*Today's Thinking in 3s

Thinking in 3s right now. What jumps to mind from today?
hmmm.....old friend memories on my mind today.

Chocolate
* found an actual 'melting chocolate cake' recipe in the recipe magazine I always use but never knew that recipe was in the back! Uggh! Unbelievable! --can't wait to try it!
*it's not "death by chocolate"; its LIFE by chocolate. Think positive you people!
*HERSHEYS

more Chocolate, more Hershey
*hershey kisses
*hershey choco bars!
*Hershey our kitty cat that our MO neighbor found under the outhouse at the track and gave to us, and then he'd sit 5 feet out of reach of her chained dog and torment him with his presence to drive the dog nuts; Hershey was very street smart.

Living near Hershey
Hershey kiss street lights
Hershey built the Super Dooper Looper
Chocolate World & Chocolate Factory aromas!

Old Friends-MO
*Julie M.
*Colleen S.
*Cathie L.
(Fort Lost in the Woods friends all from Humphreys! good memories during hard times! Lost but not 'lost'...just wish they were ALL found by now! Maybe they are out hunting for dinosaur eggs still?)

MORE Old Old Friends--PA
*TereSA
*Wendy
*Angie
(hey, Barb in MD is technically from PA too!)
(always friends forever--like it was just yesterday when we talk!)

MORE FRIENDS GO ON!
SC, TX, PA,
MO, MD/DC
I wish I could bring all these wonderful friends to live right here in this town with some special friends here!

3 old gymnasts graduated in 2007
EMmo to USC
SAMmo to 'CO'
SAMmo M. to FL or FL STATE?

LOVE
Father-Son-Holy Spirit--it's all ONE

LOVE kids
chili pepper
giant chili pepper
big chili pepper

LOVE us
HE-
HE & ME-
He, me, and chili peppers

NOT so loving heart right now for ....
1.AC maintenance appt. today
2.AC did work fine until today
3.AC man left,
1.AC stopped working, 2.AC man came back, 3.very hot house irking me.

CARS
Black, White, Tan--and yes, that is a Nicole C. Mullen song too!

GUMMIES
orange slices
sour patches
gumdrops

FOOD
Breyers icecream
Homemade pizza
fresh fruit bowl

ULTIMATE ICECREAM
huge scoop o' chocolate
huge scoop 'o choco-chip-mint
all topped with HERSHEY's choco.syrup

SONGS I LIKE ALOT RIGHT NOW
-Hillsong's "Mighty to Save"--(Jesus is all that and more)
-Casting Crowns "East to West" (Tere, did you write their song for them?)
-Too many others-most of the time I don't even know who the artist is....I always love "Redeemer"; tons of P& W songs you won't hear on most radio stations; even country-B & D's "House We Built" is cool too.

TV SHOWS
The Unit,
Documentary channel, or old classic tvland types
CSpan
(no, I'm not boring--I like CSpan!), & sometimes CNN since I don't get FoxNews here.
(I really don't watch much tv, but I like finding a good movie and old classic movies too.)

RADIO
88.3
97.1 Calvary Chapel was all fuzzy today!
89.7

HOOAH Friends following each other state to state it seems
Us(DC, MO, DC, TX, now here still)
Rich(DC, MO,DC,dogs lived w/ us in SC while in Bosnia), TX after we left
Bonnie & Kevin(MO, DC, Korea ,TX right after we left, now here too)(WHEN WILL I GET TO SEE THEM???!)

BOARD GAMES(poppy, we haven't played many board games lately!)
Life on a Farm
Trivial Pursuit
Chess
--------------
Chinese Checkers
Parchesi
Splat!

Ways to get in shape...hmmm
BOOT CAMP or 6 hour football practices!
RUN! (do I have to?)
Stop drinking soda completely! (ice cream gives me my calcium!)
(running appears to be the only thing I might succeed at there in this day and age)

Who sent something in the mail today?
big chili pepper?
bills?
school?

MEMORIES that I've thought of today.....

