Alone with kids ... Psalms 55:22 ... thanks Ramey!

I WISH YOU ENOUGH, GOD BLESS YOU This was written by a Metro Denver Hospice Physician: I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter and die - I barely managed to coast , cursing, into a gas station, glad only that I would not be blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck. It wouldn't even turn over. Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the quickie mart building, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump, so I got out to see if she was okay When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95. I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying 'I don't want my kids to see me crying! ,' so we stood on the other side of the pump from her car. She said she was driving to California and that things were very hard for her right now. So I asked, 'And you were praying?' That made her back away from me a little, but I assured her I was not a crazy person and said, 'He heard you, and He sent me.' I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she could fill up her car completely, and while it was fueling, walked to the next door McDonald's and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the car, who attacked it like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little. She told me her name, and that she lived in Kansas City . Her boyfriend left 2 months ago and she had not been able to make ends meet. She knew she wouldn't have money to pay rent Jan. 1, and finally, in desperation, had called her parents, with whom she had not spok en in about 5 years. They lived in California and said she could come live with them and try to get on her feet there. So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they were going to California for Christmas, but not that they were going to live there. I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road. As I was walking over to my car, she said, 'So, are you like an angel or something?' This definitely made me cry. I said, 'Sweetie, at this time of year angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people.' It was so incredible to be a part of someone else's miracle. And of course, you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no problem. I'll put it in the shop tomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanic won't find anything wrong Sometimes the angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter of their wings.... Psalms 55:22 ' Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved' My instructions were to pick four people that I wanted God to bless, especially for the month left in 2011, and I picked you. Please pass this to four people you want to be blessed and a copy back to me.. Here is the prayer: 'Father, I ask You to bless my children, grandchildren, friends, relatives and email buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask You to minister to their spirit this very moment. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self doubt, release a renewed confidence through Your grace, In Jesus' precious name. Amen.' I know I picked more than four -- you can, too. 'Friends are God's way of taking care of us.' Psalm 55:22 --- . "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. " Proverbs 3, 5-6 =

... Night before Christmas Poem ... Thanks Ramey!

                        TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.
THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
'SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.'

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, 'CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.'

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
'MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,!
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.'

This poem was written by a Marine.
The following is his request. I think it is reasonable.....

PLEASE Would you do me the kind favor of sending
this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and
some credit is due to our U.S. service men,women, and Canadian Forces
for our being able to celebrate these festivities.

Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we
owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. Please,
do your small part to plant this small seed
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Silk Roads ... Thanks Dawood Kahn aka Dave Kaelin!

Silk Roads and Siamese Smiles

• THE JOURNEY SO FAR…
 
• ARCHIVES
 
• RSS FEED

INDIANA HOOSIERS, KENTUCKY BASKETBALL, NBA DRAFT, REX CHAPMAN,TERRENCE JONES

Terrence Jones @ IU & Ubiquitous Whining plus Haters

In Sports, Stupidity, thinking out loud, UK Basketball on December 16, 2011 at 6:34 pm

I’m tired of hearing people whine about Terrence Jones and the criticism thereof.  The guy is supposed to be a leader and an All America Candidate.  He made statements that he came back to win a Championship.  He told the world that he was more mature and ready to be a leader.

A leader isn’t out at 2 AM the night before a game.  A leader doesn’t flee the scene in an attempt to hide from Coach Cal.  A leader doesn’t disappear in one of the biggest games on one of the biggest stages of the year.

That’s hard.  Yeah, it is.  Tough!  That’s life.  Cry me a river.

America has kids in the eastern Afghanistan who are doing some heavy lifting.  That’s difficulty.  That’s a challenge.  Those are warriors.  Those guy have it hard.  Some of those guys actually do give all.

When Terrence Jones has the enemy firing their RPGs and AK-47s at him from the moment he exits his front door to the moment he re-enters.  When he has to run to a bunker at 4 AM because the Taliban are shooting rockets or mortars at his base camp, then I’ll see something in these complaints.

That isn’t going to happen.  Jones, like all UK basketball players, leads a pampered life.  Most of these kids are heading to the NBA to be paid Millions to PLAY a game.  YES!  They’re going to be paid Millions to play.  A GAME!  The kid won’t actually work a day in his life.  His hands will never get dirty.  Some people got it like that.  The only way Jones will get dirty hands is if he decides to pot a plant to hang on the deck of his multimillion dollar home in 2 or 3 years.

