Saturday, November 13, 2010
Off I Go . . .
I can't believe that it is November already, let alone the 12th! Craziness! I have less than 2 weeks before I "leave on a jet plane" for Cairo to see the birth of my 1st granddaughter. My guys will be batching it while I'm gone. I have mixed emotions about it. I'm thrilled to be able to fly out to be with Sarah, but at the same time I'm not going to be here to make Christmas special. The guys have assured me though that they have everything under control. I do know one thing it will be very hard to get on that plane to come home. My husband was so sweet. He says grand-babies aren't born everyday into our family, this is a special time, so go & enjoy! So I have the clearance to go. I will be taking my camera of course! & hopefully keep you all updated. Till then . . .
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Where was I September 11th, 2001?
In was a beautiful morning, gorgeous weather about like it was today, clear as a bell outside. We had taken my boys down to hike for the day at Swallow Falls State Park in Maryland. We love hiking that park. Sarah was at Pensacola Christian College in her junior year, I believe. We had already hiked around Muddy Creek Falls & had eaten a late lunch. Now we were on our way down to the main falls when a couple stopped us & asked if we had heard about the planes that flew into buildings in New York City. We told them that we hadn't, but at that point that it wasn't known as an act of terrorism.
On our way home, it was dead silent in the car as we all listened to the radio's account of what happened. We kept looking up at the clear silent sky. It was so eerie not seeing a single plane in the air. At that point, they had thought that another plane had gone down in PA somewhere, & another in OH. Later the one in Ohio was discounted, but the one that went down in PA was close to Pittsburgh. Well, as it turned out in was in Somerset County.
We got home & immediately turned on the TV & sat in horror at what we were seeing. We checked our phone messages & had numerous calls from our daughter trying to get a hold of us, because she had heard about the plane that had gone down near Pittsburgh. It took us a while to reach her, because the lines were so jammed. We did finally, by then she had heard where the true location of the crash was. It all seemed surreal. Of course my 1st thought was, "Is this the beginning of the end, Lord?" I really felt & still do that God's hand of judgment was trying to wake the US up. The safety net that God provided our country was lifting.
I was appalled at our President's response. Instead of calling a day of repenting, fasting & prayer, he told the enemy that we can't be taken down so easily, that we are a strong country. And now 9 years later, we are worse than we were then. It changed us. There was a definite paradigm shift that day. God was waiting to see how we would respond & shamefully we puffed out our chests, got out our flags, & thumbed the enemy. But what was happening in the heavenlies? God saw our pride & the veil that began to cover our eyes. I'm sure He sat back in amazement at our audacity, & I'm sure He was sadden by our choice. Forgive us Lord for our arrogance, our head-in-the-sand attitude! You told us if we would humble ourselves & pray & seek Your face . . . we need You . . . Lord, please send revival!!!
On our way home, it was dead silent in the car as we all listened to the radio's account of what happened. We kept looking up at the clear silent sky. It was so eerie not seeing a single plane in the air. At that point, they had thought that another plane had gone down in PA somewhere, & another in OH. Later the one in Ohio was discounted, but the one that went down in PA was close to Pittsburgh. Well, as it turned out in was in Somerset County.
We got home & immediately turned on the TV & sat in horror at what we were seeing. We checked our phone messages & had numerous calls from our daughter trying to get a hold of us, because she had heard about the plane that had gone down near Pittsburgh. It took us a while to reach her, because the lines were so jammed. We did finally, by then she had heard where the true location of the crash was. It all seemed surreal. Of course my 1st thought was, "Is this the beginning of the end, Lord?" I really felt & still do that God's hand of judgment was trying to wake the US up. The safety net that God provided our country was lifting.
I was appalled at our President's response. Instead of calling a day of repenting, fasting & prayer, he told the enemy that we can't be taken down so easily, that we are a strong country. And now 9 years later, we are worse than we were then. It changed us. There was a definite paradigm shift that day. God was waiting to see how we would respond & shamefully we puffed out our chests, got out our flags, & thumbed the enemy. But what was happening in the heavenlies? God saw our pride & the veil that began to cover our eyes. I'm sure He sat back in amazement at our audacity, & I'm sure He was sadden by our choice. Forgive us Lord for our arrogance, our head-in-the-sand attitude! You told us if we would humble ourselves & pray & seek Your face . . . we need You . . . Lord, please send revival!!!
Monday, September 6, 2010
A Missionary's Prayer
A man in a third world nation asked an American missionary this..."would you please pray that we would become more like you". The missionary thought and reply this..."we drive for less than 30 minutes in our air conditioned cars to walk into our air conditioned churches to sit on our very cushioned seats" You take public transportation for hours to sit on metal chair or wooden benches or even on the floor" He moved on to say..."we average 3 Bibles per household in America and we barely open them" <> "You pass along pieces of paper with scripture and you memorize it". The missionary with tears in his eyes said..."YES SIR...I will pray...but I will pray that we become more like you".
Wow...what a power statement of the condition of the church in America. AMERICA...LETS GET HUNGRY FOR GOD!!! ~ as said by a friend of mine. I agree!
