Choices

My cousin owns about 175 acres in Arkansas. She and her family have been raising birds for years now that eventually get to our local pet stores, such as Petco. They also raise guinea pigs, rabbits, a snake or two.

They work really hard too, because they do it right. They make sure their animals are healthy, and clean and well cared for, and they expect anyone that buys their animals to treat them the same way! They have a beautiful home, and their children live close by and also work with the animals. The Lord has blessed them.

It was so nice and peaceful out there. If you sit out on the patio, early in the morning and again in the evening you can watch the deer as they walk across the yard. And when it gets dark you can actually see hundreds of stars because you don't have all the lights around that dull the brightness of the starlight. I loved it!

That's what I want for myself. To be able to slow life down a little bit. I think it's still possible to get a little land somewhere (maybe...say 5 acres, I won't be greedy!) and have a little house, a garden. Sit out on my porch and enjoy God's creation. We just don't take the time to do that anymore. I know I don't.

We brought home a cockateil. They hand feed their birds, so he's pretty tame and used to being handled. I'm hoping to be able to teach him to talk. I had a cockateil once before who had so much personality and was really sweet. Supposedly the males are easier to teach. Guess we'll see. I don't know what to name him though!

Family Reunion

We just returned today from a family reunion in Arkansas. I'm not sure how many more of these we'll be able to have. Mom and all her siblings are getting older and their health is declining. Marvin is 84, Mom is 82, Faye will be 80 next month, Bonnie is 76, and Mattie is 72. They have always been a very close family, though they live in different states (Florida, Arkansas, Texas and North Carolina.)

Mom and Dad

Pics of Mom and Dad. Dad died in 1990 at 80 years of age.

Me

Pics of me. I'm the youngest of the four.

My Brother Gary

My brother Gary. He's almost 2 years older than me.

My brother Danny. He's 10 years older than I am. Picture of him and our mom.

My Sister Merlea

These pictures are of my sister Merlea. She was 12 years older than me. She died in 2000 at 56 years of lung cancer.

Da Vinci Code

The last two Sunday mornings John has preached about the controversy of the "Da Vinci Code" that everybody's talking about. I thought I'd pass on a couple of points that came from these sermons.

First of all, The DaVinci Code is fiction. It's a suspense novel, howbeit a sacrilegious novel. It's not true. The only problem is, Dan Brown claims he believes it is based on fact.

Brown claims that Jesus and Mary Magnalene were married and had children. The truth is, the Bible mentions Mary Magdalene only a few times: (1) Jesus cast seven demons out of her(Mark 16:9). (2) She was present while Jesus was dying on the cross(Matthew 27: 55-56). (3) She was present when Jesus was buried (Matthew 27: 60-61). (4) She went to the tomb early on the first day of the week (Matthew28:1). (5) She told Peter and John about the empty tomb (John 20:1-2). (6) Jesus appeared to her after His resurrection (Mark 16:9) and told her that He had not yet ascended to the Father (John 20:17). Mary reported to the disciples what Jesus had said to her (John 20:18). The Bible never hints of any kind of romantic relationship between Jesus and Mary. It doesn't teach that they married and had children. The scriptures present Mary as a devoted follower of Jesus.

Brown claims that Christians worshiped on the Sabbath until emperor Constantine changed it to Sunday. "Christianity honored the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday, but Constantine shifted it to coincide with the pagan's veneration day of the sun. To this day, most churchgoers attend services on Sunday morning with no idea that they are there on account of the pagan sun god's weekly tribute - Sunday." (pp232-233) The truth is, the New Testament church met on the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:2; Acts 20:7) If the churches in Corinth and Troas were meeting on Sunday (the first day of the week) back in the middle of the first century, the time of worship could not have been changed by Constantine in the early years of the fourth century as he claims.

Brown claims that the Bible is a product of man...not God. "The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven... The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times and it has evolved through countless translations, additions and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book" (p 231) The truth is, the Bible gives a different explanation for its origin. 2 Peter 1:21 says "For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 2 Timothy 3:16 says "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." If Brown's view is correct, the Bible ought to be a mishmash of confusing and contradictory stories. Instead it is a single, unfolding story of sin and redemption.

Even knowing this book is a work of fiction, I still find it upsetting and an attack on the beliefs I find so very important to me. Christians will recognize this for what it is; a book full of lies about Christ and the Bible. In order to minimize the potential damage to people's faith in Christ and in the Bible, look for opportunities to share the TRUTH about Christ and God's word.

Mothers Day 2006

Mom and I on MothersDay, May 14, 2006.

Groaner of the day

Did you hear what the mother hen, who was recently widowed, said to her rebellious chick? "If only your father could see you now. He'd turn over in his gravy!"

groan groan

A Florida Biker and His Babe

This is for anyone who dares to think we don't know how to "live it up" here in the good ole south!

A Taste of Heaven

Wow, what a great sermon we had today! John preached about Heaven. I guess because I work with people who are very ill, I was sitting there listening to him and thinking how encouraging it would be for some of them to hear what he was saying. I also have worked with a lot of elderly people, and I know what a comfort his words would be to them as well. He read from Revelation 21, where John wrote the following; "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." I have especially found comfort in the words of Jesus from John 14 which states; "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

Jesus died for every one of us. One day, this journey we call life will come to an end. The end of our journey will lead us to either heaven or to hell. Those who reject Christ will not be saved. Apart from His cross, there is no other possible way of salvation.

In each of our lives there will be sorrow and there will also be much joy. When we lose a loved one in death, it is a time of sorrow and sadness. But if that loved one was a faithful Christian, there is also joy to know that they have finished the race and are now in the presence of the Savior. It is such a bitter sweet time.

Heaven should not only be our destination, but our motivation in this life.

We sang one of my favorite songs today:
Why Did My Savior Come to Earth?

Why did my Savior come to earth, And to the humble go?
Why did He choose a lowly birth? Because He loved me so!

Why did He drink the bitter cup, Of sorrow, pain and woe?
Why on the cross be lifted up? Because he loved me so!

Til Jesus comes I'll sing His praise, And then to glory go,
And reign with Him thro' endless days, Because he loved me so!

He loved me so. He loved me so.
He gave His precious life for me, for me. Because He loved me so!

Just Beautiful!!!!!!!!

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.