Hallelujah! We Are Not Alone

A friend recently gave Rusty an adult dot-to-dot book to help pass the time while he sits at home recovering from surgery. He thought it would be funny to tell her that he couldn't count high enough to do it. He said that he could only count up to 15. Following through with his humor, when she came to visit, he had completed only 15 pages and also made sure to only go up to dot 15 on each page. Last night, we sat in the ER at UAMS for a while. Rusty tripped and took a small fall on Friday afternoon.  It didn’t cause any major damage, but did cause one area of his wound to open up a little and it seemed to be worse yesterday. As a precaution, we decided it was best to have it looked at. So, we drove in the rain to Little Rock and got home close to 1:00 this morning.   Many times, we find ourselves facing situations that we would much rather have been spared. However, even in those times, we can still find reasons to count our blessings. We drove in a dependable vehicle to find ...

                                                I have several colors of rose bushes in my yard, but the yellow ones are my favorite. Sometimes yellow ones seem harder to grow than others, but thankfully I inherited my Granny’s green thumb.  There was a while when this rose bush didn’t look like it was going to make it, but it pulled through and adds a bright splash of color to my flower gardens.  Truthfully… I took this picture in the Atwoods Garden Center. While yellow roses are my favorite and they are hard to grow, none of the rest of that first paragraph is true. I’m terrible with plants and even killed a Peace Lily that I tried hard to keep going. I have one red climbing rose that has somehow survived and several perennials that were here long before I was. I guess they’re just determined to stay. It definitely has nothing to do with my care and attenti...

When I was young, I loved to go fishing with Dad and my grandparents.   Especially if I got to ride in the boat. Although many years have now passed, one trip will always be branded in my memory.  Lake Mary is an oxbow lake off of the Mississippi River in Wilkinson County, Southwest Mississippi. Many people near where I grew up have camps there. The fishing is good and the camps on stilts along with the cypress trees scattered through water makes for interesting and beautiful scenery.  This particular trip was after lots of rain. The Mississippi River was up and the lake was well out of its banks.  As Granny and Papaw checked and baited trot lines, I enjoyed the ride from the center of the boat. I was amazed at the level of the water and how we would actually float alongside some bridges rather than under them.  For a child, what starts out as excitement can become boring after a short period of time. I had seen all I needed to see and was ready to go back, but ...

I enjoy doing puzzle challenges.   My current favorite involves nothing more than sorting colored balls into tubes. While most of the time this is a pretty simple task, I've learned that sometimes what seems to be an obvious choice will send you on a path that can complicate matters or bring you to a dead end with no more moves to make. It takes putting things in the right order early on to lead to a successful end. Almost every verse in the book of Proverbs is short and to the point, but they bring so much wisdom. Pride goes before destruction..., A friend loves at all times..., A good name is more desirable than riches..., to name a few. Who could argue with these wise words? Today, I'm focused on verse 12 of chapter 14. There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.   How often do we forget to seek God's will for our lives before making decisions and then wonder why we are scratching our heads and trying to figure out how to undo a mess...