chewable vitamin

"12 Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. " ~1 thess 5.12- 18

thought of day

i have had a particularly low tolerance lately to crazy people and to assholes. i get frustrated with myself that my threshold is met quickly. this passage helps give me perspective:

"this was our course: we realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps
spiritually sick. though we did not like their symptoms and the way these
disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. we asked God to help us show
them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a
sick friend. when a person offended we said to ourselves, 'this is a sick man.
how can I be helpful to him? God save me from being angry. Thy will be done.'"
+ chapter 5: +how it works+ the big book

when someone is driving me crazy it is a symptom that they are love sick. this helps me to remember that people do not intentionally act difficult or annoying. nor do i. ok- well sometimes i do.

by and large- when people are assholes it is a sign that they need the love of God. what they don't need me telling them they are assholes. it is much easier for me to do this. it is difficult for me to love people in response to their falleness.

so basically i've been imagining crazy people and aholes in hospital gowns. i'll let you know how it works. if you try it- let me know how it works for you...

chewable vitamin
"the most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities. " ~ lord acton

sir top'em jack

this is my nephew. i love him tons.
he's into thomas the tank engine big time.
who knew trains were so cool?

this is halloween 2003

i'm learning how to post images. sorry this is so small.

delivery

last week we received two very welcomed and favorable answer to prayers prayed out of depseration and some amount of angst.

it is very great to report that we actually were able to pay all our bills (we have no money b/c we gave it all to the freagin INS- but that's another post) via unexpected money that we received in the mail. the prayer literally went, 'Lord, please send us money in the mail.' it was from target and i had over paid a bill.

it is also very great to report- that i got a new job! i am thrilled and relieved. many different aspects led me to look and i am very glad that i am moving into another work environment!

it is very great to feel like i'm in a different season of life. storms and deserts had become common place. i'm very grateful for the reprieve. "this to shall pass" is a slogan often used to get aa's through tight spots. not to be fatalistic- but i also realize that this (the easier seasons) too shall pass. the bad shit doesn't last forever, and neither does the good.

it is what it is. so today, i will enjoy where i'm at and not miss out.

*that's it*
i'm moving my desk to the lawn.

we should inact legislation that prohibits work on days like this.... this is ridiculous.

**huff**
!!!!!!!!!!!

do you think this** is right?

i have wondered- is there validity in choosing the wrong that is more right? is the premise bogus or is there something to this rhetoric? i don't know.

please tell me what you think.

a special shout out
to lurkers.
your participation
is requested.

** note: "this" is a link to a synopsis of a story that you can downstream. hey hey to kirsten to pointing out the confusion.

+++

chewable vitamin
"we thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong. " ~ bono

chewable vitamin
"the fruit of faith is love" ~ mother teresa

quick mid day interjection

please note the new button for the sudan.
i love me the mennonites.

some of the many

things i am grateful for...

:: sobriety
:: that i'm irish
:: that sobriety doesn't make me less irish
:: salvation
:: feeling forgiven from sin
:: having a conscience
:: charles
:: that i can feel loved.
:: my mom
:: my dad
:: laurel
:: the change of seasons
:: my job
:: erica handschke
:: health insurance
:: that God doesn’t need us to have His Kingdom go forward.
:: chuck close
:: my friends
:: emerson
:: aidan
:: jack
:: nora
:: maggie
:: evelyn
:: our apartment
:: the fox
:: our church
:: our small group
:: the bible
:: that i like to read the bible right now.
:: that i feel like God hears me when i pray right now.
:: that God hears me even when i don’t feel like he does.
:: for our new bed
:: that the fee for the INS application is paid.
:: my brother
:: my sister
:: U2
:: 89.7
:: 90.5
:: for our attorney
:: for peace.
:: sleep
:: that i don't feel left out of life near as much as i used to.
:: laughter
:: that I can cry.
:: that i get to vote.
:: flowers
:: that i can be responsible and do things that i don't like to do (eg: be an "adult")
:: that i am not totally ruled by my emotions anymore.
:: books

where did the chewable vitamins go?

basically i have much more important and eloquent things to say than the literary giants and history makers of our time. that's why i quit.

today's chewable vitamin:
"you do what you've done- you'll get what you got".
~ my crazy sponsor.

three years
it's been three years today since my father passed away.

i miss him so much! i can't believe that it's been that long. in many ways it feels like so much longer- and in many ways it feels like just yesterday.

tonight the sullivan clan will celebrate with grilling out, a funny movie, and black raspberry chip graeters. we will serve at faith mission this weekend. it's become our tradition to honor his life in these simple ways.

the thing that has me stuck emotionally is that my dad and charles never met. they would've enjoyed one another i think. they both are share common concern over similar people and issues in our society.

sometimes i think that getting sober competes w/ my dad's passing for the toughest thing that i've ever done. but really i think it's a combination of both... staying sober through my dad's sickness and death is the hardest thing i've ever been through.

but in the grand scale of things- it was a bittersweet time. lots of people go through shit i can't even imagine with no sweet- just bitter. i got to be with my dad and love him and hopefully give to him as his health declined. i got to say goodbye to him and be at peace together progressively. i got to learn a little more about heaven and i'm so comforted by the knowledge that life and Followership is not just hooey- we're not just food for worms. he's got a new body and no tubes. and he may just be smoking salem lights b/c he likes them not b/c he had to. the whole season was one of a handful of eras where the rubber of my faith met the road of life.

not that my faith is a prophylactic.

a little too serious there.

on a related note- i'm thinking of going to sudan for a couple of weeks. what the hell is the hold up there? we gotta define if it meets the definition of genocide? hello???

unmet goals
i haven't read any of the books that i planned to read according to this list.

*swat hand*

must redirect efforts.

today...
i'm sweating out a fever ska tylonol. i am not barfing anymore- nor am i delirious. charles threw up on me saturday.

pure amuzement

here are some things that i have recently stumbled upon that i thought i'd post for your daily dose of laughter.

in honor of joe's abei's glory days...
ninjas rule
pimps r us

gross....
i went to pay for cheap gas using my new favorite site at a speedway the other day. just as i walked through the door, this bald man threw up everywhere but managed to hold onto his fountain drink. is that really necessary? i mean... come on now. if one can hold onto their fountain drink- why can't you make it to the trash can?

luckily my sv/ dev (sympathetic vomiting/ domino effect vomiting syndrome) did not kick in.

the man had a scar on his head and seemed disoriented and had barf hanging off his lip. he wandered to his car, got in, and drove away.
should i have stopped him? maybe he has a head injury. i thought about this scene the rest of the evening. it was the grossest thing i've seen in a while.