I Love My Attorney ... :) Shangy! >Here are the details on our Yahoo ShangyFunList: To Subscribe send a blank email to ShangyFunList-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To UnSubscribe send a blank email to ShangyFunList-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Group home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ShangyFunList Through no fault of my own we suddenly became an adult club in the love and romance directory so you will have to confirm that you are an adult when you go here. I still have no idea how to change this back as it sends me around in a circle when I try! or Web Site: http://www.ShangralaFamilyFun.com/ShangyFunList.html Group email address: ShangyFunList@yahoogroups.com or email me here: bcrsystems@earthlink.net ================ >-->OoooWeeeee!! oo 8 "} > @ < .8 .-._/| .'_'`')`_.' \| ) / (>'/ |_,_ | (,| .' ,'\| `._/ ) \| '`- -- ''-- --- VK/ejm I'm doing a 'Happy Angel' dance! Why? Because Shangrala has been blessed with another 2010 Angel! Pat De Esposito from East Orange, NJ has joined forces to help Keep Shangrala Alive this year with a sweet donation! If you are in the neighborhood be sure to stop by the Fairfield United Methodist Church in NJ! If you'd like to help too and be counted as a 2010 Shangrala Angel, please visit the site and click on the donate button. A Secure PAYPAL page comes up. Any amount is greatly appreciated and needed! PLEASE Visit Shangrala to Help: http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/index.html OR If you'd rather send us a donation, Please MAIL it here: Elrhea Bigham 502 S. Harrison Van Wert, OH 45891 *~* THANK YOU! MAY GOD BLESS ALL OUR ANGELS MOST ABUNDANTLY! ================ *~* A REMINDER: PLEASE Send me sweet, interesting, funny, inspiring, family type forwards ANY TIME here... bcrsystems@earthlink.net I Need them, Love them, Use them, and Share them! THANK YOU!! ================ >-->3 Hot Off The Shangy Press! This sizzling one is from a forward from our friend Jo Ann. A truly inspirational story you are bound to love! Check it out here... | |, |', | ; | , | ', ######| ;##$$**&&<<;;,---....,,,____ | ,,, ""=;, ''''----....,,,, | `''', ";%., |_ _i l ; **;;., | V | , _.-= ##$$**&&;;., |\_/7 || / /'_,.-= *###$$$%%%;;..,,, | |__|/,.-'_,..-= *##$$$%%%;;;;;.....,,,,, /| /#%'',.-' **##$$$;;;;;;.......,,,,,,,,, / | | A /, ****#######$$$$$;;;;;;;.....,,,, / ' `| | / ***********::::::::::........ / =. .' / _,' L,,.-' Ricochet The Surf Dog! http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/ricochet.html --- ...a tear jerker indeed! Thanks Jo Ann! This Hot Tottie comes from a forward from our friend Pat DeE. This one took a little net detective work, but I was able to get down to the real story. And what a doozy it is too! Check it out here.. / , /\ \|/ /\ |\\_;=._//| \." "./ //^\ /^\\ .'``",/ |0| |0| \,"``'. / , `'\.---./'` , \ /` /`\,."( )".,/`\ `\ /` ( '.'-.-'.' ) `\ /"` "._ : _." `"\ `/.'`"=.,_``=``_,.="`'.\` jgs ) ( Life's Little Oops 5! http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/whoops5.html --- ...Awww, such a beautiful car! Thanks Pat! This last hot one comes from another forward from our friend Jo Ann. I had no idea these were available back in 1937! But one thing for certain, I bet hardly any one could afford one! I do love the oak interior and the fold out windshield! Amazing! Check this out here... %\ %\ %% \ %% \ %% \ %% \ %%% \ %%% \ %%% \ %%% \ %%%% \ %%%% \ %%%% \%%%% \ %%%%% %%%%% \ %%%%% .-%%%%%,---------------. .'.' | Welcome to | .-' / | Mt. suggestive| _.-' : `-------++------' .--'" `. || ,' `-._ || Krogg : `--..._____||_________ : `. Ford's First RV http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/firstrv.html --- ...Wow! What a neat classic! Thank You Jo Ann! ===================================== >-->FDA HEALTH ALERT: Recall Doctor Samples of Coumadin® Packs Bristol-Myers Squibb Initiates a Nationwide Voluntary Recall of Coumadin® 1 mg Tablet Blister Packs -Recall Involves 1 mg Physician Sample BBlister Packs and 1 mg Hospital Blister Packs Only- In some cases, the dose may be too high, which can increase your risk of bleeding. For others, the dose could be too low, increasing your risk of heart attack and stroke. Either way, this free Coumadin sample could end up costing your life. Visit here for full info: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm218864.htm ================================================================== >-->From Heartwarmers: .". / \ | || | || | || | || | |/ |__| |==| | | | | | | | | | | jgs \__/ |/ ` >GARDENING, WITH PEN IN HAND by Eva Shaw, Ph.D. I am asking you to look at keeping a garden journal. It's good for the soul, it's good therapy, and it's a good way to grow. Just today I've received a new one -- a hard cover that's stripped like garden onions, with a silky marigold-colored ribbon to mark the progression of my journaling. The journal is pristine, clean and fresh, much like my cutting garden was less than a year ago. Soon, the journal will be spilling over with words like my new garden. Gardens and journals are much the same -- they start with dreams. The one in my front yard was a birthday present from my husband. He hauled bricks, sweated over cement, wheeled in topsoil, all in the name of love. I choose the