Micah And Grandpa Coloring

If we are to be in a close relationship with the Lord, we can’t have idols lingering in our hearts. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money” (NLT).

Or sleep. Or ________ {you fill in the blank}.

It may not seem like a big deal for us to desire wealth, fame, relationships or other seemingly insignificant things. But when these take precedence over God, it is a major issue to Him. Scripture tells us that He is jealous for our hearts and will not — nor should He — share His glory with another (Deuteronomy 4:24).

Reality television has co-opted the word jealous: we see housewives jealous over handbags and luxury vehicles; chefs jealous over others’ delicious, well-executed dishes; bachelorettes jealous over fun dates other women go on. But they aren’t actually jealous; they are envious.

Envy longs for what belongs to others.

Jealousy passionately desires what rightly belongs to you.

You and I belong to God, so when anything claims our affections, time, money, thoughts or desires more than He does, He becomes jealous. He loves us and knows nothing can fulfill us like He can and nothing is better for us than His ways. In fact, Psalm 24:5 says that when we purify our hearts of idols, we “will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God [our] savior” (NLT). God longs to be the one thing you long for the most.

 Alex's Fifth Grade Recognition Ceremony 

 I Have Poison Ivy

My New Faucet. I love it.

Strawberries I Picked At A Friends House. Which Gave Me Picture Number 2.

Who Was Haym Solomon?
 
Read this fascinating history of the $1 bill  to know about HaymSolomon.
               


On the rear of the One Dollar bill, you will see two circles. Together, they comprise the Great Seal of the United States. The First Continental Congress requested that Benjamin Franklin and a group of men come up with a Seal. It took them four years to accomplish this task and another two years to get it approved.

If you look at the left-hand circle, you will see a Pyramid.

                 

Notice the face is lighted, and the western side is dark.

This country was just beginning. We had not begun to

explore the west or decided what we could do for Western Civilization. 
 
The Pyramid is uncapped, again signifying that we were

not even close to being finished. Inside the Capstone you

have the all-seeing eye, an ancient symbol for divinity. It

was Franklin 's belief that one man couldn't do it alone,

but a group of men, with the help of God, could do anything.

'IN GOD WE TRUST' is printed on this currency.

The Latin above the pyramid, ANNUIT COEPTIS, means, 
'God has favored our undertaking.'
 
The Latin below the pyramid, NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM,

means, 'a new order has begun.'
 
At the base of the pyramid is the Roman numeral for 1776. (MDCCLXXVI)

If you look at the right-hand circle, and check it carefully, you will learn that it is on every National Cemetery in the United States.
It is also on the Parade of Flags Walkway at the Bushnell, Florida National Cemetery, and is the centerpiece of most heroes' monuments. Slightly modified, it is the seal of the President of the United States, and it is always visible whenever he speaks, yet very few people know what the symbols mean.

The Bald Eagle was selected as a symbol for victory for two reasons:
 
First, the eagle is not afraid of a storm; he is strong,

and he is smart enough to soar above it.
 
Secondly, he wears no material crown.

We had just broken from the King of England.
 
Also, notice the shield is unsupported.

This country can now stand on its own.
 
At the top of that shield there is a white bar signifying congress, a unifying factor. We were coming together as one nation.
 
In the Eagle's beak you will read,

'E PLURIBUS UNUM' meaning, 'from many - one.'
 
Above the Eagle, we have the thirteen stars, representing the thirteen original colonies, and any clouds of misunderstanding rolling away. Again, we were coming together as one.

Notice what the Eagle holds in his talons. He holds an olive branch and arrows. This country wants peace, but we will never be afraid to fight to preserve peace. The Eagle always wants to face the olive branch, but in time of war, his gaze turns toward the arrows.

An (untrue) old-fashioned belief saysthat the number 13 is an unlucky number. This is almost a worldwide belief. You will almost never see a room numbered 13 -- or any hotels with a 13th floor. But think about this:

America, which relies on God (not a number) to direct and lead,
boldly chose:

13 original colonies,
13 signers of the Declaration of Independence,
13 stripes on our flag,
13 steps on the pyramid,
13 letters in 'Annuit Coeptis',
13 letters in ' E Pluribus Unum,'
13 stars above the eagle,
13 bars on that shield,
13 leaves on the olive branch,
13 fruits, and if you look closely,
13 arrows.

