CLICK ON THE BUTTERFLY

I've just been thinking it would be fun to do this. Kind of a "guess where this is going to take you" kind of thing. So if you're feeling real brave, click on the butterfly below and see where you go. I know you trust me.

MISSION 4 MONDAY

Since next week is my birthday, I was just thinking back about my birthday that I spent at the Kulpahar Kids' Home. This is a picture of me by the front entrance of the main building. I'm not sure if the Happy Birthday sign was for me or for Leah. Her birthday was four days after mine. I think maybe it was for both of us. 

An observation about India: Almost all the men dress in western style clothing. Almost 100% of the women dress in India style clothes. The above picture illustrated that. This picture of Hubby and me was taken at the Gandhi Memorial in New Delhi. It's mostly men in this picture, but do you notice how they are all dressed? As for the women, it seems they did not want any of their legs or ankles showing. They all wore sandals so feet were OK to be shown. The skirt I had on in this picture was not really very short, but I'll admit that in that society, I felt a little "risque".  I tried to pull it down and make it as long as possible. It's amazing how culture can affect how you feel about what you're wearing.

Leah gave me three outfits while I was there. Here is a picture of one of them. It was taken in the little guest house where we stayed while we were there.  The other two have already been shown in previous India posts. Looking back I wonder if she gave me these outfits because of the "short" skirt I sometimes wore. Of course she didn't say so, but she wouldn't. Those outfits like the one I have on above are soooo comfortable. It's kinda like wearing pajamas.  No wonder the women there love them. 

I'm thankful to Peggy at http://monday4missions.blogspot.com/ for hosting Mission 4 Monday. You might want to go there to see more posts on missions. It's not just for foreign missions. Everyone of us has a mission in life and that's what her blog is all about. Check it out. I just now visited her blog and she was talking about the terrible persecution and slaughter of Christians that is taking place in India. I'm so thankful that this has not happened in the area where the Kulpahar Kids' Home is located. 

Thank you for visiting my blog. 

A PRAYER

A Prayer by Ken Gire from his book Intimate Moments With the Savior

Dear Master who rules with such a calm hand, I pray that you would give me eyes to see that the true battle is spiritual not physical.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Help me to realize that no matter how violent their opposition, people are not the enemy. They are prisoners of the enemy. Help me to realize that you died to free those prisoners. And in that knowledge give me the courage, I pray, to penetrate their shores so they might be brought out of their tombs, delivered of their demons,dressed in their right mind, and given the privilege to sit at your feet.

Help me to boldly take a beachhead of Satan for the kingdom of God. To banish his forces. And to be brave in the knowledge that though they are legion, you are Lord.

Help me to realize that the true battleground is the human heart. It is over this territory that the forces of good and evil draw their swords.

Knowing that, Lord, on this day, this hour, I surrender my heart to you--my hopes my fears, my dreams, my desires, my ambitions, my anxieties, my love, and my loyalty.

May it be one more victory for the kingdom of God. And one less battle you have to fight . . . 

For more Spiritual Sunday posts, you can go to the Spiritual Sundays blog. Just click here.

PINK SATURDAY

I visited New Orleans back in 1989. This was such a fun trip - mostly because I was there with my daughter. She was there on business. I was there strictly for fun. Of course she had fun too, but it was not all fun. 

I bought this pink mask there. You do see a lot of masks in New Orleans. Of course I chose this one because it was PINK. This picture was made in the hotel room.

This scarf I have on I bought in New Orleans. I really liked it. Of course I did. It had a lot of PINK in it. But guess what? I never got home with it. I have no idea what went with it but I sure was disappointed because I really liked it. Oh well, at least I have pictures.

I just threw this picture in to give you a better look at those awful ugly glasses.  Most people really liked my 50's glasses that I posted a couple of days ago but everyone thought the 80's were ugly. This was my first pair of glasses that I wore all the time. It was either get bifocals or quit reading and I really didn't want to quit reading. This picture was taken on that trip also. The Kona shirt I bought in Hawaii.

Pink Saturday is hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. Many people post pink stuff on Saturdays and link to this post. So, if you love pink like I do, you might want to go there and see more lovely pink things. 

AN AMAZING WATERFALL

A friend sent us the link to this amazing waterfall and I wanted to share it with you.

