Tag I'm Itt ... Again

I'm Itt again!
Are you sick of hearing about me yet!? LOL.

Christy at Dreaming the Simple Life has tagged me for Six Things You Don't Probably Already Know About Me. I have to tell ya though; after reading her six things, this is likely to be a snoozer.

I did this one not too long ago so I'm gonna change it up a bit. I know! I'll tell six things about some of you! Do you see someone you know in my list?

Here are the rules:
Rule #1 ... Aw who needs rules. TAG YOU'RE ITT!

1. I met this bloggy friend on a Wednesday. I was all alone and she even said I was a nobody. How rude! LOL! And after I told her to put First Things First! Don't worry, we quickly became good friends. She's one of the best and always has a kind word for everyone she meets.
Click HERE to see who she is.

2. This new to me bloggy friend has quite a sense of humor, and doesn't appear to be much of a rule follower (according to the last two posts I read). He's is planning a Christmas give-away, so I really want to get on his good side. :) Just kidding. The sense of humor is a real treat!
Click HERE to see who he is.

3. This bloggy friend will keep you in stitches, or she'll take you to get stitches. When you visit her your head will spin, your face will grin, and all the confusion will start to sink in ~ but you won't mind a bit, because you'll feel like you're home and you won't want to leave.
Click HERE to see who she is.

4. This bloggy friend wrote a whole post to thank me for something I didn't even know I did. She invites you into her home, gives you a tour, and even lets you help decorate. A most neighborly friend and treasure to my heart.
Click HERE to see who she is.

5. This bloggy friend is always doing lots of fun family stuff. I love going to visit her and the family, and one day I'm just gonna move right in with them. ;)
Click HERE to see who she is.

6. This bloggy friend threw a bloggy birthday bash for me that lasted two days! It was SO much fun! I had the time of my life. My back still hurts from trying to do the limbo though. :) A wonderful lady and hostess.
Click HERE to see who she is.

7. This bloggy friend says 7 is a Holy number which is why I have added number seven! She praises thee King in every little thing. Arms held high up to the sky. She's generous and gracious and welcome you with open arms and smoochy holy kisses. LOL. She's always inviting me for coffee and a chat at midnight too. :D She has a beautiful heart.
Click HERE to see who she is.

I wanted to do more but the rules do say six. LOL. I will have to do this again on another day, itt was fun and there are so many bloggy friends to talk about. :D

Things are a little busy around the house so I have fallen behind in making my rounds to visit you all. I'll be trying to catch up this week. Love you all!





Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind ~ Luke 10:27

Tagged for Fabulous Five

I've been tagged by Esmé at Mozi Esmé for this Fabulous Five meme! Play along if you want.

I am supposed to start with five photos. Hmmm, will have to go find those. Be right back.........
...........Here they are!

Beautiful Little Girls

Content Dogs

The Joy of Jumping

Are you looking at Me? (Photo taken by Debra Smith at Sparrowgrass. She takes Fabulous Photos!)

How Great is our God!

Favorite Foods: This really depends but ok here I go.
1. Steak - Ribeye to be precise.
2. Chili and Chips
3. Fried Chicken - Ok, fried just about anything.
4. Onions - I love Onions
5. Breakfast any time of the day.

Favorite Colors: This changes. I don't have a favorite color. I like almost all colors except the primary colors. I think in hues more than colors.
1. Olive Green and complimentary hues.
2. Brown and complimentary hues.
3. Deep Rich Red
4. Ivory and complimentary hues.
5. Rose Pink and complimentary hues.

Favorite Sports Teams: HaHaHa!
1. I don't do sports.
2. I once watched the Giants and the Padres at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
3. My dad liked sports.
4. My cousins played soccer and one year I took them to a lot of their games.
5. My little brother was in little league when he was a kid. I think I went to one or two games.

Favorite Treats:
1. Peanut Butter Fudge
2. Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and other Reeses products.
3. Apple Pecan Braid - My own receipe.
4. Chocolate with Nuts
5. Sees Candies

Favorite Desserts:
1. German Chocolate Cake
2. Ice Cream - Especially mocha almond fudge.

