Who Gets the Glory

Yesterday as the girls and I were on our way to Costco, I told them, "Let's get the makings for more homeless bags to pass out." Our homeless bags were inspired by a friend who did something similar and seemed to me the perfect solution to the dilema I always feel when approached for money. I almost always say "No" reasoning that the money most often goes toward furthering an addiction of one sort or another. However, it is so difficult to say "No" to someone who might genuinely be in need, and I certainly do not want my children to grow up devoid of compassion for those needing a hand. So now we carry around in our car a couple of large zip lock bags that each contain water, several non-perishable food items, and a gospel tract. In my newer additions I also want to add a map to the Redwood Gospel Mission along with some Bible verse cards. It has been satisfying to follow up my "No" with "but I do have some food for you if you'd like."

We had used up our bags and were needing to make more. Before we stopped at Costco though I ran in to Cash & Carry. On the way out I was approached by a woman who asked for money. Too bad she wasn't waiting outside of Costco for me, I would have been much better prepared. But as much as I wanted to just tell her "No" or give her some money and hope she used it wisely, I instead told her, "I don't want to give you any money, but I will buy you some food if you'd like." She seemed grateful so I locked up my car again and returned into Cash & Carry. It is a restaurant warehouse and an unlikely place to find a quick individual meal for someone. After scouring several aisles, I settled for a large pack of string cheese, a big bag of oranges and a case of V-8 Splash bottles. As I walked up to the only cashier, he recognized me as the woman who had just been through his line 10 minutes earlier. "You're back!" he said with a friendly smile.

"Well," I explained, "there was a woman outside who wanted money and I didn't want to give her money so I came in to buy her some food."

He was immediately impressed and told me what a great thing that was. Then he told me some stories about how he'd shared his lunch with homeless folks before. As I was leaving he told me, "Well Karma's on your side now."

I smiled and said, "I don't know about that." And then I left. The lady was still waiting for me so I loaded her up with cheese, oranges, and a couple of bottles of V-8 Splash. She thanked me and we parted ways.

Afterward I looked back with immense dissatisfaction on the whole thing. On the one hand, it is proof of God's work in my life that I would trouble myself to help this woman because I am not a person who naturally oozes either mercy or generosity. However, WHO got the glory?

I wish I had told that pleasant cashier that Karma had nothing to do with my actions -- I'm not even sure what Karma is, it always brings to mind the bumper sticker that reads, "My karma just ran over your dogma"--but it had everything to do with the fact that Jesus Christ has changed my life and because of that I want to obey Him in caring for the "least of these". I also wish I had invited him to church and given him a gospel tract so he could know more. Instead I left him with the impression that I was just a good person with Karma on my side. What a missed opportunity.

I wish that I had given the waiting woman more than food. I wish I had told her that Jesus Christ loves her. I wish that I had applied 1 Peter 3:15 which says, ... Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

I've always thought of that verse in terms of appologetics - defending the gospel - but I think it is vital to apply when others observe God working in your life. What is the point of being a light if I don't tell the source of the light. I can honestly say that I was trying to honor the Lord as I cared about this woman, it was in obedience to Him that I did it. But WHO got the glory?

Last night I started packing our new bags. We'll be working on those finishing touches tomorrow -- our rescue mission map, our gospel tract & verse cards AND some fancy chocolate truffles. I am convicted though that just as much I need to PREPARE an answer for everyone who may ask me to give the reason for the hope I have. If no one is pointed toward the One who can give lasting hope and answers, then what is really gained? I don't want to squander the opportunities God gives to direct the glory right back to Him!

Chasing Perfection

On November 2, 2006, we received an email from my dad that said, "The challenge is on. I shot a 41 and I don't think any of you can beat that!" The attachment to the email contained a link to a miniature golf game for the computer. My dad sent it to various family members and created the newest Clark family competition. You see, the Clarks are a very competitive family. However, he didn't bargain for the superior skill he would run up against in the digital arena.

