The Ron Clark Story

I was home alone tonight working on updating my website and wanted some background noise. I flipped channels for a bit, not sure what I was looking for but I found the Ron Clark story.Ron Clark was a teacher in Harlem. I found myslef quite inspired by his story. Even had a few tears drop. The kids treated him terribly. I am almost 100% sure that I would have walked out after the first week - if not the first day.

It reminded me of so many things - just because kids mistreat you or are rude to you does not mean that they do not need you and that they won't eventually come around - that too many children have no one who believes in them and that it makes an amazing difference when some one does believe in them - that simply staying can sometimes say more than words and teach more than a well planned lesson-and a number of cliches I won't bother to type in.

I recently started teaching again and quickly fell in love with my students. Each one has something unique and special to offer. And I am blessed to be able to work with them in a number of different areas. My prayer is that I will be able to see the hidden gifts in each person I meet and help draw it out. (I confess, sometimes I have a hearder time doing that with adults than children!)

Nightmare on Ohe Street

Good day to you. I had an interesting experience today and thought I would share it since it goes so well with the upcoming season. :-) Warning!! Do not read this story if you have arachnophobia!!

Usually I wear slippers to work and then change into tennis shoes when I arrive. Today I decided to change shoes before I went inside. I put my right shoe on and was in the process of putting my left shoe on when I felt something.

I look down and notice an ant on my arm. (Sleep has not been a high priority this week and the less sleep I have, the less my eyes focus, explaining why I didn't notice the problem with my eyes - especially on black shoes) The process of looking at my arm brought my shoe closer to my eyes and I noticed that it was covered with what I thought were ants.

My skin crawled a little, but I figured I could shake them out of my shoe. I took my right shoe off and the ants scattered in different directions. The shoe was soon empty. The critters in my left shoe, however, did not scatter. Upon closer examination, I realized that my left shoe was literally crawling with spiders. Yes, spiders. There were a few ants but the spiders were everywhere. Must have been hundreds of them running around - inside my shoe. Chicken skin anyone? That was strange enough, I thought. But when I searched my backseat for signs of more spiders (after the shoes were tossed out of my car), there were none. It would appear that ALL of the critters had taken residence in my shoes! (Not sure I want to know what that implies!) As I wore my shoes yesterday, I have no idea what happened, but it shook me up - a lot. Who needs horror movies??

Hope you enjoyed my story - it really happened, I will be shopping to replace my shoes this weekend. By the time I got out from work they were missing. Either someone else needed them or the spiders carried them away!

Altar Call

Tonight I went to the Hawaii District Campmeeting for the Nazarene Church. The worship team from Ma'ili Samoan Church of the Nazarene was leading worship. I love that group! So much fun! Sitting in my pew, feeling the wind blow accross my face, listening to children run and play outside, I felt so at home. It was campmeeting. Open air worship, a call to search your heart and a time for renewal. A time set aside from our busy schedules to spend an entire week focused on God. (or at least the evenings of that week)

As usual, there was an altar call at the end of the service. A call to respond to the plan God has for your life. Now there has been some debate in the church I am attending as to whether altar calls are nec. Do we want to include them?After all, there is no Biblical record of them, per se. What good do they do?? Tonight, as I watched the teenagers head for the altar, I was reminded of what the altar represents, or should. Teenagers are a great example of what the church should be when it comes to altar calls. When 1 responds, the rest follow. There may be 10 teenagers surrounding and praying for the 1 who went forward.

That is what we, as the body of Christ, should be doing for one another. When one is hurting, we should all gather around. Yes, altar calls are a good opportunity to invite people to accept Christ. And yes, altar calls can make some very uncomfortable. But they are so much more. They are an opportunity, in a world that is far too busy, to stop and say, "I am broken." or "I need to deal with God - now." They remind us that we are all weak, and offer us the chance to support one another. I have heard it said many times that 80% or more of what happens in most churches could happen without the presence of God (other than to sustain life, of course!). Altar calls must be in the other 20%. How many times have I been running from God's voice, only to get caught in an altar call. Regular services were easy enough to deal with because immediately after the message (when God was speaking to me), a short prayer would be said and service dismissed. People would turn, smile, talk, laugh, eat, leave. In other words, distraction, distraction, distraction, distraction. Then, conviction forgotten. Altar calls made it more difficult. Even if I chose not to respond outwardly. I had to at least listen. There was no distraction - unless I created my own. :-) Oh, the familiar feeling of dread, as you know that God is telling you to take care of business and you are scared to death to step out. What will people think? What will you tell them if they ask you what you are praying for? Also familiar, is the incredible sense of relief and release as you hit your knees and know that you were obedient. Some times, that is all that happened for me during an altar call. I was simply called to obey. Other times, I dealt with issues that lead myself and those praying with me to tarry for an hour or more. Hhhmmm, come to think of it, one of the "tarry" times was during a campmeeting. It was when God first prompted me to respond to a call to full time ministry and service. I think Steve preached out of Acts. That is all I remember about the sermon. I remember the altar call, though. Because that is where things changed. A few friends and a couple loving adults stayed and prayed through with me until the end, sharing scriptures and insights periodically along the way.

Are altar calls nec. in a church service? Probably not, but I definately feel that they have their place, especially when done well - with God doing the prompting and not man doing the manipulating. However we choose to do it, we must never forget to lift up the body. Remember, the enemy is prowling about, seeking whom he may devour. Sooner or later, we are all injured in battle. Hopefully we also grow occasionally, and that growth can be painful as well. The church must be humble enough to be vulnerable within the body and caring enough to support one another - no matter what. A line from a song, "why do the chosen kill their wounded?" has not ceased to haunt me since the first time I heard it. We must not kill our wounded but rescue them and nurture them back to health. If they leave the fold completely, we must pursue them with our love and prayers until the are brought back home.

Thank you for, once again, reading through my rambled thoughts!!

Pondering . . .

Friday at nap time, the ladies at work were talking about the importance, in some cultures, of being pure. Not of heart, but of blood. One race only in the family. Angie, our director, mentioned that they have found scientific evidence that all people have a common ancestor. That started me thinking. In Hawaii we have so many people groups and cultures. Some "pure", most mixed or hapa. As my weekend unfolded, I kept wondering what kind of beautiful and incredible people God must have created. God must have created within Adam and Eve the DNA to produce all shades and colors. I am sure that adaptation has played a part to some extent, but they were the beginning of "recessive genes." ( I think that is the correct term.) Just gives me another reason to look forward to Heaven. What a joy to be able to see the world - and each other - free of sin.

Saturday night, I went to Rumours with a friend. It is a nightclub at Ala Moana Hotel. The were playing retro music and I thought it would be fun to dress retro and go. Originally there were 6 of us going. Ended up being 2, but we did dress up. What a pair we were. My friend dressed up 70s and looked nice. I however, wore a torn sweatshirt and very poofy hair. One small detail that I had not considered was that Ala Moana is one of the nicer hotels. Part of the point of dressing differently was to set ourselves apart from those going for the "meat market" atmosphere. Well, I would say that we were definately set apart! hehe It has been a while since I have been out to a club and this experience was a bit different. People take partying way too seriously. One girl in particular caught my eye repeatedly. Before the 2 hours were over I found myself quietly praying for her.

I remember going to one of my grandpa's weddings. They had a dance afterward. People of all ages were dancing, from toddlers to senior citizens. The music was PG or PG13. I think I like that atmosphere better.

I got to be in church service today. Combining this morning's worship with last night's dancing, I had the somewhat odd desire to twirl in circles in the midst of an open field with worship music playing around me. Later today, I was singing "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" This verse caught my attention:

Summer and Winter and Springtime and Harvest. Sun, moon and stars in their courses above. Join with all nature in manifest witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand has provided. Great is thy faithfulness. Lord, unto me.

Many religions today worship creation. I prefer to worship the creator but what a joy to be able to worship the creator with creation - and in the midst of creation. I love to worship and pray outside.

That was my weekend!

July 4 Weekend 2003

"Yeah! It's Thursday and I only have 30 minutes until I am free for 3 days!!"

Then it happens. A parent comes down the stairs, opens the gate and says, "I'm sorry honey, but you have a flat tire." All I could say was, "What?! Again?!!?" The children are finally gone just before 5:30pm and I am able to go up to the parking lot to find out how bad the senerio really is. Back tire, not needed for steering. Low, but not completely flat. Hhhmmm. I will try the service station. I babied my car down the street to Texaco. I put air in my tire - although I have no idea how much. Those who have said I have wisdom beyond my years have never watched me around a car.

