It's All About Me

    Do nothing from selfish ambition

 or conceit,  but in humility count others

 more significant than yourselves.

 Let each of you look not only

 to his own interests, 

but also to the interests of others.
Philippians 2:3-4

Wow!  What a difference in the Scripture and the song!  I have been reminded once again this week that it is so very important to put oneself in the background and to put the interests of others first.  Sitting as a silent observer, I watched firsthand the ugliness and discomfort of being so self-absorbed that one cannot hear what another is saying.  

God's word for the day:  "Consider others as more important than yourself."  "Do not look on your own selfish interests, but also on the interests of others."  Our accolades, if there are any to be had, should come from the Lord, and that will likely be in eternity, considering that many of us are so caught up in ourselves that we don't have the time to cheer others on.

I hate that song, but I encourage you to listen to it--and then don't do what the song does, which is to praise yourself.  "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;  a stranger, and not your own lips."(Proverbs 27:2)

It's all about Him,

Gloria

Obstacles to Be Conquered

     The one who conquers,

 I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.

 Never shall he go out of it, 

and I will write on him the name of my God,..

Revelation 3:12a

     Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, 

or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 

As it is written,     “For your sake

 we are being killed all the day long;
        we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
    No, in all these things we are more than conquerors 

through him who loved us.
(Romans 8:35-37 ESV)

Challenges are merely obstacles to be conquered!

Yesterday, and I can't even remember now what provoked it, but I thought to myself (about something), "Now, this is a real challenge."  I don't know about you, but my first thought with a challenge is often, "Oh, no, I don't want to do this.  It's too hard."  What a lazy bum!  But yesterday, my thought was, "This is merely an obstacle to conquer."  Hence, my new motto!  

Do you think that the two cute little old people walking away together in this picture lived a life of no worries, no sickness, no arguments, no financial problems, no challenges with their children?  I think not.  They met the challenges in marriage head on and conquered them, thus surviving for 65 years.  I have been married for almost 44 years, and my husband can testify to the obstacles to marital bliss! :o)

All of life has its challenges.  I dread going out to exercise.  Getting up in the morning and reading my Bible can be a challenge when I'm tired or sleepy.  Teaching an ADD 12 year old can be a challenge. Turning off the television, going to visit someone when I'd rather do something else, recovering from an illness, surviving a tragedy, obeying parents or other authority when I don't agree with them--life is full of challenges.  Why, just living with myself is even a challenge!  

 With the right attitude, we can be more than conquerors in any challenge that God (or Satan) puts in our path.  Not all challenges are from the devil.  The Lord allows them, too, for our good.  I encourage each of us today to consider that, and to consider them merely an obstacle to be overcome--in the strength of the Lord.

With a new motto,

Gloria

An Unadvised Jump

      

But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they on their part acted with cunning 

and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks

 for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly. And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of 

Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a 

covenant with us...”      So the men took some of their provisions,  

but did not ask counsel from the LORD. And Joshua made peace

 with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, 

and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.
Joshua 9:3-6,14-15

If you are reading the One Year Bible this year, you have likely passed this portion of Scripture already.  Interestingly, it is one of the passages that has most stuck in my mind.  The Gibeonites were cunning; they did not want to be captured and killed like the surrounding towns.  They knew that if they did not do something and do it fast, they would be obliterated as the fellows who had already been accosted by the army of the Lord.  So they put on their thinking caps and devised a rather effective plan. Guess what? The Israelites fell for it.  Why?  BECAUSE THEY DID NOT ASK COUNSEL FROM THE LORD.

Ouch!  That hurts!  How many times have I plowed ahead without consulting the Lord in a matter?  How often have I feared a situation and done the easy thing rather than the right thing?  How many times have I just wanted to do something and feared God's answer if I asked?  Do I not fear God's reprisal more?

Later on Israel was forced to defend the Gibeonites when they were attacked.  We see a picture of God's mercy, as He defeats their enemy through the army of Israel.  But nonetheless, they were an extra burden to Israel, one which God had originally commanded them to destroy.

