SERIOUS THOUGHTS & Some Solutions

So, as we are watching our world, as we have known it, go swirling out of control I have had, and am having many thoughts.

First, I want to assure you I have no fear.

You cannot have fear and faith at the same time. I choose (you know it really is a choice!) to walk in faith a long time ago.



Many are losing their homes. People cannot afford the heavy debt load they have placed on themselves. Our unemployment rate reached 7.6% Friday. Even those who still have employment are unsure of their future. Stocks have dropped by huge percentages, even delaying or aborting retirement plans of many. Our government is placing a crushing load of debt that will reach even to our grandchildren or beyond. It is indeed a sobering scenario. War, and rumors and fears of war, everywhere.


We are fast moving toward the end times and the One World Government. We are seeing it on every front and in every thing.



We are fast coming to the time when the Light is going to grow lighter, and the dark is going to grow darker. We are certainly seeing the encroachment of darkness on every front. The time, spoken of in Revelation, where you cannot be lukewarm any more. "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth". Revelation 3:16 Where we either stand up tall, and without fear for Jesus, or we don't. Where we take the mark of the beast, or we don't.





Having said all the above, I truly believe it is time for us to begin taking the necessary steps to get our individual houses in order.......both on the practical and the spiritual side.



I am going to continue this post by listing 12 suggestions of things we can begin to do immediately on the Hands & Hearts...for HIM!! blog. Please click here and continue reading this post there. Thanks!!!

SHOW & TELL #1 - Beautiful beads from far away

I can't believe this is my first Show & Tell for 2009. I haven't posted one since December 12th last year. Please drop by Kelli's to check out all the many Show & Tell items to see. Pick something you are proud of to show and sign up on Mr. Linky. It truly is so much fun to participate in this.

(click to enlarge)

This beautiful set of beads: neckless, bracelet & earrings arrived at my home via a package from South Africa Wednesday. They are so very lovely.

My wonderful friend, Retha, had told me she wanted to make a set for me and even let me pick the colors and the length. How special. I think the pure white and dark blue I selected is just beautiful. She did such a beautiful job and the labor of love that it took means so very much to me. In fact I had tears in my eyes as I opened this special package from so far away.

As proud as I am of the beads the special part of this TELL for me is the special friendship I have developed with this dear young, wonderful Christian woman who lives so many, many thousands of miles away from where I live. As I have told Retha, I will never get to met her on earth, but you can be assured we will meet and hug in Heaven!!! Isn't that an awesome thought?

Thank you Retha for blessing me and being a blessing in my life.

11 Most Expensive Catastrophes in History

# 11. Titanic - $150 Million

The sinking of the Titanic is possibly the most famous accident in the world. But it barely makes our list of top 10 most expensive. On April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage and was considered to be the most luxurious ocean liner ever built. Over 1,500 people lost their lives when the ship ran into an iceberg and sunk in frigid waters. The ship cost $7 million to build ($150 million in today's dollars).




# 10. Tanker Truck vs Bridge - $358 Million

On August 26, 2004, a car collided with a tanker truck containing 32,000 liters of fuel on the Wiehltal Bridge in Germany . The tanker crashed through the guardrail and fell 90 feet off the A4 Autobahn resulting in a huge explosion and fire which destroyed the load-bearing ability of the bridge. Temporary repairs cost $40 million and the cost to replace the bridge is estimated at $318 Million.



# 9. MetroLink Crash - $500 Million

On September 12, 2008, in what was one of the worst train crashes in California history, 25 people were killed when a Metrolink commuter train crashed head-on into a Union Pacific freight train in Los Angeles . It is thought that the Metrolink train may have run through a red signal while the conductor was busy text messaging.. Wrongful death lawsuits are expected to cause $500 million in losses for Metrolink.



# 8. B-2 Bomber Crash - $1.4 Billion

Here we have our first billion dollar accident (and we ' re only #7 on the list). This B-2 stealth bomber crashed shortly after taking off from an air base in Guam on February 23, 2008. Investigators blamed distorted data in the flight control computers caused by moisture in the system. This resulted in the aircraft making a sudden nose-up move which made the B-2 stall and crash. This was 1 of only 21 ever built and was the most expensive aviation accident in history. Both pilots were able to eject to safety.



