Caneyhead Christmas

  No, we didn't have snow for Christmas.  I just wanted to use this pretty picture before the season had passed.  We had a warming trend.  Nights in the 50's.  Days near or in the 70's.  But Christmas was still good!

Christmas morning Pete got us all up before dawn to open presents together.   The kids seemed pleased with what they got.  Bug did get her beds for her animals.  And a new keyboard with microphone.  So she has been serenading us frequently.

We played a trick on Bubba for his present.  Pete wanted to get him a really nice watch.  When I looked at the watches there were just too many types and styles to choose from and I was sure I'd never choose the best one.

So, I told Bubba I thought I'd get a watch for Daddy for Christmas, but needed his help picking it out.  He went with me and told me the best brands.  I said, "You have great taste in things like this....so just choose something you would wear and I'm sure he'll like it."  So, he did.  I brought it home....took the watch out of it's box, put a heavy metal washer in it's place, wrapped it and put it under the tree labeled for Pete.  Then I took the watch and placed it in an oblong box and wrapped it up to Bubba.

When he unwrapped his box he was pleased with the watch, but kept rather quiet as he thought I'd bought him one just like daddy's and didn't want to spoil Pete's surprise.  When we were all through and the little watch box had not been opened, we told the truth of our sneaky plan.  Think he was surprised parents could be so conniving?!

After gifts, Pete and Bubba went hunting.  I cooked our Christmas dinner for us to eat together upon their return.

The day after was spent at my sister's house with her girls and their families.  Good food, good family fellowship. 

And yesterday Pete finally got himself a deer!!  The biggest buck I have ever seen out of these woods.  With Bubba's three kills that means we got four.  Never had a season like that before!  So we are sharing with family and neighbors and Pete is planning a lot of sausage making. 

I have to go off and get ready for work now.  My job situation is sort of a muddle at this time.  Will try to update on that later, but suffice it to say I'll be working everyday.  So this will definitely be a one or two entry a week journal. 

 

Bug's Letter to Santa

Christmas Eve is here!  And as I reflect upon this holiday, family and friends I can come up with no words or expressions better than those Bug wrote in her letter to Santa this past week.

Yes there are a couple of toys she wants.  And she asked Santa for beds for her puppy and her cat, to keep them warm.

Then she closed her letter with,   "What I really want most for Christmas is Love for every one."

 Yep, baby, that sums it up real well!  Seems that was what God had in mind when He sent His Son as a baby into this world.

 MERRY  CHRISTMAS !!

 

More Excuses: Temptations

Here's number two on Bro. Hayes' list of excuses for not excepting Christ.  Temptations.  (Not the group!)......those desires and earnings we know are not right or best for us, yet we tend to bend, follow, embrace them anyhow.

People can feel like there is no way they could live the Christian life after they accept Christ, as they don't believe they could ever overcome temptations.

2 Corinthians 6:17, " When someone becomes a Christian he becomes a brand new person inside.  He is not the same any more.  A new life has begun!"  A new person.  One who sees things differently.  One who doesn't find the same things attractive anymore.  For some it is immediate, for others a process.  As Christ's new life in you changes you, your wants, desires and needs change.

Galations 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ: and I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  And the real life I now have within this body is a result of my trusting in the Son of God, who loves me and gave himself for me."  I praise God that he chose Paul as the replacement of Judas!  Paul who watched them crucify Christ.  Paul who hunted down Christians.  If Christ can give this man new life, He can certainly give new life to you!

 "But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control;..." Galatians 5:22.  Everyone who believes in Christ and accepts Him as his Savior receives the Holy Spirit as a guide, teacher, friend.  This Spirit, when we following His leading to read the scriptures, pray and fellowship with other Christians will grow this new good fruit in our lives. 

"And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in His grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns."  Phillippians 1:6.  See, it is God doing the work!  NOT us.  If it were us, we'd have no chance.  He is faithful and he will continue up until the return of Christ!  This shows He does not expect us to be "perfect and finished" now, but on our way towards the time at Christ's return when we will be.

Hebrews 7:22, 1 Peter 1:3 both serve to remind us that it is Christ and His victory that keeps us from and thru temptation.  We are actually adopted into the family of God!

And then in closing, the beautiful promise of 1 John 4:4:  "Dear young friends, you belong to God and have already won your fight with those who are against Christ, because there is someone in your hearts who is stronger than any evil teacher in this wicked world."  Tempted?  Whisper "Jesus!"  He walked this earth in flesh to endure every temptation and lust we can come across....yet He never gave in!!  He understands completely what we face and He knows how to help each one of us rise above it.

                                      

If you are afraid to come to Christ as your Savior because you think you'll never overcome temptation, remember that He forgives and cleanses completely.  He can forgive any sin except the one of rejecting him.  To think you can do something he cannot forgive denies Him as Savior.  To think that He cannot understand your temptations and help you to rise above them is denying His Lordship.  Apart from Him you can't and you never will.  But in Him all things are possible and HIs Will will be accomplished.

CHRISTMAS

 

Christmas - Christ = a mess!

 

                          

57 Cents

 

                                              

A pretty little tale to warm your soul as Christmas approaches. 

GOD AND 57 CENTS

   A sobbing little girl stood near a small church from which she had been turned away because it was too crowded. "I can't go to Sunday school," she sobbed to the pastor as he walked by.   Seeing her shabby, unkempt, appearance, the pastor guessed the reason and, taking her by the hand, took her inside and found a place for her in the Sunday School class.  The child was so touched that she went to bed that night thinking of the children who had no place to learn about Jesus.

   Some two years later, this child lay dead in one of the poor tenement buildings and the parents called for the kind-hearted pastor who had befriended their daughter to handle the final arrangements. As her poor little body was being moved, a worn and crumpled purse was found that seemed to have been rummaged from some trash dump. Inside was found 57 cents and a note scribbled in childish handwriting that read, "This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday School."  For two years she had saved for this offering of love.   When the pastor tearfully read that note, he knew instantly what he would do. Carrying this note and the cracked, red pocketbook to the pulpit, he told the story of her unselfish love and devotion.  He challenged his deacons to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building.   But the story doesn't end there!  A newspaper learned of the story and published it.  A realtor who read it offered them a parcel of land worth many thousands.  When told that the church could not pay that amount, he offered it for a total of 57 cents. Church members made large donations. Checks came from far and wide.  Within five years the little girl's gift had increased to $250,000.00--A huge sum for that time (near the turn of the century).  Her unselfish love had paid large dividends.

  When you're in the city of Philadelphia, look up Temple Baptist Church, with a seating capacity of 3,300, and Temple University, where hundreds of students are trained.   Have a look, too, at the Good Samaritan Hospital and at a Sunday School building that houses hundreds of Sunday scholars, so that no child in the area will ever need to be left outside during Sunday school time.   In one of the rooms of this building may be seen the picture of the sweet face of the little girl whose 57 cents, sosacrificially saved, made such remarkable history.  Alongside of it is a portrait of her kind pastor, Dr. Russell H. Conwell, author of the book, Acres of Diamonds.

