New babies in the family.......

Top photo:
Grandma Darcy holding Haley.

Bottom photo:
Three Grandma's on a couch with the Granddaughters. These "Granny's" are Don's sisters and sister in law.
Left to right.....

Don's sister, "Pam" holding "Ellie" (hope I spelled that correctly)

Don's sister, "Jacque" holding "Amelia"

Our sister in law, Darcy holding Haley

All these are new baby girls added into the Clan Mahan, they are all sweet babies and were so glad to get to see them while we were home.

I can't believe I didn't take more photos that day but that crazy LSU game was on and making all us from Louisiana, which were 7 of us (and that was a big majority I might add) batty that day.

Day at the Doctor's office......ouch!

Yesterday I had my second visit in two weeks to the R.A. Specialist.

He had told me last time that I needed to read all the pamphlets he gave to me and basically "pick my poison".....
well he didn't say that....
he said...."pick a treatment." But I know what is in the "treatment" soooooo.......I prayed about it and talked with my husband and we weighed all the options.

I picked the Methatextrate injections. Which is a Chemotherapy drug. I had been on it before but in pill form and suffered severe digestive problems so...I stopped it.

Anyway, long story longer, I chose doing injections of it this time so it would be bypassing the stomach plus your body absorbs more of the drug this way and I need it to work FAST!!
Pray with me that it does. I need some relief now.

They say it takes 2-3 weeks to kick in but I know God can do it NOW.

So I had to GIVE MYSELF AN INJECTION in my fat stomach. Ugh. It was easier to pinch a bunch of that. HA!
I didn't think I could do it. I mean I stuck the needle in....and stopped and asked the nurse...."how much further do I have to go?????"
She said....."further."
It was freaking me out. But I crammed it in deeper. Yuck. It's so gross.
I know some people have to do this every day just to live so I had to "get a grip" and just do it.

Besides the needle was part way in and I needed to be DONE with it.

I can still see myself looking in the mirror and shoving that needle in my gut. Blah! I hated it.

I've already decided....."yeah I'm going BACK next week to have her help me with the next injection." I'm not ready to do this on my own yet.
But at some point I will have to.

I will be doing this on a weekly basis now.

Trying to find some pain relief and stop this progression. Next they will start me on a stronger "biological" drug. They are SUPER, SUPER, expensive so I'm not sure how this will work yet. The Dr. mentioned entering me into a "Clinical Study" which would pay for the treatment. But then I would be a hamster wouldn't I??

We will talk about that later.......it's another injection though. Blah!
But smaller needle. Like a pen injector.

I don't like to talk about this much. I don't want to "glorify" the situation or the disease.

Yet, I do on occasion just because it's part of "my" story.

Plus if it "helps" someone or if you know someone that has this same issue or think you could have it. Possibly some of this will help you.

Because I myself had little to NO understanding or compassion about this disease.......even though my sister Jerri has had it since a juvenile, and my
Mother in Law, Ruth, had it. And she had it BAD.

I say HAD because she died last year. Not only from the disease but then again "yes" because of the disease as well as loneliness.....my Father in Law had just passed away 15 months earlier.

We had gone home to see her that Christmas and right when we were leaving to come back to LA. she started to get a cold.

By the time we made it back to LA. she was in the hospital with Pneumonia. While at the hospital she contracted a million other germs.....including, Staph and Strep infections, E-Coli, Herpes, and several odd rashes, including one that was in the forms of sores in her mouth.
It was horrible.

She finally gave up about 2 months later after battling strong in the hospital for all that time. It was sad.
The thing is....Rheumatoid Arthritis affects your immune system. Messes it up.

When you take some of these meds....they "disarm" your immune system (so it will STOP attacking your body) so you are very susceptible to infections, etc.

I told the Dr. yesterday that I "thought I might be getting a sinus infection" to which he told me....."infections are potentially DANGEROUS" to you."

Right. Good to know. Especially since I am about to inject myself with something to take my immune system down. UGH!

Then do I just live in a "bubble like The Bubble boy?"......
No, I don't think so.
I press onward and trust God. I do what I can when I feel like I can physically.

Right now I can't do so much but it's okay. It will get better.

Just please don't blow your nose my direction okay? :~)

Uncle Paul and the boys......

Top photo: Luke, Caleb, Paul, and Gabe

Here's a photo of my boys and their Uncle Paul my sister Jenny's husband.

Bottom photo: Luke, Conner, Paul, Gabe, Caleb

My nephew Conner is in this photo......he's 13 and has about 50 girlfriends.
He's a cute little thing.

Isabella's Closet

I LOVE Holly with Red Berries, and Mistletoe and Ivy and Winterberries....basically green plants with berries of some sort......
I always have.
But ESPECIALLY at Christmastime.

So when I asked "Mary" at Isabella's Closet to make me a new Christmas Banner she gave me several to choose from and I chose this one.

Of course!! Because of the cute, cute, Holly and Berries.

She just designed it all up for me today and here it is already!!

Very fast and very reasonable!!
IF you aren't very savvy on designs and computer stuff like me.....ha!
You might want to check her out.
Well, check out her site regardless because she has very cool things on there.

Plus......this is how she obtains her income along with a part time job, AND selling homemade items on E-bay.

She's very resourceful and I appreciate what she is doing.

Please consider checking out her site.

"Isabella's Closet."
There are some very cute items on it as well and plus.....
you can read her story.

I like people's "stories".....some are sad, some are happy, all are interesting. I am ALL about "people" though.
Near and far away.

It's neat how the Kingdom works.
I'm all about that too.

It's a good thing to be "Kingdom minded."
It isn't all about us.

It's good for us to consider people we don't even know and may never meet face to face.

Snowy Iowa

I TOTALLY forgot to take some photos around the town while we were there and after it had snowed.

Here are some shots I snapped on Interstate 29 on our way to St. Joseph Mo.

I took them on our way out of town once I thought of it in the truck. Duh!

I wish I had taken some earlier but I really wasn't thinking "take photos for the blog" every day you know???

The snow as already starting to leave when we left....so it's not as hearty as it was the first few days.

There are beautiful hills and bluffs where we were so it's soooooooo pretty when it does snow.

It looked like God took a powdered sugar shaker and "dusted the hills"....it's inspiring really.

Plus.....this was a "good" snow too.

Yes, there are "good snows and bad." Sometimes they don't "stick".....sometimes it's TOOOO much. Sometimes it's WAY too cold.
This was perfect actually.

The snow was plenty enough maybe 1-2 inches.....and it wasn't like a
"Siberian cold front" either.

Cold enough but not toooo cold.

Just right.

Caleb took a ton of photos on the first snow day of him and Luke and their
"Cousin" Kyle, riding ATV's at a farm they stayed at while we were there.

I will get some of those and post them because they are pretty cool.

More Photos......

First photo:Denna, Janna, and Alyssa
My little sister and my nieces.

They are very sweet little girls. I rarely get to see them and I hate that.
We had a special "night" with them the day after Thanksgiving because they had to spend the holiday with their Daddy this year.

