Snow on the Beach

Hours from now, the now unadulterated slope will look dimpled and drudged. People like to feel fresh snow crunch beneath their boots. So old footprints are treated like landmines to avoid. I take one long savoring stare until I sense someone behind me. I want to be first. Quick, I beat him. Crunch crunch. In some places the snow is deeper than my boots…

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His and Hers Wedding Vows

REPOSTED 2016: Funny little story on how we found out our vows had been pinned thousands of times on Pinterest: When we moved from Maine to New Jersey, a new friend visiting our home pointed to them, “Oh, where did you buy these?” “I made them,” I answered. Her, “No you didn’t. I’ve seen them….

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>Why would a company become more environmentally friendly or humanitarian?

>Gallup polls revealed that 65% of Americans would like to see major corporations having less influence and only 18% of Americans have confidence in big business. I agree with the majority here- I do not trust many big corporations, which are too often driven by money-hunger, but I like them better than big government. I…

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>my fortune cookie says, “Happiness is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it.” I like what Greg Matte said better, “Joy is not the absence of crisis, but the presence of Christ.” PinterestFacebookTwitterEmail

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People Acting like Animals. People Treated like Animals.

I prayed that God would help me better understand the characters of both Him and of  those He created.  And this week, I came across four different sources that taught me separately about a this common theme.  I’ll just type my thoughts here though they don’t culminate to some fantastic conclusion now. 1) We were…

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>Wouldn’t it be terrible to work at a landfill? It is so much better to just pretend they’re not there. . . . please sense my sarcasm. We need to live in a way that takes care of the earth. (I live on Staten Island- (New York City’s garbage dump until 1997. The landfill here…

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>I made apple pie by myself for the first time last week. I have made two since and they are dang ugly but boy do they taste good. 🙂 I have also spiced cider and toasted pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin bread cupcakes tomorrow! PinterestFacebookTwitterEmail

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I work in a historic village museum

Blacksmithing, tinsmithing, carpentry, basket making, rope making, weaving, quilting, butter churning, cider pressing, bread baking in a historic brick oven, apple butter making, stewing (beef, veg, pumpkin), Indian weaponry making, dulcimer playing, hay jumping, historic game playing, historic building touring… On week days I give tours the farm to elementary field trippers. The kids pick pumpkins,…

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>What Not To Buy

>http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Justice-Global-Impact-Choices/dp/0830836284/ Many in my church are reading this book. I ordered it yesterday. In the meantime am looking through these websites. I do not want to be one of those Americans who unknowingly oppresses people elsewhere with my purchasing decisions. So I am trying to inform myself of “what not to buy” as well as…

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>Strong Woman

>The opening page of the book I am reading reads, “In loving memory of my mother whose strength always amazed me.” When I read that dedication, I wrote a prayer, “Lord, make me that kind of a woman. Show me how. Make your strength my strength and keep me thankful, prayerful, and humble. Amen.” I…

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>Child Trafficking Issue:

> http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/09/07/anatomy_of_an_adoption_crisis?page=0,0&sms_ss=email&at_xt=4cab4e70f4fe7cd1,0 Anatomy of an Adoption Crisis BY E.J. GRAFF | SEPTEMBER 12, 2010 “…The State Department was confident it had discovered systemic nationwide corruption in Vietnam — a network of adoption that was profiting by paying for, defrauding, coercing, or even simply stealing Vietnamese children from their families to sell them to unsuspecting Americans….

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>I read an Upper Room Devo the other day…

>(http://www.upperroom.org/devotional/) in which a British woman named Emma wrote, “Sin clouds my sense of God’s nearness.” The line could be easily skimmed over. In fact, I doubt Emma thought much of the wording of this particular sentence. When I read it, I realized that I have always subconsciously thought that “Sin makes God not near.”…

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