Are Mormons Christians?

Hmmm.
Are Mormons Christians?
There are so many different "voices"  out there saying they are the only way to get to God and Heaven. It gets even more confusing if we all use the same terms but mean very different things.

I found a video that helps define the difference between MORMONS and CHRISTIANS who believe the Bible.

Follow the LINK. (hope it helps)

L-L

Are MORMONS (aka. Latter Day Saints) CHRISTIANS?

Living at Rest Video - Happy Sabbath

Have a wonderful weekend and Restful Sabbath as you keep your time with God protected with a "Do not Disturb" sign.

Joel Osteen says what I want to express so well, I'll just let him do it for me,

Thanks Joel

Love to all my world wide friends. My personal Peace makers.

"Blessed are the peacemakers ... "  

Matthew 5

Love Laura-Lee

Alone in My Room - The Secret Place

When I was a teenager, back in the "olden" days, we didn't have all the technology we have now. Not just because my family was poor, but also because a lot of it just didn't exist yet. In the first part of the 1980's there were no cell phones and no Internet in most peoples' homes.

At the time my average weekday looked something like this:

6:06 am - get up
7:15 am - head for the bus to school
8:20 am - School
4:40 pm - Arrive Back Home 
4:45 pm - snack & Home Chores
6:00 pm - supper (dishes)
7:00 pm --------Homework ?
30 - 60 minutes FOR ME
?  Bedtime

I want you to notice the  "30 - 60 minutes FOR ME"  before I went to bed each night. I would go into my dark, bedroom alone, maybe listen to music, talk with God and spend time just being quiet. Mom always  referred to it as the time to "recharge my batteries".

At the time I lived in a large city, and from the moment I walked out of the house in the morning until the time I was in my bedroom for the night, I was always surrounded by people. Always interacting. Even at school I couldn't go to the washroom without a bunch of girls everywhere. I truly needed time to quiet all the voices in my brain. 

Mom had a philosophy that a person's home should be a haven from the harsh world. A place where you are accepted just as you are by loving and understanding people. (Thank God for her). But because I was such a timid, fearful person I needed even more. That dark, quiet time to find what I needed before starting another day at 6:06 AM.

These days almost every person has access to the Internet in their bedrooms and ultimately at their fingertips 24/7. Truly never separated from other people. It sounds like a wonderful thing, but there are some people who can be very mean and nasty and if you can't get away from them, it can be like you are being hounded by hell itself. 

Where do you go to be alone? To get a break from the negative voices? Where is the last line of defense for your heart? 

I've been thinking a lot about that lately. Then I started coming across several Bible verses where God is telling us to "guard our hearts and minds". To protect within ourselves a "deep" and "secret place" that we don't let just anything or anyone into. 
I was fortunate enough to have a mother who was devoted to creating a home that was a haven. But I also have a God who is committed to that as well.

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."     Philippians 4:8

I kept a photo of Amanda Todd, the young teenager who killed herself because she was the focus of cyber-bullying and felt there was just no way to overcome or escape what others said about her. Not even in her home, her bedroom or finally even in the intimacies of her heart.
  


It's good to surround yourself with people who truly love you, but there are some places that need to be just for yourself. To go there to allow God to remind you that you have great value. Don't let anyone into your "secret place" who would tell you something different. God would never lie to you and He made you complex, unique, amazing  and even wondrous. He could do nothing less.

I came across a talk by Joel Osteen on this topic. He explains it much better than I do, so I've placed his video here. I hope you find it as encouraging as I did.

Sincerely, Laura-Lee

NOTE: If for some reason a YouTube video doesn't work, I always include a LINK to it as well. Love L-L

"The Secret Place" YouTube Video by Joel Osteen

It Is Well

...

...

PLAYBAR for Kristene DiMarco

The waves and wind still know His name.

Matthew 8:23-27

A Pop-CORN Tree

WWJD? Nothing!

WWJD? Nothing. He already did it.

  "Jesus said, 'It is finished'."  John 19:30

"thrones were set in place and the Ancient of Days took his seat"
    Daniel 7:9

Amen

The Last Time: Chronic & Terminal Illness

It's not that I don't want to endure the ignorance of people who tell me I'm "lazy" or "not trying" when they don't actually ask or care about my illnesses. I've been told many times throughout my life that I have the "patience of Job" (and now it seems I have similar "friends" as he had too). But mean spirited people have a way of sucking the strength and stamina right out of me, like fire can suck oxygen out of a room. 

I found this article and I'll let it say for me what I don't chose to spend my dwindling time saying again. It's also for all the people who are surrounded by those who just don't "get it" because they don't have to "walk it".

There are some who do understand. If you are living with Chronic or Terminal illness, please click on the LINK at the bottom of the page if you need some encouragement.

