hethathathears

In Matthew 24 Jesus gives a discourse on the signs that will happen before He returns again. He spoke of wars, and rumors of wars, that kingdom would fight against kingdom, and that there would be famines and earthquakes in diverse places. Then he goes on to say that these will be the beginning of sorrows. In the Greek and Hebrew, sorrows isn’t the best translation, the words birth pains or labor would be a more correct translation. After an expectant mother carries a baby in her womb for nine months, and when the time for the delivery is at hand, labor comes on unexpectedly. It is this sharp pain that tells the mother that she needs to get to the hospital very quickly. As the time for delivery gets closer, the interval between labor get closer and closer together, and becomes even more intense. The same is true with Jesus’ signs of the times. YEARS --- NUMBER OF QUAKES DURING THIS PERIOD --- TOTAL DEATHS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From 1960 to 1969 --- 28 major quakes from 4.2 to 9.5 --- 67,478 From 1970 to 1979 --- 35 major quakes from 4.5 to 8.0 --- 429,726 From 1980 to 1989 --- 36 major quakes from 5.0 to 8.0 --- 30,819 From 1990 to 1999 --- 47 major quakes from 5.6 to 8.2 --- 60,268 From 2000 to Present 2009) --- 405 major quakes from 4.8 to 9.5 --- 687,211 And we have had 12 major quakes in 2010 237,000 The above information came from the Wed site World Earthquake History. It documents earthquakes throughout the world. We can trace the pattern of Jesus’ labor pains in the area of earthquakes. The same also hold true with WARS AND RUMORS OF WAR- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1900 to 1945 (45 Years) --- 40 major wars World War I --- 13,690,430 World War II --- 61,000,000 1946 to 1989 (45 years) --- 102 major wars Korean War --- 5,640,410 Veitnam War --- 6,264,758 1990 to 2008 (18 years) 94 major wars Gulf War, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, 2 Iraq wars In Luke 21:25 we see more Birth Pains revealed in a list that must take place before the Savor comes again. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars. On the earth nations will be in anguish at the ROARING AND TOSSING OF THE SEA.” This birth pain hit on Dec 26th, 2004 as a massive Tsunamis hit Indonesia killing over 212,000 people. Another labor pain came 8 months later with Hurricane Katrina. It was the greatest natural disaster of our time that hit the American coasts. Due to the 175 miles per hour winds, this hurricane claimed the lives of 1,836 due to the roaring of tossing of the sea. Was this just bad luck, or was it Birth Pains? In 1997 we had 19 major solar flares blow out from the sun. In 1999 we had 136. Last month alone we had 153. Could this be what it is talking about in Revelations 16:8 when the 4th angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat… And then we have the killer Tornados and Twisters. Burma's Cyclone that killed 74,000 with another 60,000 missing. Not to mention that this year in the states we have tornado's in areas that there have never been before. (2007) Bad luck, or Birth Pains? So the question is, do you see the signs, or are you to busy with the cares and concerns of the day. Over the last couple of years, inspired men have heard the whisperings of the spirit telling them that we need to prepare. Sadly, few are taking this very seriously. The question is, should we take this preparedness thing seriously, or should we just continue as we have been, just kind of taking life as it comes along. It is my prayer that we prepare in faith.

Oh happy day!

Too many words.

1 + 1 = 2 Time to go fishing

Life is just peaches and cream. Yep, Yep

More of a happy day!!! I guess my post was not warm and fuzzy.

Oh happy day!!!

Acorn, Acorn, Acorn, Acorn....

