Statement of Faith

There have been a lot of posts about this Blogs of Beauty Awards. Someone found where you had to agree with the Nicene Creed if you were being nominated for this award. Mrs. B, from Be Not Conformed, pretty much summed up the gist of this creed and I agree with her whole heartedly on her stance. I'm not going to make any more comments about it because I feel that she and others have done a pretty good job at taking a stand on this issue and I'm just going to say that I agree with my sisters on this matter.

However, I would like to share the words to a song that our choir sings at church. It's called Statement of Faith. This is the chorus and I do believe these words when I sing them!

I believe that Jesus, is the Holy Son of God
He came to earth and lived a perfect life
I believe He bled and died upon a cruel cross
and there He made the perfect sacrifice
I believe He rose again and that He lives today
And soon He's coming back to earth again
More than just a CREED, this is what I believe
Jesus is the only way.....................
THIS IS MY STATEMENT OF FAITH!

Mark Them. Avoid Them!

In recent months and even a little further back, we have had some wolves in the church that have stirred up a lot of trouble, lies, and heartache. When these times come to mind, I find myself asking, "Lord, why do these people do these things? WHY??" Well, I want to draw attention to Today's Bible Verse located in my sidebar. If you read this post after the 30th of June, then you'll miss it. But today's verse is, "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." Romans 16:17-18.

OK, now I know this is referring to people who come into the church and try to teach something other than what we know as to be the TRUTH according to scripture. We've actually had that happen at our church, as well, with a Calvanist. Thankfully that was taken care of before we joined. But this verse sort of settled it all for me concerning ANYONE causing strife in the fellowship of the believers.

First of all, we're to mark them. Now, that doesn't mean we're to take a paintball gun and shoot them with yellow or orange paintballs, no matter how good that might make us feel. And when I see my Pastor carrying the burden of these wolves, I want to shoot them with SOMETHING! But alas, that is not what it means. It simply means that we are to mark them in our heads and minds, to know what they are. If you do mark someone with a paintball gun, don't bring me into it. Thanks!

Second of all, we're to avoid them. You can be cordial to them, but you don't have to yoke up with them. Be sure to avoid conversation with them for the mere purpose of not letting Satan use them to fill our head with lies, worry, and doubt. I've had this happen to me in the past and it's not a wonderful, joy-filled feeling. And let me just say, that if you find yourself in a situation where someone is telling you things that may cause a disruption in the church, don't run to someone else in the church and ask what you should do. Go straight to your Pastor. How can he lead his sheep if he doesn't know what's going on in the pasture? God has placed him as the shepherd over that particular flock and he should always be aware of what is going on so that he can have opportunity to deal with it before it gets out of hand. Is there anyone out there in the ministry that would disagree with that? Mainly those in pastoral or pastor's wife positons?

The last part of that verse really put it all in perspective for me. I told you that I ask the Lord why these people do such things. Well, it's because they're not serving the Lord. They're serving themselves. And they use their words and "...fair speeches to deceive the hearts of the simple." That word simple there, means trusting. People who trust the deceivers, thinking them to be something they are not.

So! Mark them and avoid them. When you do these two things, you'll be less likely to fall for the good words and fair speeches.

That's what I got out of this verse today. Do you have something to add?

Before And After

Tammy, from Tammy's Times, inspired this post a few days ago when she blogged about cleaning out her cabinets. Then looking back at my Kitchen Survey post it sort of all came together to this....Matthew 23:25-28, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them many be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness."


On the Kitchen Survey post, several of you told me how nice my kitchen looked. But all you saw was the outside. What you didn't see was the hidden mess within my cabinets. But I knew it was there and I knew I needed to clean them out. So today I spent the better part of the day cleaning out cabinets among other household chores that have been neglected lately.


And just like my cabinets, there are things in all of our hearts that no one sees. We go to church and everyone looks at us as though we're this great Christian, and we let them believe that without ever confessing our faults one to another. But deep within ourselves, we know the hidden secrets. The dirty spots. The cluttered messes of sin that have crept in without anyone knowing.


We keep the doors to our heart closed so that no one can see what we really are. What would they think of me if__________________(you fill in the blank.)



But there is a way to clean these sins from our lives. Proverbs 28:13 says, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." WOE! WAIT A MINUTE! Forsaketh? Every Christian knows well what confession is, but forsaketh? Let's see......


I looked up the word forsake in the Thesaurus and here are some words that would help us to understand its meaning: abandon, cast off, chuck(I like that one), desert, disclaim, disown, drift away, forgo, give up, kiss goodbye*, leave, leave flat*, quit, relinquish, renounce, repudiate, resign, set aside, spurn, surrender. Need I say more on "forsake?"
The last part of that verse says that when we confess and forsake our sins, we will have mercy. God is full of mercy. I'm so glad of that!
We should all confess and forsake our sins. It is only then that the mercy of God cleanses the hidden places of our heart.

Search me, O God,

and know my heart today;

Try me, O Saviour,

know my thoughts, I pray

See if there be

some wicked way in me:

Cleanse me from every sin,

and set me free.

~J.Edwinn Orr and Maori Melody

Pigeons, Babies, And Old Friends

OK, before I get busy writing about our day and sharing pictures, I wanted to let you know that Part II of Purified Seven Times will be on its way soon. There were so many "goodies" in Pastor's sermon tonight that I just could not write it all down in my notes and asked him if I could get a copy of his notes. He kindly obliged. So I'll be getting that hopefully tomorrow if I see him.

Now! On with today....

Justin was expecting a friend to show up here that he hasn't seen in a couple of years so while he stayed here with his Dad to prepare for his company, Hannah, Harrison, and I went to the Library and Museum. The animal spotlighted for this week was the homing pigeon. We watched a 45 minute documentary/story on a pigeon and his owner, had a quick time of Q&A, and then Mr. Saegar let us pet his pigeon. He does not name his pigeons because he has over 300. UGH! He belongs to a local pigeon racing club. Here in the south, the only racing we're actually aware of his NASCAR. So, I was going to ask him questions like, Do you paint their feathers bright colors and give them numbers? or What company does your racing pigeon represent? Tide? Quakerstate? Dupont? But I had friends there and didn't want to embarrass them. Aren't I nice?

This is a little girl that lived next door to us up until a few months ago. She and her Mom and sister showed up just as the presentation was beginning. That's my Hannah on the right.


From left to right is Sis Pam, Sis Tammy, Naomi, Cheyenne, and Caleb. Isn't Caleb dashing in his new glasses?


After we left the museum, we went to the library for a bit and then I took the kids to Love's Fish Box for lunch. I like the set up here in their restaurant. They don't have waitresses. You place your order and get a number along with your cups. While you fill your drinks and get your table, your number is called over the intercom. They pack your dine in order in a take out box and rolls of paper towels, instead of napkins, are on the table. I like that. It's different. And as always, it was very good.


We got home and prepared for Celine and her new little baby sister. I've asked permission to share the new baby's picture, so you all get to see her now. That's Celine on the left and Hannah holding the baby. The baby is doing very good. Growing like a flower and she always has that freshly washed and lotioned baby smell. I love that smell.