# 7. Exxon Valdez - $2.5 Billion

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was not a large one in relation to the world ' s biggest oil spills, but it was a costly one due to the remote location of Prince William Sound (accessible only by helicopter and boat). On March 24, 1989, 10.8 million gallons of oil was spilled when the ship ' s master, Joseph Hazelwood, left the controls and the ship crashed into a Reef. The cleanup cost Exxon $2.5 billion.




# 6. Piper Alpha Oil Rig - $3.4 Billion

The world's worst off-shore oil disaster. At one time, it was the world ' s single largest oil producer, spewing out 317,000 barrels of oil per day. On July 6, 1988, as part of routine maintenance, technicians removed and checked safety valves which were essential in preventing dangerous build-up of liquid gas. There were 100 identical safety valves which were checked. Unfortunately, the technicians made a mistake and forgot to replace one of them. At 10 PM that same night, a technician pressed a start button for the liquid gas pumps and the world ' s most expensive oil rig accident was set in motion. Within 2 hours, the 300 foot platform was engulfed in flames. It eventually collapsed, killing 167 workers and resulting in $3.4 Billion in damages.




# 5. Challenger Explosion - $5.5 Billion
The Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed 73 seconds after takeoff due on January 28, 1986 due to a faulty O-ring. It failed to seal one of the joints, allowing pressurized gas to reach the outside. This in turn caused the external tank to dump its payload of liquid hydrogen causing a massive explosion. The cost of replacing the Space Shuttle was $2 billion in 1986 ($4.5 billion in today ' s dollars). The cost of investigation, problem correction, and replacement of lost equipment cost $450 million from 1986-1987 ($1 Billion in today ' s dollars)

# 4. Prestige Oil Spill - $12 Billion

On November 13, 2002, the Prestige oil tanker was carrying 77,000 tons of heavy fuel oil when one of its twelve tanks burst during a storm off Galicia, Spain . Fearing that the ship would sink, the captain called for help from Spanish rescue workers, expecting them to take the ship into harbour. However, pressure from local authorities forced the captain to steer the ship away from the coast. The captain tried to get help from the French and Portuguese authorities, but they too ordered the ship away from their shores. The storm eventually took its toll on the ship resulting in the tanker splitting in half and releasing 20 million gallons oil into the sea. According to a report by the Pontevedra Economist Board, the total cleanup cost $12 billion.




# 3. Space Shuttle Columbia - $13 Billion

The Space Shuttle Columbia was the first space worthy shuttle in NASA ' s orbital fleet. It was destroyed during re-entry over Texas on February 1, 2003 after a hole was punctured in one of the wings during launch 16 days earlier. The original cost of the shuttle was $2 Billion in 1978. That comes out to $6.3 Billion in today ' s dollars. $500 million was spent on the investigation, making it the costliest aircraft accident investigation in history. The search and recovery of debris cost $300 million. In the end, the total cost of the accident (not including replacement of the shuttle) came out to $13 Billion according to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

# 2. Chernobyl - $200 Billion

On April 26, 1986, the world witnessed the costliest accident in history. The Chernobyl disaster has been called the biggest socio-economic catastrophe in peacetime history. 50% of the area of Ukraine is in some way contaminated. Over 200,000 people had to be evacuated and resettled while 1.7 million people were directly affected by the disaster. The death toll attributed to Chernobyl , including people who died from cancer years later, is estimated at 125,000. The total costs including cleanup, resettlement, and compensation to victims has been estimated to be roughly $200 Billion. The cost of a new steel shelter for the Chernobyl nuclear plant will cost $2 billion alone. The accident was officially attributed to power plant operators who violated plant procedures and were ignorant of the safety requirements needed.




# 1. 2008 Presidential Election

$800 Billion in the first two months.....

I

HANDS & HEARTS for HIM!!

