Grocery List

Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. 

She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries. 

She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work, they had seven children and they needed food.

John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store at once. 

Visualizing the family needs, she said: 'Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can.'

John told her he could not give her credit, since she did not have a charge account at his store. 

Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation between the two The customer walked forward and told the grocer that he would stand good for whatever she needed for her family. The grocer said in a very reluctant voice, 'Do you have a grocery list?' 

 

Louise replied, 'Yes sir.' 'O.K' he said, 'put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you that amount in groceries.'

Louise hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then she reached into her purse and took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her head still bowed. 

The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when the scales went down and stayed down..

The grocer, staring at the scales, turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly, 'I can't believe it.' 

The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales. The scale did not balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on them until the scales would hold no more. 

The grocer stood there in utter disgust. Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement.

It was not a grocery list, it was a prayer, which said:

'Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in your hands.' 

The grocer gave her the groceries that he had
Gathered and stood in stunned silence.

Louise thanked him and left the store. The other customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said; 'It was worth every penny of it. Only God Knows how much a prayer weighs.'

THE POWER: When you receive this, say a prayer. That's all you have to do. 

Just stop right now, and say a prayer of thanks for all He has blessed you with.....

Taking Down the Bird Feeder

This is the best analogy yet!

Leave it to Maxine to come up with a solution

for the mess that America is now in economically.

I bought a bird feeder. I hung
It on my back porch and filled
It with seed. What a beauty of
A bird feeder it was, as I filled it Lovingly with seed. Within a

a week we had hundreds of birds
Taking advantage of the
Continuous flow of free and
Easily accessible food.

But then the birds started
Building nests in the boards
Of the patio, above the table,
And next to the barbecue.

Then came the poop. It was
Everywhere: on the patio tile,
The chairs, the table ..
Everywhere!

Then some of the birds
Turned mean. They would
Dive bomb me and try to
Peck me even though I had
Fed them out of my own
Pocket.

And others birds were
Boisterous and loud. They
Sat on the feeder and
Squawked and screamed at
All hours of the day and night
And demanded that I fill it
When it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn't even
Sit on my own back porch
Anymore. So I took down the
Bird feeder and in three days
The birds were gone. I cleaned
Up their mess and took down
The many nests they had built
All over the patio.

Soon, the back yard was like
It used to be ..... Quiet, serene....
And no one demanding their
Rights to a free meal.

Now let's see.
Our government gives out
Free food, subsidized housing,
Free medical care and free
Education, and allows anyone
Born here to be an automatic
Citizen.

Then the illegals came by the
Tens of thousands. Suddenly
Our taxes went up to pay for
Free services; small apartments
Are housing 5 families; you
Have to wait 6 hours to be seen
By an emergency room doctor;
Your child's second grade class is
Behind other schools because
Over half the class doesn't speak
English.

Corn Flakes now come in a
Bilingual box; I have to
'press one ' to hear my bank
Talk to me in English, and
People waving flags other
Than 'Old Glory' are
Squawking and screaming
In the streets, demanding
More rights and free liberties.

Just my opinion, but maybe
it's time for the government
To take down the bird feeder.

If you agree, pass it on; if not,
Just continue cleaning up the poop

Operation Military Kids

The kids schools passed out sheets this week about Operation Military Kids and I felt lead to spread the word. Our community will be joining in the celebration of our military youth. I wanted to share and get the word out! So many times we support the solider but forget about the spouse and children that sacrifice too. Please show your support for the kids of military personal!

April marks the nation's "Month of the Military Child", a time to honor youth impacted by deployment. In celebration, Texas Operation: Military Kids (OMK), part of the 4-H Youth Development program of Texas AgriLife Extension, invites us to join them for the 2nd annual "Purple Up! For Military Kids."

They are encouraging everyone across the state of Texas (and other states) to wear purple on Friday, April 13th, as a visible way to show support and thank military children for their strength and sacrifices. Purple is the color that symbolizes all the branches of the military, as it is the combination of Army; green, Coast Guard; blue, Air Force; blue, Marine; red and Navy; blue. OMK hopes everyone will take this opportunity to appreciate and celebrate these young heroes.

