influences

Yesterday morning I was listening to a local preacher. This particular church broadcasts live their church services. One thing the preacher said really caught my ear. He said, that each individual person influences at least 10,000 people during a lifetime. And if true, and I really think it is, I cringe at the idea of what my influence would be on anyone prior to being saved. Before I was saved, I thought nothing of telling lies, cursing so badly that it would hurt a sailors ears to hear. Truth be known, everything was about Joan. Some people might want to blame the bad childhood years, but you know, there's too much of that going on these days. It's so easy to blame others for our sins. Once a person is saved they realize that they themselves are to blame for their sins. I was at a certain church one a Sunday many years ago, when the preacher ask for testimonials. The man named Alan stood up and testified about his army service and how that his fellow servicemen were to blame for his drug use.You see here was a Christian man, blaming someone else for his sins. With him were his wife, and two very impressionable young son's. Here, he was teaching his young sons to blame other people for any wrong doings that they may do. It's so easy to influence others by our actions. Especially young children. You know I said before, I wish I were a Christian when I raise my first four children. I wish I had taught them according to God's law, using the Bible as a parenting book. To be honest what goodness is in my children came from outside sources. My last son David was raised by me using the Bible as a parenting book. Any time he would do something objectionable, I would use the Bible to explain to him the wrong in what he had done. One day, he said to me,'' why are you always using the Bible against me?'', I gave him a clear and understood answer ''because that's what I'm supposed to do''. Now David may not follow the rules and guidelines laid out to him, but he and God knows I did the best I could. And now it's up to David whether he wants to go by those guidelines will take another path. I know I seem like I'm rambling, but I'm just saying things as they come to mind. Somewhere in all the rambling is a point to be made. And the point being, asking yourself the question. How am I influencing my family members, my friends and my community. I would like to say this to all the young parents out there. Would you please, please and I say please again, stop teaching your children how to curse. I hear some of the most vulgar language come from parents, whose children are standing there learning these awful words. I see parents laughing as their little toddlers repeat these ugly words back. This is saying to that todder that it's something cute to do. Shame on you! I repeat shame on you!

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Now, knowing that we influence so many people, maybe just maybe we'll stop and think about what we do and what we said.
Until next time Willard and I wish you health and happiness, God bless and God save.

God's precious ones

I guess I told you that for now on I will be having my chemo in the hospital. They call it desensitizing. Anyway let me tell you how my first experience went. First of all, Willard and I had no idea that we would be in the hospital overnight. You see, we were told that the treatment would take all day. So we assumed that we would be going home the afternoon. Well it seems that the treatment has different segments, first being eight hours for the desensitizing, three hours for Taxol, and three hours for the carbo. That's not including the pre-meds which take, depending on how busy the nurse is, anywhere from one to two hours. So we're talking 16 hours approximately. Well as I said, we had no idea at all that we would be spending that many hours in the hospital. We did not bring any medication, we did not bring extra clothes, nor anything else that we should have. I mean finger brushing your teeth may help, but it's nothing like a real tooth brush, LOL. And of course I only brought one extra pair of undies, which we forgot and left in the van. And with chemo comes no control of the bladder. So I was taking my one pair of undies, washing them, and putting paper towels between them and me so they would dry. The hospital provided me with some pads, which helps some. Well Willard who is usually long-suffering, plenty of patients and all in all a pretty nice guy was about to go ballistic. His blood sugar went up to 200+ with no medicine. He did not have his thyroid medication or any other medications with him. Poor thing, he had to sleep on one of those bumpy couches, you know the ones that let out. He finally got up and sat in the chair to sleep some. Needless to say, by the time we were ready to leave the hospital, Willard had a few apologies to make. One to me and more to the many nurses, etc. in the hospital. Which he did do. I think next time, we will be prepared for anything, LOL.
Now on to a subject that just melts my heart. In UNC hospital as with many hospitals across the country , who take care of small children with cancer and other illnesses. You can hardly go through the breezeway without seeing a child who has had brain surgery, heart surgery or wearing that well identifying scarf or hat that says ''chemo''. What really touches my heart, and melts it every time is when you look at one of them, they smile at you. No matter how bad they're feelings or how much they may be hurting, their precious smile will melt your heart every time. And if you're like me, you give them your best smile back, and you say a little silent prayer at that moment for them. You know, I wonder when Jesus said what he did in Matthew 18, if He weren't seeing each and every one of these little angels.
Mt 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Mt 18:5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
Mt 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
I think every child is precious to our Lord, but I think that just maybe, the ones that are sick, the ones that are hurting, maybe are just a tiny bit more precious.
I ask you to say a prayer for each and every one of these children. You may not know them, but God does. And God does hear your prayer.
Until next time Willard and I wish you health and happiness, God bless and God save.

Any Christian knows that others are supposed to see the light of Jesus in us. And that's exactly what my husband Willard does. My son David has a stone in his gallbladder and will not be able to see a surgeon until November 5. When David went to the emergency room yesterday they gave him prescriptions for pain, nausea etc. Well David did not have the money to buy the prescriptions with, and asked us to help him out. Well Willard, went this morning to take David to the drugstore to get the medications. But first while he was waiting for David to come out of his apartment, he noticed three people outside of the apartment complex. He nodded at a woman and said hello. The woman asked Willard was he a preacher. He gets that question a lot from people. Willard told her no, that he did give Sunday school lessons at Golden Years Nursing Home. The woman said to Willard" I knew you were a Christian because I can see the light of Jesus shining in you''. Then another woman said she also could see Jesus all over Willard, and a man also agreed with the two women. Willard said that it meant a lot to him that these women and the man said what they did. You see, each one of us needs to know that we make a difference in this world. And I guess, God knowing that Willard has been going through so much lately with my cancer and such a heavy load on him. He needed to know that he was making a difference in this world. Through these women and the men, God has led Willard to know that yes indeed he is making a difference, and he is important to all people around him.
That's how every Christian should be. No matter where you are or what you're doing, every person around you should be seeing Jesus in you. If you truly have Jesus in your heart, and you truly are serving God with all your might, that light will shine through.

