Walking in Truth

Finding Eeyore....Again!

2012-01-24T20:07:00.006-06:00

The last two times our grandchildren have been over to play I have called myself checking to see if all the toys got put up. Then both times in a day or two I've found poor little Eeyore off somewhere all by himself. Pouting I guess. Or feeling sorry for himself. That what he does best.

The first time I found him was purely accidental. I was in the living room looking into the kitchen and saw something under the dining table. Something a little more than the normal dust bunnies that usually reside there. I had no idea what it was, seeing it from a distance, but when I went into the kitchen and knelt down to look, there he was...little Eeyore...facedown on the floor. I rescued him and took him back to the toy box so he could visit with Pooh, Elmo and Barbie.

The last time the kids were here we gathered up ''all'' the toys before they left. Or so I thought until the next afternoon when I found little Mr. Eeyore...again off alone. This time flat on his back! I took pity on him and took him back to the toy box.

I guess the reason I'm writing about Eeyore is that I so identify with him! He can be so ''dismally gloomy'' much of the time. So can I! Oh, I don't really intend to be. I think that I have things all straightened out, my life in order and all tidy, and then all of a sudden there he is...Eeyore... my gloomy side....and I either fall flat on my face in defeat or I find myself lying on my back lazily moping my time away.

Neither of these attitudes will do me much good. And the devil knows this. The doom and gloom story is one of his best weapons against us Christians. He tries to make us think that we are total failures. He tries to make us think that we'll never be good enough. The thing is that he uses a little bit of truth with all his lies and we fall for the lie. Yes, I am a failure. No, I'll never be good enough. But what I need to always remember is that it's not about ME! It's all about Him! It's about Jesus Christ. And He will never fail but always succeeds. He is the only One who has ever been good enough. Because I have put my faith in Him, then He has covered me with His righteousness and I can receive eternal life just as if I'd never sinned.

So when you're living life and find Eeyore hiding in a corner making you feel gloomy, just remember where your joy comes from! "for the joy of the LORD is your strength."(Neh.8:10 b)

King David also had a gloomy side to him sometimes. His antidote is found in Psalm 42:11 where he says: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God."

So I pray that I can keep my Eeyore side cheered up in the joy of the LORD. How about you? Does Eeyore ever show up at your house?

God bless you!

Marilyn

Are We Paying Too Much?

2011-12-28T14:46:00.003-06:00

As I put the finishing touches on the tuna salad I was making for supper, I heard the very last of a Bonanza re-run on the TV in the next room. I had not paid much attention to the program until the last ten minutes or so. The plot had something to do with a rather old man who had kept a secret for years about an unethical scheme he had been involved in to make money at the expense of others. He finally made a clean breast of his guilt and told Adam Cartwright that he would do whatever it took to try and make it right with the people he had wronged. As Bonanza was about to end, Adam said to his father Ben, "Sometimes truth costs a great deal." Ben nodded and replied,"Yes, but never as much as covering it up does!" It was sort of an "Ah-ha" moment as I stood there at the table cutting up an apple for the tuna salad. I thought to myself how true a statement that was.

I was reminded of the verse in Proverbs 28:13 that says "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." When we cover up our sins we never gain as much as we lose. We may save face with those around us when we cover our wrong doings but deep down we carry a load of guilt that makes us miserable. We are paying a big price. But we don't have to! The last part of this verse tells me that if I confess my sins to God and forsake...or turn away from...them, He will give me mercy. And along with that is implied forgiveness and rest in my spirit.

One thing I want to do in the New Year of 2012 is to try and keep "short accounts" with the Lord. I don't want to have to pay for something that I don't have to pay for by keeping it "covered up"! Do you?

God bless you!

Marilyn

($ image created by Stuart Miles)

Something Missing?

2011-12-21T09:10:00.003-06:00

Have you ever worked and worked putting an intricate puzzle together only to find at the end there was a piece missing? Our children used to love puzzles and a missing piece was always quite a frustrating feeling! I was reminded of this last Sunday as Benny and I ate lunch after church with our son David. He and his Dad have a lot in common and usually carry the conversation between themselves. Soon they became very engrossed in talking about some news from the science community. Seems the great physics minds of the world were disappointed last week. You may have heard about it. I had not. That's not really the kind of news I normally follow. But it seems my men do! I pretty much sat there in silence soaking up all the knowledge they had of this news and wondering why in the world I had never even heard of it!

The news was that last week the scientific community gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, hoping to be told that the last "missing piece" of the universe had been found. I sat spellbound as I listened to David and Benny talk about this giant particle accelerator where "stuff" is sent at almost the speed of light in a huge underground tunnel in the UK. All this "stuff" collides with each other and it broken down into smaller particles. Oh it goes on and on but my mind is not scientific enough to either explain or retain all the information! To find out more, click HERE. This is what they're looking for in a nutshell: It's what makes "mass"...or basically what holds things together...and is called the Higgs Boson or sometimes the "God-particle".

We all commented on how interesting it is that nickname for the Higgs Boson particle is the "God-particle". I like that. Because what better name for the particle that holds everything together? We were reminded of the verses in Colossians 1:16-17 that say: "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."

Thousands of people wait on the edge of their seats to see if this "God-particle" will be found in their lifetime. I am pretty sure there are thousands upon thousands more who are searching for a different "God-particle" and don't even know it! I did for many years! I was born into a Christian family, was in a Baptist church three times a week at least and still grew up searching for something that was missing in my life. Something that would be the "mass" in my life. Something that would hold it together. And in September of 1978 I found what I was looking for. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

A couple of Sundays ago all our family went to see our two grandchildren sing in the children's Christmas program at their church. Six year old Leah had a solo part in one of the songs. Her part went like this: "If you seek this baby Jesus...Seek the Lord with all your might...You will find Him, like the shepherds did...As they searched for Him one starry night!" What a truth she sang. The Scriptures echo this promise in Jeremiah 29:13..."And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."

I'm sorry that the scientific community was disappointed with the incomplete results from the European Organization for Nuclear Research. As God-Seekers we won't be disappointed !

Merry Christmas!

Marilyn

(p.s. That's David at age 3 putting the puzzle together)

True or False? "Jesus is the reason for the season".

2011-12-14T09:20:00.002-06:00

True or False? "Jesus is the reason for the season".

Seems every day I read on a friend's blog or facebook page or hear in person something like "I don't like Christmas anymore!" I admit I've been feeling some of that lately myself. I think we sometimes get upset when we see all the commercialism during Christmas. But why are we surprised that people who don't believe in Jesus anyway want to leave Christ out of Christmas? They leave Christ out of their lives 364 days a year....why would they want to include Him the other day? It should be a wake-up call to us to be in prayer that more people would come to the knowledge of who Christ is and what He has done for them. Most of us give Christmas presents to our loved ones. God ...who IS love (1 John 4:16)...offers the greatest, best, most expensive (to Him) present there ever was to all of mankind...not just at Christmas but all during the year. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 3:23)

I realize that our Christmas holiday is not sacred or holy in the truest sense. But since we have decided to have a holiday to celebrate the birth of Christ, let's try to not make Him the last thing we think about! I'm trying to use this Christmas season as a conversation starter with people who may have never trusted Christ as Saviour. It seems to make it easier to explain why His birth is so important. That was the beginning of His life as Immanuel..."God with us"....here on earth, living a perfect sinless life so that in His perfectness He could take the horribleness of our sins and pay for them while dying on the cross. We always need to remember that He didn't remain a babe in a manger! He had a specific work He came to do and He did it! That's why just before He died He said, "It is finished."(John 19:30)

So, I'm curious. Did you answer True or False to my question, "Is Jesus the reason for the season"? I'm gonna say True! We normally only use this phrase during the Christmas season but I think really it would apply to ANY season! Jesus should be the reason behind any and every thing we do. I fall so short of practicing this but I truly want to do better!

I pray that Jesus is the reason for ANY season in your life friend!

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 30

2011-11-30T07:40:00.002-06:00

Day 30: I'm thankful for all the MANY blessings I receive daily!

Today is the last day of my Month of Thankfulness and yet I've not scratched the surface of being thankful for all the blessings I daily receive! "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah." Psalm 68:19

This morning before I ever got out of bed I began to think about what I could say today. A song came to my mind. One that was a favorite of our family when we used to sing together a lot. It was written by one of Bro.Ronnie Simpson's daughters but after all this time I'm not sure if it was Cindy or Gwen! I hope they won't mind me sharing some of the words here today because it says so well what I'd like to say today. It begins like this: "The LORD has blessed me...in so many ways...that I couldn't begin to tell you...how good He has been!" I'm not sure I have the rest of the song word for word even but this is close:

"I've been blessed with a family, that has felt God's great touch. He's been present in trials, and has loved me so much. Though we've failed, though we've stumbled, on His Word we still stand. And we know He'll be faithful...till we reach that fair land......But the greatest of all blessings that I ever received...was His saving power...when on His Name I believed. I had nothing to offer...but my guilt and my shame...it was all through the blood...and His Holy Name!"

Although this is the last day of A Month of Thankfulness on my blog, you can rest assured that I will continue to be thankful and try to recognize God's blessings each day!

Thank you for joining me in this journey of thankfulness!

God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 29

2011-11-29T14:21:00.001-06:00

Day 29: I'm thankful for the beautiful snow I woke up to this morning!

It's all pretty much gone now but it was pretty while it lasted! There was enough of the heavy wet snow that it took out my internet by covering up the satellite dish. After I figured out what had happened Benny took the broom and swept it off and all was well.

Every time I see snow I think of the verse in Psalm 51:7 that says, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." It doesn't matter how muddy or dirty or littered a yard may be...if a good heavy thick snow settles on top of it, it's clean and beautiful looking! God says that's sort of how it is when He covers our dirty sins...our lives look snowy white! Not because we've tried to clean ourselves up, but because He has covered us with His righteousness! I am SO thankful for this!

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 28

2011-11-28T07:26:00.002-06:00

Day 28: I'm thankful for our wood heater!

I'm pretty sure a wood stove was at least part of the heating system in my Daddy's house when I was born but we moved from that house when I was two so I have no recollection of it. Only stories he's told. Gas heaters are all I remember growing up. We had a couple of space heaters...one in the kitchen and one in the living room...and then a big furnace type heater in the middle of the house. Daddy would always light the pilot light in the big heater sometime around the last of October every year. I can remember my Grandma Martin pulling her chair up really close to the heater in the kitchen and sit there until the front of her shins were turning pink and her bones began to warm up. I had a few friends that had central heating and air in their homes but I didn't like the way it came on and off. Off till you got cold. On till you were burning up.

And then when I married Benny I was formally introduced to heating with wood. The first couple of winters we were married we lived in a cabin at the lake which we heated with a huge fireplace. Most of the heat went up the chimney. I stayed soooooo cold those first winters! And then Benny decided to get our first wood heater. Oh my! What a great difference! Not only did it actually heat the house but it was such an even, gentle heat. It took some getting used to for this "city girl" but I got the hang of bringing in wood, building a good fire, and taking out the ashes. It's not as simple as flipping a switch but for us we hope to keep using wood heat as long as we're physically able. Most all the work falls on Benny's shoulders now...cutting the wood, hauling it up, splitting it in smaller pieces, filling up the wood box beside the heater, and keeping the fire going. In years past when the kids were home they helped cut, split and bring in the wood. Before they were big enough to do any of that, they would open the door for me as I made several trips in and out bringing in wood for our huge wood box. Lots of memories associated with our wood heaters.

This morning even though it's 36 degrees and misting rain outside, there's an even warmth in the house. (Let it get down to 5 or 10 degrees with a stiff north wind and it's a different story though! lol) I'm very thankful I have a warm home during cold wet weather. I don't want to take it for granted because I realize there are millions throughout the world who don't have this advantage.

I hope for you today a warm home and a warm heart!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 27

2011-11-27T07:45:00.000-06:00

Day 27: I'm thankful for the good Sunday School teachers in my life.

I'm sure I've had a lot of good ones because I've been in Sunday School all my life. But two stand out in my mind the most. First is Mrs. Lena Pearl Griffin. She was the head of the Junior Sunday School Department at First Baptist in Ripley when I was a kid. I remember some of the things she would say and stories of missionaries she would tell us during the "opening assembly" each Sunday morning. She was a great example and in fact still is a great example at the age of ninety-something!

The other one was Bro. Leon Mathis who taught the Young Married Class at Tiplersville Baptist when Benny and I first got married. He was very smart in the Bible and was able to communicate his godly wisdom to us in a very effective way. I think I still have some of my notes from his class in a filing cabinet somewhere!

I pray that today as I try to teach the ladies class that has been entrusted to me that I will be able to encourage and build up these ladies in the Lord!

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 26

2011-11-26T08:29:00.002-06:00

(Me & Mama)

Day 26: I'm thankful for the women who have been an inspiration in my life.

There have been many. The very first one was my Mama. I never fully appreciated her for all she was until after she passed away when I was just sixteen years old. And although Mama was the woman who inspired me the most, there have been many others who have made a lasting impression on my life. If you are a woman and are reading this, you most likely are on my list! You may have touched my life in a large way or (to you) a seemingly small one. You may or may not know that you have given me a word of wisdom or encouragement or reprimand that helped mold and shape me.

My daughter Elizabeth is high on that list in my heart and mind. She keeps on going when the going gets tough. And she is my biggest fan! lol Even though she probably knows me better than another other women alive, she still thinks I'm better than I actually am! I love her so much! I've been blessed with a great daughter-in-law too. I admire her greatly for leaving her native land and family and coming to be a part of ours. I know it's not been an easy road for her. I only have one sister left here on earth but I'm so thankful for Elsie and all the sister-time we get to share.

God has blessed me with many women friends. Some live near me. Others live in faraway countries. Some I see every few days. Others not for years at a time. A few I have never seen. These would be some of my blogging buddies. I found a "community" of women's Christian blogs a few years ago and began reading them. A few of these ladies have become close friends to me even though we've never met in person. They have prayed for me and encouraged me through many things in the past few years.

I've never met the Bible teacher Beth Moore and yet she has taught me so much through her women's ministry via Bible studies on DVD. The small group I study with at Sav-A-Life has been a huge blessing to me. Thanks Felesha for starting this study time many years ago!

And then there's my ladies Sunday school class, my pastor's wife and the other women at my church. The group has been varied. Some come and go. But each lady has impacted my life in one way or another.

Thanks to each one of you who I'm honored to call friend! Thank you for your contribution to my life! You know who you are and you know the road we've traveled together. Sometimes with laughter and joy. Other times with tears of sorrow or regret. I could not ...or at least would not want to...get along without you!

"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 25

2011-11-25T12:33:00.002-06:00

Day 25: I'm thankful for the sunshine today!

It has been shining outside my windows all day. Something about the sun shining always cheers me up! Makes me think about a little song we used to sing with the grandkids..."Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me!" But I'm guilty of taking "Mr. Sun" for granted so much of the time. Without him we would freeze here on earth! Too much of him and we would burn up! He's faithful to show up every morning. You can set your clock by him. Oh..we DO set our clocks by him! ha

I'm so glad that I know the maker of the sun....the Son of God Himself! I'm thankful for His grace and mercy and His faithfulness!

"Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds." Psalm 36:5

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 24

2011-11-24T06:00:00.001-06:00

Day 24: I'm thankful for THANKSGIVING DAY !!

My favorite holiday of the year! In my opinion, the oldest, purest, truly American holiday we celebrate. New's Year's we celebrate another new year. Easter the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Memorial Day the ones who died in war. Fourth of July the birth of our free country. Labor Day the gift of having jobs. Christmas the birth of Jesus Christ. But on Thanksgiving we have a special day to give thanks to God for these and all the other things He gives us each and every day!

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations." Psalm 100: 4-5

Today, as Christians, let us truly give thanks as we celebrate Thanksgiving and remember that all the blessings we have are because of the wonderful mercies and love of our Lord. We don’t want our children and grandchildren to ask us some day…”Can you tell me the story of how you used to have a Thanksgiving Day?” Let’s keep the day alive!

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 23

2011-11-23T08:51:00.000-06:00

Day 23: I'm thankful for memories. Last night as I pondered what I would write about today I began to think how I'm thankful for the good memories I have about so many things. My friends from schooldays. Meeting, dating and marrying Benny. Our kids in all the different stages of their lives. The births of our beautiful grandbabies. My parents. Benny's parents. In-laws. All kinds of family...close and distant. Places I've been. Things I've seen or heard. So many memories stored in our minds that we can't even remember all of them. At first I wanted to just say I'm thankful for "good" memories...because I have some bad ones also and just didn't feel very thankful for them. But then I recalled a verse from Bible study last night. One that you all will find familiar. Romans 8:28...."And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." There are some bad memories that do serve a purpose I know. For example, as a young child I was helping Mama clean up the kitchen one day. I was bringing all the dirty dishes to the sink for her. I saw the cornbread pan sitting on top of the stove and reached out and picked it up, only to instantly drop it! I looked down at my hand and saw an ugly red blister perhaps half an inch wide and two inches long quickly developing in the palm of my hand! My hand was still small and the clear, raised blister covered almost half of my palm. I remember crying and crying! And being confused! WHY had that pan been so blazing hot? Dinner had long been over! Mama apologized and apologized for it. She explained that she had made extra cornbread for something (maybe dressing?) while we were finishing up dinner and had just taken it up and put the empty HOT pan on the stove right before I started picking up the dirty dishes. Now even after close to fifty years I am very careful to try and remember to check the temperature of a baking dish before I pick it up! Just because of the memory of that terrible burn! Our memory is such a necessary thing in life. I don't know that I've seen anything that makes me much sadder than someone who has lost their memory through either disease or some kind of trauma. It's something we all hope to escape I think. So for today, I'm thankful for memories. Good and bad. Happy and sad. I'm glad my memory is still working. Psalm 30:4 "Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness." May God bless you, Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 22

2011-11-22T08:16:00.002-06:00

Day 22: I'm thankful for honest people!

Years ago we just "expected" people to be honest. The majority of them were. It's sad but more and more honest people are becoming a rarity. Over three weeks ago I ordered some Pert Plus dandruff shampoo on eBay for my husband. I have not been able to find this for him in any of the stores I have checked for miles around our home. So we were very happy to find a seller offering this product. The seller shipped our package Priority Mail about three weeks ago. It should have taken no more than 3-5 days for it to reach us. She even paid for a delivery confirmation receipt with a tracking number.

The Post Office scanned the package the day it got to the Post Office and that's the last we've heard from it! Nothing else on the website as far as where it may be. It's lost somewhere I guess. Or perhaps in someone's shower being used. Who knows? ha

We've been in communication with the eBay seller the past couple of weeks and she has been nothing but nice. Not really her fault the package has not arrived. And yet she feels the responsibility for it. This morning when I checked my email I had a note from her saying she had refunded our money. I thought that was really "Big" of her to do that. No questions ask. Just doing what she felt was the right thing. I, in turn, will repay her the money if the package ever shows up in our mailbox as I also want to be an honest person.

2 Corinthians 8:21..."Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men."

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 21

2011-11-21T09:42:00.003-06:00

Day 21: I'm thankful for my five senses...sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste .

I sometimes...no...I oftentimes take these senses for granted. Each one of them is so important in how we react to things in our everyday life. For instance let's talk about something as simple as a cherry pie. Would it be as good if we didn't have these five senses? Or would it even be good at all? Take an imaginary walk into my kitchen. Imagine I have a cherry pie that I have just taken out of the oven. You can SEE the beautiful flaky crust with bits of dark red cherry juice coming out the vent holes on top. Now SMELL the aroma of the cherries. Probably you could tell it was a cherry pie even if you had not seen it. But that smell makes it seem even more delicious. Perhaps you can even HEAR a few little bubbling pops as it finishes up it's cooking cycle. I cut a slice of hot-out-of-the-oven cherry pie and put it on a serving plate for you. As you pick it up, you can FEEL the warmth in your fingertips. You take the fork, cut off a bite-size portion and put it in your mouth and TASTE the delicious sweet/tart delicacy. Ahhh. The combination of all five senses gives a completeness to this experience.

Just imagine what the loss of one or more of these senses would be like. People who have lost their sense of taste or smell say that they just really don't care for food much anymore. Those who have lost their vision have to be told in very descriptive words what things look like. And people who have lost their sense of touch...for example someone with nerve damage or even leprosy...are at a very high risk of injuring themselves and not even knowing it until infection has set in.

I was remembering Helen Keller this morning. She was born missing two senses...sight and hearing. And this in turn caused her to also not be able to talk. Yet most anyone you ask will know who Helen Keller was. She was able to have a fuller life than most people even though she was what we would call severely handicapped. And it made me take a look at myself and ask this question: "Am I doing all I can with what God gave me?" I'm pretty sure I'm not. So today I want to be more aware of the blessings of my senses and all the opportunies God has given me to use them. I hope you will too!

"I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." Psalm 139:14

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 20

2011-11-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

Day 20: I'm thankful for good food !

Believe me, I eat my share of good food at least three times a day and sometimes more! But when I say "good", I say that loosely. I mean that it tastes good to me. It's not necessarily always food that's good for me! (Which I really should take measures to correct.) I am already thinking and planning and drooling over the menu for our annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner. It's my favorite meal of the year I believe.

And yet, in our world there are millions of people going hungry tonight. Even worse...some are dying tonight from hunger. I can't give them food off my plate but I can try to help them in some way. There are many good Christian organizations that help feed hungry people in other countries. Even here in the United States there are people who are hungry. In many big cities there are places where people can come and get a hot meal free. In our county there are the Good Samaritan centers in Walnut and Ripley that give away food to needy people.

So this next week as many of us get together with family and friends and eat a meal...or several meals...let's remember to really be thankful that we have enough to eat. And let's also pray for those who are not as fortunate as we are. Never take our blessing of food for granted!

"Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6:11

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Day of Thankfulness: Day 19

2011-11-19T07:58:00.002-06:00

Day 19: I am thankful for my teeth and for good dental care!

I can just hear some of you laughing! Maybe you are thinking that I have surely run out of things to be thankful for and am grasping at straws. No! I thank God often for my teeth! All my life I have had trouble with them. When I was a little girl we didn't have dental floss or cleaning and checkups every six months. My teeth are what dentists have called "crumbly" and decayed easily even though I called myself taking care of them. My first memory of a dentist's office was when I was about five years old and it's not pretty. ha I was never a child that screamed and kicked or resisted a doctor or dentist but inside I was a scared quivering mess.

To make a long story short, I've sat in a lot of dentist chairs in my life and had a lot of metal put in my mouth! About twelve years ago I had a tooth break off....which was not an uncommon thing for me...and went to my dentist to get it fixed. Something happened that had never happened to me before. He could not get my mouth to get numb. I came back in two weeks and the same thing happened...no numbness. So for a period of two or three years I was not able to get any dental work done where I had to be numbed up. Six years ago a friend recommended a new dentist to me and she has been able to numb my mouth and take care of my dental needs ever since. And I don't take it lightly. I really do thank the Lord for my teeth almost every time I brush them.

Maybe you've always had great teeth and can't relate to my story. Then you have even more reason to be thankful ! I know a lady who only has three or four teeth left and she has such a hard time eating. But she doesn't let the lack of teeth keep her from smiling. She's thankful for what she does have. I want to be that way. Whether I have an abundance or a little in the world's eyes, I want to have a thankful heart!

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 18

2011-11-18T08:19:00.002-06:00

Day 18: I'm thankful for my cell phone.

It's almost two years old and not an iPhone. Just a plain Jane model. Oh, but it does have a QWERTY keypad which makes it sooooo much easier for me to text. And a camera. But other than that to most folks it would just be "plain". And I'm aware that it's an "extra" in my life. Something that is not a daily necessity. But how lost I feel now without one! I love being able to send a quick text to one of my kids or a friend and not have to worry that I'm interrupting something they're doing. I love the security of having it with me when I'm out in the car by myself in case I have a flat or something.

Isn't technology something? Who would have ever dreamed hundreds of years ago that they could be in instant contact with someone on the other side of the world using a small device like a cell phone? And yet God...who is more "tech-savvy" than any genius in the past, present or future...can communicate instantly with anyone immediately anytime He wants to. It's called prayer. And for that I'm very thankful !

"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 17

2011-11-17T09:24:00.002-06:00

Day 17: I'm thankful for a good night's sleep on a comfortable bed !

I know there are many people who can not say that this morning. People who for some reason did not get to sleep or did not have a bed. I'm sure there are more homeless people in this world...including our United States...than we really can imagine. There may be many reasons for a sleepless night for some. Worry. Pain. Disease. Fearfulness. Losing sleep can sure take a toll on your body. Just recently I heard a veteran of the Korean War talking on a TV documentary about his experience as a POW. He said that while in prison he was deprived of sleep for sometimes days on end and how horrible that was.

And then there's the part about the comfortable bed. You never know how much that means until you don't have one. I can remember sleeping on the cold concrete floor of the hospital room several times when staying with my Daddy when he was so sick. When feeling sorry for myself God would bring to my mind the millions of people all over the world who would be glad to have the security and safety of sleeping on the hard floor of a hospital room with their loved one! And I also can never forget our son John who slept on the ground in a tent in Iraq for months on end while fighting terrorists.

So as we turn the covers back tonight to climb into bed, let's all remember to say a prayer of thanks for that privilege!

"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 16

2011-11-16T06:00:00.000-06:00

Day 16: I'm thankful for testimonies. (a statement made to establish a fact; an affirmation or declaration; any form of evidence; public avowal, as of faith)

As I spent this morning at a Bible Conference I heard testimonies of how God has worked in many ways in people's lives. Testimonies of how someone had come to a place of just giving up and how God met her in her laundry room and reminded her of His grace. Two pastors wives ...both widowed this year....gave testimony to God's love and presence in their lives.

I have always loved to hear people testify about what God has done in their lives. And I love to tell what He's done in mine! Today I was reminded of an old song "Let Others See Jesus in You" which starts like this:"While passing thro' this world of sin, And others your life shall view, Be clean and pure without, within, Let others see Jesus in you." And it made me wonder...DO others see Jesus in me? I sure hope so!

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Revelation 12:11

God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 15

2011-11-15T06:00:00.000-06:00

Day 9: I am thankful for my computer.

Yes, I am, even though it's been a bit tempermental lately! I love the way I am able to communicate with people from all over....my sister in FL; Christian friends in the Philippines and India; friends all over the USA and in Canada, etc. Before I had a computer and email I phoned or wrote my relatives. If they lived far off I didn't call very often because back then long distance was very expensive. After I began using email I began to be in almost daily contact with some of my siblings. We became closer than we had ever been because none of us lived close in distance. But the computer closed the miles and the pictures we were able to share made it seem we were "seeing" each other often.

A few years ago one of my sons suggested I start a blog to use as an avenue to share the "articles" that I had been writing and emailing to a group of people. I didn't really even know what a "blog" was but I figured it out and started me one. As time went by I met other Christian women bloggers and have been so blessed by their writings and Christian friendship.

Then I began to hear about something called "Facebook". I was not interested in joining because at that time we had dial-up internet and I knew that it was basically impossible. Then we got satellite internet for Christmas one year and my daughter talked me into letting her set me up with a Facebook account. I have enjoyed getting to hear from friends and also getting to share my thoughts in this format.

"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." Proverbs 27:17

~Marilyn~

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 14

2011-11-14T09:34:00.002-06:00

(The Yanceys in '67 and the Martins in '55)

Day 14: I'm thankful for a "goodly" heritage!

("The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage." Psalm 16:6)

I'm thankful today for the "goodly" heritage I have in both the Martin and the Yancey sides of my family. Both families were solid Christians and I am sure that many of the blessings I enjoy today are not because of me but because I am reaping some of the benefits of the "goodly" seeds they sowed many years ago. I hope that my children and grandchildren will be able to say the same about me in all the years to come.

God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 13

2011-11-13T06:00:00.002-06:00

Day 13: I'm thankful for the beauty of nature!

I'm not much of a traveler. I like to hear people talk about their vacations to the mountains or the beach or wherever they've been but I really don't want to go and see for myself. I'm like my Mama was...just a home-body at heart. And so because of that I'm very grateful that God has seen fit to put me smack dab in the middle of some of the most beautiful country side in north Mississippi!

This has been one of the most colorful fall seasons that I remember in a long time. The trees just keep on keeping on being beautiful! Every day for the past several weeks I think to myself, "surely this won't last much longer", but it has.

God is such an awesome Artist ! Sometimes I just tell Him that very thing when I'm looking at His handiwork in nature! I'm very blessed that I can look out my windows and see trees, flowers, grass and sky and have a different portrait every season!

"Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." Acts 14:17

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 12

2011-11-12T13:19:00.002-06:00

Day 12....I'm thankful to get to be a part of our church's bus ministry.

Last month our church celebrated the 17th anniversary of having a bus ministry. Through the years we have had big school buses and we've had vans. We've had grownups, big kids, little kids, and babies ride. At one time there were kids coming from New Albany, Myrtle, Hickory Flat, Blue Mountain and Potts Camp. But now we only have one van route active so we don't have that many. My husband Benny drives the van and sometimes he does have so many kids that he has to make a second trip to be able to pick up all of them

The bus ministry isn't for every church or for every person I guess. But for Benny and me it's been a real blessing in our lives. As we get to know these people better it's amazing how attached we become to them. Some of the kids still don't know our names. But when we go out each week to visit them I sometimes hear them shout to someone in a back room..."The church folks are here!" lol

Although we do have a few adults that are faithful to come on the van, most of our riders are children. We have several that have been coming for years. Then we have others that move into town, ride the van for a few weeks and then they're gone to live somewhere else. Sometimes we only have a short little window to take them to church so the teachers can plant seeds of the gospel in their young minds. Please help us pray that these seeds will take root and help these children to come to know the most important thing they'll ever learn....that Jesus Christ came to earth and died for their sins so that they can live with him forever in heaven!

Last summer after doing some shopping in Walmart, I was sitting on a bench out in the foyer waiting for Benny (who had been somewhere else) to come and pick me up. I saw three tall teenaged boys walking in the door but didn't think anything about it until one of them started walking towards me. He had a big smile on his face and the first thing he said was ,"Do you remember me?" I remembered that smile but not his name. He had been in my Sunday school class of 1st-3rd graders ten or more years ago and still remembered me. He gave me a big hug before he went on his way into Walmart with his friends. What a blessing that was!

"But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." Luke 18:16

God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 11

2011-11-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

I'm thankful for our Veterans !!

Today is Veteran's Day here in the United States of America. I'm thankful that we have men and women who have been willing to put their private lives on hold while they give literally years of their lives to the service of their country. I want to especially give thanks for my husband Benny who served in the US Army in Vietnam and to our son John who served two tours of duty in Iraq with the Marine Corps. Two of the bravest men I know. I love them both so much!

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 10

2011-11-10T07:37:00.002-06:00

I am thankful for Sav-A-Life of Ripley.

I have been a volunteer client advocate there for over six years now and what a blessing I have received! This year we have become a medical clinic and have added an ultrasound machine and a bunch of nurses to the staff. In fact we've changed our name to My Choices Pregnancy Help Clinic but to me it will always be Sav-A-Life I guess. :)

Here girls/women can come for free pregnancy tests and an ultrasound to determine for sure they're pregnant. If the test is positive we then offer them six free individualized parenting classes. Following each class our client is given a gift bag filled with baby items...different things for each different class. Everything we offer is free...to our clients. Our community has been so good to help keep the center going. Donations of every kind are given to the center...money, office supplies, cleaning supplies, new baby clothes, all kinds of baby necessities....and we then pass the blessings along to the women we serve.

Working here I see such a wide range of emotions...from extreme happiness to extreme fear and despair. What a blessing it is to be able to "rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep". That's my job. To be their encourager. Their advocate. To explain their choices. And to encourage them to make the best ones for their life. Sometimes I can't sleep on the nights after I work because the voices of the women keep coming through my mind. I worry if they're ok. I wonder if they've gone to seek the special counseling I have recommended because they have a history of abuse. I hope that they are making good decisions. But in the end I just have to pray and leave it in the hands of God for He cares for them far more than we can ever begin to do at Sav-A-Life. We just want to be an extension of His Hands and be a blessing to each young girl/women who walks through the doors of our clinic.

Would you please remember My Choices Pregnancy Help Clinic in your prayers?

Thanks SO much !!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 9

2011-11-09T08:52:00.002-06:00

(Our 2 grandchildren love music!)

(I apologize for how this post looks! Blogger is acting crazy and try and I might I can NOT fix this!! If anybody knows what I am doing wrong, please tell me!!)

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A Month of Thankfulness: Day 9....I am thankful for MUSIC !

I have always loved music! Good music was a staple in our home when I was
growing up. Our radio was often playing. Mama could play the piano a little and
I was awed by the fact that if you put your fingers on certain keys a tune would
result. I did find that when I tried it I didn't hear that same tune so I soon
learned that there was an art to it! Mama had learned to play using the old
fashioned "shape notes" and could only play in the key of C. Before I ever took
any piano lessons she let me use her book (which I still have somewhere) to
teach myself how to play using the shaped notes. Eventually I did take piano
lessons and learned that the notes didn't have to have the unique shapes to tell
me what to play...but that their position on the lines and spaces would tell
me. I have never learned to be a really good pianist but I can play enough to
be able to enjoy it.

When I was around twelve years old I wanted a guitar really bad for
Christmas. We were poor people and I was pretty sure I would not get one.
But...I did! It was a very cheap one but it was a guitar and came with an
instruction booklet. I read that booklet and learned to play. All during my
teenage years my guitar was an outlet as I sang happy songs, sad songs, and even
political songs that I had no idea what the meaning was. I don't play very much
now as it seems to aggravate the arthritis in my left hand and shoulder but I do
manage to play it some for the grandkids.

I really loved singing in the Youth Choir at FBC in Ripley as a teenager.
Robert Gray was our choir director and he knew what he was doing! The finished
product was always something that the people enjoyed hearing. But I never had a
very strong voice. I was only good as an alto background but yet always longing
to have a stronger voice. My voice is still weak but God blessed me with a
husband and three children with strong clear voices! And now I can already tell
that our two grandchildren...ages 2 and 6....have good strong voices and a good
ear that keeps them right on key! There's not much I can think of that thrills
me, or in some cases relaxes me, more than hearing one of my children sing or
play the piano!

About fourteen or fifteen years ago during our church's Wednesday night
service prior to Thanksgiving, the pastor asked each person present to tell one
thing we were thankful for. Just one. When it came my time I said "Music!"
There is an older man in our church that still to this day remembers that and
often reminds me of it. And I'm thankful for it today even more than I was then
I believe!

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord." Colossians 3:16

May God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 8

2011-11-08T07:59:00.000-06:00

Day 8: I am thankful that we still live in a republic where we can go and
exercise our right to vote.

I plan to do that very thing sometime this
morning. I have been praying very much that God will give Mississippians the
grit to go out and vote Yes on Amendment 26 today. We have heard from both
sides. Doctors, nurses, lawyers, preachers....there are some on each side and
have very differing opinions. So could you just base your vote on the ONE thing
that we DO know? And that is that if the majority of Mississippians vote no
today, thousands of innocent babies will continue to be torn from their mother's
womb through abortion in the state of MS. That's basically the one thing we
KNOW.

So please pray and ask God to show you the right
answer. This verse has been on my mind this morning: "I call heaven and
earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death,
blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may
live:" Deuteronomy 30:19

God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 7

2011-11-07T07:53:00.002-06:00

(Just a very few of my book collection!)

Day 7: I'm thankful for books!
I have loved books for as long as I can remember. I loved being read to before I learned to read. Ican't imagine life without books. Sometimes when I take my glasses off and look at a page of print I can feel a little of the fear a non-reader may feel. Last week I found a little booklet from where I had been in the Summer Reading Program at the Ripley Public Library in 1960 ! That would have been the summer just after I had finished first grade. And I've been a reader ever since!

When our three children came along I spent lots of time reading to them.
I can remember when they were pre-school or early elementary age that I read the
whole Little House of the Prairie series to them. Some nights I would almost
lose my voice and one of them would run to the kitchen and get me a glass of
water so that I could finish the chapter (or the book! ha) And now each of them
are great readers on their own right.

I remember a few years ago proof-reading a paper for Elizabeth for some
class in college. In it she had stated that she had "learned from Mother that
anything I want to learn to do I can find instructions for in a book". Books
were a staple in our home and still are. Books are a blessing. And the best book
in my library? The Bible. For in it are not only words but "Words of
life".

God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 6

2011-11-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

Day Six: I'm thankful for the freedom to worship! Today I can get in my car, drive to church, and worship God with other Christians. Maybe you say "So what?" to that. Then read this quote from a source that knows how easy we have it here in America: "You may be accustomed to going to church, openly worshiping the Lord, and reading your own copy of the Bible. What if even gathering even a few Christians together was illegal in your city, and there was only perhaps one copy of the Bible in your entire town? For people in Colombia, living like this is reality." This was taken from the Voice of the Martyrs website. Please go there to learn more about the Persecuted Church and to find out how to pray for them better.

Matthew 5:10-12 says: "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

Exercise your privilege to meet together and worship today with other believers! There may come a day when you can not. Pray that it doesn't !!

God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 5

2011-11-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

Day Five: I'm thankful for my home! I've never had a new house in my life. The little house we've called Home for the past thirty-five years is probably 75 years old or more. We just last year replace the original tin roof which had begun to leak like a seive! ha By the world's standards we don't live in a modern or expensive house. But it's served us well and I am very cozy and comfortablely snug between its four walls.

A friend of mine who does mission work in India sent me a picture of a "tent city" that is in the very large city where they live. It's a sea of blue tarps stretched over ropes stretched out like a clothes line. Entire families live together in a small little homemade tent without running water or a toilet. They cook outside over an open fire and have to walk long distances sometimes to find a place to get water. The sewage runs in the street. Not a place you'd want to visit much less live in. And yet millions do!

Why did God allow me to be born in America? Why does he let me have a home that, although small by American standards, could house several families in any third-world country? I don't have the answer. I just know that I am deeply thankful and grateful for the security and shelter I have in our home!

But as much as I love my home out here in the woods, I am looking forward to one day going to my permanent home in heaven where God is preparing a mansion for me and every other person who has trusted the eternal finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary.

"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house in the heavens." 2 Corinthians 5:1

Would you like to share what you're thankful for today?

