My Favorites
How could I keep from shearing this???
"Nothing will happen to me. They know and respect me. Nobody will harm me." Those were the last words Pastor Kantheswar Digal spoke to his son Rajendra and his wife, Karpul. A Christian for more than 50 years, Pastor Digal was one of the few believers living in the small village of Sankarakhole, in Orissa state, India. He was well-known by the Hindus who shared his neighborhood. Yet, his son says, the family lived there in relative peace. "We had no enemies there," Rajendra told our VOM workers about his small hometown. "We could practice our faith in Christ comfortably with no problems with anybody locally." Nonetheless, on Aug. 24, 2008, when Hindu radicals began violent attacks against Christians throughout Orissa, venomous threats by agitators forced the Digal family to leave their village. "They told my husband you better leave," says Karpul. "He should leave his house and go away if he wanted to stay a Christian because they were not going to allow any Christians to stay in our village." The Worst of the Worst The brutality against Orissa Christians spawned by Hindu fundamentalists was unflinchingly complete. Homes were burned. Churches were destroyed. People were killed. The entire Digal family fled their small village in the Kandhalmal district to the slums of the state's capital. All eight members were forced to live in a one-room, wooden shack. On Sept. 20, 2008, Pastor Digal left his family in the makeshift shelter they had carved out for themselves. Over their objections he went to their home village to check on their house and livestock. Pastor Digal was traveling on a local bus to his destroyed home when it was stopped by 18 Hindu radicals. What happened next was a horror unimaginable. The radicals dragged Pastor Digal off the crowded, dusty bus. They ignored the sickening crunch of bone as both his legs broke. They proceeded to torture him, demanding that he return to Hinduism. "I am a strong believer in Jesus Christ," Pastor Digal said. "You may kill me but I will never become Hindu." The 18 men began to beat Pastor Digal. They tied his hands and legs. Witnesses watched as they stripped him of his clothes leaving nothing but a shirt. They burned his face and tortured him in unspeakable ways. Then they dumped this limp body in a creek where it floated for days. "We Never Got Angry" Fourteen days later, after frantically calling around Orissa trying to find his father, Rajendra saw his mother on a local television broadcast. She held a black and white photo of his father. He was dead, killed by radical Hindus because he was a Christian. Even though she lost her husband Karpul says "we never got angry after hearing about the news about my husband's killing." Her son agrees. "I do not carry anger towards them because my Jesus was once also killed on the cross for all mankind, for the entire sinful world," Rajendra said. "My father dedicated his life for my village for people who still did not know Christ. I think for my village, my father also was killed. And by the sacrifice of his own life, they may know Jesus Christ and accept him as their only Lord and personal savior. " The Digals were one of the hundreds of people helped by VOM ministry partners, thanks to our readers. They received help with relocation, food and other basic necessities. But the aftermath of the horrific violence in Orissa has left tens of thousands of Indian Christians without homes, jobs or stability. In January the government closed the relief camps in Orissa leaving thousands homeless and without protection. Even with the uncertainty, Orissa Christians say they are strengthened by the prayers and love of Christians all over the world. Your love allows them to remain bold for Christ. "We strongly believe that Christians all over the world are praying for us," says Rajendra. "We are also praying for all of them. (Praying) that everyone should stand firm for witnessing for Jesus throughout their life."Dear Reader
I am feeling the pain of aging. There are those of you who would say I am still quite young and those of you (not mentioning any names, but...cough*....Charrlotte comes to mind) that think I am as old as the beginning of time.
On sunday I turned 19, and of course you are probably thinking "19!?What she talking about? Wait till she is my age, then tell me how old she feels." It is not that kind of aging.
There is something about turning 19, you have to give up a part of you, and except a whole new part. You can no longer resort to your child like ways, people expect you to act as an adult. You feel as if you have to hide your feelings more often than not, because you do not want everyone to see you engaging in childish behavior.
I am not saying this is a bad feeling, just an akward one. You spend your whole childhood doing such things as pretending to be someone else, finding joy in getting a new colouring book, climbing trees, passing blame when you don't want to get in trouble. When you reach that point where all these things become childish, you relize you have become what you always feared, an adult.
Well, I am a little older and a littler wiser(but not too much).
In the words of Sean O'Casey, "All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed."
