dystopia

Becky’s idea in this book of spending an hour with God everyday is a great suggestion and something that I am striving towards. The overall message is one that is very important and needed in many people’s lives. Also, the fact that other people have heard God talk to them through His scripture, His Word, is something that has happened to me as well. I completely connected with this book because I’ve had experiences before where I was thinking about something or had something to ask and immediately found it in my bible when I opened it up. God does talk to us everyday, it’s whether we listen to him or not as to if we really hear him. Making time each day is difficult, but I would like to be able to start doing it on a regular basis. This book was inspiring and uplifting. I would recommend this book be given as a present to anyone who believes in God. I am a Bethany House Publishers book reviewer. For more information on Bethany House and becoming a reviewer go to www.bethanyhouse.com.

Lots of coupons at Freaky Freddies Free Stuff: http://www.freakyfreddies.com/coupon.htm

I love free stuff, especially free food. I’m officially a bargain hunting, coupon addict now!

So I’ve been having some weird/messed up/freaky dreams lately… Last night I dreamed about zombies. Maybe I’ve watched too many zombie movies! lol Anyway I was in a house with people I’ve never met, people I don’t know. They were blacking out the windows and boarding the place up like they knew the zombies were coming. Then all of a sudden zombies start busting in and I run into a back room, I somehow manage to think of climbing onto the roof(i peel the top of the house back with my hands to get on the roof, i’m apparently super human in my dream!) , but when I try to I see a zombie climbing on the roof too! I go back to that room and am locked in the room with a guy(whom I do not know), a zombie busts in and attacks me, then the guy runs out the room! (classic for guys huh? leave a girl in distress!) So I’m fighting off this zombie, which is trying to bite into my neck and eat me! and then I see the guy being attacked by a zombie too and then that’s all I can remember, I think I woke up after that and then I heard the cats knock something over in the house and hoped it wasn’t a zombie coming for me and it was only our cat named Zombie. LOL  Yeah, I know I’m a little crazy !! Go ahead and laugh at me.

Why do I keep having disturbing dreams or nightmares? Maybe I can only remember bad dreams that I have now or weird dreams. The good dreams don’t get remembered because they’re probably not as vivid or frightful. Anyways, I think this is the second time I’ve had this dream. Hmmm…a recurring dream usually means something like i need to work something out. Are there any zombies out there trying to get me? Haha. Another question why do all these disturbing dreams seem to be happening in a house? It’s always the same damn house. I’m going to look up what it means when you keep dreaming about a house. Is this a house I’m going to see in my future? Or maybe one I have been to, but can’t remember? It’s a house in the middle of nowhere out in the country surrounded by trees and nature, very remote, I think it may even be a cabin in the woods, it’s like we think we’ll be safe from the zombies there, but yeah, just really messed up dream. I have no idea why I’m dreaming about zombies. My mind must  stressed out. Don’t know, can’t figure it out. If I dream it again I’m going to manifest a gun in my dream so I can defend myself properly. Ha, bring on the zombies, I’ll be ready. LOL

So to find out what my dreams may mean I went to this web site and read about each thing that I dreamed about including a house and the rooms and parts of a house, strangers, zombies and fighting. If you want to read about dreams and what they may mean then go here, it’s pretty interesting:

www.dreammoods.com

I found a great web site that has a list of all the companies you can contact for coupons and/or freebies. Enjoy!

http://www.swaggrabber.com/blog1.php/swagstuff/companies-to-contact-list

Recent studies have shown that your cell phone may be covered in more bacteria than a toilet seat. There’s a dirty little secret about cell phones. They’re filthy and could be a major health hazard, crawling with potentially lethal bacteria. Think about it for a second, you put a cell phone next to your mouth and face every time you use it. It’s no wonder it’s a breeding ground for germs. Yuck!

According to British newspaper the Daily Mail, UK researchers have determined that typical cell phones carry more germs than the sole of a shoe, a door handle, even a toilet seat.

The reason? Cell phones pick up bacteria from users’ hands and faces all day long. They include Staphylococcus aureus, which can cause illnesses from pimples and boils to pneumonia and meningitis and is a close relative of the superbug MRSA.

So how do you get rid of the germs? Just use an anti-bacterial wipe to keep the handsets germ-free. Now that this has been brought to my attention I’m going to be wiping my phone down with an antibacterial wipe or something because I was recently sick.

There is now another story out about another family that has apparently committed murder-suicide this week in Ohio. There was a family reported on in California, where both parents had lost their jobs and were unable to care for themselves or their children any longer. Instead of being able to get help, they felt helpless, even though they had reached out for help and failed to receive it. How incredibly sad and awful is this? This is truly disturbing that families are resolving to killing themselves, rather than disgrace themselves by not being able to provide for their families. This is such a shame. We cannot give up on ourselves or other people. We must persevere and realize we will all pull through this together.

We need to reach out and help people, even if we ourselves are struggling. We need to talk to family, friends, neighbors and spread the word that it will be okay, you just have to hang in there. It will get better! It may have to get worse before it gets better, but it cannot stay like this forever. This too shall pass. You cannot give up hope and result to killing yourself or your family. Surely, these people could’ve found help somewhere and if not, isn’t it better to be broke and homeless than dead? There are homeless shelters, there is family, friends, neighbors, kind people everywhere that are willing to lend a helping hand in times of need. Reach out and don’t stop reaching until someone grabs your hand and helps you up. I feel so sad for the families and friends of these people and the people themselves. They must’ve felt hopeless and like they had no other choice. People, we have choices, we still have some options. I know it may look bleak and uncontrollable, but that is no reason to give up so easily. 

I cannot imagine killing myself and my entire family because of money, lousy money. I’ve been poor before and I’ve known what it’s like to go through hard times, to be almost homeless, with no where to go, with only the clothes on my back. It can be very depressing and disheartening, but you cannot give up. Never, ever, ever give up. Please, if you know someone having a tough time and going through something really rough, help them, at least talk to them. Do whatever you can with what you have. Things of this world, money and material possesions are not worth dying for, never! Don’t let this happen to someone you know.

Few passages in the bible are well known to the general public. Of them, the Lord’s prayer is one of the most well known passages. The importance of the Lord’s Prayer appears in the simple fact, that our Lord Jesus Christ delivered it twice with very slight variations. He who never spoke a word without good reason, has thought fit to teach us this prayer upon two distinct occasions. Twice the Lord God wrote the ten commandments on tables of stone. (Deut. 9:10; 10:4.) Twice the Lord Jesus delivered the Lord’s Prayer.

The first division of the Lord’s Prayer respects the God whom we worship. The second division of the Lord’s Prayer respects our own daily needs. The third division of the Lord’s Prayer respects our daily dangers.

According to Wikipedia, the Lord’s prayer is probably the best known prayer in Christianity. There are two versions that occur in the New Testament of the Bible, on in the Gospel of Matthew 6: 9-13 and the other in the Gospel of Luke 11: 2-4. There are a couple of versions of the Lord’s prayer in different languages.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. for ever and ever. Amen

Another version:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours.
Now and for ever. Amen

For people who do not know or understand the concept of praying it may be something you feel uncomfortable asking about or asking how to go about talking spiritually to God and praying. There is no wrong way to pray, so don’t be afraid, just know that it is good that you are keeping the lines of communication and dialogue open between yourself and God. Here are some tips on how to get started praying and having a better prayer life. Prayer is an important part of Christian or any religious life and can help you grow spiritually in your life while becoming closer to God.

Make it a daily routine. Set aside a time and place every day for prayer. Decide if you wish to pray before all meals as well. You may want to pray first thing in the morning when you wake up, before all meals and/or at bedtime. It is very important to establish a set time and adhere to it everyday to continue your prayer life.

Before praying try to calm yourself down or relax. Try to go to a quiet place where you can find some silence, even if it’s just for 30 seconds or so, this way you can focus and connect with God. You can increase the amount of time you are silent the longer you have been praying and that way you can wait and truly connect with God better.

