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Morning Devotional...




"Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God..."  II Peter 3:12

I never shall forget the first sermon I ever heard on the second coming of Jesus Christ after I was saved.  I was a freshman in Bob Jones College.  I had not been saved very long when I was called to preach.  There came a young man to the college who spoke on the second coming of Jesus Christ.  He talked about the rapture of Christians.  He talked about the resurrection of those who sleep in Jesus.  He talked about the responsibility of the church in the light of the coming of the Lord.

I never shall forget how my heart was stirred.  I thought, He may come today!  He may come before this day is ended!

So when I went to my room that day, first of all I searched my own heart;  I confessed my sins, and I searched my soul because I wanted to be ready when Jesus came.  Then I wrote down the names of unsaved people, and I spent several hours writing letters, enclosing tracts.

I say to you that the Lord is coming.  We need to be reminded that Jesus Christ is coming  back again.  I wonder, my friend, if you have ever said, "Even so, come Lord Jesus"?  Let me ask you honestly, and carefully, "Would you like for Him to come today?"  "Are you expecting Jesus to return?"

He is coming soon!

Dr. Tim Malone.

Thank you Pat.

I had the shock of my life this morning as John came upstairs to tell me something. 

QuoteWow! Hi John! I was just thinking about Judy and you the other day and how people working in your life bring you to where you are today. I never would have believed that Judy's "quiet" witnessing at work would ever get through to me. But now I'm in church. Go figure! You two are looking great! Have a great week.

I don't even remember being a "quiet witness".  Tell me, why is it this lifestyle works with people you work with but not with the ones you care the most for, your  family?

We were hoping to; finish mowing, till the garden, and the girls to go swimming today.  All that has gone out the window.  it is raining yet again.  We thank God for the rain just wish it was spread more evenly over the summer season!

Have a great day, fellow Canadians, have a great holiday, day.

Pat, thank you for the new devotion.

This site is super slow for me today!  Super slow.  Probably spent a half hour trying to get to the photo challenge, back room and last week's thread.  Whew!  Now I am praying this will post! 

The tornadoes in Kansas, Missouri and even Minneapolis are terrible.  I just listened to a YouTube of 20 people riding out the tornado in Joplin in a walk-in refrigerator!  We had lightening and thunder before day light this morning and probably some rain but no damage.

Yesterday was another awesome Lord's Day.  Inky and I even managed to get in a long nap in the afternoon. 

Today is rehab for Ivalou and right after that I go for a bone density test.  Then?  Who knows...

Hi everyone.  It took a bit just now to get this site to load and am trying to get last weeks discussion to open so I can read the unread messages.  It just keeps churning.

Busy morning as after coffee a couple of my friend and I went to the hospital to visit my neighbor who finally got well enough to move from the ICU, where he had been since last Wednesday.  He was sitting up in a chair and really looked pretty good for what he has endured.  We didn't stay very long as know visitors in the hospital can easily overstay and tire the patient unduly.  I then stopped at the grocery store pharmacy and got a couple of grocery items and then stopped by the bank.  In a few minutes will leave for my Monday men's luncheon.

Pat, thanks for the devotional for today.  It was very timely with all of the hoopla about the supposed rapture on Saturday.  As a Christian I am concerned about the ridicule this type of event brings on Christians and have to wonder how much of the publicity was intended to do just that since the Bible tells us that no man can know the time or date of the coming of the Lord.  Hope I am wrong about that feeling.

I just read on another Seniors and Friends that there is to be unsettled weather all week for the midwest.  Sure hope there are no more killer tonados like yesterday.  It is so sad in the lose of life, destruction, and forever changing the lives of so many people. 

Judy, hope you Canadians all have a very pleasant holiday.  I think we never know what are witness may mean to others. 

Our daughter is back in the hospital since Saturday afternoon.  She didn't let us know until yesterday afternoon.  She is having severe chest pain and her sugar was over 500 again.  They are doing another chemical stress test on her today. 

Larry, may our Lord sustain each of you as you support your daughter through her trials. Diabetes is "UNfun" - I know...

Judy, how well I understand your feelings, but even in the Bible, it tells us Jesus went unto His own, and His own received him not. This is so heartbreaking for each of us who have worries and concerns about our children's emotional and spiritual health.

May God be with us all - Ruth Ann

Thank you all for the prayers. My mammo and ultrasound came back negative.

I have not posted for ages.... no excuses, as I'm basically a procrastinator... I mean to do things; however multitask so much that many things get done only when I put my foot down and tell myself "DO IT"!!

