Happy Birthday Kellie!

Help! I'm Turning Into My Mother!

My niece sent me the following article via e-mail and I was quite intrigued by it.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/08/27/lw.help.im.turning.into.my.mom/index.html

http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topicId=66453 (scroll down on this page and read what others have to say about resembling their mothers)

After reading these articles and more, I began to ponder on what these women were saying. I thought to myself, Lord, do my girls fear being like me? Are there things about my life that make them cringe to think, "OH NO! I"M TURNING OUT TO BE JUST LIKE MY MOM!" Do they harbor secret agitations about things that they find they have in common with me? Do they look in the mirror and ask "How did this happen?" or are they happy to say they are like me?

Oh I am sure there are some annoying little habits that they have picked up along the way that they wish they could have let slip by. However, I do hope and pray that I have lived a Holy and Godly life before them that they want to emulate more than anything else. I have tried to teach them that no matter what comes their way, and that no matter how hard the trial, how high the mountain, how wide the river, how deep the valley, or how dry the desert, God will see them through. I know I have not been perfect but I have told them that if and when they should fall don't stay down. Get up! By all means GET UP! Brush yourself off and go on. God is still on your side and He will see you through and sometimes even carry you through whatever battle you are facing.

I pray that my life has been what it should have been before the Lord. That whatever battles I have gone through, I was the kind of example I was suppose to be to my children, to show them that they too can make it. I want my children to be able to do as Proverbs 31:28 says; "Her children arise and call her blessed."

If my children must say "I'm Just Like My Mom" I want them to be proud of it in the Lord. I have been walking with the Lord for 29 years and 8 days now and I want my children to know that God has NEVER failed me yet. Though I have failed and made mistakes, He has never failed me. He is a faithful, just, and forgiving God. He is my FRIEND and He will be and do the same for you.

Kerrie, Kellie, and Mark, Proverbs 14:12 reads; "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." That is why David said in Psalm 119:11; "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

Do as it says in 2 Timothy 2:15 and "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

My precious children, hear me when I say obey Proverbs 23:23 which reads; "Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding." For John 8:32 says: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

I love you, Mom

SPAM!

And I'm not talking about the kind you eat...YUK!!!

If anyone has sent me a comment concerning any of my posts of late and they have not been posted to my comment section, I am sorry. They must have been sent straight to my spam folder and I did not see them before they were deleted. Yesterday I pulled a comment from Carol Connell from my spam folder. Last week I pulled two comments from there. One was from Karen and one from Catherine. Why the comments are going to spam is beyond me. I promise to check my spam folder closely on a daily basis. Hopefully I won't miss any one's comments again.

If you have made a comment and it was not posted and would like to try again please feel free to do so. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Have a great day!!!

Prayer Request

I received a request from Sis Noel asking prayer for little Luke Fernando who is only 6 months old and he is suffering from liver cancer. I too, would like to ask you to put him and his family on your prayer list if you have not already done so. He is such a beautiful child and needs the hand of God to come down in a mighty way and do a miracle in his precious little life. Together as the family of God we can bind together and build our faith and believe God for a miracle on behalf of little Luke.

You can visit his mother's blog and leave her an encouraging word here: http://jenfernando.blogspot.com/

God Bless

Save Our Children Awards

Just before service was to start, a table was set up on the platform and medals were laid out on the tables then trophies were set out. Immediately Caleb turns to me and says; "Trophies! Oh, grandma, I hope one of those are mine. I ain't never had a trophy before." From that moment on he sat staring at the trophies in great anticipation until it was time to announce the winners of the fund raisers for the "Save Our Children". He did ask his mom if she would go up with him to receive his trophy if he was a winner. Caleb does not like to stand in front of a crowd. When he graduated from kindergarten, he did so with his eyes closed through the entire ceremony. His teacher had to lead him on and off stage. This is due to his dyspraxia which causes him not to deal with being in large crowds to well.

Caleb really wanted a trophy but he didn't want to go up alone to receive one. So he had asked his mother to go up with him if he won a trophy. I began to talk to him and explain to him that he needed to go up alone and receive the trophy if he was a winner. Wrong move!!! He immediately began to freak out and said, they can keep that trophy because he was not going up there by himself but he sure did keep his eyes upon the trophies until it was time to announce the winners.

The girls went first. I'm sorry but I don't remember exactly the order of the winners for the girls. So I will leave that for Sis. Allard to post when she gets home from Sr. Camp and finds the time to post all the winners and the correct order they are in.

When the girls were finished there were only 2 medals and 3 trophies left. As each trophy was passed out Caleb's eyes would get bigger and bigger. I had told him that if he did not win a trophy and if he received a medal that he needed to receive it with a smile and say thank you. He said OK but I hope I get a trophy. So as they started passing out the medals he really started fidgeting. Then when they started passing out the trophies there were only 3 left on the table. By this time Caleb was really antsy. He would look from me to the trophies then to his mother and to the trophies and that is how it went on and on. The first trophy was given to Johnathon. Caleb almost lost his breath. He didn't really know what to think. He didn't understand that Johnathon just received 3rd place. Then Sis. Allard says; "When I call the next name then you will know who the winner is. Second place is Blake Allard." Well, that leaves one trophy and one child. Caleb turns to his mom and says in a panicky voice; "Am I the winner Mom, am I?" She no more than got, "Yes Caleb, you're the winner" out of her mouth and he had jump over her lap and into the isle. Kerrie had to grab him to keep him from running up to the platform to get that last trophy before his name was even called. Forget taking mom with him. He was so excited and wanted that trophy so bad that when they called his name and Kerrie let loose of him, off he went to receive his prize. He was so excited that he was shaking.

