Please don't "Scone" me.......

Okay so from time to time there may something on this site that you might not like. I don't do it to hurt anyone or to prove my point although there may be things I am provoked to write on.

I like thought provoking things.
I like being provoked and I like provoking someone back. All in a good way of course, not in ugliness.

I like it when MY thoughts are provoked and I am forced to search to see what is going on and what is truth or what is error and or to dispel something.
This is how I am wired. This is how I learn.

I think it's important for us to "know" what we believe and why we believe it.

Whatever the subject may be.
And I AM NOT talking about being "programed" as someone was telling me the other day.
I had a conversation with a young lady that was telling me about these "Christian kids that are programed by their parents into believing what they believe."

I know it happens, we all know it happens because WE DO IT as well. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

But that isn't good enough. We have to understand WHY we believe what we believe.
We have to be WILLING to "Die" for what we believe even....that's a a chilling thought in the year 2007......but you better get a copy of "Fox's Book of Martyr's" out and read up on what people went through for the sake of the gospel.

And ask yourself......"Why are some people willing to give up their lives as martyrs for their "religion" and we can't even explain ourselves out of a wet paper bag as to why we do what we do in a reasonable way.

You and I better get this in our systems. We better sharpen up our swords. We are going to be tested on this and it could be a "pop quiz or it maybe the big TEST!"

Many of us believe something because we are taught that way.
That's not good enough. We need an EXPERIENCE first then we will believe, then we will learn and grow.

We better be able to produce the goods on the "Whys and How's" of things and not just have a pre rehearsed answer that we don't really understand but that's how we were told.


It's your basic "Mama cut the ends of the roast off and cooked it that way so that's how I cook it too." What you didn't learn from Mama or maybe she didn't explain it to you....was that the pan she was using was TOO small so that's WHY she cut the ends off of the roast.
You however, could have a bigger pan and could stuff your whole roast in there and be meat ahead.


That kind of stuff my friends isn't going to hold up in the heat of the battles we have heading our way. We better ask questions. We better study to show ourselves approved.

WE better have had an EXPERIENCE and just not Grandma and Grandpa's story. We need our own story.

We BETTER have studied what we believe in life and we better know it. Otherwise.....just be quiet okay because we seem like "idiots" to the world.

I love History so I am always looking up something "historic"....and as they say....."History has a way of repeating itself" so it's sooo important to me that I understand history. We better all understand History.
Wither it be church history or world history. Whatever.
They all work together anyway.


For me.......this site is mainly for me to be able to release my creative "self"....for lack of better wording. HA! I didn't want to sound too "artsy" you know.

But I am a creative person in my own right and I have to get it out.....

I like to express myself through writing.

I just very simply write what I see and what I feel and what I feel I am supposed to write on. That is how I operate. Things come to me.

I just am going along about my day and stories come into my heart and my mind. Does this happen to you too????
I am constantly jotting down ideals and such. I have scrapes of paper all over the house with little notes or little lines and stuff. It's funny. Sometimes I use them....sometimes I throw them out.

I get some of my greatest inspiration in the shower it seems. What's up with that? Odd. But I guess it's because you are pretty much quieted down and confined to a small area and can't go anywhere for 20 minutes so you are wide open to mediate on things. So I think....I pray, I ponder...I scrub my body and my mind. HA!

Other times...I get ideals to write about while in bed. Especially in the wee hours. Or at least pre "10:00" am.....ha!

THREE weeks ago I'm in bed on a Saturday morning and doing just fine, I'm thinking, I'm praying, I'm relaxing in my warm and comfy bed and I have this thing come to me BIG TIME....and it was STRONG....I know that voice. I've heard it before many times and next thing I know is...I suddenly found myself saying....
"Oh LORD no.....please no..not me and not that, besides I was going to do that 'Scone article" today that I found that cool photo for."

Needless to say the "Scone article" went out the window. Until now that is.
And this is not even how I had intended to use it. Now it is very bla`se compared to what it could have been.
It could have been my "Masterpiece."

Ugh...I hate that, arguing with the Lord about something so goofy, so threadbare in light of eternity.

Yes, it became me, "the created telling the CREATOR" what is best to do in life and in a situation.
As IF! Sad thing too....there was a bit of a warning in this for me as well.


I knew He was telling me to deal with something and I said to Him in my thoughts..."okay, okay I will do it. It's not that big of a deal anyway."
But apparently it was.

I can't tell you I was obedient to what I was told to do. Because actually I have to confess this.
I was NOT obedient.

I didn't deal with it. I didn't want to deal with it in the long run.
I took the back door and hightailed it out of there basically.
Which I am not very proud off either.

Well, days later..... I still didn't get around to it. I put it off..eventually...
I just cast the whole thing aside. Laying it all down for another day but that day didn't come.

Now though it's not really like "fire shut up in my bones" anymore like it was when I first said...."I'll do it."
The sad thing is..that at that point......IT WAS.
What changed??
Me.
That's the only person that can be blamed and maybe, someone needed what I should have done. What I could have encouraged them with.
"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice!"
1 Samuel 15:22

The "messenger" gets messed up sometimes. They are human. They are not divine. However, they need to heed when they are told to do so. That includes me.

Now I'm not saying I "messed up" in regards to these big, crazy sin things or these Pastor's that get into error on doctornal points like that man that Don and I saw the special documentry report on recently on MSNBC...who came up with the "Gospel of Inclusion"...did any of you catch that show? VERY sad.

What I'm saying although is that "not doing what you are asked to do by the Lord can also be sin."
So it's important that we ARE obedient in all things. Evem the little things.

Sometime the "messanger" gets fearful or they don't see the use in speaking whatever "it" may be....this "message" or for whatever reason it may be...they just "drop the ball."

If you don't believe me.......check out Jonah. He ran and had to be vomited out of the belly of a whale. True story.
Or check out Elijah after he confronted the Prophets of Baal.....he "bailed."
I don't blame either one of these guys. They were just human. So am I.

So...from time to time....if you see something on here and it bothers you, maybe it offends you..... please talk to me about it.

Let's chat. Let's dialogue.
Let's do the "Iron sharpening Iron" thing..WHICH I LOVE to do actually...I have friends that I do nothing but that kind of thing with. They say something they heard or something that happened or something they saw on TV and we start to discuss it and we look up stuff and we search out truths and we read things. And all along.....we are encouraging each other, even though it might not sound like it at times...but we are growing from what we are going through together.

When we do this..we are creating a "thread"...... a thread of learning and a thread of "accountability." We hold each other "accountable." For what we are saying and what we are learning and how we are living. It's a GOOD thing.

I've learned this in life..."Not everyone has to win" .....sometimes it's a draw.

The important thing is that we leave as friends. No matter what the results were.
That is how I want it to be with my site as well.

I want us all to be stretched...I want us all to have some fun.....I want us all to learn something...I want you to be provoked in your thoughts and I want you to be challanged in your life. For the good.

Remember .......we are to be "salt and we are to be light to a dying world."
"But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thessalonians 5:4

We are also to do this too......
"but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching" and my friends......those days are here wither we want to deal with that thought or not, you and I have no control over the days we are living in.

What we can do is this all the time, we can encourage one another.
We can "build each other UP." We can help each other from stumbling.

“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” St. Francis of Assisi

I like that.


Scones anyone?

Am I crazy or what?

I have been WAY too busy this past 2 weeks. Like I had to "force" myself to stay home one day this week and have a "study" day. Not good. But I know what it is. I don't want to be tied down now that I feel better than I did before.

So I've been sometimes.."over booking" things in my life lately. Which isn't good. Balance Joyce, Balance.

That is why I haven't written on here much either. I haven't had time. I haven't had the energy even. Ugh!

I don't like to talk about my "health" stuff much. But today I am going to for many reasons. Maybe I can convince some of you to "take heed" now. Change somethings in your lifestyle while you can. Do NOT wait until you are sick to do this....do it now. Lighten your life load and spend more times taking care of yourselves. Eat better, get plenty of sleep.
RE-EVALUATE what is "important" in your life. Because if you don't see your health as important. Then you need to think again.

When I first became so ill, I slept for days. I was in so much pain and tired all the time. I had to gain my strength back. Then we had months of ups and downs and trying to adjust to my "new" lifestyle. I had been working full time before that and was a busy person with church and other outside activities. Just raising these people in my house makes ones life busy.

To become so "home bound" was never normal to me. I mean at first I LOVED it because I was soooo tired and didn't feel good. So I relished the fact that I had to stay put and not go anywhere and do anything. Besides, I couldn't even push a shopping cart at that point.
But after months of it. It got very old.

On "pain days" as I called them...those were the days when I could not move much at all...I HAD to stay in bed or on the couch on those days, no exceptions to that ...but then I hated the pain, it was horrible.

