"Pondering What to Do?"

I have a dear friend who is a member of the same church as I. Her daughter recently re-located to Missouri with her 7-year-old son. Before she made her move, her husband of approximately three, maybe four years passed away from cancer of the brain. He was verbally, mental and physical abusive. R. was very unhappy at the time, yet she is having a very hard time adjusting to his death. After moving, R. got a good job and attends church there with her young son.

I recently talked to a friend who was a former member of our church who had also relocated to Missouri. When I asked about R and her son, P, informed me that R. is not doing so well and relayed to me in confidence that she and her son are behaving in rebellious behaviors which was not ike R. before she re-located. The former member asked me not to tell anyone, including R's mother.

If my friend ever found out that I knew something disturbing about her daughter and granddaughter and grandson, she would be furious at me because she feels that I should let her know what's going on with her child. I feel I should fulfill my agreement to not say anything as of yet, or possibly not ever. Yet I think about how I would feel if it were one of my sons and a grandchild having problems away from home. I would want to know if they were having diffiiculties.
Blogging friends, what is your take on this one?

"Is There a snake in my basement?"

Recently I had some work done on my house and that included plumbing. The guy did a fantastic job with the remodeling, but botched up the plumbing. We kept calling him to come and fix it but every time he came, he would work to try and solve the problem; however, after he left, I had the same problems. My dad, who used to be a plumber in his younger days came over and tried to fix it, but it wasn’t fixable; however, I ended up with a faucet that wouldn‘t shut off; therefore I had to turn off the water for a few days. Finally I got tired of this mess and my son called the plumber who came over and fixed it.

Part of the plumbing job included my washer, which hasn‘t worked since the original guy did the plumbing. While working on the washer, my son looked down behind it and I heard him say? “Is that a snake?” Right away I went flying out of the basement and up the stairs, frantically asking do they come upstairs? I then heard him say “it’s dead.“ The plumber said “no“ and offered up another explanation of what it was -- a piece of cloth or something like that. My son went along with it. The question is, was it really a snake? Did I have a snake in my basement? I wouldn’t know, I haven’t been down there since. Yesterday my dad asked me if the washer was fixed and I played it off by saying “I haven’t had time to check on it.”

"How to Maintain Your Marriage"

The following has been taken from my daily devotation (Prayer Manager@liveprayer.com

I have a question for you men. When was the last time that you told your wife how beautiful she looked? When was the last time that you told your wife that she was the most special person in the world? If your answer is anything but TODAY, you better stop whatever you are doing and tell her...right now! Do you remember when you were dating, and how you couldn't wait to be with her? Do you remember how NOTHING in the world mattered but her? Do you remember that you would do ANYTHING for her? Do you still feel that way? If the answer is no, you need to get on your knees and pray for God to restore those feelings. Just because you are now married, you should feel the same way and even MORE. After all, this is the woman that God gave you to share your life with! She isn't like that putter you used to like, but now is somewhere in the garage...forgotten. You made a vow before your wife and before God to love her, and to care for her, and to nurture her, until death do you part. How can you take the most special person in your life, the one that God gave you, for granted? Let me give you some advice. You better get on the phone and send your wife some flowers. Why? For no other reason but to let her know that you love her and care about her. You better quit ignoring her and her needs. You better start taking the same amount of time with your wife that you do with the other things that occupy your time. Women need to be reminded that theyare beautiful. They need to be reminded that you care for them.While saying it is necessary, you better prove it with your actions. You are so wrapped up in your career, in your life, in the things that you are interested in, you are neglecting your wife. You better start making TIME for your wife. Make the effort to spend TIME with her, and TALK to her.

