Refrigerator Meme

Oh, how embarrasing! Please nobody do a junk-drawer meme!

On my fridge there are:
3 Disneyland magnets,
1 Disneyworld magnet
1 Bugs Bunny magnet
1 Sylvester magnet
1 Junior Asparagus magnet
1 San Francisco magnet
1 photo of Mom and Eileen
1 photo of me and Ronnie when I was skinny
A lovely note to me from Eileen.

Can you tell we are really into cartoons?

I tag Mrs. Wilt and Rachel Hammet.
The only changes you are allowed to make is to protect anonymity. And you must join in, even if you have nothing stuck on your fridge, lol we can marvel at your tidy, shiny fridge! Only kidding, only join in if you want to of course :o)

R

My take on music

Surely you have noticed that everyone has different tastes in music. Then there are a those of us who believe that there is "good" music and "bad" music. Then there is the stuff in the middle that we cannot agree on.
Here's my 2 cents, for what its worth.
As a little girl I grew up listening to Southern gospel. My father was a church music director, so there was a lot of music in our home. The choir sang Lanny Wolf songs and Bill Gaither. "Christian rock" did not exist. We even had Amy Grant's debut album that she recorded when she was 17.
As a teen, I listened to Sandi Patti and Steve Green, and we loved the Gaither Vocal Band. But I do remember my mom saying "That sure is wordly music" but eventually she got used to it and enjoyed it as much as we did.
Since I got married though, I feel that the Lord was leading me to consider what we were listening to. "Worldly" music kept getting worse and worse. I saw a seminar called "The language of music" by Frank Garlock. I was enthralled, because this was what I believed although I had not been able to express it before. I do believe that music, not just lyrics, speaks to us. The way we sing speaks as loudly as our words. Please allow me to explain. Chileans listen to American pop music. They do not understand the lyrics, but it moves them. With romantic, sensual music it is unnecessary to understand the lyrics. The sensuality of the music and the way the singer sings is enough. The sad thing is that if you take a praise-and-worship cd, play it on the radio, what you hear is sensual music. They don't "get" the lyrics. And if you put in Spanish lyrics, its still sensual. Here's a"fr'exampl" I have a cd with "Shout to the Lord" This is a lovely song, and we sing it in our Church, but the way that it is recorded is extremely sensual. I believe that there is no room for sensuality in worship. We cannot mistake a sensual feeling for being touched my the Spirit.
How can we know what is pleasing to God? I tell you, there are many tapes I used to listen to that I feel truly uncomfortable with now. They might have pleased me, but I don't know what He thought. No one person can tell you what is right or wrong, but we all should give God control in our music, ask His to show us what He would like to hear from us. Does He really enjoy hearing us imitate a famous christian singer? Does He like watching us bop to the beat?

Oh Lord, make me sensitive to your leading. May the songs I sing glorify You and the music I play be pleasing to your ear. Ephesians 5:10
R

My birthday

Here's a picture of where the Preacher took me for a one-couple couple's retreat for my birthday. Isn't it lovely?


Do you ever get the feeling that sometimes we talk so much about God, and not enough to Him?
I think I do. I want to know that I can not only talk about Him and His atributes, but to Him.
There is also a bit of personality issues here. I mean, those of a sanguine personality just ooze words of worship, and truly mean them. If I oozed like that, I'd feel kind of foolish and insincere. Not that I wouldn't mean the words, I'd just feel strange. I don't ooze very easily, sort of like the difference between David, an "oozer" and Paul, a non-oozer.
Anyway, I realize now that my "down" times could fade more easily if I praised the Lord more openly, that hearing words of His greatness coming out of my lips would be uplifting, even in light of my circumstances.

I praise you God, for You are mightily in control of all my circumstances. You desire to transform me for your glory. In your grace, you choose to mold me. I will gladly accept what I cannot understand. I will give up my desire to know your plans. I am willing, I am available. I lay myself on your altar. I offer the sacrifice of praise. I am so honored to be in your presence. I am so grateful for your forgiveness. Forgive my faithlessness and increase my faith. Use me, if it pleases you to do so. I praise your name.

