Edwards Family Journal

Our End Of The Year ..Dec.2011

2012-01-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

What a great end of the year THE LORD gave us!!!!!!!
I am so amazed at His goodness and mercy toward my family....
First of all for David and I God brought a revival to our relationship and it is so exciting to see the changes He is doing in our hearts towards each other, He is showing us more of our weaknesses and how they affect our relationship and our children and what is God's way to overcome them and go on to victory, He is teaching us new ways of communicating our desires and feelings with each other and the things that matter to us as individuals and with that he is giving us the gift of wisdom and understanding in dealing with the different situations we are facing and having to deal with.
All I know the Lord opened a wide door and poor out blessings of confession, forgiveness, healing, and love for His word the Bible and for each other so we stand and sing together (O Victory In Jesus) with an overwhelming joy that only comes from heaven above.
Oh how kind is our LORD..........how sweet is the fellowship with Him in the light of His Word, so my testimony for 2011 is that MY GOD IS FAITHFUL.
There were so many events going on at church and LORD enabled us to participate in,
my favorite one was the missionary meeting with Bro. Sutek, the message he preached was wonderful and he brought to us wonderful truths out of the book of Hebrews so I decided to read it at least once a week.
The other wonderful event was the fancy home made Appreciation Italian Dinner that our Italian Pastor and his wife make every year for the church members...oh my the food was so good the decorations, the fancy tables set up with the candles and the so many kinds of home made desserts that his wife made, I could not believe my eyes I think there were at least 10 kinds of cookies, pies, and cakes that she baked from scratch, and the Italian bread, salads and home made dressings, she made 2 different red spaghetti sauces, one with meat balls and one with sausage, chicken in white Alfredo sauce, she even made mozzarella cheese and after dinner they had fun games for the family together and some for the children, we had an amazing evening.
Then on New Years Eve we had a watch night service we got to hear some of the young preachers, sang beautiful hymns, prayed in the new year and of course there was games food and fellowship, well it was too late for us to drive down home so our pastor offered for us to stay the night at the Prophet's Chamber so we were able to be in church and worship our God on the first Sunday of 2012.

December Blessings

2011-12-13T12:22:00.000-08:00

It has been a great beginning so far, the LORD helped me read the whole book of Revelation a couple of times and He helped me get 5 people saved so far but I am hoping for at least 5 more before the end of the year.
A few days ago David called from work to let me know that he was getting laid off on the fifteenth, my answer was "well praise the LORD", I have such peace about him loosing the job now unlike the times in the past, it is a real blessing!!! then a couple of days ago his manager told him that he can stay until the end of Jan/2012 and my thought was again"well praise the LORD". Another big blessing we had is going to the shooting range for a whole day and we got to shoot all kinds of different guns and learn about them. It was alot of fun! and Lord willing we will be doing that more often. Another big blessing was to see our horse DeeKay after months of medical care, hoof care, exercise and training that he started performing so good especially the past couple of days with the rain, he was getting frisky and running all over the backyard showing off his strength, speed and beauty. I can't wait to see Iris sitting on his back and taking off down the dirt road at a dead run. And the latest blessing in the past couple of days is the amount of rain and the beautiful winter weather we are having we even had snow on top of the Superstition Mountain behind our house! It is an amazing and breath-taking view from my kitchen window, when finally the clouds pass by uncovering the white covered peaks of the mountain which makes my dish-washing event a joyful one.

Well I must stop now and enjoy the rest of the blessings God is going to give me for the rest (2011).

NIV Bible Verses King James Bible

2011-11-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

I just came across one of the most awful things I have ever seen in the NIV translation of the Scriptures and it really caused me to write this post.
In Isaiah 14:12 the NIV bible prophesy that it is not Lucifer who will in the end be cast into hell, but rather the "morning star"who is the LORD JESUS CHRIST. Here is the verse from the NIV
Isaiah 14:12
How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
Here is the verse from the King James Bible
¹²How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
The"morning star" is one of the titles of the Lord Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation 22:16.
If you use the NIV and you do not believe the above then get your bible out and start comparing it to the beautiful King James Bible and see that for yourself.

One More Soul Bound For Heaven

2011-10-24T06:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday David and I went to Wal-Mart as we were coming out we saw this young man standing in front dressed up with fancy Army uniform, he had some coupon books that he was trying to sell for funds raising, so we stop and asked him a couple of questions and then proceeded to share with him the plan of Salvation, when we asked him if he was sure he would go to heaven when he died he said that wondered and thought about that a lot and did not know, so we showed him how he can know for sure by believing that Jesus died to paid the penalty for his sin and asking Him for the gift of Eternal life, it took a little while explaining it then we asked to him and if he wanted to to believe in Jesus and ask him for the gift of Salvation, he said Yes, so when we said lets pray he extended his hands to us and we all bowed our heads and lead him to our LORD.
It was one of those days when the Lord burdens us for the lost and would have some seeking and all ready to get saved, this was the case with this young man, His name is Micheal and he had a very long German name, he is 16 years old and wants to go into the Army so he could finish his collage degree, I can tell that he was poor, he had glasses on that were broke and kept together with tape. he was very polite and professional, well that young man made our day, and we went home rejoicing.

My 1st Horse Back Ride In The Desert

2011-10-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

Finally I did it.......my first horse back ride outside of our property and into the desert, Iris rode Pumpkin and I rode Virgil Kane the weather was beautiful, and the horses were excited, Virgil even trotted with me on his back, I managed SOMEHOW to stay on him.
We even stopped at a garage sale and shopped. Iris taught me a lot about horses and gave horse back riding lessons, she saddled the horse for me and got him ready for the ride, it is so nice have someone that is always ready to go for a ride anytime I feel like getting on my horse. This is another one of my dreams coming true.

Greens, greens and more greens.

2011-10-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

The weather is getting nice around here, the heat is pretty much gone and we even are having chilly nights too, our garden is perking up and just exploding with all kinds of greens like basil, mint, garlic, green onions, radishes, chard, kale, beats, and the grapevines are looking green and pretty. So I started cutting them back and drying the leafs to use for seasoning and make my special salt mix, I avoided going outside the past few months but now it is so nice I can stay out all day long, those pictures are some of the greens I picked this morning for drying, after they dry I grind them and mix them in the salt that we use for cooking.
I add lots of this mix to the garlic powder and use it to make our delicious homemade garlic bread.
My mother showed me how to do this, she grows all kinds of herbs and vegetables organically almost all year round, but that is only in San Diego, CA. and now she has so much she started selling them to some Middle Eastern stores close where she lives.

One of the biggest blessings about greens is that my children love eating them raw anytime of the day with meals, in fact we all like them a lot.
God is so good to us to create so many different kinds of greens for us to enjoy and be healthy,
every time I look at so much greens in my hands my heart swells with gladness and over flows with thankfulness to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the verse from the bible (All thing were made by HIM) comes to my mind right away.

Our Wedding Anniversary

2011-10-03T11:29:00.000-07:00

Sep. 21st /2011 marked our nine years anniversary... we still fit in our wedding clothes!!!! I had to shed 4lb to be able to get into my dress, but David fit fine in his suit, he looked just as handsome and so attractive to me as he was when I saw him in his suit on our wedding day.
The first anniversary we put on our wedding clothes and went out to dinner, we had a blast, the second anniversary David got really sick with the flu, 3rd anniversary I had Nellie on Sep. 14 /2005 so I could not wear my dress, after that we had to move so many times I did not even know what box our wedding clothes wear in, finally we are settled here and so I did find the clothes and decided to dress up and go out, we had so much fun.

God has been so good to us even though we do not deserve to have family, children, shelter, Salvation, and more importantly HIS WORD the KJB, church family and so much more, HE still chooses to bless us faithfully and keep us together, there is only one reason why we are even here.....it is HIS MERCY AND GRACE.
It is really important for us to celebrate our wedding anniversary in a big way, we want to show our girls that marriage is one of the most wonderful creations of God and it is really a good thing that we are married, we want to show them a live picture of the day we both made our commitment to each other before God to stay together and be faithful, besides we want them to have those memories in their minds too so they can look forward and wait for their God's choice for them and have a wedding day and make it a very special one.
Nellie had so much fun, she was so exited and was looking in
in such an amazement at both of us,
then she wanted to wear my wedding dress so we made the deal that the next day was her day to wear it so she did.
Here is the story of our first anniversary,
We spent our first anniversary at a cabin near the Arrowhead Lake close to San Bernardino CA area, a sweet couple Mr. Kieth & Harriet Gregory own it and offered it to us to spend our Anniversary, they were customers at My hair salon in La-Mesa CA for a long time, that little A shaped cabin was such a lovely and cosy place it had a big fire place, steps that went up stair to the bed rooms and a couple of steps that went down to the dinning room and the kitchen area, it had everything in it that we needed to have a special and quite time, we really loved that little place and made sweet memories there, I think the Gregory's name it "end of Journey" or something close to that, it was surrounded by big huge pine trees, when the evening came we went out to eat at an authentic Italian restaurant in our wedding clothes that they recommended for us to have dinner, the waitress and every one was looking at us thinking we just got married, and they treated us very special, we ordered a pizza and antipasto salad, they made them so big we were shocked when they brought them to our table, every one was congratulating us and just was very nice and friendly.
There was a big fancy resort and little shops close by so after dinner we drove there and went for a walk, as we were walking in the front of the entrance we saw some people coming out of the resort, when they saw us they stopped and started clapping and congratulating us, as this was going on a fancy black car stopped in the middle of the circular drive way and the driver pulled out a music instrument that looked like a horn and started playing some fancy song, in no time there was at least 25 people standing around us all looking at us with smiles enjoying the music, (David and I were in a total shock looking at each other and loving every minute of it) and when the song was over they congratulated us and walked away, David and I still think that God orchestrated all that, we had no Idea when we went out that we were going to have such a memory that can only be read in a Cinderella like stories.
The second anniversary was very different, my dear Friends Harriet and Kieth offered us the cabin again and we did go up there but David got very sick the same day we drove up and had a nasty fever the whole night, we did stay for a couple of days, it was still a blessing to be at that cozy cabin, Kieth and Harriet were in their early 80s back then, He past away a while ago, I did share the Gospel with them both about 11 years ago, she was a devote Presbyterian and went to the same church most of her life, her eyes would water like she wanted to cry every time I talk to her about Jesus when I did her hair, nails, they came to my old church Light House Baptist Church a few times when I invited them to the Christmas and Easter and other big events when we had them, they did come to our wedding too and were so happy for us, and after David and I got married and we closed the salon then they used to come to our house in El-Cajon, she did look for my phone # and found it a couple of years ago through some one that knocked on her door from my old church trying to give her an invitation to visit Light House Baptist Church in San Diego, Ca and so she asked them for my info and someone called me from there and gave me her phone # and told me to call her, so I did and when I went to San Diego Ca about a year ago she invited me to visit her at her home, she was as sweet as ever, we had a wonderful time visiting and sharing our memories together at the salon, we had tea and cookies then we went down to her next door neighbor which used to be one of my customers at the salon her name was Margy Saddler and visited with her and her husband too.
Mr. Kieth & Harriett Gregory first started coming to the salon when I had just got pregnant with Iris, and that was 1996, that was about 15 years ago...woooooooooooow.
I was so glad to know that she had some family members staying with her and helping her out.
It was this wonderful couple at the salon when David walked in for a hair cut the first day I met him, I will be posting the whole story here to show how they had a part in us being married today.

