2nd Annual Not Back-to-School Blog Hop is back!

Back for its second run, the 2nd Annual Not Back-to-School Blog Hop returns this year to share 4 weeks worth of homeschool links, wisdom, fun and a peek into the lives of homeschoolers!

It started last year at Life with My 3 Boybarians and this year the torch has been passed down to Heart of the Matter, who wants everyone to get excited and geared up about your homeschool year!

There is still a

Spiritual Visits

I have changed the Sign above my Birds heading to read.
Beauty is in the Eyes of the Beholder and Jesus is in the Heart of Whoever invites him in.

  

My belief is real and my belief is Stong!

I have experienced many spiritual experiences in my life and because of these, my faith has grown to be invincible.

Let me share just one of those experiences with you. 

It was evening and I was not long home from the birth of my last son. 

It was a difficult labour and delivery, my son uttered one slight cry and then cried without sound for days. His larynx had been damaged (it did heal).

I had suffered some swelling prior the delivery then after, my body exploded.

I went into HELLP !!

HELLP syndrome is the medical name given to a serious (and rare) complication of pre-eclampsia involving a combination of liver and blood disorders.

HELLP stands for:
• H (haemolysis - red blood cell damage);
• EL (elevated liver enzymes - indicating liver damage);
• LP (low platelets in the blood leading to a bleeding tendency)

On top of this on the second day after the delivery a thrombosis developed in my inner thigh.

With not much understanding thirty years ago about blood clotting, I was fed continual doses of aspirin. After being kept in the hospital over the required time, I was finally sent home to receive daily post natal home nursing care. 
We lived in an old house on a small farm with a few scant neighbours and a dirt road out front. My (then) husband went to play tennis leaving me in bed with the babe in his crib beside me and our other three children sitting watching television.
I was ill and afraid. My heart pained, beating out of rhythm. Weakly I lay back against the bed pillows and prayed. 

"Lord Jesus, please come and stand beside me." 

With my eyes closed I felt the presence of someone standing next to me, waiting. Thinking one of the children had come into the room I opened my eyes.  Standing,  looking down was a tall man. He was dressed as a shepperd, like pictures I'd seen in my Bible.
I knew it was a shepperd because of the crook held in His hand. 
I had prayed and asked Him to come.....and He came!

For what seemed like the longest time he remained looking down at me.

Then slowly he walked towards my bedroom door and out into the hall.

Struck dumb it took a while before I was able to call my eldest daughter.

What a wondrous experience, my daughter and I prayed our thanks and rejoiced in my ethereal visitation.

Many months later Femia (daughter) came running to show me what she read in her bible. It said that in times of need, He comes as a Shepperd.

In John 10:11, we are told: 

"I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

Yet  sadly, many deny Him. As in John 1:10-18:
"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

Praise is Holy Name!!!

                              

Homeschool Village: Heart for the Art

This week’s topic at the Homeschool Village is A Heart for the Arts, sharing what you plan on teaching for art.We never used a purchased curriculum for ART before, we've been happy just making arts and crafts from open ended art, StArt projects, and projects related to our unit studies. Most of what we make is made from recycled items and it teaches the boys how to find other uses for items. We

Human Flotsam and Jetsem

.

Today a boat filled with 85 asylum seekers was picked up off of Ashmore Reef by the overtaxed Australian navy. This is the 150th boat to arrive since the Labor government took office and removed the strict approach to these boat people by the previous Howard Coalition government. Still, the Labor government can't come to terms with this influx and manage it effectively. Prime Minister, Julia Gillard still spitefully resists the logical choice to agree to the most obvious solution; sending these folks to the previously built detention centre on the island of Nauru by Howard for processing by the Immigration Department.