It was like..."choose your devil" pretty much. If I did too much....I paid for it. IF I laid in bed too much, I became weak in my muscles. AND I was BORED and felt like I was wasting away my life. I had no purpose. People have GOT to have purpose or they rot. I mean it works that way for me.
I HAVE got to have purpose in my life, and I had none. All the purpose I had on a nearly daily basis was....."to get better at some point and cook something for dinner that night." Big goals huh? But that's about all I could handle at that time.

I would have to say that ALOT of last year I was pretty much "out of commission"....and it was a drag. I would lay in my BED for days...awake, reading or watching TV ( I loved that QVC, I had never seen it before nor "shopped at home" HA!).....but that sure gets old.

My thinking regarding laying in bed on such days was "at least it was the best overall "pain free" place to be" and that was pretty much my goal then. To "stay out of pain." If I moved something and it hurt...then I tried to not move it at all.
So that made me just stay in one spot for a day or more.

Now many things have changed and I have "adjusted" to pain.....although does anyone ever really adjust to pain? I mean it hurts!!! And I hate it. But I have learned to get past it. Plus ibuprofen sadly....is a great friend of mine. I buy it by the bucket loads. Which in turn causes other problems. So we deal with it all. Thankfully my new diet has helped me greatly but I'm still not 100% yet.

Today is a pain day. Today my fingers barely bend and my ankles and feet and other such needed places hurt badly. I took my "regimented pain relievers" and now I will wait for the effects to kick in. They may work and they may not. That's another thing. Sometimes nothing helps.

There are several reasons why today is a pain day I am sure.

First, stress, second, stress, third, stress, fourth, humidity, fifth, humidity. AND so on and so forth....the weather greatly affects me.

Oh, and I ate some of Don's famous homemade popcorn last night which I am SURE had way too much salt on it for me.

Ugh....and I have a bit of a sore throat and when my body tries to go after that and bring healing...it misses greatly and goes after other parts of my body instead. That's how it works with a messed up immune system.

Stress, I have learned......greatly, greatly, affects our lives. So stop it. For your own sake.

Dr Glen, my Dr. in Texas.....who treats many famous people I might add....like a Football guy you would all know and that guy that liked to ride bikes in France.....told me that he TREATS many, many, MANY, people in ministry.

Why so you wonder?
Because they abuse their bodies. They over do stress. They eat wrong, they don't sleep enough. They don't have enough "down time." Name it. It's all true.
I've done it all myself.

If you can do anything about removing stress.....then do it.
Start now to save your health. This is no joking matter.
At the time I became ill I had WAY too much stress on me due to a job that I was working. SO...I quit it.
It was tooooo much stress and besides I was so damaged in my body I wasn't much good at it anymore.

I could go on and on about stress but haven't the time.
Us Americans need to knock it off and slow down. I personally want to move to a cabin in the woods somewhere. Maybe that will slow me down because I need help doing that. We all do. It's in us to be busy I think.

Unless you are a born sluggard. Then that is different.
If that is the case...."GET BUSY you sluggard."

Humidity is one reason why my husband and I will move away from Louisiana as soon as the last two kid are out of High School. We are almost there, THANK GOD!!! I wish they would leave now but I understand that they want to finish out at the High School they started out at.
Gabe and Caleb didn't get to do that. It was a tad hard on them. Gabe was a Senior and Caleb a Sophomore when we moved here so I know that was a rough. Gabe is so flexible that he can do most anything....Caleb though had a harder time of it. He needs a lot of stability in his life, as do our younger two kids. So we will wait for them to finish up High School here.

My Dr.'s ALL tell me that we live in the worst state in the Union for humidity. Humidity affects me BIG TIME.

This is how my Naturalpath Dr. in Austin,( he's a real M.D..he's a "Nutritional Oncologist and he's helped me big time) explained it to me......"It's like the diver that's been down in the deep water coming up too fast, it causes the "bends," that is what humidity does to you." It makes you have pressure in your body. Lovely.

He sent me a "FAR SIDE" cartoon via fax that showed these Hillbilly's all predicting the weather on their front porch by their body manifestations and one had this "ballooned up" hand and he said..."yep, it's a gonna rain".....ha!!!

Well.......that's me. Except we have humidity ALL the time.....so imagine what that does to me. Ugh. Now when it storms....I am usually bad off....but the minute the front breaks, I usually get a bit better. Weird.


So as soon as these people get done with High School.......we are soooo out of here. I think. I mean that's the plan. Don't ask me where we are going though. Ask The Father because He's working on the move for us. HA! We have our "requests" in right now.

"Something drier, something calmer...traffic wise (that thing right there causes stress in my life ugh!)somewhere in the world where we can use our "gift mix" for ministry better.

Food is an issue for me.
I have a couple of special diet situations that my Dr. in Texas found out. He had me do some special tests..DNA and such.....and I have a MAJOR "Gluten intolerance" soooo that threw me into "auto immune response" that and STRESS....and I have a "Dairy intolerance" so.....basically.....no milk and several milk products...although I can't complain about this because there are many things I STILL can have....the milk has to be cooked.

I can have DARK chocolate...I can have yogurt, I can have frozen yogurt ( no ice cream) I can have cheese.
So I am saved. IF I can have those three things....I can manage. Couldn't you?

It's the GLUTEN thing that becomes a huge problem to keep up with. Although I have to say and my husband has really commended me on this....I have followed this thing very closely. Better than even I thought I would. But when you consider .....hummmmm "Cancer of the intestines or fish sticks"..."Locked up joints and no walking today without pain or a piece of cake".....well...it's a no brainer.

I basically can not eat ANYTHING with flours in it, or ON it. Some things are easy to figure out, no breads, no pastas, no cookies, no cakes,.....but coatings, gravies and things that are "hidden" in foods are harder to figure out. Soups even.

I have to really investigate things BEFORE I eat them. I can only have "rice flour, corn flours, and buckwheat flour" pretty much. Let's just say I am pretty limited in the flour department.

A person like me really needs to be a "Vegetarian" but that is harder for me to pull off because of the family. IF it was just me.....well I could probably do it.

But then you have to consider "inflammatory foods" as well......such as "nightshade plants" which are "tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and my favorite potatoes"....that last one is hard for me and I DO eat some of them and risk inflammation. Hey, I am from the North, what can I say.....potatoes are a food staple for us.

I hate inflammation. That stuff has given me a huge amount of GRIEF this summer alone. I am dealing with some "special problems" right now as issue of inflammation. BLAH!
But I can take ibuprofen to tolerate the swelling and it does help make it go away somewhat too. Not totally though. Not for me, not right now.

I need some dry weather to come to us. That would help me greatly right now. Maybe that's why I like Fall so much too??? Hopefully it will cool down and the humidity will slide away for a few days until the Louisiana "snow" comes....the rains of winter. Blah. That is killer for me add in that "Season Depression" thing....oh well.

Why complain...I am breathing and life is pretty grand after all. It could be a whole lot worse. I try not to be crabby about this health thing and my diet because a lot of people suffer in a lot worse ways than I do. I try to be grateful for what I can do and what I can EAT.

I'm just limited now I guess and I don't like limits. Who does?

Try going a day with not being able to turn on faucets, not being able to open your shampoo bottles, not being able to do life's simplest tasks. Not being able to open a can good, not being able to lift something....not being able to get a lid off of something. There is soooo much I can't do now or do well or do without pain.

However, don't feel sorry for me....because I don't feel sorry for myself.

Well...honestly maybe a few days I did...or do. But I try not to, it's better to have a "good state of mind." In a battle like this one. I TRY to stay very positive about all this. Because I know in my heart..it soooo could be something more trying.
How about no limbs at all?
Yeah....I'm BLESSED no matter how you look at it.

It does become frustrating though to people like me who like to run headfirst down the mountain at 90 miles an hour, carrying 50 things in my hands and on my head and on my back.

God can and will slow us down if we don't slow ourselves down. Not that He makes us sick because He doesn't. We do that to ourselves actually many times. Sometimes unknowingly. Sometimes knowingly.....sometimes it's just part of the curse of the earth. Regardless.....we CAN "Overcome" and we should. I do. I may not look like much anymore ...but I can still get the job done usually. It may take longer. HA!

I am and have always been an "OVERCOMER".....I don't say that with pride. It's just who I am now, it's part of what I've come out of in my life. We all have to do this if we want to get to heaven. Only "Overcomers" go to heaven.

Check it out in Revelation 12:11
NASB: "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.

Oh...by the way.....I stared a new part time job too in the past two weeks. Add that in. It's only about 10 hours a week though and pool group will be ending soon......so I figured I need something to do. Right.

"AM I CRAZY OR WHAT????"

That is exactly what I was asking myself on my first day on my little job when my feet were killing me and my ankles were swelling. There was a HUGE thunderstorm going on wouldn't you know. So I was being "tested" immediately.

It's a new challenge for me I guess. I am all about challenges. I'm not one to just lay down and die......although there were many days I wanted to and told God that He could "take me now" but He didn't obviously.