Watch this

Why should I believe the Bible?
Beacause it is a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report of supernatural events and those events took place in fulfilment of specific profecies. They claim their writtings are of divine origin and not human.



I told y'all that I have been listenin' to Beth Moore and Voddie Baucham. I am beginnin' to get a Southern accent and I luv it!

Anyhoo, I found this link to this powerful sermon by Voddie Baucham. Its worth watching! Just go to the link and pick the one that says Voddie Baucahm.

Enjoy!

My prayer time

My Dear Blogroll friends,
As I lay in bed last night, I prayed, like I always do. But last night, I also prayed for you. All of you, specifically by name. I've read your blogs, so I know a bit about your lives and struggles, except of course for Mrs.R who is rather private. I prayed for you too, just that I didn't know exactly what to pray for.

I know that the internet is used for many vile uses, but for me it has been a connection that as women, we need. I praised God for you, and I petitioned Him on your behalf. My prayers spanned the globe and that thrilled me.

In midst of this pagan, godless world, we can unite under the banner of the Cross, and lift up one another, encourage one another to fight the good fight and keep the faith.

God bless,
Rhonda

Knowing your enemy

The "DaVinci Code" book has been extremely popular and controversial here in Chile. Not so much where we live but in Santiago and the bigger cities. Since most Chileans are catholics or former catholics, it was a real shake-up, leaving them dazed. My missionary friend read the book so that she may be able to give them guidane and answers to the questions posed in the book. First I would like to say that I have never read such blasphemy IN MY LIFE! Here are a few of my thoughts, because it was very thought-provoking.

1. This book proclaims that the deity of Christ is an invention of the catholic church. Not so. The deity of Christ is proclaimed throughout Scritpture, Old and New Testaments. Praise His Name!

2. This book promotes paganism which I understand to be a lot of things, among them goddess worship and nature worship. It tries to say that paganism is not satanism. There is only one God, the God of heaven who, by the way, is not female. Satan is not a god, but would have people worship him. He is also content to have people worship anything that is not of God, so spirit worship and nature worship and humanism all fit within his evil desires. We live in Mapuche Indian land. They are pagans. Most of the religion promoted by the book is practiced here.

3. The author mixes truth with lies. Isn't that satan's modus operandi? Truth about the catholic church and lies. If you didn't know better, you wouldn't know what to believe.

This all brings me to Halloween. Please let me speak the truth in great love. Halloween is all paganism. All its symbols are pagan. All its practices are pagan. This holiday differs with Christmas and Easter in many ways, not the least being the fact the Halloween is expressly for the celebration of paganism. We have been living in a pagan land for so long that we no longer recognize it to be bad. We are supposed to be strangers in this land, yet we are blending in with the locals. We have accepted their music and dress and holidays, their speech and views.
They mock us for our inconsistencies. We cower before them. My friends, we must fight the good fight! Come out from among them and be ye HOLY (holy means separate)

If you want to get your kids on a sugar high, then by all means do so. I love candy. Especially See's candy. But please, prayerfully consider your participation in a celebration of paganism. I am not saying this because I think myself a spiritual giant, but because I see the effects of paganism first-hand. We are living in a world that likes what the "DaVinci Code" is all about.

In Christ's love,
Rhonda

Found!

I finally found the important papers that were lost. You are just not going to believe this. After combing the living room, our bedroom, the office (AKA the dungeon), I was at my wit's end. I have a theory about lost items: If something is not where it belongs, then it is somewhere it does not belong. Duh. That means that you cannot always look in the obvious places. Sometimes you have to look in the freezer. Usually I look and look, then I take a break and let my subconcious try to remember where the thing is. Well, after hours of concern (not actual worry, but concern) I started my next theory about finding lost items. You must start cleaning. You will eventually find among things not yet de-cluttered the item you seek. Well, I started in Ronnie's room, which doubles as my office, a situation that must change, even if it means moving Ronnie out into the living room. I started cleaning off his catch-all dresser, and slowy my eyes moved up to the stuffed-animal hammock hanging in the corner. And there, nestled among Pooh and Goofy and Jessie, I see the papers! Hurrah! Just at that second, the Preacher calls home. I answered and told him the good news. He said, "Oh yeah, I might have put them there" AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

R


Now if I can just find my choir book..........

