A New Year With The Lord

A New Year With The Lord

A new year is about to unfold

With new opportunities to explore

Doors will open for new experiences

New adventures with the Lord

Remember not the former things

The things of this past year

The Lord will do new things in us

Much more than we are aware

For He will make a way for us

As we put our trust in Him

And He will guide our every step

By His presence we have within

What God has placed within our hearts

We find we’ll be able to do

If we look for the opportunities

We’ll see the door to go through

We mustn’t let anything hold us back

But rise up and take our place

And be all that God wants us to be

With a fresh touch of His grace

© By M.S.Lowndes

(Free to distrubute/use as long as unaltered and copyright left with poem)

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Hair Care 101; My Hair Story Part 7

We left off in Part 6, where I had gotten my first perm in 2005. My hair was still full and lovely UNTIL we moved from Alaska to Washington. In WA, we lived in a place that had well water (nothing wrong with that) BUT the water had very high levels of iron, it was even orange and would stain our toilet, sink and tub within a day. My daughter's hair even got an orange tint. My hair became very, very thin and so did my daughter's. At first I had thought it was my health because I had some severe health issues with my heart and liver in Alaska and upon arriving in WA that caused my hair to fall out in the front a little, as you can see below in the photo the bare patch in the front. However, seeing what it did to my daughter's hair too and reading about how heavy iron levels in your water damages your hair and its irreversible.....made me scared! So I started to wash my hair with distilled water and that was a task! I ended up going back to the shower head to wash my hair and watched my hair just get worse and worse and break off dramatically.

Now, my hair was already porous (after having a perm) so maybe had it been unprocessed, it would not have been effected as bad as it was. Nevertheless, we moved to another location that did not have high iron levels in the water! It seems like my hair would not grow at all even, my perm was about 2 years old but my growth was barely a few inches!

However, the damage had been done and I had lost SO MUCH length. My hair went from near my knees up to my backside (that's a lot of inches lost!) So what did I do? Stupid me, figured all was lost, so might as well get another perm. <---STUPID!!! I got this perm in March 2007. The perm was great and I didn't have much breakage at all with the perming process, although my hair really didn't need the extra processing!

You can't see the length fully, but you can tell it isn't as full toward the ends as it used to be before I got a perm and had the "iron water" experience. I started to use Garnier Fructis Color treated/permed Shampoo and Conditioner around this time and also used the Garnier Fructis leave-in conditioner every time!! In the beginning I was using some alcohol-free gels but eventually all I needed was leave-in conditioner and then I let my hair air-dry. NO HEAT!

I began to pray on my hair asking God to help me recover from the damage that I did to it and to make the hair grow in my "bare" spot in the front. And it did!!! I have more hair there now and my hair is getting better.

Here is a photo almost a year after my 2nd perm (I had red eyes in the photo, so I made them black with editing software......they aren't black in real life LOL, they are green lol). You can see that my hair had FINALLY started growing again! I had new growth and it grew in nice and black and lovely and silky just like old times lol.

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Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe Printable

I've made a printable for the Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe, so you can easily hit print from the drop down menu and have it for your files. I've included it at the bottom of the original post. Enjoy!

http://www.christianhomekeeping.com/2007/02/homemade-laundry-detergent.html

Also, remember from now on, you can go to my Scribd documents and check to see what I've uploaded for you to print for your personal use. You will find the link to my Scribd documents on the right sidebar also.

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Free Printable Calendar ~ January 2009

I made a January 2009 printable calendar for all my readers to use for your own personal use. Feel free to tell others or print out one for a friend. My gift to you to help you start the New Year a bit more organized! ; )

Calendar is no longer available

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My First Header!

In just 5 minutes I made my first ever header above! :) I actually made 2, the first one had a background but I thought it looked better with a white background so that is what I went with. I also threw in a background to match and changed the colors of the text, links, etc for now.

Now that I know how to do headers, css writing (a small bit), etc I will probably be changing up my look quite often lol! Its fun! I have so many ideas for other headers but I guess I will have to enjoy my first one for a while, at least a week right? hehe

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New Look Coming Soon!! : )

I've been busy with several NEW things for this website! I will be having a new look, since its not Christmas anymore the current design has got to go, and I'm trying to design it myself (we'll see how that goes lol). I've tried to hire someone to do me a template but it seems that everyone is booked and can't get mine done before New Year's, so I had to take things into my own hands and I think I can do this, its just taking a while!