Sometime later that day, Johnny had scored a 36 and emailed Grandpa informing him of it. After a disgruntled reply, my dad was silent until November 5th when he sent another group email with the subject "Try Again Losers!" The message itself read "Haa, let's see if you can beat 33!"

11/6, my nephew David scored a 32 -- much to not only my dad's disgust, but also my competitve sister.

I think it was about this time that I started trying to beat the score and sure enough, I shaved it down to a 29 and immediately crowed to the rest of the family.

That's when my sister switched into gear and started alerting us about her string of unbelievable scores...26...25...and then incredibly, a 20. Not only did she send a written message, she also emailed us a photo of the computer screen with her last ridiculously low score. That was November 9th.

After raising the bar so high, (or low as the case may be) no one was able to come close to her score for weeks. My uncle returned from Cabo and got into the game as well and started sending whiney emails to my sister and I. Although Jody held the record, my lowest score of 22 was significantly lower than his 34, so both of us were demoted to "least favorite" and "second least favorite" nieces.

Well today Scott attained what all us Clarks were chasing when he scored a perfect 18. And he is feeling good. Admittedly, he had a little help because he learned some tips from both Johnny and I about conquering certain holes, but he did what none of the rest of us could. We salute you Scott!

By the way, if you want to play the game yourself, here is the address. http://media.ebaumsworld.com/minigolf.swf
Scott told me to mention that he would love to hear about your perfect 18 if you're ever able to do it. Yup, he's feeling good.

Celebrity Judges

Well our debate club hosted our big round robin debate tournament this past Saturday. It was a great day, but my oh my, am I ever praising the Lord that it is OVER!!! The attention to detail comes close to doing in this phlegmatic every year -- one of the ladies from another club was saying they will be hosting a $5 no frills round robin in two weeks. It's really cheap and they don't worry about feeding or impressing anyone. I told her, in all sincerity, "I'd like to host a tournament like that!" But, praise the Lord, it is over and it was a very, very nice tournament. And thanks to people who care about details way more than I do, it had many lovely touches.

While it takes oodles of things to make a tournament successful, one of the most basic requirements is someone to judge each round. We ran 32 debates simultaneously for four rounds and then a novice and varsity final with three judges each. If you do the math, or if you read on, you discover we required 134 judges Saturday!!

How hard is judging? Well, each round allows for 52 minutes of speaking time and 10 minutes of prep time (that 52 minutes of speaking time is spread between 4 speakers and 8 speeches). So after the judge has listened to two teams present opposing views regarding reforming NATO for 52 minutes, said judge has to then decide which team was most convicing and why. Additionally, speaker points in 6 different categories must be decided upon and finally each speaker ranked from 1st to 4th. Admittedly, it is a "make-your-brain-spin" job. Therefore we are so thankful for every willing judge. In particular, we are especially thankful to our community judges. Parents of debaters have no choice about judging, but our community judges make a very sacrificial choice when they help us out. Because of this, I dedicate this post to the wonderful people who willingly spent part of a gorgeous Saturday judging for our tournament. Thank you!

I especially want to highlight three of the celebrity judges that appeared at our tournament. The first is Mr. Peter Brown, a dead ringer for Ashton Kutcher (we won't bring up Sandra Bullock). Not only did Peter judge, he very competently judged FOUR rounds!! I have NEVER judged four rounds in one day and I am a little in awe of Peter's ability to do that. Mr. Peter Brown -- we thank you and we salute you! Maybe he'd like us to now now refer to him as Judge Kludge--or not.

Our next celebrity judge is Mrs. Stephanie Writebol. I knew this teacher/vice-principal would make a wonderful judge and she did. Although she whined a bit after orientation and kept repeating, "You owe me big time, Jennifer", she actually had a good time and even volunteered to judge a second round that she wasn't signed up for. Yup, she was a good judge. In fact, she was so good that when she turned in her second ballot, I made sure she got an upgraded judge's gift. Most judges just received a pack of gummi-lifesavers with a cheesy little sticker that said, "Thank you for judging -- you are a REAL LIFESAVER!" But Stephanie got a mug. I knew she'd like that because teachers just LOVE to receive mugs as presents. I also need to thank Mrs. Christine Carrillo for the moral support she provided Stephanie as she judged her two rounds--and for helping make sure Stephanie didn't forget her mug.