And finally, notice the arrangement of the 13 stars in the 
right-hand circle. You will see that they are arranged as a
Star of David.

 
This was ordered by George Washington who, when he asked

Haym Solomon, a wealthy Philadelphia Jew, what he would like as a personal reward for his services to the Continental Army. Solomon said he wanted nothing for himself, but he would like something for his people. The Star of David was the result. 
 
Few people know it was Solomon who saved the Army through his financial contributions...then died a pauper. Haym Solomon gave $25 million to save the Continental Army, money that was sorely needed to help realize America’s --our-- freedom and independence 
from England.
 
Therein lies America’s Judeo-Christian beginning.
 
Most American children do NOT know any of this.
They are not taught because their history teachers do NOT know this.
[They were not taught!]
 
On America ’s Freedom:
Too many veterans gave up too much to let the meaning fade.
Many veterans came home to an America that did not care.
Too many veterans never came home at all.
They served -- they died -- for you … for me. 

 

12 Reasons You Should Eat Avocado Every Day

Anti-Inflammatory Properties

Phytonutrient compound found in avocados, such as polyphenols and flavonoids have been found to have anti-inflammatory properties, thereby reducing the risk of inflammatory and degenerative disorders.

Anti-aging Properties

Being rich in antioxidants, avocado is beneficial in preventing aging symptoms. The glutathione in avocado may boosts immune systems, slows aging process, and encourages a healthy nervous system.

Good For Eyes

Avocado contains lutein and zeaxanthin, which are carotenoids that are essential to the overall health of your eyes, as they help to protect your eyes from harmful light waves while decreasing your risk of eye disease.

Good in Pregnancy

If you’re pregnant, try to stock up on avocados. Just one cup of avocado contains nearly 25% of your recommended dose of folate, which is essential for both you and your baby.

Destroys Cancer Cells

It is found that extract of avocado seed and the fruit had a pro-apoptotic effect on leukemia cells. The extract caused the leukemia cells to self-destruct and left the normal cells healthy. The seeds also contain a phytochemical known as flavonol, which is a potent antioxidant that can reduce tumor growth.

Heart Health

One cup of avocado contains 23% of your daily value of folate. Studies have shown that people with diets rich in folate have a lower risk of heart disease.

Improve Digestive Health

Fiber helps prevent constipation, making one’s bowel movement easier to manage. Avocados are a great source of fiber. An avocado contains 13 grams of dietary fiber. The daily recommended dietary fiber intake for men and women are 38 grams and 25 grams, respectively.

Bone Health

Avocados contain carotenoids such as zeaxanthin and lutein, which are associated with a reduced risk of cartilage defects (symptom of osteoarthritis). Intake of foods such as avocado and soy may help in reducing the risk of osteoarthritis.

Prevent Insomnia

Avocados have a high content of magnesium, which is a mineral that is directly linked to improving the quality, duration, and tranquility of sleep. Avocados also help regulate the metabolism, in order to help reduce sleep disorders and the occurrence of insomnia.

Improving Liver Health

Avocados reducing liver damage as it has certain organic compounds that help in improving liver health. Liver damage is normally caused due to Hepatitis C. Findings of a recent research study suggest that avocados may play a major role in toning up and protecting your liver from a wide variety of conditions.

Regulating Blood Pressure

Avocados’ high levels of potassium can help keep blood pressure under control. The American Heart Association reported that potassium helps regulate the effects of salt, which can increase your blood pressure.

Control Blood Sugar

The monounsaturated fat in avocados has been found to reverse insulin resistance, while also slowing down digestion – two factors that are important to maintaining healthy blood sugar levels.

Growing tomato tips

• Don’t crowd your tomato plants — If you’re starting tomatoes from seeds, it’s important to be sure to give the seedlings ample room to branch out. Crowded growing surroundings hinder their growth. So, transplant them into their own individual 4 inch pot, soon after they get their first true leaves.

• Preheat the garden soil — Tomatoes thrive on heat. A few weeks before you intend to plant, cover the planting area with red or black plastic. The few extra degrees of soil warmth will render early tomatoes. Covering the soil with clear plastic also works well. The clear plastic lets the sun rays shine through and then traps heat energy into the ground.  Additionally, it causes weed seeds to germinate and then burns them — making them incapable of sprouting again.

