Sunday Thoughts

I received this today, and it spoke to my heart. Will it speak to yours? SATAN'S MEETING Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address he said, "We can't keep Christians from going to church." "We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth...." "We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with Their SAVIOR." "Once they gain that connection with JESUS, our power over them is Broken." "So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship With JESUS CHRIST.." "This is what I want you to do," said the devil: "Distract them from gaining hold of their SAVIOR and maintaining that Vital connection throughout their day!" "How shall we do this?" his demons shouted. "Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable Schemes to occupy their minds," he answered...... "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow." "Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty Lifestyles." "Keep them from spending time with their children." "As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from The pressures of work!" "Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice." "Entice them to play the radio or I-Pod whenever they drive." To Keep the TV, DVDs, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see To it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music Constantly." "This will jam their minds and break that union with CHRIST." "Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers." "Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day." "Invade their driving moments with billboards." "Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and Every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services And false hopes." "Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll Become dissatisfied with their wives. " "Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night." "Give them headaches too! " "If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to Look elsewhere." "That will fragment their families quickly!" "Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children the Real meaning of Christmas." "Give them an Easter bunny so they won't talk about HIS resurrection And power over sin and death..." "Even in their recreation, let them be excessive." "Have them return from their recreation exhausted." "Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on GOD'S creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies Instead." "Keep them busy, busy, busy!" "And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and Small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences." "Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek Power from JESUS." "Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health And family for the good of the cause." "It will work!" "It will work!" It was quite a plan! The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere To get busier & more rushed, going here & there. Having little time for their GOD or their families. Having no time to tell others about the power of JESUS to change lives. I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes? You be the judge!!!!! Does "BUSY" mean: B-eing U-nder S-atan's Yoke?

Long Live The Queen

I was a little shocked by the pictures when it penetrated my brain as to how long she's been around.

This old gal gives new meaning to the phrase "Long Live the Queen"

How old does this one make you feel? I don't know about you, but I went OMG somewhere between Eisenhower and Truman. P.S. After looking at this I am shocked at how long I"VE been around, too!!!)

PSA (Publice Service Announcement)

You are watching The Bachelor and you begin to crave something for a snack.

You open the fridge in hopes of finding something that will satisfy your craving.

You begin digging through packages, foil, plastic container, etc.

You even do a sniff test of a few questionable items.Need help identifying the food in your fridge?
How can you tell if it is safe to eat?

As a public service, I am going to help you avoid death via food poisoning.

Before digesting, complete one or more of the following procedures:


THE GAG TEST
Anything that makes you gag is spoiled.


EGGS
When something starts pecking its way out of the shell, the egg is probably past its prime.


DAIRY PRODUCTS
Milk is spoiled when it starts to look like yogurt.
Yogurt is spoiled when it starts to look like cottage cheese.
Cottage cheese is spoiled when it starts to look like regular cheese.
Regular cheese is nothing but spoiled milk anyway and can’t get any more spoiled than it is already.
Cheddar cheese is spoiled when you think it is blue cheese.


MAYONNAISE
If it makes you violently ill after you eat it, the mayonnaise is spoiled.


FROZEN FOODS
Frozen foods that have become an integral part of the defrosting problem in your freezer compartment will probably be spoiled.


EXPIRATION DATES
This is NOT a marketing ploy to encourage you to throw away perfectly good food so that you’ll spend more on groceries.
Perhaps you’d benefit by having a calendar in your kitchen.


MEAT
If opening the refrigerator door causes stray animals from a three-block radius to congregate outside your house, the meat is spoiled.


BREAD
Sesame seeds and Poppy seeds are the only officially acceptable “spots” that should be seen on the surface of any loaf of bread.
Fuzzy and hairy looking white or green growth areas are a good indication that your bread has turned into a pharmaceutical laboratory experiment.


FLOUR
Flour is spoiled when it wiggles.


SALT
It never spoils.


CEREAL
It is generally a good rule of thumb that cereal should be discarded when it is two years or longer beyond the expiration date.


LETTUCE
Bibb lettuce is spoiled when you can’t get it off the bottom of the vegetable crisper without Comet.
Romaine lettuce is spoiled when it turns liquid.


