are you paying attention?

Here's a one-question IQ Test to help you decide how you should spend the rest of your day......


There is a mute who wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing one's teeth, he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done.


Now, if there is a blind man who wishes to buy apair of sunglasses to hide his eyes, how should he express himself?


*Think about it first before scrolling down for the answer...*











He opens his mouth and says, 'I would like to buy a pair of Sunglasses.' If you got this wrong, please turn off your computer and call it a day.

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Intelligence Test Instructions: Write each of your answers down, it makes a difference! You will be allowed 10 minutes to complete the test. Write your answers in the spaces provided. Are you ready? What is the time?

Start.

1) Some months have 30 days,some months have 31 days. How many months have 28 days? ____________________

2) If a doctor gives you 3 pills and tells you to take one pill every half hour, how long would it be before all the pills had been taken? ____________________

3) I went to bed at eight o'clock in the evening and wound up my clock and set the alarm to sound at nine o'clock in the morning. How many hours sleep would I get before being awoken by the alarm? ____________________

4) Divide 30 by half and add ten. What do you get?____________________

5) A farmer had 17 sheep. All but 9 died. How many live sheep were left? ___________________

6) If you had only one match and entered a COLD and DARK room, where there was an oil heater, an oil lamp and a candle, which would you light first? ____________________

7) A man builds a house with four sides of rectangular construction, each side having a southern exposure. A big bear comes along. What color is the bear? ____________________

8) Take 2 apples from 3 apples. What do you have? ___________________

9) How many animals of each species did Moses take with him in the Ark? ____________________

10) If you drove a bus with 43 people on board from Chicago and stopped at Pittsburg to pick up 7 more people and drop off 5 passengers and at Cleveland to drop off 8 passengers and pick up 4 more and eventually arrive at Philadelphia 20 hours later, what's the name of the driver? ____________________



Answers:
1) All of them. Every month has at least 28 days.
2) 1 hour. If you take a pill at 1 o'clock, then another at 1.30 and the last at 2 o'clock, they will be taken in 1 hour.
3) 1 hour. It is a wind up alarm clock which cannot discriminate between a.m. and p.m.
4) 70. Dividing by half is the same as multiplying by 2.
5) 9 live sheep.
6) The match.
7) White. If all walls face south, the house must be on the North Pole.
8) 2 apples. I HAVE 3 APPLES, YOU TAKE 2, WHAT DO YOU HAVE?
9) None. It was Noah, not Moses.
10) YOU are the driver.

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First Question:
You are participating in a race. You overtake the second person. What position are you in?
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Answer:
If you answered that you are first, then you are
absolutely wrong! If you overtake the second person, you take his place, so you are second!
Now answer the second question,
But don’t take as much time as you took for the first one, OK ?

Second Question:
If you overtake the last person, then you are…?
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Answer:
If you answered that you are second to last, then you are wrong again.
Tell me, how can you overtake the LAST Person?
You’re not very good at this, are you?

Third Question:
Very tricky arithmetic! Note: This must be done in your head only. No pen, paper or calculator allowed. Try it.
Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. Now add 10 . What is the total?
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Did you get 5000 ?
The correct answer is actually 4100. If you don’t believe it, check it with a calculator! Today is definitely not your day, is it?
Maybe you’ll get the last question right….…Maybe.

Fourth Question:
Mary’s father has five daughters:
1. Nana
2. Nene
3. Nini
4. Nono.
What is the name of the fifth daughter?
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Did you Answer Nunu?
NO! Of course it isn’t. Her name is Mary. Read the question again!

Happy Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MOMMY,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

I LOVE YOU!!!

God's coming down....

I took this picture a few days ago, while me and my kids were swimming. We were just loving the beautiful clouds and Abbie says, "It looks like God is coming down to swim with us."

Well, all I can say is that God is more than welcome to swim with us and thanks be to Him for the lovely sun rays.

Prayer for Gracie

I got this email from my friend, Sherry Lawson.

Hey guys I wanted to send this email out to you and ask if you do not already have Gracie on your prayer list that you add her. She is in some serious need of extra prayers in the week ahead. Her mommy is wearing down after the last 5 months it has been hard on her parents & grandparents & without the comfort & refuge in our Heavenly Father, I am sure they would not have made it. Gracie's story is truly amazing, that's where she gets her name "Amazing Gracie".

