Do you ever feel like the whole world is crashing in around you? Mine has been like that lately. Well, I guess it is more of the outside world. Personally, I have been doing all right. I suppose you could say I have learned how to deal with things and be content. I'm not saying that it is easy for me, but that the Lord has given me the grace to do so.

There is so much going on with my family. Last weekend I had received news of my grandma's poor health. I didn’t have the money to fly up to Michigan, but my roommate paid my way and worked on getting my class covered. The Lord was certainly in all the details. I even shared that with my class after I returned. The flight to Detroit was overbooked and then when they called for boarding, Detroit had a weight restriction. Everyone could not go on that flight. I just made it onto the shuttle and the plan before the cut-off. Praise the Lord!

I am thankful for the time I got to spend with Gram while I was there. She just passed tonight, around 9pm. I'm feeling kind of numb at the moment. People often say they are sorry. What can be said to that? Nothing, really. I know I will be getting a round of "sorry's" tomorrow at church.

An answer to another prayer is that of a car. I've been car-less since last January when my little Toyota quit on my birthday. My dad had sold "Hank the Tank" last Christmas when I asked him to since the car was not being reliable for me. While I was home, my dad showed me the new-to-me car he got me. It's a little Dodge Neon. I'm very thankful. Dad is driving me back to VA and then he will fly back to MI.

Good night.

My grandma is going to start acute hospice today at the hospital for the next 24-48 hours and then will be sent home. According to the symptoms she has, she may only have a couple of weeks left. This was hard news on the family.

She has been taken off antibiotics, had her feeding tube removed, and had the wound vac removed as well. She has a deep and long incicsion (18 inches or so) in her leg that most likely will not heal due to a very low protein level. My cousin will most likely be changing the wet-to-dry dressing every day when Grandma is home.

She is on morphine every two hours for the pain and therefore, she is sleeping most of the time.

Is it right or wrong?

Is it right or wrong?

I came across some more sermon notes, this time from my pastor in MI when I was there over the summer. The text was I Corinthians 8.

1 Corinthians 8
1Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.

2And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

3But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

4As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.

5For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)

6But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

7Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.

8But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.

9But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.

10For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;

11And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

12But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.

13Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.

I. Can you ask God to bless it?
(Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.)

II. Can you thank Him for it?
(Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.)

III. Is it to the glory of God?
(1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.)

IV. Is it of the world?
(1 John 2:15-16 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.)

1. Is it a stumbling block to others?

2. Will it be a weight?
(Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,)

3. Is it to please God rather than man?

4. Do I realize the consequences?
(Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.)

5. Is it expedient?/Does it edify?

6. Will is serve the right master?

7. Will His indwelling presence permit it?

I think that so many times people get stuck on the "thou shall" and "thou shall not" parts instead of simply pleasing the Lord. I know I've seen it in my life.

Reasons for restricted revival

Reasons for restricted revival

As I was reading my Bible one morning, I came a across some sermon notes I took when I was in college. The thought of "revival" is not necessarily for the church alone, but each Christian in their daily life. Revival means to bring back those life-giving qualities to someone (picture someone who has nearly drowned in a pool and are revived). It is very important that a Christian is alive as they serve the Lord.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (King James Version)If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Here are the main points that I have written down in my Bible:

1. Proud
2. Prayerless
3. Blind
4. Wicked

Instead of giving up our sins, we try to protect them. How much better it is to realize the fact that in the Christian's life, he is no more bound by the chains of sin! We are FREE!

Give thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much to be thankful for and the Lord has been so good to me even when I lack in faith. I am thankful for my salvation and that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. I am thankful for my family and friends and the opportunities I have to fellowship with them. I am thankful that I live next door to the church and can walk to church/work while I don't have a car. I am thankful for that God is using me in His service as a teacher. I am thankful for each of my students.

I was given a few invites for dinner. I accepted two of them this year. In the early afternoon, I went to an older couple's house. I thought that they were going to have all of their kids and family over, but it was just us. I had a wonderful time of fellowship with them and the meal was delicious. I even tried clam dressing. That was interesting. It was nice and relaxing.

Then in the evening, I went to a house that I went to last year. This couple helps out in the hispanic church and invited a number of people over. There were 11 adults and 5 children (all under the age of 5) there. As we were fellowshipping while the food was cooking, we sang some songs. It was really neat to hear hymns being sung in Spanish and English at the same time. After another delicious meal, we all went into the living room to read some verses and sings some more songs. This was done in both languages. After we all read some verses in English, one lady asked if we all could to the same in Spanish. So, I did try to read in Spanish when my turn came. I even tried to sing in Spanish. The whole experience was very interesting and a blessing.