1.Driving 16 hours basically straight thru home to MO where there is some total silence when I turn around to look at 6 & 4 yr. old chili peppers sitting there and giant 4 yr. old chili pepper is covered in BLUE, and I gasp bc he has completely covered himself --face, arms, hands--in blue magic marker, and all I can suddenly do is say "if you don't stop that you won't be able to ride your new bike when you get home ( bc that chili pepper taught himself to ride a PA friend's old banana seat bike--and he never even had training wheels--and he just loved riding it so much they threw it in our car to bring home to MO where little 4 yr. old would get home to instantly go ZOOM down the hill of Humphreys and give us all heartattacks!---and so 4yr. old chili pepper instantly stopped turning himself into a smurf and we didn't hear a peep out of him the rest of the way home/ Humphreys tornado sirens/ lost little boys who went into the woods to search for dinosaur eggs.

2.In 1999 inNew Mexico at White Sands and watching the 'stealths' and fighter jets practice at Holloman, and now I have a stealth magnet on my frig. bc a chili pepper thought she'd give me a souvenir magnet last year of what she wants to drive one day even though she doesn't want to drive cars. ???

3.Reading The STATE newspaper today and thinking of the people in Afghanistan and remembering when my husband came home each time from there.

Weather
-Hot, but not as hot as it could be as when our star, the sun, grows so big that it gets too hot to live.
-Too humid, but not a tropical rain forest, yet!
-Too buggy, but at least these bugs are 'normal' bugs and not extremely creepy like in rain forests, and we don't have malaria here right now.
SO THE WEATHER ISN'T ALL THAT BAD, I SAY!

BEACH
Walk for shells
Build sand castles
Glow lights

MOUNTAINS
*Missed my P.A. trip due to car repairs
*Cool mountain air, creeks & catching crayfish, PA patchwork Amish fields, Cowfield in the mountain on the way to the goat trail, crawling over reservoir watershed, winter snow and hiding under snow-covered hemlock branches, Upstate SC lakes, waterfalls, and hiking, LIGHTNING BUGS
*Kentucky Blue Grass and rich soil where you put a seed in the ground and spit on it and never think about watering it compared to the not-good soil here. William Penn knew what he was talking about when he wrote to England about the fertile land he had discovered. OBVIOUSLY HE DIDN'T ARRIVE TO S.C.! But hey, we got more rain this week TWICE!

In 3s.....OUTNUMBERED HERE 3 to me. (too much testosterone here!)

More than 3 minutes past my bedtime.
That is TODAY's THINKING IN 3s--July 31

*At the DRIVE-IN-Part 2....TRANSFORMERS

2 Corinthians 3.18--
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

TRANSFORMERS.... .finally at a blog appearing...near me! Okay, this movie was really neat. It was just different. I couldn't tell you anything about tranformers from years ago, but this movie was a fun movie for kids and parents together...maybe not young young ones, but elementary age and up for a family movie. It had a few obnoxious parts that could have been left out, but these days, most movies for a varied audience don't get much 'cleaner'....in this way, it was about on the level of "Pirates" regarding obnoxious stuff. This had comical toy characters, to action battles, to good guy/ bad guy quests, .....imagination, special effects, and a cool plot.

I don't know all the characters' names....there are....
THE HUMANS.....
THE GOOD GUY transformers....autobots....I know Bumblebee was the yellow car...he couldn't really talk but would play corny radio tunes that fit the scene.

THE BAD GUY transformers....megatrons/ decepticons...whateever they are really called....just calling them 'bad guys' works for me.

So the movie opens up with a desert like military scene. Bad guy starts attacking, then more of bad guys---giant scorpion creepy bad guy.....and he crawls under the sand to disappear too. All humans try to work together to overcome the 'bad evil that is invading the earth'.

Good guy scenes open with a teen and his dad shopping for a new car. Now, this is too funny bc the whole weeks prior to us hitting the drive-in, we have been looking at used and new vehicles. We've warned our giant teeny chili pepper to not use "my" and "truck" together in any of his sentences. Needless to say, we did find a vehicle but gave up on used ones knowing it had to make it down the highway if commuter vehicle dies.

So here they are looking for a new car...and the transformer Bumblebee comes and claims his owner and it becomes obvious to teen that he shouldn't refuse this 'car'. ... Meanwhile, teen owner happens to have some coded eyeglasses that all the bad guys and good guys are after bc that teeny chili pepper PUT HIS OWN IDENTITY ON EBAY to sell the glasses. (how many times do parents have to tell their chili peppers to keep easy visual identities OFF OF THE WEB! Habanero peppers, I declare! Grr.

