Just Entertainment???

The other night John watched a new show called Phenomenon. Which opened up another of our many discussions about what a christian should or shouldn't expose their minds to.

So what I have decided to do is put what God has to say about magic, divination, astrology, and witchcraft.

" Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance," 1 Chronicles 10:13

God called Saul unfaithful because he consulted a medium. This is the same thing as consulting your horoscope, or going to a psychic to find out your "future".

"Let no one be found among you who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,"Deuteronomy 18:9-1

"Do not practice divination or sorcery."Leviticus 19:25-27

"A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.' " Leviticus 20:27

Apparently God feels pretty strong about anyone who practices this stuff! And since He does, I would say it stands to reason He doesn't want us watching things that glorify, condone or encourage things God has forbidden.

We're told to guard our hearts and our minds from evil (infuences). To say it is ok to watch shows like this "just for entertainment" is like saying it's ok to play with the Ouija Board because it's just for "entertainment". Trying to contact the dead to get answers is not entertainment it's sorcery/diviniation.

The line between good and evil has been almost completely erased today. What God has told us is dangerous and evil the world is now saying is Ok and acceptable.

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." Isaiah 5:19-21

God was VERY clear about the practice and participation in occult activities, and watching shows that make these things seem acceptable and ok IS participating as far as I'm concerned.

I mean if Jesus said we are guilty of adultery if we "look at a woman(man) with lust" -then does it really make sense the Lord doesn't have a problem with His followers watching shows that portray sorcery, witchcraft, diviniation, magic or those who talk to the "dead" (again, they are not talking to the dead, they are talkin to demons) as acceptable?
I think NOT!

There is a scripture that at the moment I am having a hard time remembering where it is, but it says to be careful what we condone or accept because we can bring judgement upon ourselves by condoning or overlooking things the Lord has condemed.

Not to mention the whole spiritual warfare aspect of all of this. God tells us to resist the devil, not invite him into your life by "playing" around in his domain.

I encourage you to do the research, open up the word and read for yourself what God has said. And instead of buying into the lies of the enemy - IE: this stuff is ok if you are just watchin or playing for entertainment.
The Lord loves us and when He warns us not to do something it is for a very good reason. He doesn't give us laws or rules just to spoil our fun...He wants to keep us safe. Just as a parent sets rules to keep their kids safe, our Heavenly Father does so...in fact..

Maybe its time for His kids to start taking serious the warnings before we find ourselves in a battle that could have been avoided in the first place.

Food For Thought

INTERESTING STATISTICS ABOUT ARABS & JEWSThe Global Islamic population is approximately 1,200,000,000, or 20% of the world population.

They have received the following Nobel Prizes:
Literature:
1988 - Najib Mahfooz

Peace:
1978 - Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat
1994 - Yaser Arafat:
1990 - Elias James Corey
1999 - Ahmed Zewai Economics: (none)

Medicine:
1960 - Peter Brian Medawar
1998 - Ferid Mourad ************************************************************************** The Global Jewish population is approximately 14,000,000, or about 0.02% of the world population.
They have received the following Nobel Prizes:
Literature:
1910 - Paul Heyse
1927 - Henri Bergson
1958 - Boris Pasternak
1966 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon
1966 - Nelly Sachs
1976 - Saul Bellow
1978 - Isaac Bashevis Singer
1981 - Elias Canetti
1987 - Joseph Brodsky
1991 - Nadine Gordimer WorldPeace:
1911 - Alfred Fried
1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser
1968 - Rene Cassin
1973 - Henry Kissinger
1978 - Menachem Begin
1986 - Elie Wiesel
1994 - Shimon Peres
1994 - Yitzhak Rabin

