Righteous or Self-Righteous? The Great Chic Fil-A Kerfuffle

I am not a theologian, just a good old southern girl raised by Godly parents.  I generally try to keep my blog posts light, fluffy and cholesterol-free.  However, as a Christian, I've been a little unsettled by this whole Chic Fil'a cluck fest.  It's really just one more symptom of a bigger disease that's been spreading across this nation.  That disease is Self-Righteousness. 

In Acts 1:8 Jesus told the disciples, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  What a comfort this must have been to the disciples, but along with that comfort came great responsibility.  That responsibility extends to us as Christians today.  We should all be witnesses to the saving power of Jesus, not just on Sunday, but every day and in every aspect of our lives.  

So how do we do that?  Well, thank goodness, we have some instructions.  We just need to remind ourselves to read the manual.  In Matthew 5 we are told about Jesus teaching the disciples at the sermon on the mount, while reminding them that they would encounter resistance and be persecuted for their beliefs.  He said, "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."   

Let your light shine, so you'll be a source of warmth, comfort and reassurance in this cold, dark, and sometimes scary world. Keep in mind that people aren't going to be drawn to your light and your message if they think you are going to club them over the head with a fried chicken sandwich.  Let your light shine, but please be cognizant of the distinction between righteous and self-righteous.  

Thanks to a combination of media spin, politicians, and the internet, there is an awful lot of vitriol being spewed in our world.  But, this is really nothing new.  The disciples and followers of Jesus caught all kinds of grief after Jesus ascended to Heaven.  They kept the faith despite great persecution.  Peter wrote his fellow followers a  letter of encouragement.  In I Peter 3: 15 he reminded them  "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."

With prayer and constant vigilance, we can set ourselves apart, guard against being manipulated,  resist the urge to return evil with evil, and keep our light shining.  My nephew wrote a blog post on this subject that I'd like to share.  Hope you'll take the time to read it:  A Word of Warning for Christians on Chic Fil'a Day

A Father's Day Confession: We're Not Normal....

It's true.  We aren't normal, or at least that's what we've been told on occasion.  And...after observing a variety of family dynamics over the past few decades or so, I'm beginning to think it may be true.  We can thank our parents for that, though.  They taught us, by example, that family always comes through for each other through the joyous times in our lives, the scary times, the sad times, and the down right catastrophic times.  They also taught us to find joy and thankfulness even in the midst of catastrophe.  They taught us that life's way too short to let a petty disagreement come between family members.

Our Mom and Dad are the epitomy of selflessness.  They loved and still love all of us unconditionally, and were humble enough to let us think, in all the years we were growing up, that everybody's family was just like ours.  We're older and wiser now, though, and have seen enough tragedy in this world to realize just how blessed we are.

I'm going to let this slide show speak for itself today.  It's in honor of our Dad on Father's Day, and it's also a tribute to our relationship with our parents and the love that they still share with each other after 60 years of marriage.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!  We love you very much!

Patience Under Pressure? That's My Mom

I've written about my family several times, so those of you who take a minute to read my blog already know that God saw fit to give me an exceptional family.   As we were growing up, my sister and I never saw our parents argue.  I suppose they did, but we just never knew about it.  They also rarely lost their tempers with us, which wasn't all that hard where my sister was concerned.  I'm guessing patience took a little more prayer where I was concerned, since I was a little on the rambunctious side in my younger years.  If you don't recall, just go back and read the Koolaid-Gate story.

See the photo at the top of this entry?  That's me on the left,  the little copycat watching my sister like a hawk.  Whatever she was doing with her hand certainly seemed like the thing to do.  Although I don't remember specifically, I'm guessing this photo was taken a split second before my left hand flew up to cup my own face.  After all, if my sister was doing it, it must be cool.  That beautiful lady behind us?  That's our mother.  Do you see how calm and serene she looks?  I don't know how, but she always looked like that, and I'm happy to say she still wears that same sweet expression to this day.

Now if you were to ask my mother, she would deny that I was a "high-strung" child.  Bless her, she has such a selective memory, or maybe she has simply chosen to block out some of the more memorable escapades.   But...there is one little episode that was so outrageous that it sticks out to this day, even in her memory.

I was in college, but had gone home for a weekend to go shopping with Mom at the New Orleans Lake Forrest Plaza.  That mall was brand new at the time, and had all kinds of great places to shop.  Maison Blanche and D.H. Holmes anchored dozens of great little pricey boutique shops, all built around an ice skating rink, which was a novelty in itself in the deep South.  I spotted a white one piece "jumpsuit" with a wide, stretchy red elastic belt.  Now don't laugh.  A get-up like that was quite stylish back then, in an Austin Powers kind of way....I promise!  I tried it on, and it fit me like a glove. A quick glance at the price tag landed it right back on the rack, though.  We continued to shop 'til we were almost ready to drop, then decided to stop for a quick lunch.