  Goes to show what God can do with unselfish love for others and 57 cents.

  Author Unknown  

 Based in truth, this "story" is actually rooted in a sermon that Russell H. Conwell delivered to his Grace Baptist (Temple) church congregation in 1912.   It is still just as amazing in it's truth.  Please go to THE HISTORY OF FIFTY-SEVEN CENTS for the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey says.  You can also see the little girl's, Hattie, portrait there.

   I know that God can use such simple beginning to accomplish so much.  In a smaller scale, at my former church, the organ up and died.  My dear friend and sister in the Lord played the organ there.  Our worship didn't seem full without the strains of the organ.  I put one dollar bill in an offering envelope, marked it Organ Fund.  At business meeting for months, there was that $1 contribution listed as a line item in the budget.  Then suddenly it began to grow!  Eventually the church did have enough money in that fund to purchase the new organ.  I, personally never contributed another dime.  Times were tight.  It was all I could do to tithe.  But God used my concern and my dollar bill as seed money.  

Lights... fights...fever!

Don't know about ya'll but things have been rather strange around here.  Sick kids, pout hubby. 

Thursday, I didn't have to work.  Thought it would be the perfect day for me and the kids to put up the tree.   I vacuumed good that am.  The kids got in from school early, as it was an early release day.  They enjoyed a snack, then we got started.

We always put our lights on first.  The wonderful string with all the settings I have used the past several years wouldn't work all the way down...even though they are supposed to no matter what.  Bubba knows all about the bulbs and fuses, so he tried his best but could not get them to work right.  So we thought we'd use two small strands he had in his room.  He connected them together using some connections that came with some speakers.  But when you did that they became way too dim.  Wouldn't plug into our rotating stand if we strung them separately.  So I go off to Family Dollar to purchase some nice shiny new ones.

I get home, we put them on the tree and voila'.......half of one string won't work!  Bubba tries hard to make it work.  But they are ever so different than any we have around the house and he just can't. 

Buy this time, Bug has ants in her pants wanting to get on with the show.  It is fast getting dark outside.  Bubba and I are totally frustrated.  So we use the one good new string and one of his old little strings to make just barely enough to go around the tree from top to bottom.

We place hangers in all the balls.  I hang the smaller ones on the top half of the tree....Bug the bigger ones on the bottom. 

Now the fights begin!  We have a box full of "keep sake" and sentimental ornaments and the kids were disagreeing over which ones to use and who would hang which one.  I really had no choice or say so in the matter.  Do whatever you want.....just please be quiet!   

In amongst all of this Pete comes in from work and has Bubba running around helping him find something.  Needless to say, we started this tree around 2:45 in the afternoon and finished it at around 8:30 at night!!!  This should have been a two hour operation, but it turned into a 6 hour job!!

Oh, well.....I think?!....that's over.  Now warm up some leftovers for everyone and get off to bed.  Bug had been complaining of her throat hurting, but acting just as lively as ever.  I thought it was just a little irritation from sinus drainage.  But when I bent over to kiss her forehead when she came into the kitchen, I found a hot little girl.  Once I took her temperature, I saw she actually had a fever.  (100.7)

Oh, boy!  Now what.  Bubba says a little girl from her school that rides their bus has been out with strep throat.  Oh great.

Friday am rolls around.  Bug is still hot! (101.6)  Send Pete off to work and Bubba to school, but I keep her home with me.  Call my boss lady, Karrie, and tell her the sad news of why I won't be in to work.  Was the day of our Christmas Steak dinner too!  Geez, louise! 

I got Bug in to see her doctor.  He did a test.  Thankfully, it was not strep.  He said it was one of several hundred other things.  Nice. 

So now it is Saturday.  My guys ran off to the deer camp around two.  Bug has been watching cartoons and playing "camp" in the living room.  She stretches a blanket across some chairs and makes a tent.  No fever today.

For me it has been laundry and dishes.  And finally a little time for my own enjoyment before Bug and I bake some chocolate chip cookies!  Girls night.  That is if my shortening ever softens in this cold old kitchen and if we don't eat all the raw cookie dough!  lol 

Enjoy your weekend everyone.....at least what is left of it.

Barbara 

 

Why Wait?

Well, I am very glad to report that my busy 40 hour week at work is over!  And little Bug is over the "bug" she had all week!  I've been beginning to unearth the house from the piles of junk and chaos everywhere.  I may actually have a tree up before the week is over! 

I have been rheuminating on life, how brief it can be.  Young folks gone in the blink of an eye.  Older folks battling diseases, hoping for a few more years, days, moments.  We recently had a young cousin of Pete's killed in a car wreck on his way to work one morning.  Nice, happy young man.  Did he know Christ as his Savior?  No one knows.  I hear and see pleas from all around to please pray for this loved one or that friend who knows not Christ and is ill or battling addiction or in despair.  And I see others happily going along their way in a messy mockery of life and real living, totally unaware of all they are missing.  All that is real. 

A number of years ago, I was fortunate enough to sit under a study led by a dear missionary to Mexico.....Bro. Bill Hayes.  Brother Hayes had developed a walk through the scripture to answer all the "reasons, excuses, rationalizations, etc." that people offer when confronted with the opportunity to receive Christ as their savior.

I want to walk through these scriptures here.  Topic by topic.  Excuse by excuse in hopes that someone will see themselves and be aware for the first time how they are deceiving themselves.  (Or being deceived by the Father of Lies.)  And also I want to share this so that maybe all of us who know Christ will be encouraged to try to push on through the flimsy excuses our loved ones and friends offer whenever we try to bridge the subject of where they will spend eternity.

The first excuse is to WAIT.  Why hurry?  I have all my life ahead of me.  I am busy.  There are things I still want to do that I don't need God involved in.  There are things I just have to give up before I can contemplate serving the Lord.  God is love.  He'll always be there. 

So what does God say about waiting in His own Word?  Starting with Luke 12:20.  The rich man was busy planning how to expand his barns to hold all his fertile fields had produced.  "But God said to him,`Fool! Tonight you die.  Then who will get it all?`"  So busy accumulating things.  Planning for a future in this world.  We are only visitors passing through this world, yet we plan and work for our stay here like we were homesteaders.  Wouldn't a prudent person look toward the Final Destination?  Plan for eternity!

Jesus had been speaking of himself as the Bread of Life.  The Jews in the area where having trouble grasping this concept.  After all, wasn't this merely Joseph's son?  "For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him to me, and at the Last Day I will cause all such to rise again from the dead." answered Jesus.  God woo one and then another to come to Him thru Christ.  Better heed that intense, personal feeling like you need to do something!  I might be the Holy Spirit.  He won't always be there striving with you.  Your opportunity is there when you feel it.  When you understand it is there. 