I also have photos, videos that I'm working on.....making slideslows, etc in between duties of the home. Good thing is I got my entire house cleaned and a lot of it also organized last week. We did some organizing today in my daughter's room by doing an inventory of all her toys that need batteries! That is a task!! A few things, such as her Princess stove, stopped working over a year ago, but I'm glad to say that we got $30 worth of batteries and she is busy right now playing with all her old toys that actually work again LOL!!!! It's like a double Christmas for her! ; ) One of the toys, was her toy vacuum cleaner that actually picks up dirt! She vacuumed her room and got a good sized dirt ball in her vacuum, even though her room had already been vacuumed by a me a while ago! So I guess she will be going behind me when I vacuum and getting those 'spots' I missed hehe.

I hope to have my new template up and running next week before New Year's. I just can't seem to decide on colors, background, etc......I'm sure I will come up with something! =0

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Homemade Eggnog

Someone had left a post a while back about how I make my eggnog, just now got around to posting this. This is the recipe that I use for our homemade eggnog:

http://homecooking.about.com/od/beveragerecipes/r/blbev17.htm

We made it last year for Christmas and it was the best I've ever had! Not making it this year, I just bought some "lite" eggnog from the store.

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Merry Christmas Video!

Put this together tonight, didn't have much time but I chose a few funny clips from our home videos. Hope you enjoy! Notice the "Grinch's" amazing transformation hehe. =0

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Vacation Break

We had big plans for this week because hubby is on vacation but then the snow/ice came and that kind of went out the window lol.

Anyway, I may not post at all this week.......or I might, it depends on how I feel! So I guess this is a "vacation" break lol. =0 I should be back posting regularly next week.

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I've Got My Mind Made Up

This is actually some snippets from a sermon I listened to on the internet, just took some highlights from what the minister had said:

My mind is made up, my face is set.
My gait is fast, my goal is Heaven.
The road is narrow, the way sometimes is rough.
My companions sometimes are few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear!

Then he went on to say as "your Pastor" and as a Christian:

I can not be bought
I will not be compromised
I will not detour
I will not be lured away
I will not be deluded
I will not be delayed
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice because I'm too close to Heaven.

I can't hesitate in the face of adversity
I can't negotiate at the table of the enemy
I can't ponder at the pool of popularity
I can't meander in a maze of mediocrity

I'm not going to GIVE UP
I'm not going to SHUT UP
I'm not going to LET UP
I'm not going to SLOW UP

Until I'm preached up, payed up, prayed up, and stored up
I'm going to stay there until Jesus says COME UP!

I've got my mind made up, I'm going to be saved!

No matter how rough the road may get
No matter how often I may have to kneel and pray
I've got a made up mind and that's my conviction
I'm going to be saved!


Hope it was a blessing to someone out there today, it was to me! ; )

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Christmas Decorations Video

Just something I threw together.....put the video in fast forward (in case you were wondering how I was walking that fast LOL). 

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Keep Going On!

My sleep has been off the past week from being up last week with my daughter while she was sick. It was so off that I wasn't falling asleep till around 5am! So I've been using that time to clean and wow did I get a lot of stuff clean and organized lol. Luckily last night I had the most peaceful sleep and fell asleep around 1130pm and woke at 530am this morning all 'bright and bushy tailed' as the saying goes lol. I feel so good to have got my sleep back on track. My husband had actually prayed for my sleep last night and I even prayed "God let a strong sleep come upon us all tonight" LOL! And it did! I woke up and got my coffee like normal, but instead of reading the news, I felt a burning to blog, so thus here I am! I don't always share things like this but as Rev Kekel mentioned last night, adversity comes our way but we need to see the opportunity in it.

If I said I never get discouraged, I would be lying. I have to admit, over the weekend, the services were powerful and I was fired up! Most of you that were there, know what was shared. What got me discouraged was the fact that those that are supposed to be counted as the Lord's are reading the lies of the devil, but not only that, they are lashing out at me, thinking I don't know who they are! As Rev Terry preached Sun night, God has had enough and he is ready to run the devil out of here (meaning out of the church). A call to be bold was proclaimed and much more.......I mean it was like a conference weekend! We shouted and danced and the Spirit of God was so strong in that place that you can't tell me it ain't real!!!

Then came Monday and up till Thursday, satan was really trying to bring me off my "fired up" mindset with comments and some lies that have been told. I wasn't letting him get me down! Then came along Wed night, talk about getting attacked! I was confused about something that I had received, and hurt in a way actually because something I had so boldly been standing against was brought up to what seemed to be "ok" now. I was so confused and my stomach was in knots that even after taking a sleeping pill, I could not sleep for hours! Eventually I did, but woke with the same feeling in the pit of my stomach. Then, come to find out, what I had thought was now going to be deemed ok, was actually NOT and the confusion should have ended there but it did not. I was utterly discouraged! I mean I was discouraged!!

Along came time for church and as my husband and daughter went to the car, I sat on my bed and called out to God asking him to PLEASE let this service tonight be one of encouragement and help for me! Then Rev Kekel got up to preach last night and I forgot the title, but it was something about kicking the devil out. He went on preaching and it was a message of encouragement as he shared an illustration of the deaf boy, etc. I still really wasn't feeling it until he said "I'm not here tonight to brow beat you! I'm here to tell you to keep going on!" It was at that time, the Spirit of God, just went over my body and from what I remember I got those chill bumps lol. It was like God was telling me, I got the encouragement message I had prayed for! The message indeed was an encouragement and at altar call, we sang the song "Keep Going On".

To feel the love of God like that and know that my Pastor is right on target and gets his message straight from the throne room of God........is something I'm so thankful for!! I had a moment of discouragement, but God as always, was there to lift me up! The enemy may be loud, but my God is greater! God is more powerful then satan, so if you think he can't keep you......then you are giving power to the enemy with that stinkin' thinkin'. It is HIGH time, as I've said before.......to step up, be bold, proclaim the Gospel and let the world know that you are not part of it!

Just wanted to share a personal story for those that maybe are in the same mindset. The message is: Keep Going On!!


The Christmas Party is today at my house at 1pm and I'm so excited!! So far we have 7 that have RSVP.

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My Crossroads Testimony

This wasn't really a question but rather a poke in the side by someone who doesn't have a lot of intelligence I guess. Anyway, I felt led to answer it so you could better understand a bit more about me.

The statement is: "You are just a homekeeper because that is all you could do, you couldn't have a career so you settled for being at home"

HA!! COME ON! Geesh, I can blow you out of the water right now and I think I will. For starters, before I became a Christian (which was the reason I'm a homekeeper; doing God's will for my life), I was in the US Air Force. I had been offered a position into the OSI (FBI of the AF) and was currently cross training into that field. Not only that but AFTER I got saved and before I got married, I finally got accepted to the Air Force Academy in Colorado to become an officer. I had some choices to make. My future was laid before me and I sure 'nuff could have had a career! All my "dreams" at that time were coming true, after my acceptance to the USAF Academy, I had one of the biggest choices in my life to make.

What did I choose? I chose GOD'S WILL!!!!!!! I won't say it wasn't easy to let go of my "career" but I'm living the best life there is right now and who knows where I would be if I had chosen the other route! I now have the most wonderful and loving husband that you could ask for, who has loved me through THICK and thin! I've also been BLESSED with a wonderful daughter and hopefully many more little ones in the future. I enjoy being a homekeeper because I'm following the commands of God's word and his will for women!

So if you think I had no other option, I think you just got told! Although your comment was meant for other reasons, you helped me just tell the world what I chose in one of my "crossroads" for God! Thanks for helping my testimony! ; )

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Podcasts

When I changed my template, I had forgotten to add my podcast to my links, so I just updated that.  Also for those that don't know, I have done 2 podcasts so far and they can be found here:

http://christianhomekeeper.mypodcast.com/

I plan on doing another in the near future hopefully!

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Hair Care 101; My Hair Story Part 7

We left off in Part 6, with my hair being at its longest (50 inches) and very healthy. Enter: Stupidity!! I was tired of straight hair, tired of curling it if I wanted curl and yada yada yada. (Wish I could go back in time but I can't!). So I got a perm (2005). I figured it was going to be great, I would have curly hair all the time and could straighten it if I wanted to. It was nice in the beginning and I loved it:

I had a lot of breakage with my perm, especially along the hairline. Although I didn't lose any length (yet), it was coming as I soon found out. Here is another photo a few months after I had gotten my perm and still loving it:

It was easy to fix, I would just wash and gel and let it air dry. I still did not use a blow dryer.

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Tell Hell You Are Getting Back UP!!!

I found this video the other night and had a little Holy Ghost dance service in my office lol.  It is one of the best illustrations I've seen describing the times when you fail and then how you can get back up.  I've been there in my life (more than once lol), but each time I've been able to get back up and go on for God, even when I thought there was no way I could ever climb out of the hole I was in, God showed up right on time!!

In light of recent events, and the many comments I've received the past few days......you know who I'm talking to here!  Instead of lashing out at me, why don't do what you know to do and give the devil a good kick OUT of your life!!

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President Bush says Bible Probably Not Literal

I'm literally shocked, because I never knew this until tonight! President Bush said in a interview with ABC's Nightline tonight that the Bible is probably not literal. WHAT!?!?

