a Sweet Life Saga

Just when you thought that Catholic church activities couldn't get any more bizarre..... Reverend Elvis "All Shook Up" In Sex Scandal -- A Catholic priest in New York City was suspended after he apparently used his confessional booth to pick up women. The action came after Judith Rodriguez-Lytwyn filed a $25 million lawsuit against Our Lady of the Snows in Glen Oaks, New York. She met Reverend Elvis Elano while going through a divorce when she entered his confessional and he told her, "Your presence struck me like a thunderbolt," according to her lawyer, Andrew Laufer. "For lack of a better word, he was hitting on her," Laufer said, adding that the two began dating and eventually engaged in sex. The woman ended the affair when Elano sent her an e-mail indicating he had a sexually transmitted disease he may have gotten from another woman. I'm just sayin, --Margo

If you are an active member of Facebook, you are more than likely familiar with, on an intimate basis, a game called Farm Town. Farm Town is a virtual farm. You plow your land, plant your crops and reap the rewards (coins) of selling those crops at harvest time. You even have the ability to "prostitute" yourself in the village market by offering to harvest other farmers' crops. You can sell your farm for larger farms, purchase silos, waterwells, logs, barrels, pigs, chickens, roosters, goats....you get the picture. You beg your "farming" friends to send you gifts of animals and trees so that you will not have to make these expensive purchases yourself. After all, you are saving your coins so that you can buy that farming mansion and pond you've been lusting after on the neighboring farm. However, the future of Farm Town may be compromised. My son called earlier to let me know Facebook had a new virtual farm game called Farm Ville. He's at level ...

Who Moved My Cheese , by Spencer Johnson, MD, was recommended to me by a co-worker in an effort to help understand and deal with circumstances in my life. As I read this book, I was amazed to find bits and pieces of myself in the characters of this book – Hem, Haw, Sniff and Scurry. Hem and Haw are two "little people". Sniff and Scurry are two mice. The four of them live in a maze and each day venture out to find "cheese". "Cheese" represents something different to each character, but it's never a person. The book tells how each of these 4 characters search for "cheese" and how they react and adapt to the changes they encounter. After reading this book, I analyzed myself to determine which character I mostly resembled…I am Hem. I'm in my comfort zone and even though I know there is nothing left of the "cheese" supply, I don't want to leave. I've started questioning why I haven’t changed the things I am capable of changin...

-- a five-letter word that makes a profound statement...or does it? What is peace? Peace is a state of tranquility. What does it sound like? Quiet. What does it feel like? Harmony in relationships and freedom from oppressing thoughts and emotions. We all say we would like “some peace and quiet”, NATO leaders speak of “world peace”, and of course, we all want “inner peace”. In the old west, Indians raised their right hand, palm outward, as a sign of peace towards strangers. They also smoked “peace” pipes. In the 60s and 70s (especially during the Vietnam War), people would flash two fingers as a sign of peace. President Nixon adopted this sign as part of his “I am not a crook” campaign. People wore PEACE symbols on chains around their necks. Anti-war demonstrators carried signs touting “make peace, not war”. But how can we have true peace without God? Philippians 4:7 speaks of the peace of God which transcends all understanding. Romans 5:1 says we have peace with God. 1 Peter 3:11 stat...

Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Dizzy Dean and Eddie Collins. What do all of these men have in common? They all hold outstanding baseball records and are all members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. I’m sure you must be asking yourself, “Who is Eddie Collins?” If you are female and live with or have ever lived with a male of any age, you know SOMETHING about baseball — outside of the fact that it’s this country’s national pastime! And if you know ANYTHING about baseball, you know about a sacrifice. A sacrifice is when the batter hits the ball in such a manner that he will be called “out” in order to advance the runner to the next base. The player has to sacrifice himself as an out to help the team score. Eddie Collins was just such a person. He holds a record that has yet to be broken — 512 sacrifice hits. Eddie knew that even though he was an excellent batter, he could be more helpful to his team by sacrificing himself. He love...

As some of you may know, we have an upcoming visit to Johns Hopkins (June 24-27) for further evaluation and testing regarding Jared's syndrome. As all of you know, our last visit was not a positive visit. Jared was diagnosed with Loeys-Dietz Syndrome and we were also made aware of an aortic aneurysm, which required immediate surgery. I do not have a good feeling about this visit. Neither does Jared. I have not made him aware of my feelings about the visit because I don't want to create further angst for him. We will not only be seeing Dr. Dietz for updates on how the syndrome has progressed, but will also be seeing a spine specialist and an endocrinologist who specializes in bone disease. Jared's health has been deteriorating over the past few months and he has experienced several episodes where he passes out. I would like to ask that you remember us in your prayers -- for strength, peace and acceptance of whatever this visit may bring. I'm drowning in helplessne...

What would you do for your friends? For your "best" friend? John 15:13 says " Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends ." Would you lay down your life for your friend? My devotional story today talked about a naval officer in World War II. He said he was on a troopship carrying over 10,000 men to Europe. Early one morning as he and another officer were watching the sunrise and noting how beautiful it was, they spotted an enemy torpedo headed straight for their ship. They sounded the warning but knew it would be too late to move their ship out of the path of the torpedo. About that same time, he and the other officer noted a destroyer headed towards them -- right into the path of the torpedo. The young skipper of that vessel placed his ship in the path of the torpedo to prevent it from hitting the troopship. His destroyer sank within 10 minutes. The young skipper knew that by placing his ship in the path of the torpedo t...

Vices. We all have them. We all pay a price. However, some vices cost more than others. I’m going to pick on cigarette smokers because that is the vice that got my attention in a very drastic way today. I’m not a smoker so I have not paid attention to the price of a pack of cigarettes in a very long time. I just know it’s expensive. While picking up some junk food (I do realize I’m plucking at the speck in my neighbor’s eye while toting a plank in my own) from the convenience store in our lobby, a man came up behind me and requested a pack of cigarettes…Marlboro Menthol Smooth Ultra Light in a box. I glanced up as the clerk reached for the pack of smokes and gasped when I saw the price -- $5.05 per pack! I almost dropped my M&Ms, Salt & Vinegar chips and Reese's Cups. That is outrageous for a pack of cigarettes. Then, tack on 10% sales tax courtesy of the City of Birmingham and you have a grand total of $5.56 for a package of cancer a la carte! I paid for my calories and qu...

Recently, during a discussion with my husband, he made the statement that he did not believe in "permanency", stating that nothing was permanent. I have been mulling over this statement for a while and find I have to disagree with him. While there are many things that change as often as my hair color, there are things in this life that are permanent; it's just that our society has an "everything is disposable" mentality. Permanence, much like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I believe in permanence. To me, marriage should be permanent while on this earth. You take vows before God. I married my husband with a "til death do us part" attitude...I may kill him, but we will be married until such time I choose to do so. When I decided to get my tattoos, I got them with the same attitude "til death do us part". Well actually, they won't part; they will decay with my flesh. Employment is permanent; it may not always be at the same company, ...