My favorite tunes from 2010...And the 1st decade of the new century in review.

The following has happened in and around my home, within my life in the last decade (2000 to 2010)....

1) I'd had two more children (2001 & 2004) since having my first in 1999.
2) In 2009 I required an emergency Corneal transplant.
3) Found out that my son indeed has ADHD (along with a host of other mental problems).
4) Sent my youngest off for her very first day of school in 2009.
5) Got married a second time to my soul-mate in 2002 after he proposed to me in a WalMart parking lot in early 2001.
6) Had my divorce papers come in the mail, finalizing my divorce from my first husband (and father of my oldest) on my birthday in December of 2000.
7) Had lost my grandmother that helped raise me after the loss of my mom. She passed in August of 2002.
8) Have now taken three separate trips back home to Nevada. One as a family while Nana was still alive. Another alone when she was passing away. The last for an extended, three-week visit in 2007 (also on my own).

There's much more that has happened. Including the loss of a baby in 2003 and another loss within my husband's family. And of course many good and happy things as well. But these all stand out above the rest.

As you can see, the first decade of this (still) new century has been both good and bad to me and my family. But I'm looking ahead and hoping for the best where the next decade is concerned. I try hard to keep looking forward, instead of where I have been.

Now, here's a few (but not nearly all) of my favorite songs from the 2000 to 2010 years.

**DISCLAIMER!...There is no copyright infringement intended with the following videos. Nor does this blog's author endorse any singer/band in this post, nor is getting monetary gain for doing so.**

A Pondering Moment on this Sunday morning...

Why the following popped in to my head, I do not know. And the logic just seemed to hit me like a bolt of lightening. Especially when the thought hits at not quite six o'clock in the morning.

What came to mind was clearly a shocking "revelation" for me. Being that this "bam, wow!" moment was stemming from something in the Bible. Specifically in the Book of Revelations.

Now I am not sure exactly what verse(s) or chapter it is within, but the Bible states that once all is calm after the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the war between Good and Evil has come to pass, that God will "raise the dead". Of course the dead is the army of souls that are of His Kingdom and will help with the battle to win over the world and trump Satan.

Suddenly, out of the blue, my logic brain jumped in with the following thought...

How can God raise the dead if the dead has been cremated?

Revelations speaks to us in regards to the Lord raising the dead from the depths of the grave in which they lay, only to have new life breathed in to them.

What about those that were cremated and placed in to urns? How is He to "raise" them? Give them new flesh to hold their ashes? Remember, he supposedly created Adam from the dirt of the ground.

At funerals, we hear the passage, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust".

Can anyone give me a clear, level-headed, honest explanation of how He shall prepare the "Ultimate War Between Good and Evil" if not all of His "chosen ones" are able to be "present", being that they were incinerated after their death?

To me personally, it seems a bit too far fetched. And really, if God and Satan were going to battle it out, God would not have let Cremation be invented. Because now, how will His army flourish and "be whole" if the entire gang can't be "arisen from their slumber"?

This is why I honestly have a real problem with the Bible. Too many holes, twists, two-faced stories and too many hands in the pot (Book Author wise) that have contradicting/conflicting stories.

Testimony Sunday (Exodus 15:13)

It's certainly been a while since I have done my Sunday post. So, let's see if I can start this again to go on a regular basis.

The following Bible passage from Exodus really speaks volumes. It regards to love. Not the love of God solely, or the love of your husband or wife, or even your children. But the love for others and for mankind.

Exodus 15:13
"In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling."


If the above verse doesn't speak volumes to you, then I think that there is something wrong. You, we, us, the people shall show the way to the Lord through our compassion, our actions, and by showing our fellow man LOVE.

Not judgment, fire and brimstone and damnation.

When I was a small child, my grandmother, Mary, who was a very devout Catholic forced me to go to Sunday Mass, and in turn was forcing my parents to let me go, even though, they did not particularly practice the faith any longer.

As I grew, she would do the "fire and brimstone" act upon me if I had done something wrong. And would tell me that I had hurt God's heart, and that He would not accept me in to His Kingdom if I didn't stop sinning.

By adulthood, she and I would clash almost on a daily basis while she lived with me and my father after my mother's death, and his remarriage. It had gotten so bad, I finally moved out just to be free of her "saving ways".

Yes, my Grandmother loved me. No denying on that. But, she was more concerned with saving my soul then leading me with a loving heart. Instead of leading me to God and my faith in Him, she forced me to look away and turn my back.

