International House of Prayer.........

"The IHOP" that serves a great big heaping of healthy food to your soul.
You know I love that place. The one in Kansas City.....The International House of Prayer, and they mean it buddy. They don't play church.

I DO like the other IHOP, the Pancake place as well.....but since going "Gluten Free" in my diet for health reasons..it's not as delightful for me now as it was before. I can't get the cheese blintz's or any kind of bread stuff....blah.
Eggs and grits only for me now thank you.

Okay back to the REAL "IHOP"..... I turned my computer on and believe me I rarely get up this early but I felt a prompting to do so.
I get into "The Prayer Room" at the International House of Prayer for their 6:00am "Live" prayer service.......they do this 24/7 folks and have for like some 8 years now. They do the DEEP THINGS OF GOD at this place. I've been there and I wish I could be in that type of environment all the time.
Or at least near something like this place......sigh. Help me God I'm fainting here in this "wet desert."

I know it's an oxymoron but you know what I saying, if not let me spell it our for you....
"Baton Rouge"....it's a "dry desert spiritually" for many of us. We have to seek our refreshing by "unusual" means during this "season" and we do. Thank GOD for all the resources we have in the year 2007 to help us keep our relationship with the Father fresh when you hungry and thirsty and can't find a local "oasis" to properly water and feed you. The pickings are "rare and slim" right now for some odd reason and I hate this because it's not always been this way here in this city.
Something has changed spiritually over this city and it's very wrong and sad. The "ball" has been dropped somehow.

So anyway.....I'm watching and listening and doing a bit of writing at the same time and praying along with them as the leaders call out things to pray for.....like for President Bush and his leadership and some other general things for our nation....very awesome. Then someone gets up and starts praying for "those caught in Human Trafficking and those caught in the Sex Trade".....huhhhh...."WHAT WAS THAT?????"

I'm totally caught off guard by this prayer....I'm thinking to myself......"WHAT other church in the world prays for 'those who are caught in Human Trafficking and those captured by Sex Trade' at 7:00 in the morning.....MAN I LOVE THESE PEOPLE!!! We need this. Those people who are captured and lost need it. I'm so thankful that GOD sees right where they are, because WE who live in "comfort" forget about them fast I'm afraid. We give up. We stop praying after a few weeks or maybe days even. I'm guilty.


I mean I have never even EVER heard Christians in CHURCH (like during church) ask for prayer for that kind of thing....if I have then forgive me it's been a RARE thing then, so rare I can't remember it and I know I would remember that kind of thing because it's sooooo important.

I do/have prayed for people that are brought to my attention when they go "missing" or as the Brits call them "the disappeared".....it grieved me so much as I know it did many around the world when little "Madeline McCann" from the U.K. went missing from Portugal, where her parents were vacationing. I've prayed and prayed that little girl will turn up and be given back to her parents ALIVE and unharmed.

I can't imagine someone taking her from her parents and using her in the sex trade in Europe like they suspect. It makes me sick and I wonder "what kind of monsters are these people that take children away from their parents or those that take any human soul from their loved ones???" I can't stand it......it's totally demonic.

God have MERCY on those people, and I pray they release Madeline and all others that are missing from loved ones NOW!

IF you are wanting prayer or want to be involved in very passionate, heartfelt, Holy Spirit inspired intercession.......check out "The Prayer Room"http://theprayerroom.tv/.....sorry I SO do not how to interject instant hyperlinks into this blog yet......duh.....I have got to get someone to help me do that....if you can help me.....contact me PLEASE! HA! HA!

Also, you will need passwords to get into "The Prayer Room" to watch it live...... contact me and I will get them to you if you are serious.

It is "Worship and the Word."
Check it out you will not come away hungry.

Experts find Abbey where "Robert The Bruce" was crowned!

For all you history buffs and for all of you that that like myself loved the movie "Braveheart".....
here's some interesting news.
I've been meaning to write something about this whole thought for about a year now but haven't gotten to it......one day when I get a moment I am going to talk to you about the whole "Braveheart" thing which is very dear to my heart and always will be.
I love that kind of "spirit" in people and I think the "church" should be just as passionate as William Wallace was for the good of his people and for Scotland and the principles that were being violated and we aren't and it's SICK. It really ticks me off how complacent we are. I include myself in this so don't think I am judging anyone.

I went to Ireland, about a year after that movie was released and during one of days we had some "free time" we were in upper Ireland and at one point we were on the coast and only about 20 miles from Scotland across the water of course.....we wanted to just at the very LEAST go over and set our "feet upon the ground" in Scotland.....but we weren't able to.

Hopefully....I will get to do that sometime, I'm planning on it in my heart it's all in God's hands right now.
Anyhow.....for now.....here's some cool news from the BBC News/Scotland.

"Lost" coronation abbey unearthed.
Experts have found the abbey where Robert the Bruce was crowned
Archaeologists have unearthed the site where Robert the Bruce was crowned king of Scotland.
The location of the abbey at Moot Hill, the original home of the Stone of Destiny, was forgotten centuries ago.

But it has now been identified by experts from Glasgow University who have been surveying the grounds of Scone Palace for the first time.

They used scanners to detect buried structures and found part of the abbey church and a bell tower.

The coronation of Pictish and Scottish kings took place at Moot Hill for hundreds of years, and a royal abbey was built there by 1120AD.

Tremendous importance

The archaeologists have been examining the site using a sophisticated technique based on geophysical remote sensing.

Project leader Oliver O'Grady said: "We have been really surprised by the high quality of the survey results so far, revealing a very clear outline of the great west end of the abbey church, complete with at least one bell tower.

Some major gaps are being filled in our understanding of Scone's amazing history.

Suzanne Urqhuart, Mansfield Estates

"The tremendous importance of Scone - where kings were made and where Parliaments met - is only matched by how little we know about the reality of the place.

"Now we can locate the essential outline of the church and hints of where the cloister and other buildings stood, and all without putting a spade in the ground."

Suzanne Urquhart from Mansfield Estates, which runs Scone Palace, added: "To see the plan of what was a beautiful Gothic church emerge from the ground after being lost for 400 years is very exciting.

"Some major gaps are being filled in our understanding of Scone's amazing history, and we are now talking to the archaeologists about how the project might develop."

The survey has also uncovered evidence of a massive ditch around Moot Hill as well as information about its construction.

Vegas BABY! *and a little bit of drama*

Hammer time.

I am totally giggling to myself that when I thought of my trip to Vegas, “hammer time” just came to mind. I am SUCH a geek. *runs off to buy hammer pants for Celyne*

This week has been a bit of a drama-fest in the love shack I call home. Not only has it been crazy busy, but I have been pre-menstrual and emotional. Pre-menstrual = psycho. You know little nagging thoughts will creep into your brain and then not 5 min later they are a MAJOR problem and causing so much stress that it’s all you can do to stop from bursting into tears? Meet me this week. I accept SOME of the responsibility for being over emotional, but not all…because really, my thoughts and feelings should always be valid and listened to. I can admit, I am a ‘bottler’ and I let things fester and bubble until something makes me crack and I let it alllllll go at once. This, my faithful friends, is a fault that I will probably always possess because I HATE confrontation more than I hate turnips. And I guess I *think* it’s better to let it all out in one dramatic display then little confrontations over time. Yeah, possibly a dumb blonde move on my part…BUT, it is who I am.

Last night was that ‘dramatic display’. It’s funny…when someone you love is not affected by your tears unless you are actually injured physically; it makes you cry harder knowing that it doesn’t matter if you’re injured INSIDE. In my house, tears don’t work and yet I cry harder. I have never used tears to get my own way, and that’s not what happened last night, I was just completely not in control of my emotions no matter how hard I tried to be. And this is all because I bottled and festered and bubbled until I had not one, not two, and not even three, but maybe a million things I needed to get off my chest. I have only myself to blame right?