• Plant deep — Plant your tomato plants deep — up to the top of a few leaves. When you plant your tomatoes this way they can grow roots all along their stems. More roots will make your tomato plants stronger. Dig a deep hole, but be careful not to drive your cage or stake into the buried stem.

• Help your plant set fruit — There are two types of tomato plants. Determinate tomatoes reach a certain height and then set and ripen their fruit all at once. These types of tomatoes are inclined to start flowering early in the season.  They normally set fruit without any problems — unless you experience unfavorable weather conditions.  The big, juicy beefsteak tomatoes grow on indeterminate plants — they just keep growing. Indeterminate tomato plants are vines and they reach for the sun. They like to grow tall before they start setting fruits. Pinch off the tips of the main stems in early summer to encourage the plant to start flowering.

• Water regularly — Water the plants regularly and deeply while they are developing. Irregular watering may lead to the plant developing blossom end rot and cracking. Make sure your plants get at least 1 inch of water per week. However, during hot, dry spells they may need more water. During the day, if your plant starts to wilt, water it.  After the tomato fruit begins to ripen, you can reduce watering. By lessening water, your plants will focus on concentrating its sugars for better flavor.

• Pinch and prune — Pinch and remove suckers that tend to develop in the crotch joint of two branches. They will not bear fruit and have a tendency to take away energy from the rest of the plant. But take it easy on pruning the rest of the plant. In order to allow the sun to reach the ripening fruit, thin out a few leaves, sparingly. Keep in mind — it’s the leaves that are photosynthesizing and creating the sugars that help in providing flavor to your juicy tomatoes.

• Remove the bottom leaves — As the tomato plants start filling out, the bottom leaves get the least air circulation and sun. Additionally, being close to the ground, soil borne pathogens can easily splash up onto them. These leaves are the oldest and usually are the first leaves to develop fungus problems.  Remove the leaves from the bottom 1 foot of the stem once your tomato plants reach about three feet tall.

Dylan receiving another award

 

This Is a Spiritual War with Physical and Chemical Elements

 

Many people are frazzled, depressed and confused about what's happening in the world, and they feel hopeless.

• The fact that you feel the collapse coming only means that you are TUNED IN and connected to what's happening.

• There's nothing wrong with you. It's not something wrong with your brain. You're simply aware.

• Disconnected people can often appear happier because they are oblivious to the real world. But many of them won't survive a collapse.

• The conscious mind is a connected mind that can sense things beyond what we can measure with today's limited scientific tools.

• Premonition, remote viewing, intuition... these may all have a scientific basis rooted in consciousness.

• Your mind may be sensing and reflecting the growing concern in the minds of others.

• There's nothing wrong with you if you're feeling this sense of unease.

• What's happening in your dreams may be a reflection of what's taking place in the consciousness of the population in the aggregate.

It might be easy or even convenient to believe that Americans are a lazy lot, unmotivated even to engage in rudimentary exercise and modest improvements in dietary habits, so we can live healthier, more productive lives, because that's what the world seems to think.

It's quite likely many of us believe the same line - that, as a whole, our rampant success as a nation has made us too complacent, too comfortable and too content, which explains why our bellies are ballooning and our derrieres are widening.

Some experts say our lifestyles are definitely contributing to an overall decline in the nation's collective health, but not because we're lazy. In fact, they say we're far too busy for our own good, and because of that, we've adopted some pretty bad habits.

As our lives have gotten busier, our eating habits have suffered (hence the rise in availability and consumption of fast food). Our personal lives have suffered (hence the dramatic rise in the national divorce rate). Our children's lives have suffered (hence the rise in juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, teen pregnancy and high-school drop-out rates).

Knowing about healthy choices doesn’t equal me actually making those choices and therefore reaping the full benefit of a healthy body.

And knowing about life in Jesus Christ doesn’t equal me actually making the choice to obey His Word and therefore reaping the benefit of a healthy soul.

 I must be more than a hearer, reader, discusser, watcher. I must be a doer.

