I AM.................

I drove the suburban and Mark drove the RV down to Florida.  So, I got to hear four sermons on the way down.  One of the radio preachers mentioned God's answer to Moses question. What should I tell them when they ask who sent you .  His relied, I AM WHO I AM, tell them that I AM sent you.

This leaves a lot of mystery about God.  Spending the Month of December in the gospels, I found out a lot about the great I AM  through the life of Jesus.

 When His disciples asked Him to show them The Father and they would be satisfied,
 Jesus said:
Don't you know who I am after all this time.
 Any one who has seen Me  has seen the Father
 I speak God's word and represent the Father.
I am in the Father and He is in me.
He does His work through Me,
 I say only what I am told to say by the one who sent me and He is truth.
Any one who welcomes my message welcomes...the Father who sent me.
You trust God, now trust Me.
 Love Me and obey me and I will ask the Father and He will give you the Holy Spirit
 The Holy Spirit will never leave you.
 The Holy Spirit leads to all truth.

 There is so much more in the gospels about the relationship between the Holy Trinity. These are just a few truths found in John, that Jesus said about himself.

I am the word
I am greater than all other gods
I am the companion of the Father
I am the LORD
I am the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world
I am the Light from Heaven
I am sent by God
I am God's Spirit
I am loved by my Father
I am master of the Sabbath
I am full of loving forgiveness
I am His Glory
I am the true light
I am the Creator, I made the world
I am the one who gives all who receives me the right to become children of God
I am Eternal Life
I am the living bread
I am the bread of life
I am the light of the world
I am one witness and my Father who sent me is the other
I am the light of the world
I am from above
I am not of this world
I am the One that I have always claim to be
I am the Messiah and when you kill me, you will realize it
I am telling you what I saw when I was with the Father
I am the gate
I am the Good Shepard
I am the One,  sanctified and sent
I am the Son of God
I am the resurrection
I am the one who gives life
I am lifted up (on the cross)
I am Lord, Teacher and Master
I am washing your feet as an example of being a servant
I am giving you a new commandment to Love one another
I am going to prepare a place for you
I am going away, but I will come again.
I am leaving you with a gift
I am the True Vine
I am in the Father and the Father is in Me
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the father except by Me
I am not praying for you alone, but also for future believers

Did you catch that last one.  Jesus is praying for us today.  He is sitting on the throne in heaven with the Father and  interceding for you and me.  He has sent us the  Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us and to draw us to a saving knowledge of God the Father and Jesus the Son.  The great sin of the world today, is unbelief.

  Do you believe?  Do you know Jesus?.  Do you have a personal relationship with the one who loved you enough to come down from Heaven to die for you?  If not, today is the day.  Do not let another day go by with out claiming the gift of salvation freely given to any one who will ask for it.

 Admit that you are a sinner, acknowledge that the wages of sin is death. Believe  that Jesus died on the cross for your  sins. Confess with your  mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.  Call upon the name of the Lord. Tell Him that  you need a Savior and ask Him to come into your heart and be you LORD and Savior. Do it now with a simple sincere prayer.

 Begin the New Year as a child of God and secure your future now.  There will be a great celebration in Heaven just for you. Pick up your Bible, dust it off and start your new years off with the living Word.

reading the gospels for December

I just finish reading the Book of John.  I have really enjoyed spending December with Jesus by reading  the gospels . Matthew, Mark , Luke and John are the good news about Jesus. You can read them any time   and fall more in Love with our Savior.

 Years ago at a Christian Women conference, Bobby Bowden was the speaker.  He told his players that  John was a good place to start reading the Bible.   So, if you need somewhere to start reading the word next year,  John is not a bad place to start.      

Killer hike

We have been so busy lately that we have not done much hiking.  So, we decided to start off slow and build up to real hikes...or so I thought.  Our first hike was 3 miles and in the cool weather it was a breeze.  Our next hike was 4 miles, still not so bad.  Last night we hike 5 miles and still no problems.  A couple laps around the campground after supper and we still felt good enough for a night walk.  So, this morning Mark  grabbed a couple of bottle waters , snack bars and almonds.  That should have been a warning to me, but I'm kind of slow some times.  He said that we were going to go on a 5 or 6 mile hike.

This morning was very cold, temperatures, in the 30's , so I put on appx. 30 lbs of clothes.  First a tee shirt and long sleeve shirt, then a fleece jacket and a windbreaker and of course the orange vest so that we do not get shot by deer hunters.  My pants were lined and I put on a scarf and a hooded scarf and a wool hat, very thick socks and walking shoe. Mark handed me my walking stick and  I was ready for our hike. I had water and snack in one  pocket and phone and tissue in the other pocket.  We both have colds which makes breathing difficult.  The fresh air will do us good...right?

The first few miles were great.  We  walked and talked and enjoyed all of the natural beauty that surrounded us.  Some times we walked side by side and other times the trail was narrow so we walked single file.  Some where between mile four and five, Mark called me pokey.  He said that I was slowing down.  I told him that I was getting tired and to go ahead of me, just don't get  out of sight. When we were getting close to five or six miles, Mark casually said that we had four more miles to go.  WHAT ?  I did not sign up for eight to ten miles.

  We stopped and I started taking off layers of clothes.  Even though it was still cold out here, my body was getting hot and I was sweating under all these clothes.  Now, when you take off clothes in the woods with out a back pack, you have to tie them to you waist.  We started walking again, all up hill...I can not figure out how we always go up hill.  I am officially tired by now and I say so.  Big mistake, now Mark has his tablet out looking for short cuts back to camp.  We are in a 50,000 acre  forest.  How is it that we just walked out of the park and into a residential area.  We find a dirt road and get back on the path and I am hoping we are going the right way.  I have tissue in my pocket, but I can not take a potty break because of all of the hunters in these woods.   I have only seen two but I know they are out here and can see us.

Mark some times pushes us  just past my point of endurance, but when it is over I am glad that we did it.  My fearless leader finally found our way home.  But for the last few miles back to our camp site, I was not a happy camper.

December...nothing to do

We had a very busy fall season,  so we were happy to see nothing on our December calender. Little did we know.  The first few days, the Tillmans came from Ecuador for a visit.  Which means lots of  fun,  food, and family.  All of the kids love to come and visit their  Aunt Tevie and Uncle Jim.

  They left on Monday.  Tuesday, I had Bible study end of the year gathering.  By then, we had gotten the call to go to New York for the Red Cross.  So Mark finished the packing and we headed to Valdosta for a meeting with Jack.  Found out that we would be leaving Wednesday.  So, we called my brother Glenn and invited ourselves to spend the night with he and Lynn.  We ate steak and sat around the fire. Wednesday morning, we waited around the Red Cross office for confirmation and orders.   Drove to Jacksonville and made our 3:00 flight.

  Landed in New York and took shuttle to Hotel and checked in with a lot of other Red Cross volunteers.  Thursday, we had orientation  and got  assigned  to  a new program combining ERV drivers and case workers.  We work for the next 15 days in  an amazing  fulfilling job. We did not take a day off as they suggest.  We were just so excited about what we were doing.  We worked our last day and took the subway to the airport and waited.   After three delays because of weather, we finally loaded up and flew back to Jacksonville.  When we got there, we did a little shopping and went to bed.

Saturday morning we headed  to Madison for Mom's Christmas.  Another day of  fun, food  and family.  This one did have a special time for remembering all of our family members that we have lost.  Took all of the grands home so that the adults could have time for themselves.  The girls helped me put up two Christmas trees.  Mark and Riley went to get wood for the fire pit and some cedar limbs to bring  that Christmas smell that I love.  When Riley brought the cedar in, we decided to use a metal Christmas tree stand and turn it into a real Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  Sunday through Tuesday, we were blessed with fun, food ad family.  I love having everyone home at the same time and delight in watching them enjoy each other.

Wednesday, We took all of the grandchildren home to their parents and started packing to go to Florida.  After lunch, our bodies finally said," slow down, take a nap".  So, we finally took a day off and watched a movie and read and took a walk.

Thursday morning, we went to Mom's to pick up our R.V.  After a wonderful lunch, we headed south.  We are now camping out and shopping and chillin.  After this busy...nothing to do month... We need a rest.

Have a happy New Years.  We will have a quiet one at a campground somewhere in Florida.

Red cross folks

Red cross volunteers are just regular folks  doing the best they can to help those in need.  We are from every state in the United states. We meet  many Vietnam vet, young people, retired folks like us,  and , some who  are still working and using vacation time  to serve.  They all have interesting  story's as to why they serve.  We meet each other at snack "breakfast", where we grab a quick coffee a bagel  and head to early meetings or to catch the  van.  We talk in  the van on the way to work and learn a lot about each others.  I have met people who have survived other disasters and did not forget what Red cross did for them.  People who have been down on their "luck and received a helping hand and want to give back.  Some of the volunteers spend more time deployed than at home.  We don't know what time or what  day it is We just go from site to site, following directions. This is a huge operation.   Things do not always go perfect.  We get cold,  tired, sick  frustrated and make mistakes.  But our heart is in the right place.  We just want to serve as many people as we can before returning home to the real world.

