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| Bama boys "The very day I call for help, the TIDE of the battle turns. My enemies flee! This one thing I know: God is for me." (Psalm 56:9 Living Bible) Here's a verse-of-the-day humor explanation for the non-Alabamians: the Alabama Crimson Tide is playing the Cincinnati Bearcats this afternoon in the National College Football Championship semifinals. Roll Tide, beloved, (yes I'm an Auburn grad) and happy New Year's Eve! |
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| grandboy and grandgirl fall 2021 "The LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place." (Deuteronomy 1:31) From its dawn to the fading twilight, the Lord our God carried His children through 2021. And I trust He will faithfully bear us up on eagles' wings over the coming New Year. Therefore, beloved, "do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear . . . Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them . . . See how the flowers of the field grow. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these . . . Do not worry . . . But seek first God's kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:25-33) |
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| children's book coming spring 2022 "From one man God made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us." (Acts 17:26-27) When my college roommate's Christmas card returned "undeliverable," I went on an internet search and found her. In chapter one of Romans, Paul told the Romans that since the world was created, people have seen the earth and the sky, and through everything God made, we can clearly see His invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature. In chapter seventeen of Acts, Paul told the Athenians that God marked out man's appointed times and location so that we would seek and perhaps find Him. In chapter nineteen of Luke, Jesus told Zacchaeus that the Son of Man came to seek and save this who are lost. The bottomline: God sought after you, beloved, and designed you to seek Him. Have you found Jesus today? |
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| grands 2012 |
"On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity." (Zechariah 13:1)
Today's Old Testament Bible reading lead me to the prophet Zechariah who foretold that Israel will one day look upon Jesus, the Messiah, with faith and repent of the years of rejection. On that glad day, God's "Fountain" will cleanse His people of all sin and impurity.
In 1771, the promise of Zechariah 13:1 inspired William Cowper's (pronounced Cooper) beloved old hymn "There Is a Fountain."
"There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty steins."
Feeling guilty, beloved? Run to the Fountain! "The blood of Jesus, God's Son, purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)
Read more...
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"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." (Psalm 27:13) My empty kitchen table Christmas Day brought me to a crossroads of the will: in my disappointment, would I choose bitter or better? Oswald Chambers wrote: "Our battles are first won in the secret places of our will in God's presence." Disappointed, beloved? Choose the good way — a surrendered will to the trustworthy Most High God. "Therefore we do not lose heart . . . For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since the seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) |
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| my granddaddy, brother Mark, and me Christmas 1958 "You will be able to tell wonderful stories to your children and grandchildren about the marvelous things I am doing." (Exodus 10:2) A Christmas Eve tradition passed down through the generations by my maternal grandfather was the first one to shout, "Christmas Eve gift!" on Christmas Eve got an extra present. My phone dinged at 11:13 PM Central Time last night (12:13 PM Eastern Time) with a "Christmas Eve Gift" text from my niece in Kentucky. It dinged again at 5:27 this morning, a "Christmas Eve Gift" GroupMe text from our youngest son to the whole family followed by a "Got Heem!" GIF. So, Christmas Eve Gift to you beloved! And may the Lord bless you and your family as you celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! |
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| our Rebecca's family "Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; and the fields lie empty and barren; even thought the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!" (Habakkuk 3:17-18) They'll be home for Christmas . . . only in my dreams. Sigh. Well, our girl and grandgirl have covid, so they can't come home for Christmas. I'm very extremely disappointed and so, so sad, yet I will praise Jesus, the God of my salvation. Heartbreaks and disappointments got you down, beloved? Sing a hallelujah and praises to the Lord most High! "Why and I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again — my Savior and my God!" (Psalm 42:5) |
"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation." (Isaiah 26:3-4)
Twas three days before Christmas,
when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse . . .
Because some of our kids and grands are sick
and dreams of gathering together hang in the balance.
Yet . . .
We will enter His gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise;
give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the LORD is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations!
(Psalm 100:4-5)
O come let us adore Him, beloved, Christ the Lord!
When my dear friends, Mary and Susan, placed Christmas wreaths on the gravesites of veterans in their family, they also place one by my daddy's headstone — an act of lovingkindness that deeply touched my heart.
Beloved, may the lovingkindness of Jesus Christ touch others through you this Christmas season.
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| grandboys on the mountain top "I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone." (2 Peter 1:15) Saturday, the grandboys and I climbed to the top of the mountain behind their house. On the way up, we found a patch of British Soldier moss.  |
Camp Juliette Low.
Mary.
And Thumper.
When Mary Igou, my best friend since birth, Sharon Abbott, Angela Killian, and I went to the Girl Scout Camp Juliette Low in Cloudland, Georgia the summer of 1968, she was extremely homesick. While the other girls and I canoed, rode horseback, and made campfires, Mary followed Thumper, the camp nurse, around the woods learning moss identification. (Mary would later teach me to recognize British Soldier moss.) Here's a snapshot Daddy took of me (Mama, Grandmama, my brother Mark, and Mr. Abbott are in the background).
One purpose of this blog is to record sweet memories for my grandkids to have after I'm gone.
In his second letter to scattered believers, Peter knew his earthly life would soon end. So, he reminded them of the divine power Christ had given them for a godly life, and encouraged them to add to their faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, affection, and love. "For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure," he wrote, "they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
This Christmas week, beloved, remember. Remember that Christ has given you everything you need for a godly life through your knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory to God in the Highest!
"Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands." (Isaiah 49:16)
One of the 90+ Christmas letters we mailed came back because the address label had fallen off. Who knows who didn't receive our Merry Christmas well-wishes this year.
Beloved, God will never lose track of you. He knows your name and has graven you on his hand and written you on His heart. You are the apple of His eye.
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| Felicia GED graduation 2013 "The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." (Proverbs 18:10) My dear friend, Felicia, (who has seen more than her share of hardships in her 38 years, including two children now in heaven) told me that when her high schooler got off the school bus the other day, her grandbaby ran and jumped in her arms. Then she said, "When life is hard and we don't understand what's going on, God wants us to run and jump in His arms." Is life hard, beloved? Run to Jesus and jump in His arms. Ready, set, go! |
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| grandboy and classmate |
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| grandgirl age 4ish "Jesus said to His followers, 'Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone." (Mark 16:15) I love this picture of the grandgirl when she was about four. I have no idea what she was saying back then, but she was most assuredly tellin' somebody the news. According to Mark's Gospel, early on the first day of the week after Jesus rose from the grave, He appeared to Mary Magdalene. She hurriedly ran and told His followers. After that, Jesus appear to two of His disciples. They ran back and told the rest. Then He appears to the eleven while they were eating and said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned." Beloved, run and tell. Tell the Good News that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life!" |
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