One my favorite features on my camera is the ability to finally be able to get audio with video! We had a family gathering last Sunday to celebrate my husband Joel's birthday (9/28) and just 4 days later, Noah and Joels Mom share the same birthday on Oct 2nd.
Here are a couple fun videos... As you can see; Noah really loves to sing the Birthday song!
And another cute one of Noah singing up on the stairs landing at Grandma and grandpas
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
In God We Trust-- My Pastors Perspective :)
In God We Trust
Pastor Wendell Smith
It is the slogan emblazoned on all our money. In these uncertain times of national financial crisis, it is exactly what we need. Wouldn't it be refreshing to see our political leaders call our nation to prayer and ask for God's help in this predicament? Wouldn't it be revolutionary to see congressmen join hands and pray together? Wouldn't it be great if America humbled herself, as in days of old, and sought divine assistance?
Yes, practical steps must be taken to save the financial system from collapse. Yes, some institutions need to be rescued lest we all go down with their sinking ships. Most definitely, those who have driven us into this mess with their corporate greed should be confronted and forced to pay back all that may be loaned to them.
However, there are some things we can all do to lighten the ship and rescue others from shipwreck in this horrendous storm. While putting our trust in God, we should take these steps of action:
Pray for those in authority that they will understand the times, know what to do, and humble themselves to work together to solve our national dilemma.
Humble ourselves and repent of any pride, greed or self-reliance
Scrutinize our own financial stewardship and make certain we are "diversifying"; we should be tithing to the church, giving to others in need, blessing the poor, laying up money in savings and wise investments for the future. These are God's means of diversifying for believers.
In the mean time, as we prayerfully wait out this storm, let's get back to simply trusting God and encouraging others to do the same.
God bless America (so we can continue blessing others)!
For the City,
Pastor Wendell
Thursday, September 25, 2008
What is Unseen
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal".
II Cor. 4:18
I ran across this scripture today and it really spoke to my heart. Now that the Fall season is here, the holidays will be following just right around the corner. During the Holidays, we gather with family and friends, but we also begin to prepare our Christmas wish lists before hand.
I was just thinking about this the other day as I was browsing the Sunday sale ads for the stores. My husband casually showed me the stainless steel appliances that were advertised in a sales ad and my flesh literally was going through the "gotta have that" attitude.
Then my spirit overrided my flesh (or soul) and spoke to me saying "Does it really matter if your kitchen has stainless steel appliances or not ? What matters the most is to be content with what you have, Paula. What is seen is only temporary" Now, That really brought me back to reality and changed my perspective!
Sooo--- I am working on being more content in my environment and circumstances. Back in 2004, the Lord blessed us with a beautiful townhouse. Its a matter of working on getting my soul and spirit to work in unison is the key!
We put our townhouse on the market over the Summer, in hopes to relocate to Texas when it is sold. Originally, I am a Southern California native-- but I have lived here in Washington State for over 30 years (gasp!) LOL. My spirit (and body too) just yearns to return in a warmer climate, where there is a low cost of living, and our family can get spiritually fed in a new home church.
My husband and I also have the goal of becoming totally debt free and eventually owning a house with no mortgage. (Even though I won 250K towards our home, we had to take out a mortgage in 2004 just to pay the taxes.)
At this point there have been about a dozen showings, a couple Open Houses and we even an offer back in August that was shortlived, due the buyers had to retract due unforeseen financial issues.
Even though we still have faith that our house will sell eventually (even with a slow real estate market!!!! Cause I know that the Lord has the ability to override anything that is seen with our eyes & can do "exceeding and abundantly anything above than we can even ask or think"-Ephesians 3:20)
But for now....I have decided to be content with the Lord's plans for our lives. If we are meant to stay here in Washington for a little while longer, then I gladly give God that control-- cause what is unseen is eternal and I refuse to fight against the Lords will for my life. :)
II Cor. 4:18
I ran across this scripture today and it really spoke to my heart. Now that the Fall season is here, the holidays will be following just right around the corner. During the Holidays, we gather with family and friends, but we also begin to prepare our Christmas wish lists before hand.
I was just thinking about this the other day as I was browsing the Sunday sale ads for the stores. My husband casually showed me the stainless steel appliances that were advertised in a sales ad and my flesh literally was going through the "gotta have that" attitude.
