On My Way

      This is what my car looked like as I prepared to go to the garden sale this a.m.  I didn't think I could get everything in but as the saying goes "when there's a will there's a way."  I was determined not to leave any of these babies at home, so I was able to stuff over 120 plants in my vehicle. I had to stack some of them, but they all managed to arrive in good shape.  I'm sure you can see why I love minivans!  What would I do without one?
      The Linn Garden Committee made $402 at the sale, but the best part was finding a home for all the unwanted plants I had dug up.  I hate to throw them away when I know there is someone out there who would love to have them.  This was a great solution.

From President Reagan's speech given at the February, 2, 1984 Prayer Breakfast

      I read this excerpt from President Reagan's speech given at the February, 2, 1984  Prayer Breakfast, in a WND article entitled, "Six Words that Stopped Roman Gladiator Battles."  It is a great illustration of the power and authority we have in using Jesus' Name and how one person and God can change the world.

President Ronald Reagan commented on the Roman Coliseum at the National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 2, 1984: “This power of prayer can be illustrated by the story that goes back to the fourth century – the monk [Telemachus] living in a little remote village, spending most of his time in prayer … One day he thought he heard the voice of God telling him to go to Rome. … Weeks and weeks later, he arrived … at a time of a festival in Rome. … He followed a crowd into the Coliseum, and then, there in the midst of this great crowd, he saw the gladiators come forth, stand before the Emperor, and say, ‘We who are about to die salute you.’ And he realized they were going to fight to the death for the entertainment of the crowds. He cried out, ‘In the Name of Christ, stop!’ And his voice was lost in the tumult there in the great Colosseum. …”

Reagan continued: “And as the games began, he made his way down through the crowd and climbed over the wall and dropped to the floor of the arena. Suddenly the crowds saw this scrawny little figure making his way out to the gladiators and saying, over and over again, ‘In the Name of Christ, stop!’ And they thought it was part of the entertainment, and at first they were amused. But then, when they realized it wasn’t, they grew belligerent and angry. …”

Reagan added: “And as he was pleading with the gladiators, ‘In the Name of Christ, stop!’ one of them plunged his sword into his body. And as he fell to the sand of the arena in death, his last words were, ‘In the Name of Christ, stop!’ And suddenly, a strange thing happened. The gladiators stood looking at this tiny form lying in the sand. A silence fell over the Colosseum. And then, someplace up in the upper tiers, an individual made his way to an exit and left, and the others began to follow. And in the dead silence, everyone left the Colosseum. That was the last battle to the death between gladiators in the Roman Colosseum. Never again did anyone kill or did men kill each other for the entertainment of the crowd. …”

Reagan ended: “One tiny voice that could hardly be heard above the tumult. ‘In the Name of Christ, stop!’ It is something we could be saying to each other throughout the world today.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/six-words-that-stopped-roman-gladiator-battles/#95tvKRMJJd5bVjm3.99

Plant Sale

        Our Linn Park Garden Committee is getting ready to participate in the Master Gardener's Plant Sale tomorrow from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.  So I have been busy--too busy to write on my blog!  I have been digging up plants that have multiplied in the wrong spots, moving some and dividing others, then potting the extras in any pot I could find.  I now have 105 plants to sell.  Others on the committee will also be bringing plants so we should have quite a variety.  Hopefully, I can figure out how to get all of mine to Marshall (a neighboring town where the sale is to be held.)
      I have been thinking about what price to put on the plants and have decided I will not sell some of them, such as daylilies and hostas, for less than $4 or $5 because if they don't sell I have lots of places to plant them.  But several, like the stokesia and phlox which are so prolific, I want to price to sell because I certainly don't want to be bringing them home!  I will probably begin giving them away at 10:00 if I haven't sold all of them.
     We have never participated in this sale so we really don't know what to expect.  It just seemed like a good way to share plants we don't need or want and possibly make a little money to expand the Garden.
     Another reason we are doing it is to advertise the other fundraisers we are doing for Heritage Days--Binga on May 9, and the 10% Night at the Texas Roadhouse on May 12.  We will have posters and schedules for the Heritage Days Festival, too, so if we don't sell much we still will have had free advertising.  That seemed to be a win/win opportunity.
     If you live in the vicinity, come see us at the Plant Sale--and possibly take home some great plants for your garden.

Thomas Jefferson quote

"It is of great importance to set a resolution, not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him." —Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, 1785

Frank Laubach's Journal - April 27, 1937

     I loved this reminder in the Frank Laubach devotional, "Learning the Vocabulary of God."  Many years ago I felt the Lord say to me that if I would take care of the things that were important to Him, He would take care of the things that were important to me.  He seems to be saying the same thing to Frank in the devotional for Tuesday, April 27, 1937.

