HIGHWAY TO SEDONA

I snapped this picture as we were driving up to Sedona a few days ago. Isn't it beautiful? I also took a new picture for the header of the Spiritual Sundays blog. It's the same chapel on the side of the hill but this one I took standing outside the car. The other one I shot through the side window as we were driving by it.

REUNION & AN AWARD

Hi Everybody. We just spent a couple of days in beautiful Sedona, AZ attending a high school reunion. I wrote about it this morning on my other blog and posted photos. If you're interested, you can click HERE to see that post.

Now I want to thank Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage and Inspirations for the lovely blogger award. Like Sandi, I want to pass it on to any and all of my blogging friends who are reading this right now. You know who you are. Here's the award.

IS THE NOBEL PRIZE A "NOBLE" PRIZE?

The majority of those polled believe this was political. What do you think?

I found the following article on the Fox Nation website.

What are the Nobel Prize Committee Chairman's Socialist Ties?

With the choice of President Obama for the Nobel Peace Prize inspiring such widespread befuddlement, it seems worthwhile to ask, just who are these people who made this choice, and what might their agenda be?
Accompanying news stories on the award were photos of a smiling Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, admiringly hold a photo of the U.S. president.

This is the man who spoke gushingly about the hope Obama has inspired. Who is Thorbjorn Jagland?

Some stories have reported that he is the former prime minister of Norway, and that he was the leader of the Norwegian Labor Party for 10 years. But he recently completed an even more interesting 10-year tenure.

From 1999 through 2008, Jagland was vice president of Socialist International. What’s that? It’s exactly what the name suggests – an international organization of socialist groups who advocate for far left policies. It also boasts of “consultative status” with the United Nations.

Everybody Everywhere Needs Somebody Sometime

Everybody Everywhere Needs Somebody Sometime is the title of one of Helen Steiner Rice's poems. I was just reading the poem, and thought "that is so true." I want to share it with you today for Spiritual Sundays.

Everybody, everywhere,

no matter what his station,

Has moments of deep loneliness

and quiet desperation.

For this lost and lonely feeling

is inherent in mankind--

It is just the Spirit speaking

as God tries again to find

An opening in the "worldly wall"

man builds against God's touch,

For he feels so self-sufficient

that he does not need God much,

So he vainly goes on struggling

to find some explanation

For these disturbing, lonely moods

of inner isolation . . .

But the answer keeps eluding him

for in his selfish finite mind

He does not even recognize

that he cannot ever find

The reason for life's emptiness

unless he learns to share

The problems and the burdens

that surround him everywhere --

But when his eyes are opened

and he looks with love at others

He begins to see not strangers

but understanding brothers . . .

So open up your hardened hearts

and let God enter in --

He only wants to help you

a new life to begin . . .

And every day's a good day

to lose yourself in others

And anytime a good time

to see mankind as brothers,

And this can only happen

when you recognize it's true

that everyone needs someone

and that someone is you!

-Helen Steiner Rice

And speaking of friends, there is no other friend like Jesus. He's the greatest friend of all, so if Jesus is not your friend, you need to make that your number one priority to get to know this wonderful Savior. Reading other posts in Spiritual Sundays will be helpful, and of course, the Bible is the best place to go.

I hope you will go to our Spiritual Sundays blog for links to more spiritual/inspirational posts. If you want to participate, you can find the instructions there as well.

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY

No, today is not my birthday. Tomorrow is. Just like a little kid, I couldn't wait. I intended to post this tomorrow but decided to go ahead and post today. I started celebrating last night and will continue on through tomorrow. Why make just one day of it?

Last night our kids took us to the Outback Steak House for dinner and then afterwards to their house for dessert. Carol had baked a peach cobbler in the new Le Creuset pan which was one of my gifts. Here are a couple of pictures.

Of course I wanted a picture of me holding the beautiful pan holding my beautiful peach cobbler. Oh, and what was in the box? Another smaller Le Creuset pan, and lovely potholder (glove type) and kitchen towel from Sur la Table.

I'll continue celebrating tomorrow which is my actual birthday. Hubby has already told me he's taking me out to breakfast and lunch. He's getting me a computer program I've been wanting. Life is good.

