on a lighter note……

May28
Mrs. Ravioli comes to visit her son Anthony for dinner.
He lives with a female roommate, Maria.
During the course of the meal, his mother couldn’t help but notice how pretty Anthony’s roommate is.
Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between Anthony and his roommate than met the eye.

Reading his mom’s thoughts, Anthony volunteered, “I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Maria and I are just roommates.”
About a week later, Maria came to Anthony saying, “Ever since your mother came to dinner, I’ve been unable to find the silver sugar bowl.  You don’t suppose she took it, do you?”

“Well, I doubt it, but I’ll email her, just to be sure.”

So he sat down and wrote an email:
Dear MaMa,
I’m not saying that you “did” take the sugar bowl from my house ; I’m not saying that you “did not” take it.
But the fact remains that it has been missing ever since you were here for dinner.
Your Loving Son
Anthony
Several days later, Anthony received a response email from his MaMa which read:
Dear son,
I’m not saying that you “do” sleep with Maria, and I’m not saying that you “do not” sleep with her.
But the fact remains that if she was sleeping in her OWN bed, she would have found the sugar bowl by now.
Your Loving MaMa

the REAL story behind Taps…

May26

There is a myth about the origin of Taps that is circulating about the Internet. You can find it anywhere online…(I’m not going to repeat the myth, but feel free to CLICK HERE)

However the true story is that in July 1862, after the Seven Days battles at Harrison’s Landing (near Richmond), Virginia, the wounded Commander of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, V Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, General Daniel Butterfield reworked, with his bugler Oliver Wilcox Norton, another bugle call, “Scott Tattoo,” to create Taps. He thought that the regular call for Lights Out was too formal. Taps was adopted throughout the Army of the Potomac and finally confirmed by orders. Soon other Union units began using Taps, and even a few Confederate units began using it as well. After the war, Taps became an official bugle call. Col. James A. Moss, in his Officer’s Manual first published in 1911, gives an account of the initial use of Taps at a military funeral:

“During the Peninsular Campaign in 1862, a soldier of Tidball’s Battery A of the 2nd Artillery was buried at a time when the battery occupied an advanced position concealed in the woods. It was unsafe to fire the customary three volleys over the grave, on account of the proximity of the enemy, and it occurred to Capt. Tidball that the sounding of Taps would be the most appropriate ceremony that could be substituted.”

More about the true history of Taps can be found at: 24 Notes That Tap Deep Emotions and at Military District of Washington Fact Sheet: Origins of “Taps”.

Words to Taps (Note: there are no “official” words to Taps below are the most popular.)


Day is done, gone the sun, From the hills, from the lake, From the skies. All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Go to sleep, peaceful sleep, May the soldier or sailor, God keep. On the land or the deep, Safe in sleep.

Love, good night, Must thou go, When the day, And the night Need thee so? All is well. Speedeth all To their rest.

Fades the light; And afar Goeth day, And the stars Shineth bright, Fare thee well; Day has gone, Night is on.

Thanks and praise, For our days, ‘Neath the sun, Neath the stars, ‘Neath the sky, As we go, This we know, God is nigh.

having a Mary heart, for all the right reasons…

May24

Don’t you wish people had last names in the Bible?  I used to think that Jesus’s last name was Christ…..and while I am guessing that might be partly true, no one seemed to think that was important…..back in the day.  People were referred to as, Joseph of Arimathea, the rich man who took the body of Jesus and placed him in the tomb.  Then there was John the Baptist, who loved locusts, honey and camping…..(well, he did live in the desert of Judea)…

But today I am talking about Mary.  Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus.  The Bible says that Jesus and his  disciples came to a village and Martha opened up their home to them.  Obviously there was a lot to accomplish before the men arrived and Martha began preparing immediately.

Here’s the deal….once Jesus arrived, Mary went in,  sat at His feet and listened to Him speak.  Martha, in the meantime, is cooking, scrubbing, and baking, when she looks up and can’t find her sister.  She immediately went to Jesus and says, “Lord!  Don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?  Tell her to help me!”  Jesus answered, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed, Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.”

In all Martha’s busyness, she lost sight of the importance of spending time with the Lord.  It wasn’t that she didn’t know what it was to enjoy His company, but she chose a different priority.

Jesus is showing Martha that our relationship with Him is to have first place above all else in life.  Both women expressed their love and care for Jesus through their actions, but Mary chose the better way.

Here are my own thoughts…….If this were today….my sister would immediately begin preparations, and would have a fantastic table set with beautiful flowers, etc!  I, however, would be in the other room, possibly laying on the couch, listening to Jesus….well, mainly hiding from my sister so I wouldn’t have to help!  After holiday meals, my sister was always in the kitchen cleaning while I moved things around on the table and pretended to be busy.  This doesn’t mean that I am “like” Mary…it just reminds me of how lazy I was and how productive my sister is!!  I couldn’t help but start laughing when I was reading this and imagined that (as Mary) I would totally have stuck out my tongue and then given Jesus my wide-eyed, angelic look.

