I found this quote and thought it was worthy of posting:
“If your income is less than your outgo… Your uprising will be your downfall!”

I thought you all could use this. No more excuses about overeating because of stress. Now you have the stress reduction kit! LOL LOL

The siding is now done. Chris thought it looked like an old house so I guess the look of old cedar shakes worked!


The windows and trim are now done right! Thankfully!!


Does anyone know this dude? Oak is an awesome finisher. Thanks so much for taking this job on, Oak!! It looks great!

A call to prayer from the World Network of Prayer(UPC)

September 26, 2008

Dear Friend and Prayer Partner.
I am sending you information I received in a letter from Pastor Ken Wilde, head of the National Center in Washington, DC. He is onsite with a prayer team as you receive this letter.
Yesterday he met with a Senator who is on the Senate Banking Committee. That senior Senator proceeded to inform him of the details of the crisis that we are now in and its ramifications. He informed us that last Thursday we were hours away from a total collapse in our economy!

Ken Wilde goes on to say:
It was barely averted by taking some steps to bolster the mutual fund accounts. This Senator has been in coordination with his committee and with the Treasury Secretary, the Federal Reserve President, and with the President in attempting to come up with a plan that will bring our economy back to solvency. This is a serious and major concern because it affects all of us.
I think that this is no less a threat than the attack by terrorists on September 11, 2001. Once again it is time for Christians and Americans to humble themselves and pray to the one true God that we would hear from heaven and He would heal our land. I felt the Lord speak to me that it is time to call for Sacred Assemblies to be held across the nation and that we in concerted effort cry out to God in humility and repentance to heal our land. We may not be a nation that is known for setting up idols of wood or stone, but perhaps, we as a nation have been guilty of worshipping the idol of materialism and greed. I do know this, if we repent, God will relent!

Perhaps we need to heed the words Benjamin Franklin spoken during Constitutional Convention he spoke these words: I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth-that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the Ground without his Notice, is it probable that an Empire can rise without his Aid?”
We are now at a moment in time at which we, and our leaders, must devote ourselves to a time of prayer and repentance and acknowledgment that we surely cannot survive unless God himself intervenes.

With the multiple crises facing our nation it appears that a “Perfect Storm” of spiritual darkness is brewing in the atmosphere of our country.
If you take even a brief look at the various events in today’s headlines you begin to see that we are on the brink of a “perfect storm” of darkness. The recent terrible hurricanes earlier this fall that ravaged the gulf coast give us a glimpse in the natural of the raw destructive power of storms. It was declared on many newscasts by reporters and governmental officials that our gulf coast infrastructure cannot take much more of this! We must gather our spiritual meteorologists, reporters, aid workers, appointed officials, and financial resources and prepare to push back, offer aid, and strengthen the spiritual infrastructure to withstand the chaos that threatens to swirl around us. One glance at today’s headlines gives us a glimpse at our national stormy spiritual weather forecast. Probably foremost on our minds is the economic storm that threatens to engulf us!

This is not a Republican storm, nor a Democratic storm! This is an American storm!
Regardless of where you stand politically, I am certain of where you stand spiritually! America has been the largest mission sending, humanitarian providing nation that has ever existed! Do you think that the Kingdom of Darkness will sit idly by and not try to hinder? If evil can stop us from continuing to send missionaries, and stand for freedom and justice, then all the good that our nation has done spiritually and economically for the past 200 hundred years ceases! If Satan can deplete our resources, perhaps he feels he can diminish our destiny! When our president states that “Our entire economy is in danger” that brings a dark cloud over missions financing and evangelism.

THERE IS MORE AT STAKE THAN JUST THE ECONOMY!
What does it mean when the cumulative headlines scream at us and our enemies pronounce our end! The ardent Muslim president of Iran, Ahmadinejad, declared a few days ago at a United Nations speech right here in our nation that allows the “freedom of speech” (while Christians are persecuted for speaking up for Jesus in his nation!), that the ‘American empire is reaching the end of the road’! I pray that his bitter words not be fulfilled! The European Union warns us that Iran is nearing the ability to arm a nuclear weapon. North Korea removed the seals from its nuclear plant and chased out the inspectors stating that it was restarting its atomic program. Russia arrived with its Navy in Venezuela for exercises today! I am not trying to be political! I am trying to be practical!

