Wahoo! It’s 1 pm and I’m (shhhh!) caught up! Good night, what a joy and relief! If some clients get back to me before 2:30, I can place their programs into the production queue for Monday morning. That just takes a minute or two. Wahoo!
This weekend I’ll be looking at a house and garage on a piece of property that Jackie likes. It’s a large enough lot that she can add a house to it, and it’s only $225K, so we’d have over $100K to put toward building a new house. From the pictures, I’m ready to say "yes" sight unseen, but know better than to do that.
The existing house is large enough for me (1300 sq feet, 200 more than I have now) but not enough to make Jackie jump for joy, so she’d get the new one that’s built. There’s a four car garage on the site – huge! – so we could turn one of those spots into a (pardon the expression) cat house for Poppy, Archie and Ashley until Jackie’s place is built in the spring or early summer so Jackie and I could co-habit until her place is built…
Next weekend CFAN is throwing the women’s Christmas Party on Saturday starting at 2pm. I always go. It’s a tremendous time and lots of fun. Food, caroling, prayers of thanksgiving for blessings and for the new year… I’ve invited some people – don’t know if any will come.
Next week THE SOUND OF MUSIC begins at a nearby live theatre (Lakewood Playhouse), so I will probably go to the preview night (it’s free) and if I love the play, I usually take some Kings Manor residents to see it the following Thursday evening (on the Pay What You Can night). Other nights it’s $22…
The Lakewood Playhouse always welcomes "my" Kings Manor residents and gives them a front row seat. Not too many want to go out for three hours at 8 at night, so I usually only get about five takers, but those who go talk about it for months.
I usually get several able-bodied volunteer helpers from church to go along on the night I take the seniors, because one person shepherding five or six or more seniors to a theatre could get dicey. Having help reduces the stress-o-meter that ticks inside me any time I take responsibility for showing multiple elderly folks a good time. Some have memory issues and can’t remember who they’re with, so each of these will need their own chaperone, for bathroom breaks and the like. A number of church folks, young and old, take great delight in being chaperones, so it’s usually a lot of fun as soon as we get back and everyone is back home, safe and sound.
I just don’t know how many chaperones would be available this close to Christmas. It’s a busy time for all concerned! Guess I’ll cross that bridge when we come to it and first ask for volunteers before I offer to take anyone to the play! (Or limit the invitation to just a car full of older people who can shepherd themselves and just need a driver and fellow play-lover...)
What else? Can’t think of a thing. Guess I’ll shut up, in that case!
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Friday, November 30, 2007
We Can't Save the World From Itself, But We Can Save Ourselves and Enlighten Our Loved Ones!
Isn’t the world messed up? Ahhh, yes!
A British teacher has been convicted of blasphemy for allowing her class of youngsters in the Sudan to name their class teddy bear “Mohammed” and will spend 15 days in jail and then will be promptly deported thereafter, leaving her classroom of youngsters confused and hurting without the nice lady who used to treat them better than almost anyone else. Why? Because she’s an “infidel” and doesn’t recognize “blasphemy” when she "commits" it.
Make no mistake about it: the teacher got off easy. She could have been flogged and left to rot in a Sudanese prison, or murdered by some zealot who thinks women who "err" should die. I’m glad she’s getting the hell out of the Sudan, which doesn’t deserve her– but am unutterably sorry for the kids she was teaching and will be leaving behind.
Unbelievable!
Now, I’m all for cultural awareness and sensitivity – despite the fact that Christians across the globe are routinely scourged, killed and deported for proclaiming someone other than Mohammed or Islam’s Allah as their Lord – but this episode is just malarkey, from what I can discern. One boy in the class voted for the name Mohammed because his name is Mohammed! I doubt any of them were thinking of the prophet Mohammed when they voted. The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
And the fact that a cuddly teddy bear is not “understood” as anything other than a “ferocious beast” in the Sudan is hardly reason to treat this woman shoddily. What’s wrong with educating Sudanese Muslims about teddy bears rather than expelling the teacher? She learned her lesson, I'm sure, and could have re-named the bear – why can’t the Sudanese learn something from this, too?
The world is a very dark place beyond western borders in so many ways. It’s dark enough within western borders, to be sure, but at least we are still free to name our teddy bears Mohammed or Jesus or Mother Teresa or Allah or Abraham if we so choose. We’re even free to blaspheme, not something I recommend or commend, but there you have it!
In case any of you are still under the misapprehension that this world is not presently under the dominion of a fallen angel called Lucifer, look no further than this sordid event. Thank God you were born, or live, in a western nation that allows people to be human, to make innocent mistakes and to recover without being treated like a criminal.
And do take heart: Satan is a defeated adversary. But unlike God – who is not a gate crasher and won’t come in unless you ask him – Satan will burst in wherever he can get a foothold and will run as far and a fast as he can, spreading lies, hatred and mayhem (his stock in trade) all over creation.
But he’s running scared – and he’ll get his soon enough. I know. I’ve studied the whole history of mankind in the Holy Bible and the One who created the heavens and the earth and called it all “good” wins! (Once again I will recommend LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS by Chuck Missler if you have even the slightest doubt of the veracity of this claim.)
It’s time. Let’s wake up and look at the true state of this planet. Anne Frank was wrong, much as I love her memory. People are not basically good (as adults or as wee ones). We were, when we were created in the Garden of Eden -- when God breathed His spirit into us so we could enjoy fellowship with Him -- but something in us elected to listen to the wrong “leader,” the one crawling on his belly in the dirt (his rightful “throne”) from the start. (God gave us free will -- he desired relationships, not robots, for which I hope we all thank Him!)
We were seduced by lies at the outset and have been screwed royally ever since. But thank God! Because He sent his only begotten son to erase the errors of the first Adam and Eve (and this is why we celebrate Christmas, gang!) and when that Son died on a Roman cross, Satan was emasculated, but he has not yet been dealt the final blow and evicted from the planet. He’s still screwing un-wary people... lots and lots of them.
Those who don’t have an understanding of the truly frightening degree of God's power or of His requirement that justice shall be meted out according to His will and expectation of holiness are standing at a precarious crossroads. It's decision time. I believe Christ will be returning in our lifetimes. All the end-time signs are here right now! And all people will be required to stand before Him and give an account of their lives. And the good news is that He doesn't want a single one of us to perish.
But it's our choice -- not His!
Our free will casts the deciding vote, for heaven or for eternal separation from God and his universe. Talk about darkness and void! Imagine living for all eternity where God will no longer sustain the order He's created. No sun, moon or planets, no water, trees or vegetation, no animals or humans, vegetables or minerals. I call that hell. Wrapped, all alone, in a cloak of nothingness, without human or angelic or divine interaction for the rest of eternity. We all have an eterity to live after death. Where do you want to spend yours?
I recommend that we all imagine that awesome moment of standing before God NOW and get right with Him before it occurs – which will be tomorrow for some of us breathing today. It’s easy enough to do. Just get under the blood of Jesus and then read some books to find out how safe you will be when judgment comes.
One proviso: knowing about Jesus is not the same thing as knowing Jesus personally. Even demons know “about” Jesus and are fully persuaded that He exists and that all creation will obey his decisions in eternity! (That's one reason they're so hopping mad!)
The demons are still doomed because He won’t allow them a personal relationship with Him; he requires repentance and His sanctification in order to engage in any relationship, and that comes only by getting under His blood in thanksgiving for the utter miracle He accomplished at Calvary. The Holy Spirit seeks a relationship with you because in order to be safe and saved, a personal relationship with the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all one God in different manifestations and with different functions in the life of believers) is required, to make the transition from "bewitched by Satan" to "Beloved of God."
Example: Hitler and Stalin both were baptized but -- guess what? No surprise here! -- they're still doomed. They didn't live a Jesus kind of life. They lived the lives of demons. Demons are evil; evil is "not good: it is utterly condemned by holy God. Those who live in league with demons won’t be spared, either. That’s the difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.
Unless He’s your Lord, he’s not your Savior. He’s just a name in your bag of tricks.
Claiming to be a Christian in church carries no more power than claiming to be an automobile while standing in the middle of your garage. There is an internal thing that happens when Jesus gets hold of you that transforms your thinking and actions and makes you want to be like He was as he walked this earth.. full of love, mercy and grace toward others, and toward yourself. When you become a child of God, your direction and destination change and become utterly benevolent.
The time has come to take a side in this battle for or against "the powers and principalities of darkness." On the day Jesus died, a thief on a cross next to Him said to Him, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And just like that, it was done. Jesus responded, “Today with you will be with me in Paradise.”
It’s really very easy. Surrender to the love he expressed while on the cross and your relationship with Him has begun!
Here’s to innocent teddy bears who throw a spotlight on the battles now being fought in the heavenlies over those of us now living on this planet.
A British teacher has been convicted of blasphemy for allowing her class of youngsters in the Sudan to name their class teddy bear “Mohammed” and will spend 15 days in jail and then will be promptly deported thereafter, leaving her classroom of youngsters confused and hurting without the nice lady who used to treat them better than almost anyone else. Why? Because she’s an “infidel” and doesn’t recognize “blasphemy” when she "commits" it.
Make no mistake about it: the teacher got off easy. She could have been flogged and left to rot in a Sudanese prison, or murdered by some zealot who thinks women who "err" should die. I’m glad she’s getting the hell out of the Sudan, which doesn’t deserve her– but am unutterably sorry for the kids she was teaching and will be leaving behind.
Unbelievable!
Now, I’m all for cultural awareness and sensitivity – despite the fact that Christians across the globe are routinely scourged, killed and deported for proclaiming someone other than Mohammed or Islam’s Allah as their Lord – but this episode is just malarkey, from what I can discern. One boy in the class voted for the name Mohammed because his name is Mohammed! I doubt any of them were thinking of the prophet Mohammed when they voted. The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
And the fact that a cuddly teddy bear is not “understood” as anything other than a “ferocious beast” in the Sudan is hardly reason to treat this woman shoddily. What’s wrong with educating Sudanese Muslims about teddy bears rather than expelling the teacher? She learned her lesson, I'm sure, and could have re-named the bear – why can’t the Sudanese learn something from this, too?
The world is a very dark place beyond western borders in so many ways. It’s dark enough within western borders, to be sure, but at least we are still free to name our teddy bears Mohammed or Jesus or Mother Teresa or Allah or Abraham if we so choose. We’re even free to blaspheme, not something I recommend or commend, but there you have it!
In case any of you are still under the misapprehension that this world is not presently under the dominion of a fallen angel called Lucifer, look no further than this sordid event. Thank God you were born, or live, in a western nation that allows people to be human, to make innocent mistakes and to recover without being treated like a criminal.
And do take heart: Satan is a defeated adversary. But unlike God – who is not a gate crasher and won’t come in unless you ask him – Satan will burst in wherever he can get a foothold and will run as far and a fast as he can, spreading lies, hatred and mayhem (his stock in trade) all over creation.
But he’s running scared – and he’ll get his soon enough. I know. I’ve studied the whole history of mankind in the Holy Bible and the One who created the heavens and the earth and called it all “good” wins! (Once again I will recommend LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS by Chuck Missler if you have even the slightest doubt of the veracity of this claim.)
It’s time. Let’s wake up and look at the true state of this planet. Anne Frank was wrong, much as I love her memory. People are not basically good (as adults or as wee ones). We were, when we were created in the Garden of Eden -- when God breathed His spirit into us so we could enjoy fellowship with Him -- but something in us elected to listen to the wrong “leader,” the one crawling on his belly in the dirt (his rightful “throne”) from the start. (God gave us free will -- he desired relationships, not robots, for which I hope we all thank Him!)
We were seduced by lies at the outset and have been screwed royally ever since. But thank God! Because He sent his only begotten son to erase the errors of the first Adam and Eve (and this is why we celebrate Christmas, gang!) and when that Son died on a Roman cross, Satan was emasculated, but he has not yet been dealt the final blow and evicted from the planet. He’s still screwing un-wary people... lots and lots of them.
Those who don’t have an understanding of the truly frightening degree of God's power or of His requirement that justice shall be meted out according to His will and expectation of holiness are standing at a precarious crossroads. It's decision time. I believe Christ will be returning in our lifetimes. All the end-time signs are here right now! And all people will be required to stand before Him and give an account of their lives. And the good news is that He doesn't want a single one of us to perish.
But it's our choice -- not His!
Our free will casts the deciding vote, for heaven or for eternal separation from God and his universe. Talk about darkness and void! Imagine living for all eternity where God will no longer sustain the order He's created. No sun, moon or planets, no water, trees or vegetation, no animals or humans, vegetables or minerals. I call that hell. Wrapped, all alone, in a cloak of nothingness, without human or angelic or divine interaction for the rest of eternity. We all have an eterity to live after death. Where do you want to spend yours?
I recommend that we all imagine that awesome moment of standing before God NOW and get right with Him before it occurs – which will be tomorrow for some of us breathing today. It’s easy enough to do. Just get under the blood of Jesus and then read some books to find out how safe you will be when judgment comes.
