What a shock to learn that my sweet, soft-spoken friend had been a guard at a women’s prison. The job was rough, the demands stringent, and the circumstances often mirrored a nightmare. But armed with her gun, a sense of security must have eased her tension.
Her instructions were to shoot, no reservations, no hesitation…just fire should she see any inmate display even a slight attempt to escape.
She learned how. She was trained. She had practiced. But when the time came to do it…she froze. That’s when reality struck; she lacked the guts to pull that trigger. Her days as a prison guard came to an end.
And now, as a Christian, she teaches another self-defense method. She carries in her heart a better, more powerful weapon to guard against all evil—physical or spiritual. She holds on to Christ, and clings to His power great enough to stop the thieves who threaten to rob the peace and security.
And we can too, here are three steps to protect ourselves:
This touched a tender part of my heart today~Onisha
Treasure Beach, Jamaica, is an earthly paradise, but in this beautiful place you can also find extreme examples of land and seascape: warm inviting water, threatening jagged reef. Like the photograph, life is so often a portrait in extremes. In the hours of one day it is possible to experience the sweetest, uplifting highs, only to find yourself cut to bits by unexpected, devastating lows. We’ve all experienced these contradictory days. Yet, through it all one fact holds true, the Word of God stands eternal. Whatever I am going through in my life, whatever injurious circumstance I, or someone I love, might be experiencing; the Word of God is a lifeline if I reach out and open the book.
Three Christmas celebrations and one birthday just about left me partied out. I did have enjoy making some new snacks and eating them, of course. Then, just as I thought my party schedule was blank, we decided to attend a post-Christmas family party in eastern North Carolina. ( We had barely arrived in Florida from our home in western North Carolina)
Christmas in Florida was depressingly warm at eighty-six degrees, and I do dislike heat, so I am sure the chance to escape to some cooler temps factored in our decision.
We had dinner at one of the local restaurants then headed to our uncles house for some serious gabbing. We are a talking bunch of people when we get together. My mother was one of twelve children. That means I have a lot of cousins.
When my mom and most of her other siblings were alive, they congregated around a kitchen table teasing and laughing while my generation spread out, chasing our children or catching up with everyone. This past Fall, I noticed that it was my generation now hanging out at the table. We have ascended a step on the ladder of life.
As a rule we don’t designate first cousin, second cousin etc. We are cousins…period, but for picture purposes, we tried to separate the cousins into first, second etc. The picture is of second cousins, although there is a first cousin in there, but she fits in better with the “youngsters.” (There are a LOT more cousins, but they were not able to attend)
I am so proud of each one of these cousins and love them dearly. One day they will be the ones sitting at the table while their children race around keeping up with the kids. When the time comes for my generation to ascend the final step of life’s ladder, I know the family will be in good hands.
This is one of the songs my mom and dad loved to sing. Many of the artists in this video are gone now.
When we parked the car last Sunday at church, we saw someone cleaning out an animal trailer and remembered that this was the day for the animals to visit. We hurried to the courtyard where a live petting zoo and a pen for larger animals had been set up. All of them had fresh hay underfoot and some were grazing. A woman in jeans and a tee-shirt sat near the pen where some of the animals were. I took a chance and asked if she was in charge of them. She said she was, and I told her how healthy and well-cared for they looked. She was happy to talk about the mobile domestic animal zoo she ran with her husband and to point out her daughter and tell me she had just graduated from college and would be taking over the business.
Then, with shiny gray fur, and unique gray and white markings, a small donkey caught my attention. Bill, reading the situation accurately, asked if she was a miniature. Yes, she was. She was new so she was still nervous around a crowd. I asked if she was a rescue donkey. Many folks buy or re given domestic and even wild animals and discover they aren’t as easy to care for as it seems they would be. Those end up in rescue organizations of one kind or another. No, she wasn’t a rescue animal. The business couldn’t take that on because of the long wait for rescue animals to be quarantined to make sure they had no communicable diseases.