Coronel Sanders went to the Pope many years ago just before his death. He said, "Your Eminence, our Chicken sales are way down. McDonald's sales are going through the roof. Burger King is on the rise. Sir, Kentucky Fried Chicken will pay you $1,000,000 if you will change the wording in the Lord's prayer from give us this day our daily bread to give us this day our daily Chicken." Very quickly the Pope came back, "Oh, I am sorry my son, but I cannot change the wording of Holy Rit. I can not." I understand responded Coronel Sanders. And then he went back to his corporate headquarters. 6 months came and went and Coronel Sanders went back to see the Pope. Again he said, "Your Eminence, KFC will pay the Catholic Church $5,000,000 if you will just change the wording in the Lord's prayer from "give us this day our daily bread to give us this day our daily chicken." And again the Pope came back, "I am sorry, my son, again, my hands are tied. I cannot change the wording of my Lord and Savor." I understand responded C.S. Over the next year as KFC numbers began to plumit, again Coronel Sanders came back to the Pope one last time. He humbly knelt before the Pontif and began, "Sir, please, please help us. We will give the Catholic Church a $100,000,000 if you will just do the simple change of the wording in the Lord's pray from "give us this day our daily bread to give us this day our daily chicken." The Pope thought about it for a minute and then said, "well, I guess it all comes down to interruption. We'll do it." The next day the Pope went to the meeting with all the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. He said, "Brethren, I have good new and bad new. The good news is that KFC has just donated $100,000,000 dollars to the Catholic Church. The bad news is, we just lost our Wonder Bread account."

Just too many words

When my number 2 son was 5 he lost a tooth. He put it under his pillow hoping for great revenue. Dad left the tooth fairy business up to his wife as he didn't know that his son lost as tooth as he got home at 11:00 P.M. Mom forgot all about the tooth until our 5 year old came in crying the next morning. He lamented, "Oh, the tooth fairy doesn't love me. She didn't leave me any money." To which my wife, quickly grabbed some money and as she pretended to check in the pillow case pulled out a couple of dollars that made my son very happy. Now he knew that the tooth fairy loved him. Later on that day, my son came up to my wife and asked, "Mom, can I put my tooth under my pillow again tonight?" My wife smiled and said, "I'm sorry Chris, but you can't collect twice on the same tooth." To which my son responded, "No not so I can get more money, but so the tooth fairt won't get in trouble for not turning in a tooth." To bad they have to grow up. He is not 18 and not so warm and fuzzy.

It is sad that the problem has gotten so large.

vote, vote, vote

Vote, vote, vote

I'm not sure I know the answer for sure. I had to look up what gestational diabetes was. I am a diabetic and as a result have done a great deal of study on the subject. The one thing that I have learned is that when there is a lot of insulin in our blood streams, as a result of eating a lot carbs then all that insulin promotes the the body to store fat and to not use it because it wants to get rid of all the glucose, sugar, and insulin in your blood stream before it starts chipping away again at the fat cells. However, if you are controlling your glucose and sugar to well, then it won't be required to make as much insulin. In the absence of insulin, your body produces the hormone glucion??? (not quite sure about spelling) that melts away the fat cells by the bucket full. (From the book Protien Power) This hormone is what made the Atkins diet so successful. With only trace amounts of insulin and carbs in your system, your body produces large amounts of this amazing hormone. It kind of sounds like this is what is happening in your body. You are controlling your snacking, insulin and sugars too well. When a person primarally has the hormon glucon in their system instead of insulin, then you could end up losing 1 to 2 pounds per day. This is my best guess. I am a custodian and store manager by trade but I enjoy reading a lot, so this is where I get my knowledge. On the other hand, my teenagers don't think I have a clue. But maybe this might give you insight into where you are.

For me, it's a scriptural thing. Israel was told that "cursed be every one that cureth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee." Gen 27:29 I kind of like the sound of that, and I think that America can use all the blessing that we can get. Aside from that, it was prophesied over 2,500 years ago that Israel would be returned to their ancient possession and as a result, they would be blessed tremendously. They have been put in the midst of "residue of the heathen" (Ez 36:3) where they are swallowed up on ever side. They are now in what is called the calm before the storm. Bottom line, if it were not for the protection of America, Israel would have been snuffed out by now, and the plan of God would have been frusterated. Or maybe put another way, the Almighty used America to fulfill his divine plan.