Challenges are good...I just need to choose them VERY wisely from now on as do we all.

Got to go.....I'm helping a friend with a "garage sale" today. I HATE garage sales. What was I thinking????
Right....I wasn't.

God please help me.
Sometimes it's not even the "devil" we have to "Overcome" sometimes it's "ourselves."

Empowering....?

Lifting the world
Your life is all about you -- not in a selfish way, but rather in an empowering, creative and giving way. The world you see is the world you imagine to see.
The life you experience is the life you expect to experience. So imagine the best, and expect the best.

Desire to fill your own life with true, authentic richness, and you will fill the rest of the world with that richness. You give to life to the degree that you more fully become yourself.

There is no one else just like you. So you have the vital responsibility and the delightful opportunity to let your life unfold in all its fullness and splendor.

Your most treasured desires, when you follow them as far as they will go, are truly valuable things you have to give to life. Connect with those desires and live them out.

Work to fulfill your dreams, and in the process you'll be giving your own special gifts to life. You'll feel the genuine fulfillment of lifting the whole world along with you.

-- Ralph Marston

Summer girls.....

Here's some photos I got from my good friend Lori Kaiser of our girls at church camp this summer.
The first one is of my daughter Ariel, in the brown Royal Rangers shirt of her brothers, HA! Then Lori's daughter Kenzie in the middle, the last girl is a friend of Ariel's that she goes to Woodlawn with, Brookline.
Happy girls.

Bottom one: Ariel and Kenzi.

I'm proud of Ariel and Kenzi because they both have had to make strong stands in their lives and have had to even seperate themselves from some of their friends this past year due to things that the kids are doing and bringing into their lives that these girls won't do.

It's not easy to stand alone in High School. Especially if it's public school.
We all love and appreciate our kids.
It's hard getting them through some of these years...we as parents must do a lot of battle in prayer on their behalves.
One day though it will alll work out for our kids in all areas of their lives and our tears and sacrifices as parents will sooooo be worth it.

Blech

Can’t say I am thrilled. Actually…I am PO’ed. But really, it wont get me anywhere to bitch and moan about it since it falls on deaf ears anyways, so I will just be satisfied leaving this damn cryptic message here because it makes me feel better to type out SOMETHING even if it doesn’t make sense to anyone. It makes sense to me, so shut the hell up LOL. Without really spelling it out for you, I will say that it sucks to be selfish. It sucks a big fat huge donkey ass to be selfish and uncaring, unforgiving and unapologetic, crass and rude, and especially SELFISH. Maybe it’s cause I care too much (especially what people think *gasp!*)…but I find it so disheartening to be treated so differently then I treat everyone else (I AM SPEAKING GENERALLY, if you ask me if this about you I am gonna slap you silly!!!) Regardless…I am working through it lol.

Suck it up Carmen.

And on the lighter side of thing…*giggle*….we finally got started on some renovations, and while my fingers hurt from all the sanding, I am THRILLED with the progress. Our living room is almost complete, and as of tomorrow we should have everything (except the stone wall behind the fireplace) completed with pictures on the wall. That being said, I am always a little over-eager to finish things and my expectations are usually a little higher than what is possible….so don’t hold it against me if it takes a day or two longer LOL. But take it from me, the color looks awesome and makes a huge difference! We are taking it room by room and probably will never actually be finished, but it feels so damn good to get something done!

Also, I *may* have gotten some paint on the carpet. I refuse to confirm or deny my involvement.

Fall's a coming

"Tomorrow marks the official start of autumn. The autumnal equinox is what determines this. The equinox means that there will be an equal amount of day and night."

I love the Fall of the year but why be so happy about it here in South Louisiana??? It's still hot and humid, although not as bad hopefully in a few more days.
Don't forget though that we can still get hurricanes in the Fall.

Believe me...my family went through one on October 4th about 5 years ago. That was a nightmare.

I guess it's just my "Midwestern" roots.

Once you've experienced a REAL Fall season....you will always be in love with it. I was chatting with some new ladies I met today and one of them was saying how much she loves "Fall" and she likes to decorate her home for Fall. I thought to myself.....
"Great minds think alike." HA!

I wanted to go to Maine a couple years ago but it didn't work out. Still want to go there though.

I don't think I want to do Vermont just because I don't want to give them my money. Vermont is a bit odd incase you don't know it. No offense to anyone from there.
But if you ARE from there......write me and give me the scoop will you? Surely everyone in Vermont can't be for this?

Many in Vermont want to "Succeed" from the Union and for their state to become it's own "country."
The "Vermont Republic."
What is up with that? Very Weird.
Because incase no one's checked lately....Vermont is the size of a peanut.

I've seen many reports on it but I don't get it.
I mean.....didn't some of our States already "try" to do this once. Like Vermont wasn't in on it then (and yes they were) and so they want to try it now?

What happens if they get into a "war." Does the rest of the United States have to come to their rescue if they do? I suppose so....we help everyone else even when they kick us in the teeth.
Might as well help Vermont too I guess.

They even sell Tee shirts that say...
"Free Vermont"....as if we are holding them hostage.
You see...I'm not going to go visit Vermont and give them my money to act all crazy like this.

We are trying to figure out where to go in October on a short trip. I miss the colors and want to travel somewhere that we can view some nice fall color.

October is my favorite month....Don and I got married in October....my daughter Ariel was born in October.
It's a great month to travel.....not too hot, not too cold. We have gone to Colorado and to Gatlinburg in October. Both trips were great.

If you have any thoughts or ideals...let me know. I've leaned towards three places lately. None of which is Vermont.

That's to bad too because I think it would be gorgeous there.

Stay tuned and I will let you know where we decide to go.

Soul Survivor

Soul Survivor
So I'm looking at the Soul Survivor site tonight........and I see a person I know on their web page. This is interesting too because he's going to visit my blog from time to time. I will be putting his photo up soon. I had it saved somewhere and can't seem to find it right now but don't worry.....I will. My photo of his is much more to his natural state of being. Theirs was pretty calm. I like the one I have. It's a bit more crazed.

I've been planning on introducing him for some time now in light of some things I've recently encountered.
Every time you see his photo.....you will understand why. Much more on this later.

Anyway back to Soul Survivor....I learned about them when my son was living in the U.K...did you all know Gabe lived there for a time? Imagine that huh?? Gabe went to England and did an "internship" at a place in "Battle, East Sussex" called......"Ashburnham Place." It is Anglican Prayer and Conference Retreat Centre.

I think he stayed there in Battle, for..3-4 months.
That was a journey for him and for us.
Gabe who was only 18 years old at the time was...(and pretty much still is although he is better now that he's a tad older) a totally big MOUTHED American and he was in trouble there ALL the time.
He nearly was kicked out once but begged to stay. He knew we would have beat him if he would have gotten kicked out. He and we had invested alot of money into this little adventure he wanted to go on AND he was a "guest" there and needed to go along with their policies which were not anything that was overly oppressive or sinful or anything like that at all.....they were just a bit restrictive in his view. However.....he knew their rules ahead of time and had signed off on them to in order to even come over.

Although.....the rules weren't restrictive at all in real life. I mean a snail could have done it actually....it's just he was young and ...Gabe was just always just a bit rebellious too. Add that factor in.

However the biggest circumstance he was facing was.. "the culture." Adjusting and coping with new cultures......because it wasn't just British things he had to deal with.....there were lots of kids from various countries there and he had room mates from other countries beside Britain. The MAIN issue was still him dealing with other people's lifestyles. Even when they were Christian.

He being American and not being a local or even from one of the other countries meant he had to learn HOW to deal with and submit to his British Leadership that was over him.....and it was their way or the highway. I think that was correct too.

He didn't like that once he got there though. This had been a dream of his and he had worked and saved and we had helped him to get there. Then he was disappointed because he thought so much of what they were doing was stupid or hypocritical.

I can't and don't blame the people at Ashburnham for that. Not one bit. It was their world and he entered into it....voluntarily too. AND paid to join it as well. There was a lesson in this whole experience for Gabe so nothing was or is lost as a result of the time spent there. Now he's happy about the time he spent there forgetting the bad and only remembering the good. That's how it works isn't it?

Gabe is and always has been way too "forthright"....British people....well they really aren't that way.."stiff upper lip and all that"..I mean I've met some that are a bit more vocal but as a whole....not this group these people were not this way. Nor were the people he had been invited over there to stay with in the first place. I know they were mortified by Gabe. HA! HA! Poor people. Very nice people too.

So you have an immediate clash happening when he comes on the scene. He began to call us and tell all his struggles over the telephone while he was there. Which drove us bonkers because we also hated some of the injustices he legitimately was seeing and feeling and there was nothing we could do but advise him to submit and for us and him to pray all would go well with him.

