whereisjodi.

I think if I were a kid, or I had a kid, I'd be frequenting the come-lately Harvest Parties that are now all the rage. Several years ago I volunteered at a Trunk-or-Treat at my church in California where the parking lot was full of cars decorated in various ways. All kids had to do was stroll down a couple lanes and their bags were overflowing with pre-screened-for-safety sugar bombs -- then they could hike over to the moonbounce or rockwall, grabbing a hot dog and cotton candy on the way.

I've sat at the kitchen table working all evening, getting up sparingly to hand out candy to the 25 or so hearty souls who've braved the brisk night air and I found myself wondering -- what are you doing wasting your time in a neighborhood? Half the neighbors aren't even home! Of course, we would have turned our lights out ourselves, but there's this new thing in Boise where the sexual predators are supposed to have their lights out...

There were a couple cute kids, several giddy teens and the standard smart aleck:

Smart Aleck: That's the scariest costume I've seen all night.
Me: I'm not wearing a costume.

...and always the ever-present, watchful parent waiting down on the sidewalk. Do you remember the Halloween scene in E.T.? That's how I remember Halloween growing up. You could wander the neighborhood with your little gang of friends and your parents didn't need to worry about you unless you weren't back by 9.

Ahh, the good old days. :p Well, at least I'm continuing one tradition -- my mother always signalled the beginning of the Christmas season by playing Christmas music on Halloween. I've had mine playing all night:

Just hear those sleigh bells ringaling
Ding, Ding, Dingaling Dooooooooooo

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"A majority of likely voters – 52% – would support a U.S. military strike to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, and 53% believe it is likely that the U.S. will be involved in a military strike against Iran before the next presidential election, a new Zogby America telephone poll shows."

Read more.

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A story that brought tears to my eyes -- Iraqi soldiers took up a collection and presented $1,000 to their American counterparts to forward on to victims of the California fires.

"The money was collected from Iraqi officers and enlisted soldiers in Besmaya. In a speech given during the presentation, Col. Abbass stated that he and the Iraqi soldiers were connected with the American people in many ways, and they will not forget the help that the American government has given the Iraqi people. Abbass was honored to participate by sending a simple fund of $1,000 to the American people in San Diego, to lower the suffering felt by the tragedy." 

Unfortunately <but not entirely surprising>, I read this story on worldnetdaily...not an MSM site. 

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I suppose a good chunk of the country is discussing Boston's triumph -- sorry to say I didn't even know what teams were playing until I visited my grandma's house last week and watched an inning with her. I was, in fact, kind of ticked that football fans were punished because the World Series was on <Sunday Night Football got the boot>.

I don't watch a lot of football on tv, but I do enjoy watching Sunday and Monday Night Football with my mom as a social activity. Of course, when my boys the Broncos are playing, matters are a little more serious. Friday night's victory over Fresno State was a bit less stressful than the past two games where I felt rung-out by the time we squeaked a W. I've got my t-shirt...and my slippers...and my reversible beanie that I keep flipping from blue to orange and back again until the boys find their rhythm. :p

A couple weeks ago I got to wondering about the rabidness of sports fans. I've basically grown up in Boise and always cheered for the Broncos, but only in recent years would I say I've become rabid. I think there's something primal here -- something about screaming for your team and wearing the colors and planning your schedule around the games.

It makes me think of the old Greek city-states that used to gear up for battle every so often. We don't war against each other any more <except on a global scale>, but that primal urge is still there...and when your side wins it feels oh so good.

Last night on the news I saw Boston fans celebrating in the streets -- I remember watching the same thing happen, on a much smaller scale, when the Broncos brought home a victory in the Fiesta Bowl last year. What a beautiful thing! Of course I'm not talking about the drunkenness and debauchery that sometimes accompany such gatherings...but what a simple, chilldlike joy to hold the hand of a stranger and jump up and down while laughing your heads off!

