Sacramento Storm Warning

*****   "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear."  D&C 38:30   *****

The Sacramento Bee had a front page article Wednesday, November 28th, which warned of a series of warm storms coming to the Northern California area.  This is supposed to be a big series of storms, nicknamed "the Pineapple Express," that is expected to bring flooding and high wind damage.  "It's shaping up as California's equivalent of a hurricane: A series of warm, wet storms arriving today [yesterday] that will be unlike anything the state has seen in years."

We had the first storm Wednesday, and that was the mildest.  The next storm, which is expected to hit by Thursday night (tonight!) is predicted to be the real soaker, with drenching rains and strong winds.  Sacramento could receive sustained winds up to 35 mph with gusts to 45mph.  The Sierra Nevada foothills could see gusts up to 55 mph. A third storm is expected to hit on Sunday which may be even wetter than the second.

With all the leaves that have fallen, storm drains are expected to get clogged up and cause possible flooding of streets.  Local creeks and streams may also exceed their banks, and residents near creeks and streams are advised to have sandbags on hand just in case of flooding. 

I don't think I've ever seen this kind of warning in the Bee before --

"High winds and soaked ground raise the potential for downed trees and power outages.  Residents should be ready with flashlights, extra batteries, food and water, a battery-powered radio and an alternate means of charging cellphones."

"They should also secure outdoor furniture and other objects to prevent them from becoming dangerous projectiles."

If you'd like to read the entire article, here are links to the Bee stories.

Wednesday's article, "Series of Warm Storms Due to Sock North State"

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/28/5014591/river-of-storms-headed-for-northern.html#storylink=misearch

Thursday's article about the second storm, "Second Storm in Series Expected to Bring Deluge Tonight"

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/29/5017530/second-storm-in-series-expected.html#storylink=misearch

Please, be prepared for power outages.  Make sure you've got:

• Food that can be prepared and eaten if the power is out.  (A gas oven usually won't work without power to control the temperature; a gas stovetop may need to have burners lit with matches.)
  
• Ways to light your home if the power is out.  (Batteries for flashlights, matches, candles, etc.)
• Fresh battery in your smoke alarms, especially if you're using the fireplace and candles. Never leave a fire or lit candle unattended!
  
• Ways to stay warm if the power is out.  (Dry wood for the fireplace, lots of blankets and warm clothes.)
• A way to get news and information, and to stay in communication if the power is out.  (Battery- or crank-powered radio. Make sure your cell phone is fully charged, and remember that texting uses less power and has a better chance of getting through than a voice call.)
• Your car has sufficient fuel for the next few days. (Remember how many gas stations were shut down because of Hurricane Sandy, because there was no power to pump the gas?)

Stay home if you can.  If you must be out on the roads, please be careful.  

*Thanks, Liz, for sharing this information

Prayer Each Day - Working To Reach Your Potential

Working To Reach Your Potential

Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord.  Romans  12:11

The old adage is both familiar and true:  We must pray as if everything depended upon God, but work as if everything depended upon us.  Yet sometimes, when we are weary and discouraged, we may allow our worries to sap our energy and our hope.  God has other intentions.  God intends that we pray for things, and He intends that we be willing to work for the things that we pray for.  Most importantly, God intends that our work should become His work.

Be strong and courageous, and do the work.  Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.  He won’t leave you or forsake you.   1 Chronicles 28:20

In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul warns,   “if any would not work, neither should he eat”  (3:10).  And the Book of Proverbs proclaims, “One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys” (18:9)  Clearly, God’s Word commends the value and importance of diligence.  Yet we live in a world that, all too often, glorifies leisure while downplaying the importance of shoulder-to the-wheel hard work.

God did not create you to be ordinary;  He created you for far greater things.  Reaching for greater things usually requires work and lots of it, which is perfectly find with God.  After all, He knows that you’re up to the task, and He has big plans for you.  Very big plans.