My family had two regular-size burros as pack animals for Dad’s hunting guide expeditions in Colorado. I learned then that females were called Jennies and males were called Jacks. In this case the miniature was named Jenny, for the donkey in the movie, “Shrek.” The male who had been left at home was Malachi, from the Bible.
There were several full-sized sheep eating the hay that covered the grass. I asked if their wool was used, but she answered, “No this is all they’re good for. They roam around and they eat, but people seem to enjoy looking at them.” Definitely, I thought.
Did you know there was such a thing as a miniature Brahman bull? I didn’t. He was beautiful too–gray and white like the donkey. The miniature wasn’t as fearsome as big ones are. He had the same coloring as the donkey and was the prettiest bull I’ve ever seen.
The petting zoo held two very small and cuddly looking rabbits, a white one and a black and white one. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me. Next year, I will.
Pastor Bill apparently gets a lot of joy from the animals. He kept talking about Hormel, and we met him, too. He was a pig that stood only about three hands off the ground. He was pinkish beige. I reached down to him from outside the enclosure and his nose went back and forth seeking to discover whether it had any food in it or not. When he discovered it did not, he walked away.
The geese were stately, as geese often are. They were not as scary as some I’ve seen. Instead of them chasing people, a chubby boy in dress clothes chased them. When he had to give up, he picked up a small chicken and started thrusting it in the face of a baby goat. The owners’ daughter sorted that out by telling the child that if he was going to hold the chicken, he’d have to sit down. Soon bored, he took off to look for some other kind of adventure.
The Rhode-Island Red rooster stood looking out at his domain which was everything and everybody. Chickens have always been favorites in our family. My grandparents kept them, my parents kept them and our son and his family kept them. We even got to baby-sit them at our house a few times before the flock got too large to move.
I didn’t have my camera, but I enjoyed everything so much I didn’t miss it until later. Next year for sure I will want pictures and will remember to take it with me.
I haven’t written a blog since Thanksgiving. Thankfully, I am blessed with amazing and faithful friends who have a blog ready every week. They even “blog ahead” when they are on vacation or know they have a busy time coming up. Divoran, Bill, Louise, Janet and Judy, I appreciate and admire you more than you can imagine. You are invisible gifts underneath my Christmas tree.
Yesterday, tornados slashed a path of destruction across the Southeast, leaving homes in ruin and lives were lost. I am adding safety and protection as an invisible gift under the tree.
At Christmas people say “it is not the gift, it is the thought behind it” or “It’s not the presents under the tree but the people around it.” For me it is the invisible gifts that last far longer than the newest tech gadget (although I love new tech) or a piece of shiny jewelry, that stays with me. I treasure growing up in a family that loved the Savior. My parents are a precious invisible gift.I could ramble on and list more gifts, but it is Christmas Eve and I would rather here from you. When you think of invisible gifts, what are you thankful for.
PS: Our sweet poet, Louise Gibson is not doing well. We would appreciate prayers for her and her family as they care for her.
One day in the mid-1960s, while Ray was at work, his daughter decided to clean their refrigerator and get rid of the ice in the freezing compartment. The only problem with this good-will gesture was that she used a knife to break up the ice in the freezing compartment, puncturing holes in it. When she finished her task, the refrigerator wouldn’t cool. When Ray got home from work that evening, she told him what she had done and that she couldn’t understand why the refrigerator wouldn’t cool. It didn’t take Ray long to discover the problem. But now, what to do? He called the Hussman’s refrigeration parts store to see how much a replacement freezing unit would cost and was told $100 + $50 for a service call to have it installed. Well, in those days a person could buy a new refrigerator for around $200. Ray figured he could repair the unit himself for less than that. He went to the local salvage yard and found a refrigerator similar to his and of the same make and asked the man how much he would charge Ray for the freezing unit. The man said, “$2.00, but you have to remove it yourself.” Ray removed the unit, took it home and installed it in his refrigerator. Once he had everything back together, he charged the system with Freon, and his refrigerator worked fine.
