A Time of Reflection and A Time to Look Forward

Ready or not, here comes the New Year!

2011

We often ask where the year went; it seems to have passed so quickly. At the end of 2010 we sit and think about what events occurred that blessed us and those that were difficult and challenging.We think about what we have accomplished and what we let slide. We make our New Year's resolutions with the greatest intent to keep them. It's very good time for such reflection.

I'm ready for the new year with my workout tape, my Dave Ramsey financial handcuffs, my journal and I signed up for Tuesday am bible study at church. Oh Lord, that I will be faithful to attend to these disciplines.

Two of my favorite verses are Lamentations 3:22-23
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; mercies never come to an end;they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

You can figure out why I cling to that verse, eh? Oh, yes, I need that mercy daily!



Looking toward 2011 I am committed to living simply, to making each moment count for good by loving God and loving people. I am secure in the knowledge that He loves me and has a plan for my life in the new year.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

Just want to share a disclaimer if you will...plans to prosper you is often taken to mean financially prosper and while He may do just that, please consider there are many other ways for the Lord to prosper our lives...

good health, a life of meaning and purpose, a lesson, a challenge, a heart for others and a content spirit.


Whatever He brings...let us rejoice and love one another.

--oOo--

Time of Year

It's the most wonderful time of the year...singing....

I'm just full of the holiday spirit this year. It's a nice change for me.

My blessings seem larger than life!

I know there are so many who are struggling in many ways here in the US and abroad. For them it is a blue Christmas and there probably isn't a more difficult time of the year than Christmas if you are sick, having financial troubles, are alone, or any other number of reasons. My prayers are with them; I've been sick, had financial troubles, been alone and a few other reasons to feel sad during this blessed time of year.

Reach out and bless someone who needs you; sometimes it's just a smile, a cup of coffee, a book, a ride, $20, a hug...so easy!!

Jesus came = Emmanuel = God with us! May we hold fast to Him who is always for us, who always cares about us, who loves us so. Hang on...victory comes in the morning!

Friendships

I probably talk about friendships

more than any other topic.

That's because I hold each one

tenderly in my heart.

Fortunate to have a group of very close friends, I am.

God knew we needed each other.

Coming from such diverse backgrounds,

interests and situations,

yet we are bonded tightly,

securely and gratefully.

I have considered my brother Kevin my best friend for many long years now.

He is tried and true, solid & committed to me.

My other best friend is also of the male species,

one who has gifted me with an example of true selfless giving.

I have learned more about living on another's behalf from

him in a few short years than any other time in my life.

Jeff's best friend, Luis, yet another man,

who has given of himself on my son's behalf

and mine as well in extraordinary ways.

(Couldn't have done it without the full

support of his wonderful wife, Joann).

**

And then there are my girlfriends

Incredible, bright, funny, wonderful girlfriends.

How could I have carried on this past decade without them?

God knew I could not.

They rose to the occasion and gifted me with prayer

when I could not pray, but felt above the fray of life

because I was being lifted UP.

They gifted me with time, treasure and talent

and they continue to do so.

I want to declare that I am grateful, blessed and deeply moved

each one bringing something I desperately needed

FRIENDSHIP, LOVE & CARE

How do I list them? So many deserve the first place on the list

but they need to be acknowledged...so here we go.

Norma, Elaine, Rose Marie, Patti

Donna, Donna, Lena, Mary

Pam, Brenda, Judy,Barb

Tina, Joann, Bernita, Jane

Margo, Connie, Maria

My goodness! This is like the Oscar thank you's...

I couldn't have done this without you

this thing we call living

Because of you I live large

and to the fullest

with wonder and delight!!!!

As I have had time to reflect on my return to California I have realized

deep within that I am healed and believe the grieving

about losing Jeff has been completed.

I am not who I was, I am profoundly changed.

The hole in my heart will not fill..nothing can fill that loss.

But I am smiling, positive and absolutely full of JOY.

So my dear friends, all of you, thank you for being there

God's hands and feet

Blessing me * Blessing me * Blessing me

xoxoxoxoxxox

Karen

December....

In the midst of all the crazy goings on this month to celebrate...please remember that

CHRISTMAS BEGAN

IN THE HEART OF GOD

AND

IT IS ONLY COMPLETE

WHEN IT REACHES THE HEART OF MAN

JESUS IS CHRISTMAS!

YOUR ULTIMATE GIFT!

If you haven't received

that gift, please consider

Him. He gave His life to

bridge you back to God

and eternal life.

