Permission to Have Fun

I have moved my blogging to WordPress.

For more fun with Pam Kumpe, that's me,

swing over to http://pamkumpe.com/

and watch for updates.

Watch for notices on my other site about my new

Radio Show which you can listen to online at

KLBW 1530 AM The Light.

It's called "Permission to Have Fun"

Encouraging you to Pray & Play while Staying in Love with God.

Summer Heat!

How long does it take a blonde to drive a car eight miles in the pouring down rain?

Answer: One hour!

I'd found myself in a blanket of rain, so heavy it was like the clouds were touching the ground and dumping buckets of water right on top of me. As for the color of the sky, can you say gray? Dark. Wet. Muted gray. Where's a rainbow when you need one?
I left the highway near the paper mill and was only minutes from home, but it was like my car veered from the road on its own. Then I saw a group of cars, and three of them were stuck in the rushing water at the bottom of the hill.
I turned around, and by the time I'd driven five miles, up and back; I'd spent 40 minutes and only gone a few miles!
I zigzagged through town as many streets were flooded, cut through a sub division and found myself a block from the house. It took me another 20 minutes to get home!
All I can tell you is, that day I considered building an ark in my neighborhood. You could've joined and we might have gone down in history on "Pam's Ark," in memory of Noah's famous boat ride.

Update: This flood was in May! And now we're scorching in the sun with 105 degree weather!

Rain! Rain! Rain! Give me rain! Some oars, a boat and cooler temperatures!

Cows Explain Politics

I always knew I could learn something from a cow! See if you agree.

Cows Explain Politics

Mandatory 'gay' day for K-5 students

Mandatory 'gay' day for K-5 students

What's your take? Would you allow you children to attend?

Check it out!

Even the title of the curriculum book makes me ask some hard questions.

Be Kind to Critters!

This is BE KIND TO ANIMALS WEEK. We can do a few things to help our furry friends!

1. Do something nice for your mice. After all, their ancestors did come over on the Mayflower.
2. Take time to stop and smell a skunk. Try not to hold your nose unless he holds his. While you're at it, let him borrow your after shave.
3. Create a scholarship fund for porcupines to study acupuncture.
4. Help an aardvark start his own ant farm.
5. Donate your old contact lenses to a mole.
6. Let your rabbit keep all four feet.
7. Designate one trash barrel with an easy open lid for raccoons.
8. Spiff up your armadillo with Armorall.
9. Give a rear-view mirror to a hummingbird. The hummingbird is the only living creature that can fly backwards, but it's no fun because he can't see where he's going.
10. Give a robin an alarm clock. A robin needs about 70 worms a day to stay alive, so he has to be an early bird.
11. Take your Chihuahua to Taco Bell.
12. Watch a Muppet movie with a frog.

And yes, I'm having way to much fun living in a rural area surrounded by critters of all kinds! Piney Woods in East Texas!

Chapstick Has Many Uses!

It's not Mother's Day, but gosh -- you need to check this story out. See if you have any Chapstick in the house! And if you have toddlers dispose of it before you have this happen to you.
_______________
This family had a 10 year-old cat named Jack who died. Jack was a great cat ,and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on a mat in their bathroom.

At the time of this tale, the three children were four, three and one. The middle child loved Chapstick. He kept asking to use his Mom's Chapstick and then he'd often lose it.

So finally one day Mom showed him where she kept the Chapstick telling him he could use it anytime. The drawer in the bathroom held the stick of soothing ointment.

However, one Mother's Day as the family rushed to get ready for church everyone cried and carried on. Two of the kids fought over the toy in the cereal box while the baby wailed as Mom put her make up on.

Everything had long forgotten it was a Mother's Day, a Sunday to honor Mom and the amazing job she holds -- motherhood.

Finally everyone loaded up in the car only that "middle child" was missing. Mom hurried back into the house and found her toddler in the bathroom applying Chapstick VERY carefully to their cat's rear end.

The boy looked right into his mother's eyes and said "chapped."

Now if you have a cat, you know that their little butts do look pretty chapped at times. This Mom had only one question, "Was this the FIRST time her son applied Chapstick to the cat, or was it the 100th?!"

So got any fun Mother's Day tales to share? I'd love to hear them! And no, I don't want to borrow your Chapstick!

Baskin' Robins!

Two robins were sitting in a tree. "I'm really hungry", said the first one.
"Me, too", said the second. "Let's fly down and find some lunch."
They flew to the ground and found a nice plot of plowed ground full of worms. They ate and ate and ate 'til they could eat no more. "I'm so full I don't think I can fly back up to the tree," said the first one.
"Me neither, let's just lay here and bask in the warm sun", said the second.
"OK", said the first.
They plopped down, basking in the sun. No sooner than they had fallen asleep, a big fat tomcat snuck up and gobbled them up.
As he sat washing his face after his meal, he thought, "I love baskin' robins."

If you find yourself going through the day like a person whose eaten way too much; then pause, reflect and see what the Lord would have you do instead.

