If you are considering hiring a graphic designer or working with a new designer for the first time, its important to lay all of the cards out on the table up front so that there are no surprises later. We think that you should develop a checklist of questions that you want to ask a new hire or a potential designer. Do this ahead of time so you have some time to properly think things out, and then bring that list to you to the initial consultation, whether it be on the phone or in person. Make sure you have a notepad to take notes and jot down items of interest, and as you go through your list check off your questions when they are answered to your satisfaction.

The reason that you should come to the table prepared is to insure that you get the best ROI (return on investment). You are hiring the designer that is going to help to promote your business and create your image. It is very important that you do your homework first.

Below is a general list of questions that you should consider asking and other items you need to consider:

1. Do you have a portfolio that I can view? A designer should be able to show you examples of his or her work. It should be in form of a website or a PDF sent to you via email. In fact, you should review the work before setting up the initial consultation so that you can get a sense for the quality of design that will be provided. At any point it is okay to ask for project-specific examples. So, you can say “I am in the market for a brochure design, can you send me examples of any brochures, sell sheets, or other print items you have done?”
2. What type of software would you be using to create graphics? The industry standard for graphic design software is the Adobe brand. Your potential designer should be saying something along the lines of “I am proficient in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign” (for print) and “Adobe Dreamweaver, and Adobe Flash” (for web). There are other programs out there that provide high quality graphics, but I would make sure some Adobe products are mentioned. If a potential designer says to you “Oh, I design in Microsoft Publisher and Microsoft Word” run! Unless you specifically ask for something to be outlined in Publisher or Word for formatting reasons, under no circumstances should these programs come at the top of their list.
3. What is your availability for your freelance/contract projects? Some designers work on a part time basis and may only be available after normal business hours. Others you will have access to throughout the day. It’s important to know up front when your designer will be available and the best way to get in contact with them (phone, email, smoke signals, etc). If you have quick changes will they have a quick turn around? If you are entering into an hourly rate contract, it would also be good establish how many hours per week (even if this is an estimate) that the designer can dedicate to your project.
4. How will you deliver files to me? Are they going to come electronically to you (as email attachments) or will they be provided to you via FedEx on a CD or on an FTP site? This is important. Will your designer be able to provide print and web ready files? Also, if you yourself have a version of the software that your designer is using, make sure you let them know what version that is (for file compatibility). The last thing you need is to get your final design files and then find out that you cannot view them or your production department cannot open them because of version discrepancies.
5. Can you provide me with any standards, color codes, or instructions? Your designer should be able to provide you with color codes for print and web (CMYK for print, RGB for web, and Pantone colors for high-end printing). This color code information will help for your image to remain consistent across several different mediums. If your designer is creating a logo or corporate identity, they also need to be able to provide brand guidelines/standards that can be followed once all the files are delivered to you. This can be a PDF of a few pages detailing the uniqueness of your logo or corporate identity and how it should be used for various different mediums and materials to insure your brand integrity.
6. When can you start my project? A designer is usually working on more than one project at a given time. But even with this in mind, their goal is to make you feel like their priority and to take care of your design needs. If you have a rush project or a tight deadline, it is your responsibility to say that up front (and also the designer’s responsibility to ask). It is absolutely okay for you to ask the question “what’s a reasonable timeline for preliminary design concepts for this project?” and it also okay to ask “Is it possible to have it in two weeks instead of three?” Only ask that if you really need it (for maybe a presentation or meeting) and not because you just want things in a hasty fashion.
7. What is your price quote for this project? Some designers can tell you on the phone or in person, others prefer to work up a quote and email it to you so they have a written record of what they submitted. You should be okay with both forms, as both are considered professional. Don’t leave this open-ended. If you decide to go with a particular designer and feel it is necessary, set up a contract to the terms that you will both agree upon and then sign it. It is okay to ask the designer questions about any part of the contract or to ask them to amend a part of the contract if you have good cause for concern. You have to talk money here, and when it comes to $$, the terms need to be clear. Also inquire as to what the price includes and does not include (a designer should tell you this upfront, but ask if they do not). In many cases, if it is a project that requires photography or services to be purchased, that will not be included in the price quote and will be billed separately. Also inquire about how many revisions are included in the contract if the project calls for it. These are also terms that would need to be outlined in the contract.

These questions should definitely get you thinking about the importance of hiring the right designer for your project, and making sure you and the designer are on the same page. You are creating a relationship with the professional that is going to help to shape and direct a part of your business through their creative expertise. If you are in the market for a new designer, we invite you to contact uas for a free consultation, where we can insure you that we have all the right answers to the questions above.

Travel blogs, in general, can sometimes be hard to navigate.

We’ve always tried to think up new ways to make it easier for visitors to find what they’re looking for when browsing  blogs on TravelPod. For example, we’ve created interactive maps with pins and tried different “table of contents” layouts ( just to name a few features ).

Still, there was room for improvement and with our recent redesign we took the opportunity to try something new: The Travel Blog Timeline.

TravelPod's new Trip Timeline tool

Each blog entry on TravelPod now has a timeline built-in that your guests can use to read all of your entries.

Each green dot symbolizes an entry in a travel blog and when clicked, let’s you scan each blog entry in conjunction with the map.

The pins are arranged along the timeline by date and sliding your mouse across the length of the timeline makes it easy for visitors to choose a specific entry. A brief summary of each entry hovers over your mouse as the pointer slides across the screen.

** Power tip: If you mouse over the “Trip Start” or “Trip End” labels, a button is revealed that lets you quickly jump to the next or previous entries.

New trip timeline shown on an entry page

Timeline navigation is something new that we think is pretty innovative and are currently in the process of applying for a patent on the idea. We know it’s not perfect yet and we’ll be tweaking and adjusting it to make it as useful as possible based on your feedback.

Good or bad, we want to hear what you think… please try to be as specific with your feedback as possible so that we can make tweaks to  perfect this new feature.

Thanks!

Let us know by leaving a comment below, or speaking up in the TravelPod forums.

