Quote of the year!

"Are you willing to let Jesus use your ass? "
-Lee Jones

Lee's bold question comes from this passage in the Bible:

Matthew 21:2-3

...then sent Jesus two disciples,

Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.

And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.

The owner of this ass was willing - no questions asked...Am I???

Autism

This isn't B.S.:

The band Five for Fighting is generously donating $0.40 to Autism Speaks for *each time* the linked video is viewed. The funding goes toward research studies to help find a cure. When you have a moment, please visit the link below to watch the video and pass it along to your friends and family. They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal.

View the video here:

CLAUDIA'S STORY

Here is info from Wikipedia about Five For Fighting:

Philanthropy

In the spring of 2007, Ondrasik created the first video charity website ([1]). The website allows fans to upload videos answering the central question, "What Kind of World do You Want?" from his hit song,"World". Each time a fan-made video is viewed, up to .49 cents goes to a selected charity. The charities are: Augie's Quest (www.augiesquest.org) Autism Speaks (www.autismspeaks.org) Fisher House Foundation (www.fisherhouse.org) Save the Children (www.savethechildren.org)

In November 2007, Ondrasik coordinated the release of 13 free songs for US military members called "CD for the Troops[2]." Ondrasik worked with AAFES to deliver more than 200,000 CDs to US troops around the globe and to offer the music from the CD as free MP3 downloads from www.aafes.com. The songs donated include:

* Billy Joel - Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
* Brooks and Dunn - Keep on Swinging
* Five for Fighting - 100 Years
* The Fray - How to Save a Life
* Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band - Sweet Home Chicago
* Goo Goo Dolls - Feel the Silence (Remix)
* Jewel - Hands
* Josh Groban - February Song
* Los Lonely Boys - Heaven
* Melissa Etheridge - Come to My Window
* Montgomery Gentry - My Town
* The Neville Brothers - Brothers
* Sarah McLachlan - Wintersong

Any US military member is elligible to download the music through AAFES.

Never tick off taxidermists!

In September I posted the following on YouTube. It's simply the retelling of an experience I had at a taxidermy-themed restaurant while I was in Pennsylvania.



I received more comments on this vlog than any other I have posted. And most of it was hateful and nasty...Someone called me an f-ing nutcase (the nutcase part I took as a compliment!) and another called me a stupid c--t. Go figure! I finally just posted another vlog clarifying that no offense was intended to anyone who fancies taxidermy...Jimminy Christmas!

Cable knit sweater...

It kinda started like that...You know, you see a thread loose on your sweater so you pull it and it starts to unravel...And you just keep pulling on it - somehow fascinated by the back and forth pattern of the undoing.

The paneling in the kitchen had started to pull away from the wall, see. Each time I walked by I'd kind of tug on it and think "hmmm...that would be so easy to just pull off of there. I wonder what it looks like under there?" For about a week I have been tugging at that corner...How hard would it be??

Today is Martin Luther King day. A day to remind us of his work toward liberating America from racial injustice. In remembrance, I deemed today as liberate my house day. I began with a Fly Lady Fling Boogie (say WHAT?). I Free cycled my old stereo and speakers and some junk from the bathroom pantry. Then I scrubbed the floor in the dining room with vinegar and water to get up the places where Bentley missed the papers or totally ignored them. Then I moved some of the furniture around and topped it off with a Murphy's Oil finish. Next I blocked off the dining room with Sketch's exerpen. Pupper dogs are no longer allowed to set foot in that room! I'm on the verge of putting Bentley and his unfixed/Lasix-taking self in doggie diapers! sheesh!

OK, so back to the kitchen. That paneling is just hanging there, ya know...It really would be easy to take it off. And then I could paint the wall. I could say I remodeled my kitchen! Inspired, I pull the microwave, portable dishwasher and table away from the wall and give an extra hard pull to that attitudinal paneling. Off it comes! HA! No problem! Only 3 sections to remove. I got tripped up with unscrewing an electrical outlet (only shocked myself once!) but other than that it was easy as pie...well, at least as easy as an upside down cake. Within 15 minutes I had no paneling left!
I also had the ugliest kitchen wall you ever did see!