TWO BROWNIES

My daughter and I were both Brownie Scouts. I thought it would be kind of interesting to show our photos in our uniforms side by side. My picture on the left was a school picture back in the 40s. Carol's was taken in the 60s. I think we looked a lot alike. People say we still do. I consider that a compliment.

OVER THE TOP AWARD

I didn't think I would have anything to post today. but guess what? I just visited Debbie's Heart Choices blog and found out I had an award with rules to go with it. She said she hated rules. So do I, but I'll try to follow them this time. Thank you Debbie, I think, LOL. Debbie is not only a blogging friend, she's an AZ blogger who I had the privilege of meeting in person this past summer, and a Facebook friend too. She has a beautiful blog and she is a beautiful person.

This a survey I have to fill out. One word? That will be a challenge.

Rules
1. You Can Only Use One Word!
2. Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers!
3. Alert them that you have given them this award!
4. Have Fun!

The Fun Part

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Your hair? white
3. Your mother? heaven
4. Your father? deceased
5. Your favorite food? bread
6. Your dream last night? forgot
7. Your favorite drink? water
8. Your dream/goal? heaven
9. What room are you in? bedroom
10. Your hobby? blogging
11. Your fear? health
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
13. Where were you last night? bed
14. Something that you aren’t? sad
15. Muffins? Yum
16. Wish list item? Photoshop
17. Where did you grow up? CA
18. Last thing you did? breathed
19. What are you wearing? capris
20. Your TV? large
21. Your pets? none
22. Friends? family
23. Your life? good
24. Your mood? happy
25. Missing someone? mother
26. Vehicle? BMW
27. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
28. Your favorite store? Macy's
29. Your favorite color? pink
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? yesterday
32. Your best friend? Clif
33. One place that I go to over and over? church
34. One person who emails me regularly? Williams
35. Favorite place to eat? home

and now I get to pass this award onto 6 of my favorite bloggers:

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life

Sally at Smiling Sally

Jean at The Daisy Chain

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations

Ginger at Enchanting Cottage

Sue at Where Memories Are Made

I LOVE THIS VIDEO BY STEVE HARVEY

A Steve Harvey show where he imagines what it might be like to have the honor of introducing Jesus Christ when he returns...

A Facebook friend shared this video today. I was amazed and thrilled at the response the audience gave to comedian Steve Harvey's explanation of how he would introduce Jesus. It is well worth the three minutes it takes to watch it. I have posted some negative things lately about our culture. This is such a positive one that I had to share it.

THANK YOU KIRK CAMERON

Programs like this give me some hope. I believe God is using Kirk Cameron to get his message out to our schools. At the end of the video there is a place on the video to click to watch the book being handed out at Cerritos College in California. You should see it. Cerritos is in my old home town so it makes it even more personal for me.

WORDS FROM PAT BOONE

I have been a Pat Boone fan since the 1950s. Pat was a member of the Church of Christ when he first rose to fame. He even came to our little church in El Monte, California in 1959 and led our singing one Wednesday evening. We had a picture of Pat, Shirley, Clif and me taken at that time in front of the church building which has mysteriously vanished. We have no idea what went with it but would sure like to have it.

I recently received this email and since I totally agree with him on this subject, I'm sharing it with you here today.

The president without a country
By Pat Boone

"We're no longer a Christian nation." - President Barack Obama, June 2007

"America has been arrogant." - President Barack Obama

"After 9/11, America didn't always live up to her ideals."- President Barack Obama

"You might say that America is a Muslim nation."- President Barack Obama, Egypt 2009

Thinking about these and other statements made by the man who wears the title of president, I keep wondering what country he believes he's president of.

In one of my very favorite stories, Edward Everett Hale's "The Man without a Country," a young Army lieutenant named Philip Nolan stands condemned for treason during the Revolutionary War, having come under the influence of Aaron Burr. When the judge asks him if he wishes to say anything before sentence is passed, young Nolan defiantly exclaims, "Damn the United States ! I wish I might never hear of the United States again!"

The stunned silence in the courtroom is palpable, pulsing. After a long pause, the judge soberly says to the angry lieutenant, "You have just pronounced your own sentence. You will never hear of the United States again... I sentence you to spend the rest of your life at sea, on one or another of this country's naval vessels - under strict orders that no one will ever speak to you again about the country you have just cursed."

