Propaganda’s Victory Dance

Last night I made the journey to the video store hoping for some quality entertainment.  I came home disappointed.  As a family we do not watch television.  We get enough network programing during visits to grandma’s house.  Now, before you think that I have taken leave of my senses let me explain.  We live in a small town that does not boast of a television station.  We cannot pick up TV without cable.  When my kids were very small we were monetarily challenged & decided that the $30-$40 a month would be better spent on things that were edible, so we cancelled our cable.  We were amazed at the immediate difference in our children.  Our son (the youngest) was the most changed.  He no longer tried to kick or karate chop his sisters at the drop of a hat.  He evidently was watching too much Power Rangers.  We were surprised to find that the kids didn’t seem to miss it.  They didn’t even ask for it.  I grew up on a steady diet of TV.   I ate Captain Kangaroo for breakfast & Gilligan’s Island as an after school snack  for years.  I missed it! I longed to watch the news!   But, as time passed I missed it less & enjoyed the quiet more. 

The change in our home was great, & the love that my kids have for books & writing is worth it.  

 Anyway, I rented a few movies last night.  ……     and I’m still scratching my head & trying to remember when movies became propaganda.   We rented Happy Feet.   GRRRR!  There were several crude remarks that I thought were inappropriate for the target audience.  Many sexual references were made & the whole premise of the movie was maddening.  Basically, the movie states that fishing is evil.  That man is unfeeling & doesn’t care about creation.  The movie was openly against Christianity with it’s depiction of the penguin religious leaders as being harsh, unfeeling, & afraid of anyone that was different.  Not to mention their use of the King James English & calling everyone brother or sister. 

Our other movie picks were:

• Casino Royale  (loved it—it was very close to being the best Bond movie ever!)
• The Children of Men (don’t waste your time–I love sci-fi movies but Clive Owen should have gone on vacation instead of filming this stinker!)
• The Curse of the Golden Flower (didn’t watch it yet)

I’m looking for a good movie—–anyone have any suggestions?

What I’m Reading Now

What I’m reading now:

• The Case for Easter by Lee Strobel

              This is just a short book of about 80 pages that I found at Walmart.  It is great! It discusses the arguments that are used to try to disprove the death, burial & resurrection of Christ.  I found it to be very interesting & informative.  I didn’t need to be convinced, but it helped me to understand some of the questions that some have.   

• David 90 Days With a Heart Like His  by Beth Moore

             Wow! That is the only thing I can say.  Now I know why so many people enjoy Ms. Moore’s books.  The book has been enjoyable, & I have heard God whispering to me through the pages more than once. 

• I Kings

              I have been enjoying the Old Testament very much as of late.  I have read I & II Samuel & have now started on Kings.  Wow!  We serve an amazing God! 

• Forever by Karen Kingsbury

               This is the last book in the Firstborn series.  I have truly enjoyed this series.  The characters are human & sometimes flawed (which I can relate to) but often come face to face with the very real presence of God.  The books are an easy read, but very entertaining & thought provoking.

• Family Fun Magazine

              My kids are way too old to enjoy the games & crafts in this magazine, but I continue to buy it.  I love the wholesome ideas, fun crafts & the way that the magazine focuses on good clean fun! 

 I’ve also been reading on Saint by Ted Dekker, Divine by Karen Kingsbury, & a few other things that I can’t remember now.  As I get farther along I will post an opinion. 

 Reading is by far the most important skill that I have ever learned.   

Sunset at my Mom’s

Dutch’s Miracle

This was written by my Aunt Evelyn & posted on our family website.

I remember the Sunday afternoon in Portales when we lived out north of town on the Armstrong place, Dutch, John & me had been playing climbing over a set of sideboards that went on a trailer.  Dutch fell & broke his arm — in the elbow.  He cried off and on all that afternoon and most of the night, then way in the night, Mema woke me up and said we needed to pray for him.  so Bud, John, myself, Mema & Bepa prayed– Bepa held Dutch’s elbow in his hand as we prayed, he felt it all go into place and Dutch quit crying.  God had set the bones as Bepa held them.  This would have been in the fall of 1939. 