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 4

2011-11-04T07:49:00.005-05:00

Living Thankful: Day 4.....I'm thankful for the Bible....the written Holy Word of God. If it wasn't written down there's no telling what it would have turned into by now! So glad God can and does preserve His Word.

For 20-plus years, I taught Sunday school classes to small children. Often when I wanted to emphasize the importance of the written Word of God, we would play a game called "Gossip". You probably know the one I mean. I would have all the children line up and then I would whisper a sentence about some silly something to the first child. He was supposed to then turn and whisper the exact same thing to the next person in line and this was to go on down the line until it reaches the person on the end. At that point, I would ask that last person what it was he heard. It was NEVER...and I repeat NEVER...the same sentence as I had whispered to the first child! They always got a kick out of playing that and it proved the point very well. If something is repeated by mouth the chances of it getting twisted along the way are very great. On the other hand if we have something written down we can always go back to it and see for sure what it says.

"Thy WORD have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee." Psalm 119:11

What are you thankful for today?

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 3

2011-11-03T09:48:00.002-05:00

Day Three: I'm thankful for my health! And for that of my family. God has blessed us so much in this area and I never want to take it for granted!

I often think about people who are blind, or deaf, or whose heart, lungs, kidneys or other organs have stopped functioning, or those who can not walk or get out of bed without help...or perhaps not at all. So many people in the world don't have good health. And yet a lot of them have better attitudes about their life than I sometimes do about mine!

Good health is a wonderful thing. But it's not the best thing in and of itself. A healthy mind is even better than a healthy body. And a healthy heart (spiritually speaking) is better yet!

I believe Psalm 43:5 says well what I feel: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God."

Join me today in praising God for health...whether it be physical, mental, spiritual or all three!

God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day 2

2011-11-02T08:07:00.002-05:00

Day Two: I'm thankful for my family! I'm grateful every day that God has put me smack-dab in the middle of a wonderful family! Each one of them...from the oldest (that would be husband Benny) down to the youngest (grandson Miles)... holds a special part of my heart! I've often told people that it just "lights up the room" for me when one of my kids or grandkids walk through the door. I love all of them so much.

For many many years now one of my favorite verses has been III John verse 4..."I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." It makes me smile just to read it now!

I'm also thankful for my extended family. And my church family.

God bless you!

Marilyn

A Month of Thankfulness: Day One

2011-11-01T16:18:00.004-05:00

Inspired by my friend Leah over at The Point Ministries today, I also want to make the month of November one of thankfulness. I don't want to wait until November 24, Thanksgiving Day, to start being thankful. I have tried to be more aware of my blessings and therefore giving thanks more often in the past year or so. But to do a whole month of daily thanks...with a purposeful heart...seemed like a challenge I'd like to take. I could never list in thirty days all that I'm thankful for but hopefully it will help me keep thankfulness constantly on my mind!

Day One: I'm thankful for salvation. I'm so thankful that God made a way for me to live forever in His presence. I would never make it if I had to earn my way to heaven. The Bible tells us that the law was given as a "school master" to show us that there's no one who can actually keep all the law. No one that is except for Jesus Christ. He came and lived a sinless life so that He could pay for my sins. Wow! What a gift! "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

But as Leah also said, it's not just that we get to go to heaven because of salvation but we get to have the Holy Spirit living inside us right now! He will lead and guide and show us how we should live if we will listen.

Marilyn

The Battle Is the Lord's

2011-10-11T13:40:00.002-05:00

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Ephesians 6:11

I'm doing a ten week Bible study with some of the other ladies who work at the crisis pregnancy center where I volunteer one day a week. It's written by Beth Moore and is titled "David: Seeking a Heart Like His". Last week some of our homework involved reading about battles being fought between Saul's army and David's army. I couldn't help but think back to David's early life when he fought the giant Goliath FOR Saul's army. Even at that young age, David knew where his strength and abilities came from. We know that because of what he said to Goliath just before slinging that smooth stone from the brook into the giant's forehead! David said: "And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you into our hands." And we know that is exactly what happened.

In our homework last week David and Saul had come to be enemies. David has been promised the kingdom and the crown of Israel but it's a long time coming it seems. There are battles to be fought and heartaches to be endured. Beth Moore made the statement that "Old regimes rarely crumble without bloodshed." I know she was talking about actual "regimes" but I could not help but think about how it's also true for bad habits or addictions that have become strongholds in our lives. These rarely are overcome either without a fight. Satan would love for us to be stuck in the murk and mire of sin continually and never feel the freedom and thrill of victory through Christ! There is a constant battle going on in the life of every Christian. Ephesians 6:12 tells us who our enemy is: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Beth's statement that "Old regimes rarely crumble without bloodshed" can be taken to new levels when I think about how my old life of pleasing the flesh before I became a Christian could only be changed through bloodshed....the blood that was shed on Calvary's cross by Jesus Christ.

So now as a saved person, may I expect to live a battle free life? No, because the Bible declares that Satan will always be fighting against us as long as we draw a breath here on earth. But God doesn't leave us defenseless. He tells us that we can be prepared for war by these means: " Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:"

Like David, we as Christians have been promised a kingdom and a crown...but not of this world...and it,too, sometimes seems like a long time in coming. Just stay in the fight for the right. Put on your Spiritual Armour but always remember that in the end, the battle is the Lord's ! Trust in Him!

God bless you.

Marilyn

Hath God Said ?

2011-09-27T13:18:00.007-05:00

"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." Genesis 3:1-3

I wonder how often we still twist the Word of God today to try and make it say what we want it to say instead of what it really says. I'm afraid lots more often than we want to realize! In Genesis 3:1-3 Eve and Satan in the form of a serpent were having a conversation. Both of them "said" they were quoting God but in reality, neither one of them were. What God actually said is found in Genesis 2:16-17..."And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Satan claimed that God said Adam and Eve could not eat fruit from any of the trees. Eve claimed God said they could eat from all but one and that if they did eat the fruit...or even touch the tree...they would die.

It's so very easy to get things mixed up even when we are trying to keep them straight! Ever play the "gossip game"? That's where you have one person whisper a statement to the next person then that person does the same and so on down the line. The person at the end of the line says what he heard. It's never ever the same as what the first person said! I used to have my 1st through 3rd grade Sunday school classes play it whenever I wanted to show them the importance of the written word. If something is written down, then you can go back to it if you forget. If you are relying only on talk then it can often times be unreliable. That's why we should be so very thankful that we have the Bible...God's written Word!

But are there still many people reading the Word of God? And if so, is His Word being misquoted or twisted? According to many sources that I read or hear the answer to my last question would be yes. Let's just look at a few of the Ten Commandments. Hath God said, "Thou shalt not kill"? (Ex.20:13) Yes He did. Then should not abortion be wrong? And yet there are some who would argue that abortion is an exception to the rule. Hath God said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery"? (Ex. 20:14) Yes He did. And yet a large percent of our adult population does not see anything wrong with living together before they are married. Some couples even think they have God's blessing on such a union. Not so. Hath God said, "Thou shalt not steal"? (Ex. 20:15)Yes He did. But some would say that it's no big deal. Sort of a "take from the rich-give to the poor Robin Hood philosophy" that is beginning to be popular.

Maybe you're saying, "I have never killed anyone and I have never committed adultery so I'm doing all right!" O.K. Let's move on to the New Testament. Matthew 5:21-22 and 27-28 will address this. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council:but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."...."Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt no commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." How often do we blot these verses out of our minds? Is that not akin to changing the Word of God?

I know I'm guilty of not wanting to stand accountable for obeying all the do's and don'ts of the Bible. Sometimes I just want to be disobedient and self-willed. And sometimes I am. And always when that happens I wish I had not been! Just as I'm very sure that Eve often wished that she had not listened to Satan the serpent!

"God hath said" so many important things in Scripture and we need to be reading and learning all we can while we can. Search the Word and find out for yourself what is true and what is a lie of Satan.

God bless you!

Marilyn

Summer....I Will Miss You !

2011-09-21T14:46:00.001-05:00

Only one more day of summer after today and then we will begin our fall season. I turned into our driveway a few days ago and just stopped a minute to take a picture because I realized it wouldn't be long before the leaves would be turning colors and then "turning loose" and falling to the ground. I'm going to miss the full greeness of my driveway when those days arrive. When the leaves fall it just seems depressing to me. But my husband....who usually thinks opposite than me anyway... loves it when the trees are bare. He equates that with hunting season I think. ha

I will miss the fresh veggies out of our garden also. Most everything has dried up now except for some of our peppers.

I will miss getting to keep my flowers out on the back deck. This is a vine my pastor's wife gave me at least 7 or 8 years ago! It is very indestructable or it would have been dead years ago! The easiest thing to keep alive that I've ever had!

And I will miss the roses blooming in the front yard. I went out and picked these two beauties yesterday and brought them inside so as to be able to see and smell them for as long as possible.

Yes, summer, I will miss you but I'm pretty sure that before long I will be enjoying the colors and sights and smells of fall. After all....Thanksgiving comes in the fall and that's my favorite holiday!

God bless each of you!

Marilyn

A Call For Mercy

2011-09-13T16:43:00.003-05:00

This is a picture of a lady who lives in Pakistan. I'd like to quote from a letter from Tom White of the Voice of the Martyrs to tell you who she is. Her name is Asia Bibi. "As an ordinary Christian with limited means, Asia worked as a fruit picker on a farm. Her Muslim co-workers repeatedly berated her for her Christianity."....to which she replied, "Our Christ sacrificed His life on the cross for our sins.... Our Christ is alive.”

She was reported to local authorities, jailed for blasphemy and sentenced to death. Representatives from Voice of the Martyrs have attended at least 30 of Asia's court hearings and helped her find and pay for a lawyer. Her family has had to be moved to a safe location five times. All these services were provided through the Families of Martyrs fund.

A Call for Mercy....a petition to the Pakistan government to let Asia Bibi go... has a place online where you can go and sign the petition if you'd like. Just go HERE and check it out.

We are so blessed to still have the freedom to worship God. Let's don't take it for granted!

God bless!

Marilyn

9-11...Ten Year Anniversary

2011-09-10T21:17:00.004-05:00

I remember it well. The day was warm, the sky was blue, the sun was shining, and things were quiet here on our north Mississippi farm. All seemed to be as it should be the day of September 11, 2001. I had already started cooking our dinner that day when the phone rang. On the other end of the phone line was one of my good friends in North Carolina. The first words out of her mouth were, “Do you have your TV on?” When I answered, “No”, she told me that terrorists had sabotaged the Twin Towers of the Trade Center in New York. My first thought was, “Terrorists?” I wasn’t even sure if I knew what that meant. But it did strike fear in my heart. I went out to the shop where my husband and a friend were working on some projects and told them what was going on. They turned on the radio out there and listened to the news. I came back to the house and turned on the TV and tried to finish cooking dinner while at the same time keeping my eyes glued to the TV. It seemed the news just got worse and worse. Instead of being a minor incident, this was a major catastrophe for the United States. People all over the land were praying. After the dust started settling, I was better able to understand why we called the people who had done this to us, “terrorists”, for certainly they had brought Terror to our land. (“Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.” Job 18:11)

Many things have changed for every one of us since this happened ten years ago. Some have lost loved one and friends. But at the same time we have gained friends through shared grief. Some of us have had children join the armed forces. Our son John joined the Marine Corps shortly after September 11, 2001. Because of this I gained a multitude of friends who are either Marines themselves or else have a child in the Marines. They were a true source of help and comfort during the initial time of adjusting.

Ten years ago we saw just how quickly a normal, sunshiny day can turn into a dark disaster. But we should also remember that there is One who knows our life from beginning to end and is there to walk beside us no matter where the road leads. This would be a good time for each of us to look into our own heart and make sure that our testimony is the same as the motto on our American currency…”In God We Trust”. Only then can we take comfort in the verses found in Psalm 91:1-6 (“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.”)

This Is The Day Which the LORD Hath Made

2011-09-06T13:43:00.006-05:00

The outside thermometer said 55 degrees when I got up this morning! It's mid-afternoon now and still only 76....a far cry from the near 100 degree days we had last week. My windows are open, the curtains are billowing and the windchimes on both the front and back porches are playing their tunes! I love it. So I thought I would just "visit" with you a while and share what my day's been like so far.

This morning was the first day of our new Bible study series at Sav-A-Life. We are studying Beth Moore's "David: Seeking a Heart Like His". We were a small group today but the Lord was there with us and blessed our meeting. I'm looking forward to what I will learn the next ten weeks from God's Word.

After Bible study was over I stopped by the office where our daughter Elizabeth works. She had gotten some Mary Kay skin care products for me last week and I needed to pay her for them. When I walked in she said,"We're dressed alike!",(both had on orange tops and brown bottoms) so I asked the receptionist if she would snap our picture. She did. I had my eyes shut as usual. ha

From there I went to the city gym and walked my mile. Visited with the square-dance group of Seniors whom I had not seen for quite a while. I only go to walk at the gym on Tuesdays when we are doing a Bible study you see. Those cuties put me to shame with their vivaciousness! I heard one lady say there was only one of them that was under seventy years of age!

After walking I stopped by McDonald's to get me a Hot & Spicy McChicken and then on to the immensely popular local Cardinal DriveIn to get an extra-large hamburger for Benny.

On the drive home I just had to stop and take a picture of the beautiful blue sky, white clouds, and green pasture and trees. God's handiwork is always breathtaking! And it seems like the crisp air today made it even more so!

After I got home and we had lunch, Benny had to take our dog Blackie back to the vet for a check on his stitches where the coyotes hurt him last week. We were afraid they might have to do more surgery but the doctor said just change to a different antibiotic and a different spray and keep doing what we're doing. I know Blackie...and Benny...will be SO glad when he's well enough to get that E-collar off !!

So that's my day so far. Have a load of clothes in the washer now and will go unload the dishwasher soon. I'm thankful that God has blessed me in so many ways!

"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

I hope you have had a good day! Feel free to tell me about yours! I'd love to hear it!

Marilyn

School Days

2011-08-30T08:37:00.004-05:00

It never fails. When this time of year rolls around, I always think about school. Sometimes I think about my own days as a school girl. Those first years spent in school rooms with high ceilings, oiled wooden floors, and no air conditioning. By Junior High we had a new school building but still no air conditioning. But I really don't remember suffering from the heat too much. We just adapted back then.

When our three children came along and got old enough for school, we decided we wanted to homeschool them. We sure got lots of disapproval and discouragement from lots of people. Many told us it would never work. They told us our kids would not get the proper education. That they would be "left behind". And that they needed more than anything else the "socialization" they would be missing. I'll be the first to admit that it was not always easy...for me or for our kids. But if I had to decide again I'd decide to homeschool even though it was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done.

I've had my kids tell me that when they told other children that they had school at home they would sometimes get a reply like: "I wish I could homeschool...I would lay on the couch and watch TV all day!" To which my child would reply, "Not if you had our Mother!!" ha I usually arose early, cooked breakfast, woke the kids up, we ate, they got dressed and we started school around 8:00 every morning. We began with pledges to the American and Christian flags and then had a short devotion. It was such a delight in the lower grades to be able to be the one to see "the light come on" in my child's head when he/she first learned to put the letters and sounds together to make words. Or to realize that numbers served more purpose than just being able to recite from one to one hundred. It was hard work for us all but looking back, to me it was worth it.

When I was teaching them from day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year, I thought it would never end. Now as I look back it seems like it passed so quickly. I'll never regret the time I got to spend with my children as they grew up.

I'm thinking that God feels the same way about His children. He doesn't regret any of the time He's spent teaching us, listening to our prayers, fellowshipping with us. In fact, He loves us so much He made a way for us to spend eternity with Him if we just accept His provision in His death on the cross! His advice to us pertaining to education can be found in 2 Timothy 2:15..."Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth." So as the time for School Days rolls around again this year I want to find myself studying the Word of God with God as my Teacher.

During the seventeen years I homeschooled our children, this verse became one of my favorites: " I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." 3 John 1:4. I'm pretty sure that's one of our Heavenly Father's favorites also! I encourage you to get in the Word. That's where Truth is found.

God bless you as you study and learn in God's classroom !

Marilyn

Dirty Angels

2011-08-15T14:31:00.007-05:00

Hello. My name is Marilyn and I am a "Messie". I always knew I had trouble keeping up with my housework but I never knew there was a name for it until about twenty-five years ago when I was first introduced to Sandra Felton's book "The Messie's Manual". There she described two totally opposite kinds of people...the Messie and the Cleanie. Either of these taken to extremes can cause problems she said. I was very excited to find in The Messie's Manual some great ways to improve my housekeeping and have since then, from time to time, been able to get my house in order and keep it that way for a while. But usually, when I have a concentrated time of busy-ness, (preparing for a special event or, as now, putting up fruits and veggies from the garden) I will eventually fall back into my messy ways. Sometimes without really even knowing it until something happens. Like noticing that although I have been giving my living room a "lick and a promise" with a dust cloth, I evidently have been keeping my eyes close to the ground and have been missing these angels which reside up on a shelf above eye level.

My first response to seeing these dusty, cobwebby angels was to run and get the Endust and a rag! They shined up really nice but I could not help but feel guilty that these pretty angels had endured such neglect!

Strange how some things become invisible in our lives sometimes even when they're in plain sight! How long has it been since you spoke to that person who comes in late and sits on the back pew at your church? How long since you noticed the disappointment your child tried to hide when you had to cancel coming to his school play because you bring too much work home from the office every night? How long since you realized you really don't hear your best friend when she talks to you because your thoughts are on something else?

I have been guilty of things much more serious than not finding every cobweb in my house. I have been a "Messie" in so many other areas of my life. In not meeting some of the needs of my family simply because I didn't notice them. In not always having my quiet time with God because I overlooked my spiritual need and put some kind of work or pleasure in its place. I know we sometimes call nice people "angels" but really we're just human beings. But the term angel does makes us think of heavenly things. And seeing my angel collection dirty and dusty reminded me that as a Christian I sometimes let the world and its dirt settle on me. Oh I dust around on my life here and there but just don't look in all the right places and so let some of the dust build up. Until I begin to feel dirty and then start to try and find out what's going on .... or more correctly, not going on...in my spiritual life. Then if I ask Him to, God will show me the places I've been neglecting. And He will clean it all up for me if I ask. Ahhh. It feels so good to get things cleaned up. On the outside. And on the inside!

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.Psalm 51:7

I pray that I will be more aware of the areas of messiness in my life and in my spirit from now on!

Marilyn

Looking For a Shade

2011-07-31T15:27:00.011-05:00

My outside thermometer says 97. Not unusual for this summer. It's been hot. Or maybe there are better words to describe what it's been. Like scorching. Blistering. Searing. Parching. You get the picture. And it's not just here in Mississippi. It's been very widespread all over the country. Because of the excessive heat, I've gotten into the habit of always looking for a shade..of any size...when I'm out shopping and need a parking space. Our McDonald's has two or three nice shade trees on the south side of the parking lot and I have lately counted myself blessed to have been able to park in their shade. It's usually while going in to get one of the ice-cream cones that I seem to have become addicted to. Wal-Mart even has a few trees on the south side of their parking lot but it's extremely hard to find one of those shaded spots available!