I really love this domain and all who post telling us of day to day challenges. How great our God is that he cares for the big and the small, especially when we take our hands off and allow His will to be done! I'm a "fixer" and find that He wants to do ALL the fixing because He knows the future and what He has in store for us is so much greater than all we stress about!! It's a day to day challenge, no.... moment by moment!! I read recently "God is more interested in what I am than what I do." May I always do what is in His will!!

My love and prayers are with all who are dealing with the passing of those you love and with those who are dealing with day to day physical challenges.

Praising God for answered prayer, Marilyn.

As JudyB said it's pouring rain here, so all our activities are indoors... for me, mostly bookkeeping; a never ending supply keeps me very occupied.

Hi Everyone...

I'm dealing with the webhoster who promises "new hardware this week" and so I'm praying that all will be patient with the slowness. 



Thanks Larry for your comments on the devotional.  I thought it fit in well after Saturday and I sure know what you mean about the ridicule, etc. going on in the world.  It's sad but...  it's prophesied.

Hi Ruth!!!

Great to see you today.  We're under severe weather alerts here in Guelph.  It's just teaming down.

I was here early this morning and tried to post, but it "timed out" and my post went POOF!  and disappeared.  I didn't have time to redo it then.

Larry, so sorry to hear that Stacey is in the hospital again.  My, she has a time of it, doesn't she?  Hope she gets better quickly.

Pat, I enjoyed the devotional.  And I miss you. 

Larry, I agree about such dumb statements making all Christians look bad; why don't those guys just READ THE BOOK?  Then they would knowthat no man knows the day nor the hour; not the angels in heaven, or even the Son, but the Father ONLY.

I see Obummer is wasting more taxpayer money galavanting in Ireland with his family, even took along a 4 ton car.  And people here are struggling to make ends meet.     Okay, off my soapbox now.

Etta Sue:  I heard the tape of people taking refuge from the tornado in the large cooler in a store - did you hear the calls for Jesus?  I just hope they continue to look towards their real salvation and not forget it in 15 minutes.  It is so sad for words. 

Larry:  Prayers and hugs for you and Pat concerning Stacey. 

Pat:  You seem to get a lot of the tail-ends of the storms that meander NE from the stricken areas.  It still is good to take cover because I know it can happen in your neck of the woods too.  How long are you staying in Guelph this time?  Enjoy springtime - it hasn't really reached here yet. 

Janet:  You are so funny!  There have been some storms near your area?  At least some in your state.  Still working on the book? 

Letters from good friends came and they have issues with husband facing dementia and the other gal has had two falls resulting in breaking bones - quite a time getting older.  Not for sissies. 

Forgot to mention that we signed big poster cards and sent messages of love and thanks to troops connected to church members.  One twenty-year-old young man is on his 4th. tour of Iraq.  Can you imagine?  I cannot fathom the concern from the family and hard to imagine what that young man has gone through as he has been in battle. 

   Good evening to all.  hanks Pat for the devotional.  and it is  nice to see you here we miss you.

Pat:  Next week is the weekend for the Christian Transportation Convention at Guelph Conference Gronds and

  As you can see the site jumped before I was finished  so Pat I will be singing in the Chapel in the afternoon and I think it starts at 2-00 or 2-30 and again it is a musical afternoon it would be great to see you if you are able.  They also have lunch served at 12-30 noon.

Larry I am so sorry to hear that your daughter is back in the hospital I do pray and hope thatshe will get some relief of this pain and other problems.

We had a beautiful day but tonight a lot of thunder and again heavy rain. well have a good night and may the Lord look after you all in the Lord's name.   Gordon and Noreen.

I am so happy and grateful to God for the negative results to my tests. No Cancer. God is so awesome. I have had so many people praying for me including the same  friends who prayed for me when I found that first lump 10 years ago that disappeared. I wasn't even worried that  my tests might be positive. I had all the blood work this morning and will get those results on Wednesday and I know that my cholesterol is probably high again.

What wonderful news, Marilyn!  I'm so happy for you.  What great news indeed!

Gord, I have a baby shower from 2 to 4 and then hopefully, I'm supposed to be going with Ruthie to a quartet evening in Georgetown! 

Hi, friends, I've been listening to the late, late newsbroadcast to keep up with the bad weather we've had. Pat, is cimmy your new dog? It's a great photo!

I'm slowly getting more accustomed to my laptop.

Larry, hope your daughter gets stabilized soon.

