Abba's Girl

Thank you precious Sisters in Christ and friends...the comments and prayers are a tremendous blessing. I will print copies for my mother. I left a couple of relatives out of the obituary which will appear in the Houston Chronicle today and tomorrow. Hopefully I can correct the obituary for tomorrow's edition. I hope I have not forgotten to call or notify anyone... We will sing many of dad's favorite songs tomorrow: How Great Thou Art Amazing Grace - My Chains Are Gone Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty How Great is Our God This is the Air I Breathe I Love You Lord & I Lift My Voice If any of these are one of your favorites, I hope the words get stuck in your head and you sing a little today with joy in your heart. Love, Annette

My father, dad as I called him died tonight as he was having an X-Ray. Though somewhat stunned, and saddened, I know he is in heaven with our Lord and King. Last week we were talking and he said he had always had Christ but didn't strive to be Christ like until very late in life, he didn't understand how important it was to live like Christ. My father was a man of integrity and honour all his life. He was a policeman and served his community upon retirement in various charities. I loved him very much and because he was such a loving, caring father to me, I have a very healthy understanding of our Heavenly Father's love and care for us. If there is one thing dad could say to you, it would be make Christ your Lord and Saviour and go out and serve Him with love in your heart. I will be dark for the next few days. I thank you for all your prayers these last months. Love, Annette

I finally made it to Bible Study last night, met Annette G and a couple of her friends and heard a powerful message on our inheritance as Christian women. The praise and worship was wonderful and strangely enough it only took 45 minutes to get home, a new record. I didn't really speed too much. Beth Moore asked what the 1st question we would ask someone who called and said we were to receive an inheritance...Annette and I said - who died...most people said how much, a few said what did we inherit...as she pointed out we could inherit someone's guinea pig (always wanted one as a child), someone's debt...may not be money or property. Do a search of your concordance for the words inherit and inheritance, the Bible has much to say about it. We are heirs of Abraham, check out what God promised him in Genesis. We are also heirs of Christ Jesus...this is a small but vital portion of our inheritance: Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disc...

If you come from a liturgical background and remember when the peace was added to the service, I think you will find this video hilarious. I was fortunate enough to be in church in England when it was added, most people were appalled the Church of England (C of E) added it. Enjoy...

Heavenly Father, You know the situations my sisters in Christ are facing. I ask You to give them wisdom and discernment in these situations. If they are asking for confirmation, I ask You to send it so they do not miss Your answer. Lord as they wait, I ask You to fill them with Your peace which trancends all understanding and fill them with patience. I ask You to fill them to overflowing with Your love for people, I pray they are Your vessels as they go about their lives today. I ask You to refresh the mentally, spiritually, and physically tired sisters. Please fill their lives with blessings from heaven this week. I thank You for putting these women via the Internet into my life. I thank You I met Annette G in person and I await the day I meet the rest of them. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

I dedicate this to my friend and her family, her father died earlier this week. He served in the Air Force for 50 years. He was in the Canadian Air Force at the beginning of WWII because the U S Military said he was too young to enlist. I appreciate his service to our country and the world.

It's funny now, but it was not funny January 8, 2009. You will not believe what I am about to share with you, but I share so much, why not share this too. January 7, I was in bed watching TV trying not to fall asleep because I wanted to do 1 more load of laundry when the load in the washer was finished. The machine beeped, I got out of bed, put the wet laundry into the dryer but did not start it because it would wrinkle if I fell asleep. I put every bra I owned in the washing machine on the hand wash setting and decided to throw all my socks in as well, pulled my drying rack out of the laundry room so I could hang up said unmentionables and socks when the washer beeped. I went back to watching TV and fell asleep, the Lord woke me up and said in a still, quiet voice Annette hang up your laundry. I said I will in a minute. He said it again, I said I will in a minute Lord. Guess what, I didn't do it. I turned off the television and fell asleep. The next morning I overslept (of cou...

My aunt Ginny is one of my closest friends and I am going to share her big news on the Internet...I told her I would post it, wonder if she believed me? She's getting married to a wonderful man we'll call Cam. Aunt Ginny lived in Houston for a few years in the late 90's and returned to England in 2002 if I remember correctly. I was so blessed by her presence in Houston, but sorry it was because she was caring for her father who was frail and elderly at the time. We had lots of fun dinners, laughs, and great conversations about the Lord. She will be living in the Los Angeles area after her marriage. I already see us meeting in Colorado, visiting each other in person at least twice a year. Hope Cam can see this as well. I am so looking forward to meeting him. I was going to scan one of my favorite pics of aunt Ginny and photoshop some puffy bridal veil onto her head as well as some kind of wedding dress, then photoshop some terrible dress onto a pic of her daughter,my cousin ...

