Dear Friends

I haven't been able to blog much at all this last week. I'm been very busy with some community involvement. I miss visiting you all and will be by to visit as soon as I can.

I'm asking for prayer right now. I'm being dragged into the middle of a very bad situation of a personal nature that I can't go into. It's a strong spiritual battle that has been going on for years. There is no answer except for God's intervention. I need as much prayer over this as you can give me please.

Thank you.



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

Taxed Enough Already?

Taxed Enough Already

Are you TEA'd? It's time to do something. It's time to speak out and make your voice heard in Washington. Join in this Nationwide coordinated event. Participate in a TEA Party in your city in April 15, 2009. Tax Day!

There are over 1300 demonstrations orgainizing in cities throughout the nation. Lets send a message to Washington to stop the chaotic spending frenzy that is bankrupting our nation.

Find a TEA Party near you.

National TEA Party Day Website

Nationwide Tax Day TEA Party Website

If you live in Arlington, TX and want to help organize go here:
Arlington TEA Party




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

Project 365 - March 21

It's time for Project 365 again! Sara at Make Music From Your Heart to the Lord is our hostess. Click on the link to visit her and the others sharing their week in pictures.



Day 2 - Hot Fudge Sundae and ice cream sandwiches. Mmmm.


Day 3 - Making a project.



Day 4 - Being goofballs. :)



Day 5 - Making a "sandwich". Their version of dogpile. :)

Day 6 - Playing with balloons.

Day 7 - A gift in the mail! My friend Larie at My Heart Speaks has been having a friendship give-away just to express her love to her bloggy friends.

Here is what I won. A journal with swirls all over it, a pack of notecards, a small notebook, and two coordinating pens. I just love all of these! What a great way to end a busy week. Thank you Larie!!

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

Missions Test?

This was kind of a fun little test.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. 2 Timothy 2:21

You Are the Artist

You are unique and inspired. You aren't happy unless you are making art of some sort. Almost anything can be a catalyst for your creativity. You find the whole world stimulating. You have beautiful visions, and you're good at expressing them. You like people to see what you see. You also have an inventor's spirit. You're always thinking up new ideas and concepts.

What's Your Life's Mission?

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

A Fabulous Award

I have been awarded twice for this Fabulous Blog Award. First by Mary Moss at Crayon Chronicles and then again by Beth at An Instrument 4 His Glory. If you don't know these two wonderful bloggers then you're missing out. Thank you both for thinking of me.

There are a couple of rules that go with this award.
1. Confess 5 things you are addicted to
2. Pass the award on to 5 deserving bloggers.

Five addictions:

1. Jesus - Beginning
2. My grandaughters
3. Coffee
4. Creating
5. Jesus - and End

Five deserving bloggers: I always have such a hard time with this part because I think you are all fabulous. But I did manage to narrow it down a bit. :)

1. you
2. you
3. you
4. you
5. you
   

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

Representation - What Do You See?

A while back I did a blog makeover for Chatty Kelly. She asked me to create a caricature so I created one of her using a picture she had of herself on her blog. In the picture, her hair blended into the background a bit so I didn't have a clear view of it.

This is the completed Chatty Kelly.

Later she changed her picture and I could see that her hair was nothing like in my illustration. She recently celebrated her 20 something birthday *wink*, so I took the opportunity to make her a birthday button with a more accurate representation of her hair. She loved the button but specifically commented on the hair. Here is what she said "And the hair on the birthday button - it's ME!"

Just recently I also designed a new header for ADHD-Jo and created a caricature of her. This was one of my first final drafts.

She loved it, but she said her hair actually has ringlets. (Hair is difficult for me. Can you tell?) So I added ringlets.



Then she said that she never wore tans or browns and asked me if I could make her shirt army green.

Then she said that she never wears red fingernail polish and could I change that. So here is the final final draft. A more accurate representation.

We all want to be portrayed accurately. Whenever I do a blog makeover, a button, or any custom work, the client wants an accurate representation of who they are, their style, their personality, their character, and their message.

Over the years many books have been written, images created, and movies made of Jesus Christ or of various books of the Bible. How many are accurate representations of Christ or God's Word? How accurate should we be? Does it really matter if He is shown with a halo around His head in His earthly form? Does it matter that he wasn't riding a donkey in that scene of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem? Aren't these just small, insignificant details? (My intention is not to single out these specific details but to use them as examples.) Does it really matter as long as it points someone to Christ? Is it Pharisaical to expect an accurate representation of Christ and of God's Word?

