These past two weeks have been sort of a reflecting time for me.  Looking back at what I’ve done over the last few years and all the “stuff” I’ve accumulated was eye opening.  Looking through our storage room, I found box after box of “stuff” that at the time it was acquired held a lot of importance to me.  Now, the majority of the stuff holds very little value to me and has no usefulness at this point in my life.  Therefore, I have been purging the stuff from my house to simplify life.

While going through the process of purging the unnecessary items from my house, it becomes a time of soul searching and spiritual purging also.  The emotions, attitudes and ideas that accompany stages of our lives can weigh down our faith and can distract us from our day to day relationship with God that is the very foundation of our life. No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one , and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (money/stuff) Luke 16:13.  I find that stuff doesn’t matter and I have no attachment to most of the material items in my house and my “old ways” of serving and worshiping need to be replaced with a new dedication to study and prayer time.  God is so patient with us all and I am so grateful for His mercy.

My physical home is becoming less cluttered and I am going to be focusing on new attitudes and ways that God  wants to use me and my heart and life.  In all things I trust God completely and focus on this verse that is over our office door.

This is the time for next year’s High School Seniors to plan their senior picture sessions.  I would love the chance to do some sessions because these are my favorite because every person is different because we can focus on the PERSONALITY of the senior.  It’s so much fun to plan and come up with unique ideas.  Here’s what I am offering:

2 hour session

2 locations (your choice locally)

2 outfits

props that represent your interest, sports, activities are welcome

You will receive 30 fully edited photos on digital storage with release for printing.

(I do not print to keep the cost down.)

My Price for this session is $150.00

call me or text 417-619-2744 or 417-866-6246 to schedule a session

Here’s some samples of my Senior Photos

TAKE A STAND TO HELP SOMEONE IN SOME WAY THIS WEEK!!!

Have a great week.

Last night I spent a lot of time on social media commenting on FB stories and tweeting on twitter posts about the election.  There’s much misinformation out there and I wanted to add my opinion to the mix.  All in all, I don’t pander or mince words, but I try not to be insulting in a personal way.  However, I know last night I was very straight forward on a couple of posts.  Here’s a devotional I missed reading yesterday that caused me to pause and rethink my approach.

I pray for God’s help that in stating an opinion or trying to shed light on this election process that I will be helpful, not harmful.  That while speaking my opinion on the media, candidates and our overall country that I will cause people to stop and contemplate rather than tune me out.

Over the last 15 years or so  I have been a truly devoted 24/7 viewer of Fox News.  At time it drove my family nuts with it’s constant presence in our home.  It is with much regret that I have now turned it off.  The regret is because for anyone who has been a stay at home parent or who spends a lot of time alone at home, your “TV noise” becomes like a friend to you.  I have turned Fox News off because of a lack of credibility in this election process.  Although there is a definite bias and cheering of Trump constantly, this isn’t the main problem.  Even worse than being Trumpeteers, they are being irresponsible and dangerously inciting their viewers.  The issue of HOW election process works is something that goes to the very fiber of our country.  To have a channel full of hosts that have represented themselves as friendly to conservative principles betray the constitutional conservative value of our Republic by endorsing changes to our system of governing by removing the emphasis on states rights is disgraceful.  Some of the worst examples are hosts such as Sean Hannity, Eric Bolling, the crew of Fox and Friends, the Outnumbered women, and Bill O’reilly.  Now even Megyn Kelly is softening her attitude toward a Trump candidacy after facing, literally, threats to her well-being by his campaign.

The election process is not a secret.  If you are a responsible voter, I challenge you to learn about it. Use your computer or go to an actual library and LEARN.  It is each voters’ INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY to know the process and to not buy into the anger being riled up by a media that couldn’t care less about the foundation of our country being saved and strengthened.  Fox News is a dangerous propaganda tool that will have blood on their hands if there is violence at a contested convention in Cleveland.  With their irresponsible rhetoric and hosts, they are causing Americans to think they are being cheated.  There is a political process that is playing out right now and that is NOT NEW and Fox News knows that.

Having said all that, part of the narrative is now going to be that Cruz has no way to win. That is SIMPLY NOT TRUE.  He may not be able to win before a contested convention, although, as I pray to God for a righteous man, I have faith that He can cause anything to happen.

Look at Trump and Cruz.  If, as Christians, we pray and ask God to send us a righteous leader and we have these two choices before us, does one fit the righteous description more than the other?  I believe so.  While Ted Cruz may be the person I believe God has given us for this time, I put NO FAITH in the MAN to heal our land.  ONLY GOD can heal our land through willing vessels.

