Fusions

There are a lot of reasons that blogging took a back seat in July, but one of the main ones was a switch to a MacBook Pro. I felt the need to separate my work from my personal life, even though I had free reign over my work laptop. In this economy I just felt I needed to be proactive *just in case* employment options changed. Since it has taken a month to get *close* to independent, I think I was right in being proactive.

And so...I knew I wanted a Mac. A few friends had them and never stop raving.

In addition to the MacBook Pro, I got a free Itouch because I am a student. Good deal! My Ipod had broken a year ago, and I just listened on my laptop... I also used my kid's Ipod Shuffles now and then. Anyhow, the deal was $229 towards any Itouch. I opted for the biggest one since I have A LOT of music and also wanted to back up my photos. Learning and syncing the itouch was a major challenge.

I also got Mobile Me, which gives me a *cloud* of my own in cyberspace. I can save a document to the cloud at work, and when I get home I can open it from the Mac from the cloud. Bizzarro but cool. Supposedly my calendar at work can sync to the cloud, which then syncs with the calendar on the Mac which then syncs to the Itouch. It's not quite working yet...

Then I bought FUSION, a program that allows you to run Windows on the Mac. I had to do this to run a couple programs which only run on PC.

Tonight I managed to get my *mega* Bible study program onto the virtual PC - what the Fusions Windows computer is called. It runs in "unity" where I can see the PC and the MAC all at once.

I *think* that the only transfer left is my Microsoft Money Plus - my checkbook.

This has been UNBELIEVABLY time consuming and brain draining. Thank goodness I'm between semesters at school. I did write my last paper on the MAC, and even that was a challenge. I'm getting much better now, but it really pushed my 46 year old brain pretty hard.

There is SO MUCH to learn. I signed up for ONE-TO-ONE, which provides one hour of one on one tutoring per week at the Apple Store. I have enough questions on my list to last the next few months. I keep watching online tutorials too.

And so, please forgive my hiatus. The switch to MAC was just one of the reasons, but it was a BIG one.

By the way, I already LOVE my MAC. I am indeed a convert. :)

Breezy Sunny Perfection

I've been on the screen porch for the better part of three hours, working through Ephesians 1, word by word with my Greek lexicon. Such rich stuff. Having taken the day off spur of the moment this morning, I'm feeling foot loose and fancy free. Well, there is laundry drying, and I made French toast for the kids, and the garden needed watering...but...footloose and fancy free is a relative term.

Today's weather is sublime. The breeze is just cool enough, and the scattered clouds provide occasional relief from the sunny blue. This spot is close to perfection - birds singing, sprinkler tinkling, Boomer snoring at my feet...ah, summer.

Sharing from Ephesians, here's the definition of grace, according to Zodhiates:

5485 in Strong’s. Charis: joy, favor, acceptance, a kindness granted or desired, a benefit, thanks, gratitude, grace; A favor done without expectation of return; absolute freeness of the loving-kindness of God to men, finding its only motive in the bounty and freeheartedness of the Giver; unearned and unmerited favor. God’s grace affects man’s sinfulness and not only forgives the repentant sinner, but brings joy and thankfulness to him. Eleos, [1656] mercy, is concerned not with the sin itself, but with the misery brought upon the sinner as a consequence of that sin.

It's hard to not celebrate the day when you think about God's grace.

Life

Loved this quote from Elizabeth Berg's The Art of Mending.

There are random moments – tossing a salad, coming up the driveway to the house, ironing the seams flat on a quilt square, standing at the kitchen window and looking out at the delphiniums, hearing a burst of laughter from one of my children’s rooms – when I feel a wavelike rush of joy. This is my true religion: arbitrary moments of nearly painful happiness for a life I feel privileged to lead. Think of the way you sometimes see a tiny shaft of sunlight burst though a gap between rocks, the way it then expands to illuminate a much larger space – it’s like that. And it’s like quilting, a thread surfacing and then disappearing into the fabric of ordinary days. It’s not always visible, but it’s what holds everything together. P 148

That's how life is, isn't it? Every once in a while moments hit you and you realize just how blessed you are.

Last night our 16 year old needed some mom time, and asked, repeatedly, to go to see "My Sister's Keeper." She and I both just finished the book. Even though I was thoroughly content on the couch reading Any Minute by Joyce Meyer, time with her is important, so off we went. It is a heartwrenchingly sad movie, the kind that gets me pondering the deeper issues of life.

We have four healthy, "normal" kids who have been relatively pain free from a parenting stand point. Do I thank God often enough? What a privilege. And right now, at this moment in time, all four of them get along unbelievingly well, and they each spend quality time talking to their parents. Thank you Father. Such a gift.

While I don't have much parenting pain to speak of, there is searing pain in my life. Life is hard. There are so many different types of "hard" - we could all be gentler, couldn't we? The mom of a child with leukemia could view anyone with healthy children as having everything. But the mom of the healthy child could have a traumatic childhood wound haunting her or a dying best friend. Financial struggles can overwhelm our perspective. Marriage woes. Responsibilities for aging parents. Strained relationships. Physical constraints and health issues. Life is hard, just as Jesus predicted in John 16:

³³"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

The blessing beyond blessings is that Jesus understands pain, and that He is our constant companion through the best and worst of times. He is all I need. There are days when that is simply fact to me - days where I have to remind myself of that truth over and over.

I wrote down this quote years ago, though I don't recall the source:

"Be kinder than necessary to everyone you meet, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle."

Funny how a movie can hit me just so and send me spinning into life evaluation...

Sneak Preview

Upcoming Topics:

Switching from PC to Mac - GROAN (but I'm starting to love it...)

Visiting Cleveland (Botanical Gardens, Art Museum, Lolly the Trolley, travel with boyz)

More hospital visits - three in one night!

Ephesians - latest Bible study

Personal Assessment paper - finally done

Minor Prophets - recently finished class

History of Christianity - next class

Joining a Health Club

Planning a trip to Vancouver in August

Emily's in love (shhhhhh)

and more!

Stay Tuned!

Lotus Flower

That photo up there on the header - it is unretouched. I took it at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. A lotus flower. Isn't it simply amazing?

Just a warning

Just thought I should warn you...so that none of you are caught off guard...

I'm going to blog soon.

No, really.

I am.