K I know I’m bombarding you guys with posts this inspirational Wednesday but these are so good that I have to share…..I could save some for next week but I’d probably forget. So enjoy 🙂 Thanks J.S. for these great posts! God bless and remember The High King Lives~Amber Dover
Had to reblog for another Inspirational Wednesday post. This is a great article. I’m surprised by how many people that believe Christianity is stuffy & boring. I’ve never drank, smoked, or had premarital sex and I am definitely not a fuddy duddy. I’ve danced in the rain before. There are so many fun things you can do that DON’T involve sin. God gave us this huge planet to explore and enjoy. I guarantee you they weren’t sitting around meditating in the garden of Eden. God’s version of paradise (the true version) was a couple running around naked eating alot and hanging out with the animals. Father God created laughter & all things beautiful….he’s not boring…..he’s breathtaking 🙂
If you’re somewhere that sucks the joy out of living then you need to study your word and be careful…you are probably in a cult (I’ve been there). Run for your life! God bless & remember The High King lives! ~Amber Dover
Very good article….there are so many opinions on this subject. But the good news is that the Bible is clear that Jesus Christ WILL be coming back. I don’t believe the world will end in 2012…..we may have some major disasters etc but it won’t end….alot has to happen before the actual end…..and it’s more like a beginning anyways….a new Heaven and Earth…a reign of peace under the true High King. It’s always darkest before the dawn 🙂
God bless & remember The High King Lives! ~Amber Dover
thepassionsoflife asked:
Thank you for answering my previous questions. I enjoy hearing what you have to say about these topics! So I was wondering…what do you think of the end of times? Personally, it’s a subject that is of extreme fascination to me. What do you think of the book of Revelations? Do you think we’ll see the end of the Earth as we know it in our life time? How do you think it will happen? I would love to hear your thoughts. I’m actually taking an English class on the subject, and I’m really looking forward to learning all about the topic, as it has interested me for so long yet I never got a chance to study it. God Bless and keep on preaching the Good News!
Thanks for the encouragement! I’ll simplify it the best I can for you here. The End Times — not just…
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February 28, 2012
Happy Hear the Writer Roar! Tuesday God bless and Remember The High King Lives! ~Amber Dover
Storytelling is in our blood, it binds us together as humans. On some intuitive level, everyone understands narrative structure, even little kids. All good stories have a clear beginning, middle and end. Ever try to skip parts of a story with a toddler? Even they can sense on a gut level that something is wrong if we miss a fundamental part of the story. Thus, often when I am teaching new writers how to understand narrative structure, I use children’s movies. Frequently the narrative structure is far clearer, as well as the Jungian archetypes that are present in all great fiction. Additionally, all fiction can be boiled down to cause, effect, cause, effect, cause, effect. But, beyond that, novels are broken into scenes and sequels. For those who missed this post a few months ago, I highly recommend you go here.
So how do we know when to cut a…
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Crafty Monday: Black History Month February 27, 2012
Hello friends and welcome to Crafty Monday. Today I’m going to show you a few of the crafts we’ve been doing for Black History Month. This has been fun for me because I’ve always been very passionate about Civil Rights. We’ve read some neat books on Civil rights and also on Slavery. A good book is “Almost to Freedom” by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson. It tells the story of a girl’s escape on the underground railroad, from the perspective of her doll. Another good kid’s book is “My Dream of Martin Luther King” by Faith Ringgold.
Moving on….I got the Martin Luther King hands and the Peacock ideas from: http://elementaryartfun.blogspot.com/
and I got the Civil Rights hands with the heart idea from:Â http://art-paper-scissors.blogspot.com/
#1 Martin Luther King Hands- mixing colors with love 🙂
this is how we did it:
mixing colors with love 🙂
that’s my awesome Mom (Nana)
Voila! 🙂 Then I just added a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. and wrote parts of his “I Have a Dream” speech
#2 Civil Rights hands
First, paint a rainbow. Then trace different color hands and a pink heart. Then just glue them on once the paint has dried.
#3 Marbleized Peacock~ this was a random February craft
Here’s how we did it 🙂
First, you fill a pan with shaving cream and squirt different colored washable paints into it.
Then you swirl the colors around and lay your paper on it.
Then you take a piece of cardboard and scrape off the cream. You will be left with a pretty marble effect.
I just cut out a head for the Peacock and the “eye” part of the feathers. I glued them on after the paper dried and cut the paper into a Peacock shape. I colored the peacock with pencils. We probably could’ve used the marbleizing method but we had already thrown away the cream. It’s funny because my son didn’t want to play with the cream afterwards (he doesn’t like sticky/messy things) but I had fun sticking my hands in it lol.