Gospel = good news about Jesus

Matthew 27:51 indicates there was an earth quake at the Death of Jesus.  Matthew 28: 2 indicates  there was another  earth quake when He had risen when  the Angel of the Lord came and rolled back the stone.  The keepers of the tomb passed out in fear.

The Angel told  the Marys  to go quickly and tell the disciples that He had risen and to go to the meeting place in Galilee on the mountain. As they were heading to tell, they saw Jesus and worshipped   Him. He told them to go  tell His  brethren to go to the meeting place and He  would  meet them there.

The eleven came to the mountain to meet with Jesus and He told them that all power is given to Him in Heaven and Earth. He left earth the sacrificial lamb and return All powerful. So, He told them  to" Go  ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost." He promised that He would be with them  always.

To find out how this will happen, we have to go to Acts 1:8 .. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit will come upon you. We have assess to Jesus today through the Word of God and His Holy Spirit. The is the GOOD NEWS of the gospel. He lived, He died for you and me  and He has risen again with power over sin.  

I plan to read the rest of the gospels, but will not do a chapter by chapter review. There is a lot of repetition in  the story of Jesus all over the pages of the word. I will go to Mark next and hope to get to Luke by Christmas and John after Christmas.  Have a wonder month of celebrating the real  reason for the season




 

Bob is leaving

Yesterday was another good day.  We set up at the same place and the crowds came fast.  We gave away all of our food and a lot of our water by noon.. We got a call from Steve at the other location that he was swamped with after church crowd.  This was the group that the preacher had told us about. Mark and I took our ERV and drove over to help.  Mark jumped on the supply truck to help and I passed out water with a local helping. By 1:30 both  ERVs , were out of everything.

We love our team but, everything is about to change.  Our supervisor left last night.  She is a wonderful, quiet, decisive  lady who I really respect and hope  to work with again. Today iDavid and Bob last day.  David is a great guy from California,  even if he can not pronounce the word almond.  He gave all of us ladies a rose and mine is still by our bed in a juice jar.  But what are  we going to do with out Bob.  In the van last night,  we were all trying to bribe Bob to stay another week.  He keeps us all laughing in that long ride back  to head quarters. I can not tell you how professional he is while working and how off the chain he his on the ride home.  He has been known to say things that may be politically incorrect. The guys were teasing him last night,  that if we ever had to take a sensitivities  class he would be the cause.  He immediately responded, "I'll teach the class.  Bob will be missed.

Not sure what today will bring.  Remember to be flexible and patient.

Rebel with a Cause.. Franklin Graham

I am reading Franklin Grahams autobiography ,Rebel with a Cause.  It is a very interesting book about Billy Grahams son, who, as a young man could have been called and PK times ten.  It tells how he  turn from a rebellious teenager to the leader of the Samaritan's Purse and so much more.

In chapter 16 of  this book that was written in 1995, I found a very timely idea.  His father was able to preach all over the world and manage to stay out of politics.  I am going to write this paragraphs just as they are written on the bottom of 205 and top of 206. I did leave out the words nuclear war and disarmament.

"Day after day, I was impressed with the way Daddy always directed messages as well as responses to question back to Christ. He wouldn't allow himself  to get sucked into any political issues or controversies. We attended these meetings two and three times a day.  And as I heard Daddy's answers to questions over and over, something was being drilled into me."

"After several days of this, I prayed, "Lord, give me that ability in every interview I do from now on, allow me to do the same.  I want to be able to take any reporter's question and turn it around to focus on Christ.

"To me, that was what truly mattered.  Political issues would come and go .  It was the gospel, the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, that would endure.  That is what I want to talk about."

My mama used to say, preachers come and go, but the church belongs to God. So, I say that politicians , come and go, but God is ultimately in control.  That is why I do not talk politics. 

I do not expect to ever  be interviewed, but I would like to learn to keep  the focus of my conversations  on Christ and off of me and what I think.

Meekness = Awesome Power under control

Matthew 26-27
Jesus was a meek man. We have the wrong few of meekness and associate it with weakness.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It is difficult to read this part of scripture so I picked out a few circumstances that show how much He went through for you and me and how He maintain total control of the whole situation according to the will of His Father.

First some many of the things that happen were recorded in the old testament years before He was even born. Jesus knew what was about to happen and He went any way because of His love for us.

 The religious leaders thought that they were in control when they plotted to kill Him.  Judas thought he had it all figured out when he choose to betray the Master.  Peter thought that he the self control to never deny His master. So,  He slept through his last opportunity to pray for strength and be there for His friend. That goes for all of his disciples who scattered when He was arrested. Judas thought that he was in charge  when he choose to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.  Jesus could have asked His Father and He would have sent 10,000 angels to destroy all of them.   Pilate thought that he alone had the power to free Jesus and could not believe that Jesus would  beg for His life before him. Jesus kept His peace.  The soldiers may have been the most wrong about their power of Christ and realized it too late.  Can you imagine realizing too late that you had spit in the face of the creator of the world, You beat and mocked and and striped and and put a crown of thorns on the King  universe.   They gamble for his robe and sat down to watch Him die. Later in great fear they realized their mistake,"surely this man was the son of God. As Jesus was  dying on the cross, the multitude who days earlier had blessed  Him and called Him Hosanna ridiculed Him.  Of course the Religious leaders mocked Him saying that He could not save Himself  and challenged Him to call to His father if He really was the Son of God.

Three hours of darkness and then the hardest moment in the life of Jesus.  His only true separation from His Father. He crys out to His Father and yields up the Ghost . No one took His life , He gave it up for you and me.  The earth quakes, the vail  in the temple was  ripped from top to bottom salvation.  Many saints come out of the grave and are later seen around town.
The King of the Jews is dead. The lamb of God who took away  the sins of the world. Jesus, the all powerful God showed us what meekness looks like.  The story is not over.  The best is yet to come.

12 tired ERV drivers in a van

The Emergency response vehicles (ERV) are too large to drive inside of NYC. SO, they pack us  like sardines in a shuttle van to go to the warehouse  in New Jersey to pick up our ERVS  and supplies and send us on our way
.
 What happens when you pack 12 tired ERV drivers into a shuttle van at the end of a day for a one hour drive back to headquarters should stay in NYC, but I just can't help myself.  We come  from Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee , California , Texas, Kentucky, some Midwestern states and a couple of Northerner and a driver.

It started with a debate on how to say almonds and that debate  ran through out the night. Then,  they got personal when they started talking about grits and boiled peanuts.  We had to remind them that there where two Georgia folks in the back. Then the started on Texas and that  was when we learn  that Cindy was from Texas.  We heard her from the back seat  say," watch out,  the eyes of Texas are upon you."

 We came through a toll booth which started Bob talking about ERV driving and  how many  toll booths he may have run. We all cracked up when  he gave us  ERV rules about stop signs and turns and places to park  "Just turn on your lights and make your self at home."

We talked about how to pronounce pecans and of course Bob had a joke about pe-can.  There was important culture question about things such as noodling catfish and moonshine. There was discussions about gators and squirrels  and other critters.  The differences between California and Florida discussed with California winning because of  humidity. We talked about a lot of other important issues on the way home, but I  am too tired to remember them.

All in all, it was an interesting night with talking and laughing and unwinding from a long day as you constantly shifted  anytime  anyone  moves  to get comfortable in your limited space. Red Cross is a lot of hard work with  long days, being  from family,  seeing sad situations and learning to be flexible  and patience  with  chaos and  constant change.  But it is the people we serve and the people we serve with that make it worth while.

Jesus in Jerusalem

Chapter 21-25 begins with the triumphal entry of Jesus in to the city with the multitude crying out, "blessed is the He who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna. Then Jesus goes in to the temple and cast out the buyers and sellers and money changers. He is very upset that they have turned His Fathers house of prayer in to a den of thieves. He also heals in the temple and the children are singing His praises. All of this displeases the Chief Priest and scribes, to put it mildly.

The rest of these chapters we see the confrontations between Jesus and the religious leaders of the day.  Jesus beats them at their own game and after questions and answers and parables, they realize that he is talking about them.  He talks about them rejecting the cornerstone (Him) and about being hypocrites. Jesus tells more parables about the Kingdom of Heaven.

 He also tells them what the greatest commandment is "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and with all thy mind. The second is like unto it.  Thous shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."  On these two commandments hang all the law.  I am sure that this did not set well with the man made law loving bunch whose jobs rely on their lording over the people.

 He tells them that the greatest will be servants and that those who exalts himself will be abase and those who humble themselves will be exalted.  Then  He starts with a lot of woe unto you scribes and pharisees, hypocrites.  He tells them that heaven and earth will pass away but that His words would not pass away.  He tells a few more parables and He was finished with all of these sayings.

 He begins  again to tell His disciples what was about to happen.   The next few chapters will be  hard to read  after we have  read so much about Jesus that we have falling in love with Him all over again.    .

