Throughout the month of February, Confirmation students are encouraged to assist at Parkview, Lake Ridge and Sunrise Care Centers. This is a great time to connect with some of the community’s finest residents!

Look for more info to come about this!

• Memory Work #2: Due Jan 20 [link added 12/24]
• Worksheet #3: Due Feb 10
• Statement of Faiths: Due Feb 10
• 7th Grade: Who is Jesus?
• 8th Grade: What does is mean…?

• Jan 6: The Greatest Prayer
• Jan 13: Father in Heaven
• Jan 20: The Kingdom
• Jan 27: The Divine Will

Be sure to bring your Bibles, Lutheran Handbooks and a pen each week.

Just a quick reminder that there is no Confirmation class until Wednesday, January 6th!  We’ll meet in classroom 10 after we clean up the Chapel dinner that evening.  Have a great holiday!

B celebrated his first Communion today, a few weeks shy of his third birthday. We were visiting a parishioner in a nursing home, taking communion for Christmas. As I was setting it up, he got very inquisitive about what I was doing, and he said, “I want to have communion too!” That was enough to make me say yes.

As a child, my parents decided that we should not take communion until after our confirmation, usually around age 12. Because everyone in my home church went forward to kneel at the altar to commune, I remember feeling conspicuous, excluded and isolated sitting alone in the pew. I remember being angry that people thought I wasn’t old enough to understand, and a sense of righteous indignation that anyone would try to deny me access to Jesus’ own body and blood. Clearly, I understood what communion was all about–I should have been able to partake. This experience has given me a passionate commitment to the openness of the communion table to this day. Christ invited everyone to partake at the table–no one should be denied access to Christ’s table, for any reason.

In reaction, I decided I would never deny B the chance to come to Christ’s table. I also decided that I would not ever allow him to participate without some explanation of what we were doing. This is not “snack time.” Since we will be serving communion at the family-oriented Christmas Eve service, I figured that would be his first time. I had planned to spend some time explaining it in advance. But today he asked to be a part of Christ’s table, and I could not deny him. Prepared or not, today was the day, this nursing home room was the place.

As I filled the tiny cups and stacked the silver platter with wafers, I explained to him that this was very special juice and bread–that we didn’t eat until we heard the story, and that the story was about Jesus. This bread and cup help us remember the story about Jesus. Then I proceeded to perform the short liturgy for home communion. B listened carefully throughout, and paid attention appropriately. He was probably more attentive than the resident we were visiting!

When the time came to serve, I served my parishioner first, then broke my piece in half and gave some to B. He held it until I said, “take and eat,” and he took and ate. I had to tell him to wait, not to grab the tiny cup of juice that was so tempting, but he waited patiently while I served her and took a sip myself before giving him the rest. Then he drank, and sweetly collected the cups and carried them to the trash.

Oh, the life of a preacher’s kid! What an odd collection of spiritual milestones he will have!

Who knows if he will remember this, but it was a special moment for me, to include him in this holy sacrament, to bring him into the circle of Christ’s family table. I pray it will be the first of many, many tastes of the bread and cup, and that he will always feel welcome at the table.

Dear Guest,

You completed successfully your damage/reservation deposit payment of $320 through our Alertpay account.

A personalized rental agreement will be sent within a business day. After your agreement to the terms and conditions of the rental agreement, a rental and fees payment request will be sent.

We are delighted to count you among our guests!

Damien & Isabelle Taymans-Delande

> back to home page

In response to customer feedback, we have recently changed the daily shipment confirmations we email to our customers. 

 The new shipment confirmations will now include:

• an itemized list of products that shipped during the previous day (with product images)
• past shipments
• items not yet shipped
• an electronic newsletter subscription button
• contact information
• and more…

The emails will be sent for:

• all order types 
  • web
  • phone
  • email
  • fax
• all status’
  • ship complete
  • partial shipment
• all ship methods
  • UPS
  • FedEx
  • Truck

Email confirmations will be sent weekdays, at around 5:30 AM, with information on the previous business day’s shipments.

