Sunday, November 30, 2008

Impressed...

Have you ever been impressed with your child?  Sort of taken by surprise?

This happened to me recently.  When Jeremy was younger he desperately wanted drums.  He was drumming on everything (he still is!).  Have you ever looked into the price of a set of drums?  Yikes!  Do you invest that amount of money in a 12 year old not knowing if this will last a month, a year, a life?

Instead, I took him to a huge city that had a huge music store.  We found a little electronic box type thing with round circles on the top....a very small electronic drum box.  It had a headphone jack....something they told me would prevent me from hearing the incessant pounding drumming.

It looked something like this:



He practiced....a lot.  Everyday.   all.the.time.   Do not believe them when they tell you that if they have a headphone jack then you won't hear it...they lie!  I NEVER had to tell Jeremy to practice (you think I'd actually ask him to go make LOUD, repetitive noise for long periods of time on purpose?)  He practiced faithfully.  I endured.  Have I ever mentioned that loud repetitive noise gives me an instant headache?  Oh, did I mention that the child COULD NOT HOLD A BEAT?????

Jeremy literally wore this machine out over the years.  He began to keep a beat.  He never took a lesson. There was never money for music lessons.  He watched those who did a better job, listened to those who did a better job and he emulated those who did a better job.  (I think there is a life lesson there!) He realized that his little set was wearing out and he began saving for a "real" drum set.  He sought counsel from a young man at church who had given Jeremy some tips.  This young man helped Jeremy to find an inexpensive set that wasn't just junk.  He then surprised Jeremy by helping him to buy that set. They were bright pink...Jeremy loved them and has used them faithfully for years.  He has just about worn these out too.  He has improved...he's good.....very good.

Along the way he learned to play the djembe (pronounced jim-bay). They look like this:



When we began attending our fellowship, they purchased one of these so that Jeremy could participate in worship.  They told Jeremy to take it home and practice.  He was THRILLED!  I had no idea how he learned to play this....he just did it....and he did it well.

About 2 months ago, we were hanging around after a home group meeting and enjoying fellowship. The teenagers who had led worship that night began to pick up their instruments and worship together...people began to drift back into the room and join in.  It was sweet!  Our Elder disappeared to the basement and came back with guitars...which he handed out.  He leaned over and told Jeremy that he had some Congas in the basement.  Jeremy thanked him but told him that he didn't know how to play the Congas.  The elder waited a bit and then grabbed Jeremy, took him to the basement and brought up the Congas.  They look like this:



As a concerned Mom, worried about my child being horribly embarrassed in front of a large group of people, I held my breath and thought "this isn't good".  Good thing my Elder is smarter than me.  Jeremy began to play.....well.  How can you take an instrument you have never touched and play it well?  Again, our Elder sent them home with us so that Jeremy could practice.

And he does...all of them...diligently....and wait till I tell you how our Father has blessed his diligence and his perseverance for these last 6 years....stay tuned....

Blessings,

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Disposable Children

Wisdom....from Elisabeth Elliot (emphasis mine) Pt. !:
Source: Keep A Quiet Heart
Scripture Reference: Romans 1:28-31

Disposable Children

A ruling of the Internal Revenue Service now allows parents a tax exemption if a child intended for abortion lives for any length of time. The breathtakingly fancy mental footwork necessary to justify such action goes something like this: what was meant to be discarded is not a child. It is called a "p.o.c." (product of conception, which of course is what children and all the rest of us are). The bad news is that this disposable tissue turned out to be a child and (alas) was born. The good news is that you can get a tax exemption for a dependent child. The best news is that its dependence is only temporary. Call it a child, then, till you get your money. You need not go to the trouble of keeping it. You can call it tissue again and toss it out. Thus the abortionist's mistake becomes the taxpayer's windfall, and the doctor who orders the child abandoned (i.e., killed by neglect and sometimes by active means) is not charged with murder but paid for what is now called a postnatal abortion.

Will you stand up against the outrage called "prochoice"?

Do you understand its implications?

"Because they have not seen fit to acknowledge God, he has given them up to their own depraved reason. This leads them to break all the rules of conduct. They are filled with every kind of injustice, mischief, rapacity, and malice.... They are without natural affection and without pity" (Romans 1:28, 29, 31, NEB).

Wisdom....from Elisabeth Elliot (emphasis mine) Pt.2.....
Source: Keep A Quiet Heart
Scripture Reference: Matthew 25:40
A New Medical Breakthrough

As I mentioned earlier, some time ago I read of a new medical triumph involving unborn twins. Amniocentesis had shown that one of them had Down's syndrome. The mother decided she did not want that child, so with the simple expedient of piercing the heart of the baby with a long needle, it was killed in the womb. She carried the twins to term and delivered one child alive--the one she wanted to keep--and one child dead--the one she didn't want to keep. This was hailed as a remarkable breakthrough. I would ask you to pause for a moment here and consider this question: what was it, exactly, that was killed? What was it that was not killed? The answer to both questions, of course, is--a child. They were both children. They were twins. I used plain, ordinary words to tell the story--the words the news report used. Nothing ambiguous. Nothing incendiary.

I read the following week in the same magazine about another medical breakthrough. This time doctors had used an instrument inserted into a womb not to kill a child but to save one. This child had a serious heart anomaly which they were able to correct with intrauterine surgery. Can any honest and reasonable person fail to make the comparison here? In the second case, the instrument in the surgeon's hand enabled the tiny heart to keep on working. In the first case, the needle in the surgeon's hand made the heart quit working. What, exactly, should we call that?

The intrauterine surgery was called lifesaving because they fixed a baby's defective heart. What language are we allowed to use when we speak of destroying a heart that's working perfectly! There is a simple and obvious word, but we are not allowed to use it. Well, what about life-destroying? Is that permissible for this neat and efficient technique? Well, not really. Because the word life is explosive. Life is not relevant here. It's the mother's life that we are supposed to consider, nobody else's. The other isn't a life--not one worth living anyway, not one worth the mother's suffering for. So we must not use the ordinary words. They're too emotional. They're loaded. The fact is they stopped the heart. That's all. Just made it quit beating.

I was glad that the writer of the article on the baby whose heart was corrected acknowledged the possibility that fetal surgery might raise an ethical question which the medical world thought it had laid to rest. Might it be necessary, in view of these advances, to ask all over again whether a fetus is a person?

This is the issue today. It is, in the final analysis, the only question that needs to be considered when we speak of the unborn. Is the thing disposable? Is it an object with no life of its own, a bit of tissue which belongs to a woman who has the right to do with it what she chooses? If she needs it and wants it, she keeps it. If she doesn't need it and doesn't want it, she throws it out. So what's all the shouting about?

Truthfulness is the willingness to accept facts. Truthtellers are always regarded as either ridiculous, or so dangerous as to deserve death. "No truth," wrote Hannah Arendt, "that crosses someone's profit, ambition, or lust, is permissible. Unwelcome facts possess an infuriating stubbornness that nothing can move except plain lies."