My father is being released from the hospital today. I am so thankful to the Lord for my earthly father and for all the prayers you offered up on my dad's behalf. I ask the Lord to bless each and everyone of you. America will have a new president today. It doesn't matter which candidate we voted for, we are Americans. Let's pray President Obama is a man filled with God's Wisdom, led by the Holy Spirit and his decisions are right in God's sight. Please pray for his protection. This is a day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it and I remember when it's all said and done, it's Thy will be done, not Annette's will in the Name of Jesus. I pray as this is a new day for our country, we truly unite in the love of Jesus and we are a nation which serves the Lord and not ourselves. I pray America blesses God.

As many of you know I dislike cooking - INTENSELY! I have watched my grocery bill climb over the last few months while buying less and not cooking much. You have no doubt experienced the same thing. My friend Anna Marie told me about a cookbook she used when her husband Jack was in seminary, More with Less. She began using it again, she has saved at least 40.00 per trip to the grocery store the last two trips. I thought wow - 80.00 a month in savings to feed two people. I ordered the book from Amazon.com and it arrived Friday. I will plan a week's worth of menus and grocery shop. I am interested in the recipes as well as the savings. There are recipes for carnivores and herbivores in other words steak and potato people as well as vegetarians. It is vital we are good stewards of all the Lord provides us, the more I save the more I can sow into the Kingdom. (I can also buy more Palmer's Age Spot Serum, it's working...and is less than 10.00 per bottle.) The Bible says: Remembe...

An updated version of a hymn I used to belt out as a child. Dad and I were taking trip down memory lane today and I thought of my days (5yrs old to 9 yrs old) in the Westbury United Methodist Choir...did I ever make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

Gen 22: 7 -13: Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, "My father." And he replied, "Here I am, my son." Isaac said, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham answered, "God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." Then the two of them walked on together. When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" He replied, "Here I am." Then He said, "Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me." Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So Abraham went an...

For my 2nd memory verse of 2009, I chose: Jesus wept. I am just kidding, I learned that one back in 1965 or so. I chose I Sam 16:7 in the Holman Christian Standard Bible: But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the LORD sees, for man sees what is visible, but the LORD sees the heart." I want to be reminded only the Lord sees the heart.

Someone made a mistake with the IV and gave too much liquid and or meds to my father which set off a chain of events. He began having trouble breathing, he turned blue, and his entire body was cold to the touch. He was put on oxygen, had a chest x-ray which revealed he had pneumonia. He has been moved to ICU. I cannot tell y'all how disappointed we were yesterday. I felt very deflated, but not as mentally deflated as my father. He was so ready to come home. Just like any day, you have a few plans to do normal things, Bible Study at 1st Baptist Houston with Beth Moore began last night, without me I might add. I am not complaining but disappointed. I am way more concerned about being with my father than Bible Study. I took my disappointment to the Lord and told Him - I am disappointed. Of course He already knew it, but it was important for me to tell Him all about it, just as it is important to tell Him about the sins I commit. I had some yesterday. I wanted to call a doctor names a...

I had this silly thought as I sat in the ER cubicle the other day with my dad. The doctor's name was written on a board - Dr Psyk . Odds are the "P" is silent. I wondered does it rhyme with sick or like? Does anyone else have these odd thoughts at weird times?

Spent an amazing weekend with Jack & Anna Marie Sheffield , the Pastor Jeremiah Booker and his wife Petrella , Mission Bend UMC congreation members, Mary Ann, Susan and a few others as Jack preached and Anna Marie taught on healing. I want to assure you God still heals today. Friday night my mother mentioned she had not taken her blood pressure medicine since Wednesday night. I told her not to have a stroke because it would be too embarrassing to show up to the healing conference with both parents in the hospital. So many people left church this weekend feeling so much closer to the Lord and knowing He loves them. His perfect love is an amazing thing. If we could only love like He does. There is much written about love through out the ages, one of my favorite passages from the Bible pertaining to love is: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wron...