One proviso: knowing about Jesus is not the same thing as knowing Jesus personally. Even demons know “about” Jesus and are fully persuaded that He exists and that all creation will obey his decisions in eternity! (That's one reason they're so hopping mad!)
The demons are still doomed because He won’t allow them a personal relationship with Him; he requires repentance and His sanctification in order to engage in any relationship, and that comes only by getting under His blood in thanksgiving for the utter miracle He accomplished at Calvary. The Holy Spirit seeks a relationship with you because in order to be safe and saved, a personal relationship with the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all one God in different manifestations and with different functions in the life of believers) is required, to make the transition from "bewitched by Satan" to "Beloved of God."
Example: Hitler and Stalin both were baptized but -- guess what? No surprise here! -- they're still doomed. They didn't live a Jesus kind of life. They lived the lives of demons. Demons are evil; evil is "not good: it is utterly condemned by holy God. Those who live in league with demons won’t be spared, either. That’s the difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.
Unless He’s your Lord, he’s not your Savior. He’s just a name in your bag of tricks.
Claiming to be a Christian in church carries no more power than claiming to be an automobile while standing in the middle of your garage. There is an internal thing that happens when Jesus gets hold of you that transforms your thinking and actions and makes you want to be like He was as he walked this earth.. full of love, mercy and grace toward others, and toward yourself. When you become a child of God, your direction and destination change and become utterly benevolent.
The time has come to take a side in this battle for or against "the powers and principalities of darkness." On the day Jesus died, a thief on a cross next to Him said to Him, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And just like that, it was done. Jesus responded, “Today with you will be with me in Paradise.”
It’s really very easy. Surrender to the love he expressed while on the cross and your relationship with Him has begun!
Here’s to innocent teddy bears who throw a spotlight on the battles now being fought in the heavenlies over those of us now living on this planet.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Responses Galore!
Looks like my last blog (about relationships that reek) hit a nerve almost everywhere. Readers are emailing me heart-rending regrets over not having shown more love in a troubled relationship before someone died. Others have said they patched their relationships and their world is brighter and much less stressful than in it was in days of yore. They're smiling and laughing again instead of living with knotted stomachs and rampant bile! Still others are struggling with the issue and realizing they need to do something to regain lost ground in the "human heart" department.
What a wonderful world it can be when we realize we are all in this together and that each of us can make a difference that soars rather than sinks and stinks! (The difference you make in any relationship makes it soar or sink. What do you do differently in healthy and troubled relationships? There's your key! Treat everyone like a treasure and they'll likely become one -- and if they don't, you've done your best -- which feels great all by itself, provided you don't let your pride and ego rule the day by feeling "superior" to the one who doesn't "get it"!)
Imagine the possibilities. What's holding you back? Ego? Pride? Stubbornness?
There's a spot in each of us that knows better. There's a spot that's pure love, aching to come out and "get real."
Find it and re-make your world!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Thoughts to Ponder As We Approach the Holidays...
There's a new song on Christian radio called SOMETIMES CHRISTMAS MAKES ME CRY. It must be really new, because I looked for the lyrics online and couldn't find them. I wanted to reprint them here or provide a link where you could hear the song, but didn't find one.
The song talks about thinking about loved ones who have passed away and how thinking of them during Christmas can make you cry. That gets me where I live, because I used to share Christmas love with Mom and Dad, the Kelleys, Aunt Tod, and others you don't know who have passed away, so Christmas seems somehow "lacking" because I can no longer show love to them as in days of yore.
Then the song talks about military people overseas spending their Christmas defending freedom and losing their lives in the process, and how thinking about that can make you cry -- with thanks and sadness all mixed. I know a number of military people -- and my area of the Pacific Northwest is teeming with military families from all branches of the service who are waiting and praying for their military family members to come home -- so this one gets me where I live, too.
Then there's a stanza about God giving his only Son to save us -- the one who came to us at Christmas time -- and mentions how thinking of that can make you cry... and it surely does me.
A lot of things can make me cry at Christmas time. I think of families torn apart by past "errors of omission or commission" who will stubbornly take their list of grievances with them to the grave, and that makes me cry, because it is so completely repairable but for stiff necks and hard hearts.
Unforgiveness is the prevailing ill of our time. It is the genesis of every conflict, and it punishes and torments every heart and mind that harbors it. It causes wars international and familial.
It's a totally preventable tragedy -- all someone has to do is take the first step and offer love. Instead, all too often each side feels "justified" in withholding forgiveness and refuses to take a new route that begins with a univeral truth: "Let's start anew, please! Let's leave the past in the past and create a new world where our love for each other is more important than our grievances against each other... because IT IS!" (Now, I'm not referring to forgiving spousal abuse or hand-to-hand mortal combat with a relative. I'm talking about the more mundane, much more common wounded heart syndrome, where sensibilities or egos have been in conflict, not acts of violence. Some people can and do forgive acts of violence against themselves -- and must, in order to heal properly -- but they do need to move out and get safe first!)
In the Bible there's a passage where God says that if you hold anything against a brother (this can mean a relative of any kind) and come to the temple to worship Him, you must leave your gift at the altar and don't come back until you have patched things up between the two of you. Why? He makes it very clear. He explains (I'm paraphrasing) "If you cannot love your relative [who I gave to you), how can you (profess to) love Me [since I am pure love and you should be, too, as my image bearer?]"
Those who hold grievances against people they are supposed to love (or profess they once loved) find their habitual refusal to forgive almost unbearable when the one they have held at arm's length for years goes to the grave. Then there is no way to go to them and say, "I was so stupid to expect more of you. It was such a waste of our time here on earth together." There is no way to make amends at that point.
My pastor says that our relationships are the only thing we take with us to heaven. And I'd venture to guess it's quite likely that an unholy relationship won't make it to heaven.
Let's face it: It's easy to love people who never rub us the wrong way -- but how many of those are there? I'd venture to guess "None!"
It's when we love the people we find least likable that we become mature adults and choose to say, "I'll show you love anyway because that's what we all need to be shown to help repair whatever it is that makes us seem unlovable." It's what we all need -- to be loved.
Do I smell flesh burning?
"Maybe someday" isn't soon enough. Today may be the only day you have to get it done!
Someday it will be too late. I guarantee it.
Your parent, or your child -- or whoever it is that you're being stiff-necked about -- may be involved in an auto accident tomorrow and be taken from you forever. Is the way things are right now the way you want to carry them into eternity?
I didn't think so!
Today is the first day of the rest of your relationship. Be kind. Be very kind. Everyone is facing some sort of battle. Don't let it be with you!
Give gifts to those who have rubbed you the wrong way before you give anything to God or to anyone else. Then all of your giving will be sanctified. Without it, none of it will mean a thing, to God or to those who know the kind of double-minded life you're living.
Yeah, this is a lesson I learned the hard way. But at least I learned it! Are you ready to learn it, too?
None of us are guaranteed tomorrow.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Inspiration!
Inspiration is – INSPIRED!
I was sound asleep a couple nights ago and dreamed of a way to make one of our processes at work during the holiday season go faster and better. It was truly a dream from God – it arrived fully-fledged and ready to roll out and it wasn’t even on my mind when I went to sleep that night!
I got to work this morning and showed the production people and my supervisor about the plan I had dreamed – they thought it looked great and had me pass it by the owners of the business, who also thought it was a great idea! One person (me) was able to implement it today and get the groundwork laid for it, and I’ll shepherd it through as well, except for when I’m away at lunch.
I was so excited about it today that I skipped lunch! I notified all the clients that this new protocol affects (nearly 100 of them) vie email or fax. Starting tomorrow they will begin to call and get their holiday programs downloaded. This frees up at least two other people from having to get involved in the process. It’s a huge time saver and a boon to the clients, as well. So I’m thanking God today for helping me find ways to make this holiday season more manageable this year and next. I hope I’ll have a few more of these ideas arriving on angels’ wings soon!
WAHOO!
I was sound asleep a couple nights ago and dreamed of a way to make one of our processes at work during the holiday season go faster and better. It was truly a dream from God – it arrived fully-fledged and ready to roll out and it wasn’t even on my mind when I went to sleep that night!
I got to work this morning and showed the production people and my supervisor about the plan I had dreamed – they thought it looked great and had me pass it by the owners of the business, who also thought it was a great idea! One person (me) was able to implement it today and get the groundwork laid for it, and I’ll shepherd it through as well, except for when I’m away at lunch.
I was so excited about it today that I skipped lunch! I notified all the clients that this new protocol affects (nearly 100 of them) vie email or fax. Starting tomorrow they will begin to call and get their holiday programs downloaded. This frees up at least two other people from having to get involved in the process. It’s a huge time saver and a boon to the clients, as well. So I’m thanking God today for helping me find ways to make this holiday season more manageable this year and next. I hope I’ll have a few more of these ideas arriving on angels’ wings soon!
WAHOO!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Oh, Wow! Another Person I Can't Wait To Meet ... in Heaven!
As you all know, I am a new "fan" of William Wilberforce, the subject of the recent movie, AMAZING GRACE, a man who struggled for twenty years in the British Parliament to end the slave trade and another thirty to see the emancipation of slaves in all the British colonies become a reality. His work "spilled over" into other countries, too, and affected the eventual abolition of slavery in the United States of America. His vision, carried out in opposition to the prevailing sensibilities of world economies of the times -- built on the backs of kidnapped slaves -- most certainly changed the world.
I have suggested you see the movie. Now I suggest you read the book, AMAZING GRACE by Eric Metaxas, which encompasses Wilberforce's entire life and includes the many other things he accomplished during his sojourn on earth.
It is rare when I cry at the end of a book for a man two centuries dead, but I cried at the conclusion of this book. And if ever I make it to England, I will visit Wilberforce's grave at Westminster Abbey and cry again, and thank God for him.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Nail-Biting Time...
The offer on the house was accepted, but after viewing the house and property a third time with Phil, who spotted a lot of potential issues, we're rethinking the idea of getting it.
There's a room in my part of it (the basement) that's a fire trap and there's no way to fix it, so it would have to be off-limits as a bedroom, making it fit only as a den or exercise room.
There's a vertical, two or three inch square metal bar midway across the sliding glass door span that seems to have been placed there to "shore up" that part of the structure. The owner couldn't explain to us why it's there, telling Jackie it had "always" been there (something I find hard to believe). Getting a couch or other large piece of furniture past this bar into the basement might not be possible... and WHY IS THAT BAR THERE?!
Most of the windows would have to be re-worked and replaced to make them retain heat throughout the home, upstairs and down.
A down spout outside causes water to come into the basement where the sliding glass door is, we think (based on evidence), so bringing a tractor in and re-defining the draining pattern would have to be done.
We'd have to run a blacktop driveway into the back yard to make it possible to drive my car down to it when I get too old and feeble to climb the stairs.
All of that, and more, adds up to additional money after the purchase, and the windows, sliding glass door and other door downstairs would have to be done right away...
It has been bothering us quite a bit since last night, so we're in the process of seeing how we can either satisfy our concerns or cancel the offer.
The layout of the building is right; the location is lovely; the building itself is the problem. It just doesn't "feel" right, after a lot of thought and consideration. Our Realtor says we can get out of it if we want to. That's a relief. Now we just have to be sure we want to. I'm quite sure we do!
I slept half of the day away and feel almost human again. This four-day weekend has been a God-send!
The family really loved seeing AMAZING GRACE last night. They all thanked me for bringing it. Rent it and find out why. You'll probably want to buy it afterward and watch it every year or so. If I ever get to England I want to go by Westminster Abbey and pay my respects to Wilberforce and Pitt. Wilberforce worked twenty years to abolish the British slave trade against immense odds, and the way they finally did it ended it everywhere within a few years. It's a riveting piece of history. I have rarely been as moved by a historical movie as I am by this one.
The Realtor gave me a Casio keyboard he was going to donate to Goodwill. I had to get a 9V adapter for it, but that was all it cost me. I've ordered a Reader's Digest Keyboard Course from the Paragon catalog, so in about ten days I'll start teaching myself to play the piano again. (I played it as a seven and eight year old, but not since. I love the piano, and this Casio keyboard has a lot of bells and whistles so I can make the keyboard sound like a lot of different instruments and add rhythms and echoes and all sorts of fun stuff to the practice.)
I'm more than half way through Billy Graham's book about the Holy Spirit. Good stuff. The Holy Spirit has always been less well known to me, so this book has been an eye-opener. After all, it was the Holy Spirit who beckoned me into God's kingdom back in 1999 -- it's the least I can do to find out more about Him and what He does for believers! Since he's also called the "Holy Ghost" I thought he might be kinda spooky -- but fear not! He's One with the Father and the Son -- all part of the divine plan to prepare us for our eternal home and for our present and future earth-bound circumstances!
Phil got me the 19 inch LCD flat-screen monitor, so I'm looking at it now as I type this. Archie wants to lie in front of it, now that there's room between the keyboard and the monitor, so I have to keep pushing him back to his "old" place beside the keyboard, or I can't see the monitor!
He finds the cursor and the "creeping" letters endlessly fascinating on this new monitor. He didn't notice them before... Creating with cats can be challenging!
Ciao (or meow?) for now!
There's a room in my part of it (the basement) that's a fire trap and there's no way to fix it, so it would have to be off-limits as a bedroom, making it fit only as a den or exercise room.
There's a vertical, two or three inch square metal bar midway across the sliding glass door span that seems to have been placed there to "shore up" that part of the structure. The owner couldn't explain to us why it's there, telling Jackie it had "always" been there (something I find hard to believe). Getting a couch or other large piece of furniture past this bar into the basement might not be possible... and WHY IS THAT BAR THERE?!
Most of the windows would have to be re-worked and replaced to make them retain heat throughout the home, upstairs and down.
A down spout outside causes water to come into the basement where the sliding glass door is, we think (based on evidence), so bringing a tractor in and re-defining the draining pattern would have to be done.
We'd have to run a blacktop driveway into the back yard to make it possible to drive my car down to it when I get too old and feeble to climb the stairs.
All of that, and more, adds up to additional money after the purchase, and the windows, sliding glass door and other door downstairs would have to be done right away...
It has been bothering us quite a bit since last night, so we're in the process of seeing how we can either satisfy our concerns or cancel the offer.
The layout of the building is right; the location is lovely; the building itself is the problem. It just doesn't "feel" right, after a lot of thought and consideration. Our Realtor says we can get out of it if we want to. That's a relief. Now we just have to be sure we want to. I'm quite sure we do!
I slept half of the day away and feel almost human again. This four-day weekend has been a God-send!
The family really loved seeing AMAZING GRACE last night. They all thanked me for bringing it. Rent it and find out why. You'll probably want to buy it afterward and watch it every year or so. If I ever get to England I want to go by Westminster Abbey and pay my respects to Wilberforce and Pitt. Wilberforce worked twenty years to abolish the British slave trade against immense odds, and the way they finally did it ended it everywhere within a few years. It's a riveting piece of history. I have rarely been as moved by a historical movie as I am by this one.
The Realtor gave me a Casio keyboard he was going to donate to Goodwill. I had to get a 9V adapter for it, but that was all it cost me. I've ordered a Reader's Digest Keyboard Course from the Paragon catalog, so in about ten days I'll start teaching myself to play the piano again. (I played it as a seven and eight year old, but not since. I love the piano, and this Casio keyboard has a lot of bells and whistles so I can make the keyboard sound like a lot of different instruments and add rhythms and echoes and all sorts of fun stuff to the practice.)
I'm more than half way through Billy Graham's book about the Holy Spirit. Good stuff. The Holy Spirit has always been less well known to me, so this book has been an eye-opener. After all, it was the Holy Spirit who beckoned me into God's kingdom back in 1999 -- it's the least I can do to find out more about Him and what He does for believers! Since he's also called the "Holy Ghost" I thought he might be kinda spooky -- but fear not! He's One with the Father and the Son -- all part of the divine plan to prepare us for our eternal home and for our present and future earth-bound circumstances!
Phil got me the 19 inch LCD flat-screen monitor, so I'm looking at it now as I type this. Archie wants to lie in front of it, now that there's room between the keyboard and the monitor, so I have to keep pushing him back to his "old" place beside the keyboard, or I can't see the monitor!
He finds the cursor and the "creeping" letters endlessly fascinating on this new monitor. He didn't notice them before... Creating with cats can be challenging!
Ciao (or meow?) for now!
Friday, November 23, 2007
Friday , Day Two of a Four-Day Weekend
Good morning! I've been out doing some final shopping for the holidays. Not a lot, just a little -- and where I went, it wasn't crowded at all. I don't know if that's good news for these retailers or bad, probably bad, but it was great for me. I got right in, got what I needed, and got out on what is touted "the busiest shopping day of the year." Not for this kid. I usually avoid shopping on this day -- but the refrigerator was bare and the car was nearly empty (gasoline-wise), so that signalled a $50 shopping trip to Safeway so I could get 10 cents off per gallon of gas. (There is a method to my madness, you see...)
I am SO not a shopper. I went to one store for gifts for Phil and Wendy -- and since they read this blog regularly, you can be sure that's all the info I'll be divulging until after Christmas re this particular shopping trip to .... wherever.
At check-out, the sweet checker asked, "Will these (items) be given as gifts?" When I said yes, she asked, "Then you'd like gift receipts, too?"
I must have looked like a deer caught in headlights. I asked, "A gift receipt? What's that?" She looked at me like I had two heads.
She explained, "It's a receipt you can give with the gifts so if the recipients want to exchange it, they can." I said, "Wouldn't the usual receipt work?" She said, "Yes, but you'll have that one, and it has the prices you paid on it. The gift receipt doesn't list the price and can be placed in with the gift for ease of exchange."
"Well, how clever," I responded. "Yes, that's a great idea. I'll take one!"
Poor gal. She probably gets people like me all day who should know something they don't about shopping! I'm just not a shopper. Rarely do I buy anything except necessities and books (which I consider necessities since I'm a writer and a voracious reader, which gives me ideas and opinions for topics to write about. Hey, I should be able to deduct my book buys as a business expense, shouldn't I? Probably... but I don't. I never know when a book I buy is going to be seed for an article, essay or blog spot.)
I went to Rite-Aid to look for an advertised deal on A & W diet Root Beer for Jackie. Alas, they didn't have the root beer.
Then I went to Petco for a doggie-style indoor training box and accessories for Jackie's wee (and weeing and pooping) dogs, so she can teach them indoor bathroom etiquette ahead of the move, so she won't have to come down the stairs into the new backyard at oh dark thirty every morning to let them out from my ground-floor home, should we get the one we're after. Also got some PetroMalt for Poppy, my almost eighteen year old kitty. She just loves the stuff, so I'm all for it. It keeps her tummy happy, which keeps the carpet clean -- a win-win situation if ever I heard one!)
At noon Jackie's Realtor is coming over to look at my condo and let us know if he feels certain he can sell it by the end of January, and to have Jackie sign the offer papers for the place we want. After that, Jackie, the Realtor, Phil, Wendy and I will be going to look over the place we want.
I drove over to the (we hope) new place this morning and found it easily, the way I went. We were all over hell's half acre looking for it in the dark the other night, but once I spotted a road I was familiar with (on the way out), I thought, "Aha! I know exactly where this place is!" and sure enough -- it's all of three miles from my front door and very easy to find. So I'll lead (or direct) the way today and get us there in double-quick time.
Poppy is hollering at me. I think she needs some attention, so will sign off for now.
I am SO not a shopper. I went to one store for gifts for Phil and Wendy -- and since they read this blog regularly, you can be sure that's all the info I'll be divulging until after Christmas re this particular shopping trip to .... wherever.
At check-out, the sweet checker asked, "Will these (items) be given as gifts?" When I said yes, she asked, "Then you'd like gift receipts, too?"
I must have looked like a deer caught in headlights. I asked, "A gift receipt? What's that?" She looked at me like I had two heads.
She explained, "It's a receipt you can give with the gifts so if the recipients want to exchange it, they can." I said, "Wouldn't the usual receipt work?" She said, "Yes, but you'll have that one, and it has the prices you paid on it. The gift receipt doesn't list the price and can be placed in with the gift for ease of exchange."
"Well, how clever," I responded. "Yes, that's a great idea. I'll take one!"
Poor gal. She probably gets people like me all day who should know something they don't about shopping! I'm just not a shopper. Rarely do I buy anything except necessities and books (which I consider necessities since I'm a writer and a voracious reader, which gives me ideas and opinions for topics to write about. Hey, I should be able to deduct my book buys as a business expense, shouldn't I? Probably... but I don't. I never know when a book I buy is going to be seed for an article, essay or blog spot.)
I went to Rite-Aid to look for an advertised deal on A & W diet Root Beer for Jackie. Alas, they didn't have the root beer.
Then I went to Petco for a doggie-style indoor training box and accessories for Jackie's wee (and weeing and pooping) dogs, so she can teach them indoor bathroom etiquette ahead of the move, so she won't have to come down the stairs into the new backyard at oh dark thirty every morning to let them out from my ground-floor home, should we get the one we're after. Also got some PetroMalt for Poppy, my almost eighteen year old kitty. She just loves the stuff, so I'm all for it. It keeps her tummy happy, which keeps the carpet clean -- a win-win situation if ever I heard one!)
At noon Jackie's Realtor is coming over to look at my condo and let us know if he feels certain he can sell it by the end of January, and to have Jackie sign the offer papers for the place we want. After that, Jackie, the Realtor, Phil, Wendy and I will be going to look over the place we want.
I drove over to the (we hope) new place this morning and found it easily, the way I went. We were all over hell's half acre looking for it in the dark the other night, but once I spotted a road I was familiar with (on the way out), I thought, "Aha! I know exactly where this place is!" and sure enough -- it's all of three miles from my front door and very easy to find. So I'll lead (or direct) the way today and get us there in double-quick time.
Poppy is hollering at me. I think she needs some attention, so will sign off for now.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
We're Making the Offer On the Home Friday!
WAHOO! Tomorrow we're making a full-price offer on the home Jackie found, so I think we'll be getting it. Jackie's already well into the throes of thinking about which wall to eliminate or halve (to make it four feet tall instead of floor-to-ceiling) to open up one area of her level of the house (the upper level). I'm going to drive by the place again tomorrow to see it in the daytime. I really look forward to that. We'll get inside again, too -- and Phil and Wendy will come along to see it for the first time.
I rested (needed it) and read (Think a Second Time by Dennis Prager, who also wrote Happiness is a Very Serious Matter -- a Human Nature Repair Manual; I highly recommend both) almost exclusively today, except for a few hours at Phil's and Wendy's during Thanksgiving, when I wrestled a little with the Birthday Girl, Casey, and her li'l sister Jamie for a bit.
Casey was thrilled to get the blank book with the inscription I put in it for her, and the pens. Jackie got her a new bike with several speeds so she can go on our bike trips next spring and summer and keep up (and probably get ahead as well!)...
Casey, 7 today, will be at least six feet tall when she's grown. By next year I have little doubt she'll be as tall as I am (5'7") -- the top of her head reaches my chin already. There are a lot of tall people in her background on both sides of the family. When she plays soccer and other sports, she's head and shoulders above everyone else her age, making her look as though she's a much older girl playing with seven year olds. Her mom has to assure people she isn't "fudging" and letting her play with younger kids.
Jackie and Phil (Phil is Jackie's 32 year old son, and Casey's and Jamie's dad) have a yearly tradition the day after Thanksgiving -- have had it since Phil was seven. They get up and arrive at the stores that open at 4 a.m. to be first in line for the specials the stores run. It's certifiably insane, in my humble opinion... but they have a lot of compatriots who do the same thing, so I have to just grin and swallow my opinion. I'd have a hard time getting up at 3 a.m. to see Jesus (okay, that's a lie, but it's so funny, I'm keeping it in!) so you can just imagine what I think of people who get up that early to be first in line on the most insane shopping day of the year!
This year I just sent them on their way with requests: "If you find a flat-panel LCD monitor for $100 (something I figured would be impossible), get it for me and I'll pay you back." Sure enough, Phil found one in an ad tonight and says he will get one for me if there are any left by the time he gets there. Last year (or was it the year before?) Jackie and I both got Kodak Easy Share digital 5 pixel cameras and docking stations for $150 or $199 or something like that. (We got them for each other as Christmas presents, since neither of of us would spend that kind of money on ourselves! Aren't sisters-in-sync great? HA HA HA HA HA!)
Speaking of sisters-in-sync. Several people have asked Jackie, "Do you think you can really live with your sister peaceably in the same house? Won't you fight?" We both consider that an odd comment, but considering Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau and Joseph and his brothers, I guess it really shouldn't be. Siblings don't always get along... Jackie and I don't always get along. But we love each other! That will never change!
Jackie and I are pretty fortunate. First of all, we won't be living together -- she'll have the upper floor, and I'll have the daylight basement. We'll both have our separate living spaces, appliances and bathrooms. The only thing we'll share is the two-car garage, and even that won't be forever, just until we blacktop a part of the back yard to allow me to get my car back there and park it under the deck...
I have cats and Jackie is allergic to them, so she won't be coming down into my living quarters except to let her minuscule dogs out (they're a third the size and a fifth the weight of my smallest cat) into the back yard to do their duty... And I won't be going upstairs much because we have entirely different sets of interests. She's loves TV and quilting and I love reading, writing and resting after work.
I live a solitary lifestyle for the most part, while she has things happening in her realm pretty much non-stop (grandkids, Phil and Wendy, friends, co-workers). We're very different. But we understand each other -- and we love each other... I expect we'll see each other a little more often than once a week on Sunday nights, as we do now, but we probably won't "hang out" that much together, except perhaps on ride bikes or walks or when sharing exercise equipment and encouragement in the wee hours of the morning.
