my pet rat-squeak died on the 13th april 2005 and i cry wen i fink abouut him.

Pbarb2: Thanks for the update Barb. My prayers go with the family during such sad times.

Pbarb2: I'm sorry to hear that

Hello All,
     Wanted to first thank all of you for all of the well wishes and Prayers.
It has ment so much to us in such a sarrowful time. No words can describe the ourpouring of support and love we have felt from each of you.
     On thursday May 19th we went into Healthpark hospitol to deliver our baby. I had started to go into preterm labor on Monday the 16th. The doctor gave me medacine to help the labor go quicker.  We started that at 8:30 am and by 5:30 pm. I was ready to deliver. At 5:53pm We delivered our precious baby boy.   Although the prediction was that when he was born he would not live but a few minutes after birth His little heart kept beating for an hour and ten minutes. We were truely blessed to have even this little time with him. Our Family and a few close friends were present and blessed with our  little boy.
     We named him Joseph Lee Horner and he weighed only 14 oz and was 10 1/2 inches in length. Although very tiny he was perfect. He looked just like his big brother John when he was a baby. He was so happy to have a little brother.
     A memorial service will be planned for sometime in June. I will keep you informed. Again thank you for all of your prayers and support. God bless and know we are truely thankful.
With love always, Cherie, Charlie, and John

Pbarb2: thank you.he's doing a little better now. We were very worried there fer a bit. God Bless you all fer yer prayers and support.

:)
----horse

Horseman: Very sorry to hear about your son. I pray that he gets to be feeling well soon. It is so bad to have an earache. God Bless
BARB

This girl Cherie is my daughters best friend. They have known each other since 1989 when we moved to Florida.They worked and lived in an apartment together until they met the ones..they wanted to spend their lives with.. I cried when I saw this. Please keep Cherie and family in your prayers and thoughts. I was the first outside visitor to hold John after he was born. That was 11 years ago.
The other family I don't know.. but this family is about an hour from where we live. Thank you all for reading this and your thoughts and prayers.
God BLess
BARB
From Misty..
Great friend of ours, too .. 
Many of you know already, my "adopted" daughter Cherie is pregnant, expecting in September. Everyone has been excited and thrilled, and planning Baby Showers, buying little baby things, don't all those things girlfriends and grandparents love to do.
 
About a week ago Cherie's OB Doctor classified her as High Risk. This was due to not enough fluid inside the birth sack. A second ultrasound was done, and yesterday she was sent to Health Park Hospital for an ultrasound that could give a better result than the previous ones done.
 
The results are devastating. Her baby, though fully developed in every other sense, has only a heart. No kidneys, no bladder, no liver. As the doctor described it, a baby can live without these organs, as long as there is a heart. Tuesday she will go back to her OB Doctor, who will, I suppose, schedule termination of her pregnancy.
 
Cherie asked the doctor what she had done, what caused this to happen. His response was "You got pregnant. None of this could have been prevented, there was nothing you could have done to cause this". Small consolation for her at this time.
 
Having a miscarriage for a woman is difficult enough. Consider what Cherie is going through. Her baby is alive, it is moving around inside her, kicking as 6 month old fetuses will do. What was joy has turned to instant emotional pain with each gentle nudge and kick. She and her Husband Charlie, must be going through lots of pain right now. They were both so excited about this new baby, as was their son Johnathon who is 11.
 
Cherie asked me to tell Johnathon what was happening, which I did. He had gone to the previous ultrasounds, and was very determined he was going to be the best big brother ever. Our relationship has been very close, especially since my other darling grandchild is 3000 miles away. John took the news in his typical stoic manner, when it comes to serious stuff, though he was upset.
 
Please offer up your prayers for Cherie, Charlie and Johnathon to get through this in the best way possible.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Second Prayer Request~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Many people don't realize we still have folks living in below standard conditions, resulting from Hurricane Charley and the other three that hit us less than a year ago. My dearest friend Delana's daughter is one of those people.
 
