“It is good to carry some powdered rouge in one’s sleeve. if may happen that when one is sobering up or waking from sleep, a samurai’s complexion may be poor. At such a time it is good to take out and apply some powdered rouge.”
And Jesus please be with Shawn wherever he is. Amen.
I received this gem in my inbox today:
Hi, Steph. I know there’s a way for me to send things myself, involving a lot way-cool computer skills that I would love to have someday, skills that would allow me to use my computer without cussing and swearing and being a reproach to the cause of Christ—also skills that would allow me to not be so lazy—but in the meantime could you PULLLEEEEZE send this for me now that you don’t have measles anymore? ILY!– Grandpa Jake
On another happy note I am feeling so so much better! If you prayed for me, thank you so much! I might have not have survived the experience otherwise.
“What doesn’t kill you leaves you scarred” (what chicken pox and measles have taught me 
)
Whoa. I was just sitting here thinking about how I need to pray for people more and then I remembered that back in 2004, Chuck and I went on a concerted and concentrated prayer push for Jer. We used to wake up every morning a half hour before devotions and desperately pray that the Lord would turn Jer’s life around and use him for good. I think we kept it up for a good couple of weeks.
And like, five years later, look! The Lord totally answered our prayers. Jer’s now a good solid Christian doing good solid things with his life. What a victory!
Thank the Lord for that inspiring reminder that prayer works.
Chuck, Michelle and I all have something very, very special to praise the Lord for. This gift of His love came into our lives in late 2008 and filled a void in each of our hearts that we never even knew we had. You see, since we don’t have children, the Lord in His wisdom gave us a little Emi to fill our void so that we could experience the magic and wonder of raising a tiny little human being in His nurture and admonition.
But for serious, Emi is a treasure that I’m truly thankful for and here are some reasons why.
1.) She’s very small. I like that. I don’t know why, I just do.
2.) She is chilled. She’s very chilled. But she’s also a hard worker. She’s a chilled, hard worker. She should be an RS.
3.) I find her to be hilarious. Here are some examples:
TallGoddess: you could totally be in leadership
Emi: no thank you
TallGoddess: ah hah, now it’s settled
TallGoddess: you will be
TallGoddess: only people who don’t want to be in leadership end up there
Emi: ahh so now i just have to “want to be in leadership” and by saying so will end up not
TallGoddess: it’s too late
TallGoddess: the Lord has you marked
TallGoddess: He just has to break you first
Emi: oh I believe he already has
Emi: in HALF!
Emi: which is my logical reasoning of why I’m short
And then today — she sends this email around to our loving Home seeings as her back is out and she must lie in bed all day (pray for her please).
In pondering about my “situation” and thinking of how I could speed up my healing process, the idea was brought up in how I would enjoy it if everyone would draw me “Get Well Soon” cards, I honestly believe it would cheer me up immensely.
I know it will take some time and effort, but the results of it would be fruitful, inspiring, unifying, and quite possibly make us bond even more as the Team that we are (no pun intended).
I would recommend drawing the card upside down with the card facing the opposite direction, and possibly with your left hand if you’re right handed and vice versa (with your right hand if you’re left handed) as that would portray a more childlike result and thereby exude more sincerity in the card you are drawing.
Speaking of drawing, if you happen to use color pencils or markers, in light of the recent economy and the constant need to minimize our spending, I want to emphasis the need to be sparse in your haphazard coloring. I would suggest drawing arrows to the desired colored object with the note stating the color. (i.e. Picture of Lamborghini. Arrow to Lamborghini saying “This is Electric Yellow” and so on…) As I believe the effort is two-fold, in that the Lord will continue to supply through your earnestness to be a happy Ragman for Him AND that I would know what colors you want your object of desire to be.
I will inform you that I am quite adept at reading colors; due to the daily toddler flashcards I have been doing, so there should be absolutely no glitches along that line…a real testimony in itself! PTL! TYJ!
I hope this explains it real well to make this card-making process a reality.
I will be praying for you desperately….while in bed.
Thank you.
–Emi
Yup. Emi brightens my life on a daily — and sometimes, when she’s really on a roll — hourly basis. I’m including a nice photo of her here because it encapsulates another prominent feature of hers that I like; she really, really enjoys beer.
Dear Ones,
We love you so much and are so proud to be fighting these key-powered battles with you. We’d like to take a moment to ask for your specific, key-powered, proactive, targeted prayers for the timing and preparation of our yearly Christmas card. It’s the first time we’ve attempted a Christmas card together and you can tell we’ve really gone over the top because the Enemy’s bullets are zinging past us right and left.
PTL, we got the actual photo taken, and the Lord did a real miracle in helping Jules to smile and not get fussy during the whole shoot. And thankfully, Chuck was a real sample of the Lord’s love, you could see His light shining through her eyes, even at 150 DPI.
We know that the battle is not over yet, and there’s a lot of obstacles to be hurdled. We’d like to ask for your prayers for the following:
For a spirit of faith, trust and anti-stress regarding our Christmas card.
That we can get a copy out to each and every one of our friends and family in time for Christmas.
For the printing, processing, mailing and posting of our card. That everything goes very smoothly.
We know that with your support and prayers we will be able to win this battle. With love and excitement and faith for the future,
Jules and Chuck
Beware sensitive readers… but please do pray.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/17/zimbabwe1?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews
that as I sit here writing this a major brushfire is about 20 feet away from our house burning very quickly and coming closer. Our house is surrounded by dry savannah brush (think Animals are Beautiful People). So in case I don’t live to see my next birthday I love you!
Please pray the fire stops before reaching our house.