Here is an example of the new shipment confirmation.  Please give us any feedback that you may have.  Thanks.

Cole-Parmer Shipment Confirmation

Author : KINANTRA, MARIA

Sistem pemesanan makanan pada rumah makan kebanyakan masih dilakukan secara manual. Pemilihan menu dilakukan melalui media buku menu dan proses pemesanan makanan dilakukan melalui bantuan pelayan, demikian juga dengan proses koordinasi data pesanan dari pelanggan dengan bagian dapur dan bagian kasir. Sistem koordinasi yang masih dilakukan secara manual tersebut dirasa banyak menimbulkan ketidakefisienan serta kesalahan. Suatu software pemesanan makanan terintegrasi yang dapat membantu rumah makan untuk meningkatkan mutu layanan dan juga efisiensi kerja dari rumah makan tersebut dipandang dari segi pengkoordinasian data pesanan antar semua pihak yang terkait. Software ini didesain dengan sangat memperhatikan karakteristik dari penggunanya yang sangat bervariasi, yaitu para pelanggan rumah makan yang mempunyai latar belakang yang beragam. Ada yang menguasai komputer dan ada yang awam terhadap penggunaan komputer. Untuk itu, aplikasi ini didesain menjadi sebuah aplikasi yang user friendly, dalam artian tidak membutuhkan keahlian khusus dari user untuk menggunakannya. Keseluruhan software ini akan dikembangkan dengan Borland Dephi 7.0. Hasil dari pembuatan software ini memungkinkan para pelanggan rumah makan untuk melihat semua menu, lengkap dengan gambar dan penjelasan mengenai komposisinya. Para pelanggan dapat melakukan pemesanan makanan secara langsung melalui komputer yang tersedia pada masing-masing meja. Data pesanan tersebut akan langsung dikirim ke bagian dapur untuk mendapat konfirmasi bahwa pesanan yang dilakukan dapat dipenuhi. Setelah bagian dapur memberikan konfirmasi, data pesanan tersebut tersedia untuk diolah oleh bagian kasir dalam proses pembayaran. Jadi melalui software ini dicapai suatu sistem komputerisasi yang mengintegrasikan semua bagian yang terlibat dalam proses pemesanan makanan. Dari hasil pengujian, dapat disimpulkan bahwa keseluruhan aplikasi yang dikembangkan mendapat penilaian sangat baik, terutama dinilai dari segi kemudahan yang diberikan dalam perbandingannya dengan pengunaan sistem manual.

Keyword : integrated food ordering software, menu, confirmation

Sumber : http://repository.petra.ac.id/3371/

While I was photographing the signs for my project today, I garnered plenty of odd stares from passers-by and students.

As I was getting the paper ready for the last photo (I didn’t end up using it, but it was of the sign in a puddle), a couple of guys glanced over as they walked by.

“Haha, that’s so true!” one of them said.

“What?” asked his friend.

“That I could care less!” he responded.

It was a moment that I didn’t want to be right about.  However, I think my photos would resound a bit louder if everyone realized that they’re one of many that don’t care, and that’s a big problem.

9th Graders,

IMPORTANT NOTE: Confirmation class will be meeting IN THE YOUTH LOUNGE this Sunday morning, December 13.

Your reading assignment for Sunday is Chapter 7 of My Faith, My Life.  We covered the first half of it last week, and we’ll be looking at some other forms of prayer this week.  Remember to be thinking about your own prayer practices and spiritual disciplines!

Have a great rest of the week.  See you Sunday morning…

Blessings,

-Chris

Earlier it was Bali.

Now Copenhagen.

How did it all begin? Normally if some observation is made, causing concern about global warming, it will be debated in a free and open manner in the world press. If sufficient confirmation is there, the next question is how and why it is happening. That is the way of science.

