Deborah

Yeah, General, he needs to do about 100 of these about 20 k of this 200 of these and then he should write a 10-page report on why he should not go awol

Thank you, Owen and Cholette! I forgot to say Jason had a dream the night before of a baby suffocating.

I have a young man in my life--I consider him a son--whom I used to write to when he was in prison, and I still hear from him about twice a year. Jason knows the Lord now, and is married and has a daughter and a good job. Yesterday Jason called me. His 3-week-old son died yesterday. Cause of death is unknown, but the infant was sleeping on his mother's chest when he died and this mother is a nurse. Please, please pray for Jason and his family. His wife is blaming herself. Pray that the enemy won't get any victory in this situation.

Sirianta and John, Thank you so much for sharing from your hearts. Please don't ever give up on your dreams. I have a biological brother who had leukemia, who lived through bankrupcy and divorce, who had mental disorders--Larry died a few years back, but I KNOW when he got to heaven he received a hero's welcome. Larry never had success as the world defines it, but his optimism and his faith lives on in my heart and the hearts of all who loved him. At Larry's funeral, I couldn't help compare Larry with someone else in my family who has outward trappings of success. This other person is a mechanical engineer, he's got a new home and a beautiful family, but he's one of the most miserable people I know. In my eyes, Larry was immensely more successful then that other person. I too am a writer, Sirianta. Believe me, I know the endless frustrations of the craft. John is right; you just need to keep persevering. (Time to preach to myself now.) The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything. - Theodore Roosevelt

Last time I saw Owen he was waving to somebody. I took a pic:

Just have one of these:

Here we come, General!

I saw this quote in the news: "It was just horrific," 63-year-old teacher's assistant Kevin Fitzgerald said of Tuesday's quake, which sent him scurrying under a desk along with a student at a school as the building undulated menacingly. "I thought the devil was coming up out of the earth," he said.

You're welcome, Abigail. (Love your name, by the way!)

You are very welcome.

My sympathies to you and your beautiful country. May God's grace abound toward you and your countrymen. I pray that some good will come of this, that many will come to know the Lord in New Zealand and the sleeping church will awaken to rise and accomplish her purpose. God bless you, D.

Hey that was fun! You need to bring your grandsons by more often!

Takes one to know one!

You're welcome, King D!

Hi, Kio, Rowan and Linda!!!!When D was a boy he looked like this: I hope you had fun playing balloons. Right now my cat Sam is sitting in my lap and he's purring really really loudly. This is what he looks like: I think he's saying hi too. I hope you're having fun with your grandma.

Abigail, I posted something like this before, but I would like to repeat it for you. I heard once the testimony of a man who died. He was on his way to heaven and he saw rockets passing him. He asked the Lord what those rockets were. Jesus said, "Those are the prayers of the saints." Then there were rockets that were faster than all the rest that were speeding their way to heaven. He asked the Lord what those were and the Lord told him, "Those are the prayers people are praying for the salvation of others." You're praying in the perfect will of God when you're praying for the salvation of your dad. I know God is pleased with these prayers. I just want to encourage you not to give up. So right now I pray for Abigail's dad. Lord, open his spiritual eyes and ears. Let him see past the hurts in his heart, let the scales fall off his eyes. Give my sister and her mom wisdom and strength in every interaction they have with this man. Give them unconditonal love for him and show them how to treat this man with respect even though at times it may seem he doesn't deserve respect. I don't know if a physical healing and deliverance from tobacco will change this man's heart, but if it will, have at it Lord! Bring this man into your kingdom, in Jesus' name! Amen!

I don't think anyone has ever been argued into the kingdom. It's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance, the Bible says. A heart change will bring about a head change. So yep! I pray right now that this man will have the blinders taken off his eyes and his heart will be fertile ground. In Jesus' name, Amen.

I don't mean to sound legalistic, but maybe you should be more careful what you're feeding your eyes and ears (movies, television, books, etc.) I came across a verse once in Isaiah 55:1 "Listen carefully to me and eat what is good and your soul shall delight itself in abundance." I don't think it's just physical food here but our sensory diet in general. Then also in Isaiah it says if we keep our mind on God He'll keep us in perfect peace.

Thanks for the recommendation, Siranta! I love books about heaven! They make me homesick, though!

Thank you so much, Cholette! I know it is God and God alone who has begun a good work in me (and you too, and every other Christian) and He's the One who will finish it too.

Many people tell me I look like my mother. This is not a bad thing, because I think she was beautiful (she died in 2002), but as I get older (I'm 42) I'm finding myself in many ways becoming my mother. Again, this isn't such a bad thing because she led a virtuous life, but I'm a little afraid I'm stuck in a rut. I don't want to miss my calling because it doesn't feel familiar--prophets keep telling me I'm going to be traveling afar, for example, and my mom was a homebody. I catch myself unconsciously doing and saying things my mom would say and do. I know the basic answer to this question is to listen to the Holy Spirit and His prompting, but I'm wondering if anyone else has gone through this and if anyone has broken free from it or has some general insight.

Good one! It reminds me of a t shirt I got someone once where Moses is sitting in a wading pool and the waters are divided. The caption reads "Moses at a young age."

You said, talking about your siblings and cousins: I feel like some of them are favoured by my grandparents over me... I know this feeling! My mom always treated my one of my sisters better than me, in my opinion. As an adult I was complaining to the Lord about it, and He told me favor with Him was better than favor with my mother. This really helped me and put things into perspective. All the hurts in my life I'm seeing in hindsight were really gifts from God--he trusted with those hurts, trusting I wouldn't turn my back on Him but instead allow Him to use those hurts to make me a better person.