A Tribute

It seems I have been a stranger to my computer for the past couple of weeks! My step-mother, Miss Gertrude, fell week before last and broke her hip. Then last week she had surgery on Tuesday afternoon and seemed to do well. But early on Wednesday morning she passed away. It was very sudden and we were not expecting it. But we know she was a Christian and is now walking and talking with loved ones in Heaven. She would have been 91 years old in three weeks. I miss her. So today I wanted to post something that I wrote almost 10 years ago. Back then I titled it "My Three Mothers" and if you've been my friend for a while you've most likely already read it. This is a tribute to not only Miss Gertrude, but to my mama Wardie, and my mother-in-law Hazel. I hope it will convey to you how special these three Mothers were to me!

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31: 10

I'd like to tell you about my three mothers.

The Mother that birthed me into the world was with me for only sixteen years. Then she went home to be with the Lord. But during the years she was with me, she taught me many things about the Christian life. She was the best Christian woman I ever knew. In fact, I believe that many of the blessings I enjoy today as an adult are the direct result of some of the prayers she prayed for me. Her name was Wardie, which I always thought was very old fashioned. But it suited her. She was an old-fashioned person. She had old-fashioned values and an old-fashioned faith in God. She was always telling me things like, "Pretty is as pretty does." and "Two wrongs don't make a right". She taught me by example to be honest, thrifty, and kind.
She taught me how to sew Barbie clothes and eventually my own clothes. My Mama was the anchor in my life and when she died in March of the year when I was sixteen, I didn't know how I could go on with my life. Only by the grace of God did I struggle through the next few years. "She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." Proverbs 31: 26

When I was nineteen, I got married. Mrs. Hazel, my new mother-in-law, became my "second mama". Mrs. Hazel taught me to garden and can vegetables. I had never done any of this before because I grew up in town. She was one of the very best cooks I have ever known. We would get together when the garden came in and can two or three canners full of vegetable soup. Then she would give me half of all we had canned and keep the other half for her and Mr. Jewell. But the funny thing was that I always got the half that was just not quite as good as the half she kept. We could eat it at her house and it was the most delicious soup I had ever put in my mouth...I could eat some of the same batch that I had taken home and for some reason it just didn't taste the same. She just had that special touch. "She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness." Proverbs 31: 27

The year after I married, my widowed Daddy married a lady named Gertrude. She became my "third Mama". I figured since I was already married myself, I was too old to start calling her Mama so I have always called her "Miss Gertrude". She has been such a blessing to me over the years. God surely must have wanted to give my Daddy a special blessing when he gave him "Miss Gertrude" for a helpmeet. She has shown me how to enjoy life. Whether cooking for a crowd, fishing for crappie, taking a walk or pulling weeds in the flowerbed, she enjoyed every minute of it. "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her." Proberbs 31: 28

I truly count myself as blessed for having three of the best Mothers a person could have. Each one of them had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and because of that I know I will have a joyous reunion with them someday.

"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31: 30

Marilyn

The Battle With the Ladybugs

They're back! The yearly fall pilgrimage of ladybugs has begun! Yesterday afternoon I looked outside my kitchen window and saw what looked like hundreds or maybe thousands of ladybugs swarming around in the sunshine. Then I noticed that many of them had made it inside my kitchen which is on the west side of the house and gets the most sunshine of the day.

They were crawling on the ceiling fan, on the lights,

on the curtains, on the windows, etc.

And everywhere they crawl they leave a little slimy brown trail. Nasty! I will probably just wait until they run their course and go away again before trying to clean things up very much. How I hate them!

On the other hand, people who don't have to deal with these ladybugs on the enormous scale that I do seem to love the little critters! My granddaughter loves ladybugs! But mostly I think she loves the cute little cartoons of ladybugs. The real-life ones are stinky, nasty little things! I'm sorry if I offend some of you ladybug lovers. I will gladly send you a few hundred of mine as a starter if you want to raise some of your own! (smile)

I know some of you are already thinking...doesn't she know ladybugs are good? And I will admit, they do have their benefits. They have their place. Outside ! Ladybugs are very beneficial insects that eat all kinds of bad bugs. For that I'm glad. I just wish they'd stay outside where they belong! I also read that in many countries people believe ladybugs bring good luck, good weather, or can make your wishes come true. As a Christian I know that all good things come to us from God....not the ladybugs!

Sometimes sin is like the ladybug. It looks very pretty. It has a certain glamorous mystery about it. But, like the ladybugs now calling my kitchen home, when you get up close and personal with sin it has a stink to it and always leaves a messy trail behind!