When we do not consult the Lord we are asking for an extra burden in our lives.  Satan loves to hang something over us which will hinder our productivity for Christ.  Wrong choices, whether in our moral conduct, our life partners, our choice of friends, our decisions about how we handle our finances--you can name others--will determine how effectively we will serve the Lord.

A word for my grandchildren:  Please don't jump off a cliff before asking the Lord if there is a safety net beneath it!  (If you don't understand that analogy, ask your mom.)  If we will only consult the Lord before we make any major decision, and then obey His leading, we will be so much farther ahead in the Christian life.

Standing on the cliff, kids:  Should I jump?

Gloria

If I Were the Devil

If I  Were the Devil, by Paul Harvey

    And the great dragon was thrown down, 
that ancient serpent, who is called the devil 

and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—

he was thrown down to the earth, 

and his angels were thrown down with him...
    Then the dragon became furious with the woman 

and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring,

 on those who keep the commandments of God 

and hold to the testimony of Jesus. 

And he stood on the sand of the sea.
   Revelation 12:9,17

I trust that you will take the time to listen to this very astute closing from one of Paul Harvey's broadcasts in 1965.  Billy Graham once said that if God doesn't punish America for its sins He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.  We've come a long way, Baby, since then.  Please take the time daily to pray for our nation.  We still have freedoms, but how long will that last without great change in this country?  I have 13 grandchildren whom I pray will be able to grow up in freedom as I did. 

Prayerfully,

Gloria

October Baby

October Baby

(Trailer)

Please try to take the time to go to the movies this weekend if you are able, and watch October Baby, a movie about the sanctity of life.  It opens today at numerous theaters around the country.  It's important to support it the first weekend, because it helps to determine if movies like Courageous, Fireproof, and others will be shown.  I am excited to be able to go tomorrow night.

Have a blessed weekend,

Gloria

What Do You Want Most?

    Do not love the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, 

the love of the Father is not in him.

 For all that is in the world

—the desires of the flesh and the

 desires of the eyes and pride of life—

is not from the Father but is from the world.

 And the world is passing away 

along with its desires,

 but whoever does the will of God 

abides forever.

  1 John 2:15-17

Isn't it amazing that we sometimes become so absorbed in the "now" that we lose sight of the future?  Our physical desires, our lust for the things that we see and want, and our desire to "be" someone seem to overwhelm us at times, causing us to lose focus.  We begin to love the world and its system, although we wouldn't admit it even to ourselves.  But I am convinced that what we most want is not tied up in the things of the world.  It is other-worldly; it is eternal.  And yet we become so focused on the here and now, on the things that somehow seem so important, that they begin to take over our lives.

For children, that may be play.  What's more important than to have a good time?  Can we teach our children to see past the now into the future?  It should be a goal of parents to guide their little selfish hearts in the right direction.  

For youth, that may be the dreams of romance, the thrill of adventure, or popularity.  Mom, Dad--instruct them in the Proverbs.  Teach them wisdom while they are young.  When they get older your ability to lead them is very limited.

For us who have attained adulthood, it may entail becoming successful in a career, enjoying grown up toys and travel and notoriety.  We must never forget that eternity awaits us.  What are the things that enlist others to desire the joys of eternity?  Those are the things that must be our focus.  Oh, sure, our glance may be on the things we must do to survive in society, but our gaze must be on the things of God.

We must not give up the things that we want most for the things that we want now.

Always wanting something,

Gloria

Rolling Out the Train

 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—

that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints

 what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

 that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19 

The above picture displays a model in Bucharest, Hungary, going up in a hot air balloon to show off the world's longest wedding dress train, 1.86 miles long!  Now personally, I think that's a little ridiculous.  Who would wear a wedding dress with a train that long?  It's almost incomprehensible.  But it did make me think about something that IS worth trying to comprehend, and that is the love that Christ has for His own.