Most of the kids went there to learn English...Gabe knew way too much English.
The kids served on site at this beautiful English Manor and campus while they learned. It was an ideal setting actually.

Many of the kids were very poor and were on scholarships to attend there..because they all had to serve in various capacities while they were there.

Gabe was like a super, wealthy kid. Even though by our standards he isn't.....to these kids....he was RICH. He had money to blow and they had none. His family had cars and a big home in America....many of these kids came from poor families with no jobs in developing countries. Alot of the kids were from former Eastern block countries and they were not used to someone like Gabe Mahan. He was the "King of the world" in their eyes. Some liked him for that.....some despised him for that.

At some point while he's there....Gabe gets himself in a dilemma. Gabe loved the foreign kids and since he knew what was being said and done to some of them he would fight the leadership on these kids behalves....sooooo he would defend them and speak out for them because they didn't know how to defend themselves and sometimes didn't even know they were being attacked thus....Gabe was always in trouble. Silly boy.

I wonder where he gets that from?

It reminded me of the time I was in 2nd grade in Mrs. Chambers class. Mrs. Chambers had left the classroom to go to the office.....while she was out...this nasty little boy named Chris Parks went over and SPIT on my friend Beth's paper she had laid out on her desk. She didn't do a thing about it so I went over to his desk and spit on his paper and just as I did.....guess WHO returned to the classroom. Right. AND Chris Parks and I BOTH got paddled with the wooden paddle and all I was doing was defending my friend Beth who would not defend herself.
Get my point?

The British people were appalled at him. They were NOT used to having American kids on the campus. In fact..Gabe was the FIRST American volunteer that had ever come over to serve. I'm sure he was the last too after that experience with him. HA!
It wasn't all that bad really of a time. It was a growing time for him. He had to surrender some of his "rights" and his thinking. Not a problem. HA!

We felt bad for him...because we could see the injustices but.....he signed on for this and he knew it and we did too and you can't change that kind of system. Not when it's what they are all about. They didn't ask him to go there and to rock their world.

I mean they were a very small community of people that were stuck out in the countryside....they were basically all "Church of England" that in itself was not a bad thing nor is it still, however he was not used to their ways of life or religious traditions...not everyone there was Anglican, but the establishment and leadership were mainly.
And then here you add in Gabe...a P.K. from a big city in South Louisiana who had just undergone a MAJOR world of hurt in the previous year at the expense of his parents church lives.
Not a great combo.

It was immediate Culture clash.
It wasn't his fault and it wasn't their fault. Everyone was in a bit of a "culture shock"....they hadn't dealt with American's before. The European kids and others were much more submissive. Especially since they couldn't speak the language fluently they were more so intimidated.

I mean Gabe had been in and out of England and Ireland by this time......probably...about 6-7 times. But he had never LIVED there for any long amount of time plus the people he had always been around were "similar" in his upraising church wise. Somewhat.

Europe is different by many standards, even in the church world. If your a Baptist here.....there Baptist there are a bit different. Same thing for the A/G which they refer to as the "AOG"......it's a tad different. Not a bad thing. But the playing fields are still different.

He'd just gone on visits for weeks or even longer than that..but not for more than 6 weeks at a shot and he wasn't under many "rules" while he was visiting either. When staying in Ireland once on his own not on a missions trip or anything..he stayed with some Irish "church" kids we knew that had come to stay with us as well in America. When he would call us and tell us what they had been up to we would nearly choke on the phone at the stories he would share with us. Scary.
They were a wild lot those Irish boys.
Gotta love the Irish though. They have some kind of fortitude.

So .....this was total cultural thing that he was facing but with it came rules as well. And it was hard on him. Living amongst people of different culture and religious views than his. He couldn't just do his own thing. He had to do some of the things they did. They weren't bad things...just not his "comfort zone."
He fought hard to fit in...he had a hard time adjusting and he felt they (the leadership) compromised alot. Which in his view they did.
Again...comfort zone.

It wasn't his country nor his countrymen. He was liked because everyone always likes Gabe....but he wasn't understood and he was complicated. I mean people liked him because he was cute and American and people all over the world are intrigued by Americans. Yet some were "jealous" of him because he was an American.

Other's just plain though he was a snotty, loud "Yank" and told him so once at a church youth group event. He told them once...."If it weren't for us Americans you'd be speaking German right now."
Yeah......that went over well. We couldn't believe he even said that to them because it wasn't very nice...but he became totally defensive of who he was and where he was from.

We all learned alot from this experience. Many things.
Some thoughts were....."What was important to fight over and what wasn't."
Hence my "spitting story." Some things just can't be defended even if your right in your own eyes in doing it.
Right motives......wrong methods.

This next truth we knew already but kept relearning...as we still do....
"Souls are of the utmost importance no matter what country they are from."

Oh and here's a big one.....
"Bland food" for example....was not important really...not in light of eternity.

But it was important to Gabe at the time. He had real "issues" with the food in Britain. It wasn't up to his standards. Too bland....not enough seasoning. Ugh!
He was complaining all the time about the food they served and even the food that was being served at the people's home he stayed at as a guest when having "off days" at Ashburnham.

We were occasionally sending "Care packages" to England of ALL places on the earth....with food from here of course. Dumb. But it was our child you know???
He was "starving somewhere in far off England." Sure he was.

One time I sent him a box with a bunch of "Ramon Noodles" in it and a few other American favorites....and he says to me on the phone...."Mom you can buy that at the Aldi here"....I was like...."what store is that?" to which he replied....."it's the U.K. version of Walmart." ERRRRR.....that was dumb. Why did I spend a million dollars on postage for noodles when I could have sent money instead. Nutburger.

Long story short....Gabe did the internship thing..finished it....then did a few more things in England...went to France then back to England....then went on to travel all over Europe. Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungry, Austria...Switzerland...Belgium and maybe a few more places that I forgot...or maybe don't know about. HA! Then he went back to England for a time.

We paid for his friend he roomed with at Ashburnham who became his best friend to go along with him as far as Austria. We wanted him to have someone traveling with him that at least knew some of the languages and how to get help if they needed it.
That's another story because Gabe had his credit card "stolen" in Budapest and that freaked us out ( I told him not to go to Budapest, I had a weird feeling about it ugh!) and we had to "wire money" to Austria while he and his friend whose name I can't spell but I can say... slept on the streets of Vienna that night because they didn't have any money.
Kids.

Once returning to England....he even went on another further trip into Greece and Turkey.

Very fortunate young man isn't he?? But it all came with a price. And a love for the world and a willingness to merge into other cultures. Even when it hurt.

Oh, he bought this really odd souvenir in Turkey..which we nearly had a fit over... we already had a missionary friend show us his that he had purchased shortly before this while in the Middle East unbeknowst to Gabe....otherwise Gabe would have been like...."so and so has one and he thinks it's okay."
Maybe we will discuss that later when Jack comes to see us.

Right, that's his name. Jack....Jack Hackett he's the guy coming to visit my blog.

I am glad for Gabe's time and experiences living "abroad".....but during that time he was also exposed to many things that we wished he hadn't been as well.
We couldn't stop that process. It was part of the journey.
The cultural revolution. It's all impacted his world to this day.
For the good and the bad.


After Gabe's Europe/Mediterranean travels....he went back to England for direction. He was done doing what he went to do and he wasn't sure if he would stay in the U.K. or come home. He'd been over there nearly 9 months.

During that time of wondering he went with a youth group from the local church where he was involved in Hastings, where he was living, to participate in the "Soul Survivor" outreach in London for a three or four days.

They lived in tents and their mission was to clean up trash and graffiti and other junk around the part of London they were in. At night there were outreaches and concerts with the likes of
Matt Redman who I LOVE and some others good worship leaders.
Gabe told me afterwards..."he's really short Mom and he had on an Abercrombie and Fitch shirt" which is a BIG thing in the U.K. because they don't have those stores there. Odd what people notice about other people isn't it?

The city wide outreach was fantastic. He loved doing what they did and I'm thankful he was able to be a part of that. Gabe's a bit of a heathen now days so I am glad those memories are etched in his heart and his soul. He does still reflect on this time in his life.

I heard Mike Palavachi the Pastor (he never calls himself the "Pastor") of Soul Survivor speak at the IHOP (International House of Prayer) at a "One Thing" conference a couple years ago and he was awesome. Great man. Great mission.

I read this article on "Breaking Christian News" recently....you might want to see the entire thing. During their summer outreaches in the U.K......they had "UPWARDS" of 2,400 young people commit their lives to Christ.
This is excellent news guys.

Those were/are someone's kids.....someone's brothers and sisters.
Souls.
Priceless. Absolutly Priceless.

Pool Group......

Left to Right: Sarah, Norma, Sandi, Phyllis, and Ann....I'm taking these photos.

This is my "Pool Group"....I've been threatening them that I was going to take a picture sometime and Wednesday was the day I did it finally it.