3. Hot Fudge Sundaes made with Coffee ice cream and almonds. Tastes just like mocha almond fudge!
4. Key Lime Pie
5. Chocolate Cream Pie
6. 5. White Cake with Butter Cream Frosting (oops, did I slip in an extra one?)

Favorite Ways To Pass Time: I like to do everything! Ok, most everything. In any case, 5 is no where near enough.
1. Blogging
2. Making Graphics and Blog Designs. Ok, designing something.
3. Reading & Learning - The Bible and christian books especially.
4. Making Mosaics - Ok, creative projects of just about any kind. Sewing, knitting, embroidery, jewelry making, framed art, working with metal (copper, tin sheets), soldering work, if you think of something I have left out just add it to the list.

5. Talking to God

Favorite Physical Activities: To do or to watch? :D
1. Walking - Tobi enjoys this one too.
2. Hiking and exploring trails.
3. Bike Riding - I don't have a bike any more but this has always been a favorite.
4. Gardening - I actually like the end result more than the activity but it's enough to motivate me.

5. Projects - Again it's the end result that gets me motivated.

Favorite People: Oh this is just not fair.
1. Jesus
2.My Family
3. My Bloggy Friends

4. My Not Bloggy Friends

5. One other who shall remain nameless.

Favorite Music Groups: This changes from day to day depending on my mood.

1. Selah
2. Mercy Me

3. Mark Schultz
4. Natalie Grant
5. Lots of other Christian artists.

Favorite Fruits & Veggies:
1. Onion
2. Spinich
3. Salad
4. Bell Pepper
5. Apples

Five Obsessions: Only 5?
1. Jesus

2. Olivia, Emily, Ashleigh
3. Creating or Desiging

4. Blogging
5. Thinking and Talking - Not necessarily in that order.

Five Joys:
1. Time with God - Especially in the garden or outside under the sky.

2. Watching God at work.

3. My Grandaughters

4. Tobi - And all of God's animals.
5. Crossing things off my lists. - You haven't lived until you've experience this joy.

Five Fears:
1. Rejection
2. That I have done something to offend someone or make them angry at me.
3. Posting my fears. So I will stop here.

Five Surprising Facts: Surprising to who? (or is that whom?) Better yet about who? (whom?) :o
1. I don't really like Starbucks.
2. I don't like to shop. When I do shop, I prefer to shop alone.
3. I love animals. Oh wait, that's not a surprise.
4. I don't include santa claus in CHRISTmas. It's all about Christ.
5. I love collections. I collect turtles and crosses. I am beginning to collect Nativity scenes.

Thanks for sticking with me. I hope I didn't bore you too much.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind ~ Luke 10:27

Thanksgiving Meme and Thanksgivings Past

My dear bloggy friend Chatty Kelly posted a Thanksgiving meme and I am joining in. Feel free to play along if you're not too busy cooking. I want to wish all of my dear bloggy friends a Very Wonderful Thanksgiving! I am So Very Thankful to know all of you.

1. Which do you like better: cooking at your house, or going elsewhere? Cooking at my house.

2. Do you buy a fresh or frozen bird? Frozen.

3. What kind of stuffing? My Grandma taught me to make the cornbread dressing (not stuffing) which is why it is the BEST.

4. Sweet potato or pumpkin pie? Pumpkin Pie. I will put the Cool Whip in my Mocha.

5. Do you believe that turkey leftovers are a curse, or the point of the whole thing? The point. Turkey sandwhiches are a must have!

6. Which side dish would provoke a riot if you left it off the menu? We don't have enough people to have a riot. Dressing or my baked Mac & Cheese would cause lots of whining if they were missing!

7. Do you save the carcass to make soup or stock? That is waaayyy too much trouble.

8. What do you wish you had that would make preparing Thanksgiving dinner easier? A double oven.

9. Do you get up at the crack of dawn to have dinner ready in the early afternoon, or do you eat at your normal dinner hour? The only time I get up at the crack of dawn is when I go on overnight field trips to the zoo and have to sleep on a cold hard floor. I prepare what I can the day before. My daughter brings some of the sides. We generally eat about 3:00.