This intelligent waterfall welcomes people to Canal City Hakata. That Japanese shopping complex was built around an artificial canal. 

This fountain can actually make pictures and words with falling water. It's been described as working like an inkjet printer. Hundreds of nozzles create precise streams of water. Timed just right, images are created.

I'VE BEEN TAGGED

Carrie at Oak Rise Cottage tagged me to tell 7 unusual or random things about myself. Since she tagged me on my Dolls Dolls Dolls blog, I gave the answers there. If you are at all interested in 7 unusual or random things about me, you can check it out by clicking here.

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAYS

Can you believe those glasses? These are the first ones I ever had. I was working as a secretary in 1956 and needed them for typing. I'm glad I have this picture made back then. Most of the pictures of me back then were without glasses because I didn't wear them all the time. I'm so glad the styles of glasses have changed. I think they actually got worse before they got better. I like the styles now but they will probably look ridiculous in another 50 years or so. No, it won't take that long. Probably another 5 years. Don't you just love the glasses Sarah Palin wears? Makes me want to go out and buy a new pair. But I just bought a pair a couple of months ago, so I probably won't get another pair for another couple of years. 

I'm glad I kept those old glasses. Here's what they look like now. One of the rhinestones is missing. One of the arms doesn't match. I remember one of them breaking and they couldn't replace it with one like the original so they gave me one that was similar. The rhinestones that are left look terrible. They were nice and shiny 50 years ago. I guess they held up about as well as I did though, maybe better. 

For more Vintage Thingies visit the Apron Queen.

JUST DON'T

SOMETHING TO SMILE ABOUT

This reminds me of me!

I discovered a new blog a couple of days ago that made me smile.  It is called Smiling Sally's Blog. 

Here are some of the things there that made me smile. 

You should visit Sally. She will make you smile too. Here's her link:

http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/  You can just click on  Smiling Sally.

Christian Glitter by www.christianglitter.com

KULPAHAR, INDIA

After I had been blogging for a few months, I was wondering how long it would be before I ran out of things to blog about. I'll tell you, I don't worry about that any more. Now many days there are other things that pop into my head after I've already posted. I wrote the Happy Fall post below one day last week, but it kept getting pushed out of the way for something more important. Now I have something more important again, but since today is the first day of Fall, I decided to go ahead and post it too. So - here is my second post today. This one is for Mission 4 Monday.  You can go to Peggy's blog for more mission posts. 

If you read my post last Monday, you know something about this mission in Kulpahar, India that my husband and I visited in 1999. This is the church that belongs to the mission. Well, of course the church belongs to God. The building belongs to the mission. No, come to think of it, that belongs to God also. Oh well, you know what I mean.

This is a picture that I took out in front of the church building one day when we were there for the devotional that the Christian school had. Yes, besides being a Kids' home, the mission also has a school and a hospital. The school is well known in the community of Kulpahar. Most of the students are not from Christian homes. They also come from Muslim and Hindu families. These people send their children there because it is the best school in the area. All of the students are taught the Bible. 

The pictures below was taken during the devotional. You will see the boys are on one side and the girls on the other. This is the custom in India.

My husband and I visited the classrooms during the week while classes were in session. We were amazed at how polite and well behaved the students were. I'll tell you for sure, it was nothing like the classes here in America. 

Some of the children at the home were baptized while we were there. They baptize in their swimming pool. We were very impressed with this as well. Leah tells us that they are not able to fill their pool anymore because of the draught in India right now. They had always had their baptisms there, but now are having to find another way to do it. 

As I said before, we took a lot of pictures on that trip, so next Monday I'll be planning to share some more with you. I hope you will return here next week. Of course you don't have to wait until next week. Tomorrow I have something lighthearted scheduled for posting. It's something to make you smile. 

HAPPY FALL

Today is officially the first day of fall. It seems like fall has been here for awhile. But no - it's just now arrived. Thought I would share with you these decorations by the front door.

I made this a few years ago at our church's craft night. I like the way nails were used to spell out Happy Fall.

Here is where the sign is now.

This one I didn't make. I think I bought it at T.J.Maxx or Marshall's one. Please ignore the dust on the light fixture. I'll dust it off some day - but not today.

