Serious.Life Magazine - Issue 6 - April 2009

SPIRIT | MONEY | FAMILY | HEALTH | Special Sections: ADOPTION | SCIENCE ISSUE 6

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Saturday, April 18th

Time: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

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inside features inside features 92 editor editor readers.talk readers.talk serious.life serious.photos serious.life 100 serious.spirit serious.money serious.phot serious.family your comments serious.spiri 110 serious.extras serious.mon serious.health serious.fami your comme serious.extra

14 serious.photos

Great photos and captions submitted by our readers.

34 dear.brent

Brent answers a question submitted by a reader

36 serious.reviews

Honest reviews of products, services, blogs & more

Creationism

Darwin got his whole birthday month last month, so we thought we would balance it with some Genesis truth.

38 serious.spirit

Spiritual growth, answers to life and personal maturity.

58 serious.money

Personal finances and good money management.

62 serious.health

Sergei Golovin

Ukrainian geophysicist and creation warrior.

Healthy eating, healthy living.

66 serious.family

Great families, great relationships and great stuff about living life!

88 your comments

Interesting comments, feedback and posts from our blogs.

120 serious.extras

All sorts of great stuff, different topics, humor and your blog content.

Living Faith: Wesley Brainard

We interview Wesley and find out how we can mime him as he mimes Jesus Christ.

Are you a writer or photographer?

We are always looking for people who want to contribute high quality content and photos to the magazine. Shoot me an email if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re interested: editor@seriouslifemagazine.com

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A LETTER FROM THE

One Million!

We surpassed one million page views for the 5th issue (March 2009)! Not bad for five issues, huh? Thanks to YOU!

The serious pursuit of a fulfilling, contented and happy life.

Publisher Tulsa Design Works, Inc

Editor-in-Chief/Designer Brent Riggs Copy & Proofreading Carolyn Hill Terri Williams

Contributing Writers Steve Cummins John Barnett Jim Nienhuis Brittany Claire Laurel Diacogiannis James Nienhuis jill Samter

Cover Photo Cactus Cuties

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Editor editor@seriouslifemagazine.com

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Serious.Life.Magazine© is published monthly.

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Life.Magazine© do not necessarily represent the editorial position of the publisher.

You’ll notice the serious.photo spreads just keep growing as one of the favorite parts of the issue. It’s amazing how many really good amateur photographers there are. With the availability of great cameras that are easy to use, people are free to be creative without having to know all the technical ins-and-outs. This irks some professionals, but I just see it as a challenge to get even better at my own picture taking.

Do I hear “two million” anyone?

LIVING A

Brent Riggs

Editor-In-Chief

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We are always on the look out for great articles and we love suggestions from the readers. You guys know a LOT of people who have a LOT of fantastic, interesting stories. We are lining up features for the rest of the year. Give us a holler and let us know about a family, person or group that deserves to have their story told.

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The serious pursuit of a fulfilling, contented and happy life.

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Cover Design Brent Riggs

We continue to develop new ways for more and more bloggers, writers and photographers participate in the magazine. That’s what makes all this really fun. It’s not just about THIS magazine... we are creating a publication that benefits everyone involved while giving the readers great content, fantastic photos and lots of great stuff to look forward too.

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Book Preview:

It’s Your Choice

A Happy & God Honoring MARRIAGE

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MARCH 2009

Chapter 7 - Always Honor Your Spouse

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Always honor your spouse.

There is the positive aspect of honoring your spouse, and there is the negative aspect of what you must refrain from doing as you carry out your commitment to always honor your spouse. These will be discussed separately.

I believe that much of the tension that comes from the battle over the Ephesians Chapter 5 instructions and the God-proclaimed roles for husbands and wives is total nonsense. By the point that you are asserting those verses to your spouse, you two are well beyond the obedience zone.

A very simple fact is this. The husband cannot be the head of a happy marriage if the wife is “submitting” to him only because of forced subservience or because of a husband’s demand of allegiance. Similarly, if the wife has affirmative intentions to disregard the husbands thoughts and requests, whether by direct challenge or by manipulation, there cannot be an atmosphere of peace in the relationship.

If you and your spouse are engaged in a continuing “king of the mountain” struggle, then there is little hope for a truly

happy marriage.

At the very start of your marriage you should make the commitments listed in Chapter 6. In fact, these are the types of commitments that should be repeated and expressed openly in the presence of your children as they are growing up so that your children will be happily secure in the stability and commitment of their parents’ marriage, and so that your children will understand the reality of the inviolate commitments involved in marriage.

HONORING YOUR SPOUSE (THE DO’S)

Years ago I made a decision that I was going to try to use a positive or complimentary adjective to attach to the name of my precious wife and to the names of my dear children whenever I would say their names in conversation with others. I decided that in this simple way I would have a vehicle to regularly express to others how I honor my family members and also I would have a very regular reminder to myself about how wonderful “my three girls” are. Whether I am speaking to a clerk in a store, a waitress, a person in business, or anyone else, I try to say something like “my precious wife” instead of saying “my wife.” Or I may say “my

beautiful Pam.” I do not add a positive adjective absolutely every time that I mention her name. But I can safely say that a very high majority of the time I do so. After years of following this simple practice I can absolutely say that attaching a positive adjective to the name of your spouse when speaking to others is a significant enhancer of the marriage relationship. I know how it affects me daily, and I know that it is a regular and powerful statement to my wife and to others about the high esteem I have for my dear wife.

Honoring your spouse to others includes other aspects of communication. Just as the terrible act of putting your spouse down to others damages the relationship, so your positive actions and words to express honor of your spouse will enhance your marriage.

Do not be ashamed for others to know that your love your spouse and that your spouse is the most important person to you in the entire world. Be sure that you have a picture of your spouse as the first picture in your billfold.

Make certain that you have a picture of your spouse on your dresser at home and on your desk or station at work. These pictures give you the blessing of a constant reminder of your spouse. They also give you a reminder to be thinking about

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precious wife.”

When is the last time you planned specific words of honor, praise or appreciation for you to express to your spouse the next time you are alone? You like to receive compliments, so compliment your spouse. You like to receive praise, so praise your spouse.

You like to be thanked and appreciated so show and express your appreciation to your spouse.

When you are with your spouse be sure that your words, actions, expressions and your nonverbal communications all express honor and respect for your spouse. Instead of taking your spouse for granted, your spouse must remain as the most important person in the world to you.

Think of the most famous and acclaimed person you know of.

Think of how you would honor that person. Then make sure that your honor your spouse even more so.

This principle of honoring your spouse to others is not anything terribly profound. It will only happen, however, if you CHOOSE to do it, and then you carry through. DO IT! Remember . . . always, always, always honor and affirm your spouse when he or she is mentioned or discussed with others as well as when you interact with your spouse. ~

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and praying for your spouse throughout the day. They also are a tangible statement to your spouse that you are happy to show the world that you belong to your spouse and that you have no reservation or embarrassment about others seeing and knowing that you are in love. The display of pictures of your spouse also has an impact on others. When others see those photographs they will develop the proper understanding of you as a happily married person and they will not have incorrect or harmful expectations for or about you.

When someone request that you participate in something that conflicts with your plans to do something with your spouse, take the opportunity to honor your spouse and your marriage.

Instead of simply declining, or answering generally that you have other plans, say something like, “That sounds great, but I already have that time reserved to go on a walk with the most important person in my life, my

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Bethany Baptist Church Uganda mission trip.

Cheryl & Brian hrhrbabymonkeytoe.blogspot.com

for their Dad to get home.

Kim & John Hawkins www.kbhawkins.blogspot

Abbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wall of Love

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Missy and Maggie waiting

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serious.life serious.photos serious.spirit serious.money serious.family your comments serious.extras serious.health The OB Pier, in San Diego, Ca.

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vernswifevickie.blogspot.com

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Butterfly Kisses Darcy Miller

Kisses From A

Dad in Uniform

Kara Nicholson

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serious.life serious.photos serious.spirit serious.money serious.family your comments serious.extras serious.health Purple tongues

for Abby

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Angel

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Colored tongues for Abby all the way from Slovakia - Jarka & Martin

A New Arrival

www.kempphotosite.com www.knitbasics.blogspot.com

serious.life serious.photos serious.spirit serious.money Submit your photos online here: serious.family www.seriouslifemagazine.com/photos your comments serious.extras serious.health

W E WA N T T O P U B L I S H Y O U R G R E AT P H O T O S

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We want to show everyone your great pics!

Send us your best photos along with a caption, and every month, we will publish some of them for everyone to enjoy.

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Wordless Parenting - Lisa-Jo Baker www.lisajosbakerboys.blogspot.com

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Sophie Sends Kisses to All Kristen DePriest

Brent Riggs

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Sami Tina Turner & SpideyLandis

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serious.life serious.photos serious.spirit serious.money serious.family your comments serious.extras serious.health Kisses from Katie

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Kristen Lee

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Bathtime Bubble Kisses Sara Marble

Graceful tongue?

Jenifer

serious.life serious.photos serious.spirit serious.money serious.family your comments serious.extras serious.health Nany Nany Boo Boo!!!!

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Gina Stancel, Pet Photographer

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Purple tongues are cool!

Elizabeth, Ali & Spencer

Purple is in!

Jaclyn

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Linda Wilkinson stalkedbygod.com

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Baptism.

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Eian, just your typical 17 month old.

Dawn Jolly - www.mamamonkmee.blogspot.com

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Monkey Tongue

hugging his daughter after the deployment ceremony. Sept. 2008 Michelle Mann

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Cpt. Phillip G. Mann

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serious.life serious.photos serious.spirit serious.money serious.family your comments serious.extras serious.health Pooch’s Smooches

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Heather Burnette - thebs-2003.blogspot.com

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Mid-summer in Esperence, Wa Tara justonemomentinforever.blogspot.com

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gigglengrin.blogspot.com

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Success!

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The 3 amigos...

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brother and sisters forever! lisa-lisasfamily. blogspot.com

Asking for food on the streets of Ethiopia for her little sister.

Nikki Cochrane ethiopia2009-adana.blogspot.com

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Bethany A springraine. blogspot.com

Spring Peeks Through

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serious.life serious.photos serious.spirit serious.money serious.family your comments serious.extras serious.health Jackson Praying

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MARCH 2009

Josh Mayfield

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Love at first sight. Joshua meeting his baby sister Molly. oliviaandjoshua@yahoo.com

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Amy Weagley

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Lizzy

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serious.extras dear.brent serious.reviews

Dear Brent,

I would appreciate your thoughts on “Rejection”. One of the young men in prison I visit has a hard time as his mother kicked him out at 12 and his step-father told him how stupid he is, etc. He asked me about it. He is a new believer.

A Blog Reader

I’m glad he’s a Believer because it makes this much easier. Not “easy” but “easier” than if he was a not saved. For the unsaved person, the answer is still the same, but it won’t make sense.

Rejection is probably the toughest of all human experience. Here are some things I want our young Brother to know:

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MARCH 2009

His Savior was Rejected

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The Savior of mankind, the Creator of the Universe, the sinless perfect Lamb of God was not only rejected by the religious leaders, He was rejected by His home town, His closest friends and His entire family.

Our new Brother needs to understand that His Savior knows FULL WELL what rejection feels like and there has never been one moment that Jesus has ever quit caring about any rejection we have ever suffered.

As a Christian, You’ll Be Rejected by the World

Christians will experience rejection because of their faith. Family, friends, employers and society will reject us DURING THIS LIFETIME but an entire

What is your question for Brent?

Send it to: dearbrent@

seriouslifemagazine.com

eternity of heavenly acceptance awaits us.

It is important to be honest about this. We will experience insult, taunting, persecution, rejection and even physical harm in this life. But God sees ALL, and our reward for suffering for our faith will be repaid a million times a million times a million in Heaven.

God Never Rejects

God will NEVER reject you. You are adopted into His family now and you are His child, and He is your Father. Rejection of His children is not in His vocabulary. You can rest, safe and secure, that rejection from your Father will never happen again.

We Don’t Reject You

Your new Christian family does not reject you. It does not matter what your

background is, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done or who you WERE. You are a Christian now, and we are your family.

Your Rejection Can Now Be Used For Good

God wants you to take your understanding of REJECTION and use it to have sympathy and love for others who have been rejected. You can comfort, advise and be an example for others who have experienced painful rejection by family, parents and friends.

To close, I want to encourage those who have been rejected: MOVE ON. Don’t be a victim. Don’t live in the past. The Bible tells us to PRESS ON, FORGET THE PAST and LOOK TO CHRIST (Phil 3:13-14). ~

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dear.brent serious.reviews Want serious, honest reviews of products and services? I personally review, read, use, test, etc. the products, services or blogs and give you an honest opinion that you can trust. I tell the owners that good or bad, I’ll tell our readers the truth. Yes, they pay for this review, but they are NOT “buying a guaranteed positive recommendation”. If I tell you I like it, it’s because I do, and I’ve taken the needed time to come to that opinion. I give each a rating of 1 to 5 “diamonds” ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

TASER®C2 Personal Protector - www.Readyaim.com My wife tells me how scary it is just walking through a parking garage late at night with one of our children. We’ve thought about carry-n-conceal, mace, etc but either she was not comfortable with that, or we didn’t think it would be enough deterrent.

The TASER®C2 was the perfect answer. It is small enough to carry in a person, pocket or diaper bag. It’s incredibly easy to use. It even looks cool, if that matters to you. We ordered the blue one in the picture. It comes with a training “shot” so you can actually experience firing it. If you do have to use it, you simply replace the cartridge and you’re ready to go.

• Quality: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ • Ease of use: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ • Appearance: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ • Price: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ • Pros: Attractive, effective, compact, easy to learn and use • Cons: Needs a “teenager” cartridge to help you get their bedrooms clean!

• www.readyaim.com

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MARCH 2009

“Your Forever Family” by Amy Parker

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Amy Parker wrote a children’s book dedicated to her daughter.

About 30 pages long, and brightly colored, it is full of sweet sentiment related to the adoption of her daughter, her childhood and what the future holds for her.

The book is large and colorful. The illustrations are appropriate and fun for children, although the artwork of the humans is a bit odd, stuck somewhere between carton and realistic. On some pages it is distracting. The other art is clean and fun though. The most negative thing about the book is the hot pink, casual typeface that is almost unreadable on some pages. A nice story for children overall.

• Quality: ◊ ◊ • Ease of use: ◊ ◊ (readability) • Appearance: ◊ ◊ • Price: ◊ ◊ • Pros: Brightly colored, big pages, heartwarming content.

• Cons: Hot pink typeface, distracting illustrations of human characters.

• http://www.amazon.com/Your-Forever-Family-Amy-Parker/dp/0981590446

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They both work from home part time, but there has never been a time when either of them were unresponsive or slow in delivery. They work hard, deliver high quality, get things back in a timely manner and charge a fair price. If you need someone to edit a writing project or proof any kind of content, you can’t wrong with Carolyn or Terri. (Note: they do not proof “blog content” that we publish in Serious.Life. We publish “as is” to retain the personality of the blog author. So don’t hold them responsible for unedited content in this publication.)

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salms 14: 1 The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. In keeping with our Creationism/Genesis feature stories this month, I wanted to include an answer to the most basic of questions: Does God exist?

Does God exist? This is one of the most asked, most wondered about and generally most poorly answered questions in all of history.

Could you answer someone today if they asked you?

The most common answer is “well, you just have to believe by faith. You can’t really know for sure”.

You’ve never seen God. You can’t touch God. You can’t “prove” God

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exists. So if you can’t “prove” it, then you can’t expect people to “blindly” believe in God. So everyone is left to “believe or not believe” that God exists; whatever you feel like without rhyme or reason.

Isa 44.6 Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.” What if you could show that God exists as surely as you could prove, say, the fact that George Washington was President? What if you could demonstrate God exists 100 times more convincingly than the fact that Alexander the Great was a conqueror or that Egypt had Pharaohs?

1. Was Napoleon Bonaparte a French dictator?

2. Was Plato a philosopher?

3. Was Abraham Lincoln president?

4. Were you really born in the town you say?

5. How can you prove wind exists?

6. Are there atoms?

7. Was there really a Holocaust?

8. Does God exist?

Why does a person without hesitation believe there is a simple and irrefutable answer to the first seven questions? Anyone who would disagree with the obvious answer to those questions would be considered either deceived, deranged, stupid, or a liar.

How can you be so absolutely sure of the first seven answers?

They can’t be scientifically proven.

The true nature of science is the ability to repeat and demonstrate

SPONSORED BY: something while observing and recording it. You cannot “scientifically prove” anything in history, any one-time occurrence, or anything else that cannot be reproduced at will. Most “scientific proof” today concerning our origins, creation, God, the Universe or a host of other “life” questions, is strictly theory presented as “science” to give it an air of authority.

Science deals with the tangible, repeatable and observable. How are other things “proved”?

Eternal Life for all mankind is the Good News of the Gospel and the reason we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter. Christ defeated death for all of us so, in faith, we live eternally with God the Father in Heaven.

But as Easter Sunday celebrates Christ’s rising from the dead and promise of Eternal Life, Good Friday marks perhaps the most evil day in the history of humanity; the day Man killed Christ, the Incarnate Son of God. I hate Good Friday.

I hate thinking about Good Friday. I hate the ugliness of my sin that is displayed on Good Friday. I hate what Christ had to endure on Good Friday.

Crucifixion is a horrendous death. As ones body weight hangs from outstretched arms tied or nailed to a crossbeam, the lungs cannot function and suffocation comes in agonizing minutes. The foot pedestal (or bound feet) on the cross allows one to painfully brace ones body weight enough to allow excruciating breaths that prolong the death process for agonizing hours.

Christ breathed his last …

“It is finished” (John 19:30) … before the Roman soldiers had to hasten death by breaking His legs with a club. It’s important we understand “It is finished” as a cry of victory, not despair, but the it is so difficult for me to feel

good about anything on Good Friday.

God’s perfect Eden for mankind was undone by Adam’s sin in the Garden, and because of that sin death came into the world (Genesis 3:22). Christ, God’s Son on the Cross, provided mankind with “forgiveness” – which means not the ignoring of our sin as the word is commonly misunderstood today, but the renewal of life.

Christ died for our sins, indeed, but our sins are not

I HATE THE UGLINESS OF MY SIN THAT IS DISPLAYED ON GOOD FRIDAY.

Blog: believerbob.blogspot.com

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the ultimate point. Christ died to defeat death itself, giving us eternal hope and communion with God. That’s the point.

As we contemplate the horror of Christ’s death on the cross, and the horror of our own sin which separated us from God, ask this question about the crucifixion: Why did Christ do that for us?

Those in faith have the answer: To remove that separation, so we can live forever, sinless, with Him, in Heaven.

God loves and values each of our lives that much, but Good Friday is still a rough deal. ~

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(continued next page)

By Bob Walters

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You have never seen or touched most of the subjects of those first seven questions.

Some of them have never been seen by anyone ever. You can’t recreate and demonstrate them at will. Yet their existence is not questioned.

Why? It is very common to hear “you CAN NOT prove God exists”, therefore God must not exist, or at least you can’t expect someone to believe it based on your “proof”. Really?

Have you ever contemplated what you can and cannot “prove”?

Remember, in this context, when people say you “can’t prove God exists” what they are saying is that you cannot produce something that will convince every person, even the most ardent atheist, to change their mind and be forced to agree with your conclusion. In reality, this can be accurately translated “I’m not going to believe you, no matter what proof you produce for God’s existence”.

Good Friday - One Really Hard Day

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SPONSORED BY: How can I possibly make that sort of generalization? I thought you would never ask. Using this line of reasoning (“you can’t prove God exists”), you can easily demonstrate the bias and ignorance of the argument. I would say to this person, “okay, I can’t prove God exists. You can’t prove...”

clearly and overwhelmingly says He does; it comes down to the predetermined answer to that question by a sinful and fallen human race.

The Bible says, God is Spirit, transcending human thought,

would not be transcendent and separate from His own creation.

outside the created order:

from His creation.

The CREATOR must, by default, be a certain degree “higher” and “separated”

WHY IS IT, THAT ONLY GOD, JESUS AND THE BIBLE REQUIRE 100% MATHEMATICAL, IRON-CLAD, INDISPUTABLE SCIENTIFIC PROOF THAT WILL CONVINCE EVERY SINGLE PERSON NO MATTER HOW IGNORANT, HOSTILE OR BIASED?

If we even possessed the ability to “prove” it, He

Evidence

There is historical, legal, scientific, social and logical evidence to answer these questions. The answers are sensible and supported with convincing evidence, so we believe them without question.

The amazing thing is that (continued next page)

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God exists outside of, and beyond our ability to “prove” it.

Man can no more “prove” (in the sense people expect) that God exists, than a house has the ability to “prove” its Builder exists. The Builder (creator of the house) must be a certain degree of intelligence above that which he has created. So God is transcendent of His creation and thus He Himself has to reveal His existence and nature to His finite creation... which He does without question. This fact does not diminish the persuasive evidence of God’s existence, it more fully confirms it.

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• John 4.24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.

• Isaiah 55.8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

• Hebrews 1.10 He also says, “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”

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• that the universe wasn’t created five minutes ago and that all our memories are just pre-programmed • that every other person around us really has a mind, they may be aliens, or robots • that the Atlantic ocean is not just an illusion that exists in our minds • that the Holocaust and Hitler ever happened and its not a hoax • that man ever went to the moon and the government isn’t cleverly fooling us “That’s ridiculous!” some would say. Why is it, that only God, Jesus and the Bible require 100% mathematical, iron-clad, indisputable scientific proof that will convince every single person no matter how ignorant, hostile or biased; before it is accepted that you can “prove God exists” in the same way you can prove that Plato existed or the American Revolution occurred?

The obvious aggressive bias is further demonstrated when the very same people will accept Evolution and almost every other religion, scientific theory or historical account as unquestioned fact; despite the total lack of genuine supporting evidence. So its not a question of whether or not “you can prove God exists”; the evidence

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SPONSORED BY: there is exponentially MORE historical, scientific, social and logical evidence that God exists; and yet that fact is questioned or ignored by the majority of the world.

Romans 1. 20-21 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Why would seemingly reasonable people ignore the overwhelming evidence

of God’s existence? Because examining the evidence requires us to make a decision about it. I will take you through some of the more simple and easy to understand types of evidence.

It is EVIDENCE that allows

of books could be written about the evidence of God’s existence. Over the next few days we will look at some of the more “simple” and easy to understand evidence (but none-the-less powerful and convincing).

us to believe the Vietnam War occurred, man walked on the moon, there is air, that atoms exist and that dinosaurs once roamed the earth. In the same manner, there is overwhelming evidence for God’s existence available to the sincerely searching heart. A mountain

Logical Evidence

WHY WOULD REASONABLE PEOPLE IGNORE THE EVIDENCE OF GOD’S EXISTENCE? • For every design there has to be a Designer. It is true 100% of the time in our existence, and yet when it comes to our Universe there are those who state that it just happened. (continued next page)

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• If there is no God, how did the very concept of Him ever come into thought? If we are the product of random chance, then even the very thoughts you have at this moment are the useless and insignificant results of the random mixing of chemicals in your brain and thus worthless.

• If we are a product of chance and time, there can be no right or wrong, and no person can be held responsible for what they have “evolved” into. Their thoughts, choices and behavior are nothing more than the random outcome of electrical impulses and chemicals in the brain that evolved randomly by chance.

• The existence of God provides the most logical and reasonable answer to several

of our most important “life” questions: o

o

o

o

Order. God provides the best explanation for abstract notions, such as numbers, formulas and properties.

Causation. God provides

the best explanation for the existence of the universe and all that is in it.

Design. God provides the best explanation for the complex order in cosmological and biological entities.

Morality. God provides

the best explanation for the existence of objective moral/ethical values in the world.

•

Human intelligence is

http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/sages/image_gallery/general/earth-space.jpg

MARCH 2009

It created itself. It came into being by accident and chance out of nothing. How absurd.

• Every moment precedes another moment, every action is a reaction to something before it.

Everything came from something that existed before it. Logically, this cannot proceed backwards into infinity. There has to be a beginning. That beginning has to be eternal and SELFEXISTING.. nothing proceeds it. Logic demands this to be true. It is denying the obvious to believe otherwise.

• Chance and evolution could not produce things that were not necessary for survival such as love, beauty, music, justice, honor, loyalty, compassion. If not instilled in us by a Creator, how could they come into existence?

SPONSORED BY: evidence of a Creator.

Where would the ability to rationalize, conceptualize, dream, or think abstractly ever possibly come from in a universe created by the chance arrangement of atoms?

Scientific Evidence

o If it were 10% larger or

smaller, life would cease.

o If it were a tiny bit closer,

or farther away from the Sun, life would cease.

o If the moon were a little

closer or farther away, life would cease to exist.

o If it were tilted at a

different angle, life would cease.

design and without it, life would cease. (blue sky, rain, erosion)

• The Human body is overwhelming evidence for God o The eye is infinitely

more complex than any instrument ever created.

o One human cell is more

complex than the entire industrial complex of the United States.

o The heart is the most

efficient, durable machine on earth.

o Bones are the envy of

structural engineering

o The brain of one man

(any man, no matter how simple or even damaged) is infinitely more powerful, more creative and more versatile than the total of all computing power ever created

o DNA is supreme evidence

for God existence. Think of DNA as the letters that make up a book of instructions. Without a God, chance and time would have had to...

• •

o Water in its exact current

form is absolutely essential to everything in life.

•

Assemble millions of them in the absolute correct order in billions of different instances which is a statistical absurdity Then, even if the letters were assembled, by

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slightly different, life would cease.

Create the letters and their meanings

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o If our atmosphere were

o Even dust has perfect

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Not only has science never disproved God’s existence, but the very ability to perform and understand science is overwhelming evidence for God (order, design, predictability, natural laws, reason, observation).

The infinitely complex nature of design in creation is ample evidence of a Designer. The Bible says that all creation cries out there is a God, and that no man has an excuse to not believe.

Psalm 1:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

The cosmological argument considers the fact that EVERY known thing in the universe has a cause. But what was the FIRST cause of existence?

Everything, no matter how simple, that shows design is immediately recognized as being created by a Designer (a toothpick, an arrowhead, a chair, a house, a factory).

One of the most proven and accepted scientific principles is the Second

Law of Thermodynamics, which states everything moves towards decay and disorganization. If there is no Designer, no Creator, how did the design that we see in creation come into existence when every scientist will tell you that all things decay and disorganize unless there is a power or force OUTSIDE of the decaying system that instills order and design into it?

As well, if the Universe was infinite, it would have logically decayed into its most basic elements long ago. All energy in the Universe would be burned out and used up if the Universe was infinite.

The fact that there are stars, galaxies and organization says that the universe had to have a beginning, and that it couldn’t have been very long ago.

• The design of the earth screams “Designer” (the teleological argument).

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•

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chance over time, in the perfect order...

Where did the ability to understand and read the language come from?

To demonstrate the power of this evidence concerning DNA, think of this... if you were to pick up a book in a language that you didn’t know, would it mean anything to you? No. Someone had to create the language, create the words, create the syntax and structure of the language, then develop all of this into a logical, predictable form of communication. And you would have to learn it, to understand it.

So even if DNA “letters” could by some ridiculous chance assemble themselves together in the right order, they still have no meaning unless someone higher than it designed the language to have meaning!

o What person would

ever read a book and not believe it had an intelligent Writer? DNA is infinitely more complex and perfectly “written” than any human book will ever be. Did it happen by chance? Only those who don’t WANT to believe in God would say yes.

That is just a taste of some logical and scientific evidence for God.

o Where we are going.

More Evidence

o Is there any meaning to

Let’s look at some more fascinating evidence of God’s existence. Remember that evidence comes in many forms: scientific, historical, sociological, logical, philosophical, etc. The fact that God exists is the reasonable and most obvious answer to all of life’s big questions.

• Throughout history, in all cultures of the world, people have been convinced there is a God. o Can evolution or chance

account for the fact that every culture has believed in God in some form? How would natural selection instill in man (and why not into animals, bugs or plants) a innate sense that God must exist?

o Reasonable answer:

because God does exist, He created us, and He instilled this innate knowledge into our beings.

• Mere time and chance don’t even begin to answer the complexities and issues of life. Time and chance can’t begin to answer: o The existence of life.

o Where love, emotion,

justice, morality, beauty and music came from.

o How we began.

o Why do we exist.

life.

o Reasonable answer: God

exists and has the answer to all these questions.

• Morality, justice and loyalty cannot begin to be explained in biological or chemical terms. The very fact that we can reason, conceptualize and think abstractly transcends what electrical impulses or chemical reactions in the brain can produce. It is obvious to all that man is different than animals; that our ability to think and reason and judge set us apart from simple biological life forms. We have a mind, a personality; a part of us that makes us unique from every other person that has ever existed. o Reasonable answer: God

created us with an eternal spirit that is separate from the physical body

• God has clearly revealed Himself in written form

o The Bible’s authenticity

and inspiration is undeniable (again, because of overwhelming EVIDENCE).

o This same Bible reveals

to us the character and nature of God.

o The Bible gives us clear

instructions on how we must respond to God.

SPONSORED BY: o Reasonable answer: God

exists and had revealed Himself to us through a written document called the Bible.

• Laws are proof of God. Everything in our existence conforms to laws of physics and society.

from NO mind.

o That intelligence was

created out of an absence of intelligence.

o Reasonable answer:

God does exist. These things cannot begin to be ‘proven”.

Ten Common Evidences

EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS MUST HAVE A REASON.

o Societies are governed by

laws.

o Businesses are governed

by laws.

o Every family, organization,

country and group are governed by laws, written and unwritten.

o Even “lawless” people

can’t exist outside of the laws of physics.

o What person doesn’t think

that ANY law HAD to be created by, and enacted by source of higher authority and/or intelligence?

govern the universe are specific, immutable and undeniable.... and yet there are those who believe they came into existence out of nothing.

o Reasonable answer: God

o This physical universe is

eternal and self existing.

o That life was created out

o That man’s conscience

Everything that exists must have a reason or cause that brought it into existence.

No one argues this (unless of course they are talking about the origin of life and the universe, then all logic goes out the door).

If everything must come from something that preceded it, then there must be something, or some ONE, who was first, with nothing existing before that. This entity must be eternal, must exist because of itself and be the originator of all that came after it.

Revelation 22.12-13 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

The “first” being must by default be more intelligent than its creation. It must be of a higher order and exist outside of its creation.

This “entity” is of course God, and makes perfect sense.

was “evolved” without an possible preconception of right and wrong or accountability.

o That purpose, order and

complexity appeared without any purpose, order or complexity being in existence before it.

o Reasonable answer:

God design, created and ordained all these things.

• The same person who states “you can’t prove God exists” cannot prove in the same manner that He DOESN”T exist. How can someone claim the only way they can believe in God is with “proof”, while choosing to NOT believe based on NO proof?

He would have to be able to prove: o God does not exist.

o All evidence for God’s

existence is incorrect.

o The Bible is not authentic. o All the prophecies of the

Bible are not true.

o That atheism is credible

and reasonable.

1 The Cosmological Argument

2 The Teleological Argument

The teleological argument considers that fact that all design must come from a Designer; that all law must be

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• To NOT believe in God, you would have to believe:

For God’s Existence.

with no need, conception or reason for morals.

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created those laws and instituted them outside of our control; which obviously they are.

o That morals were created

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o The laws of physics that

of non-life.

o The mind was created

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MARCH 2009

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originated with a Law-Giver; and all order must come from an intelligence and power that created that order.

Once again, no person looks at any design, law or obvious orderly system and believes that it just “happened”.

We always know intuitively that it come from some intelligence higher than itself... except when it comes to life and the universe. Then all logic goes out the window and some people believe it all just happened by chance!

The universe, and life, show almost infinite complexity (design); perfect order; and all creation is bound to the immutable laws of physics. The only logical conclusion is that God created it.

Romans 1.20-21 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

If you look at a toothpick, a deck of cards, a house, or the National Football League Rules & Regulations... you would never question the existence of a designer that created them.

How foolish to look at life; which is infinitely more complex and perfectly ordered; and question the existence of its Creator-Designer.

3 The Anthropological Argument

Despite today’s animal rights movement and earth worship religion; it is plainly obvious to all open eyes that humans are of a higher order than animals or plants.

How can Evolution, chance or time begin to explain the impassable chasm between the “smartest” of animals and the intelligence of man? Man can reason, think abstractly, conceptualize and be creative.

We have emotions for justice, honesty, loyalty, dignity, art, love and many others. With no possible “survival-of-thefittest” need, how would such emotions and thoughts ever come into existence?

What animal ever built hospital to care for the sick; laid a road; built a house or computer? What animal gives charity to the poor or sacrifices its life in service to others?

What animal communicates creative ideas or develops philosophy? What animal ever even asked the question “does God exist”?

The Bible says “God formed the spirit of man within him”.

And “the body returns to dust but the spirit returns to God who gave it (Zech.12.1)”. The fact that man exists, and is of a higher order than the rest of creation, is powerful evidence for God’s existence.

4 The Ontological Argument

The Ontological argument comes in many forms but basically is this: the very fact that we can conceive of God,

means that He exists.

By default, man can’t conceive of something that has never existed in some form.

Our thoughts and ideas may be a compilation of a thousand other thoughts, sights and experiences, but you cannot think of something that does not truly exist, whether in whole or parts.

All societies have sought out the existence of God, or a higher intelligence apart from us. Where did that universal desire come from? It could not have evolved by time and chance, there is no “need” for it biologically or chemically.

Psalm 42:7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me.

God created man and instilled in him the innate knowledge that He exists and should be sought out.

5 The Moral Argument for God’s existence

People who don’t believe in God are insincere about it.

If they truly believe in natural evolution, then there can be no “right or wrong”. We are all the random product of electrical impulses and mixing chemicals.

How can anything be “wrong”? Who says its wrong?

You? Society? What makes them right?

If there is no Absolute Being who has determined absolute right and wrong, then nothing is right or wrong. The absurdity of the argument can be demonstrated in a simple conversation: Person 1: “Nothing is

SPONSORED BY: absolute. There is no absolute right or wrong” Person 2: “Are you sure?”

Person 1: “Yes” Person 2: “Are you absolutely 100% sure of that?”

Person 1: “Yes” You can’t have it both ways.

If there are no absolutes, you can’t be absolutely sure there aren’t any. If you can’t be absolutely sure there aren’t any, then there is a chance that there is.

Romans 2.15-16 ...who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

The fact is, without a source of absolutes, life is random chaos. God has ordained what is absolute right and wrong and the ultimate appeal is to His authority.

6 The Biological Argument.

• Providential events as recorded by man throughout history show that God has been involved in human affairs from day one. The miraculous prediction and fulfillment of Israel is obvious evidence.

• The Bible predicts that this small, unimportant, strategically insignificant, not particularly nice piece of land in the Middle East would dominate world events.

Guess what? It does.

• Great societies and world empires have come and gone with not so much as a trace of them left today. But Israel remains after thousands of years. Why? Because God said it would.

• Early American history is filled with the stories of God’s providential care and orchestration. America WAS at one time the greatest exporter of Christianity in the world and it was the machinations of God that brought it to fruition.

• Predictably, once America has turned its back on God, our country is in rapid decline.

Just like God tells us in the Bible; evidence that God exists.

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• Life itself is powerful evidence for God. One of the most proven, and easily proven facts in the universe is that life can only come from life. This is an unquestioned given until you start to question the ORIGIN of life.

Then men suddenly lose their minds and pretend that life came from NOTHING by CHANCE. • How could something come

7 The Historical Argument

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This can easily be demonstrated with a few questions. If these questions were asked to the general world population, the answers would almost be universal.

Why? Because in our hearts, God has written laws of morality. We can ignore them, suppress them and argue against them; but deep down, everyone knows the answer to these questions: • Should all elderly, sick and retarded people be killed because they don’t contribute to society and “survival of the fittest”?

from nothing? How could a rock come from nothing?

How much more absurd is it to think that almost infinitely complex life came from nothing?

• The atheist, evolutionist and humanist have NO explanation for the origin of life and ignore the only reasonable conclusion: God created life.

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Man is moral because deep down these Absolutes have been programmed into us.

• Should all babies who are not perfect when born be killed so they don’t “infect” the human race?

• Should it be perfectly legal and accepted to molest, abuse and torture children?

• Should we kill all people who can’t work?

• Should we have the freedom to exterminate all poor countries who don’t contribute to the world economy?

• Should men be able to rape and molest any woman he wants?

Of course the answer to all these questions are obvious.

But why? If we are just random products of evolution, the answers are NOT absolute and therefore not binding. It would truly be a savage world of “survival of the fittest” without absolute ideas of right and wrong.

But its not that kind of world. For the most part, life is not “kill or be killed” like the animal world (although there are men who act like animals, no doubt). The answers to these questions ARE absolute because our Creator instilled basic moral laws into our hearts, even if they are ignored.

(continued next page)

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8 The Christological Argument

9 The Bibliological Argument

• Why would a carpenter’s son from a dusty village in an insignificant country 2000 years ago make the biggest impact on the world in all recorded history?

• Jesus of Nazareth, by human standards was a nobody. He was poor, unpopular, seen as a fanatic and trouble maker; and ultimately died a miserable, torturous, bloody death at the hands of his own people.

• Why would such a man then become the most well known and influential person in all the world’s history?

• Why not Alexander the Great?

Or Nero? Or Hitler? Or Henry Ford? Or Howard Hughes? Or Stalin? Or Ghandi?

• The world has produced thousands of people who SHOULD have become more influential than this lowly nobody from Israel.

• But history shows Jesus Christ as a man who changed the world, changed societies, changed lives and changed hearts of men and women everywhere who hear His name and believe His teaching. Everywhere that He is embraced brings wholesomeness, goodness, transformed lives from misery to happiness; transformed societies from cruel to compassionate.

• History shows Jesus, the Son of God fulfilling everything that God said would happen in the Bible… powerful evidence of God’s existence.

• The Bible… written by over 30 authors in 3 languages over 1600 years yet showing perfect unity in message and theme. The Bible alone contains hundreds of prophecies predicting future events that were fulfilled to the last letter.

• The Bible is the most criticized, critiqued and maligned Book in the world, yet not one error scientifically, historically, legally or prophetically can be demonstrated.

• The Bible shows supernatural staying power being the most influential piece of literature in the history of man. It has been printed in hundreds of languages in hundreds of millions of copies.

• To date there are over 5300 original manuscripts of the Bible. There is a 99% complete purity of agreement in the different manuscripts and NOT ONE single instance of disagreement in the texts concerns any matter of belief or doctrine.

• This sets the Bible far ahead of ANY other piece of literature in the world in terms of supporting evidence, accuracy and harmony. The Koran, Plato, Confucius, nor any other piece of historical literature even comes close.

• The power, influence, accuracy and prophetic content of the Bible is evidence that God exists.

10 The Argument from Congruity

• All of the evidence and arguments are in complete agreement with one conclusion: God exists.

Atheism offers no answers.

Evolution, humanism, universalism and every other religion in the world offers no answers to great questions of life. Only God and His Bible offers reasonable answers and all of the evidence points to a Creator, a Designer and a transcendent God as its originator.

The evidence is overwhelming.

To an objective observer there is only one conclusion. Consider a few more quick points: • The Bible agrees and gives the answer to scientific knowledge that says:

o The universe had to begin

at certain point in time

o Something had to have

been the cause of the universe’s creation, something can’t come from nothing

o Many laws of physics and

nature were recorded in the Bible thousands of years before science discovered them.

o Life is only possible

because of an enormous number of requirements that are perfectly in balance. For this to occur by chance is statistically IMPOSSIBLE.

o Even assuming the

existence of “matter” (without addressing

SPONSORED BY:

where the matter came from!) it is statistically IMPOSSIBLE for the simplest of life to arise by a random chance mixing of that matter.

o Even assuming simple

o Even assuming complex

• If God did not exist and the

o How could a book of lies

We have BARELY scratched the surface. But it is more than enough to “prove” God’s existence. The alternative is illogical, absurd, statistically impossible and leaves man with no answers, no hope, and no reason for living.

In closing, let me remind you that you cannot force someone to believe in God. All the human powers of reasoning and persuasion will have no effect on the person who wants to live their life apart from answering to anyone other than themselves.

I hope this information helps strengthen YOUR resolve, belief, commitment and faith in the God who created you. That will in turn help you to better communicate the reason for your faith to others. ~

o How could millions of

Brent Riggs is an author, mentor and Bible teacher. For Bible teaching and answers, visit his ministry website at www.seriousfaith.com

o Why did not ONE of

those 12, or any of the thousands of the early followers come forward to expose the hoax?

o How did all of the writers

of the Bible who lived in different times and locations all come up with, and fabricate a perfectly harmonious set of lies?

o Why did those writers

allow their personal failures and shortcomings to be apart of the fabrication? and fairy tales change the lives of millions of people and societies all throughout history?

people from all walks of life, intelligence and status

“In the beginning God...”

(Gen.1:1)

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Yet most people would rather believe this is what happened instead of answering to the God that created them .

and propagate the lies about Jesus Christ at the cost of their lives, health and families?

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life did IMPOSSIBLY form by chance from simple life forms that IMPOSSIBLY formed from matter (which came from nowhere), it is INFINITELY more IMPOSSIBLE that human intelligence evolved by time and chance.

o Why did 12 men fabricate

be fooled by such an obvious fabrication?

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life did IMPOSSIBLY form by chance from that matter (which came from nowhere), it is statistically IMPOSSIBLE for complex life forms (plants & animals) to evolve by chance and time.

Bible were a fairy tale then:

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By John Barnett

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light 961 to Eternity: “You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life?

It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14, emphasis added).

Thanksgiving Day, 1996: It was a typical flight—one that occurs thousands of times every day around the world. Ethiopian Air Flight 961 took off November 23, 1996, from Addis Ababa. Onboard were 163 passengers and twelve crewmembers. Among those flying that day were Mr. and Mrs. Andy Meakins. Andy, an elder at the International Evangelical Church of Addis, at one time pastored that large Bible-believing church. In less than two hours, more than 120 people died, including five from that church. Andy, a good friend of mine, did not survive the crash. Somewhere near Kenya, the horrifying hijack began. Escaped convicts, brandishing an ax and a supposed bomb, stormed the flight deck, savagely beating the

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copilot and throwing him down.

They then ordered the pilot to turn the plane eastward. In spite of the plane’s dangerously low fuel tank, he was forced to submit to their demands. The pilot kept pleading for a refueling stop, but to no avail.

The hijackers threatened to blow up the plane if he didn’t comply. After trying to hug the coast of Africa, the pilot attempted to make it to the Indian Ocean island of Comoros.

When it became evident they would not make it, the captain announced to the cabin passengers: “Listen, guys, we’re all dead people. There is no argument now.” “People began to scream,” one witness said, “and others began to pray.”

The crash is now well known: a Japanese honeymooning couple filmed the descent, dip of a wing, the flip, the crash, and the disintegration of the 767 over the water. News reports, however, never contained what was in a fax to me from Andy Meakin’s wife. This is what she told her church: “As soon as the captain told us we were going to crash I heard the distinct snap of my husband’s seat belt. He was up and out of his chair. Going down the aisle row by row he earnestly shared the gospel of Christ with any who would listen. Before the sickening screech of twisting metal and the 110 mph crash of our plane into the water, Andy had signaled me that 20 passengers had trusted in Jesus for their salvation. Andy never made it back to the safety of his seat belt. But he took twenty souls with him to paradise.”

You see, there was a safe spot in

SPONSORED BY: that plane—a shelter where no twisted wreckage could permanently harm—a haven that no crushing impact could erase. Andy knew and shared the divine directions with those souls being rushed into eternity: “God’s directions are the only way to make it to happiness now and forever!” He knew how to escape the plane before it was too late for eternity. Do you know those directions? Are you following them? Are you sharing them with those whom God has placed around you?

powerful message from Christ.

Each letter closes with an application to all to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).

Before we begin our study of this sixth letter, ask yourself: Why did Christ not admonish

approval or the others who were subject to hearing His “I have this against you …”?

I pray that you are longing for His approval—to hear His “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

this church for any error?

There are only two churches out of the seven that received the approval of Jesus—the assemblies at Smyrna and Philadelphia.

The reason for Christ’s approval of those two churches is this: Smyrna was purified by obediently suffering persecution; Philadelphia was purified by obediently fulfilling God’s commission and winning souls. Smyrna was triumphing through adversity; Philadelphia was ministering through opportunity. Smyrna was a suffering church; Philadelphia was a serving church. Smyrna was a church that stood alone; Philadelphia was a church that spoke out.

Like the Smyrnians, are you being purified as you obediently suffer persecution?

Is God enabling you to triumph through adversity? Are you willing to stand alone for Christ in any situation?

And are you, like the Philadelphians, obediently and joyfully telling people about Christ’s offer of salvation? Are you ministering Christ to others in need? Do you speak out for Christ every chance you get?

Which of the six churches we’ve studied so far most represents your life right now?