It takes roughly seven days to sail from the southern shore of the Indonesian island of Java to Ashmore Reef, a low-slung speck of Australian territory surrounded by turquoise waters. Such relatively short distances to a country long seen as a safe haven are what drew thousands of asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Iraq to Indonesia the past few years. But it was not Jakarta they were bound for; it was Sydney. Of those who made it to Australian territory, many by boat but actually many by air (on tourist visas....then claiming asylum) around 2000 were granted asylum. But most refugees never see the southern continent's coast. Instead, they end up in places like the immigration detention centre at Tanjung Pinang, a town on Bintan Island, just over 2 hours by air from Jakarta. It is the largest of 15 such centres spread throughout the Indonesian archipelago; it can hold up to 600 detainees at a time. The facility has some comforts--there are regular doctor visits, TVs, a volleyball net and three filling meals a day. But a poor country like Indonesia can ill afford to spend much on meals and amenities so they are provided and paid for by the Australian government with the help of the International Organization of Migration.

As the numbers trying to transit through Indonesia to Australia have risen, so have tensions between neighboring states over who should be responsible for them. "Indonesia has not signed the 1951 International Immigration Treaty, so has no laws distinguishing asylum seekers from illegal immigrants", says J. Frelick of Human Rights Watch, "they are political pawns. The idea that you would provide asylum to a person who is considered an enemy of another country is looked upon as an unfriendly act." Most Asian countries feel the same way.

While the Rudd/Gillard government waffled on, over 3400 asylum seekers arrived in the last 7 months and were hauled off to be processed at the offshore immigration centre on Christmas Island, another remote piece of Australian territory that is now filled to capacity. The Immigration Department is looking to put the overflow on the mainland in some remote former mining camp. Still Gillard looks elsewhere, like East Timor and Papua New Guinea and stupidly refuses to discuss the "Pacific Solution" with a willing Nauru.

The Way I See It....the government should make an emphatic pronouncement to make Sri Lankan refugees (mainly Tamils) realize that they are NOT in danger at home. They are only despised for the vicious separatist movement they perpetrated on their fellow citizens and being cursed at and spat-on doesn't constitute any danger. They deserve to be reminded of their guilt. Tell them "Just wear it and don't come here!" As for the Afghans, tell them to stop running away from the Taliban problem. If you or your family are threatened by these rag-headed Scumbags, have some "balls" and join your country's much maligned, understaffed police or military and fight the bastards and don't rely on our soldiers to do the dying for you. As for you Iraqis, "Ask not what we can do for you, ask what you can do for your country...Aussies don't like wusses!"

Values and Beliefs

Study in a University to become a Registered Nurse in Australia is Three years of full time learning. Following this you are often placed with a facilitator for your first year out working in a hospital. 
During this learning time other subjects are part of the curriculum.
One of mine was philosophy. And I loved it. 
My primary Alma Mater was The Australian Catholic University.
I wanted to take a minor in theology, however when I discovered I would be told what meant what in the Bible, I opted out. The reason for this being...I believe in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Because of this I also believe God's Word as truth. We are informed in the Bible that Jesus left the Holy Spirit as our teacher, and as such, He has never let me down.
He is a patient teacher also, because, I am still a student to Him, and still learning. I expect to keep on doing this until the day He takes me home.  
When we love someone dearly we want to learn everything possible about them. We are not happy to only listen to someone else tell us about them, if we can get the chance to know for ourselves first hand. 
How many of you would pick up a diary of your beloved and read it to learn all their secrets....if you had the chance.
A New Testament, the diary telling all about Jesus Christ is readily available everywhere, yet how many who actually profess to know and love him, desire to read it???
Mostly they are happy to sit in church and listen to another's rendition. 
I cannot understand this!! 
In fact, many don't even know what they think they do, they just believe what they hear without the EVIDENCE....
  
And the first Christian faith followed by the disciple's was
The Sect of the Nazarene... Paul, who was once a Pharisee, became one of these himself. 

Three verses in total are written on Paul as being a part of

the Sect of the Nazarene.

Three of the main Jewish Sects (Religions) of Jesus time were. Sadducee's, Pharisees and Essenes.

These religions had different belief's and fought over what they believed. Paul was a strict Pharisee who experienced a life changing event which caused him to become a follower of Jesus. He then converted and became a member of the 'Sect of the Nazarene.' 

Paul is brought before the governor Felix charged by the Jews as a trouble maker because he followed Jesus....

To follow Jesus means to know him in a personal relationship..

