Home Bible Studies?...AKA...be ready for the knock at the door.

I was going to blog about this when I first heard about it last week from one of my news sources of choice, World Net Daily, (click here for article) but I thought, "No. Let's wait to make sure it is true." Fast forward to this morning. The pastor in question, his wife and their attorney were on Fox News (interviewed in part by the lovely Miss California, BTW) so I thought I would bring it to your attention, in case you hadn't heard about it...

From the article: {"Do you have a regular weekly meeting in your home? Do you sing? Do you say 'amen'?" the official reportedly asked. "Do you say, 'Praise the Lord'?"

The pastor's wife answered yes.

She says she was then told, however, that she must stop holding "religious assemblies" until she and her husband obtain a Major Use Permit from the county, a permit that often involves traffic and environmental studies, compliance with parking and sidewalk regulations and costs that top tens of thousands of dollars.
And if they fail to pay for the MUP, the county official reportedly warned, the couple will be charged escalating fines beginning at $100, then $200, $500, $1000 "and then it will get ugly."}


I know California is broke and needs to make some fast cash, but COME ON!!!

As California goes, so goes the nation???


Here is the video link. I couldn't get the video to embed.

Here are some random old pictures of our growth group. I sure hope this doesn't become illegal! (Not in Indiana, right? I bet that is what they said in Iowa just before they passed the Gay Marriage Rights Act there. Just saying...)























Just some food for thought...

Memorial Day musings...

Just taking a time out from my holiday weekend to sit down and blog. So far it has been a very relaxing (and a MUCH needed) break from work!

Last year I posted this on Memorial Day with this picture of the World War II Memorial in honor of my Dad.



Thank you to all the veterans who fought, sacrificed and died for our country...even if the DHS now says that returning Iraqi war veterans may be potential terrorist threats! (but that is another post for another day...)

When I was a child, there was only one day a year that we were "allowed" to miss church. That was Memorial Day Sunday. It was almost like a family reunion every year with relatives coming from all over...even up from Kentucky to visit the graves of loved ones who had migrated north.

My grandmother lost 3 children under the age of 2. She always had "store bought" wreaths for their graves. For the rest of the many other graves we visited (at different cemeteries across Franklin County), she always made beautiful bouquets from flowers from our yard. She saved coffee cans throughout the year and covered them with aluminum foil, took the fresh floral arrangements to the graves and we always made sure they were full of water before we left.

Here is the final resting place of my beloved Grandma and Grandpa McQueen whom my parents and I lived with on our farm until I was 9.





Apparently my uncle (Grandma's only surving "child") hadn't been there to decorate yet.
I sure hope he and my Aunt haven't abandoned the tradition...I am sure my Grandma would be displeased with him.


My mother is buried right beside them. Both of my grandparents outlived my Mother. My Grandmother never got over it. After we moved out of their home, we moved...across the road. My mom and Grandmother were very, very close...They did everything together, including tending to a HUGE garden and canning everything they could get their hands on in the summer.




On June 12th, it will be 30 years since my mother died. I still miss her so much...


Decorating graves on Memorial Day is just the way in which I was raised. Jim just doesn't understand why Memorial Day is such a big deal to me...His family didn't observe it I guess. My parents and Grandparents knew our family members weren't literally in the grave...it is just a once a year remembrance of them, their lives and how much they meant to us, I guess.


My Dad, stepmother and I decorated this year. This is his family's burial plot:



Here is Dad decorating his grandparents' grave (check out the dates)







Here are my Dad's parents' graves (my other set of Grandparents).




This is my Dad's older brother's grave. Uncle Ben died in his early 40s of muscular dystrophy. He and my dad were best friends. I don't think Dad ever got over his death entirely.






Here is a picture of my Dad and his garden I took yesterday. He will be 87 years old this July. You might remember he fell on the ice last winter, broke 2 ribs and punctured a lung. He is getting around VERY WELL in spite of everything. I can't believe he has the energy to put out a garden! Granted, it is smaller than in years past, but still...




The following are some pictures taken in our yard this weekend. I have SOOOO much to do in it, but we are working on cleaning out our basement and garage. YUCK!!! No fun at all.


Here are a couple pictures of our Columbine plant. I really like the color. {You can double click on all these pictures for a much better view}









Next are some of our Irises. (my FAVORITE FLOWER)











Here are some other flowers blooming right now...




















Hope you are all having a WONDERFUL holiday weekend!

And the WINNER is...

As Ryan said, it was the "guyliner" vs the "guy next door".




It was the power singer who could do no wrong in the judges's eyes week after week vs. the long shot dark horse who kept staying and staying and staying, week after week...




