Macy's 6th Birthday

Today is a special day. Macy turns 6 today. She is so precious to me and Shannon, a true blessing from God. I never knew she would be so special. Everybody knows macy, because she is very outgoing and just loves everybody, especially the little boys in her class. UH-OH!

She is a rascal though! She loves to irritate her brothers a lot. Driving them completely nuts. She can hold her own though, she can fight back very well. This picture cracks me up. It was taken the other day. If you have seen the movie "Finding Nemo" you'll remember that Nemo was to be a present for this dentist's little niece. She was very rowdy and rough with all her pets. Macy follows her example very well. Her little cat "Shelby" takes a lot of abuse from all three of our children, but Macy gives her the most love. She carries the cat around all the time like a football. I tell her the cat is going to bite her if she continues to be rough with her. She doesn't care though, Shelby is her best friend. She carries her around so much that she is covered in cat hair, which drives me insane. I hate cat hair!!!!!! The other night I told her to change her PJ's because she was just smothered in hair from the cat. She said she didn't care. My eyebrows touched, but I let it go!!

Macy is something else, she loves to laugh and be completely rotten. She is always up to something. I had inherited a huge box of retired "Beanie Babies" the other day. I taped the box shut and figured she wouldn't get into it. When I got home from work she had opened the box and found a bunch she had liked. You can't hide anything from her. I love her dearly though, and I am so blessed when March 30th rolls around. I think of the day she was born and how awesome it was to welcome her little soul to Earth. We are truly blessed, and I know God will make her a great and kind warrior for His will. Thank you Lord for a true blessing in Macy.

Can't Sleep?

For some reason I can't go to sleep tonight. It's 12 am here in Arkansas and I guess I have a few things on my mind. I have had trouble with my back today. A few years I was tossing ball and I threw it a little hard and pulled this muscle in my chest. It has never healed. So now I have come to find out I have a rib out of place and when I do any heavy lifting it fires up and I have back spasms. I need prayers for healing of this problem.

I did take a nap today which always keeps me from sleeping some times at night. But I never have any trouble sleeping ever. I guess it's just one of those rare nights. I worry about my job right now. I do a lot of heavy lifting and it can really irritate my problem in my rib area. So I hope they can move me to another part of the store where I don't have to do as much heavy lifting. I have been in the garden center business for 17 years and have done a lot of damage to my body. I have tried to seek other opportunities in other areas of work, but I continue to fall back on and return to this line of work. I pray for other things to do, but nothing ever seems to come my way. Tonight I ask that God will bless me and the many others who want to seek other areas that they may come soon. Thanks Clint

This Is From God, You Can't Teach That!

This is a direct quote from American Idol tonight. The newest judge said of the last singer, "This is from God, you can teach that!" I'm glad to see God was praised for his ability to bring talent into the soul of a young girl on national TV.

Talent is something that is directly produced by God. I often wonder why some people are blessed with great talent. We all have a talent, but some are just born with great talent that can make you have goose bumps. The singing voice is a talent that just leaves me in awe.

I sat in church Sunday morning and was just filled with great joy. You can't beat the a cappela singing of College Church. When the church building is full it's just amazing. I sat there and stopped singing and closed my eyes so I could get the whole effect, it was amazing. I often wonder how wonderful the singing in heaven will be. I think I get a taste of it every Sunday at worship.

There are so many people past and present that have brought me great joy by seeing, hearing and reading there ability to deliver their great talent. My new phrase won't be they've got talent. It will be "That is from God!" Because He is the creator of all the worlds talent. Talent is here for a reason. When it used for the right reasons it is great. But when used for ignorant and perverse reasons then that person has misused and missed the point of their talent. Talent is another reason for us to give God the praise He deserves. I believe if we had no one to entertain or inspire us then we would get very bored of this world. If talent is used for Godly reasons it is a motivating experience for us all.

Many claim to have a talent, and I believe we all have one or many talents. But to use it for the wrong reasons is shameful. God has given it to us for a reason, so use it wisely and thank Him for blessing us with such a heavenly gift. Talent is God given, you can't teach that!"

2009?

Over the past few months of 2009 things haven't been really great. I have know idea what is coming next. It started well for me when the Steelers won the Super Bowl. But lately the news has been awful. How many plane crashes have we had? Too many to count. Our economy seems to be getting better and then again it's not, it seems to change every day. Gas prices are going up and then they go down. What is the real situation? I don't know, none of us seem to know.