We were having a bit of a luncheon after swimming that day....something we do on occasion and we sit and talk and it's nice so I thought...."Perfect!!"

This really was a good day to get a photo because soon.....there won't be any swimming due to the cooler weather that is already approaching.
Even now when we get into the pool at 9:30 in the mornings.....it's been getting very chilly compared to the 94 degree water we were in all summer....Brrrrrr.

Being with these ladies has been a very good opportunity for me to meet new people. No one is controlling, no one is a diva, no one is mean, none of them are selfish....they are all kind and super easy to get along with. That is great huh?
Everyone has unique personalities which is fun too.
This has been my second year with them and all has gone well amongst us all.

Not only has it been a good social gathering for us all......we ARE exercising. HA! We do try to solve a few of Baton Rouge's and the World's "problems" while we are in the pool and sometimes we get off rhythm with the tape we use as a result.....but HONESTLY we do keep moving in the water.
AND the water is SO good for me and my heath issues. This has helped me so much. It's amazing what water can do for the body.

Plus I've learned all kinds of interesting things about all these ladies.

Sarah, just retired from her job, and she and her husband were married a few years ago at the VATICAN....wow! They even got an audience with Pope John Paul II. So that's very interesting huh? How many people do you know that got MARRIED at the Vatican....then got an audience with the Pope? Sarah is very sweet. She just started coming to the pool this summer. Sarah and her husband want to move to Arkansas to retire someday. I like Sarah.

Norma, is retired and she has been ALL over the world on many trips and tours. And I mean ALL over the world. She herself has been to Italy something like 5 times. WOW! It's amazing to us all that she knows about the "Arts" and she keeps us informed as to what is happening which is neat. She goes to a lot of events in the area and beyond and she knows everything that is going on practically from Baton Rouge, to New Orleans to New York City. So if we want to know something about a play or whatever......we ask Norma.
And I love her eyebrows......they are very chic and remind me of the early film stars like Bette Davis. I wish I had cool eyebrows like hers. They are very pretty. I like Norma.

Sandi, is the owner of the "pool." She is very kind and giving and she genuinely loves people. She is always doing something nice for someone and totally has the "gift of hospitality"....I like that. Sandi is a widow and she doesn't slow down for much. She's leaving on a cruise in fact tomorrow. Last year she went to Italy for her birthday after having a blowout party for herself which so many people went to.....they had to open another room at the restaurant. She's well liked by everyone.

She has always called her pool..."The Healing Pool." Because it has been so medicinal for many of us. When I first met her at our mutual friend Marsha's
Tea Room....I had just been told by my Dr.'s that I needed to "get into a pool" for various reasons.....Sandi opened her pool to me. I'm forever grateful.
As a result.....it helps me to feel better once I've been exercising in the pool....and I have all these new friends too! I like Sandi.

Phyllis, is retired and has victoriously come through a battle with Cancer. She was just diagnosed and beginning treatment when we started swimming last year. She's doing soooo good this year. Phyllis is funny and has a great sense of humor and she's an Artist. I like all that.Last year her hair was falling out....we went out to eat one day after swimming and she had a wig on and I hardly knew it was her....THIS YEAR however...Phyllis's hair has come back in and it's a lovely gray and she looks like "Paula Dean." That's fun. I like Phyllis.

Ann, is pretty quiet compared to everyone else. Ann is very sweet. Ann's from Kentucky and has a tiny bit of that Kentucky Draw" going on still. Ann's got a daughter that is a Veterinarian. That's neat. Ann made a LOVELY Mexican dip for us on Tuesday and we had a great lunch and visit together. She also made a great pie earlier this summer too. Ummmmm.....we like to eat at the "Pool Group" everyone pitiches in.
Ann's husband is in a battle with Cancer right now....so he needs prayer, he just started Chemo on Monday. I like Ann.

Isn't it great to meet new people and find the benefits in new relationships? and have fun too? All these ladies are nice and loving people and had I not stepped into the "unknown," had I been full of fear of meeting new people who weren't in my "zone" when I came to Sandi's house for the very first time....I would have never met these ladies.

Get out of your "world" people.....go out there and meet some new folks.
Neighbors are a good start.

ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz please!

Questions I am asking myself and answering partially at 12:52am.

1."Why......am I back up and on the computer after going to bed at 10:30 tonight?"

#2."Why does Luke have to wash clothes EVERY single night after 10:30?"

#3." What is up with all the O.J. news coverage"....blah.

#4. "Why did I NOT eat supper and then was looking for leftovers to eat at Midnight....?"

#5. "Why didn't I stay in bed where it was comfortable?"

#6. "WHO changed my AOL radio station and put on some nutty "Country Western" station....which burned me when I heard some crazed "whisky" lyriced song come belting out when I turned it on?? Uh......that would be LUKE I'm betting.

#7. "What shall we have for supper tomorrow night?"

#8. "What's this new weird pain I have?"......always some new pain lately. Blah....

#9. "Why did those sick people in West Virginia torture that young Black girl?"
I can't stand that nor understand that kind of hate.

#10. "Where's my friend Susan since she went on a trip three weeks ago....she's dropped off the planet and can't be reached via cell phone." Hummm........

#11. "IF I go back to bed now....will the bizillion thoughts in my head go away and I can finally sleep???"

#12. "Will Madeline McCann ever show up?" Pray that she does....I hate that she's STILL missing. It's sad.

#13. "What's up with Posh Beckham getting her own reality show?? Does everyone need to do this now or what?

#14. "Why did I even watch that show tonight in fact......." Bored.

Best try it. Slip back under the covers and try to fall asleep.....it's getting late and IF I keep writing.....I won't stop.
I know how I am.......plus then I have to edit all I write and I'll be up for hours.
Better stop now while I'm ahead.

Here's a bit of tea "quotation" knowledge for you tonight....rather this morning:

"The spirit of the tea beverage is one of peace, comfort and refinement." ~ Arthur Gray

Yes it is Arthur....yes it is.
That's why I like tea so much.
Cheers

How's your garden doing?

It's been hot and dry. How's your garden?

I don't just mean the outside garden. I mean "how's the garden of your heart....?"

You can see that my "outside" earthly garden isn't doing so great. In fact....I just pulled a bunch of it out, flowers, other plants and weeds and such....just threw it all away.
It was done.
The plants wouldn't recover and they were to be no more. The flowers had their last stand...they were dead and or dying. I did this shortly after taking the above photo.

But other things in my garden ....I've tended. I've cut them back and have cared for them. I've moved some things around....and....they will be okay. They will thrive once the scorching heat backs off. Which is already happening. They made it.

Jesus is our gardener you know.

In the book of John chapter 20 verse 15 Mary even mistook him as "the gardener" after his resurrection. "Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away."

Think about it ...we are the garden....our hearts.
Jesus gave all for us....then He carefully tends to us. He prunes us when we need to be and he waters us and he protects us. He will take care of us because He loves us.

We however, have to be the willing plant, we have to have willing soil, "fertile soil" the Bible calls it. That's where the problem comes in.

Sometimes.....We don't want His hands on us. We want to rebel or we want to grow wild, not be in any boundaries, no borders for me we say.
Then will come the weeds after us to choke us and over run us.
Then ultimately you have a very, messy garden.
If any garden left at all.

I'm going to share this devotion I read yesterday because it caused me to think about all these things and more.

"My Father is the Gardener" John 15:1
It is a comforting thought that the trouble, in whatever form it comes to us, is a heavenly messenger that brings us something from God. Outwardly it may appear painful or even destructive, but inwardly its spiritual work produces blessings. Many of the richest blessings we have inherited are the fruit of sorrow or pain. We should never forget that redemption, the world's greatest blessing, is the fruit of the world's greatest sorrow. And whenever a time of deep pruning comes and the knife cuts deeply and the pain is severe, what an inexpressible comfort it is to know:
"My Father is the gardener."

John Vincent, a Methodist Episcopal Bishop of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries and a leader of the Sunday school movement in America, once told of being in a large greenhouse where clusters of luscious grapes were hanging on each side. The owner of the greenhouse told him, "When the new gardener came here, he said he would not work with the vines unless he could cut them completely down to the stalk. I allowed him to do so, and we had no grapes for two years, but this is now the result."

There is rich symbolism in this account of the pruning process when applied to the Christian life. Pruning seems to be destroying the vine, and the gardener APPEARS to be cutting everything away. Yet he sees the future and knows that the final result will be the enrichment of the life of the vine, and a greater abundance of fruit.
There are many blessings we will never receive until we are ready to pay the price of PAIN, for the path of suffering is the only way to reach them. J.R. Miller

"I walked a mile with PLEASURE.
She chattered all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with SORROW,
and ne'er a word said she;
But oh, the things I learned from her
When SORROW walked with me."

I feel that in our lives we all have a bit of a "gardener" in us. That's why I named my blog "The Secret Gardener"....because I am and I do. I'm not just talking plants and ground matter.
I'm talking lives, I'm talking hearts.

