LOOK UP

The last few weeks our country has seen some unhappy times.  But just as we share our joys and successes we share our heartbreak and sorrows.  Yes, we’ve had different opinions on some things that happened here but thank God we are still free to voice those opinions.  The citizens, both men and women, who gave their lives so we can live free would not be proud of how we have abused what they paid the ultimate price for us to enjoy.  Yes my heart grieves for those Officers in Dallas and I pray for those families.  I pray for all our officers and first responders everywhere.  I invite you to pray with me.  And while we are at it  look up; our flag still waves and we can choose how and where we worship. This is still the best country in the world to live in. Let’s honor our fallen heroes by treating each other with respect no matter what color our skin.  Though we may not agree with their opinions we should respect their rights to voice those opinions but absolutely without violence.  If we all stand together and do what 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us to do God will hear our cries and heal our land.  Don’t say “Well that’s Old Testament stuff.”  God never changes He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  What He promised in the Old Testament He will do today.  No politician can straighten out this country.  What we need is for Christians to stand up for God’s principles and virtues. If we do God will stand beside us and the United States will once again be the great country it once was.  Look up!  GOD BLESS AMERICA!

I WEAR A CROSS

Footsteps

I wear a cross on a chain around my neck.  It isn’t meant to bring me good luck or protect me from anything. It is there as a reminder of the price my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ paid for my salvation.  It reminds me of the footsteps He took  on His was to be crucified.  He knew the pain He would suffer and worse than physical pain the anguish He would suffer from being separated from our Father for even a second.  He took that walk and the Cross as a substitute for me.  He paid my sin debt in full.  But not only mine but all sins past, present and future.  He knew no sin yet He became sin so I would not have to.  Now sin is not the issue; faith is the issue “Faith alone in our Lord Jesus Christ alone.”

Yes, I wear a cross on a chain around my neck but not for luck.  Every time I touch that cross I think of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His free gift of salvation.  He gave His all so we will not have to.  When you see a cross please remember the price He paid.  If you have not accepted His free gift please think about it, pray and ask God to accept you as a member of His family.

Thank you for stopping by I hope you come back soon.  Have a Happy Easter and remember it is not about the Easter Bunny hiding eggs, please remember the real reason for the celebration.

LORD YOU’VE BEEN GOOD TO ME

There are so many songs that I like but the one that most represents me has a line that says “Lord you’ve been mighty good to me.”  That is so true of my life, of course I’ve seen bad times and had heartache and sorrow just like anyone else.  The thing is I’ve learned to count my blessings instead of dwelling on the bad.  If we look around and see all the good that God has and does still give us.

     I was blessed to have my sister, Betty Jean.  She has gone home to be with Jesus and I know she is waiting for me.  She and I shared so many things and music was a strong bond between us.  She would hear a song she liked or buy a new CD then call me on the phone and play it so I could hear and vice versa.

     Even though we lived in different states we talked at least once a week.  Thank God for Alexander Graham Bell. We laughed and talked a lot; sometimes we’d be on the phone for over an hour.  Our husbands asked “How can you find so much to talk about?”  But unless you’ve been that close to someone you just plain can not understand.  We shared everything good or bad; we could tell each other anything.  I know she carried some of my secrets to her grave and I will do the same.

      Yes Betty Jean was my sister but she was also my best friend.  There are times I miss her almost more than I can bear; I’ll hear a song and think “I want Betty Jean to hear that.”  I was so blessed to have her and I know we will be together again.  I hope you have someone like this in your life.  If so tell them how much they mean to you and always tell them you love them; God did not promise us tomorrow so you might not get another chance.

     Thank you for stopping by. Please come back soon.  God bless.

Song

WELCOME TO THE CREEK

Life on the creek was not too bad; at least I survived.  Or did I?

I was in elementary school when they sold the farm and we moved to the outskirts of town. There would be no more freshly plowed fields to walk through crunching clods of dirt just to feel them crumble under our bare feet; no more deep well to draw cool water; no more faded gray barn that always smelled of dust and hay.  But worst of all no more Hay-Burner to live in that barn. Momma was allowed to bring along a few chickens and the others were left to the people who bought our house.  Momma and I cried because we didn’t want to leave our home but Daddy kept a stiff upper-lip.  It was  years later that I realized his heart was also breaking.  Farming was his life and now the doctor said he could not do it anymore.  So he gave up his dream, moved us to a house that wasn’t too bad at the start and he went to work as a night security guard at a sawmill.

