I pledge Allegiance

Allegiance. What does allegiance mean? It means, devotion; loyalty. So when we say that we pledge allegiance to the United States of America, we are saying that we are pledging our undying devotion to America. Many people say the Pledge of Allegiance, but far too few really mean the words. By pledging our loyalty to our Country, do we have to accept everything that it does? No. What we are to uphold is the foundation upon which our Country was based. What was America based on? The Bible. Mostly everyone followed Scriptural Principles, when America was young. That is the reason why America was prosperous and was a strong rock to the world. As time has passed on the standards have been lowered, and thus our "power" has been reduced. Who is to blame for this lowering of the standards? The Church. If the church had continued to take a stand and hold the Biblical standards of Holiness high, then the products of those churches, which would have been our leaders, would've continued to be strong soldiers for God. But what has been done cannot be changed. However, we CAN change what the future will hold! How do we achieve this? By wholeheartedly, pledging our allegiance to the basis of what our Country was to be. We must band together and pray for America, and LOVE our Country enough to take a stand against the wickedness, that is everywhere in our land! If we do not stand up for the United States, someone else will, and will introduce their doctrine into our society and we will have lost a very precious thing that we have on this earth: Our America. The land of the FREE and the home of the brave.




Now the years have come and the years have gone
And the cause of Jesus still goes on
Now the time has come to count the cost
To reject this world, to embrace the cross
And one by one let us live our lives for
the One who died to give us life
til' the trumpet sounds on that final day
Let us proudly stand and boldly say:

I pledge Allegiance to the Lamb
with all my strength with all I am
I will seek to honor His command
I pledge Allegiance to the Lamb!

To the Lamb of God who bore my pain
who took my place, who bore my shame
I will seek to honor His command
I pledge Allegiance to the Lamb

This song is: I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb, by Rick Boltz

I think this song pretty much says everything that needs to be said about our devotion to God.
We must yield everything to Him, and stand tall for the cause of Christ! Let us live our lives so that Calvary's love can be seen in us! We have a message to give to the Nation(s) and God has given us the voice to speak up and out for Him! It is our wonderful yet great responsibility to use that voice to gather in many of His lost sheep. So today, let us Pledge our Allegiance to the Lamb of God!

Happy Fourth Of July Week!

Well, it's the first day of my Fourth of July week, and I am SO excited about it! I absolutely love my Country and throughout this week I want to share with you my thoughts on this beautiful land, My America!! Today, I am going to give you a tip about what I am going to talk about tomorrow. grin!

I pledge Allegiance to the Flag...

I pledge Allegiance to the Christian Flag...

I pledge Allegiance to the Bible...

I pledge Allegiance to the Lamb...

What's going to be the topic for tomorrow?? Comment away and tell me!

I have some questions to be answered this week as well, including, where did America get their strength from? Where did America go wrong? What will it take for America to be truly beautiful again? Lots of stuff coming up this week, only at Chocolate Contemplations! Be sure to tune in!!

Happy Monday All!!!!!!

Always The Same! Hallelujah!

I noticed the verse on the side of my blog about Jesus being the same yesterday, today and forever, and it blessed my heart! There are many times in life that situations, relationships, and at times even life itself is not the same as what it once was, and sometimes that's good and sometimes it's hard. But those things do not change the fact that God never changes, and that is a WONDERFUL thing!!!! He is EVERYTHING that we need and He IS everything that He has promised that He'd be!! Praise The Lord! It is such a comfort to know that Jesus is always dependable and will always be there when I need Him. And you know what? It seems that at the times when life is hard to deal with, and nobody else knows what to do or say, Jesus is so much closer at those times... Thank You, Jesus for ALWAYS being the same!!

Sending...

