Friday, September 30, 2011

Mary and I went to WalMart to pick up my medicine and buy myself a new pair of jeans. I had to go down two sizes to get them to fit right. The bad news is they fit so well I don't need my suspenders, my fashion statement.


On the other hand: There once was a Man who was interrupted graciously by one of the most beloved women in history. He bluntly told her: Woman, this is not on My agenda... and walked away silently. Yet He loved her, and she honored him, and they UNDERSTOOD each other. 
The Man was Jesus, the woman was Mary His mother, the occasion was The Wedding in Cana.
Point? There is a structural conflict built into male female relationships, even in the BEST. God made it that way and He LIKES IT.


Suddenly I am an expert on a subject that no one likes to speak of or think of, including me, Hell. Since I first spoke on this, a world wide search has started looking for my blog on Hell, with 375 searches for the word Hell and 1000 views of that blog. Interesting that I did not make the connection between the spiritual heart and Hell, until well after I had learned to Praise and Thank Him in all things. Perhaps a deeper sense of gratefulness is directly connected to an awareness of what I have escaped.


God takes no joy in vicious words, destructive relationships, proud hearts!
The bitter word, the indifferent heart... will have no place in God’s Kingdom.
Doing the right thing will cook your goose, but the aroma of that sacrifice pleases God!
An old cold heart can hide in a young beauty, but fiery passion is agelessly beautiful!
The JOY! of a God cleansed heart is ever flowing, & infinitely greater than the happiness of a good day.


So far. I’m the oldest I’ve ever been!
I HUFFED & I PUFFED and I got out of my chair.
Horse lovers are STABLE people.
I’M THE BOSS!! my wife said I could be...
ME BOSS - YOU NOT!

Selena's Story

My niece Selena wrote a powerful testimony and I asked her if  I could copy and paste it into my blog. The only change I made is I added a title. Oh, and I added a little quote of my own at the end. Check out the bottom for Annabelle's latest pic.

Selena (center), her husband Christopher,
and Annabella

Selena's Story (in her own words)

I want to share what God has been doing for my family over the last few weeks. Let me briefly give you some background information on my husband and me. Some of you may or may not know that Chris and I were diagnosed infertile nearly 7 years ago. When we received our diagnosis, I was devastated. There are no words to express the depth of my misery and pain at that time. The dream I had of a family had been shattered in one conversation with our doctor.
In 2008, Chris and I moved to Colorado Springs to get a fresh start on life. After being diagnosed infertile, we had 4 failed adoptions. This too was incredibly painful for me to bear. It was like losing a child each and every time.
In 2010 Chris and I became foster/adopt parents and this is how our son, Nathan, came to live with us. We became his Forever family on January 24th, 2011. He is 13 years old.
In December of last year we discovered I was pregnant. It was very unexpected and our whole family was shocked by the news. It was truly a blessing. I had an incredibly healthy pregnancy, aside from the enormous fibroid attached to my uterus. Now, this brings us up to the last few weeks….
I had a beautiful baby girl, Annabella, via a c-section on 8/19. And she is doing so fabulous. Growing like a weed and very healthy. She is honestly the cutest and most facially animated baby ever. Her birth was so smooth and it seemed that I was healing quickly from surgery. However, on 9/7 I started hemorrhaging and cramping badly. By the time I made it to the ER, I had lost so much blood that they immediately cross-referenced me for a transfusion. The amount of pain I was in was terrifying and unbearable. I really thought I might die. My body went into complete shock. As I started to convulse uncontrollably and continued to bleed out, I could see the faces of the nurses, doctors and my family…..everyone was contemplating the worst. I had an emergency D and C (dilation and curettage) that morning. The doctors found that I had a major infection in my uterus caused by the enormous fibroid and that tissue that had been left behind from my c-section. I was in the hospital 4 days and received 4 units of blood while I was there. My doctor told me that if I had waited one more hour I may not have made it, because I had lost so much blood. (This was frightening for my family, especially Chris who had taken on full-time Mommy duty while I lay in a hospital bed trying to recover from the trauma placed on my body).
Everything again seemed to be going smoothly until 9/16, when I started hemorrhaging and cramping again. This time the doctors came in and we discussed my options.....my fibroid was causing all of my issues. It was 14 cm in diameter and not allowing my body to heal from the pregnancy. My fibroid had basically enveloped by my uterus and there would be no end to the pain. So, on 9/19 (one month after giving birth to my first biological child) I had a hysterectomy. I was in the hospital 6 days. In addition to this, they are checking for cancer. The emotional and physical scars that have been left behind are so difficult to deal with. Literally I feel as though all new hopes for more children has been stripped from me again and my heart is breaking.
However, the God I serve is so mighty and gracious. And I am standing here before you today as an example of His love. I can’t tell you how many times I doubted. How many times I thought He must not exist; He must not be listening and if He is He just doesn’t care. But, now I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God loves me. He had a plan, He has a plan. I just couldn’t see it. I couldn’t conceive it. I couldn’t control it. But, He was placing the pieces of my life together so perfectly, so that my family (the one I’d been praying for since I was 7 years old) could come together. None of it happened the way I thought it should. My son came to us a little scarred and little broken, but He equipped us to be the best parents for him. My daughter came to us so much later than I would have liked and the events that followed have shattered the hope of more kids. But, I truly believe that God made a little miracle. And without Him Nathan would still be lost in a world without love, compassion and stability. And Annabella would have never entered the world. Every time I look into those bright eyes of hers I can see God’s love shining back at me.
I am so grateful today for my life (thank you Jesus for not taking me from this world just yet), my husband (who has been such a wonderful support to me through all of this) and my children (who are both my little miracles).