Just as the dressmaker wanted to display the train of that preposterous wedding dress, God wants to display the love of Christ for us.  It is wide and long and high and deep.  Really, it surpasses knowledge, and yet we are encouraged to try to comprehend it.

I believe that one way that we can grasp the significance of the love of Christ is to make a list of the things that He has done for us through the Lord Jesus Christ.  I'll bet that our train will be more than 1.86 miles long!

Rolling out the train of Christ's love,

Gloria

What Goes Around Comes Around

    Be kind to one another,

 tenderhearted,

 forgiving one another, 

as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32 

A worthy goal for today and everyday!  The only way we can effectively teach this to our mates, our children, our grandchildren and others is to live it ourselves.

As we bless others with kindness and forgiveness, may we be blessed in like manner,

Gloria

Are You a BOOKworm?

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God

 as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, 

accurately handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

And now, little children, abide in him,  

so that when he appears we may have confidence 

and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

1 John 2:28

The verse in 2 Timothy was on my mind during the night last night.  I was quoting the KJV of the verse, "Study to show thyself approved..."  I began to sort in my mind what this meant.  Other Bible versions use the words "be diligent" in the place of "study."  Is there a difference? 

Here are my thoughts:

• Diligence implies contemplation, constancy, and yes--study.  In order to know what we are to do in most areas of life, we must study how to do it.  In order to do it well, we must think and be constant, or diligent.  How does a child learn to clean?  He studies (usually with a little prodding) how his mother cleans.  How does a young girl learn to cook?  She studies the methods of her mother.  How does a student learn his lessons well?  He is diligent in study.
• To be approved by God, we must be diligent; we must study what He has to say to us.  There is no other way.
• God wants workers.  We don't learn science or math or grammar, or to clean or cook or sew just for the fun of it.  We learn it in order to be a good worker.  
• Ignoring the call of our teachers makes for a student much ashamed at test time.  Ignoring the call of parents makes for one very unwise and untrained adult, much ashamed of his inability to carry on well in life.  And ignoring the call of God to be diligent in our learning of Him makes for a worker who is ashamed that he is incapable of rightly dividing the word of truth.
• 1 John 2:28 tells us that we are to abide in Christ.  We abide in our house.  We use every part of it.  We are to abide in Christ, to use everything that we know about Him to grow and learn so that we may be confident.  I always loved to go into a test confidently, knowing that there was little that the teacher could ask that I wouldn't know.  The only way I could do that was to "abide in" or live with my studies until I knew the material well.  So we must live with Christ.  The only tests that I ever shrank from were the ones which I had not prepared for.  In the same way, we are to be prepared and not ashamed at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

How do you get a worm out of a book? 

Gloria

Filling In the Blanks

For we are God's workmanship,

 created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

 which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10

 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: 

to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, 

and to keep oneself unstained from the world

James 1:27

 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions 

with all kinds of prayers and requests. 

With this in mind, be alert 

and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:18

...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem 

and in all Judea and Samaria, 

and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:8b

I attended the funeral of a friend's sister yesterday, and the pastor spoke a wonderful message, but I brought home a few words that made a real impact on my thinking.  He said, "While you are living you are writing your own funeral service."  Some of the words he used concerning this lady were "servant, tenacious, sufferer, prayer warrior, great wife and mother and grandmother,  and hard worker." This lady was a sister of a friend, and I did not know her, but I wish I had.  She sounds like a role model I would like to have had in my life.

I began to contemplate on how I want to be remembered.  I like to paint and sew and garden.  Is that what I want to be remembered for?  I think not, (especially since I'm not highly skilled at any of those!)  I like to travel, eat at good ethnic restaurants, and watch HGTV.  Do I want that to be a part of my eulogy?  Not really. 

So I began filling in the blanks.  I realized that I have no say about what is spoken at my funeral, unless I write out my own eulogy and insist it be read.  (Now that's an idea!)  It won't matter to me when the time comes; I'll be with Jesus.  But hopefully there will be a few there whose lives have been changed because of the life that once embodied my corpse.  So how do I want to be eulogized, and what do I do about it?  We ALL will die someday barring the return of the Lord, young and old alike, and now is the best time to consider these things.

