UP DATING-THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY!

My darling Fiona is gone. She fought hard this spring and summer agains aging kidneys and she lost the battle on our anniv. 7/11/2011. It doesn't seem to hurt quite so much now, but still at times - mostly late at night the thought of going thru winter without her is almost unbearable to me. But, this time of the year, it doesn't take much to rattle my world. The darkness is settling in and with it comes the cold and snow. I love and miss you Fiona - wait for me on the other side won't you?

When Fiona "left" I stopped knitting and don't feel at all inclinded to do it without my knitting buddy. :-(


THAT WAS THE BAD AND UGLY - NOW HERE COMES THE GOOD!!!


In Jan. 2011 I was given Mrs. Tiggy Winkle - my very own hedgehog! She is a retired breeder from the Peavey Farm and she became a wonderful sofa buddy at night! Her and I would cuddle and fall asleep at night - sometimes Fiona would join us as well. It became the thing I looked forward to in the dark winter months. She would coo and snore in my ear........(Tiggy, not Fiona!!!! )



This is Tiggy being entered in a Progressive

photo contest. She did not win! Pooh!

The in May 2011 I was given one of Tiggy's off spring - his name is Pippin! He is smaller and younger than Tiggy - and not as friendly, but he is coming along nicely. I am being patient with him because I believe no one handled him that much. They do not "meet" because they would try to do the "nasty" and that would not be good for ANY of us!!!! lol


Then in December 2011 our one remaining cat, Molly (Boooolllleeee) (who really was Scott's cat) had to be put down because her one eye had totally gone blind and the other was about to. It was her time to cross over the Rainbow Bridge.

My house was totally empty of felines and it felt awful!!!! Jessica works at PetSmart and found these two adorable Russian Blue 9 mon. old sisters that were there for adoption. It didn't take very long and before I could blink an eye - those sisters were in my home filling it back up with cat love and life. Misha and Raina - two different girls, and so full of life and love!

There are learning to live in a home and they are pretty much taking over, which is what cats do!

I thank God for the ups and downs of my life in 2011. The crushing pain of losing Fiona and the joy of getting Misha and Raina. The ups and downs of my spiritual walk....... the fact that Jesus remains faithful and true in all He promises He will be for me. I am thankful for my family, friends, work and church family.

Okay, 2012 ----- let's see if we can do this together! Let it be a huge year for spiritual growth, church growth, a new church building, and me getting on fire for knitting again!!!! :-)

Why do we compromise our Godly standards?

A troubling question.

I see brothers and sisters who have been Christians for decades compromising their Godly standards....... for who? for why?

I read this interesting article :

It was talking about Jesus and how He handled the temptation to compromise.

Luke 4:5-7 says, "The devil led Him up to a high place & showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to Him, "I will give you all their authority splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So, if you worship me, it will all be yours."

Boy, that was temptation!

You know, every week people line up to buy lottery tickets, fantasizing about buying new homes, and new cars. Doing all the things that they couldn't do otherwise.

"Here it is, Jesus", Satan says, "I have control over the people of this world. They're serving me. So, let's make a deal. Don't set your standards so high. Just compromise with me, and all this can be yours."

Is Satan using the same temptation on you?

Are you playing fast and loose with the truth, cutting corners, compromising with that which you know to be wrong? All this just so you can get more & more? More of what?

I don't think there is anything wrong with material things.

God gave them to us. But who is really the owner of the things that we have ? (Including our family members?)

Is God the owner, or am I? If God is the owner, and He's just loaning all of this to me, then my responsibility is to be a good steward of it and to make sure that God is exalted by the way I use it.

Jesus did the right thing. Vs. 8 says " Jesus answered: It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only."

He did the right thing for the right reason. He DID NOT COMPROMISE!

Pray about it.