                                               

                                                    

                                                           
                                                             

My Wedneday walk: Ladybugs

In the late Spring my children and I spent a unit study on the insects and bugs. When we were learning about the ladybug we discovered that there over 5,000 species of Ladybugs. We found out that they all start in life pretty much the same way.A ladybug comes from an egg their mother lays, they change to a larvae stage and then they become a pupa. Then it is time for them to climb unto a branch

Music therapy and cancer diagnosis

Art Caddy and some fabulous finds

We have seen during the last two months some bloggers display their handmade art caddies on their blogs. I had been meaning to find materials to make with the boys but when we saw these adorable plastic ones at Target, we could not pass them up, They were $2.50 each and made of sturdy plastic. We found ours in the Target dollar section so we bought two, one for each son.



While there, we

Vampy Sunday: Off With Her Red!

So it's not really a vampy color, but after seeing last weeks True Blood preview I thought this would be the most appropriate color seeing as how the Queen of Louisiana is making an appearance tonight. Seriously, is there a better Sophie-Anne color? She wears red herself and the name couldn't fit any better. I'm seriously in love with red creams right now, this one is no disappointment. It's slightly tomato-y and a perfect pin-up color. This was 2 coats and a trouble-free application. And look, so shiny!! What's not to like?

Outside my Window

The Corella, known as the Bare-eyed Cockatoo is a white cockatoo native to Australia and New Guinea. They resemble their larger white counterpart except they are smaller in size and omit the yellow head crest. The colder weather in Queensland sends the Corella off to central Australia during the winter months.

                                                     
When loud screeching erupted on the roadside electrical wires outside my bedroom I rejoiced as this inform's me of warmer weather on the way. These cheeky birds walk up and down the wiring telling each other off while keeping a strict eye open for danger. They often sit in pairs to prune one another.
Humans could learn from their loving natures.

They grow from 36 to 39 cm (13 to 15 inches) in length and congregate in flocks of up to several thousand birds, which often include many galahs.



 

galah

                                                             
The birds generally roost in trees overnight, and fly off to feed in the early morning with an almost deafening screech. They mostly feed on the ground, eating seeds which include wheat and barley crops. The bird is so common that it has become a pest throughout much of Australia. It can be destructive to the trees in which it perches, by chewing the bark off smaller twigs.
Some become household pets,  learning to talk.

In Luke 12:34
Jesus said, “And how much more valuable you are than birds!
Who of you by worrying, can add a single hour to his life?
Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”

Curriculum planning, shopping and saving some trees

I know it was been quiet around here but I have been busy. I worked on our curriculum plans for 2010-2011 during the last few months after looking at what worked best for our family and what interest the kids.

This year had been difficult for us financially so I was faced with some thinking on my part on how to afford getting our homeschool materials on a tight budget.

During the last several

Sepia Family

I am the baby in my mothers arms and this photo was taken after the war in the late 1940's.

At this time we lived in a housing commission (government) home in Canley Vale NSW.

My father was a return soldier from the second world war and it had taken a toll, something he never got over. He'd served in the Middle East and on the Kokoda Trial in Papua New Guinea. He never lost his English accent and I can still hear the way he asked if a "pot o tea" was ready. He'd laugh and say, everything good in life was Buckshee (free).  

When I was five the family purchased and moved to a small acreage at Horsley Park.

My father built on to the four roomed house adding two extra rooms.

My mother cooked on a fuel stove which also served to heat the home (poorly).

Me.

Mum sewed all our clothes on her treadle sewing machine.

That's another good memory.

It hummed along and she sang...Toora Loora loora...or some other song.

She was always singing in those years. Later she played the church organ until her finger became too stiff. Now it's the harmonica.

Mum is 92yrs old now.

Pictured here with my granddaughter Shiarn.

Luke 12:22

Then Jesus said to his disciples:
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.
Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them."

Yes we made it! and the best heritage my mother imparted was a love and desire to follow Jesus,

Muslims Lie About Islamic Atrocities

As Muslims around the world continue to deny basic human rights to women and non-Muslims, Muslim spokesmen maintain a pattern of lies, denial and deception. Here's a few recent examples:

Sakineh Ashtiani, a 43 year old Iranian woman, is facing death by stoning for adultery, a capital crime in "medieval" Iran. Yet, when human rights activist, David G. Littman, asserted at the U.N. Human Rights Council last year that "stoning of women for alleged adultery still occurs regularly in Iran." Iran's spokesman declared that this was "not true, it is completely false and is out of the question!" Sakineh would beg to differ and she's not the only one, at least 45 other women are waiting for the same fate in Iran right now.

Meanwhile, in Indonesia last month, Christians in the city of Bekasi are facing an escalating persecution from Muslim idiots. According to Asia News, "in the past six months radical Islamic groups have interrupted Christian religious services, prevented Christians from entering their churches and blocked the building of a new church." This is in accord with traditional Islamic law for non-Muslims in an Islamic state, which forbids these "subject peoples" (not fellow citizens) to build new houses of worship or repair old ones. Yet it was with a straight face that Imam Hassan Qazwini of the Islamic Center in America restated a very common assertion of Muslim spokesmen in the West: "Most westerners do not know that Islam respects Christians and Jews." It seems that too many Muslims in Indonesia don't seem to know it either.

Now here's a shocker! Three weeks ago, Afshan Azad (see photo), the 21 year old actress who first appeared in the Harry Potter movie, "The Goblet of Fire" in 2005 as the character Padma Patil and has been in three more Potter films since then, fled from her home in Manchester after being beaten and badly bruised by her father and brother, both Muslim-scum, for refusing to break up with her boyfriend, a Hindu. Muslims traditionally hate Hindus more that than Christians or Jews...go figure. Islamic law forbids Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men (another intolerant idea from Mohammad), and Abdul Azad and his son, Ashraf were allegedly willing to murder Afshan for daring to flout this prohibition.

Muslim spokesmen routinely deny that honor killing has anything to do with Islam, even though over 90% of these killings take place in Muslim countries. Many of these countries have relaxed penalties for honor murders and Islamic law stipulates no penalty for a parent who kills his child. Here again, Afshan might beg to differ with the prevailing denials and evasions of responsibility by these Muslim spokesmen. While it may be unpleasant for Afshan if criminal proceedings against her father and brother continue, it would be disastrous for it to be dropped.

The Way I See It....for the denial about the tolerance for honor killing in Muslim communities in the West only ensures that more Muslim girls will be murdered. And the larger denial by Muslim spokesmen when confronted with atrocities that have been explicitly perpetrated in the name of Islam and justified by reference to Islamic texts and teachings only ensures that such atrocities will continue. It's time the western media get tough and expose these liars!

New Butter London's

Butter LONDON announced their new shades last week and I could not wait to buy Marrow. I've been hyped about it since it was shown during fashion week. I have an extreme passion for dark purple! So I ordered that and, oops, the other 3 new shades jumped in my cart too! I'm so excited to do full mani's with these, but I needed a small taste of them today so I did a quick skittles. They clash with the other 6 fingers still being pastel blue, but it's okay to have an ugly-eccentric nail day every once in a while!

From left to right is Marrow, Victoriana, All Hail McQueen and Bumster. Marrow is a deep purple with a whisper of shimmer. You have to know it's there to even see it, and even then it really doesn't show, but it does add a certain depth to the color. Victoriana is, color-wise, dupey to RBL 360, except this baby is loaded up with silver shimmer, it's so pretty! All Hail McQueen is the total star of this collection. It's a holographic neutral, something that I normal wouldn't even look twice at. It's not that I'm not a huge holo or neutral fan, I just never really go for them. But together they make the cutest little taupy-holo baby! I'm so glad I did with this one, I think it looks great with my skin tone! Lastly is Bumster, which confuses me so much. It is gold. I wish I could just leave it right there. But without a shimmer it doesn't really seem gold, it seems like a caramel color. But it really is gold! Not sure if it goes with my skin tone too well but I'm still going to rock it because the color is so interesting to me.

