Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. This statement was written by John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963), in a speech prepared for delivery in Dallas the day of his assassination, November 22, 1963

Our new Artesian spa. We are loving it!!

Those Born 1930-1979 READ TO THE BOTTOM FOR QUOTE OF THE MONTH BY JAY LENO. IF YOU DON'T READ ANYTHING ELSE---VERY WELL STATED TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because,
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.
After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.......
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
If YOU are one of them.CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.
While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

The Holmes's wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!! (A little early, but this was something I just couldn't resist! Sorry Fin {David, for those who don't know}) Check out the link below!!



http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9551652317

Here is a old sunday school that has been going over in my mind since Darlene and I were singing songs with Morgan and Carter while driving in the car a week or so ago. It is a good song for all of us and it has stuck with me.
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing that He cannot do.
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing that He cannot do.
The mountains are His, the rivers are His, the stars are His handywork too.
My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty, there's nothing that He cannot do.

Here is an awesome message about protecting our children. Let's stand for the things we have had handed down to us by those before us!! We need the pure spirit of God amongst us. We have to keep our homes, our churches and our minds clean if we want that to happen. We need to protect our children from the things that corrupt. Hollywood and it's offerings are directly opposite from the way we are trying to live.. Let's keep it out of our lives and homes and have something pure to hand down to future generations! Listen to the message entitled "protecting the bean patch" by Larry Booker
http://inlandlighthouse.com/new/page.php?ID=239

Check out Angel's response to Merrily's post titled "Tidbit"
http://merrilywalker.blogspot.com
It was quite an insight!

Another quote to ponder:
M. Scott Peck:

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers

This is a quote I picked up from Deanna's facebook site. Isn't it great?


Thomas Edison: Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work

THE INTERVIEW WITH GOD

I read this on another blog and thought it so beautiful that I wanted everyone else to see it.
What a wonderful heavenly Father we have! I am so thankful for His love, His mercy and His grace. His ways are so beautiful and bring life, if we live in them.

http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/popup-frame.html

Some things that the guest at our tThanksgiving dinner were thankful for. Notice it is usually the relationships inn life that really matter and make life worthwhile.

Last night (or rather this morning pre waking)I had a dream that Nathan Ashby was back in church. He was sitting at the front with his uncle Bob just after an alter service. It was so beautiful! If you read this and feel like it, mention Nathan's name to God in prayer. Prayer does change situations and hearts!!

I woke up this morning with this song going over in my mind. An old song we used to sing alot when I was growing up. I understand it more now than I did then, although I always loved it.

Wait until you see, me made over anew,

Walking with Jesus, all heaven to view,

No sickness, no sorrow, no burdens to bear,

Wait until you see me, with Jesus up there.

I am really not in any hurry to go yet, but what a lot we have to look forward to. What a beautiful place heaven will be. No sickness, no pain, no heartache, NO SIN! Nothing but God and His love. What a blessed hope we have, if we submit ourselves to God and His ways. Not to mention that living God's way makes for a better life right here on earth!

Won't it be wonderful there?

New Listing in Panorama Hills MLS # c3292799 $565,000 This is a beautiful Home!!

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.

Oh how I want that place of refuge. God please help me to let go of the branch as Bro. Sirstad preached Sunday morning. What an awesome, annointed message!

NEW LISTING IN KINGSLAND! $499,900. MLS#C3291497 COMPLETELY RENOVATED! HUGE YARD! CLOSE TO LRT AND CHINOOK MALL! WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT?

Thanksgiving Day at our house. We had around 40 people over and I think everyone had a great time. It was a little crowded, but fun. I need a bigger house so I can invite even more people. It is hard to know where to draw the line! Below are some pics of our day.


Cecelia with Jazz and Jade


Kids having fun at pool

Carla

Becky and Jamie

David and Mindy

The boys playing foosball

Darlene and Angie

Deidre

Mark and Carter just couldn't take it!

Smudgie and Debbie and Ken

Carla and Caleb

some of the boys enjoying the trampoline

Some more of the group. Sandy, David, Jessica(Kenny's girlfriend) Kenny, Lailynn,(Justin's girlfriend), and John

Jazz begging for Sandy's food

some of the girls gathereing in Angie's room

more of the group and some of the food

Some of the group

A few more fall pictures that I took while out doing errands today. I'm sure people wondered what was wrong with this lady taking snapshots of "nothing" while driving! Anyway, we are seriously lacking in the reds and oranges!!

These photos were taken outside my home. I took them for Sis Elms to enjoy. Sis Elms, we do have autumn happening here in Calgary. I will try and get some nice pics from around the city and add them later on. I very much enjoy the changing seasons.