Jackie and I are very different. But we're good to each other 99.9% of the time. She's my best friend, although I am probably not hers. And that's okay! (I think her son is likely her best friend, if she had to choose just one.) She thinks I'm "over the top" in my spiritual walk and quest, but she isn't an atheist. She has a handshake knowledge of Jesus and that's all she seems to want right now. That bothers me a little, because I can't imagine wanting to know Jesus on a limited basis. Gadzooks, once I truly met Jesus, getting to know him better became an itch that no amount of scratching can cure. The more I know, the better I feel and the happier I am. I wonder why anyone would want anything less than the full meal deal. But that's just me. And I do understand -- because I wasn't ready until I was ready, either -- and that was just eight years ago this past September. I'm a late bloomer -- what can I say? Sometimes I think being a late bloomer is not a bad thing. I won't fall heir to taking Him for granted any time soon, that's for sure!
My next book (to read) will probably be THE HOLY SPIRIT, Activating God's Power in Your Life, by Billy Graham.
Tomorrow night we're going back to Phil and Wendy's for leftovers and the pumpkin pie we couldn't find room for tonight. I'm going to take my DVD of AMAZING GRACE along. Everyone wants to see it, so that'll be a good time as Phil has a big screen TV and it should show there pretty impressively -- not as well as on a theater screen, but quite well.
Guess that's it for now. Hope your Thanksgiving Day was a blessing, all of you in the US of A!
HUGS TO ALL!
I rested (needed it) and read (Think a Second Time by Dennis Prager, who also wrote Happiness is a Very Serious Matter -- a Human Nature Repair Manual; I highly recommend both) almost exclusively today, except for a few hours at Phil's and Wendy's during Thanksgiving, when I wrestled a little with the Birthday Girl, Casey, and her li'l sister Jamie for a bit.
Casey was thrilled to get the blank book with the inscription I put in it for her, and the pens. Jackie got her a new bike with several speeds so she can go on our bike trips next spring and summer and keep up (and probably get ahead as well!)...
Casey, 7 today, will be at least six feet tall when she's grown. By next year I have little doubt she'll be as tall as I am (5'7") -- the top of her head reaches my chin already. There are a lot of tall people in her background on both sides of the family. When she plays soccer and other sports, she's head and shoulders above everyone else her age, making her look as though she's a much older girl playing with seven year olds. Her mom has to assure people she isn't "fudging" and letting her play with younger kids.
Jackie and Phil (Phil is Jackie's 32 year old son, and Casey's and Jamie's dad) have a yearly tradition the day after Thanksgiving -- have had it since Phil was seven. They get up and arrive at the stores that open at 4 a.m. to be first in line for the specials the stores run. It's certifiably insane, in my humble opinion... but they have a lot of compatriots who do the same thing, so I have to just grin and swallow my opinion. I'd have a hard time getting up at 3 a.m. to see Jesus (okay, that's a lie, but it's so funny, I'm keeping it in!) so you can just imagine what I think of people who get up that early to be first in line on the most insane shopping day of the year!
This year I just sent them on their way with requests: "If you find a flat-panel LCD monitor for $100 (something I figured would be impossible), get it for me and I'll pay you back." Sure enough, Phil found one in an ad tonight and says he will get one for me if there are any left by the time he gets there. Last year (or was it the year before?) Jackie and I both got Kodak Easy Share digital 5 pixel cameras and docking stations for $150 or $199 or something like that. (We got them for each other as Christmas presents, since neither of of us would spend that kind of money on ourselves! Aren't sisters-in-sync great? HA HA HA HA HA!)
Speaking of sisters-in-sync. Several people have asked Jackie, "Do you think you can really live with your sister peaceably in the same house? Won't you fight?" We both consider that an odd comment, but considering Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau and Joseph and his brothers, I guess it really shouldn't be. Siblings don't always get along... Jackie and I don't always get along. But we love each other! That will never change!
Jackie and I are pretty fortunate. First of all, we won't be living together -- she'll have the upper floor, and I'll have the daylight basement. We'll both have our separate living spaces, appliances and bathrooms. The only thing we'll share is the two-car garage, and even that won't be forever, just until we blacktop a part of the back yard to allow me to get my car back there and park it under the deck...
I have cats and Jackie is allergic to them, so she won't be coming down into my living quarters except to let her minuscule dogs out (they're a third the size and a fifth the weight of my smallest cat) into the back yard to do their duty... And I won't be going upstairs much because we have entirely different sets of interests. She's loves TV and quilting and I love reading, writing and resting after work.
I live a solitary lifestyle for the most part, while she has things happening in her realm pretty much non-stop (grandkids, Phil and Wendy, friends, co-workers). We're very different. But we understand each other -- and we love each other... I expect we'll see each other a little more often than once a week on Sunday nights, as we do now, but we probably won't "hang out" that much together, except perhaps on ride bikes or walks or when sharing exercise equipment and encouragement in the wee hours of the morning.
Jackie and I are very different. But we're good to each other 99.9% of the time. She's my best friend, although I am probably not hers. And that's okay! (I think her son is likely her best friend, if she had to choose just one.) She thinks I'm "over the top" in my spiritual walk and quest, but she isn't an atheist. She has a handshake knowledge of Jesus and that's all she seems to want right now. That bothers me a little, because I can't imagine wanting to know Jesus on a limited basis. Gadzooks, once I truly met Jesus, getting to know him better became an itch that no amount of scratching can cure. The more I know, the better I feel and the happier I am. I wonder why anyone would want anything less than the full meal deal. But that's just me. And I do understand -- because I wasn't ready until I was ready, either -- and that was just eight years ago this past September. I'm a late bloomer -- what can I say? Sometimes I think being a late bloomer is not a bad thing. I won't fall heir to taking Him for granted any time soon, that's for sure!
My next book (to read) will probably be THE HOLY SPIRIT, Activating God's Power in Your Life, by Billy Graham.
Tomorrow night we're going back to Phil and Wendy's for leftovers and the pumpkin pie we couldn't find room for tonight. I'm going to take my DVD of AMAZING GRACE along. Everyone wants to see it, so that'll be a good time as Phil has a big screen TV and it should show there pretty impressively -- not as well as on a theater screen, but quite well.
Guess that's it for now. Hope your Thanksgiving Day was a blessing, all of you in the US of A!
HUGS TO ALL!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
WAHOO! Wi' A Little Bit O' Luck... We Found a Home!
My sister has found the perfect place, with an upper and lower level, all ready to move in. We're getting an inspection done. If it checks out, she will make an offer and I will once again list my condo for sale, with her Realtor. (The ones I had, who are good friends, were just too new at the real estate game to know how to move a condo, sad to say.) Jackie's Realtor feels very certain he can sell my condo by the end of January if he lists it the day after Christmas or the second day of the new year... Jackie is counting on that, as am I, if we go for this place... It's too much for her to buy alone, but well within our range together. We'd have it paid off in under seven years... If we get it, I will send you the link so you can marvel at it with us!
Keep us in your prayers!
HAVE A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!
Keep us in your prayers!
HAVE A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!
Another Good One Forwarded to me by Debbie H, a Librarian
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.
My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year.
It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away .
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.
I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.
She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"
In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide).
We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says .
Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.
Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing? Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.
Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did.
But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards .
Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein Amen
My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year.
It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away .
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.
I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.
She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"
In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide).
We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says .
Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.
Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing? Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.
Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did.
But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards .
Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein Amen
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Thanksgiving ... by Abraham Lincoln (Thanks to Debbie H for this!)
The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People.
I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.
Abraham Lincoln
The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People.
I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.
Abraham Lincoln
Almost Thanksgiving Day -- Wahoo!
It’s 10:45 a.m. and I’m – shhhh! – caught up! It won’t last long, for sure, but while it’s happening, I am going to relax, bask and enjoy the brief respite…
In a little over twelve working hours, we’ll be free for four days to truly relax and refresh. Yes! I may sleep till noon!
Yeah, right! Me? I’d have to be in the hospital to sleep till noon. My eyes open at the crack of dawn, sometimes before.
I had a voice mail from Stuart Blair in Adelaide, Australia a couple nights ago, really late. He’s thinking about inviting Leonard Nimoy to his convention in April and is trying to find a way to get me there at the same time. If I go, I probably can’t stay more than a week, but a week is better than nothing. I’ll have to get on the ball and get a passport, though, if I’m going to do it! It takes about ten weeks, from what I’ve heard.
The idea of flying to Australia stresses me out. I’ve never been outside the country except to Mexico and Canada, and those were drives, not flights. Flying out of the country is different. I’ve never been off the North American continent! It’s "home base" – my comfort zone.
Other people travel a lot and become citizens of the world. I’m insulated and isolated, except for reading about other cultures and climes.
What gets me is that I would be flying out on a spring day in North America and arriving 22 hours later on a fall day in Australia. I can’t get my mind around that, for some reason. It sounds like time travel!
Yes, it’s time I got out more, before I’m too old to do it. It’s just scary. That doesn’t mean I won’t do it – in fact, it almost guarantees I will, because I have learned not to let scary things stop me (other than bungee jumping, diving out of perfectly good airplanes and playing Russian Roulette. I do have limits!). It’s a GOOD kind of scary, you know? I would love to meet a bunch of Aussies and come back with an accent. (You have no idea how quickly I "catch" accents, stutters, and other verbal touches.)
And I’d get to see Anne Richardson again! It has been too long… three years.
I’m listening to Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols by the Kings Choir in Cambridge as I write this. Glorious! The only "bad" thing about it is it makes me want to burst out in song, which would be fine if I still worked in a church – but not for long, even there. (Singing is not my gift to the world. Thank God others can do it so well!)
It would be a little distracting to have a co-worker belt out O COME LET US ADORE HIM without warning… or even with warning. Yes, the better part of valor is enjoying the season in silence here at work… but at home, I let it all out!
In a little over twelve working hours, we’ll be free for four days to truly relax and refresh. Yes! I may sleep till noon!
Yeah, right! Me? I’d have to be in the hospital to sleep till noon. My eyes open at the crack of dawn, sometimes before.
I had a voice mail from Stuart Blair in Adelaide, Australia a couple nights ago, really late. He’s thinking about inviting Leonard Nimoy to his convention in April and is trying to find a way to get me there at the same time. If I go, I probably can’t stay more than a week, but a week is better than nothing. I’ll have to get on the ball and get a passport, though, if I’m going to do it! It takes about ten weeks, from what I’ve heard.
The idea of flying to Australia stresses me out. I’ve never been outside the country except to Mexico and Canada, and those were drives, not flights. Flying out of the country is different. I’ve never been off the North American continent! It’s "home base" – my comfort zone.
Other people travel a lot and become citizens of the world. I’m insulated and isolated, except for reading about other cultures and climes.
What gets me is that I would be flying out on a spring day in North America and arriving 22 hours later on a fall day in Australia. I can’t get my mind around that, for some reason. It sounds like time travel!
Yes, it’s time I got out more, before I’m too old to do it. It’s just scary. That doesn’t mean I won’t do it – in fact, it almost guarantees I will, because I have learned not to let scary things stop me (other than bungee jumping, diving out of perfectly good airplanes and playing Russian Roulette. I do have limits!). It’s a GOOD kind of scary, you know? I would love to meet a bunch of Aussies and come back with an accent. (You have no idea how quickly I "catch" accents, stutters, and other verbal touches.)
And I’d get to see Anne Richardson again! It has been too long… three years.
I’m listening to Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols by the Kings Choir in Cambridge as I write this. Glorious! The only "bad" thing about it is it makes me want to burst out in song, which would be fine if I still worked in a church – but not for long, even there. (Singing is not my gift to the world. Thank God others can do it so well!)
It would be a little distracting to have a co-worker belt out O COME LET US ADORE HIM without warning… or even with warning. Yes, the better part of valor is enjoying the season in silence here at work… but at home, I let it all out!
New Song, HELLO GOD, by Dolly Parton
Check it out!
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Monday, November 19, 2007
WAHOO!!! We Get Friday Off!
Am I relieved, or what? The boss has decided to add the day after Thanksgiving to our list of official days off. This is a first for this company. I'm so happy! I'm far too tired to show it adequately right now, but VERY happy!
Yesterday in church two people told me, "You look so tired!" (Gee, thanks.) That was official, independent confimation that I am dragging and needed to take drastic measures...
So this morning I put in a Request for Time Off so I'd have Thanksgiving Day and the following three days to rest and recover. But this morning in the meeting of department heads, they all discussed the issue of Friday off after Thanksgiving, and it was approved. HALLELUJAH! (EVERYONE'S whipped, not just me, and I knew that, but I also knew I had to do something about it or I'd be in trouble... so I did. But the paperwork has been returned, because we all get it off now. WAHOO!!)
