This post is in response to a friend who asked me on facebook, "What is it that makes us prone to addictions." Thanks Michelle for inspiring this entry.
    As I understand it there are various forms of addiction emotional, chemical, behavioral, etc. Different people are probably more prone to one form of addiction than another. My theory is that we like to escape from stress, reality, a relationships, etc. and we become addicted to whatever form of  escape we have chosen. Of course, there are different severity levels to addictions. Some additions are basic distractions and time wasters while others totally destroy peoples lives.
    Our very thought patterns are addictive because as neural pathways are created our cells are set up to maintain and en-grain those patterns. Addictions are part of our natural programing which can serve us well in certain respects. Becoming aware of our mental addictions can be empowering because we learn how huge and underrated the power of choice is.

Yes. It is about time I made another post. This one has been marinating for a long time.
    On December 20th, 2010 my husband, son, and I were traveling to visit my sister in Portland. We got a late start, because if we say we will leave by nine in the morning we really mean two in the afternoon. We had eleven hours to drive which meant a probable night in a hotel somewhere. As it turned out it was a blessing to leave late.
     We found ourselves driving through the Wallowa mountains on the Eastern side of Oregon in the dark, or should I say in the light. It was an amazing evening! It just happened to be the night of the lunar eclipse. I will attempt to describe the scene we beheld on that beautiful night.

     When had the moon shone brighter than that night? There were clouds, but they couldn't blot out the moon. Many times when I looked up I saw a perfect ring of light (sometimes a red ring) around the moon as it shone through the clouds.
    The full moon shone down and illuminated the mountainous landscape. The blue tinted light was so bright we could easily see for miles. The glory of the moonlight was amplified as it was reflected on the thick pervasive blanket of snow. The mountain sides clothed with white-laced evergreens were lovely to behold in the moon's soft glow. Everywhere we looked there were simmering sparkles of light.
     The landscape was breathtaking and my imagination ran wild.Envision with me a full spectrum of light shining from moon to earth. Rainbows of light shinning from every particle of snow arching weaving looping dancing from crystal to crystal. If every bit of light were visible to the human eye the aura would be awesome to behold.
   
    Did we see the eclipse? No, we were asleep in LaGrande before that marvelous event, but there is no disappointment. It was an absolutely joyful night, and our Christmas in Portland with family equally joyful! Thank you Lord for your bounteous blessings!
   
   

     It is easy to pontificate about how people should love each other more, but it can be difficult to change patterns of behavior which are less than loving. For instance, a weakness of mine is to allow myself to be distracted from great things I could be doing with my time. Distractions such as playing farmville and watching movies. Yes they are fine in moderation, but I spend way too much energy in mind numbing activities. What am I running from anyway? The daily grind. Are these stress relievers really relieving my stress? (Just thinking out loud today.)
     I haven't been spending much time building this website, or writing my book, or serving my neighbors, or even writing Christmas cards. This is an official reminder to me to make better choices with my free time!

 

     Tonight I have to celebrate life and God's watchful care over me! In doing so I also have to admit to my stupidity. I thought my actions rather innocent, but in retrospect they were far from intelligent. What am I talking about? Well I am getting to it.
     I am in the process of painting our upstairs bathroom a lovely plum on the bottom half of the wall and cream on the top half. Earlier this evening I was preparing to paint the top half by taking off the light switch cover. When I did so I saw some dust bunnies in the box and thought I could scrape those out. What was in my hand to scrape them out with? The screwdriver I had just used to take the cover off with of course, and when I placed the tip of the screwdriver next to the light-switch to remove the dust there was an instantaneous spark. A very large spark accompanied by a crackling noise and the light went out. My reaction was to throw the screwdriver out into the hall, but my reaction time was slower than the electricity. I was emotionally shocked, but totally unharmed. I didn't feel a thing. I wondered how I had avoided being electrocuted. When I picked up the screwdriver there were two holes burned in either side of the tip from the electricity. The handle was plastic and had insulated me. How grateful I am that I wasn't touching the metal at all.
     Needless to say I am quite sure my guardian angels are watching over me!

     What does love and light for all mean? Does it mean love only the people who agree with you, or only the people you get along with? Does it mean love only people you are related to, or only the beautiful and rich? Does it mean only people? Well I hope the answers are obvious. No, love and light for all means what it says. Unconditional love, and the light which spreads and communicates love, is for all; old, young, handsome, ugly, poor, needy, rich, famous, infamous, male, female, humans of all races and religions, and in fact all living things. All living things would not exist without the light of love, which I personally believe is the light of Christ. All of us need to receive and emit this loving energy. It is the purpose of this website and blog to empower all people to take up their light and love each other!

     We have a wonderful pet cat, Peachy. Sometimes we think she is part dog. Every time we drive into the driveway she comes running to meet us. Instead of jumping all over us she rolls on the ground as if begging to be scratched. When we approach her she starts acting like a cat. She either lets us pet her for a minute, or she runs off before we can even touch her. She is predictably unpredictable, and we love her!
     Today was nice fall day. We went outside and played with the cat. Then we decided to go on a walk as a family. Caleb wanted Peachy to come along, but Scott and I thought it wasn't such a good idea. (We don't want to introduce her to larger areas outside of our neighborhood.) We decided to try a leash and see how it went. As expected, it didn't go well. To put it mildly, she didn't like it at all. The leash lasted all of one minute before we gave up.
     The funny thing was that we didn't get far on our walk before we heard Peachy's bell. She was following us at a safe distance letting us know that she wanted to be with us, but on her terms! I guess she is a cat after all.