Love to everyone,
Ruth Ann

Hi everyone.  The discussion was very responsive when I clicked on it this morning as there was really no delay.  Pat, I know that things will straighten out soon and also this is teaching us a little lesson in patience.  I word of suggestion if you time out on your posting, hit the back button on the browser and you should be able to recover your message.  Sometimes if I written a long message (guess that is highly likely) I will copy it to the clipboard just as a precaution and come back and post it later.

Our daughter is still in the hospital and I pity the poor nurses at the hospital.  They have stopped the medication that helped her cope with not being able to smoke and she has become extremely irritable.  She is not a patient person and speaks her mind.  She was still having the chest pain yesterday early evening.  They did a PET scan of her heart yesterday and she hadn't heard from the doctor about the results. 

I have a fairly light schedule today as just coffee and then a meeting to attend this morning.  The rest of the day appears to be free.  It is suppose to be hot again today with no rain.  We are becoming very dry here in the Atlanta area. 

The pictures I saw on the news last night of the Joplin tornado are just beyond description and I am sure the pictures they could show do not reflect the total devastation that has occurred.  Then they were having more bad weather yesterday. 

Ruth Ann, I hope you were able to find the menu selection so that IE9 is more friendly usable.  I think you will come to like your laptop a lot.  Pat and I sure ours a lot everyday, in fact, we both use the desktop and the laptops everyday.  Seeing those pictures of that hospital in Joplin makes one realize how important it is to stay away from windows during a time of terrible tornados.  Does your building have a basement?  I suppose your could take refuge in the hallways.

Marilyn, even though you weren't worried and I sure the news you received from your test took away that little doubt that we all would have under the circumstances.  My wife has gone through a similar experience several times so understand the situation, at least from the male perspective.  Of course, I remember our male friend from SeniorNet days who had breast cancer so know it isn't sometime that only women experience.

Gord, I saw your posting to me on Facebook and answered your comment there.  I am not a big user of Facebook but occasionally check out new postings.  Sounds like you can anticipate a wonderful time with the choir singing upcoming.

Carol, as we get older more of our friends do as well and we experience the ravages of aging in ourselves and through them.  I know I have lost several good friends in the last few years and see many of my long-time friends showing the effects of illness and aging.  Your big card that you all signed sounds very nice and thoughtful.

Janet, I fear that our leaders don't find the need for economies since they can tap into the government funds for whatever they need.  Our governmental leaders seem to become royalty, at least in their own minds, rather than recognizing they are servants of the people.  Power does corrupt.  Glad the storms have missed your part of the country.  Know that you all have been without rain but sure better than tornados.

RuthV and Pat, we could use a little of that rain down our way.  I do hope no severe storms come your way this week.   

I hope that all of us are glad to realize again that Jesus is Lord.  He is, after all, a caring Lord, and His mercies are new every mornng.  Today is the day that Marbeth goes to the quilting group, while I go over to the local coffee shop.  Sometimes church people meet me over there, but sometimes no one, so I read the sports page.

Ruth Ann Cimi is my dog.  She has been a faithful friend for 11 years now.  At 11 I am finding she is slowing down old age is catching up to her.

We had rain all day yesterday, today it is windy. I am hoping the wind drys up the sogginess somewhat.

Larry I am sorry to hear about your daughter.  I don't know from personal experience, but I know from watching friends, that quitting smoking is very hard.  I sympathize with her, but do understand the need to quit.  I will be praying.

Ruth Amm ehjoy the laptop.  John bought one to use in the truck, and is slowly getting used to his as well.

I am happy for you Marilyn.

Gord I would love to attend the convention.  It has been so many years since I have been to one...Unfortunately I didn't have enough notice.  Is Jim going as well?

Carol it is always difficult dealing with someone with dementia. 

To the rest of you.....God Bless on this day that the Lord has made!

Good morning!

This is indeed the day the Lord has made; I WILL rejoice and be glad in it!

My day is off to a great start!  I received a very nice endorsement for the book from our former family doctor, who has moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma.  He always had such a heart for Beth; said "Who wouldn't love Beth?  She's such an innocent!"  That is not from his endorsement, but it is so nice of him to take the time to read the book and write the endorsement.  God bless Dr.Plumlee.

Carol, I am not working on the book now, just trying to get a few endorsements and waiting for Dr. Saxon to finish the foreword.  And waiting to hear back from Tate Publishing.  They said within four days, which will be Thursday.  And of course, continuing to pray over the book.

