Private Lives

Effective today, May 27, 2010, I have decided to take my blog private.  When this venture first began, I so much needed an outlet to express myself and all the emotional issues I was encountering.  As time has passed, I have come to yearn more and more for privacy in expressing myself.  I also often want to post here, but just don't have the energy or desire to 'dress up' the posts with pictures, etc.  I just want to express myself!

So, should you choose to visit from now on, you will most likely find words only.  I will, from time to time, post pictures, but it will be the exception not the rule.  My posts won't be profound but they will be my heart because that is what I need a space for at this time in my life.

Each of you who have received an invitation to view this blog have done so because I love you and trust you.  Please do not discuss my posts with others.  If you have the need to talk about something I post here, please either email me personally at diane.chandler.75@gmail.com , call me personally at 731-376-0287, which is my home number; or at 731-609-1800, which is my cell phone number.  I welcome your comments and input because I love you and care what your think.

If you choose not to re-visit, please leave me a comment asking me to remove you from the list so I will know you no longer wish to receive information from this blog.  It will not affect our relationship or the fact that I love you!

I'm looking forward to this new direction and have high hopes for the positive ways this will influence my life.  I love you all!  God bless you is my most fervent prayer!

Diane

NEW LIFE

The following was shared with me through email.  It touched me deeply and reminded me of what Easter is really all about.....NEW LIFE.  

Jesus bled and died on Calvary, lay in the tomb, but conquered death, hell and the grave when He rose up out of that tomb!  NEW LIFE!   He did all of that just me!  And, for you.  Salvation is free to us, but oh what a price our blessed Savior paid!

I pray you will reflect on what Jesus did for you as you face the weekend of activity and family fun.  If you haven't accepted His gift of NEW LIFE, I pray you will do so now, this very minute.

OH WHAT A SAVIOR!!!!

FORGIVEN!

Jeremy was born with a twisted body and a slow mind. At the age of 12 he was still in second grade, seemingly unable to learn. His teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him. He would squirm in his seat, drool, and make grunting noises. At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the time, however, Jeremy just irritated his teacher.

One day she called his parents and asked them to come in for a consultation. As the Forresters entered the empty classroom, Doris said to them, "Jeremy really belongs in a special school. It isn't fair to him to be with younger children who don't have learning problems. Why, there is a five year gap between his age and that of the other students."

Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a tissue, while her husband spoke. "Miss Miller," he said, "there is no school of that kind nearby. It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. We know he really likes it here." Doris sat for a long time after they had left, staring at the snow outside the window. Its coldness seemed to seep into her soul. She wanted to sympathize with the Forresters. After all, their only child had a terminal illness. But it wasn't fair to keep him in her class. She had 18 other youngsters to teach, and Jeremy was a distraction. Furthermore, he would never learn to read and write. Why waste any more time trying?

As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. Here I am complaining when my problems are nothing compared to that poor family, she thought. Lord, please help me to be more patient with Jeremy. From that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy's noises and his blank stares. Then one day, he limped to her desk, dragging his bad leg behind him.

"I love you, Miss Miller," he exclaimed, loud enough for the whole class to hear. The other students snickered, and Doris' face turned red. She stammered, "Wh-why that's very nice, Jeremy. N-now please take your seat."

Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter. Doris told them the story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the idea of new life springing forth, she gave each of the children a large plastic egg. "Now," she said to them, "I want you to take this home and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Miss Miller," the children responded enthusiastically-all except for Jeremy. He listened intently; his eyes never left her face. He did not even make his usual noises. Had he understood what she had said about Jesus' death and resurrection? Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps she should call his parents and explain the project to them.

That evening, Doris' kitchen sink stopped up. She called the landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and unclog it. After that, she still had to shop for groceries, iron a blouse, and prepare a vocabulary test for the next day. She completely forgot about phoning Jeremy's parents.

The next morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking as they placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller's desk. After they completed their math lesson, it was time to open the eggs. In the first egg, Doris found a flower. "Oh yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new life," she said. "When plants peek through the ground, we know that spring is here." A small girl in the first row waved her arm. "That's my egg,

Miss Miller," she called out. The next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very real. Doris held it up. "We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that's new life, too." Little Judy smiled proudly and said, "Miss Miller, that one is mine." Next, Doris found a rock with moss on it. She explained that moss, too, showed life. Billy spoke up from the back of the classroom, "My daddy helped me," he beamed.