God has brought her through so much & those who have been following this journal has seen the many miraculous things He has done, yet there is a long road ahead & right now seems bleak. The doc's are giving her mommy grim hope yet Amanda still has that undying faith & trust in her Father & knows He can pull her through. Be a part of that "POWER of PRAYER" pray diligently for her.

If you do not know her, Amanda's dad (Jim Brown) used to be our pastor at Grace Baptist, then prior to going to Winston Salem, he was at Madison. They are a wonderful family, I admit I have cried many tears reading the journal entries but it has also been an inspiration & blessing to me to see the strength & faith they have, God has a plan & purpose here and lil Gracie has already touched so many lives.

Please check out her journal at http://caringbridge.org/visit/graciejeanlockyer.

Also tell everyone you know to pray for this baby so that her parents & little brother Haddon can take her home one day soon.

Thanks- Sherry

Satan has struck again

So, we are 4 days away from Nick's 13th birthday party. It is always an event. We have squirt guns, hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, drinks, cake, ice cream, Slip-N-Slide, water balloons & a slime fight...for anyone who wants to be slimed. This year, we are doing that and going to add horse shoes, bad mitten/volleyball, 3 legged race, party horns, and spinning yourself dizzy with a bat....I don't know what you actually call it. Its when you hold the ball bat up right on the ground, bend over putting your head against the end and then walk around it several times until you are dizzy AND THEN racing your friends, that are also dizzy, past the finish line. I have seen it done before but this will be the first time for us.

Then, on Sunday I get the privilege of teaching Children's Bible Time at our church to the 6-8 year olds. I really love doing that. I love the kids, the planning, the crafts, the songs, everything.....and I get to do it for the whole month.

SATAN HAS STRUCK AGAIN......Eric is sick with a cold/flu something and has a fever that has gotten up to 102 degrees. He feels horrible. Nick and Abbie are both running low grade fevers but haven't gotten the full blown attack yet. Abbie is a little whiny but Nick actually missed football practice. There have been times I have thought that he would rather chew his own foot off than miss football....he must be getting it. I felt yucky earlier today but at the moment, feel fine. Thank you, Jesus.

It comes in times of great plans of great fun, when Satan stands so proudly in our home. "Knowing is half the battle" to quote the old G.I. Joe cartoon of my childhood. He will try anything to make us doubt. But I don't doubt, he will lose and I will win because I am on God's side.

My wonderful husband recently made me so proud to be his wife. I can not and will not go into details but the situation was a woman he knows very well told him that she was involved in a relationship with another woman. She is married to a nasty man and has every reason to leave him. When she told Eric this, he was amazed. He never thought that was who she was. He said that he thought about it for a little while and then took her into a private room and simply said, "Don't do this. Don't do this. When you are standing before God on Judgement Day, you know better than this. Don't do it." She started crying and finally told him the truth, that her husband had been abusing her for months and she would rather people think she was leaving him because of another relationship than that there was physical abuse.

How sad?!?! In this pitiful world we live in, it is better to be a lesbian than a battered wife. I personally think it has to do with pride. Letting others know that someone has that kind of power over you and, in this case, that you haven't left and have put up with it for so long.

Pray for her and her children.....that God gives her the strength to be who and what she is, exactly the way God made her.

And on a less serious note: Eric is now a Brown Belt in Karate! He belt tested on Monday. Again, he makes me proud.....and safe to be in a dark alley ;-)

Doubts?

Doubts about your purpose? Doubts about your reason here on earth? Doubts about God?

Just watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4

When you look at science and the Bible agreeing on something....it blows your mind.

Thanks, Jennifer, for finding and sharing this.

Recently....

Recently, some people that I know have died. This is very sad and I am so sorry for their families. Grief and loss are horrible emotions to survive. Sometimes it destroys families forever, when arguments and hurt feelings are pushed in the wrong direction. A very confusing time, to say the least.

For these people, I don't believe that is the case. Kay, Annette & Rick loved the Lord. They lived their lives for Him and with Him. You didn't have to ask or listen to them speak to know, you could see it everyday, by the way they lived and loved. A greater testament cannot be.

Their families will never be the same. Family reunions and holidays are changed forever.

But, take comfort. They are in HEAVEN rejoicing and singing praises! I can just see Annette and my Grandpa reliving old times together. They grew up together their entire lives, same school, same area, same church. I'm sure they are happy to see each other and have lots to talk about.

God IS good ALL the time!

