Friday Favorites

Strawberry did a very thought-provoking post that I wish everyone would read. There are a lot of deceptive teachings out today, and there are people in our country with a lot of influence who sometimes support these beliefs. Please read Strawberry's Teachings - True or False.

**I just noticed that Strawberry has posted a Part 2 for Teachings - True or False. **

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Matthew 7:15

Encouragement

Romans 8:18
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

The verse above is so encouraging to me, so I decided to share it in hopes that you will also be encouraged. I've been reading several blogs recently of people who have been going through some really tough times. Some have given the details and some haven't. But whatever you might be going through today that makes life seem almost unbearable, remember the verse above, that no matter how big our suffering is here on earth, it can't even compare to how great and glorious it will be when we finally finish this journey and meet our Savior. I know it is hard to comprehend this at the time you are going through the sufferings, and sometimes we don't even want to hear it. But I think we eventually start looking for answers in our sufferings and this verse gave me what I needed to hear one time when I was going through a tough time. If you haven't read the whole chapter of Romans 8, I encourage you to get a Bible and read it. It is such great reading! Here is a link for Romans 8.

I'm Good at Math

A while back I did a post called Feeling Inadequate (just click on that title if you want to read it). Well, that bridal tea I was helping with was yesterday. My job was to do a fruit tray, and as easy as that sounds, I was really stressing over it. So what I ended up doing was buying a great big custom-made fruit tray at Publix, and then I arranged it on a pretty silver tray and had some fruit dip in the center. One of the other ladies helped me arrange it and I was very pleased with how it looked. But here's the good part....while we were setting things up and getting ready for the shower, someone asked who was good with numbers (math) because we had to settle up on the money part of it because one lady had spent a lot more than anyone else by buying the gift from the hostesses. Every lady was saying, not me, not me, so I told them that I'm good with math and could figure it up. And I told them I'm a lot better with math than with decorating and they were all so happy not to have to do the math. It felt so good to have something that I could do well and felt comfortable with. It really did help my feelings of inadequacy! And I actually enjoyed the shower and visiting with everyone. The bride was so appreciative that it made it worth all the trouble.

...God has arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 1 Corinthians 12:18-20

The Gift of Eternal Life

As I promised in my last post, I want to tell you how to be ready when Jesus returns. I consider this the most important message I have ever or will ever post on this blog. It is the heart of everything I believe and everything my life revolves around. I hope to answer the question, "What must I do to be saved?" In Christian circles, we call it different things at different times but it all means the same thing -- getting saved; being born again; becoming a believer; being a Christian; making a profession of faith. In the simplest terms, let me answer the question in this first paragraph. In the Bible when Paul and Silas were in jail they prayed and sang until God sent an earthquake that opened all the doors and loosened the prisoners' chains. It scared the jailer and caused him to rush to Paul and ask him, "What must I do to be saved?" The answer was so simple -- "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and your house." After this the jailer and his family were baptized and the Bible says that the jailer rejoiced, or was filled with joy because he and his family had become believers. (see Acts 16:30-31)

Some might ask, where did this term "born again" come from? It comes from the Bible where Jesus told a man that no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. In simple terms, being born again refers to a spiritual birth, which is what happens when you become a believer in Jesus Christ. In this same conversation Jesus goes on to say the famous verse of John 3:16 -- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (see John 3:1-21)

Now, let me break it down a little bit more.

1. The first step is to realize that we are sinners and that we need a savior. The Bible says that there is no one righteous, not even one, and that every person has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (see Romans 3:10, 23)

2. Next there's good news and bad news....first the bad news. We are all sinners and the Bible says that the wages of sin is death! Now the good news...in the same verse that tells us the wages of sin is death, it says but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (see Romans 6:23) God demonstrated his love for us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (see Romans 5:8)

3. And finally, do you believe that Jesus Christ, God's son, died in your place? Do you believe that he took the punishment for the sins of every person? If you believe this in your heart, ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins and accept Him as your Savior. Remember, it is a gift from Him. The gift becomes yours when you believe it and accept it. Here is what the Bible says about it....if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. For who everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (see Romans 10:9-10, 13)

I welcome comments on this post. To my Christian friends, please add other verses in the comment section that you think might be beneficial to someone seeking answers. Thank you!