Caleb raised $600.00 in getting sponsors for the Jump-A-Thon. Then he raised $205.00 selling fresh baked cookies and rice crispy treats. Then he received a $60.00 donation. That gave him a total of $865.00 grand total for his fund raising for Save Our Children making him the grand prize winner.

This was Caleb's first year being involved in the Save Our Children Fund Raiser and I am so proud of him. He is the one who asked his sponsors for pledges. I took him and encouraged him to do the talking and he did it. I took him to places like the Police department and he came away with a hunk of money there and even got to go on a tour of the department and received a bag of goodies. The same with the fire department. This was a good experience for him. I believe it also helped him overcome some areas of his disabilities as well. It taught him to communicate with others. GOD IS GOOD!

When he was presented his trophy Sis Allard had all the children sitting on the platform and Caleb was caressing his trophy from top to bottom. He must have touched every inch of that thing. He was a sight to watch that's for sure. I thought to myself, that's how excited we will be to receive our "Crown of Life". Such enthusiasm!

When church was over and we were on our way home, Caleb informed me that his mom was going to have to get a new home because they needed a special place for his "trophies". I asked what do you mean "trophies" You only have one? His reply was, "Oh grandma this is only my first one. I'll be getting more of these. Just you wait and see. I gotta help save our children again next year." Now I like that spirit. You go Caleb. You do me proud.

A Day At The Beach

My daughters, Caleb, and I drove over to Morro Bay and then Pismo a few weeks ago for the day. It was a wonderful day of just relaxing and enjoying each others company. We just took our time and and had a blast. Caleb was excited to have his auntie Kellie riding in the back seat with him.

We went to Morro Bay first and checked out The Rock. Then took Caleb over to the Aquarium so he could feed the seals and check out the different sea critters they have there in the tanks.

Caleb was ecstatic. He loves sea creatures. He went from tank to tank and was so excited. I do believe we could have stayed there all afternoon and Caleb would have been perfectly satisfied.

After much convincing, Caleb agreed and we left for Pismo. We had lots of fun in the sun. I didn't get any pics of Caleb in the water but here is one that really took me by surprise. Auntie Kellie and Caleb were digging a trench, as you can see in the pic below.

Then when auntie Kellie went to get something to help dig deeper, Caleb laid down in the trench and said, "Look grandma! I'm dead in Christ."

I guess he is paying attention to the preaching while playing under the pew at church more than I realize. I asked him where did he hear that term, "Dead In Christ"? His reply, "When Pastor is preaching." Then came the big question. "Grandma, what does Dead in Christ mean?" I thought to myself, looks like you pretty much know what it means but let's make sure you know for sure. Soooo, it was now time for a quick Bible Study at the beach.

This next picture really amazes me. It is strange how Caleb has such a fear of water and does not like it to come up around him and yet look at the pic below. He begged for his auntie Kellie to bury him in the sand and then he basked in the sun after it was done. Just check him out. Give me water any day!

After a wonderful day comes to a close, we must head back home. Everyone is tired and falls fast asleep on the drive home. Everyone that is except Kerrie. To bad she choose to drive.

BUT WAIT!!!

BUSTED!!!!

What's that in your hand Kerrie?

DOUGHNUTS!!!

And you thought we were asleep!

Be Careful!

"The good Lord didn't create anything without a purpose, but mosquitoes come close." Unknown


I was in another town the other day and I ran into an individual I had not seen in a while. Upon asking how they were doing, I do believe I opened up a can of worms. In less than five minutes this individual was like a mosquito, trying to suck the joy of life right out of me with their very negative attitude towards life and people. I quickly realized what was happening and politely told them that things would be better if they would just give it all to Jesus. I told them I loved them and that I would pray for them. I then encouraged them to talk to their pastor. This is not what they wanted to hear so I shook their hand and quickly departed.

These are the kind of people we do not need to let feast upon us. They will only suck the very life right out of us if we let them. Just like the mosquito, they will ever so gently land upon us with subtle words. When we least expect it, they bite and insert their poison. We need to guard our ears, eyes, mouths, hands, and feet if we want to make it for the Lord. Reminds me of a song I used to sing as a child:

Oh be careful little eyes what you see..
Oh be careful little ears what you hear...
Oh be careful little mouth what you speak...
Oh be careful little hands what you do...
Oh be careful little feet where you go...
For the Father up above is looking down in love...

There are many mosquitoes out there swarming around looking for someone to attack and suck the spiritual life right out of. Our adversary, the devil, will use friends, family, and yes, even people we go to church with to try and bring us down. 1Peter 5:8 reads: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."

If one does not bear the fruit of the Spirit, which is "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance" (Galations 5:22-23) then beware. More than likely they are a mosquito in disguise waiting to attack.

We need to "Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the devil's strategies." Ephesians 6:11

What is that armor? Ephesians 6: 14-18 reads: "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."

If we do this, then no blood sucking mosquito can get to us and suck the very life right out of us. So put on your armor Saints and hold your sword in your hand. We must stand firm against the devils strategies in Jesus Name.

Latest Update On Blake

For the latest update on Blake visit Sis. Allard's site: http://www.janaallard.blogspot.com/
Again, thank you to everyone who has been praying for Blake, for he has been in quite a bit of pain.

I ask that you continue to pray for him and that you also pray for his parents. It seems that they have had their share of run-ins. You know that when you are out to do a service for the Lord, you can be sure the devil will do his best to throw stumbling blocks in your path. Bro. & Sis. Allard both play a big part every year in helping get things set up for Camp Meeting and during Camp Meeting week. I know that this is just the enemy's way of trying to mess things up. But that's ok, for I know that when this happens, it only means it is going to be a great Camp Meeting and that is why the devil is fighting so hard against those who are doing a service for the Lord. He will not succeed!