The two who received Christ’s

Real People in a Real Place “

PURIFICATION THROUGH OBEDIENT ENDURANCE

Seeking Christ’s Approval

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“… Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21, emphasis added).

The approval of those we love means so much, but there is an approval that far surpasses what anyone on earth can offer us. When our lives are over, our last breaths have been taken, and time has ceased to exist for us, all things on earth fade away quickly. In fact, as we weaken and approach death, the fading starts even before we die. At such a time, our thoughts ought to center more and more on the joy of seeing our beloved Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and hearing Him say, “Well done!” Is that what you are living for?

We have come to Revelation 3:7–13, the sixth of seven letters our Lord Jesus wrote to seven literal, historic churches.

Each church was given a

To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true …’ ” (Revelation 3:7a, emphasis added).

Jesus wrote to the church at Philadelphia—a real place, with real people, experiencing real problems—to whom He offered real answers. Revelation 3:7 is the seventh time that the word “Philadelphia” is used in the New Testament. Philadelphia literally means “brotherly love.” Hebrews 13:1 says, Let brotherly love [Philadelphia] continue. What a name! What a church that must have been back in the first century! And we are to be the same kind of church today—a church for God’s glory!

Philadelphia was located thirty miles southeast of Sardis, on the road to Laodicea.

The most striking historical note about the city was the very frequent tremors and earthquakes that were characteristic of their area.

It had been destroyed by quakes several times. Fissures, ground cracks, volcanic activity in thermal pools, hot mud, and regular tremors were common. In fact, at times (sometimes even weekly) the (continued next page)

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Philadelphians would have to grab their tents and go live outside of the city to be safe from shocks, aftershocks, and bigger quakes.

The frequent tremors and quakes in Philadelphia help us to better understand Christ’s words in Revelation 3:12: “He who overcomes, I will make him a [stable] pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more.” The saints at Philadelphia had seen everything dear to them devastated many times, but they had enduring safety in following Christ. For Jesus gave them a precious promise: “Live out My love in you, and someday you’ll be safe with Me forever!”

The people of the assembly at Philadelphia realized, like those souls on Flight 961, that “the plane was about to crash”—the plane of this world, that is. Later on we will see just how bad the crash is going to be; but for now, we need to understand that at the end of the world one out of every two people will die a gruesome, unnatural death. There is no doubt about it: the world is headed for a devastating and deadly crash.

Before you are taken out of this world, you have the privilege of going up and down the aisles of this life to tell those who are afraid and lost how to find a permanent place of safety in Christ, our refuge. Are you

willing to do that for them? For Jesus?

Jesus Is Holy

“… I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on earth” (Leviticus 11:44, emphasis added).

What the Lord said in Leviticus has never changed.

In fact, in Revelation 3:7 Jesus identified and introduced Himself as: “He who is holy ….” There is no doubt about it: Jesus wants to remind us that He, as God the Son, is the holy, eternal God of the universe— the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy … (Isaiah 57:15, emphasis added).

Although God is referring to dietary laws at the end of Leviticus 11:44, there are worse things than that which “creeps on the earth.”

Many things on this earth defile us. In stark contrast, however, the preeminent

feature of the character of God is holiness. Holiness is utter otherworldliness, a complete detachment from anything that is impure or unclean.

There is a great gulf between what we are as fallen, defiled creatures and who God is in His eternal godhood. He is separate from all He has created, which is deteriorating.

But God Himself is eternally selfexistent; everything else derives its existence from Him. Nothing will last forever that is not attached to God. When the tornado comes, the earthquake comes, or the plane is crashing, grab hold of that which will last forever: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).

God says that He is holy, but we can dwell with Him. However, “the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked” (Isaiah 57:20-21).

SPONSORED BY: The wicked are like the sea churning up mire and dirt, or an overflowing sewer ditch.

But the holy infinite God of the universe says that if you are contrite, and humble yourself, He will bring you out of that ditch by His grace (Psalm 40:2) so that you can dwell with Him. That is the wonderful gospel! A miraculous gift!

When your life is almost over, and your last breath is about to be drawn, time will soon cease for you. As all things on earth are fading away, may the words of this fourth stanza of the old hymn, “Rock of Ages,” represent your prayerful spirit as you enter eternity.

Jesus Is the Truth

… The Son of God has …

given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20, emphasis added).

There is a lot of doctrine in that verse. Jesus is God, and our source of eternal life. John is particularly fond of that word “true.” Paul describes the end of the age as a time of lawlessness and deception, but Jesus Christ is declared to be holy and true.

When lawlessness surrounds us, He who is holy keeps His children safe; when deception abounds, there is One who is Truth. Look at how Jesus introduced Himself to the church at Philadelphia: “ ‘He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He

who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens” ’ ” (Revelation 3:7, emphasis added). The word for “true” in that verse is very specific.

In Greek there are two words for true: alethes and alethinos.

Alethes denotes the reality of the thing; that which is “true to fact.” For example, “Hitler led Germany” is true to fact, but the truth is that he led them in error. Alethinos denotes “true” in the sense of “real, ideal, genuine.”1 The Greek word for “true” in Revelation 3:7, thus means “genuine truth”; Jesus Christ is Truth. When you confront Him face-to-face, you are facing Truth Himself, and not merely true statements.

As John MacArthur has said, (continued next page)

Living Hope is a 365 Day devotional to take you through the entire book of Revelation in ONE YEAR. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, the very last book of God’s Word to mankind, describes the final chapter in human history, confirming that Christ Jesus is the fulfillment of every promise that God has ever made. Paper Back (672 pages).

“In Living Hope for the End of Days, John Barnett has made the book of Revelation accessible to anyone, casting it in a wonderful, manageable set of daily devotions. These devotions will do far more than merely pique your curiosity about the book’s remarkable imagery. They will serve to enrich both your worship and your walk by prompting you to focus on the central figure of Revelation, Christ himself. So dig in on a regular basis to this mighty treasury that exalts the glory of our Lord.”

- John MacArthur Pastor Grace Community Church (Sun Valley, CA)

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“There is no substitute for God, and Jesus Christ is the genuine reality of God.” Jesus has the key of David.

Except for Revelation 3:7, the only other place “the key of David” appears in the Word of God is in Isaiah 22. At that time, King Hezekiah was on the throne of Israel, and 185,000 Assyrian enemy soldiers were on their way. These fierce warriors had their tents, chariots, and all their battle gear with them; they covered a vast territory, which greatly intimidated the Israelites. But Hezekiah came out on the wall of the city, looked at all those Assyrian warriors, got down on his knees, and asked God to defeat them. That night, God sent one angel and killed them all!

What is this “key of David”?

In Isaiah 22, the city of Jerusalem was weak; its walls were broken down, but its people had not even looked to their Maker for help. God said that He would therefore find a faithful servant through whom He would work. Shebna, the unfaithful steward of the king, had an unrepentant heart and was judged; but God found Eliakim to be a faithful servant, so he was entrusted with the royal authority of God to speak.

In other words, God said, “I will give My authority to Eliakim.”

In Revelation 3:7 Jesus was saying, “That is what I am like. I am the faithful Son of God who

has been entrusted with the authority of God.” He continued, “If I open a door of ministry for you, no one can shut it. If I close a part of your life, no one can open it. You should trust My authority.”

The “key of David” is all about Christ’s authority. After Jesus healed the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda, people were so excited about His authority to heal that they gathered around Jesus and were willing to listen to Him speak: “… He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me [Jesus has the key of authority] has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. … The hour is coming … when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live” (John 5:24–25).

In that passage, Jesus is saying that all of us are dead, but if we can hear His voice, we can come alive. We are born spiritually dead and spiritually blind: “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have

done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:26–29).

That resurrection has many parts. In 1 Corinthians 15:2024, Paul speaks of multiple resurrections. There are resurrections that we will also be a part of in which the dead in Christ will rise first, and get their celestial bodies; those who are still alive will be caught up together with them, so both groups go up together. Jesus has all authority and judgment given to Him; this is the “key of David”—the authority of Christ; His voice can thus speak and the dead will rise. What the people were when they went in the grave will reveal what they will be forever. If they went into the grave clothed with sin, they will be condemned to hell. Every time I think of that dreadful sentencing, I am so grateful that, though I am a sinner, I shall not die in my sins!

My sins are gone and will never be remembered by God because Jesus, in His mercy, tenderly forgave me. I hope you know that to be true in your own life as well! For Jesus has said, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Revelation 1:18). ~

John Barnett has been teaching the Word of God for 31 years and is currently the Senior Pastor at Calvary Bible Church in Kalamazoo. Email John: jb@dtbm.org

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serious.spirit serious.money serious.family Money: The Truth About the Credit Industry your comments serious.extras serious.health

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By Brent Riggs

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n October 2008, many of the problems that have long been hidden in the credit industry finally showed up in a big way.

The immediate response was for the government, the very same people who caused the problem to begin with, to now “solve” the problem by taking $700 billion of your money and mine and giving it to the people who created this disaster. Yeah, that works...

Since this book (Life Without Debt; this article is an excerpt) is about personal finance, I’m not going to talk much here about the problems with the mortgage industry and the government bailout. I’m going to focus on the credit industry which many of our politicians wanted to include in the bailout. The cause of the big financial crash is the exact same cause that will eventually burst the credit bubble: easy credit to people

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who lack financial discipline and the ability to repay it.

As I said at the beginning of this book, I’m not one of those people who run around saying “it’s not your fault you’re in debt” (excluding those who have experienced a medical catastrophe or some accident through no fault of their own). To whatever degree you are in debt from using credit cards to purchase lifestyle, it is your fault!

Until you change your mindset about credit, no amount of good information on the predatory practices of the credit industry and how to avoid them will keep you from getting in debt.

So keep the number one foundational principle in mind as you read this section: you must change your attitude about debt in order to get out of debt and stay out of debt. You must accept personal responsibility for being in debt and not blame it on anyone else, including the credit industry. With that said, let’s take a look at the credit industry so you’ll know how to deal with them and avoid them in the future.

The credit product industry is a huge and extremely lucrative market earning in excess of $30 billion per year. That’s billion with a B. While the government has done a few things to regulate ridiculous interest rates, there is no regulation against fees and penalties, and that has become the primary way that the credit industry makes money.

They charge you fees for every imaginable service or transaction and set up the system in such a way

Personal Finances > Debt Reduction > Stewardship

No amount of good information about the credit industry will keep you from getting in debt. as to cause you to very easily began to rack up penalties as well.

Over 1 billion credit cards are in use in the United States, and about one and a half trillion dollars of transactions are processed on them enjoying one of the highest profit margins of any business. Credit card banks and lenders are some of the largest contributors to political candidates on both sides of the aisles. To believe that that does not buy them favorable regulation is to live in a dream world.

We hear so much about the â&#x20AC;&#x153;evil

oil companies and their obscene profitsâ&#x20AC;? who make on average about 6% profit (while the government gets 18% on the same money) but never hear a word about credit card companies and lenders who jack up rates as high as 30% on top of collecting countless fees and penalties.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s amazing what banks and credit card companies get away with and never get reported.

Financial Peace author Dave (continued next page)

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Ramsey pulls no punches and calls companies like American Express scumbags and predators on national radio. It’s hard to disagree with him considering some of the settlements they have been subject to: Citibank, $45 million for improperly assessed late fees; Advanta, $7.2 million settlement for charging higher interest rates than advertised; Sears, $36 million settlement for raising interest rates after saying they would not. The sad part is, $50 million is chump change in the credit industry.

They settle these disputes for what amounts to be a painless penalty and then go right on doing whatever it is they were doing in the first place.

Don’t be fooled. The credit card company can say they will do something 27 times and it doesn’t mean squat. They can go about doing exactly what they want to do, and if and when they are ever challenged, simply pay a settlement and keep right on going. The credit industry is so lucrative that a few lawsuits are nothing but a slight nuisance in the overall scheme of profitability.

Let me educate you about one of their favorite tricks: universal default. Not all credit card companies and banks use universal default, but many of them do. In essence, universal default could be described as saying “we think you MIGHT NOT pay us, so were going to raise your rates.” This is

most often accomplished by accessing your credit reports and looking for any negative entry that gives them an excuse to declare universal default. By declaring this, they now have the right to raise your rates as high as legally allowed. So if you miss a payment on a medical bill or go to collections for any reason known or unknown, that becomes an automatic excuse for many lenders to crank up your interest rate on all credit products to the highest limits possible.

They don’t have to explain themselves, they don’t have to tell you why, and they can tell you pretty much anything they want to tell you as a reason. It’s absolutely legal, and they can do it as well as lower or cancel your available credit.

There are four credit areas that you must be most educated and aware of: bankruptcies, credit cards, mortgages and student loans. These are the areas where the worst of the predatory practices reside.

Student loans are particularly troublesome in that the credit industry is in bed with the education administrations.

The academic institutions frequently receive kickbacks, commissions or some other type of monetary payback in exchange for open access to their student bodies. For the most part, this is done in such a way as to bypass the parents when possible. If you have college students or high school

kids about to graduate, you are making a mistake if you don’t get well educated and alert about the student loan industry.

So what’s a brother to do?

Are we just helpless at the hands of the credit industry?

Many people selling financial programs or get out of debt services would have you believe just that. Of course that is just as intellectually dishonest as the predatory lending practices they denounce. You are not at the mercy of the credit industry either before you get into debt or after. Let’s look at a few things they don’t want you to know...

Did you know there is a statute of limitations on debt?

Now, we need to be careful here because I never say that you should not repay or don’t owe debt that you have legitimately incurred. However, much of this debt is passed around and bought up from collection agency to collection agency and large amounts of punitive fees and penalties are tacked on. I don’t care how old the debt is, whether or not it’s been written off, or whether or not it’s ancient history, or even if you file bankruptcy, if you owe something, you should pay it back no matter what it takes.

I’m talking about the principal amount that you owe, but penalties and fees are another matter. I think you should do everything in your power to keep from paying jacked up, outrageous punitive penalties

Brent Riggs is an author, mentor and professional blogger. Visit his blog at www.brentriggs.com

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refuses to negotiate interest rates, penalties and fees, then you can persistently remind them that being unable to pay them anything at all is certainly not in their best interest.

Let’s end this depressing section with some positive action steps: • Ask to have penalties and fees removed from your account.

• Ask the credit card company to remove annual fees.

• Insist that the credit company lower your interest rates in order for you to have the ability to pay.

• Educate yourself about credit card gimmicks and traps such as 0% introductory rates and the preprinted checks they send in the mail.

• Know your rights as a credit consumer: you cannot be contacted before 8 AM or after 8 PM; they cannot tell other people that you owe money; they cannot have you arrested or say that they can; they cannot talk to anyone but you about your debt; they cannot threaten to sue you (only the original creditor has the right); they cannot contact you by phone if you have requested they contact you in writing only; they cannot threaten to take your employment income.

• Be sure to keep detailed and clear records about who you spoke to, details of the conversation and dates.

Oh yeah, get out of debt and quit using credit. ~

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anything (related to debt that is past the statute of limitations) and never send the money because this is an admission that you owe the debt. They will use any and every means to try to prove that you are agreeing to pay the debt back. Don’t deal with the collection agency, go back to the original lender and make arrangements to repay any legitimate principle directly to them.

So what about debt that has not run out the statute of limitations? Here are a few tips: • Never admit to any specific amount but only that you will investigate it to see if you owe anything at all.

• Never agree with the debt collectors about any arrangement or anything they ask you to do.

• Ask the debt collectors for proof of what you owe, the alleged debt occurred and a line item exclamation of the items or services.

Remember that you can always negotiate. While integrity requires us to pay back the principal amount owed on any legitimate lending, the ridiculous interest rates, penalties and fees are up for grabs. There are no official laws that state what they can charge or what you must pay, it is all a negotiation. Be tougher than they are about getting interest rates and penalties significantly reduced or removed from the amount owed.

Many times, we can simply be upfront with them about our financial situation, and the principle holds true that getting something is always better than getting nothing. If the collection agency or credit card company

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and interest rates. The statute of limitations is one way you can fight back.

Each state has its own laws on the statute of limitations concerning debt but typically runs from 3 to 6 years. So if you’re being harassed or contacted about debt that is past the statute of limitations, then you are in the driver’s seat as far as the negotiations with a collection agency. In fact, you can tell the collection agencies to kiss off. In order to make restitution, you should figure out what the principal amount was that you legitimately borrowed and go back to the original company and make arrangements to pay it. Now legally because of the statute of limitations, you can simply avoid paying, but that is dishonest. It is corrupt for the lending industry to use legalities and technicalities to jack up what you owe. It is just as lacking in integrity for you not to pay something you owe because legally you can get away with it.

So check out the statute of limitations in your state, and if you’re being hounded by a collection agency concerning old debt, tell those collectors to get lost and quit bothering you. Then, go back and make restitution with the original lender. Often, they will simply tell you to forget it, that it has already been written off and at that point you no longer have the moral duty to pursue it.

Also keep in mind when dealing with collection agencies that they are very persistent, and you should not let them scare you. Never admit to a collection agency that you owe

Personal Finances > Debt Reduction > Stewardship

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serious.extras serious.health Today is the perfect day for health!

By Jill Samter

I

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t is amazing how God works and how He is here today speaking the same truths to me as He did three years ago when I sat down to write my book.

A few months ago at our Bible study, Scott was teaching Hebrews 3. This happens to be my very favorite chapter, inside my very favorite book of the Bible. Those who have been following along my blog for a while will see a common thread - God wants our full attention TODAY! Today is the acceptable day of salvation. Today, if you will

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hear God’s voice. Today, if you will NOT harden your hearts and turn away from your sins. Today, if you will hearken yourself to His calling.

Today, if you will set yourself apart, sacrifice all of your wants for His will - He will continue to do a work in you that began at the moment of salvation! Today, if you will hear His truths - healing truths that give life to the bones. Today, if you will turn from your ways and accept His that are holy, pure and perfect, He will lead you to the way of everlasting.

I believe the issue for most of us is that we view obtaining health or getting healthy as an inconvenience.

Getting and staying healthy, just like everything in life, is a choice and takes effort. We must choose self or God in everything we say and do.

God’s word is health to the bones and gives life to those who trust in it and allow it to work in them and through them. We either choose to eat snickers all day long or to say “no” to them. We can choose to pick up a healthier choice which often tastes just as good and will help heal the body one good choice at a time.

Health is not immediate. Nor is our spiritual growth. They both require faith and patience to endure the race and keep our eyes on the goal. Faith, not in ourselves, but in the power of His Spirit, living in us to will and do His good works.

One thing I have learned is I can’t expect the changes I desire in my life, unless I truly make them first.

David first trusted God. He didn’t buy into what everyone around him was saying or how Goliath laughed because of David’s size, age, etc.

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live and the things you already have. Maybe it means taking a look at what you are filling your grocery cart with. Maybe it means going to bed an hour earlier instead of watching more TV to ensure you get a good night’s sleep. Maybe it means simply putting down your beliefs of what healthy looks like and feels like and asking God to lead the way in your life for the kind of healing He wants first to take place in your heart and home.

Either we allow Him to be the Master of His house, or we won’t. As the Master, our answers will be: “Come In. Stay.

Show me what to clean up and out! Yes, I will do whatever You ask. It will be my pleasure to serve and honor You. I want to bring You glory. This house You built is for You to do whatever You see fit. Anything You desire, at any cost to me is Yours.” That means all of our time, energy, heart, mind, body and soul are His. He gave and continues to give His all for us. He does NOTHING half way. God will outgive us, out love us, and do exceedingly great things on our behalf!

The least we can do is Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” This is not my challenge to you. It is God’s to all of us. We (continued next page)

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agree with and what we don’t, what we believe and what we don’t. And yet, He hasn’t changed and remains the same no matter how wishy-washy we all are. God is still ever present, never changing, never-ending love. His mercies are new every day, and His grace is there waiting to be used to live that victorious life in Him! Thank God that He is patient and long-suffering too, because I, for one, took a while to get with His program. His program has nothing to do with filling our lives and bodies with junk that does not bring honor and glory to Him. We are so busy with worrying about how we will do this life that we don’t stop and just focus on today, living moment by moment in faith, supported and carried in His grace! When we finally stop focusing on what we can’t change or control, we are set free to allow the good that God wants to provide into our hearts and lives. Health first must come from cleaning up our relationship with God. 1 John 1:9 Then we must recognize our need to clean up our relationship with others, our finances, our eating habits, our drinking habits, our exercise habits, our sleeping habits and the list goes on.

Getting healthy might mean you slow down, making time for your relationship with God a priority, then your spouse and children. Maybe it means taking a good hard look at how you handle your finances.

Maybe it means taking a look at what you are filling your mind with and putting before your eyes. Maybe it means being content with where you

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No, he put all of his trust and faith in God, then God gave him the stone and the power to knock Goliath down for good. God calls us and then we have the choice to answer with obedience or walk away no better than we were before He spoke.

God asked Abraham to deliver Isaac to Him. In faith, Abraham walked miles from his home with his son, trusting God would somehow fulfill His promise - “count the stars and so shall your descendants be.”

As promised, God provided a ram as the sacrifice. He wanted to see that Abraham loved Him more than his son. God wants the same faith from us - that we love Him and His way more than our own. That includes the unhealthy things we do, from reading books that don’t draw us closer to Him, watching shows that may cause us to stumble or worse yet, allowing our children to listen to music that is of the world and not bringing us closer to Him. We can also find ourselves allowing food to be an idol in our lives.

Anything we do that does NOT draw us closer to Him, He wants us to get rid ofand sacrifice completely for Him. Yet, so many fight against “Today” with promises of “I will do it tomorrow. I will do it later.” Or we say that we don’t have time for that now. I can’t give up x,y, and z. It is too hard to change. I don’t like trying new things. I don’t want to drink water. I don’t even like water. I...I...I....blah! That is what begins to run through my mind just saying this. Blah, blah, blah!

God, I’m sure, is tired of hearing all of us say what we will and won’t do, what we

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Today is the perfect day for health!... cont’d

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are to be listening to His voice, not the world’s. The media has become the voice of this world. Every magazine you pick up has ads about the latest and greatest diet. How this star lost her baby weight in 6 weeks. How eating this way will guarantee you to lose this much weight in a certain amount of time. Join our plan and if you don’t lose x amount of pounds in x amount of weeks, you get your money back. That is crazy and sheer madness. The headlines report that eating carbs is making us fat. Eating this kind of oil is bad for you.

Drinking this sports drink will help your endurance. There is so much hype out there that the truth gets lost and is very seldom talked about in any profound way that can affect change.

In the 1950’s, we began eating frozen TV dinners. The quick and easy way for the busy mom to prepare a wellbalanced meal - no mess, no fuss, and dessert is a bonus!

(Let me remind you, moms in the 1950’s stayed at home.

They were not running from one sport’s team to another and didn’t busy themselves with hundreds of outside activities.)

Were they really so busy that they needed TV dinners? No, but the brilliant marketing companies that bought air time for TV commercials sure convinced them they were. And that was the beginning of the end of family well-balanced homemade meals by mom as the norm.

Sure, they contained more than enough salt and fats so you wouldn’t realize how bad they were and you were filled up. YUCK! I remember eating these growing up in the 70’s, and they were disgusting.

Someone forgot to tell these people that they had zero taste and zero nutrition. Ahhh, then came the famous golden arches and fast food dining. Moms across America rejoiced. We could feed our family without cooking or cleaning anything which made Dad’s life easier too, because Mom was happy, the children were happy, and it didn’t cost much to feed the family! As most of you know, this has grown to seeing those arches at nearly every 3 mile street crossing throughout America. But, instead of just the arches, we have Wendy’s, Burger King, Roy Rogers, and many other fast food places popping up in small towns that never had them before. Our fast food demand has taken over the world. People complain if they go somewhere outside of the U.S. and can’t find the golden arches or fast food that reminds them of home. Hmmmm....I won’t go there today. Another time!

Health doesn’t come in a box, a jar, a bottle or a drivethru. It comes from filling our mind, bodies and spirit with… ”whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable— if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about (eat

or do) such things.” (Philippians 4:8) This has become my daily meditation as I began 2009: what am I doing that does NOT draw me and my family closer to Him? I pray to see these things clearly each day, so I can seek God’s forgiveness and ask for His grace and power to get rid of them for good.

God told Abraham, “I am your shield, your exceedingly Great Reward.” (Genesis 15:1) He is that and so much more. To receive all that He has already given us, we must step out in faith and let go of our own ideas and plans for this life. It is not our own. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s.”

Someone once said to me, “Take one step towards God, and He’ll take a thousand towards you.” Take one step a day towards true health, and God will bless your obedience abundantly!

“You don’t have to be healthy to start…you have to start to be healthy.” Anonymous ~

Jill Samter has been helping people regain optimal health for over 5 years.

Currently she is a blessed stay at home Mom of 8. Visit her family blog: forevernevernalways1.blogspot.com.

Email Jill: inhisgrace7@gmail.com

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serious.money serious.family Building Bridges In Your Marriage your comments serious.extras

By Steve Cummings serious.health

H

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MARCH 2009

ow is your marriage doing today? How sturdy is the bridge that leads to your spouse? The husband and wife relationship is the most important earthly relationship we can have. You may have a good marriage or a bad marriage, but even the best marriages sometimes need extra reinforcement.

How would you label your relationship with your spouse today?

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• ROMANCE – Sparkle in your eyes when you talk about or think about your spouse. There’s passion. There’s intimacy.

• ROUTINE – The sizzle has turned to fizzle. It’s stable but has no spark. It’s okay, but not great.

Things could be worse, but then again they could be better.

• ROOMATES – It’s dead. Gone flat.

The bridge has collapsed.

Fact is, if nothing changes in your marriage, it is going to: (1) Decline (2) Maintain (3) Grow.

Even good marriages hurt some of the time, but bad marriages hurt most of the time. I realize that one visit to the doctor’s office will not heal your marital infirmities.

You might need surgery and then recovery. Today is just the first cut.

Afterwards, you’ll need to begin to medicate and treat the wounds that plague your marriage.

Relationships get stalled. You can buy an expensive shiny new car that looks awesome on the outside, but until you put fuel in it, you’ll not be able to enjoy it. Sometimes relationships get stalled and go nowhere. If it’s a car, it could be as simple as putting more fuel into it or as expensive as rebuilding the engine.

What Fuels, Builds, Repairs, And Rebuilds Relationships?

#1 COMMUNICATION

Communication can get very confusing. Communication Demographics Magazine listed communication blunders that

SPONSORED BY: happen when an American company tries to communicate from English to Spanish: • General Motors named a car “Nova” which in Spanish means “Doesn’t go.”

• Braniff Airlines Slogan – “Fly In Leather” translated in Spanish means “Fly naked.”

We are in the middle of a communication revolution.

Just think of all that’s happening these days with the convergence of all the cable systems, satellite systems, telephone systems, internet, cell phones, fiber optics, messages flowing through your own central nervous system, etc. Yet, we still have a hard time talking and listening to

each other.

Remember the Tower of Babel in the book of Genesis.

They were trying to build a tower to be like God, and God wanted to halt the construction project. How did He halt it?

He didn’t take away their tools or their construction plans.

He took away their ability to communicate. When he did that, the project crumbled. So it is with our relationships.

Communication is a big problem in marriage. Fifty percent of wives say their husbands do not talk to them like they need them to. Eightysix percent of divorcees interviewed stated that lack of communication was the #1 contributing factor to the breakdown of their marriages.

The most important aspect of communication is listening, but the words you use are vitally important. Proverbs 18:21 – “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…”

Ephesians 4:29 -- “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

#2 TRUST

Trust is not inherited but earned. If you can’t trust what someone is saying, then there’s no real communication going on. It’s impossible to have high quality communication without

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serious.money serious.family Building Bridges, cont.d your comments serious.extras serious.health high levels of trust.

Four Ways We Destroy Trust In A Relationship

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1. LIES – If I said to you, “Eighty percent of what I’m going to tell you today is true,” that wouldn’t make sense to you.

If you inject any element of mistrust into a relationship, it destroys all communication.

Simply let your yes be yes, and your no be no.

2. FLATTERY – Flattery carries with it the motive of manipulation, to get you to do what I want you to do, and no one likes being manipulated. We all have built in “baloney detectors” and we can tell when we’re being manipulated.

3. BROKEN PROMISES – Whenever you break a promise, you break a trust.

People never forget broken promises. When you make a promise you are establishing an expectation. You’re making a deposit. When you break a promise, you are

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making a withdrawal from the relationship. Do that long enough, and well…

4. SILENCE – People don’t trust anyone they feel like they don’t know. If you’re silent all the time, people don’t know what’s going on. Tell people what’s on your mind so they can know who you are.

How can trust be rebuilt after it is broken? The answer is one word, one attitude, one action at a time. The greatest damage an earthquake does to a house is that it destroys the foundation. To rebuild, the house has to be lifted and a new foundation built under it, and then the house must be put back together. Is it worth the work? Yes, it was a beautiful home that was saved.

#3 WORK ON YOUR HEART

What is in the heart will eventually manifest itself by what we say and do, similar to the law of sowing and reaping.

“For out of the abundance of

the heart the mouth speaks.”

Angry words are not a slip of the tongue but an overflow of the heart. Angry words produce more angry words and more angry words. It’s a vicious cycle.

We will never experience a real change in our relationships until we’ve had a change of heart. Proverbs 27:19 – “As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.” Change must occur inside out if it is to be trusted as genuine.

#4 LEARN TO LISTEN

Most people don’t listen very well. “He who answers before listening—that is his folly and his shame” (Proverbs 18:13). Listening is one of the most caring things you will ever do. I have never regretted too many things I didn’t say, and I have always learned more and understood more by listening instead of talking.

What do you want your marriage to be like after you’ve been married 50 years? Madly in love, emotionally, physically, intellectually, spiritually? Hold hands in public? Take walks around the lake? Indescribable depth? Get hits off one another’s oxygen tanks?

Make it happen. ~

Steve Cummings is a full-time minister and life strategies coach, who conducts family and communication workshops, instructing people on how to improve all aspects of their interpersonal relationships. Email Steve: steve@tusculum.org

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serious.money serious.family The Cool, Young & Hip Family: your comments Hi-ho, Hi-ho... It’s Out the Door We Go serious.extras serious.health

By Brittany Claire

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MARCH 2009

[Brittany is Mom of six kids and wife to (she says) a smokin’ hottie. Their blog is fresh, creative and fun. Brit is going to write something for our younger (or young at heart) families! Hope you enjoy. ~ BR]

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Getting out the door with kids is fun. Getting out the door with six kids, five whom are in car seats, is an all out party!

If I have you whistling the tune of the seven dwarfs in your head, then you are right on pace with our party. Can you picture the whistling, marching to the beat, and single filing out the door with a pack over your shoulder?

There is an uncanny correlation with my family of eight getting out the door and the seven dwarfs heading out to work. It’s no wonder I’ve adopted their song as our get out the door theme song.

Like the gun shot signaling the beginning of the race, when I open my mouth and let out those four little words -- “Hi! Ho! Let’s Go!” the race DOES begin. I can hear it now, the scampering feet coming from all directions and the chorus of whistlers.

The adventure has officially begun. As I sing and whistle and sometimes clap my hands if they need an extra boost, I find myself chanting “socks,

shoes, coat, hat, gloves.”

At this point I’m not sure they need the reminder, but then something ends up lost or forgotten in the rush to get on with the show. On occasion I’ll catch one of them singing, whistling or chanting to themselves; I can almost hear them doing the same as they lead my future grandkids out the door to the beat of our old family tunes.

Off to school is a bit different than the trip out to the store or park. Simply add “backpack & lunch!” to the chant, and it’s out the door with ease -- that is if we have packed backpacks and lunches the night before! We don’t hear very many “I can’t find my...” when everyone has their own spot for their things.

Bringing the kids alone obviously equals full hands, so extras end up being added on a ‘need to have’ basis; if the kids want to bring along a book, toy, blankie or their ‘own’ bottle of water, it’s all on them. We had to pass the “you can’t bring it unless it fits in your lap” rule after a few attempts at bringing along a large tractor or duffle bag full of spy gear. WIth eight of us bursting at the seams and filling every seat in our van, covering the floor with bags or toys is not an option.

I usually have the van

stocked with most of our “necessary on every trip” type items such as diapers and wipes, extra clothes, a glass jug of water, dried fruit and nuts, hand towel, park blanket, and a pocket of books for each of the family readers. Unless we’re going somewhere that I know we’ll need more, getting the kids and myself is all I have to focus on.

Once the flurry of socks, shoes, coats, hats and any other ‘bring-a-longs’ have found their proper place upon our four wild little boys and the girls are snuggly cuddled in their infant seats, it is time to follow the leader out the door -- single file with our blue eyed eight year old taking the lead and mom and dad bringing up the rear with all ‘in-betweeners’ marching steadily... in-between.

The three back row boys

Family, Fashion, Kids, Style, Living, Fun hop in their seats first -- giving our youngest boy a boost into his 5-point along the way.

They settle into each of their window seat boosters to buckle themselves in while mom or dad secure little blond Z in his toddler seat.

Now we’re three down, three to go. Our oldest can now take his seat in the middle of the second row -- nicely placed in the center of it all. Isn’t that where the oldest always wants to be anyway!? Next it’s the girls’ turn -- click, click and their infant seats are secure in their places. Hop in, shut the doors, double check the list in my head, and we’re off to work (or play)!

Whew! That was a job! Can you imagine if we hadn’t followed the plan? We’ve strayed from the routine a few too many times.

Trust me, it’s not pretty!

On occasion when someone isn’t sticking to the beat -wanting to hurry to the car or stop to smell flowers -- it can turn

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Eliza Go ahead, try to resist those baby blues.

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into a nice display of complete chaos.

For example, if the girls are clicked in first, the boys have to climb or be hauled over the seats to get to their spots.

This does not make for very happy parents or children if they get knocked in the head by a stray foot. The lessons have been learned: routine, order, communication and a few little tricks make getting out the door with eight not so bad! Now all you have to do is get there, unload, and then eventually do it all over again.

We all have to work together with a fully packed van. It’s everyone’s job to help his/her seat neighbor with a dropped blankie, toy, book, needed drink, stuck buckle or simply wanting to read with a friend. And with six kids, the need WILL arise.

When all goes right we work together like a welloiled machine -- quite an impressive site. But if not, we’ll get to do it again tomorrow.

Hi Ho - out the door you go with these 7 tips:

1. Use a song or signal to make getting out the door fun and orderly 2. Use a chant as a checklist that makes it fun (momma drill cadence…)

3. Create a special spot for each child’s coat [with hats and gloves tucked in the sleeve], backpack and shoes

4. Bring it in your lap rule 5. Stock the van 6. Have a designated order of getting in and out of the vehicle 7. Help your car seat neighbor

Brittany Claire is a young, artsy, fun loving, sometimes silly, a little hippie, classy-funky-chic,vintage loving, Jesus following mama. Visit her blog: http://www.4littlemen. blogspot.com/

Oz A chip off the old smokin’ hot block.

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serious.money serious.family Triumph Through Failures your comments With Our God of New Beginnings serious.extras

By John Barnett serious.health

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y is parenting so hard?

Because we fail in so many ways! But why do we fail?

Because, until heaven, we are all imperfect. So as we look at one of the hardest jobs on earth—raising children— here is my perspective that keeps me going through the hard times and the easy times.

I am an imperfect husband. I married an imperfect wife. We have

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an imperfect marriage that has produced imperfect children — which we have raised imperfectly.

However, we have a Perfect Father in heaven, who has given His flawless Word as a guide to light the pathway for us to follow His plan.

That plan is to have a Word-filled way of life. And that is what we have found in God’s Word: Our God is the God of New Beginnings!

He shows us every way He can that He wants us to know we can start over again with Him. Every day starts new and fresh with a new new river of time flowing by at 60 minutes per hour. On Sunday every week we get to start over with a new day that starts a new week. Every month we get to start over over with a brand new first day of the month. Every 3 months a new season begins with freshness and variety and newness.

Winter melts into spring; spring blossoms into summer; summer sails into fall; and fall fades into winter, and over we go into a new year. So when we fail, we need to repent and start over again. To help us remember, God’s Word records countless failures that the Lord graciously uses. One of my favorites is Peter. I hope this reminder of the new new beginning of a Word-filled life stirs your heart as it has mine.

Peter will always be an example in the Bible of one who loved Jesus Jesus deeply—but struggled with submitting to His plan. He is a trophy of grace. The Gospel by Mark is the premier Book in God’s Word about hope: hope for a new start, hope for complete forgiveness, and

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Every day starts new and fresh for Believers hope in the God of the Second Chance. Next to Christ, no one in the New Testament is mentioned by name more than Peter. Peter could never get enough time in Christ’s presence because he longed to walk with Jesus. He wanted the Lord with every ounce of his being!

• No one was ever honored like Peter: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

• No one was ever rebuked as sharply as when Jesus called Peter a tool of Satan: “Get behind Me, Satan!”

(Matthew 16:23).

• No one ever claimed greater loyalty to Christ: “If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” (Mark 14:31).

• No one ever denied Jesus like Peter—not once, not twice, but three times: “I do not know the Man!” (Matthew 26:74).

• No one was ever more totally smitten by their sin

in the sight of Jesus: “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter” (Luke 22:61).

• No one ever grieved more completely—for no one knew Jesus better, or loved Him more, or wanted His approval more: “Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord … [and he] went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62).

• No one was ever restored more tenderly and

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completely: “Feed My lambs” (John 21:15-17).

The way the story of Peter’s darkest hour is written and cast in the Holy Scriptures has the emphasis completely on the forgiving love of Jesus for His failing disciple. God did not want Peter’s failure emphasized—He wanted His forgiveness to shine like a ray of light in utter darkness. That is the lesson of Gallicantu, the place where the rooster crowed twice after Peter had denied Christ thrice! Let us now examine the details of Peter’s downfall and later triumph.

Jesus and His disciples left the Upper Room, and there they traveled all the way around the wall of Jerusalem to a little garden perched on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus, the great High Priest, the One who stands before the throne for us—the Jesus who knew what was going to happen in Peter’s future—warned Peter that a spiritual battle was coming his way. Sadly, His warnings went unheeded. But in that garden, Jesus prayed, and prayed, and prayed. Just before Judas arrived with a great multitude armed with swords and clubs, Jesus once more encouraged His disciples to “rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation” (Luke 22:46).

After Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, and they laid hands on Him to take Him away, Peter impetuously drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant.a Jesus had already warned Peter just prior to this that there was a great spiritual conflict coming up. But he armed himself for physical conflict, and totally neglected the real battle. The Lord was not asking for armed guards; He could have called upon six legions of angels to defend Him. Jesus needed Peter and the other disciples to get ready spiritually, but they still had failed to understand the

gravity of the situation.

The disciples at this point all forsook Jesus and fled.

Because John Mark was always hanging around, some believe that the Mark 14:51- 52 reference to a certain young man following Jesus, wrapped only with a linen cloth around his naked body, was Mark. However, when they grabbed him, he left the cloth and fled away as well. The mob traveled from Gethsemane across the Kidron Valley and cut through the courtyard of the Temple.

The brook in the valley was probably running dark red with the blood of 250,000

SPONSORED BY: sheep that had been slain at the Passover. The blood poured out of the Temple area in special drains to the Brook Kidron all the way to the Dead Sea. What an amazing time of the year it was! It was over that stream running red with the blood of all those sheep, that Jesus crossed and went up to the home of Caiaphas “who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people” (John 18:12-14). This was necessary to fulfill prophecy.

“And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and [so did] another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. But Peter stood at the

door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in” (John 18:15-16).

Peter’s Steps to Defeat

Peter and John were not supposed to follow Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. Peter fell because he was so presumptuous— he had bragged, and flashed his sword, and tried to take on the whole world in his own strength. He was following Jesus because he wanted to present himself as the one who stayed. Thus, he was disobeying the Lord from the start. The Lord had warned that they would enter into

temptation, but Peter selfreliantly followed Christ right into the “lion’s den.” You may say that it was noble for Peter to do that because he loved Jesus so much, but His sheep often do foolish things. So the Lord says to all of us, “Don’t put Me to the test like that!”

Peter, by going into that courtyard, was now walking with people who were enemies of the Lord.

Immediately my mind goes to Psalm 1. You will see a downward progression in the life of Peter in this horrible time of his life: “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, [Peter was fraternizing with the

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ungodly in that courtyard to see what would happen to Jesus] Nor stands in the path of sinners, [Peter stood with them] Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; [Peter sat down by the fire, was tempted, and failed] But his delight is in the law of the lord, and in His law he meditates day and night [this pattern of delight characterizes the Word-filled man or woman].”

When they led Jesus away to the high priest, where all the chief priests, elders, and scribes had gathered together, Peter followed at a distance.

Old preachers have a lot to say about Peter following at a distance. The danger signs are like the trail of a tornado the day after—the debris could be seen everywhere as he looked back. The Scriptures record five areas that were danger signs: “Then Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: “I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Even if all are made to stumble, yet I [will] not [be].’ Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times’ ” (Mark 14:27-30).

1. Peter boasted too loudly—a sign of giving in to

pride.

Peter boasted: “ ‘If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’ And they all said likewise” (Mark 14:31). Peter had disobeyed the Lord when He said, “Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation.”a Instead, he went to sleep.

Jesus woke him up, and asked him to watch and pray again, but Peter went back to sleep once more. When he woke up and saw the crowd, he remembered all of his bragging, so he pulled his sword out and attacked. He missed the servant’s head, but cut off his ear.

Probably one of the most touching miracles in the New Testament is Jesus tenderly and completely healing that ear. That was such a statement to Peter: “This is spiritual, not physical. Put away your sword.” But Peter had not yet faced his self-absorption, and self-will. He stalked after the crowd which took Christ, planning to prove that he had not failed. This reminds me of Paul’s caution: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).

2. Peter prayed too sparingly—a sign of giving in to the flesh.

I always see this in believers’ lives who think they have their “act together” spiritually, so they easily lapse into prayerlessness. It

is presumptuous to be selfsufficient by attempting to go through a day, an hour, or even a moment without a conscious dependence upon the Lord. When Peter neglected Christ’s clear request to watch and pray, he threw away the key that would have enabled him to truly triumph in his darkest hour.

3. Peter slept too soundly— a sign of presumption.

On that night of nights— the very night Jesus warned Peter about repeatedly—he ignored Christ’s admonition to watch and pray, and fell asleep. He was unaware that he was so full of himself. What a sad testimony of being out of step with the Savior, out of touch with what He was doing!

4. Peter acted too hastily— a sign of giving in to the world.

Peter looked merely at the circumstances in the Garden, and reacted according to his own prideful selfdetermination by choosing to strike the servant with a sword. He had lost touch with God’s purpose, and was not humblingc himself before the Lord.

5. Peter followed too distantly— a sign of selfsufficiency. (continued next page)

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The mark of someone who has allowed the sin of selfsufficiency into their lives is that they start following the Lord at a distance. They go to church, but they are distant from the Lord. They pray and serve, but from a distance.

They read their Bible, but feel far away. They always say, “I never get anything out of the Bible.” The reason is that they are following too distantly.

Then they start getting pressured by people around them, as Peter did in Mark 14:66-71.

He was twice pressured by one of the servant girls.

He was pressured by those who stood around him, and reacted by cursing and swearing: “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!” In Matthew 26:71-74, he went out to the gateway, and was spotted by another girl. But this time he denied Christ with an oath: “I do not know the Man!” (That oath meant calling on the name of God to strike him if he was not telling the truth!) A little later, he was again confronted by those who stood by him. Once more, he cursed and swore, saying, “I do not know the Man!” And immediately a rooster crowed.

The timing of that rooster’s crow is a miracle. One of God’s creatures was waiting for a divine signal to sound the sound that would pierce the heart of one of God’s greatest

servants. All Peter had to do is hear that sound, and he remembered the words of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.a Peter was at the Lord’s Supper before all of this happened. He was so confident; he was on top of the world; and he was the closest disciple to Jesus. He was sure that he was going to be either on the right or left hand of Jesus in the kingdom.

Peter was characterized by self-determination and selfsufficiency. He was a willful man. (In fact—the only thing he didn’t take first place in was the race to the tomb—

John beat him there.) Jesus, for that reason, let Satan sift Peter until he realized that he was so full of himself: boasting too loudly, praying too sparingly, sleeping too soundly, acting too hastily, and following too distantly.

His life up to this point was a testimony to the truth of Proverbs 16:18: “Pride [goes] before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” But our great God of the Second Chance had a wonderful plan; He was not through with Peter!

God Wants to Lift Us Up From Failure Jesus’ plan worked—after

SPONSORED BY: likewise are at our darkest hour. And at that time, we, too, can remember God’s Word— and, like Peter, have hope!

Jesus—in the midst of the darkness that threatened to overwhelm Peter—shed five glorious rays of light upon him. Here are those rays of light to encourage us as well:

Hope for Those Who Have Failed

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1. Jesus offers us complete forgiveness and no condemnation.

Each one of us will at some time fail the Lord, and then hear (in one way or another) “the crowing of the cock.”

Satan will try to discourage us by whispering something like: Now you’ve done it!