Our Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

Some of the pictures below are from October 2010 we had so many pumpkins given to us, we carved and carved, we even gave many to our neighbors, we literally lined up half of our circular drive way and up the steps to our front door and we had a pile of them on our front porch. We saved a lot of the seeds, washed them, dried them and made doggy cookies using them. we had so much fun smashing some of the pumpkins for our goats, chickens, horses and our sweet pot belly pig T.T., so many of the seeds fell around in the yard so with a little of water they grow and grow.... now this is what we have pumpkins, pumpkins every where, so this fall if we want to get some pumpkins we just have to go to the pumpkin patch in our back yard pick and carve and may be even make some pumpkin pies for the Harvest Pot Providence at our church.

Church Camping Trip

2011-09-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

It has been a tradition at the church to do this camp for many years, It was our first time to participate since we just joined this church January of this year.

There was so much singing, wonderful preaching, playing, and eating, it was so much fun and relaxing.
Iris enjoyed playing all kind of games, Bible quizzes, sword drills, volleyball, baseball, football and so many other silly gamesNellie was so occupied but in a very different way though, she just wanted to go and explore, collecting acorns and PICKING WILD FLOWERS was her favorite thing to do, she just loved walking with her friends and just being there!! she was so overwhelmed with all what she was seeing of God's beautiful nature that she forgot she was hungry until it was time to go to bed then she would ask for peanut butter and honey sandwich.
It happened that her birthday fell in the camping week, so she had a grand time celebrating it under the big gathering tent in the middle of the camp with all her friends and the church there, they all were so kind and made her feel very special.

There was such a sweet spirit of fellowship, kindness and help with every one there.

Augest 2011 soooooooooo many blessings...

2011-08-31T13:02:00.000-07:00

This past month was full of blessings, David's work has been great, Iris is doing real good at school, violin and piano and is improving so fast I can not believe it!!! she just started playing violin in the orchestra at our church, besides she had the chance to play on the grand piano one Sunday because our pianist was out of town, she did a great job, I love hearing her practice and have music playing noises all over the house, she is doing good at her school and just finish the whole grade Science so now she only have three subjects to study daily in fact she is one unit from finishing History too maybe in a couple of days, then she will have only two subjects, Nellie is growing up so fast, She is going to be 6 on the Sep,14 Th she is so busy and want to clean, dust, organize, decorate and redecorate, cook, bake, sew, she is very artistic and loves painting, she is always painting something, our house is already full of so many things that she painted.
Church has been wonderful, the preaching, singing and so much. We had a sing inspiration at our church, our family did a skit on door knocking, it was so much fun, so many families sang together it was a heavenly day.
Our animals are doing well in spite of the heat waves we are having.
I am still getting lots of goat milk and I make cheese and yogurt, and I think all my females got bred this past 2 month too so we are going to have the kids in 4-5 months, still get a few eggs from our chickens every day, we have been eating lots of fruits and berries in the morning and it really gives me so much energy, the pool especially have been so much fun and relaxing for all of us and I especially love exercising in it too.
we finally got all the horse panels we needed to make the round pen and stalls for our three horses, Iris's horse was not doing good he had a problem with his hoofs so we had to have the vet over and found out he was having laminates so we started his treatment and he is doing better, I cannot wait for the weather to cool off little bit so I can start riding lessons. It will sure be easier now that we have a round pen. Nellie likes to ride but are unable to stay out a lot because of the heat.
We just got 2 squeezes of Alfalfa and Bermuda grass for our horses and goats so we are set for the winter, we keep hearing the the prices of hay and grass are going to get worse than what they already are now.
We had the August teen /parent night at our house, they all went swimming and horse back riding then Bro. Darryl did the devotions for us, Iris and I cooked a big meal so we all had a great time of fellowship, fun and feast.
We did a bunch of sewing lately, I had gone to the Goodwill store on a 50% off Saturday and bought a bunch of material and made some matching skirts.
We used to have a dear Friend that Iris Met at Paws 4 Life she was about 20 years old, a very good seamstress she was coming to our house to help us sew and we had a great time with her but she just went to collage a few day ago, we are going to miss her dearly.
I started reading Debbie Pearl's book "Created To Be His Help Meet" FOR THE 3ED TIME NOW, I love this book!!!!!!!!! It seems like I need to be reminded over and over of my role in life, living independently for so long in my twenties causes me to often get into an ungodly and selfish attitude of "me, myself, and I "and the "O poor me" junk, even though I know it is wrong and from the pits of Hell I still do it, that is why I pick up that book and read it again and again. The first time I read it 5 years ago, David noticed the change in my heart and he really liked me that way, it made me happier, it really did!!! by God's grace I will try to be what God created me to be more and more as He gives me more grace and more days to live on this earth, I am so glad God is still working on me and does not give up, He is so merciful, kind and long suffering.
Thank you God for all your blessings.

July 2011

2011-08-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

July was a busy month, it started with having my brother's family from Denmark and my mother from San Diego Ca visiting here, while they were here we went to the Gold Field ghost town and had a blast especially going down the gold mine, then we went to the Salt River for tubing, then went to Canyon lake for Fish Fry dinner, and one early morning they all went hiking the Silly Mountain, they loved our pool and were in it every day Sara did some horse back riding with IrisGod allowed us to lead my 2 nieces 18 & 15 years old to the LORD sitting around our dinning table it was a blessing....this was the highlight of the visit. We became very close during those few days(first time we met they were 5 & 3 years old) that was eleven years ago, Iris and the girls really got along and had so much fun and laughter. On the 19th we celebrated Iris's 15th birthday, and on the 27th we celebrated David's birthday.

David's grandma went home to be with our LORD on the 25th at the age of 97, she was a very godly, virtues and very respected woman, she had a list of all her children, grand children, great grandchildren and their spouses in her Bible and she got up every morning at 5 am to read her Bible and pray for all of us, we all miss her greatly.

Church has been wonderful ....the preaching of God's word got me fired up again and made me want to win souls, and it was 4 souls that I was able to lead to the LORD during the month of July, we ended the month with a beautiful Sunday at church then had a church wide ball game and then dinner at Del Taco, we had great fruitful month.

Sara Trying to milk our one horned goat "Sweet Penny"
The girls were crazy about anything western.
They loved holding some of our kittens
There first time eating "Pho" and first time ever drinking Root beer"

Iris and one of our baby goats.

New little additions ..baby chicks

2011-06-18T00:31:00.000-07:00

It time of excitements around here again ...little chicks are hatching every day, Iris discovered the first one a few days ago... right now we have 5 chicks so far, the 2 mama hens have at least 20 eggs under each one so we are going to see how many God will bless us with this time.
Well, the past few days we worked on moving the 2 big, metal horse shades and the big tack shed to another location in our back yard so now we have a complete un-interrupted view of the Superstition Mountain in our back yard besides we are putting up a very large round pen so we can exercise the horses and practice riding them in a safe place.

Today was the first day we felt that summer is really here, we turned the air conditioner on, it felt good!

Our garden is full of blessing especially tomatoes of all sizes and kinds, Nellie is our fruit and veggie picker, she is always thrilled when I ask her to please go and pick some veggies. But, her favorite thing lately is to sit by the goat that I milk and squirt milk in her mouth as I am milking the goat.

Summer Is Finally Here....

2011-06-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

It has been a while sine I posted here I did write a bunch of posts they are in the draft some with titles and some without, I just had so much gardening and fun farm work to do while we had the perfect weather here in our area.
Our garden is doing really good, we have so much growing out there I can not keep up, the herbs are so abundant I have to give away all kinds like mint, basil, dill, cilantro, Oregano, garlic, parsley and the kale, beet green,chard, celery, 3 different kinds of lettuce, peppers, tomatoes least 4 different kinds, then I have so many different kinds of sunflowers and they are so big and towering over the rest of the vegetables to provide shade from our hot sun, It is always amazing to me after a few days of putting the seed in the ground and water it how God brings forth life and makes it grow and bring forth beauty, nourishment, and many many more seeds. On the other hand we now have 9 goats, 3 mama milking goats so we have an abundance of goats milk from 3 different breeds of goats, Lamancha, Nubian, Nigerian dwarf and Alpine, Our chickens are doing great and 3 of them are sitting on many many eggs so we are going to have many baby chicks running around soon.
Our above ground pool is been up and running, thanks to my wonderful husband he does all the work on it. I did get my own horse a few weeks ago his name is virgil kane so now we have 3 horses Iris have a new horse his name is deekay, Pumpkin is Nellie's horse now oh and we do have a new addition to our little farm, his name is Wally the goose.

Jesus Made My Valentine One Of The Best

2011-02-14T23:42:00.000-08:00

David called me around noon and said they just had a meeting and the manager told him and a couple of other employee that they can work from home and that they do not have to come to the facility unless they really want to.
After we hanged up I paused for a little while and remembered all the times I used to pray asking God to give David work at home, but after asking for so long I kinda gave up thinking may be that was too much to ask and I should just be thankful he has a job, so I stopped asking God that, in fact I almost forgot about that prayer request.
It took me a few minutes to realize that GOD did answered my prayer, I jumped up and called Iris and shared with her how God answered a prayer that I had forgot about and ON VALENTINES DAY, we both rejoiced and started planning a bunch of little vacations that we can take now that David can work remotely and basically from any where we are, joy filed my heart and I just started singing and praising my LORD for his faithfulness, even when we forget about things we prayed for.... HE remembers and answers our prayers in HIS perfect timing..........
My Jesus I love thee............I know thou art mine
Thank you for making my Valentines day a wonderful one.

Before You Meet Prince Charming

2011-01-30T23:16:00.000-08:00

I have been praying very hard for the past few months that God would give me wisdom and understanding in the way I should be helping Iris become the godly young woman that God wants her to be, so I found this book and the title "Before You Meet Prince Charming" LOOKED VERY INTERESTING, I ordered the book and we started reading it together, (love doing that with her), I found it to be exactly what I was seeking to teach her printed in the pages of this wonderful book in a very realistic, interesting, and funny way and the best thing in this book is that it mentions HORSES, so for Iris it became interesting!

