How to Gain 20 Pounds in Two Hours
I have developed a bad habit of picking up magazines that promise to show how to lose 10 pound in 7 days. I get the magazine home and open to a picture of Fruitcake, Apple Butter and Rockie Road Brownies. I turn the page to a big picture of Chocolate Hazelnut Muffins. The next page has a picture of Cinnamon Brioche with a recipe. At the bottom of the page is a picture of a Ricotta and Ham Quiche. I get fat just looking at the pictures. I need to find the article on how to lose 10 pounds in 7 days before my resistance breaks down and I make Rockie Road Brownies. I turn the page to find a picture of a Red Velvet Bliss. I am gaining weight just looking at it. And it is so easy to make. Just take two Red Velvet cake mixes and follow directions on box. Then make some cream cheese icing. Put cranberries around the outside of each cake. Now stack them into a beautiful master piece. I am getting weaker by the moment as I turn the page hoping to find out how to lose 10 pounds in 7 days. I have already gained 5 pounds looking at the pictures showing me how to make amazing foods. I almost lose my breath as I look at the next picture of Chocolate Glazed Marble Bundt Cake, Apple and Honey Bread and Garlic and Red Wine Braised Brisket. 
I have found the answer to why so many people are overweight. It is the magazines fault. It’s like the snake that crawled up the forbidden apple tree to tempt Eve. The magazine promised I would lose 10 pound in 7 days. There are four pages of pictures showing the most amazing cookies I have ever seen; Almond Snowball Cookies, Lemon Cookie, Cranberry Nut Cookies and Raspberry Cookies. I don’t how I am going to get through this. I am a very visual person. I fear my mind will obsess on these wonderful deserts.
I know myself. Soon I will make up excuses as to why I have to make these recipes.
Satan doesn’t give up when he tempts you. The following page had a picture of Fudgy Peppermint Bark Brownies and Cranberry Biscuits. I have gained 20 pounds just looking at this magazine and I still can’t find the place where it tells me how to lose 10 pounds in 7 days. I give up. I don’t even care anymore if I lose 10 pounds. I just want to make those Fudgy Peppermint Bark Brownies. Maybe I could take some of them to church to share with my Sunday School class. That should ease some of the guilt. The front of the magazine should say, “How to Gain 20 Pounds in 2 Hours.”
Faith in Troubled Times
How to Have Faith in Troubled Times
Some of you may be suffering today. Some of you may be in physical pain. Some of you may be in emotional pain. Yet all of us have something to be thankful for. Remember the Children of Israel as they walked out of Egypt to the Promised Land. The trials and suffering in that desert. The complaining.
They forgot at times what an awesome God they had. A God who parted the Red Sea. A God who heard their cries in Egypt. A God who delivered them from the death angel when they placed the blood on their door posts.
They forgot so quickly, the powerful God they served. You and I have been redeemed from the bondage of our Egypt. The blood of Jesus has been placed on our door posts protecting us from the death angel that we might live forever in heaven with our Lord. Yet today we are walking through the desert of this earth as ambassadors from Heaven. You may be attacked on all sides by the messengers of Satan, but our God is greater. The gates of hell shall not prevail against us. You may be in physical pain.
Trust HIM, Praise HIM. He is your deliverer…He is your God. If He doesn’t heal you of that pain, He will give you the power to rejoice in it. For it is in suffering that we become more like Christ and somehow love him more. And if the demons of fear, worry and discouragement attack you,,,,the power of praise will cast them away. I love you. Take courage today in your Lord and Savior and remember how much he loves you. He is the God that parted the Red Sea for you. He is the God that delivered you from Egypt… He loves you.
Warning Signs of Suicidal
In light of recent news, we are printing this section of Patricia Dascher’s Book ~ Suicide is Not Your Answer for you to recognize the warning signs of a suicidal person.
Warning Signs of Suicidal
People who kill themselves may exhibit some of these warning signs, either through what they say or what they do. As you read this don’t assume everyone that has one of these signs is suicidal. There may be other reasons such as depression, post-traumatic stress or illness. The more warning signs, however, the greater the risk.
Talk
If a person talks about:
- Killing them self.
- Having no reason to live.
- Being a burden to others.
- Feeling trapped.
- Unbearable pain.
Behavior
A person’s suicide risk is greater if a behavior is new or has increased, especially if it’s related to a painful event, loss, or change.
- Increased use of alcohol or drugs.