While we were eating I decided I'd break some pretty big news.  Remember I told you I was in college?  Well, I was almost done.  In fact, I had only one term left before graduating, but had decided I'd had enough of college.  I'm ashamed to say, but the fact that my parents had picked up the tab for my entire education never really occurred to me.  In fact, I was a little surprised that my mother didn't seem to take my news too well.  For some reason she thought my backup plan for supporting myself...which included the phrase "Would you like fries with that?"...was not my most sound career decision.  We had quite a heated discussion, and both of us shed a few tears.

Then, in a moment which can only be described as sheer genius, my mother played quite a trump card.  She said, "If you'll stay in school, I'll buy you that white jumpsuit".  I think I considered her offer for...oh...about a half second...before flashing a big smile, and saying "OK!!"  We finished our shopping and both of us headed home quite happy..me with a snazzy new jumpsuit, and her without a college dropout for a daughter.

Now, before you label me as the most shallow woman on the face of the earth, let me assure you that I've matured quite a bit in the past few decades.  I went on to graduate a few months after that, raised two children of my own, and have spent the past 30-something years teaching.  I don't kid myself that I've been the patient woman that my mother is.  But I can say that she has set the bar quite high, and I continually strive to be the kind of mother to my children that she is to me and my sister.

My mother is a blessing to her husband (our Dad!), her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and a multitude of friends and extended family.   She is having a milestone birthday this summer, and we are going to celebrate in style...(so don't argue, Mom!).  Until then, though, I wanted the world to know that I love her a bunch.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Sixty Years Ago Today

My Dad was in the Army, and stationed at Fort Jackson when he and my Mom married.
They had planned a small wedding, but my Dad's leave got cancelled at the last minute,
so they had to postpone the wedding.  A couple of weeks later, Dad managed to get a 48 hour leave,
so he drove all night to get home, he and my mother went over to the local Methodist church
and got married, then the both of them drove back overnight to Fort Jackson.  Mom was 19 years old,
and I believe that was probably one of the first times she had been away from home.
I remember asking her one time several years ago,"Weren't you homesick?"  and I'll never forget what she said.
"No, I was never homesick, because I was with your Daddy.  I was home".
That little wedding took place 60 years ago today;  I thank God every day for them and the love they share,  and the example they've set for me, my sister, and our families.
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!! We love you both and appreciate you more than you'll ever know!

ShoppePro.com and Our New Website!.....well, almost.

This may not be a newsflash to those of you who know me best, but I have been known to have a bit of an impulse control problem.   Not about everything now mind you.  For example, I never jump into the deep end of a pool without first testing the water.  (In fact, after testing the water, I generally tend to forfeit jumping into the pool at all.  See, that would be a lot like exercise, which is another thing I don't impulsively jump into.)  BUT, I digress.  

There are certain facets of my life in which I leap before looking, however, which leads me to the topic of this post.  My sister and I have a new website!  We have decided to go with Shoppepro.com, which is a fabulous e-commerce site that targets entrepreneurial women like us.  I wish I could tell you I'd found Shoppepro first, but the impulse-control impaired portion of my brain would not allow me to be patient and wait until I found the site that was a perfect fit for us.  I foolishly assumed, since I have a little bit of photoshop knowledge, that designing a website would be a piece of cake.  As a result, we have two domain names, both hosted by other domain hosts.   After four false starts with other web hosts, three major glitches  from a different e-commerce site, two downloads of website building software, and too many failed attempts at building a website template to count, I am officially humbled by the skills of website designers. 

The moral of this story is simple:  Do a little bit of homework before jumping into the deep end of website design and domain hosting.  There is a perfect site for you, and I am grateful to have found ours in Shoppepro.  They wrote the manual on how to be user-friendly, and they included no codes of any kind!  Their customer service is also second to none!   So far I've only had to contact tech support twice, and they were very prompt in responding to my questions.

So....back to our new website.  Our address is www.jbguess.com.  We are still under construction so you'll see links to our etsy shops.  Bookmark the link and visit often, though, because we'll be adding all kinds of new goodies.

Thanks ShoppePro!!....and thank goodness for free trials.

Swearing Off Resolutions & Some Exciting News!

Well friends, it's official. I cannot keep a New Year's resolution for the life of me. If you recall, I had set myself an "annual goal" to post here on my blog at least once weekly. (I also set a goal to clean out all my closets, but we aren't EVEN going there.)