Bud’s Miracle

(This was written by my mom & posted on our family website.   Bud was my mom’s oldest brother.)

The miracle that I can remember, was Bud having appendicitis.  

We were living at Post.   Bud was about 18-19 years old.   He got sick during church on a Sunday night and Mama let him leave church, which was something we seldom did.   After church, he was sick at his stomach and started vomiting.   That night and the next few days, Bud got worse and worse.   There was continual prayer going on, but he got worse.

Divine healing was taught and believed in at our home.   On this one day, I think it was a Thursday of Friday, he was so sick.   Daddy asked him if he wanted a doctor.   Bud said, “No.   If I die, I’ll die, but I’ll trust in God.”

After he said this, there was “some-kind” of prayer meeting took place.   Bud had been in Mama and Daddy’s bed for several days–we were all around the bed.   Our prayers were answered right then.   Bud sat up praising God for his healing.   There was much rejoicing!

Bud immediately wanted somehing to eat.   He had not been able to eat for days.   He was a big boy before he got sick.   Mama took his khaki pants up until the pockets met and they were still too big.   He had lost so much weight, he did not look like the big brother we knew.

God is so real, and divine healing does still happen in our day!

Evelyn’s Miracle

Here is one of the many stories that my family tells.  

  My Aunt Evelyn is about 80 years old, & is the most healthy, vibrant person that I know.  She also loves the Lord & vividly remembers this miracle. 

When she was about 12 years old she got sick.  She remembers having trouble breathing & not eating for days.  My grandfather was a pastor of a small church at the time & they lived in the parsonage next to the church.  My grandfather went to church on Sunday morning & my grandmother stayed home with my aunt.  She tells that even when they were sick they went to church, so she must have been very ill.  Anyway, my grandfather came home to check on my aunt & there was a knock on the door.  When my grandfather opened the door there was a man standing on the doorstep with a small child in his arms.   The man was crying, asking for help.  The father kept saying that the child was dead.  My grandfather asked them in & reached for the child to hold her & pray for her.  When my grandfather took her in his arms she opened her eyes & said that she was hungry.  My aunt, who was lying in the other room was healed at the same moment!

Well, things got a little crazy around there for a while with the excitement, but they finally found out what had happened.  The man & child were traveling through town & the child became ill & DIED!   Her father took her to a doctor, but she was already dead so he gave the father directions to the mortuary!  (Remember that this was about 70 years ago in a very small town.)  They never did figure out how the man ended up at the parsonage–the mortuary was nowhere close to the parsonage.  God must have lead them there. 

Ky’s Miracle

When I was “great with child” with my second daughter the Lord did an amazing work.  On one of my visits to the OB before my little red-haired girl was born I was scheduled for a sonogram.  (My first baby was born very early, so they kept a pretty close watch on me.)  Anyway, the tech that was doing the sonogram suddenly got a very funny look on her face & I could tell that she was nervous.  She kept saying that everything was ok, but I could tell that it wasn’t.  She called the doctor in & he got the same nervous look on his face.  They went outside & talked for a while, & the doctor came back in & told me to go & get my husband.  He would not tell me anything.  He just kept saying that I needed my husband.     (It was about 6PM & I lived an hour away from the doctor.)  Well, by the time that I got back it was 10PM & the doctor met us at the door & took us to the hospital chapel.  (That should have been my 3rd clue that something was dramatically wrong.) 

Well, to make a long & painful story short.  Our baby was malformed.  She was not growing at the proper rate, & was not growing in the right places at the right time.  They told us that she would probably have Down’s Syndrome.  They said that she WOULD be a dwarf.  Her ribs had not grown properly & she would not be able to take a full breath when she was born.  The only reason that she was alive was that she was still inside of me & didn’t have to breath yet. 

Then they sent us home to wait & pray through the weekend.  

On Tuesday we met with a genetic counselor.  After our visit we were a whole lot more knowledgeable about birth defects, but had no more idea about our baby. 

The genetic counselor sent us for another sonogram ……….. it showed nothing!

Yup! Nothing!  She was perfect!  The Lord healed her sometime between Friday & Tuesday! 

Blessed be the name of Jehovah Rapha!  The Lord who Heals!