I've Been Tagged by the Clintster!!

What five songs am I currently loving?

1) Donnie McClurkin/Yolanda Adams - Not real sure of the title but I think it's "Let This be Our Prayer"
2) Yolanda Adams - "The Battle is not Your's It's the Lord's"
3) CeCe Winans - Pretty much anything she,Yolanda Adams and Donnie McClurkin sings.
4) Ray Charles - "Georgia on My Mind" Brother Ray was my favorite singer in the day. I am still loving his
music.
5) Richard Smallwood - "Total Praise," "Thank You" and pretty much any music he does

I know, I know I cheated a little but there's so many I had to really pick between. I agree with you, I also like "I can Only Imagine. You've got me on a roll. But I'll give you a break -- dat's all folks! *smiling*

I will be bloggin sporatically over the next few weeks and also I will visit all of your blogs sporatically due to the Bible Study classes I will be taking over these next weeks but I will always be around whenever I can.

I tag Brotha Buck, Chris & Lauren, Jane and Heather -- Love you all and God Bless

"OVERWHELMED WITH EXCITEMENT"

This is great! I have never had so many comments since I started blogging. Brotha Buck -- you know you made my day. I feel like a celebrity. Who wants my autograph? ha, ha

I am having a fantastic day thanks to all of you, my co-workers, and family. I have been invited to have dinner with my dad and his wife tonight whose son also has a birthday today. She is cooking dinner for both of us. Tomorrow, another co-worker is taking me to lunch and Sunday, two of my sons are taking me to dinner. The only reason they are not taking me today is because my dad beat them to it. One of my co-workers made two cakes and brought ice cream, in fact (I almost busted them out while making plans for today) *wide grin.* The students made really cute cards and had them signed. They are on the wall next to my desk. What a blessed birthday! Again, thank you all for your wonderful comment and wishing me well. (Thanks again Brother Buck).
I just opened the gifts you, K and the wife sent -- Thank you -- I love CeCe Winans; thanks for the CD. Also Diary of a Mad Black Woman -- Can't wait to watch it. Also thanks for my plane ticket to come and visit the little man a few weeks ago. You and your family are "off the chain." I love you - God is really good.
*HUGS* to all of my blogging friends and thanks again. *biggest grin ever.*

Also, after dinner, I'm hoping to attend another Bible Study this evening. They have been enlightening and enjoyable because I am learning some things I never knew. I have a lot of questions which I must ask the LORD about in prayer. Well, it's time for me to go to dinnerr -- LOVE AND PRAYERS TO YOU ALL
MZ GIG

"The Bare Necessities?"

When I logged onto the internet tonight, the first thing that caught my attention was a question on the AOL Top News. It said: If you needed to evacuate your town what would you take and what would you leave? That, I would say is quite thought provoking. After pondering it for a bit, I thought about Jesus -- how would he expect me to handle such a situation? He immediately brought to my mind a scripture, from his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:19 - 21 where it says: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth" (verse 19), But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven" (Verse 20), "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Many people are finding it hard to leave their treasures behind, i.e., their homes; things they have worked so hard most of their lives to achieve. They have spent hundreds and thousands of dollars not only in schooling but in their life's work to get the homes, furnishings, clothes, cars; all the necessities and luxuries they have always longed for. It's a hard decision to just up and leave it all behind, and for what? To save your life and the lives of those whom you love? Nonsense! What is a life without all those treasures you have worked most of your life to achieve?

What did Jesus do? He only gave his life and all he had to save us from eternal destruction -- so what!
What did I say??? Here's what I'm saying! Jesus' main purpose was to sacrifice himself and all he had for us, which is what he did. I'm sure as a person in the flesh, it was not easy, but because he was obedient he did his father's will -- HE GAVE IT ALL! (I'm not by all means minimizing what Jesus did, I'm trying to make a point).
Read Matthew 6: 24 and 25. Read Matthew 6:33 & 34 which sums up the fact that we should seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of these things shall be added unto you.

When Christ was here, he had no home or no place to lay his head, but he went about his father's business.
I say all of this to say: "If I had to be evacuated from my home, what would I take and what would I leave behind? (One of my favorite Disney movies is "Jungle Book") where Ballou, the Bear sings "Look for the bare necessities the simple bare necessities." What would your bare necessities be?

FAITH

Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6

I would like to thank all of my blogging buddies for your kind words of support and prayers. God came through right on time. I felt his presence as he comforted me through a very stressful situation. He is good. I got my answer tonight, now I pray that things will continue to work out. LOVE YOU GOD!!!

Love and prayers to you all -- Mz. Gig

Waiting For an Answer

God, I asked a favor of you tonight.
I have to believe if I want to receive.
What is your vision for me and what I am struggling with.
I have a decision to make and I don't know what direction to take.
I'm waiting for an answer; I must know you have heard my prayer
You want to see if I will hold out hope in my desperation,
leave it alone and let you do your work ; I know you will
These tears I have in my eyes, they can't be tears of doubt
Has my carnal body taken over and allowed me to question you?
Get thee behind me Satin in the name of JESUS!
Please dear Lord, tell me what to do.
I'm waiting for an answer and I must wait on you.