 Love Laura-Lee

My thanks to Stan Goldberg for letting me reproduce it ... and for writing what so many people cannot say because they haven't the ability, strength or are simply no longer here to say it.


Just a reminder: The human race carries a 100 % Mortality Rate. You might want to consider that it will one day be "your turn" before you decide to skip over this article. YOU might need it some day.


A Guide to Terminal & Chronic Illness for the Healthy

A client who was dying once said to me, “Every day I feel as if I’m on one of those exercise boards that rest on a ball. Just when I steady the damn thing, it starts moving and I’m struggling again to balance myself. Why don’t people realize that’s what my life has become?”

I’ve heard similar descriptions for thirty years from clients and patients living with chronic and terminal illnesses. Many believed that not only did they have to deal with the effects of their illness, but also the unskillful acts of friends and loved ones who didn’t understand what they were experiencing. And that’s the purpose of this article: to explain it.

THE ELEMENTS

Lack of Control

Imagine for a moment that your attitude about living is heavily shaped by people, objects, and activities. It could be an abusive boss, a landlord intent on evicting you, or a car that constantly breaks down. While oppressive, you could act. You could move on to another job, find a new apartment, or use public transportation.

But what if none of these choices resulted in acceptable consequences? If you quit work, you might not find another job in this economy. If you gave up your apartment, you might become homeless. If you couldn’t afford to repair or replace your car and there was no public transportation available, you’d be stuck in your neighborhood. 

People who live with chronic or terminal illnesses constantly experience a lack of control. If I have an advanced case of CPOD (chronic pulmonary obstructive disease), I know that without proper medication and the constant use of oxygen I’ll die. On one side of the scale is death. On the other, the side effects of the medication, minimal movement, and oxygen. No contest. I’ll choose the medical protocol—not because it’s something I desire—but rather because it’s something more acceptable than the alternative.

Loss

The feeling of losing something that gave your life meaning is profoundly upsetting. And it happens often with chronic and terminal illnesses. Unfortunately, the magnitude of loss is often thought of in terms of someone else’s sense of what’s important. An active person might think that no longer being able to walk is tragic, but the inability to knit is inconsequential. Yet for someone with rheumatoid arthritis whose entire life centered around knitting, the loss is devastating. Many chronic and most terminal illnesses result in life-changing losses. The ability to knit may disappear, but its memory is constantly present.

Physical Effects
We think with our minds, not our bodies. But we know the relationship between mind and body is strong. In my hospice work, I’ve watched how the physical effects of a tumor changed a calm, peaceful man into a paranoid, aggressive person. While he sometimes understood that the cancer was changing him, during those lucid moments he realized that he had no control over what was happening to him. The ability to think and act rationally can be effected by changes in metabolism and the occurrence of pain. I’ve never had a client or patient who chose to be moody or act irrationally. There always appeared to be a cause. And often it was a physical change.

Uncertainty

For many people with chronic or terminal illnesses, predictability may be an illusive state of being. One day, the illness is controlled either by medication or who knows what, the next day it comes on with the power of a sledgehammer. On good days, although there’s jubilation, there’s also the fear that the reprieve will end. On bad days, there’s the fear that it will persist and never relent. Wondering if the pain will ever stop might make it difficult for someone to be supportive when a friend complains how his wife never lets him choose the movie they’re going to.

For someone with a terminal illness, there is certainty, but it’s not desirable: there’s the knowledge that the illness will continually progress. The uncertainty involves the course it will take. People with terminal illnesses often wonder how much pain they will have to endure or the extent of reduced abilities until the body just gives up.

THE INTERACTION

It is difficult to prevent the effects of any one of the above elements from having a negative impact on relationships. Living with all of the elements, and quite often having to deal with them simultaneously, is mind-boggling. Experiencing chronic and terminal illnesses is not a static event. It’s constantly changing as each of the elements takes its turn effecting one’s mind and personality.

copyright 2010 Stan Goldberg, stangoldbergwriter.com

This article can be reproduced and distributed without charge for any non-commercial project if the source is provided.

LINK to Above Article & Website

SPAM WARNING

I found an email in my SPAM folder that I almost opened. A notice to appear in court. It was from a couple weeks ago. But the first part said my court date was May 8th. But because my birthday is the 7th of May I happened to be more aware than most people that May 8 was a SUNDAY! and Mothers Day.

No court date would be then. They can get pretty tricky.

Be SO careful of emails. keep your Security programs current and heed what they tell you.
Sometimes just opening or clicking on something is enough to let in the MALWARE.

FYI

Sincerely, Laura-Lee

Latvia: Where's My Atlas?

