A 21st Century Marriage

I stopped at a florist shop after work to pick up roses for my wife.
As the clerk was putting the finishing touches on the bouquet,
a young man burst through the door, breathlessly requesting a dozen red roses.
"I'm sorry," the clerk said. "This man just ordered our last bunch."
The desperate customer turned to me and begged, "May I please have those roses?"
"What happened?" I asked. "Did you forget your wedding anniversary?"
"It's even worse than that," he confided.
"I crashed my wife's hard drive!"

Red envelope project

I have received this e-mail from a few of my friends. Something really easy to do that makes a statement.

Be sure & visit the web site after you read below with more info on this.

Dear Friends and Intercessors:
This afternoon I was praying about a number of things, and my mind began to wander.

I was deeply distressed at the symbolic actions that President Obama took as he began his presidency.

Namely, that he signed executive orders releasing funds to pay for abortions, permission to fund human stem cell research, and federal funding for contraception.

I have been involved in the pro-life movement for nearly 20 years, and it pained my heart to see a man and a political party committed to the shedding of innocent blood. This man, and this party lead our country, but they do not represent me or the 54% of Americans who believe that abortion is wrong and should no longer be legal.
As I was praying, I believe that God gave me an interesting idea. Out in the garage I have a box of red envelopes. Like the powerful image of the red LIFE tape, an empty red envelope will send a message to Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue. It will be quiet, but clear.

Here is what I would like you to do:
Get a red envelope.
You can buy them at Kinkos, or at party supply stores.

On the front, address it to...

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Washington , D.C. 20500-0001

On the back, write the following message:

This envelope represents one child who died in abortion.It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world.Responsibility begins with conception.

Put it in the mail, and send it. Then forward this email to every one of your friends who you think would send one too. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died before having a a chance to live. Maybe it will change the heart of the President.

Tell me that this is not a baby------

My 2nd granddaughter Annabelle Lillian that is coming in April may disagree. Here she is at her last appointment. She was caught napping with her hand on the side of her face & under her chin.

What the heck

Hiccups Cure

A man goes into a drugstore and asks the pharmacist if
he can give him something for the hiccups.
The pharmacist promptly reaches out and slaps the man's face.
"What did you do that for?" the man asks.
"Well, you don't have the hiccups anymore, do you?"
The man says, "No, but my wife out in the car still does!"

Valentine

An oldie but a goodie. I have seen this around for awhile but still love getting it.


............."For God so loVed the world,
.....That He GAve
...........His onLy
............BegottEn
.................SoN
....................................That whosoever
............Believeth In Him
....................Should Not perish,
.........................But have Everlasting life."
John 3:16

I know somebody that knows somebody

I received an e-mail from a friend of mine that has had received an email from a friend of hers. I now know somebody that knows somebody.

I wish this guy all the best. Here is the e-mail from my friend & below hers is the email she received from her friend.

Dear Friends & Family -

Alex's first grade teacher in Brentwood, TN, Nicole Smith's husband is on the American Idol this year. We are asking you all to please vote for him Tuesday night so that he can continue on to the next round. He has had a couple records out, but he hasn't had any major hits yet so they are hoping and praying for this to work out for them. Mrs. Smith is one of our all time favorite teachers and we would love for this opportunity to give his career the push it needs. Please she her email below. Pictures of Brent are on the bottom.

Thank you all so much!!

The Millers

&

Okay Friends and Family,

I am calling on each of you for your support and your votes! Even if you aren’t typically an American Idol watcher/fan I am asking each of you to please begin to watch, at least for the time being! As most of you already know, my husband, Brent Keith (Smith), is now officially a part of the top 36 on this season of American Idol!!

Would you please commit to voting (and praying) for Brent next Tuesday, February 17th (on your local Fox channel at 8/7 central), as he will be performing for the first time live and out of the 12 (6 guys and 6 girls) that will be performing next week only 1 girl with the most votes and 1 guy with the most votes and 1 person with the next highest number of votes (guy or girl) will move on to the top 12! YIKES! That means 9 contestants will go home next week! We really want Brent to stay in this thing! The judges will be able to bring back 3 contestants during the wild card round, but we would sure love to not have to wait for that!!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, let anyone and everyone you know about this and get them to commit to voting for Brent Keith as he moves forward in this season of American Idol!!! Please pass it on to as many people as you can!

BRENT KEITH COULD BE THE NEXT AMERICAN IDOL (with your help)!

