I'm working on a logo.  Stay posted my friends.

Our passion is people!

This morning my fears were realized--he was in the neighbor's yard behind us. They have a very old, very nice Rottweiler, but I wasn't going to take the chance that it might be a bird-eating dog. The neighbors beside us have a Lab that kills birds any chance he can get. I had to jump the four-foot-high fence (scraped my hand on the chain link, yay) to get the chicken. The Rottweiler was elsewhere, around the other side of the house, and apparently didn't notice me or the chicken.

I would have called the neighbor before going onto their property, but they've changed phone numbers and I haven't got the new one from them yet. And I couldn't go around to their front door and knock because their four-foot chain link fence extends all the way around the house, with a locked gate in the front... so I'd have to hop the fence anyway to get to the front door, and that's probably exactly where their Rottweiler was (she sleeps on their front porch frequently). I'm not implying that their dog is mean--I like their dog just fine and I know many very nice Rottweilers (all the ones I know are nice, in fact, because I only know nice dog owners and I don't associate with thugs)--but I also know that dogs protect their property and I'm certainly not a family member. So when faced with the decision to either jump the fence, deal with a big unhappy dog, and ask politely to retrieve my chicken versus jump the fence and just get the bird and get the heck out, I opted for the latter. And it worked out, even though I felt a bit like I was doing something awful. A very short while later I saw a couple of police cruisers heading down the street and I tried not to look guilty.

Yes, my chicken made me feel like a criminal.

My mom and I both walked the edge of the coop/kennel after that and tried to figure out how the chicken is getting out. We both agree it must be that gap between door and side. I'm going to try closing it up with a bigger piece of wood to see if that stops the escapes, but since the chicken only escapes once a day--I guess he's too dumb to remember how he got out the first time, so it takes him 24 hours to rediscover the same weakness--I am running out of time to figure this out before we leave for our trip.

My husband says we should call the chicken Peepers, because he peeps nonstop. I think all baby chicks do this so their moms can keep track of them (heck, this is how I find him when he's gotten out of the coop). But the name is gender-neutral, which is good since we don't know whether this chicken is a boy or a girl. So Peepers is his/her name unless I can come up with something better.

Ironically, or perhaps coincidentally, this will make the... seventh or eighth pet I've had whose name started with the letter "P."

Some of you that know me, know that I was born with the name Michelle Anne.  I lived by that name until I turned 30 years old.  I didnt set out to change my name, nor did I dislike the name I had (Other than absolutely detesting that ridiculous Beatles song being sung at me as a child over and over again).  I think it was more circumstance and a meant to be thing.

I started to chat right before I became sick.  This was over 12 years ago now.  The internet was a very different place.  The only people who were on the internet back then were mostly computer geeks and professionals, because frankly they were the only ones who could afford it! 

Anyway, I digress.  So, when I started to chat, I needed a chat name or screen name to be known by.  I tried all kinds of combinations of names and none of them really fit.  I looked around and saw all of these women with sexually suggestive or trashy names and that just wasnt what I wanted to say about myself to the world.  I chatted for several months, and I just couldn't find the right fit.  One day, I exchanged pictures with someone (as you do when you chat).  The chatter said to me "You have the most Amber colored eyes I have ever seen!"  Amber.... Amberfire!  Perfect.

It was shortly after that that I became sick.  I spent all of my time on the internet chatting because it was the only thing I could do to try and take my mind off of the pain.  It was silent too.  That was important because I couldn't stand light or noise.  So television was out.  I turned my monitor down low so I could stand its brightness.  My eyes hurt so bad.  

I made friends all over the world via chatting and the internet.  They kept me company when I was in the hospital, even in intensive care.  It was a way for me to be "normal".  On the internet no one knew that I was sick.  I could flirt and be strong and normal.  None of them knew what I was going through.  I could socialize and have fun without leaving my bed.   The more I chatted, the more I became known as Amber.  People would call on the phone and ask for Amber.