Physics:
1905 - Adolph Von Baeyer
1906 - Henri Moissan
1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson
1908 - Gabriel Lippmann
1910 - Otto Wallach
1915 - Richard Willstaetter
1918 - Fritz Haber
1921 - Albert Einstein
1922 - Niels Bohr
1925 - James Franck
1925 - Gustav Hertz
1943 - Gustav Stern
1943 - George Charles de Hevesy
1944 - Isidor Issac Rabi
1952 - Felix Bloch
1954 - Max Born
1958 - Igor Tamm
1959 - Emilio Segre
1960 - Donald A. Glaser
1961 - Robert Hofstadter
1961 - Melvin Calvin
1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau
1962 - Max Ferdinand Perutz
1965 - Richard Phillips Feynman
1965 - Julian Schwinger
1969 - Murray Gell-Mann
1971 - Dennis Gabor
1972 - William Howard S! Stein
1973 - Brian David Josephson
1975 - Benjamin Mottleson
1976 - Burton Richter
1977 - Ilya Prigogine
1978 - Arno Allan Penzias
1978 - Peter L Kapitza
1979 - Stephen Weinberg
1979 - Sheldon Glashow
1979 - Herbert Charle s Brown
1980 - Paul Berg
1980 - Walter Gilbert
1981 - Roald Hoffmann
1982 - Aaron Klug
1985 - Albert A. Hauptman
1985 - Jerome Karle
1986 - Dudley R. Herschbach
1988 - Robert Huber
1988 - Leon Lederman
1988 - Melvin Schwartz
1988 - Jack Steinberger
1989 - Sidney Altman
1990 - Jerome Friedman
1992 - Rudolph Marcus
1995 - Martin Perl
2000 - Alan J. Heeger

Economics:
1970 - Paul Anthony Samuelson
1971 - Simon Kuznets
1972 - Kenneth Joseph Arrow
1975 - Leonid Kantorovich
1976 - Milton Friedman
1978 - Herbert A. Simon
1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein
1985 - Franco Modigliani
1987 - Robert M. Solow
1990 - Harry Markowitz
1990 - Merton Miller
1992 - Gary Becker
1993 - Robert Fogel

Medicine:
1908 - Elie Metchnikoff
1908 - Paul Erlich
1914 - Robert Barany
1922 - Otto Meyerhof
1930 - Karl Landsteiner
1931 - Otto Warburg
1936 - Otto Loewi
1944 - Joseph Erlanger
1944 - Herbert Spencer Gasser
1945 - Ernst Boris Chain
1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller
1950 - Tadeus Reichstein
1952 - Selman Abra ham Waksman
1953 - Hans Krebs
1953 - Fritz Albert Lipmann
1958 - Joshua Lederberg
1959 - Arthur Kornberg
1964 - Konrad Bloch
1965 - Francois Jacob
1965 - Andre Lwoff
1967 - George Wald
1968 - Marshall W. Nirenberg
1969 - Salvador Luria
1970 - Julius Axelrod
1970 - Sir Bernard Katz
1972 - Gerald Maurice Edelman
1975 - Howard Martin Temin
1976 - Baruch S. Blumberg
1977 - Roselyn Sussman Yalow
1978 - Daniel Nathans
1980 - Baruj Benacerraf
1984 - Cesar Milstein
1985 - Michael Stuart Brown
1985 - Joseph L. Goldstein
1986 - Stanley Cohen [& Rita Levi-Montalcini]
1988 - Gertrude Elion
1989 - Harold Varmus
1991 - Erwin Neher
1991 - Bert Sakmann
1993 - Richard J. Roberts
1993 - Phillip Sharp
1994 - Alfred Gilman
1995 - Edward B. Lewis

The Jews are not promoting brain washing the children in military training camps, teaching them how to blow themselves up and cause maximum deaths of Jews and other non Muslims!

The Jews don't hijack planes, nor kill athletes at the Olympics or blow themselves up in German restaurants.There is not a single Jew that has destroyed a church. There is not a single Jew that protests by killing people.

The Jews don't traffic slaves, nor have leaders calling for Jihad and death to all the Infidels.