Here are the unwelcome facts. We were talking about children: the twin who was saved, the child with the defective heart who was also saved, and the twin whose heart was pierced with a needle. They were children. Choices were made regarding those children: deliberate, conscious choices. One, to allow a child to live. Another, to intervene surgically so that a child might live who would otherwise die. (Would the surgeon who performed that operation have dreamed of telling the mother that her baby was not a person? He saved its life, and the mother was grateful.) But in the other case, what was the choice? It was to kill a child. These are the unwelcome facts, but they are infuriatingly stubborn. They will not go away. It was a child. It was killed. Nothing will move those facts except lies.

I ask you earnestly to look at the little creature with eyes and hands and beating heart, held in that safest of places, the mother's womb. No woman who holds such a thing within her doubts that she holds a child. No doctor who extracts it by whatever swift and putatively safe means can deny that what he extracts is a human being, and that what he does is to kill it.

I ask you for God's sake to look at the truth. And I ask you, finally, to think about what Jesus said: "I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40, JB). Jesus will not forget.

Father, Forgive them for sacrificing their babies on the altars of convenience, perfection, gender and more. Forgive us for not speaking out more, reaching out more and standing up for Your values....always.  Help us, inspire us and motivate us to take a stand for these lives...no matter the cost.  Our voices are the only ones these little ones have....

Monday, November 24, 2008

Home Spun Dreams!

Quick!  Hurry over to this lovely little place and leave a comment to enter the contest for this wonderful gift!



This little Ann would look lovely in my room ....and she just might remind me of a far-away Ann :)

Blessings,

It was war!

It was planned for a long time.  They built barricades, forts, secret tunnels and hideouts.  Smoke bombs were purchased for decoy activities.

It was late, dark and cold.  Yet they roamed my farm with guns.  Even the guard dogs ran and hid in fear!  They were ruthless... they were scary...they were....MEN WITH GUNS!



If you come to visit me, don't plan on taking a stroll on a fall evening....scary looking bunch aren't they?  Don't ask me who won....my lips are sealed.  I was only there to provide the nourishment needed by such a ruthless bunch of guys!  All I can say is *****they had fun*******  ssssshhhhhhhhh!

Blessings,



PS The goats will never be the same....

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Pulling Pepper Plants

I can't remember where I heard this.  I think it was from Lynn....but I could be wrong.  I apologize in advance for not being able to give credit where credit is due.  Please feel free to correct me in the comments.

We had a forecast for our first hard freeze.  Temperatures  were expected to drop into the low 20's.  I still had pepper plants in the garden - loaded with fruit.  This was our best year ever for peppers - my plants were waste high!  We picked and picked and picked.  About every three or four days we'd go out and bring in a basket full!  We don't usually still have peppers this late but for some reason this year they just wouldn't give up...in fact they were still blooming in October and our nights were cool!  (In case you don't know, according to all the gardening books, that doesn't happen!) Go figure...just when you think you know what you are doing on the farm, something happens and you realize that you don't really know much of anything at all.  It is all in His hands and you just have to rely on Him completely. I think one of His purposes for gardening and farming is to keep us humble.

Knowing the freeze was coming, I still didn't want to waste any peppers.  I had a plan!  I picked all of our bell peppers and processed them.  I put enough in the freezer for fajitas  - we like to have them about once a month.  The rest I took to my Mom and she dehydrated them.  Mom is in charge of dehydrating here on the farm.  What a load she takes from my shoulders!  All I have to do is pick them and walk over to her house (just up from our garden) and a few days later she sends me back beautifully dehydrated peppers (or onion, squash, okra etc.) to store.  It's just like magic... Disney's got nothing on my Mom!

But, the hot peppers?!  What to do...what to do?  Then I remembered something Lynn said (I still think it might have been Lynn).  She talked about pulling up the plants and hanging them upside down to let the peppers continue to ripen.  Well, we'll try just about anything once.

Josiah told me he knew just what to do...good thing since I didn't have a clue - where do you put 80 pepper plants upside down?  He took a long section of re-bar and hung it inside our garden shed.  Elijah, Jeremy and I picked all of the red peppers off of the plants (they need to be red to get the right flavor and heat) and sent them into the house.  Then we began to pull up plants.  I knew that at 20 degrees they'd be dead by morning so we had nothing to loose.

We hung all plants that were still loaded with fruit upside down over this bar.  The building would stay warm enough that they wouldn't freeze even without heat.  And then we waited to see if the peppers would still turn red.

Here's what we found a few days later:



I couldn't believe it...not all of the fruit ripened but quite a bit of it did.  We picked these off and did it again a couple of times before the fruit began to soften to much to use.  Then the plants went to the compost pile.

Here is a picture of how Josiah strung the rope through the rafters and tied it to the pole. It took Josiah about 15 minutes to rig this up.



I am so impressed with Josiah - he is so gifted not only with his hands but his ability to see a problem and see a solution.  His brothers and I can sit and figure and figure...trying to work out a way to accomplish something and Josiah just walks in and says..."Well...it goes like this...or you can do this".  It is just amazing.  When I can't figure something out...I call Josiah.  My mind just doesn't work like that...well...some days..it just doesn't work...but that's another story!

This was so successful that I'll remember this next year if a freeze heads our way before our pepper plants are done.

Oh, and while I was processing the peppers for fajitas...I found this little guy



...now what's up with that?

If anyone has a great gardening idea, please share it with us...we're all still learning!

Blessings,

Saturday, November 22, 2008

His Endless Gifts...



Join me, won't you? Learning to see Him in the little things, the everyday...and to express gratitude....
Psalm 26:7
That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, And tell of all Your wondrous works.

Psalm 116:17
I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the LORD.

Psalm 100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

7. A sister-friend



8.  Our hills afire from His paintbrush



9. Worship with dear friends....just for fun!



10. New friends



11.  Dear friends



12.Strains of sweet worship music that draws us closer to Him



No gift unrecognized as coming from God is at its own best…when in all gifts we find Him, then in Him we shall find all things.”   George MacDonald

Father, Help us to see You in the people we love, and the gifts You bestow...help us to see that it is all, all from Your hands...

Blessings,

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Redeeming Rock n' Roll

My friend posted this on her site and I just had to follow suit.  What an awesome video!  Please, dear reader, please pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Don't forget to stop the music in the sidebar.



And if you want to see the messianic believers that perform it....don't miss this!

The Taking of Human Life

This just spoke to me this morning...and, as always, Elisabeth Elliot is eloquent:
Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: Keep A Quiet Heart
Scripture Reference: 2 Timothy 3:2-9 Romans 12:1-2

The Taking of Human Life

In the relentless effort to keep the world from squeezing me into fits own mold (see Romans 12:1-2, PHILLIPS) my mind is always making comparisons and connections and trying to test the world's reasoning by the straightedge of Scripture. When I read of the execution in Texas of Charles Brooks, Jr., by lethal injection, I made one of those connections. I remembered another news story a few months before about an unborn twin who was quietly dispatched, by means of a needle in its heart, while still in its mother's womb.

