I believe 100% in the the Holy Trinity. They have come to my aid so often that it’s as if I carry them around in me all day and night, calling on them when needed and saying Thank You (though not as often as I should). I read somewhere where a lady used her laundry room as her altar place to talk to God as she washed clothes. That’s how I feel about him too. There are several wonderful moments during the day when I talk with him. One evening I was rocking in my chair, and I felt someone whisper deep down in my soul that Flash had the cancer so that Mom wouldn’t.

While I was at Mom’s helping out for the couple of weeks during her surgery, Flash became gravely sick. Slobo called me in tears, and we decided that we needed to let him go. Several times, I’ve tried to post about it, but couldn’t. Slobo did a very loving tribute to him that summed it up for all of us. We were talking just the other day in the car about how we still hear or feel Flash around. Slobo and our Middle Son have heard him sigh. We have all smelled him from time to time and I’ve felt him.

I had a really hard time accepting that it was okay to put Flash down and I’m not sure I’ve really accepted it. I’ve spent years fighting the notion of euthanasia, either for animals or humans. After having a sister like Pooh, who has been told she wouldn’t live so many times, and next year will turn 50, It’s not something that I felt people had control over. Either it’s time or it’s not and God decides that. Slobo and I took Flash to the vet while the children stayed at my parent’s house. We went in, sat on the floor with Flash and said our goodbyes and Thank You’s to him. He passed as if he fell asleep with his head in my lap. I didn’t even know he had gone. That was in March and it still feels like it was last week.

A couple of weeks ago, my mom called me in tears because her sister, my Aunt Charlotte, who is 52 was just diagnosed with stage 4 serous cancer (cancer is in the fluids of her stomach and started with ovarian cancer). At first we heard she had been bed ridden with the flu, then maybe was bleeding from some advil she had taken for a stomach ache, then a blockage, then a mass in her stomach that was causing her kidneys to shut down…. She weighed 90 lbs. when she went into the emergency room and when she was sent home last week, she weighed 75 lbs. She says they won’t perform any extraction surgeries because she weighs so little, they told her to gain weight and then they will do the surgery. We know when they opened her up, it was everywhere, they did a few biopsies, put in a large port in her back to drain each of her kidneys and closed her back up. Her daughter is talking of taking her to a Cancer Institute in PA. – in any case, she sees two doctors this morning to begin chemo. She is really looking forward to starting chemo and beginning her fight. I find it strange, from what I’ve read about this stage of cancer, that they did not go ahead and remove it, but I think they know something the rest of us are just guessing at. But who knows, as Mom says, Charlotte is stubborn and that may work in her favor, but she is having a tough time in her personal life anyway, so that will make it harder to fight. Their house has gone into foreclosure and I just pray they stay off an eviction until she gets through this – one way or the other.

Cancer deaths aren’t something new to me or my family. Several relatives have passed from it, some slow – some fast. My maternal grandmother passed just two weeks after the same type of diagnosis as my aunt. I wonder what makes us know when it’s time to let go, do we even have control over that? or does that Holy Trinity whisper to us that it’s time to let go because it’s going to happen whether we are ready or not? I can’t help but chuckle and wonder if it’s an eviction notice from God himself?

Springtime – New beginnings from a soil made up of the past – maybe that’s the recipe for peace. Heck, maybe that’s what Heaven’s garden soil is made of. Maybe our lives are just compost for Heaven? lol.

Please, just say your prayers for Aunt Charl. I know the keeper is listening. Maybe he just wants to know we are too.

In any case, think I’ll sit on the porch swing out at Fort Hoochenu today and knit a chemo cap or two for Aunt Charl while I consult with my three docs up in heaven today.

– Powered By Stuffr! –

My husband works for a company that makes similar devices, in that their devices gather information from a remote device, use satellite technology to upload to a hard drive sitting in another remote location. It would have been easy to get vendors for the components, the only learning curve for us both was the wiring and soldering of the hardware circuit boards.

Alas, the idea went the way of other ideas… we didn’t look further into it, and just two years later, digital photo frames started appearing. They have now become affordable. So I told DH, if I can’t invent one – at least – I hope he’ll remember me to Santa! And who knows, maybe the mfg’s of these devices will see this post and make it so they too use Satellite technology. Wouldn’t that be grand? Mom wouldn’t have to worry about ‘plugging in’ any card or cord!

My DH and I watched Steve Irwin’s Memorial tonight on Animal Planet. We recorded it for the kids to see tommorrow. It was a perfect memorial to Steve for all that loved him so much. There was a song played, “True Blue” by John Williamson which was Steve’s favorite song. What an absolutely perfect piece of music. John Williamson reminds me of an Aussie Gordon Lightfoot. There was another song played, just as touching, called “He changed the world” but I haven’t been able to find the link for it. A poem entitled, “The Crocodiles Are Crying” by Rupert McCall, was also read. They were all such magical words written for a hero who will live on in legends.

Steve and Terri are patrons to a wildlife organization called Wildlife Warriors. This organization puts all of their money where their mouth is. Single handedly, Steve Irwin put conservation in a place and time where no one else could. As he had described in an interview about the death of his mother, “That kind of pain never goes away, they are missed forever, but you can get up and go on – just keep going!” and that is what we all must do!

And how do we ordinary people do that? We don’t do it by sitting around waiting for someone to take the place of someone as special as Steve. We must take the time, educate ourselves to act responsibly, educate our children or better, let our children educate us! The kids instinctively know and love nature long before understanding it.

When anyone asks, are there anymore True Blues, just reply, YES! and then tell two friends!

“Embrace your Heart!”

Happy Father’s Day to my Darling Husband (DH), Darling Dad (DD), and Darling Brothers (DB)!

