On the Porch
Onisha Ellis

A Life to Live
Melody Hendrix
My Take
DiVoran Lites
It’s all right to have dreams; plans, hopes, God gives them to us. We’d be lost without them.
I always like to have something to look forward to, don’t you? Sometimes in life we may have big events to go for and sometimes we let our expectations settle into the daily round. Something about the year coming to an end and a new one beginning made me jot down the things I’m looking forward to this year.
I’m not looking for changes in my life. I’m deeply satisfied with what’s going on now. This minute I see Bill in the backyard spotlighted by sunshine as he moves the garden hose.
The foliage he’s tending to grows to at least twelve feet tall and he has planted a long hedge of them. They’ll yield large, bright-yellow, daisy-like flowers next spring.
One of our cats just braced herself on the chair to ask me to feed her. I’ve just been around Facebook and caught up on people I care about. Our food is good, and our health is remarkable for our ages.
This year will hold a lot of good books for me to read. I’m looking forward to two I ordered from Communion with God. One is about teaching children to hear from God, and one is a journal where a man hears from God. This is an organization for which I have always held the highest regard and from which I have continued to learn and experience satisfaction in hearing from God for myself. I plan to read health books, too, and I believe we will stay healthy for a long time to come.
Of course, I most look forward to times with the people in my life. I’m not taking classes or joining any new organizations, but I do like my church and the activities there, especially the two Sunday Schools we’re involved in, adult and children’s. I love special times with family members, and I meet new people frequently and have little chats with them.
If unexpected things happen, if they are unsavory and unlovely, I know God will see us through, but God is likely to bring happy challenges into our lives no matter what. Whatever happens, He will see us through. How dull life must be without Him.
Let the New Year begin.
On the Porch
Onisha Ellis
On my best day, I am not a morning person. I joke that if I was supposed to be up and active early, then why do most malls open at 10 am? This morning, in the drifting time between awake and dozing, (hoping my husband was up and getting the coffee made) I realized the awful feeling of not wanting to get up and face another day was creeping back into my soul. It seems the wonderful vacation with friends last week had been a respite but not a fix. I began to silently pray for friends on my prayer list as they came to mind, and then flowed into examining why I was feeling despair.
I remembered the resentment that had flared in my heart the previous day of issues I believed I had long since forgiven, and though my husband and I laughed about my outburst, still my words were hurtful. Waking from another short dozing session, my mind painted pictures of the consequences of words. One scene was pretty and my hurtful words were flowing up to God leaving my heart joyful. In the other scene Satan was like an NFL running back, ready to receive those words, tuck them firmly under his arm and run for the touchdown, wrecking havoc along the way. Not a pretty scene at all but it did prepare my heart for the morning devotional I read from “Jesus Calling”.
Seek to please Me above all else. Let that goal be your focal point as you go through this day. Such a mind-set will protect you from scattering your energy to the winds. The free will I bestowed on you comes with awesome responsibility. Each day presents you with choice after choice. Many of these decisions you ignore and thus make by default. Without a focal point to guide you, you can easily lose your way. That’s why it is so important to stay in communication with Me, living in thankful awareness of My Presence. From Jesus Calling by Sarah Young
I am choosing joy, now I am off to bake a glazed pumpkin pound cake!
TITLE: Book Blast: At The End Of Our Journey by JACK R EAST JR {June 18, 2013} – $50 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!
By: JACK R EAST JR
At the End of Our Journey is a personal testimony of the life and Christian faith of the author. The inspiration for the book came from two incredible and powerful dreams about Jack’s Christian faith. The dreams were experienced in November of 2010 on two consecutive mornings. Jack awoke from both dreams with precise and detailed memories of the events and emotions felt during the dreams. He can recall all of the events of both dreams two years later. To be able to remember all of the details of both dreams is very unusual for him and for most other dreamers.
The two dreams did not reveal anything new about his Christian faith. The first dream expressed all of the doubts, fears, and questions that all followers of the Christian faith have asked themselves many times. The second dream was a direct confirmation from God that all of the promises of the Christian faith are true and will happen for all who believe in Christ’s redemption and follow his teachings. Words cannot adequately describe the events and emotions of the second dream. The author has difficulty finding words to describe the emotions experienced in his dreams, but he can share the following conclusions about his dreams and the Christian faith with you.
He experienced the finality of knowing that he had died.
He knew the joy of knowing that his Christian faith allowed him to conquer death.
He felt hope and joy to know that his spirit had conquered death and was rising
into Heaven.
He was overcome with joy, peace, contentment, fulfillment, and the sure
knowledge that the only place he could possibly be was in Heaven. No other
place could feel so good and right.
He cannot adequately describe how it felt to know that God was there to
welcome him to Heaven where he heard his powerful and loving voice
say to him,
“Jack, I am glad you are here,
I have been waiting for you.”
How could he describe hearing God’s welcome end with the
following words…
“but, I am not ready for you yet.”
At the End of Our Journey is Jack’s attempt to share with you the wonderful experience of his life, dreams, and Christian faith. His wish is that you may also know the joy of the personal presence of God in your life and feel the full depth and beauty of His powerful love. And that you may receive a taste of what awaits for us at the end of our journey of Christian faith.
Jack was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in September of 1940. In 1945 his family moved to Southern California where he lived for 30 years. He started his journey of Christian faith in 1956 at the age of sixteen. Jack married his wife Barbara in 1961 and their marriage has lasted for over fifty years. Jack started his career as a CPA, and he and Barbara started their family while living in Southern California.
Jack and Barbara moved to the far north coast of California in 1975. Jack continued to work at his accounting and tax practice as he and Barbara raised a family of three great sons. Their boys and their spouses have provided them with four precious grand children. Both family and the Christian faith have always been important parts of the life of Jack and Barbara. At age 72, Jack is still working at his accounting and income tax practice with Barbara’s help. Retirement is under consideration, but it is not their greatest priority at this time.
In November of 2010 Jack experienced two incredible dreams about his Christian faith. The dreams were the inspiration for writing a book and for this website. The dreams have started a new chapter in the life and Christian faith of Jack R. East, Jr. at age 72.
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