He even went on to say how evolution and the Bible are not incompatible. Ok, big WHAT!?!? here also lol.

Not only that but this one really took the ticker for me, sounded so much like Oprah:

"The president also said that he prays to the same God as those with different religious beliefs."

Sorry Mr. President but you are WRONG according to God's word! I pray to the ONE AND ONLY GOD! If you are praying to allah, budda, etc you are not praying to the ONE AND ONLY GOD! There is NO OTHER GOD but him! All others are false gods! Period!

You can read the rest here:


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/09/bush-says-creation-incompatible-evolution/

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What the Great Commission is NOT

Another post I found unpublished! This one was from Nov 07! I don't know why I forgot to hit publish but hey, I found it today and here you go.......



What a service we had tonight at church.......for those of you that were there, I don't know about you but I felt something pulling me to be a little more steadfast for God. For one thing, I don't want to hear the devil's reports, much less read them! Put in trash, trash comes out! One of the topics people like to throw around is "why doesn't the church help the poor or feed people in soup kitchen's" etc. Everytime I hear someone say this I get a little heated.....righteous indignation or maybe just because I have posted it about it before lol.

Either way, I found a wonderful article about this and with permission going to share it here......let's not forget what the PURPOSE of the church is and what we are CALLED by God to do!

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)

The Lord Jesus gave this commission to His disciples after His resurrection and prior to His ascension to the third heaven. The command is to "Preach the gospel." The verb "preach" means to herald the message. It is the same word found in 2 Timothy 4:2--"Preach the Word." In ancient times momentous messages were communicated by a herald. This was the King's personal messenger who would cry out the king's message as the people in the town would assemble together eager to hear the latest news. The herald would not give his own message and he would certainly not give his own views and opinions. He would simply give the King’s message word for word. He would not interpret the message. It made no difference whether the herald liked the message or did not like the message, he had to faithfully deliver it. He did not debate with people. He did not argue with people. He just presented the King's message. Paul once said, "necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel." Woe unto me if I fail to faithfully announce the King's message of good news!

Today it seems as if the church is doing everything except the very thing that our Lord told us to do. We substitute our program and programs for God's program. We present our gospel instead of His gospel. Let us briefly consider what God's great commission does not say:

Go ye into all the world and feed the hungry, clothe the naked, build homes for the poor and care for the sick.

While we certainly should not be oblivious to the pain and poverty and suffering in the world, yet the social gospel is not what our Lord commanded. The solution is not for each believer to become like Mother Teresa. We may feed their stomachs but what have we done for their souls? We may cure them of a bodily illness, but what has been done about the deadly and incurable disease of sin (Jer. 17:9)? What good does it do if they become rich for a second (in this life) but poor forever (in eternity)? If we clothe their bodies with the finest of garments, how shall it help them if they die without being covered by the robes of Christ's righteousness? What shall it profit them if we build them a wonderful house, but no provision is made for their eternal home in heaven? What ultimate good have we done if we only help them this side of the grave?

The Salvation Army is today almost exclusively devoted to a social gospel, with little emphasis upon the salvation of souls. It is very interesting to hear what William Booth had to say years ago:

I recall hearing William Booth, the first general of the Salvation Army, say, when explaining his "Darkest England" scheme, that its real objective was, not just the amelioration of social conditions, but first and foremost the bringing of men to repentance that their souls might be saved. I can recall the flash in his eye, and the noble bearing of his commanding figure as he exclaimed, "Take a man from the filth and squalor of the slums, exchange his rags for decent clothing, move him from the stifling stench of the city tenement to a neat little cottage in the pure air of the country, put him on his feet economically where he can make a decent living for himself and his family, and then let him die in his sins, unsaved, and be lost forever at last—really it is not worth while, and I, for one, would not attempt it." (Cited by Harry Ironside, Except Ye Repent, pages 181-182).

"If every person in the world had adequate food, housing, income;
If all men were equal;
If every possible social evil and injustice were done away with,
Men would still need one thing—CHRIST! --J.W. Hyde

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The Advantages of Pleasing God Rather than Men

I had somehow forgotten to post this back in August, I had shared it with our church family group but noticed it was unpublished here. How timely that I found this today lol. =0


1. If you seek first to please God and are satisfied therein, you have but one to please instead of multitudes; and a multitude of masters are hardlier pleased than one.

2. And it is one that putteth upon you nothing that is unreasonable, for quantity or quality.

3. And one that is perfectly wise and good, not liable to misunderstand your case and actions.

4. And one that is most holy, and is not pleased in iniquity or dishonesty.

5. And he is one that is impartial and most just, and is no respecter of persons, Acts x. 34.

6. And he is one that is a competent judge, that hath fitness and authority, and is acquainted with your hearts, and every circumstance and reason of your actions.