Paul himself pleaded that all would not toss aside this message of God's great kindness.  "For God says, `Your cry came to me at a favorable time, when the doors of welcome were wide open.  I helped you on a day when salvation was being offered.`  Right now God is ready to welcome you.  Today he is ready to save you."  You've been questioning, seeking, looking for answers......God knows.  He heard and he is ready to answer your hearts cry by welcoming you to Himself.  If you have heard the plan of salvation, then the welcome mat is out!

Over  in Hebrews Paul puts it this way:  "Beware then of your own hearts, dear brothers, lest you find that they, too, are evil and unbelieving and are leading you away from the living God.  Speak to each other about these things every day while there is still time, so that none of you will become hardened against God, being blinded by the deceitfulness of sin."  Your heart is tender and ready today.  But tomorrow it may be jaded and hardened by the hard knocks of this life.  Satan may have the volume turned up so loudly on his sound track of lies that you cannot hear the gentle call of the Spirit.

James, the brother of Jesus, reminds us all how brief life is "Look here, you people who say, `Today or tomorrow we are going to such and such a town, stay there a year, and open up a profitable business.`  How do you know what is going to happen tomorrow?  For the length of your lives is as uncertain as the morning fog -- now you see it; soon it is gone."  We all seem to always think that we are going to live to 80, 90, or more.  Even though we see children die, young men drop dead we still somehow think that it can't happen to us.  This if folly.  It's down right denial of what we see everyday.  None of us knows if we will draw our next breath or not.  You say the odds are in your favor that you will?  Are you so much a gambler as to risk your very soul?

The last passage is in Revelations.  Much like the motto on the Statue of Liberty, chapter 22, verse 17 says,  "The Spirit and the bride say, `Come.`  Let each one who hears them say the same, `Come.`  Let the thirsty one come--anyone who wants to; let him come and drink the Water of Life without charge."  There you have it.  An invitation.  An invitation to every thirsty soul. 

Don't wait to live abundantly.  Don't wait to feel free of guilt and shame.  Don't wait to know your future is secure no matter what happens.  Now is the time!  It always has been.  Yesterday is gone.  Tomorrow is unknown.  Today, this moment, is all that is real and certain.

From Thanksgiving to Black Friday

Our Thanksgiving turned out to be a really good one.  We slept in, then gathered up things and went into the deer camp.  It was quiet, peaceful, beautiful, almost perfect temperature!  We got the fire going, put a picnic ham on to boil.  I cut up potatoes and made tator soup.  Had brought fruit salad me and Bug made together at the house Wednesday evening.  Warmed up some green beans.  And Bubba fried up the tenderloin out of the 8-point buck he got last weekend.
We all gathered around the picnic table after dark, gave thanks and ate until we were stuffed.  We relaxed together around the fire.  I came home for the night.  Bug started to, but then decided to stay with the guys.  (She told me she was most thankful for Bubba.  What a way to warm a Mama's heart!)
The family spent today in at the camp.  I spent the day in bed.  (Believe me, you don't want to know!)  The guys brought my little Bug out this afternoon and fed all the livestock here.  They went back in.  So I guess you could say this was a girls' night. 
I can't begin to describe how thankful I am for God's love, His creation, His salvation, my family, my home and all that goes with it.  But I think as I grow older I appreciate more and more the intangibles.....peace, joy, comfort, inner-strength.  These are the things my own prayers of thanksgiving have centered around.  I hope that everyone would be blessed in this way!
As a nation, we spent yesterday attempting to honor God.  Then I sign on the Internet today, and see people fighting over things as they shop with an eye toward Christmas.  We just finished one holiday dedicated to God.  They are supposedly preparing for the next holiday to honor God...and this is how they behave?!  
Retailers refer to it as Black Friday, because this begins the season that can put their books in the black even if they have run in the red all year.  Am I the only one who sees the irony in the name and the behavior..."Black"?!

(Black:  Death, evil.  Dark, unseemly. )

You Are Invited!

                                      

 

You are cordially invited to visit The Best of Caneyhead!

Hosted at Blogspot, it features the entries that I have enjoyed writing the most, the ones that came straight from the heart the ones that seemed to be given to me.  And some that were surprises to me at they seemed to touch others.

This event is free and open to the public.  Dress is casual.  Come and go as you please.  Buffet will change frequently, so come back often.  Those who have only sampled Caneyhead or just recently acquired a taste for it will hopefully find it stimulating.  Devoted regulars are the guests of honor.

No RSVP required, but comments at the door are welcome and can be left by anyone as "other".

Hope you can attend.

Barbara

 

 

Been Thinking Things Over

 Okay, I've been sitting around, looking around, researching, thinking and just mulling over this AD thing.  I'd prefer to have nothing on my journal.  But then again the webspace is AOL's and not mine.  I have nothing against anyone who has chosen to leave.    I'm going to try to stay in touch with them at their new places of residence, but I'll miss them in this community.  I do have a problem with some of the hurt that has been dealt about because of all of this.  I just pray everyone can forgive, heal and move on.

For me the biggest issue about ads, is if an ad were placed here that I just could not support as a Christian.....would AOL remove it?  If they didn't I'd have no alternative but to move on. 

Then there is a little thought that if someone somewhere is benefiting from my writing in a monetary way, then I certainly deserve some compensation.  I write here as a sounding board and hopefully as a light in the darkness......not with an eye toward profit.  Yet I certainly don't want to be used either.

I've found there is a great big Blog World out there, with many options.  And I am toying with the idea of starting one elsewhere.  Maybe a mirror blog....sort of the best of Caneyhead.  Who knows?  Then there is always the issue of time.  And my life allows me just barely enough time to tend this journal, visit and read ya'lls and try to stay on top of the Sisters in Christ Prayer Alert ministry.

Personally, I believe it is the addition of AIM users to AOL's journal pages and the broadening of the reader base (so they hope) that has driven them to start this ad thing.  Are they evil?  I don't think so.  I think they are corporate America doing what they do best, seizing the day.  Do they listen, do they care about us at all?  I think so, within reason....I've got Spell Check sitting here waiting on me.  Most everything I know of PC's and the Internet I learned from AOL. 

Lastly, and most important, Caneyhead is Caneyhead.  No matter where it's at.  No matter what the latest fad or phase.  It's still just a small community tucked in the pines that struggles to live, love and prosper.  Saints and sinners.   Young and old.  We still share, we still help our neighbors, we still enjoy a good visit and a hot cup of coffee.  So, if you're passing through, come on in....put your feet up, relax and visit a spell.  I'll be here.  I'm not leaving. 

 

An ODD Assortment

Geez, Louise!  I was over at Terrie's and she had a link to find out how much your blog is worth......mine was $9,597.18!!   I am very amazed!  But what does this actually mean?  Is somebody buying?

Oh, well....here's a wonderful little tip I learned and tried.  Friend of ours house smelt SO good when we were over there.....even though they smoke.  I asked about it.  She buys Arm & Hammer Carpet & Room Oder Eliminator and instead of putting on the carpet, she puts a thin layer in the bottom of each ash tray.  So I bought me some and did the same.  Sprinkled some in bottom of my trash cans.  Had the idea that you could layer it in a pretty glass bowl with rocks or marbles and set in room like potpourri!

