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The Furnace

July 10 - 13, 2008 at H.I.M. in Ft. Mill, SC.

Curves this week

This was an interesting week at Curves. On Wednesday, I worked out hard to make sure I stayed out of the orange. Orange means you are working the machines below 80% of what you trained at. My results were that I had all green pinpoints on my c-mama likeness on the computer. ;)

This morning, when I signed in, the computer notified me that it had increased my workout 22 points. Not sure exactly what those points mean, but I do know that the computer was going to expect me to work even harder. Hrmph! That's what I get, huh? Well, I didn't push the machines like I did Wednesday. I just simply tried hard to stay out of the orange. Seems a very fine line between the 3 - orange (under target), solid green (target), flashing green (over target). Seems I can go from orange to flashing green in one rep. Oh well. I'll do what I can.

My weigh-in/measure day will be around the 15th. We will see if there is a change in my weight, measurements and/or BMI.

Wednesday workout

I did my first Curves Smart workout today. Phew! First, I should have brought my inhaler with me. My lungs were acting up and with the more intense workout...oh well. I didn't pass out, so that's good. Also, with my face being as red as it was, encouraged others who were thinking about signing up for Curves Smart. Hee hee.

It was a hard workout, which is good. The computer recorded that I expended all the energy I could (YES, I KNOW!).

I'm so happy to have this first workout under my belt.

Have a happy, blessed day and remember that Jesus loves you all. :)

Curves training

I was able to do my Curves Smart training today. Sheri, the owner, input my weight, height, and measurements into the computer and activated my key-card. Then I went around to the machines, stuck my key-card in, did 3 range of motion reps and 3 full power reps so the computer would know my range of motion for each machine and then it would know my full power to keep my up to that level.

Then I did a normal workout. I will do a Curves Smart workout the next time I'm in.

Sheri did a workout with me this morning, showing me what the machines look like with her key-card in. After her workout, she put her key-card into the computer and showed me what her workout screen looks like. Very cool. You can see what muscle groups are in the 91% or higher range and which muscle groups are lower than 91%. There's also a chart which shows which machine targets which muscle group. There are other helpful charts that show your progress. I'm sure the first month or so will be full of highs and lows, but as the months go by, the average will be great to see and it will be good to see when I'm able to increase my reps on the machines.

Yay!

ETA - My weight has not decreased. However, I can tell that I'm losing inches even though I cannot prove it. I hadn't gotten measured in a couple of months. I measured myself on Friday and then today I got measured at Curves. I'm a little frustrated not to see a change in weight, but both hubby and I have noticed a change in my body. I'll know more the end of this month and then a month from now. I'm going to keep up on the measurements with Curves (well, I'll have to now with Curves Smart) and will measure myself (maybe) on the 15th.

Friday Curves

The Curves machines were equipped with the Smart computers yesterday. The trainers and members still need to be trained on them, but we are able to use the heart-rate on the stepper. Wow, what a difference. Taking your heart rate on your own is difficult. I would mess up my counting because my mind is listening to the beat of the music and other distractions.

But this machine is accurate. I fell between the 70 and 80 percentile easily. Hmmm. I'm reading on the Curves forums that one needs to be between 60 and 70 and the owner said 70 and 80 today. Oh well. Either way I was lower than I thought I had been. Which is good for me because I was taking it very easy at the recovery stations.

There were, of course, complaints from the peanut gallery. You know the ones. The ones who complain for every single little change. According to them, the machine is wrong because it's 20 points lower than what they used to be. They cannot possibly work out harder, and, oh, by the way, you changed which door we go in so I'm going to complain that we are all going to die if there's ever a fire. Phew. I prayed peace upon the owner and the other trainers while the members get used to the changes.

Change, while necessary, is very difficult for most to endure.

I'm happy. I cannot wait to be called for my appointment. This is going to be a very, very, very good change.

Priceless

Cost for mom to take the kids to a matinée - $48.50

Cost to sugar up the kids and give them something to drink - $41.00

Cost for 6 kids and a mom to watch Prince Caspian in the theaters - Priceless

Movie was awesome and the kids were great. We basically had the theater to ourselves except for one guy. We went to a 12:30 show - figured that would be safe, school is still in session. :)

Awesome, awesome movie. I thought I would have wanted to read the book again before going, but I couldn't find it. I'm glad I didn't. I liked being surprised.

Did I mention - AWESOME?

Memorial Day Workout

Hm. I'm not very creative at titles. :)

My Curves is open today from 8am to 11am. I woke up at 6:45, which is the time I normally wake up every morning. I wanted to go back to sleep, but knew if I did, I wouldn't want to work out when I woke back up. So, I woke up, dressed in my workout clothes, put my contacts in and brushed my teeth. I then worked on my Panda Cross-Stitch Afghan. I am really enjoying that and didn't want to put it down. But, at 8, I mustered up enough will-power to get my shoes on and go. Before leaving I put Blue's Clues on for the little ones and told Jodan, my now 10-year-old, to get them breakfast when he woke up.

It was a good workout. My heart rate was a bit higher than I wanted, but not over 85%.

I'm very happy Curves was open this morning and that I've gone.

Back to work on that panda blanket. :)

God bless those that serve and have served to keep our country safe. God also bless those in HIS army that put their lives on the line for the gospel - moving forward in faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blue Jays and God is Crazy About ME! (and you)

I'm listening to a message given by Bill Johnson at Morningstar's Healing Conference.

Bill said, "He is so wonderful, He does stuff just because it matters to you, in fact, if it matters to you, it matters to Him. It doesn't have to be a profound message, He does it just because He's wild about you." Well, this thought came into my mind, I don't always see that He's wild about me.

I'm listening to this in my truck and I'm backing up into our driveway and I look in the mirror and see a blue jay hopping around on my front porch.

Now, you may think, "Yeah, and? This is the season for blue jays, there all around all time time right now. And, it's a blue jay! They're mean, aggressive birds!"

Let me tell you what blue jays mean to ME. During a time of financial hardship in our lives, I was sitting at the table by the window at the front of our house. I was praying and crying out to the Lord for a sign that everything would be ok. I even told Him what sign to give me (I know, heresy, right? HA! HA! I say to you - read about Gideon in Judges 6). I looked at the bird feeder that was hanging outside our house. We put that feeder out there and NO birds came to it. NOT ONE in the weeks that it had been out there. IT WAS STILL FULL! I looked at that bird feeder and said, "God, I need to know You're hearing me and that You will be there for us and that everything will be ok. I need you to send a bird to that feeder now so that I know You are hearing me." I waited and my heart rejoiced as a blue jay flew up the feeder and started eating at our bird feeder. Since that time, every time I see a blue jay, I remember God's goodness.

So, seeing that blue jay hopping around on our front porch reminded me that the Lord does stuff just because it matters to me.

Now my mind is reeling! If what matters to me also parallels what HE mandates in the scriptures - there's no stopping Him. You know what I want? I want to be so on fire for Him that I have no fear about going up to a stranger and asking them if there is anything I can pray for them about.

Yay God! Thank you for loving me!

Pray for the leaders

We know (or at least, in my opinion - SHOULD know) that we need to pray for our leaders.

I saw a headline today that reminded me that we need to pray for leaders around the world, especially friends of the United States.

If you remember, Tony Blair stood by the United States after the 9/11 attacks. Not many did that. This doesn't mean we need to not pray for leaders who are not friends of the United States. But I think we need not to forget the friends.

News Link Here

Tony Blair's Jet Comes Within Minutes of Being Shot Down by Israeli Fighter Planes

Friday, May 23, 2008

Tony Blair came within moments of being killed when two Israeli fighter aircraft threatened to shoot down a private jet taking him to a Middle East conference in the belief that it might have been staging a terrorist attack.

The warplanes were scrambled to intercept after the jet pilot failed to contact air traffic control. Blair, the international community’s envoy to the Middle East, was flying from the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to attend a major conference on private investment in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.

The Israeli aircraft used to intercept Blair’s plane would have been versions of the F16 or F15, armed with Shafrir and Python air-to-air missiles. Both missiles have proved to be devastatingly effective and versatile. The Shafrir 2 missile shot down nearly 100 aircraft in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Air traffic controllers spotted a suspicious aircraft heading into Israeli airspace from the Sinai peninsula on Monday and made several attempts to establish contact. When the pilot failed to respond to their urgent requests, the Israelis scrambled two fighters to intercept what they feared could have been a terrorist attacker.

The fighters flew above Blair’s civilian aircraft to indicate to the pilot that he was considered a suspect target, at which point he finally made contact. The pilot told them that he was carrying Blair.

During the entire incident, Blair — flying with other delegates from the WEF, who were also attending the Bethlehem conference — was not informed of the situation by the pilot.

“They were unaware of it while they were on the plane,” Ruti Winterstein, spokeswoman for Blair’s office in Israel, said. “They didn’t hear about it until afterwards, from the media.”

Initial investigations into the events indicated a technical malfunction was to blame for the breakdown in communication, the Israeli newspaper Maariv said.

~~~~~

Lord, I lift up Tony Blair to you and ask that you envelop him with your peace. Pour out and protect him, Lord, and help him to not back down from the call you have placed on his life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen

Curvey day

:) Went to Curves this morning. I'm so glad I changed to morning workouts. I think this will make a difference. I have more energy while working out and all throughout the day.

I worked the machines hard, but my lungs were being naughty today, so a little after my first time around, I had to slow down. I thought I would have to stop completely. But I prayed and heard the Lord remind me to breath correctly. So, I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth. Easy for most, but with my younger years of having sever orthodontic problems and breathing issues, I always breathe through my mouth. It takes concentration to do it the other way.

Well, that helped me tremendously. No only did my heart rate slow down (it was in the 80% and should be 60-70%) but my lungs became more obedient. I totally took it easy at the recovery stations and was able to work the machines hard. Felt like a good day. :)

They are open Monday from 8-11 and I'm very happy for that.

My workout today

I left the house around 8 after getting the kids up. The owner was working at Curves and I signed a piece of paper signing me up for the Curves Smart program and gave her my credit card to charge the fee.

I worked out a bit harder today since I apparently didn't realize that I should be trying to increase my reps as time goes on. Wow, what a difference. I didn't have the machines telling me if I was in the zone or not, but I tried to focus on my reps and not slow down. My heart rate stayed in the target zone except for the 3rd last machine (squat) where I was able to do 14 reps. That was more than I had ever done, but I did push myself too far, I think. Had to take a heart rate check at that point and it was at 31 and I should be at 25. I slowed down for the last machines and then stretched. I also weighed myself when I was done and I gained 1/2 pound from last week Wednesday, but that's ok. I know it's not in the weight and today was a brand new day, with working out harder.

The owner stated that the parts for the machines will be installed next Thursday. I don't know how long it will take for the staff to get trained, but my impression of the owner is that she won't dilly-dally. She's going to want to get the members starting on Curves Smart as soon as possible.

Bring God's Kingdom to Earth

I've been reading Here Comes Heaven an invitation and guide for young people to bring the realm of Heaven to earth. Let me tell you it's the best investment I've made for my kids. I read a chapter out loud to them everyday. It's even challenging ME.

I just wanted to share an excerpt from chapter 10, Nice is Not Enough.

"Three easy ways to help you bring God's Kingdom to earth is:

• LOOK - use your "faith eyes" to see what your Heavenly Father is doing.
• LISTEN - with the "ears" of your heart to what God is saying.
• OBEY - what the Holy Spirit wants you to do.

There's still more that your Father has for you. He just loves getting you ready for your royal mission!

TIME WITH YOUR KING

• As you Heavenly Papa to come.
• Let the Holy Spirit bring you into His presence.
• Tell Papa how great He is.
• Tell Him how much you love Him.
• Let the Father love on you for awhile.
• Ask Him to show you again who you are.
• You will see what He sees; a Royal Child.
• Take a good look.
• In His presence, ask Jesus to give you what He has.
• Tell Him you want to be just like Him.
• Thank Him for His power.
• Thank Him that you don't have to sin anymore.
• Thank Him for His courage.
• Thank Him for His love.
• Let Papa know you want to obey Him.
• Let Him know you are hungry.
• Be ready to receive His power and character.
  

Curves

A little over a year ago, I joined Curves. I saw immediate results and had, in a couple of months, lost 14 pounds and 23 inches. I worked out three times a week and got weighed in and measured once a month - at the end of every month.

Curves is a place for women only. There are resistance machines and in between each machine is a "rest pad". You use the resistance machine for 30 seconds and then you go to the pad. You do some sort of cardio move for 30 seconds and then move on to the next machine.

