Southern Porch Extension

[Arpy]

But I don't have a favourite colour.

I like them all!


By the way, Edy; You were supposed to bring the icecream.

[BeachGrandma]

[b][color=#408080]Carol, I must have missed the latest on your daughter. Is this Carissa? Please repost if you can.

[Edy]

Arpy, I did think of adding "ice cream" to the list, but after you've gotten better acquainted, here, you'll know why the Porch Pals don't want anything from my freezer. They're afraid the ice cream I might bring has sat in the freezer next to the lutefisk and taken on the taste, and they don't like my lutefisk smoothies!

Can you believe such prejudice against my Norwegian heritage, when nobody, besides me, has actually eaten it? Just in case you are not of the Norwegian persuasion, or ever heard of lutefisk, here is a link to learn more:

http://www.sofn.com/norwegian_culture/s ... efisk.html
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/ ... istory.htm

We drive by this place on our way to church:
http://www.olsenfish.com/lutefisk.cfm
They have a 1-800 "hotline" for those desperate for a lutefisk "fix."

Our pastor is both Norwegian and Irish heritage. He claims lutefisk originated when the Irish tried to poison the Vikings by pouring lye on their dried fish stores. But those hearty Vikings liked it!

(I come from hearty stock, with probably a little of Genghis Khan's marauders DNA mixed in. )

[Green Leaves]

No, Carissa is our youngest daughter. We have three. Sherri is our oldest daughter and is the one who was laid off today. She is also the mother of the National Guard young man, Tyler,you have prayed for.

[BeachGrandma]

Thanks for the clarification, Carol. I didn't scroll back enough, I guess, to find out it was Sherri. I appreciate your Email too clearing it up for me. Now I have a better picture of your whole family. I'm so glad you have a close relationship with them all. I'll surely pray about Sherri's job situation.

Though we don't usually discuss politics on this thread, this quote is really about the liberal left than it is about our president. Still, his most recent support of gay marriage makes me think of Sodom and Gomorrah and how God was by then so fed up with those people that he destroyed them. If this issue, this abomination, was the last straw, are we wrong in thinking that since so many in our country are now espousing gay marriages that we as a country are pretty close to that judgment ourselves? As far as there being enough Christians in the USA to prevent that from happening, can we also assume that many in Sodom and Gomorrah were against those perversions also, but still had to feel the judgment of the Lord? Here's the quote:

Some people have the vocabulary to sum up things in a way that you can quickly understand them. This quote came from the Czech Republic. Someone over there has it figured out. It was translated into English from an article in the Prague newspaper Prager Zeitungon

"The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their president."

[Arpy]

Wow! So, so, so true, that quote, BeachGrandma--not just about Mr. President, but about any and all representatives we have and will elect. Our government is one of the people, for the people, by the people, and unless those people are godly, the government won't be. Ben Franklin touched on this subject when he said something like;
'Madame, we have given you a government. It remains to be seen if you can keep it.'

I read a really good book some time ago about Nazi Germany. Part of it was how the Germans got to the point where they would elect a man like Adolf Hitler and allow him to do the things he did. It was amazingly relevant to to-day. Oddly enough, it was called 'To Kill Hitler'. It would definitely be controversial, but it is excellent reading. It is about the assassination plots on Hitler's life--that's why I say it would be controversial. But it is deeply philosophical and I thought it good. It is probably one of the most enlightening books on the subject I have read. There is another new one some of you have probably read that is good too, but kind of shallow--'How Do You Kill Eleven Million People?'

I'm not defending what we as Christians allow in our nation, but I have to remind you of Abraham's prayers and God's promise--he would not destroy the cities if he found even ten righteous people in it. Well, there weren't ten. Just now, at least there are more than ten righteous people in America. And there definitely are some people praying. . . .


God has certainly laid this subject on my heart in past years. It is something I do deep thinking about often. I am not old enough to vote, and even if I were I couldn't make much of a difference, but I hope that someday God will give me words to write a book about it. Personally, I'm not pessimistic. In my church and other circles there seems to be a growing idea that we are in the end times. I don't think so. Even if we were, I'm not ready to sit down and say, 'OK, since the world is about to end, I'll just wait patiently for Christ.'
NO! I am going to keep working to a better end. I know that God is good, and that he will work things out for good, even if he has to judge the earth with who knows? another war, maybe. The thing is, that His people are HIS PEOPLE and He will take care of them--maybe take them to Himself, or maybe leave them here to glorify Him among the heathen.
Thank you for the encouraging quote, BeachGrandma. I am always thrilled and uplifted when people of other nations speak the truth in this way to us. Sometimes we need it. Sometimes it's just good to know others agree with us.

[BeachGrandma]

Loved your post, Arpy, but pink definitely isn't your color. I had to squeeze both eyes shut to read it so I probably missed a lot.

You're pretty savvy. I guess I'm on the side of those who believe we're at the 11th hour, 59th second, point on the clock, but I also believe we should "Occupy til (He) comes", work hard to bring precious souls into the kingdom, and rejoice at all the good things that are happening and the answers to prayers we're receiving. A case in point is my 49 year old son, who had been to Bible school, had an exciting testimony and won many teenagers to Jesus. Unfortunately, he got into rock music, then slowly disintegrated into the sinful rock world and over time lost interest in godly things. It took 20 years of faithful friends and relatives' prayers to see him fall on his face in defeat and ask God's forgiveness. Now he is active in his evangelical church, directing a local "Celebrate Recovery" and restored to a beautiful man who loves Jesus with all his heart. I can't get over it and I tell everyone, "Never, ever give up on your kids. Keep praying, keep praying." So, I am not a pessimist either but rather a realist and whenever God decides to have that trumpet blown ( talk about "the sound that will be heard around the world!"), I want to be ready and set to go! Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

[BeachGrandma]

Arpy, have you posted your picture on Faith Writers yet? You seem much more savvy than the average 17 year old! LOL

[Verna]

Lovely weather here--hope you all are enjoying the same!