May we judge each other by the content of our character…not the color of our skin 🙂 Amen brother King! Oh and may we be very careful when we judge…we must remember we all fall short of the glory of God.
Well, that’s all 🙂 God bless and remember The High King Lives! ~Amber Dover
My Family Rocks! Sunday: Adorable Persians & the drunken birds (plus mini food & mail 4 kids) February 26, 2012
Hello dear ones and welcome to My Family Rocks! Sunday :). What did my family do today after enjoying a lovely Sunday morning at church? We came home and watched funny youtube videos while eating lunch. Last night I had a complete OCD spell. I found a link on Pinterest which led me to a cute squirrel video on Youtube which eventually led me to some adorable & funny Persian kitty cat videos. So naturally I had to share these with my family and now with you 🙂
                                            (My guys camping in the living room last night. May these days last forever…)
http://www.youtube.com/user/sweetfurx4
What’s even more hilarious than the cats is how the owner dresses them. These must be their only children because seriously they are just like children. Garfield must’ve been a Persian…..
Here’s a very funny Youtube video that can’t wait til Thursday 🙂
                                                                                (Lil man dressed up for Crazy Day at AWANA’s)
Children love to get mail. There are two things that Michael gets super excited about when the mail comes: his mailbox club lesson and his Highlights Top Secret Adventures.
My son is enjoying learning about other countries with highlights. I’m surprised he even got an invitation since it’s for 7-12 yr olds and he’s yet to turn 6. But I’m glad it came. With Highlights Top Secret Adventures your child learns about different countries while solving mysteries like a spy. When Michael got his in the mail he read the letter telling him to come to India and he thought it was REAL! lol He asked me why they wanted him to go to India alone without me and his daddy. He was really worried. ROFL 🙂 I explained to him that it was pretend then we pretended to fly to India and we both “became” super spies on an adventure.
http://www.highlights.com/puzzle-book-clubs/top-secret-adventures
I am a big fan of The Mailbox club. These are Bible lessons through the mail. There are courses for children AND adults. Also they are completely free! When you complete a course you will get a nice certificate in the mail. These Bible lessons have been in the family for generations. My Dad became a Christian when he was 7 because of the mailbox club lessons. I did these lessons when I was 4 and all through Highschool. I believe they helped me have a solid foundation in the Bible and they prepared my heart to accept Christ. My Dad also had a ministry using mailbox club lessons where he reached people in our community. Now my son does the Mailbox club lessons with his Nana. I believe they are the reason for Michael getting saved at such a young age. Michael got several of his friends to start the lessons as well. These Bible lessons are reaching kids all over the world. They are fun and it’s such a joy to finish a course. If you check out the website you may be able to read the founders testimony. He had a son that died at 7. Since then (a long time ago) he has been reaching children (if he’s still alive….not sure).
http://www.mailboxclub.org/index.php/sign-up-for-bible-lessons
You’re probably wondering where the drunken birds come in. Well, our back yard has been blessed with a ton of birds lately. Usually we get small brown birds but these new birds are huge and loud! They are EVERYWHERE :). One huge bird that I call the godfather has taken up residence in our bird house (the one that is falling apart…it seems none of the birds like our brand new bird house). Well, the godfather sits on the post and orders the other birds about. It is SO funny! My hubby figured out why the birds are so loud. We have alot of Cherry Laurel and Chinaberry in and around our yard. It turns out these two trees actually make the birds feel drunk! That’s why they are chirping so much! Isn’t that hilarious 🙂
Lastly, I have found two tasty recipes in Pinterest that are great for quick lunches and snacks.
Mini corn dogs and pizza rolls 🙂 They are super simple too.
I didn’t take a picture of the pizza rolls. For the pizza I just used shredded cheese instead and I formed the crescent into a little stuffed roll.
http://pinterest.com/pin/82824080616946977/Â Â Â Â (Pizza rolls)
http://iowagirleats.com/2012/01/30/super-bowl-recipe-week-mini-corn-dog-muffins/
Well, that’s all folks. Hold your family tight and cherish every moment. God bless and remember The High King Lives!
~Amber Dover
Media Saturday: The Help & The Hunger Games February 25, 2012
Hello hello friends and welcome to Media Saturday. I am very excited about today’s post. Today I’m reviewing the movie “The Help” and the first book in a trilogy called “The Hunger Games”. The latter has a movie coming out in March that is based on it.