The tornados at Reading, Kansas were near where my sister Shirley lives; and her granddaughter lives in Reading.  Her house was spared, her garage destroyed.  It was a category 3, did lots of destruction and damage.  That's a small town, and half the houses there were destroyed, one person killed.

The Joplin storms were awful.  What can one say?  But I am glad people pull together and help in times like this.

Today is my friend Pat's birthday, I am taking her to lunch. 

I guess I will stop, this is jumping so much I can't see what I'm typing.

  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY PAT AND PAUL! 

Do you think he will come back to the U.S. with a new name?  O'Bama!
It does seem he travels more expensively than any of our other presidents!

Well, we had a bad storm last evening.  I went to Pizza King for a pizza, then Dollar General.  While gassing up the car, the winds became gusty!  While getting money at the ATM, it started raining.  Then home.  My garage is a metal pole building.  I got out of the car and the wind was so strong and the rain pelting down on the roof that I got back in the car and waited it out.  I felt I would be safer in the car than standing in the garage if the wind decided to take the garage!  It stopped raining but I semi-ran to the house in the wind.  10 minutes later the sun was shining and was shining until dark!!  

Leaves are everywhere.  

If you want to see some of the destruction at Joplin, go to YouTube.com and put in the 'search' 'Joplin Missouri Tornado'.  There are many YouTubes for the tornado there.  Nothing left!  Not even a tree standing with all their limbs.  Where does one begin after something like that?  And so many loses of lives.  Some people have still not been found.  Precious Moments Chapel is east of Joplin...I haven't heard anything about PMC.

Today is laundry and then hoping to get my yard mowed.  I will be going to Nashville, Indiana, tomorrow through Friday with my class...staying in the same place as last year and this year for the church Women's Retreat.  

Friday afternoon, on my way back from Nashville I am to meet Donna Getz.  She is from SeniorNet/Seniors and Friends from Pflugerville, Texas.  She has a daughter and son in Indiana and a grandson is graduating from high school in Carmel...the town where I swim.  Donna and I have met several times and she has even spent the night with me.  Seems her name on SrNet was Donna Marie.  Anyone remember her?

Good afternoon to everyone.  I hope you are all enjoying a good day. 

Larry, I do hope your dtr is better by now.  She has had more than enough health problems and it is certainly draining on all of you. 

I see some of you are having more rain than you need...sure wish we could get some of that rain.  It has been so long since we got rain that I have forgotten what it smells like.  I read in our newspaper a few days ago that we are in Dust Bowl Days condition around here now.  We are used to drought, but it is extreme this year.  This morning's newspaper said that our town has received .45 inch of moisture this YEAR.  And I can assure you that none of that fell on our yard.  We got our water bill yesterday for the month, and it was $134.  Ouch.  But we can't just let our yard die. 

Etta Sue, you and I must be twins or something.  I also had a bone density test done yesterday.  And I am dealing with severe back pain for what seems like ages, due to double scoliosis and twisted spine in lumbar region.  Also there is some misalignment with the vertebrae in that area (spondelolisthesis).  I was interested in what you said about the Miracle Ball.  I am going to check into that.  Nothing else has helped.  The neurologist in Lubbock told me, "Your back sucks!"  and there is nothing that can fix the problems.  That was a year and a half ago, and still living with it.

Oh well, others have worse problems than we do, so be thankful.

Janet, I meant to tell you that I am proud to know a published author (almost).  I will be anxious to read your book when it is published.

BTW, I have just finished reading a little book called "Heaven is for Real" and it is one that is hard to put down.  The author has a grandmother at Ulysses, KS.  He is a pastor in Imperial, Nebraska, and the story is about his little son during serous and dangerous surgery for a ruptured appendix, going to heaven and back, during that surgery.  It is an amazing story.  The author is Todd Burpo.

We were able to go to church Sunday for the first time since January and it was good to be there and sing along with our church family.  So much has happened since early February, mostly hubby's health, that we could not go.  He has been in hospital twice and in nursing home/rehab for 3 weeks. He is getting stronger now, with Home Health care, but is still on oxygen around the clock, and has to use a walker.  He fell down out in the garage one day recently (on concrete) because he did not take his walker with him.  Fortunately he did not break anything, but had a monster of a bruise on hip and leg. 

And of course the hardest of all is that our son passed away in March. He did not live here, and there was a service in their city, but we were unable to go.  But we had the second funeral service here, and he is buried next to us where we will be someday.  We had the service at our former church, where he had been baptized when he was eleven years old, and our former pastor preached the funeral message. 