Here it was established by two men, without scientific education, on some mysteriou basis, that we are damned. Then IPCC report comes. No one is allowed to speak or write against it. Total ban on media.  Who enforced this world wide ban?

All this needs to be investigated. US is the leader of the world and I suspect that it all originated there.

Continuous hammering by the media over a period of time, created a scare among people at large. One teacher asked me: are you sure nothing will happen? When I assured her of my thesis being indisputable, she was relieved.

One day the truth will come out. Americans love freedom.

Ben Bernanke was being blasted by a Senate committee and few senators gave the Fed Chairman hard time. As you may notice, it is quite a difference from the bowing before the ex-Chairman Greenspan. So what does Bernanke say to the committee? he admits that “mistakes were made by the Fed.”  

Bernanke is sure to be reconfirmed to a second seven-year term but he will get a little roughed-up in the process. The piece below is the senator Bunning (R – KY) stating why he is voting against confirmation of Fed Chairman Bernanke for a second term. 
 ———————————————————————————————————
Senate Banking Committee 
Thursday, December 3, 2009 
 
Four years ago when you came before the Senate for confirmation to be Chairman of the Federal Reserve, I was the only Senator to vote against you. In fact, I was the only Senator to even raise serious concerns about you. I opposed you because I knew you would continue the legacy of Alan Greenspan, and I was right. But I did not know how right I would be and could not begin to imagine how wrong you would be in the following four years. 
 
The Greenspan legacy on monetary policy was breaking from the Taylor Rule to provide easy money, and thus inflate bubbles. Not only did you continue that policy when you took control of the Fed, but you supported every Greenspan rate decision when you were on the Fed earlier this decade. Sometimes you even wanted to go further and provide even more easy money than Chairman Greenspan. As recently as a letter you sent me two weeks ago, you still refuse to admit Fed actions played any role in inflating the housing bubble despite overwhelming evidence and the consensus of economists to the contrary. And in your efforts to keep filling the punch bowl, you cranked up the printing press to buy mortgage securities, Treasury securities, commercial paper, and other assets from Wall Street. Those purchases, by the way, led to some nice profits for the Wall Street banks and dealers who sold them to you, and the G.S.E. purchases seem to be illegal since the Federal Reserve Act only allows the purchase of securities backed by the government. 
 
On consumer protection, the Greenspan policy was don’t do it. You went along with his policy before you were Chairman, and continued it after you were promoted. The most glaring example is it took you two years to finally regulate subprime mortgages after Chairman Greenspan did nothing for 12 years. Even then, you only acted after pressure from Congress and after it was clear subprime mortgages were at the heart of the economic meltdown. On other consumer protection issues you only acted as the time approached for your re-nomination to be Fed Chairman. 
 
Alan Greenspan refused to look for bubbles or try to do anything other than create them. Likewise, it is clear from your statements over the last four years that you failed to spot the housing bubble despite many warnings. Chairman Greenspan’s attitude toward regulating banks was much like his attitude toward consumer protection. Instead of close supervision of the biggest and most dangerous banks, he ignored the growing balance sheets and increasing risk. You did no better. In fact, under your watch every one of the major banks failed or would have failed if you did not bail them out. 
 
On derivatives, Chairman Greenspan and other Clinton Administration officials attacked Brooksley Born when she dared to raise concerns about the growing risks. They succeeded in changing the law to prevent her or anyone else from effectively regulating derivatives. After taking over the Fed, you did not see any need for more substantial regulation of derivatives until it was clear that we were headed to a financial meltdown thanks in part to those products. 
 
The Greenspan policy on transparency was talk a lot, use plenty of numbers, but say nothing. Things were so bad one TV network even tried to guess his thoughts by looking at the briefcase he carried to work. You promised Congress more transparency when you came to the job, and you promised us more transparency when you came begging for TARP. To be fair, you have published some more information than before, but those efforts are inadequate and you still refuse to provide details on the Fed’s bailouts last year and on all the toxic waste you have bought. 
 