Now I just have to get from here to Wednesday night at 5 pm... and all will be well. YES!
I brought a ceramic angel and a Christmas ornament to work this morning and sat them on my desk. They kept me smiling and hopeful.
Got lots more done today -- the late clients are calling and begging for one more chance to get a holiday program, so of course I agreed. Saying no would make me a Scrooge. I may want to act like Scrooge right now (I'm weary to the core) but no way am I going to "Bah! Humbug!" a client. I am a sensitive soul... (an exhausted, sensitive soul)
I also wrote copy for two new clients. For one of them, a Fire and Rescue Department, I wrote three different sets of copy -- a holiday program, a January-June progam, and a July-November program... so they're set for a full year. (Having been trained as a First Responder/Disaster Recovery Volunteer by Warner Bros. made it easy to write all the copy right off the top of my head in under thirty minutes.) (Didn't I tell you that all the jobs I've held to this point come in mighty handy as a copywriter? For sure, for sure!)
I finshed Dyer's book and am more than half way through Prager's book about happiness. Four new-to-me, used books came in tonight, so I will have plenty to keep me happily ensconsed for a couple more weeks in the evening before I fall into bed at 8 p.m.
Sleep tight!
Yesterday in church two people told me, "You look so tired!" (Gee, thanks.) That was official, independent confimation that I am dragging and needed to take drastic measures...
So this morning I put in a Request for Time Off so I'd have Thanksgiving Day and the following three days to rest and recover. But this morning in the meeting of department heads, they all discussed the issue of Friday off after Thanksgiving, and it was approved. HALLELUJAH! (EVERYONE'S whipped, not just me, and I knew that, but I also knew I had to do something about it or I'd be in trouble... so I did. But the paperwork has been returned, because we all get it off now. WAHOO!!)
Now I just have to get from here to Wednesday night at 5 pm... and all will be well. YES!
I brought a ceramic angel and a Christmas ornament to work this morning and sat them on my desk. They kept me smiling and hopeful.
Got lots more done today -- the late clients are calling and begging for one more chance to get a holiday program, so of course I agreed. Saying no would make me a Scrooge. I may want to act like Scrooge right now (I'm weary to the core) but no way am I going to "Bah! Humbug!" a client. I am a sensitive soul... (an exhausted, sensitive soul)
I also wrote copy for two new clients. For one of them, a Fire and Rescue Department, I wrote three different sets of copy -- a holiday program, a January-June progam, and a July-November program... so they're set for a full year. (Having been trained as a First Responder/Disaster Recovery Volunteer by Warner Bros. made it easy to write all the copy right off the top of my head in under thirty minutes.) (Didn't I tell you that all the jobs I've held to this point come in mighty handy as a copywriter? For sure, for sure!)
I finshed Dyer's book and am more than half way through Prager's book about happiness. Four new-to-me, used books came in tonight, so I will have plenty to keep me happily ensconsed for a couple more weeks in the evening before I fall into bed at 8 p.m.
Sleep tight!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Swimming Party!
Today was Casey's birthday party (early, since it's on Thanksgiving Day this year). Casey's whole soccer team came and we all went swimming in an Olympic-sized pool at Puyallup High School for the occasion. I was in charge of Isabella, one of my four grand nieces, who is not yet 6. All kids under six had to have an accompanying adult with them. I was happy to oblige. In another life I must have been a dolphin or sea otter -- I just love being in the water!
Isabella wanted to be tested to see if she could swim in the deep water and jump off the diving board that the bigger kids were having such fun in and on. So she and I swam back and forth across the pool (the short way -- about 30 feet across) several times until she was able to go in both directions without tiring and needing help. She accomplished that -- she's one determined girl! -- and so we went out and swam and jumped off the diving board with the big kids for about half of the time. She has some exciting news to tell her mom when she gets home tonight!
She passed her swimming test!
After the swimming party, there was cake and ice cream. The event ended at 2:30. Jackie and I then drove by the place she thinks has great potential, to see if I concurred. I do. It'll be fine if her builder and the county say we can renovate it, adding a two or three car garage and about 400 feet to my side, which is too small right now. So Jackie's builder is going there on Monday or Tuesday to give her an estimate on what we want done. If he can do it for under 80K, I believe we have found our new home(s)! It's listed at a price where Jackie can get into it herself and wait for me to sell my condo in the spring. I might even have some money left over to buy a car. The one I have is 14 years old and Jackie is concerned it won't get me a whole lot farther reliably. It has never failed me yet, but at 14 years old, I have little doubt it will start to feel its age somewhere down the line in the not too distant future, so it's time to start thinking about getting a newer model that gets equally good gas mileage -- 28 mpg or higher. I'd love to get a hybrid, but they are beyond my budget by a mile...
Rode my bike this morning for a good 45 minutes. It was cold outside but dry. I was warmly-dressed so it went fine. If we have a dry spell tomorrow during daylight hours, I plan to do it again. It's just so enjoyable to ride this new bike.
With swimming and biking, I may have lost some more weight. My little toe didn't sting or hurt while kicking in the pool like a maniac, so it's on the mend in double-quick time, as usual.
What else? Guess that's about it for this time!
Isabella wanted to be tested to see if she could swim in the deep water and jump off the diving board that the bigger kids were having such fun in and on. So she and I swam back and forth across the pool (the short way -- about 30 feet across) several times until she was able to go in both directions without tiring and needing help. She accomplished that -- she's one determined girl! -- and so we went out and swam and jumped off the diving board with the big kids for about half of the time. She has some exciting news to tell her mom when she gets home tonight!
She passed her swimming test!
After the swimming party, there was cake and ice cream. The event ended at 2:30. Jackie and I then drove by the place she thinks has great potential, to see if I concurred. I do. It'll be fine if her builder and the county say we can renovate it, adding a two or three car garage and about 400 feet to my side, which is too small right now. So Jackie's builder is going there on Monday or Tuesday to give her an estimate on what we want done. If he can do it for under 80K, I believe we have found our new home(s)! It's listed at a price where Jackie can get into it herself and wait for me to sell my condo in the spring. I might even have some money left over to buy a car. The one I have is 14 years old and Jackie is concerned it won't get me a whole lot farther reliably. It has never failed me yet, but at 14 years old, I have little doubt it will start to feel its age somewhere down the line in the not too distant future, so it's time to start thinking about getting a newer model that gets equally good gas mileage -- 28 mpg or higher. I'd love to get a hybrid, but they are beyond my budget by a mile...
Rode my bike this morning for a good 45 minutes. It was cold outside but dry. I was warmly-dressed so it went fine. If we have a dry spell tomorrow during daylight hours, I plan to do it again. It's just so enjoyable to ride this new bike.
With swimming and biking, I may have lost some more weight. My little toe didn't sting or hurt while kicking in the pool like a maniac, so it's on the mend in double-quick time, as usual.
What else? Guess that's about it for this time!
Reminder! The Holidays Are Almost Here!
This is a reprinted entry from about three weeks ago... Just a reminder!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Okay, gang, I don't usually do this, but this time of year I'd be remiss if I didn't! So, here goes!
Did you love one or all of the books I've written to date? (Another is on the way in 2008: THE ENDURING LEGACY OF DeFOREST KELLEY: ACTOR, HEALER FRIEND. I'm still accepting submissions for it until March 5, 2008, so get your manuscript to me prontomundo!)
To repeat: Did you love one or all of the books I'v written?If so, please think about others who would enjoy having their own copy , inscribed by me and nicely wrapped in a package for Christmas or Hanukkah... or a birthday any other time of year. If you will buy it, I will send a sticker to you in an envelope, inscribed to whomever you want it (and saying whatever you want me to say, if you have ideas). Logon to my book website...
(http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~mdownes/kris/kristinesmith.html...
and follow the links to reviews and purchasing at Amazon or at Authorhouse.com.
Note: You'll save several dollars buying at AuthorHouse, but if you're more comfy with Amazon, don't let me dissuade you from that plan (Amazon is a Washington State company like Microsoft and I'm all for encouraging "local trade"!) ... it's just that fulfillment of your order may take longer at Amazon, since all my books are Print On Demand and Amazon doesn't keep a huge stack of them warehoused... and this is the time of year when there might be a run on them...
Turnaround time for softcover at AuthorHouse is 7-10 days; for hardbound, two weeks. I suggest the hardcover (although I don't make a dime more if you go that route). Many fans have told me they bought the softcover and then loved the book so much that they turned around and bought it again as a hardbound. So I'm just thinking ahead and, again, hoping to save you money down the road.
Remember: If you are ordering for the holidays for others, send me your snail mail address (my email address is KRISTINE M SMITH @ MSN DOT COM, without the spaces) and I will personalize a sticker that you can place into the book when you get it from whichever distributor you choose. (I don't have extra copies of the books here. Remember, they're print on Demand so I only get copies when I'm scheduled to appear somewhere and talk about De to his still-adoring public.)
Animal lovers will love LET NO DAY DAWN THAT THE ANIMALS CANNOT SHARE.
The Hollywood-crazed who love humor will love FLOATING AROUND HOLLYWOOD AND OTHER TOTALLY-TRUE TALES OF TRIUMPH.
Christians and other seekers who haven't yet decided on a faith to follow will enjoy PURPOSEFUL CHRISTIANITY, Sharing the Verve and Value of the Prince of Peace.
You'll even find out more about the Kelleys in each the three other books -- stuff that wasn't in the book about De, DeFOREST KELLEY: A HARVEST OF MEMORIES. (De wrote the foreword of the animal book and a back cover blurb about the Hollywood book) So, mystery fans... if you want to read additional stories about the Kelleys (short but sweet), get the other books, okay?!
How many chances do you have in life to send a book by someone you know to someone you know? Isn't that, in itself, a kinda special thing?
Support your (ahem) favorite author who writes you blogs and emails for FREE! That would be ME: Kristine M Smith!!!
If you were blessed by one of my books, bless someone else with it this year. That's all I ask.
Oh! No, it isn't! I just thought of one more think to ask: PLEASE tell more of your friends about this blog! And family! And business associates! The more, the merrier!
How about sending the blog link.... (here it is!)
http://almostfamousbydesfault.blogspot.com/...
to ten other people this week? That would be MAHvelous! Thank you!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Okay, gang, I don't usually do this, but this time of year I'd be remiss if I didn't! So, here goes!
Did you love one or all of the books I've written to date? (Another is on the way in 2008: THE ENDURING LEGACY OF DeFOREST KELLEY: ACTOR, HEALER FRIEND. I'm still accepting submissions for it until March 5, 2008, so get your manuscript to me prontomundo!)
To repeat: Did you love one or all of the books I'v written?If so, please think about others who would enjoy having their own copy , inscribed by me and nicely wrapped in a package for Christmas or Hanukkah... or a birthday any other time of year. If you will buy it, I will send a sticker to you in an envelope, inscribed to whomever you want it (and saying whatever you want me to say, if you have ideas). Logon to my book website...
(http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~mdownes/kris/kristinesmith.html...
and follow the links to reviews and purchasing at Amazon or at Authorhouse.com.
Note: You'll save several dollars buying at AuthorHouse, but if you're more comfy with Amazon, don't let me dissuade you from that plan (Amazon is a Washington State company like Microsoft and I'm all for encouraging "local trade"!) ... it's just that fulfillment of your order may take longer at Amazon, since all my books are Print On Demand and Amazon doesn't keep a huge stack of them warehoused... and this is the time of year when there might be a run on them...
Turnaround time for softcover at AuthorHouse is 7-10 days; for hardbound, two weeks. I suggest the hardcover (although I don't make a dime more if you go that route). Many fans have told me they bought the softcover and then loved the book so much that they turned around and bought it again as a hardbound. So I'm just thinking ahead and, again, hoping to save you money down the road.
Remember: If you are ordering for the holidays for others, send me your snail mail address (my email address is KRISTINE M SMITH @ MSN DOT COM, without the spaces) and I will personalize a sticker that you can place into the book when you get it from whichever distributor you choose. (I don't have extra copies of the books here. Remember, they're print on Demand so I only get copies when I'm scheduled to appear somewhere and talk about De to his still-adoring public.)
Animal lovers will love LET NO DAY DAWN THAT THE ANIMALS CANNOT SHARE.
The Hollywood-crazed who love humor will love FLOATING AROUND HOLLYWOOD AND OTHER TOTALLY-TRUE TALES OF TRIUMPH.
Christians and other seekers who haven't yet decided on a faith to follow will enjoy PURPOSEFUL CHRISTIANITY, Sharing the Verve and Value of the Prince of Peace.
You'll even find out more about the Kelleys in each the three other books -- stuff that wasn't in the book about De, DeFOREST KELLEY: A HARVEST OF MEMORIES. (De wrote the foreword of the animal book and a back cover blurb about the Hollywood book) So, mystery fans... if you want to read additional stories about the Kelleys (short but sweet), get the other books, okay?!
How many chances do you have in life to send a book by someone you know to someone you know? Isn't that, in itself, a kinda special thing?
