Pictorial Definition of "Horse Laugh"

Horse Laugh: a loud, coarse laugh

Recently reviewing my site I decided that it was time to do something a little different. This is for all those people out there who have ever been horse laughed at or who have horse laughed at another.

I hope that this inspires you to throw your head back, open your mouth wide and bare your pearly whites and even if you have no teeth... go ahead and show those gums...

but for Heaven's Sake.....

JUST LAUGH!!!

Season of Loss...

"To everything there is a season..."
Ecclesiastes 3:1

In March we entered the Spring season. A time for sunshine, rain, budding and blossoming of trees and flowers and NEW LIFE!

There are different seasons all of us face in life.

For us it has been a very difficult season. It is as if Winter linked arms with Spring and came in very cool and death-like. We have not only sensed the chill, but also experienced death's reality in various forms...leaving us with only memories...

This season for us has brought so many tears.
A season for us of loss.

When God's Servant's Get Depressed

Depression comes to everyone at one time or another in life. But what happens when it hits the man or woman of God. Aren't they supposed to be stronger than others? Doesn't the very fact that they are in Christian service exclude them from experiencing symptoms of depression? Don't they have supernatural strength in their "shoulders" to continually bear the burdens of others? What happens when the the servant of God suffers from depression? In 1 Kings 19 we see a glimpse of one of God's faithful servants who suffers from the illness of depression. Elijah had just finished winning one of the biggest battles in his life. God showed up and proved that HE WAS GOD! But right after that victory Elijah's life is threatened and he runs away in fear. He travels to Beersheba (well of the Oath of God) and leaves his servant there and travels another full days journey alone. (aprx. 25-30 miles) He sets down under a Juniper tree sheltered from the sun and wind and requests that God will let him die and then he fell asleep. In my experience with depression you can become so overwhelmed with difficult life situations that you experience total exhaustion. This is not at all a healthy fatigue because it is the result of your body kicking into a self preservation mode to protect you from a complete breakdown. I believe Elijah was at this place in his life. What happenened? Elijah was visited by an angel of the Lord. The angel said to Elijah, "Arise and eat"...so Elijah rose up and found a cake (probably of unleavened barley; typical of the day)and a cruse (bottle) of water which were supernaturally placed there. Elijah rose up, ate and drank and then he laid down and fell asleep again.God sent Elijah provision in the time of his distress.Sandy Patti mentioned that a friend came and took her out to get some ice cream. She declared to her listeners that, "Sometimes only a friend and a banana split can help!" I think it was one of those times for Elijah too.Then the angel of the Lord came and visited a second time. Only this time he touched Elijah and then said,"Arise and eat; because the journey is to great for thee."Elijah rose up and ate again, but this time he was strengthened so much that he was able to go onward a 40 days journey in supernatural strength on the simple meal that the angel of the Lord had provided. He ends up at Mt. Horeb(the Mt. of God)where he finds a cave to dwell in. This gives me hope. If God sent an angel to visit, speak, touch and feed a man of God supernaturally in the O.T. then surely he can do the same for us when we are weary in the work of ministry. (Note also that God gave earthly provision right alongside his heavenly provision.While here, the word of the Lord comes to him saying,"Elijah, what are you doing here?" After Elijah's response, he is told to "go forth and stand before the Mt. of God." Elijah obeys and God shows up in power and demonstration as the Lord himself passes by... and when he does a great and strong wind rends the mountain, rocks fall before the Lord and an earthquake and fire come and lastly a still small voice...but God is not in the wind, earthquake or fire...but he is in the still small voice.At this Elijah wraps his face in his mantle and goes and stands in the entrance of the cave where he has been dwelling and the still small voice of the Lord comes and asks a second time, "Elijah, what are you doing here? Servant of God, "What are you doing here?"Note that Elijah's response never changed in his answer to the Lord; however he was able to recognize the still small voice as the Lord's and he went obediently forward after he was commanded to "Go and return...and....."Often when servants of God get depressed, we call out for the thunderbolt demonstrations of God on our behalf. "Oh God, that you would rend the heavens and come down!!!" Only the Lord knows what we would add onto this request when we are in despair...If we just listen; which may require getting totally alone until we hear that "still small voice" of our Lord...then we will be given the strength to" Go, return and do"...whatever the Lord commands for us to do in order to continue the work of His Kingdom. Elijah was n't the only one who got tired and despaired of life. There were many others.If you are a servant of the Lord; take heart! There is still a God who hears and answers prayer. Not just the prayers and burdens of others, but ours too. Don't look for the wind to blow, the rocks to fall, the fire to come...but "be still and know" that He is God; he will show up and he will whisper in that "still small voice" and lead you out of your cave of depression and onward in the strength of His word so that you can accomplish the plans that he has for your life. "A plan to prosper and not harm to give you a future and a hope" as you continually extend "a future and hope" to others that you are ministering to.