Jesus Journey to Jerusalem

Chapter 19 and 20

On His journey to Jerusalem Jesus had:

Large crowds with lots of people who needed healing

Pharisees trying to trip Him up with difficult questions

Disciples rebuking children that He love and wanted to bless

Rich young ruler leaving when he did not like His answer

He tried to tell the disciples what He was facing when he got there

but they did not seem to hear or understand or get it

Instead, He had to deal with a meddling mom who wanted the best 

positions for her two sons and them saying they could handle it

Then, of course the other 10 get upset

So, He has to spend time trying to tell them that the first will be last

and the last will be first by telling them a parable...not sure they got it

And I am pretty sure they did not get the greatest among them is to be servant

Even when He tells them that He came to serve, not to be served

As they depart from Jericho with a great multitude following Him

Two blind men start crying out  to Him and the crowd rebukes them

and they cry louder, Have mercy on us, Son of David.

Jesus stops and has compassion on them and touches them 

and they receive their sight and follow Him.

Jesus loves the little Children

Matthew 18. When Jesus was asked who the greatest in the Kingdom were, He called a little child in the midst of them.  He said that unless you humble yourself as this little child you can not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.  He also said that whoever receives one such little one in His name, receives Jesus.  But whoever offends or causes a  little one to stumble, it is better to have a mill stone around neck and drown in the deep sea. Temptation  will come ,but woe to the one who tempts a child.  Take heed that you do not hurt  one of these little ones. Their Angels always have access to His Father in Heaven.

He adds that He has come to seek and to save the lost.  Like a shepherd with 100 sheep. When ones strays, He will leave the 99 and search the one until He finds it.  When he finds the one there will be a celebration. It  it not the will of God, the Father  that any should perish. With God and Jesus it is all about  Love and relationships with God and our brother and sisters.

Jesus told  them how to reconcile with their brother.  Peter ask if he must forgive 7 times  and Jesus says, 70 x 7 meaning more than you can count. Then, He tells a story about a servant  that was forgiven a large debt but was not willing to forgive a debt.  That is what we are like when we choose not to forgive. Remember all that God has forgiven and forgive others.

Like reading a good book..an Autobiography

I love doing Bible studies, studying the Bible with ladies like Kay author and Beth Moore.  I am still trying to memorize as much as scripture  as possible, verses, chapters and now books of the Bible.  But some time,  you just want to read a good book, an Autobiography about some one interesting in History.  That is what it is like when you read the gospels..the good news about the most important person to ever be born, Jesus.
Read the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, searching Jesus and you will find Him.

transfiguration of Jesus

We finish the last  chapter with this verses. "Truly I say to you , that there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom."
Chapter17
Six days later Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up a mountain for a real mountain top experience.  He was transfigured before them, his face shone like the sun and his garments became white as light.  He was talking to Moses and Elijah.  What a privilege. Then, like me, Peter had to open his mouth. Next a voice come from Heaven and  says "this is my beloved Son,  with whom I am well pleased, listen to Him".  Again like I would do ,they fell on their faces and were filled with awe. When they look up all are gone but Jesus.

Jesus tells them again that He is to be delivered into the hands of man and they will kill Him and that He will be raised on the third day.  And again they are distressed.

man's traditions vs God's commandments

At the end of chapter14 , we find Jesus healing  the sick all over the region.
So, of course we start chapter 15 with Religious leaders back in Jesus face,  complaining about the disciples transgressing  the traditions of the elders by ( now get this ) by not washing their hands.  I kind of think that maybe theses men had too much time on their hands. Jesus came back with, "Why do you transgress the commandments of God for the sake of your traditions."  Wow, I think  that Jesus trumped them and won that verbal battle. He called them Hypocrites and quoted the prophet Isaiah.

Jesus called the crowd to Him and told them to listen and try to understand that it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out it.  The disciples ask Jesus if he knew that He had offended the  Pharisees. Jesus told them not to worry, God would uproot any  plant that He had not planted and that they were the blind leading the blind. He told them that what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart and that is what  defiles the man,  not unwashed hands.

After this encounter, Jesus goes back to healing multitudes and feeds 4000+ people and the crowd glorifies God

Chapter 16 has the Pharisees and Sadducees asking for signs. Jesus replied that they would not receive any signs except the sign of Jonah. Jesus again called them a evil and adulterous generation and warned the disciples to beware of the leaven or teaching of these leaders.

Peter's confession of faith is, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."....We must confess the same.

Jesus begins to tell the disciples about what is to happen to Him.

The heart of Jesus

Matthew 14 starts with the death of John the Baptist. His disciples bury him and go tell Jesus.  When things happen that break our heart...tell it to Jesus.  This chapter shows us the Heart of Jesus.  When Jesus heard the news, He withdrew to a solitary place by boat.  Can't you just see the heart of Jesus. This was his cousin and a man that he loved and respected.  He needed to talk to His Father.  The Son of Man was all God and all man and He had feelings too.  He had just been rejected by his home town and now this news came.

But alas, He saw the crowd had followed Him and he had compassion on them.  Even though He needed time alone,  He healed their sick until evening.  Then,  when the disciples said it was time to send them home.  Jesus would not until he had fed all 5000+ until they were all full with left overs. Then, He sent the disciples ahead in the boat so that He could dismiss the crowd.  That is when Jesus was finally able to get back to His Quiet time with His Heavenly Father. But, His long day was not over yet. Meanwhile in the boat around 4:00 a.m., the disciples were in trouble and Jesus walked on water to get to his friends.  He calm there fears and allowed Peter to walk on water as long as he kept his eyes of Jesus. He reached out to his friend and got in the boat and the wind ceased.  Those in the boat worshiped Him and said," truly You are the Son of God."
I can't  help but believe that  maybe hearing his friends say this did His heart good  after this very long day.  

parables of Jesus

Chapter 13 is full of parables of Jesus. Here a few of them that you may want to read
He told the Parable of the sower, then explained it to the disciples and said, "He who has ears let him hear."  He then gave the reason for speaking in parables to the disciples.  He told several parables about the Kingdom:

good seeds and weeds
mustard seed
leaven
hidden treasures
pearls
net cast into the sea

When he finished the parables He went home where He was rejected. Honored everywhere else, but not in His home country by His own people.  He did only a few miracles because of their unbelief.

Jesus VS Religious leaders

Chapter 12 seems to be a turning point between Jesus and the Religious leaders. Several things happened that cause them to plot to kill Jesus.

 The Pharisees condemned His disciples for eating grain in the field on the Sabbath. Jesus told them that He was Lord of the Sabbath and that He  desired mercy  more than sacrifice. He said that if they knew the law or who was in their midst,  they would not condemn the guiltless. Later they  condemned Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. He asked them if it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath.  Then, when Jesus was healing and casting out demons, they thought that He was Beelzebul.  Once again , Jesus knew their  thoughts and told them that a house divided would fall.  Later, the scribes and the Pharisees asked Him for signs to prove who He was.  Jesus rebuked them calling them an evil and adulterous generation that was only getting worse. You may want to read chapter 12 to see some of the strong words Jesus  had for these religious  leaders.

Jesus praises John the Baptist

Chapter 11
Even John the Baptist  while in prison doubted and asked if He was really the one .  Jesus responded to him with a positive message..the good news. He then told  the crowd  that none greater  that John had ever been born. But that the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater that John. He said that this generation are like children that can no be satisfied. John came and did not drink or hardly eat and they said he was crazy. The Son of Man (himself) came eating and drinking and they called Him a glutton and drunker and friends with tax collectors and sinners. He reproofed the city because they had seen more of His miracles than other cities and  still did not repent. Then,  He invites those who were  burdened and weary to come to Him and find rest.

Jesus instructions to His disciples

Chapter 10 Jesus called His 12 disciples and sent them out to the lost sheep  giving them authority.
Reading this chapter I found 12 instructions that we would do well to obey.
 1-Go to the lost sheep
 2 -Be wise as serpents
 3-Be gentle and harmless as doves
 4-Know that you will be persecuted
 5-Do not be anxious
 6- Know that God will give you the words you need when you need them
 7-Do not fear what man can do to you
 8-Acknowledge God before man
 9-Teach and preach and be a healing hand to those in need
10-Take up your cross and follow Him
11-Love God love more than any one else
12-Give..even a cup of water to a little and you will receive your reward



 

family weekend

We really enjoyed our family weekend.  Mark's sister and her husband came from Ecuador Friday afternoon. We went up town for groceries and to visit Drew and tell Clint Happy Birthday. We promised them a good steak and potato supper. We went for a long walk and then ate a very good supper.  Clint and Anna came by with the kids for a short visit.

 Saturday we cooked  a big brunch for all of the kids to visit with Uncle Jim and Aunt Tevie (I still call her Ronda).  They started coming at 9:00 and we ate  and played with kids and had Clint's Birthday party until   2:00. The kids left, Mark took a nap and the Tillmans went to work for a little while. I read and watched a little Christmas movie on the Hallmark channel.  Jim and Ronda got back and Mark got up and we went on another walk.  We settled down and watched the Georgia ball and ate left overs for supper.

Sunday was a day full of visiting, walking, cooking and eating a big lunch and then grilling  out for supper.They sat around the pit and talked until bed time.   I could tell that the kids and grands enjoyed spending time with the family,  Jim and Ronda  are leaving in the morning and we will miss them.  Looking forward to the next time they come home from Ecuador.

