Memorial Day 2010

I still thank the Lord for our country and especially those who have served in the armed services and some having died for the freedoms that we have.

Hoping each of you have a blessed and safe Memorial Day!

CMB Resource Giveaway

Christian Moms Business Resource is giving away one of our (Speakable Gifts) products on their blog! I sure would love it if one of my bloggy friends could be the winner. Go here to enter.

Increased Strength

For more encouraging and uplifting Word-Filled Wednesday posts, visit Susan at Forever His.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Isaiah 40:29

We have loads of critters exactly like this one in our backyard, always scampering about trying to get at the birdseed. Actually, we like them. The other day when my daughter let our dog out, a fairly young squirrel like this one tried to escape via a dead limb which broke, dropping him with a loud banging sound atop our outdoor grill. He fell onto the ground, lying there limply whereupon our dog Fro hurried over (of course) and picked up this poor helpless creature in his mouth. Neesie , who was horrified, hollered at Fro to "drop it" (he's been trained to drop whatever he has at that command), which he promptly obeyed, and Neesie dragged him (Fro, not the squirrel) inside and then locked our bewildered dog in his crate. She came and got me and both of us stood at the back sliding door with sad hearts, watching this poor little bushy tailed animal trying unsuccessfully to lift itself up. We thought perhaps it had injured its spine or something. Finally, I did something: I prayed for him. Agree with me or not, that's what I did. I asked the Lord to either take him out of this world and end his misery or help him to get out of our yard. About 30 seconds later, he turned on his stomach and inched forward a bit; then, after another minute or so, he began to scamper at a pretty good pace across the yard and through the fence! A few minutes after that, we saw him heading up one of the bigger healthy trees in that yard!

I don't know what happened to him after that, of course, (they all look alike you know), but what a beautiful lesson this little critter was for me on Matthew 6:26 and the above Scripture. There have been and certainly will be times in my life and yours when we are physically, emotionally, and spiritually sapped of all strength. But the wonderful Creator God of this universe, who cares for the smallest of His creatures, won't He care for each one of us and increase our strength for yet another day in the journey?

Praise Him!

Now is this cute or what? Oh how I wish I had a video like this of my granddaughters. They sing like this in the car!

Uh-Oh

A couple had just arrived at the concert hall when the husband remarked. "I wish we'd brought along our piano bench."

"What in the world for?" his wife asked.

"Because our tickets are inside the seat."


This is always a big worry for me whenever I go some place, whether a musical concert, baseball game, or whatever when tickets are involved. This is one of those "fears" that I go a bit overboard on. Everybody has some. I usually check and double check that I have the tickets for wherever it is that we're going. I compulsively check over and again.

Another one of those weird fears for me is that I'm going to forget and leave the dog outside overnight. We always let him out one last time before going to bed, and when I'm the last to go to bed, I check in the sun room (where he sleeps in his crate) even when I'm sure he's in there. I HAVE to turn on the light and double check last thing before I go to bed. Very strange. I have more of these kind of things, but I won't bore you with more.

How about you? Do you have any of these compulsive type fears?

Endangered

More posts for Word-Filled Wednesday can be found at All You Have to Give.

Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the

fruit of the womb is his reward. Psalm 127:3

Yesterday, I was listening to a broadcast over the internet and I heard this particular verse being referenced. Hearing it made me want to post this picture again and pair it with this verse. I posted this picture on several occasions, the first time being when we were waiting for the birth of our first grandchild. I've posted the same image on a couple of other occasions and it has become dear to me. I don't know where I got it, but there are many like it over the internet.

This verse and this image are just another indication of how far our country has strayed from the Word of God. I refuse to refer to the one who is pictured above as a "fetus." He or she is a baby and God refers to this baby as "fruit" and "a reward." Those who think otherwise are going to have to answer to Him.

The person who was being interviewed in that broadcast was given some hard news during her pregnancy with her child who is now nine months old. The doctor gravely looked at her and asked: "How committed are you to this pregnancy?" It was asked in such a way so as to let her know that she did not need to continue on with said pregnancy. She gave the best answer anyone can give: "I'm committed to this baby" was her reply.

