Christian Photographers Community

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Morning Devotional...





"For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings."
Hebrews 2:10


People sometimes wonder why, with all the marvels science can design and build, it cannot build a good replacement for the heart. As medical science learns more about the heart, it becomes clear that replacing this complex mass of muscles is more difficult than might be imagined.

Your heart is about the size of your fist, really surprisingly small for the job it does. The heart is a pump with valves, tubing and an electrical system. Its four chambers are carefully designed to make sure that used blood goes to your lungs for oxygen and that blood from your lungs takes that oxygen to the rest of your body. In order to do this, your heart must pump 2,000 gallons of blood through more than 60,000 miles of soft tubing every day.

But the heart is much more than a pump. Researchers describe it as "an incredibly intelligent organ." The heart is smarter than we are. When you need more circulation, it senses this and speeds its pumping action. It doesn't matter whether the need for more pumping action comes from increased exercise, or something you thought about that might require more heart action, the heart responds. Even when transplanted, the heart is able to respond to its new environment.

Like everything else God has created, the heart is not a simple organ, limited to only one job. The heart is custom designed to do many jobs well. And to this day doctors cannot tell you why one apparently healthy heart stops beating and another does not. Life itself is more than an organ; it is a gift from our Creator to each of us.


Prayer: Dear Father in heaven; I thank You for the gift of life. Take my life and let it be consecrated to You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.




REF.:Huyghe, Patrick. 1985. Your heart: a survival guide. Science Digest, Apr. p. 31.

Good mornign all!!  It is Friday and I have about 1001 things to do.  Ugh.

No, Marilyn, given the choice to follow people around for a day, I would not choose you OR Janet.  hehehehe.  Getting together would be cool, though.

Okay, time to go problem solve and figure out how to do what i need to do today, and what can be put off.

Laters
karmat

Morning everyone! I'm getting ready to head up north for the weekend. Should be a relaxing couple of days, if it doesn't rain.

So, I'll see everyone Monday! Have a great Memorial Day Weekend. If any of you are veterans(like me) or current military personnel, I salute you!

May 27 - The Discerner

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"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).

The Word of God (both the written Word and the living Word, Jesus Christ) is "living and energizing" and is the double-edged sword of the Spirit, piercing into the deepest recesses of body, soul, and spirit, where it "discerns" even the very thoughts and intents of our hearts.

This discernment, however, is more than just understanding or insight. The Greek word for "discerner" is kritikos and is used only this one time in the Bible. Our word "critic" is derived from it, and this is an important dimension of its meaning. Its discernment is a critical, judging discernment—one which convicts and corrects, as well as one which understands.

It is paradoxical that men today presume to become critics of the Bible, when it should really be the other way around. There are textual critics who sort through the various ancient manuscripts of the Bible, trying to arrive at the original text; there are the "higher critics" who critique vocabularies and concepts, trying to show that the traditional authors did not actually write the books attributed to them; and then there are many other purely destructive critics who criticize the Bible's miracles, morals, and everything else, hoping thereby to justify their rebellion against the Word.

But the Bible still stands! It stands in judgment on our lives and our subconscious motives. It will have the final word when "the books [are] opened . . . and the dead [are] judged out of those things which were written in the books" (Revelation 20:12). It is far better to heed the constructive criticism of the Word now, than to hear its condemnation later. HMM

Good Morning, Thank you Pat for the interesting information on the Heart. We are indeed complex creations of our God. Fearfully and wonderfully made as David said.

I must work on Memorial day there are no holidays when one is a caregiver. No  days off with pay, no work no pay. 

Fog here today, I wonder how long it will stay, according to the TV forecast the whole of California's coast is under a fog bank we are just on the northern end of it. Hey Jane and Nita has it reached you  up there in Oregon yet? 


TTYL

Hi everyone.  Just back from our men's Friday coffee at the Senior Center.  We had a special visitor this morning.  He was one of the original group of men who moved to Florida probably 5 years ago.  It was nice to see him again.  We had stopped and had lunch with him a couple of years ago when we were in Florida.  He is a real character and hasn't changed a bit.  