flowers. I dug in the dirt to create a bit of paradise joining with nature. I planted sweet peas for fragrance, and since their season is short, they tell me to cherish life, reminding me that we do not know the number of our days. I planted bulbs by the dozen. I loved their surprise factor. I can never remember just where I've planted them and BAM! They pop up in unexpected places. They take me to a time when as a child I was ill, feverish and miserable. Mama arranged a handful of King Alfred daffodils in a crystal vase and placed them near my bedside. It was my first grown up bouquet and formed a part of me that continues, now these years later, to share her "flowers make you feel better" philosophy as I give bouquets away. Daisies are in the garden because they're part of my history. When Joe and I were first married, barely making ends meet, he splurged one payday showering me with a small bouquet of daisies. In our 31 years together, I've received more expensive gifts, but the daisy remembrance is wrapped in the velvet of precious memories. I must ask him if he remembers. I am sure he does. Sunflowers are in my cutting garden although I cannot get myself to cut these beauties as they tower over the garden fence and flaunt their faces to the world. They tell me it's good to be sturdy and stand out from the crowd. A journal is like a garden where we "plant" our ideas, some perhaps too dear to share and some that are better left as secrets. We can place words on paper to write out, scratch out, rewrite and ponder at silent moments. There are no rules to journaling as there are no right or wrong ways to garden. Someday when I'm older, I may want to think back and marvel at my (possibly misspent) youthful middle age, juggling writing projects with a garden full of marauding slugs barely waiting until twilight to pay a visit. Taking time to write in a garden journal feels odd, especially if we're not practiced at jotting down thoughts, plans and even jumbled ideas. Knotty memories may shoot up and we may wonder if they're weeds or the sprouts of something to be cherished. Sometimes we have to wait and see. In our garden journal we need not censor or explain. The book can be for our eyes only, to be hidden away from others. That's the "job" of a journal. Journaling about the garden isn't great literature. It's simply a reflection of me. Oh, how I wish my grandmothers had kept journals. So if for nothing but the future, I'll write. Someday, perhaps from this beautiful new journal, a yet unborn child will say, "I'm planting sweet peas. Great Grandmother Eva adored them." This reader will know that in 2005, only lavender sweet peas produced flowers. That "fact" will disappear unless it's in my journal. I'm going to press flowers between the pages, a snapshot of my garden, maybe a bit of poetry, a photograph of my Welsh terrier, Buttons. I will add garden-variety quotes to stir me and thoughts I cannot do without. What will I write? What will YOU write? I'm a simple person and will scribble, "Today I've started this garden journal. With paper and pen I will tell myself about my garden." It's my hope you write about the breezes on your face, the soil on your fingers and the sunshine on your back, among other miracles. I pray you'll take up gardening with pen in hand. -- Eva Shaw, Ph.D. ___________________________________________ Eva is a woman who lives to write, garden and mentor. She teaches writing online, speaks nationally on grief and recovery and is the author of the just released, What to Do When a Loved One Dies: A practical and compassionate guide for dealing with death on life's terms. ================================================================== __ __ (( \---/ )) )__ __( / ()___() \ \ /(_)\ / \ \_|_/ / _______> <_______ //\ |>o<| /\\ \\/___ ___\// | | | | | | | | `--....---' \ \ \ `. hjw \ `. >Archie and Abby Story Editor: by Kelli Clayton Bennett Indiana, USA As a child I was sort of a tomboy. The family members I spent the most time with were my two older brothers and three boy cousins. I wanted to do everything they did, and followed them everywhere. When I was seven or eight, my brothers and I spent many weekends with my cousins at my aunt's house. We didn't like to stay at home because our parents argued a lot. One of the nights we stayed there, my oldest cousin, who was about fourteen, started to touch my genitals after he thought I was asleep. Even at that age, I knew something was wrong with the way he was touching me, and where he was touching me, but I was afraid. I just rolled over and pretended to be asleep. It happened again on a few other occasions, and each time I pretended to sleep. My parents often yelled at each other, and I was afraid that if I told them what my cousin had done, there would be more yelling -- or worse, that no one would believe me. I started having trouble sleeping, stopped eating, and refused to stay at my aunt's house. But there were still situations that put me in the same place as my cousin. I tried to stay away from him, but he would always touch me after he thought I was asleep. One day at school we were taken to the gymnasium for a special program. A woman was there to perform a show with puppets named Archie and Abby. I sat in that gymnasium riveted to