Amy is a wonderful, hard working, single parent with a teenager and a second-grader to support. Her mobile home was hit pretty badly, and no, she couldn't afford insurance. At this time, 9 months later, her teen is having to sleep in the living room as the roof over his bedroom is so badly damaged rain comes in, and the roof is in danger of caving in. Estimates to repair the roof have been received - The first was for $18,000 - the second for less, but not much less. Amy doesn't have this kind of money, and the cost is so blown out of proportion it is ridiculous. There are also a very limited number of contractors to approach. 
 
Believe me, she would have moved to another home if she could. There aren't any available. Those that are available are so expensive, as prices here have skyrocketed, it makes it impossible for her. All she wants is her roof replaced, fixed would work too I suppose.
 
FEMA has been no help whatsoever. Within less than a mile of Amy there are mobile homes, owned by FEMA setting empty. But, they won't let her move her family out of the mold and mildew into one of them. Both sons having been suffering from breathing problems ever since the first mold started, which was within days of the first storm.
 
Earlier this week Good Morning America came to interview people in SW Florida, seeing what preparations they are making for this next Hurricane season, and talking to folks who still have had no relief. Amy is one of the ones they spoke to and filmed. In fact, while at her home it began to rain. They could see the rain leaking through the roof into the child's bedroom.
 
We don't know if this lack of interest on the part of FEMA will help them, but I am asking, on behalf of the family, you send up prayers for them.
 
Watch Good Morning America, Monday morning (May 16) to see the full story.
 
Thanks for listening, and God Bless You for the prayers.
 
Misty
Misty is a great friend ..and sort of adopted Cherie as her own...as well as our family did. Her mother lived 1,000's miles away and had problems. Her dad lived here but not around for her.
God Bless
BARB

Radiant Aunt: Seann. Thanks Radiant;) I preciate it.

Horseman: Will keep him in my prayers! Whats his name, Horse?

My son is sick with fevers and ear aches....please pray that he gets well soon.

Thanx,

---Horse

You are in my thoughts and prayers..yesterday, today and tomorrow.

God bless the pope
We pray for the pope

Horseman: Thank you! Apology.. I wish I would forget nobody, so please add groups of people who you think of with regards to being victims of the Hitler regime..

Radiant Aunt: don't forget:
communists,catholics...trade unionists...jehova witnesses....

for all the soldiers who gave their lifes to FREE Europe from the occupation of the Germans during the Second World War..

also for ALL the undergroup warriors who gave their lives to save the lives of those who fought or those who were to be captured..

also for ALL the victims of the Hitler regime: Jews, Gipsies, homo sexuals, mental handicapted people..

Today May 5th, The Netherlands celebrates their 60 Years of Liberation after World War II!!

Praise the Lord for us living in Freedom thanks to these warriors..

Two traveling monks reached a river where they met a young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other bank. She thanked him and departed.

As the monks continued on their way, the one was brooding and preoccupied. Unable to hold his silence, he spoke out. "Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women, but you picked that one up on your shoulders and carried her!"

"Brother," the second monk replied, "I set her down on the other side, while you are still carrying her."

http://www.rider.edu/~suler/zenstory/zenstory.html

http://www.ccel.org/index/classics.html
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/
http://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm

Happy Easter - Hristos Voskrese !
It's the Day of the Lamb - Best wishes to you and your families. ~*~ .

Jules: great site Jules, thanx:)

http://www.religion-online.org/


It's a Christian site.

One day Chuang Tzu and a friend were walking by a river. "Look at the fish swimming about," said Chuang Tzu, "They are really enjoying themselves."
"You are not a fish," replied the friend, "So you can't truly know that they are enjoying themselves."

"You are not me," said Chuang Tzu. "So how do you know that I do not know that the fish are enjoying themselves?"




(A western version of this story describes two philosophers on a walk while discussing phenomenology. One of them kicks a dog and says, "See! This dog is experiencing pain".... etc.)