I imagine that's what the ends of World Wars I and II were like. I've experienced widespread grief several times -- the Challenger explosion, 9/11 -- but personally I've never experienced widespread giddiness in any context other than sports. Maybe that's why I'm a fan.

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A woman with more influence than many parents and teachers: 

Harry Potter fans, the rumors are true: Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay. J.K. Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series that ended last summer, outed the beloved character Friday night while appearing before a full house at Carnegie Hall.

Further down: 

Rowling, finishing a brief "Open Book Tour" of the United States, her first tour here since 2000, also said that she regarded her Potter books as a "prolonged argument for tolerance" and urged her fans to "question authority."

I don't really like fantasy and I'm not a fan of books about witches, but I almost started reading Harry Potter when it became such a cultural phenomenen. However, early on I saw Ms. Rowling say in an interview that her purpose in writing the books was to free people from the chains of religion and give up belief in God, or something like that. I just couldn't do it after hearing those words, though I've never jumped on the anti-Potter bandwagon.

I'm still not going to jump on the bandwagon, but after reading this article today I just have to wonder -- isn't there any place left in our society that isn't hyper-sexualized? California says we need to talk about sex in grade school, Norway is teaching it in pre-school...so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the so-called tolerance debate is shoved down the throats of children reading a story.

This week I saw a quick story on the Today Show about the super-stress of Tweens. According to Today, global warming is the second largest cause of stress for this age group and they quoted one kid saying something like "all the ice is melting and all the animals are dying." If that's what he's been told, no wonder he's stressed out!

But I got to wondering as I watched whether the true source of super-stress is the fact that we're no longer giving children a safe, innocent space to grow up in. They have to learn about sexuality and homosexuality and bisexuality and gender identity disorders...all before they have the emotional capability to handle those issues. They have to spend time wondering whether they're gay during an age when the genders traditionally think each other has the cooties. And now, in California, girls will have to contend with girls-trapped-in-boys-bodies coming into the locker room to change with them. What are we doing to our children?

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On Tuesday I tackled Turtlehead <or Turtle Head> in the Red Rock Canyon of Las Vegas. A pal suggested it and we took off about 2pm on the 5-mile round trip. 

Yes, that means 2 1/2 miles straight uphill. Wow, were my legs burning by the time we got to the top 2 1/4 hours later! But wow was it a beautiful view.

I had no idea there were such amazing mountains so near Las Vegas -- we only drove about 15 minutes from my brother's house to the parking lot where we started. 

Why don't I do this more frequently? I love hiking and seeing the various beauty that the Lord has created for us to enjoy, but more often than not I just end up laying around on a couch reading or watching the boob tube.

Two verses kept running through my head as I drug myself up the mountain. The first was Psalm 19:1, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." The second was Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

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I don't know if any of you have been following Rush Limbaugh's charity listing on eBay -- a letter chastising something he'd said <and he says they misinterpreted>, signed by 41 Senators on Senate Majority stationary. Anyway, I don't want to get into the politics of what caused the whole episode...but Rush has been auctioning the letter for charity and it has just sold for $2.1 million. Yes, that's million. I find this not only rather hysterical to mock the histrionics of some of our esteemed Senators, but a lovely way to raise charity dollars for a worthy cause.

In other news, the founder of Girls Gone Wild has compared himself to Jesus Christ because he thinks being "persecuted" for tax evasion is the same as the persecution Jesus went through. For those who don't know, Girls Gone Wild goes to events like spring break in Florida and films girls al fresca. Yeah, that sounds approximately the same...

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• An interesting article in response to California's SB777 discusses a new call issued by the Campaign for Children and Families: remove your children from the public school system. A spokesman for another organization, the Exodus Mandate, was quoted as saying "If traditional minded people abandon that system in enough numbers, it will implode. By leaving your children there as a Christian you're exposing them to extreme moral danger. You can't immunize them with a few hours of Bible study during the week."