(Pic removed in case of copyright issues)
#1 The Help
February is Black History month. I am a homeschooling mommy and me and lil man have been learning about the Civil Rights Movement this week. We’ve been talking about Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. etc. I wanted to find a good movie to show how things may have been during the Civil Rights movement. So we watched “The Help”. It wasn’t the best choice for a child to see simply because it’s sprinkled with curse words. So now my son has a whole list of words he can never repeat. But if you’re an adult or you happen to have a DVD player that bleeps out language then this is a must see movie. I haven’t read the book & I hear there’s alot of criticism over it. I’ve only seen the movie so I’m sticking to my first opinion of it.
Moving on, The Help is about African American ladies working as maids for Caucasian families in Mississippi at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. A young woman journalist asks the ladies to tell her their stories….what it’s like to be the help. The ladies are brave enough to share their stories despite persecution & racism. A big issue that kicks off the movie is that one of the Caucasian ladies “Hilly” won’t allow her maid “Minnie” to use the same restroom as her family just because Minnie’s black. This “mean girl” Hilly goes as far as writing an initiative so all African American maids must have separate bathrooms. What’s also sick about this is that these white women rely on the maids to raise their children yet they treat the maids like they have cooties. Something else that made me mad was how “Hilly” claimed to be a Christian and even led a benefit to feed starving children in Africa…yet she treated her maid like crap. I know this movie is fictional but something about it just reminds me how stupid racism is in general…..any prejudice for that matter.
Racism and prejudice doesn’t come in one size. The Civil Rights Movement isn’t just about black and white getting along……it’s about everyone being treated equal………male…female….poor…..rich……..Jew…Gentile…..fat…skinny etc etc…….It’s about treating everyone with respect and love. You may not approve of people’s actions but you can still treat them with decency. As hard as it is…loving your enemy also means loving those who are prejudice…..loving the pharisees…..the pompous. This is only possible with Jesus’ help and by realizing we are all in the same boat. The sin of prejudice (hate) is just as sinful as murder and gluttony just as bad as stealing. How? Why? Because to God (the one who made the rules & set the standards) sin is sin…..it’s all equally disgusting in his sight. So we really are all in the same boat……the Bible is clear that all nations come from one blood. We can all trace our bloodline back to Adam and Eve and because of their sin we are ALL born with sin. It is only by the Grace of Jesus Christ we can be saved from Hell & a life of slavery to sin.
Anywho, this subject always gets me on my soap box lol. Moving on…..the movie showed the evils of racism and I think my son learned a valuable lesson (despite the words). Black History Month has really brought up some good conversations on treating people with love and respect…..no matter their color, sex, history, or status. I do not recommend “The Help” for children because of the cursing. There is a good family movie that deals with Civil Rights and it’s called “Perfect Harmony”. I recommend that for children and also The Magic Treehouse series has a book on Abraham Lincoln we’ve just started. Also there is a beautiful children’s book called “Moses” that is based on the life of Harriet Tubman. It has lovely illustrations. I’ll have some Civil Right’s crafts to post Monday.
(Pic removed in case of copyright issues)
#2 The Hunger Games
There’s been alot of buzz lately about “The Hunger Games”. I heard about it when watching the previews for the movie coming out in March. I was intrigued so I decided to read the book. The Hunger Games is the first book in a trilogy by Suzanne Collins. This book has mild violence so I do not recommend it for young children. The story takes place in Panem, what used to be North America. War and natural disasters have crushed what once was and now Panem has risen from the ashes. Panem is ruled by The Capitol and contains 12 districts. Districts are split up into jobs and it seems race as well. For instance, district 12 is mainly known for coal mining. The Capitol is like a dictatorship where the rich rule the poor. The Capitol is like ancient Rome dressed up as modern day Hollywood. There are so many parallels between roman gladiators and Hollywood celebrities. It’s brilliant.
Anywho, the story is told from the first person by Katniss Everdeen. Katniss is a 16 yr old girl who takes care of her mother and little sister. Many people are starving in District 12 where Katniss lives but Katniss illegally sneaks under the fence into the forbidden woods to hunt and fish (along with her male friend Gale). Once a year a male and a female is selected from each district to compete in the hunger games. They are dropped in a hostile environment and forced to fight til the death. This is the Capitol’s way of reminding the people not to rebel against them. When a person turns twelve their name is put in for the Hunger games. Katniss’ little sister is chosen to fight but Katniss volunteers to go in her place.
I don’t want to give too much away because you really ought to read it for yourself. There’s alot of action in this book and it deals with several morality issues. Everyone in the Capitol has Roman names but they dress like Hollywood stars. The contestants are also treated like celebrities although all of Panem has to watch them kill each other. This book made me think about “reality tv” and how America is very similar to the Romans watching the gladiators…..We are so desensitized.
This kind of reminds me of “The Giver” and “Utopia”. It just has that feel ya know? Like subconsciously you’re going to learn some major lessons on morality and treating every person as a human being not an object. You’re also going to see what war does to people. At first, I had issues with it being completely in first person POV but after a few pages I was quickly hooked. The story is solid and intriguing. I’m getting excited about the movie and when I get a chance I’ll read the other two books.
http://www.thehungergamesmovie.com/
Anywho, folks have you seen The Help or read The Hunger Games? If so what are your opinions. Please leave me some comments 🙂
God bless and remember The High King Lives! ~Amber Dover
The Rose Theatre in SecondLife (a late virtual Friday?)
Hello friends 🙂 It’s a little late for Virtual Friday but I’m posting it anyways…even if it is Saturday lol. I’m seeing a pattern here. I usually don’t get a chance to explore SecondLife until Friday itself. Anywho, I’m really excited about today’s post because I have found an absolute gem in the virtual world. My friends let me introduce you to The Rose Theatre in SL. This place came straight out of a fairy tale. The only way I know how to describe it is it’s like Disney’s Beauty & the Beast & Phantom of the Opera meshed together. This is by far the most gorgeous sim I’ve seen in SecondLife. I have lots of videos that show much better coverage of the sim than my photos and I’ll put the link so you can visit at the end of this post 🙂
I’m so glad I wore my Sunday’s best to visit this jewel. The Rose Theatre just oozes charm and class. As you explore the sim you will enjoy lovely music: instrumental and Opera. The Theatre actually hosts live events such as musical performances (Opera & such), poetry readings, and they even have a beauty contest. They also do weddings.
The theatre spreads across three sims and includes a library, the Opera house, a ballroom, and several art exhibits. There’s also several great rooms and the gardens are stunning. You can see from the pictures that this sim is very life like. It feels like you are really there. Just look at the ornate details in the floors, statues, and ceilings….so lovely. I have alot of pictures too share so here they go 🙂 Don’t forget the videos and links at the end 😉
Video tour of the Rose Theatre….absolutely breathtaking
art & poetry at the Rose Theatre
A musical performance at the Rose Theatre~ Tamra Hayden singing Phantom of the Opera
Tamra Hayden in RL~ see in the Virtual world you can hear live music that you may not be able to hear in rl
I love this performance video because it has the theme song from the 80’s show Beauty & the Beast in the beginning lol. Oh & Samm Qendra has a lovely voice as well 🙂
Well that’s about it folks. Oh there’s a few fun things in SL you may be interested in this week. First, there’s a hunt called The Writer’s Block Hunt. Hunts can be fun. Sometimes they take you to amazing sims you’ve never seen before….other times not so good. But it’s fun to treasure hunt.
https://secondlife.com/destination/the-writer-s-block-hunt
Also for the next several days there is a live musical expo with over 80 musicians. I may check it out.
http://secondlife.com/destination/metaverse-live-music-expo-3
Oh & don’t forget the link to the Rose Theatre! ~ Visit Angel Manor (22, 184, 22)
Well God bless and remember The High King Lives! ~Amber Dover
Inspirational Wednesday: Our Universe Staggering in Size and Beauty – from Fruit of the Word February 22, 2012
Our Universe Staggering in Size and Beauty – Fruit of the Word | Fruit of the Word.
I can’t reblog this because the author isn’t using wordpress but I wanted to give you the link. So farI like this person’s apologetics ministry from the articles I’ve read. There’s a video included in this post with some beautiful images. The video isn’t from a Christian source so there are some things I don’t agree with. I believe in a young earth that was created by God. Chew up the meat and spit out the bones I always say….
God bless and remember The High King lives! ~Amber Dover
February 21, 2012
Happy Hear the Writer Roar! Tuesday 🙂 I just love Kristen Lamb’s blog. This was a great post and I’m taking it to heart. Tonight my hubby prayed that I wouldn’t have writer’s block…..lol I didn’t expect that prayer…but I needed it. It’s time to grab the popcorn and hide myself in a corner to write… God bless and remember The High King Lives! ~Amber Dover
In the spirit of Valentines Day (which is tomorrow, btw), we are going to talk about a different sort of love…our LOVE for writing. We are already six weeks into 2012, and the New Year’s Resolutions are long forgotten, dulled by the screams of children racing through our house or the demands of a nagging day job.
Perhaps this was the year you vowed to take that novel more seriously, and you set out with bold promises of daily word count. The first week of January, you were off like a shot. The creativity was flowing, and you couldn’t remember a time you felt so alive. You might have even wondered why you put this off so long! Fingers flying across the keyboard, you laughed in the face of all your naysayers.
Now? Six weeks in?
You’ve lost that loving feeling! Whoa, that loooving feeling. Bring back that looooving feeling cuz it’s gone, gone, gone….whooooaaah.
Okay, I…
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amberdover 