A Blog From The South

A GREAT HOME BASED BUSINESS

Alot of you remember me telling you about starting this new business, AmeriPlan USA®. I have tried businesses like this before, many times before and never was successful with them. Partially my fault, but also a lot of the blame did rest with those companies. These other companies were making HUGE profits NOT on product sales, but instead by selling a ton of worthless marketing materials to the distributors who trust and believe in them! Well this is DIFFERENT, completely different. This company is first class and totally legitimate. I actually made $1100.00 in my first 19 days. I thought that kind of thing was unheard of. In reality it is the norm in AmeriPlan®. After that I was quickly promoted to Regional Sales Director. That was a big deal to me. I've NEVER been promoted in any of these companies before. But like said, AmeriPlan® is different. Let me show you how it is different.  

AmeriPlan USA® Corporation is the nation's premier Provider Access Organization, saving its members hundreds of millions of dollars in supplemental healthcare benefits since 1992.

AmeriPlan® is the largest discounted fee-for-services plan of its type in the country. Did you know that 7 out of 10 Americans are uninsured or under-insured.  You don’t have to be part of that statistic.  Sign up for the most affordable, quality health benefits program in the country.

I'm extremely grateful for this business. (this is the symbol for gratitude-you'll be seeing it in my blog a lot). It is my Intention to make this the most successful business that I can, in order to pay off all my debts including my husband's since I am largely responsible for that as well.

Membership Fees and Definitions
*	Health Benefits plan includes Dental, Vision, Prescriptions and Chiropractic benefits.
*	Monthly membership fees         o      $11.95 – individual membership         o      $19.95 – household membership
*	”Household” includes all persons residing at the member’s address regardless of age or relationship.
*	One-time registration fee of $20
*	Not insurance – Different and Better
*	No surprises or sky-rocketing costs. Membership fee is guaranteed for two years.
*	100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
AmeriPlan® Dental Care
*	More than 28,000 Dental Providers Nationwide. Largest Dental Provider Access  Organization in the country.
*	No Waiting Period. You can go to the dentist today and start saving money right away.
*	No Limit on Visits or Services. You can go to the dentist as often as you like to obtain services.
*	Orthodontics (braces) Included for both children and adults.
*	Cosmetic Dentistry Included, such as bleaching or aesthetic bonded finishes in selected markets.
*	All Specialists Included: Periodontists, Endodontists, Pedodontists, Oral Surgeons, Orthodontists and Prosthodontists (25% reduction on usual & customary fees where available).
*	All Pre-Existing Conditions are Covered except orthodontic treatment in process, even if you have had a dental problem for a long time.
*	No Deductible. You know exactly how much you will pay each time you see the dentist.
*	No Age Limit on any services.
*	No Claim Forms and no insurance companies to deal with.
*	You Can Change Dentists whenever you want, without having to notify anyone.
*	Membership Fee Guaranteed for two years.
AmeriPlan® Vision Care
*	More Than 13,000 Optical Providers Nationwide, including most national chains, such as Lenscrafters, Pearle Vision & JC Penney.
*	Save Up to 60% on all frames, lenses, tints, scratch-resistant coatings and ultra-violet protection.
*	Save Up to 30% on ophthalmology eye exams and surgery (including RK and ALK) with certain providers in selected markets.
*	Special Savings of Up to 60% on Contact Lenses including daily wear, extended wear, disposable, tinted, bifocals and gas permeable (available through mail order program only)
*	30-day Unconditional money-back guarantee on all merchandise.
*	Only National Discount Eyewear Plan Endorsed by the Opticians Association of America.
*	AmeriPlan Vision discounts are reduced off the cost price and not retail price (a small negotiated dispensing fee is added to the cost price).
AmeriPlan® Prescription Drug Program
*	Over 50,000 Retail Pharmacy Locations Nationwide, including most national chain pharmacies, such as Eckerd, Walgreen’s, Kmart, Rite-Aid and Costco.
*	Save at Thousands of independent pharmacies nationwide.
*	Save Up to 25% on Most brand-name Prescription drugs (you may not receive a savings on  some high volume or maintenance drugs since these medications may have already been reduced at the pharmacy level.)
*	Save Up to 50% on Most generic prescription drugs (you may not receive a savings on some high volume or maintenance drugs since these medications may have already been reduced at the pharmacy level.)
*	Special Savings on Most high volume and maintenance type drugs (available through mail order program).
*	Most Prescription Drugs are Covered both at the retail pharmacy and by mail order.
AmeriPlan® Chiropractic Care
*	More than 7000 Participating Doctors in the chiropractic network.
*	Free Initial Consultation.
*	50% Savings on diagnostic services.
*	50% Savings on required x-rays.
*	30% Savings on treatment and other services.
*	Unlimited Access to Care with no limits on the number of visits.
Interested in becoming a Sales Associate?
Significant immediate income Re-occurring income $95 start up cost Start part time – 7 hours per week No inventory to purchase No collections Financial freedom with the opportunity to earn a six-figure residual income in two to four years.
	Any questions? Give me a call at (800) 348-5014