In the year 1446 B.C. Moses led a couple of Million Children of Israel through the Sinai desert to the promise land. It was meant to only take a few months but actually ended up taking 40 years. I think that there were many in that day that thought that they were the perfect cult. The man Moses then went up onto the Mountain and hung out for 40 days trying to figure out how to carve up stone tablets. All this so that he could institute a bunch of rules to keep the Children of Israel in bondage. These rules were very controlling. It made the people feel guilty if they fornicated, and didn't pay their tithing. They were made to feel guilty if they didn't offer sacrifice or if they lied, or even if they happened to kill someone. Now Moses, the leader of this obvious cult would always bear his testimony to his followers, however, some could see right through Moses over zealous testimony bearing. And the other nations noticed that the Children of Israel were a Peculiar people, something about when they were obedient, they were blessed while when they chose rebellion, they were cursed. Boy what a cult! Numbers 16 tells of Korah, Dathan, Abiram and 250 leaders that this man Moses wasn't the only way, and that they had the power to. Sadly, in the days before the word of Wisdom, all these guys began smoking. Bottom line, we are called to be a peculiar people. One of the saying of the old testament is "if we obey, we will be God's people, and he will be our God. To the outside world were all you have to do is say a magical little prayer and you will be saved for life this might seem like a cult, however, this practice of following the guideline of the prophets have been going on for thousands of years. Why change now?

I firmly believe that if we look diligently, we will see the words of the Lord being fulfilled from the Old Testament and from the New. Many of these prophecies deal with us in this time. One such example is found in Daniel 12:4- But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end, many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. 3 trains of thought here, words shut up and sealed until the end of time... many shall run to and fro (16 hours to fly around the world) and knowledge shall be increased. (Over the last 6000 years, knowledge has increased at a snail's pace, however in the last 100 years, knowledge has increased a thousand fold.) But one of the most important works on prophecy that has been fulfilled in our day is found in Ezekiel. Ezekiel has four parts, Ezekiel's call to prophecy (1:1 - 3:27) God's judgement on Judah (4:1 - 24:27) God's judgement on the Gentiles (25:1 - 32:32) and then the Restoration of Israel (33:1 - 48:35) Not only does if give great detail about the nation Israel, but it also introduces World War III that will shortly come to pass. Let me give you examples found in scriptures and explain their fulfillment. Ezekiel 33:29 ... the land was most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed. 34:5 ... they were scattered because there is no shepherd These two scriptures were just review. Israel was removed twice because of the sins that they committed and because they had no leadership. Ezekiel 34:12-13, 16 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel... I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away... Isaiah put it another way in Isaiah 66:8 Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once. Such was the case with Israel, on May 12th, 1948. It was born again as a nation with the grand total of only 700,000 people to over 7 million. People are returning to Israel from all over the world... Russia... USA... Germany... and the UK just to name a few. The Palestinians and their hatred of the Children of Israel. Ez 35:5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force...Because thou hast said, these two nations and these two counties shall be mine, and we will possess it. Ez 36:2-3 Because the enemy hath said against you, aha, the ancient high places are ours in possession...because they have made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people. Ez 