![]() My son has returned home! Once again, my family is together and complete. True, it was only for a week at camp, but it was the first time one of the children have been away for so long, and he was missed by everyone. I do not know how I will be when my children are grown and have to leave home, but as long as I know they are doing what God wants them to do, it will not be so bad. I hope. For the moment, my children do not want to ever leave home, and that makes my heart feel good. They are content to live here, and that makes me happy. JJ had a some things to say about his experience, but the thing that struck me most was the fact that he said it was boring, and felt alone quite a lot of the time. He made a friend here or there, but did not bring home any phone numbers or addresses, which makes me wonder if they were truly a friend or just someone to hang out with at the time. As he talked, I felt like I was transported back to my own teen years, and I knew exactly what he was talking about. It was like the feelings of loneliness, frustration, and doubt came flooding back. I struggled through my teen years with loneliness. I know what it means to question why I am so different, quiet, and left out. The fact that nobody seemed to want to be around me made me wonder if I was simply a part of the wall decorations. Why did the teens want to avoid me like I was the plague or something? My heart broke for my oldest son. It dawned on me how much he was like me. He got my personality-quiet, shy, etc. That realization hit hard. I know exactly what he went through. As a mother, naturally I want to shield my children from these pains of growing up. I do not want them to have to go through the hard struggles in life. I want them to learn from our mistakes, and take what we say to heart, but sometimes they need to experience it for themselves. That is what molds them for the grownup life ahead of them. I believe what I experienced as a teen molded me and made me who I am today. I learned to get close to the Lord during those years. He was my Rock and my fortress. He was the One Who I could call my Friend. He was the One I whispered my secrets to. He was the One I dreamed about the future with. He was the One I turned to when I was sad, and needed a shoulder to cry on. He was always there for me, comforting me, filling me with peace, letting me know I could go another day with His help. He was faithful then, and He is faithful today. My prayer for JJ - not only JJ, but for all my children - is that they will learn to lean on Him as their best Friend. May they develop such a strong relationship with Him that nothing will be able to take them down the wrong path; that nobody will be more influencial to them than Him; that their friendship with Him will outweigh all their so-called friends on this earth; that He will have the first say in everything... The list could go on, but I think you get the point. It does not matter what our personalities are like. What matters is how we handle them, and who we turn to during the problems that come our way throughout life. No matter how God made our personalities, it is up to us to turn to Him during tough circumstances, and allow Him to help us become better (not bitter!) and mold us into His perfect image.
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![]() Camp. It is such a small word, but it brings back many memories of something awesome that happened to me when I was twenty-two years old. The word has been fresh on my mind because my oldest is gone away to camp this week with the teens from church. I have been praying for him to have a wonderful time, but also for the Lord to do something great for him. I pray his heart is soft to the Lord's work. I first heard about Monadnock in a Christian on-line chat room. I was still living at home with my family. I had a job and a car, but I did not have any Christian friends near me. I was very lonely. I found a good Christian chat site and many evenings found myself talking to other Christians around the world. One particular person, who's web name was Birdman, told me about a place in New Hampshire that was hosting a single's retreat. He said he was going with a group of singles from his church in Connecticut, and said it would be a great opportunity for me to meet other fellow believers. I prayed about it and talked to my parents. They were not overly excited about me going. My mom could never understand why I would want to go and meet a total group of strangers, but I felt I had the go ahead from the Lord. I wanted to meet new people, and make new friends. I had no intentions of meeting anybody that would change my life, and went with pure intentions. So, I called and reserved a spot at the camp for Memorial Day weekend in 1997. Birdman told me he would be wearing a shirt with a bird on it, so it would make it easy for me to find him. I told him I would be wearing a Vermont shirt. It was a beautiful piece of land out in New Hampshire, with mountains and lakes within easy reach for hiking and canoeing. I parked my car and checked in, wondering if Birdman was there yet. I found my room, filled with bunks and single beds. A few other girls were already there and I said hello, suddenly feeling a bit shy. I went down to my car to get some of my stuff and saw a group of three guys go strolling by. The one closest to me was really tall and thin. The next guy was average height, but the one farthest away from me was shorter. He had on an 'outback' hat, and as they walked by and said hello, his blue eyes and dark lashes caught my attention. He also had the nicest