I have been reading out of a devotional book of the above title. I can't remmeber where I got it. I think that maybe I got it from a book sale when I was at CBC library. It ends the year talking about the last of the Psalms. The last of the Psalms are full of prases to God.
As I end this year and reflect back on what has taken place this year, I, too, praise the Lord. It has been a year full of blessings. Yes there have been uncertain times, stressful times, times of "are we doing the right thing?" But there have also been times of provision, confirmation, and obvious guidance from the Lord. So I'm thankful even for the rough times, because they make you appreciate the good times even more.
We have accomplished what we set out to do this year, (moving); the Lord has provided both of us, my husband and I, with good jobs; we have made some wonderful new friends and the Lord is blessing the ministry we are involved in. We have a nice home to live in, [and it's all on one floor - easier on older people's joints]. :-)
So as we end this year, I praise the Lord, for He is good.
Have you counted your blessings yet?
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Blessings
As I have gotten older, and accumalted more "stuff" - I have come to the conclusion that I don't need "things" to be happy or even for gifts. They just add to the clutter that I don't want to get rid of but don't need. So, I have begun giving gifts that ARE consumable (sorry, Mom). So today was a day full of those kinds of blessings:
I was in the Kansas City area today and had lunch with friends.
SH picked up the tab. (Her Christmas present to us.)(Thank you, SH)
MJS gave me a tin of cashews. (She knows me well - and that's an understatement!) I munched on them, on the way back to Arkansas. (Thank you, MJ)
JR came along but actually provided the transportation! (Thanks, JR. I'm so glad you came with us.)
We had a wonderful time, caught up on news - of family, of friends and of course of CBC - our common link as we all either do or did work there. We had a good time and plan to do it again - soon, we hope.
Then, after a brief moment at my daughter-in-law's house, I headed back to Arkansas. I arrived home about 7, safe and sound. (another blessing.)
Before I left Kansas for KC, my son helped me load my truck with some more 'earthly goods'. His help was most appreciated. (I also stopped by a friend's house the night before and she gave me a treat - some homemade cookies and candy! Ah, a consummable gift! and I munched on them today, too.)
So today was a day full of many blessings! I am a richer woman today than I was yesterday! I am most blessed. To God be praised, "even in the good times" (so to speak).
[Extra two cents worth: why did I say 'even in the good times'? Because - since it's easy to praise God when things are good, we tend to not even acknowledge Him at all. And it's just as important in the good times as it is in the "not so good" times. Ok - that's a little extra sermonette thrown in free. OR maybe it was just rabbit chasing.]
I was in the Kansas City area today and had lunch with friends.
SH picked up the tab. (Her Christmas present to us.)(Thank you, SH)
MJS gave me a tin of cashews. (She knows me well - and that's an understatement!) I munched on them, on the way back to Arkansas. (Thank you, MJ)
JR came along but actually provided the transportation! (Thanks, JR. I'm so glad you came with us.)
We had a wonderful time, caught up on news - of family, of friends and of course of CBC - our common link as we all either do or did work there. We had a good time and plan to do it again - soon, we hope.
Then, after a brief moment at my daughter-in-law's house, I headed back to Arkansas. I arrived home about 7, safe and sound. (another blessing.)
Before I left Kansas for KC, my son helped me load my truck with some more 'earthly goods'. His help was most appreciated. (I also stopped by a friend's house the night before and she gave me a treat - some homemade cookies and candy! Ah, a consummable gift! and I munched on them today, too.)
So today was a day full of many blessings! I am a richer woman today than I was yesterday! I am most blessed. To God be praised, "even in the good times" (so to speak).
[Extra two cents worth: why did I say 'even in the good times'? Because - since it's easy to praise God when things are good, we tend to not even acknowledge Him at all. And it's just as important in the good times as it is in the "not so good" times. Ok - that's a little extra sermonette thrown in free. OR maybe it was just rabbit chasing.]
Sunday, December 28, 2008
How Great Thou Art
Today in church, I sang this song with MW. It is a beautiful song and is hard to mess it up. It's message carries the song no matter how you do it. But we did fine. I even played for us as well as sing - something I can't always do! But I did it more in an acommpaniment style - not playing every single note - but chords and "fillers".
I've been playing more lately than I have in years and I've noticed that the Lord is bringing it back to me, more and more. I have alot of music "in me" so I hope that I will have the opportunity here to share it with others. My new friend, MW, is musical too and has even been professional with her music and with clogging. (She's been teaching me the basic steps - what a work out!)
I'm taking my daughter MS back to Kansas tonight. I have really enjoyed having her here this week. The time has gone by very fast. But we have had a good time together and have fun doing things together, too. Of course, shopping was one of them!! But it's been fun.