Hannah held her most of the time that she was here.


Here she is wide awake. Isn't she just the cutest little thing?


She was actually smiling here. She smiles a LOT. And I'm telling you it is NOT gas. The child smiles constantly.


Just shortly after Celine and the baby arrived, Justin's friend showed up. His name is Brandon. He was also a neighbor that moved away and called to say that he was in town to see his Grandparents and wanted to know if he could spend some time with Justin today. He and Justin picked up right where they left off. Both a little older. Both a little more mature. It was good to see him.

And then of course we had Wednesday prayer meeting and it was so good. I'm really enjoying the Bible series.

Good Manners In Introductions

A good manner often succeeds when the tongue has failed. - Magoon

I am not sure that I know who Magoon is, but he said a mouthful there. Sometimes my mouth runs away with me, but if I have good manners, they usually cover up where my mouth has made a mess. :)

There are right ways and wrong ways to make introductions. If a boy or girl is being introduced, he or she should acknowledge the introduction by saying, "How do you do, Mrs. Smith?" or just, "How do you do?"

If a stranger comes to your home or school and is introduced to you, it is proper to add to "How do you do?" some expression of your pleasure at the meeting, such as, "I am pleased (or glad) to meet you."

If making a former introduction, it is proper to speak both names distinctly as: "Mrs. Smith, may I present Miss Davis?"

Saying the word "present" there sounds so formal for these days, doesn't it? What word do you think you would use in its place?

When introducing a special speaker where there is a head of assembly, say: "Mr. President (or Chairman, or Madam Chairman, if a woman), I have the honor to present Mr. Mason."

A boy or girl should always introduce a friend to his or her parent by simply saying, "This is my father (or mother), Mr. Wilson."

When making any introduction, always use a pleasant tone of voice and smile. And always speak clearly making sure to pronounce the names clearly.

When introduced to another person, always appear to be glad to make their acquaintance. This will help make the other person feel at ease. Also, be sure to include him or her in any conversation at the moment.

Well bred boys or men always rise when being introduced or presented to men or women. Girls and women do not rise unless being introduced to an older lady or distinguished or elderly man. If a boy is introduced to a girl, she may keep her seat.

A bow on the part of the girl or woman should always be acknowledged with a return bow.

I don't think I have ever been bowed to, but I think I'll bow to someone this evening at church. Try it to see what kind of response you get and let me know.

In this country, when men or boys are introduced they usually shake hands. Girls and women may do so, although it is not usually done. If a boy or man is introduced to a girl or woman, it is her privilege to offer her hand if she wishes. Should a man offer his hand, however, then the courteous girl or woman accepts it.

In taking leave of a new acquaintance, the courteous boy or girl says, "Good-bye; I am glad to have met you," and may shake hands. It is proper for the man or boy to reply with a "Thank you" and a few words expressing a hope that they shall meet again. The girl or woman does not add anything to the "Thank you."

I'm planning on putting these into practice soon. How about you?

I've been adding

I've added some links to the sidebar for the Good Manners posts and also the posts for the Faith Baptist Senior Moments. My goal is to spotlight a senior from our church at least once a month. More if I can. Also, I'll be doing more posts on Good Manners for Young Americans. Mainly because there has been so much interest in them. So I just wanted to make you aware of that.

I was going to go to bed when Bruce left for work tonight because I was so exhausted this afternoon. I had another one of those late nights where I didn't get to sleep until 4:30 a m. That kills me every time. You'd think I'd stop doing it! But I was able to get a nap, thanks to my HIT. Homemaker In Training. I picked that term up at Heather's blog, Just Laugh, and thought it was cute. My HIT, Hannah, is 11. She fixed pasta alfredo with chicken and mushrooms. It was very good.

Thank you, Hannah!! You're such a sweet daughter and I love you.

Greer Campmeeting

This is our choir at the Greer Campmeeting. I had it on the youtube website, but was able to figure out how to put it directly on to the blog. I feel much better about that.

A Few More Campmeeting Pictures

The musicians tuning their instruments. That's the back of my Mother's head there in the brown and blue striped dress.


Pastor Goodman talking with Sis Nancy. The man you see there sitting down and the lady you see sitting next to him (isn't the back of her head lovely) is Brother Randy and Sis Kelly Ross. They are the ones that run the Teens 4 Christ Ministry on the Internet.


A few of our church orchestra made it to play at the meeting. Hannah is on the end in the brown sparkly vest there in front. Justin is the second head to the right on the back row. LOL

Greer Baptist Campmeeting

I always upload my pictures backwards as to when I took them so that they're in order when you view them. But Blogger won't let me upload any more pictures, so I guess this is Part I but really Part II. Anyway, enjoy these few pictures and I'll post some more when Blogger allows.

Caleb, Harrison, and Nicole playing in the wood shavings off the floor. Oh what fun!!


Before the meeting started, Pastor and Brother Joe Arther greet each other.


Let's begin the meetin!


Praying around the alter to get the meetin started. This was just one side. I love to hear a lot of men praying. Someone remarked that they knew someone who didn't like it because it sounded like a lot of confusion. To the human ear, they would be correct, but God hears and understands every single word being prayed.


Sons of Faith were asked to sing tonight. They sang "And Now I Know" and "So Good." They did a great job. They'll be working on a CD this week. They're looking forward to that.



Who has their Bible tonight??


I could NOT understand what this preacher's name was. McBright, McBride, Macbride, etc...I wish I could have understood. They said it several times and I never could make it out. I need to clean my ears out. But regardless of what his name was, the man could PREACH! He preached out of Matthew where the woman's daughter was posessed by demons and she asked the Lord to have mercy on herself because her daughter was vexed with demons. One of the things that got me, and he wasn't really even preaching on this, but it was the attitude of the disciples when this lady approached Christ. Read the story. Matthew 15. And when you do read the story, look at the attitude of the mother when Christ calls her a dog! It's really amazing and makes you stop and think.


Of course there were refreshments after the service. Pizza, hotdogs, sodas, and snacks. Baptists can't get together without a refreshment following. :)


Here's Justin after he ate and Mrs. Plank. She's one of our Senior Saints. She was a little girl in Germany during WWII. I'll be highlighting her as one of my Faith Baptist Senior Moments posts soon.


Here's Jennifer pretending to eat Jonathan's ice cream cone. YUM! She'll probably kill me for putting this on the blog, but then she's a pretty good sport about such things. Jonathan gave her a preengagement ring a couple of weeks ago.

The Original White House Cook Book

A few years ago, my Mother gave me a coffee table book called The Original White House Cook Book. It's a nice thick book and though it has no real SET recipes, it is loaded with the kitchen history of the White House and little tid bits to make life easier and more pleasant "back in the day."