You have never heard me speak like this, but please don’t tune me out! I am not trying to become an “Endtimes Fanatic”! These are all real headlines! This appears to be a Satanic “Perfect Storm” of events! It’s not about whether America has always done everything right, we haven’t. It’s time to repent for our nation, and the spirit of greed and pride that seems to have brought us to the brink of calamity!
There is no doubt that we are in perilous times. There is more at stake than your mortgage or retirement!

There are eternal consequences to this moment in history!
During these difficult times I have been comforted with a scripture out of Psalms:
“I would have been without hope if I had not believed that I would see the lovingkindness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart be strong. Yes, wait for the Lord”. (Psalm 27:13-14, NLV)

Today, I (Pastor Ken Wilde), with the National Prayer Center is meeting with more Senators and Congressmen. Not to politic, but to pray! Not to decide who was right and who was wrong, but to ask for God’s mercy. Would you please pray that God will give them favor? And that the leaders that they meet with would have the courage to call for a time of prayer and repentance. That they would have the wisdom of Solomon and that many would join them in humility before God. He is the only one that can help in times like these.

These are critical times-the time to pray is now. Please join us in prayer and invite your friends and church to a season of prayer until we see breakthrough for our nation. This is about more than banks, and stock markets, this is about darkness against light. The only answer is to seek God and His wisdom.

Here are some Prayer Points:
1. Pray for a spirit of humility and repentance among our leaders.
2. Pray for an answer to this economic crisis.
3. Pray for favor for Pastor Ken Wilde and others when meeting with Congressional leaders.
4. Pray that Congressional leaders would heed the call for prayer at this moment.
5. Pray that Christians would understand the signs of the times activate prayer at a new level.
6. Pray for wisdom for our President, Congressional Leaders, and Financial Leaders.
7. Pray that God would hear our prayers and heal our land as we humble ourselves in repentance before Him.
Please feel free to forward this to anyone you feel would benefit from it and would be interested in praying.

Thank you for your concern and prayers.
Thetus Tenney
International Coordinator
World Network of Prayer

I found this on another blog. It's pretty good don't you think.
Monday, September 15, 2008
From Bill Gates
This should be posted in all schools and work places


Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time..

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

On a happier note from the post below, the siding is being installed and I really like it!! It is a red, shake look siding and is something a little different. The brick pillars out front will be done in the same black rundlestone that is on the fireplace in the living room with a white vinyl picket fence between them. What a difference!!


I need your opinions!! I ordered these windows back in February.. They were supposed to be installed around the end of May. They didn't come until the end of July and they were made wrong (the grills came down 1/2 way on the windows and they were only supposed to come down 1/3 of the way. They reordered and they came wrong again. They finally reinstalled them yesterday. ( Some of the grills are still missing) In the pictures below is the job they left me with. Please let me know if I am being unreasonable, or if this was your job would you want something done about it? This is a big ticket job!! It is much worse when you are seeing it in real life!!(Click on the pictures to enlarge them)
This is how the casing looked when it was installed correctly. It fitted together tightly and was beautiful.


In the first 2 pictures notice how the vinyl "waves"? They sprayed the foam in and did not wait for it to expand before puting the trim on, therefore when it expanded it pushed at the vinyl causing it to buckle. You cannot make the trim look straight when dealing with this. They were in a hurry and were not happy about having to deal with the trim. It is not supposed to go on until the next day, but they were slapping it on as soon as they sprayed the insulation in.



In the next two pictures you will see the gaps they left between the casings and told me to just fill it with dap. Go back and look at the original way the trim fitted. It was tight!!



This last picture takes the cake!! The crown moulding was split and they did not say a word about it!! If this was your home, what would you do and say?

The floors are done in the basement. The tile is beautiful. You can't really see the rich color in the picture. It is stil covered with a fine white dust, but they are beautiful! The people who are doing these renos for us were at church on Sunday. Their son won one of the bikes and a bible and they got one of the gas cards. It was great having them with us! They are perfectionist in their work. It has been wonderful finding them!





Crown moldings going on. All of the wood work will be filled and laquered by Monday.



New windows, made right this time, will be installed tomorrow. Finally!!



The window trim is on. I t is going to look really nice when it is filled and laquered! I really like the little window ledges.



Some posible choices for the cabinet color and granite counter tops. What do you think??

I think it was over a hundred visitors to church today, with 9 baptized and 2 or 3 receiving the Holy Ghost. It was awesome to see.

Here is a song of encouragment for you.

Someone said that in each life,
some rain is bound to fall.

And each one sheds his share of tears,

And trouble, troubles us all.

But the hurt can't hurt forever

And the tears are sure to dry;



And it won't rain always,

The clouds will soon be gone.