I just got 3 people from Latvia come to my blog. I wasn't even sure exactly where your country was. I looked you up immediately. I find it so flattering you came here.

Latvia - World Location

God Bless You, Latvia.  You honor me by coming here. My prayers begin for you THIS moment (and I'm sure others will join me too).

Love Laura-Lee

I'm a Google Doodle (with UPDATE too)

I find Google Doodles very fascinating. I've often wondered how they decide who is going to be the topic of one. Here's some examples of topics:

• The 150th birthday of some long dead astronomer
• Commemorating the day Bubble Gum was invented
• The death of the former leader of India

   ... and so on.

There isn't a Google Doodle every day, but when I see one I usually go check it out. A few times I've even been so bold as to wonder, "If I was ever a Doodle topic, what it would be for?"
Since you've heard me mention that Mom often referred to me as  "Queen of the Freak Accident", I figured if I was ever the topic of a Doodle it would be for something strange and/or bizarre.

I was awake early this morning to feed my master, ... oops, uh,  my MONTY and also begin my day by chatting and nattering to the Lord. He distinctly told me at that time, "today I have some 'little surprises' (which is a term Mom always used to say) in honor of your birthday." Mom loved and lived to do "little surprises" for people. It could have been anything from a simple gift or some action to help or enhance someone's life.


I fell back asleep until "Lord Montygue LongBody CrapPoopKin" woke me at 11:06 am to prepare for his second meal of the day. (If I ever needed to, I could set my clocks by the main clock in MONTY's tummy).

I won't go into all the details, but a chocolate milkshake found it's way into my hand and knew it was definitely a "little surprise" from Jesus. Especially when I noticed the time: 12:30 pm. The exact time of day I was born. 

So with my milkshake in hand, I "booted up" my computer to watch YouTube while I had my ice cream. The first page my Internet Browser is programmed to go to is the Canadian Google search page. (Google.ca) Mine has a Google Doodle on it today. When I looked to discover the topic it said: "Happy Birthday, Laura-Lee".

Yup. Today I am a Google Doodle. What another great "little surprise"! (and they are still coming; some directly from God and some from people who are particularly sensitive to what God is telling them.)


God doing things just to bring me joy and make me feel special.

"Happy Birthday, Laura-Lee"
(MY Google Doodle)

UPDATE: (May 9th, Monday)

In 1985 (the day I legally became an adult) my birthday celebrations were stretched over the course of 3 days: Friday my classmates threw me a celebration, we celebrated Saturday at home and Sunday it was celebrated by my church "family" and a surprise (and extremely LOUD) serenade on our back porch by my best friends who lived in the basement suite (the Partingtons). 
Ever since it's been a running joke that I try to stretch out my birthday over as many days as possible.


I woke on Sunday, (May 8th of this year), for MONTY's  6:06 am feeding and to say  "good-morning" to the Lord. Because it was also Mothers' Day, I asked Jesus if He would "pass on a message to Mom for me". 
As an answer I got an immediate image of my booklet, "Our Daily Bread", which is the daily devotional I use.

I opened the "Our Daily Bread" devotional and it began,

 "At her mother's 50th birthday celebration, first born daughter ..." 
(Jesus could not have gotten more specific that He was talking directly to me)

The verse from the Bible quoted inside was,
    "I will not forget you"  (Isaiah 49:15)

Click on the "ODB" Link below and read it for yourself. But you can believe me when I say it ALL  pertains to me . It also contains several more "little surprises" and stretched out my birthday for another day.


"Our Daily Bread" Devotional (May 8th) Read it for Yourself    

"Lord, Thank you for making my 50th birthday such a special one. And the gifts of knowing you are going to stretch out the 'celebrations' and 'little surprises' long beyond this one birthday. 
Love, your Laura-Lee.    Amen."

 "... in the year of Jubilee."   

Year of JubiLEE

My 50th Birthday Present Found at YouTube

Several of you wish to give me a birthday present, but can't (for whatever reason).

I'm going to ask you to do something for ME ... by doing something for YOURSELF.

I have had contact and worked with several Ministries throughout my 38 years with Jesus, but recently have come across a Ministry that is "different."
It so accurately speaks the Word of God that it's what I refer to as  "spooky - good" .

God will tell me something through His Word (aka. the Bible) and by His Holy Spirit,  I'll write it in my diary and in a very short time - sometimes just minutes - this particular ministry will say the exact same thing to me through their newsletter arriving at my email Inbox, or a comment at my blog and once the head of the ministry actually phoned me at my home and left me a message about something I had just written in my diary. (I kid you not!)

So follow the LINK below to watch this video from "Living Waters Ministries". Especially,  ESPECIALLY if you are a Christian. 