Please drop over to our new Frugal Blog, HANDS & HEARTS.....for HIM!!! and meet our newest contributor Joy of Joyinthe burbs. As her blog name implies Joy lives in the suburbs in Texas with her husband and two daughters. You can get acquainted with her from the link on our side bar About Us. Joy is going to be a wonderful addition to the other 5 of us who are already posting on this blog.

Brenda just posted a great post about Use What You Have. Boy, we ALL need to do that and she has a lot of good tips on getting organized.

We welcome your readership and your comments as we endeavor to make this blog one you will want to visit often.

FRUGAL BLOG

I posted A Delicious Frugal Main Dish on Hands & Hearts...for HIM!! yesterday.

Please check it out!!!

Let me know what you think.

WHAT A WEEK!!!

This past week was one of those weeks we barely had time to take a deep breath or stop for more than a minute. We were not home one single night the past 8 evenings! A LOT of trips into Tulsa.



Monday I have my woman's Bible Study in the morning and that night was our monthly Bee Club meeting which is in Tulsa.

Tuesday we picked both grand-kids up from school (Tulsa) and then Marc took all 5 of us out to Ol*ive Garden to eat.



Wednesday we always pick Aric up from school (Tulsa) and bring him home for dinner and then to Royal Rangers at church. I don't think I've even told you that Mickey is helping every Wednesday night with the 4th grade Royal Rangers.

I get to hear our wonderful Pastor teach during the Wednesday night services. This past Wednesday night he finished up a 26 week teaching series out of Ephesians. This Wednesday he is starting a new series on God's Stimulus Plan For Life. This sounds so great with all the doom and gloom we are being feed from the media on a daily basis!!!!



Thursday we were in an 8 hour Safe Driving Course all day. I gave information on our Hands & Hearts for HIM frugal blog about saving some money on your auto insurance. NO....you don't have to be 55 or older to do so. Go here to read about it. We had just walked in the door when our dear friends called to invite us to come eat Don's DELICIOUS chili with them.....who could turn that down so back to Tulsa we go to join them. Yummy!!!


Friday was our grand-daughter, Oksana's, 14th birthday. She loves cheesecake so instead of making a traditional birthday cake for her I decided to bake her a cheesecake. My first, I might add!!!!

Here is the finished product (sorry for the flash glare). It was a New York Style Cheesecake, which is her favorite, and then I added whip cream and Hea*th bar sprinkles on the top, and then her 14 candles. The wait staff at the restaurant were making a really big deal out of it, as was all the family so it made me feel good!!
She selected Fri*day's as the place she wanted to have her birthday celebration. The family was there: dad Marc - brother Aric - aunt Suzette - uncle Dave - aunt Jacque - uncle Benny - grandpa Mickey & grandma Susan. She also had two friends, Jessie, also 14, and Jessie's sister, Callie 15. Two delightful young girls! Missing was cousin Jessica who, it being a Friday night, had to work. :o(
Saturday evening we had our annual Missionary Conference Banquet. We always host a home missionary and a foreign missionary. The home missionary was the head of the Oklahoma Teen Challenge programs. They have 4 homes in Oklahoma, one for adult women, one for adult men, one for teenage boys, and one for teenage girls. What a marvelous work. The foreign missionary has served in Germany for over 40 years. The banquet was lovely...it is put on by our Deacon board. Then each missionary gave a brief overview of their work and then we had a Question & Answer period. I loved this part especially. LOTS of questions were asked and answered.
I asked the German missionary if there was much Mus*lim influence in Germany. His answer was alarming!!! He said Is*lam is the fastest growing "religion" in not only Germany but also England. He even said that England is moving toward having Shar*iah Law and that the Can*taber*ry of the Church of Eng*land is the driving force behind this move. People we need to WAKE-UP to what is happening in our world.
Another person asked, "We are beginning to hear of Eu*rope as the black heart. Is that true?" Sadly, his answer was yes. Church attendance is very small in all of Europe. These beautiful cathedrals, in the countries where the reformation started, are just empty, hallow buildings. Where the congregations were 250-300, now they might have 30-50. At the end of the meeting I was standing there when our Kid's Pastor came up to him and said, "The U.S. isn't far behind what you were saying about Eu*rope are we?" His reply was "Yes, it is happening slowly, but will be speeding up." We must pray, and we must SOUND THE ALARM!!
Yesterday at our church services in the a.m. the Missionary over Teen Challenge preached. We also had a group of 14 teenage boys, and 6 teenage girls, from the two homes that sang and gave testimony. A wonderful service. In the p.m. service the German Missionary preached. Another wonderful service.
I did actually cook a nice Sunday meal for us!!!! A full, busy, happy week and ready to start another!!!! Life is good and full and wonderful.

