reality check

I feel ashamed, and I should.  I can’t think of the appropriate word, ashamed just doesn’t do.

I was just walking thru the house complaining to myself and Callie.  Callie’s my pet cat, and she couldn’t care any less.  Anyway, I’m looking at all the laundry that needs washing and drying.  I see too much dust on the furniture and the two dust grabbers, the tv and this pc.  I don’t have the energy to get out the vacuum, but the floors are begging please.  Oh, and the bathroom needs scrubbing, I have to do that.  The kitchen floor needs sweeping and mopping.  Oh, and I have to run the dishwasher.

Whoa.............stop right there.

I don’t have to wash only two shirts and shorts in a brown watery creek and dry them in the sun.

(there’s no running water nor washer nor dryer nor Tide nor Downy nor electricity)

I don’t have to live and breathe in dust filled air. 

(there’s no windows nor door as such nor furniture nor tv nor pc nor electricity)

I don’t have to vacuum the floors in my tiny ‘house’. 

(there’s no carpet nor electricity) 

I don’t have to wash in that same brown watery creek. 

(there’s no running water nor tub nor shower nor sink nor toilet)

 

I don’t have to sweep much and I never have to mop. 

(there’s no need to sweep because the floors are dirt and you can’t mop dirt)

I don’t have to load and unload a dishwasher.  My few dishes are washed in the same brown watery creek. 

(there’s no cascade nor running water nor electricity) 

What have I got to complain about?  

and it was very good

I’ve been lounging on the couch this afternoon, enjoying the spring breeze drifting into the room, and loving the view outside the door.  There are too many colors of green to count, and the flowers are blue and pink and white and yellow.  The Carolina Jasmine is reaching far beyond its trellis. The hostas and lilies and peonies have pushed thru the mulch.  The weedy yard even has some semblance of beauty.  As for the bird bath, all the splashing and fun will soon need a replenishing of water. This beauty is fresh and renewing and tender.  The late afternoon sun and the Carolina blue sky set atop of this splendor.

This morning I read from Isaiah 45:8.

"Drip down, O heavens, from above, And let the clouds pour down righteousness; Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, And righteousness spring up with it. I, the LORD, have created it.

I’ll add Genesis 1:31, God saw all that he had made, and it was very good

Quick Quotes

R A Torrey

Triumphant prayer is almost impossible where there is neglect of the study of the Word of God.

Do not study commentaries, lesson helps or other books about the Bible: study the Bible itself. Do not study about the Bible, study the Bible. The Bible is the Word of God, and only the Bible is the Word of God.

We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services but few conversions; much machinery but few results.

sunday songs

Trust and Obey

(1st verse)

When we walk with the Lord

In the light of His word,

What a glory He sheds on our way!

While we do His good will,

He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey.

(refrain)

Trust and obey, for there's no other way

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

John Sammis, a Presbyterian pastor, wrote this song in 1886.  He used words from a short testimony and wrote the hymn we know as "Trust and Obey."

When he wrote this hymn, he considered the different areas of our life when we need to trust God:

Verse one - our daily walk in life
Verse two - during the difficult times in life
Verse three - our total submission
Verse four - following God's call for our life

eagles soar

I couldn’t believe my eyes, but I saw a baby eagle perched on his nest high above I-85 on the Falls Lake (NC) bridge. Immediately, I thought of one of my favorite Psalms (91). Specifically, the 4th verse:
He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

lessons... (reprise)

This is but one of  the many lessons I learned from my Dad.  He taught me by ensuring I was in church, during family devotions each night, even visiting nursing homes on a regular basis.  (The nursing home visits are are another post.)  Even still, there are many precious memories he taught by example.

I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Matthew 25:36 NIV

When I was in my mid-teens, there was a particular experience that made a permanent impression on my heart. On occasion, something will remind me of what happened many years ago.

My Dad bought an insurance policy from a salesman I’ll call George. As it turned out, George was a successful salesman who had written many insurance policies. However, the policies were worthless. The premium payments were put into the pockets of George instead of the pockets of the insurance company. George was caught, arrested, tried, and convicted of insurance fraud. I never knew how much money Dad lost, but in the scheme of things, it really wasn’t very important.

My Dad was involved in a local prison ministry, taking his turn leading services for the men who attended. I don’t know how it happened, but I imagine that one day when Dad stood to speak, he noticed a specific inmate sitting among the others. It was George. And no, I don’t believe it was just a coincidence.

Some inmates were allowed passes, so Dad brought George to our home for Sunday dinners. I don’t know how often George ate with us. After a couple of visits, I didn’t think of him as a prisoner. He was a man who had wronged others. He was a man who enjoyed Sunday dinner with us. He was a man separated from his family. (Although his wife and daughter were local, no contact was permitted while George was with Dad.)

This is my favorite part of the story. George finished serving his sentence and was released from prison. While he was cleaning out his house preparing to move, he came across some papers. These weren’t just any papers. These were records of some of the people he had defrauded.

And whose name do you think he saw? Yes, it was Dad’s. Right about then, I would think he had a sinking feeling in his gut. More than likely, he was embarrassed, mortified, and ashamed. George probably had an extremely hard time facing Dad again. He must have had many questions, such as “why didn’t you tell me who you were?”, and “why did you let me have meals with your family?”, and “after what I did to you, how could you treat me with such kindness?, and “why?”, and “why?”.

Dad lived his faith in front of others.

What about me? Is there anything that my son remembers about me? Is there some word or some action or some feeling or some example or some attitude or some something?

I sure hope so.

ungrateful?

I pray that I would never be so ungrateful and unthankful that I would not stop and praise the One who healed me and who loved me unconditionally and who died on a cross for me and who answered my prayers and who performed miracles and who cared for me. (based on Luke :11-19)

“I meant to go back, but you may guess
I was filled with amazement I cannot express
To think that after those horrible years,
That passion of loathing and passion of fears,
By sores unendurable–eaten, defiled–
My flesh was as smooth as the flesh of a child.
I was drunken with joy. I was crazy with glee;
I scarcely could walk and I scarcely could see.
For the dazzle of sunshine where all had been black;
But I meant to go back, Oh I mean to go back!
I had thought to return, when my people came out,
There were tears of rejoicing and laughter and shout;
My cup was so full I seemed nothing to lack–
But I meant to go back, Oh, I meant to go back!”

(Author unknown)

tea

pause 'n ponder

(quotes by Charles H Spurgeon)

Hope itself is like a star- not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity. 

Faith goes up the stairs that love has built and looks out the windows which hope has opened.

By perseverance the snail reached the ark. 

the Lord my God