Don't Be Bulled!

Have you ever read any of Aesop's Fables?

I ran across one today about four bulls who were best friends. They always kept close to each other so that in the event they were ever in danger, they would face it together. They traveled together, grazed together, and huddled together at night to sleep.

One day, a hungry lion spotted the four friends and became determined to catch one. He was no match for all four of them at once, so he followed them and watched carefully, hoping to catch one alone. Every time he saw one lagging the least bit behind, he would sneak up and whisper to him that the others had been saying unkind things about him. This, he did with each bull until finally all four began to feel suspicious and uneasy around one another. Each thought that the other three were plotting against him.
When the lion succeeded in breaking the trust among them, the bulls

went their separate ways……. and one by one,

the lion devoured them.

I’m sure you can see the analogy here.

Our enemy (Satan) would love nothing more than to divide us and break the trust among us in the body of Christ. He knows full well that if he can just get us separated.....that he can come in for the kill!

Let’s not allow the devil to play out his wicked scheme!
Be on guard!
Don’t gossip - overlook offenses - pray with and for one another...Don't go around looking to be offended or looking for faults in others.....because we are all human....we all make mistakes....plus, there is a 100% chance you will find what you are looking for....Satan will make sure of it.

Don't under estimate his ability.

Be determined to stick together.....so that we may accomplish great and mighty things for God.

~ 6 Random Things About Me ~

I have been tagged by Suzanne.

I am to list 6 random things about myself.

Try not to fall asleep....I am pretty boring.

1.) I love fall. It is absolutely my favorite season. The weather gets cooler, the leaves begin to change color and fall from the trees. It's time for pumpkin pies, caramel apples, hay rides and hot chocolate. Some of my favorite childhood memories are in the fall. I remember raking leaf piles taller than I was just to demolish them and then do it all over again and again.

2.) I am very sentimental. One of my favorite saying is, "We're making memories." I am always packing up special things (special to me that is) from the kids doodles and photos to sea shells and motel keys. Most of the time just seeing the item brings back a special memory that otherwise may have been forgotten. (does that qualify as being a pack rat?)

3.) I do not like when people are rude or mean. It makes me angry....very angry. There is no sense in it. I have no tolerance for it....especially in God's house.....

4.) I love to take pictures. It is very rare to see me without my camera. On the rare occasion that I do forget my camera, it makes my heart sink. Gotta capture those memories!

5.) If I could go back to one particular day in history and re-live it....I would go back to a Sunday dinner at my Memaw's house. She had the whole family over every Sunday for lunch...boy she sure could cook! I miss her so much-she has been in Heaven for 10 years now.

6.) I am a recluse....or an introvert I guess would say it better. I love to travel, but I just don't like all of those people traveling at the same time I do. lol-I don't like being in crowds-it makes me uncomfortable. If we go to a restaurant and have to wait to be seated, I had just as soon go home. I especially hate water parks. They will have to make germ-ex towels (body-sized) towels before I go to another one of those.

Now it is my turn to tag someone....I tag:

Jeff and Carre

Hilary

Nina

Jennifer

Christy

Plus....anyone else who wants to play along!

~Foto Friday~

Whooo ~ hoooo! It's finally Friday!

Today's Foto Friday theme is brought to you by Carre

over at House of Gordon.

The theme is:

~Silly Faces~

.....and this is about as silly (or stunned as we call it) as I could find.

.....and yes, there is a story behind it....but I will save it for another day. :o}

Be sure and let me know if you are playing so I can link you to the post!

Have Fun!

These bloggers are playing along!

The Goodman Family

We Are Still Here!

Whew! What a week so far. We are in Conway, Arkansas. My husband is preaching a revival here at Beryl Baptist Church. Tonight is the last night for the revival then we will be going to another church here in conway for a campmeeting.

It has been a great week so far. Several saved! Praise God! Several re-didications and one even surrendered to the ministry. It is just awesome when God shows up isn't it! The atmosphere has been so amazing anf the church folks have been so good to us. John & Mindy are here too.

Today the Pastor-Bro. John Lindsey took our pictures (he has a little home studio) It is the first time we have had a family picture made since Kayla was 3! She is 10 now~can you believe it has been that long? i will post them as soon as we get them.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that we haven't fallen off of the face of the earth.... we are in Arkansas.

Be in prayer for toight!

