Super Bowl Ads

There are always some very good Super Bowl ads; but there's one we apparently won't get to see this year.
Check the video out on youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2CaBR3z85c - it's a very thought-provoking comment on how we view life. How many abortions are performed every year with no though to the third person involved- what that person could do if given the chance?
It's worth a look. Let me know what you think.

Can you believe it?

It's already the end of January, and I just don't get it. I look back over the things I've done in the past 27 days, and there's been a lot of activity, but it certainly doesn't seem like it should have gone this fast.
How about this for a fact? "Life is like a roll of toilet paper- the closer to end you get, the faster it goes..."
One twelfth of the year is now behind us... and as they like to say around Christmas - only 11 more months until the holidays!
Hope you're making your days count!

Injured Police Officer Dies

About ten days ago, a Montgomery police officer was injured in a wreck; his car was struck by another vehicle and pushed against a light pole. His car hit the pole hard enough to wrap around it. Then on last night's news, they announced that the officer had died.
His mother did a very short interview, and said that she wanted the family of the other driver to know that her family loved them, and was praying for them all and held no hard feelings towards any of them.
Can you imagine having the ability to do this, so quickly after losing a family member? It can only be the grace of God helping them through this.
My prayers go out to both families.


http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=9730565

Show Me Your Way

Show me your way, I want to walk with you.
Show me your way, I have my hope in you.
The cry of my heart is to love you more,
To live with the touch of your hand.
Stronger each day, show me your way.
Our new music/worship leader taught us this chorus a couple weeks ago, and it's hung in my head. I find myself singing it all the time- walking the dogs, taking a shower, driving - it's an awesome song and I love how it makes me feel.

Blog list....

I know, I know- the list of blogs I'm following is pretty long. And it probably won't get any shorter. I don't read every blog every day, but I do keep them handy, because there's always something interesting going on.
For example, I was just referred to my newest blog (http://paulmisner.com/wp/) on Twitter - the title of the post is "Jesus is my Sales Manager"; I know from that post that I'm going to enjoy reading this blog.
What blogs are you following?

A New Life

We had two young women make life-changing decisions this past weekend in our church. One young woman came back to God, after a long time away. Without going into details (those are hers alone to share), she's been living her life the way she wanted, instead of following God's leading.
She found her way back this last Sunday, and God swept her up into His loving arms. I know God is always happy when His children come home, and I'm sure He was overjoyed about this young woman. The angels rejoiced with us all...
I spoke to her a few minutes last night after prayer service, and gave her my numbers. I told her that I would be there for her when and if she needed me. I also made sure she understood that I'm not going to judge her, because I've messed up plenty of times myself. I think that's one place we Christians fail our new members, or folks coming back to God. We don't let them know that we fall down all the time; new Christians may think that once you get saved, you don't mess up anymore. Nothing could be further from the truth- and we need to make sure they know it. I mess up everyday, just like everybody else does. The only difference between me and someone who isn't saved is this- I've turned my life over to God, and He helps me when I do fall down. He brushes me off, reminds me that He loves me, and sets my feet back on the path again.
There's a song on Mark Lowry's "But Seriously" album (thanks to Bob Carlisle):

Cursing every step of the way, he bore a heavy load
To the market ten miles away, the journey took its toll
And every day he passed a monastery's high cathedral walls
And it made his life seem meaningless and small

And he wondered how it would be to live in such a place
To be warm, well fed and at peace; to shut the world away

So when he saw a priest who walked, for once, beyond the iron gate
He said, Tell me of your life inside the place...
And the priest replied...