I read a story a few minutes ago that really bothered me. It's about two brother that owned a car dealership in Pennsylvania. The high gas prices and the credit crunch finally took a beating on these two brothers. They had owned this dealership since 1960. It was a very well known place in that area. On February 17 th one of the brothers had gone to the dealership and set a bunch of cars on fire and then had a heart attack and died right beside the burning cars. The other brother had gone missing a few weeks later and was found dead in a wooded area, suicide is believed to be his cause of death.

The dealership had laid off most of its workers and fell into debt because of not being able to pay for their idle inventory.

We hear all the time about big chains businesses closing and people losing their jobs and going to live in their cars and the streets. I really think were going to climb out of the hole we dug ourselves into. I know economies can hit bottom and then redefine themselves. It's going to be OK!

I saw the pictures of the families that recently died in that plane crash in Montana. The children were so cute, and I just couldn't bare such a great loss. Such a horrible tragedy. Do we have a positive outlook on this year? I try to. It's hard but as I watch less and less of CNN and the other news stations I feel positive. As long as I don't hear their negativity I'm alright. But we definitely have had a rough start to this new year.

With this drug war in Mexico and how it is moving onto the U.S. it just keeps going on. I wonder what's next. I hoping good things, and nothing less. I think we all need to hear some good news, right now. Every night read my Bible or some type of Christian book and it makes me feel better about things. It's the only positive thing we really have anymore. It's necessary to keep reading positive things to keep the negativity out of our lives.

Prayer has always been a staple of mine, to give all my requests to God. A lot of times prayer is not just a moment to give thanks or make requests, but just to think that I am talking to our Creator gives me great relief. You can talk to a friend or family member and you hope they truly understand your situation. A lot of times it doesn't really help or satisfy our needs. Going to God and letting it all out is true assurance that you are talking to somebody who understands and can honestly help.

I think we are in the age of where we need to build our relationship with our Lord. In times of distress and negativity he is our answer to all our problems. I think it is time for our world to take up their cross and give our hearts to the Prince of peace. We need to believe that our God is not just a supreme Being, but a loving Father who needs our love and wants to help. He is there for us all day, he never sleeps and never turns away from us. I believe if those brothers would have stopped and looked at the clouds and gave their burdens to our Lord things would have been alright. Satan gave them no option out, he covered their hearts and made them take things into their own hands instead of putting themselves in to the loving hands of God. It's time to come home, and feel the love that Christ offers us. Times are bad, but with Christ things are great!

Are We Humble?

Yesterday in Bible class we made a list on the board of temptations. These are some that made the list: lying, arrogance, complacency, addictions and haughty.

There were more, but these were the ones that brought about the most conversations. Mine was arrogance. I can't stand arrogant people. I try not to think of myself as an arrogant person. But we all have something in us that can cause us to be a little arrogant. A lot of times we don't even realize we are coming off as being arrogant. Satan though can make you some thing that we might personally hate and become like that. He's slippery though, and tries to make us any way he pleases.

I really get miffed when people come across as arrogant though. I like friendly people though. People that are down to Earth and just love being who they are. That is who I really get along with and feel comfortable around. I don't like being around uptight human beings who won't relate to others of certain status. I believe we are all equal and I won't ever shun anybody for any reason. Not to long ago our family went to Chili's and were waiting for our table to open up. There was a middle aged couple there. So I sat down with them on the bench. They had three mentally challenged kids with them. I just sat down and one of the children sat down beside me. He got really close to my face and I got a little intimidated. But I didn't know how to react. So I turned to him and said hi. His father and mother were worried and probably paranoid about how I might react. So I shook his hand and started talking to him. Most people would've got up and moved and I thought about doing that also. I believe God allowed me to overcome my fear that night. I'm glad he did, I think his parents were relieved too. I'm not bragging about what I did, but it was a moment of discomfort that I overcame. Arrogance can come in many forms though, I could've been arrogant and got up and made a strange face but I chose to overcome my fear and be kind.

I've heard certain people make remarks about people before and I just can't see Christ ever doing that. We can't ever think we are better than anyone else. From the homeless to the most high powered person in the word we are all here for God's purpose.