Thou Shalt Not Take the Name of the Lord in Vain

I Googled Ten Commandments and guess what came up? This explanation for the 3rd commandment - "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."  I could not believe it when I read this. I guess it should not surprise me though because there are so many people who think nothing at all of saying "Jesus Christ" or "God damn it" or even as Jeremiah Wright has said, "God damn America." Here is the article I found:

The Third Commandment

We all know it. So highly symbolic are the Ten Commandments that almost all human beings on earth - even non-Christians - are aware of their existence. It is mostly because of the third commandment that shouting ‘Jesus Christ’ in conversation is frowned upon. I’d like to challenge that notion.

Does your God think less of you or possibly even punish you if you utter ‘Jesus Christ’ or ‘God damn it’? That’s too bad. Mine doesn’t! My God does not exhibit human-like pettiness. He does not care whether his name is used as an expression of surprise, anger or frustration. My God does not view uttering ‘Jesus Christ’ as a sign of disrespect. The need for respect from others is purely a human notion. God transcends all human reactions and emotions. He’s an entity that is much more grand than that.

Trust me folks. Your God cares much more about other things: kindness and helpfulness toward others; supporting those in need; sense of awe at his creations; sympathy; empathy; humility. You get the idea.

Who decided that the third commandment means saying ‘Jesus Christ’ is a blasphemous act? I want to meet that person. That’s just silly. Did that person talk to God personally? Who’s to say that the correct interpretation of this commandment should not be “You are not to make use of the name of the Lord your God for an evil purpose.” That would make much more logical sense. Here’s an example. In the dark ages, the church punished, in the name of God, those who did not believe the earth was the center of the universe. See what I mean? Here’s a more recent example: clergies abusing boys and covering it up.

That last sentence sounded so like liberal thinking. Just because clergies abusing boys and covering it up is a horrible thing, it doesn't mean that taking God's name in vain is just fine and dandy. Maybe you could argue that God is more interested in how we treat other people. Does that mean that using his name as a curse word is OK because we might think something else is worse? Does God want us to respect others, but show disrespect for Him? How can anybody think that way? 

Something I've thought about for a long time. Why is it only "Jesus Christ" and "God" that people say when they want to curse? Why not Mohammed, or Buddha or some other religious icon? I think this proves - at least it does to me - that all those others are false. To use their name would mean nothing.  You wouldn't get the "shock value". 

I want to show respect to all people but especially to the creator of the earth who loved us so much that he came to earth and died to save us. Think about it.

It is so true - THEY JUST DON'T GET IT

MORE PINK STUFF

Pink Saturday is hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. Many people post pink stuff on Saturdays and link to this post. So, if you love pink like I do, you might want to go there and see more lovely pink things. 

I showed you this pretty miniature pink rose that I bought at Trader Joe's back during the summer. I'm sorry to report the demise of this sweet little rose. I let it get too dried out.

This is the last of the last freezer of homemade strawberry ice cream for this year. Every summer we make ice cream a few times for special occasions, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day. When I finished off what we had put in the freezer after the Labor Day batch, of course I thought "Pink Saturday." Not only is the ice cream pink but the bowl is too. To top it off I sprinkled a little Raspberry dusting powder over it that I bought at Harry & David's the last time we went to Scottsdale Mall. Now - no more homemade ice cream until next Summer.

Happy Pink Saturday!

P.S.  For all of you who follow Spiritual Sundays, this is a reminder that it's about that time again. If you have not been participating in this meme, we invite you to join us there each weekend to link to spiritual/inspirational posts. This is hosted by Ginger of Enchanting Cottage and me.

FRIDAY SHOW & TELL at DOLLS DOLLS DOLLS

As I have been doing the last few weeks, my Friday Show & Tell is on my Dolls Dolls Dolls blog. You can click here if you are interested in seeing the doll that I made a new head for. 

A REMINDER FOR SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS

For those of you who participate in Spiritual Sundays, tomorrow is the day to link your spiritual/inspirational post to Spiritual Sundays. Yes, I know. Tomorrow is Saturday, not Sunday. But some like to get a head start and go ahead and post on Saturday. Most people post and sign up on Sunday. If you have never visited the Spiritual Sundays blog, you can click here to go directly there. Once you are there, you can click on the different names listed to go to different blogs to read what they have written.

Have a great inspirational weekend.