A timeline charts the course of a scandal that exploded in China when dairy products were found to contain dangerous levels of the industrial chemical melamine…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: population of china. The blog is also related to: shanghi china.

I’ve been working on this graphic with a friend of mine to help explain how social media relates to other communications technology. Please use the SlideShare below to get a closer look.

What do you think? Any suggestions or ideas? Please leave a comment below.

I’ve always wondered. Did Great, Great Grandfather Thomas Hunt look up in the sky from Blount County, Tennessee in 1835 and see that momentous passage, so ballyhooed in that year, of Halley’s Comet? What were his memories of the second war with Britain, the War of 1812, and where was he and what did he think in 1826 when he heard that both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had died on July 4th of that year?

Of course, I’ll never know, but I determined that at least for one generation my descendants will have such information — just in case some unknown grandchild or great-plus grandchild is interested someday.

I (Deason Hunt) was born in 1943 during the Second World War of the 2oth Century. It was over about the time I turned two years old, so I obviously don’t remember it as a contemporary. I spent lots of time hearing about it as I grew up, and along with playing cowboys and Indians, my friends and I played lots of WWII make-believe. I carried wooden M-1 rifles with fake bayonets, BAR’s, and we sat in foxholes, also make-believe, fired at the Nazis and Japs with our 50-caliber machine guns and tossed an occasional hand grenade. There were army surplus stores where we could walk around and look at all kinds of army gear, and war movies were as popular with young boys as shoot-em-up western movies. There were lots of on-screen war heroes who we tried to imitate, but the greatest of these was John Wayne. Most of our dads served during the war, but, at least in our family, that service was never mentioned. I found most of the details of my Dad’s (Deason Hunt, Sr.) service after his death by papers I inherited and some additional research.

I also was not aware of the dropping of the two atomic bombs on Japan to end the war in the Pacific. I was, however, aware later that it had happened because we lived under the threat that the Soviet Communists would attack us with their atomic weapons. These were felt as real threats to end civilization, and we had duck and cover drills in school (get under the desks and cover your head/neck with your clasped hands). These were also handy for the weather scourge of the areas where I grew up in Texas — tornadoes. People bought and buried and otherwise built underground fallout shelters in their yards, (We were too poor to afford one.) and radio/television had signal tests in case of enemy attack — the test of the emergency alert system. After the fall of the Communist state in the Soviet Union in 1989, we learned they were as worried that we would do the same to them so that we had a world-saving standoff. It turned out that the play-like enemies of our youth, the Japanese and the Germans, became our allies during the cold war, and we actually spent all those years hating/fearing our WWII ally, the Soviet Union. To be continued…. Next, The 1950’s

While trying to find interesting articles to keep eco-friendly couples in the know I came across an excellent article on Brides.com. Check here for the original article.

They give a year long time line on wedding preparations.

12 months

• Select and reserve your ceremony and reception sites. If you are celebrating your wedding outdoors, look into tent rentals.
• Choose and book an officiant who will work an eco-friendly message into your wedding ceremony.
• Meet with florists who work with local, organic farms.
• Meet with caterers and choose one who is knowledgeable about local and organic fare, and who is willing to provide vegetarian options.
• Register for gifts at housewares shops that focus on sustainable design.

10 months

• Shop for a vintage dress, one made from natural fibers, like hemp-silk, or find a simple gown that can be altered, accessorized and worn again.
• Choose a florist and pick out bouquets and arrangements made with local, seasonal flowers.
• Plan your honeymoon at an eco-resort.
• Meet with organic bakers to discuss your wedding cake.
• Start researching wedding favors, even if you’re planning on giving fruit or plant items that will be purchased right before the wedding.

6 months

• Save paper by sending save-the-date announcements via e-mail or by calling out of town guests.
• Start planning your rehearsal dinner, and if it’s going to be a picnic, start researching disposable dishes and flatware that’s biodegradable.
• Choose wedding cosmetics that are cruelty-free and made from organic ingredients.
• Select an organic baker and order your wedding cake.
• Arrange wedding transportation, and consider using a shuttle bus to bring guests from the ceremony to the reception.
• Order 100 percent recycled stationery for programs and invitations.
• Purchase wedding rings made from recycled metals or wood.

3 months

• Discuss your wedding menu with your caterer.
• Meet with your officiant and discuss all the earth-friendly aspects of your wedding so that these ideas can be shared during ceremony.
• Mail your wedding invitations.
• Decide what your guests will be throwing instead of rice, which can be harmful to birds—wildflower seeds, flower petals or bubbles are better options.

1 month

• Write and print your wedding program on 100 percent recycled paper.
• Choose thank-you cards made of recycled paper and begin to write them as you receive wedding gifts.

2–7 days

• Choose a member of the wedding party to distribute the wildflower seeds, flower petals or bubbles that guests will be throwing instead of rice after the ceremony.
• Choose a family member or friend to collect the leftover wedding programs and recycle them.

Here we are in week 10 of our Postgraduate Course and things are becoming by minutes more complicated and tougher.

I finished the 3 Centuries timeline I talked to you about in the last post on Friday night, so since then I’ve focused my attention in our Project 2. Last week we went to Henley-on-Thames to visit and survey the site and spent all the afternoon taking measurements and learning how to take the levels of the site with different instruments.

The site is a country garden of about 350 m2 approximately but with a lot of improvement to do. Loads of lawn and  three or four sheds with none or poor use that definitely need to go plus a half blind dog that likes to go all around the garden and plenty of requirements from the client, so hard work. At this moment I’ve just started to figure out where I am going to place all the different areas, spaces and uses of the garden but not sure if everything is going to fit, I’ll let you know when finished.

To help with the design of this new project, last week as well started the lectures about construction, something I enjoy more maybe because I know these subjects and my background is related with it. Special attention and interest I made to the lecture about pond construction. Martin Kelley, a 30 years experience Managing Director of Fairwater Limited gave us a splendid lesson on how to introduce a pool, water feature or even a natural swimming pool in our designs. So great was the lecture that the day passed without caring about time and at the end of the day, all of us wanted a natural pool in our gardens.

