Testimonial of Faith and Trust April 30, 2009

As you all know, this week we’ve been talking about faith and trust. Well, the Lord let me know exactly what it is all about today. I was put to the test to see if I’m listening to His words as I write them or not. I failed miserably. But this is a testament to God’s love and faithfulness.

Today I looked up flight and car rental plans. Hubby had found one that sounded a bit high, so I went through the program I always do, Expedia.com. They’ve come through for us every trip we’ve had to make. If any one needs to book a flight, get a car rental, and/or a hotel, they are the ones to go through. It’s so handy.

So I found a good deal for us, book the flight and reserved the car. We are headed to San Diego later on! But only for a couple of days. Wish it was a week or two, but hey, it’s better than nothing. Anyhow, I got the flight booked and car reserved and found out a few minutes later that we would not be there in time for our nephews graduation.

All the graduations we’ve been to have been in the late afternoon, early evening. Oh no, not this one. It is in the morning. Scheduled 17 minutes before our scheduled arrival time. I told hubby not to worry that I would go back in and change the date. We decided to leave a day earlier. I get on there and it reads that the airlines would charge us 150.00 per ticket for any changes or cancellations plus Expedia would charge up to 30.00 per ticket for the same thing.

Okay, panic sets in, hubby is upset big time, pacing the floor wondering what to do. So he says, go ahead, we’ll have to pay it, but that is a rip off. So I see a button where I can go change it, and it would show me what our extra charges would be. So I click on it and start over. Hubby comes in the room and says, “somethings not right. You are re-booking, not changing.” I tell him not to worry.

Hee hee, the joke was on me. I get it all done and nothing came up with the charges, so I start to sweat it out…anyone catching the mistakes here? So I go into look up my itineraries and low and behold, we have not two, but 4 tickets reserved. The original booking and the changed date booking. Auuuggghhhhh. Okay, I’m in a major panic now, and tell hubby to call and ind out what happened, as we sure aren’t going to pay for the tickets and all the other stuff.

Okay, now here’s where I went wrong. First off, I didn’t read everything carefully like one should, mainly because I had read it all before many times. Second and most importantly, I didn’t pray about it and seek help. Instead I instantly thought we were screwed and was going to have a high bill that we don’t need. Will I ever learn? Or should I say will hubs and I ever learn? hehehe

Hubby calls Expedia, explains what happened, gave them the itinerary numbers for both bookings and walla, it’s all taken care of, no extra charges, they were great about it. We both looked up and said, “Thank you Lord.” Is He good or what. Then He says, “What have you been writing about?” I’m like faith and trust. I start chuckling. Hubs asks what? I told him here I’ve been doing a series on faith and trust and did I use it today. No! Yet look what He does, He took care of us! He just let me know that I need to practice what I preach. (Blushing deeply now).

So I thought I would share my story with you all as it is a great way to show what faith and trust is all about. Whew! I love how He takes care of us. I just remembered; when hubby got off the phone he said, “Someone sure is looking out for us! No extra fees, they cleared the first booking and said, ‘No problem since you just booked it tonight just a little bit a go.” Oh yeah, He was looking out for us alright. Praise God.

Another testimony here that I just realized, Thank You Lord. I just love how He works with us. Hubs business has really slowed down to the point where he may have to lay off his partner. He doesn’t want to have to do that, I may need to go back to work, and still take care of the kids. He may have to work a second job. Wow! How did we get to this point. It happened so fast. Well hubby has been worrying over that. Remember the verse from Luke about worrying?

Well today he sat down and figured up all the costs of the business and their pay, and Praise the Lord, the pretty much have what they need to pay it all! We just need to keep the faith and trust. One way or another, no matter how glum things may get and look, He comes through, He provides, He takes care of us!

With the days of economic tough times, it is more important than ever to have faith and trust in the Lord. Pray or should I say P.U.S.H. Believe! For those not in the Lord, learn about Him and give your soul to Him. He will take care of you. Be the tiny mustard seed that was planted properly and grow!

Believing in God’s Healing April 30, 2009

Received some news today. The Lord is letting me know I’d better wake up and start taking better care of myself. I’m a bit slow in doing so and I guess I needed a little extra push. Hehehe.
For starters, my chiropractor tells me I need not push myself when trying to exercise to start out slow.
Hmmm, now how does one do that??? I can be very impatient. Huh, impatient, no way! But yes indeed, must admit to it. Yes, instead of riding that bike 20 minutes right off the bat, start with 7 and gradually build up. Ohhhh, that’s why the body hurts so bad, baby steps instead of full board. But, but, but…I like to be active, I like to move, can’t stand being idle, whah, whah, whah. Okay, finally give in, guess the right way is better.
Plus he says it sounds like I suffered a mild stroke called a TIA. Okay, had a feeling that’s what was going on, but wasn’t able to go to the hospital.
Then the doctor this afternoon tells me the same thing. She thinks I suffered a mild stroke. Okay, it runs in the family, but at my age, oh yeah, getting older, darn. But at my age??? Hehehe. Sorry, couldn’t get off that one. Had to throw in one more. So we get to go in for a brain scan, (MRI) next Wed.