10. If you go to somebody else's house, what's your favorite dish to bring? I don't go to someone elses house.

11. Is your cranberry sauce fresh or canned? My daughter is the only one who eats cranberry sauce. Like my friend ADHD-Jo said... They make it fresh?

12. What's your absolute favorite thing on the menu? I love the skin off the turkey right after it comes out of the oven. Mmmmm.

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~ Thanksgivings Past ~

Growing up, everyone always went to my Grandma's house for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve night to exchange gifts, and Christmas Day for our Christmas dinner. We always had a house full and always enjoyed spending time together. The women usually helped my Grandma cook the meal (under her direction of course), the men hung out in the living room watching sports, and the kids ran in and out of the house playing and asking when we were going to eat.

The dressing was the Riot maker. My dad especially needed the dressing. My Grandma never measuered anything so there was lots of taste testing of the dressing to determine if it needed more sage or more pepper. My dad always said more pepper and my Grandma usually listened to him (until she thought he was wrong).

After dinner the women cleaned up so Grandma didn't have to (at least not much), and the men went back to the TV. LOL. Then we would gather around the table to talk or play a game of Rummikub (Rummy Tile) or UNO. We would usually break out the desert and coffee during the game. Sometimes we would all go outside and play a watered down game of football or something like that.

Grandma was the "Head of the Household" and she was always the one everyone looked to for the final say when it came to our family get togethers. If anyone wanted to do something different we would always ask Grandma first.

Grandma went to be with the Lord on August 5, 2000 and my dad on August 5, 1985. I do miss them and I miss those days. I hope that my grandaughters will want to come to my house for the holidays, and think of me with love and respect the way I think of my Grandma. Even after they are grown and have familys of their own.





"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

Overnight Zoo Adventure

I'm a bit late in posting this. I've had too much going on all at once. Last month I joined my grandaughter Olivia, and the rest of the 4th grade at her school, for an overnight field trip to the zoo. Here's the story and some pics of the trip.

The zoo was GREAT! Olivia loves animals even more than I do. I love animals a lot in case it doesn't show. So we were both pretty much in our element. The Fort Worth Zoo has a building for these overnight stays. Basically we stayed in a big room in sleeping bags and such with a partition to separate the boys from the girls. It made it like two rooms. So it was more like a very large sleep-over. There were 20-30 girls I guess. I don't think there was any point during the night that someone wasn't wiggling, giggling, or going to the bathroom.

Pizza for dinner. Then we got a night tour of the zoo which wasn't anything exciting cause there really isn't anything to see at night except some birds. Then there was a craft activity for the kids (and adults if they wanted one). Then lock down at 11:00 pm. Cold, hard floor till 6:00 am. I was actually glad to get up at 6:00 am. I even woke up at 5:50 and decided "close enough" and I am NOT a morning person. I was the 2nd person up. Was thrilled to get a cup of coffee.

After everyone was dressed, cleaned up and packed, they brought in 4 animals to show up close and personal. No touching allowed though. A baby alligator, a horn-billed bird, an indigo snake, and an opossum. The "O" is pronounced. Apparently there is a difference between an opossum and a possum. Google it, they even look different. Then we went on a quick zoo tour before the zoo opened which was cool because the animals were just getting up and felt like moving around. We were at the lions den when he came out with his Saturday morning meaty bone. He lets out a huge roar when he first comes out in the morning. Very cool to hear. The mama lion had 4 cubs with her.

After the tour the group was done and everyone went home but Olivia and I decided to stay a little longer and go see some stuff on our own. We enjoyed the day.





"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

Christmas is Coming!

Ok I know Thanksgiving is coming first but the retailers don't know that. Christmas will be here very quickly and I plan on doing everything I can to make it ALL about Christ. I'm asking for your help. Don't worry, it won't be time consuming. We as Christians really do need to start taking more action. I'm just asking for baby steps here. ;)



Let retailers know you care how they treat Christmas by signing Focus on the Family Action's "I Stand for Christmas" petition. Also, check the list to see which retailers are Christmas-friendly.
Please let your voice be heard.





