NEW RELEASE

Spring into the New Year with fresh new concepts from the second edition of my first book!

I Had my friend, Rich Shaver, here helping me upload this picture. It does not show the real cover of my newest edition of my first book, but it has the background.

I love the stairway. It really resembles the stairs that Joseph climbed when he was finally summoned out of prison and appeared before the king of Egypt. He never descended those stairs to slavery again!

John 8:36 tells us that if Jesus has set us free we will truly be set free. Romans 6:14 says that sin has no more dominion over us!

Order your book online in English or in Spanish from www.StonesOfGold.org and find out how to see your God-given dreams come true! 2010 is the year for us to live life with a purpose.

This is the last picture I have of my mother (age 97) and me in her apartment.

While we were waiting to do a family conference call during her transition into the nursing home. I felt like writing. I wrote this the day before Thanksgiving, Novermber 25,2009

Time ticks on and yet stands still.

I await the call but wish it would never come.

The past has become the old

and the old must become history.

How can I embrace the new?

"the new"...strange words, and yet we face them everywhere.

Some 'news' we embrace--new shoes, new sunrises, new cars, new toys

But what about the 'new tomorrows' - the new that we don't know?

The shoes that we can't be fitted for - the srormy horizonswe never expected

Or perhaps we'd put it off into the distant future.

But now tomorrow becomes today - to time frames collide into one.

How then do I embrace the new?

The familiar becomes the old. The familiar home. The old clock on the wall. The old address. The tattered old blankieThe door so gladly opened - now securely locked for its final time.

How do I embrace this new?

What have I that's's hidden secure? What have I to bring me into the new?

What jewels/ What treasures? What gold have I for tomorrow's today?

Where find I hope, my strength or my faith?

What hand have I told hold to guide me into tomorrow's today?

I solemnly wait...timeticks on and yet stands so very still.

I search my heart for what I need to embrace - tomorrow's today, the old turned new!

yes, there's a hand - A tug at my heart - The call has come and I have found God's grace was on the line. For He has borne my sorrows. He has carried my grief. I can let go of tomorrow for today I find grace to embrace the old tunred new.

Today I find grace to embrace the old turned new - my tomorrows today

Sometimes Blessings come in Disquise.

It's Thanksgiving time...a special time to be set aside for the giving of thanks. There has never been a Thanksgiving time in our country which compares to today's. We have never had so much gross darkness released into the avenues of government as we currently face. There has never been a time when evil has been as bold and blatently obnixious as it is in this post modern society.

So how does that dovetail in with being thankful?

The answer is simple. Evil is darkness and God is light! We are the children of light if we have come into the family of God through the sacrifice and blood of Jesus. He has been raised from the dead. His resurrection power is like a light switch being clicked on in our hearts! We have the true light which lights every man who comes into the world.

So let us begin by thanking God for The Light of Jesus Christ. Who He is and Who He is in us! Many of life's most precious blessings come wrapped up in difficult situations. Just as the pearl is developed from an irritating grain of sand in the shell of the oyster, so godly character is to be created in times of adversity.

I have often heard preachers say that we are to thank God in all things, but for any of us to step across the line and say that we are to thank Him for all things becomes quite difficult!

Ephesians 5:20 may point us to the very root that we need to begin forming a grateful heart. It says, "Giving thanks always for all things unto God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;"

May our pain transform us into resurrection's praise!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009!

We all Need A Vision

Did you ever watch how a young child will claim a certain toy as their own? "Mine! Mine!" Then soon there is a tug of war! That is the time a parent needs to step in as referee and begin teaching lessons on sharing. As life goes on there will be times when we will have to say, "Mine! Mine!" That is because God wants us to have our very own vision. He has designed us for a purpose and a plan.

The wise man in Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish."

Tommy Barnett has a rather humorous slant to defining the necissity of having a vision. Here is what he says. "Without people, the vision dies, without vision the people find another parish."

A vision gives us a sense of purpose. It is what our future looks like while our mission is what we are called to do. These are things that we have to have for our own. We cannot live another man's vision. We must possess the vision, not just see it. We must take a hold of our God-given vision until that vision possesses us.

The book of Revelation shows us the vision John had. Paul had a vision of Ananias, while Ananias also had a vision of Paul. God desires to speak to us through visions. These will do three things for us. They will define our purpose in life. They will direct our activities for the present and the future. They will also generate energy to keep us motivated.

Vision is a "beyond" word. It spurs us beyond ourselves. It lightens a pathway the reaches beyond the present perspectives, and vision gives us strength to fulfill a cause which is beyond any natural ability we possess.

