Respect The Need

i feel like i need to vent. i need to talk about needs, and other people's lack of respect for them. see, one fact has remained steady all since the fall in eden... people have the capability to be astonishingly selfish.

i was in the basement, just moments ago, trying to do laundry that's a week overdue when i got to thinking about my parents. it dawned on me, how wonderful they are, how selfless (yet reasonable) they are, how helpful they are. they truly are good parents & i would have to say that they have done most things right, even when they seem wrong at the time. i have a sister who lives out of state with her own family of 5. whenever the 5 of them visit, my parents give up their own king size bed in their own bedroom & settle for a full size in a child's room to accommodate the needs of their children. there was a time they would settle for bunk beds, until i took them for my children. i'd say, in that case, i did them a favor.

on the other hand, i spent a week at a beach house with other family members (i refuse to name names because someone may read this and let word spread, not like they won't be able to figure it out by now), and there were four bedrooms upstairs. those rooming upstairs included two sets of pairs & two sets of pairs w/ a child. wouldn't you know, both sets of pairs cozied themselves up in the only two big rooms in the house, leaving the other two closet-sized rooms for the other two couples who each had a child (i was a member of a pair w/ child). and they had absolutely no intention of giving up their luxury to accommodate their own children who had children. i had to step on our crib mattress just to get to the door to exit my room & kneel on my bed to dress. & someone even had the audacity to offer a place in her big room for my daughter, only. even though i paid an equal portion into the week rental.

now, i believe myself to be a reasonable person. i'm willing to step aside so that the needs of another can be met. i'm also sensible, and i know how to not be walked over. i have questions... what makes us believe that our own desires are more important than meeting a need in which we have the power to do so? why can't we give up a big bedroom to someone who has to fit in more people, instead of offering to take away their toddler for the week? why can't we suck it up and take care of the newly moved in, immobile, elderly woman (who is also family, & in this situation, can you believe i was actually asked if she was an inconvenience to me)? who do we think we are that causes us to be so unwilling to adjust?

it's sickening.

it's even written in our nation's Declaration of Independence, which is what separates us from others:

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same
Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their
right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards
for their future security.

it's a fancy way of saying that if there is a need, anyone who has the ability to meet it also has the responsibility to do so. & God meets our needs, does He not? (& i do say NEEDS). "The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy you needs..." Isaiah 58:11.

i'm gonna end my blog with one message: "he who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God." Proverbs 14:31. & remember, there is more than one way to be poor.

how to P90X?

well, i started the P90X Lean workout program 3 days ago & i've come to one conclusion... this is gonna be an interesting run. why?

i bought it (uuuumm...) maybe 3 weeks ago. a day or 2 after it came in the mail, i got sick. it was the beginnings of tonsillitis, but i fought it off; then moved to laryngitis, & i rested through; then moved to bronchitis, but i fought (hard) it off. about 2 & a half weeks and many, many doses of theraflu, robitussin, hot showers, scarfs, theraflu teas, honey teas, couch sleepings, spoonfuls of honey & salt waters later, came the recupe. No voice, no energy, & a small persistant cough... & runny nose. i needed food! so, i ate. it was nice to have something besides soup broth & oatmeal, although i must admit, i will NEVER tire of orange juice.

finally, 3 days ago, my husband was home to watch the kids, & i started P90X Lean. good workout, i loved it, only did 40mins of the hour dvd though. i hadn't worked out that hard since before my 1st pregnancy... let me tell you, being a woman takes a toll on the body!

i skipped the next day, cuz the next day was sunday, and sundays are church & lunch & kids & church again & overall busy days. then came today, day 2 of workout. home alone with the kids & the dog & the turkey vulture eating a dead creature across the street. one daughter brought in her socks & sneakers to work out with me. the other was playing with kitchen foods. the dog was pacing, stir crazy from the noreaster; although the sun was out, the yard was wet & cold. i started P90X. CARDIO!

it took me about an hr & a half to do an hour workout. why? let me collect my memories from that block of time...............

i dropped my body onto the dog (who, by the way, was licking my shoe), instead of the floor. i was kicking toys off the mat. my daughter got tired of doing it, so i kicked her off the mat. the baby, quite often, tried for "pick-ups" all up on me. the other got her doodle pad to draw the excersices & i kicked her off the mat (again) to the couch. i jumped on the dogs foot. the mat was junk, so i kicked it off itself. the baby laid down on the back of my legs during some yoga stretch (i dont remember the name of the stretch cuz my other child was loudly trying to show me her drawing of it). the baby & the dog decided to play 'london bridge' under my downward facing dog, which it why i couldn't do the warriors. i banana rolled into one of the 8 or 9 large peices of furniture in the room (dont bother suggesting i go to another room, cuz they're all the same).

i got through it, though, because i can be a persistant little bugger. i am determined to get myself in better shape, because it's healthy, and i'm short, and i have big thighs... *sigh* my age old complaint. and i know the Lord didn't give me these thighs; 20th century food availability & laziness did. & i need to do something about it.

tomorrow, day 3.

HELPING HAND

there aren't even proper words to discribe this. a "fetus", 21 weeks, in the womb. i say, here's someone who gave a hand to the pro-life campaine.

ahhh... abortion... the taboo of "life". you know, i hear what your saying (those of you saying, "but what if it happenned this way...?" to unexpected, crisis pregnancies), & all i can say to you is... Isaiah 61:

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.