Fast forward to August 18th, with a long expanse of uncharacteristic quiet between May 3rd and today. We had a few bumps in the road last spring, and I lost my bloggy mojo for a while....hence the lengthy silence from me, the woman of many words.

I've learned a little something about myself. It really doesn't matter if they are called annual goals or resolutions or promises. If I try to hold myself to some kind of commitment around the first of the year....chances are it just ain't gonna happen.

Now, on to the awesome news! J. B. Guess & Co. is now J.B. Guess & Co., LLC! My sis and I are partners and we have expanded our product lines. In fact, we now have two etsy shops to accommodate the different categories of items. The original J. B. Guess & Co. is still on vacation, but will be active within the next day or so. Hope you'll pop over because we have new gift items that are exceptionally unique and cool, in my humble opinion.

The new shop is called Mimi & Pinks Fun Stuff For You! and it's live now.
We carry paper and party goods in this shop. You'll find cute bottle labels, and stickers for parties, showers, weddings, and identifying baby items...and yes, some of our items are a little on the snarky side! Oh, by the way, speaking of snarky....we're moving Snarkalicious Greetings to the Mimi & Pinks site.

The coasters and tiles will still be at J. B. Guess & Co. I'll let you know when it's back up and running. I promise to also fill you in on how we came up with the names for our shops. There is a story there, of course.

So the purpose of tonight's post is to make two official announcements:
Announcement #1-We're back in business with bells on!
Announcement #2- Aside from saying "Please pass the black-eyed peas and cabbage" I'm through with New Year's proclamations of any kind. Do me a favor and remind me of that around Dec. 31st, okay? Thanks.

Saying Goodbye To a King

Dear J'Bo,

I remember the day we brought you home. You looked like a big, blond, four-legged powder puff. We put you down in our house, and you proceeded to investigate every corner, as if you were casing the joint to see if it met your expectations. As I recall, it took about 5 minutes for you to get yourself into a bit of a sticky wicket. We'd had an unwelcome visit from a mouse, and I'd completely forgotten about hiding a couple of glue boards behind the furniture. Of course you found them, and they found you...with a vengeance. That "too close" encounter led to your first trim.

You soon settled in and began to hold court in true pekingese fashion. You claimed my eldest son as "your boy", and would not hear of any young female coming near him. You loudly proclaimed that you were the boss to anyone who would listen.

Your short, stubby little legs served you well, especially when you wanted to play your favorite game of chase. You invariably decided to play this game when we were trying to get out the door on school mornings. I still have vivid visions of you dashing madly down the street, furry ears flapping in the breeze, tongue hanging out in a wild doggie grin, with two little boys running full steam after you screaming at the top of their lungs for you to stop!! That never did work, yet they would fall for your game again... and again... and again.

You were a bossy boy, and you loved to have the last word. If you had something to say, by golly, you were going to say it. We'd tell you to hush, and you would, but only after one last soft..."woof". You loved nothing more than telling off the neighbor dogs, even if the neighbor dogs outweighed you three to one. We always said you thought you were a rottweiler, and apparently, so did the bigger dogs in the neighborhood. They always backed down and gave you a wary look like they thought you were a little bit of a loose cannon. You could almost hear them saying, "Better not mess with him. He'll cut you."

And so it went. You were king of the hill, and wore your banner proudly. Of course, as always happens, your back and legs eventually began to fail you, but your attitude never faltered. Even after you were forced to slow down, and ultimately came to depend on the humans in your life to carry you everywhere you went, you still reminded us of your royal position in the family. Make no mistake about it. You were still in charge. Baby Jayne and Yogi, your canine siblings, deferred to you even when you reached the point where you were helpless to defend your position in the family.

We knew you were getting older, and talked often about it. We tried to prepare ourselves, because we knew the day would come. But no matter how hard we tried, we found that there was only so much we could do in order to prepare to say goodbye to you, our little king. One recent afternoon, after 14 and 1/2 years, you suddenly made it clear that you were ready. We just surrounded you, laughing through our tears at the multitude of memories, and told you it would be okay as you took your last breath cradled in the loving arms of your boy.

I still wake up at night with a startle, worried that you haven't informed me of your need to go outside. Your boy still looks for you when he walks in the door from work. The stabbing pain is beginning to gradually fade into a dull ache as the holes in our hearts slowly heal, but in their place will be a special little spot where the love and memories will forever reside.

And...in the back yard two little dogs sit, keeping watch, next to a small mound covered with smooth white stones...still deferring to their brother, the king.

Love,

Mom