Wordless Wednesday

Friendship

We are currently studying the book of 1 Samuel in our Sunday school class.  It is a very interesting book with lots of things that I didn’t realize before.  One thing that I guess I knew but didn’t really think much about it was the relationship between Saul, David, and Jonathan.  It is has been very enlightening and benefical to me to read about the intense friendship between David and Jonathan.  Maybe it hits hard because that is something that I have always craved and wanted.  Maybe its because that is something that I have always struggled to maintain.  Maybe it hits so hard because that is something that I thought I had found but now I am not so sure.  Or maybe it is because I did have something like that and it was lost.  I don’t know, but I do know that I want it again and I want it to be said of me.  Here is the scripture references and part of the verses.  I hope that you will take the time to read and study them for yourself.

1 Samuel 18:1-4; 1 Samuel 23:16-18; 2 Samuel 1:17-27; 2 Samuel 9:1-13

1 Samuel 23:16-18
 

16 And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. 17 ”Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.” 18 The two of them made a covenant before the LORD. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.

I love this man!

 

Josh and I at an Eagles football game. 9/16/07

Silent Day

I wish that I had known about this before yesterday.  For this year alone, I wish I had known about it a least a month ago, as that would have given me time to send info to my friends that are still in high school and college.  And I wish that I had known about this in previous years when i was working directly with teenagers so that I could have used this as a way to get them information on abortion that they could use and present it as an opportunity for them to take a stand.  

I didn’t know about it before.  But now I do. And in the upcoming years, I will make sure that I promote it and it will become an important day to me.  Why you ask? The answer is simple: unborn babies are important to me!!  I believe that they deserve the right to continue to live and grow into adults! I believe that abortion is wrong and that it is murder.  I believe it is my duty to be the voice for those that have none.

Here are some simple facts.  For more information, visit the sites that I list below.

ABORTION STATISTICS

• In 2005 (the most recent year for which there is reliable data), approximately 1.21 million abortions took place in the U.S., down from an estimated 1.29 million in 2002, 1.31 million in 2000 and 1.36 million in 1996. From 1973 through 2005, more than 45 million legal abortions have occurred in the U.S. (AGI).
• In 2004, the highest number of reported legal induced abortions occurred in Florida (91,710), NYC (91,673), and Texas (74,801); the fewest occurred in Wyoming (12), South Dakota (814), and Idaho (963) (CDC).
• There are 43 abortions per 1,000 live births in Idaho and 770 abortions for every 1,000 live births in NYC (CDC).
• Overall, the annual number of legal induced abortions in the United States increased gradually from 1973 until it peaked in 1990, and it generally declined thereafter (CDC).
• In 1998, the last year for which estimates were made, more than 23% of legal induced abortions were performed in California (CDC).
• The abortion rate in the United States was higher than recent rates reported for Canada and Western European countries and lower than rates reported for China, Cuba, the majority of Eastern European countries, and certain Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union (CDC).
• The national legal induced abortion ratio increased from 196 abortions per 1,000 live births in 1973 to 358 abortions per 1,000 in 1979 and remained nearly stable through 1981. The ratio peaked at 364 abortions per 1,000 live births in 1984 and since then has demonstrated a generally steady decline. In 2001, the abortion ratio was 246 abortions per 1,000 live births (for the states that reported, a 0.4% increase from 2000 (CDC).
• Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended; about 4 in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-two percent of all U.S. pregnancies end in abortion. (AGI).

PROLIFE SITES

Silent Day- site gives information about the Silent Day event

Stand True- has good information and upcoming pro-life events

Abort 73- gives you information about abortions from a medical stand. This site also has a section that some pictures and a video of aborted babies.  Take a look but be warned they are graphic.

Rock for Life- has a list of pro-life bands and pro-abortion bands as well as pro-abortion entertainers. Great resource for making decisions on who your money supports.

National Right to Life- has some great information, upcoming events and other facts that could help you make a decision in the upcoming election. Check them out.

Too cute!

I just had to post this.

FunMonday

This is something new I just decided to participate in. I have read others in the past but just now decided to do one of my own.