So anyway, the best way to describe the rest of the movie in as few words as possible is good guys try to save teen chili pepper while bad guys try to capture him. Good guys battle bad guys. Good guys win, so humans do not get destroyed. (Yea!). The End. ...well, not really.

We liked how the good guys transformed into these cool, powerful, strong, super-hero 'bots. My favorite part was when the bots had to go to teeny chili pepper's home to help him retrieve the eyeglasses. The parents would hear noises and peek out the windows. Meanwhile, the 'bots were trampzing all throughout the yard that the dad happened to be overly anal about. But the 'bots tried to be quiet and would try to hide (which was impossible bc they were as tall as the house.

So anyway, we all enjoyed our family evening together. I was even surprised with my gift of gumdrops and orangeslices as part of the outing....(yeah, they still got their red twizzlers though!)

I figure there is only one way I can ever become like some super-hero transformer( stop eating orange-slice gumdrops and more gumdrops???)....and that is to just live my life for Jesus by striving to grow to become the person I was created to be in Christ. I have a long way to go. I hope I grow giant like Bumblebee to have the perseverance and endurance he had when he couldn't speak and then he even lost his legs but still kept on going! Only Christ can transform me into this new identity, but first I have to be willing to even begin to take a step...which I am willing though not always courageous! Now, I'm sitting here talking about some interesting earthly-worldly movie, & at the same time I do realize I am surrounded continuously by these types of things--including this computer I tiddle away on, but.... I find my peace(or try to) on setting my mind on Christ. Just like the 'bots, "my citizenship isn't really here on earth but of another place(no, I'm not an alien from Mars), but "my citizenship is in heaven. And our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has the power to transform my lowly being and body to one day be glorious like He is glorious."

When you are ready to become 'slowly transformed by Jesus into a "transformer"', just call on Him and He is right there waiting for you to claim Him.
Bumblebee was like Jesus, I say! ..okay, well not really technically, but consider the mind of the movie, please!...................
Before the boy could recognize that he should choose Bumblebee, Bumblebee chose him!
If he hadn't then in return chosen Bumblebee when he did, he might have been deceived BY THE DECEPTICONS and given in destroying mankind with the evil bad guys!
JESUS LOVES YOU, and ME! Which likeness are we choosing to be transformed into? ...Jesus, or the bad evil one that wants to take EVERLASTING LIFE away from us humans???!!!!

*YES, I'M KICKING MYSELF!

Okay, I know I've got to finish my "At the drive-in part 2!"(TRANSFORMERS ROCK!)
But I just tend to plop down to check messages. Some people won't be here for dinner tonight it turns out, so it looks like chili peppers' favorites of 'wings and whatever'. I love to live simple! --especially when I have to run in the door, and out the door, and in the door, and out the door, and in the door to cook, and out the door, and in the door....etc. etc. etc.
One chili pepper is stomping around here in some football uniform. Hmm...he must be a little geared up for football season??? The other chili pepper finished 6 hours of it already and is over yonder with the jaybird probably playing "guitar hero". OH OH.....the big teeny chili pepper has returned from 2 fun? weeks of 'camping out'. Ha! She reports she is "sick of her and everyone else too of being sick along with everyone having some kind of bodily ailment resembling injuries. But she had fun! ??? Well, the videos sure look fun. (if you aren't the one crawling around in dirt and flailing through the air only to drop off the rope too early to land in muddy water. )??? So it was fun and hard at the same time she reports. But they all have 'jack hack' from the dust there she says. At the time the letter was written, they had one day left there and then she said she thought she'd be able to call during a picnic??????(Well, that time has way-passed and I'm wondering when we get a call!!!) I'm sure she'll be looking forward to finding a computer one day to read my blog. Teeny chili peppers yell at me for having a blog. Well, they rubbed their habanero juice off on me I guess( or me on them?). But I don't plaster my name and pic all over mine for them to have to raise their pepper juice temperature on me like I have to with them!