Second/Third photos:
The girls were able to open the Christmas presents and other crazy stuff we brought to them.
My Mother is sitting on the left end of the couch on one of the photos.

Last photo:Dan and Janna who are still newlyweds! They got married in the Spring. I missed the wedding of course because of the distance, but I brought their present up with me for them to open. :~)

Good thing you have like a "year" to do that "etiquette wise."
I was getting close to the deadline. HA!

Sorry....a few of the photos are a bit fuzzy for some reason.
Ugh!

Sisters.....

Janna, Jerri, Jenny, Joyce

Here is a lovely Thanksgiving day photo of me and my sisters and the Turtle Cheesecake we were about to devour.

Well, we didn't totally devour it because there was plenty left for later...yummmm.

Yep, we all have "J" names.

Right......well...guess not.

Caleb, Miss Priss, Luke, and Gabe

Here's a little family photo.....the day AFTER Thanksgiving....."pre-game."

Hummm.....they should have done the........

"Were number Seven" finger sign thing.
Bummer.

Totally "Exhausted" on a Monday!

We are BACK in the "Red Stick."
But we are extremely tired.
What a LONG trip! I don't want to do that again for years.

When I called my sister and Mother last night to inform them we had arrived home safely, I told them....."NO ONE CAN DIE....I'm not coming back."
Hopefully everyone will cooperate in that mannor. HA!

My husband, Miss Priss, and I started back on Saturday and only made it as far as Columbia Missouri, arriving somewhere around 6:00pm.
It was an interesting night in several ways.

First off......MIZZOU were playing KANSAS that night. It was a major game and we were staying in the hometown of the University of Missouri. Although they were playing this game in Kansas City at the Chiefs stadium.

Thank GOD "some" Tigers won. HA! This is a GREAT win for the University of Missouri. They will be the Big 12 Champs now and go onto a big bowl game. I think it's a lot of "firsts" for them and I am glad for the team, and my childhood home state. Fun!

We were so disappointed the day after Thanksgiving when "our" Tigers lost. To make matters worse....we were at my husband's sister Jacque's new home which is only 43 miles from Lincoln Nebraska...and everyone there with the exception of one person were big "NEBRASKA" fans.

Nebraska lost.
Of course. I mean they can't help it, they are in a loosing streak this year.

Well......wouldn't you know.....they had to RAZE us about LSU. Ugh!!
ESPECIALLY once they lost their game!!
That was one stressful game too.....don't ask me why but we were really INTO it.
I think because we had been all season for some reason this year. It's hard not to be into it when it's happening in your CITY!!!

My family (just us from Baton Rouge) hated that they lost. When my kids left to head back over to Iowa they were so upset for LSU.

I can't even go there........ still. I know, I know, "it's just a game."
But it was a huge game. Ugh!

Good thing for us......on our way to Missouri the next day (Saturday) we caught some odd AM Radio "Talk show" that was called
"Therapy for LSU Fans" or something of the sort and we needed some "therapy" ourselves so we listened.
I don't know if it really helped comfort us much though. HA!!

Upon arrival in Columbia....we start to look for a room to stay the night.

We checked a couple places and thought we would try the "Comfort Inn Suites" there because we love those things and stayed in one in St. Louis on our trip up even.
They give you lots of pillows usually....VERY nice rooms and they are reasonably priced.

Don was pulling into the "Comfort Inn" driveway and I noticed "CRIME SCENE" tape everywhere so I said....."Oh my gosh Don...there's police tape everywhere".....but it was too late to turn around and we were already in the drive way area....
Don stopped and a Detective with a badge around his neck came to the car and was very nice....Don said......"I guess your not taking reservations for the night?"

The Detective said...."No. Sorry, we had a homicide here today."
We gave him our condolences. I mean what do you say?

It made us sick.
I called my Aunt Pat during the game halftime and asked her if she knew what had happened....they live right outside Columbia, but she hadn't heard.

We watched the news that night after the game and learned that the poor desk clerk had been robbed and shot point blank in the front of the head by her murderer.
Think about it.....the lady saw him shoot her.

It was so surreal for us seeing all the crime tape and being right there where someone's life had ended so violently.

My Aunt who lives outside of town in a smaller little township, told us that crime is "up" in Columbia.

While watching the news that night it was sure evident. They had THREE shootings that day.
This isn't a huge town and it's always been a nice town.....

What is the world coming to?

I feel SO bad for that lady's family. They have arrested someone for her murder I just read online in the Columbia paper today. He was young too. Such a waste of lives. His and hers.

We woke up yesterday to begin the SECOND day journey in the car back to B.R. to "freezing rain" .....lovely.....it was going to be a long day because we hadn't advanced much the first day.

About 13 hours later........we arrived in Baton Rouge. Pooped out. Stressed out from driving in that storm all day long. The freezing rain only lasted until near St. Louis but from Memphis to Baton Rouge we fought "pummeling rain" the entire way.

Thank GOD for a safe journey home.

I've tons to say.....some photos, but not nearly enough. I'm disappointed that I didn't think to take some more. I thought about them while I was driving in the monsoon rain and wishing I had taken some "specific" shots even. Oh well.

I was just too busy everyday while I was there to even think straight.

I need a vacation now. Big time.
I'm thinking....hummmmmm....
"Caribbean beach."

It's gotten cold here since we got back last night. It was 67 degrees when we got in.....it's like 10 degrees colder today and apparently going to drop more.

Brrrrr......

The bonus for my family on this trip was....it even snowed while we in Iowa.
That was picturesque and fun and cold.

More good stuff later!
And photos.

Happy Fall....Happy Thanksgiving!

We are doing a little "Fall Extravganza" to hold things down while we are away.

Hope you all enjoy these scenes and enjoy your days with your family.

I will hold all of you in my heart.

BE BLESSED and have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Love, Joyce, Don and Family

"Unless a kernal of wheat falls to the ground"

Wednesday as I was reading my most FAVORITE Devotional book of all time......
"Streams in the Desert." After reading it I felt I would like to share that days page of encouragement on here as well.

I know it will help someone. I needed it for that moment as well. It brought things back into my remembrance. It will for you as well.

..................................................................
November 14th

"Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. BUT if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12-24

In Northampton, Massachusetts, stands the old cemetery where David Brainerd is buried.

Brainerd, a pioneer American missionary, died in 1747 at the age of twenty-nine after suffering from tuberculosis. His grave is beside that of Jerusha Edwards,
the daughter of Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan theologian of that day.

Brainerd loved Jerusha and they were engaged to be married, but he did not live until the wedding.

Imagine what hopes, dreams, and expectations for the cause of Christ were buried in that grave with the witherred body of that young missionary.

At that point, nothing remained but memories and several dozen Indian converts! Yet,
Jonathan Edwards, that majestic old Puritan saint, who had hoped to call Brainerd his son, began to write the story of that short life in a little book.

The book took wings and few across the sea, and landed on the desk of a Cambridge student by the name of Henry Martyn.

Poor Henry Martyn! In spite of his education, brilliance, and great opportunities, he--after reading that little book on the life of Brainerd--threw his own life away!
Afterward, what had he accomplished once he set his course toward home from India in 1812?

