A Call For Mercy

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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