Scheduled Appointments

Brother David Morris was the last of the scheduled appointments that Tim had taken care of for our church.  It is too bad that he could not be here to enjoy that appointment!  But, the Lord had another scheduled appointment for Tim.  And while I LOVE listening to Brother David's messages, and the revival services were wonderfully uplifting and honored our gracious, supreme God, I am thinking Tim would agree that his appointment with God was even better!

We all have an appointment with God, and it won't be missed and you won't be late!  Hebrews 9:27 says, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."  Are you ready to meet your maker?

This week's sign.

 
I walked outside this morning to fog and the smiling face of the little sunflower under my bird tree!  It reminded me of God's faithfulness!  GREAT is thy faithfulness, Oh God, my Father!  There is NO shadow of turning with thee!  Thou changest NOT, thy compassions they fail NOT!  GREAT is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!  Thank You!!

His mercies are new every morning!

The adult Sunday school teacher, Calvin Russell!  What a wonderful man of God he is!

Brother David Morris, evangelist.

Food for dinner on the grounds after the morning services.

Not too many desserts, which is unusual, but we had plenty!

Chow line!

Brother David and his wife, Terri, me, Joy and her husband, Bobby Smith, who is acting as interim pastor.  Thank You, Lord, for the blessing of Christian friends and church family friends!

It was a blessing to fellowship with this special couple this week!  Thank You, Lord, for Christian friends!  I don't know what I would do without their prayers and encouragement!

Revival week is hard on the flesh!  But it is GREAT for the spirit!  Thank You, Lord, for the renewal we received this week during the revival!  Please continue to bless Brother Morris in his travels as an evangelist.  And bless Terri with your special presence when Brother David is away from her!  We love You, Lord!  And we lift our voice to worship You!  I pray, in the lovely name of Jesus!  AMEN!

Family Resemblance

Do you see any family resemblance in these two?

Hannah and Elisabeth

Well, I certainly do!  They are daughter and mother, but they look like they are sisters!  This reminded me of a few things today:

In the revival service tonight, Brother Morris brought out that because we are in Christ, there should be a family resemblance!  We should walk, talk, think and act like Christ!  We should "look" like Him!  Ephesians 2:8-10 says, "8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.  10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."  Jesus was our example of good works!

So, why don't we have more influence on the world around us?  Why are we Christians looking more and more like the world instead?  I think I found part of the answer in the passage of Scripture I was reading during my devotions today. 

Acts 14:1 uses a phrase, "and so spake" which is followed by "that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed."  What does this little phrase mean?  Well, since the verse begins with "and" I believe it ties in with the last verse in chapter 13, which says, "And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost."  Could it be that because the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost that this gave them a great influence on the Jews and Greeks?  Such an influence that caused the Jews and Greeks to believe?  I think so!  They had the family resemblance to Jesus because they were in Christ!  I want to have that kind of influence on the world around me!  Do you?

It seems like it should be an easy task, doesn't it?  Have the joy and love of Jesus in our lives and the world will come running!  Right?

Unfortunately, it is not right!  The words in v.1 refer to "a great multitude."  It doesn't say "everyone believed!"  Verse 2 begins with the word, "But."  "But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles.....against the brethren."  Verse 4 says the city was "divided."  Some sided with the Jewish rebellion (which I believe were the religious leaders, and those that sided with them, who hated Jesus and had Him put to death) and some sided with the apostles.  And doesn't that sound like America today?!  Those who expect us Christians to be tolerant of everyone else, yet everyone else is totally intolerant of us Christians!  They do whatever they can to keep the pot stirred up against us!

Ultimately, it is the devil who is assaulting us (v.5) and would love to see us dead and out of his hair!  And there may come a time when we will have to flee for our lives, just like they are having to do in other parts of the world (v.6).  But, no matter where we have to flee to, we must continue to preach the gospel of salvation.

There will always be those "certain" people who will be against true Christianity (v.19).  But, we can't let them stop us from "speaking boldly in the Lord" (v.3).  We must exhort one another to "continue in the faith and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (v.22).

I pray that when you think about family resemblances, you will remember that we must resemble the Lord Jesus Christ because we are in Christ!  He is our example of how to live and how to have an influence on the people around us.

Lord Jesus, I pray that my life will be a living testimony to the love, mercy and grace you have bestowed upon me; even in my sins, You saved me!  Thank You!

