Why I chose Jesus over New Age.

pentacost.

Why is Jesus better than a physic? Sounds like the beginning to a cheesy joke like three guys walk into a bar. But this was a question that finally came to mind lately. And it made sense. For a long time I wanted to explain to fellow Christians and I suppose others why Jesus was better than New Age. And for those who don't know the term "new age" religion is just another term for "old witchcraft".
Before I was a Christian. One who worships Jesus Christ as their only way to the Father I explored the idea of new age witch craft. I thought it was amazing. I mean, all the colorful books,spells,boards and tricks. I read palms and tarot cards and practiced it well.
So it that was "working" why would I change? Well that depends how you view something as "working" in your life.
When someone goes to a medium or physic or reads cards or uses a board they infact get answers. But to what? Who will I marry? Is my husband cheating on me? will I die of cancer? 
The answers a person gets will undoubtedly be mixed between truth of their answer and not truth. But no one looks at what didn't come true. Only what worked out.

There was this woman who I had saw on television. Most people would have heard of her. Silvia Brown. A physic. I thought she was amazing. All her stories and tales of talking to a "spirit guide". But one day I found out she had been divorced 4 times. Hmmm 4 times. It sat badly with me. Here was this woman who had this seemingly amazing gift of being a medium or worker between worlds. But she couldn't save her own marriage. She could get along with the dead but couldn't love the living. That one piece of info started to burrow in me of WHy? Why couldn't she save herself or her own relationships? In fact if she had been divorced once I probably wouldn't have even considered it. But 4 times.

My own life didn't look much better. Unsatisfied relationships with men that were never really what I wanted.
I got invited to church. I was still practicing witch craft at the time and when they started to sing their praise songs I became sick. Literally sick. I began to sweat and become dizzy and was so scared I'd throw up. But I sat down. I always wondered if there was a battle going on that I didn't know about, but felt.
I didn't go back to church for a while. I began to explore the bible. I thought the whole idea of the holy spirit was old timers stuff. These people had to get with the modern day God.
But I read that bible with a critical eye. Waiting to find their mistake in writings. But it was filled with dates and times and facts and Jesus coming was actually prophesed of over 500 years before he arrived. Then later I learned it was told of way earlier than that. Incredible.

There is lots to this story and you can email me if you have questions. For the finish of this though, I go back to the main question. Why did I choose Christ over New Age? Why have I made it a personal goal of mine to throw out, burn, destroy and turn away from anything that would suggest "new age" on it.
New Age suggests going to a different source for your answers. One that isn't God. And Jesus said that he is the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through him. John 14: 5-7
God also said we are to be set apart as holy. We are not to practice the ways of other people because He alone is our God. Lev:19:26
and Deut: 18:10-14.


But Jesus is more powerful than New Age/Witchcraft. People think they have "power" when they worship demons and ghosts and such. But they don't. They still loose their marriages and come down with cancer and have no hope in their life. But what about a man who is unlike any man you'll ever know. Jesus. What about the only God who can give you Hope.
Who the entire world will bow before.
God doesn't answer you like a puppet on a string. Not like we want physics to. When will this happen? What will happen now? Who are they? ....
Because God is real and alive and not to be ruled over by you. He asks for you to trust him.
I chose the Lord because I want a leader and a savior. I can't save myself or change myself. If I could I would have already. And no hocus pocus can change or save me either.
A medium to me looks like now a cheap magic trick that you can see right through. With all the trap doors and fancy slight of hand. But God to me is the real deal. No trap doors or slight of hand. What he sets in front of me is real and filled with hope. He really lived and was raised onto a cross and died so that I could live and then He rose again from the dead and today sits at the right hand of God the Father. Now that speaks action and power to me.

Please. Don't say another word...please.

 

Lying at home, eating a chocolate brownie with fudge and caramel from the coffee shop with my hubby....

Tim: "Hey you ate more"

me: "well their is two of me..." implying pregnant.

tim:"that doesn't really count"

me:"well there really is two of me"

tim:"oh erin the whole world isn't big enough for two of you!"....

...

me...*gasp*

....