Medical science has advanced to the stage where it is possible to remove human beings from this world's scene cleanly and kindly (we tell ourselves) and without too much trauma to the executioners and the consenting public. Of the trauma to the victim we prefer not to let ourselves think too much.

One of the people I refer to, of course, was a full-grown man, convicted of murder. The other was far from full-grown. It was not even born. Nobody wanted it to be born because it happened to be not quite normal. A person, without question, but not quite a normal person. So, since the mother very much wanted the normal twin to be born, she was very glad to be able to get rid of the abnormal one in such a handy way.

In a Time (Dec. 20, 1982) essay about the Brooks execution, Roger Rosenblatt writes of the public's eagerness for a "gentle killing," yet its hunger also to know the details of the prisoner's last dinner and last words, his position on the stretcher, and how the tubes were hooked up which would carry the poison into his bloodstream. Strange that there should be this fascination at a time when there is strong protest, at least in the media, against the death penalty for criminals. There is no protest in major magazines against the death penalty for unborn children and no corresponding eagerness for pictures or descriptions of just how it is done. Few people are willing to scrutinize the details of what happens to the tiny bodies who are daily, at the request of their mothers, and with the consent of the Supreme Court, being disposed of by sophisticated chemical, pharmaceutical, and mechanical techniques.

The correction facility in Texas and the abortion facilities in hospitals are equally thorough in their efforts to make sure that the method works. Imagine the embarrassment if Charles Brooks had managed to slip out of the straps that bound him to the gurney, or if the silent fluid had somehow been obstructed in the tubes! Nobody wants that to happen. It is a major disaster, too, when an abortion produces a living child instead of a dead one. Some awful scenes have taken place in hospital nurseries when a baby has been taken there who had been intended for the garbage can. What is wanted in the cases of both the murderer and the undesirable fetus is death, pure death, the "spectacle of life removed."

Do not misunderstand me. I believe that capital punishment is both necessary and just. I believe that abortion is murder. Both are appalling to anyone human, it seems to me. Surely, no matter what our convictions and public declarations may be, we shrink inside at the hideousness of it all. But one is commanded by God--evil must be dealt with by public justice--and the other is forbidden. We cannot, without His express direction, take human life into our hands. Let us not imagine that we can somehow palliate the stark and shocking fact of death by making it private. Only a few people, including four reporters and Brook's girlfriend, were allowed to witness his death. An abortion is now called a private matter, to be decided solely by a woman and her physician. Let us not, by making it quick, easy, and clean, evade the truth that somebody is being killed.

Rosenblatt in his essay looks for the day when we may "drive out the barbarians." Is it barbaric, then, to mete out judgment in this form to a murderer, but somehow civilized to send a lethal poison into the heart of an as yet sinless child?

Paul wrote to the young minister Timothy to warn him of the sort of evil he must guard against. "Men will love nothing but money and self... men who put pleasure in the place of God, men who preserve the outward form of religion but are a standing denial of its reality. Keep clear of men like these.... These men defy the truth, they have lost the power to reason, and they cannot pass the tests of faith" (2 Timothy 3:2, 5-6, 8-9, NEB). God help us not only to stand for the truth, but to obey it scrupulously that we may not lose the power to think as Christians.

Father, May our leaders be made aware of the value of human life, no matter how young or how old, and may they take steps to preserve such precious life.  May we speak boldly against the murder of babies by their mamas, may we love these women who see no other recourse and may we reach out compassionate hands to give them alternatives instead of just preaching at them. May we love the ones who have already walked that path and may we offer them Your forgiveness....and ours....and remind us to offer them Your hope..that there is no deed to dark to be forgiven....completely.

Blessings,

Monday, November 17, 2008

Everybody wants change

Evidently, from the election results, it appears that everyone wants change.  The scary thing to me is that exactly what that change is...or how it is to be implemented, was never made very clear in most instances.  The few things that were made clear were so unconstitutional that it shocked me.

Apparently Washington D.C. needs some help figuring out what they need to change.  I read an article that I think is an excellent starter plan for making change.  I don't know who this woman is but she is certainly WISE!  I agree with almost everything she says....almost....

Click on the picture to enlarge and enjoy!



Blessings,

Saturday, November 15, 2008

We don't eat almonds anymore

Hhhhmmm...sounds like a song doesn't it?   But it is true. We don't eat almonds anymore...not even organic ones.  This is why:
Organic group battles back against nutty almond regulation

Dear Friend,

Last fall I told you about the government-mandated ruling that turned almonds from a nutrient dense power food into a nutrition-less dud. That's right, after a whopping TWO people were sickened by Salmonella linked to raw almonds, the USDA decided enough was enough. As of September 1, 2007, all almonds are now pasteurized.

Does something seem wrong with this picture to you? Two cases of Salmonella, and suddenly this government agency is all over almonds like hair on a gorilla. When have they ever been on the ball with anything?

Then, to make matters worse, the FDA decided that the pasteurized almonds could be labeled as raw. Do the officials there need to take a nutrition class? Anything that's pasteurized is NOT raw!

But here's some good news: finally, there's an organization that's fighting against the FDA's mandatory almond pasteurization. The Cornucopia Institute is pressing both the USDA and the Almond Board of California (ABC) to produce documents to prove that there is science to back up the almond pasteurization law. They've even filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking the documents.

The Cornucopia Institute is a pro-organic organization that promotes, according to its website, "economic justice for family-scale farming." They're arguing – correctly – that the government's pasteurization process involves a toxic fumigant or treatment with high temperatures, which, of course, affects the nutritional content of the nut.

The USDA easily got the Almond Board of California, which represents the massive, commercial almond producers, to fall into line with the process. Now all of your almonds are either cooked or sprayed with the poison propylene oxide (PPO) to kill salmonella and other bacteria.

As always, it's the smaller farms and dairies that have the least resources to sustain operations in the face of expensive, government mandated processes. "Big Almond" (just like "Big Dairy") is sitting on piles of cash, so they can just shrug and pass the cost of these unnecessary production steps onto the consumer. For organic farms, these mandates are often a death sentence. The result is a de facto government elimination of organic foods as a viable food choice for consumers.

The Cornucopia Institute is fighting the good fight and fighting it hard. They've also filed a lawsuit on behalf of California almond farmers and raw almond wholesalers that not only claims economic damage from the federal regulation, but also contends that the USDA lacks the authority to enforce such a law.

Meanwhile, the ABC has stuck to the USDA party line, assuring that "extensive research" was conducted that proves the effectiveness and safety of the PPO process. But here's the kicker – the ABC has steadfastly refused to make the results of these or any other tests public.

I'm not surprised the ABC's members don't want to rock the boat. After all, they're making money hand over fist. Last year, the California Almond industry harvested a staggering $1.4 billion profit.

I'll keep my eye on this one and let you know what happens next. Stay tuned.