The sun that they've been hiding
has been there all along.



And it won't rain always,

God's promises are true.

The sun's gonna shine
in His own good time,

And He will see you through.

I got this from Janell's blog. Her and I are quite different drivers it appears! LOL


Blogthings - Your Driving Is is: 33% Male, 67% Female

A few weeks back, Bro Joel Buxton preached our youth retreat. All of the young people absolutely love him. He is such a down to earth person. I've heard it said that he is a perfect balance of spirituality and having fun in everyday life. Here is a picture of Joel with my son John. I love all of the Buxtons. The are super people!

I looked out my window this morning and saw this cob of corn sitting up in the tree on this branch. I knew I had thrown out some corn a few days earlier and wondered how it had gotten all the way fron the back alley to the front of my house and up in this tree. I had an inkling of who it nmight have been. I even prayed that I might catch the little rascal enjoying it at some time through out the day.



A few moments ago, Ken called me to the window and this is what I saw...
the little culprit enjoying his treasure. When I tried to get a better picture, he told me off real good, but never once did he loosen his hold on that cob of corn! He was waving his tail and chattering like mad and off up the tree and out of sight he went!

Pastor King, I thought of you when I read this. This one's for you.



.
CHURCH HID IN THE WEEDS


Just two little boys
walking down a dusty lane.....
They came upon this old white house..
with broken window panes


The paint was faded, the shine was gone...
the grass had grown so high....
still they made their little feet
go see what was inside.


They opened up the squeaky door
and then it came to light....
This must have been an old church house...
once upon a time.


Dirty, dusty wooden pews...
a pulpit that still stood...
A Bible laid upon it....
though the pages weren't too good.


An offering plate and song books too...
were lying on the floor.
They must have left this old church fast... the day they closed these doors.


And over in the corner...
a piano was still there.
it must have played a pretty tune..
but I guess nobody cared.


So little Bill looked up at Tommy..
and Tommy looked at Bill...
Why don't we clean this old church up,
and get these old pews filled?'


They took a rag and wiped the dust...
to try and make things shine..
And then they took the offering plate...
and put in it their last dime.


They took a broom and swept the floor...
and picked up broken glass....
They got it all so nice and neat...
and then they mowed the grass.


They lifted up the old church sign...
and stood it by a tree...
right down by that old dirt road
where everyone could see.


They ran back home, to find Daddy gone
but their Momma was inside...
Just to find her hurt again...
where Daddy had made her cry.


'Don't cry Momma, wipe those tears,'
Little Bill and Tommy smiled...
'Caus e! we have a big surprise for you....
just down the road a mile.'


Hand in hand they tugged at her.
until they made her run....
'What is it Bill, Oh Tommy,
just what have you two kids done?'


And then they came upon the house...
once hidden by the weeds...
and there it stood a country church...
just like it used to be.


'But what is it, Mother? What's with your tears?
We thought this would bring you joy.'
'Yes, but hush kids now and listen close...
my two sweet precious boys.'


They both got quiet and stood real still...
for the words they heard so true....
was Daddy praying in the church...
with his head bowed on the pew.


'Forgive me Lord! Forgive me Lord!
though I'm not worthy of Your love...
shine down on this sinner man
sweet Salvation from above.'


'For I've been out in the world, You know..
living my life all wrong...
until I came upon this church;
the place where I belong.'


'I never noticed it before...
all those times I passed it up..
I guess I wasn't looking, Lord...
or maybe I was drunk.'


'Bless oh Lord, yes, bless oh Lord...
the one who made me see..
this little church that used to hide...
behind all those tall weeds.'


And then he raised his head and stood...
with his hands high in the air...
to find two dirty, tear-faced boys...
with Momma standing there.


They ran up to him, hugged him tight...
as their tears fell on the floor.
'Don't worry kids, I'm not the Dad,
the one you 've known before.'


Things are different for us now..
so keep on those pretty smiles...
and let's go gather people in...
to walk down these church aisles.'


Then Bill looked up at Tommy...
and Tommy looked at Bill...
'Come on brother, let's get to work...
to get these old pews filled.'


'For we need no special blessing...
for cleaning up this church...
'cause, God gave us back our Daddy..
and that's more than gold is worth.'


Sunday morning, pews all filled
and smiles on every face...
Especially two little country boys...
the ones who found this place.


Though it was hid back in the weeds...
and so far out of sight...
Nothing's ever hard to find
if you're walking toward God's light