AMH Endorsed 4

Well, I purposefully wanted to wait a while before posting a new AMH Endorsed because I wanted as many people as possible to see the last one for Wayne's charity. I think it's been long enough though and we can safely move on to our next endorsee. :)

I met my friend Reyna about 3 years ago at a women's retreat. She was the keynote speaker and the good friend of another friend so we all rode up to our weekend destination together. During that ride I was able to really get to know her and as I listened to her teach over the next two days I saw how much knowledge she had to offer.  She has since become a major source of wisdom for me and my life and I value her insight GREATLY. She has a blog where she offers timely insights and deep truths in a short, concise and reader friendly format. She's transparent and to me that is priceless in a person, especially one gifted in pouring into the lives of others. It's impossible to teach with any degree of success if you aren't willing to draw from your own learning experiences.
She doesn't currently have very many readers for her blog and personally I think that should change. Her insights are worth reading, considering and absorbing, believe me.

Please stop by and visit her blog, simply titled

Christian Blog

and tell her "oink" for me! :)

De-coding

**WARNING: Don't get thrown off by the hefty start to this entry...there are some good points further down if you can hang in with me.**

Deoxyribonucleic acid..........say that three times fast.....no? Yeah, I don't blame you, even correctly pronouncing it once is enough to tie a cherry stem in a knot on your tongue. Sooooooo, for the purpose of this blog entry and our own sanity, we'll use it's more common name...DNA. Don't worry though, I have no intention of discussing grooves, base pairing or supercoiling here. Fascinating as it may be, genetics is not my field of expertise so any attempt on my part to try and explain molecular studies would be like asking Fozzy Bear to explain the stock market.
So then why did I bring up the subject of DNA if I don't plan to discuss it? Well....I do plan to discuss it, but in a way that perhaps you haven't thought of before. 

For weeks.... well, I suppose it's really been months...I've been trying to create a blog button and pull box to use here at AMH. You might think that would be a simple task....but html code and I don't mix well...so it's been an absolute nightmare logistically. Every time I thought I had it, I would test the code and "DENIED" 
.....*sigh*....exasperating to say the least. Some nights I would just break into tears from sheer frustration and exhaustion. See, the funny thing about html is that one simple keystroke can mean the difference between success or failure....a space where it doesn't belong or an extra bracket can corrupt the entire code....similar to our own DNA. A seemingly simple molecular change can change EVERYTHING.  

(On a sidenote though, I did finally get that html code to work as you may have already noticed if you already saw the grab button and pull box over on the side column here. Special thanks to Beth at Uppercase Living for the BEAUTIFUL design! xoxo )


When talking genetics, these errors in coding are called mutations. For my purposes here today I'm not going to go into detail about all the many kinds of mutations, although it really is FASCINATING stuff. I'm specifically going to refer to something called a frame-shift mutation, because they disrupt the entire gene code. If you want to read more about genetics though in a very reader friendly format, please feel free to check out my source for the following definition found at Genetic Health.
       In a frame shift mutation, one or more bases are inserted or deleted, the equivalent of adding or removing letters in a sentence. But because our cells read DNA in three letter "words", adding or removing one letter changes each subsequent word. This type of mutation can make the DNA meaningless and often results in a shortened protein. An example of a frame-shift mutation using our sample sentence is when the 't' from cat is removed, but we keep the original letter spacing:

Original	The fat cat ate the wee rat.
Frame Shift	The fat caa tet hew eer at.

So where am I going with this? Well, last week I was talking to a friend of mine about the thought patterns in our lives. She was telling me how when she was in her first marriage she had become so accustomed to having to take on the responsibilities of her, less than enthusiastic husband that even after her divorce years later and remarriage she was still programed to think she had to carry that role. Now, her current husband is a wonderful man who is strong in his faith and an excellent worker, provider and her biggest fan so she should be able to rest easy right? Well, yes.....but there is the small issue of coding. Mental, emotional and spiritual coding...like html code or DNA code...if one simple line of bad coding gets in there it completely shuts things down or causes them to function in a manner they were never intended to. Her mind had been coded for so many years to think she was responsible to carry certain roles in the family. So much so in fact, that when her job came to a crossroads she was feeling stressed wondering how they were going to make it. 

   It took another friend of ours to remind this woman of the blessing she has in her current husband. Her fears of not being able to make it were no longer founded because she has been blessed with a Godly husband who is more than willing and able to carry the load for their household should she suddenly find herself out of work. That realization was earth shattering for her....her previously imbalanced world had suddenly become balanced! As she processed the thought and let it really take hold she began to see and feel shackles fall off of her mind and her spirit. Her coding had a bad line thrown in the mix years ago and she had become so accustomed to the malfunction that it became normal. Armed with her new found freedom however, a weight has been lifted off of her life. Her coding has been corrected and she can now function in a healthy way again.   
You and I are like that...we all have within us, bad lines of coding that need to be removed so that we can function properly. The secret is to stop pretending those lines don't exist, but to recognize it and where it came from so that we can address the REAL problem. Maybe your bad coding came from an abusive or non-existent parent, or a trauma early in life. Perhaps you had a cheating spouse or were part of a toxic church. Wherever those funky lines of bad code came from...they can be corrected. Sometimes with a little simple thing like the realization my friend had....sometimes it may take deeper rewriting...but nonetheless, there is hope. 

So what is the next step? Well...you can't move forward until you first realize you're being held back. So, as always the number one thing to do and the best place to ALWAYS start any journey, is to pray. Prayer is a tool, a sort of red phone to God...so use it! You don't pray? Well...start! If you want to get someplace you've never been it requires you do something you've never done. 
I'm not talking some mamby pamby prayer either, I mean, dig out your garbage, expose the skeletons, 9-1-1 PRAY. Listen to me, God knows it all ANYWAY...all of it...so it's not like you're really pulling the wool over His eyes and hiding it from Him. So between you and Him alone, air out the laundry and ask Him to show you the areas of your life that have bad coding. (Tip: if you have situations, arguments, problems etc that always seem to come back up in your life, that probably means that you have a line of bad coding in there regarding that.) Next ask God to show you how to reprogram your heart, mind and soul so you can be a healthier person. Sound too easy? HAH....it only sounds that way...trust me...this will be the hardest battle you have fought in your life....but once all is said and done, it will be the most victorious freedom you have ever experienced. I can promise you that! I will be praying for you though, as I always do, and please if you are new here at AMH and you want to send me a specific prayer request, you can either post it in the comment thread or send me a message through Facebook. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 (New Living Translation)

¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

AMH Endorsed 3

This week I am highlighting the website/blogs and charity of a cause I have mentioned here at AMH before and STRONGLY support.
In light of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan many people will be looking for valid charities to help those in need so far away. There are many reputable ones that almost everyone knows about, (i.e. The Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Mercy Corps, Unicef USA, etc ) but there is one that a lot of people haven't heard about as much and I want to change that. Soles 4 Souls is a MASSIVE charitable organization that rushes much needed shoes to disaster stricken areas of the globe. It may not seem like much, but what people don't realize is that in the wake of a natural disaster the ground normally walked on is suddenly a treacherous place to step for many reasons. Glass, metal, wood, even diseased corpses waiting to be buried. People need their feet covered to prevent further devastation from injuries and while they need clean water, fresh food and clothing as well as shelter etc...they also need shoes! PLEASE consider finding a donation sight near you or sending a monetary donation to this much needed disaster relief charity to help those devastated in Japan.

Visit 

Soles 4 Souls  

here and please let them know you heard about them here at AMH.

CPR: Critical Prayer Required

So last week, just hours before the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan, I was praying about what topic to discuss here and one word came to mind. Flood. Now I was thinking of the floods we have been having here in Connecticut due to the record snowfall this Winter. As warmer weather has begun to move in there are floods everywhere here. One morning I was on my way to work and had to turn back because the road I usually take was completely under water. As I blindly followed the leading of my GPS down roads I had never been down before and didn't even know existed I encountered more and more flooding. Some of the roads were so badly flooded that I had to back up and then gun my engine to plow through the rushing waters fast enough to not lose traction. I'm pretty fearless about a lot of things...but to say I wasn't more than a little concerned as I traveled through unknown territory would be a lie, especially since the youngest of my godchildren was in the car with me. I believe in preparedness, which is probably why I'm not easily shaken about much...but my mind played out every scenario possible that day and the necessary steps I would need to take to ensure not only the safety of my goddaughter, but for myself also should the car get swept off the road. Thankfully, with much prayer, we made it to the next town and were then able to backtrack down safer roads to our destination.

Of course who would think the impact that five letter word, flood, would have before the break of dawn the next day. I don't think anyone could have even dreamt of what was about to happen.
Now, it's here that I was so tempted to go into a long dissection of physical disaster versus spiritual disaster in this entry given the unforeseen and rapid turn of events that the earthquake and tsunami in Japan created. I still think there is much validity to my thoughts, but the reason why I haven't posted sooner is that I just don't feel it is the appropriate time for that. Any armchair quarterback can throw comments out there in response to the minute by minute day by day influx of information. I think for me though, right now is a time for prayer, for mercy and for aid.

Soooo.......please pray for the survivors in Japan that they will be adequately cared for and comforted. Pray for the workers from within Japan's borders as well as around the globe that they will not only be able to do their jobs to the best of their ability, but that they will also be protected and provided for. Most importantly though......pray for the salvation of those who have been affected by this disaster in one way or another and have no hope because they don't know the Father of Hope. If we cannot be there physically to help those in need, then may we at least be there spiritually!

Jeremiah 17:14 (New International Version, ©2011)

¹⁴ Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. 

 JEREMIAH 17:14 (THE MESSAGE)

  ¹⁴God, pick up the pieces.Put me back together again.You are my praise!

Jeremiah 29:11 (Amplified Bible)

¹¹For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

AMH Endorsed 2

Hello again!

This week I'm highlighting one of the blogs belonging to my best friend from childhood, Beth. She writes several blogs, but this particular one was actually consulted for last month's issue of Real Simple Magazine! GO BETH!!
She has always had a penchant for organizing, ever since we were kids. Now she has found a great outlet to share her ideas and insights with others so they too can get organized and enjoy a better quality of life.

Please visit her at

  The Neat Get Neater

and tell her Frances said hi.