USS NEW YORK

Artist rendition of the USS New York

It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center.

It is the fifth in a new class of warship-designed for missions that include special operations against terrorist.

It will carry a crew of 370 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, LA to cast the ship's bow section.

When it was poured into the molds on September 9, 2003, "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up.". "It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down.

The ship's motto? "NEVER FORGET"!

SHOW & TELL #21 - Paint by Number

Okay.....Here it is Friday again and Show & Tell time at Kelli's of There Is No Place Like Home. Go here and find out ALL about it, if you don't already know. Then pick something to Show and Tell us about. Put it on Mr. Linky's at Kelli's and then have a great time visiting all the other Show & Tell posts. It's such fun. Trust me!!!




I am showing another paint-by-number today.

I did this one in 1953 as a gift for my father.
He grew up on a farm and loved this scene because it reminded him of Kansas.

This painting hung in my parents home for years and now I proudly have in in my bedroom as a reminder to me of my beloved father.

==========================================

I am always talking about the wonders of this blogworld and I have another neat thing to share with you.

Last week I did another posting about our hot air balloon adventures with Suzy Blue. That very evening I received an e-mail from a young man who had googled about ballooning in New Mexico and my post came up.
His parents owned a hot air balloon and he wondered if I remembered them and him.
He was 9 years old at the time!!!!
I remember him very well, our son, Marc, was 13 at the time!!
He has owned and flown his own balloon for 15 years and currently lives in California.
What a joy and treat to hear from him, and get an update on his parents.
This great big world indeed becomes very small with blogging.
Thanks Jeff for contacting me!!
It was great hearing from you and knowing you remembered Suzy Blue so well.

REFLECTING

Those of you who have read my blog much know I'm a 1/2 full glass kind of person.

I have been blessed in my life, and I see God's mercy and kindness to me almost everyday I live. It's not that we haven't had our problems, disappointments and issues. It's not that we aren't currently dealing with some of the forementioned. BUT we chose and have chosen to concentrate on the good things of life, which are many.

I would go so far as to say, I am upbeat and joyful at least 97% of the time.

I mentioned in my post about Michelle being so weepy. Here I was sharing this wonderful couple of hours with Michelle. I had known she was coming and had been looking forward to this time for sixteen days. I was happy!!!

BUT

I have been really burdened lately for some people who I've been following on their blogs for some time. I know a lot of you know them, and follow them, too.

To name a few :

Heather, a young wife & mother dealing with brain cancer.

Shawndra Turner , another young wife & mother dealing with a cancer diagnosis.

Josh Buck, a young man paralysed from a freak skiing accident.

My friend, Kahri's, little girl Kadrea, read her story here. Kahri is the one who got me started in blogging.

Annie's beautiful daughter, Izzy.

And the now, Copeland, just a week old and dying.

All very heart wrenching circumstances and YET the faith, the steadfastness, the determination, the Love of God that sustains them is awesome and the

REAL STORY.

And I weep, for them, but I also weep for myself .....because I have to wonder if I could walk in the faith, steadfastness, determination and Love of God that they demonstrate to me day in and day out. Something to think about isn't it? Surely does make me think and WEEP!

I have wanted to be real, to be transparent to all of you who read me or just stumble on this blog of Penless Writer.

That is what I am today: REAL, WEEPING & TRANSPARENT.

I pray I can meet any test or trial Jesus would call on me to walk.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" Romans 8:35

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Romans 8:37

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers , nor things present, nor things to come, nor heights, nor depths nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus or Lord." Romans 38 & 39

A QUOTE

"Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."

I was looking through some things this morning and found these words. I don't even remember where I got them or when. They are certainly not mine, but some I copied from somewhere. If I knew to whom to give the credit I would.

Never the less, they are powerful words and thoughts. I wanted to ponder on them today. Thought you might like to join me.

BLESSINGS & MORE BLESSINGS

I was so excited to meet my first "in the flesh" blog friend on September 4th here.

So imagine my excitement when just 4 days later, on September 8th, I get a comment left on my blog from another blog friend saying they are going to be in Tulsa September 22-25 and would like to meet with me if possible.

IF POSSIBLE? I would do whatever was necessary to meet with her.

.
Michelle Frazen and her husband, Rich, are missionaries in Johannesburg, S. Africa!!

They and their 3 children have been in Johannesburg for almost 4 years.

