How sad that this is what our world has come to.

Excerpt from The New Foxe's Book of Martyrs

China,1977

In Kiangsi, China, two Christian girls, Chiu-Chin-Hsiu and Ho-Hsiu-Tzu, their pastor,________(name withheld), were sentenced to death. As on many such occasions in Church history, the persecutors mocked and scorned them for being so foolish as to die for an unseen God. Then they promised the pastor that if he would shoot the girls they would release him. He accepted.
        The girls waited patiently in their prison cells for the moment of their execution. They prayed quietly together. Soon guards came for them and led them out. A fellow prisoner who watched the execution through the barred window of his prison cell. said that their faces were pale but beautiful beyond belief, infinitely sad but sweet. They were placed against a wall, and their pastor was brought forward by two guards. They placed him close in front of the girls and put a pistol into his hand.
        The girls whispered to each other, then bowed respectfully to their pastor. One of them said:


        Before being shot by you, we wish to thank you heartily for what you have meant to us. You baptized us, you taught us the way of eternal life, you gave us holy communion with the same hand in which you now have a gun. May God reward you for all that you have done for us. You also taught us that Christians are sometimes weak and commit terrible sins, but they can be forgiven again. When you regret what you are about to do to us, do not despair like Judas, but repent like Peter. God bless you, and remember that our last thought of you was not one of indignation against your failure. Everyone passes through hours of darkness. We die with gratitude.

 
       They bowed again to their pastor, closed their eyes, and stood silently waiting. The pastor had obviously hardened his heart --- he raised the pistol and shot them. No sooner had they fallen to the ground, then the Communist guards put him against the wall for immediate execution. As they shot him, no one heard words of repentance, only the sound of screaming.

I love my daddy!!! *heart*

 The South

 

 |the sauth| noun.

 

 The place where:

 

Tea is sweet and accents are sweeter

Summer starts in April

Macaroni and cheese is a vegatable

Front porches are wide and words are long

Ya'll is the only proper noun

Chicken is fried and biscuits come with gravy

Everything is Darlin'

Someone's heart is always being blessed

Pecan pie is a staple

 

                 

I had my orchestra peformance on April 3. It was a wonderful evening!!

My maw maw and I.

My mom and I. We were in such a rush I didn't get to have a photo with my dad.

Having some fun the my camera

I haven't been able to use my camera much lately

I love my violin!

Virtual Flirtship ( posted from my friends blog...http://integritasdomus.blogspot.com/ )

"Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe." 1 Timothy 4:12

"There are plenty of people who have technically kissed recreational dating goodbye, but are still looking for romantic flings outside of marriage. They want the fun of being in boyfriend-girlfriend relationships without purpose or commitment. Enter flirtship, the popular new alternative to dating and courtship. It’s like dating, only you don’t go out – you use email, chat, or phone, or just pair off whenever you’re in the same vicinity. Either way, you’re definitely – though not officially – well, apparently, anyway – boyfriend and girlfriend." Excerpt from It's Not that Complicated by Anna & Elizabeth Botkin

A young woman once said to me : "I am convinced it's really good if girls be discreet in the way they talk to guys and how often they talk. I mean, it can send a guy the wrong message if you are just constantly talking to just him in a crowd and it may be stirring feelings in him that you had no intention of stirring when you are just trying to be a friendly sister in Christ."

Then she proceeded to talk about a guy she had been emailing for several weeks, two or three times a day. When asked why she thought this was appropriate, but the scenario she described wasn't, she replied "Oh it's not the same online!"

Are we not all guilty of this mentality?

Facebook: From hearing from and witnessing friends, I believe this one of the biggest ways for guys and girls to cultivate 'unintended' relationships. It's just too easy once you're friends to resist posting comments on their walls, sending a message a day. Pretty soon, both are confused about the other's actions and are trying to interpret them. In very extreme cases, Facebook relationships can lead to running away from home to be with your 'special, new found friend.' You may think this sounds a bit drastic, but I personally know of two cases where this has happened.
It's also a way for young people to communicate without their parents necessarily knowing everything they're saying. As with everything else, something that may start harmless has the potential to become dangerous if extreme caution is not exercised.

"A man's harvest in life will depend entirely on what he sows. If he sows for his own lower nature his harvest will be the decay and death of his own nature. But if he sows for the Spirit he will reap the harvest of everlasting life by the Spirit." Galatians 6:7-8

Email: Because emailing doesn't allow for accountability in conversation, caution should be exercised here as well. A wonderful practice to get into is sending an email (with the opposite gender) to your parent's inbox as well, and letting him/her know you are doing so. This lets the parents and the person know that you wish to respect them and keep yourselves accountable so that conversation doesn't become unhealthy.

Blogging: Even in the blog world we must be careful and limit comments on each other's blogs. If you're leaving comments on every post and lengthy or gushy conversations take place, it can be very misleading. However, I see nothing wrong with reading the opposites posts, for it is good to get perspectives from the opposite gender.

"But what if the guy/girl is the one being bold in their attempts to talk with/be around me?"

Well, you can either get graciously bold back, or involve your father in it. That is one of the many blessing of having fathers; once you involve them in struggles they can step in and intervene when we don't want to appear rude and burst the person's bubble so to speak.

"If Romeo seems smitten with you and showers you with attention and compliments (and is exactly the sort of Montague your parents do not approve of), you can make it very clear in your cool but respectful manner that you are not interested in sharing a balcony scene with him." Excerpt from It's (not) that Complicated

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." Proverbs 4:23

Are we conscious enough of our actions through our fingertips?

"Finally, brothers, 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 such things." Philippians 4:8

(Guys, just because I wrote about blog commenting doesn't mean I wouldn't like to hear your perspective of this subject:)

The Hunger Games

There has been a lot of talk about the new movie The Hunger Games. I know many people (including Christian homeschoolers) that have been to see it.  I have read many articles about the movie and the books. The link below is Kevin Swanson and his daughter talking about The Hunger Games. I really liked Kevin Swanson's perspective about the movie. 
http://generationswithvision.com/broadcast/the-hunger-games/

Here are a few questions....

Why are so many people today willing to sacrifice their lives for "nothing?" While some Christians are not willing to sacrifice their lives for Christ?

The children of today will be leading the next generation. If these are the kinds of things my generation are watching now. How is this helping them to grow into strong Christian men and women? 

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. "Proverbs 22:6

"I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me." Psalm 101:3

 "For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil."
Romans 16:19

"God did not write solo parts for very many of us. He expects us to be participants in the great symphony of life." Donald Tippett

On St. Patrick's Day my daddy took me and a friend of mine to the symphony where they were having a celtic band perform! It was a wonderful evening!!

My handsome daddy and I

My precious violin

My friend Laura and I

The chandelier in the Saenger Theatre

It's green!!

Old Saenger Theatre in downtown

The awesome drummer!

Wonderful music!

The band Mithril is fantastic!

My handsome eight year old nephew Trey!! I call him my Mr. T.

He loves to play army, spy, and business man.

When he spends the night he likes to sleep in my room.

We like to stay up late watching old movies.

                              
        German pancakes or puff pancakes

   1/2 C Milk
   1/2 C Flour
       2 eggs
   1/2 tsp vanilla
   dash salt 
   dash of cinnamon ( I usually put a little more cinnamon )
   1 Tablespoon Butter

   Melt butter in pan while it is preheating.           
   Whisk all ingredients together in bowl. Pour in pan.


Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 mins. or until the pancake has risen and is firm.
   

Wonderful old memories of my great-grandmother who passed away in September 2001. I remember loving to push her in the wheelchair at Wal-Mart. :) Love you Grannie!

Grannie and I when I was about 2 yrs.

Me with my Grannie's glasses she wore.