Here is the conclusion of the matter: God doesn't smoke a cigar, but every so often I think I see Him in Heaven saying, "I love it when a plan comes together". You can befriend Selena on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/selena.boyts and thank you, Selena, for sharing! - Mike  

How God orchestrated my life with miracles and grace into a living parable! 

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Annabelle is now 6 months old.

Mary and The Parables

Today is Wednesday, September 28, 2011. Today is Mary’s birthday. She was born 62 years ago.
We met on the Internet on a Christian dating site called Christian Mingles. On our first face to face meeting we had a blast! I was an answer to a very direct prayer of hers to God. She laid on the floor face down and cried out to God that if He willed, would He send her a man of God?! Right after that prayer her sister sent her a note that also contain the an ad for Christian Mingles.
Mary was an answer to a heart cry I did not want to verbalize, but I felt very deeply. I had a difficult time admitting to myself that I longed for someone to see beautiful things with, and to worship hand in hand with, but God knew, and Mary was His answer. God was setting up something bigger than both of us.
I was just thinking today about how radically my life changed since meeting and marrying Mary. In January I was worked at a factory, pastored a church, lived with my daughter and her family, very involved in music, and only caually involved in my internet ministry.
I had 40 followers on Twitter, 100 friends on Facebook, and I had no idea if anyone was reading my publishings on Facebook or Twitter.
I had published The Parables on a Website called worshipjournal.com started by Noel Richards. The site was actually designed for worship musicians, and the journal aspect was not intended for publishing written articles. It provided a feedback mechanism by ranking popularity of the profiles. There was also feedback on how many visited the site and read or down loaded articles and songs.
I was surprised at how well my articles were received, and somewhat shocked when my profile popularity hit the top 100. My profile rose in popularity week by week until it hit number 7. About that time the website had a break down.
I was not faring as well on Facebook and Twitter. Then Mary entered the picture.
I had decided to retire from the 3rd shift factory job before meeting Mary. After meeting Mary, I had new family responsibilities, and I had no idea what they would involve. After very careful and prayerful deliberations, I announced I was retiring from the pastorate, which freed me to relocate to Michigan and see what developed with Mary's family. I did not want my new “children” to blame the church for the loss of their mother. It also freed up time to work on my web ministry.
Before Mary, I was a musician as well as a preacher, but the music was dropped, and I became a wordsmith instead. I had much to learn.
Before Mary, I was a factory worker, Pastor, musician, Hoosier, and involved daily in my families' life. After Mary, I was a wordsmith, Michigander, and travelled monthly and bimonthly to be involved with my family.
Perhaps such a radical change would have been hard in any other setting, but in the “remote” location with Mary’s full time company, it was delightful. I was, with the Lord’s help, able to wrap my mind around Internet workings and language, and began to put my Internet ministry on a solid footing. My Twitter followers grew 10 fold, and then grew 10 fold again. My Facebook friends grew 10 fold also. I even earned a little income.
Through trial and error, and God’s guidance, I discovered the power of a short quote. What was most incredible is that I was the one doing the quoting. The short quotes were the key to drawing in an audience for the Parables. People would stop by my posts for the quotes, and then stay to read a Parable.
Now things are changing again. We’ve learned that Mary’s family needs us less than we had thought. We always knew that my family would enjoy us as much as we could be there. The home in Indiana will be available for Mary and me to stay in.
I may get a part time job in Indiana, and possibly take on some music students as well. Since we will be there much more often, I may assist Family Bible Fellowship with the music. I have a lot of work to do on my Indiana home.
Mary can’t sell her home in Michigan, and there are tax advantages for us to keep our residency in Michigan. But my family, my home, and most of my time will be in Indiana.
The publishing of the Parables will remain a major part of my life. Thanks to the year and a half in “seclusion”, it will be on a solid footing, reaching 110 countries in 34 languages, telling the story of how God used a miraculous gift of rain to transform my life into a living Parable.
If you are thankful for the Parables, then thank the Lord, and if you should ever meet Mary or care to drop her a line, thank her. She has been a mighty catalyst in the publishing of these Parables around the world.
Happy birthday, Mary!