Whoever put this stuff up, appears to have used tar to attach it. They put it on all willy nilly. Some of it even resembles...um...well....

Procreation swimmies.

Here is what the paneling looked like (this is a piece I have decided not to remove yet!)

Here is the rest of the kitchen wall:


Next steps:

1. Call my shrink to determine what the heck I was THINKING!

2. Figure out how to get rid of the swimmy glue and hope I still have that blue-green paint in the basement!

On the upside... I also liberated Bentley from the burden of his fur. It was getting so long and unkempt. So I looked up how to do a maltese "puppy" cut and went to work with my clippers...It doesn't look half bad!


He's so darn cute even if he does spend an hour outside and then come inside to pee.

The Call - a day with God's people....

A group of folks from VWS pilgrimaged to US Bank Arena on Saturday for a much anticipated day of intense prayer and fasting. I wasn't sure what to expect - I hoped that it would be an awesome day to join in corporate prayer for the nation and any and all other things that the Lord placed upon our hearts.

It largely delivered but a friend described the experience quite well. He said. "I had my ups and downs with it".

I'll get the downs out of the way:

It started out on such a high intensity level that I felt overwhelmed and off kilter at the start. I wasn't even sure I wanted to stay after 5 minutes. The Call's founder, Lou Engle is a passionate man of God...And when he gets started he quickly escalates into street corner preacher-mode. I had to put tissue in my ears! We were all invited to become radical "nazirites" who embraced the disciplines of prayer and fasting as a lifestyle. I'm all about those disciplines and I practice them but I'm not really down with being a radical anything (except maybe radically in love with Jesus). and please, just call me a Christian. Despite the connotations that can come with this term it's what I am. Nothing fancy and in your face, thanks.

With all that said, I have come to embrace the truth of the term "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater"...Brotehr Engle's style may not be what I prefer, but I do respect him as a leader called by God. And I stand behind him as a fellow believer and a man who will do what it takes to get the message of Christ out there. He and his team emphasized the importance of focusing not on THEM as humans but on God...Hence the logo of the arrow pointing UP.

The Call was overall a really cool experience once it got started.

Now for the Ups!

This is a Shofar...It's a ram's horn. They used it in Jesus' day to call people to worship.

The worship time at The Call was awesome...

After some praise and worship we headed into prayer...We prayed about abortion, violence, pornography, sexual issues, we got into small groups and prayed for one another's personal struggles.

We prayed for race relations to improve in our city. A white pastor prayed for forgiveness for his own racism and a black pastor prayed that there would be a letting go of bitterness in the black community. Then Lou Engle asked for anyone 25 and under who had never known their father or who had limited relationship with their father to stand...And that an adult please go and stand with them and pray for them.

These few hours brought me to tears more than once. I could feel the healing rippling through the building and in my own soul. There was compassion and a sense of unity busting out all over. Sometimes I just stood there in God's presence...sometimes I prayed, sometimes I sang along and danced..Sometimes I shot video and took pics.

I could only stay for part of the day and I left after about 5 hours. I was WORN out! But in a good way. It was weird to go back out into the "real" world. I had been in the concentrated presence of the Holy Spirit for most of the day. Part of me wanted to find myself a prayer cloak and lose myself in Him again. But the worship at big Vineyard had extra sweetness because I was able to lose myself again in worship.

The Call was a call for revival...And I pray that all of us who were there have been touched with this longing to see our families, neighborhoods, cities, states, nation and world to come to know our Creator God in all of His wonderful grace and mercy.

A face to the miracle!

This is Nick Drake. He is at home recovering from his injuries. Thanks again to everyone who prayed for him!

Helen

I'm a sinner!

This was what I was doing this morning instead of getting up for church!

I was up til 2am writing and when the alarm went off I was not going anywhere!

I will have to ask the powers that be where the confessional is located at the theatre so I can learn my penance!

Sitting in sackcloth and ashes...

Helen

:)

Sir Charles McWhiskers

Who made the best looking cage decor out of Chipotle Napkins.

