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 |  Fibro fog, pain, writing sandwiched in between. Quotes. Sermon notes. Encouragement. |
A Texas Sunrise  A friend, William Taylor, took this picture. He visits Surfside Beach with his dogs almost every morning, watching the sun rise while the dogs prance about at the water's edge. This is only about ten miles from where I lived in Lake Jackson, Texas. Sadly, I only visited this beach about four times in the six years I lived nearby. Each day is a challenge. A challenge to get by without thinking about the fibromyalgia pains. A challenge to stay awake when chronic fatigure wants to take over. And a challenge to navigate through fibro fog. I haven't been writing as much as in the past. For years, I wrote at least 500 words a day. Now, I'm lucky if I write 500 words in month. Sigh. For more information about what my day (or life) is all about with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, chronic pains, IBS, depression and everything else thrown in, check this out:
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| Go past the first few seconds where you might want to punch the young woman out. Hopefully this video will go viral. An Apology to President Karzai on Behalf of Americans  |
| Mindfield is just one site where I'm active. http://mindfieldonline.com/referral/81e2fffd |
| Today God sent one of our 15 year old members to my portfolio. There she found this item that I posted long ago: "The Answer Is Prayer" What a blessing it was to have someone that young encourage me. It was also good to revisit something I wrote long ago about prayer. When I taught a Vacation Bible School class in about 1987, the kids loved to pray. One boy simply asked, "Holy Ghost, help me pray." Then he got quiet. A girl asked, "Well, are you going to pray?" The boy responded, "God's Spirit is going so fast that I can't keep up. Just listen with your own heart." The other day my son, who is now 27, told me that it's difficult for him to understand that his mother is no longer the active women that he remembers from his childhood. Back then, I was a regional director for a home party plan. I taught Sunday School. I was a Lay Speaker at our church. I volunteered in the community and at the private school where Derek attended. Our life was a whirlwind. He also remembers having grandparents who were active in their 60s and 70s and it concerns him that his mom, who hasn't quite reached those ages is not that active. Boy, oh boy, did I want to shout at God about how unfair it is that I cannot do the things I once did. Fibromyalgia stinks. So does arthritis. And all the things that go along with them. I hate the choices I face - constant pain without medications or feeling drugged with them. I hate that. I hate that "fibro fog" makes me do crazy thing, like opening the refrigerator when the microwave timer dings. I hate that. But as I sat that afternoon talking with God, I was reminded that even though I don't even write as much as I once did, my words are here for the world to discover. Cianter   discovered some of my words today and gave me the encouragement I needed.Thank you, Lord, for sending someone to visit my portfolio today. Thank you for sending a young encourager my way at a time when I needed some human encouragement. |
| Want some inspiration? Check this out: The Voice (and the Heart) of a Child |
| I shared three YouTube videos here: Welfare in America One is titled Welfare in a Free America. The second: Welfare: How Freedom Was Lost in America. And the third: Welfare: How to Get Freedom Back. About the third, I wrote: Pay special attention to what the past comptroller says about what Social Security is and what it is not in the third video. He says it's a wealth transfer program, not a savings program. It's an unrecuperated tax. It's a tax now and spend now scheme. Nothing that you pay into the system will be there when you retire. Not one penny. It was never designed that way. If you doubt this, go and look at the official site of Social Security and read the history. If the first woman who collected Social Security retirement income put in for only 3 years - a total of $24 - and received checks of $22 per month for 30 years, how could it be that she was paying for her own retirement? She obviously was not, nor are any of us. What you think you are entitled to is not your money. The money you will receive in retirement is what your children and grandchildren will be paying you. Think about that when you cry about how you don't want to lose what you paid into the system. You've already lost that. If your kids and grandkids are going to pay for your retirement, wouldn't you prefer that they hand you the money and not make it filter through the government? At about 20 minutes into the third video, listen carefully to the harsh words and think about what is being said. If you're a Christian or if you're a TEA party member, a conservative or a libertarian, these words need to be taken to heart. Are you really a freedom lover? Do you really value the Constitution? Do you really care about future generations? Or are you too selfish to sacrifice? Do you expect everyone but you to sacrifice? These are questions that we all need to ask ourselves.  "My Favorite Neighbor" "Sharing Sunshine...It's What I Do!" "Admirable Women" "Whose Work Are You Stealing?" "The Potter's Cup and Saucer" |
