On Christmas Eve of last year my cousin and her husband were killed on a 2 lane highway in Texas. They were almost home driving from Iowa. They were in a Van and a drunk driver in a pickup hit them head on. This will be our first Christmas without them. Our famlies was very close growing up. It will be hard this year on theirs and our family... We do need your prayers at this time. I also pray it doesn't happen to anyone else.
The word I want to get out here is if you drink Do Not Drive. We want people safe while driving. I pray that we all stay safe during this holiday season.
God Bless
BARB

I had no idea! I will keep Ali in my prayers and Sarah1980 as well.

Rose and sandra..you and your loved ones are always in my thoughts and prayers...so sorry to hear that so many sad things have been going on : (

Please, everyone, stay safe and hold those loved ones close to you at this crazy time of year. They are our most precious gift.

Foxy Lady: ty for letting us know. Prayers for Ali's quickest possible recovery.

Adding my thoughts and prayers for Ali. Hopefully we will hear something soon.

I only just found out this board exists, it is a good place to have.

Pbarb2: We haven't heard anything yet and of course were all worried.Her fellowship has been very quiet.Ali needs all our prayers for a positive outcome.

Pbarb2:  She's in mine too.  :)

Foxy Lady: Hope Ali is doing ok. She is in my thoughts and prayers.

Foxy Lady: No news on Ali yet we pray that her surgery went well.

Isaiah 45 (King James Version)

5I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

6That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

7I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

8Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

God Is Just
PSALM 89:14 NIV
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.
Every decent human being deeply detests injustice. When we see it in life, or even in a movie, it agitates us. Nothing makes our blood boil more than injustice.
We instinctively know injustice is wrong because God put that within us when He made us in His image. You can be sure that God's reign will never involve injustice of any kind.
PSALM 11:7 ICB
7 The Lord does what is right, and he loves justice. So honest people will see his face.
While we may not understand all that God might do in judging the human race, surely we can be confident with Abraham who said in Genesis 18:25, "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?". God is fair. God is just. God does what is right. God is righteous. All these statements are equivalent.
People who would condemn God now are judging Him before the time -- before all the evidence is in -- before God has finished His great work with mankind.
Then, and then only, shall we see and understand the greatness of the mercy and the justice of our wonderful God.
ISAIAH 9:7 NIV
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
SAY THIS: God is fair and just, and He is the ultimate and only judge that really matters.
-----------------------------------------
�����

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ali who had surgery yesterday.

Gr☺uch☺: I read somewhere she's doing better and may go home Tuesday.Prayers do work.

 You are in my thoughts daily and I'm praying for your body to heal.  Many people here are concerned for you.  

MadMonkey: thank you for letting us know, will definately have Sarah in my prayers. 

MadMonkey: OMG please keep us posted on her
MM.I'll keep her in my prayers.

Please spare a thought for Sarah & her son (Justin).
They have been in a car accident. Justin is ok, but Sarah has broken ribs and is still unconscious.
Say a prayer for her please

Rose:  Very sad.  Nothing worse than losing a child.  My heart is with your family and you.  

Rose: I'm sorry i missed your post.

Rose: my thoughts are with you ..

sandra...: Our prayers and support are with you and yours.

sandra...: Sorry for your loss.

There is a funeral today for a member of my extended family. He was missing for 10 days and was found dead in a bog last week. They are unsure of foul play or if he was just drunk and the elements took him. Poor kid was only 19 yrs old.
Also lost very dear client today who passed away from cancer. I had no idea she was fighting cancer since last May.

today for my son in laws family. It was his grandmothers funeral today. a sad time for all.

thank you

I am in love with Life and with this Universe, with every being and every soul within it. I have a covenant with the Universe; a covenant of love. I share the glow of my spirit with everyone and everything that I encounter, and the Universe offers me its glow in return. When I offer the world my soul’s unconditional love, it returns to me burnished and enhanced; the Universe absorbs and retransmits it amplified a hundredfold. There is no limit to the power of this love. It brings me comfort, accomplishment, and joy, just as it contributes to the development of those attributes in those on whom it falls.

I keep this covenant by dismissing all selfishness, all jealousy, and all rancor. The body and the thinking mind urge me to take advantage of the open givingness that my love engenders in the world around me. They want me to hoard the joy the Universe freely offers me, to gather it unto myself and shield it from others. They do not know that love and joy exist only in the measure that they are shared. Any happiness that I take away from another being is a subtraction from my own; any love that I withhold evaporates from my being. I pursue only those pleasures that promote the ease and happiness of all.

My love is innocent and untarnished. Its light surrounds me; my aura is enhanced by it. Those I meet respond to its warmth in kind. My covenant extends to every other soul, to keep this purity intact. I wear visibly the knowledge that all is safe, that the Universe is good, that each of us is God’s perfect child; and everyone I meet is warmed and reassured by it. I draw in the boundless loving energy of Spirit, cleansing and renewing my physical and energetic selves. With the miraculous power of my energetic self I return to the Universe more cleansing energy than I absorbed.

And so it is.

