Hallelujah! We Are Not Alone

When Kristine opened her Cottage as a vacation rental, she took special care to make sure everything was included that someone might need. Among the many essentials, two identical leather Bibles were ordered. Each had Creekside Cottage imprinted on the front. One to keep on the nightstand and one to put up in case the first one disappeared. The original Bible is still in place and several guests have left comments about how pleased they were to find it there.  Have you ever opened up a Bible and found that out of all of the pages in the 66 books, you happened to turn to exactly what you needed to hear at the time? God's Word is alive. It pierces the depths of our soul, reminds us of who we are, and soothes any wounds we may have. We speak to God through prayer and He speaks to us through His Word.  It's no coincidence that the words are what we need to hear at the time.   Recently, a friend sent me a link to the song below.  It brought to mind the Bible at ...

Yesterday, most churches had more in attendance than any other day of the year. Although I wasn’t able to make it, I heard that our  church had to put out extra chairs. It’s a wonderful place to celebrate a risen Savior any day, but especially on Easter.  Many think of a church as being a building with stained glass or a steeple. Whether that be one that takes up several city blocks or a small building out in the country, but what  does the word church mean, according to the Bible? The word comes from the Greek and doesn't have anything to do with the building itself. It actually means an assembly of believers. A group called together to worship the Lord and support each other as one body.  Often, we hear the term  "church family".  If you’ve never understood the meaning of those words, I’ll be happy to explain them.  Last week, the church body gathered around Rusty to have prayer for him the day before his amputation surgery. Since then, I’ve receive...

  No blog today. Just a request to pray for Rusty as he has amputation surgery. 

If you don't have an Instant Pot, I highly recommend one. It works quickly and effectively, as long as you seal the lid good. There have been a couple of times when I didn't, which caused it not to work properly. After a few minutes, I realized the issue and corrected it. Otherwise, it would have never done its job.  Several years ago, I was given a task to do. While I was working on it, another task was added, and another along with many questions. As I started answering, more questions came before I could fully answer the first. Eventually, I stopped and said, "I’m trying but I don’t work well under pressure". It became something we would often laugh about in the office. A couple of weeks ago, I worked on cleaning the house siding. In times past, I’ve had a pressure washer. Since I didn’t have a working one this time, I decided to go with what Daddy always told me... Mix up a bleach solution, spray it on, and hose it down. He said that's all I needed. What Daddy...

  The other day, I received a text from a friend who asked how we were making it. I answered by saying that we were doing ok and just taking it day by day. For hours after that, the Point of Grace song, Day By Day, played in my head.  As I looked for a photo to use this week, I found the one above with the clouds just about to cover the sun. I thought it was a good representation of the temporary issues we face, as we know that once the clouds pass, the sun will be visible again. I was reminded of this yesterday as I was painting our porch. I was trying to take advantage of the sunshine before the rain moved in later this week. While the clear sky and warm temperature were exactly what I needed, I also enjoyed the occasional cool breeze and brief shade when a cloud drifted in front of the sun. It didn't take long before the cloud passed by, and the sun was shining again.  I love how the Apostle Paul addresses our issues as  light momentary afflictions  in most t...

  As the weather warms up, we see more and more people outdoors. Gardens are being prepared, softball season has started, ATV riders are abundant, and boats are taking to the water. On Saturday morning as I drove across Delaware Bay, I couldn't help but notice the many large bright colored boats visible from the highway. Lake Dardanelle is over 34,000 acres yet many of the boats were concentrated in this one area . I guess that’s where they thought the fish were. In Matthew 4 , Jesus calls his first disciples. He sees Peter and Andrew casting their nets and he calls to them saying to follow him and he would make them Fishers of Men. What this means for us is that we should be encouraged to share our faith and invite others to learn more about the message of the Gospel. But where will we find people to share that message with? Those that we attend church with should hear it on a regular basis.  Our Student Pastor, Lance, has said many times that he believes it's important ...

Several years ago, I was visiting with a man in our community. He asked about Rusty and then the kids and went on to compliment me on how well behaved and polite they were. He then said something I'll never forget... "There's something different about your family. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I think it has something to do with God." It was probably the most humbling comment I’d ever heard. The man had experienced some run-ins with a few people along the way, but he had always been kind to us. We treated each other with mutual respect, and I had shared my beliefs and convictions with him on more than one occasion. On this day, I was somewhat surprised at his comment. He had long known of my faith, but I never thought of him seeing it as being "different".  He meant it as a compliment, and I made sure to thank him for it but also made sure he knew that the difference he was referring to did indeed have something to do with God.  Actually, it didn...