There's More To Life Than Pumpkin Spice!

You are probably surprised to read that heading. Everyone knows I LOVE Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice, but right now I'm all about tea. I'm happily receiving deliveries daily of teas, tea accessories and supplies to create all things TEA for the boutique on November 27th....Oh yes, we have Christmas things, angels, jewelery and plenty more...do not worry if you don't drink tea! (Although someone you know drinks tea and we have great things you can give as gifts!)

Today it brought back a wonderful memory as I had a cup of a new TERRIFIC Pomegranate Green Tea that I have found for the boutique. It's my favorite taste of tea ever!

My Grandmother, Mary Thompson Houston from Scotland, drank a lot of tea! My mother and I lived with she and my Grandpa James Houston when my dad was in France during WWII. After that we lived a block away from her for many years. I've had a lot of tea and scones over the years; my grandpa had a bakery! I loved their kitchen. It had a Murphy table (yes, like a Murphy bed) open the doors, down came the table. This was too much trouble for my grandparent's last tea of the day. She would pull out the BREAD BOARD and cover it with a white tablecloth (must have been folded many times, eh?) Then the scones, butter, tea pot and cups. The three of us would sit and enjoy a bit of time together. This must have been after my dad was back from the war as I have no memory of my mother sitting there with us. I know I spent many a night at their home.

The memory rushed at me as I was sipping my tea. She never used a tea strainer in her pots of tea....so the tea leaves fell into the cup and you had to drink very carefully. When we were done with our cups of tea she would read my tea leaves! Yes, she went to church (High Street Presbyterian Church in Oakland, California which I hear is still going strong!)

This was a harmless activity and had no spiritual new age/old age twist to it. I read my tea leaves to myself the other day and had fun doing so. I'd say it has been approximately at least sixty years since I had tea leaves in my cup!

Then many memories flooded me of all the wonderful times I spent with my grandmother. I had another wonderful grandmother (Elizabeth Lyons) and I have a story to tell about she and I at another time. (That's for my Uncle Mike who will remind me that indeed I had another grandmother, his mother).

-oOo-

This is neither of my grandmothers but I thought it was the funniest picture of someone drinking tea that I might ever see and just had to share it with you.

I'm also into being frugal for the past four years and end up with lots and lots of very good bargains -- so many of them from The Frugal Find on Facebook!! When I was able to purchase tickets through Fandango with the code from Frugal Find for only $3.75 each and NO fee to Fandango I was happy I didn't have to go to the senior citizen day on Monday to get a $6 ticket!! Recently I paid $10 for $20 worth of products from soap.com with shipping included. Today...$16 for $35 worth of groceries from another source she shared. I only buy what I would use normally, of course!

So this little picture is for those who are frugal and want to save some pennies. Tea is NOT cheap; it's pretty pricey these days...get some little clothes pins (on sale of course) and have a second cup!

Sip, sip

K

A BEE IN MY BONNET

A bee in my bonnet definition: a creative buzzing in my head trying to get out.

OH YEAH, I've got that goin' on!!

One idea is leading to another

and another

and another..

Frightening, really...unusual for sure...but very exciting!

So much is already put to paper in the middle of the night.

Can't wait to reign it all in and see the end result...prepared for a long haul on this one!

Cute...oh can it be true??

This was on Chachaneen's blog and it made me laugh.

It did make me think about our blogs and how they really do represent the way we talk our walk , don't they.

Everyone watches Christians closely. They either see a good representation of an honest walk with the Lord or one that is fraught with a misrepresentation of how He would have us live as disciples.

We need to be real in our struggles so the world knows we all live real lives, not some super spiritual hyper-religious act that makes others feel so inadequate as to think they can never approach God. My own opinion is that there is a fine line in doing so. Let us not flaunt our sin as though they have no affect on us or others, or in fact did not put Christ on the cross, but be humble in sharing our own failures with people as well as the joys we experience.

And let us be full of mercy and grace to those who know no better (or do) and are looking and watching us all the time. Our own pet peeves or rants can be kept to ourselves as they might serve no good purpose really. Let's not give anyone a reason to call us hypocrites who say we love God but are ripping others to shreds with our words or actions.

Christ even washed the feet of Judas ...knowing he would later betray him....this is the kind of love we experience from the Lord every day. Let's go love others as He did.