the puppet show. The puppets described exactly what I was going through. They discussed what were good touches and bad touches, and repeated over and over how important it was to tell your parents if anything like that happened to you. In that show, the puppets addressed all my fears and put them to rest. They also helped get rid of my sense of shame, and thoughts that I had somehow deserved it. I left that gymnasium that day feeling better than I had in months, and knowing I would talk to my mother that very day about what was happening. I was still scared, but I gathered my courage and talked to my mother. I now knew that she could stop the pain I had been feeling. It was not like I feared. There was no yelling, no hitting, and never once did she accuse me of lying. She never again left me alone with my cousin, and it never happened again after that. Every year, hundreds of children see the same puppet show I saw, performed by the same woman. I am thankful every day knowing that she does this, and hope she knows that she has helped at least one child. =======HeroicStories======= >-->From SermondFodder: |..| ? ? c >| ? \'/ /><\ unknown >Actual Bible College quotes! 1999 "The God of the Bible has given man His laws and commandments to live by Mohammed's teachings" (insert full stop after "live by") "Jonah eventually obeyed the Lord and went to Nivea." (for "Nivea" read "Nineveh") "The early church sold their possessions and shred everything" (for "shred" read "shared") "Even today we have a tenancy more or less like that of the Tower of Babel." (for "tenancy" read "tendency") "these children learn how to manage conflict in a healthy and contraceptive manner." (for "contraceptive" read "constructive") "Paul tells the collisions that they will be saved in the last day" (for "collisions" read "Colossians") "his deep sincere love for the Japanese attracted the bright young Samurai who flicked to his school" (for "flicked" read "flocked") "God wanted to defuse man to the ends of the earth." (for "defuse" read "diffuse") "Paul did not come perching with human wisdom." (for "perching" read "preaching") "I became weak to wine the weak." (for "wine" read "win") "Jesus is with us all the time, every time we mate together as brothers and sisters in Christ." (for "mate" read "meet") Making friends is fatal especially for single missionaries. (for "fatal" read "vital") -<>- We haven't crossed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we stop saying 'It got lost' and say 'I lost it.' --Sydney Harris =========================================== -="""--.._ ""--...._\ ,b:--....---. || //'""------"' _.l+----.// .&$""' .'"=.. '. / | | ) \ _.-'@_.' '@_/ | .' " \ -._,-'^"""^'-, `. ,\""---___ |.. _.--._, \ .-"(,_\_""" _.' ' _,-; '"` ` " """' """' | |__ ,+ |-.`o o'"/| #| oO Oo"./ (#| | "|_, | '|> \ / `l ,' |,-----||' pjy lj lJ o@o o@o " " >A Laugh a Day "She who laughs, lasts." At least that was Theresa of Avila's philosophy. Theresa, a Spanish nun who founded the reformed order of the Carmelites in 1562 used to look for novices who knew how to laugh, eat and sleep. She believed that if they ate heartily they were healthy, if they slept well they were more than likely free of serious sin, and if they laughed, they had the necessary disposition to survive a difficult life. Abraham Lincoln must have also known that laughter is good medicine. In writing about Lincoln's Civil War years, author Richard Hanser says that on September 22, 1862, the War Cabinet was summoned to the White House for a special session. Lincoln was reading a book as everyone came in. Secretary of War Stanton later said this of the meeting: "Finally the president turned to us and said, 'Gentlemen, did you ever read anything of Artimus Ward? Let me read a chapter that is very funny.'" The president then read aloud a skit called "Highhanded Outrage at Utica." Stanton was furious, but Lincoln read on and, at the end, he laughed heartily. "Gentlemen," he asked, "why do you not laugh? With the fearful strain that is upon me day and night, if I did not laugh, I should die. And you need this medicine as much as I do." It was at this same session that the president pulled a paper from his tall hat and read aloud the now immortalized Emancipation Proclamation. He's right -- we may likely die without frequent and sustained doses of laughter. After all, they who laugh, last. Have you had your belly laugh today? Author unknown. ================================================================ >-->From Archived InspiredBuffalo: ,,,,, ////""\ . (((/ m m -|- __ )))c = ) | (__) ////-./~` . [] (((( `.`\ :: [] )))`\ \)).-;.' .------, [] (() `._.-'` _( )[] )/ `. | .'`^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^))\`.----'`[] jgs ( \' { ~ - ~~ _ ~ - ~~ - ~ - (( | | [] .-.--\ \ { )) | | [] |_;_._`\ |{ ((__|_|-----[] | ; ``` ;{ )) [] | /``-.____/ `~~~[]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'-' [] `' (__) (__) Many of you are familiar with the childhood prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep," but I was a little surprised to learn that it is a shortened version of an Old English prayer, which goes like this: >Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, bless the bed that I lie on. Before I lay me down to sleep, I give my soul to Christ to keep. Four corners to my bed, four angels there aspread, two to foot, and two to head, and two to carry me when I'm dead. I go by sea, I go by land, the Lord made me by His right hand. If any danger comes to me, Sweet Jesus Christ, deliver me. He's the branch, and I'm the flower, pray God send me a happy hour. And if I die before I wake, I pray that Christ my soul will take. -<>- `>.