A Cup of Tea With Me

 

I hope all of you and your families have a very Merry Christmas!

I attend Central Baptist Church, and on Wednesday, Huntley Brown performed there. He and our Pastor had a great time, as you can see. (In case you are wondering, Chris is the shorter one)

SSgt. Mike Mills

On June 14, 2005 SSgt. Mike Mills’s life was forever changed. The HETT(Heavy Equipment Transport System) he was riding in was hit by an IED. The attack resulted a cracked clavicle and scapula bones, dislocate shoulder, broken left hip, 4 out of 5 bones broken in his foot and being set on fire. The driver in the truck behind him ran with a cooler of melted ice which he threw on Sgt. Mills to put him out.

He spent three months in the Brooks Army Medical Center at Ft. Sam Houston, TX with the injuries listed above plus 2nd, 3rd and deep tissue burns to 31% of the left side of his body. The first thing he remembers thinking after the attack was that his soldiers needed him and he needed to get back to them.

“Then the guilt set in about what I did to my family. I’ve totally screwed that up. Look at me, no don’t. I look hideous. How can I face my kids looking like this. They’ll be embarrassed to be seen with me. What if they won’t love me anymore? Speaking of love, my wife, oh my god. How can I expect her to stay with me. I’m not a man anymore. She’s not going to want be intimate with a freak. What if I can’t work, how do I support myself, my family.

I had the nightmares and couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t eating and was loosing weight. I didn’t really care. If I didn’t start eating, they where going to put the feeding tube back in. Who cares, I’ve totally screwed up my life anyways.”

But he found out just how much is wife loved him, when she stood by his side throughout the entire ordeal. She was there for every wound dressing and even learned how to change the dressings herself.

SSgt. Mike Mills now runs the site For The Veteran… By A Veteran in which he helps veterans, soldiers and their families find information they may not have been given after their medical discharge or retirement.

Some may say that Mike gave his country more than enough when he was severely maimed by an IED on that fateful day of June 14, 2005, but Mike continues to give to his fellow servicemen, as well as to his nation!

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Distant Heart
(Avon Inspire January 2, 2008)
by
Tracey Bateman

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tracey Bateman is the award-winning author of more than twenty-five books, including Defiant Heart, the First in the Westeard Hearts series. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and recently served on the board as President. She loves in Lebanon, Montana, with her husband and their four children.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the second book in the Westward Hearts trilogy, will the promise of a new life out west heal the scars of Toni’s past?

This series tells the stories of three strong women as they struggle to survive on the rough wagon train and lose their hearts to unlikely heroes along the way/ Thin Little House on the Prairie meets Francine river’s Redeeming Love and you begin to get a sense of the riveting historical series that Tracey Bateman has created.

In this second installment, we follow Toni Rodden, a former prostitute who sought to escape her past and build a new life, and a new reputation, when she joined the wagon train. Despite much resentment and distrust from the other women, Toni has finally earned a place on the wagon train and found a surrogate family in Fannie Caldwell and her two siblings. For the first time in her life, Toni actually feels free.

But while Toni once harbored dreams that her new life might include a husband and family, she soon realizes the stigma that comes with her past is difficult to see beyond and that she’ll never be truly loved or seen as worthy. As the trip out west begins to teach her to survive on her own, she resolves to make her own living as a seamstress when the train finally reaches Oregon.

But despite Toni’s conviction that no man will be able to see beyond her marred past, Sam Two-feathers, the wagon scout and acting preacher for the train seems to know of a love that forgives sins and values much more than outward appearances. Will Sam have the confidence to declare his love? Will Toni be able to trust in a God that can forgive even the darkest past? Faith, love, and courage will be put to the test in Distant Heart.

Many of you know I work in the mall, in a kiosk in the middle of the mall. What many of you do not know is that I am close to one of the busiest entrances to the mall and there is a ton of foot traffic passing almost every day.

There is something about this location that attracts people. I do not know what it is. I do know that the hand of God is on this location, because I have had some of the most amazing religious experiences there. I was saved in that location. The Holy Spirit entered my life and has blessed me dramatically there. When I think about that day, I can still think of the depression lifting and the Holy Spirit filling me. It is amazing. The man that stopped and talked to me was a spanish charismatic evangelist, who was also active in prison ministry. I know that God sent Eli into my life at just the right time.

A few months ago, a man came up to me and asked me if I believed in Christ. I gave him a hearty “YES!” with a sparkle in my eye. He asked me what church I went to, and when I told him I attended a Baptist church, he asked me if I spoke in tongues. When I told him I did not he tried to convince me that I was not saved. When I told him that I knew without a doubt that I was, and described to him my experience, he agreed that he may be wrong and that I might be able to be saved without speaking in tongues. He also said “Well, we will find out, if I see you in heaven or not.” and left. While irritated at first, I had to begrudgingly admire his willingness to step outside th box and talk to people about their faith.

Ok, now we are up to last week: There was a family that was hanging around my kiosk for about an hour and a half. Being at a major intersection, I thought that maybe they were just waiting on someone. At one point the dad sat down. The mom and the grown daughter both put their hands on him. I assumed that he was not feeling well.

A little while later, the dad walked up and started asking me about the pecans. Nothing unusual about that. He then asked me about the cross on my hat. I tell him that it is a symbol of my faith, blah blah blah. He asks me about my church, I tell him I attend Central Baptist Church. He proceeds to tell me he is a pentecostal. I get hesitant to continue a conversation with him because the guy I mentioned earlier was pentecostal. I tell him my views on denominations, so that he knows where I stand and that he is not going to change my mind that I am going to heaven. Here is the shocking part. He agreed with me! My jaw dropped.