Thief in the Night

It was Tuesday this week when my husband and I noticed that my son's band didn't have a show scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday nights. We also noticed that our city is in between the cities where they were playing Tuesday and Friday nights, so we thought maybe the guys would come and hang out at our house for those two off days. We were unable to get in touch with Aaron to find out what their plans were, so we just decided to prepare as if they were coming.

When they come, I like to make sure the bathroom is clean and all the towels are washed and ready for them to use. I also like to make sure we have plenty of their favorite cereal, milk, snacks and sandwich meat available for them. And when I have the time, I like to do something special like make Rice Krispy treats for them. We did all this and left a blanket out for the one who sleeps on the couch, and we went to bed. Sometimes they come in like a thief in the night so we made sure we were ready, just in case. But we woke up Wednesday morning and they weren't there. And that was fine because we had everything ready in case they still decided to come. We knew it was very possible because we know the signs to look for. The important thing to me is to be ready. I didn't want to be caught without anything for them to eat and with no towels in the cabinet.

I expect some reading this might already see the direction I'm going. We know that Jesus is going to return to earth at some point. The Bible says so, but it doesn't tell us when. It does tell us that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. That's why we always need to be ready. I don't want to get caught off-guard. I can still remember what one man I knew said a long time ago. He said we need to always keep our spiritual bags packed and always be ready to go. I'm glad he said that because his time to go came much earlier than anyone ever expected. When you look at the signs of the time, it's clear that at any moment Jesus could return to the earth. There won't be time to get ready at that last minute. We need to be prepared and get ready now.

The rest of the first story is that last night I did get in touch with Aaron and he said they would come to our house late last night. To me, late is 11:00. They got there around 4:30 this morning. I was thankful that we had prepared.

I hope to soon do a post about how to be prepared for when Jesus returns.

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5

Knowing Me, Knowing You

Knowing Me,Knowing You
I was tagged to do this meme by Sindi of Life is a Rollercoaster.

KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU

Copy this entire list of questions and change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then tag and pass it along to other blogging friends. Let’s see how well we can get to know one another!

1. What is your occupation? Full time receptionist in a law firm; part time musician

2. What color are your socks right now? brown

3. What are you listening to right now? people in the office; cars passing by outside

4. What was the last thing that you ate? pecan swirl breakfast roll

5. Can you drive a stick shift? yes

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? pink

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? some client

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? yes

9. Favorite drink? I mostly drink water, but other than that, diet coke

10. What is your favorite sport to watch? Alabama Crimson Tide football; gymnastics

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? I get it highlighted

12. Pets? 2 dogs, hubby has a ferret

13. Favorite food? anything Mexican

14. Last movie you watched? hard to remember because I don't watch many. Last I remember was on Lifetime, a movie about a mother with autistic twins.

15. Favorite Day of the year? Christmas

16. What do you do to vent anger? I have to talk about it with someone, and then I pray.

17. What was your favorite toy as a child? My baby doll, Becky. I still have it.

18. What is your favorite, fall or spring? I love both.

19. Hugs or kisses? Hugs. But if we're talking about chocolate, I like Hersheys kisses.

20. What kind of pie? Lemon icebox

21. Do you want your friends to email you back? Yes, please.

22. Who is most likely to respond? no one, since I'm not sending this out.

23. Who is least likely to respond?

24. Living arrangements? I live in an 1888 sq. ft. house (3br/2ba) with my husband.

25. When was the last time you cried? don't remember

26. What is on the floor of your closet? too many shoes and too much other stuff to name. I have a big closet.

27. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? I'm not sending it.

