Well today is the last day of March....it has flown by as usual. Thinking on the Easter Week, today is called Spy Wednesday....did you know that. It is called that because this is the day when Judas got so disillusioned with seeing that Jesus was not going to overthrow the Roman rule there....which is what all the zealots were fighting for.....that he collaborated with the priests to betray Jesus. In that culture , the sign of loyalty,devotion and strong friendship was to kiss the person on the cheek....I think it still is practiced today....but just to think that Judas betrayed the Lord with that sign of loyalty is hard to imagine. I wonder at times how we betray the Lord without even realizing it. The way we treat others, the way we gripe and complain, the way we criticize and moan and groan about the least little thing! May this Easter season get past all the really great family celebrations, egg hunts, baskets, new clothes, gifts, etc.etc. and get right down into the deepest part of our spirit in deep humility and gratitude for the inexhaustible love of our Father God in making a way to be reconciled to Him through the sacrifice of His Beloved Son Jesus Christ. And may it grow stronger each and every day that lies ahead of us from now on so that we , unlike Judas, will not ever knowingly betray our Lord again. Times ahead are only going to get more trying I'm sure. There is a song we sing at times that has been running over and over in my head these last days and it is good sound , valueable, profitable advice. It goes something like this....
Where can I go when all around me is dark and drear, Who can I turn to when my heart is filled with fear, I go to the Rock of my Salvation, I go to the stone that the builder rejected, I run to the mountain and the mountain stands by me....When all around me is sinking sand...on Christ the Solid Rock I stand, When I need a shelter, When I need a friend, I go the the Rock!!! What a Friend we have in Jesus!!!

Good Morning....I hope it is a beautiful sun shiny day where you are like it is here. A beautiful day! Seems like this whole week I've been trying to picture just what was going on in our Savior's life during this time. Last night I was thinking about TODAY!.....Passover in the Holy Land....and Passover when Jesus was there. A holy day for the Jewish people, remembering their deliverance from Egypt, the sacrificial lamb, and the blood applied to the doorposts which kept the death of the first born from touching them. I pondered Jesus telling the deciples about the man they would see and tell that the Master had need of the upper room to celebrate the passover. He instructed them to prepare the room and the meal. I sort of imagined that( seeing as how Lazarus was raised from the dead just recently, and Jesus later had a meal with them( remember the Mary and Martha spirit) they may have traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the passover with the Lord as well might others have !! Mary Magdalene???? Jairus?????( his daughter raised from the dead) the Roman centurian whose servant was healed???? the woman with the issue of blood healed by just touching the hem of His garment???? ( I said I imagined!) It could well have been that there were more than just the deciples with Jesus celebrating Passover. Little did they know , that as they killed the Passover lamb for the meal, that their high priest would shortly fulfill that prophecy of a lamb being slain for the whole world.
Applying the blood to the doorpost (another thought)....the Bible tells us we overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of our testimony. What a wonderful day to consider the monumental , incomprehensible gift of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Every day of our life as we meet life's challenges, the enemy's tactics and mostly our own undisciplined flesh, we have His blood and our faith in His being the promised Messiah to overcome all obstacles. Remember He said....in this world you will have tribulation, but I have overcome the world. So,though we may not sit at a Passover meal per say.....we can still rejoice and praise Our Father God for the Precious Lamb of God. Happy Passover....Jesus is ALIVE!!!

Well, it's been two whole weeks since I've written anything. Seems like there's so much going on and time going too fast to boot. I've been trying to get back to what I feel the Lord laid on my heart back in September of 2009. There's so much to the story that it would take pages and pages....suffice it to say that I have been battling initiating an intercession effort in our area on behalf of our nation, the world, etc. I must confess that I'm a bit timid about all this , but one things for sure, we cannot turn away from what the Lord is wanting without suffering the consequences....which for me is not punishment, but the sorrow in knowing I am failing to be obedient. So....this morning I have put all my info in my documents and plan to print them out as soon as I get a printer..;...which I hope is not too far away. I am aware that there are not 10...not 5....maybe two at the most that visit this blog....but you know.....God is able to cause all things to come into alignment with His will and purposes. I am praying that the Lord will open the doors for the information He has led me prepare to reach those who will join in the effort of praying for our world. In the Old Testament.....over and over again.....His people went before Him and confessed....O Lord we have sinned against You and You only....Please hear our prayers, forgive us and return to us Your favor.....(MY interpretation). I think we need to do the same....we need to confess the sins of our nation, our government....and yes....our personal sins we hate to admit are really sin in God's sight. Oh God ....we have sinned....we have allowed the abortions of millions, and millions of infants, we have allowed the acceptance and condoning of homosexual marriages, we have failed to come to the defense of all those Christians being killed and persecuted all around us....we have failed to obey Your Word.LORD we have taken lightly our relationship with You and Your Word. We have failed to stand up to the education system when it teaches our children everything we know and beleive to be against You and Your Word. We have failed to be the light and the salt to our part of the world. We have embraced so much of what the world offers as entertainment...excusing and over looking....actually becoming immune to....the sin, lust and activities contrary to Your will for us in what they send over the airwaves. Lord , Please .....we humble ourselves before You, We seek Your face, We will turn from our wicked ways, We will pray not just now....but regularly...and we anticipate Your hearing our petitions and believe that You can and will heal our land IF we obey. Our God is an awesome God....plentous in mercy and loving kindness....His Promises are sure and we will see His Power when we turn to Him with our WHOLE HEART.

