12 Days...

Starting Monday, Dec 8, Children's Cup begins 12 Days of Christmas with Significance. You can make a difference in a kid's life! Check childrenscup.org starting then.

Deeelicious

I did a double-take on this bag of chicken flavored dog chunks. Was it really chunks of dried dog, flavored with chicken? Or was it simply dog food with chicken flavoring?

Ah, Swaziland. I love living where English isn't always what you'd think.

Quoting Pastor King

"You don't want it if the blessing of God isn't on it"

Refreshing Waters Worship Center

Pastors Frank and Robin King pose with Dave and me after a grand meal together following an awesome service at Refreshing Waters Worship Center.

Appropriately named, this friendly, God-serving, people-loving, missions-minded congregation welcomed us today as we presented Children's Cup to them.

These are the kids of RWWC. I wonder which one will become a missionary...

Four Ohlerkings

Dan, Dave, Josh, J.D.   Handsome all!

SHOPPING!

A few days ago Shannon and the girls and I went to the mall. Following is a photo journal of the successful trip.


                                             Let Marley drive


                                                       This purse or this purse?


                                             Pretty in purple


                                            Peek-a-boo!

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                         
                                                              Monroe

                                                         Monet

                                                             Marley


                                                       M&M Models


                                                       Twin-e-quins


                                             Taking a load off


                                             Chocolate!


                                    We could bake a cherry pie with the right equipment!


                                             Gems


                                             Leopard bras (do leopards wear bras???)


                                             Ice cream break


                                                     Juice break


                                             Bargain shopping


                                             Window shopping


                                            A good day

Great-Great Grandpa Ohlerking

Not everyone has a tin photo of their 2x great-grandfather.  Dave has this one of his German-born-and-raised grandfather who came to America at the age of 18 by way of Ellis Island.

Very cool.  

Rather stern-looking dude, huh?

Olympics 08/08/08

I just watched the opening of the Olympics in China.

How awesome.

Hundreds of thousands of eyes watching all around the world through the magic of television.

Precision Chinese dancers.

Vivid colors and flags and lanterns and bright eyes and happy smiles.

Dynamic fireworks.  

And the spectacular lighting of the torch.

All anticipating doing their best.

All going for the Gold.

And to think that our first day in heaven will far outshine anything man can imagine...

What kind of celebration will the Marriage Supper of the Lamb be?

I'll be there LIVE.

So THAT's How You Do It...

All this time I've been doing it wrong. My sis-in-law sent me this illustrated demonstration of how to properly use a bathroom scales. Thanks, Jannie.

Ice Cream

Just thinking about ice cream.

Cold, tasty, melting on your tongue...(not eating it too fast so as to prevent the ice cream headache).

My favorite is Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate.

With pecans.

Ah, life is good.

What's your favorite? Do you mess with it by adding stuff?

Do you like two flavors together?

What time of day is best for ice cream?

Where do you like to eat it?

Alone or with somebody? Who?

Whatever, whomever, wherever, whenever, ice cream is good for your mental health.

Reminiscing

It's Dave. He started it. Browsing through the tons of old photos we have in boxes and files and albums. Nothing like an old picture to bring back old memories.

We have ooooed and awwwwwed and laughed and wept at the great experiences we have been allowed in our nearly 50 years of marriage.

Here is one of those moments...

Background is that daughter Susan was born in the Philippines during our first term as missionaries there. We were nearing the time for our first furlough when I took this series of shots of her and made appropriate captions for our newsletter to supporters.


"Only a short time till we go to the States."


"I haven't got a thing to wear!"


"I'll have to get busy and make something new on Mom's sewing machine."


"Then I'll be pretty to meet everyone!"

It's Only a Quarter...

Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston , Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area.

When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, "You'd better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it."

Then he thought, "Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as 'a gift from God' and just keep quiet."

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, "Here, you gave me too much change."

The driver, with a smile, replied, "Aren't you the new preacher in town? I have been thinking a lot lately about going to church. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I'll see you at there on Sunday."

When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, "Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter."

Beautiful Christian

Following is a poem my good pal, Angie, sent me today.
I thought my readers would enjoy reading it, too.

Beautiful Christian
By Maya Angelou

When I say...'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean living''
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain...
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Aw...