Just learned yesterday and some of you the day before, that the Docs informed her, that is benign!! Remember the surgery she had beginning of this year... she has been in agony for a while now.. Imagine how much JOY this gives her and Happiness :-) Good4Her!

I put up a surprise party for her at Gods Place! Please join in, enjoy the cakes and the champaign and drop her a line :-)

Thank you
~*Josetta*~

Horseman: thank you, that is very interesting! :-)

for those who want ta learn more, like why the bread is dipped twice, or about pesach...

I recommend: www.torah.org

Radiant Aunt:
;)anytime Radiant.anytime.

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall
--Confucius

Ecclesiastes 7 (New International Version)
20 There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.

God to enfold me,
God to surround me,
God in my speaking,
God in my thinking.

God in my sleeping,
God in my waking,
God in my watching,
God in my hoping.

God in my life,
God in my lips,
God in my soul,
God in my heart.

God in my sufficing,
God in my slumber,
God in mine ever-living soul,
God in mine eternity.

ancient celtic oral traditions - carmina gadelica

Horseman: Thank you so much for sharing this!!! Bless your heart

terms: Hagada=Passover night liturgy
Kashrus=dietary laws
Tahars=laws of family purity
Jews remember in the Divrei Negidim (in the book of Exodus part)
3-fold subjugation of Israel by Egypt
1.they were in Exile (strangers in a strange land)
2.They were enslaved in exile
3.They were tortured physically and mentally
as 4 signifies completion they remember the four expressions of freedom...this fullness that is the final stage of development and made them a nation with a purpose
4 expressions of freedom (exodus 6:6-7)
God says
1. I shall take you out from your burdens of egypt
2.I shall rescue you
3.I shall redeem you
4.I shall take you to me.

In this God tells them that he will take them to him as a nation. It is at this point in time that GOd makes the Jews his chosen people.

Because of the disgrace and disrespect that Cham (Ham) showed Noach (Noah) he was cursed. His decendants the slaves of his brothers. In egypt the Jews were in effect the slaves of slaves. How much lower is there?
And God raised them up. God took them and made them his chosen people.
It is this journey, from slave to freedom and God that passover celebrates.
MAtzo represents the bread they ate as slaves and their hasty departure from egypt
Maror...the bitter herbs...to remember the bitterness of being slaves
They dip the bread twice and
recline when eating because reclining is the act of a noble man. There is the cup for Eiljah in memory that he will return.
there are 4 questions asked. THe first is:
Why is this night different from all {other} nights?
4 cups represent the 4 expressions God uttered upon freeing his people from egypt.

Also remember that it was during the sabbath that Christ was sacrificed. THere were 2 sabbaths that week. The yearly Sabbath of Passover and the weekly sabaath on saturday.

Praise the Lord, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.
For great is his love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord. Hallelu Yah

Today at the Women Aglow meeting one of our sisters shared with us ,that today The Passover will be celebrated in Jerusalem, Israel. Its the day before the Jewish Pesach. The women are cleaning their houses and preparing for the Celebration. This cleaning proces has been done ages and ages.. continuously. Its an action to move out all the dirt and dust out of their houses.. a parallel to what happened at Easter: Jesus' Death moved out all the sin of our lives. The PassOver in Egypt was a forshadowing of what Jesus came to earth for: his suffering and cruxifiction and death. Jesus was the Passover Lamb. It also symbolises to get the Egypt out of our lives. The gentile believers will be together with the Jewish believers and when they get together we will be in His Presence: He will be our Hiding place!!

You are my hiding place,
You always fill my heart
with songs of deliverance
whenever I am afraid. I will trust in You!

I will trust in You!
Let the weak say I am strong
in the strength of my God.

Psalm 32:7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.

2 Corinthians 12:10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then i am strong.

Shalom!!

O Krishna, it is right that the world delights
and rejoices in your praise,
that all the saints and sages bow down to you
and all evil flees before you to the far corners of the universe.