Be creative.....the goal is for the military youth to actually see the support of their community! Need some ideas to get you started?

•  Ask local, regional, and state officials to wear purple on April 13th.
• Spread the word by inviting newspaper and media outlets to feature a story about Purple Up! For Military Kids
• Involve area schools, sports teams, youth organizations and clubs, after-school programs, recreation departments
• Engage the Chamber of Commerce, fraternal organizations, social clubs, and Rotary groups
• Request local businesses to post Purple Up! message on their roadside signs, and ask their employees to wear purple
• Ask stores and restaurants to offer discounts to all patrons who wear purple
• Invite coworkers, members of your spiritual community, exercise class, or golf league to join you in showing support for the military youth in your town

Please spread the word and wear purple to show our military youth, communities, schools, workplaces, churches, and every where else, that we support, pray for, give thanks and encourage our military!

Below is the website for Texas Operation: Military Kids. You can click on "State Information" and click on your state for what their doing in your community!

Purple Up! For Military Kids

Blessings and Love,
Hollie

Spring Break 2012 Camping

Well we're back and we had a blast! We enjoyed Meridian State Park in Meridian, TX this year. The past several years we enjoyed going to Whitney State Park but wanted a different place this year. And boy, did we hit the jackpot!

We made some great memories, saw some wonderful wonders and praised our Lord for all He continues to do just for us!

There's allot of history at the Meridian State Park and man is it BEAUTIFUL. Hidden away in the wooded hills northwest of Waco lies Meridian State Park, a haven for nature lovers and fishing enthusiasts. The park's 72-acre lake offers fishing in addition to swimming, and no-wake boating. A hiking trail encircling Lake Meridian features limestone outcroppings with fossils, a scenic overlook and aquatic vegetation. Birdwatching is excellent and there is a good chance of seeing the rare Golden-cheeked Warbler. Meridian State Park, near Meridian, TX in Bosque County, is a 505.4-acre park. A rock and earthen dam was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) on Bee Creek to form the park's 72-acre lake. The land was acquired from private owners in 1933 - 1935 and was opened to the public in 1935.
Tonkawa Indians lived in the surrounding area before the coming of white man; Tawakoni Indians also occupied the area prior to 1841. The Texas-Santa Fe expedition of 1841 passed through Bosque County near the present site of park in Bosque Valley.

Here are a few of the pictures I took from our family camping trip....Enjoy!

Our family tent and night potty tent

Unpacked and ready from some needed TLC

Love Spring and Texas Bluebonnets

Husband and our four babies

Our Senior

Our Freshman

Our 5th Grader

Handsome 3rd Grader

Walking down to the Lake

What a VIEW

Beautiful Building

He is SO good

Our Babies

Making a fire...we had one going the entire time there

The Senior says, "Hello"

Reading and Relaxing

My Homemade Beef Jerky

She likes it...she really does

Relaxing by the fire

Roman Noodles and Bean Dip?!

What's camping without a good nap

Fishing with Dad

Relaxing by the Lake

Look at all those BEAUTIFUL Bluebonnets

Rob (the love of my life) and I

On Thursday my best friend, her mother and my god-daughters came to spend the day with us. I love her so much! These pictures below are from our nature trail walk of 3 miles around the man-made lake. Our Senior stayed at camp with my bff's mother so I don't have any pictures of her. There were beautiful trails and a amazing view of God's creation!

Trail

Lots of these around the lake...beavers were busy

I loved this view so much, look how GREEN

This was really cool

And this is inside

Rob with all the kids minus the Senior

Rock with a little tree growing out of it...pretty neat

Huge Rocks

The Gang

My BFF

This was pretty cool

Next is our last day. We're packing and getting ready for our trip back home. I'm so really to sleep in my bed!

Our son posing while we're packing...just one last pic

All packed up and really for home sweet home

Road to Home...it was a blessed journey

And lastly, the Brazos River; full! Thank you Lord for all the wonderful and needed rain!

