Wednesday, September 29, 2004

BTK Gets International Attention

Thirty years ago, a notorious serial killer terrorized the entire city of Wichita. His killing spree included whole families, single women... It seemed there wasn't anyone who was safe. Just this year, however, he has reappeared; not in the form of a killer on the loose, but in the form of someone giving clues to the police and media outlets as to who he is and why he did what he did.

They called him BTK because of the way he tortured his victims. He would Bind, Torture and then Kill them. No one has been able to catch him. It is suspected that since he disappeared for 30 years he might have been incarcerated somewhere for some crime that he wasn't so lucky to not be caught at. But no one is sure.

All of a sudden, a British film crew decided to come to Wichita to do a documentary on the notorious killer, and they brought a psychic medium to help shed some light on the case for Wichita police.

You can read more about the story from KAKE TV's badly-in-need-of-editing story that they posted on their website by clicking here. Video is supposed to be included, but I don't have time to look at it to see if it works. Hopefully it does.

Bonus points to those who can list some of the items that need to be edited from the story.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

I'm CAST FREE!!

I had an appointment with my orthopaedic doctor this morning. A nurse removed my cast, then I had some x-rays taken. When I saw my doctor, he looked over my x-rays and said that I'm healing "pretty darn quickly" and that I didn't need to be recasted. he said I could go ahead and go into a cam walker (air boot) today! I'll have to wear it for three weeks before I can ease myself into shoes, but it's finally something I can take off! The first thing I did when I got home: shaved two months worth of hair off my leg.

On the job possibility, I still haven't heard anything. I called Friday and left a message on voicemail for the lady who's hiring. Nothing. I called back yesterday and left another message, then asked the receptionist when the lady would be available, and she said she wouldn't be back until next week. I hope the job is still available; I haven't had an interview yet!

Keep the prayers coming!

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Job Possibility on the Horizon

Yesterday, the Wichita Eagle hosted a Career Expo downtown. Since I'm in the market for a full-time job, I went, knowing that this would be the best opportunity I'd have for a long while to connect face-to-face with employers who are hiring NOW.

It was one of the last booths I visited: KPTS, a public television station in Wichita. The man behind the table had laid out two job descriptions. One of them caught my eye: Publications Editor.

I read over the job description and requirements, noticing that whomever they choose to fill the position must have a college/university degree and two years of experience, or a combination of education and experience. Hmmm... I've done almost everything on the job description in one capacity or another, and I've got a degree that's specific to print publications, and I've concentrated almost exclusively in editing.

I got out a copy of my resume and handed it to the man behind the table and said, "I'm your person!" He asked me for what position. I showed him the description and told him it was for the Publications Editor position. He looked over my resume and complimented me on it, then said that he wouldn't be surprised if I got a call later this week for an interview! He said the Marketing Director is doing the work of two people right now and they need someone to start immediately. I said, "Well, if you call me tomorrow, I'll be there!" He handed me an application, I filled it out and handed it back to him, taking his business card so I'd know who I'd talked to.

Please pray that I get this job. I've been searching for more than two years for gainful employment. My six day a month contracting job for the Eagle just isn't enough, and Ron and I could really use the income. I don't even want to think of what's going to happen if this job, like the five others I was previously offered, falls through. The last five places dropped the positions they were hiring for altogether because they ran out of funds and couldn't pay anyone.

Ron and I need your prayers now more than ever.

Friday, September 17, 2004

Mormon Complains about Christian Bible Study

At Washburn University, a public Kansas university in Topeka, a Mormon student was told that he could not lead a Bible study because he could not subscribe to the Christian association's beliefs that the Bible is the only holy inspired word of God. He complained to the university that the Christian group was discriminating against him on the basis of religion, and the university discontinued the group's subsidy and denied them a meeting place.

First of all, the university was playing politics. Second, in an effort to be open-minded, their brains fell out on the floor. If someone who isn't a Christian says he wants to lead a "Christian" Bible study, you have to raise flags! The Christian association involved has decided to file a lawsuit, saying that Christian groups have a right to discriminate on the basis of religion.

The student told NPR that he had offered to lead the study because he had experience as a missionary from his "church." When the sponsor of the group found out that the student was a Mormon, he told the student that he could not deliver the Bible study.

