Musings on Life and Living

The other morning, while helping to set up tables and chairs for a women's conference at the church, I overheard one of my co-labourers discussing a book series with another fellow. In the midst of this conversation, I caught this snippet: "I like the Harry Potter series because I can see the story of Christ in it." I find comments like this quite silly. Not because I think they are reading too much into a story, but, rather, because they are missing the story. They are taking a piece of literature and boiling it down to its most basic elements, which is almost always going to end up having elements of the Gospel in it, because the Gospel is so fundamental to life in general. The problem with this process is that when you boil them down just about every story ends up being the same thing, over and over and over again. On Friday afternoon, I got to sit in on a sixth grade reading class as part of my substitute teaching assignment, and I watched as the teacher and students ...

All LIFTB comics can be found at www.lifeisforthebirds.com Note: Way back in the day (when LIFTB was still quite young) my younger sister created a comic character that was supposedly a prairie dog (although he looked more like a gopher) that wore sunglasses (mimicked from Dude who used to wear sunglasses). When she came to show the family her character, I made the mistake of calling it a gopher. This upsetted her so much that she created a drawing of her "gopher" torturing Dude. It was so funny I drew a rebuttal comic of Dude running over her "gopher" with a huge steam ship (both comics can be found here ). I thought I had won the battle until many years later (last week) my sister shows me this, her comeback even more vicious before (guess I'll hafta draw another rebound comic):

All LIFTB comics can be found at www.lifeisforthebirds.com

For the few readers who actually access our blog through the website, and for those who may have noticed the new title in the email that they receive (but may not read), yes, it is true. Gretch and I have decided that, after over two years of the same boring blog title, it was time for an update. Well, actually, I suggested it, partly in jest, after commenting at another blog about the fact that newly married couples should have receptions to legitimately acquire toasters, blenders, and lemon zesters. Someone else suggested it would be a good name for a blog, and I agreed. Then, somewhat shockingly, Gretch agreed to the change, as well. So why toasters, blenders, and lemon zesters? Well, after giving it some thought, it occurred to me that these three common kitchen items actually serve as fairly decent symbols for what Gretch and I blog about. We blog about our everyday activities. This is like having toast for breakfast. We blog about things that drive us crazy, which is like using a...

I just realised it has been about three weeks since Gretch or I have posted a real entry to the blog (real entry being defined as something other than Gretch's regularly-scheduled comic updates, as awesome as they are). So, what have we been up to? Well, we are still alive. We moved into our new place and have spent the past few weeks trying to unpack and get settled in. We are getting close, although there are still a few items that we haven't found yet. I am pretty sure that they are mixed in with my various teaching supplies that are currently residing in the garage. Most of the unpacking has been done by Gretch, though, since I have been working a temporary job for a cantankerous old man named John who is renovating a home, and needed someone to do odd jobs on the site for him. Mostly, this has involved me sanding drywall, priming drywall, and painting drywall. I have also spent a few thrilling days pulling nails out of wood that John seems to think he is going to use again...

All LIFTB comics can be found at www.lifeisforthebirds.com

All LIFTB comics can be found at www.lifeisforthebirds.com