We fall down, we get up
We fall down, we get up
We fall down, we get up
And the saints are just the sinners
Who fall down and get up

Disappointment followed him home; he'd hoped for so much more
But he saw himself in a light he had never seen before

Cause if the priest who fell could find the Grace of God to be enough
Then there must be some hope for the rest of us
There must be some hope left for us

We fall down, we get up
We fall down, we get up
We fall down, we get up
And the saints are just the sinners
Who fall down and get up

Isn't it great to know that when we fall down, God's there to pick us up? Thank God there are no limits to how many times...

you left the open door...

you left the open door...
Originally uploaded by mirakingat

This is such a beautiful photograph- it's almost like a painting. It really should be viewed at full size to see all the detail.
this is the kind of work that inspires me, and makes me try harder in my photography. It just invites you to go right through the door, and into the world beyond.
Absolutely lovely. I just had to share.

Somebody has a great mind for marketing...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479835,00.html

Found this story on Fox News yesterday- Steve Cohen, who's the general manager for the Brooklyn Cyclones, a Class A affiliate of the New York Mets, came up with this great idea. Even though they're a smaller team, they've made national news just by coming up with a great hook to last year's history-making elections, and the upcoming inauguration on Tuesday.
They've got enough ideas to make it interesting for everyone, no matter who their presidential choice was; they're giving 'equal time' to both sides, they've got their own Economic Stimulus Package set up; they've even got their own Health Care Package ideas.
You really need to check this out- and let it inspire you to come up with your own ideas for marketing YOUR business, no matter what it is.
This idea should really make the next edition of "Off the Wall Marketing Ideas".

Foxnews reports baby's body thrown away with trash...

This is not going to be for the faint of heart, so be warned before you read further.

The young woman in the story says she went into premature labor and delivered her baby alive on Dec. 21, but problems due to the early birth caused his death; doctors had worked with him for about 20 minutes before he passed away. The hospital is maintaining that the baby was stillborn.

The mother’s sister says that she accompanied a nurse who took the baby’s body to the hospital’s morgue. On Jan 2, the hospital contacted the mother, stating that the funeral home had come to pick up the baby’s body, but it couldn’t be found. Police say that the baby was thrown out in the garbage; searches have been underway, but the body hasn’t been found yet. The hospital hasn’t admitted that the baby was thrown away, but they aren’t disagreeing with the police report either.

This is a horrible thing to happen; the hospital says the baby was stillborn, but is that really an issue? Either way, the baby’s body is missing, and the hospital isn’t denying that they threw it away.

Of course, this brings to my mind another story in the news- a young teenager gave birth to a baby at home, and when it died, she threw it away. A body has been found but they haven’t determined whether it’s this girl’s baby or not. What does it say about our society that we find the bodies of thrownaway babies, and they have to run DNA tests to determine whose baby it is?

And as horrible as that is, consider this: the bodies of aborted babies are discarded in our country every day- where is the fine line that makes it OK to do this to an aborted baby (I refuse to call them a fetus, they’re babies) and a baby who was either born dead or died after birth? At what point is a baby a baby and not a fetus? At 6 months along in the pregnancy? At 8 months and two weeks? And if that’s the line, what about one day before the line? Or even one hour?

Our society has grown complacent about life itself – if abortion weren’t such an easy thing and so accepted a practice, I don’t believe our young people would feel so flippant about the rest of life. Abortion has become a form of birth control – if you decide that you don’t want to lose your waistline right now, then go ahead and abort that baby. It’s no one’s business but yours, right? And it’s certainly not hurting anyone, is it? I know, some of you are probably jumping up and down, screaming about rape, incest and the life of the mother… but look at the statistics – most abortions are performed on women who are ‘just not ready for a child’.

When we as a society decided that some forms of life aren't sacred, like the unborn babies, or those who are old and unable to care for themselves, or those who are ill and need assistance in their daily lives, or those who are mentally disabled and need some supervision - when those people aren't living a life that's worthy enough to save, then we've gone too far. Whose responsibility is it to say whose life has quality, and whose doesn't?

My sister in law had ALS for the last several years of her life. Although near the end, she couldn't do anything for herself, she was a wonderful gift to us all. We helped her when she needed help, and she helped us- she encouraged us, she lifted us up in prayer, she taught us so many things- how can a life as full as that not be a life of quality?

