Christian Photographers Community

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Morning Devotional...


He's Ready - Are You?

Matt. 3:1-4. "In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!'  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.'"

We all need to be prepared in the same way as those who came and were baptized by John.  We need to make Jesus' path to our hearts straight and easy.  For this we need repentance, just as they did.  He can't do us any  good without that preparation.

The preparation we need is summarized in the one word John used, namely, "repentance."  Repentance involves admitting that we were afoul of God's law - that we need to surrender, lay down our arms, and submit to the rightful lordship of Jesus Christ over every aspect of our lives.

John's hearers admitted their willingness by being baptized.  It pictured their need to be washed and made clean.  Along with the baptism they confessed their sins.  They were then ready for the Savior, Whose coming then resulted in their entrance into the kingdom of heaven.  Their former sins were entirely blotted out by the sacrifice of that Savior. 

Have you been made clean?  Praise God!  You are then ready to serve the King!
Al Moak

Thanks Anthony, for telling us about bonfire night.  I've studied the English Reformation, but I don't remember ever seeing anything about that, so I've now learned a bit more.

Hi everyone,

I know I have been missing lately but I have been reading the posts.

I have a prayer request for this day, if you don't mind.

We have a real good friend whose mother passed away Sunday morning.  She was a christian so that was not a problem.

The woman who died (Catherine), her only sister had passed away on Friday and her funeral was today.  Our friend was going to check on her mother (Catherine) to help her get ready for the funeral.  Anyway, it's really sad for the family, for the father of the women is still living and has lost 2 of 3 children in 2 days.

Hope everyone is doing great, and God bless each one who comes this way!

Samantha
Now it's bedtime for me!

Good Monday Morning,

Babycakes:  How difficult it would be to lose two children and so close - I pray for the parent.

Ruth Ann:  Yes, twice each day, I pray for my children in birth order - including spouses and grands.  I noticed that you mentioned doing so only after going through the difficult driving area - good for you as we surely all need our attention on driving these days.

Janet:  Congrats to your grandson, Mark! 

Jane:  A sad story about Ed.  I agree with Anthony in that the hospital surely didn't have any check-ups during the night.   

Larry:  Yes, it is nice to not have to write checks - I still have to write to some places though.

As to Online Banking, I have not done this for a few years and a few things changed plus we have extra things besides the banking.  I have had to write some checks lately though & still can remember how to do so. 

We had such an enjoyable afternoon - went to a church in Loveland.  Yes, there is such a name in Colorado.  The main road is Eisenhower Avenue as he married (Mamie) from Denver and used to spend many vacations fly fishing in this area.  We attended a Bach Beethovan chorale concert at a Lutheran church.  I didn't know that Bach was Lutheran.  The choir was wonderful and we would like to hear them at a Christmas concert as well.  The church is 100 years young and I know Anthony has been in much older churches.   

Last night, we watched a program on the Crusades and were saddened to see those " Christians" terrorized and killed so many people of muslim and jewish faith.  So many just used the idea of the Crusades to plunder the loot at the cost of many lives.

Off now to exercise & a quilting meeting tonight so I will miss the 2nd. part of the Crusades on the History channel. 

Carol

G'mornin' y'all.  It's off we go on our mini-trip today.  Back Thursday, DV.

Carol - not only was Bach a Lutheran, but the words of the Mass he wrote (B Minor) are Christian and evangelical.  He never released any music for publication without writing at the bottom, "to the glory of God!"  He considered the trumpet a sacred instrument, whose voice was the Voice of the Savior.  Praise God for that man!

Good morning Al, Carol and Samantha.  That really would be awful to lose two children within two days!  Goodness!

Another busy day---is there any other kind?    We are pushing hard to get the mobile home ready for occupancy.  Today Amy (renter) is going to come and help, so I need to gather up cleaning supplies and head into town to get started.  But I wanted to check in here first. 

I hope you all have a wonderful, God-filled day!

I also had a forwarded email from Etta Sue yesterday and I see she has also posted at SN in Photos now and then.

Janet you are certaily a busy woman, I think you will never want to see the inside of a trailer again after all the work in beth's and now Darrell's. 

Not much  new here today I am waiting for the pain pill to take effect so I can see if I can do a little bit of tai chi, I just have to be careful how I step and place my knee. Tai Chi is so gentle that is why it is highly recommended for Seniors.

Ruth Ann good to see you posting last night. Hope your auto repairs aren't exorbitant especially with all the cost to your plumbing repairs.

Have a safe trip Al and Marbeth.

TTYL

Good Morning Everyone!

I can't believe you, Janet!  You can speak at Scuba Diving Meetings  and you can Scuba Dive  and paint lovely pictures and teach it but you are unable to upload a photo to our Gallery?    

It's so-o-o-o easy--especially since I created your album for you.  :tickedoff:   The ONLY difference is that you no longer resize your photos to 500 pixels and only 35K but now you can resize them to about 800 or 900 and about 125K to 200K which is fantastic to view full size (which people can do when they click on the medium-sized one).  The software does all that for you automatically.

