Quote of the Day - Faith or.....?

If fear is cultivated it will become stronger,
if faith is cultivated it will achieve mastery.

John Paul Jones

Friday Funnies - Fourth of July

Ode to Fourth of July

Oh, Fourth of July, how we adore thee;
With thy Red, White and Blue sales, both vehicle and sofa;
With thy crowds in the malls and specials on the tube-
Perhaps even time for a quick Jiffy lube.

We grill to our hearts’ content all manner of fodder
Lo! Dogs that are hot and bovine that’s grounded!
Cobbed corn, beans baked, and pies galore!
Watermelon seeds spewed ‘cross the floor.

Oh Fourth of July, we love to gather
‘neath your billowing banner this day
To gorge, then splash – but not too soon!
Lest a cramp in the belly would surely spell doom.

Then in darkness we gaze at the fireflies-
God’s own special brand of flame in the sky;
And reflect on the meaning of this special day-
Freedom that was purchased-a price others did pay.

Oh, Fourth of July, may we ne’er take you for granted.
For we love the freedom of which you remind us.
And above all that is done in silliness and contemplation
May we hold dear our freedom in God's gift of salvation.

Thursday Thanks - My Best Friend

This week I am thankful for my dearest and closest Friend: the Holy Spirit. He means everything to me. This Christian walk is not always a bed of roses. Well, it is, but the thorns are still very firmly intact and I get stuck quite often. But the more I listen to and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, the fewer thorns I will be jabbed with and when I am, the sting doesn't seem quite as evident.

There are times when I can more keenly feel His presence, and I think those are the times when I have sought Him with all my heart. He is a quiet presence who is found when we are still. And He is a presence that responds to the prayers that are made on our behalf.

I have had the blessing of having some very faithful believers in Christ seek the Lord on my behalf and I have been the recipient of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit as a result of those prayers. Without those friends, their prayers and the moving of the Holy Spirit in my heart and life, I would never make it.

Never, ever underestimate the power of prayer.

He has lifted me up over and over all the while extending His love and warmth and patience. He teaches me, counsels me, disciplines me, exhorts me, convicts me, leads me, ministers to me, comforts me, prays for me, gives me wisdom, strength and power. And in addition to all that, He is producing in me all the spiritual fruit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control.

I am so very thankful that the Holy Spirit would allow Himself and all His rushing power to be contained within the heart of a small, insignificant, less than faithful, worrisome creature such as me. He is a gift that I cherish.

Love Clothes

I had a tooth removed a couple of weeks ago. And it wasn’t just pulled out with an easy little “plink.” Nope. My #3 molar has been giving me problems for years.

I had a root canal done on it 15 years ago. It seemed fine until about 3 years ago. Long story short, I found out that not only did I have infection in one of the root canals of that same tooth, but also that it had been eating away at the bone.

So I went and had another root canal done. More fun. The tooth again seemed fine until a few months ago when I was brushing my teeth and noticed that the bone near that tooth was hurting. Back to the dentist I went.

More x-rays were done, still more infection was found and another root canal was needed. Fuuuun. You’d think that would have taken care of it. He cleaned out those roots like he was the Roto-Rooter man. But the bone still hurt. So I trudged back off to the dentist again, where it was decided that the crown would be replaced.

As the dentist began to remove the crown I heard all kinds of crunching sounds and he stopped and asked me to smile as wide as I could. Then he sat back and said words that you don’t want to hear from your dentist: “I’m sorry, but your tooth was cracked and broke. You’ll need a $1500. bridge. Or if you’d like to go the “luxury route,” (sarcasm mine) you can pay over twice as much for an implant.”

Great.

But first, the infected, cracked and broken tooth had to come out. That was no less fun than any of the three root canals. This tooth had given me problems for 15 years and it wasn’t going to stop now. As the dentist started to try to remove it, it just crumbled into little pieces. He had to use a drill to get it out, and he had to remove it one root at a time.

It was a very tedious process, but finally the tooth was out. The crater-sized hole it left has to heal for about another month before I can be fitted for the bridge.

And here’s the funny thing: almost every time I go to floss, I start to floss that tooth until I realize there’s only space there. Even though that evil tooth has made me go through 3 root canals, caused infection to the point of wearing away bone, may have caused damage enough to give me headaches on the side of my head, and a painful time of having it removed and the healing that goes along with it, my brain still thinks it’s there and wants to nurture it and take care of it.