Let the vision speak. Let it be for the sake of transformation. Let it change every hinderance. Let it lead you into the future. Habakuk 2:2 tells us to write the vision and then wait for it if it needs be. If God has spoken to you, don't let anything extract it from your life.

Focus for Christmas

Lydia Chorpening

Shell Lake, WI 54871
Phone: 715-731-0035





A Focus for Christmas


Last week I was looking forward to a day in Eau Claire and shopping in my favorite craft store. This rare treat was meant to help me find creative supplies for my Christmas cards and letters. I needed something to convey an expressive message of God’s love wrapped up in Christmas.

The loaded isles failed to inspire me. I loitered in front of displays of paper, stamps, stickers and ornaments. As my energy waned and I had found nothing that depicted the birth of our Savior or which inspired me. I stopped a young employee and asked, “Can you show me something in your store that depicts the real meaning of Christmas? Do you have a nativity or anything portraying the birth of Jesus?”

He looked puzzled and finally led me to a woman his senior. She graciously searched the shelves with me and turned up two rubber stamps which had a resemblance of the real meaning of Christmas. I asked her to report my sorrows to her management.

While our President identifies himself with the Muslims (check out: www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=tCAffMSWSzY#=28), we can hold on to our Christian roots and reclaim territory for Christ. We can begin with focused trips to the malls.

If you’re shopping and feel like dropping it may be because:
You’re in a store that’s void of meaningful Christmas content.
You’re looking at seasonal displays with mere “holiday greetings.”
You’re trying to find Christmas in the ash heaps of humanistic distractions and secular displays.
You’ve joined the multitudes who shop for things they can’t afford to impress people you don’t appreciate.
You know you’re digging a grave of debt which will not glorify the Christ of Christmas.
You realize that as soon as the celebrations are over you’ll be sinking into the emotions that come with leftovers…useless and crumpled gift wrap, dirty dishes, discarded or fought over toys, unneeded items, overstuffed stomachs and an overload of sweets.

All this is to say, if you’re shopping until you’re dropping (which was my case) you need to stop! You may need to return some of the things in your cart. Here are questions to ask before you reach the register.
Are you buying to impress or to keep you from looking cheap?
Are you shopping because it’s a tradition?
Do you have things at home that will put more meaning into Christmas than the things in your cart?
Are you buying to meet someone else’s needs?
Are you loading your cart with gifts that will glorify the Christ of Christmas?

Here are some things that help make Christmas meaningful for me.
Displaying my nativity scenes.
Speaking up for the cause of Christmas.
Sitting with a shut-in or sharing a meal.
Sending cards and letters with messages of God’s redemptive love.
Baking something to share with a lonely neighbor.
Family time and meaningful conversation.
Singing carols of Christ’s birth.

We can make a difference in our homes and communities without spending a ton of money which we can’t afford.

If you go to www.StoneOfGold.org you will see the newest edition of my book which will make a very meaningful gift.

Today the family was here for our Thanksgiving celebration. Here is a picture of the grandchildren enjoying their dinner.

My Mother

My mother is 97 years old and has been in excellent health. I have been concerned about her seditary lifestyle, but she is 97 and why hound her about moving about and getting out for walks if she would rather sit and watch pictures on her photo frame?

Well, it has caused clots to form in her blood and lodge in her lungs. the last two days have been pretty rough for the precious lady I know at MOTHER! She was taken out of her comfort zone. This tramatized her and mixed up her thinking. The tests were experiences that she could not understand and other care proved to be humiliating to her.

We are eager to get her to my sister Sarah's house and get her on Reliv. We have had people who have had blood clots disolved while taking this nutrition. Mother's doctor said that we could do what we felt was best.

Praying for her is of utmost importance. Our conversation needs to remain positive and music and old hymns with help her keep her mind focused. I talked to her last night and again this morning. I felt that both calls went well. The one this morning was quite good as we sang a couple of old songs.

I had her sing a song of her choice.
She sang her heart's desire.
"Away to the harvest, the fields are now white..." and I don't Know all the words, but it ends with, "the Rapture is coming and it won't be long."

So this shows that in her churned up thinking patterns she is still crying for souls to come into the kingdom. She would love to be taken up in the rapture, so we need to be sure we are ready and also that we are bringing souls with us.

My mother is one of only a few in her catagory. She has held onto her convictions and still loves to recite the first part of Romans 8. Say a prayer for Katie, a mother of 6 living children, a grandmother, and greatgrandmother of a troop!