From Brent

The storm came and went. Ma and Pa, Aunt Bernie and both cows are all safe.

Looking northeast as the front edge passes;
the wind was gust 50-60 mph. I usually try to get the poles
out of the photo but the light showed how dark
it got even though the sun was still up.



Looking southwest. See the car lights? That's how dark it got.



This was the start of that cloud lowering...



And this was the lowering at its most organized point.
It fell part a couple of minutes later.

From Brent

Beautiful and scary storm coming right this minute. Got some great shots before the lightning lit up my common sense.

I love these kind of clouds. Anyone out there know the science
behind how they are created? Right outside our back door.



Front edge as the sun was going down.


Okay, I know some of you ladies are going to chew me out for being
out in this stuff, but LOOK at that lowering! For you non-tornado alley folks,
that when a rotating center of clouds in a storm (this one really was not
very "tornadic" in reality), starts to tighten up and drop, the precursor to
a possible tornado (but not likely).

Most lowerings just skitter along for a little while and fall apart
which this one did. Look really close at the ground below the lowered clouds.
See the red dust (Oklahoma's version of dirt) getting sucked up into it?

Magnificent to see!

More to come. Heavy lightning now so the power will probably go out.

From Brent

In yesterday's ANSWERS post, I wrote something to the effect: we aren't about to adopt kids and put them in daycare.

We received some criticism for that statement and I think the criticism was fair. I've since changed it to "we feel it is best for our situation that Michelle be at home, and we try to grow a business from home."

That was a poorly worded statement and not very well thought out. I stated our personal conviction as something that sounded like it ought to apply to every one and that ain't right. "Universal truths" apply to everyone but my personal conviction about my own children certainly does not.

We have good friends who have adopted and for various legitimate reasons need to use daycare. I'm sure there are many other families in the same situation.

I often teach about being very gracious with liberty. Stating my opinion in a way that sounds like a broad stroke criticism of those who would do differently is in fact, legalistic and truly insensitive (as opposed to fake politically correct sensitivity). I did that, and it was wrong.

Thank you for the feedback and the deserved criticism. I'm always grateful for respectful and useful criticism. It will help me to be more thoughtful in the future as a writer.

- - - - - - - - -
While we are on the subject of NOT well-thought-out legalistic opinions, here's a perfect example I came across earlier today and was going to write about anyway.

Check out this infuriating nonsense written by Michael Pearl of No Greater Joy Ministries (this part is almost at the end of the post; emphasis mine):

I will say this again. Never adopt children even close to the age of your own. You should be past child bearing age, and your children should be at least 10 to 15 years older than the adopted kids. I don’t think there is any such thing as an orphanage raised child who has not been a participant in sexual perversion. If you are older and your kids are grown, it is a wonderful, full time ministry to adopt foreign kids. You will experience heartache, possibly failure, but you may just save a soul from sure destruction. But if there is failure, at least your kids will not go down with them.

I was enraged at such an uninformed, untruthful, IGNORANT comment made to people who look to this man for Christian advice. Is there SOME truth in statement? Yes, there is sexual abuse inflicted on kids who end up in orphanages. ALL KIDS? What biased stupidity.

I don't know Michael Pearl and maybe most of his advice is right on. He may be a whole lot wiser than I'll ever hope to be but he sorely missed the boat with that comment. It is not only untrue, it will serve to scare off adoptive parents, leaving orphans to linger in poverty and (sometimes) abuse. It also stigmatizes all orphanage raised kids as broken, damaged goods.

And sorry my friend, I missed the part of God's command that puts all those conditions on when and which orphans we should care for and rescue:

James 1:27 (NKJV) Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

For everyone out there who has adopted and knows what kind of ignorant hogwash Mr. Pearl's statement is, why don't you go visit his website and tell him so.

From Brent

I had a couple of questions about the Open Season questions that I want to answer. So I'll start with those:

Can't you put the names of people who submit the questions?

I leave that up to each submitter. Seems like if one person starts, everyone else follows. If no one puts their name or link, nobody typically likes to be first. I don't require names because I don't want people to hesitate to ask a question. Yes, I get some ugly ones. If they are ridiculous, I delete them. Sometimes I add questions to the list that people put into a comment instead of the linky list.

Where do the questions come from?

Readers for the most part. I occasionally add some common questions from the masses of email I get as people seem to ask the same thing over and over. Sometimes I'll kick off a list, or add to list, with those emailed questions. Sometimes I combine similar questions from whatever source into one question.

Now, the list questions:

Why do you think people leave those nasty comments? How do you handle them?

A variety of reasons. Some feel like they are legitimate criticism and genuinely feel that way about us. It's obvious from the amount and nastiness of the comments that many people come here JUST to find something to criticize. That's okay... maybe something we say or do will break through a hard heart.

People feel very brave hiding behind an anonymous keyboard. They don't have to answer, defend or live with their comment. We've learned to ignore/delete most and only occasionally mention them publicly if we think there is a reason or it is necessary in some way.

How is Abby doing? Did removing the mold help? Can you tell yet?

As we've posted several times (after this question was asked), the mold removal seemed to do the trick for both Abby and myself. She's had a couple of fevers but the chronic high fevers seem to have gone away.

Do you own Linky Tools? Looks like you do... can you explain what it is?

Linky Tools allows you to put different kinds of "link lists" in your blog posts. Text links or thumbnail image links; different types of links like prayer requests, questions, contest entries and just plain old generic links for any use.

Yes, we own Linky Tools. It's all free. There are over 11,000 users at this point. Still free. It started out as something I created for myself then I shared it with some friends and it went nuts.

You seem to be pretty conservative. What's your feelings about what is going on politically in our country?

I try to stay away from several topics on this blog including politics. I write about that over on my current events blog - www.riggsreport.com. Speaking of having other blogs, let's jump down the question list and answer a related question:

Why do you have so many blogs?

I have five blogs because I separate the topics I write about. I used to have one blog but people complained that they weren't interested in more than one general topic. I felt like that was reasonable so I created different blogs for different topics. I list them here.

You haven't put up a new issue of SeriousLife Magazine in while. Are you still doing that?

Yes. Abby's treatment and the need to work a few more hours for needed additional income has made some of the "free" stuff I do a little hard to manage consistently. I love the magazine, and have a publishing background. If I ever figure out how to make some real income from it, I'll be able to dedicate more time to it. As is, I plan to publish an issue a month.

How's the new adoption effort going?

Slow. As Abby's chemo winds down we hope to return more focus to that. We have a long effort ahead of us, saving up and raising funds. We aren't wealthy and adoption is expensive.

We'll probably do garage sales or sell some quality products and use the proceeds for the adoption. If we are selling a product or item then people can feel like they are getting something too.

Speaking of that, we are trying to get serious about our long neglected home business of selling on Ebay. We live on one income and Michelle couldn't work outside the home even if she wanted to. Abby has too many ongoing needs and we feel it is best for our situation that Michelle be at home, and we try to grow a business from home.

So we are working hard at building a home business on Ebay, and would be deeply grateful for some expert help and guidance from any one out there so inclined. I'm sure I can return the favor in some way. Holler at me: brent@brentriggs.com

If you want to add a question to this little series of answers, you can add it here.

From Brent

I forgot about a whole list of questions that were asked last month or so on an Open Season post. I'll answer a few of them here and there along with some photos and update on Abby.

SpideyLandis gets up close and personal with the fish eye lens.

Here's the questions. Feel free to add to the list if you want....

From Michelle

Abby had a pretty good week though she is still having a few low grade fevers. Most likely she is picking up bugs from school but so far has only missed one day school (compared to last year when she was lucky to get to go to ONE day a week).

We appreciate all the kind notes and prayers for Abby. We are getting nearer to the end of her chemo when our prayers will switch from "treatment" to long term healing (no relapse). Thanks so much for walking through this journey with us.

Got Stuff?

I stay at home as most of you know. With Abby's cancer, and three adoptions, that is a choice we've made and we reduce our lifestyle to compensate. It's worth every sacrifice. As all of you stay-at-home-Mom's know, that hardly means a life of ease and frolicking in the park with the kiddos.

We have a family/home business we involve the kids in that we don't talk about a lot. We buy collectibles, wholesale lots of items and various other things as the opportunity rises to sell on auction sites.

We are always on the look out for garage sales, estate sales, boxes of dusty stuff in attics and barns, old collections people want to sell, nostalgic and collectible items Grandma and Grandpa left behind.

Once in a while, we thought we'd put the word out ask our readers if they've got any "stuff" they want to sell. There's lots of "stuff" out there that folks could use a few bucks for, and we could use in our home business.

We are looking for pocket knives, kitchen items, any type of collections/collectibles (lighters, salt and pepper, whistles)... whatever. If you have any "stuff" you want to sell, shoot us an email with photos, a description and how much you want for it.

Email Brent though... I'm out frolicking. :) brent@brentriggs.com

I want, what I want, when I want it!!!


Just kidding!

Abby is quite the ham when it comes to a camera pointing her way (or a mirror!). These photos were all in good fun as she was getting in the car to go to dance camp.

From Brent

Sometimes readers of our family blog will miss blog posts over on my other blogs because I didn't put some sort of notice on this family blog. If I put a note here about every blog post I write, I would drive you nuts.

So if you want to get a quick email notice when I post on my other blogs, then be sure to sign up ON THOSE BLOGS. Here they are:

• Brent Riggs Blog - advice, opinion and commentary on life, culture, kids, parenting, marriage, personal growth, discipline; lots of answers to questions submitted by readers
  
  
• Build a Better Blog - blogging, writing, digital photography, online business, etc
  
  
• Serious Faith - serious Bible teaching, Christian advice and answers to your Bible questions
  
  
• Riggs Report - politics, current events, editorials, commentary on culture
  
  
• Serious Life Magazine - wholesome, family oriented, inspiring and informative stories, features and columns

If you aren't part of those blogs, I hope you'll check them out.