Oops! They Did It Again

Yesterday I reported to the dermatology office a bit further away to have the surrounding tissue of my biopsy removed.  As required as the next step in a malignant melanoma biopsy, they cut half a centimeter around the previous wound (which hadn't healed right, anyway, so I was glad for a new start).

The doctor was very comfortable tearing my leg apart.  A buddy came in and they were talking about some new billing methods.  I don't know how that would have made YOU feel, but in my head I thought, "Yay! He totally does this every day.  I am in good hands."  He did apologize for the interruption but I explained it shows his confidence.

We'd had so much discussion about the site I forgot the other reason I was there!  I told him I had been sent out his way also because of my mysterious neck growths.  My PA was hoping he could treat them there with laser.  He peered around to look and exclaimed, "Oh! Wow!" and had his buddy check it out, too.  They were intrigued.  I think this is how corpses feel when they donate their bodies to science: "Yay! I knew it! I AM special!"

I had gone to the appointment and the whole way back listening to "Til the End" by Jeremy Camp on repeat.  Lovely, eternal message that could give anyone courage in practically any situation.  He had led our worship service this weekend and for some reason, the depth of his pain and his story resonated with me.  I have not lost a spouse to cancer but I can weep with him at the misery I imagine one could have.  Because....

In the time and space between last appointment and this one, I have planned the start, middle, and end of my funeral.  This includes details such as:
- the playlist to be played on rolling speakers for its 1 mile fun run and walk
- the ice cream company that will have an ice cream truck at the end of the run/walk (for some reason this funeral will be in the summer?)

It's terrible.  These thoughts don't quit.  I know anyone could die at any time.  We are not promised the next breath.  But there's a difference between that knowledge and the knowledge that something cancerous has been growing on you and pursuing your life aggressively.

I share the thoughts so that you know how much support people with cancer need - like, cancer going on NOW (this is just my BRUSH with it!).  The mind is its own battlefield.

The doctor assuaged my fears.  I did not mention them to him, I simply asked about melanoma.  He said the way it grows is OUT OUT OUT and THEN down.  It's the down part, the reaching down, that makes it invasive.  Mine was superficial, like in the top 0 mm of my skin!  So I was probably okay, but he had to go AROUND the site wound to ensure it had not grown OUT anymore.

I relaxed and breathed then.  So I was not going to die of this wound.

This gash - it's about 6 inches long.  It ACHES today.  I'm on my couch and my daughter is wheeling me around in my office chair!  Almost hilarious if I weren't petrified the ladder of stitches was going to tear.

And Uzzie buddies - I know you feel my pain when I say I heard the UPS truck roll up my driveway and drop off my books and I couldn't go get them!  AHHHH!!!  [The kids felt special when I asked them to get them though - that's a bright side].

This gash. I've decided I'm going to tell everyone I got it in Iraq. I mean, I could have gotten skin issues there, right? I did lay out on a bunker once or twice.  I DID swim in Baghdad palace lakes and I assure you I didn't use sunblock then.  I was only out 3 times without my full uniform on so maybe it *did* grow then.

Otherwise, I truly can't remember a time I was out in the sun without sunblock.  And saying "I got it in Iraq" makes me sound like a badass.

I get the results back within a week.  Here's hoping the melanoma had found a stopping point.
- 

A 6 Step Method to Skip the Bait

There's no doubt: a decade after we all thought there would be hopeful change, there is simply more visible hate.  Hate has been given license and freedom where it had never before.

Reactions are so visceral there leaves little room for discussion.  Facebook tirades turn into statements with "no comments please."  No discussion please, they say.

No discussion?

It's offensive to me that a lack of discussion is permissible.  It's offensive to me that unbridled hate and statements made without question are given free reign.

But I understand why they are.  People are tired of "discussions" gone sour.  On Facebook, discussions rarely exist.  Now with hate being an okay, socially acceptable disease, they devolve quickly into puff matches.  And I don't care who you're voting for, the candidates are all stewing it at this point.  It gives them fuel, and it gives them donors.

