Spring Getting to Know You Giveaway

This is all about a post I promised to make last week to Bev and our friend Sara about a giveaway going on at their Girl Inside blog. I'm finally getting to it. They are giving away a great book--I would advise you to check it out. In order to enter the giveaway, you fill out the following survey and then post it on your blog. Then you go to the Girl Inside blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at their post. Your name gets entered for the book and if you sign up to follow their blog, your name gets entered again. Hope that explains it well enough for any of you who wants to, to give it a try. All ages are welcome! So here goes:

1. Give us your name and age (age is optional) please don't put your last name!
My name is Maxine. I am also known as Nanna, and well, I'm old enough to be a nanna.

2. Who is in your family?
In our household: My husband Chuck and my sixteen year old daughter Neesie. Guess I'll count Frodo, our dog. My family, though, extends beyond this household.

3. What is your favorite Bible verse?
My favorite passage is Romans 8:35-39. But there are many favorites.

4. Why is it your favorite?
To know that nothing can separate me from Christ's love is all that I need in this often difficult pilgrimage. If I have Him, I have all things.

5. What is your favorite thing to do in your spare time?
Write, especially something spiritual for children. This comes more easily at certain times more than others. I also enjoy all kinds of puzzles, enjoy old TV shows, and of course, enjoy blogging. Feeding and watching the birds is another pastime.

6. What is your biggest struggle as a woman?
To not talk too much.

7. What would you like us to talk about in the GI blog in the future?
I think I'll let your younger women tell you that.

8. Who is your favorite author?
Elizabeth Prentiss and J. C. Ryle.

9. What is your favorite Christian song or poem?
I can't just name one of the many old hymns that I love. "It is Well With My Soul" would definitely be one of them.

10. Do you have any advice for a fellow sister in Christ?
Especially for the younger women: Look to Christ in all things. Look to Christ to make you beautiful in the real sense; look to Christ to show you what is true success in this life; and look to Christ to give you contentment and satisfaction.

Now that I've done mine, why don't some of you try it, and then go over to tell Bev and Sara and link to your blog. Who knows--you may end up with a book!

Fun With Verizon

As much as I appreciate all that computers do for us and as much as I enjoy much of what I do here, just let me say that I almost reached my snapping point this morning. I have been ALL morning on the phone with Verizon with various problems--not just one, but several. Off and on I've already had issues with both computers and last night, just before going to bed, I realized we had no internet connection. So I went to bed, got up this morning to the same thing, and it's taken the whole morning to get it resolved. Then in my frustration while on the phone with the first technician (who I'm not sure knew what she was doing) I ended up breaking our phone jack when she told me to unplug the cord for modem from the jack. There's more to the story, but I won't bore you with all the gory details.

Well, the repairman has come and gone, we now have a jack and are back online, after a second long session with yet another technician (who did know what he was doing, thankfully). I'll talk to you folks another time when I'm not so frustrated. Whew. Just needed to vent a minute.

They're wonderful when they work, but when they don't--well, what can I say. Maybe in a little bit I'll have my composure back enough to work more on the income taxes (doing them online) and some pressing business issues (needing to be done online).

Why should I complain? I know so many people with problems far worse than mine. Hope your day is going well.

Rock of Ages

I recently read the story of Mr. Toplady, writer of this all time favorite, "Rock of Ages." He was sixteen years old when he was saved, in a barn no less, upon hearing the gospel from one who he said could "hardly spell his name." The text that brought this young man to Christ was Ephesians 2:13: "Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." As Mr. Toplady reminisced about the night of his salvation, he said: "Surely it was God's doing and is marvelous!" And so it was when any one of us was saved. He was frail and sick much of his short life, but God gave him the grace to write this hymn which is often considered the most popular one in the English language. Who doesn't love it? I love the hymns so much because of the rich doctrine they contain. The people who wrote them knew their Bibles, and knew its teachings well. Let the words of this blessed and wonderful hymn prepare you for yet another Lord's Day on our journey.

By the way. Do you remember which Scripture verse or passage was most instrumental in bringing you to Christ? For me it was John 14:1-6.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee

~ Augustus Toplady

Better Her Than Me

Now is this ridiculous or what? Now I love birds, but not this much. I know Bev is having cardiac arrest. (Inside joke.)