Ok women, it is your turn. When was the last time that you told your husband how handsome he was? When was the last time you told your husband that he was the most special person in the world? If your answer is anything but TODAY, you better stop whatever you are doing and tell him...right now! Do you remember when you were dating, how you couldn' twait to be with him? Do you remember how NOTHING in the world mattered but him? Do you remember that you would do ANYTHING for him? Do you still feel that way?If the answer is no, you need to get on your knees and pray for God to restore those feelings. Just because you are now married, you should feel the same way and even MORE. After all, this is the man that God gave you toshare your life with! He isn't like that food processor you used to like,but now is stored away in the cabinet...forgotten. You made a vow beforeyour husband and before God to love him, and to care for him, and to nurturehim until death do you part. How can you take the most special person inyour life, the one that God gave you, for granted?Let me give you some advice. You better stop by the mall and buy your husband a special gift. Why? For no other reason but to let him know that you love him and care about him. You better quit ignoring him and his needs. You better start taking the same amount of time with your husband that you do with the other things that occupy your time. Men need to be reminded that they are appreciated. They need to be reminded that you care for them.While saying it is necessary, you better prove it with your actions. You are so wrapped up in your job, in the home, in the kids, in the things that you are interested in, you are neglecting your husband. You better start making TIME for your husband. Make the effort to spend TIME with him, and TALK to him. Satan has done such a masterful jobof destroying the beauty and perfection of God's institution of marriage. He does it in so many deceitful ways. Making two lives become one is probably one of the most difficult things there is in life. It is always magical at first, but maintaining that magic is not easy. Making it last over time is the goal.That ONLY happens when Christ is the head of each one of your lives individually, and the center of your marriage. The greatest relationship that you will have in this life is with the Lord. After that, it is with your spouse. Just like you must take time to develop that close, intimate walk with Christ, you must also take the time and put forth the effort in your relationship with your spouse.There are two key elements in a successful marriage. TIME AND TALK. You MUST take time to be together each day, and you MUST talk to each other. Life is short enough, and when it is over, it is over. Don't waste one second that you can be together. DON'T TAKE EACH OTHER FOR GRANTED! If you love each other as God calls you to in today's passage of Scripture, your relationship with your spouse can be the most incredible thing in your life outside of your relationship with the Lord.

"Keeping Mom up to Date"

I am from the old school and pretty much operate that way. To put me and technology together is like trying to mix oil and water. If someone had told me 22 years ago at the beginning of my present employment that I would be operating a computer, I would have laughed my head off. I started off on an old IBM Selectric II typewriter. We used Pica and Elite fonts and correctable ribbon cartridges, which were life savers to me. Later I was upgraded to a Text writer Word processor and was told the company was never going to get a computer. The word processor was complicated but once I caught on, it was enjoyable to use. However, it had very little memory. As time went on and a few supervisors later, things began to advance, and the next thing you know we were using the little (I think they were approximately 8 or 9 inches) Apple Macintosh computers, an LCIII, and finally, a Gateway PC, which most of us at the office operate now.

I was all set to work at my job, live a simple sheltered life of staying in Des Moines, not traveling much, not doing much and growing old that way -- However, my four sons were not going to stand for that. First of all, they talked me into getting a computer at home and helped me to get on the internet and I even had e-mail. Just this year, number one son got me into the blogspot. Next thing you know, my oldest granddaughter had talked me into flying to Texas, which is another venture I had no intention of ever making. This ol girl is getting to be a pro. Later, I learned to drive the highway which was quite an accomplishment for me. First to Waterloo (a two hour drive) and just this year, to Minneapolis! Wow! The only thing I just knew without a shadow of a doubt I was NOT going to do was to get a cell phone. I have no need for a cell phone, after all I have lived all of these years without one.

This past weekend, number three son bought me a cell phon. It is one of those phones that you use in an emergency. He and number two son decided that I need to have one in case I am out somewhere and need help. Okay, that makes sense. To my surprise, I was kind of excited to have it. This morning on the way to work, I got caught in a traffic jam. It must have taken approximately 15 minutes to get a couple of blocks toward my job. “Oh,” I thought, “no problem, I’ll just call my boss on the cell phone.” I reached over and picked up my purse, looked inside and guess what? You’re right, I forgot and left it at home. Well you can’t win them all.

And now, mom is headed for the big time — number 3 son and his wife are taking me on a Christmas cruise!

Related Thought: My dad has always told me that God knew what he was doing when he gave me all boys. I agree, he sure did. They are keeping me young. Moral of this story -- NEVER SAY NEVER!!

Devotion Concerning Halloween

I receive a daily devotion from Live Prayer and written by a man named Bill Keller. The other day his subject was Halloween and suggested an alternative for the kids. I just copied and pasted this to share with all of you. I think it's a great idea.

HALLOWEEN (Part 2 of 2)***OCTOBER 31ST IS THE THIRD ANNUAL "WITNESSING FOR JESUS DAY." IT IS A NEWHOLIDAY THAT WILL BE CELEBRATED EVERY YEAR UNTIL OUR LORD RETURNS!!!A Christian's response to Halloween. As I was in prayer three years agoabout Halloween and what God wanted me to share during that time, part of myfocus was on satan and how he operates. The Bible calls him an "angel oflight." He is a great imitator. He takes the perfection of God andperverts it. So as I was praying, God poured into my spirit that it is timefor Christians worldwide to rise up on the most important day of the yearfor satan, Halloween, and claim that day for God!The first step, is to make it a special day for Christians worldwide. IfHallmark cards and candy companies can make up holidays to sell greetingcards and chocolate, why can't the church? I am proud to announce thatuntil our Lord returns, October 31st will now be "Witnessing for Jesus Day."This holiday was started three years ago by the 2 million worldwide who arepart of Liveprayer, and we will continue to promote it as well as followthrough to make this a legitimate, recognized holiday every October 31st!The goal is for Christians to share their faith in Jesus Christ with atleast 3 people during the day. If every Christian worldwide shared theirfaith in Christ with 3 people, it would literally turn the world upside downover night. The world will be "witnessing" their rebellion of God withtheir Halloween parties, their costumes, and satanic services. THIS IS THEPERFECT DAY for Christians to witness to this lost world that we live in,that Jesus Christ is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."What else can Christians do on our new holiday? PLENTY! Every communityneeds churches to put on "Hell House" or "Judgment House" productions tocounter the haunted houses the world promotes. Make sure your home is welllit and inviting for children out trick-or-treating. In addition to candy,give them a gospel tract or a little Gospel of John booklet. Also, praywith each group of kids before they leave. Your church should have theresources to get tracts and the Gospel of John booklets at a very low cost.NO CHILD SHOULD COME TO YOUR HOME AND LEAVE WITHOUT KNOWING THAT JESUS ISLORD!For those with children, take them out trick-or-treating! Have them dressup as Bible characters. Let them go door to door for candy, BUT, in returnfor the candy, they should give the homeowner a tract or a Gospel of Johnbooklet. GOD CAN USE THESE CHILDREN TO HELP SPREAD THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST TOPEOPLE THAT WILL NEVER GO TO CHURCH!!!Churches, instead of holding an alternative to Halloween party at thechurch, should get the children involved in evangelizing theirneighborhoods! They have the perfect excuse to go door to door on thisnight. God can use these children to share the hope and love of Christ withpeople that will never hear the message any other way. DON'T UNDERESTIMATEHOW GOD CAN USE THE CHILDREN ON THIS NIGHT!!!So, let's review. We now have a new Christian holiday. It is, "Witnessingfor Jesus Day," and will be celebrated every year on October 31st. It willbe a day for Christians worldwide to witness to others what Jesus Christ hasdone in their life. We will have churches in every community putting on"Hell House" or "Judgment House" productions as an alternative to thehaunted house productions of the world. Christians will make their homesinviting for children out trick-or-treating, and in addition to candy, givethem a Gospel Tract or Gospel of John booklet. Children of ALL AGES willbecome mighty witnessing agents for the Lord. They will dress up as Biblecharacters and go out into their neighborhoods to get candy, BUT, will givethe homeowner a Gospel tract or Gospel of John booklet.I love you and care about you so much. There is no reason a Christianshould have to fear Halloween, nor is there any reason a Christian shouldhave to participate in the way the world celebrates Halloween. It actuallyis a perfect opportunity to go on the offensive and make this a day tocelebrate witnessing our faith to this lost and dying world. What betterday than the day the world celebrates rebelling against God, HALLOWEEN!!!I will be praying for you. I pray that you become bold and part of thethird annual "Witnessing for Jesus Day." For the Christian, sharing ourfaith is not an option, but is a commandment from God. It is something thatwe should be doing EVERY day. But there is no better day of the year forBelievers worldwide to share their faith in Jesus Christ with this lostworld. THAT my friend, needs to be a Christia's response to Halloween!!!In His love and service,Your friend and brother in Christ,Bill Keller***I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal emailatbkeller@liveprayer.com***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY? The fact is you willdie one day. At that moment, you will either spend eternity with the Lordor be cast into everlasting darkness forever separated from God yourcreator. To know for certain you will be forever with Jesus, go to:http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html***GET YOUR FREE LPeMAIL ACCOUNT! Never miss receiving your DailyDevotional again. LPeMail is an effective email SPAM filtering applicationthat most ISP's charge $10/mo, for FREE! Get your LPeMail account now at:www.lpemail.com .***I am excited to let you know that the Liveprayer Daily Devotional is nowavailable via AUDIO each day. Simply go tohttp://www.liveprayer.com/DailyDevotionalAudio.htmlAlso, you can now listen to the Daily Devotional by phone by calling727-856-7055, or access it on your wireless device by going to:http://wapdd.com(C) Copyright 2005, Bill Keller Ministries. All rights reserved

What About Works and Grace?

I'm confused

Even though I am a Christian, was raised that way and have accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior, I do not have much knowledge of the Bible. In an earlier post, I mentioned having a short attention span as well as being unable to comprehend most of what I read in the Bible, some books and newspaper articles.