Everything went well for a few years.  We were the first family on the street to get a television.  All the kids from several blocks gathered in our living-room every afternoon Monday through Friday to watch Circle-Six Ranch.  They were sprawled on every place to sit and some lay  with their elbows on the floor and heads resting in their hands almost hypnotized by the phony cowboy on the small black and white screen.  They waited patiently for the cartoons. Momma gladly welcomed them and often served Vanilla Wafer cookies and Kool-Aid.  She would hustle them out the door before dark and dinner time.  If it was cold she would have a smile on her face as she bundled the little ones in sweaters, coats and some had hats, as she instructed the older kids to make sure everyone got home safely.

Then our lives changed completely.  It was his birthday and when Daddy got home from work just as the sky was turning light gray with streaks of yellow from the sun that was trying to peep over the tree line behind our house we sang Happy Birthday.  Momma had made his favorite Coconut Cake.  I was promised a big slice when I got home.  Then with a quick hug, kiss and “I love you” I was hustled off to school.

Those were the last words my Daddy and I said to each other.  He had a heart attack and died later that morning.

All the neighbors gathered to console us and they brought food; which I later learned was The Creek Folks way to show they cared.  I had never seen so many cakes, pies and fried chicken.  But the huge lumps in my throat and stomach would not let me eat a bite.  Momma couldn’t eat either.  She stayed busy making and serving coffee and sweet iced tea and thanking everyone.

Yes, our life on the Creek changed and maybe some would view it as worse and some as better; the truth is up to the individual.  We were soon to learn what the Creek life was really like.

Thank you for stopping by and of course there will be more Creek tales in the future.

 

 

 

 

WE CAN HAVE GOD’S FAVOR

    

Well the election is over and it doesn’t matter who you voted for and it really is none of my business.  I’ve heard people who are ecstatic that President Obama has been given another chance to see what he can do.  Whether it is good or bad, fair or unfair is not for me to say.  And, on the other hand I’ve heard people say that now our country will go to hell in a hand basket; that President Obama will not only give away the farm but will toss in the livestock.  Again, it is not for me to say what my opinion is on the subject.  Honestly, I’m not worried one way or the other.  Long before last Tuesday my son reminded me that no matter who is president that Jesus is still King.  To me that’s all that’s important.  I know no matter what that God will always take care of me and my family.  He always has.

     Are you worried about the country?  Come on… do you honestly think one man can build our country up or tear it down?  Only God can destroy our country.  We must exercise our faith in Him.  Remember what He promised in 2 Chronicles 7:14  if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear their prayers from Heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.  So there you go!  Christians should not be wasting their time pointing fingers and blaming others.  The reason our country is in the mess it is in is because God’s people, His children have turned away from listening to Him and following His principles and virtues and have started living like the world.  Today it is hard sometimes to tell the Christians from the world.  We accept far more than we should and we fail to stand up and speak up for our beliefs.  When they wanted to take prayer and devotionals out of the public schools we sat on our hands and let them.  Then they wanted to remove the Ten Commandments from all public buildings and again we did not speak up.  They said it is all right to kill unborn babies and we allowed that and same-sex marriage and on and on and on…  Where does it stop?

     It will stop when Christians get on their knees and humble themselves, pray and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways!  So stop blaming President Obama or whoever is in office and start putting the blame on our backs where it belongs.  If God’s children will pray and stand up for God’s principles and virtues (and apply them to their lives) this country can once again be a wonderful place to live.  Our children can play outside or walk a block to the store without having to worry about being kidnapped, raped and/or murdered.  Neighbors will be willing to help neighbors.  Yes, there will be jobs for everyone and we can once again freely seek the American Dream.  It is up to us, not one of us but all of us.  Christians you should never have to tell someone you are a Christian they should be able to tell it by the way you live.

     Thanks for stopping by and until next time please read your Bible, seek God’s way and keep praying.  We can once again be God’s Client Nation and have His favor.

LIFE ON THE CREEK

       My goodness, can you believe it is Wednesday and I have not written a new post?  I guess I could say it was because I had surgery last week or blame it on the tropical storm Isaac but it is neither of these.  The plain truth is I’ve just been lazy.   Like it says in Proverbs 24:33 “A little more sleep a little more folding of the hands …” with that said I know I need to get busy.  So if you don’t mind today I’ll do a little reminiscing about life on The Creek.  The Creek is not the proper name of the street I grew up on but it is the common name and thus that’s what we will use.