"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

The Things Kids Say

A few weeks ago after the girls' dad picked them up from my house, they got into a little accident on their way home. No one was hurt but it scared the girls a bit. Well recently the girls have been saying our prayer to give thanks for our food before we eat. As they go down their regular list of "Thank you for" and "Help so and so with such and such" they now include "Help daddy stop crashing into cars."
LOL!!!

I recently had a conversation with Olivia on our way home from school that led to my trying to explain the Holy Trinity in the most basic way. So I said something to the effect that God was One but with three parts that have different jobs. I explained that those three parts were God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. So the next day it came up again only Emily chimed in something from the backseat. Olivia started to explain the three people One God concept to Emily (who had already listened in on the conversation from the day before) and she said "I already know, it's God the Daddy, God the Kid, and God the Holy Spirit.
LOL!!!!

Kids can be SO funny!





"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

Prayer Warriors

This is a Prayer Warrior. Several years ago when I was teaching a children's Sunday School class I would prepare a craft project for the class and try it out on Olivia. She loved making all kinds of crafts and I loved that she was learning something about God. One week I planned Prayer Warrior Magnets as the craft. This is Olivia's. It has been hanging on my refrigerator ever since.

Emily and Ashleigh love to play with the magnets on the fridge (what child doesn't) and recently I have found them with this one mixed into their play magnets. Generally I put the magnets they can play with on the bottom door of the fridge, and the "special - don't touch" magnets on the top door. They are now able to reach the top door. I will have to move the magnets closer to the top or come up with a new strategy.

Anyway, since they seemed to have a fondness for this magnet and they Always want to do a project, I let them make their own Prayer Warriors. They really enjoyed it.

Here are all three girls each with their own Prayer Warrior to remind them to talk to God.

"For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." ~ Matthew 18:20

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

Random Question - Tagged Twice

Lots of tags and awards going around again and I've been tagged on two different tags. So today's RQ is this:

Wanna Play Tag?

Tag 1 - Stephanie at Thirsty Soul tagged me to share six things I've learned this year. These are not necessarily new things, but rather lessons that God has brought - and is still bringing - into sharper focus. I was a little confused so I didn't do this right away. Sorry Stephanie! If you don't know Stephanie please go visit her, you will be blessed by her thoughts and deep love for the Lord. I hope I did this right.

1. God can be trusted. He wants me to depend completely on Him and He wants me to be free.

2. Grace - Unmerited Favor. I need to remind myself at times that it really is Unmerited. (Just a little honesty.)

3. Joy is harder for me to grasp than faith, hope, love, and grace.

4. Honesty can be hard but is always right.

5. Scripture is seeds of Truth. The more we plant these seeds in our hearts and the hearts of others, the better we will know God and keep the enemy from convincing us of lies.

6. Believing God is a choice and not about our emotions. He speaks Truth even if I don't feel it.

Tag 2 - Heather at Things Above has tagged me for 15 things I'm not afraid to admit. Heather is another dear blogger that I have only recently had the pleasure to meet but I always enjoy reading her blog! Go visit her too, you will be glad you did. Oh ... and she has a guestbook waaaayyy down at the bottom of her blog. Please go sign it cause it's lookin a little bit lonely down there. :)

1) I can drink coffee just about any time and I usually have a pot brewing about 9:00 pm on any night of the week. (That reminds me, I need to make some coffee. There's a fresh pot on now so come on over if you want some. ... come on over even if you don't.)

2) I get cold very easily ... except when I get a hot flash (like now), then I get hot very easily.

3) After one lesson in driving a standard, my boyfriend (at the time) wanted me to drive to the store ... alone. I told him I wasn't ready ... he didn't believe me ... I ran into the side of his sister's house trying to back out.

4) I usually go to bed somewhere between 1:00 am - 4:00 am. I wonder if we will have to sleep on the other side of eternity.

5) I love to watch people and to find their unique quirks qualities. :)

6) In a HS biology class we had a couple of snakes and I used to wear one like a belt during class sometimes.