Well, the youngest little girl was born there 2 years ago.

They are both ORU graduates so familiar with Tulsa

Michelle and I meet today at 12:30. We recognized each other instantly and greeted each other with smiles and a big hug.

What a sweet gentle spirit, Michelle has.

We spent 2 hours just finding out all about each other. Questions flying back and forth across the table as fast as we could talk!!! Such an easy flow and we kept remarking how amazing it was that you could become so attached to each other over a blog! But it is truly a fact of the blog!! Those connections are made and are real.

I had an emotional morning reading a blog of a one week old baby who was dying. Consequently, I was in a real weepy mood and just felt very burdened for this family losing this precious child and just for the problems of our world and the state of affairs in general in our world and in our individual lives.

SO, I spent a great deal of the time weeping!!! Even though I was so overjoyed with meeting and sharing with Michelle. Just fair warning to any of you who meet me.

I am a weeper!!!!!!

Michelle prayed the sweetest prayer over me just before we parted. It's so wonderful to be able to sit in a restaurant in Tulsa and pray openly. May we always have this wonderful freedom. I do not take it for granted. It is a privilege!!!

Michelle & I both are sure that God has a bigger purpose than we can know, at this point, in bringing us together and forming such a bond. It is exciting!!!

We shared a couple of private dreams and desires!!!

Michelle doesn't blog a lot but be sure to go here and check her our. Be sure and scroll down her side bar to the picture of her lovely fair face & blond hair surrounded by the beautiful faces of black children. This gives you a little taste of the heart of this precious young mother and missionary wife.

Michelle, I am honored to have shared 2 wonderful hours with you today!

And yes, Ginger, I gave her a separate hug from you.
We both talked how we wished you'd been here to share the time with us.

With my cup running over with joy.....I arrive back home to find this lovely hand made card in my mail box from my United Kingdom friend, Barbara! The sweet, handwritten message reads "Wishing you both a very Happy Anniversary with the richest of anointing in the years to come. Love & Blessing from across the ocean. Barbara & Alan xx"

Thank you sooo much, Barbara. It is lovely and I treasure it and the thought.

Life with my God is such a joy and His mercies are new every morning.

I feel so sorry for those who do not know the thrill we have in serving such a wonderful RISEN SAVIOR!!

GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM

Just received this information from Bridges of Peace and wanted to pass it on.

The First Sunday of October, October 7th, has been designated as the Global Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem by well over 1000 global Christian leaders. Leaders of influence including, Jack Hayford, Paul Cedar, Dick Eastman, T.D. Jakes, Kay Arthur, Myles Munroe, Jane Hansen, John Hagee, Ravi Zacharias, Michael W. Smith, Chuck Pierce, Sunday Adeleja, and Joyce Meyer are just a handful of those all around the world who are in unity calling for focused, united prayer on this day.

SHOW & TELL #20 - Clowns

Okay.....Here it is Friday again and Show & Tell time at Kelli's of There Is No Place Like Home. Go here and find out ALL about it, if you don't already know. Then pick something to Show and Tell us about. Put it on Mr. Linky's at Kelli's and then have a great time visiting all the other Show & Tell posts. It's such fun. Trust me!!!

What I am showing today are two little clowns I made a number of years ago. You can see they sit up high, on a shelf in our bedroom that my husband made to hold our TV and speakers to the stereo system. (Click on pictures for detail)

Nothing really special but just cute little guys that have brought us joy over the years.

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF FALL

FLYING SUZY BLUE PART 6 - Excitement!

Are you ready for some REAL excitment now with Suzy Blue?

This adventure took place on July 25, 1982. We took Suzy Blue out for just some pleasure flying. The passenger's this lovely, summer night were two of our faithful crew members, who you've seen in various pictures with us even in out of state

Balloon Rally's.

One of the ways we paid back our crew for all their long hours and help was to give flights whenever the opportunity arose. So Mickey, Jean & Ed were having a glorious flight. At this time, in Tulsa, seeing a Hot Air Balloon in the sky was still quite a novelity. We often felt like Pied Piper as we would realize the long line of cars following us on the streets below.

This night there was one particular single gentlemen who had literally been following us for almost the entire flight. Ever so often he would pull his car over to the side of the road, jump out with his camera and take pictures. We were quite use to this but this gentlemen was more enthusiastic than most. The three in the basket had been waving to him from above and myself and the chase crew with me had been waving and giving High 5's back & forth with him.