In his Kautilya Artha Sastra, Chanakya mentions Veda Vyasa.

Ravana,Duryodhana, Bhoja (Dandakya), Karala (Vaideha),  Janamejaya, Talajangha, Aila, Ajabindhu, Sauvira (Jayadratha), Arjuna (Haihaya), Vatapi and Vrishnis who conspired against Dwaipayana (Veda Vyasa). He gives them as examples of people who failed because they were unable to conquer their six internal enemies. (Desire,anger etc…)
Chanakya lived after Bharadwaja, Visalaksha,Parasara (father of Veda Vyasa), Pisuna, Kaunapadanta, Vatavyadhi and Bahudanti . He quotes their views on the matter of selection of ministers.
Chanakya lived after the following kings killed by their own families: Bhadrasena; Kárusa, Kásirája (killed by his queen), Vairantya, Sauvíra, Jálútha, Vidúratha.

So we know that Veda Vyasa lived before Chanakya. Vyasa was the grandfather of the Kauravas.

Veda Vyasa compiled the histories of the people and events before his time in the Puranas. Each Purana gives us  a list of the people through which he heard the purana. For example he learned the Siva Mahapurana from Sanatkumara, who learned it from Nandikeswara, who learned it from Siva himself. Vyasa (Krishna Dwaipayana) was the great grand son of Vasishtha who was the guru of Sri Rama. (See : Generations between Rama and Krishna., Generations previous to Sri Rama. )

• Vyasa classified the Veda Mantras, which included mantras by his father Parasara and mantras by his grandfather Sakthi and his great grandfather Vasishtha.
• Vyasa edited and compiled the Puranas which contained incidents of times before him – like the flood of the Matsya Avataram. as well as the achievements of Siva, Vishnu, Karthikeya and others.
• He made a reference to the Valmiki Ramayanam, and gave it as a reason why he need not explain the story of Rama in detail.
• He originally wrote the Mahabharatam and the SrimadBhagavatham, to reflect the heroic events of his time. The Bharatam includes the story of Sri Rama in it, as told to Draupadi to encourage her, that justice would prevail.
• He classified the Mahabharatam and Valmiki ramayanam as Itihasas.

Vyasa left a Placeholder for Future Events :

• There was a section in every purana to deal with events after the Bharata war.
• This section was written in the future tense to capture the time of the original work.
• It was updated every century or every dynasty.
• A special Purana called the Bhavishya Purana deals with incidents of the Kaliyuga. It was last updated in the time of QutbUdDin Aibak.

The british colonials dated the Puranas at the time of their last updation. This is like taking a diary maintained by a family for generations and dating all the incidents of that diary at the time of the last entry. It is silly to say the list. The anti-astrology people rejected the entire sections based solely on the use of future tense. It did not occur to them to treat it as a style issue.

David Frawley is not a typical western writer who maintains the colonial traditions. Yet he dates the Puranas as 400 AD. But he makes the following errors:

• Though he accurately interprets the shlokas and mantras, astronomically., he treats them in isolation.
• For example, he quotes a shlokam from the Vishnu Puranam which gives the astronomic date of 400 AD, but does not provide the context. It think that date-time-stamp indicated by that shlokam refers to an incident of 400 AD or to the poet who updated it.

Approximate Dateline as worked out by me, to be refined,  filled in and expanded : this is based on a 3102 BCE date for the start of kaliyuga. (See : Date of Sri Rama, Date of the Mahabharata War, How many kinds of Sakas (Eras) are there? How many kinds of Yugas are there? Date of Veda Mantras Equinoxes and Dating Vedas )

• Some Veda Mantras were composed by Vasishtha on the banks of Godavari and on the shores of the Bay of Bengal.
• The  Matsya Avatar is a contemporary of Satyavrata Manu, a forefather of Sri Rama. Vasishtha was on the boat to the Himalayas and helped Ikshvaku settle Ayodhya after the flood.
• Vishnu and Garuda defeated the brothers Sumali, Mali and Malyavan. (Sumali was the grandfather of Ravana)
• Surya Siddhantam created by Maya Danava.
• Siva destroyed Tripura built by Maya Danava, Ravana’s father-in-law.
• Veda Mantras of Parasara and Sakthi.
• Rama killed Ravana.
• Valmiki composed Ramayanam.
• Satrughna killed Lavanasura and established Mathura
• Bharata conquered Takshasila and Pushkalavata.
• Uttarkanda of Valmiki Ramayanam completed
• Veda Vyasa classified the Veda Mantras and he edited, abridged and compiled the Puranas. (between 3138 and 3162 BCE. (BC))
• Mahabharata war. (3138 BCE)
• Veda Vyasa Composed Mahabharatam (Jayam) and Srimad Bhagvatham (3102 to 3098 BCE):  Puranas received by Saunaka and others at Naimsaranya.
• Janamejaya’s dana sasana patram. (3009 BCE)
• Aryans arrive in India (2100 BCE)
• Kautilya Artha Sastram

See Also: Aryan + Naga: Sisunagas, Gauthama Kasyapa Buddha, Chandragupta : Bhavishya Purana,  Dark, handsome heroes of Uttar Pradesh – Sri Rama and Sri Krishna, Anarya! Dushyantha, Sri Rama, Sri Krishna.

Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved: Satya Sarada Kandula

Click here to see a rolling timeline of how unemployment has spread by county since January of 2007.  It ends in September 2009 with a national unemployment rate of just 8.5%, so it doesn’t even include October’s number of 10.2%.

Very sobering.

Thanks to commodore over at HotAir for putting up the link in one of their threads.

Stamps, postmen, writing technology ( Victorian laptop!) and beautiful copperplate handwritten letters, Newquay Zoo's archive collection of Victorian life, Darwin's 200th Birthday launch weekend, February 2009, Newquay Zoo

24th November 1859 - 150 years ago this week, Darwin’s world-changing  book On The Origin Of Species is sold out , a bestseller in its first week. To commemorate this book and as part of , 200 copies of Charles Darwin: A Celebration in Stamps arrive from the printers to Edinburgh Zoo and Newquay Zoo. Watch this space for more news about this publication, designed for educational use in schools.

