Most people and friends have send me feedback on which pictures they choose. On top of all, they choose a picture of a pair of glass laid on the 'Bible' with a paw of a cat. I believe they have chosen very wisely, and that is one I choose. I have a reason behind the picture.

When one morning I have homework assignment due that night at Clark College. I have been worried what to shoot, my mind is so blank, would not think of anything else to shoot. Then I knelt and pray for His wisdom help me to choose something that will bring glory to Him.

With this, I get up, and looked around the living room and walked into the kitchen. My eyes fell on a beautiful leather Bible, a gift for my son's graduation from his church. I decided maybe Lord wanted me to use this Bible for the shooting assignment. So I took this Bible and laid it open on the table on the white board.

Then I began to shoot. All a sudden, our young black and white cat jumped onto the table and purred in front of my lens. It get in my way of shooting, even being caught snapping shown in the picture. It annoyed me. I processed to delete the bad ones with half body of cat in the way. I moved the cat away from the Bible, but she subbornly laid down beside the Bible comfortablely. I began to shoot some more. Then I noticed cat's paws in the picture. Idea came into my mind.

Away went I shoot several more of cat's paws and her body as a part of picture with Bible. I added an pair of glass that belongs to my older son. It completes the picture. I really am happy with the picture, knowing it is God's way of saying 'Here is my idea of putting cat in your way so you can be more creativity, and having fun as well.'

I like idea of cat's paw in the picture. I chose that picture because it can say, 'I can read the scripture for you, John 3:16!'

Hope you enjoy!

Screaming! Screaming!

I was climbing up the stairs this afternoon to retrieve my favorite black jacket from my bedroom. My eyes caught something on left side to the boys' bedroom in the hall. I saw my dog sitting in the box under the warm light. I screamed at top of my lung!! The first thing came to my mind wondering, 'Did my dog eat all three duck eggs???!!??'

My dog look startled at my screaming and she stared at me from the box.

She has not made any move when I draws near. I checked the box, much to my relief the all three Mallard duck eggs that my son just recently discovered by the road (the mother Mallard duck was killed by traffic) are still there laid beside her.

While I kneeled and watched her, she made a soft nozzle nosing at these three eggs. As if she is making a new friends with these eggs. Seem that she knew the eggs are animals, and perhaps she planned to take care of the eggs. At same time, she feel so good under the warm light is big reason for her jump into the box and being roasted under the light.

I was smiling at the sweet and innocent mother dog, and then I ran downstairs to grab my camera and came back to shot the several pictures of cute sighting.

Enjoy.

Finally after she was done nozzling at these three eggs, and laid her chin down to go sleep peacefully while guarding her new friends, duck eggs. I am happy to witness the sweet and innocent mother dog taking care of another animals. Thanked God for wonderful experience!

Out of the Mouth of Babes - written by Ellie Green

I read this story, and got a laugh out of it and sort of sweet truth in it. I thought I would like to share with you what Ellie Green wrote.

"During a Sabbath worship service in our church in Charlotte, North Carolina, the elder assigned to lead the morning prayer asked the congregation to kneel and join him in a season of silent prayer. As everyone the the pews began kneeling, I decided to remain seated to avoid disturbing Riley, my 2-year-old granddaughter, who was comfortably snuggled in my lap with her eyes closed and her favorite pink pacifier in her mouth.

All went well for a few seconds. Then the sudden absence of sound in the sanctuary as the congregation prayed silently caused her little eyes to snap open in puzzlement. She listened intently for a moment. Then, in the continuing stillness, she sat bolt upright. For several moments she gazed at the people whose heads were bowed and eyes closed. Then, jerking the pacifier out of her mouth, she startled everyone around us by yelling at the top of her lungs, "WAKE UP!"

Riley was confused by the unexpected laughter of the worshipping saints. Looking up at me, she innocently asked, "Why is everybody laughing at me?"

I hugged her to muffle my own giggles and said, "They are laughing because you just preached the best sermon I have ever heard. And you did it in just two words!"

Riley's advice is biblical, you know. You will find it in Romans 13:11: "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." Jesus is coming soon. The signs are all around us. The world is in turmoil. The celestial clock is ticking the final countdown of the ages. This is not the time to be spiritually lethargic and apathetic! It is not the time to have our spiritual eyes closed. Jesus is coming very soon. And sometimes when we least expected it, out of the mouth of a babe and straight to our hearts comes a vital message: 'WAKE UP!"

Thank you, Riley. And thank You, Jesus. We are so glad Your coming is near."