"Lord, help me to remember when I am tempted by a seemingly harmless or beautiful sin, that it will take me farther from You than I want to go , and will keep me away from You longer than I ever meant to stay! Help me to say as the psalmist in Psalm 73: 28... 'But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.' Amen."

Marilyn

Fall is Here!

(A dogwood tree in front of our house. It's as pretty now as it

was in the spring albeit in a different way! )

(A view of our pasture from the back porch)

(This is what I see when I look out the front door)

Fall. The favorite time of the year for many...my husband included....but not for me. It just seems too ominous somehow. Instead of being able to enjoy all the beautiful colors and cooler weather I sometimes find myself dwelling on the soon coming of bare branches, dead leaves, snow & ice, and the barren loneliness of winter time!

I have to admit that we are having one of the prettiest fall seasons I can remember. The trees are beautiful. I do feel so privileged to be able to live out here right smack dab in the middle of them. Yesterday I went out and took some pictures in our yard. My camera does not do the colors justice though I can tell you right now.

If you know me much at all you know I like to take words or ideas and pick them apart. While walking in our driveway the other day I started thinking about the word FALL. Of course I was thinking about the autumn season that we call Fall. But then I began to think of just the word itself.

At first the associations were sort of negative.

Fall. In my mind I see the leaves "falling" from the trees and leaving them bare and ugly.

Fall. Remembering times I have fallen down and skinned knees or elbows.

Fall. Thinking of Adam and Eve and their "fall" from the Garden.

I wondered if I would think of anything positive about the word. Then a picture came to my mind. A fall that I witnessed as a teenager on a mission trip with my church. It's called Niagara Falls! I suppose in North America it would be the granddaddy of all the other waterfalls. Certainly I think the most famous for sure. This fall is beautiful. It's powerful. It takes your breath away!

The moral of this little tale? There are things that are going to come along in our lives that we don't particularly like. It's inevitable. But instead of fussing and griping about it we can find something good about it. We can try to have a "Pollyanna" attitude and find something to be happy about in every area of life.

Genesis 8: 22 "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
So, get out and enjoy the beautiful colors of Fall.

Marilyn

Faithful

While looking through some pictures I took a couple of months ago I came across this picture of my dog Duke lying just outside the screen door watching every move I made in the kitchen. I thought about the word FAITHFUL.

I looked it up to see just what the dictionary says it means.

Loyal.

Reliable.

Accurate and exact.

Duke is always loyal. He is sometimes reliable. But accurate and exact? No. Not quite.

It's great to have pets that we can call faithful. It's better to have friends and family who we know are faithful. Loyal. Reliable. I am blessed to have many faithful friends and family members. But can I say they are accurate and exact? No. Not always.

For those of us who are married it's yet even better to have a spouse that we know to be faithful. Loyal. Reliable. I have a wonderful husband who I have total faith in. He's been faithful to me for over thirty-six years now. A monumental achievement in this day and age. But is he accurate and exact? Not always.

Can we find anything or anyone who can fulfill all of the attributes of being "faithful"? Oh Yes! Thankfully we can! There is One and only One. 2 Thessalonians 3: 3 says this: "But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil."

God is faithful ALL the time! He is worthy of our faith in Him. Will He be loyal? Yes! Reliable? Yes! Accurate and exact? Yes! He meets every requirement for total and complete faithfulness.

"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)" Hebrews 10: 23

Let us rejoice in the knowledge that we serve a faithful God!

Marilyn

Black & White; Old & New

(Blackie, Me, and Duke this morning before our walk)

Living out in the country as we do, we have always liked having a dog around for company. When we first got married hubby had beagles for rabbit hunting. Later we had a Border Collie and a couple of Australian Heelers to help round up the cows. As time passed things changed. We sold the cows. The dogs got old and passed on. But before she got too old Gracie, our Border Collie, had a litter of pups. Five solid black and one solid white.

(Duke & Me in the fall of 1996)

The white one had this funny little way of hitching up one of his back legs as he walked. One of my sons said, "Look at that puppy! He walks like John Wayne!" We thought that was cute so we named him Duke and kept him. He has become my special dog. He loves me unconditionally I think. But he's getting old. He had his thirteenth birthday in May. I'm not sure how old that would be compared to in human years but way on up there. His hearing is getting to be almost non-existent. He doesn't bark anymore when someone drives up. So because of all that, my husband has been talking about getting a new puppy.

On Wednesday hubby brought home said new puppy. When he talked to the vet he was going to adopt the puppy from he thought they said it was about six weeks old. Turns out he's already about four months old and larger than my dog Duke! ha That's going to take some getting used to! Oh...did I forget to tell you that I'm really, REALLY afraid of dogs most of the time! Any strange dogs! But I've never, ever been afraid of my Dukie-Poo....as my granddaughter and I call him!