Yesterday after I'd proctored an AP exam, our son came for a little early Mother's Day visit and took my husband and me to lunch. Time with family is for me the definition of joy.

Arpy, we're glad to have your delightful spirit on the porch. I enjoyed learning more about you. I taught English for 37 years in junior and senior high schools, and I like English authors, so I guess that makes me a bit of an anglophile myself. Since we have some authors from United Kingdom and Austrailia on Faith Writers, I had jumped to the conclusion that you were one of them.

Mariane, I am so very sorry about your hand. I know how hitting a nerve hurts. I hope it's much better today. I do believe we as Christians need to stand up for what we know is right, and we need to pray for God to send revival to our nation and its leaders.

Laurie, Thanks for asking. Unlike Mariane, I tolerate Celebrex very well, and it helps a great deal, and I get shots of cortisone. I think I must have pulled a muscle in my hip, in addition to the bursitis. I just need to rest it.

Praying for your daughter, Carol. We never cease to be concerned for our children's problems, do we.

Joanney, I'm glad your summer job will be a constant. I hope your former husband is helping financially as he should.

Edy, Edy, take that lutefisk out of the freezer! It will contaminate everything.

Don, I hope you're feeling much better today---and behaving yourself, too!

[Laurie]

Arpy, what an insightful post from someone at your age. As far as the colors, one reason we use them is because it was difficult to distinguish one post from the next for anyone with vision issues. So dark or bolded colors tend to work out best so everyone can read them.

Verna, I'm glad you tolerate Celebrex well. I'm sure that's a relief for you. I have difficulties with medications like that, so I better hope I never need them.

I'm wondering how Debby is. It's such a joy when she chimes in and I miss her when she's away.

I helped my mom yesterday with some banking and insurance matters. Some issues came up with the farm sale, so addressing those. Nothing that should prevent it from going through, but a few things that need to be taken care of. I thought next week would be a quieter week, but not holding my breath on that now. But just taking things as they come, and I'm thinking that we should have things pretty much wrapped up sometime this summer.

[Verna]

Arpy--I forgot to wish you a happy belated birthday with wishes for a wonderful year!

[Edy]

Thanks for the chuckle, dear Verna! I really don't have lutefisk in my freezer - just saying folks think I must be "contaminated" with it, because I write about it so glowingly (in contrast to others I won't mention, like Don, who write so disparagingly about it ).

We're having a perfectly gorgeous day in the Twin Cities, today. This afternoon we drive to my "bookend" sister Naomi's for the groom's dinner for her wonderful son, Stephen and fiance Bethany. I couldn't be happier for everyone than I am right now. Blessings abound - "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."(James 1:17 NIV)

For everyone's Mothers' Day commemoration, tomorrow, here's a lovely poem posted in our church newsletter:

A Mother's Love

I have not found the word, I cannot find
One single phrase to satisfy my mind,
Or any synonym that might express
A mother's love--that love with power to bless
The love of any child within her care,
An expended love, and yet enough to share
With other children if there be a need...
Elastic, tender is that love, indeed.

It is spent, yet saved; it is emptied, yet filled up,
As steady rain will brim an upheld cup,
It is gentle and yet tiger-fierce when harm
Threatens her young through any quick alarm.
It is selfless as the love of Christ for humans.
It is holy, it is beautiful, but when
The seeking heart strives to define its worth...
There is no word for it in heaven or earth!
---Grace Noll Crowell---

One of those poems I bet we all wish we had written!

[Arpy]

Loved your post, Arpy, but pink definitely isn't your color. I had to squeeze both eyes shut to read it so I probably missed a lot.

Sorry about the pink. I'll go back and change it. It was the first colour I touched. I forgot that I have really good eyes!

I definitely love stories like that about your son--ones with happy endings! Or, it's not an ending yet, praise God!
I'm not denying that we could be in the 11th hour, 59th second. But being a history nut, I look back on all the people who thought they were in the end times--two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, five hundred years ago. People think the world is getting worse--it's not really. It's always been bad. Look at Numbers and Joshua. Study history, and you will see that many more people have been reached for Christ than we were ever able to reach before--due to communication, transportation, and hostility problems. The Western world is certainly falling away, but there are so many Christians elsewhere in the world who are so strong and so willing to suffer for Jesus.

I fight the willingness to assume that Christ is coming tomorrow, simply because I have realised that the generation or two before me have done something that generations for years before them had not done--they have ceased to look into the future. They did not, like people in times before, have something to fight for. They focused on the present. That is what will happen if we allow ourselves to think that the world is almost over. And when we focus on the present, we often get stuck in the place we are. If we should come to our deathbeds and realise Christ hasn't come yet, will we have done something to make the world better for the coming generation? That is an important thing to think about.

I haven't posted my picture yet. Maybe I will, if I can figure out how.

[Green Leaves]

You make some very valid points, Arby. I appreciate your thoughtful, intelligent conclusions. And I have no doubt whatsoever you will figure out how to post your picture. And I am impressed with the maturity of one so young. Kudos to your parents who have every reason to be proud of you!

[Arpy]

Young? I feel old. . . .
I'll relay your message to my parents. Nobody's ever said that to me before.