One day last week I needed stamps so while in town headed for the post office. When I pulled into the parking lot I guess my mind just went into it's "looking for a shade" auto mode. The first thought that came into my head was "There's a tiny shade in every one of those parking spots!" I thought that was really odd and then began to look for the trees. A few shrubs here and there. No trees. What I was really looking at was OIL SPOTS! Yep, those messy oil spots from leaky cars and trucks parking there day in and day out. They were gray. Shadows from trees (shades) are gray. Hmmmm. I had jumped to a conclusion before I had all the facts. I was so wanting to find a shade so badly that my mind told my eyes they were looking at something other than what they were really looking at. Did you get that? ha I wanted to find a shady spot so...for a fleeting moment...my brain interpreted the gray oil spot as a shade just because that's what I wanted to see. Reality was that there were no shades there at all. I felt pretty foolish when I realized what had happened inside my little head.

I think it happens to people all the time though. We are so intent on getting something we badly want that we don't sometimes pay enough attention. In those situations I'm afraid we can be fooled fairly easily. For instance: a young woman may want "true love" so badly that she mistakenly gives herself to the first man who comes along giving her some attention. She may end up being used and abused or abandoned. If she had been given instructions from a wise mother or teacher she might have recognized the difference in true love and a one-night-stand. Or a young man might want a car of his own so badly that he goes out and buys what, to him, looks like a great car. Then in reality this car tears up the first day he drives it and he's left with a broken down car and a lot of car payments. He wanted something so much that it distorted his vision and what many would have called a scrap heap looked to him like a dream car!

It's important that we keep our vision clear so we can make good decisions. Here in Mississippi we will be voting this fall for a lot of political offices from the governor on down to local Sheriff. I hope that people will vote based on truth. It's easy to get so tired of the way things are and the crooked politics that go on that we just "look for a shade"....a comfortable place. That's dangerous because then we will be more likely to vote for someone because they promise to do this or do that to make our life more comfortable. Will they? Are they trustworthy? What does the political party that they represent stand for? Have you ever read their views for yourself? Does it line up with what God would want? Don't just jump on the bandwagon for a candidate unless you've done your homework and really know what he's for or against. Do his beliefs match what God says in the Word? How does he feel about the sanctity of life? Don't let the heat of the moment make you see things differently than they really are just because you're burning up and "looking for a shade"! It could just be an oil spot !!

"He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour." Proverbs 21:21

May God bless you my friends!

Marilyn

Are You Listening?

2011-07-20T07:44:00.002-05:00

All around us friends, relatives, and passersby are calling out for us to listen to them. They may not be calling in an audible voice, but if we watch and listen, we can tell that they are asking to be heard.

I was pondering this question, “Are you listening?” in my mind today as I drove down the road. I was thinking of the many times that I let my mind wander when friends or family may be trying to tell me something important. That made me sad to realize that I sometimes don’t pay attention where attention is needed. There are many people who need desperately to have someone really listen to them. Job 13:6"Hear diligently my speech and my declaration with your ears.”

Many times the words that come from our lips are not really the words that our hearts feel. We may be sad or lonely but yet we say we are doing great because we don’t want to expose our real feelings to the world. Or at other times we may be nervous and our words come out anything but the way we had intended them. Can we look beyond the actual words that come out of the mouth and see into the hearts of our fellowman? Job 13:6 "Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips."

I am so thankful that our Lord knows the yearnings of my heart and doesn’t depend on the words that come out of my mouth to know what I need.
Romans 8:27 "And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God."

Most importantly, we should listen to what God tells us as He speaks to us through His Word. Jeremiah 10:1 "Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you…."

I want to be more aware of what those around me are really saying so that I can relate to them better and in doing so maybe help them through tough times or maybe rejoice with them in gladness. What I don’t want to be is indifferent to what my friends are saying: whether it is with their voice, their eyes, or their actions. I want to be listening.

Proverbs 1:5 "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:"

May God be with each of you in a special way today!

Marilyn

Hidden Rubies

2011-07-12T12:59:00.006-05:00

For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. ~Proverbs 8:11~

The ruby is the birthstone for July. It was my Mother's birthstone and she had an imitation ruby ring that I inherited when she passed away over forty years ago. I never wear it anymore because it's so fragile but went today and got it out of my jewerly box so I could share it's beauty with you.

Red is my favorite color so I've always been fasinated with anything ruby-colored. I have a small ruby red bowl that also belonged to Mama. So it was not remarkable that I saw the "hidden rubies" last Sunday. I had on a plain black and silver bracelet.

Or at least I had always thought it plain until I was driving home from church a few days ago. I had my right hand on the top of the steering wheel when I noticed something red out of the corner of my eye. I glanced down to see what it was and there were several sparkling red spots in the black "stones" of my bracelet. Was I seeing things? I moved my hand around a little and looked again. Sure enough, they were still there! It was something about the way the sun was shining and reflecting on them I think. I found a wide shoulder on the road, pulled over and took a picture of the bracelet with my phone. I wasn't sure any of the "hidden rubies" would show up but they did a tiny bit. Not nearly as pretty or bright as in real life but maybe you can see what I'm talking about.

Just a bit down the road I had to make a left-hand turn and head north. The sun was no longer shining on the steering wheel and the "rubies" were gone. Then I began to wonder if I had been imagining things! I looked at that bracelet a multitude of times on the rest of the way home but never saw the "rubies" again.

Sunday afternoon I got the brightest flashlight we have and shined it in front of, behind, and around my bracelet hoping to see the rubies again. Nothing but the plain black bracelet. Finally I decided to brave the 100 degree heat and went outside to hold the bracelet up to the sun. That did the trick. Then I was sure. It was only the sun that brought the "rubies" to life!!

I'm not sure why but then I started thinking about people. Especially women. Have you ever been at town running errands and seen a woman who to many was invisible? Maybe she was old. Plain. Wrinkled. Dirty. Uneducated. Poorly dressed. Pretty much just the opposite of everything we are told by the world that we have to be or we are worthless. And then maybe did you talk to her? And she smiled. And the wrinkles around her eyes and mouth turned into smile lines? And maybe though uneducated she had a wisdom that you don't see everyday? It could be that her clothes were not the latest style but handmade which revealed a skill she had learned sometime in the past. Some people may look plain....just like I thought my bracelet was...until the "rubies" start lighting up.

We can be so quick to judge others with a quick look. But when the SON shines just right on them, we can see the "hidden rubies" glowing with a beautiful red hue. As I said, red is my favorite color so I'm going to be looking for more"rubies" in the plainest places from now on!

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

I hope you will see some "hidden" rubies in your life this week! Please let me know if you do!!

Marilyn

"Speaking the Truth in Love"....A Tribute to Dr. LaVerne Butler

2011-07-06T16:22:00.005-05:00

I like for things to go smoothly. I'm not much for bumpy rides --whether it's in a vehicle or in a relationship. Yesterday things got a little bumpy. While having a discussion with a friend, things took a turn that I had not anticipated and it got pretty bumpy for a while there. I'm sure things are gonna be all right but it just sort of took me by surprise. It got my blood pressure up and my spirits down. Even today I still feel a little down in the dumps. I'm not sure why but a favorite preacher of mine from years ago crossed my mind this morning and I looked him up on Google. The last time I heard from him he was in bad health so I wasn't too surprised to hear that he had gone to meet the Lord not long before Christmas last year.

His name was Dr. LaVerne Butler. (You can read the obit about his interesting life here) In the obit, one of Dr. Butler's sons says this about his Dad: "The theme for his life, and I think this captures him more than anything else, is out of Ephesians 4:15: Speaking the truth in love,"

I believe we may have first heard him preach down at Camp Zion in Myrtle, MS, in the 1980's. I was awed by his knowledge and the ability to present his message in such a way that you could not take your eyes from him. It was a joy to listen to him preach. And then soon after that, our pastor asked him to preach a "summer revival" at our little church. Back then when we had summer revival we had morning services in addition to the regular night services. I usually played the piano for the morning services because our regular piano player, Mrs. Lila Mae, worked at a factory and couldn't be there. Almost always the revival would fall during the time when our field corn was "coming in" and I would have to come home from revival and cut corn off the cob all afternoon to put into the freezer. It was a hot and tiring week but God always blessed.

The ladies at church took turns fixing a meal for the visiting preacher during revival and I always took my turn. I remember the day that Bro. Butler came to our house. You have to know that we lived about half an hour from the church to start with. Add that the last six miles were dusty dirt roads. Plus the heat of the summer at mid-day. I'm not even sure we had air conditioning at that time. Our pastor and his family and Bro. Butler were all to be our guests that day after morning services. We'd been having some kind of problems with our car quitting on us and it picked that day to do it's thing! Somehow Benny sent me, Mrs. Peggy (my pastor's wife), Bro. Butler, and the smallest of the kids on to the house in Peggy's car while they worked on ours in the heat. I remember at the time being embarrassed. Here was this great man of God ,who I was sure used to things being a lot more fancy than they were at my house ,riding over dusty bumpy roads to eat dinner in our tiny little house in the middle of the woods.

While I went into the kitchen to get the finishing touches on the big dinner I had prepared earlier that morning, I told Bro. Butler to make himself at home. I was totally prepared for him to give our home...which many would have called shabby...a disgusting once-over with his eyes. I was not prepared for what he actually did! He walked over to the bookshelf and picked out "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23" by Phillip Keller, looked over at me and smiled, and said this is a really good book...then he sat down and began to look through it like he was happy as he could be.

The whole time he was in my home he never complained or looked down on us...he only complimented me and my family. I've said many times since then that he made me feel like a queen. Our family loved Bro. Butler as we have loved few other preachers. And he loved us back! What a jewel he was. I'm so glad we had the opportunity to not only hear him preach....because there's a lot of men who can preach...but that we also were able to visit with him on many different occasions through the years and see that he was the real deal ! I agree with his son. He did have a talent of "Speaking the Truth in Love"

Bro. LaVerne....we will never forget you!

Marilyn

"Old Glory Still Flies"

2011-07-01T14:54:00.004-05:00

“God grant that I may spend eternity in my ‘land of the free and the home of the brave’ and that I shall ever be known as ‘Old Glory’, the flag of the United States of America.”(the last line of “I Am the Flag” written by Ruth Apperson Rous)

July 4, 1776—Our great country came into being with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. June 14, 1777—The flag with thirteen stars and thirteen stripes…one star and strip for each original colony…became the Official Flag of the United States. By the year 1831, the number of stars on the flag had already been increased to 24. It was during this year that Shipmaster Capt. Stephen Driver was presented a beautiful new flag for his ship. As the banner opened to the ocean breeze for the first time, he exclaimed “Old Glory!” The story goes that after he retired from the sea he moved to Nashville, TN, where he evidently flew his treasured “Old Glory” at his home for all to see. When Tennessee seceded from the Union, Rebel soldiers wanted to destroy his flag but could not find it through repeated searches of his home. When Union forces captured Nashville on February 25th, 1862, they raised the American flag over the capital. However, the flag they had with them was small compared to the one Capt. Driver owned and the Union soldiers began to ask him if “Old Glory” still existed. The Captain…..we may imagine with a sly smile on his lips…went home and began to tear apart the quilt on his bed. Between the quilt-top and the batting there was his beloved original “Old Glory”. He lovingly carried his treasure to the capitol where it flew in honor. That was the beginning of the nickname our national flag so fondly is called…”Old Glory”.

Every time I look at our Stars and Stripes I fill with many emotions…pride, happiness, gratitude. What a privilege I have had to grow up here in the United States of America! I can worship God, I can travel freely, I can attend public meetings, I can speak my opinion, I can write my convictions, I can own property, I can vote, and I can do so many more things because I am free here in this land.

June 6, 1953—I was born into this United States of America, a free citizen. September 3, 1978—I was “born again” into the Family of God when I accepted Christ as my personal Saviour. By this time, the years of my life had already been increased to 25. As the banner of His Love opened over my life for the first time, I exclaimed, “Oh, Glory!”. (“He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.” Song of Solomon 2:4) It has now been another 33 years…almost…that I have been flying that Banner of Love in my life and in my home. The devil has tried many times to destroy this flag but could not find it though he has repeatedly searched for it. It’s hiding place is in my heart. It’s my prayer that I may always keep my eyes on the Banner of God’s love and His salvation so that I may go forward to meet the enemy with courage and not fear. (“We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners….” Psalms 20: 5a)

It is with much gratitude that I want to say “Thank You” to all the American soldiers who have served our country to keep this great land free! Their banner is “Old Glory” and it encourages them to go forward and meet the enemy with valor.

And with even more gratitude I want to say “Thank You” to Jesus Christ for placing his Banner of Love over an old sinner like me! Because of this, I am free! ( “And ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free. John 8:32) “OH, GLORY!!”

Happy Independence Day !!

Marilyn

Just Everyday Life

2011-06-29T12:49:00.004-05:00

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah." Psalm 68:19

I so often want to have something "big" or "important" or "intriguing" to post about. But today something just sort of jumped out at me--every day is "big, important, or intriguing" in some way! Each day is a gift from God and should be appreciated as such. So I want to share a few pictures with you of my day so far.

First is my faithful, loyal, handsome canine friend Duke! He's fifteen years old now and doesn't look a day over seven or eight! ha He still likes to run and jump and play. But at the same time he likes to sleep a lot when nothing else is going on. Oh and he can't hear much anymore. Eh? I said HE CAN'T HEAR !! Poor puppy! This morning he was getting a little nap in the sunshine and I wanted to capture that picture of total relaxation. But even though his hearing is gone, he still can feel the movement when I walk across the deck and so he woke up and looked up at me.

These beautiful orange Tiger Lilies grow on the shady north side of my house. I can see them out my kitchen window. They looked so pretty and fresh this morning after the recent rains. Memories of seeing ancestors of these very flowers growing in my next-door-neighbors yard when I was just a little girl came drifting across my mind. I had dug up some of these roots or bulbs after I was married and had a house of my own. And now I have a piece of my past with me every summer.

I started the day having breakfast with my husband. He wanted biscuits & eggs so I made that for him but I had a whole wheat blueberry muffin with my egg. Ummmm. They are so good! I was in the produce department of Walmart a few days ago and they had their fresh blueberries marked down from $2.98 to $1 so could not resist buying a few and making some of these delicious honey/whole wheat muffins!

After breakfast Benny went to the garden and started gathering sweet corn. I lost count of how many 5-gallon buckets of corn he gathered. We put quite a few bags of cream style corn in the freezer along with a lot that we will just boil as corn on the cob. Left out some to cook for our supper too. I just love eating these fresh veggies!

For lunch I had a healthy, delicious tuna sandwich with a slice of fresh tomato on it. Ate it before I thought about writing this blog though. lol Take my word, it was super! But,alas, I happened to remember I had bought a couple of single slice servings of one of my favorite pies... Hershey's Chocolate Creme ! My healthy start to the day took a nosedive and I ate a piece. And it was sooooooooo good! Sigh!

And so you have seen a slice of "Just Everyday Life" for me. Perhaps not as exciting as some people's but I love the life God has given to me. I thank and praise Him for giving me a good home and a good family and wonderful Christian friends!

"Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious." Psalm 66:2

Have a great day in Him my friends !!

Marilyn

Red Sky at Night....

2011-06-23T09:12:00.002-05:00

As we drove home from church last night the sky was just beautiful ! A vast canvas for our Creator God to display His awesome artistic abilities! The picture I took just does not do it justice but the colors were fantastic...shades from the palest pinks and blues (made me think of the pink & blue dresses we wore on choir tour from FBC once!) to tones of grayish silver and gold were painted in great brush-like strokes in the clouds.

My parents used to tell me this when we saw a sky like the one I saw last night: "Red at night, sailor's delight. Red in morning, sailor take warning!" Usually this holds pretty true. I always just thought it was one of those "old sayings" but several years ago I came across these verses in Matthew 16:2-3...."He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?"

So I'm assuming that the little poem about the red sky actually originally came from the Bible. Then I noticed the last sentence, "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?", and I began to wonder. Why is it that in our generation it's not hard for people to understand or believe in science or politics or modern inventions & technology but yet so many people reject the Bible and the teachings of Jesus? People have come so far in education but in the process have taken several giant steps backward in spirituality!

May God help us to be able to not only "discern the face of the sky" but also to be able to "discern the signs of the times"!

Marilyn

Don't Get Burned !

2011-06-14T13:59:00.002-05:00

In the past couple of weeks I've seen people and heard about others who have gotten badly sunburned out in this hot summer sunshine. I know how it hurts because as a fair-skinned person myself who gets red after even fifteen minutes in the sun, I got "blistered" several times during my teenaged years.

Sunburn can range from just turning really red and hurting for a day or so all the way to having clear, raised blisters, being in severe pain for several days and having fever and chills. And then comes the peeling skin! Ewww. I can remember just pulling off sheets of dead skin after being sunburned! Sometimes it can even leave scars if it's bad enough.

With all the information about sunburn and cancer we've had access to for the past several years, we really have no excuse to let ourselves get in that predicament now. (Unless of course some kind of unexpected emergency comes up and we have to be out in the sun longer than expected.) And it's strange but most of the time we don't even realize we're burning until it's TOO LATE !! I've thought about other burns you can get: from a hot object or fire, a carpet burn, a chemical burn, etc. All of these hurt when they burn you. You realize it and get away from it before it can damage you any more than it already has. Not so with sunburn. We are usually enjoying a ball game, a walk, swimming, or some other enjoyable outside activity while the sun is silently beating down on our unprotected skin burning us unawares. The best prevention for sunburn is awareness....when you know you will be outside for an extended period of time this summer---wear sunscreen!

You may be wondering how I'm going to tie some kind of spiritual truth in with this. So this is what I've been thinking: Sunburn is kind of like sin. Just like sunburn happens while we're out having fun and not really feeling the burning rays of the sun, sin happens while we're out having fun and not yet feeling it's destruction. But just wait...you will. Remember, the Bible says there is "pleasure in sin for a season". (Hebrews 11:25) Yes, there is pleasure in sin. But only for a season. Just as sunburn is "seasonal", sin has it's "season" also. And after all the fun is over there is a price to pay. Sometimes it may come with minimum pain. But sometimes the pain, the suffering, the grief, the regret is so agonizing that you may feel it will never go away. And sometimes there will be scars in your life from sin that never do go away! The best prevention for sin? SONscreen !! That's right! When you become a Christian, Jesus Christ...God's SON...lives in you and through the Holy Spirit helps you do right when you are tempted to sin. He protects us. (1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.)

After the pain and peeling of the sunburn is gone , all we have left is the new pink tender skin that has taken its place. God has made our bodies so wonderfully that they have marvelous powers of renewal. (Psalm 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.) And in like manner, after the pain and grief of our willful sinfulness has turned to repentance and deliverance, God will cause our spirits to renew as we nourish our minds in Truth...the Bible.
(John 17: 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.)

So my advice for us all during these scorching summer days ahead is twofold:

1...Wear Sunscreen!

2...Have SONscreen !

May God bless you!

Marilyn

"In My Opinion....."

2011-06-08T08:01:00.003-05:00

I remember years ago hearing my former pastor Dr. David Shepherd saying something like, “Opinions are like armpits: everybody’s got ‘um and sometimes they stink!” And I’ve found that’s pretty much the truth. Ha

We all have our opinions on just about everything don’t we? Sometimes they’re based on fact—sometimes on fiction. If you’re in any kind of leadership position…and we all are whether we realize it or not…you need to be especially careful that the advice you give to others is based on TRUTH and not just an opinion you have developed.