There is so much in this book, it is loaded with great stories, insights and verses that are just right for her age and the season of life she is in.

Today we read about the topic of dating, the book listed 6 dangers of dating, oh that was good!!
besides it has so much about courtship too(God's way to find your future spouse)

I believe every young woman need and should read this book over and over so she can learn God's way is better than the world way and that God is able to bring couples together in marriages.

So do I believe in arranged marriages?

YES I DO, God is able to arrange marriages for the individuals that obey HIS WORD and wait patiently on HIM.

What is God's primary purpose for marriage?

2011-01-20T20:37:00.000-08:00

What is God's primary purpose for marriage?

Understanding God's purpose for marriage is of the utmost importance, because to marry and miss it is to enter into a life full of frustration and disappointment -- setting the stage for great marital unrest. Most of us tend to marry with very romanticized ideas of what marriage is going to be. With great excitement we anticipate the relationship that will finally meet our romantic and emotional needs. God's primary intention for marriage however, is not what most of us imagine it to be. He has not designed marriage as a place where we can finally try to get our needs met. He has created it as something much better -- something far more grand than that. God intends to use marriage to accomplish a very important goal -- one that is His primary goal for all Christians. God's primary purpose for marriage is to use it to help shape us into the image of His Son. If we miss out on this we are doomed to a life of anxiety and frustration.

Yes, marriage is God's arrangement for lifetime companionship and the arena for our sexual expression, but like with all that He has created, God uses marriage to direct us towards Himself. The challenges offered in marriage He capitalizes on to help shape and mold us into the image of Jesus. To evaluate our personal success in a marriage we must not then look to see if our needs are being met, but we must ask ourselves, "Am I demonstrating the image and character of Jesus Christ?." We determine our success by how much we are becoming like Christ -- loving and honoring our spouse according to the specific roles God has laid out for us in the Scriptures. Far wiser than us, God knows that as we grow into the image of Jesus our greatest needs are met.

Sadly, most of us have been under that false notion that God means for our mate to meet all of our romantic and emotional needs. We marry, fully intending to have our spouse be all that we ever wanted in a mate. Shortly after the wedding though, we begin to think that our new partner has a lot of changing to do. In fact, it appears they are far from being able to fully meet our needs. Instead of being fully committed to our idea of what a marriage is all about, they entered in with their own ideas of what marriage is to be -- along with their own list of needs they expect us to meet.

The most successful marriages

A study of marriage in history reveals that long-lasting marriages are generally those which are more "role" oriented than "romance" oriented. That is, those Christian couples who marry with a clear understanding of their biblical roles, and have as their primary purpose to carry them out, are generally happier in marriage than those who marry in order to get their needs met. Considering that 20th century America places such emphasis on building marriages on the right romantic "chemistry," it should be no surprise that many are easily disappointed in their marriages. What we have come to believe to be right romantic "chemistry" is actually nothing more than "self-centered" love. Most people are romantically drawn to those who gratify them, so marry with expectations of being fulfilled by their mate. That type of love is not true selfless love, but is self-centered, basing its attraction on personal gratification. It says, "I love you for what you do for me. I am drawn to you for how you make me feel. I know I am in love with you, because I need you so much." Needing someone is not evidence of a selfless, giving love for them -- contrarily, it is evidence that you want them for the emotional fulfillment you will receive from them. It is a reasonable estimate to suggest that 98% of all Christian marriages today are based on this dangerous form of self-serving love. Is it a surprise that so many are unhappy in marriage?

Men and women are different in their unique expressions of self-centered love for each other. A woman frequently marries looking for fulfillment in her relationship with her husband. Her husband, on the other hand, marries looking for fulfillment outside the marriage in his job or in a hobby. In a normal marriage we find a wife trying to get her needs met in her husband and a husband wanting his wife to be with him while he gets his needs met outside the home. Wives tend to want relationship. Husbands tend to want companionship. God, knowing this, puts these two together with the intent that overcoming their differences will help make them more like His Son. He wants neither one to try to get their "needs" met in the other. He put them in the relationship to learn to be givers not takers. God knows that that is our greatest inner need.

One problem in understanding the truth of this is that the wife's needs do sound more noble than her husband's, since she puts so much emphasis on the relationship. Yet God has not called us to commit to a relationship (or even to get anything out of a relationship). He has called us to commit to a person. There is a big difference between a loving a person and loving a relationship. A genuine loving commitment to a person requires selflessness -- your goal being to give and get nothing back (1 Cor 13:5). Loving a relationship, on the other hand, feeds selfishness, because it is committing yourself to something you will benefit from. It is an investment in yourself. Impatience, anger, and frustration will flourish in a relationship where the relationship itself is valued more than the other person it involves. Giving to get is never consistently satisfying.

If we are ever to find joy in our marriage we must never lose sight of God's goal for us -- complete selflessness. For only in that kind of submission to God is there joy. Only when we are truly submitting to God and honoring our mate the way He has commanded will we find fulfillment. As the designer of the marriage relationship He knows that our obedience will fulfill far deeper needs in us than any we thought we had. For with that obedience not only do we have the peace that comes from knowing we are right with God, but our spouse thrives on the character of Jesus reflected in our actions and they become a better partner -- making the marriage a more pleasant place to be.

We can learn something about this from the account of Adam and Eve. They were two individuals who thought they knew what their needs were and what it would take to make them happy. Their desires though, when achieved, brought little more than a sweet taste in their mouths. They settled for less, and in doing so, alienated themselves from God and brought a great deal of pain to following generations. What a price to pay for such fleeting happiness! Had they abided by God's perfect plans they would have been able to enjoy real fulfillment.

Like Adam and Eve many of us think that it is possible to achieve happiness by doing that which is appealing to the flesh. We are tempted to believe that if only we can get our spouse to pay the right kind of attention to us or to stop "hassling" us we will be happy. Because that is not God's way though, we can be sure that no matter what we obtain we will never be satisfied. It will be a never-ending, highly stressful search.

Marital difficulties make us more like Jesus.

Those who welcome the difficulties of marriage, become more like Jesus. Those who bail out of marriage, or quietly wish theirs would end, miss the spiritual benefits of enduring trials. Learning to endure trials makes one more holy. Jesus himself was made perfect (mature or complete) through his suffering. Consider:

In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Hebrews 2:10

Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered Hebrews 5:8

Through trials believers are shaped into the image of Christ.

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:3-5

This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'" Zech 13:9

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6-7

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 1 Pet 4:1

" Endure hardship as discipline; . . . God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness, . . . it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:7,10,11

God's primary goal for His people is for them to be conformed into the image of Christ. He therefore uses difficulties and challenges to refine our character and strengthen our faith. Without discipline and challenge an athlete never grows stronger or more skilled. Without testing through suffering, a Christian will never grow strong in Christ. Growth, both natural and spiritual, comes only through challenge.

Following Christ means the laying aside of our plans and goals and the adoption of God's. Therefore, if we share God's goal, and wish to become like Christ, then we will can rejoice when we encounter the opportunities for growth afforded by suffering. Having a joyful response however, requires that we actually do share Christ's goals for our life. If we are pursuing a trouble-free, happy marriage we will avoid and resist opportunities for suffering, but if we share God's values and crave godliness, we will genuinely find joy in our difficulties.

Many want to avoid the challenge of marriage, because they mistakenly believe that God’s ultimate goal for them is "happiness." They perhaps, made a decision to follow Christ originally because someone told them that if they added Christ to their life he would make things “go better.” They came to Christ for “happiness.” They married to be "happy." They were defrauded. God desires for his people joy, not happiness.

Joy comes from trust in God's love and sovereignty -- it is an inner peace not connected to circumstance (Phil 4:4-9). Happiness is nothing more than feelings of well-being based on happenstance -- it is conditioned completely on what happens or how things go. Like Christ, who was called the "Man of Sorrows" (Isaiah 53:3), those Christians in God's will, find themselves in many unpleasant and unhappy hardships, even in a challenging or difficult marriage. They will however, have great joy if they trust God is in control of the trial, that He is using it to strengthen their faith, and that He will not give them more than they can handle.

Those Christians who forsake their wedding vows and abandon their mates, often justify their action by declaring that God wants them to be happy, and separation is the only thing which will bring them happiness. The error of this type of thinking should be obvious. God wants for us not happiness, but the joy which results from godliness. We grow in godliness by selflessly loving others in the midst of adversity. Leaving an unhappy marriage only shows we didn't allow the trial to drive us to Christ.

Thinking we understand God's plan, some of us also sell ourselves short. We may grasp the need to stick with our marriage, so we do just that. We hang in there. We may even feel we are doing well to handle our mate's disagreeableness, but the truth is that God has not called us to simply "hang in there" or tolerate our husband or wife. The command is not, "Husbands tolerate your wife as Christ tolerates the Church." God's goal is not for us to put up with our mate, but for us to be uncompromisingly devoted to them, seeking to get back nothing in return. There is a world of difference between toleration and commitment -- the one is self-protective and the other is self-sacrificing. One makes us a self-concerned, cautious observer and the other a devoted participant.

What about those for whom it does not work?

There are those who believe that they have tried it God's way and yet feel it did not work. That would, of course, be impossible. If something God designed hasn't worked for us, the problem lies in our approach not with God's design. God is perfect and nothing He does or creates is flawed. In fact, his plans for marriage are not simply OK -- they are wonderful and incredibly brilliant! As we whole-heartedly submit ourselves to God and comply with His master-plan we can be sure our lives will be blessed. If we rest in His perfection and wisdom we can know that obedience to Him will bear good fruit. If we have not found fulfillment in "trying" it God's way, we need to realize that we weren't doing it right. It could very well be that we were hindered in succeeding, because we were doing something to give the devil a foothold in our life. We most probably have been the source of our own failure.

The fact is, we must obey God not because we want to make our spouse change, or because the trial will go away, but because God has spoken. The very fact we make the statement, "I tried that and it didn't work," indicates that we didn't obey God with a pure heart -- our motives were self-serving -- we were obeying in order to get a result. As followers of Jesus, we don't give obedience to God a "try," or follow biblical principles so that we will be blessed -- we obey Christ because He is the Lord.

May all who read these words be willing to trust God and do what is right. Amen!

Addendum

Lest the reader think that God has no interest in romance, it is important to remember that God was the original inventor of romantic love, and in fact, devoted the entire book of Song of Solomon to the subject. (Many even construe that book to be a metaphor of Christ's love for the Church.) Let none be confused -- God does desire his people to enjoy romance in marriage. However, those who enter into marriage with the intention of finding perfect romantic fulfillment, have entered it with self-centered motives and will therefore find great disappointment. The best romantic love is fostered in a marriage in which both partners have served one another selflessly. Their love has grown, because they have been won by the other's devotion. May we all foster great romantic love in our marriages by our selfless service to our mates.