"MY child, when you pray to Me of your own little troubles and doubts, your prayer is pretty thin and small.  When you reach out to help other people by offering yourself as a channel for Me, your prayer becomes at once large and noble.  You need not pray about your own personal affairs at all, for I will provide for those.  Pray for others!  Make you whole day a prayer for others.  Think of them one by one and try to help them to a rich contact with Me.  Your effort to bring the picture of Christ into their minds was good.  I will day by day teach you endless ways to make this priceless voyage of discovery in a little-known land of the Spirit.  Put a gentle but continuous pressure on your will to do this.  When reading, put your will effort into those of whom you read.  When talking, pour your prayer into those to whom you speak and of whom you speak.  Thus you will learn what Christ-love in all its fullness and irresistable power is, a terrific, outreaching love-will."

Research is showing that fat is not the culprit in heart disease--sugar is!

     Pharmaceutical companies have been promoting a lie to benefit from the sale of statins.  The following is an excerpt from an article by Dr. Mercola entitled  "Why You May Be Better Off Ignoring Conventional Cholesterol and Low-Fat Diet Guidelines."

...Refined Carbs—Not Fat—Are Responsible for Heart Disease

As noted by the Institute for Science in Society,9 Ancel Keys’ 1963 "Seven Countries Study" was instrumental in creating the saturated fat myth. He claimed to have found a correlation between total cholesterol concentration and heart disease, but in reality this was the result of cherry picking data.

When data from 16 excluded countries are added back in, the association between saturated fat consumption and mortality vanishes. In fact, the full data set suggests that those who eat the most saturated animal fat tend to have a lower incidence of heart disease:

“Nevertheless, people were advised to cut fat intake to 30 percent of total energy and saturated fat to 10 percent. Dietary fat is believed to have the greatest influence on cardiovascular risk through elevated concentrations of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. But the reduction in LDL cholesterol from reducing saturated fat intake appears to be specific to large, buoyant type A LDL particles, when it is the small dense type B particles – responsive to carbohydrate intake – that are implicated in cardiovascular disease.” [Emphasis mine]

We've long acknowledged that the Western diet is associated with increased rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Yet the conventional paradigm is extremely reluctant to accept that it is the sugar content of this diet that is the primary culprit. When you eat more non-vegetable carbohydrates than your body can use, the excess is converted to fat by your liver. This process occurs to help your body maintain blood sugar control in the short-term, however it will likely increase triglyceride concentrations, which will increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Excessive consumption of refined grains and added sugars will also elevate your insulin and leptin levels and raise your risk of insulin/leptin resistance, which is at the heart of many chronic health problems. High insulin levels also suppresses two other important hormones -- glucagons and growth hormones -- that are responsible for burning fat and sugar and promoting muscle development, respectively.

So elevated insulin from excess carbohydrates promotes fat accumulation, and then dampens your body's ability to lose that fat. Excess weight and obesity not only lead to heart disease but also a wide variety of other diseases.So, while whole grains are allowed to make health claims saying they’re heart healthy, and low-fat foods are conventionally recognized as healthy for your heart, please remember that replacing saturated fats in your diet (like those from grass-fed beef, raw organic butter, and other high-quality animal foods) with carbohydrates (like breakfast cereal, bread, bagels, and pasta) will actually increaseyour risk of heart disease, not lower it.

Studies Show Saturated Fat Is Not Associated with Increased Heart Disease Risk, But Sugar Is. ...

Bill & Hilary Clinton Should Be Tried For Treason

    Anyone thinking of supporting Hilary Clinton for President should read this article by the New York Times.  Click here to read it.
     She & her sleazy husband should be tried for treason, not looked up to for leadership!

Bill Johnson on the Holy Spirit

     Have you noticed how so many churches today emphasize the importance of the Bible but exclude the Holy Spirit?  Those churches don't appear to be having signs, wonders, and miracles as daily happenings in their services.  I have heard pastors from some of those churches say they don't want those signs of the visitation and habitation of the Holy Spirit in their churches!  How can they be following Jesus and not want that?
     Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church, Redding, CA, says,  "It's hard to have the same fruit as the early Church when we value a book they didn't have above the Holy Spirit they did have."
    He is not saying we should not value the Bible, only that we need to be walking with the Holy Spirit when we study and apply the scriptures.  I whole heartedly agree.  Come Holy Spirit!

Yesterday

      Yesterday was a beautiful, cool, sunshiny day and I enjoyed it immensely! (Today is cold and rainy.)  Because of surgery I was not to lift over 15 lbs for 6 weeks.  What a difficult restriction that was for me since every time I looked outside I saw lots of garden work that needed to be done.  It certainly helped me identify with those who are unable to do the things they used to do but wish they could.    
     Yesterday was 6 weeks.  The doctor said I was healing nicely so I could resume normal activity. Therefore, I spent almost all day outside raking, transplanting, weeding, and trimming.  I may have overdone it a little but it sure felt good to be working again!
      I took a break when our oldest grandson and one of his friends stopped by to go mushroom hunting.  It was fun to see them and to enjoy their excitement at finding mushrooms.  We found about 40 so we were all pretty excited!  From talking with others it doesn't seem there are many mushrooms out there this year.  It looks as if next weekend is going to be very warm so maybe there is still a chance of a bunch popping up.