God's so good to us! And we really couldn't thank Him or praise Him enough!

Blessings and Love,
Hollie

Obama and 2016

Dinesh D'Souza - Obama & 2016

Above is a link to a video featuring the author of a movie about Obama that will be released this spring. It contains a trailer of a movie that is being produced by the producer of Braveheart and Schindlers List.

Great speech - well worth the 15 minutes!

Spring Break

Spring is in the air and God is SO good! Since the last post, I've been busier than a bee!

Last week we planted our garden, which is a pretty huge undertaking. It's 50 foot by 70 foot and it's FULL of yummy vegetables and fruits seed! We worked hard to get most of it planted except for the Pumpkin and Okra, which will be planted April 1st. I'm so thankful for the needed 1.5 inches of rain and now the sunshine to help our garden grow! The kids were a HUGE help with getting the garden finished! We couldn't have done it without them!

We placed membership yesterday morning, at the little country church I was talking about in a past post. Honestly we thought we'd never find a body to be apart of! We've prayed, searched, listened and prayed some more! It took over 2 years and God has answered our prayers! We've really been enjoying the people there and we feel like family! We've been visiting since February 5th. We're super excited to watch God's plan for us!

We are now in the works of packing for our Spring Break family camping trip! We depart tomorrow morning on a new adventure to Meridian State Park for a 5 day, 4 nights stay!

We're going alone this year, which is the only time in all the years of camping. Since this is probably our 1st child's last time joining us we wanted it to be just us. Don't get me wrong, we've had many other families with us and have made lots of wonderful memories. But we felt it just needed to be us this time.

Well I must get back to work, as I have many more things to get done before we head out tomorrow! I will post again sometime next week with pictures from our Spring Break Camping 2012!

Blessings and Love,
Hollie

Obituary OF THE USA

In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh ,

had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior: 

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent

form of government.

A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can

vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.

From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the

most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally

collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship." 

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has

been about 200 years.

During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: 

From bondage to spiritual faith; 
From spiritual faith to great courage; 
From courage to liberty; 
From liberty to abundance; 
From abundance to complacency; 
From complacency to apathy; 
From apathy to dependence; 
From dependence back into bondage."
The Obituary follows:

Born 1776, Died 2012 
It doesn't hurt to read this several times.

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul , Minnesota ,

points out some interesting facts concerning the last Presidential election: 

Number of States won by: Obama: 19 McCain: 29 
Square miles of land won by: Obama: 580,000 McCain: 2,427,000 
Population of counties won by: Obama: 127 million McCain: 143 million 
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Obama: 13.2 McCain: 2.1 

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory McCain won was
mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country.

Obama territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in low income
tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the
"complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy,
with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached
the "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal
invaders called illegal's - and they vote - then we can say goodbye to the
USA in fewer than five years. 

If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message.

If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at

stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom..

This is truly scary!

Of course we are not a democracy, we are a Constitutional Republic .

Someone should point this out to Obama.

Of course we know he and too many others pay little attention to The Constitution.

There couldn't be more at stake than on Nov 2012.

If you are as concerned as I am please pass this along.

"Student of the Month"

Last week we received a letter from the school, letting us know that our 3rd child had a special breakfast with parents on Friday, March 2nd honoring her for "student of the month"! She's always doing, acting and thinking of others before herself. She's a great person, student, daughter, sister, grand-daughter and believer of Christ.

Student of the Month "February"

She models for me daily how I need to be more "Christ-like". It's funny how our children can end up being our teachers too!

Her Pin

Her daddy and I took her to school Friday morning which is a special treat since the kids ride the bus everyday. Ate a great breakfast provided by the school....Scrambled Eggs, Turkey Sausage, Biscuit and gravy with Chocolate milk, juice and coffee.

It was a great treat to honor her for all her hard work that didn't go unnoticed! We're SO proud!

With her 5th Grade Teacher

Blessings and Love,
Hollie