Anyway, come on!  At least try!     

Hi everyone.  It is another beautiful day here in Georgia.  It was very foggy earlier this morning but that has all burned off now.  I have a very light schedule today.  I am printing out the programs for our Veteran's Day special celebration on Friday.  I have an American flag on the front and it looks so much better in color that I decided I would print them.  I am going to make 100 copies of the program.  

Pat is headed out to Wal-Mart to do some shopping so I will basically have the house to myself for awhile.

Al, I hope you have a wonderful trip this week.  Thanks for the devotional this morning.

Carol, I wish I could have heard the Bach yesterday.  There is so much wonderful classical music.  Fortunately our choir director is very familar with such music and has us do anthems built on them often.  We always sing something from the Messiah at Christmas and Easter.

Samantha, that is indeed sad.  It reminds me of what happened the day my mother passed away and her only sister learned of her sudden son's death within hours of my having called her and told of mother's passing.  Those are indeed sad times and two children in such a short time would be something extremely hard to accept.  Thanks for sharing the prayer request with us.

Janet, it is encouraging to read that Beth is progressing with her rehab and that you are sensing a positive change of attitude.  Perhaps the progress is opening a window to her that she hadn't realized was available for improvement.  With regard to your camera you might try the following.  Plug the usb cable that should have come with your camera into the usb port on your computer and plug the other end into your camera.  Then open Windows Explorer (the file manager) and scroll down and you should see a new letter that is your camera.  Click on it and you should then be able to see the files on your camera, since the card in it is really just another disk storage source.  You should be able to highlight the files and copy them to a folder in "My Pictures" and then open those files with whatever program you have to view graphics files.  Did you install the software that came with your camera?  If so, it probably has a reader that would show it.  If you need help let me know and I will call you and see if I can help you further.

Ruth Ann, you certainly have reason to be proud of your grandchildren.  Your prayer plan (and Carol's) sounds very good.  Hope you don't have to work as hard this week.

Anthony, thanks for the information on why the fireworks.  It is probably a good thing that their is rain.  Over here you have to worry about fireworks hiiting roofs and setting fires.

I think Etta Sue and Tbear shouldn't have been impacted from that terrible tornado.  Hopefully we will hear from them today.

I've had one of those days today  :tickedoff:      Haven't known whether I was coming or going, but it's good to be hear now.

Samantha, I was so sorry to hear of this man's loss of his two children.  It must be very difficult to face up to.  I think that you are right to ask for prayer.  God can give His strength in the most impossible to circumstances.

Thank you Al for the devotional.  Although repentance is often mentioned in church life, I never feel that it is explained sufficiently - thanks for bringing it to our attention today.

Sorry for the quickie post, but I'm just off to have a nervous breakdown and will come back later.

God bless.

Anthony.

p.s. Hi Larry.

Al Moak!  Enjoy your little trip.  Hope you make a bigger one this way someday!

Samantha, how horrible.  That's truly terrible news to get.  I'm so sorry and I'll be remembering this dear family in prayer.

Anthony, please don't enjoy your nervous breakdown!  :tickedoff:

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Thank you all for wondering about me but Evansville is over 200 miles away and over 300 miles away for TBear.  We did have some strong winds in the wee hours of Sunday...plastered leaves on my windows.  But all is fine in my neck of the woods. 

Church was awesome yesterday...the sermons were on Daniel.  I used Notepad and wrote a process sheet for what I do to duplicate the cassettes and CD's.  Almost three pages full.  It is getting winter and this year I will have to drive the 25 miles to church by myself and I generally miss at least one Sunday a year due to snow.  So someone needs to do the duplicating and now they can read and do it. 

I make calendars for my family so I was doing that Saturday night and was up very late.  I figured that Saturday nights are sleepless anyway so I might as well be doing something productive instead of tossing and turning in the bed. 

Tonight is Small Groups.  It will be somewhat different tonight.  We are to be at the church by 6 p.m. and have our Bible Study and snacks.  And then at 8, they are going to televise the Indianapolis Colts football game on the overhead screens in the gym.  I doubt if I stay for that since I am not a sports fan but I do hope they have a great turn out for the game.....if the men can give up their recliners for folding chairs! 

Thanks to you all for thinking of me since the tornado in Evansville was in Indiana.  But fact is, I didn't even know about it until I got some emails asking how I was.  I still haven't seen it on TV...I don't watch the news and no paper on Sundays.

Great to hear from you, Etta Sue.  Glad you're ok.  I saw it on CNN and wondered right away about you.

Do you use a calendar program?  I'd like one that I can use to put my own photos on.  I had one last year but it was only for last year!

Pat, I have a CD of Broderbund Print Shop and I use that for my calendars.  I like it because you can make it any style...not a fixed calendar.  And I had to do was click on 2006 and it changed the form.  Then I had to move around birthdays and such to make it right for this year.  My hardest was last year I found Small Calendars online and some how put the little calendar for last month and next month on the big this month calendar.  I worked and worked and finally got it done for 2006.  This time I typed out what I did so that next year I won't have to struggle so much.  I print them on card stock, front and back.  Years ago, I used to buy calendars that were slid into a magnetic thing so your calendar can be on your fridge.  I have lots of them so I print these calendars for Ivalou, Kaye Don, Charlene and myself.  Fun to do.   Great calendars for appointments...room to write on each day.

