A thought

"You start dying when you have nothing to live for, and you start living when you have something to die for "

Happy Halloween

One of my favorite holidays is Halloween. I used to love dressing up my kids and taking them out for Halloween. I never got into the Harvest Festivals..you have to have some scary costumes :)
I also loved the candy :) and I always love to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" which I'm watching right now.
We didn't have alot of trick or treaters but the ones we had were cute. Darrell wore his dread lock hair with a cowboy hat...I should have taken a picture of that one...definitely scary haha!

2007 World Series Champs!!!!!

Game 1...

Josh Beckett....he's the real thing

"Last Lecture" Randy Pausch

Here is the video I talked about in my last post. It's an hour and 44 min but worth it to watch.

Are you a Tigger or an Eyore?

I love Winnie the Pooh so anytime I can relate life to that I do. This afternoon I watched a show that had a professor from Carnegie Mellon and his last lecture to his students. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and after treatments he is at the point where there is nothing more that can be done. His courage,faith,and love for life were obvious. One of the things he said was : You need to decide....are you going to be a Tigger with a love for life or an Eeyore..where you focus on the negative. If you want to listen to his last lecture you can google his name, Randy Pausch, and find his lecture on several sites including you tube...make sure you have your tissues ready.

Red Sox vs Rockies!!!!!!

Jesus is our creator

We often think of Jesus as our redeemer but not as a creator.

This is a picture of the protein laminin. Laminin is a protein which in simple terms "holds things together" in our body. It's just one of the amazing things which God used in our creation. It's in the shape of a cross. Kind of gives you goosebumps.
Today was a beautiful fall day so Darrell and I decided to go to Yellow Springs. It's been awhile since I've been there. There is an area called Glen Helen which has beautiful walking trails with waterfalls. Along the walking trail was a little museum with info on different animals and fossils and there was a guy who was there to answer questions. He had a box turtle who's shell hadn't totally closed so they have inherited him as a pet since he wouldn't be able to survive in the wild. He was adorable. He waddled right over to my shoe and the guy said he likes people..he's social..I found that to be funny.
If it wasn't 45 min away I'd be hanging out there alot for prayer and quiet time.

We also had time to walk downtown for a little bit and went in some of the shops they have. There is a really nice coffee shop called "Underdog Cafe" that sells fair trade coffee and organic foods. They had "Vegan" cookies which were like oatmeal raisin with carob and dried cranberries. That was one of the best cookies I've ever had.They also had "Vegan" snickerdoodles which I'll have to try the next time.

So now it's time to watch the Red Sox beat the Indians :P

"Manny being Manny"

He's an awesome baseball player ...He just doesn't know when to stop. He managed to irritate Cleveland and Boston fans. His over exuberant celebration of his homerun drew criticism from Cleveland and then the following words just didn't sit right with Boston fans

"Why panic?" Ramirez said. "If we don't do it, we'll come back next year and try again."

Ramirez reiterated the sentiment later, saying, "If it doesn't happen, who cares? There's always next year. It's not the end of the world."

It's not the end of the world but there are a lot of Boston Red Sox fans who do care.

Proverbs 16

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps"

5-1!!! Green Bay Packers

I love Green Bay!!!!

The end of the series..Nehemiah 13 : 15-31

Well it's the end of the series on Nehemiah.
The last part of this chapter talks about the Sabbath. There was disobedience in keeping the Sabbath. Having a day of rest goes back to Genesis when God created the world...He had a day of rest..not because he was tired or needed time...He was done.
What we tend to forget today is that we are not God...we do need a day of rest. He tells us to rest..

If we aren't obedient in keeping a Sabbath (it doesn't have to be Sat or Sunday..it just needs to be a day)
1 We delude ourselves by thinking we're in charge of our productivity. We place ourselves above God.
2 We dull the miracle of the cross...we dumb it down

The second half of the chapter deals with those who marry others of different faiths/culture.
When you mix believers and nonbelievers in intimate relationships , the language changes The pure becomes impure and there is an impact in generations to come.

He finished by giving the Big Questions you should ask yourself based on the book of Nehemiah:

1 What is it right now that requires courage from you to act on? Chapter 1/2

2 Do you feel like you are meeting with the people of God or building with the people of God? A huge difference in commitment Chapter 3

3 How do you deal with conflict and do you realize how important your response is? It says a lot about character Chapter 4

4 Are you pursuing self advancement so much that you are desensitized to hurting people around you? Chapter 5

5 Is prayer a regular part of your fight of faith or is it a last resort? Chapter 6

6 Is having to be known by others more important to you than being known by God? Chapter 7

7 Is your pursuit of joy in God the primary pursuit of your life? Chapter 8

8 Is it hard for you to admit you are wrong or take responsibility for sinful actions ? Chapter 9

9 Do you grasp the importance of your personal purity in the collective people of God. Chapter 13

Go Red Sox!!!!!

