I Am 7

Yesterday I was at the hospital to meet someone and when I was walking in a woman was walking out, towards me.  As she drew close to me she handed me a piece of paper and said in a very urgent tone, “Call me!!!  I have to tell you something - its very important!” And then she walked away!

Obviously, I was somewhat taken aback, as I had never seen the woman before in my life!  Then I looked down at the slip of paper to see that she is a Psychic, and the flyer proclaimed that she can tell you all about your past, present and future!

As I crumpled the paper and tossed it into the trash, I said to Midas that it freaked me out a little - I mean, what was she saying - that she had some urgent warning for me, some impending doom???

But I tossed it because, you see, I don’t believe in psychics!  I grew up Catholic and my Mom always told me that stuff was a sin so that’s my first issue with it…

My one experience with a fortune-teller was when I was in Grade 13 and went to a party where there was a tea leaf reader!  I should have been suspicious when she told us that as a child she used to read her cocoa!!!  Anyway, she read my tea leaves and told me I was going to get all A’s in my upcoming A-Level exams and that I would marry someone whose first name began with C.

Well, I didn’t get ANY A’s in my A-Level exams and my hubby’s name definitely does not begin with C!!!

As I grew older I just lost any belief or even interest in anything of that nature - it just seems too hokey for the most part.  Not that I believe its completely impossible for people to have extrasensory perception (ESP), I just think its pretty unusual and am not sure what purpose the Lord wants it used for so I am wary of people who profess to have it!!!

As for this lady - well, I have no desire to know my future…  Take these into account:

Micah 5:12 I will destroy witchcraft from your hand; and you shall have no soothsayers

Leviticus 19:31 Turn not unto necromancers and unto soothsayers; seek not after them to make yourselves unclean: I am Jehovah your God

2 Kings 21:6 And he made his son to pass through the fire, and practised soothsaying, and used enchantments, and appointed them that divined by a ghost or a familiar spirit: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him.

Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves

God really teaches us that fortune-telling or soothsaying is not of GOD!  I believe people have the ability to prophesy -but I also believe there is false prophesy!!!  My general rule of thumb is that it must relate to God’s teaching in order for me to find some credence to it!

Also, I go by this scripture in my life:

“Let not your faith rest on the wisdom of man but rather on the power of God” 1 Corinthians 2:5

You see - what could that woman have to tell me that would really impact my life?  We all know we’re going to die; we all will face times of trial and times of joy!  If we focus instead on living each day as though it were our last, we would be focussed on the most meaningful things in our lives instead of the trivia man gets caught up with!

That’s just my opinion anyway… What do you think?

7

A friend sent me this…. I think it’s worth sharing….

LET IT REALLY SINK IN - THEN CHOOSE .

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood
and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how
he was doing, he would reply, ‘If I were any better, I would be
twins!’

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee
how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked
him, ‘I don’t get it!

You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?’

He replied, ‘Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two
choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or … you can
choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood.

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or…I can
choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their
complaining or… I can point out the positive side of life. I choose
the positive side of life.’

‘Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,’ I protested.

‘Yes, it is,’ he said. ‘Life is all about choices. When you cut away all
the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to
situations. You choose how people affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s
your choice how you live your life.’

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry
to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him
when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident,
falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released
from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, ‘If I were any better, I’d be
twins…Wanna see my scars?’

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through
his mind as the accident took place.

‘The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my
soon-to-be born daughter,’ he replied. ‘Then, as I lay on the ground, I
remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or…I could
choose to die. I chose to live.’

‘Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?’ I asked.

He continued, ‘..the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me
into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and
nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man’.
I knew I needed to take action.’

‘What did you do?’ I asked.

‘Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,’ said John.
‘She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes, I replied.’ The doctors
and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Gravity’.’

Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me
as if I am alive, not dead.’

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his
amazing attitude… I learned from him that every day we have the
choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything .

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’ Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

To Your Best Life,

7

A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and God appeared. The Lord told the Man he had work for him to do and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the
rock with all his might . . ..

