My Message From God - Christian Spirituality

This is a special article to me and I would like to share it with you. It seems like, every one that I have ever met, who refers to themselves as Christians, have received a special message from God.

I would like to share my message from God with every person in the world.

Why would God go out of his way to create evil people? To create people that wouldn't convert to his religion. To understand the true meaning of the one true religion. To have the ability to comprehend the truth and wisdom of Christianity.

I have been listening to Christians for years, talk about evil, the influence of the Bible on Christians, gifts from God, questioning their beliefs, lacking understanding for things that God doesn't give them or things that he takes away from them and excluding sinners from their lives.

I've been listening to Christians talk about love and caring, but excluding sinners, homosexuals and women from their church. Not allowing women to hold decision of authority or allowing them to perform certain tasks, inside of the Church.

I've been listening to Christians, quote from the Bible, with limited knowledge of the origins of that individual Bible verse, let alone the origins of their church or how Christianity was formed.

I've listened to them judge me for my beliefs and condemn others for theirs, while they are telling me about decision's they are making within their own lives, that don't support Christianity.

Just because you go to church, read the Bible or simply believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, doesn't make you an educated Christian. It only makes you a Christian.

My message from God is simple. Learn more about Christianity and this will allow you to do one of two things. Either you will become a stronger Christian or you will relinquish your beliefs in Christianity.

Either way you will have learned more about Christianity and could consider yourself an educated Christian or simply an educated person.

Advanced Bible Study

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author and a inspiration to millions of people. He has been involved in religious research for almost 30 years, and his influence in the Christian community is growing. The Holy Bible, is the core to Christian beliefs and most Christians don't even question it. Was the Bible actually written by men?

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with advanced biblical knowledge, answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

Click here if you're a Spiritual Chrsitian.

When Do We Get to Meet God's Parents?

If God is the creator of the universe, who is the creator of God? When I was born, I had a mother and a father and supposedly the two of them together had created me. One could not have created me without the other and therefore I am a product of my parents. I know who my parents are and I even know who their parents are but who is God's parents and were we made in the images of our parents or creators.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth but before that, we know very little about God. Did he have brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, grandparents and even God parents. If he did have brothers and sisters, did they create worlds like he did or she did, we don't know whether God is a man or a woman, transvestite, homosexual or a combination of all of these. We really don't know what God is, even though Michelangelo painted him on the Sistine Chapel.

In the book of revelations it mentions, Revelation 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." God says that he is the first and the last, does this mean that there was no one or no entity before him. It goes back to the chicken and the egg, what was first the chicken or the egg, no one knows. Well god knows doesn't he. I don't know why I keep referring to God as a he but bear with me on this one.

I wonder if God was disciplined as a child or even if he was a child. Maybe God was born a full grown person or even a mysterious entity in the form of a smoky cloud. That couldn't be, because God made us in his image and I'm sure that his mother and father look like us. Well, hopefully they look better than us, maybe someone like Brad Pitt or Jennifer Aniston. I hope that he wasn't an ugly person or entity. That would be discouraging.

I guess that's enough of the humor, I rarely hear anyone talk about, who created God. If God formed out of nothingness, why couldn't our earth have formed from nothingness, without God. If God did have parents, brothers and sisters, have they created other universes and what is the purpose of their creations. Are we just one big experiment, part of a big science project?

Anyone interested in using this article to make a movie, feel free to use this information at no charge, I would love to see the movie, when it's done.

Good Christian News

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

If you're really seeking the kingdom of heaven, the glory of God and the true vision that Jesus had, check out some great Christian articles. These articles are designed to teach and educate Christians.

Walk With Norse God Odin - Become a Rune Wizard

Rune - Wizard - Odin

As an aspiring Rune Wizard, it is important that you connect with the energies of Odin, the All-Father. He is the master Norse Sorcerer, Wizard, Shaman, and Magician.

When I say connect, I mean you must build resonant frequencies within your own Aura to Odin. What energies we carry in our Aura attracts people, places and events into our lives.

We don't want to use out dated Asatru and Viking Rituals that bring us back into the time of Odin and the Vikings. We want to bring Odin into the 21st Century so he can walk with us and guide us into the NOW.

Speaking of the 21st Century, we are now in the galactic space called the Age of Aquarius. Our whole Solar System has rotated around the Galactic Sun. We need a new paradigm for contacting and attracting the wisdom and energies of the Runes and Norse Gods/Goddesses.

The Age of Aquarius has given us the Laws of Quantum Physics. The Laws of Quantum Physics have given us the language we can use to build our new paradigm.

Simply stated: the Laws of Quantum Physics tell us that there exists an infinite ocean of thinking, intelligent energy called the Quantum Ocean. It is for all intents and purposes the Mind of God.

Everything that ever was, is or will be exists in the Quantum Ocean. There is no time, no past, present nor future. There is only the NOW. There is no space only the HERE. That is a good definition for the Creator God, an infinite point called the HERE-NOW.

The runes and Gods/Goddesses of the North all exist in the Quantum Ocean in the Here-Now. As a Rune Wizard, you will want to contact and connect with the energies of the Runes and Odin in the HERE-NOW OF TODAY. You don't want to go backwards. You want to bring the energies of Odin and the Runes to you, in the now.

How do you get the energies within your Aura so that you can use and communicate with Odin and the Runes?

The Laws of Quantum Physics tell us that what you think upon you will attract. Thoughts and symbols are all tools that you can use to connect with Odin and the Runes.

Therefore, on a daily basis, have thoughts of Odin, meditate on his image, inhale his Runes into your Aura.

You can simply start by holding the print of Odin in your hands and looking at it. Do this in your favorite chair every morning, before leaving the house to go to work.

Now, mentally inhale and intone, "I am now making contact with Odin and I am bringing him and his wisdom out of the Quantum Ocean and into my Aura where I can talk with him and use his energies.

Do this three times. Talk to Odin in your mind. Visualize him sitting in the room with you. When you leave your home bring him with you in your car and take him to work with you.

Befriend him. Talk to him. Feel him. Soon you will know him and you will feel him in your every day life. Ask him Rune Wizard questions. Keep a notebook with you at all times and record your impressions, thoughts and intuitions.

You want Odin and his wisdom in your life? Build resonant linkages. I did and I met him on a snowy evening in the mountains of Pennsylvania. I wrote about it in my book "Conversations with Odin."

Ellis Peterson AKA Ragnar Storyteller is a retired math professor and electronics engineer. He has been studying astrology, runes, radionics, metaphysics and alternate healing treatments for over 30 years. He is 70+, in very good health and lives in the boonies of the Pocono mountains with his wife Lory. His writings are unique and refreshing. To see more of his writings visit his websites.

http://www.olevikingshop.com/

and

http://www.runes-for-health-wealth-love-now.com/

Or go to goggle and type in his pen name RAGNAR STORYTELLER for his listings. He is also a ghost writer and will write and article for you. Email Ragnar for his FREE 10 PART MINI-COURSE, "How-To use Quantum Physics in Your Every Day Life to Attract More Wealth, Health and Love, Now." You can contact him by email.

epete@ptd.net

The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle

Jim Rohn has been writing and speaking on success for over 40 years. He has been called America's Foremost Business Philosopher. He does not disappoint in his little book, The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle.

For those familiar with Rohn's work the themes and stories in this book will be mostly familiar. Even if you have heard Rohn speak you will benefit from reading this book.

Rohn approaches success through five factors, or pieces of the puzzle. They are Philosophy, Attitude, Activity, Results and Lifestyle.

Jim Rohn's chapter on Philosophy can be summed up in his quote: To have more we must first become more". He teaches that we make our own future. Like many other authors of note he stresses taking responsibility for our lives. He teaches that to have more we must be more. He reminds us to work on ourselves first and foremost to make ourselves more valuable in the market place and to achieve more. He then takes the reader down a road teaching how you can and should improve yourself so you can be more.

In his chapter on Attitude he stresses the importance of our attitude in all things. He teaches the value of being present, of learning from the past, and of applying those lessons to the future. He teaches how to plan for the future building on the lessons learned in Philosophy.

In Activity he tells us that no matter how well we plan and how clever we are if we do not act on our plans no progress can occur. All achievement is the product of our action. He stresses the need for sound planning and discipline.

In Results he discusses the measurement of what we do to learn how to improve on our results. He then discusses the importance of expanding our capacity and improving our results.

In Lifestyle Rohn points out that you do not need to be rich or powerful to enjoy life and live with a touch of class. He gives good examples of this and how to enjoy life without the need for conspicuous consumption.

In his conclusion Rohn discusses the importance of a sense of urgency in what we do. Our time is limited and our opportunities are numbered. He stresses that we must exploit that time and opportunity for once it passes it is lost. He also compares the level of success of those who have a sense of urgency with those who do not.

In these 121 short pages Jim Rohn teaches many of the most important principles of success and achievement. This little book is worth its weight in gold.

