UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!

I hate Blogspot.

New Blog - www.lifeofascalf.wordpress.com

thank you.

That's What You Get for Diggin' in the Flower Bed!

Hello -

You may have already seen this if you've visited my facebook page lately, but here it is just in case you missed it.

I caught Romo digging in the flower bed - NAUGHTY NAUGHTY!! But the story is much longer than that.

Romo and Lady (my in-laws dog) have fleas. They have been suffering for two weeks now as we waited to see if Frontline was ever going to work. I did some research yesterday, and Frontline is supposed to kill everything off in 12 hours... Needless to say, it didn't work. We've been checking them multiple times a day and picking the fleas off.

Yesterday we spoke with our vet (after being put on hold several times for long periods) who said there was nothing that she could do - it's flea season. She recommended that we get a pill called Capstar (from Petmart) which kills all the fleas within 2 hours. When we got to Petmart, the vet there said that we should give them the pill, treat the carpet, wash the dogs with Dawn dish soap, give the pill one more time, then apply the preventive flea medication. So we started the process.

We washed the dogs with Dawn this morning and let them play outside while they dried off and the carpet is being treated (which takes at least an hour). OF COURSE my little puppy got into the flower bed after 2 minutes. He dug himself into a mess. So I yelled, and spanked, and yelled, and rewashed that darn pup til the dirt was gone. He still had to stay outside though until the carpet was ready. Hence, the cage outside and him acting helpless and hurt. He's just lucky that we washed him in the morning and not in the high noon Texas heat!

On a lighter note, (not lite, however) I made a fruit pizza last night for dessert. This is just an iPhone photo, but I bet if P came with her sweet camera and photoed this baby, you'd be able to taste it by just looking! Even PJ liked it (and he doesn't like sweets at all). Thuy and I might open a fruit pizza/frozen yogurt shop someday.

Anyways, this post is a novel already. I'm done now.

Mrs. Scalf

John 14:6

Here is something interesting that PJ shared with me the other night. He was at an interview for a youth pastor postion at our church here in Prosper when he was asked a question similar to this:
"Who has eternal life in heaven?"
"Those who believe in Jesus. John 14:6 says, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me'."

After the interview, one of the elders approached him and said, "I want you to read Romans 11:25-32"

PJ came home and opened up his Bible. I'm not going to type out the whole passage here in the blog - but you should go read it! The subtitle of the passage is 'All Israel Will Be Saved'.

I have been told my whole life that the only way to eternal life with God is through belief in Christ. Therefore, anyone who does not believe he is Lord and Savior (Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, etc.) will have eternal condemnation. I have been told that Jews will not be in heaven. Straight up, just like that. By EVERYONE who has taught me the word.

The only problem is that Romans clearly states that the Jews will be in heaven because God made a promise to them as his chosen people.

He had mercy on us (Gentiles) in our disobedience and will have mercy on the Jews for their disobedience (crusifying the Christ).

It's a crazy thing to grasp (old dogs can't learn new tricks, afterall) and I had TONS of questions about it that PJ had some good thoughts on. Right now I can't remember any of those questions, but I would really like to write about my doubts and PJ responses to them.

You should ask some questions so that I can think more about it.

Mrs. Scalf

Life in Texas

Hello, whoever you are who reads this (are you out there?)!

I am officially a Texan and it's awesome. I am currently jobless and searching for a place to give me a paycheck - which was slightly successful yesterday. Other than that, I work out with Caitlin, chill out with Romo, cook-out with the fam, and pass out with the hubby. It's kind of the life (as long as you don't mind being broke).

Speaking of Romo...

Stinkin' cute as all get out! This was him right before 4 months (Memorial Day Weekend). Much more of his puppy fur is gone now and he is turning a rich golden color. He has a flea problem, which is frustrating because he's been on his meds for that regularly and I'm not sure what to do...

Many of you know this, but some don't: we bought a 1988 Jeep Cherokee!

It's the bomb. It has about 85,000 miles on it (most of which were dragged behind an RV), it's a manual (which I LOVE), and best of all - all hooked up with a CB Radio! Holler! PJ and I are really excited about it. Romo was so excited that he pooped in the back! (I wish I was kidding...)

We have some GREAT friends down here (my only friends, actually) - Caitlin and Troy. Troy and PJ really love each other.

...Ok, PJ really loves Troy and the rest is questionable! But Caitlin and Troy really love each other and make a pretty stellar couple!

I'm so thankful for friends like them!

That's what's new in the Lone Star State.

Until next time, cowboy.

Mrs. Scalf

Washington, D.C. - Baby B!

Hello Friends!

I've had several things that I've needed to blog about, but haven't had the resources necessary to do so until now! (My Internet is canceled at the apartment, my personal computer is in Texas with the hubby, and I haven't been at work for a 1.5 weeks!) So here we go!

Washington, D.C. with Streets was a BLAST! The trip went really smoothly - no one became a missing person! (Please excuse the iPhone photos... I don't have a chord for my camera [not that my camera is any better quality]) Here is a photo of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background. I really enjoyed D.C. and would love to go back with PJ - who is a history buff - someday!



We were in D.C. until May 12 at 9:00 AM. By noon that same day, I was on the road to McKinney to see PJ and go to a job fair (which turned out to be completely pointless). Romo tinkled a wee little bit when he saw me, which made me incredibly happy! He's having so much fun there. He has a dog friend (who doesn't particularly like him, in my opinion) and a good yard to run around in! It's so much fun to have a little family! There are a couple young girls that come over to PJ's parents house to play with the dogs. They painted my nails and put flowers in PJ's hair... isn't he cute?! (And looks so happy...)

I drove back to Memphis on the 17th for my last two weeks. On the 18th I began full-time babysitting for 2 children while their parents were in Mexico! There are normally 4 kids, but two of them went to Grandma's for the week. It's unbelievably easy to keep 2 kids compared to the normal 4. I started thinking that I will definitely want at least 4 of my own (I've always wanted 6 or 7, but you never really know... now I know... I think). One of the nights - Wednesday maybe - I got a text from Jambow. This was our conversation:

"Car accident busted knee on mu may to er"

"It's"

"What. Oh no. I'm babysitting or I'd be there!!!

"Call someone yo come I don't want to be alone"

"Okkkk... tried calling Ashley, let me keep trying people"

"Ok! What baptist east er?"

"On my way"

As you can see, I didn't change any of her mis-spelled words in order to capture the importance and urgency of her texts. I dropped the kids off at their grandparents - who happen to live next door - and was off to the ER! I had a photo of her at the hospital in a wheelchair, but Blogger made it disappear and I'm not happy about it. It also won't let me upload any photos again. Should I change to a new blog type? I think so. Anywho, she broke her patella pretty bad. They thought it was broken into 3 pieces, but when the surgeon began his work, he found that it was actually nearly shattered. She can't put any pressure on it for 6 weeks and they aren't confident the procedure is even going to work. If this is the case, she will have it all removed and replaced with a fake knee cap. Sounds fun, huh? Her mother, sister, and nephew came to take care of her for a few days. Can I just say that her nephew is the most amazing baby I've ever met? He's gorgeous and happy and smiley and perfect! Look at him sleeping on his "Tee Tee Me Me"!

I think that every family should have bi-racial babies. I think that every race should marry and create babies with every other race often, because he is BEAUTIFUL and there should be lots more like him crawling around! Jambow is a really good aunt and B B's mommy is a really great mom; oh heck, and Grammy is a wonderful Grandma! Life is good.

I move to Texas in 5 days. It's such a bitter-sweet thing, as are most changes in life. I thought moving to Memphis was going to be bitter-sweet, but it turned out to be mostly just sweet! I eagerly expect and hope that the move to TX will be the same. There are a lot of people here that I'm going to miss horribly, though. Including, but not limited to, Jambow. Memphis is only a 7 hour drive from McKinney, so I know that I will be back often! I'm thinking about running the St. Jude 1/2 marathon again... a GREAT excuse to make my way back over here :D

Until next time (which will hopefully be soon),

Mrs. Scalf

Texas

Guess what?

My family officially lives in Texas! Here is a photo I took with my phone just before they left yesterday morning!

I think Mr. Scalf is pretty excited about the move - he loves everthing about and everyone in Texas. I will be there shortly, but for now - Washington, D.C. with STREETS!

Hopefully I have some more exciting pictures once we actually get there!!

Stay posted!

Mrs. Scalf

Just Another Day

Dear Friends,

I just sat down to read the Word a bit and came across something interesting that I figured I should write about. Also, yesterday's service was amazing. The one-and-only KV spoke on Matthew 7:12-23...yikes - it's a TOUGH one! Actually, all of Matthew 5-7 is especially tough (The Sermon on the Mount). It should make one realize how sinful he is and how great there is a need for a savior. I'm hoping to put a blog up about that passage (from what was taught by KV in church and DownLine) later this week.

But for now, 1Corinthians 5:9-11.

I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

I fully understand when Paul says, "not at all meaning the people of this world...". One cannot expect godly character from a person who does not believe or have the Spirit living in him. These are the people that Christ tells us to preach the good news to, so of course we are to associate with them in order to increase the Kingdom

But it's almost as if Paul expects Christians to be PERFECT! We all have one struggle or another. I'm greedy. I struggle with making worldly treasures my idol. So should Christians not associate with me!? What about Grace? Is it different if a brother is mourning over this sin or recognizes it and needs help? SHOULD I ABANDON MY FELLOW BROTHERS AND SISTERS BECAUSE THEY ARE SINFUL (LIKE ME)? Now I know that I shouldn't do that, but really, Paul - what do you mean?

Please leave your comments!

Mrs. Scalf