Tarnished–The Official Nikki Translation

“Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.  Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies.”

Psalm 141:3-4

A couple of years ago, Scott and I went to the grocery store to purchase, among other things, peanut butter.  We ended up settling on this delicious-looking jar of Peter Pan that had honey in it.  We grabbed it and took it home.  Over the next few days, Scott took a couple of peanut butter sandwiches to work, and one night in front of the television, he went on a sort of mini-binge.

He spent the next couple of days after that feeling miserable (I’ll spare you the details).  I chalked it up to a virus that had been going around.  Shortly after this, I saw a story on the news about recalled peanut butter.  I checked my cupboard and sure enough, our nearly empty jar had been in the “bad batch.”

We’re JIF people now…

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“Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.”  –Proverbs 26:9

“When people think you’re dying, they really, really listen to you, instead of just waiting for their turn to speak”  –Fight Club

One of the most obnoxious things about planning a wedding is all of the unsolicited advice you get.  I remember going through this almost five years ago (wow!), and it seemed everyone I talked to thought that I should use their florist, their caterer, their photographer, their bakery.  That we needed an open bar, a cash bar, no bar.  That since the wedding was in October, we just had to have an autumn theme!  That Scott and I needed to remember to communicate, that we should wait to have kids, that it was honorable that we weren’t living together, that it was insane that we weren’t living together…

Do you ever wish people would just shut up? Continue reading →

“Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them.”

Numbers 20:29

Alright, so let me get you up to speed here.  The Israelites have been bumbling around in the desert for what seems like forever, when they realize that they are coming up on Edom, which had a well-known, large path that was used primarily for trading purposes.  Moses sends some messengers to the King of Edom to say, “Hey I’m heading up this HUGE group of people who have had an unbelievably rough life.  You’d really be doing me a solid if you’d let us just use the main road that runs through your country.  I promise, we’ll leave your crops and everything alone.”   Continue reading →

I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord  –Philippians 4:2

There’s few things more entertaining than a good catfight.  They’re so much more complex than altercations between males, which tend to be 90% physical and are generally centered around defending one’s honor in some form.  Bitches’ll fight over anything, and most often, all the fighting is emotionally- or socially-based.  We’re taught as youngsters to not use violence to solve our problems; rather, “use your words.”

It’s something that women do all too well. Continue reading →

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.  –Titus 2:3

While flipping through the New Testament this afternoon, looking for good blog material, I came upon the Book of Titus (it’s one of those teeny booklets close to the back).  I started skimming through it, when this verse popped out at me.  It made me chuckle a bit, because instantly my mind went to one of my favorite guilty pleasures–the ABC hit TV series “Desperate Housewives.”   Continue reading →