1991 Jim Rohn
Dickinson Press Inc.
Southlake, Texas

Daniel R. Murphy -- helping people build wealth through self education and development. For more Free Special Reports and other information leading to personal success and financial independence visit http://www.books2wealth.com.

Check out what we have to offer. Sign up for the free ezine, Creating True Wealth, bringing you book reviews and helpful articles twice per month to help you build wealth, manager your time and achieve success. You will secure your future through your continued education and self improvement.

Looking for a New Home or Property - Incorporate Good Feng Shui

Looking to purchase or upgrade to a new home or abode? Consider, incorporate and move long the riverflow of Feng Shui.

When you are considering upgrading or revamping to a new home look for a location that fits with the natural landscape and landscaping. Very simply put if you have to do major renovations to your property - then you are going to interfere and cut into your land's natural energy as well as your properties symmetrical and balanced energies.

If at all possible, choose a house that is high on a hill, without super tall trees and with plenty of natural wildlife - such as songbirds and chipmunks. Unless you are living in a prairie try to be on that higher ground - or at least on the higher side of the street, avenue, road or lane. All in all your property will have more lifeblood, prosperity yet privacy and ultimately good luck and karma.

In terms of real estate and real estate agents and vendors always stress the following concerns and points when searching for that "perfect home".

First that the block should be rectangular. Bays and coves are just not that good when it comes to Feng Shui home considerations. If a rectangular, balanced form block is not available the next choice is a landscaping setup where the layout of the land and property is wider at the back end than at the front portions. Wealth and luck flows this way foreword. In fact triangular blocks tend to be stagnant in nature and powers as they gather up qi at their 3 corners.

If you can gather and chance upon a property that has an outlook over water at the front this is marvelous and most preferred. Whether it is a lake, bay or even along a river is great Feng Shui. Being along the ocean itself can command great powers. However if you are along a stormy coast - then the energies involved and dissipated might not be as wise a choice. In the same vein it is best to avoid a block of land next to a drainage canal. This goes without explanation. Canals are meant to drain away all the worst residues, left over products and excesses. Why tempt fate and dilute your good luck and fortune.

In terms of trees and landscaping of the property - it's a two way street. The initial landscaping on a property may well indicate the powers and lay of the land.

On the other hand trees and bushes can grow, can be watered. Additional trees and bushes can be planted. Overall it is good to choose a nicely planted and maintained yard. However ensure that your land is not closed in by large, oversize trees which are taller than your house. Chalet or cottage or block it, Large trees, as well as other large homes nearby, can cause you trouble and hardship sine they can easily block vital qi.

Lastly look at the very condition of the property, its vegetation and "wildlife". All of these factors are both indicators and markers of the very qi of your new abode and life. Vegetation should be bright and shining. The land should be moist - not too dry, too damp or wet and sodden. The birds should be singing and chirping, the neighborhood cats and dogs alive and playful. All f this means for a good solid life and growth for yourself and your family. Feng Shui.

Morris E. Brown
Sell Your Manitoba Cottage
http://www.sellyourmanitobacottage.com
http://www.qualityhotelwinnipeg.com/
Appeal Your Realty taxes
http://www.realtytaxconsultant.com/

Sustainability in Your Living Room

The art of Feng Shui often brings furniture arranging and artwork to mind for many people and a small portion of that is true. But Feng Shui is also about sustainability, a term you will be hearing more about in the months and years to come.

Sustainability is the "characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely," as defined by one source. It's basically making the best -- and longest -- use of things we create and own. So when I refer to decluttering and moving things on to other people and recycling, it is all part of sustainability

Here are some examples of how they work together:

No matter what school of Feng Shui you follow, one of the most important steps is to start by decluttering, When you declutter, you gather up items to discard, recycle, donate to Goodwill or pass onto friends and family members. As you go through this process, it is important to keep only what you are using at the moment.

In keeping with the concept of sustainability, you will be moving things from your environment to give to others so they can find a use for them or recycling the items to give them new life. Decluttering has to happen or you can't even get to the root of the goals of Feng Shui.

Keep in mind that as older adults we recognize that our children aren't going to use all the items that we've stored in the attic. Members of the Now generation purchase their own goods without relying so much on parents to provide these items. Not only that, you have been keeping items in the attic that are only there to collect dust. The accumulation of such materials can create a drain on your energy, something none of us need, especially since these items aren't being used for long periods of time.

I encourage you to take a new look at your home when you do your Spring Cleaning. Start by de-cluttering the house before you start cleaning. Follow these three simple Feng Shui recommendations:

1. Start decluttering by removing extra items from your home to allow you to redecorate or clean the space the way you want to. This symbolically means that you are allowing more opportunities to come into your life. Don't forget to recycle or donate items to your favorite charity.

2. Next, have your decorations support your ability to achieve your life goals. This is simply done by looking at the Bagua * (pictured here) and selecting which area in your life require the most energy. For example, I will be placing my 3-way lamps in the Relationship area of my house to support and maintain personal and business relationships.

3. Finally, renew the energy of your house for Spring by adding special touches like your favorite music, beautiful flowers or perhaps a wonderful, light lemony smell.

Surrounding yourself with things and people you truly love and following some basic Feng Shui recommendations will create a sustainable and balanced environment for you and your family for the New Year!

*The Bagua is the symbol of the map of Feng Shui that can help you increase the harmony of your home or office. Looking at the graphic, you can see that the Bagua can be changed to resemble a tic-tac-toe diagram of the nine areas of our lives. As you walk into a home or a room, the Bagua will show you where each of these aspects fits and what colors and elements need to be represented in those sections of the space for the chi energy to keep flowing in a positive way. (Keep in mind that the basic Bagua map is not compass driven.)

Yvonne Phillips is a National Feng Shui Practitioner, Author and Speakerwith over 18 years of experience. Yvonne is certified with Feng ShuiInstitute International and has trained with world famous Feng ShuiMaster Lillian Too. As owner of Creative Color & Design, she incorporates Feng Shui principles into both residences and businesses, from small businesses to large corporations. Please visit http://www.fengshuiabc1.com for more information. Send an email to YvonnePhillips1@aol.com for a FREE article on Feng Shui Tips for the Bedroom.

Feng Swhat? An Introduction to Feng Shui and Home Decorating

Obviously you have come to this page to find out about this home decorating application known as Feng Shui. The significance to interior design is beneficial but it's not as much about design tools as it is about a life style of beliefs and related actions.

Though unfamiliar to our Western culture it has been practiced in the Eastern hemisphere for thousands of years and is far more profound than the oversimplification we are applying here.

The most basic foundational energy source within Feng Shui is the Yin and Yang of 5 Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water which is believed to be universal energy that runs through in and around everything and everyone.

The center belief of those who practice Feng Shui is one of understanding this balance of energy in all areas of life. By practicing its disciplines you will not only be decorating your home but directing life energy that will increase wealth, improve health, and enjoy peace in your intimate relationships.

Some would consider this a form of religion - others a spiritual discipline. As you read through this page you decide. Certainly, Frugal is not attempting to instruct but rather to introduce you to the home design principles found within the study of Feng Shui.

Let's start by defining Chi Energy - the Feng Shui energy that moves amongst all objects. There are 2 main types:

Sheng Chi Energy - The positive energy. This is the good, healthy, positive energy. Happiness abounds within and without. You feel organized, light and airy. Fresh flowers, fresh air, bright cheerful sunshine is a good image for Sheng Chi energy.

Sha Chi Energy - When everything seems to be going wrong and the dominate mood is one of anger, unhappiness or lethargy. You feel ill more times than not and nature seems bland and lifeless. Friends and family appear gloomy and discouraging.

Within these 2 main identifying energies the primary goal of Feng Shui is to attract the Sheng Chi into our lives much like a magnet to metal.

To do this we now need to introduce a few magnetic forces that are believed to be within the home design arena.

Doors - the placement, color, condition, direction of opening, size and style all affect the levels of Chi in your home.

Plants - Using dried flowers of any sort is a strong magnet for Sha Chi (negative energy). Use only fresh or live plants throughout your home. Never use a cactus as an accent, It is believed to be the most "unlucky" of plants.

Live in Your Rooms - rooms designated for only special occasions build unused stagnate energy and can counteract the more positive spaces in your home. "Dead energy" can exert a bad influence and can cause illness to the people who live there.

Mirrors - placement of mirrors within your home needs to be considered carefully. For example, a mirror should never be placed in a bed room - it interferes with restful sleep. On the other hand it can place in a small foyer to create more space a light. Perfect for dining area or foyer.

Organize and Declutter - Everything in your home should serve a purpose and be in good working order. Too much stuff and the energy cannot flow easily. Chipped dishes, burned out light bulbs, repair and replace or your energy resources are draining away.

Keep The Bathroom Door Closed and the Toilet Lid Down - Believe it or not this is one of the most important rules to having and keeping wealth. The Chinese believe you literally flush your wealth away when you do not keep your toilet lid down or your bathroom door closed!

Get a Pet! Pets move around and help circulate the energy. Any healthy living animal: dogs, cats birds, goldfish brings good energy into a home. But, if you don't take the time to treat them properly - then it will attract Sha Chi.

Use Water Fountains or A Fish Tank - This elixir to all life is a huge magnet for attaining wealth. Place a small bubbling up fountain in your home office - it's sure to bring success!

Avoid Art that suggests Unhappiness or Aloneness - Place pictures that have more than one person or animal. Solitary trees and flowers are to be avoided over landscapes and floral arrangements. Think life, companionship and sharing depicted in your wall accents.

Now that you have an idea as to the surface elements of Feng Shui understand this is just the "tip of the iceberg" and to truly benefit from these lifestyle designs one must incorporate the more comprehensive aspects of this discipline and applications of the energy sources listed above.

Along with energy that flows around us, it is also believed we possess a luck Kua number and a predominate direction of East or West which powerfully influences the positive experience in our lives. The position of our rooms - the placement of furniture - our wall color - the accents we choose all significantly influence the energy in our homes.

To summarize, at the risk of gross oversimplification, Feng Shui is the embracing of all that is vibrant, alive and fresh and cleansing from all that suggests confusion, darkness, depression and death.

Feng Shui fits perfectly to the needs and aspirations of every heart that desires to make a house a home. Regardless of how deeply you believe the spiritual aspects,the benefits found in its application are self evident.

Life over Death - Love over Hate - Peace over Conflict - Who can argue with that?

Sue Krippner is a Free Lance Artist, Home Staging and Redesign Professional. She is attracted to "all things beautiful, especially as it relates to interior decorating and design.
Visit http://frugalhomedesign.com to see samples of her art and find plenty of professional design, tips hints and secrets to help facilitate your personal interior design goals with money saving frugal flair.

Feng Shui Kitchens Are the Center of a Home

The heart of the home is the kitchen.This is where families eat their meals, gather to talk, and is often the area of the home that friends and family congregate for good food and conversation.From both a practical as well as symbolic point of view the kitchen is a place that nourishes us and contributes to a prolonged life.In Feng Shui kitchens are a sign of abundance and wealth.

Ideally a kitchen would be located in the center of the house, ensuring that the abundance, wealth, and the positive energy is kept inside the home.If the kitchen is located too close to the front door or any back doors it is possible for all of the positive energy that is created in the kitchen to escape.

In a kitchen that is in tune with the principles of Feng Shui, the food you eat will provide not only nourishment but also provide your body with positive energy.The food you consume provides your body the fuel it needs to live, and if prepared in a kitchen with a harmonious flow of energy the food you eat will also be in tune with your body and nature. Happy atmosphere = happy meals = a happy family.

Incorporating healthy, natural foods in our diets is part of good Feng Shui. Eating Organic fruits and vegetables, and other foods that are free of preservatives and dyes are healthier, better for you, and provide more of what the body needs for an optimal lifeforce.There are other areas in the kitchen that can help you maintain a healthy balance in your life and a positive energy, including;

1.Ensure that your kitchen is warm and inviting.Natural light is best, but regardless; ensure that the kitchen has good lighting.Play with the window coverings or curtains to allow light to filter in naturally and remove any obstructions that may exist.Adding a skylight to your kitchen can be a great way to get additional natural light if needed and generally does not cost that much.

2. Eliminate clutter where every possible.This goes for the entire house, but clutter is something that has no place in the kitchen. Having your countertops covered with electrical appliances can create negative Chi in the kitchen.Use the rule of "a place for everything and everything in its place." Store little used appliance in kitchen cabinets or storage cabinets in some other part of the house.Wash dishes when they are dirty and don't allow a sink full of dishes to pile up, which can also bring down your personal Chi.

3.Plants help clean the air in your house, and add life to your kitchen - literally!Hang green plants in a window where they will receive fresh air and warm light, and will help remove unwanted household odors and fresh oxygen in to the room.Placing fresh cut flowers on the kitchen table or another countertop provides positive energy and is an instant pick-me-up.Keeping a bowl of fresh out on the table is a great way to not only add color and a spark to a room, but provides your family with healthy snacks to nourish their bodies.

4.A yellow or pale green are the best colors for a kitchen.These colors will naturally aid digestion, and pale green is also great for influencing wealth and success.

Whether you are just beginning on the Feng Shui path or if you have traveled this road for some time, applying the basic principles of Feng Shui kitchens will improve the health and happiness of you and your family and implementing these ancient practices can only mean great things for you and your family.

To learn more about Feng Shui Kitchens and how to incorporate these ancient principles into your home decorating visit: http://www.fengshuilight.com

Sustainability in Your Living Room

The art of Feng Shui often brings furniture arranging and artwork to mind for many people and a small portion of that is true. But Feng Shui is also about sustainability, a term you will be hearing more about in the months and years to come.

Sustainability is the "characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely," as defined by one source. It's basically making the best -- and longest -- use of things we create and own. So when I refer to decluttering and moving things on to other people and recycling, it is all part of sustainability

Here are some examples of how they work together:

No matter what school of Feng Shui you follow, one of the most important steps is to start by decluttering, When you declutter, you gather up items to discard, recycle, donate to Goodwill or pass onto friends and family members. As you go through this process, it is important to keep only what you are using at the moment.

In keeping with the concept of sustainability, you will be moving things from your environment to give to others so they can find a use for them or recycling the items to give them new life. Decluttering has to happen or you can't even get to the root of the goals of Feng Shui.

Keep in mind that as older adults we recognize that our children aren't going to use all the items that we've stored in the attic. Members of the Now generation purchase their own goods without relying so much on parents to provide these items. Not only that, you have been keeping items in the attic that are only there to collect dust. The accumulation of such materials can create a drain on your energy, something none of us need, especially since these items aren't being used for long periods of time.

I encourage you to take a new look at your home when you do your Spring Cleaning. Start by de-cluttering the house before you start cleaning. Follow these three simple Feng Shui recommendations:

1. Start decluttering by removing extra items from your home to allow you to redecorate or clean the space the way you want to. This symbolically means that you are allowing more opportunities to come into your life. Don't forget to recycle or donate items to your favorite charity.

2. Next, have your decorations support your ability to achieve your life goals. This is simply done by looking at the Bagua * (pictured here) and selecting which area in your life require the most energy. For example, I will be placing my 3-way lamps in the Relationship area of my house to support and maintain personal and business relationships.

3. Finally, renew the energy of your house for Spring by adding special touches like your favorite music, beautiful flowers or perhaps a wonderful, light lemony smell.

Surrounding yourself with things and people you truly love and following some basic Feng Shui recommendations will create a sustainable and balanced environment for you and your family for the New Year!

*The Bagua is the symbol of the map of Feng Shui that can help you increase the harmony of your home or office. Looking at the graphic, you can see that the Bagua can be changed to resemble a tic-tac-toe diagram of the nine areas of our lives. As you walk into a home or a room, the Bagua will show you where each of these aspects fits and what colors and elements need to be represented in those sections of the space for the chi energy to keep flowing in a positive way. (Keep in mind that the basic Bagua map is not compass driven.)

Yvonne Phillips is a National Feng Shui Practitioner, Author and Speakerwith over 18 years of experience. Yvonne is certified with Feng ShuiInstitute International and has trained with world famous Feng ShuiMaster Lillian Too. As owner of Creative Color & Design, she incorporates Feng Shui principles into both residences and businesses, from small businesses to large corporations. Please visit http://www.fengshuiabc1.com for more information. Send an email to YvonnePhillips1@aol.com for a FREE article on Feng Shui Tips for the Bedroom.

Waiting For Grandparentinghood

Becoming a grandparent was a long time coming. I was well past 50 when this life-changing event occurred. I had begun to resign myself to the fact that it would not happen to me. After all my daughter was over thirty before she got married and she had announced some time before that babies were not on her agenda.

Therefore, it was with great joy and surprise when the announcement was made that a new member of the family was on the way. Now I had nine months to fantasise and imagine what he or she would be like. My knitting needles were immediately retrieved from their attic residence and employed in producing numerous matinee jackets, booties, hats, and gloves which was needed for a winter baby. My only regret was that as I was still employed full time I would not be able to spend as much support time with her as I would have liked.

Welcome to my grand daughter

At last the wait was over. A phone call had me rushing in a taxi to her side with an agonisingly slow journey to the hospital where I was privileged to be present at the birth because it was so quick the midwife was taken by surprise. I now had a beautiful granddaughter. This was not a biased grandma talking, she was beautiful, and still is. I spent the first night of her life with her mother, father and herself in the birthing room.

Since that momentous day, I now have two more grandchildren, another girl and a boy. It is greatly educational when we get together. The girls are always eager to tell us what they have been doing since we last met, whether it's traveling, visiting their friends, or telling us what they do at school - there is always something new for us to learn from them about their views on what they have experienced and about their individual personalities.