If I love You

Written by Judy Johnson
April 5, 2008

If I love You -
I will take out the trash.

If I love You -
I will drag myself from the busy morning, day or night to open
the loving Bible and sit down to read about how to love you better.

If I love You -
I will stop whatever I am doing and kneel or quietly close my eyes
and pray to be saved by your Love.

If I love You -
I will want to give up my bad habits.

If I love You -
I will regularly go to bed early to stay healthy and be nourished.

If I love You -
I will take time to chat with you.

If I love You -
I will cut my time on the computer.

If I love You -
I will wake up early, around 6 or 7 am to say 'thank you' for your wisdom.

If I love You -
I will stop worrying so much about cooking to please others.

If I love You -
I will stop watching too much T.V. and pay more attention to You.

These are 'lists' of 'If I love You's' and 'wills'.
But without Your love, I am nothing.

It is better to have Your love in me to do the things willingly
So I may find delight in serving You.

Beautiful Flowers God had made...

I took my dogs for a walk. I came by and saw this flower blossomed and glittered after shower of rain that day. How beautiful it is! I wanted to share with you for a moment to bright your day.

A Breakthrough

Written by Judy Johnson
March 13, 2008

I have been struggling with the parable of the ten virgins from the Bible for a long time - ever since I can remember - as a child trying to understand the meaning behind that parable. Jesus told it to his disciples and they wrote it down. Then a breakthrough came for me! First - understanding its important meaning for us as individuals. What makes us different from each other person is our 'character'. This came as a surprise, but this aspect is the key to understanding the parable.

How do we recognize what sets the five virgins apart from the other five virgins? Why are they called, 'the wise' and 'the foolish' virgins? Both the foolish and wise virgins have the exact same thing - the great assistant, Holy Spirit. The Spirit whispers into their ears, or puts ideas into their minds to know which is right or wrong. All the ten virgins loved Jesus. They serve the Lord. Then what is it that makes them different?

The Bible talks of the 'extra oil' and that puzzled me for a long time. I first thought it was extra 'Holy Spirit' to live in our hearts. I was almost right. But there is more to it than that.

A breakthrough came when I realized the place of 'character'. I wondered what does it have to do with the 'extra oil' that the five wise virgins have.

When they woke up, the five foolish virgins found out they did not have 'extra oil'. They went and asked the five wise virgins to give them some of the oil that the wise virgins had saved.

What does character have to do with the 'extra oil'? First, we need to understand what character is. Character is what you are thinking and feeling even when people are not around or looking. It is the real you. I would like to quote from D.L. Woody's writing, "Character is what you are in the dark."

The five wise virgins asked the Holy Spirit to help build their character - to be a better person. The Holy Spirit is to help shape their thinking and feeling. It is their responsibility every day is to ask the Holy Spirit to step into their hearts to renew their spiritual commitment to God. Also, the Holy Spirit helps them to improve their relationship with God. That is the 'extra oil' Jesus was talking about with the five wise virgins. It is found in the character and the fruits of the Spirit. It is shown as written in Galatians 5:22, 23. The Holy Spirit cultivated their thoughts and feelings. Thus, the true character of Jesus was shown in their hearts. This gives them the 'seal' of eternal life from Jesus - to be with Jesus, the groom.

When the groom finally comes, all ten virgins wake up from sleeping and find their oil has run out while they were sleeping. The five foolish virgins panicked when they discovered they were not prepared, and did not have 'extra oil'.

The five foolish virgins did not bother to ask the Holy Spirit to come into their hearts. The five foolish virgins did not bother to change their way of life. They did not let the Holy Spirit help build their foolish virgins' thoughts and feelings so that they revolved around Jesus. That is the important part they have missed. They may have gone to church regularly, paid their tithe faithfully, and been very involved in serving in the 'duties ' within the church. Life may have become so hectic [busy] that they may have had no time set apart to pray, study and talk with Jesus. They did not invite Him into their hearts daily or, they may not have wanted to change their lifestyle. They were still the same person as before. They may feel no need to improve the character of their thoughts and feelings in their daily life. They may think they have plenty of time to 'enjoy' life before they change their lifestyle.

Too often someone has told me that they would wait until they get to their forty's or sixty's to change their life. They think to wait until they are getting old, then invite Jesus into their lives. I wonder - what if their plane crashed, or they had an auto accident or were shot by some drive-by gangster. What if their life is taken away from them and they are unprepared, and all is utterly lost. How that grieves me!