• A Norwegian pre-school teacher and a load of child psychologists have published their ideas that kindergartners should be encouraged to play sex games. A "vast majority" of Norwegians send their children to pre-school from the age of one until they start school at age six. It's during this period that the report argues children should learn about sexuality in terms I will not quote here. They can go ahead and call me "disturbed by children's sexuality" -- I can live with that criticism.  Read more.

• A bad news story out of Iraq I could never dream up: a story complaining that, because the death toll is falling, cemetary workers aren't making as much money. I read the whole story because I wondered if they were completely serious...and yes, they were. How greatly must you be committed to bad news in Iraq to spin a good story like the falling death toll into bad economic news? Read more.

• A new study seeks to identify a "gay" gene by focusing on DNA samples from 1,000 pairs of gay brothers. One such pair, the Cabreras, "hope the findings will help silence critics who say homosexuality is an immoral choice." Once again I say, even if a genetic predisposition is found <which is still highly doubtful>, it doesn't change the idea of personal responsibility. There are genetic predispositions to any number of conditions -- alcoholism, for one -- yet we still hold people responsible for making their own choice. Read more.

Posted by authorjodi at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

I was trolling one of my favorite news sites -- worldnetnaily -- when I came across this laughable story. Apparently a woman in Massachusetts is ticked because her neighbor put up a Halloween decoration. The problem? The decoration is a witch hanging from a gallows a la the Salem Witch Trials.

Again, what's the problem you might ask? The woman claims witchcraft as her belief system, therefore the decoration is a "hate crime against her religion." Well...she's got a point. According to my understanding of hate crimes legislation, all she needs to do is apply for most-precious-minority status and her right not to be offended will trump everyone else's right to freedom of speech. Read more.

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I've been into Central District Health a couple times over the past several weeks updating my innoculations for a trip to Senegal. And not just the big cities of Senegal, but the ultra-rural parts. And not just a jaunt of touring, but being exposed to seven of the top ten worst diseases in the world as I work in medical clinics.

I'm not worried, I'm just explaining why the decision was made for our team to get quite a lot of innoculations we wouldn't normally receive for everyday life. Apparently Democratic staffers believe that NASCAR fans represent a similar risk -- they got similar innoculations before trekking to the wilds of North Carolina on a fact finding mission. Does anyone else find this as hysterical as I do? Read more.

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Mom, Dad, Husband and Wife are the latest casualties in the tolerance war. If you don't also feature a same-sex couple in California classrooms and textbooks, those terms are now deemed discriminatory. Other gems from SB777, AB394 and AB14, which Arnold Schwarzeneggar signed into law:

"homecoming kings now can be either male or female – as can homecoming queens, and students, whether male or female, must be allowed to use the restroom and locker room corresponding to the sex with which they choose to identify."

"now on a banned list will be any text, reference or teaching aid that portrays marriage as only between a man and woman, materials that say people are born male or female (and not in between), sources that fail to include a variety of transsexual, bisexual and homosexual historical figures, and sex education materials that fail to offer the option of sex changes."

Why does this matter to you if you don't live in the Socialist Republic of California? Because they're the largest customer for most textbook companies, so when history is being re-written to match the new requirements, it's likely smaller customers in the flyover states will have to read the same bilge to their children. Read more.

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I've always enjoyed hearing the BreakPoint radio spots done by Chuck Colson. Of course I haven't heard them in quite awhile, not being near a radio much, but my cousin forwarded the commentary for this past Wednesday entitled "What About the Children: Is Religion Child Abuse?"

Apparently my old pal Richard Dawkins, in his book The God Delusion, compares sexual abuse of a child and the "mental terrorism" of teaching them about religion and finds sexual abuse less damaging. Colson writes:

By “child abuse” Dawkins is not, at least not principally, referring to the scandals involving sexual misconduct by Catholic priests. He means that teaching a child about Christianity can damage them psychologically and emotionally.