Mysterious Ways

Romans  11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

My sweet friend, Terri Morris, wife of the evangelist who is preaching our revival this week, shared an encouraging hymn with me today.

God Moves in a Mysterious Way

God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines of never-failing skill,
He treasures up His bright designs, and works His sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread
are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace;
behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour;
the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower.

I am reminded of the verse, Romans 8:28 which says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."  God is working His plan every moment of every day.  He does not have a Plan B!  Plan A is all He needs to accomplish His purpose in all things!  And it is always for our good and His glory!  The phrase "all things" only means one thing.....ALL THINGS.....pertaining to death and life!  ALL THINGS pertaining to heaven and hell!  ALL THINGS!!!  Tim would say that ALL means all and that is all that ALL means!  Including his death.  It is still a mystery at present how his death will work for my good and His glory!  But I believe this verse, therefore I believe the mystery will be revealed in God's timing.

As He works His sovereign will, I must be courageous and trust Him for His grace.  Soon, the bitter taste of Tim's death will bloom into a sweet flower!  A flower to be shared with others.  A flower that will bring glory to God!


Another great message was heard tonight from Brother Morris.  And many friends from sister churches attended, too!  The fellowship afterwards was sweet!  It was going on 10:00 when I got home and all I have to do is cross the parking lot!  :D

The weather was rainy today.  I picked up Terri at 11:30 and we drove to Panera Bread for lunch, but we talked in the car for probably 45 minutes before we actually went in to eat.  And we talked some more in the restaurant.  After we ate, we went to Mega Thrift.  Again, we sat in the car for quite awhile talking!  It was so nice to just sit and talk and share with each other our prayer concerns.  We both found some items in the store.  It was getting fairly late, so I took her back to the hotel and I came back to the house and washed up the skirts I bought and washed my hair and dried and ironed it.  By that time I had maybe 1/2 hour before being picked up to go to Olive Garden with Brother David, Terri, Bobby, Joy and "little" Sharon.

Here are my cloud pictures for today.  I took these with my phone while waiting to be picked up for supper.

Thankfully, most of the rain today happened while we were driving or inside!  Thank You, Lord, for Your protection today and for the great fellowship with my Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

Revive Us Again

We started our fall revival tonight with Brother David Morris.  We had a good turn out from our sister churches.  Thanks to all of you who came to support the meeting!  Come the rest of the week, if you can!

Revival is actually for Christians, not the lost.  But, the gospel is always preached in case someone in the audience is not yet part of the family of God.  You cannot REVIVE something that is dead.  And, until we realize our sinful, lost condition, we are dead in our trespasses and sins.  But, thanks be to God for His mercy on sinners!  "Every knee will bow!  Salvation is just bowing ahead of time!" Brother David said tonight.  We have been praying for Revival in our country!  But we need revival, too!  It is so easy to become complacent and uncaring about the lost and dying world around us.  But, hopefully the lord will see fit to save someone this week!

Revive Us Again

Big Daddy Weave

We praise You oh God for the Son of Your love
For Jesus, who died and is now gone above

Hallelujah, Thine the glory
Hallelujah, amen
Hallelujah, Thine the glory
Revive us again

We praise You oh God for Your Spirit of Light
Who has shown us our Savior and scattered our night

All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain
Who has born all our sin and has cleansed every stain

Revive us again, fill our hearts with Your love
And may our souls be rekindled with fire from above

Hallelujah, Thine the glory
Hallelujah, amen
Hallelujah, Thine the glory
Revive us again

The weather was overcast all day today.  That is OK because it kept the heat down.  It was humid and if it had not been cloudy, it would have been hot!

I'm not sure if this is the sun or the moon.

It was mostly cloud-covered.

Ominous looking sky!  Never did rain but sure looked like it would!

Had a wonderful first meeting!  I know each night will only get better and better!  Please plan to attend the revival services, if you can.

Short outline from tonight's sermon from Daniel 7:

1.  The Kingdoms of this World

     Babylon, Persia, Greek and Roman

     These Kings were lost.  However, the Lord is King.....King of kings and Lord of lords.  He is the         Lord of history - His story!

2.  The Kingdom of our Lord and His Christ

     History is His Story!

Jesus paid the price for salvation that He did not owe.

He paid the debt I could not pay.  I am so thankful for that!

Jesus paid it all!  All to Him I owe!

Sin has left a crimson stain!

He washed it white as snow!

Thank You, Lord for your mercy, love and grace!