Even if you don't feel you have any type of "green thumb"...I know that many of us work on our "own" gardens THEN we look around to see "WHO" we can lend a hand to so as to help them take care of their "garden" as well.
OR that SHOULD be the way it is and what we are about. There is always someone who is having a "garden problem." Some sort of blight or a mold issue. Possibly a water shortage.....maybe then need some nutrients added to their soil.
Quite possibly they just need a little help lifting their shovel to get rid of some "dirt" from their garden.
Problems do come to everyone you know.

This is all good news....we can have healthy hearts.....vibrant gardens, then help someone else with their garden when and if they need it. .
Let's ask the Father....the "MASTER GARDENER" to check over your garden today and do whatever needs to be done.
I am.

Footnote:
Oh I did "borrow" the name "The Secret Gardener" from my friend Doug Wood (don't worry I told him) who has a business he runs with that very same name in Birmingham. I liked it alot. As you can tell.......HA! HA!
I felt that it went along with the theme I wanted to convey in this blog!
Thanks Doug.

Yippeeee

Today is my birthday. I am 21 with 7 years of experience.

I had a great Bday party on Saturday. There were several I thought were coming that didn’t, and several that I didn’t know were coming, and did. That was a nice surprise. It was a small party (big surprise) and there was too much food, but overall it was exactly what I needed. Not going to lie…that morning I was ready to cancel. I had a funeral to go to…and for about an hour before, and during the drive there, I had several people call and tell me they weren’t coming. That being said, I appreciated THAT more than the ones who didn’t call. I always get pouty around my birthday because I think it’s just another day to remind me how little people care bout me…silly, no?

Honestly, I believe I have some deep-rooted issues about my birthday. Try sharing YOUR birthday with someone your whole life. Twin=NO FUN. I recall one birthday party where HIS friends came, and I had no one. I sat under the coffee table the whole party and cried my eyes out. Now that we are adults, we obviously don’t share our birthday celebration (except with Family)…but I think it explains constant need to make birthdays special. I do it for everyone else…how come no one does it for me? Counseling on this might be an option *giggle*

I have to give E props though. What a guy! He was an awesome host…made sure everyone’s drinks were always full, kept the food going, and even arranged the cake with candles and had everyone sing to me. Overall it was a great night and I want to thank all of you that made it special! Nadine and Trev…you’re gift rocks. I haven’t used anything yet…but trust me; it will come in handy very soon!!!!!

Tonight I get a nice dinner and a present. Anyone want to place bets it’s something to do housework with!?!?!

Big time of it this weekend.........

WHEW! It's been a busy weekend. I'm exhausted! Now into a crazy week.....I have several days this week with things to do. Hope one day I can "sleep in" HA! Something I used to do ALL the time.

Today was church....which was very inspiring I might add......the Pastor was awesome..and I loved the message and I LOVE the Pastor.....who just happens to be my husband :-)

I must say..and I am not being tainted in my view..not really.. but for those of you who don't know this or haven't heard him....Don is a very good Teacher/Preacher. He knows Gods word.
He is NOT like higly "visual" and doesn't use props in his sermons like many do.....which we have no problem with but it's just not who he is. Only on occasion has he ministered that way.
Nor is he the modern day "communicator." He doesn't do sermons geared at motivating the crowd to pump them up like at some large sales convention held at the Super Dome. That's not him either.

Don is an "Expository Preacher".....meaning just that....you "Expose" the scriptures.

He takes the scriptures...according to whatever message or text the Lord has given him to give as his message for that service and makes it literally "come alive" for you. It's totally NOT boring and you actually LEARN. How about that for a change??

He gives you background....cultural things..whatever, then he breaks it all down and tells you what the words are and mean and how it applies to you and me according to what the writer is saying to us. He makes it SO interesting. He knows so much and he gives you alot of understanding by how he teaches. I like that.

I have missed how he brings the Bible to life. I've missed it from many Preachers...because few do this type of teaching/preaching.....especially in the "Emerging Churches."
My husband is old school. That's the way he was taught and that is the way he will teach others....because that is how God wants him to be.

This is becoming a lost art too nowdays. Everything now has to be "short and sweet" and non religious. Well personally I hate religion myself and can't stand a person with a religious spirit. THAT drives me nuts. So I appreciate the "non religious" part to a limit. Comes a point though where....oh you know what I'm saying.

Just pick a lane people.....stand some ground.

There is a NEED for deeper teaching out there. I hear this all the time from people. I myself have missed it badly. However....it's not fashionable now and it's not what the big "crowd" is after either. Keep the scriptures to a minimum and tell lots of stories. That's the norm today. Let's keep'em happy and lets just make them feel good about themselves, no self evaluation here.

God give us some Charles Finney's. The Last Day's church needs a revival.

I've needed to hear things in the way that Don can state them. I don't know what it is but I know his heart and he is genuine and that makes a difference to me as well. I trust him and I trust what he is saying to the people and myself. If I didn't....believe me....I am his wife and I'm not a pew sitter nor a novice.
Plus......He's obviously not doing this for the money and never has and never WILL. That my friends is NOT who we are either.

In fact.......we receive nothing for this time we are giving of ours right now and we have to trek a good ways to get to this little church we are currently helping out. Not bragging here.
Just stating some facts.

Pray for this little A/G church.....they've lost their Pastor who they loved, it's a tiny congregation and it doesn't look like anyone wants the Pastor's position. There are a lot of "dynamics" involved in this body. It's a very traditional church, hymns only out of hymnals...which is fine, we don't get to hear enough hymns nowdays anyway.....but they could update a tad of course....and there are many, many other factors involved in this church too.

Probably the biggest issue is... there is no money to help keep the church running. That's a hard thing.
The last Pastor probably nearly starved. Although I think he worked a job. It's not easy to be a "bi-vocational Pastor" though...it's very hard in fact. I know people that do it and or have done it.
I totally respect Men and Women of God that do this on a weekly basis and receive nothing but the blessings of God. It does show me that they aren't in it for the glory. Besides there is none when you have to scrub the toilets and mow the grass yourselves...and all else that comes along with serving a small church...PLUS try to raise a family.....been there done that.

People think ministry is some "Glam" thing...it's not. Not for the little guys out there. The "non celebrities" who will never make it in the "whose who" books of modern church society.

My heart goes out to those people. Because they usually have nothing to operate on.

Try to keep the doors open and the roof from leaking and the A/C on and the Heater on with no budget so to speak of. You have to have great trust in God, to not only pay YOUR bills but to also pay the churches and the people's too probably....not easy my friends.

Yet they go onward......and this happens all over America and all over the world.
Can you imagine being a Pastor in the Appalachian Mountains...or the poor areas of the Mississippi Delta..or South Louisiana???
Maybe even wherever this big ol' teapot is located in West Virginia?

God bless these people who are out there doing ministry and have a heart to minister and a heart for people and have virtually no support money wise or people wise even. Try running a church that way.....no help, no money. Many, many, Pastor's do this.

It's like a bad "Walton's" episode where all this bad stuff happens to everyone and then some how it all works out and they are happy at the close of the show. The horrible trials they faced as a family always end at night time.....with you looking at the outside of their two story farm house and then you hear the kids and parents all tell each other "Goodnight" and somehow you know that it's gonna be a great life ahead for the Walton's and for yourself too.....for some odd reason.

It's like a Tiny Tim moment when he shouts "God Bless us everyone" and life seems easier, lighter.
It gave you hope didn't it?
I mean if it worked out for the Walton's.....well then it can work out for me too right??? Well yes. That is until the next episode.

That show gave you a "warm, fuzzy feeling."
I know.....because I love the Walton's too....many times I wished I lived there with them on Walton Mountain. I always have thought that was the place to move to. Where is Walton Mountain anyway.....is it in North Carolina? Someone tell me.
I guess I wanted to go there at times because ...nothing ever happened on the "Waltons" that was all that horrible.
It's sort of a wholesome, American fairy tale isn't it??? I love that Christmas movie they did...the "pilot" to the series...fab!!! If you haven't seen that.....find it and watch it. We will talk about that one later on.

Hold with me a moment right here......

We all like those kinds of things....Hallmark commercials..baby bunnies, hot chocolate on a winter's day..warm beds....or whatever thing it may be....some thing or some place where you don't have to face reality at times.
Especially in the hard times.
What do you consider "a hard time" is what I guess is what I want you to ponder.


I'm here to inform you...that it's not always like the Walton's for many of these little churches and the Pastors and their families that minister in them.

There's no big houses, no maids, no pedicures, no fashion magazine wardrobes, maybe only one car and maybe it runs..maybe it doesn't....no fantastic "ministry" trips to Europe or beyond....no local outreaches, because there's no bodies to help and no funds to pay for outreaches, no missions trips, because you can't even support missions because there's hardly enough money to pay the bills, and keep the doors open, let alone no opportunities of getting to go to conferences or teaching things to refresh and encourage the Pastor and or his family. No vacations. Maybe not much of all the things we see as "needed" to get through life.

