Is We Friends?

Friends don't let friends die without Jesus and go to Hell.

Have you heard about the "Last Lecture" Randy Pausch the guy who got diagnosed with pancreas cancer, given 3-6 mos to live, and gave an inspirational lecture about living your life to the fullest. He died last week.

He was a Unitarian Universalist. UUA Here is a quote from there "About us" section of their website... "Unitarian Universalism Association of Congregants is a liberal religion with Jewish-Christian roots. It has no creed. It affirms the worth of human beings, advocates freedom of belief and the search for advancing truth, and tries to provide a warm, open, supportive community for people who believe that ethical living is the supreme witness of religion."

I looked all over that site, even read their recommendations for calling a minister. I looked at a list of qualifications to be a minister. I didn't see ANYTHING about accepting Jesus as your savior. The closest I found was a general statement of "Love your neighbor." As a matter of fact it stated that their minister should no be bound by any creed or religious belief, but instead free to openly state his opinions.

The sad thing about this whole thing, is how he inspired millions, and yet what would he say to us now? At this very moment. I much suspect that he would beg like the rich man in hell who begged for someone to be allowed to be raised from the dead to warn his loved ones that Hell is real. (Luke 16:19-31)

The bible tells in Philippians, "Do not be deceived, God can not be mocked." You can make fun of God all you want to here on earth, and because He is a very powerful God who knows how to restrain Himself, He may not do a single thing to you, while you are here on earth, but we all live eternally some where...

Where will you spend eternity? Is we friends? Lets be better friends. Let me tell you about my friend. His name is Jesus, and many years ago, He died on a cross just because He wanted to spare you from your sins. You see, we are all sinners, we have all sinned and failed God, but God sent his only son, Jesus, to earth to take our sins on himself, and be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. All that you have to do is ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins.

Just repeat this prayer, Lord Jesus, I ask you to come into my life, forgive me of my sins and help me to turn my life over to you, and your plan. Amen.

If you read this blog and accepted Jesus into your heart for the first time, please comment me, I would like to get in touch with you and send you one of my books to encourage you to grow in God.

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Ps. I didn't take that picture.

I love my church!

I love my church, there are two wonderful ladies I sing with... We blend so well... Here is a picture of us singing on Sunday. Their names are Edie (on the left), Glenda (in the middle), and Me...

Oh BTW... I am not just giving the singers extra time. We use a CD. We need a piano player, or a guitar player... Know any willing to play for free?? Shoot me an email.

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Farwell BOW Award...

Thank you to everyone who has visited my blog this week and commented. I was honored to have been chosen.

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

BFF & E

My BFF and I went to get our nails done... Well we got Mani's and pedi's
(manicures and pedicures). Here we are sitting in the pedicure chairs... drinking our Starbucks... (we went to see Sam at work).
Here are my toes finished with the nice little free flip flops... awww
She went for the pink, and I went for the red.
See our little toeses!
Thank you BFF Andriea!!!
I appreciate the treat!
tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Juliannah's new glasses

Isn't she a door bell? (code for adorable) They are actually red, but I guess with all the red around her, they look brown.

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Crying over Monk-Monk

Crying Over Monk-Monk

When I was about 10, I was still very immature in many ways. One of those ways was my stuffed monkey, Monk-Monk. I loved Monk-Monk. My grandmother, Mama Dunk, gave him to me when I was about five for a Christmas present. I can still remember opening the box; he was in a shoebox. Never again… I thought. He was too precious to be in a mere shoebox. You have to understand, Monk-Monk gave me something I had a hard time finding anywhere else - unconditional love. I would lie in bed at night, and tell Monk-Monk all my woes and cares (as many as a 6 year old has) and he never judged me or argued with me. He simply listened, and I knew he loved me. Most importantly, he never made fun of me like most of the kids at school. He loved me.

My sister, Shannon, and my cousin, Terry, loved to tease me. Their favorite thing to do was mess with Monk-Monk. It would devastate me. They were so mean that once they hung him up in a china berry tree, suspended by fishing wire. Also included was a shoe of mine, a shirt, and well... some “unmentionables.” I would of course, as any good princess would, run to my grandmother, Granny Jones, and whine about how horrible they were treating me. That was only the tip of the things they did to Monk-Monk, and every time I would complain about how mean they were, Granny Jones would always tell me the same thing, “If you just ignore them they will quit.”

One day after Granny and I returned from a trip to the store, sure enough, as we walked in the door, there dangling above our heads, was Monk-Monk, suspended from the door chain by his neck. I was devastated. Absolutely mortified that my beloved was treated so… I ignored it though. I went straight to my bed, and cried myself to sleep. It took all the strength I had, and I probably prayed to God for more, to help me not go get Monk-Monk down. But guess what? Granny was right! That was the last time they ever tortured Monk-Monk.