28. The friend you have known the shortest amount of time that you are sending this to?

29. Favorite smell? fresh cut grass, rain, babies, the beach.

30. What inspires you? the Bible

31. What are you afraid of? Rottweilers

32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? cheese

33. Favorite car? mine - Honda Accord

34. Favorite cat breed? persian

35. Number of keys on your key ring? 5

36. How many years at your current job? 7 years and 3 months

37. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

38. How many provinces have you lived in? zero

39. How many countries have you been to? 3 -- USA, Germany, Austria

I'm not tagging anyone, but if you don't have anything to post about, this can fill some space!

Here I Go Again, Talking about the Weather

Sunday afternoon we had severe weather throughout the state of Alabama. I watched the local news the whole afternoon, not because I was fearful, but mainly because my husband was driving a bus filled with children and he was going to many different parts of the state. I was spending a lot of time in prayer for his and the passengers' safety. Also, my daughter was in another part of the state. Our local news station does an outstanding job of staying on the air and keeping us informed of where the worst weather is and who has the tornado warnings anytime we have a severe weather situation. When it came time for my city to have the tornado sirens going off, I was able to watch the radar on TV and I could tell that the worst part of the storm was just north of where my house is located so I didn't really feel threatened. And sure enough, all we got at my house was some rain and thunder. But just 17 miles north of me in Prattville, brick homes were destroyed and businesses were damaged. Some people who work at my office were affected and I feel pretty sure some people from my church were probably affected. There were a few injuries but no fatalities, thank God!

There was a beautiful sunset after the storm

Music and Christianity

A couple of days ago I came across a blog that I had never seen before, a "Christian" blog. I love blogs that are done by Christians because I usually find that I can relate to the author as a sister in Christ. I realize that there are a lot of divisions in the body of Christ because we sometimes interpret the scripture in different ways. That's okay, I try to respect others who don't believe everything exactly the way I do. But there was something I saw on that blog that I really couldn't understand. Above her list of links to others bloggers, she had a disclaimer saying that there may be some things on the other blogs that she doesn't endorse such as contemporary Christian music or videos. Contemporary Christian music is such a big part of my life that I can't understand how anyone could ever find anything wrong with it. Some of the music that is out there in this genre is biblically based and God-honoring, and it is a blessing to me when I listen to it.

Music in and of itself isn't Christian or non-Christian. Music is just melody, chords and rhythm. Instruments used to play the melody, chords and rhythms of music are not Christian or non-Christian. It is only after words are added to the music that it becomes Christian music. And when the word "contemporary" is added, all that means is that the songs were written during recent years or during this generation. To me, it doesn't matter if it's a hymn, contemporary Christian music, Christian country, Christian rock or heavy metal, because those are just different styles of music -- different ways of playing melody, chords and rhythms using different instruments. The thing that matters the most to me is the words. You can take any style of music and put any kind of words to it, and that is when the song becomes either Christian or something else. Personally, I am thankful for all kinds of Christian music because I know that different people like different styles of music and when you can put Christian words to someone's favorite style of music, it will minister to them in a special way. I write music -- my music is usually mellow and melodic, and when I add words I try to make them pleasing to the Lord. I just don't think we have to only sing hymns that were written a hundred years ago for it to be pleasing to God. Nor do I want to throw out the great hymns of the faith. I love them. My Bible says to sing and make music to the Lord and to play our instruments! And it doesn't say we have to stick to only one style of music!

Psalm 33:1-3
Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
Ps 57:7 - Show Context
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
Ps 81:2 - Show Context
Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre.
Ps 92:1 - Show Context
It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.
Ps 95:2 - Show Context
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Ps 98:4 - Show Context
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;
Ps 98:5 - Show Context
make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing,
Ps 108:1 - Show Context
My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul.
Ps 144:9 - Show Context
I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,
Ps 147:7 - Show Context
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp.
Ps 149:3 - Show Context
Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.
Eph 5:19 - Show Context
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,

Family Updates

A Plea for Purging had some time off and got to go home to Nashville for a few days. It was a much needed rest for them, and the best part for Aaron was that his girlfriend surprised him by being there also. I am so thankful they were able to spend some time together because his life on the road is difficult on relationships. They are back on tour again now in the southeast, so maybe, just maybe I'll see them at some point. Lord, I pray for continued blessings on this group and I pray for safety and protection on the highways and interstates. Please help them to always do what they're doing for You and Your glory.

