This and That for 11/1~ 11/7

Quotes For The Week:

"Only those who dare to fail greatlycan ever achieve greatly."

- Robert F. Kennedy

"There are many wonderful things
that will never be done if you do not do them."

- Charles D. Gill

"There isn't a person anywhere

who isn't capable of doing more than he thinks he can."

- Henry Ford

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You Are Special
The Wemmick Story
by: Max Lucado


This is a wonderful book that demonstrates the importance of embracing who you are and how special that is. One should not try to be like everyone else. When you share this book with your children the point is easily understood in a very charming and beautiful way. It is Max Lucado at his best!


The Wemmicks were small wooden people. These little wooden people were carved by a woodworker named "Eli." Eli's workshop sat on a hill overlooking the Wemmick Village. Every one of the Wemmicks were different. Some had big noses, others had large eyes. Some were tall and others were short. Some wore hats, others wore coats. But all were made by the same carver and all lived in the same village.
All day long, every day, the Wemmicks did the same thing. They gave each other stickers. Each Wemmick had a box of golden star stickers and a box of dull gray dot stickers. Up and down the streets all over the city, people could be seen sticking gold stars or gray dots onto each other. The pretty ones, those with smooth wood and fine paint, always got shiny gold stars! But if the wood was rough or the paint was chipped, the Wemmicks gave dull gray dots. The talented ones got stars, too. Some could lift big sticks high above their heads or jump over tall boxes. Still others knew big words or could sing very pretty songs. Everyone gave them shiny gold stars! Some Wemmicks had stars all over them! Every time they got a star it made them feel so good that they did something else and got another star.


There were many other Wemmicks though that could do very little. They got dull gray dots! There was one little Wemmick and his name was "Punchinello." He tried to jump high like the others, but he always fell. And when he fell, the others would gather 'round and give him dull gray dots. Sometimes when he fell, it would scar his wood, so the people would give him more gray dots. He would try to explain why he fell and, in doing so, he would say something really silly. Then the Wemmicks would give him some more dots!!! 


After a while, Punchinello had so many dots that he didn't want to go outside. He was afraid he would do something dumb such as forget his hat or step in the water, and then people would give him more dull gray dots. In fact, he had so many gray dots that some people would come up and just give him one without any reason! "He deserves lots of dots," they would say. The wooden people would agree with one another. "He's not a good wooden person," they would say. After a while Punchinello believed them. "I am not a good Wemmick!" he would say. The few times he went outside, he hung around other Wemmicks who had a lot of gray dots. At least he felt better around them.


One day, Punchinello met a Wemmick who was unlike any he'd ever met. She had no dull gray dots and did not have any shiny golden stars either. She was a wooden Wemmick and her name was "Lucia." It wasn't that people didn't try to give her stickers; it's just that the stickers didn't stick to her!!! Some admired Lucia for having no dots, so they would run up and give her a star. But it would fall off. Some would look down on her for having no stars, so they would give her a dot. But they would not stick either!!!


"That's the way I want to be!" thought Punchinello. "I don't want anyone's marks!" So he asked the "stickerless" Wemmick how she did it. "It's easy," Lucia replied. "Every day I go see Eli." Punchinello asked,"Eli? Who is Eli?" She replied "Yes, Eli, He is the woodcarver. I sit in His workshop and spend time with Him." He asked Lucia,"Why do you do that?" Lucia told him, "Why don't you find out for yourself? Go up the hill and visit with Him. He's there!" And with that, the sweet little Wemmick named Lucia turned and skipped away.


"But He won't want to see me!" Punchinello cried out to her. Lucia didn't hear him, as she was too far away. So Punchinello went home. He sat near a window and watched the wooden people as they scurried around giving each other gold stars and gray dots. "It's just not right," he muttered to himself. Then he resolved to go see Eli after all. Punchinello walked up the narrow path to the top of the hill and stepped into the big Woodcarver Shop. His little wooden eyes widened at the size of everything. The stool was as tall as he was. He had to stretch on his tippy-toes to see the top of the workbench. A hammer was as long as his arm. Punchinello swallowed hard and thought to himself, "I'm not staying here!" and he turned to leave. Then he heard his name. "Punchinello?" said this voice, so deep and strong. Just then Punchinello stopped. The voice said, "Punchinello, oh how good it is of you to come! Let me have a look at you."


