Early Thanksgivings

We need to remember to give thanks at all times for the marvelous gifts our Lord has given us.  On Thanksgiving , which was set apart by George Washington as a religious national holiday of thanks to God, we are blest with a special  time to think of what is good in our lives.   We generally have much more to be thankful for today than the early settlers did, and yet sometimes we lack the faith they had.


Thanksgiving is a good time to slow down and count your blessings. Give thanks this week for everything  that is a blessing, big or small.


As I look at these pictures I appreciate so many things...my husband, my family...including this little grandson who lights up our life. I am thankful for the piano, a roof over our heads with adequate heat, for wood floors that are easier to clean than old carpet, for this old lamp that  caught my eye years ago in a new shop I was  visiting with friends, for whom I am thankful.  Try counting.  You may perk up a bit.


Sometimes our friend Jim Chilton says things so well, that I must post his piece here for you. And today I am doing just that:

A Thanksgiving Message From A Dollar Bill (21^st November 2011)

A favorite passage of our ancestors was Psalm 95:  “Come, let us sing for joy to  Yahweh; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For Yahweh is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before Yahweh our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care” (1-7).

Early Thanksgivings in America were celebrated in spite of many hardships and loss.  They had joy in their hearts brought on by a deep and abiding peace in the Lord.  Today, Thanksgiving is our only cultural “religious” holiday.  George Washington, as president, made this proclamation on 3^rd October 1789:  “Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly implore his protection and favor.”  He would refer to God as “the great Lord and Ruler of Nations.”

We’ve been told that money talks, and this week we will prove it.  In Jesus’ day, He was asked to comment on a Roman coin.  Maybe if He were here today, He would ask for a buck and say, “You seem to worship this so much; why don’t you listen to it.” 

Take a buck out and look on the back.  Above the pyramid are the words, Annuit Coeptus.  In 1782 Congress appointed William Barton, a design artist, to propose a national seal.  He did, and he included these Latin words, which means, “God has favored our undertakings.”  He certainly has!

Psalm 90:17 asserts, “May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us.”  Solomon added, “for whoever find me finds life and receives favor from Yahweh” (Proverbs 8:35). 

Who gave us our liberty and prosperity?  Technology, education, resources, luck?  No.  “God has favored our undertakings.”  Many other peoples lived on this soil before the pilgrims, but something special happened when people came with a kingdom agenda, and our national seal reminds us.

Jim Chilton

thejameschilton@gmail.com

Comfort

For Caleb a comfort is his very special blankie his mom made for him and a finger in his mouth.

It sometimes takes much more to comfort adults, whose world is so complicated and filled with sinful influences.  But we can take comfort in the fact that like Caleb's mommy loves him, our God and Father loves us very much and wants the best for each of us.

Psalm 23
A psalm of David.

 ¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
 ² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
 ³ he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
   for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
   through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will fear no evil,
   for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
   they comfort me.

 ⁵ You prepare a table before me
   in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
   my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
   all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
   forever.

2 Corinthians 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,


Sleep tight in the comfort of our LORD.

Caleb is a real worker. Sometimes as hard as he tries, it doesn't seem to me that he gets very far.  But he in good nature continues to practice whatever it is.  That reminds me of an email titled PUSH that I received today.  It has gone around and around the web and is always a good read:

A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and God appeared.

The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin.

The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with
all his might...

So, this the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from
sunup to sundown, his shoulders set squarely against the cold,
massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might!

Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling
that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Since the man was showing discouragement, the Adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man's weary mind. (He will do it every time!)

"You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn't moved." Thus, he gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure.

These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.

Satan said, "Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort, and that will be good enough."

That's what the weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a
matter of prayer and to take his troubled thoughts to the Lord.

"Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard in Your Service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked.

Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a
millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"

The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done.

Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it.
Your task was to push.

And now you come to Me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself.

Your arms are strong and muscled, your back shiny and brown;
your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. True, you haven't moved the rock.

But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom.

That you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock.."

At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own
intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants
is just simple obedience and faith in Him.

By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God Who moves the mountains.

When everything seems to go wrong.................................Just P.U.S.H.

When the job gets you down...............................................Just P.U.S.H.

When people don't do as you think they should.................Just P.U.S.H.

When your money is "gone" and the bills are due..............Just P.U.S.H.

When people just don't understand you..............................Just P.U.S.H.

P = Pray
U = Until
S = Something
H = Happens


Some of us are feeling these days that no matter what we do, we just keep getting more behind.   PUSH and God will do the rest.

