Rocky Mountain High

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In case you weren’t aware, Colorado has legalized medicinal marijuana.  Come out here and there’s no way you can miss it.  Here is a collection of a few stores that I have seen.  Keep in mind that this is only a fraction of the stores I have seen…seriously, it’s everywhere.  These places are spreading like weeds. You would think the people out here would be a little more mellow with all this stuff so easily accessible.

Some of the names of the stores are a little difficult to read, so here is a list of the places pictured above (left to right and top to bottom).  Agree with them or not, you definitely have to give them credit for creativity.

1.  Not sure of the exact name, but it’s a bright green store
*Would burn your retinas if your eyes weren’t glazed over*

2.  High Society
*Bringing a touch of class to the medical marijuana game*

3.  Innovative Therapies
*Doesn’t get much more innovative than rolling plants up in paper and lighting them on fire*

4.  Smithstonian Institute
*For the thinking man and those who like to ponder the deeper things of life*

5.  Little Green Pharmacy
*Surrounded by fences and guard dogs because you have to protect the good stuff*

6.  Cheba Hut “Toasted” Subs
*No word on whether or not they serve “special” brownies for dessert*

7.  Colorado Cherry Cider Company
*Has nothing to do with marijuana, but these places give the phrase “A Taste Of The High Country” a whole new meaning*

Flea Market Fun (Part 2)

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Here is another flea market that I am amazed by every time I drive by.  This one is in Springfield, MO.  I guess you really can buy just about anything at a flea market.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

I found this beauty at Vintage Stock a few weeks ago.  A two episode DVD of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood cradled in a cardigan cover…of course I had to buy it.  And for only $5.99…what a steal… wait, Mr. Rogers wouldn’t encourage stealing…umm…what a DEAL!  I don’t know who came up with the cardigan cover, but what a brilliant idea – now your DVDs can be as sharply dressed as your favorite friendly neighbor!

Are These Signs Really Necessary?

I always thought this was pretty common knowledge, but apparently it’s a big enough problem at this intersection that they felt the need to put these two signs right across the road from each other.  I know they don’t get a lot of rain in the area, but what are the other options?  Maybe they had too many people trying to swim or kayak in the flood waters.

Flea Market Fun (Part 1)

We checked out a few of the local flea markets yesterday.  One of them was the über classy Itchy’s Flea Market in Fort Collins.  I’m not sure what we expected to find at Itchy’s, but here are a few of the unexpected finds.

(Click On Photo For Full Size)

Photo #1
An outside view of Itchy’s Flea Market. (Seriously.  It’s called Itchy’s Flea Market.  Classic.)

Photo #2
If you’re banking on protection from Itchy’s Flea Market, you may want to go ahead and buy that pregnancy test while you’re at it.  It may or may not tell you whether the condoms were a bust.

Photo #3
Outdated medicine for when your kid is sick and you’re kind of hoping to make him feel better, but don’t want to spend too much money.

Photo #4
If the outdated medicine doesn’t work, this creepy panda chair is guaranteed to scare the sickness out of any child.

How Patriotic Should Christians Be?

Does this not seem strange to anyone else?

According to the United States Flag Code:

When used on a speaker’s platform, the flag, if displayed flat, should be displayed above and behind the speaker. When displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium, the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman’s or speaker’s right as he faces the audience. Any other flag so displayed should be placed on the left of the clergyman or speaker or to the right of the audience. (emphasis mine)

How about now?

When did Christians become okay with giving more honor to the flag that represents the country they live in than to the flag representing the God we serve?  I’m not a fan of having the United States flag anywhere inside the church, but if you insist on having it in your church, could you at least put it in its proper place?  I realize that flags are just pieces of fabric, but when you display a flag you are expressing your loyalty to whatever that flag represents.  And the flag that you place in the position of prominence and highest honor tells everyone who you are most loyal to.

It drives me nuts when I go into a church or Christian organization and I see the United States flag displayed, especially when it is above the Christian flag or the Christian flag is not present.  By doing this it tells people that your ultimate loyalty is to the United States.  Our loyalty should not be to any country, state, organization, or system, but to God and God alone.  That is why I have issues with flying the United States flag inside church buildings.

It’s also why I struggle with saying the Pledge Of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America,
and to the republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.

I guess my biggest issue with all this is whether or not it’s possible to profess allegiance and be loyal to both God and the country I live in.  My ultimate loyalty will always be to God, but loyalty to a country can change.  If I were a citizen of Djibouti, would my loyalty and allegiance be to America or Djibouti?  I would probably be okay with pledging my allegiance to the United States above any other country, since it’s where I was born and where I live, but I’m not okay with pledging my allegiance in general to a flag or a country.