For the source please click HERE.

2011-01-19T08:01:00.000-08:00

I just recieved this in an e-mail and I am trying to spread it every way I can so I posted it here too, it makes so much sence to me. hope you spread it too.

One Light Bulb at a Time
A physics teacher in high school, once told the students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn't slow a train very much, a billion of them would. With that thought in mind, read the following, obviously written by a good American...

Good idea.... one light bulb at a time...

Check this out. I can verify this because I was in Lowes the other day for some reason and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments... They were all made in China . The next day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it I checked the hose attachments there.. They were made in USA . Start looking...

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - even their job ... So, after reading this email, I think this lady is on the right track. Let's get behind her!

My grandson likes Hershey's candy. I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now. I do not buy it any more.

My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico .... now I have switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything...

This past weekend I was at Kroger... I needed 60 W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off-brand labeled, "Everyday Value." I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price...
The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - the USA in a company in Cleveland , Ohio .

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here...

So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets.... yep, you guessed it, Bounce cost more money and is made in Canada ... The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price!

My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time! Stop buying from overseas companies!

(We should have awakened a decade ago...)

Let's get with the program and help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the USA.

I passed this on... will you???????

New Aditions To Our Little Farm

2011-01-18T08:50:00.000-08:00

Rabbits

Some friends had a couple of them but after a few months they multiplied and they had to give some away so we were on there list to give to since we have the space and time to take them in, what my friend did know was that we have no objection to eating rabbit meat but even though I told her that she still did not mind and brought them to our farm so now we have dogs, puppies, cats, goats, soon to kid, horse, pot belly pig, chickens and rabbits.

We have been learning how to butcher and dress a rabbit, it looks really easy and from what I have heard the meat is really good too, in fact I might had some at my aunts house way back when I was little girl because they had lots of them and they used to butcher and eat them all the time.

A Halleluiah Sunday

2011-01-17T20:29:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday was such a wonderful day I have to write what the LORD did for us, and all the blessings he brought our way, I just have to sit here and brag about HIM.
We made it to church in perfect timing with all the food prepared for the fellowship time, singing was absolutely wonderful!!!!!!!!!!! and we do sing ALL the stanzas in the hymns which blesses my heart, (I LOVE SINGING OUR BELOVED OLD FASHION HYMNS) then came the preaching and Oh LORD, DID WE NEED IT!!!!!!!! especially me, I turned to my daughter Iris and she turned her face to me many times in shock and AWE of what we were hearing, God's Word was being brought to us in such a simple and understandable way that we kept looking at each other thinking wow... we never heard this before and we really needed to hear it. When we got home we all had a prayer meeting, got on our knees and prayed asking and begging the LORD for help, wisdom and guidance.
God is so good, he knew there are sins that we all have ignored, overlooked or even did not know about, he used the Preacher to bring them up and helped us to see and start dealing with them.
After the preaching there was lots of food and fellowship, I took one of the middle eastern dish there it is called Kubba lots of people liked it and i was gone very fast. The fellowship was sweet just talking of God's goodness, kindness and mercies toward us.
Iris is having a blast making new friends and is back to playing the Piano for the Nursing home ministry and she is loving it, besides many young ladies there take lessons at the church and play in the orchestra, so they encouraged her to bring her Violin and and start practicing and playing with them, and Nellie is loving having lots and lots of girls older and younger than her around playing there.
I love those (Hallujah days) they just give us a small taste of what is going to be like in Heaven, I can't wait!!!!! even so come LORD JESUS.

1St Sunday Of 2011...

2011-01-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

It was my hope and prayer to be in a good church first Sunday of this year 2011 to worship, listen to good preaching and be with other believers, so with absolutely no serious planning or searching God worked it out for us to land in a very nice small church where we had great preaching and after that we went and played in the snow and had great rest of that Sunday.
The preaching was so good that we walked out of there and still doing some of the stuff the Pastor preached about, even our 5 year old Nellie was listining and discussed some of the points he preached about, it was almost like a divine appointment and God made sure we would be there to hear what that pastor was preaching about.
That Sunday morning started out with some challenges and many attacks from the Devil to stop us from even being in church but at the end we all knew it was God's will that we ended up in that church with out even having any directions or phone number with us.
So if you wonder dear reader if God knows the desire of our hearts and what we long for as children Born Again into HIS family, I can say with great assurance that yes HE knows and cares more than we can ever know.

1Pet 5:7
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

The Blessing of Children, Abigail Miller

2011-01-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

This is to all the monthers who have many children and get fustrated now and then, As for me I have two big blessings God has given me and I certainly don't have as many challanges as a mother with more than two children . Please listen and enjoy, may this song be a blessing for you today!

Abigail Miller - How Deep the Father's Love

2011-01-05T11:01:00.000-08:00

My One And Only New Years Resolution

2011-01-05T08:08:00.000-08:00

My one and only New Years Resolution is:
love the Lord my God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind, and to love my neighbor as myself.

I have made many many resolutions over the years and worked very hard in making them happen and a lot of them did but some did not, now looking back, I can remember the thrill and happiness that I experienced but did not last but for a while, then things happened and life went on... and the excitement of it went away, there was sometimes a sense of defeat and weakness that I felt when things did not go the way I wanted them to go so I can bring those resolutions to happen but now I can see why!

Well I am learning that every day that I am a live is really and truly a gift from THE ALMIGHTY GOD, MY ABBA FATHER, WHO IS FULL OF LOVE, MERCY, GRACE, AND COMPASSION, my breath is an extension of that first breath He breathed in Adam and my heart beats are ordered by HIM, so the only reason I am alive is because HE chooses to keep me here.

This is why I feel that this is the only resolution I am willing to make and do all I can to keep it,

because my FATHER THE GOD ALMIGHTY IS THE ONLY ONE that I want to please.

I am not sure what kind of experience I will have to go through, what kind of stuff I will have to give up, what kind of adjustment in my schedule and changes I am going to make but most importantly how much of myself I will have to deny on daily basis to really give my FATHER the #1 place in my life this year and the years to come if HE chooses for me to live.

I realize that it will not be an easy resolution to do and keep and it will take lots of prayers and dependence on GOD to work in my sin filled heart and do the changes nessecery in order for me to obey and do HIS will and not mine, but I really want to do it with all my might.

If you are a Born Again Christian and love God please pray for me.

2010 BLESSINGS

2011-01-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

I will count and number our blessing for the past year so I can come back to them and read and not forget GOD'S goodness and mercies toward our family,

1. God kept us all healthy together growing in the knowledge and love for our LORD.
2. We have our KING JAMES BIBLE freely to behold, love and read.
3. We had the freedom to congregate and worship our LORD anywhere we wanted.
4. We had opportunities to lead many people to the Lord Jesus Christ.
5. Have our paid off home to live in, a little farm full of animals to care for and enjoy.
5. Had Safety in our paid off cars that ran great all year long.
6. Had great food, clothes, and all what our hearts desired.
7. David had a job for the full year and provided for us.
8. Went on many trips, had great memories visiting with relatives and old Friends.
9. Met many new people in our community and made new friends.
10. had fruits on our very young trees and veggies from our garden.
there are so many more I can list here but the most precious thing to me is the goodness and mercies of our great and ALMIGHTY GOD that followed us through out the past year, all glory honor and power be unto HIM now and forever.
As Psalm 23:6a says
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life

King James Bible Our Beloved Book......

2010-12-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I ordered some books from the http://www.visionforumministries.org/ among them was a King James Bible that was printed in celebration of the 400th year anniversary.
There was little booklet in the box that it came in explaining all about the translators and how it was translated, although I disagree with a lot of the misguided and very confusing information written in that booklet I do like some of the quotes that I read in it from many great and profound men of faith and character and integrity who loved, respected and used the KING JAMES BIBLE . I am listing some of those quotes to be clear and very valuable reasons why every Born Again Christian should use it as his guide for his life here on earth, we at our home believe it is the BEST BOOK penned by human hands on the face of the earth.

1. In a series of lectures at Cambridge University Sir Arther Quiller- couch declared
The King James Bible Was" the very greatest literary achievement in the English language.

2. The King James Bible is a LIVING landmark in the history of the English language, both a religious and literary classic and its influence has been incalculable.

3. Adam Nicolson, Author of God's Secretaries, writes " can lay claim to be the greatest work in pros ever written in English.

4. Throughout the history of the English language, the King James version has remained the most often quoted document in existence a constant inspiration to people from all walks of life, whether poets, farmers, pastors, housewives or politicians.

5. It was to be a Bible for everyone.

6. The manuscript were providentially handed down and were a trustworthy record of the inspired Word of God.

7. The beauty of the King James Bible as well as it's enormous influence can never be exaggerated.

8. The new version won wide acceptance among the people of the English speaking world and easily eclipsed all other previous versions of the Bible.

9. With the translators feeling with the pros rhythm, never was a version of the Bible more admirably suited for reading allowed in public, it proved so acceptable that it remained for 3 centuries without a serious rival version, the Bible of English speaking Protestants, to this day, the King James Bible remains deeply revered.

10. The precision of translation for which it is historically renouned, the simple yet grand language, and its majesty of style enabled this Bible (Word of God) to become the main spring of the religion, language, and legal foundations of the English civilization. It has inspired virtually every great English writer since the 17th century-from John Dryden to Herman Melville to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

11. Allister McGarth stated "there would have been no paradise lost, no pilgrims progress, no handles Messiah, no negro spirituals, and no Gettysburg address," these and innumerable other works were inspired by the language of this Bible that the culture of the English speaking world would have been in measurably diminished without this Bible is certain.

12. For the first time, England was reading one Bible at home and hearing the same Bible at church, Albert S. Cook said "It thus became bound up with the life of the nation, since it stilled all controversy over the best rendering, it gradually came to be accepted as so far absolute in the minds of myriads, there was no distinction between this version and the original text and they almost said to have believed in the literal inspiration of the very words that composed it"

13. It became central to the life of English society in a way that we cannot begin to imagine today. Many family could only afford only one book-a Bible and for many years this was the only Bible available, generations of young people learned to read from the words they found in the KING JAMES BIBLE. Many memorized biblical passages and found that there written and spoken English was shaped by the language and imagery of this Bible. For most readers, it was regarded as their social, economic, political, and spiritual text.

14. " The scholars who produced this masterpiece are mostly unknown and unremembered. But they forged an enduring link, literally and religious, between the English speaking people of the world".

15. David Crystal linguistic expert of the development of the English language adds that the King James Bible "did something that nobody else had done, or nothing else had done in the history of the language previously, not even Shakespeare had managed to do so much, no other text in the history of the English language has done as much as the King James Bible to shape our modern idiom".

