First Day back for me ....in a long time!!!

Tonight I went back to college (so now my kids could actually say, "Your mom goes to college" )and not just be quoting a great movie.
It was an English writing course and we had to read this article posted at www.getliberty.org about whether higher quality education is a right. It was so much fun. I really could have taken either side on this but here's what I came up with;

I recently read an article posted at getliberty.org by Paul Jacobs. In this article Paul is debating over a recent measure called the DC Education Rights Charter Amendment. The amendment would provide higher quality education for free. He disagrees with this proposed amendment because he feels education is not a right, and I disagree with him.

Let me tell you why. If you were to take a group of people and never offer them the oppurtunity to learn for free then that society as a whole would suffer for it. As human beings he says "we have the right to speak, worship, trade, to associate, and to move throughout the country unimpended." I also disagree with this statement because this is not a "right" given to all human beings but mostly, only to those who live in America. So, really his arguement should be "this is not a right for us in this country or that we should have in America". I believe that it is.

America is a country(patriotic music playing here in the backround) that has been founded upon higher standards than the world at large. The rights that we have as citizens of this great country far exceed the rights that most human beings have in other countries. That's why alot of people want to live here. I think the more oppurtunity that is given to learn in this society the better. It will only benefit our nations quality of life and the world as well.


(Spoken like a true oblivious american) So go ahead give opinions and Jeni feel free to proof but remember be nice it is my first day back in a very , very long time.

Some fun photos from our summer

Here some fun pics from our summer just because my blog has been picture-less for far too long.
Our summer was great and went by once again way too fast. School started today and once again life is back to the books, teachers, new friends all that good stuff. Thank God for new beginings.

Back to school.....(Gotta love this song from Adam Sandler)

Last year around this time I blogged about my kids going back to school and this year well, I am oh so excited to report that I am on the list of kids in our house going back to school. I am only taking 2 classes one of which is strictly for my own personal gain and something I have wanted to do for a very long time and the other is one of the 7 classes I have left to take to finish getting my AA degree. The courses on the menu this semester, Guitar and English. YIPEE!!!
Needless to say , Monday brings lots of us in the Scofield home back to the books. (Well, I never actually left the books but, ya know what I mean)

The Giant

My Giant came home tonight with a mission. To paint(sorry Gardners he started a new one). Do you know how exciting this is?? PROBABLY NOT, so let me explain. He hasn't picked up a brush since Christmas. That's an awfully long time to not engage in a hobby that you love, that relaxes you, and even inspires you.
So needless to say, while he paints I scrap, blog, read, watch movies and wait for the finished product. I can't peek over his shoulders or comment until the end because I have learned that these are not good things to do to someone when they are creating a masterpiece. Didn't know that before but now after many years I do. Everytime he paints it's like Christmas to me. So excited to see what this will be. Just thought I would share and when he's done maybe a picture will appear here of the finished product.

God is good

I am very thankful this morning for God's faithfulness to me .
He provides for my every need .
He loves me in ways that I cannot even begin to explain.
He teaches me better than anyone or anything.
His love never leaves, never grows faint, never changes.
I don't have to do anything at all to recieve all of His blessings .
When He gives He doesn't expect anything in return but is happy when I notice that it is Him who has given .
I am thankful for the family that He has placed me in and the friends that He has surrounded me with.
I am comforted to know that no matter what lies ahead He will be with me to help me, to guide me.
I am honored that I get to serve Him.
He alone is worthy.
"What a God! His road stretches straight and smooth. Every God direction is road - tested. Everyone who runs toward Him makes it. Is there any god like God?" Psalm 18:30-31 MSG

My Very Catholic Cousins.

On Tuesday I had the great joy(sarcasm) of traveling once again out to Lake Lahontan with my mom to see some out of town cousins that are here from Kansas.
Now, before I tell this blog I must preface it with the fact that this part of my family is beyond Catholic. They are a part of "the few, the proud, the Roman Catholic one true Church." Before my family became Christian we too were Catholic but never the "true Catholics" because we were apart of what's called the novis-order branch of Catholic churches which doesn't really qualify I guess as being truly Catholic. Okay so, needless to say these are cousins that never really got me and my clan when we were "so called Catholic" let alone now that we are Christ - followers . Confused yet??
They come from a family of 7 kids and probably were the closest extended family to our own growing up in the Pellant home. There house was always filled with lots of noise, messes, and drinking. They lived in Silver Springs right across from my grandparents who built a Catholic Church right next to thier house, and I do mean right next to it.
Growing up they always thought me and my sister wore immodest clothes, too much make up and didn't really know how to be basically as good of a person as they were.
All that to say , we don't really relate to each other in alot of ways but I still love them and always will.
So, back to the lake. It was great to see them at the beach not in bathing suits but in skirts(the girls always have to wear skirts, always) They came out this way because one of my cousins Kathlene adopted a baby through a Catholic website. Pretty amazing story and I am very happy for her.
The conversation that I think was the highlight of the whole day though was between my Uncle Jimmy(hippie, lives in RV, still smokes some stuff, musical, amazing talent, big heart) and my cousin Charlie's 7 year old son Xaiver.
X- "Can I play that guitar"
J-"Sure, come here I will show you"
X-"Do you know any songs from our Lord?"
J-"Well, no but if you could sing them maybe I could try to play them"
X-"Do you know something, something requiem?"
J-"I don't think so do you?"
X-" Mmm, no butI could never be a rock and roll star cause I have to be a priest when I grow up"
Me-"You have to be or you want to be?"
X-"Oh no I have to be our Lord told me I have to be a priest when I grow up"
Me and Uncle Jimmy- smile look at each other and go, "Hmmmmmm"
Some things never change.

