Here We Go Again...

As most of you know (or don't know) I've been playing the mandolin since last summer. I can finally switch the easy chords effortlessly, sounding like I'm playing a song. I enjoy the mandolin only, sometimes the higher octave sound is too high to sing along with.

So, my husband, who is an avid Ebayer, gets this Washburn cutaway guitar in black with metal flake delivered on Friday. Well, it's just the cutest thing. Thin body and a little shorter than a regular 6 string.

While it's not like the mando in size, I feel really comfortable hold it.

Today I accomplished several chords and played a song! A little choppy, but the tune was there.

I notice the difference in strings between the mando and guitar. My fingers just scream after a session. Swollen and tingly, they can't wait to get back to playing.

So on to my next adventure.

They say the more you learn, the more brain cells you can afford to lose when you get elderly. I'm workin' on it.

What is stranger than fiction?

I pondered this question today.

Stanger than fiction is...

...when the truth is wrong.
...that I pay taxes on something that has already been taxed again and again and again.
...when I had a real mind moment with my dog. We were thinking the exact same thing at the exact same moment.
...that my shoe size is a 6, dress size a 6, pant size an 8, shirt size a small, hat size 6 7/8. Who comes up with these numbers?
...the name Faith and faith can mean a person's name and a belief. Is a person named that because they have a belief? Or is a belief because of a person named the same?
...that cats talk to their prey when they think the prey can't see or hear them, especially through a window and their tail slaps the glass.
...that all musical instruments have the same notes...but you have to play them all differently to get the same note.
...that we're all worried about the depletion of our forestry all over the world but I get at least one credit card offer a day with three or four pieces of paper inside and a return envelope. Where's the conservation in that?
...when I clean out my closets to make room and then go buy more clothes because I don't have anything to wear. (not me)
...that I order bridal gowns from China, sell them on Ebay and then they are sent back over to Asia. What gives?
...that a word can never be used once.
...that we breathe the exact same air that's been here since the beginning of time. Where else would it come from?
...that the same water I drink today will return to the earth (in some form) to be recycled for future generations.
...that as I think about these things, someone else somewhere has thought the same.

Shop A Holic

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I went to the mall today to exchange..well, some items that are unmentionables, and found the greatest sales.

Sears had racks of sale items priced from $2.99 and up. We're talkin' sweaters, tops, suit jackets, skirts, pants, pajamas, nightgowns, robes, shoes..

Oh, shoes! All their Land's End boots were on sale. I found 1 pair of zip back, khaki, for $4.99. I also got a pair of the short booties with a side zip (in the dark red, of course) for $7.99. Such a deal!

I stopped in at the Bon Ton and found my favorite slacks for $6.95!

End of season sales are just the best! I love to stock up for the next year.

When I get my clothes out for that time, it's like presents appearing out of nowhere!

BTW, I did stop at another store (Burlington Coat Factory) and got a cool blazer with matching skirt. Although, not on sale, their everyday low prices were a bargain

New Words from an Old Text

I just recently purchased a NASB (New American Standard Bible) version of the Bible. Experts say that it's the most literal translation of the Hebrew texts. I'm a strong believer in the NIV (New International Version) Bible because it's easy to read and understand. My mind doesn't have to wrap around 'thees' and 'thous'. Neither version that I have has them and the NASB is just as easy to read for gaining insight.

The differences are subtle but sometimes it's the way the text is switched around that plays on my ears with new meaning. They say the Word is 'new' everyday with fresh understanding in the most minute ways.

Reading in Proverbs 12:14 I'll show you what I mean.

NIV From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things, as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.

NASB A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, And the deeds of a man's hands will return to him.

Now most people would say that they both say the same thing. I think they do but with a difference of application.

In the NIV version, 'a man is filled with good things' infers that he would be satisfied but doesn't state it. In the NASB it says 'he will be satisfied with good by..'.

The second part says the same thing, too, only reads with more definite action.

It may be just me. I enjoy reading other versions, but these two seem to speak to me the best.

What say you?

Think On This

"Make God laugh. Tell him your plans." - Ken Hall

Today's Word

'Some days you're a bug...

...some days you're the windshield.'

How To Gain Divine Wisdom

I asked the Lord to teach me how He wants me to learn from Him. He gave me this scripture:

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to
goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to
self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to
godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For
if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will
keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-- 2 Peter 1:5-8



If I make the effort to add these attributes to my faith I will learn effectively and productively about Him.

New Logo

Just a Dream Away

“There’s no place like home.”
“There’s no place like home.”
“There’s no place like home,” the crickets chorus in my ears.

There’s the door...just a few more steps. Reach for the knob, turn slowly. I know how to do it but…I can’t…quite…reach.

The eerie darkness falls heavily, blanketing the night sounds. My thoughts and fears turn inwards, sapping strength needed to push onward.

I stretch, yearning for the feel of the cold metal. Gasping and grasping, I struggle to move my feet through the sloppy thickened mud. With each step the mud layers itself to the bottom of my soles, unsteadying my footing. Sweat pours down my face, salting my eyes and blurring my vision.

I’m almost there, almost inside, safety and security millimeters away.

Home sweet home.

My hands swipe at the blackened air, as if to tear the veil to see the light. I touch the knob just as something knocks hard against my arm. Arrows of pain shoot up to my shoulder. Terrified I turn and close my eyes, waiting for the next blow.

His nails pierce my scalp. With a yelp, I open my eyes to see a large ball of fur waiting to attack again. “OK” I moan. “I’ll get up”. For a moment I cuddle my pillow, rejoicing in the daylight.

It’s time to rise and face the day.

The cat’s hungry.

You may be a Pharisee if...

I had to pass this along...

You may be a Pharisee if…

The demons say, “Jesus we know, Paul we’ve heard of, but gracious, down here, you’re a punch line!”

You’re willing to be merciful – once.

You call the recent discovery of porno on your computer “Research.”

The prostitutes in town think your name is John.

You may be a Pharisee if…

Everyone outside your circle, and most within it, are wrong.

You wistfully refer to public stoning as “the good ole days.”

You secretly loathe humility and wonder why Jesus gets all the attention during worship.

You may be a Pharisee if…

You and you alone can correctly interpret the Bible.

God’s still, small voice has come to sound exactly like you.

You pray, “Thy will be done,” and people wonder why you’re talking to yourself.

You may be a Pharisee if…

Finally, on that great and terrible Day, you’re shocked to hear, “Depart from me. I never knew you!”

For SheepTrax.com, I’m Bryan Hupperts.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Picture of the Day


From Pastor Bob: "Amongst all of the junk we get over the internet, occasionally we get something like this. It was just too good not to send around."


This is the best.

ALL CREATION SINGS!

Ha Ha Ha Ha

I came across this joke the other day and thought I'd share:

Once upon a time, these two women were talking and the one asks the other how many times she's been married, and the reply was 4.

'Four times!' exclaimed the first woman, why so many?

So the other woman says, 'Well, I first got married when I was very young, and I married this wonderful man who was a banker. However, one day just a few weeks after we were married, his bank was robbed and he was shot and killed.'

'Oh my gosh, that's terrible' the first woman said.

'Well, it wasn't that tragic. Soon after that, I started seeing another man who performed in the circus. He was really a great guy, but he lived pretty dangerously because he performed his high-wire act without a net. Well, a few weeks after we got married, he was performing a show and suddenly a gust of wind came by and knocked him off his wire and he was killed.'

'Your second husband was killed too?!!? That's horrible!'

'Yes, it was terrible, but at the funeral I fell in love with the minister and we got married soon after that. Unfortunately, one Sunday while he was walking to church, he was hit by a car and killed.'

'Three??? Three husbands of yours were killed? How could you live through all that?'

'It was pretty tough, but then I met my present husband. And he's a wonderful man. I think we'll live a long happy life together.'

'And what does your present husband do for a living?'

'He's a mortician.'

'A mortician? I don't understand something here. First you marry a banker, then a circus performer, then a minister, and now a mortician? Why such a diverse grouping of husbands?'

'Well, if you think about it it's not too hard to understand...
One for the money...
Two for the show...
Three to get ready...
And four to go!'

What's New

What Fun!!!! I just opened my Ebay store to sell off my inventory from my closed bridal salon.

The ReFinery

YAHOO! Spring is here!

Yesterday, I noticed a tree in my yard for the first time. I've lived here five years and just thought it was another poplar or some other kind.

But, as I walked towards it, I noticed that it looked to be in bud. The late afternoon sun shone through towards me, making the branches glow with gold.

The closest branch to the ground was held about a foot over the reach of my arm. I couldn't believe my eyes when I finally jumped high enough to grab the end of the branch.

Snapping off the tip, I beheld a wonder of wonders. I had tried to plant a tree like this many years ago and it never took root. I had cared for the sapling like a child, but the tree never grew.

The Bible says that God knows the desires of our heart. He surprised me with this tree in the midst of all the changes in my life.

The pussy willow is in bloom in my yard. Just another reminder from God that 'all is well' and that He's real close.

Waiting and Waiting and Waiting and Waiting

'A mind is a terrible thing to waste.'

I didn't say it, someone else did. But I agree.

'The more brain cells you use, the more you have to lose.'

I didn't say that, either. I also agree.

I have worked at quite a few different types of jobs. I learned to fight fires, take pictures, roller skate, ice skate, type, make donuts, pick corn and many other activities.

Now, that I've reached another milestone in my life, I find that learning new things is harder because of all the choices available.

Should I write? What? Fiction? Non-Fiction? Humor? Mystery? Sci-Fi? Short stories? Poetry? One-liners? Fluff? Deep stuff? And the list goes on and on and on and on.

I'm trying the mandolin. Too bad I can't find a bluegrass teacher near my home. I really have the desire to learn but I just need the guidance to play better. Chords are no trouble at all. Rhythm works good, too.

Just to sit down a plink a tune along with the radio or music station seems to be such a mystery but so close as if I could just reach out and remove the veil. 'Seeing through a glass darkly', I believe is the expression. Yeah, it's Biblical.

So it comes down to this: What is my purpose, other than to please God?

I've tried so many things; 'master of none'.

What desire did God place on my heart, so long ago, that I've forgotten. Way back in grade school, what did I want to be when I grew up?

Well, here I am. All grown up, yet so short of the goals I believe God has for me. I'm just swingin' along, going here and going there.

Don't get me wrong. I do some things well. I've been married 35 years this year. My husband is unsaved but I believe he's the man that God chose for me. My husband isn't a saint but he's very good to me.

I have 2 lovely children, all grown up and doing the best they can and three beautiful granddaughters that go to church with me.

What to do? Just wait and see.

Where To Go

I just received a daily devotional from Pastor Steve Gray.

Here's what he said: "All my life I have heard people say, 'Follow Jesus!' But nobody bothered to tell me that he was actually going somewhere."

"Jesus entered the temple area... Matthew 21:12a


Is that why the Kingdom of God is not growing? As I look back, I can remember lots of people telling me the same thing. 'You must receive Jesus as your Savior, then you will be saved from the pit of hell.'

Hmmm. There's a lot of truth in Pastor Gray's message. Where did I think I was going? Where WAS Jesus going?

He says 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.' I believe that. But have I ever realized that the way with Jesus is to go somewhere?

Put into this context it makes me wonder. Shouldn't I be telling people this? Isn't this why the world is searching?

The answer is 'Yes, Jesus is going somewhere.' That 'somewhere' is the destination that He has in mind for you. In Jeremiah 29:11 NIV he says 'I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'

So there it is, He has a plan just for me. No matter how sinful or hurtful to others I have been, starting with TODAY (the day of 'before I was formed in my mother's womb') He has a personal somewhere just for me.

He goes on to say in Jeremiah 29:12 'Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.' Yes, I did call upon Him and He has definitively answered me so that there was no doubt on my part.

Next in 29:13 'You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the Lord, 'and will bring you back from captivity.' What captivity was I in? The soul-wrenching fear of the unknown future that no man can explain or testify that he's seen except Jesus Christ.

God has a plan for my life, IF I allow Him to proceed unhindered by my self. In this day and age, it's all about self-satisfaction and self-seeking and user-friendly and self-desiring. There's no way that I can satisfy the desires of my heart, fully, because I am incapable of recognizing a true desire from a false one.

God KNOWS the desires of my heart. It is HIS desire to fulfill them. This is where Jesus is going...to the place where I am fully satisfied within my soul.

'As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, Oh God' the psalmist declared. My soul longs for the communion of the garden. And as the psalmist continued 'Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls', my soul calls out to God.

Yes, Jesus is going somewhere. He is going to fulfill Himself within me so that I am fully satisfied within. The terror of this world has no hold on me anymore. I KNOW without a doubt I am going with Him.

If you're searching for that some place, start with Him. He'll lead you. He'll never leave you nor forsake you. He is Life.


Seek Him at All About God

A Musing

Just sitting here, going over the past week and thinking about what's ahead.

I've overcome some temptations and fell prey to a couple. All in all, I still feel victorious. I threw off a yoke of oppression, too.

I have an article to write that is half done. A challenge entry needs to be in by Monday 9 am, not even started. Curious, that's the topic...start.

It's amazing how you can look at the days gone by and wonder what did you accomplish? Hours turn into days and days into weeks and still...where did they go? What did I do in all that time?

Is there any quality to carry forward into the future? Something I said or did, is it still alive waiting to alight and manifest as good? Where am I going and how do I get there are the questions tonight.

'Everything that is has been before' is a quote from the Bible. Even the air we breath has been here from the beginning. The same air that Adam and Eve breathed is still here, the same dirt, the same water. The Earth hasn't lost even any molecules, unless they went to the moon on a rocket. That's even up for debate, the moon trip, I mean.

So then, my words, that I speak out into the atmosphere and into someone's hearing, are going forward. They enter another's mind, rumble around and then are spewed back out into the air. How many times has a word circled the earth?

