Category: spirituality

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There is something very special for this little Angel to do!

Did you hear about this beautiful little girl that had all of her major organs removed to be able to remove a tumor and then they put her organs back in her?  This is a very special little girl that’s for sure.  There is something very special for this little Angel to do for God to leave her here.

A 7-year-old Long Island girl was released from a New York hospital Tuesday, more than a month after surgeons removed six of her vital organs to tackle a life-threatening tumor. Heather McNamara was doing “fantastic,” said her father, Joseph McNamara, as the Islip Terrace family prepared to return home. On Feb. 6, a team lead by Dr. Tomoaki Kato at New York Presbyterian-Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital conducted the first surgery of its kind in a child.

During the 23-hour operation, doctors removed Heather’s stomach, pancreas, liver, spleen and small and large intestines to get at a cancerous tumor the size of a baseball, according to news reports. They couldn’t save the child’s stomach, pancreas or spleen, which were riddled with cancer. The girl now has a pouch fashioned from intestinal tissue to hold food, doctors told USA Today. Cancer experts said that while it used to be impossible to live without a pancreas, daily injections of insulin and enzyme pills can substitute.

Appearing bright and happy and clutching a teddy bear from hospital officials, Heather said she was looking forward to returning home to play with her sister and her dog, Angel.

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Silent Sermon

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the preacher decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The preacher found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his preachers visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.

The preacher made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the preacher took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember’s flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The preacher glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the preacher reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, ‘Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday.’

We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.  I thought this was a wonderful example of just that.  I hope you appreciated what it says.  I sure did and learned a great deal from it.

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Another plane went down

I was watching the news this morning and saw that another plane went down in Buffalo, New York.  This one wasn’t as lucky as the last one.  Everyone on board the plane died as did one person on the ground.  The plane crashed into a house.  What a horrific accident.  It’s a shame to have such a loss of life.  I believe they said there was a total of 53 people on the plane including the crew members..

One of the people on the plane was the widow of a man that was killed in the 9/11 attack.  She was on her way to celebrate what would have been his birthday.  Maybe now she can celebrate it with him.  I just hope there weren’t any children completely orphaned because of the crash.  That would be awful.  God bless their families!!!

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We only have to worry about deer

The following pictures are of a moose that went through a car’s windshield and out the rear window this month near South River, Ontario .

The VERY lucky woman driver ended up with just a broken wrist and needing a good bath. When you view the pictures you will wonder how the woman managed to survive.

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You do know it’s time for Mardi Gras

For those of you that don’t know, it’s time to kick off Carnival with Festivals.  Here’s a little background on what and why:

Jan. 6, the 12th night on the Biblical calendar, marked the beginning of the 153rd annual pre-Lenten celebration. Before it wraps up Feb. 24, almost 100 parades will have rolled in the area and thousands of riders will have thrown tons of glitzy gee-gaws to what organizers hope will be huge crowds.

Mayor Ray Nagin acknowledged the start of the season with the city’s annual king cake party, slicing up dozens of pastries covered with purple, green and gold icing, and each holding a tiny, plastic baby. Tradition has it that the person getting the baby in their slice of cake must supply the next king cake.

King cakes, believed to have originated in France around the 12th century, are eaten throughout Carnival season, but on 12th night, or the Feast of the Epiphany, they mark the arrival of the three wise men bearing gifts 12 days after Christmas.

And you all thought it was about sin and fun.  Shame on you all for thinking that.  I know that some said Katrina hit New Orleans was God’s way of trying to wipe out the sin in New Orleans.  It was nature and that’s all.

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Jennifer Gardner and Ben Afflecks new baby

Well Ben and Jennifer have a new baby girl.  That makes the second baby girl for the couple.  The first daughter, Violet is 3 years old now.  I didn’t realize she was that old already.  Anyway, everyone couldn’t wait to learn what they had named the new baby.  They named her Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck.  That’s a big name for a little baby girl.  I like Serahpina.

No explanation of the name has been offered, but the Baby Name Wizard defines it as “derived from the Hebrew seraphim (burning ones), a name used in the Bible for the heavenly winged angels surrounding the throne of God.”

Well we learn something new every day if we just look around, huh?  Nice name there Jennifer and Ben and congratulations on the new addition to your family.

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No one worked yesterday

I told everyone working on the apartments to take the day off yesterday because they needed to witness history.  That was more important than working for me.  I know there are some people that think this is the worst thing that could have ever happened but they’re wrong!!  This is a great day that will go down in history as just that, a GREAT DAY!!!  One thing is for sure, I didn’t think I would live to see it but thank God I was wrong.

New Orleans has always been known for welcoming PEOPLE to our fair city.  We don’t look at a person and say they aren’t welcome because of their heritage, skin color, accent, or anything else.  Everyone is welcome in New Orleans just as everyone is welcome in America, or used to be.  They should be because the only true ‘American’ are the Indians.  Everyone of us that does not have American Indian in our background, are from another country in all reality.  We are all immigrants but we all became Americans and that’s what is the most important thing.

I sure  hope each and every one of you took the time to watch history in the making unfold before your eyes.  I sure did and loved every moment of it.

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New Years New Orleans style

Well if anyone knows how to throw a party, it’s New Orleans.  This year is gone and we are glad to see 2009 come.  The economy has made it even harder for a lot of our people to continue to fight to recover from the mess we all found ourselves in but the spirit of New Orleans won’t let any of us down.

There are lots of celebrities that are helping to rebuild or just homes for our people and we’re all out there fighting side by side.  Every new year means the old one is behind us and we’re still moving forward.  Slowly but surely, all of the rebuilding and building will be done and we will shine once again like the new years fireworks.  Here’s wishing nothing but blessing for everyone for the New Year!!

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My heart overflows

I have so many ‘Thank You’ cards along with Christmas cards that my heart overflows with the spirit of not only Christmas, but also the spirit of God.  Dinner last night was perfect.  We had gumbo, turkey, dressing, ham, candied yams, green beans, corn, dinner rolls, and more food than I can remember.  I don’t think I will be able to eat again for a week after all of that.

The children’s faces were just as I imagined they would be.  Every family brought their camera to me and I can’t wait to get them developed.  Families were coming up to me with tears in their eyes and thanking not only me but the whole community.  Some got job offers, everyone got a crisp new $100 bill, thanks to someone very special.

There was not a child that didn’t get ‘exactly’ what they wanted according to them.  There were more gadgets and toys in there than you can believe.  Each child brought their favorite toy if they could.  Some couldn’t because it was a bicycle or a game system but they made sure to bring their next favorite toy to show me.  Life is good here in Louisiana.

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Every present wrapped and every bow tied

Well every single Angel has been taken from the tree and all of the presents that have been donated or brought in are all wrapped and every bow tied.  There is a pile of presents like I have never seen.  In fact, there are enough presents to take up a whole room in my home.  What a wonderful feeling standing in the doorway looking at all the presents.

I feel so blessed and not a single present is for me to open.  The blessing comes from knowing I’m making Christmas special for children and their families.  I guess I’m a HO HO HO!!!!  I’m Santa Clausette.  How about that?