Monday, April 20, 2009

The Blame Game...

Guilt is a killer. It burdens the conscience, weighs on the spirit and deadens relationships. To eliminate guilt, the cause must be eliminated. Eventually, the prodigal repented, eliminating the cause and therefore the guilt. Many do not. Rather than face responsibility for sin, many blame those whose upright lifestyle ever reminds them of their own failure. The Bible talks about people who not only take delight in the base things of this world, but also applaud others who think up new ways to behave even more lasciviously. They even hold awards ceremonies to honor their new inventions of wickedness.
John Lenin said he would not speak of being an atheist but instead would speak of religion as an entirely private matter. If Christianity can be privatized, it can then be penalized and ultimately criminalized. That pattern prevailed in the communist Soviet Union and Romania. There are symptoms of it in America.
It will make for tough times.....
It IS getting tough when.....
  • in New York, six homosexual /abortion radicals committed vile acts as they interrupted Cardinal O'Cnnor's Mass in Saint Patrick's Cathedral. They trashed the host, chained themselves to pews, hurled condoms, spouted obscenities during his sermon and fell limp in the aisles in protest to his preaching AGAINST abortion and homosexual life style. They were sentenced to community service without fine or penalty.
  • a man simply blocked the entrance to an abortion clinic and was fined $25,000 and ordered to pay $157,000 in layer's fees.
  • A schoolgirl's religious materials were taken from her by her teacher, then thrown away by the principal who told her mother, "I will not have religious materials on my campus." Yet humanism and revisionist history pervade our school textbooks.
  • homosexuals invaded church grounds, barricaded church members in the building by blocking the door, threw stones at those who tried to enter and traumatized the member's children by taunting "We want your children, Give us your children." Yet the very next year a Florida District Court ruled that a religion-free "buffer zone" could be established around an abortion clinic, allowing only pro-abortion rhetoric-meaning that on public streets and sidewalks, homosexuals can terrorize Christians, but Christians cannot peaceable protest the killing of the unborn.
  • a college student was fired from his job as a resident adviser for talking in the dorm about his Christian faith
  • an alcohol rehabilitation nurse was fired for "violating word rules" by praying with patients after being asked BY the patient to pray for them.
Persecution of Christians is just an attempt to rid the world of Jesus Christ, which can't be done. Satan tried it and couldn't do it . Others have also tried it and failed. But, what we can face is the judgment that can come upon our country who was once and I believe still is, founded on the word, laws and morals of God. His judgment can and will come upon those who turn against his teachings.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Faith...


