Ma Ma Jacquie's Blah Blah Blog

Heard this story the other day...

There was once this guy who woke up one morning. He had had a dream that he had died. He looked around and saw everything as it was, but decided that the dream was true. He told his wife that he would not be needing breakfast because he was dead. She was a bit amused, but she didn't fix breakfast that morning. As the day went on, the man kept insisting that he was dead. He had not need to get dressed, brush his teeth, go to work, etc. He was dead, after all.

After two days of this, the wife was no longer amused. She was concerned, so she made an appointment at the psychiatrist to have her husband evaluated. The man went through the same litany as before until the psychiatrist decided to reason with the man. He took him to the morgue. He showed him a dead body. He discussed the different body systems that cease to function when a body has died, especially focusing on the circulatory system. The man was in full agreement that "dead men do not bleed". They even went so far as to poke the dead body's finger to see if blood could be drawn and of course, no blood came. The man was not surprised because, as he reiterated, "dead men do not bleed!" Now was the time for the psychiatrist to prove his point. He took a clean needle and quickly poked the man's finger and immediately a blood drop formed.

The man stared in amazement! He was nearly speechless. Finally he said in awe, "I guess dead men DO bleed."

I'm learning more and more each day (especially in light of all the election year debates), that we "choose" to believe something, then we fit the FACTS into our belief. I just pray that as we make our belief-choices, we would measure each "belief" with the unchanging Word of God. The ones that don't fit with the facts of the Word, change or discard. The ones that do, hold on to them tightly.

Well, at the beginning of the summer, I was afraid we wouldn't be able to get Cousin Camp scheduled in. So much to do. We all have such busy lives. But 2 weeks ago, as we sat watching the "kids" build sand castles and play in the waves, we knew that what ever it takes, it's would be worth it. We just decided to cram it in. And we're so glad we did.

There are alot of things I would like to do better next year, especially as the kid are getting older and their interests are changing, but still... the time together was wonderful. The object lesson of the weekend was: relationships are like Bagel Bites, like tacos, like ice cream sandwiches, whatever. The point: our relationships are important. We are family, and we need to care for one another. Each person adds their own flavor to the recipe of life, and as we combine our flavors we make a pretty great tasting dish.

I think the best part of the weekend was the boat ride we took out in the Ventura Harbor. Age didn't matter, everyone had fun. And everyone got a chance to "drive". It was also great having Randy and Kristi hang out with us off and on. (Another important relationship.)

Note to self: Next spring, don't even think about not scheduling Cousin Camp.

We really enjoyed our 2 new campers, Avery and Conrad, and Special Honorable Mention goes to Emma Bangs! Camp Counselor Extraordinaire!

Hope all the moms and dads had a nice peaceful weekend. They're all yours now!

I just read an article by David Coppedge about "Surprise Effects" in scientific research. There are many surprises discovered, day after day, as scientist continue to search beyond what we already know. Just when we thought we had it all figured out, and we start speaking about certain scientific information as if we know all about it, something completely new and contrary to what we though pops up! That's pretty cool.

"What is the message in these surprise effects? Science is tentative at best. Consensus is no measure of factuality. Even long trusted scientific theories can be challenged by anomalies. As Thomas Kuhn and subsequent philosophers of science have pointed out, scientist typically work withing paradigms, or accepted explanatory frameworks. Anomalies are surprises that don't fit the paradigm. When too many anomalies accumulate, a scientific revolution may occur, and a new paradigm may take its place. If you compromise the Bible with the latest paradigm, your positions could become a casualty of the next one. The Bible has outlasted a great many paradigms. Considering its Author, that's no surprise. " David Coppedge, Cassini Program, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The heavens declare the work of the Lord, the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Psalm 19:1

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaian 55:8-9

If God is revealing Himself through his creation, I guess it follows that we'll probably never get it all figured out. Like some guy said, "We don't know what we don't know."

Just a random thought.