--ooOoo-

Closed Doors

Praising God For Closed Doors

(from Daily Encourager)

We need to learn to praise the Lord as much for a closed door as we do for an open door. The reason God closes doors is because He has not prepared anything over there for us. If he didn't close the wrong door, we would never find the right door. God directs our path through the closing and opening of doors. Once a door closes, it forces you to change your course. When another door closes, it forces you to change your course again. Then, finally, you find the open door and you walk right into your blessing.

The Lord directs our paths through the opening and closing of doors, but instead of praising him for the closed door (which keeps us out of trouble); we get upset because we "judge by the appearances." You have an ever-present help in the time of trouble that is always standing guard. Because He walks ahead of you, He can spot trouble down the road and set up a roadblock or detour accordingly.

But through our lack of wisdom, we try to tear down the roadblocks or push aside the detour sign. Then, the minute we get into trouble, we start crying, "Lord, how could You have done this to me?" We have got to realize that the closed door can be a blessing. Didn't He say that no good thing would He withhold from them that love Him? If you get terminated from your job, praise God for the new opportunities that will manifest themselves: it might be another job, it might be school. If that man or woman won't return your call, it might not be them, it might be the Lord setting up a roadblock (just let it go).

One time, a person had a bank they had been in business with for many years tell them "No!" to a $10,000 loan. The Lord put in their spirit to call another bank. That bank gave them $40,000 at a lower interest rate than the first bank was offering. We can sometimes trap ourselves in doubt and discouragement through judging by appearances.

Be grateful for the many times our Father has closed doors to us just to open them in the most unexpected places. The Lord won't always say in spoken words: "Go to the left, now to the right" ...sometimes He will just close the doors that are wrong for you.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him

and He will direct your paths.

(Prov. 3:5-6)

Trust

In what do you put your trust?

Family
Friends
Career
Money
Health
Talent
Beauty
Government
Instinct

You can peruse this list and think about each one and come to realize that they all can or have failed you in one way or another.

People come and go, family members pass on or move on, careers end abruptly, money is lost, illness debilitates, beauty fades, governments fail, talents dim and instincts are often wrong.

There is One in whom you can trust.

Christ Jesus

Name above All Names

If you seek Him you will find him and He alone will satisfy. As your foundation of faith you are secure and your life in Christ will prepare you for any times of trouble. He is your help. He is the author and finisher of your faith and there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. You will have contentment and confidence as well as Joy from within in spite of circumstances. Your priorities will become those of love and service to others. He is trustworthy and His love for you will set you free.*

*It's all in the Bible :)

There will come a time Jesus said:

Romans 14:11 For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.

Be blessed beginning today to live a life in Christ.

He's waiting - He's calling

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

there's just something about that Name,

Master, Savior, Jesus

like the fragrance after the rain.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

Let all heaven and earth proclaim

Kings & Kingdoms shall all pass away

but there's something about that Name.

DELIGHT!!

Delight yourself in the Lord;

and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

What does it mean to delight in the Lord? What does it look like to delight in the Lord? What does it feel like to you...and to Him?

The dictionary says: to thrive in, thrilled, to please, to give joy, reap.

From our women's bible study this week (Cynthia Heald: Becoming a Woman of Prayer) I learned: To delight is to REVERE, MEDITATE UPON, be HAPPY TO DO GOD's WILL, HAVE THE WORD IN MY HEART, HAVE AN APPETITE TO STUDY THE WORD, and being ONE WHO IS CALLED BY GOD.

Matthew Henry wrote: What is the desire of the heart of a good (wo)man?

It is this, to know, and love, and live to God, to please him and to be pleased in him.

This past Monday Patti's daughter and family came over for a barbecue...One handsome husband, and four little ones under 7. It was nice to be around little ones who are so well-behaved and I watched them play all day without whining or fighting. Jacob and Michael had some adventures up on the hill in the trees for hours..coming and going. Owen, 8 months, let us do tricks for him to make him laugh. He is so dang sweet with the best duck hair ever! Clara is three and she is who I want to share about with regard to DELIGHT.

Clara loves her Pa 'best.' (GrandPa) He taught her that at a very early age...Who do you like best, Clara? PA is her only answer. She obviously does adore him. She delights in him..and I must say he in her as well.

They spent about an hour in the hammock....making faces, she holding her Pa's face, talking with him, saying she loved him, best even!! They chatted back and forth and we heard much laughter and saw the joy! She was totally in tune to him and no one else. She was looking at him and no one else. She was totally focused on him. It's really hard to explain without a video or even a picture of the two of them in the hammock, but when I did my bible study lesson on Monday I was reminded that I had seen DELIGHT between Clara and Pa.