And Chairman Greenspan sold the Fed’s independence to Wall Street through the so-called “Greenspan Put”. Whenever Wall Street needed a boost, Alan was there. But you went far beyond that when you bowed to the political pressures of the Bush and Obama administrations and turned the Fed into an arm of the Treasury. Under your watch, the Bernanke Put became a bailout for all large financial institutions, including many foreign banks. And you put the printing presses into overdrive to fund the government’s spending and hand out cheap money to your masters on Wall Street, which they use to rake in record profits while ordinary Americans and small businesses can’t even get loans for their everyday needs. 
 
Now, I want to read you a quote: “I believe that the tools available to the banking agencies, including the ability to require adequate capital and an effective bank receivership process are sufficient to allow the agencies to minimize the systemic risks associated with large banks. Moreover, the agencies have made clear that no bank is too-big-too-fail, so that bank management, shareholders, and un-insured debt holders understand that they will not escape the consequences of excessive risk-taking. In short, although vigilance is necessary, I believe the systemic risk inherent in the banking system is well-managed and well-controlled.” 
 
That should sound familiar, since it was part of your response to a question I asked about the systemic risk of large financial institutions at your last confirmation hearing. I’m going to ask that the full question and answer be included in today’s hearing record. 
 
Now, if that statement was true and you had acted according to it, I might be supporting your nomination today. But since then, you have decided that just about every large bank, investment bank, insurance company, and even some industrial companies are too big to fail. Rather than making management, shareholders, and debt holders feel the consequences of their risk-taking, you bailed them out. In short, you are the definition of moral hazard. 
 
Instead of taking that money and lending to consumers and cleaning up their balance sheets, the banks started to pocket record profits and pay out billions of dollars in bonuses. Because you bowed to pressure from the banks and refused to resolve them or force them to clean up their balance sheets and clean out the management, you have created zombie banks that are only enriching their traders and executives. You are repeating the mistakes of Japan in the 1990s on a much larger scale, while sowing the seeds for the next bubble. In the same letter where you refused to admit any responsibility for inflating the housing bubble, you also admitted that you do not have an exit strategy for all the money you have printed and securities you have bought. That sounds to me like you intend to keep propping up the banks for as long as they want. 
 
Even if all that were not true, the A.I.G. bailout alone is reason enough to send you back to Princeton. First, you told us A.I.G. and its creditors had to be bailed out because they posed a systemic risk, largely because of their credit default swaps portfolio. Those credit default swaps, by the way, are the same over-the-counter derivatives that the Fed did not want regulated. Well, according to the TARP Inspector General, it turns out the Fed was not concerned about the financial condition of the credit default swaps partners when you decided to pay them off at par. In fact, the Inspector General makes it clear that no serious efforts were made to get the partners to take haircuts at all, and one bank’s offer to take a haircut was actually declined. I can only think of two possible reasons you would not make then-New York Fed President Geithner try to save the taxpayers some money by seriously negotiating or at least take up U.B.S. on their offer of a haircut. Sadly, those two reasons are incompetence or a desire to secretly funnel more money to a few select firms, most notably Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and a handful of large European banks. I also cannot understand why you did not seek European government contributions to this bailout of their banking system. 
 
From monetary policy to regulation, consumer protection, transparency, and independence, your time as Fed Chairman has been a failure. You stated time and again during the housing bubble that there was no bubble. After the bubble burst, you repeatedly claimed the fallout would be small. And you clearly did not spot the systemic risks that you claim the Fed was supposed to be looking out for. Where I come from we punish failure, not reward it. That is certainly the way it was when I played baseball, and the way it is all across America. Judging by the current Treasury Secretary, some may think Washington does reward failure, but that should not be the case. I will do everything I can to stop your nomination and drag out the process as long as possible. We must put an end to your and the Fed’s failures, and there is no better time than now.

For all who are overfilled with joy, this is a place where others can share in your joy.

For those who are discouraged in school, career, relationship, home or just in life, this is a place for you to pour yourself out and be inspired back to life.

The truth is, there are so many people who are hurting and feel like they do not have a proper channel or avenue to express those feeelings or simply, like no one understands or cares.

This too is truth; you are not alone.

I welcome you to share, request, listen, enjoy and be encouraged; or should I say, inspired, to a life of constant joy.

On December 5 in the Year of Our Lord 2009 His Eminence Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Commission  Ecclesia Dei conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation for the FSSP at their Parish Church Ss. Trinità dei Pellegrini in Rome.

For additional pictures visit their Parish website:

http://roma.fssp.it/gallery/2009/cresime.html

I wrote awhile back about how I didn’t think intuition is from the emotions.  I just read this on Coast 2 Coast about a woman named Penny Peirce that teaches about Intuition .  This excerpt caught my eye:

“She clarified that an intuitive decision differs from an emotional decision because the latter often involved bias such as fear of disappointing others or wanting something very badly. Recognizing the difference can be a process of trial and error, she explained, as those emotional decisions often result in negative results. On those who may be afraid to trust their intuition, Peirce observed that often they are concerned about opening themselves up to foreseeing something bad happening. However, she pointed out that, despite the more well known tales of dramatic intuition saving lives, “intuition actually fills up a lot of our daily life and it is a lot more ordinary than we might think.”

Very nice confirmation for me.

> RESERVAR AHORA

Salidas especiales:

Diciembre 7-10
3 Noches/4Dias
Desde USD: $ 1,230

Diciembre 3-7
4 Noches/5Dias
Desde USD: $1,660

Diciembre 3-10 / 7-14
7 Noches/8Dias
Desde USD: $2,890

( incluye ticket aéreo desde/hacia las islas ahorre hasta USD 400.00 )

Is an absolute auction the same as a without reserve auction? Is a without reserve auction the same as an absolute auction?

In theoretical mathematics, if A = B and B = A, then A and B are the same thing, thus this question posed here about absolute auctions.

The UCC 2-328 describes only two types of auctions:

1. With reserve
2. Without reserve

No mention of the word, “absolute” at all in this doctrine.

Yet, in common usage with auctioneers all over the United States and territories, the word, “absolute” has come to mean an auction “without reserve.” And, if an auction is deemed “without reserve,” then it is commonly deemed an “absolute” auction.

Why this discussion, then, if it is so easily answered?

Some argue, and with some merit, that a without reserve auction has certain rules, such as no limiting conditions, no minimum bids, no reserve amounts, no withdrawal following an opening solicitation for bids and a bid within a reasonable time, and no seller bidding, etc.

Then, this argument continues that an absolute auction has no such rules, since the word isn’t used in the UCC 2-328, and is not used in any widespread fashion in states’ adoption of such.

Some states have adopted statutes that incorporate the word, “absolute” and define it to be an auction “without reserve.” These states more or less seem to say that the auction itself is indeed an absolute auction when it is advertised, and conducted without reserve(s). In other words, A = B because when we say “A” everyone thinks “B.”

So, here is our argument:

An absolute auction is a type of auction in common usage. People don’t generally require any further explanation such as, “You said it was absolute, but is there a reserve or not?” Since there are only two types of auctions, as defined in 49 states, and territories, then an absolute auction must be one or the other; it must be a with reserve auction, or a without reserve auction, since these are the only two choices. Seems obvious that an absolute auction can’t be a with reserve auction, since something selling “absolute” can’t have a reserve. And, it seems even more obvious that an absolute auction is one without reserve, which is the only other type of auction.

Per our first argument, A = B.

A without reserve auction is one of the two types of auctions, as defined in 49 states and territories. So, if an auctioneer is having a without reserve auction, could someone say he is having an absolute auction? If having an absolute auction is some other type of auction, different from a without reserve auction, then what kind of auction is that? There’s only one other kind …

Per our second argument, B = A.

Adding to all this, most all dictionaries, glossaries, books, manuals, articles … say something like this:

An Absolute Auction (per the National Auctioneers Association):

An auction where the property is sold to the highest qualified bidder with no limiting conditions or amount. The seller may not bid personally or through an agent. Also known as an auction without reserve.

Also known as … in other words, people know one to be the other.

Here’s how the Supreme Court of Virginia defined an auction without reserve in the case of Holston v Pennington 225 Va. 551, 304 S.E. 2d 287 (1983):

“The term ‘absolute auction’ is equivalent to the term ‘auction without reserve,’ a well-recognized term of art in the law of sales. It means that the property will actually be sold to the highest bidder at that time and place, that no minimum price will limit the bids, that the owner may not withdraw the property from sale after the first bid has been received, that the owner may not reject any bid or all bids, and that the owner may not nullify the sale by bidding himself or through an agent.”

Seems very simple, doesn’t it?

Okay, here’s the difficult issue. How many of you have seen ads such as “Absolute Auction, Minimum Opening Bid $150,000!” or a classic one I saw the other day which said, “Sells absolute without reserve” and then followed with “Opening bid: $500,000″ And, there are ads in newspapers every day which say “Selling absolute, seller reserves right to confirm final bid price.”

Is the argument here that absolute means an auction which is a particular flavor of without reserve, which can indeed have a minimum opening bid, or seller confirmation? In other words, if we carefully use the word absolute, or include the word absolute, then we can indeed have a with reserve auction, even if we say it is without reserve?

How gullible, unaware and uneducated do these auctioneers think the public is? More of this particular discussion in my blog on Absolute Auctions.

Back to our topic here: Are they the same thing? We are a country based on common law, which derives from common usage and behavior. I would defy any court to distinguish between a without reserve auction and an absolute auction. And, maybe because there has been no such case, yet, proves no such case is needed.

“The fourth issue of Kadokawa Shoten’s Nyantype magazine is confirming on Wednesday that the AIC anime studio is replacing Gonzo on the animation production of the second anime season of Strike Witches. As recently as April, Gonzo was listed as the anime studio for the second season. Like the 2007 video anime and the first television anime season (2008), the tentatively titled “Strike Witches 2-ki” is based on Humikane Shimada’s mecha-girl illustrations.

Most of the main staff will tentatively return from the first season, including director and anime character designer Kazuhiro Takamura, the series script supervisor “Striker Unit,” and Takaaki Suzuki (the staffer who helps develop the setting of the story’s world and military matters).

The North American anime distributor Funimation announced in April that it acquired the rights to release the first Strike Witches television anime season. Crunchyroll and BOST TV had streamed the first anime season when it premiered in Japan last year.

The copyright notice for the new season is ‘© 2007-2009 Humikane Shimada/Kadokawa Shoten/Gonzo/501st Joint Fighter Wing.’ “

Well…. I think many of us can agree that this means GONZO is officially screwed. They have just lost one of their most profitable anime series, or at least the second season, which either way is pretty bad for the GONZO especially considering their current financial status. However it looks as though AIC has officially gained the rights to produce the second season, before it was thought that GONZO would lose the rights to the second season, but it was later confirmed that they still had the second season of Strike Witches. But jut because the Strike Witches franchise is being brought over to a different Studio doesn’t mean I’m really all that worried. Mainly because it looks as though the staff will be mostly be the same as the previous seasons, which means there really shouldn’t be any real decline in quality, and AIC produces some pretty good stuff. But it’s been a while since the second season was announced with no official release date, I wonder when the second season will come around…

> RESERVE NOW

Weekly Topics:

• Dec 2: Apostle’s Creed – Article One
• Dec 9: Apostle’s Creed – Article Two
• Dec 16: Apostle’s Creed – Article Three
• Dec 23 & 30: NO CLASS – Winter Break

Be sure to bring your Bibles, Lutheran Handbooks and a pen each week.