Here Is Your Wish

This layout was  done to please my daughter, Chelle. She took her triplets on a photo shoot yesterday. They co-operated and she  took some marvelous pictures.  However, she wanted them  to pose with this scarecrow and they thought it was just too creepy.  They didn't want to be near it.

No problem for Gramma.  She could make it happen. Hope you are happy, Chelle.  And kiddos, hope you are glad your mom is happy while you didn't have to be anywhere near old Mr. Ugly Face.

I'm glad to have helped out here, while I'm not sure what I'll be able to do day to day...I think my computer is about to die.  At least that is the way it seems...my hard drive is failing.  There could be a time when I don't get to publish my layout of the day.

With all the trouble in the world already, we might as pile this on as well...a rebellious computer.    It just doesn't want to work.. . It  would rather set on my desk and look pretty. Maybe we should pitch a tent in the park for it.

I Love You Lord and Am Thankful for So Much

Caleb is a lucky boy.  His mom and grandmother are great cooks. (The excludes me, Gramma.)  When I was emailed this picture, I just figured it was baked just for him in Carol's kitchen, but even she buys some things ready to eat.  Anyway, he was at her house eating chocolate croissants.  What a treat. It certainly looks as if he was enjoying them.

Caleb is an active and  healthy boy! He eats well, so we don't worry about him having a few yummies. When he was here on Tuesday, his favorite part of lunch was Grandma Shearer's potato chips. He gobbled them.

Ladies' Bible Class this morning was dedicated to our favorite things. Some ladies brought sweet treats.
One made spiced cider. Some of us had favorite songs . Others had verses that were exceedingly comforting for them. One read a poem.

Even though I could have probably talked about my grand children, I didn't want to suggest that mine were better than those of the other older ladies.  So, I shared a song that I break into singing quite often at home.  It is the praise song,  I Love You Lord. I sing it in full voice when I'm alone...only in the company of our God and Father.  I know that He loves me his child. And I believe to Him, my voice is as beautiful as Carrie Underwood. (I'm sure that will make you laugh if you've heard me sing.)



I love you, Lord 
And I lift my voice 
To worship You 
Oh, my soul rejoice! 
Take joy my King 
In what You hear 
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear 

Been There, Done That, Worn Out

What a blessing it was to have Beth and Caleb here yesterday. You know that grandchildren are the reward for having raised children.   The little fellow was so  full of energy and kept us entertained for hours.  I could tell he was getting sleepy near the end, but he held out until he got in his car seat, cuddled in with his new toys, and started back to Columbus where he has been visiting his Mom's side of the family.  Beth said he was out in no time and made her drive rather peaceful.  Now all we can think about  is how very cute and talented he is and when we are going to see him again.

The first part of the title, "Been There, Done That" has been a very popular saying in the past decade or two.  Adding, "Worn Out" just followed when I saw this picture.

Our nation has been there, done that before...twice before, once with FDR and then with Carter.  And it wore us out both times.  But no matter how tired it makes us feel, we have to keep up the good 'fight'.  We surely have learned from history and know that we can't give in to this type of practice.  We can not build business by choking it with government regulations and taxes.  We can not be independent of foreign oil, if we will not allow companies to drill here, drill now.  We can not be independent with wind power, sun power, or anything else that doesn't  and can't produce enough to run even one city in this nation.

With God's help we can rebuild this nation before it is too late.  We need to do it for Caleb and all the other children who should not have  to become slaves to government.

Fall Splendor

Last Friday some of us ORU girls made a little road trip down to the Pine Tree Barn. Even though the sun was not shining brightly, it was not a dreary day. And we caught the end of some very lovely fall color.

As usual we enjoyed a scrumptious lunch and dessert.  We also had a lot of fun browsing through all the rooms in the 'barn' admiring  apparel, furniture, gift items, jewelry and Christmas decorations.  I tend to be conservative with my wallet these days, but I  broke down and bought  a couple of items.  One was a scarf that Teresa, acting as my personal shopper, picked out for me and the other a string of Christmas lighted stars, which will look splendid on my angel tree.  Is it really about time to drag those trees up from the basement again???

It was wonderful to have a volunteer snap this picture for us, permitting me the pleasure of simply doing a
layout without any photoshopping of the shot.  I wish she knew how much time she saved me and how much I appreciated her help.

God bless those who are thoughtful and anticipate the needs of others instead of continually wanting others to do everything for them. If you are not generally one who will step up and volunteer help, consider doing that now and then.  Not only will you be appreciated, but you will feel satisfaction in your soul.