We also have great rates for Businesses, Groups, Associations and Non-Profit Organizations. Look for details on that in the next few days.

I am extremely grateful for this business (this is the symbol for gratitude, you'll be seeing it a lot in my blog in the future). It is my Intention to make this business a great success story in order to be able to pay off all my debt including my husband's, since I am largely responsible for that.

Where’s The Piccolo?

“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”  John 6:9

At certain times in life we may feel insignificant and useless.  Surrounded by people with greater talent than ours, we are tempted in our weak moments just to settle back and let somebody else do the work.  We reason that what we have to offer won’t make much difference anyway.

We forget the truth suggested by our Lord’s use of five loaves and two small fish to feed a multitude (John 6:1-14).  Each of us has something important to offer in His service.

In London, Sir Michael Costa, orchestra director was conducting a rehearsal in which the orchestra was joined by a great chorus.  About halfway through the session, with trumpets blaring, drums rolling, and violins singing their rich melody, the piccolo player muttered to himself, “What good am I doing?  I might just as well not be playing.  Nobody can hear me anyway.”  So he kept the instrument to his mouth, but he made no sound.  Within moments, the conductor cried, “Stop! Stop!  Where’s the piccolo?”  It was missed by the ear of the most important person of all.

It’s much the same way with the use of our abilities for the Lord.  Whether our talent is great or small, the performance isn’t complete until we do our best with what we have. 

The Master needs what you have to offer,

No matter if you think it’s small;

His work on earth is done through His children,

So give Him your best, give your all. 

God has a place for you in His Kingdom.

In your Church, you are important.  There are no unimportant members.  When you are absent, the whole body suffers.  When you are not in your place, the Master sees, and asks, "Where are you?" just as the orchestra leader asked, "Where's the piccolo?"

So, be in your place in your local Church this Lord's Day.  Be in your Bible study Sunday School class.  Sing and pray in worship.  Listen prayerfully to the Bible message.  Pray for those around you.  Be an encourager.  God is watching and will use the smallest part of His body, like the orchestra leader uses the piccolo, to lift up the entire work of ministry.  God wants to use you!

Remember, Christ lives in you to live through you to build His Kingdom with you!

"Now thanks be unto God Who always causes us to triumph in Christ and makes manifest the fragrance

of His knowledge by us in every place." II Corinthians 2:14

Source:  Our Daily Bread, Radio Bible Class

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Being southern can mean many things, but the one image that comes immediately to my mind is that of hospitality which - at its core – means “large quantities of food served with tall glasses of sweet tea”!  I don’t know this for certain, and suspect others would disagree, but I truly believe that southerners coined the phrase “comfort food”. 

Every occasion, from weddings to funerals, would be incomplete without an abundance of food lovingly prepared by a multitude of southern cooks, and especially ringing in the New Year is no exception. Most southern ladies begin preparing for New Year’s Day  - and I don’t mean the usual football treats like chips, pretzels, cheese and dip either as soon as the Christmas is over.

In my house (family) it has always been and I know will always be our New Year’s Day tradition to eat as many "black-eyed peas" and turnip greens as possible, along with hot cornbread and pork chops. You see the more peas you eat, the more money you come into durig the new year. You would have to live in the south to understand just how important that is, and how easy it is for our grocery shelves to be emptied of bags of dried black-eyed peas between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Any southern cook will tell you that not having black-eyed peas New Year’s Day is a disaster of gigantic proportions. 