It was cloudy today so I didn't get the best pictures to show off the holo. When I do a full mani with it I'll pick a sunny day! But for now, here it is with super flash:

And no flash:

OPI What's with the Cattitude?

Okay. I'm not even going to be humble about it. This polish looks friggin' amazing on me. It's like a cashmere sweater for my fingers. Sadly, it's not a very "me" color... one of my friends even grabbed my hand and asked me if I'd fallen and hit my head before doing my nails! Even though What's the with Cattitude doesn't really go with my personality, I love, LOVE the color. It's amazingly cute, and with the buzz about the upcoming Chanel, it's looking like it's going to be a trendy color. This was with 3 coats; 2 thin and 1 thick, and it applied really well for a pastel shade.

My Wednesday walk: Brotherly Love

I have noticed for the past several weeks my youngest son has been very temperamental. Some call it the terrible twos. He's four and I am not sure what to call it now...he gets angry when he does not get what he wants whether it is food, toys, books. etc. He picks on his big brother who although is six years older, does not fight back against him. His brother instead tells him "I love you Brother

Civil War

We all know a Civil War is when a battle is fought within a country.
Such a war, splits and divides, placing a nationality against itself.

Much the same is a Civil War within oneself.
Do you have a war raging within yourself?
If so, it will hinder your walk with your Savour.

Matthew 12:25, tells us.
  And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, "every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation;
and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand."

Let's look at this in a personal aspect. 
Are you side tracked from who you should be in Jesus Christ?
Do you allow yourself to be sabotaged by outside influences?
Are you easily led by your evil desires.
Anything that directs you away from living a life pleasing to him will destroy you in the end.....
The thing you love the most in your life is what will come first in your thoughts and actions.

If you love God and also love something else beyond reason, then a war will rage within you. 

Are you confused?
Lets simplify this.
I love food, but if I over eat I am a glutton.  Then food will become my God..
and.....my health will fail. 
Likewise gossip is the same. It may seem harmless at the time, until we are caught up in it's ugly cycle. Then it damages everyone!!!

Jesus said,  "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
John 14:27


 

                                                             

Award

This is hard for me as I am not one for the spotlight.

Sheri from http://livingitupinky.blogspot.com/
has given me this 'Lovely Blog' award....
I thank you dear sister with all my heart...

There are so many lovely Blogs on here and mine, is by no means, one of the best.
But, I'd be very rude not to respond with a thankful heart.
On the other hand, Sheri does have a very endearing site, so please take time to stop by.

The 'Lovely Blog' Rules:
1. Link back to the person who nominates you for this award (above)
2. Pass it along to 7 other 'Inspiring Bloggers.'
3. Share 7 things about yourself. 

Passing this award along is not easy as some won't want to participate.
I have chosen women as I cannot see the men wanting to take part even though there are a couple I would love to nominate.... 

My selection in no particular order: (how do you choose when all are great)..

My happy lady:  USA
http://chattycrone.blogspot.com/

A heart of Gold: Phillipines
http://mla-crownofglory.blogspot.com/

A sweet Tennessee mama: USA
http://mefindingmichelle.blogspot.com/

A caring wife: USA
http://surrenderalltoyou.blogspot.com/

Another Ozzie chooky: Australia
http://dorothyadamek.blogspot.com/

A gentle spirit: United Kingdom
http://junibearsjottings.blogspot.com/

A wise spirit: United Kingdom
http://unexpectedgems.blogspot.com/

*Click on to the above and share some inspiration. 

About myself:
1. I love a deep bubble bath with glowing candles all around...
2. Fruit is the best food on earth, I eat pineapple until my tongue hurts.
3. I'm too soft hearted.
4. If I could play an instrument it would be the violin.
5. I wish I could run like I used to (need a new knee).
6. My mother is my greatest inspiration.
7. I believe its better to be humble than proud.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. (from Philippians 4:8 of God's Word)

                                                                       

GREEN with N-V (non-viability)

We're all going to the polls here in Australia in 4 weeks to chose between the better one of the 2 political parties; Liberal Coalition (conservative) and Labor (left-leaning). However, the decision could be made a lot easier now that we hear the Greens Party has decided to give their preferences to Labor. Of course we don't know what kind of concessions Labor has given to the Greens for this windfall of votes to get a win in this election. Has our Prime Minister, Julia Gillard (a foreign-born, atheist and a childless defacto), sold her climate-soul to these Watermelons to beat the Liberals?