Jesus-The miracle worker

Chapter 8 begins with...He came down the mountain.  We too have to come down from our mountain top experience and go back to work in the real world. But the good news is that Jesus is still with us through the Holy Spirit .

When Jesus healed the leper he touched him.  This man had not been touched since he got the dreaded disease that caused him to be an outcast. Look around, we can touch the lives of the outcast in our society.

Jesus marveled at the faith of the Centurion and healed his servant.  He healed Peter's mother-in-law and she was given the privilege of serving Jesus.  The older we get the more we are given the opportunity to serve God.  Do not put seniors on a shelf. They  need to be needed and loved.... and every one can use a hug.

He cast demons and healed the sick. He told the crowd of the discipline it would take to forsake all and follow him. He marveled at the lack of faith in his own disciples when the storm came and rebuked the wind and there was a great calm.

When he cast out demons and sent them into the swine who ran into the sea and drown, the entire city came out and begged Him to leave.....and He did....how sad.

Chapter 9 Jesus came back to His home town.  He healed and forgave a paralytic,causing the scribes to think that He was blaspheming.  He knew what they were thinking and answered their unspoken question.  Jesus knew their thoughts... think about that for a while.

Jesus called Matthew the tax collector to follow Him. Then He had fellowship with the tax collectors and
sinners causing the Pharisees to question Him about that and about fasting.  He told them that he came to show mercy to the sinners , not to the self righteous. He also answered their question about fasting.

He healed a rulers daughter and on the way healed a women who had been sick for 12 years with just a touch of His hem and her faith.He healed the blind and the dumb and cast out demons.  This caused the Pharisees to accuse Him of being the prince of demons. Jesus went about teaching and preaching and healing.

He had compassion on them and said they were like sheep without a shepherd. He told his disciples that, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray to the Lord of the harvest to sent more laborers."..
...
I think that He is still saying that  to us today......Pray

The teaching Jesus

Matthew 5 Sermon on the mount
When the crowd came to Jesus, they had a true mountain top experience. Can you imagine sitting on top of a mountain and listening to Jesus teach. The bible says that He open His mouth and taught.

Read these verses like you are sitting on that Mountain with Him and you will receive a blessing. He will teach us about humility, meekness and mercy.  He praises the pure in heart, the  peacemakers and those who hunger and thirst after righteousness  and promises them they will be blessed. Those who mourn will be comforted and those persecuted for his name sake will be rewarded. He calls us salt and light and tells us to let our light shine before man so that they will see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

He explains that He has come to fulfill the law  and gives us Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth..BIBLE. His teachings are not always easy to understand or do, but they are  true and right  and the best advice you will ever get.

Listen as he teaches us how to deal with those around us. He teaches how to handle anger and reconciliations. He talks about Adultery and Divorce. He tells us to let our yes be yes and our no be no and to never seek revenge or retaliation. We are to give to the needy and not expect any thing in return. We are to love our neighbors AND our enemies and even to pray for them.  I told you His teachings are not always easy to follow, but we will be blessed when we do.

We continue in chapter 6 with more instructions on how we should live in a manner pleasing to God.  When you give, give in secret and you will receive your reward.  If you give before man so that you will be honored , you have already received your reward.  I think that I would rather be rewarded by God than man. Some times we can not help our self, we just have to brag a bit. We are also to pray and fast in secret.  We are not to  lay up our treasures here on earth.  For where  our treasure is, that is where our heart is also. We are not to be anxious about our life, for it does no good. In other words, do not worry, trust God.

In chapter 7 we learn not to judge or be hypocritical. He teaches  us  how pray to a Father who loves us and teaches us the golden rule. He warns us that the gate that leads to life is narrow and  about false prophets.  He tells us that whoever hears His worlds and does them will be wise.  When He finishes these sayings, the crowd is astonished at His teachings,  for He taught like one who had authority.  Jesus is  the authority on life  

If you would like to enjoy the sermon by Jesus that I reviewed, just turn to Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7 and read.   Relax and sit at the Master feet and learn and grow in you relationship  with the one who loves you best and knows what you need.

Matthew chapter 2-4

Matthew chapter 2
Jesus was born King of the Jews. He will save His people.  The wise men came and went and a mad man decided to destroy all of the male children.  Then we read one of the saddest verses in the Bible about a Mother's cry....weeping for her children, great mourning, can not be consoled because they were gone.  We have had  too much of that lately.

Matthew chapter 3
John the Baptist is introduced and we once again get to see the Trinity.
Jesus is baptized  and  came out of the water
The Spirit of God came down from the heavens in the form of a dove
Father God.  A voice from Heaven saying, " this is my beloved Son"

Matthew chapter 4
Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted and fasted 40 days and nights
Jesus is our example on how to resist  temptation.
 He fasted and prayed to be prepared
 He quoted scripture to defeat the devil
 He told the devil to leave Him and he had to obey.
So, let us follow His example by being prepared by praying and knowing scripture. Then, we resist the devil and  in the name of Jesus, tell the devil to leave and he must obey.

Jesus left Nazareth and  began His ministry near the sea of Galilee where he calls four disciples. He saw two fishermen who were brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew. He told them to follow Him and He would make them fishers of men. He also called two other brothers James and John.  They all left immediately and followed Him. He went about teaching and preaching and healing and His fame spread and great crowds followed Him.
I would love to think that every time God tells us to follow Him,  that we drop whatever we are doing and follow  Him.  Lord, help me to hear and obey.

In just four chapters of Matthew we get several names that Jesus is called by.
Jesus, Savior, Emmanuel, King of the Jews, Ruler, Governor,  Son, The Child, Nazarene, The Lord, Beloved Son, Son of God, a Great light.  I love the names of Jesus..say them out loud and worship Him.

Spending December with Jesus

I spent most of November in the Psalms, giving thanks. I plan to spend December with Jesus in the word by studying the gospels.
Matthew chapter one starts with the genealogy of Jesus Christ from Abraham to Christ, with five  females listed.  Three  of them could be  called bad girls of the Bible. Ruth was a foreigner.  Mary was a virgin who received a bad reputation in her day because of unbelief by the neighbors.  Kind of gives us girls hope that God can use any one to fulfill His plans.

Matthew 1:18-23 tells   the birth of Jesus. The Angel tells Joseph that Mary's baby is "of the Holy Spirit and that His name is to be Jesus which means Savior, because He will save His people from sin. This fulfilled the prophecy that said that a virgin would conceive and His name would be called Emmanuel.  Em man u el meaning God with man or God with us.

These few verses give us a beautiful picture of the Trinity... God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  Jesus is conceived (of the Holy Spirit) making the Holy Spirit  His Father which is God. He is to be called Jesus which means Savior and Emmanuel which means God with us. A wonderfully complex fact of life and yet a simply truth that we accept by faith.

Today is Clint's birthday

Clint and his beautiful family just left the house.  We will see them again in the morning.  Even though his birthday is today,  we will celebrate tomorrow with a brunch.  After all,  we must be through  in time for the  bulldog  kick-off.  I enjoy seeing him so happy with a wonderful wife  and two precious girls. I am so proud of the family man his has become.  What a blessing.

Our families have had a tough week.  Between the two of them they have lost two cousins about their age and Anna's  Uncle.  We appreciate all of the prayers.

Mark's sister and brother are back from Ecuador. We are enjoying having them here for a visit.  Family is sooo important.  Have you told them that you love them lately.

date night..met a super star

We had a good day at the show. So, we decided to have a date night.  We split a steak and stayed to watch the local band.  What we did not expect was to meet a super star.

Her name was Rion,,,,,. She said that her Mom named her after  the stars in the sky, Orion. She walked up on stage and you noticed a little something different about her.  She was petite and cute with long curly hair.  She did not have use of her arms or hands because of some sort of defect.  But when she smiled  and introduced herself and started singing,  all you noticed was her vitally and enthusiasm and a voice that could match the best singers in the world.  Her stage presence was something to behold.  She is twelve years old and was having a  wonderful time and it showed.

She has a beautiful Mother that has given her the confidence to get on stage to shine like the star that she is.
Her Daddy is her stage hand who moves her mic's around and then kisses  her and walks off stage.  She giggles and says thanks dad.  She looks out at us and say," that's what Dad's are for". Her Grand mother sells her CD's and Rion signs her pictures using a magic marker with two hands.

After her show I walked over and talked to then.  The are so precious.  One day, when she is famous, I will be able to say, I knew her when.

Lord. please forgive me for complaining about a broken elbow that is still not straight.

Giving thanks with kids

Last night I was blessed by having all of the kids and grands and some friends at the house. Mark, the grandkids and I cooked all day.   We had a sort of progressive supper with food out from 6:00 until midnight with people eating and visiting and sitting around the pit. My youngest two were the last two to make it because of work.

I really enjoy the interaction between  all of them, especially the little ones.  Alle reacts so strongly to everyone that came in that she made all of them feel like the favorite person in the room. Becca and Riley are such big cousins that Olivia and Alle are always entertained.

Carrie spent a good portion of the night playing "I am thankful for......." with Olivia.  It was a delight to hear them take turns naming what they are thankful for.  Take some time today between eating and visiting to thank God for all of His many blessings

Happy Thanksgiving

pray

Praying for all of the families that the Holiday season is especially hard.