Try several ways of praying. You may be more comfortable praying one way or another, but it is always good to try to figure out what works best for you in prayer. You can pray like you are having a conversation with God, talking to him in a normal everyday manner, like you would talk to a friend. You can pray the Bible, meaning you take a few minutes to read something in the Bible and then pray and direct your attention to God. When you do this try to focus on the passage that you read and then you may be able to get better understanding of the passage during your prayers to God. Ask God what he has to say to you in your life and what a certain passage may mean or be saying to you about God and your life. You can also write out your prayers. Sometimes by simply writing out our feelings and what we may be going through can help us give it over to God. Keeping a prayer journal is a great way to let God know your thoughts and feelings and that you are giving it over to him. You can also pray the Lord’s Prayer which can be found here: http://www.rwf2000.com/2000/prayer.htm

You can also pray for other people and this is very important to God that you care about others and pray for them and their lives too. If your church has a bulletin with prayer requests you could use this to ask God to watch over and take care of these people or you could write down the people’s names you wish to pray for or speak them in your mind or out loud during prayer to God, asking for God’s grace and comfort for these people. Remember how God has helped you and always thank him in your prayers for everything he has given you and everything he has done for the world.

For more articles that I have wrote please go to: http://www.ehow.com/members/mandasparkle-articles.html

What would happen if you fell into a black hole? Well, put simply you would die after being sucked into a black hole. Your body would be shredded into the smallest possible pieces. It would definitely be a pretty gruesome experience.  

What is a black hole? Well, a black hole is a place in space where the force of gravity is so powerful that you would need to be traveling faster than the speed of light to escape its pull. Since nothing is known to travel faster than the speed of light, nothing that falls into a black hole can ever escape. The border at which the gravity becomes strong enough to create the phenomenon is known as the “event horizon”. The event horizon marks the outer boundary of the black hole. The closer you get to the center of the black hole, the stronger the pull of gravity. 

If you were caught by the pull of a black hole, you would be sent into free fall toward its center. The pulling force would increase as you moved toward the center, creating what’s called a “tidal force” on your body. Your body would be stretched until it snapped apart, first at its weakest point and then disintegrating rapidly from there as the tidal force became stronger than the chemical bonds holding your body together. You’d be reduced to a bunch of disconnected atoms. Those atoms would then be stretched into a line. The more matter and people that a black hole took in, the bigger it would get. As the black hole would increase in size that would affect its gravitational force and the force inside the hole would become less dramatic the larger it became.

I’m back from Thanksgiving and it was pretty yummy. I tried some pecan pie and it was so amazing. I never realized what I was missing I guess. I always loved the chocolate pies the most. Banana pies and pecan pies are so good though and easy to make. We got back into town on Friday. We put up our Christmas tree this weekend and we also went Christmas shopping and bought some gifts. Tonight is my fiancee’s brothers birthday, so we’re going out with him for his birthday. I can’t wait for Christmas. The anticipation is killing me now, just like a kid. This is my favorite time of year. We have yet to wrap any gifts, however, I got all the wrapping and stuff out to do it. The cats are enjoying their new tree to lay under and trying to eat the tinsel and garland. They are definitely crazy cats! I just hope they don’t knock the tree down completely, that would be bad.

We only have about 8 more people or so to buy gifts for. I’m looking at the calendar and realizing we have 3 more weeks! I have no idea how we’re going to see everyone this year for Christmas. Maybe we’ll go to my parents house in Kentucky first and then back to Roanoke and then back to Richmond. Anyway, we’ll do it all somehow.

We’re looking at home improvements again. We are pretty much finished with the bathroom now, we just need a new mirror and it will be complete. We’re going to focus on the kitchen next. It really needs some work. It needs new cabinets and new paint on the walls, a new counter top, maybe a new oven and a hutch. Also, we want to replace the sliding glass doors in the sunroom (which goes to nowhere) with large windows. It would look so much better, not to mention probably keep it better insulated. A friend of ours just moved into a house that they’re renting and it’s pretty nice. It’s 3 bedroom, so it’s a little larger than ours and in a different area, but they have all hardwood floors too. I want to put Christmas lights on the outside of our house to decorate, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I can’t wait to see family and friends in Kentucky. I haven’t seen them in a while, so it will be nice. I haven’t been to Kentucky in almost a year now. A few more weeks will make a year. God! How the time flies! Another year gone in the blink of an eye. It’s crazy!