Warnings

I meant to get up a Thankful Thursday post today but, sadly, I got too busy doing other things. I AM thankful, however, for the tomatoes in my garden. They are finally ripening and today I made salsa. I canned 10 pints and put some in the fridge for the kids. They are loving it! Thanks to my friend, Sunshine Autumn, I have been able to finally make a salsa that the family enjoys.

The reason I was too busy for my blog post, however, was not salsa. I spent the greater part of the morning going through my online accounts and changing passwords. I have changed every password as of tonight. The reason? On Monday, someone tried to charge $12,000 to our credit card. GULP! Thankfully, we have fraud protection and an immediate hold was put on the card. It is now cut into a million pieces and that account is closed.

Yesterday, someone hacked into my Facebook account. Again, a hold was put on the account. If I understand correctly, this was due to me clicking on a "share on Facebook" button on someone's blog. I am very leery now about information that people I thought I could trust publish. I had to go through quite a process to regain control of my own Facebook. Ugh. It was not the best experience, but I now have my account back again.

I think this is too coincidental to ignore. I have decided that it is of ultra importance to have unique, difficult passwords for EACH online account that I own. I also believe that it is equally important to change those passwords frequently.

Identity theft is a big time problem in today's world. Please, protect yourself as best you can by religiously guarding your online account numbers and passwords. Be careful about posting identifying information on your blogs or any other social media.

Snow Report

For those of you who've wondered if the Wordless Wednesday picture is recent or not, it was taken yesterday. The official snowfall (as of yesterday) at our county seat is a whopping 67 inches! You may or may not realize that this is 7 inches over my head. Thankfully some it has settled and some of it has melted or I'd be sunk, literally.

On a related note: please be careful if you're in northern Michigan to snowmobile. The snow came too quickly and therefore covered very thin ice, insulating it and preventing it from thickening. Some snowmobiles went under this week and thankfully, the riders escaped but the sleds did not. The ice is not safe and you shouldn't even attempt to race across the lakes. The officials state that the only lakes and ponds that will be safe for ice fishing this year will be those which have not frozen over yet.

Please take precautions and be safe!

Prayer Request

It's me again with another prayer request. The snow's been hitting hard and we've had accidents galore already this season. Our neighbor, 16 year old Samantha, had a head on collision at Ironton Springs with people we know from the Baptist church on Friday. Sam (this is Josh's friend, Mitchell's sister) is intensive care and we hear she's getting a little better each day but she and her family need prayer. We've known this family for many years, especially Mitchell, and I know it can't be easy for them to go through this trying time.

Josh brought Johnny and Evan to youth group tonight and then they stopped for chocolate chips (I guess I'm supposed to make cookies tomorrow for Josh's class which is probably cancelled anyway) and then they're supposed to come right home. I'm on pins and needles because we're to get 10 inches of new snow by tomorrow.

I'm telling you, I age considerably each winter I spend here.

Hope it's warm where you are tonight:)

Proposals

If you're a Michigan voter, I would urge you to look closely at the two proposals on the ballot. Proposal One is concerning the issue of the legalization of marijuana. I will be voting NO on Proposal One. My own mother-in-law, whom I dearly loved, died a horribly painful death from cancer. She suffered immensely, but I don't believe smoking a joint would've helped her one bit. All it would've done would be to put her out of her mind and she wouldn't have wanted that. You can go here to read a little about Proposal One.

The other issue is Proposal Two. I will be voting NO on Proposal Two. This proposal is a horrible one. It involves fetal stem cell research and is worded to include unrestricted experimentation on human fetuses and embryos. It would open up a whole new can of worms, as it even allows for human cloning. Not only is this research highly immoral, it is highly unnecessary and ineffective. To date, there have been ZERO cures, or anything close, for diseases using fetal stem cells. Adult stem cell research, on the other hand, has found much success in the medical world and it doesn't involve killing a human being. One frightening thing about Proposal Two is that, if passed, it would make even discouraging fetal stem cell research illegal.

Please, go out and vote tomorrow. Do so after much prayer and seeking God's will. Pray for MERCY for our country. God has promised that if a nation seeks His face and turns from their wicked ways, that He will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14. Would you agree that that USA needs healing?