I am mainly doing this for my own thought process, because these things are so important. And it seems some people are ignorant of how important these things are. This is why I make this public. So, as you read this, know that my mind is made up and closed like a steel trap and I care not what you think about it. As far as I am concerned the following are concrete facts, and to deny them as such is pure folly. 

1.) You have to ignore the declaration (six times over) that, “the evening and the morning were the _____ day.”

2.) You have to ignore the declaration of God Himself, which He said twice over, that He made everything in six days.

3.) You have to ignore the command by God for every living thing to reproduce “after his kind”, because you are saying every kind came from one kind. 

4.)  You have God declaring millions of years of mutation mistakes and death “good”. 

5.) You have to explain how plant life survived for however long you are claiming each evening and morning actually are, for the creation of the sun – which happened the day after plants were created.

6.) You must ignore the declaration that man brought death into the world through sin. Death has been going on for millions of years before man existed.

7.) You also have a new problem explaining why bad things happen. In essence, why a perfect loving God created such an imperfect cruel world.

8.)  You run into problems with the Biblical declaration that Jesus conquered death as “the last Adam”, because you have made death an integral element in the creation of man. 

9.) (This is very important to me.) You are letting men who hate God tell you how you ought to interpret His Word.

Problems with denying a world wide flood (which usually goes hand in hand with believing in evolution).

1.) You make God a promise breaker and a liar, because He promised to never do such a thing to earth again. So every time you see a rainbow you can remember that broken promise it is to be a reminder of.

2.) Apparently God is not very efficient, because it seems it would have been a lot simpler to just tell Noah to go to higher ground in that 140 years he had to prepare. 

3.) Now you run into problems with explaining the lifespan of humanity because all of a sudden they stop living so long, after this “local” flood. 

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In essence, like any time a lie is told, you have to make up more and more lies to cover the first one. So when you twist the Genesis account of creation to fit the lie of evolution, you then have to twist other things to force them to fit in the account also. And eventually you get to the heart of the whole need for a Savior coming into question. I can never see any instance of Darwinian Evolution ever being compatible with the Bible.

Apparently, Russians have found a Mammoth that froze and preserved part of the body very well. Not only do they have meat and tissue, but they even got blood this time! And a neat aspect of it – it didn’t freeze even though the temperature was below freezing. So they’re thinking it has some kind of natural antifreeze in it. (It will be fun to hear what kind of new myth they come up with to explain the evolution of such a thing.) But, anyway, they plan on cloning this creature. Read more here: http://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/exclusive-the-first-pictures-of-blood-from-a-10000-year-old-siberian-woolly-mammoth/

Personally, I was wondering if she froze right at the flood. (They are always so far off on the time frame, so who knows how old – or young – the body actually is.) Which brings me around to the point of this whole blog. Some folks – myself included – believe that a big part of the reason for the flood was that manipulation with genetics of God’s created kinds was going on. Now, cloning is not quite the same thing, but it is a sort of ‘playing God’. My stance is that they absolutely should not be messing with human embryos, at all. I have no idea when it comes to animals though. Animals were not created in the image of God, and Jesus did not shed His blood for them, so they are not exactly on the same level. However, they are part of God’s creation, and I kind of have a notion that He doesn’t like us messing with that, since He didn’t even want us to mess with different kinds of plant/animal life way back in the Old Testament. (Leviticus 19:19, Deuteronomy 22:9–11) 

Now when they clone, what they do is take an already fertilized egg, strip away the information of what that was supposed to be, and then replace it with the information of whatever they are cloning. Essentially making it a twin of whatever they are cloning that the DNA information was extracted from. So, definitely messing with God’s creation. As stated, I don’t think it is as bad as with humans, but I don’t think I would be willing to risk doing it myself, just because I have a notion such a thing just might piss God off. 

What do you think? 

Today we were going to go to Richmond Virginia VA for them to look at Rick’s back. It was raining so it was the perfect time for me to scrub out the ducks’ little swimming pools this morning first. Which I did. And then filled them up. Last month, my little Mallards mated. One, the pretty tan one, built her nest way over at one end of the pen in a corner. (All pictures can be clicked on to see a bigger size.)