- Looking for a way to kill them self, such as searching online for materials or means.
- Acting recklessly.
- Withdrawing from activities.
- Isolating from family and friends.
- Sleeping too much or too little.
- Visiting or calling people to say goodbye.
- Giving away prized possessions.
- Previous suicide attempts.
Mood
People who are considering suicide often display one or more of the following moods.
- Depression
- Loss of Interest
- Rage
- Irritability
- Humiliation
- Anxiety
Call 1-800-273-8255
Available 24 hours everyday
Dr Ben Carson’s Mother ~ Sonya Carson ~ Honoring Motherhood
Dr. Ben Carson’s Mother, Sonya Carson’s faith in God and love for her two sons made her one of the greatest mothers of our time.
Ben Carson’s mother was raised in foster homes in the inner city receiving only a third-grade education. She didn’t learn to read. Married at the age of 13 to a 28-year-old man she had two sons. After discovering her husband had another family she left with her sons divorcing him. She raised her sons as a single mother in the inner city of Boston and Detroit. Sonya often worked two or three jobs to support her sons. She had such severe depression with suicidal thoughts that she checked herself into the hospital. Sonya Carson’s faith in God and love for her two sons made her one of the greatest mothers of our time.
After Sonya moved in with her sister in Boston, Massachusetts she and her two sons Curtis and Ben were baptized. Her greatest fear was that her sons would not be successful without an education and living in poverty. She continually prayed for God to lead her in how to raise her boys. “God is greater than any human being, and we have to rely on God to supply all our needs even though we don’t see how we’re going to get them.”
Sonya Carson realized her boys were not doing well in school. Ben was at the bottom of his class telling his mother he was dumb. “You are a smart boy,” she told him. Then she noticed he could not see well. She emptied her cookie jar money to buy him glasses which helped him improve. But it was her insistence that they go to the Detroit Public Library to pick two books to read each week that helped both boys to become outstanding students. Sonya required them to give her book reports asking them to explain the books they read. She went over each report marking them with a red ink pen. The boys had no idea their mother could not read. She also restricted their television time to two programs a week and would not allow them to play until all their homework was done.
Ben Carson’s Mother would say, ‘Do you have a brain?
Sonya Carson continually told her sons to do their best and God would do the rest. Her son Ben said, “I had a mother who believed in me. I had a horrible temper and poor self-esteem. She never made excuses and never accepted excuses from us. Never allowed herself to be a victim. Ben Carson’s Mother would say, ‘Do you have a brain? Then you can think yourself out of that.’”
Dr. Ben Carson became the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland from 1984 until his retirement in 2013. His brother Curtis Carson became an Aeronautical Engineer. Sonya taught her sons, “It doesn’t matter what color you are. If you’re good, you’ll be recognized. Because people, even if they’re prejudiced, are going to want the best. You just have to make being the best your goal in life.”
In 1987, Dr. Ben Carson became a world-renowned neurosurgeon, leading a team to separate Siamese twins who were joined at the back of the head. He pioneered the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus inside the womb. Dr. Carson performed the first completely successful separation of type-2 vertical craniopagus twins. He developed new methods to treat brain-stem tumors. Developed new techniques to control seizures. He became the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the country at age 33. He has received more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees, dozens of national merit citations, and written over 100 neurosurgical publications. In 2008, he was bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.
Dr. Ben Carson said, “I not only saw and felt the difference my mother made in my life, I am still living out that difference as a man.”
Sonya Carson went to be with the Lord on November 6, 2017. Although she came from an impoverished background with very little formal education, she somehow understood how success was achieved in our society. She left a great legacy of two successful sons. Dr. Ben Carson said, “If anyone had a reason to make excuses, it was her, but she absolutely refused to be a victim and would not permit us to develop the victim mentality either. Whenever we made an excuse, she quoted this poem;”
Yourself to Blame
by Mayme White Miller.
If things go bad for you
And make you a bit ashamed
Often you will find out that
You have yourself to blame
Swiftly we ran to mischief
And then the bad luck came
Why do we fault others?
We have ourselves to blame
Whatever happens to us,
Here is what we say
“Had it not been for so-and-so
Things wouldn’t have gone that way.”
And if you are short of friends,
I’ll tell you what to do
Make an examination,
You’ll find the faults in you…
You are the captain of your ship,
So agree with the same
If you travel downward
You have yourself to blame