I just read all the interesting postings from the time I posted yesterday and then the new devotional thoughts for today.  Pat, I have always thought that it was the brain that controlled the responses of the heart.  However, I certainly agree that God has given us a wonderful gift in our heart in that even when they are weak and diseased they keep on working, often for a long time.  

Tbear, sorry to hear of the injuries within your family.  Our schools here in the Atlanta area ended on Wednesday this year.  It has certainly helped the traffic situation.  We look foward to your having more time to visit with us here on CP.

Marilyn, sorry to hear of your new bump.  Think we are going to have to wrap you in cotton as you keep injuring yourself.  

Boots, glad to see you were able to post again.  I will often do a quick select, copy and paste on my posting before hitting the Post button if I have written a lot and don't want to lose it.  With the cursor in the posting box just hit Ctrl + A to select the full message, then hit Ctrl + C to copy the message to the clipboard.  Then hit Post and if something happens just click in the new posting box and hit Ctrl +V and your message will be available for posting again.  It stays on your clipboard in your computer until you replace it or shut down your computer.  

I would like to take the time to comment to each person posting today but must forgo that as still have a lot of work to do on the instructions for Pat's aunt.  I worked about 5 hours on it last evening.  It just takes a lot of time.

Hope everyone has a good day.

Janet, I was tempted to tell you that I'll sit on it, but I just couldn't stand it.  God willing, I will take a couple of shots of Marbeth's acrylics sometime very soon.

'Mornin' everyone.  I'm just stopping by on my way to the kitchen for another cup of coffee.
I borrowed my neighbor's weedeater yesterday evening and thought it would only take a short while to trim the grass in my yard.  Shouldn't think, y'know!  First, it ran out of string and I had to go to the store and buy another roll and figure out how to put it on.  Then, for some reason unknown to me, the string broke and I had to wrestle with the silly thing for a while before I finally just unwound it all and started over!  You can tell I'm not really savvy when it comes to such things.     At last, though, the yard is looking pretty good with its new cut.  Now, I suppose I should get out there and pull a few more weeds but ... well, ... uh ... maybe some other time. 

QuoteJane, are you the Jay Walker that was on Senior net at one time?

  Yes, Stoob Boots, I will confess to being the very same Jaywalker from Senior Net ... I just haven't been too visible in either place for a while.  Pat very kindly invited me to this new forum in the beginning and I've stuck around.  I'm surprised you would even remember.   

Marilyn, I don't see any fog here, but the sky is kinda gray so probably out from shore there's a "front" coming in.  I seem to remember the forecaster last night saying something to that effect.  We have had unusually warm weather the last couple days.  Got into the low 80's even and that is a true heat wave for here. 

Karma and Al, thanks for your words of encouragement.  I am a teacher but don't hang out my shingle and announce it to the world.  The Lord has been bringing people to me, however, and each seems really in need of scriptural and spiritual help.  A friend said recently, "Jane is running a First Aid station over there ... she cleans the wounds and puts on bandages."


I will be staying home and inside for the weekend ... I'm not too keen on getting into crowds or traffic so .... I'm going to the store in a few minutes to avoid too many shoppers.  They usually show up later in the morning.

Y'all take care and I'll be around ... <that's better than being square, I guess>.   

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Howdy, folks!  It is a beautiful, cool day here again, and I got some flowers from Diane yesterday, so Abby and I are about to go get them in the dirt.    She volunteered to babysit her little cousin Autumn (my sister's grandbaby) so when Autumn wakes from her nap we will go get her for a while.

Kristi had posted a new motivational banner at the gym this morning.  It says SUPERSIZE--SUPER THIGHS--SUPER SIGHS!  Hehehehe.  I thought it was good.

After my hour and 15 min. workout, I had to get in the pool and swim with Abby for another 15 minutes.  She had been in the water the whole time I was exercising, my sister was in there, too.  Abby loves the water.

Well, those flowers are not going to plant themselves, so best get to it.

Hey, if anyone wants to make a 'plan' to meet somewhere, I am all for it and all of you are invited!!!  Something like a mini-bash!!!

Well, after a sleepless night night before last, I weed-eated, then mowed.  Then weed-eated some more....battery went dead so had to re-charge...I love my weed-eater.  Automatic feed and NEVER breaks the line.  No rewinding.  Love it!!  Funny, when one of us starts mowing around here soon the other two yards have mowers running also.  Ivalou and I got done about the same time so I asked her to go to Noblesville with me after we got cleaned up. 

So Ivalou and I had Chinese...Hi Mieka!!.  Then went to K-Mart.  K-Mart has been bought by Sears and in August our K-Mart will be Sears Essentials.  So everything is on sale there.  I bought a really nice toaster oven since my old one caught on fire.  After K-Mart, we went to WalMart, Cato Clothing Store and Kohls.  I bought what would work with a dress but it is the wrong shade of green so I want to go back to Cato's and purchase something else. 

Then last night, Ivalou and I went to Kaye Don and Barb's for Fried Mushrooms.  They were in Michigan last week and Kaye Don found some really nice mushrooms.  We all pitched in and had a great meal.  After that we played a game of 'Hand and Foot'.  Ivalou and Kaye Don won....just barely!!

I took some Ibuprophen and went to bed when I got home.  I slept soooooo good.  The yard looks good.  The house is fairly clean.  So today I am doing nothing!!!  Well, I do want to go back to Noblesville but that won't take long. 

Hi, Kayln.  Hugs and Love to you, too.  I know you will be glad when school is out but take care of that wrist!!

hello everyone
I am back in teh states and home safe.... it took us awhile to find out if we were all going to get to leave houston together which we did but once we got into dallas we thought we were going to havee to leave some more people... STUPID AIRLINES..... it was more of a pain in the airports than claiming luggage and going through customs off the ship!!! anyways i had a great time and hope to be able to do it again.... talk toyou later i gotta get stuff ready for work.
Sarah

Hi, this is Abby. I am wishing Autumn would wake up so we can go get her for a while.  Grams and I are going to make Rice Krispie Treats after we go get her, because we have to buy some marshmallows.  There was a stray cat in the garage this morning!  But Cookie barked and chased it away; she only likes OUR cat.  Ruffles (Beth's bird) is living in the garage now, she likes it better here than at Beth's.

This is Janet now.  Darrel's brother just arrived from  Way down in the tip of Texas, so they are catching up.  He brought his step daughter with him, and came for the school reunion.  We expect his sister, brother in law, mom and great-nephew later this evening.  So........I may not be around for a while.

Gotta run, again!

I got this little deovtional from one of the site I clicked on at the top of the opening page.

"Grow"
By George Cladis  (Bio)
Jesus told a story of a man who went out to clear the land. He uprooted gnarled old trees and chopped up rotting stumps. He put a shoulder to large boulders and pushed them to the fringe. Then, using a sharp blade for a plow yoked to an ox, he turned the soil to receive the seed. Slinging the seed bag over his head and across one shoulder, he broadcast kernels in wide arcing motions.

Some say the hardest part of the man's work was over. But I disagree.

Moving through a list of tasks may be arduous, but checking off little boxes next to chores completed and errands run gives a certain satisfaction. After all, these are things we can do.

No, the hardest part is not the labor; the hardest part is the waiting.

The work is done. Now, will Life come?

In my own work, it is the equivalent of my hurrying out each morning in scruffy hair, an overcoat thrown over my nightshirt, slippers flapping, and lying down on the earth to spy some new sprout, some emerging blade of life!

And I have been known to strike the earth and cry out, "Grow!"

But no one can give Life—we can only give labor. And so I must . . . wait.

While we value so much the actual labor, I wonder if the art of patience—the art of trusting the Lifegiver to come and bless and give growth—isn't more important than every action step on the project flow chart combined.

Having done what you or I can, we wait.

And we trust the Lifegiver to come.

I WAS WORKING at the grocery-store checkout counter, and a woman and her son came through the line. The son unloaded the cart. Two eggs in a carton had been broken, and half a loaf of bread had been mysteriously crushed. His mother chided him, remarking that she would have to make French toast with the injured items. He looked properly repentant until his mother walked off. Then he whispered to me, "A friend told me to try the broken egg/squashed bread routine. That's how he gets his mom to make French toast for him!"   

Well, this has been a day and a half!

