Your Vote Counts!

Please pray for our election upcoming next week.

Your vote does matter.

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwLY_HRt-AM

God Bless America!

Are there any good men out there?

My husband and I have been blessed with two beautiful and talented young women. They both have a bachelor's degree and graduated with honors. God has been good and they have turned out to be wonderful women of God. We are so proud of them!

Ever since they've both been little girls I have prayed for their future husbands. The girls have had relationships but they never worked out, which their dad and I are thankful for now that we look back.

I've always encouraged them to be patient that the Lord has the perfect husband for them. I've said, "He knows where you live". We sent them to a Bible college hoping that they would find their mates, but it didn't happen.

The girls graduated in December of last year and had a difficult time finding employment, so they both moved back home. We're enjoying them back home with us and realize that this is temporary and won't be forever. We're enjoying family time together.

Because of their previous relationships, I do wonder if there are any good men out there? There must be! There must be parents that have brought their boys up in the Lord that have the same values, standards and goals that we have instilled in our girls.

We don't know who their future husbands are or where they live, but we continue to pray that God will bring that special person into their lives at the appropriate time.

It's a good thing that I'm not in a hurry to be a mother-in-law or grandmother......I'm still young.

Pray For Our Children, Brother, and Nation

This is a powerful Video. We need to pray more so now than ever.

The word says that if we will humble ourselves and pray that He would heal our land.

I saw this link on a blog that I follow. I hope you are blessed by it.
Click on below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyXx6mjSCwU

50 is just a number!

I love this cartoon! Who can afford to retire at 50 anyway?

Chic Conference - Becoming 2008

This weekend our church hosted the Chic Conference. This was a huge endeavor birthed by Jennifer Beittel who is on staff as Youth Pastor's wife, worship leader and office staff.

She worked so hard and everything was so "chic". We had so many girls and young women that came. I didn't participate in the whole conference, but did go last night. There was a concert by a group out of Tampa called 11:28 who were awesome! Even though their style of music was too contemporary for my taste. I guess I'm getting old! (remember AARP).

The musical group also led praise and worship and then the highlight of the evening was Pastor Nancy Turpin who just shared the truth about sex and boys, but in love. She spoke about Hadassah, aka as Esther in the Old Testament. For women wishing to become queen it was a requirement for them to be young, beautiful, and a virgin. God had a plan for her life just as He does for the young ladies that came to this event.

Pastor Nancy shared that the Lord has requirements for us as well, but He is a God of second chances if we've mess up. He only ask that we turn our lives around and serve Him.

At the end of her message she gave her personal testimony and the girls were so moved by it. There must have been 40 girls up front at the altar in response. She gave another altar call for girls that had been hurt or abused. My heart was so torn for them--they were crying out to God for healing from the hurt and betrayal.

This was a two day event and so many people from our church worked so hard to put this together. I'm so proud of Jennifer because this was her time to "step out" into this much needed ministry to our girls of Southwest Florida.

I believe that much territory was taken from the enemy and that these young ladies went away from this conference truly touched and changed.

The tree that wouldn't die

The home that we're living in was built and completed one week before Christmas four years ago. That was a tough year, we were living in a rental home in Charlotte Harbor that summer and found our family right in the eye of Hurricane Charley that day in August.

Like most new homes the builder is required to plant a certain number of trees on each home lot. We faithfully watered those trees believing that they would make it. Winter came and the leaves fell off and to be honest we weren't as faithful watering them as we should plus the rains slowed down.

Spring came and the leaves never came back , so my husband, Keith proceeded to cut them down to the ground. This past summer, we noticed shoots coming up from the roots where two of the trees had been. I asked Keith to please not mow them down and they are doing quite well!

The scripture in Psalms 1 speaks about a man being rooted and grounded. Verse 3 says, "He is a like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither."

Apparently these two tree's roots went down deep and took hold because they are growing and producing. They have leaves and one day they will be majestic oak trees providing shade and homes to birds and other wildlife.

It's important that we be rooted and grounded. A man recently attended our church and the first thing he said to me is that he attends 10 - 15 churches a month, like it was a badge of honor or something! He hops from one church to another. This blew me away a bit! To be honest I was offended too!

This scripture came to me about how we need to be rooted and grounded not only in our relationship with Christ, but in our attendance of where we worship to become involved and make a difference in the body of Christ. Not just to pick and choose where we worship because we like the worship here and we like the preaching there. Believers that hop from one church to the next I believe are selfish and in it only for themselves and not thinking about what they can offer to the body. It's all about them and what they can get. How sad!

What would happen if you bought a beautiful Gardenia bush, which I just love the flowers from them and you uprooted it every week? Duh, it would die. It would never have a chance to take root and you would never be blessed by it's fruit- the lovely aroma of it's flower.

I mentioned to my daughter this weekend about those oak trees that there was a lesson here. The rest of the scripture in verse three says, "Whatever he does prospers".

We didn't dig up those stumps or roots and they are faithful now doing what trees do. They are producing! How simple is that? as Rachael Ray would say.

Get rooted and grounded and become fruitful!

The Beach and AARP!

We are back now from our time away. It was so refreshing to relax after a tough year! God is good and made away for my hubby Keith and I to take some much needed time off.

We stayed in a furnished Condo one block from the beach. The weather was beautiful--it was last week when the weather turned a bit cooler! I sat out on the deck every morning eating my breakfast with a cup of coffee and enjoyed the view---and ocean breezes..... reading my bible and having one on one time with Jesus!

Keith (most days) and I (every day) except the day it rained--went to the beach! I'm so proud of my tan---but it's fading... We packed a cooler with lunch, took a beach umbrella, chairs and our favorite books--just hung out and got in the water! Later on we'd go back and clean up and take a nap. We usually went out once a day to eat a meal somewhere on the Island or close by in town. Yes, it was wonderful!!!

We missed you, but tried not to worry about the world events, economy and just let go of our cares....It's easier said than done, but I can say it's easier now.... because of our time of renewal.

Back to realty though, as we were going through the mail to my "horror" was a membership packet for AARP! The second day of the new year is the BIG one for me "nifty fifty" as they call it. My hubby jokes about getting the senior discount at the movies, but this hasn't happened to me yet. It's just a number I suppose, but this one might be a little harder to swallow.

This weekend, I think I'll head back to the beach with my book & chair and pretend we're back on vacation pre-AARP!

Fall Escape Sec 13 Event Nov 15

Suffering for Jesus!

Hi everyone!
Just a quick update....we are enjoying a time away which we desperately needed. I'm sorry to say I won't see you at the Fall Breakaway, but know that my thoughts and prayers are with my sisters who are there. I trust that you are being ministered to and blessed.

I'll be back in full swing soon, but for now.....just relaxing.....