I thought some of these things were interesting and thought you would too. For instance, I like to use Infusium on my hair. Just run to Wal Mart, pick up a bottle, and head on home. But "back in the day" they would make their own "hair wash:"

One penny worth of borax, half a pint of olive oil, one pint of boiling water. Pour the boiling water over the borax and oil; let it cool; then put the mixture into a bottle. Shake it before using, and apply it with a flannel. Camphor and borax, dissolved in boiling water and left to cool, make a very good wash for the hair; as also does rosemary water mixed with a littel borax. After using any of these washes, when the hair becomes thoroughly dry, a little pomatum or oil sould be rubbed in to make it smooth and glossy--that is, if one prefers oil on the hair.

I'm assuming this is when the excuse of "I'm washing my hair that night" came into existance. What do you think?

And here is why Mary Kay does so well on their facial products. Imagine having to make this complexion wash to clean your face:

Put in a vial, one drachm of benzoin gum in powder, one drachm nutmeg oil, six drops of orange-blossom tea, or apple blossoms, put in half pint of rain-water and boiled down to one teaspoonful and strained, one pint of sherry wine. Bathe the face morning and night; will remove all flesh worms and freckles, and give a beautiful complexion. Or, put one ounce of powdered gum of benzoin in a pint of whiskey; to use, put in water in wash-bowl till it is milky, allowing it to dry without wiping. This is perfectly harmless.
Cream cures sun-burn onsome complexions, lemon juice is best on others, and cold water suits still others best.

Flesh worms? EWW! Is there anyone that can explain that one?

Tough Love vs Spanking

I got this in an email today and thought it was worth sharing.


~ Tough Love vs. Spanking ~
(a psychological conundrum)

Most of America's populace think it improper to spank children,
so I have tried other methods to control my kids when they have one of "those moments."

One that I found effective is for me to just take the child
for a car ride and talk.!

They usually calm down and stop misbehaving
after our car ride together.

I've included a photo below of one of my sessions
with my son, in case you would like to use the technique. Just scroll down to view this very effective technique.

What I Wake Up To

I've seen several posts on what people see when they wake up in the morning so I thought I would do the same.

If I wake up on my left side, I see my dresser and the beautiful shutters my hubby made for me last year. Aren't they pretty? On my dresser I have a lamp that was given to me by a friend, two pictures of me and Bruce, one of which you can't see, a victorian figurine, clock, votive lamp, and several candles. My favorite candle there is the Home Interior Baked Apple Candle in a Jar.

If I wake up on my right side, I see our closet doors. For those of you who know me, you know I like and have to count things by twos and fours or just count things in general. When I wake up in the morning and see my closet doors I count the blocks by four several times before I get up. ....I know....CRAZY. But that's just me. :) Now EVERYONE knows my secret.

Fried Green Tomatoes...Mighty Good Fixins!

Living in the south is the closest place to Heaven on earth. Just one reason for that is because we have some of the best cookin the world. When we have a main dish there's always a variety of "fixins" to go with it. Tonight while eating supper with my Mother-in-law and Bruce's Aunt Sue and Aunt Dessie, we started talking about fried green tomatoes and I wondered if there was a recipe on the Internet for it. Guess what? There was! Now that everyone is blogging about their vegetables and such, it's obvious that this would be the best time to try out this recipe. If you're not a southerner, you'll wanna be after you taste these mighty good fixins!

Ingredients

-4 green tomatoes, thickly sliced

-1/2 cup all purpose flour

-1/4 cup yellow cornmeal

-1 egg

-1/3 cup milk

-salt and pepper, to taste

-Oil, for frying

Directions

-Preheat oven to 200 degrees

-Mix flour, corn meal, salt and pepper in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat egg and milk until combined.

-Over medium heat, add enough oil to cover bottom of frying pan by about 1/4" deep. Dip sliced tomato into egg mixture covering both sides.

-Place prepared tomato into preheated frying pan. Cook each side of the tomato until golden brown and crusty. Keep fried tomatoes in preheated oven until ready to serve.

More Good Manners......

Per request of Tami from Mamma's Quiet Time, here are a few more entries from Good Manners for Young Americans.

The elderly are special people to me and so I have chosen entries from the chapter titled Good Manners With Older People. Now, I'm sure this is not intended JUST for the elderly, but children today need to learn respect and courtesy toward the older generation. This, of course, is my humble opinion. :O)

Rise when older people enter the room and see that they are comfortably seated before you sit down. Be especially courteous when conversing with older people. Never interrupt them.

Pupils, either boys or girls, who happen to be at the door when a teacher approaches, open the door for the teacher, and, should the teacher be carrying anything heavy, boys offer to carry it. Always stand aside for an older person to pass through a doorway.

When you get to school, go at once to your seat; get to work immediately without the teacher having to tell you!

The books and papers on a teacher's desk belong to her or to the school. You have no more right to read any writing she may have left on her desk than you have to read other people's letters.

Do not answer a question addressed to some one else. Do not make fun of another's mistakes. Remember, He who laughs at other's woes, Finds few friends and many foes!

Always rise when addressing your school teacher, principal, or Sunday School Teacher. I thought that one was interesting because this was a school text book and they made reference to the Sunday School teacher. That was good.

Opening the door for a young lady or older person, is an act of a gentleman.

Ok, this is my favorite one for the day. This one needs to be taught to ALL children today. Everytime my kids go away from me I always tell them, "Remember your name." In other words, what people see in your actions reflect on me and and your dad. But more importantly, it refelcts on Christ.
Do not cast a poor reflection on your parents and school by failing to be courteous in all situations.

Turn Your Radio On!

I'm so thrilled! If you don't have your volume on, turn it up now! Teens-4-Christ radio has graciously allowed me to put their radio on my blog. THANKS, y'all!! This is music from our church, other meetings they have attended and some of their favorites. I hope you all enjoy it. I definitely am!! There are a few people who haven't been able to hear and it is because they have dial up. Sorry.

Good Manners For Young Americans

I recently purchased an old text book called Good Manners For Young Americans at a yard sale. I have this thing for old text books and usually purchase them if they have a copyright before 1940. This one has a copyright date of 1932 and I thought it would be fun to share a few entries of the things they were teaching in our school system at that time. This is taken from the Chapter titled Good Manners in Public Places. HA! I'd like to see how children today would react if our schools brought these text books back into the classroom.

Care for your finger nails, your face, your hair in your room at home, not in any public place. After making your toilet as well as you can, forget it.

There is no other place in which the spirit of courtesy seems so lacking as in our trolley cars, elevated trains and subways. In getting on a car, stand aside, and let those who are infirm or older precede you. Always rise to give your seat to a much older person, to a cripple or to a mother with a child.

OK, this one is my favorite. I'm a gum chewer so now I feel ashamed.....But I'll still probably stop at the convenient store on my way to church Sunday and purchase some spearmint chewing gum.

Never chew gum in cars or in other public places. If you must chew gum, let it be within the privacy of your own room.

Bruce and I have noticed that with this generation of children there is absolutely no respect for the adult strangers they come into contact with. Not necessarily YOUR child. I'm speaking of this generation in general. We get frustrated when we wave at a youth and they look at us like they could throw a rock through our car.

Greet parents of your friends or older people of your acquaintances with a pleasant, "Good morning, Mrs. S$mith." "Hello!" is not a courteous greeting to an older person.