CANNED GOODS
Any canned goods that have become the size or shape of a softball should be disposed of. Carefully.

RAISINS
Raisins should not be harder than your teeth.


POTATOES
Fresh potatoes do not have roots, branches, or dense, leafy undergrowth.


CHIP DIP
If you can take it out of its container and bounce it on the floor, it has gone bad.

UNMARKED ITEMS:
You know it is well beyond prime when you’re tempted to discard the Tupperware along with the food.
Generally speaking, Tupperware containers should not burp when you OPEN them.


GENERAL RULE OF THUMB:
Most food cannot be kept longer than the average life span of a hamster.
Keep a hamster in or nearby your refrigerator to gauge this.

H/T to Missy

Big Families

Why Big Families Might Be Easier

by Matthew Archbold


A woman said to me recently that my five children were very well behaved. It’s one of the best things I can hear so I thanked her. Then she asked me “how do you do it with so many?”
I told her that I don’t think I’d be a very good parent of one child or two. She didn’t believe my answer but honest to goodness, I sometimes think that having many children is easier than just one.
Why big families are easier:

Patience. I never have to teach patience. My children know that I can’t drop everything for them if I have a baby in my arms.

Work Ethic. My children have learned to work because there are always chores to do in a small house packed with little messy lunatics. And they all learn quickly that sometimes they have to clean up a mess even though they didn’t make it.

Humility. My children have learned it’s not always their turn. They’ve accepted they can’t always get their way because other people have to get their way sometimes. They’ve learned that some children are better at certain things than they are.

Foreign language skills. You can learn a lot of Spanish by watching ten years of Dora the Explorer that you just can’t pick up in two. And now with the Diego spin off I’m practically fluent.

Laughter. The children have learned to laugh at the insane non sequiturs of younger siblings. They’ve learned that laughing just feels better when seven people are doing it along with you.

Competition. Do I really need to go into this? Everything is a competition in big families. The children compete over who reads faster, who drinks their milk faster, who gets to the bathroom first…etc. Everything is a competition and they’re all keeping score.

Balance. The floor of the front room of my home is a minefield of toys and childhood paraphernalia. Just walking through the room requires great skill and balance. I’m absolutely convinced my two year old will be a favorite for Gold on the balance beam in the 2016 Olympics. (She might have to lay off the cookies a little but I’ll deal with that later.)

Life isn’t fair. Sometimes you just give it to the baby because you want a little quiet. Not all the time. But sometimes.

Just say “No.” Being able to say “no” may be the most undervalued skill in this world. The need to be liked is pervasive. The need to be cool even more so. Having brothers and sisters teaches children to say “no” about 143 times a day. It’s a good skill.

Praying. They learn that nothing beats praying together as a family.

Nature/Nurture. Having many children has taught me that nature has a lot more to do with who my kids are than nurture. This is helpful, especially when your children misbehave you don’t have to feel bad about it. Just say “Stupid nature!!!” and blame your spouse’s genes.

Namecalling. You can occasionally call your child by the wrong name and still not be considered a terrible parent. They know who you mean just from your tone. Sometimes if you need something done you can call the wrong name and someone will still show up. That helps.

Spying. My children have learned that they can’t get away with anything. I have spies who look a lot like them who are willing to drop the dime on them for anything. Even at school I’ve got a child in just about every grade. If they do something I’ll hear. That keeps them nervous. And I like keeping my kids a little nervous.

Friendship. The children have many friends. They’ve got girly friends, crying friends, fun loving friends, consoling friends, and crazy friends. And they all have the same last name. And they’ll be there forever for each other. No matter what.

Love. I think my children have learned to love because there are others around them to love and who love them. I honestly can think of no better way to teach children to love than siblings.

H/T to Hannah

DID YOU KNOW? ,

These came from a friend of mine, so I thought I'd share them with all my friends! (both of you)!

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.
If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.
It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

Garlic

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic

and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Reheat Pizza

Heat leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove; set heat to med-low
and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the food channel and it really works.

Reheating refrigerated bread

To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in
a microwave next to a cup of water.

