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Nehemiah 1: 3 - 4 and 5 - 11.  

In Nehemiah we find an exceptional man doing a secular job. Although he has a good job, as cupbearer to the king, he was still doing something almost anyone could do.  He did not need a special divine call to be a cupbearer.

But God wanted him to do a special work for his nation, Israel, something that not everybody could do. In other words God calls people out of the world who are doing something anybody can do, in order to have them do a job  that only they can do.

The vast majority of Christians are doing jobs that any person can do. Any person can be a cab driver, a book keeper, or a typist. But only a dedicated follower of Jesus can be a soul winner. Every Christian can ask the Lord, "What do you want me to do?"  This attitude is badly lacking in the Christian community worldwide. Christians unfortunately have the same attitude toward life and getting on in life as non-Christians have. They make the exact same choices as unbelievers do, and for the same reasons.

Very few Christians ask, "Lord what do you want me to do?" Yet if we would ask God, he would give us an answer. And we would have total spiritual revolution in our churches because god has a job for each one of us, a job that no one else can do.

It is evident that at the time Nehemiah, God was looking for a man. A few men came from Judah to the place where Nehemiah was living. Nehemiah asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped and concerning Jerusalem.  He got a very negative report about his people, so much so that he had to sit down, and fast, and pray, and weep.

God knew the man he wanted.  Here was a man with an open heart, a man God needed, and one who reacted exactly the way God wanted him to react.

The moment that terrible need came to the mind and heart of Nehemiah, he did the only correct thing - he immediately brought that problem to his God, knowing that only god had the solution. Nehemiah also knew that the way to get really get through to God is by prayer and fasting. So he began to pray and fast.

I have to answer the question, "What kind of person is God using today?" Then I would say, "It is the one who humbles himself before god and makes confession of sins."

Then comes the beautiful prayer of Nehemiah in chapter one vs. 5-11, one of the most moving prayers in scriptures. In it he confesses his sin, his fathers sin, and his nations sin. Unless we begin to confess our sin, God will not call us to do anything vital for him.

Then I said:
      "O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

8 "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.'

10 "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man."
     I was cupbearer to the king.

Have I been told of a need of people I love?  How do I react?  Do I react like Nehemiah?  I ask myself this.......

 Thanks again for the devotional JudyB.  I've come to really appreciate the forums and people here.

I awoke this morning to more abnormally low temps and light showers. The goldfinches at one feeder, a pair of cardinals at another and the ever present robins foraging for worms. All peaceful in it's own way. I'm getting concerned though for my poor roses as the foilage is showing stress from all the water. All in all a good beginning of a new week.

Thank, Judy, for the new week!  We all need to ask God what He wants us to do.  We might be surprised by the answer!

Well, church was awesome and comical yesterday.  We all were asked to wear a hat to church yesterday.  Some did, some didn't.  There was a display of old women hats...that doesn't mean old women but means old hats!...maybe I should have said 'women's old hats'!  I counted 28 hats with hat boxes, some pictures of who wore those hats many years ago, a tabletop mirror and many box type purses.  Some hats matched the purses!  Really interesting to see.  At the end of the service, three people judged and gave out hanging floral baskets to the oldest hat, to the most ornate hat, to the most unique hat and the best hat worn by a man.  A different twist for Mother's Day. 

Then there were only 3 of us that went out to eat...I guess the other ladies were being treated by their kid(s) for lunch. 

Ivalou and I came home and I finished getting caught up online and sent four pictures in email for my entries to Photo Guild tonight. 

THEN I deep cleaned my living room.  Whew!  I then watched three TV shows and went to bed at 10pm...tired!  I slept until 8am!!  I WAS tired. 

I have done all the usual things this morning plus changed my bed and did a load of laundry.  I take Ivalou to rehab at 11am and will take my trash to Kaye Don's at that time also.  Glad the truck runs after noon. 

It is one beautiful sunny day in Indiana.  Cool...only 48°.  And not suppose to get very high today at all. 

I pray that everyone has a fruitful God's Day today!

That does sound like a fun and interesting Mothers' Day service, Etta Sue.

I worked five hours, now am home for a few, then back to help serve supper at 5:00.  We are having special thing this week because it is Ntional Nursing Home Week.  Looks as if I will be working evey day this week, at least through Friday.

