God has a sense of humor

Little K received a plastic bag with 2 sugar cookies in it for Halloween.  Not eating much sugar these days she gave the cookies to her wonderfully deserving parents.

We decided to have those cookies for dessert Sunday night.  I ate  mine right after dinner  but B decided he would wait and have his for a snack later.  He left the cookie on the table and didn't think anything more about it.

We went outside for a while and when we came back in we found this:

Jake, being a dog of opportunity tracked down the sweet treat and made it his.

Guess God had decided B didn't need that sugar cookie.

Dogs will be dogs :)

Laughter is the best medicine

I have started following a blog called The Adventures Of MaxDog....In South Africa.  Max is a gorgeous Golden Retriever who as the title indicates lives in South Africa.

In one of his post he takes about how South Africans love to laugh at themselves.  According to Max, this is a trait that has developed nation wide due to all of the hardships they have faced.

It's been said laughter is the best medicine.  Humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.

• Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.
  
• Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
• Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
• Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

The things you can't do anything about, put them in the God box and let him handle them.  Then have yourself a good belly laugh and see how much better you'll feel.

Click HERE to see Max's post about laughter and humor in South Africa and some pictures of signs you will see around the country.

Let's follow their example - let's laugh at ourselves:)

Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." Genesis 21:6

What has caused you laughter?  If you see something humorous take a picture and send it to me and I'll post/share the humor in another post.

Have a glorious day and laugh.

A memo from God

To:                     YOU
Date:                  TODAY
From:                 GOD
Subject:              YOURSELF
Reference:          LIFE

This is God.  Today I will be handling All of your problems for you.  I do Not need your help.  So, have a nice day. 

I love you. And, remember... If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do Not attempt to resolve it yourself!  Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. I will get to it in MY TIME.  All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours.  

Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it.  Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now. 

Now, you have a nice day.
God

Happy Halloween

According to the History Channel Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). This all dates back about 2,000 years in the area now known as Ireland, United Kingdom and northern France.On November 1st the "Celts" would celebrated the mark of the new year. This also marked the end of summer and harvest and the beginning of winter. A time often associated with death.

On the night before, October 31, they celebrated Samhain. It was believed that the ghosts of the dead would return to earth causing trouble of damaging crops. They also felt this time of ghostly presence made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
 
During the celebration, they wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter. Click here to read more details.

As European immigrants came to America, they brought their varied Halloween customs with them. However, these customs were primary celebrated in Maryland and the southern colonies. As more immigrants flooded the country they helped to popularize the celebration nationally. The first celebrations included "play parties," public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other's fortunes, dance, and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. More detail can be found here.

The American tradition of "trick-or-treating" probably dates back to the early All Souls' Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called "soul cakes" in return for their promise to pray for the family's dead relatives.
 
Still curious has to how it all came about? Click here to read about the History of the Jack-o-lantern.



Have a safe Halloween and don't eat too much candy.

Fridays With Jake - From behind the nose

Hi, let me introduce myself to you, my name is Jake and I am the youngest member of the family.

Mom let me ghost write a time or two and I have been begging for my own spot ever since.  I got really excited when she put my picture up last week for "Wordless Wednesdays".  I sure got some nice comments - thank you.

The family and I had a rough lesson in patience during my adoption process.  Let me take you back:

I first laid eyes on my family in January of 2007.  I knew from the moment they walked by the cage that was my family.  I just had to convince them of it, dad was saying something about getting too big when he walked by. 

You see -  I am a rescued pup.  I don't remember how I ended up at the Capital Humane Society but that's where I met my family.  Don't take me wrong, they were very good to me but I wanted what every pup wants - a family of my own.

Back to the story, I was invited in to the "Get Acquainted" room to be introduced to what I was hoping was my new family.  They were very nice and I just wanted to play with all of them at once.  While I was playing with Big K I accidentally scratched her and drew blood (what ever blood is) but from what I gathered is wasn't good.  I heard mom trying to tell them it wasn't my fault but they said something about policy and a waiting period.

I was put back in my kennel and they put something on my door.  No one came to visit me and then I got sick.  One of the kind people from the shelter  loved on me and scratched me behind the ears.  Then they put a lead on me and they said something about Puppy Foster Care until I was better.  I was hoping they were taking me to the family I fell in love with - but they didn't.

In dog time it seemed like I was in puppy foster care forever.  I felt like I would never see my hopeful family again.  Then one day they took me back to the shelter where I found "mom".  She was there waiting for me and took me to my new home.

And that is where I have lived for the last 2 1/2 years.  Well got to go, mom says this is too long already.  Blog with you more next Friday.  Have a great weekend.