7) I recall timeframes of my childhood events by the grade I was in and not the age that I was. I have to calculate my age if I wasn't in school.

8) When I was in 6th grade (see, I told you) my mom's boyfriend was an actor who had been in quite a number of movies (small parts). The Love Bug, Blackbeard's Ghost, The Gnome-Mobile ... now I have to Google him, Gil Lamb, be right back ...
Here's his filmography: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0482957/
Here's a perfect bio of Gil: http://www.answers.com/topic/gil-lamb-actor-comedy-musical
Ok so that's not really about me, but I'm making it about me now. I really loved Gil. He made me laugh. I guess that's good since he was generally in comedy's.

9) As a child I prefered to play with racetracks over Barbies ... still do.

10) I drink milk with my meals. I buy 2% but can drink anything from non-fat to whole milk. I almost never drink sodas.

11) My 1st car was a 1969 VW Bug. (Yes the one I ran into the house.) I paid $40.00 for it. It had a dent in the hood (which you know is in the front) that looked like a giant karate chop. My boyfriend hammered out the dent and painted the car with canned spray paint that was on sale. LOL! $1.00 of gas would take me 50 miles.

12) I love to crank up praise and worship music and sing and dance to the Lord with all my might. ... um ... when I'm alone. :)

13) I can talk in a funny squeekyish (new word?) voice that I've never heard anyone else be able to do ... except my daughter.

14) I can't wait to go HOME. I think about eternity a lot and try to imagine living forever ... and in His presence. The thought of it just amazes me.

15) This one is hard for me to write because it floors me. I have been told on three different occasions by people who didn't know each other, (and when I was younger and blonde) that I looked like Heather Locklear. One time I was actually mistaken for her. It was when she was first becoming well known. Of course, I didn't know who she was. LOL!

Ok your turn. Use Mr Linky so we can all come and read about you.

Awards

My friend, Debra at Clothed with Scarlet, has awarded me with the Marie Antoinette ~ A Real Person Award. If you haven't met Debra, please go visit this very sweet bloggy friend.

And, my friend Melissa at Be Careful What You Wish For has kindly awarded me with two more awards.

The Smile Award:

Qualifications for this Award are:

1. Display Cheerful Attitude

2. Love One Another

3. Make Mistakes

4. Learn from Others

5. Be a Positive Contributor to the Blog World

6. Love Life

7. Love Kids

And the Superior Scribbler Award.

I am passing all of these awards on to these deserving bloggy friends. I did not want to leave anyone out but the rules say I can only award so many. I know I am exceeding the number of awards it says, but I couldn't narrow it down any further than this. Work with me here. :)

I will not be the least bit offended if anyone does not put this on your blog for whatever reason. I know that a blog is a bit like the home and can sometimes feel a little too cluttered. It's up to you. Just know that I thought of you.

Lorie at Encouragement From My Heart

Angela at Redeemed

Stephanie at Thirsty Soul

Kelly at Chatty Kelly

ADHD-Jo at Monkey's are Funny

Mrs P at The Patterson 5

Sue J at CREATE: Making Something of Today!

Pamela at Pinkshoelady

Barbara at B His Girl

Sonya at Truth 4 the Journey

Sharon at I Know He Watches Over Me

Karen at Surviving Motherhood

Debra at Sparrowgrass

Chel at Leaving a Legacy

Kathryn at Pure Wells

Lea at Shabby Olde Potting Shed

Barb at Just between us...

Heather at Things Above

Nichole at Living My Life on Purpose

Tammy at Not mine but God's Story

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

Seeking Him Part 4

If you missed Parts 1, 2, & 3 click on the links to read.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

When we left off in Part 3, I had just given my life to Christ. Immediately after that I asked God to explain baptism to me. It went something like this:

"Ok Lord, about this baptism stuff, is this something You really want me to do? Is it just symbolic? Am I supposed to get dunked in water or is that not necessary after the Holy Spirit came? And if You do want me to do this, what is the right way? Do I do this in a lake? Should I go to a church? If I'm supposed to do this then I need you to take me to the right place or bring the right person to me. One thing though, I do not want to be baptized into a religion, I only want to be baptized into Jesus Christ."