Now I think a little nap is in order!

Judy:  Lovely - just lovely to read the prayers.  Thank you.

Larry:  Yes, we are grateful that his new hearing aides will be here in a couple of weeks. 

Gord:  Sometimes, we go for months without seeing anything.  It is always a marvel.  However, I never want to come upon a bear or a cougar - almost walked right into a moose years ago was enough for me.  And, once a deer came so close, she licked my face.  Her tongue was really rough.  I hope it is warming up enough for you & Maureen to sit outdoors. 

today:  Back spasms & I wore a back brace that some of the children bought me - it is so constricting but may have helped.  Finally finished a quilt.  Packing some things - and would you not know it - I think we will get 14" to more inches of snow Tuesday night & we have to get over the road before that arrives. 

We spent yesterday at daughter's home & none of the boys could come but thankful that we had a wonderful visit with daughter's family. 

Etta Sue:  That sounds like a beautiful collection to me  and such treasures. 

Hi everyone. 

I have been on the run all day.  I went to coffee and then to MicroCenter.  I took the laptop that our daughter used to have in to see if they would diagnose it to confirm that the hard disk had failed, which both my good friend and I believe is the problem.  The free technical support area didn't open until 11am or perhaps 1 pm (they weren't sure at the store).  So I found a notebook hard drive and purchased it.  I have 30 days where I can return it but think I probably won't be returning it.  However, it had no software with it and when I tried to load software it couldn't find the hard drive as I had no drivers installed.  I did some research and found I was in over my head.  My good friend, Rod, is in Williamsburg for a week and then plans to go on to Delaware to visit his son and family.  So I am just putting it aside until he gets back.  I have a feeling he will know what to do.  There is no urgency about this project as an going to load Ubuntu 10.04, which is a Linux operating system, and experiment with it. 

I then went to my Monday Men's luncheon and then stopped at Wal-Mart and finally at the hardware store to return an item and also buy fireant treatment.  I didn't get home until after 3 pm and then rested for an hour or so.

Today was the day for the housekeepers to come and they did a super job in two hours with two of them working.  They had left before I got back home this morning.  As I got back this afternoon the yard men were just finishing up the mowing and had trimmed all of our bushes.  So things look spiffy around here.  Staying home this evening.

Judy, thanks for the devotional for this week and posting the hymn. 

Janet, it sounds like you have gotten back on the fast track with all that work in addition to your busy schedule.  Hope you don't wear yourself down again. 

Carol,  hard to imagine snow this time of the year.  I guess you and Ruth, RuthV and probably Judy don't find it strange.  Hope you have a good trip home. 

Etta Sue, a few weeks ago one of the black ladies at church had on a hat and it really looked nice. My wife complimented her on it.  It really stands out as so few women wear them anymore.

Jim, it has been cool here the last couple of days and we are getting a few sprinkles this afternoon.  I don't think much of anything is expected.  It is nice to have you joining us in our daily discussions. 

I wonder where Marilyn is.  Have I missed her posting in the last couple of days or are they away for a few days?

Thanks for the devotional, Judy B.

The weather here on the island is wet, cold, warm, wet....changes every day.  Doing wonders for the garden tho' and here is a small sample.  The entrance to the back yard, beside my entrance door.




Mother's Day was nice, spent at home, Wendy cooked a turkey dinner as the others had to work.  I received nice flowers from my granddaughter, a lovely new purse and wallet from the kids.  Got spoiled

The garden is a busy place, with the birds building nests and the honeybees busy with the flowers.  Wish the weather was a little nicer as love sitting outside.  Today, brrrr!

A big Robin has continued to come for the past two years and sits outside Wendy's kitchen window wanting attention.  It comes to say hello every morning and taps on the window if she is not there.  One would have to see this to believe it is true.  Actually tries to talk with her.  She has a real gift with birds.

Time to go and think about something for dinner. 
Pleasant Day/Evening and God Bless.

Liz

Well, the sun has just peeked out here, and I don't see any clouds at all.  There's a row of cedar trees about  150 feet from my window here, and the morning sun on them is absolutely beautiful!  May our God bless your day today and grant you to walk with Him.