smile! "Oh, I hope he is Birdman!" I thought to myself. As it turns out, the tall guy was Birdman. We finally connected inside the lodge as we looked over the activities sheet for the weekend. He came in wearing a bird shirt, and the other two guys followed him inside. He introduced us and I met Brian, and the stunning-eyed guy's name was Joe. I waited to see what Joe was going to sign up to do for activities. I had to know because now that we were formally introduced we were not strangers anymore, and it would be fun to get to know this guy. We all decided hiking would be fun on Saturday afternoon, after services were over and lunch had been eaten. After that, we split off to unpack and get ready for the dinner meal, and church service that would begin shortly after. Like I said earlier, I had gone without the intention of finding anyone special, but the moment I saw Joe, it was love at first sight for me. I will not go into all the boring details about what we did during camp, and all the people I met. That would take too much of your time and my time to relay all that here. Yet, God was working on me to trust Him throughout the entire weekend. See, there was another girl named Amy who entered the scene. I watched in the background as Joe sat with her and some other girls, talking and laughing. They both were in the choir that was set up for the weekend, so I felt left out a little. Birdman was always there though, trying to make me feel comfortable and never wanted to leave me alone for a minute. He knew I had come to find friends and was determined to make sure he was a good one. I was beginning to wonder if maybe Joe thought we were an item and did not want to get in the way of things. I know when we had first met Joe thought I was eighteen years old and told himself he would not date a girl that was nine years younger than him. When I found out he thought I was only eighteen, I quickly corrected him and told him I was twenty-two, in case that made any difference, which in this case, it did. During one service, I sat alone, with a seat saved for Joe after he was finished with singing in the choir. I watched as he walked down and then went to sit with Amy for the remainder of the service. My heart fell and I closed my eyes. This was a crucial point for me. I believe God was testing my attitude and wanted to know where my faith stood. I prayed, "Lord, You know all things. If Joe is supposed to be the one for me, then I put the matter into Your hands. I will not push something that is not Your will. Please help me accept whatever is the outcome. It will work out if it is Your perfect plan..." Throughout the weekend we tried to talk, but Birdman was always there with us, so we never got to talk about anything concerning "liking" each other. I do recall telling my roommates about my interest in Joe, and one of the bolder girls marched down to the game room one afternoon and said, "She likes you. You like her. Don't mess this up and don't let her get away!" It left us at a very awkward moment and we both did not know what to say. We continued playing our game in silence. I hoped what she had just shouted to the entire game room did not ruin any chances of a possible future with him. The last night at the camp, we had a bonfire. I sat in the front row, saving a seat for Joe. Birdman came along, saw the available seat, and sat down next to me. We sang songs, but my heart hurt at the thought of having to leave my new friends, one in particular, and head on home the next afternoon. I turned around and noticed Joe standing at the back of the group. I quietly slipped away and went to stand beside him. We talked for a couple minutes about how we were going to miss everyone, and then I noticed Birdman stand and begin looking around for me. He saw me standing in the back so he came running around to be with us. I know he meant well, and he was holding true to the fact that he would make sure I would not be alone, but I needed a few minutes with Joe so we could chat privately. It was not meant to be. All three of us walked back to the lodge and sat until midnight, chatting and yawning. The two guys finally went to their cabin and I went to bed, still unsure of what would happen after we said goodbye the next day. After lunch on Monday, the group from Connecticut decided they were going to get ice cream on their way out. Joe invited me to follow along. He finally got up the courage to ask Birdman if he would let us talk for a couple of minutes, and Birdman was gracious to agree and walked away. I could hardly believe it! Joe said he had enjoyed getting to know me and asked if I would give him my phone number. He told me he might want to call sometime and talk. Finally, some answers! Now, the next question was, would he actually call? And when? My heart was full as I followed the group to an ice cream stand down the road. Joe shared a black raspberry ice cream with me, which I doubt he could have eaten alone anyway. The amount of ice cream they put on there was as big as his head! I drove away with the promise of a bright future ahead of me, glad I had put the matter into the Lord's hands. Joe did not call that night, but at dinner the next night, the phone rang. It was for me. He asked if I had gotten home okay, and we talked briefly before hanging up. He called again the next night, and then again, and we also did some chatting online, which saved us a huge phone bill. This was before texting was around, and possibly even before cell phones had become big. I know I did not have one. :) A week later, he told me he had thrown Amy's number out because he was not interested in her for long. Our relationship grew quickly, and in six months we were engaged. Almost one year to the day we met we were married. It is amazing how God works. When we put our trust in Him completely, and place our worries and cares into His hands, we can know He will not let us down. Lord, thank You for an amazing fourteen years of marriage to the wonderful man You had already chosen for me. Thank You for the five children You are allowing us to raise on earth, and for the one that is in heaven with You. Please watch over JJ at camp this week and do a wonderful work on his heart. May he come back changed for the better, and have a sweet spirit about him. Bring him back to our family safely. In Jesus' name, Amen. P.S. I am also very thankful for the role Birdman played in the process of Joe and I meeting. God used him as the tool to get us together and start a wonderful thing. I am glad to say Birdman is happily married to another gal he met online and they have a beautiful daughter. Thanks, Birdman, for inviting me to come to Monadnock and meet new people! :) ![]() She was only trying to get a small glass out of the cupboard, but it slipped out of her hand and smashed into a million pieces. Thankfully, most of it stayed on the top of the counter, but a few stray shards landed on the kitchen floor. I carefully cleaned it all up, trying hard to find all the little slivers that had managed to escape. I thought I had found all until I looked at the floor in a different light and noticed a few more small pieces hidden in the corners. I grabbed a nearby flashlight and turned it on. It illuminated the linoleum, and the stray pieces glittered at me as the light uncovered their hiding place. I was relieved once every piece of glass was cleaned up, but completely shocked at how much dirt and grim lined the underside of my cupboards and alongside my stove. Since I am a "professional housecleaner" in other people's homes, and always try to clean even the smallest details, this was just not acceptable in my own home! Immediately I took a sponge and vigorously began scrubbing the grunge and spots that dared to taunt me. The job became a much bigger project, but it was well worth it in the end, and my kitchen looked so much better afterwards. Not that any guests would come into my kitchen and peer under the counters to see how clean everything was, but still, for my own sake of knowing, it felt good to know it was gone. Isn't that the way it is with sin in our life? We can appear to be clean and neat on the outside, but inside we may be hiding some sin or habit that is really ugly and dirty. Then something we hear, or simply God convicting our heart, causes the Light to come on and we see the grime. Oftentimes we do not like the Light - it reveals things that are shocking, and we do not want to have to deal with them. It takes a lot of work, major scrubbing, and time, something we feel we do not have enough of these days. If nobody is affected by my sin, at least for the time being, why do we need to clean it up? If nobody will see it, and nobody is looking specifically for it, then why bother? Jesus sees. Jesus knows, and so do you. I love the line from one of my favorite songs: "The man that I am when no one is watching, is the man I really am." Such a deep thought, but it cuts to the heart. Deep inside you know what is really going on. Turn on the Light, and examine your heart. You will feel so much better when you get that grime and dirt cleaned up, and you will feel good knowing that it is gone, and you are forgiven. A clean heart is a happy heart. ![]() One of the reasons I love to write is the fact that it can have a healing quality to it. It is my way of expressing myself, and being able to "talk" it out in the only way I know how. I have a hard time actually speaking the words out loud; sometimes my brain does not move fast enough to be able to say what I am thinking. With writing, there is a delete button, as well as a back space key. It may take me more than an hour to write something, but when I am finally done, it holds the path to my heart, and the reader can finally see what I am trying to get at. It is all a process that takes time. Once again, I find myself having to write, so my heart can begin another healing process. It is a journey those that are left behind must take in order to deal with the loss of a loved one. God knows our days are as grass; they flourish and rise up, yet in the evening it is cut down and withereth. We will all have our day when it will be time for us to pass from this life onto the next. We know not the hour or the day; whether we will live to a ripe old age or go while we are still young and full of life. I hear so often how we should live life to the fullest, and make the most of every day, but that does not mean we should do whatever we want. We cannot live a life of sin in fear that we may not experience 'the fun' in the future in case God takes us home early. The important thing is that we do what God wants us to do during the years of our life on this earth. We were created for Him, and should give Him the glory due His name. James Robert Teare, aka my Great Uncle Bobby, lived a long life. He never married, so he lived alone in his big house. He had been a soldier during War World II, but he did not really talk about the war very much. I wish I had sat down with him and asked him questions about what he had seen and done. He really was a genius, and knew so much history. I still have the old cassette tape of an old family gathering where I can hear him talking about the molasses spill that occurred