The final celebrity judge I'd like to mention is Michael P. Farris, Esq. Michael Farris is the Chancellor at Patrick Henry College and is the cofounder (and current board chairman and general counsel) of Home School Legal Defense Association. He is also a constitutional lawyer, a leading pro-family activist on Capitol Hill, a published author of 13 books, and an ordained minister. Education Week named Mike one of the 100 most significant “Faces of the Century” in education, and he is listed in Praying for the World’s 365 Most Influential People. Mike and his wife Vickie have been married since 1971; they have 10 children and seven grandchildren. They have been homeschooling since 1982. (Taken from HSLDA Web page)

Dr. Farris happened to be in the area for a wedding and came to judge one of our rounds and then address the students. He brought along give-aways, such as the Patrick Henry mug that Stephanie received (it is an attractive cobalt blue), and encouraged the students to consider Patrick Henry for themselves. His oldest daughter, Christy Shipe, is one of the founders of the NCFCA which is the league our students debate in. Having Dr. Farris at our tournament was a huge honor, and I might add, I spoke to him personally on three occasions AND shook his hand!

Once again, all of our 130 debaters and parents alike are so very thankful for each of the willing individuals that judged for us Saturday. For those of you who passed on this opportunity, you might be a little more willing now that you know the celebrities events like this attract!

If we were to give out MVP awards, one would certainly go to Mr. Wayne O'Leary, the facilities supervisor at Santa Rosa Bible Church. We are praising God for this gracious, helpful, and downright likable servant of God!

Memories...

Last Friday we enjoyed a family outing to Six Flagg's Marine World and made some memories. It was "Homeschool Day" as well as the very last day of the season. Those of you familiar with homeschool stereo types will not be surprised to hear there were a record number of denim jumper sightings. Thankfully, the weather was gorgeous--something we appreciated even more when three days later a very cold and wet storm descended upon our area.

As we pulled out of the driveway, I began praying for our journey. I was just saying, "And thank You Lord for this privilege..." when I suddenly interrupted myself with a shriek and said, "I forgot the tickets!!!" We made a hasty U-turn, retrieved the tickets, and said a prayer of thanksgiving for the timely reminder!

"Remembering" is not something I take for granted. Truly I was very thankful for that prompting!

Although Scott doesn't have as many forgetting stories as I do, it's really not his strong suit either. Both of us have been known to wander a parking lot trying to remember where we parked. Therefore, it was a case of unusual foresight for us to make a mental note of the row we parked in that morning. Even better, we talked about it aloud with the kids, "Everyone remember, we're in Daffy Duck C." We then put Catie officially in charge of remembering because "C" stands for "Catie".

Other than paying way, way, way too much for the worst buffet ever and getting really nauseated on a couple of rides, the day was a winner! Highlights included the Tiger Splash Down Show, the Dolphin Show and the Killer Whale Show. Scott, Johnny & Catie also gave a big thumbs up to Medusa (that's one of the rides that left me queasy).

We were feeling satisfied as we left the park -- not only did we have a fun day, we actually remembered what row we parked in. However, we were in for a surprise as we approached the parking lot. All the signs were one sided. While the side facing the cars had a perky Daffy with an appropriate letter, the side facing those approaching the parking lot was completely blank. It required one to actually walk into each row so you could read the sign from the opposite side. You'd think when you'd payed $15 to park, that's not theme park admittance mind you, just the fee to park, that it would include 2-sided signs. Oh well...