You can see from this picture that Suzy Blue

was heading straight for downtown Tulsa.

I am going to give you a little bit of a ballooning lesson as I go along in this post. I think most of you know that the balloon does not have a steering wheel and the pilot and the balloon are being driven solely by the wind currents. The application of the heat from the propane burner is used solely to rise or lower in altitude.

The communication between the pilot (Mickey) and the chase crew driver (me) was done by CB radio. The flight had been of a pretty long duration this evening and the sun was beginning to get closer to going down.

The real skill of a Hot Air Balloon Pilot is in the 1) inflation , 2) the lift off and 3) and most difficult, the landing. Suzy Blue had been flying for quite some time over a very heavy populated area of town. One of the main things the pilot is on the look out for is an area large enough to safety land.

You can see from this shot that Suzy Blue was flying fairly low as Mickey was keeping his eyes open for that safe landing spot.

He called down to me "TU is just up ahead and I'm going to put her down in the quadrant between the 2 buildings. Be sure the crew is there and ready to grab us because I'm going to have to put her down pretty fast and hard."

Now I understood exactly what he meant. The ideal situation is to slowly reduce the height of the balloon and gently glide her down to the ground. In this particular situation, the slow reduction of height and gentle glide were not going to be possible because, 1) there was a 3 story building to the South where Suzy Blue was approaching from, 2) there was another 3 story building looming up ahead to the North, 3) there was a rather small grassy area between the two. Mickey had to clear the first 3 story building, quickly pull the top of the balloon out (which is what lets the air out) and fall at a higher height and rate of speed than normal.



None of us, either in the balloon or on the ground, were concerned because Mickey was a superb pilot and the winds were calm.






This is a picture of part of the building taken as the chase vehicle and crew race toward the parking area and jump out of the vehicle in preparation to catch Suzy Blue when she lands. We knew she would bounce and we would have to grab her quickly.

Enter our friendly, constant, enthused, picture taking, driver!!! He pulled up to the curb, right in front of where Mickey was putting Suzy Blue down, jumps out of his car to begin his picture taking. I am SHOUTING, "GET THAT CAR OUT OF HERE!" It is too late. Suzy Blue lands just behind the vehicle and then drags across the trunk, smashing the rear window. Rises a little and lands on the grass as planned.

The chase crew is there to quickly grab the basket and hold it down. The person in the yellow shirt to the right top of the picture has been given the crown line by Mickey. She runs out with it and is pulling to get the balloon laid out on the ground. The basket is then laid over, the air is squeeze out of the balloon, she is then rolled up and placed in her balloon bag

This picture gives you a good look at the second 3 story building.


Here is the car....you can see the man jumped out to do his picture taking so quickly he didn't even shut the door. When Suzy Blue is safely in place and everything has calmed down, Mickey turns and says, "Who does this car belong to?" This man, standing back a little and trying to be inconspicious, timidly raises his hand and says in a very meek and mild voice, "Mine".

By this time students are coming from every direction to see the Hot Air Balloon and all this excitement. We have quiet an audience

This is a shot of the broken glass in the back seat. Now comes the really good part. The car was a company car!!!! Mickey got all the pertinent information and gave him our information and told him our insurance company would take care of it.

All os us had a good laugh and thought how we'd like to be there when he went into his boss on Monday morningg and said, "I was hit by a Hot Air Balloon." "WHAT?" We would also loved to see the expression on the Insurance Agents and Adjusters faces.

One of the major expenses of owning a hot air balloon is the insurance. We were fortunate in the years we flew to have only 2 small claims. This one and one other, where a horse, out in the country, got spooked by the sound of the burner and ran through a fence.

Thanks for flying with Suzy Blue once again. Stay tuned for the next adventure!

GUEST COMMENTATOR

Hi everyone......I'm not here!

I was honored to be invited to be a Guest Commentator for Multi-Tasking Mom's. you'll find my Commentary for today over here. Please go check out their site and read what I've written and please leave a comment at that site. It would be REAL nice if you'd leave me a comment here, too!!!!

We had a pastor that always used to say Commentators were nothing but

"Common Taters"!!

I fit that description well, but I had fun doing it and was honored that they asked me.

Now, I have to thank AGAIN my ever faithful and helpful friend, Leigh Ann,because when it came time to post to the Multi-Tasking Mom's blog I had no idea what to do. I panicked and was almost in tears.....got hold of Leigh Ann and as SOOO many times before she helped me (actually she did it for me!!!).