Punchinello slowly turned around and looked at the large bearded craftsman and said, "Sir, you know my name?" "Of course I do. I made you," Eli said. All of a sudden, Eli stooped down and picked little Punchinello up and set him on the workbench. "Hmmmmm," the Maker spoke thoughtfully as he inspected the gray circles all over him, "Looks like you've been given some bad marks." Punchinello explained,"Oh, Eli, I didn't mean to; really I didn't!!! I really tried hard not to." The Maker said, "Oh, you don't have to defend yourself to me, my child. I don't care what the other Wemmicks think." Punchinello asked, "Really? You don't?" Then Eli said, "No and you shouldn't either. Who are they to give stars or dots? They are Wemmicks just like you. What they think really doesn't matter at all, Punchinello. All that matters is what I think. And I think you are pretty special." Punchinello laughed, "Oh, me special? How can I be special? I can't walk fast. I can't jump. My paint is peeling. I make silly mistakes all the time and I am not a beautiful Wemmick like some of the others. How could I matter to you?" Eli looked at Punchinello and put his hands on those little wooden shoulders of his and spoke very slowly, "Because Punchinello... you are mine. That's why you matter to me." Punchinello had never had anyone look at him like this before or say anything so nice, much less his Maker! He didn't know what to say!


"Punchinello, every day I've been waiting and hoping you would come to see me," Eli explained. Punchinello looked up at him and said, "I came because I met a sweet Wemmick girl who had no marks." Eli said, "I know. Lucia told me about you." So Punchinello asked, "Why don't the stickers stay on Lucia?" Eli said, "Because she has decided that what I think is more important than what anyone else thinks. The stickers only stick if you let them." Punchinello looked puzzled and said, "What?" Eli said, "Yes, the stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more you trust My love, the less you will care about those stickers." But Punchinello said, "I'm not sure I really understand. What you are saying?" The maker said, "You will, but it will take some time. You've got a lot of marks. So for now, just come to see me every day and let me remind you how much I care about you." Eli lifted Punchinello off the bench and set him on the floor. "Now remember," Eli said as the Wemmick walked out the door. "You ARE special because I made you, and I don't make mistakes."


Punchinello didn't stop, but in his heart he thought, "I think He really means it." And each time he remembered what Eli told him and each time he went to visit and talk with Eli, one of Punchinello's dots would fall off. They kept falling off and soon they were all gone!!!


So like Punchinello, we must remember one thing,

"Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart."

(I Samuel 16:7)

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New Dog Cross Breeds
-- Did you hear about the new dog cross-breeds?

• They crossed a Collie and a Lhasa Apso. The new breed is a Collapso, a dog that folds up for easy transport.
• They crossed a Spitz and a Chow-Chow. The new breed is a Spitz-Chow, a dog that throws up a lot.
• They crossed a Pointer and a Setter. The new breed is a Poinsetter, a traditional Christmas pet.
• They crossed a Great Pyrenees and a Dachshund. The new breed is a Pyradachs, a puzzling breed.
• They crossed a Pekingese and a Lhasa Apso. The new breed is Peekasso, an abstract dog.
• They crossed a Irish Water Spaniel and a English Springer Spaniel. The new breed is a Irish Springer, a dog fresh and clean.
• They crossed a Labrador Retriever and a Curly Coated Retriever. The new breed is a Lab Coat Retriever, the choice of laboratory researchers.
• They crossed a Newfoundland and a Basset Hound. The new breed is a Newfound Asset Hound, a dog for financial advisors.
• They crossed a Bloodhound and a Labrador. The new breed is a Blabador, a dog that barks incessantly.
• They crossed a Malamute and a Pointer. The new breed is a Moot Point, owned by....oh, well, it doesn't really matter.
• They crossed a Collie and a Malamute. The new breed is a Commute, a dog that travels to work.
• They crossed a Deerhound and a Terrier. The new breed is a Derriere, a dog that's true to the end.
• They crossed a Bull Terrier and a ShihTzu. The new breed is a uhh, I'll get back to you on that.....
  
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recipe

Ants on a Log
(makes 2 servings)

• 1 large celery rib, washed
• 3 tablespoons (45 g) reduced-fat cream cheese
• 12 dark raisins (you could also use sunflower seeds)

Fill the celery with the cream cheese. Top with the raisins.
Cut into 4 "logs" and serve.


Per serving: 69 calories (51% calories from fat), 3 g protein, 4 g total fat (2.5 g saturated fat), 6 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 13 mg cholesterol, 85 mg sodium


Diabetic exchanges: 1/2 carbohydrate (1/2 fruit), 1 fat


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Dance Like No One's Watching

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then, we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?

Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - REAL LIFE. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then, life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."

This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.


So, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with... and remember that time waits for no one. Stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die -- to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

A Shared Story

History must be honored as we make history again!

Posted for 10/18/10

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-Grandmothers who lived only 90 years ago. Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.

And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because - why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?



Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.

All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.
My friend  who sent me this email is my age and studied women's history. She told me about the HBO movie, too. She said she was angry...angry with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use, my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn. The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.



HBO released the movie on video and DVD . It would be good to acquire it and watch it. It would be good to show it to your friends. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be. Perhaps a little shock therapy is in order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy. The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'

Please, if you are so inclined, share this with to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.
History is being made.

And remember God's promise to His people...

"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain,

 or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,

then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin

and will heal their land.

Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive

to the prayers offered in this place.

2 Chronicles 7:13-15

BROKEN DISHES

Jody Ward ©2010




I was in the bedroom when I heard the crash and my shoulders tightened as I cringed that same, involuntary cringe everyone does in a restaurant when the waiter drops a tray of dishes. Silence followed, then I heard my husband walk to the garage for the broom and dustpan.

With equal portions of curiosity and dread, I went to the kitchen to see what pieces of china had met their untimely death. My husband was squatting on the floor, scooping the broom into the dustpan.




“It was two saucers,” he said without looking up. Apparently I had stacked them at an odd angle a week ago and they spent the ensuing time in the cabinet inching closer to the edge. Little did they realize when planning their ambush on my husband that between the granite counter and tile floor, they didn’t stand a chance.



I was relieved. The saucers were my least used dishes. They came with the dish set but I rarely used them with the little coffee cups, usually preferring heftier mugs, and they were two small for dessert plates.




Shards of white china were everywhere. The larger pieces were already in the trash and my husband was carefully sweeping the entire area for the elusive tiny slivers. I was glad I put my slippers on.




“When you’re done sweeping, I’ll run a mop over the area to get the ones you can’t see.” I volunteered, walking past him to pour my morning cup of coffee. “Why is there sugar everywhere?




My husband stood to look at the sugar that was mounded like snowdrifts across the counter. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve been cleaning up the floor and didn’t notice.”




I like to keep a stocked coffee station on the counter next to my coffee maker – a glass tray with a decorative sugar and creamer set, flavored coffee syrups, assorted teas and a little bowl of Splenda and Equal for guests who prefer artificial sweeteners. It’s also where I display my collection of vintage sugar and creamer sets by corresponding them to the holidays or seasons.



We both stood staring at the sugar spilled around the coffee station. My husband reached to pick up a tiny spoon on the other side of the counter. “Was this here?” he asked.  

My heart sank. The little spoon was the one that belonged in my newly acquired pink glass sugar bowl. The only way it could have been knocked across the counter was if the bowl had broken the fall of the saucers on the way down. I picked up the sugar bowl to find a chip the size of my thumbnail missing from the rim leaving a sharp, uneven edge. I sifted through the spilled sugar to find that even the missing chip had been shattered and no amount of glue would make it presentable.




Obviously beyond repair, I sadly swept all the sugar back into the bowl and slowly dropped it in the trash. I put the orphaned creamer in the cabinet with all my other sets, not quite knowing what I’d do with it, but still not able to bring myself to have it join it’s sibling in the garbage can under the sink.




I set out a new sugar and creamer set, poured in some fresh sugar and headed for the sponge mop. I kept thinking of the broken sugar bowl. Maybe I could turn the chipped side toward the wall and no one would notice. Maybe I could use it for something else that would cover the damage, a small flower bowl perhaps. No, even though it was still serviceable, it’s marred surface and sharp edge relegated it to the land fill.




I pulled out the trash to stare down at the little pink bowl, trying to think of some reason to rescue it from where it sat abjectly in the middle of yesterday’s dinner scraps. Somehow, I identified with the broken bowl.




That’s how we all are. Chipped and damaged but still serviceable. We turn our sharp edges to the wall so no one will see. We make sure the pretty, perfect side faces the world. We make things work, choosing careers and undertaking projects we were not designed for and, most of the time, it turns out okay. But somehow we always know it’s not the right fit.




Often, others trash us and we wind up sitting in the refuse, not having the energy to climb out. Sometimes, we just wake up one day and find ourselves sitting in the middle of avocado peels and last night’s spaghetti. Then, looking around, we start to believe maybe if we got ourselves there, we belong there.




