The Ghost at the Table

This is one of the most disturbing articles I have read in a very long time...it is most disturbing after hearing comments from Nancy Pelosi, who has made it very clear she supports population control in our country...just another socialistic worldview of our current administration. Even if you agree with the road this country is on-read the article below.


http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=3235

Happy 90th Birthday

My grandma is 90 years old and we celebrated with a big bash! I had relatives in from as far as California for this grand celebration. There were 5 generations present. My Grandma and Grandpa were married at 15 and had 6 children by 22. Today, she has 19 grandchildren (I am the youngest), twenty-something great grand-children, and 6 great-great grandchildren. If known for anything besides her big family it is her incredible cooking, the most famous being her dumplins, pies, and Christmas goodies (potato candy, PB balls, etc). Although, I like her stewed tomatoes and fresh green beans. She has passed these recipes on to the next generations as well. I am already teaching my children how to make her candies, one day I will have the privilege of teaching my grandchildren how to make them as well. And I can tell them stories about their "Mammie" who was born in 1919! Happy Birthday Grandma!

Money

Money seems to be on the minds of everyone today. Everytime one turns on the tv, you hear our President or a member of Congress saying things that evoke a sense of fear in Americans (this is on purpose you see, because fear is the only emotion that causes people to give up their rights...but that is a topic for a different blog post). Anyway, everything is going up in price, from goceries, to gas and electric bills, to our children's preschool tuition. The only thing that has not gone up is Steve's salary. We know many folks in worse situations with a job loss or a cut in salary.
So what to do? Well, since we don't have access to or the power to spend money that belongs to other folks (like our President and Congress evidently have), we have to cut things out of our budget (which is what you do when you can't spend money that is not yours). Thankfully, we have gone through Ramsey's Financial Peace, so we have the tools to do this and our finances are what he calls "recession proof" (and this has less to do with our income and more to do with our outgo of money). However, words like recession, great depression, catastrophic, and economic disaster are words that our President is throwing around on a daily basis (by the way, with little proof...) and these words make me anxious. Not nearly as anxious as I get when I think about the burden our Congress is about to put on our family, my children's families, and probably my grand-children who will all be slaves to this debt. To put all this in perspective, I have some words of wisdom (I can say that because they are not my words) I meditate on (meaning when anxiety creeps it's ugly head I say these verses in my mind...or at times aloud). I wanted to share them with you.

Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. Ecclesiastes 5:10

Though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them. Psalm 62:10

Do not wear yourselves out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. Proverbs 23:4

People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:9-10

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." Hebrew 13:5

There are many more verses... verses about not worrying about your money, verses about loaning money, verses about borrowing money. I could go on. But these are the ones that calm my fears after I have watched the news. If you have a Bible, look up "money" in the back. If you don't have a Bible...get one.
I hope to encourage those of you out there who are struggling, or mad, or anxious.

The Circus

Well our friends were able to go home last Tuesday as their electricity came back on. It was great timing...on Wed morning Katherine woke up with a stomach bug, Lydia came down with it on Thursday evening, I got sick Thursday night, and Joshua came down with it on Friday morning. Steve took very good care of us, putting a whole new meaning on "being Doctor" !! The Lord kept Steve healthy...until we were all better. Last night Steve began getting sick. The good news (remember I am ever the optomist), we were healthy enough to go to the Circus. Each year my parents take all the grandkids to the circus. Either Steve or I go just to make sure they can keep up with them all (I am in no way implying that my parents would lose my 2 year old daughter last year while taking photographs of the other kids... only realizing she was gone when the overhead announcement was made about a "little girl" in pink who had lost her parents). Anyway, the elephant ride is a staple with our families so once again this year we climbed onto the 4 ton animal and rode slowly in circles for about 5 mintues. We actually rode a little longer than the others because our elephant pulled over to have a BM. It stunk. In the photo you can see Joshua and myself as well as Julia and Matthew, my brothers kids. Lydia said no way to riding an elephant and Katherine did not go this year. For those of you saying "why not?"...come spend an afternoon with me and you will see. (James Dobson assures me in his books on parenting that she will be a leader one day...so I continue on my course).

Touchdown!

The Pittsburg Steelers scored a last minute touchdown to win Superbowl XLIII...actually they scored the TD with only 35 seconds left. I was busy with the children during the first half of the game, but from what I saw, it seemed a little boring. However, the 4th quarter was full of excitement! Now, for all my long-time friends...I have not abandoned my Packers just because Brett Farve retired...kinda...last year. The photo above was taken in January 2007, I was pregnant with Katherine and could not zip my winter coat, I was forced to freeze or to wear a Steelers jacket. I don't like the cold. Anyway, I did cheer for the Steelers even though their conservative offense drives me crazy (I like the risky plays Farve pulled off-or at least attempted). I cheer for them and my husband smiles. That is what is really most important.

It is only February 1st and history has been made two times this year already...the Steelers just become the first franchise in history to win 6 Superbowls (for my girlfriends who could care less about this, just use the information to impress your husband).