Wow...what a power statement of the condition of the church in America. AMERICA...LETS GET HUNGRY FOR GOD!!! ~ as said by a friend of mine. I agree!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Goldfinch on Sunflowers
One of the reasons we grow sunflowers besides enjoying the flowers themselves is to be able to watch goldfinch flickering about on them, chasing each other & eating the seeds. I thought I'd let you enjoy them too.
We get other birds too like cardinals, little brown birds, but I haven't gotten any of those in pictures. Here's a chickadee. Sorry that it is blurry, but I stumble upon him eating & grabbed the camera quickly & well, here's what I got.
And we've even gotten some non-bird interests.
We get other birds too like cardinals, little brown birds, but I haven't gotten any of those in pictures. Here's a chickadee. Sorry that it is blurry, but I stumble upon him eating & grabbed the camera quickly & well, here's what I got.
And we've even gotten some non-bird interests.
There's another picture on the side bar to the left.
Monday, August 2, 2010
I'm NOT ok!!!
My sister brought me a book that has rocked my world. Believe it or not I haven't actually read the book, just excerpts from the book, but its author has challenged me to the very core of my being. The book is Crazy Love by Francis Chan. The last time I went through something like this, I was searching for Christ & finding Him changed my world forever! This is similar. Because you see I have gotten caught up in the American Dream as well as the American Christianity. Somewhere along the line I went from a passion for Christ to keeping my Christian world safe & sound. That is NOT what God calls us to! And I realized that that is not what I signed up for either.
My sister began telling me about what was in the book which sounded intriguing to me so I checked this author out on Youtube. That is where I have been confronted by what I have fallen into believing. For quite awhile now I have been praying, crying out to God for the real truth, not what is so easily preached these days in the American churches even in my church. Francis Chan says that we take passages from scripture & we like to study them, talk about them, find the Greek meaning for them & then don't do anything about them. This soooo reminded me of the scripture passage the Lord showed me a few years back in Eze 33:30 - 32, "As for you, son of man, your countryman are talking together about you by the walls & at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, 'Come & hear the message that has come from the Lord.' My people come to you, as they usually do, & sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouth they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice & plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice." Somehow we think that by studying the Word of God & talking about it that we are ok. As long as we believe what the Word says we are fine. Where did we get that idea!!!
In his last sermon to his church (Francis was the founder & senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA), Francis said that when he had begun preaching out of Colossians one time, he just could not get past the introduction. "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God" (Col 1:1a) just jumped off the page. What struck him was that Paul was totally driven "by the will of God"! He just could not get past that. That has floated in my mind since I saw it. Are we? Are we totally driven by the will of God? Do we obey when He says to reach out to the lost? Do we obey when He says to give a cup of cold water in My name? (Mt 25) Do we take care of the widows & orphans? (Jms 1:27) Are we obedient even to the point of death? (Lk 14:26)
We have the Words of Life, why then don't we share it with people? Ours is a religion of love not hate. The world needs to hear it! We need to get off our 'blessed assurances' & share the Gospel to those in need, to be Jesus to a lost & dying world. I don't want to get to heaven & find that I haven't done all that I could for Christ.
My sister began telling me about what was in the book which sounded intriguing to me so I checked this author out on Youtube. That is where I have been confronted by what I have fallen into believing. For quite awhile now I have been praying, crying out to God for the real truth, not what is so easily preached these days in the American churches even in my church. Francis Chan says that we take passages from scripture & we like to study them, talk about them, find the Greek meaning for them & then don't do anything about them. This soooo reminded me of the scripture passage the Lord showed me a few years back in Eze 33:30 - 32, "As for you, son of man, your countryman are talking together about you by the walls & at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, 'Come & hear the message that has come from the Lord.' My people come to you, as they usually do, & sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouth they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice & plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice." Somehow we think that by studying the Word of God & talking about it that we are ok. As long as we believe what the Word says we are fine. Where did we get that idea!!!
In his last sermon to his church (Francis was the founder & senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA), Francis said that when he had begun preaching out of Colossians one time, he just could not get past the introduction. "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God" (Col 1:1a) just jumped off the page. What struck him was that Paul was totally driven "by the will of God"! He just could not get past that. That has floated in my mind since I saw it. Are we? Are we totally driven by the will of God? Do we obey when He says to reach out to the lost? Do we obey when He says to give a cup of cold water in My name? (Mt 25) Do we take care of the widows & orphans? (Jms 1:27) Are we obedient even to the point of death? (Lk 14:26)
We have the Words of Life, why then don't we share it with people? Ours is a religion of love not hate. The world needs to hear it! We need to get off our 'blessed assurances' & share the Gospel to those in need, to be Jesus to a lost & dying world. I don't want to get to heaven & find that I haven't done all that I could for Christ.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Billy Graham's Prayer For Our Nation
THIS MAN SURE HAS A GOOD VIEW OF WHAT'S HAPPENING TO OUR COUNTRY!'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare... We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.. We have abused power and called it politics... We have coveted our neighbour's possessions and called it ambition.. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honoured values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free.. Amen!'
Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, 'The Rest of the Story,' and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over both our nations and wholeheartedly become our desire for our North American Continent.
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