Another form of arrogance that bothers me, is the cool guys with their loud trucks and motorcycles. These trucks with the loud pipes and stereos are just little boys trying to prove themselves in public. If they knew what I thought about them they wouldn't feel so proud in their big boy toys. Boys will be boys and some stay that way. Our world is a cage full of people trying to prove themselves. For what? Status I guess! Respect! Where does that lead us, absolutely NO WHERE!!!!!!

Humbleness is the keys to life and eternal life. I would like to talk to some of these millionaires and ask them how their money makes them feel. I wonder what some of the answers would be. I think there would be some answers of arrogance I'm sure. If you know someone who is full of themselves and rely on making themselves something.Tell them the story of Jesus. The greatest story ever of true humbleness. I really hope my story and your story will become one of humbleness. I'm working on it! Are you?

Do They Think We're Stupid?

Yes, do they think we're stupid? As I continue to read about these idiot's of the bailout corporations. Like AIG, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. I just can't believe they think we're stupid. That they ask for a bailout because they stink at running their companies. They show their smug faces in front of congress and ask for billions of dollars because they we're nothing but a bunch of cheaters and greedy thugs who cheated and lied to people. And now they want to give their lousy executives millions of dollars in bonuses. WHY???????????? My money is going to these creeps and to their already over puffed bank accounts. I am beyond angered, I am to the point I would like to send them all to prison and see them cry themselves to sleep and really see what the criminals will do to them. I have no remorse for these scammers and hopefully God does, but I don't.

I really hope the government can stop them from handing these bonuses of greed out. The government has no right to be an angel either in this situation. They have been stealing our money since the beginning. But somebody needs to set these guys straight. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An older gentleman came into Lowe's the other night and was talking about how GM has cut his retirement in half. And I really am not mad at him, but those workers were way overpaid and didn't deserve a $100 dollars an hour. Come on, nobody is worth that much an hour not even a doctor. Satan has made us feel we are worth something in this world. That the almighty dollar makes us important. The more money we have the better we are and feel. UNTRUE! He has lied to us and the truth lies in our God. Goodness and love are what makes you important to God. We will all lose our material things, but the representation of our lives and how we love our fellow people is what is important. Greed I hate it, and so does our God. It's time for our world to change. Stop believing in our possessions and start redefining our lives in God. Write your Senators and tell them the truth, don't hold back. Tell them contracts can be broken and no bonuses for these crooks. Thank you

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Next to Christmas St. Patrick's day is my other favorite holiday. I love the green, the shamrocks, and being of Irish blood. Being from the northern part of the country I am used to being around a lot of Irish people. We love this day very much.

As I read about St. Patrick tonight, I found out that he used the shamrock as a model for the Holy Trinity. I never really thought about using it as an example for Christianity, but I guess you could. Three leafs united as one. The same with the Trinity of God. The Holy Spirit, the Son and the Holy Father united as one. The Holy spirit is our guide here on Earth, the Son is our Savior and intercedes for us and the Father holds all things together. The Trinity amazes me and also comforts me at all times. I am thankful our Lord decided to gives us the The three united as one. The Trinity shows that God is a God that works in unity and also wants us to be a part of that unity. It's a true team effort, with no arguments and no division. It the only complete circle that will never divide itself.

Don't we wish we could work as a complete unit. No Democrats or Republicans. No conservatives or Liberals. No Black versus White. No right wing or left wing. Nothing but complete agreement. No fists in the air aimed at each other, just an ever binding handshake. Projects groups would have no slackers and no one would have to pick up the slack of the slacker.

Heaven will be like that, everything will work the way it was meant to be. Complete unity guided by the light of the SON! No more decisions. They have already been decided. No more judgement of others, for all will do their work the way it was meant to be done. The circle of God cannot be broken ever. Will that ever be a relief for us all. Completness. Decide tonight what your decision will be. Will you choose a broken circle or a complete one. I choose the unbreakable circle. It makes sense! So the next time you see a clover remember the complete holiness of the "Trinity of God."

Madoff's New Home

Wouldn't "stink" to be Bernie Madoff tonight. He has moved from a $7 million dollar penthouse to a 7 1/2 x 8 foot cell. He is only allowed outside every other day and while he is out there he is locked in a cage. To me that is not worth all the theft and the many lives he has ruined.

Can you imagine the burden he is taking with him to that cell. He said he was sorry for all that he did, but is he really? I don't know him but I know deep down inside his mind he will wake up to reality. Maybe he will offer up a prayer for himself and hopefully for the others that trusted him with their investments. At least he plead guilty for what he did, of course it was plain as day that he really had no other choice. He said he knew this day was coming. Then why didn't he stop? If he knew he was in the wrong why didn't he just stop and come clean? The fear of being caught is a horrible fear, especially when you are in to deep to get out.

I feel sorry for those who got ripped off by his company. I hope many will get back some of their money. We need to realize money is just paper with some drawings on it. It can't buy you happiness and it doesn't make you any better in the sight of our God. Some times it can be a quick reliever of worries when you can't get your bills paid, and by a great miracle something comes in to pay them. But it is just paper and nothing more.

I hope Bernie comes to realization that what he did hurt a lot of people and hope he prays for God's forgiveness.

Help for a Friend

We heard some very bad news about a close friend of ours today. Michelle is the young lady that cleans our house a couple times a month. She is a single mother of two children. Her trailer caught on fire the other day and burnt completely to the ground. Leaving them with nothing but a few family pictures and a few articles of clothing.

Michelle has been cleaning for us for about 6 years and we have grown to know her very well. She is a very good Christian lady who loves her children very much. I have always been wishing the best for her. Her life recently has hit some rough spots over the past couple of years. She has just recently went through a divorce and her husband left because he was immature and selfish. I would call him a JERK to his face if I ever saw him on the street, but that is just my opinion. She really needs your prayers and help at this moment in time. She has a teenage daughter and a 2 year old boy that is just as cute as a button.

Michelle is one of the most hard working people I know. She cleans a lot of houses here in Searcy plus drives to Little Rock three days a week to work the night shift at Baptist Hospital. She really makes me feel lazy some times, but she does a good job in everything she does. I just really hope God will put her in His favor tonight and always.

If you would like to help by sending donations of toddler clothes or money or even a gift card it would be much appreciated. I really want to use this blog for other ways than just me saying what's on my mind. If you want to send a donation to help you can send to my address.

Clint Singer

906 Fairway Drive

Searcy, AR 72143

I would love to see what this blog can do to help others out. I will give an address where she is staying if you would like to send it there. Helping out others has become my motto for this year. I have enough while others don't. Thank you for whatever you decide to do. May God Bless our giving Spirit. Anything I receive will go directly to the family, you can trust me on that.

The Stem Cell War

I really don't know how to feel about this stem cell situation. I guess I need some opinions about this. I can be very upset with abortion, but I really can't get a feeling about the killing of embryo's. I understand they have to kill the embryo to create a stem cell, so I really just can't get a grip on the feeling that it is murder.

I know that embryo's are what many consider life and that they have the chance to become human beings. I know there is ways that they can do this in an ethical way by using cells from the skin. But that just isn't quite ready yet. I also understand the possibility of human cloning. I'm not for that.

As I watched an interview with Michael J. Fox today, I just hoped there is some hope for this research. Fox is getting worse by the day with his ailment of Parkinson's. I could see in his face, his hate for his sickness and hope for any possible cure. I couldn't imagine being in a constant rhythm of shaking like he tries to tolerate. Or even the chance of this research to heal cancer, Alzheimer's and the possibility for a person to walk again from a spinal injury.

We all know there is a cure for all sickness. It just hasn't been revealed to us yet by God. He has the cure in hand, it's just a prayer away. We might be one cell away from curing every thing that ails us in this world. It just hasn't been revealed yet, and maybe it never will be. Maybe when we are in the great conference room with God and he is telling us all the things we always wanted to know. Maybe then he will reveal the answers to us all. Maybe it wasn't one cell or a single embryo. He might just say the cure was "trust!" It might just boil down to a simple word of faith. He might say, "If you would've just trusted me and loved me the way I wanted you to, I would have revealed the cure. If the scientist's would have just prayed for the cure instead of trying to figure it out themselves I would have given the clue to it all." Noticed the words "WOULD HAVE!"

If we would have done it like he wanted us too, many things and prayers would be answered. That's why Christ came because we couldn't do it, he could. I believe the answer could be in stem cell research, but I think somebody needs to ask God to get the researchers to pray about it. Then maybe it might be the cure, until then it will remain a mystery and a religious conflict.