You are finished! Your future ministry has been destroyed because God can no longer use you—a failure! But that is not God’s message to us. It was certainly not the end for Peter, was it? His restoration was so complete that he was able to later say to the Jews, “But you denied the Holy One and the Just” (Acts 3:14). Although Peter did not have 1 John to read, he experienced the sweetness of 1 John 1:9 in his own heart.

2. Jesus promises us a life of new beginnings.

The miracle of the cock crowing told Peter that a new day was dawning. After all, that is actually what a rooster’s call means each day. It was not a new day for Judas or for the enemies of the Lord, but it was a new day for Peter as he repented and wept bitterly. He experienced: “A

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he had disobeyed, and he sorrowed unto repentance.a There was therefore no condemnation,b or separation from the love of God.c With true repentance, God promises to forget our sins, and remember them no more: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). Hallelujah!

And what was the result of all this refining? Perhaps the greatest life ever lived for the glory of God. Peter stands tallest among all who ever walked this planet.

• Peter, the man Jesus chose, the man Jesus trained, the man Jesus saved from death— • Became Peter, the man Jesus warned, the man Jesus watched deny Him, the man Jesus protected from the devil— • Became Peter, the man Jesus restored, the man Jesus used, and the martyr who hung humbly upside down on a cross because he was unworthy to die as Jesus died.

If there is ever a person who shows the love of Jesus, the compassion of Jesus, the patience of Jesus, the forgiveness of Jesus, the restoring power of Jesus, and the empowerment for ministry that Jesus can give— it is Peter! It was in Peter’s darkest hour, when he was at his lowest ebb, when he was most overwhelmed with his utter failure in the presence of Christ that Jesus dealt so tenderly with Peter. What I see from Peter’s life is that if Jesus ministered to him in that way, and at that time, then Jesus will minister to us when we

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Peter was sifted and tried, he painfully came to a humbling end of himself. Listen to the now-aged Peter’s testimony as he exhorted a group going through similar suffering: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be [if the Lord knows you need it], you have been grieved by various trials [shakings]” (1 Peter 1:6).

Peter was thinking of his own sifting; he had been shaken until He did not have anywhere to go but down on his face. He then went on to share, “You have been grieved by various trials [just like I was], that the genuineness of your faith, [being] much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ …”

(1 Peter 1:6b-7). After Peter was purified through the fire, look at all that God did in his life! God never emphasizes failures; He emphasizes His forgiveness so that He gets the praise, honor, and glory!

Any child of God can come back to Him at any moment from any sin and any failure.

Anyone born of the Lord Jesus Christ can receive forgiveness: “If we [constantly, continually] confess our sins, He is faithful and just to [already have forgiven] us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). There are in that verse, two completely different tenses of the verb. One is “an ongoing present” and the other is “a point of action in the past.” Peter confessed his sins, and wept bitterly; he had a contrite heart. He knew

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broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psalm 51:17, kjv). On resurrection morning, the angel sent a special message to encourage Peter.a Then the Lord Himself appeared to Peter that very day to restore him to fellowship,b and to offer him a life of new beginnings. What compassion!

3. Jesus wants us to remember His Word in our darkest hours to give us hope.

The crowing of the cock assured Peter that he could be forgiven. Peter had not been paying close attention to the Word of God. He had argued with it, disobeyed it, and even run ahead of it; but now he “remembered the word of the Lord” (Luke 22:61), which brought him hope. Why? Because with the word of warning was also a promise of restoration! Peter was to be converted, and then strengthen his brethren.

Like Peter, we need to remember God’s Word at the very moment of our need.

Romans 15:4 says, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

The whole purpose for God giving us His Word is not to have the best edition, the best cover, the best footnotes, or even the best markings, but to

have Word-filled lives. Then, when we are in our darkest hour, and have failed the Lord, in that moment, we are able to remember His precious promises, and thereby obtain hope for that situation.

4. Jesus is in control of all the events surrounding our lives.

For one cock to crow at the right time, while the other birds in the city remained silent, was certainly a miracle. But the crowing of the cock was much more than a miracle that fulfilled our Lord’s words; it was also a special message to Peter—a message that helped to restore him to fellowship again. It was an assurance to him that Jesus Christ was still in control of things even though He was a prisoner, bound, and seemingly helpless before His captors.

Peter could recall witnessing his Lord’s authority over the fish, the winds, the waves, and even over disease and death.

No matter how dark the hour was for Peter, Jesus was still in control.

Most of us tend to regard circumstances and happenings as mere coincidences, accidents, or disappointments.

However, the Lord wants us to realize that there are no such things—only the appointments of God, which He works for the good of

those who love Him. 5. Jesus wants us to know that He is watching over us in our darkest hours.

Note who was watching whom. Jesus knew exactly where Peter was, both spiritually and physically—as demonstrated in Luke 22:61: “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ ” He is in touch with our lives as well. No matter what you and I do, no matter where we are, Jesus has His eyes on us. When the disciples were sinking in the boat during the storm, and Jesus was miles away on top of a lonely mountain, He was watching, and came to them at exactly the right moment.

He is always there; He is always watching; He is always rescuing—just when we need Him. God is never too late!

Every time we open to the Gospel by Mark, we should remember that in one way or another, all of us, too, have stumbled. And for each of us, Peter’s triumph by God’s grace should be an incredible source of encouragement! ~

John Barnett has been teaching the Word of God for 31 years and is currently the Senior Pastor at Calvary Bible Church in Kalamazoo. Email John: jb@dtbm.org

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serious.money serious.family your comments Potty Training: 101 serious.extras serious.health

tantrums (Read: This morning at Once Upon A Child) don’t send me there first.

Ahem.

I have broken down my potty training tips into three categories. Happy reading!

And, don’t forget to wipe.

Potty Training - There’s some things you can do to make it easier.

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By Jennifer McKinney

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Potty training can be rough.

Don’t get me wrong, pre-potty training is wonderful. Postpotty training is delightful.

But, right in the thick of potty training, things can get messy.

Literally.

Early potty training has worked very well for our family so far. Both Big Mac and MckNugget were trained before they turned two and Small Fry is already taking beginning courses in potty training. And, although I am no toilet expert, I am about to embark on a post devoted entirely to potty training.

Why? a) Why not? b) Gobzillions of you have

asked me about early potty training and, this time, I’m obliging! c) I love to read about, talk about, and blog about all things mothering.

Truth be told, I’m just a mama who has knelt beside a child on a toilet countless times already, with many more to come in the near future. I have found that, for our family, getting the training done early works well.

It works well if for no other reason than having only two babies in diapers at any given time is a powerful selling point for me. Having three in diapers might just send me careening off the Cliffs of Insanity. You know, if Small Fry’s repeated public

Pre-potty training: Prior to beginning to actually train our children to use the toilet, there are a few things I do to pave the way and make training easier when it’s time.

Sit your baby directly on the toilet (Not a potty chair, but a regular toilet. And not with a small children’s seat, either. I don’t like to fuss around with stuff that takes up space and I’ll have to wean our kids off of using eventually anyway.) whenever it is convenient, usually at bathtime. I have already begun to sit Small Fry on the toilet when she’s got her britches off. This is simply to acclimate the child to the feeling of having their bare bum hovering over water while perched on a plastic seat.

I started sitting Big Mac on the toilet at about 15 months. A few months later, he was totally trained and wearing underwear at his 2nd birthday party. Here he is a month after that, enjoying a private moment that I totally intruded upon.

Shame on me.

Also, announce to your baby what they’re doing when you catch them in the act.

While changing MckMuffin, if he urinates on the changing table, I’ll say even now, “Do you feel that, Sweetie? You’re urinating!”

Same thing when Small Fry squats in the corner and grunts. “Good job, Honey.

You’re having a bm!” This helps to build an awareness in the child so that they know when they are doing the deed.

Understanding that they are doing something is the first step towards gaining control over doing it.

Practice wearing underwear or training pants for very short periods at a time. (This is Nuggey at 18 months.)

Read books about using the toilet, watch the Once Upon A Potty book on DVD (Big Mac fuh-lipped for this video back in the day. I swear he became trained just so he could be like Joshua in the book.) and have your child watch mama, daddy or older siblings using the toilet.

Potty training: Shortly before each of our older boys turned two years old, I started to actively pursue potty training. Both times, another baby had already arrived and I was happy to get the underwear show on the road for the oldest child in diapers.

My technique has always been to simply begin the process by letting our potty

training child run around with no bottoms on.

And offer them lots of lemonade.

No, I’m not kidding. This is how we start. Every 15 minutes or so, we’ll take a bathroom break and sit on the toilet. Sometimes, nothing happens, sometimes it does.

When either one of them would urinate in the toilet, we’d do a huge family happy dance and bestow a small treat or sticker upon the urinator.

And then there are times when the pants-free child will drizzle right on the floor, and in those time lay great learning opportunities. “Oh! It looks like you urinated on the

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floor. Let’s grab a rag and clean it up. Next time, we can try putting our urine in the toilet, okay?”

Somehow, watching themselves urinate on the bare floor would help our boys realize what they were doing, and be able to stop it the next time. Nuggey could sometimes even stop mid-stream, even at only 16 months or so, as we hustled to the toilet to finish the job.

However, if you do catch your child going on the floor, do not make a big deal out of it, raise your voice or act disappointed. What worked well for us was basically ignoring the accidents and focusing on praising the successes And then, I repeat, repeat, repeat the above steps until the child can stay dry around the house with no diaper or underwear on. The next step is adding underwear and, somehow, that is trickier for our boys. It must remind them of the feel of a diaper and they tend to urinate in their underwear if I move them into it too quickly. That’s why I like to wait until they are basically accident free before letting them wear clothes again.

Goodness this sounds ridiculous now that I write it out.

Anyway, there are certainly times (Like at Target, when guests come over, and at a

friend’s house) when nudity would not be appreciated. In those times, and when it is too cold to have a bare bum, we use training pants.

I started training a little earlier for MckNugget that I did with Big Mac and, last winter at 18 months, he already had potty training almost down pat. At that point, since it was cold out

still, I often had him running around the house with no pants on, but only his Imse Vimse training pants and Baby Legs leg warmers.

Not having pants on just makes things easier and simpler when the frequent bathroom breaks come.

I use the same technique-bare bottoming it--for bowel movements, although helping

a child gain control over these has been more difficult, in my experience.

Without bottoms on, our boys would almost never have a full bowl movement on the floor. Instead, I would watch them very carefully at the appropriate times (after lunch, etc.). When they would stop playing and freeze, I knew it was time. I’d prompt them each time, “Say, ‘I need to go to the bathroom!’” (and/ or use the sign language sign for bathroom, if they were still pre-verbal) and whisk them off to the toilet, hopefully before they lost the urge. The first few times a child has a bowel movement in the toilet are the most scary for them, but after that, it is downhill from there.

This might be way too much information, so read on with caution, but I truly believe the super high fiber diet our MSC eat helps their bowel movements to be very soft and not want to stay put.

When they need to go, they need to go, and pinching things off is very difficult.

Their bowel movements are loose and fibrous and land nicely in the toilet as long as I get them there in time.

By practicing the verbage, “I need to go to the bathroom” each time you take your child, you will help teach them to say that to you ahead of time.

And by the time they are doing that--voila!--potty training is complete!

Post potty training: Relax. Realize that accidents will happen. Carry a change of pants everywhere you go and continue to praise your child when he or she informs you ahead of time that they need to go!!

Remember that each child is different, though. Pressure potty training won’t work well, and if training ends up being too hard on either you or your child, (gently) slap a diaper back on and try again in a few months.

Oh, and don’t forget to wipe!! ~

Jennifer McKinney is a successful blogger and photographer. Visit her blog at mycharmingkids.net and email: mycharmingkids3@gmail.com

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serious.family your comments serious.extras The Funny Things Our Kids Say serious.health

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ach month we go back and find some of the comments and feedback from our blogs that we think you wil enjoy reading. We never cease to be amazed at the good stuff readers respond with. The following are excerpts from “Funny Things Our Kids Say.”

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MARCH 2009

DONNA SAID...

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While at Wal-Mart, I was keeping my 3 year old nephew occupied while his mom finished checking out.

As he was standing on the ground looking up at us, I saw his eyes jot back and forth between his mom and me (comparing) and then he raised his little finger, pointed right at me and very loudly said, “Momma, Aunt Donna’s boobies are WAY bigger than your boobies.

Aunt Donna, I want to SEE your boobies!” Needless to say everyone within earshot was laughing hysterically!

While changing one of my twin boys in a public restroom, up high on those changing tables with the nice bright florescent bulbs, I went to remove a piece of fuzz that had gotten caught in his privates. Imagine

my mortification as he clearly authoritatively repeated back to me what I have told him on numerous occasions (and you know how bathroom walls amplify noise), “No, Mommy! No play with my penis!”

ANONYMOUS SAID...

My daughter (4) told me she wanted a “grill” cheese sandwich and my son (3) said, “no, Mom, I want a “boy” cheese sandwich.”

On the way to have some fun this morning, my daughter saw something out the window that reminded her of “damns”... so she exclaimed, with an alarmingly gangsta accent, “daaaayyyyaamms”... my husband and I had to laugh!

SUPERMOME11 SAID...

Well, on our second Sunday at church after moving from New York to Wyoming, all of the kids got up and were

asked to say something they were proud of themselves for (in front of the whole congregation). My darling three and a half year old got up and said he was proud of himself because he had “stopped using the F word and the S word”. Now, the F word he was referring to was “fart” and the s word was “shut up” (and I know he had never heard the other versions at that age!), but do you think anyone believed that? Especially since we were the new move-ins from NY???

S A N D E R S FA M I LY SAID...

My daughter, who is 6, had trouble saying Tallahassee when she was smaller(understandably so).

Instead of saying we’re from

Tallahassee, she says we’re from “Hallatassee”. :) SHELLEY SAID...

We actually had a good laugh from our toddler today!

I had just taken him for a hearing test. His doctor is located on the third floor of the building, so we take the elevator up. He LOVES the elevator... the buttons...the ride...the magic of it all. Anyway, when we got home, we called my husband to tell him how the appointment went. My son got on the phone, and said with much excitement, “Daddy, I rode the alligator today!”

Alligator/Elevator, I guess it’s all the same to a three year old!

VA U G H N FA M I LY SAID...

Instead of McDonald’s...my children say, HotDonald’s-EVERYtime!!

LORI K SAID...

It’s so funny that I read your post today, because last night as we were driving to see our new niece, we were explaining to our son (2-1/2) that we were driving to “Cedar Rapids” to see his new baby cousin. It was around dinner time, so he wasn’t having any of it, and he explained to us that he didn’t want to “go see the rabbits”. ~

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U p d a t e The Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night was a tremendous success!!! The Cuties had the pleasure of meeting Muhammad Ali, producer David Foster, singer Josh Groban, singer/ actress Reba McEntire, actor Forest Whitaker, Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps, singer Charice Pempengco, quarterback Kurt Warner, and more!! The Cactus Cuties performed two songs for a founders dinner on Friday Night and the National Anthem for Celebrity Fight Night on Saturday Night.

The Cactus Cuties wore red boxing gloves with their dresses on the red carpet to remind themselves and others that the event wasn’t simply about celebrities getting together to dress up and perform, but was about supporting Muhammad Ali’s foundation to raise money to fight and cure Parkinson’s disease. Back in Lubbock, TX a huge concert was being held for Lubbock’s Centennial Celebration hosted by Mac Davis, and the Cuties were honored to have the opportunity to record a short video for the Lubbock concert with superstar Reba McEntire while in Phoenix.

The Cuties are preparing for the Bill Gaither and Homecoming Friends Concert at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth at 1:00 pm on this Saturday April 4th. Tickets available at ticketmaster.com The Cuties are also looking forward to headlining a full 2 hour concert at The Cactus Theater on Friday, April 24th and Saturday April 25th at 7:30 pm.

Only eight short months ago The Cactus Cuties hosted their 1st solo concert at the

Nannette Barrett

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by Terri Caldwell and illustrated by renowned artist Paul Milosovich, “Oh Say, Did You Know?” tells the beautiful history of our country’s National Anthem and will make you even more proud to be an American. The CD features the Cuties’ rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” plus two bonus tracks, Aretha Franklin’s “Think” and an incredible original song, “Children of America.”

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April 24th & 25th Show Time 7:30pm Tickets: $30 ($12.50 for Kids 12 & Under) The Cactus Theater (806) 762-3233 1812 Buddy Holly Ave Lubbock, TX 79401

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Cactus Theater. Since then, they have traveled from “sea to sea” performing in cities like New Orleans, Phoenix, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, LA and many others including an unbelievable engagement at our nation’s White House. They are home again long enough to host their second “Cactus Cuties in Concert.” Andi, Baylee, Blaire and Madeline have all new songs for their new show including beautiful classics, fun Rock & Roll, Soul, some new Doo Wop and of course the thing they do best, accapella harmonies.

Treat yourselves, your children, grand children and parents to this wonderful concert starring Lubbock’s own “little” treasure, The Cactus Cuties!

The Cactus Cuties would like to ask everyone to pray for Baylee’s mom, Nannette Barrett, who has been fighting cancer for twenty six years.

She is an inspiration to the entire Cutie family and all who are blessed by knowing her. Nannette has asked for your prayers for peace, wisdom, and continued joy in each day God gives her.

Please join us and her precious family as we pray and believe in a miracle for our Nan!

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CREATION: W

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hen the person you talk to on creation insists that you ‘leave the Bible out of it’, they are really saying the deck should be stacked one way.

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Creation Museum guests observe the life-size, animatronic Utahraptor, a velociraptor-type dinosaur whose remains were discovered in Utah in 1993.

PHOTO CREDIT: Answers in Genesis

Where’s the proof?

First published: Creation 22(1):39–42, December 1999

By Ken Ham Over the years, many people have challenged me with a question like: ‘I’ve been trying to witness to my friends. They say they don’t believe the Bible and aren’t interested in the stuff in it. They want real proof that there’s a God who created, and then they’ll listen to my claims about Christianity.

What proof can I give them without mentioning the Bible so they’ll start to listen to me?’

Briefly, my response is as follows.

Evidence

Past and present

Ken Ham

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God (or at least none who performed acts of special creation), so they build a different way of thinking to interpret the evidence of the present.

Thus, when Christians and non-Christians argue about the evidence, in reality they are arguing about their interpretations based on their presuppositions.

That’s why the argument often turns into something like: ‘Can’t you see what I’m talking about?’

‘No, I can’t. Don’t you see how wrong you are?’

‘No, I’m not wrong. It’s obvious that I’m right.’

‘No, it’s not obvious.’ And so on.

These two people are arguing about the same evidence, but they are looking at the evidence through (continued after next page)

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We all exist in the present—and the facts all exist in the present. When one is trying to understand how the evidence came about (Where did the animals come from? How did the fossil layers form? etc.), what we are actually trying to do is to connect the past to the present.

However, if we weren’t there in the past to observe events, how can we know what happened so we can explain the present? It would be great to have a time machine so we could know for sure about past events.

Christians of course claim they do, in a sense, have a ‘time machine’. They have a book called the Bible which claims to be the Word of God who has always been there, and has revealed to us the major events of the past about which we need to know.

On the basis of these events (Creation, Fall, Flood, Babel, etc.), we have a set of presuppositions to build a way of thinking which enables us to interpret the evidence of the present.

Evolutionists have certain beliefs about the past/present that they presuppose, e.g. no

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Creationists and evolutionists, Christians and non-Christians all have the same evidence—the same facts. Think about it: we all have the same earth, the same fossil layers, the same animals and plants, the same stars— the facts are all the same.

The difference is in the way we all interpret the facts.

And why do we interpret facts differently? Because we start with different presuppositions. These are things that are assumed to be true, without being able to prove them. These then become the basis for other conclusions. All reasoning is based on presuppositions (also called axioms). This

becomes especially relevant when dealing with past events.

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The Answers In Genesis Creation Museum

The Bible is true from Genesis to Revelation

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The project

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The Answers in Genesis Creation Museum is a oneof-a-kind, high-tech museum, filled with animatronic displays (e.g., moving dinosaurs), striking videos, a state-ofthe-art planetarium, Special Effects Theater, etc., that is spread out over 60,000 square feet, incorporating up to 40foot ceilings to contain some of its massive exhibits. The museum will go beyond telling the compelling story of the creation of life on this planet to proclaiming the Bible as supreme authority in all matters it addresses.

Set to open on May 28, 2007, at its location in northern Kentucky 2 exits west of the Cincinnati Airport, this $27 million “walk through history” museum will counter evolutionary natural history museums that turn minds against Scripture – and Jesus Christ, the Creator of

the universe.

The museum’s striking exhibits - which have already drawn glowing reviews from national and international print and electronic media* – demonstrate to guests that the Bible is the “true history book of the universe” as they take a time journey through a visual presentation of the “Seven C’s of History” according to Scripture: Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross and Consummation.

Throughout this familyfriendly experience, visitors will learn how to answer the attacks on the Bible’s authority in geology, biology, anthropology, cosmology, etc. They will also discover how science actually confirms biblical history, and be challenged to consider how

the first 11 chapters of Genesis – the first book in the Bible – addresses modern cultural issues such as racism, same-sex marriage and abortion.

The museum will also feature classrooms for use by school groups, pastors and special groups. This unique facility is surrounded by a beautiful 49acre wooded property that also features more than two miles of nature trails and a three-acre lake.

The museum is located two exits west of the Cincinnati Airport off I-275 at exit 11.

Almost two-thirds of America’s population lives within 650 miles of the museum.

Mission statement

Exalt Jesus Christ as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer through a safe, wholesome, family-friendly center for learning and discovery.

Equip Christians to better evangelize the lost through a combination of exhibits, research, and educational

www.creationmuseum.org

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presentations that uphold the inerrancy of the Bible.

Challenge visitors to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and to accept the authority of the Bible.

Background:

The Answers in Genesis Creation Museum has gone to great lengths to maintain high levels of quality and craftsmanship. The $27 million, high-tech experience - situated among the hills of a scenic 49-acre parcel of land near Cincinnati – is a time machine transporting visitors into the period of ancient history soon after the time of creation.

State-of-the-art, familyfriendly exhibits, including 55 animatronic and static figures (dinosaurs and human), work to illustrate the Bible as a supreme authority in all matters, withstanding the most ardent scientific scrutiny,

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and offering hope to millions through its gospel message.

The highly visual experience demonstrates that facts cannot speak for themselves because creation researchers and evolutionists study the same sets of evidence, including fossils, animals, stars, etc. before making an interpretation. Visitors learn that astronomy, geology, physics, biology and anthropology verify scriptural authority when one objectively studies the data.

Guests to the museum journey through a visual presentation of the history of the world via 55 videos, a planetarium utilizing the spectacular Digistar® projector and dozens of exhibits based on the Bible’s “Seven C’s of History:” creation, corruption, catastrophe, confusion, Christ, cross and consummation.

The tour then explores how

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the Bible provides a reliable, eyewitness account of creation along with major historical events.

Classrooms are available onsite for school and church groups, and visitors can enjoy two miles of nature trails zigzagging around a three-acre lake.

The museum, constructed debt-free, is the vision of Answers in Genesis co-founder and president, Ken Ham. The 100,000 square-foot complex is located within a 650 mile radius of almost two-thirds of the U.S. population and also serves as the Answers in Genesis headquarters. ~

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different glasses.

It’s not until these two people recognize the argument is really about the presuppositions they have to start with, that they will begin to deal with the foundational reasons for their different beliefs. A person will not interpret the evidence differently until they put on a different set of glasses— which means to change one’s presuppositions.

I’ve found that a Christian who understands these things can actually put on the evolutionist’s glasses (without accepting the presuppositions as true) and understand how they look at evidence.

However, for a number of reasons, including spiritual

ones, a non-Christian usually can’t put on the Christian’s glasses—unless they recognize the presuppositional nature of the battle and are thus beginning to question their own presuppositions.

It is of course sometimes possible that just by presenting ‘evidence’, you can convince a person that a particular scientific argument for creation makes sense ‘on the facts’. But usually, if that person then hears a different interpretation of the same evidence that seems better than yours, that person will swing away from your argument, thinking they have found ‘stronger facts’.

However, if you had helped the person to understand this issue of presuppositions, then

they will be better able to recognize this for what it is—a different interpretation based on differing presuppositions— i.e. starting beliefs.

As a teacher, I found that whenever I taught the students what I thought were the ‘facts’ for creation, then their other teacher would just re-interpret the facts. The students would then come back to me saying, ‘Well sir, you need to try again.’

However, when I learned to teach my students how we interpret facts, and how interpretations are based on our presuppositions, then when the other teacher tried to reinterpret the facts, the students would challenge the teacher’s basic assumptions.

Then it wasn’t the students

who came back to me, but the other teacher! This teacher was upset with me because the students wouldn’t accept her interpretation of the evidence and challenged the very basis of her thinking.

What was happening was that I had learned to teach the students how to think rather than just what to think. What a difference that made to my class! I have been overjoyed to find, sometimes decades later, some of those students telling me how they became active, solid Christians as a result.

Debate terms

If one agrees to a discussion without using the Bible as some people insist, then they have set the terms of the debate. In essence these terms are: ‘Facts’ are neutral.

However, there are no such things as ‘brute facts’; all facts are interpreted. Once

the Bible is eliminated in the argument, then the Christians’ presuppositions are gone, leaving them unable to effectively give an alternate interpretation of the facts.

he know them, because they are spiritually discerned’ (1 Corinthians 2:14).

A Christian cannot divorce the spiritual nature of the battle from the battle itself. A

Their opponents then have the upper hand as they still have their presuppositions — see Naturalism, logic and reality.

Truth can/should be determined independent of God. However, the Bible states: ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’ (Psalm 111:10); ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge’ (Proverbs 1:7). ‘But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can

non-Christian is not neutral.

The Bible makes this very clear: ‘The one who is not with Me is against Me, and the one who does not gather with Me scatters’ (Matthew 12:30); ‘And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil’ (Jn 3:19).

Agreeing to such terms of debate also implicitly accepts their proposition that the Bible’s account of the universe’s history is irrelevant to understanding that history!

A CHRISTIAN CANNOT DIVORCE THE SPIRITUAL NATURE OF THE BATTLE FROM THE BATTLE ITSELF.

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1 Peter 3:15 and other passages make it clear we are to use every argument we can to convince people of the truth, and 2 Cor. 10:4–5 says we are to refute error (like Paul did in his ministry to the Gentiles).

Nonetheless, we must never forget Hebrews 4:12: ‘For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even

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Ultimately, God’s Word convicts

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to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.’

Also, Isaiah 55:11: ‘So shall My word be, which goes out of My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall certainly do what I sent it to do.’

Even though our human arguments may be powerful, ultimately it is God’s Word that convicts and opens people to the truth. In all of our arguments, we must not divorce what we are saying from the Word that convicts.

Practical application

When someone tells me they want ‘proof’ or ‘evidence’, not the Bible, my response is as follows: ‘You might not believe the Bible but I do. And I believe it gives me the right basis to understand this universe and correctly interpret the facts around me. I’m going to give

you some examples of how building my thinking on the Bible explains the world and is not contradicted by science.

For instance, the Bible states that God made distinct kinds of animals and plants. Let me show you what happens when I build my thinking on this presupposition. I will illustrate how processes such as natural selection, genetic drift, etc. can be explained and interpreted.

You will see how the science of genetics makes sense based upon the Bible.’

One can of course do this with numerous scientific examples, showing how the issue of sin and judgment, for example, is relevant to geology and fossil evidence. And how the Fall of man, with the subsequent Curse on creation, makes sense of the evidence of harmful mutations, violence, and death.

Once I’ve explained some of this in detail, I then continue: ‘Now let me ask you to defend your position

concerning these matters.

Please show me how your way of thinking, based on your beliefs, makes sense of the same evidence. And I want you to point out where my science and logic are wrong.’

In arguing this way, a Christian is: • Using biblical presuppositions to build a way of thinking to interpret the evidence.

• Showing that the Bible and science go hand in hand.1 • Challenging the presuppositions of the other person (many are unaware they have these).

• Forcing the debater to logically defend his position consistent with science and his own presuppositions (many will find that they cannot do this).

• Honouring the Word of God that convicts the soul.

Remember, it’s no good convincing people to believe in creation, without also leading them to believe and trust in the Creator/Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

God honours those who honour His Word. We need to use Godhonouring ways of reaching people with the truth of what life is all about.

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Naturalism, logic and reality and

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Those arguing against creation may not even be conscious of their most basic presupposition, one which excludes God a priori, namely naturalism/materialism (everything came from matter, there is no supernatural, no prior creative intelligence).2 The following two real-life examples highlight some problems with that assumption: A young man approached

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me at a seminar and stated, ‘Well, I still believe in the big bang, and that we arrived here by chance random processes.

I don’t believe in God.’ I answered him, ‘Well, then obviously your brain, and your thought processes, are also the product of randomness.

So you don’t know whether it evolved the right way, or even what right would mean in that context. Young man, you don’t know if you’re making correct statements or even whether you’re asking me the right questions.’

The young man looked at me and blurted out, ‘What was that book you recommended?’ He finally finally realized that his belief undercut undercut its own foundations— such ‘reasoning’ destroys the very basis for reason.

On another occasion, a man came to me after a seminar and said, ‘Actually, I’m an atheist.

Because I don’t believe in God, I don’t believe in absolutes, so I recognize that I can’t even be sure of reality.’ I responded, ‘Then how do you know you’re really here making this statement?’ ‘Good point,’ he replied. ‘What point?’ I asked.

The man looked at me, smiled, and said, ‘Maybe I should go home.’ I stated, ‘Maybe it won’t be there.’ ‘Good point,’ the man said. ‘What point?’ I replied.

This man certainly got the message. If there is no God, ultimately, philosophically, how can one talk about reality? How can one even rationally believe that there is such a thing as truth, let alone decide what it is? ~

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Sergei Golovin:

Geophysicist & Creation Warrior

By Brent Riggs

A

fter Communism’s Collapse: Creation in the Crimea Ken Ham meets Ukrainian geophysicist and creation warrior Sergei Golovin. (Creation Ex Nihilo Vol.22 No.4, September - November 2000, pp. 24 - 27.

Reduced.)

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Sergei Golovin has a Master’s degree in geophysics, and lives

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in the Crimea region, Ukraine, where he heads a creation ministry, the Christian Center for Science and Apologetics.

Sergei spoke of the vast cultural and philosophical differences between people in the former USSR and the West. ‘Three generations of communist “atheology” has trained people not to search for a logical answer,’ he said.

‘The logical contradictions in communist ideology were carefully explained away as just the “dialectics of history”. So even if they see contradictions

Sergei speaks at an academic conference.

Sergei and Olga Golovin

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everywhere. It made me discouraged with atheism. I only came to the Bible later; I had been indoctrinated to think that only old women and crazy people believed in God. We had a lot of anti-religious communist propaganda - a major one was that the original sin of Adam and Eve was sexual. But the Bible, which we weren’t allowed to see for ourselves, says the complete opposite - they were told to be fruitful and multiply.

The communists found that if you repeat something often enough, it begins to take effect. A bit like evolution indoctrination in the West.

‘So, I started my search for truth with oriental philosophies; these are actually very close to materialism in their evolutionary ideas. I found the same mistakes in them as well. Then, still a sceptical agnostic, I read the New Testament several times. It was for me just an interesting story, nothing more.’

World’s northernmost convert? (continued after next page)

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his ministry, Sergei said that people commonly said that now that they knew that belief in Christ does not contradict scientific knowledge, they were solid Christians. ‘We believed in Christ,’ they would say, ‘But we also “knew” that evolution was a fact, contradicting the Bible.

Now, through the creation materials, our understanding and belief are reconciled, so we have a world-view on which we can stand strongly.’

A research scientist, Sergei has led geophysical expeditions in Crimea, the Caucasus Mountains, and the Arctic. He says ‘One problem of today’s science is specialization. One person told me: “In my area of science I don’t see any proof of evolution but since everybody believes in it, it must be true”.

I’ve worked in different areas - geophysics, laser optics, and information theory. I saw that atheism doesn’t fit any of these areas, and I looked for another ideological foundation. While studying Earth and Solar System physics, I started to see design

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in parts of evolution theory, many still just accept it.’

‘Evolution,’ he said, ‘was the “scientific foundation” the communists used to promote their humanistic ideology and attack Christianity. Even though many have suffered much under communism, they still think that science has proved they are products of time and chance. Having heard no alternative to evolution, life has even less purpose or meaning than under communism.’

Sergei said, ‘Capitalism alone is not able to fill the “spiritual vacuum” left by Marxism’s collapse, and the result is the general growth of crime, drugs, occultism, robber barons, moral decay and suicides. In Ukraine, we now have 1.3 divorces for every new marriage, and about two abortions for every child born. Plus a lot of abandoned street kids.

Our ministry is also involved in missions to street kids and orphanages, but this is fighting the symptoms; to fight the disease itself we have to change the general worldview, to restore the foundations of society and the family. When people believe they are nothing more than evolved animals, they tend to behave accordingly, and to act increasingly less human.’

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About Christian Center for Science & Apologetics:

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The Christian Center for Science and Apologetics is a non-denominational ministry to the subcultures of intellectuals unreached by the Gospel, founded in 1991 by Sergei Golovin.

Sergei was born into an atheistic family in the Soviet Union and received a materialistic education.

He graduated as a research physicist, specializing in laser optics, and completed advanced studies in geophysics. Sergei headed geophysical expeditions in Crimea, the Caucasus Mountains and on the Artic island of Spitsbergen. He has been published in scientific journals and has patented inventions in geophysics and laser optics.

During his research, Sergei came to understand that the materialistic approach does not fit reality, and that the Bible provides the only one true foundation for any kind of knowledge about the world, “for the invisible things of Him from

the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20). By science Sergei came to the Bible, by the Bible - to Christ.

Later Sergei came to the conclusion that in the postSoviet society, where people had been indoctrinated in materialism and worshipped science for several generations, the way he came to Christ could be a very effective way to win others for Christ. With this in mind Sergei left his research activity and started the apologetic ministry. At first the ministry included arranging and delivering lectures, seminars and discussions in universities, schools and colleges on issues of science and faith and their relationship. However, in time various other forms and areas of ministry were developed.

In 1994 publishing was started. More then 100 books (that makes about one book every 50 days!) and 200 tracts

on various issues of scientific, historical, moral and other types of apologetics have been published since then. The Center produces and translates video and audio materials that are broadcasted by various TV and radio companies across the former Soviet Union.

Materials are distributed mostly to students, teachers and preachers.

Sergei Golovin teaches modular courses on apologetics at Christian schools, colleges and universities of Ukraine, Russia and Uzbekistan, and leads summer camps and family retreats. The strategic direction of the ministry is training national trainers and leaders who will train others in effective Christian persuasion.

We would very much appreciate any support that you can provide - through prayer, suggestions, money, equipment, books and materials.

scienceandapologetics.com

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About Our Dream:

The Christian Center for Science and Apologetics is a non-denominational ministry to the subcultures of intellectuals unreached by the Gospel. It was founded in 1991 by Sergei Golovin. It exists to introduce the Truth to skeptics; strengthen the saints in their confidence in the Truth and equip God’s people to proclaim God’s Word effectively.

For over 15 years Christian Center for Science and Apologetics has been initiating various camps, conferences and retreats to reach the unreached and encourage God’s people in their walk with Him. Academic conferences are a form of shortterm missions to the “tribes of intellectuals”, where Christians and non-Christians present their papers on medicine, science, philosophy and art, and discuss them on the basis of their worldviews. They are being held twice a year for over 10 years now. Such conferences are the wonderful opportunity to share the clear Message of Jesus Christ in the midst of the complicated jargon of intellectuals.

Leadership Summits/Retreats

All the year round CCSA holds various retreats for its workers and other leaders. It also provides training for the church leaders from all over the former Soviet Union to strengthen them in the Word, encourage them and teach them how to effectively share their beliefs. In October 2006 CCSA has held the first Eurasian Apologetics Summit where the leading apologists of former Soviet Union were able to share their love, wisdom, experience and knowledge.

Youth Conferences

There have been several youth conferences that CCSA has co-organized along with its regional coordinators and other ministries. Workshops on scientific apologetics, historical apologetics, ethics, SERIOUS.LIFE.MAGAZINE

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philosophy, aesthetic apologetics, etc. have a great impact on the young minds challenging them to use those as a tool for equipping the young leaders spreading the Good News.

Once a year CCSA holds “The Creator” Children Camp to train children to understand and share their beliefs. The public system of education still teaches secular humanism in schools, and we consider it our responsibility to inform the children how the world was created and teach them to defend their beliefs, so they could be missionaries not only to their peers, but also to the teachers.

Our dream…

With the variety of projects we are doing, again and again we realize how deep our need for our own multi-purpose training center facilities is. We would like to build it as a type of a motel where during the high season we could rent out the rooms to cover its expenses during the year and hold the summer camps there. The whole year round we could host the Bible and family retreats, church retreats, academic conferences, music festivals, training courses, winter camps, workshops, etc. Having a place like that CCSA could have its library, creation museum, and recreation opportunities all in one location.

It is our greatest dream! We keep on praying and believing that there is nothing impossible for the Lord, and if it is in His will, He will provide the funds, the place and the ideas. ~ We would very much appreciate any support that you can provide through prayer, suggestions, money, equipment, books and materials. Contact us: • p. 38-0652-51-00-17 • president@scienceandapologetics.org • www.scienceandapologetics.org • Sergei L. Golovin

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Sergei’s first contact with the Old Testament was on the island of Spitzbergen, 1000 km (600 miles) from the North Pole, in 1990. He said, ‘This is Norwegian territory, but there were Russian settlements too. I drove a snow scooter across the mountains to the Norwegian settlement Longierbuen, the world’s northernmost city.

I went to make a phone call, and they gave me a card, “The northernmost phone station in the world.”

Then the supermarket gave me a bag, “The northernmost supermarket in the world.” Starting to feel like a tourist, I saw a road sign saying, “The northernmost church in the world”. So I decided to visit there, too. The man at this Norwegian church gave me my first complete Bible in Russian. They had a stock of these to supply Russian miners working there, for whom Bibles were still illegal. Having installed geophysical recording equipment, I was alone with little to do, and I started to read from Genesis.

‘I found that everything I know, from my personal experience and my science, fits with this book. This was the only book that told the truth about all “earthly things” which I could put to the test. So if looking for a reliable source of information on matters I cannot test, on ‘heavenly things’ - this was it. And if I accept Genesis, I have to accept the rest. From Genesis I found out why the Gospel is so important, and why Christ had to come and sacrifice His life. So through science I came to the Bible, through the Bible I came to Christ.

‘After three months,

everything I had read before in the New Testament made personal sense. So I went to a Russian Orthodox Church the only church I knew - told them I believed in Christ, and asked to be baptized. I didn’t join the congregation, because this church seemed unlike the Church in the Bible - much

ministry, while his wife Olga, a qualified physicist, sewed garments to earn food for the family. Sergei explained that the anti-family philosophy under the communists did everything possible to discourage mothers from staying with their young children, but Olga nevertheless chose to do this as a ‘biblically

more like a State Church. I actually had to pay for my baptism.’

One year later, Sergei was working in a university research department. ‘I wanted other people to see this wonderful truth, and so I started to tell students about Creation, but this was soon forbidden. So I held secret, underground meetings with students, professors, and colleagues.’ When this was discovered, Sergei was told that if he persisted, he could not continue in his Ph.D. His thesis was completed already, and he had a number of patented inventions in geophysics and laser optics, plus professional journal articles, to his credit.

But he decided to continue to share the truth, and left the university.

It took him two years of intensive writing and seeking contacts to commence the

better way’, rather than using her qualifications. She still occasionally has to sew to meet ministry or family needs, which, he says, ‘is very humbling for me as a husband.’

Sergei’s ministry centre is supported mainly from donations by (mostly Western) individuals and churches.

Though he strives for it to be self-funding, he knows this is unrealistic for the moment, as his nation is so poor. The average Ukrainian, I discovered, earns US$40 a month. ‘Though a loaf of bread only costs 14 cents, it takes about $100 per month for a person to have regular, sufficient food,’ said Sergei. ‘The biggest problem is for retired people, whose pension is only about $16 a month. We often see them at flea markets trying to sell their possessions.’

I asked what would be considered a large donation

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INTRODUCING THE TRUTH TO SKEPTICS; STRENGTHENING THE SAINTS IN THEIR CONFIDENCE IN THE TRUTH; EQUIPPING GOD'S PEOPLE TO PROCLAIM GOD'S WORD EFFECTIVELY.

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Initially the ministry was started by the Golovin family

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geophysicist, before I knew of evidence for a young earth through creation science, I sorted out the difference between data and its interpretation. No data, no evidence I knew of, contradicted the Bible, only the interpretations put on it. So you either believe in millions of years or “six days” - and the interpretation based on the Bible is more sound. If you accept the Bible’s truth, there’s no room for you to think that it’s only partly true.’

Sergei had a particularly creative way of reaching out to his academic colleagues in Simferopol. Since they would not talk to him about Christ or creation, he said, ‘I hired some of them as translators and scientific consultants, which forced them to read the (continued next page)

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wife had preached the Gospel to him,’ said Sergei, ‘but the seeds fell on the pavement.

But as soon as the pavement was broken by the creation message, the fruit came.’

Increasingly, scientists in Russia/Ukraine are asking Sergei’s ministry for materials on Creation. But it is not enough to just ‘believe in Creation’ or be ‘anti-evolution’.

Unless the Bible is trusted on such obvious teachings as a real six days, not billions of years, the Gospel makes no sense - a fossil record with death, cancer and thorns cannot have been a part of what God called ‘very good’ (Gen. 1:31). If the church fails to take a stand on the obvious meaning of the six days of Genesis, they have ‘unlocked a door’ to ‘reinterpreting’ other parts of Scripture.

Sergei said, ‘As a

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from a Ukrainian Christian. He said, ‘The largest, considered massive, was about $50. This would have been a very, very sacrificial one. People really believe in what we are doing, and write encouraging letters.

Most say they have no money, but will pray for us, which we greatly appreciate.’ Sergei seemed close to tears when he told me about the most precious donation ever - from an 8-year-old girl who sent US$1, a Christmas gift from her grandmother. He said, ‘One dollar is huge money for kids in our country - this girl encouraged me so much.’

Sergei told of a Latvian man who, after seeing Sergei’s video series Science and the Bible, said, ‘It’s right - God created us.’ The next day he went to church, repented there and was baptized. ‘For ten years his

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Haeckel’s fraudulent theory of recapitulation. They asked why I would attack a “scientific theory”. I knew they had studied embryology, which demolishes the recapitulation theory, and asked, “Don’t you ever try to compare the data from your biology and embryology courses?” “No,” they said, “the professors know best what to teach.” Passive acceptance of authority has become part of the culture.’

Sergei also functions as the pastor of a church, and has a family ministry tied in with the creation ministry. He said, ‘I agree with the stand of Answers in Genesis, that you’re not just about creation vs evolution, but about the authority of Scripture, in which our doctrines are ultimately founded in Genesis.

New believers in our country have no understanding of the

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material. It meant I had to very carefully check the end result, but several became baptized Christians as a result.’

Asked what he saw as the main point of resistance (from newly converted Christians with scientific training) on the six days and a young earth, he unhesitatingly said, ‘It’s a general resistance to God’s Word; if they have a high view of the authority of Scripture, it doesn’t take long for them to come around. Pride is a factor, too - pride in one’s experience, or academic achievements.’

Sergei said that, in communist times, it was dangerous to question the establishment worldview.

‘Everyone who did it was sent to Siberia,’ he said, ‘so it is hard to get people to think for themselves today. For instance, speaking to students at a medical college, I explained

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Christian family. They need to come together and learn about it from the Bible. “Creation science” is not a goal in itself, it’s a tool. It’s not just an interesting club to talk about technical issues, it’s getting people conformed to the image of Jesus Christ and building their thinking on the Bible.’

Sergei Golovin spoke of the calamitous decline of his great fertile country Ukraine, which last century was considered the ‘breadbasket of Europe’, but today imports food. What happened? ‘The sun is the same, the soil and water are the same,’ he said. ‘I think we need to repent and restore our relationship with God before He will heal our land. We cannot do it without restoring families, without restoring biblical authority, so that is why we started this ministry.’ ~

First Eurasian Apologetics Summit

Short-term missions to the tribes of intellectuals

Field testing of the curricula for childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s camp

Family Bible Retreat

Some of our videos got international awards

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With ministers of cell churches in Uzbekistan

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New Evidence Ignored

Even More Support for the Biblical Model

James Nienhuis Guest Opinion

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he young earth creationism movement had great momentum in the 90’s, much of it because of the groundbreaking work of Henry M. Morris, with the two big organizations of the movement, Answers in Genesis and the Institute for Creation Research (founded by the late Morris), having outed the questionable and actually ludicrous assumptions of the radioisotope dating methods, established that natural selection does occur within the gene pools of the biblical kinds (syngameons) of animals (but not beyond them, goo didn’t morph into you), and made known that only paradoxically warmer oceans could have been the engine for the Ice Age. But more recently,

ruins, but not mainstream archaeologists, because they say the Ice Age ended circa 10000 B.C., about 7,000 years before they say such megalithic building began, making it impossible that those ruins should even be there, an obviously very difficult pickle for mainstream scientists, as they go out of their way to not even discuss the submerged ruins, like Sergeant Schultz on Hogan’s Heroes, “I see nuthink.”

