Spring

Spring

Spring has arrived and winter has passed away. Have you noticed that when spring arrives everyone seems to come out of hibernation because of the winter season? People start to cut their lawn again and pull out the weeds to have new a clean look in their lawns. Children start to play again outside than be stuck in their homes each day because of the cold weather. People start to plant new flowers in their garden to make their houses beautiful on the outside.

This is a new season is a new beginning in our lives for a lot of us. I started to realize there a lot of things that I have been holding back this winter season. It is time to come out and work on those things in my life. My expectation is one of the things I need to let go. When I graduated last year I thought I would have it easy to get into my career. I was so wrong to myself to even have this expectation in my career. It is hard to get in my field because everyone else is trying to find a job in this country but I have learned to hold on to the Lord and let go my expectations. I tried to keep my life busy by doing small projects that I could not do a year ago.

Second, is to love unconditional with people around me. A year ago, I didn’t even have the time to speak to someone behind the counter at the store. I am finding out there are a lot of people who need to speak to someone about their issues. Yes. A lot of us want to reach out and touch someone to help us through the tough moments in our lives. I have come to understand that it takes time to listen to someone than just to walk away. You never know that you might bless someone in their day. What are some new things have you come to find out in your new season in your life?

Let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. —Philippians 2:3-4

Isleen

What Are We Holding On To?

What Are We Holding On To?

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life. —1 Timothy 6:12
Tolkien’s classic The Lord of the Rings trilogy came to life in recent years on film. In the second epic story, the hero, Frodo, reached a point of despair and wearily confided to his friend, “I can’t do this, Sam.” As a good friend, Sam gave a rousing speech: “It’s like in the great stories . . . . Full of darkness and danger they were. . . . Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.” Which prompted Frodo to ask: “What are we holding on to, Sam?”

It’s a significant question, one that we all need to ask ourselves. Living in a fallen, broken world, it’s no wonder that sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the powers of darkness. When we are at the point of despair, ready to throw in the towel, we do well to follow Paul’s advice to Timothy: “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life” (1 Tim. 6:12).
In life’s battles, let’s hold on to the fact that good will triumph over evil in the end, that one day we will see our Master and Leader face-to-face, and we will reign with Him forever. You can be part of this great story, knowing that if you have trusted Jesus for salvation you are guaranteed a victorious ending! — Joe Stowell

Though weak and helpless in life’s fray, God’s mighty power shall be my stay;Without, within, He gives to meThe strength to gain the victory. —D. De Haan
http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb.shtml

What are you holding on to during these rough times? Each day as I read the newspaper and look at my checkbook with no money it is getting rough. It is getting point where I am running out of food money this week but so how I am making it by being creative and cooking something instead of going out to eat. I don’t know how you feel these days but I am looking to the Lord for my needs. I am thankful each day as I wake up and go to my job. Yes. I wake up with the Christian radio encouraging me with The Word as I get dress in the morning. There are times when I am applying my mascara and praying at the same time. How many gals do you know do this? I am not afraid to pray with my eyes open while I put my Cover girl mascara.

A message to the believers & pray warriors: This is the harvest season for those to come to the Lord. I have spoken to 3 people this past week who are open to the Gospel. This is the season. Keep the faith and spread the word to others who are hurting.

Isleen

10 REASONS WHY TO BE JOYFUL IN THIS RECESSION

10 REASONS WHY TO BE JOYFUL IN THIS RECESSION

1. 
   80 percent off at the sale rack at my favorite store (I am serious! 80 percent off on clothes! The price was right on that day!)
2. 
   I can get free shipping because I can bargain with the sales lady on the phone to get discount on ink for the computer.
3. 
   Collecting coupons and trading with the gals at the office like it is baseball cards ( This is my first time to collect coupons and I am having a ball on saving$$$)
4. 
   I get great help from the sales man or the lady at the store. (Before the recession, I could not get help because the sale staff was too busy to help me.) I can actually have a long conversation with the sale clerk.
5. 
   Ice cream man can come by your job if you want ice cream. I had a ice cream truck stop by my work place to ask if I wanted ice cream which I said "no".
6. 
   You can by one dinner and get one free at your favorite restaurant. (It was so expensive to eat out with your buddy but now you can actually treat your buddy without spending a dime on them.
7. 
   You can get a huge discount on hotel rooms because they need your business (I called one of the hotels to get discount for one of the housekeeper family member in downtown Austin and they were willing to give me a room at the last min. If you work in hotel industry this is unheard of because the hotel industry is hurting right now.
8. 
   When you are at the stop light you can have someone clean your windshield windows at a small price (Before the recession you had to clean your own windshield.)
9. 
   You can get a good bargain on buying a house or car. Before the recession the interest rate was very high to pay but if you have the cash it is time to spend $$$$ on a car or house you want.
10. 
    At the grocery store you can find cheap items on sale than before. A month ago, I was the grocery store and I found orange juice on manager special for around $2.00 compare to $3.00 price tag.
    
    You gotta love the recession no matter how much negative you hear. Be positive and save as much as you can.
    