Then Doris opened the fourth egg. She gasped. The egg was empty. Surely it must be Jeremy's she thought, and of course, he did not understand her instructions. If only she had not forgotten to phone his parents. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another. Suddenly, Jeremy spoke up. "Miss Miller, aren't you going to talk about my egg?" Flustered, Doris replied, "But Jeremy, your egg is empty." He looked into her eyes and said softly, "Yes, but Jesus' tomb was
empty, too."

Time stopped. When she could speak again, Doris asked him, "Do you know why the tomb was empty?" "Oh, yes," Jeremy said, "Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His Father raised Him up."

The recess bell rang. While the children excitedly ran out to the school yard, Doris cried as the cold inside her melted completely away.

Three months later, Jeremy died. Those who paid their respects at the mortuary were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his casket, all of them empty.

"By now it was noon. The whole earth became dark, the darkness lasting three hours—a total blackout.

The Temple curtain split right down the middle. Jesus called loudly,

 "Father, I place my life in your hands!"

 Then he breathed his last.

When the captain there saw what happened, he honored God:

 "This man was innocent!

A good man, and innocent!"

All who had come around as spectators to watch the show, when they saw what actually happened,

were overcome with grief and headed home. Those who knew Jesus well, along with the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a respectful distance and kept vigil.

St. Luke 23:  44 - 49  (The Message)

SHOULD CHRISTIANS RESPECT OBAMA?

I received this in an email recently.  I saved it and have been praying about posting it on my blog.  I have tried to be nice to the 'other' side, the supporters of Obama.  It doesn't work.  They don't want to be nice and have a real dialogue about the issues.  They want to call names and play the blame game.  Well, ENOUGH!  I am done!  I WILL SPEAK OUT!  If you don't like it, I suggest you not read this blog anymore because you won't enjoy it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dr. David Barton is more of a historian than a Biblical speaker, but very famous for his knowledge of

historical facts as well as Biblical truths.

Dr. David Barton --- on Obama


Respect the Office? Yes.

Respect the Man in the Office? No, I am sorry to say.

I have noted that many elected officials, both Democrats and Republicans, called upon America to unite
behind Obama.

Well, I want to make it clear to all who will listen that I AM NOT uniting behind Obama !

I will respect the Office which he holds, and I will acknowledge his abilities as an orator and
wordsmith and pray for him, BUT that is it.

I have begun today to see what I can do to make sure that he is a one-term President !

Why am I doing this ?

It is because:

- I do not share Obama's vision or value system for America ;
- I do not share his Abortion beliefs;
- I do not share his radical Marxist's concept of re-distributing wealth;
- I do not share his stated views on raising taxes on those who make $150,000+ (the ceiling has been
changed three times since August);
- I do not share his view that America is Arrogant;
- I do not share his view that America is not a Christian Nation;
- I do not share his view that the military should be reduced by 25%;
- I do not share his view of amnesty and giving more to illegals than our American Citizens who need help;
- I do not share his views on homosexuality and his definition of marriage;
- I do not share his views that Radical Islam is our friend and Israel is our enemy who should give up any land;
- I do not share his spiritual beliefs (at least the ones he has made public);
- I do not share his beliefs on how to re-work the healthcare system in America ;
- I do not share his Strategic views of the Middle East ; and
- I certainly do not share his plan to sit down with terrorist regimes such as Iran ...

Bottom line: my America is vastly different from Obama's, and I have a higher obligation to my Country and my GOD to do what is Right !

For eight (8) years, the Liberals in our Society, led by numerous entertainers who would have no platform and no real credibility but for their celebrity status, have attacked President Bush, his family, and his spiritual
beliefs !

They have not moved toward the center in their beliefs and their philosophies, and they never came together nor compromised their personal beliefs for the betterment of our Country !

They have portrayed my America as a land where everything is tolerated except being intolerant !

They have been a vocal and irreverent minority for years !

They have mocked and attacked the very core values so important to the founding and growth of our Country !

They have made every effort to remove the name of GOD or Jesus Christ from our Society !

They have challenged capital punishment, the right to bear firearms, and the most basic principles of our criminal code !

They have attacked one of the most fundamental of all Freedoms, the right of free speech !

Unite behind Obama? Never ! ! !

I am sure many of you who read this think that I am going overboard, but I refuse to retreat one more inch in
favor of those whom I believe are the embodiment of Evil!

PRESIDENT BUSH made many mistakes during his Presidency, and I am not sure how history will judge him. However, I believe that he weighed his decisions in light of the long established Judeo-Christian principles of our Founding Fathers!!!

