4H, Gravestones and Flags

Last Wednesday, we got a notice from our 4H leader that there was an opportunity for a community service project. The project was to assist in putting American flags on all of the graves of veterans in one of the local cemetaries.

Matthew's job was to remove/carry the old flags from last year, if they were still there. Michael carried the new flags and put them in as best he could. I carried the list of gravestones we were supposed to find and checked them off when we were done.

Boy was it hot outside! The 4H leader brought a cooler full of iced water bottles, and that helped. Breezes came occasionally. But all three of us found ourselves fascinated by the whole process, and so glad that we had participated.

We tried to look at the dates and estimate how old these brave men were when Pearl Harbor was bombed. On our lists, some were notated as to whether they were World War I or II veterans. It was amazing. Some of the veterans were just 16 years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed. I've no idea if they pretended they were older to enlist as some did, or if they got in on the tail end of the war once they turned 18.

Some men had just missed World War I and were what some might call getting on the older side when America became involved in the second war.

Another special moment was realizing that there were other groups as well, VFW and so forth that were going around and doing the same thing at graveyards and cemetaries all over the country. I wondered if my Dad was on someone's list in Oklahoma, to make sure his grave had a flag for Memorial Day. I'm glad there are many people who care to make sure that we remember what Memorial Day is all about.

If I should die before Jesus comes again, I pray that God's special memorial marker will be at my grave, so that I will be one of the dead in Christ who will rise first when He comes in the clouds of glory!

Sharon Leukert

Reorganization??

Here is where we are at.

I said I was planning on shutting down my blog, because I no longer wanted to drag my Savior's name through the dirt that seemed to be following me.

Some of you personally, through email, or by posting a comment have said you would hate to see that happen.

I did get an apology from the person who has left attacking comments on my blog, which I accept because I believe she was sincere.

I still think the blog needs to go, but perhaps, just the old ways of doing things.

Thus far, I have not enabled any of the moderation tricks that you can do with blogger. I believe in free speech and have not wanted to decide whose comments get posted and whose do not.

If you disagree with me, you have a right to speak up and say so. However, personal attacks are not free speech. So, how about we continue to let people comment whatever their opinion is as long as it is based on the post itself. If personal attacks from anyone continue, I'll have to resort to doing the moderation thing or shutting it down. Fair enough?

Again, it's okay to disagree with me.

Free speech!

The Road to Goodbye

The purpose of this blog is to uplift Jesus and his soon coming.

Evidently, I am not the person to do this.

I have too many skeletons in my closet and I offend too many people.

Take some time to review whatever posts you want, because this blog will be getting the ax.

I was a sinner. I still am a sinner, and I still need God to transform my life. I am nothing without Him. But my story should be about how God has power to transform and change our lives, but I continually bring up pain.

So, God has counted His resources and found He is not wanting. There are lots of other blogs out there by sincere Christians who love the Lord and don't have all the baggage that I do. They can be a better witness.

It's been fun.

Art thou on thy way to hell for speaking clearly?

Please, someone speak up!

Okay, there is nothing wrong with the King James Version of the Bible. However, there is also nothing wrong with the New King James Version or the New American Standard and many others.

There may not be a problem with reading the Living Bible, as long as you realize it is a paraphrase, not a translation and only by one man so it is very biased toward only his beliefs. Same with the Clear Word, a paraphrase by only one man and very biased toward his beliefs.

Now, I do admit, I have some problems with the NIV. Yep, the New International Version. Seems to me that "they" took the liberties of a paraphrase, yet called it a version and a scholarly translation, but again, I don't think any one is going to be eternally lost for reading the NIV.

But I just need to hear from someone else out there. Recently, I heard someone say that only the KJV was good enough. Well, personally, I'd like to skip many of the thees and thous sometimes, but at other times, I embrace it.

I will admit, that it makes me really angry when people are led to believe that they aren't full Christians if they read anything other than the KJV. Any thoughts out there?

Spiderman

Boys will be boys, right? Even four year old boys? We have to realize that kids have to experience things for themselves as if they were the first person to ever do it, and we have to be excited for them. But I'm finding myself becoming less and less excited about Spiderman.

It seems that my four year old son, who saw the Spiderman movie once at someone else's house (it would not have been my choice for him), has been greatly impacted by what he saw. He's often saying something about what Spiderman can do.

The more I think about it, the more I don't like it. I'm not trying to be a bah humbug kind of person here, but I don't think it's something I want my four year old immitating or glorifying.

It seems to me that our society wants to do away with God. The whole no prayer in schools and all of that stuff is just scratching at the surface. What's more important is what happens in our own homes. So homes all across America are trying to do away with God.

But we are still human. We still crave to see "good" triumph over "evil." We still have a God shaped hole in our hearts and we want to fill it with something. So, if you get rid of the one true Creator God in your life, who is all powerful, all merciful, all justice and all knowing.....then you want something a little larger than yourself to fill that void in your life.