William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.

To start receiving your own copy of the Daily Dose, visit:
http://www.douglassreport.com/dailydose/freecopy.html

I guess we will be planting some Almond trees and some Hazelnut.  We have lots of Black Walnut trees...not my favorite nut unfortunately.

And we have a beautiful Pecan tree.  It needs a pollinator so that is on the list too.  However, for some reason, we have actually had a good crop this year!  It happens once in awhile.  My Mom shelled these last night...we've already eaten quite a bit and baked with them.



We are nowhere near done...as you can see!



And the tree is still loaded!  We've been having a lot of wind and a little rain for the last few days.  After a couple of days of sunshine we will walk the yard again and pick pecans.  If you happen to visit us next week, I can guarantee we will ask you to join our walk and hand you a bucket!

They are delicious!  I am looking forward to pecan pie made with our own organic, non irradiated, non-pasteurized and toxic-fumigant free pecans!  With the cost of nuts going up so drastically, this has been a tremendous blessings to us this year and we are thankful to Yahweh for His bountiful provision.

Maybe y'all ought to think about planting a few nut trees too!

Blessings,

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Saying good-bye to Grandma's things...

I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I would be selling some of Grandma's things.  I need to ease the monthly struggle of paying bills...meet some needs for my boys....and Christmas is coming...something that isn't in my budget.

Although I have a twinge of sadness about this, it really isn't that hard.  I think that my previous post on Gratitude (scroll down) has a lot to do with this....putting things into perspective....learning what is important and what is not.

They are just things...old and lovely things to be sure....but just things.



They really aren't important...they will, like most everything, turn to dust and remain here.  The important things.... people, relationships...we take those with us when we move to heavenly realms.

I enjoyed them when they were at Grandma's and I have enjoyed them in my own home for years.  I have been twice blessed!  The cabinet above was a part of every summer visit.  Being allowed to unlock the doors with the funny old keys with scrollwork tops and being allowed to wash everything in the cabinet...what a thrill!  We would dust the cabinet thoroughly and then lovingly place each piece, sparkly clean, back in their proper places.  I am thankful for the time it resided with me and I hope it, and it's contents, end up in a home where it will be cherished as much as it has been here.



Grandma had many (many!) tables in her home.  They each displayed a different type of glass...ruby, cobalt, depression, carnival and more.  In fact, it was hard to walk through Grandma's house!  I always worried when my boys were small....afraid they would bump or knock something and break it but we managed to avoid that disaster!

I did a bit of re-arranging as soon as I got there each year...relocating the most dangerous scenarios to much higher and safer places.  The boys could have done a lot of damage!  One of the first things I always cleared was this oak pedestal.



It always had something fragile on it...and it was right outside the door to the kitchen!  I had to be careful not to knock off the "antique of choice" that year into a thousand pieces.  I am so thankful we always managed to leave with everything intact!

Grandma collected antiques for over 50 years!  I am hoping to keep some other pieces...things that are closer to my heart.  But, if it becomes necessary, I'm willing to part with whatever I must. I write to you at my Grandpa's desk....lots of heart strings to my Grandpa and I enjoy knowing that I am paying bills, writing and planning at the same place he spent much of his life paying bills, writing and planning!  I have my Aunt Annie's (Grandma's sister) needlepoint chair - I have fond memories of her farm and the time I spent there as a little girl....sitting in the chair with the pretty seat!  I have Perky the Parrot - an old cast iron bottle opener - again heart memories with my Grandpa...and then there is the ugly bird.  If ya'll are really lucky I will post someday about Perky the Parrot and the ugly bird and why they are so near and dear to my heart.

I will be placing an ad soon and saying good-bye to Grandma's things.  I hope they arrive in homes where they will be enjoyed, admired and loved...as they were with us.  I'll miss them but I have the memories.  Will I be sorry to see them go?  Not really...after all...they are just things.

And ya'll know as well as I do....things just aren't that important....but the people in our lives are...and meeting their needs and hopes and perhaps even making a few dreams come true...that makes it all worthwhile!

Blessings,

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Gratitude....how it is changing my life!



I've never considered myself an ungrateful person...but I have learned in the last two years that I have been an "unaware" person.  Unaware...or perhaps unseeing....unrecognizing, in the busyness of life, of all the wonderful things that Yahweh has bestowed.  Oh, I saw the really big things...but how many gifts came my way without my seeing them as gifts?

Our days are so full and so hurried that we seem to race through with our eyes wide shut.  About three years ago my friend Julie asked me if I read Ann.  Ann?  She sent me to Holy Experience.....and it changed my life.

My life, at the time, was falling apart.  Julie has been my accountability partner for many years but most especially for the last three.  I don't think I was a whiner (you'll have to ask her yourself!) and I think I was able to walk in His joy for the most part...but my heart was heavy....and life looked bleak.  I knew I might possibly end up being a single Mom (who me?).....something that had never crossed my mind....and I was completely in shock and immersed in grief.

So...at Julie's suggestion I ventured over to Ann's place.  Oh.my.goodness.  I believe Ann is a modern-day David.  Her writing is so obviously touched by our Father.  She inspires, encourages, admonishes and reminds....daily!  If I could read only one blog a day it would be hers.  It is a devotional in itself...it is honest and real...she bares her soul as only a truly courageous and humble person can.

If I were to win a paid vacation to anywhere in the world, I would not pick Maui, Paris, Rome or the Islands....I would want to spend a week with Ann.  Not to be entertained or treated as a guest but to wash dishes, hang out laundry, hug towheads and walk farm paths together as we shared about our Father.  Not because I think Ann is perfect, or never yells at her kidletts, or has grumpy days...but because she admits she does....and she still sees the Father's hands and hears Him amidst it all.  She has learned to be grateful.  She has helped me to learn to be grateful....even for the messes......and in my life there are lots of messes.

In many ways, this lesson has helped me to walk in joy, no matter how difficult things were these last three years...and boy were they ever difficult....because I began to see with different eyes!  To see Him in the small things....not just the big things.  And once I began to get the hang of it, I saw Him everywhere!

So often in modern churches it seems that people are working hard to "bring the presence of the Lord" to their meeting.  This isn't necessary.
Matthew 18:20
"For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

I think instead we need to awaken to His presence.  He is here...all around us, all the time.  But our eyes are dim.

What I learned from Ann was to begin to express gratitude and to glorify Him for the things I did see.  And in so doing, I found that my Father was showering gifts and blessings down on me daily....I just wasn't seeing them as gifts and blessings.  But I learned.  And the more I recognized it, the more I saw! And the more I glorified Him, the closer I seemed to get to Him, the easier it was to hear Him and, I found, the more naturally I fell to talking to Him...all throughout my day.

I will forever be grateful to Ann.  Although I most likely will never make it to her patch of Canadian dirt, or she to my Tennessee farm, I know that we will spend eternity together in the presence of our Father worshiping Him.  I look forward to sharing that with Ann.