I think they were engaged at this photo event...circa 1993.

Susan had the big bow syndrome.   (I loved 'em on her.)

Ben had a birthday last Sunday.   I love you, Ben.

A FAVORITE PHOTO

The Rodgers family, Ben, Susan, Kayla, Levi, Trinity.

Great Children's Cup missionaries to Africa.  Great kids.  Mine.

Pray

Coming soon!  Get ready!  August 1 to September 9, 2008.  Children's Cup's Forty days of Prayer for the Children.

If you will be praying with us, please send your name to us (pray@childrenscup.org) and we'll put you on the list.

The prayer guides are at the printer.  If you are on 'Cup's mailing list you will receive yours in your snailmail box about 10-14 days from now.  If you are NOT on the list, say so (pray@childrenscup.org) .  We'll send you one.  If you need more than one, let us know that, too.

And you can also participate by going to our 40 Days of Prayer site.  You can even type in your own prayer if you want to.  Check it out at www.childrenscup.org/v2/fortydays

"Again I tell you, if two of you on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever [anything and [a]everything] they may ask, it will come to pass and be done for them by My Father in heaven,"  (Matthew 18:19 Amplified Bible).

It's true:  Prayer changes things.

I Should Have Guessed...

Today eight-year-old grandson Lincoln gave me a jelly bean to taste.
Just one. One little jelly bean. I should have suspected something.
Not just your ordinary run-of-the-mill jelly bean.
It was a weird yellowish green color with some dark flecks sprinkled in.

I popped it into my mouth. He watched eagerly.
I should have guessed something was up.

"What's it taste like, Meemaw?" he asked.
"Well," I chewed and tasted and tasted and chewed. Very slowly.
"I'm not sure...but it is..."
Nasty, I thought to myself. Nasty.
I couldn't place the taste. But it was vaguely familiar.

"It's buger. It's buger flavored, Meemaw!"
Akky. That was it. That was the flavor. I knew it from some 65 years ago.
It was one of those "flavors" you just don't forget.
(Why do kids think they have to taste their bugers?)

At this point the jelly bean was the consistancy of sticky and slimy, laced with small soft chunks.
I tried to swallow it but it wouldn't go down. Tried again.
Gag.
And I tried again. I didn't want to puke.

As I delicately spit it out into a kleenex, Lincoln was cracking up.
He showed me the package of Jelly Belly "Bean Boozled" candies his big brother JD had received as a gift from Uncle Josh.
Gross. Gag. Ack.

I am left with one question: How many bugers did the developer have to taste to perfect that exact jelly bean flavor?

Love is Patient...

Patience is the ability to keep your motor idling when you feel like stripping your gears.

"Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city," (Proverbs 16:32 NLT).

The Lord is My Shepherd

There was once a Shakespearean actor who was known everywhere for his one-man shows of readings and recitations from the classics. He would always end his performance with a dramatic reading of Psalm 23.

Each night, without exception, as the actor began his recitation - "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."  The crowd would listen attentively. And then, at the conclusion of the Psalm, they would rise in thunderous applause in appreciation of the actor's incredible ability to bring the verse to life.

But one night, just before the actor was to offer his customary recital of Psalm 23, a young man from the audience spoke up. "Sir, do you mind if tonight I recite Psalm 23?"

The actor was quite taken back by this unusual request, but he allowed the young man to come forward and stand front and center on the stage to recite the Psalm, knowing that the ability of this unskilled youth would be no match for his own talent.

With a soft voice, the young man began to recite the words of the Psalm. When he was finished, there was no applause. There was no standing ovation as on other nights. All that could be heard was the sound of weeping.

The audience had been so moved by the young man's recitation that every eye was full of tears.

Amazed by what he had heard, the actor said to the youth, "I don't understand. I have been performing Psalm 23 for years. I have a lifetime of experience and training - but I have never been able to move an audience as you have tonight. Tell me, what is your secret?"

The young man quietly replied, "Well sir, you know the Psalm... I know the Shepherd."

(Thanks to friend Angie for sharing this story with me.)

Is It NBA Or NFL?