I would hate to think about a daughter of mine being raped, and becoming pregnant by that act. But the lasting effects of an abortion, both physical and mental, should be weighed against the effects an unwanted pregnancy might cause.

God help us- we're going down the road to hell and we don't even realize it.

What's News - A little bit of everything...

*My middle son, who is home from Europe, has been stationed at Bragg, so he's home for a short visit before he reports for duty. We drove into Bigtown today to let him get a car; he had in mind what he wanted, and happened to find almost exactly what he had in mind, and also seemed to get a pretty good deal on it. He's walking around with a grin on his face so big, I'm afraid the top of his head will fall off. Boys and their toys - nothing like it. Not that I can say anything- I'm pretty crazy about my toys too!

*I'm so glad it's Friday- the first week back at school is always tough- everyone has to readjust their schedules, get used to getting up early and to bed on time, and none of us seem to have gotten as much sleep as we needed.

*A situation that's been on my mind seems to be working out, so hopefully that stress area will go on the back burner for a while.

*My slogan for this year, Big Things are Coming, seems to be already fulfilling itself. I've picked up two new clients, with prospects of several more in the works.

*I'm still redesigning my site, with some good input from Nigel Portis, and it should be poppin' pretty soon.

*Besides reworking the publishing section, I'm adding galleries of my portrait work - I'm anxious to see how it looks online.

*I've come up with several new projects to work on, including a writer's group for some area folks who need the encouragement and help that I can give them. More on that later...

*I've been encouraged to write a column for a local paper regarding tips for writers. I'll be working on that in the next few days.

*My photo entry for the League of Municipalities statewide contest won 2nd place; I was contacted this week for permission to use it in a book to be published by the Alabama Department of History and Archives.

*This post has encouraged me to add a section on my site of news updates regarding my business. I'll add it as a newsfeed across the front page with links to the full story.

How Great is God?

Our family and a friend's family have been going through a pretty rough situation over the last few months, and it seems to be getting worse instead of better, over the last few days. I haven't slept well the last two nights, thinking about what's going on, and what may happen. (and I know I'm not supposed to be doing that, but you know how that goes...)
This morning during my prayers, I apologized to God for not staying in His word more, and for not trusting Him in all things.
Several months ago, I had signed up for a daily devotional called Oil Change (sign up for it here), but I don't always take time to read it. It always includes some scriptures and a very good devotional...
so after I prayed this morning, I opened today's devotional, and what do I find as the scripture?

"Psalm 18:1-6
I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears."

How is that for God being an on-time God? He knew yesterday that I'd start back reading the devotionals today, and He also knew that I'd be having trouble dealing with the situation going on... so He gave Rev. Rob exactly what I needed to read this morning.
I've seen this time and time again - God placing people and things in my path so that I come to them at exactly the time I need them. Friends, family, encouraging notes, money, an email with information I needed- no matter is too big or too small for God to help me with.
Now if I can just train myself to remember that when I need to. I can be a goober sometimes, but I sure am glad that God loves me, even when I am being a goober.

A Writer's Group

I've been speaking about a new project with one of my clients, who has just published her third book. It's a novel called A Breaking Heart and it's the first book for my publishing company. She's been a great encouragement to me, and we've helped each other a great deal. I think that's something that's built into each of our spirits, a sense of purpose when we help others reach their goals.
Our new project is a group for women who are interested in learning how to write and publish their books. Our plans include having a very small group of women meet on a regular basis to brainstorm ideas and be an encouragement to one another. My client and I will bring resources to them, keep things moving along and offer any assistance we can, but the great thing about this group is they'll help each other- if someone has strong editing skills, she can lend those skills to others, while learning more about storylines or organizing information from another member.
This is yet another way I believe big things are coming; I'm glad I'll be there at the beginning to see how things grow.