     We moved to The Creek when I was about nine or ten years old.  Momma and Daddy were proud of that house.  It was small and absolutely nothing fancy; just a poor working man’s home.  Most of the other kids were grown, married and had families of their own.  Betty Jean and I were the ones left home with Momma and Daddy.  While Daddy was still alive life was pretty good; he made sure we had everything we needed.  I think we were the second family on the street to own a television.  The kids used to gather in our living room in the afternoon to watch cartoons.  We were only able to get two channels and they were in black and white.  Am I dating myself?  Momma turned the television on for them even if Betty Jean and I weren’t watching it.  And we had an outhouse until I was about twelve or thirteen.  I guess we were more blessed than some because while many people used the Sears and Roebuck Catalogue to finish their business in there we has toilet paper.  Let me tell you that was the cheapest toilet paper I have ever seen.  You could read the catalogue through a sheet of it; no double ply there.  But we had it so we had to consider ourselves blessed.

     After Daddy died things changed.

     The house was about a foot off the ground in front with a concrete block for the front step to the porch.  Or I guess you could call it a half porch because it didn’t go all the way across the front of the house.  It went about half way and then there was a bedroom with the only entrance from the porch.  Momma and Daddy called it the ‘shed room’ but I don’t know why it was small but as nice as any of the other rooms.  Two of my brothers slept there until they left home.  The back part of the house was about three or four feet off the ground and open.  Once we got the inside plumbing the pipes ran under the house.  In the winter the cold wind would moan and groan as it whipped under the house and froze the water pipes.  Yes, sometimes it would make them burst and none of us, Momma, Betty Jean nor me, knew how to work on plumbing so there was a bill that we seldom had money to pay for.  We would sometimes be without water for a few weeks.  We used the toilet if water was available but when it wasn’t we had to go back to the outhouse.  Thank God Daddy didn’t have it torn down.

     Let me tell you that you haven’t lived until you have to get up and trudge to the back of the property, (no one put the outhouse up close) on a morning when the temperature is below freezing, to pee.  Forget about the odor when you dropped your panties and sat on that cold seat the last thing in the world you were thinking about was the smell.  And even when the plumbing was working you had to go out on the back porch to enter the bathroom and there was absolutely no heat in there.  It was a bare necessaries bathroom.  Well … it did have a sink and bathtub but no shower.  The floor was covered with cheap Linoleum and it later years the design was worn off from so much foot traffic and the red backing showed through in places.  There were a couple of places where the floor had rotted and there were holes about the size of dollar and if you looked through you could see the ground under the house.  Yes sir the wind always found those holes and rushed into the room with a lonesome whine as though it was sad to be separated from the rest that blew under the house.

     Am I feeling sorry for myself?  Absolutely not!  I believe it was those times that makes me thankful that I can take a nice hot bath or shower when I want to.  And I have nice soap; back then we had to use the cheapest we could find and it sure didn’t have moistureizers for your skin.  But we were together and our home was full of love.  At night when the cold wind blew and whipped under the house and sneaked through the cracks that has also opened in places throughout the house we would all three snuggle in one bed, to help stay warm, under heavy quilts that Momma had made and we didn’t worry about what we didn’t have we were thankful we had each other.

     Thanks for stopping by and listening to my memories I’m sure I will share others at another time.  Until then be thankful for all that God gives you and love your family and tell them so.

God Bless.

WHO CAN SOLVE THE UNITED STATE’S PROBLEMS

 

     My thoughts for today might seem a bit scrambled.   And I will blame that on too many political commercials or should we call it what it is and say too much mud-slinging by the candidates.  Are you like me and inundated information that says each man is the best and if elected he will turn this country around and once again make us a “kick-ass” country instead of a “kiss-ass” country.  (Pardon the language please?)  If so my two cents might help you make up your mind about who to vote for or you will simply take it along with the other politics.

     No one man got us in the fix we are in today and no one man can get us out.  Period!  We, the Christians can take the blame for that.  There was a time when the husband was head of the home and he went out made the living for the family and was proud to do so.  The wife was happy to stay home and take care of the home and family.  She taught her children Christian principles and manners.  She did not expect the school to do.  And she taught her children to respect authority.  When I say husband and wife I mean one man and one woman who are married and not just living together first to see how it works and certainly not two men or two women.  During that time the children were born after the wedding. 