I've seen this over and over in little churches and I know people that do it anyway regardless of the conditions.
I wonder "how they can take it?" They are such better people than myself.

I guess I am a weenie.
Seven years Pastoring a better church than the ones I am talking about nearly did my family in. There was more than enough heartache, rejection and sorrow than a person could ever want. As if you wanted it in the first place.

Although, we had some good times... we did also see the hard times...the times when your back was so pressed against the wall....when people would "try" to punish you and withhold their tithes and offerings so as to "run you off" and only end up hurting the church and themselves. There were many dark days.. days when I just wanted to run to far away Norway and sleep for a month in a cabin under some really nice, warm "down" comforters....and I couldn't.

I DID however get to take that trip to Florida for a week one year and stay with friends who helped me get counseling for "clinical depression."
That was a blast.
Sorry......just being real here.
Yes......I got depressed. I was worn out physically, mentally and spiritually.
Trust me......it DOES happen, even to people in ministry.
ESPECIALLY to people in ministry.

It wasn't easy. Not at all. Not easy for us back then and not easy for MANY today.

Yet do we believe that God was faithful to us through all those years you wonder????
Oh yeah..... and best thing..... He still is.

I THANK GOD for dedicated hearts in all shapes and sizes, ages, and races.
These people couldn't do what they do if they didn't love and honor and respect and ESPECIALLY trust "FATHER" God enough to take the hard trails in life, ( yes I said "trail" because sometimes all you have is a narrow path to lead you up the mountain) even to their OWN "hurt."

So all that stated..let's go on with the rest of today.

Later in the afternoon I went with my good friend Diane to Sams Club because she needed to get some things. There we bumped into some other good friends of mine, "the Wilkerson Family"...that was a nice, "chance" moment.
Always fun to run into people you know and love out somewhere when you didn't expect to.

After that Diane and I went to "Books a Million" and chatted over some magazines and a weird book we wanted to peak at and read a few things in but not buy.

THEN we proceeded to solve some of the world's greatest problems all while drinking this really, really, GOOOOOD "Pumpkin Spice Chai" tea that is out right now for Fall.
Ummmmm it was soooo yummy.
That's why I'm telling you about it. Don't take my word for it....
Go get you some.

Here's a little tea thought for tonight:

Tea is liquid wisdom. ~Anonymous

Tell you what....that "Pumpkin Spice Chai" gave ME some "liquid wisdom" tonight...
it made me realize this....that I need to buy that stuff in bulk somewhere to have here at my home!!!
Cheers

A "Precious One" returns home.....

Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.
Psalm 116:15 NAS
Early this morning was the "Home Going" for George Waites........a precious Man of God indeed.
We are sad for his family......yet REJOICING that his race is over on this planet and He is firmly set in HEAVEN!!!
Thanks to everyone that prayed......please continue to do so for the Waites family in the next few days.

Be blessed,
Joyce

Here it is ......11:30ish and I need to be in BED. I'm not really sleepy yet and since I've been sick for over a week, right now when I lay down I get a horrible coughing attack so...I figured I'd give it a tad bit longer before I barge in the bedroom and wake up my sleeping husband!

Besides....I just finished my "homework" for a new Bible Study I joined.
My friends Lori, Julie and I are all attending this together with a bunch of women that we don't know from Adam. Well, Lori knows the teacher she's a family friend of theirs. The teacher is very sweet, has a kind spirit and she knows the WORD baby and I like that. I've needed this I haven't had a good bible study in a while.

We are studying a Beth Moore series called
"The Patriarchs" which is very cool. Obviously hence the name....it's about the three "Patriarchs" of the Old Testament....Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Tonight's homework had several things that made me jump out of my skin and want to yell "Right On Sister".....because she hit some points that have been burning in my own spirit lately.

A few thoughts in a vague nutshell........because I have to go to bed so I can get up early for this Bible Study....but I want to state them quickly then come back to this later in another way that I have been praying about and pondering.

Because it's bugging me and HAS been. So this isn't something new in my heart.

Plus these things and thoughts have been greatly confirmed to me tonight, today, and even last night. Somethings "up" I'd say.

Here's something for you to take a gander at:
Proverbs23:10 in various translations.
"Do not move an ancient boundary marker"
"Remove not the old landmark"
"Do not move the ancient boundary"

I think we have lost something here. I think we better find it again......WE have moved the boundaries of many things due to us compromising in areas in our lives.

Beth Moore made a comment in my book that said this:
"Few things are more dangerous than looking back to that from which God has
DELIVERED us."
I see and hear this all the time. I had lunch with some friends last week and a certain topic came up for discussion that has been coming up in many circles I am around. It's a hot topic......it's a hot potato.

Many of us "old school" people are bothered that it's happened and that it IS happening at rampant speed. We don't want to condemn and we don't want to be judgemental but we don't want it in our churches and we don't want it in our leaders either.
We see friends and others we know and love becoming involved with this.

We have grace for situations.....yet....for how long?

I have no ideal where or how or why this "thing" came into being in the church world that I have known and been involved in.
A few years back.....we wouldn'even be discussing this. Because it wouldn't be going on in most Pentecostal or Non Denominational settings.
But it's here now. Can someone tell me why?

I've been saddened over it and I think it's scary. Not scary for me....but scary TO me for others sake.

Something moved.
A boundary line was moved, it was changed, it was pushed back out of the way and it's dangerous.

Why? Because we are Americans....most of us anyway......and we really do not want nor do we understand moderation.

So this "hot potato" will have to sit here and cool for the night and we will head back into this subject "gently" tomorrow possibly.
I have super busy day planned for tomorrow...so maybe not.
We will see how the day goes on.

Yawn....I really am yawning.
ZZZzzzz time for bed now.
Stay on the "path" folks.

A little bit of everything

There are times when I love my life, when I am complacent, and times when I seriously consider some re-programming. Today is one of those days. Well…lets be clearer…this WEEK is one of those weeks. Not that I am planning any ‘re-organization’, but more like evaluating things; taking a closer look at exactly WHAT keeps me ticking. I am looking at all the positive’s and negative’s with a microscope to analyze what (if anything) needs to be re-assigned so to speak in order for me to be a little bit more…happy.

Don’t take that sentence out of context though. Happiness is related to so many things, and there ARE things in my life that I am not happy WITH, but it doesn’t change my happiness towards my actual life as a whole. Get it? I feel like I am full of run-on sentences today!

Can’t say my commute makes me happy. In fact, it sets my whole day off badly almost every day. And then I have to go through it all over again at the end of the day. There is no escaping it since there are no other feeder routes home…unless I want to spend even longer trying to manipulate the Port Mann Bridge traffic, AND the Mission/Abby bridge. Not for me, thanks. I really enjoy MOST aspects of my job, so leaving here is not an option for me right now, so really…what can I do to remedy this? I have absolutely zero solutions.

Secondly, I am trying very hard to be ok with coming home grumpy to an overly zealous partner who has had a wonderful day. Sounds selfish, I know. But seriously, think about it. You’re tired, you’ve sat in traffic for a combined two hours, your back hurts from leaning over a computer, your head hurts from all the work, and all you want to do is soak in a warm bath with a glass of wine and WHINE about your day. But you come home to someone who has had a nice sleep (getting up after 7am is sleeping in to me), a late start to work, and a mid-afternoon jaunt out in a boat to do some wakeboarding, only to come back home to cook up a nice supper and tell you about the wonderful relaxing day they had.

Makes you want to fucking kill them doesn’t it? *giggle*

OK…I am slightly over exaggerating. That doesn’t happen everyday…but it does happen on those extremely rough days, sort of like Murphy’s Law. I can’t win. And yes I still do all the housework….hmmmmm. *mentally adding that to the list of things to analyze* LOL

So this weekend is the Luau. Came quickly didn’t it? I honestly have no idea who is coming and who isn’t. I can’t access facebook…and that’s where I invited some people, and I haven’t really been keeping track of people when they tell me if they can come or not. So it could be a big party (hahahahahahahahahahaha) or a little one (more likely). For those of you that have known me for quite some time, you know that SOMETHING always happens to ruin my birthday, this year being no different I am sure. You would think I would learn and just stop celebrating….but nooooo…I am a glutton for punishment! BTW, we opted out of the pig roast. Sorry.

And anyone with some suggestions on paper shot glasses for the Jell-O shooters…. Call me please :-) I have absolutely zero idea where to find those…and almost as little time to do it as well.

Tomorrow is weigh-in #2. I really didn’t eat much of my Jenny food…and STILL lost about 4lbs *I think*. I will let you know tomorrow...especially if it’s good!

Happy hump day

Lest we forget

I know I will never, ever, forget what took place in America 6 years ago today. It seems like forever now.

