The Most Powerful Weapon

In the fight against trafficking the most powerful weapon we have is prayer!! In fact, it's the most powerful weapon we can use against any form of evil.

I must admit, though, that there are times I get so overwhelmed by the idea of young children being used as sex slaves that I just don't know what to pray. That is when I remember Romans 8:26-27...

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. (NIV)

During my prayers for the victims (or as I call them "innocents"), I also pray for those who work to set the prisoners free. I pray they will have wisdom and discernment. I pray for their safety. I thank the Lord for their willingness to go into potentionally dangerous places to rescue the women and children.

I also include in my prayers those who work with the innocents after they are rescued. I thank the Lord for their abilities to help these dear ones to be restored to wholeness.

There are others involved in trafficking I pray for sometimes but they are the hardest ones of all to find the words...the perpetrators. I'll be honest, I do not want to or like to pray for them and I don't pray for them as often as I pray for their victims. But, maybe to some extent, they are the ones who need the most prayer. If the Lord changes their hearts and attitudes, then there will be less women and children who become victims of this horrendous evil.

I believe with all my heart that prayer can and does change things! Sometimes not as fast as we like, but everything is in God's timing! So, pray, pray, pray!! It's a powerful weapon!

OWH Memorial Day Bloghop

First of all, I want to thank all our servicemen and women for all they have done and continue to do to serve and protect this great country we live in and call the United States of America. God bless you!!

It's been awhile since I've participated in any OWH bloghops. I've been making cards for OWH since July 2007. Where has the time gone?!

Here is my card based on Sketch #69:

I tried and tried, without success to get the eagle to link but it won't!!


Thanks for stopping by. Now, its time to continue Hopping....

A Little Update

It's been a couple months since I've blogged anything. I see there have been some changes made to Blogger! It's taking me a little while to figure things out but as with anything new, I'll get it figured out sooner or later!

What have I been up to since March? Well, let me see. I finally got my veggie garden all started. This year I planted spinach and radishes (which I've already harvested), pepper plants including one jalapeno for my SIL, tomatoes, green beans, corn, basil, lettuce and cucumbers. The peppers, basil, lettuce and the tomatoes I bought from Birdsong Hollow Farm in Woodbury, TN. They grow varieties not normally found in say, Walmart or Lowe's or any place like that and maybe not even in a real garden center. A lot of their stuff is heirloom. This is my first year of growing plants from BHF and heirlooms. I'm looking forward to harvest time!

Besides working in the vegetable garden, I've been busy weeding, planting and transplanting in my flower beds. Weeding never seems to end and especially after it's just rained for a couple days!

I've been doing a LOT of reading! I love my Kindle. When I first got it, I wasn't so sure but it's so easy to always have a book on hand to read. I had a friend ask me today when I find time to read. Well, I always spend some time each day reading. I read while I eat breakfast or lunch, if I'm by myself. In between chores I read. At night I read instead of watching TV. For me, there's nothing much of interest on TV to watch, so I read.

During April and so far in May I've read 21 books. Some of those I especially enjoyed are "River's Call" by Melody Carlson. This is the second of a series she has written. I read "River's Song" back in March and look forward to the next one.

"In Name Only" by Ellen Gable was a good book, too.

I really enjoyed reading "Promise Me This" written by Christian author, Cathy Gohlke (my daughter interviewed her on her website last month, EricaSenecal.com). I think this book would make a good movie.

Though I don't usually read mystery genres, for book club I read "Heat" by Stuart Woods and was surprised that I enjoyed it even if at times I was a bit nervous! I actually had a hard time putting it down.

Last night I finished "Dunaway's Crossing". This is Nancy Brandon's first novel, which was just published in March. I'm looking forward to reading more of her books. 

I keep track of the books I read on Goodreads. For 2012 I've challenged myself to read 100 books. So far, I've read 45 books and I'm eight books ahead towards my goal!!

And, speaking of books, my daughter, Erica, is writing a book herself. Right now she's entitled it "Broken" but that's subject to change by the time she finishes the book! Her sister, Dawn, and I are two of her beta readers, along with several other family members and friends.