___ o-.--.-o ___,<' / `. / ,, \ .' \ { `.; ,__, ;.' } `._ }`.__.'{ _.' `,=."' `".=,' .' /`-.____.-'_ `, \_.';`-.______.-':`._/ `+-.______.-'' `-.____.-' / || \ ; ;; ; `-./ \.-' fsc __ // \ \\_/ // sjw''-.._.-''-.._.. -(||)(') ''' >Buzzards, Bats and Bumble Bees If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top. The ordinary bat which flies around at night, a remarkably nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash. A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself. In many ways, there are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. They are struggling about with all their problems and frustrations, not ever realizing that the answer is right there "Above" them. Remember, "Little is much when God is in it". -Author Unknown -<>- ,-. _,. / / ; \____,-==-._ ) //_ `----' {+> ` `'--/ /-'`( / / dew `=' >Bad Flight? "That was a bad flight huh?" my father-in-law stated as he picked up my family from the Tampa airport. It was a rainy windy day. As we crossed the bridge heading to Clearwater, the waves angrily crashed against the seawall. The flight was bumpy. The flight attendants had to sit out much of the flight because the plane tossed and turned like a child's sleepless night. Bad flight? Not in my book. Life is relative. I am a pilot. I have flown about 75 hours in a private plane. I am not that experienced, but I have had enough experience to know a bad flight. I fly a Cessna 152. That is a motorized wheelbarrow with wings. It has two seats and a back shelf to put your bags. Your bags can't be too heavy or it could shift the plane's center of gravity. That can cause you to literally tumble out of the sky. That's a bad flight. My instructor told me any flight that I walk away from is a good flight. Life is relative. The 152 is often tossed and turned with NO WIND. On a hot day the thermals rising from the ground can make the plane just drop suddenly. Your stomach is rammed up into your throat when that happens. I am not a cursing man but the first time the plane did that while I was up in the air alone I said "Holy ..." Yes, Holy Moses. When the plane hit an air pocket and dropped, I yawned. It was a multi-million dollar plane being flown by pilots with thousands of hours of flight time. They had the best equipment. As we dipped and rocked like a roller coaster, I looked over at my six-year old and said, "Weee!" He laughed and said, "Weee!" We often think things in life are bad, yet we have come through them safe and sound without so much as a scratch. At worse, we have been able to walk away. Bad flight? Not in my book. Life is relative. ~A MountainWings -<>- >Links for Your Enjoyment Nextel Dance Party http://www.buffaloschips.com/kjpopo.htm No Fear http://www.buffaloschips.com/kjoppo.htm Bad Luck http://www.buffaloschips.com/fasd.htm Boogie Woogie http://www.buffaloschips.com/fsdjlk.htm Ford Police Chase http://www.buffaloschips.com/sdfds.htm God's Bumper Stickers http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/gbumper.html Albino Bears http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/albinobear.html Hand Painting Art http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/hpaint.html Cost Of A Child http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/costofchild.html Odin The White Tiger http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/whitetiger.html Koalas In A Heatwave http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/koalas.html Visit our site at http://www.inspiredbuffalo.com If you are looking to join any of our other fine e-zines visit www.buffalosjokes.com ============================================================ __________ /________ /| | XII , | | | ,' | | |IX * III| | | `. | | |____VI___| | | | | | | | | | | | | | -|- | /` |/ -|- | /` |/ | ( ) | | | | \, |\ | | \, |\ ejm |_________|/ >-->"No one has the time" by Bob Perks 2believe@comcast.net I have this old mantle clock that belonged to my mom. My dad gave it to me years ago after mom had passed away. I have mixed emotions about having it. I love it because it was hers, but it also holds some bad memories. You see it chimes. Nothing elaborate. It counts out the hour and rings once on the half. Or at least it used to. Now you never know what number it will ring. The only bad feelings about it comes from the fact that when my mother was home dying from cancer she asked that it be unplugged. Hearing the hours count down really angered and frightened her. Still, I want to get it fixed so we can remember the good hours we had with her. I took it to a local clock shop the other day. "I know this has no particular value as a clock, but it was my Mom's and I need to get it fixed," I said to the shop owner. I went on to describe the problem. "We get a lot of these in. Here's what I do. We remove the clock works and replace it with a battery operated movement that chimes