Goodnight my little fuzzy...I'll see you again....

:(

God Rocks!

NICK IS AWAKE!

Thanks all for prayers!

From Kim:

Thanks for all your prayers. Nick is awake and going to be okay. The temp is still at 99 but I got a phone call last night someone wanted to talk to me and it was Nick!

God is awesome and i am so happy that all the prayers worked. He is going to be in the hospital through Sunday but they are moving him out of ICU later today.

He does not remember the last 2 weeks but that is a small sacrifice to to make for having my brother back.

Thanks for Everything!

Kim

Finally - The truth about Mary Magdalene

I have a pet peeve when it comes to Mary Magdalene. She is one of my Bible heroes. I can relate to her because Jesus healed her from torment, I love that she was Jesus' financial backer, I love that a woman in those times asked where Jesus body was so she could go and get him. I love that she represents the women who, instead of fleeing in fear like the disciples did, stayed by Jesus' side and faithfully went about the work of caring for his body after burial. Of course, she never did that task because before she got to the tomb she met the resurrected Jesus and He entrusted her to go and tell the disciples that He was alive.

She's just one cool chick.

I am peeved by the misrepresentations of her that have come down through the ages. Our modern churches and films about the life of Jesus still represent her as any one of the following: a prostitute, the adulteress woman who was almost stoned or the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive oil (that was Mary of Bethany). All of those women have a great place in Scripture. But they weren't Mary of Magdala. Steve Sjogren, in his great book 101 ways to help people in need suggests something called "The Magdalene Project". It's an outreach to prostitutes and exotic dancers. WONDERFUL idea...But ARGHHH!

Maybe this is a trivial thing to get irritated by but I know I would be calling the newspaper if I read an article that said "Helen Ann Luther Betz grew up in Mt. Washington. She is now a local accountant living in Ft. Thomas, Ky." I hope any of my friends would call the press and make a correction because that does not really represent me. That's definitely my name. And definitely my place of origin. But I'd never be an accountant and I have never lived in Ft. Thomas.

So...ya know. It matters.

All that to introduce an article I found that reveals the real Mary!

Yay!

It's from TodaysChristianWoman.com

Mary Magdalene

Meet the real friend and follower of Jesus.

by Liz Curtis Higgs

A

Was she the wife of Jesus, the mother of his children, or the Holy Grail, as The Da Vinci Code claims? Or the repentant prostitute of Jesus Christ Superstar, throwing herself at the Master's feet and singing, "I Don't Know How to Love Him"?

According to Scripture, Mary Magdalene was none of the above. And more than the above.

We find her story in all four gospels, where she's mentioned by name 14 times—significant, since many women of the Bible are nameless.

Here's her eye-opening, one-line biography: "When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons" (Mark 16:9). Possessed by Satan, she was repossessed by Christ, then privileged to witness his resurrection. Oh! She has a story, all right—but not a scandalous one.

The Many Marys

So how did we get so off the mark on Mary Magdalene?

Well, she was from Magdala, a town known for vice and violence. Additionally, there are seven Marys in the New Testament: Mary Magdalene; Jesus' mother; Clopas's wife; Mary of Bethany; John Mark's mother; a diligent worker; and James and Joses' mother, who's also called "the other Mary."

Two thousand years of art and literature haven't helped her cause. Mary Magdalene often is depicted as the unnamed prostitute who washed Jesus' feet with her tears (Luke 7:37-50), or the woman caught in adultery (John 8:2-11), or as Lazarus' sister—who was from Bethany, not Magdala—who anointed the Lord's head with costly perfume (Mark 14:3-9, John 11:2). Fascinating women, all—but not our Mary M.

The real Mary Magdalene led the faithful sisters in financing the Lord's work "out of their own means" (Luke 8:3) and following Jesus wherever he went.

For her devotion alone, Mary Magdalene serves as a fine role model for twenty-first-century believers. Follow her to the tomb on Easter morning, and you'll learn the greatest lesson Mary M. has to offer.