Okay, where was I in the first place? always rambling on about something! oh yeah, I still have to finish my other blog. It's just that for a long time, I was in the middle of a really cool Bible study I began months ago and then one day, this computer crashed and had to go to the geek squad for the almost 3rd time --yet to be declared a lemon, I declare! Well, as far as this computer, it has been around the world and back, through dust and wind--y0u name it. We should have just shot it and then maybe it could have been declared a lemon (but that would have been abuse and neglect of the computer). Oh well, it no longer has to be covered with saran wrap and rubberbands! Oh yeah....the blog....well, anyway, that cool Bible study --all the notes I had typed and saved and some web links from research and such had gone 'poof'. (At least the computer is under warranty but that study was probably worth more than the computer.) Anyway, it was GATES in the Bible....began off a study of "I AM"....when 'the GATE' turned into an amazing OT picture in my head of a different kind of gate...and hence, began the 'gate' study. ...which then led to a more in depth kind of 'brick dropping on my head' thought of Nehemiah's gates....which led to me having to think and research more on those gates. And just when I was half way through all those gates, like I said, the gate to this laptop closed and went kapoof. So, about a month ago, after getting the computer back and beginning to start all over again, I've been back to reading about gates and trying to restore my notes. Even when I was in Mexico, I was asking Guido--our Italian-Mayan guide--about some Mayan gates out of curiosity of the purpose of those gates he was showing us. So when GATES get on my brain, I don't always get around to giving other topics much serious thought. But hey, TRANSFORMERS is so cool. You have to see the movie. Maybe I need to figure out which character is the favorite here in our house. Somehow I BET that giant teeny chili pepper likes Bumblebee. I know chili pepper likes the 'purple guy' but I forget his name. I like all the good guys and hate all the bad guys. The bad megatron scorpion was horrible. I hate freaky critters like that. I've only ever found 2 of those here in my house thankfully. (no, they weren't transformers either; they were real; however, they did transform me into some spastic person when I saw them in my house each time.)

The rain is heading this way. ...sounds like a peaceful, simple evening in store for us.
Must go write to the big chili pepper now! We all miss her!

*My 1st GUITAR lesson

Today was a really nice day--well, at least I thought so! I felt some great peace and just filled with worship this morning at church. There were some memorable things too that were part of the morning.
1st, a friend's family returned from overseas last night with their new daughter. After 2 days of traveling and airports, I couldn't believe they made it to church this morning! But then again, what better way to celebrate a homecoming--by going to worship with church family to give thanks for God's gift of another child in their lives and thanks for smooth processing and travels. We are praying that God will fill all members of this family with a special kind of love between each member as He helps them bond with each other.
2nd, the P&W leader and his wife are relocating where he will be leading P&W at a newer church that is rapidly growing. They were a gift from God on loan from GOD to our church temporarily; now God has something planned for them to do in a new location. So thankyou Lord for that "loan". As we worshipped this morning, we were thankful for the brief time our church had them here.
3rd, another church group was visiting our church this morning as they prepare to start a churchplant in another corner of the city. This is always exciting to see. Sometimes I wonder if our church needs to spread out and church-plant instead of trying to contain everyone in one place. Anyway, today, our church was looking a little more like heaven might look like. As one of the worship songs was closing, during its last 30 seconds I could hear this wonderful blend of tones of voices that sent me back to a place of worship outside DC where the congregation was diverse and the beauty of each of God's people reminded us that God has quite an eclectic group of Children. So as our church grows, it is starting to look more like all the 'tongues, tribes, and nations' that will be in Heaven as God's children gather there. So that was like an answered prayer today in several ways....the blessing of a new child, the blessing of finding one of our son's hispanic friends visiting, and the blessing that our church is willing to welcome EVERYONE.

hmm...okay, what else...after church, OH, I HAD MY GUEE-TAR LESSON!!!! My 1st lesson went great. I was taught several chords, and my teacher tried to teach me my 1st song, but I needed more practice getting my fingers into position. His hands are so much smaller than mine! so I don't know how he stretches his wrist and fingers to place them 'just so' on the strings. After my 1/2 hour lesson, I practiced the chords enough that I was able to turn the page of his notebook and play the song. It had ...hmm...a G chord, an E.m., D, A, and oh, C2. So I was able to trod through "Amazing Grace" even though it would take like 100million seconds for me to switch to the next note. But is it a start. Thank goodness for God's 'amazing grace'! I'll need it while learning more, that's for sure!

