Repost: Abide, Then Ask

My Bible reading includes a single verse to read for a week.  This week's verse is John 15:7, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."  I wrote about this on March 10, 2010.  The story that I didn't share was that Les had lost his job on March 1, 2010.  We were in the midst of asking, but God reminded me to abide.

My devotional for March 8th was this:

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you (John 15:7).

Ask what we will? And it will be done unto us? What a wonder! We can write the check, and God will sign it. We cleave to the promise, for we all want our wishes granted.
Thumbing madly through life's catalog, we find a bevy of items that suit our fancy, fill in the order blank, and - But, God, where is Your signature? You said...
Did we forget something? Oh, yes - the first part of the verse. "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you..." He'll provide if I'll abide.

Another translation of that verse says, "If you live in me and what I say lives in you, then ask for anything you want, and it will be yours." Oh... what He says, His words. And not just hearing, but living what He says.

We're all quick to line up for the blessings, but where are we when it's time to live what He says? God is merciful to the sinner who cries, "Lord, if you'll get me out of this jam, I'll serve you." But He certainly doesn't have to be. That's the cart before the horse.

We are the creation, the inferior one. We can't make demands, we can't even ask for anything without first being in obedience to His word. Our provision is predicated upon our abiding.

The Greek definition of abide is - to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy): - abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for).

Need healing? Abide.
Need a job? Abide.
Looking for direction? Abide.
Need deliverance? Abide.
Been living without joy lately? Abide.
Guilt holding you back? Abide.
Worry keeping you up at night? Abide.

Psalm 91:1 "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

Carrying the Lord's Name ~ Belfast Detour (Day 9, Part 2 of 5)

With each of our trips to Europe I have found things that stirred my spirit.  I wrote about sincere devotions when we visited Italy in 2011 and saints when we visited Turkey in 2016.  The thing that stirred me this time was how the British treated the Irish in the name of religion. 

You don't have to look far to see the misuse of the Lord's name for personal gain.  It's been going on for centuries.  The Spanish Inquisition is one I remember learning about in school, but it was just a continuation of the Medieval Inquisition.  This was a series of Inquisitions (Catholic Church bodies charged with suppressing heresy) from around 1184, including the Episcopal Inquisition (1184–1230s) and later the Papal Inquisition (1230s).

 

This article from Britannica shares many facts about the Spanish Inquisition.  The first paragraph sums it all up, "The Spanish Inquisition was a judicial institution that lasted between 1478 and 1834. Its ostensible purpose was to combat heresy in Spain, but, in practice, it resulted in consolidating power in the monarchy of the newly unified Spanish kingdom. Its brutal methods led to widespread death and suffering."

 

As I wrote about yesterday, this also happened in Ireland when Great Britain confiscated land.  Conflict continued for centuries and there is still division today.  

This has been heavy on my heart since we got home.  Les and I have talked about it many times and he finally pointed me to Dennis Prager's book, "The Ten Commandments: Still the Best Moral Code."  In the book, Dennis talks about the third commandment, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)

The way the books explains it, this commandment is not about using the Lord's name as a curse word, but something much more.  The word "take" was translated from the Hebrew word "nâsâh."  This word means: accept, advance, arise, to bear, bring forth, burn, carry away,  hold up, magnify, raise up, respect, set up.  The word "vain" was translated from the Hebrew word "shav."  This word means:  evil (as destructive), literally (ruin) or morally (especially guile); figuratively idolatry (as false, subjectively), uselessness (as deceptive, objectively; also adverbially in vain): - falsely, lie, lying, vain, vanity.

A more accurate translation would be, "Do not carry or bring forth the name of the Lord thy God falsely or for evil or ruin."  This is an accurate description of what many have done in the name of God.  It not only hurts people, it damages the name of God.

