Im being chased by a song! Turn on shuffle on the iPod, and out of 300+ songs this comes up. Twice. Turn on the radio, and this is what KLOVE starts playing. Something tells me God wants me to listen to it, so I have. I realized that I really identify with it too..freaky! Though this story isnt nearly as flashbang as Evelyn’s tale (read hers here: http://defeatingdragons.wordpress.com/2011/03/27/ok-youre-the-boss-like-you-need-me-to-tell-you-that/#comment-53) it is rather interesting. So it is my new song of the week!
Month: March 2011
Life in general pt 1: one of those random deep thought posts
Ho-dee-hum. Its one of those days when I tend to overthink things a little bit. Ok, so maybe a lottle.
Lets start big, shall we? Life. What is it? Why do we have it? What constitutes as life? Is there a purpose to every life, or are we just working as a whole towards a common end? If that end is, say, the end of all life, why do our actions matter? Why does anything matter? Does what we do on a day-to-day basis influence the human species as a whole? Is there a difference between life and existence? What would those differences be? Can life continue after death? What happens then? What is heaven like? Hell? How do i get to either of these places? What does my life have to do with any of this?
Well, i’ll answer my own questions. Fell free to move on to another post, this is all just mindless meaningless twaddle from the back of my head, the stuff I think about when i cant sleep.
What is life? Life is the story of us. Not us as a species, though our communal lives are interconnected, but life as it is for each person. My life includes a sister with a mental disorder and chickens with no mental capacity whatsoever. Your life, on the other hand, may include a talking hippopotamus or a favorite pet. Events also play into our lives. Meeting people, going on Retreat… these things can change the course of a life. If a bank robber meets a man who convinces him to not rob banks, then the course of his life may be changed from a life in which he is a criminal. He may become a missionary or even a policeman, and his life will be one of service. Any event, person, or object may change our life. As I well know, even something as small as a song can change an outcome that may not have been the best.
Why do we have life? Well that’s simple. The purpose of life is to love. Thats it. Love must flow from God, into you, into the world. God has no body but ours, and we must use that to bring him everywhere, all the time. Love everyone, even the mean, smelly, or openly hostile people in our lives.
What constitutes as life? Have you ever heard someone say “Get a life?” In movies and books,its a common saying, usually said to the guy who is 40 and lives in his parents basement playing Donkey Kong all day. When this is said, it usually means “start interacting with your fellow human beings and move into your own house.” We are communal creatures, not meant to live alone, as the bible (book of genesis, i do believe) clearly states. Now yes, alone time is good for the soul. But we cant run from the world, and hide because we want to be alone. How on earth do you evangelize that way? In order to spread the love of God through the world, we actually have to be in it.
Purpose of Life? Again, simple. We live so that we all may die. Every last one of us humans will die, but we have to make sure that we are ready at all times. Because its what comes next that matters…
The End of Life? It’ll happen. Eventually. And by eventually, I mean SOON. Not to sound like a doomsday prophet or anything, but if we listen to the apparitions of Mary, it looks as though the end hath come. Scary thought, since I havent gotten the chance to get married or even be kissed yet, and yes, those are on my bucket list.
Why does it matter? Because when we die, we go to either heaven or…the other place. And trust me, the other place aint that fun. So act in this life in a way that prepares you for the next.
Ill answer the rest another day, these old fingers get mighty sore typing out all my random fluff!
Love to all!
-Tani
GREAT RETREAT: pics wave 1!!!
Heyaz! Tani is at the comp at her grandparents house (yes, the ones youve met, Mr.Editor) and i dug up some facebook pics from retreat. More will come eventually!
Love to all!
-Tani
Quotes from the best source EVAH.
Hmm. Well, Tani is in a happy mood today. Yes, yes, its cold and windy and a bit rainy. Im tired. Im having an acne breakout. There are a thousand and one things to be sad about.
But, surprise surprise, im not.
I have the best friends in the universe. God loves me. My chickens are healthy. My contacts have stopped hurting. Im steadily losing weight, and lookin’ GOOOOOOOOOOD. And… I found some quotes from DR. SEUSS!