I hope you had a great day.

Psalm 136
1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Salmos 136
1 Dad gracias al SEÑOR porque El es bueno, porque para siempre es su misericordia.

Thank you Mr. Clinton

Dear Mr. Ex President Clinton:

I recently saw a bumper sticker that said, "Thank me, I voted for Clinton-Gore." So, I sat down and reflected on that, and I am sending my "Thank you" for what you have done, specifically:

1. Thank you for introducing us to Jennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky, Dolly Kyle Browning, Kathleen Willey, and Juanita Broderick. Did I leave anyone out?

2. Thank you for teaching my 8 year old about oral sex. I had really planned to wait until he was a little older to discuss it with him, but now he knows more about it than I did as a senior in college.

3. Thank you for showing us that sexual harassment in the work place (especially the White House) and on the job is OK, and all you have to know is what the meaning of "it" is. It really is great to know that certain sexual acts are not sex, and one person may have sex while the other one does NOT have sex.

4. Thank you for reintroducing the concept of impeachment to a new generation and demonstrating that the ridiculous plot of the movie "Wag the Dog" could be plausible after all.

5. Thanks for making Jimmy Carter look competent, Gerald Ford look graceful, Richard Nixon look honest, Lyndon Johnson look truthful, and John Kennedy look moral.

6. Thank you for the 73 House and Senate witnesses who have pled the 5th Amendment and 17 witnesses who have fled the country to avoid testifying about Democratic campaign fund raising.

7. Thank you, for the 19 charges, 8 convictions, and 4 imprisonment's from the Whitewater "mess" and the 55 criminal charges and 32 criminal convictions (so far) in the other "Clinton" scandals.

8. Thanks also for reducing our military by half, "gutting" much of our foreign policy, and flying all over the world on "vacations" carefully disguised as necessary trips.

9. Thank you, also, for "finding" millions of dollars (I really didn't need it in the first place, and I can't think of a more deserving group of recipients for my hard-earned tax dollars) for all of your globe-trotting. I understand you, the family and your cronies have logged in more time aboard Air Force One than any other administration.

10. Now that you've left the White House, thanks for the 140 pardons of convicted felons and indicted felons-in-exile. We will love to have them rejoin society. (Not to mention the scores you pardoned while Governor of Arkansas)

11. Thanks also for removing the White House silverware. I'm sure that Laura Bush didn't like the pattern anyway. Also, enjoy the housewarming gifts you've received from your "friends."

12. Thanks to you and your staff in the West Wing of the White House for vandalizing and destroying government property on the way out. I also appreciate removing all of that excess weight (China, silverware, linen, towels, ash trays, soap, pens, magnetic compass, flight manuals, etc.) out of Air Force 1. The weight savings means burning less fuel, thus less tax dollars spent on jet fuel. Thank you!

13. And finally, please ensure that Hillary enjoys the $8 million dollar advance for her "tell-all" book and you, Bill, the $10 million advance for your memoirs. Who says crime doesn't pay!

14. The last and most important point - thank you for forcing Israel to let Mohammed Atta go free. Terrorist pilot Mohammed Atta blew up a bus in Israel in 1986. The Israelis captured, tried and imprisoned him. As part of the Oslo agreement with the Palestinians in 1993, Israel had to agree to release so-called "political prisoners". However, the Israelis would not release any with blood on their hands. The American President at the time, Bill Clinton, and his Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, "insisted" that all prisoners be released. Thus Mohammed Atta was freed and eventually thanked the US by flying an airplane into Tower One of the World Trade Center. This was reported by many of the American TV networks at the time that the terrorists were first identified. It was censored in the US from all later reports. Why should Americans know the real truth? What a guy!!

God bless America and THANK YOU (once again) for spending my taxes so wisely and frugally.

SINCERELY,
A US Citizen

PS. Please pass along a special thank you to Al Gore for "inventing" the Internet, without which I would not be able to send this wonderful, factual e-mail.

AND THE REST OF THE STORY

Hillary Rodham Clinton, as a New York State Senator, now comes under the "Congressional Retirement and Staffing Plan," which means that even if she never gets reelected, she STILL receives her Congressional salary until she dies. (Would it not be nice if all Americans were pension eligible after only 4 years?)

If Bill outlives her, he then inherits HER salary until HE dies. He is already getting his Presidential salary until he dies. If Hillary outlives Bill, she also gets HIS salary until she dies. Guess who pays for that? WE DO !

It's common knowledge that in order for her to establish NY residency, they purchased a million dollar-plus house in upscale Chappaqua, New York. Makes sense. They are entitled to Secret Service protection for life. Still makes sense.

Here is where it becomes interesting. Their mortgage payments hover at around $10,000 per month. BUT, an extra residence HAD to be built within the acreage to house the Secret Service agents.

The Clintons charge the Federal government $10,000 monthly rent for the use of that extra residence, which is just about equal to their mortgage payment. This means that we, the taxpayers, are paying the Clinton's salary, mortgage, transportation, safety and security, as well as the salaries for their 12 man staff -- and, this is all perfectly legal!

When she runs for President, will you vote for her?

Graves Mountain Apple Festival

I had some fun playing with the PSPX2 and these pics. I took them yesterday at the apple harvest.

I've been rather contemplative lately. I just have a myriad of emotions flowing (I know, typical female). School has been going well. Nothing too major except the incident that occurred last week, but that has been addressed. I really like having Josh as the upper elementary supervisor even if he picks on me. Well, they all pick on me! :) Is it my fault they wait til the last minute to get things in? This week has been rough for a few of my students. Several have been absent because of sickness. I also have one who is going to be out for the next 15 days because her family (missionaries) are heading to Serbia (I keep wanting to say Siberia). I'm excited for her, but I did not enjoy trying to get all of her homework/make-up work together before she left.
My grandma recently had to have another surgery since the pin they put in popped out (when she broke her hip). My mom called me to tell me that it went well. I guess they re-adjusted the rod (to alleviate pain in her knee) and redid the pin and put a plate over it to keep it from popping out again.
I am concerned for my family. Please keep them in prayer. My dad especially for salvation. I need to talk to him. My sister is trying to "live it up" and finding it to be empty. So she keeps on searching. Fullness comes from the Lord. My brother is a carbon copy of my dad. I know he's doing things he shouldn't be doing (because my sister told me). I sometimes feel like I failed my family. As soon as my brother turned four, I had him at church with me on the church bus. Now he rarely attends. I know that the Word of the Lord will not return void, but its heart-breaking to see my family make the wrong decisions. Mom is just living day-to-day. I know she is fed up with the way things have been going. As far as I know, they are still in the process of finding a new place. From what I hear, Dad is starting to get things out, so that's a good thing.
Now, I don't say all this for pity. I am concerned for my family. I love them and I desire them to come to develop a relationship with the Lord and make the right choices in life. I just can't do it for them.
I really enjoy my Sunday School class. It has grown over the last few weeks and I am no longer the only female there. I think there are more females than males now, so that's great. :) I have been dubbed the class secretary and I'm not sure why. I don't know some of the people who are now coming to class. I hadn't seen some of them before and they've been attending the church here longer than I have. I did make a class website (that was interesting) and I do the upkeep on it. I am enjoying that part of my secretarial job.
Please keep me in prayer as I need wisdom in some areas I'm dealing with. I do hope that whoever reads this has a blessed day. :)

Old Rag Mountain hike

This past Saturday I went with 11 other people from church to hike Old Rag Mountain. We went some 3000 feet in elevation and it took us 6 hours to complete our hike: 4 to the summit, 2 to get back down. I am still stiff, but not as bad as I was yesterday! The hike was so beautiful and the weather was perfect.

Before the ascent

This was not the summit, but it was still beautiful!

Oh no! They're going to drop that rock on Abby's head!

We made it to the summit!!!!

Somewhere along the way up

Here's the info!

From the summit

At the summit!

On the way down

God is Great!

I am thankful that God is in control. A situation arose yesterday that was pretty disturbing. I got up and got ready for work. As I normally do, I left the house around 7:15-7:30 am. I noticed my roommate's car was not next to mine. I thought it odd, but assumed she had to go to work early to catch up in the office since she had been out of town earlier in the week (she normally does not leave the house before I do). The day proceeds as normal. As I lead my class back to the room after school pictures are taken, we pass the principal and another teacher speaking to a police officer. How odd. As lunch ended and my class was lining up, my other roommate came to me and asked what time I left the house. So I told her and asked why. Our other roommate's car had been stolen. Her dad passed the house at 7am and it was there. So, in that 15-30 minutes before I left, it had been taken. I also find out that 3 laptops were also stolen from various teachers' rooms. This roommate's included. I was in disbelief. When school ended, I headed over to the other building to clean it up before evening classes, I find out the car had been found! Praise God!
The story of how the car was found was really interesting. A lady and her son were going to the house they are selling to feed their cat that had had kittens recently. I guess they left the garage door open 18 inches or so to allow the cat to get in from the elements. She opens the garage door to find a car inside of it! She calls the realtor to find out what she should do. The realtor advises her to call the police. She did and that was how the car was found. Both of my roommates go to that house and meet up with the detectives. The trunk had been cleaned out (it was in the garage) and there was something in the back seat. Once the police opened the car (had to use a Slim-Jim), they looked at the item in the back seat. It was a duffle bag and it was pretty heavy. They unzipped the bag and inside were the three stolen laptops! God is so good!
At this point, it is still unclear as to who committed this double felony, but it is being worked on.

Those special moments

Student: Teacher! [pointing to another student at a lunch table] He is going to tattle on me!
Teacher: And what are you doing?
Student: [mulling it over in his mind] Oh….wait….never mind… [returns to seat]
Aide: [hand over mouth and trying to contain herself] giggle…I couldn't have done that with out cracking a smile!

Students are telling a teacher some of their heritages (German, English, Irish, and such). One student pipes up: Teacher, I come from Arkansas!
Teacher: Oh, so you're Arkansese?
Student: Uh-huh!

These are true situations that occurred within the last two weeks! Lol! Again, there is never a dull moment as a teacher!

And life goes on. And on.

Things got quite hectic around here. In-service was nice, but there were many, many technical difficulties that occurred. In the end, all that could be done was laugh at it all. I just couldn’t believe all of that would happen in one week. It took me 3 days to print a couple small files. I'm still chuckling. My classroom is much smaller than the one I had last year, but I have 3 less students as well and no reading circle. So its ok. My room was used as the inventory room, so I had all the new books that came in and I had to work around them. There is also a small storage closet that holds the high school books as well. I really couldn’t get started setting up my room until Tuesday. Over the weekend, I don’t know how many times my room was unlocked by other people. I always locked it when I left. Sunday evening, I went into my room (I found it unlocked) and someone had turned off my computer. Then, when I went in this morning, there was a card on my desk. My first thought was "Now who was in my room?!?!?" The card was from my supervisor. Lol!
Today was the first day of school and it went very well. Time flew by so fast! My students seem to be pleasers, for the most part. They were ready to get started. There are some new things going on, such as elementary teachers not getting a break in the school day (8:15-3:15) since we already eat with our classes and now we have to go out for recess (instead of just an aide). It really wasn't too bad. I tried to get through my lesson plans today, but I just couldn’t fit history and science in today. We will get caught up, though. We don’t have all the elective classes this week, so that is a little extra time in which I can use.
I saw many of my kids from last year during lunch and was bombarded with hugs from my girls. It was nice to see them again. I pray that my class stays behaving well and desires to please God in their lives.
In non-school news, I do have some prayer requests. My grandma fell and broke her hip over the weekend and was supposed to have surgery today. I've not heard anything yet as to how it went. Also, my family could use your prayers as well. There have been many issues that came up recently and all I can do is pray, so I ask you to do the same. Thank you!
I've been busy with my Sunday school class. We just got a new teacher a few weeks ago and I believe that it is going to be a great class. Don't get me wrong, I do miss the other teacher and his family. I just haven't heard from them in several weeks. Not really sure what all happened, but the Lord knows.

BigBaptist

Check out this interesting site:
http://www.bigbaptist.com/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=registers

The Mystery Room

I wonder what's inside...

Award Night

The adults even did the Booster Cheer!

Excited kids!

Pre-awards program

The kids arrived at the church and then assembled before going in and doing the program.

Stormy night

The night of DU went pretty well. The storm held off until everyone was loading into the busses to go back to the church. When we got back, all three tents had blown down. Many hands made light work and they were back up in no time.

Destination Unknown

The girls played soccer, football, and kickball while the guys played football and soccer. Then they ate and split up for preaching (7-8th grade stayed at the pavillion while the 9-12 when to a building).

Water night candids

Haha..here, my friend is trying to pull my other friend out to the water. She put up a fight! lol

My brother right before he gave me a wet hug...the goober!

Water night

Our wet teen evengelist

The Booster evengelist tries out the hose