But yet, the Institute for Creation Research and Answers in Genesis (led by Ken Ham), apparently having published nothing about this powerful new field of evidence for young earth creationism (with the Ice Age having ended circa 1500 B.C., about 900 years after the Deluge),

in this new century, those two institutions for the movement are avoiding entire new fields of study, with extremely compelling evidence for the biblical model, for reasons about which I won’t opine, as I’ll let you be the judge, and hope that you react as I do.

There are submerged bronze age megalithic stone or brick ruins of cities now on the shallow seafloor in many parts of the world, just google submerged ruins of Japan, or Egypt, Lebanon, Greece, India, or Spain, and you’ll see that many in the eclectic world of alternative archaeology are abuzz about these seafloor

are deliberately shielding their readers from this important new field of inquiry which is a huge headache to mainstream scientists, and even to the new age types in the archaeological world, who say that only space aliens could have taught such megalithic building “way back around 10000 B.C.,” rendering their position needlessly sci fi, as the evidence actually fits the Genesis account’s timeline, with the Ice Age having ended at the time of Moses (confirmed by the Ipuwer Papyrus), and space aliens not needed to have calculated the astronomically-derived

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THERE ARE ENTIRE NEW FIELDS OF CREATION EVIDENCE THAT CAUSE A LOT OF PROBLEMS FOR MAINSTREAM SCIENTISTS WHO STILL IGNORE IT

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Editor Note: Jim Nienhuis is a regular contributor in the Science section of Serious.Life Magazine each month. He has presented his findings to mainstream Creationist organizations without positive response. I thought it fair to give him a column in this issue to present his opinion on the matter. Serious.Life Magazine supports the efforts of AIG, ICR and Dancing From Genesis. I personally think Jim’s findings are very interesting and compelling. ~ Brent

dimensions for the mysterious Great Pyramid of Giza, because merely inspired human expertise was involved, enabled by God’s design of the creation, explained simply in article #2 at http:// IceAgeCivilizations.com, where the template for the method is a hexagon within the circle of the earth, and the timekeeping standard, the earth’s wobble rate, at 72 years/degree.

Through recent years, I have referred this material to AIG and ICR, with a representative of AIG even having told me it’s all nonsense, but without saying ostensibly how that is so. This is

a frustrating situation because the material is irrefutable, yet they sit on their hands for reasons to be determined, as their hungry readers remain ignorant of these whole new fields of scientific inquiry which cause the mainstream scientists to sweat, powerfully corroborating the Genesis account, much to the chagrin of the Bible bashers; what should be shouted from the rooftops by the leaders of the young earth creationism movement is however now being hidden by them from the light of day. ~

http://www.dancingfromgenesis.com

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Imagine the combined riverflows of the Ganges, Indus, and Jamuna Rivers of India, in one river, flowing down from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea off Pakistan, that was the flow of the ancient Sarasvati River of ancient hindu vedic literature, which was said to have flowed so wide that one could not see the other bank.

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Sarasvati River Paleodrainage

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Living Faith: Wesley Brainard

Mime Me As I Mime Christ

B

rainard... the first time I heard that name I immediately thought about one of my favorite Christian heros, David Brainerd. It didn’t catch my attention that the names were spelled slightly different.

As it turns out, much to my delight, Wesley BrainArd is related to David BrainErd. Somebody along the way changed the spelling.

I was already wanting to do a story on Wesley, so it was just a bonus to find out he was actually related to David Brainerd too.

Enough from me... meet Wesley Brainard.

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Tell us a little bit about how you grew up… family life.

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I grew up in Northeastern Ohio where my father was a pastor and my mother was a social worker. I have a sister who is three years older. We grew up in church almost literally. Church was our playground. I’m very grateful for my family. They continue to be a strong source of love and encouragement.

Since there were always gatherings of people, whether at the church or at the house, there was always an audience for me. I discovered very young that I loved to make people

laugh, so I memorized Bill Cosby albums. Then, whenever I had an opportunity, I would become Bill Cosby and tell the stories.

People loved it… my parents loved it… and it set the stage for what would become a love and passion for me.

Tell us about your family now.

I live in Tulsa, with my wife, Nancy, and our son David. David is two and is the joy of our lives. I could fill a book with all the things I’ve learned since David was born. It seems every time I turn around I’m saying something to David and just as I say it, I feel this whisper from heaven that seems to say, “Yes, that right. That’s what I’ve been trying to say to you for a long time.” It’s amazing! Then, there’s the way my wife loves David. The love that Nancy has for David astonishes me. It is strong and deep and I’m sure I could preach a sermon from it.

Your spiritual background… At what point did your life take a spiritual turn?

My spiritual journey has twists and turns and surprises.

As I mentioned, I grew up in a Christian family where I had plenty of opportunities to see faith lived out in front of me.

When I was very young, my

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Wesley Brainard

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Living Faith, cont’d.

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father led me in a sinner’s prayer. Even though I was probably 5 or 6 years old at the time, I remember it vividly and recount it as significant. I wanted very much to serve God and live a Christian life. But as I grew, I found it very difficult. Every summer I would go to camp.

There, I would listen to great preaching and along with many of my friends, would cry and pray and commit to God and to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. That commitment proved harder to live out day to day than the euphoria that the camp altar call seemed to promise. Only weeks later, I would slip back into the same disimpassioned existence that characterized my struggle and I would feel like a failure.

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As a senior in high school, I met up with a guy who was from my high school having graduated just two years previously. He was living out what was obvious to me as well as anyone who observed, a victorious Christian journey… in college of all places. He was praying for people, sharing his faith, engaging in meaningful God centered dialogue. I was more than intrigued. I was mystified. I had come to believe that it was impossible to really truly live out a victorious Christian life. Maybe after I grew up, graduated high school at least, maybe college too, then it would be easier. Anyway, it couldn’t possibly be any harder than it was in that moment. And since I went to church more than anyone else I knew, I’d probably be alright.

Besides, my dad was the pastor, and that had to count for something.

But when I met Floyd, my excuses seemed to be blown out of the water. He was only two years older than I was.

Christianity for Floyd was an exciting adventure and I caught the fever. I remember praying a prayer that was a bit different than the prayer I prayed with my dad when I was a child. I prayed, “Lord, I’m done living my own life.

It’s time for you to live your life through me. I’ll sit in the passenger’s seat. You drive.”

I remember some important changes at this point. Firstly, I noticed that my life was changing in significant ways. I was building new friendships, changing habits, and watching my life take on a new meaning and direction. These changes

served as evidence for me that God was indeed working in my life and giving me confidence that I was one of His. I remember so many times wondering, “Am I really saved?” But now there was a confidence that shattered any remaining doubt. God was alive in me and His life was now giving me purpose and direction.

When I was in college, I had come to accept that God had “called” me. What did that mean? I thought it meant that I would be a pastor. One thing was certain, I would not be happy, could not be happy until I was serving the Lord with my whole life in full time vocational ministry.

Let me just take a moment to be clear about this. I believe that we are all called to full time Christianity. We are each to consider what we do vocationally to be a part of our assignment from God. This is in no sense any more or less important than any other assignment from God. I was simply sensing upon my heart a call to vocational

ministry.

During this period of time, the worship minister at my church approached me about leading a dramatic element for the Easter cantata. Why not get some folks to act out the scenes that we are singing? We can put them together in a kind of musical pageant. I agreed and called a group of folks to come to rehearsal.

Something began to happen. I began to notice that the people who were gathered for this very focused purpose got along pretty well. They seemed to get fuel from the process and be energized from the goal of reaching people with this story. I too was experiencing a significant fulfillment in this endeavor.

I was really hooked. I was bitten by a bug that was certainly from heaven. I had vision for living that gave me passion and excitement as well as consternation and confusion.

How was this going to work? If I was the pastor, there was no way that I was

I visited your website. I understand that you are an accomplished mime artist… How did you get started in mime?

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Wesley Brainard & Marcel Marceau

For most of my acting life, mime was what you did when the sets weren’t built yet and the props were not quite ready. You mimed the door until the door was there. But my senior year in college,

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going to have time to devote myself to the kind of dramatic ministry that I had come to envision. It was about then that I attended a weekend event designed to help young people find their place in ministry. There I learned that there were choices for different courses of study for those desiring to enter vocational ministry. There were programs for Christian counseling, Christian education, Church Music and others, as well as the standard Pastoral ministry track.

What? Really? You mean I don’t have to be a pastor to be in full time vocational ministry. This is huge! This means that I can serve the Lord outside of the box I had imagined. How exciting!

Let’s think about this… if people are now engaged in full time ministry within categories that didn’t really exist 50 years ago, is it possible that God could develop whole new avenues of ministry that haven’t been invented yet? This got me to thinking that perhaps the calling that God had on my life was yet to be developed. Perhaps God would use me in some way to develop it.

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I met up with a graduate of Marcel Marceau’s School of Mime who showed me that mime was indeed an exciting and captivating art form in it’s own right. He invited me to a workshop, and I went. I was smitten by the power that came from telling stories in this way. So I took my wife to Paris, France to attend Marceau’s school.

What was it like to study with Marcel Marceau?

France left us changed in places that we would describe not just as “stretched and challenged,” but rather “bruised” or even “injured with a need for continued healing.” We left France with an eagerness to return home to the country we loved, but a realization that the world was much smaller than we had originally imagined and ironically much bigger than our American-centered perception would allow.

I’ve been back to France several times since I graduated: once with a team to do the Ragman, once for vacation with Nancy, once to do the Book of Luke in French, and most recently for Marceau’s funeral. I love the French and hope to return many more times.

I also saw when visiting your site that you do the Book of Luke… How does one “mime” the Book of Luke?

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It was a great privilege.

Marcel Marceau is undoubtedly the most famous mime artist of our time. He was a gentle and loving man except when the show was fast approaching and we didn’t quite look like he wanted us to look. He was a great performer and many times left us stunned in class as we watched him do what he was then trying to teach us to do. His life and artistic vision continue to impact everything I do. He passed away in the fall of ’07 leaving behind him a legacy of artistry that spans the globe. There is a page on my website that honors his life and artistry.

If any of the readers would like to learn more about him and see a few photos, they can visit my site (http://web. me.com/wesleybrainard/ CHARAKTER/Marceau.html).

One of the greatest opportunities I’ve had in my life was to be part of Marceau’s company. At the conclusion of my study with Marceau, I was invited along with all my classmates to become part of his company and to play a role in a show called, Un Soir A L’eden (An Evening in Eden), directed by Marcel Marceau.

What kind of impact has living in France for three years had on you?

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Living Faith, cont’d.

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That’s a question I get asked a lot, and I’m glad you asked it because it gives me a chance to set the record straight. “Luke Comes to Life” is a dramatic presentation of the Book of Luke. It is not a mime. It is true that I am a mime artist and do mime shows, but “Luke Comes to Life” is not one of them.

There are two other dramatic presentations of Scripture that I do: “Acts After the Passion” which, of course, is the Book of Acts, and “These Last Days” which is the Book of Hebrews. Each has mime technique in them, but unless you were looking for it, you might not even notice. In Luke, for example, during the crucifixion, all the narration drops out and the only words you hear me say are the words of the characters. The result, I think, is a poetically somber feeling. The combination of mime and drama is something that captivates me but it is a marriage that continues

to challenge me artistically.

Etienne Decroux (Marcel Marceau’s teacher) said that when one art becomes rich, another must become poor.

And so, when combining drama and mime together, it doesn’t always work. It is a challenge to make sure that the combination results in something that harmonizes well.

You do Luke, Acts, Hebrews… what translation do you use and how do you memorize that much text?

hang of it. It’s actually much more than a process for memorizing. It is a dramatic and creative process. It is a spiritual process since our goal is to get the words to be written upon our hearts. And, it is a theological process as well since we must have some understanding of what we are memorizing if we are to have any hope of communicating the stories effectively.

I use the NIV translation simply because I needed a translation that seemed natural so that the story, not the language, would be in focus.

There is a craft to memorizing, but it is actually quite fun. I like to say that I get to do the fun things for God. I’m often called upon to teach a class in memorizing the Scriptures. I like to walk through the techniques I use with people along with a hands-on workshop so that the participants can get the

I didn’t really choose Luke.

Luke chose me. I had seen Bruce Kuhn (a Broadway actor) do the book of Luke and I was fascinated by it. So I went home and started work on the Book of Acts. I didn’t want to do Luke because he had done Luke already and what was the sense in doing that? Then I got a call from a friend of mine who was a pastor in west Tulsa. He had often had me minister at his church through mime and wanted me to help celebrate Easter that year. I said sure

Why Luke? Why not John or Matthew?

and had an idea. How about if I do five minutes from the birth narrative from Luke, five minutes from the life and ministry of Jesus, five minutes from the passion, and then five minutes from the early part of Acts. This, I thought, would be a great Easter celebration and would serve to give me a running start into the book of Acts. But when I began working on it, it became 57 minutes long and I hadn’t even finished the parts I was doing from Luke. Then, I got a call from my friend, the pastor in west Tulsa. He said, “Wesley, do you think you could take the entire Easter service? We’ve been trying to arrange this Children’s choir thing and it’s just not working.

Do you think you could take the whole service?”

I said, “Well, it’s really funny you should call. It’s actually a bit longer than I thought it would be. No problem.” So, Luke was born. That was Easter 2000.

Luke has undergone some interesting changes. It was once 1 hour and 45 minutes

long. But my wife said, “Honey, it’s great! But… it’s too long.” So we edited it to fit comfortably in a worship setting, and the most popular version is now 50 minutes long.

What do you hope your presentation of Luke to accomplish?

I think you’ve asked that question very carefully. The Gospel According to Luke is a Book of the Bible that doesn’t need me or my presentation of it to accomplish God’s purpose for it. But I do have some hopes for what the presentation will accomplish.

“Luke Comes to Life” is designed to be an experience of worship. Of course, I hope people will enjoy it.

I hope that people are at some level entertained. But more than that, I hope that God will speak to people in a meaningful and enduring way. If I could, I would greet everyone at the door as they were entering and remind them that they came to meet

with God and to worship God and the fact that I am going to share in a dramatic way the Book of Luke should not change any of that. If I could, I would invite them to prepare their heart to watch as I prepare mine to deliver the story so that we both might be moved upon by God’s spirit. I suspect that God has something to say to each person who experiences “Luke Comes to Life.” People often tell me that they saw something in the presentation that sort of “jumped out” at them. They may have read Luke before but somehow now, while watching, they receive new insight. To me, this is how the Holy Spirit works through a dramatic presentation. It gives me great joy to participate in what God does through the story Luke records. My prayer is that the story will continue to overtake people with God’s love, grace, and mercy in the same way it has for 2000 years.

What other projects are

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Living Faith, cont’d. you working on?

I’ve just finished a short film that I did with a friend of mine, Austin Hines, from FutureLight Studios. It is an exploration into combining the poetry of lyric mime with artistry of modern film making. The result is hard to put in words but it is available for all to see and share. In fact, many of your readers may have seen or heard about it since there was a link to the video in the March edition of Serious Life Magazine.

Thanks, Brent, for doing that. We’ve had more than 2000 people view the story of Hosea and many of them came to us through your mention.

I’d really enjoy any feedback that those who watch would like to offer. My hope is that people catch a glimpse of a new twist on the story so that they are encouraged, like Hosea, to pick up the thing that burdens the heart of God in a quest to know God more intimately.

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When someone finishes reading this article, what do you hope they’ll do?

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I would love it if everyone who read this article would make a concerted effort to experience Luke or one of the other Scripture or theatrical presentations. For some, that means logging on to our web site and checking the schedule for a time when I will be in the area. For others, that means calling or emailing their pastor or minister of worship and sending them a link to our web site and a note to please consider hosting a presentation. But maybe there will be pastors

and ministry leaders reading this article as well. For them, I would love it if they would contact me about coming to their church for a whole weekend of ministry including presentations and workshops.

The ministry that I direct is called CHARAKTER Ministry of the Arts. CHARAKTER is charged with the mission of inspiring worship in the hearts of God’s people through passionate expression; revealing the mysteries of Scripture through vivid imagery; and painting a clear picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is this mission that gives life to a ministry of mime, drama and teaching that takes me to places near and far. So my hope is that through this article people with whom this

vision resonates will contact us so that we can partner together in ministry.

Though we try hard to think about the ways we can serve churches to accomplish the mission Jesus gave us to make disciples, there remains the likelihood that pastors and ministry leaders also have ideas about how we might plug in to their unique vision.

I’d love to hear about it.

How does someone contact you?

My email address is: Wesley@charakter.org. Of course anyone can visit our website to learn more about us, and there are live email links that folks can use when they visit our site. It is: www. charakter.org. Our phone

If you had all the people that God gifted creatively from churches all over the world, gathered in one stadium, what would you say to them?

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Testimony” in Nashville, TN often says that creative believers are the church’s last hope to reach the culture in a relevant way. Though it is certainly true that we each play an important part in God’s plan regardless of our unique gifting, it is my desire to encourage pastors and ministry leaders to think creatively about the ways that they can empower those with creative gifts in their own fellowship.

Workshops and classes like “Louder Than Words” (a weekend program designed for creative believers) teach people to use their creativity to advance the kingdom.

Drama and mime technique serve as a foundation to tell stories within the contexts familiar to a worship community. Preparing our craft and preparing ourselves to use our craft to serve is the first step in breathing new life into the telling of stories that unveil the beauty of God. ~

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I’d say we live in interesting times. There is a conflux of changes that affects not only culture and community, but impacts the church and its mission. Television, internet, social networking,

an explosion of media and communication, all contribute to a unique opportunity to reach out with creative artistic ministry. We’ve got a great opportunity before us. Technology has brought powerful communicative tools to us that we could only dream of years ago.

Recognizing their power is only the first step. Now we must do the work of diligence to harness the potential for the sake of His kingdom.

We must encourage a new generation of young people searching for their place in God’s purposes to see the big picture and help them to see their place in that picture even when their place hasn’t been invented yet. We must, with God’s help, envision where God is leading and run with faith to get there so that we are ready to meet the challenges that the world will face.

My friend Byron Spradlin from “Artists in Christian

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number is: 918.224.3161.

Those are the best ways to reach us. I’m looking forward to connecting with your readers, Brent. Thanks so much for giving me an opportunity to share about our unique ministry. I hope that many of those who are creatively gifted and who read Serious Life will be encouraged to give their gift to God in meaningful ways.

They will be blessed, and the Church will be blessed through them.

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June 2007 …

“Mom, when will I go to heaven?” asked 5 year old Elijah.

“Whenever God decides to take you there.”

“You could have gone there already.” added his 7 year old brother, Josiah.

“I know. Two times.”

As Jim gripped the steering wheel and focused on driving quickly, yet safely, to the hospital, I sat in the back seat next to Elijah’s car seat. My hand rested on his chest, praying for every breath that he took. I knew that every minute was critical, that a seizure could happen at any time, and that the hospital was 30 minutes away.

It was almost 1:00 a.m. on August 15, 2005, when we realized that our 3 year old son’s life was at stake. After battling flu-like symptoms for 24 hours, purple spots appeared on Elijah’s torso. As the parents of 10 children, we had seen many rashes, but nothing like this. For an hour, I tried to reach the doctor on call. No one returned my frantic phone calls. We faced a critical decision: do we put Elijah to bed and take him to the doctor’s office in the morning; or do we drive him to the emergency room tonight? We later learned that our answer to that question made the difference between life or death. Doctors assured

us that had we put Elijah to bed that night, he would have died in his sleep. His body was shutting down.

As we unknowingly faced the parenting question of a lifetime, the Lord brought to mind a random conversation with a friend several weeks before. Her son, Derek, had been at church camp with five of our older kids, where Derek had been possibly exposed to Bacterial Meningitis. Heidi had been notified only because Derek had shared a cabin with the boy who was found to be a carrier of the disease. We had not received the Health Department notification.

Jim cradled our sick little boy in his arms, while I hurried to my computer. When I googled Bacterial Meningitis, the answer was clear.

Symptoms: flu-like symptoms followed by a purple rash.

Possible Outcome: seizures, brain damage, death. We had our answer. I told Jim that we needed to head to the E.R. immediately. I did not, however, tell Jim all of the possible outcomes. We had a 30 minute drive to the hospital, and I knew that I needed Jim to drive safely, while I prayed. (We later learned that we should have called an ambulance.

A friend’s nephew died of bacterial meningitis, in his car seat, on his way to the hospital.)

Within 5 minutes of arriving at our local hospital, the doctors had antibiotics

coursing through Elijah’s veins, as they informed us that they would be airlifting him immediately to Children’s Hospital in Seattle, 100 miles away. No one would be allowed to ride along on the flight. I instructed Jim to get in the car and to start driving south; I would stay with Elijah while he awaited the arrival of the helicopter. Jim didn’t want to leave. But, I assured him that it would be much better for him to go alone, than for us to drive together later, knowing that Elijah was all alone 100 miles away (since the helicopter flight would take about 30 minutes, while we had an almost 2 hour drive ahead of us). With tears in his eyes, Jim gave Elijah a kiss and slowly walked to the car, for the most difficult drive of his life.

Our daughter, Cassie, raced to the hospital to be with me, and to bring me home once Elijah was on his way to Children’s; while our son, Jeremiah, stayed home with all of the younger children.

Cassie and I got home about 3:45 a.m.; I packed a small overnight bag of clothes and

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severe lack of circulation)?

Even though I was exhausted, I couldn’t sleep.

From 3:00-5:00 a.m., I sat in the corner of my bench, wrapped in blankets, and cried out to God. I cried. I wept. I sobbed. I could not bear the thought of losing Elijah.

For six days, Elijah lay motionless, his feisty spirit lost in the depths of the coma.

We didn’t know if it would ever emerge. We didn’t know if we would ever again see his toothless smile (at age 2 he had broken and lost 2 teeth), or hear his contagious laughter. We didn’t know anything. The doctors had no answers.

We battled a rollercoaster of emotions, as Elijah’s little body battled this deadly disease.

Fear gripped our hearts, when his fevers spiked … when his blood pressure rose too high, or dropped too low … when his kidneys completely failed and he was put on dialysis … when his left arm went cold for 36 hours … when over 100 third degree burns covered his body (caused by the bacteria, burning the body from the inside out).

At the same time, our lives were not ruled by this fear.

We were overwhelmed by the love of friends that drove the 200 miles round trip to be with us. Different friends and church staff came every day for the first week. Having no involved extended family, our church family stepped in with the most amazing support.

Friends took our children out to eat. Friends stayed with Elijah so that Jim and I

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stretched and his body swollen from the beginning stages of kidney failure. We began to realize that Elijah might not live through the night. We knew that his brothers and sisters needed to join us in Seattle.

Within an hour, many details were in motion. Pastor Ryan had agreed to drive our big van, filled with children, to Seattle. Hospital social workers had arranged lodging at the Ronald McDonald House. And, the Red Cross was in the process of contacting Elijah’s oldest brother, Gregg, in Iraq. Would he get home in time? With a son deployed to a war zone, I had often processed the possibility of losing a son … but this was not the way that I could have ever imagined it.

Several friends made the trip to the hospital that evening, to cry with us, to pray with us, and to hold us in their arms. Pastor Ryan arrived with the children, which brought more tears, more prayers, and more hugs. A few hours later, the room slowly emptied. Our friends went home. Pastor Ryan drove my car home. Jim and the children went to the Ronald McDonald House to try to get some sleep. I was alone for the first time, on a padded bench, in a hospital room with my dying child. The questions were unending: How could our lives have changed so dramatically in just 24 hours? What would tomorrow bring? Would Elijah live? If he did live, would he suffer from brain damage?

Would his arms and/or legs be amputated (one leg was already showing signs of

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toiletries; and I headed south at 4:30 a.m. Elijah was in Pediatric I.C.U., in serious condition, but his Papa was with him; he was not alone. As I drove, I cried, I sang worship songs, I prayed, and I picked up my cell phone. I knew that the word needed to get out; Elijah needed prayer. Our friends wouldn’t mind being woken up; they would want to pray.

By the time I arrived, at 6:30 a.m., the rash and bruising had increased dramatically. Elijah looked so much worse. I could hardly believe how quickly this disease had attacked. The day was a blur. So many doctors and nurses were working on Elijah, but no one could tell us what to expect. We were numb. We sat; we cried; we called friends; and we prayed and prayed. We knew that Elijah’s life lay in the Lord’s hands and we cried out for God’s mercy to save our precious little boy.

For twelve hours, Elijah was in serious but stable condition. However, his health began to rapidly deteriorate that afternoon, and the nurse had to put an oxygen tube in his nose. Elijah’s feisty and fighting spirit was evident as he teased her by taking the tube out of his nose and putting it on top of his nose.

Nicole told us that this fighting spirit would serve him well.

At 6:00 p.m., it was determined that Elijah needed to be put into a drug-induced coma, with morphine sedation and a ventilator to breathe.

Elijah’s blood pressure was dropping and his kidneys were shutting down. His skin was

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could get a few minutes away.

Friends took our kids to the zoo, and to a Seattle Mariners game. Friends showed us love like we have never seen it before.

While some friends were making the drive to Seattle, others were working behind the scenes for Elijah. On Monday, a spontaneous prayer meeting took place at our church from 7:00 p.m. until after 10:30 p.m. On Tuesday, another prayer meeting took place during the lunch hour.

So many people arrived to pray, that the meeting had to be moved from the Prayer Center to the Worship Center.

On Wednesday, a friend called and said, “This whole town is praying. The whole community is lifting Elijah up.

This crosses church lines; it crosses denominational lines … the community is noticing how your church responds to crisis.” Another friend called to say, “I’ve been to at least 5 places across town today, where people have brought up the need to pray for Elijah.”

Within 24 hours, we knew of prayer taking place for Elijah in at least 8 states and 4 foreign countries.

Late one night, as Elijah lay in bed surrounded by machines, tubes, and wires, the Lord led me to Psalm 66.

I read it several times, and believed that it was a gift of hope given directly to me.

“Shout with joy to God … Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!’ So great is your power …. Come and see what God has done …” The next morning, I shared this verse with family

and friends, believing that we would, indeed, be able to say, “See what God has done.”

After the most difficult week of our lives, we received 2 miracles on Saturday: Elijah was taken off of his ventilator and his feisty spirit was finally released from the coma, and Gregg arrived home from Iraq. When Gregg arrived at the hospital and gave his little buddy a big hug, we saw the first smile we had seen in a week. We knew our little guy was coming back. By the next day, Elijah told me, “Mama, I want to go home.” “Yes, Elijah, I want to go home, too.”

While the battle wasn’t yet won, we knew that God had done a mighty work for the life of our precious son. Elijah spent another week in ICU, and then was sent downstairs for non-critical care. As we said good-bye to his primary ICU doctor, the doctor looked me right in the eye and said, “I don’t know if you realize how unusual it is for Elijah to be released from ICU this quickly, in this condition.” Four days later, this same doctor stopped by our room to see how Elijah was doing, and I was thrilled to tell him, “We’re going home tomorrow.” We were in awe of the mighty work of the Lord.

Three months later, while driving through Seattle, I asked Elijah if he remembered his time at the hospital. He responded, “Yes.” I asked him what he remembered about it. He sighed and quietly responded, “I was at the hospital with Jesus.” I so wanted to ask him questions, but I knew how easily adults

can attempt to “help” children create “God stories”. I also knew that if there was a story to tell, it would come out in God’s timing.

Two years after his miracle, Elijah decided it was time to begin to tell his story. After telling Josiah that he could have gone to heaven two times, I asked, “Two times?”

“Yes. God took me to heaven two times, but then he let me come home.”

“Really? Did you talk to God when you were at the hospital?”

“Yes. Twice.”

“Did you see God when you were at the hospital?”

Growing exasperated, Elijah responded, “Yes! Two times!”

“What did He look like?”

“He was bright white all over.”

“White?”

“Yes. He was white … “ Elijah suddenly asked if he could watch a movie. He was done with his story … for now.

We will wait patiently to see if he chooses to share more details later. ~

In addition to being the homeschooling mother of 13 children, Laurel Diacogiannis has a passion for encouraging women as they walk through their own journeys of faith. She loves to minister at Women’s Retreats, Family Camps, Homeschool Conventions, and Women’s Ministry Events. To find out more about Laurel’s ministry, please visit: http://ajourneyoffaith.net

A journey Are you looking for a speaker who can encourage and inspire your audience?

of faith

Laurel has a wide variety of dynamic messages to share with many types of groups. Her presentations range from Inspirational Messages, to specific Teaching Topics, with a whole lot of Encouragement & Exhortation sprinkled throughout.

Popular Seminar Topics

A Journey of Faith

Life is Like a Circus

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Miracles Happen

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your comments serious.extras serious.health Magazine Monday Want us to publish a post from your blog? Submit your content at: www.seriouslifemagazine.com Each month we choose blog posts that are submitted for MAGAZINE MONDAY and publish them, unedited, just like it appears on the blog. If you would like to have something from your blog considered, visit www.seriouslifemagazine.com and look for the MAGAZINE MONDAY link.

Adultery

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Blog: Living Freely (www.brandisthoughts.com)

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I began to think He didn’t choose well. His love kept betraying Him. She would love him and live with Him and life would look good and then she would grow restless. She began cheating on Him. Over and over. This was actually her PATTERN of life. Love Him, cheat on Him, life begins to go wrong and she runs back to Him hoping He’ll take her back. He does. Every time. And every time my heart breaks a little. Really? He’s taking her back again? She’s just going to cheat on Him again. WHY does she do this? Doesn’t she see that part of the pattern is that after the cheating life gets hard? Those that she cheats with never make her happy.

Simply heartbreaking, but a story that is played out every day, all over the world. It’s the stuff of Lifetime movies and of real life, unfortunately.

We liken ourselves to God and make distinctions about what should and should not be forgiven. We hear a story like the one above and believe, SHE should not be forgiven. Toss her out! On the other hand, we look at our own lives and think I should never be forgiven. I have heard over and over, “If you only knew what I’ve done and who I am”. This is one of the enemy’s greatest lies and schemes. If he can make us put ourselves in the judges seat and determining who will and

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will not receive forgiveness, then he has won on 2 fronts.

He has created a judgemental, unforgiving people and a people that will not accept the forgiveness that God offers.

The story I shared about my friend and His love illustrates crazy love. Love that is abundant and pursuing and dangerous. His love knows no bounds. As much as I think it’s crazy for Him to keep allowing her to come back, I also want that kind of love. I think we all do.

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Yes, the story above is from the book of Judges. Read the first few chapters and you’ll get the picture quickly. These words are repeated throughout the book in this order, “Then the land had peace for 40 years . . .Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord (in other places, “did whatever they wanted and didn’t care about the Lord”). . .They were captured by so and so and life got very hard . . .They cried out to the Lord. . .He heard and rescued them”. That’s crazy love. Even as the Isrealites abandoned the Lord and cheated on Him in the midst of a great life, He loved them and never left them. This happened over and over again.

They loved Him and left Him.

Life got hard and they begged for another chance. It sounds crazy for Him to take them back but for my sake, I’m sure glad He does.

He offers us that same kind of love. He offers THAT kind of faithfulness. No matter our cheating hearts, He is waiting.

We can’t go too far (just read what the Israelites did!) or stray too long. He is always waiting to take us back. Crazy love. Abundant love.

Makes you want to be faithful, doesn’t it? Makes you want to examine your heart and ask, “Where am I cheating?”. Lord, I don’t want to cause you pain like that.

I want to be faithful to that crazy, abundant love that you offer. ~

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The Big Picture Blog: Random Thoughts (deanne-randomthoughts. blogspot.com) Back in the old days, late 70s and early 80s, when you went to see a concert you actually watched the performers. Side note - I do believe my first concert was Styx in Little Rock, early 1981. My very cool, and much younger than my unhip parents, aunt and uncle took me and some friends while Mom and Dad babysat my newborn cousin. I’m not sure if they kept both my cousins or just the one. Anyway, I digress...

Even if you didn’t have

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great seats, you were steadily watching the stage. Trying to make sure you didn’t miss anything. Then along came the advent of the screens on the sides of the stage. Helped you see the singers better.

One of the first ones of those I remember was Alan Jackson, I think. Anyway, at the time we thought it was so cool to see the singers so “close up”. Of course, with that you only see what the cameraman thinks is important to see, not all the action. Now there is a full on video extravaganza going on around and behind the performers. We just saw Brad Paisley and he had video stuff all over! He even had Keith Urban and Allison Krause there digitally for his duets with them. The Allison Krause was so convincing that it took a while to realize that she wasn’t real.

But I catch myself watching so much of all the extra stuff that I’m not actually watching the stage anymore. I could be sitting at home in front of my television and not inside a packed arena. I’m missing the show itself because I’m looking at the Big Picture.

That started me to thinking.

How much of life are we missing because we’re looking at the Big Picture? We’re working crazy hours to fund a child’s future education, but missing the time at home helping with homework. We want big and better houses without realizing that if we’re not there to enjoy them, or if they aren’t filled with love then they are nothing but four walls and roof. We plan

for a future retirement and all the things we want to do, without remembering that the here and now is all that we’re promised. We want the Big Picture but forget that it is the small details that make it complete. An unpainted canvas on a wall is not much to look at. A child’s drawing on a refrigerator can be a masterpiece.

So stop next time. Stop planning so much and wanting the next big thing. Enjoy the day that you’ve been given for what it is - a gift. Quit looking at the video screen and watch the stage. Its much more interesting.

The Night Before Grace

Blog: The Murphy’s (christalljasongrace.blogspot. com) Today has been a day full of crazy emotions. I was sitting in the car while Grace was in her science class just praying and thinking about tomorrow and I was struck with the realization that the feelings I was having were the same feelings I had the night before Grace was born.

I love that we got to know exactly when she would come.

Though it was because both she and I were very sick, it is still nice to be able to look back on that night and remember everything - simply because we were aware that it was “the” last night I was going to be pregnant.

On that night, Jason looked different to me. He wasn’t *just* my husband any longer, he was the father of this

amazing child (we didn’t know if she was a he or a she yet!).

He wasn’t just the guy I loved to be with, he was the man that would kiss skinned knees, read bedtime stories, and tuck in this little miracle we were waiting for.

That night I had a hard time finding words to express what I was feeling and thinking so we spent a lot of time just sitting together. We sat and simply immersed ourselves in THAT moment. Knowing that the next day would bring a change that was so vast we couldn’t possibly imagine the results.

Today as I sat in the car I felt those same feelings wash over me. Tomorrow, our lives will change in a way that we aren’t even able to fully comprehend.

If we pass court tomorrow, we will have, in essense, delivered a 47 pound baby (ok, little) girl into our family. Much like labor and delivery we have no idea when this new addition will come, this time in the form of a phone call rather than an actual birth. It *could* simply be false labor (I’m so thankful I didn’t have to deal with that when I was pregnant with Grace!) if we don’t pass court tomorrow - we’ll be sent home from the hospital (given the courts requirements and have a 2nd court hearing scheduled). If we do pass court, our family will grow from 3 to 4. Though she isn’t here for us to hold or see, she will be our daughter in every sense; legally, emotionally, and spiritually (I think that happened a long time ago).

I’ve been so busy this

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ahead of us, we simply have NO idea when we will know the fate of our day. In some respects, giving birth to a child is a much easier proposition. It has a pretty definate beginning and end. When the baby is born, you’re done (with the birth part anyway) and you certainly know when the baby is born...

That is a luxury we won’t have tomorrow. So I’ll be attached to my phone from the moment I wake up. Checking every 10 minutes to make sure it’s still turned on, that the ringer is up all the way, that I have good reception... I bet

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and schedule another court date.

Truthfully, I wouldn’t want her job for anything. I’d rather be the emotional wreck of a mom that I am than a woman who has to make such life-changing, life-altering decisions.

Unlike childbirth, we won’t know the exact moment Seble becomes our daughter (providing we pass court).

There will be no throaty first cries, no cheers for the new parents, in fact we might sleep through the whole thing (wouldn’t that be a great alternative to childbirth!).

Since Ethiopia is 11 hours

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month (Thank you Jesus) that I haven’t had time to really dwell on what tomorrow means. Today, however, I did have some time to think, and feel, and pray about the enormity of tomorrow.

A woman who knows nothing more about our family than what is written about us on a few (ok, lots) pieces of paper will weigh all of the options and decide if we are suitable to be Seble’s parents. If she feels we are, then the outcome is favorable and we move onto the next step (traveling). If she isn’t certain, she’ll request more information from our agency

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your comments serious.extras Magazine Monday... cont’d serious.health I’ll be a little tearful waiting for Susan’s name to pop up on our caller id. I know I’ll hug Grace every chance I get, since it could be her last day as my *only*.

Other than that - it will be a birth day just like any other.

Prayerfully we’ll end our day with a new addition to our family.

I would like to ask again if you could keep us in your prayers. Pray for direction for the judge that she might act in Seble’s best interest. Pray for my peace tomorrow, pray that Grace will have that same peace and that she can endure the waiting which is just as hard for her.

Until tomorrow...

Bloggers Anonymous Blog: I’m Ghana Adopt (imghanaadopt.blogspot.com) Oh no ... I just found out that I have a serious disorder ... I have an addiction ...

“Hi. My name is Laurel. I’m addicted to blogging.”

Seriously, I just read an article that gives, “3 Reasons Moms are Addicted to the Internet”. And, this is serious stuff. This article has quotes from the “professionals” talking as if this is as serious as a drug or alcohol addiction.

Now, I am sure there are some women that are completely over-the-top, but I do fit their

profile.

Let’s look at a few snippets of the article ... “ ... my Internet habit was slowly but surely crossing the line. Sometimes I found myself up into the wee hours of the morning, surfing the web while my family slept. I read the news, kept up with friends, and looked up answers to endless questions. I wrote my personal blog and read dozens of others, just for something to do.”

Okay, readers, be honest now ... how many of you fit this profile? Yes ... I am an addict.

“These moms are contributing to the growing global addiction. There’s a movement among

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Service in Redmond, WA. I’ll make sure and pass the info. along to my husband, so that he’ll know where to commit me when he finds me comatose on the keyboard.

(Note to my big kids that read this ... you should probably make note of this resource, as I can’t tell Papa about it.

Remember, I must hide my “non-essential” Internet time from the man that I love.)

“If it were just an escape that moms were looking for, however, they could flip on the TV or pick up a book. But according to a recent Babytalk. com poll, more than double the amount of moms choose the computer over books or the boob tube during their babies’ naps, showing that they’re looking for something more than an escape: connection, yes, but also a way to express themselves.”

Again ... WHY is this bad???

Ummm... the “boob tube” is a better escape? Because Soap Operas are so healthy??? Oh man ... confession time ... “Hi. My name is Laurel. I used to be addicted to Soap Operas.

Now, I have transferred that addiction to my Blog.” Yes ... I am an addict.

“I’m just a mother in real life, but online, I can be a whole person,” says Ashley, a mom of 2 year old twins from Las Vegas, of her four-hour-aday online habit.”

This author sounds like she thinks Ashley should be committed to a treatment center and her children put in foster care. Come on ...

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Yes, I admit it. I have a void in my life. I have the serious need to interact with people over the age of 15. I love my kids dearly, but I also need to interact with adults. So, yes ... I am an addict.

“Being a mom of young children can be very solitary,” agrees Jay Parker, cofounder of Internet/Computer Addiction Services in Redmond, Washington. So, it’s easy for them to turn online, he explains, to find other parents and create a world there where they are not alone.

Once that world is created, it becomes an escape that moms may turn to whenever they’re stressed, lonely, bored, or sad.

In addiction, they become dependent on that escape.”

I am so glad that a “professional” finally has realized that the career of motherhood can be very solitary. But .... WHY is it wrong for these lonely moms to find friendships online???

If we don’t have stay-at-home moms next door, to share a cup of sugar with and chat over the white picket fence with ... because all of the women in the neighborhood are busy with their careers ... WHY is it a bad thing that we have found another way to find likeminded moms. (Yes, I realize some of my dearest blogging friends work full-time, so please don’t be offended.) But, since I have not worked fulltime this year, I have had much more time for my blogging. So, yes ... I am an addict.

Oh yes ... I was so excited to find out that there is an Internet/Computer Addiction

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psychiatrists to recognize Internet addiction as an official mental disorder (just like alcohol dependency). And a recent Stanford University national survey found that 14 percent of Internet users find it hard to stay away from it for several days at a time; 9 percent try to hide their “nonessential Internet use” from their loved ones; 8 percent admit they use the web as a way to escape problems.”

If I am at home 24/7 with 7 of my kids, yes, I would find it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time. Yes ... I am an addict.

“You’re likely not the kind of addict that Moore has seen ... women who don’t bathe and abuse drugs to help them stay “up” for more online time. You may have noticed, though, that going online has become an imposing part of your life, which, at least, means a load or two of laundry goes unwashed (and who cares about that?)”

Oh no ... I must be seriously addicted ... I have sat at the computer in my bathrobe (therefore, avoiding bathing).

But, no, I am not abusing drugs. (Is Green Tea a drug?

I’m addicted to that too.) Yes, I have probably neglected my laundry, too. But, there’s always more, so why sweat it?

Yes ... I am an addict.

“In addiction treatment, we talk about the fact that there’s a void,” says Moore. “Whatever that void may be ... whether it’s emotional, spiritual, physical ... typically, we’re trying to fill it.”

For many new moms, she says, that void is the isolation.”

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I’m going to give Ashley the benefit of the doubt (which relieves some of my Addiction guilt), and believe that she is online during the kids’ 2 hour afternoon nap, and again for 2 hours after they’ve gone to bed at night. Is there really a problem with this???

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Did you notice where dear Ashley lives ... Las Vegas.

Maybe she should head downtown, pop the babies into a double-stroller, and find some real addictions at the Casino. Would that be better?

Having personally been the mother of 2 year old twins ... I

can understand her addiction.

I can sympathize with her.

When I had 6 children under 6 years old, I am sure that I would have been addicted to the Internet, if it had been invented. But, I had to suffice with my old “boob tube” Soap Operas. Did any of you see Luke & Laura’s wedding on General Hospital? Yes ... I am an addict.

“Think you might be hooked? Try keeping a journal of how often you go online for a week. Then assess what you’re missing out on when you do it ... sleep, family time, work? Also note in your journal what was going on each time you decided to sit down at the computer. Was it it right after a fight with your husband? Were you bored?

By By figuring out the triggers that send you seeking refuge online, Moore says, you can come up with alternative activities that help you deal. If you’re stressed, for example, you might take your baby out for a walk.”

Moore also suggests making small weekly goals that get you involved with the real world: Join a playgroup or grab coffee with a friend. And if you can’t control your habit on your own, talk to a therapist who deals with addiction.”

Nope ... I’m not going to do it ... I am not going to keep a journal. (I’m a rebellious addict.) Yes ... I could be sleeping right now. No ... I don’t use it as an excuse to get out of Family Time. (I LOVE Family Time.) No ... I am not missing out on work. Remember, I lost my

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television. Just kids and books.

Oh, and games. I’m sure my children will want to teach them Candyland and Yahtzee.

And, they could bake cookies, too. I’m sure they’ll enjoy it.

But, if they get stressed, I can find a baby for them to take for a walk. They will feel so empowered by this experience that they will certainly choose to get rid of their own internet once they get home.

Busyness: The Thief of Family Memories

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“Seventeen summers” said the busy father, wistfully describing the memory of his oldest child growing up. He continued, “We get seventeen summer vacations, and then our children are gone.” His statement stung me as I thought about my own family experience. Is that all there is with parenting; seventeen family vacations? If scripture teaches that children are a blessing, why am I not enjoying that blessing?

I thought about my own busy schedule; go to work Monday through Friday with some evening work, then Monday night- Deacon’s meeting/basketball practice, Tuesday night- church visitation, Wednesday nightprayer meeting & youth Choir, Friday night- youth group meeting, Saturday- basketball game, yard work and church social, Sunday- teach Sunday School, attend worship, and back to church by 5:00pm

for discipleship classes and evening worship. Most days we ate fast food or restaurant food while running to activities. My schedule allowed me exactly one night per week to spend with my family, and guess how we spent it? We went out to dinner, then watched television, a movie or I was on the internet! At one point my wife worked outside of the home, which would have made things even worse. Now she was busy providing taxi service to and from school, to basketball, to dance. Add to that television, video games, neighborhood friends and all kinds of other activities that I couldn’t oversee.

I realized that virtually every activity we were involved in divided our family!

The “treadmill” that we were on was a thief of one of the greatest blessings of God; time with our children. In every arena of our life our relationships with others were superficial, and our busyness was contributing to superficial relationships with our children!