Go And Tell

When Mary Magdalene "saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance" (John 20:1), she hurried to Jerusalem and convinced Peter and John to see the empty tomb. I might have started with a lesser disciple, but this leader among women went right to the top. Clearly they respected her, because they wasted no time running back with her.

Finding it empty, the two disciples returned to their homes, while Mary remained weeping outside the tomb, unwilling to abandon her Lord. Such faithfulness was soon rewarded. Two angels in white appeared, followed by a stranger whom she mistook for a gardener, until the moment he spoke her name: "Mary" (John 20:16).

Her response was immediate. And it wasn't "Honey" but "Rabboni!" The meaning is "my great teacher," and the nature of their relationship is clear: teacher and student, leader and follower, but not husband and wife.

Before he returned to his heavenly home, Jesus had an assignment for Mary Magdalene: "Go … to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God' " (John 20:17). Did she ever! With her own eyes, she'd seen him. With her own ears, she'd heard him. With her own hands, she'd touched him. And so she proclaimed, "I have seen the Lord!" (John 20:18). A personal, undeniable testimony, setting the example for us all.

Two thousand years ago Mary Magdalene heeded the command of Jesus to go and tell. May we follow in her footsteps, seeing the Christ with new eyes, then declaring his glorious truth to a world longing for answers.

Beck and Huckabee

This is a really interesting read. It's a transcript from the Glenn Beck radio show. He had a conversation with Mike Huckabee at an airport. Huckabee is a popular presidential candidate among Christians...I even read today a blog entry from Lou Engle who is a huge part of The Call Fasting and Prayer movement. He believes Huckabee might be the candidate that has been prophesied about to be the candidate God is appointing to next lead the USA. I have my own reservations about grand prophecy but Engle did mention some pretty interesting things.
Anyway - this gives another perspective...And I find it interiguing to note that it is Beck the Mormon who seems to understand the essence of following Christ more so than Huckabee who apprently made a statement that Mormons aren't Christians - or Christian enough.

Maybe another example of how God is present in people...not religions???

GLENN BECK PROGRAM
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

GLENN: So when I found out that Mike Huckabee was coming to the airport, I don't believe in coincidence. I arrived at the airport, Mike Huckabee is there, I went to talk to him and the first thing I said is, Governor, I struck out at you the other day in anger and I apologize for doing that. Should have been much more measured in my speech and don't like to speak out of anger. I didn't mean to ratchet things up quite honestly because the spirit of contention is not the spirit that comes from the Lord, and I apologize for that. He said, that's fine. He said, what was it? The Mormon thing?

Now, so you know I found out prior and after from his chief of staff while the governor played coy with me and I can't say -- I don't want to judge the man's heart. I knew that everybody on his staff knew exactly what I said on the air where I called him the one-eyed Mullah Huckabee, not that the man is a terrorist but the man is judging other people's faiths and saying you're not Christian enough. Well, I've heard that in the Middle East: You're not Muslim enough. And they knew exactly what I said but he said, was it that -- well, I understand. And he went in then to talk to me about how he has been persecuted on his faith and been questioned on his faith and his doctrine, you know, because he believes things that, you know, are unpopular, et cetera, et cetera, and I said I understand that but I doubt there's been anybody from the right who has been pushing you on that. I doubt it's been anybody on the right who has been talking about your doctrine. I said, you know, I don't think you understand this and it really bothers me.

We need to unite as God-fearing people because I truly believe we are in the battle of our lives. I truly believe that there is a chance -- I'm not saying -- they've been saying this since Jesus was here. So I'm not saying this is it, but there is a chance that we are in the ultimate battle of good and evil, that we are starting to see the makings.

GOP Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee

You know, I was reading something about global warming today where they are saying all of the seas are going to die. In the next 50 years all of the reefs will die, which will cause the seas to die, and it made me think about the rivers running with blood and all of the oceans boiling and everything else and I thought, you know, there's a chance that we are living in those days. And I said, what do you think? What do you think, Governor? If we're living in those times, if we are really struggling right now and we're fighting a battle against good and evil, does Satan want us to bring each other together or divide? God-fearing people, Jews, Muslims, Christians, all denominations, people who get down on their knees or people who pray, people who look to the Lord for guidance, people who are trying to live a better life, people who are really truly, who truly believe that America is the last great hope for mankind. Should we be dividing ourselves? Because I know I can get religious bashing from the left.

