Those who disagree must not have ever have been in the favor of a partner who really, truly, builds morale. In any case, it was actually the combination of a poem and one womans responses on my board questions that really turned the situation around for me.

Breast cancer... it deprives women of their sweater filler and their lives in the worst cases. There have been women who have, out of the very shame in the notion of losing a breast chosen death- and their partners would have rather hugged the flatness of their chest than the tombstone that now marks their too brief existence on earth. I spent years of my youth begging the universe to give me supple beautiful breasts that would be the highlight of my femininity. I was answered very late in the game and blessed in abundance. These girls have been with me through so much now, they do practically have a life of their own: that part of my life that was forever changed by their presence.

You know what, men talking to your tits isn't so bad, men being advantageous, also not so bad if you can find yourself the strength to defend your body or others who possess it. I have my daddy, my uncles, my brother, my Lou, and my Tim, to see to my safety and well being; I do not need to lop off my tits to gain protection: I am well armed if I lean against my support beams. Oh, and learning how to use firearms helps too.

Clothes are an annoyance, but it is SO great when you find something that looks amazing.

Yes they are heavy - but I don't even like most strenuous sports. I have my elliptical and that's really not so bad on the boobs with the right bra... and hoola hooping is now becoming a thing - also no impact. I can swim no problem. I don't have a runners build - why pretend otherwise. This is a body for belly dance and makin love, not soccer.

So the dishes are a bother to put away and the laundry somewhat hard to carry - you know what, I can strengthen my core muscles or rely on the members of my house to do this duty - it really isn't gonna kill me to accept a bit of help in this area.

For the life I like to live, my breasts are perfectly lovely, and there may come a time (given my families history) that cancer may consume them and take them away from me involuntarily: I don't need to bring this on myself - life could afford the horror without my prompting. Screw that. I can always get a redux later if it becomes more necessary, aesthetically or physically... but I can't undo it.

Right now though I have vacillated for more than 4 years, clearly I'm not ready to do it. Clearly it's not what I want.. if I wanted it, like everything else I want, I'd go after it with passion rather than fear and insecurity.

 Silky smooth
Lips as sweet as candy, baby
Tight blue jeans
Skin that shows in patches

Strong inside but you dont know it
Good little girls they never show it
When you open up your mouth to speak
Could you be a little weak

Chorus:

Do you know what it feels like for a girl
Do you know what it feels like in this world
For a girl

Hair that twirls on finger tips so gently, baby
Hands that rest on jutting hips repenting

Hurt thats not supposed to show
And tears that fall when no one knows
When youre trying hard to be your best
Could you be a little less

(chorus)
(chorus, prefixing 3rd line with what it feels like)

Strong inside but you dont know it
Good little girls they never show it
When you open up your mouth to speak
Could you be a little weak

(chorus, repeat)

In this world
Do you know
Do you know
Do you know what it feels like for a girl
What it feels like in this world

Got back with mom on monday, a friend came over and helped us unload the uhaul (Knight!!!) Now im at home unloading my pretties into their correct places. I'm the crystal\silver queen.  Now i just need  a party to hostess.

Going to the Munch at the Cambridge Galleria mall tonight.. seems like it could be fun.

All the magic I have known, I've had to make myself - Shel Silverstein

Nearly a month ago I participated in a ritual devoted to the Greek Goddess of luck and her counterpart the God of Protection. I had an amazing experience that I will never forget, of laughter, song, dance, and love. We imbued with blessings personal items; my treble clef ring among them. Since that time there have been some downs in my life but those have been overwhelmed, especially recently, by my fortune.

I have not come into money, nor have I come into an easier life per se. In fact, my life has become much more complicated; but it is also richer.
I laid down exhausted and woke to find myself in wonderland. With few exceptions it seems like everything i touch is golden, and it seems that those who reach out to me feel as though they are sharing the same experience.

