And They Said It Wouldn't Last!

Happy Anniversary Cowboy!

They did say it wouldn't last.  They said it when we started dating.  We were too different they said.  They said it again when we got married.  We were too young they said.

And, to be honest, there were times I thought "they" might be right! 

But here we are, 44 years later.  Still together.  Still having fun.  At least, most of the time.  And when life just isn't fun, when there's illness, injury or loss, we mourn together.  Then we go on.  Together.

We celebrated the day by going to the outlet mall and Bass Pro Shop at Round Rock, then going to see "God's Not Dead 2" at the Cinemark there.  Love those reclining seats in the theater!

We agreed this movie is even better than the first God's Not Dead.  I had a hard time with it at first because it seemed so far-fetched.  I mean, the main character didn't do anything wrong.  But when I got to thinking about it, these kinds of attacks on Christians are actually happening all too often.  It's just so bizarre.

Anyway, if you haven't seen the movie, please go see it.  It is very well done.

After the movie, we stopped and had dinner at a little Asian place here in Georgetown, Mama Fu's.  Weird name, but good food.

So, a very quiet anniversary, but a very good day.    

I like being married to this crazy man!

Pray for America

Yesterday we drove into Austin for the Decision America event which took place on the steps of our state capitol building.  Franklin Graham is traveling to all 50 states this year, holding prayer rallies for our country and talking to people about taking a more active role in the political process.  He is "urging Christians to vote,to live out their faith in every part of their lives, and to pray for our nation just as Nehemiah cried out to God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and restore hope to his people."

If you want to know more, the website is Decision America.

Tim in front of the state capitol building.  The Cowboy managed to get up close enough to actually see Franklin Graham speak.  I didn't want to fight the crowds, so I found a nice shady tree on the capitol lawn to sit under.  I couldn't see anything on the stage, but I could hear just fine.  And I watched the live stream on my phone for a while.  But then I just sat back and enjoyed "people watching."

I think our state capitol is beautiful.  

This was the view from where I sat, quite a way from where all the action was.

It was a beautiful day.

I snagged this photo from the Decision America webpage, here.  

Hope I'm not breaking any copyright laws by posting it here.  

Anyway, as you can see, there was quite a crowd.

It was a once in a lifetime experience, and I'm so glad we got to participate.

This World Can Be So Confusing

It's been a slow week here at Jim Hogg Park.  Well, not for other people.  Just for us, I guess.

The annual Red Poppy Festival was held in town, and I hear there was some great entertainment there, but we were content to skip the crowds.  Cowboy's done some more fishing, and I've had time to read to my heart's content.

Even here at the park, there was swarms of activity over the weekend.  Almost every campsite was full of Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and families. Again, we were content to just watch all the goings on.

Today is Monday, and the park is back to being sparsely populated, mostly by retired couples like us.  In fact, most of them are probably even older than us.

We have made a few outings.  Yesterday we worshiped with about a thousand other people at First Baptist Georgetown.  The sermon was from Judges 8:22.  How Gideon at first refused to be their ruler, saying the Lord would be their ruler.  Then he collected gold from them to make an idol, causing them all to worship the idol.  The pastor talked about how we start with good intentions, then let idols into our lives.  We must constantly renew our faith in God.

After church we stopped at HEB.  This may not sound too exciting to you, but I enjoy going to that store about as much as I enjoy Disney World.  And if you know me at all, you know that's a LOT!

Later, we drove out to the Corps of Engineers Parks at Granger Lake, to see if we might want to camp there someday.  We decided probably not. We like being a little closer to town.

Having all this leisure time has given me a chance to spend a lot of time on Facebook.  I have rejoiced over photos of baby showers, weddings, and fun times.  I have laughed at funny babies, animals, and, well, people in general!  My heart has ached (and I have prayed) for families struggling through illness, loss, and broken relationships.

But this gender neutral bathroom thing is the thing I have puzzled over the most.  Everyone in the world has an opinion.  Some for, some against.  There have been some pretty heated posts.  People on both sides get very emotional.

So, of course, being the arm-chair philosopher that I am, I've got to share my opinion, too.  I know you're all (all 2 and a half of you!) waiting breathlessly.

I have given this a lot of thought.  Really.  I've had the time.

It's no secret that I'm a Bible believing Christ follower.  And the Bible states very clearly that it's wrong for men to dress as women. And vice versa.