Meanwhile you could spend a whole lesson looking at the objects in the photo and how they have changed, evolved, been redesigned, updated (or in the case of the hand written love poem, not!)

gelesen:

• Robert Harris: Pompeji
  Einfach zu lesender, mittelspannender Roman über den Ausbruch des Vesuvs, der Pompeji und Herculaneum am am 24. August 79 n. Chr.verschüttet hat. Ich habe einiges über römische Wasserleitungen erfahren und über historische Personen wie Plinius den Älteren. Nach meinen – sehr oberflächlichen – Nachforschungen in der Wikipedia sind die historischen Eckdaten korrekt und die überlieferten Personen haben sich so wie im Roman verhalten.
  Das Buch könnte ein Ausgangspunkt für die Beschaäftigung mit dieser historischen Epoche sein.

Throughout the years, people have been encouraging us to stay happy and inspire us with their words. Here’s a timeline of happiness since before we even realized it.

My mom has her very own timeline that, for some reason, doesn’t seem to coincide with anyone else’s.  By anyone else’s I mean the entire rest of the world.  Whether this is a purposeful lie or just her perception of reality is still in question.  What is even more bizarre is how only certain events/situations have their own timelines, not all.

For example, she knows roughly how long each of her marriages lasted.  She can’t seem to get right, however, how long she’s known friends, or been a _______ (insert current religion here), or a particular job lasted.  It changes, depending on her particular mood or the person she’s talking to.

The other day, she told me she took care of my uncle for two years.  Two years!  It wasn’t even one full year, let alone two.  She also told a friend of mine once that she’d been a Baha’i for twenty years after, only a few weeks previous, she recounted her Baha’i years as ten.

It’s a wonder I know how old I am or at what point in my life certain events occurred.  Thank goodness for calendars!

Social media runs my life, and everything that I need to do on a given day from school work to entertainment depends on it.

Unfortunately, Dipity was not working properly, and I decided to use Slide for the timeline. It displays the information in the best way for what I am trying to accomplish.

!!!

I just read an article which discusses just one theory out of many concerning the time-line in Zelda games. Admittedly, I skimmed parts, but I paid attention to most of it. I got to the end, and read this:

“Sure, I suppose being able to find ‘the closest timeline to what Miyamoto is envisioning right this very moment’ is a worthy runner-up goal, but to what ends? If Nintendo is making it all up as they go along (which I’d also wager is quite likely), the timeline is as flexible as a rubber band, completely mutable and able to be changed at their discretion from here on out. …

“Instead, I truly believe that half the fun of inventing timelines is in the building of the world of Hyrule. It’s in creating our Hyrule. It’s feeling like a scholar of ancient history and digging through the ruins of a fallen Hyrule Castle to find archæological evidence regarding the ancient civilization of the Hylians. It’s in the crazy theorization, the wild speculation, and the mad experimentation.”

Why in the world we care in the first place is the topic of other articles also posted on that website (I suggest you dig around a bit if you’re a fan of the Zelda series like I am) but I do know that every time I start a new game in the Zelda series, I can’t wait to see what new plot twists will be given.

First, he (or she?) is wrong that we shouldn’t search for a proper time-line. (It’s just another form of fan art.) He’s also wrong that the fun is creating our own Hyrule world. I think the fun actually lies in the fact that there’s something about the Zelda universe that clicks with us, that makes us wish we lived in such a world.

This is where this blog post title comes in: the games’ time-lines don’t have to be rational or fit together. I think the goal in mind when the developers created the Zelda games was just to make it fun. They speak of an ancient hero, and then link characters to the past. Somehow, the ancient hero part adds an aurora to the rest of the story. The whole thing creates a personal journey of discovery, connection, and enjoyment of the characters and the environment that makes it so much fun.

That’s why I play Zelda, and that’s why I think we all want to discover more about the time-line. It doesn’t have to be rational, or make sense, at least across multiple games. It just has to be fun and sensible in the context of each game.

That’s my $0.02.

1999
- DSM-V Research and Planning Conference, jointly sponsored by the American Psychiatric Association and the National Institute on Mental Health.

2000
- July and October 2000, DSM-V planning conferences take place.
- Proposals for working groups and white papers developed.

2002
- First collection of white papers: A Research Agenda for DSM-V, edited by David J. Kupfer, M.D., Michael B. First, M.D., and Darrel A. Regier, M.D., M.P.H. and published by the APA. PDFs available.

2004
- DSM-V Prelude Project site launched by the APA.

2004 – 2007
- NIH Conferences: 13 Additional planning conferences held in conjunction with the World Health Organization, the World Psychiatric Organization, the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education, and the National Institutes of Health. Conferences based on working groups and included:

• Research Planning Launch/Methods Conference (February 18-20, 2004)
• Personality Disorders Conference (December 1-3, 2004)
• Substance-Related Disorders Conference (February 14-17, 2005)
• Stress-Induced and Fear Circuitry Disorders Conference (June 23-24, 2005)
• Dementia Conference (September 15-17, 2005)
• Deconstructing Psychosis (February 15-17, 2006)
• Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorders Conference (June 20-22, 2006)
• Dimensional Aspects of Psychiatric Diagnosis (July 26-28, 2006)
• Somatic Presentations of Mental Disorders (September 6-8, 2006)
• Externalizing Disorders of Childhood (Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Oppositional-Defiant Disorder, Juvenile Bipolar Disorder) (February 14-16, 2007)
• Comorbidity of Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (June 20-22, 2007)
• Public Health Implications of Changes in Psychiatric Classification (September 25-28, 2007)
• Autism and Other Pervasive Developmental Disorders Conference (February 3-5, 2008)

2006
- April: DSM-V Task Force formed with the appointments of Drs. David Kupfer and Darrel Regier as chair and vice-chair. Task force will include chairs from diagnostic work groups and other leaders from the APA. Members were reviewed and approved by the APA and officially announced in 2008.