So, man pretends that the creator doesn't exist, and then man creates his own imaginary hero. Plug in any character here, not just Spiderman. Let's see, the Incredibles, Fantastic Four, Superman, Captain Planet, the Incredible Hulk, Batman, fairy godmothers and the list goes on and on and on.

We modern civilized peoples often look down our noses at more primitive cultures that make and then worship idols. Seems we have been too quick to judge. As earlier mentioned, we make our own heroes for our children to mimic and look up to.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. So, I want my child to go around the house saying what Jesus did do, for real, instead of what man pretends a made up superhero can do.

Now I need to get busy and make sure my children are learning all the beautiful and wonderful things that Jesus did when He actually walked this earth. Already, one of Matthew's favorite stories is about Jesus and the Storm. He needs to know that the God we serve has done amazing things. The God we serve continues to do amazing things. The God we serve is worthy to be honored and glorified!

Happy Birthday!

A Happy Birthday wish for my wonderful husband, Karl Leukert.

Each year of life is a gift. Each breath a reminder that we live and move and have our being in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Happy Birthday!

How do they know?

There were some things that concerned us about our oldest son, Michael. Just some things that didn't seem "normal" (as if that could ever be defined). Most traditional doctors want to pump kids full of all kinds of horrible medications and stuff, and we definitely didn't want to go that route.

After much time spent in prayer, much research on the internet and elsewhere, and personal recommendations from friends, we took the plunge with a less traditional MD. This lady is either in her late 60's or early 70's and takes Tango Classes! She also sings in her church choir and is full of energy. That's the kind of doc you can feel comfortable going to!

So, we finally get the results back from several tests that were done. Turns out, there are some food allergies to blame for some of the stuff that is "not normal" in Michael. So, we simply become aware of what to give him less often and what to avoid at all costs.

Of course, pork was a no brainer, didn't need a test for that one, but it still showed up that Michael is allergic to pork. Not surprising since many people in my family are, including myself and my grandpa.

However, it was really interesting to me that some of Michael's least favorite foods, were also foods that he was supposed to avoid. Oats, Barley and rice. Some of Michael's absolute least favorite foods (except for the oatmeal butterscotch cookies, of course).

I began to wonder, how do they know? My niece has similar food allergies and she as well seems to just dislike automatically the foods that she is most allergic to. Who knows, maybe even former President Bush is actually allergic to broccoli, and doesn't even know it!

Children also don't like loud screaming adults. I remember one time when Karl was really frustrated about something that happened at work, many years ago. Michael was just a preschooler and Karl came home ranting and raving about what had happened. And I, as his dutiful wife, listened with sympathy. No big deal. Unfortunately, Michael didn't know that daddy wasn't mad at mommy. He just heard the loud words and the frustration in daddy's voice and began to cry.

There are so many things that children just seem to know automatically. They are really quite amazing if we will just take the time to notice. Maybe that's why Jesus said we had to become like little children, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Blob!

A blob has invaded my home. Slowly, at first, but then increasing in speed with each passing year, it is taking over my house!

It is the dreaded home school blob! Yes, the one that fills your every nook and cranny with educational books, supplies, games, learning tools, record books, workbooks, teacher manuals, and the list goes on and on and on. I've got Michael's kindergarten stuff, his 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade stuff as well as his current 4th grade stuff. It begins to take over everything!

We have this downstairs family room. It is now a homeschool storage room. There is little room for much else down there. You see, we have these "well meaning friends" who have contributed to the blob. Evidently, when people know you are home schooling, they say, oh I bet you could use this! Usually they are right, but every so often a home schooling family becomes a dumping ground for anything remotely educational that someone no longer wants and couldn't get rid of at their yard sale.

At first, everything was embraced with thankfulness! Wow, look what someone gave us! Then, as I learned more about home schooling and then as I began to do it, I realized that not every child will be helped by the same materials. Just because something worked for one child, doesn't mean it will work for all children. I began to realize that I could say, no, that is not something our family would use in home schooling. Unfortunately, I think I learned this lesson too late. The blob has a permanent foothold on our home!

So it begins. With the zeal of Carrie Nation, I must go attack that room (and everywhere else in the house where the blob has spread) and cleanse my home of the home school blob! And probably dump some stuff on another home schooling family that hasn't learned the lesson yet (hee hee hee).

Clutter, whether it is good stuff or junk, is still clutter. Things that keep you from moving freely in your house could one day make you fall and injure yourself seriously enough to require a physician or even an emergency room visit! So it is with other clutter in our lives. Mental, social, emotional and spiritual clutter. So, as I try to vanquish the blob, I'm going to be asking God to show me what is cluttering my spiritual life, and keeping me from being whole and healthy in Him.