Thanks to an accident on highway 12, the trip home took about an hour longer than anticipated.
As we were crawling along in our car, I started getting more & more nervous about the meal I'd left in the crock pot. I knew it would be cooking for way longer than it was supposed to be. What would happen if all the liquid evaporated and it started to burn. Did crock pots ever start fires? If it did start a fire, what would happen to our pets? (I know my sister would have been going through the same exact thought process -- especially about the pets.) As we pulled into our court, it was with great relief that I saw our still-standing house, sans smoke. I rushed into the kitchen to find my meal no where near close to burning. In fact it was no where near even warm. I'd forgotten to turn the crock pot on.

As I was musing over the raw chicken that had been sitting out all day, the messages on the answering machine were playing back and one was from our piano teacher calling from outside our house wondering where we were. Bummer. Piano lessons were today. I'd forgotten to tell her we wouldn't be there.

When I called her back to appologize profusely, she made a comment about knowing how organized I was. Yup, that's me alright! Hey, even though I forgot the tickets, the crock pot & the piano lessons, I did remember we were parked in Daffy Duck C. I guess I've got this memory thing down after all!

Keeping Count

Hey, anyone noticed that the Fundamentalist who Never Blogs is up to 23 comments on his July post? Did you hear me? 23 comments!!!

Large comment counts are possible -- choose a topic that resonates with many, like JCrew's fast food survey or Kludge's tool time, and the comments roll in. Or be like my brother-in-law and just refuse to post.

It must be his magnetic personality that draws the faithful to leave comment after comment hoping to alternately goad him or coaxe him to actually leave a new post. Or maybe it's the mystery of his silence that lures bloggers like bugs to a light. Better yet, the challenge--"Maybe my comment will make the difference. Maybe I will be the one who is the inspiration for a word from Heavy G!"

Whatever it is, that reluctant blogger is racking up the comments!

Can Someone Help Me Understand?

I was just leaving a comment on JCrew's blog, The Storekeeper (refer to the link in my sidebar 'cuz I'm not sure how to link it right into the text like those fancy pants bloggers do) and after I entered my user ID & password, I had to type in some garbled letters I saw. Sometimes I'm not sharp enough to get it right on the first try and have to attempt it a couple of times--although I did get it right the first time today!

However, I have a question -- why does anyone have this feature on their comments section? I've heard it is to discourage SPAM comments. However, I have another question -- does anyone get SPAM comments on their blogs? Shoot, I wouldn't mind if I got a few. I'm still waiting for most of my posts to get to double digits on the comment end of things, a few SPAM comments here and there might be a good thing. Maybe I'm missing something. Can someone help me understand?

I guess avoiding SPAM comments is not the only part of blogging I don't understand. I seem to be a little photo challenged as well. I tried about 24 1/2 times to add the photos to my last post, but Blogger just wasn't working with me in the endeaver. Today is another story, so here are the ones I was wanting to include. The picture to the left is our debate club, Santa Rosa Touché. This is the same club that will be hosting a debate round robin Saturday the 18th of November. For those of you I've hit up to judge, aren't those sweet looking young folks? Surely my sister is beside herself that I can't ask her to judge, Indiana is a little far to commute. She has such a lofty view of homeschool events I know this would be the highlight of the month for her!


The photo to the left is one of the 6 zillion we took of Squiggy & Beamer during our trip down to the debate tournament. I think these two pets are among the most photographed subjects for the fall of 2006 -- taking a distant second to Rebekah Kuhner! Pretty sad huh, but kittens only stay kittens for such a short time and digital is such a wonderful way to take 6 zillion pictures and keep your favorite 3. Anyhoo, it was fun having two of our pets along for the ride, and as you can see, they kept it lively.

Megan asked why we did not have three pets along -- after all, we do have TWO cats! However, our cat Jinx, the original pet of the house, is a little, no actually big time, neurotic. Trips across town to the vet are more than enough time in the car with her--neither my nerves, nor my ears could weather longer distances. No, I think two pets in the car is just about enough. That I understand!