Camille James says ~

It's me Camille. I have been a loyal fan of yours for over 10 years and this is my Dear John letter to you. Yea, I know I've said it a million times that I was leaving you and 24 hours I was back, but this time I'm older. This relation-ship has sunk and I'm jumping ship. You are a hell of a drug. The kind that will make you:

• Get out of bed at 3 am in some bunny rabbit house shoes and a robe just to go to the nearest corner store.

•  Add you to my weekly budget - sometimes before the eggs and milk.

• Know that you contain rat poison, tar, a little bit of tobacco and probably swine flu and I still want you.

• Spray perfume on and think no will smell the smoke in my hair.
  

• Get up in the morning looking for you and go to sleep thinking about you.

• Go out in 40 below zero weather, with freezing rain trying to take a drag in between my nose falling off.

• Ride around for hours trying to find my brand only to settle for the 2 for 1 special.

• Read the warning label on the side for entertainment while I'm taking a puff.

• Deny our relation-ship to my husband, kids and my mother with cigarette breathe.

• Walk up to a complete stranger and ask for a lighter no matter how suspect they might look.

• Do everything from gum, patches, Zyban and even hypnosis only to want to put a whole pack in my mouth and light the end.
  

I'm about to complete my first month and this has been a transformation I will never forget. What started out as a physical detox has evolved into mental and spiritual one. I have so much energy that I am cutting my neighbor's yard and mines. I still suffer with insomnia, but that's a blog entry all by itself. I am now 13 pounds lighter and I feel fantastic. As soon as I thought I was in the clear all hell broke loose. All the things, thoughts and habits that I thought I had tucked away in the closet of my mind came out for me to deal with one more time.

It reminded me of this biblical parable:

There once was a man who lived in filth, he stunk of body order and most importantly he was accompanied by a demon. This demon taunted him and thrived in the confusion of mess and hoarding. Then one day the man got tired of dealing with this demon and decided to clean up his act... literally. So he got busy cleaning his house, his body and threw away all the trash. The demon was angered and had to leave, because he could not live in a clean environment. Once the demon left, the man began to enjoy life again and wondered why he had not done this earlier.

Some time passed and he had gotten use to his new life when suddenly a knock on the door startled him. When he answered the door it was the demon, but this time he was not alone. The demon went to and fro and found 7 more demons to attack the man.

Lesson: Making the decision to change, grow and transform means that a battle is at hand between the lower self and the higher self. The old will not go out without a fight and just when you think you have it all together... the worst has yet to come. So be prepared for the real aftermath and whatever you do... don't give up. Know that when something good is on the way, a tribulation will have to be overcome before the reward is granted. Can you weather the storm? Like all storms, the Sun will eventually shine through and victory is at hand.

As most of you know my husband is serving in the Air Force and while the lifestyle has afforded us the opportunity of traveling around the world; it too comes with its sacrifices. My dearest Aaron is headed for Iraq and we must deal with change yet again. As he heads for war, my daughter who is 19 and serving in the Army is also on the deployment list. So I guess that means I'll be buying a new pair of knee pads for all the praying that lies ahead.

This all leads up to my subject: Freedom is not FREE

We as Americans have taken for granted the luxuries of living in a free society where the simple things like:

1. Coming and going without marshal law enforcing a time curfew
2. Going to the store without the fear of it blowing up
3. Women having the right to read and vote
4. Going to school without the fear of having acid thrown in your face
5. Choosing who you want to be married to
6. Worshiping God however and whenever you please
7. and the list goes on and on.......

So for anyone who is reading this right now.... STOP and be thankful for the blessings of freedom. And remember it is made possible by your countries Airmen, Soldiers and Seamen who sacrifice being away from their loved ones to help us keep those simple pleasures we forget about everyday.

Aaron James - Airforce
Desiree Solomon - Army
AJ Farmer - Army
Recee Bond - Army
Tim Ferguson - Air Force

Your point of power begins from within.

It takes a great amount of courage to accept responsibility for the situations in your life. This may seem difficult when you were not the only one involved in the situation, such as being slandered or taken advantage of by another. Long after the situation has passed, the memories of the events seem to replay themselves until it takes a life of its own. You might ask, “Why should I accept all the blame? I was the innocent one”. Yet you are the one left defenseless and in a weakened state. It is very easy to blame others or outside forces for certain dilemmas and by doing so, you are thereby powerless over the outcome. The weakened state is caused by an involuntary release of power.

 

In the act of accepting responsibility, you are thereby becoming empowered. By realizing that you created the situation, you are now able to re-create it. As long as someone else is being blamed for the problem, they are the only ones who can transform it. When you are not being the co-creator that you were designed to be, someone else will gladly do the creating for you. This will lead to you becoming part of someone else’s agenda and not that of your own. You’ll wake up one day and say, “how did I get into this situation?” This is simply because you stop creating or were not aware that you had the power to create in the first place.

How are you to know the warmth of the sun, if you have not experienced the dreadful cold or the euphoria of love without the memories of being alone? In other words, when you first make an effort to understand something or someone, you must know both sides of the truth. There is a requirement to release one side of the experience for the other. This leads to greater understanding, compassion and  a more whole or holy  lifestyle.

LOVE is everything and in everything that you do. Whatever direction you are going in, the final destination is love and self awareness. Those involved with love will evolve.

Psalm 91
¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ^[1]

Take a TIME OUT from the radio, phone, Television (telling lies with vision) and all the thoughts of the day and be SILENT. This is the only time that you can hear the still small voice that has the answers to your questions. In the quietness can you tap into this power much greater than yourself. Leave the details up to God and release your need to know the results.

² I will say ^[2] of the LORD , "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

In the HEART, which is inside the BODY is the dwelling place of God and the MIND is the receiver for communication. It is said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within (inside the chambers of the heart). We have been deceived into relying on physical things to supply what only the spiritual can give. It is IN GOD WE TRUST, not in the paper money that the words are written on.

³ Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

Today we are living in a world full of diseases (dis-eased, stressed). Remember, there is no disease that can not be cured, if you are trusting in a power of God. If the doctor says that “in most cases…”, you tell the doctor that in GOD’S cases there is no failure. It is as simple as that.