16. C.S. Lewis said that whenever we use words such as "beautiful," "longsuffering," "peacemaker," or "scapegoat," it is due to the influence of the King James Version. However, it is not only in the works of the many phrases in our language that the force and influence of the King James Version is felt, but in the very rhythm of our language the very way that we breather and pause and rise and fall as we speak.

17. David Simpson , a member of the British Parliament, said regarding the 400th anniversary of this translation, "It is not only our literature and language that has been influenced by the King James Version. It has an extraordinarily and beneficial influence upon political and constitutional affairs, It was the Bible of Milton and of the Protectorate; later, it was the Bible of the Glorious Revolution, which gave us a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. It was the Bible of Whitefield and the Wesley's that saved this realm from the brutality and blood of the French Revolution. It was the Bible carried by the founding fathers of the United Stated that helped to forge that land and give the world that great democratic powerhouse."

18. Steven Hock, reminds us that "even more important we must recognize that the King James Version is the word of God, that he has graciously and lovingly giving to his English-speaking church. It is a faithful translation of the inspired originals that have been providentially preserved by God in the thousands of manuscripts that have come down to us. Thus we can be assured that with the King James Version we have the authoritative Word of God",

19. This is the very last paragraph written in the booklet

20. "either in it's original form or one of it's derivatives, the King James Version has been the standard Bible used by the English-speaking world for 400 years. No other printed work before of since has so profoundly influenced our language, our culture, and our theology. Beloved for its majestic phrasing and stately cadences, the King James Bible remains fixed in our common speech, and its echoes can be heard throughout our literature. Generations of believers have studied and committed its passages to memory, being comforted and warned and enlightened in the process. This valued legacy continues to impact millions of lives today, a testimony to the profound achievement and lasting worth of the King James Version.

After reading all these quotes, if you want to go pick up a different book other than the King James Bible it's your choice, remember you will be missing out on having the very Word of God in your hand.

Fun Filled Weekend

2010-12-13T07:28:00.000-08:00

Saturday Iris participated in the Cowboy Christmas Gymkhana, this is what Gymkhana means " timed speed events such as barrel racing, keyhole, keg race (also known as "down and back"), flag race, and pole bending. All of these events are designed to display precise, controlled actions and tight teamwork between horse and rider at speed, although most clubs offer a variety of classes, allowing riders to compete at the speed level they are most capable of, and comfortable with.

So this event went on at the Rodeo Grounds in Apache Junction AZ, this was Iris's & Pumpkins first time, there was at least 35 participant men, women, and young people, Pumpkin, Iris's horse was very restless at first but later on she calmed down, Iris was too but I kept reassuring her to just go out there and have fun, well, she did!!!!! and she loved it!!!!! then came the time of giving out the awards, they all lined up and the announcer started and after mentioning a few names he called Iris and gave her a $60 certificate to a saddle shop, she was shocked and we were too and rejoiced for her and we figured she must done some thing right, she barely had any experience or practice with gymkhana, I did put 4 sticks in the ground for her and 2 flags and she practised in our half acre back yard, but it was very exciting to see her there, later that day David and I decided to take her out to dinner to one of our favorite family meals "Pho" Vietnamese rice soup and we had found a restaurant so we tried it the soup tasted great and it was not busy at all in fact when we finished eating there was no one in the small restaurant so we started chatting with the 26 year old Vietnamese waitress we got to have the chance to share salvation with her and tell her how much Jesus loves her and died on the cross for her so she can have a way to get to heaven, well to our surprise she was willing to pray and call on the LORD as soon as we asked her to pray with us and call on the LORD to save her, we all walked out of there rejoicing after I left her our phone #, well that was an extra blessing from GOD to let us share His name and Salvation with that dear lady, if you are a Christian and reading this post please pray for her to grow in the knowledge and love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Delicious Salt!!!!!!!

2010-12-05T22:01:00.000-08:00

Yes just what you read "Delicious salt" is what I learned to make to use for cooking and the table.
It was a few months ago when I started adding Garlic powder to our sea salt so I can get my family to have enough garlic in their food to keep them healthy and fight sicknesses, one day I read about Flax seeds and learned how wonderful they are for our health, so I went and bought some put them in the grinder and added them to our salt, then I read about sesame seeds and how good they are for our health, I went and bought some put them in the grinder and added them to our salt.
My salt mix recipe
1 cup of sea salt
1 third cup of Garlic powder
1 third cup flax seeds powder
1 third cup sesame seeds powder
First few days as we used this salt on our food at meal time my family were asking me why is the color different? so I explained to them what I have done and how healthy it is for us, one day we had the neighbor's daughter who is 16 years old have dinner with us and she used our salt shaker then she said that she really like the taste, and after we finished eating dinner she started putting salt in the palm of her hand and just licking it and saying yummy this salt is Delicious!!!!! so every time she have dinner with us she does the same thing.
Well, I started visiting my parents in San Diego Ca the past 2 years to help them out, my mom have a really nice garden that she grows all kind of vegetables and herbs, and she have so much that she started selling them to her Friends and some Arabic stores in her area, she grows Mint, Oregano, Basil, Thyme, Sage, Parsley, Celery, Garlic, Water Crest, Spearmint, scallions, and so much more so when ever she have a lot of one of those herbs she washes it, dries it and grinds it and keep it in a big jar, so every time I go there she gives me a lot of those wonderful organic grown herbs, I come home feeling so rich of GOD'S bounty.....I was so exited I mixed them all together and added good portion to our salt, so now our salt contains at least 10 different kind of herbs and seeds, the color of it has brownish greenish tone, well I believe it is not just delicious but very healthy too.
All glory and thanks be to GOD now and forever.

GOD IS SOOOOOOOO GOOD.....

2010-12-02T16:04:00.000-08:00

I had to go to San Diego, CA to help and tend to some medical needs that my dad needed, left on Sunday and came back Wed, I had to leave the girls here because I knew that I will be spending a lot of time with my dad at the hospital, besides the animals needed to be fed and Penny (one of our goats needed to be milked), The girls did a great job keeping the house and caring for the animals.

I am so glad that I can go visit and help my dad and mom at this stage of their life, they get tired of being alone and dealing with the doctors, paper work and bills so it is becoming a routine for me to go there once every 2 months and help them out, I cannot believe it has been 15 years since I sponsored them and they came here to the U.S.A., I am glad they are here and out of Iraq the situation is getting really bad again over there.

They both have heard salvation, and I think they might be saved, I sure hope they are, I do get in discussions with them a lot about it, sometimes the discussions get heated because they are so set in their old ways and traditions that they were raised on, I do believe the Holy Spirit is powerful and can work in their hearts if they are willing to let Him make the changes in their lives.

I get to meet some of my old friends every time I go there, even though the drive is tiring and trying to get everything done for my parents is sometimes overwhelming, somehow I manage to see some of my friends from the past which makes me feel like I'm on a mini-vacation☻.

One thing that was disappointing tho since we had a couple of really cold nights while I was gone, a lot of my plants froze and died, on the other hand I can see that my goats all four of them, have gotten bigger/rounder, I can really tell that they are all bred, so I'm excited to have a few baby goats sometime around Feb or March.

Nellie is doing great with her piano lessons that she takes from Iris. Iris is doing amazingly wonderful with her very barn sour horse.

David still has a job (praise be to God!!) and doing great!
Until my next post, keep your eyes upon Jesus.

September Birthday

2010-09-17T11:34:00.000-07:00

Nellie just turned 5, and when we asked her how she feels now that she is 5 she says"I feel good"or "I feel great" I thought that is so cute.
some of the things she wanted for her birthday were bird seeds so she can fill the bird feeders and watch the birds out the dinning area window, a milk goat because she want to milk her and drink the milk, frozen yogurt, and eat at Bashas ( a grocery store about 5 MN. from our house).
so she got pretty much everything she wanted.
Here she is with her goat Penny we just got her a couple of days before Nellie's birthday, Penny is in milk already so we get to milk her and drink it every day YUMMMMMM.
Penny is real sweet goat she was raised in a family that have 6 little children so she is extra tame, loves children, it is a blessing from God to find her.

Some Of The Happenings At Our Little Farm

2010-09-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

This morning I worked out side pulled a bunch of weeds and transplanted many many Basil plants around so in a few days we will have Basil plants growing on both sides of the front door and we get to enjoy the aroma as we walk in and out of the house, it did get hot around 9am so I just went and jumped in the pool to cool off.

Oh my.......Nellie is still having fever..... it started yesterday when she was saying that her head and ear is hurting.....and she just wanted to sit in my lap, so she did, I took her with me in the pool just to wet her body so she can cool off little bit, she liked that, she is eating and drinking so I think she is going to be OK.

Our chickens are laying again thank you GOD..... I love making those fresh eggs for Nellie in the morning, I guess the heat affected them for a while,I guess it is normal from what I have been reading about chickens.

Iris and the horse Pumpkin are doing great, she rides almost every day sometimes by herself and sometimes with her teacher or friends, she is getting interested in growing herbs, she likes using them in cooking so David made 2 raised planters for her to plant her herbs and experiment.

Well we did have a norther snake this one is very pretty one we liked her so much we brought her in and made Little habitat and we sit down watch her every day, we think it is either a baby king snake or a desert sand snake, she does like to Barry herself in the sand that we put for her and at night she comes out and is very active.

I never thought we will ever keep a snake inside.......but we are finding a lot of exiting stuff about snakes (we just learned he is a male snake)

I am getting ready to learn about fall planting, and trying to find out what to start with.

God is always good............

Basil, One Of Our Favorite Herbs

2010-08-26T10:49:00.001-07:00

Our basil story goes back to 2002 when a Korean friend of mine invited us to a Vietnamese restaurant after church one Sunday in San Diego CA, we tried a special kind of soup that is served there called "Pho" which is made of Rice noodles in a beef or chicken broth and has wonderful seasoning, at the time of serving you get side dish filled with fresh Basil, lots of bean sprouts, Slices of lime and hot peppers. our friend showed us how to mix all those ingredients together the Vietnamese way and eat it with chop sticks, my husband fell in love with this soup called "Pho" so it became one of our favorite things to do is to find every Vietnamese restaurant in the areas we moved to and try their Pho to see which one is the best, after a while my husband in his kind and sweet way asked me if I could learn how to make Pho so we can have it more often, so I did but every time I made it I had to run to many different store to find Basil and when I found it, it was so expensive I would stand back and just feel awful for paying up to $4 for a few leaves that were only enough for one serving, beside it was not fresh most of the time, see basil is what gives Pho that special taste and makes it different than all other soups.
About a year and a half ago as I was shopping at Fresh and Easy store one day I saw they had Organic Basil plants that were weathered and dying marked very cheap I think it was 50 cents, I bought one and brought it home and nursed it to life a few days and planted it in the ground, that one plant grow so big and produced so many seeds and as some of these seeds fell to the ground GOD grew them into many many beautiful plants so now I have over 100 plants and more are coming up as I type, that first plant is still alive and producing more it looks like a little tree now.

here it is behind Nellie still filled with many many seeds.

