This isn't Choice

This article is extremely hard to read, but you have to know about what is happening in the name of "population control" in other countries with the support of our tax dollars.

How could any sane person look at this story and not see it for what it is. Women are being brutalized in so many ways, and the world turns a blind eye because the end that it is seeking is being met; i.e. population control.

What upsets me is that any woman could back a policy that could do this to another woman.

Pax

Happy Birthday My Dear Felicity

Today is the Birthday of a dear friend of mine from Gradual School. A while back in a Women in the Early Church we all got the names of Women Saints and hers is Felicity, (mine is Thecla by the way, there is a story there but that is for another day).

She also happens to be an Organic Dairy Farmer from Ohio and has posted a
"Day in the Life" video on YouTube.

The song in the video is one of our personal favorites Shaking the Tree by Peter Gabriel, listen to the words they are awesomely powerful as a women's song of empowerment. (Nota: the book; Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner; that she is reading is from our Women in the Old Testament class last fall.)



Enjoy the video and send up a prayer of blessing on my sister Felicity on this her birthday.




Pax

What Every Woman Needs

Widsom of Maya Angalou

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

...enough money within her control to move outand rent a place of her own,

even if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

..something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

..a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

...a past juicy enough that she's looking forward toretelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

....a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

....a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

..eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,

and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

..a feeling of control over her destiny.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

...how to fall in love without losing herself.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

...how to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend

without ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

...when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

...that she can't change the length of her calves,the width of her hips,

or the nature of her parents...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

...that her childhood may not have been perfect... but it’s over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

...what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

...how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

..whom she can trust, whom she can't,and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

...where to go...be it to her best friend's kitchen table

...or a charming inn in the woods...

when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

...what she can and can't accomplish in a day... a month... and a year...

Thanks to my sister Tina, who sent this to me this morning via email

Mental Pause Moment #3: Hormones, drought or deluge

WARNING: This post deals with content of a very female nature. So men, you have been warned. I will not be offended if you choose to skip this one. I would love some input from my women friends though.

It appears as though as I maneuver through this land of preparation for mental pause I have come across an affliction that appears to affect every woman: for days you will have absolutely no interest whatsoever, and then with no warning you will be flooded with gushes of for lack of a better term for it uhm . . . hormonal energy.

It is absolutely bewildering to me. One week the most romantic environment in the world will evoke nothing more than a yawn from me. It's not that I don't want to be romantic, it's just that I have to really be forcefully reminded that I used to enjoy it.

Then the just as suddenly a few days later all that has to happen to get the old engine revving is for mrangelmeg to brush up against me as he passes me on his way down the hallway. It is as if I am set on slow burn or something.

It would help if this had anything at all to do with my cycle, but sadly I have tried to chart these "storms" and they don't come on any regular basis. I can go for months without it and then have weeks where I can't think of anything else.

I am sure in the times when I am feeling more "expressive" mrangelmeg has no complaints. I worry sometimes about the other times when it must get frustrating for him.

I am also very sure that mrangelmeg would be just as happy if there were some way to channel some of my excess energy into other areas, like maybe cleaning the house, or organizing my bedroom office and closet (two things I have been planning to do since I have been off classes these last two semesters but haven't yet gotten around to).

I am just praying that this too is one of those things that has "come to pass" and not come to stay. I will be fine so long as eventually this will all work itself out to some comfortable level of normality again. If anyone has encouraging words of wisdom for me I would appreciate them.

Pax