It’s a scary thing to be an influence in somebody’s life! Maybe you think you’re not influencing anyone. But if you’re a friend, a sister, a brother, a wife, a husband, a mother, a father, a teacher, a preacher or….well, you just fill in the blank…then you ARE influencing somebody whether you realize it or not. And therein could lie a problem. I’ve noticed in the past few days some situations where people in highly respected positions are giving out their own “opinions” very freely but these opinions are based on nothing more than pure preference.

As much as I wish it was not so, I have been guilty of doing the same thing at times. I have had opinions based on my own preferences or on some false information I had been given. That is so scary to me! I never want to lead someone down the wrong road in life because I’ve given them rotten advice! And we should especially be careful how we influence the young folks in our lives! Jesus had something to say about that in Luke 17:2 “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.”

Last Monday was my birthday and one of the most touching birthday wishes I received was from a “girl” that was my next-door-neighbor when I was growing up. (She’s a few years younger than me) She sent me a note that said this: “You once gave me a poster that said, "You have touched me, I have grown." I would like to return that to you. You have touched me, I have grown. Thank you for being my friend for over 50 years.” She is sweet to think so highly of me after all this time and it was a great gift to receive this note. But I also know there are people out there that I may have not left such a “sweet taste in their mouths” and for that I am sorry. I truly want to be a good influence on the people around me. But I know that” in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Romans 7:18) And that’s the key. To know that within our flesh dwells “no good thing” and that if we do anything for good it will have to be God working through us. I want to study the Scriptures more so that I can offer sound Biblical influence to those I come in contact. My “opinions” are not good enough. In stark contrast, God’s Truth will never fail !

“And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” John 2:28

Marilyn

Put On the Armour of Light

2011-05-24T09:38:00.002-05:00

"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." Romans 13:12

Last Sunday the pastor's sermon was titled "No Middle Ground" and one of his points was "We Can Choose Light or Darkness". One of the Scriptures he used was Romans 13:12. I have not been able to get it off my mind this week. The part about the "armour of light" is what is so fascinating to me.

A few weeks ago my husband came home from Harbor Freight Tools with a new "toy"... an LED flashlight with thirty-two (yes, I counted them! ha) little bulbs in it. It is so bright that it hurts my eyes if I ever accidentally look at it while it's on. As you may know, I'm a very visual person so this morning I turned the flashlight on, laid it on a desk and then put an "object" right beside it. The light was so bright that all I could see was the light...not the object beside it. I had to squint my eyes together while I took the picture that you see at the top of the blog. Pretty much all you can see is the blinding light!

Now look at this next picture. The object behind the bright light was a small "Praying Hands" that was given to me at a recent ladies meeting I attended. And notice how small the flashlight is! It will fit in the palm of my hand

All that to say this: Jesus Christ is our armour of Light! When we are covered by Him, we can't be seen by the enemy! The light is too bright! I just love this thought!

"Then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12

But God has given each person a choice: to have light or to walk in darkness. Sometimes darkness is chosen because it hides sin so well. Do you remember when most evil deeds were done in the dark night hours? Knowing that more and more crime is committed in "broad daylight" makes me realize this world is getting darker and darker all the time!

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men lived darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." John 3:19

I want that "armour of light" around me today! How about you?

Marilyn

*** I'm not sure what is wrong with "Blogger" but I could never get this post to format properly! Please forgive the way it looks!!*****

When I Remember..... I Stand Amazed

2011-05-18T08:22:00.003-05:00

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Psalm 8:3-4

This picture of a "tent city" in India always makes me sad when I look at it. Sad for the people who have to live here daily in the direst of circumstances: eating food from someone else's garbage, having no access to dental or health care, no running water, no electricity, no toilets....nothing really between them and the soaking rain or the scorching sun but a thin blue tarp made into a tent. But it also makes me sad because it reminds me that unless I'm looking at such extreme poverty, I'm not usually as thankful as I should be for what I do have! I'm very rich compared to these people! And yet I complain so many times! That's just sad!

Sometimes then I read about rich people who have so much to start with and then people just seem to give them more and more. This is in stark contrast to so many across the world who have little and even that seems to be dwindling away. I thought about that the other day when I was reading a chapter in Proverbs and came across this verse: "The poor is hated even of his own neighbor: but the rich hath many friends." (Prov.14:20) Have you ever noticed how people want to always either give the rich (who don't need it) a discount or else give them gifts? So sometimes when I see this playing out in real life, it bothers me. Is it because I'm jealous? Or is it disgust? Perhaps a little of both.

And then I remember that I have more than I need just where I am! God has blessed me so very much in so many ways. It may not seem so to some people but to me it does! I think of the thousands of people within an hour or two's drive from my home who have lost their homes and even families to tornadoes or floods in the past few weeks. When I remember all the wonderful things God has given me, then I stand amazed! Amazed that He loved me. Amazed that He gave me eternal life when He owes me nothing! And that reminds me of one of my favorite songs written by Squire Parsons, Jr. called "I Stand Amazed". Something we all should do when we think of what Christ has done for us!I hope that you too will remember....and stand amazed!

I Stand Amazed
Words and Music by Squire Parsons, Jr.

When I examine that old rugged cross the mighty gulf did span;
It reaches down to the brinks of hell, to heaven's golden stand.

Chorus
I stand amazed, I stand amazed;
Of the love that has sought me, saved me and bought me,
I stand amazed.

When I imagine in glory that day, when all of heav'n stood still
As God, incarnate, the Savior of man, died upon Calv'ry's hill.

Chorus
I stand amazed, I stand amazed;
Of the love that has sought me, saved me and bought me,
I stand amazed.

Bloom Where You're Planted

2011-05-11T05:12:00.000-05:00

These yellow "flags" can barely be seen from my front door. They are blooming alone down by the "tire swing tree". But they are as beautiful and as fragrant as they would be if they were planted right beside my front door where I could see and smell them every time I went out.

Do you wonder why you were "planted" where you are in this life? I sometimes do. We may wonder why we were born in the country and seem to have so few opportunities to do things for God. Or we may wonder why we were born in the midst of a teeming city and stay so busy that we don't know what to do!

I've often heard the old saying, "Bloom where you're planted" and I thought about it this morning when I was walking and noticed these yellow Iris blooming way off from the house, all by themselves. Maybe you feel today like God has somehow set you aside. Like you are alone. Like there is not a "big" job for you to do right now. Don't be discouraged. Just bloom where you are! And there will be perhaps a weary traveler who comes by your way and is refreshed and encouraged by the beauty and fragrance of your "blooms"!

"Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Luke 12:27)

God bless you!
Marilyn

Where Is God In the Storm?

2011-05-05T16:25:00.002-05:00

(Smithville, MS, after April 27, 2011, tornado damage)

I've been hearing different people pose the question, "Where is God in the storm?" lately. Many are meaning where was God when the tornadoes ripped through several towns and cities in MS and AL last week. Some are meaning where was God when their lives were devastated because of a diagnois of cancer, a loved one died, a womb became barren, a marriage was defiled and broken, a job was lost, or many other situations too numerous to name. It's a valid question. One that saved and lost alike have asked.

Yesterday as I listened to American Family Radio, Bro. Bert Harper, Pastor of West Jackson Street Baptist Church in Tupelo, MS, spoke directly to this question of "Where is God in the storm?". He basically gave two answers. One, that God is where He's always been...He's still on the throne! He still decides what happens and we can't know the mind of God. (Matthew 5:45b) "for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

And two, that just as God was IN THE FIRE with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, He's in the midst of our storms WITH us if we are Christians. (Daniel 3: 24-25)"Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. " I thought Bro. Harper had a lot of good thoughts along this line.

Some may still argue that it's not fair for bad things to happen to good people! We get to thinking sometimes that we deserve good things from God don't we! Rev. R.C. Sproul was in a meeting one time where a woman asked him this question..."Why do bad things happen to good people?"....to which Rev. Sproul replied, "If I ever find some 'good people' I'll let you know. I only know One Good Person that bad things happened to and He volunteered!" (Rom.3:12) "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

There will always be seasons of storms throughout our lives. But as Christians we can be comforted by remembering that God is still God and that He will go WITH us through any storms that come our way. Amen!

(Victory Baptist Church in Smithville,MS, worships in the ruble left by the F5 tornado)

He Won !

2011-04-23T03:30:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite Easter songs ..."My Soul Says He Won"...has been on my mind for weeks now! I've listened to it over and over. I shared this with you all last Easter but just felt I wanted to post the words again this year as they are SO powerful and so true !!

I wish there was a link for you to connect and listen to it but there's not that I could find. It gives me chill bumps and makes me want to shout when I hear it sung! So without any more words from me here it is:

MY SOUL SAYS HE WON
(Words & music by Patti Hawkins, Nettleton, MS)

Opinion and rumor, spread far and wide

When the word came that Jesus, had been crucified

Ones who had loved Him, were stricken with grief

Those who had feared Him sighed with relief.

Some cried “It’s over, I guess we were wrong.”

Some proudly boasted that they knew all along.

But the story continues, and to make it complete

I now can tell you, things weren’t as they seemed.

Chorus:

The crowd said “Defeated!”The world said, “He’s gone”

Satan said, “I’ve conqueredThis world as my own”

The cross said, “It’s finished”Death said, “It’s done”

But the tomb said, “I’m empty!”And my soul says, “He won!”

Now when opinions spread through the land

Saying that Jesus was merely a man

I’ll stand as a witness, for I know for sure

His life giving power forever endures.

When the crowd says “Defeated!”

And the world says, “He’s gone”

And Satan thinks he’s conquered, This world as his own

At the cross it was finished. Death thought it was done

But the tomb STILL stands empty...And my soul says, “He won!”

Amen and Amen! My soul certainly does rejoice that Jesus WON over death, sin and the grave to give us the opportunity of everlasting life!

"Amazing grace how sweet the sound! That saved a wretch like me!"

Happy Easter to everyone! May you feel His power in your life!

Marilyn

I Won !

2011-04-22T14:02:00.002-05:00

Last week Cindy over at Letters From Midlife had a giveaway in conjunction with "National Letter Writing Month" in which she was giving away a set of her beautiful handmade note cards. I left a comment...mostly because I just like to comment!...but had little hope of being the winner. Imagine my surprise this week when checking my email I found a letter from Cindy saying that I WON !

I have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of the notecards and today when my husband brought the mail in, there they were right on top of the stack of papers! They are much more beautiful in real life than the picture I took of them shows. I can't wait to send them to some of my friends. That was the condition that Cindy gave before we even left a comment on her blog: that we would promise to USE the cards if we won them and not just put them in a drawer to gather dust!

Back in 1978 I became a winner of something that changed my life forever. I became a Christian. Not because I deserved Christ's love and forgiveness nor the eternal life He gave me. But just because He showed His love and mercy to me. And in return I responded to what He offered and I took His gift of eternal life.

Now I want to spend my life telling others how God loves them and that He died and was raised from the dead so that they can be forgiven and live with Him forever. Just as I don't want to "waste" these beautiful cards Cindy has so freely given to me, I don't want to "waste" the Christian life that God has freely given me!

I hope that all of you, my friends, have a wonderful weekend thinking about our Risen Saviour!

He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. (Matthew 28:6)

Marilyn

The Same....Inside and Out

2011-04-12T06:02:00.002-05:00

We have a digital thermometer on our kitchen wall that shows both the temperature inside and the temperature outside. One day last week I looked at it and noticed that it read 71 degrees....both inside and out. It's not very often that both numbers are the same.

It made me wonder about myself. How often am I the same on the inside as I am on the outside? Sometimes I can act cool and calm on the outside but yet be at the boiling point inside! Sometimes I can "do" all the right things outwardly as a Christian but yet not have the right attitude in my heart. Jesus talked to a crowd of people once who were notorious for doing this. He called them hypocrites and gave them a reprimand in Matthew 23:27....Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Well, ewwwww! Who wants to be like that? I don't! And yet, I'm sure that more times than I would like to admit I probably fall into that category.

I want to say as David did in Psalm 51: 6-10..."Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

I want truth and wisdom in my innermost parts. I want God to wash me whiter than snow. (I know I'm saved once and for all but still I need that daily "washing of the Word") Just as I need to take a daily shower to keep the outside of me clean, I need that daily cleaning from God to keep a right spirit inside!

"Lord, help me to be more like You....inside and out! Amen."

Marilyn

The Elusive Spider

2011-04-07T08:00:00.003-05:00

At least every other morning when I go to make my coffee I find there is a spider's web between the top of my coffee maker and the cabinet above. I take a cloth and wipe the web away and look for the spider who's responsible. I have emptied the cabinet of the glasses and cups that reside there. Still I have not seen the Elusive Spider. But he's there! I know he's there because I see his workmanship in the web he weaves. Sometimes I wonder why he picks this spot over and over. Maybe it's the warmth of the coffee pot or the sunshine that always comes in this window in the early morning. Whatever it is, he's hooked on it.

As I went about the task of tearing down and cleaning up the spider's web a few days ago I began to think about spiritual "cob webs" in my life. The Bible talks about the sins that "easily beset us"....meaning that each of us has some sin that is hard to get rid of. A sin that, like the spider's web in my kitchen, keeps coming back over and over even though we try to tear it down religiously!

Each of us may have a different sin that is so hard for us to give up. To those around us it may show up LARGE...perhaps in the form of some kind of addiction. Or to others it may be invisible....and yet be something that keeps us torn up inside all the time. Whether it is big or small, it will keep us from totally serving God in the way we should. And Satan is the Elusive Spider that keeps coming back day after day and spinning a web of deceit and lies and temptations in our lives. On our own we can't get rid of these spiritual "cob webs" but we have a Mighty God that can!

So don't give up! If you have a "besetting sin" that seems to constantly weave it's web around your soul, be assured that there is a Power that can break those bonds! The Power that brought Jesus out of the grave is the same Power available to us today! What an awesome God we serve!

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith...." - Hebrews 12:1-2

I'll keep looking for the the Elusive Spider in my kitchen but until I find him I'll just keep tearing down his web and cleaning up after him. And we need to do the same in our spiritual lives. It may seem hopeless sometimes but don't give up friends! We may not conquer our besetting sin tomorrow but just keep looking for the source of the cob webs and asking God to help you clean up the mess left behind.

I found a verse in Zephaniah 3:17 earlier this month that just made me smile with happiness. It tells some ways that God expresses His great love for us. Read it for yourself and see: "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing."

I hope you have a wonderful day resting in the knowledge that God is with you, He is mighty, He will save you, He will rejoice over you, you can rest in His love, and He is so happy about you it makes Him sing! Wow!

~Marilyn~

"Consecrate" OR "Concentrate"

2011-03-29T13:56:00.004-05:00

One of the hymns we sang last Sunday was "Draw Me Nearer". It seemed very appropriate and the longing of us all after the great revival we had just finished the week before. As we sang the second line I noticed that more than one person sang "Concentrate me now, to Thy service Lord" instead of the actual words of the verse which say "Consecrate me now, to Thy service Lord". I've heard many people mis-speak this line over the years and always before I would think, "Why don't they pay attention to what the words are!" And yet Sunday when I heard them using "concentrate" instead of "consecrate" it started me thinking. I thought about the definition of both the words. The word "consecrate" that Fanny Crosby penned down in the second verse means: To declare or set apart as sacred; Dedicated to a sacred purpose; sanctified. These are decisions every Christian should make. We should dedicate our lives to Christ and we should be set apart from the world as we live for Him.

Then I thought about the other word so often mistakenly used in this verse: "concentrate". This word means: To direct or draw toward a common center; focus; To bring into one main body; To make less dilute; To direct one's thoughts or attention. I realized that this is also something that I want to do for the Lord. I want to direct others to focus on Him and be born into the Body of Christ. I don't want to be diluted but strong. I want my thoughts and attention to be on God.

So from now on when I hear the song "Draw Me Nearer", it will really not matter which word the congregation uses when they sing the second verse! Either one will draw us nearer to God.

Hebrews 7:19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

~Marilyn~

Mending Fences

2011-03-15T15:57:00.001-05:00

Years ago this fence was part of what we called the "calf pasture"...a small, fenced in place behind the barn. It could be cut off from the regular pasture which covered many acres so that the newly born calves could be kept close to or even inside the barn for protection. Today as I looked at all that's left of the fence beside the barn I saw that years of neglect had taken its toll. Weeds and vines and briers had grown up on the fence and pulled it down. It's not fit to keep anything in...or anything out. If my memory serves me correctly, the fences were one of the deciding factors in our selling our cows several years ago. Or maybe it was the lack of fences! Either way, we could not afford to buy all new barbed wire to build new fences for our 80 acres and we could not keep the old fences in good enough repair to keep the cows from getting out......often!!

Which reminded me....in our current Moore Bible study she talked about fences one week. About how we need fences in our lives. For protection. For security. We must have boundaries. We need fences. The laws in our government serve as a kind of fence in our lives. We are protected by laws that say one person is not allowed to kill another person. We are protected from wrecks by having red lights or stop signs. You may be thinking, "But people still get killed! People still have wrecks!" Yes, but that is because someone tore down the fence and broke the law!

In Week Three of our study, Beth talked about a magazine article she read which told of a woman who raised minature horses. The woman's neighbors had a small wildlife park with a variety of exotic animals. There was, of course, a fence between their properties. Evidently neither of these property owners kept a very close eye on their fence to check and see if it needed mending. But, indeed, it did need mending. How did they find this out? One day the lady who raised the minature horses looked out her window and a male lion was tearing her favorite horse to shreds. True story. Then Beth added this statement: "Tragically, we often don't realize part of our fence is down until Satan, the roaring lion, is devouring something precious to us right on our own property!"

Is it time to mend some fences? Maybe just walk the fence just to see how things are? I don't mean this in a literal sense but in more of a spiritual sense. Are there things that you used to not feel comfortable doing that don't bother you anymore? Are there "colorful" words in your vocabulary that you never would have let slip from your mouth in years past? Sometimes we just stop paying attention to whether or not our lives are pleasing to God and we let little things slip in here and there. Just like that fence I was looking at today down by the barn. The vines that weigh it down today were once just little baby vines that could have easily been cut back. Had we not sold our cows, I'm sure Benny would have kept them cut off the fence. Or else, he would have been chasing baby calves everywhere!

But unless we practice checking and mending our fences, we are liable to let all kinds of sin weigh down our lives until we have gaps in the fence and then we've got trouble! Robert Frost wrote a poem called "Mending Wall" where he talks about walking his "wall" (or fence) in the spring looking for gaps or breaks. Here's a line from the poem:

"The gaps I mean, No one has seen them made or heard them made, But at spring mending-time we find them there."

How true...sometimes we don't see or hear them made....but when we walk the fence, "we find them there"!

I imagine we all need to take time this spring to "walk our fences" to see if they need a little mending here and there. We don't want to wait until Satan devours something precious!

Marilyn

Double Vision

2011-02-25T21:50:00.002-06:00

The eye is an amazing organ! It is another great example of how our body is "fearfully and wonderfully made"!

One day this week I had to have dental work done in preparation for getting a new crown on a tooth. My dentist has a limit on how high a person's blood pressure can be when she works on them and sometimes mine exceeds that limit. I'm not scared of the dentist. I'm just scared my blood pressure will be too high....therefore it usually is! Crazy! Sooooo... the past couple of times I've had work done when she had to numb up my mouth she's insisted I take some prescription meds for anxiety.