Let us begin (Be warned… you will be seeing these as my email sigs, my BYC taglines, on Facebook, on Skype. They Rocketh Muchly.)
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells.”
“We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” (<—- This one is my FAVORITE)
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
“Being crazy isn’t enough.”
“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”
“Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.”
“If you’d never been born, then you might be an Isn’t! An Isn’t has no fun at all. No, he disn’t.”
“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.”
“Be awesome! Be a book nut!”
“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”
“I can read in red.
I can read in blue.
I can read in pickle color too.”
“Fame you’ll be famous, as famous as can be, with everyone watching you win on TV, Except when they don’t because sometimes they won’t..”
“So…
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!”
“Writing simply means no dependent clauses, no dangling things, no flashbacks, and keeping the subject near the predicate. We throw in as many fresh words we can get away with. Simple, short sentences don’t always work. You have to do tricks with pacing, alternate long sentences with short, to keep it vital and alive…. Virtually every page is a cliffhanger–you’ve got to force them to turn it.”~” (Yah, i need this one. Mr Editor will agree)
“Remember me and smile, for it’s better to forget than to remember me and cry”
🙂 Now werent those just awesome?
Love to all!
-Tani
Did i ever mention…
Just how awesome mi amici are? Wow, you people are such a blessing!!!!
Also, im was wondering… why do so many people think im pretty/funny/sweet??? No idea, cause i dont think im any of that. But i got several messages about being that way. Im confused, but flattered.
Im SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tired. I fell asleep during schoolwork today. It was fun. 😀
Love to all
Tani
I’M HOME!!!!!!!!
BEST. WEEKEND. OF. MY ENTIRE. LIFE.
Still dont have the words to describe it, but ill try…
WOW. WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW.
Learned so much (about Pope John Paul 2, my vocation ((check Tani-wikipedia, Eenie)) my friendship with Mr. Editor ((BFFs, amigo!)) and how to stop being so crazy!) and then there was….
ADORATION!
Like, for hours every day. Ah, so beautiful. Whether it was the group adoration with like 40 people or the 20 minutes of just me and Gabe (EPIC) and Oh…. there is so much to tell that i cant tell it all! Unless you were there, you wouldnt get it… o well. It was awe-inspiring! It was beautiful! It was the best experience of my life thus far!
Love to all
Tani
Only a day left!
Until the GREAT RETREAT!!!!!!! Im SOOOOOO jazzed!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even if im stuck in the same place as Pavel. Pavel will take out his nervousness on me, (just like i take it out on poor old Gabe, except i would never be as mean to him as Pav is to me…) so im ready to be teased about my size, hair, looks, and everything else. Oh brother (literally!)
So im off for a weekend! Packing today, cause ill be gone at the homeschool group park day tomorrow. Get home an hour before i get on the van for retreat(FORT HUACHUCA YAY I LOVE THAT PLACE!!!!) so thats going to be me showering and getting my hair and makeup done. And making sure my contacts arent inside out…
Talkie Laterz
Love to all
Tani
This is freakin’ annoying!!!!
Im getting no more site referrals from porno sites. Yay!
BUT…
Im getting 20+ referrals a day from a Muslim site! All about praising Allah and all that… Um, hello, Catholic gal here? Its annoying. Ugh.
Love to all anyway
Tani
In honor of Our Lady: a special edition posting!
Well it is International Woman’s Day, yet another excuse for the feminazi’s of our world to steal the glory of a primarily Christian holiday (Yes, Mardi Gras was originally a Christian holiday) and turn it into… more propaganda. Big Whoop. But while the world spouts on about Eleanor Roosevelt and Margret Sanger(and be sure that some people are) we as Christians must turn out minds and hearts to someone even more influential than either of these women, or any other woman to ever live. Namely, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Let us travel back, and see just why she is so important.
Imagine: You are a teenager in a small town. You are respected by everyone, the kind of person that when kids are misbehaving their mothers ask “why cant you be more like her?” You are an only child, and your parents are old but kind. You are engaged, to a wonderful, hardworking man who will provide for your every need. You have hopes, dreams, and a beautiful future planned, where you can grow old and be happy for your entire life with your spouse, children, and grandchildren.
