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This is a fun and exciting time of year in the Louisville area. Almost everyone catches the Derby fever. There are so many different events for everyone to attend. A few of the many events include Thunder Over Louisville, the Pegasus Parade, the Balloon Glimmer, the Great Steamboat Race,  the Oaks, and of course the Kentucky Derby.

Each year when I was teaching I recall planning many learning activities associated with the Derby. Each year we would schedule a trip to the Derby Museum for the week preceding the Derby. It was always the favorite field trip of students, parents, and teachers too.  Not only was it beautiful with all the tulips in bloom, but also there was an exciting atmosphere. The students always loved the activities associated with the Derby and the visit to Churchill Downs was the culminating activity. To be able to watch the Derby with their parents on Derby Day and see the places they had visited was a fascinating experience for them.

Hope everyone enjoys the many fantastic Derby events!!!

Amber Dornfeld, a health, wellness, and business guru, is coming to a location near you to share her secrets of living and feeling well. Learn about a LIFESTYLE approach to better your future of health and wellness. Come and learn how to take control of your health.

Amber Dornfeld Event

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Crowne Plaza, Shakespeare Room

(by the airport)

830 Phillips Lane, Louisville, KY

Click here to REGISTER for the event!!!

Be a GUEST of Sandy Reynolds.

So, have you considered your goals for 2010?  If you are not a goal setter, then just choose some area or areas  of your life that you would like to improve. Decide how you would like for your life to be different. Would I like my deepen my spiritual relationship with Christ or even to become a new believer in Christ? Would I like to make changes in my marriage relationship? Would I like to improve my financial situation? Would I like to improve my overall health and maybe even lose weight?  These are just a few of the areas that you may wish to consider.

After choosing the areas that you would like to see changes, make a plan to achieve the changes in your life that you desire. Commit yourself to follow the plan and make yourself accountable to others. Don’t be one who does not follow through with the commitment to make those changes. You must follow through with the plan if you are going to see the desired results.

Wishing you all the best year ever!!!

GOLD, COMMON SENSE, AND FUR

My husband and I had been happily married (most of the time) five years but hadn’t been blessed with a baby. I decided to do some serious praying and promised God that if he would give us a child, I would be a perfect mother, love it with all my heart and raise it with His word as my guide.

God answered my prayers and blessed us with a son. The next year God blessed us with another son. The following year, He blessed us with yet another son. The year after that we were blessed with a daughter. My husband thought we’d been blessed right into poverty. We now had four children, and the oldest was only four years old. I learned never to ask God for anything unless I meant it. As a minister once told me,’If you pray for rain, make sure you carry an umbrella.’

I began reading a few verses of the Bible to the children each day as they lay in their cribs. I was off to a good start. God had entrusted me with four children and I didn’t want to disappoint Him.

I tried to be patient the day the children smashed two dozen eggs on the kitchen floor searching for baby chicks.

I tried to be understanding when they started a hotel for homeless frogs in the spare bedroom, although it took me nearly two hours to catch all twenty-three frogs.

When my daughter poured ketchup all over herself and rolled up in a blanket to see how it felt to be a hot dog, I tried to see the humor rather than the mess.

In spite of changing over twenty-five thousand diapers, never eating a hot meal and never sleeping for more than thirty minutes at a time, I still thank God daily for my children.

While I couldn’t keep my promise to be a perfect mother – I didn’t even come close, I did keep my promise to raise them in the Word of God.

I knew I was missing the mark just a little when I told my daughter we were going to church to worship God, and she wanted to bring a bar of soap along to ‘wash up’ Jesus, too.

Something was lost in the translation when I explained that God gave us everlasting life, and my son thought it was generous of God to give us his ‘last wife.’

My proudest moment came during the children’s Christmas pageant. My daughter was playing Mary, two of my sons were shepherds and my youngest son was a wise man. This was their moment to shine.

My five-year-old shepherd had practiced his line, ‘We found the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes.’ But he was nervous and said,’The baby was wrapped in wrinkled clothes.’

My four-year-old ‘Mary’ said, ‘That’s not ‘wrinkled clothes,’ silly. That’s dirty, rotten clothes.’ A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd and was stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost her left wing.

I slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary dropped the doll representing Baby Jesus, and it bounced down the aisle crying, ‘Mama-mama.’ Mary grabbed the doll, wrapped it back up and held it tightly as the wise men arrived.

My other son stepped forward wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown, knelt at the manger and announced, ‘We are the three wise men, and we are bringing gifts of gold common sense and fur.’

The congregation dissolved into laughter, and the pageant got a standing ovation. ‘I’ve never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as this one,’ laughed the pastor, wiping tears from his eyes. ‘For the rest of my life, I’ll never hear the Christmas story without thinking of gold, common sense and fur..’

‘My children are my pride and my joy and my greatest blessing,’ I said as I dug through my purse for an aspirin.

Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.

Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.

Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.

Had no army, yet kings feared Him.

He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

Feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us.

We all strive for success in our life. It’s your life and your success is up to you. Often we are tempted to give up or quit before we attain success. Many times success may be just around the corner. There is a very small difference between reaching success or failing to achieve. We must continue to strive to be successful rather than giving up. Keep a positive attitude and get the momentum going. We must believe that we can do it. Stay focused on your goal and don’t let anything get in your way. We must persevere through all of the roadblocks along the way.

To get what you have never had, you must do what you have never done.

Do you have what it takes to reach success?

It’s your life! It is up to you!!!

How often do we fail and then just give up? We don’t have the drive to continue reaching for our dream. Failure is just another step that we must take in order to succeed. Many famous individuals have failed before they finally succeeded. The difference is that they continued pursuing their goal rather than giving up. In this video, view some of the famous individuals and the failures that they encountered while pursuing their dreams. You will view famous individuals such as Lucille Ball, The Beatles, Michael Jordan, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, and Abraham Lincoln. If you have never failed, you have never lived — LIFE equals RISK!!!

by Napoleon Hill

“Whatever the man of man can conceive, it can achieve.”

Wise men have known this since the creation of man. We get what we think about the most. A simple idea or thought that keeps reoccurring may be the inspiration of a dream to achieve. Many times we quit when success was right around the corner.  Don’t Quit!!! Seek to achieve your dream. We all have failures along the way but it is how we deal with those failures that makes the difference.

We all think that we must achieve something great. Rather think about doing the many small things that you do in a great way. It is the small choices that result in big victories.

Sometimes it is not easy to do the right thing especially when it may be to help someone who has wronged us. However, if we always practice doing the right thing, then when the time comes to make a decision, we don’t even consider making the wrong choice. The more we practice doing what is right, the more it becomes automatic in our daily life. Helping others is a trait that we should pass on to others. This video is presented by The Foundation for a Better Life.

We all know that freedom is not free. Someone paid the price in the past, in the present, and in the future. We can never show our appreciation and gratitude enough, but we should all remember their tremendous sacrifices made for each of us as they willingly serve our country.

Take the time to thank God for these men, willing to share their lives to purchase freedom for you and me. Pray for their health, their safety,  and their protection as they sacrifice their time with family, friends, and loved ones.  Pray for their wisdom in making rational decisions as they serve our country. Thank God for their families who willingly sacrifice the companionship, the missing family member at the family gatherings,  the family memories, and the daily interaction and love of their loved one  as they serve our country. We could never thank them enough.

This video focuses on the tremendous sacrifice of those who have already passed. The song accompanying the poem is “In The Morning Light” by Yanni.