Have you ever thought you had done something sooo right and to the best of your ability to later find maybe you missed something? The kids were home for the weekend and we were all at the table having lunch. At our table... you never know what the topic or discussion will be ;-) That day it was some of the stories of the bible. Now, my faith is something I feel very strong about. Our boys proceeded to state that there were "some" of the stories that they feel are made up.... they also went on to explain that some of the stories are so far fetched that, that is the reason so many do not believe the bible. They did not stop there!!! They went on to agree and explain that they felt that through the years that the bible has been added to and distorted. They explained it as the child hood game of whispering something to someone and by the time it makes it around the circle it is not the original message. We tried to explain some "stories" are parables and which ones were and which ones are not. They did not completely agree on which ones were and which were not. Let's just say by the end of the first few sentences I was boiling inside, confused at where we had gone wrong, upset, worried about their faith and salvation, confused.... you name it I was feeling it. One even said "watch out, this is one place you can really get mom's blood boiling." I sat there with my mind going ninety to nothing never showing "all" of my emotions. I could not believe what I was hearing. I asked...if you do not believe the bible is truth by faith then how in the world can you believe Jesus is the son of God and walked this earth, died for all people by faith? I was dumb founded!!! They both agreed they believe in God just not "all" the stories and the bible "exactly" as it is written. And when something happens they call me and ask me to pray or I hear they ask someone there with them to pray. Both of them went through very hard break ups in the past and they both went to scripture searching for comfort. I thought.. how can this be??? We do not just talk the talk we really live it! We walk, run and crawl back to the word in times of joy, sadness, confusion. It is always the first place we turn and have always modeled that to the boys. Both of them at one time wanted to go into ministry. We have prayed and taught and led by example. I just keeping asking...."What did we do wrong? What did we miss?" As our children grow we think about their up bringing and something wondered.....how in the world can they think that way? How can they behave that way? We have one child that was the most gentle, loving, caring child. He was voted everyone's best friend and most caring in school. He now appears to be hard, sarcastic, short tempered, self centered and judgmental. I again don't understand....when was that moment of change? What happened to change him? Will he ever be that person again because I much prefer to be around that person.
A part of my heart says..thank goodness they don't just "sway" with whatever someone tells them. They have to "know" it for themselves. And I am thankful that they are leaders and NOT followers. They both think on their own and make their own choices. All I can do at this point is pray, continue to lead by example, stand on God's promises about our children, and ask God "what am I to learn through this"? There are so many times I wish they were small children again that listened to us, valued our opinion, came to us with their questions and fears. Those small boys that we could filter what and who they listened to. With mixed emotions I know that is not the season of life we are in....They are both "men" now. They stand for what "they" believe, they search for "their" way and they learn life's lessons as men. I never thought is would be this hard. I am sure all of our parents felt the same way about each of us as we were experiencing life and seeking the world through the eyes as young adults. I will continue to pray........

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

A day at the zoo...

Spent the entire day at the zoo then came home and cooked at birthday dinner in honor of my mom. It was a great dinner.. just as my previous blog entry said.. what a blessing to live so close to family. Our house was filled with laughter tonight. It was my husband, James, our son Blake and one of his long time friends Alex (14 year friendship) my mom & dad, my brother & of course Shay... The 20 year olds were racing the 7 year old at who could put together a Clifford the dog puzzle the fastest...they each had their own puzzle and the winner finished first... Something very demented when a 20 year old "thinks" they have accomplished something by beating a 7 year old at a puzzle ;-) Great times that I truly treasure.
The zoo was packed and hot. Not to mention most of the animals were not on display. I have been very disappointed in the Dallas zoo the last few times I have been. I think we will try FtWorth next time. But all in all a GREAT day...Great memories and fun time. Tomorrow is Mrs. Baird's Bakery Factory Tour. Should be fun.. I hope we get fresh hot bread samples!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

A day on a farm (kind of)

Our day at Owens Country Sausage Farm...

Ok, warning.... my blog this week will be about the absolute JOY of having an amazing niece. May I just say...we have had such a blast this week.. I am exhausted but full of joy!
I am so thankful to God that he moved us back to Dallas after a layoff. It was one of the darkest periods of our life...My husband was the sole provider, 9-11 had "just" happened and we celebrated our 17th anniversary on 9-10. We could not understand it at the time but now completely see the blessing.
We would have never moved "back home" had it not been for that period. We were with out a job for almost 1 year. My husband was working for a Dutch/German owned company. His job afforded us to be able to travel and spend the summer in Europe with our children. He traveled the world during that time and he LOVED his job. It was all over with no warning in a blink of the eye. Owners came in with no warning and cleaned out all upper management. After almost a year we decided for him to go back to work for a small mom & pop owned company in the Dallas area that he had worked for in the very beginning of his career (1978). He said one day..."lets go home". I thought.. it's not that easy.. we STILL need a job and we have a house that needs to sell. During that period we were in Austin and the bottom of the "tech" sector had fallen out. Every major company and even the small ones were laying off. Everyday we would hear thousands more were loosing their jobs. I thought... we will never sell our house. Ok, can I just say I was putting such limits on God. With in 1 week of us deciding to "go home" which is Plano / McKinney area, James had a job, and our house sold for exact asking price (we were told we were over pricing it), on the day we listed and they needed us out in 2 weeks. WOW!!! God can move so fast ;-).....Anyway, I now see that it took that nudge, ok PUSH to bring us back to our family. Since the move James' dad has lost his wife, my dad has had back surgery and my parents own property and need help with it, I have an awesome niece that stays ALOT with us. It is truly like a village raising and standing in the gap for our family. I am so thankful that we are here for our family and we get to be involved in the raising and nurturing of Shay. Not to mention we are exactly where we are supose to be as far a serving and worshiping.
Thank you Lord for being "all knowing" and loving us enough to not allow us to miss this time... God's timing is perfect even if we have to walk through some fire before getting to the blessing.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Our day at Frisco Fire Safety Town!






