Tongues of Fire and My Adventures With Mice

The verses below are quoted in the event anyone who reads this isn't familiar with the meaning, according to many Christians, of Pentecost. Trust me, I would never preach or try to win converts; at least not here. A funny story about the girls will follow.

Acts 2: 1/4 NIV

1 When the day of Pentecost came, they (followers of Christ) were all together in one place.

2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Yesterday, for many Christians, was Pentecost Sunday. Many believe it was the beginning of Christianity. The symbol of my denomination is the cross and the Pentecostal flame. Rebecca and Rochelle were treated to a dramatic explanation of the scripture above by the male half of our husband and wife pastoring team.

They were a little concerned about his description of the rushing wind, especially when he told them he was almost blown off a mountain in Colorado by gusts. However, when he described tongues of fire resting on each head in the congregation, I saw each of them look at the other all wide-eyed. I think they anticipated bursting into flames on the spot. Kids are extremely literal.

I'm glad he stopped there. I don't know what they would have made of speaking in tongues. It would be an unusual occurrence for my denomination although, knowing my church, we'd probably be fine with it.

They recovered in time to go running up to him after the service for hugs. He's a bear of a man and he picked one up under each arm with no effort at all. They were giggling and I was laughing.

Next week will be their last Sunday with us. I'll miss them both. It is possible to be Pentecostal in spirit and progressive in actions.

63 days and counting. To what? School of course. No, I didn't start the countdown, Rebecca did and I'll trust her math. Sounds about right to me.

So far so good except for minor spats, much running in and out, and a lot of noise. It's easier now that they're older and I can give them a little more freedom.

My computer blew up this afternoon. The cursor froze and no matter how many times I turned the computer off and back on, it remained frozen (and invisible).

I called Tim (who I had just picked up at work and taken home after a brief stop here). Did he think it was the mouse? No, he didn't. We tried to work on it over the phone and gave up. I decided to unplug the mouse and plug it back in, just to eliminate it as a suspect. No luck. After several minutes which seemed like forever crawling around trying to get the stupid thing to fit back in the slot I had just removed it from, I called him back. He still didn't think it was the mouse but said they had a spare. I picked him back up, he switched mice, problem solved. He then tried to fix mouse number one and bent the little prongs even more and snapped something plastic. Not his fault, it was a cheapie to begin with.

Of course I had totally forgotten about computer number two in Elcie's room with a perfectly good mouse connected to it. Sometimes I wonder about me.

I'd been having some weird problems from time to time but I think we may have solved them all at once. I was blaming everything (including some unknown virus or worm) except the mouse but once it stopped functioning completely, the mouse was the first thing I thought of.

That was my day in a nutshell, almost. Ray and I spent much of the afternoon cleaning and rearranging countertops in the kitchen. I cleaned the refrigerator tonight. It gets done once a week; not perfectly, but old food is removed and I take inventory of sorts and wipe down shelves.

I've warned all three girls tomorrow is clean out the dining room half of the living room day. Mostly books and papers but they're overwhelming. Books are everywhere. We need to do triage. We've been given so many I know they'll never read (neither would I). We can box them and send them to someone else (who may never read them either but who knows). I can't bring myself to throw a book away. Someone, somewhere, will enjoy it.

If I can just make room for all their books in a couple of bookcases, I'll be thrilled.

Two good recipes following this post for those who haven't seen them. One for chili verde; the other for raisin pie.

Thanks to all for the comments and hope you all had a good weekend.