Mt 13:43

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Until next time,
Willard and I both wish you health and happiness, God bless and God save

If you remember, yesterday I called the devil a bully. And it is so true, some people call him the cosmic bully. He has been bullying ever since his fall from heaven. That's right, and the territory he terrorizes is the entire universe. He and his demons bullies each one of us every day. Anything from whispering in your ear, there is no God, God doesn't love you, Jesus is just a profit, there is no heaven etc. etc. Each time he whispers in my ear there is no God. I in turn tell him if there is no God there is no Satan, so get behind me Satan. Each time he tells me Jesus was just a normal man, or just a profit. I asked him why then are you so afraid of him ?  The devil is nothing but a liar and a bully.  Isaiah 41:11 part of the verse reads,  those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
Don't it make you feel good that God has you in his hand, and that He will protect you from those who wish you harm.
In Luke chapter 1, versus 10 – 42 we see where Satan even tried to bully Christ. You see, since Christ had been without food or water for so many days, old Satan thought Him weak. So Satan decided to bully Christ into temptation.
There's a lot of bullying going on in our world, on job sites, in our schools, in our military and the list goes on and on. What the bullies don't seem to understand is that when you bully someone, it is like murdering them. The reason being you changed that person mentally so dramatically that they can't be who they are or who they may have become. I was bullied at school myself, and know very well what it does to our mental status. It's something that remains with you the rest of your life. One's self esteem is destroyed, there's no getting it back. A bullied person normally lives their lives with very low self-esteem. Many have an empty hole that they never can fill. Some overeat and become obese, some do drugs or alcohol, trying to fill that hole with something.
I want Each and every bully that should read this blog to know this – that when you bully for what ever reason you do it. God sees it as murder, and well He should! 1st John 3:15 states
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
When you bully, you are in a sense a follower of Satan himself, because you are doing just what he wants you to. Think about it, and pray about it.
Until next time, Willard and I wish you health and happiness, God bless and God save.

Dang it, Dang it, Dang it. Sometimes I want to take that serpent they call satan and stomp the tar out of him.
I had a slight reaction to my chemo today, oh well, might as well tell the truth the Dr. did not think it was slight at all. I will go into the hospital the next time I have chemo, so they can give it at a much slower rate. They will tell me after that, whether I can continue in the chemo room, or continually get it at the hospital, or change my chemo. Ya know, just when I start climbing the hill, satan comes along and keeps trying to be the big bad bully, and he pushes me right back down the hill. But what satan doesn't know is that I have a life line that is fastened and secured to the Solid Rock. Jesus Christ the Solid Rock. You See, God may allow Satan to push me down the mountain. But he cannot push me off the mountain because as I said, I'm connected to the Solid Rock. And old satan pushed me down the mountain again today, and I may be bruised, and I may be battered, but I'm not beaten. I have plenty of fight left in me, so satan leave me alone, get behind me, in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior.
Philippians 4:13 –I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
I'm not saying that I don't get afraid at times, because I do, but when I reach to Jesus He helps. When I am weak, He gives me strength. And when I'm lonely, He gets someone to hug me. I know with all my heart and with all my being, that the love of Jesus surpasses anything we've ever known. Look what all He has done, look at all He is doing, and look what He will do.
Until next time, Willard and I both wish you health and happiness, God bless and God save.

Yesterday, I went to Chapel Hill to get magnesium. There was a lady sitting across from me who was getting her chemo, plus some magnesium. If you'll recall in a previous blog about percentages, I said, there has to be someone in that 2% or 3% or else they would not be percentages. The Mayo Clinic states that there's a 2% chance that anyone will develop serious problems with knee replacements. This lady was in that 2%. She being a nurse, knew all the signs to look for. She knew everything there needed to be known about how to take care of her surgical areas. And yet with everything seemingly on her side, she lost her leg to infection. She seemed as if she had adjusted well to her circumstance. She lost her leg in 2011, and has cancer too. I was impressed at her attitude. She too knows the Lord as her friend and as her Savior and Lord. She, like me has faith that God knows what he's doing, and there is a purpose behind it all.
You know, when God test us, Deuteronomy 13:3 for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. He often starts small and gradually makes the tests more difficult each time. I know, sometimes it seems that some people that God just smacks them down with tests so enormous it's hard to stand up to it. But no matter the test, whether small or large, God will never test us beyond our strength. And sometimes too we Christians see what seems to be the most evilest people in the world, never having to go through problems, or troubles of any kind. '''''''''''The devil already has them!'''''''''
In ancient times, many people thought problems and troubles were a sign that you had not been living as God wanted. And that anyone with problems or troubles were getting punished by God for their sinful deeds. In Job, Job's friends constantly accused him of sinning against God. But Job knew in his heart that he had served the Lord in righteousness. In fact Job stated to these men this.

Job 13:15

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
You see, Job knew that he had served the Lord to the best of his ability.
And that's truly the only thing that God wants of us. That we receive His Son, Jesus Christ, as

our Lord and Savior, and that we just do the best we can in serving Him.
Until next time, Willard and I both wish you health and happiness, God bless and God save.

Hope you will listen to this and realize that the time is growing short. Are you ready?

http://youtu.be/sG9Mjx-Ca-M

Until next time Willard and I both wish you Health and happiness. God bless and God save.