The Seraph Seal by Leonard Sweet and Lori Wagner

A tale of good and evil based on the four horsemen of the Apocalypse found in the book of Revelation.
Using the four horsemen of the Apocalypse to symbolize the four Gospels, four transcendentals, and four forces of the universe (air, water, earth, and fire), Sweet and Wagner weave a fast-paced, end-times tale of good vs. evil and the promise of a new dawn for humanity.
Set in 2048, when planet Earth is suffering from the damaging effects of years of misuse and abuse, cultural history professor Paul Binder receives a mysterious letter that leads him to examine a lost 2nd-century Diatessaron manuscript. Ancient prophecies, cryptic letters, and strange events set him on a course to uncover the missing clues that could lead humanity into a new age. Each character embodies elements of the four horsemen in a race to save the world from total destruction. Layered with forgotten symbolism from the ancient Jewish and Christian traditions, the book is a story in which the main character's journal serves as a guide to the reader in interpreting clues and understanding the  conclusion.

As I started to read this book I felt unsettled in my spirit and several scriptures kept popping into my mind. 
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom." Isaiah 40:28   
"then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it." Ecclesiastes 8:17  
"For who knows a person's thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." 1 Corinthians 2:11   
"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Matthew 24:36 
"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Mark 13:32
So, with those scriptures in mind I plugged through the book telling myself, "It is only fiction." Even though I felt that the author wanted us to believe that the end can be calculated and figured out through smart minds and coincidences. And that a human will bring about the 4 horsemen, also human, and not the Son of God. 
As a book of fiction it was an interesting story, although a bit confusing at times. It reminded me of the movies; The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons based on the books written by Dan Brown. I didn't read the books. I was hoping for something more like The Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.
One final thought and scripture, I believe with my whole heart that the Word of God is inspired and from God. It is whole and complete as it is. I do not believe that God would let parts of it go missing only to be found and added later. He is not careless. He would make sure that everything that He wanted passed down from generation to generation would be there from the beginning to the end. So to assume that, would be ridiculous. The author, through fiction, adds to John of Patmos' scroll. He also adds an extra chapter to Psalms. It makes for interesting fiction, but I sure hope that he does not intend for us to believe that there could be more out there.
Revelations 22:18-19 " I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll." 
I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

my friend makes cards.....

Check out  http://marandaleecollection.weebly.com/index.html.

  This is a good friend of mine and she takes cool pics and makes them into pretty cards. She is just starting out and a % of her proceeds will go to charity. Good charities.

shampoo

Since April 9th I kept trying the baking soda wash and apple cider vinegar rinse. I tried different concentrations trying to get the waxiness out of my hair. I failed. Most of my hair felt clean and looked clean but next to my scalp it still felt waxy. Moving on to try something new.
I wanted to get something that is low on the toxic scale according to the Environmental Working Group. Check them out on cosmeticsdatabase.org.  Trying to stick with something on the 0 to 4 scale it seems limited. I can't find many of the products excepts online and most of them cost $6 or more. I will not justify spending that much on shampoo. So I am trying Garnier Fructis Pure Clean. They claim to be silicone free, sulfate free, and paraben free.
So what are these bad things you ask?  Long story short....silicones coat your hair to make it slippery, basically a lubricant that keeps out moisture but it doesn't keep any in either. Sulfates are harsh detergents that "clean" your hair of dirt and oils, including your hairs own natural oil and moisture so it dries out the hair too. Parabens are preservatives. They have salts(drying) and contain esters which many people thing add estrogen to the body and cause breast cancer. No link has been found but why take the chance, right?
It is not on the EWG website yet so I am not sure of it's "toxicity" but I am using it anyway. First impressions: love the smell, lid is a pain to open, and is cheap(less than $4 a bottle). So far I like it. My hair feels really clean even when I go to wash it the next day.
A little thing about my hair..it is oily(old age stinks) and the more I washed it with the other shampoos the oilier it seemed to get hence my "no poo" trial. I have to wash it everyday regardless of what I use. It is not as oily as it was prior to the "no poo" method and seems even less so with the Garnier Fructis Pure Clean.
When I say it feels clean even when I wash it the next day you probably thought then why are you washing it? Well I can chalk it up to paranoia. I am afraid that if I don't wash it then when I go somewhere that day I will look in a mirror and think oh no it's greasy. I will try to skip days but probably not until the fall or winter when I won't be sweating as much. Yes I am a lady and I sweat....buckets.
Also when I say it feels clean it's not a slippery slick feeling. It the feeling of a freshly washed plate under running water. It squeaks. Nice and clean. I do use the Pure Clean conditioner too but just a dime size on the ends. It doesn't make it feel slickery (I like that nonexistent word ) but soft and clean. Yes squeaky clean.
One other thing....I have been using this for about 3 weeks now and it hasn't gotten "old". You know how when you try a new poo it makes your hair pretty and silky and cooperative for the first 3 to 7 days and then blah. Well this has remained consistently the same the whole time. Another plus.
Well that's it for now. My next goal is to try a new recipe for lotions and lip balms. Oh and I made my self a mother's ring this morning in 15 minutes. And I didn't have to spend $60 or more for it. Check it out. TTFN (ta ta for now). How much did I spend? Maybe $5.
Ok for some reason the pic is not loading. i will try later today.