Leah is busy, busy with college classes, her sweet boyfriend, and working at a daycare. It's amazing to see the changes that have come over her in the past year. She is maturing and becoming a beautiful Christian young lady. I have prayed for so many years for her, and to see what God is doing in her is absolutely amazing. Lord, thank you for miracles, thank you for showing me over and over again how awesome You are.

Eddie is teaching his little heart out at his school, continuing to be a favorite teacher of 8th graders. It's only his second year at this school and they've already named him teacher of the year. When a teacher is truly called to teach, it shows. Lord, thank you for allowing me the privilege of being married to a man who loves You, his family, and his students. Please guide him as he deals with kids who are at the most difficult age of adolescence.

Friday Favorites

About three weeks ago, Frasypoo wrote a post about her Citizenship Anniversary. It was a great post and I am so proud of her for what she accomplished. I am also happy to have such a wonderful person from India living in our country!

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:20-21

My Valentine's Day

I had a really great Valentine's Day. I had told Eddie last weekend what I wanted. I told him I didn't want flowers, I didn't want candy or any of the usual Valentine's gifts. What I wanted was a new water heater so I can take showers that will stay hot all the way to the end. So, that day he went out and bought a new water heater. It's still in the back of his Jeep, but that's okay, I know it will be installed soon and I really appreciate him getting it. I wasn't expecting anything else but he still bought me a big box of chocolate candy and a card. Yummy! I love chocolate! We planned to stay home since we knew the restaurants would be crowded, and I told him I would make some homemade cookies for him. But our plans always seem to change; our daughter called and said she and her boyfriend were coming to town to eat at Red Lobster and they invited us to go with them. Well, to spend time with one of my kids, I don't mind having a 45 minute wait for a table so we met them at Red Lobster and had a nice meal all together.

It seems like holidays turn out the best when I haven't set high expectations about it. I really didn't have any expectations this time because my sweetheart makes every day like Valentines Day.

Josiah Leming

If you've been watching American Idol, then I'm sure you know exactly who Josiah is. He's an adorable 18-year old singer who auditioned for the show in Atlanta and made it through to the Hollywood auditions. In his original televised audition he sang acapella, a song that he wrote called To Run. It impressed the judges even though this Tennessee boy sang with a British accent. And then in Hollywood he wowed the judges and the audience with a song about Grace Kelly. But at his last audition he chose to sing acapella again rather than use the band provided by American Idol. He'd not slept much the night before and was extremely tired and emotionally drained. Sadly, the song didn't go well and the judges thought he was being arrogant by dismissing the band. But they put him through to the next round anyway. But last night they aired the show of who made the 24 finalists and Josiah didn't make it. I wasn't home so I missed seeing it.

I have to admit that I fell in love with Josiah and I think he has a lot of potential in music. And the fact that American Idol chose to follow him through the whole process will only help him in his music career. I hope that he can get picked up by a great quality label and that he can learn to accept the advice of those who know what they're talking about. So, remember his name....you might be hearing it a lot more in the future.

The Lazy River

I feel like I'm at such a weird point in my life, at an in-between stage. I've always felt like I had a purpose and I tried to live my life by working toward that goal. As a kid my purpose was to go to school and do my best and work toward graduating. As a young adult my purpose was to find God's will for my life, obtain a music degree, and figure out who I was supposed to marry. After getting married and having kids my purpose became more clear than ever. First of all I had to be a wife, but I also had children to care for. For many years my life was consumed with taking care of the physical needs of my children, feeding them, bathing them, keeping them clothed, taking them to the doctor when they were sick, waking them for school, making sure they got to school, making sure their homework was done, taking them to church and other activities including baseball practice, tennis lessons, soccer, gymnastics, piano, and then going to watch them perform in baseball or soccer games, piano recitals, school programs, church programs. Of course, I didn't have to do it all by myself because my husband was just as much involved in it all as I was. In all of this there was a goal we were striving to reach which was to have our children grow up to be good, law-abiding adults who would be able to leave us at some point and be independent. And now that they have both moved out it has left me wondering what my purpose is for this chapter in my life.