Watermelons they are...through and through. Distinctively Green on the outside but oh so Red on the inside. In spite of more and more evidence that climate change is a natural variation in our Earth's history and CO2 is not responsible, their socialist agenda to save the world from ourselves is quite mindboggling! Here is an excerpt of an interview Andrew Bolt (Herald-Sun reporter) had with the Victorian Greens MP, Greg Barber.

Andrew: Your party is demanding instant closure of the Hazelwood power station, that happens to produce 25% of our state's electricity. Your policy is to shut every coal-fired plant as well, leaving us with just 5% of the electricity we now use, so how are you going to replace the power we need to keep our hospitals, factories, trains, homes, etc. with nuclear power banned, new hydro-power banned and just relying on unreliable solar and wind?

Greg: The simplest way is to save energy rather than use it in the first place.

Andrew: Save 95% of our energy ????

Greg: I've cut my energy bill by half and you don't see my family freezing.

Andrew: Ninety-five per cent of our energy comes from coal-fired power plants. I'm asking, how would you replace 95% of our power?

Greg: I'd say homes and businesses around Australia could probably cut their energy bills by half and they wouldn't even notice it. It's called energy efficiency!

Andrew: A factory...how would that cut its power by half ?

Greg: Ah, lighting, heating and air conditioning.

Andrew: ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Greg: Well, businesses are already trying to achieve it.

Andrew: HALF ! No Greg. That is not credible.

Greg: The Greens will make it happen.


Oh, please! If you think this Green future is remotely logical to you, consider first, before voting for them or their Labor cronies, going to your home, business or factory and switch off half the power. You'll think it's a noble policy, which sounds warm and fuzzy, until you realise it will leave you cold and shivering, while making not a spit of difference to the planet.

The Way I See It....there is a level of stupidity in all this. Let me try to get it through your cable-knit beanie how virtually impossible this extreme Green Dream of "USE-LESS" is to fulfill without causing a major reduction in our standard of living to a degree endured by people who burn cow-dung for their cooking. Show the Greens and their political ilk that their guilt trip is USELESS on you and you'll be moving forward with a party that doesn't buy the catastrophe hype of a "man-caused" warmer world, knowing it is better than going backwards to the Middle Ages!

Vampy Sunday - Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ

Now I see what all the fuss is about. I've seen OPI Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ on so many 'must have' lists but never thought twice about it. I picked it up just because I don't have anything like it, and it's changed my view on colors like this. Now I'm super excited about the Swiss collection, there are a couple colors in there that are on my 'must' list after seeing how much I love this one!

This color is awesome. It's a deepened berry-ish red with just a hint of a brown undertone to it, a surprise to me that I'm really liking about the color. This was with 2 coats, which dried with a high gloss shine. I think I got an older bottle because it didn't have the Pro-Wide brush, and while it wasn't the worst brush I've ever used it really isn't as nice as the newer ones.

Vampy Sunday is going to be my new thing, in honor of new episodes of True Blood on Sunday nights. It's the best night of the week in the Summer! I only have a few more untried vampies, so this is the perfect excuse to haul some more!

Heaven Sent.

In the middle of New Zealand's south island, stands this beautiful old stone church built in 1935, as a memorial to the pioneers of the Mackenzie County.
The area was named after James Mackenzie a sheep farmer and thief who derived from Scottish ancestry.
The church adorns the shore of Lake Tekapo amidst farming outlets and unused land.
Walking within the walls your eyes are pulled to the huge Altar window displaying a picturesque view of water, mountains and sky. 
Spell-bounding.... this is Gods headpiece of living art
Congregations of the three main faiths worship here regularly.
It is the most photographed church in New Zealand. 

So is the church itself the important place of worship?

In John 4:19-24 we read about the woman who met Jesus at the well..

"Sir,"  the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet.

Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."

Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

China Glaze Orange Marmalade

I know orange really isn't the most flattering color on me, but I can't help but love it. Especially when it looks like this. I wish China Glaze would come with a glass flecked collection once a year so that I could get this formula in every color imaginable! Orange Marmalade just glows... I love it. This was with 3 coats and there's still a bit of a VNL, which I can forgive, and you really need 2 coats of TC to make the shimmer sing, but I can also forgive that.

Color accurate picture:

Glass flecked sparkle awesomeness:

God our Refuge

This photo is of my husband Ray, pictured here in 1965.

He grew up in east Tennessee..... a keen sportsman and well liked at school.

His father passed on to Glory when he was thirteen years old, leaving him as head of the home.

His mother depended on him and he never let her down.

At eighteen Ray joined the Marine Corps and headed out to boot camp in California.

 He served and was wounded in Vietnam and still carries many of his emotional and physical scars.

He served his country and always defended what was right.

Ray's mother was very proud of him, and deserved to be.

As a mother her morals reflected in the conduct of her son. 

Ray believes in God and His promises to him. 

My prayer today is, that everyone who reads this realises how special they are to their Father in Heaven...

Don't give up, keep going, do the right thing in life, and God will reward you if you belong to Him.

   

 

                                                                        

                                                                                        

                                                                                     

OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue

Seriously, you do! I don't even have words for it. It's bottled blue shimmery perfection!

For only the second time in a year, I cheated on Seche Vite, but this time it was with the notorious Poshe. And wow... I might be a convert. It's less thick than SV so I didn't get any bubbles (though I rarely got them from SV I was still always paranoid), and I'm on day 4 of this mani and it still looks exactly like day 1, not even a bit of tip wear! The only downside to Poshe was that it wasn't as shiny as SV when I first used it, but what really makes it better is that it hasn't lost any shine like SV does and it hasn't scratched up from normal day to day abuse. It still looks exactly like I just put it on. Poshe, I do believe this could be a forever kind of relationship! I need a few more trials runs before I dump SV though.

I also have Russian Navy, and considering how much I love this one was thinking about tracking down Ink. Thoughts? Is it worth it if I already have the other 2?

Is This a New Genesis ?

It would be great if we could release into the Gulf of Mexico a vat of bugs that did nothing but eat gobs of oil and digest it into harmless smaller bits. Then there is powering our cleanup vessels with microbes that munched seaweed and spit out fuel, so we'd no longer need to punch holes in the sea floor in the first place. Such is the promise of synthetic biology, which, is basically a marketing term for all kinds of research in which scientists tinker with different biological bits to make useful things....sort of like living Lego blocks.

The latest breakthrough in this field came last month, with news that bio-pioneer Craig Venter was said to have become the first to create life in the lab! What Venter did was replace the natural genome in a cell with a slightly modified synthetic one, which then issued orders by which the cell reproduced and brought science a little further into the realm of science fiction. He named this new life form Synthia.

The gift of man-made life comes wrapped in a risk, a Big Risk! What if that oil-eating bug mutates, as the horror-movie version inevitably does and starts eating other things....like us? It's perhaps not surprising that when bioethicists describe synthetic biology, they sound like the characters in Jurassic Park. "When dealing with biological entities, " notes Thomas Murray (president of the Hastings Centre, a bioethics organization), "life has a tendency to find a way." Accidents at power plants are bad enough, but a leak in a bioreactor could be worse, since bacteria can learn new tricks when you're not looking. Microbes excel at exchanging DNA, like "microbial French kissing"! "We have ways to go," says Murray, "before we can really know what risks we're running if we release these bugs into the environment."

All of which confirms the need for careful oversight, but we haven't proven very good at this. We are at the crossroads of science and politics and it is a dodgy place. Without public oversight, we are certain to wake up one day to news of some private breakthrough that rattles our spine: a human hybrid, a cloned child, a fetus grown solely to harvest its parts. The path of progress cuts through the four-way intersection of the Moral, Medical, Religious and Political. Venter's bombshell revived the oldest of ethical debates, over whether scientists are playing God or proving he does not exist because he re-enacted Genesis in suburban Maryland.