Fall is in the Air

I spent the last 2 nights with Ilene.  We have become quite close.  The Lord is so gracious to have given us each other to support one another in our widowhood!  And we are very thankful for our dear friend, Carolyn, too!  The Lord has made us buddies besides sisters in the Lord!  I am so thankful to have them both so close!

Yesterday Ilene and I and a couple of other widows from our church went to a Widows' meeting at Damascus Baptist Church near Statesville, NC.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship.  There were 13 widows present, some of them being ladies we met at the Retreat last month.  Linda gave a wonderful devotion and we had a wonderful lunch of Taco soup with cornbread, salad, fruit and apple crisp for dessert.  We left around 1 and got back to the church at approximately 2.

Today Ilene and I slept until 7:45.  I was awake at around 6 to use the bathroom, but I laid back down for awhile, even though I didn't go back to sleep.  We worked on a jig saw puzzle until time for her to leave.  I came on home so I could get some packing done.  I want to try and get as much packing done this week as possible.  I want to take a load to Elisabeth's.

Ilene and I enjoying a green smoothie after lunch.

Fall is here!  Ilene's yard is full of leaves!

This bird was perched in the top of the tree in the front yard out by the road.  Sure was singing a beautiful song!

Not sure what bird this is.  Wasn't close enough for me to get a good look at it.

Zoomed in on this plane.

Zoomed in even closer

A small patch of clouds reflecting the sun as it was setting.

Evidence of fall.....turning and falling leaves.

I didn't see anything at the feeders tonight except the cardinals.

Tomorrow evening begins our Fall Revival services with Brother David Morris.  Thursday - Saturday evenings the services will start at 7:30.  Hope to see you there!

Glory for Me

I didn't wake up until 7:45 this morning!  That is sleeping in for me of late!

I went to the DMV today and got NC license plates for the new-to-me car.  Glad that is over with!  It was fairly easy.  I asked him what I needed to do to sell a couple of cars.  All I need is to sign the title over and have it notarized.

Next I went to Walmart to pick up a few items.  Then I went to the cemetery to pick up the 8x10 of Tim with a poem on it.  While there, I was informed that the name plate was now on mine and Tim's crypt at the mausoleum, so I took a picture.  All I had with me was my phone which doesn't take great pictures.  So, I'll have to take my camera over there sometime so I can zoom in on it.

Tonight is the Mallard Ridge Assisted Living services.  I did the laundry last night and paid bills today, so I'm going to go over to Ilene's now that she is home and spend a couple of days with her.  We will go to the services tonight and tomorrow we will be taking a group of ladies to the widows' meeting at Damascus Baptist Church near Statesville, NC.

The sunflower burst open today!

Jackie at the cemetery told me to tell you kids hello!

The poem reads:
This isn't death, it's glory!
It isn't dark, it's light.
It isn't stumbling, groping
Or even faith, it's sight!

This isn't grief, it's having
My last tear wiped away.
It's sunrise, it's the morning
Of my eternal day!

This isn't even praying,
It's speaking face to face.
It's listening, and it's glimpsing
The wonders of His Grace.
This is the end of pleading
For strength to bear my pain.
Not even pain's dark memory
Will ever live again.

How did I bear the earth life
Before I came up higher,
Before my soul was granted
It's every deep desire.

Before I knew this rapture
Of meeting face to face
That One who sought and saved me,
And kept me by His Grace!


Isn't that just the perfect poem of what heaven will be!  It made me think of this song:

Oh, That Will Be Glory

When all my labors and trials are o’er,
And I am safe on that beautiful shore,
Just to be near the dear Lord I adore,
Will through the ages be glory for me.

Refrain:
Oh, that will be glory for me,
Glory for me, glory for me,
When by His grace I shall look on His face,
That will be glory, be glory for me.

When, by the gift of His infinite grace,
I am accorded in heaven a place,
Just to be there and to look on His face,
Will through the ages be glory for me.

Friends will be there I have loved long ago;
Joy like a river around me will flow;
Yet just a smile from my Savior, I know,
Will through the ages be glory for me.

I am waiting eagerly for that day!  I pray you are!  I pray you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior!

It is hard to see from this picture, but the emblem in both upper corners is a cross on an open Bible and the bottom line reads, "In loving memory."