36:6 Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen... Right now Israel is swallowed up on every side with nations that want their destruction. Syria, Iran, Russia, and in the past Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and many from Saudi Arabia as well. Today the Jews are touted as coming from apes and pigs, and being less than human, ones worthy to be blown off the map. Stay with me, because war is coming... Ez 36:8-14 But ye, mountains of Israel... I am for you, ye shall be tilled and sown, I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded, and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and bring fruit, and I sill settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginning... Yeam U will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel, and they shall possess thee, ...and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men.... Because they say unto you, thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations, therefore, thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more saith the Lord. Knowledge about Israel that the Lord is taking about. Over the last 2,000 years, Jerusalem has been conquered 17 times by 17 different nations. The Lord is saying that that will never happen again, I will never bereave my people again. And as far as making Israel better than you were in the beginning, which in Solomon's day they were pretty rich, right now, Israel is the 12th richest nation in the world. More Israeli based companies are listed on NASDAQ than from any other country in the world. (Epicenter p 64) Ez 36:24, 28 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all counties and will bring you unto your own land... And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. Then comes Ez 38 - 39. The Battle of Gog and Magog. As Daniel said, all this will be sealed up until the very end. For two thousand years, this didn't make any sense, but now it does, that is if we do our research. Now I could go on for pages and pages explaining who Gog and Magog are, but just suffieth to say, it they were the son of Japeth, who was the son of Noah. The people of God and Magog were a very brutal people who settled in what is now know as Russia. Ezekiel 38:16 says that this will take place in the latter days. Ezekiel 38:15 the Gog and Magog will come out of the North parts. Other translations say the far north. Either way that is Russia. Ezekiel 38:14 that they will fall upon Israel who is dwellething in safety, that they will go against unwalled villages, who are at rest, and dwelling without walls (11) to carry out an evil plot. And who will come out against Israel. Gog and Magog- Russia Persia - Iran (Persia was the official name until it was changed in 1939) Ethiopia - Syria Libya - Same Turkey, Sudan. 10 nations in all to once and for all, wipe Israel off the map. If you are watching the news, you will know that Israel is hated in the region, and if it weren't for the United States, they would have been wiped out long ago. Bottom line, this massive army will defy the U.S. like they did in the Georgian invasion and move again Israel. But 80% of the entire army will be destroyed from fire from heaven (nuclear????) so that it will take 7 months to bury their dead. And then there will be a treaty signed that will last 7 years, at which time the Jews will build their 3rd temple Ez 40 - 48. I don't think that it will be a Mormon temple because they will have animal sacrifice, because the anti Christ will break the covenant after 3 1/2 years (Daniel 12, Rev) after which time, things are going to get very dicey fast for the next 3 1/2 years until Armageddon. That is if we are to believe prophecy. Books that give the more complete non readers digest version of Gog and Magog is Epicenter by Rosenberg, Prophecy 20/20, The Battle for Jerusalem as well as others. Or go to my other post in the Preparedness section on Iran and Russia, discerning the signs of the signs (27 pages) That will give you a more complete explanation of Old Testament prophecies.

