SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns
January 5, 2009: Beloved, I call you out of the whirlwind and into a place of clarity and order, says the Lord. You cannot have the insight necessary to be effective in this season when you stay in that whirlwind of activity and lack of self-control. You will need discernment in the days ahead to know and see the attacks of the enemy coming against you, to be armed for battle, and to wage an effective war. I will direct you and empower you, but you must position yourself to hear and receive from Me. Luke 10:19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Thanks to Hunter for introducing me to Fuze Refresh.

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. (this is not entirely true. I watched the video and 2 ladies stopped and listened until he finished a piece and one walked by and said something to him and the other recognized him and stayed and complimented him. One up for discerning ladies!)

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Click here to view the embedded video.

I first had wasabi last year when I was helping serve dinner at a conference.  It is super hot but addictive.  I became introduced again in MS while visiting Fresh Market.

Here is some interesting information on wasabi:

Wasabi Peas is a guilt-free snack that offers chlorophyllin, known to be a cancer-fighting compound. When one eats them, the chlorophyllin attaches itself to cancer-causing substances to prevent the body from absorbing them.
Just 10 years ago, the fiery green mound served beside sushi at Japanese restaurants was only for those with daring palates and tolerance for heat. But today, wasabi, the Japanese version of horseradish, is a familiar condiment used to flavor a myriad of products, such as wasabi peas. Research is being conducted in Japan to determine wasabi’s ability to help prevent tooth decay. According to a recent article in The New York Times, Dr. Hideki Masuda, a research director of Ogawa and Company of Japan, is exploring the idea that wasabi kills bacteria in food; therefore, it has the potential to kill bacteria in the mouth.(wasabi toothpaste? That should wake you up in the morning)

Christmas 2007-Charlotte, NC

Christmas 2008-Madison, MS

On December the 19th 2008 while praying early in the morning I found myself walking with the Lord through the streets of Jerusalem, modern day Jerusalem. I said to the Lord; “Lord why are we here?” The Lord turned to me and said, “Israel is preparing for war you need to pray for the safety of the city, pray for protection against missiles that carry explosives and chemical warheads, the enemy will try and pre-empt the prophesies and bring forward Armageddon thus seeking to wipe out Israel and stop the Gentile harvest”.
Suddenly I saw many Lions in the city: I said “Lord why are their Lions here?” He said “they are hidden Apostles who will help in protecting the city, they will go with the Israeli aircraft and help them achieve their goal, if you pray the enemies plans will be thwarted, pray against the activation of suicide cells within Jerusalem.” The Lord then looked at me and said, “The time is now short all things which the prophets spoke regarding Israel and the church will soon be fulfilled.” The Lord stopped and looked at me and said, “it is time for the Lions the Apostles to come forth” as the Lord said this I was aware of many Lions around the world being alerted to this crisis and beginning to stand against the enemy, many of these Apostles have been as yet hidden and generally unknown.” The Lord continued, “Just like you are being alerted to this crisis they are being alerted to the plans of the enemy. I said “Why the Apostles Lord I thought this was the Prophets Job” The Lord looked at me again and said, “I have alerted many prophets also but the Apostles have a different kind of Authority, Apostles not only can know the plans of the enemy but they will know what to do, Apostles can operate in a war mode to destroy the enemy, unlike the Eagles they can engage the enemy head on, their roar will bring great fear to the enemy they will not stop until they engage and destroy” The Lord seemed to be contemplating something finally saying, “ The Lions are very territorial and will reclaim the earth.”

Suddenly I found myself with the Lord in some kind of Hi-Tec military facility, missiles were being prepared for firing the Lord said to me breath on these missiles, as I did this I became aware that some of the internal computer systems in the missiles had been changed. The men working on these missiles turned and looked my way but obviously could not see me but they felt something. Next I saw the president of Iran he was pacing up and down in a very ornate room similar to what you would find in a palace, in this room were about a dozen other men, the Lord said to me Roar which I did, as I roared 5 times confusion came into that room and these men appeared to be very confused.

We need to pray earnestly for the protection of Israel as the enemy is seeking to annihilated her and take control of the Middle East. If Israel falls into the hands of Islamic forces the plans and purposes of God will be greatly hindered and the gentile harvest will be in jeopardy. If the enemy is able to pre-empt Armageddon the time allocated by God for the gentile harvest to be reaped will be changed and the harvest will be lost. Pray that Iran will not get involved, pray that if Israel bombs the nuclear facilities in Iran that the mission will be successful and the casualties few.

Neville Johnson

Andrew, age 5 (6 in Feb 09), baking Christmas cookies with sis, mom and Nana

Katie, age 9, designing her own Christmas cookies.

Results of our Christmas fun.  The ugliest is Nana’s.

Brittany, age 12, helping mom make the Happy Birthday Jesus cake.

Hunter, age 13 and our entertainer, picked out the type of cake to celebrate Jesus’s birthday and Brittany baked it.

Happy Birthday Jesus Cake.

In case you can’t tell, Brittany has red and green braces just for Christmas.