What a day this has been..... Services for my good friend Millicent were today. We had the privilidge of putting together two tables of some of her favorite things and pictures of the families. Everything from her favorite perfume...White Diamonds....her purple boa, jewelry she had made, great knick knacks etc. She loved fairies....so of course there were a couple of those as well. We also made a mock refrigerator out of poster board and with some metal behind it put all her inspirationsl sayings..magnets.. etc she kept on her fridge on it with the caption... Cool spot...warm heart. The service itself was just full of treasured shared times with Millicent from her family and friends. Much laughter....many tears....and a time of really paying tribute to a wonderful part of our lives. Millicent loved tea parties, and after the service there was a tea party like no other for the reception.....I'll wager that she was looking on with great satisfaction at the wonderful spirit present among all there......and there was a church full. What a gracious family she has and how she will be missed was very evident among all there. It makes me want to be a lot more like Millicent in these last years of my life.....if I can get into the swing of it all. One of the grandaughters had some words to say about her and made the remark " she always made me feel so important to her and so loved." That's what I want my family to know....how important they are to me.....how much they are loved and treasured. Millicent had so many little notes and inspirational quotes around her and there was one on a small tapestry that really impressed me. Her daughter gave it to me after the reception and I will treasure it always. But what I want most of all, instead of just reading it, I want it to be a reality every day of my life. I am sharing it now with you....hoping you will see great merit in its advice.
"ON THIS DAY...Mend a quarrel. Search out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion, and replace it with trust. Write a love letter. Share some treasure.
Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in a word or deed.
Keep a promise...find the time. Forego a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Listen.
Apologize if you were wrong. Try to understand. Flout envy. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Appreciate,be kind, be gentle. Laugh a little more. Deserve confidence. Take up arms against malice. Decry complacency. Express your gratitude. Worship God. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love.
Speak it again. Speak it still again. Speak it still ONCE AGAIN! What a world this would be......!!!! I'm pretty certain that whoever put this in this format knew the Bible pretty well....for Our Savior , Jesus exemplified these attributes in His life and it's His desire for us to have this kind of experience in life as well....for it surely is one that will bring great joy and blessings in the doing! Be inspired!!!!

This morning I received the news that my friend Millicent Shyne had passed over to be with the Lord. For the past couple of years she has been living with her daughter in Florida. It's hard to explain the emotions that envelope us during these times....sadness, relief, joy...and so much reflection. How blessed I have been to have Millicent as a friend. She impacted my life in ways I can't convey appropriately for they are so many. My daughter Kathy worked for Millicent when she was in high school, and that was sort of the beginning of our becoming friends. Howbeit, we purchased our first home through Joe Shyne upon our arrival in Alamogordo in 1965. Millicent was Serbian in nationality and personality. Vibrant, passionate about life, generous, artistic, a real bookworm, energetic, courageous, magnanimous, honest ,candid, entertaining...etc.etc. Millicent loved to entertain...her parties were beyond portraying. She came up with; games, (hilarious,amuseing) as well as treasured prizes. I doubt there will ever be anyone like her again. She embraced me and my family and early on in our friendship encouraged me to get my real estate license. She not only encouraged others to excel and explore unthought of avenues in their life, but she helped in the process, bringing instructive books etc. to aid the process. Her love of books, music and art brought a greater appreciation of things,( before her presence in my life) I probably never would have encountered otherwise. Millicent always made one feel better ,happier, invinceable sort of, after being with her. The numerous lunches, parties, gifts, words of wisdom,phone calls, and heart to heart , woman to woman sharing blessed and continues to bless my life. She has impacted not only my life, my family's lives, but the community's and uncountable other lives along her journey of life. Although we were expecting to hear of her passing eventually, the news still brought a sadness and a longing that her presence could have continued all the days of our lives. I think this is one reason I so appreciate and cling to my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, for Iknow beyond a shadow of a doubt that Millicent is now in that great cloud of witnesses. Though some theologians might take issue with my interpretation of that, I believe that my loved ones who have gone before us, having accepted the Saviour, are cheering us on from that heavenly home. My prayer for all who may read this is that you may experience the delight and joy of having a Millicent Shyne in your life and appreciate the blessing of true friendship.