And while you are watching, consider this Bible verse, which is part of the letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman Christians:

"Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, ... " 

    Romans 12:3 (NIV)


If I knew this would be my last minutes on earth I would beg you with my last breath to read the Bible. And if I could recommend just one ministry, it would be "Living Waters Ministries" (YouTube). Also, if you've seen my "Complete Films Play List" at my YouTube Channel, you will notice that "Living Waters Ministries" YouTube also has several movies there too. 

Learn, laugh and hear the truth. Give me a gift by giving one to yourself.

You are precious and loved. Let us all drink deeply of the Truth and those real Living Waters Jesus was talking about in the Bible. (The book of John, chapter 4). 


 ~~ Laura-Lee  

FOLLOW the LINK to the Living Waters YouTube video.

"America's Greatest Sin" by Living Waters at YouTube

"Living Waters" & "Way of the Master" YouTube Channel

[at last] a Blog Post for You, Sue.

Got this picture emailed to me in honor of my 50th birthday tomorrow. 

Finally, the ultimate proof I've been waiting for to show the rest of the world. The proof you are sweet, kind and mushy.  Muah ha ha ha  ha ha ha ha = evil laugh. (I already knew it quite well)

Thanks to my "Baby Sue" from across the pond.  

"F.G.B. - Forever." L-L

May Birthday Greetings

TWO BIRTHDAY BOUQUETS

One for Karen

&

One for Steve

Wherever each of you are, you're always in my heart and prayers. On your birthdays & every other day

Love Laura-Lee

Happy First Mothers Day

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fort McMurray: Out of Control Fire Causes Alberta Town Evacuation

"Out of control fires" means it must be summer in Alberta, Canada.
Thousands flee fire by heading to Edmonton.

Simple Alberta Map I Added To  (L-L)

The largest wildfire evacuation in Alberta’s history forced tens of thousands of Fort McMurray residents to flee Tuesday as explosive fire conditions destroyed homes and businesses and caused a rapid succession of mandatory evacuations that forced people onto gridlocked highways under clouds of smoke.

Officials were predicting “a more intense burning day” Wednesday as firefighters battled to save as much of Fort McMurray as they could, focusing on critical infrastructure.

People fled, some along a highway licked with flames, to emergency evacuation points at oilsands camps to the north and neighbouring communities to the south. Officials estimate 17,000 citizens fled north to industry sites. Another 35,000 headed south, including 18,000 people enroute to Edmonton.

On Road - Fleeing 'out of control' Alberta Fire

Go to news LINK below for up to date news on Fort McMurray Fire & video.

National Post Canada (News) Re: Fort McMurray Fire

To my International friends who are wondering if I'm okay ...

 Yes. Remember that Canada is a HUGE Country and this is hundreds of km away from me (or "miles" for my American friends). 

My city is being affected more by the entire town of Fort McMurray being evacuated and coming over to stay. And we'll probably get more ash and things like that - depending on the wind direction and weather. L-L


To those from Fort McMurray ...
 "Welcome, welcome. Stay as long as you like." 

Roots and Remembrances: Norfords

I wanted to write a clever poem but my mind is too jumbled, so I'll simply resort to the truth.

My family all became Christians around the same time back in 1978. That's when Mom began to say her most heartfelt and constant prayer:

"Jesus, give my struggling, little family roots in You that will go deep and last us all our entire lives." 

As usual, God answered this prayer. And in abundance.

He led us to a small church called "Boundary Road Assembly", but I was still too young and naive as a Christian (and person) to understand the massive value found in that church. 

The Pastoring Staff that held so many letters behind their names, but were so humble as people I didn't know that they were actually great leaders, teachers and theologians. I just called them all by their first names. ("Cheeky" teenager that I was). 

The entire congregation which showed us what it meant to be a Christian Family and members of the Body of Christ. 

The (Lead) Minister, Bryan Norford, who remains the best Christian teacher I've heard.

Ann Norford, who gave of herself without reserve to everyone and anyone, especially those who were suffering (and became my hero).


And their 8 year old daughter, Alex, who opened her heart to me immediately and also showed me that the Holy Spirit can fall powerfully on someone regardless of their age and to never under estimate the great wisdom of a child.

Their family not only took us "under their wings", but became our closest friends. Throwing open the doors to their life it wasn't just sound Biblical teaching that helped us find those "roots" Mom was praying for, but it was through their unconditional love that they were ultimately sunk into us for our lifetimes!

No wonder I can barely find the words. I look forward when we are all in Heaven and they will know the truth of what's in my heart.


Bryan just had a birthday. May every day he has be FULL of every ounce of joy he can wring from it.



"Jesus. thank you for Bryan, Ann & Alex Norford"

And Happy Birthday, Bryan.




My love (and roots) always. 
Laura-Lee