Dude, I could go on and on and spiral downward with this country.

Hate is bait.

Instead, I'm going to pull myself out of the muck.  I'm going to try to take the hate and turn what I see as something destroying political debate - and therefore our country - into something constructive. I'm going to revitalize something called, "asking questions."

I've developed a constructive outline for disagreements on Facebook.  I hope this proves useful to you.  I hope your friendships are maintained or even enhanced by the outline below.  Thomas Jefferson and John Adams frequently disagreed and yet were able to pull some semblance of a lasting document together.  We can do it, dudes! We can rise above this chaos.

Here we go:

Step 1: Facebook statement made, or graphic posted

Step 2: Friend/commenter of that person reminds themselves that that person, who has been their FRIEND, truly believes in what they posted.

Step 3: Commenter: instead of disagreeing right off the bat, ask, "What are your reasons for this opinion?  I respect you, and I'd like to know where you are coming from."

Step 4: Statement Originator: State reasons without turning a stink eye at your Facebook friend.  Keep it, as we used to say in the 90s, professional.  Professional means a focus on the issue and facts, not any assumptions you have about your friend, the media, or the world.

Step 5: Commenter: "Interesting."

And then nothing else! I dare you!  Just THINK about their reasons!  Step away from Facebook.  Go about your more important day.  This is especially important should your passionate disagreement rise within you like a Montezuma's Revenge symptom, rocket-powered, unstoppable, on its way out... JUST STOP.

And after a few hours, when you have your wits about you, you can return.

Step 6: Commenter: "I've been thinking about what you wrote/posted/drew.  I understand your reasons.  I respectfully disagree for these reasons."

And then avoid words used commonly now in major news stories to persuade or convey emotion.  They are typically adverbs.  Yes, so just casually avoid adverbs.  Everyone knows you are just as passionate as the next person.  Present yourself professionally so that your friend can even hear your ideas.

It's a good thing, this seeking understanding from one another.  We can rise above the new healthcare dependency age of 26.  Let's be 21 again when we take responsibility for ourselves, shall we? Let's strive to conduct ourselves like adults and not fall for the bait of hate.

Let's use this political climate to reach across aisles.  One can disagree with policies, how people represent themselves (certainly!), but it's dangerous to use that as a reason to hate any person - a candidate, or a friend.  In fundamentalist worlds, that hate can be manipulated to do anything.  Do not give it a berth in your heart.  Do not let that start at a friendship's expense. 

Don't empty your pockets or your energy into something that is bad for your soul.  At least on Facebook political comments, swim in the stream away from the hate bait - flee it before it sucks you in to the bucket of other fish who bit.  It's not okay to hate - anyone.

Matthew 5:43“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighborⁱ and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?

The One Thing I Have in Common With Arnold Schwarzenegger

Ten years ago, I had a clear protusion removed from the bottom of my leg.
Since that time, it's turned in to a mole.
Last year, I had the mole looked at because it fit the bill of "ABCD" and the dermatologist said it was nothing. I was so surprised!  I think I even posted a vague Facebook status that day, something like, "It was nothing!  Doctor says I'm cancer free!" while in disbelief.  I couldn't believe it.

At about the same time, we got the news that unlike what our initial orders read, we'd be moving from our southern home 2 years earlier than planned - that summer.

We were not only moving, but we were moving to the north.  I was so afraid because it gets so cold.  Many forms of government service (my parents', my own) have kept me in pretty warm climes, deserts even (doggonit!) and my blood has verifiably thinned.  I will argue with any doctor about that!

But I also did not want to leave my neighborhood or the pool, or the kids' school and teachers....

Fast forward to this spring. I'd been hibernating for approximately 7 months, unlike my southern lifestyle. I spend a bit more time on Facebook, okay?