Well, he tried to explain to me that it was just eight or ten words in an 8100-word newspaper article. To me it was the question that he asked. I said, you know, Governor, if you really want to know, you'd ask somebody who knows, and I don't think that's a reporter at the New York Times. He said, well, he was a very bright man. I said, I'm sure he is. I'm sure he is, but you would ask somebody who knows. And if you would like to know, I arranged this for Al Sharpton. I said this to Al Sharpton, why don't you go meet with the brother in Salt Lake City, why don't you go meet with the heads of church in Salt Lake City. Can't say that I arranged it, but I planted the seed and he went. Congratulations. He went. He did his own research. Now, whether it's an honest search or not, I don't know. I don't really care quite honestly. But I made that offer. I said, you know, why don't you go to meet with some of the heads of the church? Why don't you ask them these questions. Why don't you educate yourself on that. He didn't take me up on that. Didn't quite frankly show any interest. I didn't expect him to. I don't really honestly believe that -- I don't believe the man -- here's what I said. I said to him at the end of the 25-minute conversation -- and by the way, I accepted his apology. He accepted mine. But I find it very interesting -- and this has happened to me now with two reverends. I know when I've really hurt somebody. I know when somebody hurts me, and I didn't have this my whole life. This is a new thing for me, empathy. I've had this now for really starting to kick in in the last five years, but the last eight years or so I started to really feel other people's pain, and it's getting worse and worse or better and better, however you want to look at it. I'm feeling more -- when I talk to people, I've had an amazing experience in the last four weeks. I have been -- I've seen -- they tell me last night I have probably signed 50,000 books in the last four weeks, and I have noticed something incredible that is new to me. I have been able to spot not every time, but a lot of times I've been able to spot pain in people. They come up to me and they'll smile or whatever and there will be something to them. There will be something in their eyes where I can see, and many times I will just say to people as they walk away -- it was at the very beginning that I started doing this and I would allow them to walk away and then it would bother me and I would say, excuse me, come here for a second. And I would ask them if I could give them a hug. I have spotted pain in people.

Now, I don't know. Maybe I'm crazy, but I think it's actually a honing of empathy. For some reason I'm getting an extra dose of that. I don't know why. I don't think Mike Huckabee had any empathy for me or anybody else that happens to be of Mitt Romney's faith. Because I said to him at the end, I said, you know what, it's not that you offended me. It's not that you hurt me. I said, I know the pain you caused other people. I know I am so sick and tired of people who were chased out of this country with torches and pitchforks and buried their children in the plains because they wanted to worship God of their own understanding. I don't care if you're a Mormon or not a Mormon. They were people like the pilgrims that came for a reason and they were driven out of the country and they went to Utah which was not part of the United States and they said no one will bother us here because it's a desert and we're protected by the mountains. Well, they have been bothered ever since, and it was legal to kill them in the 1800s, legal to kill them, for the only reason that they were Mormon. When they first started running after Utah game a state, they started running and they actually said other politicians actually said, you don't want to vote for them. Oh, boy, you don't want to listen to them. Don't put any credence in anything they say; they have horns, you know. And it was printed in the paper.

I told Mike Huckabee those things and he looked at me astonished. You might want to do your homework. I know these people. You know one of the reasons why I wanted to be -- I didn't want to be a Mormon. I felt like I had to be one because I couldn't do it on my own anymore. And you know what? I wanted to be like the people that are of that faith. I am the worst example that you will ever see of -- I joined because I wanted to be like these people. They're good, decent people, and I am tired of having them run through the mud, tired of it. And I told him that. And I had tears in my eyes when I talked about him. We were knee to knee. Not once did this pastor reach out and put a hand on my shoulder or on my knee and say, I am so sorry, Glenn. He did say those words and I accepted those words, but as I told him at the end, by their fruits ye shall know them.