I’m not trying to make a joke out of the whole thing, as it was scary going through it. Hubby and Jay were really worried. But you know what, for the first time the news was taken calmly. God does that to you. When I left her office, I told Jay–he and A went with me–and he put his arm around me and said, “wow, I’m so sorry mom.” I was like, “it’s okay, the Lord is doing something in my life. He’s trying to tell me something. I really believe He’s trying to tell me to take better care of myself.” So I’m like okay, I’m believing in healing. He’s going to take care of me. I just need to listen. And yes, I have a stubborn streak in me too. I must really have him pulling on his hair often. Thank heavens He has a sense of humor, or I’d really be in trouble.

So, if you wouldn’t mind taking a stand with me, praying for healing and that the MRI will come out okay, the numbness in my feet goes away, the neck pain and headaches subside for good, the back pain ends, and the FMS and RA goes no further, and all the other numbness and pain subsides, it would be really appreciated. Prayer in numbers goes a long way. I’m not asking for sympathy, as there are many out they suffering way worse conditions, and that’s just now who I am, just asking for prayer. It’s one of those bumps in the road where He’s saying, “hey, I need your attention. You need to start taking better care of that tent I loaned you. I need you healthy and fit so you can do the work that I want you to be doing for Me!”

So Lord, I’m listening loud and clear. You are trying to help here and teach. I’m ready to take the time to really listen and follow your lead. Please forgive me for being so stubborn. I believe you are trying to help my whole family as Sarah, AA, Dad, J, and I are all suffering from many similar things. I’m here Father, take me, use me to find out what is happening so that we may all be mended and all the rest except dad being younger can be cured without all the tests. You are an awesome Daddy, and I’m believing in Your great healing for each of us. Not just my family, but for all those that are suffering, in chronic pain, with terminal illnesses, that You are going to heal them Father!
Father, I’m believing in healing all to glorify Your great Name! So we can be living testimonies to your great love! So we can go out and lead your lost sheep back to you Father. So others can learn of Your great love. Healing to be good servants of Yours Daddy. Take me, I’m Yours, lead me, guide me, I lift us all up to you to be better servants to You Father God. In Jesus Name, Amen!

Thank you and God Bless you All!

Testimony April 30, 2009

Don’t you just love testimonies of the greatness of His love. Today I heard one of the most endearinig I’ve heard yet. A mother of an eight year old had e-mailed a friend on Easter Sunday and stated that her daughter had fallen off the swing and was hurt, so they rushed her to the hospital. She is 8 years old, very active and vivrant, a sweet little girl. At the hospital she had an MRI done and found that she had a tumor in her kidney. I can not recall the type, but it’s cancerous.

During the duration of the treatments the little girl went through, many family and friends from all around had travele to be there while the little one went through her surgery to have the tumor removed. Mom commented to her friend that she couldn’t believe all the negative messages she received. Her friend told her that her husbands and her first thoughts were, “why her Lord, why her?” The mother said, “Why not?”

You see, the mother’s faith in God is so strong, her belief being in the Lord the way we hope to be. She stated that they were blessed as the daughter fell off the swing and hurt herself, and at that time had no idea that she had this tumor. There were no signs of it. By the grace of God, she had that minor accident to find it! By the grace of God, this little one had it caught in time. She is handling the chemo treatments well. There has only been one time she got sick due to missing some medication.

It’s funny, so unique how He works in our lives. Pastor has talked about negativity being a downfall, and positive being the works of the Lord. This mom instead of looking at the negative aspects of what her daughter was going through, dwelled on the positive.

Think of it this way; by mom having a positive attitude, she is able to transfer this to her daughter. Her daughter picks up on it–and we all know that positive thinking helps us heal faster–takes on a positive attitude and is kept as cheery as possible and walks through her trials in a much better position than if she had negative vibes around her and picked up on them.

By having the positive thinking/behavior, the enemy was blocked. Had it been reversed, the doors and windows would have been wide open for the enemy to walk in and go to work on your exposed soul.

Did this make you stop and really think? Did this make you want to change your outlook on life? I know it sure did me. I’ve been working on this very thing anyhow, but hearing this, the strength of a mother who could have caved to desperation instead lifted her daughter up to the Lord. Praise the Lord for this wonderful mom and her insight.