So, I read something one of my Usborne book customers had posted to her wall.  It was a farewell to her precious friend, and the blog was her friend's record of her prior year.  I read the blog, in detail, because this friend of my Facebook friend was my age.
She was 38.
She was 38, yet gone from this earth and with her heavenly Father.  From melanoma.

So my mole on my leg had been poo-poo'd as an issue last year, but I still had a couple of issues this spring - one, with a pyogenic something-something growing out of my neck (really gross!  It was like the alien from Spaceballs!), and then after that was done, several hemangiomas grew in the same spot.

The combination of the pyogenic-whatever and the hemangiomas have made this an extended scarf season for me.  So in and out of the doctor as I was, and having read that blog, I finally decided to mention that "nothing" mole on my leg to the doctor.  Since I was there, anyway.

"Oh that comes out.  I can get you to a dermatologist ASAP or I can take it out.  Either way I am not comfortable with that being there."

Because of my neck issues, I scheduled the dermatologist.  Same reaction.  The PA said, "We like for our patients to stick around town after removing skin issues so we can help in case of infection.  But even though you are traveling all of June, I am going to say we need to remove this now.  I am not comfortable with that being there any longer than it has to be."

Huge old hole punch, and it was out.  Great big scar on my leg.  Thank goodness I'm already married.

But it could have been worse.  I got the phone call while I was traveling: it was indeed melanoma in situ - which means superficial melanoma, but melanoma nonetheless.  The PA said she was "relieved, because we don't have to call an oncologist, but it was melanoma like I suspected."

Thank you, God, for removing me from the sun.  I never thought I would say that, but because we moved last summer, I didn't spend the summer at the pool.  Because we moved to a cold place, I barely ever had shorts on - all pants and long skirts.  Because we moved up here, I believe the disease on my leg may have been stopped in its tracks.  And because we moved, I had to find a different dermatologist, and the PA at the dermatologist was thankfully aggressive.  Yes, I am thanking God every day for this unexpected move north.

The next step is to cut a half centimeter around the site of excision to verify it has not spread. I will be doing that in the end of July.

Back to the one thing I have in common with Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The woman who wrote this blog that scared me into action, this blessed lady who spent her last year documenting her battle with melanoma, you have to know, was a career communicator.  Julie Soderlund actually worked for Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carly Fiorina as their communications director.

Yet, I count her as my own communications director.  This woman's gift of communication verified my intuition that something was wrong.  It's incredible the signs our bodies are trying to give us that we yet ignore.  I am not sure I would have been sufficiently scared enough to ask a doctor about the mole again if it hadn't been for the clarity in her blog.  I honestly blindly trust doctors - and in this case had even ignored my intuition.  Julie's words confirmed for me I must do something.

Like Arnold, I am indebted to her.  I am indebted to her not for my career, though, but for my life at the moment.  To be in the position I am in, to have a chance to cut everything out before it spreads anywhere, I feel like I owe it to this woman.

#TeamSoderlund

Awaiting the end of July,
Wendy

The One Thing I Have in Common With Arnold Schwarzenegger

Ten years ago, I had a clear protusion removed from the bottom of my leg.
Since that time, it's turned in to a mole.
Last year, I had the mole looked at because it fit the bill of "ABCD" and the dermatologist said it was nothing. I was so surprised!  I think I even posted a vague Facebook status that day, something like, "It was nothing!  Doctor says I'm cancer free!" while in disbelief.  I couldn't believe it.

At about the same time, we got the news that unlike what our initial orders read, we'd be moving from our southern home 2 years earlier than planned - that summer.

We were not only moving, but we were moving to the north.  I was so afraid because it gets so cold.  Many forms of government service (my parents', my own) have kept me in pretty warm climes, deserts even (doggonit!) and my blood has verifiably thinned.  I will argue with any doctor about that!

But I also did not want to leave my neighborhood or the pool, or the kids' school and teachers....

Fast forward to this spring. I'd been hibernating for approximately 7 months, unlike my southern lifestyle. I spend a bit more time on Facebook, okay?