Click on photo to enlarge
Today was an awesome day.. I have
forgotten how exhausting kids can be ;-) We had a great time. She loved the miniature size town and having to obey all of the safety rules of the street. She (my niece Shay) LOVED LOVED LOVED the fire truck. Her favorite seat was the drivers of course. She kept asking "does Brandon do it this way"?
We made home made meatballs for spaghetti and will be "walking" to sonic for ice cream a little later. We "may" through in the park...not sure I can last and thank god for DVR since Dancing With The Stars comes on tonight.
Tomorrow is Owens Country Sausage tour and our church has an equestrian ministry on our grounds. One of the horses just had a colt yesterday... We are going to let Shay see it. It is sooo
cute and beautiful paint..not even sure if it is a he or she at this point.
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Spring Break with my niece.. this is going to be an AWESOME week!!

Now...let me help you all understand....this picture was taken at 11:00am....Shay (my 7 year old niece) and Gunner were NOT moving very fast...it is now 11:47 and she is biting at the bits to "go somewhere".
We are heading to the city of Frisco Safety Town to learn about severe weather. Really neat program for the kids.. check it out. http://www.friscotexas.gov/safetytown/Pages/default.aspx

Friday, March 13, 2009

Today was grocery day!!! $153.94 for ONLY $61.13

Cost before discounts and coupons $153.94
Final cost after discounts & coupons $61.13
Click on picture to enlarge.








Computer is finally back up and running


Ok... so like I have to totally reload all of my programs. Thank God I store all of my important stuff on a server through the internet! I have not been able to finish my requirements for the award.. Please be sure to check out these other blogs...


http://orgjunkie.com/

http://www.titus2atthewell.com/

http://www.bloomwhereyouareaplanted.blogspot.com/

http://www.praiseandcoffee.blogspot.com/

http://www.kandilooandhercrew.blogspot.com/

http://www.leblanclife.com/

http://moneysavingmethods.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

I recieved an award....my first!!!!


http://cheapbychoice.blogspot.com/ gave me the Kreative Award. The rules are:
List 7 things I love and gave the award to 7 blogs.
Things I love:
1. My two grown children still wrestling and laughing out loud with each other (all time favorite)their pictures are below....love you both!
2. Family cookouts with our family, mom & dad, Kevin, (brother), Echo (sister in law) and Shay (niece)
3. Beach vacations & diving
4. Motorcycle weekends hitting the back roads
5. My Friends ( I have the best!!!)
6. Margarita's at Blue Goose down on lower Greenville ave in Dallas
7. Spending $150 in groceries but only paying $40 aprx after coupons!!!
The 7 blogs I give the award to to follow a little later

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Thoughts to ponder.....

  • The discipline of daily devotion to God undergirds decisions.
  • Perseverance will always outlast persecution.
  • A person's beliefs hold the greatest potential for good or harm in life.
  • Wrong conduct is based on wrong beliefs.
  • What you believe is basis for conduct, character and destiny.
  • Whatever God authors, He will complete. Whatever God promises, He will fulfill, Whatever is committed to Him, God will keep.
  • It's better to pray to BE READY for opportunities when they come than to pray they come.
  • The counterfeit trinity is "me, myself and I."
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