Checking in!

I've come to the conclusion that the most beautiful word in the English language is the word "benign"! Both biopsies came back benign. Whew! Merry Christmas to everyone! Love yaw'll!

Dammogram

Just had my mammogram. NOW I have to have two, count 'em, two biopsies. One per boob. Ain't that just swell? May be cancer. Maybe not. Worried sick but trying not to show it, ya know? Don't want to be sick and lose my hair. Oh well. I feel like I'm in God's boot camp. Being trained to withstand a bunch of junk either because there is something nasty coming or because He has something rather large for me to do. Guess we'll see.

WOW!!!

I have GOT to at least hit the highlights of what today's reading in my "the Word For You Today" book says. Are you ready, cuz this blew my socks off!

The reference is Jn 11:39-> Lazarus has been dead for days.

Sometimes when we have a problem we do what Martha and Mary did. We bury it and roll a stone in front of it. Then Jesus comes along and tells us to roll the stone away so that He can deal with it and make us whole again. It takes honesty, humility, and courage to roll away the stone on a stubborn or shameful issue. But you will never become healthy and whole until you are willing to do that.  Martha told Jesus, "He stinketh" Yet Jesus said "If you will believe, you will see the glory of God." (Jn 11:40) No matter how far gone our situations are, or how unpleasant and stinky it is, Jesus can turn it around for us! BUT we have to be willing to roll the stone away and allow HIM to work. If we let Him He will give us back what life (and our choices) have taken from us. People may give up on us, but NOT JESUS. We may think it is too late for a miracle, but it's not. If we will believe, we will see the glory of God.

HOLY COW!!! If your sock were not blown off, check your pulse!

Been a While

Everybody here OK. We are busy with church and other meetings. Walking twice a day for an hour each time. That seems to keep the weight down and I'll find out next Friday how it does on my cholesterol.

I'm on the worship team now. Singing harmony. Loving it. Pastor wants me to lead worship but frankly, my voice is too low for that. Oh well, it IS fun! Donny may be playing bass with us, so that'll be nice. By the way; spell check is not southern. It doesn't like "yaw'll". Says it ain't a word. Doesn't underline "ain't" though. Dam Yankees!

Happy Anniversary to me.

Yesterday was our anniversary. 24 years. Sometimes it seems like yesterday. Sometimes it seems like forever. We went to Chincoteague. I played in the surf. We walked a trail. Spent more time driving than we did being there. It was nice though. I'm not so depressed when I can hear the surf and smell the salt air. Sometimes wish I lived in the ocean. And yes, I mean IN the ocean.  By the way, Happy Birthday to Boo man. You guys make me feel so ancient.

Buttprints in the sand

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there were seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.
But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"
Those prints are large and round and neat,
"But Lord, they are too big for feet."
"My child," He said in somber tones,
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait."
"You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know,
So I got tired, I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt."
"Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."

A Great Quote

Here's a great quote:

 You have created your fears. And you can choose to lay them to rest.

You have created your dreams. And you can choose to bring them fully to life.

Look all around you and realize that everything you see is what you have chosen to see. Every thought you think is what you have chosen to think.

Day after day, by your words, your actions, and your thoughts, you have chosen your own path. And that path has brought you to precisely where you are.

Now it is time to choose again. Remember that with each and every choice you make, you determine the details of how your life will proceed.

It is a serious responsibility as well as a wonderful, enormous opportunity. For again and again, you can choose your way toward the life you truly wish to live.

— Ralph Marston

Passion

This is what I've been praying for; NOT that I would just be obedient, but that I would have a PASSION for obedience.
Think of what the world could be if we were to take our passion for things that are sinful and turn it towards obedience.
I want that passion for obedience.

-BTW, my new e-mail is dirtrabbit11@yahoo.com

Sorry it's been so long.

Sorry it's been so long. I've been busy with church and such. Also, I've had my head planted firmly up my own backside. I'm working on becoming more of what God wants me to be so I'm back doing my devotionals every morning. I get my devotionals from the life recovery Bible. And yes, that is an "addicts" Bible. And yes, I'm one.  After a walk through the high weeds recently, I've decided to redouble my efforts at being clean and sober.  So, here is my devotional for today. Enjoy!                                                                                                                              

We may not want to admit it but we all hunger for love. We may be starving for affection due to previous losses. We may be afraid to reach out due to fear of rejection.

As we turn our lives over to God, we need to venture towards developing loving relationships with God and others. It's scary to say "Please love me" but it's worth the risk.

If we don't satisfy our need for love in a legitimate way, we may be driven back to our old addictive behaviors.

We can be sure that if we go to God for that love, He will be glad to have us. He will provide for us, protect us, and love us.

Told you it was good.

Weight loss and/or eating disorder

The doctor says all the numbers are up: cholesterol, blood sugar, weight, etc...

The only way I know to lose weight is to severely restrict my food and over-exercise, so here I go again. Anorexia, here I come. I gotta lose 20lbs in four months. I want to lose 40lbs in four months. We'll see.