36 have been accused of spousal abuse

7 have been arrested for fraud

19 have been accused of writing bad checks

117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses

3 have done time for assault

71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit

14 have been arrested on drug-related charges

8 have been arrested for shoplifting

21 currently are defendants in lawsuits, and

84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year

Can you guess which organization this is? NBA or NFL?

Neither. It's the 435 members of the United States Congress.

The same group of individuals who crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.

How Many Zeros in a Billion?

Following is another email I received today. It's worth thinking over.


The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases.

A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

A billion days ago no one walked on the earth on two feet.
A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number. What does it mean?

Well, if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.

Or if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.

Or if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D. C., HELLO! Are all your calculators broken??

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax < BR>Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Tel ephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt. We had the largest middle class in the world. And Mom got to stay home to raise the kids.

What happened?

The Perfect Mistake

(This story was forwarded to me by my daughter, Susan, who is a missionary along with her husband and kids, in southern Africa. I don't know the name of the author.)

My mother's father worked as a carpenter.

On this particular day, he was building some crates for the clothes his church was sending to orphanages in China.

On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what had happened; the glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the crates, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China!

The Great Depression was at its height and Grandpa had six children. He had spent $20 for those glasses that very morning. He was upset by the thought of having to buy another pair. "It's not fair," he told God as he drove home in frustration. "I've been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this."

Months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the United States . He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him in China, so he came speak one Sunday at my grandfather's small church in Chicago .

The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting the orphanage. "But most of all," he said, "I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year.

You see, the Communists had just swept through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses. I was desperate. Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my coworkers and I were much in prayer about this.

Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on top. The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued: "Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that."

The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary surely must have confused their church with another, they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas.

But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.

Really?

Quote of the day: 

"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world.  I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it," (Barack Obama).

(This was emailed to me by a friend--thought I'd share it and let you contemplate its full meaning.)

A Real Pal

A true friend is someone who thinks you are a good egg even though they know you are slightly cracked...

Boasting Posting

I love being a grandmother.  I love boasting about my awesome grandchildren.

I love posting photos of them.

Bear with me.  You will one day be a grandparent, too, oh Dear-Reader-Of-My-Blog.  And you'll also get really goofy over your grandchildren.  Count on it.

That said, check out my stolen photo (from son Dan's post) of granddaughter Tori and her BRAND NEW DRIVER'S LICENSE!  Go Tor!  She's gonna need to learn how to drive on the other side of the road one day when God moves her to Swaziland as a Children's Cup Missionary.  (Oh happy day!)

(When did they start building those licenses in "portrait" instead of "landscape?")

And just one more picture for you to gaze at--and become jealous of my blessed life:

This was taken on Valentine's Day.  Josh & Shannon's kids with Pop and Meemaw: (L to R) Monet, Vaughn, Marley, and Monroe.  I figure you can identify Pop and Meemaw.

Now We Are Four

This is a recent photo of twin grandsons Rhodes and Rhett...the day after their birthday.
Amongst all the wonderful gifts they received, they loved all the (cheap) dinosaurs.
I love their haircuts and muscle shirts.
DOUBLE CUTE!

An MK at Work

Trinity, our 4-year-old granddaughter, is shown here giving one of her outgrown outfits to a cute little girl at Murray Camp CarePoint.

You're never too young or too old to get involved touching lives for Jesus.

Feathers to Fried

When I was a kid my mom fixed the chicken from feathers to fried. I guess we could have purchased a "dressed" hen at the grocery store, but we didn't.

We'd go as a family to buy the hen from a local farmer; he'd put the chosen chicken in a gunny sack (burlap bag) and dad would put it on the floor in the back seat by our feet where we kids would make friends with the chicken by stroking the beak she'd poke out the sack, even naming her.

Once home, we'd beg dad not to kill this one, please let us keep it for a pet.

He'd ignore our pleas and he'd sharpen his little ax...or a very sharp butcher knife. We knew what was next and didn't want to miss it. He'd remove the hen from the bag and lay its head across a little stump of wood, holding it in place with his foot.

He was so fast and the knife or ax so sharp that before we knew it, the head was lying on the ground and the rest of the body running all over the yard--like a chicken with its head cut off.

We nearly fell over ourselves with gales of laughter...

