Please Pray!

Please be praying for Shorty Bear and Love Bug. They both are going through some really tough times. Love Bug is without feeling in his legs and can not work. Shorty Bear is losing her eye sight and dealing with other health issues. They have a very small amount of income and are in need of help. She is trying for SSI, but anyone that has dealt with that knows that it can take forever for it to go through.

Let's lift them both up in prayer for healing and provisions. May the Lord Bless them greatly. Bless you all.

A Dedication to My Daughter

My heart was empty and cold. Full of anger instead of love.
I walked away from the daughter that means the world to me.
Why you ask, because I let the ways of the flesh walk in.
I held within my arms a shell of a woman.
I saw the darkness in her eyes; knowing her light was slowly dying out.
Yet I did not let it strike the chord it should have.
No empathy did I feel; only confusion and frustration.
I thought to myself, "I did not raise you this way! What is wrong with you?"
Doing the very thing I watched a mother do to her daughter years ago;
yet oblivious to my own wrong doing.

I became my daughters judge; one who sentenced her without hearing her story.
I saw the emptiness and hurt in her children's eyes.
The protector of children broke loose in me once again.
For in my heart, children rely on us, and we must always be there for them.

But what was I missing? I wanted to tear them from her loving arms;
feeling she was not the mother they needed her to be.
Judging, ignoring anything that would set her from my cruel thoughts.
The children cried that they loved their mom and would not leave her.

I held her in my arms today, cried silently inside.
I step back and ask, "What am I doing? Lord, what has come of me?
My daughter needed me, yet I walked away! What have I done?
I hold before me, my daughter who is a shell of herself. So sick and in need of love,
understanding and comfort. Yet I walked away from her when she needed me most."

"Father you know my heart. You know I want to shine with your love light;
Yet I walked away from the very thing You teach and show. Not once have you ever
left my side, yet I walked away from one of Your children to struggle without her mom."

I am on bended knee, asking for forgiveness Father and daughter.
I never meant to walk away. I never meant to ignore all that you were crying out to me;
my beautiful, loving daughter. You tried to reach out and I pushed you away.
For that I am deeply sorry. I only saw the hurt of the children and not the hurt of my
very own daughter. I was angry with you for seemingly doing what I was actually doing.
I pray that you can forgive me for not being the woman I so long desire to be.

I see before me a daughter who is week, desperately in need of care, love and understanding.
I vow to you my daughter to always be there by your side. Listening instead of judging,
there to hold you when you need holding. There to catch you when you need catching.
There to listen, when you need listening to.
I now realize that the love you have for your children is strong.
I now realize that you have no longer the strength to carry on your daily needs.
I want to be that strength for you to lift you when you fall.

My daughter, my beautiful sweet daughter. My heart breaks today for the hurt I have caused our family. I did not set a good example. May this be a lesson none of us will ever forget. May the generational curses be broken and the love of the Lord prevail over all.

And so my daughter, I ask for forgiveness and leave you with this prayer:

Father God, I come to You today to thank you for the beautiful treasures you have bestowed upon our family. You gave me a wonderful Godly husband that is there for his children as You are always there for us. You gave us a wonderful son and daughter, both of whom we are very proud of. You have bestowed upon us beautiful grand children from both our son and daughter. For those gifts, I am eternally grateful.
Father I come with heavy heart for all the wrong I have done. I ask for forgiveness for the hurtful tongue and actions I have taken. I ask that the generational curses that have been brought upon our family be broken now, tossed and buried at the foot of the cross to never again be able to strike this family down.
Father, You have given us a beautiful daughter of whom I know deep down still believes in You and so very needs you. I lift her up to You Father and ask that You be her physician and heal her of all illnesses and renew her strength Lord. Not only physical strength but spiritual as well. Father, You have given us a beautiful gift from above, please do not take her from us. Heal her now I ask in Jesus Name. For you have said, "By Your stripes we are healed." You are the great and mighty and Only God! The Alpha and Omega, the One and Only. You are an awesome God Father; and we call upon You now for healing. I ask this in Jesus sweet and Holy Name, Amen!

Have faith my sweet daughter, be healed in His Holy Name! I love you unconditionally for all eternity. Be strong and know that we are here for you always, never to walk away again.

With Love now and forever,
Mom
His reponse opened doors.