Then summer arrived. I'm very active at church. I attend regularly, every Friday and every Sunday, and during worship I dance. I found that during the first couple months of attending Curves, my dance was more energetic. During the month of July, our church is on sabbatical. We don't have any services at all during July. So, my body was used to two extra workouts a week and with the July sabbatical, I didn't do any extra workouts.

When I got weighed in and measured at the end of July, I found that I didn't lose anything. I was discouraged. But I knew that my energy level probably decreased a bit and also, hubby and I were eating more on Sunday mornings, which made me want to eat more during the week.

But as the months progressed, I found no changes in my weight or measurements. This discouraged me even more and my attendance at Curves was not regular during November and December and I didn't go at all during January. I started back again in February. I didn't weigh in when I started back up because I knew that I had gained and I really didn't want to know where I was at. When I did get weighed in at the end of February, I had found that my weight was higher than when I last weighed in and my measurements had also increased. Well, I had expected it, however, I was discouraged.

I attended Curves in March, three times a week. At the end of March I saw no change. Discouraged again, I stopped going.

Hubby asked me, at the end of April, if I was going and I said no. He encouraged me to start up again.

Starting last Monday (May 12), I started back again. I weighed myself this time and wrote down my weight. I calibrated my home scale with that of Curves. But I was scared that, again, there would be no change even after attending three times a week.

When I went to Curves on Friday, Kris, the manager, was there and told me she had missed seeing me. I admitted that I had been discouraged and stopped coming. She encouraged me to keep going and said that something was changing in Curves and when they had more information, she'd see if I was interested.

When I went into Curves this morning, the place had been decorated and they were advertising a new program called the Curves Smart workout. They will be fitting each machine with a computer of sorts. If you join the Curves Smart workout, you will fill out some paperwork, get weighed and measured and all this information will be put into the computer. You will choose from 4 different workouts - Fit and Trim (sets resistance to 65% of your strength), Muscle Size and Strength (sets resistance to 75%), Cardio (50% of your strength), Endurance. The Curves Smart program will design a program for each individual based on information entered and workout picked. There's more to it, but it's like having a personal trainer with you on every machine to make sure you're getting the most out of the workout.

This, of course, costs extra. But I was excited to learn about it and talked it over with hubby. We agreed to go ahead and sign up for that.

It's going to be a couple of weeks before it starts. The franchise I attend still has to get the machines fitted with the computers, the staff has to be educated on it. After that has taken place, they will start training the customers, one at a time. I'm 6th in line.

But I'm hoping that I will see more results with this new program.

:)

Here's a youtube video of the program that I watched, if you're interested.

Friday's Touch

1 Corinthians 14:1,2 - Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.

When I was cleaning out my truck this morning, I felt led to pray and ask the Lord to give me another word for someone I may encounter (outside my church) today. I got into the house, and after scolding the children for not getting their chores done (real spiritual, huh?), I sat down at the table and I just kept hearing in my thoughts, "I delight in you", and, of course, that thought made me smile - both on the inside and on the outside. I received that word for myself, but I knew that the Lord wanted me to share with that certain someone (probably someone at Game Stop) something about Him delighting in them.

I went to my trusty website for looking up Bible verses (I pray that one day, these verses will just be there in the front of my mind, the verses and where they are) and typed in the word DELIGHT. As I clicked the link SEARCH, I saw on the front page the word DELIGHT. Then my browser took me to the list of bible verses that have DELIGHT in them. I immediately clicked the back arrow and saw that the Bible verse of the day is Zephaniah 3:17 - “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”



I just sat and soaked in God's love for a moment. I knew that this was not a coincidence and that this was the Bible verse I was to share.

I went out to my truck to find a note card (preferably one without flowers on it as I'm guessing this is going to a guy) and wrote out that I was praying for them and got the word delight and wrote that Bible verse.

I ended the note saying Smile! Jesus loves you and takes GREAT delight in you.

This giving of words gets easier and is SO much fun. My heart is rejoicing with the opportunity to share God's love with people I don't know and people who aren't expecting it.

I spent years INSIDE my church giving prophetic words to people, but I knew that was my training ground and that the Lord wants to reach the people who aren't in church. I'm so excited to be doing this. God is good and God is love.