electronically. It will cost about $135.00," he told me. "You can't fix this?" "No, we don't have the time nor the parts." I thanked him and went home. I called a few other places and was told the same thing. "How incredibly sad," I told the last one. We've become a society that replaces craftmanship with convenience and easy fixes. We copy the original instead of creating one. We replace handcrafted with machine cut. We duplicate instead of originate. It sounds so much like life itself. Each of us is an original, one of a kind, but we find it so much easier to copy another style than to develop our own. We are "wanna be's" rather than "hey, world, look at me!" We fail to see the real value in who we are, so we spend our life trying to be someone else. So, this beautiful hand crafted clock will one day be deemed useless. Not because it couldn't be fixed. It's just easier not to. Imagine for a moment if this happened with people. Someone comes into a hospital with a failing heart, kidney, liver or other vital part and the doctor said, "Sorry, we can't fix this...we don't have the parts!" Wait. That does happen. Why? Because we don't have enough organ donors. People would rather die with all their parts to rot in a grave rather than leave them to save someone's life. Oddly, when asked why more people don't sign up to become an organ donor it's for the same reason..."No one has the time!" Make time before your clock stops working! For more information visit: http://organdonor.gov/ "I wish you enough!" Bob Perks 2believe@comcast.net I encourage you to share my stories but I do ask that you keep my name and contact information with my work. ============================================================ >-->From Our Friend Jo Ann :) `, ___ # |/ ? | , )\ / /__/\ \____ ##### ,- / \_/ \ _/_ #### /\,_\ |/| / < _____ _> \ [.[.]-=## ) "\ -|.|--/___/ ,___/___\- /_ )# \ ___Y. _____'-'______|\/______________ |__ # __)/ [_______________________________] \___/ /) \ | | .'\$/\`-. /|| .| | _...._ | ( `.Y.' ( ) __;_||__|_______| ,-' ALT. '-_ |____|:__o___|_|_ [________________| / ASCII- \ |________________] | | | _ _ART ____. | | | Balif | | / / \| ||_)| | | | | RALF | \\_\_/|_|| \|/ | | ____| | -_ ,- | |____ | | `-...,-' | | | | | | |_______________|_____________________________|_______________| >I love my attorney After living what I felt was a 'decent' life, my time on earth came to the end. The first thing I remember is sitting on a bench in the waiting room of what I thought to be a court house. The doors opened and I was instructed to come in and have a seat by the defense table. As I looked around I saw the 'prosecutor.' He was a villainous looking gent who snarled as he stared at me. He definitely was the most evil person I have ever seen. I sat down and looked to my left and there sat My Attorney, kind and gentle looking man whose appearance seemed so familiar to me, I felt I knew Him. The corner door flew open and there appeared the Judge in full flowing robes. He commanded an awesome presence as He moved across the room I couldn't take my eyes off of Him. As He took His seat behind the bench, He said, 'Let us begin.' The prosecutor rose and said, 'My name is Satan and I am here to show you why this man belongs in hell.' He proceeded to tell of lies that I told, things that I stole, and In the past when I cheated others. Satan told of other horrible perversions that were once in my life and the more he spoke, the further down in my seat I sank. I was so embarrassed that I couldn't look at anyone, even my own Attorney, as the Devil told of sins that even I had completely forgotten about. As upset as I was at Satan for telling all these things about me, I was equally upset at My Attorney who sat there silently not offering any form of defense at all. I know I had been guilty of those things, but I had done some good in my life - couldn't that at least equal out part of the harm I'd done? Satan finished with a fury and said, 'This man belongs in hell, he is guilty of all that I have charged and there is not a person who can prove otherwise.' When it was His turn, My Attorney first asked if He might approach the bench. The Judge allowed this over the strong objection of Satan, and beckoned Him to come forward. As He got up and started walking, I was able to see Him in His full splendor and majesty. I realized why He seemed so familiar; this was Jesus representing me, my Lord and my Savior. He stopped at the bench and softly said to the Judge, 'HI, DAD,' and then He turned to address the court. 'Satan was correct in saying that this man had sinned, I won't deny any of these allegations. And, yes, the wage of sin is death, and this man deserves to be punished.' Jesus took a deep breath and turned to His Father with outstretched arms and proclaimed, 'However, I died on the cross so that this person might have eternal life and he has accepted Me as his Savior, so he is Mine.' My Lord continued with, 'His name is written in the Book of Life, and no one can snatch him from Me. 'Satan still does not understand yet. This man is not to be given justice, but rather mercy.' As Jesus sat down, He quietly paused, looked at His Father and said, 'There is nothing else that needs to be done. I've done it all.' The Judge lifted His mighty hand and slammed the gavel down. The following words bellowed from His lips..... 