Tree Kangaroo

By the way, Neesie reminded me that I needed to come back and say what the animal is in the picture for last Thursday's post. It's a tree kangaroo. I've never heard of it before and apparently it's endangered. And I don't know how big it is. My intent is to go look it up and read up on it, but haven't had the time yet. One blogger guessed it after a few days--Kristina (Baptist Girl) knew what it was but nobody else did. Lisa (Speak On It With Lisa S.) had the most interesting response. Most people thinks the little critter is cute, but Lisa sure didn't. I had a few good laughs that evening when I got her response!

Listmania!

Well, we've made another addition to our dvd library and to our Amazon Listmania list and I wanted to tell you about it. Do you like old TV programs as much as we do? If so, then I HEARTILY recommend getting "The Donna Reed Show" season one set. Believe me, it's a worthwhile investment for your family. This show premiered on September 24, 1958 on ABC and was a favorite family sitcom for a long time. I think many of us can identify with Donna as she encounters all sorts of situations and family issues. It's a lot of fun; for me it's very relaxing to watch in the midst of all the tensions of the day and time we find ourselves. I am so thankful for the technology of today which allows us to "go back" and capture the kinds of shows that were on in days gone by. It's so refreshing to sit and watch with my daughter and chuckle together over what some would call "dumb stuff," but we thoroughly enjoy the antics of the Stone family in their little fictional town.

The season one package which we have has 37 episodes. Now, that's a lot! We're still watching them on evenings when we want something to help us unwind. And the best thing: No commercials!

We got it for Christmas at Amazon; if you click on the picture it will take you there. Why not treat your family to this DVD. You can watch an episode each Friday evening for your movie night, as a prelude to whatever is your main attraction. Goes well with popcorn and potato chips.

There were quite a few favorite prime time family type sitcoms "back in the day" when we could safely sit there with all ages present and enjoy without worrying what might come out of someone's mouth! I had so many that I enjoyed. Was there any one that was a favorite of yours?

Hey there

Have you ever seen one of these before? Do you know what it is? Maybe you've seen this photo already? If not, can you guess? I think he's cute, by the way.

Obviously, it's hard to find time to post with the way things are around here again, so I just stopped by to let you know what's happening. I'M SWAMPED! For now, I'll leave this cute fella here until I can get back with something with more substance. Also, I'm trying to "steal" time to get by to see some of you guys soon. Haven't forgotten you--really I haven't!

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods and that you're pressing on with Jesus by your side.

Thoughts From My Pocket Calendar

At the end of the year, my hairdresser was giving out a cute little pocket calendar--the weekly type where you write in your appointments, etc. It's a very nice one, and even though we write most of our dates to remember on the wall calendar, I discovered something nice about this little pocket version. It has a quote for each week and many of them are by people who don't impress me as folks I'd ordinarily think of as being persons who'd pass on words of wisdom.

Since I haven't been able to think of much to blog about this week, I decided I'd pass on the calendar's quotes for the first eight weeks of 2009. (Can you believe we've come that far in the year already?) Enjoy these--I think most are quite good; of course, some are witty. I surely would like it if you'd pick one as a favorite and tell us why. Or maybe you'd like to tell others which one impacts your situation or your needs in a particular way.

"New Year's Day is every man's birthday." -- Charles Lamb

"It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." -- J.K. Rowling

"Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city." -- George Burns

"We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." -- Bill Gates

"I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying." -- Michael Jordan

"The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything. --Theodore Roosevelt

"Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but paddling like the dickens underneath." -- Michael Caine

"Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people." -- Barbara Bush

I love quotes. Folks often have a way of saying things that hit at the core in just a sentence or two. It would take me a long dissertation to try to get across a point which another person will say in just a few words.

Who Is On the Lord's Side?

Lately something has become quite clear to me: People are horribly divided. There are so many "sides" one against the other. All around you see bitter contentions and strife. To tell you the truth, if you're paying attention at all, it's getting somewhat scary. Which side are you on? Well, the only way you and I are going to make it through all of this is if we're on the right side of the only issue that really matters in the long run--that we are taking up our places in the army of God and battling all those who stand in opposition to His cause. Yes, reach out in love and invite even His foes to join in His military; but when the world says "No" to His offer in the gospel and persists in warfare, will you be on the Lord's side? Are you wearing your helmet of salvation? Got your shield of faith? Make sure that breastplate of righteousness is in place! And whatever you do, don't forget to take your sword--the Word of God!!! And you know you don't dare go into any battle void of prayer. Let's not worry--we're on the Lord's Side. But even more important, if we're in His army, then He's on our side!