I no longer have to take care of children, and neither of my kids are married yet so I'm not a grandmother. My parents are doing well so I'm not having to be a care giver to them. I am in great health and without having so many responsibilities as before, I should have an abundance of time to do many things that I never had time for when I was so busy. But I honestly don't know what my purpose is right now. It's really a wonderful time in life and I feel so free, but I don't want to waste it because I know it won't last forever. New responsibilites will come later.

Right now, my life is reminding me of a water park. Water parks are great fun in the summertime with lots of different kinds of water slides, wave pools, playhouses and my favorite, the Lazy River. I feel like I've already done a lot of the water slides -- it takes some effort to climb to the top before you can actually enjoy the slide down. I feel like I've experienced the wave pools -- just doing everything you can to keep your head above water. I've had some fun along the way in the water playhouses. And now, this season of my life feels like the Lazy River -- it doesn't take much effort, you just get in and relax on a tube and float down the river as long as you feel like it. There's no climbing to reach a goal at the top, no exhilarating slide down, and no waves that feel like they are going to drown you. I'm sure at some point I am going to have to get out of my lazy river and battle some waves and climb some high steps again. But for right now, I am really enjoying my float on the Lazy River.

Continued from yesterday....

I hadn't planned to have a Part 2 for yesterday's post, but Nina left me a comment and said that it reminded her of this Casting Crowns song. I had completely forgotten about this song, but in case you haven't heard it, the title is "Here I Go Again". Thanks, Nina, for reminding me about it!

Weather Talk

We had the most beautiful weather this weekend. Saturday was so sunny there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was warm enough to go out without a jacket. I felt like I had to be outside so I wouldn't waste a great day. It gave me a great excuse not to do housework!

Aren't you thankful we have weather? Because as long as we have weather, we always have something to talk about. Maybe you aren't conversationally challenged like I am, being a quiet person by nature, but sometimes I'm not sure what to talk about. But I've noticed that everyone can always talk about the weather, for example....it's a beautiful day today; I wish it would stop raining; oh, it's so cold out there; this heat is killing me; etc., etc. If we can so easily talk about the weather to anyone and everyone, why is it so hard for Christians to say something out loud about Jesus? I mean, think about it, how many times at work do you bring up the name of Jesus to your co-workers? For me, it's really not very much. I do with my friends who I know are committed Christians, but with other people, I just talk about the weather or other unimportant things. Jesus is "God with us" and he went to the cross and died there, taking the punishment for my sins, and then was resurrected. His tomb is empty! This is exciting! Why am I not telling every single person I meet about what He did and how He can change their life? Am I afraid of what they'll think about me? If I tell people about Jesus in a loving way, then I shouldn't even have to worry about what they think about me. I should be more concerned about what God thinks about me.

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Matthew 10:32-33

Psalm 25

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
in you I trust, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.

Show me your ways, O Lord,
teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.

Psalm 25:1, 2, 4, 5

Angels

Do you believe in angels? My answer to that question is how can I not believe in angels if I believe the Bible. Don't get me wrong -- I do not worship angels, I don't pray to angels, and I don't put my faith and trust in angels. I worship my savior Jesus Christ, I pray to God in Jesus' name, and I put my faith and trust in Him. However, I do find the subject of angels very interesting. There are a lot of references to angels in the Bible and it seems they have many different jobs to perform. I love hearing stories about people in tough situations and then a person sort of comes along and helps them and then they're gone. In the Bible angels sometimes took on the form of men to carry out a task.