| If you think you're too small to make a difference, you've obviously never been in bed with a mosquito. ~ Michelle Walker Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Mead  "My Favorite Neighbor" "Sharing Sunshine...It's What I Do!" "Admirable Women" "Whose Work Are You Stealing?" "The Potter's Cup and Saucer" |
All he would have to do is to list all the failures he's had that he has blamed on Bush, on Congress, on oil companies and jet owners and then do a turnaround and admit that he has failed the country. All he would have to do was to admit that he's been a horrible president, but a great divider-in-chief. If he did that, half of America would keel over with heart attacks and the ones who were left - his faithful - would gladly re-elect him. (They'd probably also bow at his feet as he changed the Constitution to allow him to be president for the rest of his life.) "My Favorite Neighbor" "Sharing Sunshine...It's What I Do!" "Admirable Women" "Whose Work Are You Stealing?" "The Potter's Cup and Saucer" |
| Go ahead. Do it as a favor to me. I've been at RedGage.com for 2 years now and my total earnings is $23.75. When it gets to $25, I can cash out. Yippee skippy. So I need a few more page views here and there. Vacation in the Moutains http://www.redgage.com/photos/kenzie45230/vacation-in-the-mountains.html Rascals Chasing Customers in the Rain http://www.redgage.com/photos/kenzie45230/rascals-chasing-customers-in-the-rain.... Thanks for the help! Blessings, Kenzie  "My Favorite Neighbor" "Sharing Sunshine...It's What I Do!" "Admirable Women" "Whose Work Are You Stealing?" "The Potter's Cup and Saucer" |
| Why haven't you seen this photo I took? http://www.redgage.com/#rf:/photos/kenzie45230/rascals-chasing-customers-in-the-... |
| I found out the other day that this slide show I made has over 10,000 views. Wow! http://www.gather.com/viewVideo.action?id=11821949021863467 |
| If you're looking for ways to earn some money for your Writing.com membership, and if you love getting into discussions, here are two possibilities: http://www.mylot.com/?ref=kenzie45230 http://kenzie45230.gather.com/ These surely have helped me. Just thought I would share. |
| Sometimes one pays the most for the things one gets for nothing. Albert Einstein |
| The Apostle Paul modeled praying well. He prayed for churches and for leaders. What a great place our world would be if we all took the time to pray for each other as Paul prayed. Imagine if we prayed like this for our friends and family, for our church leaders and our political leaders. Colossians 1:9-14 NIV For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Shall we pray that God fills the people around us with knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding? Shall we pray that our friends and family and leaders live a life worthy of the Lord and that their lives will please him in every way? Shall we pray that their lives bear fruit, that they grow in knowledge of God, that they are strengthened with his power and might so that they have both great endurance and great patience and that they joyfully give thanks to the Father? And shall we pray the same things about ourselves? "My Favorite Neighbor" "Sharing Sunshine...It's What I Do!" "Admirable Women" "Whose Work Are You Stealing?" "The Potter's Cup and Saucer" |
| Perspective, Perception: I see the world from my eyes; you see the world from yours by Marilyn Mackenzie What we see is clouded or enhanced by our life experiences, by where we've lived (and, perhaps how many places we've lived). What we see is influenced by our parents and their parenting, by our extended families, by our friends, our neighbors and our teachers. What we see is influenced by our level of education, by the kinds of jobs we've held, by whether or not we are creative individuals (craftsmen, artists, writers) and by whether or not we have managed or owned our own companies. And, what we see is influenced by our faith or lack thereof. I thought about perception when I attended my 40th high school class reunion. From kindergarten through 9th grade, I lived in area that was predominantly white and middle-class. The first neighborhood in which I lived had been a rural farm area, but when we moved in, farms were being sold and blue-collar workers were moving in. My father was one of those blue-collar workers, and a union member. (And my disdain for unions stems from the treatment he received as a worker and as a retiree from that union, as well as experiences of friends and other relatives, and treatment I received in the only job I ever had that was unionized. But all of that is another story.) I was in the 6th grade when the first black family moved into our neighborhood. And I remember hearing the father of one of my friends ranting and raving to his wife behind closed doors that having "that family" in the neighborhood would make the values of everyone's property go down. My friends and I - there were about 8-10 of us in our motley crew - thought his comment was absurd. How in the world could having a family with a doctor and nurse as head of household bring property values down? Surely, having professionals arrive in the neighborhood of farmers and blue-collar workers should increase property values, right? (We had no idea that there were some adults who thought that skin color would de-value properties.) Although we lived in a different house and neighborhood in my junior high years, I attended the same schools. There were 2 or 3 black families in the school district by then. Then when I reached high school age, we moved back into the city and I attended a school with a much higher number of African-American students. What I learned at my 40th class reunion was how differently we perceived the student population ratio. As one who had been raised in a predominantly white area in early life, and because of the street where I lived in high school, I believed that our school had a ratio of 60% white to 40% black (with a few other people sprinkled in here and there, but no great numbers). Note: On the street where I lived in high school, white families lived at the top 1/3 of the street, black families lived in the middle 1/3 and whites lived in the lower 1/3 of the street. I learned from some of my black classmates, many of whom lived in predominantly black neighborhoods - with some of them living in areas that required them to take 2-3 buses to get to school - that they perceived our school as being about 85-90% white and 10-15% black. And I learned from some of my white classmates - the ones who had always lived in neighborhoods with different races - that they perceived the numbers to be more like 70% white to 30% black. Interesting, isn't it? What we saw was affected by our own race and our own experiences. And so it is today in all that we do, don't you think? Whether we like it or not, what we see is clouded or enhanced by our own life experiences. What is important is that we realize that what we perceive may not be the truth. And what the other guy perceives may also not be the truth. The truth - the real truth - may be somewhere between the two. And, what frustrates me more than anything is a person who will not even consider that what he/she thinks might be wrong or that what he/she has seen in his/her neighborhood may not actually be happening anywhere else in the country. Believing that the entire country is like your own backyard, is why we end up with laws being forced upon an entire country, when the problem was better solved locally. Believing that everyone who looks a certain way acts in a certain way prevents us from learning the true value of each individual. Each one of us is unique. Each one of us has talents and gifts given to us by God and developed on our own (or not) so that we have something to offer the world. And each one of us has eyes clouded by our own pasts and presents. Before we judge, shouldn't we remember that? Before we criticize, shouldn't we try to discuss our differences? Are your eyes seeing the real me? Or are they seeing the me that you think that I am? Have you bothered to find out? "My Favorite Neighbor" "Sharing Sunshine...It's What I Do!" "Admirable Women" "Whose Work Are You Stealing?" "The Potter's Cup and Saucer" |
 It's hard to believe that WDC is 10 years old. It was a year old when I joined. Yes, in fact, my 9 year WDC anniversary is on Sept. 3. It's hard to believe that I've been here for 9 years. Wow. That makes me feel old, for some reason.  Oh well. Time to celebrate!!!  "My Favorite Neighbor" "Sharing Sunshine...It's What I Do!" "Admirable Women" "Whose Work Are You Stealing?" "The Potter's Cup and Saucer" |
| I found a site today where you can check to see if anyone has been using your words without permission. It's called Copyscape, and this is the URL: http://www.copyscape.com/ Just for kicks, I entered the title of one of my poems: Tumbled Towers, Humbled Hearts. Here it is my portfolio here at WDC: "Tumbled Towers, Humbled Hearts" And here it is at PoemHunter.com by a person named Resty Rivera without permission: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tumbled-towers-humbled-hearts/ I wrote to the administrators of PoemHunter.com. But in order to email the "writer" I had to register and it never did accept the password the site assigned to me. I hope the site administrators answer promptly. I'll let you know. |
| Do you Tweet? Is that what I'm supposed to ask? Are you on Twitter? Why aren't you following me on Twitter? Why aren't I following you? Here's where to find me: http://twitter.com/kenzie45230 How do I find you there? |
| Benjamin Franklin said, in November, 1766: I think the best way of doing good for the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but in driving them out of it. In my youth, I traveled much, I observed in different countries that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and became poorer. And on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves and became richer. Thomas Jefferson said: There is no substitute for hard work. And remember what John F. Kennedy said? Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. Where are the wise men today? "My Favorite Neighbor" "Sharing Sunshine...It's What I Do!" "Admirable Women" "Whose Work Are You Stealing?" "The Potter's Cup and Saucer" |
