Monday, February 23, 2009

Everything's Amazing

This is so true. I've caught myself complaining before when my Internet is slow.

We live in a generation of instant gratification. I remember when there were party lines. We'd have to wait until our neighbors were done talking on their phones before we could make a call...

One time my cousin and I were making crank phone calls and a guy (on the party line) said he wasn't going to hang up his phone so that he could talk to our parents.

On our side of the line, simply hanging up wouldn't disconnect. If our parents picked up their phone, they would find a connection to his home. Eventually he had to hang up to free the line for his neighbors and we got away. After that, we never made a crank phone call again!

13 comments:

Ann said...

OMG, Helen, how true is this! I, too, remember party lines and the time one of my best friends and I were in a fight and her bf was on MY party line....hehe....what a walk down memory lane. We should all take a moment and appreciate all that we have..remembering party lines sure will do that for me!

Helen Ruth said...

Ann, I think what got me was the CHAIR IN THE SKY thing. When you REALLY think about it, we DO complain and take for granted our technology!

PS) Boyfriend on your party line?? hehe I wonder if you used to listen in??? ;-)

Patty said...

I remember, I remember! Goodness, does this mean we are getting old?

Anonymous said...

Yippers Patty.. it does mean you're getting old Heheee
Those party lines were a hoot.. you always had to be careful what you said on them because you never knew who was listening.

Mary said...

Hi, Helen, thanks for coming to my blog. No, I didn't say anything bad about homeschoolers. I just mentioned that some people were stricter than I am, and listed a bunch of things like homeschooling, and that it intimidated me because it made me feel like I wasn't strict enough.

The way I put it, I made it sound like I was making fun of people who homeschooled and did other things like grind their own flour to make bread, and stuff like that, and I gave a whole list of things, most of which I actually do myself or at least approve of. So, I had to apologize because I hurt some peoples' feelings.

I think most of us who blog wishe we had a professional editor to view our work before we publish it. I notice most of us have to apologize a lot!

I do approve of homeschooling and thrift and homemade food and things like that, and our family was very careful about what our family watched, etc.

I guess where I take exception is when some people act like you MUST homeschool and cook everything from scratch, or you are not a good Christian or a good mother. But none of the people that read my blog and comment here are like that (thank God!).

Mary said...

Also, Helen, I was talking about blogs like mine that are mainly Bible study and Christian living blogs. I felt convicted that I talked a lot about the Bible, and about Christian living, but didn't mention Jesus much or give Him the glory He deserved. I noticed that many blogs are like mine, basically Bible blogs, or blogs about Christian living, a life-style, and Jesus doesn't get mentioned much. This concerns me.

I don't just want a form of godliness or legalism or strictness or counterfeit holiness, which is all you have when these things, even these good things, become divorced from Christ.

I would not expect to see a lot of mention about Jesus or a person's personal relationship with Him on a blog that is mainly about crafts or recipies or homeschooling. That is different. I'm talking about blogs like mine that are mainly Bible blogs with a spiritual emphasis. I don't want mine to become divorced from Christ.

I didn't do a post on homeschooling. We didn't do it, although we were open to it. I guess the Lord had a different plan for our family. But, we don't disapprove of it at all.

I did get offended by some people on their blogs who said you MUST do this or you are not a good Christian, but I noticed that many of them don't mention Jesus very much at all, almost like their way of life was their religion. I did these posts to warn all of us that if any of these good things are elevated to a point where Christ is forgotten, that is not good. And I have been guilty of doing this. It is important not to forget Christ.

These posts that I have written are directed maily to myself, but I think that they can help others.

I never wrote a post on homeschooling. I didn't do it, so I have nothing to say about it, except to encourage people who do it.

Helen Ruth said...

Amen, Civilla! I don't visit blogs like that either. I figure I get enough criticism from looking in the mirror ;-)

Mary said...

Helen, we were a military family for 20 years, so I can understand the interest in preparedness. I will be looking more closely at your blog. I blog with another person who is interested in preparedness. She, too, spent some time in the military and says that that is the reason she is interested in the subject of preparedness. Her blog is:
http://joyandgrace.blogspot.com

I think it is all lower case letters. She is young, with small children.

We are asking the Lord what we should do in terms of preparedness. We have no extra money, so we can't do much, but I believe God will take care of people like us. I can, however, store water in rinsed-out gallon milk jugs and little things like that, get candles, make sure there is always a couple of weeks worth of food in the house (we still shop like military people -- 2 to 4 weeks worth of food at at time, and the people in the civilian grocery stores look at us like we are martians. Civilians don't have a clue, do they?

BTW, I went to college in Texas (Abilene Christian) and graduated in 1977.

Mary said...

Oooh, this is some good stuff, and I will be recommending your blog to joyandgrace (Ace).

Oh, and yours is not the type of blog I would expect to hear constant testimones or Jesus,Jesus,Jesus all the time! Ha. I meant that people like me who have "Bible blogs" need not to get caught up in studies and legalism and forget Him. I think you understand.

I will be reading lots more. The article on the bleach was interesting. We used to be stationed in Korea, 25 years ago, and had to put drops of bleach in the water and stuff like that.

Keep up the good work. Congratulations on your certification.

Mary said...

Oh, that video clip was so funny! You're sitting in a chair in the sky! I am one of those impatient people who goes ballistic when the internet is slow or when my seat on the airplane doesn't recline enough!! That video sure put things in perspective!

I remember party lines, although my family didn't have one.

I am doing a series of posts on my blog about Secrets of Loveliness published in the early 60's. The rigormarole we had to go through to wash and set our hair, and all the fashion rules! It is under Secrets of Loveliness or For Girls Only on my sidebar under labels. I take a break from it from time to time, but you can see what I have posted so far under those 2 labels.

Mary said...

Helen, you are probably sick of me blogging here already, but I have looked at all your posts on food and medical preparedness, and they are really great.

Here is a book you will love, if you have not read it already. "Alas Babylon" by Pat Frank, published in the cold-war era of the 50's.

It is the ultimate doomsday book, a fiction novel, in which the U.S. was nuked, and only pockets of people survived. The story focuses on one pocket in Florida that escaped the radioactive fallout, but they had to survive like they were in the dark ages. The first two chapters are a little boring, as they establish the characters. But press on. The rest of the book, you can't put down.

It made me think of preparedness: extra eyeglasses, games and reading material for when you are bored, tea and coffee and things like that that you can't make or grow yourself, medical supplies, SALT (the people became salt-deprived), prescription drugs, crafts and handiwork for when you get bored, sewing supplies. The list goes on and on.

You can google the book. It was a cult classic in its day. You can buy the boon online or find it in used bookstores. Cheers!

Helen Ruth said...

Noooo problem!!! I enjoy your posts! By the way, I had a lady visit my blog last year who was critical about homeschoolers. You'll never guess what she's doing right now... HOMESCHOOLING!

Grass is always greener on the other side.

Mary said...

Yeah, never say never, right? My 2 boys are grown now.