2007
- July – Chairs of work work groups announced, work group members to be nominated.
- August – Second collection of white papers: Age and Gender Considerations in Psychiatric Diagnosis, edited by William E. Narrow, M.D., M.P.H., Michael B. First, M.D., Paul J. Sirovatka, M.S., and Darrel A. Regier, M.D., M.P.H. and published by the APA.
- Late 2007 workgroups began meeting. “…there has been no pre-set limitation on the nature and degree of change that work groups can recommend for DSM-V” (American Psychiatric Association, DSM-V).

2008
- May 2008: Work Group and Subcommittee appointments officially announced. Work groups renamed and include:

• ADHD and Disruptive Behavior Disorders
• Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum, Posttraumatic, and Dissociative Disorders
• Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence
• Eating Disorders
• Mood Disorders
• Neurocognitive Disorders
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Personality and Personality Disorders
• Psychotic Disorders
• Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders
• Sleep-Wake Disorders
• Somatic Distress Disorders
• Substance-Related Disorders

- Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group includes:

• Kenneth J. Zucker, Ph.D., Chair
• Irving M. Binik, Ph.D., Sexual Dysfunction subworkgroup
• Ray Blanchard, Ph.D., chair of Paraphilia subworkgroup
• Lori A. Brotto, Ph.D., Sexual Dysfunction subworkgroup
• Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis, Ph.D., chair of Gender Identity subworkgroup
• Jack Drescher, M.D., Gender Identity subworkgroup, NYC
• Cynthia Graham, Ph.D., Sexual Dysfunction subworkgroup
• Martin P. Kafka, M.D., Parahilias subworkgroup
• Richard B. Krueger, M.D., Paraphilias subworkgroup, NYC
• Niklas Långström, M.D., Ph.D., Paraphilias subworkgroup
• Heino F. L. Meyer-Bahlburg, Dr. rer. nat., Gender Identity subworkgroup, NYC
• Friedemann Pfäfflin, M.D., Ph.D., Gender Identity subworkgroup
• Robert Taylor Segraves, M.D., Ph.D., chair of Sexual Dysfunctions subworkgroup

- Current Activities: Report of the DSM-V Task Force (September 2008)
- Current Activities: Report of the DSM-V Task Force (November 2008)
- Current Activities: Reports of the DSM-V Work Groups (November 2008). Report of the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group.
- May 23, 2008: APA Statement on GID and The DSM-V. “…The APA is aware of a need for more scientific and clinical knowledge about the best medical and psychiatric care for individuals with Gender Identity Disorder. To address this need, the APA Board of Trustees voted to create a Task Force to review the scientific and clinical literature on GID treatment. The members of this Task Force will be appointed shortly.”

2009
- Review, testing, and commenting on proposed diagnostic criteria
- February/March: Draft diagnostic criteria
- March: Current Activities: Report of the DSM-V Task Force
- April: Current Activities: Reports of the DSM-V Work Groups. Report of the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group.
- April: APA GID Treatment Task Force named by APA President, Nada Stotland. The Task Force includes:

• William M. Byne, M.D., Ph.D.
• A. Evan Eyler, M.D., M.P.H.
• Edgardo Jorge Menvielle, M.D., M.S.H.S.
• Richard Randall Pleak, M.D.
• David A. Tompkins, M.D.
• Susan Bradley, M.D., Advisor
• Eli Coleman, Ph.D., Advisor
• Richard Green, M.D., J.D., Advisor
• Heino F. L. Meyer-Bahlburg, Dr., rer. nat., Advisor

- As of April 2009 for the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group:

• First-round literature reviews completed , to be peer-reviewed in committee and also reviewed by Advisors.
• “The Gender Identity Disorders Sub-work group has addressed criticisms and feedback from interested activist groups and other stakeholders.”
• GID subworkgroup developed survey distributed to +60 orgs to get data from TGNC adults. Closing date for responses was Oct 2008. Data analysis completed and summary report is in preparation.
• Next Steps: Subworkgroups review and produce recommendations, study potential metrics for dimensional diagnosis, review potential data sets for secondary data analysis, review options for field trials.

2010
- Review, testing, and commenting on proposed diagnostic criteria

2011
- Early 2011: Finish diagnostic criteria

2012
- May: Anticipated printing and publication of the DSM-V.

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Sources:

American Psychiatric Association. DSM-V: The Future Manual. http://ww2.psych.org/MainMenu/Research/DSMIV/DSMV.aspx.

American Psychiatric Association. “Timeline.” DSM-V: The Future Manual. http://www.psych.org/MainMenu/Research/DSMIV/DSMV/Timeline.aspx.

American Psychiatric Association. “APA Names DSM-V Work Group Members: Experts to Revise Manual for Diagnosis of Mental Disorders.” News Release May 1, 2008. http://www.psych.org/MainMenu/Newsroom/NewsReleases/2008NewsReleases/dsmwg.aspx.

American Psychiatric Association. “APA Task Force reviews possible Gender Identity Disorder treatment guidelines” News Release April 28, 2009. http://www.psych.org/MainMenu/Newsroom/NewsReleases/2009NewsReleases/APATaskForceReviewsPossibleGenderIdentityDisorder.aspx

American Psychiatric Association. “Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group.” DSM-V: The Future Manual. http://www.psych.org/MainMenu/Research/DSMIV/DSMV/WorkGroups/SexualGID.aspx?mode=1.

American Psychiatric Association. APA Statement on GID and The DSM-V. http://www.psych.org/MainMenu/Research/DSMIV/DSMV/APAStatements/APAStatementonGIDandTheDSMV.aspx.

American Pschology Association. Report of the Task Force on Gender Identity and Gender Variance. 2009. http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/transgender/2008TaskForceReport.pdf.

Winters, Kelly. “A Fifth Edition — Opportunity for Change?” GID Reform Advocates. http://www.gidreform.org/dsm5.html. ]]> http://zoescope.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/visualizing-empires-decline-imperi-in-declino-in-video/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:55:18 +0000 zoescope http://zoescope.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/visualizing-empires-decline-imperi-in-declino-in-video/

(EN) Pedro Cruz created a visual experiment with Processing analyzing the rise and decline of top 4 maritime empires of the XIX and XX centuries. Looking at the video, biology and social phenomena seem closer than I thought.