Sincerely,
~Mary-Ann~\
Hello
Hello everyone! How are you all doing on this lovely day? We are good! We are richly blessed! House: Right now everything is quite nice. Timothy is drawing, Sarah, Samuel and, Matthew are taking a nice little nap. Elisha, Josiah, and Zeek are working on our barn, I am quickly writing my monthly post, and Bekah is I think either watching T.V or sleeping, She is not feeling so well today but better than yesterday. A cold is going around here but so far I and a few of the others kids have not yet got it. I am determined not to, getting sick is about the worse possible thing for me. I cant stand staying in the house and laying around its terrible! But besides the colds we are all doing quite well. We had some friends drop off some bread last night, they use a different type of wheat than us so we wanted to see if it was any good. It seems nice, I am excited about trying it out! Ranch: Our Farm is flourishing! We are going to start planting soon! I am in charge of the garden, which is quite fun! One of my Favorite things to do! I have never planted as bigs of a garden as the one I am now but I am overly excited about trying. I know without a doubt that God will bless the work of our hands! Our goats should be kidding soon. I am very excited about this! I am the Vet of our little ranch so I get to be apart of about everything that evolves animals! I have always and will always love animals! Our chicks are getting bigger everyday! Its seems as if we got them yesterday! They are just so big now! They have all their feathers! And they love to fly in their small pen. The Sheep are supposed to be lambing soon too1 I love little lambs! I use to be the Shepperd of our herd, and now My little brother is fascinated with them and loves them very much! He is now our new Shepperd of the sheep. I sometimes help a little though just to make sure they are okay, and they are a love of mine so its impossible for me to resist watching them! The Ducks are all well, They are another of my favorite things to be with. I love watching them waddle around! My little brother Timothy owns them, He truly loves them just as I do! The Rabbits are doing very well! I love to watch them hop around and stand on their back feet to look up at me! They are so adorable! I think that covers all of our animals! I will give you all updates when the Kids and Lambs arrive! Life: I think of everyday as a gift from God a blessing no matter how boring or dark it seems! I try to look at how our little chicks play and sing all the time. or how our sheep wag their tails in delight to see us. I think of the way the trees wave back and forth as if praising God! I love to just sit...listen...and Pray...those are truly my favorite things! I love to just sit and be still so I can hear the birds sing so I can hum along to the twitter of their music. I must say though I do not as much care for the cloudy days but I still find some sort of delight in them. like they way the clouds move or the way the birds rush back and forth, the way the sun shines through the clouds and lights up a special spot on the ground. I like the way the leafs rattle in the wind. the way the snow falls to the ground and ever so slowly covers the grass. The way my little brothers and sisters run around trying to catch each other.This all is a true blessing from God. I know some think I don't have any struggles and hardships but through them all God has always been there for me so all of you who think some one has it easy don't be so sure, everyone has hardships. Love your sister in Christ, Beth JoyWhat does are country need?
I am only posting this now instead of next month because I see a lot of people thinking and saying the wrong this of what our country needs (keep in mind I am actually quiet so if I can say this much what could someone else who is power do? if they had God of course). What does our Country Need? "What does our country need?" Is the question I hear people asking. Today, I share a poem as part of the answer. I have taken the poem from the Verses of Virtue book published by Vision Forum and written by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. I have added my thoughts at the bottom of the post. ~ Miss Beth Joy What does our country need? Not armies standing with dabbers gleaming ready for the fight: not increased navies, skillful and commanding, To bound the waters with a iron might; Not haughty men with glutted purses trying to purchase souls, and keep the power of place; Not Jeweled dolls with one another vying for palms of beauty, elegance, and grace. But we want woman, strong of soul, yet lowly with that rare meekness, and born of gentleness; Women whose lives are pure and clean and holy, The woman whom all little children bless; Brave, earnest woman, helpful to each other, with finest scorn for all things low and mean; Woman who hold the names of wife, mother, and sister for nobler than the title of a queen. Oh! These are they who mould the men of story, these mothers, of time shone of grace and youth, Who, worn and weary, ask no greater glory than making some young soul the home of truth; Who sow in hearts all fallow for the sowing the seeds of virtue and scorn for sin, And patient, watch the beauteous harvest growing and weed out tares which crafty hands cast in. Women who do not hold the gift of beauty as some rare treasure to be bought and sold, But guard it as a precious aid to duty- The outer framing of the inner gold; Women who, low above their cradles bending, Let flattery's voice go by, and give no heed, While their pure prayers like incense are ascending These are our country's pride, our country's need. Poem written by~Ella Wheeler Wilcox~ When this poem says, "Brave woman" it means a woman not afraid of the danger ahead not a woman in war. When it says, "beautiful woman" it means on the inside not a woman only half dressed nor a woman who look like men. If we had more women in their places and more men in theirs our country would be a lot better! Now days, women fight and die in the place of a man, We have woman at offices trying to provide for their family when the father is at home! That is not the way God has made it! He made Adam first. Women deceived Man by taking control and not seeking her husbands will or God's. Many women agree that we need real men yet they still push them out of the way saying they are not good enough, or even if they do step aside they would not fill the space well your wrong, Women has pushed man aside and slowly tried to take control. Our country is in need of both Men and Women, We need Men willing to die for our country but not willing to take a soul to hell. We need Women that provide encouragement and support for the men and push them onward in their calling. It does not matter what time you live in, Woman belong at home to help their Mothers and Fathers. If women try and take the place of a man we have a big problem! Women CAN do most things Men can do but the real question is SHOULD you do it?Dear Reader
Well, Pops came home on tuesday and has been doing as well as a man with two missing ribs can be. They took out the second rib just fine, it was not as bad as the nightmare of the first surgery. They didn't loose him this time!