Thanks, Al, I will be traveling today.  Just waiting for the commuter traffic to clear out and then I will be going to the Vet's Home, in Yountville, for a visit with Tom.  Then I will leave from there and travel up #505 to #5 and on home to Oregon. 

This has been a long, and sometimes complicated, visit here in California, but I have enjoyed most of it.    I will be very happy and relieved to get home, though, sometime late today.

May our God  in His mercy grant Jane a safe trip up to Coos Bay and a trip in which His Presence is known and felt all the way - all through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I just got a call telling me that Tom is being taken to a local hospital with breathing problems.  It is just a precautionary measure, they assured me, because he was not breathing as expected, and had aspirated.  I guess I will be going to Queen of the Valley hospital instead of the Vet's Home ... See y'all later.

Oh, dear!  I'm praying for you - and Tom.   

Praying Jane for both you and Tom.

Hi everyone.  I just got home and am eating my lunch.  Pat just returned from the doctor who she went to see because of a sore ear.  It was just wax buildup in both ears.  It will be interested to see if she can now hear better. 

Jane, nothing there is nothing seriously new with Tom.  Also hope you have had a good trip home.  It is nice to go but nothing beats getting to your own home.

Liz, beautiful picture of the flowers around your door. 

Whew!  Busy!  Busy!  I took Ivalou to rehab yesterday and then a lady that was in the hospital when Ivalou was there got done with rehab so we all talked for about 45 minutes.  Then Ivalou and I went out to eat lunch. 

I got home and left again around 3:30pm to get an RX at the drug store and then to Kitty's.  Our little drug store didn't have my medicine so I am to get it tomorrow after rehab. 

Kitty, Cherie and I ate at Panera Bread and then on to Photo Guild.  I entered a photo of the old hats that were displayed at church.  Several said I should enter it at the State Fair this year.  And I thought it was a so/so photo!

Today, Ivalou and I got our haircut and styled.  Then I took Ivalou to Golden Corral for her to have lunch with her classmates.  One of them brought her home.  I went to Jim Dandy, a local franchise restaurant similar to Perkins or a Big Boy restaurant, and had lunch with the SAM group from church. 

I came home and washed my hair.  I just don't like the feel of my hair after the beauticians put all that goop on it.  It is drying now.  I won't spend the money for that again!

Then at 4:15 I am to get Ivalou and then Betty and then Marge and head to Beef and Boards.  Tonight is 'Always Patsy Cline'.  Not sure what it will be...just singing or what. 

Busy!  Busy!  Tomorrow is just rehab! 

So good, it has to be true!

Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
Psalm 32:2 NLT

No, it's so good it has to be true.

George MacDonald (when someone protested
that the plan of salvation is too good to be true)

Whew!  Day two of National Nursing Home Week is over!  I worked a split shift again today.  Tomorrow and Thursday I will work a longer shift, then the four hours on Friday.  And that's enough!  I made the mistake of telling my boss that I didn't have much on my calendar this week, so she filled it up.  I sure don't want to work this much consistently, no energy left for anything else!

Beth was sick all day today, didn't eat at all.  The stomach flu has been sweeping through the facility.  Hope she is better tomorrow.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr it is cold, the furnace is on and it still feels cold, the rest of the week is to be rain the sun on Sat & Sun.   

A friend of ours has been in the hospital for close to 4 wks with various issues, first blood infection, then asthma acting up then needed to be transferred to another hospital for the breathing aids to be taken away reasons I do not know, just less than 2 wks ago she suffered a stroke and now she and her husband have been told that if she does not start walking a nursing home it will be, it seems that there is no reason for not walking. It seems that she has not walked for all the wks she has been in the hospital more I could say but choose not to needless to say for all of her married life she has been pampered terribly.

Janet & Etta Sue:  You are very busy ladies.

Larry: You seem to be very busy as well.

Marilyn:   I miss you. 

Judy:   Have you had enough of this   

On Sunday we did the half way meet with our daughter it is always good to see her.

Ruth     

There are some great tips for nature photography HERE

Snow has gone, the temp has risen, but I am still feeling the cold.

The flu is going through the house, Started with Kassie and now I have it.  I pray John will be spared.

We have 2 puppies left, they have all gone to good loving homes, the majority going to the elderly.  I found that surprising, but they are all doing so well in their new homes.