     Now a days Christians are not standing up for our values and the Christians principles that we are taught.  We accept the world’s standards!  In so many cases you can’t tell the Christians from the world we have come to accept and be so much like them. We want the schools and churches to teach our children right from wrong but even if they do we fail to support their teaching.  We, Christians are living together out-of-wedlock, we’re having babies without marriage, and we accept homosexuality; to name a few.  The list goes on and on just look around.  If little Johnny sees his daddy cheat on his taxes then he figures it is all right for him to cheat on his school test.  If we say “Don’t drink” but our children see a cabinet in our home filled with alcoholic beverages then they get a double message which leads to a double standard.

     Back when I was growing up the family all sat around the table and had dinner together.  That was a time when we could talk and discuss our day and what was happening in our lives.  Today most parents are too busy to sit down and eat with their children.  This starts when the kids are babies and continues.  So when do they communicate with each other?  Almost never!  The parents are more interested in their careers.  They hardly know their own children because some other woman called a nanny or housekeeper is raising them.  And while she is raising their children someone else is caring for hers.  Oh…I know they say it takes two salaries in today’s economy.  But there is a reason for that.  Today they must have a big houses, two cars, boats, and on and on.  Today even the Jones are keeping up with the Jones.  And I ask why?  Why are we throwing the important thing out the window?  Our family!  And striving for what’s important to the world.

     No Satan is doing what he should be doing.  He is destroying our families thus our Christian principles and values.  It is we Christians who are failing to do what we should be doing.  We don’t need a whole village to raise our children we need to do the job ourselves and do it based on Christian values.

     Thanks for listening to my thoughts today.  Until next time give it some thought and keep believing, keep trusting God and keep praying.  The world needs more praying parents.  God bless.

The Man My Daddy Was

  

     By now we all know, if we didn’t before, that Sunday is Father’s Day.  I asked myself if I should jump on the wagon with everyone else and write something with that in mind.  The television is blasting about how great dads are and how we should be grateful to and for our dads.  And I know there are those that wish the day would just come and get it over.  Some never knew their fathers and some would have been better off if they never knew theirs.  Then there are those like me.

     I lost my Daddy when I was in my teens.  My Mom completely forgot what day it was and he was buried on my fourteenth birthday.  Happy birthday to me, right?  It didn’t matter because I was certainly in no mood to celebrate.  After that every year as I got older the day brought sad memories instead of time for a celebration.  Until I got old enough to realize it was a time to celebrate; not because Daddy died but because it was his graduation day so to speak.  He is in Heaven and no longer has to face the trials and hard work of this old world.

     He worked two jobs to make sure his family did not do without anything we needed right up to the day he died.  Both jobs were at a sawmills, he did what they regularly do at a mill from twelve-thirty to five and four or five nights a week  and/or weekends he was a night watchman (now they would have called it security) at another sawmill.  When I smell the clean, sweet scent of fresh-cut lumber I think of my Daddy.  That and Old Spice Cologne are the scents I relate to Daddy.  

     Sometimes when he worked weekends I would ride my bike out to the mill and stay with him.  It was a huge place and I tagged along beside him as he made the rounds making sure everything was secure. If it was in the winter he would build a fire in an old rusty drum and cook coffee in an old coffee can and heat soup for us on top.  As we drink and ate he told me stories about his youth.  I could not picture him being young because he was fifty-five when I was born.  When it wasn’t cold he would break out bologna, mayo and bread from the large cooler he carried.  We made our sandwiches on top of the cooler then sat on the huge logs and ate as he talked.  He gave me advice on how to live a good life.  One thing I remember was: ‘Whether a job is big or small do it right or not at all.’   That was his philosophy and how he lived his life and I try to make it mine.

       I’m well aware there are dads out there who could never measure up to the man my Daddy was.  Oh yes, some of them have more money because it’s a fact we were not rolling in the dough.  They buy their kids all kinds of expensive gifts and send them to the best private schools.  However, they are so busy chasing the almighty dollar that they never stop and sit on a log, eat a bologna sandwich and talk to their kids.  There are others who are such monsters they have no right to be called ‘Daddy’.  And there are those who are simply sperm donors.  When I look at them all I know God truly blessed me with a wonderful Daddy and I would not trade the time I spent with him for all the gold in China. 