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The Insights Trio

Once upon a time, a very long time ago, when girls wore their hair very long, and boys had big lapels on their shirts, and wore cranberry herring bone bell bottom trousers, there was a group called The Insights Trio.
The beautiful woman in the picture is my late wife Lynne. I played the piano, Dave Royer played the bass guitar, and we all took turns at the lead.
The song that is embedded is one I wrote, The Cross is a Symbol.
You can hear more of The Insights Trio and learn more about them on their profile on MySpace Insights that was set up by my friend and fellow member of the group, the one with almost as much hair as Lynne.
There is a story behind the song. We were travelling in Colorado and were singing at The Montrose Church of the Nazarene one Sunday. Lynne and I sat in a Sunday School class by a guest teacher who was vacationing in that beautiful mountain area for the summer.
She had a simple outline for the lesson that I never forgot. The Cross is symbol of 1. man's hate and greed 2. God's love so free 3. Man's only hope.
To play the song, simply click on the arrow below. I hope you enjoy the song.

The Cross is a Symbol by Insights

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How God orchestrated my life with miracles and grace into a living parable! My ebook blog The Gift Parables

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Android vs iPhone; Blackberry tanking!

See update at bottom of blog!


This conversation started out as just my observation, and turned into an interesting discussion between Barry Skalski, a family and Facebook friend and super geek.
Just saw a statistic that during the last three months twice as many smart phone purchasers bought an android device over an Apple iphone.
Don't read into this that this is a death knell for Apple. Apple fans are extremely loyal and Apple is highly profitable, leaving them a lot of cash to fight for market share.
What I have observed is that when 2 biggies fight it out, the newbie or little guy sometimes dies. Remember when two late night shows, David Letterman and Jay Leno started their battle, newbie Arsenio Hall died quickly.
From Barry Skalski: Blackberry is the one that is dead and just doesn't know it yet :) 
Mike:Wasn't going to say that, but I agree. When I wrote that thought, I was wondering what you were thinking about this at the time. Thanks for letting me know.
Barry: There is NO doubt in my mind that is going to happen. Palm users are almost non-existent as well.
I was just at a techy meeting last week with about 100 people in the room. Question was asked "What do you use?" About 1/3 raised their hand for iPhone, about 50% raised for Android, 1 raised their hand for Palm, about 10 people for Blackberry.....not good if you are Palm or Blackberry fan.
Mike: Much thanks for that note. I'd like to include your comments in my blog, if that's okay.
Barry: Go for it. I agree with your blog post assessment about the FB changes....people will get on board with it. Wait till they see the next change coming (this week I think)
Mike: I'm looking forward to it.
Barry: Personally, from what I hear, it is going to Rock people's world! It sounds totally incredible!
It sounds totally awesome, basically, your complete auto-biography right before yours and everyone else's eyes. I think it is going to be amazing.
Mike: I agree, at least from my perspective as a journal person. It sounds like I'll be able to easily pull up my past posts through the time line feature.
I used to get twice as many hits to my blog from twitter than from Facebook. Now it's reversed and climbing.
Barry: I think that the more Facebook evolves, plus with the start up of Google+, I think Twitter will be less relevant. Probably will not go away, but definitely going to decline in users.