Enjoying life through their eyes Their obvious pleasure at seeing us whenever we arrive always brings a lump to our throat. My babysitting duties are frequent. Nana is for reading stories - or being read to - and granddad is for climbing over, wrestling with, making up silly games and trying to outwit him with whatever way they can devise.

With our grandson - at two years old it is too early to define his character accurately as yet. He sees his sisters as one entity rather than two separate people and spends most of his time trying to emulate everything they do. It is interesting to compare his behaviour to that of the girls at his age.

So for those of you who are waiting for this special event in your life, it is an awesome experience - and like childbirth, difficult to explain to someone who has not experienced it as yet. But I can truthfully say that the pleasure, enjoyment, and benefits are all well worth waiting for.

Marion works for a publishing company and loves researching the internet. Visit my Blog at: http://www.marionsreview.blogspot.com

Stealth Health

Sneaking healthful ingredients into food has been a tactic used by moms since the first mom disguised vegetables from her picky eater by mashing them to make soup. There have been numerous books written which offer ways to sneak nutrition into meals.

Hiding nutrition is helpful in the short-run, but I believe the goal should be for children to learn to enjoy the various textures and flavors of whole foods. There isn't one good reason why whole foods shouldn't be your youngster's Preferred Food! Now is the perfect time to start.

Taste for nutritious foods can be acquired at any age. The first step is to limit sugar and junk foods. Cooking delicious wholesome meals definitely will move your picky child in the direction of healthy eating. Casseroles are a way to meld flavors of healthful foods usually refused, like spinach, so that they are acceptable. The spinach takes on the other flavors in the dish.

Then you'll want to incorporate multi-sensory learning at the table. When you include all your youngster's senses, you open the door to learning to enjoy healthful foods. Speak to your child about the foods attributes. Then smell, touch, experience a new or refused food before you ask that a taste be taken.

Super foods can be disguised to help build super strong kids. Stealth health is valuable while you're in the initial stages of transforming your child to a healthy eater. Stealth health can be especially helpful, if your picky eater is very limited in her choices, especially when it comes to vegetables.

Whole foods are a vital part of the healthy eater equation and should be integrated from the very beginning of your child's eating transformation. Especially during the initial process, you'll want to slip them into things he's already eating.

Often it's as simple as changing from an inferior brand of bread to a nutritionally-packed one at your grocers. It's supercharging a breakfast fruit smoothie with flax seed oil, barley green, or powdered acia berries or vitamin C. Other times, it's making a healthful pureed vegetable soup for the vegetable-challenged child. Once veggies are no longer recognizable (because they have been pureed in the blender) a picky child is none-the-wiser she's eaten something healthful. One of the most fun approaches, as well as challenging, is integrating snack and dessert items they aren't only tasty, but healthful.

Nonna Joann Bruso is the author of "Baby Bites: Transforming a Picky Eater into a Healthy Eater." "Baby Bites" is a guide for parents of Picky Eaters that actually works. In only 7 days, your finicky child will be tasting new foods!

For more information on healthy family cooking go to: http://www.babybites.info and http://www.nonna.libsyn.com.

Twelve Pillars by Jim Rohn and Chris Widener

Jim Rohn has been imparting wisdom and sharing his success philosophies and principles for over thirty years. Chris Widener is a rather newcomer to the field of personal development compared with Rohn, but he has also shared the stage with some impressive people sharing his wisdom through speaking and writing. Now these two personal development professionals have teamed up to write a short little novel that contains a tremendous amount of wisdom in twelve secrets of success.

The book, titled "Twelve Pillars," is short, only 120 pages, and very easy to read. It is a story of a young man named Michael. After his car breaks down, Michael meets an old man named Charlie. Charlie teaches Michael about the twelve Pillars of Success. The Pillars, or lessons, are very simple, but that does not mean they are not extremely powerful. If you really take what Rohn and Widener are teaching through this story to heart, you will undoubtedly achieve more and live a more productive and happy life. You will live a life that is much more fulfilling and be rewarded with more meaningful relationships.

Just because the lessons are simple, does not mean they are necessarily simple to incorporate into your life. However, if you have this little book there to remind you and keep you on track, you will surely become a more successful person.

I really enjoyed the story and I'm sure I'll read it again and again each time I need a quick boost and reminder of those things to focus on. It is such a quick read with so powerful a message, I'd encourage everyone to read it more than once. Let the lessons these two teach sink in and make sure you act upon them.

"Twelve Pillars" by Jim Rohn and Chris Widener will surely inspire you to take your life to the next level and beyond. It will challenge and encourage you to become the best that you can be. All you need to do is read it, learn from it, and take action on the twelve pillars of success.

Alain Burrese, J.D. is a mediator/attorney with Bennett Law Office P.C. and an author/speaker through his own company Burrese Enterprises Inc. He writes and speaks about a variety of topics focusing on the business areas of negotiation and success principles as well as self-defense and safety topics. He is the author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks, several instructional dvds, and numerous articles. You can find out more about Alain Burrese at his websites http://www.burrese.com or http://www.bennettlawofficepc.com

Home Selling Tips - Best Real Estate Advice Ever

One of the most important things to remember when selling your home is to keep it as clean as possible. If you need help or don't have the time to organize your stuff, you can hire a home staging professional in your area. Ask your real estate professional for more information.

1. Remove any clutter from the home and place it in storage. Do not store this stuff on the property if you don't have enough room. Storing clutter in closets or in your garage, will often make these areas look smaller. By removing clutter or even large pieces of furniture, the rooms will look larger.

2. Disconnect yourself emotionally from your home. This is a big problem for people who have lived in their house for long periods of time. If you've raised a family here, the children could have emotional ties also to the home. Some home sellers are looking for someone special to buy their home, if you've got the time and money to wait, you can be selective but be careful, because the longer you wait, the market could go up or down.

3. When your real estate professional is showing the house, it's always a good idea to leave the home until the potential homebuyers are gone. One example of this would be if you were in a bad mood or didn't have a good day and were a little upset at the world. Your mood could cause potential homebuyers to lose interest in the property. I've seen this more than once.

4. Make sure everything is operating properly. This would include doors, door knobs, windows, kitchen appliances, garage door openers, cabinet drawers, bathroom fixtures, toilets, faucets, lights, switches, electrical outlets and anything else that moves, slides, turns or rotates that is part of the home.

5. The Interior and exterior walls of the home should be in good shape. Make sure there's no termite damage, wood rot, peeling paint, broken windows or holes in the walls.

6. Make sure the flooring is in good shape. Some real estate professionals will suggest, replacing the carpeting with a neutral color. This method often works pretty good but I have seen plenty of homes that were re-carpeted and after the home was purchased the carpeting was replaced again, by the new owners. Just make sure the flooring is in good shape.

7. Here's a trick that definitely works a little magic when selling a home. Leave some cookies or a nice fruit bowl on the dining room table. There is no need to leave a sign that says "Eat Me". It gives the home a warm feeling, almost like a country atmosphere.

8. Even better than home selling tip number seven would be baking some cookies just before the perspective buyers arrive, it's not the cookies, it's the smell from the cookies that most people cannot resist.

These are just a few home selling tips but the most important is to keep the inside and outside of the home clean.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a home buyers guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

Don't buyers sell a home without checking how the problems with poor home repairs.

Was Jesus A Good Example

5 Secrets For Breaking Your Bad Habits

By nature, we are all creatures of habit. We instinctively adopt familiar routines for most activities. We eat about the same number of meals each day - at more or less the same times. We have a regular pattern of sleeping - unless it is perturbed by illness or shift work. Most everything we do is habitual.

You probably eat three meals each day, but why? Why not two or five? There is nothing particularly "natural" about our pattern of eating three meals each day - it is just a habit that we share with most of those around us. Actually, a number of studies indicate that eating five smaller meals is more satisfying and healthier than eating three large ones.

You will always have habits - things you do regularly and without conscious thought - but you do have the ability to CHOOSE your habits. Here's how...

1. Begin to pay attention to WHAT you do, WHEN you do it, and WHY you do it. One of the bad habits I fell into was eating a large dish of ice cream in the late evening. Obviously, "ice cream" was the "what," but the "when" was more than just "in the evening." "When" was times I felt stressed, hadn't had a satisfying dinner, or was bored. "Why" was mouth sensation, having something to do with my hands, and sometimes hunger.

2. Keep a journal of the "what", "when," and "why." Make an entry whenever you find yourself doing something that isn't really your choice. You will find that you gain better insight into the "when's" and "why's" as you get more entries in your journal. Soon a pattern will emerge that can enable you to find healthy habits to replace the harmful ones.

3. Look for other activities that would satisfy the "when" and "why." A hot bath for stress, hard candy for mouth sensation, a good book for activity, a warm bowl of soup for real hunger.