Early that morning I put the two small white pills in the palm of my hand, asked the Lord to bless them to my good, and then put them in my mouth and swallowed them down with a bit of water. All seemed to go fine until my husband was driving me the hour's distance to the dentist's office. I suddenly noticed that I was seeing everything that was very far away from me in pairs! I was seeing double! Not blurry vision but two separate everythings! Something that had never happened to me before and it was a little scary to say the least!

Every car or truck we met on the highway had a twin. Every light pole came in pairs. Every stop sign had a double. The scary thing was that there was no way that I could tell which one was the real thing and which was the mirror image of it! I'm not sure just what caused this but I did not like it at all and hope that it never happens again.

A few days later as I thought about that experience it reminded me how important it is for us to know that what we are looking at is the real deal. Especially in spiritual matters. Maybe you've heard that Satan has a counterfit for every good thing that God has created. So we need to ask ourselves...is this of God? Or is it a counterfit from Satan?

James 4:8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Seeing double is not a normal thing. It's not a desirable thing. It can be a very dangerous thing! These statements are true whether talking about our physical vision or our spiritual vision! To keep our spiritual vision healthy, we must keep our eyes on ONE Person.....the Lord Jesus Christ!

Matthew 6:22The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

What's your vision like today?

Marilyn

His Eye Is On the Sparrow

2011-02-16T10:46:00.001-06:00

Early this morning I was mulling over Isaiah 26:3 in my mind and heart..."Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." As I sat at the kitchen table with my head bowed in prayer asking God to help me keep my mind on Him more and telling Him that I wanted to trust in Him more, I heard a very unusual noise. At first I kept on praying but in a minute after the noise increased I had to open my eyes and see if I could discover what was going on.

I looked in the direction the noise was coming from and there was a bird...perhaps a sparrow...holding on to the screen on the kitchen window over the sink. The little bird was hopping and scratching from place to place on the screen and that's what was making the funny noise.

Immediately I knew God was sending me a message as my mind went to the lyrics of an old song I used to hear sung a lot...."Why do I feel discouraged? Why do the shadows come? Why does my heart feel lonely, and long for heaven and home? When Jesus is my portion, my constant Friend is He. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me!" (lyricist Civilla D. Martin and composer Charles H. Gabriel)

It was like God said to me "Don't be so worried about everything! I take care of this little bird on your window screen. How much more will I take care of you!"

Just to reinforce this promise, I turned to Matthew 10:29-31 and read these verses: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows"

Lord, help me to remember today and everyday that I am Your child and that you are watching over me at all times! Thank you!

And my prayer today is that each of you who reads this will realize this same thing!

God bless!

Marilyn

Victory Is Ours !

2011-02-01T11:27:00.003-06:00

Who doesn't want to experience victory? Who wants to lose? Not me and not you! So how can we be sure that we can be on the "winning side"? It's according to what we're talking about I suppose. If it's a physical or mental opposition we're facing such as a tennis match or a chess game (neither of which I play by the way!) then the way to experience victory lies in getting stronger physically or mentally than our opponant. But if it's a spiritual victory that we're wanting then the answer is found in Scripture: "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." I Corinthians 15:57

Spiritual victory is found in letting God fight the battle for us and not trying to get "strong enough" to do it on our own. Remember what David said when he fought the giant Goliath: "And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands." I Samuel 17:47

In just a few days many eyes will be glued to TV sets all over the world to see who wins the Super Bowl. Who will have the victory. And this is all right....to some degree. But to some people, this is their religion! I read on a news article this morning where someone remarked that they were getting to the Super Bowl in spite of the raging frozen precipitation falling even "if they had to crawl". How many of us as Christians would say that we were going to go "wherever" God was calling us even "if we had to crawl"? Die-hard sports fans put us to shame in their tenacity! Oh that I could be that much of a fanatic about the cause of Christ!

In the January issue of the AFA Journal there was a very interesting commentary by Matt Friedeman. The title was "Thank God my College Football Team is Losing". Here is an excerpt from the commentary: "He commented...jokingly...that now he could forget all about them and lift up his heart totally to God. He also told the story of on time one of the members of the board of Wesley Biblical Seminary said a friend had said to him that he quietly feared that his children might not want to attend Ole Miss. The board member responded with...'Not to worry...You drink from Ole Miss cups, give money to Ole Miss, never miss an Old Miss ballgame, wear Ole Miss clothes, have scrapbooks full of Ole Miss in your home, talk/joke/dream Ole Miss....of course your kids are going to go to Ole Miss.' Remembering Deuteronomy 6:5-7 ("And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.") it appears the friend had replaced the law of God with a school. Wonder how many of us have done the same with sports teams."
[Go here to read the complete commentary on Matt Friedeman's blog.]

Real victory in our lives comes only from God. Eugene M. Bartlett who wrote the words to "Victory in Jesus" realized this. Here are the words to the chorus of his song:
"O victory in Jesus My Savior, forever He sought me and bought me With His redeeming blood; He loved me 'ere I knew Him And all my love is due Him He plunged me to victory Beneath the cleansing flood. "

And so my friends....Victory is ours through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Marilyn

Whiter Than Snow

2011-01-18T15:12:00.002-06:00

It came! The snow that the weathermen forecast really came to Mississippi last week! We were as ready as we could get I think and enjoyed the beauty of it even if we didn't get out and play in it!

When I see the fresh fallen snow...before anything has walked or driven on it...I am reminded of how fast I forget just how blindingly brilliantly white it is! If the sun is shining ,sunglasses are really the necessary accessory for the day!

James L. Nicholson wrote a song called "I Shall Be Whiter Than Snow". I can just imagine that he wrote this after seeing a fresh covering of snow...perhaps with the sun glinting on it. Here's the first verse and refrain of his song:

Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;I want Thee forever to live in my soul;Break down every idol, cast out every foe—Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Refrain:Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow,Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

And that is Biblical. The Prophet Isaiah recorded this in Isaiah 1:18 : Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

So when the beautiful white snow comes and covers the dirty, muddy ground, let it always be a picture to remind us how God's love and salvation covers our dirty ugly sins and makes us white as snow!

God bless!

Marilyn

Prepared for Tomorrow

2011-01-08T20:40:00.004-06:00

Today has been a beautiful sunny day with clear blue skies. Quite a contrast to what the weather forecasters are telling us will be happening tomorrow. In fact, we are under a "Winter Storm Warning" with the prospect of snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible. That's pretty unusual for Mississippi! So we've been getting things ready. Since we heat our house with a big Ashley wood heater, Benny has already been cutting wood for the winter for a few months. He has a huge stack of wood in front of the house.

But in preparation for the "Big Event", he filled up the big wood ring on the front porch so that we'd have dry wood not covered by the snow.

And the big woodbox we've had in our living room close to thirty years (can you believe that?? lol) is brimming over with good seasoned oak wood cut from our farm. So, Lord willing, we will stay nice and warm if and when the snow comes.

I was thinking that it's good to be prepared for tomorrow physically. But how much more important it is for us to be prepared for tomorrow spiritually. The most important thing we need for preparedness in our spirit is salvation. Without knowing without a doubt we're saved, we have no hope of tomorrow. Romans 6:23For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

After a person is saved, then something else he can do to prepare for tomorrow (the future) is to read the Bible to find out what God's will is for his life. Psalm 119:11Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

When we put our trust in God, then we are completely prepared for tomorrow. Period. Proverbs 30:5Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

May God bless you...tomorrow and every day!

Marilyn

Happy New Year 2011

2010-12-31T10:29:00.002-06:00

As I sit here to write my last blog post of 2010, there are only a little over twelve hours remaining until 2011 officially arrives! There's no way to un-do or re-do what happened in this year so I hope that most of us don't have a lot of regrets. On the other hand, we can't live forever on memories of the good things that happened. Every day we live is a new day with new promise. "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah." (Psalm 68:19)

This week I have been asking myself what one main thing I would like to do different in 2011 than I did in 2010. In my Bible study one day I was directed to read Isaiah 61: 1-3. (1)The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
(2)To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
(3)To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Verse 3 just jumped out at me! I am so prone to have a "spirit of heaviness" or what I would call "worry"! And I'm so sick of it! In 2011 I want to trade in my "spirit of heaviness" for a brand new "garment of praise"!

How about you? What's your number one goal for 2011? I'd love to know!

Happy New Year to all !

Marilyn

Are You Creating a Godly Legacy?

2010-12-29T16:15:00.001-06:00

Look what came in the mail the other day! My good friend Leah Adams' first published Bible study titled "From the Trash Pile to the Treasure Chest: Creating a Godly Legacy". Leah will be hosting an online Bible study of this new book on her blog "The Point" starting January 6, 2011. Why don't you hop on over and find out how you can join us?

I certainly want to do everything I can to leave a godly legacy myself. I want my children and grandchildren to know that I loved God. I want my life to point to HIM and not to myself. I'm sure you feel the same way!

I'm depending on God to show me more of His Word and His plans in this next year of 2011. "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:11

I pray you will have a Blessed & Happy New Year!

Marilyn

Is It Worth the Extra Effort?

2010-12-21T15:33:00.003-06:00

I received part of my Christmas present from my husband a week early. I'd been thinking for a while that I'd like to try this "juicing" thing that some of my friends were doing. So when Benny gave me some Christmas money and told me to go shopping for myself, I went straight away and bought a Jack LaLanne Juicer.As soon as I took the juicer out of the box, I read all the instructions: how to take it apart; how to put it back together; best fruits and veggies for juice; fruits and veggies not to juice; etc. Then I took it apart, washed and dried all the parts and reassembled it.

The first day I only used carrots for my juice and was mildly disappointed at the somewhat bitter taste it had. The next morning I added half an apple and it was much better. The next day I added a quarter of an orange to the mix and it was really delicious! But in the back of my mind I was thinking, "Is it really worth the extra effort to drink fresh juice?" For you see, it takes me about half an hour from the time I start preparing the veggies & fruit until I get it all taken apart, cleaned, washed, dried, and put back together again.

I do believe that it most likely is worth it! Fresh is always better and more healthy. So I plan to keep up this routine as long as possible and see if I notice any improvement in the way I feel.

As an added bonus I have made a healthy carrot cake with the pulp that is left after I juice. This morning I had the carrot/apple/orange juice and a small slice of the carrot cake! Mmmmmm!

I was thinking about my spiritual life and what I need to do to keep it healthy. If fresh is better for my physical body, then fresh must surely also be better for my spirit! I don't need to depend on the spiritual truths I learned last month or last year to keep me healthy. I need to get a "fresh" helping of God in my life every day. And that will take a little extra time on my part. Is it worth the extra effort to take time to read a portion of the Bible each day and to take time to pray? Oh yes! It's worth it!

In the late 1800's William D. Longstaff wrote a song titled "Take Time to be Holy". The words are beautiful and describe how we're always blessed when we take the extra time to interact with the Lord! Here are the word of the song:

Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;And run not before Him, whatever betide.In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,Each thought and each motive beneath His control.Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas!

Marilyn

A Little Bit More....

2010-12-15T14:54:00.000-06:00

(Just lying on bed...not tucked in. Brown doesn't show when tucked in.)

Ever since we bought a four-inch thick memory foam mattress topper for our bed a couple of years ago, I've had trouble with the top sheet staying tucked in at the bottom. It was just too short! That's all you could say! And it drove me crazy! I can't stand to have the sheet come un-tucked at the bottom and my feet get cold!

So the other day I came up with a plan! I decided that I would sew a twelve-inch strip of cloth on the bottom of the top sheet and use that part to tuck under the mattress. The sheets are a brown stripe and I had some brown material that didn't look too bad with it....after all, I figured it would not show anyway! I opened up my trusty sewing machine and sewed and stitched and hemmed until I had the extension completed. I could hardly wait to put it on the bed and see how it would work! It looked good! Lots of sheet to pull up around my ears and it still be tucked in around my feet! But the real test would be a night's sleep under it!

It worked! It worked so well that I fixed another set of sheets the same way! Amazing what a huge difference just "a little bit more" material made in being able to get a good night's sleep! Ahhhhhh!

And you know it's like that with a lot of things. Some things just don't "feel" right to us. Maybe it's a recipe that doesn't taste quite right and needs just "a little bit more" of some ingredient. Or perhaps you need just "a little bit more" practice to get that solo down perfect. A sick child who seems fussy may need just "a little bit more" of your loving attention today. If you're trying to mend a broken relationship it could be trying "a little bit more" might make the difference. And does it seem that we've become slightly estranged from God during the hustle and bustle of this Christmas season when we really should be drawing nearer than ever to Him? Maybe "a little bit more" prayer and Bible reading can remedy that!

It only takes "a little bit more" sometimes to make a LOT of difference in things! I may not be able to go to a foreign mission field to work for God but I can give a hungry person something to eat. I can give a thirsty person a bottle of water. I can give clothes to someone who has lost everything in some disaster. I can visit someone in the hospital. And if I do these things because I love God, it's like I've done it FOR God Himself! Wow! "A little bit" can go a long way!

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25: 37-40)

I want to be found doing just "a little bit more" this Christmas season!

Merry Christmas!

Marilyn

Good Intentions

2010-12-08T06:39:00.001-06:00

One day last week I received what WOULD have been my first Christmas card of the season. I said, "would have been" because all I received was what is in the picture. There was no Christmas card. There was no back of the envelope. There was only the front of the envelope and it was torn in two pieces. I'm not sure how even that made it to my rural mail box!

I was pretty sure it had at one time contained a card of some kind so sent an email to the person that sent it and asked. She said, "Yes", that it had been a Christmas card and she was very disappointed that it had not made it through the postal system in one piece!

I could not help but think that sometimes my "good intentions" end up sort of like that. I mean to send someone a get-well card. I mean to call and encourage a friend. I mean to bake a cake and take to someone in need. I mean to pray for that lost neighbor. I mean to do more Bible study. You get the picture! Sometimes I think my intentions start out "whole"...just as this Christmas card did. My intentions might bring a smile to someone's face...just as this missing Christmas card surely would have done had it gotten to me!

How many times do I mean to do something and it just never gets done? Or maybe it only gets half-way done? I need to seriously look at my good intentions and try to turn them into good actions instead!

Is there someone that would love a visit from you? Or a plate of homemade cookies? Or just a Christmas card from an old friend? This year, try to make the extra effort to really get the finished product.....whatever that may be....where it belongs instead of only having those "good intentions". That's what I'm going to try to do too! "In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works:" Titus 2: 7a

Marilyn

Smoke On the Hill

2010-12-01T11:44:00.003-06:00

(That's not a cloud in the sky....only the smoke coming from our chimney this morning!)

It's a very cold December day here in Mississippi! The fire in our Ashley wood heater is keeping the house toasty warm though. I love the smell of wood smoke. As I looked out this morning, I saw the smoke from our chimney drifting up through the crystal clear blue sky. And I thought of prayer! Prayers that I have prayed and prayers that have been prayed for me.

In Revelation 8:4 the Scripture says: "And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. " I love the picture that verse paints! In my mind I can just see our prayers drifting up to the throne of God as a plume of smoke. What a great treasure we have in being able to talk to God..."face to face"....through prayer! Do we take advantage of this treasure?? Not nearly enough I'm pretty sure!

So, how about sending up a "smoke signal" to the Lord today with a prayer. Of thanks. Of request. Of love. Of intercession. Or just whatever is on your heart. He's interested and waiting to get that first "whiff" of your prayer ascending up today!

God bless you my friends!

Marilyn

There Came a Great Spider, Who Sat Down Beside Her...

2010-11-24T01:21:00.001-06:00

Who remembers this nursery rhyme….“Little Miss Muffet, she sat on a tuffet; Eating her curds and whey; There came a great spider, who sat down beside her, and frightened Miss Muffet away.” ? I do so wish that I had, like Miss Muffet, SEEN the spider who sat down beside me and had been frightened away! HOWEVER, I did not see him and evidently I sat on him and got two bites on the back of both thighs! Grrrrrr!

It happened on a Thursday night. I did not see a spider but did see the saucer sized rash/whelps that appeared several hours after I felt just a little burning sensation on my legs. Thinking it was just some kind of reaction to using a different laundry detergent, I tried putting anti-itch medicine on my legs over the weekend but was miserable. The rash was red and raw and "weeping"...and spreading! I could not stand to sit for very long at a time so had to miss Sunday night church services.

First thing on Monday morning I called my doctor’s office to see if they could work me in. Yes! Be there at 10:15 ! When my doctor came in and asked what my problem was I began to tell her I thought I must have had an allergic reaction to the detergent. Then she looked at my legs and said with a gasp…”Oh honey! Those are spider bites!!!” I was in shock! That had not even entered my mind! She started naming off all the things she wanted to give me…..antibiotics by mouth, antibiotic ointment, steroid crème, Benadryl, and a Tetanus shot!

Well, it was a pretty uncomfortable week but God has been good and I’m almost healed up I think. I still have two very large pink blotchs that itch some on both legs but it’s SO much better than it was last week that I can’t complain!

Several people told me they were surprised that I got bitten by a spider IN MY HOME ! Well, I have 2 explanations. 1)I guess I'm not getting rid of spider webs in all the corners like some of my friends must do. And 2) spiders can be ANYWHERE, as documented in Proverbs 30:28 which says, "The spider taketh hold with her hands, and IS IN kings' palaces." So I guess it happens to the best of us sometimes. lol

As I said, in contrast to Little Miss Muffet, I never saw the spider but I did see the results of the spider being there! Sometimes we’re like Miss Muffet….sin is blatant and easy to see and we are frightened by it and so steer clear of it and the harm it will bring. But sometimes we’re like I was and don’t see the danger that is right in the chair with us! Sin may sneak up on us and we are bitten and suffering the consequences before we know what happened!

I guarantee you that I have been very diligent in trying to get down every spider’s web I have seen in the past week and a half. I have taken pictures down and dusted behind them. I have pulled out furniture and dusted and mopped. I scan the shower before I get in. I LOOK before I sit down. I’m counting on that old saying of Ben Franklin’s… “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

And so it is with sin. We should always be on the lookout for it. Sometimes it’s out in the open. But all too often it hides in corners. In dark places. Or in places where you least expect it. Don’t let it sneak up on you!

Many thanks to all of you who have been praying for me! May God bless you and I hope that every one who is reading this has a wonderful Thanksgiving !

Marilyn

What Happened to Thanksgiving?

2010-11-10T05:44:00.001-06:00

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalm 100: 4-5(KJV)

A few nights ago I was watching the local news when the news anchor made a statement that made me both mad and sad. He remarked that although many people still had jack-o-lantern pumpkins sitting on their front porches, the department stores already had their decorations out for “our next holiday”. Well, I knew very well that he was talking about Christmas but that is not our next holiday. What happened to Thanksgiving?…the oldest, purest, truly American holiday we celebrate? And, please!…..don’t call it “Turkey Day” either! It’s true what the news anchor said….the stores are all getting ready for the Christmas rush. Why is that? Why do people decorate for Halloween and Christmas but almost totally ignore Thanksgiving?