And you’re pregnant. And its not by your fiance!
Well, this is Mary’s story. She was asked to be the Mother of God, and *poof* her dreams melted away. Mary was such a good, beautiful person, that she knew she could not refuse God’s request. She agreed, knowing the pain and suffering and rumors that were sure to follow. She said yes! Now, about the blessed Virgin bit: Because Mary hadn’t gotten pregnant in the, ah, traditional way, but instead was miraculously gifted with a child by the Holy Spirit she is still considered a virgin. But no matter, the important thing is she accepted God’s request, and became the mother of God incarnate. In the words of the prayer The Angelus, “The Word (being God, remember the whole “The Word was with God and the Word was God” bit?) became flesh, and dwelt amongst us.”
Well, I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be her when she told her mom and dad and fiance that she was pregnant. Imagine the stares and the gossip! And then finally, when Joseph her fiance accepted the Child (Oh, God is so awesome) he got outed too! They must have been at least a bit thankful when the Emperor’s decree came out that everyone had to return to his birthplace. For Joseph, that was Bethlehem, and he took his now-wife with him. All of us know the Christmas story, I hope, cause I’m not going into that here. The important thing is, Jesus was born. In a stable, no midwife or comforting relative to help out.
The next 30 years are a blur. Sure, we know that our teenage Savior got lost in Jerusalem and preached to the preachers and professors. But these are known as “The hidden years.” Somewhere along this time line, Joseph dies. Jesus and his mom work, and live, and are normal people for 1st century Judea.
And then come the years of work, Mary watches her son preach, teach, perform miracles, argue, and win over hundreds of people. He makes a few enemies as well, who goad these very people into crucifying the man who only wanted to help them! The agony must have been unbearable, as Mary watched her only child be tortured, be given the most terrible death that humanity has ever created. Her heart must have been breaking! And then the joy, seeing her son alive again in his full glory!
Jesus said something very important on that cross. As he hung there in unbelieveable agony, he said the John, his beloved disciple, “Son, behold your mother!” In doing this, he gave Mary to all of us, a mother who always listens, protects, and guides us to our brother Christ! This is a gift almost as precious as the sacrifice itself, a guiding light to His blessed Self!
Mary appears throughout the ages to protect and guide, to show us how to love and to encourage to put aside our hate and prejudice. She brings us to her Son, like a lighthouse in the storm of life, guiding us to shore!In times of trouble ask for her help, she will never fail you!
For this, she is the greatest woman ever to live.
Mary, Mother of Christ, pray for us!
Love to all
-Tani
MARDI GRAS!!!!!
WOOTNESS!!!! one of my fave holidays. Means “fat tuesday.” the tradition is that since lent starts tomorrow, people would stuff themselves with greasy, fattening food (think mcdonalds) because eggs, meat, and grease were forbidden during lent. You survived on veggies mostly (something neither Gabe nor Miriam could/would ever do). In France (and New Orleans, which was a french colony) it was also celebrated with drinking, sleeping around, and loud music as well!
Fed tradition #45238761: We have a mardi gras party! We dress up (i claim the blue robe and the gold scarf) we eat (crepes a’la Tatiana, comin’ right up!) and we DANCE!!!!!!!! During “Call me Al” we do a congo line around the house! We laugh until we cant laugh anymore, sometimes Dad will have one of his rare beers (or, every few years, make mom and he a daiquiri after the little kids go to bed) and then we sleep. And get up at 6 am to get to ash Wednesday mass.
Only thing is…
This whole thing isnt happening this year.
Yes, yes, yes, there will be some food and clothes and all that. But Tani, No-Ko, and Bella have a 4h meeting tonight. So… we cant have our Fed celebration extraordinaire this year. Bummer!
In other news, in one month i have brought my History and Literature (Humanities) grades from Ds to As… which gives me STRAIGHT A’S!!!!!!!!!! WOOTNESS!!!!!
Love to all
Tani
Surrender the Brownies 