Another one built hers inside one of the little houses Rick made for them. The big old Muscovy duck stole her nest and ran her off, and sat on the eggs.

The little Mallard’s eggs hatched first. (May 28th) But two of them had tried to hatch too early and it literally broke off the end half of the top of their beak. They lay there and died and there was nothing any of us could do. Broke my heart. But five of them were very healthy and active. I separated her and the babies from the rest of the ducks.

One of them was colored slightly different, with a yellow band around the back of it’s neck, and a mostly orange beak (not black). You’ll notice in the video here:

And I made another one:

I began to think that the Muscovy’s eggs were just duds until a few days later when she had five little baby Mallards running around under her feet. One of hers had that yellow band also, and one was solid black. She was super protective of them, so I figured they’d be okay in there with the other ducks. Only, yesterday, 3 of them were in with the Mallard and only one was with her, and the fifth one was just gone. (bad sign) It was so much fun separating them out while trying to keep her from attacking me. Then, this morning, another one – the one she had with the yellow band around it’s neck – was dead, and the solid black one was really wet. (They are supposed to share their oil with them so that the water rolls right off. The Mallard has been doing a wonderful job, her babies hop in the pool and swim around. I learned the hard way that without a mother to do this, they get water logged and freeze to death.) The black one was in the duck house and not with her and the other two still living. The one with the yellow band around it’s neck was laying there dead in the middle of the pen. I am fairly sure it got wet and froze to death last night. After I cleaned (scrubbed) rinsed and filled the pools, I had to shower to go to the VA with Rick. I decided to check on the ducks one last time, and there lay the solid black one on it’s back, soaking wet, and trying unsuccessfully to get up. And the Muscovy off away from it, doing nothing. Well, that was it! Little miss Muscovy has proven herself a bad mother. So, all showered and dressed nice and smelling pretty, I had to climb in the duck muck and fight her for the last two and gathered up the black one too. Of course she splattered mud on my nice clean clothes. But not very much and as soon as it dried it brushed off. I did an amazing feat of not even slipping and falling on my butt, even though I was wearing my (slippery) dress boots and it is so muddy in there! Anyway, I dried off the black baby, and Rick set up my heat lamp and we put him and the other two under it. I wasn’t sure if he’d make it, but we had to leave. It turned out we had an automatic draft from our account, so we didn’t have as much money for gas as we thought, and Rick was (rightfully so) worried we’d run out of gas and end up stranded if we went on to the VA, so we had to turn around and come back. I was very happy to find that the little black baby was dry and chipper with the other two, so I think he will live!

First, I read Barbara’s (@blonde_apocalypse) blog, and she said something that really made me think. 

“And the trolls.  Oh my goodness, the trolls.  I’m so bloody thankful for the trolls.  Xanga trolls are the reason I am able to be certain of what I need, what I can easily do without and my ability to discern which voices are worthy of my attention and which are not.  Xanga trolls taught me how truly, absolutely worthless is the validation (and the condemnation) of strangers, and that truth has made me free.  What a priceless blessing that is.”

I had never looked at it this way. Even though many of those voices were never “worthy of my attention”, far too many times, I allowed them to piss me off. 

Then I read @Angry_Infidel ‘s blog and that made me think also. 

All these years I’ve been on Xanga, I have grown, learned and changed. Early on the trollish people would piss me off. But I’ve always pondered how people think, especially when very different from me. Admittedly, there were times when I would purposely word things in just such a way to push their buttons so I could really get to the truth of how they felt, so they could have been doing the same thing also. A few times, I changed my mind about things. But most times, I was forced to delve into why I thought what I did, and dove deep and studied hard, and came back up even more firm in my beliefs than before. It is very good to know both exactly what you believe, and exactly why you believe it ~ in detail. 

And I have learned that any firm stance on any topic will earn you haters. But I have come to the point that, now that so many things for me have been cemented very firmly in my mind, when I am bombarded with the rage from those who disagree it has no bearing on anything at all whatsoever. I dismiss them in my mind as idiots, plain and simple. I so much prefer it when they calmly explain why they think differently. This, at least, I can understand and learn a little something from.