With his health then broken, he dragged himself as far north as the town of Tokat, Turkey, near the Black Sea. There he lay in the shade of a pile of saddles, to cool his burning fever, and died alone at the age of thirty-one.

What was the purpose behind these "wasted lives?"

From the grave of a young David Brainerd, and the lonely grave of Henry Martyn near the shores of the Black Sea, have arisen a mighty army of modern Missionaries.
Leonard Woolsey Bacon

"Is there some desert, or some boundless sea,
Where You, great God of angels, will send me?
Some oak for me to rend,
Some sod for me to break, Some handful of Your corn to take
And scatter far afield,
Till it in turn will yield
It's hundredfold
Of grains of gold
To feed the happy children of my God?

Show me the desert, Father, or the sea;
Is it Your enterprise? Great God, send me!
And though this body lies where ocean rolls,
Father, count me among all faithful souls.

I want us always to remember this....."one may plant, one may water, God will give the increase."
He is the MASTER Gardener regardless of our situation. It may even seem that it is a "failed mission" but only HE knows what is being accomplished.

We just do what are able and led to do. No matter how small it may seem.

Today

Today was a busy day. I had many things to get accomplished and of course only so much time. I left the house at 8:30 exactly to get to the very last Beth Moore Bible Study today. We've been studying her series on the Patriarchs and I am SOOOOO glad I made it especially this morning.
I have so much to say about it.

It was very emotional for me even.

The lesson and video described many things I feel in my heart. I haven't the time to even scratch the surface on what I felt inside.
Maybe another time?? We will see.

All I CAN tell you briefly is that "I am on a 'journey'" and I have known it...for about 5 years now...sometimes I have thought I was nutty.....but I had total confirmation AGAIN today that the track we are taking and me personally is on course.
That's a good thing.

Keeps me sane and on the "road" and pressing onward no matter what "bumps" come up.

So part of today's road was the Specialist. Which went well. Not the report I wanted but we are on the "journey" so I have to keep it all in perspective.
The Dr. was FABULOUS and very compassionate.

Can I tell you this.....you have got to TRUST the Dr. you are using.

If you don't get what your searching for and you don't feel confident and they are harsh and not compassionate....especially if your in a PAIN situation...and your looking for answers to things you don't understand.
Best find a new one.

I love our family Dr.
They are the nicest person on the planet ......but that one can only do so much for a person with my issues. I love my Naturopath Dr. too, but again....he's not here and in Texas and can only take me so far so I glean what I can and he's been a huge help.

But at this point. I had to go to a "Specialist" and it's a good thing I did.

Anyway let's not go there.

I will say that I REALLY, REALLY liked this Dr.
This was the first time I ever met him. He came highly recommended by a retired local Dr. that my friend Shawn knows and asked.

This was a VERY humble man and he was extremely kind.
I needed that sooooo badly at this point.

I was at a very LOW point when I entered that office door.
Because I've just about "had it" with all this the past two weeks.
I've nearly been at my wit's end.

Today I had a bit of a breakthrough and I KNEW I would. I knew it.

I prayed for that.

Again......it's not the report I wanted. But I have some direction. I will still do what I can "holistically" but that can only take my situation so far and I've done what I can and will continue to.

Now I have to go for the "Big Guns"...and will do what I have to do at this point.

I sort of want my "life" back to a degree. I've been so limited for the past two years. I'm not who I was.......but I am a new person really.
New and different life perspectives.

Especially when it comes to understanding people with pain. I can spot them. I have compassion like never before. I feel their hurt. It's different to speak it and "try" to feel it....it's another to be in that boat with them.

I've had MANY encounters this way now. Including some this week even.
Several in fact. Situations I didn't expect. Conversations I didn't ask for.

Moments that just came my way. Divine ones.

I understand this path I am on some days are harder to grasp understanding though. It's not a BLAST it's not super "exciting"....it's not "Cutting Edge" which is one of my favorite seasons....however...it's the season I'm in and I do embrace it.

I don't embrace the sickness though.
If you know what I am saying.
It's deep and I don't want to get into all that.

But I know I can be rid of this dread thing. There's already been a high price paid for that so I'd like to cash in on it.

I'm standing in row like an "Orpahan in a feeding line".....and trust me...my hands are out and I am wanting to receive something.
I won't come away empty either.

I have two weeks to make some decisions so I will be meditating on that big time on my trip.

The Dr. had to "inject" my right knee, the one that has caused me so much grief and sorrow the past few weeks. So we will see how this works. It's a tad freaky when they mention it but you figure..."hey I am going to get some relief." Besides...he "froze my leg" in the spot he injected. Ugh....I've had injections before just not in that tender of a spot. It's okay though.

Things could always be worse and I KNOW that.

Last night...I was somewhere and a young girl was looking for special card for her "friend." The friend was 18 and just diagnosed with Leukemia.It nearly broke my hear to hear it.

I don't ever want to forget how BLESSED I am.

Regardless of the road.
Besides..I'm taking the HIGH road so it's going to be okay no matter what.

Hey, does that mean I will get to Scotland too???
Good night.

Time for Tea....."Tea, South Dakota" that is.

Just a moment ago, purely by "accident" I found out that there is a town in South Dakota called......"TEA."
What a great name for a town.

I found it interesting, especially since I was reading the "News in the ODD" page and some man from there just set a record for drinking about 5.5oz of Tabasco Hot Sauce. Are you kidding me?
The Guinness people have to still verify it but looks like he's "in."
WHEEEEEEE........

I thought you might want to know that little known fact today.
Things like this keep the world going round you know.

They do have Tabasco Hot Sauce to drink in "Tea, South Dakota if your wanting some.

Wonder if they have any Hot Tea?

Well, they probably do. Tabasco Tea even maybe.

A bit "Cheesy" but very Poetic and Visual.......

Video: "IF you could read my mind love, by Gordon Lightfoot.
Okay this is cheesy I know. But you have GOT to listen to it all.

Yesterday before meeting my friend for lunch...I was going to my bank on Highland Road....I was turning off of Airline and I was changing my radio station at the same time....not dangerously though because it is on my steering wheel.....don't you love that gadgety stuff??

In the process of making my turn and changing the seek button thingy.

I still messed up the station I was trying to get to and I landed on some other station. I left it for safety's sake because my turn into the bank was right there so rather than mess with it some more and miss my turn and have a wreck and so on and so forth....I just let song that was currently playing continue to play...and I was mesmorized by it.

That old song had totally caught me up into it. And I have no clue as to why.

It was that song by Gordon Lightfoot called "If you could read my mind love."
Gordon Lightfoot was this singer from Canada. He had some songs out when I was a teenager....this particular one I think came out when I was like 10 years old or there abouts.
I know.....I'm dating myself big time. Oh well.

So I hear this song that day and once I get into the parking lot of the bank....... I just sat for a while in my truck and listened to it because it was so comforting and so poetic and romantic and yet it sort of makes you feel a bit warm and fuzzy.

I liked hearing it for some reason. Cheese and all.