Our current SS class supported us wonderfully during that time and provided a meal for us the day of the funeral.  Also other church members loved us too.  But I am sad to say that our pastor apparently does not know who we are, as we have not heard a word frrm him about this, nor about Earl's illness..  I do not understand this, I always thought a pastor was to be a comforter for the family in time of need. 

 

Thanks, Janice!  I will let you know when the book is ready!  And yes, Todd Burpo is from Ulysses, he grew up here and his Mom still lives here.  I have met him and Colton twice; once at a book signing here, and again when they came so Todd could preach his grandmother's funeral service.  Genuinely nice people.

And I know how you feel re your pastor's lack of concern.  Our last pastor was that way, as well, and it is really hard to feel they care at all, when they don't show it.

Joplin is bracing for yet another tornado!!  Pray, folks, pray!  They still have 1500 people unaccounted for there.

I just got an email from my publisher, and they said my manuscript looks good!  Publication to begin within 10 days!!  YAHOOOOOO!!!

I pray the book touches many lives with hope and faith, just reading how Beth's spirit continues to triumph.

Got to go cut Darrel's hair!

I'm back, got him all "groomed." 

Kansas has storms/tornados/hail/high winds all over the place this afternoon!  We were under a tornado warning, with warnings of high winds and tennis ball sized hail.  We got some rain (thank you, Lord!) and some hail, mostly marble sized.  Darrel had just gotten the garden put out, it probably shredded the tender plants.  But I can get more from daughter Diane.  At least we finally got some moisture!  Like Janice, we were in near dust bowl drought conditions, so any rain is welcome.

When I was at the care home today, they were getting all the residents up in their wheelchairs, ready to go to the safe areas, because of the tornado warning.  Some weren't real happy about having to wake up from their after-lunch naps.    I didn't stay long; just read Beth what dear Dr. Plumlee had written, then came home to get the car under cover.  I sure didn't want it all beat up from hail!

Marilyn, I praise God with you for your good reports from the doctor.  Now you can think about other things and praise Him for His keeping power.

Okay, now I'm done.  (For this time!)

Hi everyone. 

I am happy to be able to report that our daughter was released from the hospital this afternoon.  The tests once again did not show anything new.  The doctor told her that the pain is probably from small vessels in the heart closing.  I think this is also what happens to me occasionally and after a period of time the pain is gone.  I asked my cardiologist about this and he said it is certainly a likely thing.

I have been watching The Weather Channel off and on this evening and see what a terrible afternoon and night in the midwest.  Janet, I was concerned when I saw the storms were hitting Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and it looks like Missouri again.  My wife's sister and family live in the Kansas City area and I see they are in the danger zone as well. 

Janet, great news on your book and it looks like things are moving very well on that front. 

Janice, glad to read that you have been able to get back to church.  It is hard to understand why a minister would not keep a close tab on his people.  The last time I was in the hospital my minister called and was going to come to see me but I told him I was to be moved and might not be there when he arrived.  So he prayed for me over the phone, which I appreciated.  Sorry to learn that you are in so much back pain. 

Etta Sue, good thinking to stay in your car until the storm passed.  Enjoy your trip away from home.

Happy Anniversary to Pat and Paul.  Is this three years?

Judy, our daughter has tried several times to stop smoking but just hasn't succeeded.  She makes progress for awhile and then goes back to doing it.  Never having smoked I guess I just don't understand but know it is a very hard thing to overcome.

Larry I have been told that cigarette smoking is more adictive than crack cocaine.  Possibly because it is legal?  I don't know either.  But I have seen people struggle for years.

I went through a huge box of pictures looking for one particular photo.  I really have to get them organized and into albums.  Frankly right now they are a mess dating back to the early 70's.  I have a scanner but it is only good up to Windows 98.  I am wondering if I can get updated drivers for it on line.

Janice we went to a church for 13 years and when the new pastor came things changed.  There became a big lack of caring for some people.  We attempted to address this with him and it was to no avail, so we moved on.  I still miss the fellowship we had there, but not about to go back at this point. 

Well I must get going, I have pictures to get back into the box for sorting at a later date.

I am just on her to request prayers.... There were many communities in oklahoma that have been destroyed or even just affected by tornadoes this evening.... they are headed towards Joplin..... i have heard reports of a  missing child that was ripped out of his mothers arms..... prayers requested for all involved..... these are in downstate oklahoma we were NOT affected we got some rain (PTL) but nothing like they are experiencing downstate please pray for them!
Sarah