All I want for Christmas ...

My handsome husband's present - check
My adorable son's present - check
My beautiful daughter's present - check - check

The Christmas tree is up
In stead of tinsel and bells
Let's hang up some

... Peace
... Love
... Patience
... Joy

Onto this thin Christmas tree
That is all I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

'Twas the night before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas
The moon was so bright
Around the front yard the creatures did wait
With claws drawn out wide
With slivering scales
Waited the horrors of christmas

Inside the house
All cosy inside
Asleep in their beds
Lay the family all snug
The dog & the cat
Awake they sat
Knowing that the horrors of christmas did wait

Unbeknownst to all stood a being alight
With wings spread wide
And golden sword
'Bout 18 feet high from shoulder to thigh
High on the roof top
With  feet planted wide
And fire in his eyes

Death - The Last Taboo

"There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time. 

The word death is used in at least three primary and numerous secondary ways. The three primary usages are: death as an event; death as a condition; and death as a state of existence or nonexistence. 

Biological science assumes that carbon matter is the primary stuff of life, that the brain is the source of consciousness.  What the Bible & the  prophets tell us is; that we are eternal beings.

We are fallen beings inhabiting a condensed fallen world, comprising a mere 4% of the mass of creation, that has been ejected from our true homeland due to a revolt. The revealed information is compatible with scientific evidence, it simply contradicts the belief standpoint of secular scientists, biologists in particular.

Death as an event. In this usage, death is something that happens. As an event, death occurs at a particular time and place and in a particular way. In this sense of the term, death is a phenomenon that stays within the bounds of mainstream conception and observation. Time, place, and cause can be recorded on a death certificate (theoretically, in all instances although, in practice, the information may be incomplete or imprecise). This usage does not concern itself with mysteries or explanations: Death is an event that cuts off a life. 

Death as a state of existence or nonexistence. In this sense, it can almost be said that death is what becomes of a person after death. It refers not to the event that ended life nor the condition of the body at that time, but rather to whatever form of existence might be thought to prevail when a temporal life has come to its end.

It appears that more and more people are asking the same question that Job asked nearly 4,000 years ago in the Bible: "If a man dies, will he live again?" What could be a more fundamental question of life (and death)? Reincarnation theories are popular in Eastern religions as well as the many New Age variants. It seems people are comfortable with the idea of another chance to return to earth and figure things out or make things right. Some nihilist thinkers believe that death is the absolute end; but contrary to what many might think, most people believe that death is not the end. In some shape or form we go on. 

When Jesus was talking with Martha about the death of Lazarus, her brother, He declared "I am the Resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." Right here, Jesus started presenting the astonishing claim that there is life after death. Jesus then went the next step and brought Lazarus back to life after four days in a tomb. At that point, Jesus put everyone on notice that He would later overcome the grave Himself!

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

For skeptics, the whole idea of heaven is just the product of fertile imaginations. For many others, the Biblical idea of heaven is too fanciful or fantastic. However, Christians can live their lives with bold hope, thanks to the evidence of history that establishes with convincing clarity how Jesus not only preceded us in death, but also came back from the deadLife After Death: Proof?

Is there mathematical proof for life after death? No. But if you believe the life-changing evidence for God, Jesus and the Bible, then heaven is as much a concrete reality for you as the Lord in whom you’ve invested your absolute trust. It’s not fantasy – it’s the absolute life-changing hope that strengthens us and gives us peace.

 Some short stories

Pastor Kenneth E. Hagin remembers that in April of 1933 when he lived in McKinney, Texas, his heart stopped beating and his soul left his body." After this, I began to descend lower and lower. The lower I went, the darker and hotter it became. As we went deeper, I noticed the flickering of ominous flames, presumably hell's, on the walls of the caves. Finally, a large flame burst through and began to pull me. Many years have passed since then. To this day, I can picture that hell's flame.

Having reached the bottom of the chasm, I felt the presence of a spirit next to me and it began to lead me. At this moment, above the hellish dark, a powerful Voice was heard. I did not understand what was said, but I felt that it was God's Voice. From the force of this Voice, the whole of the nether world trembled. Immediately, the spirit which had been pushing me, let me go and a wind lifted me back up. Gradually, the light of this world began to shine. I was, once again in my room and I jumped into my body like a man jumping into a pair of pants. I saw my grandmother, who started telling me, "Dear, I thought you had died." After a time, Kenneth became a pastor in one of the Protestant churches and dedicated his life to God. He wrote about his ordeal in a brochure entitled "My Witness."

 

An enfeebled man after suffering for many years finally prayed to The Lord for an end to his suffering. An angel appeared to him and said: "Your sins require cleansing. The Lord offers you to exchange one year of suffering on earth for three hours of hell. Choose." The sufferer contemplated his choices and decided on three hours in hell. Then the angel took him into the pit of hell. All around was darkness, narrowness - everywhere evil spirits, the cries of sinners, and suffering. The soul of the enfeebled began to experience indescribable fear and pain, but only echoes and the surging hellfire answered his screams. No one noticed his groans and bellows; all of the sinners were occupied with their own suffering.

The sufferer felt that centuries had passed and that the angel had forgotten him. Finally, the angel appeared to him and asked, "Well, how are you brother?" "You tricked me!" exclaimed the sufferer. "Not three hours, but many years I have been here in intolerable pain!" "What years?" the angel asked, "only an hour has passed, and you still have two to go." Then, the sufferer begged the angel to return him to earth, where he was willing to suffer as many years as required, if only to leave this place of terrors. "Very well," answered the angel, "The Lord will show His Great Mercy." Finding himself back on his sickbed, the sufferer from that point forward bore his sufferings with meekness, always remembering hell's terrors, which are incomparably worse.

(From the letters of Sviatogortz, pg. 183, 15th letter, 1883).

The World Wide Cattle Show

Look ...

I am not speaking about the four legged kind of cattle show, I am speaking about the very available two-legged meat market out their that wets every fantasy of every man on this planet.

It's not that women don't do it; it's just that the men do it much more.

The day has come when internet dating is considered a legitimate way of meeting new people in the endless search for the right person. 

Chat rooms have replaced bar rooms, and internet dating sites and personal ads no longer have the "stigma" that they once did.

The internet dating "scene" is one of the easiest places for someone to cheat on their spouse or significant other, or to use the internet dating area as a place for promiscuity. The danger of long-distance internet romance is it is extremely easy for someone already involved with a partner to go out and cheat in a relatively safe (for them) environment... or just to play the field, so to say ....
The variety of woman is endless,  its like being in a chocolate store ... a taste from there, a taste from here ... never satisfied with the chocolate he has in hand

So at first he is not thinking he is risking anything. He thinks he's passing time. But as with any cheap thrill once you start you want more and more. Like potato chips. 

Most men will slip down that slippery slope to infidelity, ruined marriages, broken families, btoken hearts like an endless rope behind them .... They will post pics, exchange emails and even phone calls hoping for a real life meet up with their Internet fantasy girl. 

Get real.

• The best predictor of future behavior is relevant past behavior.
•  What do you predict? If your partner has cheated on you repeatedly and now swears he/she will stop, what are the chances that this is true? You can't change what you don't acknowledge. Isn't there a point at which you say, "I deserve better. 
•  He/She may not have any boundaries, but I do. And my boundaries say, 'You either treat me with integrity, dignity and respect or you don't treat me at all'?"

This is not your fault.

• Stop beating yourself up about this. 
•  You have got to know that this has nothing to do with you. 
•  You are not the one who made the decision to break your commitment to your partner and cheat. You have nothing to do with your partner making the immature, inappropriate, self-destructive choice to turn away from you to someone else.

Assess your commitment level.

• You can either handle being vulnerable with your partner again or you can't.
•  And if you can't, you need to get out of this relationship and move on.
• And if you can, then you need to let him/her earn the trust back and start putting this relationship together again.

Consider the consequences.
 

• You do have responsibility here for what you do next. 
• You have to make a decision about whether or not justice is best served by allowing your partner to re-earn your trust, or if it's better not to subject your family any longer to the current situation.

Decide if you can choose to forgive.

• Forgiveness is a choice.
• It doesn't mean what your partner did is OK. 
• How much you trust your partner is in part about what your partner does, and in part a function of whether you have confidence to handle it if he/she disappoints you.
• If you find out that he/she strays again, can you handle that?

If you can't forgive, let go.

• When you choose the behavior, you choose the consequences. 
• If you continue to throw this in your partner's face, you will eventually run him/her off.
• Ask yourself if this is going to be a life sentence for your partner.
• Can you heal from this and forgive? If not, don't continue to live in anger and/or be with someone who causes you pain.

Parents

First of all, thank you for actually having me.

Thank you for spanking me when I did something to deserve it.

You taught me that there were serious consequences to my actions, and those consequences, while painful, could have been deadly to myself or someone else if not put in check.

Thank you for not selling me, when I showed allot of rebellion and got into serious mischief 

Thank you that you listened to me, you told me everything that went on with bills, jobs, what we could and couldn’t afford and why.

Thank you for having patience with me when I went through my teens! You really became gray there!

There was nothing more that I wanted in life than to make you proud of me, and to never hear that I had disappointed you

Thank you for sacrificing some of your dreams to give me a good, comfortable life.

To my Mom, thank you for the strange,almost acid twisted sense of humor and view of everything in my life. Its made getting through tough times easier (if not more amusing), I find it thrilling to read you things and utmost devotion to those you love. Thanks for the advice and your bulldog tenacity to protect your children.

To my Dad; thank you for giving me the edge to always keep fighting to keep my head above water. Your death has left a huge empty space in my life ....  I miss you.

Thanks Pappa (Menis Martin Scholtz - R.I.P) and Mommy (Barbara Jean Buchanan-Scholtz- Patton)

 A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said,
"Would you like to say the blessing, dear?"
The girl replied, "I wouldn't know what to say."
The wife answered, "Just say what you hear Mommy say."
The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting into mischief, finally asked him 'How do you expect to get into Heaven?'
The boy thought it over and said, 'Well, I'll run in and out and in and out and keep slamming the door until St. Peter says, 'For Heaven's sake, Dylan, come in or stay out!

Sunday school teacher asked her class, "What was Jesus' mother's name? One child answered, "Mary."
The teacher then asked, "Who knows what Jesus' father's name was?
A little kid said, "Verge."
Confused, the teacher asked, "Where did you get that?"
The kid said, "Well, you know, they're always talking about Verge n'Mary."

 A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honor" thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"
Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shall not kill."

Adults, on average, have sex about 61 times per year, or slightly more than once a week

Keeping the sexual spark alive in a marriage or in a long-term relationship is easier said than done.

However, couples who take time to cultivate and maintain healthy and satisfying sexual relations tend to be more connected with each other and do not suffer from depression, heart problems and other health maladies, experts say.

The daily routines and humdrum of life — whether careers, children or financial responsibilities — challenge couples to keep alive that flame that initially brought them together.

From a practical standpoint, there's less time for sex and intimacy as relationships develop and individual partners take on more responsibilities.

This is an act that was instituted by God 

Respect must be earned.

In all too many marriages, it is impossible for the wife to respect her husband, and in other marriages it is impossible for the husband to respect his wife.

Instead of commanding respect, God commands treating with respect.
To honor means to treat with respect.
Instead of a selfish and prideful fight for power, they should become "one" in their desire to please god, in their desire to serve Him, in their desire to fulfill their respective roles in marriage, and in their desire to help each other become more and more Christ-like.

Marriage can be likened to two trees.
The husband should be like the oak tree. He is to be stronger, and he is to protect his wife from the winter winds. She is to be like the apple tree, not as strong but with a godly beauty, usefulness, and fragrance.
If two trees are too close together, they do not have limbs all of the way around. If a husband loves his wife biblically, he will give her opportunity, space, and encouragement to develop "limbs all of the way around."

• The average human loses 26 calories when kissing for a minute. Furthermore, vigorous sex for half an hour burns 150 calories (you can lose three pounds in a year – if you have sex 7 to 8 times a month). Kissing is also very good for your teeth: the extra saliva released during the act helps to keep the mouth clean – reducing the risk of decay.

• 48% of Englishmen fall asleep during sex

• 3% of woman having sex, plan household chores

• "Axillism" - is using the armpit for sex (not a good idea...)

• The term “blow job” comes from the Victorian times

1.  In Victorian times, a slang term for a prostitute was “blowsy”. 
2. At the same time, “blow” was slang for  ejaculation. 
3. Consequently, by the 1930s, the act of fellatio came to be known as a blow job.
4. It was also used to describe jet planes in World War Two. 
5. In Ancient Greece, the common slang for a blow job was “playing the flute”.

• Today the government issues "Support our Troops" paraphernalia; however government-issued brochures and videos featured a slightly different slogan during the WWII era  – "Don't forget – Put it on before you put it in." During World War II, many soldiers returned home with venereal diseases, costing the government millions of dollars in medical expenses.

• During World War II, condoms were used to cover rifle barrels from being damaged by salt water as the soldiers swam to shore.

• A man's beard grows fastest when he anticipates sex

• In Hong Kong, adulterous husbands get more than a steep monthly alimony payment – a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her husband if he cheats on her – but she may only do so with her bare hands.

"Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy" - Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf

Leaders do not command excellence, they build excellence. 