Fridays Funnies Post II: Why the Fight Started

I Needed a Laugh Today and Recieved this e-mail. I Laughed! Be ready when you reach the last one. And don't cheat, read them all. ;) A second Funny Follows this post.


Ever wonder in your relationship, how 'the fight' started...:

One year, a husband decided to buy his mother-in-law a cemetery plot as a
Christmas gift...

The next year, he didn't buy her a gift.

When she asked him why, he replied,

"Well, you still haven't used the gift I bought you last year!"
And that's how the fight started...


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


My wife and I are watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire while we were in
bed.

I turned to her and said,

'Do you want to have Sex?'

'No,'

she answered.

I then said,

'Is that your final answer?'

She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying

'Yes.'

So I said,

'Then I'd like to phone a friend.'

And that's when the fight started...


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

I took my wife to a restaurant.

The waiter, for some reason, took my order first.

'I'll have the strip steak, medium rare, please..'

He said,

'Aren't you worried about the mad cow?'

'Nah, she can order for herself.'

And that's when the fight started...

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

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping the channels.
She asked,
'What's on TV?'
I said,
'Dust.'
And then the fight started...

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

My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary..
She said,

'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 200 in about 3 seconds.'

I bought her a scale.
And then the fight started...


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


My wife and I were sitting at a table at her high school reunion, and she
kept staring at a drunken man swigging his drink as he sat alone at a nearby
table.
I asked her,
'Do you know him?'
'Yes,'
she sighed,
'He's my old boyfriend... I understand he took to drinking right after we
split up those many years ago, and I hear he hasn't been sober since.'

'My God!'
I said,
'Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?'

And then the fight started...

---------------------------------------------------------------------
THE BROKEN LAWN MOWER:

When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that
I should get it fixed.

But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first, the truck,
the car, playing golf. Always something more important to me.

Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point.

When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily
snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a
short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a minute, and when
I came out again I handed her a toothbrush.

I said, 'When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway.'

The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp.

Friday's Funnies: Funny Street Signs Spotted Across The Country - When.com Blog - The Best Local Events Guide

I just had to share this one with you all. I haven't made it through the complete list, but so far, they do bring a chuckle. Hope you all enjoy, and remember: LAUGHTER truly is the "best" medicine! Seldom cry, rarely frown, laugh often and smile alot!

Funny Street Signs Spotted Across The Country - When.com Blog - The Best Local Events Guide

Golden Anniversary; Unthinkable Loss

Golden Anniversary; Unthinkable Loss

This story talks of all emotions. It talks of greatness of a grand father and his accomplishments, of a grandson who had the same never give up attitude of his grand father and of a dad who was a good support of his family.

It also talks of a tragedy; a loss of a life at such a young age. No matter what age, it is hard to lose a loved one; but when a child is taken, it is devestating.

I was awe struck by the father of the son' comment at the end. It just goes to show, when we are in the right place, we can find joy and peace. Our hearts are heavy with the loss, but we must also look around and see that joy is all around. We just have to be open to it. He's always there with us!

Have a beautiful and blessed weekend all. I hope to be fully recovered and back into everything real soon.

Brianne Matthews: Of Softball, Sorrow

Brianne Matthews: Of Softball, Sorrow

We really need to be "In Tune" to our kids. So many young lives are taken by suicide. If your child is talking about death, listen to them. They may be crying out for help. There were many signs here with this child and it was missed, as so many don't realize. On the outside they may seem happy, but when they discuss something that is totally out of characteristic for them, be alert. Talk to your children to make sure they are doing okay, and not putting too much pressure on themselves.

This is a serious problem. Some parents don't believe in mental illness. Some think that kids just talk. Many times they are crying out for help in the only way they know how without coming right out and saying it. If your child is unhappy, then you really need to be listening to them. Swallow your pride if need be and get them the help they so deserve.

I'm not saying that the parent ignored her daughter. Not the case, but she unknowingly missed some significant signs, along with others. We assume all is good with our kids when they are doing well in school and other things. Friends as well need to be alert to odd behaviors of their friends. Something that happens out of characteristic.

Let's take a stand against child suicides. Let's let these kids know we care about them and are there to listen to them. Let's incourage our children to talk to us about anything; that they don't have to be alone with their thoughts.

Let's pray that we the parents, grandparents, friends are given the insight to notice there is something wrong and children are not needlessly taking their own lives.

Who's Your Boss?