Oh, how thankful I am that God does not see us that way! We are not beyond repair to Him. He doesn’t think we’re disposable when we are cracked or chipped. He never believes we belong in the trash. He tells us in the Bible that with everlasting lovingkindness He has compassion on us and that even if the mountains fall and the world ends, His love will remain with us. His love of us is not conditional on our condition.




God knows our cracks and flaws and He doesn’t ever stop loving us because we are damaged; in fact the opposite is true. Because we are broken and while we are shattered, God reached out to love us through His most valuable treasure, the thing that would cost Him the most, His son Jesus.
In the gospels, Jesus tells us the righteous, or the healthy, don’t need Him, and that’s not why He came. Jesus said He was there for the sick and they were the ones who need a doctor. He came for us regular folk - the broken, the hurting and those who had been labeled un-useable.
With billions of people on the planet, and countless billions who have gone before, Jesus tells us that He will go after one lost sheep. He tells us He will even give His life for that lone little lamb and that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for another.




I may be cracked and flawed. I may have sharp edges that I try to hide. I may be going in the wrong direction or blundering along, unaware of God’s purpose for me. I may even be sitting in the trash of my life, not able to stand the smell but not knowing what to do about it. But I will always know, God loves me – how I am, where I am, what I am. Loves me enough to pay everything He had to show me.




Written by Jody Ward




September, 2010

This 'n That 10/11-10/17

Quotes from Wise Women

Because of the age-long training in human relations...for that is what feminine intuition really is...women have a special contribution to make to any group enterprise
Margaret Mead

I like to help women help themselves, as that is, in my opinion, the best way to settle the woman question. Whatever we can do and do well we have a right to, and I don't thing anyone will deny us.

Louisa May Alcott

In all the ranks of life the human heart yearns for the beautiful; and beautiful things that God makes are His gifts to all alike.

Harriet Beecher Stowe
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RECIPE

Try this yummy recipe from Rachel Ray...I loved it

ITALIAN GRILLED CHEESE
Ingredients

• 1 cup giardiniera (Italian hot vegetable salad), drained
• 1/4 cup salad olives (green olives with pimiento)
• 8 slices good quality crusty white bread, 1/2-inch thick slices
• 8 slices deli cut provolone cheese 
•  4 tablespoons softened butter

Directions

1. Heat griddle to medium.
2. In a food processor pulse chop the salad and olives into a fine relish.
3. Spread 4 slices of bread with giardiniera, top each with 2 slices cheese and 4 more slices of bread.
4. Butter the outside of the sammies with softened butter and grill until golden on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes total.
5. Cut and serve.

You can also use Bruschetta instead of the giardiniera. I am not crazy about olives so I used chopped onions instead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Jokes

God’s Omnipotence 

A Sunday school teacher was asking her students some questions after a series of lessons on God's omnipotence. She asked, "Is there anything God can't do?


All was silent. Finally, one boy held up his hand.


The teacher, on seeing this, was disappointed that they had missed the point of the lesson. She sighed and asked, "Well, what is it you think God can't do?"


The boy replied, "He can't please everybody."


Author Unknown
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Last Request


An elderly woman died last month. Having never married, she requested no male pallbearers. In her handwritten instructions for her memorial service, she wrote, 'They wouldn't take me out while I was alive, I don't want them to take me out when I'm dead.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


In a Second


A poor man walking in the forest feels close enough to God to ask, "God, what is a million years to you?" God replies, "My son, a million years to you is like a second to me." The man asks, "God, what is a million dollars to you?" God replies, "My son, a million dollars to you is less than a penny to me. It means almost nothing to me." The man asks, "So God, can I have a million dollars?" And God replies, "In a second."

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BOOK REVIEW


I read this book a few years ago. I found it brought new understandings of the main way Satan uses as a weapon to get under our skin and steal our joy. It is getting late and so I felt like, "Hey, why reinvent the wheel?" So I went online to find a review of this book that spoke the things I would have wanted to day anyway. Here it is, and I don't think I could have written it better...hahaha. I highly recommend this book.
"The Bait of Satan" by John Bevere


When I read this book I thought, "If only I had read this book ten years ago! How much deception could I have possibly avoided? How many pity parties would have been left unattended!" Explanatory and convicting, the experience of reading it was truly bittersweet. It actually felt very autobiographical. Surely churches could institute required reading lists.

Inherent in the definition of deception is that you do not know it is being done to you. Satan is commonly known as the “master of deception”, and less commonly recognized for his mastery in his use of skandalon. What a painful reality this is.