You have probably heard the statement that nobody gets to the end of their life and says, “I sure wish I had spent more time at work” or “I should have spent more time watching television” or “I wish I had made more money.”

What do people say? They say, “I wish I had spent more time with my loved ones.” Even the respected evangelist Billy Graham said that if he could do it over again, he would spend

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job, which is why I now find myself “seeking refuge” online.

Seeking Refuge??? Whatever!!!

Well, now ... I can’t really find any playgroups for the 7-15 crowd. And, the kids are too big for McDonalds Playland. I do occasionally join the “real world” by grabbing coffee with a friend. But, is it really better for my family, for me to leave 7 children home alone, so that I can go have coffee with a friend, or for me to stay at home, and chat with friends online?

Nope ... I can’t control the habit. And, nope ... I can’t afford a therapist. Since I lost my job, which caused this addiction, I can’t afford treatment at the Internet/ Computer Addiction Service.

Looks like I’ll have to create an online therapy outlet.

Would anyone like to join “Bloggers Anonymous” with me? We could chat online everyday, just to make sure we’re not spending too much time online, and to encourage each other not to be online.

How’s that sound?

Oh ... as for the “professionals”. I have some therapy that I think they might benefit from. Why don’t I trade places with them? I can go sit in their comfy offices, play on their computers, and chat with their business associates, while they come spend quality time with my kids (since I have neglected them due to my addiction).

But, the only difference is ... we will make sure to unplug all technology while they spend a month at my house.

No computer, no phone, no

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expensive home. Our drive time to the grocery store is now 25 minutes, instead of 10. Our children protested our move, and our oldest child resented our decision for a while. The children were bored at first as we slowed down, unplugged, and made other changes. We miss our friends. I gave up golf. Living together has required many adjustments from each family member. Our new lifestyle is in stark contrast with the status quos of the American culture; in some ways it is a throwback to earlier times.

However, we are beginning to see what a blessing our children are. We are making new friends. We already have some new memories together; busyness could never buy this! My wife loves her role as a Proverbs 31 woman. Our children are growing academically and spiritually; they are involved in ministry, rather than programs. Proverbs 13:20 says this, “Those who walk with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.” Since our children now spend more time with their parents than with other children (the biblical characterization of all children is fools), we have more influence in their lives. Now that I know my children better I can see their individual strengths and weaknesses.

I believe that I will be much better prepared to advise them about their future calling and vocation. Our time together is

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may marvel.” God personally trained and modeled to His Son what He expected. Joseph personally taught Jesus the trade of carpentry. Although Jesus may have learned a few things from Jewish scholars (and vice-versa), the primary responsibility was assumed by His Father and stepfather.

Today our family lives in the quiet, rural community of Landrum, South Carolina.

I work out of my home; my children help me with tasks I need to get done. I teach them things I’ve learned. Now that we home school, our children’s SAT scores have improved, and my wife is enjoys “relearning” as she teaches most of the academics. We stay together during the activities at our small church. We have ministry projects we do as a family; our purpose is to be salt and light to our community. Each evening we sing hymns, read and talk about the Bible, and pray together. I tell my children stories of how God has worked in my life. We play ping pong and outdoor games. We read stories, play board games and do puzzles together. We get together with other families for fellowship.

Now most evenings are spent together as a family. As I write this article I am drawn to the wonderful, familiar aroma of a home cooked meal, and the delightful sound of laughter.

Was this an easy change?

No way! We have been far outside of our comfort zone.

Our family income is much lower. I have been challenged to find a job that I can do from our home. We live in a less

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more time with his family. But this problem is not unique to busy people like Dr. Graham.

Most Americans can identify with this problem; it is a sign of the times. The problem is we can’t see it.

Doug Phillips, president of Vision Forum asks this question, “Does a fish know that it is wet?” We answer, “Of course not. The fish has always lived in water. It is all the fish has ever known.” This is a very good analogy of our condition; we don’t realize that we are soaking wet with busyness, with keeping up with the Jones, with being consumed by things that have little long term value, and our relationships with others suffer.

For the parent, what has the greatest value, and what will bring us the best memories?

Training up our children has great value; showing them how to live can change the world. Deuteronomy 6:7 tells this to fathers, “You shall teach them (God’s words) diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” I realized that in all my busyness, and in all our activities, I could not obey this command.

Our best example of parenting is shown in the New Testament, with Jesus. Jesus had a Father and a stepfather.

Jesus said this about His Father in John 5:20, “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you

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your comments serious.extras Magazine Monday... cont’d serious.health starting to yield some sweet fruit! Who knows what the future holds, but I don’t think we will regret this decision.

Postlog: I wrote this article in 2005. Now, three years later we have seen the Lord work in our lives in more ways than I can adequately explain.

I will never regret the extra time that I have spent with my family. Our children are truly blessings. It has been a privilege to get to know them better, and to guide them as they pursue the Lord’s will in their lives individually. I love and appreciate my wife more than ever. We have sacrificed much, but the benefits outweigh the costs by an eternal margin. I thank the Lord for His intervention in our lives.

Little Miss Lucky

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MARCH 2009

Blog: The Classy Closet (keepitclassyjen.blogspot.com)

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This weekend I have been Little Miss Lucky because I had a very serious ALMOST tragedy. I went out with my sister and Boston on Saturday to a local fair during the day.

Before leaving I asked DH to boil a few bottles for me(I never ask him to it).

We went and had a great time...$5 all you can eat gumbo at the booths that were set up....perfect right?? Little Mr. Boston was having a great time people watching and being the most perfect little one year old on a smoldering Louisiana day!

My sis had a wedding to start getting ready for that

night so we only went for five hours or so. I get home. She puts down the top on her cute VW Bug and drives away. I have Boston in my arms and we walk into the house. There was SMOKE everywhere. I immediately sprint out of the door SCREAMING for my sis who had already made it down my block. She comes back and I THROW Boston to her, run inside, and grab Daisy(blonde cocker spaniel). I go back in and immediately see the kitchen is where the smoke it coming from. The BOTTLES! The stove was left on as DH was at the gym. All bottles had completely melted into the pot.

DHHHHH!!

All things turned out ok.... loss of bottles that’s it. One way to ween off of them! The thing that scared me the most was the feelings that were revisited from my past. Those from Hurricane Katrina where I lost everything that was important to me. I couldn’t imagine losing everything twice...especially Boston’s things.

So I am THANKFUL for having my house, my puppy, and my THINGS.

Travels to the Mind

Blog: Spring Rain (springraine.blogspot.com) I had an interesting weekend. I drove to NJ with my Dad and sister Amata on Friday. We headed up East for a visit with my grandpa, and it was beyond an emotionally draining weekend. My grandpa

is going to be 80 in March.

About two years ago was the last time I saw him lucid... from there, he went downhill.

In June ‘06, he traveled to my parents’ house (about 10-12 hour drive for him). During his visit, they began to notice a few inconsistencies in his stories, and he mentioned to my dad that he was having double vision. My dad drive him back to NJ that time, to find that his eye dr. had decided he shouldn’t drive more than ONE mile...and he had taken an approximately 400 mile trip. At that point he moved in with my aunt, until he fell and needed hospitalization. He was then in the hospital for about 10 days that fall ...from there he moved into the nursing home where he still lives.

It was so, extremely hard to see him like he was. It brings the saying to mind “You don’t appreciate what you have until it is taken away.” So, so true in this case. He used to be my grandfather, a man who loved nature, photography, being an involved deacon at his church, and his family.

Now...he seems to be nothing of the man he was.

Now, he is a man who during our Saturday night dinner, put his salad in his soup, and ate it as such. A man who didn’t remember who we were until our names were spoken, but rather knew that he should recognize us. A man who proclaimed “See those wonderful yellow apartments buildings? Those are new!” to a parking lot full of school buses.

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I am finding myself at a rather transitional phase in my life for lack of a better description, and this ‘phase’ seems to be lasting a few years :) To say that I never expected to be where I’m at in my life right now is the understatement of the year! I just turned 28 in January (yes, I’ve just admitted my age) and everyone keeps telling me you are so young! To me age is truly a number, but at 25 I kinda freaked, I felt like I was starting my life all over again, not a place I wanted to be. If you would’ve asked me 10 years ago where I’d be today, I would’ve said married with a family. Well, 10 years later I am single and have 4 dogs! Can you say…what!?!?!?

Trust me, I have days when I am like how in the world did I get here!?!?!? For those of you reading this that don’t know me, I was married at the young age of 21 and divorced 2 years later. I’ll spare you the

details, but I truly have spent the last 4-5 years rebuilding my life and figuring out who I am as a person. Not to mention jumping back into the dating scene as an adult…but that’s an entirely different story in and of itself! Though this is not where I planned to be in life, I’m learning and living to accept it. For the most part I’m ok with it, but I’m human and if I’m honest I have my days where it’s really hard! I’ve always thought I would have kids, I’ve always loved kids and most people that know me have always said, you will make a great mom someday.

Over the past 2 years that desire, the need to have kids of my own has diminished, and I can tell you that that is only God working in my life. However, if God’s plan is for me to remain single my entire life, I’m not on board with that…yet. I do believe if that is His will for my life, He can bring me to that point.

However, I often find myself a bit inpatient (I know, hard to imagine). I wish that God

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A man who dumped milk into his coffee at the diner, when he usually drinks it black. A man who stole my uncle’s drink, thinking it was his...and passed my uncle’s oatmeal cookie around the dinner table as if it were Communion. A man who spoke to us as if we were in a church RCIA meeting rather than his family, sitting around supporting him. A man who proclaimed to my dad, “Where is your star baby- the wife??”, unable to recall my mom’s name. A man who came up to me in his nursing home with his shirt not buttoned even halfway and asked “I look okay?”-- how humbling it is to help clothe an older member of the family.

And yet, for one millisecond during church on Sunday, I caught a glimpse of the old Grandpa, when he leaned over to me and whispered “It’s the people that make the parish.” One lucid thought the whole weekend, and one I will treasure forever-- because for just a second, he was back.

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would just drop me a note saying this is my plan, this is my timeline. The detail personality in me would love that! However, I realize the reality of that wish is it’s not going to happen!

So much has changed in my life over the past 7-8 years it’s sometimes hard to believe. I feel like I should be 40 years old because of what I’ve walked through already in my lifetime. However, I do know one thing for certain, I wouldn’t go back and change it and I don’t regret any of the decisions I’ve made. Where I am at in life and what I’ve gone through has formed me into the woman that I am today, even though I’m still very much a work in progress.

The bible verse that I have on this blog for Faith, is the same verse that I’ve been clinging to the past couple of years, in fact it hangs write on my computer monitor at work so I am daily reminded of God’s promise: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

–Hebrews 11:1 Another thing that has become very clear to me is that life is short, we have no promise of tomorrow and I might as well enjoy where I’m at and live life to the fullest!

That too is a work in progress for me. Those of you that know me well know that I have a bit of OCD (mom, no comment from you!). I am a high-detail, structure and schedule orientated person.

While I’m forced to have a

level of structure and schedule with a job, home and 4 dogs – I probably am a bit more OC about it than some would be.

Yesterday nearing the end of the work day I received a call from my brother inviting me to meet them for pizza.

They had tried to reach me the night before and we were unable to connect, so he was trying again. My initial reaction was that of…ugh…I’m so tired, I want to go home and crash, and I was gone the night before. But, I stopped and said yes, I’d love too…pizza at my favorite pizza place, time with my brother, sister-in-law and my favorite nephew. We had a wonderful time, the food was yummy and Ian always does my heart well! As I was driving home after meeting them, I thought to myself, you need to do this stuff more often! I need to not always be so rigid! Lost time can never be found and you might not always get that second chance. I need to step back and not get so frustrated with some of the little things in life...like a few muddy paws prints on my floors, and a few thousand dog hairs, but be thankful for the pitter-patter of the little and big paws running around my house that keep me company day in and day out, no matter what my attitude towards them is!

All this to say…I have experienced more heartache and pain in my life than I’d wish upon anyone. I wouldn’t wish for my worst enemy to experience a divorce. While I don’t blame all the pain

entirely on others, I was as much a part of the picture and adding to the situation, but it still has been extremely hard.

I’ve tried to not be bitter from what I’ve gone through but instead to grow from it. I still struggle with that, especially in the realm of dating.

Rejection, judgment and hurt from others is never easy to swallow. I want to be a positive person, negativity drives me nuts. But I have to really work hard at that and check myself often. I also have to remind myself that God created me in His image, He holds me in the palm of His hand, He hears my every prayer, He knows my every hurt, He loves me unconditionally, He thinks I’m beautiful (Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

-1 Samuel 16:7b) and He will never leave me nor forsake me.

I find myself forever grateful for God’s grace. Grace defined is “unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification, a virtue coming from God”. My divorce by far was the hardest thing I’ve ever walked through in my entire life. I found myself clinging to God for I knew not how I was going to get through this. Completely broken and bruised from the choices I’ve made was exactly where I was.

This sin had a price tag that was far greater than I. But Jesus was waiting to bring me new hope in Him, for His grace will always be greater than sin.

No matter where I’ve been, or what I’ve done, His grace

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your comments serious.extras Magazine Monday... cont’d serious.health is always and will forever be, greater than my sin! So not only I am thank for His grace, but His forgiveness and patience....as I’m truly a work in progress!

I don’t know where I found this quote, but it stuck with me…

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass...it’s about learning to dance in the rain... live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly and leave the rest to God.

Is Saving Your Marriage A Priority?

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MARCH 2009

Blog: Marriage Max (www.marriagemax.com)

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For some, marriage doesn’t require much work and little compromise, but for rest of us, marriage has turned out to be nothing like we imagined.

You know the story; you meet someone, you fall in love and without even realizing it, at some point you start resenting the little things and you let your resentment build until you want to explode. You feel like you don’t know the person you married and they don’t know you, and in all honesty, it isn’t that your spouse is a different person, it’s that you both are different and you need to find away to reconnect to the people you are now. Not who you were then.

Once upon a time your love life felt like a fairy tale.

When you married you didn’t dream of divorce, you dreamt of happily ever after. Sadness and marital woe weren’t

concerns of yours because they were incomprehensible.

Somewhere along the line you lost sight and now you need help. There are many factors that cause a marriage to unravel at the seams; children, in-laws, accidents; loss of jobs, death, with all these come additional stress and strain into your life. Arguments ensue and before you know it, you can’t even speak to the person you have pledged your life to. In sickness and in health is the promise you made to each other, but it is turning out to be a promise hard kept.

If you have tried everything to fix your marriage or even if you haven’t but are will

to, you don’t have to look anymore for the answer. With Marriage Fitness you don’t have to have to clean your closets or bring up hurtful past experiences, you don’t have to learn and practice communication strategies, you just have to make a little time and give your marriage the commitment you intended to in the first place. When you sign up for free, you get no strings attached free save marriage tips that include 47 FREE marriage help articles and 5 free relationship assessments. You’ll be on your way to finding out what it is your marriage is missing and how to add life back into your marriage. ~

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your comments serious.extras serious.health Featured Blog: The Tubre Quads tubrequads.blogspot.com

Type: (Family Blog) A post Serious.Life picked to share with you (unedited from the blog):

Trucking Right Along

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Well, hello out there. This is Jaclyn. It has been some time since I have felt up to writing, but I know Torey has been doing a fantastic job keeping you updated. He has been so amazing through this

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process and I can’t believe how often he heads to the NICU. He would live there if I let him. He is fully aware of their feeding schedule, their nurses, he has done an excellent job of looking after and keeping up with them. He gives me updates every few hours since I can only go visit once or twice a day. Well, a lot has changed since my last update!

27 weeks 3 days was definitely not part of the plans, but my

body said it was time. I had a scary few days, but my blood pressure is becoming more stable (now around 150/90), I am overcoming the pulmonary edema with frequent coughing and walking (always fun when you had a C-section 2 days ago!) and am hoping to be discharged Sunday. Anyway, enough about me – lets talk about the little ones!

Dr. Elliott carefully delivered each baby, gave

me and Torey a quick peek and handed them off to their neonatologist. Each baby had a neonataologist and 3 nurses. I had 2 doctors, 2 nurses and an anesthesiologist, there were also a few medical students along for the ride so you can imagine how busy the OR was.

What was most amazing to me is how organized everything was. No one had to speak – they all knew what to do and when. It was almost as if they deliver quads everyday.

I was most impressed with the Banner Good Samaritan Hospital staff and Phoenix Children’s Hospital delivery and NICU teams.

Each baby was immediately put on a ventilator in order to stabilize them and determine their condition.

They were assessed in the OR, given an Apgar score and moved to the NICU one by one. First Cullen, then Emma, then Abbey, then Tyger…

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Baby B – Tyger McKinnie He was

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She was the first born at 9:04a.m. and weighed 2 lbs 4 oz. Her Apgar scores were taken at 1, 5 and 10 minutes

the second born at 9:05 a.m. and weighed 1 lb 10 oz. He is our smallest baby. Dr. Elliott was laughing while delivering him because he was swinging his arms and screaming before he could get him out. He is our little fighter. His Apgar scores were taken at 1 and 5 minutes and were 8/10 and 8/10. Like the others he was put on a ventilator in the OR, but he

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Baby A – Abbey Grace

and were 7/10, 6/10, and 8/10. She was put on a ventilator to assist her breathing and was removed from the vent yesterday. She is now on CPAP and is doing well with it. She has been on caffeine to stimulate her breathing and is eating 2 cc’s every 6 hrs via a tube inserted into her stomach. There is not too much else to say about Abbey. She is amazing and doing a great job – progressing right along with her head full of black hair.

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I hope to be able to get my hands on him soon. His day nurse, Trina, is so in love with him. She is fantastic and really takes good care of him. She calls him her little “pee-pot” because he needs frequent diaper changes and HATES for his diaper to be wet. He gets fussy if it is not changed frequently. He has been given caffeine for his breathing. He got ½ cc of milk the first night and has been increased to 1 cc every 6 hours. He seems to be

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MARCH 2009

has not come off the vent yet and probably will not for a few more days or even weeks.

About every three hours he gets tired and stops breathing and the vent has to take over.

Once his nurse touches his feet and reminds him to breath he catches back up and does it on his own. He has long road ahead of him. Torey got to change his pee pee diaper this afternoon. Some pictures are attached for you. Torey is so good with them already.

Tyger is wearing Torey’s wedding ring as a bracelet 144

tolerating his feedings farily well.

Baby C – Cullen “The Moose” McKinnie

He was the third born at 9:06 a.m. and weighed 2 lb 11 oz. He is our biggest baby. It is sad to think we call this tiny baby “The Moose”, but when you compare him to Tyger… he is a moose! He is covered in hair. His Apgar scores were taken at 1 and 5 minutes and were 6/10 and 7/10. He was

Torey changing Tyger’s Diaper

Baby D – Emma Claire

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measure right now. Overall she is doing well. Shs is eating 2 cc’s every 6 hours and has been given caffeine to stimulate her breathing.

A special thanks to Dow my boss Bill and by coworkers George and Kirk who are doing an excellent job covering for me - especially with the short notice due to my early delivery.

That is all I have for now.

We will post more pictures as we get them. They only open the incubators as needed since they are so new. Thanks for the prayers. All the babies have a long road ahead so keep on praying for them.

Jac, Torey, Abbey, Tyger, Cullen and Emma ~

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She was last to be born at 9:06 a.m. and weighed 2 lb 3 oz. Her Apgar scores were taken at 1 and 5 minutes and were 7/10 and 7/10. She was put on the ventilator in the OR and moved to CPAP in the OR since she was doing so well.

She had a minor setback this morning and had to be moved back to the vent. The nurses and doctors say this is farily normal and we will have ups and downs with each baby. She is being given antibiotics right now due to a possible infected umbilical cord. The umbilical cord has been cut back and is being tested, so the antibiotics are just a precautionary

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put on a ventilator in the OR, but switched to CPAP in the OR and he hasn’t looked back.

He is doing a great job. He is breathing well, eating 2 cc’s every 6 hours and had his first bowel movement today. This is quite an accomplishment considering his intestines should not be functioning until his due date in December.

They really push these babies in the NICU and so far, he has been up for the challenge. All the other babies remain on humidity in their incubators, but he has been taken off. He is really doing well and I hope to get my hands on him next week.

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About Me: We have only been married 5 years, but this one thing we know...we want our lives to make a difference for the Kingdom of God in the country of Guatemala. We love so many of this country’s precious children, and by the grace of God we were given the incredible gift of adopting one of them! Her name is Eliana Hope Wheeler...and this is her story (along with our journey on the long road called adoption)! The story doesn’t end here....God is calling us to more. Thank you for joining with us....for praying for us....and for loving these kids!! We are so grateful for each of you.

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MARCH 2009

Tired But Grateful

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I haven’t written a lot lately for a lot of different reasons.

We have been traveling a lot.... and then have had company for the last week. Honestly, y’all are probably sick of hearing me say this.....but I have been really struggling.

There are probably many reasons why.....but I am so tired of it. I am suffering with a fatigue problem, which is right now attacking me in full effect!! Please pray for my health. I am sleeping a lot right now (and when I am not sleeping....I am chasing sweet Eliana all over the place). In the loneliness and fatigue, I often forget how many things I have to be grateful for.

Today we got a package from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It was all of the original documents from Eliana’s adoption file. I have just spent the last hour reading each word on each page....and can’t stop crying. I am so grateful for this child God has given to us. There is a new picture I have never seen of her when she was tiny. Oh, I love her face. I am grateful that her biological mother selflessly gave her to us. Honestly, I forget that I am not her biological mom (that might sound weird).....but she feels like she has ALWAYS been a part of Chris and me. After I read through everything.....I started looking at pictures (lots of crying again).

Thank you Lord for choosing us for her. I can’t imagine my life without her.

Even though the fatigue is great.....the Lord has given me

just what I have needed for Eliana and Chris. I wake up begging God for enough energy to be a good wife and mom.

And every single day, the Lord gives me the strength. I love laughing with Eliana. I love tickling her. I love running along side of her through the house. I love chasing her. I love kissing her. I love giving her tons of hugs. I love telling her “I love you” a thousand times a day. I love brushing Dora’s hair with her. I love watching Handy Manny with her. I love playing outside with her. I love jumping on the trampoline with

her. I love putting her hair in pigtails (even though her Tia Leah says it makes her sassy).

I love watching her love her daddy. I love watching her hug any kind of animal. I love teaching her words. I love reading to her. I love praying with her. I am so thankful for our sweet girl.

I am so grateful. ~

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teamalexander.blogspot.com

About Me: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from becoming polluted by the world.” James 1:27 Type: (Family Blog) A post Serious.Life picked to share with you (unedited from the blog):

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Purpose

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And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 I am having such a difficult time trying to decide how to write this post. The appointment yesterday was interesting. The neurologist hasn’t changed his bedside manner or view of himself in the last 4 months, but praise the Lord, Moody and I are completely in a different place!

We got to the office and unfortunately Abe was fussy as he had missed his nap. My pride kicked in immediately as I wanted my boy to “perform, show off his skills, wow this man!” Why did I care? Pride.

Sin. He was really tight as he often is when he gets tired, and I just knew the Dr. wouldn’t see all of the progress that we see on a daily basis. Ugly, I know. Moody and I waited

in the office for awhile for the Dr. to come in and literally 10 seconds after he entered the room, Abe fell fast asleep. HE WAS OUT!!!!!

The first thing the Dr. asked us was if we were ever contacted about Abe’s MRI. He couldn’t see in his notes that he had ever talked to us about the results. Yes, we have been sitting by the phone every day for the past 4 months hoping that somehow, someway this will be the day that someone calls to let us know how the image of our sons brain looks!!

PLEASE. Moody simply told him that a good friend goes to church with one of Drs. partners and he called us 30 minutes after the MRI. :) I think Moody enjoyed it actually. “You must have the inside then” was his response.

He then continued on with this.......”oh, I think it is coming back to me, you had some village dr tell you he was o.k right and I think I made you (pointing to me) cry!” Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!!! He did make me cry, YES he did. Something

about “I’m sure the MRI will reveal significant brain damage and I’m not sure if he will ever walk or talk” made me cry. I guess I’m a softie that way. I had to kick Moody’s foot because I was afraid that he just might come unglued at that point. He asked us if we wanted to all go out in the hall and view the scan together. (side note, Abe was born in a hospital in Addis, seen by a good Dr. in Ethiopia, our pediatrician and an International Adoption

(remember,perfectly sleeping baby) would be the child to go with that scan. I guess he was going off of our testimony of Abe’s progress. He again used the words, “significant abnormal brain development” and explained things a little more in detail.

This was helpful honestly as it cleared up several questions that we have had. Abe’s injury is not what you typically see in an inuterine stroke. Typically you will see a hemi (one side affected) or an isolated portion of the brain injured. Abe’s scan is just much worse than either of those

two. He is missing both the left and right frontal lobes and a small sliver of brain that runs down his right side.

This completely explains why his left side has been more involved than his right.

Because it isn’t “typical”, he would like Abe to visit a hematologist for a complete stroke work up. He thinks it will show that it was indeed vascular in nature or possibly (continued next page)

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specialist once we returned and none of them suspected anything other than typical developmental delay--so the village Dr. part really stung) Ok, truth. I haven’t seen the image. I just couldn’t ever see a reason to have that picture in my head. I simply wanted to see Abe and the miraculous works the Lord was doing in his brain and not some big, black hole. I read the report, I knew that it would look completely abnormal, that it wouldn’t offer me any hope and so we declined to go look with him. Surprisingly, he was pleased with this answer. He agreed that the image would do nothing to encourage, so he ran out of the room to refresh his own memory.

He entered the room with “that was impressive.” I had no idea what in the world he meant by that one, so I asked.

He said that Abe is impressive, he would never imagine that Abe

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it just never formed correctly very early in his development.

Either way, we need to be sure that he isn’t at risk for a future stroke.

He also thinks Abe would be benefit from his spasticity clinic. He is an expert in the field and we feel good about this as another option for Abe’s therapy. Maybe this alone is the reason that we first stepped foot in his office.

I think time will tell on that one. We plan to schedule and appointment with the clinic and see if it is a good fit.

We left the office so very different than we did last time. I will never forget walking outside last time and

watching the cars zip by and thinking “how are you going on with your life people, don’t you know that my world just turned upside down!!!”

I realize now just how egotistical that thinking is- but at the time, it is exactly how I felt. Yesterday, we walked out with our precious boy, filled with hope. Hope that only the Lord can bring, hope that He is in control, hope that Abe is progressing, hope that he will continue to progress, and hope in a Father that loves us beyond what we can ever imagine! HOPE. As Moody was putting the kids to bed last night, they prayed for Dr. A. They prayed

that the Lord would reveal Himself to him through Abe. That he would see something miraculous taking place before his eyes, something that he has to acknowledge isn’t within the realm of modern medicine and desire to know more. Will you join me in praying for him?

I have to say that this is clear evidence of a work the Lord has done in my heart. I can honestly say that I so clearly see the Lord’s hand in bringing us to that office. He works all things for our good.

Thank you for the many texts and emails that I received yesterday. They are such an encouragement to all of us. You are loved and appreciated. :) ~

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About Me: Blessed mommy of seven- 4 the regular old way, 2 adopted internationally from Guatemala, 1 adopted through the foster system. I’m passionate about adoption and being a mom. I’m a work in progress, utterly reliant upon God. I’m easy-going, until I freak out. Organized, until I lose something.

Laid back, until someone hurts the ones I love. I love taking pictures and writing. I adore big families and people who are willing to live life in an unordinary way. Come along on my journey and watch ‘as my blessings grow’.

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When you have to let go

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All of us take risks in our lives, some are big and some are so small I doubt if we even realize we are taking them.

We might risk lending a hand to a stranger not knowing if it will be appreciated or offend them…

We might send our money to a ‘cause’ and not know if it ever got into the right hands.

But we know that each time we ‘step out there’ God knows too and it is always worth the risk if your heart was in the right place.

Always.

Life in general is a riskbecause if we fail- if we fall, there will be pain.

And sometimes the fear of that pain keeps us strandedafraid to move.

But as I look back over my life and all of the risks we have

taken- some ended up working out and some ended us up in a place we never wanted to be…

Yet through it all God was there by our side, holding us through it, knowing that we knew He was always worth the risk.

God doesn’t always promise us a happy ending, but He promises that He will never leave us. And when we are finally able to stand again we can look back and see how we have grown and changed and

slowly, ever so slowly we begin to heal…

Risk is often associated with the unknowns- and fear. Yet I have found that I have never once regretted taking a risk to help/love a child. That doesn’t mean that things always turn out the way we wanted them to, it doesn’t mean that there won’t be pain.

There have been so many times I have been thankful people have taken a risk on me. My husband, for marrying

cry our tears, and know our sorrow.

I think life is pretty much that way. God see’s the whole story- the BIG picture- we only get to see a part of His plan. We see what is going on in our homes, between our 4 walls, we pray, seek God and then make the best decisions we can from the information we have. That is all we can do.

But God knows. He knows our hearts and He understands our deepest desires- yet all the while working things out for the good of those who love Him. Francis Chan wrote

in his book Crazy Love “Not being able to fully understand God is frustrating, but it is ridiculous for us to think we have the right to limit God to something we are capable of comprehending”. So that is where we are right now.

Broken hearted, but knowing that God is all knowing and see’s ‘the entire picture’, and

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me and adopting Travis as his own. My parents for believing that I actually might grow up one day and learn to behave myself. My sister Jenny for sticking by my side through some pretty crazy risks I have taken in my life and always believing in me anyway. My kids, for supporting me, trusting me and cheering me on. My precious friends- you know who you are- who have listening to my crazy ideas, listened to me cry, whine and still answer your phone when I call! :0) I love you all and am so thankful you think I am worth the risk.

Blogs are a funny thing.

Sometimes, we get to see glimpses of someone’s story- paragraphs perhaps- but not the entire book. And that is unfortunately what you will get here. I truly wish you could ‘read’ the entire bookor see the whole picture because I know that if you did you would be able to better understand. You would know what it was like to be in our position, you would feel the gut wrenching pain,

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The Blocks Children: I love you my precious kiddos. Thanks for always making me smile!

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understands the whole story in a way that we will never be able to comprehend.

This last week the sibling group of four we were hoping to adopt left our home. Out of respect to these children that we love with all of our hearts, children that we thought of as ‘ours’ and prayed endlessly for- I will not share ‘the whole story’. I know being on your end of the computer it will be hard to understand, and I am sorry for that. But I will tell you one thing- we truly loved and truly wanted these kids-

and the decision was not ours for them to go. There was an issue of safety and with the advice of therapist and other medical professionals- and despite our best efforts- we were not able to keep all of the children in our home safe if they stayed. Because of this, CPS made the decision to move the children into another home in order to keep the children in our home safe. The choice was not ours. This is not, for one second, the way we ever thought this would play out.

But we know that God knows

our hearts- He knows that we were and are still willing to risk everything to love a child, even if the final outcome is not what we had hoped for. We are left now holding the pieces of our broken hearts and broken dreams. But I have no regrets.

We loved these kids, rocked them, sang to them, took care of them when they were sick.

We taught them about Jesus and they knew they were adored, wanted and loved unconditionally. And while CPS made the choice that their futures did not include us- we

know that God knew all along.

We told Him to use us- and we feel privileged that He did... even when it hurts.

I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t claim to understand or like this decision. I admit in the darkest of hours I question God as to why He allowed this to happen. But what I do know is because there is sin in this world, people make mistakes and those mistakes have long term effects.

I cannot change that. I can only be who I am and always be willing to take a chance and love.

We miss you our precious fabulous four. May you always be happy and always know how much you are loved. ~

Our three adopted angels...

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Dad... loving on the babies.

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your comments serious.extras serious.health Featured Blog: Colbert Family

colbert-family.blogspot.com

About: We created this blog a couple years ago to keep our friends and family in the loop of what is going on in our lives here in Ohio. On October 2nd, 2008 our daughter Abigail was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (A.L.L.). We are using our blog to journal our journey as a family through these next 2 1/2 years as she beats this disease. We will post her progress and list prayer requests here as they change from day to day. Thank you for being a part of this with us. We know God has a plan and purpose for our lives and He is using this for His glory. It is A.L.L. in His hands.

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Abigail

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Dear Friends and Family, My hands are shaking as I write this. This afternoon I was home watching new carpet be put into my house and eating homemeade popsicles with Jacob and Abigail and it is now 4:30am and I am sitting in a hospital room. Today our sweet Abigail was diagnosed with Leukemia. I will back up a little so you know how we got from there to here in one short day.

About two weeks ago Abbey came down with a fever followed by a cough for about a week. In that weeks time, I had her at the doctors office two times because at first I thought it might be strep

and the doctor ruled that out and said it was a virus that needed to run its course. I took her back after about 4 days because I felt like she wasn’t getting better and was concerned. I also noticed that she was sweating at night (if any of you follow our blog then you know that each night I go into her room to turn her light off before I go to bed) and each night her head

would be wet with sweat. That upset me so when I went the second time to the doctor, I mentioned that. At that point he said it had turned into a sinus infection so she was put on antibiotics. We left that day praying that she would get over this quickly and didn’t think much of it. On Tuesday I noticed some bruising on her arms and legs and I knew that she had not had any bad falls

they are doing. There is a lot that we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; t know and we have been overwhelmed with a lot of information today, but the best way that I know right now how to explain this to you is by saying that she has the best form of leukemia possible. It is more treatable than others. We know without a shadow of a doubt that God is in control of ALL things and that He loves Abbey even more than we do. We know this didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t accidentally slip through His fingers and He has made Himself very real to us already as we have gone through this difficult day. He

has a plan and purpose for Abbey and our family and we are so thankful that we know Him. He has given us bits and pieces of what is happening and we can only praise Him for not giving us more than we can handle today. Please pray with us as we have a long road ahead of us.

Pray please for Abbey, that she will not have a lot

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or anything that would have caused those so I really started to feel concerned. I called the doctor on Wednesday morning and asked to be seen immediately. They took us right in and I explained the night sweats in more detail and showed the doctors the bruises. He ordered blood work on her which was done on Wednesday. Thursday our pediatrician called to let us know that we needed to take her immediately to Rainbow Babies & Childrens Hospital in Cleveland due to an abnormal platelet count.

Since then, a lot has happened. Our precious baby girl has leukemia. We are on the hemeotology/oncology floor of the hospital with a lot of children that have cancer. Tomorrow they will be running more tests and starting chemo. They are going to look at her bone marrow to see what is going on there and also look at the fluid in her spine to see if it has gone there yet.

The doctors and nurses have been amazing already and we feel confident that they know what

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of pain. Pray that she would sleep good at night and not get too homesick (she kept asking us to take her home today). Pray that they would find no cancer in her bone marrow (they already said that they have never seen it not spread there with what her numbers are looking like), but we know God can make there be no cancer there. Pray

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that it would not be in her spine. Pray that we could be creative in keeping her happy, comfortable and occupied.

Pray for lots of good talks with her about God and His care for us. Pray that she would be able to really experience God’s love for her. Pray that her little body would handle all of these medications o.k. and that she would be able to bounce back

quickly. Pray for strenght for Jim and I ... that Satan would not be attacking our thoughts.

Pray for our relationship, that it would be strengthened.

Pray for sleep for us at night.

Please pray for Jacob and Micah as they will be away from Jim, myself and Abbey a lot. Pray that Micah would switch to formula easily. Pray that we would be a light on this hospital floor. That people would see Jesus through our family. Pray for my mom and step-dad as they are traveling through the night to get home from their vacation. Pray for Jim’s parents as they come into town tomorrow. Pray for strengh for our parents as they care for our boys. Please pray for her to completely beat this.

We will need your prayers and support and are thankful that we have an amazing support system. I would really like to decorate Abbey’s room with colorful pictures and scripture verses that we can learn as a family. If you live close, could you please pick a verse and write it on poster board in bright colors to decorate her room... Thank you those of you who have already been amazing to us. We so love our Jesus and all of you too. Please feel free to send this to anyone who will join us in praying. I will be sending out e-mails as things change and will try to start posting updates on our blog too. Thank you guys... we love you. ~

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your comments serious.extras serious.health Featured Blog: Dancing Barefoot

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About: I’m Lynnette - a momma who has been called to surrender 3 of my children to heaven. I’ve written a book about my journey. My desire is to give people hope in a world full of sadness and sorrow. I live in a small town in Kansas, on an old homestead in 100+ year old house. I love the country. I love the dirt roads. I love that my house has POTENTIAL! I have some wonderful memories here and AM indeed grateful for it. I’ve been married for 20 years to my Dearest and have given birth to 9 beautiful babies. Three of my children were born with serious problems and have all gone to heaven. I love them and miss them so much. My other children bring me joy every day. I’m a blessed mommy. My heart’s desire is to help others find joy in life – to dance again, thus the blog name Dancing Barefoot. I appreciate life, and am grateful for the trials I’ve endured because boring days are a blessing and difficult days aren’t quite so difficult. You know what I mean? But God is ALWAYS GOOD! Type: (Family Blog) A post Serious.Life picked to share with you (unedited from the blog):

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What Can Be Gained Through Heartache?

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It seems like a lifetime ago, but there was a time when I was a self-centered, materialistic, newlywed. I thought too often of my career, my clothes, my future dream home, and all the other things in life that don’t give a person true joy. I didn’t know Jesus and I didn’t realize just what kind of life I was missing out on. I was lost and on my way to an unhappy marriage and ultimately an unfulfilling life.

God began to intervene. In January of 1990, I found out I was pregnant. It wasn’t a planned pregnancy, in fact I was still on the birth control

pill, but God was beginning to do a work in our lives and his plans would supersede ours. My husband and I had talked about having children, but we only discussed what

we thought would be the most attractive blend of our features… his green eyes with my dark hair seemed like the most beautiful combination for our future child. I think we

another baby to our family; a brother or sister for Jared.

It didn’t take long for me to be pregnant with our second baby. The pregnancy was very different and I had a feeling from very early on that something wasn’t right, although I couldn’t say what.

A sonogram at 6 months revealed that our baby had a neural tube defect called anencephaly. We didn’t know what that was, but we were told that our baby would not survive. We were devastated, but we knew where to turn.

Kyle and I clung to one another and leaned

heavily on God and his word.

We had learned some scripture and felt that we were beginning to gain new insight as to ‘who’ our Savior was and what his character was like, but during the three months of carrying a baby that we knew would die, we began to seek comfort and understanding with more fervor. We opened the word of God, hurting, but

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thought we could place our order.

It was while I was carrying our first son that my husband and I both began to think about our relationships with God. We didn’t deny God. We also knew that Jesus died for the salvation of all those that believed on him. However, we were fickle in our faith. It was merely head knowledge and hadn’t penetrated our hearts.

We discussed what we would teach our son about God and decided we needed to know more, so we began to go to church.

After attending my childhood church for a few weeks and soaking in the word of God, we both became excited about learning more and we both received Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

After Jared was born, I became a stay at home mommy and I loved it! God was continuing to grow us up in him and we were excited about growing and serving, but he had much more to teach us!

When Jared was almost a year old we began to think about adding

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also excited to see what new insight we would gain. It was a somber but exhilarating time in our lives.

When Samuel was born, we shared him with our family and friends. We knew his time on earth would be severely limited and we wanted everybody to have the opportunity to meet this child that God would very soon take to be with him.

Samuel touched the lives of many people and when he was just thirteen days old, he left us and entered into God’s presence.

We missed our precious baby, but we thanked God for a life that taught us to depend on the God we were learning to adore. We praised God for teaching us to value life and family in a way we hadn’t before. (Psalm 128:3) We delighted in God for showing us that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made and that before he placed us in the womb, he knew us (Psalm 139:13-18). Samuel was no mistake. He was planned by a sovereign God that uses all situations for our good when we love him. (Roman 8:28) After Samuel died, God blessed us just eleven months later with a healthy and beautiful daughter, Abigail. We had made the decision to let God plan our family since he had proven to us, through his word and our personal experience, that his ways were better than

ours. (Psalm 127:1) We had a wonderful time with our baby girl and were very content with life. But God was ready to do some more work to mold us into the vessels that he wanted us to be.

When Abigail was eleven months old, we discovered I was carrying our fourth child.

The sonogram revealed a healthy boy, but the night that Josiah was born, it was evident that something was wrong with our nearly nine pound baby. It was obvious that Josiah didn’t have anencephaly and that gave us immediate comfort, but after his initial cry and taking in his first breath, Josiah was not able to breathe.

He was immediately taken away to NICU. My husband, Kyle, followed. I didn’t worry

too much because there was nothing visibly wrong with him. I comforted myself by thinking that he just had some fluid in his lungs, but hours later, he was still in NICU hooked up to a ventilator. We hadn’t been told yet what was wrong.

Nearly five hours later a doctor finally came in and told us what we didn’t want to hear, “Your baby is very sick.” Kyle listened to the doctor while I just stared out the window in disbelief. How could we be dealing with yet another problem unrelated to Samuel’s? It just didn’t make sense. We were told that Josiah had a diaphragmatic hernia and may or may not survive.

If he did survive, he would most likely live a normal and

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out of my despair. I would miss Josiah and look forward to being with him again one day, but for now I would carry on and continue to walk alongside my Savior.

That might make a great ending to my story, but the story continues… After Josiah came my sweet little Cecily.

She was our smallest baby but she was a healthy contented baby! We rarely put her down and had a hard time sharing her-even with Grandma!

When Cecily was two years old, another beautiful daughter was added to our family. Anna was diagnosed in the womb with heterotaxy and congenital heart defects, including single ventricle, coarctation of the aorta, total anomalous pulmonary venous return and other related heart problems.

When we were given this diagnosis, we couldn’t believe it. Yet, a third and unrelated problem! While Samuel and Josiah both died shortly after birth, there was more hope for Anna. We were told that with a few surgeries, Anna could survive and do well.

When Anna was just a few hours old she and her daddy flew to Children’s Mercy

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healthy life.

Josiah had good days and bad, but after just five days, God took him to heaven. We would have to suffer heartache again. My heart was heavy, but my spirit told me that God would not leave us or forsake us. Just as he had helped us through our previous loss, he would also help us through this.

Because it wasn’t a prediagnosed problem, I was less prepared and the days following Josiah’s death were difficult. I felt a deep sadness, but that all began to change when a friend of mine came over one day and turned my thoughts around and made me view my trial with a new perspective. She told me to picture the Lord asking me if I was willing to accept a new trial for his glory. Was I willing to hurt in order to draw eyes and hearts toward Jesus? Was I willing to do God’s work and suffer because he needed me to? When I looked at it that way, it gave me strength.

Rather than feeling like a weak and hurting mommy, I began to feel like an honored soldier; somebody willing to suffer for the better good. It pulled me

Hospital in Kansas City, MO. My parents took me and our other children to K.C.. Anna had had her first ‘closed heart’ surgery when she was just three days old. It went very well and we returned home when she was ten days old.

We moved to the country when Anna was a baby. We felt that the fresh air would be good for her health. We got cats, a dog, Nubian dairy goats, and chickens. We had a great time and enjoyed our new life with a fragile baby and lots of fresh air and fresh foods to keep the family healthy.

When Anna was nine months old she went in for her first big and scary open heart surgery - the hemifontan. This surgery didn’t have the same outcome as the first. It seemed to go well, but when the surgeon took the ventilator off of Anna, she went into respiratory arrest and would have died had they not resuscitated her.

She barely clung to life for over a week, and when she was not so fragile, another heart catheterization was performed to try to figure out what went wrong. When it was discovered that her veins had become obstructed following the previous surgery, they decided to go back in the following day to repair them.

This surgery would be her only hope.

I remember reading the Psalm for that day which was Psalm 21. Referring to God delivering David and giving him strength, Psalm 21:2 says, “Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips”. I hoped and prayed that

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MARCH 2009

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God would give me my heart’s desire and would not withhold my request for Anna to come through the surgery well and be able to return home with us. God did just that. Anna did come through her surgery and after three long weeks in the hospital finally got to go back to her home in the country with her brother and two sisters.

The next five years were peaceful. God didn’t allow many trials. Our health was good, our home was happy, and two new healthy boys, Silas and Jonas, were added to our home. God had brought us unhealthy babies with every even numbered child in the past (numbers two, four and six), but Jonas was baby number eight and he was healthy. We didn’t know if there was any real pattern, but we half expected number eight to have some health issue. He didn’t and we were grateful!

Anna’s long-term prognosis was unknown. The medical books said that children with heterotaxy and heart defects weren’t expected to live very long, but her doctors changed their prognosis every time they saw her. We were told she could live “two years” to “decades”. So, we just determined not to think about it. What is life if you worry through every day? No, we would see Anna in our future.

We couldn’t survive any other way.

When Anna was a baby, we prayed for her heart problems to go away, but as she got older, we began to pray for God’s strength for her and for us, and we quit asking God to take her heart problems away. We wanted to teach Anna to be content with the way that God created her. He knew what he was doing and had a purpose for his design.

She needed to know that we loved and adored her just the way she was and that she was not a reject. The term “birth defect” has always bothered me because when we think of something defective, we think of something inadequate or weak. Anna was certainly NOT that! God used her heart problems to make her stronger in many ways, and to help her see her need for him. She was an incredible young lady and truly lacked nothing in character, love or beauty.