4. Make the undesirable activity difficult. Don't keep the cigarettes or ice cream in the house. When ice cream was in my own freezer, it was hard to resist, but when eating a dish of super chocolate chunk required a trip to the convenience store, it was much easier to turn my attention to other activities and a low calorie snack - if any snack at all.

5. Begin new habits not only because you need them to replace unhealthy ones, but also because they are the things you always wanted to do, but couldn't find the time or money. That book club or yoga class makes a great substitute for the eating or smoking, and you can more than pay for your health club membership with what you save on cigarettes.

Sign-Up for Jonathan's Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote email, and read his article: 7 Secrets for a Happy Life.

Jonathan Lockwood Huie is an author of self-awareness books. He has been dubbed "The Philosopher of Happiness" by those closest to him, in recognition of his on-going commitment to seeing Joy in all of life.

** Today is your day to dance lightly with life. It really is. - jonathan lockwood huie

Nailing Or Screwing Drywall

Nails versus screws who will become the winner. When drywall first came out the installers used everything from regular steel nails to galvanized roofing nails. After a short amount of time they started to develop major problems from nails popping out of the finished drywall.

Nail popping results when the nail is driven into moist lumber and as the lumber shrinks the house settles and nail can actually pop out to the walls. Hard to imagine the nail could actually pop out of the drywall as the wood was drying out.

How far the nail would actually pop out was determined by how far it was driven in to the framing studs or ceiling joists. Well pretty soon drywall installers started to use ring shank nails to eliminate this problem. This worked great but these nails were hard to drive in and would often break.

As time went on the nails improved and were made out of galvanized metal with cupped shaped heads and came in a few different sizes. The size of the nail used was determined by the thickness of the drywall. These new nails worked great and had good holding power and eliminated a lot of nail popping.

Using nails means driving them in with a hammer. If you miss the nail you damage the drywall. This seemed to be a big problem and was virtually eliminated with the screws.

Well pretty soon people started using screws which had greater holding power and pretty much nail popping. Another advantage to using screws over nails is the simple fact you need less screws than you do nails to attach the drywall to the metal or wood framing.

This means less labor installing and finishing the drywall.

There is one problem with the screws and that is they have to be set perfectly. They can not break the paper surface on the drywall but have to be set enough into the drywall so that it can be finished properly. Most screw guns have an adjustable setting used to get just the right depth for the screws installed in the drywall. But this also was a problem when screwing into a hard piece of wood you can actually snapped the screw head off, strip the screw head or break the screw.

Nails on the other hand can bend while driving them into a hard surface.

Who wins the nails versus screws while installing drywall? I have got to give it to the screws. That doesn't mean the nails just got screwed or the screws just got nailed.

I couldn't resist. I actually preferred the screws over the nails except for when nailing the drywall corner bead on. Some drywall professionals use nails to hang the drywall and go back with a screw gun and some screws to finish the job. The nails sometimes seem handier than the screws when installing the drywall.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and Carlsbad Home Improvement

Are Christians Really Interested

Why Smart Goals Don't Work - And What to Do About It

Each year, I receive at least half a dozen identical articles touting the benefits of SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. SMART goals are increasingly seen as the secret to personal and business success. Unfortunately, it's a pretty safe bet that most of these goals will go the way of the proverbial New Year's resolution. Why? Because none of these articles actually tell you how to make SMART goals work. In fact, most people who try the SMART approach for any but small and relatively easy goals frequently find themselves frustrated and disillusioned.

Well-constructed goals are extremely powerful tools for getting things done, increasing concentration and motivation. Successfully completing a well-constructed goal builds self-confidence. Unfortunately, creating a well-constructed SMART goal is not quite so simple as the average article makes it out to be.

To begin with, a specific goal is only useful if it's something you can control. Although this may seem obvious, the fact is that far too many people set goals that appear to be under their control, but really are not. For example, consider the athlete who sets the goal of winning an upcoming tournament: it's specific, it's measurable, it has a time of completion associated with it. Is it achievable and realistic? Depending on the athlete's level of skill, very possibly. However, the athlete has no control over the difficulty of the competition. He may simply be outplayed by a more skilled opponent.

Furthermore, although the goal is measurable, in that the athlete will know whether or not he accomplishes it, the measurement is not particularly useful. At no time will he know how close he is to accomplishing the goal, where he needs to focus his energies, or what else needs to be accomplished. The athlete is far better served by setting the goal of exercising certain key skills in the competition, skills that have a high probability of leading to a victory. Not only will he gain the self-confidence boost of accomplishing his goal, he may just win the tournament.

Another problem is that a goal is simply too big. If a goal takes years to accomplish, it can be extremely difficult to maintain motivation. Big, ambitious goals are wonderful, but they need to be carefully structured. It is vital to break them down into subgoals that can be accomplished in a much shorter period of time. The perception of progress is critical to maintaining motivation, whether for an individual or a team.

Having too many goals is another common problem. Well constructed goals are great, but if you have too many of them at once, they become a distraction. Many people can focus on three to five unrelated goals without a problem, but not ten or twenty. Keeping in mind that each goal might generate numerous subgoals along the way, it's easy to see how having more than a few key goals can easily balloon out of control.

Is the goal something you really care about? Many people have goals that they don't really care about. Perhaps they've been told it's something they ought to do or they believe they should do, but they don't really care about the outcome. If you don't care whether or not you accomplish a goal, it's hard to find the motivation to do it.

Used properly, SMART goals can be a very powerful and effective tool. Well-constructed goals can increase motivation, improve focus, and build self-confidence. Used improperly, they can decrease motivation, and destroy self-confidence. If you're using SMART goals, here are some questions to ask yourself:

Do I control the outcome?

Can I measure progress in a meaningful way?

Is my goal too big? Can I break it up?

Do I have too many goals? Is there enough time in the day/week/month to work on each one?

Do I really care about my goal? Is this something I genuinely want to accomplish?

Good luck!

Stephen Balzac is the president of 7 Steps Ahead (http://www.7stepsahead.com), a consulting firm based in Stow, MA. He can be contacted at 978-298-5189 or steve@7stepsahead.com

Removing Interior Walls

Here's a word of advice for any contractor, Carpenter, handyman or homeowner that is planning to remove an interior wall from your home or someone else's. Beware of removing interior walls, to eliminate your fears of the house collapsing. Some of the interior walls inside of the house are important structural components of the building.

Some of these walls hold up floors, roofs and other loadbearing sections that could create safety problems within the structure of the house itself. This is an area where an expert with framing skills should be consulted. What is the definition of someone with excellent framing skills? Some one with at least 10 years as a master framing carpenter.

My home building experience consists of three decades for over 30 years of assembling some of the most difficult sections of a home. During these years I have seen damage done to houses from removing structural interior walls. Most of this damage could be repaired with a little structural engineering. Some of the damage could not be repaired and caused other damage to different sections of the house. The damage caused in some cases to the floor and the roof framing had to be completely rebuilt.

I'm not telling you about every single thing I have ran into but you would be surprised if I started to make a list of all the homeowners and professionals in the building industry or home selling and buying business that contacted me to remove a structural component of a building. There have even been a few of these people that told me everything was going to be okay just go ahead and remove the structural building component.

Needless to say I would leave these people very irritated but I'm sure they found someone to do the job. The bad news is I was normally the person they would hire to go back and repair the damaged building after these people were gone and out of business. There have been cases where people have removed an interior walls against my better judgment and over the years of driving by in these homes I personally got to witness the structural damage that was occurring on the outside of the house.

I have no idea what the inside of the house looked like but could only imagine. My advice again when removing interior walls is to hire an experienced contractor or at least get some advice from an experienced framing carpenter. This does not include your basic know it all that has basic construction experience like your father in law, parents, friends, golfing associates or people you work with that tell you not to worry about it, just do it, everything will work out just fine.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and What Does A Shear Wall Do

Wrong With Bible Verse

Beyond Positive Thinking by Dr Robert Anthony - A Book Review

Another exciting self-help book. This time it is by a Doctor and has studied human behavior for many years. Beyond Positive Thinking is packed full of powerful ideas. He also talks about the same stuff as James Arthur Ray in Harmonic Wealth. They both talk of quantum physics.

An important part of the book can be summed up in 3 words; Be Happy Now.

He starts off by saying that we are responsible for our own actions. Our word is Law in the Universe. Most of our beliefs and ideas come from the past and no longer serve us at all. We have to let them go and get some new beliefs. We are to have a vision of ourselves based on truth.

Everyone has a subconscious mind and it is this mind that can guide us to better circumstances and conditions.

Many of us are on a self-destructive mission. We say don't tell me anything that is in conflict with my beliefs, I already have them all ingrained in my mind and anything else will only mess them up.

Got a goal in mind? Keep it to yourself. Telling others will just weaken your motivation towards it. Telling others will only drive them to tell you it won't work, get out while you can and you're wasting your time.