Nicole M. Smith

A Special Love Story

I would like to share with you an e-mail I receive around each Valentines Day. I am proud to say this is from my Associate Pastor. He is thought very highly of in our church. I know for a fact that man has a place in heaven waiting on him. He is about the smartest most humble man I know that knows the entire history of the bible. He goes in depth that is way beyond me. His SSClass has to meet in the gym because it is so large.

David Langerfeld
Feb 11, 2009

Although most of you have read this story many times, I share it every year during Valentine's Week in tribute to the greatest, most wonderful woman I know...

A Special Love Story

Her family had come to America from Sweden. She had a typical Scandinavian look... Long blond hair; blue eyes; long slender legs; soft, blemish-free skin. She was gorgeous - she was beautiful. In fact, a professional international photographer in her hometown thought she was so pretty that he used a photograph of her to advertise his business.
But that was not her real beauty.

She was raised by some wonderful Christian parents and had become a Christian at an early age. Integrity, honesty and sweetness were just a few of her characteristics. In fact, at her engagement party, her sister, who knew her better than anyone, said that she had never heard her tell a lie. All of her friends said the same thing about her: She was the sweetest girl they knew. She would never speak a harsh word about anyone. Everyone loved to be around her.

A young man she met in her freshman year started dating her and fell in love with her - both her exterior photographic beauty and the wonderful godly character of her inward beauty. She fell in love with him and they spent every free moment they could with each other over the next four years. They were committed to each other and they believed in waiting long before the "True Love Waits" Campaign ever existed.

One week after they graduated from college, they were married. They loved each other's company. They would walk together, exercise together, go on bike rides together, chaperone youth trips together - go to movies, watch TV, eat pizza, travel - all the things any normal couple would love to do together. They were so much in love.

She taught school for a year and then became a bookkeeper for a surgical supply company. One day, while she was working, for no apparent reason, she lost her balance and fell on the floor. She was later able to get up and went to see a doctor that night. He set her up to see a Neurologist.

The following day, it happened again. For no apparent reason, she lost her balance and fell. This time, though, she couldn't get up. She had lost all feeling in her legs. They wouldn't move. Her husband, had to come to the office and pick her up in his arms and carry her to the hospital. After six days in the hospital, the doctor gave this beautiful, active young lady the dreadful news. She had Multiple Sclerosis and she would continue to deteriorate.

This young couple, who had now been married only 18 months - who loved to go everywhere together and do everything together - would now face some new challenges. All their future plans would change, everyday life would change. They would change.

For the next 30 years, this young lady did deteriorate. She had to take steroids (not the kind athletes use, but anti-inflammatory steroids). Her bones became brittle, breaking easily. Her face became puffy and bloated and she could not even put on make-up. Her body was a mess. She went from a walker, to an electric scooter, to a wheelchair. She could no longer feed herself, write her name, or control her own bodily functions. She now had to have someone stay with her 24 hours a day.

If that couple had not had the kind of committed love that's based first on a personal relationship and a commitment to Jesus Christ and second, on a love that's based on a commitment to each other, the marriage never would have lasted. In fact, a large percentage of the marriages where a spouse has MS, the other spouse leaves them. The other spouse won't stay committed to the constant care and the continual physical, psychological and mental changes that continue to occur.

Please hear me carefully - those two people are not heroes. They are not super-saints or super-Christians. They will be the first to tell you that they are not super Christians. Those two people are normal, ordinary people, empowered by the Love of God and a love for each other, to do what the world considers beyond normal and extraordinary.

I know this for a fact - because that woman, that beautiful young lady who will never walk again, who can't even feed herself, is Lynda Langerfeld - my wife. She's not a hero. I'm not a hero. We're children of God, doing what the children of God are supposed to do. Doing what His children are called to do. Doing what God expects of every man and every woman who make a vow before God on their wedding day.

Quite often, Hollywood will portray a "hero" sacrificing his life for his "heroine" in a film. In the world's eyes, he's a hero. In God's eyes, he's an ordinary man making an extraordinary sacrifice that every Christian who's committed to his spouse ought to make. Sacrificial, Committed Love is the rule, not the exception. We're not super-saints, we're not heroes when we're being faithful and committed to our mates. We're doing what God has called every husband and wife to do since the beginning of time.

(c) 2002
David Langerfeld
dlangerfeld@HarrisburgBaptist.org
http://www.harrisburgonline.org/

Permission to distribute this article via email or individual copies is automatically granted on the condition it will be used for non-commercial purposes and will not be sold.