One of the candidates, Trump, boasts of his wealth and accomplishments achieved by any means available to use.  The other candidate, Cruz, in a speech last night encouraged “we the people” that we don’t need him if as a people we join together to preserve this wonderful gift of America we’ve been given.  The scripture in Proverbs 16:8 says that “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right”.

Donald Trump has denied needing God’s forgiveness and said this past week that his favorite Bible passage is “an eye for and eye”.  Ted Cruz can tell you his salvation experience and his need for daily forgiveness and leadership.  Which man do you, as a Christian, trust to follow God’s direction.

Proverbs 15:18 says, “A wrathful man stirreth up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife”.  Most Trump supporters are angry that they have been cheated and mistreated.  Ted Cruz supporters mainly say they are concerned for the future of America and our Constitution.

So on a day when the world tells us that we should accept an election between two of the same, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump who have both been Democrats for years, I saw this scripture reference twice in one hour, by different sources and I thought hmmmm…. that seems important.  What I saw was:  “For no word from God will ever fail” Luke 1:37. Another version of that verse more widely known is: “For with God nothing shall be impossible”.  Either version rings true that God will keep the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people who are called by name shall humble themselves pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land”.

So many people have said that Ted Cruz is unlikeable that people wouldn’t support him, well if he is what he professes then God will help him find favor even with those who don’t like him.  In Proverbs 16:7 scripture says that, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

This week I suggest we TAKE A STAND.  If you believe in a certain candidate, put it out there.  It’s easy to sit back and wait to see what happens.  If you believe in a candidate vow to pray daily for that candidate and for our country.  Pray for America to become humble, to acknowledge God in public places, to stop killing our unborn and to stand unashamedly with Israel.  Take a stand for the sake of our religious liberties in this country and express your belief that only God can heal this land.

I want to thank my Heavenly Father for knowing the heart of a worried mom and Mema and giving me comfort.  He heard all the prayers and has placed Erica and her family in a safe neighborhood and school.  That is a comfort to Eric and I since we are far away from them.  Thank God for his blessings on our family.

TAKE A STAND this week and have a great one!

In the past week, I have seen various speeches of Donald Trump blasting Ted Cruz and the RNC for “stealing” delegates from him.  It is not stealing if you never had them.  The Republican party is following the same basic rules they have for years, with small changes from time to time, however one thing that hasn’t changed is to win the nomination you have to have the MAJORITY of the delegates on a vote in the convention.  If you have MOST but NOT A MAJORITY on the first vote, then you don’t win outright.  There will be a second vote and subsequent votes until someone wins a MAJORITY of the delegates which the number for this year is 1237.  If you don’t have 1237, you don’t win.  It is called RULES.  We have RULES for a reason.  Trump likes to say that we are a nation of laws, well, we are a party of rules.  If you don’t want to play by rules, DON’T PLAY!!  Stop whining and get to work to win the 1237.  Trump has the same chance as all the others.

The media is being very disingenuous in explaining how the convention works.  Especially Fox News!  I am concerned that they are riling up the voters.  Fox News hasn’t reported that these rules have been in place since the time of Abraham Lincoln.  Look up the history of the Republican conventions.  Trump has said if he gets the most votes when he gets to the convention, it should just be his.  THAT IS NOT HOW IT WORKS.  He says we are a democracy, we are not a direct democracy, AMERICA IS A CONSTITUTIONAL REPBULIC.  We don’t live in a country of MOB RULE.  We have a representative government.  DO NOT BE FOOLED BY a bully trying to go against the rules and say they don’t apply to him.  If the Republican party does something dirty after the first vote, then will be the time to get upset, not now.  TRUMP is his own problem right now, not the RNC and certainly not Cruz.

Here’s a copy of the postcard that Ted Cruz has put out for his flat tax plan.

I shared a link  on my Facebook to the interview done by Megyn Kelly with Heidi Cruz.  It was a good look at the potential First Lady.  It was definitely worth watching.

So, personally this past week, we got Erica and family moved to Virginia.  We helped them come from Pensacola to here, then they had a truck load their stuff and left here on Monday.  They are there now, starting a new phase again.  These photos were taken over the weekend with Shawn’s family.  I have mixed emotions of course, because I will miss them.  I just thank God daily for his assurance that he has them in his hands and for all the awesome technology we have these days.

There’s a lot going on right now and it is really easy to get so wrapped up in our own drama and not realize that a kind word can make a huge difference to a person having a bad day.  Take a Stand this week and do something for someone to bring a smile to their face.  Don’t let life overwhelm you and lose your sense of humanity.

Have a wonderful week.