After that, we went to a church family picnic for the young couple that is moving away. It was nice. The kids--mostly teens there--hung out enjoying the lake. Parents sat, chatted, and ate. And at some point we somehow got in some boat time. The kids must have come off the water in search for food for us to be able to get out on the boats! Anyway, it was a nice sendoff for 2 really sweet people. That's the way things should be for family in Christ.

oh, and also today during worship, the song "Mighty to Save" started being played. My son looked over at me with that look of a silent conversation going on silently between 2 people. He knew what song had just started being played bc of the guitar part....bc we love the yoUtube guitar clinic on that song. We have the worship song available below toward the bottom of this blog(at least it is still there as of today). My son knew it was posted here. So as we sang this song again, we chuckled about how we had been looking at the guitar clinic on it.

Did I mention how 'cute' my guitar teacher is???!!!!! He is so handsome. Just as handsome as my husband but in a different way! ....same hair color, eye color, similar features......

p.s.......I said to my husband "hon, can I have $5 to pay my guitar teacher?"
He said, "I don't have any cash! Go borrow it temporarily from your son."
( I knew he was referring to our youngest child and he was chuckling as he said this.) So I said to our youngest,
"Can I borrow $5 to pay my guitar teacher in cash?!"
He said, "Mom! I'm not giving you $5 to pay ME $5!"

okay, so I was pulling his leg. And yes, our youngest is my guitar teacher....a 1st for both of us....I couldn't play one chord on the guitar at all before today(other than that natural strum of all the strings and no fingers!) and it was his 1st time giving a lesson to someone. Gotta start somewhere, right? Well, he was fabulous. And he promptly told me when a 1/2 hour was up! And he gets paid $5 a lesson. We had an awesome time during our guitar lesson. My husband thought I must have learned a little before today! I said, "No! Our son taught me ALL of that today!" He was very surprised. Now I had better practice each day this week for my lesson next week!

*Neocounter

Okay, I'm back, but briefly....I've got a guee-tar lesson in a few secs. And yes, I still remind myself I want to write about TRANSFORMERS! b/c that movie was just more than great....way cool....

Anyway, last night I found this 'neocounter' thing on a blog and thought it was cool...even the free version was cool. So, I added it to my blog to try it....except?, I haven't given my blog really to anyone else other than some family, so only people flipping the blog page will read it anyway.

Okay, my guee-tar teacher is waiting for me. I shall go learn an E chord maybe? I don't know; it is my first lesson and my teacher's 1st lesson teaching too. I want to learn how to play "Mighty to Save" bc that is cool guee-tar.

Yes, I promise you, (which is myself), to get to writing more again.

*TRANSFORMERS...coming soon to a blog near you.

*AT the DRIVE-IN-Part 1.......Harry Potter

Harry Potter.....Transformers....hmmm....we took the boys to the drive-in to see a double feature of the latest Harry Potter movie and also the Transformers. I actually liked this Harry Potter movie for most part. I liked the 1st one too, but since then, I wasn't so crazy about the rest of the HP movies. But in this movie, the story line is coming to action. The battle of good vs. evil is prevalent. Here we see Harry growing up, and like in the real adult world, Harry begins to realize that life isn't always fair. People who are in a power- position to be good leaders aren't really being 'good' and are using their authority for their own purpose. Harry gets picked on by the so-called "good" leaders who refuse to listen to Harry that the Evil One is back. We watch Harry go through various obstacles of having to choose the path less traveled...paths that are harder than easier but that he knows he must live by a higher standard by taking the high road. As the movie progresses, the Evil One tries to take over Harry's mind; Harry must learn to guard his thoughts and emotions. As evil tries to take over Harry, Harry realizes that there is strength in bonds of love he has with friends who have chosen to stand by his side.

Hmm...a teeny chili pepper here is reading the final book. I dare say I threaten to read only the end and tell him whether good triumphs over evil.