~Foto Friday~

Today's Foto Friday theme is MESSY!

This is Jaycob ~ my friend's little boy. He is enjoying (really enjoying)

his 1st birthday cake.

Pop over to these blogs to see who is playing along!

House of Gordon

Let me know if you are playing, I will put a link to your blog in this post.
Remember: you can see the Foto theme for each week by clicking on the Foto Friday button on the sidebar!

~Goofy Pictures~

It seems that my kids have inherited my love for taking pictures.

Every time I load my pictures onto my computer I have tons of goofy

pictures that the kids have taken. I thought I would share some

of them with you.

Our cat Molly....

My nephew caleb....

Sawyer.....

Kailey making the most of a chocolate cupcake. Our dog Suzy Q.

Yes....That's a snake ~ (it's dead)
? - don't know when or where this was was taken.

As you can tell by the next few....the kids don't exactly warn people

before snapping a picture. lol-sorry Frank.

This is Brock...totally un-aware that Kayla is taking pictures. There are many, many more pictures....they range from bubble gum packages and stuffed animals to beetles and rocks....I even have some REALLY goofy pictures of church members.... ;o} I don't usually delete them, because I like to see what they come up with. Who knows....I may have a world renowned photographer in the making.

What Will They Think of Next?

I had to run a few errands this morning and on my way I stopped at the

Dollar Tree. We grabbed a few goodies, ran to Wal-mart and

then headed back home. As I was driving...this is the conversation

I heard from the back seat.

Kayla: This booger is squishy and green. What color is yours?
Ethan: Mine is yellow. Don't eat your booger yet, lets wait and eat them at the same time.
Kayla: Okay....on the count of three....1...2...3
(pause) mmmm....what does your booger taste like? Mine tastes like watermelon.
Ethan: Mine tastes like lemons....

Before you get too grossed out....they were just candy boogers....but the conversation made me laugh.

I would love to meet the people who come up with this stuff!

Happy Birthday to You!

Today is Ethan's 14th birthday!

I cannot believe he is 14 ~ time goes by so fast.

Ethan has a lot of his dad in him - like Jeremy....he can make you laugh no matter what....I could go on & on & on with story after story about Ethan and his little mis-adventures...but lately those stories that I think are soooo cute, make him want to run and hide.

Plus I am TIRED....no, take that back...I am EXHAUSTED. Since the boys are both teenagers (they are both 14 - for 29 more days - Ethan wanted me to tell everyone that ) they feel they are too old for a party. So, we had a 'never sleep over' - It was suppose to be a SLEEPover but they never slept! We set up the tent for them to sleep in and they camped out in the back yard. Then we went to the softball field at 9 this morning and they played softball until about 12:30....I think they had a lot of fun.! Lucky for me, Dalton's birthday is next month and I get to do this all over again....(sigh)

Foto Friday

I would like to introduce to you

~Foto Friday~

Each week will have a different theme to it....for example:

This weeks theme is funny.

If you are participating on your blog, leave me a

comment and let me know. I will put a link to

your blog in the post so everyone can see.

Here is my Funny Friday Foto:

(You will be able to see the theme for each week by clicking
on the Foto Friday button in the sidebar.)
Have FUN!

Pop over to these blogs to see who is joining in the fun!

A Day in Our Household

At Home With The Dillingers

In Loving Memory

~I Can Only Imagine~

Imagine with me for a second....

How do you think it would affect you if your father tried to kill you?

No, contrary to popular opinion - I haven't lost my mind....

I was thinking about it the other day while teaching about the story of

Abraham and Isaac in children's church.

Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, even though, I am sure it didn't

make much sense to him. We always think about the faith it took for

Abraham to be willing to sacrifice his son, but what about the faith it took

for Isaac to be willing to be that sacrifice?

Notice, he didn't try to run away. He didn't rebel against being placed on the

altar. I think that just as Abraham trusted God when the Lord told

him to sacrifice his son, Isaac not only trusted God but he also

trusted his own father Abraham. That's quite a big thing and in

the end, it was a trust well founded....because just before

the knife fell on Isaac....

~ God stopped it. ~

Some people may call that blind faith....but I would say there

was nothing blind about it....they both trusted the greatness and power

of God and simply believed that His promises were true ~they had faith.

Abraham trusted that God knew what he was doing and his job was to obey.

Their trust was not in vain.

Don't you think that incident was important to the rest of Isaac's life?

It wasn't God's way of playing a cruel joke on Isaac....or just seeing

how far he could push Abraham....

Through it, God's promises were passed down through

generations.

Even though we may not realize it, there is a portion of faith inside

each of us - enough to prepare us to believe and trust.

In my case - small things, I didn't notice at the time were

influencing me to look up to God....to trust him more....

Many different things have played a part and God's hand was

tending my "measure" of faith for when I really needed it....

Maybe for now.....during this time of sickness with my father....

maybe for those times when I am doubting my faith.....maybe for later....

I don't know.....but I do know that if you are called on to

trust God in a big way, expect a BIG outcome.

Heavy Hearts & Heaps of Faith

Kayla with her Grampy

The doctors from M.D. Anderson's Cancer Center

finally called. They had been meeting with the Radiologists

and trying to decide what to do....what treatments to try....if any.

If that sounds like they aren't quite sure what to do....that's

exactly right....they told dad that they didn't know how to treat him.

Obviously they have never seen this type of cancer - in that spot -

under these circumstances.

Not exactly the news you expect to hear from the top cancer treatment

facility in the United States.... 1600 new patients daily and they

haven't seen this before? Don't know how to treat it?

The doctors say that radiation is not safe because of the amount of radiation

he has already had on his head....They say chemo is not an option

because of the aggressiveness of the cancer....They say surgery is

not an option because of the location.... They say he is to expect to

see loss of sight and memory with-in the next 6 months....

They basically said, "There is nothing we can do."

Sounds pretty hopeless doesn't it?

Or it would.....if we didn't have such a big God.

Dad has given it up....TO GOD THAT IS!

He has given Him full control....

Dad and mom have faith....they are

resting in the fact that God IS IN CONTROL.

They will be heading back to Texas on Saturday and will

be running more tests on Monday....wouldn't it be great if

when they run those tests, the cancer would be gone!

Please lift my dad up in prayer....

I still need him here!

Secret Sisters

This post is for all the Secret Sisters of Holy Hills....

You know how I love to try and figure out who my Secret Sister is....

to me, that is the best part of the whole game. Watching, seeing

who brings in this bag and that. Paying close attention to the

bags to see who recycles them.

As many of you know, I keep a 'secret' list - well, it use to be secret!

When I am sure of someones secret sister, I put them on my list across from

who they have. That way, by process of elimination....

I may figure out who has my name. I know, you are thinking I

should just wait and be surprised....I do love surprises....

I really do....but it is just so much fun trying to

figure out your secret sister! Try it....start a list....you will see!

It has come to my attention that my 'list of Secret Sisters' has

become too much of a temptation (lol) to some of you ladies. I won't name

any names...but if you have recently grabbed my list and stuck in down your

top to prevent me from getting it back....then you know who you are ;o}lol

So....I have decided to stop carrying the 'secret list'

with me. It will remain at home under lock and key....safe and sound....

away from prying eyes and sticky fingers.

Incase, any of you are planning on mugging me in the parking lot tonight after church.... :)

I am doing so well ~ only 7more to go!
No! I won't tell you if you ask....
Now....if you pay, maybe.

Just Kidding....

Where's The Exit?

Can Someone please show me where the exit is?

I am ready to get off this ride!

The past few weeks have been so extremely busy....I don't like when

every night of the week is planned out before the week even starts.

Hopefully after this weekend things will slow

down~well....a girl can dream can't she!

We had a free night~ and we went to the fair Tuesday night.

The kids had a blast. Of'course, if you know me very well at all...you

know that I don't do spinning rides very well....even watching the kids on

them makes me sick.....no, I didn't get sick, but I have permanent

vertigo because of inner ear issues and I woke up the next morning

and my room was spinning. You know I am sick when I am up at

5 a.m. going through all of the medicine cabinets.

If you haven't ever had vertigo....it's a trip....literally!

*Update On dad

Mom & dad have been patiently and prayerfully

waiting for news regarding dad's treatment .....they called M.D.

Anderson's Cancer Center today and were informed that radiation may not

be an option as they had thought....due to the amount of radiation

they have already done on his head. They should find out tomorrow what

treatment options are available.

Please continue to keep them in your prayers......

Happy Labor Day!

It has been very busy around the Ballinger house

and I haven't had the time to post.

But I wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe Labor Day.