Beginning Again

I hate starting over! It is completely out of my comfort zone! Life throws obstacles into your pathway that you cannot walk around. A simple "falling rock" sign on the roadside in which you are traveling can quickly become an entire "mountain slide" where you discover that the only safe solution is to simply carve out a new way around it.
When this happens we feel totally and utterly helpless. We find that this is where we are most vulnerable and frightened by the "unknown" of it all. We are no longer in control... Yet, God gives us hope and wisdom to start over...or begin again. We pick ourselves up and begin to prepare "new ground" as we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit. This is called process! It isn't always easy or painfree, but as we carefully walk each step in the new direction God leads, we will find that the pathway becomes much clearer, brighter and our hope becomes renewed. Our perspective is extremely important at this time. Our disasterous situations should be viewed as "God's Opportunities". When we adopt this kind of thinking we begin to see that God's viewpoint of carving out a new way for us is not the impossible task we fretted that it would be, but daily as we cooperate with God, it becomes a visible reality!
God always has our best intentions at heart. He is full of love for his children. This does not mean that bad things never will happen to us; that death-type situations won't come, but it means that God has a divine solution to everything we face in life. There is a way through!

The Secret

The secret is....

I have learned there is little I can do in my life that will make me truly happy. I must depend on God to make me happy and to meet my needs.

When a need arises in my life, I have to trust God to supply according to HIS riches.
I have learned most of the time I don't need half what I think I do.
He has never let me down!
Since I learned that "Secret", I am happy!

(from a text)

"Holding On In Uncertain Times"

Holding on isn't easy.

Just recently there was a woman who had to hold onto a ride at an amusement park with one hand and her child in the other as she dangled in mid air hoping against hope for someone to save her and her child. But somehow she was able to hold on until she could safely drop her child into the arms of rescuers below and then was rescued later herself.

Times are more uncertain today than I have ever seen in my lifetime. Everyday there is more news of gas price hikes, stock markets falling, banks closing, eviction notices, utility cut-offs, etc. and people despairing all over our world.

Holding on isn't easy...especially when it seems like you have nothing left to hold onto.

As Christians, we are not to look to this world for deliverance in the day of trouble. Jesus said that troubles would come. He never promised that we would not go through difficult and despairing times, however he instructed for us to "be of good cheer" for he has overcome the world.

There have been uncertain times from the beginning, but for the people of God there has always been a way through.

No matter what it might appear like in your life today or what your emotions may be tell you. God is still "a very present help in time of need".

So...hold on! Know that God knew these times would come in our lives and He has promised to deliver us out of all of our troubles.

There is no shame in HOPE!

Rom 5:5

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

There it is! No shame!
Wow!!! Hope maketh not ashamed!
Why?
Because....the LOVE of GOD...is shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us!

There are things in this world that try to quickly snatch away the hope we have just regained; especially when we struggle with certain issues in life.

But the hope that we can and do find is God is not like that which is known by the world.

This "Blessed Hope" as the Bible calls it, that is shed abroad in our hearts is the very Presence of the Savior himself ...who has taken up residence by the power of the Holy Ghost because of the LOVE of the Heavenly Father who sent His only begotten son to give hope to a world without hope.

This hope causes the Love of God in our hearts to win others to Him and therefore the love that we have received influences them to find hope; thus it becomes shed abroad through the power of the Holy Ghost which is given to us and operating out God's redemption plan through us to others..
Amazing, huh?

The God of all hope has become our hope!

Hope thou in God!