Mike:  I do know this, between Facebook, Google and their blog, and Twitter, no other social and search sites can grab a foothold, other than Yahoo, and they're working with Google and Microsoft. I keep twitter because of 2 reasons. They make me edit, which gives my quotes a ton of punch, and they reach the poorest and smallest of markets, 3rd world countires, cheap cell phones, etc. which is what I want to do with the Parables.
Barry: I think Twitter will last because of how accessible it is, I just see it going more the way of "reporter" than "social".
Mike: Agreed. Their info capabilities rival Google search.
UPDATE: Interesting geek news about RIM, per our discussion that they wouldn't fare well in a battle between Google and Apple: RIM lost half it's cash reserve, down to 1.4 billion in ONE QUARTER, and took a half billion write down (paper loss) in one quarter because of Playbook, their smart tablet.

The Sheik Geek: Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Here's another link, written by Christina Warren, sent to me by Barry, that discusses the reasons why Blackberry is tanking. Caution: some adult language.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Back in my "trying to fit in" days, I used to be frustrated when I could so easily see something that everyone else missed. Now I enjoy the process of taking moments to stop and look around and see what God has placed around us to bless us. This process is how God turns sheep into shepherds. It involves 4 steps. 1. Take your head out of your grass. 2. Stand 3. Look around. 4. Thank God for what you see.
To the shepherd who is standing alone:
Relax. God gives the gift of discernment to the shepherd. The sheep ALWAYS follow the shepherd as long as he/she is relaxed and enjoying himself. They're intensely curious and like being around the shepherd.


I can't hold onto Jesus and a lie forever, so I choose to cling to Jesus, with both hands!
The world doesn't see truth, but I do, and they always catch up to me, tho sometimes it takes them a while. "Every knee shall bow..."


I'm always surprised when people say my words are wise. I am simply pointing to the Source of Wisdom, The Living and Written Word. May God be glorified.
Decades ago I was challenged by a wise man to collect wisdom in place of other collections, like hand cut leaded crystal or miniature trains. I started a journal perhaps 10 or 15 years ago. It was very haphazard at first, but as I discovered benefits, I became more and more consistent. 
Now my collection of wisdom is a source of great joy for me, and amazingly, for many others, too.


Sermon notes:
Watch your life and doctrine (what you teach to others) closely! - Preacher to student in Ancient Rome
The importance of the Truth of The Virgin Birth is seen in the fact the sinful human nature is passed on to the next generation though the father. Jesus was born of a Virgin, and therefore born sinless.
Women have suspected all along that the sin nature was passed on by the men.
Doctor Alberta, 9/25/11


You know you're getting old when your body makes more noise than your car - birthday card
The older we get, the older "old" gets. - birthday card
It's a shame! Once we can relax and reminisce about the "good ol' days"... we can't remember them! - birthday card
I think that I shall never see, a tree as lovely as a 52-inch HDTV - from tweeter badbanana
My Shepherd's Heart Journal

Facebook Changes

So far all the changes that I have seen in Facebook I like. I may be alone in my assessment.
There are some things that haven't changed about Facebook. Intrusive, confusing, the blind leading the blind, let's throw it out there and fix it later,are qualities that they have had since the beginning. I see no need to be upset over qualities that are built in to who they are. They're like a relative.
Facebook has always been useful social networking tool, possibly the best. I have found and got in touch with scores of lost friends. They are getting better at it. I tire of whiners.