That was the long, scenic version of saying this: how many times do we go through the time, sometimes years of prayer, painful trial and error, two steps forward and one step back, to finally be rid of some sinful attitude or behavior, knowing the pain that it’s caused in our lives, only to forget that pain and try to go back to it and nurture the sin again? Sounds weird, but we do it.

How many times have we, for example, asked for the ability to forgive someone, and then we do, only to later dredge up that anger again, harbor it, think about it, and even feel justified in holding onto the grudge again?

Now, I won’t have problems trying to take care of that rotten, phantom tooth once the hole has been replaced with a brand new, clean, unbroken, perfect bridge made just for me.

God does the same thing. Whenever He says in His word to “put off” something, He always follows it up with a “put on.”

“But now also put off all these things: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, shameful speech out of your mouth.” (Colossians 3:8)

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender feelings of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving yourselves, if anyone has a complaint against any.” (Colossians 3:12-13)

So, to use the example above, when we forgive someone, we have to put something in the place of that anger and unforgiveness we once had so that the unforgiveness doesn’t slip back into our hearts. Even if the person you have forgiven is not a person you would ever have a relationship with because of the nature of the offense or their sinful lifestyle, you can still replace the unforgiveness with agape love.

Not that your forgiveness and love are saying, “what you did is okay,” but we are told to forgive because forgiveness heals our hearts. And agape love, the love that is a choice, the unconditional kind of love is a love that can only come from God. It is a merciful and gracious love that comes not from our feelings, but from our spirits, which have been reborn in Christ - the same love that God loved us with when we were yet still sinners. We can let Christ love them through us.

And once we allow God to pluck from our hearts that unforgiveness, that anger, that bitterness, and replace the holes that are left with His love, we won’t as easily go back to where we once were: harboring and nurturing a sin that only leaves us broken and in pain.

I’ve had to do this myself. I’ve had to forgive people that in the flesh would be completely impossible. But God’s power is enough to forgive and to love the unloveable.

The best way to do that is to start praying for that person. Ask God to give you a love for them. Pray for their salvation or for their reconciliation to Christ.

Let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear from you.

Friday Foodie - Poke Cake

This cake is great for summer. It's easy and cool in all its jello-y goodness. You can, of course, choose and mix and match your favorite flavors. This would be really cool for the 4th of July. You could use a red jello - strawberry, cherry, watermelon, for one layer, and blueberry for the other layer. Ah, patriotism in Jello. How American. I used Meringue Buttercream to frost, but you can use whatever frosting your little ol' heart desires.

Poke Cake

1 18.5 oz. pkg. white cake mix
2 cups boiling water
2 4-serving pkgs. Jello

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Prepare, bake and cool cake mix as directed on pkg. for 2 9 or 8-in. round cake layers. Place cake layers, top sides up, in 2 clean 9 or 8-in cake pans. Pierce cake with large fork at ½ in. intervals.

3. Stir 1 cup of the boiling water into each flavor of Jello in separate bowls 2 min. or until dissolved. Carefully pour 1 cup of Jello over 1 cake layer and then pour the other cup of Jello over the other cake layer. Refrigerate 3 hours.

4. Dip 1 cake pan in warm water 10 seconds. Unmold onto serving plate. Spread with frosting. Unmold second cake layer. Carefully place on first layer. Frost top and sides. Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve.

Meringue Buttercream

2 ¼ cups sugar
9 large egg whites
1 ½ lbs. (6 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 ½ teas. vanilla

1. Put sugar and egg whites in the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are very warm to the touch, about 4 min. Transfer bowl to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on high speed until fluffy and cooled; about 10 minutes.

2. Reduce speed to medium-low. Add butter a few tablespoons at a time; beat well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

3. Beat on lowest speed until air bubbles diminish, 3 to 5 min. Use immediately, or refrigerate, covered, up to 3 days. Before using, bring to room temperature; beat with the paddle attachment on low speed until smooth.

Thursday Thanks - God Hears Our Barks

Now how could you say no to a face like that? This is our Lhasa Apso/Shih Tzu mix, Jake. He’s our third son. We love him to death even though he really isn’t what you’d call a dog’s dog.


