After all the wind we had in Colorado from late last summer until the day we left at the end of December... There were times when I prayed that God would keep the aspens from falling on us in the middle of the night. The wind blows in Colorado all the time. I'm just not used to it blowing that hard for days and days on end.
We had rain here yesterday and last night, off and on, but in the early evening it cleared off enough for the the sun to shine brightly on the western faces of the buildings across the way from us. Usually they are just kind of gray 'over there' and I don't pay a whole lot of attention to them.
Yesterday evening, however, as we were watching one of the original Star Trek Generations tv programs on the VCR, I glanced out the window and was entranced by what I saw. Such a different aspect of the same ol' same ol' view. 
I grabbed my camera and missed the end of the program, standing out on the balcony, looking here and there, seeing things I don't usually notice. Sometimes Kherson can be beautiful. 
I read an article this morning, and then watched a youtube video that came with it, about something that is happening in Malaysia. There is a temple there with many gold Buddha idols. While close to 100 people were recently waiting to meet with one of the head men at the temple, the idols began to move. Some moved their mouths (the YouTube video showed this clearly), others began to move hands/fingers, open their eyes or even to speak. Some emitted bright light. I was skeptical, so I watched the first video and thought it was just a trick of moving the camera's angle to cause the idol to appear bright and then normal. I only watched a couple minutes of the second video where the idol's mouth began to move. The video is from a cell phone or something and is not good quality, plus other people keep getting in the way with their arms and hands holding up cameras as well. However, there is no doubt - the idols' mouth did begin to move, as if speaking. I watched a few seconds of it, and then refreshed the page to stop the rest of the download.
Several missionary biographies that I have read came to mind. Missionaries reporting that strange things like this did happen in areas where they went, and continued to happen until people became Believers in Jesus Christ. Their reports of the spiritual battles that went on are often poo-pooed by modern conservative Evangelical Americans especially. Yet - it happened by witness of those missionaries and it is still happening today.
The spiritual battle we are in is very real. Of that I have no doubt. None.
I really need to get busy and finish my Sunday School lesson prep for tomorrow. I know the story from Luke 11 and I have a picture from the internet I'm going to use. The story Jesus told about prayer and borrowing bread from a neighbor late at night. The book I am supposed to be using has me more than a bit dismayed, however. I do not like this book, but it's the one I was given to teach from. I actually ordered an English copy so that I could really understand what the author was trying to communicate. It's written for very young children.
This last paragraph from tomorrow's lesson illustrates what I do not like about it:
"God will give us all these things if we ask Him, because He has promised to give us whatever is good for us. But we must really, really want to be good." (emphasis in the original)
WHAT????? God will give us what he has promised to give us if we are really, really good??????? AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH. No way am I going to teach that! NO WAY. I don't care if it's at the end of the book and there are other chapters that talk about sin and repentence and Jesus. I will not teach that God will give us whatever we need if we are really, really good. Ei yi yi. I will teach what Jesus taught and not a thought more.
Luke 11:5-13 Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’
“Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
This is part of what I'm trying to teach anyone in the Sunday School to watch out for. We need to be very, very careful what materials we use in addition to the Bible. Not all that goes by the name "Christian" is healthy and good. And sometimes heresy is mixed in when we least expect it.
I'm thrilled to say that my tutor has taken 3 of my scarves. She wears the yellow and black one all the time and it looks really good on her, around her neck and under the v-front of her black coat. I am surprised that she wanted it, but it caughter her attention immediately and she wanted it. :) 
Yesterday she took 2 more, one of which I had thought seriously about keeping for myself - the Lipstick one. The other was the multi-colored one where I used a white warp and a single verigated bright colored yarn. She was taking them to her cousin who is in the hospital with pancreas problems. It doesn't sound good to me at all, like maybe this cousin has pancreatic cancer or something. Lyudmilla mentioned very, very briefly yesterday that she was concerned, but didn't go any farther than that. Her cousin saw Lyudmilla's yellow and black scarf and commented on how much she liked it. So, Lyudmilla wanted to take her one. I told her she could have which ever one she wanted, in fact, she can give them both away! 
She also saw the new one I have on the loom and fell in love with the colors. I told her I'd thought of her when I warped the loom and that she can have this one for herself, too, if it looks good when I'm finished. :) I'll post photos of it later. I have barely worked on it at all this week - too busy with that pillow and company!All for now. I need to put together a word game of some sort for my lesson!