I'm a pretty straight forward person and I've never really seen any reason not to be with God. He knows it all anyway so why waste time. I had issues with religions. I did not ever want to be viewed as a religion, but only as a Christian. Please don't take offense to that, it was because of my past experiences and my desire to be sure it was for God and God alone. I know many people now that are affiliated with a denomination and are true Christians.

That very week, my daughter made a new friend at school. This was in the middle of the school year, an unlikely time to make a new friend. She was not like anyone my daughter had ever chosen as a friend, either before that time or after. Not that there was anything more positive or negative about this girl than Nik's other friends, she just didn't "match" my daughter's personality and it struck me as unusual.

The girls wanted to get together so her mom called me and asked if Nikki and I wanted to do something with her and her daughter. This too was unusual. So we did get together several times over the next couple of weeks. This girl's mom was very nice but again was not a "match" to my personality either but we still kept getting together for the girls.

She never mentioned God or church but I began sensing that this was how God was going to answer my prayer about baptism. I didn't say anything to her but decided to just watch and wait for God to show me. It was kind of exciting to me because it felt like God and I had a secret that no one else knew about.

Sure enough this lady invited me to come to church and I accepted. It was a non-denominational church. The first pamphlets that crossed my hands explained baptism exactly answering every question as I had asked God, and in the way that I asked. This was also a church that baptized as soon as you made a public profession of faith. I didn't know at the time that some churches have classes you must take before being baptized. That would not have gone over with me at all, but God knew that. He brought me to the exact place that I needed to be and I had no doubt that He was telling me to be baptized. So on my third visit there I was baptized.

Shortly after that my daughter and her friend drifted apart and my friendship with this lady also came to a close. It was clear that this was the whole purpose for that friendship.

Lord thank you for going ahead of me and orchestrating my circumstances. Thank you for placing the right questions in my heart. Thank you that I can bring all of my questions to you no matter how silly and ignorant they may sound, and that you delight in answering. Thank you for allowing me to watch you work in my life and I pray that you will give me eyes to see you at work in my life daily. In Jesus Name ~ Amen

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

Playing in Webkinz

This is Computer Girl playing in Webkinz. Are you familiar with Webkinz! I am extremely particular about letting kids on the computer because of either the viruses or malware people try to put on your computer, the trash you can so easily run across, or the objectional message of the games even for children. But that all changed when my friend Angela told me about Webkinz.

Webkinz is an online game for kids that is fun, nice, educational, and developmental. I just love it and so do the girls. You purchase a Webkinz animal at a participating retailer. It is a stuffed animal that runs about $15.00 - $20.00. It comes with a code that allows you to go to the Webkinz site, http://www.webkinz.com/ , where you register and name your webkinz pet. Once you are logged in the website opens to a full screen application which makes it difficult to accidentally open other applications.

After registering you get a room for your pet when you register and can buy more rooms to add on to your house, clothes for your pet, toys, food, etc. You earn money to buy stuff by playing games. Don't you wish we had it so easy! Of course if you like games, your kids may never get to play with it and you will never get anything done. When Word Girl got her first Webkinz I played with it all the time. Then I discovered blogging. Like that helped.



This is a great gift idea for kids of just about any age.







This is a picture of one of the rooms. You can decorate them any way you like.



Giving Freddie a bath.




Ahhh. Life doesn't get much better than this.

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

The King and I

Worship the King every second of every day!

Today is my birthday and my friend SueJ at CREATE: Making Something of Today! is having a little celebration. She is such a thoughtful person. I can't help but love her. Stop by her blog for a piece of cake, then bless yourself by going back to visit her again and again and again.

Thank you SueJ!!

I'm off to finish painting the living room (I hope). Enjoy your day!




"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

Random Question

Taking the day off today. Have a great weekend!





"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

Seeking God Part 3

Before we get started here I want to tell you about a give-away. For any of you that know a sweet little girl that likes to play pretty dress up, Lola Tutu is giving away one of her adorable little tutus. I had to enter to try to win one for my grandaughters to fight over. ;D

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If you're new to my blog and missed Part 1 and Part 2 of this story, just click on the links to go read them and come back here for Part 3. We will wait for you. ............. I'm gonna go grab a cup of coffee, the rest of you holler at me if they get back before I do. ........................... Ok, are we all here now? Let's go.