Mankind does not like to be told what to do.  Just look at Adam and Eve, they had ONE rule and couldn't even obey it.  I can tell you that my favorite coffee is Vanilla Macadamia Nut from Hawaii Coffee Company, but if you've never tasted it, you probably won't agree with me.  I can get in your face and yell and tell you that you drink subpar coffee, but that is not going to change your mind.  You need to taste it for yourself.

In the same way that yelling about coffee won't change your mind about coffee, bashing your beliefs will not change your mind about God.  But worse than that, it may push you further away.  I especially like what the book says about people who murder in the name of God - they not only kill their victims, they kill God, too.

 

Jesus said in John 12:32, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."  It's not our job to convince people or change their minds.  We must carry the Lord's name in a way that magnifies Him.  Only when He is lifted up will people be drawn to him and when they get a taste they can be changed for life!

Happy New Year!

One of the last things Les and I talked about last night was what the new year brings.  No matter how much we wish it was true, some things don't go away when we throw out last year's calendar.  The hospitals still have COVID patients.  That didn't change over night.  The drama of 2020 is still here this morning.  It's not going to change just because we want it to. I do like the idea of a fresh start, but that fresh start can happen in April or August or even December.

I don't tend to have new year's resolutions.  I want to continue forward and learn from the past.  I finished my Bible reading plan on December 30th - it was a 365 day plan that didn't consider it was a leap year.  I turned to You Version this morning looking for a new plan to follow for the year.  Instead I found dozens of short plans.  Most of them are five to seven days, a few are as long as 30.  I going to go from the plan to plan this year and see where that leads.  Today I started "Finishing Well:"

Anyone can start something, but to carry it out to completion? For your whole life? That’s a whole different matter. But, what if you could? What if the Bible offered insights and encouragement for moving you on toward finishing well? 

Today's Bible reading included Hebrews 11.  My devotional talked about it, "For instance, Hebrews does not herald the faithfulness of couch potatoes, pew-sitters, or worship-exchanging ball-game goers. Whether they saw the victory in this life or were sawn in two for what they believed, the aim was the same: Regardless of the cost, finish well."

 

Whatever 2021 throws our way, that is the ultimate goal - Finish Well.  To finish well, we've got to get started.  Or re-started.  Each of the great heroes of faith in Hebrews had to start before they could finish. 

I've finished four marathons, but I had to start running a little bit at a time first.  We will celebrate our 30th anniversary in May, but we had to commit to each other first.  I've read the entire Bible many times, but I had to read one chapter first. 

 

I wrote a blog called Lifetime Commitment ten years ago, here's a portion of it:

It's funny how we view age and aging. First, we're too young. Then somewhere around 20-25 we're finally old enough. Then come 40, it's over the hill! Who decided that, anyway??

There are so many Biblical examples of people doing great things at all ages. Young men like Joseph, David, and King Josiah who was 8! Older folks like Abraham and Sarah, Anna the prophetess, Caleb who 85! And people every age in between.

If you've got big goals, I say go for it!  If you've got small goals, I say go for it!  Whatever you need to see happen in your life, it's not going to happen by you sitting on the couch (figuratively, spiritually, or physically!)  Here's to a year of starting and finishing well!

30 Days of Thanks, Day 20: Daily

The Bible is meant to be bread for our daily use, not just cake for special occasions.

- Mom's Bible

 

I am so thankful that I can read the Bible for myself.  The International Bible Society has an interesting article titled, "How was the Bible distributed before the printing press was invented in 1455?"  It gives history of how the Bible was copied by hand for centuries.  I found these points very interesting:

While many translations were made, a church council in Toulouse, France, in 1229 forbade anyone who was not a priest from owning a Bible. Nevertheless, “underground” translation and circulation of the Bible continued.

 

Because of the huge size of complete Bibles, they were divided into several volumes, and each was very costly. Only the rich and the universities could afford them. Into this situation came a great revolutionary named John Wycliffe, whose central doctrine was, “Every Christian ought to study this book because it is the whole truth!”  

