Very Useful Search Engine

Have you ever needed to search the internet by image instead of by words? I have, and I found the coolest search engine this week. It's called TinEye, and you either upload an image or type in a URL where the image is found and hit the search button. It searches their database and gives you all the websites where this image can be found!


I needed to find the name and artist of this odd painting the other day, and in a matter of seconds TinEye had numerous websites I could visit, many of which gave the information I was looking for. Very cool!

This is a fairly new site and their database is still relatively small, but I have found almost every image I was looking for.

For Entertainment Purposes Only

For a few hours tonight, hubby and I are escaping to a fantasy world where terrorists are actually treated as evil and freedom-lovers do whatever has to be done to preserve life and liberty.

Reality, it is not; entertaining, it is!

Blog Aboard a Mercy Ship

I have been reading this blog for a couple months now, and I thought it was time I shared it with you. This is one of only a handful of blogs I have ever read from beginning to end, and it is one of my favorites. When my feed reader is all lit up from new posts waiting to be read, my heart always does a leap when I see her blog among them and it's the first one I click on.

Check out ali's african adventures and read what God's been doing aboard a Mercy Ship docked in Monrovia, Liberia. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Also, if you want to see some of the incredible work that Mercy Ships does in the name of Christ, watch this video and prepare to be moved. These hospital ships offer free medical care to developing nations. They have state-of-the art equipment and do surgeries to repair things such as cleft lips and VVF (which I had never even heard of before since I live in such a blessed nation) to more severe injuries and disfigurements that you have to see to truly believe.

Persecuted India

While I have been distracted by the financial crisis and raging politicss here in the States, our Indian brothers and sisters in Christ are in desperate need of our prayers. Gospel for Asia has asked for our prayers in a recent article.

In light of the recent attacks in Orissa, Gospel for Asia leaders in Karnataka are asking for prayer. They send these specific requests:

• Ask God to specially assign His angels to watch over and protect His people, evangelists, pastors and church leaders who are scattered across the state of Karnataka.


• Pray that police and government officials will bring the violence under control immediately.


• Pray that God will strengthen the church with courage, boldness, strong conviction and faith in the Lord to stand firm for His name during these days.


• Pray that the enemies of the Gospel will be visited by the love of the living and true God and that a great number of them will turn to Him.


• Pray for the suffering Christians to receive justice and favor in this hour of crisis.

If you haven't yet read Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan (founder and president of Gospel for Asia), I highly recommend it. You can get a FREE copy here. So now you have no excuse not to read it, but be forewarned, it might just alter your worldview!

Curling Up With a Good Blog

Today we are having thunderstorms and showers. It's dark and what some would call gloomy, but it happens to be my favorite kind of day, the kind of day that makes you want to curl up with a good book. Though I should be diligently getting the house in order and all the camping gear restocked and ready for hubby's upcoming camping trip or even posting on my blog, I'm not. Instead--in between washing, drying, and folding a gazillion loads of laundry--I've been reading this blog I stumbled across this morning. The blogger has just received her medical degree, but for the last three years has been documenting her journey through medical school, internship, etc.

I dare you to read this or this and not want to read more too!

Movie Recommendation

My husband and I watched a wonderful DVD last week. I had heard of the movie but had no idea what it was until I saw a friend recommend it on her blog. Once I knew it was the life story of Beatrix Potter, I was definitely interested! Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor both do a wonderful job with their parts, and hubby and I both thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

If you're looking for a good movie to rent this weekend, I'd suggest giving this one a try.

National Foster Care Month

May is National Foster Care Month, and to highlight it I thought I'd make yet another movie recommendation. Have you seen Martian Child? It is a story that is loosely based on true events about a single man who adopts a boy from the foster care system who thinks he is from Mars. It is a heartwarming story that I think you will enjoy. Who knows, maybe it will cause you to consider fostering or even adopting one of the thousands of kids that are waiting for a home. Could God be calling you to take a little "Martian Child" into your heart?

Another Recommendation

I finished reading Nim's Island aloud to the kids this morning, and since we have a spanking new cinema in our little community now and since Daddy got home early from work today, we decided to take them to the matinee to see the movie. The kids liked it, and I really enjoyed it too! Okay, I admit, the special effects (particularly the CG) are not stellar and the story flounders a bit where they decided to stray from the book, but it inspires a love of reading and adventure and being courageous, all things we try to encourage in our children.

I was nervous about taking my kids to a PG movie that I haven't previewed (this is the first one they've seen that hasn't been filtered), but my apprehension was unfounded. I despise all the bad attitudes, potty humor and sexual innuendo that pervade so many movies aimed at kids, but that was missing in this one for the most part (the sea lion burps once and passes gas once).

When I finished reading the book this morning, Ryan said, "Can I read it now?" and when Daddy asked them after the movie if they wanted to see it again sometime, he said, "Yeah, I want to own it!" I think he liked the story, don't you?

Recommended

I saw this book at Target a month or so ago. It intrigued me, but I'm too cheap frugal to buy books at full price, so I went home and requested it from the library. Since it was brand new, they didn't have the book processed yet, but I was first to request it. I got the book yesterday, and began reading this afternoon. I couldn't put it down and finished it a few minutes ago. If you're looking for a great true life story and don't mind shedding a few tears, I would highly recommend this book! Not only is it an unbelievable story, it was encouraging to see God at work through the families involved and to hear them give Him glory despite unimaginable suffering.