Pain and gain

The saying "no pain, no gain" is very familiar to those of us who struggle with our weight. It means you have to suffer now (exercising, cutting calories) to reap rewards later.

Today's issue of Our Daily Bread talks about how God uses pain and struggle in our lives to encourage growth in our Christian walk.

The last few weeks have been painful for me, but it was difficult to see clearly what possible rewards would be realized at the end of these particular struggles. But that's where faith comes in. I don't just think, I know that God will take these struggles and use them for good.

Weapons of math instruction

Here's something for those of you who suspect that algebra is evil.

My thanks to fellow blogger dustbury.

Aunt Judie Helpful Hint #5

I have some experience as a business traveler, but it had been a while since my last work trip and I forgot some basics. Not in the sense that I left things I needed at home. On the contrary, I brought way too much stuff.

My first clue that I was bringing too much was the fact that I used the same suitcase for this three-night excursion as I did for my ten days in Poland last summer. The problem is that I have a giant suitcase, and several smaller travel bags, but no mid-size unit (which is what 90% of the travelers I saw were using). But just because I brought the giant suitcase doesn't mean I had to fill it up!

Among the things I brought that I didn't need were:

My Bible. Guess what? Virtually every hotel room in the world has a Bible, placed there by the Gideons. I knew that!

My hair dryer. Almost every hotel in the world now provides hair dryers.

My curling iron. I rarely use it at home...why did I think I needed it on the road?

Three business books. I'm not sure why I thought I would have either the time or the inclination for continuing education.

A thick file of work. Work that could have been brought "electronically" as files on my laptop, but I never got around to anyway.

One entire extra outfit. Three days, three outfits...pretty simple right? Nope. I also brought a long coat which I didn't use because (duh) I was in Texas!

I had so much stuff that the airline put an orange tag on my suitcase warning the baggage people it was "heavy". Well, if you have to warn guys who transport baggage for a living that something is heavy, it must really be heavy!

If you suspect you are packing too much for a trip, you are probably right.

Remember, you're the one who will have to haul everything around.

Bye for a few days

I am off on a business trip and will be back later in the week. I'm going to try to connect and post some entries while I am there, but I'm not sure I will be able to.

Please pray for my safe journey.

Church versus state versus some needy kids

Who wins and who loses when we let the government make decisions about what is best for children? I'm not sure anybody wins, but usually it is the children who lose.

I think you will agree that the children don't win in this situation.

The founding fathers of this country would be stunned to know the meaning of their words...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

have been distorted this way.

What do you think?

Some laughs about those dangerous carbs

Dave Barry just cracks me up. Read this while I run and get my morning donut.