A smile is the lighting system of the face, the cooling system of the head and the heating system of the heart. Smile, it’s good for you.

1. Accept that some days you’re the piegon and some days you’re the statue.
2. Always keep your words soft and sweet just in case you have to eat them.
3. Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
4. Drive carefully. It’s not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
5. If you can’t be kind at least have the decency to be vague.
6. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
7. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
8. Never buy a car you can’t push.
9. Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time because then you won’t have a leg to stand on.
10. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
11. Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
12. When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
13. Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
14. A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

A lecturer, explaining stress management techniques to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked: “How heavy is this glass of water?” Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied: “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.” Then he explained his statement.

“If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case it’s the same weight but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes. And that’s the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for awhile and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.”

“So before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don’t carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you’re carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax. Pick them up later after you’ve rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!”

This has not been a good emotional day for me but I’m not gonna go into it here. Just suffice it to say that I need everyone to pray for me.

Today one of Erica’s friends who got really upset with her over Spring Break … and whose mom got really upset with me because I posted my feelings about what she said about Erica … posted on her xanga that she’d done some thinking and she wanted to try to repair the friendships that had suffered in recent weeks because of all the drama going on at ROTC. I was glad to see that the girls are going to try to patch things up. I pray it works out. I think if each of them (and there are 4 girls concerned) wants it to work out, it will.

I’ve given myself a project to do … yeah, I know, I should be cleaning house or something else … but I don’t want to do that so I’m doing a study on the Armor of God. The book of Ephesians (6:10-17) talks about putting on the whole armor of Christ to be able to fight the battle against Satan and his demons. I’ve always been curious about the armor analogy that Paul uses in those verses. So I’m studying about Roman soldiers and how their armor protected them since that’s what Paul references in Ephesians when he compares spiritual armor to actual armor.

I’m finding out some really interesting facts. Did you know that the shield the Roman soldiers used was HUGE? I’m thinking a shield like you always see in the movies, you know? But their shields were about the size of a DOOR. Can you imagine carrying around a shield that heavy? It was made of wood and had animal skin stretched across from side to side and top to bottom. Around the edges the animal skin was secured with pieces of IRON, making it even heavier. Whew! Makes me tired just writing about it! No wonder most Roman soldiers trained for 5 years before they actually saw battle.

I’ve been having really weird dreams lately. No, not nightmares. Just stupid dreams that don’t make any sense. So I decided to start a dream journal. I wrote my first one down this morning shortly after I woke up. It seems like I do most of my weird dreaming right before I wake up in the morning. It will be interesting to keep track of them and find out if I see any pattern in them or if they’re trying to tell me something.

I’ve been really tired lately … not sure why … I do know this much, though … I haven’t been sleeping well so maybe that’s why. I’ve been having really weird dreams and I think that’s interrupting my sleep patterns. Can’t say that they’re nightmares because they’re not. But they’re just strange … I think I need to start keeping a dream journal. I used to do that many, many, many years ago. Sometimes dreams are trying to tell us something, you know. Oh well, that’s enough posting for now. I think I’m going to go take a nap! Later …

…… or is there a vague resemblance between these 2 pictures????

I have a weekly mentoring class that I attend at my church. Sundays at 4 pm is when we meet. This “class” for lack of a better word, is actually a 4-year commitment of study. The first year, which is the year I’m in, is called the Year of the Plumb Line, meaning it’s the year I spend in close introspection of my spiritual life. My mentor is so awesome! God has given her many gifts of the Spirit. I don’t know what I’d call this particular one that she has but it’s like she can look into my spirit and see exactly what I’m dealing with or bothered with. What you need to understand here is that Theresa is not a psychic or some New Age person. Just make sure you understand that her gifts are Godly.

Okay, so a little history. As most of you know who read this blog, I’ve battled depression for a long time. I’ve prayed and asked that God would heal me of the depression, and He has. When Theresa told me God had healed me, at first I was confused because I thought healing me of depression would mean that I didn’t have to take my meds anymore. Of course God can heal me of that, too, but what He’s healed me of is the emotional roller coaster I was on in spite of medication and counseling. I was up and down, feeling sick all the time. I’ve been more emotionally stable the last 2 months than I’ve been in 5 or 6 years.

There are only 5 of us, counting Theresa our mentor. Today I got there about 15 minutes early. Theresa took one look at me, in spite of the fact that I walked in with a “happy” face on … and said: “Do you want to talk about it?” No “hello” or anything. Just “do you want to talk about it?” So I unburdened some issues I’ve been dealing with. Actually, I read an entry from my daily journal I keep. I was crying because it was so hard to read what I had put down on paper. Then the other ladies arrived. Anyway …

I told Theresa that I thought my feelings were those of depression. She said my problem is a spirit of Rejection. Then she read a list of “feelings” people have when they feel rejection, and guess what? That was exactly me! And as I thought back through the years of my life, I realized I’ve felt that fear for as long as I can remember. One of the feelings the spirit of Rejection creates is fear of the dark. I was scared of the dark as a young child and even as a teenager. For years I would not sleep with my back facing my bedroom door. I always had to have a light on somewhere nearby so there would not be darkness around me. Even today I’m somewhat like that still. And one time when I was about 4 or 5, I’m guessing, we had company at my house. I must have been misbehaving or something because my Daddy told me to stop doing what I was doing. He hardly ever fussed at me so I guess I didn’t think anything of it. But the next thing I knew, I was being put in my bedroom and he shut the door. The light was off. I was terrified! All I needed to do was reach to the switch and turn it on, but I was frozen with fear and didn’t.