'This man is free. The penalty for him has already been paid in full. Case dismissed.' As my Lord led me away, I could hear Satan ranting and raving, 'I won't give up, I will win the next one.' I asked Jesus as He gave me my instructions where to go next, 'Have you ever lost a case?' Christ lovingly smiled and said, 'Everyone that has come to Me and asked Me to represent them has received the same verdict as you, ~Paid In Full.' If you do not pass this along to 15 people immediately, absolutely nothing will happen . Passing this on to anyone you consider a friend, (as I have done here), will bless you both. 'Stop telling God how big your storm is Instead, tell the storm how big your God is!' God is my source of existence..... He keeps me functioning each and every day. Phil 4:13 --- ...A Wonderful classic! Thanks Jo Ann! , , /////| ///// | ///// | |~~~| | | |===| |/| | B |/| | | I | | | | B | | | | L | / | E | / |===|/ jgs '---' I do love the KJV of this verse though... Phil 4: [13] I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. You know that the bible is our weapon. Heb.4: [12] For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. If we distort or change our God given weapon from its original to the point of not even saying the same things - then how can we expect it to work against our adversary like God intended it too? Part of the problem Eve had in the garden was not remembering the exact Word of God and then letting the devil put doubts in her mind as to what was the exact Word of God - Here was God's commandment to Adam And Eve: Gen.2 [17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. |_| , ('.') /// <(_)`-/' <-._/J L / -bf- This is what the devil did: Gen.3: [1] Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? - he made Eve think about what God's commmandment was by exagerating it 'Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?' This is where Eve messed up her weapon - FIRST AND Foremost she gave 'place' to the devil by listening to him AND then answering him. It is best to not give place to the devil in the first place! But she did and from there on it is all down hill. She wasn't much of a fighter... Gen.3: [2] And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: [3] But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. She added to the Word of God - 'neither shall ye touch it' - and no longer had the Word of God. - she like traded her sword for a stick. |_| , ('.') /// <(_)`-/' <-._/J L / -bf- So the devil seeing her stick as a weapon hissed and continued his attack by making her doubt the Word of God by saying... Gen.3: [4] And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: So the devil lied to her and was able to defeat her because she lost her weapon against him. And that led to the downfall of mankind and why we needed our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! It is a good thing to memorize scripture so you always have a weapon at hand for when the devil comes to attack you! Check out these teachings... Who Is Jesus Christ http://www.ShangralaFamilyFun.com/BibleStudy/whoisjesus.html Our Valuable ANCHOR http://www.ShangralaFamilyFun.com/BibleStudy/ouranchor.html ====================================================================== >-->From CupO'Cheer: mom, you up there? / ,==. |~~~ / 66\ | \c -_) |~~~ `) ( | / \ |~~~ / \ \ | (( /\ \_ |~~~ \\ \ `--`| / / / |~~~ jgs___ (_(___)_| >THE STAIRS This morning I stood at the top of the stairs to our basement and watched my two-year-old son journey down the stairs. He was on his way to catch his mother. He was afraid his mother would leave without him and head for his school. I desperately wanted to take him by the hand and walk him down the stairs. But I knew that if I never let him do it on his own, he would always depend on the balancing power of his father's hand. Instead, I simply stayed close behind ready to move in an instant if he appeared to fall. With his little legs and fragile sense of balance, he could not just walk down the stairs like an adult could. He sat down on his bottom and scooted down the first step. Then he scooted down the second step. By this time, his mother had made it to the garage to load the other two kids. As I watched him scoot step by step, I was reminded of the steps all of us have to take in life. Just like my son, we have to take one step at a time. We step at the rate and posture where we can maintain our balance, until we reach the end of the stairs. If we move too fast or maintain too lofty of a posture, we will tumble down the stairs. If we move too slow or stop moving altogether, we could get left behind or hold up the kid behind us. Looking at all of the stairs at one time looks scary, focusing on one step at a time and conquering that step is not so scary. My two-year-old like many adults, did not know the father stood behind him lest he fall, nor did he realize that his mother would have waited for him to arrive. Even though you are older than two, how are you moving along your stairs of life? ~by James Bronner~ -<>- | ____.......__ |\ .' _.--""''`` ``''--._ | \ .'/ ..--'` .-'` .._ | \.' / ..-'' .-' '.`'"-: ' .-'` .-' '. __...----""""""""""--.. \ - ..