How could they not worship you, O Lord?
You are the eternal spirit,
who existed before Brahma the creator
and who will never cease to be,
the Lord of the gods,
you are the abode of the universe.
Changeless, you are what is and what is not,
and beyond the duality of existence and nonexistence.

You are the first among gods,
the timeless spirit, the resting place of all beings.
You are the knower and the thing which is known.
You are the final home;
within your infinite form you pervade the cosmos.

You are Vayu, god of wind;
Yama, god of death;
Agni, god of fire;
Varuna, god of water.
You are the moon and the creator Prajapati,
and the great-grandfather of all creatures.
I bow before you and salute you again and again.

You are behind me and in front of me;
I bow to you on every side.
Your power is immeasurable.
You pervade everything;
you are everything.

the bhagavad gita - 11:36-40 - arjuna

It is said that when Buddha was first Enlightened he was asked,
"Are you a God?"
"No," he replied.
"Are you a saint?"
"No."
"Then what are you?"

And he answered, "I am awake."

A master of the tea ceremony in old Japan once accidentally slighted a soldier. He quickly apologized, but the rather impetuous soldier demanded that the matter be settled in a sword duel. The tea master, who had no experience with swords, asked the advice of a fellow Zen master who did possess such skill. As he was served by his friend, the Zen swordsman could not help but notice how the tea master performed his art with perfect concentration and tranquility. "Tomorrow," the Zen swordsman said, "when you duel the soldier, hold your weapon above your head, as if ready to strike, and face him with the same concentration and tranquility with which you perform the tea ceremony." The next day, at the appointed time and place for the duel, the tea master followed this advice. The soldier, readying himself to strike, stared for a long time into the fully attentive but calm face of the tea master. Finally, the soldier lowered his sword, apologized for his arrogance, and left without a blow being struck.

Faith and love which are gifts of the Holy Spirit are such great
and powerful means that a person who has them can easily, and with
joy and consolation, go the way Jesus Christ went. Besides this,
the Holy Spirit gives man the power to resist the delusions of the
world so that although he makes use of earthly good, yet he uses
them as a temporary visitor, without attaching his heart to them.
But a man who has not got the Holy Spirit, despite all his
learning and prudence, is always more or less a slave and
worshipper of the world.

St. Innocent of Irkutsk, Indication of the Way into the Kingdom of
Heaven.

This is the mark of Christianity--however much a man toils, and
however many righteousnesses he performs, to feel that he has done
nothing, and in fasting to say, "This is not fasting," and in
praying, "This is not prayer," and in perseverance at prayer, "I
have shown no perseverance; I am only just beginning to practice
and to take pains"; and even if he is righteous before God, he
should say, "I am not righteous, not I; I do not take pains, but
only make a beginning every day."

St. Macarius the Great

The Lord's Day is a mystery of the knowledge of the truth that is
not received by flesh and blood, and it transcends speculations.
In this age there is no eighth day, nor is there a true Sabbath.
For he who said that `God rested on the seventh day,' signified
the rest [of our nature] from the course of this life, since the
grave is also of a bodily nature and belongs to this world. Six
days are accomplished in the husbandry of life by means of keeping
the commandments; the seventh is spent entirely in the grave; and
the eighth is the departure from it.

St. Isaac of Syria, The Ascetical Homilies.I

Horseman: hi hossieman good to see you.
indeed niemoeller's reflection is kinda
revelation in my antifascist bible ... ... ~*~

danoschek: I always loved that quote:)

Mark 10 (New International Version)

13People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Let nothing upset you,
let nothing startle you.
All things pass;
God does not change.
Patience wins
all it seeks.
Whoever has God
lacks nothing:
God alone is enough.

-St Teresa Avila

Radiant Aunt: Great devotional Radiant. Says it all. Thanks for posting. ;)

Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

NKJV

Through Eyes of Faith
by John Fischer

You were planned for God’s pleasure, and bringing pleasure to God is called worship. Put these two things together and you can conclude that living your life as it was meant to be lived is an act of worship in and of itself. It would be good if we could get this concept and actually live our lives this way, but we have a tendency to miss the worship in the ordinary because we are looking elsewhere for the worship experience.