When we left off God had just told me to do what I knew to be right. This in itself shows what a Loving and Merciful God we have. He knew where I was in life and how skewed my thinking was. I was still quite influenced by peers and culture. God chose not to remove me from the path I was on, but instead He walked with me and ultimately carved a new direction from it.

Fast forward to 1990 and Desert Storm, the Gulf War. When we got involved in this war I began thinking about end times. In my childhood, I had two aunts who became Jehovah's Witnesses and spent two weeks teaching me all about armagedon. So even though I still had not read the Bible since my failed attempt, I did know that the world was going to come to an end. I still had that same King James Verion Bible that I couldn't understand the last time I attempted to read it but I got it out and once again began reading.

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass..."

That's right. This time I began in Revelation. That is, after all, where the Bible talks about the end times. So I read through Revelation, and read it again, and read it again, and ... well, you get the idea. Then I began to notice there were references to Daniel and Isaiah, and I thought "Hey, those are in the Bible! I'll go see if I can find where it says that." I bought an atlas to compare to the map in the back of my Bible and without even realizing it, I was searching the Scriptures for answers. I also found that this time, I could understand the Bible.

After reading Revelation so many times that I just about had it memorized (no lie), I decided to read the New Testament. By this time I had learned that the Old Testament was prior to Jesus' life and the New Testament was from His birth and later. So I read through the New Testament again, and again, and again. I read every second I had. I couldn't wait to get home from work so that I could read my Bible. I didn't know it at the time, but the Holy Spirit was working in my heart. Then one day after reading, I sat down on the floor in my living room and told God that all I wanted to do was live my life to please Him.

We have an absolutely Amazing God. There is nothing He cannot accomplish. No one He doesn't know. No one He can't reach. And He seeks us with His undivided attention even when we don't realize it. I'm not sure why He prompted me to write about this, but I hope He speaks to someone though this. He has spoken to me again as I've brought all these things up to the forefront of my mind.

Ok there is one more part that I was going to try to squeeze in here but it's turning out to be too long so it will wait til next time if you are still interested.

Lord thank you for drawing me, for teaching me, and for giving me understanding. You stayed with me throughout my rebellious years and guided me straight into your Loving Arms. You have been faithful even when I have been unfaithful. I recommit myself to you my God. I want nothing more than to live my life to please you. Even this, I know I can only do by your Power. Help me to Live for You and You Alone. In Christ ~ Amen

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

I Just Want to Worship The Lord Today

Lord I Give You My Heart

This is my desire,
To honor You.
Lord with all my heart
I worship You.
All I have within me,
I give You praise.
All that I adore is in You

Lord, I give You my heart,
I give You my soul,
I live for you alone.
Every breath that I take,
Every moment I'm awake,
Lord have Your way in me.

Get Serious Today - Pray

I am committed to fasting and praying for this nation today during voting hours. I am asking you to join with me. A lot is at stake here. Even if you don't fast, please pray for this nation every time you think of the election. Once sentence to God is heard just as well as 100.

While I am not praying for any political party, I am praying that God's people will get out and vote and that He will direct the outcome that will result in the candidate who will most stand for the Biblical morals and values that I hold dear. Remember that God can come through at the 11th hour and 59th minute. Do not lose hope or give up before it's over.

----------------------

My own thoughts...

I am a supporter of John McCain and Sarah Palin and have been spending too much time on the computer reading blogs and websites to try to dig deeper into the events of this election. I don't believe the polling results that the bias media is reporting are accurate.

Moms 4 Sarah Palin is a blog I have been reading and applaud Tami for her efforts. She has endured some intensly crude verbal abuse on her blog as well as death threats to herself and her family as a result of her political efforts as a Republican in favor of McCain/Palin.