Excellence is “being all you can be” within the bounds of doing what is right for your business or in the current working position that you hold or just PLAINLY in your day to day living

To reach excellence you must first be a leader of good character.

You must do everything you are supposed to do.

You do not achieve excellence by backwards planning.
Excellence starts with leaders of good and strong character who engage in the entire process of leadership.

And the first process is being a person of honorable character.

 Character develops over time.

Many think that much of a person's character is formed early in life. However, we do not know exactly how much or how early character develops. But, it is safe to claim that character does not change quickly.

A person's observable behavior is an indication of their character.

This behavior can be strong or weak, good or bad.

A person with strong character shows drive, energy, determination, self-discipline, willpower, and nerve.

• The see where they want to go and go after it
• They attract followers
  

On the other hand, a person with weak character shows none of these traits

• They do not know what they want
  
• Their traits are disorganized
• They vacillate and are inconsistent
• They will attract no followers

A strong person can be good or bad.
A gang leader is an example of a strong person with a bad character, while an outstanding community leader is one with both strong and good characteristics.

Our homes, churches, businesses need leaders with both strong and good characteristics, people who will guide them to the future and show that they can be trusted.

 Ecclesiastes 9:10

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom

  

Ephesians 6:7 

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men,

Empty Nest

Through out the years
Beating like a proud old tree
Stood a mother, with loving heart
Beside a nest  

With babies young
The world beyond their sight
Their little wing
So bold ....

How would I know
That these little birds would leave the nest
So soon .... together
Bold to meet the nearby world

With mommy hesitant, all so knowing,
That her babies had not finished growing.
But knowing they needed that freedom,
Not willing to let her babies leave her.




 
The little birds, so eager to try their wings,
Thoughts of the new world, losing their strings,
Jumped so far
The world at last, under their wings





 


And they flew through the air,
Into the world so vast,
Leaving the only home that they had known,
To go into world ....  the breaking of dawn.





The empty nest will always be there,
But visited with love and care,
The empty nest will be a guiding light,
A home for hope and stars so bright.

But remember dear babies
That the love of a mother
For their babies never did fade or die.

Ruth 4:11

Ruth 4:11 - The woman and her home

New International Version (NIV)

 ¹¹ "Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. "

Well according to me
God made woman in charge of the house
He never said to the man - tend the home
He said to the man provide for your home
A woman is synnonomous with  "home"

We speak of: "Let's go to Mom's house", it is never "dad's house".

In the New Testament, Lydia said to Paul, "If you consider me a believer, come to my home." The early church could not have flourished without women opening their homes. For three hundred years there were no church buildings.

It was women who gave that fledgling church the warmth and the hospitality that allowed it to flourish.

Romans 16 is filled with the names of women who worked hard for the gospel, who believed that their mission station was their home.

This is all possible because of the loving, sacrificial leadership that the husband is supposed to give to his family. And it continues on into voluntary submission, which is the wife's appropriate response to that leadership.

Your home should not be a cell block in which you are repressed and inhibited and ordered around and told continously it is his house and not your home and if you're not happy with it, you should just leave. Where you feel constantly on edge and you cannot decorate and put up your " things", that make it a home.

Instead it should be a greenhouse where you are allowed to flourish to your full potential, under your husband's protection, with his provisions and blessings. If we could get ourselves and our men to see that, it would change our lives and transform our families.

According to the Bible, homemaking is the God-given domain of womanly authority. It is not only our responsibility, but it is our place of influence and authority. I know that in some circles wifely subservience has been promoted and encouraged. I challenge it. I do not agree with it. And I think I have a strong biblical basis for my point of view.

Bokkie, you are the most amazing man ever ... thank you for making me the wife and woman I am today!

So here I am, sitting at my desk.
I bought a fan the other day, you know... the heat ... hell just cannot compare
The bullding should be condemned
No...just totally bulldozered

Against one wall are papers, boxes,
MCDonalds burger boxes,
mixed in with Kentucky Fried chicken bones
To roof hight!

My internet hub lies on the floor
Wires protruding like tentacles of an octopus
Out of the belly of this beast
Scooting back on my office chair
Is such a mission
Trying to NOT roll over my hub ...

More wires
Everywhere
Like some sick swingers party
Mash..mooshed all together and not making sense at all

Tick-tock
Four o'clock?
Tick -tock
No only ten o'clock

The Start

To start a blog is so fab
With swirling letters
Jabbing thoughts
To write a blog
My dear ...

In & out
The weaving myre
Of running olympic notions
To pen to web my inner thoughts.

So...
1,2,3 and off we go!