I've learned that tomcats come disguised in many forms and they'll eat away at our time, zap our attitudes, and take away our joy.

My advice is -- keep your eyes open, snack on the flavorful promises of God and watch out for furry things that crowd your thoughts or your actions.

Don't let anything rob you of living a baskin' victorious life!

Giddy up!

What is the opposite of joy?

"Sadness."

And the opposite of depression?

"Elation."

And how about the opposite of woe?

"I believe that would be giddy up!"

....I think I've become a country gal after all!

Nitro Words Will Blow Up in your Face!

Did you know that words can blow up? That's right, they're like nitroglycerin and have the potential for impact that can leave scars on some one's heart.

I remember the time I yelled at my twin sister. We were in the 4th grade. But the reason behind it seemed justified at the time.

Before the episode, she'd run out the back door to play with Ricky and Randy. I wanted to join them, pushed open the screen and hopped down the steps. I'll never forget her gaze, when she looked back at me and ran without stopping. That's right. She ran!

The three of them took off into the woods, and I decided to cut them off at the pass. I planned to take an alternate path and meet them down the trail. When I reached a three-foot irrigation ditch with a barbed wire fence; I immediately assessed the distance. I could do it. I could jump across the ditch.

I backed up. Got a running start and pushed off. As I sailed through the air, my leg dropped down and as gravity would have it, I fell onto the barbed wife fence. I stood. I looked at my thigh. A softball sized hole in my leg caught my attention.

I panicked and ran home.

Once at the house, Mom told me to put a band-aid on the wound. She didn't really turn around, so she had no idea how bad the cut was on my leg. Soon she did, and we headed to the hospital. I ended up with 40 stitches.

When I thought it couldn't get worse, the doctor took a final x-ray of my leg. The technician discovered a shotgun shell casing had gotten embedded in my leg. That's right, they had to take out the 40 stitches, remove the foreign item, and re-stitch my leg up again.

By the time, I saw my sister. I yelled at her, and blamed her for my accident. I said things I'd regret, and I made her cry.

That's right, I was no better than Job's friends in the Bible. You remember them, Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad who joined Job and sat with him for seven days and seven nights. They cried, threw dust on their heads and sat with Job.

The problem came when they started talking -- their words of criticism were like nitro to Job's heart. My words were like nitro to my sister's heart.

Sometimes listening is better in the long run, especially when our words may cause more pain.

I didn't feel better when I made my sister feel responsible for my injury; I only wounded my own heart. It was like I'd torn a gaping hole in my sister's heart that day with unnecessary words.

Take my advice. Pause. Listen. Pause. Listen. And then -- pause and listen before you speak.

And if you're like me, apologize when you've said something you shouldn't! Relationships are too important to let them blow up in our faces!

For the Tough Times, Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope

A quick look at Max Lucado's book "For the Tough Times" - Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope, I strolled through the pages and discovered a few nuggets that I liked, but there were a few I shook my head and questioned.

Since I've read many of Lucado's books, the familiar way he links sentences together with a certain poetic tone grabs me every time. In this book, the small compact size would be a nice reason to grab it for someone who needs hope, because it's a very short 80 pages.

When a person is in pain, he or she may ask questions. They are looking for understanding. And since we live a world that's fallen, where disasters prevail, people hurt, and life feels like it's unraveling; the fact is - people need Christ. His love will bring the comfort they desire.

Sure Lucado can inspire, and he does give effective illustrations. Like the chapter on revenge where he shares a story about an Amos and Andy routine (page 50). Amos asks Andy what that little bottle is he's wearing around his neck. "Nitroglycerin," he answers. Amos is stunned that Andy would be wearing a necklace of nitro, so he asks for an explanation.

Seems a fellow had a habit of poking Andy in the chest when he spoke to him. So Andy hopes the nitro will blow off his finger, and he'll get even. Settling a score often brings more suffering for us instead.

I teach Kids Super Church, and may use this illustration in the future with my children.

As a whole the book lifts the spirit, and although there were a few times I felt some comparisons with scripture were stretched; I'd still recommend the book to someone who needs a short book that might point ones thoughts to God.

But to tell me God is in charge, does not add up in my heart, because we have free will. God is not in heaven pulling strings, like we're puppets. Love, Christ's unfailing love does not come with a puppet string.

In the chapter where Lucado encourages me to listen more and speak less, I'm reminded of how I need to listen more. Period. Listening for God's voice and allowing His comfort to speak to me through the Holy Spirit is a great reminder. I really appreciated that chapter.

But would this book be my first choice in telling a person to about hope? No, probably not. But if someone is solid in his or her faith, there are good parts in the chapters. But even the caption on the back of the book, "God is in control," causes me to to think twice, because God is in control of His part, but He's not pulling my strings and pointing me in a certain direction. His love gives me the freedom to choose, to listen to Him, and to love Him in return.

Point a person to Christ's love and he or she will always find hope.

A good book. Good illustrations. Some valid points. Some questionable. You decide.