     So if you have a good daddy go visit him, maybe make a sandwich and sit on the equivalent of a log and listen to what he has to say.  Remember God didn’t promise us tomorrow. Until next time God bless.

Some of God’s Greatest Gifts

    

We are getting some much-needed rain here in Florida.  It rained several days last week and so far for three days this week.  This is a good thing because all our rivers, creeks, canals and etc. were so low.  Everybody was saying how things were going to dry up if we didn’t get rain.  I didn’t worry because I know our God is an on-time God and He will give us what we need exactly when we need it. Oh we might think He is dragging His heels or running late but remember He always knows what’s best.  We just need to have faith in Him.  I know there have been times when I’ve prayed for something and I didn’t get the answer for over a year.  But He came through when I actually needed it. 

     You have probably, as I have many times, heard people say that God will never put more on you than you can bear.  Well most of the time they are thinking about problems, heartaches etc.  But the same holds true for blessings.  God will never give us anything that we are not mature enough to handle.  We might thing “If I had a million dollars I’d do…”  But God knows exactly what you would do if you had that kind of money.  Not saying that you would but some just can not handle being rich.  Look at all the athletes and actress/actors who have made the big bucks then got hooked on drugs or alcohol.  They were not mature enough in their faith to handle the big money.

     If you are asking God for something and He doesn’t seem to be answering then go to Him again but this time ask Him what is standing in your way.  Ask Him what is in your life that you need to put aside or grow in understanding so you will be able to deal with whatever you are asking for.  Get in His Word and pray for maturity, ask Him to guide you in the paths that are right (Proverbs 3: 5-6.)  He will absolutely lead you in the way you should go.  I won’t guarantee that this will happen but farther down the road of life you will most probably look back and say “Thank You God for not answering that prayer.”  They say that some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.

     Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time stay safe and dry.

Sunflower

 

     Several years ago we went to visit on my in-laws farm.  My brother-in-law had planted some sunflower seeds and the plants were over six feet tall with blooms almost the size of dinner plates.  Yes I was impressed since I’m a flower nut. 

     So for the last couple of years, since I retired, I’ve tried to grow sunflowers but every year the squirrels dig up the seed and eat them.  I tried everything from putting moth balls to hot pepper of the seed but still they ate them; the pesky creatures!  This year my husband built me something like a mini greenhouse or maybe you’d call it a cage; whatever.  The frame is about two feet high and wide and about four feet long and this he covered with screen wire.  It fits on our picnic table, which we seldom use, on the patio and is the absolutely ideal to start seed; safe from the squirrels.  When the sunflowers got about two feet tall I was able to put them in my flower garden which might be called an English Garden but I just call it eclectic.  If I see a flower and like it I buy and plant it wherever it fits in the yard.

     Now I pampered these plants and were so proud of them and sure enough they got about five and six feet tall.  I only had five but that was enough to make me happy.  And oh yes, what joy the day the huge bloom opened.  If it wasn’t as big as my brother-in-law’s it was most definitely a close second.

     Then disaster!  I walked out there one morning and one of them was broken down to the ground.  I wanted to cry but I sucked it up since I still had four.  And in a few days another bit the dust.  I knew it was my pesky neighbors who I feed and water.  Shame on them for being so ungrateful!  I had pampered these plants and watched them grow from seeds to seedlings and then big tall plants with large blooms.  Yes, I was proud.  But now that I had lost two I worried about the other three.  I dug my husband’s large plastic owl from his shop, I say dug because he piles everything in that place.  I call it his man cave.  Anyway, I wedged the owl between some limbs on my crepe myrtle and I hope it scares the living daylights out of those squirrels.

     Then I got to thinking; is that how God feels when someone refuses His offer of salvation.  He knew us before we were knitted together in the womb. (Jeremiah 1:5 and Psalm 139:13)  He knew us and He watched us grow from seed to seedling and then adulthood.  Does it break His heart when we ignore Him?  And when He sees Satan come along and destroy us.  

     God gave us the freedom of choice but it doesn’t mean He stops loving us when we refuse Him.

     Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time stop and enjoy the flowers along life’s way.  God only gave us one life and He wants us to live it to the fullest. John 14:27