Kassie came home just a hopping.  She and Elizabeth have won an academic award at school.  I am so proud of them.  The ceremony is the first of June.

I am heading to bed very soon.  Night all

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Hi everyone.  Shortly we will be off to Bible study with the pastor at the church.  Pat is finishing up doing her hair.  Etta Sue, you remind me of Pat as she never likes the way beautician does it.

Nothing else much new here.  I will have choir practice this evening.

Well, 'Always...Pasty Cline' was a wonderful show reminding me of songs I hadn't heard for years.  If you would like to read about the show click on Patsy Cline's name.  Wonderful show!  And Patsy changed clothes 11 times...each time with fantastic outfit of the '60's.  A couple sitting behind us thought Patsy herself would be there.  They must not have been a Patsy Cline fan or they would have known Patsy's life was taken a long time ago.

Oh, it is getting darker and darker outside.  Will probably cut loose with rain when I have to go to Ivalou's house in an hour!  I do believe my raincoat will go with me today.

Jesus said..."I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true."


John 18:37 NLT


A wife prays for her husband's salvation

After a rather gentle talk [one evening] about Christianity, [my wife Davy] went to bed, leaving me lying upon the sofa in front of the fire reading....A half hour passed. I let the book fall and switched off the lamp. Gazing upon the glowing coals, I wondered with a strange mixture of hope and fear whether Christ might be in very truth my God. Suddenly I became aware that Davy was praying beside me—she had stolen into the room in her nightgown and knelt down by the sofa. I looked at the quiet figure for a few moments. I have never seen her pray. Then she spoke.

"When I was in bed," she said very softly, "it seemed to me that God was telling me to come to you. I have prayed to God to fulfill your soul."

She paused a moment, and then she whispered: "Oh, my dearest—please believe!"

Moved almost to tears, I whispered back—a broken whisper, she wrote in the Journal [the book we both kept of our searching for God and truth]—I whispered, "Oh, I do believe." I was shaken by the affirmation that swept over me.

"Hold to this moment," she murmured. "Hold to it when doubts come. This is the truth—I know it it."
Sheldon Vanauken in A Severe Mercy

Amen.

Awhile back there was a discussion what would we do when we are face to face with Our Heavenly Father.
My first response was to say "thank you for chosing to save me and make me one of your own" but I would have to agree I probably would say , nothing, I would be so in awe of HIS presence.

I just read a message that I posted in Manna for the Soul and I think I would be like John was when he saw GOD--fall down dead/ pass out..

All is finally well in Jersey, I am praising the Lord for watching over my mom--she took a nasty fall on Mother's day, landing on her head and back , but by GOD's grace, she feels fine.

Doctor gave her a clean bill of health.

Having another open house on Sunday afternoon....Please pray for a sale to go through...getting to hard to keep this big house economically and physically I definately can't handle it.

I agree, I love living next door to a church--makes doing my housework on saturdays when they have their services more bearable. I confess I open the windows and let their beautiful singing voices come through or sit on my porch and enjoy.

When they come out of services, they are so full of the word and they are still humming their songs.

I do not know the reason why some of the people say they don't want to live near a church, they don't say and some don't come in to look at my house when they see the church...not even a big church, looks like a small house with a small sign ..in fact my big victorian house towers over the church.

Another praise to the Lord for my husband good report from his doctor---cancer free for about five years, don't even need another checkup for a year...

Tears of joy filled him so when he found out

talk to you later

Good afternoon all. I am preparing for a pot luck at church this evening.  I have one dish in the oven and plan on making a dessert.

The house is cold, so I have layered rather than start the furnace.

I have enjoyed reading what everyone is doing.  Sounds like a full day for all of us.

Have a great day everyone.

This has been a sunny day here in the north, so I started singing this.  Decided to post it for you all to sing along with me.!

Have a great day.

Today started out cloudy and cold but by afternoon we had lots of sun although still cold, never mind this is my kind of a good nights rest. 

I did the monthly banking including the bank statement and yes it was out by 20 cents my fault I gave the hydro too much but it will correct itself on the next bill.

Out for dinner this evening as the birthday person (Mel) gets to eat free, it was a restaurant called Tuckers  a lovely buffet.

Did Janet work to hard today? 

Ruth