Happy wishes your way in hope that you a wonderful day!!! Happy Friday, my friends! Hope you all have a very pleasant weekend, surrounded by those you love! As for me its off to work at 5 and then off to work tomorrow night at 4. My dad is coming home this evening! Yippee!! Anyways, besides that nothing really spectacular in going on but I am working on a post about America for next week... I wonder why??? In fact I am planning to do a America Week! If any of you have some Americana pictures or places in America that you think is awesome and would like to email them to me, I'll be happy to use them next week... If not then you can enjoy looking at mine! I will warn you though, there are certain symbols and topics about America that can really get me worked up. SO prepare yourselves! grin!

Seventeen and over the hill...

At least that's what my seven year old cousin thinks! I went with Aunt Kathy, Luke, and Emily to the library yesterday and the kids got a book and tape called, Bruce the Bear. (Or at least that's who its about, I can't remember... hmm.. maybe Luke's right?!?) Anyway, I used to get that tape when I was little, and I said this to the kiddos. They were quiet for a minute and then Luke looks at me and says,"This(the book and tape) must be REALLY old then, if YOU had it when YOU were LITTLE!!!!" ROTFL I was like thanks buddy! That's the first time, I have been made to feel like an OLD person... It won't be the last though, I know!! Kids are SOOO funny and they keep you on your toes, cause' you never know what their gonna' say next! Just thought you all would enjoy a laugh at MY expense. wink wink chuckle chuckle! Have a great day y'all!

**EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT**

Saturday, August 1, at 11:45 a.m., I will begin to walk, er... ride on clouds for about an hour and forty-five minutes. At approximately 1:25 p.m. I will be arriving at RDU (Raleigh-Durham airport), and will happily walk off of the big bird and be met by my bestest friend, Bethany and her awesome family, who have no idea what they are in for... grin! I am SOOOO excited! I know Bethany and I are going to laugh, talk, and stay up later than anyone should be allowed to! But, those things are what is going to make it SOOOO fun! We've already talked about some of the things we're going to do, like look at graduation pics, talk, stay up late, etc...! I can't wait to see her again!! Isn't it wonderful that God sends us special friends like this?!?! I think so, and those of you who know Beth, know that we are privileged to know her!

I must admit, that I am a tad nervous about flying by myself. I have flown before and LOVE it,but never have I flown alone. I also, have never been away from my family for a whole week. I took all these things into consideration before I purchased my ticket, but the pros outweighed the cons! I have placed my fears about flying alone in the very capable hands of Jesus, and now I am just totally stoked at the thought of my vacation! For I really won't be alone I'll the Creator of the world at my side the whole time I am gone. Just the thought of that calmed my fears and now they are practically nonexistent. Thank you Lord, for being with me all the time!

So in just a little over 40 days I'll be enjoying my time with Bethany, Rachel, Abby, and Brother and Sister Covert! Yippee!!!!!!!!!!

I Know... I Know!

I have this horrible habit of tinkering with pictures and then finding a new background that goes with it. I guess I could blame my ADD for the constant change of "Bloggerenery!" Anyway I try to do something different with my background, cause' I get tired of seeing the same thing every time I go on my blog, so I know you do too! I decided to use this picture as my blog header for a special friend of mine who likes this picture alot! What I don't do for my friends... smile! Oh well, they ARE worth it!!! Hope you all like this new change and rest assured there will be another new one by the beginning of the month! Have a great evening my friends!


And Remember~

God's in His heaven, All's right with the world!

In Loving Memory

One year ago today, Sister Denery, had her last coughing spell, took her last breathing treatment, closed her weary, "double-visioned" eyes, and breathed her last breath of dirty earth air and awoke in the portals of glory. She breathed new air and found it celestial, she walked for the first time in two years or so, and found her feet were trodding on gold, and she touched a hand and instead of it being her husband Bill's, she found that it was God's. Sister Denery ran her race with grace and dignity. Her life was an example of deep dedication and love for the Lord. She could be counted on to do what she said she would do. She always remembered birthdays and would bring back little treasures from her trips up north to me and the other children. Sister Denery never had to be primed and pumped up to give a testimony, she always had a amen or praise the Lord, during the preaching, and it was not uncommon for her to take a walk around the church with her hands held in the air in total praise and adoration for her Saviour. I remember some of her favorite songs being: "Faith is the Victory", "Amazing Grace", "I'll Live for Him", and " I'm so glad I'm apart of the Family of God." Sister Denery also sang for a special number in church sometimes. She was a very modest person and would always say to listen to the words and not her. Her voice wasn't stunning but her spirit was. Many times people would get blessed or have tears running down their face when Sister Denery sang. She just had an amazingly sweet spirit! The song that she sang the most was, "The Love of God." Every time she sang that song she would cry. She loved her Lord more than anything else! We played a tape of her singing that song at her Memorial Service. Read the lyrics below and let your heart be blessed:

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

Refrain:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—The saints’ and angels’ song.

When hoary time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

A beautiful song for sure!!! Sister Denery, you are missed and loved! We are all looking forward to seeing you again in Heaven! Keep watching the Pearly Gates, cause' we'll be there in the morning!

My Jewels...

Are my friends. I wanted to compose a post that is dedicated to some very special people. I have three people in my life that have been with me through good times and bad. They've seen me when I am acting crazy and when I've been feeling blue. Yet, through it all they've remained beside as devoted friends. So today, I want to take a moment to recognize these threesome who have forever touched my life with their friendship.

I guess I'll start with the one I've known the longest and that would be Kristen. Whenever I think of Kristen, I am overcome by a tidal wave of memories. From some very interesting children services in Florala, (including making woolly lambies at the age of 13/14) and getting suckers for good behaviour? To jungle fruit scented cleaning supplies, to the countless hours of conversation both when we are together and by phone. We've talked about everything... Kristen has taught me to be the person that God made me to be and not to change because of what other people think. She has increased my self confidence and has helped me to take a step out of my comfort zone. So Thank You, Kristen for being such an awesome friend! Truly you're the best! I thank God for the gift of your friendship!

Next would be Nathan. I got to know Nathan the end of 2004, but really became good friends with him in 2005 when they moved down from PA. Nathan started attending our church school in the fall of '05 and that was only the beginning of our friendship and I can't believe how much has happened. Nathan has become a very close friend to me and I am so thankful that God brought them here. Nathan and I have done alot of memorable things... I.E. coloring Elmo pages for our Spanish party decorations, spending some serious time bonding with caramel, (the school's horse) chuckle chuckle... having way too much fun in Math class with falling spelling word charts,playing Othello and finding the infamous pieces that have a yellow highlighter mark on them, pulling our teachers backwards down the church's sloping driveway on rolling chairs, and so on the list goes. But we've also spent alot of time talking about what we've just found in our devotions, how the Lord has showed us some areas to move up in, talking about Nathan's latest sermon topic, comparing sermon notes from the messages Pap-pa or an evangelist preached, and other things like this. Nathan has taught me that if you rely upon God, you won't be shaken by the troubles of life, he has helped me to see the love that God has for His children in an even deeper sense by pointing out the little blessings that we often take for granted, such as a bird singing in the tree. Thank You, Nathan, for being my friend! You are the best! I thank Jesus, for the gift of your friendship!

And last but certainly not least is Bethany. Oh man, where do I even begin... Bethany have seen each other twice in the past 2 and a half years that we've known each other, but with our lengthy phone calls you could say we've known each other all our lives. smile! Bethany and I have talked about basically everything, from politics to shopping, to food, to the returning of our blessed Saviour. We've solved the world's problems many a time and we always end that conversation the same way. One of us will Say and the other will agree, "If everybody just followed the Lord, everything would be much better!" One thing Bethany and I have is extreme confidence in each other! We decided last year that we would make an excellent President and Vice President! Then we decided that we'd let Sarah Palin be President and Bethany would be Vice and I would be their not so humble advisor. We didn't think that Bethany's boyfriend, Ryan, would be into her being gone though lol! I will never forget how much we laughed during that phone call. We had a blast! Of course, we always do though! Bethany and I are like sisters and I know that I can call her at anytime about any situation and she will pray about it and will help me to see the situation clearly again. Bethany has taught me that life is about loving the Lord, holding onto the people that matter and letting the rest of the world and all their nitpicking go. Thank You, Bethany, for being my friend! You are the best, for sure! I thank the Lord for bringing you into my life just when I needed you!

It's A Wonderful World!

Welcome to my first It's A Wonderful World Wednesday! I thought that this might be a good way to encourage all my friends out there to take a minute from the rat race we call life and meditate on the blessings that we have in life. From Family to Desserts, we all have things in our lives that make our "world's" wonderful! So I am going to do this post every Wednesday to remind myself and also to share with others the cool things that has made my world grand in the past week! If you would like to do this, please contact me and I will email you the "It's A Wonderful World Wednesday" header, so you can use it! I would love to have you all join me in thanking God for our blessings!

1.My God is Awesome! He has been blessing my heart with His love and presence this week! What a privilege it is to be a child of the King! I am in love with Jesus!!!!

2.My Pap-pa preached some incredible messages on Sunday! They were such an encouragement to me! He talked about the reasons why David's heart was fixed on the Lord. (Psalms chapter 57) It was terrific! The Lord is good to me! So very good to me...

3.I met a young lady this past week who seems to be a very sweet girl! She is a little older than I am but we "hit it off" pretty well! We're going to see each other again this week and we were both excited when we found that out! I can't wait to get to know her more!

4.I got another "possibility" for a child to take to church this week. I have talked to the Mother before but I talked with her again on Monday night and she was talking about letting him go soon! Isn't that Awesome?!?! G is a little over a year old now and is a real cutie! I sure hope that I will be able to bring him to church really soon!

5.On the more materialistic side of life, I had a Georgia Mud Fudge Blizzard with oreos in it this week! It was Sooooooooo good!! And I do mean G-O-O-D!!! Aren't you droolin' right now?!? smile!

Well, after all that, I can truly say that it's a Wonderful World! Thank-You Jesus for the blessings that you have given me!!

Have a great day my friends!

Ladies and Gentlemen...

I do hereby present to you Chocolate Contemplations' Summer Face lift! What do you think? I am SO lovin' it! Man, now I'm starting to sound like the McDonald's slogan huh?!? It has been forever since I have posted I know, and I am really sorry about that. I am going to do better I promise! I have sat down to post so many times but I was having a severe case of writers block... Anyone else have that problem?

My Summer To-Do list is growing and growing! I am still working at DQ and the blizzard of the month is Brownie Batter! YUMMY! Just as side information(because I am so nice ahem...) If you were to get a:

Small-- You would be getting: one scoop of brownie pieces and one spoonful of brownie batter!

Medium-- You would be getting: two scoops of brownie pieces and two spoonfuls of b.b.!

Large-- You would be getting: three scoops of brownie pieces and three spoonfuls of b.b.!

And just to make you drool... here's the picture!

Besides working I will be getting ready to go back to school. Yes, you heard me right! BUT, I will be trading in my pencils for an ink pen, my student chair for a "important" snicker! blue one, my questions for the title of receiver of questions, and my "stress over test" syndrome for the "stress for everyone else over their test" syndrome. grin! Soooo, I am leaving it up to you to tell me what I will be doing come August 31, 2009. Comment Away!

I am also supposed to be an "Authoress" this summer. I have promised some little ones a written copy of my "Frank and George" Series. I have told them these stories from when they were just little and they all enjoy hearing them, but recently I have had some requests for something that they can read. Soooo, I will be typing away on the computer for a while I'm sure! I enjoy writing stories, forget just stories I just LOVE to write! From poetry to allegorical tales I love it all! If you all have any ideas about what Frank and George should look like, PLEASE either comment, email, or call me and let me know!! I would also like to know if any of you write stories, poetry, inspirational reading material or anything else like that. If you do contact me! I would love to talk with you about this!

Well, I must go for now my friends! I will be checking to see the great amounts of comments I should get on this post! smile! And with that I bid you a fantastic day!

Holly