A New Life by Sophia

As many of you are aware, I have several other blogs.. *grins* you can see the list in the side column. Sophia is one of my reviewers, Sophia is a creative 10 year old who loves to read, fancies cats, Edward Cullen, and is a fan of anime! And a joy to work with. Her effervescent comes through with every review. Recently  she wrote this wonderful tribute to her grandfather. He left us three years ago today and I know his family's hearts are still grieving. Even so, Sophie's tribute celebrates their relationship. Carmen, her mother, sent it to me and I just wanted to share.



A New Life


I had to help him or he would fall.  My grandpa had just gotten very sick.  He lived with my grandma, his wife.  He would be at the house alone while my grandma was at the store.  It was a risk because he could fall.

He eventually moved in with us because his health was unpredictable.  He wasn’t happy with moving.  It made him feel like he was a little kid who needed everyone to escort him everywhere.  Miguel, my grandpa’s name, began to get used to living with me.

Everything was perfect.  Then he got really sick.  He was sent to the hospital.  His lungs and heart were old.  It was scary.  The doctor said he didn’t have a lot of time.  Every time we left the hospital, I would try to tell him good night.

He was finally sent home!  It was hard for him to walk.  Sometimes, he would call my name and ask me to walk him to the kitchen.  I loved helping him.  He was safe, and I was glad.  I was never annoyed if he asked me to help him.  It was worth it.

One morning I awoke to the sound of sobbing.  My mother sat next to me.  “Sophia, he’s gone.”  I hugged her.  I looked inside his room.  He was pale.  He was in peace.

I remember him.  His kindness, his love for me, him.  I love him and I helped him by walking him around.  That is how I helped my grandpa.

If you are interested in seeing more of Sophie, you can check out her reviews HERE

Sophie, I would like to share just a word with you to remind you that yes your beloved grandfather is gone but there is One who will always be there to welcome and comfort you.

Psalms 118:1,5-6,14

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

In my anguish I cried to the LORD,
and he answered by setting me free.

The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.


Shauni

Living Up to the Hype

Have you ever been critisized because you are a Christian? Do you stand tall and proclaim God's greatness to those who would love to knock you down? I don't.. I admit it.. for years I was a "secret" Christian. I believed in God.. but I chose to hide behind the world and "protect" my faith. I did not shout it out.. I did not stand for God. Which in a very real way meant I stood against Him..

I compartmentalize my life.. Work belongs at work, friends belong with friends, church belongs at church.. and my faith.. well it stayed right there at church. Not too long ago my youngest daughter and my mom and I were driving and I can not remember what we were discussing but my daughter, said.. "but that's not right. I have a personal day to day relationship with Jesus Christ" that has stayed with me. I hear her voice and I am so proud of her. Why should I be proud when she was discussing her faith with her Grandma? Well because I never would have. It was understood that I was allowed my faith but we didn't discuss it. I didn't "force" my opinion upon them and really it was just a "crutch" to be used by a weaker person. A lesser person. So when my daughter spoke up I was both humbled and awed!

Romans 1:16 (KJV)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

1 Timothy 6:12 (KJV)

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Merry Christmas to All

Where's the Line to See Jesus

While I was perusing my email today, I found this..

NEW CHRISTMAS SONG....one of the best!

                    About the Song

                   

                    While at the mall a couple of years ago, my then four year old nephew, Spencer, saw kids lined up to see Santa Claus. Having been taught as a toddler that Christmas is the holiday that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, he asked his mom, "where's the line to see Jesus"?

                    

                    My sister mentioned this to my dad, who immediately became inspired and jotted words down to a song in just a few minutes. After putting music to the words, and doing a quick recording at home, he received a great response from friends. He sent the song off to Nashville without much response, except for a Christian song writer who suggested adding a bridge at the end of the first chorus. My dad   then asked if I wanted to record the song to see what we could do with it. I   listened to the song, made a few changes to the words to make it flow better, and we headed to Shock City Studios.

                    

                    It was at the studio where Chris, owner and producer, rewrote the 2nd verse and part of the chorus... with goose bumps and emotions high, we were all hopeful and felt like we had something special. The demo was recorded in just under 2 hours and sent off again to Nashville ... still no response.

                    

                    Then 2 weeks before Christmas last year, my cousins Greg and Robbie decided to do a video to see what we could accomplish on YouTube. The first day we had 3000 hits and it soared from there. We received e-mails, phone calls, Facebook messages from people all over asking for the music, CD's, iTunes, anything... we had nothing. After a couple of meetings with Chris following the amazing response, we got serious. We headed back into the studio this past spring... this time with guitars, drums, bass, pianos, choirs... the real deal.... and here we are today.

