Freedom Isn’t Free

Freedom is a complicated subject.  We are only free as long as we see that there is a high price paid for freedom and that we have a responsibility to maintain it.  

When my children were in their teens and still at home, they had certain criteria that affected their freedom.  When those criteria were met, they had more privileges.

As a wife, there are limitations to my freedom if I want the relationship to be one of happiness and contentment.  It assumes faithfulness and truth.

The men and women who fought for our freedom in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and every war since have paid an enormous price for our freedom.  My uncle Jack was a ball turret gunner in a plane that went down over Belgium in WWII.

The Civil War and the life of Martin Luther King paid for the freedom of those who had been enslaved.

As a citizen, my freedom is contingent on my attention to the people we place in office and to be aware of what they do after they get in.  It is always based on my exercise of my voting privileges.

Have you ever noticed that people who aren’t free want to trap you in the same web that enslaves them?

A drug dealer wants you on drugs.

An alcoholic invites you to have just one more.

A thief will work to get you to steal.

A gang member will have an initiation that will ensure that you are guilty of crimes before you can be a member.

A smoker is all too willing to share a cigarette with you and teach you the ‘how to.’

A person driven by lust will try to get you hooked on it as well.

Advertisers want you hooked on prescription drugs, fast food, cigarettes, and a myriad of other products that are designed to keep you buying their products.

We have the freedom to say anything in this country and on the internet, but there is some speech that is designed to put us in bondage like pornography.

The ultimate price was on the cross when Jesus Christ shed His blood so that we could choose freedom

We are reminded of the rights and responsibilities that we have in the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,^[76]that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long-established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

Our future freedom depends on our actions today.

I am gratful to God for all the freedoms that we have in this country.  We are still the greatest nation in the world.

 What freedoms are you grateful for this week of celebration of the independence of the United States?  

Living on Fast Forward in Retirement

The internet has really captured me.  I started working with it because I like to write and now the ministry, that we participate in, has asked me to help with their  blogs and websites.  At sixty-nine years young, I thought that the task was overwhelming and then I got into it and found out that I was right.  The good news is that I have found people to help me develop the web pages which are beginning to come together and look good.  But, because of this activity my personal blogging has taken a back-seat and I really miss it.  So – here goes!

Being retired isn’t just sitting in front of the television, traveling, and feeding, the birds.  My life is full and busy.  I still do the normal things of taking care of the house and yard.  We visit my 95 year-old Mom and our kids.  The ministry has monthly tent meetings and that has kept us engaged.  My Usana business has suffered a bit.  Visit me at http://www.encorenow.usana.com and help me out!

Pinterest is a pin-board that is a fun leisure time activity.  Most interesting to me is that I can do it and not feel like ‘if only’ I had this or that.  It is just a place to see pretty things, learn things, get tips, learn about products, and find humor.  Yes, it can be a time-waster but I am learning just to do it for short bursts of time!

In addition to the normal part of my life, who would have thought that the very thing that I struggled with at work (the computer)  would become a  passion?  So now the writing bug has me wrapped up in blogging and posting to web-pages.  I am learning so much.  I guess the book that I pondered will have to wait.

Here is one of the web sites that I have in process – http://www.fireinthestreets.com.  The picture is what I am using as a header.  Cool huh?

So what is keeping you engaged and happy in your retirement?

From Ink Wells to Keyboards – How the Internet Changed my Life in my 60’s!

• As a kid, I learned penmanship using an ink well and an old ink pen.  We practiced doing circles and lines so that our writing was legible and yes, even pretty.   I enjoyed writing and from an early age wrote poetry and short stories.When I became an adult, I worked in offices that did everything by hand.  We kept record and files and remembered details in our minds.It was in the late 1980’s when I got involved with the computer.  My then boss decided to computerize our company.  I was part of the beta and learned from dos on up.  The good thing about those days is that I had computer support.  Then I retired about twenty years later.When I moved to the Ozarks, I took a job recruiting from home for a company in my home town.  It had many challenges, not the least of which was the lack of computer support.  I no longer had an Admin Assistant to type my interviews and when the computer acted up, I had to figure it out.  As a result, I got up close and personal with the electronic gadget.  Three years later, I really retired and laid the old computer aside and bought a lap-top.

  Since then, I can compute from anywhere and I discovered the wonders of social media.  When I first tried to work with a web-page, I had a friend, Steve, who helped me.  In fact, he led me into this amazing new world by introducing me to the Chief Blogger, Tom McDunn.  Since then I have taken blogging classes and now I manage five blogs, three of which are my own. I have written a blog and a web page for someone else.

  I wake up in the morning with ideas running through my head for a new blog post and can’t wait to get it ‘in the can.’  (Do they say that for blogging?  Maybe I coined a new phrase from the film industry!)