A while ago we got to learn about Pesto, so with all the basil we have it was easy just to step out side and pick as much as we needed to make fresh pesto, we even made pesto pizza, we use basil in salads soups, and even on Garlic bread it is good, there are many health benefits to basil, I encourage you to grow it and use it at your home.

There was an article a few months ago about Pho on Yahoo saying that Pho has become the #1 best soup world wide, no kidding.....we do not believe much from Yahoo but this one we did.

The earth is the LORD'S, and the fullness thereof...Psalm 24:1

Just Want To Brag On My GOD

2010-08-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

God is always good.........There is so much going on in my mind that I want to put down here for you my dear reader to read about my ALMIGHTY GOD and there are many many thoughts that are jumping in front of each other to be typed here about him so I an going to start with the biggest and the most resent one,

Yesterday David called me from work saying that someone is transferring to Texas in the group where he works and his boss decided that David will be the best worker to replace him.
Praise be to GOD.

We had another baby snake exactly the same as the one we I blogged about right in front of our dogs but they did not get bit, Praise be to GOD.

I had a big box of groceries 2 days ago and it only cost me $2, blueberries, strawberries,blackberries,tomatoes,grapes, peaches plums and much much more, we made 3 pies and an apple bake. Praise be to GOD.

Just found out our goats are the best breed for milk. Praise be to GOD.

Found a lot of great fencing for very reasonable price to rearrange our little farm animals. Praise be to GOD.
We got to host a missionary from India and learned about the wonderful work that is going on spreading the Gospel of our LORD JESUS CHRIST in India. Praise be to GOD.
Now if you are feeling down and depressed just start thinking of all the blessing GOD has brought around you......
Psalm136:1
O Give thanks unto the LORD; FOR HE IS GOOD; for his mercy endureth for ever.

Just as I was finishing this post this is the hymn started playing on the radio station www.fbnradio.com

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

morning by morning new mercies I see, all I have needed thy hands hath provided

great is thy faithfulness

LORD unto me.

Our First Rattle Snake In Apache Junction

2010-08-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

Mojave rattlesnake

It was about 10 pm last night when I got out to turn off the water from watering our citrus trees in the front of our house, as I was walking back I was looking at some squash plants I have planted to see if they got watered, I saw a stick like something in the dirt and as I shined the flash light at it, it sure was a snake about 2 feet long I backed up and examined it , it sure was a baby rattle snake, so I walked slowly and grabbed a little shovel that was about 20 feet a way and came and held that rattler down. Then David came out looking concerned about me so I told him what I was doing so he came and took care of it, we showed the girls how to recognise rattlesnakes and learn about them, after that we got all the information on the computer found out it was a Mojave rattlesnake and taught the girls how to deal with snake the safe way, it was a science lesson after 10pm!!!!!
We are going to print some rattlesnakes pictures for Nellie to color and talk to her some more about them as she colors, I believe the lesson about snakes Will stay with her for a very long time.
This was the forth snake we have seen so far this summer, I love to see the reaction on my children's faces as they see and learn about all kind GOD'S creations around us, well we made another memory for someday in the future when we can say to our kids hey do you remember..........that night, until the next snake I hope you have a nice summer.

Love your Enemies!

2010-08-14T17:58:00.000-07:00

Jesus said in Matt.5:44

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate

you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Lately this verse keep coming to my mind...now I am not writing this post to preach to anyone or say, look at me I am holier than thou, the only reason I am writing it is to let others know that God's word is true and HE is faithful to work with our weaknesses and infirmities even though while in the process we feel so defeated, confused and just down right mad,

Phil 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

So I started thinking to myself and asking this question,

Who are my enemies?

Well from God's word I know that the World, the Devil, & The Flesh, ARE OUR BIGGEST ENEMIES, but in the verse above Jesus is talking about people that are my enemies, so who are they??????... immediately one woman came to my mind..
Now I started thinking what make that woman an enemy?
This is one of the definition from Merriam Webster dictionary,

Date: 13th century:

1 : one that is antagonistic to another; especially : one seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound an opponent.

Wikipedia definitions:
An enemy is a person who hates or dislikes another person, or is nasty or mean to the person he is an enemy to.

Now as I was searching for the meaning of this word many many painful, sad and hurtful memories came to my mind that were done to my family and me by that woman, but by the Grace of GOD I have learned to rise above them and just let them be where GOD can reach and take care of them....AND HE HAS... ALL GLORY AND PRAISE BE TO HIM.
NOW this is why I am writing this post to let you know my reader that GOD taught me to pray for that woman, and if you are thinking right now in the back of your mind that evil person that hurt me so much and some names or situations are coming to your mind reminding you of your enemy... please just stop and ask THE LORD JESUS TO TEACH YOU TO PRAY FOR THEM right now, you might say oh but you have no idea what they have done to me..... yes you are right... I do not know, but THESE TWO THINGS I HAD TO LEARN:
1.The ENMITY, HURT, PAIN AND SUFFERING came from the WOMAN and NOT FROM JESUS.
2. What she did to my family and Friends was nothing compare to what MY sin did to JESUS.

If you are a Born Again Christian and committed to serve THE LORD dear reader, I promise you that the biggest dart from the Devil at you and your family will come through someone in church who is gladly serving the Devil, filled with hate and have no compassion, there are at least 10 brothers and sisters that were almost destroyed because of that women in one incident alone that she put us through, many of those people have no desire to enter another church ever.....all because of the deeds of that woman, BUT GLORY BE TO GOD NOW AND FOREVER, HE IS A FRIEND THAT STICKETH CLOSER THAN A BROTHER, do not give up, keep trusting HIM.
HE taught me through the whole ordeal to pray for my enemy (that woman) and ask GOD to bless her and if some day HE wants me to love her and do good to her, I do not know what it will take, but I believe that HIS GRACE is available and freely given to each one of us when we are determined to obey AND DO HIS WORD, until then I will be praying for her as she comes to my mind, and I will go on my way singing...and praising him

Oh victory in JESUS my Savior forever.....

A Dream Come True

2010-08-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

Iris's horse Pumpkin peaking in the house through the window just got caught!!!!!!!!!

Nellie could not help but give her a hug

This was always something that Iris saw in her dreams growing up, a horse's head coming through the window in the house.

love those funny memories........

GOD IS ALWAYS GOOD........

Blessings, Blessings And More Blessings

2010-08-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

Just a beautiful sun set view from our back yard

God has been so good to us this summer, we had so many new blessings, one of the big once was that we learned about Grape Fruit Juicing and really love it, we were able to get boxes and boxes of them every month and make lots of juice every day, it was the best tasting juice we have ever had, we all fell in love with it to the point we were addicted to it, we even shared some with our neighbors and they liked it too, I wish I had taken some pictures of the many many boxes of grape fruits we got so I can share here.

The other big blessing is that my husband is still employed and taking care of all our financial demands, Iris is doing so good at her horse back riding adventures she even learned how to stay on a bucking horse, thanks to her teacher Mrs. Rose and her daughter Tiffanie and

Nellie is so eager to learn reading, she is going to turn 5 in Sept/14.

I had to go to San Diego CA a couple of times to help my mom and dad, I even went by and got to visit with some of my dear old Friends at my old church and some of my costumers from my hair Solon business, went to the beach and enjoyed the waters a few times.

We went to Benson last weekend and had a good time at our house in J-6, we have a mobile home that is on a piece of land situated in a very beautiful spot that has breath taking mountains and sunset views, it is a lot greener down there, there were so many pretty blooming flowers the same as we saw in the spring time here in Apache Junction AZ.

As we drove and visited some of the places we used to go to down there it reminded us with the good and bad memories of our time that we lived there, I think it is just good to go back if possible and revisit our past every once in a while and learn from our past experience achievements, memories , people and places to help us improve our lives and make better choices in the future, and this is another big blessing that God has giving us this summer ability and finances to go and not be tied down by anything.all this reminds me of a verse that God wrote in his word for us

Deut. 28:6

Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out..

Love Your Enemies!!!!!!!

2010-05-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

Jesus said in Matt.5:44

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate

you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Phil 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

So I started thinking to myself and asking this question,

Who are my enemies?

Well from God's word I know that the World, the Devil, & The Flesh, ARE OUR BIGGEST ENEMIES, but in the verse above Jesus is talking about people that are my enemies, so who are they??????... immediately one woman came to my mind..

Now I started thinking what make that woman an enemy?

This is one of the definition from Merriam Webster dictionary,

Date: 13th century:
1 : one that is antagonistic to another; especially : one seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound an opponent.

Wikipedia definitions:
An enemy is a person who hates or dislikes another person, or is nasty or mean to the person he is an enemy to.

Now as I was searching for the meaning of this word many many painful, sad and hurtful memories came to my mind that were done to my family and me by that woman, but by the Grace of GOD I have learned to rise above them and just let them be where GOD can reach and take care of them....AND HE HAS... ALL GLORY AND PRAISE BE TO HIM.

NOW this is why I am writing this post to let you know my reader that GOD taught me to pray for that woman, and if you are thinking right now in the back of your mind that evil person that hurt me so much and some names or situations are coming to your mind reminding you of your enemy... please just stop and ask THE LORD JESUS TO TEACH YOU TO PRAY FOR THEM right now, you might say oh but you have no idea what they have done to me..... yes you are right... I do not know, but THESE TWO THINGS I HAD TO LEARN:

1.The ENMITY, HURT, PAIN AND SUFFERING came from the WOMAN and NOT FROM JESUS.
2. What she did to my family and Friends was nothing compare to what MY sin did to JESUS.

If you are a Born Again Christian and committed to serve THE LORD dear reader, I promise you that the biggest dart from the Devil at you and your family will come through someone in church who is gladly serving the Devil, filled with hate and have no compassion, there are at least 10 brothers and sisters that were almost destroyed because of that women in one incident alone that she put us through, many of those people have no desire to enter another church ever.....all because of the deeds of that woman, BUT GLORY BE TO GOD NOW AND FOREVER, HE IS A FRIEND THAT STICKETH CLOSER THAN A BROTHER, do not give up, keep trusting HIM.

HE taught me through the whole ordeal to pray for my enemy (that woman) and ask GOD to bless her and if some day HE wants me to love her and do good to her, I do not know what it will take, but I believe that HIS GRACE is available and freely given to each one of us when we are determined to obey AND DO HIS WORD,
until then I will be praying for her as she comes to my mind, and I will go on my way singing...and praising him

Oh victory in JESUS my Savior forever.....