Growing up, I cannot remember a New Year’s Day that my mother did not fix black-eyed peas, turnip greens, pork chops and corn bread. I am quite confident that there was not one. Not wishing to bring ill-fortune, on my family, I have most certainly carried on the tradition including not doing ANY laundry on New Year's Day or you would "wash someone out of the family". Don't even think about it! 

There is no secret to cooking black-eyed peas, I simply follow the directions on the bag – removing any debris and rinsing the peas until the water is clean.  The peas are soaked over night in salt water, and that water is discarded the next day.  The soaked peas are covered with fresh water and then simmered in a large pot on the stove with slabs of hog jowl, onion, garlic, salt and pepper until they are just right. We just eat ours in a bowl - like a thick soup or stew. My husband likes to eat his peas spooned over his cornbread.

Greens are a staple in southern gardens and kitchen pantries. Greens boil down to practically nothing, it takes "a mess" (Southernese for “a lot”) of them to cook enough for everyone. I usually cook them with only the water that clings to the leaves after washing them, and it takes just a few minutes for them to be tender and ready to serve.  I’m not as fond of greens as my husband is, but my grandmother added just a pinch of sugar to her greens while they were cooking to remove the bitterness.  My husband loves to eat his greens sprinkled with a few drops of hot pepper sauce. I like a little vinegar on mine with salt. 

The scent of cornbread baking in the oven brings a delightful balance to the pungent, and sometimes less appealing, aroma of simmering black-eyed peas and turnip greens. Cornbread is baked in a well-seasoned, large cast-iron skillet, using my mom's recipe. Hot cornbread right from the oven is sliced like pie and served with large slabs of butter. My mouth is watering already! My husband makes better cornbread than I do. I don't know why that is.

There is nothing about the food we eat in the South on New Year’s Day that is compatible with my normal eating habits, but I think I’d rather give up my Harley than to break with this time-honored tradition!

What about you?  Does your family have a New Year's tradition?

CHRISTMAS 1914

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:  and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The PRINCE OF PEACE.”  Isaiah 9:6

The Great War was only a few months old, but already the two sides were deadlocked in the grisly new pattern of trench warfare.  Both the British and Germans had learned to shovel miles-long ditches in rocky French farmland, ditches from which men blasted at one another with machine guns and mortars.  In these muddy, rat-infested trenches, British soldiers opened soggy Christmas greetings from their King while a few hundred yards away German troops read a message from the Kaiser.

Between the rows of trenches, where shivering men thought about families at home, lay a barren no-man’s land, a zone of craters and shattered trees where anything that moved was instantly fired at.  So narrow was this strip that whenever there was a lull in the roar of the guns, each side could hear the clink of cooking gear from the other.

Late on Christmas Eve, with the sleet tapering off and the temperature dropping, a British Tommy on guard with the Fifth Scottish Rifles heard a different sound drifting across no-man’s land.  In the German trenches a man was signing.

“Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht . . .”

It was a tune the British soldier recognized as “Silent Night, Holy Night.”  The sentry began to hum along with the melody.  Then, louder, he chimed in with the English words, singing an odd duet with his enemy beyond the barbed wire.

“. . . heilige Nacht . . .”

“. . . holy night . . .”

A second British soldier crawled to the sentry station and joined in.  Little by little others on both sides picked up the song, blending their rough voices across the shell-pocked landscape. The Germans broke out with a second carol, “O Tannenbaum,” and the British replied with “God Rest You Merry Gentlemen.”  On and on the antiphonal singing went.  A British soldier with binoculars reported that the Germans had hoisted a ragged evergreen with lighted candles in the branches to the top of the sandbag barrier.  As dawn of Christmas day broke, signs appeared on both sides, in two languages:  “Merry Christmas!”

Pulled by a force stronger than fear, one by one the soldiers started laying down their arms, creeping beneath barbed wire and around mortar holes into no-man’s land.  At first it was just a few men, then more and more, until scores of British and German troops met together in the first light of Christmas Day.  The boys brought out photographs of mothers and wives, exchanged gifts of candy and cigarettes.  Someone produced a soccer ball and the men played on a few yards of crater-free ground.

Then the Soldiers' Truce was over.

By mid-morning Christmas day, horrified officers had summoned their men back to the trenches;  firing had recommenced.  Within hours the Fifth Scottish Rifles issued an order forbidding such contact:  “We are here to fight, not to fraternize.”