God wants more than for us to have a simple awareness of His instructions. He wants us to obey Him and to do what He says — both for His glory and our good. His instructions may not always be easy but this much is clear: He wants us to hear His Word and just do it.

Adding A Second Hive At BGHS 

Is this cute or what! Bowling Green High School is helping the bee population. I am so glad they are taking an interest in nature and preserving The Life Of Bees. Every year my bees swarm. I just let it happen. I get honey from my two hives, and I am happy with that. In the woods they would do the same thing. I just let them be bees!

When producing your own food, we become so reliant on the weather.

If it's too cold or wet, the bees are reluctant, rightly so, to leave the hive to forage for food, if it's sunny and dry, they may go searching for pollen for the developing larvae (hatched from eggs but not metamorphosed into adult bees yet) but may not find nectar as the plants need the warmth to produce it. So if we've had a spell of nice weather, the queen is laying lots of eggs (up to 6,000 a day in summer) and the colony are preparing for growth and then it turns cold and wet, we could have a problem. First, the food could run out and the bees risk starvation, secondly, the colony starts to grow quickly with more mouths to feed and less food coming in. If the expanding colony starts to 'grow out of' the space in the hive, they may decide to split in two by rearing a new queen and encouraging the old queen to leave, with up to half of the adult bees, to find a new home of their own. This process is completely natural, yet when the leaving bees move out as a swarm it can seem quite scary to us humans. As bee keepers, if we inspect the hives, frame by frame during swarming season, we can try to anticipate what the bees are planning and can help them find a new home in a spare hive if need be, to prevent us losing them or distressing our neighbors. However, back to the weather, there are often times when we plan to inspect the bees and then decide not to open the hive due to cold or wet conditions. If the inspection gets delayed too long, we may miss crucial signs that indicate that they are planning to swarm and may end up trying to precariously collect thousands of precious food-producing insects from the highest point of a tree!

David Putting A Fence Around The Tomatoes!

Can you believe this weather? Rain, rain, rain! We finally got our 34 tomato plants in the ground Derby Day. Now it is raining again. I still have my corn to put in the ground, and my purple hulls to plant. Kentucky weather is so unpredictable. One day the sun is shining,  and the next week rain, rain, rain. I have had some bad luck with the chickens. Two have died. Its so upsetting to me. Nineteen left and counting. The bees are doing great as far as I know. The worker bees are bringing  pollen to the hive and that's a good thing.

So, what are these 5 FOODS The Bible Forbids?

Pork and Swine

“Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them “speak to the children of Israel saying to them, ‘These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth:  Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooks and chewing the cud – that you may eat.”  –Leviticus 11:1-3

Bread With Yeast

“Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread” – Deuteronomy 16:3

 

Extremely Undercooked Meats

“Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.” –  Genesis 9:3-4

Fish Without Scales

‘These you may eat of all that is in the water: Whatever is in the water that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers – that you may eat.  But in all the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins or scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water – they are an abomination to you.  Leviticus 11:9 10 

 

 

Shellfish

“But whatever is in the seas and in the rivers that does not have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water, and among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detestable things to you.” – Leviticus 11:10

Friday the  Freshman JROTC visited Fort Campbell to get a feel for  Army life. Our grandson is  in the orange tee-shirt.

We know moms are special. Mother's Day is to honor the selflessness and love of mothers. Motherhood is the highest and most selfless human connections.

This is my favorite poem about moms. It just touches my soul!



Amish On A Winters Day

Thomas Jefferson said" That we have an inalienable right to pursue happiness." Some of the myths are: I will only be happy if I have it all. Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death. Happiness is a place on the map. When people are happy, their upbeat emotions are reflected in their lives. Get you life balanced and focused. More of everything adds up to a happier me! Its actually in giving that we accrue happiness. What about if bad things happen to me. Come on, bad things happen to everyone. True happiness comes when we are saved and knowing we will be spending eternity with God.

 

 Jennifer and Kevin in Cincinnati running the Flying Pig Marathon

 

 Kevin's time was 3hrs.55minutes

 

 Micah and Alex sitting on the steps together

 

 Look at Micah! He is coloring

1. The boys at Brad and Meagan's

Landen watching Micah building blocks. How high can you go? 

Jennifer said there were 38,000 people running that Flying Pig Marathon Sunday.