My word of encouragement for myself and for you is taken from a message by Pastor Mark Driscoll:

"Friend please understand that what you live for today determines what death will be for you tomorrow. My hope is that you and I will so live for Christ that we can say confidently, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Today you are already filling in the blanks, by what you live for and what you invest in. “This life will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” Write carefully my friend. Write carefully."

And I say for us all, Write Carefully, my friend,

Gloria

New Beginnings Tea Party

The "New Beginnings" Tea Party

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, 

not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, 

but to teach what is good.

1 Timothy 2:3

 

Each tea party that I give for the granddaughters has a purpose and a theme.  This one I entitled, "New Beginnings." Spring is in the air; the flowers and trees are beginning to blossom out, and the birds are busily building nests for their young.  There are many new beginnings in life, and the most important one is the act of beginning with the Lord Jesus Christ, as a new believer in Him.  I asked our oldest granddaughter to give her testimony to the younger ones of her faith in Christ, of what helps her to grow in her faith, of her struggles with sin and how she feels about and deals with it.  Then we talked about fruit, and how fruit tells us what kind of fruit or vine it is.  In the same way, fruit indicates what kind of person we are.  Is our faith genuine?  There's a good way to tell--are we producing fruit?  Just as an apple tree produces apples, the person who really knows Jesus will produce the fruit of Christ's likeness in her life.  We should be producing the  fruit of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  We will also produce the fruits of righteousness and good works and even see now and then the fruits of our labors in telling others about Jesus.  

Haley gave her personal testimony of her faith in Christ

The oldest and the second youngest tea party attendees

Our newest tea party attendee is being trained in proper manners

 

A touch of spring!

Oh!  The food was good, too!

I had to make it easy this time.  Busy, busy week!

So thankful for the opportunity to share my life with these beautiful young women,

Gloria

That's What I Was Waiting For!

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, 

always abounding in the work of the Lord,

 knowing that in the Lord 

your labor is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:58

The old preacher Vance Havner, famous for his little ditties, once said, 

Whether the weather be fine,  

Whether the weather be not,  

Whether the weather be cold, 

Whether the weather be hot, 

We'll weather the weather 
whatever the weather

                Whether we like it or not!                

Well, it looks like that is what my day is going to be like.  You see, I planned a tea party for the granddaughters today.  An outdoor spring tea party.  A tea party about "new beginnings."  I bought petunias and coleus and primroses.  I planned to set the tables outside on the front porch, surrounded by lovely flowers and the birds singing in the trees, which by the way are turning green with new life.  The sun was going to peek through the clouds to let us know that the spring of new beginnings was on its way, and the 30% chance of rain was going to stay just that.

It's raining.  It's pouring!  It even woke up the old man who was snoring!  (My much-loved hubby.)  I even heard hail.  It looks as if our "new beginnings" tea party is going to be indoors.  If the plants are not so soggy that I can't bring them in I will put them on the table and around the room.  We will have our devotional indoors along with our craft. 

Now I could get really discouraged over this and do what Linus did--find an excuse to bail out (pun intended).  I could postpone until next week (when it might rain again anyway.)  But if this is truly the "work of the Lord," which I pray that it is, then we must press on.  So what is  wrong with 9 little girls running around gleefully in our freshly painted house?  What are a few finger prints in light of eternity?  A little cake icing smeared on our freshly cleaned floors?  A little extra noise when the baby is trying to sleep?  A little rain and mud tracked into the living room?  (If I keep it up, I might bail out!) 