Our new worship leader

Hubby and I have attended the local Assembly of God church for the past six years or so; we both grew up in small-town Baptist churches, so it was a bit different worshiping in a pentecostal church. It's been an amazing thing to learn so much more about how the Spirit works- not that we weren't taught about the Holy Spirit in our earlier churches, but the attitude towards worship in our church is wonderful- no time constraints, just following the leading of God in how we worship and conduct our church services.
Since we've been at this church, our pastor has led the whole service, from start to finish. It's quite a job, working out the song service, helping the choir/worship team get ready, having a message prepared, and being ready to follow how God wants us to do the service each time.
We just hired a new worship leader and it's made a huge difference in the attitudes of everyone in church- our pastor is now able to worship along with us, and become refreshed and filled before he delivers the message God has for us. Our worship leader makes sure the service keeps moving, with no 'dead space', making sure we continue to sing or lead praise for as long as it's needed to get everyone in the place where they can feel His presence.
He's also doing something that I'd never thought about, but it's a great idea - he makes sure that our musicians are allowed at least one song where they don't have to play, but can worship freely too- sometimes he does this by leading us a Capella, sometimes we sing to pre-recorded music - but it's helped the musicians get in their worship mode as well.
He also encourages us to be ready to sing solo or small group songs as well.
I'm so glad that God moved our pastor to make this step, and I'm also very thankful that our worship leader agreed to come be a part of our church family- it's helped us all. Our pastor is able to worship with us, so he's more focused on his message, our choir is encouraged in what we're doing - we've already felt God's presence quicker and more strongly in the service, and I believe our congregation is being encouraged to worship more freely.
We've all been blessed by this experience, and I know it's going to help our church family grow.
My slogan for this year- BIG THINGS COMING! I believe a part of that is our church's growth into new areas...

Moon in the Trees

Moon in the Trees
Originally uploaded by bethmrogers

I don't know why I'm so enthralled by the moon, but I will chase images of her for more time than my husband likes to think about.
I was walking Cookie the shih tzu last night before bedtime, and I looked up and saw the moon among the limbs of this pecan tree. The clouds were slipping over it, like the tide over shells in the sand. I spent about 40 minutes trying to get just a few images of the moon while she appeared from the clouds.
As I said in an earlier post about the sunsets I see most days, I have such beauty in my own yard. My sister-in-law, Linda, feels the same way- she's got a beautiful place in the county, and I'm sure she could spend hours just walking around her own yard, seeing beauty in hidden places within a stone's throw of her backdoor.
I found a lovely picture of the moon during a lunar eclipse and it's pushed me even harder to get good images of the moon and the night sky.; Phil Hart is extremely talented and I want to learn from his lovely work.

Foggy morning...

It's a foggy morning- we had some rain yesterday afternoon, and it's warmer than normal for this time of year. I'm hoping to get to ride a little later this morning, but if the fog holds up, I'll probably stay at home. I love to ride, but I want other travelers to be able to see me, and this fog is thick enough to cause problems.
It's a beautiful thing, though. Makes some very lovely pictures, and that's another possibility for me- instead of my bike, I may load up the camera and go shoot some more of the countryside.
Even if things aren't like I hoped, I can still get a blessing from it!

Lucky Me...

Water Tower #2
Originally uploaded by bethmrogers

I'm one of the most fortunate people I know. I live in a beautiful area of southern Alabama, and within a ten mile radius of my house, I have wonderful country to photograph. And this beautiful view is what I can see every afternoon, just by standing in the middle of my front yard.
I got this shot just last week; I was walking by a window while getting some work done, and happened to look out- and there it was.
The only thing that could make things better, would be to have a beautiful lake in my front yard. While that's not going to be possible, one of my dreams/goals for this year is to put in a small goldfish pond in front of my house, and turning it into an outdoor living room- I've got all kinds of beautiful plants that can be moved around it, including confederate roses, grapevine, hydrangeas, wisteria and all kinds of day lilies.
It will take some planning to get all this done, because I want to make sure we don't mess with any water lines, but I know it can be done.
If you've got dreams, write them down- and turn them into plans, by writing down all the details that will have to be done to make it a reality. The more real a dream is to you, the more likely it will become a plan.