I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced this, but not too long ago I was at a function at a church and they had everyone stand up and say the Pledge of Allegiance.  I just couldn’t wrap my head around how they could think that it seemed like a good idea.  It was at a graduation ceremony for a preschool at a church in town and they had the kids singing church songs and patriotic songs, one right after the other.  When did American patriotism become so intertwined with Christianity in this country?  And why do Christians seem so okay with them being so closely bound and get so upset and defensive when other people aren’t as patriotic as they think they should be?

Please don’t misunderstand – I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be appreciative of the rights and freedom that we have as a result of living in America.  We should appreciate and be thankful for the rights and freedom that we are afforded as a result of living where we do.  We should be thankful for, respect, and honor those in the military and public service who have sacrificed their time, effort, energy, and lives to protect us and our freedom.  We should show a certain amount of respect to the flag and what it represents.  What we shouldn’t do is be more devoted to the country in which we live than to the Kingdom to which we belong.

Be patriotic if you want.  Be appreciative and grateful that you live where you do.  Show respect to the country, the flag, and those who have given so much so that you may have something to respect and be appreciative of.  Just don’t forget that God and His Church must take priority over whatever country, state, or city you live in.  Nations will come and go, but the Kingdom of God will reign forever.

What Were They Thinking?

Jadon recently got this prize from a box of cereal.  It took me a while to figure out exactly what it was.  I’m not sure who decides what the cereal box prize is going to be, but I was certain they were running out of ideas.  I don’t know about you, but I thought for sure they had put either a Zippo lighter or a letter opener in the box for kids to play with (it’s actually a marker).  Maybe I should get him a box of candy cigarettes and some sealed envelopes to go along with it.

Another Quick Update

Well, it’s been just over a week since we arrived in Colorado.  So far it has been fairly relaxing, which is nice, but now it’s time to get in gear and find a job.  There are several good sized towns within about a 25 mile radius, so hopefully that means there are more jobs to go around than in Joplin, but that also means there are more people looking for jobs.  Guess that kind of evens things out.  Best I can do is just do my part and leave the rest up to God.  I’m sure He has something in store, I just wish He’d go ahead and reveal it already.  Suspense is totally overrated.

After a week of being here, getting to know some of the roads and area, and beginning to get a feel for things, it doesn’t seem quite as intimidating as it did at first.  The weather and mountains are nice of course, but it’s still no Missouri.  The people still seem to be in a bit of a hurry and aren’t quite as friendly as Missourians, but maybe it’s just because I have some sort of outsider stench or something.

We are still missing our family, friends, and church like crazy, but that’s just something that I guess we’ll have to deal with.  I doubt it will ever completely stop…I hope it never stops.  Jadon has been missing his friends, but apparently he brought the imaginary O’Connor family along with us, so that has been nice.  Jadon and I have been playing a ton of basketball in his room and his favorite thing is for him, Joshua, Brayton, Brent, Julie, and Scarlet to block my shots.  We could play ball with the imaginary O’Connor family for hours.

I guess that’s about all I have for now – not real exciting, but it may possibly be better than nothing.  If anyone is interested, I’ve posted some pictures on Facebook from when we went up into the mountains the other day.  They were taken with my phone, so they probably aren’t the best quality, but you’ll get the idea.

What Do YOU Do?

I’ve been curious about this for a while now and could use your help to find some answers.  Feel free to tell your friends, family, dogs, fish, and koalas to vote too.  The more people that vote, the less the results will be distorted by a small sample size.  And of course, accurate results are of utmost importance.

As for me, I always take one last drink before I leave and sometimes even ask for a cup to take with me.  Those drinks get expensive at restaurants and refills are free, so why not maximize consumption of said beverage?

A Quick And Simple Update

Well, I wanted to write a quick update, but there’s really not much to report so far.  We left right after church on Sunday morning and got in early Monday morning – around 2:00 a.m. Colorado time.  The first full day here, Monday, was about as uneventful as it could be.  We slept for a while, went to Perkins to grab some food, to the grocery store to get a few things, and then went and found a storage unit to put all our junk in.

It definitely doesn’t feel like home yet, but hopefully that will come in time.  It’s not that it’s not a nice place, it’s just really different.  All the stores look the same everywhere you go, things all seem too nice, and everyone is in a hurry.  The mountains are definitely beautiful and the lack of humidity is nice.  It makes a great vacation place to get away to for a while, but hopefully in time it will start to feel more like home.

Thanks to everyone for all the prayers and encouragement.  We just need to keep reminding ourselves to keep a good attitude and be open to experiencing new things.  This is one of the hardest things we’ve ever done and one of the least natural feeling things we’ve done.  Feel free to call or come see us anytime.  It’s always good to hear from friends and family.  We’ll do our best to keep in touch, but it may be spotty until we get a little more settled.  We love you all and miss you already.