I’m not hatin’.  More power to ‘em.  Some people got it like that and it’s likely that Jones will have it like that.  Good for him.  Just don’t expect me to cry for him when he faces a few “challenges” along the way.  Especially when those challenges are self created/self imposed.

The rest of the UK Basketball players.  The ones who do not make it to the NBA are going to get a free ride through College to a degree of their choice.  Well, if they’re smart, they get a degree.  They’ll be guided through life in ways that 99% of the rest of the kids at University will not be guided.  These UK Ballers will have a leg up on most for the rest of their lives.  That’s just the way it is.  If they don’t take advantage of it, that’s on them.  Still, they’ll have opportunities that most Kentucky Degree graduates will never have.

I don’t want to hear the whining.

They face scrutiny.  More scrutiny than most.  Yet, if they work hard, that scrutiny pays off in spades.  In diamonds and gold.  Unless they’re an idiot like Antoine Walker and they squander it all away on nonsense and a gold diggin’ Posse. (How the hell do you spend your way through 110Million Dollars in a decade?  One has to be incredibly stupid to accomplish this.)

Back to the present.  Terrence Jones had a bad game.  He had an atrocious game.  Terrible.  Everyone agrees on that.  However, no one would have been all that bothered by it IF Jones had actually been putting forth EFFORT.  I watched that game.  Jones had a look that I recognized fully.  It was the same look that Tubby Smith had in his last year at UK.  The infamous Tubby Thousand Yard Stare.  It looked like the kid was anywhere but Bloomington and in the game.  Jones wasn’t there.  I don’t know where he was, but, he wasn’t at the game.  Period.  An All America Candidate can not afford a game like that.  An All America Candidate who wants to be a Lottery Pick in the NBA next year definitely can not afford an “effort” like that.

I thought I’d seen the last of the Tubby Stare when TLT fled to Minnesota to be a Golden Goofer.  Guess not.

It was partially because of that lack of effort on the part of Jones that UK lost that game.  Not all of the blame goes to Jones.  Some credit has to go to Crean and the Hoosier kids.  Which brings me to this:

Congratulations to Indiana?  Hell No!  It’s not because I hate the IU kids.  I don’t even dislike them.  Though, Corey Zeller is a goofy lookin’ SOB.  I just don’t like IU.  I don’t like all that Red and Cream.  There’s no congratulations to IU for beating UK.  That would have been like congratulating Pakistan for obtaining Nukes (metaphorically speaking, of course).  Indiana is evil and full of hypocrisy.  I hate that they defeated UK.  I hate it even more so because they shouldn’t have beat UK.  Not this year.  Not any year that UK has this much talent. 

There’s the rub.  All that talent on the UK roster.  Coach Cal coaching.   And the biggest star of the 2011 team takes the night off.  No way IU beats UK if Terrence Jones comes out and plays like HALF of the All America Candidate that he can be.  If MKG, a Frosh, can bring it to that game, there is absolutely no reason that Terrence Jones can not bring it in that game.

I know folks who know Terrence Jones.  I’ve heard things about the kid.  It’s nothing too bad.  Just stupid things that he does.  Like being up late the night before big games.  Then he comes out and plays poorly in those games.  Stupidity is ok for normal people in normal situations.  Terrence Jones is not a normal kid in a normal situation.  He’s an Elite Basketball Talent at the University of Kentucky.  He plays Basketball at a premier College Basketball Program.  He wants to make the jump to the Pros and he want to do so in Elite Fashion.  He wants to be a Lottery Pick.

If he wants to meet these goals, he can’t be a normal kid.  That’s the way it is.  If Terrence Jones wants to be a normal kid, then he should transfer from UK and go play at Murray State or UofL.  He should give up his NBA dreams.

Then he can be a normal kid and stay up until 2 AM on the night before a meaningless game about which only 2,000 people give a damn.

However, Terrence Jones isn’t a normal kid.  He doesn’t have to be a normal kid.  He’s got a talent for the ball.  He possesses a talent for a sport that can help him reach dreams unattainable by 99% of humanity.  If he puts forth an effort for 3 more months that matches his talent, he’ll attain those dreams and he’ll be a Sports Hero.

If he doesn’t, he may end up with Josh Selby or any one of dozens of other Elite College Talents who for a myriad of reasons couldn’t or wouldn’t make the Big Stage.

That’s just life.

And hey, if he doesn’t make it in the NBA, he’s always got Europe Ball.  If that don’t work out, there’s still some work to do in the Eastern Afghan Theater of Operations.

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Macy's letting men use womens' dressing rooms

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Another Macy's store lets men to use women's dressing rooms "...a pervasive problem within the Macy's store system." December 15, 2011 Dear Sam, After firing an employee for refusing to let a man use a women's dressing room in a Texas Macy's store, another employee has come forward to expose the company's policy that endangers women and girls. Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, told OneNewsNow that an employee of another store has told him she has persistent problems keeping men out of the women's fitting room. "She says that mothers of young daughters come up to her periodically and ask her to keep the men from going into the women's fitting rooms," the attorney reports. "So this apparently is a pervasive problem within the Macy's store system." Macy's has a dangerous homosexual-friendly policy that allows men to use women's rooms, essentially opening women's dressing rooms to every man. TAKE ACTION Email Macy's President Terry Lundgren and urge him to immediately put safeguards in place to protect women customers from men who would enter their dressing areas. IMPORTANT! Personally call Macy's headquarters at 513-579-7000 and express your outrage at this injustice to female employees and customers. Other numbers to call: Jim Sluzewski, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications - 513-579-7764 Macy's Media Relations - Julie Strider, 646-429-5213 Email Macy's President Terry Lundgren Now! It is very important that you forward this alert to your friends and family members. Sincerely, Tim Wildmon, President American Family Association Help us Financially Donate Online to AFA One-Time Monthly Text the letters "AFA" to 20222 to give $10 Standard messaging rates may apply.

Action Link * http://secure.afa.net/afa/activism/TakeAction.asp?id=415

This e-mail message was sent to skegley@columbus.rr.com. Sam signed up to receive e-mail from AFA. Unsubscribe from our List | Change your E-mail Address Add us to your address book for prompt e-mail delivery. Learn how to do that on our website. American Family Association | P O Drawer 2440 | Tupelo, MS 38803 | 1-662-844-5036 Copyright © 2011 American Family Association. All Rights Reserved

Worth repeating ... Thanks Bob John Looney!

Always Say A Prayer" ie: ASAP...............AMEN!!!

Please do not break. Just 32 words,

"God, our Father, If it is your will, walk through my house and take
away all my worries and illnesses and please watch over and heal my family
in Jesus name, Amen."


This prayer is so powerful. Pass this to 12 people including me. Do not
break or ask questions. Does God come first in your life? If so, stop what
you are doing & send it to 12 people now.

Pray American citizens and vote in November 2012!

When we get 100,000,000, that's one hundred million willing Christians to BOND together, voice their concerns and vote, we can take back America with God's help, Become one of the One hundred million, then lets get 200 million. It can be done by sending this email to your friends. Do the math. It only takes a willing heart and a fed up soul. God Bless America and Shine your light on Her..

In 1952 President Truman established one day a year as a " National Day of Prayer ." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In 1988 President Reagan designated the First Thursday in May of each year as the National Day of Prayer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In June 2007 (then) Presidential Candidate Barack Obama declared that the USA "Was no longer a Christian nation." --------------------------------------------------------------- This year President Obama canceled the 21st annual National Day of Prayer ceremony at the White House under the ruse Of "not wanting to offend anyone" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BUT.. on September 25, 2009 from 4 AM until 7 PM, a National Day of Prayer FOR THE MUSLIM RELIGION was Held on Capitol Hill, Beside the White House. There were over 50,000 Muslims in D.C. that day. HE PRAYS WITH THE MUSLIMS! I guess it Doesn't matter if "Christians" Are offended by this event - We obviously Don't count as "anyone" Anymore. The direction this country is headed should strike fear in the heart of every Christian, especially knowing that the Muslim religion believes that if Christians cannot be converted, they should be annihilated. This is not a Rumor - Go to the website To confirm this info: http://www.islamoncapitolhill.com/; Send this to ten people and the person who sent it to you!... to let them know that indeed, it was sent out to many more.

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-- Thank you, I invite you to read my book, "From Tyranny To Freedom". (Tate Publishing) Available from Amazon.com Dr. John Vandenberge jvdrjvand10@gmail.com