Then my spirit overrided my flesh (or soul) and spoke to me saying "Does it really matter if your kitchen has stainless steel appliances or not ? What matters the most is to be content with what you have, Paula. What is seen is only temporary" Now, That really brought me back to reality and changed my perspective!
Sooo--- I am working on being more content in my environment and circumstances. Back in 2004, the Lord blessed us with a beautiful townhouse. Its a matter of working on getting my soul and spirit to work in unison is the key!
We put our townhouse on the market over the Summer, in hopes to relocate to Texas when it is sold. Originally, I am a Southern California native-- but I have lived here in Washington State for over 30 years (gasp!) LOL. My spirit (and body too) just yearns to return in a warmer climate, where there is a low cost of living, and our family can get spiritually fed in a new home church.
My husband and I also have the goal of becoming totally debt free and eventually owning a house with no mortgage. (Even though I won 250K towards our home, we had to take out a mortgage in 2004 just to pay the taxes.)
At this point there have been about a dozen showings, a couple Open Houses and we even an offer back in August that was shortlived, due the buyers had to retract due unforeseen financial issues.
Even though we still have faith that our house will sell eventually (even with a slow real estate market!!!! Cause I know that the Lord has the ability to override anything that is seen with our eyes & can do "exceeding and abundantly anything above than we can even ask or think"-Ephesians 3:20)
But for now....I have decided to be content with the Lord's plans for our lives. If we are meant to stay here in Washington for a little while longer, then I gladly give God that control-- cause what is unseen is eternal and I refuse to fight against the Lords will for my life. :)
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
What Your Brain Looks like on Faith
I found this rather interesting.... :)
By David Van Biema
Sam Harris is best known for his barn-burning 2004 attack on religion, The End of Faith, which spent 33 weeks on the New York Times best-seller List. The book's sequel, Letter to a Christian Nation also came out in editions totalling hundreds of thousands. Last Monday, however, the combative Californian produced a shorter (seven pages) and seemingly calmer publication that will be a hit if it reaches 10,000 readers: "Functional Neuroimaging of Belief, Disbelief and Uncertainty." It appears in the respected journal Annals of Neurology. And Harris, 40, claims it has little if any connection to his two popular books. Believers, however, may draw their own conclusions — and may want to read his subsequent neurological studies even more carefully.
The current paper recovers Harris's identity as a doctoral candidate in neuroscience at UCLA, his occupation before he commenced what he calls his "extramural affair jumping into trenches in the culture wars." It is an addition to the growing field of brain scan trials, and Harris thinks it may be the first to detail how the brain processes belief. At first read, it seems less dangerous to Christianity than to another cherished pillar of Western thought — that "objective" beliefs like "2 + 2 = 4" and "subjective" beliefs like "torture is bad" belong to entirely separate categories of thought.
Harris and two co-authors ran 360 statements by 14 adult subjects whose brain activities were then scanned by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) devices. It suggests that within the brain pan, at least, the distinction between objective and subjective is not so clear-cut. Although more complex assertions may get analyzed in so-called "higher" areas of the brain, all seem to get their final stamp of "belief" or disbelief in "primitive" locales traditionally associated with emotions or taste and odor. Even "2 + 2 = 4," on some level, is a question of taste. Thus, the statement "that just doesn't smell right to me" may be more literal than we thought.
Harris tested how the brain responded to assertions in seven categories: mathematical, geographic, semantic, factual, autobiographical, ethical and religious. All seven provided some useful data, but only the ones relating to math and ethics produced results clear enough to give a vivid picture of the way the simple and the complex, the subjective and the objective intertwine. Regardless of their content, statements that the subjects believed lit up the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (VMPC), a location in the brain best known for processing reward, emotion and taste. Equally "primitive" areas associated with taste, pain perception and disgust determined disbelief. "False propositions may actually disgust us," Harris writes.
Is there a practical application here? He speculates that if belief brain scanning were sufficiently refined it could act as an accurate lie detector and help control for the placebo effect in drug design.
Harris says there is no critique of faith hidden somewhere in his brief paper. But his next neurological enterprise may be another matter. He is planning an fMRI run that will concentrate specifically on religious faith, which Harris thinks he now knows how to plumb more deeply. He also plans to set up two different subject groups — the faithful and non-believers. "That way," among other things, he says, "you can ask, 'Do believers believe that Jesus was born of a virgin the same way that nonbelievers believe that Chevrolet makes cars and trucks?'" It may turn out that the brain treats religious faith as its own special category of belief unlike ethics and math.