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Saturday, September 24, 2011

I have only the assurance of God's Word that I will be kept safe through death and beyond. For me, it is enough.

God/Jesus knows who will betray Him, yet He chooses to love them. He expects me to do likewise. Trying to wrap my mind around that.

What does it mean to be ALL? ALL powerful? ALL wise? ALL connected? ALL holy? God knows, for He is ALL!!

Don't pass out permission slips allowing others to judge you or deceive you.

Believing a man made philosophy will cause me to rot on earth and burn in Hell.

I will adopt God's philosophy. I will gratefully seek His Strength perfected in my surrendered weakness.

Creation reveals the Triune Creator to the thankful heart, willing to deeply acknowledge that GOD is GOD! 

God said of Himself: I am THAT I am! Popeye said, I y'ams what I y'ams. Like Popeye, God must be WHO HE IS - GOD!

To reveal God to others, I MUST fearlessly, relentlessly ask God to reveal Himself to me.

God is ALL, and wants to pass ALL to us, so we will be ALL pleasing, strengthened with ALL might, clothed with ALL patience.

Never argue with a woman, unless you LIKE losing. Even when you think you've won, you've lost.

I scared another friend yesterday. Wasn't the first time. Probably won't be the last.

We CAN stop the program on live TV, and all I'd have to do is disentangle myself from the program, and do something else for 15 minutes. Instead I bite my nails, trying to urge the commercials to go faster and/or be shorter. That's how "they" hook ya! Or me, at least.

Mary and I watched the pilot of A Gifted Man. Seems the big drama concerns how the Doc explains to his friends why he's talking out loud to an empty room. I think I could give him some pointers on that.

I've been a BAD boy! (send me to my GARAGE!) Tshirt

First I was young. Then I was middle aged. Now I'm WONDERFUL! Tshirt

I totally agree with myself. Tshirt

I've been so busy I don't know whether I found a rope or lost my horse. Tshirt

Saw a unique glass for sale - a Ball Mason canning jar on a wine stem. It's called... A Redneck Wineglass

God blessed Texas! - country song

I'm not short... I'm FUN sized! - Tshirt

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Prayer, Blogging, Internet Business

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I'm praying that God will give me an understanding of Facebook like He gave me an understanding of Twitter about a year ago.

I woke up in the middle of the night, and told Mary that God had revealed to me how Twitter works, like Nemo on the Matrix when all the numbers appeared like rain and the walls moved back and forth. I had 40 followers then. I have nearly 5000 now.

Facebook is a different animal. I don't think even Facebook knows what Facebook is doing, but God does!

For the last year Twitter has been the power tool for me to promote the Parables but lately Facebook has been gaining strength. I sense God is wanting me to sit in His one on One class again.
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The Keys to Unlocking Infinite Potential

There are two keys to unlocking the infinite potential in the child of God who is created in His image. One is the right key. The other is the wrong key.
The first key is two words but one key: Praise and thanksgiving. Praise is directed at the person. Thanksgiving is aimed at the action.
Praise has the power to connect you to the person you are praising. Begin to praise someone and the word gets back, and soon you find yourself being watched by the person you are praising. This is especially true of Almighty God. King David said that His God inhabits praise!
Thanksgiving clears our thinking, and especially the windows of the heart, which have the ability to see beyond the physical world. The ancient writer Paul said the windows of foolish hearts were darkened when they refused to give thanks to God, and the opposite is true also. Thank God for what he does, and Praise him for Who He is, and He will draw close to you, and you will sense Him more than before.
The other key is also a two word key, that limits the potential of the child of God. Blame and complain are the opposite of praise and thanksgiving. Blame God for the condition of the world, or your world, and/or complain constantly about how hard your life is, and you risk the anger of God. 
The Hebrew children were almost cut off from the Promised Land because of their constant complaining to God. 
The man who buried his investment because His Lord, in his words, "was a hard hearted Lord" was sent away to everlasting punishment.
Use the key of praise and thanksgiving to open your infinite potential. Take the key of blame and complain and flush it to where the sun never shines.