Today we are pretty casual about this great treasure, so readily available to us. We do well to stop for a moment to realize that we can actually hold in our hands the precious revelation of God Himself. It costs us less than an hour’s wage, rather than a year’s salary, as it once did. The temptation now is to treat the ancient word casually as well. But from this ink and paper springs the ageless gospel of hope for this life and the life to come. It is our priceless heritage.

 

I have owned my own Bible since I was a child.  I've had many Bibles through the years.  I cherish them. I can't imagine not having God's Word available to me.  I do my best to make it the first thing I read every morning.  May we always be thankful for this great treasure!

30 Days of Thanks, Day 13: Faded

 Isaiah 40:8 says, "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."

 

Our memories will fade over time.  Pain, fear, frustration, grief - it does fade eventually.  Joy, excitement, anticipation - those fade as well.  Everything we've experienced in 2020 will someday fade as a flower.

No matter what tomorrow brings, God's word will stand.  No matter who is in power, someday they will fade, but God's word will never fade.  I wrote a post in October 2010 called, "Thy Word Have I Hid."  I wrote about a sword drill we had during Bible study:

Les and I both remember our Sunday school teachers drilling into us "What will you do if your Bible is taken away?" This was during the Cold War (see, I really am old!) and the threat of communism was real. Thank you, Sunday school teachers for all those memory verses you put into me!

I also included several quotes from Mom's Bible:

Other books were given for our Information. The Bible was given for our Transformation.

One who uses the Bible as his guide never loses his sense of direction.

The devil is not afraid of the Bible that has dust on it.

The Bible is meant to be Bread for our daily use;
not just cake for special occasions.

I'm so thankful for God's word.  It is still relevant to our lives today.  Everything we need we can find in that beautiful old book!

Falling Apart

I have written about my Mom's Bible repeatedly on this blog.  My third post, posted 12 years ago last week, was called "Mom's Bible."  I wrote this about her Bible, "She received this particular Bible for her 47th birthday, January 1, 1987, and it was the final Bible she carried. This contains her thoughts during an eight year battle with cancer and the loss of her youngest son, Rod. While that was obviously the most difficult time in her life, the notes and thoughts are constantly positive and uplifting."

Today, I'm writing about MY Bible.  I received this particular Bible for my 28th birthday, April 27, 1992.  TWENTY EIGHT!!  Les and I had been married for less than a year.  I have now carried this Bible for 28 years - half my life! 

At least a decade ago, I bought a case for it because the cover was falling apart.  Charles Spurgeon said, "A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t."  If that is true, then my life is in great shape!

There are ripped pages and the binding is coming unglued...

So many pages are marked, verse after verse underlined...

Scribble notes from messages and Sunday school lessons...

I've known for a while that the time had come to replace it, but I didn't want to!  Of course, I couldn't go to a local bookstore (Christian or otherwise) to look at what was available.  So I turned to Amazon.  After more than an hour of searching online, I finally pulled the trigger on Sunday and this beauty arrived yesterday.  It was only $22.53!  The picture doesn't do the color justice - it's a really pretty purple.

It's the same size as my old Bible, but with a much larger print.  (Side note: wearing reading glasses with a mask is quite annoying!)  I've stuck with the King James Version, because even though the language is sometimes a little odd, it's familiar and any verse I have ever memorized is from the KJV.

I also ordered a pack of colored pens.  My plan is to spend the next few weeks or months, however long it takes, to get my new Bible fully broken in!  The different colors aren't for any particular theme, I'll just switch off if the theme on a page changes.

Other books were given for our information.

The Bible was given for our transformation.

~ Mom's Bible

Themes from Mom's Bible

It's nearly Mother's Day and I've been thinking about my Mom a lot.  More than 30 years ago she was diagnosed with cancer.  I have her Bible that she carried during that time.  I've written about it many, many times on this blog.  It was the third post I published, appropriately called "Mom's Bible."

There are so many incredible nuggets found in the pages of her Bible.  There are verses underlined with two or three words written in the margins.  Dozens of quotes, verses and sayings found on the pages in the front and back of her Bible.  They are a treasure to me.

In 2013 I posted "word clouds" created by Wordle.  The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.   I took all the sayings written in Mom's Bible and here's what I got:

I realize there are a lot of words and it might seem like there is no way to narrow them down into themes, but I think I've done it.  Of course, the longer I worked on this, the more I realized this was going to turn into a series of posts instead of a single post!  In the days ahead I'll be exploring these six themes from Mom's Bible:

Encourage Yourself
Have a Prayer Life
Guard Your Tongue
Be Content
Be Grateful
Have Faith/Trust in God

Before I get to those themes, I want to re-post a story:

Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything,wrote in the sand:

"Today my best friend slapped me in the face."

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one, who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After the friend recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:

"Today my best friend saved my life."

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?"

The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

Learn to write your hurts in the sand, and to carve your benefits in stone.
~ Author Unknown

I consider Mom's Bible her stone.  She wrote her blessings, her faith, and her prayers.  It's a stone that I have learned so much from.

Repost: ABC Verses

I was searching my blog for something else this morning when I happened on this post from August 2008.  My blog was only a month old at the time.  I'm still in awe that Mom found all these verses without a computer!

Mom loved children and she loved the Word of God. So when she was teaching pre-Kindergarten at the Christian school she came up with a unique way to combine learning letters and learning the Word of God. I found five pages of hand written verses - A through Z. If I remember correctly, the goal was to learn all the verses by the end of the year, quoting them out loud.

It should also be noted that Mom never had a computer or any type of Bible software. She found these verses the old fashioned way - by reading Mom's Bible!!

A - Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: Matthew 7:7

B - But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. John 4:23

C - Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. I Peter 5:7

D - Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:4

E - Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts. Proverbs 21:2

F - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

G - Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

H - Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: Deuteronomy 6:4

I - I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Psalm 122:1

J - Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Matthew 22:37

K - Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3

L - Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. Psalm 150:6

M - My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:2

N - Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Philippians 4:11

O - One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:5, 6

P - Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Proverbs 4:26

Q - Quench not the Spirit. I Thessalonians 5:19

R - Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Philippians 4:4

S - Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. Psalm 96:2

T - Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. James 2:19

U - Use hospitality one to another without grudging. I Peter 4:9

V - Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. Mark 10:15

W - We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; I Thessalonians 1:2

X - Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy. Psalm 99:5

Y - Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. I John 4:4

Z - Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. Luke 19:5

Woman of the Week ~ Mom

My Mom would have turned 79 today.  In honor of her birthday, I thought I would write her in as my first Woman of the Week for 2019.

Verses: 
Obviously, there aren't any verses in the Bible with her story, but oh how her Bible has blessed me!  I have blogged from it and about it for over ten years.  It is my dearest earthly treasure.

Background
She was born on January 1, 1940 to Hogan and Luella Pearson.  She was the first baby born in Tulare county that year.  She was the second of four children - she had an older brother, Dean, a younger sister, Joyce, and a younger brother, Don.
She married Robert Fultz on October 3, 1958.  They produced four offspring - Kim, Rick, Rod and Kathy.  They celebrated their 40th anniversary one week before she passed away.

What is she most known for? Victories? Defeats? How can I be like her? How can I avoid being like her? 
Oh my!  There are so many things I can list, here are a few:

Baking - Mom was not a great cook, she would have told you that.  She was rather picky and didn't enjoy trying new foods.  But when it came to baked goods, especially chocolate, she couldn't be beat!  She definitely passed that gift on to me.  What I didn't get was her decorating ability.  She was a master at beautiful cakes, but she could also make beautiful cookies.  I remember her using a paintbrush to get food coloring on turkey cookies before they were baked.  They came out with a glaze of beautiful feathers.  I also knew that Les had received her silent approval when I told her how much he liked brownies and the next time he came for a visit that is what she made!

Kids - Mom loved kids.  She was able to stay home with all of us because she babysat little ones in our home.  For years she preferred newborns, then she seemed to switch and really enjoy the two to four year old age range.  She taught Sunday school for decades and Pre-K at the Christian school for several years.  She loved her own four kids and was ecstatic when she became Grandma!

Nursing - Mom didn't have a nursing degree, but with Rod's health issues she became a pro in her own right.  Rod broke his femur two different times in less than 12 months.  Because of his hemophilia the healing process was a little more complicated.  He spent about 6 weeks in the hospital in traction so the bones could start mending.  He then came home in a body cast.  Mom tended to his needs daily.  Mom and Dad both knew how to mix Rod's medicine and give him injections.  Her experiences allowed her to become the youth camp nurse for many years.  She loved going to camp and taking care of all the kids there.

Animals - We nicknamed our home "Fultz's Funny Farm" for a reason!  Mom loved every type of animal and our home was never without at least one dog. I wrote about it in detail in this post, but there is one story I have to share here.  Just as she did with children, Mom nourished and nurtured every animal that came her way. Dad was very patient, but every once in a while he put his foot down. One peaceful Saturday afternoon, we kids were playing at home, Dad was trying to relax, maybe even take a nap on the couch, when Mom came home:

Mom (rushing in the house): Bob, I need a box
Dad: Huh? A box? What for?
Mom: There's a little animal I need to rescue.
Dad: Where?
Mom: Around the corner.
Dad (knowing it is now useless to argue): I'll go with you, let me get my shoes on.
Mom: Well hurry!
Dad (when they get to the animal): It's a mole! We're not taking that thing home!

Friends - Mom had some very close friends in our church family.  Friends that she could talk to for hours!  She loved talking on the phone as much as any teenager.  I know there was laughter, but I also know she shared tears and prayers with these dear friends of hers.

Did she reach a place when she needed to reset?  If so, did she?  For good or evil?
I'm sure there were many times Mom needed to reset, but the most significant happened when she was about 20 years old.  She was raised going to church, but after Kim was born our family moved away from Visalia.  I believed they lived in Selma for a time, then they moved to Fresno.  Some time after their move, Irene Wilkinson asked Mom if they could pick her up for church.  Kenneth and Irene took Mom to church for many years (she didn't get her driver's license until she was 23 or 24.)

By the time I was born, Mom was firmly planted in Truth Tabernacle.  It was her church home for about 38 years.  I can never remember a time when Mom chose to stay home from church if she was not sick.  I know there were times that she was tired, but going to church was not optional.  She loved God and His Word.  I flipped through her Bible and found so many quotes.  I tried to find a couple to use, but there were just too many.  I finally settled on this one, written in large all caps letters:

HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT

That is the key that she found to go through whatever joys or sorrows life brought.  Trials and victories, hurts and hopes, Mom knew that HIS grace was sufficient.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Ten Year Blog Anniversary

Ten years ago this week I dipped my toe into the world of blogging.  My first post was published on July 22nd, but the post that has been the heart of McMoments and Memories was my third post, published on July 24, 2008.  Mom's Bible has been a constant here in my part of the world wide web.   The entire post was short and simple:

As I mentioned in the previous post, I will be sharing thoughts from Mom's Bible. I'm sure many of the thoughts are not original, most likely they are things she heard during the preaching because she always took her Bible to church. (And that's a thought for another post!)

She received this particular Bible for her 47th birthday, January 1, 1987, and it was the final Bible she carried. This contains her thoughts during an eight year battle with cancer and the loss of her youngest son, Rod. While that was obviously the most difficult time in her life, the notes and thoughts are constantly positive and uplifting.

So... if you see a note or thought labeled "Mom's Bible" that is exactly where it came from. And if the thought was originally yours, thank you for sharing it with her, because I'm sure if she wrote it down it was an encouragement to her.

One who uses the Bible as his guide , never loses his sense of direction.
- Mom's Bible

Mom's example of writing down notes and thoughts that were positive and uplifting is something I strive for.  I love sharing the adventures that Les and I have been on, but it's when I sit down with a thought or a scripture that's been tugging on my spirit that I feel like this blog is worth maintaining.  Just this week I shared a post with a friend - it was something I had written over five years ago, but it was right for her this week.

And here I am ten years later, still writing and still hoping that I can brighten someone's day or give the encouragement they need...

Kings of Judah and Israel

I am currently in the book of 2 Kings in my daily Bible reading.  It can be confusing reading about the different kings.  Some names are similar, while others are identical.  Reigns overlap.  Many kings are identified by their parents.  I found this chart to be helpful:

Over and over the Bible says, "he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord" and "followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin."  Of 42 kings, 11 were counted righteous over the course of 464 years.

We celebrated the birthday of our country this week.  242 years since we declared our independence.  I wonder what a chart of our presidents would look like.  Of 45 presidents, how many could be counted righteous?  There will never be a perfect ruler, but we need to pray for our divided nation.   No matter who rules, we as individuals still have the choice to do that which is right in the sight of God.

Everybody Ought To Go Sunday School!

I am currently reading the book of Judges.  This morning I read part of Gideon's story.  As I read, pictures started going through my mind.  Gideon putting out a fleece...

Gideon and his army, drinking water...

Gideon's army and their trumpets...

These images were imprinted on my mind when I was a child.  My Sunday school teachers showed them to me.  We had coloring pages with similar images.

Some might think teaching these stories to children is a waste of time.  Children don't understand what God is doing.  I beg to differ!  No, children don't understand everything that is going on, but they do get introduced to a God Who can do anything!  He parts the Red Sea.  He heals lepers.  He leaves the ground dry and the fleece wet, then leaves the ground wet and the fleece dry.

Why does this matter to children?  Because someday those children are going to grow up.  They're going to need healing or deliverance and they will be able to pull from memory stories of a God Who did just that.

I am so thankful for the many Sunday school teachers I have had in my life.  My Mom was in the nursery when I was a baby, Sis. Taylor taught me when I three. Sis. Irene Wilkinson, Sis. Ruth Garrett, Sis. Jeanne Talsness, Sis. Kay Brimhall.  These ladies poured stories into me as a child. 

Because of Sunday school, youth leaders and ministers have taught and preached messages that made sense to me.  Preachers often say, "We all know the story..."  Sadly for many that is not the case.  Many weren't as privileged as I was.  I do know the stories and now I am able to apply the lessons to my own life.

Sunday school teachers of the world - Thank You!  Your tireless commitment IS worth it!  You may not see it in the eyes of a four year old, but this fifty four year old is eternally grateful.

We sang this song many times and I remember shouting "the girls!" as loud as I could!  It's still true, everybody ought to go to Sunday school!

Timeless

Les' dad arrived last night.  In his luggage is this Bible:

Bill received it after joining the Navy in 1951 when he was 18 years old.  Nearly 66 years later it is as enduring as ever.  Tucked in that Bible is a note from Grandpa McElhaney written in 1952 telling his youngest son to live right and honor the Lord, and that his dad would be praying for him.

Isaiah 40:8, "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."  It is timeless!

Bookworms

Grab the nearest book. Open it and go to the tenth word. Do a Google Image Search of the word. Write about what the image brings to mind.

The nearest book was Mom's Bible.  The following quote is on the inside cover:  "Other books are given for our information.  The Bible was given for our transformation."  The tenth word "was" brought up exactly zero images.  But the word "Bible"... I really didn't even need an image search for it.

The first image that came to my mind is from Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  The Bible can definitely cut at times, but I like what the 1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes says, "An amplification taken from the nature of the word of God, so powerful that it enters even to the deepest and most inward and secret parts of the heart, fatally wounding the stubborn, and openly reviving the believers."

Another word in the quote is "transformation."  This image came up and it is very fitting:

I have seen lives transformed by people who embrace the word of God.  There is no greater book, any time, any place than the Bible!

Origin Story

Why did you start your blog? Is that still why you blog, or has your site gone in a different direction than you’d planned?

I spent quite a bit of time re-reading my earliest posts.  My first post said, "I have been blog stalking (blalking?) for the past couple of months, enjoying the posts, and thinking of things I might say if I had a blog... To those bloggers that have been at it a while, you are stronger (I won't call you bigger!) and superior to I. I will strive to reach your level in humor, wisdom, family events and fun! But for now, here's my first post."

It was my next two posts that gave it purpose.  Memories and Mom's Bible.  There are nearly 100 posts that contain something from or about Mom's Bible.  Nothing new has been written in the margins or inside cover pages in almost 19 years, but I'm always finding nuggets (just like the actual words of the Bible.)

I wrote this about Mom's Bible, "She received this particular Bible for her 47th birthday, January 1, 1987, and it was the final Bible she carried. This contains her thoughts during an eight year battle with cancer and the loss of her youngest son, Rod. While that was obviously the most difficult time in her life, the notes and thoughts are constantly positive and uplifting."

Without realizing it at the time, I believe the direction of my blog was set with this statement:  "The notes and thoughts are constantly positive and uplifting."  In the past nine years our life has taken many unexpected turns, but it has always been my desire for this blog to be positive and uplifting.

I've added some things as my blog has grown.  As my Friday Foodie collection grew I added a page with links to each recipe.  I also have pages dedicated to Running, Family, Trips, and my study of Women of the Word.

As I'm reviving this blog, I'd love to know.... is there anything you'd like to read more of here?

Mom's Bible

Mother's Day is this Sunday and many of the emails I've been getting lately are about what to get Mom for Mother's Day.  Of course this has got me thinking about my own mother.  I've written about her so many times and I always come back to one thing: Faith.

The third post I ever wrote was called "Mom's Bible."  Part of that post said, "She received this particular Bible for her 47th birthday, January 1, 1987, and it was the final Bible she carried. This contains her thoughts during an eight year battle with cancer and the loss of her youngest son, Rod. While that was obviously the most difficult time in her life, the notes and thoughts are constantly positive and uplifting."

We have been in revival with Bro. Michael Disotel and he has talked about faith quite a bit.  He has said on two occasions, "It bothers me when people say 'God has never failed me yet!' like they are just waiting for God to fail them."  Some might have looked at my Mom's life and thought God had failed her.  She had an eight year battle with cancer.  She lost a son when he was only 31.  She faced trials and tests.  But here are the quotes from the back inside cover of her Bible:

4-27-90 - Black day for me - but God is in charge.  Cancer is not too hard for my God.

You are God's property and God is going to take care of you.

I thank God every day of my life for what I have come safely past.

To have faith is to believe the task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.

Guard the portals of your mind.  Don't let evil thoughts creep in.  Remember the happy days, the best part of living.  We can control our minds if we keep the bad thoughts out.

This is the life of a woman who lived by faith.  She knew her God.  She wrote in another place, "Oh God, help me lose in thee all the things that hurt and make life hard."  I don't place a lot of value on things, but this Bible is such a treasure to me!  I am forever grateful for the example she left to me.

I plan to carry this Bible to church on Mother's Day, so local friends if you want to see it in person you'll get a chance.

Areopagus Hill (Day 10 - Athens, Greece, Part 3)

When we left the Acropolis, we noticed a large rock formation.  People were climbing all over it so we decided to join them.

There was quite a view of the Acropolis.

We stopped to read about where we were standing...

and were stopped in our tracks when we realized where we were standing!

We were standing on Mars Hill!  The English name Areopagus is the composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Ares Rock."   The Greek god Ares was the god of war, violence, and bloodshed. Symbols include the boar, serpent, dog, vulture, spear, and shield. Son of Zeus and Hera, all the other gods (except Aphrodite) despised him. His Latin name, Mars, gave us the word "martial."  So Areopagus and Mars Hill are interchangeable.

Acts chapter 17 tells us about Paul's visit to Athens:
16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. 17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. 18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. 19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? 20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. 21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 

Yeah, we were kinda giddy that we found this on our own!  There was no tour guide to tell us about some saint or some vision or some other myth.  Just us and our knowledge of the Word of God!

Standing in the shadow of the Acropolis and overlooking the Ancient Agora, this is where Paul declared the Unknown God to the people of Athens.

We didn't know it at the time, but I am standing in front of a Greek inscription of Paul's sermon.

We still live in a world that needs to be introduced to the Unknown God.  Desperately needs to know the one and only God.

The House of the Virgin Mary (Day 8 - Kuşadası, Turkey, Part 1)

I hardly know how to describe our day in Ephesus!  I didn't have any expectations, but any I would have had would have been greatly exceeded!  This was an amazing day.  I have a feeling there will be about five posts about this one day.  We started our day with a breakfast of champions...

Les did eat more than Fruit Loops...

We saw the Fortress of Kuşadası as we sailed in to port.  It takes up the entire island floating off Kuşadası’s beach promenade and was built in the 13th century A.D.

As we made our way to our bus we were met by Turkish dancers.

We boarded bus #3 and were met my our tour guide, Hakan.  He explained that the Turkish pronunciation of Kuşadası is KOOSH-ah-dah-suh.  The small symbol below the first "s" indicates an "sh" sound.  In our seats were goodie bags and bottled water.  The goodie bags included a clay pot (that I'll talk about in a little while), a small trinket, and a handout about Paul in Ephesus.  The front/back:

We were surprised to see that the inside contained Acts chapter 19.  The entire chapter was printed, which includes the conversion of some of the disciples of John the Baptist - including being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus and receiving the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues.

Our bus took us high in the mountains to Mount Koressos to "The House of the Virgin Mary."

"The house was discovered in the 19th century by following the descriptions in the reported visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774–1824), a Roman Catholic nun and visionary, which were published as a book by Clemens Brentano after her death. The Catholic Church has never pronounced in favor or against the authenticity of the house, but nevertheless maintains a steady flow of pilgrimage since its discovery." (Wikipedia)

Catholic pilgrims visit the house based on the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken to this stone house by Saint John and lived there until her assumption (another teaching of the Catholic church that has no Biblical basis.)

A pathway led us to the wishing wall where people have left prayers.

Next to the wishing wall is a fountain of "holy" water.  This is where many from our group brought their clay pots to fill and take "holy" water home with them.

We then went inside a small church for mass.  Again, we did not know this was part of our excursion, but we decided to go in and just be respectful.  I did not take any pictures of the priests or inside the building, but these handouts were on our seats.

In my 52 years on earth, this is the first mass I have ever attended.  I was amazed at how many people knew every single word they were suppose to say.  I couldn't even follow it on paper!  They knew when to repeat, when to say something else, when to stand, and when to kneel. Beholding their devotions, their sincerity, it really affected me.

The time for communion came.  Again, having never been to Catholic mass before, I didn't know what would happen.  Many of us did not participate, but Les and I watched closely.  The priest put the bread directly in the people's mouths and only he drank the wine.  I think this puts a layer between God and man that is not there.  We have direct access to the power of the blood.

I'm pretty sure this isn't suppose to be funny, but... Priest: "Go forth, the Mass has ended." All: "Thanks be to God."

Hakan pointed out this cistern to us.  He said this could have been used for baptism at one point because it was deep enough for people to be fully immersed.  I didn't think about it at the time, but several things that Hakan said and did make me think he had a much clearer understanding of the Bible then he shared with our group.  I would love to go back and ask him.

After a few more minutes for pictures, we were back on the bus headed the Ephesus.

As always, you can find more pictures HERE.