So I'll watch Mike Huckabee and so will you and maybe you will watch with disinterest on what he says about other people's faiths. And you know what? It's very easy to write these people off because, well, they're freaks, whatever. But you know what? They're Americans and they're God-fearing people and I don't -- I would say this about the Jews, I would say this about Muslims that understand God as a peaceful path, I will say this about protestants and evangelicals, Lutherans. I don't care what your religion is. I don't have to agree with your religion. I don't have to agree with your doctrines. We have quite possibly in the battle of our lifetime. We must not divide each other. Since when -- you know, Peggy Noonan has this article in The Wall Street Journal today. Since when did we start saying you're not Christian enough? She asked the question: In Mike Huckabee's world, would Ronald Reagan be welcome? She said Ronald Reagan grew up in elite Hollywood. Ronald Reagan was divorced. Ronald Reagan said he found God faster on the back of a horse on a ranch than in a church. Would Ronald Reagan be welcome? Is he Christian enough? When did this happen to us? When did we start to say, out of all of the things that are going on in the world that that is the most important. Not love of God.

Love of God, love of country, that's important to me. I've got to have a guy who understands love of God and love of country. I don't need to check his papers on what church he goes to. I'm not going to go into his bedroom and see if he prays on a rug or on his knees or standing up or while eating dinner or watching football. I'm going to take him at his word. I love God. I understand God. He rules the world. Great. That's all I need. When did that become the priority in this country?

...There's two articles out that you need to know about....I believe the other article is amazingly accurate and that is that Huckabee is the Howard Dean. Remember how you were just, oh, you just couldn't wait for Howard Dean to be elected. Oh, please, please let the Democrats go with Howard Dean. That will be so easy. That's Huckabee. One out of 20 evangelicals in South Carolina, one in 20 are supporting Mike Huckabee. That's pretty incredible. You've got to widen the tent just a little bit. I don't think we need to have a card. I didn't know you had to be a certain faith to be able to be elected here in America but maybe I should go back and read the Constitution again.

END TRANSCRIPT

Nick Update 2

I love how God can so easily be put on display in this situation. Let's keep praying that He will show off!!

H.

Nick Update:

12:15 Fever down to 100

Doctor says he has no idea how he made it through the night. (uhh - we know!)They are going to see if the fever drops any lower and then turn of the machnes and see how he responds. When they put him on the machine the drug induced coma was stopped so when he comes off it is up to (God) and him wake up also to see if the fever caused any further damage.

I told the doctor I know why the fever is dropping it is because of my friends praying and God has a plan. and he said very politely that was a nice thought but not medically sound.

KEEP PRAYING!

Kimmie

Cool things and screw ups

Top 3 cool things in 2007:

1 -God blessed us with the best little senior dog with a heart condition who is now a therapy dog.

2 - Freedom ensued when I put down my idols.

3 - I got to use my writing and theatre experience for God's glory.

Top 3 things I screwed up in 2007:

1 - Did not always listen to God when He was navigating. Shipwreck anyone?

2 - Did not read enough scripture on a regular basis. I tend to crisis study.

3 - Did not work consistently enough on a long term project. Will rectify that this year.

2008 is going to be a year of all things new...That theme has been popping up everywhere from personal prayer time to messages at church to random things I hear or read. I'm strapping in for the ride!

Update on Nick

From Kim:

Hi everyone:

I texted some of you and called some but just to bring you up to date. at 4:30 fever was at 104 and rising and they worried about organ failure and wanted me to consider life support

At 9:30 fever spiked to 105 and they put him on life support as a precaution to prevent organ failure. They gave him a 20 percent chance he would make it through the night

11:15 fever still @ 105 and doctor wants me to cosider when to take him opff life support if fever does not come down. He has a DNR (Do not Resuctate) in his living will which means my brother does not want any cpr or life svaing measures done if he is dying. So when we turn off the machiene we just let nature takes it's course. i have to make the decison by Wednesday if fever does not drop.

2:15am Fever dropped 1 degreee to 104.

Praying is working....please please don't stop.