Perhaps the world's Muslims should consider investing more in standard education and less in blaming the Jews for all their problems. Muslims must ask "what can they do for humankind" before they demand that humankind respects them!!

Regardless of your feelings about the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab neighbors, even if you believe there is more culpability on Israel's part , the following two sentences really say it all:

If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence.If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.

*This was sent to be my a friend. It is interesting and I had to post it.

What Is Love

Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it. Touching words from the mouth of babes. What does Love mean? A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her
Toe nails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca- age 8

When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss" Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." Cindy - age 8

"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - age 6

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine-age 5
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day" Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image) Karen - age 7

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." Mark - age 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"

When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need.

Father, God bless all my friends in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day! And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity and power as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with you. Amen

Should We Confront a Brother In Sin?

Should We Confront a Brother in Sin?

Judge Not?Judge not, lest you be judged. . . .

We have all heard it. It is in the Bible, in Matthew 7:1, where Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged."

But let's understand these words contextually. A better translation of the statement would be, "Condemn not, that you be not condemned." In other words, God is the final judge.

He decides who gets into heaven and who does not. Greg Laurie doesn't decide that. You don't decide that. No one else decides that. We are not to condemn, meaning to pass final judgment.

But we are to judge, in the sense of making evaluations—even corrections when necessary—regarding fellow believers. Paul addresses this very subject in 1 Corinthians 5 :I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. . . . For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? (verses 10, 12)

Paul was saying that it is our job to judge those inside the church. But a lot of believers ignore this. They say, "Oh, no. Just be loving." But I would say that they don't really know what love is. Love cares enough to confront.

We are so into loving everyone, not even understanding what the word means, that we have lost our sense of discernment in standing up for what is right. We should do it with compassion, concern, and humility. Yet we should make the stand.


Want to read more from Greg Laurie? Be sure to check out his weekly columns at World Net Daily. Click here to read his latest article.
*Taken from my daily email devotions

Would You Want to Know?

Last Wednesday I tuned in to watch Oprah because Tyler Perry was a guest, along with Janet Jackson. Oprah was talking to them about Tyler's movie, "Why Did I Get Married?" A movie I can't wait to see by the way. I've seen the stage play and it was great.

Because Janet's character is a counselor, Oprah asked her if she's ever in real life had friends she knew were cheating on a spouse and how did she handle the situation. (The movie is about four couples who spend a week together in the mountains, and one of the couples is having an affair)
Janet's reply was yes, and that she had lost a friendship over it.

She knew the couple and also knew the woman the man was having the affair with, but she felt it was the man's responsibility to "man up" as she put it and confess to his wife. Apparently she had told the man and the woman he was cheating with she knew about the affair. When the wife did find out, not from the husband by the way, she was very angry her friends knew what was going on but did not tell her.

So I have decided to do a poll. If you are married and your spouse was having an affair would you want to know? If others knew about it would you want them to tell you?

There are some women and even men who have said they would not want to know about it, using the old "what you don't know can't hurt you" idea.
I disagree with that.

If anyone knew my husband was cheating I WOULD want to be told. Especially being a christian, it's not just the idea it is wrong, but the person doing the cheating is in danger of losing more than just his or her marriage. It's a soul thing above all else.

What you don't know can and will eventually hurt you. Biblically speaking just as I wrote in my last blog, if someone is involved in "sin" those who know about it are told to confront the person and try to convince them to confess and repent of the behavior. If that person refuses to listen, then we are to take it to the elders of the church.

Aside from this, I want to know how people feel about this. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. If your spouse was cheating...

Would you want to be told? I know I would!

Does A Woman Honestly Have the Right?

I have yet to figure out why the law will charge someone who kills a woman and her unborn child with two counts of murder, yet if the woman herself chooses to kill the child within her it is considered her right. Or better yet, a woman who is pregnant can be arrested for endangerment of a child if she is using drugs or abusing alcohol during pregnancy.