We must keep our eyes & ears on Israel

February 20, 2009...4:40 pm
NETANYAHU GETS THE NOD AS U.N. SAYS IRAN HAS ENOUGH URANIUM TO BUILD FIRST NUCLEAR BOMB


How will Netanyahu work with President Obama given deep differences on Iran?
Benjamin Netanyahu received the official word today from Israeli President Shimon Peres that he has six weeks to put together a coalition to lead the next government of Israel. The announcement came as the U.N. announced that Iran now has enough uranium to build its first nuclear weapon.


Given the seriousness of the growing crisis with Iran, Netanyahu is calling for a broad “unity government” that would include Tzipi Livni’s Kadima party. “For decades we have not withstood so many challenges at the same time,” said Netanyahu. “To face up to these challenges we need to join hands and unite all the forces within the people. I call on all parties, those who recommended me and those who didn’t. I turn to [Kadima leader Tzipi] Livni and to [Labor leader Ehud] Barak — let us join hands and pledge for the future of Israel. I hope to meet with you first and discuss a wide unity government.”


Livni, however, today said she refuses to serve with Netanyahu. ”Today, the foundations of a right-wing extremist government under Netanyahu were set,” Livni wrote in a text message sent to 80,000 Kadima members. “The path of such a government is not our own and we have nothing to look for there. You didn’t vote for us in order to provide a kosher certificate for a right-wing government, and we need to provide an alternative of hope from the opposition.”
The big question for Netanyahu, however, may not be how best to form his government, but how his government — whatever form it takes — will interact President Barack Obama, given the deep fissures between the two men over how to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed power.


“Iran is developing nuclear weapons and poses the greatest threat to our existence since the War of Independence,” said Netanyahu. “Iran’s terror wings surround us from the north and south” Based on my conversations with Israel’s next Prime Minister, I believe Netanyahu fundamentally understands the apocalyptic, genocidal Islamic eschatology driving Iran’s current leaders. By contrast, I am convinced that President Obama or Secretary of State Clinton do not understand at all the End Times beliefs of the current leaders of Iran, and are thus making wrong policy choices based on their lack of understanding. Let us pray, therefore, that as Mr. Netanyahu forms his government and then meets with President Obama and top U.S. leaders that he is able to help American officials understand who they are dealing with in Tehran, and find a way to work together to stop Iran before it is too late.

Quote from Joel Rosenberg.

THE BEAUTY OF MATHEMATICS Part V

Now, take a look at this....

101%

From a strictly mathematical viewpoint

what equals 100%?

What does it mean to give more than 100%?

We have all been in situations where someone want to GIVE OVER 100%

How about ACHIEVING 101%?

What equals 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help

Answer these questions!

IF

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R

S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented by

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

IF:

H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K

8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

AND:

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E

11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

BUT:

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E

1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

THEN, look how far the Love of God will take you:

L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D

12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:

While HARD WORK and KNOWLEDGE will you you close,

and ATTITUDE will get you there,

It's the LOVE OF GOD

that will put you over the top!

THE BEAUTY OF MATHEMATICS Part IV

LOOK AT THIS SYMMETRY

1 x 1 = 1

11 x 11 = 121

111 x 111 = 12321

1111 x 1111 = 1234321

11111 x 11111 = 123454321

111111 x 111111 = 12345654321

1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321

11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321

111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

Can anyone say AMAZING!!!!!!

