I received this from a cousin and felt like sharing this story with you. You will cry and rejoice as you read.

CHURCH HID IN THE WEEDS

Just two little boys walking down a dusty lane. They came upon this old white house with broken window panes. The paint was faded, the shine was gone; the grass had grown so high.Still they made their little feet go see what was inside. They opened up the squeaky door and then it came to light. This must have been an old church

A Bible laid upon it though the pages weren't too good. An offering plate and song books too were lying on the floor.They must have left this old church fast the day they closed these doors. And over in the corner a piano was still there. It must have played a pretty tune but I guess nobody cared. So little Bill looked up at Tommy and Tommy looked at Bill. Why don't we clean this old church up, and get these old pews filled? They took a rag and wiped the dust to try and make things shine. And then they took the offering plate and put in it their last dime. They took a broom and swept the floor and picked up broken glass. They got it all so nice and neat and then they mowed the grass. They lifted up the old church sign and stood it by a tree right down by that old dirt road where everyone could see.

They ran back home, to find Daddy gone but their Momma was inside. Just to find her hurt again where Daddy had made her cry. 'Don't cry Momma, wipe those tears,'Little Bill and Tommy smiled 'Cause we have a big surprise for you just down the road a mile.' Hand in hand they tugged at her until they made her run. 'What is it Bill, Oh Tommy, just what have you two kids done?' And then they came upon the house once hidden by the weeds and there it stood a country church just like it used to be. 'But what is it, Mother? What's with your tears? We thought this would bring you joy.' 'Yes, but hush kids now and listen close my two sweet precious boys.' They both got quiet and stood real still for the words they heard so true was Daddy praying in the church with his head bowed on the pew. 'Forgive me Lord! Forgive me Lord! Though I'm not worthy of Your love shine down on this sinner man sweet Salvation from above.''For I've been out in the world, You know living my life all wrong until I came upon this church; the place where I belong.''I never noticed it before all those times I passed it up. I guess I wasn't looking, Lord or maybe I was drunk.' 'Bless oh Lord, yes, bless oh Lord the one who made me see this little church that used to hide behind all those tall weeds.' And then he raised his head and stood with his hands high in the air to find two dirty, tear-faced boys with Momma standing there. They ran up to him, hugged him tight as their tears fell on the floor. 'Don't worry kids, I'm not the Dad, the one you've known before.' Things are different for us now so keep on those pretty smiles and let's go gather people in to walk down these church aisles.' Then Bill looked up at Tommy and Tommy looked at Bill 'Come on brother, let's get to work to get these old pews filled.' 'For we need no special blessing for cleaning up this church 'cause, God gave us back our Daddy and that's more than gold is worth.'

Sunday morning, pews all filled and smiles on every face. Especially two little country boys, the ones who found this place. Though it was hid back in the weeds and so far out of sight Nothing's ever hard to find if you're walking toward God's light.
1 John 1:7 we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.'

DID YOU KNOW?

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little "stringy things" off of it. That's how the primates do it. Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil, it will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, and cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake=2 0frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.
0A

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! ... static is gone.

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as pean ut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the window s fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.
Good bye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it "home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material ... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well ... the=2 0hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free ... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box. well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at l east e very six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!
Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it ... the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!

I hope you learned some new ideas and will use some of them. I received this from a friend of my and want to share it with you.

Prayer

This young man is 16 years old and because of family troubles stole something from His High School. The Judge had an ancle braclet put on Him and He has His next court day September 18th.

Help James to understand that Your laws are for their benefit and that the confession and repentance You require must become a way of life. Give them the desire to live in truth before You, and may they say as David did, "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation" (Psalm 51:2,10-12)

Bible Study

This Bible Study began in April and I am so glad that a person can begin any time. You will see the I AM button on my side bar. Feel free to check it out and enjoy a time of study at your leisure.

1. Are there any circumstances or relationships in your life where you can see God has intentionally placed you? What do you perceive may be at stake if you do or do not speak out for Him? The latest circumstance is now I am working with Middle School Students in a Wednesday Family Night at our Church. These young people have so many things thrown at them every day and I want to be able to give them ideas on how to react to them so they can say no or maybe to say yes. What I perceive in this circumstance is the life of a child. A child that is loved by our Lord Jesus Christ. I have to speak out for them because their spiritually life is at stake.


2. Can you honestly describe yourself as a woman with a 'yes' in her spirit? If not, what keeps you from this? At this time in my life I can say yes. That is to say, I have not always been a woman who could say yes. I believe with my growth spiritually I can and will be a woman who will do what is asked of me.


3. Do you recognize any circumstances in your life which could be described as an 'unrecurring event'? Have you ever said 'no' to one and watched God use someone else instead? Yes there was a circumstance when a Sunday School teacher taught my girls to pray as small children. In my mind I thought they were too young to learn and I said no.


4. Are you in an emotionally and spiritually healthy place? If yes, how are you using this freedom to minister to others? If no, what do you feel is holding you in your Egypt? Right at this moment I am at an emotionally and spiritually healthy place. With this freedom I can minister to the young people placed in my life. In the class room I am able to answer questions in an honest way to lead them in a positive way. Praying for them has become a joy as I see some answers to those prays.

As He Is

This from a Sunday bulletin of September 7, 2008 and written by Leticia Skelton
You are not your own; you were bought at a price. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)

AS HE IS

In a day and time when shopping is almost akin to therapy, we will usually find the clearance aisles loaded with products and people. There we can also see the "As Is" items--something is wrong with them, so we get them at bargain prices, take them home and fix them up. Imagine how God has taken us "As Is" full of flaws and imperfections. He has purchased us far above a bargain price, for it cost Him His only begotten Son. How immense is God's love for us that He would choose us for His own, cleanse us through and through, and transform us from "As Is" to "As He Is' So if we ever feel like anything less, we can call to mind what God has fixed us up to be in Christ Jesus--a pearl of great price--for now we are the children of God.

A Pray

I received this from a cousin and felt that others would understand this pray.


WRITTEN BY A 15 yr. Old SCHOOL KID IN
ARIZONA:

New Pledge of Allegiance (TOTALLY AWESOME)!

Since the Pledge of
Allegiance
And The Lord's Prayer
Are not allowed in most Public schools
anymore
Because the word 'God' is mentioned . . .
A kid in Arizona
wrote the attached

NEW School prayer:

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is
against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him
very odd
If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of
Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be
purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene. The law
is specific,
the law is precise. Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no
faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is
prohibited by the state.

We're allowed
to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks . .

They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book
makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed
daddy,' our Senior King.
It's 'inappropriate' to teach right from
wrong,
We're taught that such 'judgment s' do not belong.
We can get our
condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem
poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must
reach this crowd.

It's scary here
I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this
silent plea I make:
Should I be shot;
My soul please take!
Amen

What A Short Year

I can not believe it. My first year in the Blog World. This will make my 230th post. Did not know I was so wordy or that I would meet so many good Christian friends. These friends have given me advise when I needed to improve my template, how to get pictures where I wanted them, or being invited to visit to their blogs. These friends come from across this wonderful United States. Some are farmers wives, others have different kinds of jobs. Some give encouragement through their words of devotions. Others give me an incite of the area they live in and even give a weather report. Even my two daughters have a blog, even though, they have been very busy with their lives and jobs that they have not had the time to update on their blogs. Thank you for all the comments made. Even if we never meet in person, we will meet in Heaven with a grand reunion. My pray is that each of you will continue with great things happening in your lives and your families lives. Thank You for this past year of learning something new and giving me space to bare my heart to individuals who will give me the benefit of being me.