So, I read something one of my Usborne book customers had posted to her wall.  It was a farewell to her precious friend, and the blog was her friend's record of her prior year.  I read the blog, in detail, because this friend of my Facebook friend was my age.
She was 38.
She was 38, yet gone from this earth and with her heavenly Father.  From melanoma.

So my mole on my leg had been poo-poo'd as an issue last year, but I still had a couple of issues this spring - one, with a pyogenic something-something growing out of my neck (really gross!  It was like the alien from Spaceballs!), and then after that was done, several hemangiomas grew in the same spot.

The combination of the pyogenic-whatever and the hemangiomas have made this an extended scarf season for me.  So in and out of the doctor as I was, and having read that blog, I finally decided to mention that "nothing" mole on my leg to the doctor.  Since I was there, anyway.

"Oh that comes out.  I can get you to a dermatologist ASAP or I can take it out.  Either way I am not comfortable with that being there."

Because of my neck issues, I scheduled the dermatologist.  Same reaction.  She said, "We like for our patients to stick around town after removing skin issues so we can help in case of infection.  But even though you are traveling all of June, I am going to say we need to remove this now.  I am not comfortable with that being there any longer than it has to be."

Huge old hole punch, and it was out.  Great big scar on my leg.  Thank goodness I'm already married.

But it could have been worse.  I got the phone call while I was traveling: it was indeed melanoma in situ - which means superficial melanoma, but melanoma nonetheless.  The doctor was "relieved, because we don't have to call an oncologist, but it was melanoma like I suspected."

Thank you, God, for removing me from the sun.  I never thought I would say that, but because we moved last summer, I didn't spend the summer at the pool.  Because we moved to a cold place, I barely ever had shorts on - all pants and long skirts.  Because we moved up here, I believe the disease on my leg may have been stopped in its tracks.  And because we moved, I had to find a different dermatologist, and the dermatologist was thankfully aggressive.  Yes, I am thanking God every day for this unexpected move north.

The next step is to cut a half centimeter around the site of excision to verify it has not spread. I will be doing that in the end of July.

Back to the one thing I have in common with Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The woman who wrote this blog that scared me into action, this blessed lady who spent her last year documenting her battle with melanoma, you have to know, was a career communicator.  Julie Soderlund actually worked for Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carly Fiorina as their communications director.

Yet, I count her as my own communications director.  This woman's gift of communication verified my intuition that something was wrong.  It's incredible the signs our bodies are trying to give us that we yet ignore.  I am not sure I would have been sufficiently scared enough to ask a doctor about the mole again if it hadn't been for the clarity in her blog.  I honestly blindly trust doctors - and in this case had even ignored my intuition.  Julie's words confirmed for me I must do something.

Like Arnold, I am indebted to her.  I am indebted to her not for my career, though, but for my life at the moment.  To be in the position I am in, to have a chance to cut everything out before it spreads anywhere, I feel like I owe it to this woman.

#TeamSoderlund

Awaiting the end of July,
Wendy

Weekend Retreating

I'm so excited about books this year!

I mean I have always been, but this year they are just going to blow your family away!

Click here for new titles!

I recently got to travel down south to help my skin cells come alive in the sun again.  I was gasping at how good it felt, just driving down the highway!

I got to hang with my dear friends, the Wonder Women! Here we are with the fabulous Randall White.

This was our first night there - a meet and greet!  I was so pumped that we all arrived safely - it's hard to leave the family behind but once everyone was there, I felt like I had another family.

I kidnapped my friend Carrie and we spent some time in my spiritual homeland just prior to the conference. She was such a good sport.  Holy cow.

I was so pleased to be able to meet up with some longtime friends, some of whom are on my team and some of whom I will never be able to express my gratefulness fully.  Here's my teammates, who I've known from 3 to 15 years!  They met at my fave restaurant downtown.  We dished about books and the lady on the left had just shopvac'ed her basement for the 2nd time.  How fabulous does she look!?