It made her even more angry that I was angry for a long period of my life with Christ, being that He "took my mother from me". I lashed out in many ways, even to the point of cursing God.

One thing I never lost, even though I was spiritually lost, was my love of my fellow man. My faith, love, and acceptance of other how they are had never once wavered.

Today, I am over my "blue period" of having a tug-of-war with my spiritual faith. And I lead others to the Lord not through forceful means. But by telling my story of my life, and all of the blessings within it.

From my birth, where I wasn't expected to live past the first twenty-four to forty-eight hours...All the way up to most recently, my sight being restored and saved, thanks to a miraculously successful Corneal Transplant that was done against all odds to a point of most likely not being successful.

God is love. And we have been made in His image. He shows us love daily. Is it wrong that we should show the same to our fellow brothers and sisters?

Trials, Tribulations, and Test-Taking

This is a subject that I had touched on yesterday in my secondary blog...

Resigning to Fate. 

We all at some point in our lives will have to do this. Some sooner than others. Some in a higher fashion than others. Some with more pain or hurt than others.

So to get the following on FaceBook's application, "God Wants You To Know" this morning, it was even more clear than ever to me.

On this day, God wants you to know...

... that today you have a cause for celebration. Today, you should celebrate what an unbelievable life you have had so far: the accomplishments, the many blessings, and, yes, even the hardships because they have served to make you stronger. Just as a gem cannot be polished without friction, nor can a life be perfected without trials. Take a time to acknowledge your life and to praise yourself.

Sit there and really think about this. How does that passage fit in to your life, and the lives of your family.

Personally, I have had many ups and downs. Many trials, that most people would just crawl in to a hole, bury themselves, and never even attempt to crawl out. And this last 'trial' of my strength, courage, faith, and to see how truly blessed I really am was severely put to the test.

Even today, I am dealing with a small...yes SMALL setback in my recovery from Corneal Transplant surgery. I'm just thankful it wasn't worse. Let alone rejection. Which can happen at any given point in my life. 

But I can't let that POSSIBILITY, which at this point has greatly lessened in chance stop me from living. It just means that I have to be vigilant and watch my eye more closely from now on.

No matter what trials and tribulations come your way, you must take it in stride. Those things that you think will make you weak, will in actuality make you a stronger person, and more recognizing of what people and blessings you do have, compared to what you did lose, and might lose.

Believe me, I know all too well what I am talking of. 

"He who hath not commited sin, shall cast the first stone."

Normally, I am not one to quote Biblical Scripture. But, for some reason, this one happened to pop in to my brain. And ultimately, I felt led to write about this passage. Although, I can't for the life of me remember what Book and verse it stems from.

As a child, I was "forced" in to submission. I had to submit to attending church with my Paternal Grandmother, who was an extremely devout Roman Catholic.

Throughout my childhood, she would quote Scripture to me. Especially when I was being punished. She would tell me that I made God sad and hurt His feelings.

She was also a devout hypocrite. Because many years later, after her death, I had learned of the not-so-Christian-like things that she had in her life's history.

Several divorces. One of her two sons was concieved and ultimately born out of wedlock. And that is to just name a couple of things. In fact I think that the only one that wasn't on her list of "Broken Commandments" was Adultry.

While still alive, she knew of some of my unChristianly partakings of the flesh. And she let me know how in the wrong I was. And for me, yes this DID include Adultry. While I know why I commited that sinful act, no excuse will hold up for my transgression of the flesh.

I'm far from an innocent Christian. I have made many, many mistakes in this lifetime. And I know that there are countless more coming in the years to come.

But I know that my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ will still love me. No matter how much I may hurt His feelings, or may break His heart. And as long as I ask, and truly mean it within my being, I will be forgiven.

This is why I do not judge others. Not for their "sinful acts", such as adultry, lying, stealing. Not even for loving someone else of the same gender.

In my heart, and in my mind, how can I sit in judgement of another human being, when I myself have failed at keeping the Lord's Commandments?

That question would race through my veins every time that my Grandmother would sit in judgement of me and my mistakes. When all along, she herself had her own glass house to throw stones at.

This is why I go by "Remove the plank from thy own eye thus you remove the plank from another's". As well as "He who hath not commited sin, shall cast the first stone". Because I know that my sins, while may not be as big as my neighbor's, are just as great a deal to God, as the neighbor's is.

There is only one true Judge. And I am not it. Nor are you. Only the Lord God can judge. He is my judge, and mine alone in the end.