And people are looking everywhere. There is a movement afoot that can only be explained as a longing for a mystical religious experience, and by mystical, I mean something otherworldly. The huge outpouring of sentiment over the death of Pope John Paul II is one example. Interest in end-of-the-world apocalypse stories such as the Left Behind series would be another. The bestselling novel Da Vinci Code and NBC’s new dramatic series, Revelation, both show a rising interest is what one commentator called “religious mysteries.” And yesterday, on Larry King Live, a panel of “experts” explored the whole phenomenon of near-death experiences with a “hereafter.” What is going on here if it isn’t a growing spiritual hunger for a real experience with God?

Which is good and not so good. Good: in that people are seeking God — not so good: in that they have a tendency to look to the mysterious and otherworldly to find Him, and not into the more obvious day-to-day part of our lives. There is an element of mystery to our worship in that we are dealing with the unseen, but we are also dealing with the down-to-earth and the obvious, and if we had the eyes to see and the ears to hear, we would be finding God and mystery in the ordinary things as much as anywhere else. It’s like what Frederick Buechner wrote when he observed the childlike faith of people “who, like children, are so relatively unburdened by preconceptions that if somebody says there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, they are perfectly willing to go take a look for themselves.”

In other words, they take the spiritual as something expected. People with childlike faith have no need to explain or explain away God in their lives; He simply is, and He is a part of everything they do. Spiritual things are obvious to children — even mystery. It’s all part of wonder, and worship is a kind of grownup wonder.

We don’t need to go outside of our normal experiences to experience God. We just need to believe, and starting with the eyes of a child, see everything we do through the eyes of faith.


John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife, Marti and son, Chandler. They also have two adult children, Christopher and Anne. John is a published author and popular speaker.

I'm thankful I'm a child of God, in His safe tender care,
But most of all I'm thankful I can talk to Him in prayer.

Sometimes I come in joyful praise, and thank Him for His grace,
And other times I whisper as the tears course down my face.

I share with Him my deepest fears, my sorrows and my pain,
Until they all are washed away, much like a cleansing rain.

It often seems too marvelous to fully comprehend
The fact that Christ desires through prayer to be my dearest friend.

For in His Word He welcomes me to come before His throne,
And tells me He will answer if I make my longings known.

I've seen so many miracles that prayer alone has wrought,
But know that more would happen if I prayed the way I ought.

Dear Lord, please help me stay so close in fellowship with You,
That I'll reflect Your likeness, and draw others to You too.

And keep my heart completely tuned to hear Your every call,
So every breath will be a prayer, surrendering my all.

Written by: Betty Jo Mings

*

*

First they came for the communists
and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist

Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist

Next they came for the Catholics
and I did not speak out - because I was not a Catholic

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

* ))) Pastor Niemoeller, protestant minister and victim of the Nazis ... ~*~

A note from Max Lucado

Courage

Could you use some courage? Are you backing down more then you are standing up? Jesus scattered the butterflies out of the stomachs of his nervous desciples....

We need to remember that the disciples were common men given a compelling task. Before they were the stained-glassed saints in the windows of cathedrals, they were somebody's next-door-neighbours trying to make a living and raised on supernatural milk. But they were an once more devoted than they were afraid and , as a result, did soome extraordinairy things.

Earthly fears are no fears at all. Answer the big question of eternity, and the little questions of life fall into perspective.

Isaiah 43:1-3:Don't be afraid, because i have saved you. I have called you by name, and you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you. This is because I, the LORD, am your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Psalm 31:19-20: How great is your goodness that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you have given to those who trust you. You do this for all to see. You protect them by your presence from what people plan against them. You shelter them from evil words.

Radiant Aunt: Yes! I pray that all will come to a knowledge of the TRUTH which sets us free.

More specifically, I pray for grace on BrainKing & that God will touch the lives of each & every person here in a special way.