If he actually does catch a glimpse of a cat roaming our backyard, (most times a cat can walk through our backyard completely secure in the knowledge that he’ll go completely unnoticed) he’ll take a couple of bunny hops towards it, get distracted and go lay down; same thing with chasing a toy. He might bring it back to you a couple of times, but after that he’s just bored.

We actually had to teach him how to bark. I read once that there’s something in the genes of Shih Tzus especially that keeps them from being natural barkers. So soon after we got him when he was a couple of years old, my husband embarked (ar ar) on teaching Jake how to bark.

My husband would get a little dog treat and tell Jake to ask for it. Poor thing. He’d open his mouth, kind of hop a little, but nothing would come out. So (picture this), my husband would say, “ask,” then he’d bark, showing Jake how to make the sound. It would take Jake a few tries to warm up the ol’ vocal cords.

The first few times nothing but air would come out, then a little grunt, then finally, a bark. Yay, and there was much rejoicing! And then Jake would get the treat. This took several practice lessons before he got it down, although even then he really didn’t bark all that often. He’d usually only do it if he wanted a treat and then only if you told him to ask. Or when he wants to come inside. He’s extremely insistent about that.

So the other day, I was sitting here at my desk working when all of sudden, right next to me, I heard a very loud bark. I look down to see this:

Now, knowing Jake’s aversion to barking, I knew something was up. Plus, I looked down at that furry, little snaggle-toothed face and my heart just melted. So I got up from my chair, knelt down, gave him a big hug, and asked him what he wanted.

Now, Jake usually only wants two things: food or to go outside. I had just fed him so I didn’t think that was it. So I started walking to the door, knowing that if that’s what he wanted he’d chase after me. And he did.

And here’s what popped into my head: if my love for a little dog would compel me to immediately listen to his cry and do whatever I could to find out what he needed and help him, how much more does the Heavenly Father hear the cries of His beloved children and do whatever is within His good and perfect will to answer those prayers?

But for some reason, either we forget or we become insecure about the incredible amount of love that our Lord has for us, and we question whether or not He is hearing us.

Know that He hears you.

When we call He is right there with open arms and a heart full of love. And He will answer those prayers in the very best way and in His perfect timing.

So this week, a week where I have especially felt the attacks of the enemy, I am thankful for the reminder that my God loves me immensely and that He has heard every one of my cries and that He is working on answering them, even if I don’t see it right now.


How are you thankful this week?

My Portion

You Are My Portion

"Though I may not wear the garments of princes,

You are my portion, you are my portion, Lord.

For you clothe me in your righteousness,

You are my portion, you are my portion, Lord.

Though I may not sit at the table of kings,

You are my portion, you are my portion, Lord.

For you feed me from the abundance of your hand,

You are my portion, you are my portion, Lord."

by Darrell Evans

Friday Funnies - Rookies.

The following questions by lawyers were taken from actual court documents in America:


"Was that the same nose you broke as a child?"

"Now doctor, is it not true that when a person dies in his sleep, in most cases he just passes quietly away and doesn’t know anything about it until the next morning?"

Q: "What happened then?"
A: "He told me, ‘I have to kill you because you can identify me."
Q: "And did he kill you?"

"Was it you or your brother that was killed in the war?

"The youngest son, the twenty year old, how old is he?"

"Were you alone or by yourself?"

"Do you have any children or anything of that kind?"

Q: "I show you exhibit 3 and ask you if you recognize that picture?"
A: "That’s me."
Q: "Were you present when he picture was taken?"

"Were you present in court this morning when you were sworn in?"

Q: "Mrs. Johnson, how was your first marriage terminated ?"
A: "By death."
Q: "And by whose death was it terminated?"

Q: "Do you know how far pregnant you are now?"
A: "I’ll be three months on November 8th."
Q: "Apparently then, the date of conception was August 8th?"
A: "Yes."
Q: "What were you doing at that time?"

"So you were gone until you returned?"

Q: "She had three children right?"
A: "Yes."Q: "How many were boys?"
A: "None."
Q: "Were there any girls?"

"Mrs. Jones, how many times have you committed suicide?"

"You don’t know what it was, and you didn’t know what it looked like, but can you describe it?"

Q: "You say the stairs went down to the basement?"
A: "Yes."
Q: "And these stairs, did they go up also?"

Q: "Do you recall approximately the time that you examined the body of Mr. Edington at the Rose Chapel?"
A: "The autopsy started about 8:30 p.m."
Q: "And Mr. Edington was dead at that time?"