Making your mark

God has a unique blueprint for your life that only you can fulfill. No one else has your fingerprints, and no one else can do what God has specifically ordained for you to do. Make your distinct, eternal mark here on earth in this timeline of history, for you are a history maker.  Join Beth today as she shares encouragement from God’s word about fulfilling His great purpose and plan.

Making new friends – Russian missionaries

Isn’t it awesome when you make new friends?

This week I made a new friend, Nika Aksutin, who is across the world from Russia. She and her husband Zhenya have a ministry in a village near their city Birobidzhan.  They are missionaries to Russian Jews.  You can read about their work at their blog,  Far East Russia For God’s Glory.  Recently they had a children’s summer camp where they studied the nations of the world.  Don’t you just love the hands-on learning with crosstitch, stained glass windows, and drama?

Also, about 20 pastors and leaders of Far East Russian churches just received training at the Far East Russia Bible college, with Bill Mills of Training National Trainers. This program has been done in China, Kazakhstan,  Vietnam, the Phillipines and others, but this was the first time this program had been done in Russia.

Nika also has a ladies’ club where they make crafts, scrapbook, do crafts, crosstitch, and sew quilts. I have never learned to sew or make quilts, but my grandmother did. I absolutely love this teacup quilt – so  creative! Their ladies’ night out sounded fun. Nika, can I come to the next one?  :)

You can see more of this beautiful quilt at Nika’s blog, Craft For Christ Glory.

Weddings should be like this!

Today our daughter Heather sent me this You Tube link. This is the way weddings SHOULD be – occasions of great joy!  Let it fully load first, and then play.  Enjoy!

Paypal should be up & running now!

Paypal should be up and running now when you click on it, to purchase my ebook, Walking With God.

I am taking a little time out today to watch a chic flic to unwind.

What are some of your favorite chic flics?  I love almost anything with Reese Witherspoon, Meg Ryan, and Meryl Streep.  What do you do to relax and have fun?

Technical difficulties with Paypal

I am having technical difficulties with my Paypal button for the ebook purchase. When I clicked on it to test it, it says “Old version of Paypal. This is probably related to the use of bookmarks.” ??? I will resolve this problem as soon as I can…thank you for your patience!

Ebook now ready for you!

My ebook on prayer Walking With God is now ready!  Finishing it makes me want to just break out dancing like the monkeys and other animals at the rave party in the cartoon movie Madagascar (the first movie), who sang, “I like to move it, move it!”

To find out more information about my ebook, just go to the heading “Ebooks” on the red navigational bar at the top of the page, and click on Walking With God. I pray it blesses and encourages you to draw closer to God in prayer!

Thank you, sweet Jesus, for all that You’ve done!

Book and ebook on prayer almost ready for you!

I am SOOOOO excited!  My ebook, Walking With God, is almost ready for you to purchase here on my website!  My friend Ruby Fleurcius, entrepreneur, author, speaker, and owner of her own publishing company, just finished editing the manuscript, putting the booklet and ebook into pdf format, and when I shared what I wanted for my cover, she designed the beautiful cover for the booklet and ebook that I just LOVE!  

Ruby is a beautiful, anointed, creative, encouraging woman of God. Be sure to check out her website, Spiritually Fit. And don’t you just love her name? Her worth is truly above rubies, as Proverbs 31 says.

You will be able to buy my ebook, Walking With God, here at Tablet Of My Heart for just $10.99 using Paypal, one of the most secure online transaction methods. If you do not have a Paypal account, you can go here to sign up.

The ebook will be available in pdf format. You can download the latest version of Adobe Reader 9 for free here.

Stay tuned for news about the ebook so you can get your copy soon!

Slow down and enjoy those you love

I was looking through some old photos on my laptop tonight, and tears filled my eyes as I looked at our daughter Leah, from just a couple of years ago. The years seem to be flying now, and all too soon she will be on her own, out of the nest as her older sisters are, married with their own children. 

God has given us a measured portion of time here on earth.  Far too often we rush through our days, checking off the things on our to-do list, our minds on the next-important-thing-to-do, but not mindful of what really matters – our relationship with God and those around us. We get so busy with our lives, that we fail to really live it.

We need to slow down, and enjoy the moments.  Pay attention to our husbands and children, friends, neighbors, and others around us.  Listen to them. Talk to them. Ask about their dreams. Laugh together. Take a walk. Admire the beautiful flowers or stars together. Eat an ice cream cone.  Watch the ducks on the lake at the park.  Just be together. Life goes all too fast.  Slow down.  That to-do list can wait. Nothing matters more than those we love.