I'm bursting with ideas!

Thanks to all those who have shown your concern for me. We have been discouraged, but we have risen up, and will continue the course that God has set forth for us, knowing well it will be a bumpy ride. BTW, Happymamma, I'd like to hear the rest of your song. Do you have a melody to go with it? I wish I could write music!

The Ladies retreat will be centered around Colossians 2:6 "so walk ye in him"
We are going to "walk in him" with our husbands, our children, in the Church, in the community, with our habits and with our dress and demeanor. I have several pastor's and missionary's wives coming to take a session. I will elaborate more as it comes more closely into focus.

I feel a few posts "coming on" in light of what I have been reading and hearing. 1. Beth Moore and women teachers and preachers. 2. I just read "The DaVinci Code" and since Halloween is right around the corner, I'll do my take on those things and how they so closely fit together. 3. I have been thinking about appetites, not physical, but spiritual. Why do some people feel grieved in their spirits when they hear "praise and worship" music, and others love it? It has to do with appetites. More later.

I have been listening to Dr.Voddie Baucham and Michael Pearl. Great!!!

The Preacher misplaced some important documents, so when I find them, I'll have more time to write.

Grace and Peace through Jesus Christ,

R

Escapism

I have not been blogging lately. I have been reading, but not writing. Several situations have come up lately that have really discouraged me and I found myself "escaping" from reality. I have watched a ton of DVDs. I have spent an inordinate amount of time daydreaming about our big vacation next year. (Its 405 days away, but who's counting?)

I have not blogged because I try to be as real as possible when blogging, and believe me, I did not want to be real. There comes times in your life that are faced with uncomfortable, often painful situations over which you have absolutely no control. As our friend Dawn says, "Its in God's hands, but its still in my face" Praying seemed to make things worse because praying caused me to focus on the problem.

Just how do you put your faith into practice in these situations? Someday I may figure it out.

R

Ladies Retreat

We are going to host a ladies retreat next month. Our church building is still in the "un-finished" state, so it should prove interesting!

I have been thinking about what I want to share with the ladies. What is the most important thing we can share? There are many topics, many issues that need to be addressed, but which is the most important and relevant? I was talking to my missionary friend Michelle, on Monday at a fabulous cookout at their house. We were discussing the retreat and subjects we'd like to talk about it. We realized that God has sent us to work in a place where Satan has had free reign. It is hard to talk about purity when these ladies have never known purity. It is hard to discuss a heavenly marriage when all marriages around them are from the Pit. It is hard to talk about loving family relationship where there is little natural affection. They do not know of God's order in life. They do not realize that God expects husbands and wives to put each other first, before the children. They do not understand that the children are not in charge. They do not understand that Grandma and Mom do not have the same position of authority. And none of them realize that there should be a father in every household. I know that we work we do now, may not bear fruit for another generation...or two.

So for the next few weeks, I'll be sharing things with you all that I plan to share with them, to get your feedback.

Grace and Peace from God the Father,
R

Equipping your children

I have been reading Kay Arthur and Beth Moore lately. The prevailing theme of both books has been the redeeming grace of God. Since I have been under wonderful Bible teaching all my life, I am convinced of the truth of this. God can and does take broken lives and piece them together for His service.

But it is also important to know that the Grace of God is capable of keeping us from sabotaging our own lives. I mean, you don't have to make a mess of things in order to experience the grace of God. Grace can keep you from sin, if you'll allow it.