On the other hand, the interesting part that strikes me as odd is this. All the ten virgins heard that the groom was coming around the corner. When the five foolish virgins found out that their oil ran out, they turned to ask the five wise virgins to share their 'extra oil' with them.

That strikes me right there. How did the five foolish virgins know what they needed to do? They needed their lamps lit so the groom can identify who they are. The five foolish virgins do not have light in their lamps because they did not have 'extra oil'. The five foolish virgins are totally left in the darkness.

Now, the five wise virgin's response to the five foolish virgins is: 'We are sorry and we cannot spare the extra oil with you. If we give it to you, we will not be enough left for us. You must go and buy it at the store.' The five foolish virgins hurried off in search for the store in the middle of night.

Stop there a moment. Why can not the five wise virgins share the extra oil with the five foolish virgins? Let 's go back to the 'character' that I was talking about. Our character is our thoughts and feelings in the dark when no one is looking. The very nature of your decisions and your choices that comes up in the light, is who you are. It is like a pearl produced in the oyster. When it is pried open, the beautiful shape of the pearl come to the light, to please the eyes of the creator. That is like the secret work of Holy Spirit cultvated inside your heart. When the character is opened, the true colors of your character appear.

The whole point is, the foolish virgin cannot copy your character, because you cannot give them your own personal experience with Jesus. Jesus made it impossible for them to get it from you. Your character is like a blueprint. Character is not transferable. It cannot pass on to another person. It is your own individual character. Jesus makes you that way. You will have to tell them to go and ask the Holy Spirit to give it to them, but the 'store' is closed in the middle of the night. There is a time coming when the door to the Holy Spirit will be closed. No one can then get that holy oil from their neighbor.

Character is the only thing that the five wise virgins can carry with them to the groom's wedding. It is hard to believe how very boldly the Groom says to the five foolish virgins knocking at the door, 'I am sorry - I do not know who you are.' It is too then late for them to change when Jesus, the groom, comes.

Let us think about how serious this is. We must get that extra oil NOW!

Edited by PB

What would happen to you?

Written by Judy Johnson
March 21, 2008

The other night as I laid on my side of our master bed and I was thinking. Questions went twirling through my mind. What would happen to me if I asked the Lord to show me my future? What if I could be allowed to see the all the different results that would be the end of the several different paths - if I were to choose that path? If I could see would it then be easier to make my decision if I have seen ahead and choose them result that satisfied me.

Suppose I was shown several different results of my choices at the end of each path. I would perhaps became confused, or torn between these choices. Which would I choose of two paths or three paths? Perhaps there would be too many choices that would be shown to me. I might feel scared and not sure which should I take . . I cannot take two different paths at the same time.

Now I may perhaps understand why God does not tell me everything that will happen to me if I choose that path, or the other path. I might feel scared to make any decision for fear of making a terrible mistake. If I had known several different paths, I would have become worried so much and get sick and die. I could not handle the stress of worrying too much.

If I was a child, I would not want to take over the job of parenting. If I took over parenting while I was a little girl, I could not handle the 'adult problems' very well on my own. Let the older parents do the worrying, and let the children play and have good times until they are old enough to take on parenting.

The answer is already given to the question, 'What would happen to you?' It would be best to be blindfolded, and learn to trust the Lord to lead in our life.

I am happy to tell you that I learned something of great value in trusting while being blindfolded. I watched on the TV the other day about a couple who were seated in their van. Their therapist told one driver to put on the blindfold. And, the driver was told to trust his partner telling him which direction he should drive when parking in the parking lot. The partner shouted to the blindfolded male driver,

'Go left, left, left!'

'NO NO NO! Go back a little to the right.'

'Yes, yes! That's right!'

'Oh, there is a post ahead of you on the left. Swerve to the right a little further.'

'Yes, you are doing the right thing.'

'Go, go, very slowly! Now, you are entering the parking zone.'

'Let's drive straight a few more feet. Stop! STOP!'

'There you are! Finally turn to 'P' on your gear stick and park the van now.'

There were several other couples who got messed up when the drivers got confused when listening to the voic. Sometimes the partner was not clear enough, or did not speak soon enough before they hit some post or an other car beside them in the parking lot.

But with God. It is different. God would be patient, speaking in His calm voice. He directs us where we should go even while we are blindfolded to our future. We are to listen to His voice. We must listen very carefully, not going ahead prematurely or getting ourselves hurt. God knows where you are going. Let Him take care of worrying about your future.

God would help us brace for any thing that befalls us. This is a lot less frightening than knowing everything ahead that would further scare us.

Edited by PB