Hell and Infinity

To understand Hell, we have unplug from the finite and begin to stretch our minds around the Infinite.
In this world All punishments are finite. It may be painful, devastating, limiting, crippling, but in this life it is always FINITE. The punishment will end, either by the length of the sentence, or by death.
Punishments are also limited in capacity. Go so far into pain, and the human mind overloads, and we sink into unconsciousness. Our human bodies have only so many nerve endings, and there is only so much time.
But in the spiritual world, because we have INFINITE potential, to be punished in Hell means an ever growing capacity for pain, not limited by our physical being, and not limited by time.
The pain of those we injured or mislead becomes our pain. The rich man was fearful of his brothers coming to Hell because he knew he was being held accountable for their lack of salvation.
God always pays back more than was paid in. For the giver, this is great news, for God has promised reaping 30, 60, and 100 times what we have given to others.
But He has also promised to double the punishment of the unbeliever. Double, quadruple, and even 7 fold are the terms of His payback. Every pain that the lost sinner has inflicted by intent or neglect will be heaped onto the already infinite punishment for turning his back on God's great Gift.
The spirit, soul, heart, and even the resurrected body of the lost sinner will continue to grow, to make connections, to begin to realize it's infinite potential. Even the number of nerve endings will grow.
But there will be no grace and beauty in Hell. Instead, there will be an infinitely growing realization of the pain the sinner has cause to others by neglecting his or her duty to share the good news of Salvation.

The pain of others will become the pain of the lost sinner, not in some fuzzy sense of regret, but in a FEARFUL total compassion that will never end, or lessen. but increase moment by moment throughout ETERNITY.

Capacity, Potential, Infinite

There is a difference between capacity and potential. An (most?) adult(s) has(ve) the capacity to drive a car. A child has the potential to drive a car someday. Couple this thought with infinite, and you may begin to grasp the spiritual world. 

We are created in God's image, therefore we have infinite potential to accomplish and be great in the spiritual world. 
There is only One Being with Infinite Capacity. To try to assume any of His duties of judgement, salvation, lordship, wisdom is a thousand times more dangerous than a 2 year old child driving a car on a rush hour freeway!

Grand sons, Transformers, Imagination

In 2009 Allie videod her brother Zach and cousin Mathew showing off how they would be Transformers.

Multitasking, Potty Training, Baking Muffins

My daughter Wendy was and is so good at multi tasking. Here she is baking muffins and training Mathew on the potty at the same time.

Caterpillars, butterflies, homeschooling

My daughter is homeschooling her children. An on going science project is the study of butteflies and caterpillars. We are looking at a Monarch and a Black Swallowtail caterpillars.

Bass Lure Video, Fishing Stories

My son in law was in a rare talkative mood about a subject he's passionate about - fishing. He was so eloquent, I thought I'd video this rare moment.

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#rmdo Blankenship Reunion

First meal was at Smokey Bones! Yummm!

When I married into Mary's family I married into the tradition of going to the Blankenship Family Reunion every summer in Sprinfield, Illinois. Mary's mother, Almeda, is 86, and this year her children Dave, Lois, and Mary escorted her to the Reunion. I tagged along.

The Reunion centers around the 13 children of Elizabeth Blankenship, who mas married twice.

Almeda and Denzil, her half sister.

Almeda and her children, David, Lois, and my wife Mary, all had a delightful time at the Blankenship Family Reunion. Almeda was one of 13 children, the oldest sister and surrogate mom for the younger siblings. Mary remembers coming to the Reunion for perhaps 30 years.

David has been coming for 5 years, taking Mom and sometimes Mary with him. Last year was my first year, since I joined the family by marriage.

Saturday night Almeda's clan met at the motel, then walked over to Smokey bones for our first meal together.

Sunday at noon we all met one of the Springfield Parks for the reunion.

Bill is the spotlight of the Reunion!