Male assertiveness

A mild-mannered man was tired of being bossed around by his wife so he went to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist said he needed to build his self-esteem, and so gave him a book on assertiveness, which he read on the way home.
He had finished the book by the time he reached his house.
The man stormed into the house and walked up to his wife.
Pointing a finger in her face, he said, "From now on, I want you to know that I am the man of this house, and my word is law! I want you to prepare me a gourmet meal tonight, and when I'm finished eating my meal, I expect a sumptuous dessert afterward. Then, after dinner, you're going to draw me my bath so I can relax.
And when I'm finished with my bath, guess who's going to dress me and comb my hair?"
"The funeral director," said his wife.

What the world has come to

Some guy bought a new fridge for his house. To get rid of his old fridge, he put it in his front yard and hung a sign on it saying: ‘Free to good home. You want it, you take it.’ For three days the fridge sat there without even one person looking twice at it. He eventually decided that people were too un-trusting of this deal.
It looked too good to be true, so he changed the sign to read: ‘Fridge for sale $50.’
The next day someone stole it!


I found this over at www.bloggled.com/blog/

My Mother

One of the many things I do is keep the e-mail address list up to date for my Sunday School class. If anything needs to be sent out to an individual or as a whole I can do it. Most of the time it is a prayer request. We have a really large ladies class & we consider ourselves Prayer Warriors. Prayer is something my whole class takes very much to heart. We know without a doubt that the Lord is who you turn to for the answer to any problem you could ever have. Of all the prayer request I send out, today's to my class was for my mother. Here is what it said.

I have sent prayer request for different people but now this one is mine.
My mother (Catherine Adkins-64 years old) had been sick for a few days. She was thinking flu. She had a doctor’s appointment today. I have had my own prayer for some time that she along with my sister would give up smoking. The doctor informs her today if she does not that she will have to start breathing treatments. Her lungs after smoking for so long have become weak. My mother is now willing to lay her cigarettes on the altar & leave it to God to help her. Along with His help she thinks she can kick the habit. She has smoked for at least 48 years, give or take a few years of trying to kick it.
Please put my mother in your prayers for her to be able to QUIT for good.
My sister has yet to get a bad report but throw in a few words for my sister to be convicted to lay hers down.
My mother’s husband (Homer Adkins) had also been sick so they made double appointments & he was seen also. He is prone to get pneumonia really easy but the doctor says it is just a cold. Stay in, take some meds & he should be feeling better in a few days.
I will keep you updated a little later on of her progress.
The Lord is blessing us with a beautiful weekend so that should help matters.

If you have any words of encouragement my mother would love to have you e-mail her.

Leave your words under my comment section & she will read them here.

The Elephant Story

As an Alabama fan or Bama for short I had often wondered how the mascot of an elephant came about. While stalking blogs today one took me to the Bama site.

Isn't it nice for any questions you have you can find the answer at your fingertips.

The Elephant Story

The story of how Alabama became associated with the "elephant" goes back to the 1930 season when Coach Wallace Wade had assembled a great football team.
On October 8, 1930, sports writer Everett Strupper of the Atlanta Journal wrote a story of the Alabama-Mississippi game he had witnessed in Tuscaloosa four days earlier. Strupper wrote, "That Alabama team of 1930 is a typical Wade machine, powerful, big, tough, fast, aggressive, well-schooled in fundamentals, and the best blocking team for this early in the season that I have ever seen. When those big brutes hit you I mean you go down and stay down, often for an additional two minutes.
"Coach Wade started his second team that was plenty big and they went right to their knitting scoring a touchdown in the first quarter against one of the best fighting small lines that I have seen. For Ole Miss was truly battling the big boys for every inch of ground.
"At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow. Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped this Alabama varsity.
"It was the first time that I had seen it and the size of the entire eleven nearly knocked me cold, men that I had seen play last year looking like they had nearly doubled in size."
Strupper and other writers continued to refer to the Alabama linemen as "Red Elephants," the color referring to the crimson jerseys.
The 1930 team posted an overall 10-0 record. It shut out eight opponents and allowed only 13 points all season while scoring 217. The "Red Elephants" rolled over Washington State 24-0 in the Rose Bowl and were declared National Champions.

National Signing Day

Oh how I love my talented family. My sister sent me an e-mail about her granddaughter. AKA my great-neice. We sure do have some talent running through our blood line.

"Our granddaughter, Hayley Alden, was all over the news in South Bend today, along with many of her fellow players from Penn H.S., and signed to play soccer at Indiana State next fall. We are really proud of her for her achievements especially this yr. She has been awarded sport and academic awards.
Click on her name (about 6 down) and the video should come up on the right of your screen."

Follow this link..........