And in my experience, 99.9% of the time it comes down to world view and who authority is given to, where the root of the disagreement lies. And it is fruitless to bother with the people who are on the other side of that fence. So, I am learning to knock off the dust of my feet and move on, so to speak. We won’t change each other’s minds and that’s all there is to it.

It is also really interesting when people of very different beliefs agree with me on things. It is nice when I can be friends and learn things from them, even though we have different core beliefs. And in my experience, it has been easier for me to be friends with people who don’t believe like I do, than it seems to be for some of them to still accept me. So,  when I see that they are still willing to be my friend, knowing our differences, that is usually a very good sign.  

It’s been a good six years here, over all. 

Been seeing a lot of farewell/remembering Xanga posts lately. And others about how we shouldn’t give up and we should fight to keep Xanga around. I feel like I should be more upset than I actually am. I’ve really REALLY enjoyed my time on Xanga. I was reading blogs here long before I joined. And since I have, I have learned a lot, which is my favorite thing in the world. But at this time in my life, I have too many other battles I am facing to have much energy left for “fighting” to save Xanga. And far too many times in my life I have vested my heart and hopes in things that I knew were long shots and then my heart was broken. Maybe that’s why I just am taking more of a wait and see approach to all this. There are some really mean people on here that, should Xanga die, I won’t miss one bit. So many of the ones I really liked have already been chased away. Maybe that’s another reason this isn’t such a blow to me.  If Xanga dies, this won’t be the first time in my life I have been forced to close a chapter that I never wanted to end. And should Xanga survive, I’m hoping that we will be able to have more power to shut the mean ones down. They’re the biggest reason why Xanga is dying. And for those of you on here I dearly love, and you ought to know who you are by now, we are likely already friends on Facebook, and you already have my new WordPress account. This won’t be goodbye, even if Xanga sinks into the mist of used to be websites. 

http://mtnmamma.wordpress.com/  ~ just in case you didn’t.  

I found something that sums up how I feel about Xanga perfectly:

Prelude

I have eaten your bread and salt.
I have drunk your water and wine.
In deaths ye died I have watched beside,
And the lives ye led were mine.

Was there aught that I did not share
In vigil or toil or ease, –
One joy or woe that I did not know,
Dear hearts across the seas?

I have written the tale of our life
For a sheltered people’s mirth,
In jesting guise — but ye are wise,
And ye know what the jest is worth.

 ~Rudyard Kipling

My mother sent me a check for $25 for my birthday, and then another one for Mother’s Day. It just so happened that our checking account was overdrawn (and it is supposed to be protected AGAINST that, dammit!) so I couldn’t cash them until he got paid. Which happened yesterday. And all this time I had been planning to go yard sale -ing today with that money, since Rick will not allow me to use it for bills. (He says I don’t get enough stuff for myself, and that was for a gift for me, and all that.) And, as it turns out, today was the BEST day for that! I got some super duper awesome deals I am so HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY about!

All the following pics can be clicked on to see a bigger size.

The first place we stopped at, I got a food processor and the last place we stopped at I got this cute little two cup tea maker, $5 each:

(These weren’t the best deals though.) The second place we stopped, I got this entire box of books for $10.

These are different sets of children’s American history books, from the late fifties and early sixties. I think it will be interesting to compare what kind of things are being omitted/changed in the ones that are much more recent.

Then, at the next one, I got this entire box of sewing type stuff for $1!!!!!

There are 12 unopened packages of cross stitch fabric (not easy to find anymore as it is) and they run like $2 -$5 new. She had them marked for 10 cents each. T hen there were two bags full of buttons. And three bags full of lace trim and bias tape ribbon. And a bag of bobbins for bobbin lace making. (Something that I have been wanting to get into! ) Plus that nifty little clear box it came in. (With the lid, even though that isn’t in the pic.)