Who is on the Lord's side?
Who will serve the King?
Who will be his helpers,
Other lives to bring?
Who will leave the world's side?
Who will face the foe?
Who is on the Lord's side?
Who for him will go?
By thy call of mercy,
By thy grace Divine,

Not for weight of glory,
Not for crown and palm,
Enter we the army,
Raise the warrior psalm;
But for Love that claimeth
Lives for whom he died:
He whom Jesus nameth
Must be on his side.
By thy love constraining,
By thy grace Divine,

Jesus, thou has bought us,
Not with gold or gem,
But with thine own lifeblood
For thy diadem:
With thy blessing filling
Each who comes to thee,
Thou hast made us willing,
Thou has made us free.
By thy grand redemption,
By thy grace Divine,

Fierce may be the conflict,
Strong may be the foe,
But the King's own army
None can overthrow:
Round his standard ranging,
Vict'ry is secure;
For his truth unchanging
Makes the triumph sure.
Joyfully enlisting
By thy grace Divine,

We are on the Lord's side,
Saviour, we are thine.

Wordless Wednesday

Guess Who?

A Valentine's Day Love Note

The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Jeremiah 31:3

Valentine's Day is, once again, here with all its red, pink, and white colors. A day of flowers, candy, teddy bears, greeting cards. Even with a troubled economy, as you walk through stores you see the many colors of the season with the accompanying displays saying "buy, buy, buy." Gone are the days of my childhood when a little paper homemade Valentine is sufficient and all that was expected on this day in the form of a gift were a few little heart shaped tiny candies with the words "be mine" or "be my valentine."

I'm thankful today for the twelve red roses from my husband; thankful for this sweet expression of love once again given on this day. I'm also thankful that he remembered Neesie this year, giving her a bunch of pink roses, which meant so much to her. But mostly today, I'm reflecting on the love note I read this morning. I remembered having received this expression of love time and time again, but it came to me afresh as I laid in bed during the early moments of the day. I decided I wanted to come right out and read it again and post the words here. " I have loved you with an everlasting love." What can be better than that?

As these words permeated my heart this morning, my thoughts went to several folks, some whom I know personally; some whom I've never met or ever will meet. But this love note is reaching out to them too. I can't explain why the circumstances of their lives are such that they need to have the touch of these words so much more specifically than others may at this time. But, as I said recently, "Who has known the mind of the Lord?" All I know is, I hope and pray that these dear people whose struggles are more intense than mine at this particular season of life, today, on this Valentine's Day of 2009, will know and experience the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. It's an everlasting love.

This is just a partial list; there are even others I've not mentioned:

A young woman, two months pregnant, who was widowed last night when her twenty-five year old husband, a Philadelphia police officer, was gunned down in the course of carrying out his work.

A woman I know well, in her early forties, who has two children ages ten and seven, who is on the last leg of her journey here on earth. Her breast cancer has spread to her lungs and other parts of her body, and her desire is that she may continue to be on her feet and care for her family until the very end.

A woman from my church who buried her husband in November and found out in January that she has cancer which has spread to several organs in her body. She's awaiting test results to determine how to proceed.

A dear friend of many years, who I had lunch with on Thursday while her husband was undergoing one of the many incidences of needed blood transfusions. Much of her time these days is spent driving her husband back and forth for chemo treatments for his leukemia. He's been weakened lately by a severe cough that he's been unable to shake off.

A friend of the blog world whose husband recently unexpectedly left her and their family. I don't know the circumstances and don't need to know. All that I do know is that she and her family are mourning their loss.

A lady from church who drives almost an hour each way, twice each Sunday. She travels this journey alone, because her husband and sons no longer want to have anything to do with the church. Not only that, she is not being treated kindly (to put it mildly) about her commitment to Christ and His church. And may I add, I seldom see her or talk to her that she doesn't have a smile on her face.

Christians I read about in Voice of the Martyrs magazine and get emails about, as well as in my persecution blog feed, who are burned, tortured, slashed, imprisoned, and on and on. They're in China, Indonesia, Eritrea, Iran, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and more places than I care to mention.


I hope I haven't made you sad. But these are realities of life that I'm unwilling to forget about on this usually happy day set aside to express our love to others. Not only is this an expression of my heart, but a request for prayer from you as you read through this list of people whom you will probably never know. But God knows just who they are, and while I can't answer for Him as to why He would have them to go through what they are going through, I feel quite certain that each of us at some time or another will have to go through SOMETHING on this earthly journey. While we're going through it, I hope we'll all remember this wonderful "note" of love: "I have loved you with an everlasting love."