David, Lois, Mary, their mother Almeda, and myself finished the day at Applebee's just across the road from the Comfort Suites here in Springfield. We ate light, had salads, took half of it home, but couldn't resist the deserts. Mary and I had the apple pie al a mode, Dave had the triple chocolate melt down with ice  cream, while Lois and Almeda had the warm brownie bites with ice cream.

Bill sings to his sister Almeda while
sister Denzil listens

Monday we had breakfast at IHOP, the Almeda's clan joined me as I searched for my Mom and Dad's grave site. Imagine our surprise when we discovered the two clans burial plots, Dittmer/Sinclair and the Blankenships, were at the same cemetery, and separated by only 50 yards! (Remember, Mary and I met on the interenet in our 60's, after our first spouses had passed away. She is from Michigan, and I am from Indiana.)

Linda, the youngest Blankenship sibling,
is close to Mary's age, her niece!

The Blankenship family met on Monday night at Ryan's Steak House. Bill sang a very touching song to Almeda at the end of the dinner.

"A good time was had by all!"

Mary's family visiting
 my families grave site.

Breakfast at IHOP

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Feverfew for Headaches

Have you ever heard of the herb Feverfew for untreatable headaches? Works 80% of the time, but must be taken daily, and sometimes takes two weeks or LONGER to see results. My late wife Lynne would get control of her migraines by taking it and then quit, then after a while the migraines would come back and she'd start up again, each time the headaches would quit sooner, and stay away longer. The last time she quit, they never came back.
Some Facebook friends commented on Feverfew:
Renee' Barnes: I take it and it works for me like nothing else. As your wife, I started out with a daily dose. Now I just take it at the first sign of an occular and the headache (usually) never even comes. If I find I'm having issues, I just take it for a week or so, then go back to the "as needed" schedule. Great stuff!
Daniel Guzman: Thanks Mike, I will pass the info to someone I know that has had really bad headaces for the last 8 yrs.
Mary Tonis Bencie: Indeed it worked for me!


I don't mean to brag but.... well, maybe I AM bragging. My Amazing Amazon estore has 217 selections of feverfew, an effective herbal relief for constant headaches!
Feverfew search page on MY Amazing Amazon Store for Parable Promoters

Pray for Selena

Selena Dittmer Boyts, her husband Christopher
and the newest member Annabella Christine

Continue to pray for my niece Selena Dittmer Boyts who was recently put back in the hospital with hemmoraging. She recently had her first baby, a beautiful girl named Annabella Christine Boyts.
To deal with her continued bleeding, the doctors performed a heart breaking surgery on Selena. She waited so long to have a child of her own, and Annabella will be her first and last child. Thank God for Annabella's good health. Keep Annabella Boyts, Selena Boyts, and all of my brother Ted Dittmer's family in your prayers.

Thoughts On Home Schooling

If you help a child discover their passion, as God helped me with mine, you don't work hard to motivate them, you work hard to keep up. Every child has a passion, because God is a passionate God about life, and we're created in His image. Of course, before I helped my children discover their passion, I had to discover mine.
Just thought I'd add that there is the hard work that comes with trying to stay ahead of your children's passionate interests, and there is also the hard work of keeping up with the expectations of others. The latter is totally unnecessary. Have faith in the process that God Himself designed, and trust in the image of God built into your children. You are doing better than you know, and when you relax in Him you'll do better yet. Hope this helps.
Been there, done that, heard it (about the flack you get when you decide to home school your children) Homeschooling was viewed much more skeptically over 20 years ago. I lost several school teachers that attended my church at the time. Now they are our biggest fans.
When we started homeschooling the children, we didn't have the money for tuition at even a low cost school. Lynne had started her battle with cancer, so her endurance was limited. We had to pray through until God revealed the answer to us, that parents don't teach, children learn. In fact, God warns all of the church about every one desiring to become a teacher, which displaces the Holy Spirit as THE TEACHER (see James). We must have an aptitude to teach, but always remember that whatever we can do, God can do better, and He should always have the first shot.


I also had some thoughts on home schooling in this blog:
My Home Schooled Sports Freak Grand Daughters