| Throughout the history of our country, our presidents, our congress, and our citizens have prayed. The first day of prayer was declared when the Continental Congress designated a time of prayer in forming a new nation – in 1775. George Washington proclaimed a day of public thanksgiving and prayer on February 19, 1795. President John Adams declared May 9, 1798 as a day of fasting and prayer during which citizens of all faiths were asked to pray, "that our country may be protected from all the dangers which threaten it.” President James Madison proclaimed a day of prayer in 1813. President Abraham Lincoln signed a resolution which called for a day of fasting and prayer on March 30, 1863. Lincoln said, “it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.” President Truman signed a law (the bill had been unanimously passed by both houses of congress) proclaiming a National Day of Prayer which required the president to select a day each year. That year, it was April 17, 1952. In 1988, the National Day of Prayer was fixed as the first Thursday of May each year. The Senate bill – S 1378 – was introduced by Strom Thurmond (R-SC) and the House bill was introduced by Tony Hall (D-OH). There was broad bipartisan sponsorship and support for the bill and it became Public Law 100-307 and was signed by President Reagan. Reagan said, “On our National Day of Prayer, then, we join together as people of many faiths to petition God to show us His mercy and His love, to heal our weariness and uphold our hope, that we might live ever mindful of His justice and thankful for His blessing.” He also said,"From General Washington's struggle at Valley Forge to the present, this Nation has fervently sought and received divine guidance as it pursued the course of history. This occasion provides our Nation with an opportunity to further recognize the source of our blessings, and to seek His help for the challenges we face today and in the future.” From 1993 to 1998, here are some of President Clinton’s words: "Through prayer our people take a moment away from the concerns of everyday life to understand the greater power that gives us guidance. We come together in an act common to all religions." "I encourage the citizens of this great Nation to gather, each in his or her own manner, to recognize our blessings, acknowledge our wrongs, to remember the needy, to seek guidance for our challenging future, and to give thanks for the abundance we have enjoyed throughout our history." "I call upon every citizen of this great Nation to gather together on that day to pray, each in his or her own manner, for God's continued guidance and blessing." "And though our citizens come from every nation on Earth and observe an extraordinary variety of religious faith [sic] and traditions, prayer remains at the heart of the American spirit." "...let us uphold the tradition of observing a day in which every American, in his or her own way, may come before God seeking increased peace, guidance, and wisdom for the challenges ahead." "In every city, town, and rural community across our country, people of every religious denomination gather to worship according to their faith. In churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques, Americans come together to pray." In 2001, on May 3, the 50th National Day of Prayer was held and it was estimated that 2.5 million people attended 40,000 events across the United States. From the National Day of Prayer web site: http://nationaldayofprayer.org/about/history/ The National Day of Prayer is Significant The National Day of Prayer has great significance for us as a nation. It enables us to recall and to teach the way in which our founding fathers sought the wisdom of God when faced with critical decisions. It stands as a call to us to humbly come before God, seeking His guidance for our leaders and His grace upon us as a people. The unanimous passage of the bill establishing the National Day of Prayer as an annual event, signifies that prayer is as important to our nation today as it was in the beginning. Like Thanksgiving or Christmas, this day has become a national observance placed on all Hallmark calendars and observed annually across the nation and in Washington, D.C. Last year, local, state and federal observances were held from sunrise in Maine to sunset in Hawaii, uniting Americans from all socio-economic, political and ethnic backgrounds in prayer for our nation. It is estimated that more than two million people attended more than 30,000 observances organized by approximately 40,000 volunteers. At state capitols, county court houses, on the steps of city halls, and in schools, businesses, churches and homes, people stopped their activities and gathered for prayer. The National Day of Prayer is Ours The National Day of Prayer belongs to all Americans. It is a day that transcends differences, bringing together citizens from all backgrounds. Mrs. Shirley Dobson, NDP chairman, reminds us: “We have lost many of our freedoms in America because we have been asleep. I feel if we do not become involved and support the annual National Day of Prayer, we could end up forfeiting this freedom, too.” Also from that site: There have been 135 national calls to prayer, humiliation, fasting and thanksgiving by the President of the United States (1789-2009). There have been 57 Presidential Proclamations for a “National Day of Prayer” (1952-2009). Gerald Ford (1976) and George H. Bush (1989-91) are the only U.S. Presidents to sign two National Day of Prayer Proclamations in the same year. Every President since 1952 has signed a National Day of Prayer proclamation. 33 of the 44 U.S. Presidents have signed proclamations for National Prayer. Four of the Presidents who did not sign a proclamation died while serving in office. The theme of the 2010 National Day of Prayer is "Prayer for Such a Time as This" and is based on the verse from Nahum 1:7 which states: "The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him." Note: Nahum is a book in the Hebrew Bible. Our Father and our God, We thank you for the many blessings you have poured out on America,and we praise you for your mercy. You have said, "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people." We confess, O Lord, our national and personal sins. We repent and ask forgiveness for all actions that dishonor you. O God, bless our President and other leaders. Provide them with wisdom and move them to honor you. Deliver this great nation from all our enemies as we recommit ourselves to trust, serve and obey your commands. We pray in your holy name, Amen. 2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Other sources: http://www.religioustolerance.org/day_pray2.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day_of_Prayer http://www.northfultonrotary.org/NationalDayofPrayerHistory.cfm http://www.aclj.org/media/pdf/ACLJ_NationalDayofPrayerHistory_20100416.pdf http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/2010/04/15/national-day-of-prayer-2010-canceled.... |