He goes on about being around negative people and how they can rob you of you own creative power.

Too many of us operate on the premise of Seeing is believing. Those people are in for a big disappointment in their life. Believe it before you even see it, it is with this knowledge that the universe comes through.

Choose to make positive choices in your life.

Choose to feel good. Choose to laugh. Choose not to criticize others. Make positive choices for you.

Face your worries, it is only you that gives them power.

This entire book is full of really incredible ways to live life with the Universe, and not against it. It has true to life examples illustrating what life was like and what it could be. This book will have you squirming in your chair as I'm sure there are parts that you will disagree with. Once you put these skills in practice you're going to be saying, You know what? He was right!.
Thank you Dr. Robert Anthony.

For some free e-books on success please go to my home page: http://spiderweb.shawwebspace.ca or leave me a comment.

Checking the Building For Square

The most important thing when building a home is the ability to keep everything as square, plumb and level as possible. Starting with the foundation, if the foundation is not square or level, the rest of the house is going to be out of alignment.

You've probably heard the saying, start with a good foundation. This applies to the building industry as well. There are quite a few ways to build a square foundation, it all depends on what kind of tools you have, to build it with.

Some of these tools can be quite expensive but it used every day can save you a lot of time and of course time is money.

You don't need expensive tools to build a square foundation. You could actually build a square foundation with less than $100 worth of tools. It might take you a little longer but could be done.

Let's start with the 3 - 4 - 5 rule.

Okay lets see if I can explain this in layman's terms. If no West side of the foundation is 3 foot and the north side of the foundation is for foot, then the diagonal measurement from the southwest corner to the northeast corner would be 5 foot. Out of square building can create foundation problems

This can also be done using 30' x 40' should equal 50 foot. You can use this if the building is large and you need to check it for square.

By measuring the foundation diagonally from each corner, the measurement should be exactly the same. If it isn't, the building is out of square and should be adjusted before the concrete is poured. This measurement should always be checked before you get too far along in the form building process.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If your having problems in your attic, find out more at concrete contractor basics and home building ideas.

Using Words In The Bible Effecti

How to Self Help Technique to Help You Remember People's Name

Some of us have trouble remembering people's names. Have you ever noticed that many people can remember nearly everyone's name? Isn't that a cool trick, don't you wish you could do this? Well, guess what; you can and it is not really that hard. Remembering people's name will help you do all you do better and improve your relationships in the world.

Developing a strong self help strategy to remembering people's name is very possible and by doing this it makes people feel good, trust you and feel as if you care. The first step in remembering names is to pay attention when someone gives you their name.

Look them in the eye and repeat their name out loud; "You are Bill." And then say, Hi Bill, it's great to meet you. Then during the conversation, use their name at least once and then when they leave say to them; "Nice Meeting You Bill," and shake their hand and look them in the eyes when you say this.

Many psychologists recommend taking a person's name and playing around with it. If the person's name is bill, think of a duck bill if he is wearing a hat. If he is overweight think of a Bill as a "hill" and use a trick of memorization by association. I have talked to people about how they remember my name using this technique and they say my name is Lance and I am tall and slender, thus I look like a Lance!

The first time someone told me that, I laughed, I had always assumed I just had a unique name that was easy to remember. Actually, that is true too and it has helped people remember my name. You must use what works for you, but repeating their name in conversation and concentrating on names, well that is just half the battle, a war you can win!

Lance Winslow - Lance Winslow's Bio. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/.

New Versus Old Lumber - Structural Failure

During my 30 years of remodeling and building new homes. I have ran across quite a bit of structural framing failures. I find myself answering this question a lot when explaining to a homeowner about the structural failure I am repairing on their home, "Why Didn't They Use Better Lumber" or " Why Didn't They Use Larger Lumber." I really have a hard time answering these questions because I honestly don't know the answer.

However I can try to use some logic and reason to give these people an answer that seems to make sense to both of us. Why didn't they use better lumber, quite simply because, with most older homes that were built before the 1970s they actually do have better lumber. Now you're probably thinking how can these homes have better lumber when the lumber is old versus the new lumber used in a brand new house.

Most of the structural repairs I have made over the years has nothing to do with the lumber and whether it was new or old. A large number of these repairs were caused by neglect and poor maintenance.

The lumber in most older houses are from older growth trees. Some of these trees were extremely large and only the premium parts of the trees were used. The premium lumber is cut farthest away from the center of the tree. Now the larger the tree it makes sense that there will be more premium lumber.

A large majority of the newer lumber used in home construction comes from trees about 6 inches in diameter. Now you're probably wondering how can they cut a 2 x 8 piece of lumber out of a 6 inch tree. Of course they cannot, the larger lumber comes from larger trees.

Most 2 x 4's that are less than 8 foot long can be cut from these trees. This scrap or waste that comes from cutting these two by fours will now go into engineered building materials like particleboard, oriented strand board and engineered beams. Another name for an engineered been would be a paralam.

I hope you're starting to get the picture now when it comes to using new or old lumber. There are companies that are going into old logging rivers and retrieving old growth lumber. These were logs that sank to the bottom of the river's and were never retrieved because it was too costly.

The old growth lumber is quite expensive. Who's to say what problems we will happen in the future from the newer products created with modern day technology. When it comes to building houses it is not an exact science and as contractors we have been repairing the damage from poor engineering for years.

When I use the word poor engineering I am not pointing fingers at engineers. We now have more knowledge about home construction then we had years ago.

New versus old lumber, who wins the battle. Only time will tell.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and Structural Repairs.

Personal Development

Motivation Can Combat Bankruptcy

Personal financial management skills have never been so important in the history of mankind as they are now. The liberal terms and superfluous marketing techniques employed by credit card providers has made bankruptcy a term so popular that even grandmothers can tell you its meaning and even quote some sections of the ACT regulating bankruptcy.

Found in this article are the hidden potentials of motivation to help shield you from bankruptcy. Motivation is the working force of every strong desire. Without motivation, you will agree that all your desires to get out of debt and possibly avoid filling in for bankruptcy will all be in vain. Below are some tips that when backed up with motivation will help you get out of that debt that may lead to bankruptcy fast.

Self-control/Self denial and Discipline: Any human being on earth who does not have self-control, self-denial and discipline will find it very difficult if not impossible to make it in life. Credit/debit cards are like loaded gun given to a drunk. A person who lack self control and is not able to discipline him/her self is likened to a drunk handling a gun that is well loaded in the gathering of people. Self control and its associates will help you forgo certain things that are not essential (i.e luxuries). This self-control cannot be found outside motivation. A depressed, stressed and frustrated individual can never be disciplined or have self control.

To get yourself motivated, simply remind yourself that you love yourself so much that you cannot afford to risk losing all the benefits that is associated with clean financial records. Keep an eye on maintaining a clean financial record ( i.e making it your goal) i bet you will always be motivated to have self-control.

Financial Literacy: If you really want to manage your credit and avoid bankruptcy, or even get out of a near bankrupt situation, financial education is one thing that you must seriously consider. I am not saying that you take up a course in finance or accounting. No, what i mean is to always use other peoples' expertise (OPE). You can find quality financial planner online or offline. Discuss whatever venture/purchase you want to make with him/her. Ask for their opinion. In fact, ask them to tell you the financial implications of what you are about doing. Though there is nothing wrong with you being a little friendly with "figures" but you can still get away with it.

Developing a thick skin to compelling adverts: Advertisers and marketers are always researching ways to make people spend even when they don't want to spend. This is their job and they are obliged to it. And it is your sole duty to learn to say no to certain fantastic offers.

Record keeping: This will help you in the area of being disciplined. By keeping records of all your financial transactions, you can effectively and efficiently manage the possible temptation posed by advertisers

Applying common sense and being focused: Make a rational judgment as to what and what you need to buy and what not to buy.

Okwuduche Chinweike is an accountant who found joy in helping people come out of the shackles of financial illiteracy. This he does at http://motivationmotive.com/personalfinance

You can also meet him at http://www.accountantnextdoor.com for some healthy financial tips.

Putting God on Trial

I was listening to something interesting the other day when someone mentioned putting God on trial for some of the atrocities in the world. If God is the creator of the universe and all that is, or all that ever will be, how can we put him on trial, he's our creator. We can't put our spiritual master on trial can we, he'll just escape anyway if we convict him, won't he. He's got to be smart enough to break out a prison.

As a child I often thought about God and why he would allow such suffering throughout the world. It never made sense to me when I was child and it still doesn't make sense to me today. Why would the creator, want us to suffer, with even the littlest of problems. Other religions have explained it as if God was teaching us a lesson and that's why we have hardships in our lives.

Do you think God ever went through these hardships? Did God have problems finding a job or gathering some food? Does God even eat? Okay now I'm getting off the topic here,(I wonder what God does eat)... if children do something wrong, most of the time their parents will discipline or correct them. If adults to things wrong, the government will discipline and reprimand them. Sometimes these punishments can be severe. It depends on the crimes committed.

