Saturday, October 29, 2011

AUTUMN IN OUR YARD TODAY....

Just had to share the beauty in our yard today.  It started two or three weeks ago and it keeps going on.  Don’t know why I am so fascinated with the leaf change this year but it has gotten my attention. Each day I look around to see what is different and it has puts on a show.  I don’t want to miss.  We had some rain and cooler weather the last few days and it seem to be saying, “Thank You!”.....

Take a look as we stroll around in the yard together....



These oaks fool me every year they are the last to make the bright red color........

  

The brilliant reds will cause our living room to reflect it color and light up with its shine....


Notice the different colors in the front yard looks like God's Color Palette displayed....


From the front porch I enjoy seeing the colors change on the mountain ranges....


Some of you have stayed in our guest house during the Autumn season here it is today....


Today has been a "Chamber of Commerce Day" with cobalt blue skies.....


Our side yard is another display of beautiful colors.......


In the Spring this "Flowering Cherry Tree" is a solid pink with its blooms and now it is about to go to bed for the winter to get ready for the next Spring.....


One yellow tree stands out tall and straight giving beauty for all to see.....



The view from our porch is breath taking this time of year......


I spend a lot of time in the evenings enjoying the rockers as we watch our sunsets the fall colors are our show right now....




Today our flag has been waving on this windy day.  It's placed here on our porch to make a statement that we are proud citizens of the United States of America....

PS...
Just had to add another picture of this years fall display.  A friend captured it well with his camera and put it on Facebook, had to bring it over here for you to enjoy.  I've watched these two trees turn their beautiful colors in the last few days he really captured it well with our church steeple in the background take a look......


Hope you have enjoyed the day here at our place it been a great day take time to look around your place enjoying the leaves they are going to been gone soon and we will be enjoying another season.   Hope I will get to share some pretty winter scenery with you....

Friday, October 28, 2011

MY LIFE IN REAL TIME...

I had been waiting for my doctor to say one day, “it’s time to see what’s going on in your heart.”  Eight years ago I had open heart 5 by-pass surgery and since then I have been feeling like I have been living a life on borrowed time. Taking care of myself with more value, I might add.  From time to time, I have misbehaved in the form of letting my weight get out of control, not taking time to exercise and living with too much stress.  That’s why I like to vent here I feel like we can figure this thing out together called LIFE....

This week, I went for my first Nuclear Stress Test. In case you don’t know what it does it measures blood flow to your heart muscle both at rest and during stress on the heart. It's performed similar to a routine exercise stress test, but provides images that can show areas of low blood flow through the heart and areas of damaged heart muscle.

Needless to say I was rather nervous waiting for the day of this revealing test.  I was getting “stressed” enough just waiting on the “stress” test.  It felt like I was going to get my report card seeing how well I had done being responsible with the knowledge of my condition that I had inherited from both my parents families.  My doctor at the beginning of this venture in 2003 said I had a healthy heart but had inherited my families plumbing systems.  That news brought on a feeling of wanting to beat that and turn that “generational condition” around to a new one for my family coming behind me. 

Up until the night before I was not at all worried about it.  I thought I had peace and would go in and do the test and check it off my list of things to do.  I went to bed for a good nights rest before my big day and boy!...did the the “mind chatter” kick in, I did not sleep a wink all night.

As the night’s struggle began, I got up email my friend to pray for me and I posted a prayer request to my Facebook friends to pray for me.  I became so weak I had to call on the “big guns” I knew would go to the Throne of Grace and intercede for me.  The comments started coming in and it was wonderful to think people like minded could speak the words I could not find in that late hour.

I got up showered, dressed in my athletic outfit and headed to the task ahead........ 

Before I left home for my 8:45 appointment the next day I was feeling so weak in my faith about this adventure turning out OK that I took some of the messages I read from Facebook and emails and put them on my iPhone to read over and over as I waited for the test to begin.  Holy Spirit uses my friends “skin” to give your messages to me and I clung to them reading them with my eyes letting it give me peace for the moments I was in. 

