A Different Direction

I spent today traveling. I went to Eastland to meet L and pick up some of his belongings because he couldn't carry everything in his car in one trip. He will be home on Wednesday, (possibly Tuesday evening.) I am not sure about my feelings in this, or what to do/how to act with him here, since we have been apart for so long. I'd like to ask you to pray. The Lord has been dealing with me about a variation on "WWJD" and I have been hearing Chuck Swindoll all week long as he preached on Joseph. When I was praying several weeks ago about this situation, the Lord asked me if I wanted him back. I said yes. So I'm trying. Gonna be an interesting few weeks, I'm thinkin'.

TAGGED (Blame it on Marmee)

Ok, Marmee--seven things you probably don't want to know about me.



1. I grew up on a small farm in Western Maryland, and milked cows twice a day for most of my middler and teen years. Because of that, I used to have a grip strength equal to that of most men. I am not that strong anymore, but still have more power in my grip than many women.



2. I can ttupe 70 wmp buty you cant;'r readi it verywel..l/]



3. I am a former Navy Wave, and was active duty during the end of the Viet Nam Conflict.



4. I lived for 2 1/2 years in Iceland, courtesy of the US Government. That was an awesome time in my life, and I cried when we left. People there are drawn very close very quickly, especially if they are Christians. While I was there, I got to preach to an Icelandic Bible Study, using an interpreter. That was fun, but it sure made it interesting trying to keep a train of thought going!



5. I am a twin, but was raised as a singleton. My sister only lived 7 weeks. She was the larger of us, weighing in at 6 lb 4 oz. I only weighed 4 lb 7 oz. At the age of 18, I weighed 115 lbs. I haven't seen either of those numbers in a very long time. I didn't find out about her until I was 13, but it explained why I always felt like part of me was missing.



6. I am the step-grandmother of quints. Most of you probably already knew that. Two girls and three boys will be 7 in December.



7. I used to drive a rig. Yep, the 18-wheeler variety. I have been in 46 of the 48 continental states, only missing Montana and Rhode Island.

Now I tag f. f

This post is a bit lengthy. I post it in hope that it will prompt Christians to pray.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"
In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself.” And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing?
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best RegardsHonestly and Respectfully, Ben Stein

I felt this had merrit and passed it on to several on my mailing list. But the thing that really got me was the reply I received from my sister today.

She said:
"We have no idea what we gave up when we quit praying as a nation, or what we left ourselves open to. I am convinced that action was the first in a series of three that will lead to the downfall of this nation. In 1963, we told God we do not need Him anymore. In 1973, we said life that God created is worthless and can be disposed of at our convenience. There is one more step and then we will be gone. I believe that will be when we allow 'In God We Trust' to be removed from our money. That will cover the three main areas of life: the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. And I do not believe we are far from that day when the Son of Perdition will show himself and demand that everyone take the mark. We have already taken 2 of the 3 sixes, so it will be no great shock to take the third. We have fallen so far that we do not know how to stand."

I have to tell you that I had not considered that the "666" might be a series of events rather than (or maybe in addition to) an actual number. Ok, off my soapbox. I just think we need to pray more fervently than we do currently. Or at least, I know I do.

What a way to end the day!

Today was an incredibly busy day at work, making me run most of it just to stay even. It was just Satan's way of trying to mess up the meeting I was supposed to attend at church this evening. Last Sunday, one of the ladies at church asked another of the ladies and me to pray for her to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. We set it up to meet at the church at 7 pm. I didn't even get out the door at work until 6:58, but was still at church by 7:19. Both ladies were waiting, just visiting with each other. We started to pray, making sure the lady was a Christian, asking for Satan to be bound, and inviting the Holy Spirit to join us. It was wonderful! Such a sweet peace flooded the altar, that we ended up just soaking Him in. And the next thing we knew, our friend was softly praying in a new language! It was beautiful! I went into church kind of frazzled and tired, and came out just praising my wonderful Lord for all that He accomplishes in us when we let Him. I was still tired (a good tired), but no longer frazzled. I love it when the ones called to minister get as blessed as the one asking for ministering. What a way to end the day!

I thought I'd lost the blog!

Ok, I see some of you with new template designes and went hunting. I found one I really like, and tried to install it, following the instructions on the site. I got an error message, but was able to find a way to restore the old one, but now it has a few problems. Anyone know how to switch the old for the new? The one I like is on Final Sense. Thanks for the help.

MMM.....mini meatloafs! One of my favorite foods. Mom just called them "meat patties". I gave them their current title. Something that is easy to make and feeds several (or me several times!) It was her way of making the meat for a meal stretch to feed four, snice none of us liked real meatloaf. Recipe? Make meatloaf, then shape into patties and FRY them! My recipe: 1 lb lean hamburger, 1 large egg, about 1/2 cup oatmeal, about 1/4 cup sweet relish, diced onion, garlic salt, pepper and hot sauce. Blend, fry, enjoy! I don't think my actual recipe is ever the same twice, and Mom would never have used hot sauce!

I can remember watching my grandmother cook, as I was growing up, and asked her once after I had returned home for several of her recipes that were my particular favorites. She started telling me and used measurements like a "dash" of this and a "pinch" of that. Wait a minute! How much is a pinch, a dash? So we went to the kitchen and she made all those dishes for me in one afternoon, bless her heart, allowing me to quantify that "dash" and "pinch." The result was we dined sumptuously for several days (I was staying with her for vacation) and I came away with recipe cards which still reside in my box along with all those other goodies I have accumulated over the years. You still can't beat her hot roll recipe. So many of those old-time recipes were the result of having to "make do" or stretch what was in the cupboard, but they were so good! As you can see from the recipe above, I have taken to my grandma's ways!

Guess I'm getting a little nostalgic. Must be the holiday season approaching. I just may break out some of the cooking utensils and do some old-fashioned homemaking! That would be a switch, 'cause I don't cook much anymore, since there's just me. (That may be changing shortly. Larry is talking about coming home, at least for a little while, at the end of the month. That should be interesting.)

Christian Fun

Well, I just got in from having dinner at Cafe Italia with 20 other women. It was wonderful! I am a part of Community Bible Study and this week was a break week and all the different classes were encouraged to go have some fun together as a class just to fellowship and get to know each other better. Of course, we females bond best around food! The ladies' class this year is pretty large, and all but 2 or 3 women were able to come to our outing. RW, you would be proud of me--I sat with a group of ladies that I barely knew. It was such fun. We were all to bring a baby picture with us, and part of the time was spent trying to figure out which picture went with which lady. The talking was non-stop, and I know the people in the front dining area must have been wondering what all the noise was about in the back room. I can imagine the shock if they had known it was a womens' Bible Study group! (We Christians aren't supposed to have fun, you know.) These ladies come from all different backgrounds and all different denominations. It's so neat that we all get along so well. No denominational arguing is allowed, of course; but in the year+ that I have been attending, I've not heard even a hint of "I'm right, you're wrong." What a blessing!