I then got to hang out at a coffee shop with just so many sweet friends who made the trip!  I was short on time and these are half of the precious friends I got to see!  The couple on the left are planting a church - their bible study was the first I went to as a young officer 16 years ago, where everything finally clicked.  My friends I grew up with are in the middle, and a young lady I got to lead in bible study is now the fine lady to the right!  And she has 2 kids!  OMGoodness I am OLD!!!  She is still so full of joy. 

Afterward we headed off to Lauren's house.  We spent hours catching up with her and her mom.  It was incredible.  Carrie and I learned SO MUCH about grace in sickness, and I saw that joy was alive and well in Kim.  I love her so much, she was one of my adoptive moms as a single person.  In fact, her house was the last house Dave and I stayed at after our marriage/pack up the house/move across the US final 3 days.  Just a loving, hospitable woman whom I emulate. 

Most people in town will recognize mi familia above.  Their home was my safe house as a young woman with only a lonely apartment to my name.  Whenever I needed to just feel normal, they greeted me with their weirdness.  It worked!  Perfect combination.  Until you wonder, who's normal and who's weird?  And you don't know anymore because you don't care.  You go there because you know you are loved.

A quick vignette: When I left my church, they went out of their way to let me know church was not a building, and that I was always welcome any time.  Well, I popped back in after 10 years and yep!  I love love love this family like my own.  They even came to visit my family in Germany when we were brand new parents!  They accompanied baby Ellie and I to Austria to visit my parents.  They are adventurous, loving, praying people.  I couldn't have asked for better guidance than their open home.

And finally I have to give a shout out.  I got to see Coralie at this weekend retreat!  This lovely lady is someone I am now calling my Irish sister. We spent one full week on a bus together in Ireland and honestly she and her husband are the bestest. I adore her through and through. What I love is that after our company-filled weekend, we agreed to help each other out propelling our businesses.  We aren't on the same team! Isn't that so great?  I know that is an odd phenomenon in the outside world but in Uzzie-land, I feel like it happens more often.  Our families and teams are blended!  I am thankful for her brightness.

And so, lest you think I am too wishy washy, I have to tell you we worked hard on detailed team leadership items.  Yes we spent time in the hot tub, and yes we hung out like champs in our cabin, but we accomplished a great deal, too.  I fully recommend this book for you to get a glimpse into my team philosophy.  It is founded on independence. It describes my team.  We are a Team Genius. These ladies are dynamite.  Creative, ambitious, and doing good for their families and communities!

Peace!

Wendy  

Semper Gumby

I just finished reading GEN Odierno's last press conference before his retirement this week.  So impressed.  This man has been in service for 40 years.  In just my short years in the Army, I saw so many changes - I can't imagine how many he saw in 40.

And yet, he survived.  He survived budget cuts, wars, personnel cuts, wars, more cuts.... In his retirement speech, he thanked his wife for all of her sacrifice too, and I can only imagine that as they served, they changed together to survive.

I hope to be that way.

I am in awe of military spouses who have chosen to adapt to their ever-changing surroundings and and overcome them.  It's been difficult, for sure, and as I walk this career with my husband, I find ever more people to admire.  I've adopted my own motto, even.  I modeled it after the fearless Marines', who say Semper Fi to mean Always Loyal.  That motto has carried them through the worst of wars and changes.

As a military spouse, I tell myself (and honestly, should get it embroidered on my own t-shirt or something, with max bling possible!) Semper Gumby to survive.  To me, it means Always Flexible, like the character Gumby.

And right? What a blessing if I could have that goofy smile on my face all the time, too!

But I have to tell you, there is just something special about moving all the time.  People can't put you in a box.  You can't put yourself in a box.  In fact, your stuff is perpetually boxed but that's where boxing belongs.  I love that.

