Off to Abington, VA home of my friend Gini. We are looking forward to a wonderful weekend combining business and pleasure. On our way over the mountain we are going to stop off to see James and Catharine. Then according to mapquest it's 59 miles, an hour and 18 min. to Abington, VA.
Today's Characteristic of God is Light. GOD IS LIGHT. Where is the darkness in your life? Where do you need God's light to shine. Are you stumbling around? Cry out for help. He hears us!
Ps 104:1-2
Ps 119:105
John 8:12
2 Corin. 4:6
1 John 1:5-7
Rev. 21: 22-25

Praying and praising the names, qualities, and character of God. I have been doing just that for many years. When I think that God wants real intimacy with us. That He wants us to love Him with all of our hearts, souls, minds and might. How do we even know who God is? How do we as mortals find intimacy with a devine God? How do you know your best friend?
By their character, their names, and their qualities. It's a good start. Also, I may add by reading His Story over and over again. There is no graduation reading God's Word.
So, we'll start with the character of God:
God is Love
Ps 136:1-9
Romans 5:5-8
Romans 8:35-39
Eph 3: 16-19
1 John 3:1
1 John 4:7-10
Tell me what speaks to your spirit from among these verses?

Just recieved this e-mail today from Vince and thought I might share it with you. If you're reading my blog, please pray!
Hello from Jerusalem!
I wanted to let you know that the Rabbis in Israel have called aworldwide reading of Psalms 83, 130, and 142 tomorrow night at 6pm Jerusalemtime (11am Eastern, 10am Central). I thought that some of you would want tojoin in this time of calling out to the Lord on behalf of the war and thehistorical season of unrest that we are presently in the middle of. All ofSuccat Hallel is gathering tomorrow for Rosh Chodesh, the New Moon Festival,to read these out loud and proclaim them, and to blow the silver trumpetsfrom Zion. Tonight Andrew and I went to hear David Dolen, a believer that is a bigvoice in the media in Israel, and was a correspondent for CBS. It wasinteresting to hear the news. He believes that with everything going on,that Jerusalem is definitely the safest place to be in Israel. Pray that TelAviv and Ben Gurion Airport stay completely safe. We feel the Lord'sprotection on us here. We feel as though we are to stay, but if the Lordtells us its time to go, we will. Pray for the spirit of wisdom andrevelation to fall upon us new and afresh each day, each hour. We truly wantto be in the center of His will at every moment, with every step. The Lord is teaching us so much about worship, warfare, and flowing inthe Spirit. We personally feel that the Lord is just calling us to lavishHim with praise, to keep the heaven's open, and that He will do the rest. Wedon't sense the need to do the heavy, intense warfare-style worship; He isthe only one that can fight for Israel. We just have to worship him, to pourout our love on Him, and it sends the enemy running. Please continue to pray for our safety (Psalm 91!), and for ourworship, and send us an email if the Lord reveals anything to you that youwant to share. I also ask that you would pray 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 over us: "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession inChrist and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge ofhim. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being savedand those who are perishing." This is what we are, as believers in Yeshua, are to the world! Lord, may we be the aroma of the knowledge of Your Son!
We love you all so much. Thank you for all of your prayers.
Love from Zion,
Andrew and Emily
Here's 83

Psalm 83
A psalm of Asaph. A song. 1 O God, don't sit idly by, silent and inactive!
2 Don't you hear the tumult of your enemies? Don't you see what your arrogant enemies are doing? 3 They devise crafty schemes against your people, laying plans against your precious ones. 4 "Come," they say, "let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the very memory of its existence." 5 This was their unanimous decision. They signed a treaty as allies against you-- 6 these Edomites and Ishmaelites, Moabites and Hagrites, 7 Gebalites, Ammonites, and Amalekites, and people from Philistia and Tyre. 8 Assyria has joined them, too, and is allied with the descendants of Lot. interlude 9 Do to them as you did to the Midianites or as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River. 10 They were destroyed at Endor, and their decaying corpses fertilized the soil. 11 Let their mighty nobles die as Oreb and Zeeb did. Let all their princes die like Zebah and Zalmunna, 2 for they said, "Let us seize for our own use these pasturelands of God!" 13 O my God, blow them away like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind! 14 As a fire roars through a forest and as a flame sets mountains ablaze, 15 chase them with your fierce storms; terrify them with your tempests. 16 Utterly disgrace them until they submit to your name, O LORD.
17 Let them be ashamed and terrified forever. Make them failures in everything they do, 18 until they learn that you alone are called the LORD, that you alone are the Most High, supreme over all the earth.

Being a parent is challenging at times.
I want to know from mothers around the world how to parent their 20 something sons. Do they have special needs once they are grown? Are there any tricks of the trade? Trade Secrets of parenting adult children? I used to pray that James would change. This week I had a revelation and that God would change me into the parent that James needs. That I would be aware of his needs and minister to them.
"Tis" what a beautiful book by Frank McCourt. He is a master storyteller. God bless him.

How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation by Anthony Mancuso. I'm trying to do it with the help of this book. Has anyone had any experience with this product? Can anyone help me? Are there any resouces out there? Does anyone have a heart for shut ins, the sick, the infirmed, the lonely?

This is a picture worth blogging. Mommilner to the left, Alexandra in the middle, and best friend Jennifer to the right. Thanks for the memories. 

What does a shut in look like?
Does anyone have any photographs?
Are shut in's all old?
Can a shut in be young?
What does a shut in want more than anything?
Can I find a shut in to befriend?

Two things struck me this morning both very different but with elements that are the same.
One comes from God's Word Rm. 5:5-8
5And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
6When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
The first question I have is how do I know, how am I aware of the filling of God's love in my heart. Can it be more filled or less filled at times? How do I keep it filled? Is my heart like a gas tank? Does it have a certain capacity and then it overflows? Can it be empty even if I'm a child of God's? I don't know? Does anyone have any ideas?
Second thing that struck me this morning was Brad's blog. http://ideas.4brad.com/node/320
Looking at the senior problem there was a comment posted to the blog. David the commentor states:
Plato’s Republic – Book VII, uses an allegory of a cave in which Socrates describes to Plato’s older brother prisoners chained to a bench in such a way as to limit their sight to the wall furthest from the cave's entrance. All these prisoners can see are shadows flickering on the back wall of a cave. This allegory delivers a simple message that our present condition is one of shadowy unreality and that the enlightened life awaits us if we are able to free ourselves from our chains and find our way to the upper world outside the cave into the blinding sunlight. Also, there is a message that the immediate, comfortable, and small world, which we see with our eyes, is a very limited one. Moving one’s eyes from the firelight to darkness one becomes temporarily blinded by the darkness. When moving one’s sight from the shadows into the light, one becomes temporarily blinded by the sudden increase in light. Symbolically, this represents any sudden movement from lightness to darkness or from darkness to lightness naturally involves being temporarily blinded. It is natural to be overwhelmed by changes in light.
What this allegory points out is that education is like sight. You can not make a blind eye see. Nor can you make someone learn just by teaching them. Education is like the quality of sight. It has to pre-exist.
The seniors you passionately plead for are like the prisoners in Plato’s cave. The light and shadows can be blinding.
He wants to be part of the solution. I want to be part of the solution? Do you want to be part of the solution? Talk to me!

Mom milner is thinking of starting a non profit.
Mom milner is thinking about feeding the poor.
Mom milner is thinking about caring for the lonely.
Mom milner is praying that God would work out all the details if He wants this to happen.

Ps 68:6 God places the lonely in families, He sets the prisoner free and gives them joy.
That's something to be happy about, especially when you're the prisoner or lonely.
GOD OUR FATHER
Something for everyone who needs a father.
Look up these verses and tell me what speaks to your spirit.
Deu 1:30-31
Ps 68:4-5
LK 11:11-13
JN1:12-13
2 Cor. 6:18
Gal. 4:4-7
Matt 6:9-10
JN. 10: 27-30, 14: 6-11
Rm: 8:15-16
1 JN: 3 1-3

"A wise woman builds her own home and a foolish one tears it down". I'm paraphasing but that is the gist of it. I probably should get it from www.biblegateway.com
Proverbs 14 1
A wise woman builds her house; a foolish woman tears hers down with her own hands. Oh! You see, I forgot, she tears it down with her own hands. Must be very important for God put those words there.
Grant me this day a new vision of thy truth, dear LORD.
How many times in the Bible do you think God tells us to feed the hungery?
How many times in the Bible do you think God tells us to take care of the widows?
How many time in the Bible do you think God tells us to be concerned for the poor?
If anyone knows these answers please tell us.

Who is SaintSimon? Does anyone know him or his blog? He sent me a message about my spell check a word I mis spelled. It wouldn't be the first time or the last. The word was glad. I spent 15 min. going through my blog which is 15 min. too much for me. But I couldn't pick up the word. So, if there is anyone out there who can point me to the "mis spelled glad" he is talking about I would be very grateful.
And I thought no one ever read my blog. Here's to you SaintSimon!

Congratulations James on your first condo. May God bless your home and your future. May you and Catharine create a blessed home where ministry can take place and everyone feels God's presence.

Magnanimity: Extremely liberal generosity of spirit. (For those who didn't know what it means)

A morning resolve prayer

I will try this day to live a smiple, sincere and serene life, repelling promptly every thought of discontent, anxiety, discouragement, impurity, and self-seeking. I will cultivate cheerfulness, magnanimity, charity, and the habit of holy silience; exercising economy in expenditure, generousity in giving, carefulness in conversation, diligence in appointed service, fidelity to every trust, and a childlike faith in God.

In particular I will try to be faithful in those habits of prayer, work, study, physical exercise, eating and sleep which I believe the Holy Spirit has shown me to be right.

And as I cannot in my own strength do this, not even with a hope of success attempt it. I look to thee, O Lord God my Father, in Jesus my Savior's name and ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Amen

So many words in James 4 spoke to my spirit this morning, that I thought I'd copy the whole chapter for you. Tell me what speaks to your spirit in God's words.
James 4
Drawing Close to God
1What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn't it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? 2You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can't possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it. 3And even when you do ask, you don't get it because your whole motive is wrong--you want only what will give you pleasure.
4You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can't be a friend of God. 5What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, jealously longs for us to be faithful[a]? 6He gives us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say,
"God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble."[b] 7So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you hypocrites. 9Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.

Warning against Judging Others 11Don't speak evil against each other, my dear brothers and sisters.[c] If you criticize each other and condemn each other, then you are criticizing and condemning God's law. But you are not a judge who can decide whether the law is right or wrong. Your job is to obey it. 12God alone, who made the law, can rightly judge among us. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to condemn your neighbor?

Warning about Self-Confidence 13Look here, you people who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit." 14How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog--it's here a little while, then it's gone. 15What you ought to say is, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that." 16Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.
17Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

I'm intrigued by www.tribewanted.com, I didn't get to their website yet but there was a piece done on the Good Morning America Show that featured their vision. A modern Castaways goes Commune. Anyone who knows anything about it please contact me.

One of the highlights of going to NYC was seeing the second half of Jersey Boys with my cousin Ann this last weekend. We also had a ball Kyacing on the Hudson. Sounds like a novel, Kyacing on the Hudson. 

Simplicity, serenity, generousity, sincerity, fidelity, faithfulness, prayfulness, and a child like faith. These were all part and parcel of a prayer my friend from Charleston, SC said this morning to me. It was from a book of prayers I think that might have come out of the Episcopal Church. I don't know. If anyone knows where I can get a copy of this prayer shoot me an email.