May you all experience Peace and Quiet, Control of the Clickers, Favorite TV Shows on VCR’s,DVD’s,DVR’sandTIVO. May all of your connections this day be fast and well-connected! May all of the indigestions of this world lie prosrate before your feet – propped up. May cars be loaded with fishing poles, tackle boxes and gun cases just in case you decide to throw on your hat and go get some milk or bread or eggs or whatever your wives decide you need to run for so that they may all prepare you your special dinners today. May all of the dinners be meat, potatoes, fried and fattening. May your deserts be warm from the oven and your drinks cold. Enjoy your day, DADS, because you Dear Absolutely Dear Souls deserve a delightful dad’s dad!

Lots of Love (LOL)

Anyone that quilts will be inspired by her use of color and most importantly her skill and craftsmanship. Anyone that is an artist will be awed by the simplistic beauty and her use, not only of the quilting medium, but the entire space that the quilts are presented within. The complete picture is awe-inspiring!

This is one of her pieces, Glacial Blue/BIrd Migration Patterns of the Arctic

Being a mom is really tough, especially knowing what awaits him this year as he steps into that 100 acre, and begins to face his own ephalumps and woozles. What will I do when he turns 13, 18, 21……………………. Sew myself an eeyore, I suppose.

TRANSCRIPTFIRST AND FOREMOST, I WISH TO HONOR THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST IN THIS PLACE TODAY.

 