Seems pretty hypocritical! Those who say a woman has the right to decide what happens to her body will say the child is not yet a child, yet those same people will cry out for justice if that child is killed by anyone other than a doctor the mother hires to terminate the child.

If a woman is using drugs alcohol she can be prosecuted for endangering her unborn child. The same unborn child she has the right to have surgically killed and removed from her body. Yet if she goes to a doctor to have this baby killed it is no longer a baby but a mere fetus? What's wrong with this picture?

The child within the womb is just that..a child. When left to grow within it's mother's womb it does not become anything BUT a child. It is not just foreign tissue within the woman's body. It has a heartbeat, it has fingers and toes. It already has within it's DNA physical features of both parents. To call it merely a "fetus" does not make the child any less human, although that is why those who justify the murder of unborn children refer to the baby as a fetus and not a baby.
If the term "termination of a fetus" were with "termination of a baby", people would be less likely to accept this so called woman's right to choose.

When we make that life seem less than human we open the door to something dangerous. Hitler viewed anyone not of his lineage less than human. The atrocities that were done in the holocaust were possible because the Jews were viewed as less than human by the Nazi organization. Slavery was acceptable in the US because certain whites viewed blacks as less than human. We all know this attitude is horribly wrong and most people do not accept it. So why do so many accept the idea an unborn child is less than human until it is actually born? And how can anyone say, let alone believe this child within the womb does not feel the pain of it's body being destroyed?

Most abortions are not done because it is a choice between the mother or the child, or because of rape - they are more for convenience. Abortion has become the new "birth control". We are allowing the murder of babies for convenience. We have become a society that places more value on our selfishness to do what we want when we want than a human life. Again, it is a human LIFE.

There are so many people who want children yet cannot have them. Yet we are allowing the killing of thousands of babies. I heard a woman once say she would rather have an abortion than have the baby and put it up for adoption.

This is the height of selfishness. Taking the life of a child over giving it the chance to live and be loved by a family who would give anything to raise him or her. This kind of rational is just wrong!

It is my personal belief every child conceived is the will of God. God says in Jeremiah 1:5 " Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;" "Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb? Job 31:14-16

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:12-14
Isaiah 44:2 "This is what the LORD says- he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you"

Isaiah 44:24 "This is what the LORD says- your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb."

For all anyone knows the person that could have found a cure of cancer was "terminated" because his or her mother decided it was her body and her choice and that child had no value. What if the person who would have found a cure for AIDS has been "aborted"? Just because certain people refuse to see any value in every life conceived does not mean they are right.

I realize there are those who choose not to believe in God, yet even if you do not believe there is a God the fact still remains. An unborn child is indeed a child. Those who say a woman has a right to choose to end her unborn child's life should stop using the rhetoric that "sanitizes" what really happens when a child is aborted/killed. If you really believe it is not a "child" then you have no right to support or insist on laws that punish other's for causing the end of that unborn life in any other form but abortion.

A woman has the right to choose what happens to her body, but that child within is not "her" body. It is a separate living being. IF you really believe in the right to choose, then choose to prevent that pregnancy in the first place. Show some self control, use birth control there are plenty of options.

With freedom and free will come great responsibility. Murder is now and always has been against the law. Call it like it is, the termination-murder of an unwanted child.

Suzie, Wolf, Husky and Best Friend

Suzie was a three year old wolf/husky mix. She had been a sled dog in Alaska before she became part of our family. She was not just a dog but became my best friend.

It was 1989 and we were living up in the mountains of Northern California. Living in the mountains with four young children and a drug addicted husband, life during that time was stressful, to say the least.

We were living in a family built cabin miles from anyone. The cabin was down in a canyon with only one road in. We had no electricity, no running water (unless you count the creek), and no indoor plumbing. We had an outhouse, something everyone should experience at least once in their life. NOT!

