I may not have always been able to articulate my opinion on matters very well or easily. Heck, sometimes it seems to take forever for me to feel I have enough fact-finding results to make an informed decision. But, once I have enough information, you would be hard-pressed to convince me to change my position - unless you had actual evidence to substantiate your claim is more accurate than mine. With all due respect, that is just how I am.
Speaking of respect, that very subject matter is what has been the theme of my thoughts lately. Generally speaking, the sum of my experiences (personal and professional) thusfar have converged into one conclusion: RESPECT for God + RESPECT for others + RESPECT for self = Harmonious Living. I tend to visualize it as an equilateral triangle, with God (or - more properly - the Holy Trinity) at the top corner, 'others' at the lower left-hand corner, and 'self' at the lower right-hand corner. I will attempt to make a text picture below, but I am unsure how well that will turn out.
RESPECT TRIANGLE
GOD
Jesus Holy Spirit
/ \
/ \
/ \
others ------------------- self
Ok, I hope that translates well to your viewing of the blog posting. If it doesn't then I apologize. Now that you have this visual (I hope) for a frame of reference, let me continue my explanation. The Respect Triangle is essentially what you could 'boil down' the Ten Commandments into for a simplified statement. Actually, it kind of covers the Golden Rule, too. (Of course, all due respect to Moses' experience on Mount Sinai, and Jesus for His glorious teachings.) Need more? Okay, let's explore.
1. "I am the Lord, thy God..." is the topic of the 1st Commandment. Reading this Commandment in full - verbatim - proves that God expects - and even demands - utmost respect for who He is. He is the Creator of Life as we mere mortals know it. He is Eternal Father in Heaven; He gave us His only begotten Son - Jesus Christ - to restore for us what Adam (& Eve) took away in the Original Sin; He gave us all His Holy Spirit - His Essence - to guide us back to the way that is right and just. All of this - and more - makes God's respect-worthiness self-evident.
2. Jesus was always concerned with the needs and wants of others, which is why I have him in the link-path from God to 'others'. To show respect for others, is to show respect for God by following Christ's example. Consider the 'Golden Rule' that Jesus was famous for teaching. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." So, if you expect others to show respect for you, you need to show respect for them. Jesus was the first to truly articulate the symbiotic nature of human interrelationships.
3. The Holy Spirit - although not often discussed to the length and depth that God and Jesus are - is God's Presence in us. Some have argued that the Spirit inhabits each of us in the form of our conscience's. I'm inclined to agree with that. It certainly makes sense that, each time you do something that either 'jives' with the Holy teachings or doesn't, you would feel an appropriately correlative sense of pleasure or guilt. Essentially, the Spirit acts as our internal 'God-barometer', as a self-diagnostic measurement of how 'in tune' we are with God's expectations.
4. Others: Are to be respected, but not at the expense of respecting the Almighty. This is a tough challenge, given the politically correct ('p.c.') world in which we reside. When we stop giving God the glory He's due around certain people or certain situations - because we fear backlash from someone taking offense to our statement, or some such - then we are failing to respect God.
5. We are to respect ourselves - because 'God didn't make no junk' as one shirt slogan cleverly says. But, let us not go loony-toony about our self-worth, either. We are all important enough to do God's work, but none of us are meant to go about it all by ourselves. It takes teamwork (self + others), with a focus on the fact it's all with a power-booster from God Himself.
6. The Self-Others pathway contains the perspectives of each party of the human interrelationships. Our individual perspectives color (and are colored by) the events, words, deeds and actions of ourselves and others that we witness (or believe we witness). It is also one of the more challenging links to reinforce and to maintain with positivity, and incredibly easy to allow it to be swallowed by the sea of negativity. It is vital that we relate to others on a foundation of respect for all (mortals) concerned; to do otherwise would be showing disrepect toward God, since we are all created in His image.
7. So, there you have it. Harmonious Living: Lies in the proper balance of the Respect Triangle. Any 'extreme' favoring of any portion of the triangle, is actually detrimental to the larger picture. To claim 'extreme respect' for one aspect over the others, is to actually show disprespect for all of it, including the 'favored' portion.
If anyone that reads this is offended by it, well, I respectfully maintain my position. I will not apologize for my point-of-view, nor for the facts that support it. If anyone can come up with other facts that contradict the above, then let me know. I am only human, after all, so I know only God is perfect. Until we all meet Him, I suggest we follow the Bill & Ted movie farewell phrase: "Be excellent to each other!"
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Older Cars = High Maintenance :(
Well, it finally happened. It looks like our '98 Taurus DOHC fell victim to transmission trouble. Grrr! The car we lovingly call 'Shelby' only has 131K miles on her, so this came sooner than expected. Or rather, sooner than *I* had expected. Our '02 Taurus OHV didn't have tranny trouble until over 150K, which is the usual 'mileage age' for that problem on the Taurus model. Only thing is - as Troy pointed out - I had forgotten that the DOHC engines generally had tranny failure in the 100k - 130K range. Boo!
