Still a cutie!

It's been a long while since I posted anything here. I have been a little preoccupied. On May 20th, 2008 a tornado hit my house.

The yard was a war zone with countless trees down which took a week to clean up. Major constructional damage was done to all of my house except one master bedroom and one bath. Our insurance company deemed the house unlivable and told us to reside in a hotel. Blowers were brought in to dry out the water damage all through out the house. These ran loud and consistently for 10 days.

A restoration company came in a packed up all of the items not damaged by the tornado and placed them in a storage location I was never privy too. Then destruction began. Roof was repaired and replaced, gutters replaced. Siding removed and replaced. Ceilings, walls and floors were removed.

During the install of the insulation we noticed the contracted labors had installed the insulation wrong. They had put the insulation in backwards. Yep, backwards. So, the sheetrock had to come down (this was while putting up the ceilings) and the insulation had to be removed and installed right.

Then it came time to paint. I picked out the colors and told the contracted workers I wanted the ceilings white and the other colored paint went on the walls. I came home from work weary from all the construction as months had passed before we had arrived at the painting stage only to find my ceilings were the same color as the walls. Do over number two. Not only did this happen in one room it happened in numerous rooms.

Remember, I'm weary and a woman, my patience are thin. Need I say more? My ceilings are now white.

Then it came time to do the floors. Oh my gosh. My husband and I decided to upgrade to natural oak hardwood floors all through out the damaged area. The den, dining room, bedroom and a portion of the upstairs. Well, needless to say it is quite a bit more expensive than what we had originally had down. So, we bit the bullet and buy the flooring. Then we figure out we can't afford to pay (and quite frankly are afraid to) the contractors to put it down. So, we are crafty individuals....we get the nail gun and away we go. About one month later the entire bottom floor looks marvelous. We still have the top floor do to but man we make for some mighty fine floor installers. :)

The insurance decided it was in their best interest to bring my belongings back before the house was finished. So last week, 130 boxes came back to the house packed with all my stuff. Have you ever gone through stuff that was yours but you didn't pack? Kinda strange. Nothing in any kinda order.

We are more than a long way away from having our house back to the way it was. We have a front porch to rebuild yet, we have a stair way to rebuild, flooring to continue and lots of painting to do. But, in the end my house will be completely redone. Inside and out.

It has taught me so much. Before this tornado hit my house, I had no idea the devastation people went through until it happened to me. I couldn't even fathom the emotions, the fatigue, the financial burdens....but now, when I see a hurricane or a tornado I begin to pray for those in the way of the storm for I know someone somewhere is going to be affected just like I have been or even worse.

It has given me a greater compassion for those without the simplest of things and it has clearly shown me how much I take for granted and how selfish I am. All in all, I am thankful for the tornado and the experience. Through it God has truly changed me for the better. Once again, He has shown me He is in control and out of all of it, it has been for my good.

in love

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Preceptlady

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I read an article today. A woman decided to keep her carbon footprint of the planet by not having children. She had herself surgically fixed and declared having children selfish. Another woman following the same path said she too feels children are damaging to the planet and has chosen to live as "green" a life as possible. However, she has nieces and nephews she is around and she considers herself to love and care for them and to be a very caring person.  

It was God that said: Be fruitful and multiple.  Fill the earth.  

Seems these two "green" women don't know that.

Shelly was born on Halloween at 5:08 pm. She weighed 5.13oz. What a blessing watching Shelly come into this world. Childbirth is totally amazing. I was in awe at the miracle of what God had created.

I experienced a death in my family this week. Someone very close to me.

While the pain I am experience is very deep, I am rejoicing in the fact that

soon, I will see him again. He was a very strong Christian. I believe the moment

he died, he woke up in heaven surrounded by angels worshipping Jesus.

Bob was a pastor who taught people the message of loving one another

no matter the color of your skin, he taught people about the truth of God's word and he

taught people about the hope of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

Bob had been sick for 20 years. Medical doctors said he should have died 15 years ago.

He had three triple by pass surgeries, 20 heart caths, many strokes, was diabetic, and had

trouble seeing. However, his faith always got him through. He was a walking miracle.

He decided to donate his body to medical science.

As I sat and listened to his memorial service, I thought about the legacy he left and pondered

the legacy I would be leaving if I died today. I asked myself if I was happy with my thoughts...