Thursday's Touch

So, I had planned on asking God to give me an encouraging word for someone while I'm out. I don't remember if it was once a week or every time I went out, but whatever, I went out today and wanted to give a word to someone.

I went to Walmart, Starbucks, Michael's and Sam's Club. I figured I'd have enough time to pray and get a word from God that I could write down.

When I was in Walmart, I picked up a pack of notecards that came with envelopes! Cool! But most are flowery, and what if I give a word to a guy? Hm. It's ok. It will work.

As I'm walking around Walmart, I'm praying and asking God to show me something. I see someone who reminds me of a friend (who is currently out of state). This friend of mine LOVES to sing. I then hear, "songbird". I knew that was the word I was to give today. But I wanted to write it on the card and I wasn't sure which store the person who is getting the word was at.

I stopped by the house after Walmart and Starbucks and while driving to the house, I heard, "Sing and make music to the Lord." So, at home, I looked up that phrase at BibleGateway and found Ephesians 5:19.

So, I wrote on the card that I prayed for this person (I'm thinking it's going to be a woman) and asked the Lord to give me a word, that I heard Songbird. I told this person that the Lord loves to hear their heart and that they make music in their heart. I then wrote out Ephesians 5:19, Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. I wrote, Smile, (and sing!!) Jesus loves you, may He richly bless your day. I simply signed Debbie.

We got to Sam's and I was thinking about the card in my purse, but at some point I forgot. Caytie and I pull the cart up to the first register I see and it's closed. So we go to the one next to it.

As we're unloading the cart, I remember the card and remember I thought it was going to be for a woman. Our cashier is, yes, a guy. Wow, what a step of faith for me. For some reason I felt it was easier to give this card to a woman.

Well, my cashier and I talked a little bit about homeschool. He was a very nice guy. Young, but I have no clue what his age was. Either late teens or early 20s. As he gave my Sam's card back to me, I gave him the sealed card. I had written his name on the envelope. I told him that I prayed and asked God to give me a word and that this card was for him. Then I left. Caytie told me he looked shocked. I looked again and he was now at the manager's post and it looked like he was giving the card to the manager, but I couldn't tell.

Oh, well. I need to trust that I heard correctly from the Lord and that God was able to touch Akaim.

Assignment: Let someone know God loves them

Our pastor listed a few assignments for the congregation to pick from - thing to do to show God's love to others. We gave testimonies this past Sunday.

I chose to, while at a store, get a greeting card (pay for it, of course) and give it to the cashier. I did this on Monday. While I was sitting on my bed getting my shoes on, I was so nervous. Silly, isn't it? But I went to the store, picked out a greeting card and did some more grocery shopping. As I'm walking through the store, I was overcome with God's love for EVERYONE and thought how unfair that I was only giving ONE person a card. (Like I can afford a card for everyone shopping there!)

I picked aisle 5 (for grace!) and had my cashier ring the card up first and told her I wanted it back. She handed it back to me and while she rang up the rest of my stuff, I wrote inside the card - Smile, Jesus love you and drew a smiley face. I sealed the envelope and wrote her name on it. After I paid for my stuff, I handed her the card and said, "This is for you." She smiled real big and placed it beneath her cash register.

After I told my story, I sat down and the visitor who was sitting behind me whispered, did you know that was me? I looked closer and sure enough! It was her. I got up to sit next to her and give her a hug. My hubby was walking around with the microphone getting people's testimonies and he looked at me and I pointed at her and said, "This is her!"

He came over to us to let everyone know this was who I gave the card to. Well, this story isn't over. Dawn, the pastor's wife, also was on assignment at that same store the next day. She talked to her cashier about how gift cards worked and told the lady that she wanted to get a gift card for someone, just because. She rang it up, along with the other things she had and when she was done, she said to the cashier, this is for you, because Jesus love you. That cashier was the same one I went to! She came to our church because she knew Dawn's name and knew what church she ministered at.

How cool is that? Only God could orchestrate something like that. Neither Dawn nor I knew who the other blessed.

God is so good and His love is simply amazing.

Oh, and I have purchased some index cards and pens to bring with me to jot down prophetic words I receive to give to people while I'm out. :)

Debt Canceling

Last night Todd Bentley, live on God TV had a debt canceling and prayer burning ceremony. People from all over the world e-mailed or brought prayer requests and wrote down debts they wanted canceled.