Ooops, that totally took me in a different direction, but the point is that nothing should supersede the believer’s relationship with Christ.  And even while carring out the Lord’s work, we can lose sight of our first priority, which is becoming closer and more intimate with Christ.

I want to have Mary’s heart…..not only because she was able to get out of work….(just kidding, sorta) but Mary had a desire to have a closeness with her Lord.  THAT should be our  number one priority!

surrender…

May23

Every action has a reaction….We have all heard that before, yet what is your first reaction when you come across a difficult circumstance that seems impossible?

Are you someone that goes into ‘overdrive’ looking for an answer or a way out?  Or do you curl up in defeat, declaring the situation hopeless, or just trying to avoid it altogether?

When I was a little girl, I used to be the latter.  When a difficult situation would arise, I would generally go to sleep.  Maybe, just maybe, it would resolve before I woke up.

However, as a mature christian, we should immediately turn to Christ, seeking His guidance.  And rather than saying, “Oh Lord, what am I going to do?”, which focuses on our actions, we should say, “Oh Lord, what are YOU going to do?”  

Now the focus is shifted to the omniscience and omnipotence of God!  He has the power to carry out His plan……which unlike our own solution……is perfect, and brings HIM glory!

Be willing to surrender all your plans into HIS hands.  He knows what to do, and how to accomplish it.  Your job is to be willing and obedient.

Now……trust Him!

Something You should Know: In the cosmetic industry, who owns whom?

May22

Reblogged from The Beauty Journal:

—–Updated on March 15th, 2010. Many thanks to Poppy for the info on YSL

So today I was talking with a friend online, and she asked me a really good question: In the cosmetic industry, who owns whom? I remember talking briefly about the major cosmetic groups in My Beauty Philiospohy post: Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Beiersdorf, Unliver, and Louis Vuitton-Moet Hennessy (LVMH).

Read more… 232 more words

Ok, I adore beauty products, and LOVED this post putting ME in the know!! Check it out, girlfriends! You may be surprised!!

Wow…time flies….

May21

Ok, friends….I have to laugh..

Yesterday, I dropped the hubby off at the airport and hurried back to the ranch to begin cleaning. We had tracked in so much mud and grass over the weekend, and I decided I would wait to clean once the house was empty.

After a qiuck trip to the grocery store, I drove back home. The time was about 2:30. Somewhere in the next few hours….I totally lost track of time…..no, really….

To back up a bit, the electricity flickers on and off often, which means that all the clocks reset. Here’s where the problem began…

I have a digital clock in the bedroom, a battery clock in the den and use the microwave clock in the kitchen. The clock in the bedroom automatically resets itself when there is an outage, so that is the one I always check, and since I was a busy little bee, cleaning, I was too lazy to check my cell phone.

After cleaning, I looked at the clock and saw it was 8:30 pm and decided I had enough for the day. I started getting ready for my shower, because I was beat. By the time I finished, it was 9:30 and I thought to myself, ‘Wow…I’m starving,’ but I never eat dinner after 6:00 pm, so I just decided to lay in bed and read my book.

Occasionally, I would hear my computer ‘ding’ so I would check my email, and look at the clock. It was 9:30 pm and was really bright outside! I read for a while longer, then looked at the clock and thought….’How crazy! The sun is still out and its 10:30 at night!!’  Oh well, it was time to sleep and I was sleepy.

I woke up sooo many times during the night, thinking it was time to get up but my clock said differently.  Finally, at 7:30 this morning, I opened my eyes and thought, ‘hmm…it’s still dark.”

Ok, bottom line….The clock reset to a different time zone and I was THREE HOURS off!!  I actually went to bed at 7:30pm, and eventually woke up at 4:30 am…..sigh…..

I could eat a horse right now….

changing…

May20

Have you ever said to yourself, “Oh, if God will just change or fix this situation, then my life would be sooo much better!”  I know I have.

But I believe that God wants us to think a bit differently.  Did you ever stop to think that maybe….just maybe…God wants to change us!

The Holy Spirit has more than enough power to transform our life from the inside out, but working that change within us can be a very slow process.  Just as the delicious fruit on the tree, our spiritual fruit takes time to grow and mature.  That is why we need patience and the faith to believe that He is working, even when we don’t see the results right away.  Our sweet Lord is never in a hurry and will never, ever give up on us.

God doesn’t just have a purpose for your life, but a unique, individualized plan for all of us!  He wants to conform every believer to the image of His Son, Jesus.  And although it may make no sense to you right now, trust Him…..He knows exactly what He is doing.

the real story of the birds and the bees….

May19

You think you know……THIS opened my eyes…watch!  Beautiful!!!!