It seems that in the past month alone, we have been in and out of the shop with Troy's '02 model - which we refer to as 'Phantom'. Mind you, we are quite capable of doing our own work; beyond the wiper blades/air & cabin filters/battery ("simple types of") repairs, over the years we have also changed serpentine belts, alternators & starters, disc brakes (including calipers), IAC valve, MAF sensor, PCV valve, plugs/wires/cap/rotor, rear shocks (Ranger)... Sheesh, I think there's more but I just can't remember it all. Suffice it to say, while we are both mechanically inclined (thank you, Grandpa Lash, for the awesome genes!) there is a limit to the scope of what we can do. And unfortunately, the cars are both to a point where - based on mileage age - the repairs that need to be done are more invasive, and therefor require the tools, training and experience of a good repair shop (or two).
So, here's the (brief!) latest low-down on both cars. Phantom was in the shop (again) this past Saturday (8/28) for what we thought was air pockets in the cooling system. (The shop had previously worked on heater core hoses, and we thought that may have triggered the problem.) Short of the long is, they pressure checked the system, and discovered the water pump was leaking. We chose to do that repair ourselves. [Oh, yeah! That's the latest 'DIY' repair we can add to the list. Go Troy!]
I work every Saturday, so Troy and the girls gave me taxi service to and from work that day. Coming home, we were on I-74W - one mile shy of Exit 11 - when a previously familiar hum went away, and then was replaced with the heart-wrenching sound of the car dropping out of gear at highway speeds. We were able to coast along to the top of our exit ramp, and then stop on the left, in the grassy wedge separating the exit ramp from the highway. Our first call was to AAA (thank you, Mom & Dad Daum, for the birthday present membership!); while Troy did that, I made our second call, which was to Hamilton County dispatch (we were thinking of the safety of the girls - and us - while waiting on the wrecker). With help on the way, I then made our third call to Dad & Jayne, to ask if they were available to come get the girls and me and take us home. (Thanks, Jayne & Dad, for your immediate help!)
On Monday, the shop looked at Shelby. (Troy had her towed to the same shop that had Phantom ready for retrieval.) Original diagnosis was a bad left-front hub bearing, but also the axle. After that was repaired, they were to road test her, and see if the right-front hub bearing could wait, or if it needed changed then also. Problem: When the technician went to road test Shelby, she still wouldn't go into gear correctly. GRR! Moreover, this particular shop is a chain 'general repair and tire sales' facility [and NO, it is NOT Firestone/Tires Plus], which means they are not permitted to do 'internal' transmission work. For all we know, the problem could be the transmission shifter cable (which links the floor gear-selector to the transmission, via a lever on the tranny), or something small like that. I doubt it, but it could be.
So, now we have to have Shelby towed from the shop she's at, to either our home or the transmission-specialist shop we will be using. She will probably come home first, while we schedule the appointment for the repair (and tweek the budget to pay for the repair).
Ok, so I went on a little longer than I'd originally planned to do. Sorry about that. Fortunately, I'm off today (it's Thursday), so at least I have plenty of time and opportunity to hash out the details of our plan, and to begin coordinating it. We will probably have to be a one-car family for the time being, because we don't want to hog usage of Grandpa's truck from the rest of the family. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out.
I feel compelled to pray right now, so I will simply type out what comes from my heart and mind to my lips:
"Father God, please watch over and protect those in greatest need of Your Guidance, Comfort and Presence. For my family, I ask for Your Will to be done, and that You reveal to us how we can best carry out our part of Your Plan. We feel sad, frustrated and, yes, even irritated by our car troubles. We have grown accustomed to being able to carry on with our lives a certain way - it is far easier to be in different places at once with two vehicles. And yet, we know that there are some who do not even have one, and must therefor rely upon public transportation and the kindness of neighbors, family and friends. Please show us, O Lord, the manner in which You would have us be active participants in overcoming this challenge we face. We know that You do not give us trials larger than we can handle, and we also know that - with Your Help - we can achieve and do anything. In Your Son's Glorious Name, Amen."
Have a Blessed Day!
Jenn
It seems that in the past month alone, we have been in and out of the shop with Troy's '02 model - which we refer to as 'Phantom'. Mind you, we are quite capable of doing our own work; beyond the wiper blades/air & cabin filters/battery ("simple types of") repairs, over the years we have also changed serpentine belts, alternators & starters, disc brakes (including calipers), IAC valve, MAF sensor, PCV valve, plugs/wires/cap/rotor, rear shocks (Ranger)... Sheesh, I think there's more but I just can't remember it all. Suffice it to say, while we are both mechanically inclined (thank you, Grandpa Lash, for the awesome genes!) there is a limit to the scope of what we can do. And unfortunately, the cars are both to a point where - based on mileage age - the repairs that need to be done are more invasive, and therefor require the tools, training and experience of a good repair shop (or two).