I think that the main reason may be that so many people have become self-sufficient to the extent that they believe they have made themselves what they are and don’t owe any thanks to anyone. More and more people are forgetting that everything they have ultimately has been given to them by a loving God. (“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1: 17)

We have such a high standard of living in our country that many people have never had to do without the basic necessities and therefore are not grateful for the things they have. Even many of the ones who do live in poverty believe that someone “owes” them a better life and may not be grateful for the things they do have. (“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy” II Timothy 3: 2 )

God has been gradually pushed farther and farther in the background in the past twenty-five years or so and now this great day that was set aside to give thanks to God for all He has done for us is reduced to nothing more than parades, football games and “Turkey Day”. (“Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100: 3)

As Christians, let us truly give thanks as we celebrate Thanksgiving this year and remember that all our blessings are because of the wonderful mercies and love of our Lord. We don’t want our children and grandchildren to ask us some day…”Can you tell me the story of how you used to have a Thanksgiving Day?”

Let’s keep the day alive!“For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” Psalm 100: 5

May each of you have a blessed time of giving thanks this year is my prayer!

Marilyn

(I've posted this in years past so you may have read it already....but it is SO much the feeling of my heart this Thanksgiving season!)

Recycling My Wardrobe

2010-11-01T16:37:00.004-05:00

I've been doing some sewing. Last year about this time I bought the striped material you see in the picture to make a skirt to match the maroon blouse. And I'm JUST NOW making it! Can you say S.L.O.W.?? I'll blame it on age! ha

The outfit needed something gold at the top to balance it out I thought. I tried a gold necklace but that didn't seem right. A scarf was what I wanted. I looked at all my scarves but none of them were the right color or else they were some kind of print that would never match a striped skirt. The ivory scarf (above)with the metallic gold stripes was the "kind" of scarf I wanted for this outfit, but the wrong color. It was too light!

Then I had a bright idea! Why not recycle it and make it the color I needed? Sooooo....I decided to do it the old fashioned way! I got a pan of water, a large teabag, and some turmeric spice and prepared my homemade dye. A little brown from the tea, a little yellow from the turmeric and I should have just about the color I was looking for!

After the mixture came to a boil, I put the ivory scarf in and let it "steep" for about three minutes.

Then out came the new golden colored (recycled) scarf!

I need to press the wrinkles out but am safisfied with the color I have now! (What do you think?) I feel like a pioneer woman almost with my naturally colored scarf! ha

While looking for a verse with "yellow" in it to use here today, I came across this one in Psalm 68:13 "Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold."

This verse always reminds me that it doesn' matter where we come from....whether we have been cast aside to lie "among the pots" or even what some would call the garbage heap....that when Jesus comes into our lives we are changed completely and forever to be as beautiful in spirit as though we had wings of silver and feathers of yellow gold! I will be reminded of this as I wear my "new" scarf this fall !

Marilyn

Beholder, Beware!

2010-10-23T09:22:00.002-05:00

Psalm 65:11-13 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.

I love this view of the pasture. We don't even have a fence around it anymore since we don't have cows or a horse now. I took the picture late one afternoon trying to capture the golden glow of all the Ragweed that was blooming but the evening shadows cover some of the "glow". I don't know if ragweed grows in your part of the country or not but around here it's the culprit that's causing a lot of allergy problems for lots of people right now! Looks can be so deceiving! And isn't that the truth for so many other things? Satan will mask sin with all sorts of beautiful things that tempt our flesh. It's a bit like what a fisherman does to the fish--he dangles a beautifully colored, eye-catching lure on the end of a line and the fish thinks he's getting something he really wants....that is, until he realizes he's swallowed the hook!

As I looked closer at the ragweed blooms, I saw a bumblebee and a huge red wasp sucking up the nectar. Just looking at these stinging insects and remembering the pain and agony I have had from them in the past is enough to give me the shivers! I took the picture and got away from them as fast as I could! That's what we should do when we realize what Satan is trying to offer us! It may look pretty. It may feel good. It may smell nice. But if Satan is offering it....it's poison! Turn and run from it as fast as you can before it can get it's stinger into you!

I have this last word of caution: Beholder....Beware! Make sure what looks beautiful does not have some hidden hook or stinger in it before you partake of it!

God bless!

Marilyn

Praise Ye the LORD

2010-10-13T09:19:00.002-05:00

"Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow,...Praise Him, all creatures here below.....Praise Him above, ye heavenly host.......Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost...Amen."

As a young girl I always loved when we sang the "Doxology" at our church. There was just something special about singing all those "praise" words!
This morning I was looking in the latter part of the book of Psalms and noticed how many of them began with the words "Praise ye the LORD."

Psalm 147: 1 "Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely." This verse tells us that it's good for us to sing praises to God. It will actually make us feel better! And it even makes us look better (comely)!

Psalm 148: 1-5 "Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created." Not only should we as human beings praise the LORD, but creation itself praises Him!

Psalm 149: 1 "Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints." When we sing and praise the LORD together as a congregation in our churches we are giving honor unto God!

Psalm 150: 1-6 "Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD."

And that's just what we should do today! Praise the LORD! For all that He has done for us. He made us. He gave us a beautiful world to live in. He saved us and gave us eternal life. What a wonderful God we serve! Praise ye the LORD!

Marilyn

Signs of Fall

2010-10-05T14:42:00.003-05:00

Fall has arrived softly this year in north Mississippi. We've had a really hot summer and in fact it's still warm this week. Seems like it should be around the first part of August instead of the middle of October! We're beginning to have some leaves turning pretty colors now. I love the fall colors but it always makes me a little sad cause I know the leaves will then soon turn loose and fall off leaving the bare trees. That I don't like!

Last week it felt like fall. Early morning low temps in the thirties and highs for the days in the seventies. Back to summer for the last few days though . Broke a record with a high of 91 yesterday!

Along our country road the wildflowers and weeds are blooming profusely.

There especially seems to be an abundance of ragweed this year! I am pretty sure that's what is making a lot of people sick. I know it's affected me!

All in all, it reminds me of the wonderful creativeness of our God. He knows how to change things up with the seasons so that we always have something new to look forward to.

Acts 14:17Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

Marilyn

Pass the Salt Please

2010-09-28T19:43:00.002-05:00

Salt! It's sort of one of those things that sometimes you can't live with or you can't live without! Now that I have trouble with high blood pressure, I try to watch my salt intake. I know that I eat too much salt when I eat at restaurants but here at home we've cut way back on it. And I can tell you that it sure doesn't make me feel like a good cook any more! Food just tastes better with salt in it to me! Jesus said about Christians in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5: 13..."Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." Just as food needs a little salt to bring out the flavor, so this world needs the witness of Christians to show them the "flavor" of Christ.

Although too much salt is bad for us there are some other good things salt does. It can be used to keep food from spoiling. My husband's father used to salt down pork to keep it all winter in the smoke house. It can also be used for medicinal purposes. The past couple of days I've had a sore tongue. Had my dentist look at it today and he said it was probably something I ate that irritated it. So I'm rinsing my mouth with salt water several times a day to heal it up.

I need to be careful to not put too much salt into my body but at the same time I need to be careful that I stay salty spiritually so that I can be a witness here in the world that I live in.

"Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." Colossians 4: 6

Marilyn

An Everyday Chore

2010-09-15T13:00:00.002-05:00

It's an everyday chore....sweeping my floors! Where we live we have lots and lots of sand. It seems it doesn't matter what kind of mat's at the door or how long we stand there and wipe our shoes....we always end up with sand in the floor. And there's nothing worse to walk across with bare feet than a gritty, sandy floor! Well, unless it's a sticky floor! :)

I'm trying to finish a Bible study on the family to teach to my Sunday morning ladies class. To tell the truth, it's hard getting it all together. I know the family is something that God holds dear to His heart and something that Satan hates. So I'm thinking the latter may have something to do with the problems I'm having getting it done!

In Ephesians 4: 24-27 the Bible talks about husbands and wives...the core unit of any family. "Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

Let the wife be subject to her husband. Let the husband love his wife. So that what ? So that the church ...of which every saved person is a part...should be holy and without blemish. Or you might say, "Without any gritty sand on it!"
My husband and I have been married for 37 years. We love each other. We're happy we have been married this long. But sometimes we fuss. (Can anybody identify?)Sometimes I don't want to be subject to him!

Verse 26 said, "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." Every day I have to be cleaned up spiritually. Not to be saved over and over again but to get out the everyday grit that accumulates just from living! And how can I get cleaned up? By the "washing of water by the WORD"! By letting God's Word wash over my soul one more time. Maybe "chore" would not be a good choice of words for this daily cleansing spiritually but sometimes it does have to purposefully done. Just as I purposefully sweep the sand from my floors into the dust pan and then into the trash can.

May God bless you as you go about all your "Everyday Chores"!

Marilyn

Picked, Processed, and Preserved

2010-09-08T08:59:00.003-05:00

(Pear tree in our front yard)

We seem to have another bumper crop of pears this year! Just look at them hanging on the tree in our yard! I hope I can find a lot of people to share them with! My husband PICKED a five-gallon bucket full yesterday morning for me so I could can some pear halves.

It usually takes me more than an hour to peel five gallons of pears. They are tough skinned and hard to cut into quarters. Sometimes it makes a blister on my right hand where I hold the knife. Why do I go to so much trouble? Because we love the taste of the finished product so much!

After all the pears are peeled and cut up, I put them in a dish pan with some water and sugar and cook for a few minutes. Then it's time to put them in the clean, hot canning jars. I'd already inspected the jars to make sure there were no cracks or nicks in the rim which would keep them from sealing. After filling the jars with the pears and the hot sugar water then I must take a clean wet dish cloth and wash the sticky excess off the top before putting the lids on.

When the lids were screwed on tight, I put the jars in the pressure cooker and PROCESSED them for 8 minutes at 5 pounds of pressure. (As you can see by the condition of my pressure cooker, I've been doing this for many years!) Then removed from heat and let cool.

This morning I took the finished product from the cooker. Seven more quarts of pears that have been PRESERVED so that we can eat them later this winter ...long after all the other pears have fallen off the tree and rotted!

There are so many spiritual parallels that I could make from my day's work yesterday but I'll mention just a few. We are "picked" in several ways. First, we are chosen, or picked, by God. John 15: 16 "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."

Fruit needs to be to a certain stage of ripeness before we pick it. It sometimes doesn't taste as well or even preserve as well if it is picked "green". Our spirit has to come to a kind of "ripeness" also before we can be saved. It's called conviction. We must be drawn to God before we can accept Him. John 6: 44a says, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:"

After we have been picked, then we must be "processed". This process is what the Bible calls salvation. It's available to anyone...young or old, educated or illiterate, rich or poor. Romans 10: 9..."That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

When God saves us, He also seals or "preserves" us! Ephesians 1: 13 "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise," No one or no thing can take us from the Hand of God once we have been sealed by salvation. God has preserved Christians for all time.....at salvation we are given eternal life (Romans 6: 23) How much more preserved could we be than for eternity?

My pray for you today is that you have been Picked...Processed...and Preserved!

Marilyn

Don't Look Back !

2010-09-01T06:00:00.001-05:00

"We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:" Numbers 11: 5

Are you ever guilty of "looking back" at where God brought you from? The Israelites did! God had brought them from a horrible life of slavery and poverty and was carrying them into the Promised Land....a land which He told them was flowing with milk and honey.

In Numbers 11 the people started complaining. Verse 1 says this complaining displeased the Lord. I'm sure my complaining in my own modern day still displeases Him just as much! In verses 4 & 5 the people began to weep and tell Moses how they longed for the meat and the fruits and vegetables they had back in Egypt.

How quickly we forget! They surely didn't miss the slavery and cruelty they had been subject to in Egypt. But that's just like the devil. He clouds our vision and warps our memory. They didn't want that old "manna" that God was feeding them with each and every day. We as humans are so prone to acting just like this aren't we! God gives us all we need: a good Christian home, a godly church family, food on the table and a roof above our heads, and we complain! God help us!

Help us Lord to not look back. Help us to not compare what we have to what the world has. God says in Proverbs 8: 19, "My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver."

Don't look back. What God has in store ahead for us is more wonderful than we can ever imagine!

God bless!

Marilyn

The Coverup

2010-08-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

A couple of months ago we did some remodeling in our living room. The couch we had for about three years was still good but it was SO heavy! I could not move it to clean behind it and it was too low to the floor to clean under it! There were recliners in each end but they weren't really comfortable. Sooooo...we found someone who needed a couch and gave it to them. Then I started looking for a small love seat and small recliner to put in the same space that the couch had been in. We are extremely limited with space so I had to make it fit or do without!

I found a dark brown fabric/leather love seat that Benny was o.k. with. He is the one who sits there. I picked out a small beige recliner for myself. If Benny had liked recliners we would have just gone with two of those. The combo seemed to just fit....both the room and our individual tastes.

But then we began to notice that ANY little piece of lint or grass that got in the house somehow made it's way to that brown love seat! I tried lint rollers, lint brushes...you name it. A good brushing with a plain hand towel proved to be the best cleaner. Not wanting to have to deal with that every day, I decided to get a COVERUP for the love seat. I could not find anything that I liked in the stores so bought a pattern in Walmart and just made one. It's pretty cool. Now I can just take it off, throw in the washer, dry it and put it back on. And if company comes, I can take it off and the loveseat is already all nice and clean!

We had a missionary from Brazil, Bro. Mike Ring, visit our church recently. He had with him a sheepskin from Brazil which he used in an illustration. He said that he tells the Brazilian people the story of two mama sheep and two baby sheep. A disaster happened and one mama sheep died and the baby of the other mama sheep died. The little lamb was too young to eat grass so the shepherd knew that it would die if it didn't have milk to drink. He took the surviving lamb to the mama sheep who had lost her own lamb hoping she would adopt the orphan. But after smelling of him, she pushed him away. Now the little lamb had no hope. He was going to die. But the shepherd had an idea. He went and found the body of the little dead lamb and took the wool from his back. Then he draped the wool over the head and back of the little orphan lamb and took it back to the mama sheep. This time when she smelled of it, it smelled just like her baby and she let him nurse with no more problems. The baby lamb had been adopted because of the "COVERUP" the shepherd had placed on his back!

Bro. Ring then likened that to what happens to us when we get saved. Before salvation we "smell" like the world to God. He won't feed and nourish us and give us life. That is until we turn from the world and turn to Jesus Christ and accept His gift of eternal life. At that point Christ gives us a COVERUP... His own righteousness. Then when God "smells" of us, we smell just like His Son Jesus Christ and He takes us into His eternal family. Not because of anything we have done, but because of all that Jesus Christ did for us!

I'm so glad Jesus Christ has covered my sins and given me eternal life!

"Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." Romans 4: 7

Who do you smell like? The world? Or Jesus? Your eternity depends on your answer!

Marilyn

"For the Bible Tells Me So"

2010-08-25T07:59:00.001-05:00

(Me teaching my ladies Sunday School class)

How many of you other ladies teach a Sunday school class or a Bible study class? If you do, then you know how much work goes into it! I've been teaching the Ladies Class at our Baptist church for the past five years. We don't use a Sunday school quarterly so I get the lessons from various and sundry places. I have used outlines from Bible studies I have been involved in. I've used ideas from other places. I've gotten lesson ideas from Christian websites. But in all these things there's one thing that I always make sure of....Am I teaching what the BIBLE says and not just what myself or some other teacher says? That is so very important!

We must keep our teaching in line with the Word of God for it to have power and purpose! My words might help someone for a time being through some kind of passing trouble. But God's Word is the only Word that can help anyone for eternity! God's Word was alive back in the very beginning. These verses from John 1 say it so well: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God."

If you want to ensure that you have a good Bible class, make sure you teach the Bible....not some theory of man! God's Word will not come back void but you will see your students grow and thrive! Acts 12:24 says "But the word of God grew and multiplied." And the same can happen in your class!

On the same note, if you are not a teacher but a student, make sure your teacher teaches the Word. You will not grow in the Lord otherwise!

Happy Teaching...or learning...whichever the case may be!

Marilyn

Not on my list.....

2010-08-24T12:24:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I had a list a mile long of "things to do". You've probably made lists like that yourself. Call here. Call there. Make appointment. Cancel appointment. Fix this. Fix that. And on and on the list goes. One thing on my list yesterday was to clean off the kitchen table. Yes....I have to put that on my list if it gets done! ha As I looked at the things on the table I toyed with the idea of throwing out the very ripe bananas in the fruit bowl. For some reason they had gotten very ripe very quickly. Then the idea came to me that I could make some Banana Nut Bread with the bananas!

I have a gas stove and through this hot, hot summer have been trying to use the oven as little as possible since it heats up the kitchen so. I wondered if perhaps I might be able to make the Banana Bread in the microwave. Soooo.....I came in here to my trusty computer and typed in "recipe microwave banana nut bread" and soon I was looking at an array of recipes. This was NOT on my list for the day. But it was an addition that needed to be done.

The recipe was simple. And I didn't even have to grease and flour a pan. It called for lining the dish with waxed paper.

Pop in the microwave and cook for eight minutes on high. Yes! I did say only eight minutes! I was a little skeptical but it really turned out better than the last banana bread I baked in my traditional oven! Just turn it out on a plate and peel the waxed paper off the bottom.

I could not resist having a hot piece with butter melted on top! Yummy! So if you're going through your day with a "list"....don't limit yourself to just that. You might have to leave off something else that can wait until tomorrow. The bananas couldn't wait! :)

Here is a link to the recipe I used if you would like to try this easy summer dish: Banana Nut Bread

John 6: 35 "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."

Eat heartily my friend! Both this good bread and of the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ!

Marilyn

O To Grace.....

2010-08-17T09:15:00.001-05:00

Yesterday morning I woke up with the first phrase of the last verse of the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" on my mind. The phrase that says, "O to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be!" Got me to thinking about how great a debt I owe to Grace.....daily! It's not just a once in a lifetime thing, grace. Oh, I know that saving grace is, but "grace, grace, marvelous grace" is a daily thing.

Another song I like puts it like this..."There's no other word for grace but amazing!" How very true! When I look at where I would be but for grace it's a scary sight!

But back to the song that was on my heart early yesterday morning. First verse: "Come Thou Fount of every blessing".... James 1: 17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Every blessing we receive comes from the Fountain of God's Grace.

"Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;" I hate to have to try and play a musical instrument that is out of tune! My heart in it's natural state doesn't want to sing in tune with grace. So the Master must give my heart a tuning so that I can tell of His grace in a key that others will want to listen to!

"Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise:" Praise songs! The grace and mercy that we have received from our Lord and Saviour call for praise from our lips. The loudest praising we do should be about our Lord and what He has done for us!

"Lord, let me be found singing 'songs of loudest praise' about Your grace with a heart that is fully in tune with You."

Marilyn

The Red Door

2010-08-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

Recently we did some remodeling and painted the outside of our home. We picked out a tan for the house and dark brown for the trim. I wanted the doors red! I never realized how many different colors of red there are though! I wanted a warm red that would compliment the browns but I did NOT want any orangey-red colored door! I finally settled on a color called "Claret" which looked great on the paint chip! The door was a dark green to start with. When I put the first streak of red paint on the green door the color screamed orange to me! It just made me sick! I thought about taking it back to Lowe's and getting them re-adjust the tint. But instead I just kept on painting. The more green I covered with the red the less and less it looked orange. When the first coat was on I was still not sure if I could live with it. After the first coat dried, I came back and started painting again. And, lo and behold, now I could see the true "Claret" that I had picked out in Lowe's paint department! I just love my red doors! They make me smile every time I look at them!