Mothers's Day Bliss

2010-05-11T15:36:00.000-07:00

I consider myself one blessed woman!!!!!!!!!! it is not because who I am or what I have done but because of GOD'S MERCY AND GRACE that I say this.

God blessed me with the privilege of being a mother with 2 wonderful girls here with me and 2 precious children that I never saw that are in heaven now and I will see them when I get there.

This past mother's day was a special day for me because I got to do just what brings me most joy in this life "prepare food and feast with my family and friends" so I made a Mexican food feast for lunch and Italian feast for dinner and in between David drove us to Salt River a place I enjoy going to close here to us, it was a beautiful day and what made it extra special was that I had my mother in law here, she is one of the most wonderful women I have ever met, she blesses me and the girls so much when she is around.

I still can not comprehend and probably never will until I meet my Savior the depth of His love for me, He blessed me with children and gave me the calling of being a mother to raise my girls to love and serve him and make a difference in eternity for his kingdom....what an amazing and sacred mission that I take very seriously, so my prayer today is that HE gives me the wisdom I need and guidance to prepare them for His service and to bring glory and honor to His holy name. Walking down to the river Nellie picked some grape fruits with Grandma

Nellie riding Pumpkin

David and I at Salt River

The most wonderful man I have ever met

Nellie getting wet at the river

One Year Ago Today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-01-28T11:47:00.000-08:00

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.....
It was one year ago today when we all went to the title company that handled our closing on our house and signed the papers and paid cash for our house, it was the best feeling ever to walk out of there and know that we were NOT chained by a mortgage company and slaved to their bill and interest every month,ALL GLORY BE TO GOD.
Our parents helped us and that was how we were able to buy it, I just can not believe how kind and good God is toward us even though we are so not like him, his mercies are new every morning, I can sit and think of every time I wrote the check for our old house to the mortgage company and would have such a sad feeling for seeing all the money that my husband worked so hard for going to them and only about $100 went towards buying our house, but thanks be to God again he helped us sell it and for a good price and get out from under that bondage, God is good all the time.here are
some pictures of the sunset from our house that God blessed us with,

Iris with Brazo in the back yard,Iris and Nellie on the sand Pile that we got for the above ground pool

Nellie with misty,

My Husband David "The Kindest Man I Ever Met"

2010-01-26T07:15:00.000-08:00

I used to think that my father was the kindest kind man on earth, as we grow up he was always there and ready to hold us and doctor our awees and sit with us when we were sick and baby us, he used to make for us the most soothing soups and hot teas when we had a cold or a flue, he would get our room all nice warm and cozy, he would sit by us until we went to sleep at night rubbing our head,feet and back, and when he came home from work he would come right away and see us and make sure we were comfortable,well now and after 7 years of marriage I am starting to see that God gave me another kind man that is even kinder than my dad, I feel so awful for not seeing this wonderful character in my husband sooner, I know he was very gentle, considerate, easy going, and nice but the more I live with him the more I see kindness shining from all his thoughts toward me, our children and others, especially our Christian Brothers and sisters, I have had many health problems in the past seven years and was bed ridden many times sometime 3-4 months, but David was so kind and not once complained or made me feel like I was a burden or bother to him in fact it was the very opposite, he would sit by me and just hold and comfort me, and would do whatever it takes to make me comfortable.

I am so blessed...........

If you are a wife and reading this post please think of the good characters of your husband and praise God for him.

Another Soul Saved In Jan. 2010

2010-01-16T17:04:00.000-08:00

It was last Tuesday evening again when we all went soul winning, We knocked on a door a young man answered he in his 20's, Iris started the conversation asking him if he goes to church and what is his faith, he answered by saying he is atheist/agnostic, so then she asked him if he does wrong things some times?he said yes but he goes to confession and so he is not a sinner....,so then I said you do admit that you have sinned and that is why you to confession, he said 'Well yes everybody sins" that is when I showed him the verse Rom.3:23 and said to him yes you are right in fact that is what God's word already say that then we went on with telling him the Gospel and showed him all the verses for Roman's Road to Salvation, as we were showing and explaining the wonderful news to him he got so interested and very polite and was very accepting of all the points of Gospel, then we asked him as we ended if he can believe what we showed him from God's word, he said"Yes"so I said to him since you believe what you saw in the Bible and changed your mined from what you believed when we first started talking to you, I would like to pray with you and I want you to tell Jesus that you believed and ask him to save you and give you the gift of eternal life, he did... and got saved, he then shook our hands and thanked us for stopping at his house.
It was a wonderful soul winning night, then we all went home rejoicing, one more soul bound to heaven in 2010, all glory and praise be to GOD.

2010 New Year First Souls Saved

2010-01-09T19:13:00.000-08:00

It was last Tuesday evening when we all went soul winning, Iris, Nellie and I were together, my husband David went with a man from church, we knocked a lot of doors and spoke with many people, it was a good night but at the end of the night we stopped at one of the houses the lady of the house just got home from dropping her husband in the hospital, we offered her an invitation and just before we were leaving Iris asked her if she was going to die would she have a home in heaven? the lady said "I have been thinking about that lately and I am really scared" so then we asked if we can show her how she can be sure she can have a home in heaven, she agreed, so we told her the powerful Gospel of our LORD JESUS CHRIST as we showed her the verses she kept listening and when we got done I asked her if it was OK to pray with her and for her, she said "yes pleas do" then I asked her if she believed what we showed her from the verses and if she wanted to ask Jesus to save her and give her the gift of eternal life, she said yes, then I prayed with her and I asked her to ask Jesus to save her, Well she did and as she was praying she started crying and when we finished she hugged me and asked "how about my family?"
I started showing her how to tell them the plan of salvation just the way I showed her and gave her the invitation that have the verses and told her to pray for them that they will receive the Gospel the way she did, her name was Gloria.I hope and pray that Gloria would grow and give glory for her Savior Jesus Christ.
As we were waiting for the bus to pick us up, my husband David and his soul winning partener were about 3 houses down from us, leading a father and his 5 children to the LORD it was a grand soul winning night, they started telling the father at of the house the plan of salvation then he stop them and said that he wanted all his children to hear about it ages ( 7-13 ) years old so he goes and gets them all and they all listened, believed and prayed with their father and got saved. ALL GLORY AND PRAISE BE TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
We went home rejoicing.............
Luke10:2
Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

My Husband Is a Great Soul Winner

2009-12-28T22:54:00.000-08:00

It was Christmas Eve around 7 pm when I took our dog Baby Bear out the front door to do his business, as I was waiting for him I saw a shadow of a man walking towards our house carrying a box, Baby Bear started barking at him, as I was trying to stop him from barking at the stranger I heard the man's voice saying "excuse me, excuse me, can I please use your phone?" so I walked inside told my husband, so he took the phone to him, by then he was at our door step, we were standing there hearing hear him talking to some of his friends asking if he can spend the night at their house and that he just got out of jail and all he wanted to do was to spend Christmas with his mother that lived up the street but when he was dropped off there by a guard from prison and drove off, the stranger found out that his mother was NOT home, his dad was but his dad is a dope head as he prescribed him to us and all he did was offer him a cigarette and told him off, so as he was talking on the phone we gathered what was going on and at that moment as we were standing there David thought "why would God bring this man to our door for any other reason other than for me to tell him the good news of the GOSPEL "
so we invited him in and sat with him around the dinning table, David grabbed his KING JAMES BIBLE and started by asking him the question "If you were to die today, are you 100% sure you would go to heaven" the man said "no I am not, I was just thinking about that earlier today" then David opened the precious book and showed him that JESUS paid it all and if he was to BELIEVE on the LORD JESUS CHRIST, HE WOULD BE SAVED, well the man bowed his head as soon as David asked him and prayed on his own without David leading him in a prayer, it was the most simple and honest prayer I have ever witnessed from a sinner asking for salvation, the tears swelled in our eyes as David and I looked at each other as he was praying so earnestly and asking the LORD JESUS to save him, it was one of the most precious gifts I had this past Christmas, to see a soul saved in our home on Christmas Eve.
He is 21 years old, he told us after he got saved that it was Not a coincident that he ended up at our house after the disappointment with his mother and father on Christmas Eve.
I will be writing the rest of the story in the coming days..

Praise GOD for MY HUSBAND

2009-12-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

David reading bedtime story for Nellie

It has been little over 7 years since David and I got married, when we first met I saw him sooo handsome and attractive his big brown eyes and slightly dark skin and dark colored hair, his calm, quite and collected gentleman self, and even more was that he always thought before he spoke, he would always answer my questions very logically and with much seriousness than I was looking for, I had plenty for him to answer in order to know him better before I committed to marrying him, in fact some times I could even see his brain moving " just kidding" as I conversed with him, unlike me, I just blah, blah, blah whatever comes to my mind which is one of my greatest weaknesses.

Well, I am writing this post to say the more I am learning about who he really is and what he thinks inside and his relationship with the LORD the more I fall in love with him in a new way and see him even more handsome and attractive than when we first met, I am learning about his heart, his thoughts and his character, his stand about different important issues "like bible versions, tv cable, dress standards, alcohol and much more " especially when we are confronted regularly about those topics by christian and none christian" that we face in here on earth and how to deal with those issues as Born Again Christians in the light of GOD'S HOLY WORD THE KING JAMES BIBLE, which is our instruction book to live godly, righteous & holy lives.

He got converted to believing the KING JAMES BIBLE is the holy, inspired, inerrant, preserved word of GOD when we were courting, I did not have to say much to him about this whole thing but just listening to one of "Pastor Fisher's" massages at my old church about the KING JAMES BIBLE was enough for him to give up all the other perversions then he started reading and learning more and more about this very very important subject, praise be to God for giving David sweet, humble, and teachable spirit, it has been a blessing for both of us to explore together and see so many beautiful nuggets that are so abundant in that old black book.

this is what king David said about God's word in the book of Psalms,

Psalm 119:105,140

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

David is very wise and logical when he is approached by people that do not know about the KJB or the ones that try to break our faith in THE BOOK, he has so many points that he bring up to show the scoffers that GOD'S HOLY BOOK is THE KING JAMES BIBLE.

I love him for this very important issue, and he would take his stand no matter what.

when he believes something from GOD'S WORD he would NOT back up form it, his persistence cannot be manipulated by anything in this world.

Well I will be posting other wonderful characters he has in times to come as my love, respect and admiration for him swells in my heart in the coming days.

JESUS is the reason for EVERY season

2009-12-16T13:20:00.000-08:00

Yes and I do mean EVERY SEASON, that is what I believe and that is how I think of every season, it is all because of HIM JESUS that there are different seasons and how misrable those seasons would be without him.
JESUS is the one that made Winters with the beautiful snow flakes and white mountain tops.
JESUS is the one that made the Springs with green that covers the hills and the valleys.
JESUS is the one that made the Summers with pretty flowers and plenty of food.
JESUS is the one that made the falls with the bright red, orange and yellow colors.