I really am loving myself, and I'm letting people love and see me. With the charade of contentment I would play for myself regarding the quality of my "old" situation FINALLY ended, I have been freer than ever to embrace myself. I eagerly plan out the changes I wish to make to my situation to one more of my liking. Even if every goal I set from here on I only make part way, or achieve at a plodding or dreary place, I will not be sad. I will be striving for something that I really want, that is good for me and therefore any accomplishment is a way in which I honor myself.

Be The Magick. ~ Geo

Well I know why the cards threw the Tower at me, although my response to seeing it several days back was "Yeah? Tell me something I DON'T know" - I realize that I may have been too flippant.

Trying to get myself back into the new routine that was working so well before a couple weeks ago is very hard. The nagging voices that say "it's not good enough" are screaming at me to do much more than I know I am capable of. My body is not happy at all with the pushing I've been doing, and my mind isn't much further off from that.

I'm ready to get into the laborous work I need to do; but everything else around me, all the situatins are screaming at me to STOP. My kids, husband, mother, and well my entire family need me to not be getting nitpicky right now, to focus on the big shit again, and not sweat all the small stuff. But that's what I'm doing regardless of the need to cease, because of those nagging voices. I need to settle in and get some hardcore meditating to tidy up my headspace which means, creating a spot again.

I think it speaks volumes when you treat your "self" time with the exact same feeling of duty, obligation, and strain as you greet cleaning your house.

Movie:
The Secret Life of Bee's- Divinely inspiring, empowering, brilliant.

Book Series:
The Immortal Nicholas Flamel - Fantastic weaving of mythology, folklore, legend, fantasy, history and the modern world. A great way to develop curiosity and intrigue into all of the aforementioned realms with no offense or disservice done to any which is miraculous considering the vast selection roped into the series.

Like I need this SHIT!

Yesterday I discovered my son had turned down\off my fridge the night prior when getting his milk, so I had to clean out and get rid of every perishable in it. Which meant a time expense AND a grocery expense tallying 250 dollars.

While I was dealing with the fridge clean out and trash gathering, he was busy finding a marker and coloring on every wall from livingroom to bedroom and my dining chairs.

This morning he dumped out cereal all over the couch and mashed it into the cushions - and all over teh floor while i was upstairs helping tara clean her room, so i spent the better part of the morning sweeping, vaccumming and cleaning up this disaster.

THEN i put him in the bath thinking this will help keep down the disaster right? NO
The little shit decides that NOW is a great time to take his sisters LEAPSTER into the tub. That's right a 60 dollar piece of machinery INTO the tub... which is devastating for her as this is the second one he's ruined and I'm definitely NOT buying a new one today or soon, I can't afford it. THe first one he dropped down the stairs and broke the screen. I wasn't amd abotu that as it was an accident, but this was a deliberate and I'm PISSED as HELL

I'm tired of this child wasting money and time by destroying everything he touches.
I am SICK of being strung out because there's nothing I can do, no inspiration or punishment I can give him to stop being a a demolition disaster and I ahve to waste the majority of my time fixing what he has FUCKED UP.

I am FED the FUCK UP.
And there's nothing I can do even though all i want to do is beat the shit out of him for all the aches and pains my body is in from keeping up with what he does.

The moniter to the one well working desktop (mine) upstairs is now going. The wire was finicky before, making the screen turn purple if jiggle wrong, but now the whole screen is dim as hell. Add "New Moniter" to list of big purchases I also did not want to have to make.

Beyond all this crap that makes me want to KILL - I somehow must carry on, continuing tmy work cleaning the house so that tomorrow when I get back from lou's surgery lou won't have to hobble around kiddie death traps! Oh and WHILE I'm ranting I don't suppose I've mentioned that LUCKY US, Lou's surgery is at 6:15 am tomorrow, 40 minutes away. That means We'll have to be up at 4:45am, and in the car no later than 5:20 to take him to get his operation. Me and two kids - 40 minutes from home, for at least an hour, with NOTHING to do because NOTHING is even open at that time of day.
FUCKING JOY.

Here is where I tell the universe to GO FUCK YOURSELF.

My husband "dinged" another persons vehicle today - here goes another insurance hike.
I'm really fucking sick of more bills and bills, especially related to vehicles.