The Way I See It....people are bound to disagree about when scientists are crossing some moral Rubicon. That is all the more reason to debate, in public and in advance, where those boundaries lie---rather than doing so after the fact, when researchers are celebrating some technical triumph and the rest of us are wondering what price we will pay for it.

DEPRESSION, the dreaded Blackness

When I returned to nursing in 1994 I never expected to specialise in the field of Mental Health.

It was the furthest place I wanted to be. Life was difficult enough without the added trauma of dealing with difficult people.

Yet my placement demanded I be rotated in different sections of the hospital.  

From day one I formed a love for these hurting human beings.

In all my time working in psychiatry I was never threatened hurt or harmed, yet many nurses are. I believe the reason why was because I always showed a genuine respect and care. In return I received the same. There is much I could write about, however I would simply like to hit on one area…….. Depression.

During my research and studies I learned that by the year 2021 the largest debilitating contributor to disease would be depression……

and I believe this to be so.

Depression and the road out…

One of America’s greatest Presidents suffered from all consuming depression. Born into a poor family he felt life was against him.
His one true love died an untimely death and he failed at work prospects.
In one of his darkest hours he wrote the following.
“I am now the most miserable man living.
If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would be not one cheerful face on earth.
Whether I shall be better, I cannot tell.
I awfully, forebode I shall not.
I must die, or be better it appears to me.”

Well we all know this man survived and went on to greatness.
His name was Abraham Lincoln.

For everyone who has suffered from or still suffering depression you will know how seemingly hopeless this subject can appear.

For that reason I am recommending a book that is the best I have ever read.
Written by a medical doctor, Neil Nedley M.D, who uses a different approach, and successfully treats many patients!  I cannot recommend it enough.
He does NOT apply a band-aid effect....of "here take this medication" solution..
But gets down to the root issues of how and why.
Diets and light is used to nourish and stimulate the brain to wellness......

Read it for yourself!  and be encouraged! There is help!
 AND please give me your honest opinion after your finished.



 Psalms 55:17
"Evening and morning and at noon, I will pray and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice."

** PLEASE CLICK ON THE AMAZON LINK
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DEPRESSION
the way out.


by


Dr Neil Nedley MD

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark

While I like vampies much better in the fall, I've been so absorbed in vampy TV (True Blood sucked me in... haha, get it?... I know, I'm terrible) that I had to switch it up. Sadly Lincoln Park After Dark, a much loved OPI, is a miss for me. Let's face it, it's black. That's all well and good, but I was hoping for a deep rich shade of purple, and while I see it in the bottle it doesn't translate on the nail. I hope to have better luck with my next vampy...

A Great Miracle

An Incredible Story

Map of Australia

Last year Alaskan fireman Robert Bogucki aged thirty three, set out on a mission.

He wanted to cross the Great Sandy Dessert in Western Australia.
Measuring 163900 sq miles, this dessert is the second largest and one of the most remote in Australia. 
Since the age of fifteen, Robert had become obsessed with the idea of one day surviving in the wilderness for 40 days and nights like Jesus.            Then while on a bike riding trip across Australia the idea became a reality with him ditching his bike and taking off on foot to test his faith and find answers to questions???

Robert had read about how the Australian indigenous people could find water in their arid land. On the occasional sightings of dessert animals and often when he was on the verge of dehydration he was led to water. 

How many of us would test our faith to the limit like this? 

It's not recommended!!! But then, Robert was a remarkable man.

When Roberts discarded bike with clothing and food supplies were found a search was immediately formed. Aboriginal trackers were brought in yet after following his tracks for days they eventually gave up.                    Roberts parents hired a specialist team from the USA and together with Broome police the search was resumed. No one expected to find him alive.

                                   He made the ultimate sacrifice and survived forty three days alone with his God. Although without food for six weeks and water for 12 days, he was still able to walk to the search helicopter. He had lost thirty kilo's or sixty six pounds in weight. It was a life changing experience and he found his answers.... 

Psalms 139:7-12
Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?


 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.


If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,


even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.


If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"


Even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.....


This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God...