What a great testimony, don’t you think? If this doesn’t open eyes to His greatness and faithfulness, I don’t know what will.

Be Blessed. Make a ripple and watch it grow and grow and grow (thank you Hon for this idea). Remember to always P.U.S.H. {{{Hugs}}}

Government Spending April 30, 2009

I received this in my e-mail today and think it is awesome! So decided to share it with you all. I was going to try to stick to just three posts today, but decided I wanted to get this one out here. I’m thinking this would be awesome for all of us to sign in agreement and send it to our congress, senate, etc. to get the point across that we are tired of government spending. So here is the note.

This is from an article in the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday.
The Business Section asked readers for ideas on “How Would You Fix the Economy?”
I think this guy nailed it!

Dear Mr. President:
Please find below my suggestion for fixing America ’s economy.

Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.
You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings – Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered – Auto Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage – Housing Crisis fixed.
It can’t get any easier than that!
If more money is needed, have all members of Congress and their constituents pay their taxes…

So if you think this is a good idea, pass it on to others. Otherwise just ignore it. God Bless!

Thankful Thursday April 30, 2009

As always, there are so many things that I am thankful for. Too many to write, as I’d have to turn it into a book, and that wouldn’t be good on here.

1) I’m thankful for knowing the Lord our God. For His purity and Love, His teachings, and His lessons.

2) I’m thankful for Jesus’ great sacrifice, dying on the cross for our sins, and saving us.

3) I’m thankful for the beauty He provides of us. The wildlife, the sunrises/sets, plants, architectures, so many sites, so much beauty.

4) I’m thankful for the roof over our head keeping us dry, the food on our table each meal, a job to provide us with the means to get what we need, and clothes on our back.

5) I’m thankful for transportation, for it would be really tough to have to walk every where, or even go by horse now days.

6) I’m thankful for the church family, allowing us to be together and learning more about how to live the way the Lord wishes for us to live. To have the continuation from reading the Bible and given a better understanding of what it says.

7) I’m thankful for family and friends who are there for one another.

I’m thankful to have been provided good, caring doctors that are taking the time to find out what is going on.

9) I’m thankful for having the faith to know all is well, that we are taken care of and there is no need for worry.

10) I’m just plainly thankful to be alive; living, learning, breathing, preparing for eternal life with our great Savior, the Lord our God.

Faith and Trust Part II April 27, 2009

Remember the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15:4-7 (NKJV)?
4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!
7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”

Dr. Charles Stanley says this: “The Lord is neither cold-hearted nor matter-of-fact about finding His lost sheep and bringing them home. He takes great joy and feels great excitement in re-establishing a close bond with His wandering creations.”

So if God will do everything in His power to save that one lost sheep, then why would we think He would leave us to wander around hopelessly lost? He is always there for us no matter the circumstances. When we feel He’s not listening when our hearts are crying out and we are weary, remember He’s carrying us at that time.

Remember the Poem by Mary Stevens: “Footprints in the Sand?” You can go here and read about the history of the poem and read the poem. The poem is copyrighted, plus it is more affective when seen with the scene and the words rather than typed out here.

Habakkuk 2:4 says: “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.”

The just shall live by his faith. This right here is telling us to live by faith. He wants us to have faith and not be a prideful being which puts us in the wrong frame of mind, unable to hear him.

2 Samuel 22:2-4 (NKJV) talks about trusting the Lord our God.

2 And he said: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
3 The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence.
4 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.”

With this verse I am going to use the Message Bible as well. It starts out by saying: “David prayed to God the words of this song after God saved him from all his enemies and from Saul.”

2-3 “God is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight. My God–the high crag where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders, safe in the granite hideout; My mountaintop refuge, he saves me from ruthless men.
4 I sing to God the Praise-Lofty, and find myself safe and saved.”

Now the (NLT)

2 He sang: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
3 my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my Savior, the one who saves me from violence.
4 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and He saved me from my enemies.

I like to use different translations at times as it can help those that are just coming to the Lord or who haven’t yet. Sometimes one translation may be harder to grasp than another. Such as the original King James Version can be fun to read making it a bit intimidating. This is not say it’s not good. All the Bibles are the same thing, it’s the written Word of the Lord. Our book of instructions.

With this on trust, it is saying that God is going to save us from our enemies, we just need to trust in Him to do it, sing praises to Him and keep the faith!

So today I will leave you with an all time favorite. Psalm 23:1-6 (NKJV)

1 The Lord is my Shepard; I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of the righteousness for His names sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord, forever!