In addition, you continually meet people who astound you.  You make a lot of friends, and although not all are deep friendships, they are good friendships.  And just when you think you've met the coolest person ever, another cool person with another amazing story emerges.  Like these: 

Nothing but respect for this lady.

Precious southern pals. 

And like my friend who takes her bake shoppe everywhere she moves.  She continually blesses people WHERE SHE IS regardless of that fact that she has to leave each client base behind. 

My friend who makes the cutest baby and little kid shirts and blankets and nurseries.  

A former bible study buddy who even just wrote a book about the military marriage adventure.

Yes, I've been inspired.  So my first entrepreneur mission was personal training.  It was fun, right up my obsessive-exerciser alley, too.  It was super fun.  Talk about job satisfaction!  

Add 3 kids and my time for others increasingly disappeared. 

I couldn't be as obsessive as I wanted to be with my clients, and with another move, I let that business fold.  When we moved, I had a lot of if's for that business ("IF we'd stayed in El Paso, it would have really taken off," "IF I'd done more classes I'd have met more people,") but you know what?  It's actually just what I was supposed to do right then.

After that, I jokingly went to a seminar on baking bread - to make fun of people in jumpers? I was so mean - and because I ended up so animated that this was something I, as a baker-wannabe, could do, I launched Wendy's Fresh Mills. It actually was pretty fun, but even baking with a Bosch and Nutri-Mill still takes time to demonstrate, and my husband's absences made that a challenge as well.  

We will pick it up again should the season develop.  It just takes one order, or one show!  David definitely wants this to be something he can do after he retires, so we will keep it current.  Unlike personal training, which I had to say "yes" or "no" to, demonstrating the freedom of these machines is like counseling.  We can shelve it for a bit, keep our license, and pick it up when we're ready.

So enter the next phase.  Like many of my friends listed above, I have had to be flexible.  I am okay with growing toward the next thing that fits our lifestyle.  My family is already stressed with Dave's schedule, why stress it even more with what I do, too?  For what purpose does that serve? 

After all, you have to leave time open to be available to paint friends' bathrooms!

And so I've found the book business to be amazing and fits us.  Plus, my kids enjoy their benefits so much. You want that book? Sure! 

This was certainly me growing up and I wanted that for my kids, regardless of how much time I had to be going back and forth to the library.  And a bonus?  As the business took off, I realized it was cheaper for me to buy books than to keep track of library fines.

You don't believe me?  I SAVED money, because I earned 25% commission on each of the books I bought for them.  No joke.  For the very first time in my life, I was making money from my book habit.   If you've seen my Saving for a Season blog, you know being financially savvy is important to me.  And if you'd seen my previous businesses, you'd see making money was not happening.

Well for once, I had a business that saved me money and made money as well.  Ecstatic.

Would I have met this business if I hadn't moved?  No.  Again, moving is just so cool.

Key for me is this: I CAN TAKE THIS BUSINESS WITH ME.  My clients I leave behind physically can either make purchases through my website, or do business with team members still there!  

Watch this video to see how I partied online even as we moved!  

In addition, there is actually some potential for it to grow beyond what I can do in my limited time. My previous business ventures had no potential for growth and were completely dependent on my time.  I am so thankful for this one, Usborne Books & More, because there is grace in a move, or a deployment, or any time I need down time, I am in charge and take it.  I show moms, schools, and libraries my available days and they choose which works best for them.  

What I took to a preschool book fair recently!  SO cute. 

What valuable lessons I've learned, too, helping different kids of people.  I've had to learn my books inside and out, and what a joy that's been.  My dream job has always been to read for a living!

And now I get to gift my kids with books like these - the best books in the world!

And gift them and discount them to hostesses, schools, and ministries as well. 

It's so much fun to read with my kids. It forces me to stop the run around, and they enjoy the time next to me as much as I enjoy it with them!  On a recent trip into NYC, we shared a common bond as we sang the first part of this book.