I shared that with the ladies at the bible study on Tuesday morning..it really brought tears to my eyes. Oh, that I would delight in the Lord the way little Clara was with her Pa. A good lesson--up close and personal. May it be so.

Whom have I in heaven but You?

and I have no delight or desire on earth beside You.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the rock

and firm strength of my heart, and my portion forever

Psalm 73:25-26

Pa & Clara in quieter times...

The Queen of England & Other Fans of mine...

Repost from August 2008--taking me a bit longer to do today's blog than I thot...so enjoy this one in the meantime. :) Thanks

Yes, my friend the Queen of England in a wonderful pose that she reserves only for her best friends! She writes to me quite often but for someone of her influence and stature, she somehow ends up in my SPAM folder!!!!! You would think she might have a technology servant who could somehow find a way to get right into my genuine email. I've written her to let her know I really appreciate her emails and have put her into my best buddy list.

Why the fellow in the UK can't get to my acceptable email recipients is beyond me as well; I am very open to cashing in on the lotteries I have won and would be happy to travel to England to negotiate with the attorneys for big businessmen who need my help by setting up an account here in the US. Best deal ever! They promise people will begin to send me large checks and all I have to do is deposit them, take my percentage cut, and then send the rest of the money back to the UK!

At 65 years of age I am receiving many opportunities to get my degree on line. I think I want to be a neurologist and hope they send me the online link soon so I can get my M.D. degree within 18 months! I have no interest in becoming a forensic specialist or a bookkeeper at this late date. I need to garner funds quickly and am pretty sure Kaiser Permanente would hire me with my 18-month degree in a fast minute!You can imagine my glee when my SPAM mail shocked me with the information that i could lose 6 inches in my thighs in just a week! Let me buy a gross of that as I have more than six inches to lose! And to think they haven't teamed up with the people who say I can trim my tummy in only one month if I would just buy their product with a 30-day money back guarantee!

Bank of America, Wells Fargo all want me to call them immediately because there are problems with my accounts!!! I dont bank at either bank!!! Wait, maybe that is the problem!

These scams must be working or we would not receive them daily, right? People are bilked everyday; we need to warn them! Some people are just getting started on the Internet and have no idea that people are out to scam them. Early on in terms of computer savvy, one friend told me this: "I got locked up in a box with someone I didn't know and I couldn't get out." (This was an IM on AOL). Today that friend locked in the IM Box can perform a function on comast email that alludes me to this day...cut and paste! She has come a long way!

I'm a sucker for things to buy at 3 am which appear on TV, however ...

“Laughter is the closest thing to

the grace of God”

Karl Barth ** Swiss Theologian

Happy 4th of July - My family were immigrants!

Granddaughter and daughter of immigrants in 1920 and 1926, settling in Ohio and San Francisco. My mother and her parents came from Scotland. My father was born in Philadelphia but his parents immigrated from Poland and Ireland.

These are all pictures of my Dad's family....great grandparents, grandparents, parents, and brothers and sisters....as young kids and all grown up. They all could play the harmonica! There were six children...John, Francis (Barney/my dad), Eileen, Maureen, Dorothy and Mike.

I can't believe I don't have any pictures of my mother's side of the family on my computer and all my photos are in storage so I can't add any but they were a fine looking bunch from Scotland. My grandfather came over first in 1920 to San Francisco and almost went back to Scotland due to the lack of jobs and while there was some government assistance available he would have no part of it being the proud independent man he was. My grandmother heard he was coming back to Scotland and wrote him immediately and told him she was on her way. She got her papers, all the legal things needed, and packed up her house and the four children, Hugh, Bill, James and Sarah (my mother), ages 14 to six.

She even packed up her set of china which was a huge 12 piece place setting with rather grand vegetable bowls. It is white with blue and gold around the edges. My mother used it for years and I have it now. My Aunt Mary gave me a darling little vase that was my Grandmother's also.

I asked all four (mother and uncles) to write their memories down for me and I typed them up and added some graphics including their immigration papers, the family shortbread mold, and other assorted memorabelia. I gave them each a copy for Christmas that year and they loved it! It is one of my treasures too.

If my memory serves me right, I have 33 cousins. We were all living in the Bay Area during my youth and had quite a nice life, seeing each other quite often. I have great memories of all the family time spent.

I am so glad that they immigrated to America!