We both said some mean things, things that if I think about them today, I want to cry again. It’s after 4pm the following day and my eyes are still puffy…BUT, I feel better about the whole thing. And that’s enough right? Love CAN keep us together…as long as you’re willing to accept the imperfections in each other. Not love those imperfections, but accept them. Make sense?

I am still learning every day about this whole ‘relationship thing’… because no matter how many you have been in, they will all be different. Every day is a new adventure really, because it takes more than a lifetime to really get to know the person you are spending your life with. Short of a brain scan, we will never know their thoughts unless they tell us, and we all know men don’t like to speak about anything except sports, food, and sex (and on occasion, how awesome their smelly farts are). Emotions are something they think women made up to garner some kind of control. Little do they know we actually KNOW they are quite simple beings and like to keep them on their toes.
They can’t live with us, nor without us…so don’t you think it’s time they succumbed to our demands and just CHANGE when we ask them to? Geesh.

Anyway...I realize that I am quite sporadic at keeping this blog up to date despite my repeated promises to do so, my announcing that I will be MIA until after the long weekend means absolutely jack shit to you…. But I am announcing it anyways. Please miss me. Really and truly miss me.

Pain......ouch.

Sorry to have been away so long.......it's hard to be creative and to even want to write when you don't feel good. July has been the "month of pain" for me.......ugh!
Humidity, heat and tons of RAIN do not mix well with my body and the infirmity that plaques me.
This year has been like living in Seattle........but WAY hotter!!! Rain every day or every other day........like today.....we have a "tropical front" hitting us now and it should last for several days....lovely.

I now find myself watching the "weather reports" all the time like a farmer or an old person.....now I understand why they do it.......my family used to do it when I was a child......you always listend to the "noon report" on the radio mainly.....I had both old people and some farmers in my family. Now I totally "get" why they were checking out the weather.......to not only "consider the wind and sky" but to see if their tired old bones were going to "ache."

It's been a drag I can tell you that. I've been locked away in my house mainly.....
I DO go swiming 3 times a week at a private pool with a group of women whom I call......"The Pool Ladies." I will tell you more on them later. No swiming today of course because of the yucky weather.

I DO hurt severely, and I never understood pain and suffering before.......now I do. I'm not proud of that but I must say my "Compassion level" for hurting people or people in pain is way different now. Personal perspective does wonders for us doesn't it?

Some of us learn by the school of "Hard Knocks"...I have always been one of those kinds of people. Could that be because I am from Missouri......you know
"The SHOW ME state?"

I haven't any worries though compared to the several families that my daughter and her friends are now on their way to go see.........it's 10:30am here in Baton Rouge, and Ariel was awoken early by phone calls today stating that 2 friends of her and some of her other best friend's were killed last night in a terrible accident on the Interstate between Baton Rouge, and Hammond. There were several young boys in the vehicle and of course.......a semi truck was involved. There have been SO many accidents on that stretch of Interstate in the past MONTH!

God help these families.......they must be shattered. The young men that lived will have so much to endure in the days ahead physically and mentally.
I will update you more when I find out the information, it's all foggy right now, and hasn't hit any of the newscasts or newpapers even yet.
Pray for these families and that all these kids will be TOUCHED by this accident and will realize how "fleeting" that life is.
It really is just a "vapour."

Facebook

Here's a funny story.

I thought I was the only person at work who browsed facebook. I just assumed that since I was asked not to go on it, that *I* was the reason the IT department was asked to monitor how much time was being spent on the internet with facebook being the main focus. Well...I was wrong. It seems facebook is also an office addiction because everyday I am hearing someone's disappointed cries that facebook is now BLOCKED at work.

I am a little frustrated though, to hear that many people spend a lot of their time on it during the day, and my FEW visits lasting no longer than 5 minutes was a cause for concern. There is that small part of me that wants to complain and get everyone else in trouble too so I am not labelled the internet over-abuser or something like that...is it really fair that I should be the one management thinks is abusing the interent on work hours?!? Absolutely not.

I talk big though. I wont tell.

Even though I wanna

*pout*

cheech

so yeah... a post. Why do I always think about writing in here when I dont have anything to say?

