This is awesome!  Hope you enjoy it!

Malachi  3:3 says:

'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.'

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up.

He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says:

'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.'

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'

He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.'

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember  that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Blessings,

Carol

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Does anyone know what happened to Scarecrow?  I just realized his blog disappeared.  Praying he's doing okay!

Blessings,
Carol

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My son, Luke, is now an official blogger here on Homesteadblogger.  He is so excited!  If you have a chance, please visit him at Luke's Place.  He would love to have you stop by!

Blessings,

Carol

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I'm sure this is one email everyone has received at least once, but it's certainly worth repeating and sharing with your children!

Blessings,
Carol

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time..

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. 
 

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Well, it seems that while I was offline a few months ago, I was tagged by none other than Randy, aka Scarecrow.  Here are the rules:

Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, although it has been quite a while since I was tagged, here goes:

1.  I am only 5 feet tall.

2.  For as far back as I can remember, I have ALWAYS wanted to live in the country - just haven't  realized my dream yet.

3.  I always get chocolate covered cherries in my stocking at Christmas.

4.  I am allergic to bananas and avocados.

5.  I have always lived in Texas.

6.  I have three surviving children, and seven in heaven.

7.  I love learning about anything pertaining to homesteading.

Now, instead of tagging others, I'll just say. . .

"If you read this, consider yourself tagged!" 

If you decide to do this, please leave me a message and let me know!

Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

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You may have already heard this, but this is just so awesome, it's worth repeating.  A 13 year old boy from a ranch in Nebraska called a Christian radio station distraught from having to take down a calf.  Listen to what the Lord taught him:

Logan, the Sky Angel Cowboy

(Sorry, I don't know how to embed the video or I would have done it!)

Blessings,
Carol

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Please be praying for this precious little guy and his parents:

http://www.prayforcoy.blogspot.com/

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I received this in my inbox and thought I'd pass it along . . .

THIS IS TRUE....PASS TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE WITH CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN OR KNOW SOMEONE WITH CHILDREN....in other words, EVERYONE YOU KNOW
this is disturbing. thought I would share so you would be informed and then base a decision from there.

You may already know about this, but I just learned about a kidʼs
movie coming out in December starring Nicole Kidman. It's called The
Golden Compass, and while it will be a watered down version, it is based
on a series of children's books about killing God (It is the
anti-Narnia). Please follow this link, and then pass it on. From what
I understand, the hope is to get a lot of kids to see the movie - which
won't seem too bad - and then get the parents to buy the books for their
kids for Christmas. The quotes from the author sum it all up. I'm
going to tell everyone about this movie. I hope it totally bombs
because we were all paying attention!
If any of you have read this book or know more I would be very interested.
http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp
 

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As many of you already know, I am really big into natural type things - eating whole, organic foods; using herbs and essential oils; and so on.  One thing that has bothered me was the world of makeup.  Our skin is our biggest organ, and what we put on our bodies is just as important as what we put in it.  Most makeup has a lot of really bad stuff in it.  You can go to Skin Deep, type in your brand of cosmetics, and it will tell you what the ingredients are and what harm they can cause you.  Also, if you visit www.mercola.com and type in cosmetics, you will find a lot of articles on the dangers many wearers of cosmetics face.

My daughter and I have tried some new makeup and really love it.  It is called Affordable Mineral Makeup.  I actually had tried a different brand of mineral makeup before but just wasn't impressed (with the results AND the price!).  This, however, looks so natural and is really inexpensive compared to other brands.  Also, there are only four ingredients in this makeup:  zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, mica, and iron oxides; all natural ingredients from the earth.  There are no fillers such as cornstarch or bismuth, no chemicals, parabens, petroleum, oils, or dyes, and no preservatives.  My 14 year old daughter is just now getting interested in makeup, and I wanted to find something simple, pure and natural for her; something I felt good about letting her (and myself) put on.

Anyway, since we loved it so much, I have decided to become a consultant, and now have my own website.  The wonderful thing about this company is that you can purchase samples of the makeup to see if you like it and to figure out what shade looks best on you, before you buy a container of it and find that it doesn't suit you at all.  In fact, that's what I did the first time I tried it - just purchased different samples and tried them out.  I hope you check it out for yourself - if not my makeup, at least check your own out and make sure you are not adding unnecessary risks to your health!

Blessings,
Carol

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My sweet daughter sent me this video from Godtube.com.  It's an amazing reminder of just how much Jesus loves us.  Enjoy!

www.godtube.com/view_video.php

(P.S.  I tried to embed the video, but couldn't get it to work.  If anyone knows how to do this, I sure would appreciate any help!)

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I got this email from my daughter.  Thought I'd pass it along!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-If Wal-Mart is lowering prices every day, how come nothing in the store is free yet?
-A classic is a book that is much praised yet rarely read
-I'm very responsible, when ever something goes wrong they always say I'm responsible.
-A self-addressed envelope would be addressed 'envelope'.
-Birthdays are good for you - the more you have the longer you live.
-Everybody lies, but it doesn't matter since nobody listens.
-If a cow laughs hard, does milk come out its nose?
-If beauty is only skin deep, I must be inside out!
-If tomorrow never comes, then, you're dead.
-If you blow in a dog's face-he'll get mad at you, but take him for a ride in the car - the first thing he does is stick his head out of the window!
-Long periods of drought are always followed by rain.
-Love letters, business contracts and money always arrive three weeks late, whereas junk mail arrives the day it was sent.
-The elephant is the only mammal that can't jump.
-The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is 'uncopyrightable'!
-The only cure for insomnia is to get more sleep.
-The only ones who aren't grateful on Thanksgiving are turkeys.
-To a worm, digging in the hard ground is more relaxing than going fishing.
-Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
-The force is like Duct Tape - it has a dark side, it has a light side, and it binds the universe together!
-A hug is a great gift - one size fits all and its easy to exchange
-111,111,111 x 111,111,111 =12,345,678,987,654,321
-"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".
-A snail can sleep for 3 years.
-Grape jelly does not melt in hot tea.
-No President of the United States was an only child.
-Peanuts are one of the ingredients in dynamite.
-Shakespeare invented the words 'assassination' and 'bump'.
-The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tub and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
-The characters Bert and Ernie were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's 'Its A Wonderful Life'.
-The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
-The original color of coca-cola was green.
-There is 336 dimples on a golf ball
-Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

Blessings,

Carol,

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 I found this article on Dr. Mercola's site.  It has lots of wonderful tips!

http://johnplaceonline.com/stress-management/11-causes-and-cures-for-procrastination/

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I was tagged by Debbie (meme21713)!!  Here are the rules:

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I just read this on one of the boards I'm on.  This is pretty scary!

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp

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Just got this email today and thought I would pass it on . . .

Please forward to anyone with children... or hunters, people who do yard work, gardeners, etc!!

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