I have to admit, I like the way it sounds from the regular KJV.

So here is the KJV

23 The Lord is my Shepard; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of the righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou annointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

I do have a tendency to be a bit nostalgic at times. Bear with me please. ;o)
I like how Dr. Charles Stanley talks about v 1. He had a remark stating that if we have the Lord, we have everything, but without Him we have nothing. In order to have Him in our lives, we need to trust in Him and have faith in Him.

Stanley also says about v 6:
“We cannot always see goodness and mercy ahead of us, but when we look behind us, we see them. That helps us to look ahead and see more clearly, where we glimpse our place at God’s side forever.” Again, to me this is basically reminding us to keep the faith and trust in Him.

Be Blessed. Make a ripple and watch it grow and grow and grow! And always remember to P.U.S.H. Have a beautiful day!

Relax Sunday April 26, 2009

Today I’m going to do this a little bit differently. I started the the series of Faith and Trust and this will build from it.

Trust in the Lord our God that He will provide an give you a wonderful day. Have Faith in the Lord that He will lead you to do the right things.

Relax today in His love and spread that love. Hug your children/grandchildren. Tell them how much you love them and that you thank the Good Lord for them. If you family isn’t close by, call them and tell them how much you love them, and how thankful you are for them.

Take time to pray, tell Him how much you love Him and How it’s all for Him.

Relax and let Him hold you and walk with you. Stay in His presence and have faith and trust that your day will be restful and relaxing. For without faith and trust in Him, your days become disheveled.

I hope you all have a beautiful relaxing Sunday and remember to include Him in your day! After all, He is the one that gave us this day of rest. May the Lord our God pour out His blessings upon you today and always. May He give you strength and wisdom to carry you through. May the love He has for us shine through us and overflow unto others. Make and ripple and watch it grow and grow.

Remember to always P.U.S.H. Love Him, Love everyone, even your enemies.

I leave you with: Luke 6:27-36 (NKJV)

27 “But I say to you who hear; Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,”

28 “bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.”

29 “To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.”

30 “Give to everyone who asks of you, and from him who takes away your goods do no ask them back.”

31 “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”

32 “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.”

33 ” And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.”

34 “And if yo lend to those that from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.”

35 “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the un-thankful and evil.”

36 “Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”

Relax, let the sun shine in your heart! Many hugs, lots of love, and blessings to you all!!!

Faith and Trust April 25, 2009

This post is to discuss faith and trust in the Lord. The reason for this choice is there has been so much going on in so many peoples lives lately that has had many questioning why would this happen, why aren’t my prayers being answered, is He listening…The list goes on.

Our Pastor has been talking about Faith and Trust a lot. I’ve heard others talk about one or the other or both often. It’s been a big subject more than usual lately. It’s been placed on my heart to take my time and really look at this subject in the Bible and share what I find and learn. One could say, “Well if you’re a Christian, a believer, then trust and faith should not be a problem.”

Well in a sense it seems it should be this way. When we read Scriptures, we know it is stated over and over again how we are to trust our Lord God for everything. We should have faith in the Lord as well. How could we lose it? Why should this be a subject that needs to be discussed?

For one, we are of the flesh, like it or not. We are not perfect, nor will we ever be. There are events in our lives that can leave us wondering, questioning, doubting, etc. For instance, this is something that happened recently to someone. They prayed for safety for their son when driving for the first time. Shortly after that, the son had an accident, (not his fault). Thankfully he was not hurt, but it put the family in a worse financial situation than they had been in. The question came, how can this happen right after praying about it? Why would God do this?

This is where faith and trust comes into play, but we fail to see it as naturally we are confused, and it’s hard to see at the time. This is when it is good to talk with others we know that are in the Lord. It is easy for someone that is not going through that situation to remind them that even though it doesn’t seem right, it’s confusing; God has a plan in our lives. We are a works in the making. He may have done that to teach the son something, or the parent, or the family. We don’t know and may never know.

The important thing here is we need to hold onto our faith in knowing that God is there. He already knew this situation would happen. He had it planned for a reason. The good thing is the Lord was thanked for keeping the son safe and not injured. Blessings, count our blessings. When we are able to wave off the negative aspects and look at the blessings, we can overcome our displeasure’s and questionings a whole lot easier. Have faith and trust that He is doing what is needed to be done. He has a good reason for what happened. Perhaps even it happened to teach the other party involved a lesson and you were used as He knew you could handle it. You were the one with the faith and they are not. We never know. Just believe, trust, and keep the faith!