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(IT) Pedro Cruz ha creato un esperimento di visualizzazione con Processing analizzando la nascita e il declino di 4 imperi marittimi del 19° e 20° secolo.  Guardando il video, biologia e fenomeni sociali sembrano più vicini di quanto pensassi.

I remember when I was kid, I love the Voltes V series and I know most of you love the series as well.

Well, I just want to poke some of those memories out and post the ending credits of that legendary anime.

And in this second video, a fan made video using some 3d animation, and playing the complete song of the ending.

The creature was found on October 6 at a depth of 161 metres (528 feet) in Manado Bay off Sulawesi Island, where the Indonesian coelacanth was first discovered, according to the researchers.
Video footage showed the 31.5 centimetre (12.6-inch) coelacanth, coloured blue with white spots, swimming slowly among rocks on the seabed for about 20 minutes.

“As far as we know, it was the first ever video image of a living juvenile coelacanth, which is still shrouded in mystery,” said Masamitsu Iwata, a researcher at Aquamarine Fukushima in Iwaki, northeast of Tokyo.

While at Baptist Bible College it was common to have conversations with a friend about some gal that had captured their heart and now they were considering asker her to marry them. My standard reply was to imagine falling into a dark bottomless pit and all the way down you could see the words flashing in neon “Forever and Ever and Ever” It was a not so subtle reference to the bottomless pit that Satan will be cast into one day.

There would be an occasional chuckle, or nervous laugh, but the truth was in our minds that marriage was a serious undertaking that impacted the rest of your life. In 1870 a wife would be lucky if her husband lived past the time the youngest child left home. In 1911 the average marriage lasted 28 years. By 1967 that average had reached 42 years. Paul Harvey got to the point that he wouldn’t even mention your anniversary unless it was 60 and most of the time 70 years of marriage.

Now 70 years of marriage would seem like an eternity to most folks. But with medical care advancing, if a couple stays together, it is no big deal anymore to see at least their 50th anniversary. We have at least three folks in our church that have been married over 60 years.

What this means is that you have an opportunity to build a real history with each other. Now with digital cameras, you might be able to remember it all.

History as A Timeline

With our American brains we see time as a line with various dates and events marked on it. It is a linear view of history. Time is the determiner of when things happen. We got married on a certain day. We had children on such and such a date, we bought this house on a certain date, we sold and bought another house, etc. The kids went to this school at such and such a date, graduated from High School, College etc. Everything fits on the timeline of our life.

Biblical View of Time and History

To understand how marriages have the opportunity to enjoy “Sacred History” it would be helpful to understand a Biblical view of History.

This is where an understanding of ancient Jewish view of History comes into play. The ancient Hebrew perception of time was not abstract like our modern view; instead, it was connected to the idea of specific events, and because of this event specific orientation the people of Israel “found the idea of a time without a particular event quite inconceivable” [Von Rad, v. 2, page 100]. So, for the ancient Jews the concept of “time” was understood only in relation to particular events: There is a time of giving birth (Mic. 5:2), a time for animals to be gathered together (Gen. 29:7), a time when kings go forth to battle (II Sam. 11:1). The tree yields its fruit ‘in its time’ (Ps. 1:3), and God gives his creatures food ‘in due time’ (Ps. 104: 27); that is to say, every event has its definite place in the time-order; the event is inconceivable without its time… [Von Rad, v. 2, page 100].

Psalm 31:15 which reads, “My times are in thy hands” [KJV,RSV]. The Jews of David’s time did not think of time like we do, they viewed life as being made of many times, or a series of times.

Biblical Jews See God as the Lord of History

Specifically, the Jews saw time as a series of specific events initiated by God. Time did not exist as an independent reality, but existed only in relation to divinely initiated events. I will use my wife to illustrate how the Jews viewed history.

My wife views our history not by dates but by whom she was pregnant with at the time. I’ll mention a particular event and say when did that happen and she’ll say – well it had to be so and so year because she was pregnant with Tonya or somebody else. If it happened when she wasn’t pregnant with any one, she can’t remember it or can’t recall the year. Her concept of time is totally event related.

All of their festivals and observances celebrated a Redemptive Act of God. The exact time was not important, but their celebration and identifying with what God did was important.

I believe in heaven that time will cease to exist. We will simply live in events in happenings. We’ll be able to participate in the crossing of the Red Sea. We’ll be able to watch as Jesus feeds the multiture. We’ll watch as Peter walks and then falls into the Sea. We’ll watch as Jesus rescue him. It won’t be a movie, it will be the real thing. Time will cease to exist, and we will be totally event oriented. It will be totally about seeing how God has redeemed us and mde us trophies of His grace.

God’s Relationship with Israel

Karl Barth (a famous theologian) was challenged by an atheist to prove the existence of God. His reply was quite simple – the Jew. For over 4000 years the Jews have kept a separate identity while all the other races of man came and went. Yet the Jewish people with their worship of Yahweh has continued on in spite of losing their land, being persecuted in countless ways down through the centuries. Still, the Jews continue on, worshiping and following the same Yahweh that revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

This relationship that God has with the Jewish people is nothing short of miraculous. The Old Testament reads like a Sacred History of His love for these people. That relationship has gone through so many phases it is nothing short of a miracle that God still call them “My People.”

Exodus 6:7 (ESV) I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

God calls them “My People” because He shows His redemptive Power and Love to the entire world through His relationship with them. The good, the bad, the ugly shows to all the world that there is a God who has the power to save you if you come to Him.

Joshua 4:23-24 (NIV) For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.”

