Weekending

Linking up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday:

Friday was a busy but good day. My sister was still here visiting. Jacob purchased a new to him Jeep last weekend. Something needed attending to with the vehicle and the car dealership that sold it to him said they would fix it post sale. Jacob needed me to bring him to the  place and take him home since the place could not give him an estimate of how long it would take. The car place was down in Cincinnati. Donnie told me that it was close to Jungle Jim's grocery store. (Donnie had gone with Jacob to the dealership when Jacob bought it.)  Neither Jacob nor my sister had been to Jungle Jim's and since we needed to be down that way to drop Jacob's car off, we decided to go to JJ's before heading home. 

I've talked about it before, but the store is massive at 200,000 square feet. It features an international as well as a traditional grocery store plus it has a good sized area that sells liquor, pet food and accessories, toys, and kitchen gadgets and gifts. 

Jacob's facial expression aptly describes his thrill level about going to Jungle Jim's. No, seriously, he was OK going to the store (he just didn't want his picture taken). He'd never been. When he told one of his good friends who's of Asian descent that he was going to Jungle Jim's his friend asked him to pick up some products from the Asian section. Jacob was happy to do that for him.

Not your average store entrance...

...or inside decor

So many different varieties of everything...

Big smiles after a successful shopping trip!

I can't go to JJ's and not get misshapen Jelly Bellies...

Once home, I prepared half a bagel and egg cheese sammy for lunch because I needed to have room to have some of each baked good from JJ's that I picked up. I took this tray out to the patio and had a lovely meal out there.

Almost no sooner than we arrived home, Jacob's car was ready to be picked up. The good news is that it was done (there was a possibility that a part would need to be ordered and J would be without his Jeep for the weekend). The bad news is that we had to head down to Cincy again. But it was not that big of a deal...

Friday evening was pizza from one of our favorite places, Jett's. Then neighbors came over to the patio to watch game four of the NBA finals. Rats- it did not end well for the Pacers. 

Saturday I drove my sister back to Indiana where she's staying while she's in America. She didn't have her car with her so I drove her back to Indiana. It was a five hour round trip (lots of time in the car between Friday and Saturday but it was all good!). We had a great visit and it was hard to say good-bye to my sister. Hopefully I'll see her again soon.

I got back home Saturday evening and got caught up on the important things- you know, catching up on Daily Mail articles online 😆. One headline caught my eye. It was titled, "Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw writes controversial message on Pride- themed hat."

You know me- I am curious/nosy/interested in the "the scoop." I had to read the article to see what this controversial message was. I could not tell from the pictures what the message was because the Daily Mail pixelated out the message. It had to be something obscene, right? Wellll, not so much. The "controversial message" was a BIBLE VERSE reference that Kershaw added to his Pride theme hat. Kershaw wrote this on his hat, "Gen. 9:12-16." That was the controversy!! (The verses tell of God's promise to never destroy the earth by flood again and the rainbow being a symbol of that promise.)

Sometimes I forget that we're living in a post- Christian epoch and then I read an article like this and I'm reminded of it. Sure, we can still practice Christianity. It hasn't been abolished. But to many leaders in and consumers of mainstream media, the entertainment industry, and academia, Christianity is religious non grata. 

As sad as those facts are, I do have to say that the comments in the article were encouraging. Many people expressed their abhorrence of MLB (or at least the Dodgers) making its players were Pride themed hats and/or in the Daily Mail for calling a Bible reference controversial and pixelating out "Gen.9:12-16." The following are some of the comments from the article:

    "That message is not controversial, by any means, except to those who are intolerant to ideas and people who have different views than theirs..."

    "Blurred out a Bible verse. What a wild world. And I'm an athiest."

    "I miss the days you could have an opinion outside the mind hive and not get in trouble."

    "I'm not even remotely a Christian, but I admire his making a statement for his beliefs. Isn't that what we're supposed to be free to do, after all? Any society that tolerates only ONE view is not free. That seems to be what his critics ONLY want."

There are many more comments like this and like I said, they were encouraging to me after reading the discouraging article. The article from the Daily Mail can be read here. Remember to read the comments after the article :).

Sunday morning, I woke up early and ran. I made a salad for later in the day and ran two errands with Alyssa all before church! Church was great; one of the themes of the message was to be courageous and stand firm in the truth of God's word. Even if the world despises you for your faith, stand strong. It was a powerful message. 

Once home, we got ready for Donnie's family to come over for a cookout. Donnie grilled steaks. We had mashed potatoes and the salad that I made. Donnie's sister brought a veggie and fruit tray. I made cookies earlier and the girls made Donnie's favorite dessert of eclair cake. 

I'd say, poor guy having to work for his food on Father's Day but that's exactly how he wanted it...

Ignore the slight awkward quality of this photo- I "strongly" encouraged the photo to be taken... Notwithstanding not always wanting to be in photos at the same moment I want the kids photographed, they children know they are lucky beyond compare to have a dad as great as theirs is.  The phrase "best dad ever" can easily be uttered tritely- the children are so fortunate that it's a reality for them 💕