But that is not what Harris expects to find. He suspects the machines will show that "belief is belief is belief." And that conclusion, he admits, may put him at loggerheads with familiar foes. No one, he says, could accuse him or anyone else of trying to disprove God's existence on the basis of an fMRI. But faith is more vulnerable. "People who feel that religious faith is a singular operation of the brain — if they admit that it's an operation of the brain at all — would object to what I'm doing, since it may show that faith is essentially the same as other kinds of knowing or thinking. The whole thing will seem fishy to anyone who thinks we have immaterial souls running around in our bodies."
Which, of course, a lot of people do. And despite the fact that, as Harris puts it, his current literary mode "is not beach reading," they may find that they are keeping up with his academic writings more avidly — and nervously — than they do his bestsellers.
Scan of a brain
What Your Brain looks like on Faith
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1694723,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-nation-relatedBy David Van Biema
Sam Harris is best known for his barn-burning 2004 attack on religion, The End of Faith, which spent 33 weeks on the New York Times best-seller List. The book's sequel, Letter to a Christian Nation also came out in editions totalling hundreds of thousands. Last Monday, however, the combative Californian produced a shorter (seven pages) and seemingly calmer publication that will be a hit if it reaches 10,000 readers: "Functional Neuroimaging of Belief, Disbelief and Uncertainty." It appears in the respected journal Annals of Neurology. And Harris, 40, claims it has little if any connection to his two popular books. Believers, however, may draw their own conclusions — and may want to read his subsequent neurological studies even more carefully.
The current paper recovers Harris's identity as a doctoral candidate in neuroscience at UCLA, his occupation before he commenced what he calls his "extramural affair jumping into trenches in the culture wars." It is an addition to the growing field of brain scan trials, and Harris thinks it may be the first to detail how the brain processes belief. At first read, it seems less dangerous to Christianity than to another cherished pillar of Western thought — that "objective" beliefs like "2 + 2 = 4" and "subjective" beliefs like "torture is bad" belong to entirely separate categories of thought.
Harris and two co-authors ran 360 statements by 14 adult subjects whose brain activities were then scanned by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) devices. It suggests that within the brain pan, at least, the distinction between objective and subjective is not so clear-cut. Although more complex assertions may get analyzed in so-called "higher" areas of the brain, all seem to get their final stamp of "belief" or disbelief in "primitive" locales traditionally associated with emotions or taste and odor. Even "2 + 2 = 4," on some level, is a question of taste. Thus, the statement "that just doesn't smell right to me" may be more literal than we thought.
Harris tested how the brain responded to assertions in seven categories: mathematical, geographic, semantic, factual, autobiographical, ethical and religious. All seven provided some useful data, but only the ones relating to math and ethics produced results clear enough to give a vivid picture of the way the simple and the complex, the subjective and the objective intertwine. Regardless of their content, statements that the subjects believed lit up the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (VMPC), a location in the brain best known for processing reward, emotion and taste. Equally "primitive" areas associated with taste, pain perception and disgust determined disbelief. "False propositions may actually disgust us," Harris writes.
Is there a practical application here? He speculates that if belief brain scanning were sufficiently refined it could act as an accurate lie detector and help control for the placebo effect in drug design.
Harris says there is no critique of faith hidden somewhere in his brief paper. But his next neurological enterprise may be another matter. He is planning an fMRI run that will concentrate specifically on religious faith, which Harris thinks he now knows how to plumb more deeply. He also plans to set up two different subject groups — the faithful and non-believers. "That way," among other things, he says, "you can ask, 'Do believers believe that Jesus was born of a virgin the same way that nonbelievers believe that Chevrolet makes cars and trucks?'" It may turn out that the brain treats religious faith as its own special category of belief unlike ethics and math.
But that is not what Harris expects to find. He suspects the machines will show that "belief is belief is belief." And that conclusion, he admits, may put him at loggerheads with familiar foes. No one, he says, could accuse him or anyone else of trying to disprove God's existence on the basis of an fMRI. But faith is more vulnerable. "People who feel that religious faith is a singular operation of the brain — if they admit that it's an operation of the brain at all — would object to what I'm doing, since it may show that faith is essentially the same as other kinds of knowing or thinking. The whole thing will seem fishy to anyone who thinks we have immaterial souls running around in our bodies."
Which, of course, a lot of people do. And despite the fact that, as Harris puts it, his current literary mode "is not beach reading," they may find that they are keeping up with his academic writings more avidly — and nervously — than they do his bestsellers.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Recognizing Our Own Abundance
I loved this message, so I thought I would post it. I can personally testify from my own life that what we give to the world, always comes back to us... the ultimate law of attraction! I am just amazed on how that works and how much it parallels the principles of God.
Whenever I think of the word "abundance "; I always think of the Fall Season and the scripture that comes to mind is " as long as the Earth remains, there will be always be seedtime and harvest"... so whatever what we sow, positive or negative, will eventually come right back to us-- and sometimes not as we had expected nor had planned!
Recognizing Our Own Abundance
Planting The Seeds Of Generosity
The most difficult time to be generous is when we ourselves are feeling poor. While some of us have experienced actually being in the red financially, there are those of us who would feel broke even if we had a million dollars in the bank.
Either way, as the old adage goes, it is always in giving that we receive. Meaning that when we are living in a state of lack, the very gesture we may least want to give is the very act that could help us create the abundance that we seek. One way to practice generosity is to give energy where it is needed. Giving money to a cause or person in need is one way to give energy. Giving attention, love, or a smile to another person are other acts of giving that we can offer.
After all, there are people all over the world that are hungry for love. Sometimes when we practice generosity, we practice it conditionally. We might be expecting to “receive back” from the person to whom we gave. We might even become angry or resentful if that person doesn’t reciprocate. However, trust in the natural flow of energy, and you will find yourself practicing generosity with no strings attached. This is the purest form of giving. Remember that what you send out will always come back you.
Selflessly help a friend in need without expecting them to return the same favor in the same way, and know that you, too, will receive that support from the universe when you need it. Besides, while giving conditionally creates stress (because we are waiting with an invisible balance sheet to receive our due), giving unconditionally creates and generates abundance. We give freely, because we trust that there is always an unlimited supply.
Being aware of how much we are always supported by the universe is one of the keys to abundance and generosity. Consciously remember the times you’ve received support from expected and unexpected sources.
Remember anyone who has helped you when you’ve needed it most, and bless all situations that come into your life for the lessons and gifts they bring you. Remember that all things given and received emanate from generosity. Giving is an act of gratitude. Plant the seeds of generosity through your acts of giving, and you will grow the fruits of abundance for yourself and those around you.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
God's Secrets
I thought this was an awesome blog post and wanted to add it to mine. It makes perfect sense to me as sometimes the Lord speaks to me through certain dreams at night using symbols that I wouldnt otherwise be able to comphrend during the day. Just like the author of this blog, I am in awe of the Lords unlimited power. That unlimited power keeps me in a healthy balance just knowing that I can put my upmost trust in Him when I give the control over to Him.
Its amazing, cause I really didnt know the true meaning of "fearing the Lord" meant until I surrendered my life to Him & was in awe as I watched Him take control over my life and circumstances. Its definately something that I no longer take for granted, cause Ive personally seen what the Lord can do in the world and in the lives of others.
http://livingmyfaith.blogspot.com/
We have a friend who is unable to keep a secret. A couple weeks ago she was included in a planned surprise anniversary party for her son. She said she kept her “lip zipped” and was so proud of herself. As her family looked back, they recalled how she dropped big hints on the way to the party with them. While they didn’t catch on, she just could not totally keep this great secret to herself.
God has secrets too. He has a secret covenant or agreement that He makes with certain people. Psalm 25:14 describes the people to whom He makes this mystery known, “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.”Most people would say that the fear of the Lord means an awe and reverence for Him. It does mean that, but in my research, this word can also mean terror, like the healthy terror
I should have if a hungry tiger walked into the room or a tornado was bearing down on my house .Fearing the Lord, in my opinion, means recognizing His unlimited power and what He could do in my life and in this world. It means knowing that He is not to be messed with, and even though He is a loving God who cares for me more than my awareness, like the children of Narnia, I know that “He is not a tame lion.”
The fear of the Lord is important for me. If I focused only on His unconditional love, I might take that for granted and do stupid things. This holy fear keeps my choices in balance. If I focused only on His grace and forgiveness, I might sin without a thought, but fear makes me realize that God can inflict chastening and even bring great calamities to teach me that sin is my enemy; I must not fool around with it.
Even the consequences of deliberate sin show me that I need to fear the Lord. While He forgives me, He may not withhold the fruit of foolishness just because He loves me.This verse from the Psalm 25 brings out another great reason to fear the Lord. He reveals His secrets to those who do.
Because I fear Him, He shows me things that I would not otherwise know, things about Him and the spiritual realm, things about myself and others, and the trusts about the covenant or solemn agreement that He has made with me.C. S. Lewis did a great job in depicting the Lord with the lion, Aslan in his Chronicles of Narnia series. Sometimes I imagine myself with those children curled up in the fur of Aslan, knowing that He could devour me in just one bite, yet knowing that I am safe with him.I am safe with God too.
Because Jesus died for me, I am protected from God’s fury and wrath, and can instead consider this sin-hating God my refuge and hiding place. He still hates sin, but He let me in on His secret—the closer I get to Him, the less apt I am to experience His wrath and the more I know about His grace.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
In Remembrance of 9-11: We will Never Forget!
It's hard to believe its been 7 years since that fateful day, yet I can still it recall it like it was yesterday. I was 9 months pregnant, with my son, Noah at the time. I remember how my 2 eldest boys, Josh and Jeremy were getting ready for school that morning & called me into the living room that morning and said "Mom, you've got to see whats happening on tv!"I thought I was watching some sort of movie and couldnt believe what I was seeing on the tv screen and watched in horror. My heart sank to the floor & I found myself in tears. I remember thinking, Please God, dont let me go into Labor today as I touched my pregnant belly--as I was only 2 weeks away from my due date. I prayed for the safety of my family that day and those who had lost their lives that day.
Most of all, I prayed for America & how the terrorists could try to steal from us, but they could never steal our freedom. We are Americans and we will stand strong... together!!
I think 9-11 was a wake up call for all of us-- A warning that evil does exist in the world & its up to us to be the change!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Sarah Palin/Tina Fey... Striking Resemblance!
Govenor Sarah Palin
Actress Tina FeyChange the hair a little and its pretty darn close!
I'll bet Saturday Night Live is going to have a blast with this one!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Sarah Palin-- Advocate for Special Needs Children
Sarah Palin - advocate for Down syndrome, special needs
Every family or friend of a person with Down syndrome would love to see the footage of the love showered on baby Trig - Sarah Palin's fifth child, who has Down syndrome - by his siblings last night
I loved the close ups of the youngest daughter cradling Trig in her arms and smoothing his hair.
And my goodness, when Sarah took the baby and held him close to her, then turned him out so all America could see his beautiful face - well, it doesn't get much better than that.
And my goodness, when Sarah took the baby and held him close to her, then turned him out so all America could see his beautiful face - well, it doesn't get much better than that.
Who would have thought that a baby with Down syndrome could be in such a position to witness to the world?
Palin on her son Trig and her promise to us:
"And in April, my husband, Todd, and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. From the inside, no family ever seems typical.
That's how it is with us.
Our family has the same ups and downs as any other -- the same challenges and the same joys.
Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.
And children with special needs inspire a special love.
To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters.
I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House".
Folks, this is going to spark a national conversation that is long overdue:
Sarah Palin, Down syndrome & the brave new world
By Valerie Karr
Thursday, September 4th 2008, 4:00 AM
By Valerie Karr
Thursday, September 4th 2008, 4:00 AM
Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin has put children with disabilities in a national spotlight. Her recent decision to have a child with Down syndrome places her in a tiny minority of American women. A staggering statistic: 92% of unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome are now aborted in the United States. I don't normally get overly exercised about the issue of abortion, but this number is striking - and a searing indictment of social values. Somehow, we are saying the lives of children with Down syndrome mean less than those of so-called normal children.
Read entire article here.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Noahs First day of 1rst Grade :)
I can't believe that it seemed like only yesterday when Noah had started preschool. He started preschool a month after we had moved into our new townhouse back in Sept of 2004. When we first moved in, his little head was inches below the mantle of our fireplace.
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