Recently I have been attending Bible studies or evangelistic meetings presented by several elders and deacons from my church. They are very interesting and thought provoking; however, at times it seems as though the Bible is contradicting. I get confused over the subject of Grace and Works. It is a known fact that our sins are covered by Jesus’ (Blood) -- Grace; therefore as I understand it, we cannot be saved by our works or by trying on our own not to sin, because we are to lean totally upon Christ, but by the same token, if we do not live according to God’s will, we shall be lost. In other wards, if we blaspheme the Holy Ghost, that is an unpardonable sin, and from what I understand, to continue to ignore the his warnings to us is to blaspheme him.
Upon realizing that we have all sinned and come short of the Glory of God and we all continue to sin, are we to give up sinning on our own, and if we think we can, are we wrong? In other wards what about people who continue to commit sins knowingly because they cannot help themselves? They know that they can continue to ask for forgiveness of Christ because they are under Grace. What if they decide to give up on the sin themselves? Is that wrong or are they to depend upon the Lord’s Grace and continue sinning?

"What a Coincidence!"

Today after I returned home from church, I thought about my little grandson in Texas. I generally get an urge to call and talk to him each weekend. He is such a happy little camper and always upbeat. Of course I was disappointed when no one answered the phone. We played phone tag for a while and finally got in touch.

He goes to a Christian school and is learning a lot, as he catches on quick -- thank God for that. During our conversations, we usually sing each other a song and his usually consists of the ABC song. This time, he said the Pledge of Allegiance, The Lord’s Prayer and then the ABC song. When it was my turn, I decided to sing one of the favorites in my Sabbath School class “The Lord’s Army.” While I was singing the song (thinking he has never heard this one before) I heard him shouting in the background to his mom to come to the phone to hear me singing his song. Afterwards he sang the same song back to me. Mom informed me that he had just learned the song at school and had been singing it all week. I thought, what a coincidence that I would sing a song to him that he had been singing all week.

Why the Name?

I have been blogging for quite some time now and have linked several other bloggers. The questions that keep coming to mind is, "why did you pick that name and what does it mean?" The first time that thought came to mind is when I first saw -- "You Told Harpo to Beat me" and "Kira's Slave." That's interesting.

Sometimes while driving, I spot cars with personal license plates. I love to try and figure out what they are saying or the meanings. It would be so much fun to have a contest just to find out how many of those each person can guess.

I don't think I have to tell anyone why I chose "Thegiget," because that name speaks for it's self. For those of you who are unaware of the meaning of giget, it means I am little. Ha, ha -- everyone walks up to me and says "wow, you are short." Not a midget but somewhat taller (as in giget), and to shorten it -- Mz. Gig; Get the drift?

Why did you chose your user name and what does it mean?

"A New Experience"

Last night my two sons (who live here) and my daughter-in law took me to a belated dinner for my birthday. Of course they asked me to choose the restaurant. After pondering this a bit, I decided we needed to go somewhere new and different. I chose a Japanese Steak House called "Taki." I had only been there once with the older of my two sons and his wife. This was the first time for number 3 son.

We were seated shortly after arriving, and went into a room where several people were seated around different tables. Things were fairly normal as they would be in any restaurant. The waitress came and took our orders, and while we were waiting, there was a table of people seated beside us with one of those grills in front of them. We watched as the chef performed many tricks with the utensils he was using, and number 3 son took note of his juggling the eggs and tossing them up in the air and catching them with his spatula. He poured a littl oil on the grill, and all of a sudden, a large fire blared up from the table beside us. Number 3 son's eyes got big as he jumped up in a slight effort to move away, thinking something was on fire. He was completely unaware of what was going on. Naturally we cracked up at him and the expression on his face. We re-assurred him that everything was alright and this is something that is done all the time. The guy cooks the food right in front of us; the rice with all the trimmings, the chicken and beef and then the vegetables, all the while seasoning everything. A chef at another table close to us did the same thing by pouring some kind of oil on the grill and lighting it up, using a match, and that's when the fire flaired up, which startled my son again. After a while it was time to come to our table. I watched as my son was a bit uncomfortable. We tried to make him feel at ease by letting him know that it's not dangerous. After the guy put the oil on our grill, he lit it and the fire flaired up. Number 3 son jumped out of his seat and backed away. That's when he finally realized that it was okay. He finally pulled his chair back to the table and the chef teased him a little, he finally finished cooking and we had a wonderful meal and a great time.


Related Thought: You should have seen me the first time I went to "Taki."

You're being Tagged K. Slave!!

What five songs are you currently loving? Can't wait to get your answers!