Shake, Rattle, and Roll

July 9, 2021 ~ JodiLea

And here in California we thought we were special!

Around 5:00 pm, PT, there was a jolt and a little shaking. Another and slightly larger jolt followed that with a considerably longer shake that rattled everything in the house. In the next 10 minutes there were three aftershocks in a row. Maybe it was three more earthquakes, and the aftershocks came later. I’m no seismologist. I am, however, a native Californian and I have felt earthquakes before.

You get complacent because you feel itty-bity shakes often, that register as earthquakes in your brain, but they do not effect you otherwise. Last night was not like that. Just when you relaxed another shaking would begin. My eleven year old granddaughter (also a native Californian) never experienced such a disturbance in the force. Grandma never had either – not since the Bay Bridge collapse in 1989.

Seeing the map this morning made me think of Jesus’s apostles in Matthew 24: 3-14.

While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples approached him privately – ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the end of this system of things?”

In answer, Jesus said to them ”… You are going to hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not alarmed for these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress. Then people will hand you over to tribulation and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations on account of my name… And because of the increasing of the lawlessness, the love of the greater number will grow cold. But the one who has endured to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then, the end will come.”

Okay then. I think we know we are feeling ‘pangs of distress’. My question is – Just how close are we to preaching the good news to all the inhabited earth?

TTFN

Reality is Not Always Real

July 1, 2021 ~ JodiLea

While researching popular Reality Shows, to see which one was considered the best, I came across a list of ALL the USA reality shows out there – past & present. The quantity startled me (600+) and, well, if the titles were any indication of the show’s quality, times were getting horribly desperate out there in Hollywood.

The first ‘reality show’ I ever watched was Candid Camera. Back then (in 1948) the term ‘reality show’ did not exist. I loved that show! It was so funny and the pranks were clever. I still miss that show, and I hope that one day a wise and creative producer will be inspired to do another show.

Survivor came out in 2000 and remains to this day. After the first season and the beginning of the second, I voted myself off the island. The physically challenging competitions were OK and the tribal ceremony was corny but fun to watch. What disappointed me was all the “drama” going on – it seemed scripted and fake to me. The other thing that got on my nerves was the fact they kept passing the show off as real.

Most Reality Shows are about as real life as WWF wrestling. They are game shows with no questions, just stunts and competition. They have more ‘drama’ than my soaps did.

These people are not abandoned on a deserted island, or in the wilderness, left to survive on their own . They are on a taped TV show. There is a film crew that I assure you does not sleep in homemade huts and eat bugs. There are medical staff at the ready (probably for insurance purposes.) And even if the camera crew and medical staff have to rough it a little, I’m pretty sure that Jeff Probst is living at the nearest 5 star hotel and commuting to the wilderness set.

Think about it.

To download the list as a PDF file Click Here

TTFN

Spring Cleaning – The Reality

April 27, 2021 ~ JodiLea

I was very proud of myself for starting and I got all the upper cabinets clean and shiny. It took 2 hours and I was tired from getting up and down the step-stool, so I planned to start the lower cupboards the next day.

You may have noticed that it is a week later, since I began my plan. The lower kitchen cabinets remain neglected as I write this. Why this sudden halt? A combination of things happened. The first one was my lack of sleep and feeling fatigued. The second was the fact that spring was over – a winter storm warning loomed up and things got chilly and rainy. I don’t know about anyone else, but when gloomy cold weather is going on the spring feeling leaves me. I expect it to return when later this week things warm up again.

Next week I will have to do something labor intensive to keep me sane while I wait for Memorial weekend to come, so spring cleaning will be that thing. I hope.

You never know what’s going to happen…

TTFN