And the soldiers obeyed.  The war, as history tragically records, destroyed almost that entire generation of young men on both sides.  But there was an indelible memory in the minds of those who lived to recall that first Christmas at the front.  The memory of a few hours when their master had been neither King nor Kaiser, but the Prince of Peace.

Even today the wars of our world and the war within each man's soul to follow Christ or to follow self  is the Battle of the Ages. Will a nation or a man follow the Lord Jesus Christ? Only He can calm the wars of this world and the war of the human soul. He defeated death itself by dying for our sins on the Cross and rising triumphantly from the dead.  His Birth we celebrate this Christmas is God's announcement that there is hope available for every man.

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.... There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." Romans 5:1, 8:1

A SOLDIER'S CHRISTMAS

WRITTEN BY A MARINE SOLDIER STATIONED IN OKINAWA, JAPAN

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH
DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS
MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

Your Rights...At Christmas Time

FYI, I found it interesting; I'd never heard of this organization so it's also educational.

From: Chester Holyfield

Date: 2005/12/09 Fri AM 01:14:11 EST

This is too important not to send. Christmas is upon us and our rights as Christians to express our love of Christ is diminishing. Here is a source to give you legal advice on your rights to celebrate Christmas.

"Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel"

wrote: From: "Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel"

To: "Chester Holyfield"

Subject: Your rights ... at Christmastime Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2005 10:06:58 -0500 (EST)

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 08, 2005

Dear Chester,

Today, the city of Ada, Oklahoma, has a nativity scene as part of their Christmas lights display.

But if it weren't for the insistence of a concerned citizen, Craig Rogers, and the help of the ACLJ, this would not have been the case!

Craig alerted us when he was informed by the city that a nativity scene would not be included in the park's Christmas display. We directed him to our Religious Holiday Displays Information letter, he took copies of it to distribute at a city meeting, and a nativity scene was added to the Christmas plans.

A solid victory for Craig ... Ada, Oklahoma ... the ACLJ ... and you!

Craig's inquiry to the ACLJ is just one of many we have already received regarding the Christmas holiday.

The issues range from students being told they cannot sing songs with Christian themes in their winter concerts ... to cities telling their citizens they cannot display nativity scenes.

(Thankfully, as in Craig's case, we have been able to resolve each of these cases quickly.)

And today, I want you to know what your rights are and how the ACLJ is prepared to help you exercise them this Christmas.

You can access our online Christmas Resource Center by Clicking Here.

This resource center, prepared by our expert legal team, addresses the constitutionality of school holiday celebrations and privately-erected or government-sponsored holiday displays; and we are here to help.

Please feel free to use it.

It will answer your questions ... and empower you with the necessary legal elements to enforce your right to say "Merry Christmas" ... sing Christ-centered Christmas carols ... display a nativity scene ... and more.

The ACLJ is here to help you! If you have any questions or concerns, simply click here to visit our Christmas Resource Center or call the ACLJ at (757) 226-2489.

Before I close, let me mention that we have joined an important campaign to support Judge Samuel Alito, President Bush's nominee to the United States Supreme Court. Judge Alito has a judicial philosophy that has been very supportive of religious expression, including the display of nativity scenes in public areas.

He is indeed a worthy candidate who should be quickly confirmed! As the ACLU, People For the American Way, and others continue to dismantle the "Christ" of Christmas ... we will continue to fight for your rights and the nomination of Judge Alito to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Merry Christmas from the ACLJ! And like Craig Rogers did - let your voice be heard!

American Center for Law and Justice P.O. Box 90555, Washington, D.C. 20090-0555 Phone: (800) 296-4529

American Center for Law and Justice is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit, religious corporation as defined under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, specifically dedicated to the ideal that religious freedom and freedom of speech are inalienable, God-given rights. The Center's purpose is to educate, promulgate, conciliate, and where necessary, litigate, to ensure that those rights are protected under the law. The organization has participated in numerous cases before the Supreme Court, Federal Court of Appeals, Federal District Courts, and various state courts regarding freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

As always, let us know of threats to freedom in your area by calling (757) 226-2489. And tune in to our daily radio program, "Jay Sekulow Live!"

For technical problems of any type, contact the tech support staff by visiting Our HELP Page . Please provide all the information requested. Please do not use this for general correspondence as it goes to a technical support area.

How do I discontinue my membership/subscription to this e-mail list? Do not respond to this e-mail for any reason. To discontinue your membership automatically, please follow the link below. You joined this list as Chester Holyfield at the following e-mail address: chesterhd2000@yahoo.com. You must use the correct e-mail address to discontinue your membership.

If you experience any technical problems and/or do not receive confirmation that your request has been completed online, please postal mail, phone, or fax your request using the contact information listed above. Your request will be processed within 10 days of the receipt of your request.

REMEMBER MY BIRTHDAY

As you well know, we are getting closer to my birthday. Every
year there is a celebration in my honor and I think that this year
the celebration will be repeated. During this time there are many
people shopping for gifts, there are many radio announcements, TV
commercials, and in every part of the world everyone is talking
that my birthday is getting closer and closer.

It is really very nice to know, that at least once a year, some
people think of me. As you know, the celebration of my birthday
began many years ago. At first people seemed to understand and be
thankful of all that I did for them, but in these times, no one
seems to know the reason for the celebration. Family and friends
get together and have a lot of fun, but they don't know the meaning
of the celebration.

I remember that last year there was a great feast in my honor.
The dinner table was full of delicious foods, pastries, fruits,
assorted nuts and chocolates.  The decorations were exquisite and
there were many, many beautifully wrapped gifts. But, do you want
to know something? I wasn't invited. I was the guest of honor and
they didn't remember to send me an invitation.  The party was for
me, but when that great day came, I was left outside, they closed
the door in my face......... and I wanted to be with them and share
their table.

In truth, that didn't surprise me because in the last few years
all close their doors to me. Since I was not invited, I decided to
enter the party without making any noise. I went in and stood in a
corner. They were all drinking; there were some who were drunk and
telling jokes and laughing at everything. They were having a great
time. To top it all, this big fat man all dressed in red wearing a
long white beard entered the room yelling Ho-Ho-Ho!  He seemed
drunk. He sat on the sofa and all the children ran to him, saying :
"Santa Claus, Santa Claus"...   as if the party were in his honor !
I extended my arms waiting for someone to hug me and  ....  do
you know .... no one hugged me.

Suddenly they all began to share gifts. They opened them one by
one with great expectation. When all had been opened, I looked to
see if, maybe, there was one for me. What would you feel if on your
birthday everybody shared gifts and you did not get one ? I then
understood that I was unwanted at that party and quietly left.

Every year it gets worse. People only remember to eat and
drink, the gifts, the parties and nobody remembers me. I would like
this Christmas that you allow me to enter into your life. I would
like that you recognize the fact that almost two thousand years ago
I came to this world to give my life for you, on the cross, to save
you. Today, I only want that you believe this with all you heart.

I want to share something with you. As many didn't invite me to
their party, I will have my own celebration, a grandiose party that
no one has ever imagined, a spectacular party. I'm still making the
final arrangements. Today I am sending out many invitations and
there is an invitation for you. I want to know if you wish to
attend and I will make a reservation for you and write your name
with golden letters in my great guest book. Only those on the guest
list will be invited to the party. Those who don't answer the
invitation, will be left outside.

Do you know how you can answer this invitation?  It is by
extending it to others whom you care for... I'll be waiting for all
of you to attend my party this year...

See you soon  ....    I love you !

A Prayer Has Been Answered

I haven't talked about my family much as ya'll know if you read me regularly. I may have mentioned my husband once or twice and I know I mentioned my 2 step-granddaughters once back  in the summer and that has been about it.  There are reasons for that. But we won't go there today. However, I have to tell a very brief tale. About a two years ago or so, my husband and his daughter, A. had a misunderstanding (that's what I'll call it). I wasn't involved in it thank goodness. Anyway through a series of mishaps, I lost contact with A. thus not being able to contact the granddaughters either. Now the youngest one, E. I had not had time to get to know before I had to move back to TN. But the older one, S. I absolutely did. The two of us were pretty close. I love that little girl, and A. as if they were my own.  I think about S. often and miss her terribly. I tried to call them, but the number was unlisted. I just lost contact.