It made me think about our need, myself included, to be more committed to the lives of the countless babies who are endangered. Unfortunately,there are some who are more at risk than the many animals which are on the endangered species list. And because of that, I fear our country should be on that list.

Pray that the Lord will lead us all into what more we can do for these babies and for the future of America.

The Vocation of Maternity

"The best convent," I said, "for a woman is the seclusion of her own home. There she may find her vocation and fight her battles, and there she may learn the reality and the earnestness of life."

"Pshaw!" cried she. "Excuse me, however, for saying that; but some of the most brilliant girls I know have settled down into mere married women and spend their whole time nursing babies! Think how belittling!"

"Is it more so than spending it dressing, driving, dancing, and the like?"

"Of course it is. I had a friend once who shone like a star in society. She married and had four children as fast as she could. Well! What was the consequence? She lost her beauty, her spirit and animation, lost her youth, and lost her health. The only earthly things she can talk about are teething, dieting, and measles!"

I laughed at this exaggeration. . ."As you have spoken plainly to me, knowing me to be a wife and mother, you must allow me to speak plainly in return," I began. ". . .You will permit me to say that when you speak contemptuously of the vocation of maternity, you dishonor not only the mother who bore you, but the Lord Jesus Himself, who chose to be born of woman and to be ministered unto by her through a helpless infancy."

. . . I thought of my dear ones . . .and I thought of my love for them and theirs for me. And I thought of Him who alone gives reality to even such joys as these.

~~~from Stepping Heavenward, by Elizabeth Prentiss

Don't you love the way that Katherine put it? "The vocation of maternity." And what a blessed vocation it is, even though there are times it's a painful one.

I am thinking of all the young mothers who are engaged in the years of diapering, nursing, and nurturing; I'm thinking of the ones who are going through the years of teaching their children or helping them to learn, even if it's homework; I'm thinking of those who are plowing through the preteen and teen years and guiding them in the ways of the Lord; I am thinking of the moms of young adults who are holding Christ before them as they plant their feet in manhood and womanhood; and I am thinking of those with hearts sometimes torn, as they give them or see them off in a home of their own through marriage. I'm also thinking of those who are, with delight, welcoming in the next generation after that, with all the joys that grand parenthood has to offer them.

I believe Mother's Day is a fine holiday and it's a good thing that was instituted by our country some years ago; but I usually find it difficult not to think also of those who may find peculiar pain in it. There's one who is seemingly nearing the end of a long battle with breast cancer as she spends the day tomorrow with her husband and two young children; there are a few I know who are caring for very aged mothers in stressful situations; there is one who recently lost her beloved daughter who was also her best friend; there are some who will spend the day by the bedside of a very sick child who may not make it; and there are always those who want to be mothers, but God for His own reasons has withheld it from them. I'll have all these in my thoughts today and tomorrow.

So, for those engaged in this vocation, with all its blessings and challenges, I wish you a blessed Mother's Day. For all of those for whom this calling is yet a dream and hope, I wish you the same, because you have it in your heart. May the Lord Jesus use you all in the work of His kingdom.

Praying for Our Country

I am so sorry that I neglected the National Day of Prayer, but it's not too late to post something. During the days of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln sorrowfully declared these words:

"We have been recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven...but we have forgotten God...We have forgotten the gracious had which preserved us in peace...Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us."

In the early days of this young nation, George Washington, wrote to governors of the newly freed states asking that they join him in this prayer, which ended:

"And finally that thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen"

Our poor dear country is so spiritually needy now. What would these two great men, who I firmly believe loved America with all their hearts, want us to do now? They would implore us to fall on our knees and plead with God for mercy to turn the hearts of many back to Him. People have been praying all over the land in various places today. I don't know how many there were, but I sure am thankful for those who did and those who will be continuing to lift up America to our only Helper: The Creator God of this universe, in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ.