Joy in the Journey

For to us a child is born, To us a son is given, And the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace There will be no end. Isaiah 9: 6-7 Isn’t that verse amazing? Wonderful counselor, Mighty God. Michael W. Smith sings a song that uses this verse and he adds “Lord of life, Lord of all.” Lord of all, not the Lord of morning but I’ll handle the afternoons. He is not Lord of my wallet but not my reading material. He is the Lord of all, King of kings. As Christians we sing Scripture all year long. We sing it in church and many of us sing it at home, in the car and anywhere else we happen to go. During the Christmas season we hear hallelujah, gloria, Emmanuel and Jesus sung in places we otherwise never hear the name of God. It’s Christmas so Christ and his buddies get to hang out in places from which they are normally banned. A couple of years ago a woman w

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:8-12 ( note: This was written in 2005. Faith and Isabelle are now five years old and sometimes have to be convinced that a jacket is necessary. This week the temperatures in sunny Florida have dipped into the 20’s. Brrr….. it’s cold down here!) This morning I was singing along with one of my favorite Christmas songs, “Do You Hear What I Hear.” As I sang the words “a child shivers in the cold” I was shivering too. It is important to mention that it was 52 degrees at the time, not exactly freezing. While my formerly Yankee blood has become quite nicely accustomed to the kinder weath

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. Isaiah 9:6-7 On Sunday I visited a different church than the one we attend, to see my granddaughters in their Christmas play. First let me say, they were the cutest three up there! Okay, really, the whole group was adorable, including the one-in-every-crowd, who waved to the audience the entire time. Not my main point! The pastor spoke on Isaiah 9:6, which is one of my favorite verses. It is so strong. A child is born who will be called, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” A child who will be mighty and powerful but who will first be stalked and later persecuted. Even in Isaiah’s times those words were strong but as we sit today, knowing the whole story of this “child” it is even more incredible. At one point during his message the pastor asked, “

Finally brothers what is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 They say reading is fundamental and I believe it. Reading is pretty much like breathing to me. I read everything. Certainly there are things I prefer to read but honestly whatever written word is in front of me is going to be read. Have you seen those personalized license plates? They are supposed to be making the driver’s statement I guess. Some are easy to understand but others are indiscernible. I get 2QT4U but what does I2O7GP mean? You might suggest that I just stop reading them but I’m telling you, I cannot. It’s an automatic reaction. I see letters and I read. I’m not joking, it doesn’t end with license plates. I read everything, hats, t-shirts, bumper stickers, if it has print I’ll read it. That, has become a rather disconcerting and unfortunate obsession, given our curr

“Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Luke 2:49 Do you ever long for home? Maybe when you’re at work, or out running errands, you just stop and think, “I wish I could be home.” I know I do. Some days I just want to be at home. Some days I want to go home, as in to heaven. That is not to say that I am depressed or suicidal. I just want to be with my Dad. I want to go where things make better sense. I want to truly see the face of my Father and of my brother, Jesus. Sometimes when I hear of a person dying I envy them a bit. Their journey is over and they are right where I want to be, home. In our class we have a student who says some pretty kooky things. Every now and then he’ll tell me, “Boysen, I’m going to take you to heaven and then I’m going to bring you back.” I always reply, “Little man, once I get to heaven I am not coming back!” Can you imagine it? You’ve had heaven, lived there, loved and been loved there, walked the streets, met the

Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph. Luke 3:23 We live in the time after the story played out. We know who Jesus is. We know his parentage but the people who lived in his time did not. “He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph.” Hm…. Jesus knew who his real father was (Luke 2:49) but the people around him saw him as Mary and Joseph’s son. I grew up in an environment where a lot of things are kept secret. It’s all for someone’s good of course, but it results in lies and those types of things often end badly. More than once I heard stories of a child being told that his/her grandparents were the parents because an older sister had given birth at too young an age. No joke, this was not a one-time story in my life. Did you ever have that moment when you wished someone would tell you that you were adopted? I have. Of course for me it was a pie in the sky wish. My two oldest sisters are women who followed