"The Pack Rat"

I know there are plenty of pack rats out there, and allow me to introduce you to Momma Pack rat. In this case the old story about grandma’s attic is true. How many of you out there have to give the parents some grief about all the junk they hold onto? I have been getting grief about my junk lately, and one of my offspring has been coming around and giving me a boost in getting rid of stuff. In my basement in cardboard boxes stacked in a neat pile, I have all the mail I have ever received since I’ve been in this house. Every once in a while I decide to go through everything and throw out things I don’t need. You all know the routine of when sorting through junk, old clothes, mail and whatever else -- you start to pitch tthings; however, in the spur of a quick second, you think to yourself -- I’d better not throw this away, I may need it -- only the day never comes that you need it, plus the day doesn’t get here that you decide to pitch it.

Not only does Momma packrat have problems throwing away junk, clothes, mail, etc., but you ought to see my e-mail account, not only at work but at home. I bet I have approximately 35 to 40 messages on my home computer, and that is after I deleted a bunch off e-aforwarding mail I don’t have time to read but instead of trashing it, I keep it because I may need to refer back to it someday. I have approximately 111 e-mails at home -- same old story. Oh yeah, and how many messages do I have on my phone mail -- I’ll never tell.

I got into a conversation with a co-worker last week and we laughed our way through sharing our “pack rat” stories.
In my closet I have approximately 5 of those plastic containers with lids and the junk has been put in categories so it is supposed to be easier to find. Is it easier to find? Wrong -- I forget which container this category is or the other one; therefore; about four or five months later, I decide to go through the junk again and throw out things. Oh boy, I feel pretty good about the things I pitch; but it doesn’t take long before it accumulates and all the while -- time is flying…. So what’s a pack rat to do?

Painting myself or the Pantry?

If you all could see me now, you would crack up - ha ha -- I have paint in my hair, on my arms (both arms) in the corner of my glasses and on my eyebrow. I haven't painted around the house for years. I used to paint the walls but that was a long time ago. Tonight I was painting the inside of my food pantry. It was funny because I have a ladder and was on the highest step possible and still had problems reaching the ceiling inside of the pantry. Good thing I put newspaper down because I dripped paint on it. Even though I tried to be neat about it, the paint and brush just wouldn't cooperate. I was so proud of myself and kept looking at the paint job I did. Anywho, I got most of it done and will finish tomorrow.

Now check this one out... The ladder I spoke about earlier? I can't reach the light fixures in my bedrooms (could it be that I'm too short?) I'll never tell. ha. ha

Unrelated thought: Some time ago, one of our blogging buddies blogged about the wife not answering her cell phone. Guess who else doesn't answer the cell phone (oh, did I say he?)

"It's Just Plain disgusting"

This morning I got up rather early. Since I was going to a picnic sponsored by Big Brothers/Big Sisters, I decided to go out to Gray's Lake early and walk so that I would have time to get in my exercise, go home, get ready, pick up my "little" and go to Cottonwood Park which is in a beautiful area called Saylorville. It brought back fond memories of when I used to drive to Cherry Glen, (a recreational camping area where my parents used to camp) almost every weekend. It has been over ten years since I've been in that area.

While driving to Gray's Lake, this morning, I came upon the red light at an intersection probably about six or seven blocks north of the lake. The traffic was held up due to some kind of a "race for the cure" event. I don't know what charity this was for but (I definitely have nothing against the charity events, because if I thought for one moment I could be in one, I'd be right there with them), however, there were a great number of people running and the people who were directing traffic was not going to let us cross the street until all the runners were past. We sat there for at least ten minutes, maybe longer, waiting to be directed to cross the street. I thought we were going to be there most of the morning. Just before they finally let us cross the street, some idiot, (excuse me), I mean some person behind me got to honking as if to try and make us go. Can you believe it?

After the walk and on the way home, I decided to take a detour so as not to run into the same situation. I drove all the way to another side of town before I was able to find a clear route home, and when I got downtown, another idiot (I know, that's not nice, but I get carried away some times) decided to honk me out of the way again, which rattled my buttons quite a bit.

This situation is just the icing on the cake because the City of Des Moines has been doing a lot of construction work, building a river walk and just plain upgrading the city. The disgusting part of it is -- you don't know how to get anywhere because almost every street is "blocked off". Whenever trying to drive anywhere the streets are closed. Streets that were closed for a period of time and re-opened are "closed of " again. The freeways are blocked off and re-routed; therefore, getting across town is next to impossible. There are so many streets closed, its a chore trying to map out a direction to go anywhere in the city. It's a shame to be lost in your own town. "It's Just Plain disgusting!"

"SecondPost For Today"

I just returned home from Prayer Meeting. Our pastor informed us that the Governor of Iowa has indeed made provisions at the Iowa State Fair growns and another area for approximately 5000 evacuees. They have food, water, shelter, etc. on hand; however, our Governor received word that we are on a "standby" status because so far the people are not wanting to leave Texas due to the fact that they have been traveling around so much and are quite tired and have been through so much, plus have had too much experience with water. Therefore, at the present time, it is uncertain whether or not we will be getting any or not at least anytime soon.