After months on end in the hospital, you have time to really think about your life.  I realised mine would never be the same again.  I wouldnt be able to ever be the Michelle I was again.  Driven, focused, uptight and perfectionist.  To be honest, I didn't allow myself to have much fun.  I wasn't much fun.  I was too busy running around trying to create the illusion of perfection and being a royal pain in everyone's arse.  I was going to have to learn to be more relaxed, less uptight and easy going.  I would no longer be able to hold an executive job, or work the crazy hours that I was used to. 

After a while of re-evaluating my priorities and who I wanted to be, I found that I actually was Amber.  I no longer identified myself as the Michelle I once was.  Half of my friends were calling me amber and that is how they knew me.   My other friends from my life accepted this as they could see the serious changes to my life and my spirit and they have embraced the "new" me.  I have even had several who have said that they prefer this new me for a variety of reasons.  Others remain steadfast in their need to call me Michelle. 

My younger brother and sister in law always refer to me as Amber.  My older brother and cousin cant go there.  To them, Ill always be Michelle (Although I have to say that my cousin is now trying to call me Amber Michelle as she is starting to love that name).  Thats fine with me.  It doesnt bother me in any way.  I guess the thing is, I feel like Michelle died twelve years ago when I got sick, and Amber was born.  I find it hard to relate to the person I once was.  Its all like it happened to someone else. 

Had I thought I was actually going to change my name, I wouldn't have chosen the name Amber for myself at all.  It sounds like an empty headed Barbie type girl if you ask me.  I would have chosen something far more sophisticated like Amanda or Jacqueline or Sophia.  Feminine, powerful, and definitely not airhead sounding.

I look at my life now in the present, Amber fits me somehow as the gentle softer side of me. And after all, all I have is now.  And in this present I am Amber.

    Have you ever gone to a notary to have an important document signed.  A notary is a person that is empowered to authorize contracts.  The notary watches as you sign your name on a piece of paper, and verifies that you are who you say you are.  Once you have completed signing your name, the notary then places the seal on your document, which then certifies its' validity.  And to make sure that auditors can trace the time and date of when this took place, you are then asked to sign a log, so that if there is a discrepancy, the auditors can find when and if the seal is valid.  

     Just as a notary can place a seal on a piece of paper authorizing authority, "God places a seal on us when we receive Christ.  And that seal is a person--the Holy Spirit.  By the Spirit's presence God gives us security and establishes His ownership over us.

     The Spirit is also God's pledge.  He not only seals the arrangement, but He represents God's commitment to see us through.  And fellowship with the Spirit is a sample of what we can expect when we come into our inheritance in Heaven. 

     Finally, the Spirit witnesses to us, by the Scriptures and within our hearts, that Christ died for us, and by faith in Him we have become God's children.

     What a wonderful thing to know the Holy Spirit has been given to us a seal--a pledge--and a witness!  May each of these give us new assurance of God's unchanging love for us, and give us confidence as we seek to live for Him." (Billy Graham)

Quote of the day:  J. B. Phillips

"Every time we say, "I believe in the Holy Spirit," we mean that we believe that there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality and change it."

Bible verse of the day:  Ephesians 1:13

"In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,"

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You for all the Grace that You given to me and that You continue to give.  Thank You for sealing me with the Holy Spirit of promise, making me a child of You.  As I head into my day, I pray for wisdom and revelation of You and to do the work that You are calling me to do.  I pray that You use my body as vessel to witness to those around me and to share the Truth with those in need.  I pray that You give me the exact words, at the exact moment, to speak into the life of someone, the Truth, and then hand the reigns over to You, so that You can place Your Seal on them as You did for me.  I thank You for this day!

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen

siehe: buchstabiertafel bei wikipedia

Anisah is my big sister.

Anisah has a blog.

On 5^th December Anisah will be 8.

Last time Anisah doesn’t want to go to school but now Anisah likes to go to school.

Anisah likes milk, durian and ice-cream.

Anisah likes to play with me and Anisah likes to read storybooks.

But I call her Kafah because her name is Anisah Afifah.