                    

                    Getting iTunes set up, a website put together, and loving that thousands upon thousands of Christians have come together... remembering the true meaning of Christmas.   Out of the mouths of babes come profound truths that many adults can not understand. Hopefully Spencer's observation will cause people all over to reflect on the love of Jesus, and that one day we will all stand in line to see Him. We are most thankful to our Heavenly Father to have this chance to share our music with you. Merry Christmas everyone.

                    

                    MERRY CHRISTMAS OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

This is not my story nor my video.. I suggest you check out Becky Kelly! What a wonderful reminder! Thanks to Becky and her family

Peterson Farm Bros

My daughter, Word Girl, shared this video on her Facebook page. It is funny, clever and yes as far as I am concerned a Joyful Noise to The Lord..

The More Things Change

When I was in High School.. way back when.. there was a policy.. It focused on the entire separation of church and state concept. You know the one that was NEVER mentioned in the constitution? Anyway, they refused to allow us to have a Bible Study on campus. While all other clubs and groups were allowed this one wasn't. We fought, we petitioned and eventually the battle was won. I was not amongst the winners of that battle because I had transferred to a Private Christian High School, obviously having a Bible Study on campus was no longer an issue. But this battle stuck with me..

The reasoning was that because it was a "religious" group it was violating the constitutional rights of those who didn't believe. Not sure how that could be as it was a voluntary group of students who just wanted to share like minded beliefs. No on was forcing anyone to attend and certainly the school was not mandating it. It was on these arguments that the group won.

Skip ahead a generation, my daughter had a Bible Study at her HS.. and yes since it was a school club, they needed a sponsor and even though the sponsor was a Christian she was not allowed to participate in any way. She was there to unlock the doors, turn on the lights and make sure no school rules were broken, that was it. I had no problem with this.. it would have been nice had she been allowed to participate but I understand the basic rules. The thing is all the kids knew she shared their beliefs and would stand for them. They understood that while she was limited in that room, she was on their side in so many ways. Can you imagine the discomfort and dismay, even discouragement these kids would have had, if the sponsor didn't believe as they did. Say, the sponsor was an agnostic, an atheist.. shoot even a person of another faith.. It would underline them in some very insidious ways.. they would know.. they would fear sharing things.. and yes many might stop coming..

Now Vanderbilt University has instated a policy that requires religious student groups to accept leaders regardless of their faith, even requiring Christian groups to allow atheist leadership. The school has outrageously compared these Christian groups to segregationists. There is a petition being sent to Vanderbilt that says..

"To: Vanderbilt University
You have compared Christian student groups to segregationists because they want the same rights as other Christian organizations in America — the same rights the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed this year — the right to use faith-based criteria when selecting leaders. We demand that you immediately reverse your new policy that discriminates against these students."

If you want to support the rights of these individuals, if you want to ensure that everyone's Constitutional rights are secure.. that yes even Christians are allowed their faith.. you can go HERE to sign the petition.

Shauni

A Chance of a Lifetime!

Such an exciting opportunity! My oldest daughter whom for web purposes I refer to as Word Girl has been given the opportunity to spend her summer in Peru. Yes Eight entire weeks discovering the mysteries of the rainforest! She will be traveling with Operation Wallacea

Where she will be PP101 Biodiversity Monitoring in the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve

Research Assistants on this project will be based on the research ship and will need to be prepared for the hot and humid conditions of the Amazonian rainforest. Whilst some respite can be found on the boat where the fan-cooled cabins, showers and food provide a retreat from the tough working conditions, the main reward is the opportunity to see and work with such a huge range of birds and animals, including the larger, and more rare, animals such as pumas, primates and tapirs.

 There is a large team of mainly Peruvian researchers based on the research ship with nine different research programmes running. Research Assistants signing up for the various projects will help on all the projects over the course of their stay. There is a strong research atmosphere on the boat with teams coming and going at all times of day and night on various research tasks.

 Research tasks which require volunteer manpower include:, spotlight surveys for caimans and diet studies of this species (which necessitates capture of the caimans through noosing), transect surveys for the abundant Pink and Grey River Dolphins and an elusive population of manatees at this site, mist netting surveys of the bird communities utilising the forest understory, transect counts of wading birds, point counts of macaws as indicators of forest fruiting, gill net surveys of

fish communities, standardised searching surveys to characterise the amphibian communities, land based transect counts of primates, large mammals and game birds as indicators of levels of exploitation, checking 20 camera traps run at a variety of habitats and depending on water level. In addition to these surveys there are dissertation studies where assistance may also be required - for example assisting with behavioural data observations on the primate species.

After her "official" trip is over she will be stopping in Machu Picchu to explore the ancient ruins..

Does this sound like the most fantastic of trips? Well I am sure it will be.. Of course there are expenses involved and we have started a fund raising push to help her cover those expenses. If anyone is interested in donating.. please click on our donating button.. It will show here in this post as well as on the side.. Thanks for all your support whether it be verbal or financial

Shauni