Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway

Down and out Chick is hosting a giveaway. Check it out here:
http://downandoutchic.blogspot.com/2010/05/shabby-apple-dress-giveaway.html

a great little illustration

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.What food might this contain? The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning:

There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, 'Mr.Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me.'' I cannot be bothered by it.'

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, 'There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!'

The pig sympathized, but said, I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray.

'Be assured you are in my prayers.'

The mouse turned to the cow and said 'There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!'

The cow said, 'Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose.'

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock.

To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died.
So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

-Not sure of the author

REMEMBER,,,,

EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON'S TAPESTRY;

OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON.

Here is a Scripture I would like to end this with:

For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function,so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching;

he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12:4-8

We are one body. Who would like to see a part of their body hurt or damaged willingly? Just a few things to think about.

rudder

Look at ships too: though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot’s impulse directs. James 3:4

James compares our tongues to rudders on ships. A rudder is very small but its positioning determines the direction of a ship. Would you steer your ship into a bunch of rocks? Another ship? I think the answer the claear answer is no. However, we seem to do this daily. We may gossip, lie, or respond quickly with anger. The Bible provides us with the tools to help us measure if what is coming out of our mouth's is good or bad. Ephesians 4:29 reads: Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 5:4 reads: Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. Matt. 12:34: You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

I really need to work on controlling my tongue. It is so easy to give into gossip and destroying others reputations when you are not surrounded by believers.

mother's day

Guess which day of the year has the highest call (telephone) volume?

Mother's Day!

Now this can be looked at in a positive and negative light.
Positive- many people are communicating with their mothers
Negative- many people they are reducing the day created to celebrate our mothers down to a simple phone call

Mother's Day (according to Wikipedia)

The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the 1880s and 1890s there were several attempts to establish a Mother's Day, but they didn't succeed beyond the local level. The holiday was created by Anna Jarvis in Grafton, West Virginia, in 1908 as a day to honor one's mother. Jarvis wanted to accomplish her mother's dream of making a celebration for all mothers, although the idea didn't take off until she enlisted the services of wealthy Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker. She kept promoting the holiday until President Woodrow Wilson made it an official national holiday in 1914. The holiday eventually became so highly commercialized that many, including its founder, Anna Jarvis, considered it a "Hallmark Holiday", i.e. one with an overwhelming commercial purpose. Jarvis eventually ended up opposing the holiday she had helped to create. She died in 1948, regretting what had become of her holiday. In the United States, Mother's Day remains one of the biggest days for sales of flowers, greeting cards, and the like; it is also the biggest holiday for long-distance telephone calls.

How can we bring it back to Anna Jarvis' original idea?
Create things!
What is your mom's [or as we say Momma :) ] favorite food? Get the ingredients and make it.
Take a nice photo of you and your siblings and frame it. Make a nice card. Cut some fresh flowers and make a bouquet. Volunteer to babysit so she can have some free time.