A Tribute to Abe Lincoln

Today is the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln was the sixteenth President of the United States. In my estimation and that of many others, he was a great American. I didn't say he was a perfect person, nor did I say that everything he did was right. But he was an upright and honorable man who loved his country and did all that he could to preserve her and keep her unified. I don't know for sure what his personal opinion of slavery was; all I know is he did the right thing while holding the office of the Presidency. He held that office in high esteem, held God in high esteem, and held the people whom he served (we the people) in high esteem. It is my prayer that the day will come that God in His mercy will send us more men like Abraham Lincoln.

Did you know that this tall, stately man had a terrific sense of humor? Once I was looking for joke books for children for my business newsletter, and ran into a delightful one entitled The Abraham Lincoln Joke Book by W.L. Cummings, which contained a bunch of interesting stories about him and by him. He was really funny!! You might want to get this book for your children; it's in the juvenile section of our library.

I'd like to post here a few of the quotes by this great man (from several sources); I could include so many more if it wouldn't make this too long. There are some of you who will especially notice several of the ones I've included; you'll know which I mean. Heavy duty.

"Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors."

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." [Remember this one, moms.]

"If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. You may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."

"In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong."

" Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."

" I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong."

"Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right."

"Republicans are for both the man and the dollar, but in case of conflict the man before the dollar."

"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."

"Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties."

This one is a favorite of mine, especially in the time we find ourselves now. I've posted it before and hope you don't mind if I post it again:

"Property is the fruit of labor...property is desirable...is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built."

Mr. Lincoln was always a favorite American for me. I consider it a blessing that our children can learn about him in their history books. Soon I want to make a post about another person whom I view as a national hero.

New Blog!

I've just become part of a new blog with a few other ladies. All of us are excited and I'm POSITIVE you'll like it and will want to bookmark it for the future. Who wouldn't want to get tips on being more frugal and on various topics to help you live your life as a better steward of your time, money, health, and etc.? Knowing the ladies who are taking part, you're going to be privy to all kinds of neat stuff. I may even "sneak" in a couple of my old Sneaky Nutrition posts. Come on over right now to get a more thorough explanation from Susan!

Hands and Hearts. . . For Him.

Pray With Me

Tomorrow is the Lord's Day and I am glad. We've been bombarded with news, news, and more news. Worries, worries, and more worries. There are so many issues and so little prayer. I feel convicted that my prayers have been hindered. I fear that various concerns and convictions may be causing me to not pray as I should, especially for our government leaders. I need to give all of these issues over to God. I mean, really give them over to Him. He knows all and He alone is sovereign. He knows exactly what He is doing here in our country and in us as individuals.

We've suffered so little while all over this world so many of our brethren are being persecuted daily. Maybe for Christians here to have to struggle more is good for us. In fact, I know it is. The latest from Voice of the Martyrs Persecution blog is "Three Christians Dead in Eritrean Prisons," which is just one of the many stories from around the world of the sorrows and hardships that many of our brethren face daily. How dare I fret and complain about the petty grievances that I have from day to day. Sure, some of the concerns are serious ones, but am I lifting them up to God in the right spirit? I'm afraid that often I'm not.

So, my dear friends, pray for me and with me. Pray for our suffering fellow believers all around the world. Many of them have a faith that puts mine to shame. Pray for America. If the worries that many have over the fact that things are going to be more difficult for Christians are legitimate, perhaps the purpose of God is to make us have a stronger faith. Actually, I'm all for that.

The following is one of my all time favorite passages of Scripture. When we want to question what God's doing in a particular situation or set of events, this one is perfect to open up to and pray back to Him. I'm confessing here and now that I need to meditate on it more.

I hope your Lord's Day is blessed in Him tomorrow.

Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, andhis ways past finding out!

For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?

Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?

For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Romans 11:33-36

A Republic if You Can Keep It

This has been so heavy on my heart all week that when I saw this YouTube video posted at Freedom's Journal Magazine, I just HAD to post it here. Please take the ten minutes to look at this. It's a very important message for the time in which we find ourselves. Actually, we need to be on our knees for our Republic. God is able.



If any of you are interested in calling your senators to urge them against voting for that monstrosity stimulus bill you can go here where you'll find phone numbers to call. I'm sorry to say that if this thing passes, it's another giant step away from preserving our Republic as we've known it. Dear friends, America has survived hard times in the past without giant governmental takeovers; we can do it again. (With God's help if we would only turn back to Him.)

That's not to say times aren't hard, because they are. I sure do wish we would look more to our dear Lord to help us, don't you?