So, here's the (brief!) latest low-down on both cars. Phantom was in the shop (again) this past Saturday (8/28) for what we thought was air pockets in the cooling system. (The shop had previously worked on heater core hoses, and we thought that may have triggered the problem.) Short of the long is, they pressure checked the system, and discovered the water pump was leaking. We chose to do that repair ourselves. [Oh, yeah! That's the latest 'DIY' repair we can add to the list. Go Troy!]
I work every Saturday, so Troy and the girls gave me taxi service to and from work that day. Coming home, we were on I-74W - one mile shy of Exit 11 - when a previously familiar hum went away, and then was replaced with the heart-wrenching sound of the car dropping out of gear at highway speeds. We were able to coast along to the top of our exit ramp, and then stop on the left, in the grassy wedge separating the exit ramp from the highway. Our first call was to AAA (thank you, Mom & Dad Daum, for the birthday present membership!); while Troy did that, I made our second call, which was to Hamilton County dispatch (we were thinking of the safety of the girls - and us - while waiting on the wrecker). With help on the way, I then made our third call to Dad & Jayne, to ask if they were available to come get the girls and me and take us home. (Thanks, Jayne & Dad, for your immediate help!)
On Monday, the shop looked at Shelby. (Troy had her towed to the same shop that had Phantom ready for retrieval.) Original diagnosis was a bad left-front hub bearing, but also the axle. After that was repaired, they were to road test her, and see if the right-front hub bearing could wait, or if it needed changed then also. Problem: When the technician went to road test Shelby, she still wouldn't go into gear correctly. GRR! Moreover, this particular shop is a chain 'general repair and tire sales' facility [and NO, it is NOT Firestone/Tires Plus], which means they are not permitted to do 'internal' transmission work. For all we know, the problem could be the transmission shifter cable (which links the floor gear-selector to the transmission, via a lever on the tranny), or something small like that. I doubt it, but it could be.
So, now we have to have Shelby towed from the shop she's at, to either our home or the transmission-specialist shop we will be using. She will probably come home first, while we schedule the appointment for the repair (and tweek the budget to pay for the repair).
Ok, so I went on a little longer than I'd originally planned to do. Sorry about that. Fortunately, I'm off today (it's Thursday), so at least I have plenty of time and opportunity to hash out the details of our plan, and to begin coordinating it. We will probably have to be a one-car family for the time being, because we don't want to hog usage of Grandpa's truck from the rest of the family. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out.
I feel compelled to pray right now, so I will simply type out what comes from my heart and mind to my lips:
"Father God, please watch over and protect those in greatest need of Your Guidance, Comfort and Presence. For my family, I ask for Your Will to be done, and that You reveal to us how we can best carry out our part of Your Plan. We feel sad, frustrated and, yes, even irritated by our car troubles. We have grown accustomed to being able to carry on with our lives a certain way - it is far easier to be in different places at once with two vehicles. And yet, we know that there are some who do not even have one, and must therefor rely upon public transportation and the kindness of neighbors, family and friends. Please show us, O Lord, the manner in which You would have us be active participants in overcoming this challenge we face. We know that You do not give us trials larger than we can handle, and we also know that - with Your Help - we can achieve and do anything. In Your Son's Glorious Name, Amen."
Have a Blessed Day!
Jenn
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Welcome to the ADC Blog!
Hi, there! Welcome to the blog for Another Daum Creation (ADC). While the content is to-be-determined, let me share a (brief!) story about the origin of the URL name.
Somewhere between 10 & 13 years ago, my husband and I purchased one of those PC-based card/craft software packages. We used it numerous times to make a variety of casual special occasion cards. (Or, at least we *did* up until the last PC desktop acted up one too many times. Part of the next tax return got us our MacBook Pro.)
At any rate, one of the features I really liked about that program, was the ability to give yourself credit on the back of the card. I immediately discarded the template's pre-scripted, fill-in-the-blank message, and replaced it with the words "Another Daum Creation" above a custom-designed rainbow-colored heart. The phrase is a fusion of our family name, my wanna-be artistry and a cooky sense of humor that my husband's family has helped me to hone.
Hopefully, this blog will prove useful/enlightening/entertaining to those who choose to read it. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to 'speak up' with your input.
Thanks for stopping by. See you again soon!
~Jenn
Somewhere between 10 & 13 years ago, my husband and I purchased one of those PC-based card/craft software packages. We used it numerous times to make a variety of casual special occasion cards. (Or, at least we *did* up until the last PC desktop acted up one too many times. Part of the next tax return got us our MacBook Pro.)
At any rate, one of the features I really liked about that program, was the ability to give yourself credit on the back of the card. I immediately discarded the template's pre-scripted, fill-in-the-blank message, and replaced it with the words "Another Daum Creation" above a custom-designed rainbow-colored heart. The phrase is a fusion of our family name, my wanna-be artistry and a cooky sense of humor that my husband's family has helped me to hone.
Hopefully, this blog will prove useful/enlightening/entertaining to those who choose to read it. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to 'speak up' with your input.
Thanks for stopping by. See you again soon!
~Jenn
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