Support your (ahem) favorite author who writes you blogs and emails for FREE! That would be ME: Kristine M Smith!!!
If you were blessed by one of my books, bless someone else with it this year. That's all I ask.
Oh! No, it isn't! I just thought of one more think to ask: PLEASE tell more of your friends about this blog! And family! And business associates! The more, the merrier!
How about sending the blog link.... (here it is!)
http://almostfamousbydesfault.blogspot.com/...
to ten other people this week? That would be MAHvelous! Thank you!
I Love Books!!!
My condo's no longer a hovel
I got out my shovel
And washed and waxed
And vacuumed and taxed
Myself a little more
Fer sure, fer sure!
BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!
I didn't give myself permission to write or ride my bike this morning until the condo was clean. What a plan! Got up bright and early, turned on Christmas music (a new CD to me, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols by the Choir of King's College in Cambridge, England - glorious!) and went to work. The bedding is still underway, but thank God for washers and dryers, that can be done without my input except for laundry detergent, baking soda and a twist of a knob. So here I am, doing one of my favorite things: WRITING, and it's only 6:30 in the morning. Sunrise hasn't even happened yet and I'm waaaay ahead of the game.
This morning, thought I'd list the books I've been reading, because they're all very good. The first two are books Pastor Braaten (my Bible study teacher at Church For All Nations) recommended recently. (He's also the one who recommended LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS BY Chuck Missler and EAT THIS BOOK by Eugene Peterson and made me glad!)
The two new ones are both by the same authors and have similar titles: How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth and How to Read the Bible Book By Book, by Gordon D Fee and Douglas Stuart. The first is a guide to understanding the Bible; the second is a guided tour of the Bible from Genesis through Revelation. Fee is professor of New Testament at Regent College, Vancouver, BC and Douglas Stuart is professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
It's hard for me to say which Bible guide books should be read first. Perhaps it's What the Bible Is All About, by Henrietta Mears, which is the first guide I read as a new believer. I read the Mears book first because she was the past matriarch of the church I was attending at the time as a new believer (First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood) and because she had encouraged Billy Graham to enter the ministry and had explained concepts to him early in his career. THAT was a high recommendation -- to know she had inspired and shaped Billy Graham to a considerable degree. That and LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS by Missler are probably the most helpful -- and Missler's will blow you out of the water if you truly grasp the chapters about the astronomically huge improbability of one man fulfilling as many prophecies of the coming of the Messiah, as Jesus did and about the hand of God upon the Jews.
Those are the chapters that utterly swept me to a whole new level of belief and faith. Once you get to that level, all you want is more, more, more of God and less of everything else! And that's exactly where God wants us to be. I have a T-shirt that reads, "God doesn't want shares in your life -- He wants controlling interest." Yeah. That's it, exactly. What a world this would be if the God of Love had controlling interest and we shed His love abroad at all times to all we met!
The next book is Dyer's, Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Living the Wisdom of the Tao. Obviously, this is a book about Taoism, so I don't read it as a holy book so much as I do as a book of profound wisdom. The lessons in the book are almost parallel in many cases to lessons in the Bible. Wise people do wise things, and wisdom comes from God. Since most of the major religions believe there is only one God, whichever of us is "right" about what He's like don't necessarily have a leg up on those who appear "wrong" -- God hears us all, if there's only one -- there's only One Divine Receiver! He created all of us, so we're all his "kids" -- all HIS creations! Some of us (in many faiths and denominations) have simply climbed into his lap and said, "Tell me more!" And this is where true wisdom comes from!
The Dyer book identifies and kicks the legs out from under ego to the degree it (and the wisdom of the Tao) can. With our egos subdued and quieted, divine love can flourish because only ego claims "I'm special, I'm better, I'm more worthy, I'm God's ultimate expression of life in the universe and everybody else should listen to me and do what I say." Ego is the cause of wars, jealousy, strife, and all manner of other error against self and others. Ego professes to others, "Aren't I great!" while it tells us in private moments, "You are such a loser! You're nowhere near what you should be." Ego is never satisfied. Ego always wants more, better, faster, higher...
Dyer's book explains that ego's striving is the cause of too much strife and unrest in the world. It infiltrates into family dynamics and scars children at a young age, and it twists national self-interest into ugly shapes, all of which creates an appearance of division where none should exist.
We all came from a divine source that wants us to create as He/She/It does, with love and without expectation. Here's one of the more profound and simplest lessons in the book, paraphrased by the poet Hafiz in the 17th century:
Even
after
All this time
The sun never says to the earth,
"You owe
Me."
Look
What happens
With a love like that,
It lights the
Whole
Sky.
And here's a second gem from the book by the same poet:
Everyone
Is God speaking.
Why not be polite and
Listen to
Him?
Wow. That's powerful! We're all a divine spark of our Creator. We all resemble Him in some way. We all "know" things only God could have imparted to us -- our discontent is in knowing how things "should" be (this is knowing that's a gift from God) and knowing, as well, how far we are from seeing or being it. And yet God accepts and allows everything and loves us just the way we are, knowing we know that what He made perfect is still perfect, and that the rest is shadow and ego and very, very unreal and as temporary as the blink of an eye in the great scheme of things.
Recognizing our common, communal heritage and inheritance with all of life and nature, we treat it all so much better. We respect each other and the planet, all animated and inanimate creations. It's all the magic of God, and all good.
Dyer's book gives peace. That's probably the highest accolade one can give to a book. It's what the Bible ultimately gives, too. Rest for the weary, striving soul.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Started Another Book...
I've started another book, even though I'm not yet finished with Dyer's. This one is by Dennis Prager. De's next door neighbor, the late Don Catherwood ( known as "Don Smith" in Terry's biography of De), always told me I should tune in to Prager's radio show every day, and I never did. (After De passed away, I spent many, many Saturdays sitting with 90 year old Don, who I'd met and grown to love while caring for De and Carolyn.)
I've seen Prager on TV a time or two, mostly on the Larry King show, I think. Interesting guy!
The book I'm reading (of Prager's) is called HAPPINESS IS A SERIOUS MATTER. Gads, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan and other young stars who seem to be in self-destruct mode ought to get this book and memorize it. I think it would shift their paradigm and allow them to live a full life instead of more than likely dying young.
There's a lot of wisdom in this book, for everyone, not just "at risk" youth. I've ordered another of his books, too.
Don told me one time that Prager said the best thing that ever happened to civilization was Christianity. Now, this was a downright amazing statement coming from Prager, Don said, because he's Jewish! (Side note: Don said he, himself, was a Deist. I never did persuade him otherwise, hard as I tried. Don just couldn't fathom, brilliant as he was, how the God who made ALL THIS would give "tiny-speck-in-the-universe-humans" so much as a sideways glance.) But Prager apparently said -- and it's true -- that it was Christians who started the first hospitals, universities, and other social institutions that have been such blessings over the centuries, and that the ethos of most practicing Christians is one that could truly save our world if adopted by the populace at large to a point where it becomes a "tipping point" and everyone realizes that forgiveness and treating others decently is a win-win situation...
I suppose almost any religion, if followed the way its originator intended, would result in peaceful co-existence for all. But only one of the originators of all these faiths came back to life from the dead, so Judaism and Christianity have my vote as the only two faiths with a traceable history showing how "God-breathed" and "God certified" they are!
God made all nations and loves everyone. But reading about the way He "adopted" infant Israel, nurturing and preserving it against insurmountable odds across four thousand years -- and counting -- is a history no one should miss! It's instructive. If you want God on your team, get on His team! The Holy Bible shows you how. And you don't have to be perfect. Not a single person God used in the Bible was perfect -- except Jesus, that is. That's probably the most amazing thing of all about the Bible -- how God never has given up on us, no matter how badly we screw up!
THAT'S amazing grace!
Speaking of which, my DVD copy of AMAZING GRACE arrived in the mail yesterday. I'll be enjoying that again this weekend. I saw it three times in the theater. See it! Get it! It's about Wilber Wilberforce and John Newton (Newton wrote the hymn AMAZING GRACE, hence the title of the film). More about Wilberforce can be found in one of my earliest blogs... So ... go fetch!
I've seen Prager on TV a time or two, mostly on the Larry King show, I think. Interesting guy!
The book I'm reading (of Prager's) is called HAPPINESS IS A SERIOUS MATTER. Gads, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan and other young stars who seem to be in self-destruct mode ought to get this book and memorize it. I think it would shift their paradigm and allow them to live a full life instead of more than likely dying young.
There's a lot of wisdom in this book, for everyone, not just "at risk" youth. I've ordered another of his books, too.
Don told me one time that Prager said the best thing that ever happened to civilization was Christianity. Now, this was a downright amazing statement coming from Prager, Don said, because he's Jewish! (Side note: Don said he, himself, was a Deist. I never did persuade him otherwise, hard as I tried. Don just couldn't fathom, brilliant as he was, how the God who made ALL THIS would give "tiny-speck-in-the-universe-humans" so much as a sideways glance.) But Prager apparently said -- and it's true -- that it was Christians who started the first hospitals, universities, and other social institutions that have been such blessings over the centuries, and that the ethos of most practicing Christians is one that could truly save our world if adopted by the populace at large to a point where it becomes a "tipping point" and everyone realizes that forgiveness and treating others decently is a win-win situation...
I suppose almost any religion, if followed the way its originator intended, would result in peaceful co-existence for all. But only one of the originators of all these faiths came back to life from the dead, so Judaism and Christianity have my vote as the only two faiths with a traceable history showing how "God-breathed" and "God certified" they are!
God made all nations and loves everyone. But reading about the way He "adopted" infant Israel, nurturing and preserving it against insurmountable odds across four thousand years -- and counting -- is a history no one should miss! It's instructive. If you want God on your team, get on His team! The Holy Bible shows you how. And you don't have to be perfect. Not a single person God used in the Bible was perfect -- except Jesus, that is. That's probably the most amazing thing of all about the Bible -- how God never has given up on us, no matter how badly we screw up!
THAT'S amazing grace!
Speaking of which, my DVD copy of AMAZING GRACE arrived in the mail yesterday. I'll be enjoying that again this weekend. I saw it three times in the theater. See it! Get it! It's about Wilber Wilberforce and John Newton (Newton wrote the hymn AMAZING GRACE, hence the title of the film). More about Wilberforce can be found in one of my earliest blogs... So ... go fetch!
Complaint-Free Living....
This is from Joe Vitale:
A Complaint Free World
<
I love it when I read a book that awakens and inspires me, and that’s what happened today.
Will Bowen’s little gem, A Complaint Free World is so good, I just bought a box of them to give out to friends.
The noble cause behind the book is to get you and me to stop complaining.
No gossip.
No complaining.
Period.
Bowen is making history by challenging people to wear a purple wristband (which you can get for free at www.acomplaintfreeworld.org) for 21 days. The “simple” task is to not speak a complaint. Ever. If you do, move the band from your wrist to the other wrist. That’s it.
You’re allowed to complain in your mind all you like, but you can’t speak a complaint. When you do, move the band.
The idea is to clean up your language, because your words become your deeds and send out a vibe that keeps you stuck on the energy level behind them.
In short, speak negativity and you stay in negativity.
It’s basically learning how to speak in positive terms; to always state what you want, not want you don’t want.
To succeed at creating this new habit, you have to pause before you speak. If you’re about to complain, find a positive way to state what you really want.
Not complaining may not be as easy as you think, however.
For example, I originally began this blog post with the line, “I rarely read a book that awakens and inspires me, but that’s what happened today.”
Sounds innocent enough. But after a few minutes I realized that the line was actually a complaint. So I rewrote it.
And note that if you hear someone else complaining, you aren’t allowed to point it out to them - not without moving your wrist band. After all, complaining about someone complaining is still a complaint.
People are picking up the challenge, though. Bowen has been on Oprah and The Today Show. He’s sent out over four million bracelets — so far.
His book is packed with well written stories, insights, reminders and wisdom. Just reading it will lift your level of awareness and consciousness.
And it will gently guide you into being acutely aware of your own self-talk as well as spoken talk.
I urge you to get Bowen’s book and accept his challenge.
I’ve started it today.
Join me?
Ao Akua,
Joe www.mrfire.com
PS — Trust me, if you don’t get the book or pick up his challenge, I won’t complain.
ShareThis
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I think one of my mother's best attributes -- and one that rubbed off on me to a large extent -- is that she lived pretty much a complaint-free life. Not that she couldn't have complained about so many things -- a verbally abusive husband, life during the depression when she lived in a chicken coop, becoming a mother three times despite the fact that she swore she would never have children (she told me in an interview once that she had already raised so many of her (much older) sisters' and brothers' kids already that she was sure she didn't want any -- but this was before birth control and so she had three, and grew to love them without limit)... she fell into a fire pit and burned her feet and legs nearly up to her knees, and died of brain cancer after a two-year battle... The list could go on and on.
