The Lord today blessed me abundantly! When I received my paycheck, there was an additional $80 included. Turns out it was a payment for non-use of leave. Still, I was not expecting it so I give all thanks and credit to JESUS for it.
Thank you Lord! :)
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Insomnia and prayer
It's a warm night. The temp is still in the 50s, and it's well after 9pm. And it's the middle of winter!
At times like this, I often have bouts with insomnia. Sometimes it's not as bad as others.
Some nights, when I can't sleep, one thing I do is check sites like eBay for bargains on things like dolls, women's clothes, etc. Sometimes it pays off - one night several years ago I found a great deal on a pretty short flip Francie. Her pics were blurry in the listing, but I took a chance and when she arrived, she was in pristine mint condition. What a wonderful surprise that was.
Another thing I do when I can't sleep is pray. I find those times are among the best for spending "quiet time" with the Lord, sharing the needs of others and myself.
I use the "JOY" system when I pray: I first begin with J which stands for Jesus, giving Him, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit thanks, praise and worship; then O which stands for others, lifting up their needs and agreeing with them; and lastly Y, which stands for you, addressing my own needs, concerns, and anything else that comes to mind.
During this time I do my best to be open to hearing from the Lord as to what He wants me to do. I also continually praise Him and thank Him for not just the opportunity to pray, but hearing and answering prayer.
I believe by using this system this not only gives God glory, but also keeps us humble by placing others' needs ahead of our own. I find that if I try to address my needs first when praying, I sometimes forget the needs of others whom I've promised to pray for, or those I normally pray for regularly - and I never want to do that.
I also try to make a habit of regularly talking with the Lord daily, not just on the job, but also to and from work, at home, and anywhere else I go. Sometimes we might think "prayer" means setting aside a specific time every day to pray, but prayer should be a lifestyle. I couldn't go a day without talking to the Lord, about whatever's on my mind. I find that the more I talk with Him, and also share my every need with Him, no matter how big or small, it keeps the lines of communication open and clear between He and I.
And you know what?
The more I talk with Him, the more I want to be like Him and do His will.
That's the power of prayer.
At times like this, I often have bouts with insomnia. Sometimes it's not as bad as others.
Some nights, when I can't sleep, one thing I do is check sites like eBay for bargains on things like dolls, women's clothes, etc. Sometimes it pays off - one night several years ago I found a great deal on a pretty short flip Francie. Her pics were blurry in the listing, but I took a chance and when she arrived, she was in pristine mint condition. What a wonderful surprise that was.
Another thing I do when I can't sleep is pray. I find those times are among the best for spending "quiet time" with the Lord, sharing the needs of others and myself.
I use the "JOY" system when I pray: I first begin with J which stands for Jesus, giving Him, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit thanks, praise and worship; then O which stands for others, lifting up their needs and agreeing with them; and lastly Y, which stands for you, addressing my own needs, concerns, and anything else that comes to mind.
During this time I do my best to be open to hearing from the Lord as to what He wants me to do. I also continually praise Him and thank Him for not just the opportunity to pray, but hearing and answering prayer.
I believe by using this system this not only gives God glory, but also keeps us humble by placing others' needs ahead of our own. I find that if I try to address my needs first when praying, I sometimes forget the needs of others whom I've promised to pray for, or those I normally pray for regularly - and I never want to do that.
I also try to make a habit of regularly talking with the Lord daily, not just on the job, but also to and from work, at home, and anywhere else I go. Sometimes we might think "prayer" means setting aside a specific time every day to pray, but prayer should be a lifestyle. I couldn't go a day without talking to the Lord, about whatever's on my mind. I find that the more I talk with Him, and also share my every need with Him, no matter how big or small, it keeps the lines of communication open and clear between He and I.
And you know what?
The more I talk with Him, the more I want to be like Him and do His will.
That's the power of prayer.
Friday, February 10, 2006
those of you who are doll collectors, you'll understand
This is actually more of a rant toward the manufacturers of certain playline dolls than anything.
Someone asked me recently if there was any doll I'd ever seen and then passed up, only to end up kicking myself for it later. I answered with a loud YES!
About 20 years ago, while the Strawberry Shortcake dolls were waning in popularity, in a last ditch effort to save the line, Kenner introduced the berrykins line of dolls. These were smaller dolls but non-poseable, who were sort of like "buddies" to go with certain dolls. I don't know much else about them because they didn't particularly interest me, and the dolls that they were included with had been previously released under different playlines (Strawberry Shortcake, etc.) However there was one "new" doll in the line - a doll named Banana Twirl. She came with a berrykin, which was a little plastic figurine of some sort.
Anyway, to make a long story short, Banana Twirl was seen once at a toy store in 1985 or 1986 ( I forget what year). Stupid me did not snag her immediately, thinking that she would still be around for a while and not realizing that she would become so hard to find and expensive in the future. Ever since then, I have kicked myself many times over.
When toy manufacturers release playlines of certain dolls, there is always at least one character who is harder to find than the others. Why they do this I don't know. But as someone who likes to have a complete set of certain doll collections, I think this is a stupid practice.
I could probably find the elusive Banana Twirl on eBay, and if I truly wanted her that badly, I might even be tempted to pay the $300 and up pricetag she now commands. But the toy companies, I believe, knowingly make less of certain dolls in a playline, making them much harder to find and obtain than others, which probably has frustrated many a mom and dad when they go to buy them for their kids.
One other complaint I have is why some companies feel the need to release more and more "new" characters in a playline every year. The Bratz line is a good example of this. Last year alone, not one but two new sets of "twin" dolls were introduced. Then a set of "triplets" was released, but they turned out to be a rehash of one of the "twins" sets only with an extra sibling. The year before only one set of twins was released. There's a good likelihood at least 3 more sets of twins will be released, for little girls to want and beg for.
Then the companies tout on their boxes, "collect them all!" Many times the number of character dolls in such playlines or collections is over 50. Example: at least 80 different Star Wars figures were released in the late 70s & early 80s, and the chances of accumulating all of them was pretty slim. Did they really think kids, let alone collectors, were going to be able to easily "collect them all?" At some points the "thrill of the hunt" for these dolls/figures turns more into the agony of the hunt.
Someone asked me recently if there was any doll I'd ever seen and then passed up, only to end up kicking myself for it later. I answered with a loud YES!
About 20 years ago, while the Strawberry Shortcake dolls were waning in popularity, in a last ditch effort to save the line, Kenner introduced the berrykins line of dolls. These were smaller dolls but non-poseable, who were sort of like "buddies" to go with certain dolls. I don't know much else about them because they didn't particularly interest me, and the dolls that they were included with had been previously released under different playlines (Strawberry Shortcake, etc.) However there was one "new" doll in the line - a doll named Banana Twirl. She came with a berrykin, which was a little plastic figurine of some sort.
Anyway, to make a long story short, Banana Twirl was seen once at a toy store in 1985 or 1986 ( I forget what year). Stupid me did not snag her immediately, thinking that she would still be around for a while and not realizing that she would become so hard to find and expensive in the future. Ever since then, I have kicked myself many times over.
When toy manufacturers release playlines of certain dolls, there is always at least one character who is harder to find than the others. Why they do this I don't know. But as someone who likes to have a complete set of certain doll collections, I think this is a stupid practice.
I could probably find the elusive Banana Twirl on eBay, and if I truly wanted her that badly, I might even be tempted to pay the $300 and up pricetag she now commands. But the toy companies, I believe, knowingly make less of certain dolls in a playline, making them much harder to find and obtain than others, which probably has frustrated many a mom and dad when they go to buy them for their kids.
One other complaint I have is why some companies feel the need to release more and more "new" characters in a playline every year. The Bratz line is a good example of this. Last year alone, not one but two new sets of "twin" dolls were introduced. Then a set of "triplets" was released, but they turned out to be a rehash of one of the "twins" sets only with an extra sibling. The year before only one set of twins was released. There's a good likelihood at least 3 more sets of twins will be released, for little girls to want and beg for.
Then the companies tout on their boxes, "collect them all!" Many times the number of character dolls in such playlines or collections is over 50. Example: at least 80 different Star Wars figures were released in the late 70s & early 80s, and the chances of accumulating all of them was pretty slim. Did they really think kids, let alone collectors, were going to be able to easily "collect them all?" At some points the "thrill of the hunt" for these dolls/figures turns more into the agony of the hunt.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Nice trade
The tapes sold for about $8, which wasn’t too bad.
I also sold some others, which went for about $6.
I ended up putting the money toward some other “lots” of tracks that had a few titles I wanted.
I’ll probably sell the ones I don’t need online. There’s no point in my keeping them, when I can bless someone else who might be wanting them.
I also find myself anxiously awaiting new releases from Praise Hymn to be made available at Songtouch.com - it's a much cheaper alternative than buying the CDs or cassettes, especially when someone like me tends to buy several titles at once.
I also sold some others, which went for about $6.
I ended up putting the money toward some other “lots” of tracks that had a few titles I wanted.
I’ll probably sell the ones I don’t need online. There’s no point in my keeping them, when I can bless someone else who might be wanting them.
I also find myself anxiously awaiting new releases from Praise Hymn to be made available at Songtouch.com - it's a much cheaper alternative than buying the CDs or cassettes, especially when someone like me tends to buy several titles at once.
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