Another thing … Theresa said she sensed a time in my life when I was maybe 2 or 3 years old … she could see me standing by my swingset and something happened that frightened me … and my parents weren’t there to protect me. My mouth nearly fell open when she said that because I have a picture in my photo album of me standing at my swingset and in the picture I am 18 months old! I don’t recall anything happening … probably too young, but she pegged it on the head. I also remembered how my cousin Mike scared me one time when I was on my swingset. It thundered really loud, he yelled RUN! IT’S GONNA GET YA! and took off and left me there alone. I must have been 4 or 5 years old then. Now THAT episode, I definitely remember!

So I said all that to say that this is what I received out of my time in mentoring today:

1. My weakness spiritually is my emotions. (I already knew this.)
2. Satan knows this and this is where he will attack me every time. (Ditto)
3. But Satan can no longer get at me through my depression, since God has healed me of it, so he (Satan) goes to the next thing which is my fear of rejection.
4. The fear of rejection goes way deeper than the depression … it has affected me from the time I was very, very young as opposed to the depression.
5. Bottom line … Satan is a liar and everything he’s putting in my mind are lies.

So you see, like the Bible says, Satan is crafty and he roams the earth looking for easy prey. We’re not battling a flesh and blood battle, people, we’re battling with the spirit realm … unseen to our eyes. Have I spooked you out yet? Hope not! I’m not trying to be “psyche” as my mother calls it … but as Christians we need to recognize that there is a whole other realm we can’t see and some of the things in that realm will try to get us to feel defeated. It’s not make believe like the movies and TV shows would have you believe. It really exists.

You can bet for sure that I’m going to put on my spiritual armor every, single day from now on!

Sorrow looks back . . .

Worry looks around . . .

But Faith looks up . . .

This fairy tale reminds me of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles. I bet you’ll agree with me, too!

======================================

Three women die together in an accident and go to heaven. When they get there, St. Peter says, “We only have one rule here in heaven … don’t step on the ducks!”

So they enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is almost impossible not to step on a duck. Although they try their best to avoid them, the first woman accidentally steps on one. Along comes St. Peter with the ugliest man she ever saw. St. Peter chains them together and says, “Your punishment for stepping on a duck is to spend eternity chained to this ugly man!”

The next day, the second woman steps accidentally on a duck and along comes St. Peter, who doesn’t miss a thing. With him is another extremely ugly man. He chains them together with the same admonishment as for the first woman.

The third woman has observed all this and, not wanting to be chained for all eternity to an ugly man, is very, VERY careful where she steps. She manages to go months without stepping on any ducks, but one day St. Peter comes up to her with the most handsome man she has ever laid eyes on … very tall, long eyelashes, muscular … St. Peter chains them together without saying a word.

The happy woman says, “I wonder what I did to deserve being chained to you for all of eternity?”

The guy says, “I don’t know about you, but I stepped on a duck!”

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week.

Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote “The Hokey Pokey,” died peacefully at age 93.

The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in … and then the trouble started …

( … Oh shut up … You know it’s funny … )

I saw a girl with golden hair.
I sighed and wished I was as fair.
With only one leg she hobbled down the aisle,
But as she passed, she passed me a smile.
Oh God, forgive me when I whine!
I have two legs and all is fine.

I stopped for candy. The boy had such charm.
We talked a bit … being late would do no harm.
As I left he said, “Thanks for being so kind.
Most folks don’t talk to me. You see, I’m blind.”
Oh God, forgive me when I whine!
I have two eyes and all is fine.

Later I saw a child with eyes of blue.
He watched others play, not knowing what to do.
As I asked, “Why don’t you join the others, dear?”
I realized he couldn’t hear.
Oh God, forgive me when I whine!
I have two ears and all is fine.

I have feet to take me where I go.
I have eyes to see the sunset’s glow.
I have ears to hear what I should know.

So God, help me not to whine … I’m blessed indeed, and all is fine.

~ Anonymous ~

This is Chad, Erica’s friend. He graduated last year and joined the Marines. Please pray for him since he is being deployed to Iraq within the next few months. Please pray for his older brother who is already over there and for his mom and dad as well.

This morning was our second Ladies Worship Service. As usual, Linda did a wonderful job bringing the message. She is so awesome. She makes it all simple enough for anyone to understand and she also knows exactly what we need to hear. I was sorry that my friend Terri didn’t make it. I invited her earlier this week but never heard back from her. She would have enjoyed being there, I think.

I came home with a headache … I think it’s sinus … so I took some medicine and took a 3 hour nap. I felt okay for awhile and now my headache is back. But it’s been 4 hours since I took the medicine so I guess it’s about time to take another dose. Guess I’d better go for now.

I’m at work right now and since I sit at the receptionist desk, I get to greet all the visitors. Well today we have a lot of visitors here from Bergen, Norway (where the home office of this company is located.) Since they will be here throughout next week, I give them temporary badges. Well … this morning two Bergen guys walked in. I asked them to sign in on the visitor’s log and then issued them a badge each.

Oh my goodness!! One of the guys looks so much like Michael Vartan of “Alias” that I couldn’t stop staring at him! I tried not to make it too obvious … the staring, that is … but I just couldn’t help myself. He was also staring back at me … but not in a bad way like he was upset or something. He had a half smile on his face. Obviously he’s used to getting the “looks” from the ladies because it didn’t surprise him one bit. Anyway, I guess it was my blue eyes and the fact that I was staring at him that held his attention. But goodness gracious! I could hardly keep my eyes off him! (I hope he doesn’t take it the wrong way and think I’m flirting with him or something. ) I half expected to see Jennifer Garner follow behind him … that’s how much he looked like “Vaughn.”

It’s been a wonderful day so far! Heh heh heh

Check out the Photo section of my website to see all the pictures from Erica’s birthday celebration.