I remember one time I was singing a song, "Oh yeah, life goes on.... long after the thrill of living it's gone..." I must have been singing it with quite the passion, really feeling it, because it was one of the few times she complained. "Those are atrocious lyrics. What would ever possess anyone to say the thrill of living is gone?"
Despite all she had gone through, and still would with her cancer, not once did she complain...
I used to be quite the complainer. I stopped about the time I was born again -- except for very few instances. Because I realize the miracle in life itself, and every moment I have to be a light in the world, complaining comes hard to me, even when it's very, very easy to feel "put upon" internally. I just realize it makes the world a darker place, not a lighter one.
Yes, I've complained a time or two in this blog -- have usually apologized for it, too, afterward!
There are periods of "low moods" that assail all of us at times and that's when it's important to be vigilant of our tongues. I've told truths that were perhaps better left untold, and lost a few friends (very few) because of it. Even couched in a positive spin, a complaint is a complaint. It isn't ALLOWING what is to be what it is. And trying to disallow what is, is pretty goofy.
Some of what's in Dyer's book (Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life) addresses this. Viewing and allowing is okay. Viewing and disallowing is where the ego says, "My view is more valuable than yours is."
Dagnab it, I have to run off to work now. (This is a blessing worded as a complaint!) I will have to catch up with you again later.
I look forward to it!
Hugs!
A Complaint Free World
<
I love it when I read a book that awakens and inspires me, and that’s what happened today.
Will Bowen’s little gem, A Complaint Free World is so good, I just bought a box of them to give out to friends.
The noble cause behind the book is to get you and me to stop complaining.
No gossip.
No complaining.
Period.
Bowen is making history by challenging people to wear a purple wristband (which you can get for free at www.acomplaintfreeworld.org) for 21 days. The “simple” task is to not speak a complaint. Ever. If you do, move the band from your wrist to the other wrist. That’s it.
You’re allowed to complain in your mind all you like, but you can’t speak a complaint. When you do, move the band.
The idea is to clean up your language, because your words become your deeds and send out a vibe that keeps you stuck on the energy level behind them.
In short, speak negativity and you stay in negativity.
It’s basically learning how to speak in positive terms; to always state what you want, not want you don’t want.
To succeed at creating this new habit, you have to pause before you speak. If you’re about to complain, find a positive way to state what you really want.
Not complaining may not be as easy as you think, however.
For example, I originally began this blog post with the line, “I rarely read a book that awakens and inspires me, but that’s what happened today.”
Sounds innocent enough. But after a few minutes I realized that the line was actually a complaint. So I rewrote it.
And note that if you hear someone else complaining, you aren’t allowed to point it out to them - not without moving your wrist band. After all, complaining about someone complaining is still a complaint.
People are picking up the challenge, though. Bowen has been on Oprah and The Today Show. He’s sent out over four million bracelets — so far.
His book is packed with well written stories, insights, reminders and wisdom. Just reading it will lift your level of awareness and consciousness.
And it will gently guide you into being acutely aware of your own self-talk as well as spoken talk.
I urge you to get Bowen’s book and accept his challenge.
I’ve started it today.
Join me?
Ao Akua,
Joe www.mrfire.com
PS — Trust me, if you don’t get the book or pick up his challenge, I won’t complain.
ShareThis
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I think one of my mother's best attributes -- and one that rubbed off on me to a large extent -- is that she lived pretty much a complaint-free life. Not that she couldn't have complained about so many things -- a verbally abusive husband, life during the depression when she lived in a chicken coop, becoming a mother three times despite the fact that she swore she would never have children (she told me in an interview once that she had already raised so many of her (much older) sisters' and brothers' kids already that she was sure she didn't want any -- but this was before birth control and so she had three, and grew to love them without limit)... she fell into a fire pit and burned her feet and legs nearly up to her knees, and died of brain cancer after a two-year battle... The list could go on and on.
I remember one time I was singing a song, "Oh yeah, life goes on.... long after the thrill of living it's gone..." I must have been singing it with quite the passion, really feeling it, because it was one of the few times she complained. "Those are atrocious lyrics. What would ever possess anyone to say the thrill of living is gone?"
Despite all she had gone through, and still would with her cancer, not once did she complain...
I used to be quite the complainer. I stopped about the time I was born again -- except for very few instances. Because I realize the miracle in life itself, and every moment I have to be a light in the world, complaining comes hard to me, even when it's very, very easy to feel "put upon" internally. I just realize it makes the world a darker place, not a lighter one.
Yes, I've complained a time or two in this blog -- have usually apologized for it, too, afterward!
There are periods of "low moods" that assail all of us at times and that's when it's important to be vigilant of our tongues. I've told truths that were perhaps better left untold, and lost a few friends (very few) because of it. Even couched in a positive spin, a complaint is a complaint. It isn't ALLOWING what is to be what it is. And trying to disallow what is, is pretty goofy.
Some of what's in Dyer's book (Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life) addresses this. Viewing and allowing is okay. Viewing and disallowing is where the ego says, "My view is more valuable than yours is."
Dagnab it, I have to run off to work now. (This is a blessing worded as a complaint!) I will have to catch up with you again later.
I look forward to it!
Hugs!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
TD Jakes Should Be REQUIRED VIEWING!
I don't know how many of you have watched or read Bishop TD Jakes. If you have, you know what a blessing he is. If you haven't, don't miss out any longer. He is riveting... absolutely, without a doubt, anointed.
You can see him on TBN.
Do yourself a favor. He's one of the greatest blessings on the planet. He has a lot of books, too, but see him first. Once you've seen him, his books come across in his voice - sometimes soft and sweet, sometimes bellowing like a wounded bull.
He tells the truth -- and the truth SHOULD rock your world the way it rocks his listeners!
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This morning I got up and did my "bean thing" (exercise). Felt so great afterward that I went directly to the front door to see if it was light enough outside to ride my bike safely. No dice, so I decided to take a bath.
As I stepped into the tub I bumped the little toe on my left foot a little bit. It didn't hurt much -- maybe because it was still pumped up from the exercise. During the course of the day it got more and more sore, to a point where I was limping noticeably.
When I got home tonight it felt slightly better so I thought I'd pull off my shoe and sock and take a look. Gadzooks, my little toe and part of my foot are so blue they're almost black! Guess I really did a number on it and didn't realize it! By tomorrow it will be fine again (I'm a quick healer, praise the Lord) but tonight it looks really bad!
Work was crazy again today. We all survived. I hope we get the day after Thanksgiving off for being such good little boys and girls, but doubt it... We could all really use a four day vacation right about now!
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I'm about half way through Dyer's book. There are some passages in there that resonate with me as if I were standing beside a mile-high gong that has just been struck. Good stuff. I'll reprint some of it as the days pass... just tidbits. I think you should get the book.
There are so many great books out there. So many books, to little time...
You can see him on TBN.
Do yourself a favor. He's one of the greatest blessings on the planet. He has a lot of books, too, but see him first. Once you've seen him, his books come across in his voice - sometimes soft and sweet, sometimes bellowing like a wounded bull.
He tells the truth -- and the truth SHOULD rock your world the way it rocks his listeners!
<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This morning I got up and did my "bean thing" (exercise). Felt so great afterward that I went directly to the front door to see if it was light enough outside to ride my bike safely. No dice, so I decided to take a bath.
As I stepped into the tub I bumped the little toe on my left foot a little bit. It didn't hurt much -- maybe because it was still pumped up from the exercise. During the course of the day it got more and more sore, to a point where I was limping noticeably.
When I got home tonight it felt slightly better so I thought I'd pull off my shoe and sock and take a look. Gadzooks, my little toe and part of my foot are so blue they're almost black! Guess I really did a number on it and didn't realize it! By tomorrow it will be fine again (I'm a quick healer, praise the Lord) but tonight it looks really bad!
Work was crazy again today. We all survived. I hope we get the day after Thanksgiving off for being such good little boys and girls, but doubt it... We could all really use a four day vacation right about now!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I'm about half way through Dyer's book. There are some passages in there that resonate with me as if I were standing beside a mile-high gong that has just been struck. Good stuff. I'll reprint some of it as the days pass... just tidbits. I think you should get the book.
There are so many great books out there. So many books, to little time...
From the Hollywood Prayer Network --
Some of you may wish to join this organization, wherever you are, and perhaps start a local chapter. IF you want to continue to receive their emails (one is reprinted below) sign up at their website. They're doing a mighty work in Hollywood already.
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Dear HPN members,
We are getting this newsletter out early so that you can start praying immediately for some important events in Hollywood. As of Monday, November 5th, the Writers Guild of America has gone on strike. This has far reaching impact on every area of our business, so let’s put this strike as a priority on our prayer lists this month! And here’s the rest:
SUMMARY:
• The 4th Annual National Media Prayer Breakfast is this Friday, November 16th! • This Sunday, November 18th, is the 4th annual NATIONAL MEDIA PRAYER DAY • Pray for Russell Crowe and his desire to get baptized! • Pray for the fires in Malibu, San Diego and other Southern California fires • Continue praying for Peggy Rupple, our beloved head of the Biola Task Force • Please pray for the WGA strike that is weighing heavily on us • We want to lift up Britney Spears to the Lord • Pray for actress Hunter Tylo who is grieving the death of her son Michael • Pray for the 168 Hour Film Project as they prepare for their February Festival • "Our Indian music recording project for kids is underway in Bollywood, India” • Pray for the Lord to do miracles with the partners of “Toonacious” as it closes • Praises to the Seattle HPN Local Chapter for a first successful meeting • Twin Cities, MN chapter was a success in the Christian Community Fair • Join the two weekly gatherings of prayer in Hollywood on Wed. and Thurs. nights • Check out the upcoming events including films, training programs and more…
PRAISES:
• Pray for Russell Crow e and his desire to get baptized! Russell has announced recently that he has baptized his 3-year-old son and is planning to baptize his 1-year-old son. And when he does he wants to get baptized himself – in his Byzantine chapel on his property that he built four years ago for his wedding ceremony. We’re excited for his desire to seek God in this way and ask that you pray for Russell and his family to fall deeply in love with Him. For more details on his story go to: http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/ap/20071106/119438658000.html
UPDATES:
• An update on the fires in Malibu, San Diego and other Southern California fires: Hundreds of people, including industry professionals and celebrities were forced to evacuate their homes. Many industry people did lose their houses and personal belongings in the devastating fires. Let's continue to pray that God will use this for His glory in their lives, that they will get their homes back quickly, and that this experience will somehow lead the victims, their families and friends into His loving arms. • We ask that you continue praying for Peggy Rupple, our beloved head of the Biola Task Force, who has just started battling her fifth bout of cancer. She is preparing for a bone marrow transplant in the Spring and we ask that you keep her and her husband Dan in your prayers, for them to experience God’s hand of healing and strength. We want to celebrate a great victory with her.
REQUESTS:
• This Friday is the big 4th Annual NATIONAL MEDIA PRAYER BREAKFAST at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. 700 Christians and industry professionals will gather to pray for the people in Hollywood. Everyone is led through 5 prayers and they each hav e two names of people to pray for. So by the end of the 40 minute prayer time, we will have lifted up 7,000 prayers for Hollywood! Please pray that this is a miraculous time; that non-believers there come to know Jesus, that our prayers move mountains, and that the industry is different after the breakfast! Pray for the Mastermedia Intl. Staff, who does an incredible job, and the 50 HPN volunteers who want to be a divine presence there for all the participants and attendees. Praise God that we have this opportunity to bless Hollywood. You can still sign up at www.mediaprayer.org.
• This Sunday, November 18th, is the 4th Annual NATIONAL MEDIA PRAYER DAY. Churches around the country are lifting up the media that day as a national day to ask God to move in Hollywood. Will you pray with us this Sunday?!
• Please pray for the WGA strike that is weighing heavily on us. Shows have already shut down, film shoots have been halted and people are already getting scared about the lack of income. We ask God to move in the hearts of anyone who is being unreasonable, for the negotiators to be fair, honest and forthright, and for it to come to a speedy decision. Please invite the Lord into every conversation and for Him to use this time to bring people to come to know Christ. And may the Christians be proactive in reaching out to their friends who are suffering. Also pray for the HPN staff and our impact as we go serve coffee and donuts to some of the strikers. For one show’s view on the strike, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6hqP0c0_gw
• We want to lift up Britney Spears to the Lord and ask Him to show her His unconditional love, peace, and fulfillment. Please pray for Britney, her mother, and her two children, and let’s expect to see miracles in her life because of our loving prayers. HPN will be giving Britney a Bible this month and we ask the Lord to use it as an encouraging gift that will lead her back to Him.