So, this the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sunup to sundown, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Since the man was showing discouragement, the Adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by placing thoughtsinto the weary mind: (He will do it every time)! “You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn’t moved.” Thus, he gave the man the impression that the Task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.

Satan said, “Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort and that will be good enough.” That’s what the weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a matter of prayer and to take his troubled thoughts to The Lord.

“Lord,” he said, “I have labored long and hard in Your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter, What is wrong? Why am I failing?”

The Lord responded compassionately, “My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back shiny and brown; your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now
surpass that which you used to have. True, you haven’t moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. That you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock.”

At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in Him. By all means, exercise the Faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God Who moves the mountains.

When everything seems to go wrong…………………Just P.U.S.H.

When the job gets you down…………………………..Just P.U.S.H.

When people don’t do as you think they should…..Just P.U.S.H.

When your money is “gone” and the bills are due…Just P.U.S.H.

When people just don’t understand you……………..Just P.U.S.H.

P = Pray

U = Until

S = Something

H = Happens

Pass this on to all your loved ones and friends who may need it; they may get it just in time.

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”

How would you complete this sentence:

“When I am afraid, I ______________________________________________?

“Bitterness and rudeness is the root of all illness and evil. Many times the

rude and bitter walk without knowing. Don’t let the cancer spread, find the

cure.

Edmond Burk once said, the only thing evil needs to  succeed is for good men

to do nothing.

One man/woman can and will make a difference.”

Second post of the night - not sure what that implies - but as I sit here listening to Midas complain about everything I do - I “talk” too much, “type” too much, etc.., I wondered - what’s the WORST thing your spouse/significant other has ever said to you?

For me, I found it so HYSTERICAL, I’m willing to share - he looked at me one night - after my complaining about SOMETHING he had/had not done… and he said “You know, if our lives were a sitcom, you would HATE your character…”

Can you beat that one????

7

Thought long and hard about the concept of laughing at the misfortune of others before posting this - but the hilariousness factor got me in the long run!!! 

Just in case you missed this - check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WALIARHHLII

Well, Saturday morning, Midas and I dropped MB JR. to the airport to go home to his parents…   I’m sad!!!!    Reminds me of when I dropped off my niece back in June to go back to Canada to Ciya!!!  Weepy doesn’t quite describe the feeling…

 It was a really awesome experience to have him for the week - he’s such an amazing kid!!!  His first request, when he landed, was “When can we go to the Book Store?”  Then when we did, he bought a book - a real book, guys, and read the entire 217 page book in one night!!!  Needless to say, we had to go back to the bookstore the next day!!!

He and I ‘camped out’ each night on our sofa for fun - it was our “special time”!  I get to see him so rarely!!!  Then we went to Wannado City at the Sawgrass Mills Mall - a place designed for kids to live out their dreams!!!  MB Jr. got to be a pilot on Spirit Airlines, be a paleontologist and ‘brush’, not ‘dig’ as I kept saying only to be corrected by him - for dinosaur bones, fossils, etc!!!

Then we saw the Rock Climbing…  He outright refused, at first, but Midas told him he had to try at least, and I backed him up - because you never know you’re going to hate something unless you at least give it a shot!    From there, we … or shall I say I… got a bit carried away!!!!

 I stood with him as we watched and waited for his turn and told him to look at the other kids trying and to strategise where he’d put his foot to get up to the top etc.

When he got strapped in, if you saw our photos, you can clearly see he was scared, but he was game to try - and try he did!!!  He went after it with full energy and commitment.  He reached more than halfway up the wall and then - well, then he looked down!!! 

For me - Miss Clueless, I thought he just couldn’t figure out where to put his foot next or how to pull himself up - so I kept yelling encouragement and suggestions from the corners - Midas says I sounded like the proverbial soccer mom who couldn’t see that the poor kid had hit a really rough spot!!!!

 Let me be perfectly honest, and tell you that I AM TERRIFIED OF HEIGHTS!!!  He did what I undoubtedly never would have ever agreed to try!!!  So I was SOOOOOOOO proud of him!!! 

