Baptist Dog

This is Mike - We adopted him from the animal shelter.

Thought this was too funny. Just sharing a couple of correspondences from an e-mail my husband shared with me. I know it's a joke, but it does show a little about how people are watching when we profess to be Christians!

Ever mindful of the congregation, the Baptist preacher and his wife decided to get a new dog, and knew that the dog also had to be a Baptist. They visited kennel after kennel and explained their needs.
Finally, they found a kennel whose owner assured them he had just the dog they wanted.
The owner brought the dog to meet the pastor and his wife.
"Fetch the Bible," he commanded.
The dog bounded to the bookshelf, scrutinized the books, located the Bible, and brought it to the owner.

"Now find Psalm 23," he commanded.
The dog dropped the Bible to the floor, and showing marvelous dexterity with his paws, leafed through and finding the correct passage, pointed to it with his paw.

The pastor and his wife were very impressed and purchased the dog.
That evening, a group of church members came to visit.
The pastor and his wife began to show off the dog, having him locate several Bible verses.
The visitors were very impressed.

One man asked, "Can he do regular dog tricks, too?"

"I haven't tried yet," the pastor replied. He pointed his finger at the dog. "HEEL!" the pastor commanded. The dog immediately jumped on a chair, placed one paw on the pastor's forehead and began to howl.

The pastor looked at his wife in shock and said, "Oh no! He's Pentecostal!"

Your post makes me feel that I've been really amiss in that when my wife and I adopted a dog from the pound a couple of years ago, we didn't even give a thought to his religious affiliation. After discussing it, though, we have decided that we lucked out . . . he is definitely a "church of Christ dog." Not only does he not heel (er, heal), but while he occasionally sings (barks), he has never yet been known to play an instrument to accompany his singing.


I heard someone mention on one occassion that they had a dog that had gotten into some mischief of some sort. She then described how one gracious member took her aside to explain to her, a preacher's wife, that the dog of a minister of church of Christ ought not to act that way. Can you imagine? It would be hard not to facetiously encourage the sister to start a new dog convert's class!
So, not only are preachers, preacher's wives, and PKs, held under the microscope, but also preacher's pets!

Krispy Kreme Donuts

I grew up just a couple of blocks from where Krispy Kreme donuts were made. I knew even before the "hot donuts now" sign started flashing, that there were some fresh donuts just coming out of the oven. The smell was wonderful! They've always been my favorite (I like the glazed vanilla cream filled ones the best!) One of the neat things about our trip was that we got to see how the donuts were made! (It doesn't take a lot to get me excited!) Anyway, Thought I'd share a few of the pictures to show you how they make them.

Me In Tallahassee

This picture was taken inside the state capitol in Tallahassee, April 15, 2006.

Our Trip

Well, we had a pretty nice time on our "mini" trip/anniversary. We drove along the coast, then up to Tallahassee. It was a georgous day! The beaches were absolutely beautiful, and not too crowded. We stopped at Panama City for a walk on the beach. It was kind of hot though. Not too crowded. I wouldn't have wanted to be there during spring break though!

This picture is of John on the beach in Panama City, April 14, 2006.

Judge Not

Who's in Heaven ?

I was shocked, confused bewildered
As I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
By the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp--
The thieves,the liars,the sinners,
The alcoholics,the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.

She,who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus,
"What's the deal?
I would love to hear your take.
How'd all these sinners get uphere?
God must've made a mistake.

And why's everyone so quiet,
So somber?
Give me a clue."
"Hush child," said He.
"They're all in shock.
No one thought they'd see you!"

Just something I got in an email I wanted to share. Now we know that thieves, liars and sinners will not be in heaven. But isn't it great to know that there is forgiveness for our sins through the cross? I don't know about you, but I haven't met a perfect person yet!

He Is Risen

We had a lot of visitors at church this morning. Not surprising, we expected it. It seems that people will go to church on Christmas and Easter, even if they won't go any other time of the year. John preached a good sermon about the teacher Jesus. He traveled around Palestine for about 3 1/2 years - working miracles, teaching the truth of His purpose, His fulfillment of Bible prophecy, and preparing them to continue teaching others these great truths.

He did mention about the risen Christ. But he emphasized that Christ's ressurrection should be preached any time of the year, not just on some special day of the year. 1 Corinthians 15:20 says, "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." Jesus wasn't the first person to be raised from the dead (Lazarus and others were), but He was the first to never die again! Because of His great sacrifice, we have that same promise. Not that we'll never die (we will, unless the Lord returns before then), but He has assured us that on that day we will also experience the resurrection of our bodies and we will have eternal life.

Happy Easter to you all!

2005

My daughter Angie at 25 years of age.

1996

My daughter Angie at 16 years of age.

After

Before

Our house is shaped like a U so there's an area just off to the right of the walkway as you walk up to the front door. Well, as you can see, this area was in really bad shape! And it's one of the first things you see as you come inside. So...we decided to get this area cleaned up yesterday. We worked a long time getting it done!

We're still not finished, but it looks 100 percent better! We put in a wisteria vine in hopes that we can get it to grow and close in the area a little more. Also a butterfly plant, some heather,hibiscus, oleander, and a jasmine plant. We also fertilized and trimmed up the roses. So hopefully in a month or so it will be full of blooms!

And the best part is, we're not even sore from doing all that work yesterday!

Thought This Was Too Cute!

One More Regarding The Winkler Family

Greta Van Susteren is the Fox News Channel equivalent to Nancy Grace . . . in that she is a lawyer who hosts a legal issues show on a cable news network. In a column dated Tuesday, April 4, Ms. Van Susteren wrote,

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On to another topic, I received e-mails from some viewers with very hostile things to say about Matthew and Mary Winkler's church and religion. The critical e-mails are the malcontents, not the many who are happy and gain much by being members of this church. Let me remind everyone, the First Amendment our Constitution provides for Freedom of Religion. It is reasonable to be critical of anyone accused of shooting someone, but we should respect the religion of the many who belong to this church of denomination. We need to be careful not to step on others' rights. The church and the religion are not on trial. A wife will be on trial for the shooting.

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There appears to be a little difference in outlook from that shown by Nancy Grace.

It's Spring, Ya'll!

It's spring here in Florida, my FAVORITE time of year! Just had to share some of the beauty and color that's springing up everywhere!

Let's Talk

I had a sweet lady at church today who waved me over to her. She wanted to tell me something. She told me that if I ever needed someone to talk to about anything, she was a great listener! And she said she was good at keeping things to herself as well. I thought that was so sweet of her. In light of all that has happened with the Winkler family, all the speculation about what happened between Mary and Matthew. Could it have been avoided? This lady just wanted me to know she was there for me if I needed anyone. There are some really good, caring people. Some people you just want to hug and not let go!