Last September I went and did a magic show for 3 Kindergarten classes. When I was done, I asked, "Now I want you to raise your hand if you think I'm really magic." Some 70 kids all raised their hands. About a month ago I went and gave a talk to a group of Relief Society Sisters on the Magic of Weight Loss and I did the same tricks for them. When I was done, I got a round of applause, however, when I asked them how many thought I was truly magic, nobody raised their hands, instead they just laughed at my question. I tried to explain to everyone that there is no magic, it's just that I know how to do the illusions. The process with Weight Loss is the same, there is no magic to Weight Loss, it is just knowing how. The problem is, a lot of the information out their actually makes it harder for you to loose weight. In this Blog I would like to put forth some ideas that I have been teaching about weight loss that have fallen through the cracks. My goal is to put the information out there, what people do with it is up to them. 1- Muscle- All my life I have heard about burning calories and fat for energy. The problem was nobody connected the dots for me and told me that this burning process happens within the muscles. Fat doesn't burn fat. Its these muscles that we develop within our bodies that burns the fat. Now it is said that we burn about 50 calories per day for every pound of muscle that we have, but as I have dug a little deeper I found that it is more like 30 - 90 calories per day for every pound of muscle that we have. It is around 30 calories if we are basically getting no aerobic exercise at all, while the upper end of it is if we are very athletic. But here's where it gets a little dicey. In my presentation I hold up 3 pieces of meat. One is a nice piece of lean steak, another with a lot of streaks of fat marbled throughout, and then I hold up some bacon that is 85% fat, With these 3 example we can learn from the old adage, Use it or loose it. When a calf is young, it runs around a lot, jumping and playing, and if it is butchered, then the muscle would be very lean with very little fat. As the cow gets older and cuts back on it's movement marbles of fat develop within it's muscle. The less the muscle is used, the more fat there is that develops within the muscle. The same is true with us. It is said that we start loosing about 1% of our muscle each year beginning at age 25, and if we live a sedentary lifestyle, we loose even more. And at 40 we can loose up to 2% on average. But again, for those coach potatoes or office people that get no exercise, their muscle is just marbling away. What this means is that by age 40, we are seeing a lot of people getting those pot bellies. This is due to the fact by this time, many people have lost 20% - 30% of the muscle that they had gained from their youth. They also gain weight because we tend to become insulin resistant, and so it takes more insulin in our blood stream to burn the glucose that is moving through our veins. And as you might know, insulin not only lets the sugar into the cells to be burned, but it is also the fat storage promoting hormone. But the good news is that we can change that. If we use our muscles, and challenge them, instead of loosing them, we can actually make them grow. Remember, the more muscles we have, the more calories and fat burning potential we have. Our house is the neighborhood hangout, and all the teenagers in the area not only always come to our house but they spend all their time here and even eat all their meals here and as a result. That means that when we go shopping each week, we can spend up to $250.00 to feed the neighborhood kids because instead of feeding just 3 children, we are feeding 15 teenagers. The same is true with muscles, if a person just walks and builds up their leg muscles, then those will be the primary muscles doing the burning of fat and calories while the rest will be marbling away, however, if we challenge a large group of muscles, then they will all become primary fighters in your quest for weight loss. Now men have 10 times more testosterone than women and that is why we can bulk up, so ladies, if you are worried about bulking up, don't. It is only those ladies that spend 4 to 6 hours a day in the gym that really become body builders. But building muscles is the easiest way of loosing weight. Maybe another way to put it, because of the high price of gas I have a little motor cycle that gets around 70 miles to the gallon. That means I can drive it to work all week long for about $15.00 per week. My wife has a little Kia that gets about 35 miles to the gallon. I also have a Chevy S-10 that gets about 18 miles to the gallon. If I drive that to work instead of my motor cycle, it costs me about $150 per week. And then we have an old Ford one ton truck that gets about 8 miles to the gallon that we only use around that park. I have learned by these that the smaller and less powerful the engine, the less gas is used to get them to run, while the bigger the engine, the more the they burn through large quantities of gas. The same is true with the body. As we develop muscle all over our body, it chips away at our fat cells, all over our body. And just like with the engine, the larger our muscles, the more calories it takes to just keep them idling let alone pushing them on to bigger and better things. The sad thing is that my beloved bride had gastric bypass surgery which resulted in her loosing a good 140 pounds. And she really is a lot