I wonder when it will finally become really real to me that my love is gone, never to return to me again, never to come walking up the steps from the man room again to see what I am doing, never to come to the table to eat with me again, never to hear him say, "Thank you!" after we eat and before he goes down to the man room to watch the news or go back to the church office for awhile until the news comes on, never to hear him say, "I love you."  I suppose one of these days the reality of it all will really become real.  Maybe when I stop getting things in the mail that remind me I need to remove his name from the account, like the AAA Membership renewal I received.  Maybe when the last issue of the "Expositor" magazine comes.  Maybe when I am out of the parsonage.  Maybe then the reality of it all will really become real.

Thank You, Lord, for the memories I have of a wonderful life with such a wonderful man as I had with Tim!  I have so many questions and things to say to him now that it is too late to speak them!

Birthday Blessings and Remembrances

Today, as you can imagine, was a bittersweet day!  One of rejoicing in the gift from the Giver of life; another year of life to serve the King of kings.  But it has also been a bit sad to think about my best friend not being able to celebrate with me by going out to eat or just being here.  It was a day spent with family, which I love, even though the most important part of my earthly life is not here.  So tomorrow I begin a new year without my companion.  We would be the same age today and for 2 months and 10 days before Tim would jump a year ahead of me.  But now it doesn't matter.  The only thing that matters to me is that I find the will of God for my life.  I heard this song coming home from Alabama on Friday:

Hillary Scott - Thy Will Lyrics

From the album Love Remains

I'm so confused
I know I heard you loud and clear
So, I followed through
Somehow I ended up here

I don't wanna think
I may never understand
That my broken heart is a part of your plan
When I try to pray
All I got is hurt and these four words

Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done

I know you're good
But this don't feel good right now
And I know you think
Of things I could never think about

It's hard to count it all joy
Distracted by the noise
Just trying to make sense
Of all your promises
Sometimes I gotta stop
Remember that you're God
And I am not
So

Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done

Like a child on my knees all that comes to me is
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will

I know you see me
I know you hear me, Lord
Your plans are for me
Goodness you have in store

I know you hear me
I know you see me, Lord
Your plans are for me
Goodness you have in store
So

Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done

Like a child on my knees
All that comes to me is
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done

I know you see me
I know you hear me, Lord


Publishing: © 2016 W.B.M. Music Corp. / EKT Publishing, admin. by W.B.M. Music Corp. (SESAC); WB Music Corp. / Thankful For This Music, admin. by WB Music Corp. (ASCAP); Songs of Universal, Inc. / G650 Music/Pure Note Music, admin. by Songs of Universal, Inc. (BMI).

Writer(s): Hillary Scott, Emily Weisband and Bernie Herms

Tim left us 2 months ago today.  I walked into the house on Friday when I returned from my trip to Alabama and looked into the man room.  It still seems unreal that he is not here.  Yes, as the song says, it doesn't feel very good right now, but I know His plans for me are good!  He has taken care of me in so many ways!  He answers prayer every day!  I praise His name for His love and mercy He shows to me every day!  I have never felt forgotten by Him!  Thank You, Lord, for Your love.  Thank You for Your faithfulness!

Today was a wonderful day spent with my girls and their families.  Liz's kids came home with me last night, so they were here for Sunday school.  Then we met Liz and Brad at Zaxby's in Lexington for lunch.  They sang happy birthday to me and Terry had gone out this morning to get cupcakes for the occasion!

Being with my girls always makes me happy!  " A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."  Proverbs 17:22   I'd much rather be joyful than depressed!

There is no picture to this video.  I just had it tuned on to record everyone singing happy birthday to me.  I left the lens cap on the camera.

Pictures taken at church:

Chance and Terry.  Sunglasses needed!

Abby and Araya.  Sweet girls.

Stripes surrounding the solid.  Hannah, Thad and Ryan

My beautiful daughter, Jessica and me.

Thad, Abby, Araya, Ryan, Chance, Hannah

Hannah used to love being carried around by Terry.  Now she is a teenager!  :D

Hannah and Jessica.

Araya loves her cousin, Ryan.

Abby took Hannah's place and lets Terry carry her.

Ryan, Chance, Hannah, Thad and Jessica

Chance and mom

Chance and Dad

Araya and daddy

Beautiful couple!

Jessica and Terry took the bed and dresser from the guest room back to their house today.  They will go in the downstairs where I will be staying with them.  It didn't rain for the first 2 1/2 hours of the trip, but then it rained the rest of the way home.

We begin revival services this week with Brother David Morris.  Everyone is invited!  Hope you can and will make plans to attend if you are in the area!

Have a blessed week!