Well, I know this is a short update, but I hope to have a nice long post for you in the near future.
Sincerely,
Mary-Ann
Hello!
Hello! How are you all? We are awesome! So much happens in a month! Well first The Farm: I now have my two pet rabbits! Sir Hops a lot and Lady Loppy! they are Mini Fuzzy lop ear rabbits! they are about 10 weeks old and are the cutest things ever! They are also masterminds! We got our chicks! 80 something! They are very loud at night! We also had our friends over today! It was very nice to see and play with them! They have helped me with my running a lot! I am trying to start track or something like that! I am glad we met them because I They are a very sweet family! We played tag together and I had not been tagged yet (keep in mind they are MUCH faster than me and could have tagged me very quickly!) I was hiding behind one of them (the family has have 10 kids two of them were together including the one I was hiding behind) I made the mistake of teasing my sister nearby saying "I still have yet to be tagged, you know me I am just the fastest one here" well one of their sons quickly proved me wrong, right when I said it I now he heard and I could tell (having 7 brothers) that he was going to try something...I was right for sure, I am not sure if he tried to get tagged but within a few moments he was it and right when I found out he was it a few moments to late I knew he was going to try and get me well lets just put it this way he got me. but I must admit I had lots of fun attempting to get away! We also woke up early and both of our family's met at Dennys! it was really nice we also met some of our other friends there, it was very nice to see them both again! We all had lots of fun! I also met our new vet today. He seemed nice, I think he will be of help to me, considering the fact that he said I could come down to vet office and help out! I am more than willing, first just because it means I get hands on experience second because I wont have to go to vet collage to learn the things I need to know to take care of all the problems on the ranch! I am very happy about it! and third because its always fun to help someone! Well it is now feeding time here so I must go! I hope you all were blessed to read my entry this month! Love your sister is Christ, Beth~Joy p.s super bowl went well but I dont really like foot ball its okay... though I would rather do something else (outside like RUNNING! giggles) My team lost my Sisters and Moms and Grandpas won! I am glad they liked the game though because it would not have really mattered to me if my team won, either way it was a very nice day! I must go quickly good bye!Dear Reader
Yesterday my Father went into surgery to have a rib removed. Surgery was suppose to start at 9:30 am, but of course, it wasn't started until 2:00 pm. This, however, was the least of our troubles.
When he got out of surgery at 4:15 pm, he was sent to recovery. Two hours later the update board said he was released to his room in ICU North. When Mother called in to see when he could have vistors, ICU North had no idea where he was! After calling different areas of the Hospital for 20 minutes, having no one know where he was (recovery didn't know, ICU South didn't know, Etc.) Mother went in and demanded to know where her husband was. Finally a doctor led us to the room he was suppose to be in (in a completely different part of the fourth floor), he wasn't there. It turned out he was still in recovery, so we waited in his room for about 20 more minutes before we actually got to see him at nearly 7:00 pm. You think this is bad?
At about 10:30 last night we found out that they removed the wrong rib! Sigh*, So today we get to relive yesterday all over again
. Father is glad he will get to watch the game on Sunday though, if he has to be in the hospital, at least he gets to watch football.
Well, we are leaving for the hospital soon, I need to go and get ready.
Sincerely,
~Mary-Ann~
Dear Reader
You are all probably wondering what I look like this year. Well, I must admit I look the same as I did last year and the year before, except I have added on half an inch of length in those two years, but who can tell that from a picture? My hair is still brown, my eyes are still blue, and I still have the curse of freakles. I still have the same amount of teeth (not for long though, I am having all my wisdom teeth pulled next month
), I have the same nose, My feet are still a size ten and a half narrows and my hands still fit in small gloves. I still have all my limbs, so that is a good thing. When I hurt myself it is usually bad, but never bad enough to have body parts removed. Well, if this has not convinced you, I have added a photograph at the bottom of the post for visual aid.
Just Kidding! Here is the real me.
Sincerely,
~Mary-Ann~
What we do with our free time
Yesterday I asked my sister if I could do her hair, and to my surprise she said yes. It took almost two hours and she sat through it without complaining(almost).
Poor Sarah, she had so much hair spray in her hair!
Sincerely,
~Mary-Ann~
Which is Creepier?
My friend and I had a difference of opinion this morning on which is creepier (sorry Annie, but I have nothing better to post about), so I thought I would let the rest of you decide. This a rather odd and random question, but here it goes.
Which is Creepier:
Little boys having crushes on older girls (much older)?
Or
The sinking of the Titanic?
Isn't it sad what teenage girls think up in the morning when they have nothing to do? Please, take the time to vote.
Sincerely,
~Mary-Ann~
{ Last Page } { Page 2 of 5 } { Next Page }
About Me
My Profile
Archives
Friends
My Photo Album
Links
Categories
Recent Entries
The Perfect Birthday Party. MOTHER, READ THIS!!!!!!I bought a Mustang for $550!!
Flooded
Details on T.J.
Bye bye my baby.
Friends
horsegirl7poppy