Blindness and self-centeredness result from taking up an offense. As we focus on the faults of others to the exclusion of self-evaluation, much fruit results, but not fruits of righteousness. The enemy means it for separation, hurt, anger, strife, jealousy etc., yet the Lord desires us to see our true condition. God allows the fire of hurtful, difficult experiences to burn off our dross and purify our gold.


After an offense many of us become inward and guarded, unconditional love becomes impossible because we will not risk being hurt. Our love grows cold. The walls we erect for our protection from further hurt become our prison instead. Doubt and unbelief begin to prevail. Doubts about God’s goodness arise as we filter everything through hurts of the past and experiences of rejection. Believing God becomes harder and harder. We become unable to function in our calling, incapable of reaching our full potential because of wounds and offenses.


When we see flaws in leaders we judge and criticize, then we run away from the difficulty. Our enemy has garnered another success in uprooting us from the place of God’s planting. Eventually we become isolated, escaping the test. Conflict is temporarily avoided, relationships are severed instead of reconciled, character development is derailed and the cycle begins all over again.


What a comfort to know it was God who put David under Saul and Samuel under Eli. God allows our sifting for our good. The test – shall we become like our offenders? Shall we assume God’s prerogative in judging and correcting our offender? What a comfort that “we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices.”


Oh Lord, may we learn obedience through our hardships and acknowledging our pain. Grant me humility and selflessness that pursues peace with all men. Help me, God, to fulfill my ministry of reconciliation before You. As you have forgiven me, may I forgive also and allow you the place of Judge, Defender and Avenger. Please heal my heart and fill it with a fervent love for others. Enable me, Father, to walk in mature love that loves beyond perceived perfection in another. May I love with the same intensity after their sin and frailties have come to light. For this is how You love me.
Anonymous Student: Training for Restoration Prayer Ministry
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Shared by Corinne Mustafa
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"Love of God is pure when joy and suffering inspire an equal degree of graditude."

Steven Curtis Chapman's Wife, Mary Beth, was just named one of Nashville's 25 Most Beautiful People because of how she has encouraged people going through tough times. The Chapmans lost a little daughter, Maria, when she was run over in the driveway by their teen age son who did not see her.  She has just written a book about this experience and dealing with the trials of life. One of the quotes from the book says it all... "Love of God is pure when joy and suffering inspire an equal degree of graditude." It is amazing how a person's story can encourage someone else.

We all have stories that would encourage others if we shared them. In the Recovery Program at our church, which was a ministry I participated in, I learned the value of this.  We had small groups with two facilitators.  They were called Healing for Damaged Emotions.  On the first meeting of the class each of the leaders would tell their story to the group.  This showed the members of the group that they were not the only ones to whom damaging things had happened.  It also gave them courage and encouragement to tell their story. And one amazing side benefit was that we also benefited by our own sharing.  It was a blessing that someone else knew our stuff and we were not alone either.

They often did not immediately share their stories, but as they got more comfortable with the group they did tell their stories. In the process they were often unknowingly speaking into another group member's life as well.  Isn't it wonderful how God uses us to reach others for Him?
In the end many of the members of our groups came to realize that inspite of the pain they experienced during their challenges they learned and grew. They found out that many of the things that they value in themselves in the present were due to understandings gained during their valley experience. As John Bevere wrote about in Bait of Satan, God allows the fire of hurtful, difficult experiences to burn off our dross and purify our gold. While not many can say, "I like the hurtful experiences." However they do like it that He uses these experiences to make them better.

Which brings me to my title taken from the book written by Mary Beth Chapman. "Love of God is pure when joy and suffering inspire an equal degree of graditude." That is the next step, my friends. To learn to have gratitude not only in times of joy but also in times of suffering. This reminds me of the song, "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord."

Please click on this link to gp to You Tube to hear this song and see the wonderful video on You Tube. When you are done click on your back button in your browser to return to this blog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRbxEPn6khw


Have a wonderful week
Love and God bless

This 'n That 10/3-10/10

QUOTES ABOUT FAMILY

“Whatever they grow up to be, they are still our children, and the one most important of all the things we can give to them is unconditional love. Not a love that depends on anything at all except that they are our children.”
Rosaleen Dickson

“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family”
Anthony Brandt

“If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.”
Thich Nhat Hanh

“The house does not rest upon the ground, but upon a woman."
Mexican Proverb
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Top 10 Sayings of Biblical Mothers


10. Samson! Get your hand out of that lion. You don't know where it's been! (Judges 14:5-8).


9. David! I told you not to play in the house with that sling! Go practice your harp. We pay good money for those lessons!