Let me share what I read over that morning....
Lamar said...
“Before signing off fb for the night, I leave you with this thought: -- Delays in answering prayer are not denials. -- "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say on the Lord."---King David (Ps. 27: 14)

Jeni said....
"...anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us..." -David Livingston

Judy said....
“Now Mary-that heart of yours is just PERFECT! Look at all you have done in the past 8 years and all the lives you have touched and changed - because of that beating heart! Mary girl - "God ain't finished with you yet". You can't do what you do with a broken heart! The report will be EXCELLENT! “

With prayers said and all the words of encouragement I went in and ACED it!  I have to say the treadmill was the tuff part. The nurse had it going so fast and elevated so high I thought I wouldn’t make it to the end but in front of me was a poster of a one of my favorite singing groups that I had to stare at the whole time and it said on the top YOU COULD WIN I saw those words and said, You know what I CAN the choice is mine.... I will ......and I did!!!
SO THE RESULTS...
As I left the doctors office they said I would get a call the next day with the results.  I thought, “OH GREAT”, more waiting!  I came home beat, went straight to bed, slept for two hours and that is not like me, must have been what I had missed from the night before.  When I got up I had a call I had missed that came within an hour after I got home, “Oh mercy! my phone was turned off at the doctor’s office and I hadn’t tuned it back on”.  I listened to the message, it went like this, “Mary, this is Sharron with Piedmont I am calling to let you know your stress test came back a Normal Study if you have any questions just give me a call back”  Whew! WHAT GOOD NEWS! 

So that was my day in Real Time thanks for listening to my story as of this important today now going to have a life, I CAN...LIfe IS Good!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

WALK IN THE LIGHT…..

John 3:20-21 “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”


Ever felt like you are in a dark place in your life and can’t get out? What is going on? What’s the next step?  Going through something and you don’t have answers? Feeling misunderstood and the more you say the deeper you go into the darkness.....Well I can relate, at times it happens more times than not.  I call it a Funk I get in, feels like a dark cloud just hanging over me.  I love it when I live in the Zone.  That’s when all things are going right, life is good and the light is on my path.

The verse today is about Living in the Zone or Walking in the Light.  Read it over and see what is a key thought in the verse for you.  For me what stands out is, “whoever lives by the truth comes into the light”.  That is something we need to pay attention to when we are experiencing dark days.  I know we can’t live on “Cloud Nine” all the time that’s just not normal.   We need tension in our lives.  A music instrument’s strings will need tension to make a beautiful sound.  Our life would be so out of tune if we did not have trials.  It’s how we respond to them that matters.  When we get into one of those moods I call a Funk ask yourself, “what is the truth?” and you can count on light appearing to show you the path.  Walking in the Light is living a life with peace, good mental health and courage to face the challenge before you....GO AHEAD TAKE THAT FIRST STEP......

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

DON’T FORGET HOW TO PLAY…




I'm discovering I can get way too serious before I know it.  I hate it when that happens!  I have to just stop and take action on myself and do a “route recalculation” or I will become dull and you don’t want to be around me.…..OH MY!!!....

Our kids have been here for a few days. Phillip and Amy have their routine enjoying each other.  They like to visit the surrounding little towns with neat shops and cafes, such as Blue Ridge, GA......


Caeden stays with us and the play begins.  I'm finding out that I have things that I “thought” were important, like keeping the house straight, checking email and it goes on and on. You know what I mean?

Yesterday, I realized those things keep me so controlled, that I miss important moments and I forget to PLAY.  I just stopped and said, “hey Caeden where are those two coloring books we bought a few years ago that we use to color in?”  He ran and got them and I had the best time coloring with him in the Star Wars coloring book........

I opened all our crayon boxes and my memory took me back as a child and how I loved to color and how much effort I put into finding the RIGHT COLOR!!!  I had to be careful not to break one that would upset my day.

Then the smell of crayons....... can you smell them?....



 We were surprised how his coloring had improved, staying in the lines now....


We didn't take time to swing this time, “Why didn’t I get out on the porch this summer more?”  Now the cold weather is coming and it will be too cold to sit out there.  Hey, I missed some summer sounds and sights this year….too busy!  Right now Caeden is calling from upstairs wanting me to come see this new computer game and how he is winning at this game.  Ok, practice what I just said, stop for the moment.  One day I will look back on this time, revisiting this valuable moment knowing my grandson wanted me to see him win in this fight with a giant in a game some computer whiz created. Wouldn’t be surprised if one day Caeden will be creating these games his mind runs that way.




 Outside we enjoyed the sunshine and the breeze in the trees as we played. I watched as he rode his bike around and around seeing how fast he could go each time.It became an imaginary race track. I was sitting in the grandstand cheering him on. This playing is actually fun.













Later that afternoon we baked Gingerbread cookies and created funny gingerbread men.

He could not stop eating them.  “Can’t just eat one”, he said, “these things are addicting”.


Yeah, that’s what I thought, so today we might have to bake some more because that batch is gone. 

