February 2009 Archives

Well, it appears that Google has eaten Feedburner and I have went from 60 subscribers to 19. I am not sure how that happened, but if you are reading me in a reader, you may want to update my feed. It is my understanding, if I am correct, that my new feed will be http://feedproxy.google.com/TheRogueAngel.

Just a few thoughts this morning while I get ready to do everything I have to do today ...

- I strongly believe that President Bush believes that we are living in the End Times and that President Obama does too. They have to believe that Jesus is returning quite soon. Nothing else explains why we would put our children and grand-children in so much debt.

- I love how President Bush started all this stimulus junk but Republicans are having a good time making it out like it is all on the Democrats.

- I have come to the firm conclusion that most Christians do not know how to discuss politics and still behave like Christians. They get far too wrapped up in their political idealogy and not enough in their theology to do so.

- I am loving how President Obama stole the election! President Obama had 66,882,230 votes and 365 electoral votes. John McCain had 58,343,671 votes and 173 electoral votes. Oh ... but I forgot ... the media won it for him. The fact that John McCain pulled a John Kerry (he was for it before he was against it) and Sarah Palin came across as a female George Bush had nothing to do with it.

- I miss President Clinton. Nothing against President Obama. I think it is great we have a black president and all, but I would feel so much better about things if President Clinton were dealing with all this mess.

- For our country's sake, I do hope all this stimulus stuff works. If not ... we are going to have one big ugly mess on our hands. And, I just find it stupid to wish bad things on our country.

- I know a lot of people (including Republicans) are looking forward to the tax breaks they will be getting as a result of the stimulus. Goodness knows I haven't heard anyone who is complaining talk about how they are going to give that money back to the government. :)

Romans is one of my favorite books in the Bible. It covers a multitude of topics. One of my favorite sections is one I meditate on and wanted to share today.

Behave Like a Christian

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. Therefore

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. ~ Romans 12:9-21

I do not always behave the way I should. I am human. I get mad. I don't always live in peace ... even though I know I should. I am not always affectionate. I am not always hospitable. I fall short in so many ways, but I thank God for reminding me of how He wants me to behave. Not this world. Not this culture. Not a political party. Not my neighborhood. God wants me to behave the way He has commanded so that I may be set apart ... so that I may honor Him.

It's a work in progress, but progress is being made. :)

I don't understand how Christians can listen to Rush Limbaugh.

And, while I thought about reading Speechless: Silencing The Christians ... I lost all interest when I found out that the foreward was written by Anne Coulter.

Birds of a feather and neither one appeal to me.

The FDA has approved Savella as the first drug specifically for the treatment of Fibromyalgia. I am hoping my Rheumatologist may give it a go when it becomes available in April. I can't take Lyrica or Cymbalta.

I hurt my knee the day before Winter Storm '09 hit. I was walking and suddenly my knee felt funny and it almost came out from under me. With all those days with no power, I was unable to get it looked at until this past Friday. I already had an appointment with my Rheumatologist, so I figured I would let him look at it. And, since nothing is ever wrong with me that is not explained by Fibromyalgia ... I figured it would be the smart thing to do.

Well, he ruled out that it was the Fibromyalgia, so I scheduled an appointment with my regular doctor for yesterday. I have been limping on it ever since I hurt it ... and it hurts a lot. I have sharp pain that hits me from behind the knee and then my knee cap aches. It also moves when you touch it and that makes me want to hurl.

She looks at it, has it x-rayed, and then tells me that it is inflamed and there is fluid under my kneecap. So, I am to continue to take my anti-inflammatory and rest my knee. If it is not any better in a couple of weeks, I am supposed to come back. Nothing for pain ... as usual. Because you know, us Fibromyalgia patients are nothing more than hysterical junkies.

But, hey ... it is okay. My knee has been hurting something fierce since January 26th. I have been on an anti-inflammatory all that time and it hasn't gotten any better nor has it stopped hurting. It is now February 17th. Do the math. My knee has been hurt for 22 days. I have been limping for 22 days. And, I can't go back until it has been hurt for 36 days.

I am telling you ... being diagnosed with FMS is basically the same as being diagnosed as being a hypochondriac. It doesn't matter if you rarely ever go to the doctor. It doesn't matter if you don't want narcotics. It doesn't matter if your leg is broke or you injured yourself giving birth. They will find someway to either blame it on the FMS or totally ignore you.

And, dips like this guy ... don't make it any better. They just make it worse. Really.

I am so disgusted and frustrated with our political system and the politics and hypocrisy of both parties that I can't even put into words just how messed up it all is. All I can do is thank a Mighty God that while I live in this world, I am not of it ... and can therefore rise above it.

I read this during Winter Storm '09 and it reminded me of why I believe in some of the things I do and affirmed in me that my heart is in the right place ... even while other Christians have decided to take a different stance on some of the same issues ...

How Christianity Has Affected Secular History

What would life be like if Christ had not come and Christianity had not spread throughout the world? It would most likely be much different. Although Greece gave western civilization much art, philosophy and literature, and Rome provided law and government, it was the Christian worldview that provided the basis for modern science, efforts to alleviate poverty, universal education, and the ideals of equality and liberty enshrined in the documents of the many governments. The God of order and beauty provided for the view that nature was predictable and orderly. The Christian belief that all humanity is a creation of God gave a foundation to the self-evident truth of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Since people are made in the image of God they are valuable apart from their station in life, amount of wealth, or utility to society. People are helped, educated, and protected simply because they are made in God's image. Loss of these ideals would undoubtedly be a tragic loss to the well-being of humanity.