As parents, we are in a position to be the instruments of that grace. We can and must do our jobs as parents to help our kids make the right choices and withstand temptations. We can't and shoudn't shield them from all tenptation, we can regulate it. We don't have to send our kids to swim with the sharks. We can, figuratively speaking, train them about sharks. They can and must, learn how to be safe if they come into contact with a shark. We can watch as they face the sharks. Someday, when they are alone, they will remember our diligent training and they will be safe in any environment.

Do you get what I am saying? Prevention now is better that grace later. I once heard a man say that he was glad he got into terrible sin, because now he understood the grace of God. Baloney!!!!! I'll bet his wife didn't feel that way, or his kids. God does not tell us to flirt with sin so that we can experience His grace. He says to FLEE!!!!! Run! Escape! These are valuable skills we can give our Christian children.

We don't over-protect, we must train. You don't tell you kids never to cross the street. When they are old enough, you take them out, explain the "stop, look, listen", you show them the cross walk. You cross with them a few times. Then you watch from behind the curtain to see if they are obeying the procedures for safe crossings. Then you will know that, no matter where they are, and who they are with, they will cross safely. We can do this with tempting situations. We must! Their life depends on it!

Grace should make you gracious

I was getting ready to do a blog post yesterday when my doorbell rang. I peeked outside and saw a young lady who has been attending our church lately. I cringed, because I really didn't feel like talking to anyone. I let her in and she sat down and started talking. For almost 3 (three) hours. I sat there cringing on the inside, trying to make spiritual conversation on the outside. I am sure it was not too spiritual, given my attitude, but she seemed to appreciate the time spent with her.
I forced myself to realize that this is what God would have me to do. So I did it. What I should have done is to have changed my attitude. Grace should have made me more gracious. Understanding God's grace should make us more gracious towards others even though they cut into your blogging time!

Mrs. A.J. Wilder, on Anger

The Armor of a Smile
November 1921
Mrs A was angry. Her eyes snapped, her voice was shrill, and a red flag of rage was flying upon each cheek. She expected opposition and anger at the things she said, but her remarks were answered in a soft voice; her angry eyes were met by smiling ones; and her attack was smothered in the softness of courtesy, consideration, and compromise.
I feel sure Mrs. A had intended to create a disturbance, but she might as well have tried to break a feather pillow by beating It as to have any effect with her angry voice and manner on the perfect kindness and good manners which met her. She only made herself ridiculous, and in self-defense was obliged to change her attitude. Since then I have been wondering if it so, if shafts of malice aimed in anger forever fail harmless against the armor of a smile, kind words, and gentle manners. I believe they do. And 1 have gained a fuller understanding of the words, “A soft answer turneth awav wrath.’ Until this incident, I had found no more in the words than the idea that a soft answer might cool the wrath of an aggressor, but I saw wrath turned away as an arrow deflected from its mark and carne lo understand that a soft answer and a courteous manner are an actual protection. Nothing is ever gained by allowing anger to have sway. While under its influence, we lose the ability to think clearly and lose the forceful power that is in calmness. Anger is a destructive force; its purpose is to hurt and destroy, and being a blind passion, it does its evil work, not onlv upon whatever arouses it, but also upon the person who harbors it. Even physically it injures him, impeding the action of the heart and circulation. affecting the respiration, and creating an actual poison In the blood. Persons with weak hearts have been known to drop dead from It, and always there is a feeling of illness after indulging in a fit of temper. Anger is a destroying force. What all the world needs is its opposite—an uplifting power. Proverbs 15:1.

Will somebody say Amen? Amen?

I have been having a great time listening to Beth Moore online at oneplace.com. I tell you, if God ever lifts His ban on women preachers (and He won't) I want to be one! I used to want to be a singer like Sandi Patti when I grew up and now I want to be a teacher like Beth Moore;) But I'll need to work on my Texan accent. Hey, how come it is that a lot of women preachers have real thick southern accents?

All kidding aside, I have been enormously blessed over the past two days by Beth, and Chuck Swindoll and Voddie Baucham and Michael Pearl.
Here are some of the things I have gleaned:

1. God can and does cleanse us from all our filthiness. And we are all filthy, even us "good" ones.

2. When God saved you, He forgave all your sins, past, present and future. I knew this, of course, but its always good to remember it. It is also necessary to understand the even though ALL your sins have been (past tense) forgiven, you have no license to sin. We have been Born Again, we are dead to sin.

3.Children are a blessing, a gift from God. We should not view them as simply a drain on our resources.

4. We should never ridicule anyone whom God has blessed with many children.

5.It is the father's responsability to Win his kids for Christ and desciple them.



Grace and peace from God our Father!

Rhonda

I found my Laura Ingalls book!

This book is a compilation by of articles written for a newspaper by LIW. Edited by Stephen W. Hines.

I love reading these posts. I guess this must have been Laura's "blog"



Are You Your Children’s Confidant?
September 1921
A letter from my mother, who is seventy-six years old, lies on my desk beside a letter from my daughter far away in Europe. Reading the message from my mother, I am a child again and a longing unutterable fills my heart for counsel, for the safe haven of her protection and the relief from responsibility which trusting in her judgment always gave me.
But when I turn to the letter written by my daughter, who will always be little girl to me no matter how old she grows, then I understand and appreciate my mother’s position and her feelings toward me. Many of us have the blessed privilege of being at the same time mother and child, able to let the one interpret the other to us until our understanding of both is rich and full. What is there in the attitude of your children toward yourself that you wish were different? Search your heart and learn if your ways toward your own mother could be improved. In the light of experience and the test of the years, can you see how your mother might have been more to you, could have guided you better? Then are making the most of your privileges with the children who are looking to you for love and guidance? For there is, after ah, no great difference --- the generations; the problems of today and tomorrow must be met in much the same way as those of yesterday. During the years since my mother was a girl to the time when my daughter woman. there have been many slight, external changes in the fashions and ways of living, some change in the thought of the world, and much more freedom expressing those thoughts. But the love of rnother and child is the same, with the responsibility of controlling and guiding on the one side and the obligation of obedience and respect on the other. The most universal sentiment in the world is that of mother-love. From the highest to the lowest in the scale of humanity, and all through the animal kingdom, strongest force in creation, the conserver of life, the safeguard of evolution. It holds within its sheltering care the fulfillment of the purpose of creation itself. In all ages, in all countries it is the same—a boundless, all-enveloping love: if necessary, a sacrifice of self for the offspring.
Think of the number of children in the world, each the joy of some mother’s heart, each a link connecting one generation with another, each a hope for the future…
It stuns the mind to contemplate their number and their possibilities, for these are the coming rulers of the world: the makers of destiny, not only for their own generation but for the generations to come. And they are being trained by the women of today. Surely “The hand that rocks the cradle is that hand that rules the world”

Easy Bread Recipe

Here's my favorite bread recipe. Favorite, because its easier than pie.

90 minute Bread
4 pkgs dry yeast
4 c water
1 Tbls oil
4 tsp salt
8 tbls sugar
7-8 c flour (I use half white, half whole wheat)

Dissolve yeast in warm water, Add oil, salt, sugar and slowly add flour. Let set for 15 minutes.
Sprinkle with flour and knead for two minutes. Shape into 3 loaves and let set in greased pans for 30 minutes. bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.
The recipe says it makes 4 loaves, but makes 3 for me.

Pure foolishness

Even though I have spent most of my life outside the good ole US of A, I am definitely an American. Right now I am experiencing a bit of homesickness. The stupid part of this is that I'm not homesick for friends and family, because thanks to modern technology, I can communicate with whomever I please. I am homesick for the malls and restaurants and fun things. Foolishness, I know. I wish we could go to the old Pizza Mill and Sub Factory we used to go to when I was a child. I'd like to spend some time in Solvang, CA or Eureka Springs, AR, browsing through the shops. I would like to be eating an Awesome Blossom at Chili's. Isn't that ridiculous in the light of Eternity? One of the ways we lose our effectiveness as servants of God is our discontented attitudes. I am abundantly blessed all the time. Why can't I see this?
R