This is the assignment: I would like you to take your camera (or your artistic talents!) on a day tour with you. I want to know where you go, what you get up to on a “normal” day (disclaimer – it doesn’t have to be “normal”!). All the details you would consider boring! You are free to make your FM posts as long or as short as you’d like!

Maybe you could consider this cheating, but in all honesty this is what my day consists of:

 

Micah

He is pretty much the first thing I see when I wake up and the last thing I see before I go to sleep at night.  The inbetween hours are spent changing his diapers, feeding him and just spending time with him laughing and playing.  We also take great naps together.

Of course there are other people that I see during the day and other things i do, but Micah is were I spend probably 90% of my day. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I love him so much.

If you want to read other Fun Monday posts, visit Sarah’s blog.

My Children

Psalm 127

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

 1 Unless the LORD builds the house,
         They labor in vain who build it; 
         Unless the LORD guards the city, 
         The watchman stays awake in vain.
 2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
         To sit up late, 
         To eat the bread of sorrows; 
         For so He gives His beloved sleep. 
         
 3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
         The fruit of the womb is a reward.
 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
         So are the children of one’s youth.
 5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
         They shall not be ashamed, 
         But shall speak with their enemies in the gate

Here are some of my favorite pictures of my children.  They are two of the greatest blessings that the Lord has given me in my life and I truly count it an honor to be their mother.  So here are my two miracles!

Sarai and Micah playing together

Micah at his dedication. I love his hair.

The first time Sarai got to hold Micah

A candid of Sarai (my favorite of her)

Micah playing in his seat

Sarai and Micah early in October

Just a cute shot of Sarai outside

Another one of Micah, isn’t he cute!

Wordless Wednesday

Snoopy on the roof of my car!

Hubbies New Job!

I must say that this is one of my new favorite shows on television this season.  I have really enjoyed watching it.  At the beginning of the show they list the definitions for the word mentalist, one being about manipulating people.  Josh usually makes a joke that this is going to be his new occupation and of course I tell him he would be great at it (others agree!) and then we laugh!  

Here is a definition of the word as given on Wikipedia:

The term mentalist refers to entertainers whose performance appears to be based on “psychic” abilities, featuring the ability to read and manipulate minds, project the mind to alter the state of matter, foretell the future, and see distant and hidden objects.  

 

*This post is an inside joke between me and hubby. You may or may not get it, but that is besides the point.  And in case it is still not apparent, I am being sarcastic in this post.

*Check out The Mentalist on CBS

Harmonia axyridis?!?!

What in the world am I talking about???  LADY BUGS!!!!  They are taking over at our house!  I am looking out my window as I am typing this and at the moment I can count like 9 on the screen and can see 6 or 7 more on the deck. Plus I noticed that there were 3 or 4 flying around and there are 3 IN MY ROOM!!! The ones that are here are either orange with black spots or they are a shade between orange and scarlet with black spots.  Oh my word.  So here is some interesting info on them. Enjoy!

I personall think they are harmless, but could see how they are considered a pest.  I also agree with this article that talks about them overwintering.   I guess ours could aslo be the Halloween Lady Beetle since it is October and that is always when i notice them in large numbers.  One year before we moved to Pennsylvania it was so bad.  We lived in the basement of my mother-in-laws house and the one wall was entirely covered in them!  There were hundreds of them.  And they do stink when you kill them!

The Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis), also known as the multicolored Asian lady beetle, harlequin lady beetle (because of the species’ tendency to vary in colorfrom orange to yellow to even black), and Halloween lady beetle (because it invades homes in October in preparation for hibernation), is a well-known non-native insect common in both North America and Europe^[1].

When the species first “hit” the UK, it received the label of “the many-named ladybird”. Among the names listed were: Multivariate, Southern, Japanese, and Pumpkin ladybird^[2].

Note: species in the family Coccinellidae are known as ladybird in the UK; hence, the British name is harlequin ladybird.

 

The ones here are like the 3rd and 10th pictures.