The Bible - A.D.

     Have you been watching the new mini-series, "The Bible A.D." on Sunday nights on NBC?  It is produced by Roma Downey and her husband, Mark Burnett, who also produced "The Bible" mini-series a couple of years ago.  We are dvr-ing so we won't miss any of the episodes.   Since we haven't been able to watch the past 3 Sundays this week we caught up by watching all three.  I am not much of a fan of biblical movies because, in my opinion, they are typically not done well, but this one is an exception!  We thought it was excellent--even better than the first series--maybe because it portrays several chapters in Acts which can more easily be applied to our lives as disciples. The mini-series makes it very apparent how difficult life was for Jesus' followers.
     I highly recommend the series.

Musings

       This morning I was thinking about the Graham Cooke Conference we went to a couple of weeks ago.  One of the things Graham has emphasized every time I've heard him speak is that every problem comes with a promise and a provision attached.  He explains that if you have a large problem you can expect a large provision in the end which will result in an upgrade in your walk with the Lord. Of course, there is a reqirement that we must keep our eyes on Him, rejoicing in who He is.
      As I was reflecting on this I was thinking about how I often get tripped up with thoughts of "but I prayed & believed and instead of the person receiving an upgrade, he/she died."  When I think this way I begin to doubt God instead of seeing the provision and the upgrade.  Yesterday when I was talking with a friend whose husband died recently it occurred to me that we had felt somehow as if we failed him because we prayed and prayed for his healing but he died.  The thought popped into my mind that he had received the ultimate upgrade--he was forever in God's presence.  Isn't that our goal for ourselves and all those we care about?
      Don't we often act as if our goal is to stay on earth for eternity? Why is it so difficult for us to get out of that mindset?   God is the one who decides when we are ready for an upgrade and what it's to look like.  Sometimes it is on earth; sometimes it is in heaven.  His ways are not our ways.  Maybe one person's ultimate upgrade is the very means God will use to bring upgrades in others' lives.  Don't we all say the ultimate upgrade--going to heaven to be with Jesus--is what we want and one reason why we invited Him into our hearts?  I realize we are only being human, but isn't it selfish to look at death for a Christan as anything but an upgrade?
      I want to have eyes to see as He sees, to trust & believe Him more, and to seek His will & His way instead of focusing on my wants, don't you?

Star Parker quote

Columnist Star Parker: "[T]he central question moving forward is whether the American public is happy with the socialism they’ve gotten thus far. If they are, most likely they will choose the white female socialist to replace the black male. Republicans will be tempted to make this campaign about Mrs. Clinton’s very dubious character. An alleged feminist who built her career by staying married to a life-long adulterer because he was successful. The storming of our embassy and murder of our ambassador in Benghazi, Libya, under her watch as Secretary of State. Her use of a private email account for official State Department business and then erasing it all. But as politically juicy as all this might be, it would be unfortunate if Mrs. Clinton’s questionable self defined this campaign. This election should be about what kind of America Americans want. When I began my work in public policy over twenty years ago, my goal was to move black America off Uncle Sam’s Plantation to join the rest of America living freely, creatively and prosperously. Never did I dream ... [that,] rather than blacks moving off the government plantation, the rest of America would move onto it. ... Hopefully Republicans will give voters a real choice in 2016 — a candidate of any race or gender who wants to push back on government, increase personal freedom, and promote traditional family values."

Morels

     Look what I found as I was walking to the barn today.  After looking closely I think there are around 25 in the patch--most not as large as these.  We LOVE morels!  Can't wait to taste them!

See the two in the background, also.

I laid a dandelion bloom next to this one to get perspective.  Pretty nice, huh?

Another Inspiring Thought from Frank Laubach

     I loved the thought Frank Laubach expressed in the April 18 meditation in Learning The Vocabulary of God.  (For some reason I thought today was the 18th so I read that entry--I must have needed it today.)

He says,
"Father, 
Dear Father, 
My soul reaches up once more to Thee, 
For Thy morning Kiss, 
Because Thou, Father God, art Ruler and Lover in one.
What use of this day will wreathe Thy lips with happy smiles, Father, and make Thee give me a kiss of good night with the words, "Well done"?  How loving, how large must my thought be?  Only one simple task--to keep the window wide open, to try to keep consciously obedient to Thy voice--and Thou wilt tell all the rest.

      How touching to imagine God as the loving Father awakening His child with a kiss!  What an intimate picture of God's loving care for us!

Another Sign Of Spring

The bluebells are in bloom--another sure sign of spring! A few years ago I found a huge patch of bluebells growing near a stream on another part of our property so I transplanted these in the woods at  the edge of our lawn.  It looks as if they are beginning to spread.  I hope someday there will be a huge patch here, too.