I am joining her gratitude community and I invite you to do the same on your blogs....or in your daily lives.  I kept a Journal of Thanksgiving but I wanted to begin to do so here in the hopes that it might encourage one of you as much as it has encouraged me.  The goal is to recognize His gifts and glorify Him with your gratitude.  There is no time line, no requirements...but I guarantee this....it will change your life, your outlook and your walk with Him.

And so, I begin my list of 1,000 His Endless gifts.



1. My boys turning into men:





2. Family



3.My four sons...together



4.  Brotherly love



5. Our farm



6. A far friend moved close



"No gift unrecognized as coming from God is at its own best...when in all gifts we find Him, then in Him we shall find all things."   George MacDonald

Blessings,

Thursday, November 6, 2008

That dog won't hunt...

Excellent article by Chuck Baldwin...I just had to share it here.  I'll try to steer clear of politics for awhile..although if you've been reading long you know I just have to delve into it now and again.  Next post...taking a look at thankfulness.
Conservatives Lost More Than An Election
By Chuck Baldwin
November 7, 2008

This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2008/cbarchive_20081107.html

That Barack Obama trounced John McCain last Tuesday should have surprised no one. In fact, in this column, weeks ago, I stated emphatically that John McCain could no more beat Barack Obama than Bob Dole could beat Bill Clinton. He didn't. (Hence a vote for John McCain was a "wasted" vote, was it not?) I also predicted that Obama would win with an electoral landslide. He did. The real story, however, is not how Barack Obama defeated John McCain. The real story is how John McCain defeated America's conservatives.
For all intents and purposes, conservatism--as a national movement--is completely and thoroughly dead. Barack Obama did not destroy it, however. It was George W. Bush and John McCain who destroyed conservatism in America.

Soon after G.W. Bush was elected, it quickly became obvious he was no conservative. On the contrary, George Bush has forever established himself as a Big-Government, warmongering, internationalist neocon. Making matters worse was the way Bush presented himself as a conservative Christian. In fact, Bush's portrayal of himself as a conservative Christian paved the way for the betrayal and ultimate destruction of conservatism (something I also predicted years ago). And the greatest tragedy of this deception is the way that Christian conservatives so thoroughly (and stupidly) swallowed the whole Bush/McCain neocon agenda.

For example, Bush and his fellow neocons like to categorize and promote themselves as being "pro-life," but they have no hesitation or reservation about killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people in reckless and unconstitutional foreign wars. By the same token, how many unborn babies were saved by six years of all three branches of the federal government being under the control of these "pro-life" neocons? Not one! Ask the more than eight million unborn babies who were killed in their mothers' wombs during the last eight years how "pro-life" George W. Bush and John McCain are.

As a result of this insanely inconsistent and pixilated punditry, millions of Americans now laugh at the very notion of "pro-life" conservatism. Bush and McCain have made a mockery of the very term.

Consider, too, the way Bush and McCain have allowed the international bankers on Wall Street to bilk America's taxpayers out of trillions of dollars. Yes, I know Obama also supported the Wall Street bailout, but it was the Republican Party that controlled the White House for the last eight years and the entire federal government for six out of the last eight years. In fact, the GOP has won seven out of the previous ten Presidential elections. They have controlled Supreme Court appointments for the past thirty-plus years. They have appointed the majority of Treasury secretaries and Federal Reserve chairmen. They have presided over the greatest trade imbalances, the biggest deficits, the biggest spending increases, and now the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression.

Again, the American people look at these so-called "conservatives" and laugh. No wonder such a sizeable majority of voters yawned when John McCain tried to scare them by accusing Barack Obama of being a "big taxer." How can one possibly scare people with a charge like that after the GOP has made a total mockery of fiscal conservatism? That's like trying to scare someone coming out from a swim in the Gulf of Mexico with a squirt gun.

Then there was the pathetic attempt by the National Rifle Association (NRA) to scare gun owners regarding an Obama White House. Remember that John McCain is the same guy that the NRA rightly condemned for proposing his blatantly unconstitutional McCain/Feingold bill. McCain is also the same guy that tried to close down gun shows. He even made a personal campaign appearance for a pro-gun control liberal in the State of Oregon a few short years ago. In fact, the Gun Owners of America (GOA) gave McCain a grade of "F" for his dismal record on Second Amendment issues. Once again, Chicken Little-style paranoia over Barack Obama rang hollow when the alternative was someone as liberal as John McCain.

But the worst calamity of this election was the way conservatives--especially Christian conservatives--surrendered their principles for the sake of political partisanship. The James Dobsons of this country should hang their heads in shame! Not only did they lose an election, they lost their integrity!

In South Carolina, for example, pro-life Christians and conservatives had an opportunity to vote for a principled conservative-constitutionalist for the U.S. Senate. He is pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, and pro-traditional marriage. He believes in securing our borders against illegal immigration. He is against the bailout for the Wall Street banksters. His conservative credentials are unassailable. But the vast majority of Christian conservatives (including those at Bob Jones University) voted for his liberal opponent instead.

The man that the vast majority of Christian conservatives voted for in South Carolina is a Big-Government neocon. He supported the bailout of the Wall Street banksters. He is a rabid supporter of granting amnesty and a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens. In fact, this man has a conservative rating of only 29% in the current Freedom Index of the New American Magazine.

Why did Christian conservatives support the liberal neocon and not the solid pro-life conservative? Because the conservative ran as a Democrat and the neocon is a Republican. I'm talking about the race between Bob Conley and Lindsey Graham, of course.

Had South Carolina's pastors, Christians, evangelicals, and pro-life conservatives voted for Bob Conley, he would be the new senator-elect from that state. In fact, Bob was so conservative that the Democratic leadership in South Carolina endorsed the Republican, Lindsey Graham! No matter. A majority of evangelical Christians in South Carolina stupidly rejected Bob Conley and voted for Graham.

Across the country, rather than stand on principle, hundreds of thousands of pastors, Christians, and pro-life conservatives capitulated and groveled before John McCain's neocon agenda. In doing so, they forfeited any claim to truth, and they abandoned any and all fidelity to constitutional government. They should rip the stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego out of their Bibles. They should never again tell their children, parishioners, and radio audiences the importance of standing for truth and principle. They have made a mockery of Christian virtue. No wonder a majority of the voting electorate laughs at us Christians. No wonder the GOP crashed and burned last Tuesday.

Again, it wasn't Barack Obama who destroyed conservatism; it was George W. Bush, John McCain, and the millions of evangelical Christians who supported them. And until conservatives find their backbone and their convictions, they deserve to remain a burnt-out, has-been political force. They have no one to blame but themselves.

And since it is unlikely that the Republican Party has enough sense to understand any of this and will, therefore, do little to reestablish genuine conservative principles, it is probably best to just go ahead and bury the scoundrels now and move on to something else. Without a sincere commitment to constitutional government, the GOP has no justifiable reason to ever govern again. Therefore, put a fork in them. They are done. Let a new entity arise from the ashes: one that will stand for something more than just "the lesser of two evils."