Now I KNOW I am getting old.

His voice was sad and smooth and the words are just cool. The guitar work is just nice too. I can't explain it.

Nothing spiritual really.....in fact he talks about Ghosts.

I don't do ghosts but this was like fake storybook ghosts you know?

He was having deeper thoughts. Like the person he was talking/singing to didn't "see" him...as if he was invisible like a ghost. I get it.

He basically did a really cool, love story and put it in song. I'm loving it.
I liked the simplicity of the words and just a voice with a guitar too.
That was a change.

Here's the deal though......I've never done a "You Tube" video on here, because I am very "limited" on what I know to do. HA! So I tried to seek out a good copy of the song being sung last night and all I could get was this think. And it's not even a video but it's a good recording of the song. With a cheesy album cover in the back ground. Very Groovy 60'ish. You will see it when you get there.

Sadly...in this fact finding process...I found one video of Gordan Lightfoot singing this song recorded live at some benefit concert for "Canada Day"......but AT FIRST I thought it was a JOKE because I couldn't even understand his words hardly.
Poor thing.

I'm serious. He sounded about a hundred and fifty years old and scary.....then I realized....."oh that is just how his voice is now" because he is older I suppose.But what I read somewhere had happened was he had gotten some sort of stomach aneryrism and had even been in a comma, very ill. He's better now I think.


So although he's older than my own parents. I'm sure he's just having problems with the body and voice and his vocal cords are probably fried after all these years of singing and concerts and such.

I also found a video of Johnny Cash singing the same song.....the video is good but again he sounds pretty bad.

My sister Jenny said that her son Kyle used to LOVE to watch the Johnny Cash video because it's got a lot of footage of Cash when he was younger. I didn't watch the whole thing because I felt bad. It didn't sound like him at all.

Back to Gordon Lightfoot. He had a string of hit songs and albums. He was sort of known as a "Folk singer" back then when he was big. Folk stuff was big then. I was not into Folk stuff. Not as a teenager.

Later I remember that Gordon Lightfoot did this "Ballad" type song about the
"Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"......again......not my kind of song but it really did happen so it was educational and historical and I didn't mind hearing it because 29 men did die in that accident during a storm.

It was kind of creepy to sing about I thought.
But it helped memorialize those men that died. To this day they honor them near the actual wreck date with 29 bell tolls ......I heard that on some show on TV once.

The summer before last my sister Jenny's, Brother and Sister in Law took their two younger sons up to the Michigan to the The Great Lakes on a trip because one of the boys was into boats and such and they went to see all the "Edmund Fitzgerald" Memorial things up there. There is a museum and other things.

I thought that was odd at the time like I wouldn't have chose that for my vacation spot....but everyone has different interests in life.

It's good to be open. It's how we learn.

You never know the boy may grow up and a boat captain or something. His Dad is a Jet Pilot.
Interesting.

Check out the lyrics for the "If you could read my mind love" song.

I like the Wishing Well and Castle parts. HA! The song is highly visual and I like visual things! Espcially when I am reading or listening I want to "see it happening." You can see this.

Listen to it as many times as you wish. It may refresh you for some reason.
Who knows.


If You Could Read My Mind, ©1969 by Gordon Lightfoot

If you could read my mind, love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
'Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong,
With chains upon my feet.
You know that ghost is me.
And I will never be set free
As long as I'm a ghost that you can't see.

If I could read your mind, love,
What a tale your thoughts could tell.
Just like a paperback novel,
The kind the drugstores sell.
Then you reached the part where the heartaches come,
The hero would be me.
But heroes often fail,
And you won't read that book again
Because the ending's just too hard to take!

I'd walk away like a movie star
Who gets burned in a three way script.
Enter number two:
A movie queen to play the scene
Of bringing all the good things out in me.
But for now, love, let's be real;
I never thought I could feel this way
And I've got to say that I just don't get it.
I don't know where we went wrong,
But the feeling's gone
And I just can't get it back.

If you could read my mind, love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
'Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong.
With chains upon my feet.
But stories always end,
And if you read between the lines,
You'd know that I'm just tryin' to understand
The feelin's that you lack.
I never thought I could feel this way
And I've got to say that I just don't get it.
I don't know where we went wrong,
But the feelin's gone
And I just can't get it back!

"Criticism" versus having a "Critical Spirit"......

After putting the Winston Churchill quote on here earlier today I began to think on it some.

Criticism that is.
How it works and how it shouldn't.

The quote earlier was this.......
"Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things."

And I still believe in what he said and what he was trying to make people understand. Things can and do get unhealthy when we go around and say.....
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Everything is fine."
Especially if your in pain and you could be fixed.
Or a situation could be "fixed."

You have got to ADDRESS the pain. It's not always easy.

My husband and I have always said in many situations it is BEST to do
"Radical Surgery" rather than to let something grow and over take a person.
We are talking about life and spiritual situations mainly.

But Dr.'s do the same thing. You have to deal with the "spot"......or the area of concern. It's not being critical to do that. It's lifesaving in many cases.

I know this FIRST hand. Not only in my own body either.

Yet, there IS a HUGE difference though between having a little helpful
"Criticism" and having a "Critical Spirit."

Back in the day.....many of us were "into" the "Anne of Green Gables" movies.
I LOVED watching them with my old, good, friend Chantelle and others too, but Chantelle and I were really into them.

The movies were so fun and sad and romantic. Such good endings too. They really left you wanting MORE!

The story is about a little orphan girl.....Anne Shirley who is adopted by mistake, by a family...."The Cuthberts." Who are a single Brother named Matthew and his single Sister Marilla.

Matthew and Marilla lived together on their family land and "thought" they were adoping a "Boy" and that would be able to help them on their farm because they were elderly and "Matthew" needed a boy to lift some of the chores off of him.

The story goes on to tell how they kept Anne despite many trials and tribulations and how they end up loving her so much and how bringing her into their lives changed not only them and Anne, but the lives of everyone of Prince Edward Island and beyond.

Sigh. Sniff. It's such a touching thing really you have to see it for yourself first hand. I haven't seen it in years but just writing about it is bringing tears to my own eyes because I remember it so strongly and it's so sweet and wonderful how people's lives can change and WHAT would and could have happened had they not done what they did.

Say if the Cuthbert's hadn't kept Anne. She couldn't have ever reached her full potential in life and help the people she ws to help.

It's a fabulous story in either book or movie fashion. If you have never seen it. Get it and watch it. PBS used to put it on all the time.

Anyhow.....Marilla's good friend was Rachel Lynde.
The bad thing was.....Rachel had a "Critical Spirit" and she hurt people. I mean all the time.

That is what we DON'T want to do or to be "under" my friends.
There is a difference. Criticism versus having a Critical Spirit.

Let me show you.......by example of Rachel's very first encounter with Anne Shirley.

Rachel came to the Cuthbert's home to check out Anne and to try to reason with them to "send her back." She didn't think it was so great of an ideal for them to keep her for various reasons.
Rachel was "known" for "speaking her mind" and for basically having a critical and negative spirit. Hard for people like that to find the "GOOD" in anything in life.