Anyway, we ended up with Suzie through a friend who had been looking for a wolf mix female to breed with their malamute. She had been talking to a woman who had been caring for her brothers sled dogs, she could no longer afford to care for them so she was giving them to whoever showed up to get one.

I went with her not really intending to come home with one, let alone two. But once we arrived I instantly fell in love with Suzie. There was just something about the look in her eyes. She was beautiful.

Mostly black, with a little white around her face, dark brown eyes and the definite look of a wolf. I ended up taking her and another dog, Buddy home. Buddy was your typical looking black and white husky with blue eyes. He was cool but not to smart. I figured if I was going to be taking Suzie home I should bring her a playmate to help ease the transition of a new home.

The first thing the owner told us was to keep the dogs tied up for at least three weeks, because if we didn’t they would take off and try to find their way back to their “home”. She said it would take that long for them to get use to us and feel secure. Also huskies are known for running off. They love to run, and since these guys were former sled dogs that instinct was even more dominant.

My husband at the time, being the tweeker he was (my term for meth users) decided he knew better than the woman who owned Suzie. The first thing he did was untie her. Before I could stop her Suzie was gone. “What the hell did you untie her for?” I asked.

He took off running trying to catch her, which of course was not going to happen. She stopped a couple of times and looked back, but once she saw him she bolted out of sight.

I was so angry and upset. I figured that was it we would never see her again. “God only knows where she will end up.” I said to myself. I also began asking the Lord to somehow bring her back. I was worried about what would happen to her out in the mountains alone.

The kids and I began putting food up on a trail behind the cabin. We would get a glimpse of her occasionally so I figured if she got hungry enough she would come closer. Plus we had Buddy who was still there.

She began to show up every day on the hill to eat. She would take off as soon as she spotted anyone watching her though. Slowly she began to feel more and more comfortable with her surroundings.
Little by little I began moving her bowl closer and closer to the cabin. The first time I brought it a little too close; she simply picked up the bowl and took it to a distance she felt comfortable with. Finally I got a big heavy pan to put her food in and she could no longer carry it away.

She very rarely barked. This is common, especially with wolves. And she was very elusive when she wanted to be. She would come out of no where and just watch us. At night time you would not even see her, and when you did it would just be her eyes glowing in the dark.

It took months for her to stay close to the cabin all the time, instead of her usual hanging several hundred feet away. Jason, who was 12 at the time, use to try to sneak up on her so he could pet her. Not an easy task. Eventually he started using food to tempt her closer. He would hold chicken or something just as tantalizing out and stand completely still. It took about a month or so but one day she actually ran up to him, snatched the chicken out of his hand and took off.

Jason came running into the cabin yelling all excited, “She took it mom, she actually took the food out of my hand, and I even got to touch her before she ran off.” From then on she became a part of the family, well at least as mush as we could expect considering she was for all intents and purposes wild. She’d been running “free” for several months now.

She did not care much for men. I often though a man must have at some point in her life abused her. Maybe that was one thing she sensed in me, we were kind of the same. I often wondered if that common thread was the thing that tied us together. I had begun to think of her as my soul mate so to speak.
It took a year to get her to take food from our hands, the first several months she would snatch and run, but eventually she would carefully take it and even got to the point she would allow the kids and I to give her a quick pat on the head before she would bolt.

When my husband would get high or start yelling and threatening me I would go sit outside on a big boulder away from the cabin, Suzie would come out of nowhere and sit next to me. I would talk to her and I’d swear she understood me. Even though nothing had actually happened to cause me to believe it, I knew if anyone tried to harm me or the kids, Suzie would have attacked.

For the next three years she became my blessing from the Lord. I truly believe He sent her to use (the kids and me) for protection and companionship.

We always knew if there was any kind of threat close to the cabin. It was interesting because Suzie had what I came to call her circles of protective concern.

I first noticed it when a cousin of my husbands would show up. He was also a tweeker, and Suzie did NOT like this guy. She began circling the cabin. It was summer so the front and back doors were open. She would walk past the front door, look in at this guy, continue walking around, stop at the back door, look in at the guy and continued this little routine for close to 10 minutes until I guess she felt it was ok.