| The other day, I received a surprise in my email inbox. Tommy Newberry, author of The War on Success included a link for chapter 7 of his book - God is Not a Socialist. Here's the link in case you're interested. The email I received asked the folks share the chapter and/or the link with friends. And you're friends, right? http://www.tommynewberry.com/newsletter/documents/GodisNotaSocialist-Chapter7.pd... As I read through Newberry's chapter, I had one of those, "Well, duh" moments.  Here's how Newberry begins his chapter: Socialization is always accompanied by secularization—the smaller God becomes, the larger government grows. Of course, that’s a human perspective; God doesn’t shrink at all. But as God fades from our attention, so does liberty. Evil in all its varieties is just the natural outgrowth of freedom without God. Review the whole history of godless Communism and fascism—did anything good come of it? No doubt about it, America’s system of free enterprise, like our founding documents, is inspired by the timeless truths revealed throughout the Old and New Testaments. But today, the diminishing of God has led Americans to feel lonely, confused, and isolated like never before. Disconnected from traditional and proven sources of value and love, more and more people now seek solace in government programs. The result has been a decline in individual freedom and the diminishing of our range of lifetime opportunities. The writer reminds us that God is all-power, loving, all-knowing, just, merciful and unchanging. He knows every single thing about us - good and bad - and he loves us anyway. We are his creation. He wants what is right and best for us! Here's more from Newberry: We can begin to understand God by looking at the beginning, the beginning of everything. The first chapter of Genesis shows that God was well-pleased with each act of creation. And, after He put the final touches on the sixth day, God looked upon the universe and all He had made and proclaimed that indeed it was very good. The original entrepreneur and innovator of the universe had established the model of productivity and excellence to be emulated by all humanity. God took special delight in His priority creation of man and woman. How do we know? Well, He made us in His image and likeness as individual souls so that we could mirror His nature. Moreover, our Creator granted us authority over all living things, blessed us, and charged us with filling the earth with our offspring. The chapter is rather long, and although Newberry has given permission to share the whole thing, I'd prefer that you go and read it yourself at the link above. It is good, though and well worth the read. The author writes about how we're supposed to be striving to be like God, and that we imitate him when we love people, when we tell the truth, when we show grace, when we are faithful to spouses, when we are good stewards, when we are ambitious and industrious, when we demonstrate faith. Paul said, Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children. (Ephesians 5:1). So, we're imitating God when we're productive, when we are using the gifts that God provided for us, when we show empathy, when we love, when we encourage others. As Newberry says, "He planted within us the instinct and drive to work, invent, produce, create, and own, because in doing so, we imitate Him, assign credit to Him, and further His creation." It follows that if we're to be productive and industrious, that capitalism probably is not a bad thing. In a free market, we have to show creativity and resourcefulness, the very things that God wants us to show and be. Hmmm. To succeed in capitalism, a business has to learn to treat customers and employees right, has to bounce back from mistakes (and make them growing and learning sessions), learn to serve others. Don't those sound like God-honoring traits? Socialists, on the other hand, while they try to say that they care about everyone, the certainly don't want everyone to be a success. They think they can help a person by giving him something that was taken from someone else, from the person who worked hard and earned what he/she has - you know, the redistribution of wealth. Instead of imitating God and showing all those good traits above, socialism leans more towards man's bad traits - greed, envy, laziness. Newberry uses many Bible verses to make his point. He says that the Bible is all about giving and socialism is all about taking. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Luke 6:38). Anyway, go and read what Newberry has to say at the link above or at this one: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978087872 |
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