I love my heritage as well!

God Bless America

This is a great song for the 4th of July

by Billy Madden & Vinnie Rhodes.

Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydSNAEnurto&feature=related

When in Transition...raw fish, buffalo burgers and who knows else is ahead!?

I'm having so much fun in California, as you well know from my postings on Facebook and here in my blog.

I'm moving to another friend's home on the 4th of July. I've been in a beautiful situation at Kim's (she makes the best ever cupcakes!!) with my own upper floor but the bedroom just gets too hot for me! Even with the air on it doesn't seem to want to cool off this room enough for this ole gal.

Patti and Mike graciously offered their home to me so I would stay in California longer. I was told I had to eat with them and enjoy plain Midwestern cooking! Okay!! Then Patti said: You will love buffalo burgers. EXCUSE ME? I know that is Idaho food..and I never tried it, but this is NOT plain old Midwestern food either! I guess I will...Patti can be persuasive.

Speaking of plain...years ago Patti and I were up in the Wine Country and stopped in for lunch. I ordered the tuna..so she did too. HOWEVER, she thot it was a tunafish sandwich, and it was a raw tuna totally California cuisine...Patti ate her salad. LOL Maybe thats' what I'll have to do if the buffalo burger doesn't tickle my palate.

Patti is my real-in-person funniest friend ever. On line its Martha; they both think so fast with a quick witty comeback you can't help laughing. Its a gift for sure! One day they can amuse me for all eternity while we hang out on the clouds. I bet Patti and Martha will bond over not liking raw tuna too!!!!!

I'll be celebrating my transition

on the 4th of July!

God Bless America and all my friends.

I am blessed.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Love ole Alfred!!

I enjoyed a marathon of Alfred Hitchcock Presents today! It was so fun. Rose Marie has an entire collection!! We watched four...its hard to watch more when you are snacking and laughing. Alfred wasn't the best looking man on the planet, but his droll sense of humor is right up my alley. He said the funniest things before, during and after the shows

One of the things we found funniest was the commercials - in every instance we realized that none of these products are still around! They were all cartoons too. Silly jingles and so retro (now). We've come a long way in advertising, that's for sure. Another thing was seeing some very famous movie stars over the years since who were so young in these TV shows. We had a bit of trouble remember them until the credits rolled, but we were able to name a couple.

Alfred's PSYCHO came out when I was a senior in high school, 1960. My folks were gone on vacation with my little brothers for two weeks and my best friend Irene was going to spend that time at my house. The fridge was stocked by my mother before they all left. Great. Our boyfriends, Jud and Matt took us to see Psycho .... oh my gosh..talk about scary! That was one of the best ever real suspenseful thrillers! After we got back to my house, the guys were in the kitchen and Irene and I were in the living room. You could exit our kitchen from two sides and end up back in the living room...which those bad boys did with big knives in their hands acting like Tony Perkins! We screamed so loud..and both took off down the hall...I locked myself in the bathroom and Irene locked herself in my parents bedroom. It took a long time for those boys to get us to come out again. We were so scared we went home to Irene's house and the safety of her parents being home for the two weeks. I think poor Irene made her mother sit in the bathroom while she took a shower for months on end.

I think I've seen most his films now. He did a few silent movies in the late 20s. in 1955 he produced: The Trouble With Harry. John Forsythe is one of the stars. Mr. Handsome himself always! I didn't see this film until about 10 years ago and it is soooooo funny. They refer to it as a black comedy.

When I first was married in 1964, Alfred Hitchcock Presents was on TV Sunday nights at 10 pm. It was an hour show. My husband worked graveyard at the time and had to leave at 10:30..Nevertheless, we watched the show..it was always so scary that when he went to work, I could not watch the last half-hour. How stupid is that? Such a wuss! And...why did we even bother with the first half?

Other favorites movies I can watch over and over are: Rear Window, Vertigo, Spellbound, North by Northwest, The Birds (my son was married in Bodega Bay in the church that was in the movie.) and Charade! I remember who I went to see Charade with (Jerry) ...and what I wore (This classic coat dress in black leather) yikes lol ...isn't that something...well they say the elderly have good long term memory...its just the short term that is the problem.

I know today's marathon is just making me want to see his full-length movies again..and I understand you can view them on hulu.com. The Trouble With Harry is there!

Alfred was brilliant!

Lassie! Lassie!!! Come Home!