I decided I had better keep an eye on my tire as I take my car to Sears so I tried to make my passenger side mirror reflect my tire. It only worked if I leaned accross the seat to look at it. That could negatively affect my driving, so I vetoed the idea. I get to Sears and an hour later find out that I have a nail in my tire. By now, the nice gentlemen at Sears practically know me on a first name basis and didn't even bother to ask if I had bought the tire there. The man simply shook his head, as if with pity, and told me there would be no charge. (They probably do that for everyone, but I thought that it was nice.) On the way out they informed me that one headlight was out. Mental note - get headlight changed.

The rest of Thursday night I didn't do much. Then came Friday. Most of you already know that I went to the Kailua parade on Friday. After living in Council Bluffs, this parade was actually a bit of a let down. Being from a small town, every band within driving distance came to march. Lots of music, big trucks, performers, etc. Even the elementary schools would march. This parade had 2 school marching bands - both from the mainland, 1 military band and NO local school bands. I kept waiting to hear the base drums or see the flags flying through the air. No. We did get to see all of the Hawaii politicians, plenty of McKenna car dealership advertisements, the shriners and some scout troups. Lots of local advertisement. The people I was with were fun though. And at least I got to go to a parade.

I spent the rest of the day at home. Got to talk to Jay for a while who placed the idea into my head to rent a movie. I did. They were good.

Saturday was my day to play. We started out at A'ala Park, a place where many homeless hang out - some live. The goal? Pass out cake and sandwiches and help them celebrate the holiday. This we did. We also laid out copies of the Gospel of John and the Four Spiritual Laws. A few people sat and read them while they ate their snacks. Fine with us!! :-) Naive group of people that we were, many of us didn't realize until later that there was drug activity going on in the park. Looking back on it, I think one group of people sitting on a bench were actually laughing at our naivity. I boldly (hehe) walked over to them and offered them food. All but one turned me down. I guess most groups who bring food go to the other end of the park. I found out why. We all know that homeless people come in all shapes and sizes, but my heart was wrenched when I walked accross the park to deliver food to those who had not come over and found many of them in wheelchairs or missing arms or legs.

The people were very gracious. In fact, when I pulled in and started unpacking my car, a couple of homeless ladies (& 1 gentleman) came to help carry things to our site. Toward the end we put away our table and simply carried the food and water around the park. My heart rejoiced as I stepped back and watched Debra eagerly passing out Four Spiritual Laws Booklets and Aunty Jo stopping to pray for people. Arlene and her friend were busy making sure things ran smoothly and people felt welcomed.

By 1pm, we still had the equivelent of 1 Costco cake left. Debra and I decided to hit family day at Waikiki. The rest of the cake (and water) almost flew out of our hands. People there were hungry, too! I had the opportunity to pass out 7 of the Gospel of John. One lady took it saying, "Oh, I'm not a Christian." I smiled and told her that she may take it anyway. It makes good reading.

For those of you on the mainland. There was a court battle here last week. The Christian Coalition sponsored a parade to kick off Family Day. A group called something like "Parents of Gay and Lebian Children" or some such thing was not granted permission to march in the parade. The ACLU took the city and the Christian Coalition to court in hopes of having a judge allow them into the parade. That didn't happen. The press made it sound like this huge battle that had enraged the entire gay community and split the rest. I know there were protesters at the end of the parade, but I think reports may have been slightly eggagerated. They had a booth up at the Family Day Fair (that part was sponsored by the city.) It had a gay flag, mean signs and a sour looking man behind a table. Nothing for children or to build relationships - or even to draw a crowd for that matter. I wanted so badly to go up to that man - or maybe write a letter to the editor to pass on my mom's advice. She used to tell me that you can't legislate morality. Laws don't change a persons heart. That must be done one person at a time. She also told me that honey will attract more flies than vinegar. Enough of that.

I stayed all day and then went to the Beach to watch Lilo and Stitch. You would not believe the number of people on that beach!!!!!!!!!!!!! We arrived an hour before things started and literally had to climb over people to find a small piece of sand to sit on. The line to get food took 45-60 minutes. I was standing in that line when they set off the fireworks. I felt like a little kid as I listened to the military band play "Stars and Stripes Forever" and watched the fireworks go off over the ocean. Everything stopped for the show, and it was worth it. Stitch was just heading for Earth when I finally found my seat in the ocean of people. This movie is just more fun when you watch it outside on Waikiki Beach. :-)

The trip home provided more adventures. I should have waited longer before leaving, but I didn't. As a result my car began to show signs of overheating, so I pulled over and sat until the rest of traffic was gone. It was during this time that I realized that I, or something in my car, still carried the stench of the homeless people we had spent time with that morning. My first reaction was, "Ugh! What is that doing in my car?!" That reaction was soon followed by a memory of hearing Jim Cymbala talk about an encounter that he had with a homeless person who visited his church. The stench was so overwhelming that he had to look away while he was talking to the man. As he recounts it, God got his attention in the middle of that conversation and told him that this stench represented the world Christ gave His life for. What an honor to be entrusted with caring for those Christ loves.

Eventually traffic thinned out and I thought I was home free. No such luck. As I was heading to the Highway, I realized why traffic had been so slow. They had a DUI checkpoint set up. Remember that headlight?? Yeah, I got pulled over. The officer was very nice. I had not switched out insurance cards when I got my new ones. Other people must do that fairly often as well because as he was writing the ticket, he was also showing me the number to call and telling me what to get from my insurance company, etc. My purse had been in the trunk. Lucky I think out loud. The officer asked me for my liceanse and I said to myself. "Oh, I put my purse in the trunk this afternoon." I released my seatbelt and started to open the door when the officer stepped back and said in a loud voice, "Getting out of the car." or something like that. It was then that I realized I probably should have asked for permission first. Oops. Eventually, I got home.

This morning was good. I didn't have to teach so I was able to be more social as I set up AND I got to be in the church service. We tried centers in Keiki church. The idea went over well. The water table in the first center didn't go over so well. After playing nicely for 15 minutes or so, the children began to pour the water over each others heads. Okay, next idea. :-) (Thanks Karen and Brandi for being such good sports!)

I trust that each of you also had a wonderful holiday weekend.

Blessings!
Jeannie Hughes

A Lesson in Trust/Cockroach Story

Hi, for those of you who appreciated the "spider" story, tonight I have a follow up.

Let me begin by telling you about a few of the things I read today. I finished the book of Joshua. In the 3rd to the last paragraph it says "Isreal served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everthing the LORD had done for Israel." It reminded me of the importance of experiencing God, not just hearing about things He has done.

Then I got caught up in the book of Ecclesiastes. I forgot how much I enjoy that book. It is like crawling inside Solomon's brain and reviewing his life with him while hearing his most personal thoughts and frustrations. It reminded me that happiness comes from knowing God is in control and doing what He allows you to do - no matter what the "toil".

Now that you have the background of what God had spoken to me about earlier in the day, I will share the sequel to the "Spider Story." It is entitled, "Cockroach Story."

I came home tonight after a wonderfully busy day full of blessings. I found out there is a slight possibility that Kailua United Methodist Church may give me the money to take the college course I would need to allow me to keep my job. If this happened, I would not have to find a new job, would get a $2/hour raise and a full 40 hours a week. I don't know that God will open that door, but it was nice to know that the chairperson of the Preschool board wanted me to stay enough to go to the church with the request. Being my first day back with the children (with the exception of 1 day) in almost 2 weeks, I was blessed by the warm reception and precious concern from my preschoolers. Then a quick trip home to clean up and back out to 8th grade graduation at WNA (Chelsey, one of my 5th grade girls, graduated - catching up with her original class), followed by a meeting. I finally reached home around 11:15pm. As always, I did a quick visual sweep of my apartment for spiders and such. The living area was good. (whew!) So I head toward the bathroom and turn on the light. There he is - on the ceiling of all places! My nemesis, the cockroach. Now I think this is the same cockroach that I have seen over the last few days. He seems to enjoy retreating into the overflow drain in the side of my sink. (I like to delude myself into thinking that he entered my apartment alone and only through that drain.) Now the delimma. It is now close to 11:30pm. If I have to kill that thing on the ceiling, I will wake everyone up above me. (We all know that cockroaches do not just rollover and die easily) (Also Shani and Eddie have their bedroom right above my studio). The second issue is gravity. I was convinced that if I swatted that thing with my shoe, it would fall on my arm. I don't think I would like that. So the waiting/games began. First I tried turning the light on and off. Then I pulled a folding chair (ok, my only chair) into my little bathroom and stood on it, shoe in hand. Then the bargaining begn.

"Okay God. I can do this. I can kill this critter. But can you get it off the ceiling so it won't fall on me?"

"Just kill it, Jeannie."

"Uh, yeah. As soon as it crawls off the roof and onto the wall, it is dust."

Various forms of this same interaction repeated throughout this little drama. I need to let those of you on the mainland know that this is not what you might consider to be a cockroach. It is it's buff cousin. First I decided to wait. I wasn't that tired and surely it would move eventually. My extreme gifting in the area of patience allowed me to stand and stare at it - for approximately 3 minutes. I did manage to learn that, this cockroach at least, has balance issues when trying to walk upside down on the ceiling. Next I decided I would help it along with my handy dandy Behold (yes, this would be the same dusting spray that turned spider nice and white). I stood on my chair and sprayed my dusting tool from various angles in hopes of driving my nemisis off of the ceiling and onto the wall. Didn't work. It did however move him from the angle where wall meets ceiling into open ceiling.

"Here is your shot Jeannie. Kill him now."

"No thanks God. You can do anything so get him off my ceiling. I think he is eating the Behold!"

"Do you trust me?"

"Odd timing God, but yes. That would be why I am asking you to get him off the ceiling."

"Kill him on the ceiling."

"I can't. I am not willing to let him fall on me."

This continued for a few minutes until the absolute absurdity of what I am doing sinks in. I serve the God that created everything I know and more. And I am afraid to kill a cockroach because it might fall on me. Pathetic much?? I must confess that I still did not kill the cockroach with the shoe - wait yes I did, but I am not there yet. I decided that my faith in God was bigger than my fear of the cockroach falling on me, and I got creative. I knew the broom would do nothing. (This was later proved true) So I grabbed my dustpan and attached it to the bottom of my broom. I slammed the ceiling hoping to kill it in one swipe. (Yeah, right) Instead, the critter hitchhiked a ride on the dustpan. I slammed him into the floor causing the dust pan to drop off of the broom. I kept hitting the floor thinking "must get it, must get it" I am not sure what happened, but I think the roach stuck to my broom, but it was not dead. So I shook it off and then killed it with 2 or 3 strikes of my shoe. I am always amazed at the vast variety of cockroach inerds. This one had purple, and he stunk when I killed him. Didn't expect that! Ugh.

I am sure that at least some of you are rolling your eyes thinking, "What on earth would she do with a Cobra in her apartment?" But I really think God kept that critter on the ceiling for a reason. I probably could have sat up all night and watched it lift 1 leg at a time without it really going anywhere. Why? Because I need to be experiencing the fact that I am a child of the King of the universe. In everything I do, everyday, I need to remember who my "Father" is and take courage. It may seem silly to need courage to kill a cockroach, but if I am not obedient in the silly things, how can I expect to be obedient in more important things. It may take a while (and knowing me, a bit of arguing) but eventually I will learn how to take authority like a true daughter of the King. Here's hoping you get to experience God for yourself in an unexpected way.

Malachi 2

I was reading Malachi tonight and ended up journaling 7 pages on the 2nd chapter. I know that I tend to run on, but that is a lot, even for me.

Have you read this passage recently? God is talking to the priests. Rebuking might be a more accurate term. He is comparing how Levi served as compared to how the priests of that day were serving. I have often thought of I and II Timothy as the books the place to go when searching for teaching on how to be a good leader or teacher (although we now know that Joshua also touches on this area), but I didn't realize that all of this was here in Malachi. I always thought of this as the "tithing book."

I just wanted to share with our leadership some of what God highlighted for me tonight. (Don't worry, I am leaving out the 7 pages of personal commentary that was just for me.) ;-) Most of the "qualities" are found in verses 6 & 7, although the last 2 were found in vs. 16. As a leader (priest?!) I should . . .

1) Have and show Reverence for God.

2) Stand in awe of God's name.

3) Be Honest in all I say and do.

4) Walk With God.

5) Turn many from sin. (Ouch!)

6) Preserve Knowledge (Preserve in myself, but also for others, hence part of the reason I am sharing what I have learned - am learning.)

7) Have a mouth that others seek instruction from because I am a messenger of the Lord.

8) Guard myself in my spirit.

9) Do not break faith.

I understand that many use the last 2 as instructions for marriage, but being single, God reminded me that He often speaks of His people as His bride and we are to guard our spirits for him, just as we would for a spouse. Same thing for breaking faith.

Thanks for taking the time to listen (read?) what God is teaching me tonight. Keep me in mind next time God prompts you to share what you are learning. I love to watch how God grows us.