If you are a good citizen, you will, of course, not throw trash or paper into the street, but will carry it to cans provided for the purpose. BOY, wouldn't it be nice if we saw more of that?

American boys and girls should take enough pride in their own property and in the property of others to keep things in order.


They've stopped teaching these things in our schools, but we still have the right to teach them in our home.

Kitchen Survey

I found this on another blog and thought I'd do it too. So, thanks Tori, for the idea. :) If you'd like to check out her blog, which I have enjoyed very much, just click here. She's a Missionary wife in Croatia and I can tell she's a sweet lady and someone I would love to meet one day!

1. How many meals does most of your family eat at home each week?
I cook pretty much all week long. We only go out if we're going to be out during the supper or lunch hour or if Bruce and I go out on a date.

2. How many cookbooks do you own?
44 published including the Food and Family Magazines I spotlighted a couple of posts back, 1 homemade handwritten recipe journal with my favorite recipes given to me by my mother, mother-in-law and friends, and one homemade notebook of recipes retrieved through emails and websites.

3. When you cook, do you follow the recipe pretty closely, or do you use recipes primarily to give you ideas?
I usually follow closely when baking, but for the most part, I change things here and there to my family's liking.

4. What's your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation?

Probably using the food processor or any of my pampered chef products. That's always fun.

5. Do you plan menus before you shop?
Not really. I know the things we like and just try to keep stocked up on certain ingredients that I know I'll be using. If I know I'm going to follow a certain recipe, then I'll write down what I need before shopping.

6. What are your three favorite kitchen tools or appliances?
Food processor, PC rolling pin, PC can opener and also the PC stone....I know, that's four. But there are many more I enjoy using.

7. If you could buy one new thing for your kitchen, money was no object, and space not an issue, what would you most like to have?
Probably the PC utinsel caddy. My drawer is so full and I really need one to hold my stuff. That would be great. Not very exciting, but that's what I would get.

8. Since money and space probably are objects, what are you most likely to buy next?
I have no idea. I'm pretty content with my kitchen at this time. :)

9. Do you have a separate freezer for storage?
No, but I would LOVE to have one. That would be so great!

10. Grocery shop alone or with others?
Sometimes I go with my kids, but usually I go alone.

11. How many meatless main dish meals do you fix in a week?
Breakfast is the only meal we don't have meat unless I cook breakfast. And that's not often. Our other meals always have meat. We're a meat and potato kind of family. All except Harrison. He's an herbavore.

12. If you have a decorating theme in your kitchen, what is it? Favorite kitchen colors?
I used to do cows, but that got old. So I mooooooved all my cows to a consignment shop and decorated in florals. I don't really have a favorite "kitchen color" but my kitchen is pink and I LOVE the color pink.

13. What's the first thing you ever learned to cook, and how old were you?
Betty Crocker cake. I THINK I was 11 or 12.

Purified Seven Times Part I

A few weeks ago, Pastor Goodman mentioned that he wanted to do a series on the King James Bible and how it has been translated seven times to perfection, and needs not to be translated ever again. Other translations are wrong and have not been ordained by God.

I've been looking forward to this series so much and have decided to do a post on it. So be watching the Wednesday evening or Thursday posts. When you believe something, you should know why you believe it. And this is something that is important to me. I've always read and used the KJB because I was brought up on it. My Daddy always said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" So I'm looking forward to this series and I hope you will enjoy the posts on them. I pray the Lord will guide my fingers as I do them and the Light of the WORD will be magnified.

Pastor began his series with a little history. So here we go....

Psalm 12:6 says, "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." If you want to know what God thinks about His WORD, just look at the first part of that verse. He says they are PURE words.

The King James Bible is the seventh translation and the number seven, when seen in the Bible, is the number of completion and perfection. Again, see the verse above! Neat, huh?? There were 47 men that translated this version and these men voted 47 to nothing that it was perfected.

The Roman Catholic Church suppressed the translation of the Bible except in Latin, keeping people in the dark concerning the scripture. Hence The Dark Ages.

At that time, the scripture was read by only the clergy of the Catholic Church and there were only fragments of it circulating. John Whitcliffe, a former Catholic priest, began to translate the scriptures into English, by hand. Sometimes on wooden paper. Can you imagine? There were no printing presses so in order to get the WORD out, he had to hand write it. Anyway, Whitcliffe was inspired by a man name Peter Waldo. He was a leader of a group of Christians known as the first AnaBaptists. They preached against baptizing babies into salvation, among other things, which made them outlaws in the eyes of the Catholic church. They would hide in caves and anywhere else they would be safe. Around 500 Bibles were in translation and circulating when they were seized and translated back into Latin by the Catholic church.

Baptist are not protestant. They were never part of the Catholic church which means they never had to protest anything. They just preached the truth and ran for their lives because of it. We just wanted a Bible!

When these AnaBaptists were hiding in the woods, Pope Innocent VIII smoked the woods to draw out the Christians and slaughter them. This day, called The Saint Bartholomew Day, was established to be a holiday and celebrated among the Catholic church. It is still celebrated in the Catholic Church today. This Pope wasn't so innocent, was he?

300 Christians were slaughtered so that their blood soaked the ground and the people who watched and participated in these slaughters were walking on soft ground of bloody mud.

Besides being burned at the stake, did you know that Christians found reading the scriptures were arrested by the Catholic church, tied by their hands and feet, and were slowly sawed in half? Some of them, and their children, were wrapped in animal skin soaked in water and thrown into the woods to be mauled and eaten alive by wild animals. If they were left alone, the heat from the sun would dry the skin and it would contract to suffocate them. All because they wanted to read the TRUTH. And most Christians today won't even carry a tract on them to share with someone else.

I'm thankful for the men, women, and children that died for my Blessed Old Book!

The first translation was finalized in 1384. There are six more to come!

Recipes, Recipes, And More Recipes

Are you constantly looking for recipes that use every day items found in your cabinet? Well, look no more! I've been receiving Kraft's Food & Family magazine for a long time now. And I just love this magazine! I've kept every one of them and use the recipes in them often.

If you're interested in receiving it in the mail, just go to Kraft's website and sign up for it. It's free and comes several times a year. I really think you'll enjoy it. I know I do!

Hannah's Father's Day Poem

I say it's her poem, but she actually copied it. Hannah loves to read poetry so I wasn't surprised that she found one on Fathers and wanted to share it with her Daddy for Father's Day. She found a typewriter in Justin's room that had been tucked away and exposed this weekend. She was curious as to how it worked. She quickly figured it out and said, "Mom, is it OK if I use this little machine to copy a poem for Dad?" I got so tickled at that. Have we come so far in technology that our children don't know what a typewriter is? Well, anyway, I thought that was cute. Here's the poem.

Fathers Are Wonderful People

Fathers are wonderful people

too little understood,

we do not sing their praises as often as we should.

For, somehow, father seems to be

the man who pays the bills,

while mother binds up little hurts,

and nurses all our ills.

And father struggles daily

to live up to his image.

As protector and provider,

and HERO of the scrimmage.

And perhaps that is the reason

we sometimes get the notion,

that fathers are not subject,

to the thing we call emotion.

But if you look inside Dad's heart,

where no one else can see,

you will find he's sentimental,

and as soft as he can be.

But he's so busy every day,

in the grueling race of life,

he leaves the sentimental stuff,

to his partner and his wife.

But fathers are just wonderful,

in a million different ways.

And like our Heavenly Father,

he's a guardian and guide,

someone we can count on

to be always by our side.

Just A Few More

Justin with my parents.

My niece Taylor and Hannah....They're the same age but Hannah's a little short for her age...so that explains the height difference.

Justin and his best friend Jeremy. They would NOT cooperate with the picture taking and when they wanted to I told them an emphatic NO and posted this one! HA! Oh, they had been jumping on the trampoline so that explains the obvious. LOL

Happy Birthday, Justin

The cake!

The ceremonial ritual of blowing out the candles!

Reading the card that Taylor gave him.

Reading a card from Grandparents!

Paw Paw with Hannah and Taylor

The Grandmothers!

The proud Dad.

Justin dipped me for sugars. I could have DIED!

The proud Mama (me) and her baby boy.

Hannah bought Justin a new UNC hat. GO TARHEELS!

Hannah giving Justin a Birthday hug while Harrison waits for his. Ohhhhh, how sweet.
Justin wanted money so we're going shopping later today.

A Real Family Reunion

Bruce's brother, Mitch, was in from Virginia and came to our house for Justin's Birthday get-to-gether. This is Mitch's son, Jackson.


His son Jonathan.


Giving goodbye hugs.


Mitch and Bruce


Mitch, my mother-in-law, Marie, and Bruce.

Father's Day Part 2

Bruce makes sockets for Craftsman tools and because of the season, he ended up working Saturday night. Well, anyway, the children were waiting for him on the front porch at 6:30 while I cooked breakfast for him. We had biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, livermush and bacon and milk. If you don't know what livermush is, it's a mushy breakfast meat made here in NC and mostly in these parts. It's so good. It sounds nasty, but when you fry it up right, it's delicious! Anyway, in this picture, Bruce was covering his face because he was crying. They were tears of thankfulness that he had a family that loves him and appreciates him. It was so sweet.

Laughing at a card that Hannah picked out for him. Without going into detail....it flushes.

Reading a card from the kids that had a litter of pups on the front that looked like Tipsy and of course her name was signed to it.

Reading the card from me. He didn't have anything to open because he wants me to take him shopping on his next day off. So, he got $$$. He was happy with that and I'm looking forward to going out with him to buy that special something.

A Family Reunion

Tipsy had a family reunion with her siblings yesterday. Her brother Tucker is biting the duck, Shy is on Justin's lap and Tipsy is wrestling with Dolly. Aren't they cute?

Father's DayPart 1

My brother John putting together a fan for my parents. Daddy stays hot and even though the AC was on and five ceiling fans throughout the house, two of which are in the kitchen, he still went to Wal Mart after church and bought this fan for the kitchen. We all had icicles on our noses when we left.

Father's Day was also Justin's birthday so his brother and sister and cousin, Taylor decided to decorate him with silly string. They took him totally by surprise. He was just sitting in the corner and they came out of no where and started spraying him. It was so hilarious.

The decorated Birthday Boy!

Daddy with his Father's Day gift from my brother John and his family. This was the perfect size and in one of Daddy's favorite colors. We bought him a new duffle bag to carry all of his things back and forth to dialysis and also some snacks for his "rat's nest" next to his chair. :)

Harrison

My niece Taylor and my Mommy. Taylor is my brother Larry's daughter.

Hannah

Daddy reading a card from Mom. Mom bought him a new DVD player and two DVD's besides giving him $$$ to spend on himself.

My brother John
My sister in law, Jenny and her daughter, Amber
Justin playing guitar. At evening service, Pastor called all the teens who went to camp up on the platform and asked those who wanted to testify to please do so. There were around 20 that went this year. Justin was about the third teen up to speak and told the church that the Lord dealt with him Monday night about some things in his Christian life that he needed to get settled and that Brother RJ had talked with him about these things and prayed with him. Other teens testified that they didn't want to go but their parents made them and they cried during their testimony that if they had not gone, they would have missed what God had for just them that week. One teen said that the way the camp is set up, you have to carry your Bible every where you go because you're going to need it. They had fun, but the camp submerges them in scripture and what we saw last night during testimonies was a blessing. There were parents that stood up and said that their child didn't want to go and they didn't make them and now they're regretting it because their child missed out on a week of spiritual growth. It was a very moving service. Many people at the alter. Many people testifying. It was so good.

He's Back!

Justin made it safely home from camp this afternoon. His cheeks were red form the sun and it was so good to see him. His birthday is Sunday and I can hardly believe he'll be 14.

The camp he attended this year was Mount Moriah. It is owned and operated by Crown College of Tennessee, Brother Clarence Sexton's school. Justin said the Lord dealt with him on Monday about some things and that the Lord burdened his heart, especially for one little boy here on our street. His name is Tyler. Please pray for Justin as he witnesses to Tyler and pray for Tyler that he will open his heart to what the Lord would have Justin say to him.

For all of those who are wondering, last year Justin came home from camp and jumped in our van. I said, "Justin, where are your bags?" He said, "Oh yeah! They're on the trailer." So he gets out of the van and waits for all the luggage to be taken off the trailer. Guess what? No luggage for Justin. No sleeping bag for Justin. No pillow for Justin. All he had with him was the clothes he was wearing and his Bible. At least he remembered his Bible! The camp was kind enough to send back his bag and Hannah brought home his pillow and sleeping bag when she went to camp a couple of weeks later. A few months later our choir sang at a church in Elizabethton, TN and when we got home he realized he had left his dress shoes at the hotel. We never saw those again. LOL Well, this year, you'll be happy to know, he brought EVERYTHING back and in good condition. YAY! We've had a breakthrough!

On a sadder note, the door for the batteries on his camera would't stay shut and therefore he could not get any pictures. The camera kept shutting off because of it. I am so disappointed in that, but hey, at least he brought his camera back!

We'll be celebrating his birthday Saturday with cake and ice cream. His Grandparents will be coming as well as his buddy Jeremey and my husband's baby brother and his two sons. They're in from Virginia Beach this weekend for his sister-in-law's baby shower. He is an officer in the USNavy. I should have pictures to share tomorrow night.

Hope you all have a great Saturday!

Watermelon Did It

Harrison has been working on losing his first tooth for a couple of months now. Last night, while eating watermelon, his tooth fell out into his bowl. Boy was he shocked! Of course he put it under his pillow last night and received a dollar for it. Then this evening we ran into Brother Johnny and Mrs. Vondie at Wal Mart (where else?) and Brother Johnny gave him two dollars. He was happy about that and bought some bubbles in a coke bottle and a wallet to put his last dollar in.

