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So where's the party going to be? Sounds like a good excuse for another BBQ to me.....

Cool. He's playing a concert at the Houston Rodeo Monday night. Yeee haw.

Hope you have a wonderful one!

As far as I can see, which isn't much I know, but I'll try anyway..... Forgiveness from God, is a one-way deal. It's a gift we have in His Only Begotten. He gives it to us freely. I mean, do we have to forgive God or Jesus for anything? Forgiveness of others, seems to be what we do with the gift that we have from Him. As others have pointed out, forgiveness is a gift we have, to do with what we please. We can be selfish with it, or not. Seems to me, God is vitally concerned with how we use this incredible, unspeakable reality that we have.

Hey girlfriend. I love you much, and can't express how grateful I am for your friendship. Enjoy, darlin!

Krys, The theme from Picnic was my Mom and Dad's song. They got married when Dad was 20, and mom was 19, when Dad was on break from college his sophomore year. Dad proposed after he took Mom to see that movie. They met when Mom was in 7th grade and Dad in 8th, and "went steady" all through high school. They were married for 46 years, til Dad passed away. Sigh.....

I can't believe I forgot to mention, "As Time Goes By." I prefer the version from the movie Casablanca.

How about "You Send Me" and "Bring It On Home to Me" by Sam Cooke? And of course there's always Elvis singing "Can't Help Falling in Love," (Jesse Collin Young's version is my favorite, but it might be too new for you) and "Always on My Mind." "Fool Rush In" by Sinatra is on my list too.

Ha, ha, abi. But I would be a traitor if I had converted to Michiganese while I did my time in the frozen tundra. (An impossiblity really, after having grown up in the "Mid-South.") If it makes you feel any better, my dearly beloved gets pegged as a Michigander, even after being married to me for 25 years, and living in TX for 8. :B) Try as he might, he'll never sound like a Texan.

Surprise, surprise, I have a Southern accent.

It sounds like you had a wonderful day, Shell! Happy day from me too.

Maybe it's just me, but when I got recruited for The Way Corps, the context was what I brought to the table. The whole draw for me was what I could uniquely contribute. I got talked into it, because somebody wanted my skills, and who I knew, and who I was. Sorry if this sounds wierd, but it's true. Somehow, somewhere, that changed. I don't exactly know when and where and how, but it seems the Way Corps became what we can mold you into. Forget who you are, and what you bring into it, we just want to mold you, clone you, and forget about who you are. Nobody cares. When that happened? along the way? Don't know. But it did.

Jerry, There was also a harvest season in the Spring as well.

The people who are my closest friends are those that I've had disagreements with, yet we are still "friends." It would be boring to me to have friends that think just like I do. Makes for shallow relationships, imo, if you can't disagree, and enjoy it. ;)

Jerry, The whole subject is a fascinating one to look into. All the feasts of the Israelites were about worship of the one True God, and his requirements for such. And they also were to teach about the coming Messiah, and how He would fulfill God's purposes for all of Mankind, not just Israel. Of course, there is alot of symbolism. One of the salient points to me is, that God required his people to come to Him on His terms, not their own. He had very specific qualifications for worship. Today, when I look at the Feasts and what God required, I learn so much about who He is, and who His Redeemer is. Jesus Christ is the final sacrifice for sin. Holy cow, or lamb! That truth takes on so much more meaning, after knowing a tad bit about the worship, sacrifice, rules and rituals of the OT.

Well, my family tells me my most annoying quirk is being a total bed hog. My dearly beloved tells me I have some kind of built in radar that plants me firmly in the exact middle of any bed I sleep in. When daughter and I went on vacation together recently, she insisted that any hotel room we got had to have 2 twin beds in it, rather than one double. She absolutely cannot abide my bed hog habits, even thought I am asleep, and totally unaware. But when we got to my friend's house where we stayed for almost 2 weeks, alas only one double bed in the guest room. Poor daughter ended up sleeping on the sofa the entire time. Try as I might, I just can't seem to stick to one side of the bed.

Hope you are enjoying your special day. Many hugs are flying your way from Texas!!

ludiculous (adjective) loo-dik-yoo-luss beyond absurd; stupidity in its superlative form used of anything to do with Paris Hilton in the news; also used of other people's political views we disagree with

scrubbles (noun) skrub-ulz The resulting foamy, bubbly stuff that appears as if by magic after spraying spot remover on the carpet. "Please do not walk through the scrubbles on the carpet where the cat just spit up a hair ball." scrubbly

scritchy (adjective) skrit-chee Used in the morning when one awakes with scratchy, itchy eyes, due to lack of sleep. "I'm feeling scritchy this morning," loosely translated means, "look at me, touch me, or talk to me, before I've had my coffee, and I'm not responsible for the damage to your overall emotional or physical well-being." scritchiness

Dirty Dozen, Because ancient Israel was an agrarian society, the prosperity of the nation, was totally dependent on rain, of course. In Israel, there are basically two seasons, winter and summer, although four are mention. It's essentially a sub-tropical climate, but that can vary because of the vast differences in altitude, depending on where you are in Israel. Winter is the rainy season, and the summer is dry and sunny. But there are two rainy seasons iduring the winter. The "former rain" happens in the Fall, the beginning of Winter, usually October and Novemeber. The "latter rain" usually occurred in March and April. The latter rains were eagerly anticipated, because they prepared the land for springtime planting and insured a plentiful harvest season in the Fall. If they didn't come, because of the dry summer, the Fall harvest was not going to be abundant. The feasts of Israel are divided into Spring and Fall feasts. The Spring Feasts represented the First Coming of the Messiah, then you have the summer dry season, and the Fall feasts represent the Second Coming of the Messiah. The "latter rain" represents the promises of a fruitful Fall season. This whole concept has been turned into a theological system, that is popular among the modern day "prophetic movement." Hope this helps.

Too late, whitedove!! You have already passed the friend test. :B)

You know, I've been thinking about this thread alot, and wondering why the social culture in TWI so discouraged real friendships and more deep relationships with others, than the "comraderie around a cause" that Skyrider mentioned in his first post. Maybe the answer is a little complex, depending on "where you sat" in the organization. But a couple thoughts that occur to me are: the whole doctrine of being "positive" versus being "negative," fostered shallow relationships. We were discouraged from voicing concerns that appeared "negative," I think because our picture of life with God was totally messed up. Well, hello, real life is messy, and not always "positive," which is the major reason we have a friend in Jesus. So we were these little puppets that always talked about how great everything is, when in truth some things really stunk. And we ignored the putrid smell. IMO, this pollyanna type attitude discouraged going a bit deeper with one another. Also, in relationships with other fallen humans, at some point, there will be a sampling of self-sacrifice involved. The time will inevitably come, we have to get to the place where the needs, desires, hopes, dreams whatever, of another could require some giving on our part. And yeah, even a little giving that hurts some. Sacrifice of any kind was not a popular idea in TWI, (unless of course, it was sacrifice for the sake of the "ministry," ie the organization.) So to really lay down our lifes for another, was not a popular notion. Anyway, these are just random thoughts that have flown across my brain lately.

polar bear Gilbert and Mary Kathy have been out of TWI since the late 80's I'm pretty sure.

Dear Roy I love what you said about seeing in color now, instead of seeing in black and white. What a great way of expressing yourself, my friend. Do you mind if I keep your words for myself?