Tim: "no wait...that's not what I meant! You know what I meant....right?..."

....

me: "I can't believe you just said that. *smiling* I'm so blogging that tomorrow!".

One order up! Tail with a side of spuds!

 

I know its not time yet with a baby due any day now, but I think about when I will return to the work field. I am a photographer so I am with a constant side part time business but I mean just that usual everyday job that you go to. I personally enjoy waitressing. 

And not at some crumby fast food restaurant. I mean at a family restaurant where the tips are meadyocure and the people are generally of a variety of ages. 

I guess I miss that kind of job. My mom always thought that was a lousy job to stick at. Personally I liked that I paced my way to fitness and kept myself clear of Alzheimer by remembering 15 different tables orders...was it 15 or could I only do 10. I can't remember now. 

But now I'll have little ones at home. Two actually soon. One side I'm stricken with guilt that I would ever leave my babies to a daycare. What kind of a mom am I ? ForShame!!! And does it really even out in cost?

On the other hand I think...has any child ever died from being left for a couple day trips to someone elses home? Sometimes it beneficial for the child and mom to have these days apart. And frankly, I'm a woman too! not just a mom. I have makeup in my bathroom that I used to put on EVERY DAY! Not now though. Its a Sunday occasion to put make up on. And having a job is a natural way for me to work out...unless I work at Tim Hortons or KFC. Then I'm just working on trying not to eat their food. 

I wonder what I will do or decide on. Perhaps not waitressing. But I think by end of summer I may be ready to get back out there and do some regular hours of work. Even if they are just part time.

Are you Ready for kids..?

This is not my own writing but I found it and had to share it. Laughed hard/cried lots.

 

 

Are you ready for kids?

Lesson 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.

Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)
Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed then rub them on the clean walls.
4. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
5. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7
Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

Does Jesus own a Bissell?

Usually I don't blog twice in one day but hey! why not. When the moment strikes, right.
I got a new Bissell Power Clean Vacuum today. On sale to boot. Very excited as I'm into my "nesting stage". Cleaning is definetly on my radar.
I went home and vacuumed a rug that had the utmost of dog hair on it. Actually the day before I was down on my hands and knees with a cheaper vacuum that wouldn't get the hair off. But with what ease and joy I swooped that Bissell back and forth and smiled as all the hair and dander got sucked up. My child was scared and curious of the new noise maker. He didn't cry though.
As I went over my carpet it occured to me of how I would brag of my new found appliance on facebook....or blog...like I'm doing right now. I'd tell people of how clean it made my carpet and how amazed I was at the results and recommend it to anyone...well. Its only been one day :) In the end I took off that dump bucket full of hair and dirt and smiled with pride at how much was there. Proof! Proof that indeed it was amazing and my house was cleaner because of it.
Then it occured to me that this is a good example of a new Christian. Sure there are other cheaper models of saving that will have you on your knees scrubbing the carpet. But in the end you'll still have dirt and hair everywhere. No one cleans like Jesus.
And yet I chuckle because if you've ever met a new Christian and you are not one you may cringe at their enthusiasm of how clean they feel. In fact they feel so "clean" because Jesus has rewnewed their life that they describe it as "born again." Smack dab clean! As clean as a new babe!
But for those who have not yet experienced the grace and love and cleaning of Jesus Christ in your life, I wanted to assure you that all those out spoken new Christians who are eager to tell you of their new hope, are much like a pregnant woman with a new Bissell Vacuum cleaner. Proud of something I couldn't do with my own abilities. Cleaning  up a big mess :)

Turn that Idiot Box Off!

My son is about 18 months old and in the last little while with all the going on's of the holidays and moving I've found myself resorting more and more to tv as a babysitter. Who would have thought that that could be so tempting. 

So in an attempt to change my bad mothering ways I've turned off the tube for the last 2-3 days. Actually I had to unplug the thing because he knows where the on off button is. 

For the first day it was like drug addiction rehab around here.

His first reactions came in ways of whining. A trait I loath in him. Its this awful sound that he will probably perfect into teenage - hood in order to get me to buy him stuff. 