-'' ``""-._ \ .' _. \ `"- \ _.-'` | /-. \ `-. \ | / `. \ wkm `.\ |/ `-\ `. | >WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR By Gilda Cabrera Reyes I sat in my window seat on an early morning flight from Atlanta to Miami for my college reunion, deep in thought. But I wasn’t thinking about the classmates I’d see shortly. I stared at the rose and orange-tinted clouds on the horizon and the bright morning star in the distance, and thought about my friend Javier, whom I’d spent my childhood with in Cuba. I’d escaped with my family to the United States and had been able to live a free life. But Javier wasn’t so fortunate. Javier had been arrested for rebelling against Fidel Castro's Communist regime. The last time I saw him, he was in a hospital prison ward, wounded and not able to walk. I didn’t know when, if ever, he would be released. I wished I could see him again, if only to comfort him, and give him hope that one day he’d be free like I was. It was 6:30 in the morning here, same as it was in Cuba. Maybe Javier could see that same gorgeous sky, that same shining star. I closed my eyes and prayed for him. Lord, let Javier see this sunrise and lift his spirits. Two months later, I checked my mail and was surprised to find a letter with a familiar name atop the return address. Javier! I quickly tore the envelope open. “Dear Gilda,” the letter read. “It is 6:30 in the morning. I was dreaming you had come to visit me in prison. We chatted and had a good time, when I unfortunately woke up. But right now I am looking out my cell window, and there is a beautiful shining star over a dark sky, and the morning begins to show in orange reflections on the horizon. I wish you could see it!” Only then did I look at the date on the letter. Mail to and from Cuba always takes much longer than usual, and even longer if it comes from a prison. Sure enough, it was the date I flew to Miami. Somehow, Javier had felt my prayers. He was eventually released, after 16 years. With his wife and three children, he finally made it to the States, and freedom. as seen in Inspiration Plus -<>- ___________________ | | | | | | | | | | | | |.________|________.| | | | | | /@ | | @|@` | | __\|/__ | __|_______\_____/_____|_ | \_____________________/ |\ \ ||\ \ .__. || \ \ \ = \ . ~ ~ . || |\ \ \ \` ~ ' ~ ~` || ||\ \ \ = \~ ~ ~' -( ____ || || \ \ \ \~ ! . /= / || || \ \ _____ \ = \`:~; /= =/ || || ||\ .\===/ \ \--.=-. /_,_/ || || || \ | | \ = \ ) /"/ || || || \| | \ \ \__/ / @\`@ ~\@/ %| |____________\== \__._/__. ,_______________ @~ \%\|/@*/~@~| \___________\ \ % \|/ %|*/~@~\@| // \\ \ , @~ \%\/|@*/~/@*| .//________\\ \ \ @ \/ @<|/@<*`\@| // \\ \ \ `@*,\^@|/^@/| | .`'// \\. \ \ www @ *| www| |Pru `-._`------------''''.) \. ____________________________```-------'''----'|\__+________ ___________________________________________________________ >ROCKIN' CHAIR BOOGIE There's nothing the matter with me, I'm just as healthy as I can be. I have arthritis and chronic pain, And fibro fog clutters my brain. My muscles ache and I have dry skin, But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in. And my diet I try hard not to think about, Doesn’t do any good to whine around & pout. I'm overweight and I can't get thin, But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in. And arch supports I need for my feet. Or I wouldn't be able to walk down the street. Sleep is denied me night after night, But the morning brings beautiful sunlight. My memory's failing, my head's in a spin, But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in. Old age is golden so I've heard it said, But sometimes I wonder, as I go to bed. As sleep draws near my pain starts to melt, I’m learning to deal with the hand I’ve been dealt. The reason I know my Youth has been spent, Is my get-up-and-go has got-up-and-went! But really I don't mind, when I think with a grin, Of all the places my get-up-and-go has been. I get up each morning and dust off my wits, Getting my body to move is quite often the pits. I eat a good breakfast to start off my day, Put a smile on my face & God shows me the way. The moral of this as the tale unfolds Is that for you and me, who's bodies feel old. It is better to say, "I'm fine" with a grin, Than to let people know the shape we are in. So...All I can do, is all I can do. But all I can do is enough. Life isn’t always easy or fair, But think positive and hang tough. From the poem "Senior Citizens" Written by Daisy Anderson -<>- . \'~~~-, \ '-,_ \ /\ `~'~''\ M E X I C O _\ \\ \/~\ \__ \\ \ \ \\. \ \ \ \ `~~ '\\ \. / L \ \ | \_\ \ o | _.----, | San \ ! / '._ Luis \_ __/ _/ \_ Potosi ''--'' __/ \.__ | ''.