Rubbed the Wrong Way

Mr. Case and I were adamant that we would find a new church. Readers of my prior blog know how important it is for us to have a church home.

A new business acquaintance of Mr. Case's invited us to church with him. He was undecided if he'd be attending because of a prior arrangement so we decided to go one time beforehand since we had the service times and it was conveniently located to our house.

The service was great! We liked the message, the music was tolerable and they even had a cute Christmas skit performed by some of the members. I could definitely see myself attending here in the future, until....

At the very end of the service, the lead pastor was inviting everyone who was new to fill out a little card so they could get to know you. The church is growing in size and so they were offering a "VIP" parking ticket and a cookie from a local bakery. (The VIP thing seems arrogant but I was all in favor of the cookie!) Here I am rambling so let me get to the point: in his closing remark he made a rude reference to another religion.

The religion he mocked is one that gets a lot of heat. It just so happens I have quite a few friends congregants of this faith. They don't need me to take up their cause but I bristled at the remark.

Most people probably wouldn't have even noticed, or maybe even understood the slight, but let's call a spade a spade: he was getting a dig in! The insult was mild/tame but it didn't sit well with Mr. Case and I.

I equate it to politicians who try to get votes based on blasting the shortcomings of their opponents rather than their own strengths. I have no respect for people bashing other people's faiths. If you want me to believe what you believe, than convince me by teaching me your faith.

So here is the thing: we are supposed to attend tomorrow night with Mr. Case's friend and his wife. I'm feeling really, really torn about this because on the one hand, we loved the church. On the other, if the pastor does something inappropriate should I, as a Christian, forgive him and give him a second chance, or is something like a rude comment a sign of something bigger that can't be overlooked? I'm tempted to email him to let him know that as a first-time visitor, I took offense to his comment because it was ignorant.

You can throw a pebble and hit five churches here so it is not like we're desperate. But it would be nice to meet people and this is our only invitation thus far.

What would YOU do?

29

Today is my 29th birthday.

I'm not too keen on birthdays, generally, but this year I have so much to be thankful for that I would be remiss in not giving thanks for reaching 29.

Next year is the BIG 3-0 and I'm reallllly scared so I'm going to soak up every single last minute of being 29.

To start, I'm going to have a red velvet cupcake.

In bed.

Then I'm going to buy some Christmas presents. I haven't purchased a single thing except for Mr. Case's family gifts, which needed to be mailed weeks ago. For my 29th year I think my resolution should be to stop procrastinating. I'm usually done shopping by December 1st so I'm not sure what happened during my 28th year!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Wind!

The wind here is like something out of a Hollywood movie. 

For realz. 

I couldn't figure out why so many homes here had a brick facade but now I realize it is to ensure nobody takes flight to Oz. 

Although, sometimes the noise is so scary I think Oz might be a better alternative. 

If you live in Southern California, let me just reiterate for you that in terms of weather, you are extremely sheltered. 

Growing up people would always ask me if I was afraid of earthquakes. To someone not living on a fault line it seems like the most terrifying potential natural disaster. 

Um, no. 

Never in my life has an earthquake been severe enough for me to stop whatever I was doing. 

In my little mind, the only thing that could be worse would be something water-related such as flooding or epic snow (Hi, Midwest, love you!)

The wind howls with a vengeance. 

If you've made it this far I applaud you for surviving the world's most boring blog post. I promise to come back with something bigger and better...patience grasshoppers.

I don't make promises I can't keep. *Wink*

Texas Tidbits

Let's do bullet points, shall we?

• We made it in one piece. But not before realizing I lost my wallet somewhere, which meant Mr. Case had to make the entire drive. 
• I learned it snows quite a bit in both Arizona and New Mexico. 
• I'm pretttty sure my new bedroom is haunted.
• We had our first tornado warning but Mr. Case being, well, Mr. Case, he persisted on working under his truck the entire time. 
• It felt very good to reunite with my dog. She has gotten fat thanks to my mom feeding her table food. 
• As is to be expected, lots of stuff is misplaced and everything is in total disarray. 
• I miss my people terribly but I suppose that will never go away. Hopefully the pain will dull with frequent visits and after we make some new friends to occupy our time. 
• There needs to be a Yucatan Taco Stand in California. Seriously, somebody write them a letter and beg. 
• I've been reading your blogs but haven't had much time to comment. That will change, promise. 

Tough Break

When my dad was a toddler he of 4, he was playing baseball with some older kids. His last memory of the game is of the bat coming at his head. He next remembers waking up several hours later when it was dark, in his living room.

His parents were poor and couldn't afford to seek medical treatment.

As a result of that accident, he sustained permanent brain damage that he didn't learn about till decades later.

Long story short, he has never had a sense of smell. He doesn't remember any smells from before his accident, either.

No stopping to smell the roses, inhaling the scent of his freshly bathed babies, etc. Somehow, he is an amazing amateur chef.

Where am I going with this?

Earlier this week, for the first and likely last time, my dad smelled something.

We don't know how it happened or why, but all information suggests it was a random fluke.

Are you curious as to what he smelled?


...


Poop!

If you ask me, that's the worst scent experience ever. I'd have rather never smelled anything.