I love my new part time job.....but every since the storm it has been a little more hours than I truly wanted.  Looks like this week may end up being like it should be.  I hope so!  I only just Tuesday caught up on all the laundry since the storm!  And I had everything washed up before it hit. 

Seems like there was something else I wanted to tell you, but I can't recall what it was.  Oh, well.  That's my brain! 

Oh, Bubba killed a spike buck opening weekend of deer season!  Proud for him.  Everyone of course enjoying the treat of deer meat. 

Guess that's it.  Wonder if this entry has decreased the value of my journal????!   I'd better go check. 

Oh, now I know what it was!  Paula had mentioned The Pig Stand Restaruants some time back.  Well, is one on Calder in Beaumont.  It is a wonderful place.  Mixture of buger joint, cafe, truck stop.  You can sit outside if you please, like at the older burger stands.  The semi-circle shape of the building harkens you to a time when folks would drive up, get a coke or malted and sit and stand around outside on a cool evening and talk.  The tables and booths, the menus, the waitresses all put you in mind of an old time cafe.  A place where people could gather to sip their coffee, read the paper and swap yarns.  And the food!  The delicious taste and super large portions would rival any truck stop you can think of.  Unless you are very hungry, think of splitting your order with a friend or mate.  The walls on the inside are full of memoribilia from bygone eras....schools that are no more; cars that you never see on the road, only at shows.  And what has to be the one of the largest collections of ceramic pigs I have ever seen!  Anyway, they are celebrating their 84th year of business this week!!!!  What a milestone!  So few businesses can say that.  And even fewer restaruants! 

I'm so glad I remembered what I wanted to tell you!  Like my pc, my brain still works.....the processor is just getting old, there never seems to be enough RAM and the disc is nearly full!  :o)

Thoughts on Faith for Stacy

Faith.....the essence of things unseen, of things hoped for.  Faith, necessary to a relationship with God.   It is gifted to us by God.  Free and for the asking......enough to accept Christ.  Then others are blessed with more, as a part of their Spiritual gifts when they receive Christ.   I seem to have inherited an ample share, on the whole.  God didn't bless me with this gift because he likes me more.  He blessed me so that I may share it.  Spread it around.  Work it.

Faith is a journey.  The path goes up and down through valleys and over mountains.  Sometimes the sun is in your eyes.  Sometimes a fog rolls in.  Sometimes trees and brush hang over the path and hinder your way.  But you have to keep taking steps.  Small ones.  Or big strides.  Depends on the strength of those faith muscles that day.  Depends on how far the Guide has marked for that days journey, also.  The Guide is dependable.  You have to trust that.  And that in itself is a big part of faith.  He'll urge you on and sometimes He'll tarrly His stride to wait on you.....quietly.  When those muscles cramp up and your knees buckle below you, he'll catch you and carry you if you just whisper His name.  And then sometimes if your throat is too parched from  the journey to speak His name, He'll call it for you.....from His Sweet Spirit within you.

Faith is much like a muscle.  It has to be excercised.  How do you excercise it?  By using it.  When do you use it?  To a point everyday.  But then there are other times it really gets a work out!  And there are blessed times of "cool down".  When you revel in the afterglow of faith extended and met with Faithfulness.

There are times when you can't feel your own faith.  Sometimes because it is out in front, driving and supporting you.  Sometimes because it is weak and fragile.  Sometimes it's like breathing, and at other times it takes every concious fiber of your being.  Sometimes you are bare-knuckles hanging on to the last shread for dear life.  Sometimes you are rolling in the green pastures of abundance.

As for advice.  Stay near the source.  Even when you don't feel like it.  Even if you feel let down or ignored.  Stay in the Word.  It's full of faith commended, faith tested, faith failing, faith restoring examples.  Continue to pray, even if your prayers sound more like rants.  I say it often, but He's big enough to take it!  And He loves you enough to put up with it!  You can't make Him unlove you.  He is unchanging. 
Draw on every memory of faith you have.  That's what they are there for.  Little exercises of the past, to strengthen us in the here and now.  Recall every answer, every gesture.  Praise Him and thank Him for these.  Even if you don't feel like it now.  (If you love me you will obey me He says.  We are told repeatedly to give thanks in all things.)  Do it because you are supposed to.

New to faith, not enough life experience and water under the bridge?  Surround yourself with folks that have a testimony of faith.  Call on them often.  Hear their stories.  Over and over.  Use their blocks to begin building your tower. 

And don't ever think yourself unworthy or second class when your faith waivers!  We all do it in some form, to some extent!  You need look no further than the twelve to see twelve examples of this.  Fact is on our own, none of us are worthy.  We are worthy only because He decided we were worthy on a hill two thousand years ago. 

And buy some mustard seed!  Get a good look at it.  For He tells us from His own mouth if we have faith even of the grain of mustard seed, we can speak to mountains and move them.  Mountains of doubt, fear, dread, indifference.  Any mountain on the horizon of your life.

Whatever else, know you are not alone Stacy!

Storm Stories: Glimpses from the Heart

  Today  I want to share some glimpses into the heart with you.  Share some things people actually did in and around our area for one another in the wake of Rita.  Large things, simple things.  Most I believe for altruistic reasons, but some may have been with motives to promote themselves.  But God is amazing and can use even those actions to benefit others! 

Local News Anchors and radio personalities, some who stayed during the storm, some who evacuated and came right back.  They went into studios that had suffered damage.  They ran on generators, in the heat, to broadcast out local news and helpful information.  They searched and they researched.  They connected us.  Some still return home at the end of the day to homes with blue roofs and no cable.

The Hardin County Sheriff's Dept., who responded to call after call.  Who helped many who had no way to help themselves.  Elderly people who needed ice for their meds.  Older folks who needed a hot meal.  People who needed gas to run their generators and even help cranking them.

FEMA, the National Guard and the Red Cross, who tirelessly handed out meals, ice and water each day of the week.  In heat, in misquitos.  Away from their own homes and families.

Mario Gonzales, Pete's cousin who brought in gasoline for the ambulance service to run on.  Who parked a large BBQ cooker in the parking lot of a destroyed convenience store.  Organized volunteers to keep it going.....cooking and handing out hot plate lunches to anyone who stopped by.  Fed an awful lot of the folks who were in the area to help us.  As frozen meat became defrosted, people dropped off their items, the food was cooked and passed out.  Waste not, want not they say.

The woman who phoned a radio show to say that she was caring for survivors in her home and didn't have enough water.  Was asking did they think it would be alright for her to go over to her neighbors pool and dip out water for flushing comodes, etc.  This is respect of others and their belongings.

My husband, Pete, who went from house to house down our road switching people's water pumps that were wired for 220 and no good with their generator, over to 110 so they could have water in their homes. 

Those neighbors who opened their homes to me to use their phones that did work or their washers that were ran by generators.

Our own family.  My sister and husband who loaded us down with koolaid and sugar, brought us gas when it wasn't plentiful.  Pete's siblings that brought ice when it was hard for us to get and food and other supplies.....sharing out of what they had received.

The business I work for, that opened the doors to their undamaged location to allow displaced workers to shower and sleep there.  Who cooked and fed every worker and anyone else who stopped in every day for a week.  Who brought each worker in one by one to help them get on the internet and register with FEMA.

The many men who left home and family to come help restore our infrustructure.  They worked incredible long days for weeks.  Ate as we did.  Slept in tents at old fair grounds and rodeo arenas. 

The many companies, who forgave monthy payments for a month or even three so folks could get their feet back under them.

The list goes on and on.  I could never mention them all.  But you get the idea.  Folks helping folks and doing what had to be done. 

There is a lot of talk and books and such around these days about angels.  People seem to think that angels are something spectacular.  Actually they are God's go-fors.  I believe in them.  But the amazing, the brillant thing of God is that His Spirit indwells all who believe in Christ.  That ever since the assension of Christ, God's preferred method of delivering help and aid is us.  Ordinary, extra-ordinary, people. 

                                  

Hey, Gang! Jessica is back!

  Say, ya'll!  Jessica is back!  You know, Countrybumkin779.  The one with "the everyday mundane life of a housewife" !  She' okay and she's BACK!  So run on over and welcome her......tell her how much you've missed her.  Or, go let her know you are looking forward to meeting her.  

I'll have a Storm Stories update soon.  By the weekend anyhow.  My part time week has turned into almost full time!  :( 

Thanks folks!

Barbara

Just for Halloween, Let Me Show You My BOOBIES!

Seriously, let me show you my cute little boobies, just in time for Halloween!

 

Scroll down.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep going.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just about there!.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                  Trick    or   Treat !!!!!!!!!!   Told you they were cute little boobies!      LOL  

 

 

Storm Stories: Getting the Necessities

So the first few days is a time of absorbing all that has changed, praising God for all that remains, and working toward taking what you have to get what you need.

Necessities really do come first.  And of all that is necessary, water cetainly tops the list!  Sure, there is plenty in that overflowing pond for the horses that are free to roam and the chickens lose on the ground.  But what of the Stud horse, DBoy, in the pen?  The three hogs in their pen?  The dogs that live in a pen or are chained up here and there?  And especially, us?!  Thankfully, Pete had accepted as trade in some deal or the other an old prehistoric generator.  He and Bubba got it to run after a little tinkering and a lot of sweat!  But the darned old thing didn't push enough juice to run the pump.  However it did push just enough juice to run the compressor that brings the water out of the ground and into the holding tank!  (See, the pump just sends it through the pipes into the house.)  So, battle half won.  How do we get the water out of the tank?  You don't.  You turn the pipe from the well to the tank around, put a turndown on it, and fill Bugs plastic wading pool!     Hurrah!  With a strapping teenage Bubba around, you dip that out with a 5 gal bucket and distribute it to all the animals.  Mom fills every pitcher and milk jug around for our drinking, cooking, etc.  THEN, you take turns getting in the pool to cool off and clean up.  And it is so icy cold, thank you Jesus!

Well, Mama enjoyed it quite a bit, but then again I am a 45 year old woman, if you know what I mean.  And Bug took to it pretty good too....just another day in the pool to her.  But the guys had a little problem with it.  Something to do with their plumbling, apparently.

Next on the list, how to eat.  That's not too hard for folks who dear camp every year with none of the modern conveniences.....except all our stuff is in the deer camp.  Would probably take Pete and Bubba a week to get there and back through all the downed trees.  Well, there is the butane burner.  And Pete keeps a fire hole dug out all year and has a grill on a swivel above it.    Don't know how soon we can get more butane, but the Lord has given us an abundance of firewood!    So you do what you can slowly over the fire and the rest on the cooker.  And at first you eat fairly good.  Got lots of stuff to eat on before it rots. 

Let's see....water, food, and the third necessity, shelter.  That little front that turned Rita away from Galveston held us with clear skies.  And our long dry spell left us with no mosquitoes, at first.  But the heat is something awful.  Thank God for shade!  And did we ever chase it, all day, from one spot to another in the yard.  At night we went in the house and all slept on pallets on the living room floor.  This is so we could all get the benefit of one small little fan that Pete took out of an old van and mounted to the window-sil.  Pull the truck up to the window and hook the fan wires to the battery and you have cool evening air blowing across you.

Now, gradually, things improved in each of the three areas.  Pete got an old bathtub and cleaned it up.  Set it out near the firehole.  Then each evening he'd heat a couple of large pans of water over the fire and pour into the tub to cut the chill and warm the well water.  We took turns as to whose night was first in the tub.  (Come on, someone out there has surely bathed in a number three washtub?! )  You washed your hair on your night to be first.

Eventually the food in the freezers was all beyond consumption and MRI's and canned soups and Chef Boy'r'd type meals became the standard fare.  It took about 5 days for FEMA and the National Guard to get setup and distributing food, water and ice in our area.  Oh, how we celebrated to have ice!!!  A cold drink of water.  An icy jug of koolaide!

And our nighttime hours got a little better once Pete's cousin relented and let him borrow another small generator that he uses to light his wagon when he rides at night.  With it, we could have 8-9 hours of a large box fan in the window running and even watch an hour or two of the Western Channel on satellite!  Yippee!

Thus was our lives for two weeks.  Next installment I'll begin to share some side stories with you.  And, sorry Mary, no pictures.  We aren't the kind to always keep a camera around loaded.....and the nearest store up and running was probably two hours away.  By the time there was a place you could get a camera or film, there just wasn't the same pictures with the same feel to be had.

Storm Stories - There's Got to be a Morning After

Remember that song from the Posiden Adventure?  That is very appropriate to how we felt in the wee hours just before dawn.  As we stepped out onto the porch, the first thing we noticed was a profusion of green.  Now we had been long not having any rain, so this wasn't grass......it was branches and leaves from the trees!  Several inches thick across the whole yard.  Our eyes instinctively went up to the horizon, where we saw our whole view had changed overnight!  Where there had been trees so thick in the edge of the woods you couldn't see between them, there were now spaces of light cascading in.  One third to half of the leaves on every tree had been stripped from their limbs!  Trees still green with no sign of autumn upon them.  Trees that are evergreen.  All the trees. 

Many trees had blown down.  Thankfully none on any structure! Although one very old shed did blow off it's flooring.  Funny that all the things inside the shed were sitting on that bare floor, totally unhurt!?   One did crash upon an old truck, a junker.  It was easy to tell the ones that Rita got by the sheer force of her winds from the ones the tornadoes took.  Those downed by Rita all lay in a straight line, roots to the North, tops toward the South.  Odd isn't it how something blowing in from the South, spun those trees down from whence she came?!  That circular motion just ain't nothin' like a Blue Norther blowing in.  These trees were either broken off about a foot from the ground in a clean break or had went over pulling up their entire root system with them.  Those that met their fate at the hand of the tornadoes were harshly twisted off midway up, some still hanging, and strown around all askew.

