Southern Living Yankee

Family time this weekend! My brother Joel and family on the left, my sister Anjee and fam on the right. My parents treated all of us to a wonderful day at the Creation Museum in Hebron, KY, plus fun and relaxation at a really nice nearby hotel.                                                                                                                               ...

You just never know what a day might hold, but I'm thankful I know Who holds my days! My mom called early this morning to say that my nephew, Caden, was at a Milwaukee burn center! What??!! That's what I said! And then I got on Facebook as the fastest way to get people praying! Here's the note I sent out: Please pray for my highschool age nephew Caden. He's 100 miles from home at a Milwaukee burn center with 2nd & 3rd degree burns to his face from an accident last night. Thanks! Over a dozen people responded and passed it on to their praying friends. Before I left for work at noon I got this email from my sister-in-law, Caden's mom, Tammy: Ferree, Prayers sure are working. Caden is in no pain. He got up and walked around. He is now sitting in the chair watching Joyce Meyer. He wanted to watch a "religious channel". He is in great spirits. We are just waiting for them to get him into the O.R. so they can clean up his face and ear and see what t...

One year ago these two couples didn't know each other but God did, and He had an amazing story to play out in their lives. (Let me introduce them to you. From left to right we've got Mike & Christine, and Toby & Kim. I know Mike and Christine from house church. And I took this picture last Tuesday at HC, when Toby and Kim were our guests.) One year ago Toby, middle-aged dad, swim coach, school employee, husband, and dialysis patient wondered how much time he had left to spend with his kids and Kim. He'd been on the kidney transplant list for a few years; several people had offered to donate their kidney to him (yes, he's a well-loved guy); no match could be found. Enter Christine. A few years ago God sparked a little desire in her to be a living donor. She didn't know what she would donate--she'd already been a blood donor for years. All she knew was how thankful she was for her undeserved good health. Her heart welled up with gratitude whenever sh...

WARNING: I just pulled my head out of the sand and need to blow the sand and snot out. Did you know that in Zimbabwe a child dies or is orphaned by AIDS every 20 minutes? In Africa 4.7 million innocent people need AIDS drugs, but only .5 million have access to them. (2006 statistic, page 25) Meanwhile, 20 drug company CEO's get over $1 million in compensation. Bristo-Myers Squibbs CEO got over $8 million , Eli Lilly & Co. over $11 million , Abbott Labs, over $11 million , and the head of Pfizer got over $16 million . (2005 statistics, page 190)  And then look into drug patents. Drug companies do all they can--and hire lawyers to do all they can--to extend drug patents so their top-selling prescription drugs (including AIDS drugs, but also Lipitor, Celebrex, Zoloft) can continue to put the over $1 billion  in sales into their own pockets year after year. (page 192-193)  And research? By the drug companies? That's a farce when you look at t...

The best way to describe my weekend trip to Ticonderoga, NY is with the Mastercard commercial formula: Dayton to Ticonderoga: 750 miles, 18 hours, 2 snowstorms, 3:30 - 6 a.m. layover at a service plaza on the NY turnpike trying to sleep while bent up like a pretzel and interrupted by the beep beep beep of the backhoe shoveling the parking lot . . . Ferry across Lake Champlain on Saturday for dinner in Middlebury, VT for prime rib at  Fire & Ice, one   of my favorite restaurants ever: wow, sticker shock, but worth every penny! Ticonderoga to Dayton: 750 miles, 12 hours, clear roads, a bit of snow spray around Erie, PA, and very little traffic Two minutes with Aaron on Saturday night: priceless! WRITING UPDATE: Thursday or Friday will be my writing day this week. I need to enter my book proposal online asap for the writers conference I'll attend in April, so that is what I plan to work on, Deo Volente. Thanks for checking in on me!