So, enough of the debate of 'do we watch HP or not?'....I have; now, what can I set my mind on to learn from it? First, we know we have to put on the whole armor of God so that we can stand against Satan's tactics and schemes. In the HP movie, we watch the kids gather to learn how they can stand against the evil one...what's his name?...Voldimor? or something like that( they aren't supposed to mention his name and the adults don't want to admit his existence....hmmm...) So anyway, they ask Harry to teach them how to be ready to battle the bad guy. As we live our lives, we should be prepared to enter battle with all of our gear, just as a soldier hopes to be prepared if he has to go to war. List some of Satan's schemes he uses to get to you....think of the small things you might not necessarily notice...hmm...what happened to Harry in the movie??....evil invaded the minds of people around him and he felt alone and abandoned. Then he began to think that just maybe he was bad like they were saying. So, how do you prepare to stand in the spiritual battle going on around you? You need the Word of God.......
You need the BELT OF TRUTH. The belt helps hold up your 'clothes'. Keep those loose ends tucked in tight! Don't let your integrity and character fall out or you will lack effectiveness in this world as a witness of Christ's love!(( Poor HP...people in his life were trying to replace truths by just discarding them and pretending certain truths didn't exist!)) Now, that BREASTPLATE of RIGHTEOUSNESS!....That guards some very important organs! Unrighteousness and sin lead to exposing our heart and lead us to bondage with no peace and lots of fear....SHOES...gotta have shoes for battle....a Roman soldier would have been no good for battle in hot sand or rocky terrain. So shoes help us stand firm on the solid ground of the Gospel because our reconciliation with God through Jesus is what gives us peace. Satan would love to steal your combat boots to take away your peace.....
What else do you need to battle evil?...ah...3 more great things....The SHIELD of FAITH, the HELMET of SALVATION, and the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT. That shield will block all the spiritual artillery getting shot at us....the shield will block those things so that we won't waiver in our faith. A Roman soldier had to shield himself from flaming arrows by soaking his shield in water to put out the flames. So hold up your shield of faith and keep on that helmet of salvation too. Don't let Satan get to your head to make you doubt or live in fear. Do not doubt your salvation. "He who began a good work in you promises to finish it until completion"! JESUS promises "my sheep will never perish.''For God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life'!" So keep on your helmet and block out all those negative needless thoughts. "Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith!" Now ..this is very important... PRAY and keep that Sword of the Spirit so close by your side that it becomes a part of you. Pray the Word; take it in, learn it, and live it. Jesus fought off Satan in the wilderness using the Sword of the Spirit...THE WORD. Hey, even Satan could quote scripture. Scripture wasn't just a part of some people-group's history; it was part of Satan's life getting told too..go figure???!!!!.He knew how he got to where he was, so so should we!....so make sure YOU know it personally...don't rely just on someone else like a Bible teacher. You have to make sure the scripture is not out of context because it is your offense in the battle while also being your defense with the other armor. Memorize it. Understand it. Keep it in context checking scripture against scripture and scripture with scripture. Know it personally so that Satan cannot use the same scripture and twist it about to suit his needs. And pray it. Did I say that already? One of our pastors pointed out yesterday in his sermon that when the Amalekites attacked the Israelites, Moses stood on the top of the hill with his arms raised to God while the battle was going on below him. When Moses lowered his hands, the Israelites started losing...when he raised them to God, they started winning again. And when he grew too tired to hold his hands up, his 'friends' stood by and helped hold him up. Here, the battle was being won up on the hill and not down below. So stay connected to God! "Remain in me, and I will remain in you", He says!...So do you raise your hands to God in prayer and victory for what you know He has already done and what you know He is doing for you right now? So while you guard your mind, and keep on the armor of God, don't forget to raise your hands to Him for the victory He has already given you through Christ Jesus. Stay connected to His Word!
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning."
"The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it."
"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of grace and truth."

Now....my review on the movie TRANSFORMERS....coming soon....it is still a work in progress!...(just like me!)

*3 Chili Peppers, Cheer, & Choco-Lava Cake

One is sleeping in the woods,
One is on the couch,
One is staying at his friend's,
Kids growing up--OUCH!

A FOUNTAIN was flowing yesterday! Well, okay, it wasn't a fire hydrant and it wasn't really a fountain,but it was definitely water works!
Our eldest child called home! BOO HOO! Actually, she is doing great! ...should be sleeping in a tent 'camping out' tonight. Despite some temporary hardship, she sounded enthusiastic. We are very proud of her. I saw a fabulous pic of her in the website the other day to see that she looks well. We miss her. So does the dog!

The one on the couch...well, I just didn't get the sheets all washed and dried like I thought I would when they got taken off the bed. The sound of his breathing is like a nice peaceful fountain as I type.

Teeny chili pepper went to his friend's who was supposed to come here but didn't then ran a friend home and said he'd be back but instead of hanging out here to play video games our teeny chili pepper decided to get picked up to go to his friend's house to play his games instead and to spend the night....and if you think that run on sentence and bad grammar spins your head well so did my teeny chili pepper tonight. But he is a great kid and hugged me before he left and said goodnight and so I still love him even when he is a teeny chili pepper that makes my fountain temperature rise and fall at times. sigh!

Another great note of cheer--some friends met their new daughter today. The pics are amazing. Their adoption process is almost complete.

So I go to bed on a peaceful note with much thanks...oh, but wait!..... not before I go put away the FOUNTAIN! cake....well, okay, it is really 'chocolate-molten LAVA cake. Well, CHOCOLATE will be flowing when I eat it! That's almost like a fountain! I had to buy this cake mix to try. On our vacation we had this scrumptous chocolate melting cake ( and I'd get it with vanilla icecream.) So I bought this cake mix just missing that dessert! And yes, I did get icecream at the store tonight. Ice cream happens to be my favorite food, and so I've had a problem lately. I'd buy the ice cream and not get the cake made to go with it, eat the ice cream, and then put off making the cake. That has happened for several containers of ice cream now. So tonight, I made the cake....and then ran to the store for ice cream...since I needed to get milk anyway of course! Really! And when I said I was going to go put it away before bed, I didn't mean put it away, as in my stomach...I meant put the little lava cakes in a container...and not my mouth container. I'll try tasting one tomorrow...with a bowl of ice cream.

Have you hugged your kids today?
No kids? Well, then go hug some military person today.
Hugs make the world a beautiful place.

*The "CURIOUS??? video

Okay, I keep watching this video wishing I could put it on a large-screen tv to watch the little boy in it. I'm taking a survey to see what you think. Send me your thoughts on it here. You'll find the video at the top right on the main page and labeled....you've got it!..."CURIOUS"!

*WATERING WONDERS!

A FOUNTAIN!

There is a fountain flowing! It is starting to rain! Yeah! We in SC need the rain. The weather has been very hot and humid....and buggy. This past week, we've been really blessed to get some brief, afternoon thunderstorms. Kinda of seems like the old days when people here could count on that watering. But the past years, these frequent showers have been absent it seems--but not this week! We have had several nice rains this week! And now, it isn't even the afternoon yet! Just a nice rain moving itself into our lives! Amen!

Have a blessed day! Well, actually, the blessings have already been put in place for you, you just have to notice them!

*"NOT ON OUR WATCH"

I just finished this book, "Not On Our Watch". It is great for supplemental information to the other resources I have kept up with on the various situations of the Darfur/ Sudan genocide.
I read it since the actor Don Cheadle felt led to be a spokesman for Darfur after he learned so much from the making of "Hotel Rwanda"--one of my favorite movies with so many valuable lessons in it. It was such a horribly tragic event in history that should not have happened after what we had learned from the Holocaust. Don co-authored the book with John Prendergast. Though definitely not eloquent writers, that's okay. They had some great insight to be able to share their experiences in the field and in dealing with the political world. I respect them for standing tall in a situation that is so controversial; yet, is this really such a controversial issue? Shouldn't we all be standing firm? No matter who, what, or where, GENOCIDE is something atrocious that should not be tolerated. All people should be able to stand tall and stand firm for these victims.

Go to www.persecutionproject.org

"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. (Let nothing change you.) Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor is not in vain."
--1Corinthians 15.55-58

God's love and grace is more than enough to heal our lands.

*Gushing Fire Hydrants!

Yesterday( well, it got posted just after midnight this morning but it was 'yesterday'!) I wrote about what I learned from seeing that fountain of a fire hydrant just gushing water all over the place....Today, I opened up my email daily devotion for July 13, by Max Lucado, and boy, he's talking about more GUSHING FOUNTAINS!
Here is some scripture from the Word that Lucado was referencing....(He took his devotion from his writings in "He Chose Nails" also.

The water I give will become a spring of water gushing up inside that person, giving eternal life.--John 4.14

"If anyone believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from that person's heart, as the Scripture says."--John 7.38-39
Lucado's devotion goes on to point out at "water, in this verse, is a picture of the Spirit of Jesus working in us. He's not working to save us, mind you; that work is done. He's working to change us."

Have a great today. When you see those fire hydrants think of Him and not the dogdays of your life that made you feel unworthy. Jesus has already taken care of all that!