Seriously, though, what does it mean to to be steadfast and immovable?  Steadfast means, " Constant; firm; resolute; not fickle or wavering."  We are to always abound in the work of the Lord.  Therefore, a little trial--or even a big one when one considers "always"--should not stop us from abounding in (giving oneself fully to) the work of the Lord.  God has chosen for some strange reason to use us mere mortal to do His work.  As  believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are the backbone of that work.  Nine granddaughters are dependent on me for encouragement in the Lord, for training in righteousness, for teaching in manners and etiquette, for sharing the love of Christ.  Who is depending on you (besides the Lord Himself?)

So the work must go on, rain or shine!  What a small problem in light of eternity!

Praying that someday I will see the fruit of my labors,

Gloria

If You Want a Different Result....

   

 The King in his might loves justice.
        You have established equity;
    you have executed justice
        and righteousness in Jacob.
    Exalt the LORD our God;
        worship at his footstool!
        Holy is he!
       Psalm 99:4-5

Justice:  The upholding of what is right, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law.

Equity:  Justice; right. The impartial distribution of justice, or the doing that to another which the laws of God and man, and of reason, give him a right to claim. It is the treating of a person according to justice and reason.

About 3 weeks ago someone stole my husband's computer and smart phone out of our car--which was parked in our driveway!  Now I confess that the car was unlocked (not smart in this day and age) but nevertheless on our property.  Yesterday a friend was jogging at a local park and had her car window smashed and her purse stolen.  The culprit was found; he has previously been arrested numerous times for burglary!  Now wouldn't you suppose that he would get the picture by now?  If he doesn't want to go to jail, he must make a different choice.  He has that option!

That perpetrator has no right to ask for mercy.  He has broken the law--again. Our tendency today is to look at his home life and excuse him because he had no father.  Or to say that he is bi-polar or schizophrenic or slow-minded or had an unhappy childhood, or a variety of other "ills."  The bottom line is, he's a thief and deserves justice.  Equity?  Yes.  Justice?  Yes.  But the justice that should be meted out to him should reflect the rights of others which his law-breaking has infringed upon. We cannot live life thinking that we can make wrong choices and continually go unpunished.

Our God is a God of justice and equity.  Hallelujah!  When we have done what is right, He is righteous and will reward our righteousness with equity.  When we make wrong choices (that's called sin, by the way) He reigns His justice upon us through chastisement if we are His children, and through eternal damnation if we reject His offer of salvation through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our encouragement in Psalm 99 is to exalt the Lord and worship at His footstool.  Knowing that He is holy and will bring justice and equity is an occasion to praise and worship the only God who can serve out justice with a totally unbiased hand.  We never need fear that we will be punished by Him for what we did not do, and we may always be assured that He will discipline those He loves when the need arises, but always in pure justice and equity.  Our God is holy!  Praise the Lord!

Thankful for a God of justice and equity,

Gloria

Have a Voice? Have An Instrument?

Some of the grandkids at recital--okay, I'm proud! 

  Oh sing to the LORD a new song,
        for he has done marvelous things!
    His right hand and his holy arm
        have worked salvation for him.
    The LORD has made known his salvation;
        he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.

    Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
        break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
    Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
        with the lyre and the sound of melody!
    With trumpets and the sound of the horn
        make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!
    Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
        the world and those who dwell in it!
    Let the rivers clap their hands;
        let the hills sing for joy together
    before the LORD, for he comes
        to judge the earth.
    He will judge the world with righteousness,
        and the peoples with equity.
Psalm 98:1-24-9 

 This Messianic psalm is such a joyful one, written to encourage praise and worship of the One who saved Israel and who will come to judge the earth in righteousness and fairness.  When I read it I thought of my grandchildren struggling through the first years of music lessons.  The first few years are tedious, not always enjoyable (to either the parents or the kiddos!) and very time-consuming if they are going to learn to excel.  But for the remainder of their lives they have a method by which to "clap their hands" to the Lord.

I believe that every time we sing a song to the Lord, whether it is a song we are just learning or one we have sung for many, many years, we are singing a new song to Him.  But the question is, are we just singing, or are we singing to the Lord?  How many times have we sung a familiar song and as we finished singing, realized that we have no idea what we just repeated?  I'd like to say I have never done that, but unfortunately I can't.  Our deserving God has the right to hear our heartfelt and cognitive praise and worship each and every time we open our mouths to sing His songs.