Just as things start to get better they always get worse and I'm seriously fed up.

I honestly don't know what to do anymore. It's months before could affordably work anywhere, and there's not too much i could really pare down on as far as monthly expenses. We simply do not make enough to deal with the many crisis that seem to crawl out of teh woodwork to smack us around.

I'm seriously ready to cancel every service under the sun hat we have for 6 months just to get shit in my favor. We'll hate each other, and no one will be able to get in touch with us, but whatever it takes to climb out of the hole right???

The promise of Perfectionism is that you will feel accomplished and satisfied upon -finishing\obtaining- the desired state of Perfection, where NOTHING else can be improved upon. It doesn't even matter which way your perfectionism manifests, the goal is always unsustainable since we do not exist in a stable or resting state, but in an active one.

As long as the goal is unobtainable, job satisfaction remains out of reach, and so the ability to "feel accomplished" is continually out of reach. Perfectionism prompts a person to seek that which was MEANT to be out of reach. If we all reach the desired states of perfection - there would be a need to cease all our activity to prove and maintain the accomplishment. We would become creatures who live in a resting state rather than an active one. That kind of existence, without will or desire to do anything else, will not yield satisfaction even if it is reached. Why? Because as soon as all the work is done and there is -nothing more to do- there is nothing left to feel pride for, the feeling of accomplishment diminishes as we take for granted that which is there in front of us to enjoy.

So there's the rub, even if you reach perfection you won't be satisfied.
We must learn to be happy with what we have done, to seek beyond accomplishment and "doneness" to what it is that gives us joy. Why we do what we do is the foundation for the action, without purpose and direction it is meaningless. We must force ourselves, on far more occaision than we allow ourselves, to enjoy and revel in that which we are now in possession of.

Life is all too brief, and I don't care what your religion or faith is, you weren't blessed with the sun in the mornin and the moon at night so you could sit around gritting your teeth about what you haven't done today and how tomorrow is going to suck too.

~Sarah

Okay, so I did somemore work in the livingroom. I rearranged the nightmare bookcase (DVDS) and the Long Shelf area. Instead of having a plethora of knickknacks and storage boxes on the shelf i moved the grown-up dvds upwards. I moved all the kids dvds into the "desk" area of the bookcase which closes, and put the dvd cases on the top shelf while moving the dvd player and cable box onto the second shelf instead of in the desk area. The overall result is: a much neater, cleaner, grown-up display rather than a hodgepodge.

But don't just take my word for it... weigh in with your thoughts.

Okay, I keep waiting for the crash. Its been two weeks I think since i began this cleaning madness and it's not dissipating much. Where there's been some give I always give back.. ex: i try to keep at least one room so perfect or close to perfect that I don't lose my ambition. Like right now my diningroom\livingroom is pretty damn spotless just prior to the bedtime tidy routine HOWEVER my kitchen could use a spruce up. But nothing is unwieldy.

Now that lou has driving privileges on base again (long story about government stupidity, not our fault) he has been taking the car... which I'm grateful for because it keeps me from impulse shopping\snacking. I slacked on Laundry the past few days BUT I did tackle this dining table which wasn't visible for months under paperwork AND i got our car registration renewed (also a two month past date chore) online. And now.. now I find myself motivated to do what I know I should do and ditch the soda... unfortunately if you know anything about me you know I hate, hate, hate, drinking water.

It's a nasty thought that possesses my mind which screams at me... water is for the poor and destitute or those with so much money they can blow 2 bucks on a piece of plastic with a "fancy" label. It's for those people who run 2 miles everyday who like to work themselves to death in the pursuit of physical perfection - casually running over and pushing around other people who don't conform to that same standard.

Yes, my inner brat hates, loathes, and detests people who carry water bottles, and wants no part of being the kind who have no choice but to drink the lukewarm to moderately cool crap that was intended to be used for boiling water and cleansing dishes. She screams to me that drinking either will taint my body and mind with the diseases of narcissism, work-addiction, and poverty. Unfortunately for her -I- have realized that it's all just excuses. These ideas are false, they are lies, really big whoppers that shes managed to use to convince me that there's a reason I am not doing what is best for me... aussaging my ego when she should be berating me for not doing my best. Bad Inner Sarah!