 Then he hosted a Nickelodeon show and more - he had a blast.  The next day, we went to the Miami Metro Zoo!  Before Midas and I moved here, we always determined to do at least one ’sight-seeing’ thing each time we came instead of just SHOP,SHOP,SHOP!!!   One of our favorites was to visit the Miami Metro Zoo!!!

 Now let me be perfectly honest - summer may not be the most OPPORTUNE time to go to the zoo - it was HOT!!!!!!!!  And that’s a tremendous understatement!!!  And its a 3 mile walk in the searing heat!!!   But we had a great time!!!!   The zoo has such a great array of animals, with info on each…much of which MB Jr. already knew!!!   His only disappointment was that, although they said online that they had on display his all-time favorite animal, the spider-monkey - they did not, in fact have one!!!

 In any event - we all had a great time!!!  No doubt, its been an interesting summer for Midas and I, since we still have not tried to have kids of our own!!!  From a day of babysitting our 2 year old nephew, to a month with our 20 year old niece, to a week with our 7 year old nephew - ARE WE PREPARED YET, OR WHAT??? 

Of course, its hysterical that I say this, having gotten home at minutes to 8pm, cooked and ate dinner by 10pm - now Midas is sleeping on the couch as I sit here finishing up my work with a post!!!

 What can I tell you - we are no spring-chickens anymore (I guess) but we’ll figure out where we’re going one of these days!!!  :) In the meantime, I want to get y’all prepped for something amazing!!! 

My pastor (despite the fact that many of us think he’s taking on a huger deal than he realizes) has decided to “Live his life in a fishbowl’ for a 5-week period, starting Sept. 9th!!!   What does this mean?  Well, in his words,

I’d like to bring us together, like a family in a living room, to talk about www.mynakedpastor.com. On September 9^th, we are kicking off this five-week series along with a 24/7 webcam that will be on me and the friends and family I do life with. We live in a world that has a voyeuristic interest; with this website, we will leverage that reality and use it to foster an environment for authenticity (a.k.a. nakedness). I’ve always heard it said, “Our life is the only sermon some people will ever hear.” This series and the 24/7 webcam will give more people access to that life sermon–the things we do right, the things we do wrong, the things we don’t know how to do, and our desperate need for God in between.

Guys, I don’t believe we can become who God created us to be until we are honest about who we are. The bible says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.” (Hebrews 4:13) At Flamingo, we just want to create an environment where people can be honest about their lives before God. Where they can live out this Hebrews verse and the meaning of naked (defined as: 1. having no covering, especially the usual one; 2. being without addition, concealment, disguise, or embellishment; 3. exposed to harm; vulnerable).

As far as the title mynakedpastor.com, don’t worry, it’s not going to happen literally! It will just get the attention of a world that is so flooded with noise. The Great Commission tells us to, “Go into all the world to share the gospel.” All the world is on the worldwide web, so that is where we are going. And while the world watches, we will use these five weeks to get naked about the truth on things like fighting, anger, insecurity, temptation and stress.

As a church family, all of us can do something for this series: invite our friends, attend all five weeks, plug into a small group, and attend the launch party on 9/9 @ 9:00 p.m. at www.mynakedpastor.com.

So join us Sept. 9th at 9pm on www.mynakedpastor.com - I guarantee something that will change your life!!!

 Latahs,

7

Okey Dokey - try thinking you have a clue… try thinking you know stuff!!!  Then hang around a 7 year old!!!!!!!!  Since he got here, my 7 year old nephew, who as I said before, lives in Grand Cayman, has been educating me to the point that I must admit - I feel DUNCE!!!

First it was the “filter-feeding”  Do you know what that is?  Because I sure didn’t!  And
I hesitate to explain, because I want to know if I’m the only idiot, or if others are equally clueless!!!

Well, in addition, I think that there is actually a bird called a “Red Footed Boobie”  - it is actually the national bird of Cayman Brac!!!  What does a red footed boobie look like?  Well - being the official technophobe, I can’t upload a pic - so go google it!!!  But for Grand Cayman and Little Cayman, the national bird is the Cayman Parrot.

I also learned what an avatar is… and so much more!!!  Oh Lord, I feel so - OUT OF IT!!!