National Signing Day: A look at where local athletes are headed

Sickness & Buses

I have gotten so far behind on the day to day stuff. I have a blog post setting in my draft folder. I need to get it out & post it about our....hold your breath......Christmas.
I have been home all day with a sick child. My youngest son has been bothered with sinus/allergy stuff for some time. We have gone to the doctor about it several times but then after awhile it is back. Just now he ran through the house full speed. But in the morning he will be deathly ill for school. I picked him up from school yesterday. I had bible study at church yesterday morning & errands to do to get ready for my kindergarten class at church last night. I was headed toward Wally World & caller ID on my cell phone showed the school. I should have known....sick. They thought it looked like PINK EYE. I went to get him, shot to Wally World real quick, got home, put medicine in him, got my lesson ready, went back to church & finally back home to rest & eat. In all this I wasn't being totally inconsiderate. It was not pink eye. I won't go in to nasty detail but all the signs were not there. He got up this morning & just the allergy stuff was there.
On top of all the sick stuff today my oldest son did go to school. He rides the bus home in the afternoons. Well the time came & went for him to be home. OH NO was I suppose to pick him up from school late. I did it again. I need to write these things down. Just kidding I did not forget him. The bus was late. Finally after walking the floor & standing outside willing the bus to come it didn't. I called the bus garage & guess what...they close early. Does that make sense? Buses are running & the office closes. I left a somewhat angry message. I am sure no one calls me back. I called the school & they knew right off what I needed. The bus driver had become sick & they had to double up on a bus. It took him 2 hours past his regular time to get home. He came through the door at around 5:25 PM. School is out at 3:oo pm. I guess the reason I am so upset is I have been having several several problems with this route. It seems no one there wants to fix the problem. To beat it all the bus driver was not even familiar with the area & kept getting lost. She was taking directions from the students & they didn't even know where to go. Now wasn't that just perfect.
Well he is home safe & sound. My sickly child is off in the house watching cartoons probably on my unmade bed & I am about to go hunt for food in the pantry to feed them. Jeff is traveling this week so we have been on a very flexible schedule for meals.

Ice at my mom's best friends house

My mother has a really good friend that lives in western Kentucky & they are one of the thousands of families that have been hit hard by the ice storms. Here are a few of the photo's that my mother sent me. On top of all this they have cattle back behind the house at the barn they still have to go out & feed daily. Some friends of theirs have a dairy across the road & I don't know how that is going since they have been without power for some time now. Here is a post of when my mother & I made a trip there awhile back.

JUDY's

‘Little Deere’ loader apparently stolen

How to know you are from a small town.....
You know when you open up your hometown paper (or go to the website) & most of the news involves your relatives. A little bit of good & a litttle bit of bad. This was about my Brother-in-law. Wouldn't you just love to know who took it & look them in the eyes & ask WHY? To steal right from a Baptist Association office.
Here are 2 other articles about it & one below the picture.
Times Journal
The Weekly Post

Have you seen this tractor?The Sand Mountain Baptist Association Disaster Relief Team recently had this tractor stolen off their premises. For more information on the theft, see this week's edition of The Weekly Post.

‘Little Deere’ loader apparently stolen
By Chasity Brown
The Daily Sentinel
Published February 5, 2009

A small tractor that has been used to help countless families in need has been stolen from the Sand Mountain Baptist Association.
According to David Patty, Director of Missions for the Sand Mountain Baptist Association, the small John Deere tractor the association uses in disaster relief was stolen this past weekend from the Sand Mountain Baptist Associational Office under a garage.
The trailer it was sitting on was also stolen. The association reported the theft to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office on Monday."Our disaster relief team has used 'little deere' all over the country to help people, and now someone has stolen it," Patty said.
"It is a sad day indeed."The tractor is a John Deere compact tractor model 4100 with a front loader model 410.
The front loader has been modified to aid in debris removal.
The trailer is a 16 foot Lone Wolf flat bed.
Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call the Jackson County Sheriff's Office at 574-2610.

Update on my Uncle that was hurt on the job.

Lewis back at work after injury
By Dewayne Patterson
The Daily Sentinel
Published February 4, 2009
Larry Lewis, a deputy at the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, had never been out of work more than three days, other than vacation time, before December of last year.
That changed on a Sunday night in Section on Dec. 21, 2008. That night, while directing traffic on Alabama Highway 35 as members of the Section Fire Department battled a structure fire, Lewis was struck by a vehicle.
Lewis suffered two broken legs, a concussion, bruised sternum and several lacerations. Tuesday, Lewis, 54, was finally able to return to work, on restrictive duty, in the sheriff's office."I'm thrilled to death to be back," Lewis said. "I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world not to be hurt any worse."
Lewis spent two days in Huntsville Hospital before spending the next several weeks at home recuperating. He said he doesn't remember the accident."We're proud to have him back," said Chief Deputy Doyle York.
"He'll be on limited duties for awhile, and hopefully be back to 100 percent in the next few weeks.
"Lewis, who has been employed with the sheriff's office since 2003, said one of the main reasons he was able to return to work was the many thoughts and prayers he received, in addition to the numerous phone calls from people checking on him.