Nehemiah’s Prayer (1:9):

Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your dispersed be under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’

God’s History with His People is SACRED, because His Name Dwells With Them

Time after time He showed his steadfast love. He showed how He would persevere. God’s relationship with Israel has gone through various stages:

• Times of joy and celebration
  • Deliverance from Egypt, victory at Jericho, Esther, David, Solomon
• Seasons of frustration and anger
  • The judges, King Saul, the Jews in the wilderness
• Times of infidelity and apostasy
  • The golden calf, the Split of the Northern and Southern Kingdom, King Ahab Jezebel
• Times when God seemingly abandoned them
  • The Holocaust
  • Other times of persecution
• Seasons of silence
  • After Joseph’s death until Moses
  • The period between Malachi and Matthew

God’s relationship with Israel mirrors the relationship between husband and wife

Marriage CAN be a Sacred Journey

Marriage: A long journey that two people take—and a sacred one.

Sacred –  dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of God.

Marriage is the journey of two stumbling sinners falling toward God and each other and all the while experiencing events and experiences that can demonstrate the redemption of God to a lost and dying world. You simply have to see God as Lord of your History. You dedicate your TIMES to show forth God to a dying world!

We all have a history of ‘times’ with our spouse. There were moments of labor and delivery, struggles to conceive, financial pressures, financial success, problems failures, struggles, joy. What makes that History Sacred is whether or not we see God as Lord of our History, and devote our marriages exclusively to show the steadfast and persevering love of our Heavenly Father. The events of your life, good and bad, become a testimony to God’s working in your marriage.

With God the exact dates are not important, but the fact that you acknowledge Him as the Lord of your Marrige History is! Think to the darkest moment of your marriage – God was there. Think of the greatest moment of your marriage – God was there. Every high and every low demonstrates the redemptive Love of God. Our marriage is meant to reflect the Sacred History the Jews have had with God.

God called a young man and told him to marry a prostitute. So Hosea went and found Gomer. It wasn’t long before she left him to return to her lovers.

Hosea 1:2 (NLT) When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”

You have heard the story. She leaves him, has chilren by her lovers, comes back, leaves, finally she comes back because her lovers have lost interest in her. Hosea says she will no more play the harlot. God points out the picture between marriage and His relationship with Israel:

Hosea 2:14-16 (NLT) “But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt. When that day comes,” says the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’ instead of ‘my master.’

Marriage is not always good, not always bad – sometimes it just is.

“Marriage is a long walk two people take together. Sometimes the terrain is very interesting, sometimes very dull. At time the walk is arduous for both or for one. Sometimes the conversation is lively, at other times, not much to say. The travelers do not know where they are going, nor exactly when they will arrive.”

Marriage must become good with living with routines.

To have a good marriage takes time. Working through problems, enjoying special occasions, coming together in times of setbacks. You must decide to see God in the routine of your marriage just as much as you do in the mountain top experiences. The same thing that will keep your marriage together through “sickness and health, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sadness and in joy, is the same thing that will keep you growing as Believer in Jesus Christ. It is a little thing we call perseverance.

The Spiritual Discipline of Perseverance

Perseverance is “steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a belief, or a purpose; steadfastness.” Perseverance is different from endurance. Endurance can indicate “putting up with,” “bearing up under,” or merely “tolerating” a demanding circumstance, implying a definite passive quality. Perseverance or prokarteresis suggest more than mere toleration of a circumstance because they have definite proactive characteristics. It means “to be earnest or strong toward; to be constantly diligent; to adhere closely to; to continue instant in; to be steadfast with a person or thing.” The Greek verb proskartereo (Strong’s #4342) is most frequently translated into English as “continue in.” Its closest English synonym is “persistent.” Both contain a strong sense of continuous persistence toward achieving some activity.

This quality must be rediscovered in our marriages if we are to commit to seeing the History of our Marriage as: “Sacred”. Some experts say it takes 9 to 14 years for a couple to “create and form its being” (Oliver, Conjugal Spirituality, p 33) Becoming One in your marriage takes time. The problem in America and with such a high divorce rate is that we have become a nation of quitters:

• Job
• Marriage
• Family
• Political party
• Church
• Faith (1 Tim 4:1)

A young lady named Marti finally got married. Before marriage she brough all this luggage of failed dating relationships and failed family relationships. After the first year of marriage Marti and her husband were experiencing some hard times, complete with the fights and frustrations that often accompany adversity in a marriage. After one bad fight, Marti prepared herself for what she thought was inevitable: her husband would leave her, just like all the others before. Her husband was a Christian fimly committed to the idea of Covenant Marriage. While she was sulking in the other room, he came into her ans said these simple words: “I will never leave you.” I will stay with you and we will work through this problem.

The Necessity of Perseverance

Luke 8:11-15
Jesus told the parable of the different soils and how the seed reacts. The thing which determined whether you had a good crop is persevering:

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” (NIV)

James 1:4

James 1:2-4 (HCSB)Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
James 1:2-4 (NIV) Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Our maturity with God is directly related to our perseverance, the way we stay active and seeking Him, even though we can’t see Him through the tears. Too many people quit God, quit the Church because of some little hurt, or because the feelings are not their. Faith in God is not about Feelings. Enjoying your Sacred History together will involve time when the feeling just aren’t there.

Romans 2:6-8

God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.(NIV)

Perseverance through trials and difficulties creates beauty and meaning for your life. God will grant you glory and honor. If you are self-seeking in your marriage, and reject the truth of God’s Word, you will gain God’s wrath and anger.

• “You have to be happy in the moment” can’t sustain a relationship
• When couples go through normal downturns, Satan starts to whisper “you married the wrong one”

Preachers have played into Satan’s plan by bending the truth to fit the circumstances of the day. We make excuses for the Truth and open back doors of excuses and denial. Like the Christian pastor who wanted me to leave the word sublission out of my sermon to the couple i was marrying because “We ignore that Scripture in our church. We don’t see it as relevant”

Pulpits across America must stop excusing the Truth of God’s Word! We must preach the truth and the truth is that God hates divorce.

I believe the wrath of God may be upon America not necessarily because we have taken God out of the schools. God didn’t call the schools of America to preach the truth. God called His preachers and pastors and church leaders to proclaim His truth. He calls every Christian couple to be witnesses of the Gospel. That witness is the Love and Forgiveness of Jesus Christ as shown in a Marriage that is Life Long, because God’s Love is Life Long!