Confirmation Homework

• Statement of Faith – Due Feb 10
• 7th Grade – Who is Jesus?
• 8th Grade – What does it mean to be a Christian?
• Worksheet #2 – Due December 16
• Memory Work #2 – Due January 20

Over 8 months ago God spoke to me through someone. Someone I didn’t know, someone I hadn’t even seen before and it wasn’t even in my church. God told me about my past, my present, about the future and warned me about somethings. How he described me was right on point. I wouldn’t had even been able to describe myself that good! What He warned me about has been helpful and is helping me. What He told me about the future? Love it.

So.. all is good, right? For a while I thought back on that and was excited for the future. Some time passed and I started to wonder if that was really God. What He told me about my past hadn’t made sense to me at the time. He said “a llorado mucho” (you have cried a lot). I thought to myself “I don’t cry often. I’ve cried before but it wasn’t THAT much?”. Was I getting excited and getting my hopes up about what God has/will give me? I asked God for confirmation to make sure it was actually Him. I didn’t want to doubt Him. Every thing He said made perfect sense but that one part had me thinking. I told Him I just wanted to make sure it was Him.

Months passed (end of Feb or beginning of March) and I hadn’t gotten confirmation so I told Him that I trust in Him and when it’s His time He will let me know.

Well, not long ago I was looking for something in my room and started searching through a night stand I have in my closet (I put papers in there) and found some old journals (March 2004-Summer 2007) I was surprised to see those there (I shredded all diaries dated 2000-Feb 2004 and had forgotten about those). I left them in there and hid them under some papers. I wanted to look through them and shred the unnecessary entries but didn’t have time.

For over a week I would be reminded to look through them and just didn’t take the time. One day I couldn’t get it off of my mind so went and began reading them. It took me hours just to skim through and shred 2-3 journals (I still have 2 left I need to fully look through) and I was surprised to see the things I wrote in them.

When I realized what had just happened I thanked God, I laughed, I teared up to see the difference God has made in me and how grateful I am for everything He has done, I told my mom, told my best friend.. I couldn’t stop smiling!

As I read I realized/remembered that I CRIED often March-July 2004 and cried EVERY day (sometimes throughout the whole day – at times I fell asleep crying) August 2004 until probably February 2005.

I read the entries, as I flipped page by page all I saw was crying. crying. I described how much hurt I was feeling. Disappointment. Then again crying. crying. etc

How could it be that I forgot about that? I knew I was hurt a lot but I had forgotten about the extent of the pain I had went through. The betrayal I had felt. The lies. The endless tears.

When I came to God I had so much pain in my heart. I didn’t even know where to begin. He worked in me. He knows what I need and He gave it to me. He knows how I am completely and He gave me all the love I need. He helped me not only to heal.. but He also helped me forget. oh how wonderful is my God? Not only does He help us forgive but he helps us forget.

He spoke to me about how much I had cried and I couldn’t even remember. I didn’t remember those days and nights of feeling alone. I asked God for confirmation and He made a way for me to find my answer. God knows me so well. He knows that at times I can be.. a bit difficult (hard headed for the lack of a better word). Maybe if He would’ve used someone else to tell me about Him giving me what I had wanted for so long – maybe. just maybe I would’ve wanted more confirmation to “double check”. Instead He made it so I can find my answer in my past. In the exact words I had written it. Words that no one ever read. Thoughts that no one knew about. Tears I cried alone.. Feelings that no one knew but me and Him.

God confirmed what I was wondering (about what He said about my past) and now there is no doubt that what He told me will happen – WILL happen and I am glad. A bit nervous because I never know *what* sign to put so God can let me know.. but that’s another story. I trust in God and He will find a way. He always has.

Little things like this.. leading me to my old entries to find answers to questions that only He could had helped me with. I would’ve never known. wow. I cannot even explain myself correctly. I know how wonderful my God is but just thinking about all the things He has done, is doing, and will do.. I. I cannot even put my thoughts together correctly because His greatness amazes me.

I am so grateful. Words cannot possibly begin to explain how much I love Him, how much I need and adore Him.