Rick Richmond, 37

Richard "Rick" Otis Richmond, 37, of South Webster, died Monday, July 21, 2008, at the Southern Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth. He was born in Portsmouth on June 15, 1971, to Richard and Brenda Baker Richmond. Rick was a 1989 graduate of South Webster High School. He was an avid hunter and enjoyed the outdoors, where he liked riding motorcycles, ATVs, and horses. Rick also loved spending time with this family. He was a member of the New Boston Eagles Aerie 2271 and the Sunshine Church of Christ in Minford.

He is survived by his wife, Rushie Rakes Richmond, whom he married on May 22, 1993, in Scioto Furnace; his daughter, Rikki Lynn Richmond, at home; his parents, Richard and Brenda Baker Richmond of South Webster; grandparents, Howard and Garnet Hill of Wheelersburg; mother-in-law and father-in-law, Delmer and Thelma Rakes of Oak Hill; six uncles, Arnold Richmond, Tom Richmond, Larry Baker, Don Baker, Les Hill and Kirk Hill; eight aunts, Fern Duncan, Anna Holcomb, Rita Shumway, Barbara Dingus, Patty Chamberlin, Camie Holbrook, Beverly Stiles and Karen Miller; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

Kay E. Peach Coriell, 61

Kay E. Peach Coriell, 61, of Portsmouth, died Sunday, July 20, 2008, at Southern Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth. Born Nov. 3, 1946, in Portsmouth, a daughter of Stanley Peach of Portsmouth and the late Wanda Maddy Peach, she was a retired elementary school teacher from Minford Local Schools. She was a member of Sciotoville Christian Church and Shawnee Nature Club.

In addition to her father, she is survived by her husband, Steven Coriell, whom she married May 28, 1966; two sisters, Joan (Mike) Coriell and Polly (Bob) Warnock, both of Portsmouth; and many nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles.

Mary Annette Coriell, 90

Mary Annette Coriell, 90, of Minford, died Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at her residence. Born May 16, 1918, in Scioto County, Ohio, a daughter of the late Walter S. and Virginia Mansfield Coriell, she was an occupational therapist and had worked for the Receiving Hospital in Portsmouth for 15 years and VA Hospitals in Huntington, W.Va., and Lexington, Ky. She had worked in Home Health Care in Lawrence and Scioto Counties and taught school in Minford and South Webster School Districts. She was a graduate of Minford High School in the Class of 1935 and attended the former Alfred Holbrook College in Manchester, Ohio, and graduated from The Ohio State University in the Class of 1946. She was a member of Sunshine Church of Christ near Minford.

The "Triplets": Annette, Abbie & Scott Gampp.....all born on May 16th, varying years, of course.

Dad's voice

So, today I spent some time with a friend of mine and her daughter and a little while with my Dad in the pool. It started clouding up and so she and her daughter went on home and Abbie and I went home. As we walked home, we heard some distant thunder. Nothing much to worry about, I thought.

I started some laundry and started thinking about supper. Then, the rain started......then, the wind kicked in. "Wow," I said looking out the front window, "I don't ever remember seeing the trees bend that far in the wind."

I was walking to the phone to call Dad and tell him about how we were getting the storm that the news guy on the radio said we wouldn't get. (just to torment him, duh, he could see the storm coming as well as I could) The phone rang. The Caller ID said it was my parents, which kind-of creeped me out a little. It was my Mom and she said, "Your Dad is worried and you guys need to come up here."

***My father and I have an interesting relationship when it comes to weather happenings. I do NOT like storms! He is not fond of them but will stand out on his porch and watch them. I watch the weather channel and when I see something coming, I am the first one to move next door to Dad's house until it passes. #1-its a house with a basement #2-I live in a house trailer that I don't feel like is much protection in a storm situation.

Dad or Mom usually calls and says something like 'the weather is a little if-ie and if you want to come up, you know that you are more than welcome.'***

The tone of my Mom's voice speaking my Dad's message was enough to move me. I simply said, "Okay," and then grabbed a few things and we were on our way to safety. (I understand that a storm can bring down any structure but to me, their house is going to stand up longer than mine in storming conditions) While getting in the car, Eric pointed out to me the fallen tree about 30 feet from our house. That is my guess, it was too close to me.

My Dad and I fight....I mean, REALLY FIGHT sometimes. Most of the time we are fine and get along great. Regardless of which it is, I listen to him, I hear what he has to say about things and what his opinions are. I might not follow what he says BUT I HEAR HIM.

