For His Service

This week I tried to help a friend mend a broken relationship with one of her dear friends.   Relationships are fragile treasures; friends, not things, are the thing we can’t bear to be without.   However, friendships can fail for many reasons. Sometimes unintentional, misunderstandings tear relationships apart. Sometimes irresolvable conflicts explode between people causing great damage to all that are near. Sometimes fears learned through hurts in earlier relationships with different people undermine new investments in intimacy with new friends.   Other times, a person harms a relationship by cheating or lying. For these and many other reasons, we all have seen friendships, business partnerships, marriages, and family relationships break apart and it is distressing . When a significant relationship fails, a part of us feels like it dies with it. When our relationships break, our heart also breaks. While we grieve, we search for ways to understand what happened. We want to know

Having watched my Russian-born daughter not gain any weight, not have enough food, for 5 months after we were cleared to get her...and her only weight 16 lbs at 12 months.....just so the adoption agency could make more money (send more couples..but have one lawyer..one translator)...I VERY much would love to see the CHILDREN put first..and make it easier to bring adopted children into safe, loving families.  Watch his idea. Carlos is partnering with http://bothendsburning.org/ .  The mission of the Both Ends Burning Campaign A family is a child’s most basic human right. But many children in the world today are denied that right. Millions upon millions of children in the world today are orphaned or abandoned. Meanwhile there are families who would adopt them, but are turned away by a system that is broken, a system that has become delay-ridden, bureaucratic, expensive and discriminatory. In many countries, international adoption programs are shutting down, condemning generations of

Today, we heard a pastor preach on Acts 2 and 3.  How did Peter help the early church go from a few hundred to several thousand?  He said it is the difference between fences (the Pharisee/ the law) and water (Jesus/ grace/ mercy).   He said in America, farmers use fences to keep the cattle confined to a certain area....some times the fence is electric or barbed.   In Australia, the land is too large for fences, so how do the farmers keep the cattle close by?  Water.  They place a well in the center of the property.  He said churches try to be like the American farmers...just placing fences (focusing on the law)..instead of being like Australian farmers.... give them water... just getting people to fall in love with Jesus (just wanting to stay near the water).  He said if people understood their need for a savior, the ugliness of their sin, their inability to keep the law (even though too many of us try to fake it to look "righteous".. there is NO one righteous..only Christ). 

I am down to two "hot spots " of Erthema Nodosum, but the swelling in my left leg bugs me. I have these "kankles" that I only had during my pregnancies. I went to  the regular doctor.  She ran all kinds of blood tests, but they all came back normal.   I had another naturopath look at me.  She told me to try giving up all grains but brown rice (no wheat, no oats, no corn, no spelt, etc).  I am still having no coffee.  I just wish I knew what was causing the erthema nodosum.  The first time I had it was when I had Fifths Disease ( a virus I caught from my kids) back in July 2010. I was told to keep running as it should help me get over  this  bout more quickly.  I ran 6 miles today.  Who knows how bad the lumps would be if I weren't doing all of these things. I can't worry about it. I know that doesn't help anything. Matthew 6 Do Not Worry 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what y

http://athome.readinghorizons.com/products/intensivephonics.aspx If you follow the above link, you will see the computer learning software designed for children who have dyslexia.  It was recommended to me by the learning differences specialist we took John-Michael to see. Here is a little bit from the website.. Why Buy Intensive Phonics at Home Programs? Results show one to three grade levels improvement Improves reading, spelling and handwriting skills. Research -based using Orton-Gillingham approach. Easy to understand and use, with FAST results. Dramatically reduced price over comparable systems

In 25 years, my mother in law has raised  only two litter of puppies. Her 2nd litter is almost old enough for homes. She has a registered West Highland Terrier that she bred with a registered Chinese Crested powder puff. The reasons she choose to do a “hybrid” are 1. the Westie mom is 15 lbs and the Powder Puff dad is 10 lbs..so they will be small. 2. Powder Puff’s are a NON-shedding breed. 3. Both Powder Puff’s and Westies’ have fox like faces. 4. Both breeds are good, family dogs. 5. They both are highly attached to people (they love their owners). She has 4 males and 2 females for sell. They will have their first set of shots and first de-worming. They are also registered as a Hybrid under each parents registration number. They may be picked up at my house  (Atlanta area) or her house (Byron, GA) on or after July 2nd. She can hold the puppy you want for $125 down payment (remaining $125 paid when puppy is picked up). All the puppies have been seen by the vet and are gua

The last couple of weeks has been hard.  I feel like I have had a rainy cloud over my head.  It has now been 5 weeks of waiting for Humana to approve Dr. Williams as our son's surgeon. Until then, we have to wait.   The tumor is below his kidneys..and we don't want it to be in his body any longer.  It is paraspinal (right by his spine)..and close to his left kidney.  Dr. Williams is the only surgeon who has any success with this kind of tumor...still we wait...wait on Humana.   God sometimes works way to slow for my liking.   So the cloud begins.  Being a woman, I  don't know if the cloud is due to  "being a woman" and if it due to spiritual oppression.    So..what to do??  Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corin 10:4-6).  Run up monster hills and try to burn off stress.  Fight the urge to retreat and isolate myself.  I am doing what I know will give me out of the hole..remembering my hope is in Christ.  The sunflower ..need to flip this

 Male, ruby throated humming bird This morning, I noticed a male ruby throated humming bird sitting at the humming bird feeder for a very long time without flying.  Other than occasionally looking around, he didn't move.  I called the Vet's office..no help.  I went online to Ga Hummers. com.  I went online to  AWAREONE.org.  No help... Finally, I called Wildbirds Unlimited and spoke to a clerk there.  He suggested that due to the hotter than normal temperatures in Georgia, the water could have fermented more quickly than normal..so the little guy might just be a little tipsy.  I went out ...after preparing a fresh patch of water (1 cup of sugar to 4 cups of water)..  I started to move him to a near by hanging basket so I could clean the feeder.  I touched him and he flew off.  Quickly, I cleaned the feeder, filled it with fresh water,...within 3 minutes he was back.  This time...he ate a bit and went to sleep .... hopefully he will "sleep it off" and be just fine.

