Sundays Long Ago

Thoughts of "Sunday Dinner" made my stomach growl during the church service when I was young. Most folks we knew would make extra so they could invite company for dinner after church.  Mother most always had chicken,  her yellow mixing bowl full of home-made potato salad, and a pitcher of sweet tea in the refrigerator.

Back then many people rested on Sundays. So Daddy said our shoes needed to be shined, and all of the laundry, house cleaning, and yard work had to be finished on Saturday. Most businesses were closed in the 1950's in our small town.

We would go to church on Sunday night as well. Our Pastor would often close the service with everyone joining hands and singing

Blessed be the tie that binds

Our hearts in Christian love.

The fellowship of kindred minds

Is like to that above.

by John Fawcett

Divine Exchange

Jesus loved you from before the world was created. He knew you before you were conceived. He knew you would need unfailing love, forgiveness, and a new spirit, so He made a way for you to come to the Father through the price He paid - His death on the cross.

A divine exchange took place
when Jesus died in my place.
He bore my guilt and gave me a pardon.
He took my hurts and gave me healing.
He changed my darkness into light.
He traded my shame for His glory.
He took my stained rags
robed me with His righteousness.

There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all 1 Timothy 2:5

Chain Breaker

After Paul and Silas had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household. Acts 16

CHAIN BREAKER by Adam Crabb and Gaither Band
https://youtu.be/8uDuHdoHNSA

Yearly Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Through the years with my four children and then my three granddaughters, there have been many trips to local farms to choose a pumpkin. I was remembering one year when it was cool and threatening rain.

First on our list was the corn field maze. We trudged past corn stalks taller than the grown-ups. We tried this path and that one, only to come to a dead end and have to turn around. We ducked through scary tunnels and jumped over tree roots, and slipped and slid in the mud until we came out in the woods.

As the morning went on, the sun played hide and seek. The wind puffed and we tasted sprinkles of rain. However, nothing dampened the spirits of the children

The owner's small black dog led the way as we hopped on the hay wagon to travel down to the pumpkin patch. There were pumpkins of all sizes among the tangles of vines.

All the kids picked a pumpkin. Ashlynn named hers Penelope.

We started back up the hill when the tractor got stuck in the mud. The harder the tractor chugged, the deeper the tires sank into the ruts.
.
"Everybody out!" the driver said. So we all gave a push to get things moving again and saved the day!

A trip to the pumpkin farm is something the children in southern Indiana look forward to every year, and someday they will tell this story to their grandchildren.

Savoring the Cooler Morning Walks!

I come to the garden alone
while the dew is still on the roses.

Garden

You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride,

 a secluded spring, a hidden fountain.

Song of Solomon 4:12

Love is larger than the walls that shut it in

"Mama's love had always been the kind that acted itself out with soup pot and sewing basket. But now that these things were taken away, the love seemed as whole as before. She sat in her chair at the window and loved us. She loved the people she saw in the street-- and beyond: her love took in the city, the land of Holland, the world. And so I learned that love is larger than the walls which shut it in."

Corrie ten Boom lovingly described her Mother, who had suffered a stroke. Corrie had no idea at that time, that war and concentration camp, and the death of several family members, lay just ahead. After many years of sharing her testimony of faith in Jesus Christ around the world, Corrie would also suffer a stroke. But years after her death, the love of God lives on through her writings.

Plant a seed. Sing a song!

 I was driving behind a truck that had a bumper sticker which read: Plant a seed. Sing a song.

It reminded me that when I get discouraged and think my work's in vain, God promises the seeds we plant in faith will sprout and bear fruit in season.

The Lord has not forgotten your prayers and your labor of love. Boaz said to Ruth: "It has been fully reported to me all that you have done....The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge." Ruth 2:11-12

Sweet Peach of a Sister

My brother and I had been at Grandmother's house all that hot Georgia afternoon in August, 1957, and she said we would be spending the night. Our Daddy had rushed home from work early to take Mother to Marietta to see the doctor.

After supper, Larry and I were sitting on the porch steps while Grandmother watered her flowers. Her phone began to ring off the hook in the den and she hurried in to get it. She came out with a big smile and told us that we had a new baby sister named Mildred, after our aunt.

A week later, we sat in the back seat of Daddy's Chevrolet at Kennestone Hospital anxiously waiting for him to bring Mother and Mildred out to the car for the trip home. I remember peeking over the front seat to see her for the first time - a peaches and cream face framed with Shirley Temple curls.

I talked with my sweet sister today and we reminisced about roadside stands that sold boiled peanuts, and fried peach pies.

Promise

"I'm telling you these things while I'm still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I'm leaving you well and whole. That's my parting gift to you.

Peace.

I don't leave you the way you're used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don't be upset. Don't be distraught." John 14:25-27 The Message

Peace I leave you,

My peace I give you.

Not as the world gives

Give I unto you.

Let your heart be not at all troubled

Neither let it be afraid.

Perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,

To every believer the promise of God;

The vilest offender who truly believes

That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
Micah 7:18

I met a lady in a store and we were looking at stuffed animals. We got to talking about our children, and she also had a young child who had died. Suddenly she asked me, "How can I know that I will see my child again in Heaven?"

The Holy Spirit brought to my mind the account of the repentant thief on the cross next to Jesus. (Luke 23:43) He did not do anything to earn eternal life. It was a free gift just because he believed in Jesus' promise of forgiveness.

Thank You, Jesus, for pardoning me!

May Jesus Christ Be Praised

I was playing the piano and came across an old German hymn:

When morning gilds the skies

My heart awaking cries

May Jesus Christ be praised.

Alike at work and prayer

To Jesus I repair

May Jesus Christ be praised.

When e'er the sweet church bell

Peals over hill and dell,

May Jesus Christ be praised.

O hark to what it sings,

As joyously it rings,

May Jesus Christ be praised!

Kaedyn came to visit for a little while and she was working on a coloring a poster of Philippians 4:4.

Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.

With the windows open, we could hear church chimes floating on the breeze.

Photos

Walking Trail in New Jersey

My son and my sister send me pretty photos each week.

I look forward to seeing sites from their states.

 Sister's Yard in North Georgia

Everybody Otter Love Otters

You otter enjoy this August weather.

Jump in.
It's otter nonsense not to.

When my two oldest children were small, we would often visit the wildlife sanctuary. The kids got a real kick out of watching the river otters create their own slip-and-slide on the muddy river bank.

Over and over the otters would climb out of the water, run and slide and splash into the creek again.