I don't know how Mormons can call themselves Christian. They are so obviously not Christians. Anyone who believes that Jesus and Satan were brothers who quarrelled for control of the world and that those humans who couldn't decide which one to follow were cursed with dark skin, are out of their minds! If they believe that any part of the Bible is true at all, they should be able to read enough and understand enough to know that these are lies! They go way beyond what any Christian body would believe.

In high school, I knew several students who were Mormons. One told me one time that she looked forward to "Heaven" because she could have horns, a tail and be eternally pregnant on her husband's planet/kingdom. I just smiled and nodded and said, "Okay!"

Did you know that the movie "The God-Makers," which exposes Mormonism for what it really is, is banned by the Mormon "church" so that its members will never know the whole truth? Ask any Mormon if they've seen it. They'll tell you they can't watch it. Or won't.

I think the Christian organization should have the right to discriminate on the basis of religion, if they plan to remain a part of the university and be listed among its organizations, which it doesn't have to do. I understand that it meets on public university grounds, but the university was started by Bible-thumpers, and I think that those Bible-thumpers are thumping their own kind. If need be, the group can have fundraisers to pay for a facility; I'm not entirely sure why a public university would fund a religious organization in the first place. That way, the group could discriminate between Christians and non-Christians.

We hear that if we're not open-minded, we're hard or we're unloving. I counter by saying, like I did above, that if you're too open-minded, your brains are going to fall out and get trampled on by every liberal foot that comes along, and you'll have no defense. If, at such a time, you try to defend yourself, you'll be counted as a hyppocrite. It's always best to stick to what the Bible says and not pray with pagans. Unless you're Benke. Then it's "okay to pray." NOT!!!

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

New Blog Up and Running!

Just so everyone can have a chance to look and see for themselves (or make suggestions -- or purchases), I would like to introduce my new beauty blog, Cosmetic Charisma. The link is on my sidebar directly under my link to my Mary Kay personal website.

I suggest that all women who have skin look at it, and all men who want to get on the good side of the women in their lives consider how wonderful their lives might be if they did something to help/compliment those women. (Face it, if the wife or girlfriend isn't happy, nobody is happy!) Men might even find some personal benefit, including new colognes and other items that will make them more attractive!

Any suggestions on how I might improve this website, or questions about specific problems or products are appreciated. This is going to be a lot of fun!

Monday, September 13, 2004

True Prayer that Offends

I got an e-mail from a good friend of mine today about a pastor who opened a session of the Kansas Senate with a prayer. He seems to have hit a lot of sore spots, seeing as a number of senators walked out during the invocation (which is what a prayer is called at the beginning of a government meeting).

Here is the text of the e-mail and prayer:


When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and call it Pluralism. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!"

The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea.

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, "The Rest of the Story," and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.

With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called "one nation under God."


It makes you think, doesn't it? I think that was exactly what some people needed to hear but didn't want to because they knew they were guilty and didn't want to acknowledge it, especially in a place where they usually make decisions about those things to which the pastor was speaking. They didn't know what to think, so they just got mad and left. Good for them. Maybe they had time to search their hearts and minds and let God work on them.

Sunday, September 12, 2004

For My 24th Birthday

Some of my favorite things happened today:

I got to sing the introit in church this morning as the cantor, something I've gotten fond of doing, and Ron said it was probably the best job I've ever done.

My mom had a strawberry shortcake with LOTS of strawberries as a birthday cake for me. I love anything strawberry, especially real strawberries.

I got to go shopping with birthday money for a new outfit.

And, to top it off, Ron took me to the movie of my choice tonight: "The Notebook." It's a fabulous romance story, and if you haven't seen it, you should. It's not often I get to choose the movie we see, but today was a special occasion. Thank you to all who made my birthday so great, especially my husband. I love you, Ron.

13 Days Only!!!

September 13, this Monday is Mary Kay's 41st anniversary and you get to take advantage of it.

This is all you have to do: Visit my Mary Kay website sometime during the next 24 hours or email me, order at least $13 and get a free gift.

Because this is my 24th birthday, anyone who places an order on my website within 24 hours (by 10 p.m. CDT on Sept. 13) will get a better free gift with a purchase of $24 or more.

Order at least $40 and get a cute little spa set with all 4 fragrance samples or just visit my website and order whatever you like.

Just remember, it must be at least $13.

If you call and I do not answer the phone, please leave a message!!!!

Have FUN shopping!!!

Saturday, September 11, 2004

Beauty and the Makeover

After much deliberation, I have decided to create a blog dedicated to helping people with makeup and beauty advice. Of course, I am biased since I represent America's #1 Best-Selling brand of cosmetics on the market. (If you don't believe me, check it out! Go to my website and click the link for more / company information.) After four years of being an Independent Beauty Consultant, I have learned a lot about what kind of makeup and skin care products work and what doesn't. Mary Kay is the ONLY cosmetics company that can provide picture proof that its products really work.

Mary Kay is the only cosmetics and skin care line out there that literally makes women look and stay looking younger longer. My mom is in her 50s, but thanks to Mary Kay, which she's been using for more than 30 years, she could easily pass for a 40-year-old. Part of it is good genes, I'll give you that, but Mary Kay has kept her from getting wrinkles. Imagine that! Being more than 50 years old with NO wrinkles at all on your face!

Consider this also: How many cosmetics and skin care companies will tell you that you can try every single one of its products to see if you like it or if (God forbid) you have an allergic reaction to it so you can try something else? Mary Kay does. How many companies tell you that even after you've sampled their products, you can return the products for an exchange or full money-back guarantee if you don't like it, if it doesn't look good, or you, in fact, do end up reacting to it? Mary Kay gives that guarantee on ALL of its products.

With Mary Kay, you have a personal consultant whom you can call anytime if you have questions. Our mission is to show our customers how to apply the skin care and cosmetic producs so that they can do it themselves. We guide them in makeup tips so they look the best they can. Most consultants keep an extensive inventory so we can be assured that the day a customer (new or old) orders products, we can deliver them the same day or next, barring being out of a certain product at the time it is ordered. This, however, can easily be solved in just a day or two.

Anyway, the point of my beauty blog will be to showcase my products and, at the same time, compare them to other products that are out on the market. Any questions will be promptly addressed and answered. As soon as my husband and I figure out whether Photoblogger works for Macs, and when it does, I will provide pictures of the products I sell, as well as those from other brands that I wish to make comparisons about, and (with the permission of my customers) provide the picture proof that I spoke of earlier.

Look for a link to this blog on this site, coming soon. (First, I have to create the site.)

Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

How Do You Comfort a Non-Christian?

My family and I have been friends with a Muslim family from Kuwait since about 1991 or so. They are just about as staunch in their beliefs as we are in ours.

We've invited each other to family weddings and other get-togethers, and have had a lot of fun together. The youngest daughter in their family is only one year younger than me. She got married in 2001, I think, or early 2002, and just recently had a baby. She and her family are really hurting now, though.

About a week ago, the mother had to undergo brain surgery to remove a benign, but growing tumor. The neurologists (including the daughter's husband, who practices in Texas) said that the most they could expect of complications might be some numbness in part of the mother's face or on one side of her body, and other side-effects similar to that. But now, it seems, there may be much more to it than that.

The mother woke up fine after surgery, but her brain quickly started swelling. Fluid was being drained off her brain. The doctor gave her medicine to induce a coma so she could heal, but they're not sure she'll regain consciousness. Internal bleeding started, and it's too deep to do anything. The coma medicine has worn off by now, and they're waiting for a doctor to do a final diagnosis. If she's found to be brain-dead, they'll have to unhook her from life support.

Now, I know that since she never accepted Christianity, but held to her Muslim beliefs that Jesus was merely a prophet and that her salvation depended on her husband, that she's not going to go to heaven if and when she dies. But how am I supposed to comfort her daughter? She's a close friend, and her family is like family to me and my family.

All I could think to say to her was that I was so sorry for her and that I was praying for her mom and the whole family. I mean, I know my prayer will be answered because I pray to the One True God. They don't. But answered prayer is not necessarily a prayer that is answered in the way you want. She may still die today. And that makes me very, very sad!

What am I supposed to say or do to make this grieving family feel comforted? I'm at a loss. All I can do is show them the love of a Christian, but I don't feel like that's enough.