Sunday night our Pastor's sermon was taken from Revelation 3: 20..."Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." The door in this verse refers to the heart of man. If you draw a heart or see a heart on Valentine's Day, what color is it usually? Red! So let's just imagine for a minute that the door to our heart is a beautiful "Claret" red!

Revelation 3: 20 reminds us that Christ knocks on the hearts of mankind but He doesn't open the door. He waits to be invited in. Pastor also brought out that Jesus Christ doesn't just knock at our heart's door but He calls out to us even though after all He has done for us He could just sit back and wait for us to make the first move! But, no, He comes knocking on our heart's door calling us to let Him come in. For you see, we have to open the door to our heart! But if we do, He promises to come in and fellowship with us!

When a friend comes knocking on my freshly painted red front door, I will ask them to come in and fellowship with me.

If Jesus comes knocking at the red door of your heart, will you ask Him to come in and fellowship with you? I hope so!

Psalm 84: 10 "For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."

Marilyn

I Am Reading.....

2010-08-05T19:36:00.001-05:00

Reading. One of my most favorite pleasures. Something I used to do in every spare moment! So what's happened to my reading time? Seems I don't get as much done as I want to any more! It's so much easier for me to read from the computer monitor nowadays since I don't have to bend my head down as when reading a book. Looking down and reading gives me a neck and/or headache. But books are my friends and I don't intend to ever totally stop reading if at all possible!

This summer my friend Evelyn and I enrolled in the summer Bible study at Beth Moore's LPM blog. The study Beth picked for the ladies to do was "Ruth: Loss, Love & Legacy" by Kelly Minter. Last Tuesday was the last day for the study. BUT, sadly, I am still not done with it! Can you say S.L.O.W.??? So, firstly, I have been reading my Bible and the Ruth Bible study.

For my birthday my friend Terri gave me Beth's newest book "So Long Insecurity". Oh my goodness! Has Beth been a fly on my wall for a few years now? She has me pegged in no uncertain terms! I am learning so much about myself in this book. My goal is to let the Lord help me to have a new security in HIM !

In May of this year I purchased Elaine Olsen's book "Peace for the Journey". It's written as a devotional/Bible study type of book and needs to be savoured and not devoured in just "one gulp"! I have used some of Elaine's words of wisdom in the ladies Sunday school class I teach.

And last but not least is a small book that had a large impact on me when I read it. I was shopping at a Flea Market one day a few weeks ago and on the floor near the check-out register was a rather large cardboard box with a sign that read "Free Religious Books: Take One". And so I did ! It was called "Will You Still Be My Daughter?" (although I'm not sure I would classify this book as "religious") I would very much recommend this book to all mothers and daughters. Especially mothers of daughters who are beginning to search for their own independence. One of the 'reviews' on the Amazon site says this book "is actually a parable about an acorn that falls from a beautiful, strong oak. The oak loves her daughter and wants to protect her from pain and disappointment. However, as in real life, we can only hope that our children will have the strength (roots) to persevere."

That's my reading list at the present. And of course all the many precious Christian ladies blogs that I try to read once or twice a week. What are y'all reading right now? I'd love for you to leave a comment and let me know.

Thanks!

Marilyn

Getting Enough Water?

2010-08-02T08:28:00.002-05:00

Here in north MS we are under an "Excessive Heat Warning" for the next few days. Scary! The NWS says "THE HOTTEST AIR OF THE SUMMER WILL SPREAD INTO THE MIDSOUTH OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THE HOT TEMPERATURES IN COMBINATION WITH HIGH HUMIDITY WILL RESULT IN A PROLONGED AND DANGEROUS HEAT WAVE. HEAT INDEX READINGS WILL PEAK AT LEVELS BETWEEN 110 AND 117 DEGREES ACROSS ALL OF THE MIDSOUTH. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL FAIL TO DROP BELOW 80 DEGREES IN SOME LOCATIONS. They caution us to make sure we stay hydrated by drinking plenty of liquids this week. The best thing is to drink plenty of water.

I am not very good at drinking lots of water. It's not that I dislike water but I just forget to drink it! But I'm going to try very hard this week to drink more water than usual just as a precaution.

I have one plant that lives in my house now. It's a vine that Sharon, my Pastor's wife, gave me for my birthday probably seven or eight years ago. This vine has set the record for the longest living plant to ever belong to me! When someone gives me a plant my husband always says, "Poor thing...it doesn't know it will die soon!" ha Sad but that's about the truth! I just do not have a green thumb. Back to my little vine though. Last week I noticed that it was lying flat down on the soil in it's pot. Limp. And pale. I wasn't sure when I had given it a drink of water last but evidently it had been too long! I gave it a big glass of water that day and the next and waited to see what happened. Amazingly enough it revived! This is not the first time this amazing thing has happened! It's the most robust plant I've ever had or else it would not still be with me. Now you can hardly tell it almost starved to death. All its leaves are green and healthy looking again except for just one or two which were probably beyond hope!

Water....H2O.... is absolutely necessary for physical life. But what about spiritual life? In John 4: 13-14 Jesus is talking to the Woman at the Well who has drawn up some water for Him to drink. Here's what He tells her: "Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Water that comes from a well will sustain our physical life but in a few minutes or hours we will be thirsty again. The water of everlasting life through Jesus Christ will keep on quenching our spiritual thirst forever!

Another thing we use water for is for cleaning. I would hate to have to go without water for washing dishes, mopping floors, washing my hands or taking a shower! I remember when our son John was in Iraq in the Marine Corps and had to go for days and weeks without water to bathe in. How it made this mother's heart ache. And so it is with our spiritual lives also. We need to wash our spirits often with the reading of God's Word. Ephesians 5: 26 says: "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,"

Be careful these hot summer days to get enough water!

Both in your body and in your spirit.

Marilyn

Daddy's Cup

2010-07-21T12:31:00.002-05:00

July 22, 2010, would have been my Daddy's 99th birthday. He so wanted to make it to 100 but soon after his 96th birthday he was transported by angels from his hospital bed into his eternal heavenly home forever to be with his Saviour.

I dreamed about him last night. I was at his house but he wasn't home. Not sure why but I dream about him or something connected with him often. It sort of comes in waves. I will dream those dreams maybe three or four nights out of a week and then not dream about it anymore for several weeks.

As I often do, this morning I drank my coffee out of Daddy's cup. When me and my step sisters were cleaning out Dad and Trudy's house after Trudy passed away last winter I finally took Daddy's cup home with me one day. We had left much of the kitchen items sitting on some tables so that any of the family that wanted to could pick out what they wanted. The weather was so cold and there was only the one heater in the house and us girls had been freezing trying to get the house cleaned out so it could be sold. After several weeks no one still had picked up Daddy's cup with the fish on it. I had given it to him several years ago for either Father's Day or his birthday so decided I would just take it home with me to drink my coffee from. I was pretty sure that would please him! And so I did and so I have!

I am like my Daddy in some ways but different in many others. He loved to fish! That's why I gave him the fishing cup. I hate fishing! He liked his coffee strong and black. I like mine with plenty of cream. He drank Folgers. I drink Maxwell House. He wanted the "real deal" (caffeine) I drink decaf. I'll never forget an incident several years ago. It was my sister Leola's birthday and I went by and picked up Dad and Trudy and we headed down to see her. I had baked a cake and bought ice cream for us to have when we got there. When we got ten or fifteen miles from her house I called to see if she would like to fix a pot of coffee for us to have with the cake. She told me to ask Daddy if he wanted her to make decaf since it was the middle of the afternoon. His reply from the back seat was very forceful...."Tell her I'd just as soon have a cup of ditch water as decaf coffee!" So that settled that! He had his coffee that afternoon with his daughters just like he liked it....strong, black, and with caffeine!

The Bible verse on Daddy's cup is from Proverbs 27: 19 and says: "As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man."
Just as when we look in water we see our face reflected, so can we see the reflection of another's heart when we get to know them. My Daddy had a good heart. Not physically for the heart that beat in his chest was not very strong in his last days. But spiritually his heart was solid as a rock. I'm glad I got to know him!

Good reflections of a good man. Happy Birthday Daddy!

Marilyn

Tea --For One

2010-07-19T13:56:00.002-05:00

I've never been much of a hot tea drinker. Well, except for hot herbal teas in the wintertime when fighting off a cold. I've always viewed the regular cup of hot tea as something the British do. I admit I was a little intrigued by the whole "afternoon tea" bit though when I used to read Emilie Loring novels novels years ago. But believe it or not, I've just polished off my third cup of hot Lipton tea completed only by a little dash of milk. And I really liked it!

Last week I read somewhere that tea is really very, very good for us. Health wise I mean. It has less caffeine than coffee and somehow it effects the body in a different way also. It's high in anti-oxidants and lots of other good things that I can't at the moment remember!

I'm not much into acronyms but did make one today with the word TEA. (Notice I picked a nice short word! lol)

Tarry -- " to linger, to stay". The Holy Spirit has been nudging me lately to Tarry longer in the Word. To come to God more often and stay longer than I've been staying.

Employ -- "to use, to apply". I'm also realizing that I need to more often employ the things that I read in the Scriptures. What good does it do me to read the Word and then not do it? Not much!

Attain -- "to achieve, to accomplish, to reach". I'm really thinking that if I "Tarry" and "Employ" that it will be easier for me to Attain a closer walk with God. And that's something I want.

I'm liking my TEA today! Join me in a cuppa???

"He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul; he that keepeth understanding shall find good." Proverbs 19: 8

Marilyn

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

2010-07-14T09:00:00.005-05:00

Last Sunday morning I used a variation of the devotion "The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee" for the lesson in our ladies Sunday school class. I don't golf so instead substituted "juggling balls". (O.K......I don't juggle either but did have these on hand.......and I omitted the coffee)

Here is a recap of the "original" story that I took this object lesson from:

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes'. The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed..

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life." "The golf balls are the important things - your God, your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full." "The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car." "The sand is everything else - the small stuff." "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you." "Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal." "Take care of the golf balls first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented...The professor smiled.'I'm glad you asked'.It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

As I prepared for this lesson I was reminded of a verse of Scripture that sums it all up...Matthew 6: 33…”But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

If we'll seek Jesus Christ first, then we don't have to "sweat the small stuff" because He will take care of everything else!

Marilyn

Holding On or Being Held?

2010-07-06T17:49:00.002-05:00

This morning I took the lightweight dog leash off the hook and called our dog Blackie to come and walk with me. He doesn't really like to be on the leash and if he spies it he sometimes won't come to me. I thought I'd be smart this morning and carry out the doggie treats to coax him into a walking mood. My other dog, fourteen-year-old Duke was ready for both a walk and a doggie treat. Although he weighs about thirty pounds and Blackie is probably twice that, Duke still thinks he's top dog around here! He's walked with me for so many years he doesn't need a leash but Blackie...now that's a different story! He will walk but he will spend most of his time out in the woods doing his own thing, hence the leash as I am trying to teach him to stay with me out walking.

The doggie treats did the trick. He came and took one from me but immediately ran away. Duke wanted treats too so I gave him a couple just for being such a loyal friend all these many years! Oh and also just because I like to spoil him! ha I had the leash ready in one hand and a treat ready in the other when Blackie came back. Made him wait for the treat while I hooked the leash on his new red collar. As I have done for years when walking my dogs, I took the leash, put my hand through the loop and they wrapped the rest around my hand to get the desired length. Then I gave Blackie the treat but instead of gobbling it down, he left half of it hanging from his mouth. Bad move! Duke decided he wanted Blackie's treat along with his own and proceeded to take it from Blackie's mouth!

I guess you can imagine what happened next....DOG FIGHT! A little barking, a little growling and a big black dog running FAST away from a little white dog with very sharp teeth! And guess what? He was moving FAST away from me and the leash at the same time! He moved so fast that I didn't know what happened except that the leash was no longer wound around my hand and that my hand was hurting really bad! The loop in the leash was thankfully large enough that my hand had slipped through when he ran. Had it not, I would most likely have been thrown to the ground and dragged! As it was, it just scrapped and slightly bruised my hand and wrist.

Benny was outside and saw the whole thing. After looking at my hand and determining that it was going to be all right, he then proceeded to fuss at me for the way I'd been holding the leash wrapped around my hand. His exact quote was, "NEVER tie yourself to something bigger than you are!" Hmmm. Good idea! What he meant was, if you are not big enough to totally control something, don't attach yourself to it!

I started thinking about the things we hold on to. Some good. Some bad. A lot of things bigger than we are. Do you worry about things that you really have no control over? Have you begun to experiment with things you know God hates? Are the things you read and the shows you watch on TV not the wholesome things you were taught to respect? Then you're holding on to something bigger than yourself and may get hurt! Satan may just take off running and leave you dragging behind on the end of his leash!

On the other hand, think about the opposite of holding on which would be, being held! When my kids were little and they got hurt or didn't feel well they wanted to be held in my lap. At the end of a long day when they were tired, they wanted to be held. It is a form of comfort and security that we really never outgrow. A big hug from my husband or a friend when I'm feeling down or tired makes such a difference!

What a blessing that we don't have to worry about holding on to God to get comfort and security from Him. Why don't we have to hold on? Because HE is holding on to us! And His grip never slips! He will never pull us in the wrong direction either! I'm so thankful my salvation is sealed and secured by His Holy Spirit!

Ephesians 1:13 "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,"

In His Grip.......Marilyn

Hidden Treasures

2010-06-30T07:09:00.004-05:00

(Newest treasure: Gail Pittman storage tin)

Do any of you like treasure hunts? Finding hidden treasures? I do! It may be in a corner of my closet or up in the attic that I find something I had stored and forgotten about. Or it could be something I come across at a yard sale or thrift store. Yesterday I found one of those little "hidden treasures" at our local Salvation Army Thrift Store.

I had taken several things to donate to the thrift store yesterday so took that in the back door. Had a little extra time...which I usually don't...and decided to go in the front and look around. I found several "treasures": the movie "Gone With the Wind", a next-to-new pair of tiny white leather baby tennis shoes (which I will give to a friend or someone at Sav-A-Life) and a metal tin by Mississippi artist Gail Pittman. I spent a whopping sum of $3 and a few cents! These things someone else didn't want in their homes anymore just made my day!

I was thinking about some of the "hidden treasures" I have found in people that have come into my life. Once a week my husband and I visit the church van route. (He drives the van on Sundays) We just go by and knock on their doors and remind them that the van will be around early Sunday morning. If they're not home, we leave a flier telling what will be going on at church that week. (This weekend we'll be having a cookout after the morning service to celebrate the 4th of July)

Some of our families live in some pretty bad conditions. Some because of poverty. Some because of sin. Some have stable family lives. Some are bounced from "pillar to post" every week. Some of the families we have gotten to know well. Some have stayed strangers...of their own choice.

But all these precious people are treasures. They are hidden to many because lots of folks don't want to go inside a house trailer to visit when there are hundreds of roaches crawling on the doors, the floors, and the furniture. Or because sometimes the smell of the open garbage can beside the front door is so bad it makes you gag. Or because the baby who comes to the door with their mama has a runny nose and matted eyes and a very smelly diaper. So many things that keep these treasures hidden.

I have to admit that it's even sometimes hard for me. But God has given us so many glimpses into the lives of these "treasures" of His. He died for these people. They need to know that! We try to tell them. Some of them have learned to trust Him. Some of them already know Him. We've had several adult ladies start riding the van faithfully in the last couple of months. One of these ladies and her husband are raising about eight of their grandchildren! She has been such a blessing as we visit in her home each week.

I thought about Jesus as he "must needs go through Samaria" and how he witnessed to the woman at the well there. She was not living right. But she didn't know Jesus. There are so many people who are just like her. Will we be like Jesus' disciples who "marvelled that he talked with the woman" or will we be like Jesus and purposely reach out to those who others sometimes ignore? I hope that we can search out "hidden treasures" all around us so that we can tell them about Jesus...the One Who can give them all they've ever needed and more! As Jesus said to the woman at the well..."But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. " (John 4: 14)

Happy Treasure Hunting!

Marilyn

~Note~ I do not mean to imply that every one of our families live in horrid conditions. Some of the homes are very well kept and clean. Just wanted to clear that up!

Lunch With Familiar Friends

2010-06-23T12:00:00.004-05:00

Yesterday my friends JoAnn, Teresa, Emilie and I met at a little tearoom called Crabapple Corner and had lunch together. It was a long overdue meeting. The four of us have been friends for years and years but had not gotten together in ages. We all went to church together for quite a while and formed a bond that has never been broken!

As you can see by looking at my plate, the food was superb. I had the "Tuesday Special"... Chicken Pasta Salad which came with fresh fruit and club crackers. That and a glass of sweet tea satisfied my tummy tremendously! But the delicious food and cute, trendy tearoom didn't hold a candle to how much I enjoyed "breaking bread" with my friends!

(Teresa, Emilie, JoAnn, & Marilyn)

Last night as I was thinking back over our lunch, two verses of Scripture came to my mind. The first was Proverbs 27: 17..."Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." This verse is so true with this group of ladies. Each of them are long-time Christians and have a solid foundation of Bible under their belts. It's a joy to sit and talk with and learn from them. I truly believe that in knowing them I have become a better person.

The other verse I thought of was Proverbs 17: 17a... "A friend loveth at all times." These three ladies have brought that verse to life for me.

I think I've known JoAnn the longest. For about thirty years now I believe. Since our youngest child was just a baby. She has been a friend through thick and thin. I remember times when my kids were small that she would come over and watch them while Benny was working because I had a migraine and could not get out of bed. She's always the first to arrive with food if I get sick or there's a tragedy in the family. When I sprained my ankle really, really bad she came and cleaned up my house for me. She's one of the most unselfish people I know!

Emilie has long been one of my heroes. She is just about everything that I'm not! She loves life and is not afraid to enjoy it! Traveling, speaking, flying....all that she takes in stride without breaking a sweat! And always with a smile on her face! I still have a letter Emilie wrote to me when my kids were really small and I was having discipline problems with one of them. She just wrote to encourage me and to tell me to not give up. And she was right....soon the problem was righted and solved.

I well remember the first time I met Teresa. When she came in my house she brought her crochet with her and I was just amazed to watch her fingers fly. She's a lefty so it was all backwards to me anyway! :) She was active in Child Evangelism work and knew so much more about Scripture than me. A soft, slow Southern accent marks her speech. I'm not sure I've ever heard her raise her voice. Teresa's had to face a lot of hard issues with her health but you would never know it to be around her. She never complains. I'll never forget the day our son John was having brain surgery in Germany after being medivaced out of Iraq. An IED had blown up and hit him in the shoulder and head. The Marine Corps had advised us to not try and go to Germany so I was anxiously sitting at home w.a.i.t.i.n.g. for the surgery to begin and end. Our dogs began their little "someone's here" bark and I looked out the window to see Teresa and her husband driving up. She came in and gave me a hug and a jar of jelly. Just a soft word, a pat on the shoulder, and then we didn't say too much. There was not a need for words. We knew each other too well. The comfort that her just being there gave was enough. We didn't have to fill up the quiet with words.

I have many other friends and if you're reading this, you're most likely one of them! I thank God daily for all my friends. What would I do without you? My life would surely be a bland sort of existence without the variety of friends that have been brought into my life. Some of you I have known since childhood....and you are so very special to me! Some of you I have known only a short while. You are becoming very special to me! Thank you to each of you who claim me as your friend! What a blessing friendship is! How we should appreciate it more!

Much love to all my friends wherever you are!

Marilyn