I’m going to do this subject in a series. I don’t know how many days I’ll do this, but what ever it takes without making it too long each time. And then there will be other subjects to follow. It was placed on my heart to pick a different subject from the concordance and discuss it here. I thought okay. I know I’ll learn more from this, and hopefully it will help others and prayerfully lead at least one, but hopefully more to the Lord. I would like to know how you all feel about this. Be honest.

I’m going to end today’s post with this Scripture from Matthew 6:25-34 (NKJV) and the definitions for Faith and Trust taken from Merriam Websters On-line Dictionary.

Faith: 1 allegiance to duty or a person; fidelity to one’s promises; sincerity of one’s intentions.
2 belief and trust in and loyalty to God; belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion; firm belief in something for which there is no proof
3 Something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially: a system of religious beliefs.

Trust: 1 assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something; One in which confidence is placed.
2 Dependence on something future or contingent; reliance on future payment for property (as merchandise) delivered.
3 a property interest held by one person for the benefit of another; a combination of firms or corporations formed by a legal agreement; one that reduces or threatens to reduce competition.
4 a change or duty imposed in faith or confidence or as a condition of some relationship; something committed or entrusted to one to be used or cared for in the interest of another; responsible charge or office

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink: nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more that clothing?”
26 “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
27 “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”
28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toll nor spin;”
29 “and yet I say to you that even Solomon, in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
30 “Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?’ Or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?”
32 “For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”
33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.”
34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Matthew 6:25-34 (Message Bible).

25-26 “If you decide for God; living a life of God-worship; it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes, or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to Him than birds.”
27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.”
30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think He’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do His best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how He works. Steep you life in God-reality, God-initiative, and God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.”
34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

The 1930’s – 1979 Era April 24, 2009

This has been around for a long time, but a bit of a different version. I so love this. It’s so true, but sad that many don’t see it.

To Those of You Born in the 1930 – 1979.
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s!!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn’tget tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribscovered with bright colored lead-base paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one
actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren’t overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing…that’s why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s and X-boxes. There were no videogames, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD’s, no surround-sound or CD’s, no cell phones, no person al computers, no Internet and no chat rooms
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no law suits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how todeal with it all.
If YOU are one of them? CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it ?

God’s Love April 24, 2009

A few days ago was one of the best days I’ve had despite the constant pain and discomfort. I’m so thankful for God’s love and the way he works.

I believe I have talked about my daughter with an Atheist fiance and one of his two boys being the same way. In our trips taking them to school and back often, we get a chance to talk and I play kids worship music most of the time. R would complain before but has given up on that. I figure the more you expose them, the more the Lord will sink in.

Well yesterday the Lord was speaking strongly to him and we were truly blessed. The baby was really fussy and usually rides good in the van, but yesterday he complained a lot. So on the way back home, I put in Jules new choir CD and C calmed down right away! Then R commented, “Well I guess he’s going to grow up to be just like you guys.” I sat quietly in thought and then the Lord gave me the word, “It’s the peace of the Lord.”

Well this brought up questions from R! He asked if it’s bad not to pray or say grace everyday. I told him that it’s not bad, but God does love to hear from us and the more we talk to Him the closer we come to Him. I used myself as an example that I haven’t been praying regularly lately and have been having some difficulties. But when I pray regularly, (and I should have added read the word daily), then I’m much happier.

Shortly after this–I love God’s timing–we see a vehicle that had the drivers side back in all crunched in with the trunk buckled up and the back window gone. This was an old Cadillac. R commented, “Man, I hope that dude has insurance.” I told him that he probably didn’t otherwise he wouldn’t be driving around like that. I then said that I would add him to my prayers tonight. R said, I’m going to pray for him right now. I was shocked!!! So he was quiet, then said, “I just prayed that he would get Progressive.” I love the way of children, from the mouths of babes.

So I told him that I felt that this man needed more than insurance that he probably needed a job or something, that he was obviously down on his luck. The inside of the car had parts of the roof falling down. So R got quiet again and then said he prayed that the Lord would help in what ever he needs. That really touched me. Here was a child determined to be like dad and not believe and all of a sudden he’s praying for someone else. He’s normally all about himself.

I told him that I was really proud of him and he made me very happy. This made him feel good too. Then he said, “Omah, you do need to pray for him because you are so much closer to God than I am. He will answer your prayers faster than he will mine.” I told him that God listens to everyone and especially to children with caring loving hearts. and that the more people that pray, the more powerful those prayers become. He liked hearing that.

When we got to their house R commented that this was the happiest day of his life! I asked him if he knew what was going on. He asked what and I told him that God was working on him and He was pleased with him for coming to Him. I let him know that God was making his day better. He thought that was cool.

God’s love; where would we be without it. This is living proof of the strength of His great love for His children.