in Boston many years ago. He loved being with the family, but he always made his visits short because he claimed that he needed to get back home. I often wondered just what he did back there all by himself. Maybe he felt like he was a burden on the family and did not want us to feel sorry for him. Maybe he felt sad because he saw all the happy families around him and he realized he did not have that. I do not know why he never married. I thought I remembered a story about a spurned love once, but do not know the details. Uncle Bobby came to my graduation in 1993. I was homeschooled, so I did not have a formal graduation ceremony, but my grandparents came up to Vermont with my Uncle, and we had a lovely time going out to a restaurant to celebrate. I had one friend with me that day, who I must regret to say has also passed on from this life. I treasure those memories, and will forever keep them close to my heart. Every summer, my family always took a trip to Cape Cod to visit my grandparents, and usually while we were there, the rest of the relatives gathered there also. It was always a fun time to see the cousins, aunts, and uncles. We got to swim in the beautiful in-ground pool, feed Zeke the seagull, and visit the beaches that were only a few minutes away from the house. Well, one day during our vacation, my brother needed to take the car to the store, so he left the house. He returned around the same time that my Uncle Bobby and Uncle Woody arrived, and he was laughing hysterically! He explained that he had almost been run off the road by some wild, crazy driver, only to find that it was Uncle Woody driving the car! "You should have seen Uncle Bobby!" he had laughed. "As Uncle Woody flew around the corner and came into my lane, Uncle Bobby dove under the dashboard, white knuckles gripping the sides! All I could see was his terrified face peering over the dashboard on the passenger side, as he was afraid we would crash!" It is stories like that which still bring smiles to our faces when we are sad, yet I will not bore you with the other stories that only my family can rememember and relate to. Nine months ago he was working in a hayloft and fell out, paralyzing himself from the neck down. A few weeks ago they discovered he was full of cancer, and then on Father's Day of 2012, he passed away. My family had shared the Gospel with him. He saw the testimony of my Dad, having known him as a child, and then as a teen, and into adulthood, yet he was not interested. My dad even went to see him in the hospital, but he did not want to hear about God. I regret to say that I do not think my uncle ever made a profession of faith while he lived on this earth. That is the hardest part of having to say goodbye to another member of my family. I do not know what happened during the last few days of his life - maybe he had a heart change and trusted the Lord as his Savior. Maybe someone had the opportunity to lead him to the Lord. I can only rest in the peace that the Lord gives me, knowing He knows all things. May the Lord help my heart heal, and help me be a great witness for Him so other family members can know Him as I know Him. ![]() It was a great host of small birds against one giant hawk. Determined to beat the large predator threatening their nests, the little birds dive-bombed the hawk, and squawked loudly hoping to scare him away. I was glad to see that nothing was dangling from the beak of the hawk, or from the deadly talons that sat beneath the bird's belly. If you have been keeping up with my earlier blogs, you will know why I say I was glad about that particular thing. Yet, I was afraid that if I watched much longer I would see him grab one of the small birds attacking him, so I looked away. It was then that I noticed a lady walking along the sidewalk, calmly pushing a baby stroller. She seemed oblivious to the battle that raged over her head, never once glancing up to see what all the noise was above her. I do not know the outcome of that battle, but it got me thinking: how many time are there battles, such as the one I witnessed, that rage in the heavenly realm and we are completely unaware of them? In Daniel it says that he fasted and prayed for three weeks, waiting for the Lord to answer his prayer. An angel finally appeared and informed Daniel that he had been trying to reach him since the very moment Daniel had began praying, but the Prince of Persia had kept him from going anywhere. Michael, one of the chief princes of the angels had to be called in to assist the other one trying to break through. It took those twenty-one days to finally gain the victory. How many times do we pray and expect an answer right at that moment, and then leave our knees disappointed we did not hear anything in our own timing. We give up too soon. God's timing is not our timing, but His timing is always perfect. Be patient with Him; there may be a major battle raging over our head at this very moment. The devil does not want us to be victorious. He will do all he can to stop us from hearing God's reply. When God answers it only proves to make our faith that much stronger, and that makes the devil afraid and downright angry. Do not ever give up on Him - keep your eyes focused on His face, and He WILL be faithful to deliver you and answer you. ![]() I would watch him as he sat, Bible in his lap, having his quiet time on the front porch. As the birds sang their morning songs and the early sunshine would begin to warm the night-chilled ground, he would meditate on God's Word. It did not matter where we were, if we were on vacation, or visiting a friend; he always made sure he stole away for those few precious moments with his Lord, and I am glad to say... ...that's my dad. Ever since I can remember, he got up early to go to work, no matter if he felt like it or not. He had a job to do, and not just an every day computer job, but a job to provide for his family. He worked many hours to meet all the needs of our growing family, but he did it out of love. He did it so we could spend special time together, like get creemees after supper, or take a day trip up to the Gramby Zoo. He loved us to pieces, and I am glad to say... ...that's my dad. Every year he would take us children, one at a time, to a special place of our choosing. We called it "Our Day" and we got to spend the entire day with Dad. What fun we had watching planes take-off at the airport, riding ferries to zoos and waterparks, and having to drive up to La Ronde in Canada instead of riding the train because it took off without us. Yes, even as an adult woman I can still say it is fun to go on a "day" with my dad. Why, just last year he took me to the Stowe bike path for an afternoon of bike riding and ice cream. It was a special time and I am glad to say... ...that's my dad. He always had a soft spot in his heart for animals, and I am glad to say he passed it on to me. Living in the country allowed space to have chickens, rabbits, geese, dogs, cats, and yes, even horses when one of my sisters decided she loved them and promised to care for them. I cannot wait for the day when I have some land and can raise my own chickens and maybe even have a little goat. To this day, every time I see a beautiful bird and hear a unique bird call, I think of my dad and wonder if he has seen that kind of bird before. I always want to share it with him because... ...that's my dad. He always made sure we went to church, and a few nights a week had devotions with us. He always made sure we learned of God's ways and instructed us in the only way he knew how - by the Bible. I took what he said to heart and developed my own relationship with the Lord. I learned the ways of the Lord for myself, and read my Bible every day. The Lord saw me through the struggles of my teen years, and brought me to where I am today. I am thankful for the testimony of my parents and what they have taught me through the years. I pray for many more happy memories of special times with my dad in the future. May God bless my father (and mother) and watch over them as they make life changing decisions this year. I love him to pieces because... ...that's my dad. Happy Father's Day to the best dad in the world! I love you! ![]() Genesis 1:6-8 "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmamanet Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day." No matter how many times I read the Bible, it always amazes me how new things continue to jump out at me. It was no different that morning as I studied creation with the children. We had begun a new school year, and we were discussing day two of creation. 'God created a firmament to divide the waters, and He called the firmament ‘heaven.' After reading those verses, we began to wonder what a firmament was, so I had my oldest grab a dictionary. He looked up the word and read, "the arch of the sky." This made me think about other arches that God had created and I asked the children, "What else do we see that is an arch?" They began listing other things such as the moon, stars, and the sun, but it was not what I was looking for. “Think about something we only see when it is raining and the sun is out at the same time.” “A rainbow!” my five-year-old shouted. “That’s right! God created an arch called the rainbow as a promise that He would never send a worldwide flood again.” I stopped to think about this. If a firmament was the arch of the sky that God called Heaven, was a rainbow a little piece of heaven? I thought back to the time I had visited my friend in Indiana, when the terrifying tornado had whirled past the neighborhood. God had showed His protective hand on us that day, and kept the giant tree from falling on top of us. That evening, the gray clouds disappeared, and overhead we saw two of the prettiest, most vivid rainbows as we looked up in awe at the sky. Were those rainbows a doorway to heaven? Were we seeing a glimpse of what God has in store for us when we reach heaven? Maybe the colors are not simply the reflections of the rays of the sun, but maybe they are reflecting the colors of the Son's jewels that sits in His Kingly crown. Of course this was all speculation on my part, but it got me thinking about God and His love. Whatever the rainbow is, it still shows the promise of God. We cannot even begin to fathom the deep love that God has for us. "The depths of love that the human eye can see, are only reflections of God's love to me." This line is from one of my favorite songs. What we experience on this earth, in the form of love, is only a taste of the love that God has for me. I can only imagine my reaction when I reach those pearly gates and meet Him face to face, but while on this earth, I hope I can show my Lord the deepest amount of love my earthly mind can comprehend, because He first loved me. ![]() I have a common saying in our house which is, "I do not like pain. Pain hurts." Yet, God, in His wisdom, knows that it is through the pain that will draw our attention and focus onto Him, if we allow Him to mold and shape us into His perfect will. The best part about it though, is the fact that He will never leave us as we go through our struggles, and His eyes are always watching over us. Many years ago I read something that touched me so deeply that I printed it out, and taped it onto the last page of the Old Testament in one of my Bibles. I am going to share what the paper said with you today, and pray you may be blessed by it. I am not the author of the words below, but I do not know who penned the writing. May you be blessed as I was, and still, am! " There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chaper three, they came across verse three, which says, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She did not mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver over the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, 'that He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver'. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered, "Yes," he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver were left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy. When I see my image reflected in it." If today you are feeling the heat of this world's fire, just remember that God has His eyes on you." ![]() I am reading a historic novel about the Revolutionary war days, and I am enjoying the author's good style and descriptions woven throughout the book. What stuck me though, was the way she described the prisons in Boston that housed the 'rebels' whom the Bristish had captured. The conditions were deplorable, and men who were there even for the shortest amount of time would not be able to remain healthy in those circumstances. The lack of food and water was one thing, but they crammed so many into one cell that it was impossible to move around. When the fever struck, it hit hard and fast, taking as many men down with it as its' evil talons could possible grab. The stench was horrendous - bad enough to cause people, who came to visit and help aid the sick men, to retch as soon as they left the horrible prison. Yet, to the men inside, the smells became faint. They had been inside the walls so long that they did not notice the nasty stench that surrounded them; it did not bother them in the least, though it could only promise them sickness and possible death. Sin is like that. Pastor preached an awesome message last night about some of the things that God hates; yes, God does hate some things, and no, that does not mean He is sinning to hate. It is what we do with that hate that causes us to sin. I had this blog going through my mind all day yesterday, and it was neat to hear Pastor's sermon which confirmed the thoughts that the Lord had given me. It comes down to the fact that we are to love what God loves, and we are to hate what God hates. Proverbs 6:16-19 says, "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren." It is interesting to see that God listed areas that are common to man during every day living here, and not what we would consider deeper and 'more wicked' sins. These are the few that can lead down to the road of worse sins, if we do not deal with them on a daily level. These sins are an abomination to Him; something that cannot get much worse than that to Him. If He hates these specific things, we are to hate them with a vengence also. We need to view sin as a hateful prison that wants to swallow us up within its walls. The devil wants to cause us to no longer smell the stench of the evil around us and become use to the smells. The things that once made us retch and recoil at the thought and sight of them is now common place. We must not let the stench of sin in our life snuff out the beautiful world outside that God has for us. Fresh air; blue skies; green grass beneath our feet; these things are so much better than cold, stone walls that imprison us with the scent of death waiting to pull us down. What God has planned for His children is far beyong what we can ever imagine here on this earth. Hate what God hates and love what He loves. Keep the stench fresh and it will keep you away from the prison walls of sin. His name is Wonderful,
His name is Wonderful, His name is Wonderful, Jesus, my Lord. He is the mighty King, Master of everyting, His name is Wonderful, Jesus, my Lord. He's the great Shepherd, The Rock of all Ages, Almighty God is He. Bow down before Him, Love and adore Him, His name is Wonderful, Jesus, my Lord. The song says it all. There is nothing more beautiful then His name, and nothing more powerful. I can imagine millions of people in heaven, on their knees, worshiping the great King of Kings. The music we hear on this earth will never compare to the music in heaven; no instruments will be needed. The sweetness of our voices will fill the air as we praise our Creator and God. No longer will there be strife or envy, pain or sorrow, and jealousy and discord will be gone. Everyone will be together, of one mind as all the hurts of the past are forgotten. Jesus is all we will need. Jesus is all we need now. I am so glad my sins, that were once as red as scarlet, are now as white as snow. I heard something awesome yesterday: snow is water, and water is clear. The whiteness of snow comes from the reflection of light around it. So is our sin that stains our souls. God looks at it and instead of seeing the red, He sees the reflection of the Light in us and the sin is covered. I want to reflect the true Light of my Jesus. I want others around me to see Who I believe. If others can be so open and deep in their beliefs, which are man-made and not the true way, what am I afraid of? I need to hold my head high for Him, because He is the only way to heaven. I want to be able to stand next to someone in heaven without regrets and worship our King of Kings together. |
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