This is the very first thing that Rachel ever speaks to Anne:

"Well, they didn't pick you for your looks, that's sure and certain," was Mrs. Rachel Lynde's emphatic comment. Mrs. Lynde was one of those delightful and popular people who pride themselves on speaking their mind without fear or favor. "She's terrible skinny and homely, Marilla. Come here, child, and let me have a look at you. Lawful heart, did any one ever see such freckles? And hair as red as carrots! Come here, child, I say."

Poor little Anne. I mean can you imagine someone being SO cruel? That is a a "Critical Spirit" there was nothing redemptive about what she said.

In fact.......this is how Anne Shirley responded to Mrs. Rachel Lynde:

"I hate you," she cried in a choked voice, stamping her foot on the floor. "I hate you--I hate you--I hate you--" a louder stamp with each assertion of hatred. "How dare you call me skinny and ugly? How dare you say I'm freckled and redheaded? You are a rude, impolite, unfeeling woman!"

Well.......can you blame Anne for saying that back? I don't think so. Plus she's a damaged child. That just received MORE damage at the hand of an adult. Instead of being given a "hand up".....she was being giving a dump truck load of rejection piled right on her little, red head.


I feel that if you speak "Criticism" there must be a redemptive reason as to why....I mean you just don't side wipe people or situations.......you must be about "fixing, mending, repairing" or something that is constructive by the criticism.


You know, only do....."Constructive Criticism." That is what Winston Churchill meant.

We have a friend of who is just a fantastic person..she's off the charts as far as precious people go.

She's a Widow who took a "LIFE" chance and when her two kids were pre-teens. She felt the "call" to go to Africa to work with Medical Mission Center and to take the kids along and they were going to help out as a family.

IT was not an easy thing for her to do and she faced much criticism as a result. Negative criticism. Not much positive at all.

She got through it though and was stronger in the end because of it.

Their journey's to Africa, I say "journey's" because they did TWO tours of missions work at over a year at a time......changed their lives and the lives of those they impacted.

Now as a result in their own lives, her older child is a nurse and is proceeding further into school for her Doctorate, etc. as a Midwife at a major University out of state..so she can do Missions work in hospitals overseas at some point...and her younger son is going to school to become a Dr. so he can be a Medical Dr. doing Missions work overseas. Hummmm.....

Both of these kids go EVERY year and do MAJOR missions work in hard countries. All because their Mother stood her ground.

Even against NEGATIVE criticism.

You've heard that phrase......"When life gives you lemons, make Lemonade?" That's a nice suggestion in a trial or with a hard situation that is negative.

However, very little "Lemonade" can be made from "harsh lemons" that are old, and bitter and moldy. That is what a Critical Spirit looks like.

"A Critical Spirit will crush the soul of a person."

PLEASE, please be very careful what you do and how you do it and WHY!

Believe me I've made my own mistakes in fits of passion or less even, over some thing and thrown some rocks and some swords and some nasty lemons.

But it's not the BEST way to deal with it.
I've learned through the years to work on that. I'm not perfect, but I am way better.

Because that is the FLESH my friends.

Also NO one likes to be criticised either.

But sometimes IT IS necessary. I believe that even for myself.

PLEASE, PLEASE.....IF I leave my house and I have toilet paper hanging out of the waistband of my pants and it's trailing behind me like a Bridal train on a Wedding Gown.....please someone...be critical of my appearance.

TO me. For my sake.

Don't just let me strut out in public like I'm the "Queen of England" with toilet paper hanging out of my clothing.
I normally don't "strut in public like the Queen of England, but you never know."


Criticism is not a bad thing in and of itself. Do you see what I am saying?

It's how you do it and WHY you are doing it.

Motive is ALWAYS something we must question ourselves about in many things....especially in criticism.

Remember "Motive and Method." That is the key to most things anyway.

My Missionary friend told me this recently......we had been trying to find some information for someone regarding something overseas and some odd topic came up about a "train wreck situation."

And I don't mean trains in general. I mean someone that has gotten into a train wreck situation in their life.

They got "off the proper train track" and have derailed in their faith and other things.

My friend then said to me in that conversation......
"IF I EVER gets "off track" in my faith and my convictions, and my moral values and standards in how I live"....to "please come hit me with a truck."

That sounds a bit rash I know.
But I laughed actually when she said it and she was serious.

I know exactly what she meant though and she was saying this.....
"HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE."

That is a GOOD thing.
We don't do that enough with each other and we should and we must.

Especially these days where anything goes.

So I told her.....
"Don't worry Sister....I OWN a truck and I will come after you."

Be critical in a way that holds someone or something accountable.

Don't destroy someone OR yourself with a "Critical Spirit" because what goes around.....will always come around.

It IS a Bible principal.

Go get yourself a copy of the "Anne of Green Gables" movies to watch over the Thanksgiving holidays and get ready for a good life lesson on
"overcoming adversity and criticism."

You will see that Anne herself needed "some" criticism for "life guidance" and that she was herself somewhat critical.
But it all works out in the end.

Make sure you have a box of Kleenex's handy too.

Oh and FYI....Rachel Lynde changes too in the end.
Isn't life GRAND?????

Winston Churchill on "Criticism and Pain".....ouch!

Lot's and lots of "flurrying about" going on in the Mahan house these past few days.

I've tried to be highly "organized".....because there's so much to do before a big trip and a lot to take and pack.

This doesn't even count the kind of crazy week I had last week and the crazy, busy, schedule I have for this week.

I feel a bit better right now though so that is a huge BLESSING!!

I'm trying to "hydrate" myself big time.

I think that has helped out, none of us drink enough water anyway and it does "flush" out the toxins. Believe me I need that because I'm taking many "toxins" into my system right now. Blah!

I've gotten so organized that I even have supper planned and laid out for tonight and have since about 7:30am! HA! I've wrote out Thanksgiving cards to mail to friends and other family we won't be seeing on this trip. I've wrote some e-mails. I've cleaned a bit...did some laundry. WHEW!!

When I "feel good" I tend to overdo it so I need to calm down a bit. Or I will pay for it later and I don't want to pay that "Piper."
I want that thing to GO AWAY forever.

Having lunch today with a dear friend. Took my friend Nora out shopping last night and got myself some "fatty" sweat pants as I call them...because I feel old and FAT in them....to wear on the trip up. HA!

I thought that might be less binding on my legs than jeans.

I want to be wise about this journey of about 18 plus hours. Cooped up in a truck. Blah!

I tried on those cool "Velvet" sweat pants but they are a bit....too "low riding" for me and WAY tooooo long as always. Hate that.
So we are doing the fatty sweats and they are fine and the right length.

Miss Priss recently got two pairs of the same sweats but they look great on her. Cute in fact. I will just have to face the fact that I am in my "prime of life" (aren't I?)....and have a bigger hiney than her.

I need to run to the bank and drop off some stuff at the Purple Cow too before lunch with my friend Diane.
I better run.
More later.

For now.....here's a great quote I found the other day.

"Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things."
Winston Churchill.