Loving the green beans!

Boy, do we have the green beans! Loads of them. They are very yummy. We have lots of cucumbers. We're giving them away. We've already eaten some okra as well.

Our barn swallows have grown up and flown away while our second bluebird set have just hatched. They aren't very pretty just outside the egg. Of course, neither are humans at birth. Yeah, I know. Every couple that has a child thinks it is just gorgeous just after being born. Seriously, most newborns look like Harry Truman.

Watchin' Little House

Just watching Little House today and sleeping. Went to church, came home and slept.  I am way too tired considering I've done very little. Whatever God has for me, I'll accept. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I could use less strength and more energy but ...

Attack of the giant cucumbers

We planted cucumber plants. WAAAYYYY too many cucumber plants. They grew well. We saw lovely blossoms on the edges. Never occurred to us to lift the leaves and look. When it finally dawned on us to look, the cucumbers that were hiding there were HUGE!! One had a 3 inch diameter when sliced. They weren't very cucumbery tasting. The sheep and the goat were quite fond of them. Me, not so much. I think I'll check the cucumbers more often.

Fox attack!

That stupid fox got four of our chickens! We think it my be revenge for the fox we killed last week. Dirty rascal! We'll get him! We are also spraying ammonia around. We heard that ammonia makes a fox think a predator is around. Hope it works!

We bought six more chickens. More babies we have to wait for to grow up. We have one of our old hens that is looking peekid and we expect her to be dead by morning. She is very old and did her job well.

Illin' and Chillin'

Not feeling too well today. This is the wrong time to get the flu but it sure feels like it. Maybe I'll feel better tomorrow. Went to church anyway.

The tongue from A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

The tongue:

And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh. James 3:6

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1

The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. Proverbs 16:21

Oh my, I know we all fail at times, and sometimes miserably--there is not a single one of us that is perfect! We would not need Jesus if we were perfect. I think in many cases, we need to humble ourselves and our speech will follow. How often I have looked back in different situations and thought at how humility needed to be a vital part of the equation.

 And we chase after wisdom:

Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.  -Proverbs 4:7

How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. -Proverbs 16:16

It is my prayer that we start this week NEW,

recommitting ourselves to CHRIST,

and striving to become a vessel that God can fully use for His KINGDOM.

Another day, another...turnip?

I've found out that turnips make an acceptable alternative to potatoes (especially mashed with butter salt and garlic powder). The one thing you miss the most while doing the "don't raise my blood sugar" diet is potatoes. I've not tried french frying turnips yet. I'll let you know how they turn out.

My diet is so strange that it makes it difficult to eat with others. No beef (lack of gall bladder), no sugar in anything, no potatoes, no corn, only sugar free bread (diabetes). What a drag. Some folks WILL insist on giving you sugar-sweetened tea.

I've read the "Little House on the Prairie" books and am working on the follow-up books about Rose, Laura and Almonzo's daughter. They are simple, fun and relaxing. I know that folks say they are for children, but whyare they? Because they are clean? Easy to read? No cursing? No sex? That's why I like them. Wish more folks would write books I can read without cringing.

Wierd!

Isn't it wierd when you dream you have a cough and awaken with a cough. Did I give it to the dream or did the dream give it to me? Yeah, I know. I was probably coughing in my sleep and incorporated it in my dreams.

Read any good books lately? I'm reading a couple: The Homecoming by Earl Hamner, Jr. and Little House on Rocky Rodge by MacBride. I've gotten in a few moldy-oldies, too: The New Woman written in 1895 and The Girl Today, The Woman Tomorrow written in 1932. The first one is about "bloomer girls" and the second is an etiquette book.

On the health front, I'm asking my doctor where I can get a thermogram in lieu of a mammogram. It seems that a cancerous tumor will actually grow its own blood vessels in order to feed itself which makes them warmer than the surrounding tissue and thus visible to a thermogram. Thermograms have no radiation. I don't really know if they hurt or not. Hope not.

Snoeflake the goat died last week of unknown cause. Just up and died. The rooster day before yesterday of lead poisoning. Donny got tired of being attacked by the rooster and shot him.

ugh!

Microcalcifications in both breasts. It's been two days and I'm still sore. Mammograms stink! They want me to come back in 5-6 months for more of them. I'm going to ask my doctor about thermography instead. I'm not sure of the wisdom in irradiating myself over and over again just to check. That radiation may CAUSE cancer, for Pete's sake!

I'm looking up all the natural cancer preventative stuff I can and starting on it. It's natural, so it can't hurt. My throat has been sore since I had the stupid mammogram.

The whole thing really has me down. I just feel tired all the time. What is it Scarlett O'Hara said? "Tomorrow is another day." Maybe I'll feel better.

LOST!

Lost~

Between sunrise and sunset:

One golden hour, set with sixty diamond minutes!

No reward offered for it is gone forever!

It is a shame to lose precious time is it not?

Don't lose your time! Tell someone you love them. Tell God you need Him. Tell someone Jesus loves them!

 Don't waste time!