According to Dawkins, however “odious” sexual abuse is, he “suspect[s] that it may do them less lasting damage than the mental abuse of bringing them up Catholic in the first place.”

Dawkins goes on to suggest that you should be able to sue for this "mental terrorism" in the same way you're able to sue sexual abusers. I wonder if he really does believe that, or if he's just being outrageous to sell books? It's amazing to me that someone who would make such claims is able to appear on every talk show in America as a calm and rational person, much less that he would see his book rise to the heights of the bestseller lists. I guess I shouldn't be amazed by that, but I still am.

Maybe I'm overreacting, but that seems to me as inflammatory a claim as the central theme of my book. I can easily see Dawkins saying that we need to remove children from the homes of people who are psychologically damaging them by teaching them about the claims of Christianity...for the good of the children...and the talk show hosts would just nod and murmur affirmations "yes, yes, for the children."

I'm torn between wanting to read Dawkins' book to be better informed and not wanting to donate a penny to his megaphone. Maybe I'll check for it at the library...

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My first nephew was born two nights ago. My parents and I drove all night from Boise to Vegas and were able to meet him about 12 hours after he popped out. He was still a bit ticked, I think, from his abrupt entry into a world quite a bit meaner and colder than the one he most recently inhabited.

Does anyone else ever think of what they'd do if they were famous? Maybe I'm alone in that...but one thing I decided was that I'd rather have a Jodie Foster kind of family where I don't allow my family to be photographed, rather than the, well, I don't want to be mean but it seems like some stars allow their kid to be photographed...or even abruptly adopt a photogenic child from Africa...just so they can boost their sagging careers. Toward that end, no pictures of C here. You'll have to trust me that, even when ticked, he's quite cute. :p

He was also born on 10/10, which as all of you know is Taiwanese Independence Day, so he's bound to become President or something. But more importantly, he has really long fingers which I think will make him a shoe-in for MVP as the wide receiver that won the game in some future SuperBowl. ;)

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When I was touring Israel this past year I ran across a large number of Nigerian groups at different locations. In case you wonder how I know they were from Nigeria -- no joke, almost all of the thousand or more I ran across were wearing outfits made from the same material. We saw more of them in Egypt when we were climbing Mt. Sinai. They were coming down that brutal mountain when I was walking up and each group we passed would give encouragements and say things like "Nigeria strong!"

If I'm remembering the story correctly, the government of Nigeria pays for one spiritual journey for each of its employees. The overwhelming majority go to Mecca, but those we ran across were Christians who'd chosen to visit Jerusalem. This led me to the impression that Nigeria was a land of great religious freedoms.

I'm sorry to say that an article I just read proves I had the wrong impression.

Rampaging Muslims have killed 10 Christians, injured 61 others, destroyed nine churches and displaced more than 500 people in northern Nigeria, according to eyewitnesses – all because Muslim high school students claimed a Christian student had drawn a cartoon of Islam’s prophet, Muhammad, on the wall of the school’s mosque.

Read further if you'd like, but please take a moment to pray for our brothers and sisters in Nigeria and the persecution they face. 

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Although I do try to resist talking about the Presidential election <or even reading about it myself> so as not to become even sicker of the process than I already am...two recent articles made me snicker. Yesterday the Idaho Statesman had an article entitled "Just how unelectable is Hillary Clinton?" I've searched around and can't find the article online, but seriously, how negative is that headline? It made me laugh a little.

Kind of like the article I read awhile back that discussed why she was laughing more in appearances -- the article suggested it was her image-makers who'd told her she was too cold, so now instead of appearing cold she appears robotic: humorous anecdote coming, lean back head, open mouth and guffaw. How low have we sunk that we have to discuss whether a person is genuinely laughing instead of their political positions?

However, not quite so funny was an article I read this morning that quoted a number of terrorist leaders in Iraq and Palestine who went on record as stating they hoped Hillary won the election because it would further their goals for the region. What a terrible endorsement!