  Are you over fifty and think that this social media thing is too hard for you?   I challenge you to find a class.  Join me in a great adventure!

  Let me know what you think about social media, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.  Do you blog?

   

Do you remember a favorite old song?

I was thinking about my high school years and some of the wonderful and crazy songs we grew up to.  Life in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s was gentle compared to what kids have today.

Some of the songs that come to mind are:

She Wore An Itty Bitty Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.  (Really?)

Wake Up Little Suzi. (For those who don’t remember, they had fallen asleep at the drive-in movie and their reputations were at risk.)

Love Letters in the Sand – Pat Boone sang this and April Love  –  beautiful love songs.

Don’t Be Cruel – Elvis is still famous and did so many – Love Me Tender was a favorite.

Whole Lot of Shakin’ goin’ on -Jerry Lee Lewis rocked this!

It’s All in the Game – (It started out, “Many a tear has to fall, but it’s all in the game.”  It had a haunting tune.)

Great Balls of Fire – (I think I missed the meaning of this at the time.)

Love is a Many Splendored Thing – (The movie title song – I really liked both.)

So – what is my favorite?  I don’t know quite how to choose.  Each of the titles stir a different memory.  We had so few problems.  The biggest decisions included what to wear to school – mostly skirts, sweaters, bobby sox and saddle shoes.  They were good days to be a kid.

My best friend, Linda,  and I loved Mario Lanza and so I have to choose the song we spent hours dreaming to.  He sang “Be My Love” and our dream was that he would sing it at our weddings.  A great memory.  “Be My Love” gets my favorite vote!!

What was your favorite song and your favorite memory of high school?

Related site:

http://www.popculturemadness.com/Entertainment/Decades/50s-Music.html

Ozark Spring 2012

Judy and I went for a long leisurely ride in the beautiful Ozarks to capture the 2012  Spring.

We went out to a creek that has favorite summer swimming holes.  It was deep and very cold!  We found many beautiful rocks that the creek had sculpted into interesting shapes.  Our car was a bit heavier after this stop.

We went to photograph our beloved dogwoods and got many wonderful pictures.  I included one that has an old farm disc implement that had rusted.  The dogwoods are pictured above the rusted piece of the past.  I love this!

The following picture has a beautiful dogwood in front of several trees that are wrapped in an old woody vine.  It created interest and we loved the contrast; spring and winter.

Some of the pictures were taken on a winding back road that I call ‘Dogwood Lane’ and every spring, I wait with anticipation for the trees to present us with their floating blossoms.  When I see them, I know that winter has released her hold.  There is this well-kept farm that I enjoy driving past.  The wooden fence gives it definition and frames the beautiful dogwood.

Redbuds grow wild along the highways and cast a purplish hue over the woods in early spring.  I always promise myself that I won’t travel in April because I don’t want to miss this breathtaking show.  They came out early this year and were already beginning to get their green leaves.  They were still grand.

Not all of the beauty is in the flowers.  There are rustic old building that add to the romance.  We stopped here and picked beautiful wild flowers in shades of purple, light blue and gold.  We were jumping across small rivulets of water taking care not to fall in!!

We found this small waterfall to our delight and the sound of the water brought us pleasure. We stayed her for quite a while. There were many little surprises like this that we found and savored.

It came close to the time that we had to consider returning to our lives. So leaving more exploring for another day, we headed for home.

We had our reward – wildflowers for our tables.  We harvested some dogwoods and red buds and brought the outdoors in! It was a glorious day!!   I actually had enough flowers to fill three vases. I took a picture of my favorite – it was dogwoods and redbuds.  I like this picture very much and may frame it so that i remember this day of beauty, friendship, adventure, and fun!!

If You Have a Loved One With Degenerative Neurological Disease, Then Read This About the Ketones in Virgin Coconut Oil!!

First of all, I make no health claims and I am just talking about research about coconut oil available  on-line.  I found an article about the ketones in Coconut Oil.  It is touted by Dr. Mary Newport about the effects it had on her husband’s degenerative neurological disease and I am fascinated.  Her husband had symptoms of Alzheimer’s and mine has the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease.   It seems that ketones in Virgin Coconut Oil may allow the of glucose in the neurological centers of the brain to be absorbed.  (At least that is what I think she said.)  Could this be a wonderful health secret for many diseases and symptoms?

Joe and I will be trying this out and following the protocol that Dr Mary Newport describes in her article, ‘What if there were a cure for Alzheimer’s and no one knew.”  Coconut Oil our new favorite food.  She also recommends using coconut milk for cereal and other places you might want to use milk.  So many wonderful ideas.

Other related diseases mentioned in the article include Huntington’s chorea, multiple sclerosis, ALS, type I and type II diabetes, as well as any number of other conditions that involve a defect in transport of glucose into neurons and other cells.   On the video (link follows), she speaks of possible applications for newborns as well.  I hope she is right.

Big Pharma will never pick this up as they cannot patent food.

The links to the information are at the bottom of the page!!

Only use organic Virgin or Expeller Pressed coconut oil.    Quality matters.

I found this cool recipe:

Frozen Chocolate Coconut Fudge

Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 15 minutes

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup nut or seed butter (I use peanut butter, unsweetened)
• 1/4 cup (generous) cocoa powder
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup (generous) coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup raw honey

Mix together all ingredients. Pour on a piece of unbleached parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Spread out to about 1/4″ thick.

Place fudge in freezer. Let set for about 30 minutes.

Break into pieces and serve or put in container back in freezer until you are ready to serve.

Recipe and picture submitted by Tember, Quakertown, PA

Related Links:

Dr. Mary Newport – video interviews

What If There Was A Cure For Alzheimer’s and No One Knew –  Article –www.coconutoil.com/AlzheimersDiseaseDrMaryNewport.pdf

Dr. Newport on The 700 Club

Merliannews.com Mary T Newport  Alzheimer’s Reversal with Cocnut Oil

Coconut oil and Tumeric for treating Alzheimer’s

http://www.coconutoil.com/coconut-oil-research-alzheimers.htm

Blogging Class Bogged Down by Cyberspace Wierdness 3/07/2012

Well it happened.  I am on Skype and taking a really good blogging class and the Internet in their location is very uncooperative.  It is interesting being a headshot and not being able to see everyone in the class.  Fortunately screen sharing makes things more pleasant.  Today, however, was extremely frustrating.  We didn’t get through everything because of the problems we encountered. 

Let me put it this way, they may have gotten it all, but I missed out on some pieces.

I have learned so much from the class that I really can’t complain.  I am becoming much more confident using social media.  And, people I don’t even know are choosing to follow me!  How great is that?

So, I think I will sing a song instead of being frustrated.  What shall I sing?  “Don’t worry, be happy!”

Saving Daylight Productively in 2012

Our ancestors thought it would be a good idea to save daylight.  It is really not a savings but a reallocation.  We are moving the time from of the daylight hours from early morning to later in the day.  Personally, I think a golfer came up with this idea and when I did my research, this certainly played into it.

Well, so the real question is – “What shall I do in the evening with all that lovely daylight?”

Here are some great ideas: Take a walk. Take a drive in the country (if you can afford the gas.)  Have guests in for a bar-b-Que.  All very good ideas.

But I have a great idea!  I will have a Sensé beautiful science® Spa Party!

This truly fabulous skin-care has groundbreaking, patented self-preserving technology and no added chemical preservatives.  The products stay fresh naturally.  They are gentle and healthy even for the most sensitive skin.  The antioxidant complexes in every product revitalize skin cells, leaving your skin looking younger and more radiant while properly nourishing and rehydrating your cells.

So, I will plan a Spa Party and invite over several friends and introduce them to the feeling of really clean, hydrated skin.  I will set up the table with healthy fruit snacks.  Then we will use the products while we fellowship and catch up on each others lives.    When my guests leave, their skin will be clean and radiant in the beautiful early evening light.

There is nothing quite like a Sense’ facial.  It makes you glow.  Even some Hollywood stars and news anchors swear by the products as they really clean up even the heavy makeup used to look good on the big screen.

Yep!  I think that is a great way to use daylight.

So, here is my question.  “How are you going to use that lovely daylight hour?”

Sadie Hawkins Anniversary

In the days when the rules of etiquette didn’t allow women to approach men for dates, Al Capp, the creator of Dogpatch, rescued us by creating a new holiday.  He named it Sadie Hawkins Day.  On this special day, women were allowed to ask the man of their choice on a date or even propose marriage.  We had Sadie Hawkins’ dances and provided ourselves other excuses for disregarding tradition and being bold by approaching our favorite gentleman with the question.

For me the Sadie Hawkins Day, I will never forget, was in 1980.  I had met a kind man who was a lot different than others that I had encountered.  After dating him for two months, I warned him that if he showed up on February 29, I would propose.  Foolishly, he came by for my children and me.  On a beautiful moonlit night, leaving New York C,ity, I proposed to my precious husband.  I asked him if, “he would marry us” meaning marry me and take on the responsibility of my two children who were nine and ten at the time.

Thirty days later, we were married.  This February 29, we will celebrate the eight year anniversary of that fateful night.  On March 30, we will celebrate 32 years of marriage.  Each year we fall more in love.