Majority rules in America , and I will honor the concept; however, I will fight with all of my power to be a voice in opposition to Obama and his "goals for America ."

I am going to be a thorn in the side of those who, if left unchecked, will destroy our Country ! ! Any more
compromise is more defeat !

I pray that the results of this election will wake up many who have sat on the sidelines and allowed the
Socialist-Marxist anti-GOD crowd to slowly change so much of what has been good in America !


"Error of Opinion may be tolerated where Reason is left free to combat it." - Thomas Jefferson


"If we ever forget that we're one nation under GOD, then we will be a nation gone under." - Ronald Reagan

I WANT THE AMERICA I GREW UP IN BACK....

In GOD We Trust!

God bless you and GOD BLESS AMERICA!

MAY WE REMAIN FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE!

GOTTA LOVE THEM IRISH!!!!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I thought I might share a few jokes with you.  Since I'm of Scotch-Irish ancestry, I think I can safely say laughing at one's self is healthy!  Also, not all Irish are either drinkers or Catholic, but we're all loveable!!!!! 

ENJOY!!!!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paddy was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place.   Looking up to heaven he said, "Lord take pity on me.   If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life and give up me Irish Whiskey too."

Miraculously, a parking place appeared.

Paddy looked up again and said, "Never mind, I found one."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Father Murphy walks into a pub in Donegal, and asks the first man he meets,  "Do you want to go to heaven?"

The man said, "I do, Father."

The priest said, "Then stand over there against the wall."

Then the priest asked the second man, "Do you want to go to heaven?"

"Certainly, Father", the man replied...

"Then stand over there against the wall", said the priest.

Then Father Murphy walked up to O'Toole and asked, "Do you want to go to heaven?"

O'Toole said, "No, I don't Father."

The priest said, "I don't believe this.   You mean to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?"

O'Toole said, "Oh, when I die, yes.   I thought you were getting a group together to go right now!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paddy was in  New York. He was patiently waiting and watching the traffic cop on a busy street crossing.   The cop stopped the flow of traffic and shouted, "Okay, pedestrians..." Then he'd allow the traffic to pass.

He'd done this several times, and Paddy still stood on the sidewalk.

After the cop had shouted, "Pedestrians!" for the tenth time, Paddy went over to him and said, "Is it not about time ye let the Catholics across?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gallagher opened the morning newspaper and was dumbfounded to read in the obituary column that he had died.   He quickly phoned his best friend, Finney.

"Did you see the paper?" asked Gallagher. "They say I died!!"

"Yes, I saw it!" replied Finney.   "Where are ye callin from?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An Irish priest is driving down to New York and gets stopped for speeding in Connecticut .  The state trooper smells alcohol on the priest's breath and then sees an empty wine bottle on the floor of the car.

He says, "Sir, have you been drinking?"

"Just water", says the priest.

The trooper says, "Then why do I smell wine?"

The priest looks at the bottle and says, "Good Lord! He's done it again!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking into the bar, Mike said to Charlie the bartender, "Pour me a stiff one - just had another fight with the little woman."

"Oh yeah?" said Charlie, "And how did this one end?"

"When it was over", Mike replied, "She came to me on her hands and knees."

"Really", said Charlie, "Now that's a switch!   What did she say?"

"She said, 'Come out from under the bed, you little chicken,'"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

David staggered home very late after another evening with his drinking buddy, Paddy.   He took off his shoes to avoid waking his wife, Kathleen.

He tiptoed as quietly as he could toward the stairs leading to their upstairs bedroom, but misjudged the bottom step.   As he caught himself by grabbing the banister, his body swung around and he landed heavily on his rump.   A whiskey bottle in each back pocket broke and made the landing especially painful.

Managing not to yell, David sprung up, pulled down his pants, and looked in the hall mirror to see that his butt cheeks were cut and bleeding.   He managed to quietly find a full box of Band-Aids and began putting a Band-Aid as best he could on each place he saw blood..

He then hid the now almost empty Band-Aid box and shuffled and stumbled his way to bed.

In the morning, David woke up with searing pain in both his head and butt and Kathleen staring at him from across the room.

She said, "You were drunk again last night weren't you?"

David said, "Why you say such a mean thing?"

"Well", Kathleen said, "it could be the open front door, it could be the broken glass at the bottom of the stairs, it could be the drops of blood trailing through the house, it could be your bloodshot eyes, but mostly ....... it's all those Band-Aids stuck on the hall mirror."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A cheerful disposition is good for your health;

gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.