Bless You Leigh Ann

and

A VERY BIG THANK YOU TO AMBER FOR INVITING ME TO DO THIS :O)

BEING A WIFE & MOTHER and building a strong MARRIAGE

This post was one I did as a Guest Commentator for Multi-Tasking Mom's.

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Hi ! My name is Susan and I blog as Penless Writer.

I am honored to have been asked to be a Guest Commentator for Multi-Tasking Mom's. I begin by quoting a past Pastor of ours who use to say "Commentators are nothing but Common Taters"!!!! I think I easily fall into that category.

When first asked to participate my reaction was, "It's been so long since I've been an active, hands on Mom I'm not sure I qualify". On further reflection, I believe living so many years (69), active mothering for over 35 of those years, being a grandmother for 21 years, and being just Mickey & I as Empty Nester's for the past 18 years I do have something to say.

Any of you who read my blog know that I am the mother of 4 adult children and that there is a 15 year age span between my first born and my fourth born. This explains why I held the active mothering position for those 35 years. It also explains why I have granddaughters 21 and 12 years old and a grandson 8 years old. You also know that we are a very close-knit family.

All this mothering experience aside I am going to comment on

BEING A WIFE & MOTHER and building a strong MARRIAGE.

I believe strongly in the family. The family is the first institution God set up. It all began when God created Eve to be a help mate for Adam. God created her to complete him. That's an awesome thought isn't it? Adam was not complete by himself alone. I believe our first, and most important role and love, after God and Jesus, is to be our husband. We are first husband and wife and we will be husband and wife long after the children are gone from the home.

I have seen too many woman take their role of mother and motherhood to such a degree that it becomes the center of their world. Consequently the husband is pushed off to the side and into second place. They begin to live separate lives to a certain extent. The woman is concentrating all her time and effort on the children, with the husband on the side lines. The man is concentrating all his time and effort on his job. They begin to grow in separate and different ways. The wonderful husband-wife connection, which started it all, starts to fade.

My strong feelings in this regard came even before I was married or had children. I had two very loving parents and grew up in a good Christian home where I was taught good moral values, responsibility, truthfulness, hard work, etc. The one thing my family lacked was my parents lived two separate lives to a great extent. I determined, at a very early age, I wanted a marriage where my husband and I had a lot in common and were a strong family unit.

Over the years I've seen far to many mothers that have centered their lives on the children front and center. Then when the children are grown you find two adults looking at each other and saying, "Who are you? I don't know you any more. What happened to the love, fun, excitement we use to have?" The children leave and you have two strangers living together who do not share common interests or goals any longer.

So be sure to keep that guy you fell in love with front and center throughout your child rearing years. When you do this you will share a wonderful, full, exciting, "empty nest" life together.

Now, having said all this......I also have to add that.....ONCE A MOTHER ALWAYS A MOTHER. I tell my kids this ALL the time and they know it well. They are as important to me now, as adults, as they were when they were small children growing and finding out who they were and who they were becoming.

It truly is a balancing act....It's important not to fall in the ditch on either side of the road. Just remember to keep things balanced and not push either your children or your husband off to the side. Always remembering that JESUS CHRIST is the most important person to keep front and center.

********************

Just one more comment, from this "common tator".

If you are a single-mom, as I once was, I have this advice.

When another man comes waltzing into your life your first concern has to be making sure he will be the kind of father you want to help raise your children. When Mickey & I were "dating" most of those "dates" revolved around doing things with and for my two little girls. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, Mickey would be a wonderful father. Almost 49 years later I am here to tell you he lived up to all my expectations.

As a single-mom your first priority has to be to those children whether that means raising them by yourself or finding that right husband and FATHER.

BUT once you decide to entrust yourself and your children into the love and care of another man you must NEVER, and I mean NEVER EVER say anything like "Leave MY kids alone" or "Don't treat MY kids like that". This is of course UNLESS there is being physical harm done to them.....that's a whole different thing. But I'm talking about just establishing and making a good, caring, loving family. When he marries you and takes on the responsibility for the love and care of you and your kids you become a "family" and the word "ME or MINE" has to be set aside forever. If there are disputes about the discipline of the children you must never discuss that in front of the children. Rather, later, in a private setting between the two of you discuss with him then, "I don't think you should have......." or "I think you were being to hard on......" This is good advise for all marriages. Put up one standard to the children at all times.