However.  I do not expect non-believers to behave as Christians. If you profess to be a Christian, and still think you should be a different sex than the way God made you, I simply suggest you spend more time in the Word.  Personally, I couldn't be a Christian if I believed God made mistake.

But.  This bathroom thing.  I'm not really opposed to it on Christian standards.  I'm not even opposed to it because of safety issues.  I mean, I wouldn't want a my son going to the bathroom with a pedophile or rapist any more than I would want my daughter to be put at risk.

And. I would never shun a lesbian or bi or gay or transgender person in any other situation.  Hey, let's sit down and chat, or go see a movie, or come to my house for dinner.  I may feel a little awkward til I get to know you.  But I always feel awkward around new people.  I'll probably invite you to my church, because I usually invite people to church.  And I'll probably talk about Jesus.  Because I'm always talking about Jesus.  But if you can handle what you think is weird in me, then I can probably handle what I think is strange about you.

But if you look like a man, I just do not want to go to the bathroom with you.  Yuk.

Is simple modesty really such a thing of the past?  No one, and I mean not a single solitary post that I have seen on Facebook, has mentioned modesty.  Embarrassment at having to pee with a person with male parts is in the room.  Or adjusting a bra strap.  Or any of the other personal things women do in there.

I know people who are not Christians who are still modest about the way they dress and act. (And I know Christians who are showing a lot more than I think they should!)   But it seems, among my friends on Facebook anyway, modesty is only associated with conservative Republican Christians.

Business owners have a right to make the rules in their stores.

And, come to think of it, are stores required by law to have restrooms?  If they have restrooms simply as a courtesy (and, of course, to get us to stay in the store and shop longer) what right to we have to be angry about who they let into their restrooms?

That being said, I do hope Target changes their policy back soon.  And, although I'm not joining any official boycott, I won't be shopping there until they do.  Because I might feel the urge to relieve myself.  And I simply can't in a room where men are.

And that's a shame.  Because I've been in love with Target since I first stepped foot in one decades ago.

I sure hope HEB doesn't start having transgender bathrooms.

Georgetown, TX

Here's some things I've found about writing a blog -

1) If you try to spend a lot of time writing, editing, re-writing, trying to get the words and pictures exactly right, you'll never have time to actually do anything worth writing about.
2) Some days, even if you are in the most wonderful vacation spot on earth, there's just not that much to write about.
3) Some days, you may have thoughts, but you just can't find the words.

But, alas, I know my adoring fans back home (all three of you!)  are waiting impatiently for my scintillating prose describing all my exciting adventures.

Unfortunately, all three of the listed "things" are happening lately.

But, anyway, here's a list, in no particular order.

* We are at Jim Hogg CoE RV Park at Georgetown Lake.  Tim likes it here for the fishing.  I like that it's right outside Georgetown, which is a neat little town.

* It's also a pretty park, and usually very quiet.

* I think the people camping in tents across the road from us are drug dealers.  They sleep most of the day, and come and go a lot late at night.

*  That could be just because they are young and like to sleep in on vacation.

*  We are still loving our new (to us) trailer.  Just before we left home we bought a kitchen cart on wheels for some much needed storage and counter space.  It's perfect.

* However.  It sure didn't look like that straight out of the box.  Tim spent hours putting it together.  Twenty pieces of "wood" and 47 thousand pieces of hardware.  Fortunately, he likes puzzles.  

* Our trailer, like most, runs on either 30 or 50 amp electric.  There were no 50 amp sites available, so we are parked in a 30 amp spot until Sunday, when a 50 amp site becomes available.  This means we can either run the air conditioner or the microwave.  This means we are eating out a lot.

* Tim actually bought that "microwave or a/c" excuse, because he knows I always forget, and then he has to replace a blown fuse thingy. 

* It surprised me that he went along with it, because he knows I don't have to use the microwave to cook.

* There was a lot of rain in the forecast for this week, but so far, though it has rained for a portion of each day, every afternoon has been beautiful and sunny.

* Therefore, Tim is getting to fish.  And he is happy.  Even though the lake is over full, and evidently that means the fish won't hardly bite.  Someone has said that the enjoyment of fishing "isn't the catching, it's the fishing."  I guess that's true.  

* But he still would rather do some catching.