My other blogs

I don't know if all of you know about my other blogs, so here are the links to them:

www.pets-n-me.blogspot.com

www.spawninglog.blogspot.com

I don't post very much on the betta one. Just a little FYI. ;)

~E

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving full of joy and laughter! (And turkey. :D) We're heading down to be with my mom's family; we'll probably be gone most of the day. ;)

In Christ,
~E

Here lately...

I've been reading the blogs of ppl I don't know and that I found out about through Jenna's/Bethany's blogs and something caught my attention and got me to thinking. I noticed that a lot of those blogs had one common theme: Lord of the Rings. (LOTR) Now, I love LOTR. It's a wonderful, imaginative story that is well written, and in the case of the movie, well made with good actors/actresses. However, God no longer allows my conscience to read/watch it. Why? Well, that's what I want to talk about today....

LOTR has several questionable aspects to it. There is a "good side" that has many powers ...so where is God in it? Only God is the source of "good power". So, where does that power come from? Certainly not God...He is never mentioned in the book or movie. Therefore, I must conclude that their power comes from "magic", which we all know is basically witchcraft and comes from Satan. (And it doesn't matter wether it's "good witchcraft" or "bad witchcraft"; it's all witchcraft and evil!)

And that leads to my next objection....witchcraft. All the spells (cast by both the good and bad side), curses, the men in the "Paths of the dead" that are dead and yet living, the Ringwraiths, Gollum (shivers), Sauron, Gandalf, Elrond...all are the result of or use witchcraft, since they don't involve the power of God. Gandalf is a wizard (Leviticus 20:27 "A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.")...Elrond uses telepathy...Gollum is nothing less then a demon....the Ringwraiths are pure evil...does a Christian have any business watching that? I don't think so....and I'm sorry I ever saw it.

Also, many ppl try to make LOTR into an allegory and stuff God, salvation, etc. in there somewhere but it simply doesn't work, IMO. It's not like Chronicles of Narnia, where Aslan obviously represents Jesus and all the power comes from him. (BTW, I do have some questions about CoN, too...so don't automatically jump to the conclusion that I'm being hypocritical. :D) Also, J.R.R.T. specifically states that his book is NOT an allegory. If you read the intro/prologue in the book, you'll find it there. At least I found it in my book. Therefore, you really can't make it into one. :-\

There is something very strange about LOTR, too....it captivates. Most young ppl I've met who have seen and liked it are obsessed with it. My brother and I certainly were. It consumed our thoughts and conversation a good part of the time. (Not all the time, but a lot!) There is something wrong with a fictational story that has that kind of effect on more then a few ppl, IMO.

And then there's the moral side of it....the whole story is rather humanistic, IMO. Here is a quote from Gandalf: "Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." Last time I checked, we all deserve death. Anyone who says anything else is being humanistic, IMO. Really, a lot of stories like LOTR are humanistic....everything is done in the strength of ME! In reality, we are nothing on our own. Only God can strengthen us enough to do what we do. Also, Arwen's and Aragorn's relationship is rather improper. I mean, a kiss or two is one thing, but I think they carried it waaay too far. (That's only in the movie though. Of course! Hollywood has to have it's romance.) Another thing: Frodo is the only one who could carry the Ring for as long as he did without being corrupted. Why? Because he had less evil in him. HUH? Romans 3:12 "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Everyone is equally evil.

One thing that is "good" about LOTR....the good side does win and the evil is abolished once and for all. However, again, the victory isn't attributed to God, and so therefore it can't really be truly "good", KWIM?

I hope that I presented this well, and that I don't sound too "preachy". That's not my intention, really it isn't. I just want other young ppl to understand the underlying issues of this story. If you have any questions, suggestions as to how I could present this better or have a sounder arguement for my points please leave me a comment!! I'm very open to suggestions. :) I'm not too good at presenting arguements in a loving, convincing manner. Also, this is certainly not exhaustive...please go look up LOTR's connection to witchcraft on Google. That's how we found out about it! Dad started questioning it, decided to do a little research, and "Bingo"! He had questioned rightly. :) Pray about it, ,too...allow God to speak to your heart and don't allow your will to get in the way either. That way, God can speak to you. ;)

Awww, I just got kissed....by my DOG!!! :D :D :D (Heehee, thought I'd insert a little humor in there. :D)

In Christ,

~E

Some dogs I've groomed...

I thought I"d show y'all some of the dogs I've groomed. These are before and after pics...




This little toy poodle is 14 yo! I couldn't believe how great he looked and acted. He got a shave all over with a poodle topknot and a donut moustache. And I'm NOT choking him in that one pic....I was just helping him pose properly for the pic!!

This was a little who-knows-what. Probably a terrier/lhasa mix.

And a Pomeranian....he got a "lion cut". I wonder why it's called that....:D

And this had to be the most badly behaved canine on the planet! I don't know why I was smiling. :D Anyway, he's a lhasa (mix?). He turned out OK, considering how badly he behaved himself.

OK, hope y'all enjoyed seeing those!! Everyone else posts pics of their hobbies/jobs (Jenna and her goats being an example. :D) so I thought that perhaps I would do the same!