I decided to change somethings. Do you ever wonder about your legacy? Do you ever wonder

about whether you will go to heaven when you die? If you don't know Jesus Christ,

I pray you will get in touch with me or someone that does know Him to find out more about Him

and how you can have a real relationship with Him.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His ONLY Son,

that who ever believes in Him should not perish, but have

EVERLASTING life.

While at work the other day a converstation started about a couple having a baby that were not married. I was in the middle of the conversation with several people from India. They do not profess to be Christains. Or shall I say they do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that No Man comes to the Father except through the Son.

Having said all of that, I was asked by several of them why a couple should be married in order to have a child. I failed horribly. Instead of saying, it is God's design that man and woman be married and then come the children I totally blew it. Instead of saying, In the beginning God created man and woman, male and female He created them and He created them to multiply and fill the earth, I said they should marry for the sake of the child. I have no idea why I said the wrong thing. Well, I do know. I have since asked for forgiveness for this and have humbled myself before God. It has proved to me just how much I "live" in this world.

Can you relate?

I'm finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it's okay
The last thing I need is to be heard
But to hear what You would say

Word of God speak
Would You pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your majesty
To be still and know
That You're in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your holiness
Word of God speak

I'm finding myself in the midst of You
Beyond the music, beyond the noise
All that I need is to be with You
And in the quiet hear Your voice

I'm finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it's okay

Lyrics by Mercy Me

I am teaching two Bible Studies at my church...one takes zero preparation time..it is all done in class and the other one takes 25+ hours a week.

I work full time testing software, I am a college student (at age 51) and I manage a household. I have a son with Ulcerative Colitis that needs my attention and I feel it is now time to leave. I have enyoyed my stay! I will miss those of you I have become friends with.

May God Bless you and IF you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I pray you will someday meet Him, before you meet Him face to face.

YOUR LIFE is Jesus to someone, Though tattered and torn it may be. Though often times weak and unstable, You're all of God someone will see.

YOUR TONGUE is Jesus to someone. That idle, insensitive word Reflects to at least one searching heart An idle, insensitive Lord.

YOUR GOALS are Jesus to someone. What you put first, they believe, Are the goals of God for the Christian. Your life is all they receive.

YOUR FAITHFULNESS... that's Jesus to someone. Their judgment of how God is true, Rests unquestionably in the faithfulness They see day by day in you.

YOUR LOVE is Jesus to someone-- That someone who is seeking to know That Jesus will follow and guide and Befriend wherever in life they might go.

SO BEWARE lest others blaspheme God by what you say or do, For the only Jesus that someone knows Is the Jesus they see in you.

Author Unknown

Here are a few of my picks to leave alone:

Micheal Jackson

Tom Cruise

Cindy Sheehan

South Park

Brokeback Mountain

Want ads are getting new meaning in the Internet Age, with men posting advertisements for female roommates who can live virtually free, as long they're willing to have sex with them.

One recent posting in the Florida area on the popular Craigslist.com states: "Upscale executive seeks beautiful female 18-24 to live in his luxury condo in Coral Gables for $1/month in exchange for some light duties. Help take care of dog, cook occasionally. Sex 2x/week. Serious inquires only. Please email a picture for consideration."

Lack of affordable housing in areas like South Florida prompts advertising online for rent paid with sexual favors. Another reads: "FREE RENT FOR A PARTY GIRL!!!!!!! If you like to party and don't want to pay rent, well then send a pic and some info about yourself. If I like what I see then I'll email my phone #."

Postings like these bartering housing for sexual favors are said to be worrisome not only because they target young women desperate for affordable housing, but they may also be against the law.

''They would be of concern to us,'' Sgt. Kelly Sullivan of the Miami-Dade Police Department told the Miami Herald. "It is a form of prostitution because they are enticing young girls who may be strapped for cash.''

In the paper's survey of online ads seeking sex for rent, no men who posted such ads were willing to comment, and there were no ads written by women seeking men.

Such a distinction demonstrates exploitation, according to Sophie Brion, director of the Miami chapter of Women's Movement Now. ''Advertisements soliciting women for sex in exchange for housing are offensive and disturbing. They are an indicator of how much work still needs to be done to eradicate institutional inequities and harmful attitudes toward women that persist,'' Brion said.

One Way For Bird Flu to Enter the country is on international flights.