Taken from Backgrounds to Modern Church History in the Nelson's NKJV Study Bible.

Sometimes when I read stories on Fibromyalgia, I picture the author holding a daisy and picking off the petals. Real. Not Real. Real. Not Real. It can get really frustrating. Especially since the author is someone who does not have Fibromyalgia and therefore has no clue what Fibromyalgia patients go through. Like .... Matthew Perrone who wrote the article AP IMPACT: Drugmakers' push boosts 'murky' ailment.

Frankly, I don't care that drugmakers are pushing their meds for Fibromyalgia. They do it for everything else. Commercials these days are a mixture of products with new medications being the most common. I see ads for everything from how to enhance your sex life (Viagra) to bladder control (Enablex) to how to fight bone loss (Boniva). You can't watch TV without seeing these ads.

What I do care about is that the author of this article didn't bother to do his research and painted Fibromyalgia patients as nothing more than poor, fat women who need psychiatric help instead of patients who suffer from a multitude of symptoms ... debilitating pain just being one of them.

I have been catching up on a lot of blog posts these last few days and the one thing that keeps getting brought up over and over again is money. Republicans are now concerned with our national debt. Most didn't seem to show much concern over it while President Bush was spending money willy nilly on the Iraq War. They peaked their noses over the fence once he started all this stimulus stuff. But, by then ... he was a "sitting duck" president so it was alright to take shots at him and break ranks.

Now ... all we hear about is the money for the "stimulus" package that is supposed to save our economy and keep us from sinking further into a depression. There is no doubt something needs to be done for all the men and women who are now out of work ... but this package is about far more than that. No, we still need to bail out rich people who don't know how they are going to support their lavish lifestyles. They need their offices refurbished and we all know that is so much more important than helping poor people.

I have to agree with Henry. In a twitter conversation, he said, "It strikes me that the major difference between the parties is the WAY in which they want to waste our money." I hear ya! And, I firmly believe that some ways are far more noble than others.

Updated: 2/12 at 7:22 AM.

Winter Storm '09 hit with a vengeance and I wasn't ready. Wal-Mart is packed as soon as they call for a half an inch of snow around here, so I really didn't grasp that we were headed for a disaster. I figured it was business as usual and people were just being silly. Plus, I always have food in my house and lots of it. I love to cook and I keep a well-stocked fridge, freezer, deep freezer, and pantry. So, I wasn't worried.

Was I ever surprised when I woke to a crash and the feeling that my whole house was vibrating. I flew up out of bed, immediately concerned that our 60 foot pine tree had come down. I opened the curtains to our sliding glass doors and saw pine needles and wood chips. I ran through the house, bolted out my front door, and almost broke my neck. The porch was covered in ice ... and so was everything else. I had never seen anything like it!

I slowed down and made my way cautiously around the house. One of the pine's limbs had fallen to the ground, landing on my husband's old Ford truck. It hadn't damaged it, but it did cause two of its tires to go flat. As I stopped to look around, I noticed that a lot of limbs were in the yard. Our house sits on seventeen acres ... two of which are our yard. We have a lot of trees in our yard. We have a lot of trees surrounding our yard. Many had already dropped limbs and many more were leaning.

Your Word is "Peace"

You see life as precious, and you wish everyone was safe, happy, and taken care of. Social justice, human rights, and peace for all nations are all important to you. While you can't stop war, you try to be as calm and compassionate as possible in your everyday life. You promote harmony and cooperation. You're always willing to meet someone a little more than halfway.

I got this from Jarred. :)

I realized last night when I was going to bed that we had internet and cable back! That is really awesome considering we just got a letter from our cable company that it could be weeks before it was restored. The storm forced them to move their headquarters and call center. Our cable line is still on the ground and I have no clue when they will be able to fix that, so my cable could be in and out for a bit I am guessing.

Right now as I type this we are dealing with some really high winds that could cause power issues again. I pray that is not the case. We still have a few thousand in our county without power and crews have worked around the clock. They don't need to have to start all over again.

I have more email than I know what to do with! Thank you all for your concern. It was nice to see that after I had disappeared for a few days that the emails started pouring in to check on me. I appreciate your concern more than you know.

Later, if I have time, I hope to write about some of our experiences during Winter Storm '09. It has been an amazing experience in a lot of ways and I can't wait to share some of my thoughts on it. :)

We are alive and God is good! If you have been watching the news you know that Kentucky was hit with all that ice. We also got some snow, but nothing like we got in ice! Trees are like toothpicks from county to county and power is nonexistent in a lot of places. We are now on our ninth day with no electricity, but we do have heat and food! We are blessed!

They have declared us a natural disaster area and they say FEMA is around here somewhere. I haven't seen them, but I have seen the National Guard. God bless them! They are providing food, water, ice, and kerosene to needy families all over this area. Twenty-seven have died according to the news tonight. Hopefully no more will.

I am updating via my church computer and don't know when I will be able to again. They are saying it could be 21 to 30 days before power is restored, but we are praying we will have power before that. If not ... it will be okay though. Our spirits are good and the Lord has blessed us. We have what we need and that is what counts!

In the meantime, I am updating Twitter via my cellphone if you are interested on what is going on with us. It also updates my Facebook. I am hoping I will be back soon though ... but until then ... lata!

Update 02/06/09 10:58 AM: We have power! We came home from Wal-Mart to find that the electricity on our entire road had been restored. We are tickled pink! We still do not have cable or internet and I don't know when we will. I reported our cable line being down last Saturday and I still haven't seen anyone from the cable company. I really don't plan to either. The storm knocked many cable lines to the ground and I am sure they will be scrambling like the power crews to get everybody back up and running.