I can't say I don't watch TV at all. I do occasionally like to watch "Chopped" and believe it or not, "Storage Wars"!! My BIL got me hooked on these shows last summer when he was visiting. I don't watch either one on a regular basis but when I'm looking to veg out I'll see if either one of these shows is on. Occasionally I will check Xbox for a good documentary or movie to watch. Of course, when the granddaughters are here I have to watch "Sponge Bob", "Scooby-Do" and other kiddie shows!!

There are a couple things coming up that I'm looking forward to and will, hopefully remember, to blog about. Later this month, OWH is having a Memorial Day Sketch Bloghop. Haven't done one of those in quite awhile so decided I'd sign up. In June, Erica and I are going with the LSS, Sassy Scrapper, on a weekend scrapping retreat. The end of July, our friends, Bernie & Ray from NJ are going to Cincinnati. Since it's only five hours from here we are going to go up there for a couple days to see them.

Now it's time to get back to my Kindle and find another book to read!! Til next time....

Trying New Things

Well, I did it! I fell for the Pinterest craze! Not without some help, though. I found it a little confusing but with my DD's help, I got the hang of it!! Actually, it's pretty cool and I'm enjoying searching for things to pin! I like seeing what others have pinned.

It took me awhile to get onto Facebook a few years ago, but now that's old hat!! I just hate that every time you turn around they seem to change it. They just can't seem to leave it alone. Not sure how I'll like the new Timeline thing, but as with all things new, pretty soon it'll be a familiar way of FB life - and then they'll come up with some new change!!

Having a blog was another new thing to me until my daughters talked me into it! Again, as with FB and Pinterest, I needed their help to get started. I find I spend more time on FB and don't keep up with blogging. Months can go by without writing anything. Of course, I don't always have, what I consider, much of interest to write about. I get intimidated by reading other blogs and seeing how well some of them are written and how interesting they are. The one thing I like about blogging is that it is sort of a diary, albiet, a public diary, but I can look back on things that have happened or what I've maybe had on my mind or heart to share.

Considering my previous blog about losing my memory, maybe it's a good thing to blog, have a FB timeline and Pinterest interests. Some day I may need these things to stimulate my memory or, if nothing else, maybe my grands will get a kick out of reading what their Nana had to say. I know I would have if my Grandmother had technology like we do and used it.

Let me hop over to FB and Pinterest and see what's going on. Til next time....

Chemo Brain or ???

First of all, let me say that I do believe that Chemo Brain is a real condition that can happen if you've had chemotherapy. I've read many stories about people who experience loss of memory, sometimes short term, sometimes longer after undergoing treatment when they were otherwise fine before. When you think about it, it makes sense. You're putting these super duper chemicals in your body which make you lose your hair and can have other side effects, why can't it hurt your brain, too?

It's hard to tell for me since I'm of the age where it's hard to remember my name sometimes!! I've forgotten words that I've been trying to think of or sometimes even names of people I know but then they always eventually come to me. This is a natural thing that happens when you get to a certain age or so they say!

This past week a couple things happened that have me a little concerned. When I told my DD about them, they sounded so hysterical we were laughing til we were almost crying, but the first event really isn't a laughing matter and could have had dire consequences.

I had driven to the local library to get some books for my MIL. I came home, pulled into the garage, shut the door, picked up the books and got out of the car. On my way upstairs I heard a noise but couldn't figure out what it was. I just thought it was the heater my DH uses when he's working in the garage. I went upstairs and went about my business. About three hours later, DH comes home, hands me my keys and asks if I'm trying to kill myself. What? I had left the car running! I had no clue or remembrance of it!

Now this event is rather funny. The next morning one of my friends called me on my cell. We were chatting and I wanted to share something with her from my phone. Well, I looked and looked all over the house for the phone and couldn't find it. I did this for about 10 minutes and then it hit me - I was talking on the phone!! Duh!! I didn't say anything to my friend cause I felt so dumb!

I'm keeping a record of these things in case I need them for the future. DD told me she did some research because I was really concerned about Alzheimer's. She thinks it's more like Chemo Brain. Time will tell. Chemo Brain I can live with. Having Alzheimer's would be very hard.