Anna grew into a smart, witty and beautiful little girl.

She had a huge vocabulary at a very young age. When she was barely two years old, we went to a friend’s house for fellowship. Usually Jared or Abigail would unbuckle her car-seat. When I realized she hadn’t popped out of her seat I said, “Anna what’s taking you?” She said, “I can’t get this contwapshun to work”!

It was so funny! As she got older she loved to mother her little brothers. When Silas was being ornery she’d firmly

say, “Silas John!” She made us laugh often. She was just a huge blessing to each member of the family.

When she was almost six years old, Anna accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior and was baptized by her daddy. In August, Anna’s health began to deteriorate. On November 19th, 2004, Anna breathed her last breath at home in her mommy’s and daddy’s bed.

There were signs of a failing heart, but nothing could have prepared us for that day. How can you ever be ready for your precious child to die?

You can’t. However, in the midst of all the pain, God was faithful! (I Cor. 1:9) I’ve never felt his presence so strong. I’ve never felt his love so great. He walked beside each of us along a very sorrowful path. I can tell story after story of things the

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Through our suffering we gain patience, experience and hope.

(Romans 5:4) Trials and afflictions (that are not sin trials) are not the enemy, they are God’s way of teaching us and we should be grateful for the opportunity to learn to serve him and minister to others because of them. (II Cor. 1:4) I think about what my life would be like, had I not experienced these trials.

I’m so happy to have a story to tell; a story that can not only help others who are hurting, but a story that reveals God’s character through the way he cared for

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good work in me will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

(Phil. 1:6) I’ve since given birth to another precious and healthy son, Harrison, and I find myself satisfied, completely and utterly satisfied. Why? Because I’ve lost and I’ve gained. I’ve suffered and I’ve recovered. I’ve mourned and I’ve laughed. I’ve learned to be content. If Harrison would have been born unhealthy, I would have hurt, but because of my trials, I would have been able to endure the affliction with more confidence. I would have known how to survive.

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Lord did to give us hope.

Watching my children suffer heartache was worse than suffering my own heartache.

But that is how it is with God too. He isn’t happy about our suffering. He hurts with us and for us. That is why he is ever so near to us through those times. He will not let us hurt without his loving arms around us and without a purpose behind it. He will not let us suffer without hope. He will not leave us comfortless.

(John 14:18) I’m so thankful for my heartache, because “I’m confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a

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Brent Riggs Blog

Professional http://www.brentriggs.com The serious pursuit of a happy, fulfilling, meaningful life. Great advice, questions answered.

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For Keeps

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forkeeps-michelle.blogspot.com/ Adoption We are a christian family hoping to expand our family through fostering/ adopting.

The Needham Family 5

needhamfamily5.blogspot.com Adoption, Orphans Adventures in our international adoption.

Neither Here Nor There

peachneitherherenorthere.blogspot.com Adoption Adult adoptee in reunion with my first family for almost 20 years. How adoption has impacted my life.

MOGUATE Families

“life”.

moguate.blogspot.com Adoption We are a group of families who have been blessed with children from Guatemala.

Each year, we will meet at the Tantar-a Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri for a fun-filled weekend together. (You don’t have to live in Missouri to join us.)

Our Journey Home

Bringing Home Ava

Bringing Bella Home

bringinghomeava.com Adoption Our adoption journey to Ethiopia.

Dillon’s Adoption

hanksadoption.blogspot.com Adoption Our blog is about our family of 5. It starts with our adoption journey. Our son Dillon came home from Guatemala on January 15, 2008 and joined his sisters, Chloe and Hannah. It continues with our everyday

ourjourneyhome-lagorga.blogspot.com Adoption Chronicles of our journey to a family. A process that’s been quite a rollercoaster: lots of ups and downs but is strengthening our marital relationship and brought us closer to God. Come share our ups, downs and lots of laughs along the way. bringingbellahome.wordpress.com Adoption This is about our 6 1/2 year struggle to bring home our daughter from Guatemala. We will not give up. We love her and she is OUR daughter. We have known her since she is 6 weeks old. We have visited 6 times and she is 6 1/2 yrs old.

Live to Love and Laugh

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your comments serious.extras Serious Blog Directory... cont’d serious.health Adoption, Christian Following our lives as we live each day with six children.

Our Sonshine

john-oursonshine.blogspot.com Adoption

walking her home wearewalkingherhome.blogspot.com

Adoption A family of 5 in the process of adopting two sister from Ethiopia. We have begun this journey trusting God all the way and seeing where it ends up. Follow along with us on this new path of extending our family and love for all in this world.

Mommy’s Lil’ Blessings

mommyslilblessings.blogspot.com Adoption My blog is related to our journey as a family with a child adopted from Guatemala. Join us as we embark on our journey to give back to the country that gave us so much!!

Bring Maylin Home

bringmaylinhome.blogspot.com Adoption Welcome to my journey to bring home my daughter Maylin from China. I am trying to adopt in an unconventional way as I am single and looking for a husband. Keep us in your prayers.

Ava Rose Isabel

avaroseisabel.blogspot.com Adoption Life with my toddler who arrived from Guatemala in 2007.

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A Bouquet of Blessings

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deliveredfromheaven.blogspot.com Adoption I am a 45 year old princess who is passionately crazy about her Father. I’m hoping you know Him. He’s the “The King of Kings”. I am living the best job in the world; being a Mom to 6 wonderful kids, 3 conceived in my womb, and 3 conceived in my heart.

Blessed Beyond Measure

blessedpauls.blogspot.com Adoption We are a family of six, soon to be seven, when we welcome our little girl home from Ethiopia. We feel that God has truly blessed our family and we pray that we

can be a blessing to others.

4blessed.blogspot.com Adoption We adopted 2 children from Ethiopia, this is our story. One child is HIV+, blogging is my way of sharing our lives.

Adoption I blog about adoption in general, the need for more adoptive families, and the Christian’s responsibility to the orphan.

We are currently on our second adoption journey. I blog frequently about our domestic adoption adventure. Join us for the ride!

Just The Three of Us

Living Freely

Better than Good

journeytoteaganmei.blogspot.com Adoption, Single Parent Christian single mother of 2 daughters adopted from China. Stories and photos from our daily lives. God has blessed me and I am loving my life with my 2 girls.

Michelle’s Path

michellespath.blogspot.com/ Adoption Happily married couple with male infertility. We’ve had 2 miscarriages, 1 after an IUI and another after IVF. We now are adoptive parents to our daughter.

The USAF has made our new home at Andersen Air Force Base, GUAM and we are now living happily.

Handsful handsful.com

Adoption, Homeschooling Five kids, including our first-born teen, triplet 10 year olds, and our toddler gift from China - plus two busy and blessed parents. We blog about our daily life with our hands (and hearts) full!

Dimples and Stars Race Cars and Guitars guateawonderfulworld.blogspot.com/ Adoption This is our family BLOG...it follow our journey of life after having both of our children home from Guatemala.

The Howletts 5--Better Late Than Never

thehowletts5.blogspot.com Adoption We are the Howlett family...Dad and Mom, big sisters Allison and Abby--and the newest addition, Baby Amelia. What an adventure our family experienced when we travelled together to bring Amelia home from Ethiopia. What joy and fun we’re experiencing now.

The Place Called Home

theplacecalledhome.blogspot.com

BrandisThoughts.com Adoption Brandi has 3 kiddos (1 adopted from Liberia, West Africa). This is where I blog about life with 3 kids, what Jesus is teaching me and our trips to Africa as we get involved in orphan care with children’s HopeChest and Uganda

Pilgrimage pearlsfromafrica.blogspot.com

Adoption, Family, Living the Faith This blog is dedicated to adoption and our family life. With a focus on what the Lord is doing as well as the plight of the orphan, the widow, the poor, and opressed.

No Greater Joy Mom

nogreaterjoymom.blogspot.com Adoption We are a homeschooling family with five kids. God has chosen to add to our family through the blessing of special needs adoption. We just got home with our newest daughter---adopted from a disrupted adoption in China and diagnosed with Autism.

Our African Daughter

africandaughter.blogspot.com Adoption One big crazy family with two adopted children from China and Ethiopia, two college boys, one homemade boy, two dogs, and two parents crazy about God!

A family formed through adoption

sowdersadoptionblogspot.com/ Adoption The good the bad and the ugly (sometimes) in our home with 4 adopted kiddos, 2 3/4 granddaughters and work full time. (in adoptions) Wish i was rich :)

Our Big Crazy Family

welovebigfamilies.blogspot.com Adoption With seven kids - four birth kids and three

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your comments serious.extras Serious Blog Directory... cont’d serious.health from Ethiopia - there is always a lot going on in this big family. Stop by to see what life is like in our home.

Carolina’s Hope

carolinahopeadoption.org Adoption Christian Adoption Agency

Life with Miss Magoo lifewithmissmagoo.blogspot.com/

Adoption To keep updates about our daughter we adopted from China and to help raise funds for our son that we are currently in the process of adopting.

And Keeghan makes 6

destinedtomeet@blogspot.com Adoption This blog has chronicled the time spent in China to bring home our fourth and final child...Keeghan NianShuang and is now keeping up with our family of 6.

From Hope to Reality www.carolinahopeadoption.org/blog/

Adoption, international Adoption From Hope to Reality brings you adoption news, adoption education announcements, and insightful articles about adoption and theology.

bergsnest

bergsnest.blogspot.com Adoption This blog shares the story of Emma’s adoption from China and our journey as a family. We are a Christian family with 7 children, 3 living in New England, 3 grandchildren & 4 at home. We are in full time ministry. www.achildshopeintl.org

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Parents, Kids & Schnoodles - Oh My!

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doylemania.blogspot.com Adoption A surprise domestic adoption of an older child - smackdab in the middle of our international adoption wait (a young girl from China). Two completely different stories, unexpectedly woven together, creating our wonderful family.

Ryter Rytes

ryterrytes.wordpress.com Adoption Random thoughts from out of my mind.... which is usually where I am!

Isabellas Journey Continues

isabellasjourney.blogspot.com Adoption This blog follows our journey up to, and now following, the Adoption of Isabella Grace.

Life at the Lunds

lund7.blogspot.com Adoption We are a family with 5 children; 4 bios and one adopted from Guatemala.

We deal with issues relating to Down syndrome(one twin has this), adoption, and teen issues along with every day struggles and triumphs as we live for the Lord!

1st Time Mama 1sttimemama.blogspot.com

Adoption The highs and lows of being a 1st time mama all wrapped together with a big dose of God’s grace. Our son was born in Taiwan, and we are LID 8-06 with China.

Forever n Ever n Always forevernevernalways1.blogspot.com

Adoption Join us as we follow hard and fast after Him! We are a blessed family of 10 built by the grace of God and Inernational Adoption! Looking forward to meeting you!

Whispers of Grace

ordinarydayslw.blogspot.com/ Adoption Adoption, life, faith, children

Follow our Ethiopian adoption journey and our quest to discover more about how God wants to use us to care for His children.

Salzwedel Family Adventures salzwedeladventures.blogspot.com

Adoption, Family Sharing our family, faith, and the journey of adopting our daughter from Ghana.

Praying through the highs and low of walking by faith and not by sight.

Following God To...

followinggodto.blogspot.com Adoption Join us on our journey of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia.

Reece’s Rainbow

reecesrainbow.blogspot.com Adoption Serving as an outlet to share the plight of children with special needs in orphanages abroad, this blog highlights adoptive families, children that are waiting, and the organization, Reece’s Rainbow, which works to put those families together!

Our Journey Home

ourjourneyhome-lagorga.blogspot.com/ Adoption Our blog is used to update our family & friends on our adoption journey, to network with people who may be able to help us and allow a glimpse into our life as a young married couple desiring God’s will for us and the family we long for.

Sharing Threads: The Blog of Weaving Families

My GuatAngels

guatangels.blogspot.com Adoption Our Journey through Life, with my 2 children God granted me through International Adoption.

weavingfamilies.com/blog Adoption Weaving Families Adoption Ministry is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides adoption counseling, education, and comfort for families throughout the lifelong journey of adoption.

Journey for Jordan

Four Plus More

journeyforjordan.blogspot.com Adoption Our newly adopted son from Vietnam and our experiences as a family.

Impressed Upon Our Hearts

impresseduponourhearts.blogspot.com Adoption

fourplusmore.com Adoption Chronicling the journey of our family as we’ve added two children from Ethiopia to our children.

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your comments serious.extras Serious Blog Directory... cont’d serious.health Mixed Nuts pletcher5journey.blogspot.com

Adoption, Family, Special Needs Child We are a family of 5 living in Connecticut.

We adopted our son, Cainan from China in 2007. He had cleft lip/palate. My two youngest are only 30 days apart. Our kids are 6, 2 1/2 and 2 1/2. This is a story of our becoming a blended family.

Cornish Adoption Journey

cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com Adoption Our family’s adoption journey to bring home two children with Down syndrome from Ukraine and a year now home! On to the next adventure... a new baby due in September. Life with a 6,5,3, and 2 year old, 3 of whom have Down syndrome.

For Such As These

forsuchasthese.blogspot.com Adoption A blot to share our family’s heart for Africa and her people and our journey in adoption.

Now We Are Complete

niccoborsa.blogspot.com Adoption Our adoption journey to Guatemala to bring our son home.

Better World

betterworldlovelyday.blogspot.com Adoption A journal of our Ethiopian adoption journey to our third child. We are also advocates for social justice and all things concerning the poor.

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Blessed Mama 2 blessedmama2.blogspot.com

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Adoption My family’s journey as we seek to become the people that the Lord has called us to be.

Adopting Ahren (& PBJ too!)

adotpingahren@blogspot.com Adoption This blog chronicles our lives as we struggle to add to our family through adoption. Our first adoption agency was arrested and led away in handcuffs. Our second folded under multiple lawsuits.

We are doing it on our own now, led by hope and fai

Jessies Home

freewebs.com/jessieshome/apps/blog/ Adoption You can’t change the world by adopting one child, but you can change the world for one child... We live a simple life, but one child in college and one in kindergarten keep us on our toes. We love this crazy little life we lead.

In God’s Time...Not Mine

ingodstimenotmine.blogspot.com/ Adoption I am a mother without a child, my daughter died in August 2006. I am now officially waiting to adopt a baby from Korea. My blog details my journey from loss to life.

Boys & Curls treasuresofthesilkroad.blogspot.com

Adoption Blog about the neverending antics of our three bio boys, the adoption of our 2 year daughter from Kazakhstan and the wait to adopt a baby girl from China.

Madelyn Belle

our-journey-to-madelyn.blogspot.com Adoption We started our blog so our friends and family could follow along on our adoption story. Madi is home now and we are enjoying life with her and praying about adopting again.

Baby Faith ourlittlefaith.blogspot.com

Adoption, Other Our blog was designed to follow the adoption process of our daughter from Guatemala. Since her arrival home we found out that she has special needs. Our blog takes you through our journey with her as well as tidbits about the rest of the family.

Life After Ukraine

lifeafterukraine.blogspot.com/ Adoption This blog is about our lives since Phillip’s Ukraine Adoption and the devastating death of my husband just six days later.

Welcome to our Family Journey web.me.com/dorseyco Adoption

Jet to Thailand

jettothailand.blogspot.com Adoption Our blog shares our experiences of adoption, past and present.We are interested in sharing our journey, helping others understand more about adoption and honoring God for it all.We leave for Thailand April 14th so come follow along!!!

Waiting For Mercy

journeytomercy.blogspot.com Adoption WAITING FOR MERCY WAITING. HOPING. WISHING. PRAYING FOR OUR DAUGHTER. LOVING. LAUGHING. PLAYING. LIVING TO THE FULLEST UNTIL WE MEET HER. MERCY IS COMING.

With Six You Get Eggroll toribugsmom.blogspot.com Adoption My crazy life with 3 teenagers and a two year old....and my wonderful husband.

Miss Maya

missmayita.blogspot.com Adoption Mostly pictures and updates of our perfect little girl adopted from Guatemala.

K Leclercq

kleclercq.blogspot.com Adoption Single mom who adopted her son (18 mo) from Guatemala and has started a second adoption from Ethiopia.

Our Adoption Adventure

ethiopianbaby-waitingarms.blogspot.com Adoption Oh, what an adventure when you decide to obey the still quiet voice and put your faith into action. In a year, our family of 3 has grown to a family of 5 and by the year’s end, will be a family of 6! Any ideas on fitting 3 carseats into a Corolla?

The Murphy’s christalljasongrace.blogspot.com

Adoption Life as a homeschooling mom of one who is in the process of bringing home her newly adopted Ethiopian daughter. Lots of crazy here!

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your comments serious.extras Serious Blog Directory... cont’d serious.health My Little Miracle

waiting4zach.blogspot.com Adoption My blog is about my journey to adopt the most amazing little guy from Guatemala.

It’s also about all the wonderful people around me and some of my blog friends.

Ethiopia or Bust

bottomlysandethiopia.blogspot.com Adoption My husband Josh and I adopted our precious son, Silas Tesfamariam from Ethiopia! Our adoption experience has been life changing. We could not be more excited about our sweet little Ethiopian boy. We are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia a

The Millers Adventures millersadventures.blogspot.com/ Adoption God has entrusted us with the awesome task of raising 6 precious treasures. God chose to bless us with 4 children through natural birth and 2 through the gift of adoption. Our blog has become a way to share the journey that God has us walking.

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Conner....Party Of Four

connerpartyoffour.blogspot.com Adoption A family celebrating the adoption of their two sons. One from India and one from Vietnam. Chronicles the every day ups and downs of family life.

Cole Family Mission

colefamilymission/blogspot.com Adoption This is a blog featuring the life of a family through God’s calling to adopt a child from Korea. We are on a continuing rollercoaster of missions that God has asked us to do. Please join along on the Mission of Life!

Nut Free Living

nutfreeliving.blogspot.com Allergies Our Journey with life threatening allergies.

My Roller Coaster Life

gracecomesbyhearing.blogspot.com/ Adoption I’m a happily married wife, mother and teacher. These are my stories and feelings about life and our new son. God is my guide and strength. “God never closes a door without first opening a window.”

ugottafriend.blogspot.com Artist Thinker, writer, painter, dreamer, and insomniac from the Hurricane Katrinabattered U.S. Gulf Coast. I left the corporate world to teach people how to paint like Bob Ross. I’m broke, chronically ill, and old before my time, but I’m blessed anyhow.

Our Life With Lindsey Li

Whispered Suppory

Grace Comes By Hearing

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Adoption Daily life as we raise our children. Our son adopted in 1997 through Domestic adoption and our daughter adopted from China in 2006.

lindseyli.blogspot.com Adoption Our family story and daily fun and other things. We are dealing with the loss of a child as well as the addition of a daughter from China! We are starting the process to adopt a son!

Stumbling On Happiness

stumblingonhappiness.blogspot.com Adoption A blog about our familily and heeding God’s calling to bring home two Haitian beauties.

Hairbows and Fishin Poles hairbowsandfishinpoles.blogspot.com

whisperedsupport.blogspot.com/ Bereavement Whispered Support is dedicated to providing practical and emotional support, in the immediate days after the death of a baby. There is a wealth of advice based on guidance from parents around the world and “Carly’s letter”

Opening His Word openinghisword.blogspot.com

Bible Teaching Come sit at His feet with me. I am humbled to be given an opportunity to teach God’s word and share it with you.

My prayer is that you will open your hearts to hear what God has for you today!

D Campbell Photography / Unique Childrens Photographs

dcampbellphotography.blogspot.com Business My Photography business blog that I post exciting news or great pictures

Believing in faith

believinginfaith.blogspot.com Cancer I fought Hodgkins Lymphoma and this was my way of journaling and keeping the faith, while having others pray for me. My husband also had a heart attack during my chemo treat Now we are adopting our 8th child!

A Public Dialogue about my Private Problem - Raising Kids...Raising Cancer

moonsfamily.blogspot.com/ Cancer Upon learning my diagnosis of Stage 3 breast cancer in September 2008, I began my blog. I felt like like I would go crazy if I didn’t get my thoughts down...so here is my venue.

Bloggers Give

bloggersgive.com Charity Bloggers Give is an online blog that combines the skills of review and giveaway bloggers to receive additional products from thier sponsors for a designated charity. This year we are working for The Center for Courageous Kids. Learn about us today!

Owen’s Heart Journey simmonsfamilyupdate.blogspot.com

Chemotherapy Owen was born with 1/2 a heart. He has had 2 open heart surgeries, four cardiac caths, and is now waiting for his NEW heart!! He has chemo once every two weeks to help lower his antibody levels so when his PERFECT heart arrives, he won’t reject it!

Breathing Sounds So Easy

breathingsoundssoeasy.blogspot.com Children Just my blog about my kids and my son’s rough journey with respiratory illnesses, ventillators, transfusions, hospitalizations, etc. and our road to just breathing easy!

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your comments serious.extras Serious Blog Directory... cont’d serious.health In His Hands ~ Our Adoption Journey

inhishands-ouradoptionjourney.blogspot. com/ Christian My pastor-to-be husband and I are adopting our first baby from South Korea!

Join me as I share my feelings on growing our family, daily happenings, and life on the road to the ministry....it’s all In His Hands!

Thoughts

By Kim kbhawkins00.blogspot.com

Christian A look at the life of a woman’s spiritual journey, weight loss struggle after weight loss surgery, battle with infertility, and generally try to apply God’s peace to all she does.

snowboarding future vet

my.opera.com/jajinka1/blog/ Christian I try to write everyday - short updates about what´s going on, ideas, thoughts, photos and everything what comes to my mind...

Encouragement From My Heart

encouragementfrommyheart.blogspot. com/ Christian Writing from heart is passion, Writing from my soul is prayer. I am a woman after God’s heart, sharing words of Hope,Comfort, and Encouragement through poetry and devotions.

Christian All about God, family, homeschooling, crafts, and raising dogs! A heavy focus on our kids (homeschooling 3 of 6 this year) and our dogs (Pomeranian, Shih-tzu & Dachshund) with the occasional knitting, political or frugal living rabbit trail!

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Kidz and Dogs homeschoolblogger.com/kidzanddogs/

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Family by Chance Friends by Choice gipsontable4seven.blogspot.com Christian The ups and downs of a family of 7. A Mom a Dad and 5 kids.

Imperfect Perfection mygodisfaithful.blogspot.com

Christian I am persevering sanctification, following Christ, and practicing thankfulness for the abundant grace and mercy afforded me for my shortcomings. God, who has done a great work in me, will bring it to completion!

Joy

Joy-kelli.blogspot.com Christian Searching for the source of joy that only God can give. Let’s do it together!

Resonance

e-resonance.blogspot.com Christian Resonance is the place to come to think about different things. You’ll often find me writing reflectively on life in the church, ministry, and the joys of children.

Stop by and say hello!

Growing Colin

growingcolin.blogspot.com Christian An anecdotal, day to day blog about raising a toddler today.

Jesus-Filled Hope

jesusfilledhope.blogspot.com Christian This is the story of my family ... and the incredible journey we are on following God and Jesus. We want to give God all the glory for what He has brought us through and how He blesses our lives each day. My husband Cory and I were married in 1998 and jus

always “Watching Over” each moment.

The Drama Mama

thedramamama.net Christian Follow our every day kind of drama of raising three kiddos while doing our most important job of trying to lead them to know Christ!

Life On Beech Grove Road maria-lifeonbeechgroveroad.blogspot.

com/ Christian I am a Mother to 5 wonderful children a Wife to the greatest man in the world and a follower of Christ..I am a Salon owner in a small town in Kentucky and love to cook, spend time with my family and blog...so come on over and visit Beech Grove Road!

A Little Piece Of Me

aad108.blogspot.com Christian I am just a single Christian woman striving to live my life to the fullest while glorifying Christ. I have my joys and struggles, and I share them with those in the blogosphere.

Emily’s Adventures 08

emilysadventures08.blogspot.com Christian My blog is all about how I deal with life having a very rare disease and a semiterminal illness. I talk about how God is working in my life and what I am going through medically.

In God’s Time...Not Mine

Our Family

www,fantasticfenwickfamily.blogspot.com Christian We are a family of four,waiting to be a family of five.On our blog you will find inspiration,updates on us as a family and our adoption journey to India. Everything we have and are is because of our Lord Jesus and his grace,love,and mercy.

ingodstimenotmine.blogspot.com Christian Life hasn’t turned out exactly the way I thought it would. My first baby died in my arms 14 hours after she was born. I am married to my best friend who is the pastor of a Presbyterian Church and we are officially waiting to adopt a baby from Korea.

Watching Over

Thoughts from a busy mom

watchingovercathy.blogspot.com Christian A daily journey following the Lord through love, loss, marriagestepchildren, grandchildren, hard decisions and new adventures in life while knowing God is

sharminj.blogspot.com Christian Ramblings from the mind of a busy mom of 3 who knows there is no way I could make it through the day but for the grace of God.

Blessings...

Rumo Family: An Adoption Journey rumofamily.com

Christian We are the Rumo Family, Paul, Julie, Zachary & Emily ( and Moe & Kiara our pups) We are a God-loving, Christfollowing family. . We have emabarked on the journey of international adoption.

We can’t wait to have our 3 boys from Haiti home wit

Refining Moments

shannonsjourney.com Christian I was pregnant while diagnosed with Stage IV Inflammatory Breast Cancer. By medical standards I was handed a death sentence. By my Savior’s, I was given a new chance to live. This is my journey one step at a time..but every bit of it is HIS STORY!

I am heading towards my destiny!

Following HIM liveandlearn711.blogspot.com

Christian Christian believer who is figuring out what God has planned. In college for a degree in EC-6 grades and SPED. SPED is my passion and my goal to work with one day.

I LOVE finding new blogs to read too :)

Crazy Homeschool Mama

crazyhomeschoolmamma.blogspot.com Christian About a homeschool mom that is crazy about her kids.

Heart Choices heartchoices.com

Christian, Health Heart Choices is focused on how your day to day choices will determine what your tomorrows will become. My background as a cardiovascular nurse provides credibility and as a Christian I know that each choice impacts body, mind and spirit.

bethinnc.blogspot.com/ Christian I am a wife, mother, and daughter of elderly parents. I enjoy recording my laughter and tears on this journey. Come join me as I head toward’s my destiny in Christ!

Faithfully Yours

Serving A Mighty King...

Reaching The World For Jesus

Christian We’re a Christ loving family who strive to honor Him in all we do, and our blog is simply a glimpse into our everyday life.

Lori’s Reflections http://laurelwreathsreflections.com/

onesingleminute.blogspot.com Christian The main goal of my blog is to mentor and encourage being a submissive, godly wife.

I also try to address raising godly children as God lays it on my heart along with a smattering of ramblings and everyday life.

pridelandsmommy.blogspot.com/ Christian I am a...Believer, wife, mama, treehuggin’, freespirit, peacemakin’, dreamin, tattoo lovin’, nature lovin’,music lovin’ child of The King. Making the most out of every day that God blesses me with. :)

Standing on the Mountain of God standingonthemountainofgod.blogspot.

com Christian During the last months of 2006, God bestowed a mirclous healing on our daughter. Since then we feel we have been called to encourage those struggling with their own trials. This is our life AFTER the Valley of Serenity!

imghanaadopt.blogspot.com Christian I am the Mama of a FUN and FAITHFILLED family with 13 children. I have a passion to encourage and support other women: singles, wives and moms. I share about parenting, marriage, adoption, homeschooling, living on less, household organization, etc

We are THAT family

wearethatfamily.com Christian A blog about family life that asks the question, “Are we normal?” I’m afraid the answer is, “Yes, you are more normal than you think.” Some good clean fun, kind of like “The Family Circus” comic strip only more trips to the E.R.

Muchos Bendiciones

muchosbendiciones.blogspot.com Christian The purpose of my website is to talk about, as honestly as I know how, our process of adoption, and the calling that God has placed on our family’s life.

Wind Beneath My Wings

theytakemybreathaway.blogspot.com/ Christian A Christian couple that both have lived short lives in the lime-lite, and now living life to the fullest as Godly parents to our two children. While capturing on the blog of the things that are “the wind beneath our wings.” This is our testimony

bringing home God’s Addition 2 antiguajourney.blogspot.com Christian this is our everday family life and our adventures in following God’s call.

Disciple Like Jesus ministry

DiscipleLikeJesus.com Christian, Parenting, Encouraging Parents to Make Disciples of Their Children Disciple Like Jesus ministry is encouraging parents and grandparents to make disciples in the same manner that Jesus made disciples. Learn how His approach can transform your family into the image of Christ and allow you to enjoy the great blessings

SERIOUSLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

One Single Minute

Psalm 104:24-Random thoughts from a not so random mom

I’m Ghana Adopt

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Christian, Family, Book Reviews I have been married to my best friend for 15 years, I live in a house full of boys; three to be exact. However, if you add the cat and the dog, testosterone runs rapid.

You can find me at my personal blog, Lori’s Reflections to learn more about me.

Fladung Family Fun fladungfamilyfun.blogspot.com

oldqueen44.blogspot.com Christian My fun place to share stories about my life as a Christian, a grandma of 16, a horse lover, and the antics of my great dane Titus. And of course My Knight whom I adore.

W R I T E U S AT: L E T T E R S @ S E R I O U S L I F E M A G A Z I N E . C O M

sebcintern.blogspot.com Christian I’m a girl who is a part of leading the largest youth movement in the nations who is trying to please God with every part of life. I invite you to join me on this journey from death to life, from the hand of Satan to the Hand of God!

faithfullyyours1989.blogspot.com/ Christian

A Quiver Full

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your comments serious.extras Serious Blog Directory... cont’d serious.health Joan’s Blessings joansblessings.blogspot.com/

Christian My family are my greatest blessings. Our 13yod Hannah has a rare chromosome deletion and is one of our best blessings.

She has a lot of issues that we have to deal with. And of course can’t forget our beautiful grandaughter, Taylor.

Grace Like Rain

gracelikerainfallsdown.blogspot.com/ Christian, Recipes, Home of “Does It Work?” Product Reviews The stories of our life. I always thought we never did anything interesting ... until I started a blog. Home of “Does It Work?” product reviews.

God Given Passions

godgivenpassions.blogspot.com/ Christian Follow our journey as we follow God’s call to adopt a little boy who just happens to be HIV+.

Heaven In Our Hearts

heaveninourhearts.com Christian The adventures of a family striving to get closer to God while going through the trials of being a large blended family.

6 kids, 3 girls, 3 boys, 2 on the autism spectrum, never a dull moment.

Runningamuck runningamuck.wordpress.com

SERIOUS.LIFE.MAGAZINE©

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MARCH 2009

Christian As a married, stay at home, homeschooling, mother of four munchkins, my blog is as random as my life. Everything is fair game...from tampons, green hair, and LOST to cooking, child training, gardening and Jesus. Just don’t touch my candy stash!

Dandelion Wishes

dandelionwishes93.blogspot.com Christian Hi! I am a christian teen blogger. My blog is about life in general, and my family, including my one year old brother, Max! My blog is fairly new. I love photography and post a lot of pictures. Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog!

Learning by Faith

learningbyfaith.blogspot.com 178

Christian My blog is a narrative of my daily live raising my two boys. And how my faith is growing right along with them. Join me as I learn what god has in store for my life as a mother, wife, and daughter of the King.

La La Land

lindsaylala.blogspot.com Christian

Confessions of a Student Nurse futurenursenotes.blogspot.com

Christian The random ramblings of a Christian student nurse trying to keep her sanity throughout all the ups and downs of pursing her degree. I am very candid and open about my struggles, but also quick in sharing my victories.

Carly Nicole Elliotte...My Micro Preemie carlynicoleelliotte.blogspot.com Christian A journey through my 1st daughters 4 months in the neonatal ICU. She sadly passed away at 4 months old from a heart defect.

Safe In Pita Care

blogspot.com/safeinpitacare Christian My blog is about my everyday life dealing with Bi Polar my feelings and emotions and my anmails witch I have meany of

Rylee For Life ryleeforlife.blogspot.com

Christian April will highlight our adoption journey starting in Russia and ending with finding our daughter in China! Come join us for this ultimate adventure!

alom mo ny an

courtneyblackwell.blogspot.com Christian A student at a liberal arts college dishes on God, life, future plans,and the children she loves

Growing Up Riggs growingupriggs.blogspot.com

Christian Our adventures as first time parents.

We’re trying to raise our daughter in a way that glorifies God and we hope you’ll share in our journey.

God’s Gracious Gems

godsgraciousgems.blogspot.com/ Christian This is a place to read short encouraging devotions each day.

I am heading towards my destiny!

bethinnc.blogspot.com Christian I am heading towards my destiny in Christ! I want to journal what I learn along the way. I share every day humor as a wife, mother of a beautiful daughter (through adoption), and as a partial caregiver for elderly parents with poor health.

Suburban Granola

bakerbonnie.com Christian Adventures with Kids is just that. Our adventure in the suburbs with a “granola” twist. The story of our large Christian, homeschooling, somewhat organic vegan family. Its funny, faith-filled, with crafty ideas, recipes, and homeschool stuff.

Another Journey

kassebaumfamily.blogspot.com Christian A family with 4 teenagers is blessed with two preschoolers through the adventure of international adoption. Follow along as we enjoy another journey!

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

melindafancher@blogspot.com Christian My life adventure against the odds and my faith throughout difficulty so that God’s ways may be made mainfest through my actions.

To the Philippines and Back: Life, Love, Laughter, and Lots of Kids heartforthephilippines.blogspot.com Christian Summers in the Philippines and life as a college student.

Allen Bunch sammynmick.com Christian

We have adopted 8 times. They are from US, Colombia and China. We feel very blessed by Jesus Christ for the life he has given us.

Heeding the Call

guatemolly1.blogspot.com Christian I’m a 17 year old in love with the Lord and burdened for the orphans. Join my journey as I seek to follow His will and heed the call to care for the least of these.

The Awareness Warrior Blog

Awareness-Warrior.blogspot.com Christian Raising awareness for children’s causes (medical conditions, abuse, adoption, etc) as well as documenting my journey as a 13 year old girl battling a rare and serious disease, dermatomyositis. Help us find missing kids on “Have You Seen Me? Mondays”!

Joy in the Journey hrhbabymonkeytoe.blogspot.com/.

Christian This blog begins with my testimony from a mission trip to Uganda.

consider it pure JOY

visit!

The Knitting Basics

knitbasics.blogspot.com Christian A place to rest your thoughts for a moment... and knit yourself into a community of believers who will pray for you...

Christian This blog is the journey of my family with the Lord, pursuing the life described in Micah 6:8, a life-verse for us. Come and visit our blog for encouragement on your walk with God and details of our adoption journey as well.

The Amicks theamicks-angela.blogspot.com/

Faith’s Vision

Christian I am a stay-at-home mom, former teacher with a wonderful husband and two gorgeous sons, one of whom happens to have Down syndrome. God has been nothing but faithful to us as we have been down this new path. Join us through laughs, tears, and honesty.

Because of Love bcuzoflove.blogspot.com/

Christian Josh and Stephanie are High School Sweethearts. Josh is a police officer.

Stephanie is a stay at home mom. Alyse is their 2yr old daughter. They would love to have you stop by their blog to hear some stories and see some pictures.

kimbowid.blogspot.com Christian i am first and foremost, a daughter of the King, a keen observer of life, have a heart for adoption, for the widows and orphans, for creativity, for children and sharing my love of Jesus.

mommyesquire

His Heart

John Marble, CRNA

themommyesquire.wordpress.com Christian My journey raising my baby in a Christian home while working full-time as an attorney.

Room For More

roomformorekiddos.com/ Christian We are a Christian homeschooling family of six. We are in the process of adopting a SN child from China. We pray God will continue to bless us with more children through adoption over the years to come.

We’d love you to come by our blog for a

Stalked by God

stalkedbygod.com Christian Contemplations of the presence of God in my life.

hannahkathleanelliotte.blogspot.com Christian A blog that was started as my pregnancy blog, but my pregnancy ended with a stillbirth in November 2008. This is a blog of my journey through God healing power.

She was my second daughter, and is now with my first daughter Carly in heaven.

Our Gift from God wuenschel.blogspot.com

Christian Our life with an infant, on a budget, with a God that is so good! Cloth diapering, learning to make baby food, finding great coupon deals, and sharing our joys, trials and laughter all along the way.

Revelation: The Unveiling of Jesus Christ

revelationtheunveilingofjesuschrist. blogspot.com Christian My blog discusses matters of eschatology, the study of end times prophecies in the Bible. My goal for this blog is strengthen the faith of individuals.

Heaven-Bound Sinner

heaven-boundsinner.blogspot.com/ Christian Public confession in hopes that as a result people will be able to see the God who lives in me and perhaps, maybe even motivate other Christians to become more transparent; because, I am convinced people can’t see God through a facade.

The Blessed Country Mom theblessedcountrymom.blogspot.com

SERIOUSLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

The Johns Family grettajohns.blogspot.com

vernswifevickie.blogspot.com/ Christian My blog is a journal where I sort out my experiences with learning to live life as a godly woman, wife, mom, grandmother, daughter, sister, and friend. It’s a place where I journal my weight loss struggles.

Simply, it’s a place to voice my thoughts.

Vickie’s Voice

Hannah Kathlean Elliotte... My Angel In Heaven

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johnmarblecrna.com Christian I am a Christian who practices Anesthesia for a living. Basically ridiculed by many of my instructors and colleagues for my “blind faith”, I struggle to find where Jesus Christ wants me in this world. My blog humorously chronicles this quest.

kyleapoole.blogspot.com/ Christian My blog is the journey of adopting a mostly blind puppy and remembering what Faith is really all about. With a few other things thrown in-between!

W R I T E U S AT: L E T T E R S @ S E R I O U S L I F E M A G A Z I N E . C O M

his-heart.blogspot.com/ Christian Reflections of my personal journey to follow Jesus Christ since the day I recognized Him as more than Savior, but also as LORD! It is also the account of how God has worked in our life through infertility and adoption to draw us closer to Him.

Christian Daily life of a blended family of 6 who love the Lord and want to live life to the fullest.

Pursuing Micah 68 pursuingmicah68.blogspot.com

Christian

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your comments serious.extras Serious Blog Directory... cont’d serious.health I am a God-fearing wife and mommy of a 1 year old, 2 dogs and 2 horses. I share my opinions on baby productsparenting tips, green & frugal tips, recipes, inspiration, photos from my adventures in parenting & on the “farm”, and so much more.

Thoughts by Kim

kbhawkins00.blogspot.com/ Christian A look at life through Kim’s eyes: a woman trying to lose weight through weight loss surgery, a woman suffering from fertility problems, and a woman on an amazing spiritual journey.

Joyfull Living

joybright.blogspot.com Christian Joyfull Living is an upbeat and fun place to visit where extraordinary joy is shared through ordinary life experiences. Come visit and meet our family and take with you a dose of joy and encouragement to live an abundant life of joy in the Lord!

Me and My House

squeeli2.blogspot.com Christian Our families daily happenings. Tips on things that work for me. What the Lord is doing in our lives.

Safe In His Arms

nason5.blogspot.com Christian Safe In His Arms began after we lost our 11 year old son to cancer. It’s a blog about our family, day to day events, and how JESUS has been our ROCK through the greatest loss of our lives. The JOY of the LORD is truly our strength!

SERIOUS.LIFE.MAGAZINE©

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MARCH 2009

Exalting God

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exaltinggod.com/ Christian Exalting God focuses on God. We address important issues such as worshiping God through Bible study, fasting, and Scripture memory. Cultural issues are also addressed from a biblical perspective.

We also have numerous resources for adoptive families.

these are the days

jennababe.blogspot.com Christian I’m a twenty-something, single woman living life to the fullest while I work on figuring out God’s plan for my life. I am

young, happy, confused, and crazy - and I am loving every minute of it!

All For Lucy all4lucy.blogspot.com

Christian Our blessed life with our Chinese born daughter Lucy, and soon to be child via domestic adoption.

Following HIM

liveandlearn711.blogspot.com/ Christian, Life Christian gal going to college to fufill a dream of working with Special needs and is on a mission to support any blogger on a daily basis. Everyone loves comments and so every blog I visit, I comment...and only encourage and support :)

Dani’s Mind- Dare to Enter

danirupp03.blogspot.com Christian I really enjoy writing and feel God has given me this gift. I want to share the words He has given me with others. I mostly write poetry, but also like to write reflections and silly stuff my mind comes up with. Hope you enjoy!

The McKaughan Family themckaughanfamily.blogspot.com Christian Thank you for stopping by to visit our online Family Scrapebook. We have been so blessed by our fellow blogger buddies and we enjoying getting to know so many wonderful people through it. God Bless All, The McKaughan Family Mt. Pleasant, TX

A Pure And Holy Passion

apureandholypassion.blogspot.com Christian A young, God-seeking, husband-loving, mom of four. I’m trying to overcome my past and use that in my future to reach teen girls who are in a difficult place! Lots about marriage, children, and my faith!

His Life for mine

hislifeformine.wordpress.com Christian Living life day to day, good times and bad, happy and sad, knowing I’m in my Saviors hands.

Our Life’s Journey brittnesnyder.blogspot.com

Christian Our blog allows our readers what life is like for an Active Duty Air Force couple.

Both of us are stationed at Shaw AFB and love God with all our hearts.

Adventures of a Newlywed rachelnoelhaney.blogspot.com

Christian I had the privilege of marrying the love of my life on August 4, 2007, and my perspective on life has been wonderfully changed! I hope you enjoy reading about my adventures with my new husband as we learn more about life, love, and the God we serve.

Megzie Blog

megzieblog.blogspot.com/ Christian Megzie Blog is about a Children’s pastor just living life and doing ministry.

Julie Gillies

juliegillies.com Christian, Women, Fresh. Relevant.

Encouragement.

Relevant, fresh encouragement for women! Find joy in your everyday life and rise above the circumstances of your past.

ALSO: Prayer for women who write and/ or speak. Sign up for WORD CHICKS is free and easy.

I will praise Him!

lilpumpkinnati.blogspot.com/ Christian I created this blog as an outlet for my feelings. I mostly blog about my Uveitis and how the Lord uses it to change my life and renew my love for Him again. It’s not a medical blog and only offers subjective thoughts and insights.

K K’s Kreations

kkskreations.blogspot.com Christian Personalized engraved gifts for all occasions. Featuring engraved tile, leather, acrylic & wood. I enjoy mixing in some family life on my blog also. Thanks for stopping by! Blessings always, Kaye Matthew 21:22

The Q Family Adventure

theqfamilyadventure.blogspot.com Christian I am the wife to the most wonderful man in the world, who is in the US Navy.

I am also a homeschooling mommy to 5 children, 6 years old and under! As we navigate each day to live our lives for our Savior, I must say, it is quite an adventure!

Steele (the Day)

tooblessed4myowngood.blogspot.com Christian Ramblings on living the life of an empty nester who loves the Lord and in her heart feels like she’s still 35 (and all too frequently acts like it).

BEAUTIFUL MELODIES The highs and lows of life’s symphony singingmamaslife.blogspot.com/

Christian My blog is all about the way I live my life each day Just trying 2 serve the Lord as I go With my family in tow I stumble & fall, but get back up I have lots of fun & run amuck I praise God in all that I do, I love to share it all with u. Singin

Luv My Arrows

Masto Mama Chronicles mastomama.blogspot.com/

Chronic Disease Our 2 children & I have a rare disease called Mastocytosis. This is our story of life with chronic illness. It’s filled with stories that will make you laugh & cry, and sometimes both at the same time. Join us on our journey and be encouraged!

A Voice For Moms

avoiceformoms.blogspot.com Conservative A conservative voice for moms in our ever

Mandy Crafts

mandycrafts.blogspot.com Crafting Stuff I made, stuff I love, how to make the stuff I love. My name is Mandy, and I have a crafting addiction.

Heavenly Creations by Monique

heavenlycreationsbymonique.blogspot. com Crafts Welcome to my blog! Here you will see all the creations I come up with and little tidbits about me. I look forward to hearing from you and sharing my love of crafting with you.

Ramblings of my life ponderingsinsa.blogspot.com/

Reinventing Dorsey

reinventingdorsey.blogspot.com/ Empty Nest My four girls have grown & flown and I’m no longer a mother with children living at home. I’m now an empty nester. It’s time to reinvent myself, Dorsey. It’s bound to be an adventure.

Fish With Trish FishWithTrish.com

Evangelism Fish With Trish is a ministry of Trisha Ramos (assistant to Ray Comfort of the award winning television program “The Way of the Master” with Kirk Cameron).

Fish With Trish exists to equip Christians to share their faith the way Jesus did.

Asperger’s Faith Journey

Current Affairs I live in Africa and the rest of the world only sees what the media wants you to see, so I blog about current affairs from the ground. My blog is a place for me to discuss everything and anything that is on my mind - including my beautiful family.

faith4thejourney.blogspot.com Faith Join the life journey of the ‘Asperger 8’.

We are a beautifully blended American, Guatemalan & Ethiopian family. We have six children: 3 biological, 1 Guatemalan & 2 Ethiopian. We are passionate about our faith, family & adoption.

Phoenix’s Fight

God Given Passions

phoenixsfight.blogspot.com Cystic Fibrosis Phoenix is a nine month old little boy that struggles to do one of lifes simplest tasks, breath due to Cystic Fibrosis. Together with family and friends Phoenix braves the days ahead, and we will make CF stand for cure found!This is his journey!

BlueCastle sarahsbluecastle.com

godgivenpassions.blogspot.com/ Faith, Other, HIV Living the adventure of saying YES to God! Follow our family through the adoption of a sweet little child of God who just happens to be HIV positive. Living on faith and advocating for the ones who cannot speak for themselves! Such an awesome ride!

Asperger’s Faith Journey

Decorating A homeschooling, Jesus-loving mom’s adventures in decorating on a half-shoe string budget while holding onto her sanity in a house of boys.

faith4thejourney.blogspot.com/ Faith I will email this to you in the next few days - thanks!

Tiny Tidbits

takingheart.blogspot.com Faith Believer, Wife, Mom, Sister, Friend, OB Nurse. I love my husband, my kids, my family, my friends. I am a sucker for sharing a hot steamy cup of coffee with a good friend or with my goofy husband. I

sometinytidbits.blogspot.com Domestic Tips Tiny Tidbits is my outlet for my creative and domestic life. It is a place where I’ve compiled helpful hints, recipes, and craft ideas for adults and kids.

Taking Heart

SERIOUSLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

patrice0x0x.blogspot.com College The triumphs and trials of entering into womanhood and leaving high school behind and starting a new life at college.

Craft About trying to start my own fabric business to help support my family through Etsy.

myspecialks.com Down Syndrome The story of my special Ks: Kassidy, Kameron, Kennedy and Keeghan. Life with a husband in the Military, and our adoption process to bring home our daughter Kellsey! Come join us for the ride, we’re rarely boring!

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Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman

The Simply Made thesimplymade.blogspot.com

Life With My Special Ks

W R I T E U S AT: L E T T E R S @ S E R I O U S L I F E M A G A Z I N E . C O M

luvmyarrows.blogspot.com Christian We are a growing family of 7, trusting the Lord to do His will with planning our family. We homeschool and know that each child is a reward from Him. Psalm 127:3-5 We are thankful for each day, full of whatever it may bring, because we know Je

changing political world. A place to learn what is happening but also how we each can make a difference.

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your comments serious.extras Serious Blog Directory... cont’d serious.health love my job because it connects me with people, and peopl

Follow the Journey

followthejoyfuljourney.blogspot.com Faith This blog is simply to share the goings on in my life & my family and friend’s lives. It has also become a place for people who need to be lifted up in prayer or people to share their PRAISES! More than anything, it’s a place filled with God’s love.

Growing and Growing

growingandgrowintg.com Faith G&G is a journey of fun, love, joy, laughter, pain, and controlled chaos! Recently, we have followed the miraculous recovery of our Dad, a Nashville pastor who had a near fatal car accident in September 2008.

Visit G&G to see some practical faith!

Hold it UP to the Light

holdituptothelight.com Faith With thanks and praise to the one true God, we Hold it UP to the Light. I am raising my sweet, crazy, sassy children with my patient and loving husband, and I tend to see life through rose- colored glasses. Welcome to our little piece of the wo

Purvis Tribe

purvistribe.blogspot.com Family, Adoption Join us on our journey of family, faith, friends, and fun! We are a Christian family who is in the process of adopting, have one bio son with EEC Syndrome and, a lot of fun and laughter all along the way!

SERIOUS.LIFE.MAGAZINE©

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MARCH 2009

Mahaffey Manner

mahaffeymanner.blogspot.com Family My blog is about my daily life. My husband is in law enforcement, and I am a stay at home mom pursuing a teaching credential and Masters in Education. We have a 20 month old son, and a baby girl due in July.

Many Blessings Equals Busy Life jent-manyblessings.blogspot.com/ Family, Large Family I blog about life as a stay at home mom

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homeschooling 9 children. Technically they are not all in school as most people think. I have plenty of pre-schoolers. Life is fun and I share that with others.

too {blessed} to be stressed

tsjphotography.com/blog/ Family, Photography, ordinary mom with an extraordinary life sellling

Knock Out Sleepy

knockoutsleepy.blogspot.com/ Family About my day to day tales.

A LITTLE OF THIS...A PINCH OF THAT

Family The story of our family as we live life with our children and strive to Glorify God above all else! Join us as we grieve the loss of our son Eli and travel the winding road to cochlear implantation with our deaf son, Seth.

Positivechaos

positivechaos.wordpress.com Family My Blog is about day to day like of a stay at home mom of three. I mainly talk about my family, my health issues and my Orthodox faith and many moany other topics.

aaensons Life with a toddler

grangrandaddycarroll.blogspot.com Family A place to show off my grandchildren and to share some of the struggles of having a son with an addiction problem.

aaensons-lifewithatoddler.blogspot.com/ Family This is my life as a stay at home work at home mother of a toddler. The craziness and every moment of our lives

Welcome to the Zoo kelliebeans-zoo.blogspot.com

Like Potter’s Clay

Family There’s always something going on in The Zoo - 3 kids, parents who occasionally act like kids, a dog-hating cat & a cat-loving dog. Come join us on our wildly fun journey - we laugh with our kids, need therapy for our pets, & praise God for it all!

Picture Of My World pictureofmyworld.blogspot.com

Family Jessie’s blog gives you a glimpse into her life as a single mother to one lovely little boy. When she isn’t chasing him she is busy taking pictures, advocating for adoption, and laughing about something.

Stop by and see a picture of her world!

Our Family =0)

taylorandsandyspot.blogspot.com Family Our blog gives family & friends an opportunity to see what’s going on in our lives - our hectic lives with systemic mastocytosis, Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia, and Autism. Life can be difficult, but through it all God remains faithful & strong.

Profoundly Seth profoundlyseth.com

likepottersclay.blogspot.com Family Stop by here to read about family living and our journey of faith!

Our Life With Dylan

ourlifewithdylan.blogspot.com/ Family Our blog I started to document Dylan’s life, but am starting to try to reach more people than just Dylan’s Family Fan Club.

Just having family fun, sharing stories & Christ and how our life has changed since Dylan joined it.

Loving Life with Lucy

welovelucymichaela.blogspot.com/ Family Follow us on our journey as an Army family of 3! We’ve endured long separations that have only made our bond as a couple and a family stronger.

This blog is dedicated to the sunshine of our life...our baby girl Lucy Michaela.

leelee News leeleenews.blogspot.com

Family Meet our daughter Katie and read about her miraculous development after suffering from GBS Meningitis. She is 15 months old and amazes her parents and her doctors daily! No one can explain her current health after a serious brain injury.

Mama Monkmee

mamamonkmee.blogspot.com Family Just your normal blog of a 25 year old single stay at home mom of 2 sons, one almost 4 and the other 17 months.

Dealing with family, friends, toddlers and Down syndrome.

Mommy’s Musings

anenglishamericanethiopianfamily. blogspot.com Family A blog to follow our family as we complete our first adoption, laugh at our sweet,funny boys, learn about homeschooling without losing your sanity and strive to become more Christ-like, while trying to keep up with thecooking, cleaning and gardening

The Drays Today

thedraystoday.blogspot.com Family We are a ‘normal’ family who run a home daycare. We also are dealing with an infant who does not grow. We have no diagnosis at this time.

The Riggs Family ibuilagreatlife.com

Family The article is about your precious family. You may check it out at - http:// ibuildagreatlife.com. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your wonderful magazine.

Stubborn Fish Tales

Inside Aileigh’s Heart insideaileighsheart.blogspot.com

deedee-warren.blogspot.com Family My Blog is about my life and my family. I hope to be transparent & encouragement and I hope to be real. Above all, I desire tha “the words of my mouth and the

Life, Laughs, and Love

lifelaughsandlove.wordpress.com/ Family I’ll send later...

And Now There Are Five

meimeimakesfour.blogspot.com Family A family of seven, two bio kids, and three adopted. Our most recent step of faith occurred when we added a daughter with spina bifida and a teenager at the same time. Join us in the craziness, as we strive to live, giving glory to Jesus!

Our Hands Dance

handsdance.blogspot.com Family Join us as we go thru this amazing journey called LIFE.. I’m deaf/hard of hearing & my husband is nearly blind. But We know that we can do all things through christ who strengthens us.. Through Laughter & tears.. we praise God For it all!

Ava Elizabeth Giambrone

avabritniben.blogspot.com Family Ava’s battle against Gastroschisis and continuing medical adventure, from three pounds up!

Making Our Mark

minishfamily.blogspot.com Family A blog about our family after losing an infant son and then having another with an incurable eye condition that once slowed him down but doesn’t any more!

Raising Children.....Razing Cancer

moonsfamily.blogspot.com Family Follow along in my journey to beat Stage IIIc, HER2+++ breast cancer. Loving my 2 beautiful children, wonderful sisters, amazing friends and naughty dogs are part of what gets me through each day.

If you think round is funny

ifyouthinkroundisfunny.com Family My family, my random thoughts and daily doings.

Our Life

thebs-2003.blogspot.com Family Just my ramblings on life, love, the most precious baby boy and having Bell’s Palsy!

elteescat

elteescat.blogspot.com Family Brand new blog about a happy little family with a wild toddler and a tame bird. I’m studying to be an RN and we’re hoping eventually to move into a big, nice house and maybe even travel someday. Come with us!

Or Lives Adventures

nandantravels.blogspot.com Family This is a blog about our family adventures.

Both our children are adopted and so loved. I am a breast cancer survivor and have been married to the love of my life for 20 years!

Loving Mom 2 boys

lovingmom2boys.blogspot.com Family Chronicling the life and times as a family of four, complete with two crazy funny rambunctious little boys.

grandmamacsclan grandmamacsclan@blogspot.com

Family Life is too short to be limited by the “titles” that we are given..I may have been a foster parent to hundreds...and an adoptive parent to one,but...I am a parent/grandparent and all around very crazy person...with the help of the love of my lif

3 Stairs

3stairs.com Family I am a SAHM to 3; award-winning Graphic Artist; Typesetter; Web/CSS Designer;

SERIOUSLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

DeeDee’s I Have No Greater Joy

marblesfromheaven.blogspot.com Family I wanted to start a blog to keep up with all the wonderful things my kids say. It’s just life with the marble’s and our struggles and triumphs. God decided to bless us with two wonderful miracles and I couldn’t imagine my life without them.

Family My blog is the story of our journey through life, adoption, and my walk with God. I blog about funny things my family does, accomplishments that make us proud, advocate for the voiceless, and share our adoption/fostercare highs and lows.

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Family Our adventures with prematurity beyond the NICU. Join us as we look for that “normal” we so hope to attain someday and if we don’t, we will create our own normal!

Marbles from Heaven

Journey to a Promise journeytoapromise.blogspot.com/

W R I T E U S AT: L E T T E R S @ S E R I O U S L I F E M A G A Z I N E . C O M

stubbornfishtales.com Family Follow my journey to becoming the “Me” God wants me to be, through stories about marriage, foster care, infertility, and the daily “stuff” that shapes us into who we become.

meditations of my heart are acceptable in Thy Sight, Oh Lord, My Strength and My Redeemer”

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your comments serious.extras Serious Blog Directory... cont’d serious.health Avid Reader; Blogger; slightly Techy/ Geeky Nerd and very proud of my Irish heritage. I write about my passions, but mostly the wackiness of life with my kids and husband.

The Clinkscales Family clinkscalesfamily.blogspot.com

Family At 20 weeks pregnant, our sweet baby boy was prenatally diagnosed with Hypoplastic Right Heart which means he only has ½ of a functioning heart. He will need a series of heart surgeries to survive.

This blog is to update everyone on Cain’s heart journey.

The Judge Family

judgefam.blogspot.com Family On raising children, Christian values, family, attachment parenting, working moms, and photos of our little one!

A Day in the life...

jncheung.blogspot.com/ Family Ramblings about my journey to TTC, recipes, and other things going on in my life.

It’s Twinsanity

itstwinsanity.com Family Everyday adventures of a Christian mom struggling to raise 6 children without the support of her military husband. Two sets of twins mean 6 kids ages 6 and under.

Makes for a lot of twinsanity!

SERIOUS.LIFE.MAGAZINE©

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MARCH 2009

The Dynamic Duo Brothers!!

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thedynamicduobrothers.blogspot.com/ Family This blog is about my two awesome boys and our adventures in life. We have been able to stay in touch with our friends and family both near and far through our blog.

Maya and Odessa

odessatylermele.blogspot.com Family I write about my family, my two beautiful, rambunctious daughters, about photography, I post pictures I take often, mostly of my kids, my cooking and NYC. Occasionally I write about baby care, specifically baby products, their safety and efficiency.

living graciously

macandemma.blogspot.com Family living graciously started out as a way to keep friends and family updated while we lived in the UK. It has transformed into my little piece of ‘sanity’~~~a place for me to just ‘be’ as I strive to be a Christian mom, wife, and friend.

Jack’s Journey and Then Some

jack-schrooten.blogspot.com Family Jack is 10 years old and was born with a congenital muscular dystrophy. As a result of his disease, Jack has severe muscle weakness and is ventilator dependent 24/7. This blog started out as a way to keep family and friends updated on Jack’s spinal fusion

A Little Crazy and a whole lot of love

Heartchild

heartchild-am.blogspot.com Family Read about the daily life of an adoptive family. Heartchild and her husband have 5 children through birth and adoption.

They lost their first daughter at 10 days old after an uxexplained early arrival. Join heartchild and her family on their journey.

The Dust Bunny Chronicles

thedustbunnychronicles.blogspot.com Family Right now, my blog chronicles my recent journey from pre-diagnosis through treatment for lymphoma. It covers everything from symptoms, treatment, and side-effect to the everyday. It is a testimony to the faithfulness of God in hard times.

Steece’s Pieces

thepartlowfamily.blogspot.com/ Family This is our family’s life journey with our three blessings.

thelifeofsuz.blogspot.com Family Quad Mom’s blog

One Day At A Time

4littlemen.blogspot.com Family I am a young, artsy, fun loving, sometimes silly, a little hippie, classyfunky-chic,vintage loving, Jesus following mama & I am married to my soul-mate, best friend, highschool sweetheart & all together the best husband.

lesli-onedayatatime.blogspot.com Family My blog is a journey of My two year old daughter’s diagnosis with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. This is a description of how we cope with and treat this disease. Of course I have to include the rest of my family and brag on them as well.

HintzsHappenings hintzshappenings.blogspot.com

Family This is our family journey through life at the seminary in St. Louis and now here in OK after the loss of our 5th child, Samuel Mark, last October 29th, 2008. We are navigating this new life mixed with grief and hope for the future God has for us.

Love Always and Forever

jaimeandrick.blogspot.com Family My husband has a terminal liver disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis.

Right now we are struggling from the side effects caused by that disease. He just had spinal fusion surgery and is not working.

Our daughters are suffering because of this

4 Little Men & Girly Twins

From Our Front Porch Looking In

tinasgang.blogspot.com Family A glimpse into the craziness that is my life with 3 little boys, an awesome husband and Jesus on my side!

Life’s a Beach with the Tanimoto’s Tanimototrio.blogspot.com Family This families struggles with infertility, family medical issues and still remains optimistic through it all. Great ideas and praise are shared.

Faithful Froggers

faithfulfroggers.blogspot.com Family I am a wife - happily married for 13 years

to my soul mate and best friend. And I am a mom blessed with 5 amazing children . . . 3 are triplets, 1 in Heaven and 1 adopted from Guatemala.

Jack’s Journey and ThenSome

jack-schrooten.blogspot.com Family Jack is 10 years old and was born with a congenital muscular dystrophy. As a result of his disease, Jack has severe muscle weakness and is ventilator dependent 24/7. This blog started out as a way to keep family and friends updated on Jack’s spinal fusion

The FULLNESS of LIFE

teamlockwood@blogspot.com Family Life as I know it. Living, and loving everyday to it’s fullness. Daily searching for truth, love, authenticity, laughter, faith and beauty-plus so much more. And lots of pictures of my adorable kids.

SoJo Blog sojoblog.com

Family We are a newlywed Army couple living in Europe, and we write about a little bit of everything - from marriage to pets to news to everyday life, it’s all there!

The McCarls

matandjessmccarl.blogspot.com/ Family Hop on by to the McCarl’s blog! We (okay just Jess- the wife) use this blog to keep all of our family and friends updated on our life. We hope that you’ll stop by and become a bloggy friend. jeremyandamywade.blogspot.com Family Wade’s World is where Jeremy and Amy are just the parents, Macy is the B-A-D dog, and our Jackson is the real star of the show. We are Christian conservatives who love Jesus, our families, and each other. We live in the South, and love it!

Raising Olives

Family It is a blog about our family living in the country, homeschooling, gardening, baking, and trying to live more frugally.

annafinley.blogspot.com Family It is about our daughter Anna and her smiles and trials wile she fighting rare desease called Atypical HUS

Better Than Normal

danielspranger.com Family Here you will hopefully find a very informative blog on dealing with the issues of Infantile Spasms (a.k.a.

West Syndrome), Bilateral Perisylvian Polymicrogyria (a.k.a. Congenital Bilateral Perisylvian Syndrome), Cerebral Palsy, and dealing emotional

HappyAsCanB

happyascanb.blogspot.com Family Happenings of a small town Southern bell who is happily living the life God’s given me. His grace amazes me more every single day!

Parris Ponderings jmparris.blogspot.com

Family Just a breif glimpse into the daily life of the Parris Family. Our joys, struggles and our faith.

The Adams Family adamskjtm.blogspot.com Family

Ladybugs, Butterflies, and Boxing

thekarels.blogspot.com/ Family, Life My life is a juggling act. I am a wife and a mother who also has a full time job. Join me on my journey as I try to find balance in my life.

A Day In The Life

jsguerra.blogspot.com Family Momma’s Monkeys was started to keep family and friends up to date on what is going on in our family, the good, the bad and the ugly...sometimes the really

mcmillanmiracles08.blogspot.com Family All about our life with our Vasa Previa Miracle, Maggie, and our current pregnancy with another baby girl.

Smithsoup

smithsoup.blogspot.com Family, AdoptionOur Calico Acres Farm is where we raise dairy goats Life is never boring on a homestead farm!

Our story of adoption, growing our family, serving our country in the military & being homeschooling farm folk makes for lots to share as we serve the Lord Jesus in all we do, growing in our walk with Him

One Egg Short of a Dozen

oneeggshortofadozen.blogspot.com Family Welcome to our blog, “One Egg Short of a Dozen”. With eleven people in this family the title of the blog is obvious. Some people may say we are “one egg short of a dozen” for having this many kids! Well, we just might be a bunch of cracked eggs who fell

Rylee For Life ryleeforlife.blogspot.com

Family, Adoption April will highlight our adoption journey starting in Russia and ending with finding our daughter in China! Come join us for this ultimate adventure!

My Hands Dance

handsdance.blogspot.com Family Join us as we go thru this amazing journey called LIFE.. I’m deaf/hard of hearing & my husband is nearly blind. But We know that we can do all things through christ who strengthens us.. Through Laughter & tears.. we praise God For it all!

The Borg Brood

theborgbrood.blogspot.com Family This is the story of a Mama, Daddy, 3 dogs & one baby boy...it’s our life!

One Breath at a Time........

txmomx6.blogspot.com Family, Faith, Widowed and learning to live again ...

The open book of my life as a new widow and a mother of 6. Sometimes painful, most times humorous, always honest. I am learning to live life without half of my heart .... I am living one breath at a time.

SERIOUSLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

Life With The Queen lifewiththequeens.blogspot.com

Annachka

McMillan Miracles

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raisingolives.blogspot.com Family A blog about life and love in a young family of 11. Practical hints and daily happenings.

mtomecko.blogspot.com/ Family This blog is about the life and times of raising a large family and giving birth to twins at 23 weeks gestation. The struggles that we face daily. From losing Nick to the hard times of Kenny’s disabilities to the adversities of having a large family.

ugly! Stop by and get to know my family through pictures and stories.

W R I T E U S AT: L E T T E R S @ S E R I O U S L I F E M A G A Z I N E . C O M

Wade’s World

The Tomecko Echo

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your comments serious.extras Serious Blog Directory... cont’d serious.health The Mommy Diaries

ethanzachemma.blogspot.com Family I am a: LCMS Lutheran pastor’s wife/ 6, 3, and 1 year old’s mom/ cloth diaperer/ church organist/ friend/ daughter/ sister/ neice/ aunt/ flutist/ oboist/ former teacher/ non-duster/ Green Bay Packer fan/ near-sighted/ blogger/ And most importantly: Child

Home of the Petersonclan

petersonclan.com Family Come visit our Home on the web, where we share all that God has been teaching us in our walk with our 9 children, one with medical needs.

Life is Sweet

1momof5.blogspot.com/ Family Life as a mother to five young kids can be pretty crazy at times, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. With five kids, there’s a never-ending supply of interesting things to blog about!

Holcombe Happenings holcombehappenings.blogspot.com

Family Life in a very large family with 2 boys anad 7 girls,trying to follow hard after Jesus and somehow maintain our sanity, all while stepping into this next season of raising our kids.

Annachka

annafinley.blogspot.com Family It is about our daughter Anna and her smiles and trials wile she fighting rare desease called Atypical HUS

SERIOUS.LIFE.MAGAZINE©

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MARCH 2009

Geeez, a Blog Now? Seriously?

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geeezblog.blogspot.com Family My take on life: Sometimes spiritual, sometimes laughable. Sometimes a little of both-- Thank You God for the gift of Laughter!

Random Thoughts

deanne-randomthoughts.blogspot.com Family This blog is just about my thoughts on events of the day, totally random. I may discuss family, societal issues, or current

events. Whatever is on my mind. My hope it that it be thought-provoking and a discussion starter.

Expectant Hearts expectanthearts.blogspot.com

Family Chronicling our journey through life, missing our youngest son, enjoying our 3 big kids, waiting with expectant hearts for the miracles God brings into our lives.

Grateful to be children of god.

Through the Eyes of the Creator

throughtheeyesofthecreator.blogspot. com Family I’m an imperfect mother raising four rough & tumble boys out in the boondocks of the Upper Peninsula.

With cows and crows for company, we stay pretty busy. Nothing is ever boring around here.

Little Did I Know

little-did-i-know.blogspot.com Family We are a family growing through foster care, adoption, and God. We love spending time together and sharing our ups and downs through our blog. Our family consists of a single mom, a 7 year old wonder, a 5 year old comedian, and a 3 year old lo

A Day In The Life of Momma’s Monkeys jsguerra.blogspot.com Family Momma’s Monkeys was started to keep family and friends up to date on what is going on in our family, the good, the bad and the ugly...sometimes the really ugly! Stop by and get to know my family through pictures and stories.

Superchikk

superchikk.com Family I’m a Christian, wife to one Husband, mom to one son, wrangler of one dog. I’m not really a superhero, but somebody’s got to leap tall loads of laundry in a single bound and be faster than a toddler with mischief on his mind.

The Bailey Family maxabbyandlucy.blogspot.com

Family Doing our best to raise our three small children. Not always easy but full of love and laughs. Praying that God will help us be the parents our kids need to help them be the people He wants them to be.

Created for His Glory

pracharfamily.blogspot.com Family Our family blog has become a testimony of God’s faithfulness to provide ALL our needs. I blog about our family’s activities and the lessons God teaches us along the way as we follow Him, trying to fulfill our purpose in this life, bringing Him glory!

Crazy Days...Sleepless Nights

bethanylbishop.blogspot.com Family Come over and join my wonderful chaos!

I write about the nitty gritty, the funny, and all things home. Topics I blog out include: life in the sandwich generation, homeschooling, raising children (3 under 7), and my Christian walk. Hope to see you!

Believing In Miracles

danaspeaker.blogspot.com/ Family This is a blog about mine and my families life. Good and bad. My struggle with infertility and being blessed with many miracles from God.

The Owens’ Crew

owenscrew.blogspot.com Family Your average, run-o-the-mill family blog.

Keep it updated for family and friends! I have become attached to my little blog world, and love to read/pray for others.

Take a look around and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

The Life of Princess Emma titsworthfamily.blogspot.com Family

Night Light Stories

nightlightstories.blogspot.com Family Original children’s stories created by a husband and wife team who are both dedicated teachers in the special education field. You can download each story from the website at www. nightlightstories.blogspot.com or free on

iTunes! Take a listen!

Loving Life at the Fenwick’s

fantasticfenwickfamily.blogspot.com Family Join us as we take the journey to India for our baby girl.

TEAMThompson

teamthompson.wordpress.com/ Family Recaps of the mundane and “extra special” happenings in our family of six. Living, laughing, and loving as we celebrate triumph and struggle through adversity, all the while, hoping to live lives pleasing to our Lord Jesus Christ.

The New Norm

not-the-norm.blogspot.com/ Family Air Force active duty mom raising a 5 year old and step-mother to a 7 year old. Have been married for 5 1/2 years and life is very crazy in the Washington DC area.

Minnow Musings

minnowmusings.blogspot.com Family Tales about our family that has been blessed through adoption.

Our Adoption Journey and Beyond markandcourtney.blogspot.com

If There’s One Thing I Know

iftheresonethingiknow.blogspot.com/ Family Living a normal life in the mist of confusion and uncertainty that cancer brings to it. As well as bringing awareness to Blood Cancers.

Beautiful Like This

johnjillhope.blogspot.com Family Our crazy life with a very, um, spirited 4 year old and her sweet, but terrible sleeper, baby brother.

ourcutekiddos2007.blogspot.com Family Take a peek into our busy lives with three kids under the age of four. Everyone with little children can relate to (and laugh at) some of our “everyday moments.”

I Get To!!!

i-get-to.blogspot.com Family A few years ago I was tired of my to do list. I enjoyed my family but the work was endless! Then God revealed to me that I was viewing the work as a “have to” vs. a “get to.” Now I GET TO! serve my family & by serving them, I’m serving Him. Woohoo!

Butterflies and Bananas

butterfliesandbananas.blogspot.com/ Family My effort to bring awareness to others about the blessings of God through the trials of family life and day to day living.

Sometimes journeys that end in courage through miracles or loss. Raising kids and being real.Life living on a farm in Ohio.

Life on the edge of The Devil’s Track

lifeontheedgeofthedevilstrack.com Family A southern gal living on the edge of a creek called “The Devil’s Track” in the foothills of NC. Get a real look at what southern life is all about, the good the bad & the ugly, we’ve got it all. Walk with us as we seek God’s path for our lives.

I’ve Got Poop In My Pocket poopinmypocket.blogspot.com

Family Amazing discoveries of motherhood - always uplifting snippets of life as a chronically ill, yet life-loving mom in a world filled with laughter, love, and God’s many blessings.

Good Times Delgado Style goodtimesdelgadostyle.blogspot.com/

Family We are learning to Praise God in all things.

Ahhh, This is the Good Life!!!

rachelboldman.blogspot.com Family Adventures in parenting, reducing our environmental impact, and making ends meet on one salary.

It’s the little Things

appelligartafamily.blogspot.com/ Family Just a day to day evaluation of my life- the one of mom, wife, widow, scrapbooker, lover, christian, the list goes on and on.

Putting things that mean the most to me out there for the world to read!

Picture Of My World

pictureofmyworld.blogspot.com Family Jessie’s blog gives you a glimpse into her life as a single mother to one lovely little boy. When she isn’t chasing him she is busy taking pictures, advocating for adoption, and laughing about something.

Stop by and see a picture of her world!

Newly Wed, Newly Bred newlywednewlybredinne.blogspot.com Family Life as a new wife and new Mom, and day to day adventures with a newborn.

Laughter is key!

Valerie at Home

valerie.thestranathans.com Family Valerie at Home is a “mommy blog” with a light-hearted twist on crafts, homeschooling, adoption, faith, and life with two daughters.

naturallyestes

naturalyestes.blogspot.com Family Life can get a litte crazy, and I love it. So this blog is what I often call my theorpy session. I have the best family a girl could ever dream of, and the only thing missing is a baby girl. So for now I’m stuck in a land of baseballs and bruises!

A Day In The Life

jsguerra.blogspot.com/ Family Just a place to come catch up on what is going on in our family, the good, the bad and the ugly...

SERIOUSLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

A Future And A Hope

3 under 4, Jada, Ethan and Zachary

We have four kids Destinee is 15 (we have custody of my sister), Kenya is 2, Melody and Madison (our conjoined twins) lived here on earth for an hour before going home to be with the Lord.

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beautifulikethis.blogspot.com Family A glimpse into the lives we call beautiful!

yieldingfamily.blogspot.com Family We’re just keeping a record of our daily lives for our family and friends’ reading enjoyment.

W R I T E U S AT: L E T T E R S @ S E R I O U S L I F E M A G A Z I N E . C O M

Family We have been married since June of 1999. Our two little boys came home in December of 2007 from Ukraine, and we’re hoping to continue expanding our family as God leads us to our children. Our blog highlights our journey as a growing family of God.

Yielding Family

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your comments serious.extras serious.health Life in the Fast Lane

jayefamily.blogspot.com Family My blog started simply as a way to share our busy life with our family. Now, however, it is so much more. It’s enabled my family to reach out to pray for and help others in need. And - it’s allowed me to make new friends all over the world.

So, You Don’t Get Any Phone Calls From Me

suzannesez.blogspot.com Family I write about life with my husband and two children in Central Florida. Each week, I feature “What’s For Dinner Wednesday” about food and “Suzanne’s Soundtrack Sunday” about music. I also write Tasty Thursdays at MomDot.com.

Keeper of the Cheerios

keeperofthecheerios.com Family Keeper of the Cheerios is a family friendly blog with reviews, giveaways, recipes, craft ideas, parenting ideas and articles, a forum and more.

Night Light Stories nightlightstories.blogspot.com

Family Original children’s stories created by a husband and wife team who are both dedicated teachers in the special education field. You can download each story from the website at www. nightlightstories.blogspot.com or free on iTunes! Take a listen!

SERIOUS.LIFE.MAGAZINE©

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MARCH 2009

from chaos to Grace

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momof3darlings.wordpress.com/ Family It’s the blog about LIFE, about FAITH and trusting God. It’s the blog about being a Mom and working full time, about photography, about what God is bringing us to next. About my growing faith in Christ. It’s a humble blog about a family.

Making Our Mark

minishfamily.blogspot.com Family A blog about our family after losing an infant son and then having another with an incurable eye condition that once slowed him down but doesn’t any more!

Heart Soul

littlemissmimi.blogspot.com Family, Other A blog originally created to keep family & friends up to date with our trip to China to adopt our daughter... now it is kept up just for fun!

Dearest Jessica...my journey of life. dearestjessica.blogspot.com Family I am a Christian, wife and mother.

My blog details the ups and downs of parenting,the foster care system,adoption!

Fellows Familt Farm

mfellows.blogspot.com/ Family The life of a family with a busy 14mo old!

Tyler Family

sotyler.blogspot.com Family The Tyler Family blog is the everyday adventures of Grace and Max. We love family, being together and being happy.

We know everything isn’t always perfect, but we are blessed to have each other.

Tennyson Talk

tennysontalk.blogspot.com Family, Other Our blog is one that updates pictures of the kids and what is going on in our lives.

It is to keep family and friends up on our day to day lives. We want to glorify the Lord in all we do as a family. We also post prayer requests for family/friends.

The Malson Family jmmalson.blogspot.com Family

Faith, Family & Adoption

jasonandkam.blogspot.com Family Married 12 years, a Youth/Education minister and a stay home mom parent two biological daughters and await the arrival of a son from Thailand.

The Q Family Adventure

theqfamilyadventure.blogspot.com/ Family The story of our day to day life. Raising 5 children, 6 and under, in a military family

is, well, quite an adventure! We strive to serve God and find fun in all that we do.

This is our life, good and bad, it is all part of the adventure!

Knot-Them-Again

knotthemagain.blogspot.com Family Sewing dentist, American born mom with quiet, Irish born husband and two entertaining Guatemalan born daughters open their door to virtual visiters.

Failte,welcome, and bienvenido!

Aadaywithjake.blogspot.com Day with Jake

Family Do you hear giggling? Is that a dirty diaper? Why is marker on my newly painted wall? Oh, it’s just another Day with Jake. Stop on by and read about our hilarious life and trials between two almost newlyweds and our rambunctious, life-loving toddler!

Me, Him and Them

mehimthem.blogspot.com/ Family A simple blog of a normal English (UK) Mum trying to find her way in the world and keep her sanity while raising three lovely children!

Inside Aileigh’s Heart insideaileighsheart.blogspot.com/

Family Join me, a working mom of two boys, as I try to find the humor in life and aspire to be a photographer. I may not be the perfect parent, but I love my kids and my husband!

Kellys Korner

kellyskornerblog.com/ Family Our family blog and our amazing story.

The Pit Stop

thepittmanstop.blogspot.com/ Family

Mommy’s Lil’ Blessings

mommyslilblessings.blogspot.com Family My blog is related to our journey as a family with a child adopted from Guatemala. Join us as we embark on our journey to give back to the country that

gave us so much!!

Kramers

kramers1234.blogspot.com Family the ups and downs of our life, crafting, and i have started my own business with my mom

Firefly Photo Jewelry

fireflyphotojewelry.blogspot.com/ Family Shawna....wife to a man I can not imagine my life without, mom to 2 girls who are my world, wanna be photographer, in home daycare provider, jewelry designer, thrift store shopper, home decorator, but most importantly, follower of Jesus Christ!!! }

Lesley’s Life

lesleyslifeblog.blogspot.com Family Follow me and my family as we take this journey through life.

Our Journey

booboosgirl.blogspot.com Family Finally we are blessed to be a family of three. Follow our journey as we strive to bring glory to God through our little family.

ABS

The Brosious Project thebrosiousproject.blogspot.com

Family Our journey to become more like Him. Ryan is just starting his ministry as the worship pastor of a growing church, Manda is a stay at home mom trying to discover God’s calling in her life, and Elijah is the first addition into their growing fam

Praire Tales

prairiebren.blogspot.com Family

From the Round Oak Table v2.0

roundoaktablev2.blogspot.com Family “From the Round Oak Table” was a weekly column written by my mom from 1974~2002 for our small town Midwestern newspaper. The Round Oak Table V2 is my 21st Century continuation of Mom’s work.

Katie’s Story

leeleenews.blogspot.com Family Meet our daughter Katie and read about her miraculous development after suffering from GBS Meningitis. She is 15 months old and amazes her parents and her doctors daily! No one can explain her current health after a serious brain injury.

The Mighty M Family mightymfamily.blogspot.com

Family, Parenting Boy marries girl. They buy a house. They get pets. They start a family. Then girl starts a blog and shares the story with everyone. Visit us for a glimpse into our busy, wonderful lives.

The Chronicles of 7 thechroniclesof7.blogspot.com/

Family Journaling the adventures of our family of 2 blessed parents and 5 fun kids. We are passionate about international adoption, serving the people of Guatemala (the birth country of our 3 youngest children), and living out God’s purpose for our family.

A Midwest Girl In Arizona

peekaz.blogspot.com/ Family My family and I have always lived in the Midwest. Now we are living in AZ and

baseballsandtutus.blogspot.com Family I’m a mom entirely too close to 30 for my comfort with four children two of which are in diapers. After three boys we were blessed with a precious baby girl and are loving pink! Some days I’m close to certifiable but loving my crazy life!

Vaughn Family Chaos vaughnfamilychaos.blogspot.com

Family “chaos”: the inherent unpredictability in the behavior of a complex natural system.

Come follow us in our life of ‘organized’ chaos!

28795 Our Way - The Schindler Family

28795ourway.blogspot.com/ Family OUR WAY is filled with PASSION and PURPOSE, but has its share of bumps and potholes along the way. They remind us to cherish the many souvenirs we’ve discovered on our journey down the road we live on.

Taming the Animals

taminganimals.blogspot.com/ Family The adventures of a stay at home mom in the wilds of suburbia.

It’s Always a Production

itsalwaysaproduction.blogspot.com/ Family Cast of nine - a mom, a dad, five homemade kids and 2 Ethiopian treasures - around here it’s always a production. Good thing we have God as our Writer, Producer, Director and Biggest Fan.

...Where Laughter Lives

riggsfamilyblog.com Family Riggs family blog, praying for Abby.

Jessie’s Home

freewebs.com/jessieshome Family A small glimpse into our insanely ordinary, mundane, life. Our lives have been greatly enriched via the gift of international adoption. You can’t change the world by adopting one child, but you can change the world for one child.

SERIOUSLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

faithfulinourjourney.blogspot.com/ Family Our Families struggles through the years with God leading our lifes and hearts.

tandsuperb.blogspot.com/ Family A journal of my life as the mother of a 5-year-old superhero. Super B is our IVF/ preemie miracle; an answer to many years of prayer. My blog is a window into our daily adventures, along with my journey to establish my own small business.

Baseballs and Tutus

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The Connell Family

The Adventures of T & Super B

things are pretty different. This blog shares our day-to-day lives and how God has blessed us in this new place!

W R I T E U S AT: L E T T E R S @ S E R I O U S L I F E M A G A Z I N E . C O M

faithboundbylizwinks.blogspot.com Family My blog was started in memory of a girl I knew from College. 3 weeks after her wedding, she became very ill (unexpectedly). 3 months after her wedding, she passed away from Epstein Barr related HLH (23yrs old). She is an angel in heaven now.

True stories by a little housewife on the prairie. A place where you can come and see my beautiful family, and read the burdens and thoughts that God puts in my heart. My desire is to bless you with my blog!

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your comments serious.extras serious.health The Dawson Diaries

dawsondiaries.blogspot.com Family Keeping up with our family as Brian and I work to help our disabled child (Rasmussen’s Syndrome/ left side hemiplegia), but also to keep balance with our other children.

A Real Life Fairy Tale

Mad Fam of 5 madfamof5.blogspot.com

thestairsfamily.blogspot.com Family Our blog is about the day-to-day life of a stay at home mom and short, funny stories about our children. We hope to encourage other young parents and remind them about the simple pleasures in life.

stillservinghimthroughthestorm.blogspot. com Family We are a Christian family.We have 5 beautiful children here on earth, twins in heaven do to miscarriage and we have recently dealt with the tragic lost of our baby girl Emily Grace Hedges. Emily was born May 3,2008 and lived for 17 minutes.

MARCH 2009

Learning by Faith

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mommystakeonthings.blogspot.com Family

Suddenly it Moves With Such a Perfect Grace

Still serving HIM through the storm

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Mommy’s Take On Things

areallifefairytale.blogspot.com/ Family Ever wonder what a fairy tale life would look like if the REAL secrets were shared?

This mom gives you a up close look at living life with a charming husband and four adorable children who are just trying to make it to the happily ever after...

Family random thoughts of a Christan stay at home mom, working on her faith, family and future.

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eliminate the large gaps in our memories from when we saw each other last. A blog to look back on and laugh really hard at ourselves.

learningbyfaith.blogspot.com Family My blog is a narrative of my daily live raising my two boys. And how my faith is growing right along with them. Join me as I learn what god has in store for my life as a mother, wife, and daughter of the King.

The Deel Spot

deelspot.blogspot.com/ Family

The Rowan Four

the-rowan-four.blogspot.com/ Family What’s this blog? A blog to share the good, bad, and hilarious with our friends and family across the US. A blog to

lainiesmom.blogspot.com Family Funny and sometimes very ordinary stories from a stay at home trying to find her way back to the Lord.

The Stairs Family

Life As I Know It

robinbrooke.blogspot.com Family I am a stay at home mom to 3 girls. I blog about my daily life as a wife, mother and friend. I also work for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and participate in raising funds to find a cure for this disease.

Madhatter Mom

madhattermom.com Family Sit down, strap in, and join the ride! Read about my trials, comedic conversations with a 3 year old, inspirations and just randomness that happens to this “mad” mommy, step-mom, and wife.

Full House, Full Hands, Full Hearts fullhousehandshearts.typepad.com/ my_weblog/ Family, Adoption, HIV The thoughts and adventures of a busy mom to 11, who is passionate about my husband and kids, and about adoption, advocating for HIV+ children and educating people about HIV. There is never a dull moment!

What’s going on?

brinsfield.blogspot.com Family Day to day life with my family. I try to find the humor in everyday things.

All Things Family

lindsrog.blogspot.com Family My day to day adventures with my husband, a 1 year old, 2 dogs, and another baby on the way. Often, the general comedy that is my life!

Beautiful Child(ren)

beautiful-child.blogspot.com Family We are an Ethiopian/American family created by the gift of adoption.

Following Our Hearts...No Second Way

nosecondway.blogspot.com/ Family A blog about our family...Our family includes Me & My Husband, of 19 years, and, of course, our 6 Children (5 Bio and 1 Adopted-hopefully by March 2009) in China. Follow our Journey to our dd in China, while we follow our Hearts, No Second Way!

Welcome To Our Adventure

jadenalexandra.blogspot.com Family My blog is a day to day (well almost) blog about parenting my 7 yaer old and my newborn - not just parenting though parenting while living 1200 miles away from my family and 90 miles away from my husbands family - its a struggle but we do it!

From Guatemala With Love fromguatwithlove.blogspot.com/

Family, Adoption I adopted Kristen in April 2005 from Guatemala, and this blog is just a journal of our life together to keep friends and family updated on us. Funny things she says or does, firsts, pictures, adventures with friends and family.

They’re Only Little For A Little While abbieadellenatalie.blogspot.com Family

This blog is a journal of our lives as a family of 3 beautiful girls...1 adopted and 2 homegrown. We love Jesus and want to tell the world about Him in any way we can.

Emily’s Adventures

emilysadventures08.blogspot.com/ Family My blog is about my life dealing with a semi-terminal illness and an illness so rare that there is no cure, and I’ve never met anyone that has it. I am learning to trust God everyday and in doing so, I know that He has the perfect plan for my life.

complete denial :) I love blogging and I love blogs. Please stop by and be sure to leave me a comment so I can come and visit you

Ramblings Of A Wannabe Writer

minilegs.blogspot.com Family A mom and wife, husband, toddler and step-son’s day in the life. Beginning to do product reviews and enjoying networking with other bloggers!

Our Journey... Whats Next ?!..

innocentjoy.blogspot.com Family This is my small place on the internet where I can share the “Innocent Joys” my family and friends bring me.

lifeandtimesofthehudsonfamily.blogspot. com/ Family Our Family Blog. This is a journal of our lives, our struggles, our journey raising two children - one of which is a Special Needs Child

Kim’s Cuisine

Momstart

Innocent Joy

kimscuisine.blogspot.com/ Family A blog collection of recipes being tested in my household. Some are weight loss surgery friendly, some kid friendly - ALL are yummy! Come and cook with me.

Paper Glue Etc. paperglueetc.wordpress.com/

Family A blog written by a mom about life as a mom, includes decorating, church, paper crafts, organizational tips, links to other blogs.

hair4myprincess.blogspot.com Family Hairstyle ideas for your little princess.

Including step by step pictures and videos.

My life as a CFers WIfe - Between a Whisper and a Roar

iheartbowheads.blogspot.com Family, Children A Mommy to three writes about day to day life with 2 girl bowheads and a baby boy ( who is now 2 and we are all in

Jansens Journey

jansens-journey.blogspot.com Family I started this blog to keep family and friends updated with things going on in Jansens life. He was born with Atresia Microtia, which is a rare birth defect of his ear. I want people to become aware of the word Microtia.

Kathy’s Krew

kathykellogg.blogspot.com Family Blog follows the daily life of a Christian mom and her Krew.

The New Norm

not-the-norm.blogspot.com Family The life of a 27 year old Active Duty Air Force mom. I’m raising a 5 year old girl and a step-mother to a 7 year old girl.

to the moon and back

giddenslove.blogspot.com Family I started writing this blog as a way to keep my family informed of all the going ons at the Giddens house. And to forever have my thoughts on life and love on paper (so to speak).

The Adventures of Gabby and Hunter gabbycita.blogspot.com Family We brought home our beautiful baby girl home from Guatemala in 2006 and now she has a brother who surprised us all born in 2008. I love natural health and natural mothering. Follow along our journey!

The Gavin Chronicles thegavinchronicles.blogspot.com

Family, Children Gavin is our 19 month old son who was born at 25 weeks. He was 1lb 3oz at birth.

He had had 5 surgeries and still more to come. This is the story of his life. We update often.

Matters of the Heart

elainecarter24.blogspot.com Family The simple, and not so simple, moments to remember.

The Kramers

kramers1234.blogspot.com Family the ups and downs of our life, crafting, and i have started my own business with my mom

Giggles N Grins gigglengrin.blogspot.com

Family I am a christian,mother,wife,sister,daught er,and photographer. I love that my hobby has turned into a little business. I love to photograph outdoors and children. Best

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I Heart Bowheads

Family This blog is about raising my children while enduring the loss of our third child halfway through pregnancy. It tells the journey we took through grief onto acceptance with quite a few laughs in there from my living children.