Many people are donating money and are trying to find other ways to help plus they can still offer to open their homes if they wish. Thank you for your in-put, and since I am so fond of children, I will be excited to take in a child or two if need be. Thanks also for your prayers.

"Evacuees Coming to Iowa"

The Governor here in Iowa has made provisions for our state to take evacuees from the hurricane disaster in New Orleans, Mississippi, etc. There are a few places here that will put them up for as long as necessary. Also in the newspaper it said that some people may want to offer their homes to some of them.

At work, we were debating whether or not we would open our homes. Most of us would be delighted to do so; however, while discussing it, some said they would be afraid to take in grown ups or teenagers for obvious reasons. I myself have taken in families in the past, and my family and I have been messed over pretty badly by the people we have helped. My parents have also dealt with the same problem. I believe the Lord would expect us to lend a helping hand in any way possible.

One of my co-workers and I said we would take in some small kids who have been separated from parents and/or family. However, another co-worker said that due to the emotional problems caused by the horror of the situation, the kids would probably have a great deal of mental problems, and she adamantly stated that would not be advisable.

It would be nice to have some feedback on this subject. I know that in the Bible it says something to the effect “I was naked and “you clothe me,” “I was hungry and you fed me” (something like that) I always advise everyone to pray about things and believe.

Do Your Treasures Outlive You

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Mathew Chapter 6: 19, 20, and 21

Years ago when an elderly cousin of mine passed away, I went to her house with my parents. I looked around and admired all the beautiful things she had. As people were packing clothes, furniture, etc., up, I noticed some brand new towels, bed sheets, etc. She had a great deal of money and a lovely house, and it was furnished nicely. I thought to myself; “this definitely goes to show that you can’t take it with you.” Her lovely home was still there but she was gone and her husband had preceded her in death.

Each and every time someone I know dies, I take the same thought. “Do your treasures outlive you? On the whole, “Yes.” People work hard to get nice things; a beautiful home, and go all out to furnish it, not knowing how long they will be here to enjoy it. I’m not knocking that by a long shot because that’s life. But God wants us to lay our treasures in Him -- to follow him, to cherish Him; after all, we were made for Him. It’s not a bad thing to buy nice things but it becomes bad when we worship those things. God wants us to pay ten percent of our increase to him. Some people feel they can’t afford that because they have to have a new car, have to pay for their home, the new furniture they just bought, go to school, or they may happen to be financially strapped. God looks into your heart and he knows what is more important to us all. We sometimes wonder why we don’t have this and can’t afford that.

I have been doing a great deal of thinking of late and I really feel that when you show God you really trust him, he will come through. I once thought I couldn’t afford to pay tithes but a fellow member of our church told me to just put my faith in him, try him and see if he doesn’t come through. Later on I started paying tithes. That is one of the best things I could have done. In other wards, let God know where he stands with you and as the Bible says “you will be rewarded openly. Remember, even though you cannot take it with you, it’s okay to enjoy it while you are here; however -- rememberGod is our Treasure to PUT HIM FIRST!

Did Grandma Say the Lord's Prayer Right? Ask the Grandson

My grandson is learning the Lord's Prayer. His parents had been teaching him to say it before my trip to Texas. Each morning while dad and mom were gone, I woke up earlier than the little man (that is what we call him). Later that morning I would look up and the grandson would be coming down the stairs. He would run to me with his arms open and then I'd pick him up and he would cuddle and lay his head on my shoulder (I liked the spoiling part). I walked over to the couch and sat down. "It's time to say our prayer" I would tell him. Many times I thought he wouldn't want to say a prayer because of the fact that he had just woke up. I started out with "our father" and he would always, every day, repeat it after me. The first time we said it together; he repeated me word for word. When I got to the part "and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" (is what I said). He then informed me "no grandma" you are supposed to say "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." I thought, "well excuse me Mr." Anyway for the remainder of my visit, I repeated it his way.

A Day in the Life of Mz Gig

A friiend of mine sent me this e-mail and I found it to be hilarious because it describes my everyday to the "T."

Subject: A.A.A.D.D.
I'm sending this to you all so you will understand me better.
Recently, I was diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D. -
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over
at my car and decide my car needs washing.
As I start toward the garage, I notice that there
is mail on the porch table that I brought up from
the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail
in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the
can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take
out the garbage first.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox
when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay
the bills first.
I take my check book off the table, and see that there
is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go
inside the house to my desk where I find the can of
Coke that I had been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push
the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.
I realize the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should
put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of
flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be
watered.
I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my
reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm
going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water
and suddenly I spot the TV ! remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the
remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to
put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the
floor.
So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up
the spill.
Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
the driveway is flooded
the car isn't washed,
the bills aren't paid,
there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter,
there is still only one check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really
baffled because I know I was busy all day long and I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some
help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.
Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message to
everyone you know, because I don't remember to
whom it has been sent.
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!