Yes, they do have a program for pictures on the calendars too but I haven't done them. 

I know, TMI.  too much information...sorry!

It was good to hear from Etta Sue, I don't know what's happening but Scotland has had a severe weather warning tonight and the winds are starting to blow pretty bad here too.  Strange that the bad weather seems to be everywhere.

I decided not to  have a nervous breakdown after all as I needed to do some cooking - maybe tomorrow 

It's been a great day of fellowship today and I really enjoyed the devotional.  I will try to meditate on it a bit as I lie awake in bed.

God bless all and see you all tomorrow.

Anthony.

Oh, Anthony, it's so nice to hear/read that you decided that today wasn't a good day for a nervous breakdown afterall! 

Good to hear from you again before you retire for the night.  Looking forward to hearing from you early tomorrow.

Please give our love to Mother.

Well, we really did enjoy yesterday.  But it was tiring because we were at church from 9;00 in the morning until 3:00  in the afternoon.  Then we went back for small group meeting at 5:30.

The weather has been nice today.  We have had sunshine and temperature in the 70's.  We went to the Centennial Park here in Nashville and took our sandwiches and drink and had a picnic.  We went to the lake there and fed the ducks.

Ps 8:1-9

1   O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2   From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3   When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4   what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
5   You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
6   You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:
7   all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
8   the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
9   O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  (NIV)

Papa John              

This may be a long post...cause I haven't been here for a couple of weeks, so please be paitient....and....

HI EVERYBODY!
Larry, such good news that you no longer need to play taxi driver!

RuthAnn, it is so nice to have positive test results.  Even better news about your break healing!

Marilyn, the best place to hide something is right out in the open....guess you did that!   

Nita, pre-paying and arranging funerals is becoming more common here in Canada, and I can understand why too.  It removes a lot of the burden and stress of the descion making at such a sorrowful time.

Happy Belated Birthday Judy, and Kathy!

Janet, how is Beth coping without her little doggie friend?  I pray that the physio works wonders for Beth.

Karen, congratulations on the job.  I pray that it turns out to be all that you need and want it to be.  How nice to not have to worry about two houses.

Talj, I had been away from attending church regularly for many years, and found a church not far from me several months ago.  What a blessing to be able to attend and fellowship on Sundays with other believers.  Even nicer now that I no longer have to work Sundays on a regular basis.

We were out for coffee last evening and my mother and I met a couple of people I had not seen in several years.  One of them was my first (and best in my opinion...) piano teacher.  The men were outside for quite some time, and on the way home, I was told that they had been speaking about the Gaither's and in particular the new quartet that they have and the young man with the deep baritone voice.  The door is opening, crack by crack.....

I have spent the past four hours reading and catching up on things here, and now must go and get some dinner.  Must also spend some time with the heating pad on my back this evening also.

Thank Etta Sue for that.  

I'll have to maybe look at that as I really want to make calendars again this year for the family.

I'd like to use my photos on them.  Can you do this with your program?

Sounds like you had a nice day, Papa John.  The wind was too cold here for a picnic today although the temperature wasn't that low.

Here's one for Janet!

(Sorry about the white background but at least there's a smiley for our Janet who loves to go snorkeling)

This is one of my all time favourites...

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Here it is 4:30 on the west coast of america and I am just getting back here. I have been busy since I got home, making soup, folding laundry, reading email, then reading here too.

So nice to see everyone who has posted today. Glad to here that you are safe Etta Sue.

Now back to my cooking, I amhungry for the soup I have made.

TTYL

What kind of soup, Marilyn?

I just love soup.  I like it in a too.

Whew!    I really overdid it today, I think.  We worked all day on the trailer.  How can people be so filthy?  How do they stand themselves?    There were four of us working steadily all day, and we did make good progress.  The guys were working on plumbing and electrical problems, and we gals were cleaning and cleaning and cleaning.  And did I mention cleaning?  Ugh.

Thanks for the snorkeler, Pat.  Where do I find it?  And I will learn to do the photos sometime, just not now.  I am so tired I can barely hold my head up.  As soon as I finish this, I am going to shower and go to bed, I don't care if it is only 7:30 by then.  I didn't sleep last night at all, got maybe an hour this morning before time to get up.  I drank some Gano Excel last night, which I thought was a coffee substitute that is healthy for you (it is healthy, but...) and it kept me awake.  I got up at 3:30 and went to read the ingredients on the package, and discovered it has coffee in it.  :tickedoff:

Larry, thanks for the offer, and if I get stuck I will call on you for help.  I think I enjoyed the photos much more before, but I know change is inevitable.  I find the gallery difficult to navigate.  And a lot of the people who post photos there never post in here.  Oh, well........

And now I am going away, before I fall asleep and bump my nose on my keyboard...............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz