Fri, Aug 31st - 8:48PM

The Spotlight Effect

I came across this article on another blog. Thought provoking!

The Cure for Self-Consciousness WebMD Feature from Oprah.com

By Martha Beck

You step into the party feeling reasonably confident. True, your favorite little black dress feels somewhat tight, but it's still elegant, and the wind outside only tousled your hair a little. Then, just as you're preparing to mingle, it happens: You pass a mirror and glimpse your reflection—your horrifying, horrifying reflection. The dress isn't just tight; it fits like Luciano Pavarotti's diving suit. Your hair looks as though a crazed weasel nested, bore young, and died there. Aghast, you wobble off your high heels and sprain an ankle. All eyes are glued on you. All conversation focuses on your disgrace. Everyone begins texting hilarious descriptions of you from their cell phones.

In your dreams, baby.

I mean this both literally and figuratively. Most of us occasionally dream about being embarrassed in social settings. But even in waking life, many of us operate as if Simon Cowell is doing a play-by-play of our work, wardrobe and snack choices. One team of researchers has dubbed this phenomenon the "spotlight effect." In the beam of imaginary spotlights, many of us suffer untold shame and create smaller, weaker, less zestful lives than we deserve. Terrified that the neighbors might gossip, the critics might sneer, the love letter might fall into the hands of evil bloggers, we never even allow our minds to explore what our hearts may be calling us to do. These efforts to avoid embarrassment often keep us from imagining, let alone fulfilling, the measure of our destiny. To claim it, we need to develop a mental dimmer switch.

For complete article here: http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/cure-self-consciousness

Tue, Aug 28th - 7:30PM

Church devotional book

Our church is publishing it's second devotional "book" and smokey has 2 devotional entrys included this year.

"What I learned from my truck"
http://thegatheringplacehome.myfastforum.org/about2387.html 

and "What I'm learning With My Dog."
http://thegatheringplacehome.myfastforum.org/about2037.html

It's not much, but at least some people will hopefully be blessed.

Tue, Aug 28th - 4:43AM

Deer 8 van 0

Fri, Aug 17th - 9:50PM

Does God care what he's called????

Tue, Aug 14th - 12:52AM

Top 10 Biblical Archaeology discoveries of the 20th Century

By Keith N. Schoville
Professor Emeritus of Hebrew and Semitic Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ten major archeological discoveries of the past century that are significant for understanding the world of the Bible are identified. For each find, a narrative of its discovery and the crucial information it unlocks is relayed, plus its connection to key biblical events or references. These ten discoveries illustrate the point that new facts about the Bible, its world and personalities, come through diligence in archeological research.

==============================================
the article is much too long to post here
please use the link to check out the full article and photos

LINK: http://biblicalstudies.info/top10/schoville.htm

The list;

1 THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

2 THE HOUSE OF DAVID INSCRIPTION

3 AMULET SCROLL

4 GALILEE BOAT

5 BARUCH BULLA

6 OSSUARY OF CAIAPHAS

7 PONTIUS PILATE INSCRIPTION

8 EKRON INSCRIPTION

9 MOUNT EBAL ALTAR

10 UGARIT

Wed, Aug 8th - 8:52PM

That's what Christians do