Can't sing?  Join with the earth and make a joyful noise!  Roar with the sea!  Clap your hands with the rivers!  Pick up your old rusty trumpet or horn (or piano or violin or guitar) and play joyfully.  Oh, go ahead, sing aloud to the Lord!  Sing a new song to Him.  Make up one! If it is genuine praise directed to Him, He will love it.  (You might want to wait until you have a little privacy if you really can't carry a tune!)

I am so glad that my grandchildren are learning to play instruments, and I pray that both their voices and the skills that they learn will be joyful noise to the King, the Lord of Hosts.  And if I can find 5 minutes today, I think I'll pick up my violin and make a joyful noise to the Lord myself!

I'd sing now but I'm the only one up!

Gloria

It Melted Like Wax!

Mt. St. Helens, May 17, 1980

  

Mt. St. Helens, 24 years later

 

  His lightnings light up the world;
        the earth sees and trembles.
    The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
        before the Lord of all the earth.
Psalm 97:4-5 

 

Mt. St. Helens is a picture of many things to me.  It is an obvious statement that evolution is merely a "theory" since much has been petrified in the little time since its eruption.  What?  It isn't taking millions and billions of years?  It is also a statement to me of the volatility of life.  One never knows what tomorrow will hold--but thank God, we can know Who holds tomorrow!

 

Even more, the mountain is a picture of the awesome power of the God we serve.  He makes the mountains to melt like wax--and there is nothing that we mere mortals can do about it.  He makes the lightning to flash--and we cannot ultimately control it.  He is all-powerful God.  That is a fearsome and an awesome thing!  No wonder we are to fear God!  No wonder we must stand in awe of Him!

 

Aren't you glad that the God of the universe is not a mere mortal who can be figured out?  Aren't you glad?  Our faith is stretched every day as we try to understand what is going on around us, and yet we can know that there are some things which we just cannot know fully until we are fully known. 

 

 Blessed to know the God Who created Mt. St. Helens,

Gloria

Let's Join With Nature

At Cedine Bible Camp in the mountains of Tennessee
 

   Oh sing to the LORD a new song; 
sing to the LORD, all the earth!
    Sing to the LORD, bless his name; 
tell of his salvation from day to day.
    Declare his glory among the nations, 
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
    For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; 
he is to be feared above all gods.
    For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, 
but the LORD made the heavens.
    Splendor and majesty are before him; 
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
    Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
 ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
    Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; 
bring an offering, and come into his courts!
    Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; 
tremble before him, all the earth!
    Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! 
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
        he will judge the peoples with equity.” 
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
        let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 
let the field exult, and everything in it!
    Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy 
before the LORD, for he comes,
        for he comes to judge the earth. 
He will judge the world in righteousness,
        and the peoples in his faithfulness.

 Psalm 96 

The trees are beginning to put on their new spring coast; the grass is turning my favorite color--green!  The daffodils and tulips and fringe plants have accessorized the gardens with splashes of color.  The thunder roared last week and the heavens showered us with rain to replenish the earth with much needed moisture.  And the birds!  The birds are everywhere, singing delightfully and building nests as they prepare to bless us with more little creatures of God's wonderful design.  I am so amazed at nature's way of shouting their Creator's glory!

As my offering to Him today, my goal is to SING to the Lord, to DECLARE His glory, to ASCRIBE to Him glory and strength, to WORSHIP Him in holiness, and to SPEAK of His sovereign reign.  Wow!  I just did it!

Won't you join me?  SING, DECLARE, ASCRIBE, WORSHIP, and SPEAK.  If you are alone today, call someone.  If you are a mother of children, TELL them.  Before your husband goes to work, or after he gets home from work, DECLARE His glory.  Wherever you are, or in whatever situation you are today, let's join with nature and declare the glory of God.

Have a joyful day!

Gloria