Kris' best performance from Tuesday night's show!
{PAUSE PLAYLIST OVER ON RIGHT, FIRST!}





Adam's best performance...(hey, they were all good! This was the only video I could find. This doesn't really show his AWESOME range)





It was THE BEST finale show since Season 4!!!Jammed packed with talent including Keith Urban, Kiss, Queen, Cindi Lauper, Carlos Santana, Lionel Ritchie, Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas, Queen Latifa, Rod Stewart and even Steve Martin strumming on the old banjo! Not to mention they bring back all the old "wannabes" who love to make us laugh...either that or they get paid really well to humiliate themselves! AND I got to see my beloved Danny Gokey again!!! Kara (the new judge) really let "bikini girl" and her "new friends" have it! (You had to be there...Kara is an AWESOME singer!!!)

When all was said and done, 2 VERY talented young men...in very different ways...stood on the stage waiting the results while American held its collective breath...knowing full well who was going to win, but there is always that doubt...





Who is it gonna be????

Adam, (of course...so unique...so poised...so TALENTED)





One almost felt sorry for Kris and his sweet wife and family...waiting...





Finally, the moment we have been waiting for...all these weeks...has arrived!

Ryan Seacrest says, "The winner of American Idol Season 8 is...
















KRIS ALLEN!!!!!!






and you could almost hear the gasps racing across America! You have just witnessed the biggest upset since Reuben beat Clay in Season 2. The biggest shock since Daughtry got sent home at the # 4 position. And the rabble rousing begins...unfortunately. People on the blogs and forums are crying foul, saying Adam was beaten by a "Christian" because he (Adam) is gay. Give me a BREAK!!! Adam got beat because Danny's fans voted for Kris. Plain and simple. But it is just a sign of the times that even AI had to turn POLITICAL. Sad indeed.

From gossip plaza:


Kris Allen Wins American Idol!


From handsome also-ran to American Idol champion.

Kris Allen completed an incredible journey this week by being named the eighth-ever winner of the most popular show on television.

Overlooked when the competition began - at the outset, Simon Cowell even suggested that Allen should keep his marriage a secret because he would only advance based on his looks - Allen shed his underdog label and overcame Adam Lambert in a tightly-contested finale.

What was Allen's reaction upon winning? He said: "Adam deserves this. I'm sorry." Class act (and we agree!).

Will Kris follow in the successful footsteps of past victors such as Carrie Underwood? Or the anonymous footsteps of champs such as Reuben Studdard?

Only time will tell. For now, let's just wish a hearty congratulations to one of the most unexpected winners in show history!


At the very end of the show, Kris' wife joining him on stage and as they embraced, you could see how Kris became overwhelmed. It was SOOOO touching, seeing that imtimate moment.



CONGRATUATIONS, KRIS ALLEN!!! I have always LOVED it when the underdog wins!!!!

Obama says, "...in a pluralistic society, we have no choice." AKA What DOES he believe in ???

{PAUSE MY PLAYLIST OVER ON THE RIGHT FIRST...}




Hmmm. Don't get it twisted. I am as peaceful as the next person. Heck, I used to be a Hippie, back in the day. (Peace, Love, and Rock and Roll...) But hey, correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Jesus say, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." {Matthew 10:34 (King James Version)}






Now, with that in mind, I know you are all well aware of the controversy Obama's appearance at Notre Dame's commencement ceremonies caused. Here is the link for the entire transcript of his speech, if you are curious and didn't see it on TV.

I am posting an op-ed that I found on World Net Daily that sums up exactly how I feel about it...Let me warn you...this isn't pleasant...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The blowback of Notre Dame

By Joseph Farah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: May 18, 2009
1:00 am Eastern

© 2009

As if to rub salt in the wound opened by Notre Dame's invitation to deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree yesterday, Barack Obama lectured Catholics about abortion.

He said it's time for common ground on the issue and an approach to the life-and-death debate with "open hearts, open minds and fair-minded words."

I suppose that's understandable.

If I were presiding over a public policy that called for the murder of unborn babies for any reason or no reason at all, that provided mandatory public funding of those procedures both domestically and in foreign countries, that required doctors and nurses to perform abortions even if they were conscientiously opposed, that permitted experimentations on living human embryos, that promoted even partial-birth abortions outside the womb and that called for the extermination of infants who somehow defied all the odds and managed to survive efforts to kill them before birth, I guess I would want to frame the debate in such a way as to diminish the hideous monstrousness of my morally indefensible position.

He doesn't really want people who recognize what abortion is to approach the debate with "open hearts." He wants us to harden our hearts.

We won't do that.

The only hearts and minds being opened in this debate and the hearts and minds of little innocents – sliced open surgically in the most barbaric fashion because of activist judges exceeding their authority and morally bankrupt politicians like Obama and his cohorts in the Congress.