I've been playing more lately than I have in years and I've noticed that the Lord is bringing it back to me, more and more. I have alot of music "in me" so I hope that I will have the opportunity here to share it with others. My new friend, MW, is musical too and has even been professional with her music and with clogging. (She's been teaching me the basic steps - what a work out!)
I'm taking my daughter MS back to Kansas tonight. I have really enjoyed having her here this week. The time has gone by very fast. But we have had a good time together and have fun doing things together, too. Of course, shopping was one of them!! But it's been fun.
Friday, December 26, 2008
HOME
Home! Just what is home? Is home where you were born? Is home where you grew up? Is home where you live now? Is home where your parents are - or were? What qualifies as home?
Much has been written on this simple four letter word. "Home is where the heart is" - "This world is not my home, (I'm just a passing through)" - "I'll be home for Christmas" which ends with: "if only in my dreams."
The word generates a warm fuzzy feeling - most of the time anyway. But what is home? a simple ranch style house? a bungalow built in yesteryears? a trailer? a cabin? a mansion with more rooms than you know what to do with? a cardboard box that once held an appliance? Maybe even a car? Is it anywhere you live? Is it with family? Is it by yourself? Is it with friends, even?
It can be any combination of these. I don't have some epiphinal answer. But I do think that love has a lot to do with what home is. We live in a new (to us) house this Christmas. There are no memories associated with it from the past years, no memories of raising kids here, or of visiting grandparents and other relatives. But to me it is home - it is where we have chosen to live. It's where we are right now.
Chrismas is so asociated with 'Home' - and yesterday is usually spent with family in the home of one of them. But yesterday, I didn't spend it at home. My husband had to work, & none of our kids were here except one. So my daughter, M., and I went to spend the afternoon and evening in someone else's home. We had a wonderful time. We cooked, (beans and cornbread), we ate, we played, we listened to music, we watched TV, we visited, and we went looking at christmas lights after it got dark -again not a typical Christmas day, in many ways. But we were with friends - christian friends, so they really are family...on a more important plane.
About 11 pm we came back to my house - my home - blessed for a wonderful day remembering the birth of our saviour and fellowship with friends, ...in their home. This may not be the answer to the question(s) with which we started. Maybe home IS where the heart is. Home is where you're loved, where you feel safe, where you feel comfortable and wanted. It may not be inside the house where you live - it may be in someone else's. The material with which your home is built is not what is important, either. It's how you feel inside. Inside that home and inside your heart.
Whatever you call home now, remember no matter what kind of home it is, it is temporary. Someday we will be in a 'home' that will never break down, never betray us, never let in robbers or theives, and never cause us to be sick, if we have embraced that babe in Bethlehem as our Saviour. You have a home waiting for you that is permanent and better than any home ever built on earth. But that depends on what you have done about the babe in the manger.
If you haven't done anything about Jesus, you, too, have a home waiting for you - the worse you could ever imagine. It's really not called a home, but it is a real place. However, I hope that you have a home that is bright and fair, waiting for you to arrive. That's why Jesus came at Christmas - so you could live with Him in His house. He tells us He has gone to prepare that home for us. He has plenty of room for you.
Well, we hear "I'll be home for Christmas" this time of year. I was home for Christmas and I hope, wherever you were, you were home - for now.
Much has been written on this simple four letter word. "Home is where the heart is" - "This world is not my home, (I'm just a passing through)" - "I'll be home for Christmas" which ends with: "if only in my dreams."
The word generates a warm fuzzy feeling - most of the time anyway. But what is home? a simple ranch style house? a bungalow built in yesteryears? a trailer? a cabin? a mansion with more rooms than you know what to do with? a cardboard box that once held an appliance? Maybe even a car? Is it anywhere you live? Is it with family? Is it by yourself? Is it with friends, even?
It can be any combination of these. I don't have some epiphinal answer. But I do think that love has a lot to do with what home is. We live in a new (to us) house this Christmas. There are no memories associated with it from the past years, no memories of raising kids here, or of visiting grandparents and other relatives. But to me it is home - it is where we have chosen to live. It's where we are right now.
Chrismas is so asociated with 'Home' - and yesterday is usually spent with family in the home of one of them. But yesterday, I didn't spend it at home. My husband had to work, & none of our kids were here except one. So my daughter, M., and I went to spend the afternoon and evening in someone else's home. We had a wonderful time. We cooked, (beans and cornbread), we ate, we played, we listened to music, we watched TV, we visited, and we went looking at christmas lights after it got dark -again not a typical Christmas day, in many ways. But we were with friends - christian friends, so they really are family...on a more important plane.