She had three circles. One directly around the cabin, one several feet away from the cabin and one about 70 feet outside the second, which included the creek. If anything she considered a threat came within the first one around the cabin she would kill it.

One morning I stepped outside to have some coffee and she kept circling the cabin. I was sitting on the steps, she would stop, look at me, begin walking away and then stop at a stump that was a few feet away, then walk around the cabin. She did this twice, finally I said, “Ok what are you doing Suzie, is there something you are trying to tell me?” She stopped at the stump and looked at me then looked down. I walked over and lying on the stump was a dead opossum. It was very big and quite dead!.

She had killed it and wanted to let me know she had protected us from what she considered a threat. A couple of days later she did the same thing, only this time I knew what she was doing, and sure enough next to that stump was a smaller but just as dead Opossum. From that day on I never really worried about any of the critters which could potentially come out of woods and harm the kids or myself.

Carie's Baptisim

This was such an awesome day. July 28th, 2007. Carie is my (step)daughter and is nine years old. She wanted to show her faith in Jesus by being baptised. We had so much fun that day at our church's Summer Splash.

Adventures In Nature

Years ago when my four children were young we lived in the mountains of Northern California. We lived in a 40+ year old cabin my then husband's grandfather had built.

We moved into the cabin because my husband was a drug addict and we could find no other place to live we could afford. When we first moved to Omo Ranch, I thought it would just be for a few months. Those few months turned into four years.

My youngest was about three at the time. We had no running water, unless you count the creek which was technically running water. No electricity and no indoor plumbing. We were two miles from the nearest neighbor and 10 miles from the nearest store.

The Cabin was located at the bottom of a canyon. It was beautiful there. We had two apple trees in the middle of the meadow in front of the cabin. They were gorgeous in spring, loaded with delicate pink and white flowers. And the apples were amazing! To this day I have not tasted anything even close to the deliciousness of the cabin apples.

The Cabin had propane lights, a propane stove and refrigerator and a wood stove created out of a 50 gallon barrel. You could fit a small pine tree in that thing!

Just as most things in life, living there was great and not so great at the same time. On the one had we were surrounded by all this beauty. The kids and I loved the creek and spent countless hours on the bank. I counted out the steps one day, it was exactly 175 footsteps from the cabin.

On the other hand we were cut off from civilization. With no phone, and for the majority of the years I was left with four young kids and no car on a daily basis. The only visitors we had the first year were my husband's druggy cousins who would show up all hours of the night, usually without food or enough gas to leave. And nine times out of 10 would end up getting stuck on the road, always in the winter and even surprisingly during summer when the roads were dry. That use to amaze me! How are you gonna get stuck in dry dirt? Only those guys could manage something like that.

If you have ever read the "Little House on the Prairie" books you have a general idea of how we lived. I use to read those books to the kids, I even got some ideas on how to do things, like make applesauce from reading the books.

One evening I was watching a neighbor's kids while my husband and their father went to sell some firewood. (The story they told anyway.) I was alone with my four children and his boy and girl. It was dusk. It seemed to get darker sooner in the canyon. The kids were playing in the cabin when I heard what sounded like a scream. The kids came running out of the cabin wanting to know what it was.

Now I had never even held a shotgun before. My husband left the gun, unloaded of course in case I needed it while they were gone. Like I would know how to use it! Anyway, I went into the house to get the gun, knowing it was not loaded and not even knowing HOW to load it, even if I could find the shells. I went back outside and told the kids to stay put. I was going to walk up the road and "investigate". The whole time thinking, ‘yeah this is a smart thing to do what if you run into something.' Of course I was trying to put up a brave front for the kids sake, all the while praying "God please let whatever is out there see the gun and leave."