Phone call home

Got to hear my sister Jen's voice today for the first time since she left for Budapest. So, now I have proof that she really is alive and well(even though she has been bloggin almost daily). What a pleasant way to start the day.
It's funny cause she has left before and even lived in LA for 4 years when most of the time I would see her every 4 months or so but just knowing that she is so far away makes me miss her so much more. Strange.

Today

Last night my car broke down for the second time this week. First, it was at the bug rally that I have been anticipating since ...well, for a while and then last night after youth group.
On Saturday during the scavenger hunt/rally we were 3 away from finishing our hunt and it broke. We were stuck. Again. With no cell phone. After being passed by the police officer(hello, here to protect AND serve) we had safely been given a ride to 7 /11 from a kind stranger to make a phone call for a ride. When we were sitting outside waiting on our ride, with slurpies in hand(all 6 of us) I said to the Scofield clan, " So, the lesson in all this is to be able to thank God in all things." After I said it I could hardly think at that very hot, sweaty moment what to thank God for myself when one of my kids said , "Well, our slurpies" then another "The nice lady who gave us a ride" and so on...
In that moment I realized that if I would have taken the opposite route , different train, bandwagon , whatever you want to call it , if I would have started grumbling, crying , getting angry the lesson here for my kids would have been oh so different. I only know of these other routes because they are the ones that I am used to traveling on. That day was a different day. Thanks be to God.

So, back to last night as my car was packed to the gills with people, my clan +1 (don't ask how that's possible cause legally it is not) and as my car had literally jerked me off to the side of the road. As I am sitting there thinking "not again" and " I am so stinking tired of this " Jesus reminded me by way of my children , "Well , at least we have the cell phone this time Mom."
God is good. Because that was something to be oh so grateful for. Not only that but so much more.
Today I am refusing to let the negative thoughts stick around. Today I am looking for (and it's not very hard to find them) all the blessings that God has abundantly given me and my family. I am truly thankful that at least I have cars that need to be fixed . That's a good problem to have in a sense because, at least I have more than one or even two cars.
God thank you for who YOU are . For how faithful you remain always. For my husband, family, friends, health, cars, house, my swamp cooler, my bible, Joyce Meyers, Joni Locke, my computer, bloggin, beautiful scenery(b.m.people included) sweet smells, coffee, food, ice cold water, clean water, etc.........................................................
"I have a thankful heart and it's because of you" this is the chorus to an old Petra song I believe and the truth is in the end of that statement.

The Calvary has arrived

The burning man people have invaded the neighborhood once again and once again I am totally enjoying the people watching .
I wonder if I could stick a sign out and offer up all the junk I have in my backyard for thier creations. It just might save us a trip to the dump.
Tasha I don't think I ever need to go since half of the people that go come to me and a bonus to that is that I don't even have to pay the $300 ticket price to get in. All my entertainment is for free and from the comfort of my couch.

My thoughts for today

My oldest sister Jenny left for Budapest on Monday and naturally I have been thinking about her a lot. I have been wondering what she has been experiencing on the first few days of her arrival. Today she emailed everyone in the family to say that she arrived safely but that she was having some issues with her internet access and a few other glitches. Before she left we were trying to think of all the things that she might miss the most about the U.S. She is definitely a planner and she tried to think of every possible thing that she might want but wouldn't be able to get while over there. She plans on being there for a year or more so you can imagine all the things that we were talking about.
Anyway, even with all that planning and thinking, here she is her first days and she is already experiencing some "technical difficulties" of a sort. This got me thinking down the path of what an adjustment it must have been for Jesus to come here to planet earth. He left His heavenly home where there was no hurt ,pain or sorrow, no hunger, time differences, etc... to arrive here as not a fully functioning adult but a baby completely dependent on His creation to care and comfort Him. This still trips me out. I don't know that once I get to heaven I would ever leave for anything but then I begin to think of people and I think would I leave all the comforts for people that I love?? The answer for this selfish , imperfect human being is YES, a resounding YES. This gives me some insight into the heart of my beautiful Savior who chose to leave heaven's home and make the journey here to experience every pain, every sorrow, more hurt then imaginable, and all the other discomforts of this human plight because of love.
He still amazes me. He still woos me with His love. I am thankful today for that love . I am grateful today for the breath that is within me and the opportunity to love Him back. To thank Him with my life.
My sister is learning what it is like to live in a foreign country , Jesus did the same but so much more. He did it all for love. He left heaven for not only the people that would love Him back but also for those who would never love Him, for those who spit on him, beat him, and even those who killed Him. He is so beyond my grasp of understanding. What little I do understand I love so much and for the rest I will spend my life trying to understand.