The green, the view, then you notice the entense quiet!  Like when you are somewhere remote in the cold.  No road noise from anywhere.  No animal sounds.  I have never experienced an outside world so quiet.  I wondered if that is how it was right after God made the Heavens and the Earth and before He started on all the creeping things upon the face of the earth. 

Everything, every where looked brighter and cleaner.  Especially the horses!  Wow!  They all shone in the dim morning light like new copper pennies.  We joked about God's high pressure washer. 

There was one dead chicken....otherwise the horses, the hogs, the dogs, the cats and the poultry were all alive and well.  Even the monsterous little gator!  We live in a very good place as far as standing water goes, so we had none on the ground anywhere.  But our pond that had been almost a scummy mudhole the day before was full and overflowing into the marshy place behind it.  And all of that stood with water.

We first got out the butane cooker and drip coffee pot and made us some coffee on the porch.  We pulled my car up to try to get some reports on the radio, but it was hard and sketchy, as most all local stations had sustained damage, and the ones near enough to hear like Houston, were pretty much cut off from our area and had nothing to report on. 

Later, Pete and Bubba walked through the pipeline to check on his brother's house.  (They had been fortunate to be invited by friends to go to Oklahoma.)  There was a tree down there on their master bedroom.  The guys went on to check on Pete's sisters house, which sustained only minor damage.  Our pastor lives across the street from her and they found him out serveying the damage to his property, and feeling very trapped by all the emensly large trees fell over the road.  Just a tangle of trees!

Pete later tried going down our road in the truck, to check the damage in that direction.  He could not get far, but was able to observe that our neighbors homes were standing. 

We were hot and sticky and miserable.  That Texas humid heat had not abated one bit!  Way later in the evening, after one of our neighbors who had left came in and over to visit, we all loaded up in the truck to get a look down our rural road.  Our neighbor had cut a pig trail through the debris just large enough for a truck to fit through.  We were constantly driving over power lines, but as everything was as quiet as it was, we figured the nearest live wire had to be miles and miles away.  When we saw we could make it all the way down our little road to the blacktop, Pete said we'd ride down and check on my sister Edna.  She and her husband had also elected to ride out the storm.  Maybe in part from stubborness, part ignorance, and in large part not to desert their livestock......horses and cows. 

Low and behold, as we snake our way through the cut out trees on the road, we see them headed toward us in their truck.  My heart felt a burden I hadn't realized was there lift off!  (See, she's all I have left of my original family unit.  Just nephew, nieces, cousins and a scattered aunt or two besides her.)  They had done and decided the same as we.  So we just stopped there in the road and had a tailgate reunion.  Plenty of hugs and damage reports.  They had somehow had a good bit of water come in their home, that they mopped up in the middle of the night!  lol   Think most of it blew in under the window sill!!

Then the trip back to the house and a lot of hard work, figuring out how we're goin' to get water to the animals, get clean, stay cool, etc. etc.

I'll be continueing with different tales of how we coped.  Just let me tell you all right now, if you are going to be affected by a natural disaster you need either a very wealthy man who can just wisk you away to a luxurious vacation while the peons fix your home OR a wonderfully ingenious redneck jack-of-all trades husband like my Pete!  Doesn't hurt if he's a pack rat that never throws any tool, object, motor, etc. away either.  ;)

Beautful flower passed to me by Jeannette.

Storm Stories - Friday of the Big Night

                                             

Friday was just another hot/humid Southeast Texas day.  Everywhere there were updates on Rita.  Updates on evacuation routes, school closings, etc.  Our own children had been released from school on Wednesday, as we lie along the evacuation route for Jefferson County and they didn't want the buses cutting back and forth through that mess.  And of course there was always the possiblity we'd get a mandatory evacuation order.  And we did.  But sorry Charlie, this is a day late and a dollar short!  Absolutely no funds for motel rooms.  All our friends and family either were also in the path or lived so far away we'd never be able to buy the gas to get there. 

So, we made plans.  Smart plans we thought.  I put changes of clothing for everyone in three seperate locations outside the main house.  I put boxes of canned food and a jug of water in each of these also.  Surely at least one would survive.  We filled jugs with water and both bathtubs. 

We saw that we might run out of a few things before places opened back up.  We expected everything to be down and at a standstill for 3-5 days.  (Yeah, that's the Lord you hear laughing.)  So, thankfully we had backroads we could run to the closest feed store where I got extra milk, bread, feed, canned drinks, etc.   I started supper and we began to turn the kitchen into our "safe place."  We chose the kitchen as it is part of the main house, not the trailer add on.  There would be three ways to get out of it if we needed to.  Also, we have a solid wood dining table there with a top that is about 1 1/2" thick.  We would put pallets under there to sleep.  Our heads and torsos would have that extra layer of protection. 

Pete and Bubba turned all the horses loose and put the gaps up across the road and the pipeline.  He figured they would cause damage and hurt theirselfs if they were trapped in a pen or stall when things got spooky. 

Well, wouldn't you know it, we lost our phone and electricity around 9:00 pm!  Before anything to speak of had started !  That's what happens when your lines run through a pipeline in the midst of the Piney Woods.  All it takes is one large tree limb to give way.  So we lit the hurricane lamp and finished our supper. 

The rough stuff seemed to begin around midnight.  We all sat on our porch which opens into the kitchen with the door open.  Wondered what the night would bring.  The winds steadily increased.   It drove the rain parallel to the ground.  With no artifical light, it was next to impossible to see what was going on.  But from the glow of the oil lamp you could tell the large cedar tree by the house was bending nearly double and slapping the tin roof of the porch.

This was solid, steady wind....ever increasing from midnight on.  The kids finally gave in and lay down.  Managed to "catnap."  We heard the tin on Pete's shop shudder and rumble, like it was about to leave.....but it never did.

I finally was exhausted and lay down.  Nothing approaching real sleep.  Each time things sounded really bad, I sang a verse of "Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee." and reflected on the prayer Trish had sent.  It brought instant relief.  Bug seemed to appreciate it.  And maybe even Pete did, as he didn't tell me to hush!  lol  (Don't judge him harshly if you've never heard me sing!)

From 2:00 am on things really intensified.  Occasionally you could smell the scent of pine strong in the air and you knew a tree had given way and breathed a sigh of relief it wasn't on the house.  There were sounds of things bouncing off the walls outside.  Even sounds like things blowing through underneath as the home sits up on blocks!  Twice we heard the "train" sound of a tornado.  But you could just barely make it out over the sound of the constant, steady pounding winds!  As 5:00 am rolled around you could tell that things were abating and we began to give a sigh of relief through thankful hearts. 

Pete said he prayed that night like he never had before.  I never had the fear I thought I would have.  But each hug, from each dear one in our home that morning did seem extra special.