thinner, however, of that 140 pounds, 27 lbs of it was muscle. That means that now her body doesn't burn as many calories as it used to. The same is true if we go on a supper calorie restricted diet, if we require 2000 calories per day, but we only eat 1000, we will burn 1000 calories of both fat and muscles to make up the difference, and as a result our metabolism will begin to shut down because it will think that there is a famine in the land. Many have gone on fad diets and have cut way back on calories and have lost a good 15 lbs., for which they are truly happy, however, of that 15 lbs, 3 lbs of it was muscle. What that means is from from that point forward, they have to eat 150 less calories per day to maintain the same weight, or gain more muscle back. And the truth is, you are never to old to develop muscle. There is a member in our gym that is 86 years old. And she walks around with a walker and is thin and fit. Her husband waits for her in the car reading the paper. I would say that he weights about 250 lbs. Actively building muscle is the best way to lose weight. But you have to really challenge your muscles, for if you just lift a 6 oz soup can 400 times your not going to do anything. But if you can only lift something between 8 -12 times, that is where the muscle growth begins. Challenge your muscles and see the pounds melt away. If you can't lift it up to 8 times it is too heavy. If you can lift it more that 12 times it is too light. Pilate's is a great method for keeping the muscles from marbling away. It might not build big muscles, however, it is enough to keep you from loosing what you have. The same is true with our Spiritual Health. Some have found that they are Spiritually lethargic due to their Spiritual muscles marbling away. For some, as they pull out their weekly day planners, out of 168 hours a week, they can give the Lord 3 hour a week. But there is no spiritual growth there. It is by daily feasting upon the Word of God, and daily prayer and thought about God that we move closer to God. The next truth that slips through the cracks is knowing what your body wants to burn. Your body prefers to burn glucose, that is carbs that the body has turned into sugar. Some carbs the body takes a long time to turn into glucose like complex carbohydrates, while other carbs are just simple sugars like candy and soda that is turned very quickly. And then we have fat, fat is the endurance fuel. If we do something and do it for some time, our body will switch from burning glucose to burning fat. Once I went to a weight lose program with my wife, and while I was sitting there, the ladies behind me began making plans. They said, after the meeting, we will all go for a one hour walk, and then afterwards, we can go to Baskin and Robins and get some ice cream. I debated long and hard on whether I should say anything or not, and finally I caved. I turned around and apologized for butting in, but I explained that if they go out and exercise for that one hour, that would be very good, and after 20 minutes of aerobic exercise, their bodies will switch from burning glucose to burning fat. But then I went on, that if they would go and eat some ice cream, the minute that sugar would hit their blood stream, their bodies would switch back from burning fat to burning glucose and their fat burning session would be over. However, if they would exercise for one hour and then drink water, watch T.V., read a book...... for another two or three hours before eating, the entire time they are doing that, the body will be chipping away at their fat cells for energy. Why? Because your inners is like a cave with no information coming in. And your brain will not burn fat or protein. Your brain will only work on glucose. What this means is that when your body has just been charged up by eating and is running on 100% glucose, it will only burn glucose. However, if you go out for a good long walk, or mow the lawn or go shopping for the day, or play tennis or any kind of activity, your body will start burning that glucose. And after you have burned up to 50% of your storage with no more glucose coming in, then your body will say, oh no, we are running out of glucose, and our primary organs and brain can't run on fat or protein, we had better run off of fat cells for our primary energy and save the glucose for running our brain and organs UNTIL MORE GLUCOSE IS EATEN AND HITS THE BLOOD CELLS. The problem is, if we are always buying treats while we shop, or snack as we exercise, then we are refilling our glucose cells, and so no fat burning takes place. As amazing as it might seem, we can even loose fat when we sleep. If we eat dinner at 5:00 P.M. and go for a nice moonlight stroll with our husbands or wives, then we can chisel away at our glucose cells. That means that at 1 or 2 in the morning when our bodies have reached that 50% mark, it will start burning fat. Yes even when we are asleep. That is as long as we don't have a large bowl of ice cream right before we go to bed and refill our glucose cells. Another added bonous to this is if we exersise in the morning after we are already in the fat burning mode. That is as long as you haven't eated anything. Drink plenty of water though. See this stuff isn't really magic, but it does work. I have sat through many hours of weight lose meeting, and really the only thing they teach is controlling eating and portion controls, and that's only 20% of the battle. I hope that shedding light on this can help someone in some way.

The rainbow was first given as a covenant sign to Noah that the world would never be destroyed by flood again. A rainbow is made because healthy water is like a prism when it is magnified. This is why we have rainbow. That is not to say that there isn't junk in our water. When the water STOPS making rainbows, that when we need to be concerned.

My second companion on my mission had the same last name as I did. As a result our name tags looked the same. People thought that we were a cult and that everyone in the Mormon church had the name Elder Hethathathears. Another thing that was done on my mission that I would like to mention was that one of the Elders in my Zone was having a birthday, and so we went out to get him a card and maybe a few small gifts as he was really trunky. I was in charge of getting him a card and so I got him a Birthday card for my sister that had a really beautiful poem on it and every place where it had the word sister on it I crossed it out and wrote the word Elder. It was done in good taste and was really funny.

Flowers is something that I never really understood. I felt that if I brought my wife flowers 12 - 24 times a year that she would think, oh, flowers again, can't he be a little bit original, he doesn't have any imagination, but that isn't how my wife responds. With each bouquet of flowers that I bring, it is a reconfirmation of my love for her, and how special she is to me. But the other stuff has to be there as well. I heard a story of a man who went to the florist and paid for the florist to bring his wife flowers every Monday for an entire year while he went around and did his thing, and paid very little attention to his wife. After a while the wife realized what her husband had done and learned to hate the Monday flower visit because there was no love behind the gift. Guys romance you wives. And wives in return, guys need that aerobic activity that men need. My wife and I were traveling out shopping one day and we were listening to Focus on the Family and they were talking about being intimate between husband and wives and it was reported that when that happens a hormone is released in a man that makes him bond to or develop of closer relationship with his wife. I wish I could remember the name of that hormone or the exact term used, but as we enjoy the husband and wife wrestling match, we cling to our wives.

Sorry, I meant to put this under General Discussion When my 2nd born was fourteen years old, and he wanted to earn collection Merit Badge in Boy Scouts. We let him collect pocket knifes as his project. After about a year, he earned the badge by collecting 32 different knifes. Some of them were pretty cheap, however, some were very, very nice. What made me sad however, as time passed he basically lost interest in his collection and I found them strung all over the property, including in the mud. Over time the majority of his collection became lost or ruined. I also had the opportunity to manage a store in an area that was very hard to hire people in. It was really hard to find good help as the town was pretty small (3,500) with a lot of Gas Stations and Fast Food restraints. I noticed that a lot of the people who would come to apply for a job would always tell me what amazing workers they were, and they would even promise me that if I would hire them, I wouldn't be sorry. The sad thing was that in the beginning, many of them did a pretty good job, but as time went by their desire for good quality work began waining off until if would have to fire them. Of course before that happened I would seriously try to work with them, however, they would respond for a week or two but in time would just fall back into the habit of falling below the standards. The same is even true for some in their Christian life. Many when they are first converted develop a good habit of reading the scriptures, prayer, and fasting, and even service and home teaching or visiting teaching. But sadly over time they lose their passion and settle just for going to Church three hours and week and leaving it at that. I sight these example because I have found that a lot of guys are guilty for having this kind of commitment in their marriages. I know that when I met my wife to be, I romanced her to death. I bought her flowers, gave her candy took her on long midnight walks. Wrote her poetry, played the piano and sang (that brought tears to her eyes, either very romantic or bad singing) to her, and basically flooded her with romance in such a way that I was telling her that she was the most important person to me in the hole world. And she just melted because of my wonderful charm and charisma. About 6 months later, we were married, and after about another 6 month in the honeymoon period I let my guard down and had forgotten about how badly my wife hungered for romance. I knew that when she signed on the dotted line, she was mine and so I didn't really need to do all that flowers and candy and date nights and stuff. Almost oblivious to me, I watched my wonderful sparkled eyed wife withdraw over the years because she was being starved of what she needed most, Romance in her life. Fortunately, one night, many years ago, we had a nice long talk and she pointed out where I had dropped the ball. I had never wanted to hurt my wife. I somehow felt that just me coming home at night should have been enough to keep her madly and passionately in love with me. I somehow thought that as we watched T.V. together we were actually spending quality time together and developing strong bonds. We have now been married for 23 years. I have learned that when I treat her like the most important person to me in the world, that she can leap tall building in a single bound, do amazing things around the home and be the most responsive wife to me in the world. I have learned that if I bring her flowers regularly for no reason, just because I love her, that I can make her cry. Now in the beginning it used to creep me out, but those are tears of joy. Tears that she knows that she is loved. Once a week I will cook Dinner for my beloved wife and I will even serve it to her. This is all romance, and she is hungry for romance. My wife walks with a lot of the sisters in the ward and they are all frusterated with their T.V. watching, comically unromantic husbands. And so my wife comes and tells me about them and asks me if I could somehow mention it to the men in the ward. So one night I gave a fireside for the adults in the ward. It was pretty funny, all the sisters in the group were all smiling and nodding their heads, their eyes just beeming, while the brethren were all holding their heads and spacing out, however, some of the men responded, while others just blew it off. Bottom line, Women are hungry for romance.

I would recommend going to a Family Life Marriage conference. They are offered all over the country at different times and cost about $300.00 dollars for 2 people with a money back guarantee. They are usually held in nice hotels or resorts that cost extra. There have been a lot of doomed marriages that have gone there and were revived through the experience. You are given work books and two sets of excellent motivational speakers that speak on a host of topics such as communication, forgiveness in marriage, and even romance. We also tend to bond with others couples through the experience. It starts on Friday night, all of Saturday, and then ends on Sunday. I think there is a web site with various testimonials. I took my wife there about a year ago, not so much that our marriage was on the rocks, but because I truly love my wife after 23 years and have decided to keep her. No seriously, we went as a romantic experience and found that it strengthened our marriage. We met a lot of great people and look forward to going back again. A good marriage is worth fighting for. Divorce is the easy way, however, it majorly effects the kids and in the end destroys lives.

About 10 years ago I was a manager for a grocery store type convenience store change. It was a really amazing opportunity where those who aren't afraid to work could really clean up and make a lot of money. I had worked my way up to the number one store in the entire company out of 120 stores. I don't think it was so much me that earned the position as it was the Lord blessing me for my righteous choices that I had made in the past. As the time went by I really began making amazing commission checks, and I always desired to make more. I began working 60 and 70 hour weeks, all in the name of making more money. When Sunday came, I would go in and do the paper work and transmit the information, but I would try not to do anything else. However, putting in that many hours, I felt justified to stay at home and watch T.V. instead of accompany my family to Church. Family Home Even fell by the way side as well as family prayer and even scripture study. My children at that time were Joshua age 12, Christopher age 10, and Sarah age 9. I thought that my family should have been externally grateful for the sacrifice that I was doing for them earning over a 100,000 dollars a year. With that kind of money we had all the coolest toys. Then I noticed that things began to change around the house, there began to be problems, fights and disharmony. Things began to unravel. Surely it couldn't have been me. Then one night I had a dream that totally changed my life. I saw in my dream that everything was bright white. I also noticed that the floors where amazingly shiny and bright. The next thing I noticed was three people walking towards me, dressed in brillant white temple close. When they arrived I noticed that it was my kids, but instead of being young and small, they were all the same size and age as I was. They were beaming with excitement and joy. Sarah burst out, Jim we have all drawn the assignment to come down to be raised by you in our earthly probation. I sensed that we had a very close relationship in the Pre-Earth Life and that they were very excited about coming down to be mentored by me because they knew I would be faithful and diligent in my raising them unto the Lord. Each one expressed there approvel that I had been chosen to be their father upon the earth. Then my daughter said those faithful words, "And please, please make our home a gospel centered home." I woke up after that as I pondered that dream. My stomic was in knots as I reflexed upon my track record as a father concerning things that matter most. Up until that time I had lost track of my mission on earth. Even more, I began to realize that in the Pre-Earth Life they were not my children, they were my Brothers and Sisters, and an Almighty God gave me a stewardship to raise and mentor them as my children to be mighty in faith, and I got so caught up with the Earth experience that I had forgotten my promise. Every since that time I have always strived to remember to make my home a gospel centered home. I realize that I am the captain of my crew, and if I am weak in faith, more than likely my family will follow suit. However, if my faith and relationship with my Savior is what matters most in my life, then that will rub off on my family. I learned that testimony and values are not taught, they are caught.