The next place we stopped, I hit the JACKPOT! I got this:

for only $3!!! I didn’t even know what it was at first, I just thought it was a mixer. It turns out it is an Oster Regency Kitchen Center, and apparently they were made back in the ’70s. It is a mixer, blender, food processor and a  meat grinder (YAY, now I can grind up deer meat myself!!!). I was looking around about this thing on the ‘net because the beaters and dough mixer thingies were missing. It seems this baby can STILL fetch around $100! I got such a  good deal! I also got, at the same place, this handy little coffee maker that you just pour hot water through the top of.

Only 25 cents. This will be good for when the power goes out. And then, lastly, my dear son spent some of his hard earned allowance ($4 of it) on this electric  massage thing for Rick for an early Father’s Day present.

And then at the next place, Jake got the steal. He got this remote control TV set for $4!

And I got this box of books for $1.

Each of them is from the late teens early twenties. I love old books! (She had them marked 50 cents each, LOL) Then we headed on to the flea market they have every Saturday across from where the state fair is in Fairlea. And there again, we REALLY, and I mean REALLY SERIOUSLY hit the jackpot! This guy said he had bought all this stuff at auction, had no idea if it worked or not, wanted to get rid of it. It was really hot by this time, and most of the people selling stuff were packing to go. Rick saw this box of stuff and asked how much he wanted. He said $3. This was all the stuff in that box:

Yup. ALL THAT. (Click on the pic to see a bigger size of it.) And for only $3. My kids think it’s Christmas all over again. And then he pointed to another box full of games and DVDs and said he’d throw that in for another $3. This is what was in that:

And lastly, he gave us these three bean bags for $1. (That’s $1 for all three, not each!)

We stopped at another one where Rick got this bow case for $3 for Jake.

Today was such a great day!

What is a word made up of 4 letters, yet is also made up of 3. Although is written with 8 letters, and then with 4. Rarely consists of 6, and never is written with 5. 

I predict this post will likely bother people who will them feel inclined to leave nasty comments. Which is another aspect of this whole entire realm of the LGBT community, which seems to consist of the borg mentality – you will be assimilated. Anything less than complete endorsement is treated the same as if you want to lynch them all. And this is the complete opposite of “tolerance”. I see a lot of intellectual bullying to force people into compliance. “Resistance is futile.” And if there is anything that makes me dig in and resist, it is when I feel like I am being forced into something regardless of how I feel about it. But I digress.

My daughter’s boyfriend was raised female. According to him, he was born male and when he was a baby something happened and the doctors told his 17 year old mother that it would be best to allow them to do surgery to make him into a girl. As far fetched as this may sound to some folks, I have heard of this before. (LINK) And there are also instances where people are born with a giant clitoris or micro penis, and so at birth are “assigned” the wrong gender. (LINK) And also, there is the the fact that the male and female brains are developed differently from one another. (LINK, LINK) 

But the first of the last two links I gave says, “Mild cases of malformed genitalia occur in 1 percent of all births.” 

Now, I have a friend who was born female but now says he wants to be referred to as he. And my daughter’s other friend who was also born female has done the same. And this seems to be happening a LOT with the younger generation. More than 1%. And I really don’t understand it. This is why:

It is the same crowd (LGBT community) who is in the forefront protesting “gender roles”. They are saying that nothing should be viewed as only for one gender. And I am cool with that. I have no problem with that. But here is where I run into a problem. If you really think that, then what is the problem with whatever gender your DNA says you are? Why MUST you be the other gender? I mean, either it is true that you don’t have to be a certain gender in order to be a certain way, or it is true that you can only be a certain way as a certain gender. And that’s what I don’t get. 

Gen 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Gen 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
Gen 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

The day God divided the waters from the firmament and the waters, is also the one and only day of the six day creation in which He did not say was “good”. It was just the second day. And when He makes the new heaven and new earth, there is no sea:

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Here are a few more verses to ponder:

Isa 27:1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Jer 51:13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.

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*Note – in looking for commentaries about this I discovered this neat idea about the days of creation representing the life of Jesus. I have never heard that one before. (I had heard that they represent thousand year ages on earth and the day of rest is the 1000 years of peace before though.) You can read it here: http://myredeemer.org/foreshadows/creation/index