I leave for Vegas in 6 days...and Celyne ariives in 10. I am only slightly excited about the first 4 days because I get to experience my first tradeshow as an exhibitor...but really, I am MORE excited about the two days alone with Celyne!! *rubs hands together* Muahahahahaha...

She's in trouble.

So my first question...how the heck are we going to survive without our daily dose of you know what? Honestly...a whole week for me, only a few days for Celyne...BUT, it's almost like rehab isnt it?!?!? "they tried to make me go to rehab, i said no...no....no"...

Im a geek.

Ciao

We’re back.

Well, we’ve been back since verrrrry early Sunday morning, but we’re finally back into the swing of every day life (well me anyways, can’t speak for Vero!)

We left Thursday morning before noon and got into Merritt at about 1:30pm. Saranna’s campsite was extremely easy to find, so we set up, changed into our swimming gear and headed into the river for some cooling off. I am not kidding when I say that I had sweat dripping sunscreen into my eyes. I wasn’t FULLY prepared for the heat, but it did get easier through the 4 days. We spent a few hours cooling off before we headed back into the campsite for dinner. Unfortunately, our grill was less than stellar and we had to make do with a very slow cooked chicken burger. Very delish! We got all prettied up and headed to the bus stop to take us into the concert grounds. When we were picking up our arm bands, my Dad came over and handed us VIP PASSES! They already had them, but won a set in their program. It came with one free dinner, and the whole weekend access to the VIP Tent (Free pop, water, your own bathrooms…hanging out with the ‘stars’, or lesser known acts…)We browsed the little tents set up with merchandise, Vero picked up a cowboy hat, and we found our seats.

The Road hammers were the first act, and they were awesome!!!! Jason McCoy can be my boy toy anytime. Gretchen Wilson was on next, and I must say her voice is unbelievable. There was nothing to distinguish it from her CD, it was that good. She performed mostly from her newest CD (which I don’t have) so I didn’t know ALL the songs to sing a long to…but it was still a great show! We headed back right before the encore so we missed Redneck Woman :-( .

Friday we headed into town for a BIG breaky at ABC Restaurant. The wait was long, but the food was worth it. We picked up ice, headed back to the campsite, and spent the afternoon in the river again (well...AFTER the wind/rain storm that happened between noon and two when we napped). With the heat, there really isn’t much more you can do! We broke into the booze early, cooked up some burgers, and headed back in to the grounds. THIS was the night I was looking forward to! We missed Johnny Reid, but got there in time for Carrie Underwood…and while her show was a little tame, I knew all the words so I was up on my feet singing like an idiot for most of it! Reba was next, and she really was the highlight for me! She is an unbelievable performer!

Saturday morning we went for breaky at my parent’s campsite for bacon and Eggs, and then spent the rest of the morning and afternoon in the river. Met some interesting people and just vegged. We then headed to the grounds for our VIP dinner. My steak was actually gross, but the baked potato and all the fixings was awesome. Jamie O’Neill took the stage and we managed to grab seats I the 10th row with my parents. Those seats were empty, so we weren’t THAT worried about someone coming to ask us to move. We spent the rest of the evening there. After Jamie (whose a sweetheart!) Emerson Drive came out. Now, the lead singer is unbelievably sexy, but unbelievably WEIRD. He was humping all of his band mates on stage, and I am not lying when I say they looked like they weren’t enjoying it all that much. But they put on an amazing show…and I think I might have a little crush on the guitar player. We left right after in favor of the campsite over CCR… but on the way back decided to pack up and go home. Slightly retarded we realized when we started pulling pegs out of our tent in the dark. Vero is MUCH stronger than I originally though, because half those pegs are STILL in Merritt because we couldn’t get them out. The drive home was uneventful…I kept nodding off and forcing myself to wake up in order to keep Vero awake driving. It was a struggle!! We got home at 2:00am and just CRASHED. I slept till 11:30am the next morning…and missed all the unpacking… DAMN *wink*.

I am already planning for next year. My goal is to fit into a bikini so I don’t feel so out of place in my shorts in the river… HAHAHAHAHA.