ANOTHER BLESSING - A Gift from England

Just look what came in my mail today !

Yes, the two darling Salem boYz drew MY name for a give away celebrating the 100th Post of their wonderful father, Inspired. Go here to read all about it.

So THEY include this precious thank you note that reads,

"Congrats...From the 2 Boyz in England

The prize was these 2 DVD's by Postman Pat.

Popstars &




Great Big Party.

BoYz, I want you to know you not only blessed me with this gift but my 8 year old grandson, Aric. I can't wait to show him these Thursday when grandpa and I go to pick him up from school at 2:30 and take care of him until his father returns around 9:30.

My friend Annie always calls it GOOD MAIL and I love that term.

This was truly GOOD MAIL and we ALL thank you.

WELCOME TO MY NEIGHBORHOOD

Kathleen Marie of The Open Window is hosting today's WELCOME TO MY

NEIGHBORHOOD

Go to her site to read about other blogger neighborhoods.

This is the main entrance into my city, Coweta, Oklahoma. That is pronounced Co'weta, not Cow'eta as many seeing the name written out are prone to do.

Coweta received its name from a tribe of Creek Indians who came from Koweta, Georgia in 1840.

The townsite was laid out in 1903 by the Arkansas Valley Townsite Company. The Katy Railroad was built in 1903 and the town began to grow rapidly. By 1904 it was a thriving little city.
Coweta is 25 miles southeast of Tulsa toward the Arkansas border.

We moved to Coweta in 1998 after residing in Tulsa for 34 years. Our moved to Coweta was upon my husbands retirement and our selling our larger Tulsa home where our children were raised. We wanted to stay near Tulsa and our children, but wanted in a small town away from the big city.

This is the fire station and ambulance service complex.



This is a close up of the ambulance service building.

Many of the buildings in Coweta are built out of brown stone which is in abundance in this area.



Coweta Fall Festival is held each year. Since it was just this past Thursday, the 13th, through Sunday, the 16th, I was able to include some pictures from it.

Every fair has a Ferris wheel and here is ours on the main street which was lined for several blocks with all kinds of booths, rides, and food.



Our church had this pray tent which was open 24 hours a day from Thursday evening at 6 p.m. until Sunday evening at 7 p.m.

Members of our congretation signed up to pray around the clock for our city

and our nation.

The sign reads WHY PRAY?

All of the people who prayed and worked the area wore T-shirts that read WHY PRAY? Prayer cards were handed out to people if they had specific prayer requests.
Many people asked for prayer and signed the cards.

Anyone was welcome to pray in the tent.

This is a view within the prayer tent. It was divided into 5 different areas where various focus of prayer was taking place. You can see the many prayer cards on the back wall to the right with one of our church members praying.

This is the second sign and entrance into Main Steet, Coweta.

. This entrance is directly across from our church.

That is Coweta High School in the back ground.

Coweta First Assembly of God Church where we belong and worship.

Our attendance is between 950-1000. We have a very strong youth and children's ministry. Our Senior Pastor, Gary Rogers, has been pastor for 15 years. We also have an Associate Pastor who does Young Adult Ministry, a Senior High Youth Minister, a Junior High Minister, a Children's Minister and a Little Peoples Minister.

This is our home. It is constructed out of brown stone with cedar siding. We have a VERY large back yard that borders a greenbelt.

Thank you for letting me share my neighborhood with you.

We enjoy our very quiet neighborhood and are very glad for our decision to relocate in this small, friendly city.

YOU MAKE ME SMILE AWARD

Karolee of My Montana Moments has been kind to me and honored me with this You Make Me Smile Award.

From the author of the award:

The thing that I love most about blogging is that I learn so much about a person just by reading his/her blog. I have met MANY wonderful people with wonderful stories to tell and I am grateful every day for each person whom I have the pleasure of crossing paths in life with. I wanted to create something special for the top ten people who have inspired me through their blogging; the stories they tell, and the lives that they lead with grace and dignity. I visit their blogs for inspiration and encouragement. Although there are MANY people I want to give this award to at this very moment, I am going to choose ten bloggers:Please grab your badge and wear it(with a smile) proudly, and pass it on because you inspire and encourage me, thank you.

Here are my 10 choices and the reason I chose them. I am keeping to the "SMILE" theme.