I love Churchill.
I always have. I wish I could have met him.

Although he looks a tad scary and intimidating.

There is no denying it....the man was "some kind of tough."
Don't you think??

One of last times I was back home I went with Don's niece who was in from New York to see a wonderful Museum exhibit I had read about in the newspaper that was showing in Omaha that was going to be all about Winston Churchill.
I couldn't wait to get over there to see what it was all about and in the end it was so worth the effort I had made to do so.

The exhibt was a traveling one and it's called....."Churchill and the Great Republic."
Of course it was GREAT and very informative. IF you ever hear of it coming to your area go and see it and learn.
He was an amazing man.

There is a small town in Missouri where there is a college, befittingly called "Westminster College."In 1946 Churchill visited and made his famous "Sinews of Peace" speech there and introduced the new phrase we all know as the "Iron Curtain" to people all over the world.

50 years later.....Prime Minister Margret Thatcher went back to Westminster to speak there too. Many famous political people have now followed in Churchill's shoes and visited that little town of Fulton and spoke at the College.

"Lech Walesa, Harry S Truman, Gerald R. Ford, Ronald W. Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev and NATO representatives" have all gone to Westminster College.
Is that amazing?


We've always stopped right above that town on the Interstate to get gas and sometimes "Subway" at a truck stop there.

It's convenient to stop there because it's midway between St. Louis and Kansas City.

We never seem to have time though to just pop into the town there and go to see the "Churchill Memorial" at the College. I hate that. I wish we had a ton of time to do small things along the way of the road like that.

But you know....It's always just such a race to get to where we want to be.

Maybe one day we can be more "leisurely" but I sort of doubt it.
We are Americans and always in a hurry.

I have a few thoughts on pain like he does too.
I think what he said was true.
On both counts.

Veterans Day Remembrances

When I was a little girl......I remember people used to wear red/orangish "paper Poppies" sometimes. You could buy them usually from these men that would approach you when you were coming out of stores you might have been shopping in.

Sometimes they had jackets on but they always wore odd "hats" like "Coney Island Hot Dog Vendors" but they weren't white like the Hot Dog guys, and had pins and metals attached to them usually.

People would give these men or sometimes women, their "small change"...like a dime or a quarter and they would give you a paper "Poppy" type flower and you could put it on and wear it or shove it in your purse or give to a little kid like me.
Men would have them in their buttonholes of their suits and shirts.

I had no clue what that was all about at the time, even though someone that was an adult might have explained it to me. I didn't realize the magnitude of what it represented.

I remember seeing the paper Poppies in my Grandpa and Grandma Hirner's house too. Like just laying around where odd things seem to clutter.

I haven't seen those people selling those poppies in years actually but I have thought about it alot.

When I went to Ireland and England.... I saw the Poppies again and I saw them everywhere. Entire WREATHS of them. Schools had memorials in their gyms with them too. I had never seen that before. But I fast learned that these Poppies were usually associate with "War Tribute" sites........and if you've ever been to Europe you will notice that ......they have them EVERYWHERE. They leave them up.

I don't think America gets into the "Poppies" anymore like Europe does and I don't know why.

Yesterday was Veteran's Day in all over the world, 11, November.
People used to call it Armistice Day.
America celebrates it today November 12th as a "Bank Holiday or National Holiday."

The Poppies have an interesting story. I will try to put some of it on here so you too can learn about them.

They are HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT.

I found this information and I will share it with you. I didn't write it and it is a combination of several various resources.

Where do the poppies come in?

Noticed as early as the Napoleonic Wars, red poppies grew on the graves of dead soldiers in the fields of northern Europe. Evidently, poppy seeds will lie underground for years and bloom if they are plowed up. In the spring of 1915, red poppies flourished in the fields of the Ypres salient covering the newly dug graves.

I came across a famous poem called "In Flanders Fields" I believe that this poem helped to inspire the "Poppy movement" that took place as a result of World War I.

America didn't play as large a part in the "Great War" as did England, France or many of the other nations around the world but we DID help fight this war.

Here are some rough figures I have found...there are alot of variances in numbers of amounts the dead so these are some of the most accurate figures I could find.

How many people were killed in WWI?

Germany Military 3,250,000 Civilian 5,600,000

Italy Military 226,900 Civilian 60,000

Japan Military 1,740,000 Civilian 393,400


France Military 122,000 Civilian 470,000

Britain Military 305,800 Civilian 60,600

United States Military 405,400 Civilian -

Russia Military 11,000,000 Civilian 6,700,000

China Military 1,400,000 Civilian 8,000,000

As you can see.....WWI encompassed the entire WORLD...and then soon after....WW2 began and America played a HUGE part in that war as most of us know.

Now let me give you a strong visual of how the Poppies began. Here is the poem I referred to earlier.....


In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Where are Flanders Fields?
Some of the bloodiest battles of World War I took place in the areas of northern France and southwest Belgium known as Flanders and Picardy.

The British front line was determined to keep the Germans from traversing Flanders and the Ypres river valley to reach the port of Calais. Troops from both sides were holed up in the Ypres salient, an outward projection of the battle line. Defending British troops were vulnerable on three sides; therefore this was a bloody and dangerous place for a soldier to be.

The destruction from the battles in this area reached beyond the battlefield to the towns and roads of the area, and led to the demolition of buildings, roads, and all plant life, leaving only mud.

During 1914-1918 the Allied Forces of Belgium, France, Britain and America (from April 1918) made a stand against the advance of the Imperial German Army into Belgium and France.

The German Army called it their western battle front, 'die Westfront'.

The French Army named it 'le Front Occidental'.

To the British Army it became known as 'The Western Front'.

The battlefields of the Western Front are located along a line which runs for approximately 450 miles from the Belgian coast, through northern France and the provinces of Lorraine and Alsace to the Swiss border.

This is both sad and intriguing to me because my Great Grandmother came from the province of Lorraine. Her family immigrated to America sometime during that great mess that was happening in Europe.
During that time as well.....her future "husbands" family was sending some of their children from Germany to America for the same reasons.
My Great Grandparents met years later in Missouri and married.

Back to the Poem now.....

Where does the poem come in?
The scenes of the spring battles in the Ypres salient moved John McCrae, a Canadian doctor, to write "In Flanders Fields." He wrote the poem as he sat in the dressing area (where wounds were dressed) looking out at a field of graves. The poem was later published in Punch Magazine.

McCrae died of pneumonia in 1918, a common killer of Great War soldiers.

Inspired by McCrae's poem, American Moina Michael wore poppies to honor the war dead.

She also began to sell poppies to raise money for disabled veterans.

After meeting Moina Michael in 1920, Frenchwoman Madame E. Guerin started selling handmade poppies to raise money for poor children who were living in the aftermath of the Great War.

Soon thereafter Field-Marshall Earl Haig, the former British Commander-in-Chief, encouraged the selling of paper poppies to raise funds for veterans. This tradition spread to Canada and then to the United States.

I can understand now "why" my Grandparents had those "poppy's" laying around their house and would buy them from those Vet's standing in front of stores now.
I couldn't understand that at 5 years old.