Anyway, he tells me I have 3 children. I go to correct him, but then I think of Morgan and tell him, “Sort of. Two boys and an angel in heaven. ” He tells me that he has the gift of prophecy, and that he feels there is a message I need to hear, but it is just not coming to him. Yeah, I know he is fishing, but I am intrigued by this point.

I tell him about my husband’s faith, thinking that is what it is. He talks to me about it. Then he says “I sense you nag at him a lot about going to church.” I called him on that one. Pointed out what Peter says about showing our faith with our actions, not our nagging. He graciously admitted he was wrong.

He tells me to get anointing oil and anoint the walls of my house, while praying. He also tells me to anoint my husband’s head, while he is sleeping and pray, asking the Holy Spirit to fill him. **Honestly, I feel like that is manipulating the situation. **

Then just before he leaves he says, “You are in a unique place to witness to people. You are set aside to do mighty work for the Kingdom.” My jaw dropped.

I do not know what part of my life he is saying is in a unique place. I thought he meant the mall, but I am not 100% certain of that. I just know that his message, much like Eli’s came to me at just the right time. I do not know where God is leading me, but I know I am ready for the journey.

I will admit, if he is talking about me staying in the mall, I just might cry. I want out of retail so badly, and to be honest, the retail hours are hurting my family.

So, here is the start of yet another spiritual journey.

I have some things I want to share with you, but before I do, I need to share my take on the denominations of our churches.

When Christ did most of His teaching, He was not in the synagogue. He did most of His teaching out in the open.  The apostles went to the synagogues to start, but they moved their ministry to homes, then churches. The division did not start until men came along behind them and started setting up rules.

When Jesus returns, do you really think that He is going to say  “You belong to this denomination, you are coming with Me.” and “You belong to that denomination, you are not coming with Me.”? I do not believe He is. It is my firm belief that He is going to say something more like “My beloved child. I dwell in your heart on earth, now come with Me.” and “I do not know you.”

What denomination we belong to does not matter, as long as what is in our hearts is the Word of God. If the Holy Spirit indwells you, you are going to Heaven.

Heather posted her elf name, so I thought I would give it a go.

Christmas Elf Name

My Christmas Elf Name is

Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com

What is YOUR elf name?

Bill Juneau
36 years old from Rush City, Minnesota
November 27, 2007If there was one thing Bill Juneau loved as much as his country, it was his dog, Jake.The accident-prone black Lab, who has been hit by two cars, had a toe amputated on his right paw and survived eating 42 candy bars in one sitting, once fell off a dock and through the ice on a lake while Juneau was hunting with his best friend, Dan Bock.

Bock said Juneau jumped into the icy, chest-deep water to save his dog.

“He threw that wet dog on the deck and sacrificed everything to save him,” said Bock. “Bill’s just that type of guy.”

Juneau, a 10 year veteran of the Chisago County sheriff’s deputy, was in Iraq helping to train Iraqi police recruits when his convoy was hit by and IED 50 miles outside Baghdad. A spokesperson for DynCorp, the private firm Juneau was working for, said Juneau was driving the lead vehicle in the large convoy that included U.S. Army personnel as well as members of the Iraqi National Police Force. The convoy was headed for a scheduled training mission. An Iraqi translator and a U.S. Army soldier sustained injuries in the blast as well.

His twin sister, Bridget Sura, said he wanted to help Iraqis rebuild their country and create better lives. “He would often sugar-coat the bad stuff, because he wanted us to know about the positive things,” she said. “But we still worried every minute of every day.” Another reason he joined was because he loved adventure, she said. While with the Chisago County Sheriff’s Department, he started and led the country’s SWAT team.

Jake, his dog, has been embraced by Juneau’s sister’s family. “He has more lives than a cat,” Sura said, adding that they recently discovered a chocolate stash he’d hidden in his kennel.

“Jake is a part of my brother,” she said. “He[Bill] will be missed by a lot of people. This will leave a hole in a lot of people’s hearts.”

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People LivedThis post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
What Lies Within
Multnomah Fiction (November 20, 2007)
by
Karen BallABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Karen Ball , bestselling novelist, is also the editor behind several of today’s bestselling Christian novels. Her love for words was passed down through her father and grandfather - both pastors who shared God’s truth through sermons and storytelling. Blending humor, poignancy, and honesty, Karen’s writing style is a powerful force for revealing God’s truth. She lives in Oregon with her husband, Don, and their “kids,” Bodhan, a mischief-making Siberian husky, and Dakota, an Aussie-terrier mix who should have been named “Destructo.”

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Nothing’s going to stop Kyla…
until the ground crumbles beneath her feet.

Kyla Justice has arrived. Her company, Justice Construction, is one of the most critically acclaimed, commercially successful companies in the Pacific Northwest. And yet, something is missing. Not until she’s called on to build a center for inner-city kids does she realize what it is: her sense of purpose. Now nothing can stop her, not the low budget, not supply problems, not gang opposition, not her boyfriend’s suggestion that she sell her business and marry him–and most especially not that disagreeable Rafael Murphy.

Rafe Murphy understands battle. Wounded in action, this Force Recon Marine carries the scars–and the nightmares–to prove it. Though he can’t fight overseas any longer, he’s found his place as a warrior in the civilian world. So he soldiers on, trusting that one of these days, God will reveal to him why Rafe survived the ambush in Iraq. That day has arrived.

Kyla and Rafe both discover that determination alone won’t carry them through danger and challenges. When gang violence threatens their very foundations, there’s only one way to survive: rely on each other, be real–and surrender to God. In other words, risk everything…

The gals over at 5 Minutes for Mom have done it again and have come up with an awesome give away. They are giving away an Insignia® - 75W DVD/CD/HD Radio Compact Shelf System with USB Port from Best Buy.  With everything that this does, I bet you it would be a big hit at my house.