God forgive me, I think I've become one of THOSE people

I go to church. Lutheran, in case you're interested. I believe in God and Jesus and salvation and all that other stuff. I feel pretty strongly about it all, but I know other people don't. And normally, that's okay with me. Even if I don't agree with someone else's beliefs or opinions, well, it's just not my place to judge or tell them they are wrong.

However.

In the last two days, a couple things have struck me, and I have been surprised at how strong my reaction has been. First, was this quote in my daily quote calendar (I love quotes):

"Can't nothin' make your life work if you ain't the architect." --Terry McMillan

My immediate thought when I read that quote: Bullshit. I had to take a second to figure out why I reacted that way. Then I realized - it's because I don't think I'm the architect of my own life, nor should I try to be. I have always believed in "meant to be" things. After all, I met my husband because God sent a flood. Seriously. I'm not saying I don't have any choice or responsibility for my life, but I really believe that there is a Greater Plan, and that all of the circumstances, obstacles, and choices I am presented with are leading me along that path.

I feel strongly. But I very rarely talk about this, even with my "church friends." I have read articles about attempts to remove God from congressional proceedings and bills, and of course I know about the church-state battle. I have opinions about those things, too, and sometimes my husband and I discuss them. And I shake my head sometimes and wonder what this world is coming to and how/why people have come to the conclusions they have. But I think what I read earlier might have officially sent me over the edge. Radio Disney is now objecting to including the words "chosen by God." In a movie about

The Ten Commandments

For those of you who are not familiar, those are the ten big rules given to Moses. By GOD. Basically, God is one of the main characters of the story. But Radio Disney doesn't think He should be part of the commercials they air. Seriously.

I'm officially angry. Outraged, even, at the stupidity of this. How far do we really need to go to avoid offending someone? Does it honestly offend someone who does not believe in my God to even hear His name? And if that's the case, does anyone really not see that there might be bigger problem there? And by the way, why is it okay to offend ME by neutralizing my God in order to avoid offending someone else? How does that make sense?

I want to share my anger with everyone. I would love to send it to some women bloggers who are way more popular than me, maybe someone who writes about political issues, current events, etc. to spread the word even more. The only problem with that is that most of the ones I've found are overwhelmingly liberal/Democrat-leaning/anti-Bush. And somehow, I'm not sure that they will share in my outrage. I may have to start my own. I could call it A Liberal Republican Christian Mommy Speaks Out. Watch out, next I'm getting one of those fish emblems and am going to put a bumper sticker on my van that says "I'm Christian. And I VOTE!"

Sorry, I'm not here right now, I'm at the Ranch...leave a message at the beep...

If you don't know me, you might not know that I have a tendency to get just a teeny bit obsessed about things. You know, just a little.

If you DO know me, I do not want any editorial comments about the above statement.

So this week is VBS week. VBS is vacation bible school. For the second year, I'm the director. To say that I'm completely VBS-focused would be putting it ever so mildly. The people at work know about VBS. Cashiers at every store I've been in over the last several weeks (and there have been plenty) know about VBS. I'm pretty sure if there were a VBS version of the Arby's hat, it would be perpetually hovering over my head. In fact, I'm already thinking about next year's VBS. Like I said, the obsession thing is just a small problem.

And that, my friends, is why I haven't been here. I've been there. At Avalanche Ranch. Oh, yes, there will be pictures. I'm creating a whole new Flickr account just for this. But that probably won't be ready for another week or so. My schedule this week is INSANE. Andrew is in Cub Scout day camp. They leave at 7:15am each morning. That means we all have to actually be ready to leave the house by then. Holy crap! I'm working until 3pm each day this week, then leaving to pick up Abby from day care and Andrew when he gets back from camp at 4pm (although they haven't actually made it back before 4:20 yet this week), then dash home, pick up our VBS stuff, and it's off to church. Monday night, Andrew also had a baseball game (at some point, I'll have a post up on Just The Mommy with more dirt on THAT...). Tomorrow night Abby has dance class at 5pm (VBS starts at 6pm). OH, and did I mention that Steve was in Kentucky yesterday and left at 6:30 this morning for an overnight in CANADA? Yes, during VBS week!! That's a good story too, and I really will try to get it posted soon, but if you notice, I am posting this after midnight. Abby didn't fall asleep until about 11:30, and that was laying here on the couch next to me. We're all pretty worn out, and we still have two nights of fun left to go!

I've got to get to bed. Besides, there's a chance I'll be kissing a pig on Friday (yes, more VBS stuff I'll have to explain to you later). I need to get some beauty rest so that people can tell the diffence between the two of us!

Where there's smoke, I might start a fire

You know you're a mom when...you are seeing freaky preschool characters in the strangest places. Last Friday, on my way back to work after lunch, I pulled up behind a car at a red light. The driver's hand was hanging out the window and was holding a cigarette. Not an uncommon site, but when I glanced back, I saw Oobi. Oobi is the freaky character of a kids' show on Noggin made from a HAND.


Oh, yes, that's right - Oobi is a hand. A hand with an eyeball ring. And the fingers. Of the hand. They are Oobi's nose, mouth, and HAND. So when Oobi picks something up, Oobi uses his hand which is also his mouth which is also his hand. Ironic since Oobi IS a hand... And Oobi has a bunch of other hand friends and family. Freaky. I don't let the kids watch Oobi. Because it's stupid and freaky, that's why! But if you watch Noggin, you can't avoid the promos. And now I'm seeing Oobi in my everyday life and Oobi is SMOKING. Seriously. Those kids are watching too much t.v.

So that was Friday at lunch. Friday night, we showed the new Veggie Tale movie at church. (Do you see how my life revolves around those kids and their t.v. characters? Ack!) I thought it would be a good idea to pop some popcorn. I took up my stovetop popper, the popcorn, popcorn salt...I had everything, except I forgot the oil. Oh, no problem, there was some olive oil left over at church from our spaghetti dinner. Great! Did you know that olive oil has a lower burn point than regular cooking oil? Funny. I knew that. It's amazing what facts can slip your mind when you are answering the clammering cries of two small children. But that fact did come racing back to my mind when I heard a strange "POOF!" from the church kitchen. Smoke. Flames. Burning. IN THE CHURCH! Did I mention there was a wedding scheduled the next day?

I think it might be true about your life flashing before your eyes when you die because I saw a future flash before my eyes as I slammed the popper lid shut and carried the smoking pot outside. And that bride was pissed.