My mother was so tired Friday morning when I talked to her that we had a little miscommunication. I asked what time dad was transferred to the medical center she said sometime after midnight. She said the doctor put his foot down over no beds being available and said it was not right to keep dad here. Unfortunately - she meant here as in the ER for over 18 hours and by transferred she meant from the ER to a room in the Sugar Land St. Luke's. Who's on 1st? I hopped in my car Friday around noon to pick her up after his test...with the intention of going to the Med Center which is about an hour away at that time of the day. I called as I was barreling down the highway and the switchboard operator at St. Luke's Med Center did not have my father listed as a patient...so in a very Christ like way, I thought idiot, you should be able to spell his last name, it's only 4 letters, and I called back to get another operator...well she could not find him either. Uh-oh, where is my d...

1 year ago today I rushed my father to the ER; he was critically ill, though we did not know how ill at the time. He spent 8 months in the hospital because of a serious error a doctor made and admitted it to us. (The hospital should have taken care of the bill, but that is digressing from the story.) This is an anniversary we planned not to celebrate. Today I rushed my father to the ER at the St. Luke's Hospital in Sugar Land. He's still there, he sent me home to work for a while. I cannot work, I am going back up there at 3:00pm. When a bed becomes available he will be transferred to St. Luke's at the Medical Center in Houston. My father's name is Charles. Prayers are needed and appreciated. I am going to delay the drawing for the book give away until Monday. I will draw the winner's name and post it then. I want to say to you, God is ever faithful, He never drops us in the grease. His Word tells us: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we migh...

Many times Anna Marie Sheffield and I show up for healing weekends in nearly identical outfits. She called us the Bobbsey Twins, I was thinking more like Dorks for the Lord. Last Sunday our jackets were made of the same fabric but different colours because I changed mine at the last minute. We have been out of town and emerged from our respective hotel rooms and laughed because I have on black pants and a red blouse and so does she. I was asked if we coordinated our outfits and assured the women we did not, we have never shopped for clothes together. Anna Marie and I are such close friends and have the same taste in many areas of our lives especially in the colour and styles of clothes we wear. (Except I hate Birkenstocks ( sp ?) and she loves them.) I want to be such good friends with Jesus that I have His taste. I want to love our Heavenly Father as much as He does. I want to love people the way He does, I want to see people the way He does. I want to lose my appetite for things i...

It's the 12 th night, the last day of Christmas so...for the last time until December - Merry Christmas! I thought (my husband shudders when I begin sentences with I thought or I have been thinking) it would be a great time to have give away. The winner will receive a slightly used New York City Ballet Workout DVD, just kidding, the winner will receive Kidnapped, written by Dee Henderson. Cold weather makes me want to read and drink hot chocolate or a cup of tea. Post a comment and make sure I have your e-mail address if it's not in your blog profile. Participants must be in the USA or Canada. I will make exceptions for anyone serving in the US Military. I will draw the name on Friday. I was a prayer minister at The Little White Church yesterday in Barker, TX which is now just barely outside the Houston City Limits. The church is on a ranch, Longhorn cattle were roaming around. When you drive through the gate the sign reads if the cows are out close the gate. I smile every Ja...

I think rigor mortis has set in...I did part of the New York City Ballet Workout today, all I can say is ay chihuahua, I need an Alleve ...maybe 2 and healing prayer. It's a shame I have let myself become so unfit, it's also a sin, but I am forgiven and the Lord will help me as I endeavor to become physically fit as well as more spiritually fit. Just as a ballet dancer conditions her body by training in the ballet studio several hours a day 4 to 6 days a week, we must condition ourselves spiritually. I am so excited women all over the world are learning at least 24 Bible verses this year. I noticed on the Living Proof blog many women are learning 5 to 10 verses this week. I balked when I thought about learning that many verses, then I realized while attending school I learned numerous poems and passages of Shakespeare because I was conditioned to learn. I also had to memorize a Bible verse each week and could learn it at the last second before chapel when we recited the ver...

It's 2009...though I was mightily blessed in 2008, I am glad to see it gone... These were my goals in 2008: Read the entire Bible in 2008. Take a spiritual inventory through out the year - was I growing in Christ? Practice the presence of God daily...see Him in ordinary events through out the day, stay in fellowship with Him during the day. Sit quietly in His presence each morning before prayer and time in the Word. (You know - be still and know He is God) Walk at least 2.5 miles a day at least 4 days a week and ride my bike 10 miles once a week. (I did this for years.) Lose 30 lbs. Donate excess clothes, towels, kitchenware, etc to a local charity. Clean out the physical house which makes for a better spiritual house in my case. Participate more in the Lions Club and do more prayer ministry. See Valerie (my dear cohort in crime since 5th grade) at least once a month in person. Not become annoyed with my mother. (Karen B. do not repeat that! I may tell people you rolled your eyes a...