Family My Sippy Cup, indeed, runneth over.

It’s the ups, downs, and in betweens of mother three small children, a wife, friend, and daughter, and battling the imperfection of it all.

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lifeasacferswife.blogspot.com Family My husband has a chronic lung disease called Cystic Fibrosis and in April of 2008 was diagnosed with Stage 4 Recurrent Colon Cancer. We have 2 young sons and I blog about this journey we are on giving praise to God along the way.

The Wild Wild Wests thebestofthewests.blogspot.com

My Sippy Cup Runneth Over saralifeinwords.blogspot.com

W R I T E U S AT: L E T T E R S @ S E R I O U S L I F E M A G A Z I N E . C O M

The Story Of A Princess And Her Hair

momstart.com Family I love to write review and have giveaway for my readers. I also love to share savings tip and talk about my children. Every Sunday I do a roundup of blogs that have savings advice.

Married to my best friend and living in the Nation’s Capital.

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your comments serious.extras serious.health of all I love to see parents faces when they see the pictures for the 1st time!

cerebral palsy and just diagnosed with an absent cerebellum.

Petit

LorelaiCC aka C.C. Almon

petitcomau.blogspot.com Family Petit blog is all about our range of children’s toiletries for all ages as well as introducing businesses with children products to our readers with reviews and giveaways.

Mountaintop Memories

mountaintopmemories.blogspot.com Family, Adoption Adopted by the Creator of the universe and trying daily to bring glory and honor to His name. Married to my knight in shining armor. Homeschooling momma to 6 wonderful, creative, challenging children, four of which are adopted.

Because I said so

sandersstories.blogspot.com Family Two Children, Two Cats, oh what fun!

Sweet ‘n’ Sassy Girls sweetnsassygirls.blogspot.com

Family Sweet ‘n’ Sassy Girls is a blog for moms, written by a mom. I love to do product reviews and giveaways to help people know an honest opinion on a product. I also blog about life as a stay-at-home mom to a toddler, and anything else I feel like!

SERIOUS.LIFE.MAGAZINE©

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MARCH 2009

Blog 4 Mom

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blog4mom.com Family Soccer mom of 3boys ages 21 months to 17 years, military wife and mommy blogger. I keep up with the latest deals and offers for the military community. I also offer recipes and product reviews and giveaways, as well as daily life blogging.

Valeroni

melliemelo.blogspot.com/ Family About my two girls ~ Valerie and Veronica and our life

Chase’s Page

chasebritton.blogspot.com/ Family A blog dedicated to our very strong 17 month old, born legally blind, with

lorelaicc.com Family My life as a Christ follower, wife, mom, and soon to be hospital chaplain

Like a Fish Out of Water

stephanie-fishoutofwater.blogspot.com/ Family I am taking a journey with God as He leads me out of my comfort zone and into His presence. I am a wife, mother and child of God. I enjoy sharing our everyday family life, as well as our journey to our new Ethiopian blessing.

Its Twins Again, Oh My

itstwinsagain.blogspot.com Family I am a sahm who just welcomed my 2nd set of twin boys into this world.

Every Day is a Crazee Day

crazeescotts.blogspot.com Family Our journey raising our girls to be strong independent women who have faith that is unending in their Lord and Savior.

Every day is a “crazee” day around around house, as we try to keep up with our tween daughters!

Cure Cystic Fibrosis for Reilly

curecf4reilly.blogspot.com Family, Health, 1 Mom, fighting to help find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis My daughter Reilly, age 5, has Cystic Fibrosis, a deadly, life shortening disease.

This blog is about our daily life and struggles to live a normal life. The average life expectancy is only 37, so my main goal is to made CF stand for CURE FOUND!

The Working Mom

fromaworkingmom.today.com Family Documenting the ups and downs of my life as a working mother, and all the little tricks I use along the way to make life easier.

I’m The Momma, That’s Why!

imdamomma.blogspot.com Family Just whatever is on my mind. I try to see the humor in life - and enjoy sharing what I can. I’ve found that life is a lot more fun

when I’m smiling! Come visit me and see if I’ve found anything that will get you smiling today!

The Benner Daily

shealynnbenner.blogspot.com/ Family This blog is where I put my thoughts, ideas and we have some fun too!

Waiting on Avery Kate

williamandmegan.blogspot.com Family Chronicles of the life of our family- our new little girl, and planting a church in Indiana

Momma Findings

mommafindings.com Family Here at Momma findings we know kid friendly and Momma Approved products are hard to find. From kitchen cleaner to toilet paper, toys, and snacks..Check out our product reviews and hear, first hand, what this Momma and family have to say.

Lots of Love for Lily

lotsofloveforlily.blogspot.com Family The daily tales of a Southern full-time working mom and her love for her husband and their precious daughter, Lily.

Mama Monoblogs melsmommyblog.typepad.com

Family Former missionary kid, pastor’s kid and preschool teacher turned SAHM and my journey to a more content, healthy, green, natural and simple lifestyle. I blog about my faith, my family,living in New England and how God is still working on me.

too {blessed} to be stressed

stierjohnson.blogspot.com Family As a mom of four, the owner of a small business {www.broadwaypaper.com}, the wife of an executive, and a child of God...I’ve found I have plenty to ‘journal’ about! This blog is my journal to my family. You’ll find struggles, laughter, & inspiration.

Mom To the Third Power momtothethirdpower.blogspot.com

Family My crazy lucky life as a mom and wife.

to be born in Guatemala. The blog is my account of OUR LIFE....LIVING IT BIG!!!

Autumn Asks Why

The Penny-Wise Family

autumnaskswhy.blogspot.com Family Christian SAHM trying to live frugally.

We are a military family with children by birth and adoption. Our life is all growing spiritually, surviving deployments and TDY’s and living on a budget.

The Munoz Family

EricSummerandBella.blogspot.com Family Life and times of some twenty something couple with a beautiful 2 year old daughter. Walking in Christ together.

Life with the Hewitt Family

pennywisefamily.blogspot.com Finance This is a family personal finance blog with ideas about cost-cutting, safe investments, and prioritizing expenses.

3rd World Food

3rdworldfood.blogspot.com Food This is a blog for publishing affordable, nutritious ethnic foods from around the world. A collection of “peasant foods” that can teach your family about world culture and nutrition, and keep your budget happy.

dcphewitt.blogspot.com Family Our family blog is about what goes on in our daily lives. We are at a stage in our life where we are settling into our careers of choice and trying to grow our family the best way we possibly can.

Food from Afar

Random Thoughts

Mommy Snacks

deanne-randomthoughts.blogspot.com Family This blog is just about my thoughts on events of the day, totally random. I may discuss family, societal issues, or current events. Whatever is on my mind. My hope it that it be thought-provoking and a discussion starter.

Life on the Reflux Rollercoaster

The Newsome Family ericandmistynewsome.blogspot.com

harrisquest.blogspot.com Family We have 3 sons (ages 18, 16 and 14).

God laid it on our hearts to bring a baby girl into our family, and she happened

howsweetitis-kellianne.blogspot.com Fun Kickin’ It With Kellianne is all about being honest and having fun! Each post is different and usually doesn’t have a “theme” but in the end, it all makes sense.

From pictures, to stories, to laughter and tears, you will find it at this blog! :)

You’ve Bewitched Me Body and Soul

shanderson.blogspot.com Fun The adventures of a young married couple trying to figure this life out and give glory to the Lord.

A Giveaway A Day

AGiveawayADay.blogspot.com Giveaways A Giveaway A Day is an enjoyable site where readers can comment each day on an awesome item that is up for grabs.

Winner(s) are picked randomly and there are NO strings attached. We do this to make someone’s day a little brighter.

Steven’s Journey Life with Von Hippel Lindau disease stevensjourney.blogspot.com Health Steven’s journey describes the life of our son as he battles a genetic cancer syndrome called Von Hippel Lindau disease.

my journey through weight loss surgery

nancygene.blogspot.com Health I had a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy in July 2008. This blog describes my experience both before and after surgery, including before and after pictures. I am almost at goal, but this is a life long journey!

My journey through weight loss surgery

nancygene.blogspot.com Health I had a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy in July 2008. This blog describes my experience both before and after surgery, including before and after pictures. I am almost at goal, but this is a life long journey!

Simmons Family

simmonsfamilyupdate.blogspot.com Heart Transplant Owen was born with 1/2 a heart. He has had 2 open heart surgeries, four cardiac caths, and is now waiting for his NEW heart!! He has chemo once every two weeks to help lower his antibody levels so when his PERFECT heart arrives, he won’t reject it!

Hannahmade Soaps & Scrubs Pamper Yourself, Your Skin will Thank You hannahmadesoaps.blogspot.com Home Products Hannahmade Soaps is a cottage industry and is very family oriented. Hannah is 13 years old, and making natural soaps, salts, and scrubs is her brainchild. The blog is still very much in development stages. Low cost luxuries have to save on

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Harris Quest....Our Daily Walk with Christ

Kickin’ It With Kellianne

Healing Our son, adopted from Russian at 8 months, and our daughter, adopted from Ukraine at 17 months, are our treasures and our full time ministry. Our daughter suffers from FAS and by God’s grace, is healing from Reactive Attachment Disorder.

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Family, Frugality Our blog started as a family blog, but has turned into our journey through this life, following God, saving money and raising our beautiful children.

mommysnacks.net Frugality I share Snacks to Save, Earn, Live and Learn! I provide money-saving tips as well as ways to earn money online too. Other pieces of my life float into my posts, such as my faith and my desire to be the wife and mother God wants for my life!

The Copelands copelandswalkinginfaith.blogspot.com

W R I T E U S AT: L E T T E R S @ S E R I O U S L I F E M A G A Z I N E . C O M

kritterkrit.blogspot.com/ Family You really can survive the Puke-o-rama Ride without alcohol, little white pills, or a straight jacket. But without the help of our Almighty Savior, you’re just plum up a creek without a paddle. Stop by for advice, support, and lots ‘o laughs!

wjcsydney.wordpress.com Food, Other, food faith family travel Food from Afar is where I explore my search for nourishment (spiritual and physical) and blog about food, faith, travel, books, family and whatever feeds my soul.

Maybe you’re next!

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your comments serious.extras serious.health overhead.

My Father The King

homeschoolblogger.com/ DragonflyPrincess Homeschooling I am a Christian, Homeschooling Mom of 3 in Southern California. My blog centers around my family and life, with some occasional opinion/current events thrown in for good measure. We are part of a Christian PSP via a local homeschool cooperative.

Busy Hands Busy Minds busyhandsbusyminds.blogspot.com

Homeschooling We are a busy homeschooling family of parents, 4 boys, and 3 daughters. Our second grandchild is due in March. We live in the country and do lots of hands-on learning in our school time. The children also are involved with musical activities.

Life from the “Zoo”

lifefromthezoo.blogspot.com Homeschooling The random thoughts, perspectives and struggles of a “30 something” woman of God, wife and homeschooling mom of five.

My Dominican Dream

heroholiday07.blogspot.com Humanitarian The blog of a University student who spends each of her summers volunteering with Haitian refugees in the Dominican Republic.

Reading Rosie

SERIOUS.LIFE.MAGAZINE©

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MARCH 2009

parkersgowest.blogspot.com/ Humor Proving Daily That “Normal” Is Just a Setting On Your Dryer

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Good Times Delgado Style

goodtimesdelgadostyle.blogspot.com Infant Death In November of 2008 Jason and I delivered conjoined twin girls Melody Joy and Madison Hope. After and hour they went home to be with the Lord. Come join us as we learn to say “Blessed be the name of the Lord” who gives and takes away.

When Hello Means Goodbye

whenhellomeansgoodbye.blogspot.com Infant Death Our son Brenham was born prematurely at 21 weeks on Feb, 29, 2008, but passed away shortly after birth. weeks later I found out my kidneys had suddenly failed, my sister donated her kidney to me in Oct.now we are folllowing God’s calling to adopt.

Waiting for Happy

babybolte.blogspot.com Infant Death The story of a family learning to praise God when He gives and when He takes away. Blessed with five children, two on earth two in Heaven and one in the womb. Trying to live life to glorify God and reach out to others who are hurting.

The Steiner Life

thesteiners.us Infertility, Life This is a blog about our life--trusting in God, loving each other, enjoying our puppy, missing our sweet baby, and praying for future children.

In Due Time

in-due-time.blogspot.com Infertility This blog is about a 20 something’s journey through life as an infertile.

INfertile Myrtle

meganswishingwell.blogspot.com Infertility Living our lives as an infertile couple. Our journey to becoming parents.

God’s Faithfulness Through Infertility twosheldons.blogspot.com

Infertility Walking the road of infertility and learned more everyday that God’s Plan is far better and far bigger than anything I can plan for myself. Calling all prayer warriors to pray as we are about to walk through the IVF door, clearly opened by God.

God’s Faithfulness Through Infertility

twosheldons.blogspot.com Infertility Walking the road of infertility and learned more everyday that God’s Plan is far better and far bigger than anything I can

plan for myself. Calling all prayer warriors to pray as we are about to walk through the IVF door, clearly opened by God.

Growing Our Own Garden

growingourowngarden.blogspot.com Infertility, Other This blog journals the frustrations, excitements, and experiences of infertility.

We are in the process of raising funds for our third In Vitro Fertilization. We so desire to be parents.

Through the Valley of Serenity

throughthevalleyofserenity.com Inspirational In 2006, God bestowed a miraclous healing on her daughter Serenity. Since then, we feel He has called us to share our testimony in an effort to encourage those struggling with their own valleys. Our sole purpose is to bring Glory to His name!

Random Thoughts- International Blog

melavilaalarilla.blogspot.com/ Inspirational Random Thoughts- International Blog is a feel good blog that features articles that are uplifting and inspirational. Topics are mostly on how we can cope with all the problems in life and how we can walk in the will of the LORD to glorify His name.

Confessions of an Intercessory Missionary amandaslade.wordpress.com Intercession I am an intercessory missionary at a house of prayer in North Carolina! My blog is to share what the Lord is doing in my life, and what He is teaching me about Him, Christianity, myself and the things on His heart!

My Fabulous Baker Boys lisajosbakerboys.blogspot.com/

International, Family A melting pot of stories from our American-South African marriage and the kids that have come along for the ride to all the continents in between.

Trawick Family Adventures

trawickfamilyadventures.blogspot.com/ international Adoption Join the Trawick family as we walk through the journey of life, which includes: Faith,

prayer, love, laughter, Home Schooling, International adoption, special needs (C.P.), learning differnces, orphan hosting and a few Boo-Boos here and there!

Ana Cristina Home at Last

babysites.com/sites/bellagirl/ International Adoption Follow our journey to Guatemala and back to adopt our darling daughter, lots of bumps along the road and the lose of two toddler girls through a bad agency as well as Ana’s successful adoption with a private hogar (orphanage).

If You Loved Here, I’d Know Your Name

ifyoulivedhereidknowyourname.blogspot. com IVF Big tales from a small mountain town. I am a 33 year old Mom of one amazing little boy. We are looking to add to our family after the heartbreak of m/c, and now a failed IVF cycle. We are on the road to foster/adopting while to adjusting to life in a sma

Be Thou a Knight bethouaknight.blogspot.com

Journal, Infertility I use this blog to journal my life. I also started this blog to connect with other women experiencing infertility. I have several ideas that I post about in hopes of creating an awareness for infertility.

The Bossy Yankee

Life Beyond Laundry

colbert-family.blogspot.com Leukemia Our blog is our journey as a family through our daughter’s leukemia. We

A Normal Teenage Life, with Pain

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My Crazy Oklahoma Life erink007.blogspot.com

Life Amidst the medical chaos this Oklahoma college girl still finds time for dating, friends, family and a little bit of fun & laughter.

Country Mouse Tales

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ADVENTURES IN INSANITY

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Happily Ever After with Mr. McB happilyeverafterwithmrmcb.blogspot. com Life This blog is about my newlywed life.

The WillcuttGirls

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It has been a great way chronicle the

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Life As I Live It

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I’m annb . . . and this is my life! annbitsmylifeonline.com Life I started blogging when I was caregiver to my mom who had dementia. She went “home” in Feb 07 and I continued blogging to meet friends and share faith and family with other bloggers. Blogging for me is very relaxing and almost therapeutic1

Welcome to the Jungle

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IBuildAGreatLife.com

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Cloud Nine and Counting cloudnineandcounting.blogspot.com/

Love Cloud Nine is a collection of musings on life, love, loving an Airman, college, and all that surrounds it.

Praying for Lymies

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Colbert Family - A.L.L. in His Hands

Life I am just a mom trying to figure out my place in this crazy world! I have four kids scattered all over the place. I am a step mom and am finding that to be a little more difficult now that the kids are older!

I love the Lord and am learning every day

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luvmy12kids.blogspot.com Large Family Eclectic musings of a mom with twelve children, challenged to find life beyond laundry. I am also a wellness consultant and weight managment coach, so you may find that I sneak in a few posts trying to help you be healthier. P

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everyday life of my little girls, share our life with friends and family, and a way to “shine the light” of Christianity. God is so good...ALL OF THE TIME!

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use it to list prayer requests & journal her progress. We are living through what seems like the impossible, but learning so much about our Savior’s love for us along the wa

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your comments serious.extras serious.health A community of Lyme Disease patients got together to give prayers, support and encouragement. Please come support our brand new blog by praying for our members.

trying to keep it all together as she holds down the fort. Deployments, cancer, a premature baby are all in a days work as she muddles through with her eyes turned toward the Lord.

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Our Little Miracle

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Colossians 3:14

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Bullfrogs & Butterflies

thebakerkids.blogspot.com/ Military Follow the Baker family as we prepare and experience the year deployment of husband and father. We are organizing 365 days of prayer for Steve as he deploys to the desert.

Married To The Military

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Faith Into Action

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Mom I am a single working mom to one little boy. I blog about my crazy, eventful days, and the adventures of being a single mom in the dating world. I’m sarcastic and goofy and try to keep it as lighthearted as possible. So come and have a laugh on me!

Life of a Princess!

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Little Bites of Heaven

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Knowing Norrah

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the Mom Buzz

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My Trendy Tykes

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ModernMommyBlog modernmommyblog.com

Parenting Parenting in the 21st century comes with it’s own set of challenges. This Blog gives me a place to share my knowledge of early childhood development as well as my own parenting experiences to open dialogue and discussion with other parents.

3 Kids and Us

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Just one moment in forever justonemomentinforever.blogspot.com

Parenting My story, from rebuilding myself after a shattered childhood, learning to parent and be a good wife, run a youth ministry, working in the secular youth work field part time and surviving the recent loss of my younger brother to suicide.

Ceaseless Praises

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Mommy Cracked

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MomDot

momdot.com Parenting MomDot is a Mom Blogger site that brings the best in reviews, contests, websites, parenting, and more. Our number one goal is to feature and bring forth new and exciting mommy bloggers everyday and expose them for free.

Growing Colin

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Our Crazy Wonderful Life courtneyb613.blogspot.com Parenting Courtney loves Jesus, is the wife of a Youth Pastor & mom to 3 great kids.

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Orphans “We need your help. While honoring our adopted children, we know there are other families who also ’seek’ an honest means to give back. We also recognize a growing commitment to “Carry Each Other” globally. Still small in scale, our current and immedia

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isawitinbluewater.blogspot.com News Sometimes my brain swirls faster than the toilet water on a good flush. This is where it all sorts out from my personal battle with depression to my take on the news events of the day. It’s all swirled with a healthy dose of humor.

advice, reviews and giveaways thrown in for fun (don’t worry, we clean the stuff off).

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your comments serious.extras serious.health She writes honestly about her many weaknesses so that others may see what Christ has done in her life. Her children also provide quite a few histerical reads.

Labor of Love

laboroflove.typepad.com Parenting We are mothers, fathers, children, doulas, midwives, childbirth educators and pregnant women who love music almost as much as we love children. We strive to find a natural rhythm in childbirth, parenting and family life.

Live Laugh Love

livelaughlove-christine.blogspot.com Personal A Place For a Little of This and a Little of That of All My Passions; Musings on Family, Friends & Knitting.

Cassie’s Photography

cassiesphotography-musicgirl.blogspot. com Photography My blog consisits of photography, jewelery, and girls dresses. I am trying to start a business from home and seeing what works.

Through These Eyes of Mine

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safe-haven-blog.blogspot.com/ Prayer If you are dealing with infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth or infant loss, illness, or waiting for a child through adoption, this blog is for you. We love to pray for you and your precious, precious children.

Thank you for visiting and we hope this

Miracle Baby Travis

miraclebabytravis.blogspot.com Preemie Travis was born at 23 weeks 2 days gestaion, weighing only 1lb 3.5oz. He had a rough 142 day long NICU stay but is such a fighter! He truely is a miracle!

Annual Preemie Onesie Drive preemieonesiedrive.blogspot.com Prematurity

A drive that was set up to collect preemie clothing for babies who have to live in the NICU at Levine Children’s Hospital.

This is being done in memory of my first daughter Carly who passed away at 4 months old in March 2008.

I’m living a healthier lifestyle. There is something here for everyone though... kid friendly and all!

Elijah’s Journey

Reviews The Mud Bug is a family oriented review, giveaway and all-over topic blog. There is something for everyone!

preemiedays1.blogspot.com Prematurity Follow Elijah’s journey and pray for him. Elijah is a surviving triplet, TTTS recipient,and NEC survivor who was born 16 weeks premature at 1lb 8oz with many complications. Posts are also made in memory of his identical triplet brothers.

The Adventures of Cat and Bambam

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Preserving A Generation

babies-live.blogspot.com/ Pro-Life The purpose of this blog is to bring awareness of issues such as abortion, human trafficking, adoption, and child sponsorship. You will find articles, links, prayer requests, and opportunities to take a stand!

Insert Good Name Here

insertgoodname.wordpress.com Random Thoughts Just the random thoughts of a British college girl.

Little Miss Hannah - Our Fight Against Gaucher’s Disease littlemisshannah.com

Rare Disease Our 7-month-old daughter, Hannah, was recently diagnosed with Gaucher’s disease, type 2 or type 3, a debilitating physical and neurological disease which will try to take her away from us in 2 to 15 to 20 years. Please help us fight to save her life

Kim’s Cuisine

kimscuisine.blogspot.com Recipes Kim’s Cuisine is all about sharing recipes that I’m trying out in my house now that

The Mud Bug mud-bug.com Bopeys blog

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One Day At A Time

odat23.blogspot.com Single Parent Single mother to 3 children trying to live my life as God would lead me and teach my children that as well. Life is a little crazy at times, but through it all God has blessed us immensely!

Striving to Be Bold

springraine.blogspot.com Single Teacher I’m a Christian teacher who started the blog when I was nannying a few years ago. It now chronicles my life, family and school-wise, and applauds kidisms...stop by!

Journey with Jackson

baby-jackson.blogspot.com Special Needs My journey with Jackson started 2/8/07 and has been a truly amazing trip through the world of Arthorgryposis Multiplex Congenita (AMC). It is a rare (sometimes genetic) condition, that affects 1 in 10000.

We celebrate everything and share our story.

New Kind Of Normal newkindofnormal.blogspot.com

Special Needs when our third son Alex was born pulmonary hypertension took over, and he was flown to a NICU for ecmo. There he was diagnosed with a rare syndrome (RTS). Our lives changed for the better, and he is teaching the world to love differently abled people

The Oliver’s Twist

oliversfamilytwist.blogspot.com Special Needs

A blog shadowing a family whose youngest son was born with a rare genetic disorder called Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome. It’s a place to witness real life challenges and victories as this family raises a son whose future is markedly unknown.

Blended Blessings

bethanyspencer.blogspot.com StepFamily We have a stepfamily consisting of my husband and I and are 7 wonderful children! My blog is just about that...day to day life in our world.

The Backwards Blog yasdnilbackwards.blogspot.com

Student A first-year grad student working toward a Master’s degree in Mass Communication blogs about school and life while trying (and often failing) to be funny.

Nevaeh Kaylene’s Journey

nevaehkaylenewalp.blogspot.com/ Survivor This blog is about our families journey through the world of congential heart defects with our daughter, Nevaeh.

The Nie Nie Dialogues

nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/ Survivor Burned over 80% of body in August of 2008. 4 children full of life.

La Pàgina de Horus

horusint.com.ar Tecnology This is a site about SO, like Ubuntu,

Windows, Common configuration problems. New Gadgets. And other things like this. (Spanish)

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Teenagers Fourteen year old boy and his best friend blogging about his life with cancer, friends and dealing with it while keeping hope and inspiration alive.

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moziesme.blogspot.com Toddler An American toddler growing up in Africa? America? We’re not quite sure at the moment.

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simpsonsparadox.com Travel Reflections on travel in China and Chinese life from a Jersey girl living in Beijing.

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Twin Girls A peek into what our life is like with our identical twin girls Tyler & Harper!

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ethiopia2009-adana.blogspot.com Volunteer I just got back from spending 2 weeks volunteering in Ethiopia. You can read about the trip at this blog.

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Ends of the Earth

endsforyou.blogspot.com Volunteer I am a University student and blog about my volunteer work with refugees and abroad, in Ethiopia, the DR, and Haiti.

An Unnamed Woman

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thesikesfamily.blogspot.com Women The heart behind my blog is to encourage women in their walk with the Lord.

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emirembe.blogspot.com Uganda Full life- what does that look like? I’m on the journey to find that out. I love Uganda and serving my God and am called to be a nurse. Follow my journey through faith and trials... emirembe-

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your comments serious.extras serious.health Science

Are Coal And Oil Deposits Millions Of Years Old?

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ithin the Flood-caused sedimentary strata of the continents are vast mats of coal, and pockets of oil and gas. These formed from massive accumulations of organic material (plants and animals) which had been covered by more sediments, and thus compressed, and were subsequently heated.

If the oil and gas pockets are millions of years old, all the gas pressure in the pockets should have been relieved, as the gas would have percolated up through the semi-porous and semi-permeable over-lying rock layers. In fact, all of the gas within the strata should have bled up through the overlying rock layers, and escaped into the atmosphere, in less than 100,000 years.1 And yet, when exploratory drill pipe enters a pocket of oil and gas (which is supposedly hundreds of millions of years old), great gas pressure often releases up the drill hole, a “gusher.” The presence of this gas pressure, within the sedimentary strata,

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Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from “Old Earth?

Why Not!” by James Nienhuis.

Be sure to visit his blog: www. dancingfromgenesis.com. ~BR

tells us that these deposits were formed less than 100,000 years ago.

Imagine an oil and gas field 10,000 feet underground which is said to be 300 million years old. Highly pressurized gas within this deposit would percolate up through the sedimentary rocks (as escaping gas can be monitored on the earth’s surface). If this gas

percolated up at a rate of only one inch per year, it would escape within 100,000 years; if it percolated up at a rate of .003 inch per year, it would escape to the atmosphere within the alleged 300 million years that the deposit is purported to be.

One inch per year is plausible; .003 inch per year is not, as much more viscous matter (water and oil) percolate

Get a FREE subscription: www.seriouslifemagazine.com/subscribe through rocks at much greater rates than .003 inch per year.

(For instance, water tables rapidly rise after long and heavy rainfall.)

The vast mats of coal that we see within the layers of sedimentary strata cover extensive areas, often hundreds of thousands of square miles.

The old earthers say that coal was formed in swamps over millions of years as plant debris slowly built up in swamps, and

then was covered with new sediment from an-other ocean encroachment. Ever heard of a swamp, hundreds of miles by hundreds of miles in area,

Kentucky, and Pennsylvania?)

These are the dimensions that some of the swamps must have been for the formation of some of the extensive coal beds of

with yards of swamp muck depth? (Like the coal bed that underlies parts of Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, In-diana,

the earth, according to the old earth hypothesis.

Old earthers say that coal must have formed over millions of years, because the huge volume of organic material in the deposits requires millions of years worth of plant growth, and then decay, in ancient swamps. However, the volume of organic material in the earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coal beds represents only 128 years of plant growth, or stated another way, only three times the plant growth as is extant in the world today.3 So, plant debris accumulations over millions of years would have been millions of times greater than the plant accumulations reflected in coal deposits.

The types of vegetation that compose coal are not often found in swampy environments, but are usually from a mountainrainforest type environment.4 Apparently, this vegetation was knocked down and carried by water, until vast mats of vegetation accumulated, and were then rapidly covered by sediments, in a cataclysmic flood event that uprooted trees, eroded the land intensely, then redeposited this material in sedimentary layers that cover

OLD EARTHERS SAY THAT COAL MUST HAVE FORMED OVER MILLIONS OF YEARS

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your comments serious.extras serious.health Science... contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d

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the continents.

According to the old earth thesis, most of the coal beds were formed about 250 million years ago. But a young earth geologist took a piece of wood from a coal bed in Australia5 and sent it to a carbon 14 dating lab, without telling the lab that the wood came from a supposed 250-million-yearold layer. The carbon 14 date calculated it to be about 30 thousand years old. (Even this figure is too high, carbon 14 dating gives inflated ages for reasons to be discussed in Chapter12.) But how can this be? The wood still had enough radioactive carbon 14 in it to

show an age in the thousands of years; yet, according to mainstream geologists and evolutionists, the wood was deposited in a swamp from 10,000 times farther back in the past than the residual carbon 14 indicates. Obviously, this coal formed a short time ago in one awesome flood, the Flood of which the tribes of the world are well aware (as discussed in Chapter 5).

Old earthers claim that all the measurements of carbon 14 in coal is due to contamination, but this has been shown to be highly unlikely.6 The amounts of carbon 14 in most samples are at least five times

greater than margins of error pertaining to contamination considerations.

If coal beds really were formed from the vegetation of a swamp, the bottom of the coal beds should show evidence of the roots and soil responsible for the growth of the swamp vegetation. No such evidence is seen. The coal material rests on clean underlying sediment that has no signs of roots or soil.7 Again, this is further evidence that the vegetative debris must have been transported from another location to the deposition site in a massive flow of water and mud.

Coal layers often contain

large tree trunks that were ripped out of the ground from a different location, and transported by a huge flow of water. These tree trunks are ripped at the roots, proving they did not grow where they were deposited.8 Many of these trunks are the vertical polystratic trees which were discussed in Chapter 3.

Most people think that millions of years are required for vegetative debris to transform into coal. Nothing could be further from the truth.

High-grade coal (anthracite) has been manufactured in a lab within a matter of weeks.

Vegetative matter was heated and pressurized for a short period of time, and voila, coal.9 Earth crust dynamics during and after the Flood caused this rapid coalification, and shall be discussed in Chapter 9.

The origin of oil is somewhat a mystery. However, it has been produced in the laboratory in a matter of hours from sewage sludge.10 We do know that all the high gas pressure from oil deposits should have percolated up through the semi-porous overlying rock layers and escaped into the atmosphere in under 100,000 years, and that the coal layers of the world contain measurable amounts of carbon 14 that are reflective of their recent deposition; therefore, pressurized oil and gas deposits and extensive coal beds surely formed only thousands of years ago, not millions.

What About Radiogenic Rock Dating?

Doesn’t radio carbon dating prove that rocks are millions of years old?

You may have heard of lava rocks being “potassiumargon dated” or “uranium-lead dated” in the millions of years of age. The old earthers say that these dates of origin for rocks are virtually infallible and scientifically reliable. In reality, these dating methods are extremely unreliable, and are predicated upon several unknowable presuppositions.

(The reasons for exaggerated carbon 14 dates for organic remains will be explained in Chapter 12.)

The radiogenic rock dating methodologists measure the amount of radioactive material relative to the amount of stable material in lava rocks. (In the uranium-lead dating method, radioactive uranium decays and becomes stable lead.) The older a rock is, the more radioactive material has decayed and become stable material. So, since the rock daters know the current rates at which radioactive materials decay into stable (non-radioactive) materials, they calculate the amount of time it would take for the original amount of a radioactive material to decay to the current amount of stable material. The time it supposedly took for this decay to occur is the calculated age of the lava rock.

One problem with this scheme is the impossibility of knowing if stable material (like lead) crystallized during the solidification of the rock from lava. If some of the lead formed in this way, radiogenic rock date results would be

exaggerated because it would appear that a greater quantity of radioactive uranium had decayed into stable lead than reality would indicate.1 The rock daters do know the current rates of radioactive decay, but they do not know that these rates were not different in the past. Once again, they were not there in the distant past to measure decay rates. Decay rates have been altered in the laboratory,2 so to say that rates have not been different in the past is to deny the possibility that some catastrophic astronomical and/ or geophysical event provided an environment for decay rates’ variances from today’s norms.

If the decay rates had been higher, date results would be too old; if the rates were lower, dates for the rocks’ formations would be too young.

Lava rocks make up much of the earth’s geology.

They are found associated with sedimentary rocks in the mountains, and flatter lands, as well. Groundwater is constantly percolating through these various kinds of rocks, from rainwater and subterranean sources. Lightly acidic groundwater removes radioactive material from lava rocks.3 Rocks dated that had incurred groundwater percolation would show an exaggerated age because much radioactive material had been removed by the lightly acidic groundwater. The rock daters would under-estimate the original quantity of radioactive material in the rock because they couldn’t factor in an

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your comments serious.extras serious.health Science... cont’d

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amount that had been lost to groundwater, and so, inflated rock dates would result.

These three problematic presuppositions of the rock dating methods deal a mortal wound to the believability of these methods. After all, how can the daters know the initial amount of stable material, the constancy of decay rates, and occurrence, or not, of radioactive material removal by lightly acidic groundwater percolation? The dating methods are analogous to someone supposedly knowing how long a burning candle was when it was new, without having measured it when it was new: he knows how fast it is now burning and he knows how much candle remains, so from that, he knows the

original length of the candle?

Incredible.

Mount St. Helen’s blew up in 1980 in the state of Washington. It was a massive volcanic event and the landscape was devastated for miles around. A lava dome rose up during this eruption.

Radiogenic rock daters calculated the age of this volcanic extrusion to be about one million years old.4 And yet, the dome was formed only a few years before it was dated, not one million years before.

In Hawaii, a lava flow known by the natives to be about 200 years old (as described by their immediate ancestors) was rock dated to be 1.5 million years old.5 Clearly, the flawed presuppositions that underpin these dating methods cause

absurd results.

Rock daters play a little game that makes their work look better than it is. They are briefed by evolutionists regarding the evolutionary level from which the rock to be dated came. For instance, the evolu-tionist might say, “the rock you are to date comes from deep in the geologic strata, and was formed at a time time when fish were evolving into reptiles, say 300 million years ago.” The rock dater then will throw out any rock samples that don’t show dates near 300 million years. He will then say that the throwaways were bad samples; but you see, he thought the samples were good enough to date, until the results came in, then they became “bad samples.”6 There is a huge bias toward jibing with fanciful, scientifically baseless, evolutionary and old earth dogma; it’s a case of the blind leading the blind. The evolutionist has an old earth view that the rock dater incorporates and uses as an excuse to eliminate the widely varying rock date results that don’t conveniently agree with the evolutionists’ view of earth history. The fix is in; old earthers have dreamed up a billions-of-year-old earth, and tailored their dating “science” to agree. ~

Author and speaker, James Nienhuis has a B.Sc. in Earth Sciences from Dartmouth College. His blog is www.dancingfromgenesis.com

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your comments serious.extras serious.health Humor Top 12 Things Not To Say To A Cop who has pulled you over: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

I can’t reach my license unless you hold my beer.

Sorry, Officer, I didn’t realize my radar detector wasn’t plugged in.

Aren’t you the guy from the Village People?

Hey, you must’ve been doin’ about 125 mph to keep up with me. Good job!

Are you Andy or Barney?

I thought you had to be in relatively good physical condition to be a police officer.

7.

You’re not gonna check the trunk are you?

9.

Gee, Officer! That’s terrific. The last officer only gave me a warning too!

8.

I pay your salary!

10. Do you know why you pulled me over? Okay, just so one of us does.

11. I was trying to keep up with traffic. Yes, I know with traffic. Yes, I know there are no other cars around. That’s how far ahead of me they are.

12. When the Officer says When the Officer says “Gee Son...Your eyes look red,

have you been drinking?’

You probably shouldn’t respond with, “Gee Officer your eyes looked glazed, have you been eating donuts?

If Biblical Headlines were written by Today’s Liberal Media On Red Sea crossing:

Got something funny you want us to include?

Email it to editor@seriouslifemagazine.com WETLANDS TRAMPLED IN LABOR STRIKE Pursuing Environmentalists Killed ~~~ On David vs. Goliath: HATE CRIME KILLS BELOVED CHAMPION Psychologist Questions Influence of Rock ~~~ On Elijah on Mt. Carmel: FIRE SENDS RELIGIOUS RIGHT EXTREMIST INTO FRENZY 400 Killed ~~~ On the birth of Christ: HOTELS FULL, ANIMALS LEFT HOMELESS Animal Rights Activists Enraged by Insensitive Couple ~~~ On feeding the 5,000: PREACHER STEALS CHILD’S LUNCH Disciples Mystified Over Behavior ~~~ On healing the 10 lepers: LOCAL DOCTOR’S PRACTICE RUINED “Faith Healer” Causes Bankruptcy ~~~ On healing of the Gadarene demoniac: MADMAN’S FRIEND CAUSES STAMPEDE Local Farmer’s Investment Lost

~~~ On raising Lazarus from the dead: FUNDAMENTALIST PREACHER RAISES A STINK Will Reading to be Delayed

arrival with an even larger sign, reading LOWEST PRICES. The shopkeeper was panicked, until he got an idea.

He put the biggest sign of all over his own shop-it read...

The shopkeeper was dismayed when a new business much like his own opened up next door and a huge sign that read BEST DEALS. He was horrified when another competitor opened up on his right, and announced its

Humor from: http://www.cybersalt.org/ cleanlaugh

Shopkeepers Competition

MAIN ENTRANCE.

Hilarious!

Click on the video image below to watch.

your comments serious.extras serious.health Reader Recipes The following recipes were taken from the “Adoption Cookbook”. The pics are from the cookbok. If you would like to purchase it, go here.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

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MARCH 2009

Ingredients: • ¾ Cups graham cracker crumbs • ½ Cups Ground pecans • 2 tbsp. Sugar • 2 tbsp. brown sugar • ¼ Cups butter, melted Combine these first 5 ingredients, mix well, firmly press into 9 inch spring form pan.

• ¾ Cups Sugar • ¾ Cups Canned pumpkin • 3 egg yolks • 1 2/2 tsp. Cinnamon • 1 tsp. Allspice • 1 tsp. Ground cloves • ¼ tsp. salt • 3-(8 oz) pkgs. Cream cheese

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• ½ Cups plus 2 tbsp. sugar • 2 tbsp. whipping cream • 1 egg • 1 egg yolk • 1 tsp. vanilla extract • ½ tsp. lemon extract

Directions: Combine ¾ C sugar, pumpkin, 3 egg yolks, spices, salt and mix well. Set aside.

Beat cream cheese until fluffy and add ¼ Cup plus 2 tbsp. of sugar. Mix well. Add egg and egg yolk and the whipping cream. Beat until smooth. Add cornstarch and flavorings. Add the pumpkin mixture and mix well. Pour into prepared crust. Bake at 325 Degrees for 50-55 minutes.

Submitted by Becky, aunt of Aleigha, and coming soon, Mya, Guatemala

Russian Tea Cookies Ingredients: • 1 c. butter • 1 tsp. vanilla • 2 ½ c. flour • 3 tbsp. sugar • 1 ½ c. powdered sugar • 2 c. chopped pecans • 1 tbsp. baking powder • Salt

Directions: Mix butter, sugar, baking powder and vanilla thoroughly.

Work in flour, salt, and nuts until dough holds together. If it is needed, add more flour, hands must be free from dough.

Shape 1-inch balls. Place

them on ungreased baking sheet. Heat the oven to 350.

Bake 10-15 minutes but not till brown. While the balls are still warm, roll very well in powered sugar, then cool the cookies then roll in sugar again. Served with tea.

Submitted by Beth, mother of Luke and Anna, Russia

Candy Bar Pie Ingredients: • 5 snicker candy bars cut into 1/4 inch pieces • 1 pastry shell (9 inch) baked • 12 oz. cream cheese, softened • 1/2 cup sugar • 2 eggs • 1/3 cups sour cream • 1/3 peanut butter • 2/3 cup chocolate chips • 2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream

Directions: Place candy bar pieces in the pastry shell, set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.

Add eggs, sour cream and peanut butter. Beat on low just until combined. Pour into pastry shell. Bake 325* for 35-40 minutes. Cool, in a small saucepan, melt chocolate chips with cream over low heat until smooth. Spread over top.

Refrigerate overnight.

Submitted by Tanner, cousin of Aleigha, and coming soon, Mya, Guatemala

Romanian Cherry Cream Roll

Got a recipe you want us to print?

Email it to recipes@seriouslifemagazine.com the milk and cherry juice mixing continuously.

When it becomes thick and remove it from fire and add the whites well beaten, the cherries and the butter. Mix and let cool. Unwrap the roll and put the cream on it, then roll it again. Cut into slices and serve Submitted by Ann, mom of Alyse Marie, Romania

Ingredients Roll: • 4 Eggs • 4 tbsp. Sugar • 3 tbsp. Flour • 1 tbsp. Cocoa • 1 tsp. Baking Soda

Cream: • 1/2 tbsp. Milk • 3 Eggs • ½ c. Sugar • 3 tbsp. Flour • 1 c. Frozen Cherries • 2 tbsp. Butter

Krasny Apple Cake Ingredients: • 1/2 c butter • 1 c sugar • 2 eggs • 3 c flour • 3 tsp. baking powder • 1 tsp. salt • 10- 15 large apples cinnamon • 1 c. sugar Directions: Combine butter and sugar

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Submitted by Vicki, mother of Shawn, Jeremy and Angie, Russia

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in a mixing bowl, add eggs and mix. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt and mix together. Add this to the first part. Make a ball of dough and put in fridge for a couple of hours. Cut apples and add cinnamon and sugar. Cut dough in half and roll 2 dough rectangles. Put a lower crust in greased pan. Next, make a layer with cinnamon, sugar and apples. Put top crust on.

Make holes in top crust before baking. Bush with water or beaten yolk on top crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until golden brown.

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Directions: Separate the eggs. Mix the yolks with sugar. Add flour, cocoa, baking soda and egg whites until well beaten. In a greased and flour-sprinkled griddle pour this mixture and let bake for 45-50 minutes at low temperature. Take out on a wet kitchen towel and roll it carefully. Defrost the cherries and keep the juice. Separate the 3 eggs .Boil 1/4 Tbsp. milk and the cherry juice. Mix yolks with sugar and flour and the other 1/4 tbsp. milk. Boil with

Kylea, India 211

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Purchase at www.brentriggs.com

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Who Needs Effort?

The Trick Nowadays Is Just to Get Results

Brent Riggs

I

no respect for an A if you skate, shortcut and put in little effort except to pass tests.”

Parents, if you think “getting an ‘A’” is so important you will buy your kid a program that teaches them how to do it “everytime, easily” without actually having to learn the material... then you have no clue what real parenting is, or character, or true success.

If you have no clue what the big deal is... you’re probably part of the image-over-substance culture that makes this program a viable product today. It would have been laughed off the shelves a couple of generations ago. ~

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whatever it takes to get ahead without actually striving, learning, sweating, failing, trying over and over, learning from mistakes.

Since when is “getting the grade” the real goal? I thought the grade was the measurement that showed you achieved the REAL goal? (learning, creating, producing, trying, etc) Of course it is promoted that your kids self esteem will soar.

They’ll be an IDIOT, but at least they will have good grades and feel good about themselves... and they won’t have to “suffer” through the hard work of learning when there are parties and

IMAGE OVER SUBSTANCE - AMERICA 2009

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movies to tend to.

Give me a kid, or person, who will try, try, try, try and try again... failure after failure, never giving up, and I’ll take them ANY DAY over the kid who has a sky high opinion of themselves (self esteem), who shortcuts everything and who gets all the grades (and style, popularity, friends, recognition) but skates through life.

I tell my kids, my employees, and those I mentor that I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR GRADE, YOUR RESULT OR YOUR ACHIEVEMENT (primarily). Those things only measure the quality of the journey and the effort (assuming they are genuine methods of measurements).

I tell my kids, “I don’t care if you make an F if you work your butt off, try as hard as you possibly can, and never give up. On the other hand, I have

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heard a commercial today that is indicative of where we are at as a society.

It was all about the “proven success” of a program that allows kids to “easily and consistently” scores “A’s” on school tests. How to take tests, how to pass tests, how to get A’s every time, using proven techniques.

The commercial declared that the reason for academic failure was that there is just too much to learn. It’s too hard. Too much.

The answer? Don’t learn, don’t cut back, don’t change the education system... just use proven techniques to pass tests.

America in a nutshell, 21st century style.

Self esteem; quick and easy; image over substance; recognition instead of effort... get the grade; don’t work hard; get the goal without the actual sacrifice. Do

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