Jesus said...

I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Matthew 5:18 (emphasis mine)

I'm not going to get into all that Jesus was saying in this verse but rather, I want to reveal something of the nature of God. In this verse we see that God places a high value on every letter, every pen stroke, of His Word. The "Law" was commonly used to refer to the old testament scriptures. If God is concerned about the tiniest of details in His Word, then shouldn't we also be? Shouldn't we at least ask Him why we should be? Let's go back to the examples I used earlier. Again these are just examples.

Example 1:

In many images Jesus is portrayed with a halo around His head. I am not saying this is wrong. I'm only making an observation for the sake of example and for the point. As an artist I completely understand that artists used that as a way of showing His Deity. So that's a good thing right? Not necessarily.

Jesus was fully man and fully God. It is just as important to accurately represent the fully man part as it is to represent the fully God part. He came to earth as a man in order to identify with us. He suffered, endured, and was tempted in the same things we are.

Example 2:

I recently viewed a scene of the triumphal entry in a movie where Jesus was being carried into Jerusalem by the people instead of riding on a donkey. So why is this important?

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9

This was one of the prophesies that proved that Jesus was the Messiah. If He had entered Jerusalem in any way except on the foal of a donkey, He would not have been who He said He was.

Accurate representation. It can make a World of difference.

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

Project 365 and Give a Kid a Camera

Not much in the way of a Project 365 this week. The first picture pretty much sums up the week. Rain, rain, and more rain.



I did give Tobi a bath this week. She hates to get wet. See her trying to get all that water off? LOL!

I saw Becky at Holiday in the Sun post a Give a Kid a Camera one day and thought it looked like fun. So I gave each of my 3 little grandaughters the camera. Here's some of their shots.

I love the flossing technique.

Flossing from every direction too.

Ugh! Yes it WAS painful.

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

Happy Birthday Nichole!!

Today is a very special day for my friend Nichole at Living My Life on Purpose. Nichole trusts in the Lord with a passion. She walks diligently with her Savior. So diligently that needs to keep her closet full of shoes for the journey.

Please stop by her blog and wish her a Happy Birthday and say a prayer for her while you are there. She is in need of healing right now.



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

What Do You Hear?

I was visiting Esthermay at The Heart of a Pastor's Wife and she had a wonderful post entitled "Can A Born-Again Christian Support President Obama?" I encourage you to read it.

This post is not meant to be about Obama specifically but he makes for the perfect example.

This quote from Esthermay's post caught my attention.

"I’m rooted in the Christian tradition,” said Obama, who has declared himself a Christian. But then he adds something that will not sit well (at all!) with real Born-Again Christians: “I believe there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as
a people.”

I used to work in collections. I never worked for collection agencies but worked in companies and doctor's offices in the A/R and credit departments where I was responsible for collecting monies owed. At one company, my supervisor was extremely tough (understatement). I have to admit that I learned a lot from her, some good, some not so good things. One thing I learned was hearing what people actually said and not what they implied. For instance, if I called on a past due invoice, someone might say to me that checks are cut on Friday. That implies that the check is being mailed on Friday but it doesn't actually say it. If a company is juggling their finances then they might cut checks on Friday but then hold them for a period of time before mailing them. So I learned to ask when the check would be mailed. I found that most people (not all) would be honest when asked a direct question.

So what does this have to do with the quote? Everything if you're paying attention. In this quote Obama doesn't say that he is a Christian. He says that he is rooted in the Christian tradition. The fact is, that is a true statement. His mother taught him about many religious traditions including those of Christians, so he does have some roots in Christian traditions. But being a Christian is not the same as tradition. A Christian, a disciple of Christ, is one who learns from and follows Christ. There is lots more that can be said on the matter but that sums it up in a nutshell.

Let's look at his next statement. "I believe there are many paths to the same place,". Well, I do too. There are many paths to the same place. Even spiritually speaking, there are many paths to the same place. That place is called hell in the Bible. Notice that he did not mention Heaven.

Next statement - "and that is a belief that there is a higher power,". I also believe that there is a higher power. There are higher powers among people. Satan is a higher power, demons are a higher power, but God (Jesus Christ) is the Highest Power. Obama did not state which higher power he was referring to nor did he say what he believed about that higher power.