If man has to be put on trial for committing crimes like murder, genocide, and general atrocities towards mankind, should God also be put on trial or is he above man because he's God. I can't imagine the creator of the universe ever being put on trial for man's crimes against humanity or other men, but it seems like someone who is all powerful and all knowing could help his children out of this little mess that we're in today.

Couldn't God help us like we help our children. We as parents might not have all the answers, but we do not claim to have them. We are not all powerful and all knowing, like we would assume God to be. When is God going to help us solve some of our major world problems, like genocide and starvation.

Putting God on trial might not solve all of our problems today but it would be nice to have some help with our problems. If he created us to please him, do we have to go on trial one day, for all the things we did or ignored while we were alive. Something to think about isn't it.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing and personal development. Check This Out What Happened to the Wise Men's Gifts

Greg is currently working on a video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Spiritual Dictionary

Individuals and of the Earth

Today, many people on the planet are in need of healing and are suffering through difficult times - some physically, some emotionally, some due to what appear to be external circumstances. In reality, the earth itself is undergoing a global purification which is causing many to experience an upsurge of both emotional and physical difficulties. We are not yet accustomed to thinking of everything that is physical as having a spiritual root, and yet this is what is taking place as purification advances upon the planet. Many nations, as well, are experiencing a similar kind of upheaval related to planetary purification. The purpose of this movement and, indeed, of this turbulence, is to free the self of formerly blocked negative energies and ultimately to create greater freedom for each self and for the planet as a whole.

The purification of the individual and of the planet operates according to similar principles and the healing that is made possible through both is the same. Light intensifies in its potency, creating a separation between energies of light and darkness. The darkness, once separated, moves from a dormant state into the light of awareness where it can be seen, and felt, and released into the infinite light of God. During this passage, things that were held in the body because they were too painful to feel things that may have manifested as longstanding physical or emotional symptoms may intensify in their level of activity while at the same time becoming available to our awareness again. On a planetary level also, things that were latent within human consciousness are now more readily acted out upon the world stage because what was hidden is now revealed, and what has become more conscious has a greater possibility for becoming active in its expression. The purification that is taking place in a general sense means that people will feel more that things will come up more frequently and with greater intensity on all levels in order to be healed. This is the result of the greater efficacy of light upon the earth, and though its immediate result may be disturbing in certain respects, it is simultaneously creating the possibility for greater freedom of people everywhere to live in love, in peace, and with a sense of unity with all of life.

The increased possibility for dealing with formerly concealed or dormant energies that are now making themselves known, creates entirely new possibilities for healing at this time. This can include physical, mental, and emotional difficulties that are acute, or those that may have troubled us for years. The power of light that is now more available on the planet is already infusing our physical, mental, and emotional bodies. Through understanding the process and through working with it in a conscious way in a way that focuses on the incorporation of greater light into the body and consciousness - greater healing of pain and suffering that relate to the time we are in can take place, and discomfort and distress can be alleviated.

There are many avenues of working with light for purposes of healing and purification, some more powerful than others. Some take place through meditation; some through participation in the synergy of light-filled groups; some through being in nature, and some through spiritual practices which focus more directly on alignment and on breathing in light for the purpose of healing painful areas of life, whether physical, emotional, or any other variety. Commitment to such a practice can go a long way toward concentrating light in the body for purposes of healing. It can also create a heightened awareness, simultaneously, of our deeper identity as spiritual beings.

For additional writings by Julie Redstone see Pathways of Light. For a deeper understanding of healing through light as it relates to pain and suffering, see the Calendar of Healing.

Ways to Stop Losing Your Car Keys

You obviously don't need to read this article if you rarely lose your car keys. However if you misplace your car keys often and have a pretty good relationship with your locksmith, it's time to change these bad habits into good ones.

One of my friends, recently lost their car keys. I would like you to listen to what I'm about to say and see if it makes sense to you. Most people get two keys when they buy a car. This means, if they lose one key, they now have a spare key. When they lose their first key, this should give them a pretty good clue that the second key is now the only key, if they wish to drive their car.

Does that make sense? If you lose your first key, you don't have a second or spare key anymore. Now is a good time to purchase a spare key or have one made. Don't wait until you lose the second one, unless you are planning to change your bad habit into a good one.

Now let me get back to my friends who recently lost their car's key. The car they were driving was a new Honda and you can't go to the locksmith to get another key made. You have to order one from the Honda dealer and this key cost them over $200. That's a lot of money for one key.

Now my friends lost both of their original keys and now have one key to operate the vehicle and this key cost them over $200. Now if I had to pay this amount of money, I would make sure that I never lost this key ever again. I would do whatever it to to change my old habits and create some new ones.

How hard is it to get in the habit of placing your keys inside of your purse. Placing your keys in your pockets and then only removing them when you are going to place them inside of a drawer, container, cup, bowl or on a shelf in your bedroom. If you place your keys in a drawer, this will keep them out of other people's temptation.

If you choose to lay your keys in a bowl, in the kitchen, there's a good chance someone will take them or another member of your family could lose them. Place your keys in a protected area, do not leave them out in the open ever.

If you want some tips to prevent you from losing your keys, simply talk to someone who rarely if ever loses their keys. Most of these people have simple and easy to follow tips. You can consciously create a habit that can save you money and frustration in the future.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a spiritual video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Christian Articles

Loving From the Heart

True and honest love emanates from the heart chakra - a.k.a. heart center. The heart chakra is also where other virtuous emotions emanate, such as joy, happiness, honesty, respect, compassion, understanding, and generosity, and with loving oneself in a sincere, non-egotistic way. The heart chakra is through which you connect with others whom you love or have affection towards. Once forged, these links are very difficult to break, which is why people suffer so much through the break-up of a relationship or the loss of a loved one.

Expressing love can be as easy as giving a hug to someone after having established a connection. This gesture makes your love more powerful and the depth of what you feel more meaningful. By connecting with your heart chakra, you will be able to express the real nature of your feelings and spread love to all whom you encounter.

There will be times when you demonstrate your affection, and you might not feel completely honest and your actions do not match your emotions. Reaching within your heart and connecting to your spirit and the love that it contains, however, allows you to act from a place of purity and unconditional love.

Opening to your heart chakra strengthens the feelings you have for those in your life-family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and colleagues. When you are with people, you can imagine there is a golden light emanating from within your heart center. Contained within this light are all the love, peace and goodwill you wish for others. As you extend this love, picture this light expanding and enveloping them and you-thus, making it easier to communicate those feelings. You will find that expressing your feelings from your heart center brings you closer to others in a warm and profound way.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Author, "101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life." Dr. Dorothy has the unique gift of connecting people with a broad range of profound principles that resonate in the deepest part of their being. She brings awareness to concepts not typically obvious to one's daily thoughts and feelings. http://www.drdorothy.net

The Bible's Power Over One Child

I mentioned Sean in another one of my articles, the story of a young foster boy that we were taking care of. Sean's father was my ex-wife's uncle, and they were going through some tough times for a while and their three children ended up as wards of the state. We eventually ended up taking the oldest child because he was the hardest one to place and another home. His brother and sister ended up with a family that wanted to adopt them and eventually Sean went to live with them and I believe all three of them were adopted by this family. I don't know this for a fact though.

Sean was a emotionally damaged child. His parents would punish him with some strange and bizarre punishments. They weren't really physical punishments but seemed to leave the emotional scars on him and I often think about where he is and what he is doing.

We watched him for about a year and I learned quite a bit from this young man. He was in the third grade but was still at the first grade level for reading and math. I would spend a couple of hours each night during the week helping him with his schoolwork, I seem to have created some sort of allusion that I would be able to bring him up to the third grade level within a short period of time. Wrong. He must've had learning disabilities and of course I don't think I was that good teacher.

Sean was easy going, polite and extremely obedient. He would do anything to avoid getting in trouble and often blamed others for his mistakes. His punishments must have been more than he could bear before he arrived at our home. I think you're getting the picture about what kind of a child Sean was.

One day I found myself in a dilemma with Sean, I couldn't get him to tell me the truth, even though I knew he was lying. I forget what the problem was but I remember a hollow look in his face. It was almost like he wasn't really there. It was almost like he was just doing time, sitting on the bed, listening to me asking the same question over and over again, "Sean are you lying", but he wasn't even paying attention.

I normally would not punish my children for accidents, and never tolerated lying. I was trying to explain to him that he wasn't going to get in trouble, I just wanted to know the truth. He wasn't budging at all and stuck to his story. I remembered that his mother and father were Catholics and feared the church, almost as much as they loved it.

That's what I came up with my evil plan. I don't know where I come up with these ideas, but every once in a while one pops up in my head and I run with it.