These are the most "fair-minded words" I can muster to describe Obama's efforts at soft-pedaling his own bloody and extremist policies on abortion.

Obama said: "Each side will continue to makes its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature."

Let me translate this for you.

"Now that my side in this debate is in control of all the levers of power and is enforcing its will on the other side, it's time for a nice civil dialogue on abortion."

That's what Obama would like.

Let me be the first to say, "No way, buster!"

You want to kill babies? You're going to have to accept the consequences of righteous moral indignation. You're going to have to accept being called out for what you are doing. You're going to have to accept the conviction that comes with the abomination of child sacrifice. You're going to have to accept being labeled for what you are.

Obama even acknowledged he knows what this debate is all about – characterizing abortion as a "heart-wrenching" decision for any woman.

Why is abortion a "heart-wrenching" decision for a mother?

Because it's a decision to kill one's child – materialistic reasons, for reasons of convenience.

It should be "heart-wrenching" to decide to kill one's child.

Obama's policies are meant to remove the guilt, remove the consequences of irresponsible decisions, remove the issue of right and wrong, remove even the "choice" of those who disagree with him not to participate in any way in the slaughter at the altar of Baal.

"We must find a way to live together as one human family," he said in closing.

That's quite a statement.

The man who is carrying out the slaughter of the innocents with the same enthusiasm as Herod and Pharaoh calls for us to find a way to live together as one human family.

How do we learn to live together as one human family when our offspring are being sacrificed to false gods and man-made religions?

How do we learn to live together as one human family when it means accepting coercion into active participation in the worst kind of evil perversion?

How does one live with oneself if it means tolerance of the intolerable?

No, I won't play that game.

No, I won't play by Obama's rules.

In my opinion...very well said. There can be no "common ground" on the issue of abortion. You either approve or disapprove. Period.

One more thing. This is how Planned Parenthood "helps" young girls. Granted, I wasn't there...I can't say with complete assurance that this wasn't "scripted", but hey. I really don't doubt this is true...



"Planned Parenthood, a tax-exempt nonprofit, made over $100 million in profits last year and has a billion-dollar budget, nearly a third of which comes from taxpayers through government funding." {Mona Lisa Project}

I am sorry, but I am sickened to hear my President say that we can reach "common ground" when it comes to abortion. I am sickened that my tax dollars fund CRIMES such as was just portrayed. Sickened...

A Mother's Prayer

First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all my "blogging buddies". Here are some images for the day.

No matter how old your "babies" are, today is a day to remember...

















All God's creatures...



God Bless all of you...today and everyday!

"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
-Psalm 127:3 {KJV}

AMEN!





I miss my "baby", but am very proud of the woman she has become! I love her and all my other "daughters" very much!





This song is called, "A Mother's Prayer" by Celine Dion. I cry everytime I hear it! I know all mothers can relate, whether you have a daughter, a son or many of each! (I know my Mother prayed the same for me. She "entered her rest" 30 years ago next month. I still miss you, Mommy...)


{PAUSE PLAYLIST OVER ON THE RIGHT FIRST}




Lastly, here is a forward Emily sent me awhile back. Enjoy, Moms!!!



I OWE MY MOTHER (for everything)

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
'If you're going to kill each other, do it outside.
I just finished cleaning.'

2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
'You better pray that will come out of the carpet.'

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
'If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you
into the middle of next week!'

4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
' Because I said so, that's why.'

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
'If you fall out of that swing and break your neck,
you're not going to the store with me.'

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
'Make sure you wear clean underwear,
in case you're in an accident.'

7. My mother taught me IRONY.
'Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about.'

8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
'Shut your mouth and eat your supper.'

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
'Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!'

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
'You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone.'

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
'This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.'

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
'If I told you once, I've told you a million times.
Don't exaggerate!'

13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE .
'I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.'

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
'Stop acting like your father!'

15. My mother taught me about ENVY .
'There are millions of less fortunate children in this world
who don't have wonderful parents like you do.'

16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
'Just wait until we get home.'

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
'You are going to get it when you get home!'

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
'If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going
to get stuck that way.'

19. My mother taught me ESP.
'Put your sweater on; don't you think
I know when you are cold?'

20. My mother taught me HUMOR .
'When that lawn mower cuts off your toes,
don't come running to me.'

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
'If you don't eat your vegetables,
you'll never grow up.'

22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
'You're just like your father.'

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
'Shut that door behind you. Do you think
you were born in a barn?'

24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
'When you get to be my age, you'll understand.'

25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE .
'One day you'll have kids, and I hope
they turn out just like you

Just HOW good are you?

{PAUSE PLAYLIST OVER ON RIGHT FIRST}












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Answers here: