Pray For Kenya.

Have you seen the news articles aboutKenya? While many of us were in the post-Christmas celebrations, this African nation slid into a wave of ethnic cleansing following what appears to be a rigged election. Here is yet one more article talking about the events taking place.

One article I read said this:

The top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, said Wednesday that she believed the month of violence has descended into ethnic cleansing.

Frazer said she did not consider the killings genocide.

(Lawmaker killed in Kenya's Rift Valley )


If it's not genocide yet, it will be pretty soon... pray for this African nation.

I Am Blessed!

I've been (trying!) to read through the Bible in a year; I don't think I'll mention the fact I started last January:o). There really are too many gems in Genesis and Exodus to dig out! But over the last three months, my reading has really taken off so that I'm now in Nehemiah (woohoo!). I read this verse yesterday morning and again last night:

"Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go."

Nehemiah 9:19

I literally got goosebumps up and down my arms after I read that verse. Did you catch the wording there? "In thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness." God's mercies are so great that He didn't forsake the children of Israel in the wilderness. If it were up to me (and thankfully it was not...), I would have probably left over a million complaining people to fend for themselves for forty years. But God did not. A couple of verses later, this precious truth was found:

"Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not."

Nehemiah 9:21

Doesn't that just make you want to shout?!?! For forty years God sustained them in the wilderness so they lacked nothing. Don't over look that miracle:o). Show me the closest store where I can buy shoes, clothing, and household needs that will last me for forty years and they will have my business!

But I have something better than any man-made store. I know the God who says "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills" (Psalm 50:10). I know the God who made "a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters" (Isaiah 43:16). I know the Lord who promises to be a "sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11).

Isn't that sweet?!? Walking along this path of life, I can rejoice that He has ordered my footsteps and that "He will keep the feet of his saints" (1 Samuel 2:9). Oh what a blessed thought!

I might not read through the Bible in a year, but I am so blessed to be able to glean the riches found in His Word. One of these years, one of these years....:o)

In Time.

"The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time."

- Carl F. H. Henry -

10 Years... They've Been Good.

If you could see what I once was

If you could go with me,

Back to where I started from

Then, I know you would see.

A miracle of Love that put me in it's sweet embrace

And made me what I am today

A sinner saved by grace.

I'm just a sinner saved by grace.

When I stood condemned to death,

He took my place.

Now I grow and breathe in freedom

With each breath of life I take.

I'm just a sinner, saved by grace.

How could I boast on anything

I've ever seen or done?

How could I dare to claim as mine

the victories GOD has won.

Where would I be had GOD not brought me

gently to this place.

I'm here to say I'm nothing but

A sinner saved by grace.

January 25, 1998 -January 25, 2008

10 years of sweet salvation with my Lord!

I will never forget that sweet Sunday morning Debbie Wilhite led me to the Lord, after doing a 4-week Bible Study with Debbie Lytle. It is only by His Grace I am here today!

Finally Getting Around To It!

As I (very briefly!) said, camp was very good. This was my first time in several years actually getting to hear the messages, and that was my favorite part:o). Bro. Paul Morrison was the speaker for camp (click here to listen to the messages) and preached on being an unmovable teen. He started off at church Sunday evening preaching from Acts and I would really encourage you to go listen to the message if you can. I believe you will be blessed and challenged by the preaching of God's Word.

While at camp, we learned a new song about Naaman and how he went to the river and got dipped seven times. Here is Jon and Bro. John leading the action part of "Dippy, Dippy, Dip"!

Everyone was divided into four teams and each team was named after a mountain (in keeping with the unmovable part). Here are the Mt. McKinley girls ~ my team! ~ trying to stay in pyramid formation long enough to win some points.

The house where the girls stayed was about 3/4 of a mile from the preaching. Normally I wouldn't mind the walk, but it was c-o-l-d out, so two ladies nicely drove us back and forth in the vans. This particular time there was only one van at the preaching place, so 28 girls and counselors piled into the van:o). It was a lot of fun!

The Internet is a great place to find games! This game had 6 parts to it: 1 person shoveling, two people skiing, three Vikings screaming (don't ask), 4 people bobsledding, and so on and so forth. The point was to randomly eliminate people by calling out "3 people... now 5 people...". Here we were acting as a 4-person bobsledding team:o).

This game was all about protecting the egg on the inside. Each team was given: one egg, one bag of straws, a handful of rubber bands, a packet of tissues, one glove, and some krazy glue. The point was to keep the egg unbroken after being dropped. Three of the eggs survived the initial drop (sorry Jen!), but when the senior boys from opposite teams threw the eggs, they were all broken:o). Hey, it entertained the girls while the boys played football:o).

I'm so glad I got to go to camp... Bro. Morrison was a challenge to me and to many of the campers as well! Thanks for praying... God is still working!