Have you ever gone kyacing on the Hudson?
Have you ever played bumper cars while kyacing on the Hudson with a stranger soon to become a friend?
Have you ever had a moment of laughter and play that seemed enchanted?
Have you ever been scooped off your feet and told if you were not good you'd be dropped into the bay? (all done in good fun)
Have you ever been spontaneous and friendly seeing and open to what might happen?
Have you ever been told that you made this happen?

My aunt Sophie passed away yesterday morning. I really loved her. At 3 a.m. I awoke and prayed for her. She went to be with the LORD at 2: a.m. I really didn't know how to pray or what to pray for specifically. She was 93 years old and ready to die. She was suffering and weary, ready to go home to the LORD. What do you pray for? I prayed for her to be comforted. I prayed for her family, including myself. I prayed for God's grace and mercy. She's now in heaven I believe with my mother, grandmother, grandfather, her husband, and many other beloved people. I wanted to write her a good bye note on Monday while she was still alive but got distracted. I think I might blog the note for the world to see.
How do you tell someone what their life meant to you? How their stability at a time when you where very unstable was meaningful. I remember going to my Aunt's house when I was a teenager. We picked blueberries, she had the most abundant blueberry bushes and they were delicious. What a nice house she had with a finished basement. My uncle Louie put the casing on the Hebrew National products so there was always a salami or frankfurters or something like that in the house. She was the oldest in a family of 3 girls and one boy. She like my grandmother, after her death, kept the family together. She was loving, kind, considerate, courageous in all the operations she had to endure. Taking care of my uncle Louie so lovingly when he had Alsheimer's. Not ever thinking of putting him somewhere but loving him everyday. I thought that was a testimony of 60 plus years of love and faithfulness. My aunt Sophie was very special. I am going to miss her so much. One consolation is she is up in heaven with my own mother smoozing right now.
I spent yesterday trying to get a ticket to NYC from CLT. What a nightmare. The rates went from $250 to $750 to $1600 in a matter of minutes. My cousin Anita says it is whatever the airlines can get. Do you know that USAIR doesn't even have a bereavement fare any longer. That was disappointing. BUT GOD MADE A WAY. Jan's partner's husband Jeff came to the rescue. So did James. He transferred 10,000 pts into my AX account so I could try and get a dividend mile ticket. Sweet, he is a lovely child. And Jeff I think got it for me. I have to check this morning. Thank you thank you thank you.
So, what looked like a day of hopelessness turned around. I will be able to go to the funeral on Thursday morning at Mt. Ararat on L.I. I will even be able to visit my mother's grave which will be nice. I can have a lovely chat with her. Please keep me in your prayers. I'm feeling a bit fragile these days.

Give me a word God for today.
"Don't worry"!

Is 58 always seems to touch my spirit.
God wants charity, humility, kindness, justice, and just a plain old caring spirit verses a selfish spirit. What facts can you pick up from the text that talks about what GOD wants rather than what He doesn't want. How can you please God today?

4[The facts are that] you fast only for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness. Fasting as you do today will not cause your voice to be heard on high.
5Is such a fast as yours what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself with sorrow in his soul? [Is true fasting merely mechanical?] Is it only to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him [to indicate a condition of heart that he does not have]? Will you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?
6[Rather] is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every [enslaving] yoke?(B)
7Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house--when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?
8Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your healing (your restoration and the power of a new life) shall spring forth speedily; your righteousness (your rightness, your justice, and your right relationship with God) shall go before you [conducting you to peace and prosperity], and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.(C)
9Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst yokes of oppression [wherever you find them], the finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and every form of false, harsh, unjust, and wicked speaking,(D)
10And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity and gloom become like the noonday.
11And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.
12And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of [buildings that have laid waste for] many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
13If you turn away your foot from [traveling unduly on] the Sabbath, from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a [spiritual] delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor Him and it, not going your own way or seeking or finding your own pleasure or speaking with your own [idle] words,
14Then will you delight yourself in the Lord, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage [promised for you] of Jacob your father; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.(E)