We had heard the "scream" three times. The last time once I was a little ways up the road. I'm thinking, ‘OK if this is a person, God willing, just seeing me with the gun will cause em to leave, they don't know it's not loaded.

IF this is a critter…' then that "scream" again! I turned around said to myself, ‘forget this', and quickly walked back to the cabin and told the kids to get back in the house and we stayed inside until the guys got home.

Not long after this incident I bought a book on wildlife.I wanted to be aware of which animals I need not worry about and those who I needed to stay clear of. It gave examples of tracks and which animal they belong to, I also found out from reading this book mountain lions commonly sound like a child or woman screaming.

The kids and I would walk up the road or go for walks along the creek, picking out tracks and seeing how many we could get correct.

Another thing I remember reading about mountain lions is they are curious creatures and it is pretty common for them to follow along at a distance when humans are in their territory. The one who I think scared the heck out of me screaming that night use to cruised through the property quite often. On more than one occasion I could hear something following us in the brush and trees above the road when we would go for walks.. We saw him, now I say him out of a guess, not from getting close enough to know for sure.

Anyway, we saw him on several occasions. One day he ran across the road as we were leaving to go visit family in Sacramento. He was gorgeous, and bigger than I had though he was.
I love nature and we were surrounded by it 24/7. Each season brought its own set of beautiful scenes. Spring brought the apple blossoms and various wildflowers. Summer brought the warm weather back allowing us to splash around in the creek. Summer also brought bathing in the creek instead of the ritual of boiling water on the woodstove and putting it in a watering trough big enough, well almost, for the kids to fit into.

Fall brought all the gorgeous colors of red, gold and brown leaves changing with the season. I love fall when the weather cools off, but is still mild. Great for taking those long exploratory walks through the woods.

Winter brought snow, which is my absolute favorite thing. The first snow, which brought a covering of white. Causing everything to appear clean and pure. Every time the first snow arrived my thoughts go directly to the scripture, ‘and your sins will become white as snow." I loved making snowmen, even the kids would give up and go in the cabin from the cold while I would stay out and finish the snowman we started.

You know in all the time we lived in the mountains, with the freezing temps of winter, wood stove for heat and none of the "modern conveniences" not ONCE did my children ever get sick with even so much as colds. It wasn't until we moved back into the "city" did they begin to get colds and various other illnesses.

We had quite a few adventures in the four years we lived there. I plan to write about them from time to time.

How You Treat Other Shows Your Feelings Towards God!

I started reading a book I bought at church Sunday by Rob Bell. It's called simply Sex. God. I read THIS sentence and had to write about it.

"How you treat the creation reflects how you feel about the Creator."

If you really think about this the next time you get angry or judge someone it will make it a lot harder to justify those feelings. I remember reading a scripture that says basically the same thing...you know...the one where Jesus said, "if you do it unto the least of these my children you do it unto me". I don't think Jesus was just talking about "good deeds" only.

How we treat others is in all actuality how we are treating Jesus and our God. Since we are ALL created in His image. So to judge someone unworthy to hear the gospel, or to be rude or hateful to another human being shows contempt for our Lord.

I think that is why the bible is so full of commands that involve loving others.

I have to confess I am guilty of not always treating others as if they are children of God, nor taking into account when I have been angry that every ungodly or unloving thing I say offends and breaks the heart of God above anyone else.

If we could, especially those of us who are claiming the name of Christ get this one fact ingrained within our hearts and mind to the point of changing how we treat others ALL the time the light of Christ would begin to shine so brightly it would blow those who are searching, and those who are not believers away.

Think about it...pray about it and then go out and DO IT!.

Let's Talk About Sex!

If you are wondering why there is a picture of a guy dressed up by Satan under the title of Lets talk about sex, I'm about to tell you...

First of all the guy is my husband John. Our Pastor is doing a series of messages on sex Sunday mornings. John volunteered to play the devil in the skits they are doing preceeding the message.