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified. He is risen. See the place where they laid him.” After the Lord Jesus spoke to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Mark 16:6; 19 When I read I want a happy ending. I’m all for mystery, tension, and intrigue as the story builds but in the end I want everyone, or at least all the good guys, to have a positive conclusion. A lot of boy meets girl stories follow the same pattern, boy meets girl, boy loses girl through some flaw in one of them or crazy mix-up and then, boy regains girl and they live happily ever after. Okay fine, except for the part where boy loses girl for some contrived reason, or in a mystery where an innocent person is being punished for a crime they didn’t commit while the criminal walks free. Those are the parts I don’t like. In reading the Gospel I find the same anxious, oh no not this part, feel when I get to the section in all four where i

“Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear. Luke 1:42b At this time of year, as we sing and read about the birth of Jesus, we also hear more about Mary. I was raised in a Roman Catholic home, so I heard a lot about Mary year round. For most people though, Mary comes into her own during Advent, those weeks leading up to Christmas, when we also focus on baby Jesus much more than the Jesus of the Cross. Like many people I have given a lot of thought to how Mary might have felt, pregnant, unmarried and very young. The words overwhelmed, terrified and humiliated come most quickly to mind and I’m sure they are fairly accurate. Still, there could very well be another side to the story. Regardless of the questionable circumstances, Mary was pregnant with the Son of God . So excitement is a word you might add to the list. Again, regardless of the circumstances Mary was pregnant. If you’ve never been pregnant that may not mean anything to you but having been pregnant an

Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, the will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. Exodus 34:15 The words prostitute and prostitution are extremely unpleasant. I don’t know how you respond but a very specific picture forms in my mind. No matter many times I see real pictures of what we technically term a prostitute, no matter how high dollar that person may look, the picture in my mind is much more of the seedy variety. That applies on both sides. I am still stunned when the celebrity or politician is caught with their pants down, figuratively speaking. What possesses a person of some semblance of intelligence to take that path? Over the years I have been offered several fairly good explanations of what drives men and women to that behavior but I frankly still don’t get it. And I still see it as less than savory. The picture in my mind, on both sides, is that of a dirty, unkemp

“What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. Bit to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must want these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name. Acts 4:16-17 Does this sentiment seem at all familiar to you? Peter and John have just appeared before the Sanhedrin. The result is that now all the big guys are in complete uproar. Here are these two uneducated, ordinary guys claiming that they have indeed given the lame guy his legs back. Worse, they are claiming to have done it in the name and power of Jesus Christ. You know the elders, Sadducees and the rest of the crew were thinking, “Oh please! Are we ever going to stop hearing about this Jesus?” Pretty sure that they won’t, they decide to stop Peter and John. They tell them, “That’s it, no more talking about Jesus.” Fine, except Peter and John aren’t quite so easily deterred. Politely they say,

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Acts 8:30-31 The other day a dear friend of mine gave me some recipe books. Not unusual, women do that right? Sure. Except for the books are in Spanish, a language that is completely foreign to me. The pictures are lovely and I’m sure I would like some of the foods and baked goods if I could read the recipe. Let me say here that Bella did not give me the books to frustrate me. There are decorating ideas that literally just need the pictures. They have words but the words aren’t necessary. This was a lovely gesture from a dear, sweet friend. She would, I am sure, translate every word if I asked her for help. Looking at the books, thinking about them, made me think of how some people see the Bible. There are people who see God’s Word the same way I see those

All you have made will praise you O Lord, your saints will extol you. Psalm 145:10 Many people are awed by nature. Everything about the natural world is fascinating to them. I am not one of those people. There are sights and sounds in nature that take my breath away but I’m not a bird watcher or a hiker. I do not seek opportunities to commune with the land. Not being a nature purist I can enjoy those books, movies and cartoons that lend human qualities to animals. Yesterday our pastor showed us a picture of a squirrel in a position that looked as if its paws were raised to heaven. The cute little thing even had its eyes closed. Adorable! Yes, it is a rat with a tail but irresistible in that pose. The caption was a Scripture verse but it could have read, “Bless this acorn and berry I am about to eat.” That image grabbed my heart and stayed with me all day. I know that little squirrel cannot speak. I know that the pose is not what I want to think it is and that it may, in fact, be someth