Brokenness.   This week has seemed to have a theme of brokenness. The brokenness of the world ( baby birds killed by an animal, man making food from human waste), broken friendships, broken bodies (NF, cancer), broken hearts, broken spirits, the brokenness of the spiritual hearts of people…etc.   When I think of brokenness in a believer, I think of sadness.   There is one believer that I have in mind who has been hurt by other believers.   Now that person’s heart is broken, depressed, not willing to risk getting close to believers again.. Brokenness is considered by some to be a good thing.   I think mostly because of    16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are [ c ] a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51: 16-17 We see this verse and have been told that brokenness makes our hearts more sensitive or responsive to the Holy Spirit, but this might

I don't like how our food supply has been genetically altered.  I don't think this is healthy for us.  I don't like how wheat flour is literally bleached..and people wonder why "white pasta" isn't good for you.   Do you know that most people in the United States  have been eating genetically engineered foods since the mid-1990s? More than 60 percent of all processed foods on U.S. supermarket shelves—including pizza, chips, cookies, ice cream, salad dressing, corn syrup, and baking powder—contain ingredients from engineered soybeans, corn, or canola. In the past decade or so, the biotech plants that go into these processed foods have leaped from few to crops planted on a massive scale—on 130 million acres  in 13 countries, among them Argentina, Canada, China, South Africa, Australia, Germany, and Spain. On U.S. farmland, acreage planted with genetically engineered crops jumped nearly 25-fold from 3.6 million acres in 1996 to 88.2 million acres in 2001. More

http://inhonoroftheking.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-heart-is-stolen.html In the above link, I introduced you to our sweet Olivie'.  We drove for 6 hours to go pick her up..what a sweet heart.   I had Lupe', a papillion- Chihuahua for 15 years.  She died from a collapsed trachea in August.  I knew I wanted another Papillion but  I knew "mixes" were the healthiest, so we got Olivie'.  We found out about her added surprise, her deafness, after we had her for about a week.   We were concerned about what we read about deaf dogs:  aggressive, untrainable, mean.   Nothing can be further from the truth. We took her to puppy training through PetsMart and she was in the top of her class. http://inhonoroftheking.blogspot.com/2011/01/bragging-rights.html At the above post, you can watch a video of her doing some of what she knows. But, there is one weird thing about her. She has a thing for socks.  She wants to carry one around.  She wants to sleep with them. She wants

Last night I had a dream.   I dreamt that there was a small hole in the ceiling in one of our closets and I knew there was a bird living in it and it would be happier outside.   So, in my dream, I went to get a net and told the children to run and make noise so the bird would be spooked out of the whole and out the open door..to the backyard.   The plan was going great until birds, rats, mice, started pouring out from the hole.   All of these creatures did go towards the backdoor, but my own children didn’t see some of them, small baby birds, and accidently stepped on them.   I thought..in my dream… I am so sad and mad that they stepped on the baby bird, but I know they didn’t do this intentionally.   It just left me sad and with the feeling of trying to fix, repair, save the baby birds.   Then, I woke up. Dreams are hard for me to shake.   I can’t easily get rid of the emotions that come with bad dreams..even though I know they aren’t real, even though I know it isn’t a real inju

Sung-Bong Choi (Vocalist) (Born 1990, Korea) is an vocalist who became famous after an appearance of Korea's Got Talent, the Korean version of the Britain's Got Talent television show.  Abandoned in an orphanage at three years old, Choi ran away from the orphanage at five years old after getting beaten as a little child by the adults there. He lived on the streets of Korea for ten years, selling chewing gum and energy drinks.  Although he did not attend elementary school or junior high school, Sung Bong took the Korean equivalent of a GED test. He graduated from a high school for the arts, but could not continue with any professional training because of his financial situation, according to South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo. On June 6, 2011, Choi's television performance of "Nella Fantasia" moved judges and audience members to tears. Sung Bong took the stage appearing unfit for the part. Sporting a bowl cut and flannel shirt, he introduced himsel

 me with Noah   Me with Madeline   Me with John-Michael  Today was just a regular day with the kids..but what a wonderful day.  Russell and I were married for nearly 10 years before he was ready for kids.  I am so thankful that we had our first born, Noah, who is weeks away from being a teen!  Then, we  had Madeline....oh, she is just like me...at least at times.  And..lastly, we had "surprise" John-Michael.  He is all boy..and oh how he loves me.. LOL.. .   Today a sweet friend helped me catch up on scrapbooking, cutting photos and pasting them into albums with journeling.  It is alot of work, but so worth it.  Thanks, Kim!  We had ice cream and a movie.  Now, daddy is home and I am cooking dinner (califlower "mac and cheese", field peas, brown rice, and mustard- cube steak).   So, what is your average day like in the summer, when school is out?    Ask me again in the fall....it is a whole different story. 2 Tim