Through her blog I also found HillBuzz; a blog of PUMA voters who stand against Obama, and are applying their efforts to put McCain in office. I have to applaud their efforts and determination to put the best interest of this Nation before political party. The link goes to their post on why they believe that McCain will win this election.

The Marston Chronicles - Another PUMA voter site that is showing statistics of why they believe McCain will win.

PUMA is a coalition of Clinton supporters who are not backing Obama. It claims to be a coalition of millions. It grew by leaps and bounds almost immediately after it was formed and continued to do so. From what I have read it appears that the Democrat Party might very well be divided and that this might be the beginning of REAL bipartisan politics. Here is the originating site. Just Say No Deal

Seeking God Part 2

On Friday in my Random Question I told you about a time when I sought God with all my heart and found Him. That, of course, wasn't the end of the story. Our stories never really have an ending do they. :D If you haven't read that post you can read it Here. Go ahead, we'll wait for you. .......... tick tock...tick tock...tick tock...... All caught up now? Great!

Now remember I mentioned that when God told me that He was real, He did not say anything else. No instructions, no commandments, no condemnations, and also no commendations. Just the answer to my question with a sense of ... acceptance of who I am. So I went on my way with a little bit more knowledge and satisfaction of knowing the Truth. I wasn't living an exceptionally sinful life or an exceptionally moral life. I was mostly ignorant, trying to be "good" but as a captive of worldly ways.

About a year later I found myself wondering if I was living my life the way that God wanted, and if not, what I needed to do. I was brought up in a secular environment, moral but secular. There was no teaching about God from my dad or my Grandma M. (dad's mom) who raised me. On my mom's side, my Grandma D. was Catholic so I did learn that Jesus was God's son and He died for my sins. No explanation beyond that. My Grandma D. did set a good foundation for my faith but that's another story for later. So at this point I knew that the answers to how God wants me to live could be found in the Bible. So it made sense that I should read the Bible and I would no what to do.

I had an old King James Version that I don't know where I had gotten but I got it out and began reading... "In the beginning ....." It was a book after all and you're supposed to read a book from beginning to end. As you can see I had zero understanding of the Bible except that the answers were in there. All was going pretty well until I got to Leviticus. If you've never read Leviticus go back and read it. It's all about the laws that were given to the Israelites after God brought them out of Egypt. Now I was already having a difficult time sorting out the King James language as I was reading, and now the law is brought into the mix. Needless to say I became very confused and concerned that I didn't stand a chance. I closed my Bible and told God my concerns. It went something like this...

"God, how am I supposed to do this!? I'm sure it's illegal to kill animals! And no one is going to let me put blood all over the door post! I don't have a clue where to get a bull, and even if I did, I couldn't kill it if I wanted to! I don't understand any of this. I want to do what you say but there is just no way that I can (am able) to do these things!"

Go ahead and laugh. I do. Imagine a 17 year old girl trying to live out the Levitical Laws in this day and age and in this culture all by herself. I was in a bit of a panic! :) But God ...

Within about a week I was sitting outside with a friend (different than the one in my previous story) having a conversation. We may have been talking about life but I don't really remember. I had been feeling discouraged over my failed Bible study and not knowing what to do. God spoke to me again. Just like before it was not audible but in my heart and I was amazed at how much He could say in the blink of an eye. It was more like He imparted information into my heart that I understood as a sentence. Yes I am analytical, can you tell? ;)

He said "Do what you know is right and don't worry about what you have not yet learned. I won't hold you accountable for what you haven't learned."


And like the last time, I looked at my friend and said "God just talked to me!" I told him what God said and that's all I remember of our conversation. I do know that I was amazed that God spoke to me and even though He said not to worry about what I had not yet learned, that didn't let me off the hook for trying to learn.

There is still more to this story that I will write about later if you are still interested.

Oh Lord, Thank you so much that you didn't leave me in my ignorance but that you loved me enough to teach me. Thank you for your patience with me throughout my life. Thank you that you revealed yourself to me in ways that I would understand. You are Amazing and truely Worthy of All Praise. From the depths of my heart I love you and want to live my life first and formost to please you. In Christ - Amen

A Little Monkey Fun

RQ: Are monkeys funny?