Wow...I can't believe it has been so long since I posted.
I guess my daughter is right - I shouldn't complain about her blog if I don't do anything in my own.

Researching franchise opportunities again tonight after spending a day in Amish country with my visiting parents and realizing that maybe there is a life outside of the one I currently lead. If I have to work hard, I should be doing something that will connect me to the community and make me happy at the same time.
If only I knew whether it would pay my bills...that's the tricky part.

It is really wonderful to have my parents here - I am schlepping them everywhere. I think they are pretty worn out after only two days with me *g*.

Lancaster County feels like slipping into another world. The time stands still when you see the Amish men and women working their farms and riding in their buggies.
Are they happier than we are with all our education and high-paying jobs that take us around the world?
How I wish I had insights into their minds!

Can't wait to go to church on Sunday - since I missed last Sunday due to my trip to New Orleans, I feel like I have been completely out of touch.
I miss singing praises to my King.

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 16:33
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Peace to all of you in Christ,
Elke

posted by Elke at 10:32 PM

Book tip of the week:

Francine Rivers - "Redeeming Love"

Whatever you do, do NOT read on plane with businessmen seated next to you...sniffling and wiping away tears does not make you look professional.
This is an awesome book about the redeeming love a man has for his wife and God has for His children.

Thanks, Pandora, my dear friend, for giving it to me.

posted by Elke at 10:40 PM

Now on Elke's Boring [tm] Blog -
Cinderella and her Prince:



(aka Nick and Elke at the St. John's ROTC Military Ball - Nick's last before retirement as Professor of Military Science.)
Gosh, I love that man! And he is so handsome - especially in that uniform.

:-))))

posted by Elke at 10:34 PM

Cool find of the week:
Who is Jesus? Is Jesus a Liar, a Lunatic or really Lord and God as He Himself claimed?
And this is also a really great site:
Honest Answers to Tough Questions
Going out to breakfast tomorrow morning to finally meet the missionary on whose QUEST team I am - yippie!
Also: At the company training I attended, 7 out of 28 attendees were born-again believers - praise God! Can you imagine if the Rapture had occured? That would have been amazing - 1/4 of the class gone!
In Christ,
Elke

posted by Elke at 10:27 PM

Another excellent ministry:
Turning Point - here you can find their broadcasting archive.
In Christ,
Elke

posted by Elke at 10:34 PM

What a great testimony!
Creation evangelism at a wedding!

posted by Elke at 10:15 AM

If you hunger to grow ever closer to God, another great resource is A Daily dose of Spurgeon.

By the way, I found out yesterday that David Bloom, the reporter for NBC and MSNBC of whom I became quite a junkie during the Iraq War, was a believer! The list of cool people to praise God with around the Throne just continues to grow!
Here is the report as clipped from the Christian Coalition of Iowa webpage:


DAVID BLOOM'S LAST EMAIL By Joel C. Rosenberg, national correspondent, WORLD magazine (www.worldmag.com)

(WASHINGTON, D.C., April 17, 2003) -- I met David Bloom during the Forbes campaign in 1996. He was friendly, enthusiastic, a tenacious reporter and clearly loved his job. Like so many others, I became a fan, and followed his work over the years.

What I didn't know was that in recent years he'd become a Christian who considered his personal relationship with Jesus Christ far more important than all the glamorous assignments he'd had, from White House correspondent to war correspondent on the road to Baghdad. That I learned yesterday, through David Bloom's last email.

So did more than 2,000 others, including White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani, NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw and TODAY Show host Katie Couric, who turned out Wednesday at a memorial service in St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan to mourn Bloom's death and remember his life.

Bloom, 39, died of a pulmonary embolism early in the morning of Sunday, April 6. The night before he died, he called the NBC assignment desk in New York to check the NCAA Final Four scores, and then called home to talk to his wife, Melanie, and their three young daughters. He also sent his wife an email that seemed to foreshadow his imminent death.


"I hope and pray all my guys get out of this in one piece," Bloom wrote.

"But I'll tell you, Mel, I am at peace. Here I am, supposedly at the peak of professional success, but I could, frankly, care less. It's nothing compared to my relationship with you and the girls and Jesus."

On the night before he left for Iraq, Bloom told the Rev. Father Matthew McGinness: "I'm almost afraid to say this, but I'm ready." He had a sense he might not come home.

"David had recognized God's sovereignty over his life," McGinness said.

Reuters reported that "Bloom's religion played a central part in his life. 'David had...personal issues to address,' said his friend Jim Lane, who met Bloom at a New Canaan, Connecticut, Bible study group."

It's not easy to take an honest measure of one's life and shortcomings, or pursue a real spiritual journey, in the high-powered world of politics and media.

It's not easy to demonstrate child-like faith anywhere -- to believe that God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives...that each of us are sinful and rebellious and thus separated from God...that Jesus Christ's death on the cross and resurrection from the grave is God's only provision to forgive us of our sins...that we must individually receive Jesus the Messiah as our personal Savior and Lord by faith through prayer...and that only then can we truly experience God's love and plan for our lives.

But that's what Bloom did. How fitting that as we celebrate Passover and Easter, a news reporter's last email should point us to the most important news of all, and good news at that: "For God so loved that world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16, the New Testament)

Farewell, David, and thanks.

In Christ,
Elke

posted by Elke at 9:28 AM