AND I THANK GOD FOR THE INDWELLING AND THE FEELING OF THE HOLY GHOST THAT GIVES ME THE STRENGTH TO STAND EVEN NOW.
TO SPEAK WHAT THUS SAYETH THE LORD.
I GIVE HONOR AND RESPECT TO MY SPIRITUAL FATHER AND MY PASTOR, BISHOP EDDIE LONG.
AND ON BEHALF OF MY ENTIRE FAMILY, THANK YOU, FOR ALLOWING US TO SHARE MY MOTHER’S HOME-GOING CELEBRATION FROM THIS PLACE.
IT IS SO PROPHETIC AND I WILL BE SPEAKING TO THAT IN JUST A MOMENT THAT WE WOULD BE HERE ON THIS, UH, AFTERNOON, AT THE FIVE O’CLOCK HOUR, THE HOUR OF GRACE.
I ALSO WISH TO THANK EACH AND EVERY PERSON THAT PARTICIPATED ON THIS PROGRAM ON BEHALF OF MY FAMILY.
WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR SACRIFICE AND FOR SHIFTING YOUR SCHEDULES TO BE HERE TO SHARE WITH US ON TODAY.
AND IN SOME STRANGE AND WIERD KIND OF WAY, I WANT TO APOLOGIZE – TO THE MASSES OF PEOPLE, WHO IN SOME FORM OR FASHION HAD WORDS IN THEIR HEARTS THEY WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK IN HONOR AND REVERANCE TO CORETTA SCOTT KING.
IT IS A DAUNTING TASK TO PUT TOGETHER A HOME-GOING CELEBRATION FOR A WOMAN AS SUCH.
BECAUSE SHE HAS TOUCHED SO MANY LIVES IN SO MANY DIFFERENT UNIQUE AND PECULIAR WAYS,
BUT I THANK ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR LOVE AND YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND YOUR LOVE AND YOUR PATIENCE AND YOUR KINDNESS.
WE ASK FOR FORGIVENESS – BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THERE WAS NO WAY HUMANLY POSSIBLE, TO GET EVERYBODY WHO NEEDED TO SAY SOMETHING, TO SAY SOMETHING.
ONE THING I LEARNED IN THESE LAST FIVE MONTHS, AFTER MY MOTHER’S STROKE, IS THE VALUE OF MOMENTS.
BECAUSE IN MANY WAYS, WE TAKE FOR GRANTED EACH AND EVERY HOUR OF THE DAY AND EACH AND EVERY MOMENT THAT GOD GIVES US, WITH ANYBODY, AND IN PARTICULAR, OUR FAMILY.
WE KIND OF SAY HELLO CASUALLY, WE SAY GOODBYE CASUALLY, WE SAY SEE YOU LATER CASUALLY, WE GET IN ARGUMENTS AND SLAM DOORS AND WALK AWAY.
NOT REALIZING THE VALUE OF EVERY MOMENT THAT WE HAVE WITH A PERSON.
BECAUSE IT IS IN THOSE MOMENTS, THAT AN EXCHANGE TAKES PLACE, IN SUCH A WAY THAT WHEN THAT PERSON TRANSITIONS INTO THE NEXT DIMENSION OF ETERNAL LIFE, THAT WE CAN REST IN THE PEACE AND IN THE ASSURANCE, THAT I DEPOSITED EVERYTHING THAT GOD WOULD HAVE ME TO DEPOSIT INTO THEIR LIFE, AND THEY DID THE SAME.
AND SO WHEN I COME TO THE HOME-GOING CEREMONY OR THE CELEBRATION, I’M JUST HERE TO CELEBRATE.
I DON’T HAVE TO SAY A WORD.
I’M JUST HERE TO CELEBRATE.
SO LET EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW THAT HAVE BREATH PRAISE YE THE LORD FOR THE LIFE OF CORETTA SCOTT KING.
A STALWART.
A BEACON OF HOPE.
A KING IN HER OWN RIGHT.
A WOMAN OF AUTHORITY.
A WOMAN OF POWER.
A WOMAN OF GRACE.
A WOMAN OF ESSENCE.
A WOMAN OF STRENGTH.
A WOMAN OF DIGNITY.
WE PRAISE THE LORD FOR CORETTA SCOTT KING AND HER EXAMPLE OF LIFE.
I WOULD BE REMISS IF I DID NOT ALSO JUST THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS OVER THE LAST FIVE MONTHS.
WE’VE BEEN IN THIS PROCESS FOR NINE MONTHS.
MY MOTHER FIRST ENTERED THE HOSPITAL THE DAY BEFORE HER 78TH BIRTHDAY, LAST YEAR, APRIL 26TH.
AND SINCE THAT TIME, UH, THE LIFE OF BERNICE AND YOLANDA, AND MARTIN AND DEXTER WERE FOREVER ALTERED.
AND GETTING TO THIS MOMENT, WERE WEARY.
AND WERE TIRED.
AND WE JUST SOLICIT YOUR CONTINUED PRAYERS, AS WE CONTINUE TO PROCESS AND TO UNDERSTAND AND GET QUESTIONS ANSWERED AND PERHAPS QUESTIONS BEING ANSWERED HAVING TO BE AMMENDED, AS WE SEEK GOD TO BRING COMPLETE CLOSURE BECAUSE ONE THING THAT IS SO CRITICAL IS THAT WE DON’T HOLD ONTO OUR MOTHER AS LONG AS WE HELD ONTO OUR DADDY.
BECAUSE THE WAY WE HOLD WILL PROHIBIT AND INHIBIT THE DESTINY THAT GOD HAS INSIDE OF EACH ONE OF US.
AND SO WE THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS OVER ALL THOSE MONTHS AND WE ALL PRAY FOR HER HEALING, BUT YOU KNOW, SHE’S PERFECTLY HEALED NOW.
WHEN YOU PRAY, YOU ALWAYS PRAY, AS JESUS CHRIST DID IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE, FATHER NOT MY WILL BUT THY WILL BE DONE.
NOT THAT YOU DON’T HAVE THE FAITH AND THE INSURANCE BY JESUS’S STRIPES THAT SHE IS HEALED, BUT HE HEALED US IN SUCH A WAY THAT WE COULD HAVE ETERNAL LIFE AND EXPERIENCE THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN SUCH A WAY THAT WE DON’T EVEN HAVE TO FACE ALL OF THE THINGS THAT WE FACE IN THIS EARTHLY DIMENSION.
AND SO WE THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS AND YOUR WELL WISHES AND YOUR VISITS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
AND FINALLY, BUT NOT LAST, I WANT TO JUST RECOGNIZE AND THANK FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, MY MOTHER’S CARETAKERS.
WHO WERE SO LOVING AND SO CARING AND SO SACRIFICIAL IN THE TIME THAT THEY SPENT RELEASING US FROM THE BURDEN OF HAVING TO DO IT, LITERALLY, AS A CARETAKER, WE DID IT IN ANOTHER FORM AND ANOTHER FASHION.
UM, BUT I WANT THEM TO STAND NOW JUST SO THAT WE MAY GIVE THEM APPLAUSE AND THANK GOD FOR THEM: LYSIA CARTER, KIMBERLY JUDD, EVELYN DUDLEY, JOY MCKINNIS, WANDA HUNTER, KELLY MCASKEL AND JEWEL DAVIS.
ARE THEY HERE?
OH, THEY’RE RIGHT BACK THERE.
I LOVE YOU!
I APPRECIATE YOU ON BEHALF DEXTER, MARTIN, YOLANDA AND MYSELF, THE REST OF THE FAMILY.
AND WE KNOW ALTHOUGH THIS ASSIGNMENT IS OVER, GOD STILL HAS EVEN GREATER ASSIGNMENTS FOR YOU.
THAT GOD MADE DEPOSITS IN YOUR LIFE THRU THE LIFE OF CORETTA SCOTT KING AND YOU HAD TO MAKE A STOP BY, AND BE INTRODUCED TO HER SPIRIT, THAT YOU MIGHT TAKE THAT SPIRIT THAT LIVES INSIDE OF HER AND BEGIN TO SHARE IT WITH SO MANY PEOPLE OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR NEXT ASSIGNMENTS.
GOD BLESS YOU.
AND WE THANK YOU AND WE PRAISE GOD FOR YOU.
BEFORE I, UH, UM, UH DELIVER THESE LAST WORDS, I DON’T WANNA, UH, I DON’T LIKE THE WORD EULOGY, EVEN THO I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS.
I JUST WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE FACT THAT UH, REISA, MICHELLE AND NELSON MANDELA SENT A LETTER, UH, TO US, AS WELL AS BISHOP DESMOND TUTU.
