Its not about our earth having a temperature.

Its about our culture developing a whine.

Sometime in the past few decades someone said it was okay to whine and many people took up with it.

And instead of pointing fingers at who might be the whiniest, I’ll step up and admit my attitude requires adjusting on a regular basis.

I have a list of pet peeves. People on cell phones in public places. Children running without supervision through grocery stores. Commercials for Viagra in the middle of a family TV show. The neighbors dog barking non-stop throughout the night.

These are issues worthy of whining but while the moment of whining may feel good, indulging weighs a burden on the heart. The longer the whine, the more the overall attitude is affected.

My new motto will echo the bumper sticker I saw: Stop Global Whining. Rejoice in the Lord instead!

All mankind will fear;
they will proclaim the works of God
and ponder what he has done.

Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD
and take refuge in him;
let all the upright in heart praise him!

Psalm 64:9-10

The guys at Google crack me up. From their April Fools jokes, their changed holiday logos to their “I feel lucky” links, I recently found another silly thing that made me laugh out loud. I had no idea Google was now in the vacation planning segment but I guess it was only a matter of time.

I’ve wanted to visit London, England again. The last time I visited was the year “The Sound of Music” was released on the big screen. Its been a while! So heading over to Google I thought I’d do a bit of daydreaming. Little did I know Google would not only provide me with directions on how to get to London but would make it so simple.

Go to Google and click on Maps.

Click on Get directions.

Insert Dallas, Texas and London, England.

Click submit.

1. Head east on Young St toward Evergreen St 302 ft
2. Turn right at S St Paul St 0.4 mi
3. Turn left to merge onto I-30 Entering Arkansas 315 mi
4. Take exit 138A to merge onto I-440 E toward L.R. National Airport/L.R. River Port Memphis 10.0 mi
5. Take exit 11 to merge onto I-40 E toward Memphis Entering Tennessee 128 mi
6. Take the I-40 E/I-240 S/Madison Ave exit toward Nashville/Jackson Miss 0.5 mi
7. Merge onto I-40 E 11.4 mi
8. Take exit 12C on the left to merge onto I-40 E toward Nashville 410 mi
9. Take exit 421 on the left to merge onto I-81 N toward Bristol Passing through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland Entering Pennsylvania 526 mi
10. Take exit 89 to merge onto I-78 E toward Allentown Partial toll road Entering New Jersey
11. Take the N J Turnpike North/I-95 N exit Partial toll road 1.3 mi
12. Slight left at I-95 N (signs for I-95/Exits 15W - 18W/I-280/Geo Washington Bridge/RT-3/Meadowlands Sports Complex)Partial toll road Passing through New York Entering Connecticut 88.0 mi
13. Take exit 48 on the left to merge onto I-91 N toward Hartford 36.8 mi
14. Take exit 29 for US-5 N/CT-15 toward I-84/E Hartford/Boston 0.4 mi
15. Merge onto CT-15 N 1.7 mi
16. Merge onto I-84 E Partial toll road Entering Massachusetts 40.7 mi
17. Take the exit onto I-90 E/Mass Pike/Massachusetts Turnpike toward N.H.-Maine/Boston Partial toll road 56.0 mi
18. Take exit 24 A-B-C on the left toward I-93 N/Concord NH/S Station/I-93 S/Quincy 0.4 mi
19. Merge onto Atlantic Ave 0.8 mi
20. Turn right at Central St 0.1 mi
21. Turn right at Long Wharf 0.1 mi
22. Swim across the Atlantic Ocean 3,462 mi
23. Slight right at E05 0.5 mi
24. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto E05/Pont Vauban 0.1 mi
25. Turn right at E05 5.7 mi
26. Take the exit onto A29/E44 toward Amiens Toll road 27.8 mi
27. Take the exit toward Dieppe/Amiens/Calais/A151/Rouen Toll road 1.1 mi
28. Merge onto A29/E44 Toll road 22.6 mi
29. Take the exit onto A28/E402 45.6 mi
30. Take the exit onto A16/E402 toward Boulogne/Calais Toll road 44.3 mi
31. Take exit 29 toward Boulogne-Centre/Outreau/Le Portel 0.6 mi
32. Merge onto N416 1.1 mi
33. At the traffic circle, take the 1st exit onto N1 0.4 mi
34. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit and stay on N1 0.1 mi
35. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit and stay on N 0.9 mi
36. At the traffic circle, take the 1st exit 0.6 mi
37. Slight left at Rue Ferdinand Farjon 427 ft
38. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit 0.4 mi
39. Slight right at Dover - Boulougne-sur-Mer 30.1 mi
40. Continue on Dover - Boulogne-sur-Mer 0.2 mi
41. Continue on Eastern Service Rd 0.3 mi
42. Turn right at E Ramp 0.4 mi
43. Slight right at Dock Exit Rd 0.1 mi
44. At Eastern Docks Roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto A20 0.6 m Head east on Young St toward Evergreen St 302 ft
45. Slight left to stay on A20 0.3 mi
46. At Prince of Wales Roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto A20/Limekiln St 0.2 mi
47. At Limekiln Roundabout, take the 3rd exit onto A20 0.3 mi
48. At Western Heights Roundabout, take the 1st exit and stay on A20 7.0 mi
49. Continue on M20 (signs for M20/London/Ashford) 49.7 mi
50. Continue on A20 (signs for London (SE)/Lewisham) 9.7 mi
51. At Clifton’s Roundabout, take the 2nd exit and stay on A20 2.2 mi
52. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit and stay on A20 1.3 mi
53. Slight left at A2 0.7 mi
54. Slight right at A2/Kender St 72 ft
55. Turn right at Kender St 0.3 mi
56. Turn left at A2 1.9 mi
57. At Brick Layers Arms, take the 1st exit onto A201/New Kent Rd 0.6 mi
58. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto A302/St George’s Rd 0.4 mi
59. Turn left at A3203/Lambeth Rd 0.6 mi
60. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto A3203 0.2 mi
61. At Horseferry Rd, take the 3rd exit onto A3212

Don’t miss step #22.