Spending Thanksgiving week in Psalms

  I left my Jonah, James and 1 John studies in the RV up town this week to take to Mom's this Thursday. So I have spent the week in Psalms.

This morning I found who, what , when, where,  how and why  of praise and worship in the first three chapters of Psalms and more in the rest of Psalms.

Who       Psalms 1:1A - Blessed is the Man (or woman)  who
What      Psalms 1:2A -  Delight is in the Law of the Lord
How       Psalms 1:2B -  He mediates on it
When      Psalms 1:2C -  Day and Night
Where     Psalms 1:3A-   By a stream of water (anywhere)
Why        Psalms 1:3B-    That he may  yield fruit and prosper in all he does

Who - Psalms 73:28b   I put my trust in the Lord so that I may declare all of His works.
           Psalms 71:3B     Thou art my rock and my fortress. For thou O Lord are my hope and my truth
                        5, 6       I have learned from my birth that it is You
                         
What - Psalms 9:1,2      I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.  I will tell of all thy wonderful
                                     deeds.  I will be glad and rejoice in Thee
             Psalms 30:4     Sing praises to the Lord and give thanks to His Holy name
             Psalms 70:4     May all who seek thee, rejoice and be glad.  May those who love your salvation say    
                                     continually and forever.  God is great .  What a wonderful God He is.
             Psalms 71:14     But I will hope continually and praise thee yet more and more

How     Psalms 69:30     I will praise the name of God  with song and magnify Him with Thanksgiving
            Psalms 86:         I will give thanks to Thee  Lord with my whole Heart and glorify your name forever

When   Psalms 5:3         My voice shall you hear in the morning O Lord
            Psalms 1:2B       Meditate day and night  

Where  Psalms 73:28      It is good for me to draw near to Go

Why     Psalms 48: 1        Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
            Psalms 86:13       For great is His Unconditional Love toward me, Thou has delivered my soul
                                         from Hell
            Psalms 86:15       The  Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in
                                        Loved and Faithfulness
             Psalms 7:17         Give to the Lord the Thanks due to His righteousness

Give thanks to the God of the Universe because He created all things and He only is Worthy
           


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Thanking God from His word

Psalms 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible.  I love this chapter because it is all about the Word of God.  The Bible is a great place to learn about the Word of God.

This chapter is followed by several short chapters called the songs of  Ascents  found in Psalms 121-134.

I found something to be thankful to God for in each Chapter

Chapter 120 Thank God the He hears our prayers when we are in distress and delivers  us from bondage

Chapter 121 Thank God that He is our Helper, keeper, defender and protector that does not sleep or slumber.  Thank Him that He does not let us stumble or fall.  He protects us day and night.  He keeps His eyes on us and always guards us.

Chapter 122 Thank God for the house of the Lord where we can assemble together to praise the name of the Lord, thank Him and pray for peace.

Chapter 123 Thank God  that we can have the confidence in His love to lift up our eyes to Him for His mercy and kindness

Chapter 124 Thank God that He is always on our side when we are in trouble and provides a way of escape.  Our help is in the Lord who made Heaven and Earth.

Chapter 125  Thank God that those who trust Him can not be removed and will abide with Him forever. Thank God that He is fair and does good to those whose heart are right with Him.

Chapter 126 Thank God that He restores us and fills us with laughter, joy and song with all the great things that He does to make us glad.  He sees our tears and brings back our rejoicing.

Chapter 127 Thank  God that He builds the house and home and watches over the city and gives His own rest and sleep. Thank Him for our children which His gift to us and our reward to bless us and make us happy.

Chapter 128 Thank God for the blessings of a God-fearing family who trust and obey Him. His reward is prosperity and happiness for them and their children.

Chapter 129 Thank God for endurance and His overcoming our enemies.

Chapter 130 Thank God for forgiveness of sin. Thank Him that  He hears our cry and  prayers  and  that we can wait on Him in hope because of His steadfast love.

Chapter 131 Thank  God who satisfies us with hope in the Lord so that we can trust in Him now and forever.

Chapter 133 Thank God for wonderful  brotherly unity where harmony is as refreshing as the dew on the mountain and God has pronounced His eternal blessing.

Chapter 134 Come Bless the Lord all you who serve the Lord and may the Lord who made heaven and earth bless you.  

Giving Thanks from Psalms

This morning I was looking for verses on being thankful and I started out with the first chapter that I ever memorized ...Psalms  100.  The first part of the chapter talks about making a joyful noise.  I am  so glad it says joyful noise, cause I can praise God even though I do not have a pretty voice.
  Verse 100:4 " Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving and into His court with praise. Be Thankful unto Him and Bless His name.
  Verse:5  "For the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations. "

Psalms is a great place to go when you want to praise and worship God, giving Him thanks for all he does.  Go to Psalms 150, 149, 138 and many many more.  I was excited when I found Psalms 136 that goes so well with 100:5.

"O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good
For His mercy endures forever"
The first of 26 verses  that all end with His mercy endures forever.

Very poetic and beautiful and I understand even more so in the original language.

I decided to use this chapter  to praise, worship and thank God. Jesus and the Holy Spirit.


 1 O, give thanks unto the Lord................................................For His Mercy Endures Foerver
 2 O give thanks unto my God and Father.................................For His Mercy Endures Forever
 3 O give thanks unto Jesus Christ My Savior...........................For His Mercy Endures Forever
 4 O give thanks to the Holy Spirit sent By Him........................For His Mercy Endures Forever
 5 To Him who gave me Life....................................................For His Mercy Endures Forever
 6  To Him who  loves  me and sent His son.............................For His Mercy Endures Forever
 7 To the Son willing to die for me............................................For His Mercy Endures Forever
 8 To the Holy Spirit that indwells in  me...................................For His Mercy Endures Forever
 9 With His love He saved me..................................................For His Mercy Endures Forever
10 He showed  me the way......................................................For His Mercy Endures Forever
11 He guides me every day......................................................For His Mercy Endures Forever
12 He is the creator of the Universe...................................... ...For His Mercy Endures Forever
13 He is the King of King and Lord of Lord.......................... ..For His Mercy Endures Forever
14 He is the sacrificial Lamb................................................. ...For His Mercy Endures Forever
15 He is our Comforter............................................................For His Mercy Endures Forever
16 He never leaves or forsakes us............................................For His Mercy Endures Forever
17 He is our provider...............................................................For His Mercy Endures Forever
18 Give thanks to our Father in Heaven....................................For His Mercy Endures Forever
19 We give thanks to our friend................................................For His Mercy Endures Forever
20 We give thanks to spiritual teacher.......................................For His Mercy Endures Forever
21 WE thank Him everyday.....................................................For His Mercy Endures Forever

Maybe you can use this verse to thank God for a few things today and all this week.

Miss Neva

I just found out that we lost Miss Neva this week.  There is a celebration in heaven when one of His saints dies, but down here,  she will be missed.

I met Miss Neva when I was a young clueless mother with a growing family.  She was a real southern lady with motherly advice.  She  love to tell the story on me when  my  baby boy was crying and I was called to the church nursery.  I had forgotten his night-night so, I took off my half slip,  gave it to him and went back to church.  Later,  I told her that I was really concern that he would never give up his night-night.   In her calm reassuring manner she said," Don't worry, he will give it up eventually.  If he doesn't,  just send it with him to college."

She had a way of making you feel like you were special, a good mother and that you just might make it.
Thank you Lord for mentors that come into your life when you need them.

Mark is back

Last night I went to the airport and waited and waited and waited.  When the plane finally arrived, Mark was the last man off the plane.  Somehow I was not surprised.  He always puts others first.  I was so glad to see him.  We talked all the way home and late into the night. This is a first, he talked and I listened.  He had so much to say about his adventure.  The one thing that he said that hit me was that you can not imagine the feeling of handing  someone a plate and they look you in the eye and say thank you...this is the first hot food I have had in days.

Too busy to.........

Last week was a busy week with a very busy weekend.

 Monday , I  recovered from the mule day weekend and bake a cake and cooked for all of the kids for a birthday supper for Becca.

 Tuesday, I  visited Mom and Aunt Dot in Adel.  Went to  bible study  and finished shoe boxes with the ladies. Got back in time to pick up all of the Grandbabies and cook spaghetti and meatball for the kids. Mark called and said they needed me to go up to NJ as soon as they got the paper work ready.

  Wednesday, I spent a lot of the day in Bible study. I started collecting things that  I might need or be able to share like gloves, socks, scarves etc. and put the on the couch.  Then  picked up Becca from school for birthday gift pedicure and voice activated journal, Riley helped me pick it out.

 Thursday, I had heard enough to think that trip north was very soon.  I tried to call, text, facebook and e-mail Sara all day to tell her happy birthday. Mark called and said it was a go and to call Jack.  I packed a bag and was ready to go on a trip to nowhere.

 Friday morning Mark said it may not be until Sunday or Monday.  So, I called Carrie and she helped me set up for Calico at Allen's.  Carrie is a very busy woman and I was delighted that she had time to help decorated and move tables.  She is surprisingly strong. Just about the time she left, and I had a couple more tables to do, Mark called and said it was a green light and may  be leaving today.  So, I dropped everything and cleaned up and finished packing and put every thing in the jeep.  The kids promised if I had to leave before the show was over,  they would pack things up for me.  I a really appreciate their help.  I could not have done it without that promise.

 Friday night the girls took me out for my birthday.  Tarragon grill for supper and Applebee's for dessert. So, I got to see Drew  and get a birthday hug and he paid for my dessert.  He volunteered to come and help me finish setting up and sell stuff  Saturday morning  

 Saturday, We are selling stuff and I am waiting for the call.  Mark called, the boss wanted to know where his wife was. I talked to one of the Ladies in charge.   After a long day of  selling, I could not help myself.  I asked the kids if all four grand baby could come home and spend the night.  We had a pizza, pop corn and movie night.  Alle, woke up in the mood to party and play at 10:30 until 1:00 A.M. and then again at 5:00.  She was not crying unless I laid  her down, but  she was not going  back to sleep.  SO, I got a lot of bible and prayer time and very little sleep.

 Sunday, I took all the kids back home in time to go to church. Clint said the jeep  smelled funny and put water in something under the hood. Love having adult kids around, when Mark is gone. Went back to Allen's to work the Calico show.  Mark called and said  that  he found out that it was not going to work out for me to go where he was working.   We will go back again,  but next time we will go together.  Finished work and headed home for left over spaghetti and fell asleep by 8:00 p.m.

 This morning I woke up around 5:00 a.m. with my mind full of stuff that I needed to do.  I almost skipped my quiet time.  But I remembered what I heard on the radio sermon  this week.  It was a about a note that he saw in a preachers office that said......"You have such much to do today, do not waste precious time on prayer and Bible study today," signed  Satan.

 Well, I decided to spend time with the Lord this morning before I went to work.  After that, I went into my messing kitchen and house and decided to time myself for each activity.   It is amazing how much work you can do when you are competitive and racing the clock.  By 7:00 a.m. I had finished the kitchen, sweeping and most of the house work.  Now I need to price stuff, load boxes and tables and go up town for groceries, errands and  to set up for next week's car show. I am ready to go and it is not even 8:00 a.m. yet.

 Ya'll have a wonderful day.  If it is going to be a busy day, try spending time with the Lord first.  "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God....and all these things will be added unto you Matthew 6:33.   

Mark is coming home soon

It has been two weeks since Mark left to work with the Red Cross up north.  It was an experience of a life time for him.  He said it was on of the most rewarding experiences of his life.  I can not wait for him to get home so that he  can tell me all of him stories.  He and Bill served 9,150 meals to victims of Sandy and the Nor eastern storm. They are closing down the kitchen they they worked out of and it is time for them to come home.  Mark had volunteered to stay a couple more weeks and for me to go up and help.  I have been packed for days ready to get paper work done.  But  things have a way of working out as they should.  When Mark was told that they could not promise I would be with him ,  the decision was made.  We will go back, but next time we will go together. I have stayed busy with two shows ( Calico and Mule day),  bible studies , grandbaby sitting ( A joy) , trips to see Mom , Doctor appointments and three family birthdays. I will be sooo glad to have him home.  Thanks for your prayers..

happy birthday baby girl

November 8th 1985 we had a little girl and Mark named her Sara Gail. She will always be our baby girl.  We are  sooo proud of  the  beautiful woman you are  inside and out.  You are a free spirit with a huge heart full of life and love.  I never know what you are going to do, but I am your #1 fan and cheerleader and proud to be your Mom.
Have a wonderful, magical day and birthday week.    Happy birthday baby.

Laundry day in New Jersey/New York area

I am not saying that I spoil Mark, but he has never done laundry.......until today.  I called him today to see what I need to pack. They are in the middle of a huge storm with snow falling sideways and sticking.  Mark has only really seen snow one other time. That was when we went to New York with Farm Bureau the year after 911.  All of the ERV's have been called back to the hotel area.  So, there are 25 ERV's at the local  laundry.  I think that Mark  may be  asking the ladies for help. All he has asked me to bring are socks, lots of socks and  gloves to share.

another storm heading toward NY/NJ

Another storm is heading toward  the New England states.  I think it is called a Nor easter . Mark said that they have MREs( meals ready to eat) with them in case they get  stuck where they are tonight or tomorrow. This is not what this area needs......keep praying

Red cross still needs money

Just talked to Mark.  He was coming back from 3rd  drop of the day and they have one more to do.  He estimates 2000 red cross volunteers that he has seen.  There is a lot of money being used and more needed to help with this massive operation.

 He said that he will be glad when the election is over so that politics can get out of the way. Yesterday they fed 1,200 meals out of the ERV going just as hard as they could for 4 hours.  One meal at a time going to people on the street.  He has taken food to a National guard armory building where military men came out and helped unload.    They have seen a fire and had police officers help them close to buildings to unload.

 Mark sounds real good.  I think he is happiest when he is helping some one.  This is what we trained for and I am very proud of him. Next time I hope to be there with him now that he has experience and can show me what to do.   Keep praying and send money if you can.  I noticed today that the TV channel 27 is  matching donations given to red cross up to three million dollars.   Every little bit helps.

Princeton N.J.

Mark and Bill are camped out at the Hyatt Regency lobby in the dark with flash lights waiting to see what happens next.  Bill said he was not excited about having a candle light supper with Mark. There are 90 Erv's there now and plan on having 100 more.  They project 200,00 meals to be served. Mark is ready to go to work.  He said that tomorrow he may regret that statement.  We both do better when we are busy.

mark in the middle of the storm of a life time

This Sandy is a huge storm with a lot of damage.  A combo and of a North eastern and a huge 1000 mile hurricane according to the news.

Mark just called and said that his is in the middle of a convoy of Erv's heading to the center of it all.  He is in New Jersey and has been travelling 1 mile an hour for a while.  They are using radios to talk to each other and most of the emergency vehicle are from the south, heading north.  Not sure about getting a hotel.  Mark brought cots and sleeping bags.  He is about to go to work and receive serious on the job training.  No matter how many classes and how well you are trained, you never know what you are facing until you are there.  Nothing like jumping in with both feet with the largest storm on record.  Keep all of them in your prayers.

Mark's adventure....Connie staying busy

Mark left here Monday morning with Bill in the ERV  heading north for the Red Cross.  They will set up and feed and help any way they can when the reach their destination. They have driven 1000  miles and had to go out of the way some and were  stalled in traffic because of a wreck.  They were going to be set up just out of Washington D.C. They have now been re assigned to New Jersey, just across the  Hudson river, facing the NY skyline. They should be in the thick of it tomorrow.  Keep them in your prayers as they travel.

I have been pretty busy.  Mom had a Doctor appointment in Tallahassee that lasted longer than we expected. So I left her house in Madison Florida early this morning and drove by the full moon light. Came by the house and got what I needed and met Anna at the church so that I could keep Alle while she taught Olivia's class.

  Our Tuesday morning ladies decided to try something different for this 5th Tuesday of the month.  We got together up stairs with sewing machines and irons and material to make bags for the  shoe boxes and to stuff the boxes with items.  We also made little dresses to send to other countries.  We did the assembly method with every one working.  Don't tell Gary Broom, but Carol is great with an iron.  Pat was the talented one among us and helping when we got stuck with sewing problems. Alle was our mascot and refuse to go to sleep this morning because she did not want to miss out on time with her ladies. We worked until about 2:00 p.m. skipping lunch and eating snacks instead.

I left there and did all of Mark's errands....the bank, Farm Bureau, tag office (etc.). Then stopped by to make a hair appointment and visit  Studio Viohl. Then I headed to Reno, just past Cario to drop off tables and boxes for this weekends show. Visited with Glenda at her coffee shop and home . She showed me her antiques. She offered  to let me stay in her guest house so I do not have to drive back and forth. Came back to  Cario to visit with the Tyus family.  Please keep them in your prayers.

 I listened to Dr David Jeremiahs sermon on  prayer on the car radio at 7:30 A.M. and 7:30 P.M.
Came home a little tired, if I keep up this pace, the time should fly....I hope.. and Mark will come home to a very tired but happy girl.

Back to basics

The BIBLE is
B-aisic
I- nstructions
B-efore
L-eaving
E-arth

Let's get back to basics.  The first verses that the little ones learn in nursery school are
1) God  is Love
2) Be ye kind

That's it .. The basic foundation to live by
"We  love Him because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19

"Be ye kind one to other, tenderhearted, forgiving  one another, even as God for Christ sake has forgiven us".
Ephesian 4:32

You see, our life is all about relationship not religion and rules and regulations. It is all about our relationship with God and with mankind.
"Thou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might...and your neighbor as yourself." Deuteronomy 6:4 and Matthew 22:37 &39B

ballet on the beach

We were walking on the beach when I saw a lady about my age dancing on the beach. She reminded me of a little girl dancing on her toes and twirling and stepping forward as she made her way down the beach.  She seem not not know or care that others were around and could see her dancing down the beach.  Abandon Joy.. I wanted to join her,  but did not want to interrupt her solo dance.

God does not want us to just survive, He wants us to live  life to the fullest with joy.