About 11 pm we came back to my house - my home - blessed for a wonderful day remembering the birth of our saviour and fellowship with friends, ...in their home. This may not be the answer to the question(s) with which we started. Maybe home IS where the heart is. Home is where you're loved, where you feel safe, where you feel comfortable and wanted. It may not be inside the house where you live - it may be in someone else's. The material with which your home is built is not what is important, either. It's how you feel inside. Inside that home and inside your heart.
Whatever you call home now, remember no matter what kind of home it is, it is temporary. Someday we will be in a 'home' that will never break down, never betray us, never let in robbers or theives, and never cause us to be sick, if we have embraced that babe in Bethlehem as our Saviour. You have a home waiting for you that is permanent and better than any home ever built on earth. But that depends on what you have done about the babe in the manger.
If you haven't done anything about Jesus, you, too, have a home waiting for you - the worse you could ever imagine. It's really not called a home, but it is a real place. However, I hope that you have a home that is bright and fair, waiting for you to arrive. That's why Jesus came at Christmas - so you could live with Him in His house. He tells us He has gone to prepare that home for us. He has plenty of room for you.
Well, we hear "I'll be home for Christmas" this time of year. I was home for Christmas and I hope, wherever you were, you were home - for now.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Welcome to the Arkansas Pilgrim
Today is Christmas Day, 2008. Today is the first day of my new blog. I have decided to create a new one and not to delete my old one, thus preserving my blogging from my first professional position as librarian at Calvary Bible College and Theological Seminary.
The name is generic and unique enough that I can continue to blog no matter what happens in my professional life. I came up with the name because I grew up in the Ozarks of Arkansas and to where we have returned to live. There is a song associated with the state called Arkansas Traveler. But as a christian, I thought of a similar word that ties the two together: Pilgrim from Pilgrim's Progress whose main character is Christian, therefore -voila- Arkansas Pilgrim!
This blog will allow me to post things connected with my profession, but also give me a broader scope to post personal events, comments, musings on whatever is going on in my head and anything else that comes along. This may be of interest to no one or of interest to more people than in the past.
For now I am posting a poem I wrote recently. As we celebrate Christmas, this is a thought we need to keep in mind. Although this is't a typical Christmas poem, per se' the point of the message applies. I hope you enjoy it. Later on I may add another verse or two. May you have a truely blessed Christmas:
It's not about me, it's all about Him.
It's not what I want, or my latest whim.
It's about Jesus who is holy and true,
Who longs for our praises from me and from you.
He is the one who is worthy of praise;
To God be glory, His anthem we raise.
He loved us so much He gave us His son.
We'll priase Him forever for what He has done.
The glory is His, none of it's mine
His name's forever, mine's for a time.
My heart if sinful, His heart is pure
His way to heaven is holy and sure.
New verse:
So this Christmas time let's worship the Son,
For Christmas is when it all had begun.
God sent His Son to die on the tree.
He made Himself flesh so we might be free.
.................................SG, 2008
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**Here's wishing you a very blessed and merry Christmas.**
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The name is generic and unique enough that I can continue to blog no matter what happens in my professional life. I came up with the name because I grew up in the Ozarks of Arkansas and to where we have returned to live. There is a song associated with the state called Arkansas Traveler. But as a christian, I thought of a similar word that ties the two together: Pilgrim from Pilgrim's Progress whose main character is Christian, therefore -voila- Arkansas Pilgrim!
This blog will allow me to post things connected with my profession, but also give me a broader scope to post personal events, comments, musings on whatever is going on in my head and anything else that comes along. This may be of interest to no one or of interest to more people than in the past.
For now I am posting a poem I wrote recently. As we celebrate Christmas, this is a thought we need to keep in mind. Although this is't a typical Christmas poem, per se' the point of the message applies. I hope you enjoy it. Later on I may add another verse or two. May you have a truely blessed Christmas:
It's not about me, it's all about Him.
It's not what I want, or my latest whim.
It's about Jesus who is holy and true,
Who longs for our praises from me and from you.
He is the one who is worthy of praise;
To God be glory, His anthem we raise.
He loved us so much He gave us His son.
We'll priase Him forever for what He has done.
The glory is His, none of it's mine
His name's forever, mine's for a time.
My heart if sinful, His heart is pure
His way to heaven is holy and sure.
New verse:
So this Christmas time let's worship the Son,
For Christmas is when it all had begun.
God sent His Son to die on the tree.
He made Himself flesh so we might be free.
.................................SG, 2008
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**Here's wishing you a very blessed and merry Christmas.**
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