Fix me Jesus

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A few weeks ago my daughter and I went to see "Joyful Noise." It is an awesome story! In it was one character, a young teenager, who was autistic but high functioning. He was mad at God for the way He made him. His mama sat down beside him and told him 'we all have something wrong with us. It's this ole' world we live in. It's not God's fault.'

She then sat down at a piano and sang an old spiritual, "Fix me, Jesus." The words were similar to this:

Fix me Jesus, fix me.
Ooh fix me Jesus,
ooh fix me Jesus,
ooh fix me Lord,
fix me Jesus fix me.

Fix me for my long white robes.
Fix me Jesus, Fix me.
Fix me for my sorry soul.
fix me Jesus, Fix me.

Ooh fix me Jesus,
ooh fix me Jesus,
ooh fix me Lord,
fix me Jesus fix me.

Fix me for my dyeing breath.
Fix me Jesus, fix me.
Fix me for my daily love.
Fix me Jesus, fix me.

Ooh fix me Jesus,
ooh fix me Jesus,
ooh fix me Lord,
fix me Jesus fix me.

---What awesome words!

What's your hobby?

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Hobbies are a wonderful thing. They can actually be good 'mental therapy'! I have several, and one of them is scapbooking. Although I don't think it is as hot as it once was, it still is embedded into lots of folk's lives. Scrapbooking in some form goes back generations. I have a travel scrapbook that my grandmother kept.

President's Day weekend I return to Kansas City, MO for my annual play-date, get-together with girlfriends. We all used to work together and we all scrapbook. Ever since my family moved to Arkansas in 2008, we have done this every President's Day weekend. So - we again did so this year. This is a wonderful way to keep in touch, and get caught up with family news. This year one of our group had been sick and was unable to scrap with us, although she did come for lunch.

We have a couple of little dogs that became parents in December. This is the first time we have raised a litter from beginning to "end". So this is what I decided to scrapbook. I printed off over 300 pictures. And that was probably about half of what I took. Obviously this will take me awhile to finish! I was hoping to find scrap paper with a dog theme, and had 4 sheets on hand. Of course that wasn't going to be enough, but I had to go with what I had. After the weekend was over, don't you know, I found some - a whole package of "dog" paper. Now - to find the time at home to work on it. I ended up spending most of my time sorting out my pictures as the store had printed duplicates even tho't I didn't order any or pay for them! (Need some puppy pictures?)

Besides my puppies, JM worked on their 50th Wedding Anniversary Open House. MJS worked on an album of her daughter's first places she has lived. SH, who couldn't scrap with us this year, did tell us she's been working on her granddaughter's album.

I guess it must be known where I work that I love and do scrapbooking! I work at a library and the director sent me an email asking me if I would like to do a workshop on scrapbooking this summer for the adult summer reading program. WOW! I have never done that before, and I am not a good pre-planner, so this will be interesting. I wish I could do a dry run before I actually do it. There is SO much involved. I did find on the internet, however, ideas for teaching the hobby:
1. Choosing a theme
2. Picking out the background paper, album
3. Presentation of the picture, (matted, behind or in front with a peek-a-boo opening, special presentation like a window, booklet, etc.)
4. Decorations and embellishments
5. Journaling of the picture(s)

There's so much that goes into doing this. Guess I better get crackin'!

Shoe Bomber Sentence

Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it?

Did you know his trial is over?
Did you know he was sentenced?
Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV or Radio?
Didn't think so!!!

Everyone should hear what the judge had to say.

Ruling by Judge William Young, US District Court.

Prior to sentencing, the Judge asked the defendant if he had anything to say His response: After admitting his guilt to the court for the record, Reid also admitted his 'allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah,' defiantly stating, 'I think I will not apologize for my actions,' and told the court 'I am at war with your country.'

Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below:

Judge Young: 'Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you.

On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts 2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutively. (That's 80 years.)

On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years again, to be served consecutively to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you for each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000 that's an aggregate fine of $2 million. The Court accepts the government's recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines.

The Court imposes upon you an $800 special assessment. The Court imposes upon you five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need go no further.

This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence.

Now, let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of you or any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is too much war talk here and I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court, we deal with individuals as individuals and care for individuals as individuals. As human beings, we reach out for justice.

You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature. Whether the officers of government do it or your attorney does it, or if you think you are a soldier, you are not-----, you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not meet with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.

So war talk is way out of line in this court You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I've known warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal that is guilty of multiple attempted murders. In a very real sense, State Trooper Santiago had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and the TV crews were, and he said: 'You're no big deal.'

You are no big deal.

What your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have as honestly as I know how tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today?

I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty and admit you are guilty of doing? And, I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you, but as I search this entire record, it comes as close to understanding as I know.

It seems to me you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very wind carries freedom. It carries it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom, so that everyone can see, truly see, that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf, have filed appeals, will go on in their representation of you before other judges.

We Americans are all about freedom. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties. Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. The day after tomorrow, it will be forgotten, but this, however, will long endure.

Here in this courtroom and courtrooms all across America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done. The very President of the United States through his officers will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice.

See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag stands for freedom. And it always will.

Mr. Custody Officer. Stand him down.

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So, how much of this Judge's comments did we hear on our TV sets? We need more judges like Judge Young. Pass this around. Everyone should and needs to hear what this fine judge had to say. Powerful words that strike home.