While reading through "Life Principles Bible by Dr. Charles Stanley; Life principle 4, I was captivated by what it said. It is amazing how so many times we can read something over and over and then one day it finally sinks in! Well it did this time. Perhaps due to the Daniel Fast, I'm finally able to comprehend more; or more likely, I'm ready for it. After all, it is all designed by His time.

The title for Life Principle 4 reads: "The Awareness of God's Presence Energizes Us for Our Work. (Deut. 20:1) (S.C., 2005)

Dr. Stanley goes on to talk about three way s one can get the most out of the work you do. One being as seeing yourself as a servant. Col. 3:22 "Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God." Matt. 20:25 "Jesus came to earth not to be served, but to serve--and He instructed us to adopt the same attitude."

When we are at work, we should do our very best no matter the circumstances. Dr. Stanley wrote: "A prideful employee is seldom seen as a 'promotion possibility.'"(S.C., 2005) If we do our work thinking we know it all and can do better than others, we aren't doing our job to the best of our ability. We aren't serving our real Boss!

So who is our real Boss? This is where the second way to get the most of the work you do. "Realize that you work for the Lord Himself."(S.C., 2005) That's right, no matter where we are working, who we are working for, our real Boss is always the Lord. Col. 3:23 "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.

I like what Dr. Stanley had to say about how we need to give a "full days labor whether we think management is fair." That is because we are working for the Lord in reality.

Then came the best part of this Life Principle. Our Pastor has talked many a time about being a part time Christian--yes, guilty sometimes of this very thing--but do you go to church Sunday and Worship and then go to work Mon. - Fri. not giving the Lord much thought or perhaps not at all? Do you practice what the Bible teaches while at work? And then spend Saturday as a day of play, and then back to church on Sunday to Worship; and the circles continues?

If we look at daily life in a worldly fashion and not in a Godly manner, then we are not fully doing our work. We must include the Lord everyday in all that we do. When we worry more about how our supervisors, managers etc. see us, and not how the Lord sees us, then we aren't giving our all.

The third way to get the most out of your work is: "Realize your pay comes both now and hereafter."(S.C., 2005) Dr. Stanley explains that we naturally need to be paid while doing our work her on earth in order to survive; but you aren't going to get paid all you are worth here. But if we put in our all while here we will be greatly rewarded when we go home. Remember, our Boss is watching every move we make. If we show Him the respect He deserves, do our very best and include Him in everything we do, our reward is going to be unmeasurable.

And the very last paragraph and sentence asks and answers some very good questions:

Do you see yourself as a servant? Do you consider Him your real Boss and work
"as unto the Lord," no matter how menial or boring your job might seem? Have you
realized that you have a tremendous reward coming later for faithful labor
performed now?
If so, you are getting the most out of your work. (S.C., 2005)

This came at the perfect time--of course--as I've been dealing with what I do, and realized that I need to change my ways. This all started about a week ago. So much is being revealed lately and then I read this and wow! Talk about a "hit-you-in-the- face moment!" I won't go into detail, but I've realized lately that I need to change the whole way I've been acting and going about things and need to ask to be led, instead of being that bullheaded self that I have a tendency to fall back into. This Life Principle was the icing on the cake so to speak.

I love His perfect timing, how He opens our eyes at the right moment when we need it the most. Since coming back to the Lord, I can't imagine life without Him. Nor do I know how I did it without Him. Well, yes I do. He was always there; just waiting for me to come back. Because when I look back and think about it, I shouldn't be here today. I actually did die once and came back.

Miracle? You bet. It wasn't my time yet, it was a moment that He used to tell me something. It just took many years to realize it. Worth it? You bet! Hubs and I both have many a great testimony to tell. A bunch of hogwash? No way! There is no other explanation for what has happened in our lives. It's all right there in the Bible. it all explains the answers to what has happened over the years. Granted some of what we have to testify to is embarrassing, but if it will help someone, then it was all worth it.

But that part is for another whole new post. I'm so full of ideas once again!!! Lately, it's been like writers block for me. But that's because I was going through another dark moment in life. That's okay though, because each one opens more new doors, chains are broken, healing happens, and eyes are opened! Yup, God Is Good All the Time!!! Be blessed all.

Reference:
Stanley, C.F., 2005. "Life Principle Bible: New King James Version." Copyright 1982 by Thomas
Nelson, Inc.