Good Morning Everyone and Welcome to the Saturday Morning Chat Group!

Good Morning Everyone! I'm a little late this morning. Last night was exciting for us, we went to Fed Ex and mailed six of the Starfish boxes. Anyone who participated and would like the tracking numbers, please send me an e-mail or leave a comment and I will get the numbers to you.
Anyone who would like a Saturday Morning Chat link for their sidebar, let me know and I will get one off to you.



And don't forget to vote today for Chinese Starfish and The Seventh Diamond for 'Best Charity Blog' in the Blogger's Choice Blog Awards.



Chinese Starfish Link: http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/14808

Seventh Diamond Link:http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/43160

Starfish Shipping Update...Please Pray That Our Boxes Arrive Safely!

Well, tonight was the night. We took all of the boxes and loaded them into the minivan and headed to FedEx. Lucky for us, they were open until 9pm.



Our FedEx man was very nice, but we were not allowed to photograph him. But below you can see six of our boxes ready to go.


We were only able to ship 6 out of our 10 boxes. The total for the six came to $814.69. They weighed 124.75 lbs. So, we will be shipping the last 4 boxes as money allows. For the families who donated, we have the tracking numbers and a photo of our shipping receipt, please e-mail me if you want this information or leave your e-mail on a comment below. I have never accepted money through my blog before, so I have documented everything so that everyone knows that their money went to what it was intended for. I deeply appreciate your faith in me and don't want to jeopardize that. I deposited all of the checks this morning, so if you keep track in your checkbook, you can log that in.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR BOXES. I AM SO WORRIED ABOUT THEM GETTING THROUGH CUSTOMS AND ARRIVING SAFELY TO AMANDA.

Why Is Easter So Early This Year?

Why is Easter so early this year? You may ask......

I would imagine that you have asked "Why is Easter so early this year?
Well the reason follows and it is interesting to learn why. Enjoy.


Easter this year is: Sunday March 23, 2008
As you may know, Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon
after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).
This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people
used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman
calendar.
Found out a couple of things you might be interested in!


Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22)
but that is pretty rare.
This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our
lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it
this early! (95 y ears old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will
ever, see it a day earlier! Here's the fact:


The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228
(220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if
you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).
The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year
2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.
So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this
year!

My Friend...

Remember my friend who has been in a very physically and verbally abusive marriage for the past 6 years? She called me yesterday to tell me that she left him. Now, I have had this same phone call about 6 times now. But she's been gone for 3 weeks, she signed a 1 year lease on a condo and packed up everything she had while he was on a business trip....even half of the Christmas ornaments. I think this might really be true. Please pray with me that she doesn't go back this time. She has 3 children who have been been verbally abused, threatened and have witnessed everything that has happened to her. Two are grown now, but one is still with her. They need this to be 'real this time' too.

Don't Forget to Vote!

Chinese Starfish Link: http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/14808

Seventh Diamond Link:http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/43160

* Both blogs are doing pretty well with 9 & 11 votes, we are on in the top 20! You can also see everyone who has voted for us by clicking on the link. It's fun.

A Special Easter Gift...Thank You Denise!

For the past month, Eli has seen so many boxes come to the house with wonderful things inside and he has been told that they are not for him, but for the babies in China. He's been very patient, but was so pleasantly surprised when a box came in the mail for him. I wish I would have had my video camera with me when he opened the box. He kept saying "Is it for me?" and he hugged the book when he unwrapped it. Thank you so much Denise from 'Tucked Inside My Heart'! The book is a wonderful Christian Easter story. We read it last night before bedtime.

Quote of the Week...

The Bloggers Choice Awards...

Wow! Thank you so much Chelley for nominating me for Best Charity Blog at the Bloggers Choice Awards. I am very excited about it!
Chinese Starfish and The Seventh Diamond are both nominated. Please vote for us!

Chinese Starfish Link: http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/14808

Seventh Diamond Link:http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/43160

Enjoy Your Monday Everyone!

Today is going to be a very busy Monday at work. I hope you all have a great one!

Sunday...