FALL! A beautiful time of year!

Nothing left except the trunk and the mulch!

Just a portion of the trunk and a pile of branches left.

more branches gone

missing a few branches, butstill standing strong!

This tree has been standing here growing bigger and stronger for approximately 46 years and within a few short hours it was totally gone. All that is left is a few stumps that will be burned for firewood and some mulch wich can be used for some good in a garden. This got me to thinking about Reputation. We can work all of our life to build a good reputation,, one of character, and in a moment of temptation or anger or whatever, it can be stripped away and we are left with just a few stumps and some mulch. We are ground down to nothing! Gaurd your reputation. It is worth everything! You worked too hard and long to let it be stripped away from you in a moment. Your reputations defines who you are. It dictates where you are going and where you will end up! It is the very essence of 'you"!

Some have had their reputations smirched by the lies of others. Just like the tree, through no fault of it's own, but by my will it was destroyed. ( I do feel bad about it, but in my mind it stood in the way of progress. Hmmm that could be a blog in itself) In this case, you just need to keep doing right and God will pick you up again and make you flourish.

If you have ruined your reputation by some bad decisions, you too can learn a lesson from this tree's demise. Remember that the firewood is still there and that can bring some comfort to someone, but also the mulch can be used to bring new life if used properly. Pick up your broken pieces and bring them to the master gardener who knows how to make them beautiful and useful in his garden. Also keep in mind that the cut and broken tree puts forth a sweet, refreshing odor. Let your life bring forth a sweetness, fight against the bitterness.

Wether you are standing strong, or if you have been cut and broken through your own actions, or through the actions and words of others, take what you have and use it to grow and be beautiful.

If you are standing strong: Gaurd your reputation! Gaurd your doctrine! (the trunk that makes you strong)Gaurd your spirit( the beauty in your branches)

If you have been cut and wounded by others: Keep standing for what's right. Stay focused! It will come out right. You will stand strong again. Gaurd your spirit!! Keep your branches from wilting!

If you have been obliterated by bad choices: Pick up the pieces and start over. It is never to late to make good!

I thought this tree lesson was just going to be about reputation, but there are so many lessons to be learned just from a tree that got cut down! That is amazing, how the natural can so closely be correlated to the spiritual.
The other thing I am thinkng as I write this is that the tree seemed ugly to me. It was dispensable, but now that it is gone, so is the privacy it provided me, the shelter from the wind it provided is gone. I have lost some things in cutting it out of my life.
Be careful what and who you cut out of your life. They may just provide you with the protection you need. They may be the things you needed to stay on course. You may be cutting out a shoulder that would have been strong or an ear that would have listened when you need it. Don't discount anyone and think them dispensable. It could very well be your life line that you are cutting off.
Okay I'd better go, because my mind is going on and on all because of a tree!!!!! Love you all!

I read this article on Sis. Buxton's blog and thought it was so beautiful. She recieved the story from her husband. What a reminder of true love. I especially liked the line about " a child saw a soul and a mother saw a suit of clothes."



“We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly sitting and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, Hi.” He pounded his fat baby hands on the highchair tray. His eyes were crinkled in laughter and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin, as he wriggled and giggled with merriment.
I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man whose pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so varicose it looked like a road map. We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists.
‘Hi there, Baby. Hi there, Big Boy. I see ya, Buster,’ the man said to Erik.
My husband and I exchanged looks. What do we do?
Erik continued to laugh and answer, ‘Hi.’
Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby. Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, ‘Do ya pattycake? Do you know peek-a-boo?’
‘Hey, look, he knows peek-a-boo.’
Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk. My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence; all except for Erik, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments.
We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man sat poised between me and the door. ‘Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik,’ I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to sidestep him and avoid any air he might be breathing.
As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby’s pick-me-up position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man’s.
Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love and kinship. Erik in an act of total trust, love and submission laid his tiny head upon the man’s raged shoulder. The man’s eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain and hard labor, cradled my baby’s bottom and stroked his back.
No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time. I stood awestruck.
The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms, and his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, ‘You take care of this baby.’
Somehow I managed, ‘I will,’ from a throat that contained a stone. He pried Erik from his chest, lovingly and longingly, as though he were in pain.
I received my baby, and the man said, ‘God bless you, Ma’am. You’ve given me my Christmas gift.’
I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. (In the car) my husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, ‘My God, my God, forgive me.’
I had just witnessed Christ’s love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it was God asking, ‘Are you willing to share your son for a moment?’ He shared His for all eternity.
The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me that to enter the Kingdom of God we must become as little children.’
Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.”
______________