The increased moisture will keep the food

moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds awa

y

Start putting torn newspaper in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers,
put layers around the plants, overlapping as you go; cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic; they will not get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass

Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

Flexible vacuum

To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling

Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! ... static is gone. (Panty hose? slips? Does anyone wear those anymore?)

Measuring Cups

Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water.
Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient (peanut butter, honey, etc.) and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?

Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth! ?

Reopening envelope

If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside,
just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily. (Don't forget about the envelope!)

Conditioner

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

Goodbye Fruit Flies

To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2 with Apple Cider Vinegar
and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants

Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS

The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load of clothes.) He took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material . I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well .... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh - that's what burns out the heating unit.

You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your
clothes soft and static free. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box ... well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it!

He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush ?at least every six months.

He said that increases the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?!

Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!

Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it ... the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!



PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK.
NOT ONLY COULD IT SAVE SOMEONE'S HOME, BUT IT COULD SAVE a life !

Monday Musings 10/02/22

Interesting Facts

- 101 Dalmatians and Peter Pan (Wendy) are the only two Disney cartoon features with both parents that are present and don't die throughout the movie. (Wait, what about Sleeping Beauty, which also has both parents surviving in the film?)

- 'Stewardesses' is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.

- The Baby Ruth candy bar was actually named after Grover Cleveland's baby daughter, Ruth.

- Armadillos have four babies at a time and they are always all the same sex.

- Armadillos are the only animal besides humans that can get leprosy.

- A group of unicorns is called a blessing. Twelve or more cows are known as a "flink." A group of frogs is called an army. A group of rhinos is called a crash. A group of kangaroos is called a mob. A group of whales is called a pod. A group of geese is called a gaggle. A group of ravens is called a murder. A group of officers is called a mess. A group of larks is called an exaltation. A group of owls is called a parliament.

- Physicist Murray Gell-Mann named the sub-atomic particles known as quarks for a random line in James Joyce, "Three quarks for Muster Mark!"

- The phrase "sleep tight" derives from the fact that early mattresses were filled with straw and held up with rope stretched across the bed frame. A tight sleep was a comfortable sleep.

- "Three dog night" (attributed to Australian Aborigines) came about because on especially cold nights these nomadic people needed three dogs (dingos, actually) to keep from freezing.

- Gilligan of Gilligan's Island had a first name that was only used once, on the never-aired pilot show. His first name was Willy. The skipper's real name on Gilligan's Island is Jonas Grumby. It was mentioned once in the first episode on their radio's newscast about the wreck.

- In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.

- Ivory bar soap floating was a mistake. They had been overmixing the soap formula causing excess air bubbles that made it float. Customers wrote and told how much they loved that it floated, and it has floated ever since.

- Studies show that if a cat falls off the seventh floor of a building it has about thirty percent less chance of surviving than a cat that falls off the twentieth floor. It supposedly takes about eight floors for the cat to realize what is occurring, relax and correct itself. (I don't want to know how they found this out - LadyHawke)

- The saying "it's so cold out there it could freeze the balls off a brass monkey" came from when they had old cannons like ones used in the Civil War. The cannonballs were stacked in a pyramid formation, called a brass monkey. When it got extremely cold outside they would crack and break off...Thus the saying.

- Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks otherwise it will digest itself.

- The Sanskrit word for "war" means "desire for more cows."

Grandmothers

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting. ~Author Unknown

What a bargain grandchildren are! I give them my loose change, and they give me a million dollars' worth of pleasure. ~Gene Perret

Grandmothers are just 'antique' little girls. ~Author Unknown

Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild.
~ Welsh Proverb

A grandmother is a baby-sitter who watches the kids instead of the television. ~Author Unknown

Never have children, only grandchildren. ~Gore Vidal

Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. ~Pam Brown

Grandchildren don't stay young forever, which is good because Grandfathers have only so many horsy rides in them. ~Gene Perret

When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window..
~Ogden Nash

Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just you all day and now the day was complete. ~ Marcy DeMaree

Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies. ~Author unknown

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever. ~Author Unknown

If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren, I'd have had them first. ~Lois Wyse

My grandkids believe I'm the oldest thing in the world. And after two or three hours with them, I believe it, too. ~Gene Perret