But there I go getting serious when I only wanted to have a little fun. There was one funny part to that last article -- one terrorist said if Hillary followed her husband's foreign policy and stood up to the evil Israelis, she might suffer a conspiracy like he did:

...White House intern Monica Lewinsky really was an Israeli Mossad implant sent to destroy President Clinton's career after he pressured the Jewish state to evacuate territory to the Palestinians.

and the piece de resistance: 

If Hillary goes too much against the Zionist interests, she will face the same conspiracy like her husband who fell into the trap of Lewinsky. I have no doubt [Lewinsky] was planted by the Zionists, who wanted to send a message to all future American presidents – do not go against the Israeli policy. Bill Clinton made the Oslo agreement and promoted peace but the Israelis did not give him a chance.

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Yesterday I sold my scooter just in time to pay a few bills that desperately needed paying. However, I'm sorry to say, before I even took the time to be grateful I was already boo-hooing about the fact that the money would run out by next week because of the aforementioned bills and my motorhome was never going to sell and I was never going to get a temp job and I'd be mooching off my parents for the rest of my life... :p

Thankfully I got my head back on straight and took a moment to thank the Lord for His just-in-time provision and ask that He would continue to give me what I need...just when I need it. And lo and behold, this morning I got my first call from the temp agency. It's not a for sure job -- I have to interview for it -- but just the possibility sent me to my knees in gratefulness for the Lord's gracious provision and encouragement to me in my weakness.

What a wonderfully gracious God we serve. He not only forgives our sins at the moment of salvation, He continually forgives our doubts and unfaithfulness for the rest of our lives!

This morning I was reading Daniel's explanation to King Nebuchadnezzar about why he was able to interpret the King's dream when no one else could -- he said no one on earth could do what the King was asking, "but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries." That phrase just gave me chills! It's quite likely that I'll never have the opportunity to speak before a king <or even a President>, but I hope that by my life and actions I can show to others that there is a God in heaven who can do any number of mighty things.

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Have you heard of the new program Reaper on the CW network? Until I read this article, I hadn't. Apparently the premise is a young man who finds out his parents sold his soul to the devil, so on his 21st birthday he has to start working for Satan bringing back souls who've escaped from hell. In case you can't guess from that synopsis, it's a comedy.

On the Cartoon Network we have Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil, wherein Lucy, the daughter of the Devil falls for DJ Jesus <hay-soos> which brings many comic difficulties because she's the antichrist and he's the second coming of Christ.

I'm no stranger to watching programs I probably shouldn't <see my recent newsletter about integrity>, but the descriptions of those shows pretty much appalls me. I have a fairly large grey area regarding entertainment -- as long as it's well written, entertaining and engaging, and as long as there's not too much swearing, or too much illicit sex, or too much making fun of God...

But when a program crosses the line in such a big way it no longer falls in the grey area -- and there've been a long string of those. When Sex and the City was so popular I tried to watch an episode to be culturally relevant and tuned in to a frank discussion of a sex toy that made me blush and change the channel. Same with the Sopranos -- trying to join in on what everyone was talking about, I tuned in to Tony Soprano in a strip club with actual naked ladies gyrating in the background. Switch! Or the new summer series Saving Grace, where I tuned in because it was supposed to be a moving story of spiritual redemption...and I was treated to foul language and an opening scene better suited to a porn film.

How do we remain culturally relevant when, increasingly, we can't in good conscience engage in some of the main cultural dialogues taking place?

Posted by authorjodi at 01:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Support your local Christian fiction author! :)

This month's offering from F.I.R.S.T. is Demon: A Memoir, by Tosca Lee. Click here if you'd like to read the first chapter.

On a positive note, now that I'm home again I've started receiving the books...so I might actually be able to read them and give a review, rather than just linking to the first chapter. ;) 

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