What can I say that hasn't already been said about September 11th?

I feel I can't even attempt to understand what the surviving families of this horrible terrorist attack have felt all these years, but especially on "that" day.

The dread, the fear, the overwhemling heartache. Because you see it wasn't just "their" loved one that perished or was missing or was injured.
That day we ALL lost many.
That day....we were ALL related.

I bought a new flag to hang yesterday....I just had to, our other one was scraggly and this is an important day. I have to make a statement to my children who were 6 years younger that day. Ariel was only 9 at the time and she might not remember it as well as I would like her to.

It's our responsibility as parents, as citizens, as compassionate people, to not ever forget those that died martyrs deaths that day and that DOES NOT include the terrorists because in the great book of Life they will recieve no "maryters crown" for what they did.

They did what they did out of pure hate, misconception and DECEPTION on their parts.

That is what I do not want to carry on......hate, misconception and deception.

We have to forgive, but we can grieve and we can remember....we press onward but we never forget.

I came across this little newspiece and I am going to print it here. I think it is fitting in light of this day and where we are in history at this point in time.

"During a presentation to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January, 2003.
A question was posed to Secretary of State Colin Powell by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey.

He asked Powell whether the U.S. was relying too much on "hard power" such as military action as opposed to "soft power" such as appealing to the common values of the major religions and building trust based on those values.

Powell responded by affirming the "soft power" of values but that it was the "hard power" of the military that, for example, helped free Europe and so the "soft power" of peace and reconstruction could take place.

Powell then said, "We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and we’ve done this as recently as the last year in Afghanistan and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home to seek our own, you know, to seek our own lives in peace, to live our own lives in peace. But there comes a time when soft power or talking with evil will not work where, unfortunately, hard power is the only thing that works."

Thank GOD for solid leadership on all levels.
No matter what your opinion is....we can thank GOD we are living in the United States of America.

Don't loose sight of what this day 6 years ago etched into American history for all of eternity.
It was nothing short of this.......

Some gave all, all gave some, NONE will be forgotten.

What is your "People Group?"

Everyone has one. We all are "drawn" to a certain group of people. We may not even realize it. But think about it for a moment.

When I was growing up....my Mom was (and still is I might add) always into "the Native Americans." She drives us all batty with this American Indian thing. She's had this love for the American Indians.....and for Scottish people too, but that's a whole other story we will chat about later. Maybe.

As a child our family took vacations that often revolved around going to various Indian locations....sometimes even reservations. We went to many places out west, Colorado, New Mexico....Arizona, and we also did the South Dakota stuff. Mount Rushmore..and to the Black Hills.....yes even to the "Crazy Horse" sculpture which wasn't more than some big ol' rock at that time.

Funny thing is....now my Mom thinks she is American Indian......though none of my family can really trace any of her thoughts in our lineage. She swears my Great Grandfather was "Cherokee" and that my Great Grandmother's "people" as she calls them....were "Lakota Souix." This has now become the family joke but my Mom is serious. She's into it and we kids are like....."she's a nutburger."

My Mom has always been a supporter of American Indian "Land Rights" and she's supported "Orphanages" on Indian Reservations. She was really into the whole "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" thing back when I was a teenager.

A few years ago...we went back to Iowa for Christmas. It's my Mom's birthday right about then too so I took her out to eat and shopping one day. Fortunate for my Mom but not for me...there was a special "Native American/Southwestern" type store that was open in the local mall there just for the holidays.

Well my Mom was TOTALLY in her element. She was talking to the owners and trying on turquoise jewelry and buying all kinds of "stuff." Ugh.....I was bored out of my gourd because I am SO not into any of the Southwest stuff at all.
During my Mom's conversation with the owners she pointed to a print hanging on the wall of an Indian on a horse. She proceeded to tell them that it looked like her "Grandfather." Yikes!

I was about to pass out at that point because I was 10 years old when my Great Grandfather died and I still remember what he looked like and I sure don't remember him in a headdress and Indian garb on a horse. But to my Mom.....well.....that's what she sees in her memory I guess.
Let me tell you....I couldn't wait to get out of that store and get home to my sister's so I could tell her this crazy ordeal I had just gone through with our Mother.

Honestly, I've tried to figure this thing out...because it gets a bit freaky at times ....but all I can attribute it to is this...my Mom does not have dementia.
My Mom has a "People Group" are the "American Indians." She loves them. She has a burden for them. She wants to be one of them.

Now can I understand that?? Nope.

However....who am I to judge her in that because.....I have my own issues. I have my own "People Group."

First of all......I LOVE THE NATIONS. I like various cultures and I like learning hearing and seeing what people do all over the earth.

Yet, I must admit I have a "first love" among the peoples of the earth.
I love the Brits....I don't know why it is but it is what it is. I can't change it.
I study the people, I watch their movies, their TV shows, I love their history, their humor...the scenery, just all of it.
I am intrigued with all the British Isles and their people. I pray for them. I cry out to God for them and their leadership and other important things that pertain to their countries.

I have to do this, I am compelled to do it....these people... are my "People Group." They are the people God put on my heart and they have been since I was 5 years old and didn't even really know what it was all about. That's when I can earmark that this came into my life.
Don't ask me why because I haven't got a clue...all I know is that it just happened.

I've thought about this....I didn't ask for this love, I didn't ask for that nation or those people. It just turned out that way.

I tend to love all Europeans....probably some of it is genealogy since my family is European.( Oh and INDIAN HA!)

When I was in High School I was convinced that I HAD to take "German" because I was going to "need that some day." I took two years of it and well...it did help me a bit when I was in Belgium once. It helped me read directions on the signs to figure out where we were and where we needed to go...but that's about the extent of my skills in the German language so far.

Oh sure....I can still figure some of it out but it's not been the way I thought it was going to turn out for me when I was 16 of course. Back then I had "big plans" to move to Europe. Well....God's plans for me were different. I didn't even know Him back then, didn't even understand that HE had a "plan" for my life. That He in fact had a "hope and future" in store for me.

Now I get it and I know that HE is the one that sets the Nations in our hearts.

If I'm out somewhere and I hear someone speaking with a European accent...I'm just going to be drawn that way. I don't know why. I just do. I always have. It's weird I know but GOD sets these things ups. Divine appointments so that we can nurture our love for the people He's put in our hearts.

It's funny because now it's MY family that I drive nuts. My husband has to watch all these BBC show and movies with me. He has to hear all this stuff about England and my younger kids roll their eyes at me but I tell you what....I know what I'm talking about.
I make it my business to be up on what's going on in these various places I care about so I can hold a conversation with someone from there and know some of what they are all about.

I make it my mission to be knowledgeable and somewhat aware of "current events" and such. I do this so that I can relate to my "people group" so that I can understand them. That only makes sense to me.

The point is we need to be aware of this love for the "Nations" and for "People Groups"....the small or large sections of people from all over the world. The Nations. When we love them, we want to be like them.We want to learn about them we want to be around them.

Why? I can't explain it.....but God establishes this love and I DO know that.

Think about "Who" your people group is...it the Russians? Latin People?
Is it the Poles? How about the Nepalese people??? Fijians?? Someone is in your heart. There is a race or sect of people that you have a love for, even if you haven't fully realized it.

Ask yourself.....then ask for wisdom for what to do for that group of people.
How to reach them.
That's the kind of love the Father has for us.
We were "strangers" and He loved us, He adopted us and we are able to do the same with people.
Even if it seems weird to you it's not weird to God.
Interesting note here.....two of my children date European kids. One is from the Ukraine, and one is from...if you can believe this..... England of course.
Hummm...I may get that British daughter in law after all.

I wonder where my kids got that love from??? I PROMISE you.....I did not provoke these events. It's just set in their hearts. I believe that.
I would not be one to mess with "Destiny" so I wouldn't manipulate these type of relationships in my own children who I want God's very best for.
I just know how it works though. It worked that way for my Mom....it's worked that way for me.
It works that way for you too if you search deep inside.
Check your heart and see what People Group God has put there for you to love.

Footnote:
I'm listening to the LIVE "Prayer Room" at the International House of Prayer while I'm typing this post..the lady that just got up to pray....just asked that "God would establish an "IHOP" at every 'Indian Reservation' in the United States."
So now they are all praying..... that God minister to the people's on the Reservations.

Is this UNREAL????
I just started laughing...when I heard this because it sort of SHOCKED me but yet I'm not.... because you see.....this CONFIRMS it to me once again.....that GOD is faithful and HE puts these various "People Groups" in every persons heart. Even my Mom's.

If we are faithful to nurture that love in a healthy way...we can see great things done in our "People Groups" lives.

So now......I'm praying for the American Indians with them.Funny how that works huh? I've not really ever prayed for the American Indians that I can recall.
Isn't that sad.
I'm amazed at how GREAT the Father's love is for ALL of mankind.