THE BEAUTY OF MATHEMATICS Part III

Another wonder example of the Beauty of Mathematics

9 x 9 + 7 = 88

98 x 9 + 6 = 888

987 x 9 + 5 = 8888

9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888

98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888

987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888

9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888

98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brillant, isn't it?

WEIGHT REPORT & This and That

Well, I have to say I gained back one of the three lost lbs. from last week. The Lady Bug now sits on 10! I did absolutely NO exercising and I had the Chocolate Cheesecake with Chocolate icing at the Agape Cafe. So what did I expect!!! This week is a BAD report.
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THIS however is a GOOD report!!! One of the members of our church is currently serving in Afghanistan. He has become acquainted and doing some work, in his off hours, with an orphanage there that has both girls and boys.

There are about 250 children in this orphanage.



70 of them are girls.

They have "school", then are feed an evening meal, and are sent to foster homes for the night for safety.

Jerry contacted our Pastor and asked if the church would gather up various toys, hats, gloves, scarves, etc. and CHOCOLATE, and send to him & his Captain to distribute to these children.

In addition they have been giving candy to children they see. This is an except from Jerry's request:
"every time our convoys roll down the road the local kids come running from as for away as 200 yards to meet our trucks alongside the road giving us a thumbs up and hoping we thow out candy as we pass by. some of these kid are as small as 2 years old its funny watching them run across the field.thank you jerry"

Pastor sent this request out to all of us and $1,900 was given for this project.

(I know the picture is dark and bad but click to enlarge and it can be seen a little better)

This picture shows $1,200 worth of these items that have been purchased. Pastor did not want us to just send "things" but we want to send the Love of Christ and our Prayers to these youngsters receiving these items. These purchased items were set up in front of our church and Pastor has asked us to come up and pray over these items the last 3 services. Since there is a language barrier it was decided to spend $500 buying Christian coloring books that "show" and "tell" the story of Jesus to these children . The other $200 will pay for the postage to ship these items.

I am so happy to belong to a Body that gives and shares The Good News and Love and Compassion in so many different ways. This just being another example. We (the Church Body) always do something nice and special for each returning Serviceman in our Congregation when they return home from serving.

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Marc & Aric recently attended the Sport & Boat Show. He forwarded us several pictures and I just had to share this one so you could see the look of pure joy in experiencing this kayak ride.

A MUST READ - The Last Jihad

I don't know where I've been for the past 7 years to have missed this book. It was published in 2002!!!

Joy, of Joy in the burbs, recently recommended this author to me, after reading a few of my posts about my concern for our country, the road we are traveling down, and my concern about us having eyes to see and ears to hear. Thank you sooo very much Joy!!

I bought the book on February 2nd and finished reading it February 14th. I bought the next book in this series, The Last Days, which was published in 2003, and started it today. I think 5 books have been written so far. Believe me I will be purchasing and reading ALL of them.

It is fiction, but has an uncanny prophetic bent to it. If you are concerned about the things you see occurring in our country, feel that we are seeing many of the prophecies of the Bible being fulfilled and we are instructed in Luke 21:28 ".... when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." then I think you will want to get and read this book.

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Be sure to check out our new Frugal Blog, Hands & Hearts.....for Him. I think you'll be delighted with the first few posts.

Have a wonderful and blessed week

VALENTINE'S Agape Cafe

For Valentine's Day each year our church has Agape Cafe. I know all of you are familiar with church suppers but this is very different. One of the large rooms in our Out Reach Center is converted to a restaurant. The Agape Cafe is opened for 2 evenings, Friday & Saturday for Valentine's Day. Reservations are made in advance and tables are set up for the number of guests in each party.


The purpose of Agape Cafe is two fold: a nice dinner for our church body who chose to attend and a fund raiser for the yearly Mission trip which will be made during Spring Break in 5 weeks.

The room is decorated, tables are set with white table clothes, a nice center piece and candle on each table, nice silverware and dishes are used. The lights are dimmed and this year they hired a man, from outside our church body, who softly played the keyboard as we dined. He even took requests.

This makes the 3rd year Mickey & I have attended. The prior 2 years we went with church friends. This year our 2 daughters accompanied us.



Suzette & Jacque

(Jacque just started wearing glasses for the first time in her life)

Here the girls are acting silly

(like teenagers!) and standing by the wrong "dates"!!!

Suzette, Benny, Dave & Jacque. Dave & Suzette were also celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary.

The menu was: Tossed Green Salad - Swiss Chicken (chicken breast covered with mushroom dressing) - green beans & potato's - fresh baked rolls - choice of water, tea, sweet tea, or coffee.

For dessert they brought out trays of various desserts for you to choose from

Dave & Suzette at Agape Cafe.

The center piece was so large & lovely it was hard to get Dave's face.
Dave has chocolate cake with chocolate icing

Suzette has carrot cake with cream icing

Benny & Jacque

Benny had chocolate cake with chocolate icing

Jacque had white cheesecake covered with fresh strawberries

Mickey had pound cake

I had chocolate cheese cake with chocolate topping (forget the diet!)

The "wait" staff were young people from the youth ministry. You can see one of the

young men behind Jacque.

.

This was out "waitress" Tia

None of these kids had ever "served tables" before. We had a good time teasing Tia and told her she better go to college!!!!

They all did a great job and were very attentive.

Here are our friends Carol & Ron. Ron, as you know is Mickey's bee keeper mentor. I'm just showing this to show a table set for "two"

It was a lovely, special way to celebrate Valentine's Day

&

Dave and Suzette's 15th Anniversary

THE BEAUTY OF MATHEMATICS Part II

Here's another one of these wonderful Mathematic beauties.

1 x 9 + 2 = 11

12 x 9 + 3 = 111

123 x 9 + 4 = 1111

1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111

12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111

123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111

1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111

12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111

123456789 x 9 + 10 = 1111111111

THE BEAUTY OF MATHEMATICS Part I

I received the following in a wonderful e-mail and wanted to share it with you.

The graphics did not turn out as spectacular but you get the idea.

There were several parts to this and I am only showing one here, I'll post some of the others later on.

Here is an interesting and lovely way to look at all the beauty of mathematics wonders.

1 x 8 + 1 = 9

12 x 8 + 2 = 9 8

123 x 8 + 3 = 9 8 7

1234 x 8 + 4 = 9 8 7 6

12345 x 8 + 5 = 9 8 7 6 5

123456 x 8 + 6 = 9 8 7 6 5 4

1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9 8 7 6 5 4 3

12345678 x 8 + 8 = 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

123456789 x 8 + 9 = 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

PUTTING ACTION TO OUR WORDS

I saw this over at My Wonderful Life. It is of such importance and such a wonderful idea I am also posting this.

Going around the web ~ apparently from a pro-life activist named John Otto:

"Dear Friends and Intercessors:

This afternoon I was praying about a number of things, and my mind began to wander. I was deeply distressed at the symbolic actions that President Obama took as he began his presidency. Namely, that he signed executive orders releasing funds to pay for abortions, permission to fund human stem cell research, and federal funding for contraception.I have been involved in the pro-life movement for nearly 20 years, and it pained my heart to see a man and a political party committed to the shedding of innocent blood. This man, and this party lead our country, but they do not represent me or the 54% of Americans who believe that abortion is wrong and should no longer be legal..

As I was praying, I believe that God gave me an interesting idea. Out in the garage I have a box of red envelopes. Like the powerful image of the red LIFE tape, an empty red envelope will send a message to Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue. It will be quiet, but clear.

Here is what I would like you to do:
Get a red envelope. You can buy them at Kinkos, or at party supply stores.

On the front, address it to:
President Barack Obama
The White House1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington , D.C.20500

On the back, write the following message:
This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception.

Put it in the mail, and send it.

Then forward this email to every one of your friends who you think would send one too.. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died before having a a chance to live. Maybe it will change the heart of the president.

Warmly,John Otto"

Our red envelope went into the mail this morning to President Obama.

I would expand on this and also send it to your state Senators & Representatives. Be sure though that they are not Pro-Life. It would be an insult to send it to them if they are Pro-Life. Fortunately our 2 Senators and the Representative we get to elect are all Pro-Life.

By the way, I had a left over Red Christmas card envelope that I used.

THEY (our government) HAVE LOST THEIR MINDS

I wrote, and posted, this blog in May of 2009.  As I read it today I am aware how everything I was feeling was correct.  Shocks me this was 6 years & 4 months ago!!  This s-l-i-d-e is continuing and will be faster and faster.  If you have not made Jesus the Christ and Savior of your life I beg you to do so while you still can.  I care. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well the "stimulus" package passed the Senate yesterday so we know it's just a matter of time before it will be signed into law. God help us.

This editorial ran in the Tul*sa Wor*ld a few days ago. I was so blown away by this I had to post it here in Blogland. It was written by J*ay Cro*nley

"A trillion is huge, any way you add it"

"Bad debt is spoiling the American scenery, trillions of dollars worth of it.

And a stimulus package is going to run almost a trillion more.

How wide?

C-notes, $100 bills, stacked side by side would circle the Earth at the equator about 39 times.

A trillion is a thousand billions,: a million millions.

A stack of $1,000 bills would reach the trillion mark 67 miles up.

Were a count to a trillion begun now, with each number taking one second to be spoken, it would take 36,888 years for the counters and their heirs and successors to reach the intended sum.

Had a million dollars been spent every day since the birth of Christ, we still wouldn't be at a trillion."

Friends, we have to WAKE UP!!!!!! THIS is what our government, our ELECTED officials., are putting on not only our shoulders but our children and grand children's. Then we don't even know if it will end there. I doubt it will.

Our world, as we have known it, is fast becoming a thing of the past. We are racing, at warp speed, into the fall of one of the greatest nations the world has ever known and certainly the greatest Christian and humanitarian nation the world has ever known.

As a Christian we have to know that we are seeing events predicted in the Word of God unfolding before our very eyes. We will soon find ourselves in a One World Government. I pray, if you have eyes to see and ears to hear, start preparing as best you can......but most of all.....keep your eyes and ears fixed on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

My weight & interviews

Did you SEE it???? That lady bug moved from 8 to 11 lbs lost THIS WEEK!!! Yeepee!! Can anyone tell I am happy?

Soooo I FINALLY lost those pesty 3 lbs in one week......well actually you know it has taken me MONTHS. I am now back down to where I was before we began the saga of Mickey's surgery. Wheeeeee

I've finally got that "mind set" again. Even had just vegetarian vegtable soup and a small dinner salad at our birthday celebration last week at Mi*mi's. Now, if any of you have eaten there you know what an accomplishment THAT was. Okay, so I'm patting myself on the back this week. I was getting so flustrated with having to come here each week with BAD I gained a lbs and INDIFFERENT I stayed the same.

No, this week I get to say GOOD I lost 3 lbs. So yes, I'm shouting it!!!!!!

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I didn't post about my weight yesterday, on Monday, as I was suppose to do because of introducing our new BLOG Hands & Hearts.....for Him. If you haven't already come by to welcome us, please do. Those of you who have, "Thank You" so very much. Be patient with us as we develop this site.....we are really believing it will be a blessing to all of us as we face the difficult days we are experiencing.

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On the Interview Me project 2 more who allowed me to interview them have just posted. Please go read Barbara and The Young Artist interview. Thank you 2 for allowing me the privilege of interviewing you. By the way, this Young Artist just won an Essay Contest put on by her local newspaper. You go girl!!! Proud of you.

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A NEW BLOG!!!

Hi All - I want to introduce a new Blog to you.

It is called - Hands & Hearts.....for Him.

It is a blog about being good stewards of the gifts and talents the Lord has given us.

It will be a blog of FRUGAL ideas and making the best of the resources we have.

WATCH THE PENNIES -

AND THE DOLLARS WILL TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES

A PENNEY SAVED - IS A PENNY EARNED

There are five of us involved in this project: myself, Leigh Ann, Brenda, Kristie and Maxine.

Our goal and purpose is to have a special blog for frugal ideas of all sorts. We hope to make it a place where you can come for EASY access of ideas on a particular topic; be that cleaning, sewing, projects, home made beauty items, etc.

We will not necessarily be posting every single day, and some days you may find multiple posts if we all have something to say the same day!!!!

We are very excited about this new blog.....so I invite you to come by and check it out.

Hands & Hearts.....for Him

Please pay us a visit.

THIS & THAT & An Interview

Did you notice.....? After 2 years I decided to put up a newer picture of me on my "About Me". Actually, I choose this one of Mickey & I because he is such an important part of me. I've always said, "Our 2 good halves make 1 terrific whole". Besides, it's the Lord Himself who says "..and they shall be one flesh." Genesis 2:24b

Other news, our upright freezer "died" on Wednesday. At first, we thought "No way are we getting all this stuff into the 2 freezer sections of our 2 refrigerators."....but we did. Whee, what a relief. Of course they are so stuffed you have to move things to get something that isn't right in front, but that will correct itself as we use up items. It's really rather strange, because I've been thinking, as we've been endeavoring to become more frugal and thrifty than we've already been, about just how much electricity that older upright freezer was using. That took care of that problem for us. Mickey loaded it (yes, by himself and without telling me first, 'cuz he KNEW I'd fuss at him) into his pickup and hauled it to a salvage place in our town that takes that type stuff. Thank goodness we didn't have to just leave it sitting in the garage.


In the space that was freed up with the removal of the freezer Mickey made an area where I can begin potting and planting seed starters for the upcoming season of vegetables and flowers.
I know it's not very attractive but it will do the job for us. We are going to look into purchasing a grow light.

Speaking of that.....we went yesterday to Lo*we's and bought another 2x12x12 and he built this 12'x4' raised garden box, to go with the two 4'x4' boxes he built several years ago.

He still has to get some good soil to put into it. Our soil has way to much clay in it for gardening. We are hoping for a really good garden this year.

We've been having Spring like weather in the 50's & 60's the last few days. It even got to 71 yesterday, so it's easy to get eager and think about spring and the garden. Trust me though, we will still have some frost up into March.

We also purchased a new rain gauge. The one we had sitting on the patio table froze and cracked in our recent ice storm. As you can see, he hung this one on the lattice around part of the patio.



This is our friend, Jack, we speak of often. He came riding over on his motor cycle on Friday for a cup of coffee. Jack is the one Mickey has been going to Oklahoma City with to visit our friend Lee who hard open heart surgery and a really rough time of it. BUT, Lee is now home!!!! Thank God for answered prayer.

Last but certainly not least.....Diana of Sunshine On My Shoulder has answered my interview questions for her. Please go here to read them. She did a GREAT job. Thanks Diana for allowing me to interview you.

CELEBRATING AGAIN - Aric's Birthday

Tuesday, February 3rd was Aric's 10th birthday. His dad told him he could pick the restaurant he wanted to have his family party at (but he couldn't pick Mc*D's or Bur*ger Ki*ng - which would have probably been one he'd pick!!!!!) He selected Mi*mi's and we made reservations.

The birthday boy, Aric, with Grandpa Mickey, Dad Marc & Sister, Oksana.



Uncle Dave, Aunt Suzette, & Cousin Jessica.

As you know, Jessica rarely gets to join these family celebrations because of her work schedule but she actually had the night off and got to come. That made the night even extra special.


Benny, Aunt Jacque, and Cousin Jessica.

Trust me, Grandma Susan was very present....I just was taking all the pictures and didn't get it any.


I wanted to bake Aric's cake and on Monday I saw Tammy's, This Country Girl, post about making a birthday cake out of cupcakes for her daughter. I just loved the idea so that is what I did.

You bake individual cupcakes and then place them in the shape of the age.

I had just shown his "10" to Aric.

The candles were letter's and I was able to place H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H on them.

This really worked well with the cake carrier to get them to the restaurant and then not having to cut a cake. Each of the 10 of us got a cupcake.

Here the wait staff is singing Happy Birthday to him.

Opening his presents - the best part!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARIC

You are one of the JOYS of our life.

We LOVE you and so does JESUS!!!!!