A Note of Interest

On a light note, I ran into this neat article giving TIPS FOR IRONING.  I HATE ironing.  I even went out and bought a steam iron at one time.  I don't use that either.  Umm..I'm one of those people that wait for the dryer to beep and then I quickly pulling everything out and lay it flat. I've spent so much time ironing in the past, I might as well have considered it a part time job.  Half my day would be devoted to it.  I WISH I could have those new dryers that will steam your wrinkled clothes for you.  Ahhhh... a dream.  :)  I'm still in love with my front loaders so I can't complain. 

On a sad note and most important to mention.  Can you believe what happened in Australia?  Scores Missing In Tsunami-Like flood.

"Ramia watched as a rescue official pushed through the churning water and yanked the man to safety. Others, including five children, were not as lucky."

Can you imagine the horror of watching the faces of those forcefully being pulled away from you and there is nothing you can do about it?  I can't imagine having that replay in my mind over and over.  What a terrifying thing for people and families to endure.  Not to mention losing everything and just trying to survive. 

On a serious note, isn't it interesting how there are SO many catastrophes happening left and right.  Would you consider that a coincidence?  Years ago do you remember this kinds of stuff happening?  I don't. I remember when something bad happened somewhere, we would talk about it for years.  But now, I can spell tsunami without having to use a spell checker and  I seem to always be waking up to terrible news or something shocking.  It's keeping radio shows talking, TV shows reporting, and causing church goers to ask themselves, WHEN IS JESUS COMING BACK?  A paragraph taken from their website:

"An interesting note here is that Jesus compares all of the signs above, to birth pains. In the birth process, labor pains are typically mild and widely spaced at first, but as the birth draws near, the pains get more intense and closer together. Although there have always been wars, famines and earthquakes, if one were to compare the frequency or number of these events that have occurred in the last five years versus twenty years ago, it would be noticed that they have increased significantly."

Lately, I've had to ask myself, "What influences do I have in my life that could be taking me away from the seriousness of the condition of my heart?"  What you listen to, watch, even friends, can influence and sway you from what you've always deeply believed.  What would you be willing to sacrifice in order to keep your heart pure, minds clean, and your beliefs guarded?  I learned when I was a teenager that it was VERY hard to seve God sitting in the back row with the kids that were always criticizing people, passing notes during the sermon, and flirting.  Eventually, I let go of them and set myself up in the front and center to get away from the distractions and criticism.  Sadly, many of those kids left and never returned.  I am glad I wasn't scared about making a stand.  Even standing alone to focus on God.  Even today, who you hang around can GREATLY influence you.  I am guilty myself of falling into the trap of comparing myself to others to make myself believe I'm alright.  The best thing we can do is measure our hearts by the Bible only.  Not by whats popular today.