7. And he is one that perfectly agreeth with himself, and putteth you not upon contradictions or impossibilities.

8. And he is one that is constant and unchangeable; and is not pleased with one thing to-day, and another contrary to-morrow; nor with one person this year, whom he will be weary of the next.

9. And he is one that is merciful, and requireth you not to hurt yourselves to please him: nay, he is pleased with nothing of thine but that which tendeth to thy happiness, and displeased with nothing but that which hurts thyself or others, as a father that is displeased with his children when they defile or hurt themselves.

10. He is gentle, though just, in his censures of thee; judging truly, but not with unjust rigour, nor making your actions worse than they are.

11. He is one that is not subject to the passions of men, which blind their minds, and carry them to injustice.

12. He is one that will not be moved by tale-bearers, whisperers, or false accusers, nor can be perverted by any misinformation.


Richard Baxter 1615-1691

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Unemployed? Be Thankful if Not!

I read the news yesterday and saw that "533,000 jobs were lost in November, the biggest one-month decline in nearly 34 years"!! In the current recession we are in, a total of 1.6 million jobs have been lost! And there is more job cuts coming in not only some large companies but even the smaller ones.

Now is the time to "plan" for possible scenarios with your family. Learn how to feed your family on less because groceries is the one place that most people can really cut down costs! Also, make sure you are out of debt and don't put anything on credit. Save, save, save, you will need those greenbacks to live on in case of a job loss. And most importantly: PRAY!

http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/05/news/economy/jobs_november/index.htm

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The Winner Is.......

Thanks to all who entered the Celebration Giveaway! I put everyone's name in a bag and my daughter drew one and the winner is:

Toni !!

You chose the Starbuck's gift card. Please contact me at christianhomekeeper @ gmail.com with your mailing address.

Congratulations!! :)

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Updates

I've got a lot going on in my life right now.  I do plan on finishing the hair care posts, hopefully soon and then I will announce the giveaway winner tonight or tomorrow.

I may take a blogging break for a while, just feel like it might be needed, I will announce it if I do. 

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Undercover at Planned Parenthood

Indiana Planned Parenthood Covers Up Sexual Abuse of 13-year Old - video powered by Metacafe

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Christmas Party

The tentative date for the Christmas Party at my house is going to be next Friday, Dec 12th at 1pm.  Of course we will have coffee, but also going to have my homemade fudge, homemade eggnog and I may ask everyone to bring a dessert or finger food (think dips, crackers, etc). 

So if you would like to attend, I need you to RSVP by Tuesday of next week (9th) by phone or email, thanks!

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Rudolph Got Run Over by My Grama

It's better live at Dollywood but here you go, one of my favorites.  You got to watch it all the way through lol.




Related: Kingdom Heirs and I

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Christmas Tree & Ornaments

We had all the other decorations up but not the tree, so we did that tonight. This Christmas tree is the one my husband and I bought when we first got married for $20. It is still with us today and it has lost a lot of needles but I think it still looks ok! (mind you, I would love to have a new one that is fluffy but well...if it works, why get rid of it you know?)

Then here are some of my favorite ornaments:

Starbuck's (my favorite!)

Can't be a sutherin' TN girl without a TN football ornament! ; )

My favorite place to eat! Wish we had one on the west coast!

Having lived in Alaska for 8 years, we got these to remember it by, my daughter was born there also

Got this our first Christmas together

My daughter's first Christmas

Then here are a few more pictures of other decor (I erased the faces on the photos):

I still have 2 boxes of Christmas lights to put up somewhere. I'm pretty sure one of them will go in my daughter's room because she loves sitting in the dark with the Christmas lights on in the living room. Then the other box, I may put in the office, which is where I normally blog!

As I was videoing and taking photos tonight of the decorating and when my daughter was putting the angel on top of the tree, I was saying that we are "creating memories"!


Do you have any favorite ornaments and/or ones that mean a lot to you? Tell about them and maybe even a post a picture of them on your blog and leave the link here. I like having ornaments that represent what we love and also have a story behind them! ; )

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Most Popular Posts

It has been almost 2 years since I started this blog.  Here are some of the most popular posts and some still get visits daily:

Homemade Laundry Detergent (also see my youtube video)
Oprah's Cult A New Earth
Revival at NTCC
Blurring the Lines
The Bigger They Are the Harder They Fall
A Good Wife
Diva Mentality
Role of the Older Christian Woman
A Crown to Your Husband
The Accuser of the Brethren

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