Don't get on an airplane that looks like this.

The land of Israel has been one of the most fought over pieces of property in history, but recently the battles there have become rather heated. Jews want Jerusalem, but so do the Muslims because both view this city as Holy. However, if one reads the Bible, they can plainly see that the land of Israel was a gift from God to his chosen people through which His son, the Messiah, or Jesus Christ would later appear.

A really great book that deals with current events in Israel and with Iran's ambitions to "wipe Israel from the map of the world" is Jerusalem Countdown by John Hagee. This great book talks about Iran's weapons development and the possible involvement of Russia aiding the Iranians in their nuclear future. It paints a scary picture of the world to come when Iran has nuclear weapons and attacks Israel. I highly recommend the book.

As I have previously stated, Israel belongs to the Jews and to no one else. We as faithful Christians must stand behind Israel in their struggles with fanatical Islamic terrorists who have vowed to destroy anything not like themselves. The Bible plainly states that Israel is God's people and that God will smite a nation who attacks his people. Genesis 12:3 says " I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and in all the families of the earth shall be blessed".

God promised Abraham that his descendants would be too many to count. Right now supporting Israel should be a top priority in the war on terror. No one knows domestic terrorism better than the people of Israel. Every day there is a suicide bomber that disrupts some innocent life and then the follow-up retaliation thereafter. It seems to me that they are going in circles. The Islamic fascists have vowed to never give in until death, but so have the Israeli troops. So who is winning? I still say Israel has the upper hand because they have a God who created the world that sent His son into the world to die on a cross for the sins of the world who will one day come again and reclaim Jerusalem. The Bible says that when He comes we will see Him for who he is and we will see ourselves for who we are - sinners. Then every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord - but for some it will be too late.

Israel is not a really large nation as far as the real estate portion of it goes. There may or may not be oil and riches in that land ( we don't know right now, but money is not the main reason for fighting. As a matter of fact many of those extremists who are the worst threat to our own country is filthy rich, so this is not about poverty as the left will have to you to believe. This truly is a Holy War that we are engaged in.

The liberals think that if we leave Iraq, the war will be over, but they do not understand the magnitude of this war. It does not start nor end in Iraq. We may NEVER see an end to this war. As long as Islamic Extremism is allowed to be preached and allowed to influence young minds to the point of turning them into brainwashed killing machines, there will never be peace. The left does not understand that we did not start this fight. THEY declared war on US! We just responded. Israel has had this war for as long as it has existed an probably is not going away or going to get better until Jesus does come again.

Parents across the nation are taking action against both school districts and libraries that feature books, some of them required reading, that include sexual issues and obscenity many believe are inappropriate for school children.

In Overland Park, Kan., parents have organized to protest the inclusion of obscene books on children's assigned reading lists in the Blue Valley School District. The parents took action after a few of them researched the books kids were being asked to read.

"[My son] is a 14-year-old freshman boy, and [the book] had references to oral sex and homosexuality. … I thought it was a mistake!" Janet Harmon, one of the Blue Valley parents, told activist group Concerned Women for America.

The Kansas parents eventually started a website, Classkc.org, designed to inform parents about the contents of their children's reading material and about how to get involved to make changes. The site includes pages with explicit examples of narrative bestiality and oral sex, citing the school board-approved books from which the excerpts come.

Says Classkc.org: "The state should not have open season on when, where and how to indoctrinate and form children's sexual attitudes, but rather … the parents should have the primary role in values education and overall worldview, particularly in the area of sexual values, for their own children."

The site lists books on the high-school reading list along with their level of reading score as determined by the Lexile grade-level system. Books assigned to 11th and 12th grade Blue Valley students, such as "Song of Solomon" (not the biblical book) and "Beloved," are given fifth and sixth grade levels of difficulty by the Lexile system. "The books, therefore, are not only vulgar but provide little intellectual challenge for high-school students," Concerned Women for America points out.

"Beloved," by Toni Morrison, was assigned to 12th-graders but has a sixth-grade reading level. "'Beloved' contains oral sex, incest, rape, pedophilia, graphic sex, extreme violence, sexual abuse, physical/emotional abuse, infanticide, and an extensive amount of profanity," states the classkc.org website. "The first two chapters contain five references to sex with cows in addition to other types of sex."

Is this ok with YOU? I know if my child were in school I would be doing something about this. This is insane.!