What is going on? What are you reading?

We have been enjoying a much over due visit with my mother. She has been enjoying some time spent with friends that she has made here, attending a widow's group and visiting with her grandson and granddog. Here she is crocheting with the dog. LOL.....caught the dog yawning, she was ready to hunker down for a nap next to Grandma. The Snoopy t-shirt is from granddaughter Kimberley.

I am in the middle of reading a book for a blog review, (the author sent me a copy of the book to read and review) I'm on chapter 4 and getting a lot out of the book. It's Children In Church by Curt Lovelace and Sandra Lovelace. Our 11 year old has been reading it also and it's opening up some discussion. A few words he had to look up in the dictionary, but he is talking about how this will affect how he raises his own children. It's NEVER to early to discuss how to put things in perspective in regards to our children's future. Even now be praying for your future son-in-law or daughter-in-law that his/her parents will be raising him/her up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. More to come on this book in future days. For more info or to purchase the book Children In Church contact WWW.ChildrenInChurch.org. The book is published by Great Waters Press.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day!!
Moe

Thankfulness during the Pantry Challenge?

As I think about being thankful for the surplus I have and how I am able to be wise in using it, the 10 leprous men come to mind that Jesus healed.

Luke 17:12-13 ^12"And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: ¹³And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. ¹⁴And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. ¹⁵And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, ¹⁶And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan."

A couple of key things here, 10 guys with leprosy (some sort of nasty skin disease that is painful) and only 1 guy says "THANK YOU to Jesus for healing him", only 1 guy fell down and gave thanks and praise to Jesus, and that 1 guy was a Samaritan! Which is very key because "Samaritans were hated by the Jews as part of a complex and ancient racial prejudice." In James MacDonalds book Lord, Change My Attitude he says it like this

"The point is, no one has an acceptable excuse for ungratefulness.Everyone can make the choice to give thanks and acknowledge the goodness and the grace of God. Sadly, however, only a small fraction of the human population ever personally thanks God for His grace."

Have you taken time to thank God for His saving grace? For the things that you have in your life? Good things and things that you suffer for? Take time today to thank God and pick up a good read. Lord Change My Attitude Before It's Too Late by James MacDonald with forward by Dr. Erwin Lutzer. Our 11 year old son read this book first and then told me that he thought I should read it. I have been wowed by many things it the book. The most captivating so far is the fact that many of us, including me (gasp!) are living in the 'wilderness' like the Israelites. If you are a Child of God, you have it all (not meaning stuff either) yet you may not realize it and suffer for it.

Get out of the wilderness!
Moe

"Praise God Anyway"

Sometimes our lives feel like we just dropped our ice cream cone and we are missing out.
I love this Precious Moments quote: "Praise God Anyway" 
A dear friend of mine named Beth died earlier this year from Pancreatic Cancer and she use to say this all the time. She had her share of dropped ice creams, their only child, an RN. was killed in a car accident, when this occurred my friend was in the hospital with a serious illness at the time of her daughters death, she then suffered through the removal of most all of her colon, they were able to save a few inches. She had 1 knee replaced last year and did great with it, then had the other one replaced later in the year and did great with it, then she suffered from terrible back pains afterwards. She went through all sorts of X-rays and physical therapy. They they found the real cause of her back pain, Pancreatic Cancer, the doctors performed the Whipple Procedure on her and for some reason it would not heal up, so she lost precious time waiting to start cancer treatments. Finally she got the treatments, never lost her hair (this was a big concern for her), but then the treatments were not working. So on hospice she went and what a blessing it was to find that our friend of ours (homeschooling mom's husband) was the RN that cared for her on hospice). So glad that we were able to see her a few times before the end, as it came very quickly. Her husband and niece an RN were visiting with friends in the other room when my dear friend was ushered into Glory. Beth will be enjoying her first Christmas with her Lord and Saviour. I'm happy sad about it all, but I'm still saying "Praise God Anyway".

Moe
My friend Beth has been on my mind since I was going through some piles of papers and came across her obituary this week.