__ __.._ __\ '' './ ` >LETTER FROM A RETIRED BORDER PATROL AGENT: This letter sent to Tennessee Senator Bill Frist from a retired border patrol agent, and it has more common sense than all the bull being spewed from the Senate, with the exception of a few sensible representatives. Dear Senator Frist: There is a huge amount of propaganda and myths circulating about illegal aliens, particularly illegal Mexican, Salvadorian, Guatemalan and Honduran aliens. #1. Illegal aliens generally do NOT want US citizenship. Americans are very vain thinking that everybody in the world wants to be a US citizen. Mexicans, and other nationalities want to remain citizens of their home countries while obtaining the benefits offered by the United States such as employment, medical care, instate tuition, government subsidized housing and free education for their offspring. Their main attraction is employment and their loyalty usually remains at home. They want benefits earned and subsidized by middle class Americans. What illegal aliens want are benefits of American residence without paying the price. #2. There are no jobs that Americans won't do. Illegal aliens are doing jobs that Americans can't take and still support their families. Illegal aliens take low wage jobs, live dozens in a single residence home, share expenses and send money to their home country. There are no jobs that Americans won't do for a decent wage. #3. Every person who illegally entered this nation left a home. They are NOT homeless and they are NOT Americans. Some left jobs in their home countries. They come to send money to their real home as evidenced by the more than 20 billion dollars sent out of the country each year by illegal aliens. These illegal aliens knowingly and willfully entered this nation in violation of the law and therefore assumed the risk of detection and deportation. Those who brought their alien children assumed the responsibility and risk on behalf of their children. #4. Illegal aliens are NOT critical to the economy. Illegal aliens constitute less than 5% of the workforce. However, they reduce wages and benefits for lawful US residents. #5. This is NOT an immigrant nation. There are 280 million native born Americans. While it is true that this nation was settled and founded by immigrants (legal immigrants), it is also true that there is not a nation on this planet that was not settled by immigrants at one time or another. #6. The United States is welcoming to legal immigrants. Illegal aliens are not immigrants by definition. The US accepts more lawful immigrants every year than the rest of the world combined. #7. There is no such thing as the "Hispanic vote." Hispanics are white, brown, black and every shade in between. Hispanics are Republicans, Democrats, Anarchists, Communists, Marxists and Independents. The so-called "Hispanic vote" is a myth. Pandering to illegal aliens to get the Hispanic vote is a dead end. #8. Mexico is NOT a friend of the United States. Since 1848 Mexicans have resented the United States. During World War I Mexico allowed German Spies to operate freely in Mexico to spy on the US. During World War II Mexico allowed the Axis powers to spy on the US from Mexico. During the Cold War Mexico allowed spies hostile to the US to operate freely. The attack on the Twin Towers in 2001 was cheered and applauded all across Mexico. Today Mexican school children are taught that the US stole California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. If you don't believe it, check out some Mexican textbooks written for their school children. #9. Although some illegal aliens enter this country for a better life, there are 6 billion people on this planet. At least 1 billion of those live on less than one dollar a day. If wanting a better life is a valid excuse to break the law and sneak into America, then let's allow those one billion to come to America and we'll turn the USA into a Third World nation overnight. Besides, there are 280 million native born Americans who want a better life. I'll bet Bill Gates and Donald Trump want a better life. When will the USA lifeboat be full? Since when is wanting a better life a good reason to trash another nation? #10. There is a labor shortage in this country. This is a lie. There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of American housewives, senior citizens, students, unemployed and underemployed who would gladly take jobs at a decent wage. #11. It is racist to want secure borders. What is racist about wanting secure borders and a secure America? What is racist about not wanting people to sneak into America and steal benefits we have set aside for legal aliens, senior citizens, children and other legal residents? What is it about race that entitles people to violate our laws, steal identities, and take the American Dream without paying the price? For about four decades American politicians have refused to secure our borders and look after the welfare of middle class Americans. These politicians have been of both parties. A huge debt to American society has resulted. This debt will be satisfied and the interest will be high. There has already been riots in the streets by illegal aliens and their supporters. There will be more. You, as a politician, have a choice to offend the illegal aliens who have stolen into this country and demanded the rights afforded to US citizens or to offend those of us who are stakeholders in this country. The interest will be steep either way. There will be civil unrest. There will be a reckoning. Do you have the courage to do what is right for America? Or, will you bow to the wants and needs of those who don't even have the right to remain here? There will be a reckoning. It will come in November of this year, again in 2012 and yet again in 2014. We will not allow America to be stolen by third world agitators and thieves. David J. 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