The new puppy is supposed to be a Border Collie/Black Lab mix and is solid black. We went through lots of names....Buddy, Bo, Sam,....suggested by hubby.......and Jake....suggested by me but could never agree on one. Finally while looking at the pup's soft, glossy black coat I said, "Well, what about Blackie?" Hubby responded with, "I like it!" So, Blackie he has been dubbed! He's friendly. He's well mannered. And he's smart. I think we're bonding already.

This morning just before we took Duke and Blackie for a walk I had hubby snap my picture with them. I think we were all moving around but you can get the idea of what they look like and how close to the same size they are. As I downloaded and looked at the picture later some thoughts went through my mind. I looked at the black dog on one side and the white dog on the other. It reminded me of the illustration I've heard several times in sermons. An old preacher was once asked by a younger Christian how it is possible to do what is right when it seems the devil is always tempting us to do wrong. In answer the old preacher said something like this: "I just imagine in my mind that there are two dogs living inside me....a black dog and a white dog. One of them represents my old sin nature. One of them represents my new life in Christ. Sometimes they get in a terrible fight!" The young Christian responded, "Well, which one wins?" "The one that I feed the most!" answered the old preacher. And isn't that true? If we feed our old sin nature, then we will find ourselves sinning most of the time. If we feed our new nature, we will find that it will grow stronger and more mature.

Also while looking at the picture I thought about the fact that one dog is old and one dog is new. That reminded me that when we are saved we become a new creature in Christ and that old things become new.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."(2 Corinthians 5: 17)

Looking forward to getting to know this cute little black puppy Blackie better and enjoying my faithful friend Duke as long as possible.

Marilyn

My Family Tree

Last week my husband and I visited with his brother & wife and the discussion got around to some of my husband and brother-in-laws ancestors. Both of them were trying...but without success...to remember all the brothers and sisters of their grandfather. When we came home I got on my trusty computer and looked them up. I then remembered that I had 'Family Tree' pages in one of my older Bibles that I had begun to fill out years ago but could not finish because I didn't know....at the time....all the names of the aunts and uncles (and great-aunts and uncles). So before I knew it I was knee-deep in looking at my own Family Tree online and filling out the entire page in my Bible. All the way to my Great Grandparents on both sides.

A few days ago I spoke to someone about something before I had fully thought about what I was going to say and was grossly misunderstood. Almost immediately I thought..."God is going to be SO mad at me!" And I could almost physically feel a distance come between me and Him. That was a thought straight from satan. But then almost immediately after that the Holy Spirit spoke to my spirit and said, "Don't you know that God loves you no matter what you do? He doesn't love you because you do good. He doesn't hate you when you mess up. Christ died 'while we were yet sinners' and had nothing at all to give Him in return!" What a relief I felt throughout my whole being! I knew that was true but just needed God to remind me!

I started to think about the song "Royal Descendant" by Kyla Rowland. She writes in it about our spiritual Family Tree. The first verse and chorus say this:

I can tell you I'm nothing and I will be telling the truth
I can say I am worthless, a hopeless sinner, and that's true
But that's just part of the story, I haven't told everything
For I was lost, reborn, and raised the child of a King.

And I am a royal descendant of the King from Jerusalem
Oh, I am part of the bloodline of David, that's who I am
And I claim kindred to Isaac, to Jacob, and Abraham
For I am a royal descendant of the King from Jerusalem

I'm a part of God's family forever since the day I trusted Him as my Saviour. He'll never disown me. He'll never act like He doesn't know me. If anything about our relationship changes, it will be because of me and not because of Him. May God help me to strive harder to stay close to His side!

Thankful to be a child of the King!

Marilyn

"Thou Art My Hope"!

Psalm 71: 1-5

1In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.
2Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
3Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.
4Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
5For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.

During the past week I have witnessed two unrelated women face the sudden deaths of a sister dear to them. One woman and her sister were in their sixties. The other woman and her sister were only in their twenties. All four of these ladies had received Christ as their Saviour. The two sisters left behind both have exhibited great peace in their hearts because they know they will see their sisters again in heaven.

As I read these verses in Psalm 71, the words spoke to my heart. Without the Lord, how can any of us face the troubles and trials that life holds? Our trust should be in the Lord. (v.1) He only is our hope! (v.5)

Whether it's the unexpected and unwanted news of the sudden death of a beloved sister , the loss of a job, the devestation of a flood, or any other disaster, God is all we can ultimately depend on. We need to say in the words of David: "Thou Art My Hope"!

May God bless you !

Marilyn