If becoming a grandmother was only a matter of choice, I should advise every one of you straight away to become one.. There is no fun for old people like it! ~Hannah Whithall Smith

It's such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother - that's why the world calls her grandmother. ~Author Unknown

Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing old. ~Mary H. Waldrip

You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother. ~Proverb

An hour with your grandchildren can make you feel young again. Anything longer than that, and you start to age quickly. ~Gene Perret

The best baby-sitters, of course, are the baby's grandparents. You feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long periods, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida . ~Dave Barry

I wish I had the energy that my grandchildren have - if only for self-defense. ~Gene Perret

Grandmother-grandchild relationships are simple. Grandmas are short on criticism and long on love. ~Author Unknown

Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children. ~Alex Haley

Grandmother - a wonderful mother with lots of practice. ~Author Unknown

A grandparent is old on the outside but young on the inside. ~Author Unknown

One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new grandbaby around the finger of a grandfather. ~Joy Hargrove

It's amazing how grandparents parents seem so young once you become one. ~Author Unknown

If your baby is 'beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses, sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the time,' you're the grandma. ~Teresa Bloomingdale

Grandparents are similar to a piece of string - handy to have around and easily wrapped around the fingers of their grandchildren. ~Author Unknown

What is it about grandparents that is so lovely? I'd like to say that grandparents are God's gifts to children. And if they can but see, hear and feel what these people have to give, they can mature at a fast rate. ~Bill Cosby

Grandchildren don't make a man feel old; it's the knowledge that he's married to a grandmother. ~G. Norman Collie

A Profound Thought For Today

from Spurgeon...

Oh, my brothers and sisters in Christ, if sinners will be damned, at least let them
leap to hell over our bodies; and if they will perish, let them perish with our arms
about their knees, imploring them to stay, and not madly to destroy themselves. If
hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one
go there unwarned and unprayed for.

H/T: Ruth.

I wish my life could be described this way. :(

Bumper stickers seen on military bases...

Non-PC warning...

"Except For Ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism and Communism, WAR has Never Solved Anything."    

"Artillery Brings Dignity to What Would Otherwise Be Just A Vulgar Brawl"    

"One Shot, Twelve Kills - U.S. Naval Gun Fire Support"    

"Do Draft-Dodgers Have Reunions? If So, What Do They Talk About?"    

"My Kid Fought In Iraq, So Your Kid Can Party In College"    

"A Dead Enemy Is A Peaceful Enemy - Blessed Be The Peacemakers"    

"If You Can Read This, Thank A Teacher. If You Can Read It In English,Thank A Veteran"    

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a

difference in the world. But the Marines don't have that problem."  ...Ronald Reagan    

"Army Rangers - Certified Counselors to the 72 Virgins Dating Club."    

"Water-boarding is out, so kill them all!"    

"Interrogators can't water-board dead guys"    

"Rangers - Travel Agents To Allah"    

"Stop Global Whining"    

"When In Doubt, Empty The Magazine"    

"Army Rangers - When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be Destroyed  Overnight"    

"Death Smiles At Everyone - Rangers Smile Back"    

"Marine Sniper - You can run, but you'll just die tired!"    

"What Do I Feel When I Kill A Terrorist? A Little Recoil"    

"Marines - Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775"    

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It"    

"Happiness Is A Belt-Fed Weapon"    

"It's God's Job to Forgive Bin Laden - It's Our Job To Arrange The  Meeting"    

"Machine Gunners - Accuracy By Volume" 

H/T to Old NFO!

New Ice Cream Cone

In honor of the 44th President of the United States , Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream has introduced a new flavor: " Barocky Road ."

Barocky Road is a blend of half vanilla, half chocolate, and surrounded by nuts and flakes. The vanilla portion of the mix is not openly advertised and usually denied as an ingredient. The nuts and flakes are all very bitter and hard to swallow.

The cost is $100.00 per scoop.

When purchased it will be presented to you in a large beautiful cone, but after you pay for it, the ice cream is taken away and given to the person in line behind you at no charge.

You are left with an empty wallet and no change, holding an empty cone with no hope of getting any ice cream.

Are you stimulated?