As we say in the South, That dog just won't hunt anymore.

Blessings,

A Word from Voddie Baucham

http://www.voddiebaucham.org/vbm/Blog/Entries/2008/11/5_Is_it_Over.html

For those of you who do not know who Voddie Baucham is - he is a black man.  You can read more about him at: http://www.voddiebaucham.org/vbm/bio.html



The people have spoken.  Barack Hussein Obama has been elected the 44th President of the United States of America.  The Left Wing press is ecstatic, white guilt has been assuaged, Affirmative Action has been vindicated, and socialist Europe loves us again.  Now comes the rub... It ain’t over!  If you think this means that the “America is a racist society” crowd will have to shut up, you’ve got another thing coming.  In fact, watch the press closely in the coming days.  There will be a concerted effort to press the opposite point.  Jesse Jackson (who said he wanted to castrate Obama a couple of months ago because he had the audacity to call black fathers to account), Al Sharpton, and their ilk will argue that this is merely proof that policies like Affirmative Action work, and that such efforts need to be redoubled; not abandoned.  They believe we need to continue telling young black boys and girls that they are not smart enough, good enough, industrious enough, capable enough, and America is not ‘fair’ enough for them to succeed without special help that their white (or Asian) counterparts don’t need.

We must also be ready for the backlash.  Anyone who is not happy about an Obama presidency (or the leftist policies he, Pelosi, and Reid will attempt to cram down our throats) will be labeled racist.  Conservative evangelicals, who have opposed President-elect Obama and his policies from the beginning, will be met with cries of, “You’re just mad that a black man won.”  “Yes,” you say, “but I am not concerned with his ethnicity; I love all people... I don’t even see color.” Who cares?  If I’ve learned anything during the last several months it is that people do not pay attention to, or bother to interact with the written (or spoken) word.  It is much more convenient to erect strawmen and rely on ad hominem attacks.

The neo-Marxist left has achieved cultural hegemony.  Through the news media, government education, and the entertainment media, Americans have been shaped and molded into the kind of people who view Ron Paul as a political hack, while applauding gay marriage (one of the first lines out of Obama’s mouth last night was an acknowledgement of homosexuals), wealth redistribution, and government intervention in the free market!  How ironic.  We sent our children to Caesar for their education, and yesterday they voted just like Romans (the majority of 18-30 year-olds flooded the polls for Obama whether they were professing “Christian” or not).  These young people believe hatred and racism are America’s biggest problems, and that the election of Mr. Obama is the cure (along with Hate Crimes Legislation).  They believe America is evil because we don’t have universal healthcare like the Europeans.  They believe homosexuality is innate, the existence poverty is a sin, and abortion is an ethical (and completely personal) means of birth control.  They believe in anthropogenic global warming, Darwinian evolution, Gramscian Marxism, and Freudian Psychology.  In short, they believe what they’ve been taught during their 14,000 hours of government indoctrination.  And yesterday, we saw the culmination of this cultural hegemony as Obama beat McCain like a tied up goat.

But do not despair.  We survived Presidents like Wilson, Carter, and Clinton.  We can survive President Obama.  “...Even so, come Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:2)

VB

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Thoughts on the new president

Remember, dear readers, it is our Father God who holds and turns the heart of a King (i.e. person of power..or in our instance our President).

Proverbs 21


1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water;
He turns it wherever He wishes.

As we teach our children to trust our Father, who holds all in His hands, we must continue to teach them about our Constitution and the Bill of Rights, teach them to be vigilant and to hold our leaders accountable. They are the next generation of leaders, may we prepare them well with our Father's help.

I could post so much more but Lady Why has articulated it so well there is no need to waste time typing it myself. So, take a quick trip over to her blog and rest easy...our Father is in control!

How thankful I am for the lessons of the last few years.  How thankful I am that He has cared for me so and shown me His mercy and love.  How thankful I am that I have learned to trust Him in all things (even this!) and that I know I rest under His wings.  A place of refuge!
Ruth 2:12
The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

Psalm 57:1
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by.

Psalm 91:4
He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

I invite you to join me there!

Blessings,

Growing up!

Something very special just happened at my house.  Elijah just moved from cub scout to boy scout.  Now, tell me true...don't those big brown eyes just melt your heart?



Way to go Elijah!  I'm so very proud of you :)

It seems that my "baby" is growing up so very fast...perhaps because he is the last one...or perhaps because the older we get the faster time seems to fly!

Kiss your babies today parents...for the days are flying by!

Blessings,

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The Final Word on Election '08


I wanted to address Zoe's final comment because some of you may not have read about this in history.  Depends on how much you like to read the writings of our Founding Fathers.  She is quoting me...Here is her comment:




"When this country was first founded they attempted something like Obama wants.  It was determined in a settlement that all would share in the work in the community garden and then all would share equally in the harvest"



Um, I don't remember this part of history?  The US was a confederacy before it was a republic.  Our nation almost failed because we had too loose a government.

"They were familiar with the Federalist Papers, the Declaration and the Constitution along with other historical documents written by our founding fathers."

Surprise, I am too.  Also 50 years ago, there were the McCarthy hearings.  People take things to extremes all the time, on either side, and I think that is what is happening now.

My response:

Zoe,

The settlement I was referring to was Plymouth.  You can read about it in William Bradford's book "The Plymouth Plantation, Bardford's History of the Plymouth Settlement 1608 - 1650".  I am not surprised you don't remember this...most people haven't been taught an accurate account of our nation's history.  You can read the book, I highly recommend it.  Although I just mentioned a small part to you, here is a little larger synopsis on what happened at Plymouth:


An early American experiment with socialism





Posted by Alo Konsen on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 10:20 PM




You've no doubt heard the well-known story of the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts. But did you know that what you've heard is drastically inaccurate?

According to the writings of William Bradford, the colony's first governor, the hardships and near-starvation of the entire population occurred because the colonists turned their backs on capitalism. They believed the old lie that an economy based on the concept of "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" can actually work. They instituted a socialist system, and found out that socialism causes disaster:

The harvest of 1623 was different. Suddenly, "instead of famine now God gave them plenty," Bradford wrote, "and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God." Thereafter, he wrote, "any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day." In fact, in 1624, so much food was produced that the colonists were able to begin exporting corn.What happened?

After the poor harvest of 1622, writes Bradford, "they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop." They began to question their form of economic organization.

This had required that "all profits & benefits that are got by trade, working, fishing, or any other means" were to be placed in the common stock of the colony, and that, "all such persons as are of this colony, are to have their meat, drink, apparel, and all provisions out of the common stock." A person was to put into the common stock all he could, and take out only what he needed.

This "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" was an early form of socialism, and it is why the Pilgrims were starving. Bradford writes that "young men that are most able and fit for labor and service" complained about being forced to "spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children." Also, "the strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes, than he that was weak." So the young and strong refused to work and the total amount of food produced was never adequate.

