Fun

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One-stop Christmas Shopping

You’re going to hate me. I’m already done with my Christmas shopping, and I had fun doing it! Since most of my shopping was done online, it was inevitable that I’d stumble across some totally cool items, something that would make the perfect gift—or at least stun the recipient.  Unfortunately, none of them were quite right for anyone on my list. Since these finds are just too good to ignore, I’m passing them along to you. Who knows, maybe one of these is just what you’ve been looking for!

bana leaf decalBanana Leaves Fresh (1 Lb) Bag 16oz Banana Leaves. I had no idea that you could buy banana leaves. Apparently, they’re an essential part of cooking and/or serving food in India, the Philippines, and other tropical locales. If you don’t want the real thing, you can get paper imitations. In fact, you can even get fake banana leaves with fake food on them (as illustrated here)! Where would you stick this banana leaf decal? If you get the real leaves, it would probably be a good idea to accompany them with an appropriate ethnic cookbook.

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Two More Things I Wonder About

It’s a fifth Friday, but I am sadly lacking in amusing photos. However, we can still have some fun. Here’s another installment of “things I wonder about.” If you missed my earlier list, check out my post from May 31,2011.

Senseless Traffic Lights
Colorado Springs has some of the most annoying traffic lights of any place I’ve ever been. Not only are they not synchronized, not only do they make you wait for ages while the intersection stays empty, but they turn red for no perceivable reason. It’s no surprise that we also have a significant problem with people running red lights.

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Five Lies

This may come as a shock to you, but did you know that Christians lie? Yup, we do. In fact, our pastor recently listed five lies we commonly tell, things we say in the church that really are downright falsehoods. While we all laughed as he expounded on each item, at the same time I bet a lot of people were convicted—I know I was! I thought our pastor’s insights were worth sharing, so here we go:

greeters

Five Christian Lies and Exaggerations, by Brady Boyd

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Some Fifth Friday Fun: It Must Be True

Oops! This was supposed to post on May 31, which was a Fifth Friday. Somehow I typed 2014 instead of 2013 when scheduling things, and as a result nothing posted that day. Well, I don’t want to deprive you of some fun, so let’s just call it a “First Friday” instead.
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Honey will cure all your ills. Squeezing a metal rod can allow a “practitioner” to diagnose toxicity and disease in your body. Raising your hands over your head can tell a health care worker what you’re allergic to. Those are just three of the “facts” I’ve heard lately from friends—friends who were convinced they knew what they were talking about. Then there’s the perennial parade of Facebook and email warnings… and we all know that if you read it online, it must be true!

What ever happened to critical thinking?

It’s a fifth Friday, and time for some fun. Since I used to be a teacher, I thought a true/false quiz would be in order. I’ve compiled a list of “facts” that may or may not be true. How many can you identify correctly?

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Sharing the Perfect Life

Facebragging-woman-builds-friends-character-1I was going to post some thought-provoking, deeply insightful comments about something I noticed in Matthew 26 during my Bible reading this week. Honest I was. Then I made the mistake of cruising through my Facebook feed, and I found this gem, shared by my brother-in-law. It’s just too good to pass up.

Please note that the “blog” featured here isn’t real. LarkNews.com made it up to prove a point… and a good point it is. In fact, the rest of their blog is pretty funny too. I recommend it.

Facebragging

Know anyone like this? Could it be me? Now I feel compelled to go back through my Facebook posts and see if I’m guilty. Yikes!

My original post for today has been rescheduled for next week. See you then.

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What’s on Your Quarter?

SouthCarolinaPete’s a bit of a coin collector (I prefer to spend them), and he has a pile of “state” quarters on his dresser. I was having fun looking at the backs, seeing how each state chose to represent itself.

South Carolina did a good job of summarizing their state. Their coin includes the state bird (the Carolina Wren), the state flower (Yellow Jessamine), the state tree (Palmetto), and an outline of the state. Hmm, you think, they have birds and flowers in South Carolina. I might drop by someday.

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I Have a Little Dreidel

dreidel

We’ve owned a dreidel for years, but I’ve never had a clue what to do with it. It seems that we’ve been missing out on some fun. A dreidel is actually the essential piece of a gambling game! Traditionally, the game is played for chocolate coins rather than real money. Still… chocolate!

If you read my post on Hanukkah, you know that there was a period of time just before that event took place where practicing the Jewish religion was illegal. Of course, that didn’t stop the Jews from teaching their children about their heritage, and about the God who chose them to love.

According to tradition (and Wikipedia), the children would be out in the woods, learning the Torah, and hiding from the authorities. However, that looks a bit suspicious, so when anyone came along, they would quickly pull out a top and spin it. Now they just looked like innocent children playing a simple game.

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A Bible Quiz, Again

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving, and that your heart is overflowing with gratitude for all God’s abundant blessings! Now that we’re all sitting around munching leftovers and perhaps taking a day off, I thought that it might be time for a bit of fun.

A little over a year ago I posted a little quiz asking, “How well do you know your Bible?” Since then I’ve continued to collect interesting quotes, and it’s time for Bible Quiz, Part 2. I admit, this one is a bit harder than the last quiz. Still, I have the utmost confidence in the Biblical expertise of my readers.

As with my last quiz, the answers are at the end, but no peeking until you’ve finished the test.

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Happy All Saint’s Day

Ghosts are dangling from neighborhood porches. Scarecrows and pumpkins litter lawns, assorted witches fly their brooms into sturdy tree trunks, and costume stores have sprung up all over town. Love it or hate it, it’s almost Halloween.

When it comes to celebrating Halloween, Christians are incredibly polarized. Some (such as the Church of England) consider Halloween to be a “religious festival just like Christmas Eve.” Others condemn the holiday as pagan and satanic.

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The Communion of Saints

With all the hype about Halloween, we often forget that the name is a contraction of All Hallow’s Eve—the night before All Saint’s Day. Realizing that I know next to nothing about the idea of sainthood, I did some research. In the process, I found a very helpful site that explained a lot:

The Church, East and West, has always distinguished between worship (latria), given to God alone, and veneration (dulia), which may be given to the saints. The highest form of veneration (hyperdulia) is due to the Blessed Virgin Mary. If someone is treating a saint as one should treat God, then yes, that is idolatry. That being said, Catholics believe that the saints have a role in our lives, as intercessors on our behalf, because we are all united by our communion in Christ. The saints are continually praying for us and interceding on our behalf, on account of their closeness to Christ. This is because God is the God of the living, not of the dead. As such, asking a saint for intercession is no more idolatrous than asking a holy friend or pastor to pray for you.

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