I still DO wonder why we don't see those Poppies as much here in America.

My husband has always told me that "W.W. I" was the most horrible war for "trench warfare."

I can't imagine how it must have been but I've seen some photos.

I PRAY that we never forget what our men and women have given to secure our freedom in America.

My children have no ideal I'm afraid as do most kids their ages.

We MUST continue to tell the stories of "History" so that we as a NATION do not forget these horrible things that happened in the world.

Here is a very interesting "Blog site" I found today off of the BBC News regarding the experiences of a "W.W. I Experiences of and English Soldier" entirely based upon his letters he had written home to his loved ones.

I read most of it today and it was a pretty fantastic account of what he went through and lived.

We must keep learning about past mistakes and remember those that paid the price for us to live free. We MUST Never forget.

I thank them one and all for such a priceless gift.

The "Woods" of Oz

I got this photo sent to me today by our good friend Doug who used to live here in Baton Rouge. He and his wife now live in Alabama.
They have two sweet, little children.

When Doug read my "Mahan Men Game Night" posting today......he saw the part about me and "Miss Priss" watching the "Wizard of Oz" the other night and remembered he had a photo they had taken of their kids dressed up like
"Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion" that they had taken at their church Fall Festival that he wanted to send to us.

He just sent it tonight with a very funny letter.....of course.

Don't ever expect anything but crazed humor from Doug.
We love and miss him.

He and his family are all doing really, really, good right where they are!


Oh and he made this little "threat" too......

"Don and Gabe were fortunate I was not there to whip their hineys in Star Wars Monopoly."To which I say on behalf of the "Mahan Men......"

"Bring it on Esse."
You got yourself a "Star Wars Monopoly" challange now.
Come see us anytime....or we MAY come there. HA!

Look at these two wonderful children.

Mahan Men "Game Night"

Don and the boys.....Luke is wrapped in the "Down Comfortor" like it's his "cocoon"....Gabe at the top and Caleb in the bottom were into the "Grizzly Adams look" that day. Grrrrrr!

Friday night, the "brothers" as they call each other....came over and ate supper with us and then they proceeded to play........
"Star Wars Monopoly."

I don't do games in this house so I sat that one out as did Miss Priss because these men are always WAY too competitive for us ladies. They are cavemen. They MUST win.

I learned that "Southern Mama" trick.
That if you "Cook a meal" the children will come home.

So we cooked "special" Friday night. Don BBQ'd and I made some easy dishes to go along with the meat.

IT was a fun night. I laid on the couch and swelled.....normal.
Miss Priss and I watched the "Wizard of OZ."

And the maniac men were yelling and fighting over "Moisture Farms" and "who owed who rent" on weird named real estate.

The last two players, playing at the end of the night were of course.my husband and Gabe.
Gabe Won!
He is so his Daddy. He held out just to win over his Dad. HA!!

At that point.....Caleb fell asleep on the couch. Luke was laying on the floor nearly asleep.....Miss Priss went to bed, I laid on the love seat and at that point I was watching a "European travel" show on the "Travel Channel" about Edinbourgh Scotland.

Gabe's going to England and Scotland in March so he was thrilled to see it while yet beating his Daddy at the game they were heavily into finishing out.

I was thrilled to go to bed finally......about 12:30'ish when the game was over.
I took my meds and went off to dream.

A good time was had by all.

"Off the wagon".....not a good thing really.

I totally fell "OFF the wagon" this weekend. I don't know WHAT in the world is up with that.

Friday.....I went with Miss Priss to McDonald's and ate a FISH SANDWICH.....which I can't eat and haven't since I don't know when.
Not good.

Then tonight after church.....I beg my husband to "hang a right" into the SONIC so I can get a "Hamburger"....he couldn't believe it and I hated to disappoint him. Because I've been VERY DILIGENT to stay away from "Gluten" and he's been very proud of me and supportive of me in my new eating "lifestyle."

Now it's like.......
"Some one HELP me...I've fallen and I can't get up."

Man, isn't that how it is. You let one thing in and seven more devils come with it.

I've ate totally "Gluten Free" since February and have done very good if I might say so myself. It's a super hard diet and I don't do it for weight reasons....it's totally for the health issue.

This week I had a horrible health "set back" or whatever and it's like I'm nutty now.

Maybe I am thinking deep inside my mind.....that since we are heading to the Midwest and it's Thanksgiving, that I will "Cave IN" anyway with all that food my Mom and family will be offering me like......ummmm
......"Oyster Dressing"....which I would never normally eat on the "Gluten Free" diet...and I don't eat any seafood anymore either...because it's totally "inflammatory" to a person like me.

I am having a HUGE inflammation problem right now.
Hence the Predisone "BUCKET load doses" I'm on since the E.R. visit.

I'm seeing a Specialist this week so hopefully that will go well.

I've just have got to GET A GRIP on the food thing again and get away from the Gluten.

I mean maybe I just "NEEDED" a Hamburger tonight and a Fish Sandwich Friday.

Like it is "comfort food" or something. Like I've been traumatized.

Ugh...I don't know, but I DO know this.... I'm feeling the Hamburger effects right now and it's called "heartburn." Gross.

I never get heartburn.

It was SO not worth it.

Especially if I could have had a piece of CAKE instead.

I love and miss Cake most of all.

Apparently I've missed Fish sandwiches and Hamburgers too.... on nasty white buns.

Oh well.....tomorrow's a new day and a possible new "sandwich choice."

Better not or I will SWELL up like a "Blow fish."

Ummm......Fish.
Stop it.

A Shocking “Confession”

A Shocking “Confession” from Willow Creek Community Church
Bob Burney, October 30th, 2007

A good Pastor friend of ours sent us this article the other day.

He also wrote.....
"See we weren't CRAZY after all!"
I knew none of us were...but you do start to wonder "is it just ME or WHAT??"

Finally confession and repentance from the "Mother" of ALL "Seeker Churches" that so many have "modeled" after.

It's made me sick because we've seen it happening all along and couldn't do much of anything about it. Pray and inform.

The good news is now they see the problems. That is God's grace and mercy and I think that it's a great thing they are acknowledging their "mistakes."

My whole concern NOW is this........

"How can they fix it?" Not only has this thing spread like a California wildfire.....how do you turn it back?
It will cost these churches something and it will be money and people I suppose.

They will have to go backwards a bit I suppose....then regroup and fix the problem.....I don't know the "plan of action" but I DO know that people may not understand the "problem" and get ticked and leave these environments that are currently comfortable in because the organization are now going to try to get "healthier."

It will be interesting to see in the days ahead how the "Mother" deals with it and how the other "seeker churches" can follow their leading???

My husband and I sat in a meeting once....the leader was speaking about the people we were going to all work with the incoming souls, "new people" coming into the church.

He said......"we want to get them into the church building.....from there along their journey, hopefully they will encounter Jesus."
WHAT???? We both nearly freaked out because of what this man had just said. We were kicking each other under the chairs like "OMG!!!"

Yet that is the mentality of a seeker situation. We knew that was what we were hearing yet frankly we were shocked to hear it because we knew this person stating that line and their upbringing and church background.....and we just couldn't believe what we were hearing. Do you know what I mean? Let's just say that it was just a bit "contrary" to how they had been raised. Not a big deal....just a shocking one.

Sad thing is....we have known and met so many people that went to these kinds of places for months and years even and never did "meet Jesus intimately."

Some stay, some are in and out.

I'm not judging, I have seen their "lifestyle fruit"....it's not wrong to base opinions upon that. Especially if you take things into consideration per individual....I mean you don't lump everyone together.

Some people have had tragic situations and some have had a horrible upbringing are damaged, and some have been sick and are fearful and you just don't know why people act the way they do sometimes unless you really DO know. Many are trying but don't know how to act or do anything other than what they've done all along in their lives.

They have to be taught and instructed and especially above all....
loved.

People need to be "Mentored" and or "Discipled"....that is something that isn't happening now days and it is a MUST.
Thank goodness for the people that have loved me and mentored me through the years. This is SCRIPTURAL people.

So we must ALL be careful not to be too hasty in our judgements.....yet are check some things out. Lifestyle again reveals so much about a person.

I'm not talking being full of LEGALISM either because as a former "Legalist" I hate it as much as anyone else that has been under it.
But I am talking "balance"....especially in our lives. We can all error truth even. We have to be careful and find the true balance in many things.

Actions, words,etc.
Fruit. Good smelling, good looking, good tasting. Good for you.


Having a bad day.....those happen. But day after day and year after year? Ripping off stuff where you work....not just taking a pen home by accident...using foul language and gossiping at the break table....treating store clerks like trash, being mean to the Wendy's drive through person, being overly rude at the Mall....screaming at the person driving in front of you and offering gestures along the way.

Nah.
Check your fruit my friend.
Something stinks and there is a REASON for it.

What I have seen and experienced is that many people never really met him....just knew of him and they went on to even become leaders because if you serve and give and take the right classes and climb the right ladders.....in certain places and or organizations....."up you go."
And the nice juicy Fruit of the "Spirit" didn't exact come through possibly because......HE wasn't there?

Sometime people just went to the place because it was a great social gathering and there are great causes going on and we many want to help society, etc. and that's all good and fine I suppose if your organizations goal isn't to usher people into the Kingdom but to amass an army of "good" people and some not so good.

I'm all about giving chances......and a second chance.....and a third chance and so on and so forth. So don't assume I haven't any Grace. Because I do have Grace. Because I WANT Grace for myself and I've been given it by many.

I've always loved and felt "Called" to the Body of Christ and will continue to do so. I haven't however, always liked the organizations associated with such things.
For many reasons.

Mainly from seeing a huge, lack of INTEGRITY. That is important to not only me but to many. People are ruined because of not seeing it.

I've seen personally way too much foolishness, "Spiritual abuse" and massive pride on leaders parts. And I don't respect that.

But God will judge the Shepherds. We don't have to do that job.
He says "HE will do it."
What a relief.

We can just check the "Fruit" and get in or out and then move on and get planted somewhere.

I struggle with this myself okay so I'm being honest here.

I can't stand when leaders goof up or goof around (and I'm not talking about not having "Fun"....please...let's DO have some FUN ....time and place though okay??"
and I don't even mean sin.

I can forgive sin. I mean of course it's disappointing when a leader fails but they are human and I understand that.

I have been forgiven of sin, haven't we all? And I forgive others for sin issues, shouldn't we all? Of course we should.

But "spiritual abuse" and "careless use of church monies and power sickens me" and very much so.

Yet, reading things like this article, where men of God say.....
"ouch, we made a mistake" and they come out and step up to the plate and to their own possible hurt they say for all to hear that

"we are repenting over this mistake please forgive us" well......that HELPS restore trust and faith and confidence in leaders to a little person like myself.

Check out part of the article here and read the rest at the link. I just can't print the entire thing.

It is interesting. I'm SO glad that this has come forth but I am not rejoicing at the fact that they made a mistake........

I'm rejoicing that now maybe things can change a bit now and we can see a deeper, cleaner, more spotless Bride.

I'm working on my Wedding gown too so don't think that I believe that I am above anyone because I'm not.

I've got a few spots and tears I'm mending up too you know.
Let's all check out our dresses ahead of time.

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A Shocking “Confession” from Willow Creek Community Church
Bob Burney
"Bob Burney Live," WRFD Columbus, Ohio
October 30, 2007

If you are older than 40 the name Benjamin Spock is more than familiar. It was Spock that told an entire generation of parents to take it easy, don’t discipline your children and allow them to express themselves. Discipline, he told us, would warp a child’s fragile ego. Millions followed this guru of child development and he remained unchallenged among child rearing professionals. However, before his death Dr. Spock made an amazing discovery: he was wrong. In fact, he said:

"We have reared a generation of brats. Parents aren't firm enough with their children for fear of losing their love or incurring their resentment. This is a cruel deprivation that we professionals have imposed on mothers and fathers. Of course, we did it with the best of intentions. We didn't realize until it was too late how our know-it-all attitude was undermining the self assurance of parents."

Oops.

Something just as momentous, in my opinion, just happened in the evangelical community. For most of a generation evangelicals have been romanced by the “seeker sensitive” movement spawned by Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. The guru of this movement is Bill Hybels. He and others have been telling us for decades to throw out everything we have previously thought and been taught about church growth and replace it with a new paradigm, a new way to do ministry.
Perhaps inadvertently, with this “new wave” of ministry came a de-emphasis on taking personal responsibility for Bible study combined with an emphasis on felt-needs based “programs” and slick marketing.

The size of the crowd rather than the depth of the heart determined success. If the crowd was large then surely God was blessing the ministry.

Churches were built by demographic studies, professional strategists, marketing research, meeting “felt needs” and sermons consistent with these techniques. We were told that preaching was out, relevance was in. Doctrine didn’t matter nearly as much as innovation. If it wasn’t “cutting edge” and consumer friendly it was doomed. The mention of sin, salvation and sanctification were taboo and replaced by Starbucks, strategy and sensitivity.

Thousands of pastors hung on every word that emanated from the lips of the church growth experts. Satellite seminars were packed with hungry church leaders learning the latest way to “do church.” The promise was clear: thousands of people and millions of dollars couldn’t be wrong. Forget what people need, give them what they want. How can you argue with the numbers?

If you dared to challenge the “experts” you were immediately labeled as a “traditionalist,” a throwback to the 50s, a stubborn dinosaur unwilling to change with the times.

All that changed recently.

Willow Creek has released the results of a multi-year study on the effectiveness of their programs and philosophy of ministry. The study’s findings are in a new book titled Reveal: Where Are You?, co-authored by Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Hybels himself called the findings “earth shaking,” “ground breaking” and “mind blowing.”
And no wonder: it seems that the “experts” were wrong.

The report reveals that most of what they have been doing for these many years and what they have taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ. Numbers yes, but not disciples.
It gets worse.

Hybels laments:
Read rest of article on the link.