Baby Signing

This is what I have started doing with Micah this week.  We are learning sign language together.  I personally think this is a beneficial endeavor for both parent and child (regardless of age).  You might be asking yourself, why? Well listed below are some reasons why. My main reason is so that I can communicate with my baby even though he can’t do so verbally.  I also did this with my daughter somewhat and it worked great and made things easier.  This time around I am trying to stick to ASL signs, less work for me now and more beneficial in the future for Micah.  By the time he is able to talk he will already know a second language.

Signing allows babies to communicate their needs and wants.  Signing allows them to tell mom, dad, and caregivers what they need or want before they have the ability to control the movements of their tongue and mouth necessary to speak.  At earlier ages babies gain the ability control the movements necessary to form signs, which gives them a voice to communicate and enables them to not become as frustrated when trying to communicate specific needs and wants.

Studies have shown that by the time children who signed as babies are in second grade, their IQ is an average of 12 points higher than the IQ scores of their non-signing peers.  So the benefits of baby signing go beyond the present time to long term benefits. [www.babysigns.com] Research as also shown repeatedly that baby signing does not delay the child’s speech. In fact it does the opposite, signing babies and children actually begin to speak earlier and more often than their non-signing counterparts. [www.signingsmart.com]

Here are the signs we are working on this week and probably for the next two or three weeks.  I don’t want to overwhelm him (or me). As soon as he starts picking up on them, I will add one or two more.  We are doing mommy, daddy, and i love you.  Keep checking back to see how our adventure is going! It should be a grand one.

The ASL sign for mother (any form)

 

The ASL sign for father (any form)

 

The ASL sign for I Love You. Made up of the letters I-L-Y.

Redneck Dog?!?!

This is what a friend said when she seen this picture. Guess that sums it up.

 

Snoopy on the top of the car. He was sleeping until I came outside

We are still not sure why he was on top of the car. Maybe we will never know.

Praise You In This Storm

I was listening to my husbands iPod this morning as I was returning home from town and this song came on, Praise You in this Storm, by Casting Crowns.  Now I have listened to this song many many times and I have always loved it.  But you know, some times a song just hits you even if you have heard it a hundred times.  Every time I hear this song, it hits me.  Here are the lyrics and a video of the song.

Praise You in This Storm
words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms   

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down 
and wiped our tears away, 
stepped in and saved the day. 
But once again, I say amen 
and it’s still raining 
as the thunder rolls 
I barely hear You whisper through the rain, 
“I’m with you”
and as Your mercy falls 
I raise my hands and praise 
the God who gives and takes away. 

Chorus: 
And I’ll praise you in this storm 
and I will lift my hands 
for You are who You are 
no matter where I am 
and every tear I’ve cried 
You hold in your hand 
You never left my side 
and though my heart is torn 
I will praise You in this storm 

I remember when I stumbled in the wind 
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again 
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on 
if I can’t find You 
and as the thunder rolls 
I barely hear You whisper through the rain 
“I’m with you”
and as Your mercy falls 
I raise my hands and praise 
the God who gives and takes away 

Chorus 

I lift my eyes onto the hills 
where does my help come from? 
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth 
I lift my eyes onto the hills 
where does my help come from? 
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth 

Chorus 

“]

Photo Shoot

Today I took my daughter, Sarai, and my son, Micah, outside to take some pictures of them.  I am by no means a professional, but I love taking pictures of my children and just pictures in general.  On my PC I had Adobe Photoshop and loved all the things that I could do to my pictures with it.  I also loved to make digital scrapbook pages with it.  But on my MAC I don’t have Photoshop and can’t afford to buy it anytime soon.  So to do fun stuff with my pictures I use these two sites Picnik and PhotoFunia. They are a lot of fun and free! I also just found this site, PhotoShop, not sure about it yet as I haven’t worked with it. Seems like it will be an ok site. Here are some of my pictures from today and some that I enhanced or edited.  Enjoy

Sarai and Micah

Micah and mommies hand

Sarai 8 years old

Micah 19 weeks

Sarai on the cover of Vogue magazine

Picture of Sarai against old barn

Photo of Sarai in primary colors

A sketch of Sarai

Brightened photo of Sarai

Sarai in black and white

Sarai in sepia tone

Pencil sketch of Sarai