                                            

Storm Stories - Thursday, the day before Rita

I want to take you back in time to Thursday evening, Sept. 22nd.  Rita was still a catogory 4 hurricane......the strongest ever on record in the Gulf waters.  Most were still uncertain of an exact place of landfall, but it was continually narrowing in on the Beaumont/Sabine Pass region.  I had signed on to post that I would probably not be available for some time (I thought 3 days to one week.)  I decided to go ahead and peek in on what the AOL weather had to say.  There I found an advisory issued that made my blood run cold.  It stated that if she kept her current strength, Rita would cause flooding up to I-10....which runs through the center of Beaumont.  Okay.  I'm North of that.  The part that got me was predictions that as far inland as 100 miles, 1/3 of ALL TREES would snap in to or be layed over by the winds!  People, there is no place apart from trees in our area.  Too late to run.  No where much to hide.  I'll just keep this to myself.  No need to alarm my household.

I noticed I had received an e-mail, and I thought "Why not just see what it was."  It was from my friend and sister in Christ, Trish.  It was a hurricane prayer!  It mentioned the calming of the Sea of Galilee and put in my mind the many other times God stepped in to intervene in natural occurances.  Peace replaced the cold blood in my veins.

As a quirky side note, on Thursday afternoon, Pete found a baby gator under his shed!  Now if you go back in the bottoms, sometimes you run across one here.....but this ain't Florida folks.  They don't just wonder across your yard here!  He searched diligently for a Mama.....no sign of one.  So, we placed the little mad fellow in a wire cage and made him a guest.

There is more to come about the peace of Christ in the midst of a storm, the power of a prayer, and the faithfulness to do what God is leading you to do, no matter how small it seems.  But that was Friday.....actually the wee hours of Saturday....as we huddled and watched and rode out the worst thing any one of any age can remember in these parts.

KFDM  -  Local station with news of how things are in our area and a Rita Photo gallery.

Today I leave you with a copy of sister Trish's prayer.

 

                                          I would like to share this prayer that I found today for our nation during this hurricane season. May God bless each of you and keep you and your families safe. Hugs, Trish :)   P.S. Barbara I am praying for you and your family. Let us know how you are when you can. God bless you We love you. :)   O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children.  The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude; you are still the Master of land and sea.  We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control.  The Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant, can awake from its seeming lethargy, overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land and spread chaos and disaster.  During this hurricane season, we turn to You, O loving Father.  Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time. Father, all the elements of nature obey your command.  Calm the storms and hurricanes that threaten us and turn our fear of your power into praise of your goodness.  Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Father God I am so very grateful that You are all knowing and all things have to submit to You. I pray Lord God for mercy for these in the hurricane areas. Father I pray that we as a nation of people will once again turn to You and say You are God!
Father I pray for good to come out of all this devastation. I pray for souls to be saved, I pray for spiritual health of this nation and the world. I pray we will lift Your name on high and put Jesus back on the throne instead of all our other gods we have tried to put on His throne.
May our people and our nation be healed and back under Your protection Father God. In Jesus name. I pray we completely surrender to You and spare ourselves from more destruction. Amen!

Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. Jeremiah 29:12    

I love you folks!!

What a wonderful, wonderful welcome!!!   Thanks to each and every one of you!  God is so good and He does answer prayer!

Our electricity was restored on Saturday finally!  My hats off to the guys from Georgia that went thru a swamp to get us hooked up!  Over 50,000 have come to our area to help with electrical restoration from all over the US of A.

My phone worked after an SBC fellow came thru this morning.  So now I finally have internet access at home!!!  You know what that means.....I'll soon be posting again!  A series of Storm Stories are coming. 

Notice the slight color change to my journal?  That is for Sam.  ;)

You are the best bunch of folks anywhere! 

Love to each and every one!

Barbara

 

Alive & Well!!!!

Just to let everyone know we are alive and well.  No damage to our house.  Still no lights, phone, etc.  But I did come back to work yesterday.  Will be back with lots of new stories as soon as I can use my own pc/internet connection.  Thank everyone for your prayers and well wishes.  God DID watch over us!

In the Path of Rita

Yes, we ARE in the path of Rita as of Thursday afternoon.  We are inland, but may get hurricane force winds.  We have supplies.  We are staying.  Please say prayers for us and the entire Texas Gulf Coast area!  I'll be mostly offline before the storm to leave my telephone open.  May be without electricity for some time afterwards......so don't get anxious!  I'll be back to give a word of how we faired as soon as it's over and we have electricity and phone service! 

A First Time For Everything

I've always heard there is a first time for everything, and now I believe it!  All week things have been rather quiet on the job front.  So yesterday I indulged myself in more computer time just to play.  I played hearts and read many of your journals.  Then I set the anti-virus to updating and ate a bite, watched the noon news.  When I came back to the PC, I had an e-mail from a place I went and interviewed at last week wanting me to phone.  I signed right off and before I could organize myself to make the call, the phone rang and it was them!  Seems I got the job!  Yippee!  A little bit of a drive, but decent pay and good part-time hours.  Can I start on Monday?  Oh, sure.  Will I run down and do paperwork today and get the drug test out of the way.  No problem.  I will once again be part of the competant, reliable, clerical world.

 

So, I change clothes and go right down.  Fill out the forms.  Take the little cup to the restroom.  Mind you this is my first ever drug screening.  Anywhere I have ever worked before only required it for drivers or someone operating equipment.  But I know it is widely used in all circumstances today and being straight as an arrow, I gladly, willingly, submit my sample.    The nice young lady calls me back.  A few more finalities and I'm outta here, right?  Humph!  She says, "Mrs. H., there's a problem with your drug test.....you tested positive for opiates."  HUH???  Come again?!?!  I squeek out "What?"  She repeated herself.  Then, slowly the lightbulb goes off in my head.....opiates.......hydrocodone....known as codeine.....an opium derivative!  "Oh, I took my husbands high-powered  prescription cough medicine last night!"  She noticably lets out a sigh.  Relief?  "Well, I can certainly tell you have a very scratchy voice."  "Yes, I've had drainage and when I do, I commonly get intense coughing fits as soon as I lay down to sleep.  It started over the weekend.  I rested very poorly Tuesday night, and Wednesday hubby said, 'Hey, I have some cough medicine left over from my cold in June."    "Well, I'll have to check with supervisors.....I'll call you."  Okay, I understand.  I said, "I can't believe I failed my first ever drug test!"  On the way home I told myself, oh, well.....what will be will be.  Stopped in the drug store for some Mucinex, so I won't be keeping opuim in my system.  Came home and told hubby.......He was shocked.  Then he laughed.....the obserdity of his "gooddie-two shoes" wife failing a drug test.  Felt kinda like I was Lucy and he was Ricky.

Phone call.....It's her!  "Barbara, they still want to hire you.  Just please bring the bottle in with you Monday, even though it is in hubby's name, just so they can document why you failed."  Whew!  Do I look too old and unhip to be a dope-head?  Or could they detect the soft light of Christ shining in me.....knowing I was clean?  So, all's well that ends well.