Inspired of The Salems - I smile every time I look at the wonderful faces and eyes (oh the eyes!) of his two precious boYz. He also posts other intriguing photos.

Kelli of There Is No Place Like Home - Who made us all smile BIG when she and her wonderful husband offered us a free one year subscription to their beautiful quarterly magazine SEASONAL DELIGHTS.

Linds of Rocking Chair Reflections - Linds has to have one of the best sense of humor of anyone in blogland. Even on very serious issues, which she tackles with great gusto, her wonderful sense of humor always brings a smile, and some times down right chuckles to me.

Chris of Frazzled Farm Wife - I always have to smile when I try to picture myself trying to tackle the varied and sundry tasks that Chris shares of their farm life. There is NO WAY I would be up to the amazing life she lives.

Weaver Mom of Learning To Weave - I always have a smile when Weaver Mom writes about the home schooling projects she uses in teaching her children. Makes me want to be 6 years old ago and attend her school! I've told her that, too.

Larissa of One Day At A Time - I smile with delight when I read the courage and faith this young, single mother of three walks in. She truly is making lemonade out of the lemons she was given and doing it with such grace and ease.

Christy of Mommy Brain - You HAVE to smile and laugh as you read Christy tell of the antics of her daughter, Laura Grace.

Aimee of Adopted As His Own - I smile every time I look at Aimees' site and see the beautiful 8 (that's right eight) children they are raising.

Crystal 0f Be The Change You Want To See - Crystal is a fairly new read for me. I have certainly been smiling as I've enjoyed the wonderful tour she is giving us via picture and comments of their recent trip to Germany & Austria.

Jennifer of Nickernoodle's Nonsense - Jennifer makes me smile because of her zest for life and trying new things. She recently joined a singing group for the first time and now she and her husband are taking Ball Room Dancing.

It should go without saying that all of my buddies ALWAYS make me smile because I know they are there to help, support and encourage me and they do so on a daily basis.

WHAT TO RENOUNCE

I am once again posting from my favorite daily devotional book MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST by Oswald Chambers.

"But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty."

II Corinthians 4:2

"Have you "renounced the hidden things of dishonesty" - the things that your sense of honour will not allow to come to the light. You can easily hide them. Is there a thought in your heart about anyone which you would not like to be dragged into the light? Renounce it as soon as it springs up; renounce the whole thing until there is no hidden thing of dishonesty or craftiness about you. Envy, jealousy, strife - these things arise not necessarily from the disposition of sin, but from the make-up of your body which was used for this kind of thing in days gone by (see Romans 6:19 and 1Peter 4:1-2) Maintain a continual watchfulness so that nothing of which you would be ashamed arises in your life.

"Not walking in craftiness." that is, resorting to what will carry your point. This is a great snare. You know that God will only let you work in one way, then be careful never to catch people the other way; God's blight will be upon you if you do. Others are doing things which to you would be walking in craftiness, but it may not be so with them. God has given you another standpoint. Never blunt the sense of your Utmost for His Highest. For you to do a certain thing would mean the incoming of craftiness for an end other than the highest, and the blunting of the motive God has given you. Many have gone back because they are afraid of looking at things from God's standpoint. The great crisis comes spiritually when a man has to emerge a bit farther on than the creed he has accepted. "

I would love your comments on what this particular devotional speaks to you. What part of it really stands out to you.

The part that jumps out to me is the last sentence "The great crisis comes spiritually when a man has to emerge a bit farther on than the creed he has accepted." I know in my walk with Jesus there have been times when He has stretched to "farther on than the creed I had accepted"

SHOW & TELL #19 - Thomas Moran Print

It's Friday again which means Show & Tell hosted by Kelli at There Is No Place Like Home. If you haven't participated before go here and read all about it. Then select the items you'd like to share with us today and post about it. Then go back to Kelli's and sign up on Mr. Linky.

What I am showing today is a very old Thomas Moran print.

This print hung on our living room wall as I was growing up and I now have it hanging in our master bedroom.

It is in the original frame. About 9 years ago I did repaint the frame the brown color it now is. The original was an ivory color. On the back of the print, written in pencil is the purchase price of $3.19! This print has to be more than 60 years old.

Thank you for letting me once again show you one of my very old treasurers.

IN GOD WE TRUST

You may have heard in the news that....the Post office...has been forced to take down small posters that say "IN GOD WE TRUST".