Sometime during this scenario, Ray had told his neighbor what had happened to his refrigerator, but not what he had done to fix the problem. The next time Ray saw his neighbor, he asked Ray, “Did you buy a new refrigerator?” Ray said, “No, I fixed the old one.” Then his neighbor said, “Really, do you think you could fix my window A/C unit?” Ray said, “I don’t know, I can take a look at it.” He took it to his shop, cleaned it up, added some Freon to the unit and it worked fine. When Ray gave the A/C unit back to his neighbor, the man asked, “How much do I owe you?” Ray said, “I’m not going to charge you anything for that.”
Well, evidently Ray’s neighbor told his friend what a good job Ray had done on his A/C unit, and the next thing Ray knew, the friend showed up at Ray’s house wanting to know if Ray could fix his window A/C unit. You know how word of mouth stories can get around. As could be expected, when people found out there was a reliable and reasonable air conditioning repair man around, it wasn’t long before Ray had more neighborhood air conditioning work than he knew what to do with.
Then one day Mike, who Ray was buying his air conditioning parts from, asked Ray if he would consider opening an air conditioning dealership to sell Bryant equipment. Ray told him he didn’t have the space for a dealership. Mike told Ray that if he would rent or buy a building, he would set Ray up with a Bryant dealership. Next thing he knew Ray was the owner of the Koolway Refrigeration Company.
That is such an intangible word and concept – and yet we fling it around like we really know what it is:
“I really LOVE this dress……..I really LOVE that movie……I really LOVE that ice cream…” and on and on we go.
Of course, the BEST love is…….saying “I Love You” – to your mate.
But there is another love that tops them all – the LOVE God has for us. God loves us so very much that He actually sent His one and only Son to live as a human being – just like us – but without sin – and that Son took my place (and your place) on the cross and died for us. All that so we could be children of God, and live with His strength on this earth, and then eternally with Him in heaven. Unthinkable….unimaginable. And yet, it happened, and I am a child of God because of it.
Once again, on facebook I found a cartoon that says it all. Credit to Charles Schultz.
How did Charlie Brown get to be so smart?
I thank my God and Savior, Jesus Christ, for this wondrous plan that allowed me – a Gentile – to be in the family of God. Oh, the wonder of it all. Thank you, loving Father.
Once in a lifetime you meet somebody that prompts you to say, “I want to be just like her.” Let me tell you about Karen. Like millions, she has faced cancer, but hers is a rare type;., the survival rate is alarmingly small. Yet, for years, she has defied all odds and survived its claim on her health. But Karen hasn’t just survived; she is living her days to the fullest. Though years of treatment have zapped her energy, she keeps going, again, defying all odds, baffling all doctors.
But Karen has another secret: she has no fear of death. She knows Christ. She knows heaven awaits her. And certain of her eternity, her courage can fill her hospice room. Karen displays the confidence few possess. She has even taken her husband shopping for the suit he will wear at her funeral.
Like many of us have chosen the centerpiece for the table at our wedding reception, Karen has chosen her tombstone which you see in this picture. (click link below to visit Janet’s blog) Could it be that Karen was put on this earth to fulfill God’s unique plan and also to teach the rest of us that death cannot bring about fear? Death of the physical body is the doorway to life eternal, the beginning of the perfect life, and the anticipation of glorious living.
As of this writing, Karen has been told it’s only a very short time before she faces Jesus. But she holds to her faith. She has all plans in place.
She has prepared her family. And in doing so, perhaps she prepares us to see her example, so that we, someday like Karen, will declare the words of Paul: “Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?” “…
Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 16:55 and 57) Has Christ who lives in you also erased the sting of death?
Hello friends, for those who have experienced the death of a loved one, the holiday season is often difficult. Even with the best intentions and knowledge of God’s provision, we still experience grief and mourn. Acknowledging this, I decided to share DiVoran’s beautiful Promise Poster -Onisha
My Take
DiVoran Lites
DiVoran’s Promise Posters, Paintings from Go West as well as other art can be purchased as note cards and framable art
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I could ramble on and list more gifts, but it is Christmas Eve and I would rather here from you. When you think of invisible gifts, what are you thankful for.
Old Things R New 