I need to spend at least 15 minutes a day loving on myself, doing what is honestly best for me rather than what feels good that only lends itself to regret. That's got to be at least 4 cups of water right?

I am sad that this means I will have to put myself on a water only drinking diet because I know that all the other drinks out there are really not much different in calories. It's going to take a lot of will power and sacrifice - but I'm willing to try. If I fall off ( i hear bad sarah screaming "you mean WHEN you fail") I will just have to start again.

So I think this month I'm going to dedicate my spiritual studies to water and befriend it again.
I will drink water... I will drink water... I will make Water my friend... I will forgive those crazy waterbottle people for their consumptive waste and attitude trash, and remember that each drink I have from the faucet I am drinking with friends not lowly outcasts... and is it not a sacred act to share a drink with friends? *sigh* I suppose I will have learned a thing or two about humility by the time this is over too.

So we got cable, and today I did not have to watch a single rerun (all we've had for years are movies). That said, the dvds did not get messed with today. This means that I can actually straighten up the DVD cases\area and they won't get screwed up so fast and they get less kiddie fingerprints on em. YEAH!

Right now I'm about to straighten up that area watching Men in Tights, pining over a young Carey Elwes.

Then I'm off to retidy my kitchen. I seriously need get the laundry done so i can have all the microfiber pads for my mop again - the majority of which are hiding in with the whites which i rarely do whole loads of (we don't have a lot of them, socks and undershirts just don't build up quickly) Maybe i'll start a load before going to the dvds.

Tara was the same as yesterday today, two doses of tylenol, up all day, no naps, good appetite. W00t.

Okay, continuing cleaning and bettering my world some more.
Today I did as I was supposed to according to Flylady, I worked on my dining room. And since the dining room is attached to the living room (which i worked on yesterday), I finally got around to minor rearranging and surface cleaning. Mommy, be prepared to be amazed.







The big black sheet covered thing will be disappearing to my room once i get a pair of healthy knees to help me. I figure we'll replace it with a big green indoor plant. When I manage to get a new dresser the one in my room will come downstairs and go under the tv, i'll put dvd dividers in it and move the bookcases to the guest room most likely, or my mother in laws attic since we are housing much of our library there for safe keeping.

Still looking for a nice carpet remnant to go in the livingroom section, the kids already love using the coffee table at it's correct height... made possible by the clean floor since I'll let them put the cushions on the floor to sit on... but i'm fanatical about the cushions not getting filthy which will no longer be an issue with carpet.

I also caved and got cable tv. It's funny, i'm so accustomed to watching movies that im really not all that into "shows" it's definitely just an extra around here.

For the record: Tara Update
Tara was pretty much her usual self today, bossing, whining, upbeat and racing around. She had two headaches cured quickly with a dose of tylenol.
I don't know when or if I'll get over my "you're too fragile to play those games" phase, and I hope that I'm not scarring her psyche and turning her into a victim by reminding her she can't fight with her brother or interact with him when he is upset or angry. We shall see.

I have almost entirely reclaimed my backyard from the ravages of dog and trees. The pineneedles are swept up, the old toys are trashed, and hopefully someone will pick up that ginormous "igloo" doghouse.

I tidied up the front porch area but it really needs a small table and chair set so I can sit in the shade, drink something pleasant and read while watching the kids in the park (and still be nearby enough to scream or run if necessary). Maybe I'll get lucky and see something on freecycle.

I've also divided my living room couch again and swept out underneath it. Tara was not exactly thrilled to have to put away the massive pile - it took two trips. WAAAH.

I cleared off and lowered our magic coffee table that converts from a small rectangular coffee table to a full size dining table that seats 8. I inherited said table from Nana Nancy, and it has lived in it's dining table size for months now because I won't let the destruction kids sit at my formal as hell table for their solo meals. We now have walking space in the livingroom area again. YEAH!

Tomorrow is "find the aforementioned formal dining table under all the junk mail and kiddie drawings" day.

Soon I will be forced to tackle the childrens' room and play\guest room. A task that I am looking forward to with about as much zeal as one has on their way to get a root canal. We are going to be playing a very extensive game called "lets give away our shi...stuff" I may be murdered trying to get rid of any of Braeden's Millions of cars or any of the Zillions of ponies. If I disappear off the face of the earth again, that's probably what happened. I think we may pare the whole mess down to Legos, Ponies\Barbies, Doll Dress up Clothes, Dolls, and Cars. Maybe. Depends how sharp their claws and cute the eyes are.

I left the house with Tara in the previously stated condition - holding out but pained, laying down, eating a little more. This was at 2pm. I came home at 7 (afternoon of babysitting and helping my friend calm the calamity that is having 3 kids from 9mos to 13 with husband gone 95% of the waking hours). On my way home Lou reported that Tara had thrown up and that movies seemed like a bad idea for tonight considering how little she'd eaten. I was coerced into going to wally-world for some kiddie Ensure.

Yet when I walked in the door, to my great surprise, my daughter shouted MOMMY'S HOME!!! Tara came rushing to the door to greet me and ask if I was going to take her to the movies now. I had to tell her no because the rule is she's can't have thrown up and has to not be hurting from loud sounds... but I did say maybe this weekend.

Since I've been home Tara has gone up and down the stairs on her own several times, she's helped me fold laundry, bossed her brother around, whined and given me a verbal wish list of all the stuff she wants from a house of her own to a new brother and about 12 different movies and articles of clothing, she's also reminded me she's going to be a veterinarian and going to have 8 kids and shes going to start off by asking all the boys in the neighborhood if they will marry her.

Normally this onslaught of chatter would have driven me up the wall, right now I'm too ecstatic to have someone resembling my kid back.

Tara's Booboo

( Read more... )

Today Tara was a bit better. She smiled her absolute best smile, the one that goes from her toes to her nose when she got to speak to her Nana. She even deigned to leave from my bedroom (her new home) to join Jacy, Daniele, Piper, Braeden and I downstairs... but she wasn't really interested in doing much but laying around down here. But it was progress. She ate meat, and cheese, and a few crackers, drank lots of raspberry tea and a juice box, took her medicine so calorically speaking she's getting along much better (esp. since she kept everything down).

She's still in a lot of pain, but she's not begging for ice and medicine every half hour like she was before. For the most part she can count to ten and make it through a wave - she is a very strong girl. As strange as it may sound I take her cattyness and attitude as a major boon since it says that regardless of her not being my mobile monkey-girl, she's still the same individualist pain in the ass daughter I know and love. Still, every cry still makes me wince and wish that she was climbing the curtains and getting stuck in the tree outside again. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers and I'll continue to keep you posted.

I absolutely loved this movie. I was so disgusted\disheartened by the failed tv prequel Enterprise that I snubbed my nose at the possibility of the new movie being good... yet it had been so long since I'd engrossed myself in Trek I thought it wouldn't be bad to catch a matinee with my friends.

The casting, in my opinion, was nearly perfect. I wish in some manner that the leads resembled their predecessors (or is that future selves?) a bit more accurately, but youthful clones are in short supply these days... and I hated Spocks haircut... it bothered me the whole way through... HOWEVER; the acting was wonderful. Now it was not wonderful in the sense that their prowess was truly skillful and artistic... it was wonderful in the sense that you really did see your beloved OS crew come back to life, and in their youth.

You will laugh your way through this movie meeting the characters again, seeing the relationships develop. The plot is simplistic and entertaining... it is not a masterpiece in that regard. Those who are purists will probably find themselves flashing back to many episodes and wondering how all this will possibly lead up to the series you grew up with - do not bother to try. Do not go expecting to get some logically sequenced prequel that just sets you up to go buy the boxed set and be content to live in nostalgia. If you cling too fondly to the events you remember from the past you will be throwing away all that this new movie opens up for both older generations of fans and the next. Remember the Trekker Creed ...to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.