To rectify this situation, in 1623 Bradford abolished socialism. He gave each household a parcel of land and told them they could keep what they produced, or trade it away as they saw fit. In other words, he replaced socialism with a free market, and that was the end of famines.

If Obama wins, which it appears he will, I'd like to hear, in a couple of years, if you think he was good for this country and if you think your freedoms are still intact.....I'll certainly be surprised if you do.

Although I rest in the knowledge that whoever fills the role of President is there only by our Father's design...I still cry out and ask our Father to have mercy on our nation.  I invite you to do the same.

Blessings,


Monday, November 3, 2008

I just can't help myself....Part 3

I am responding to another comment but thought it important enough to do it here...(I have removed links)

Zoe says:
Sorry again, just have to post this.  I really don't mean to be a Debbie Downer or Negative Nancy.  I promise! :D

Palin shares the wealth too: (posted from several sources)

Oh, and this:

"What Biden should have done, had he not been blind-sided, was to make the point that all Obama is doing is adjusting the progressive income tax structure that was supported by none other than Adam Smith, the patron saint of free markets, and introduced to the US, originally, by Republican Abraham Lincoln.  Later, the progressive income tax was supported so heavily by Republican Teddy Roosevelt that the Constitution was amended to accommodate the income tax, and Roosevelt made it clear, in a speech delivered in 1910, why he thought a progressive tax was the right way to go."

I have a difficult time believing that Obama is some diabolical hidden Marxist.  Socialism and Marxism are words that have been thrown around by a campaign desperate to win but are ill understood.  I oculd write a book but, frankly, I'm lazy. ;)

Taxes, we've had them all our lives. Progressive taxes, which tax people on their income, have been around for ages.  We even made a constitutional ammendment to have the taxes we currently do.  We have school districts, police, and fire departments all have the ability to propose bonds to raise or lower taxes as needed.  I'm not sure how readjusting national taxes are different?

And, if you think your taxes will be raised under Obama, check this out:

Hi Zoe!

Yes...Sarah shares the wealth but not like Obama is intending to do. The citizens of Alaska OWN the resources of Alaska.  What a cool idea!  When those resources are sold (i.e. to the oil companies, and those oil companies pay taxes on the resources) then those citizens get a check.  They sold something they owned...so they got paid.

Obama wants to take some of your money...because you make more than me...and give it to me.  This is called socialism and is right kin to communism.  These are not terms slung about because of an election.  If you study the principles of both socialism and communism you will understand.

Frankly, if I work very hard and make good money then I want to determine how I "spread it around" to help others.  It isn't the government's business to make us successful, put gas in our tank or to pay our mortgages.  That is up to us.  The welfare state will blossom under Obama.  How dare they decide how much money is enough for me....How dare they take it from me to give it to someone else?  How dare they treat me as a child who "doesn't know better" and needs their "help" from cradle to grave?

We live in a Republic...not a democracy as so many think...it is a republic.  When this country was first founded they attempted something like Obama wants.  It was determined in a settlement that all would share in the work in the community garden and then all would share equally in the harvest.  It was a dismal failure.  Why?  Because people are sinful creatures that tend to look after their own best interests.  Guess what happened?  A few of the people did the majority of the work...so the harvest was small.  However, everyone was there with their hand out for a piece of the "pie".  Trouble was there wasn't enough harvest to go around.  It was a very rough winter.

The next year they decided to do it differently.  Each family was given their own garden plot.  It was up to you to provide for yourself.  Guess what?  EVERYBODY worked...they knew there was no one there to bail them out so they got their backsides in gear and worked to provide for their own.  Very successful harvest!

Socialism and communism have been tried all over the world....always a failure.  The elite get very rich and powerful and the "regular joes" suffer.  Did you know that Fidel Castro campaigned on the "Change" ticket.  We need change...well....they got it....and are sorry.  Ever wonder why the terrorist organizations, the dictators in our southern hemisphere and elsewhere overseas are very excited and have thrown their "support" behind Obama? Do some research.

I'd like someone to ask Obama...how he is spreading his wealth around?  Is he voluntarily giving up his money to share with those less fortunate in his hometown? Doesn't sound like he even shares it with his own family!

Yes, we've had taxes all our lives...but wait...not quite true!  Look into the history of the income tax.. how it came into being and what they promised the maximum tax would EVER be....they never tell the truth.  Then read how hey passed  the income tax....it wasn't legal!  Perhaps, instead of sighing and giving in we need to elect someone who will fight for the Constitution and what it means for this country.  It means freedom, checks and balances, freedom of speech and more!

It isn't about Republican or Democrat...it isn't about black or white...it is about character and the Constitution which Obama mistakenly calls a "charter".  This is a dishonest man.  I heard his campaign ad today directed at coal miners and how he was behind them 100%.  Then I heard him interviewed where he said he was going to put a cap and trade system into affect for the coal industry. He went on to say,  “So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can,” Obama said. “It’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.” He went on to talk about how electric rates are going to increase significantly out of "necessity".  Excuse me please...mine just went up 20%  I can't afford anymore.  I literally pinch my pennies to survive...you wouldn't believe how tight my budget is! I may have to buy a wood burning stove and invest in candles and oil lamps just to survive as a single mama to three!


These men are going to take an oath to uphold the constitution.  Yet, Obama's campaign "promises" are already in violation of the constitution.  I think Grandma calls that talking out of both sides of your mouth.

I think a lot of the problem is that younger people don't know the history of this country.  It has been watered down and neglected in the public school system.  Some history has been deleted or even re-written to be politically correct.  Senator Obama wouldn't have stood a chance 50 or 60 years ago and it has nothing to do with the color of his skin.  People back then recognized socialism and communism.  They were familiar with the Federalist Papers, the Declaration and the Constitution along with other historical documents written by our founding fathers.

I am not upholding McCain as a virtuous man here.  I don't like him either but he isn't promoting socialism or communism.  Frankly, I don't like either party and think it is high time we started hearing more about third party candidates...unfortunately our "free and unbiased" press won't give them the coverage.  It has been proven recently in an independent study that the media coverage in this race has been greatly slanted in favor of Obama.  Free and unbiased my eye!  Let me sell you some farmland up yonder!  Ever hear of Chuck Baldwin?  Running under the Constitution Party ticket....or Bob Barr? Running under the Libertarian Party ticket.

Want to know what America could look like 4 years from now under an Obama administration?  I encourage  you to read Part 2.

If the Republican Party had any guts....or any integrity....Ron Paul would have been their choice instead of John McCain....Paul and Palin....now that's the ticket!

I appreciate your sharing your thoughts, Zoe, and hope you will continue to visit...and we can talk and share about things other than politics :)

Okay, I am stepping off of my soapbox and getting on my knees.  This is the last political post. Dear readers, be praying for our nation, beseeching our Father for His mercy....we are very undeserving indeed.