If you want to reach you potential, you need to add a strong work ethic to your talent.   John Maxwell

Lord, let me be an industrious worker in Your fields.  Those fields are ripe, Lord, and Your workers are few.  Let me be counted as Your faithful, diligent servant today, and every day.   Amen

Prayer Each Day - Addictions Destroys

 Be sober!  Be on the alert!  Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.  1 peter 5:8

If you’d like a perfect formula for character destruction, here it is:  become addicted to something that destroys your health or your sanity.  If (God forbid) you allow yourself to become addicted, your steering straight for a tidal wave of negative consequences, and fast.  Our society that glamorizes the use of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and other addictive substances.  Why?  The answer can be summed up in one word:  money.  Simply put, addictive substances are big money makers, so suppliers (of both legal and illegal substances) work overtime to make certain that people like you sample their products.  The suppliers need a steady stream of new customers because the old ones are dying off (fast), so they engage in a no-holds-barred struggle to find new users---or more accurately, new abusers.

The dictionary defines addiction as “the compulsive need for a habit-forming substance; the condition of being habitually and compulsively occupied with something”.  The definition is accurate, but incomplete.  For Christians, addiction has an additional meaning:  it means compulsively worshipping something other than God.

Since behaviors become habits, make them work with you and not against you.   E. Stanley Jones

A man may not be responsible for his last drink, but he certainly was for the first.   Billy Graham

Dear Lord, You have instructed me to care for my body, and I will obey You.  I will be mindful of the destructive power of addiction, and I will avoid the people, the places, and the substances that can entrap my spirit and destroy my life.   Amen

Daily Prayer - He is Here

a friend at work sends me a daily prayer thought -

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.   James 4:8

In the quiet early morning, as the sun’s first rays peak over the horizon, we may sense the presence of God. 

The next time you hear a baby laugh or see an ocean wave, take note.  Pause and listen as his Majesty whispers ever so gently, “I’m here.”   Max Lucado

Since God is everywhere, we are free to sense His presence whenever we take the time to quiet our souls and turn our prayers to Him.  But sometimes, amid the incessant demands of everyday life, we turn our thoughts far from God; when we do we suffer. 

Are you tired, discouraged or fearful?  Be comforted because God is with you.  Are you confused? Listen to the quiet voice of your Heavenly Father.  Are you bitter?  Talk with God and seek His guidance.  Are you celebrating a great victory?  Thank God and praise Him.  He is the Giver of all things good.

In whatever condition you find yourself—whether  you are happy or sad, victorious or vanquished, troubled or triumphant—celebrate God’s presence.  And be comforted in the knowledge that God is not just near.  He is here.

Get yourself into the presence of the loving Father.  Just place yourself before Him, and look up into His face; think of His love, His wonderful, tender, pitying love.   Andrew Murray

Dear Lord, You are with me always.  Help me feel Your presence inn every situation and every circumstance.  Today, Dear God, let  me feel You and acknowledge Your presence, Your love, and Your Son.  Amen

Why Mitt Romney is Unlikable?

passing on an email I got from friend - b 

Why Mitt Romney is Unlikable?


A lot has been said in the media about Mitt Romney not being "likable"
or that he doesn't "relate well" to people.  Frankly, we struggled to 
understand why.
So after much research, we have come up with a Top Ten List to explain 
this "un-likability."

Top Ten Reasons To Dislike Mitt Romney:

1. Drop-dead, collar-ad handsome with gracious, statesmanlike aura.
Looks like every central casting's #1 choice for Commander-in-Chief.

2. Been married to ONE woman his entire life, and has been faithful to 
her, including through her bouts with breast cancer and MS.

3. No scandals or skeletons in his closet. (How boring is that?)

4. Can't speak in a fake, southern, "black preacher voice" when 
necessary.

5. Highly intelligent. Graduated cum laude from both Harvard Law School 
and Harvard Business School...and by the way, his academic records are 
NOT sealed.