WE DID NOT WANT TO GO ON WITHOUT RECOGNIZING AND ACKNOWLEDGING THEIR CONDOLESCENCES AT THIS VERY DIFFICULT TIME.
[PAUSE]
AS I WAS TRYING TO PREPARE WHAT I WOULD SAY AND, TO PEOPLE OF TODAY, IT DAWNED ON ME THAT MANY OF US, PERHAPS UH, ARE HERE TO HONOR THE LIFE AND THE LEGACY OF CORETTA SCOTT KING.
WE DID CHANGE OUR SCHEDULES TO BE HERE AND PAY OUR CONDOLESCENCES.
BUT IF I MIGHT BE HONEST WITH YOU ON THIS EVENING, THOSE WHO ARE STILL HERE, YOU REALLY DIDN’T HAVE A CHOICE.
BECAUSE BEFORE THE VERY FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH WERE LAID, GOD ORDAINED THAT PEOPLE WOULD BE DRAWN FROM THE EAST AND THE WEST AND THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH INTO THIS PLACE CALLED NEW BIRTH FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.
GOD MAKES NO MISTAKES. HE’S A GOD OF PERFECT TIMING.
AND THERE’S A THING CALLED KEROS Kairos MOMENTS (Thank you Jim, from Gidget) WHEN GOD INTERJECTS HIMSELF IN TIME LIKE HE DID BACK IN 1955, 50 YEARS AGO, TO MOVE THIS NATION INTO ANOTHER PLACE AND HERE HE GOES AGAIN, IN A KEROS Kairos MOMENT.
IT WOULD BE NEGLECTFUL OF US IF WE MISS THIS MOMENT AND TREATED IT LIKE WE WERE ATTENDING SOME FUNERAL OR HOME-GOING SERVICE AND PAYING CONDOLESCENCES AND RESPECT AND THEN WE ALLOWED OURSELVES TO RETURN TO LIFE AS USUAL AND NOT STOP AND LISTEN AND HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD.
SO GOD DREW YOU IN HERE TODAY, EVEN THE FOUR PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BECAUSE GOD HAD A WORD THAT HE NEEDED THE NATIONS TO HEAR.
AND AS I WAS SITTIN THERE AND I WAS VACILLATING BACK AND FORTH THE LORD BROUGHT BACK TO MY REMEMBERANCE THE VERY WAY THAT MY MOTHER LEFT THIS PLACE.
I REMEMBER ON FRIDAY, JAN. 27TH, AS I WAS WITH HER DOWN IN MEXICO, SOMEWHERE AROUND THE EIGHT O’CLOCK HOUR, EIGHT IS THE NUMBER OF NEW BEGINNINGS, MY MOTHER STARTED GROANING, MOANING, FOR THREE STRAIGHT HOURS.
AND EVELYN CAN ATTEST TO THE FACT BECAUSE SHE WAS THE CARETAKER THAT WAS WITH ME, THAT IT WAS LITERALLY, THREE STRAIGHT HOURS WITHOUT A BREAK.
AND I ASKED MY MOTHER, I SAID, ARE YOU IN PAIN? IS YOUR STOMACH HURTING? IS YOUR HEAD HURTING? I ASKED HER DIFFERENT PLACES AND SHE SAID NO, BECAUSE SHE COULD STILL TALK UP UNTIL THE TIME THAT SHE TRANSITIONED.
SO SHE WENT ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND I COULDN’T FIGURE OUT WHAT COULD WE DO, AND I, I CALLED ON THE DOCTORS THERE.
THERE ARE MEDICAL DOCTORS THERE CONTRARY TO THE REPORTS THAT YOU MAY READ.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU READ IN THE PAPER PLEASE.
BE INTELLIGENT!
BE CRITICAL.
AND, AND THEY BROUGHT SOMETHING TO, TO TRY TO HELP RELIEVE HER, BUT I IN THE MIDST OF THAT, AND I SAID, MOTHER ARE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE, AND SHE SAID, UNCOMFORTABLE.
NOW, SHE SAID SHE WASN’T IN PAIN, BUT THAT SHE WAS UNCOMFORTABLE.
AND THAT WORD, UNCOMFORTABLE, DOESN’T, DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN WHAT WE THINK IT MEANS.
BECAUSE GOD GAVE ME A REVELATION AT THAT MOMENT, THAT MY MOTHER REALLY WAS WRESTLING WITH GOD.
AS JACOB WRESTLED WITH GOD.
AND I LOOKED AT MY MOTHER AND I SAID, MAMA, UH, UH, ARE YOU WRESTLING WITH GOD?
AND SHE DID NOT SAY A WORD TO ME.
BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN THAT VERY MOMENT SHE WAS MAKING A DECISION AS TO WHETHER IT WAS WORTH STAYING HERE IN THE EARTH TO CONTINUE SOME MORE WORK, OR WHETHER SHE HAD TO TRANSITION TO BE WITH GOD.
AND I THINK THE GLIMPSE THAT SHE GOT AT THAT MOMENT, WAS A GLIMPSE THAT TOLD HER, THAT UNLESS A SEED FALL INTO THE GROUND AND DIE, IT ABIDES ALONE, BUT IF IT DIES, IT PRODUCES MUCH FRUIT.
IN OTHER WORDS, I THINK SHE GOT A GLIMPSE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WAS A MOMENT IN GOD’S CALENDAR THAT IF SHE DID NOT MAKE THE TRANSITION THAT SHE MADE, THAT THERE WERE SOME THINGS IN THE EARTH THAT COULD NOT BE RELEASED TO THE PEOPLE IN THE NATIONS, OF MY GOD!
AND SO HER DEATH WAS MUCH GREATER AT THAT MOMENT THAN SHE WAS, THAN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FOR HER TO HOLD ONTO LIFE.
AND SO FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS, REMEMBER CHRIST WAS CRUCIFIED AND ON THE THIRD DAY HE WAS RESURRECTED, FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS SHE WENT IN AND OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
THERE WERE MOMENTS WHEN SHE WAS VERY CLEAR AND THERE WERE OTHER MOMENTS WHEN SHE WAS JUST SLEEPING HERSELF AWAY, IN THE ARMS AND THE PEACE OF GOD.
AND I NEVER SEEN MY MOTHER IN SO MUCH, PEACE.
AND EVEN THO, I KNEW THAT I DID NOT WANT TO ACCEPT IT IN MY FLESH, THAT THIS WAS PERHAPS – IT, I WAS STILL BELIEVING FOR A MIRACLE.
THAT MONDAY, PACIFIC COAST TIME, AROUND THE EIGHT O’CLOCK HOUR AGAIN, EIGHT BEING THE NUMBER OF NEW BEGINNINGS, AS I REMIND YOU AGAIN, I WAS LAYING IN THE BED NEXT TO MY MOTHER, NOT AS THE PAPER SAID, I DID NOT FIND HER DEAD.
I WAS THERE WITH HER FOR THE LAST MOMENT.
I WAS LAYING IN THE BED NEXT TO HER.
AROUND 8:25 PACIFIC TIME OUR MOTHER TOOK HER LAST FOUR BREATHS.
IT WASN’T THE STROKE THAT TOOK HER, IN THE NATURAL SENSE OF THE WORD.
BUT IT WAS A COMPLICATIONS FROM OVARIAN CANCER WHICH CAUSED RESPIRATORY PNEUMONIA THAT TOOK HER.
AND THE LORD HAD ME TO LOOK BACK ON THAT AND HE TOOK ME TO A SCRIPTURE, WHERE A MAN OF THE PHARISEES NAMED NICODEMUS, A RULER OF THE JEWS, CAME TO JESUS AT NIGHTTIME.
AND HE SAID, RABBI, WE KNOW THAT YOU ARE A TEACHER, COME FROM GOD.
AND NO ONE CAN DO THESE SIGNS THAT YOU DO UNLESS GOD IS WITH HIM.
JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID TO HIM, MOST ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, UNLESS ONE IS BORN AGAIN, HE CANNOT/SHE CANNOT SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
AND I SAID, GOD WHY ARE YOU TAKING ME THERE?
HE SAID BECAUSE IT IS NO ACCIDENT AND MISTAKE THAT THE VERY THING THAT TOOK YOUR MOTHER OUT OF HERE, OVARIAN CANCER, IS THE VERY, IS A MESSAGE THAT EMERGES FROM, FROM THAT, THAT KIND OF DEATH, FOR PEOPLE ALL OVER THE NATIONS, FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.
FOR YOU SEE, HER CANCER IN OTHER WORDS, WAS CONCENTRATED IN THE REPRODUCTIVE AREA.
THE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM.
AND GOD TOOK ME BACK TO THERE AND HE SHOWED ME HOW, HOW THE CANCER WAS JUST GROWING IN THAT REPRODUCTIVE AREA AND IT WAS BEGINNING TO AFFECT OTHER ORGANS, IN, IN THAT VICINITY, AND HE REMINDED ME, HE SAID, YOUR MOTHER PASSED AWAY OF COMPLICATIONS OF OVARIAN CANCER, RESPIRATORY PNEUMONIA, BECAUSE RIGHT NOW, MY EARTH, MY WORLD, MY, MY NATIONS ARE ON THE VERGE OF, OF, OF LOSING IT AND DYING AND BEING OVERTAKEN UH, WITH REPSIRATORY PNEUMONIA, FAILURE BECAUSE OF COMPLICATIONS FROM REPRODUCTIVE CANCER.
AND THOSE COMPLICATIONS ARE HINDERING THE ABILITY FOR A NEW BIRTH.
SEE WHAT GOD IS SAYING TO US TODAY THRU THE, THRU THE, TRANSITION OF CORETTA SCOTT KING, IS THAT WE HERE IN THIS WORLD RIGHT NOW ARE SUFFERING FROM A, A COMPLICATIONS OF CANCER FROM MATERIALISM AND GREED AND SELFISHNESS AND ARROGANCE AND ELITISM AND POVERTY AND RACISM AND PERVERSION AND OBSCENITY AND MISOGYNY AND IDOLATRY AND VIOLENCE AND MILITARISM.
IT’S A CANCER THAT IS EATING AWAY AT THE VERY ESSENCE AND THE NATURE OF WHAT GOD CREATED HUMAN KIND TO BE FOR HE CREATED US! TO HAVE RULERSHIP AND DOMINION IN THE EARTH AND NOT ALLOW THE EARTH TO DICTATE TO US!! BUT NOW WHAT HAS HAPPENED?
IS THAT THE VERY EARTH, THE VERY CREATION THAT HE PUT US IN CHARGE OF IS NOW CONTROLLING US!
AND INSTEAD OF US REPRODUCING OTHER PEOPLE WHO LOOK LIKE GOD, WHO TALK LIKE GOD, WHO ACT LIKE GOD, WHO THINK LIKE GOD, WHO DO BUSINESS LIKE GOD, WHO GOVERN LIKE GOD, WHO ENTERTAIN LIKE GOD, WE ARE NOT REPRODUCING ANYTHING BECAUSE THE CANCER IS EATING AWAY AT US.
HE SAID, ROLES HAVE REVERSED.
CREATION HAS BECOME YOUR KING INSTEAD OF YOU BEING THE KING.
HE SAID BECAUSE THE VERY TREES THAT I HAVE CREATED FOR YOU, INSTEAD OF YOU HAVING DOMINION AND AUTHORITY OVER THEM, THEY ARE NOW DICTATING HOW YOUR FAMILIES LOOK, HOW YOUR FRIENDSHIPS LOOK, HOW YOUR GOVERNMENTS LOOK, HOW YOUR MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES LOOK, HOW YOUR YOUTH POPULATION LOOKS.
BECAUSE IN FACT, MONEY IS MADE FROM TREES.
AND THE BIBLE SAYS THAT THE LOVE OF MONEY, NOT MONEY ITSELF, YOU SEE GOD DIDN’T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH LEAVING US, OF UH, RICHES AND WEALTH, OF MATERIALS AND RESOURCES, HE DOESN’T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH BILLIONARES AND MILLIONARES, IN FACT, GOD HAS LEFT ENOUGH FOR EVERYBODY TO BE A BILLIONARE, IN FACT.
WHAT HE HAS A PROBLEM WITH IS OUR AFFINITY TO, OUR LOYALTY TO, OUR SOUL TIED TO MONEY IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE LOVE IS OVERTAKEN US, AND NOW WE HAVE ESCALATED DIVORCE RATES, AND NOW WE HAVE PEOPLE DOING VIOLENT THINGS IN THE STREET.
HE SAID NOW WE HAVE PEOPLE THAT THEIR ONLY PREOCCUPATION IS, HOW CAN I MAKE MORE MONEY.
AND HE INTERJECTED MARTIN IN TIME TO TELL AMERICA THERE’S A DANGER WHEN YOU BECOME A THING ORIENTED SOCIETY RATHER THAN A PEOPLE ORIENTED SOCIETY.
AND SO CORETTA SCOTT KING’S TRANSITION IS CALLING FOR A NEW BIRTH.
YOU ARE NOT SITTING IN THIS CHURCH JUST BECAUSE IT WAS LOGICAL TO BE HERE.
OF COURSE DISCUSSIONS ON WHERE TO HAVE IT.
WAS IT UH PLAIN? WE SHOULD HAVE IT EBENEZER, SHOULD WE HAVE IT AT THE CIVIC CENTER, SHOULD WE HAVE IT AT NEW BIRTH?
AND OF COURSE, LOGIC WOULD DICTATE SO THAT SO MANY OF YOU COULD BE HERE TODAY, THAT WE COME TO ONE OF, IF NOT THE, LARGEST CONGREGATIONS OF ATLANTA.
NOT ANY CHOICE OF OURS, GOD JUST ORDAINED IT TO BE THIS WAY.
AND I SAID, GOD, WHY, WHY HERE?
HE SAID BECAUSE IT’S TIME FOR THE WORLD TO BE BORN AGAIN.
IT’S TIME FOR A NEW BIRTH.
IT’S TIME FOR MY PEOPLE TO REPOSITION THEMSELVES INTO THEIR RIGHTFUL PLACES AS TRUE KINGS AND THAT’S WHY HE USED THE LIFE OF A KING AT THIS SET TIME, BECAUSE HE SAID WE ARE ON THE VERGE OF LOSING CREDIBILITY, EVEN BEFORE THE CREATION AND THE ANIMALS AND THE FISHES OF THE SEA BECAUSE THE WHOLE OF CREATION IS GROANING AND THAT’S WHY CORETTA WAS GROANING ON THAT NIGHT, SHE WAS GROANING BECAUSE THERE’S AN EARNEST EXPECTATION, THERE’S A WAITING FOR THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD AND THAT’S NOT MASCULINE BUT THOSE WHO MOVE AND OPERATE IN THE SPIRIT AND IN THE HEART OF GOD AND WHO KNOW THEY WERE CREATED IN THE IMAGE AND IN THE LIKENESS OF GOD.
AND THAT GOD PLACED THEM HERE TO REPRODUCT LIFE. AND EVEN LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY.
SO GOD SAYS TODAY, YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN!
BECAUSE THE WAY YOU HAVE BEEN OPERATING AS NATIONS IN THIS WORLD, IS CONTRARY TO WHAT MY WILL WAS FOR THE EARTH.
YOU’VE ALLOWED THIS EARTH TO BE CONTAMINATED WITH POVERTY.
AS MARTIN KING CALLED THE TRIPLE EVILS OF RACISM AND MILITARISM.
AND I AM NOW, RAISING UP A PEOPLE, WHO HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD SAYING IT’S TIME TO EMERGE AND TAKE YOUR PROPER PLACE AS KINGS IN THE EARTH AND BEGIN TO RULE IN YOUR TERRITORIES ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT OF GOD WHETHER YOURE AN ENTERTAINER OR WHETHER YOUR A POLITICIAN OR WETHER YOUR AN ENTREPRENEUR, OR WHETHER YOURE AN ACTRESS OR WHETHER YOURE A BUSINESS MAN OR WETHER YOURE A MECHANIC OR WETHER YOURE A PASTOR, IT DOESN’T MATTER WETHER YOU ARE A STUDENT, GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO BE A KING IN THIS TIME.
TO RULE AND TO EXCERCISE, INFLUENCE FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
FIRST SERMON THAT JESUS PREACHED HE WASN’T INVITING PEOPLE TO CHURCH.
EVEN THOUGH WE DO THAT WELL, WE ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO COME TO OUR VARIOUS CHURCHES TO VISIT.
THAT WASN’T IT.
GOD WASN’T INTERESTED IN GETTING US INTO CHURCH.
BECAUSE CHURCH HAD CRIPPLED US.
AND CREATED TRADITIONS OF MEN, THAT ENTRAPPED US, AND KEPT US FROM EXHIBITING A TRUE SPIRIT OF GOD, WHICH IS UNCODITIONAL LOVE, WHICH CORETTA SCOTT KING EXHIBITED TIME AND TIME AGAIN.
AND MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
AS CHRIST SAID, REPENT!
FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND.
HE WAS SAYING YOU GOTTA CHANGE YOUR MIND NOW, BECAUSE ALL OF THE SYSTEMS THAT YOU HAVE CREATED, ALL OF THE TRADITIONS THAT YOU HAVE COME THRU, THEY ARE FAILING AND THEY ARE FADING AND THEY ARE DOING IT VERY FAST AND VERY QUICK AND THATS WHY YOU SEE RIGHT NOW THERE IS A DIMINISHING OF SOMETHINGS THAT YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED LATELY.
AND GOD IS ELEVATING HIS SPIRIT IN THE EARTH.
SO HE SAID, THE WAY YOU BEEN TRYING TO WORK IT OUT, IT AINT WORKIN NO MORE.
IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO GET FREE.
IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO TAKE OFF THE SHACKLES BECAUSE WE HAVE MOVED INTO ANOTHER DIMENSION NOW.
WHEN SHE PASSED, SHE CAUSED AN EARTHQUAKE OF A MAGNITUDE OF 8 IN THE EARTH.
AND THE REASON THAT SHE COULDN’T PASS IN ATLANTA, GA AND WHY GOD HAD TO FLY HER OVER TO THE WEST COAST FROM THE EAST COAST AND DROP HER OVER THE LINE IS BECAUSE SHE WAS NOT JUST A NATIONAL FIGURE, SHE WAS A GLOBAL LEADER.
AND GOD WANTED THIS WORLD TO NOT JUST RECOGNIZE HER BUT RECOGNIZE THE SPIRIT IN WHICH SHE LIVED AND MOVED AND HAD HER BEING OUT OF THAT UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
BUT THE INTERESTING THING IS, SHE COULDN’T GO CONVENTIONAL.
WELL SHE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN CONVENTIONAL TREATMENT BECAUSE IF SHE HAD GOTTEN CONVENTIONAL TREATMENT SHE WOULD HAVE LIVED, I DON’T THINK SO.
BECAUSE WHEN IT’S GOD’S TIME, IT’S GOD’S TIME.
THE REASON WHY WE MAKE DECISION IN THE NATURAL THAT SOMETIMES APPEAR TO BE WRONG DECISIONS UNTIL YOU STEP BACK AND REALIZE FIRST THE NATURAL, THEN THE SPIRITUAL, YOU BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND TAHT THIS WAS REALLY A SPIRITUAL MOVE BECAUSE IN MANY WAYS, GOD WAS TRYING TO SAY THAT THE CONVENTIONAL WAY THAT YOU’VE BEEN DOING THINGS IN THIS WORLD, ESPECIALLY THROUGH MILITARISM AND WAR, AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE, THEY ARE NOT NATURAL AND NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF MY HEART AND MY NATURE AND MY CHARACTER AND MY ESSENCE, AND SO, I HAD TO TAKE HER TO SOMETHING THAT LOOKED LIKE AN ALTERNATIVE THING BECAUSE WHEN MARTIN CAME ALONG, HE INTRODUCED AN ALTERNATIVE AND THAT WAS CALLED NON-VIOLENCE!
AND CORETTA, CORETTA CAPTURED THOSE WORDS WHEN MARTIN DIED.
AND I THANK GOD FOR THE REVELATION THAT HE GAVE TO OUR BISHOP.
GOD CAME TO CORETTA SCOTT KING, SAID MOSES, MARTIN, MY SERVANT IS DEAD, ARISE, TAKE THIS PEOPLE OVER THE JORDAN, [GIGGLE] SEE, JOSHUA WAS REALLY CORETTA.
I KNEW I WOULDN’T GET TOO MANY CLAPS.
CAUSE SEXISM IS STILL ALIVE.
AND SEXISM IS NOT ONLY JUST FROM MEN, IT’S FROM WOMEN TOO.
AND WE MISSED IT.
WE MISSED THE FACT THAT THE ONE WHO REALLY CAUGHT THE HEART AND THE SPIRIT OF DR. KING AND WOULD NOT LET US FORGET TIME AND TIME AGAIN, AS YOU SAW ON THE VIDEO, THAT IT’S EITHER NON-VIOLENCE OR NON-EXISTENCE.
THAT WAS CORETTA SCOTT KING.
SHE HELD IT DOWN, GOD GAVE HER THE GRACE TO BE ABLE TO LIVE AS LONG AS SHE DID.
WHEN SHE TRANSITIONED, SHE TRANSITIONED TO A BETTER PLACE, BUT SHE LEFT US AS JOSHUA DID WITH THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, WITH THIS QUESTION OR STATEMENT.
CHOOSE YE THIS DAY!
AND IF I MIGHT ABBREVIATE FOR HER, WHICH WAY YOU GONNA LIVE?
ARE YOU GONNA LIVE ACCORDING TO THE WORLD’S SYSTEM AND THE TRADITIONS AND THE CONVENTIONAL METHODS OR ARE YOU GONNA LIVE ACCORDING TO THE RADICAL AND THE REVOLUTIONARY TRANSFORMING WAY OF GOD THROUGH NON-VIOLENCE WHICH IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
NOW IS THE TIME FOR THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH GOD TO RISE UP AND POSSESS THE KINGDOM AND MOVE IN EVERYTHING THAT GOD HAS ORDAINED FOR US TO MOVE IN.
AND I CLOSE WITH THIS.
[LONG PAUSE]
GOD’S BEEN WAITING ON US A LONG TIME, TO GET IT TOGETHER.
AND IF WE MISS THIS ONE – WE ARE GONNA MISS ONE OF THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITIES TO DEMONSTRATE GOD IN THE EARTH.
WE’VE GOTTA CEASE FROM OUR DIVISIONS.
WE’VE GOTTA CEASE FROM OUR POLITICKING.
WE’VE GOTTA CEASE FROM THE EXPLOITATION AND THE INSECURITIES.
BECAUSE GOD IS NOT LOOKING FOR ANOTHER MARTIN LUTHER KING, OR CORETTA SCOTT KING.
THE OLD HAS PASSED AWAY.
THERE IS A NEW ORDER THAT IS EMERGING.
AND IN THIS NEW BIRTH, GOD IS GOING TO RAISE UP A REMNANT OF PEOPLE, WHO ARE DETERMINED TO POSITION THEMSELVES, THAT THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD MIGHT BECOME THE KINGDOMS OF OUR LORD, AND OF HIS SAVIOUR, OUR SAVIOUR.
IT’S TIME FOR US TO BIRTH OUT – RIGHTEOUSNESS – EQUALITY – TRUE JUSTICE – TRUE FREEDOM AND TRUE HOLINESS.
FOR IT’S AT THE END OF THE DAY WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT HOLY, IT JUST SIMPLY MEANS, WHAT SHE DEMONSTRATED AND LIVED, EVERY DAY OF HER LIFE, IT’S WHY SHE COULD BUILD, AS A WOMAN, THE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CENTER FOR NON-VIOLENT SOCIAL CHANGE.
AGAINST THE WISHES OF SO MANY MEN WHO TOLD HER TO STAY AT HOME AND RAISE HER CHILDREN.
BUT SHE WAS A WOMAN WHO BUILT A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR FACILITY THAT WOULD BE AN EPI-CENTER FOR THIS KINGDOM OF GOD, NON-VIOLENCE.
AND SHE DID IT BECAUSE – SHE WAS HOLY.
SHE HAD – HOLY MEANS HAVING OUR LIVES YIELDED, TO GOD.
SHE DIDN’T DO IT FOR FAME.
SHE DIDN’T DO IT FOR FORTUNE.
SHE DID IT BECAUSE IT WAS THE WILL OF GOD AND SHE YIELDED TO IT.
AND THAT’S WHY SHE COULD LAY ASIDE HER MUSIC CAREER.
THAT’S WHY SHE COULD PUSH BACK HER FIRST DESIRES.
AND IF WE WOULD JUST BEGIN TO DO THAT, THIS WHOLE WORLD WOULD BE TRANSFORMED, AS MY FATHER SAID, INTO AN OASIS OF FREEDOM AND JUSTICE.
THANK YOU MOTHER, FOR YOUR INCREDIBLE EXAMPLE, OF CHRIST LIKE LOVE AND OBEDIENCE.
WE ARE GONNA MISS YOU.
BUT AS I WAS LAYING ON THAT FLOOR AND TALKING TO YOU, YOLANDA, AND WE WERE PRAYING AND I WENT IN TONGUES.
I STARTED PRAYING IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE.
I FELT A TRANSFER TAKE PLACE.
THERE’S A MANTLE THAT HAS FALLEN AND WE ARE GOING TO WAIT AND SEE WHAT GOD DOES, THROUGH THE SEED, OF MARTIN AND CORETTA.
GOD BLESS YOU.

Not only did he give me Stitches to keep my lap warm on these chilly nights, but a book that dreams are made of ….

I was reading a vintage sewing site the other night and it mentioned a wonderful book on Hollywood Costume designers of the 20-40′s. I know I drive my husband crazy. Since we had a satellite dish installed a couple of years ago and I learned to use the DVR (which is the most wonderful invention for mothers who can never hear the t.v. during waking hours much less finish a show), I record old movies and watch them in succession when I get time at night, can’t sleep, or desire inspiration. The DVR allows me to pause every dress and examine their details as the actress moves across the screen. What an experience The Women was to watch with DVR!

My favorites are old B&W’s from the 20′s and 30′s, in which I oogle Adrian, Renie’ and Edith Head’s clothing creations. I don’t know why I never considered a career in costuming. Lack of that creative design talent, I guess. The first dress I ever made was around 11 years old. As a tomboy, I handsewed a replica of Scarlett O’Hara’s dress from Gone With the Wind from a burnt orange velvet beadspread purchased from some flea market sale I attended, just to see if I could really be the “suzy homemaker” that my brothers teased me to be.

Even tho it required tube socks to wear it at that age, it sure did make me feel wonderful to put it on when my brothers weren’t around. Like all secretive passions, it just hung in the closet, forgotten, until Lady Di got married. Oh, how gorgeous and what pageantry that ceremony was. Much to my mother’s hesitation, she allowed me, in the name of mothering advocacy, to cut up her real silk charmeuse nightgown to make a dress like Lady Di’s for my doll. Until I discovered dolls could hold miniature fashions I created, I wasn’t interested in playing with them. I don’t know why it took me sooooo long to realize that is what you were supposed to do with a doll! Took awhile to figure that one out…. Too many brothers I guess.

My desire to create costuming fell by the wayside in favor of learning to sew the more practical items like dresden plate quilts that I never seemed to be able to make round. I was a really slow learner. It took about two years before I discovered what a seam allowance was and that you really did have to add it, no joking.

Maybe it is the house full of boys, middle-age, or a deep love of fabrics and tailoring, but I cannot wait to see this book. It may sound strange, especially to people that are strong in their faith, to ogle the likes of these starlets and their dresses, but when I see the pictures of these costumes, I cannot help but marvel at a glorious God that could make the minds to envision them, the skilled crafstmen to create the fabrics, and the oh so talented artisans that cut and sewed them. Just to spend time admiring the beauty only reminds me to thank God for allowing me the moments to experience them. After all, as a skilled carpenter, I think Jesus would understand.

New items will include sleepwear and loungewear items, some wonderful liquid French soaps from Doux and new line of washable pads and bibs using Fabrite’s new laminated fabrics. We are also going to concentrate more on marketing the ready-to-fit line of items that will offer affordable couture items. It is going to be an exciting year in the Mercantile. Hopefully by this time next year we will have grown enough to open our store dowtown.

I see that alot of friends are growing online also! Slobokan has a new site layout and Firefly now has her own url! It is going to be a very creative and uplifting New Year!

God Bless to all and lots of love and happiness in 2006!

It reminds me of the following newspaper clipping that I keep in my bible to teach our children about the Christmas Tree. It is a kind reminder to us grown-ups how much Jesus has blessed us with joy in eachother’s lives and lovely sunrises and sunsets to light up our days.

The Christmas Tree
by Thales Kaster

I was inspired to write these words after reading the many Christmas stories written by my 6th grade pupils. I think the Christmas tree symbolizes in a most poignant manner, the birth, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus:

“I stand up majestically erect, like a proud centurion.
Many are those who bow and kneel before me, for I am adorned for my unmatched splendor and decorations that few men ever receive in a lifetime.
Thrown at my feet are gifts that even Babe-Jesus never received from all the kinds and Wise Men who came from far-away lands to see and praise Him.
Then suddenly, I am stripped of all my glory, to stand alone, naked outside in the cold, waiting for a garbage can or fireplace to claim me.
Such is my fate, and like Jesus, whose symbol I represent, I am first adorned, worshipped, then discarded for the New Year Star. And when men become battered and tattered, they will humbly, once again, seek my refuge.”

We wish for each and every one of you a joyous and loving reminder of what that beautiful evergreen tree represents.