I was pulling some weeds (like you should be doing, Jane!  HAHAHA) and then I came in and a friend dropped by and then I dealt with some things on the telephone, drove to get some cream for my coffee and thought to myself that I'd lay down for awhile and that was at 5 pm and I just woke up!  I can't believe it.  I guess that the 18 weeks with little sleep has really caught up here.

Now, I'm going to take Geordie up the street for a little walk.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Pat

Hi All u all

Well here it is Friday once again, seems it always comes after a Thursday,   , but time really goes on so much faster than we would like.

It has been a good week for me, lots has taken place since last Friday so I am not complaining.

Larry, thank you for you advice I will print that out and tape it on my computer.  I have so many notes taped on the monitor now it looks like a well worn Christmas tree.

Marylin, that is so cool you knowing Al Moak and living in the same town.  I only know him from cyber space, but feel like I know him in person.

Jane, I think the reason I remember you is that you once lived in the DAllas area, and I am only about 90 miles east of Dallas.

Karmat, with 1001 things to do it should be easy to find some you can postpone until another day.

Pat, thanks for the message on the heart.  It is the one muscle we really take for granted and very seldom think of how much work it does just to keep us going.

Janet, I think you are one very busy person and we might just want to get a "Busy Match" going between you and Marilyn just to see who is the most busy.  It would wear most of out just trying to keep score. 

Stoob says howdy to Al.

Etta Sue, those are cute Rabbits.

Boots

Pat isn't it rather late to be taking Geordie for a walk. You are 3 hours ahead of me Right? That makes it 10 pm your time. Correct? I do hope your neighborhood is safe. i don't think I would want to be out walking either of the dogs that late, although Bebe is so much more protective than Happy, he's a lover and loves on everyone.

Hi, friends, I realize I may be "bonked on the head" tonight if someone locks the door to this discussion while I'm writing. Oh, well, it's worth a try, anyway.

Today was a good day, and the meeting with the senior official at my company went well. So, we'll see what develops from all this.

In the interim, I'm a tired gal and probably will put the small amount of meat I purchased at the store in the refrigerator, and then turn in for tonight.

Ahhhhh - a LONG WEEKEND ahead! How nice.

Ruth Ann

I wish it was a long weekend for me I have to work 1/2 day tomorrow, pick up Versal for Church on Sunday , work both jobs on Monday.

RuthAnn how is Leslie, tell him I am praying for him daily.

Had a call from Al earlier we were discussing Jane's ire are the IRS. It is so unfair.

Wow, finally caught up.

Marilyn, I too feel about a month ago and did some damage to my foot/ankle.  I tore a ligament.  My doctor told me to just rest it and let it heal naturally but slowly.  When I visited my Chiropractor for my regular monthly back adjustment, I mentioned to him what had happened and he said that the foot and ankle have many complex movements in it, and gave me this exercise to do.  Sit with your leg resting on a chair and your foot hanging over the edge.  With exaggerated movements, draw the letters of the alphabet with your foot.  He said is much better than just trying to move your foot in circles as it stretches, and gets all muscles moving.  When your leg starts to "cramp" or gets "tight" then stop.

We went up to the trailer and opened it last weekend and had to put out an "SOS" call on the way home. The alternator on the car caught fire.  Thankfully when it started we were able to pull into the parking lot of an IGA (grocery store).  The cup of coffee we had stalled the fire long enough for me to get into the store to get some baking soda to put the fire out before too much damage was caused.  My wonderful parents came to the rescue, driving an hour or so to get to us, then take Bruce another little bit to an open Canadian Tire where he was able to purchase a new part, then bring him back and get it installed.  The car now seems to be running fine.  We had dinner, then stayed to watch the fireworks with my parents.

I was only scheduled to work three days this week, but was called in for an extra day.  I had been thinking about going to the trailer tonight and coming home tomorrow but changed my mind as yard work needs to be done here, and now am working tomorrow as well because someone has called in sick.

Pat, it is so nice to hear that you are starting to feel a bit better and able to get out.

Must call it an evening so that I am fresh for tomorrow.

Okay, folks, the cat is out, the garage door is closed, and now this door is being locked!  You can continue to post, sing and visit HERE and I hope we fill up at least three pages on Saturday!