Got to go, some more fun is waiting.  He’s leaving soon, but I want forget to keep playing like a kid.  Then, with this memory in my mind, on another day I will look back on this day enjoying this time with him again. 

This message is for you also, so get started with something fun..... BE A KID!…….


Sunday, October 16, 2011

IS THE LORD YOUR SHEPHERD?

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Oh! Do I have a story for you…

We had a critical need yesterday.  Right away it like to have knocked us down in shock!  We began working to fix it our way.  Within an hour the answer came in and we didn't have to be in charge.  Isn’t that just like us humans? …. If we had just waited it would not have cost us so much STRESS if only we had just took a step back, took a deep breath and left it to our SHEPHERD and  RESTED in Him! 

This morning I checked my email and this daily devotional was sitting there waiting to SPEAK TO ME no doubt its message was for me.  Maybe it will apply to what you are facing right now and you can avoid an incident like ours….. 

Taken from "The Power of His Presence"... by Ray Stedman... devotional@RayStedman.org:
                                                           
                NO WANT 
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be in want” (Psalm 23:1).
Because the Lord is my shepherd, I do not lack anything. He satisfies my needs. That is the place where God wants to bring us. He wants us to be independently dependent upon Him, to need Him alone. It struck me as I was studying this psalm that there are really only two options in life. If the Lord is my shepherd, then I shall not want; but if I am in want, then it is obvious that the Lord is not my shepherd. It is that simple. If emptiness, loneliness, despair, and frustration exist in our lives, then the Lord is not our shepherd. Or if anyone or anything else is shepherding us, we are never satisfied. If our vocation shepherds us, then there is restlessness and feverish activity and frustration. If education is our shepherd, then we are constantly being disillusioned. If another person is our shepherd, we are always disappointed, and ultimately we are left empty. If drug abuse is our shepherd, then “we are wasted,” as one rock artist said recently. But if the Lord is our shepherd, David says, we shall not want.
 It occurs to me that if Jehovah is to be our shepherd, then we have to begin by recognizing that we are sheep. I don't like that analogy, frankly, because I don't like sheep. I come by my dislike honestly. I used to raise sheep. In high school I was in the 4-H Club, and I had a herd of sheep and goats. Now goats I can abide, because they may be obnoxious, but at least they're smart. Sheep are, beyond question, the most stupid animals on the face of the earth. They are dumb and they are dirty and they are timid and defenseless and helpless. Mine were always getting lost and hurt and snake bitten. They literally do not know enough to come in out of the rain. Sheep are miserable creatures.
And then to have God tell me that I am one! That hurts my feelings. But if I am really honest with myself, I know it is true. I know that I lack wisdom and strength. I'm inclined to be self-destructive. Isaiah said it best: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). I know my tendency toward self-indulgent individualism, going my own way and doing my own thing. That's me. I'm a sheep. And if Jesus Christ is to be my shepherd, I have to admit that I need one. It is difficult, but that is where we must start. Once we admit that need, we discover the truth of what David is saying. We shall not want.
Lord, though I am a sheep who is prone to wander, come and be my shepherd today. Bring me to that place where I can say, “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want”
Life Application: If emptiness, loneliness, despair, frustration, hopelessness, or wants exist in our lives, then the Lord is not our shepherd. Can we recognize His call to rescue us?


Thursday, October 13, 2011

AUTUMN, A FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR….


I said “A Favorite Time of the Year” because I like them all, but do you notice how you are ready for each one when they come around… again?  I get tired of one when it’s about to end and get “so” ready for the one about to begin.  I feel sorry for the person who lives so busy that they miss what God offers to enjoy each year.


It is so beautiful here in our area. You can enjoy it with me by visiting this website for your virtual moment of the leaf change, looking from Brasstown Tower, the highest point in Georgia....http://www.brmemc.net/brasstown/



About two weeks ago, something happened that got my attention.  You see “the busy person” I spoke of, well that was me.  Quickly walking out my door, there it was on my steps, a pretty red leaf.  The leaves had not begun to turn, but here was this one leaf. It was as though something or someOne was telling me, “Mary the show is about to begin so slow down and don’t miss it” and you know what? I have.  Here is the picture I took and it now sits in my kitchen windowsill…

Weeks later, sure enough they have arrived.  I am looking out my window and noticing the leaves turning into a colorful display of oranges, yellows with some greens fading in the background.  Some deep reds are slowing beginning to show on some of the leaf tips.  This will go on for a few more weeks.  We are blessed to live in the North Georgia Mountains where we have four distinct seasons with a good length of time to enjoy God’s designs each year. The colors are dependent on the weather.  It had been pretty dry this year, but hasn’t bothered the colors at all......