Wild summer fun!

Today our homeschool group had a field trip to Cedar Cove Feline Sanctuary & Education Center in Louisburg, KS. They have six or seven big Siberian tigers, a white tiger, cougars, bobcats, caracals, and wolves. 

The center is staffed by volunteers who are dedicated to helping preserve endangered large cats, and educating the public about their behavior, physiology, habitats, and threats of extinction.  Our tour guide, Steve, was extremely knowledgeable about the animals, and let us admire them as long as we wanted, patiently answering all our questions. His love for and dedication to the animals at Cedar Cove is very evident. The center has an all-volunteer staff.

One of the tigers was playing with his dish here. 

They are such gorgeous creatures! I could have watched them for hours! 

They are fed raw meat every two days, such as beef, deer, chicken, horse, and emu. We were able to observe the tigers eating a huge “meatball.” 

In a larger grassy area where there’s more room for one of their big male tigers to roam,  Steve was able to get him to run alongside him by the fence. The tiger even allowed Steve to pet its head.

It takes a long time for the animals to get used to a volunteer’s appearance and smell, and even then Steve and other volunteers - or even the owner – do not get into the cages with them, because of the risk of attack. None of the animals have ever escaped the center that has been open since 2000. It is secure.  The owner, Billy Pottorff, was a Vietnam Veteran, who saw many big cats lose their habitat during the war and pledged to help.

 

 This cougar is 18 1/2 years old, which most cougars do not live to in the wild (their average life span is 8 to 13 years there). They have the greatest range of wild mammals in the Western Hemisphere, living in Canada all the way to South America.

They are also known as pumas, panthers, or mountain lions. They eat deer, elk, bighorn sheep, horse, and cattle.  They can run up to 45 mph. They are well known for their screams, but rarely attack humans.

This guy was absolutely beautiful. 

 

The owner of Cedar Cove, Billy Pottorff, has had two timberwolves since they were pups, a brother and a sister. Timberwolves are also called gray wolves because they’re often gray, but can be white or black.  They live in North America, Europe, and Asia.  They travel in packs in the wild.  There is usually an alpha(dominate) male and an alpha female in the pack. As Steve was interacting with the wolves, they would try to assert their dominance with each other. If one jumped on him, the other had to jump on him, too. 

In the wild, wolves eat birds and mammals like deer and caribou.  These timberwolves at Cedar Cove are now seven months old, and are used to our tour guide Steve’s appearance and smell. They played with him inside the fenced area, just like a dog would!  They would put their nose into his hand for him to pet them, and jump on his chest for him to stroke their fur.  They resemble Alaskan Huskies, but are much leaner – with a lot sharper teeth!  Despite the fear surrounding them, wolves do not usually attack humans, except in cases where it’s trying to protect its territory from invasion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This medium-sized, spotted cat is called a serval, an African wild cat. It has long legs, and can run up to 50 mph. In the wild, it eats birds, hares, fish, insects, and frogs, but can also eat larger animals like gazelle or springbok.  It can jump very high, is highly intelligent, and has incredible problem-solving skills. While we observed the serval at Cedar Cove, it jumped from Steve’s arms onto the fence, and began climbing toward the roof of the pen, looking for any openings for escape, then quickly jumped onto a branch a few feet away. We were surprised at how the serval allowed Steve to hold him, just like a house cat would!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a great time at the center. It’s open to the public year round.  Admission is $5 for adults, and 5 years & under are free. And of course, after you enjoy your tour, the kids can shop at the little store that has a variety of souvenirs such as buttons, postcards, and soft, stuffed animals in all sizes. Our daughter Leah picked out hers, too.  This is a great place to take your family for affordable, educational “wild” summer fun! 

Growing up

Our daughter Heather’s girls recently became “big girls” – Annabelle, 5 years old, got her very first haircut, and Violet, 3 years old, got her ears pierced. Let’s just say they had two totally different reactions to the events. 

Here is Annabelle, eager for her new transformation, and after her cut. Precious!

 Now, for Violet.  She was so excited to get her ears pierced…then she felt the needle through her lobe.  Her screams that echoed throughout the store  convinced Annabelle to wait a year before getting her ears pierced.   Oh well,beauty does have its price.  The tears soon dried, though, and Violet now goes around, pointing out her “pretty ears.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 They are growing up so fast, they will be driving next.

Next Page »