And hubby is getting a tremendous kick out of sharing this antedote with everyone he knows!  ;)

Now for a Bug first.  She came home on Thursday, so very excited......floating on air.  Seems that in P.E. when she handed a ball to a boy, he said "Thank you very pretty girl."  She told her teacher, her classmates, her friends on the bus, her bus driver (who is Aunt Mary), Bubba, me and Daddy.  Then yesterday she came in with a grande announcement.  They are now boyfriend and girlfriend. 

She doesn't know his name though.  Details......never let details stand in the way of love.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!! 

I Wish You Enough

   If you haven't been by Terri's journal Look at Life to read "I Wish You Enough", you need to go!   Beautiful!

Another Quiz?

You're a slightly tarnished metal key, and you
unlock the wardrobe. At first glance, you seem
to present only simple, everyday things, but
anyone who looks deeper will find much more.
Just don't expect everyone to believe in you,
and those who don't may not grasp your worth.

What sort of key are you and what do you unlock?
brought to you by Quizilla

 

Emailed to me by Tammy over at Friends in Him.  I can't argue with the results.

Stolen Quiz

I'm not proud of it, but I stole this from Patrick.

 

You are ROMANS.

 

You have insight on what it means to turn your life around and try to live for God.  You really want people to understand the deeper things of God, but have a tendency to come across as pushy and prideful...and at times, maybe you are.  But you know your weakness and work hard at trying to temper it with grace and compassion.  

Seems about right......as Romans is one of my Favorites and I am often perceived as such.  What about you?

God is SO GOOD!

God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He's so good to me!

He answers prayer, He answers prayer, He answers prayer, He's so good to me!

 

  Well, low and behold what was finally in the mailbox on Saturday?!  Pete's 1st little unemployment check!  I've got to be honest, things were starting to look rather grim and glum around here.  Yet, small as it is, we knew that it would never met and cover all that needed to be in time.

Then what does God send yesterday afternoon?!  Men from my dear sweet little church, with a check and groceries!  Seems during services yesterday morning, while I was teaching Children's Church, they asked Bubba to go outside and measure some windows, to get him out of the way.  Then they discussed and decided to send a little help our way!!  I had not asked for any (from man, just God).  As is usual for me, I was waiting till the last minute to seek any help. 

Dear ones, this is just one of the many reasons our Lord designed His church to be a body of believers....not believers scattered about to themselves.  So He can reach down and meet our needs through the precious Holy Spirit's leading and the Saints.

 

                                              

I'll leave you with this magnificient quote that my dear Sister Trish posted to our AOL Group:

 

I was regretting the past and fearing the future.  Suddenly my Lord was speaking: ""My name is I am.""  He paused.  I waited.  He continued, ""When you live in the past with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard.  I am not there.  My name is not I WAS.  When you live in the future, with its problems and fears, it is hard.  I am not there.  My name is not I WILL BE.  When you live in this moment, it is not hard.  I am here.  My name is I AM.    Helen Mallicoat   

Sam's Answers

Dear Sam played the game with us, but chose to let me post his answer here on my journal.  If you haven't been by Sam Says, go by and read a while.  He is wise, and kind and reflective.    Now, here's Sam's answers:

The tag game appears to be fun.

         I read some on the other journals and enjoyed reading them. Thanks for sending them.      There are at least 7 things would like to do, though while thinking of them, wishing could be able.     Each day thanking God can get out of bed and care for myself. Very few aches or pains, thankful, sort of seems like going up a steep hill most of the time.         If you've ran out of gas while driving, that's me. Not much power. I enjoy every day.        I am a good cook and have vegetables and fruit, can afford anything wanted, like lean meat burgers, the store where I buy lean burger, they grind the unsold steaks into hamburger, really good stuff.        Can bake good yeast bread and cinnamon rolls, was gaining too much weight so seldom bake yeast bread anymore.       I cannot sing or dance. Wish could.             Beautiful eyes , smile likewise has my friend. She is my age,wonderful friend in Jesus.        Things I say, Lord help me bring people to Jesus. Some men may think it too complicated. So simple to ask Jesus to be best Friend and Save me. Jesus is our only mediator, according to scripture we can talk to Him 7/24/365.  I raise eyebrows when people say, God told me this or that. Not disputing it, however, I pray for quidance and wisdomaccording to His Will.      About Crushes. None recently, though during young years, Kathrine Hepburn was the kind of lady that was beautiful in my eyes. She did'nt use heavy makeup, even in recent years before she died, remained a beautiful lady.         It is sad that in this present day so many pretty girls are leaning to trashy ways. Many are not, and will be happier in later life if trying to follow Jesus.         I have did many things not proud of. However, scripture assures that if we sincerely turn to Jesus as personal Savior, we are forgiven and a child of God.

Being a Good Sport & Playing Along: I Was Tagged!!

Okay.......I was tagged!!!  Linda tagged me over at Footprints in the Sand.  I have been too busy to post my response.   So here it is. Go check out Linda's too! Here goes my answers, sort of  tongue in cheek:     Seven things I plan (hope) to do before I die:   1.  See my hubby come to the Lord! 2.  Go on a honeymoon, with current hubby......we never had one. 3.  See my children get married. 4.  Be there for the birth of my grandchildren. 5.  Go dancing with my hubby  who does not dance. 6.  Have a clean house with a place for everything and everything in its place. 7.  Live long enough to be old enough I can say whatever I want and people have to excuse me for my age.   7 things I can do: 1.  Cook excellent pies, cakes and cookies. 2.  Sew, but I hate to. 3.  Drive through mud bogs and pipelines, thanks to hubby. 4.  Make someone laugh when I feel feisty. 5.  Spread the word about Jesus. 6.  Bray like a donkey, we had a jenny while I grew up. 7.   Sing songs from the 1930's!   7 things I can't do:   1.  Make my hubby accept the Lord.    2.  Get anyone to put their stuff where it goes. 3.  Cook anything with yeast in it!!? 4.  Stay mad for long.    5.  The splits.......never could.    6.  Be cruel to an animal or child. 7.  Wink my left eye.   7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:   1.  Nice eyes.    2.  Warm smile. 3.  Long slender fingers like my daddy. 4.  Confidence. 5.  Kindness and manners. 6.  Dressed well, not sloppy.    7.  Smells good.   7 things I say most often:   1.  I love you. 2.  Just a minute. 3.  Oh, okay, I guess. 4.  Do we need feed?    5.  Where's your glass?    6.  I don't know.    7.  Turn that down.   7 celebrity crushes:  (over the years)   1.  Stoney Burke (the guy who played the lead in Hawaii 5-0, in his role before Hawaii 5-0.  I was 4 years years old.)   2.   DavidCassidy.....in the Partridge family.     3.  Richard Greer in some roles.    4.  Bobby Sherman.....any one remember?    5.  Donny Osmond .......I was at that age. 6.  George Clooney.....the way he looked on ER. 7.  Alan Jackson, cause he looks sorta like Pete   People I want to do this ( Is there anyone left??!):   Terrie   MGMTurner   GravyDogg55   Linda   Pauline   Lori   Imperfectly Average     Let's try those!  Okay?  You are tagged!