*There is a fountain...

A few days ago, I was on an errand and driving from CIU to USC. It had been awhile since I had been on this route, and so my eyes busily took in the scenery.

I continued on with my drive, and crossing a large intersection, I began down a tree-lined street of homes when I suddenly saw.....

A FOUNTAIN!

Well, okay, it wasn't really a fountain. It would technically be called a "fire hydrant". But, at this particular moment, I had a problem with this hydrant. It was gushing clear fresh water all over the place and I was thinking, "Why in the world do we waste so much water here in America when there are people all over the world who would love to have one drop of that water."

Hmm....more on that in a minute. God reminded me of something else first then.

There is a story in the book of Mark where Jesus is visiting a home in Bethany. Basically, he's sitting there, a woman approaches him, breaks open a sealed jar of expensive perfume, and pours it on his head. Everyone around them becomes judgemental (or so-called judges w/ a mental-case), and they let their criticizes start to fly.

"What a waste!"
"She could have sold that!"
"The profit could have fed the poor!"

....and so forth...Can you picture it?
They are missing the picture! She sees the value in this 'man' named Jesus. She KNOWS who he is. She pours out a sweet perfume to give honor to him. Meanwhile, Jesus rebukes the people and tells them how she is "preparing his body for his burial." So that means that at the same time she is anointing him with the perfume, He knows He is preparing a place for us also with Him for some day in heaven.

Back to that fountain...I mean "the fire hydrant".
Why do we let all that water gush out of fire hydrants? I don't know the exact answer, but as I thought of how that woman's perfume wasn't wasted, I kind of guessed why we flush hydrants. So I've decided that I have to look 'flushing fire hydrants' on my handy-dandy-googley internet.

Great gushing gallons of water! I found out why!
1. to flush out the old water to refresh the supply and drain out the junky sediment also.
2. to make sure it is prepared to work in an emergency of some unpredicted, unprepared for...fire!
3. to make sure things are maintained and working....sometimes they need to grease the wheels!

So......is it for some frivolous reason we just pour out this wonderful supply of ...water? No!

Now, is that water in the hydrant an exact parallel of the perfume that anointed Jesus? No, not exactly. But, in that moment, I saw what had seemed like what was a total waste of dumping water and it made me recall yet another lesson Jesus taught us in the Bible about a time when people thought something was a 'waste' ....but it wasn't! Now, I could say at this point, that maybe we should fill up a water truck with that still-good water and use it for some good purpose, like maybe in Richland County, bc the newspaper likes to write alot of stories lately about water restrictions in Richland County.....but that would be another topic for another day!

But as you can see, sometimes there is a purpose to what seems like a waste of emptying something out.

Has God ever tried to empty YOU to out?
Have you ever emptied yourself out to God?
Have you ever poured yourself out for God's purposes to bring Him glory?

In our lives, God allows things into our lives that will help us get rid of the old, stale stuff that is leaving junk in our lives. He doesn't want us weighed down and clogged up with unnecessary sediments. So somewhere he sifts us and helps us throw out the junk, but only if we are willing. We get to choose. Sometimes He empties us so that we can remember to rely on Him at all times--not just when there is a unplanned fire attacking us. He empties us a bit so that we can remember to keep greasing our wheels on His Word and relying on Him.

Daily--even continuously, we need to pour ourselves out to Him and seek His forgiveness for all the junk we've collected in whatever moment. When we "remain in Him, He remains in us."

We also need to recognize that if we hold on to 'all that old water' or keep everything for ourselves instead of pouring out that sweet perfume to honor Him, we will become stagnant water. We need to allow God's Spirit to empty us of that old stuff and then fill us...drop by drop...or with gushing gallons...so that we can allow all that wonderful Living Water to pour out from inside us to others. We need to pray that He will make us overflow with His love, just as He overflows with love, grace, and mercy.

Make sure you don't try to keep all that fresh water for yourself or you'll just go stagnant all over again. He has prepare a place for us with Him. Don't let your fire hydrant be an unflushed one. May the 'sweet aroma of worship' fill this room for Him today....and also everytime you see a flushing fire hydrant.

Thank you Jesus.

Welcome to Plynseas Fountain

Welcome to Plynseas Fountain!
Plynseas Fountain is a beautiful place. Ask me sometime if you want to know where it is!