6. Doesn't smoke or drink alcohol, and has never done drugs, not even in 
the counter -culture age when he went to college. Too square for today's 
America?

7. Represents an America of "yesterday," where people believed in God, 
went to Church, didn't screw around, worked hard, and became a SUCCESS!

8. Has a family of five great sons....and none of them have police 
records or are in drug rehab.  But of course, they were raised by a 
stay-at-home mom, and that "choice" deserves America's scorn.

9. Oh yes.....he's a MORMON. We need to be very afraid of that very 
strange religion that teaches its members to be clean-living, patriotic, 
fiscally conservative, charitable, self-reliant, and honest.

10. And one more point.....pundits say because of his wealth, he can't 
relate to ordinary Americans.  I guess that's because he made that money 
HIMSELF.....as opposed to marrying it or inheriting it from Dad.

Apparently, he didn't understand that actually working at a job and 
earning your own money made you un-relatable to Americans. My goodness, 
it's a strange world, isn't it?

 *****************************************************
Personal Information:

His full Name is: Willard Mitt Romney
He was Born: March 12, 1947 and is 65 years old.
His Father: George W. Romney, former Governor of the State of Michigan 
He was raised in Bloomfield Hills , Michigan He is Married to Ann Romney 
since 1969; they have five children.

Education:
B. A. from Brigham Young University, J. D. and M.B.A. from Harvard 
University

Religion:
Mormon - The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints

Working Background:
After high school, he spent 30 months in France as a Mormon missionary.
After going to both Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School 
simultaneously, he passed the Michigan bar exam, but never worked as an 
attorney.
In 1984, he co-founded Bain Capital a private equity investment firm, 
one of the largest such firms in the United States.

In 1994, he ran for Senator of Massachusetts and lost to Ted Kennedy.

He was President and CEO of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

In 2002, he was elected Governor of the State of Massachusetts where he 
eliminated a 1.5 billion deficit.

Some Interesting Facts about Romney:

Bain Capital, starting with one small office supply store in 
Massachusetts, turned it into Staples; now over 2,000 stores employing
90,000 people.
Bain Capital also worked to perform the same kinds of business miracles 
again and again, with companies like Domino's, Sealy, Brookstone, 
Weather Channel, Burger King, Warner Music Group, Dollarama, Home Depot 
Supply and many others.

He was an unpaid volunteer campaign worker for his dad's gubernatorial 
campaign 1 year.

He was an unpaid intern in his dad's governor's office for eight years.

He was an unpaid bishop and state president of his church for ten years.

He was an unpaid President of the Salt Lake Olympic Committee for three 
years.

He took no salary and was the unpaid Governor of Massachusetts for four 
years.
He gave his entire inheritance from his father to charity.

Mitt Romney is one of the wealthiest self-made men in our country but 
has given more back to its citizens in terms of money, service and time 
than most men.

And in 2011 Mitt Romney gave over $4 million to charity, almost 19% of 
his income....

Just for comparison purposes, Obama gave 1% and Joe Biden gave $300 or 
.0013%.

Mitt Romney is Trustworthy:

He will show us his high school and college transcripts.

He will show us his social security card.

He will show us his law degree.

He will show us his draft notice.

He will show us his medical records.

Mitt Romney's background, experience and trustworthiness show him to be 
a great leader and an excellent citizen for President of the United 
States.
You may think that Romney may not be the best representative the 
Republicans could have selected. At least I know what religion he is, 
and that he won't desecrate the flag, bow down to foreign powers, or 
practice fiscal irresponsibility.

I know he has the ability to turn around this financial debacle that the 
current regime has gotten us into. We won't like all the things 
necessary to recover from this debt, but someone with Romney's 
background can do it.

But, on the minus side, he never was a "Community Organizer", never took 
drugs or smoked pot, never got drunk, did not associate with communists 
or terrorists, nor did he attend a church whose pastor called for God to 
damn the US.