We never regretted eating the wonderful fried chicken mom made out of it along with mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob, fresh green beans...and a cherry pie. mmmmmm

(If you want, I can go into the process of "feathers to fried" in another post...)

Cup missionary Christy triggered this post by her last one. Check it out.

Susan Jean

In Manila, Philippines, only 33 years ago today, God blessed us with a daughter we named Susan.

We dedicated her to Jesus when she was only a few weeks old.

Then a few weeks later (that's all it seems like!)  we gave her to Ben Rodgers to be his wife.

Then after a few more weeks, we let go of her again, and blessed Ben and Susan as they moved to Africa as missionaries.

How could we hang on to you and refuse to bless the very thing for which God has called you?

Happy birthday, Sooze.  We miss you and we love you.  And we are praying for you.

Praying MKs

The first gathering of HPC Swaziland was very appropriately a prayer meeting.

Son-in-law Ben sent this photo of our MK (missionary kids) grandkids, Kayla (and another 'Cup MK who I believe is Squire Chapman), Levi, and Trinity praying up a storm.

When you want some answers, get the kids to pray.

Oil Crisis?

A lot of folks can't understand how we came to have an oil shortage here in our country.

Well, there's a very simple answer.

Nobody bothered to check the oil.

We just didn't know we were getting low.

The reason for that is purely geographical.

Our oil is located in Alaska, California, Coastal Florida, Coastal Louisiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Our dipsticks are located in Washington, DC.

(From an email I received from John G. in Wisconsin...thanks, John.)

Celebrate!

February is the month of Celebrations for the Ohlerking Tribe.


8 Feb Dan (42)


9 Feb Lincoln (8)



14 Feb Dave (68)


25 Feb David 3 (13)
Sorry I don't have a more current photo of D3...it's been a long time since we've been able to see him. But he is loved more than he can imagine!



29 (Feb) Rhodes and Rhett (4)
This will be the first time they have had the privilege of celebrating their birthdays on the actual day since they were born on leapday in 2004.


Besides all the birthdays, Jimmy & June, Beano & Sharon, as well as Dave & I celebrate our anniversaries in February.

And last of all, hugs for Valentine’s Day for all our special people--including you!

An Uplifting Testimony

Following is the testimony of a good pal of mine. It's too good not to share it with the world.

I was diagnosed with Hepatitis 35 years ago and was in isolation for 10 days! When I was discharged I was told I could have more trouble later on. They didn't tell me what kind of Hepatitis it was...A, B, or C and years later I found it hadn't been noted in my records.

Sure enough, about three months later I started having shooting pains in the liver area and tried to ignore them. One evening in church in the middle of the visiting evangelist's message I had a stabbing pain that make me jump! I tried to act natural, hoping no one had noticed. However, the minister saw and stopped preaching, gathered the people around to pray for me. The pain left and after the service he and my husband both discovered they saw the same thing...a huge hand and arm reaching down into my liver area and coming back out. I didn't know if it was a new liver or what but I knew I never had distress there again!

For 35 years I have felt "contaminated" because I couldn't donate blood "because you've had hepatitis!" Last week I was having blood drawn in the lab for something and I talked with the young lab girl about the frustration of never knowing what kind of Hepatitis I had had. She said, "That's easy! We can run a test and see!" No one had ever told me that before!

Today I received the results of that test and I am clean for all three...A, B, C! I stopped in at the lab to thank the technician for telling me about the test. When I related my frustration to a co-worker of hers, she said if I tested clean I probably didn't really have H. after all...just an infection around the liver. When I told her the details she changed her mind and said it sounded like I really did have it but that it would show up on the test because you never can get over it. So I told her of my miracle that night and that she could do what she wanted with it but I believe in the power of prayer! She agreed and said without a Divine Intervention I could never have been clean!

We both had goose bumps as I said, "Thank God for the confirmation of my miracle that night...35 years ago!"

I Am a Promise!

Because of Oasis church in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, and Children's Cup working together, these precious kids are knowing Jesus--and have Hope for tomorrow!

Although the video is a bit rough, you can tell by their joyful voices that the kids from Sauerstown are looking forward to serving Jesus.

Politics Defined

Politics is derived from two words:
poly, meaning many,
and tics, meaning small blood-sucking insects.
(Chris Clayton)