Well, at our church service last night we did the same thing, except for the burning part. :D We wrote down our prayer requests and poured oil on them, came up and prayed over them. On large sheets of paper we wrote down the debts we wanted canceled. Our family wrote down, mortgage, my truck and money owned to the company who worked on our house because of the damage from Hurricane Wilma. We had been working with this company and they had someone working with the insurance company to release more money towards the total amount owed.

This morning the guy from that company called letting us know that our insurance company has agreed to cut another check. They are paying 79% of the large sum that is still owed. We still have to come up with the rest, but that amount isn't so daunting. And besides, I'm still waiting to see what God can do with that.

Woo Hoo! I serve an awesome God.

Another Healing Testimony

I've been watching Todd Bentley on God TV and tonight we watched it at our Friday night church service.

We were praising the Lord and praying along with those who were coming up to the stage giving their testimonies of healing. You have to trust that what they say is real because you don't know them and there is no "proof" that they were sick in the first place.

All of a sudden, the people around me erupt and say "PETER!" I look up and see a man who has been attending our church for a few years now. He HAD parkinsons and walked very slow and in pain all the time. He had gotten healed. Todd had him RUN across the stage and I jump out of my seat, tears running down my face because I knew that this was God. Peter was not able to do that and I saw him, with my own eyes, run across the stage two times. And he wasn't shaking.

God is so good!!!!

The deaf will hear

On April 2, 2008, Todd Bentley from Fresh Fire Ministries came to a church in Lakeland, Florida. Todd is an evangelist whom God has used to bring healing to the sick. This conference, which was only to last a week, is still continuing. They have had to change venues as the church it started in cannot house the thousands who are coming from all over the world. They are not coming to see Todd but they are coming to have an encounter with the King of kings.

We have had some people from our church go and I believe they have brought an impartation of the power and glory that is being released there to our church.

Yesterday, I was serving on our prophetic team. It's a time after the service that we set aside to pray for people and share with them what we believe God has for them.

As we were ministering to the last couple, one of my team members felt that the Lord wanted to heal the man's hearing. In fact, she thought he had been in our Friday night meeting. There was a man in our Friday night meeting who had been healed in his ears and was able to hear. This was not the same man, however. We prayed that the Lord would touch him and bring healing to his ears. He had been partially deaf since serving at Vietnam.

When we were done, we asked if he felt any change. He said while we were praying, he heard 3 pops in his left ear. That encouraged us and we went after the healing again. When we were done, he said that the siren noise he had heard in his ear for 40 years was gone!

How awesome is our God! He reached down, in response to our prayers and touched this man's ears. Because He loves this man.

I want to meditate on what the Lord is doing and who He is all the time. I never want to go back to who I was. I want to see the Lord's power, glory and love released here where I live. I want to be used by Him.

How great is our God!

Hope

In the midst of bad news, scary news, sad news, the Bible verse that came up for today is Isaiah 45:8 - "You heavens above, rain down righteousness;
let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
let salvation spring up,
let righteousness grow with it;
I, the LORD, have created it.

Amen and amen

Listen to your heart, not your head

I had a dream last night where, after I let my anger at a silly situation come out in front of my pastor, he told me to listen to my heart, not my head. In my dream I didn't quite understand. I had thought that listening to your heart meant being ruled by your emotions.

When I woke up those words kept ringing out in my head. I believe that the Lord speaks through dreams and sometimes you need to write them down immediately or you'll forget them. But I think that sometimes the Lord is really gracious (He's gracious ALL the time, I know) and highlights things to you so you don't forget and that it's a word for right now or it's something important that you'll need to remember for the future.

As I ponder this, I remember my pastor teaching on where our spirit is located, in our gut area. The Bible writers often refer to this as where we feel and think. I'm also reminded of head knowledge versus experience.

I think that this saying is encouraging me to think on the experiences I've had versus what knowledge may be telling me. Darkness is coming, but the LIGHT will prevail. We cannot give in to fear, we cannot let the "reality" of what is going on around us take us out of our peace in God. We need to listen to our heart, remember our experiences with the Lord and trust in Him, not our circumstances.

California Woman Shot to Death calling 911