Hoping that Eric Ode writes a NYC ferry one next, 

because I don't plan on driving through the city again any time soon :) 

I think perhaps the biggest lessons I've learned in this business in the past year, are two: 

1 - you never know who wants a successful business, so don't judge! and 

2 - your what if's COULD be good ones.

I've also learned that in the military, we all network constantly.  We network to find the best hairdresser, the best A/C repair, the best realtor, the best schools, active churches.... we need people. And sometimes, just sometimes, those people need us.  It is just SO GOOD to be offering wonderful moms and grandmoms, libraries and schools book discounts and fun literacy programs that will move our country forward.  

Seriously? What an impact. Because the military lifestyle has forced me to be Semper Gumby, 

I've moved from encouraging healthy bodies, to encouraging healthy eating, 

to encouraging healthy brains and families!

YOU are the superhero in your kids' lives!

Every minute counts!  It's awesome what just 15 minutes a day can do. 

It's been an amazing journey! 

One of these ladies has been a friend for going on 8 years, and the other I just met in June!  Love!

Here are some fantastic friends and I, eating at a corn barn in Ireland! 

My husband and I count ourselves lucky we got the trip of a lifetime - as a reward for our work!

Want free books?  Want to earn some to donate?  Want to join and earn money doing it yourself?  You'll join my fantastic, flourishing team of Wonder Women.  

Look! ^^^ There's two Wonder Women now!

We'd love to have you!

CHEERS!

I Love People, I Like Cakes. What to Do?

Doom, gloom, etc.

Not going there!  Just sayin...

The facts: centuries ago, a certain people group took over an entire region through conquest and taxes.  That is, as they slowly gained control, they gave the inhabitants three options:
1 - choose to convert and live, or
2 - choose not to convert and die, or
3 - choose not to convert and pay taxes.

I still haven't found out what determined who got to live and who *just* had to pay taxes.  Probably a treasury-related decision?

Regardless, these conquered people had to pay extra taxes, beyond the norm, because they chose to believe differently.

When I learned about this system of conquest, it was esconced (am I spelling that right?) in a history lesson.  When I learned about this, I thought, wow, that's so smart.  No wonder the religion thrived.  People HATE paying more taxes.  And I even asked myself, my college self, "Would I convert to avoid those taxes?"

This system was esconced in a history class I took ages ago, as a system of conquest that was successful ages ago.

I was shocked to discover this system is still in play in certain regions.  Certainly the convert or die system is still in play.  And yes we are watching it happen with no force to hold it back.

But effective this week, this convert or be taxed system is in play in America.

In my little head, I draw a slightly eerie parallel with this story, certainly only the first of many.

And unfortunately, though I dug, I could not find an article without bias, either from the left or from the right.  So I chose one that might appeal to most people of our generation.

Here is the article showing the weird correlation.  SO weird: in America, they pay more because they believe differently.

An Open Letter to the 3 Types of People Who Read Blogs

1 - College educated, professional blog sifter.

You haven't found your mo-jo, the one you lost after your job, and so as you are trying to recenter, you hone in on and repost any blog that has professional looking pictures attached.  You're well educated, you believe, and so the blog also has cited works: no fewer than two doctors, to include one neurosurgeon, quoted.  It's called intelligence by association.

2 - Bored, who cares, it's funny.

You have a minute to tune out the world.  You start with blase posts so you can at least laugh about life but end up in a very serious state of blogess.  How were you to know this rabbit hole would end up with you agreeing about a statement on vaccines that EVERY concerned parent in your life has to read.... Right. Now?

3 - Very serious, never published.

Like me, you have all the ideas in the world but no mass market outlet.  But everyone must know.  So you are surfing around to figure out what gets the most traffic... and once in a while there's one you have to post.  Check out those titles - must have a number - and blog titles starting with "open letter to" get the most traffic, too.

Huh! Interesting.

SO all the people posting and reposting blogs aren't experts. And yet, today, blogs carry the weight of authority, as long as they recommend something to stop saying or start saying, to stop doing or start doing.  "Start" looking elsewhere, friends.

Just Not the Best Use of My Time

Hey, as a Christian sister I’m reaching out. You could call my bluff on any number of things: how much time I spend on the internet (I read THIS, didn’t I?), how little time I put in to meal planning, how I could spend more time in the Bible… 

And so I respectfully disagree that I should continue a meaningless tradition called Santa Claus. An early childhood professional could tell you that pathways in the brain are set at an early age. I feel if a child is old enough to learn about Santa, he’s old enough to learn Jesus. 

I spent oodles of $$ making sure my child could sign, and communicate with me.  I even tried some Baby Einstein videos.  Classical music, too... I have spent way too much time trying to communicate well with my child and foster brain development to throw a wrench in that with a falsehood.  That I would be responsible for creating and fostering, no less!

I can instead choose to honor how very much they absorb by using this precious time to create pathways of joy. Joy that we are saved no matter what. Joy to me in this case also means not having to be weirded out by a dude coming in to my home when I’m asleep (let alone a fairy who picks up my head to deposit money! Hehehe).

We are also told to worship only one God. Worship is attention. I definitely put a lot of attention on my prayers to Santa as a kid. So I am trying not to misdirect my children’s attention, either accidentally or on purpose. 

I choose not to perpetuate a myth: because there is no explanation for it.

Now, I love explaining the sacrifice of St. Nicholas – he was made a saint for a very good reason – and it’s awesome! The Santa dude, not so much. 

And the ever-present patriot in me loves the cute effort of America to "unite" around this thing, since we can't agree on much else.  But I refuse.  Let's unite around the Bill of Rights or something civic like that - basic human rights - not lies. [Snark: leave that to some politicians!]

You say it’s to bring magic in the home? Children have their own imagination – to make something up for them stifles that. 

You need to have traditions? Yes, we all do!!  How about a birthday party for Jesus? Or a Las Posadas? These are very honoring traditions that elevate Him. 

There is no need for balance when we have an awesome Savior who went all the way! WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

"The Winners Always Write History" "And Now We Must Over-Compensate"

My daughter was so excited her teacher let her have this book today and bring it home.  I rejoice in that her teacher is generous. 

So we took a look at history together.  The following is a discussion with a friend.  But I deleted her part of the discussion out of respect for her family.

Just had a heart to heart with Ellie on a Scholastic book on Chris Columbus. We talked about inflammatory word use in "history" books as inappropriate.

Good for you!

And the complete lack of respect for the dead the book portrayed of him.

And I asked her could we get away with talking about people in our class that way? No!

I didn't even touch on right or wrong ideas. I told her to bring me more books like this so we could discuss. I also asked her a ton of questions, like, "Did you put that Spanish flag on America? " She said, "No." I told her, "Then don't take responsibility for it. Don't ever let someone make YOU feel guilty about it, because of the color of your skin."

"And what did we call our town before we moved here?" "Our new town." "Yes. And so was it ridiculous that they called it the New World? " "No." 

"But do you see this wording leads the reader to mock them?"

"Are we allowed to mock people in class? No? So why is it okay when they are dead and we disagree with them?"

"Because who will they choose to mock next? Do we know? No. And so we do not associate with mockers."

Back to now:  

My beef, as you see, is the tone with which this book was written.  I don't think I can judge anyone.  I'm told not to, actually.

And I am certain I cannot judge someone I have never met, anachronistically, against whom history rails like the fifth grade bully.  And even this: how can a school teach respect, when respect toward someone who is even dead is not a value?

And I am not a historian, but I am a mom.  

That means my BS meter is fantastic.

It also means I have a responsibility to teach my girls the way Ms. Portwood taught me about journalism, the power of the phrase, the use of leading questions and leading sentences.

I must activate their BS meters early.  

So at the end of the evening, I told her, "Bring books home.  Let's just sit here again and ask tons of questions.  I will try to have a more level head next time, okay?"