Final statement in that sentence. - "a belief that we are connected as a people.” This one is a no-brainer. Yes we are all connected as a people. It is called the human race. According to the Bible we are all sinners and headed for that place called hell if we continue to follow any higher power other than Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us not to be deceived.

Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you." Matthew 24:4

"Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words." Colossians 2:4

"...and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved." 2 Thessalonians 2:10

The Bible tells us to be shrewd.

"With the pure You will show Yourself pure;And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd." Psalm 18:26

"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." Matthew
10:16

The Bible tells us there is one way to Heaven.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." John 14:6

So my question today is, are you listening to what people say or what they imply?"





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

Goulash Recipe

After showing a picutre of my grandma's goulash in my Project365 post on Sunday, some of you asked me to share the recipe. So here it is! This was one of my favorite meals growing up. I hope you enjoy it.

Ground Beef
Chopped Onion
Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper to taste
2 Cans Tomato Sauce (plus 1 can water)
2 Cans Corn
2 Cans Sliced New Potatoes

Brown the ground beef with onion and seasonings. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes. Enjoy.






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

Tuesday Special Guest

Today is Tuesday and every Tuesday my friend ADHD-Jo hosts a special guest (blast from the past). Today I'm following suit.

Yesterday I posted a Birthday Song for Chatty Kelly and asked if you knew who sang the song. No one guessed it. :o The song was sung by Sheriff John. I used to watch his show when I was growing up. Let me add that it was not at the beginning of his career lest you think that I'm older than I am ... ah-hem. So today Sheriff John is my special guest and here's a little about him taken from Wikipedia.

Sheriff John was a long-running children's television character who appeared on KTTV in Los Angeles from 1952 to 1970 on two separate series, Sheriff John's Lunch Brigade and Sheriff John's Cartoon Time. He was played by John Rovick.

Sheriff John started each program by entering his jailhouse office singing "Laugh and be happy, and the world will laugh with you ..." before doing a routine which included the Pledge of Allegiance and a safety bulletin. He would also show cartoons, including Crusader Rabbit and Porky Pig among others, have a visit from various farm animals and from an artist "Sketchbook Suzie," who would draw pictures requested by young home viewers. When we kids ate lunch with Sheriff John, we said grace:

"Heavenly Father, great and good, we thank You for our daily food. Bless us, even as we pray. Guide and keep us through this day. Amen." The unquestioned highlight of the show was the Birthday celebration. The Sheriff would read off as many as a hundred names on the show, and then bring out a cake and sing the Birthday Party Polka.

Sheriff John went on giving lessons about safety, good health habits and encounters with strangers for 18 years before his retirement in 1970. Rovick won an Emmy in 1952.

This video is a bit long but if you listen to the 2 minute mark you will see the Laugh and Be Happy song and the Birthday Song. Then skip to the 4:30 mark to hear how he closed out the program's era in 1970, "God be with you." Times certainly have changed.





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

A Birthday Song

Please go visit my friend Chatty Kelly for her birthday. It's TODAY!

Happy Birthday Chatty Kelly!!

Here's a special birthday song just for you. Can you guess who sang this song?

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

Project 365 - March 8, 2009

It's time for Project 365 again! Sara at Make Music From Your Heart to the Lord is our hostess. Click on the link to visit her and the others sharing their week in pictures.

Day 1 - Tobi steals my spot on the couch.

Day 2 (pic 1) - Tobi digs through her toy box to find a toy for us to play with.

Day 2 (pic 2) - A smile in my mailbox today. A beautiful hand-crafted wooden bookmark and a very kind note from Beverly at Dancing with the Daffodils. Just an act of kindness on her part. It really made my day. Thanks Beverly!

Day 3 - Sunset.

Day 4 - Made my grandma's goulash. Quick, easy, inexpensive, hearty, and delicious!

Day 5 (pic 1) - Tobi waiting for me to come out of the post office.

Day 5 (pic 2) - Another smile in the mail. An unexpected card from a wonderful friend in my SS class.

Day 6 - I was closing the back door after letting Tobi out and this is what jumped on my hand trying to escape death. Ugh! I don't know where he is now but I bet he wishes he was outside.

Day 7 (pic 1) - Another sunset.

Day 7 (pic 2) - The girls spent the night.

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