I'm Reading Church signs Again

This weeks posts are going to be about signs I see. I sometimes feel like I have nothing to write about. I had thought about not posting anymore or at least taking a hiatus from blogging. But others have told me they don't think that would be a good idea. So I decided to start reading signs especially Church signs. Last night I posted about a bumper sticker I saw yesterday. Tonight I will tell you about a Church sign.

Our town is like a small Jerusalem. There is a church at every corner. The town is a very church oriented place. Of course with Harding University being here, that helps a lot. So every church has a little tidbit of info on their signs. I ask God all the time if my blog helps anybody and it seems like it might. If you can help one person in the world of readers it is a great feeling. So here is the sign I read tonight.

"If God feels far away, who moved?"

So true. We always feel like God has disappeared and we blame him for it. When all the time it is us who have moved. We have decided to take on the world by ourselves. We feel it is up to us, because God didn't give us the answer we wanted. Our selfishness has taken over our souls. So we take the journey of life on our own. I learned that a long time ago, and still struggle with it today. Satan pulls us from God. He makes us feel it us who answers our own problems. That we can make it all better. Not true! In life the sun and the moon move constantly, God doesn't. We moved not Him. He is and always will be there in the same place. God didn't move, but only to draw us near. Love God, He is all that we have in this life.

Bumper Sticker For Thought!

I saw a bumper sticker today. It read "Who would Jesus bomb?"

It really made me think of how Jesus really was an awesome Savior. I don't think he would bomb anybody. We really should think more like Jesus, including myself. I'm glad I saw this today.

I Will Praise You In This Storm

I am listening to a song by a group called Casting Crowns. It is titled "I will praise you in this storm."

As the country continues to be delivered bad news of the economy, it can constantly bring all of us down. I really try not to listen to any of it. I feel it is just another scare tactic the press is using to get us fearful of things. I do believe we are in trouble in many areas, but I don't think it will completely fall apart.

There never seems to be any good news anymore. It seems to be the year for airplanes to be going down and money is being spent by our government that hasn't been paid for yet. It all seems like it is just another gimmick of the press and the government. They all have to get us fearful about something. Like the gas situation this past summer. Everybody started to get freaked out because of the Hurricanes and and everyone and their brother lined up at the gas stations because of the possible $5 gas. Or how about the hole in the ozone layer, nobody seems to talk about that anymore. Did it just seal itself ?

There is always something to fear about anymore. That is what we talked about in Bible class this past Sunday. The topic was temptation and how Satan uses fear as a temptation. Fear is one of his best weapons. We all do it. Now if you asked me what I am fearful about now, it would take a few minutes to answer that one. I really am not fearful of anything right now. There are some bills that might be on my mind that I am going to have to start paying in July. I really have no answer how I will make this payment, but I decided to give it to God and allow Him to give me the answer when the time comes.

I have learned to give God all my fears. I used to be terrified when it came to tornadic severe weather here in Arkansas. That is real. When the weather man says take cover you do, no hype just plain reality. One night I knew that there was going to be stormy weather with a great chance of tornadoes. I just asked God to turn it away from us. You know what, he did. There was a huge wall cloud with rotation that had been coming toward our town. I just kept watching the radar and gradually that storm turned away from our area and left me with great peace in my heart. Every time there is a chance of severe weather, I ask God to keep it away from us. So far we haven't had any tornadoes around us at all. We have had some close calls, twice last fall, but I just stood outside and watched that wall cloud go right over our house and just prayed. It worked.

We need to mindful of those who have lost their jobs because of many reasons. We need to praise God in the storm. We need to know that eventually the sun will break through the clouds. A lot of times we may have to weather the storm, but faithfully believing that he will give us safety through the storm of life. In the end he will give us an answer, the clouds will disappear and gives us the light of the sun. I have read some good books over the years by some very good Christian authors. Recently I have been drawn toward some really good books. They appeared to me at just the right time. They have taught me a lot, but no matter where we get our inspiration from there is nothing better to read than the Bible. It is our God speaking to us through His word. He asks us to knock and the door shall be opened for us, He asks us to not worry because he feeds the birds and clothes the fields with many beautiful things. He tells us that we are more important than the birds of the air and the fields. He will clothes us and give us the thing we need so just don't worry, just believe in Him, because he loves us more than anything on Earth.

When it feels like the world is closing in on us with its demands, then and there is where we should give him his well deserved praise. So praise Him in the storm and praise in the sun. He won't deny us.