more pics....

pic with chain as per request:)

goldstone and smokey quartz

ok..lighting in my house stinks, i see now the main stone is purplish and not pale blue, so the sides don't match it.

another pic of the goldstone...trying to get the color and sparkle to show

Recent creations..

first try at wrapping a large stone

cute as a "button"(literally)

favorite 1

favorite2

I love that God has given me the talent to do this kind of stuff. I enjoy it so much.

making jewelry

I made 11 rings total so far and a few more other pieces. I will post pics later. But I am not the only one with a talent for making jewelry. Check out my sister's blogger site........
http://nearmisc.theclaybox.com/?p=786

3 more rings.....

Megan was fascinated with my rings, she is trying to get me to give them all to her.  :)
I recruited her help with the photos.

Making jewelry...

I am tickled pink. I just made my first wire wrapped ring. The yellow swarovski beads are a little pale, but still pretty and sparkly, even if I do say so myself.  :)  The images are a little blurry. It's hard to use my left hand to hold the camera and take a picture. I definitely will be making more. This was so much fun.

Live Loved by Max Lucado

I just finished reading this devotional book by Max Lucado. It is called Live Loved and it has 145 devotionals on experiencing the presence of God. In this book you get a daily reminder of God's love. These devotionals are little clips from the many books Max wrote. They include scriptures for you to dwell on throughout the day and a little prayer.

This book is small and would make a wonderful gift. It's also one that could be read over and over again. There is a few pages in the back of the book for you to put your own personal notes and thoughts. There is even a built in bookmark so that you won't lose your page. Which I do often, because my 3 year old loves to take my bookmarks out and replace them in another page.

There are 5 sections that the book is divided into. They are Loved with a .....Steadfast Love, Perfect Love,  Wise Love,  Merciful Love, and Loved to Love Others. I had so many favorites that I would not be able to list them all. But each is relevant to an area that I struggle in. I am sure that everyone would find a few that will touch their heart. It's all about learning and knowing that God is crazy for us and wants us to live as if we are loved by the greatest love in the world, because we are.

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness."    Lamentations 3:22-23

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Love at Last Sight by Kerry and Chris Shook

I just finished reading Love at Last Sight by Kerry and Chris Shook. It's about improving your relationships. It is meant to be read over 30 days, but I breezed through it for the sake of doing the review.
In this book the authors show us how everything we know about how relationships should work is wrong. We are taught by the world, and movies, and books, that everything is  based on initial attractions, and that if things fall apart, they aren't meant to be. The authors show us that in order to have the deep relationships we all long for, we have to work at it. It is not about changing the other person, but ourselves with God's help. It's about improving not only marriages, but familial relationships and close friendships.
They walk you through 30 days of being present in the moment, of acting intentionally, risking awareness, and learning to let go. You learn how to see the other person for who they are and to accept them and the changes we all go through. As we change, which we all do, we need to accept that the dynamics of a relationship will change too.
I initially got this to work on my marriage. Let's face it, most of us who are married wish that things were as they first were when we married the other person. With this book, I learned that as we change and events happen to us that the relationship will change too. Sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. It is up to us to make the change, either improve the relationship or chip away at it destructively.
I would definitely recommend this book to others. I think it would be a great book for pastors and churches to have to help those who are struggling in their relationships. As an added bonus, the authors have a web site you can log onto for advise or to just talk things out.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review”.

sick again...........

So, not much has been going on the last couple of weeks. I am reading two books to be reviewed when I am done. Those will be posted later. Megan is sick again. The third time for antibiotics in as many months. This time I also have to put eye drops in her infected eye. Which is real fun. No amount of bribes, threats or coercions work. If the neighbor's hear us screaming...well, no one has called children and youth services so far.
How do you convince a hard headed child that it would be quicker and done and over with if she didn't fight it? Her dad and I had to pin her down and pry open her eye and practically shove the eye dropper in between the eyelids just to get a drop in. And we have to do this every 4 hours? Not to mention I'll be on my own when he is at work. Good Grief!
I have been babysitting a little girl during the week so her mom can earn extra money to pay her bills. I can understand what that's like. She is on her own in this so I want to help her as much as I can. But when Meg is sick I worry that the little girl will get sick and pass it to her brother who goes to school with Meg. In all likelihood he already has whatever sickness anyway since it seems to be bred there.
I have been thinking about selling my beaded jewelry and will try to find time to check out the appropriate sites. To see if it's worth doing. I have also been thinking about making homemade detergent this month. My friend from "Near Miscellany" does and said it's very economical and not heavily scented with perfumes and chemicals. She suggested making my own soap too but after looking at a few sites I think that may be a little ambitious. You have to use lye and be VERY careful. Who knows I may get brave later this summer.
Well my child is moaning for me to come and attend to her so I must go. Ta Ta For Now.