What really happened on the Hudson

CLICK on picture for larger view.

This is a picture I have seen circulating on blog sites & just received from my BIL.

Collection of apologies for not blogging

"I got promoted to an officer in my World of Crafts guild "
"I've been honestly overwhelmed by trying to keep up with my two language courses"
"I forgot my password..."
"I've been busy shooting pictures of soccer teams."
"I've been very depressed since Ginger died."
"I was planning on working more on my Sims characters. "

Not really.....Just something I found while surfing blogs.

Flat tire

Yesterday I had a flat tire on the highway. So I eased my car over to the shoulder of the road, carefully got out of the car and opened the trunk.

I took out 2 cardboard men, unfolded them and stood them at the rear of my car facing oncoming traffic. They look so lifelike you wouldn't believe! They are in trench coats, exposing their nude bodies and private parts to the approaching drivers.

I started to change my tire, and to my surprise, cars started slowing down looking at my lifelike men. And of course, traffic started backing up. Everybody was tooting their horns and waving like crazy.

It wasn't long before the Highway Patrol pulled up behind me. He got out of his car and started walking towards me. I could tell he was not a happy camper! "What's going on here?"

"My car has a flat tire," I said calmly. "Well, what the heck are those obscene cardboard men doing here by the road?" I couldn't believe that he didn't know.

So I told him, "Hello-o-o-o-o-o, those are my emergency flashers!"

Before I was a Mom

Before I was a Mom, I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.


Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.



Before I was a Mom, I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.



Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.



Before I was a Mom, I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.



Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.



I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.



My kids in a church photo a few years ago. They are now 22, 11 & 7 years old.

Some Crazy Conspiracy in Our Time

THIS IS HAPPENING RIGHT HERE IN OUR OWN COUNTRY!
We Must Stop This Immediately!
Have you noticed that stairs are getting steeper. Groceries are heavier. And, everything is farther away. Yesterday I walked to the corner and I was dumbfounded to discover how long our street had become!
And, you know, people are less considerate now, especially the young ones. They speak in whispers all the time! If you ask them to speak up they just keep repeating themselves, endlessly mouthing the same silent message until they're red in the face! What do they think I am, a lip reader?
I also think they are much younger than I was at the same age. On the other hand, people my own age are so much older than I am. I ran into an old friend the other day and she has aged so much that she didn't even recognize me.
I got to thinking about the poor dear while I was combing my hair this morning, and in doing so, I glanced at my own reflection. Well, REALLY NOW -even mirrors are not made the way they used to be!
Another thing, everyone drives so fast these days! You're risking life and limb if you happen to pull onto the freeway in front of them. All I can say is, their brakes must wear out awfully fast, the way I see them screech and swerve in my rear view mirror.
Clothing manufacturers are less civilized these days. Why else would they suddenly start labeling a size 10 or 12 dress as 18 or 20? Do they think no one notices?
The people who make bathroom scales are pulling the same prank. Do they think I actually "believe" the number I see on that dial? HA! I would never let myself weigh that much! Just who do these people think they're fooling?
I'd like to call up someone in authority to report what's going on -- but the telephone company is in on the conspiracy too: they've printed the phone books in such small type that no one could ever find a number in there!
All I can do is pass along this warning: WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!
Unless something drastic happens, pretty soon everyone will have to suffer these awful indignities.
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO WE CAN GET THIS CONSPIRACY STOPPED!
PS: I am sending this to you in a larger font size, because something has happened to my computer's fonts - they are smaller than they once were.

George and Moses

George W. Bush, in an airport lobby, noticed a man in a long flowing white robe with a long flowing white beard and flowing white hair. The man had a staff in one hand and some stone tablets under the other arm.
George W. approached the man and inquired, "Aren't you Moses."
The man ignored George W. and stared at the ceiling. George W. positioned himself more directly in the man's view and asked again, "Aren't you Moses". The man continued to peruse the ceiling. George W. tugged at the man's sleeve and asked once again, "Aren't you Moses". The man finally responded in an irritated voice, "Yes I am". George W. asked him why he was so uppity and the man replied, "The last time a bush spoke to me I ended up spending forty years in the wilderness".