A Slippery Slope

"Little children, let us not love in word or talk 

but in deed and in truth."

1 John 3:18

 A protein drink by the pond breakfast with the girls

 

 

The fish enjoying a swim in the pond

That was before I slipped and fell into the pond!  Yesterday as I was watering the plants and topping off the pond I decided to take a plant that was in a pot, rinse off the dirt and place it in the pond.  (Water, water everywhere!)  

Now, one thing that I always say to the children when we get around the pond is, "Don't get on the rocks.  You can slip and fall into the pond and drown."

So what did I do?  IN FRONT OF THE CHILDREN , I stepped on a wet, slippery rock thinking I was just going to reach over and place the plant on the ledge of the pond.  Indeed?  No!  It was I who was in the pond--pride and all!  Yuk! Yuk! Yuk!

Maggie started screaming at the top of her lungs.  The children all ran over to see me wallowing in the fish pond--which had not, by the way, been recently cleaned.  It was due a good cleaning.  (Just trying to get you to visualize.  I told my daughter that we should have taken my picture before I got out--not that I really want everyone else to have it etched on their memories.)

As I hurried up to shower (after gracefully getting out of the pond--not!), I realized that there was a very good lesson to be learned from this experience.  Between Maggie opening the bathroom door three different times asking me if I was okay, I pondered what the experience of falling in the fish water had to teach me.  I HAVE BEEN A BIG HYPOCRITE!  That wasn't the first time my grandkids had seen me step on a rock by the pond to place a plant or look at something interesting.  And I ALWAYS tell them not to do it.  

 Lesson to be heeded:

We are much more what we do than what we say.  

Yuk!

Gloria

Sweet Peas and Watermelons

Two of the rag dolls made in the past couple of weeks

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, 

for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

Galatians 6:9

Do you ever grow weary with the tasks the Lord has laid out for you?  Do you ever think that the ministry of interceding for someone you love is just going to wear you out with no results in the end?  Do the "small" things that you do for others seem that they will have no effect in the long run?

That is where I was this morning.  I went to church with a bit of a cloud over my head, a heavy feeling in my heart. There are several things that are weighing on me right now, things that I have been praying about that haven't been answered as of yet.  Also, I feel a sense of great responsibility toward this rather large group of children and grandchildren that the Lord has blessed us with.  And rightfully so.  After all, He did bless US with them, not someone else.

The speaker at church this morning used the illustration of sowing and reaping found in Galatians 6:7-9.  He spoke of sowing the right seeds for the right crop.  Sowing seeds of sweet peas will not produce watermelon, just as sowing seeds of corruption will not sow eternal life.  To get watermelons, one must sow watermelon seeds.  Wow!  How profound!  

So what does this have to do with the dolls shown above?  I am trying to sow seeds of godliness, industry, grace, and loveliness in the fertile soil of little girls.  I am trying to teach them to do things that may be a bit difficult but will cause them to reap a great harvest in the end.  My camera battery died and I wasn't able to get pictures of the other two little dolls.  But 4 little girls worked hard; they sowed seeds of industry in their own fertile soil.  I pray that I sowed seeds leading to eternal life as we worked together.

Moms, grandmoms, "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."  Galatians 6:9

To all who read, I'm praying for you this next week that as you do good, you will not grow weary.  God has made us a beautiful promise, and He always keeps His promises!

Waiting (rather impatiently) for the harvest,

Gloria

A Season for Everything

"For everything there is a season, 

and a matter for everything under heaven." 

Ecclesiastes 3:1

 

Precious people in my season of life

Last Sunday evening our pastor spoke about the "smell" that we give off as we go through life, using 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 as his sermon passage:  "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?"  It has caused me to spend time evaluating my "season" of life, and whether I truly am a fragrance of life to those who cross my path.

There is no question in my mind that in this season of my life, somewhere between late autumn and early winter, I suppose, God has blessed me with an incredible group of people to minister to.  Those 12 and soon to be 13 grandchildren are a project in the making, and God has graced me with the privilege of not only being able to influence them but to have them within 15 minutes of my home.  4 going on 5 live in my home!  Wow!  What a responsibility I have to be a "fragrance of life" to these precious people.