Bruce has his daily devotion when he gets up every afternoon. I have to admit that I get tickled because he reads his devotions out loud. I suppose it helps him retain more. But it's funny because we're all going about our daily routine trying to keep quiet while he reads...aloud. To be honest, we all get tickled because he reads with many voice inflections. Even though I get tickled, I'm glad that he reads out loud because that gives us all a little extra Bible lesson. :) He'll read a daily devotion from the Baptist Bread as well as extra Bible reading and then he'll read a chapter from an Oliver B. Greene book. I believe the book he's reading now is The Epistle of Paul The Apostle to the Philippians. When he was finished with his devotions he shared this little story that had been ripped out of another book and placed inside the Oliver B. Greene book.....

A bank in Binghamtom, New York, had some flowers sent to a competitor who had recently moved into a new building. There was a mixup at the flower shop, and the card sent with the arrangement read, "With our deepest sympathy."

The florist, who was greatly embarassed, apologized. But he was even more embarassed when he realized that the card intended for the bank was attached to a floral arrangement sent to a funeral home in honor of a deceased person. That card read, "Congrautlations on your new location."

To every believer who dies, it would be appropriate to say, "Congratulations on your new location."

Someday my earthly house will fall -

I cannot tell how soon 'twill be;

But this I know - my All in All

Has now a place in Heaven for me.

~Fanny Crosby~

Happy Flag Day!

June 14 is Flag Day.

Flag Day is observed each year in the United States on June 14 to celebrate the national flag. The first annual celebration of the U.S. flag is believed to have been introduced by Bernard Cigrand, a Wisconsin schoolteacher in 1885. Flag Day celebrations gained in popularity throughout the late 1880s and the 1890s. In 1889, the New York State Board of Education adopted Flag Day as an annual holiday. In 1891 Flag Day celebrations were held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the former home of Betsy Ross, the reputed designer of the first American flag. In 1894 the governor of New York ordered that the American flag be displayed at all public buildings in the state on June 14. Thereafter, many state and local governments began observing Flag Day. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first nationwide Flag Day in 1916. In 1947 President Harry S. Truman signed legislation requesting that National Flag Day be observed annually. Flag Day is a legal holiday in Pennsylvania only.

I had one more picture that Blogger wouldn't let me put on yesterday. So here it is today. This is my niece Jessica. She's the youngest of my brother's step-daughters. She has a sister, Amber, but she was working Sunday so I didn't get a picture of her. They are both sweet and beautiful girls. Jessica will be a junior in highschool next year and Amber will be a senior. Jessica is almost 6 feet tall and is in the Air Force ROTC at her highschool.

More pictures

My nephew Michael with Harrison.


My sister-in-law, Jenny. Daddy was holding her face
so that he knew she was listening to his story.


Harrison before he walked in with his group.


Our church orchestra. It's a little bigger, but the organ
was blocking the view. That's my Daddy on the end
blowing his trumpet.


Here come the graduates!


Our choir singing "I'm Not Ashamed."
I'm not ashamed to stand and say that I love Jesus
I'm not ashamed to say, I'm trusting in His WORD
I'm not ashamed to lift up high the blood stained banner
Because I'm saved, I'm not ashamed.


Besides the graduates being honored, those who had received
special academic awards from their school are also honored
and asked to come to stand on the platform. These were
the children honored for that. The church got kind of cracked
up when my children got the Perfect Attendance award. (Don't
forget they're homeschooled!)

K L, a kindergarten graduate receiving her Bible

from Pastor.

Sunday's Pictures

Blogger won't let me upload any more images at this time. When it starts letting me do that again, I will post the rest of the pictures from this service.

The Pastor gives all the graduates a new Bible. Here he is giving one to
A L


My Harrison



H D. She's a homeschool Kinder-Grad too


Bradley Richard, Cramerton Christian Academy.
He will be studying Music at Crown Bible College in Tn


Jennifer Dyer, Crest High School. She has been accepted
for a 2 year nursing program at GW. She'll be receiving four
years of knowledge in two....Pray for her!


Robert Morrison, Crest High School. He plans to attend
a local college. His father missed his graduation last Wed.
for having a heart attack on Monday. But he's doing good
and was able to be at church Sunday to see him honored
by Pastor Goodman.


Josh Erwin, Gaffney High School. Graduated with honors
and will be going to school to become a veterinarian. He is
one of five brothers, three of which are all in the military.
He is on the platform with his Autistic brother, Christopher.
There was a write up in a local paper of how Josh would take his
brother back and forth to the special olympics and how he
supports Christopher in everything. Sweet kids.


Brother John Cohen. I believe he received his Masters. Pastor
said he had plenty of Bibles so the church gave him the early
edition of a Noah Webster's Dictionary. Very nice!


Here are the Sons Of Faith. That's Spencer on the end
next to Justin and then Bradley and Mark are behine the
pulpit. I couldn't get a good picture because I was in the
front of the church and didn't want to stand up to do it.


And last but not least...John O'Malley the Ninth. He
is our Homeschool Graduate for the year 2007 and the son of
Brother John and Sister Kim. He likes cheese and ketchup. He
plays the saxophone in our church orchestra and is learning to
play the guitar and harmonica. He is a very good Christian young
man and our church loves him!

My Weekend

Sunday morning, Bruce taught the second part of his "Do's And Don'ts Of A Happy Marriage" in Sunday School. I said before he's never taught, so this was a great experience for him. He did good last week, but it was even better this week and he ended it very well. I was very proud of him. But we're looking forward to Brother Ken being back from vacation and picking up where he left off on the gates of Jerusalem. You'd be surprised how the gates of Jerusalem can be applied to the marriage and relationships in general.

Between services, we had dinner at Mom and Dad's. She fixed the BEST lasanga. It was so good! Thanks Mom! After we ate, Bruce and I took Justin to pick up some last minute things for camp while Hannah and Harrison stayed with their grandparents and napped. After we picked up the things he needed, we drove on to the church because I needed to be there for the Daughters of Faith to help them practice some new songs.

Sunday night we had a special service to honor the graduates in our church. Harrison was one of those graduates. I have some pictures but haven't downloaded them yet, so when I get those downloaded I'll share them with you.

When we came home, I finished doing some laundry so Justin would have clean jeans for camp. We got in bed really late and got up really early to finish packing his bag. Finally, after eating, brushing his teeth, finding his hat and changing his pants, he was ready to go!!!!

"Got your Bible?"
"Yes, Maam."
"Got your sleeping bag and pillow?"
"Yes, Maam."
"Got your wallet?"
"Yes, Maam."
"Toothbrush, deodorant, and soap?"
Sighing with a smile, "Yes, Maam."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

On the way to the church I asked him if he wanted to stop and get a soda for the road trip. He did. So we stopped at the Exxon near the church and Justin ran inside. He was in there a minute and came out with a bewildered look on his face and no drink. Why? Because when he changed his pants before leaving the house, he left his wallet in them. Oh dear! The bus pulls out in ten minutes and it will take thirty to run back to the house for the wallet and get back. Bruce asked him how much money he had in it. Fortunately, Bruce had that amount in his wallet. So, it ended up working out because Bruce was able to give Justin HIS wallet and the money he had. Bruce said he needed a new wallet anyway. Aren't Dads great? Let's just hope he brings his clothes back this year....Long story.

After dropping Justin off, I brought Bruce back home and Pam picked up Hannah, Harrison, and me to go to Carowinds. It was Friend Day for those who had a Season's Pass so we were the friends they chose to take. We had a really good time. We looked so nice and neat when we left and by the time we got home we looked like drowned rats. How lovely we were! We didn't get home until sometime after ten. Thanks, Pam!

So that was my weekend. How was yours?

Don't Forget The Paddle

I did a dumb thing the other day. We decided it was time to enjoy some homemade ice cream. At our house this is one sure way to liven up a dull day, for we all love it.

It's strange, isn't it, that in all the years people have been selling ice cream not one company has been able to market a product that even begins to compare with homemade ice cream. Brenda asked me why the other day, and I didn't know how to answer her. It just seems that this is one delicacy that requires the loving care of home folks. Some even argue that you have to turn the crank by hand really to get the best result, but we have gone electric at our house, perhaps to our loss.

Honestly now, can you think of any taste in this world more delightful than the first scrapings from the paddle after you pull it out of the freezer? It's a good thing the ingredients are so expensive, or I would be twice my present size, happily spooning my way to obesity.

Our freezer had been turning for half an hour when I stopped it to take a look. Something told me that all was not well. I lifted the lid, peered hopefully inside, and then to my chagrin, discovered my dumb mistake. I hadn't put the paddle in!

All that potential recipe was resting on the bottom, freezing to the sides, but not about to be converted into ice cream!

With some frantic maneuvers we managed to recover some of our loss, but I learned one important lesson: You can't make ice cream without the paddle. There must be something to stir up the ingredients.

Now, you're wondering what application I'm going to make of that. Isn't it obvious? There is still the need in Christian homes for the use of a paddle now and then. There is no other way, really, to take the delightful ingredients that make up a young child and to convert that child into the pleasing, satisfying, God-honoring adult we will be proud to present to the world. The Bible supports the idea of firm discipline given by loving parents. Many of our world problems today are undoubtedly partly because somebody forgot the paddle.

There is also this application we might suggest: Anything worth doing requires some constant stirring. The Apostle Paul told Timothy to stir up the gift that was in him. If the Lord has bestowed gifts upon us - and it is certain that He has - let's make sure we stir them up. Don't leave the paddle out.

~Wendell E. Kent

Proverbs 22:6

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

This story and application was taken from the book Under Construction which can be ordered through the Sword of the Lord. I love this book because of all it's little treasures tucked inside.

A Faith Baptist "Senior Moment"

I don't have a special thing to write about today, but I do have a special SOMEbody to write about. I don't know if you ever talk to the Senior Saints in your church, but you would be surprised at what you can learn from them if you'll just take the time to listen to them. Most of the time they'll begin by telling you about their ailments and their eyes will sink just a little. But if you pepper them with quesitons about the times when they were young, their eyes grow bright and before you know it, they're spilling out their entire childhood.

One particular lady in our church is Mrs. Massmore. I hope I spelled her name correctly. She's a sweet little lady and every time you see her, she'll be wearing a hat. Does it match her outfit? Usually not. Does she care? Nope! She just likes her hats. I remember having a bag of hats that, I believe, my mother had given to me, and I thought to myself, I bet Mrs. Massmore would like these. So I took them to her the following Sunday and you would have thought she was given a gold mine.

Her health had begun to decline so she moved to a residential place where she can only come to church one service a week. She chose Wednesday nights. This Wednesday, I had my camera to take some pictures of our homeschoolers, and I decided I would take a couple of Mrs. Massmore before I got around to the homeschoolers. BTW, I never did get around to the homeschoolers because my batteries went dead....but not before I got a picture of Mrs. Massmore!!

She was telling me that her father was one of the last circuit riding preachers and how fun it would be traveling as a family in their open buggy to near by or far away camp meetings. And how her daddy would be preaching and if any one of the eight children were talking or making faces or doing anything they shouldn't be doing during a service, he would come from around the pulpit and scold them openly. "And if that happened..." she said, "...you could expect a good whipping later."

Then she told me about her hats. Apparently, she grew up wearing hats everytime she was outside. She said her mother would say, "Eber, (pronounced with the short vowel "e") get your hat on, girl. You'll catch your germ." So she doesn't wear hats just because she likes them. She wears them because her mother told her to. She's still obeying her mother long after she's been gone. What a sweet lady and what a great story teller.

And just so you'll know, Mrs. Massmore assured me that "Eber" is a Bible name, found in the book of Genesis.

No Surgery....Yet

I just got off the phone with Amanda, Celine's mother. She did not have her surgery today. Without going into detail, the doctor wants some other things done before the surgery. If these other things work, the body may heal itself and no surgery will be needed. This is what she's hoping and praying for so please make her a matter of your every day prayer life. This has been a difficult and emotional time for Sis Amanda and she would covet all your prayers.

It's nearly 10:30 and I have a BIG day tomorrow so I'm going to get off here and try to get some sleep since I didn't get to sleep until 4:00AM this morn, thanks to my lazy day! I will NEVER do that again! Well, "never" may be a tad bit much. ;)

Have a great evening!

Confession

I can't believe I'm going to confess this, but today was a L-A-Z-Y day! I went to bed last night as soon as I finished posting my blog just after 9:55, which is very early for me. Because Bruce works third shift I find it difficult to drift off to sleep, but last night I had no problems at all. I got up when he came home from work at 6:30 and took the puppy out to potty and then I went back to bed and didn't get up until 9:30. I piddled around the house for a little bit and went BACK to bed at a few minutes after 12:00 and didn't get up until 3:00. That's when I started supper. Ironically, I fixed breakfast for supper. But you know, I feel so energized now. So there's no telling what time I'll hit the hay tonight. We're all cleaning the house right now. OK, well, I'm posting on this blog, but before I sat down to do that, I sprayed my shower with Tilex so I'm giving it time to settle in real good.

After we clean the house I'll walk on the treadmill for a little bit while I read a book I picked up at the Library. It looked like it would be an OK read, but you never know.

Justin signed up to be a junior usher. He started that tonight. I'm proud of him for taking that initiative to serve in the church. I don't know how many boys signed up and if this will be an every Wednesday occurrence or what the schedule will be, but he and the other junior ushers did a mighty fine job tonight.

Tomorrow I'll be babysitting both Mary Elizabeth and her brother Caleb, taking Justin to cut his Grandmother's yard, and hopefully getting my grocery shopping done. We'll see though. Thursday is a really tough day to get to the grocery store, although I do try because that's my favorite day to go. Does anyone REALLY have a favorite day to go grocery shopping? Well, you know what I mean....everyone has that day they prefer to go and Thursday is mine.

Enough rambling. Have a great night, morning, or day, depending on when you read this.

OH! ONE MORE THING....I added something new to my blog. If you'll scroll down a little bit, you'll see where I've added a verse for the day. It will update itself every day. So be sure to find it when you read my Thimble Thoughts!

SEE YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Forgot My Camera!!!!

Mrs. Janet called today to say that the church van was in the shop and give me directions to the church that the boys were singing at this evening. BTW, it was Oak Grove Baptist in Cherryville. I found it with no problems, I'll have you know. But I'm not good with directions so I was scared to drive and I was so focused on it, that I forgot my camera. So no pictures tonight.....SORRY!

The boys did great and I was so glad that there was a visible difference between the boys in this church and our boys. And I don't mean that in a conceited way. I mean that I'm thankful that there are boys like the Sons Of Faith that stand out and represent Christ and aren't ashamed to stand up and look like Godly young men. It can be done. You do not have to conform to the world to present God. They are proof of that.

Anyway, the service was really good. Brother Mike Holcomb, the bass singer for the Inspirations, was the preacher for this church's revival. He is such a good preacher. I've heard him at our own church and he was just as good tonight as he was then. His sermon was out of Psalm 39:7 and his title was "Things Worth Waiting For."

A Message
A Moving
A Morning

It was a very good sermon and I enjoyed it and needed it.

Vets, Flowers, and Singing

A couple of days after we got Tipsy, my brother called to say that one of her siblings had Parvo. It looked hopeful for her at first, but she ended up dying. So we were pretty scared that Tipsy would come down with it. We had to watch her for two weeks and she's still susceptible to it. However, so far she's been fine. She had her checkup yesterday and the vet said she looked very good. She's almost 12 pounds now and she'll be, on average, 70 lbs by the time she's full grown. Which at first I thought was a big dog until I looked at a chart in the office and saw that a Mastif grows on average to be around 165 lbs. Can you imagine??? That's larger than a Saint Bernard. And I've always considered them to be the largest of canines. Anyway, everything looks good for her and she's growing to be a healthy and very playful dog who loves to eat my Peace Lily. We're working on that one. And for those of you who were wondering, she does not sleep with me. She's put in the bathroom every night and she considers that to be her room. She does very good there.


Yesterday evening the ladies in the church met to plant flowers in front of the church. If your church has never done that, you should suggest it. I had a really good time. I LOVE YOU, MARLA!! :) My Mother bought me a gardening set about eight years ago and I was able to use it for the first time. I don't exactly have a green thumb with plants so I've never used them. It was a lot of fun and now I'm ready to plant some flowers of my own....I think. The most I've ever done are potted Impatients and that's because they're so easy to tend to. When Sis Marla found out that I had never planted flowers like this before, she told Jennifer, who lives next to the church, and Marla's daughter Anna, who is Jennifer's cousin, to come up and take a picture of Mrs. Kristi. Isn't that sweet? If I get it, I'll post it here on the blog.....of course!


This evening we'll be taking the Sons of Faith to that church that I still don't know the name of, and they'll be singing. Courtney, you'll be glad to know that we'll be taking a van and that I will not be driving. Hopefully I can get a couple of pictures of the boys and post them tonight. We'll see.

If you feel far away from God, you need only to move closer to Him.

Graduation Weekend

We had a graduation weekend. Thursday was the graduation of Bradley and Rebecca. Friday, Justin had a graduation party to attend for one of the girls in SIGMA. She's a very sweet girl and we were glad that we could help her celebrate. Saturday, we had a cookout to go to for Bradley. We had such a good time. It was so much fun and the fellowship was great.

This week is going to be a busy week. Justin's singing group will be singing at a church somewhere Tuesday. I can't remember where, I just know we have to be at our church at 6:00 to take the van. LOL, isn't that funny? I have no idea where we're going. That's terrible, I know.

Then Thursday, Celine's Mom will be having surgery. There were some complications during her delivery. But God is good and will take care of her. She'll have two surgeries between now and the 19th, so please keep her much in prayer. And her family. I told her I'd be here if she needed me.

Tipsy has to go for a checkup sometime this week to get another round of shots. Oh Joy! I'll probably take her Monday.

Also, I keep Mary Elizabeth on Thursdays and her mother called the other day and said that her sister's husband's nephew (10 yrs old) is in the hospital with his kidneys failing due to undiagnosed strep and needs a lot of prayer. The parents are not saved and it's touch and go right now. So be in prayer about him.

And one more....my Dad went to see the transplant surgeon this past Thursday and the doctor said that he has seen the reports of my Aunt's medical tests and they look good and so do Dad's and there's no reason why they should wait any longer for the kidney transplant. So within the next ten days or so, they'll be getting all of that ready. He could be having his kidney transplant very soon. If you could put these requests on your prayer list and ask your churches to pray, it would be so much appreciated.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and that your week will be great too.

~Big Day~

Tipsy woke me at 5:30 this morning needing to "go out." So we went out and when we came back in she wanted to play for an hour....lovely! Just about the time she got calmed down, she heard Bruce's keys in the door and got excited all over again. She loves her daddy.

Amanda had an appointment today and dropped Celine off here for a little while. It was good to have her back with us. We miss her. When Amanda picked her up, we got to visit with her and the new baby. Oh dear, what a cutie!!

Mary Elizabeth showed up and she and Harrison watched a video we got from the library. Daddy had a doctor's appointment today and it was going to be several hours so he brought his puppy over here, Tipsy's sister, and they played all day long. Seriously. Between 9:30 AM and 5:00 PM, I think they had a one hour reprieve. They gnawed on each other so much, their fur was wet. It was hilarious. But they did enjoy their time together.

When Mary Elizabeth's Grandmother picked her up, I finished preparing supper and got ready for the graduation we were attending tonight. There were two graduates we know that graduated from Cramerton Christian Academy. Rebecca S and Bradley R. They were so happy to be graduating. Congratulations, y'all!!

Every night when Bruce leaves for work I try to be here to say good-bye to him. I'll kiss him at the door, on the porch, down the steps, on the sidewalk, and several times at the truck. Then I'll stand on the porch and flick the porch light on and off for him as he drives away. And when nights like tonight come and I'm not here to send him on his way, I miss him terribly! So when we left the graduation we went to where he works and waited in the parking lot until he got there. We all piled out of the car and kissed him goodnight. He was so happy that we did that. My hubby loves attention from his family. He's so funny.

Here are some pics of the graduation.



Rebecca
Getting ready to walk...
Bradley

Senior Choir


Hannah and Harrison


Bradley's Family


The Graduate's Tables

Bradley's Talbe


Rebecca's Table


Wesley, Rebecca, Justin, Alan and Debbie


The Fam!

I took some scrapbooking paper and made these pockets for Justin and Hannah. They are hung on their bathroom mirror and every day when they go in for their morning rituals, they reach in their pocket for a trivia question. It could be something in history, geography, science, etc. For instance, this morning, Hannah had to look up "ice cream" at Encyclopedia.com and tell me who saw ice cream being made on his trip to China. Justin's was in vocabulary. I gave him five words, not commonly used in our every day speaking. He had to look them up, study their meanings, and write two sentences for each.

Justin and Hannah seemed to have fun with this. So if you homeschool, or even if you don't homeschool, this would be a great way to keep the brain cells stimulated during the summer.



BTW, the answer to who saw ice cream being made on his trip to China.....MARCO POLO.