And so it was. Philip Nolan was taken away and spent the next 40 years at sea, never hearing anything but an occasional slip of the tongue about America. The last few pages of the story, recounting Nolan's dying hours in his small stateroom - now turned into a shrine to the country he fore swore - never fail to bring me to tears. And I find my own love for this dream, this miracle called America, refreshed and renewed. I know how blessed and unique we are.

But reading and hearing the audacious, shocking statements of the man who was recently elected our president - a young black man living the impossible dream of millions of young Americans, past and present, black and white - I want to ask him, "Just what country do you think you're president of?"

You surely can't be referring to the United States of America, can you? America is emphatically a Christian nation, and has been from its inception! Seventy percent of her citizens identify themselves as Christian. The Declaration of Independence and our Constitution were framed, written and ratified by Christians. It's because this was, and is, a nation built on and guided by Judeo-Christian biblical principles that you, sir, have had the inestimable privilege of being elected her president.

You studied law at Harvard, didn't you, sir? You taught constitutional law in Chicago? Did you not ever read the statement of John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and an author of the landmark "Federalist Papers": "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers - and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation - to select and prefer Christians for their rulers"?

In your studies, you surely must have read the decision of the Supreme Court in 1892: "Our lives and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian."

Did your professors have you skip over all the high-court decisions right up till the mid 1900's that echoed and reinforced these views and intentions? Did you pick up the history of American jurisprudence only in 1947, when for the first time a phrase coined by Thomas Jefferson about a "wall of separation between church and state" was used to deny some specific religious expression - contrary to Jefferson's intent with that statement?

Or, wait a minute. Were your ideas about America's Christianity formed during the 20 years you were a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ under your pastor, Jeremiah Wright? Is that where you got the idea that "America is no longer a Christian nation"? Is this where you, even as you came to call yourself a Christian, formed the belief that "America has been arrogant"?

Even if that's the understandable explanation of your damning of your country and accusing the whole nation (not just a few military officials trying their best to keep more Americans from being murdered by jihadists) of "not always living up to her ideals, "how did you come up with the ridiculous, alarming notion that we might be "considered a Muslim nation"?

Is it because there are some 2 million or more Muslims living here, trying to be good Americans? Out of a current population of over 300 million, 70 percent of whom are Christians? Does that make us, by any rational definition, a "Muslim nation"?

Why are we not, then, a "Chinese nation"? A "Korean nation"? Even a "Vietnamese nation"? There are even more of these distinct groups in America than Muslims. And if the distinction you're trying to make is a religious one, why is America not "a Jewish nation"? There's actually a case to be made for the latter, because our Constitution - and the success of our Revolution and founding - owe a deep debt to our Jewish brothers.

Have you stopped to think what an actual Muslim America would be like? Have you ever really spent much time in Iran? Even in Egypt? You, having been instructed in Islam as a kid at a Muslim school in Indonesia and saying you still love the call to evening prayers, can surely picture our nation founded on the Quran, not the Judeo-Christian Bible, and living under Shariah law. Can't you? You do recall Muhammad's directives [Surah 9:5,73] to "break the cross" and "kill the infidel"?

It seems increasingly and painfully obvious that you are more influenced by your upbringing and questionable education than most suspected. If you consider yourself the president of a people who are "no longer Christian," who have "failed to live up to our ideals," who "have been arrogant," and might even be "considered Muslim" - you are president of a country most Americans don't recognize.

Could it be you are a president without a country?

WE SEE WHAT WE WANT TO SEE

President Obama said he wasn't paying too much attention to these people. Most of the TV news didn't pay any attention to them at all. Oh, I think they knew what was going on. They just didn't report it because they didn't want too many people to find out about it.

The Tea Party Express will be rolling again. Will congress see it? Will the President see it? If they do it will be on Fox News. They won't likely see it on any of the "Alphabet channels". Possibly CNN will cover it (slightly).

Did you know there was an official blog for the Tea Party Express? Here's the link. http://teapartyexpress.wordpress.com/ You can find the schedule there.

Tim Kimmel on Raising Children

Dr. Tim Kimmel, noted author and lecturer, preached this sermon at our church Sunday. If you have young children or teenagers or if you have grandchildren, I know you will learn a lot by watching this. Dr. Kimmel uses a lot of humor in his lessons. I think you will enjoy it.

more about "Grace-Based Families - Scottsdale Bib...", posted with vodpod