Preachers have stopped preaching the truth that God Hates Divorce. We excuse it, we tolerate it, we find more and more ways to make it OK. We’ve even have Divorced Pastors leading churches. If there is any wrath upon America it is because the church has become self-seeking and has rejected the truth of God’s Word.

To Reject the Truth is to Risk Gods Anger

Persistence makes no sense unless we have a keen sense of eternity. What is the focus of your heart? Is your focus on living a life that is preparation for Eternity? Perhaps God is using your difficult marriage to prepare you for your Eternity! So you have had a rough couple of years, even decades, what is that when compared with how you will spend ETERNITY?

The Bible doesn’t mention rewards for those Christians who are the happiest of have felt the least pain or experienced the least sorrow!

Priority of Sacred History is Eternal Priority.

2 Thess 3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christs perseverance.

Sacred History means being persistent in doing good! Marriage goes through many seasons. Sometimes you simply have to get through it. This is merely a season, and it is foolish to quit perservering during a time when any marriage would have to adapt.

Reject Self-Seeking Behavior

If there is no heaven, divorce makes sense. But if there is heaven and God and Judgment, does the cost of divorce (God’s wrath and anger) justify the jeopardizing your future?

Divorce is a failure of love, forgiveness, patience and at the very least a failure in judgment in choosing a difficult partner in the first place. But we must realize we are all failures at some point.

According to Matthew 5:28, I and virtually every other man must be considered an adulterer. One lustfull look and Boom! we have fallen. One angry outburst “You Fool!” and I’m in danger of hell fire. (Matt 5:22). While Jesus is certainly a picture of God’s Holiness and High standards, He is also a picture of Mercy and Forgiveness.

• He forgave the woman taken in adultery, even though she deserved to be stoned(John 8:11)
• He told his disciples that if anyone puts their hand to the plow and then turns back, is not worth of the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:62).
• Yet he forgave each of His disciples for running away, and especially forgave Peter who even denied knowing Him.)Mark 14:66-72)

If you have gone through the pain and heartache of divorce, you serve no one other than the devil by fixating on something that can not be undone. The Scriptures says humble yourself in the sight of God and He will lift you up. The is no exception clause for God grace against divorced people.

If you are in a difficult marriage, I exhort you as Jesus would to hang in there. Do more than hang, do all you can to follow Jesus commands for relationships. Most of those are contained in his sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, 7. Divorce is not the same as denying Jesus or leaving your faith, but it is a dangerous decision spiritually. However, Even God’s word has allowed that there may be conditions in which it is a right choice.

• Matthew 19:9 records the exception for infidelity.
• 1 Corinthians 7:15 reveals the situation when an  unbelieving spouse abandons a believer.

Be AWARE of the ‘times’ of marriage that rock a couple’s intimacy

• New born babies
• Potty training
• Toddlers
• School Activities
• Strains at Work
• Debt and Stress
• Empty Nesters
• Dealing with Sick Inlaws
• Dealing with sickness later in life

To evaluate your marriage at that point is foolish and short-sighted. By quitting or looking elsewhere you will block God from the Sacred History of Redemption that He is building in your marriage. When we leave someone, don’t pretend there won’t be spiritual consequences. God is angry when we abuse his children.

SEE THE NEED FOR A SACRED HISTORY

In these “muddied” versions of Psalm 2. I have changed the nations and Kings to read Husbands and Wives. Instead of seeking your own way, God warns us to submit to God’s royal Son (or kiss the Son in KJV) lest He becomes angry. Our persevering in our marriage is SO important to God!

Psalms 2:1-3 (NLT) Why are you husbands and wives so angry? Why do you waste your time with selfish plans? You prepare for battle; you plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one. “Let us break their chains,” you cry, “and free ourselves from slavery to God.” But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at you. Then in anger he rebukes you, terrifying you with his fierce fury.
Psalms 2:10-12 (NLT) Now then, you husbands, act wisely! Be warned, you wives! Serve the Lord with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling. Submit to God’s royal Son, or he will become angry, and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities— for his anger flares up in an instant. But what joy for all who take refuge in him!

Consider the Sacred History of Joseph

Consider Joseph and his response to his wicked brothers. As you consider it, imagine he was responding to a difficult spouse:

In Genesis 50:20 Joseph tells his brothers that they intended harm to him when they sold him into slavery. He also told them that God was active in all this “in order that” (i.e. to the intended and accomplished end) good might come to him.

Family solidarity takes hard work, much imagination and constant self-criticism on the part of all the members of the sacred circle. A successful marriage is not one in which two people, beautifully matched, find each other and get along happily ever after because of this initial matching. It is, instead, a system by means of which persons who are sinful and contentious are so caught by a dream bigger than themselves that they work throughout the years, in spite of repeated disappointment, to make the dream come true.—Elton Trueblood

What if the Spouse Wants Out?

We can’t see the consequences of our divorce. We can’t predict the chaos, the confusion, the hurt and the effect upon our children and their marriages. Marriage can produce tensions and hurts so intense that reconciliation would take more energy than either partner could possess in ten lifetimes. In many cases God can provide the energy; in some cases people are just not willing to accept it, or to do what God says is needed to do. Divorce is an easy alternative. Sometimes we have divorced forced upon us. Even so, our maturity before God must be considered and become our driving motivation. Even when we are sinned against, we can grow through the experience by the grace of God.

The message of Eternity and Pleasing God and bringing glory to God is this: We draw closer to God by honoring the history of our marriage, even when our spouse leaves and divorces us. God can use this to draw us closer into His heart.

The Whole Point of Having a Sacred History is “THAT MY NAME MAY DWELL THERE”

If you want God’s Name to dwell in the History of your marriage, then you would be wise to follow these steps:

1.Realize that God has a purpose for your “Times”
2.Thank God for all the “times”, even those when you thought He forgot you or left you.
3.Ask Him to bring healing to your heart for the “times” when you were hurt or disturbed by what God seemed to allow in your life.
4.Dedicate your remaining ‘times’ to show forth God’s Remptive Love to those around you.
5.Tell your spouse you are committed to building a Sacred History with them for the rest of your life.