And on a side note...mom told me to tell you that she is writing a book about our testimony, so you can read that to find out about our experiances. I'll still probably write a post about it though; not everyone is going to want to read her book. ;)

In Christ,

~E

It's still me. :D

Yes, you're looking at the same blog! I just changed it....do ya like it? I think that sunset is wonderful....I believe that I took that picture. And if it wasn't me, it was my brother.

You know, several blogs I follow (http://www.femininefarmgirl.blogspot.com/ and http://www.asheracres.blogspot.com/) have been doing a "14 day thankful challenge" or something like that. I don't exactly have time to do that, but I did want to post some things I'm thankful for. :)

1) God saw fit to a) save both my parents and b) bring them together!! I think it's a wonderful miracle that out of all the millions of people in the world God chose my parents to save and bring together to have ME!!

2) I have 9 siblings, and while that sometimes seems like an awful lot, I know that it's the perfect number for my family. :)

3) I have a job that only God could have provided for me. He opened doors all over the place for me to get this job.

4) My mother is a sane and alive woman; last yr about this time we weren't sure about her sanity and she was wondering wether or not she was going to survive. Like I've said before, I'm going to write about out testimony. I AM thinking about it and haven't forgotten. :D

5) I own 3 wonderful dogs, two entertaining parakeets, numerous rainbow-colored betta fish (yes I'm thankful for them!! They are little miracles, really they are!), a stupid cat that I hate and love (:D), 6 bright, peppy adult finches, 2 of which are raising 4 chicks (another miracle!! I love watching little baby animals grow up into gorgeous adults!), and numerous other fish which I like but aren't as special to me. ;) Yes Jenna, I'm a fish person!! I used to be like you..."I had too many when I was little" sort of attitude. THEN my brother got a betta, and I was hooked. I've also found that breeding fish isn't quite as hard as it seems, and I think that's the most entertaining part of fish.

6) We'll possibly be getting chickens next year or the year after!! Grandma and grandpa finally agreed to let us have some....I'm going to see if we couldn't do some ducks, too. Goats, alas, are still outlawed. :P Ah well, perhaps if I get married and move off somewhere else!! :D

7) I love Casting Crowns' music. It speaks a lot of truth and a lot of it is simply beautiful!

8) Laughing and having a great time with either family, friends, or both!!

Well, I know I could come up with more, but I think that pretty much sums up the things I'm the most thankful for! So what are YOU thankful for today?!

In Christ,
~E

A couple of prayer requests

This week has been a tough one for our church family. :-\ First, a mother of the R______ family got "T-boned" (on the driver's side, too) while driving. The person who hit her was going 60 mph. The mother is doing great; she has a small fracture in her lower back, some stitches in her face, and a jiggled liver. The liver gave the most trouble; it bled for a while, but finally quit. She was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon. As for the other driver, we don't know. 60 mph could easily be fatal. :'(

Also, another family just experianced a death. The mother's mother died I think Friday. It was a relatively peaceful and long-expected death; she'd had Alzeihmers (sp?) for yrs and really just wanted to go be with the Lord. :) So, now the family is left to mourn her loss.

Your prayers are appreciated!!

In Christ,
~E

Whew!!

Busy week! Lots and lots of time spent at work; now that I'm a groomer, I'm committed to 2 yrs of 40 hrs per week. On the one hand, it's good because I make more money. On the other hand, it's bad because I don't get as much time at home with my parents, sibs, friends, and dogs. Thankfully, my manager was very thoughtful and asked me what day(s) I couldn't work, so I got a chance to tell her I don't work Sundays and she will make sure that I get scheduled around it. (for the most part. ;))

Right now, I'm doing 3 dogs a day. And that's a little hard for me. I need to work on speeding my grooming up a bit. That's always a work in progress for us new groomers. :)

So, tomorrow, I'll go to church....and then come home and rest. :D That'll be very nice. ;) :D

In Christ,

~E

I'm officially....

....a groomer!! Yes, I graduated on Friday, November 6th 2009. Now, I just have to groom 100 dogs and take a test. Yesterday was my first day on the job. It went pretty well. :) Only one of my two dogs was bad; the other was pretty cute and had a sweet disposition, and that makes enduring the bad ones worthwhile. :D

I have to say, this year has been so full of changes!! I graduated from high school, started a job, got my driver's license, just graduated grooming academy....wow! And that's not all. This has been the first year that mom was actually well. Praise the Lord! I really do need to get started on a testimony for y'all. I know that it would be of interest to you. :) Perhaps later today...

Meanwhile, I need to go do a few chores around the house, run by WalMart to get a few things, give Patsy a bath, etc. "See" ya later!!

~E

Back again!

Hey all...I apologize for my blog being unavailable. We had a little scare yesterday afternoon: some guy walked into Petsmart asking for me! To make a long story short, we suspected ID theft. :P Thankfully, we figured out who it was and everything was OK. I had just deleted my blog JIC. ;) But it's back now!! I do have one request: please don't use my name in your comments! I was OK with it before, but now that we've had that little scare, I think I'd rather not. ;) Thanks a bunch!!

In Christ,
~E