Did you ever watch Lassie? You know they just had to call that dog and she came running! Now I'm a Sassy Lass as you can see by the name of my blog. When I was in college I had to take some math class that was tedious and stupid because I am so lame in math...I finally quit going to class. One of my friends said that the teacher called my name every day as he did everyone else's and then marked me as not in attendance. One day he said my name and then remarked..it's kind of like calling for Lassie but this one never comes running. I thot that was pretty funny.

Now how does that link up to what I am going to blog about you might ask! Well a couple of people have said they check my blog from time to time but haven't found much ...even a very long absence and it's true. I loved blogging and realized once I stopped that it was really because I had used the blog like journaling the majority of time as I processed my grief over Jeff's death.

Oh, yes, I did write humorous blogs, cuz you know, I am humorous! I just can't help it. What is interesting to me is that I still had a sense of humor after that huge loss in my life. I am so grateful that it never disappeared along with my Son. Humor can be a coping mechanism so perhaps thats why ... I don't know. I'm not a sociologist. I'm just me...a Sassy Lass..and only Sassy really when I need to be or think it's fun to be.

Yesterday I had lunch with a fellow friend and blogger...i look hers up every day because I take such delight in them...That Reckless Quilter writes a great blog! During our lunch the blogging came up and she encouraged me to keep on blogging. So that's why I am here. Maybe now that I dont seem to need to process my grief, it will be interesting to see what I write about.

KCP and I had lunch at Havana in Walnut Creek or as she calls it Brookside (LOL - private joke). She loves to eat adventurously (is that a word?) I have been to ChaChaCha in SF so I knew I loved Cuban..done deal.

We hadn't seen each other in a very long time and really hadn't had a chance to catch up ever..we had such a blast. we are very much alike in so many ways..all good of course!! :) We had tons of fun making fun of Olive Garden in particular as far as cuisine goes. We just had a lot of laughs..some at our own expense too! She is just a wonderful down to earth Christian sister who I love and thank God for bringing her into my life and keeping here there no matter where I live..its just like we have seen each other yesterday! (Yes, that is one run-on sentence; bad syntax and guess what? IT'S OKAY!)

Our next adventure is going to an Asian Market where she told me they can cook up a whole fish! That's what I am going to say: FRY ME A WHOLE FISH,PLEASE! I'm hoping I don't have to wait too long to do that...(can ya hear me KCP?)

What else is new with me? My transitioning continues...I'm in CA on an extended vacation and considering staying, but feeling a pull to be with my brother and family in ID as well...hard to say where i'll end up. The Lord knows! So His will...fine with me.

I joined a terrific bible study at my church on Tuesday mornings. Cynthia Heald's study on prayer. Nce nice ladies ..only knew one from living here before.

Taking an online culinary arts class from TopChefUniversity LOL..this is so hilarious I laugh every time I think of it...you can laugh too...especially those of you who know my turkey story or my lifelong condition of problems cooking....what a hoot...but i love the food shows and top chef is one of my favs..hopefully they can teach me something! Its so affordable and payable month by month so its doable too!!!!

I keep threatening to appear on FOOD NETWORK TV...who know's what the future holds for Sassy Lass?

Nice to be back!

You

You

Miss you,Jeff...the tear in the heart is huge....

Francis Chan, Pastor

Here is an opportunity to receive the audio book, FORGOTTEN GOD, by Francis Chan. Set up your account with christianaudio.com...then proceed to place the free book by francis in your basket, continue til you get to CODE ...enter JUN2010 and you will end up with a zero balance. You can then download each section to your computer. I have been listening to one a night. I am on #7 now and this one is so awesome!!!! Really asks you to question some of your beliefs and experiences as a Christian and pulls you deeper into the way of our Lord.

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Happy Birthday, Jeff

There you are on top of Machu Picchu, Peru. Looks like you were viewing heaven itself and now you've been with Jesus for almost four years. It's hard to believe as sometimes it feels like a few months and yet other times its like been forever. I miss you, my son. The world had you for 41 years and you had the world wide open as you traveled and had one adventure after another. I was always proud of you in everything you accomplished and in the humble person you remained. In your MS fight you remained brave and hopeful and yet accepting of each and every day. You showed me what can be done in spite of such an illness. You never lacked integrity, found humor in most things and loved the little things of life that became major to you as you struggled. Now you are out of the struggle and safe in His arms. On that note I take great pleasure knowing you no longer suffer with pain and also that I will indeed see you again one day for all eternity!!!! Happy Birthday!