More To Come!

Camp was good!

(Rebekah, Selena, Bethany, Anne, Alayna, Rachel ~ the Mt. McKinley girls!~ minus Kristen)

More to come later :o).

I'm Goin' To Camp!

Last year I went to camp as a cook...

(Raichelle, Jen, and I ~ Winter Camp 2007)

But this year I've been asked to go as a counselor, so that's the plan as the whole teen group heads down to camp Sunday night after church services. This camp is very special to me, because I've been going for the past ten years: 4 as a camper and 6 as a cook.

Many decisions have been made at the altar... many friends were prayed and cried over... many fun (and muddy!) memories were made in the wide, wide field... many special chats were had... many long walks were taken... many good men of God have come and preached their hearts out... many lives were changed as a result of camp.

But many teens I knew, who sat in the same services, headed down the wrong path of life. I'm thankful for the impact camp has had on my life. But for the grace of God, I would be heading down the wrong path too.

So I ask you, as you finish reading this post, would you take a moment and pray for the teens going to camp tomorrow night??? You might only know me or you might actually know some teens going to camp. Camp is a pivotal time. Each prayer is vital. Would you uphold in prayer a faceless/nameless group of teens that you don't know over the next few days?

• Decisions need to be made.
• Teens need to be saved.
• Standards need to be formed.
• God's call on a young person's life needs to be heard.
• Counselors need to have some chats with a few young people.
• God wants to come and work.

You may never know until eternity the difference your prayers made.

Third Wind.

For the third time this week, I have gotten my second wind - right on time too! It's been hitting me around 9ish at night, making me feel like I can clean the whole house, bottom to top:o), within an hour and organize it all too. So I'm off to do something... I'm not quite sure what since I have so many interesting things awaiting me!

So while I go work off my second wind for the day, I thought I would leave you with a link to another blog I have faithfully read since its beginning - Amy's Humble Musings. I'm not quite sure how I found Amy, but I must of been looking something up on the Internet and her title caught my eye. At the time I started reading, Amy had 4 children and was living in a rather smallish apartment in CA for 6 months while her husband worked on a project. Amy had a humorous way of portraying life in CA in an apartment and I was hooked. Now Amy has 6 children and is back in Florida, but preparing to move into an "Amish" home.

As with most blogs I read, I do not endorse everything on the blog, so I'll once again remind you to please take in the good and left the rest behind:o).

Happy reading... I'm going to go clean!

Frugal Friday Tip.

For this week's Frugal Friday tip, I thought about one thing that really stretched some pennies (and dollars!) for me last year. Now it might sound like a contradiction at first when I tell you that you pay $25.00 up front, but it really is worth it!

I've been buying the Entertainment Book for the past two years, but it is completely worth the money. First of all, I buy the book through MyPoints.com, so that gives me 750 points right away for buying the book through them (and remember, those points add up to free gift cards!). Then, because I bought the book when I did, I got a $25.00 gift certificate - for free! So it was a good bargain:o). Plus the book is chock full of coupons, discounts, and savings. Let me give you an example:

In mid-December, I took the senior girls from my school to a nearby Christmas event. On the way home, we wanted to stop for dinner so I pulled out the Entertainment Book and got out two coupons for Subway: Buy One 6-inch sub, Get One 6-inch sub free. Since I had two coupons like that (and four girls with me!) it worked out perfectly for the girls to get a cheaper (!) dinner.

Another way this book is a bargain is for my parents. They rent a car a few times a year when they go on extended trips. This book has all sorts of Car Rental discounts in place, so that they usually save at least $20.00 when they're renting a car. More savings!

The one thing you have to check out is where in your area the coupon might be valid. I have had only one problem with a place not accepting a coupon, but other than that, it's been great!

For more frugal hints and tips, go to Biblical Womanhood:o).

Theodore Roosevelt's Take.

The year is 1907, one hundred years ago......

Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907:

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Bountiful Blessings #6

This morning in services, my Pastor preached an excellent message with the main theme talking about how the children of Israel celebrated in the wilderness. Now at first glance, that might sound odd. Celebrating??? In the wilderness??? But that's exactly what they did and they were thankful.

I'm been wanting to do a "bountiful blessings" post for a while, but after hearing this morning's message, I knew today was the day! To get a recap of what Bountiful Blessings is, go here for the explanation. Now this only works if you participate... so let's bring out the blessings and celebrate all that the Lord has done for us. As usual, I'll start:o).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several weeks ago, the Lord laid upon my heart to help one of the teens with getting to winter camp next week. For days I wrestled as to which one I would help, but the Lord kept bringing to mind one person in particular. Finally this past week I was talking with the teen, and casually asked about camp. "I want to, but I don't have all the money." After asking how much was needed, the teen replied, $_ _.00. So I told the teen I would cover it and left it at that.

A few days later, someone handed me a check unexpectedly. Not only did it cover the amount needed for camp for the teen, it was triple the amount! Now you tell me God doesn't delight in blessing His children and I'll reply you don't know my God!!!! He is so good! That very night I got the check I read these verses:

Psalm 77:8-9a ~ "Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious?"

God's mercy isn't clean gone, His promises haven't failed, and He hasn't forgotten to be gracious! How thankful I am that He hasn't!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, so now it's your turn! Leave a comment below sharing what the Lord has been doing lately. It can range from getting an extra hour of sleep to a spiritual insight from the Bible. I can't wait to read what God's been up to in your lives!

Some Ways I've Saved.

Crystal hosts Frugal Fridays and today it seems that most of the ladies are posting on 5 ways they saved $100.00 last year. I haven't participated in a while, but figured I would give it a go again:o). Here are some routine ways I try to be frugal and resourceful:

#1 ~ I can tell you exactly how many pieces of clothing I bought brand-new this past year: 6 items. 3 shirts (in Thailand!) and 3 skirts. One of my skirts actually ripped while I was gone (go here if you need a reminder as to what happened!) but the other two have been serving me just fine. So I don't buy brand-new, and the ripped skirt is a big reason why!

#2 ~ I do, however, browse through second-hand shops and walk away with bargains from the Lord! For instance, when I was in Indiana a couple of weeks ago, my brother and sister-in-law planned to take me into Chicago for a day of sight-seeing. I was inclined to go until my sis-in-law mentioned that ALL the Goodwills were having a 50% off sale on everything! So guess which trip was replaced by Goodwill hunting?!?:o). It was well worth it to bring home with me several name-brand long-sleeved shirts (just what the Lord knew I needed) for $2.00 a piece!

#3 ~ I joined MyPoints in October of 2006 and have earned $75.00 in free gift cards! One gift card I received was to Bath & Body Works, so I waited until their 75% off sale after Christmas before I bought some things I didn't need at the moment, but knew would be used down the road. Plus everything I picked out was covered by the gift card, so I walked away from B&BW with stuff for free... and everyone likes free:o).

#4 ~ It pays to witness! No seriously, remember the guy who paid for my toll on the Turnpike? That's not why I give out my testimony tract, but it is one of the side benefits:o).

#5 ~ As mentioned by several of the ladies, I too pack my lunch for work. I think I'm "treating" myself occasionally when I go out and buy lunch, but that little bit always adds up. So I would rather spend $7.00 on picking up stuff for lunch and be satisfied all week long!

To read some more tips, go to Biblical Womanhood:o).

Another Debut.

I've been blogging for under two years, but I've read blogs for many years before that and have been greatly encouraged and challenged by so many ladies across this country and even around the world! So I would like to begin introducing you to the blogs that I "faithfully" read (as in, sometime during a week's cycle!).

The very first blog I ever started reading was YLCF ~ a place where young ladies gathered to learn and grow together. In many regards I felt a "kindred spirit" with the main authors because we were around the same age and had similar interests. Both of the girls are now married, but I still check back to read the updates.

As with any blog (and I'll mention this at the start) you just have to take the good in and spit the bad out. I don't agree 100% with everything I read, but the Lord has used these girls and their writings to encourage me over the years. So click on over if you have time.... you just might become a faithful reader:o).

Rushed and Crazy.

It all started innocently enough late Thursday night with a phone call from my brother:

Phil: "Hey girl."

Me: "Hey! How are you?"

Phil: "Pretty good. I was just calling to see if we're still on for tomorrow."

Me: (frantically wracking my brain as to what tomorrow is while sprouting out gibberish) "Oh... um... yeah... uh... sure... um... that's not an issue... um, what's tomorrow?"

Phil: "Ann said you offered to watch Ethan in the morning... (slowly trailing off)"

Me: "OH! Yeah! I remember now!" (Making mental note to self not to make commitments to baby-sit without writing it on the calendar. That mental note was promptly followed by another mental note to first GET a 2008 calendar!)

So Friday morning I woke up and headed over to my brother's house, expecting to do a 2-hour babysitting stint. But after I got to his house at 10 AM, Ann said:

"Ok. I'm going to lunch in Reading (one hour away) and I should be back around 4. Call me if you need anything."

Something got lost in translation from my brother to me to Ann. What was supposed to be a couple hours of babysitting turned into an all-day thing, but I was glad for Ann's sake that she had an opportunity to get out and have some adult conversation because she needed it:o).

Since I missed that day of work, I just planned to go in on Saturday, but I didn't plan on getting home from a party after midnight (but it was fun...:D) so the next morning was a late start for me. I finally made it into the office after lunchtime and got ready to do some work. But the printers decided otherwise. They just refused to work for me! Finally I turned to the ye olde typewriter and typed out 30 labels to mail out the Bible Studies. Except I didn't have a lot of stamps left, so I couldn't finish that project. I then went to do a couple of hours' worth of collating and then finally went home -

- where another job awaited me! The bathroom needed a good cleaning so I began to spritz and spray and sweep. My dad had mentioned to me earlier that day that the dust just seemed to come from no where, so I was paying special attention to any dust bunnies floating around and soon found some tenaciously clinging to the back of the toilet. I grabbed a brush and started to gently (!) brush the dust away when the toilet began to spew water from the tank onto the floor. I stared at it for 20 seconds before realizing all my "oh no. Oh no!"-ing was NOT going to make it stop. So after calling my brother and hearing terms like "lubricate" and "blah, blah, blah":o), it finally stopped gushing out. I had to laugh at the irony of it all, and after put a "Don't use" sign on the toilet, I went to bed.

Sunday morning my mom came into my room and said, "Do you want to get ready for church?" It's been years since I've needed a wake-up call, so I was surprised I slept through my alarm but then figured it must've been because I changed the alarm tone on my cell phone. So after casually "waking up", I glanced at my clock and saw that the time was 9:31 AM. I couldn't believe I slept through Sunday School! AND that my mom asked me so casually about going to church:o).

So with that as my rushed, hurried, crazy weekend, I walked into church and just felt as if one thing after another had happened in the preceding days that were very frustrating. But the first song of the morning was "Are You Washed In The Blood?"

Have you been to Jesus For the clensing pow're?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Are you fully trusting In His grace this hour?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Chorus: Are you washed in the blood,

In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?

Are your garments spotless, Are they white as snow?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

After singing that song I thought, it doesn't matter how crazy life gets. I'm still washed in the blood of the Lamb and that's the important thing. I can get all bummed out because of life's little problems or I can just rejoice that I'm saved and on my way to Heaven, which is what I intend to do.:o)

But I think next time I'll get me a calendar before the new year starts:o).

Not Called, Or Not Listening?

Jendi has a post entitled, "Waiting to be called". I was challenged by it, so perhaps someone else will be too. Here's the link.

''Not called!' did you say? Not heard the call,' I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face -- whose mercy you have professed to obey -- and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world."

- William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army -

A Thought Or Two.

"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honour, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"

- David Livingstone -

"I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light."

- John Keith Falconer -

Would...

... anonymous step forward please???? YOU are the winner of my little snowflake candle holder contest!!! I'm fairly confident you are a student of mine since you called me, "Miss Hammond":o), so let me know who you are so I can pass them along to you!

Thank you to everyone else who participated... if anonymous doesn't respond within a couple of days (hint, hint!) then I will pick someone else to find a home for the holders. Enjoy!

Home Again, Home Again.

Judging by my site meter, I think I better post something:o). I flew home on New Year's Day, just in time to visit with my parents and unload my two huge suitcases before tumbling into bed. Each night in Indiana we didn't go to bed until 12:30 or 1:00, so I was just continuing the pattern by not going to bed until closer to 1 AM... unfortunately the alarm buzzing at 6:30 AM reminded me that this could NOT become a habit:o).

I do have to share three blessings from the beginning of the trip...

• I was getting off the Turnpike in Phila. and handed to the toll booth collector my money and my testimony tract. He surprised me when he said he already read it (a sign I go up and down the Turnpike waayyyy too often!) and said it was a blessing to him since he's a Christian too! Then he offered to pay my toll for me... what an unexpected surprise!
• My sister sent out a lot of gifts with me for my brother and his family, and so I wasn't too surprised when the guy at the airport told me my bag was overweight. I wasn't, however, prepared to pay $25.00 and I didn't have room to shuffle anything around when the guy suddenly said, "You know, it's Christmas. We'll just let it go." Thank you Father!
• On my flight from Detroit to Chicago, there were only about 20 people on board. I was in the way back of the plane (close to those loud thingamajings:o)) on the flight from Phila. to Detroit, so I figured I would just move up a few rows once the plane was in the air. As we were preparing to leave, the flight attendant came back and said to myself and two others, "You're going to have to move to first class." Well, since I had to, I moved up to the nice comfy chairs:o). Isn't God good?!?!

I love the way Trevor is watching Tyler play his cup-stacking game...

He's a kangaroo... can't ya tell?!?:o)

We stopped at Taste of Thailand (a restaurant) on Saturday and I was soon transported back to the streets of Bangkok... yum, yum!

I've never met anyone (outside of my church) who reads my blog, so I was a little surprised when Rebecca came up to me to say she reads my blog... so being the blogger that I am, I knew I had to take a picture and post it:o).

My sister-in-law Kim and my niece Tiana...

Jack and Kim... a very dearly loved family!