8. Abraham! Stop wandering around the countryside and get home for supper!


7. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego! I told you never to play with fire!


6. Cain! Get off your brother! You're going to kill him some day!


5. Noah! No, you can't keep them! I told you, don't bring home any more strays!


4. Gideon! Have you been hiding in that wine press again?
Look at your clothes! (Judges 6:11)


3. James and John! No more burping contests at the dinner table, please. People are going to call you the sons of thunder! (Mark 3:17)


2. Judas! Have you been in my purse again?!


And the number one Biblical saying of mothers is:


1. Jesus! Stop working on that old wood and come in and eat! You'd spend your life on that wood, if your father asked you to!
____________________________________________________________________

Aldilla...CROCKPOT RECIPE


Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time
Categories : Crockpot, Vegetables, Stews

1 Flank steak (1-1/2 lbs)
3 teaspoons Chili powder
1/2 cup Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
3 tablespoons Vegetable oil
1 large Onion -- chopped
1 large Carrot -- chopped
1 large Green pepper -- chopped
2 large Tomatoes -- chopped
1/4 cup Red wine

PREPARATION

1. Score steak and rub with chili powder; coat with a mixture of flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon of seasoned pepper; pound steak on both sides with a wooden mallet or the edge of a plate to tenderize; cut into 6 pieces.

2. Brown steak in hot oil in a large skillet. Remove and reserve. Saute onion, carrot, green pepper and tomato in pan drippings; add remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; remove from heat.

3. Combine steak and sauteed vegetables in slow cooker; add wine; cover.

4. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours, or until meat is tender.

Shared by Corinne Mustafa

Daily Feast

This is a quote filled with wisdom from
A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II

by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

St. James says to keep quiet, control your tongue - though no one ever has. Your boat may be huge, but your little tongue is a rudder that can turn a very big ship in the wrong direction. The tongue is like kindling wood that can set a whole woods on fire. Keep your tongue quiet, very quiet. And then St. Mark says to speak - speak to the mountain and tell it to be gone. Not only be gone but sink into the sea. A mountain of trouble needs us to use our tongues. Speak what you want and need, not what you do not want. There is a time to speak and a time to keep silence. These are the times that make us who we are, what we are, and what we will have. Life and death are in the power of the tongue

Beach Revelations

Pacific Grove,
California
Him to me:

“My child…

Why are you looking down at the ground

To find earthly treasured

Bits of broken glass

Broken glass

That is all that the treasures of this world are.

Tiny shells

Discarded home of long dead animals

They don’t need them anymore

Neither do you

Why do you look

Towards other faces than Mine

Those faces are a gift from me to you

But I am the Prize

Look to Me, my child

I am all you need

I am everything you need.”

Me to Him:

“ My Lord…

I want to be cherished and adored

I want someone to look at me

And see all they want

I want to know

That someone is looking out for me

I want to know

That someone wonders

Where I am and what I am doing

I want to know

Someone is looking for me to see if I am safe

I want someone to do for me

And care about me

The way I try to do for others

It hurts to always be second best

To be never quite enough

To never be quite the perfect one

That someone has hoped for

Always second best

Good friend

Lovable person

But never quite enough.

Lord, can you find me someone

who will do all these things.

Him to me:

“Oh, my darling child

You stand on the rocks here

And watch my creation

I know you love it

But you are looking through Me

To see my beautiful sea

Don’t you see my darling child

That all you want

You already have in Me

I always am those things to you

But you seem to miss Me

In your search for first place

I talk to you in the chirping of a gull

When I look down at you and shine My sun on you

I see all I want

I look out for you and wherever you are I am too

I always know what you are doing

I surround you in my love to keep you safe

You need to understand this

When you care about others

And try to do for them

As I see you do in so many ways

The reason is this and it is My constant joy

For I have created you in my image

And you have chosen to follow

Whats built inside.

So don’t miss the boat

That I send into the harbor for you

It is filled with all you say you need

Do not look for what you need

In the shops on the dock

Climb aboard and come to Me

I am waiting to give you all you need.

Here is My word in an invitation I already sent to you...

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,

and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

MATTHEW 11:28-30

And when you come you will finally find

All that you’ve been looking for.”

©Corinne H. Mustafa