A little later I saw a lady looking down at something on the beach with a big grin on her face.  Looking down I saw what she was delighted by,,, a baby sea turtle, making its way to the ocean,  Working so hard against the tide with it's little tiny flippers.  We watched for a while and really wanted to help in it's struggle, but knew we should not mess with nature.  This little fellow needed this struggle,  to develop it's muscles to able to survive out there in it's big ole world called the ocean. 

Kind of reminded when we are going through struggles in life.  It does not mean that God can not easily make the struggle go away.  Sometimes we did to develop our spiritual muscles and mature for the next thing that we will have to face in this big ole world  called life.

Then there are the pelicans flying over head.  I can see how for generation man has looked up  and wanted to fly to soar with the birds who make it look so easy.  With their big wings they can flap a couple of times and then glide just over the water or go higher for a better view of their world called the sky.  

God wants us to soar like the birds.

I love nature and I love God.  

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Integrity What is it to you?

Mark and I were closing down after a three day Expo show.  We plan to spend one more night so that we could take our time and pack up for the next two shows.  It started raining and we saw three ladies walking across the field with an umbrella  to a broken down bus.

We talked to them and found out that they  were two mom's and an Ag teacher from Plant City,  five hours from home with 30 (12 and 13 year old kids ) stranded at the Expo.  The DOT had inspected their bus and declared it unsafe to drive.  The owner of the bus, the inspector, two teenage boys  and a mechanic were all there.  The owner of the bus was trying to tell the teacher that the mechanic could sign off on the repairs and send them on there way with a big red sticker on the front of the bus declaring it unfit to drive.

The kids had been in a holding room with police officers trying to entertain them since 3:30.  The owner knew about the problem at 10:00 a.m. and had not bother to inform anyone until time to load the bus. Things were going  from  bad to worse for these Colquitt county guest.  Mark and I offered to go get food for the kids.  They had been given water and snacks from the expo office who had  been  told a bus was coming soon and  thought the  problem was solved  until Mark told them otherwise.  Even though the owner said he had been trying to get a replacement bus since the morning , the  expo office was able to secure a bus from Albany. It was suppose to be there in 45 minutes.  This group had been told 45 minutes all day and were tired of hearing it.

I was very impressed by the young teacher( who had a 3 month old baby at home) for remaining calm,  standing up to the bus owner and handling the kids so well.  The Mother chaperons were hanging in there ... handling multiple phone calls from worried moms in south Florida.  The  kids.... They were great... There squealed in delight when the food finally arrived.  One of them  said a sweet  prayer before eating.   They sat around  talking   inside and  played games out side, when the rain finally stopped. Mark tried to get them to say GO Dawgs.. but alas they were Gators.   Kids will be kids,  but these were well behaved  AG students  that handled their adventure like troopers.

The police officers, the state patrol  and locals did all they could to help. We hugged them good bye as they finally loaded up on the new bus and headed home at 10:00 p.m... One of the Mom's text me that they made it home after 3:00 a.m.,  a tired group with a story to tell when they get back to school.

 The  bus was still there when Mark and I got up the next day with a very mad mechanic who showed up  to fix it and  a new driver  to drive it home.  The owner of the bus was no where to be found.  The name on the bus was....Integrity..

We're Back......ready to sell

Mark and I have recently been on two big buying trips. The first trip we went north west and  did 13 states in 18 days......Ga, Tenn, Ken, Ind, Ill, Iowa, Neb, S.D., N.D., Minn, Wis. Mich. and Ohio. We had a big yard sale when we got back.  We really appreciate all who came out to make our yard sale a success.

So, we got to go back for another buying trip.  This time we went north east and and did 18 states in 20 days...Ga., S.C., N.C., Va., Md., Del., N.J., Pen., N.Y., Conn. Mass., Vt., N.H., Ohio, W.V., Ken., Tenn. and Ala.

  With 4 duplication states, we  still experienced 27 states.  It really makes you fall in love with the United States and her people. Every states has something special to offer.  We found the Blenko factory in W.V. and watched them hand blow beautiful glass.  We stayed there for 4 hours and bought stuff for you to see and buy.  We bought barn yard art that is made from tobacco sticks in Kentucky at Pa's place.  We went to an estate sale in Penn. and bought a lot of stuff.  We went to the Rennegers antique show in  Potts town similar to the one we go to in Fla.  We went to the friendlies flea market in the world where every one helped every one and had to return to the ATM several times. We happened up on a yard sale near the Potomac river and bought things as the senior lady pulled it out of her house. We have Fenton,  milk glass, Watt, cast iron, Pyrex, colorful glass, jugs  and tools.

This weekend we will be set up to sell at the 100 miles peanut pickin yard sale at the Colquitt county Farm Bureau office on the Sylvester Hwy. Then, next week we will be at Jimmy Allens' warehouses across from Spence field, where we will combine all of the things that we bought from both trips.  We will set up  Monday afternoon and stay  until Thursday afternoon. This is expo week and there will be a lot of  dealers out there, especially on Wednesday afternoon.   Ya'll Come  

Mr. Zack

Mr. Zack will be missed.  A couple of weeks before we headed north, Mark woke up with Mr. Zack on his mind.  So, We dropped plans for the day and went to visit him at the Quitman hospital.  The first and last time I saw Mr. Zack he was in a sick  bed.

Farm Bureau is an unusual company, in that, it felt  like family.  And if that is true, for District 9, Mr. Zack was the Daddy and Miss Joyce was the Mom.  He loved his agents and their families.  He thought of them as his gals and guys.  He expected the best from them and that is what he got.  District 9 won District of the year his last year, before he retired.

The first time I met him, he had just had surgery and still took the time to interview me  to see if I would fit into the farm Bureau family.  He told me that I would be Mark's greatest asset or biggest handicap.  The last time we saw him, he was still talking about his favorite subject, the Farm Bureau family. His mind was as sharp as ever.  His biggest concern that day was Miss Joyce.  He was talking to her on the phone making sure that she was alright.

Miss Joyce is one of the last of the true Southern ladies and I always respected their relationship.  Mark and I were so young when we join the Farm Bureau that they took us under their wings and showed us the ropes.  We were allowed the privilege of traveling all over the world with this special couple.

Please pray for Miss Joyce and her sons during this difficult time.

A long prosperous Life -Proverbs 3:1-2

September 31 A long prosperous life-Proverbs 3:1-2
"My son, do not forget my teaching but let your heart keep my commandments for length of days and years of the life full of peace will be added to thee"

This month we have prayed for protection, salvation, a  sense of purpose, to grow in faith, submission to God, and power over sin, We want to please God, respect authority, to have a teachable spirit,and  to increase in  maturity. We prayed for wisdom, discernment, integrity, moral purity, courage, and perseverance  We want to be useful to God with a sensitive, cheerful, serving and grateful heart. We need perspective on our possessions and to pursue excellence. We need protection from the evil one to overcome temptation by avoiding negative influence and having Godly friends. We pray for future spouses and the current spouses. Our prayer is for a consistent walk with Jesus and a long prosperous life.   Thank You

 

Budget traveling hotels etc

We stay in a lot of hotels. All kind of prices and styles.  One night we spent $47 plus tax on a clean quiet room.  We  had our own private patio with picnic tables next to the laundry.  We had a picnic and priced stuff on the picnic tables while I washed a load of clothes. The next night we stayed in a $95 hotel. We had a lot of stuff to bring in  and price. It took two carts loaded down to get every thing upstairs.  When we finally got every thing in the room.  Mark went into the bathroom and the toilet seat was broke in half.  They gave us another room and we had to haul all of the stuff to the room down the hall to a room  where the toilet ran all night if you did not jiggle the handle.

  You never know what you are  going to get.  We have a few tricks that help.  We always spend the last hour on the road looking on the internet map program  of the city we plan to stay in to find hotels, rates and comments.  We then call and talk to clerks to get an idea of what they have to offer. We always look at the room first and then if possible we book it on line.  You often get a better rate and points in some hotels.  We have a lot of points and get to stay many night with our points.

Another  money saving idea is to eat out as little as possible.  Most trips, we eat out about once a week.  This trip we have eaten out twice. Of course, when we were near the coast, Mark ate fish.  Then we treated our self to Japanese and had enough left over for another meal.  We buy one baked chicken from Walmart and make three meals out of it.  I am the queen of the microwave and take electric  kitchen gadgets to help.
Mark always has a grill with us.  Some times, we stay in an efficiency apartment with a kitchen and cook up several meals, ready for the microwave.  I even used all of the left overs last night to make a great home made...I mean  hotel made soup in my electric pot and corn bread in my XL  gadget.

When you travel as much as we do, you have to know how to budget.  We need to save our money to buy stuff to sell so that we can go back again.  The only thing that we can not budget is what we have to pay for gas. The further north we went, the higher it got.  We have paid 3.59, 3.79. 3.83, 3.89, 3.99, 4.02, 4.08 4.12 and 4.14 :(

A consistent Walk- Psalms 1:1-3

September 30 A Consistent Walk - Psalm 1:1-3
"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor sit in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night .  He is like a tree planted by stream of water, that yields it's fruit in its season and it's leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers."