My actions directly affect the people around me. I impact them. They would not be the same if they had never met me, they would be different and maybe indifferent.

My life would be totally different without my daughter or son. Without my son, I would not have my grandchildren.

Doesn't that make me want to be different? To be a person that influences others for good instead of bad?

When I'm in a prayer group, how can I ever be critical of a person with whom I've stood before Jesus. We are all interceded for daily by our Savior and what right do we have to be their accuser for some mundane insignificant problem we have with them personally.

Oh well, God will make it clear to me someday. I will wait.

Tales of a Groupie

My husband had his first gig!

He has been so faithful to learn to play guitar. Every day he practices and practices and practices. Each night he plays for about two hours, strumming chords and pickin' tunes.

Each of my children now have a guitar in their homes, just in case he visits. Then, he strums and picks for them.

My daughter is now a kindergarten teacher. Her class is studying the letter 'g' so she invited my husband to play his guitar for them. I tagged along on Monday to see his first concert. Of course, I sat in the mosh pit and took pictures.

The children are so bright and honest. They asked him if he plays on stage, or does he have a band? One sweet brilliant child said 'I think you play very nice.'



They sang along with his pickin' 'Twinkle, twinkle little star', totally drowning out the instrument. Then, my daughter (the teacher) got out little instruments for them to play the rhythm. She didn't have enough to go around so the rest had to use their hands to clap. Amazingly, that was ok with them.

What a joy to listen to the sounds of kids.

WOW!

I'm really losing it!

Time for me to get back into the swing of things. There's a writers' conference in 6 months and my writing has been nil!

Let's see.

What's been happening?

Oh, yeah. I closed my bridal shop at the end of October. Halloween, whatever. Not really devastating it was nonetheless emotional. Boo Hoo. Tears for fears and all that.

I LOVE BEING HOME. My husband and I built a new home 5 years ago and this is the first that I've been able to enjoy it during the daylight hours. Very cool.

Of course, I'm not idle at home. I still have tons of bridal stuff. Ebay loves me. They even send me a message at the end of every month: PAY UP SUCKER! Not really.

Anyone need any wedding gowns? My husband NOW wants to turn the basement into a music studio. Why didn't he wait till I had sold everything? No, he's using it as an incentive to sell, sell, SELL!

Maybe I could 'paper' the walls and ceilings in white and ivory satin. I wonder how acoustic that would be?

My Herschel manuscript didn't get picked up by the publisher. Boo Hooooo. Another time, another publisher. I'm not giving up. Maybe the home schooler publishers would be a better option. May - convention time!

My mom's struggling with dementia. It put a damper on the holidays but as long as she's healthy and happy, I'm happy. I get her to church every Sunday and I'm confident that the Holy Spirit is speaking volumes to her. For He did not give her 'a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a SOUND MIND' (emphasis mine).

My sister says she sleepwalks. I had a doctor say that there's no such thing. Hey, when you see it with your own eyes, doc, I guess you'll believe.

That's what I tell people when I talk to them about Jesus Christ. When you see Him with your own eyes you'll believe. How do you see Him? Well it's like this. He's the only God who answers you. All the other gods are dead, dead wood. You just ask Him anything, He'll show you.

Oh, and don't believe it when they say there are many paths to the One, True God. NADA! Only one - Jesus. He's the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Even when I do something wrong and I know that God does not approve, He's still the only answer. There's no where else to go! How could I? Once I (or you) have tasted the sweet wine of Him, nothing else will satisfy.

Nothing else does anyway.

Am I rambling? It's fun!

The Many Faces of Christmas

How many are there? For me, I only know of one which is the blessed celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Oh, I know. There is also Santa Claus. But, what is behind Santa Claus? Do we celebrate Christmas because Santa brings gifts? Is that really a celebration worthy of the time spent shopping, wrapping, driving and standing in line?

Santa represents a giving spirit that was in a man centuries ago. It is a remembrance of a man (now dead) who gave presents to the needy. Is that really what we do when we give gifts to each other? Where are are hearts for the needy? Where are we taking the time to even notice the needy?

It is because we are mere mortals, who cannot save even ourselves. We cannot save others because we lack the ability. Sure, we can offer a short term solution to this one and that one, but can we really change their lives so much that they turn away from the life that leads them downward to a life of misery?

The true celebration of Christmas is the deliverance of humankind by God. Peace with God that was accomplished through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without this reconciliation, man is doomed to be bound in the chains of our sins.

It is this Christmas, this Jesus, this celebration that gives us the reason for the season.

Jesus, the Name above every name and greatly to be praised. Praise Him this Christmas and every Christmas after until He returns and hope becomes unnecessary, for we shall see Him face to face.

Amen and Merry Christmas in Jesus Name!!!!!!!