Over the next few days I hope to show some of the things that we do together.  Am I using these opportunities to be a fragrance of Christ to these children?  My prayer and my heart's desire is that I will.  How do I do that?  I do not believe it is enough to just "live a godly life" and expect them to see my life and want to be the same.  There must be more.  They must both see and hear from me about who God is and what He can do in their lives as they give themselves totally to Him.

Praying that I will "smell" of Christ,

Gloria

The Mind

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus"  

Philippians 2:5

The mind is a vessel to be filled with care;

It becomes who I am in kind.

The nature of my heart is recorded there--

An interesting place, the mind.

Like an old-fashioned record or a computer disk,

The things that I see, read and hear

Are etched in the memory; dare I risk

Playing back to the world what is there?

As I sat in my room with the TV on 

And allowed it to invade my deep space

I noticed that all sense of order was gone;

Wrong thinking was taking its place.

I picked up a magazine (just to read the feature),

But the pictures--I confess I did look!

I found myself becoming a mindless creature,

Programmed by that little book.

I closed the magazine and put a CD in;

How could I there go wrong?

My brain slowly recorded those vain words of men--

A defiant, unholy song.

I went to the Bible, the words of the wise, 

God's heart recorded for man.

I began place before my poor eyes

The wisdom of God and His plan.

So I go to God's Word; it's all in the Book.  

Join me in taking the time

To open it up and take a good look

At what we should etch on our mind.

Encouraging you all to read Philippians 2 today,
Gloria

Today I am linking with Linda at Prairie Flower Farm

Building Our Homes Together

Fear? Yes, please!

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, 

but fools despise wisdom and instruction."  Proverbs 1:7

"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."  Proverbs 31:30

Do you find it interesting that the first and last chapters of the book of Proverbs speaks of the fear of the Lord?  That means something to me.  As I have gone through the Proverbs over and over this year, I have seen numerous verses that speak to this subject, and the fact that the writer begins and ends with counsel concerning the fear of the Lord only magnifies the fact that this is something that we are to desire and to work to attain.

I have given you my favorite definition of the fear of the Lord.  I will repeat this one and give you another.

"The fear of the Lord is the painful but motivating awareness that God is watching, weighing and judging everyone of my words, thoughts, actions, and attitudes."

"Genuine fear of the Lord is always seen in obedience to the Word of God,. People who do not walk in line with God's Word do not fear the Lord, regardless of what they profess with their lips. Therefore, when we fear the Lord, there is an elements of dread at what His wrath can do, but there is also such a respect for Him and for His will that nothing else matters but doing that which pleases the Lord."  http://sermonnotebook.org

Oswald Chambers said, "The remarkable thing about fearing God is that, when you fear God, you fear nothing else; whereas, if you do not fear God, you fear everything else."

Let's take a look at the  verses in Proverbs that give us insight into the fear of the Lord:

Proverbs 1:7--It is the beginning of knowledge.  Want knowledge?  Fear the Lord.

Proverbs 2:1-5--Understanding the fear of the Lord comes by treasuring God's Word.

Proverbs 8:13--Fearing God leads us to hatred of evil.

Proverbs 9:10--As we fear God, we gain wisdom.

Proverbs 10:27--Fearing God leads to a longer life.  That is an obvious statement, because as we exercise the fear of the Lord in our lives, we will avoid many of the things that can bring about a shortened life.

Proverbs 14:26--As we fear the Lord we will have strong confidence, and we will give our children a place of refuge.  (I love this verse!)

Proverbs 14:27--The fear of the Lord enables us to turn away from the snares of death.  (Remember 10:27)

Proverbs 15:16--Even having a little with the fear of the Lord is a good thing.

Proverbs 15:33--As we fear God we are taught wisdom.

Proverbs 16:6--The fear of the Lord shows us how to turn from evil.

Proverbs 23:17--As we fear the Lord, our heart will not envy sinners.  (Come on, you know that's a temptation.)

Proverbs 28:14--The fear of the Lord brings blessing on our lives.

Proverbs 31:30--The fear of the Lord is praiseworthy.

No wonder the Proverbs 31 woman is praiseworthy!  She explodes with the fear of the Lord.  Why would we not want to fear the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe and all that's in it?

Praising the Source of my "Strong Confidence," 

Gloria

 

10 Memory Builders

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children

are walking in the truth."

3 John 4

(An amen to that, Apostle John!)

I truly believe that memories are a treasure as we grow older.  I'd like to share with you some things that I treasure now that hopefully will be wonderful memories for the grandchildren as they grow old.  I have a few memories of my childhood that I would not part with for anything.  Perhaps that's why, when we grow old and our memory begins to fade, God allows us to retain memories of yesteryear.  And perhaps that's why, too, that I am determined to help them to have wonderful memories of their childhood.  

10 things that I treasure now and hope that they will treasure in the future: 

1. Sharing my protein drink breakfast on the back porch in the mornings with my little 2 year old Maggie Mae .  She always insists on going outside.  Today it rained, so we sat on the covered front stoop. We listen to the birds, watch the fish in the pond, and she "catches" dinosaurs from the trees so that we may pet them. 

2.  Making rag dolls with Rachael, Emma, Lilly, and Abigail.  Some turn out great! 

3.Taking the cousins out two at a time for lunch and a special time.  One day we went to a new fabric store that had just opened.

  

4.  Watching them get "Mighty Fines" (kisses) from their granddaddy. 

5.  Having them spend the night, even though 4 of them live in my house.  We usually watch an animal show and then read before bedtime. 

6.  Going to church together and watching them sing praises to the Lord, and some of them taking sermon notes. 

7.  Having family lunches together.  We usually borrow the church fellowship hall anymore because there are so many of us. 

8. Celebrating family events together, like birthdays or other special occasions. 

9.  "Adopting" other young folks into our family.  Our Kevin left just yesterday for college.  Boo, hoo! 

10.  Going to their swim meets, recitals, and other events.

I encourage you to make a list of  at least 10 "memory makers" that you are doing with your children or grandchildren. I'd love to hear from you what yours are either by comment or by email.  They will bring you joy just thinking about them!

Have a wonderful, memory-making day,

Gloria

What is your "high wall?"

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; 

the righteous man runs into it and is safe. 

A rich man's wealth is his strong city, 

and like a high wall in his imagination. 

Before destruction a man's heart is haughty,

but humility comes before honor."

Proverbs 18:10-12

I normally read the Proverbs as individual verses unless they are obvious fits, trying to glean from each one what God is saying to me.  As I read these verses this morning, I realized that they fit together quite well.  Over and over in the Scriptures we are warned against trusting in our wealth, because it can be gone in an instant.  Many people have seen that happen in their own lives in the past few years because of a ruptured economy and out of control spending.  Their high walls have collapsed around them.

But you say that that's no problem?  You have no riches to trust in?  That may be true, but you may have built a "high wall" in your life in some other way.  What do you depend on to keep you secure?  

• friends
• isolation
• fashion
• social standing
• your church--yes, even our church can become a "high wall" for us
• your family
•  beauty
•  

 I left a blank spot for you to fill in your "high wall."  Without the name of the Lord as our strong tower, the possibility of our becoming self-sufficient and proud is great, and the end is usually a mighty painful fall.  But as always, God has a back up plan for us very vain and sinful creatures.

"...humility comes before honor."  (v.12)  Ever been humbled?  It's a good thing!  Now God can restore us.  Humility gives us the honor of going before the Lord and accepting His "high wall" or strong tower.  When we run into it, we are safe.  As much as I don't really like to humble myself before the Lord (or people), it has always been good for me.  Another benefit is that it causes me to think twice before I run out of my "strong tower" again.

Listen to this wonderful song, "Strong Tower."  It might become a favorite!

Blessed be the name of the Lord,

Gloria