Well, Low and behold my sister-in-law who lives in FL. who we haven't seen or talked to in about a year and a half sent us a Christmas card and with it a little paper. This was an Atlanta paper though. How she got this being in FL I don't know. This paper was dated back in June. She sent it to us. It had a long article about A's husband who has been quite successful with his career. At the end of that article it tells of a web site that her husband has now. I went to it to check it out of course. Hey, there is contact info, it's only an email address, but I wrote to him. I put a blind copy to her with the last know address I had for her. That same evening (night before last) she answered. Oh Lord I was so excited. She also sent me S's. email address so I can communicate directly with her, she is 12 now. I have done that too (last night). I haven't heard from her yet. I sent them both my phone number, email address, cell number. I pray they call and/or write. I don't want to lose touch again. I so want communication with S. and A too if she will. Now the way this all came about, I just think it was all meant to be.  The only way I'll be any happier is when I actually hear from S now. Please ya'll pray that happens soon. She thinks I abandoned her. I tried to explain in my email that I didn't and what happened by losing contact. I pray she was able to understand that. She is a very smart child, I hope she can understand that. That was my worst fear. Please pray for her and her family.  I'll keep you posted.

A YEAR WITHOUT CHRISTMAS

As we approach Christmas Season 2005, we’re increasingly bombarded by the political correctness of our times. Many popular store chains are filled with “Season’s Greetings” and “Happy Holidays” but have removed all reference to Christmas from their signs and promotions. Their clerks are admonished to omit the heinous and offensive “Merry Christmas” from their lips while on duty. One chain even refuses to call their Christmas trees, “Christmas trees.” Instead they refer to them as “holiday trees” lest they offend some non-Christian individual.

The situation made me think of a phrase in 2 Timothy 3:5 in reference to the last days. Paul spoke of a time when mankind would “have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof.” It is ironic to me that a business market that thrives and survives on Christmas gift purchases would have the audacity to remove the word “Christmas” from its promotions and vocabulary! To paraphrase Paul, they “have a form of Christmas, but deny the power thereof!” Leave it to Christ’s arch-enemy to manipulate men into commercializing Christmas until it has become a financial burden on most American households, obscure it so completely that one could hardly find the Christ child within it, and then rip the very name of the holiday out from under us until there is no shred of Him left within!

This most recent stunt of the Adversary goes much deeper than store management. Stores are simply reacting to a lawsuit happy society that creates victims and villains where there are none, and lets the real criminals go free.

The entire passage in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 is worth reading, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” (The Apostle Paul to Timothy, 2 Timothy 3:5)

Sounds like Paul has been watching modern television, doesn’t it?

As I watch the United States increasingly deny Christ, strive to pull God from our Pledge of Allegiance and make any mention of His name offensive unless it is thrown about as a curse, I wonder ‘how long?’ How long will the God of heaven allow us to prosper in such iniquity? How long will He allow us to attempt a “form of godliness, but deny the power thereof?”

I say that if the world would rip the very Reason from the season, then it is time for Christians around the world to toss aside this intense commercialism and return to the center of Christmas. Instead of strapping our budgets to spend even more than we did last year, maybe we should focus more on drawing our hearts and minds closer to Jesus Christ. We can do this by

• Remembering and teaching our children about the Savior and His life; 
• Reaching out and serving others with our time and means; 
• Spending more time with our family and creating family traditions that center on Jesus Christ; 
• Worshiping the Lord by being in church and reading His Word; 
• Listening to and singing the hymns of Christmas and other music that puts Jesus Christ at the center of the holiday; and 
• Living a life that would point others to Christ;

In a world that strips Him from every public setting, those of us who carry His light, must shine even brighter. We must be the city that is set on a hill that cannot be hid. It’s time we took that bushel basket off our candles and placed our light on a candlestick for the world to see. We need not be rude. We need not be demanding or demeaning of others and their beliefs. We need not retaliate in lawsuits. We need only love as He loved and live as He would live and in word and deed be the examples of Christ that will lighten this darkening world.

Along the way, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to share a hearty
“Merry Christmas” with everyone we meet!

So, let me be one of the first. :) 

Merry Christmas!! 

TIME FOR THOUGHT

Try something different today. If you happen to be standing in line and it's moving slowly, instead of getting agitated, focus on the positive side.

You now have a few extra minutes to review your errands and make sure you haven't forgotten anything; a few extra minutes to think about a project at work, a few extra minutes to chuckle about something funny your child said earlier in the day.

Don't tie up your emotional energy or become agitated or anxious about situations you can't control. Instead, go with the flow. This change of attitude will make a huge difference in your day.