I told Sean that I was going to bring the Holy Bible in, and if he could swear on the Bible that he was telling the truth, I would accept that and this would be the end of our conversation. I couldn't believe my eyes, as he started crying and screaming, frantically and excitedly as a yelled out, I did it, I did it, don't bring the Bible in, I won't do it again.

I couldn't believe that was all it took to get information from him. I have always been a pretty good interrogator and found myself gathering information from those people easily, but this was amazing. His fear of the Holy Bible got me thinking about how powerful this book actually is to some people. I remember when I looked upon this book, pretty much the same as Sean did.

It's just a book, like any other book. It's not made at a holy factory or a secret monastery in the Swiss Alps somewhere, it's made from paper and ink and can be damaged and destroyed like other books. I would be surprised if I threw the Bible into the fire, that it wouldn't burn. I would be even more surprised, if I seen three men standing in the fire, wait a minute that's another story in the Bible.

Is it possible for this book to actually control the lives of people. It seemed to control Sean, I wonder if I, could have actually been driving a nail home that his parents started. Could I have added to his belief, that the Bible is a book from God the creator of everything.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion. Simple Words Create Powerful Beliefs.

What Happens To Nonbelieving

Dream Big - Self Help Tips

If you are going to dream you might as well dream big. Too many people want to play it safe. You have to have enough confidence or belief in yourself to take a chance. No one ever became successful by playing it safe. Playing it safe will get you just that, safe. If you want the big pay off you have to take the big risks. You have to be able to dream big and plan to fail. Everywhere you look there are examples of this. Let me share just one story of many. We all know who Rocky is or should we say Sylvester Stallone.

If you don't know his story it is one to be respected. Rocky/Sly as most people call him, had a dream. He wanted to make it in Hollywood. He wanted to be a famous movie actor. So he wrote this thing called a screenplay about this kid named rocky that had a dream to make something of his life. Sly packed up everything he had into his broken down station wagon and headed off to Hollywood. When he arrived in Hollywood he started to shop around his script. Everywhere he went people turned him down. Many even scoffed at him. Then one day a big movie producer said they would buy the script and offered Sly a million dollars for it.

The only catch was they were going to hire someone else to play the part of Rocky. He turned it down. At that time he had no money, was living in his car and someone just offered him a million dollars and he turned it down! Why, because it wasn't his dream. It wasn't about the money. You see he wasn't just dreaming, Sly was dreaming big. He could've played it safe and took the million dollars but fast-forward a bit. Someone eventually did buy the script with the conditions he wanted and he did play the role of Rocky. He was also the 1st actor to demand 20 million dollars a movie and the rest is history.

Oh, by the way I had a small role in the movie Rocky V so I did get to meet him and Sylvester Stallone, in my opinion, is a true leader, difference maker, and a Champion.

And by the way, he really does talk like that... "Yo Adrian" LOL

Sylvester Stallone wasn't afraid to dream big, he wasn't afraid to fail.

Are you willing to dream big?

Are you willing to fail?

Real is an expert at helping people achieve their dreams & Goals.

You might recognize him as Lt. Taggert from the ABC Show General Hospital.

http://www.realandrews.com

http://www.realmlmsolutions.com

"THERE IS NO SUCH WORD AS CAN'T!"

"Oh by the way. YOU are a CHAMPION!"

New Home Buyers Beware

Ican't believe how many homebuyers purchase a house, with very little information and a Lotta hope. I'm a general contractor and often work on these homes, after they have been purchased and a homeowner has their money, the real estate professional is no longer involved in the transaction and the new homeowner is starting to experience the pitfalls from buying the home, that they sincerely believe was in good condition.

It's usually somebody like me that gets involved with the new homeowners after everyone else is out of the picture and chooses not to return their phone calls or explains to them quite simply, it's not our responsibility, you're the new homeowner and we really feel sorry for you, please call us again if we can help you with anything.

You couldn't even help me with that, why would I want to call you again if I had a problem. I never could understand this thinking but have ran into it often. It sounds like an oxymoron when someone refuses to help you but offers you help in the future. What ever!!!.

If homebuyers had something else to rely on besides their real estate salesperson, home inspection service, mortgage or insurance professional, I believe they can eliminate some of these problems. Where do you start and how do you get the information. You can gather information from reputable people, books, the Internet and so on.

The problem is how do you know these people are reputable and the books on the Internet have good information. This brings us to another problem, but I've got the solution that will help eliminate some of the grief. I'm not going to remove all of the grief from your life but have a suggestion for you that will eliminate some of the pain when buying a home.

Arm yourself with a good home inspection checklist. You can search the Internet and they have quite a few good home inspection checklist to work with. These checklist can provide you with things you might not have thought of, and this is where you can eliminate some of the problems.

If you took one of these checklists with you while you were shopping for a home, you would be aware of some of the problems with the home. You might not find all of the problems but these checklist will help you with some of the problems.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If your looking for some more home inspection or home building ideas.

Will All Men Ever Hate Jesus

Practical Affirmation - Focused Action

Everybody knows what an affirmation is, right? A little recitation you say a few times in the morning to make the mirror happy. Positive thinking. A gimmick. A cynic might perceive affirmations as naive self-deception or even as lies.

Sometimes it seems that way, doesn't it? You've chanted the phrase, "I am abundance and prosperity" a boatload of times and still have trouble paying the bills. You've affirmed, "I am the possibility of energy and vitality" and still you're exhausted. You've ranted, "I love and believe in myself!" with the best of 'em, but your self-esteem just doesn't take off.

Yet we also hear the magnificent success stories. Is there a trick to this affirmation game?

Yep. Sure is. And you're about to learn what it is.

Besides the actual language of the affirmation, there are a few more things that need to happen in order to bring the deal to life. Today, we'll be looking at action. Sometimes people get this part backwards, as I hope the following snippet will illustrate:

Me, to wellness coaching participant: So how has your self-image project been coming along?

Participant: I haven't done anything.

Me: We wrote out your action steps for the past week in your planner. Did you follow them?

Participant: Nope. Haven't even opened it.

Me: Why not?

Participant: Low self-esteem.

No amount of affirmation is going to overcome the refusal to take action. The average person, once they say they're going to do something, will set an internal expectation that they're going to do it. Sometimes something happens and it doesn't get done -- ever.

Typically, at that point the person will make up a story in their head about why they didn't do it. Next time a similar situation comes up, something like this will begin to play on their internal tape loop: "I didn't feel like doing it last time, so I didn't. I'm still alive. I survived without doing it last time. Guess I can survive without doing it again now. I'm off the hook!"

Off the hook, yes. Happy? Not a chance.

The person who gets caught in this feedback loop has just conclusively proved to himself that he is a liar. He said he was going to do something, and then let himself off the hook without following through. He is still alive, but he feels like a schmuck.

He also doesn't have the tangible outcome that the action would have produced.

This is what happened to Joe, who was recently laid off from his job as a carpenter. Things are tight. But his sister told him not to worry. She even helped him out by suggesting a calming affirmation:

"My family is securely provided for. All our needs are fulfilled."

Joe started saying the affirmation, just like his sister told him. The next night while spacing out in front of the TV, Joe got a brainstorm. "We've got a big backyard," he thought. "I'll plant a vegetable garden! At least we won't be hungry."

Next time Joe was at the store, he picked up a few seed packets. When he got them home, he read the directions on the back. Plant in well-prepared soil.

Joe, not being an experienced gardener, wasn't sure how to prepare the soil. He never got around to figuring it out and didn't plant the seeds. Now, 2 months later, he's short the cash he spent and has nothing to show for it.

"These affirmations don't work!" he moans. "I said it and nothing happened! Still no job, and we've about tapped out our savings."

As I tell the story here, it's pretty obvious that the affirmation really could have worked. Joe had the insight he needed. He just didn't follow through with action. To make matters worse, his mind is now telling him, "You're a guy who doesn't follow through. No point thinking up any more bright ideas, is there?" The door to creative solutions has slammed shut.

Oh yeah. Joe's job counselor says he has low self-esteem.

Had he planted the garden, chances are that Joe's self-esteem would have weathered the storm just fine. How come? Well, instead of eating frozen chicken nuggets and popcorn for dinner, he'd be fat and happy on fresh garden produce. The nutrition alone would have given him a boost. But that's just the beginning.

Had he planted the garden, Joe would have earned the right to think of himself as a resourceful individual who seizes inspiration, trusts his instincts, and follows through. That mental state would most likely have him think of a few other things, too, beyond the garden. He would most likely have followed through on some of those inspirations as well. Might even have gotten himself another job by now.

Focused action is one of the key factors that brings affirmation to life. Why not make a plan and try it?

Elizabeth Eckert coaxes, cajoles, and gently guides the creation of healing intent. She's the founder of http://www.wordcures.com and author of Word Cures: How to Keep Stupid Excuses From Sabotaging Your Health. Align your whole self for health ... starting today! Share "Arielle's" real-life success story and optimize your own natural healing energy.