Blessings,

I just can't help myself...... Part 2

Letter from 2012 in Obama’s America
What will the United States be like if Senator Obama is elected? The most reliable way
of predicting people’s future actions is by looking at their past actions. Jesus himself
taught, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Anyone who has hired
employees knows that – the best predictor of a person’s future job performance is not
what he tells you he can do but what he has actually done in the past.
So here is a picture of the changes that are likely or at least very possible if Senator
Obama is elected and the far-Left segments of the Democratic Party gain control of the
White House, the Congress, and perhaps then the Supreme Court. The entire letter is
written as a “What if?” exercise, but that does not make it empty speculation, because
every future “event” described here is based on established legal and political trends that
can be abundantly documented and that only need a “tipping point” such as the election
of Senator Obama and a Democratic House and Senate to begin to put them into place.
Every past event named in this letter (everything prior to October 22, 2008) is established
fact.
This letter is not “predicting” that all of the imaginative future “events” named in this letter
will happen. But it is saying that each one of these changes could happen and also that
each change would be the natural outcome of (a) published legal opinions by liberal
judges, (b) trends seen in states with liberal-dominated courts such as California and
Massachusetts, (c) recent promises, practices and legislative initiatives of the current
liberal leadership of the Democratic Party and (d) Senator Obama’s actions, voting record
and public promises to the far-Left groups that won the nomination for him.
Many of these changes, if they occur, will have significant implications for Christians. This
letter is addressed particularly to their concerns so they will be aware of what is at stake
before the November 4 election.
Some will respond to this letter by saying, “Well, I hope hardship and even persecution
come to the church. It will strengthen the church!” But hoping for suffering is wrong. It is
similar to saying, “I hope I get some serious illness because it will strengthen my faith.”
Jesus taught us to pray the opposite: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil” (Matt. 6:13). Paul urged us to pray not for persecution but “for kings and all who are
in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every
way” (1 Tim. 2:2). So Christians should hope and pray that such difficult times do not
come. But if they do come, then it will be right to trust God to bring good out of them and
also bring them to an end.
Of course, there are many evangelical Christians supporting Senator Obama as well as
many supporting Senator McCain. Christians on both sides should continue to respect
and cherish one another’s friendship as well as the freedom people have in the United
States to differ on these issues and to freely speak their opinions about them to one
another.

I highly urge you to read this letter before you cast your vote...you can read it here.

Blessings,

I just can't help myself...Part 1

This last day before the election...I just had to share a few things....

Obama On Redistribution of Wealth

During the discussion Obama says, "Generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties, says what the states can't do to you, says what the federal government can't do to you,but it doesn't say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf . . . because the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change."

Listen to an audio interview Obama gave in 2001 with Chicago Public Radio WBEZ.FM. In this interview Obama discusses the best way to bring about a redistribution of wealth, how the Warren Supreme Court interpreted the law and the fact that it wasn't terribly radical.



Where do we put a stop to this?  Why should your hard earned money be taken from you because a government entity has deemed that you have enough?  Why should they be able to give it to someone else because they deem that they don't have enough?  How much of Mr. Obama's money has been given voluntarily to those less fortunate?  Heck...what about those in his own family??
From each according to his ability, to each according to his need (or needs) is a slogan popularized by Karl Marx in his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Program.[1] The phrase summarizes the principles that, under a communist system, every person should contribute to society to the best of their ability and consume from society in proportion to their needs, regardless of how much they have contributed. In the Marxist view, such an arrangement will be made possible by the abundance of goods and services that a developed communist society will produce; the idea is that there will be enough to satisfy everyone's needs.[2][3]

That is the same as redistributve wealth.  Did you catch that people????

IT IS A COMMUNIST SYSTEM!!!

Praying, here in Tennessee, that we will not give in to socialism or communism,

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Garden Goodies!

This wasn't the best year for us in the garden.  We did OK but hopefully next year will be much better!  We got our garden in on time and things were going well but come late April, all of May and most of June things began to slide.  I was so busy preparing for court that the weeds got ahead of us.  It was dismal.

However, the good news, is that I canned plenty of green beans to get us through till next year.  And, although our tomatoes didn't do well at all (really weird - they usually do great!) we did get some canned.  Seems like lots of people had trouble with tomatoes this year.  They were small and not nearly as flavorful as normal.  We are thankful for what we did get and look forward to a better year next year.  I try to keep count of how many pounds of tomatoes I process each year.  Not counting the fresh eating and the sharing with family and friends, I usually process over 800 lbs. per year.  This sounds like a lot but when you think it takes 45 pounds of tomatoes to come up with 6 quarts of spaghetti sauce.....well, I just don't know why Prego isn't $20 a jar.  What do we do with all those tomatoes?  I can them whole, make and can spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce and ketchup. Yummy!



This was a banner year for peppers!  I've never seen plants so big - waist high!  We have eaten our fill, sliced and frozen enough for a year's worth of fajitas and dehydrated tons.  We picked our last bell peppers, jalapenos and cayenne's last week just before a predicted drop to 30 degrees one night.  We pulled up our Red Fresnos, because they were still loaded with green peppers...they are now hanging upside down in the garden shed so the peppers will turn red.....yummy!



It won't take long in the dehydrator for this big bowl of peppers to dry.   I store them in canning jars and then use them in cooking and on salads throughout the winter.  They add a nice crunch to the salad.  The jars of peppers look beautiful on the pantry shelf....



I dry the cayenne peppers too.  I use them in herbal preparations and for cooking.  Our last batch just wasn't enough to fill up this jar.



I also can the jalapenos.  I haven't had to buy them for years!  I like to can them mixed...green and red.  A truly ripe jalapeno will be red.  The flavor is so much better than if you pick them while they are still green...of course they are hotter too - but that is fine by me!



I was so tired of canning jalapenos that I was glad to give the last 5 or 10 pounds away.

I froze the Red Fresnos as they were picked.  I use them to make a killer wing sauce.  Now that things are slowing down outside (well, at least in the garden!)...I'll be setting aside a day to turn them all into sauce.  Once the sauce is done, I will can the sauce and then I think I can put the canner away for the winter.

We still have some things growing in our fall garden.  Cabbage, broccoli, spinach, lettuce (all kinds!) radishes, onions and mache.  I've covered the bed when it gets below 32...we are back in a warm spell for the next little bit - now the challenge is to keep the chickens out of the garden.  I came home one day to find them scratching up my little spinach plants....I thought about canning the chickens!

I love looking at my colorful pantry shelves!  Although, I must confess, it is a lot of work.  Hot, tedious, time-consuming work.  But, when the cold wind blows, and the grocery store prices rise, I am thankful I took the time.

I am in the process of re-writing my Perpetual Garden Calendar!  I am adding some new tid bits and hope to get a "zone conversion" chart in it also.  I am looking for the paper to print it on and may actually try to do it myself this time.  Several of you have asked about it...my goal is to have it available before next year's gardening season.  I'll keep you updated!

So, what's growing in your fall gardens?

Blessings,

Related Posts with Thumbnails