When I hear my Heavenly Father's voice or nudge, I move. No questions, no fears, no hesitations.

Comedy?

I LOVE to laugh! Ask anyone that knows me...I LOVE to laugh and make others laugh. Few things in this life are better to me than laughing about something with friends and family so hard that you cry. And then, hours later, a single word even remotely related to the subject, will make you start laughing again.



There are many comedians out there that have the same effect on us. Words and phrases get stuck in our heads and we laugh for days or weeks after.



For politeness and legality's sake I will not mention the name of the well known comedian that recently past away. For five decades the Grammy award-winning comedian, actor, and author has been making audiences laugh and think with his salty, provocative style of stand-up comedy. He is best known for his loud, negative thoughts about God and religion.



Here is a cleaner version of a direct quote from December 2005:

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When it comes to ***, big-time, major league ***, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims, religion. No contest. No contest. Religion. Religion easily has the greatest *** story ever told. Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!



But I want you to know something, this is sincere, I want you to know, when it comes to believing in God, I really tried. I really, really tried. I tried to believe that there is a God, who created each of us in His own image and likeness, loves us very much, and keeps a close eye on things. I really tried to believe that, but I gotta tell you, the longer you live, the more you look around, the more you realize, something is *** up.


Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed. Results like these do not belong on the résumé of a Supreme Being. This is the kind of *** you'd expect from an office temp with a bad attitude. And just between you and me, in any decently-run universe, this guy would've been out on his all-powerful *** a long time ago. And by the way, I say "this guy", because I firmly believe, looking at these results, that if there is a God, it has to be a man.
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I can't believe any person out there, even of the secular world, would ever be so bold.....and so wrong. He found a way to make a living, support his family, achieve all the fame and fortune anyone could ever want.....but at what cost?



I read about things like this and it makes me sick, and then it makes me sad. He now knows how wrong he was.



Philippians 2:9-11 (The Message)
Because of that obedience, God lifted Him high and honored Him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that He is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.



I believe God loved/loves this man. I believe God had great plans in store for him. I believe that the man, not God, made the choice to do something else with his life.



Colossians 1:16 (NIV) For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him.



Now, I am not his judge and I do not know what happened between him and God in his final moments. I would be more than thrilled to see him in heaven but God calls us to act now. Love now. Spread the joy of His love now. To love God first, others second, and ourselves last.



When someone you do or do not know is "googling" your name after you die, what will it say? What will you leave behind? Is your life a video worth bringing home from the movie rental? or something those people hide and hope know one they know sees them with it?



Jesus left everything we need to know about Him, His life and how we are to live, in black and white. Faith and prayer combined with God's mercy and grace finish it off. It's a perfect package!



The first step is you. What do you believe enough to tell other people about it?



Romans 1: 18-20 (NIV) The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Vacation Bible School highlights

Lost city of Jericho: Eric, me, my Dad, my Mom & Mike

Oh, so sad, its already over. I love Vacation Bible School. I love getting ready for it, planning and decorating, reading the stories over and over to get them right, thinking like a child to make sure they will understand what I'm saying, just the all over feeling of excitement!

It is very worth mentioning the children I usually bring with me.....they are the reason for doing it. My children and I have a couple of girls, that are sisters about Nick's age, that live next to us. They are wonderful kids and we love them. Every year, I mean EVERY year, one of them calls or comes by to ask about when VBS is and what the theme is, usually 4 or 5 weeks ahead of time. I don't know if they attend church anywhere regularly or not, but they live for our VBS.

This year we ended up taking the two of them, and another girl and boy that are about Nick's age. How wonderful! Could it be any better? The third girl said she had NEVER been to any church except one VBS with a cousin when she was 5 and she doesn't really remember it. That in itself is sad. But how blessed I feel to get to take her and show her what God's people can be. She had said that her mom doesn't think much of any of the churchs that her mom had attended before. Talk about God opening a door!

When we got home this evening, we got a phone call from this girl. She asked us when Sunday services were and if we could give her a ride. GOD IS AMAZING!!!!!

One of the sisters that lives next door was disappointed about one thing. She knew her memory verse by the second day and there wasn't any contest for it. (Some years there has been.) She sang and sang that verse all the way there and all the way home.

I am exhausted but the room has already been taken down. Its sad that two days of work is gone in 25 minutes. Thank you Mike & Becky for helping to put it up and take it down.

I feel blessed to get to be a part of such a wonderful out reach program that obviously touches people of all ages in the community.