Proverbs 17:22 (The Message)

DIFFERENT SEASONS

The following are pictures of the same place taken at different seasons.

The clear, cool waters of Spring drift down the river as the green trees linger over the waters and life abounds.  Who can pass by without dipping their toes into the water and giggling as it tickles the toes?!

Such are the young days of our lives; everything feels new and bright and wonderful.  We giggle easily, we find beauty in the smallest of things.  We are held in awe at the sight of butterflies as they twitter about among the fresh flowers of the field.  We are young and we only see what lies immediately before us.  We have little responsibility but to enjoy being alive.  We may marry and even have young children in this stage of our lives.  We are in rapt attention for every change that occurs, every smile on our babies' faces, every sweet word spoken by our beloved.  It is a time of pure joy.

The 'dog days' of Summer have now settled in.  It's hard work making it through the summer, the waters thicken with the algae.  What once looked so inviting and cool, now looks foreboding and dirty.  One takes a quick glance and turns away, not seeing the beauty that still lies in the green forest because we don't want to look at the murky waters of the river.

The summer of our lives comes when those responsibilities we once took for granted begin to weigh heavy on us.  Our children are growing up.  We begin to think of college funds as we rush from one hectic day to the next.  We may feel as though our life is a bit of a drudge; too much to do, too much money is needed, too many commitments.  We lose ourselves in the 'algae' that has gathered over our lives.  We loose sight of the beauty that still lies within us and around us because we don't want to face the 'algae'.

Fall has now come to the river.  The water is clearer again, but not as clear or as tempting as in the Spring.  The trees have lost their leaves, the forest looks barren and uninviting.  It's as though the waters and the trees can sense the coming Winter.  Yet, even in this seemingly barren time, the beauty of the foliage pops at us in bright splashes and the green of those determined vines continues to call for our attention.

The Fall of our lives can seem like a lonely and dark time.  Our children may be grown and have now moved away to start families of their own.  Our parents may now be frail and need us more and more, or they may have gone Home to meet the Lord.  Our own health may begin to fail.  Our bodies weaken and we may feel as though we just aren't useful anymore. 

Yet, there in our lives are those 'pops' of joy in the faces of those we love, in the joy of worship with our chosen church family, in the peace of sitting quietly with our beloved.  Those green spaces are still determined to give us hope and joy in these times of our life.  God smiles on us and reminds us of His love for us and of all He has blesssed us with. 

Perhaps this is the time of our life that our beloved is taken to Glory.  We feel the barrenness of being alone and we may feel as though the 'pops' are gone forever from our lives.  The greens may be a bit subdued by the darkness of our grief.  Yet, if we look, we can still find the colors of joy even in the most barren and desolate times of our life.  We can look to the Winter with hope and peace when we know it is only the prelude to the Rebirth!

  Winter now drapes it's white blanket over the barren trees and it's chilly fingers carress the waters as they freeze in it's grasp.  Yet, the forest looks almost joyful for it knows what awaits at Winter's end....the Rebirth of Spring!

Awwww, the Winter!  What a joyful time winter should be in the life of a Christian!  Snow may be on the roof, or it may be bare; but what a lovely time when we know we will soon be going Home!  Our bodies may be worn out, but our spirits now shine with the wisdom of years of loving and serving our Lord.  We have suffered loss, we have walked the mountain tops, very little remains outside our realm of experience.  Yet, one thing awaits that causes us to look longingly for those dying days of that Winter season.  We now yearn for the day when our Rebirth will occur; that day when Jesus will call our name and we will be taken to Heaven to abide with Him forevermore!

I am in what I would describe as the mid-Fall of my life.  I thought there just wasn't much left for me to enjoy when my husband was called Home.  For the most part, I spent the last year thinking only of rushing into and through my Winter so I too could go Home.

Now, I realize my Fall is still in full aray.  The joy remains though now tempered with the grief of such a painful loss.  Just as steel is tempered to make it stronger, I feel I have now come out of the darkness of my grief a stronger Christian and now ready to face the remaining seasons of my life with joy and anticipation for where the Lord will take me and what He will have me do.

My winter has not yet come and I no longer yearn for it to quicken it's arrival.  When the times comes, I am ready to see my Jesus and my loved ones again.  Until then, I will serve the Lord with gladness in the place He has planted me.

My Earthly Home
 

Lessons on Life

You cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season.
The essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come
from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

Moral

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don't judge life by one difficult season.

When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.
Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.

                                             Psalms 73:  21 - 28  (NIV)