Our friend Jim had this to say on Facebook today.  I couldn’t wait to share it with you; he and Teresa enjoy this view…


Jim said, "Living on this mountain at this time of year is like living in an abstract painting using all the brightest colors. The trees all around are absolutely ablaze now. As the sun filters through the leaves, I feel so blessed to be able to view this each day!"

I have for you some scenes of Autumn with music by my favorite Composer’s relaxing Baroque music. Every March 4th I remember it's his birthday; this last year he would have been 333 years old…wow!  For many years people have enjoyed his work.  Makes me think we all have gifts in us we could use for many to enjoy for years to come. We must leave behind something for people to enjoy and to glean from.  Think on that one!

Here is a little info about Vivaldi.....

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741), nicknamed il Prete Rosso ("The Red Priest") because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe. Vivaldi is known mainly for composing instrumental concertos, especially for the violin, as well as sacred choral works and over 40 operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons.

Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children where Vivaldi worked from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna hoping for preferment. The Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival, and the composer died a pauper, without a steady source of income.

Though Vivaldi's music was well received during his lifetime, it later declined in popularity until its vigorous revival in the first half of the 20th century. Today, Vivaldi ranks among the most popular and widely recorded Baroque composers.

So sit back and enjoy one of my favorite pieces of his work, with captions of this wonderful season called AUTUMN!!!



Wednesday, October 12, 2011

I LOVE PUMPKINS......

Can’t wait each year for their growth that makes them pop up out of the fields.  Where they are planted along the road headed out of town you can see them real good. 

Some are big and some are small.  I know that somewhere there will be a “Biggest Pumpkins of the year” contest and an eager farmer will win the price.  Might be a ribbon or something of value to them, anyway….




Just a little Pumpkin History….
References to pumpkins date back many centuries. The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for "large melon" which is "pepon." "Pepon" was  nasalized by the French into "pompon." The English changed "pompon" to "Pumpion." Shakespeare referred to the "pumpion" in his Merry Wives of Windsor. American colonists changed "pumpion" into "pumpkin." The "pumpkin" is referred to in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater and Cinderella.

Native Americans dried strips of pumpkin and wove them into mats. They also roasted long strips of pumpkin on the open fire and ate them. The origin of pumpkin pie occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in hot ashes.

They are showing up in decorations on porches and around driveways and mailboxes.......

This time of year as the Fall season rolls around, I like to bake things with spices, makes good smells coming from my kitchen.   

Here is a new recipe you might already be aware of it. My niece just told me about it.  It’s a WW recipe that I will be trying in the next few days, she told me they even freeze well, that does it, I will be making them! You can too.....


                 "Weight Watchers Muffins- 2 point each! Taste like pumpkin pie!"

Ingredients:
 1 (18 ounce) box spice cake mix
 15 ounces pumpkin
 1 cup water 
Directions:
 1. Mix all ingredients in mixer.
 2. Makes 24 muffins.
 3. Cook for 20-25 minutes at 350°F.
 4. They will be very moist.
 5. Makes 24
 6. Calories 97.6, 2 WW points


ANOTHER THING....Notice how talented people are getting in their carvings of Jack-O-Lanterns? 




















I was wondering where did that trend get started?, our fiends at the Discovery Channel provided this information. Never heard this one before, makes you wonder how other things got started….Hum!!!
 History of the Jack-o-Lantern.......

People have been making jack-o-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack's lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o'lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack o'lanterns.

It's time for you to get started on your Pumpkin.....

I can't end without mentioning the Pumpkin Pie......






Here is your slice, can't you just taste it now.......











Monday, October 10, 2011

WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION…




Talking with a friend the other day, I suggested she work on some things that were causing  grief in her life and in the relationship with her husband. I explained to her we are made up in three parts, according to 1 Thessalonians 5:23 NIV “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”


As I dwell on God’s creation of human beings I marvel at how He left us to have a choice in our Soul.  I like to say it this way, in our Spirit we are saved that is Justification, our Soul is being saved that is the Sanctification process and our Body will be saved that is Glorification.

What I marvel at is Father giving us a choice in what the scripture says in, Philippians 2:12 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” It is up to us to work on our issues.  We are not left alone to work this out; as we make the effort Holy Spirit brings change.  It is our personal growth process.

Make sure you understand, it is NOT working for Salvation by NO means or for God’s acceptance! A statement by Dallas Willard, in his book, The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’ Essential Teachings on Discipleship says it well.  He said, “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.”

Begin today by becoming aware of those things that need attention.  Go a step further and ask Holy Spirit to show you the things that hinder your growth process.  It will be like “cleaning house” and you will experience freedom.  I like to say when we do this WORKING OUT OUR OWN SALVATION we are saving ourselves from ourselves.  It is a dying to SELF that wants so bad to be in charge, but remember it will get you no where…..

Saturday, October 8, 2011

SORGHUM FESTIVAL TIME IN OUR TOWN.....

The parade will kick off for the annual Sorghum Festival event at 11:00 o’clock this Saturday morning.  People stand or sit on the side of the road on the “main drag” of our town and scream with excitement as the floats go down the street with people on them waving to the crowd.  Our school bands will get to show off all their times of practice with their lively music to march down the street.  All our fire trucks will be out blowing their horns with a loud noise as they drive slowly for all to see.




It like the Fair has come to our town.  This event will draw lots of people who have been waiting for it since it closed out last year.  There will be all kinds of contest but my favorite is the Biscuit contest. We will have to see who can eat the most with that good Sorghum Syrup on them.  Oh! there’s fun coming our way….


This week was the first time I saw the fields of sorghum growing so well.  Even with a dry spell it’s going to be a good year.  Mr. Hughes will have his mill grinding the stalks making the stuff.  Funny how all the old and young town men will come and gather around to watch the all night process in some places.  It is a big production of boiling the stuff.  Look at this one in Alabama…..


JUST A BIT OF INFO ON THE SWEET STUFF......Sweet sorghum has been widely cultivated in the U.S. since the 1850s for use in sweeteners, primarily in the form of sorghum syrup. By the early 1900s, the U.S. produced 20 million US gallons (76,000 m3) of sweet sorghum syrup annually. Making syrup from sorghum (as from sugar cane) is heavily labor intensive. Following World War II, with the declining availability of farm labor, sorghum syrup production fell drastically. Currently, less than 1 million US gallons (3,800 m3) are produced annually in the U.S. Most sorghum grown for syrup production is grown in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee.


Sorghum syrup and hot biscuits are a traditional breakfast in the Southern United States. 
Sorghum syrup is also used on pancakes, cornmeal mush, grits and other hot cereals. It can be used as a cooking ingredient as molasses is used.   So I am out of here got to go now it's time to head out and see all the excitement.....................


Friday, October 7, 2011

WHEN LOVE MUST BE TOUGH…


I have on my heart several things. Questions are running in my mind, like what do you do when you know someone who is going down the wrong path making bad choices? What about if you are burdened for someone who is into drugs, alcohol or any other abusive behavior? These are my thoughts on this subject WHEN LOVE MUST BE TOUGH…

Toughness is behind the action you are taking, showing this love to that person. They are not going to process this until they get through facing the reality of their deep rooted pain they are trying to escape with their choice of a pain killer that last for a short while, but has long lasting damages. It’s a tough place to be in when you love this person so much that you risk the future of your relationship.  This fine line stares you in the face as you work out your plan. Keeping your focus on the fact of the harm their actions are causing will get you to the end results of your plan.  Deep care has to be on the heart of this person who is showing their love in action. It's a tough place to be in when the actions of the one you love have brought you to a place of confrontation. It is hard for the person being confronted to see it is “for them” and “not against them” but this love has to push through that crust of feelings and know that "positive actions with positive motives has the ability to bring positive results".

Today, I know those who are going out with heavy hearts to take this action to a love one.  My thoughts wonder on the fact that in many places at this time people I don’t even know are putting plans together feeling consumed by the stress of it.  My heart is heavy for a special person I know that has not dealt with her pain of a loss and she is trying to bury the emotional pain with a lifestyle that is slowly killing her and her love ones. I don’t want to see this happen to such a beautiful person who is the creation God made. 

Because I don’t want to “re-invent the wheel” and can’t, I recommend the best book on this subject.  I have seen it work over the years with many people. Dr James Dobson in his book “Love Must Be Tough” has put together a work that gives favorable results.....

You can find it here…
My prayers go out to you wherever you are. God is going to guide you because He wants this more than you do for this person on your heart.  In fact, how else can He reach them unless He uses a person with a strong desire to help that person blinded and needs to see the way out of this trap?  And remember, when it is at the end, the results will be “for them”.  Then they will have eyes to see and ears to hear the Truth…that God loves them and wants to be the Way, The Truth and The Life!