    Isleen

The History of Valentine's Day

The History of Valentine's Day

What is history Valentine’s day is all about one man had asked me this past weekend? So, I went to my blackberry to goggle the information from History.com please read the following article which is really interesting:

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day — and its patron saint — is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.


One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.
According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl — who may have been his jailor's daughter — who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.
While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial — which probably occurred around 270 A.D — others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.

The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goathide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman 'lottery' system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February — Valentine's Day — should be a day for romance. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in America.

According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.)
Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages (written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400), and the oldest known Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. The first commercial Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap".

http://www.history.com/content/valentine/history-of-valentine-s-day

Divorce in America

Divorce in America

Divorce seems to not occur than it did many years ago. If you look at the numbers of having many people have divorce which it shows half of the population had got in divorce in today’s society than in 1950’s.

I am single lady who has not been married just yet but I been around people who have go through divorce. I can count on my fingers of how many friends or family members are going through a divorce or have been divorced this past year. What divorce means in the Webster dictionary which it says, “the action or an instance of legally dissolving a marriage.” Divorce occurs from all backgrounds, class and age. Children are usually involved in divorce. One of close family members is going through separation right now and then proceeding into a divorce in the next few months. The child of this family member was feeling depressed one night. I could see this happy child into a depressed child. I found out from another family member what had occurred with this child and the parents the night before. We had called for a family meeting and ask this depressed child to sit in front of the room. Each one of the other family members encouraged words to lift up the child’s emotion. I could see the reactions of the child as each of the family members had said words of encouragement to the child. It seemed to me if a child is in the middle of the divorce the child will get emotional if it is separation or in a divorce no matter what age the child is.

My parents at the time had been married for almost 26 years in 2001. I was 21 years old at the time and came back from a mission trip overseas. My mom decided it was time to separate from my father. It was a painful experience to not have my mom around in my life at that moment even though I was 21 years old. Things got worst for us at family when my mother left. 9-11 occurred which brought the job market to halt in a lot of companies. My father was laid off from his successful job at EDS. Our family’s house was been torn down because mold which we had to live in apartment for 6mths. Things progressed in negative form in our family because of mother. As the oldest child in my family I had begun to turn bitter towards my mother because she had left my father. I had a lot of family members, church members, co-workers & friends had prayed for our family. Then in the summer of 02, my dad’s brothers had passed away. My mom decided to live with my father for finance reasons and also to be around my father because of his brother’s death. Things came together when my mom was at home. I had dealt with bitterness after my mother came home and I had to get some professional counseling because the separation situation. 6 years later, my mom was there for my dad while he had battled with colon cancer. My dad survived colon cancer battled with my mom on his side but I think to myself how he would handle without my mom’s help. You can never question the reason why certain things happen in life but only look to the Lord for those answers.

Awesome Lady

Awesome Lady

Time can pass you by when you are not looking. I met a wonderful lady two years ago full of life and had offered me to eat some chocolates in her home. Then I saw this lady last year on Sunday afternoon lunch and the topic of the lunch was her daughter. She was not worried about anything else but her older daughter getting married. I could see how much this lady loves her family. This lady had her husband passed away in 07 but she was going strong outside and inside. This past weekend I saw this lady laid in her hospice bed with her bald hair. It tore me apart inside to see her like this on her hospice bed. I had tears running down my face while I was praying for this lady. My boyfriend was next to me also praying for this woman of the Lord. It broke my heart to see this lovely lady battling cancer. You don’t know how much it affects you when you see a family in sadness watching their mother dying. It breaks my heart because I know what they are going through because I saw my grandmother on her death bed battling cancer many years ago. It is a feeling that you can’t explain but having lots of tissues and your tears running down your face. My father dealt with cancer and is now free of cancer but he is a changed man. I thank Kate for her prayers for my dad. I will always be thankful for prayer warriors like her. My dad went through a lot of hard moments in his life while he had cancer. We did not know if he was going to live or die soon. G-d was the only who knew if he was going to live. Every moment with dad was important to all of us kids. I remember going to the chemo and eating lunch with dad before going to work. I had so much going on with my school or work but always had time for dad during those tough moments. Today we don’t take advantage of the time we have with my parents. Every moment is important and we do a lot of things as family than we did before my dad had cancer. Today I tell you celebrate your life like it is your last. Don’t hold anger to each other and forgive and forget. You don’t know if the person you love will live their last. This is goes out to Kate Hawthorne & Family. Update: Kate Hawthrone has passed away on Jan.14th. My prayers are with all of you Hawthrone Family. Be Loved by the heavenly father.

Isleen

No Love is Greater than You

I wrote this piece on Nov.08........

No Love is Greater than You

Today, I sit here and I wonder how great you are. No words can compare of how great you are. In life we try to find greater love to another human being but we will always fail. We fail to see the truth as it is but deny at times until we fall on our face. We will disappoint of who we are inside. We are imperfect inside but only one person in the world is perfect which you, Lord. We make common mistakes of what we say or do to others but you will never leave us forsake us.

In your book which it says "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

Do we realize that you still love us? At times we don't but as each day we must realize of how great you are because you are Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

Isleen