I like to think about guardian angels. There is a verse in Psalm 91 that made me start thinking about this. Here is the verse: For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. When I pray for protection for my kids, I always include asking God to send guardian angels with them. I have even been known to ask God to surround my house with angels that look like Rottweilers so that any would-be intruders would be scared away. I really did that one day last week when the deadbolt on my house door wouldn't lock. Okay, I may be carrying it a little too far with that, but I do believe in guardian angels. Click on the word ANGELS if you'd like to read more about them and get some scripture references.

I wish I had a spectacular personal angel story to share, but mine is a simple one. It was Christmas Eve 1987. We had just brought our baby girl home from the hospital. She was four months old and had spent most of those four months in the hospital. I was not able to work during that time so we didn't have the income that I would have normally contributed to the family. Also, we knew the hospital bills would be coming soon. But as we came home that Christmas Eve day, we found a gift on the ground in front of our door. We opened it and found 100 one dollar bills in there and it only said it was from the Christmas angel. That might not sound like a lot of money now, but it was a lot to us then and it was very special. To this day I have no idea who left it there for us.

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2

Blog

Yesterday when I got home from work and tried to go to my blog, I couldn't get to it. It kept giving me an error message and saying "operation aborted". I thought something was wrong with my computer but it did the same thing on the laptop, and I called my sister and asked her to try it also. It did the same thing to her, so I figured it was some blogger issue. Anyway, I'm glad it's doing better this morning. In the process of trying to figure out what was wrong, I deleted my post from yesterday. So sorry about that -- it was nothing important really.

There was a lot of bad weather in some places last night and my heart goes out to the people who were affected. It's hitting here right now and I just now drove to work through a severe thunderstorm warning, praying all the way. My parking spot was nearly flooded so I hope my car doesn't float away. I left home a little early because I was trying to beat the bad weather, but instead I think I got caught right in it as I was walking in. My umbrella was turning inside out and my hair is now a mess, but oh well, I am safe. It is such a comfort to pray to God and to know that He hears the prayer and that my little problems are important to Him.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Guard Your Heart

These verses from Proverbs spoke to me today:

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.

I think the times the Bible speaks the most clearly and directly to me is when I'm struggling with something. Today I am struggling with something that can so easily turn into sin if I don't get it under control. The part of the verses that spoke to me was where it said to keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Well, I don't have a problem with using foul language or anything like that, but sometimes I do have a problem with talking about people in an unkind way. It's not exactly what you would call gossip, but it's just having a discussion with one person about another person and bringing up all the bad things about them. This is a constant stuggle for me and many times I am able to stop myself by saying, Ok Kathy, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. But today I didn't tell myself that and I talked about the difficult person who is a constant problem in my life. I know it's wrong and that when I do this, it only brings that person down in the eyes of someone else. I need to work on this and keep these verses in my mind.

Our Song

Do you and your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend have a song that you call "our song"? Back when Eddie and I were dating, I had a song book with a lot of the popular songs of the day. We liked Elton John a lot back then and one of his songs was in that book. I would play the piano and Eddie would sing the song and he really sounded a lot like Elton John. Those were really special times for us. That song sort of became "our song" and the name of it is "Your Song". Even today, after being married over 27 years, I can listen to that song and it brings back all those feelings you get when you're first falling in love. Do you and yours have a special song?




BP is doing a Friday series this month of special songs at Raindrops and Rainbows.

Awards

Sindi has given me this award. Her reason for giving it to three people was: because their blogs have taught me the most about different things in my everyday life. Wow, thanks Sindi!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kasper has given me and everyone on her blogroll this award and here's what she said about it....
I created this award to give to the ones that always give encouragement and positive feedback to other bloggers.

Isn't is pretty? Thanks Kasper for passing this around!

Friday Favorites

Yesterday I was reading through all my friends' blogs, and when I got to Raising Butterflies, I sat there and laughed out loud. Nina has such a way with words that I knew as soon as I read 100 Things About Me - Volume 3 that I would have to share it today. It's really only 25 things about her because she's broken it down into segments of 25.

It's Friday! Have fun! Reading this will be more fun than Hillary and Barak!

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22