Prop Us Up On Our Leanin' Side

A friend sent me this thought today and I sure have to agree ~

"Every time I am asked to pray, I think of the old deacon who always prayed, Lord, prop us up on our leanin' side. After hearing him pray that prayer many times, someone asked him why he prayed that prayer so fervently. He answered, 'Well sir, you see, it's like this...I got an old barn out back. It's been there a long time, it's withstood a lot of weather, it's gone through a lot of storms, and it's stood for many years. It's still standing. But one day I noticed it was leaning to one side a bit. So I went and got some pine poles and propped it up on its leaning side so it wouldn't fall. "

"Then I got to thinking about that and how much I was like that old barn. I've been around a long time. I've withstood a lot of life's storms. I've withstood a lot of bad weather in life, I've withstood a lot of hard times, and I'm still standing too. But I find myself leaning to one side from time to time, so I like to ask the Lord to prop us up on our leaning side, cause I figure a lot of us get to leaning, at times."


"Sometime we get to leaning toward anger, leaning toward bitterness, leaning toward hatred, leaning toward cussing, leaning toward a lot of things that we shouldn't. So we need to pray, 'Lord, prop us up on our leaning side, so we will stand straight and tall again, to glorify the Lord.’

LET FREEDOM RING

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Today we celebrate Independence Day in America. July 4, 1776 was the day America declared independence from Britain, but the battle for freedom went on until 1783-seven years later. Even though they declared their freedom in 1776, they had to stand and fight for many years before the British would accept and recognize the United States of America.
In the same way, we have to be determined to stand against the opposing forces in our lives. We have to declare our freedom from addiction, poverty, sickness and lack. We have to stand and fight until we fully experience that freedom and peace that God has promised. I love what the early colonists did once they signed the Declaration of Independence. They read it out loud in public. They published it in the newspaper. They spread the word. They continued to declare and celebrate even though they were in the midst of the battle. Whatever battle you may be facing today, declare that you are free. Declare that you are an overcomer. Celebrate the victory that is on its way! As you stand strong and declare your freedom, you will experience His victory and you will live in true freedom all the days of your life!

~Joel Osteen
A Prayer for Today
Heavenly Father, thank You for setting me free in every area of my life. I declare today that nothing can hold me back. I declare that I am free from sickness, poverty, lack and addiction. I declare that You have set me free and thank You for freedom in every area of my life. In Jesus' name, Amen.

JOHN ADAMS

"Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness...."
Well, if you were not fortunate enough to see this evenings 1st and 2nd part of the series on HBO entitled "John Adams", you have done yourself a great dis-service! It was truly, over the top AMAZING! There will be 5 more events each week on Sunday evenings.

This is an incredible epic journey of our America, and will make you humble and proud, to truly be "an American" and all that goes along with that statement.

Huzzah for Abigail Adams... what a remarkable woman and human being.
While fighting congress for our Declaration of Indepenance... John Adams said "While I live, let me have a free country"... enough said my friend ~

"UBA" photo

Wow! 2 blogs for me in one day! Its a miracle! I could not resist posting again to show you this photo that was shown on the "bad rap" website ( a pro pit bull website ). This photo is of one of Michael Vick's fighting dogs that was rescued.. that is "Uba" on the left with her new foster family. The dog Uba is with is her new foster sibling. And these are supposed to be fighting dogs?? Lets get educated!
I hope you can see in these dogs eyes, what Todd and I see in pitbulls... worthy and wonderful loving creatures.. not the animals that have such a "bad rap"! "Uba" very much resembles our beloved dog "Sadie" whom we lost last Easter. Here's to you Sadie~

YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

I was just telling my friend Joshua about my morning ~ and decided to share it here as well!
I went to "town" this morning to judge a youth photography contest. It was sponsored by our local artisans conservatory. Keep in mind I do not know that much about photography, but was asked to judge ( them knowing I did not know much ) so I said I would. Never in a million years did I realize it would be so hard! Wow oh Wow! I have acquired such an appreciation for the arts this past year.
There were 4 age levels... the first being K-3rd grade.... you can't even begin to imagine the quality of these photographs! The next was 4-6th grade, 7-9th grade and 10th -12th grade.
I have to say the oldest age group was the least quality ( odd ). The 7-9th grade had the best quality, but I later found out that over 1/2 the photos entered were from the same 2 kids. Not just photo quality but also overall subject matter and the way the kids viewed their subjects was just incredible! I am still in awe and only hope I did them justice. I would never want to disappoint a child to the point of causing them to quit this art form. We had 1st - 3rd place, then however honorable
mentions I wanted ( usually 3 per level ). Every student gets a ribbon no matter what and then there was a "judge's favorite". The awards program is in March and I am excited to go... the folks who put it on said the kids whoop and holler and get very excited. So I stepped out of my comfort zone today and it felt good! I hope the kids are motivated to continue in their craft!

VICK-TORY for PIT BULLS !!!

Ah! VICK-tory for the pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick's fighting operation!
Yahoo! Please visit these wonderful web links for the news! Please support the needs
of these fine organizations who are saving Pit Bulls! Our Worthy Brown and Ezra say
" thank you very much!"

http://www.badrap.org/resuce
http://bestfriends.org

2007 FAVORITES

I wanted to share some of my favorite finds from last year with you ~ finds that will arouse your senses. Two of my favorite things are books and music.... so here is my all time top favorite books for you to put on your reading list:

It is a 3 Book series by author: Nancy Turner.
#1 "These is my Words"
#2 "Sarah's Quilt"
#3 "The Star Garden"
This series depicts the life long story of Sarah Agnes Prine who lived during the
last quarter of the 19th C. and first part of the 1900's. She was a rancher in the
unsettled AZ. Territories. TRULY a MUST read!

Some of my favorite newly discovered music in 2007 included:

"The High Lonesome Sound" by ROSCOE HOLCOMB. Roscoe's music comes from the KY hills
where he lived and played. His banjo sound is like no other.

"Mountain Music of Kentucky" by various artists. Sounds include wonderful banjo, artful fiddle, mountain blues and civil war era greats.

Hope you enjoy some of these as much as I do.. and send me some of your favorite finds!