The law, they say, is being violated.

I heard it has been proposed on a radio station show, that we should all write

"IN GOD WE TRUST" on the back of all our mail...after all, that is our national motto, and it's on all the money we use to buy those stamps with.

I think it is a wonderful idea!

We must take back our nation from all the people who think that anything that offends them should be removed.

Write it on the back of your envelopes!

"IN GOD WE TRUST"

I think this is a great idea.

In fact, I will start writing this on the front of all my envelopes, too!
If you like this idea, please join in.

It has been reported that 86% of Americans believe in God.

Therefore, I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a mess about having "IN GOD WE TRUST" on our money

and having GOD in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Could it be that WE just need to take action and not let the 14% tell us what to do?

I would love to hear your comments on this and whether you will join in this campaign. It doesn't take but an extra minute to write IN GOD WE TRUST on that envelope every time you affix that U.S. Postage stamp.

DEAR FRIENDS TO THE RESCUE

Yesterday I posted a silly little poem to a really sweet blogging girl and put out a challenge for someone to write one about me.

Two of my favorite blogging friends took me up on it!!!

If you want to read them go to the comments to the post below. Leigh Ann's is there and Jennifer's link will take you to hers.

Thank you both so much for doing this for ME o:). I've been under the weather and finally went to the Dr. today. Consequently I was feeling pretty low and down but God knew the lift I needed today and it was you two dear ones!!!

So what can I say

but YOU made my day

In my life for sure you two will stay.

As on our way

we blog each day.

Truly, may we, each and every one of us in blogland be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and follow HIS leading. Even in our little day to day attempt to bless others with these words that our fingers type and the messages He puts on our hearts. Nothing is small, silly or mundane when it is ordered of the Lord.

I appreciate all of you who read my blog and leave such encouraging comments.

My days, and my life, are truly blessed by ALL of YOU!

A POEM MEME

I've was tagged by Fourth at Crazycritter's for a poem writing meme! Please go to her blog here and see what a great job she did of writing and posting several poems.

Now I can't keep up with Fourth and I'm not going to tag anyone but I have written my little attempt at a poem for dear, sweet Fourth.

There is a young girl named Fourth

Who on her blog did a Meme put forth.

She tagged this person several states away

To play this game. What could I say?

And so here I am today

Trying hard to figure how to play.

I don't know what to say

But I surely must find a way.

You are a young girl who brings delight

Who in her boots & prairie skirt is such a sight.

Who at the resent fair did enter a sight

And won as Reserve Grand Champion! That's right.

She really did try with all her might

And now I will bid you all good night.

By the way.....I would love for someone to join in and write a poem about me!!! Anyone game?

WHEN WE TURN ASIDE

Please remember to have your flag flying tomorrow in memory of 9-11-01.

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Another devotional today from The Word For You Today.

SEEING GOD IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE!

"When...he turned aside...God called to him."

Exodus 5:3-4 NKJV

"It was business as-usual for Moses the day he noticed the burning bush, an event that wasn't uncommon in the hot desert. Except this time the bush kept burning. And "when....he turned aside to look, God called to him". You'll have some of your greatest spiritual experiences in the midst of your everyday life - if you're open to a divine interruption.

In Luke, Chapter 10, Mary ministered to Jesus' divine nature while Martha ministered to His human needs. But Martha's kitchen agenda made it almost impossible to interrupt her while Mary was so heavenly minded she'd probably have forgotten to turn the stove on! Now it takes both to achieve a balance. But if Jesus has to choose. He'll take foot-washers over master-chefs every time. That's because one of our primary focuses should always be praise and worship, (expressed appreciation) resulting in greater intimacy with God.

Are you so busy working on your to-do-list that it would take fire from heaven to get your attention? A well-known pastor writes: "You can be in the midst of a common moment, only this time the activity is filled with the presence of God. When in the middle of your harried day you notice something unusual....your first reaction might be, "I'm too tired to investigate....I'm not going to disrupt my life." Yet in that moment you may have the opportunity for a unique encounter with God. When you see the unusual in the midst of the mundane, don't continue business-as-usual. God may have ordained that moment to be life-changing for you and those around you."

LET'S DETERMINE TODAY TO SEE GOD IN OUR EVERYDAY LIFE.

Lord give me "eyes to see and ears to hear" what you are saying to me TODAY!