Do-Over

Sandra and Jeremy
(One of our precious small group girls and her new hubby)

"In the same way, older women are to...teach what is good, so they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children, to be self-controlled, pure, homemakers, kind, and submissive to their husbands, so that God's message will not be slandered. " (Titus 2:3-5 HCSB)

Over the summer, I prepared 12 fall small group lessons and prayed that God would gather the young women according to His plans and purposes. Before the semester began, the Lord instructed, "Jill, don't print lessons ahead of time." 

After getting to know these dear ones and learning their questions and needs, "Bible Basics for Young Women" is getting a do-over. I'm rewriting the curriculum. (Thank You, Lord, for the heads up not to pre-print!) Godly relationships part 1: next Tuesday 6:00 P.M..

Are conversations with God really possible? Yes, ma'am! 

Isaiah 30:21 reads: "Your own ears will hear Him. Right behind you a voice will say, 'This is the way you should go,' whether to the right or to the left." 

Jesus Himself said, "My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from Me." (John 10:27-28)

Beloved, in everything, seek the Lord Jesus first and follow His wise and right instructions!

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Little Doors

Our 10-year-old grandson reading to 3-year-olds.

"If you are faithful in the little things, you will be faithful in the large ones..." (Luke 16:10a NLT)


Yesterday morning, I asked the Lord to please open before me doors of opportunity to make known the mystery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Within the hour, our pest control technician and our carpenter - both fathers of school-age children - came to the house; and the Holy Spirit whispered, "Here's two little doors of opportunity. Give each a copy of Mr. Greenleaf's Unforgettable Summer to share My message with their families that the Lord is God and He made everything. The Lord is our Guide and His name is Jesus."

God places large and small doors of opportunity all around us everyday. O Lord, make us alert and ready to make the most of every single sharing-the-love-of Jesus chance You supply.

"So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do." (Eph. 5:15-17 NLT)

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My Delight

My Phillip
Old Timers Festival
Townsend, TN

"I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." (Isa. 61:10 NIV)

Over the weekend, Phillip and I took a road trip to celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary - a romantic get-away to the mountains. Isn't it just like God to orchestrate an Old Timers Festival with a field chock-full of tractors for my country boy, tractor-loving superman? 

Beloved, take delight in Jesus today. He has clothed you with salvation! When we delight in the Lord, our hearts' desires begin to align with His. (I guess Jesus likes tractors, too.)

"Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desires." (Psalm 37:4 NLT)

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One-of-a-kind

our one-of-a-kind, beautiful granddaughter

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, His one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending His Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in Him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust Him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to Him." (John 3:16-18 The Message)

And that's the truth.

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Make Your Own Ball Day

Make Your Own Ball Day
photo by our Rebecca

Jesus said, "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets." (Matt. 7:12 NLT)

Over the weekend, our three older grands wrapped and glued and taped and colored in preparation for Make Your Own Ball Day. This fun event began in Indiana September of 2012 with the mission to use a ball to help kids create, connect, give, appreciate, and play. Using plastic bags, string, duck tape, and the like, community kids make their own soccer balls, gather to play a bare-footed soccer match, and then donate hundreds of new, for-real soccer balls for less fortunate children around the world.

God changes lives through small acts of kindness. Beloved, are you in the game?

(For more Make Your Own Ball Day information, go to: myobd.org)

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Too Precious

our too-precious babygrand
16 months old and growing

"One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so He could touch and bless them." (Mark 10:13a NLT)

A sweet friend recently gave a copy of Mr. Greenleaf's Unforgettable Summer to her great nephew. After the four-year-old's grandmother read him the story, he said, "Oh, Nonie, this is just too precious."

Jesus loves the little children. They are precious in His sight. Oh, parents and grandparents, bring Jesus to your little ones so they may be blessed indeed.

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Life and Death

Our Dan
Top row, 2nd from left
US Marines 2008

"Today I have given you a choice between life and death...Oh, that you would choose life...by loving the Lord your God, obeying Him, and committing yourself firmly to Him. This is the key to your life." (Deut. 30:19-20 NLT)

My checkup at Kirklin Clinic was today. Because I've been told that if my cancer returns there's no cure, when the radiologist called for additional scans, I thought, uh-oh, I might be a goner. However, all is well, and I'm thankful to Jesus for life.

Just ask a US Marine or Army Ranger or a policeman patrolling the streets of America these days, LIFE is a precious gift from God and a terrible thing to waste!

Beloved, let's live each day to the fullest: love God, love people, obey God's word, and hold fast to Him!

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From Neckties to Tennis Shoes

Our beautiful bride, Rebecca
April 3, 2004

Jesus said, "I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will believe in Me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as You and I are one - as You are in Me, Father, and I am in You. And may they be in us so that the world will believe You sent Me." (John 17:20-21 NLT)

One of the most delightful parts of the Mr. Greenleaf book reading tour is meeting wonderfully diverse brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Every place our feet have trod, Mr. Greenleaf and I have been welcomed and loved. What a sweet blessing! From neckties to tennis shoes, gospel hymns to praise choruses, we are all the Bride of Christ - His beloved Church. 

Jesus earnestly prayed for the unity of believers. O beloved, may we be ever so careful to always encourage one another and edify our sister churches and never criticize and tear down so that a lost, hopeless world may believe in Jesus name!

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Divine Design

amazing photo of God's amazing creations by our amazing Rebecca

Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind..."Where were  you when I laid the foundations of the earth...Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb...For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, 'This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!'" (Job 38:1-11 NLT)

In the wee hours of the morning, I sat in our regular meeting place - my little rocker by the bedroom window - and recorded the Lord's creative ideas for an upcoming baby shower I'm hosting. Yep, you read right - a baby shower. The Almighty Creator of the vast universe truly cares about the tiniest details of ordinary things and offers His plans to whosoever will seek Him. (After all, the baby himself is God's design.)

Need ideas, beloved? Seek God and His divine designs.

"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous - how well I know it." (Psalm 139:13-14)

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Don't Forget the Love

Our Ben and Gabbi
Wedding Day 2008
Tegucigalpa, Honduras

"If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had faith that could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing." (1 Cor. 13:2 NLT)

One long ago Christmas, I "helped" my grandmother bake pecan pies to give her neighbors. (My brother once said that when little hands help, you can do half the work in twice the time.) After we delivered the pies, Grandmama realized we'd left out one of the most important ingredients - sugar!

I love God's Word, the Bible; but when I teach, sometimes I forget the most important ingredient - to love my students more than knowledge. Mr. Greenleaf and I are headed to Etowah County today for a book event. Lord, please help us forget not the most important part of the trip - loving Your senior saints!

Beloved, as you go about your busy day, don't forget the love!

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The Truth About Truth

Our oldest grand "at school"

"...equip God's people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ...Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of  new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of the His body, the church." (Eph. 4:12-15 NLT)


Each year, our Rebecca and Stephen seek God's counsel and plans for their children's education. Once again, this year's answer was homeschool - a fertile field for sowing seeds of TRUTH.

The truth about truth: truth cannot change our yesterdays; but if followed, truth most certainly will beautifully mold our tomorrows.

Beloved, to teach Truth, you must know Him. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Then, direct your children onto the right path and when they are older, they'll not stray from Truth Trail (Prov. 22:6).

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Daddy Time

our Ben and babygrand
"daddy-time"

"So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious [Father] God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." (Heb. 4:16 NLT)


Just like babygrand loves his "daddy-time," I love spending time with our loving heavenly Father. 

Hebrews 4:14-16 tell us that because Jesus the Son of God, our great High Priest, entered heaven, we as believers have access to God the Father's throne of grace and mercy whensoever we will to come.

Beloved, are you willing? Run boldly into God's Presence today! and tomorrow! and the next day! and the next and the next and the next and forever after!

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Plant a Little Seed

Our Rebecca (center)
with orphans in India 2001

"Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, even a hundred times as much as had been planted...The farmer plants the seed by taking God's word to others...And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God's word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted." (Mark 4:8,14,20 NLT)

When my children were young, I repeated a little anecdote as I patted their backs:

Plant a little seed

Pat it in

And it started to thunder

And lightning

And the rain fell

Then the sun came out 

And dried up all the rain

Then there was thunder

And lightning

And the rain fell

Then the sun came out

And dried up all the rain

And the little seed

Grew

And grew

And grew

And grew

And grew

Feel the breeze

And a great big squeeze

This week, I received a heart-warming letter from a "little seed" planted years ago.

"Mrs. Jill, I am not sure if you remember me or not. You came into my life when I was in jail...I just wanted to say thank you for your kindness and to let you know how great I am doing. After I finished the program, I went home and got married to a great man that God brought into my life. I told him about a woman who helped me along the way...Thank you for everything. Sorry it took so long for me to say that."

Our gracious and merciful Lord Jesus is able to transform the tiniest of seeds into lovely, watered gardens. Today and tomorrow and tomorrow's morrow, let's plant a little seed and pat it in.

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Lovin' That Man

My Phillip and me
Junior Prom 1973

"and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them." (Jer. 32:39)



As of 3:00 p.m. today, I've been married to superman for 38 wonderfully blessed years. Thank you, Lord Jesus! Oh, how I love that man!

Thank you, my love, for...

• commuting 60 miles to and from work our first year of marriage while I finished graduate school.
• coming along side me as summer youth ministers at FBC Bogalusa in 1980.
• strongly urging me to set aside a speech pathology career in 1981 for an at-home-mom position I held for 22 amazing years - one of the best decisions of our journey!
• being the strong, wise dad of rambunctious, teenage sons.
• being the protector and wise counselor over our beautiful, determined daughter.
• making our empty nest a dance floor. 
• continuously encouraging and supporting me in teaching Bible studies and writing storybooks.
• your deep love and tender care during and after breast cancer treatment. (I'll never forget the look in your eyes the day of my diagnosis.)
• years and years and years of self sacrifice and provision for our family.
• loving only the Lord Jesus more than me.

I love you more today than yesterday, and my tomorrow love for you will surpass today's.

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A Lawyer's Daughter

My daddy and me
Easter Sunday and my 2nd birthday
April 6, 1958

"The LORD doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7 NLTb)

When Phillip and I started dating as teenagers, his granddaddy said, "Jill, sure is a nice girl to be a lawyer's daughter." J

Some folks back in those days jammed all attorneys into the same crooked pigeonhole, but obviously they didn't know my daddy's heart. William Winfred Watson, a captain in the US Army during WWII, served overseas in New Guinea, the Philippines, and Japan. After the war, he earned his law degree at the University of Alabama, and eventually returned to Fort Payne to practice.

Because fathers had died in combat, many children in the 1950s and 60s were wards of the state; and in our small town, daddy was their legal guardian. I remember riding with my parents to Jacksonville State University to take a young lady under his guardianship to college. Another one who'd been under his care, recently told of Daddy personally buying her a coat and shoes for elementary school. She said with tears in her eyes, "He had caring and compassion for me."

Jesus said, "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For  you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged." (Matt. 7:1-2)

"You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart." (1 Peter 1:22)

Help us, LORD!

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Bible Basics for Young Women

From Christian storybook,  The Schoolhouse
watercolor by talented artist, Cami Monet Webb

"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.  It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right." (2 Tim. 3:16 NLT)

Bible Basics Quiz

1. Name the first and last books of the Bible.

2. Name the four gospels.

3. Quote John 3:16.

4. Who was Isaac's father? (Gen. 21:1-3)

5. Who wrote most of the book of Psalm?

6. Who wrote 13 books of the New Testament?

7. What king threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego into the fiery furnace? (Dan. 3:19)

8. Who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me?" (John 14:6)

9. Fill in the blanks: "For ______ have ________ and come short of the ________ of God." (Rom. 3:23)

10. Fill in the blanks: "For by _______ you have been saved through _______; and that not of yourselves, it is the _____ of God; not a result of _______, so that no one may boast." (Eh. 2:8-9)

How'd you do?

Bible Basics for Young Women (ages 19-39) begins tonight, 6:00 p.m.. Call 205-516-2113 to register.

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Jots by Tots

My three oldest grands,
Aren't they grand!

"Dear child, if you become wise, I'll be one happy parent. My heart will dance and sing to the tuneful truth you'll speak." (Proverbs 23:15-16 The Message)

After telling her kids her love story - how God brought their dad and her together - Rebecca told them how thankful to God she was for marrying the best guy in the world; and thankful also, because if they hadn't married, the three best kids in the world wouldn't exist.

My granddaughter said, "I can't imagine a world without us!"

Her youngest little guy added, "It would be so QUIET!"

And the point of this story? Simply to make you smile and thankful. Happy Labor Day weekend to you, dear ones!

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Why

Our Ben
Tusculum College, 2004

"It's no light thing to know that we'll all one day stand in the place of judgment. That's why we work urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God...I hope you realize how much and deeply we care." (2 Cor. 5:11-13 The Message)


One Easter holiday, a college buddy of Ben's came to our home for the weekend. After Sunday's church service, the friend, a Hindu from Nepal, asked, "Why do Christians try to make people of other religions believe their way?"

"It's an act of love," I told him. "We know that if you die without Jesus, you'll spend eternity in hell. We invite you to Jesus because we love you."

Doomed without Jesus is not my opinion, it's the truth according the Christ Himself. Jesus said: 


"The Son of Man is the farmer who plants good seeds. the field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels. Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will remove from His Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father's Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!" (Matt. 13:37-43 NLT)

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." (John 14:6 NLT)

Got Jesus, beloved? Then you're heavenward bound!

Troublesome times are here, 

Filling men's hearts with fear

Freedom we all hold dear 

Now is at stake

Humbling your hearts to God 

Saves from the chastening rod 

Seek the way pilgrims trod

 Christians awake.

My Jesus is coming soon 

Morning or night or noon

And many will meet their doom

 Trumpets will sound

And all of the dead shall rise

 Righteous meet in the skies

I'm going where no one dies

 Heavenward bound.1

1 JESUS IS COMING SOON. R. E. Winsett, 1951.

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Time After Time

My brother (third boy from left) and me (first row, little girl 2nd from left)
1962 Confirmation Class
First United Methodist Church
Fort Payne, Alabama

"When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child..." (1 Cor. 13:11a NLT)


As a child, I thought that after you died, if you belonged to Jesus, you lived in heaven forever. According to Scripture, believers in Jesus indeed go straight to heaven at death. Jesus told the thief dying on the cross beside Him, "I assure you, today you will be with Me in paradise." (Luke 23:43) However, the Bible also describes in detail Jesus and His believers returning to planet earth for 1,000 years.

"Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True...The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed Him on white horses...On His robe at His thigh was written this title: King of kings and Lord of all lords (Revelation 19:11-17). They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousands years (Revelation 20:4b)."

We are God's masterpiece. He created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do things He planned for us long ago (Eph. 2:10). 

Beloved, God has prepared good works for our todays and for our time after time!

Pretty cool!

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Going Fishin'

My Phillip, Ben, and babygrand
Last Saturday's fishing trip

"Simon Peter said, 'I'm going fishing.'" (John 21:3)

When Jesus called fisherman, Simon Peter, to work for Him, He promised to make Peter a fisher of people. Three years later, however, Jesus died, was buried, and ascended back into heaven. But on the day of Pentecost...

While Jesus-followers huddled in an upper loft, without warning, a sound rushed in like a mighty, gale force wind and filled the whole room. Like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit settled on each of them. They began speaking other languages and rushed into the streets of Jerusalem.

Because it was the Feast of Pentecost, Jews from everywhere had gathered to holy city -Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, and Rome, even Cretans and Arabs!

"What's going on here?" the people cried.

"They're drunk!" some accused. 

Then Peter stood up. 

"Change your life," he urged. "Turn to God and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven."

That day about 3,000 took Peter, the fisher of people, at his word, and were baptized.

Beloved, this fall, I'm going fishin'. Wanna go?

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