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, May have the power , together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:17b-18 This morning when I picked up my Bible, it was open to a Scripture that I have been using to remind myself of God’s amazing power. I need a miracle and those verses assure me that God can and will answer my prayer. While I was reading and praying the enemy kept poking me, trying to get me to worry about something unrelated to my prayer. It was very distracting so I stopped reading and prayed that each and every time the poke came that my merciful Father would remind me that through Him I have the power to make that enemy shut up. The image from Psalm 91:13 came to my mind, the one about trampling the serpent. After thanking God for showing me a way out of that danger, I went back to the Word. The very next passage spoke of the disciples fears. The commentary for that passage explained that the

…Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him. Mark 6:20 Herod liked to listen to John. Okay, so how is it that John ends up beheaded at Herod’s command, only seven verses later? For the same reason many of us make lousy choices. Herod let the call of the world, the beauty of a woman and the lust in his heart, rule over the sweet, subtle invitation from God. He liked listening to John. The Bible says he was “puzzled.” That made me think of my own reading of many parts of the Bible, I read the verse, reread the verse, read the commentary, reread the verse and still I’m scratching my head in total confusion. I keep reading because I like it, even the parts I don’t get. In this I have a distinct advantage over Herod. I know that what I am reading is the true word of God. I know that each word is included in that sacred tome for a reason. Herod knew only that he was interested i

Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. John 8:32 I watched a TV show tonight where one poor tortured soul committed heinous, horrible crimes because he believed that his own life was over. He erroneously believed that he had nothing to live for. He believed it because a person who had once been everything to him kept a very important piece of information from him. The information withheld from him was truly life changing but because he didn’t have it he was empty and lost enough to torture and kill several other people. The story was fiction but it gave me great pause. How often do we choose not to tell someone something for their own good? How often do we withhold information out of spite? When we do things like that we play God, which is extremely dangerous. That decision has a direct effect on how the other person behaves. When the truth comes out the consequences can be dire or, as in the TV show the consequences could be avoided by telling the truth. When

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14 There are a couple of reasons that we may be reluctant to forgive an offense. The first is that many people believe that forgiveness indicates acceptance. It does not. We may forgive an offender but we’re not condoning the offense. Our forgiveness does not suggest that we now think whatever the other person did is all right. The second reason is about reconciliation. When a sin is large enough to cause a rift in a relationship we may be disinclined to forgive because we fear that means reestablishing the torn relationship. That isn’t always the case. Some sins may cause a temporary rift. Perhaps the people involved need some time apart to recognize the sin that exists between them. Maybe they just need a cooling off period and when the apology is offered and accepted they then move tow

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to proper you and not to harm you, Plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 Years ago I gave birth to my first son, Paul. He was beautiful. A large baby, he had a round face and chubby little fingers from the moment he was born. He looked pink, healthy and perfect. He wasn’t. Day five of his life saw him back in the hospital, hooked up to an IV, not very pink, and according to the doctors, not at all healthy. Day four brought seizures into Paul’s life and that meant hospitalization to determine the cause. The cause, which we found out a week later, was an error in judgment on the part of the delivering physician. Too much pressure on Paul’s tiny, delicate skull caused blood vessels to break and bleed into his brain. As the blood in the brain was reabsorbed the brain seized. “We’re so sorry but your baby has brain damage.” The message was basically, oops, that’s not good but go home, put him on this medicine an

It is because of him [God] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30 There are certain moments in life that are not unique to anyone. They are banner moments that become the topic or catalyst in books, movies and plays. There are weddings, births, deaths, and the one that is often supposed to be hilarious, but may fall short depending on one’s own experience, the choosing of teams. Just this morning I was reading a book in which a now middle-aged man recalled the pride of getting his football letter jacket. He talked about how he wore that banner to his athletic prowess every day, regardless of the temperature. He then noted how that paled in comparison to being part of God’s team. That gave me pause. I was one of those skinny, not at all athletic kids. There wasn’t much in the line of physical education that was on my list of accepted activities. I was a booky kid not a runner, not a ba

And he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3-4 A devotional message that I read this morning used the analogy of walking with a small child to define our walk with Jesus. The point was that it is not just for the child’s protection that we stay near or hold hands but also for our joy in the nearness of the child. My first thought was of my grandchildren. Just last night I sat with five of them reading stories. They love books, just like their Grammy. It was a lovely and precious time for me as well as for them. I understood the analogy of the message quite well. Then the lights came on inside my foggy brain. God sees us the way I see my babies! Think about that for a minute. What is your profession? Teacher? Lawyer? Chef? Musician? Doctor? Mom? Dad? Or maybe even, pause for the moment of reverence

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. Deuteronomy 5:11 There is a new language now, a language I despise. It is the vernacular of technology, I suppose. I first heard about when email and instant messages began. You know what I’m talking about the, lol, btw, b/c, and the rest. I hate it but I do understand that my age and my word addiction contribute greatly to that intense dislike. There is one, however, that no matter how long I live or even if I could temper my love of words will ever be acceptable. I hate it, absolutely hate it and that is not going to change. That one is “omg.” Are you kidding me? It isn’t bad enough that so many people feel so little about tossing the Lord’s name around, now we’re going to lose the capital letter and abbreviate. Let’s make breaking the third commandment as user friendly as possible. I cannot even consider the little abbreviation that adds the famous letter! I’ll jus

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. Luke 1:68 The story of Horatio Spafford’s reason for writing the hymn, “It is Well” is amazing and eye-opening to me. I love to read that story and I love the hymn. Hearing it recently I thought of the words in the telegram that Mrs. Spafford sent to her husband after the accident which took the life of the couple’s four daughter’s. To inform her husband of their latest tragedy she sent two words, “Saved alone.” The thought of her having to send the telegram, as well as the thought of him receiving it, gives me chills. That the man was then able to turn that into an anthem of faith, hope and praise is beyond anything I can imagine. But today, it is the two words of the telegram that are speaking to me. “Saved alone.” Reading the story yet again, I was stopped at those words. Anna Spafford meant them literally. Her four precious daughters were dead and she was not. But, think about those words, sa

And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Exodus 33:19 It seems to me that several of the more popular televangelists are wealthy. Due, perhaps to their own abundance, they like to preach prosperity to the rest of us. God, according to them, wants us to have everything, fancy car, big house, lovely clothes, etc. He also wants us to be healthy and happy. Some of them go as far as to suggest, if not come right out and say, that if we aren’t healthy, wealthy and wise we don’t have enough faith. Contrast that with a very large portion of the world where people have almost literally, nothing but their faith. What about them? Several years ago my husband went on a mission trip to build houses in Honduras. He came home with stories of abject financial poverty endured by people of immense faith. Financi

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6 One of my goals in life from as early as I can remember, was to be a mom. In fact I wanted to be a Kool-aid mom. You know, the one who always has all the kids at her house, her own and all of their friends. God was very good to me in blessing me with four children of my own and giving me that dream of having their friends around as well. It seemed to me that if you were an active part of your children’s lives you got the double portion benefit of enjoying them and raising secure, confident children who would make good, sound decisions. If you are laughing at me right now, I’m okay with that. I have four grown children who are dearer than dear to me. I love them beyond measure. Some of them however have made choices that have made their lives so difficult. Some have been hurtful to themselves and other and each one, every one of them, lacks confidence in one area or another. This is not to

When Elisha reached the house there was the boy lying dead on his couch. He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy’s body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 2 Kings 3:32-37 In liturgical churches during the season of Lent, many sermons are given about the abundant love of Christ and the sacrifice he gave on the Cross. There is a lot of focus on the fact that one perfect life was exchanged for so many imperfect lives. Jesus gave his all for us. This story of Elisha and the son of the Shunammite woman, comes before Jesus in the Old Testament. To me it is more evidence that God never changes. Elisha does not have to give his life for the boy but he does take a huge risk. Moreover, the cost

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 When writing fiction I have to create characters. They become quite real to me, which is sometimes hard for the people around me to understand. A few years ago while out to dinner with my husband I saw a young man who looked a lot like one of my characters. I told my husband, “He looks a lot like Nick.” My husband laughed and asked me how I knew what Nick looked like. If not me, who would? Nick exists because I created him. The other day I mentioned that the little girl in the book I’m working on now sounds like a little girl I know from school. My husband again commented. “Oh great, now you’re hearing their voices?” Admittedly that does sound a little odd but again, of course I hear them. I plan every minute of their lives. Still it is so great when someone reads my book and tells me something they’ve seen in a character that I didn’t really think about. Talking abo

Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece so they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord. Exodus 28:30 Do you know what the Urim and Thummim are? I didn’t until I looked it up the first time I read this verse. The what? These aren’t words that suggest any meaning I’ve ever known. So, I checked them out. Immediately I wanted a set of my own. Now years later reading this same passage in Exodus I don’t feel any different. I want a set of my own! In case you haven’t had the opportunity to check out these ultra-important items I’ll tell you about them. The Urim and Thummim (say that five times fast!) were devices used by a priest, in this case Aaron, to determine God’s will. The best information is that they were much like lots or stones cast to discern God’s yes or no answer. Where can you buy those? Where’s the infomercial on those little

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1a … while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13 My husband and I are standing in a room that is at once very familiar and not familiar at all. It is a room with no windows and no doors. If you’ve ever ridden the Haunted Mansion in Disney World you know what I’m talking about. You begin the journey in a room with a ceiling and walls that seemingly has no form of exit. In case you haven’t picked up on that yourself, a dark, creepy voice informs you that the only way out is his way, leaving no question in your mind that the rest of the journey is not going to be pretty. The room Otto and I find ourselves in is the same in that it has no windows, no doors and only one way out. The differences are the look of the room and the voice that is speaking to us. Our room is full of light. I get the feeling of a very pretty, airy blue, like

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,” plans to prosper you and not to harm you.” Jeremiah 29:11 Yesterday I heard a pastor preach on Psalm 8. He said that God has made each of us unique, that He has given us a passion and that He has a purpose for our lives. Those three words that begin with P, person, passion and purpose, each had their own little box. As I looked at my notes this morning, not reading them but just seeing them on my desk I realized that while there were Scripture references and salient points jotted in the boxes for person and purpose there was nothing noted in the passion box. Ah-ha! Listening to the pastor as he spoke I did jot down notes about my (our) importance to God, how dearly He loves each of us. I made notes about living according to His will and purpose for my life. I even jotted down a little joke the pastor made because I knew my husband, who wasn’t able to be with me, would love it. In the passion box I made no notes, not one single

Who Is Jesus? When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do you say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” Matthew 16:13-17 “Who do you say that I am?” Who do you say that He is? Is your answer different today than it was yesterday or will be tomorrow? Do you answer that question with Simon Peter’s words or your own? Much time has passed since Jesus asked this question. Today’s answer on the surface is of course the same as Peter’s answer. But our response should go deeper. We, unlike Peter have been taught that Jesus is the Son of living God. That was not something we had to discern for ourselves. Our own experi

Amazing Answers When the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Acts 3:9-10 Yesterday I was blessed to be a part of a ministry effort gone somewhat south. In short, what we mortal beings had planned was not what God had in mind. We ended up helping in a very different way from what we expected. As one member of my group commented on that the woman we were helping just laughed. “It ain’t nothin’ honey.” She said. “I’m not surprised. You say a prayer and ask God for help and He jus’ sends it along. Isn’t He amazin’?” As I responded in agreement that yes, God is amazing I started to laugh. I turned to her and asked if she’d received similar answers to prayer before. She said yes and I said I had too, so why are we still so amazed? I think there are two answers to that question and I think both are true for me at var

Found Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Isaiah 55:6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. Psalm 23:6a Often when people begin a relationship with God they are said to have “found” Him. That irks me a little. The idea that the God of the universe is so often lost. Does He wander about like some poor demented soul? No! God is not lost. God does not get lost, even when we in our anger or ignorance tell Him to do just that. God is never lost in the literal sense but He can be lost to us. Doing a study of the 23rd Psalm I spent a lot of time with the words, “goodness and love will follow you all the days of your life.” God is love and love will follow me all the days of my life. God will follow me all the days of my life. God will follow me? No wonder He gets lost so often! That doesn’t really make sense because the earlier part of the same psalm says He will lead me. Which only makes sense because oh, right, He’s God. He leads us,

Hello My name is Tricia and this is my attempt to share with anyone who is interested, the words and thoughts that God has shared with me. Today is my first day as a blogger. This has been suggested to me numerous times and frankly I've been too old school to try it. It is my hope that the words I place here will bless and encourage those of you who are journeying toward home as I am. It is my goal to post a message each day that will include Scripture, a brief story to go with that Scripture and maybe a prayer or two. For some of you this will be quite familiar as it is the same style as in our e-mail days and in the book Joyful Perspective. As usual, I would love to hear your feedback. Blessings to all of you, Tricia