Psalm96
A Song of Praise
1 Chr. 16.23-33
1
O sing unto the LORD a new song:

sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
2
Sing unto the LORD, bless his name;

show forth his salvation from day to day.
3
Declare his glory among the heathen,

his wonders among all people.
4
For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised:

he is to be feared above all gods.
5
For all the gods of the nations are idols:

but the LORD made the heavens.
6
Honor and majesty are before him:

strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7
Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people,

give unto the LORD glory and strength.
8
Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name:

bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9
O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness:

fear before him, all the earth.
10
Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth:

the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved:
he shall judge the people righteously.
11
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;

let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
12
Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein:

then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
13
before the LORD: for he cometh,

for he cometh to judge the earth:
he shall judge the world with righteousness,
and the people with his truth.

Blessings, Blessings, And More Blessing ....

2009-12-07T15:16:00.000-08:00

God is so good to me, the past few days I have had nothing but Blessings, so I will start first with the latest one, I was at a grocery store and I thought of our pot belly pig Tee Tee so I ask one of the workers if they have old fruit in the back that they want to sell for a discounted price, the worker comes back with a 40lb box full of grapes that were mostly still packaged and in a great condition, I asked him how much for that? he said "I marked the box for $1" so I thank him, when I got home from shopping I opened the box and saw all those grape I could not believe my eyes, I decided to make home made grape juice I ended up with 4 and a half gallons of fresh great tasting grape juice.
My other blessings was couple of days ago, I was at another grocery store and they had 10 lb bags of potatoes for .34c. and 10 lb bags of naval oranges for $1.74 so I bought a lot and we have been enjoying fresh orange juice every day.
Another big blessing was when a recruiter called for my husband to see if he needs a job, David is working now but it turned out that his previous job need him and they are offering a lot more$$ if he was to go back there, so now he is having to chose between the position he is working at or go back to his previous company, WHAT A BLESSING especially at this time of economic stress all over this country, I am praising God Almighty for his way of providing for all our needs above and beyond all we think or ask for.
One more great blessing was when we got to take 2 of our converts to church with us, they are 2 young people that we won to the LORD a couple of months ago they live in our neighborhood, they blended right in and loved being with us all day long it is amazing seeing the Holy Spirit working in them and growing them spiritually.We are praying for the rest of the people around us to get saved.
I just want to praise God for his goodness and mercy towards us.

Wonderful Trip To Oregon

2009-11-30T15:10:00.000-08:00

We just got back from Oregon visiting my husband's family and having Thanksgiving at his Aunt's house, he got to see his grandmother, she is a beautiful Christian lady and at 96 years old she wakes up every day at 5:00 am and brings out her list of all her children and their families, her grand children and great grand children and prays for them every day then reads her Bible.

We got to play in the snow and work on our future retirement summer house, it sits on over 2 acres on top of a little hill over looking a beautiful green valley, there is abundant of wild life like deer and turkeys, we got to see beautiful trees with bright red, orange, and yellow colors and creeks and rivers with rushing waters.

The girls got to spend some time with grandma Edwards, she is one of the most wonderful Christian women I have ever met in my life, she was such a blessing to the girls, she showed them how to do so many different things in those few days we were with them, she is a master gardener, cook, baker, seamstress, quilter, decorator, painter, and much much more but the most important thing, she is a REAL CHRISTIAN, that is what I am blessed with when I am around her, I get to see an example of a godly women that has sacrificed her life for others, she truly is the virtuous woman of Prov. 31 in the Bible.

She saved some toys from when David was a little boy in a box and she brings them out whenever we go there for Nellie to play with.

Here is Nellie with grandma and great grandma that she was named after.

"WONDERFUL CHRISTIAN HERITAGE" PRAISE BE TO GOD...

those 2 women are another blessing on top of the hundreds of blessing that I am so thankful for that my ALMIGHTY GOD brought into my life after he saved me, but THE VERY FIRST BLESSING WAS......... "MY SALVATION"..........and it is the greatest gift I have ever received.

Oh, I almost forgot to write about the lady that got saved on my trip a couple of months ago, I got to see her and visit with her last week and she asked me about getting baptised, I explain to her after I led her to the LORD about baptism 2 months ago but she was not ready yet but now she said she did some reading and she really think that she needs to get Baptised in a good church, so I am going to call and find a Baptist church for her to go and get baptized.

that is another blessing that I am thankful for.

Only God Gives Life

2009-11-19T16:17:00.000-08:00

It is so amazing to sit with my girls and watch those little creatures, I can see God's beautiful creation even though to some people this is not so exciting but in our family it is, just to see life being born in our house in front of my children to see and learn that only God can bring forth life, Iris keeps saying that she is amazed at how kind and caring the momma cat (Sassy) is. And how she is doing all she can to keep her kittens warm, fed, every time she hear them wining she moves so it get easy for them to nurse, she cleans then and they are so fluffy and they are only 1 day old.

There are baby kittens being born in our house

2009-11-17T22:04:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we rescued 2 cats a white male and a gray, white and brown female, we were told that they were both fixed , so we had them together in the Arizona room , in the past couple of weeks we noticed that the female Sassy looked bigger every day, Iris said mommy I think she is pregnant, but I said there is no way they told us they were both fixed, so today I went out and saw the female Sassy all cuddled up in one of the cat beds and did not get up when I went to pet her so I went to see if she was OK, all of sudden I see 2 little baby kittens moving and she was so calm and still, I couldn't believe what I saw so I called Iris and whispered to her she got so excited and kept saying "see momma I told you" so we took them in her bedroom and got her a nice box and blanket, she now has 3 baby kittens and is so kind with them.

These pictures aren't very clear, I will post better ones later....

Winter is here....

2009-11-17T19:02:00.000-08:00

It was 2 days ago when my little 4 year old Nellie said mommy I am cold, can you please make a fire in the fire pit, so David took us in the truck to our down the street neighbor that sells fire wood and got a bunch of good fire logs and started the fire, it felt so good to sit down watch the flanes and hear cracklings of the wood, so we proclaimed it winter in our house.

Too early for Christmas Decorations!!!!!!!

2009-11-17T07:21:00.000-08:00

That is what people said to us when we were putting our Christmas decorations all over our house in and out, Well we already have our Christmas tree up, Christmas lights on wreaths and all kind Christmas music on, besides the beautiful Christmas songs that Iris plays through out the day and Nellie and I sing along, can you tell WE LOVE CHRISTMAS?!?!?!?!?!?

Yes in fact we believe it is the most important and glorious event ever happened in the history of this world and here is why:

1. GOD himself (JESUS) came down from heaven to earth.

2. GOD himself (JESUS) became one of us.

3. GOD himself (JESUS) had to suffer, and die here on earth, AND ROSE FROM THE DEAD so man can BELIEVE on him and go to heaven.

There is no other holiday more precious to my heart than this and I do not mind celebrating it with my family 2,3,4 months of the year even all year long, so please celebrate it and lets us give pleasure to the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, The Almighty God and Creator JESUS CHRIST, The Lord of Glory.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseler, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

God did good again, another soul saved, another name added in the book of life...

2009-11-16T21:14:00.000-08:00

It was an easy going day for the girls and me today, prayed and did my stretching while I was listening to the Bible reading, had to go to the store to get some stuff.

We have been praying for our next door neighbors to get saved and that God will open the door for us to witness to them and share the precious Gospel of our Lord Jesus, well after Iris finished school , Justin came over( a neighbor from across the street, we witnessed to him about a month ago and both him and his mother got saved) so Iris and him went to the next door neighbors and asked if their daughter Sara would want to come and hang out at our house, so she did come, all three of them were running around chasing each other until Iris twisted her ankle so they had to sit and chat, David and I were in the house, I asked David to please go out there and make sure they are having a good conversation, so he did and all of sudden he comes in and get his Bible and goes out, so I went out to see what they were talking about, here was Iris talking to Sara about Salvation and Justin whispers to Iris to please help her get saved, so then David started showing her all kind of verses and answering her question, after about half an hour we asked her if she wanted to get saved she said yes and she prayed with us and got saved, she was so ready to get saved we can all tell that the Holy Spirit has been working on her and I could see the tears in her eyes as we were talking to her, God is sooooo good, ready to forgive and save, all we have to do is open our mouth with the good news and watch the power of the Glorious Gospel work on the poor helpless souls. Iris ridding the Mule and Justin ridding the quad, they both belong to Justin but he brings them over to ride with the girls.

Beautiful Creation

2009-11-04T23:23:00.000-08:00

Those are some of the beautiful photos I was able to take the past 2 days of the sunset from our front porch, I missed seeing the sunsets views so much in Mississippi, thanks be to God I get to see them again. It is because of HIS faithfulness that the Sun still rises every morning, May all the glory and praise be to HIM, THE WONDERFUL CREATOR and my SAVIOR.

Iris & Nellie's New little Puppy "Baby Bear"

2009-11-04T22:32:00.000-08:00

The girls were asking for a little inside lap dog, so we started looking in Craig's list, we found him, he is a Pom, just like the one we had for Iris when she was 3 years old, he was black and white, the one we have now is brown and white, he is so much like our first pom, it is amazing,

he was free and his owner brought him to us all the way from Queen Creek, AZ.

He has an excellent temperament and is very mellow, the girls are thrilled to have him especially Nellie because he is her little buddy and she gets to potty train him and she is responsible for his food and water, she takes him for walks and read to him when he is sitting in her lap.

One of the reasons I say my husband is the best man in the world for me is because he does not complain or make a fuss when I get animals for me and my children, and he just makes jokes about them and make us laugh. Thank God for my husband David.

Here are some more photos of our sweet little puppy,

Last Sunday was the Round up day at outr church so people came dressed in western clothes, here are some of Nellie's photos as a cow girl

May my life be pleasing to my LORD JESUS CHRIST

2009-11-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

I chose this title for my first post in this blog because that is truly was on my mind all morning today, the way I started thinking of this was after listening to the Pastor from Pacific Baptist Church in Long Beach ,CA. One of his sermon ignited this most important thought in my heart,"That my life be pleasing to my LORD JESUS" there is nothing I want to do more in my life than to bring pleasure to my LORD JESUS, that was my prayer this morning, in return HE gave me a wonderful peaceful day, one of the great things was that my husband called me on his way to work around 6:30AM telling me to go out to our back yard and see the moon in the sky, it was so big and so close, the sun was not up yet, so the color of the moon was pinkish and bright, just one of the ways that my God blessed me today, I love HIS creation,

The heavens declare the glory of God .........

I will write the story of our new puppy "Baby Bear"on my next post.

Nellie & Iris holding him