The first message was actually titled The Greatest Sex You Will Ever Have. In the first skit we had the devil coming out to let everyone know the Pastor was going to tell us what the Bible says about sex and how he, the devil, knows better.

The second message was called The Language of Lust, which is what this picture is taken from. In this scenario a man and woman are preparing for a date. The devil bounces from the girl to the guy planting thoughts about what dating is all about and how to make sure you get "some". After the skit is over the Pastor came out to talk about lust and how it rules the lives of so many people, including Christians.

The world says sex is for anyone with anyone and it's all about the physical pleasure and getting what you want regardless of the cost. God says He created sex and it is not dirty or simply a physical desire we have no control over. It is suppose to be a beautiful expression of love between a husband and wife. God created it for our enjoyment within the bounds of marriage.

I loved the idea of a church taking on this topic. It is about time the truth was taught within the church today. There is so much deception in the world today, especially when it comes to sex. Check out these two websites Mylamesexlife.com and LifeChurchTV. Both get to the point and are teaching what everyone needs to know about Sex, relationships, and faith.

God Indeed Supplies Our Needs

God is so awesome. These pictures are of our new home. Sarah and Matt's house finally sold so we were looking for a place. Everything was lost when John and I were separated so we have no furniture or household things.


And my God being the awesome God he is provided us with not only a place to live, but a completely furnished place. And not only is it completely furnished, the way it is decorated is absolutely perfect - right down to the colors. Green just happens to be my favorite color!

From the moment we walked in to look at this home I knew it was from the Lord. It made me think of my mom from the instant we saw it. I LOVE old homes! And the owner of this place has kept the motif to the style of the home. It is just gorgeous! It is filled with antiques, hardwood floors and even an old claw foot tub!

I am so thankful to the Lord for not only providing a need we had but that He so lovingly blessed us with something so perfectly fitted to my personality and desires. Our God truly is an Awesome God!

Back Together & Life

It's been awhile since I have posted anything here. My husband and I are finally back together after 14 months of being seperated. God's timing is not always our timing, but God's timing is always perfect.

It's taken a couple of months to adjust to being a couple again, it's been rough at times. With the Lord's help we are working to rebuild the marriage God intended us to have in the beginning.

So much has gone on. With my mom passing on in December, my husband and I reuniting, Sarah & Matt's house finally selling last week and looking for a new home.

John started a new job two months ago, the Lord has truly blessed him with a wonderful opportunity with our "new beginning".

We've been attending church regularly, taken some study classes through the church, and joined a small group. The key to moving forward is to keep surrounded with those who hold a faith and belief in the Lord.

There are times when I still miss my mom, and that will be something I will deal with until we meet again in heaven. There are times when I can almost hear her voice, see her smile and feel her love. I still have conversations with her and although I can not hear her reply, I know she is in heaven listening and talking to Jesus about what is going on with her loved ones still here on earth. It is a comforting feeling knowing she is not gone, just away. Someday we will all be together again for eternity, never again to experience the pain of loss.

With the recenty tragedy at Virgina Tech I am reminded just how precisous and fleeting life truly is. We are not guarenteed tomorrow, in fact we are not even guarenteed the next moment. All life is a gift from the Lord, it is by his grace we take each breath. It is so important to tell those you love how much they mean to you. Never take for granted you will have another chance to say I love you, because we don't know what life has in store.

What we are assured of is God loves us, Jesus gave his life to pay for our sins and because of that we can know without a doubt something better is yet to come. This life is temporary, along with the pain and heartache that sometimes goes a long with it. In Revelations is says, "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

We live in a fallen world where things happen that make no sense, yet we can be comforted in knowing God can and does take every bad thing and turn it into something good. It may not seem like it during horrible things like these shootings, but God is still in control and Jesus is on the throne, and someday soon he will return to put and end to the evil in the world. Until then I choose to trust Him, to continue to pray for those who are hurting and lost and never let those things going on around me cause me to doubt my Lord.