The second reaction of the first day of no tv turned into temper-tantrums of throwing himself to the floor in detest. 

"Entertain Me!" You could almost make out as his first real sentence. Along with "turn the tv back on!".

But no, I decided. You are a toddler that I've needed to spend some time with and do something else away from a screen. His dad would come home and he'd throw himself into a tantrum. I loved that "notty spot". It kept me sane.

Finally day two showed some hope. A child who played with his toys for once. I'd sit with him (which was part of the deal I suppose) and play with toys. And when I got up to go make lunch, he didn't even cry. He just continued entertaining himself. 

Now one might say...Of course your child wants your attention and not the tv! Hello?

However, being a mom means being on a constant learning curve. I had no idea that his recent temper tantrums had anything to do with the ability to entertain himself or just have that extra time with us undistracted. 

So we're at day four now. he's not up yet but will be soon I'm sure. I suppose I based how much tv to give him by if we were watching together. If it was something we'd sit together for then great. If not, how about some other activity?

I guess I just wanted to share what a huge change this made in him. Hope its of use.

Walmart One... Mom...Suckerd in...

 

Whoever designs and sets out the selling displays and ideas at Walmart Canada, my hat goes off to you. You are a genius! And you probably don't get paid enough for what I experienced today.
Today I went to Walmart to purchase a Bissel Vaccum cleaner on sale for $88. CAN. Normally priced at $120.
Upon arrival we realized that all the vacuums of that brand/type were sold out. Figures. Just like Canadian Tire. No wonder they are always right beside each other. Probably checking out the competitions strategies for reeling us poor customers back again and again. In fact many of the items we came for that were on sale till Thurs. were sold out.
In desperation for a new vacuum I looked at the next labled Bissel priced at $89 CAN.
"Lets get this one then!" I say to my husband who is looking annoyed at the whole thing. He goes and finds a worker to see if any of the ones we came for are in the back.
"You can't just buy that one Erin." He states. "Its all just a ploy by the company to get us in here and then there is no vacuum and so we buy the next best thing which really isn't the next best because its cheaper. OR, you'll buy one at full price just to leave with a vacuum".
I had to hand it to him. He was right. Even though everything in me said I have a carpet at home screaming for some cleaning!
The employee returned saying we could order it as a rain check item and still get the sale price once the next shipment came in.
Great we won, right?
Maybe not.
For a trip that we did purchase almost everything on sale ... we still spent near $200. So now with going back for this vacuum we're sure to find things we need again and buy from there when we go back.
And on top of that being in Walmart alone finds me every three feet seeing something that I think I need. Wasn't I looking for that last month? Didn't I need a new pair of jeans? Just a simple inexpensive nightgown? Boots for my son are on sale. Ha! yeah. it was everywhere and I had to constantly ask myself....do i REALLY need this?
Touche Senior Advertiser. Or Senora Advertiser. You had me at hello...or Welcome to Walmart!

New Years

Events that have been in 2010 include for me completing my photography course, sewing a shirt, taking a photo shoot at the local laundromat, and purchasing a home. It also included the passing of my grandma Elizabeth Schindler in her 70's (I think). My son turning that great one year old and I dealing with turning 30 years old. Also we are expecting a new little one this February. 

Instead of "resolutions" i often try to just make some fun goals that are achievable. And maybe a few that are challenging. 

So here they are

My goals for 2011 are....

1.Make it through labor and have a baby. Name it. Feed it and provide the essentials of life like love.

2.Conjure up some really good surprise for my hubby that makes him know how special he is. Must include a night out and a present.

3.Take a "mom day", hire a babysitter and go to the spa or something just as enjoyable and don't feel guilty for a moment about any of it.

4.teach the dog to stay off the couch.

5.Go underbritches shopping and buy a lot so I don't have to go shopping for that again for a while. 

6.Make a cook cake for the kids birthdays.

7.buy a hot summer dress for a wedding i'm attending this summer. (not as a photographer. lol). 

8.be more committed to praying for people instead of stuff.

9.invite more people over for food. Especially people i don't know but would like to get to know more about.

10. Be more patient. Especially with my own family.