The Poem
I knelt to pray but not for long,
I had too much to do.
I had to hurry and get to work
For bills would soon be due.
So I knelt and said a hurried prayer,
And jumped up off my knees.
My Christian duty was now done
My soul could rest at ease....
All day long I had no time
To spread a word of cheer
No time to speak of Christ to friends,
They'd laugh at me I'd fear.
No time, no time, too much to do,
That was my constant cry,
No time to give to souls in need
But at last the time, the time to die.
I went before the Lord,
I came, I stood with downcast eyes.
For in his hands God! held a book;
It was the book of life.
God looked into his book and said
"Your name I cannot find
I once was going to write it down...
But never found the time"
�
�
Now do you have the time
to pass it on?

EatBeefNoTurkey: Thank you for sharing.

Each candle has a color for reasons.

http://virtual-candle.org/index.php

volant: He leaves Dec 15 his whole unit is going.My mother-in-law is so upset that he won't be home for Christmas.

EatHamNotTurkey: sorry he has to go at all, would have been nice if they would have at least waited a couple of weeks. 

My brother-in-law is going back to Iraq.Please say a prayer for his safe return.He leaves just before Christmas.

Jules: I just read Ecclesiastes 7.You can also donate i saw.
Thanks for sharing.


edited to add the l

alanback: After re-reading it i decided to anyways.

Foxy Lady: No editing necessary! Thanks for sharing it.

alanback: This board is open to all whatever religion.This was sent to me in an e-mail.I did edit the post sorry it wasn't meant to be bias.

Foxy Lady: Who are the "right" people? This message should be shared with everyone! Christians and non-Christians alike can appreciate the lifting of the burdens of this world that occurs with the realization that the Universe is filled with love and forgiveness for anyone who cares to accept it. Indeed, the Universe is love and forgiveness, anything else is false and transitory. "Only Love abides." God blesses us all without reservation or judgment. Our part is to stop judging each other and ourselves.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:19 NIV
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
The Good News is about reconciliation between God and man. Jesus Christ accomplished it.
Mankind was estranged from God. We had gone our own way, were lost, and couldn't find our way back to fellowship with God. Fortunately, God loved us and did something to help us.
Two extremely important ideas are presented in the above verse.
First, God is not holding people's sins against them! As far as God is concerned, Christ's sacrifice paid the penalty for all sin -- and God considers the world reconciled back to Him.
Second, this wonderful good news of what God has done has been committed to us. Human beings must tell it. If we don't -- it won't be told.
People can live and die and never know the glorious truth that God is not holding any sins against them -- if no one tells them.
They need to know they are forgiven, loved by God, and welcome to come back into fellowship with Him through Christ.
Think about this: God is interested in reconciliation. Not in shutting you, or others, out. He is inviting humanity in, saying all is forgiven.
SAY THIS: Thank You Father God for reconciling me and not holding my sins against me. Please help me to share this message with everyone.

Oh Lord, You are so wonderful
Did I take the time to pray,
Or did I find myself wrapped up
In other things today?

Did I remember to thank You
For the moon and stars above,
And all You have created
But most of all... Your love?

Did I mention that I'm thankful
I can read Your words each day,
By opening up my Bible
And to Your words, try to obey?

Did I remember to thank You too
For this beautiful sunny day,
For the birds that sing so joyfully
In their melancholy way?

Have I asked for Your forgiveness
When I complain of things I should not?
For I know, Lord, in my heart
I must be grateful for all I've got.

Did I thank You for the love
You have placed within my heart,
And for the many friends I have?
For with me, they are a part.

Finally, Lord, have I let You know
My life would be incomplete,
If I didn't know You, as my Savior...
The one someday I'll meet?
~Author~
Ruth Ann Mahaffey

This was sent to me.

I want to say a prayer for those 2 poor children whose lives were tragically taken away from them, recently in Corfu. Please pray for them and there parents

Pbarb2: Thank you for that beautiful prayer.

God's Boxes
I have in my hands two boxes,
Which God gave me to hold.
He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black box, And all your joys in the gold."
I heeded His words, and in the two boxes, Both my joys and sorrows I stored,
But though the gold became heavier each day, The black was as light as before.
With curiosity, I opened the black,
I wanted to find out why,
And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole, Which my sorrows had fallen out by.
I showed the hole to God, and mused,
"I wonder where my sorrows could be!"
He smiled a gentle smile and said,
"My child, they're all here with me.."
I asked God, why He gave me the boxes,
Why the gold and the black with the hole? "My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings, The black is for you to let go."
We should consider all of our friends a blessing. Send this to a friend today just to let them know you are thinking of them and that they are a joy in your life.
A ball is a circle, no beginning, no end. It keeps us together like our Circle of Friends. But the treasure inside for you to see, is the treasure of friendship you've granted to me.

Let's pray for world peace.

Dolittle: I hope her grandaughter is ok.She timed out in our games.

PegasusInAR:I was wondering what the latest news is on your granddaughter. Do pray she is doing ok!

bouncybouncy: Awwwww thats so cute.

bouncybouncy:  The older one gets the more important that is!!!  ;)

The only thing is now, he rings me up, to tell me how is bowel movements are

bouncybouncy: That is wonderful Ali.. I am happy to hear your good news..

bouncybouncy: Your welcome i know how happy you are.

bouncybouncy: SO good to hear that your Dad is on the mend enough to come home - made my day

After 3 weeks in hospital, my daddy is finally coming home today. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you, for all your kind thoughts, prayers and pm's, through this difficult time for my family.

My dad is now getting better, but we still have a long way to go, but is allowed home, on one condition, that he doesnt go near a golf course for about 6 months lol.

Thanks again, you are all stars