News story

Southern California Woman Shot Dead While on Phone With 911 Dispatcher

Thursday, March 20, 2008

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WEST COVINA, Calif. — A woman was asking a 911 dispatcher for help when her pleas were interrupted by gunshots, then silence. She was shot to death.

The woman told the dispatcher someone was trying to break into her home in upscale West Covina, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Dan Rosenberg said. "Deputies heard gunshots followed by silence and an open phone line," he said.

Deputies arrived at the house, 20 miles east of Los Angeles, a few minutes after Wednesday's late morning call.

The woman, whose name was not released by police, had been shot several times. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.

"At this point we believe it was a burglary gone awry," Rosenberg said.

Investigators are trying to determine if anything was taken, Deputy Luis Castro said.

While police were investigating the shooting, a man arrived at the home asking about his wife.

When he heard that the woman had been shot and killed, he collapsed and started to cry, saying "No! She just called me. You lie."

The man was placed in a patrol car and taken to a sheriff's station, police said.

Witnesses said they saw one or more men running from the house, Rosenberg said.

Investigators used bloodhounds to conduct yard-to-yard searches.

No arrests had been made by Thursday morning, deputies said.

As a precaution during the search, a high school and an elementary school were locked down for about two hours, police Lt. Dan Brooks said.

There are some folks who will use this story, among others, to try to get guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens.

However, I will use this story to show why I think law abiding citizens should be able to have guns to protect themselves.

Are guns dangerous? Well, they cannot do ANYTHING by themselves. When loaded and in the hands of someone who doesn't know gun safety or in the hands of someone with murderous intent, I suppose you could say that guns are dangerous. But guns are tools. Unfortunately, in this world, there are people who do not live according to the rules set forth by society. When a law is put into effect that states that people cannot own guns (I believe it is very difficult to own a gun in California), there are people out there (criminals) who do not care what the laws state. This woman was apparently killed by someone who was robbing her house. I don't care what the rules in California are, I believe that thieves and criminals have NO chance of owning guns. But here we have a criminal with a gun.

This will not stop. Our world is getting darker, not better. It is my belief that all citizens of the United States should be allowed to own a gun and carry a gun for protection. Do I think that people should be licensed? I guess it depends on the reasoning for the licenses is. If it's to make sure that the owners are going to gun safety classes, then yes. By all means. We cannot have ignorant people handling guns. For goodness' sake, on one of the firearms forums I read, I have read about accidental (I'll call them negligent) discharges of the firearms. When handling a firearm, one needs to always be aware of the damage that can be done by the tool one is handling. But if the licensing is to keep track of the firearms the people own, then no, I am not in favor of licensing.

Had this woman had a firearm and been educated on the use of that firearm, we may have seen a different heading on that news article.

When criminals are aware that people are armed and not afraid to use those tools to protect themselves and their families, I believe they probably think twice about targeting them as a victim.

My prayers go out to the woman's husband and the rest of her family. I pray also that the criminals are caught. I also pray that the state of California takes a hard look at it's laws and make some changes to give power back to the people, the law abiding citizens.

Into the Sky

Hope Deferred

I was listening to Bethel Church's podcast of the week - "Why Pray?" Bill Johnson, 2/11/08. I wish I could just have the transcript here for you to read, however, you should go and listen to it. It's so awesome.

Anyway, one part just struck a cord with me.

"God looks for the glance of the eye of interest, not because material goods satisfy, but because those things that He does just help to put into language the absolute passion and love that He has for people. He desires the blessing of His people more than His people desire to be blessed. But He does not want to put something on us that cripples us. He only wants to put things on us that add to our affection for Him."

Proverbs 13:12

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

"You are vulnerable to spiritual disease when you do not have the desires of your heart quenched. Because God made us to be people who live with fulfilled lives."

"When the answer comes, it is the tree of life. Tree of life = Eternal destiny"

"It is your eternal destiny to live with fulfilled dreams and desires."

"Predestined to be fulfilled in life with answers to your desires."

Why I'm voting for Huckabee

I believe that the Lord wants to use Mike Huckabee to get us through these next few years.

I will forward you to my pastor's blog as he has a much better way of words than I do.

I also want to link my husband's site as he has a nice video from Huck's Army that shows that the media is mistaken in saying that it's impossible for Mike Huckabee to win.


Randal Cutter's blog

What the media isn't telling you about McCain's chances by freepatriot.com

On Intercession

The Lord has blessed me with a gift and calling in intercession. Along with this gift, though, comes along many testings and trials that I need to overcome.

I believe (and have seen in my life) that the Lord speaks to His people in dreams, visions, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, etc. Mostly when I pray, I pray because a request has come up, but there are times when the Lord places on my heart these incredible feelings for the person or situation.

Sometimes I'm awakened in the night with a dream or a thought to pray about something.

Other times, the Lord uses my own feelings and such to show me an area to pray for - regarding myself, but also for others.

Last night was one of those circumstances. And it showed me that I need to infuse myself even more with Him so I don't let those feelings rule my emotions.

I was having a very irritating night. There was a fly in the house that kept biting me, I had to "frog" most of yesterday's accomplishments on the blanket I'm working on (all because I didn't wait on the Lord to show me what to do), I was irritated by the speakers at the debate and when I wanted to just go into a room to drown out the noise, THE FLY WAS THERE!!!!

I didn't handle it all very well and almost drove my poor husband out of the house. Thankfully the Lord has also blessed me with a kind, compassionate, patient husband and he didn't throw ME out of the house. One day I hope to repay him and be the kind, compassionate patient woman God wants me to be.

Anyway, I sat on the floor and just cried out to the Lord to help me. The feelings that overcame me were so scary! Depression, craziness, and others. Wow. Through all this a name came into my head. I knew I needed to pray for this person. And I did, but because I've not been into the Word like I should, because I've not been in communication with the Lord like I should, my mind didn't stay in prayer for this person for long. I kept going back to ME and what my behavior was doing to my family.

Well, the Lord, in His goodness, finally let me stop crying enough to go back to bed and I woke up refreshed and in a normal mood - so much so my husband commented on it.

But it was a stark reminder that I let this intercessory opportunity get the best of me. I let the feelings rule my emotions. I believe that I was feeling what this person that I was praying for was feeling. But had I been more in touch with God during my waking hours, it wouldn't have affected my emotions like it did.

Now, God doesn't love me any more or less when I do or don't take time to read or pray. But my response to circumstances sure is different when I've been in the Word, praying and surrounding myself with knowledge of His goodness than if I'm not.

Supernatural Living

I'm reading a book by Bill Johnson called "The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind". It is forcing me to believe that I need to live a supernatural life. To call Heaven down on earth. The Lord's prayer - Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. That is what we are called to do. See and operate in God's will on earth as it is in Heaven.

My husband and I believe that the Lord has dropped an opportunity to purchase a home from a friend in our lap. The home is worth $50-$100K more than what we are being asked to pay. The home we are currently living in is 1,656 square feet. The home we are being presented is 2,738 square feet. We were given a tour of the home this past weekend and it is beautiful and there is more to it than what we originally thought.

I have learned to be content in the small home I live in. Prices for homes in the city where I live have gone up considerably. But so have the property taxes. I am aware that If we moved into a home worth 3x the amount our current mortgage is for, our taxes will go up.

We were reminded last night that we may not be able to afford the mortgage payments on this home. I cried. But it was something I knew deep down. I couldn't understand why the Lord would present this opportunity to us if we couldn't afford it.

I woke up this morning with a new outlook. No, we may not be able to buy this home on our own efforts. But we are called to live in the Supernatural. Even Jesus said He could do nothing in Himself (John 5:30), while living on this earth. In our own power, we may not be able to afford to make mortgage payments on our friends' home. But I have a Father in Heaven who is the God of the universe, the creator of all things. If I still believe he has given us this opportunity, then I also need to believe He will provide a way for us to own this home. My prayer is no longer, Lord I want be able to get a mortgage for this home. My prayer now is to own this home debt free. With God all things are possible.

John 15:5-8 (New King James Version)

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.