Blessings!
Jeannie Hughes

Love One Another?

Our Pastor has encoured us to participate in a worship feast - fasting from secular music and influences and replacing it with some form of worship. As a result, I have limited my tv watching to the morning news. Not the most uplifting programing in the world. A few of the headlines I heard

*Updates on some kind of high school hazing gone bad.

*A report on a mother who is being accused of getting overly aggressive at her child's baseball game

*The bombing in Saudi Arabia

*Democratic Politicians in Texas walk out in protest over a rezoning proposition

Now, I am sure that you have all heard these headlines and more. I am equally sure that some of them are sensationalized by the media. But it disturbes me just the same. Our preteens (at church) have been studying the 10 commandments and all of our children are learning Matthew 22:37-39. We have discussed how those 2 commandments (love the Lord your God . . . and love your neighbor as yourself) sum up the rest of the law. As I listen to these stories, my heart mourns. How many of us who are Christians can truly say that in all we do we put God first, giving Him everything that we have and that we are loving our neighbor as ourselves. Philippians chapter 2 tells us that we should do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than ourselves. Each one should look not only to their own interests, but also to the interests of others. It goes on to remind us that our attitude should be like that of Jesus Christ. What follows is heavy. Some call it the kenosis passage. It describes how - well, check it out - "who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant." It goes on, but you get the point. God, Himself gave us the example of putting others first by making himself nothing and being obedient to death, even death on a cross.

I know that I fall short on following that example, but watching the news this morning challenged me. If you think about it, I think you will realize that when someone sacrifices something - even something small - for your benefit, it makes an impact. More of an impact than words ever could. I wonder how much we could impact our world if we consciously practiced putting others first on a daily basis. How long would it take for us to see lives changed? Do you think it would be possible to change the world enough to change the "taste" of the news headlines??

Thanks for listening to my ramblings - I now have to run to work!

Blessings!
Jeannie Hughes
"I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness for sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." Acts 26:18

Spider

Tonight I met what I believe to be my first cane spider. I didn't stop to grab an encyclopedia, but spindly did not come close to describing the legs on this baby. They were trees! So cane spider or other - he was ugly!!!

So I come home from a nice night out with friends. It is around 11pm and I was ready to check out for the night - or so I thought. I unlock my door, turn on the light, then begin to close the door, turning to toss my slippers where they usually rest and something catches my eye. Yep, my new "friend". I am grateful that I am young and have a strong heart. I don't like the little spiders with the long legs, or even the cute little black jumping spiders, but this created nightmares in my brain while I was still quite awake.

At first, the insane thought crossed my mind that I might just let the guy live. After all, at school, we are always telling the children not to kill "God creatures". Then again, this creature was inside my living space. A quick glance toward my bed made up my mind. (For those of you who do not know, my bed is approx. 6 inches off the floor - I think the spider's legs, when extended, would easily reach that far.

Once the decision was reached not to just leave it alone, I got the brilliant idea to "encourage" my friend to go back outside. After all, creatures raised in nature are supposed to have a survival instinct, right? When given the choice between me and freedom outside, he should choose freedom outside. If that is the case, this spider had mental deficiencies.

I have been stocking my apartment slowly and had not yet got around to poison, since creatures hadn't been a big problem up until now. But, I did find Behold dusting spray on sale at Daiei the other day. And I had hairspray. Hhhmmmm. Guess those will work.

I walk over to the door (the spider was just inside the door.) and spray a little Behold toward it while opening the door. Instead of seeing an opportunity for freedom and running out the door, this stupid little creature came at me - big creature with smelly spray. Needless to say, I continued spraying deciding to use the Behold with one hand and the hairspray with the other. The spider turned white and slowed down, but he was still coming toward me. It left me no choice. I put down the hairspray and grabbed a slipper (a big, heavy one) and while I continued spraying with my right hand (the Behold), I used my left hand to slam my slipper on top of it. Twice. I couldn't stand the thought of picking it up with a tissue, nor did I want to leave it there in case of miraculous revival, so I grabbed my broom and swept him outside where he should have gone in the first place.

So now, the spider is dead (or maimed), my Behold is about half gone, and my apartment smells disturbingly clean - and I am trying to come up with a plan of action in case I see one of those monsters again.

Just thought I would share my adventure with you - especially since I am now wide awake!

Hope you all are having a blessed weekend!

Jeannie