And I thought I’d have to save up for an airline ticket or compile a gazillion frequent flyer miles.

Not so.

I just have to learn to swim.

Hot-diggity-dog! I’ve hit it BIG! An unknown woman, a perfect stranger, picked me to receive her millions of dollars. My goodness! Aren’t I the lucky one? Even without knowing me, she calls me “beloved”. Here is the email she sent to me:

Dear Beloved,

First of all let me introduce myself.I am MRS ROSE WILLIAMS from Africa.I am married to Late MR DAVID WILLIAMS of blessed memory who was an oil explorer in Kuwait and Brunei for fifteen years before he died in the year 2003.

We were married for twelve years without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days Before his death we were both devoted to our God and respect others who serve him.

Since his death, I too have been battling with both Cancer and fibroid problems.When my late Husband was alive he Deposited the sum of $6.5million (six Million, Five Hundred thousand U.S Dollars) with a Deposit Company in Europe,the money was deposited as Family Valuables/Treasure for security reasons.

Recently,my doctor told me that I have only six months to live due to my cancer problem, and this lead to a stroke attack which bother me most though because I cannot move as I use to. Having known my condition I decided to entrust this fund to either a philanthropic organization or devoted individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instructs herein.30% of the US$6.5million goes to you to ensure that you are prepared for the task ahead, 60% of this money will be used in all sincerity to fund philanthropic organization, orphanages,widows and 5% will go to the family Attorney who will prepare the Authorization and the balance 5% sent to me to at least prepare for my funeral and off-set my medical bills.

I am taking this decision because I don’t have any child or devoted relations whose behavior has left much to be desired while I am ill and above all I don’t want a situation where this money will be used in an UnGodly manner,hence this bold decision. Since my health is Retrogressing by the minute, you will have to send your RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS, CONTACT PHONE NUMBER AND FAX and a little details about yourself,because I got your address from the internet after a thorough search.

As soon as I receive this information from you I will make arrangement to prepare the Authorization through the family Attorney for you to get Possession of the Deposit.

Until I hear from you, I pray that this letter bring you and your family good tiding while my dreams to help humanity rest squarely on your shoulders.

May the Almighty God continue to guide and protect you.

Remain Blessed,
MRS ROSE WILLIAMS.

Amazing, you say? Absolutely! my head is spinning from the good fortune that is mine!

Of course, before any of you panic, thinking I might believe this woman is real, I certainly know this is part of the Nigerian scams that are so prevalent on the internet and within email spam.

So relax. I won’t be contacting Mrs. Rose Williams.

But it got me thinking about the goodness of God who knew me and loved me when I was a stranger to him. And better than millions of dollars is the love He provides by knowing Him.

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son…
1 John 4:10

We haven’t had much rain in the past few years in Texas. In fact, we’ve been in record drought conditions for the past 24 months missing over 36 inches of rain.

Today. It. All. Fell. In. My. Front. Yard.

My house is a wonderful place. I enjoy calling it home. It sits down from the street in a low area which we knew could be a problem. However since we moved in, we re-landscaped with the geography in mind. A new sidewalk was installed to dip towards the lower end of the yard with a waterproof trench, filled with river rocks installed between the rows of bushes to funnel the water away from the house.

It worked for the past 2 years, during our drought and our rare rain storms.

Until today when the nearby golf course recorded a record breaking 10 inches of rainfall for the day.

My husband and I spent an hour outside this afternoon when I discovered that the water was up to our front door.

He dug through the trench, making sure nothing was blocking the path of moving water. I stood guard at the front door with a wide, flat broom, pushing the water away from the door and over to the trench. The rain has not diminished but our labor seems to have helped. The front door has been saved from rising water.

I, however, was wet. My clothes were soaked through. I had removed my shoes early on since it seemed easier to fend off the rising water with bare feet than with squishy shoes. I peeled off the wet stuff, changed into my PJs at 4:20 pm. I think I deserved to dress like an old lady who gets tired walking across her house.

Jesus said: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27

The sky will not fall if I use toilet paper.

One square? Are you kidding me?

Who could use one square per sitting and have adequate coverage? I can assure you I’m not being wasteful when I use four squares. Or eight.

I’ve been a fabric napkin snob for years. I love the texture, the weight, the ease of washing and folding. I put them back into a basket where a pile of them resides on my kitchen table. (In fact, if you ever want to send a gift, send me fabric napkins. Any color. Any style. I will love them and give them a good home.)

We can all treat our world with more respect. Use it up or recycle it. Good logic. Makes sense. But. When a celebrity who drags with her piles of buses and tons of electronic equipment around the country tells me I should be using one square of toilet paper, the line has been crossed: Global whining.

Which takes me into territory I could ignore but I won’t. Celebrities telling me how to live my life are full of nonsense. I think the average length of a Hollywood marriage is 5 years with each celebrity having in their lifetime more than 4 spouses. If they don’t marry, they openly live together. Or they talk about gun control when they have a gun-toting-body-guard-for-themself. Or they talk about us all driving green cars while they get picked up in limos or a fleet of buses or a private jet.

When a famous person comes along that demonstrates absolute love and sacrificial forgiveness, values marriage and encourages life-long commitment to the family, teaches about money and investment in the right stuff, and walks on water, I’ll listen.

In fact I’ll call Him Jesus.

The sky is not falling.

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things have been created through Him and for Him.

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Colossians 1:16-17