Life is hard.  It is hard to stay on track.  There are temptations every where we go.  These verses tell us how
 to be consistent in our Walk.  It gives us the promise of being blessed and to prosper in all we do. We can not do it alone.

 We need Jesus and the way to find Jesus is through His Word.  The Bible. To fall in love, you have to spend time with the one that you fall in love with.  The sames goes with falling in love with Jesus. Jesus is the Word. To  fall in love with Jesus, fall in love with His word.  Delight in it. Mediate on it day and night.  Read, study, memorize and mediate on the precious Word of God. This is the way to maintaining a consist walk that pleases the Father.

 I was heart broken when I recently heard that  a very small percent of people who go to church,  read the Bible between Sundays.  Seems to me they must be starving if they are not getting fed except on Sundays.

There is a difference  in reading a chapter because you know you should and digging  in the word to find the hidden treasures.  Pray for a real thirst for the word, where you can not wait for the next opportunity to open the Book. There really is a difference  Pray for all of us  to spend more  time reading and studying the Bible.  The more time you spend in the word, the more time you want to spend time in it.  Then you delight in  the Word and can not wait to  have quiet time with God.

Your walk talks
Your  talk talks
but your walk talks
louder than you talk talks

A Godly future Spouse 2 Corinthians 6:14

September 29 A Godly future Spouse- 2 Corinthians 6:14
"Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship hat righteousness with unrighteousness or What fellowship has light with darkness."

I started praying for the future spouses of my children when they were babies.  I am so blessed.  I have a son-in-law who is so good to my daughter and a wonderful dad to our grandchildern.  I some times tell him that is is my favorite son, because he is the only one who answer the phone when I call.  I can not tell you what a wonderful wife my son has.   I can not imagine a better wife for Clint or mother to our youngest grand baby girls. I love them both.  My youngest two are not married yet.  But I love the two that they have chosen and I am praying for them. Pray for your kids and their future spouses or for the spouses that they have now.

Godly Friends-Daniel 2:17-18,3:28

"Then Daniel went to his house and made the manner know to Shadrach,  Meshach and Abednego, his companions and told them to seek mercy of the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon...but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries and he has made known to king Nevuchanezzar what will be in the latter days."

  I can remember  my kids would separate  themself from certain kids. Later I  would realize that young person was  heading in the wrong direction. Some times you just have to separate yourself  from a bad situation.  Having friends at any age is very important, in good times and bad times.  I know that there are facebook friends and that is great. Sandra helped me last night with a verse that she posted that spoke to me just when I needed it.  But sometimes  you need a hug or a kind word or love in action. Love is a verb, sometimes you say it best by fulfilling a need  or just by being there.  Pray for our friends and the friends of our children and grand children.  

Avoid negative influences Proverbs1:10,15

September 27 Avoid negative influences  Proverbs 1:10,15
"My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent my son, do not walk in the way of them, hold back your foot from their paths."

It is so important to choose friends wisely.  Friends have so much influence on our children and grandchildren. We need to pray for them to choose wisely.

There is a little song that I remember from childhood.

Vs 1"Oh be careful little eyes what you see, Oh be careful eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down below so
be careful eyes what you see".
Vs 2 Oh be careful little ears what you hear
Vs 3 Oh be careful little hands what you do
Vs 4Oh be careful little feet where you go

Lot of truth in the little songs we learned  in Sunday School.

God loves us too much to allow negative influences to destroy our lives
without warning us about it in His Word.
Sin is sin because God knows what is best for us.

To overcome Satan's temptations-Hebrew 2:18

September 26 -To overcome Satan's temptations- Hebrews 2:18

"For because he, himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted"

This verse is talking about Jesus, who came down to defeat Satan.  The Spirit led Him into the Wilderness after His Baptism to be tempted by the devil.  He used the Word to defeat Satan.

"Thy word have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against thee."

When I was a kid,  Bible Drills were called  Sword drills.  The weapon of choice to defeat our enemy.  Jesus is the Word and our advocate in overcoming Satan's temptation.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to lead us so that we can have Victory in Jesus through the word.  

Protection from the evil one John -17:15

September  25 Protection from the evil one.  John 17:15

"I do not pray that they will be taken out of the world, but that you will preserve them from the evil one."

If that prayer was good enough for my Jesus to pray for his disciples, then that is my prayer for my family.

Pursuit of excellence Colossians 3:23

September 24 Pursuit of excellence Colossians 3:23
"And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men."

This verse begins with "whatever you do".  We have a tendency to separate our life into secular and religious.  This should not be.  God is our Father and He wants us everyday, not just on Sunday.

  When we are work and at play and eating and praying and driving. We are to remember who we are and whose we are.

 When you are work, do not be a clock watcher, trying to get away with as little work as possible.

 When we are at play,  do your best, play fair, and  be a good sport in winning and losing.

 We all have to eat sometime, but we do not have to eat all of the time.   Think before you eat and only when you are hungry and not more than what we need.

When we tell someone that we are going to pray for them.....we should pray for them. James 5:16B says,"the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

 When we are driving, we need to be defensive, courteous drivers and not rant and rave over other drivers.  Also we should obey traffic laws and you will not have to worry about that light and siren  behind your car.

These are just a few examples of the whatever the verse is talking about.

 The middle part of the verse says to do it heartily. That just means with all your heart.  As a mother, I did not expect all of my children to  always make an A; I just expected them to do their very best.  That is what God deserves, our very best.

The last part of the verse says, "as to the Lord".  If we do every thing  like we are doing it for God, then we are pursuing excellence and pleasing the Father. Let's make that our pray for today and everyday.  Aim high.
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Perspective on Possessions - 1 Timothy 6:6-8

September 23 Perspective on Possessions 1 Timothy 6:6-8
"There is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world and it is certain we can carry nothing out, but if we have food and clothing with these we shall be content."

This verse says it all.

 We must provide for our families.  However, we do not have to keep up with the Jones who are in debt up to their eyeballs  trying to keep up appearances.  You do not have to have the newest, the biggest or the brightest.

Work hard, but do not become a workaholic who loses everything chasing the almighty dollar.  You can not love money and God at the same time.  Money is not evil, it is the love of money that is the root of evil.

 " Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteous and all these things will be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

Pray that our Kids will learn to be content and put God first.

A grateful Heart Psalms 97:12

September 22 A Grateful Heart - Psalms 97:12
"Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous and give thanks to his holy name."

One of the first things that we teach our children is to say please and thank you. Those lessons in manners still apply.  We need  to have grateful hearts and learn to be more  thankful for all of His blessings.

I know this is hard to believe, but when I went to the public school we memorized scripture.  When I was in the first grade, we learned Psalms 100 . It began "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord"...which was good  news for a girl like me who could not sing.  The forth verse was, "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him and bless His name."

Thanksgiving is more than just a holiday the third Thursday in November.  It is a lifestyle that is pleasing to the Lord.

Pray that we all learn to see God in the little things and the big things of life and give Him the Glory.
Thank you Jesus.

Serving heart

We just finished a Max Lacado study that basically said when you serve others, you are serving Jesus. When you love others you are loving Jesus. This is pretty easy with family, but serving stranger is another thing. Here are ideas on how to love and serve others.

1) See the need by looking into there eyes, with kind eyes. See them as real people, some ones mother, father, son or daughter.  This goes for beggars, waitresses, clerks , customers, rich folks, poor folks and everything in between.

2) What's in your hand.  Use what you have time, talents, energy and financial resources (etc)

3) Ask every morning for God to put some one in your path that you can serve.

4) Listen for the voice of God and obey NOW. Good intentions are no good to anybody

5 Do not become over whelm with all of the problems in the world. You can not solve all of them, but you can   do something every day to make this a better place.  Do not become so busy do good  that you forget the best, which is spending time with Jesus through bible study and prayer.  Your relation  with other will always be better when your relationship with God comes first. This does not excuse us from doing all we can, when we can.  The Bible say to not grow weary in well doing..

6) Remember, when you go through really tough things, it will not be in vain.  God can use you to help others with a special empathy that comes having gone through it.and survived.

7) The ripple effect....You may never know what becomes of people that you help along they way. They may be the next Billy Graham or the one who discovers a cure for cancer.
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Pay it forward
Max Lacado taught  a new way of looking at the term secret service.   This is doing things for others with out them knowing about it.

I have watched Mark the last couple of days. He does this without even thinking about it.  Little things all day that help others and know body knows  about. Walking on the beach, he grabbed a fishing bucket that the tide was about to wash away and put it higher on the beach. Later,  He found sunglasses and put then up on the post so they would not wash away.  He freed a butterfly from a spider web and we watched it fly away.  He picks up trash on the trail.  He bought two bowls from a lady who did not realize she had it overly priced because he perceived she needed to make a sale.  He opens doors, carries boxes, puts up tents, and always stands up in buses if any lady needs a seat.  His Mama raise a gentlemen.  I love to watch how he treats others and the effect he has on others with is positive personally.  His response to the casual "how are you doing" is to  smile and the  answer " marvelous." It surprises and pleases and turns a brief encounter into a up lifting moment in their day.

Serve others = serving God.... Have a great day, looking for others to bless and be blessed.