Hot dogs on the grill, snacks, and Boston Red Sox vs Cleveland Indians ...a nice way to spend a Friday night :^)

Mat Kearney...Grey's Anatomy "Breathe In Breathe Out"

Retro

Life goes in cycles. What was "in" 30 years ago comes back around. I've noticed it the most with clothes/shoes. Probably because 70's/early 80's is when I paid attention to those things. I was in high school/college then.
Unfortunately the prices aren't the same :)
One of the things I loved when I was in high school was earth shoes. I have wide feet and they fit really well and held up. So when I saw them in the stores again I was excited. Shoes are important to me...not for the same reason as my daughter Kristen who has approx. 60 pairs ..(If you get a new outfit then you need new shoes in her mind) She buys them for looks not comfort. At work, I spend 6/8 hours on my feet so I have to have shoes that are "practical" or I will be in pain. Up until now I've had to wear my tennis shoes( not the most attractive with dress pants)...but yesterday I took the gift card I got for working 25 years at the hospital and bought new earth shoes ...so even though I'm 30 years older..my feet look just like they did in high school :)

Nehemiah 13: 1-14 Getting sin out of the closet

Sometimes you walk into a service and you can feel the hurt,the sadness,the somberness.
That's how it was tonight. Undercurrents of hurt could be felt ..so the service started with prayer...there were a lot of people at the altar on their knees..and sometimes worship music is even more meaningful in that situation.

We are on the last chapter of Nehemiah. Nehemiah goes back to his position for the King of Babylon. In absence of his leadership there is a gravitation toward ungodliness. This is true in our lives as well. When there is no godly leadership..we gravitate toward ungodliness. The leadership isn't necessarily others leading...it can be self leadership.

Tobiah decides to move into the temple closet which is sacrilegious to the Jews. Because he moves in he gets rid of things which were important for worship grain..which represents the broken body of Christ, incense which symbolizes prayer, tithes which represents the first fruits of God,new wine which symbolizes new life and oil which represents being made new in energy.

In our lives today we allow sin to live in our closets. We believe lies..we get into sinful patterns and one by one we move out those things which help us worship and the magnitude of Christ decreases.

Ask 2 questions
1 What do I do when I find myself in a pattern of sin?
2 What do I do when I find a brother/sister in Christ in sin?

1 Confront bluntly...lovingly but bluntly
In Nehemiah he uses his influence and reminds the people of their commitment not to "neglect the house of God"

2 Act immediately in obedience..Start 1 step. Even if you are in darkness..If you don't do it immediately..chances are you aren't going to.

3 Get the right people in the right places. You don't need people who are going to stroke your ego You need someone who is going to call you out when you need it

4 Never underestimate the need to pray
Sometimes God orchestrates heat,thorns,barriers, to get us to the throne to talk to Him. You need to cry out to God!

I liked the story he told about his bushes. He had these ugly bushes he needed to get rid of. He was going to hire someone but his neighbor came over and said he would do it right now for him ..so he hooked up chains to his pickup truck ..tied them on the bushes and jerked them out leaving 2 large holes about 2 ft deep. He was going to fill up the holes with dirt and be done but his neighbor said "No we're not done" and he went and got salt to kill the roots.
Sometimes we think we've gotten rid of the ugliness on the outside but we need to get to the root sometimes and apply the salt.

For Darrell and Adam :^)and Mike :^)

October...breast cancer awareness month

This is something near to my heart. In Feb,2004 I had a routine mammogram which showed 2 suspicious areas..I had a biopsy the next day and received a phone call the day after the biopsy while I was at work telling me that I had breast cancer and needed to see a surgeon. I had an open biopsy with a small amt of tissue removed and with alot of prayer and God's healing it was benign..
I have no signs of cancer although my surgeon keeps a close eye on me ..I have to see him every 6 months.
Early detection and routine mammograms are the key. As a nurse, I have seen the effects this disease has on women and their families.
You will see alot of pink this month....pink bracelets,pink M&M's, pink appliances.etc....It's for a good cause.

Oct. 4,1988 Happy Birthday Bubby !!!!

7:01pm 21 inches 10 lb. 3 oz !!!!

Starbucks and music

I got an email about the new promotion Starbucks is doing with a "song of the day"
Everyday they are giving cards out with a song of the day. Today it was a Bob Dylan song. Bob isn't my favorite..but..the song isn't too bad..especially since it's free !
I love coffee ...I love music....what more do you need?! :^)