• Pray for actress Hunter Tylo (Star of “The Bold and the Beautiful”) and her two younger children as she mourns the death of her 19-year-old son Michael, who drowned in the backyard pool of her Las Vegas home in October. Hunter is a committed Christian and she needs the prayer support of other believers who will carry her through this time of deep loss. Also pray for Michael’s father, Michael. For more specifics click on: http://news.aol.com/entertainment/television/tv-news-story/ar/_a/soap-stars-te enage-son-drowns inpool/20071020122509990001#cmntbgn
• Pray for the 168 Hour Film Project as they prepare for their February Festival. Please lift up Chris, the new Exec. Director. Pray also for his assistant Jay. Pray that they abide in Him. Exec. Dir. John praises God for providing the staff they have been praying for! Now, like the other ministries in Hollywood, they need more financing. They’re at: www.168project.com
REQUESTS FROM OUR MEMBERS:
• "Our Indian music recording project for kids is underway! Please pray that the Lord will continue to guide our team. Pray that God will continue to guide us in writing and choosing the right song lyrics for the CD, and that He will also guide the art direction for our curriculum. Most importantly, pray for the children whose hearts and minds we'd like to win for Christ… and that He would receive all the glory." Davita Maharaj, Local Chapter Director in Bollywood, India
• “I appreciate your HPN newsletter and updates and wanted to add the Toon Dudes to the prayer list. As of yesterday (November 1st), we are closing the doors of Toonacious due to circumstances under God’s control. We need prayer for what God will do with us and how He will use us in our next stage of life. Thank you for your support and grace during our time in service of the Lord through Toonacious.” Blessings, Ben
• “Many thanks to all of you for attending our very first HPN “Seattle Chapter” gathering! I was truly blessed and encouraged by your presence this evening. It will be exciting to watch what God may do in our local TV/Film entertainment industry and in Hollywood as a result of our steadfast and fervent prayers… “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” Eph 6:18 Blessings to you!”
• “Last weekend our chapter participated in The Christian Community Fair in Minneapolis and it was a great success! It so productive for our Twin Cities HPN Chapter had a booth! We were out of HPN brochures two hours before the fair ended. We used every business card and flyer I brought. It was amazing and we got the word out to pray for Hollywood! We prayed that God would give the attendees understanding to grasp that many in Hollywood are lost. When we pray for Hollywood, we aren't only praying for individual souls -- which is enough! We are also praying for God to change the tenor of our world through the influence that Hollywood exerts EVERYWHERE.” --Heidi
HOLLYWOOD:
• The 168 Hour Film Project hosts a night of prayer every Wednesday night at Media Center Church in Burbank. Please feel free to join them. Just go to www.168project.com or email info@168project.com to find more details.
• Every Thursday night The Greenhouse holds an hour of prayer for anyone in our industry who wants to pray or be prayed for! From 7:00 – 8:00pm at New Hope Four Square Church, 5853 Laurel Canyon Blvd. in North Hollywood, 91607. Come gather for one hour of worship and prayer specifically for Hollywood and for other aspects of the entertainment world. For more info email them at: greenhousearts@yahoo.com
UPCOMING EVENTS:
• For those of you concerned with the content of the upcoming film “The Golden Compass” starring Nicole Kidman, we ask you not to boycott the film (or any other film) but to pray for the people involved and to ask the Lord to deal with it in the way that glorifies and leads people to Him, and for God to touch the heart of the atheist author of the book with His unconditional love. Our prayerful response as an audience is the most powerful way to have an impact!
• Check out The Greenhouse, the new organization for creative artists in the arts & enterta inment industry! They meet every Sunday night at 7pm at 5853 Laurel Canyon Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91607 and everyone is welcome. For more info email Shun Lee at: greenhousearts@yahoo.com or www.myspace.com/thegreenhousearts
• Program dates for the 2008 Act One Writing Programs have been announced and applications are now available online. This year, Act One is offering two programs for writers, one that will meet on Saturdays for eight months, and one that will meet five days a week for one intensive month during the summer. The Act One Writing Program trains talented Christians for careers in mainstream film and television. The program takes place in Hollywood with intensive classroom instruction from a world-class faculty that includes over 50 top-notch TV a nd movie writers, agents and producers. For more information or to apply online, visit www.actoneprogram.com.
With love from the HPN Staff, Karen, Caren, Kelly, Gloria and Heather
QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?" Jay Leno, The Tonight Show
VERSE OF THE MONTH:
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fea r, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” Psalm 46: 1-3
This message was sent from: Hollywood Prayer Network1763 N. Gower St.Hollywood, 90028
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Dear HPN members,
We are getting this newsletter out early so that you can start praying immediately for some important events in Hollywood. As of Monday, November 5th, the Writers Guild of America has gone on strike. This has far reaching impact on every area of our business, so let’s put this strike as a priority on our prayer lists this month! And here’s the rest:
SUMMARY:
• The 4th Annual National Media Prayer Breakfast is this Friday, November 16th! • This Sunday, November 18th, is the 4th annual NATIONAL MEDIA PRAYER DAY • Pray for Russell Crowe and his desire to get baptized! • Pray for the fires in Malibu, San Diego and other Southern California fires • Continue praying for Peggy Rupple, our beloved head of the Biola Task Force • Please pray for the WGA strike that is weighing heavily on us • We want to lift up Britney Spears to the Lord • Pray for actress Hunter Tylo who is grieving the death of her son Michael • Pray for the 168 Hour Film Project as they prepare for their February Festival • "Our Indian music recording project for kids is underway in Bollywood, India” • Pray for the Lord to do miracles with the partners of “Toonacious” as it closes • Praises to the Seattle HPN Local Chapter for a first successful meeting • Twin Cities, MN chapter was a success in the Christian Community Fair • Join the two weekly gatherings of prayer in Hollywood on Wed. and Thurs. nights • Check out the upcoming events including films, training programs and more…
PRAISES:
• Pray for Russell Crow e and his desire to get baptized! Russell has announced recently that he has baptized his 3-year-old son and is planning to baptize his 1-year-old son. And when he does he wants to get baptized himself – in his Byzantine chapel on his property that he built four years ago for his wedding ceremony. We’re excited for his desire to seek God in this way and ask that you pray for Russell and his family to fall deeply in love with Him. For more details on his story go to: http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/ap/20071106/119438658000.html
UPDATES:
• An update on the fires in Malibu, San Diego and other Southern California fires: Hundreds of people, including industry professionals and celebrities were forced to evacuate their homes. Many industry people did lose their houses and personal belongings in the devastating fires. Let's continue to pray that God will use this for His glory in their lives, that they will get their homes back quickly, and that this experience will somehow lead the victims, their families and friends into His loving arms. • We ask that you continue praying for Peggy Rupple, our beloved head of the Biola Task Force, who has just started battling her fifth bout of cancer. She is preparing for a bone marrow transplant in the Spring and we ask that you keep her and her husband Dan in your prayers, for them to experience God’s hand of healing and strength. We want to celebrate a great victory with her.
REQUESTS:
• This Friday is the big 4th Annual NATIONAL MEDIA PRAYER BREAKFAST at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. 700 Christians and industry professionals will gather to pray for the people in Hollywood. Everyone is led through 5 prayers and they each hav e two names of people to pray for. So by the end of the 40 minute prayer time, we will have lifted up 7,000 prayers for Hollywood! Please pray that this is a miraculous time; that non-believers there come to know Jesus, that our prayers move mountains, and that the industry is different after the breakfast! Pray for the Mastermedia Intl. Staff, who does an incredible job, and the 50 HPN volunteers who want to be a divine presence there for all the participants and attendees. Praise God that we have this opportunity to bless Hollywood. You can still sign up at www.mediaprayer.org.
• This Sunday, November 18th, is the 4th Annual NATIONAL MEDIA PRAYER DAY. Churches around the country are lifting up the media that day as a national day to ask God to move in Hollywood. Will you pray with us this Sunday?!
• Please pray for the WGA strike that is weighing heavily on us. Shows have already shut down, film shoots have been halted and people are already getting scared about the lack of income. We ask God to move in the hearts of anyone who is being unreasonable, for the negotiators to be fair, honest and forthright, and for it to come to a speedy decision. Please invite the Lord into every conversation and for Him to use this time to bring people to come to know Christ. And may the Christians be proactive in reaching out to their friends who are suffering. Also pray for the HPN staff and our impact as we go serve coffee and donuts to some of the strikers. For one show’s view on the strike, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6hqP0c0_gw
• We want to lift up Britney Spears to the Lord and ask Him to show her His unconditional love, peace, and fulfillment. Please pray for Britney, her mother, and her two children, and let’s expect to see miracles in her life because of our loving prayers. HPN will be giving Britney a Bible this month and we ask the Lord to use it as an encouraging gift that will lead her back to Him.
• Pray for actress Hunter Tylo (Star of “The Bold and the Beautiful”) and her two younger children as she mourns the death of her 19-year-old son Michael, who drowned in the backyard pool of her Las Vegas home in October. Hunter is a committed Christian and she needs the prayer support of other believers who will carry her through this time of deep loss. Also pray for Michael’s father, Michael. For more specifics click on: http://news.aol.com/entertainment/television/tv-news-story/ar/_a/soap-stars-te enage-son-drowns inpool/20071020122509990001#cmntbgn
• Pray for the 168 Hour Film Project as they prepare for their February Festival. Please lift up Chris, the new Exec. Director. Pray also for his assistant Jay. Pray that they abide in Him. Exec. Dir. John praises God for providing the staff they have been praying for! Now, like the other ministries in Hollywood, they need more financing. They’re at: www.168project.com
REQUESTS FROM OUR MEMBERS:
• "Our Indian music recording project for kids is underway! Please pray that the Lord will continue to guide our team. Pray that God will continue to guide us in writing and choosing the right song lyrics for the CD, and that He will also guide the art direction for our curriculum. Most importantly, pray for the children whose hearts and minds we'd like to win for Christ… and that He would receive all the glory." Davita Maharaj, Local Chapter Director in Bollywood, India
• “I appreciate your HPN newsletter and updates and wanted to add the Toon Dudes to the prayer list. As of yesterday (November 1st), we are closing the doors of Toonacious due to circumstances under God’s control. We need prayer for what God will do with us and how He will use us in our next stage of life. Thank you for your support and grace during our time in service of the Lord through Toonacious.” Blessings, Ben
• “Many thanks to all of you for attending our very first HPN “Seattle Chapter” gathering! I was truly blessed and encouraged by your presence this evening. It will be exciting to watch what God may do in our local TV/Film entertainment industry and in Hollywood as a result of our steadfast and fervent prayers… “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” Eph 6:18 Blessings to you!”
• “Last weekend our chapter participated in The Christian Community Fair in Minneapolis and it was a great success! It so productive for our Twin Cities HPN Chapter had a booth! We were out of HPN brochures two hours before the fair ended. We used every business card and flyer I brought. It was amazing and we got the word out to pray for Hollywood! We prayed that God would give the attendees understanding to grasp that many in Hollywood are lost. When we pray for Hollywood, we aren't only praying for individual souls -- which is enough! We are also praying for God to change the tenor of our world through the influence that Hollywood exerts EVERYWHERE.” --Heidi
HOLLYWOOD:
• The 168 Hour Film Project hosts a night of prayer every Wednesday night at Media Center Church in Burbank. Please feel free to join them. Just go to www.168project.com or email info@168project.com to find more details.
• Every Thursday night The Greenhouse holds an hour of prayer for anyone in our industry who wants to pray or be prayed for! From 7:00 – 8:00pm at New Hope Four Square Church, 5853 Laurel Canyon Blvd. in North Hollywood, 91607. Come gather for one hour of worship and prayer specifically for Hollywood and for other aspects of the entertainment world. For more info email them at: greenhousearts@yahoo.com
UPCOMING EVENTS:
• For those of you concerned with the content of the upcoming film “The Golden Compass” starring Nicole Kidman, we ask you not to boycott the film (or any other film) but to pray for the people involved and to ask the Lord to deal with it in the way that glorifies and leads people to Him, and for God to touch the heart of the atheist author of the book with His unconditional love. Our prayerful response as an audience is the most powerful way to have an impact!
• Check out The Greenhouse, the new organization for creative artists in the arts & enterta inment industry! They meet every Sunday night at 7pm at 5853 Laurel Canyon Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91607 and everyone is welcome. For more info email Shun Lee at: greenhousearts@yahoo.com or www.myspace.com/thegreenhousearts
• Program dates for the 2008 Act One Writing Programs have been announced and applications are now available online. This year, Act One is offering two programs for writers, one that will meet on Saturdays for eight months, and one that will meet five days a week for one intensive month during the summer. The Act One Writing Program trains talented Christians for careers in mainstream film and television. The program takes place in Hollywood with intensive classroom instruction from a world-class faculty that includes over 50 top-notch TV a nd movie writers, agents and producers. For more information or to apply online, visit www.actoneprogram.com.
With love from the HPN Staff, Karen, Caren, Kelly, Gloria and Heather
QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?" Jay Leno, The Tonight Show
VERSE OF THE MONTH:
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fea r, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” Psalm 46: 1-3
This message was sent from: Hollywood Prayer Network1763 N. Gower St.Hollywood, 90028
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