As I was thinking about this, I was struck by how Granny didn’t punish them; she taught me how to deal with it. I think she realized something important; I can’t control others; I can’t make them not tease me; I can only control me. I can act (consider their actions and respond), and not react.

There will always be bullies and there will always be someone to irritate you. Will you act or react? Will you choose to,

Always do for other people everything you want them to do for you.

Matthew 7:12

Or are you going to go cry over Monk-Monk?

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

P.S. What do you think of my new blog? My bff helped me customize it some.

Stitch Rippers

Here is a new Microburst! that will be in the second book. I wanted you all to be the first to read it. If you saw yesterdays post you will know that even though I wrote this several months ago, it ministered to me all over again yesterday... God is cool like that...

Stitch Rippers.

Any of you sew? Got a Grandmother that sews? Have you ever seen a Stitch Ripper? It is a sharp pokey thing with a small razor blade in it that you can use in sewing to rip out seams if you have sewn them wrong, or just changed your mind. Recently I have felt like someone has been using one on me. Lately I have had a lot of things going on. Let me name a few:

· Trying to start my own photography business

· Attending college to get a Psychology degree

· Home schooling my two oldest kids…(12 & 11)

· My two youngest in public school

· My boys in Wrestling

· All four of them in Junior Bible Quiz (shameless plug)

· My husband working 2 jobs, so I am almost a single mom

Not to mention trying to get a book published...

Stress stress every where, and not a place to hide! Sometimes I feel like I am being ripped apart at the seams. Then, I realized, I am being ripped apart at the seams, but it is OK, God will sew me back together and probably let some bad stuff fall out in the process! After all, Psalms 139:5 says

“You hem me in, behind and before….”

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Ever had one of THOSE days?

I put a picture of my bubble bath... Cause I could use one. I was playing with my blog last night, and the night before i was supposed to receive the BOW award... I completely erased all my widgets... Nice huh... I don't even have anything saying I belong to the AG blogs... lol

Now that was bad enough, but then, remember the pics of the broken laptop? I am still using that and it gets worse every day, but I can't buy another one until I get my student loans, August 25th... Well, I guess my laptop got a virus or something, and just quit working. Quit. Kaput... Nothing. I was finally able to reformat the hard drive, and at least get it operable... Thankfully I didn't loose my second book, MICROBURSTS! 2 which is a work in progress.

Ok on a final note my BFF just started blogging. Go Andriea! I am so proud of her! Please go check it out, and welcome her to the world of blogs! Oh and btw... I am not sure that friend of hers is so smart... But I know she prays. (she is me)


tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Guess What?

I have been awarded the BOW (blog of the week) award. The BOW is also a double innuendo to elude to the fact that we bow to our God. Part of the award, is the permission to post the above button on every post I make this week.

I also had the awesome privilege of designing the button, so the nifty things is on the left is Juliannah, and on the right is Tymothie. God is sooo awesome! Oh, and a huge thank you to Jenni Weiss of the Big Weiss Blog for nominating me.

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Wedding Shoot?

No!!! She is entirely tooo young. However this was so cute, she is holding my wedding bouquet from 14 years ago. I never let them play with it, so for her to get to hold it... She thought she had just been crowned Miss America.

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Nana... need I say more? There is a critter pic coming...

Nana thought it was cool, but the cat, not so much...

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

When you get the keys to your kingdom... be sure to make a spare set...

This is dedicated to David Railey... About 3 years ago, when the announcement was made that we would be leaving our position as youth pastors, to be seniors, David (who was visiting our church that day) leaned over to me and said "When you enter your kingdom will you remember me?" Well I laughed and said of course, but he forgot to tell me to make a spare set of the keys to the kingdom.

When we first got to that church as senior pastors, with in the first week, on a Sunday, Q locked himself out of his office (accidentally) and had to call a locksmith to come open it... lol

That was bad enough, but then, two years later, after we left that Church, and accepted our current position as senior pastors at Shebly Christian Fellowship, Q locked himself out of his office. Yes I am telling you the truth. Yes, this just happened, this last Sunday. Blessedly he had his bible, and sermon notes with him, (since it was rt before service). It was soooo funny. Another blessing, the former pastor Bro Rod, had an extra set still, and lived near by.

We got to meet brother Rod and sister Bonita... lol. Nice people.

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Some people will sleep anywhere...

Tym decided the top of his dresser was a good place to sleep last night...

Wow I bet that was hard.

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Lakeland Revival... Breaking News...

I guess the wild horses are running away...

Breaking news - just saw this come across the wire on ABC News:

From website: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaithMatters/story?id=5338963&page=1

Their page says this:

UPDATE: After this story aired on "Nightline," Fresh Fire Ministries released a statement announcing that preacher Todd Bentley would be taking time off "to refresh and to rest" after having spent four months in Lakeland, Fla., leading revival meetings. In the meantime their Lakeland broadcasts on GOD TV are put on hold.

If you want to watch the Nightline clip, click here.

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Every Date is a Potential Mate

Every Date is a Potential Mate

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:14 not to be unequally yoked (KJV). That is referring to two oxen yoked for a plow. A yoke is a clamp or similar piece that embraces two parts to hold or unite them in position.

If one ox is larger and much stronger than the other, they will plow in circles because the stronger one pulls harder. Also, the team would tire quickly and quit working since only one ox is doing all of the work.

As a youth pastor’s wife, I encourage my teenagers to date other teens who have the same beliefs. I encourage them not to date someone if they are not on the same page spiritually. Why? The entire relationship will go around in circles about religion, and more often than not, the saved one (the one we would think to be the stronger one) will wear down and give in, and turn away from God rather than fight against their partner.

Every date is a potential mate. I have heard it said that who you marry determines 90% of your happiness for the rest of your life. If you don’t agree on something as fundamental as religion, don’t even date that person. Why? You’ll wind up getting attached and when the other person asks you to marry them, what are you going to say, “Sorry, I can’t marry you, we are unequally yoked?”

What are you going to do when they look at you and say, “Why was it okay to date me?”

Stop forming inappropriate relationships with unbelievers. Can right and wrong be partners? Can light have anything in common with darkness?

2 Corinthians 6:14

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Hurt finger up date...

Looking much better huh?
























Also, here is a moth she caught.

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Let sleeping dogs lie?

Daddy says "Absolute no one" can sleep in his chair... Well I guess no one told Tym that... lol

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Hmmm Lakeland Revival...

In this particular picture Nana is studying a spider web... I wonder if the two are related? Just a thought.

Here is a link to a well put together blog about the Lakeland revival, by Sharon... Click here.

And here is one more article about the evangelist "Todd Bentley"

Let me know whatcha think.

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

So... is anybody really out there?

So... sometimes I wonder... 1. Does anyone really read this stuff? (other than Deanna,my kids, my mother-in-law, my nieces, and Andriea.(obligatory bff read) )

2. Who are you? introduce yourself to me. (below it usually says 0 comments... click there and leave me a comment)

3. If you are a regular reader, (have been here more than 7 times...) what brings you back? Why do you like it?

Ok I just wondered...

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Wow! God knows how to paint em, huh?

This is a sunflower... I was sitting in my living room today, and I looked out my window, and there in the edge of my yard, was this beautiful sunflower... Wow does God know how to paint em or what?

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

We got a Sam!!!

Sam decided to take a huge leap!

She decided to move to Alabama to be with us, all the way from Cape Coral Fl.

We are excited to have her...

tGbtg Amen, DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Sam is deathly afraid of caterpillars, butterflies, and Moths... so Sorry Sam! But I had to put this picture of the Moth Nana caught in my blog.

Nana, aka Ellie Mae...

One of my first book reviews!

This is an email I recieved from a local christian bookstore!

Dearest DaNella,

My God has given you a great gift.I thank God for you...for the profound wisdom He has given you...for the Love He is showing through you. May God's blessings be upon you, always.

Microburst ! A great book of Gods wisdom. I have only read to the26th page, and every page has been so profound. A down to earth wisdom, like Christ used, to bring you to reality. I truly believe that God has used you greatly. I do know of many that could use this book and I pray that God will send them your way. So, I thank you for doing God's work. Pamela Howell ; Lil Mustard Seed

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Juliannah is seven!

Juliannah is seven! For her birthday, we got her a Nintendo DS. We knew that was what she wanted, but we pretended that all we had gotten her was a purse... (see it, a blue jean purse hiding behind daddies back) So when we handed it to her, she opened it, and when she saw the DS... she began to scream!!! She was happy!
We got her Nintendogs.. so she has a pet of her own... Happy Birthday Ju-Ju!!!

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6

Nana's Critter Corner...

This girl can find critters like no one I know. I'm gonna start calling her Ellie Mae, and be glad we don't have "cement pond."

Today she went out on the front porch, and came back in, and said "Can I pick it up?"

I said "Sure if you are brave enough..."

She was. Then she had to introduce it to her hamster, Yasha...

As If that weren't enough, then she found a Caterpillar. Pretty little thing, looked like it had crawled through some loose yarn!

So to top that off, she finally found the kittens our cat had about 5 weeks ago, and decided it needed to meet the Caterpillar... lol Friends for life, I am sure!

tGbtg Amen,
DaNella
Proverbs 3:5-6