Christian Photographers Community

•   Prayer and Praise     Thanks for visiting this area of our site to share prayer requests and items for praise!

• I would like to thank my friend Judith from Dayton, Ohio who very kindly composed our lovely scripture to go with today's devotional.  It is a photo of Judith's husband, Alan, who was handing out scriptures on a visit to Poland.

Morning Devotional...



Crutches and Heart Transplants   

His bitter countenance hardened to a sneer when I informed him that I was a Christian.

"Christianity," he snapped," is only a crutch for weaklings".

His eyes flashed hate against his Maker as he repeated this old tattered and silly platitude. It was obvious that rage was rolling and boiling within his innermost being.

What should I say in reply? Perhaps I could remind him that the sinner is lame and blind and in need of help and assistance on life's great journey. I could go on to say that Christ alone is able to support the morally lame and guide the spiritually blind. However, such an answer would have been inadequate and misleading.

It is indeed true that unregenerate man is "poor and lame and blind" and therefore, unable to walk uprightly and in a straight path before God Who is holy, righteous and just. But man's disease, in a spiritual sense goes far beyond the darkened eyes and the deformed feet. Both his sinful sickness and his spiritual penury are merely symptoms of a far more serious malady. Isaiah, the prophet wrote, "...The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;...". (Isaiah 1:5,6) The sickening symptoms of this disease are vividly pictured for us by the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:10-18:



This may sound awful, but remember it is God's diagnosis of the problem, and men left to their own devious devices will soon manifest such terrible conduct as that described. We only have to read of the acts of men in recent history to confirm the truth of it. Even the behaviour of "civilized" troops sent to keep the peace in war torn lands attest to thefacts of scripture.

Man does indeed seek out and use many devices to support himself as he travels through life. Indeed these props may appear to be of some help for a time, but by and by they crumble and break when they are most needed. These supports give a false sense of security and will be of no help at all when the poor forsaken soul stands before the Last Great Assize. These crutches have various names. A few examples are: socialism, humanism, atheism, psychology, religion and entertainment to name but a few. They all have some things in common. For example, their place of manufacture was Hell and their designer was the arch enemy of souls. His name is Satan. They are among the many and diverse tools which he uses to blind men to their personal depravity and to the real cause of the present distress of nations.

When God reaches down and imparts saving faith to a poor sin sick soul, He does much more than provide a crutch.  He performs a spiritual Heart Transplant.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezekiel 36:26,27 NKJV)

As the new heart is thus given in grace, the unsoundness of the head is also dealt with. "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man." (Mark 7:21-23 NKJV)

To the one who calls Christian faith a crutch we can confidently answer, "It is not merely a crutch to the lame. Rather it is a spiritual heart transplant which never fails." The recipient of such a new heart as God gives will never die spiritually for he has eternal life.

Oh, that sinners may be moved to cry with Israel's king David "Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10 NKJV). Those who do this, trusting in Jesus Christ and His redeeming work on Calvary will receive new hearts and will become new creations in Christ. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) This truly describes the experience known as the new birth. Those who have truly experienced it no longer need crutches for they are enabled to "walk in newness of life."

Beloved reader, have you received this divine surgery? You don't need to have your name put on a waiting list. God now calls sinners to repentance and faith in His Son the Great Physician of souls.

---

Jack Scott loved his Lord! He passed away on January 10, 2001 after a lengthy illness.
He is missed greatly by his family.

Thank you, Pat.  Jack had such a wonderful gift for bringing God's word to all of us in ways that we can understand.

And thank you, Judith for the great photo and associated scripture to gowith Jack's devotional.


(Just a small aside note - while I'm writing this message, the "Random Image" in the left column of the page is a beautiful picture of Geordie.    )

   Good evening to all.   Pat: (Sis)  Thank you again for this great devotional from Jack's writing's He was a wonderful man of God and I am so greatful for both of your witness to me before I made a decision to follow Christ.  Praise the Lord for that.   Hope that you are feeling a bit stronger.     

Jeanne Lee.  Hi do hope that you are doing well also.

Larry and Pat.  Hope that you are both feeling a bit stronger and Larry that you are not over doing things.  Look after both of yourselves.

May the Lord be with all others on     and give you a wonderful week.   Love in Christ,  Gordon and Noreen.

I'm so happy that you enjoyed Jack's devotional, Jeanne.  Thanks for the comment.


Hi Gord!   Yes, you were well prayed for before the Lord saved you!    Mum and Dad prayed earnestly each and every day for their "adopted" son and then Jack and I prayed for our newly "adopted" brother. 

Thank you for the devotional, Pat.  Jack is not someone I knew of until last week, but he seemed to have a knack for delivering a good message with clarity.

From the postings at the end of the previous week's "Thoughts," it seems like some good news rounded out the week.  Certainly it is nice to have more activity here on the forum, and welcome Judith to the community.  It seems like there are two factions here at CP; those that primarily hang out on the photography pages and then those who keep the conversation going here in the Thoughts thread.  Good to see Judith is active in both arenas!

Carol, that is very good news about your son's accident, what a blessing that his injuries weren't more severe!

And Janet, your continued devotion in caring for Beth and celebrating her life is a powerful witness.

Seeing more posting activity from both Jeanne and Pat is encouraging, and I will continue to pray for each of you as you work your way back to full recovery!

Several others I failed to mention, know that I've read your posts and will keep you in my thoughts and prayers as we crack into a new week.

I spent most of last week in Minneapolis, but got home Friday afternoon and get to spend nearly an entire week at home!  With the weather changing and potentially our first freeze just around the corner, I'm preparing to winterize our fire truck.  We limped through the summer with only one functioning pump, because a plumbing issue developed which preventing the big pump from working.  After several attempts to repair it in May and early June, I had to give up and cap the lines so I could at least fight fire with the auxiliary pump, if necessary.  Fortunately I didn't need to roll the truck at all this year, and then a couple fellows from church offered to try to help me repair the main pump this afternoon.  After a couple hours of them grunting and grimacing to repair a bunch of rusted 3 inch galvanized parts under the truck, success was achieved!!!  I will be much happier putting the truck away for the winter knowing that it will be ready for service next Spring!

One of my nieces in South Dakota is getting married next Saturday, and I agreed to shoot the wedding for her.  I am a bit nervous about it because I don't do a lot of people/portrait photography but it will be an exciting experience.  And it will probably be a very strong reminder to me of why I much prefer landscape and wildlife shooting!

I will leave you with a night photo I made last week from the bank of the Mississippi River, looking across to downtown Minneapolis.
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May the coming week be full of God's blessings for each of you!

Hi everyone.  It is another nice morning here in South Carolina.  As I write this morning they are unloading the sheet rock for the inside of the house so the walls will soon begin to take on shapes and the outside siding is being installed.  They are coming right along with the house across the street and I have the perfect view from my office window. 

Today will be fairly business.  The morning chores are done but still need to attend to the washing this morning and afternoon.  I will attend my noon Monday meeting and then may make a quick stop at COSTCO for an item or two.  Then Pat has her Monday appointment with the chiropractor at 4 pm and that 6:30 this evening we have the first men's meeting at church for the fall.  We always have a nice steak dinner and if any steaks are left over they will sell them for $5 or $6 dollars so will try to get one to bring home for Pat.

I am beginning to see some indications that Pat is improving, although it seems very slowly.  Her eyes are much, much better now that she is putting lubricant rather than gel in her eyes are night.  She also tapes them shut and wears a sleep mask to protect them during the night.  She did a little walking yesterday in the house without the aid of her walker or cane.   

Marilyn, it sounds like it was a nice Memorial service for your friend Monte and that your visit was helpful to Monte and his wife at a difficult time.

Janet, it is nice that Beth and John were able to attend the Church service yesterday.  Do your fingers slip off the keys when you eat popcorn while typing?  Is there something more important than our time on the computer?   (Just joking with you.) 

Pat, another meaningful devotional from Jack's writings.  I liked seeing Judith's graphic and then the picture of her husband sharing God's word with these young men. 

Gord, as noted above I see some improvement in Pat's condition although she is still in pain with certain motions.  Don't worry about me over doing as I sit down and rest when I get too tired. 

Ken, I had the opportunity to once speak with Jack on the telephone.  He was very ill for a long time but you would never have known in from speaking with him.  I am sure happy to see more activity here on the Forum as it was rather boring those few days I would write basically to myself.  It sounds like you had a reasonably good year at the fire house and happy to see that your truck was fixed and now is operational as one never knows when it may be needed.  Hope your wedding photography goes well for you as your niece is married. 

Carol, certainly good news regarding your youngest son and sure glad there was no concussion.  Falls are so frightening.  Glad you got your quilt finished.  I know Pat always is happy to complete a project.  Of course, right now she isn't in any shape to work on anything. 

OK!  Come on!  Wake up everybody.  If I'm up, everyone gets up!

  Well, that was a try to brighten up the day here.  Overcast with heavy clouds, not much brighter than it was at sunrise.  We seem to have had some rain during the night but it has shifted to the south of us for the rest of the day.

Temperatures are much milder, but it's still so muggy I need to run the a/c to dry things out.  (At least I need to if I want to keep breating!    )  Won't be long before I'll be complaining about how cold it is.   

OH, yes!  I almost forgot.  We've had some  great entries in our latest photo challenge "All Things Fall" and now we're voting.

Have a look and cast your votes.  HERE

You're funny, Jeanne! 
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Good one, Ken!!!

Thank you so much, Pat! The Lord bless you as you share these devotionals. I personally thank you, humbly, for choosing to use a Scripture photo of mine. To God along be the glory and praise! I thank Him for allowing me the joy and ability to use my camera to capture a small bit of His creation and other pictures that I can put Scripture with to share with others and to minister for Him.

2nd. try at posting  - My old laptop is going bonkers.

Judith:  Your talent is appreciated and we are thankful for your taking time to join CP.

Ken:  We have fond memories of Minneapolis and the bridge photo is beautiful.  My parents met in the city.

Well, I am having laptop problems so will make this short.  We do appreciate your thinking of our son - he said he has no pain this morning and has even walked the stairs.  He is working from home today and going to his doctor tomorrow. 

How great to be having more posts in here again!!  And I love the humor, too!  Larry, that would be right if I put butter on the popcorn!   

Tomorrow night is our big Grant County Home Products Dinner, and Beth and John have already called and offered me a ride home.  I'm one of the volunteers serving the meal this year, so will get to see many people!

I'm off the look at the Fall photos contest!

Hi everyone.  We have a blue sky this morning with a few puffy clouds.  Today will be a light day with only a 3:30 appointment for Pat at the business who services the CPAP machines.  She has switched her account over to the company where I have my CPAP account as it is in downtown North Augusta and much closer to us.  She was never really satisfied with the other company as they seemed to be so disorganized.  She needs a new head gear and hopefully one much less complicated than the one she now has. 

Yesterday turned out to be a very busy day.  I did attend my noon meeting and then stopped at COSTCO so it was around 2 pm before I got back home.  I rested for an hour and it was time to take Pat for her chiropractic appointment.  Then came home and finished up the washing and putting things away.  Shortly it was time to go to the church for the Men's Meeting.  I did not feel the program was one of the better ones but they all can't be great.  We did have a good meal and I was able to bring a steak home for Pat's late supper, which she enjoyed and still has half of it left for another meal as they are big steaks.  I went to bed around 9 pm and slept soundly until 7:30 this morning. 

Jeanne, glad you have that AC to use when you need it as it is important to breathe.  I will look at the photos and cast a vote also.  Thanks for the reminder.

Ken, I liked the picture you posted and we can all probably related to the message.  Some days don't turn out as anticipated.

Judith, I hope we will see many more of your photos and Scripture messages.  You do very nice work.

Carol, always a bother when our computers want to let us down.  Glad you were able to post.

Janet, I hope you don't overdo at the big dinner tonight.  It was nice of Beth and John to offer to take you home. Popcorn without butter really isn't popcorn.  As I was growing up my Dad always made popcorn every Sunday evening.  I seldom eat popcorn anymore as know I don't need the butter and it is pretty dry otherwise.  However, I don't have that problem if it has caramel on it or another type coating. 

Meals on Wheels is a wonderful program and I'm really glad for the service, but the scheduling...  they come to me about 10:45 a.m. with what should be my main meal of the day.  Only trouble is, I'm not ready to eat it that early.  I'm going to have to start eating very little for breakfast so my appetite can pick up sooner.  I know it's because they have so many deliveries and such limited hours to make them.  And my address seems to be toward the beginning of the list, so I'll just stop my complaining and be grateful.   

The weather is cooling down but still another day of high humidity with the a/c running to dry the air.  At least it should be a while yet before the piles of white stuff need to be cleared away from the driveway and porch.   

Hello everyone. Jeanne and Larry since Keith isn't much for cooking I have often thought that if I were incapacitated I would have to get Meals on Wheels. When I had the surgery on my left hand, I still did all the cooking. He used to fix breakfast on the weekends but that hasn't happened in quite awhile. I keep telling him about the meals Larry is cooking.

This afternoon I have to attend the 3rd of the Hospice classes, today we are discussing  Spirituality and the Client. I've discovered that  all of this current class are Christians as is the teacher, so we do discuss spirituality frequently.

Well I guess I should go start lunch, It is just sandwiches, nothing fancy. I will be fixing our usual tonight of chicken and something else, I do  change the ways I fix the chicken though, maybe Curried chicken tonight with some rice and veggies.

Larry--Oh, yeah!  Caramel popcorn is much better than dry popcorn, for sure!  What I was eating was Kettle Corn, which is slightly sweet.  I rarely eat popcorn, but Darrel was eating it and it smelled so good...and you know the rest of the story!    Hope you have a slower day today.  I slept much later than usual this morning (we were up two hours later than our usual bedtime, watching something on TV.)  So we didn't go to the gym today.  But I have been doing "stuff" all day, like sorting and getting rid of the constant clutter of mail, doing laundry, emptying trash, etc.  You know--the exciting stuff!      The house cleaner will be here soon for a  couple hours.  While she is here, I want to clean and chop some nice peppers from the garden and put them into the freezer.  They are really nice and sweet, so don't want to waste them.  I took some to my painting buddy Dee yesterday, as she really likes them. 

Have any of you tried chocolate tomatoes?  We have a huge plant of those.  The name is very misleading.  The tomatoes are about an inch in diameter, and are a dark color, but they are really tasty, and boy! is that plant ever bearing!  I used a handful of them in my salad last night and it was very nice.

Jeanne, I'm guessing the food doesn't taste as good after being warmed (microwaved) as it does when fresh.  Too bad they don't reverse their route! 

Almost time for Maribel to arrive.

I probably should rest for an hour or so this afternoon before I stand to help serve about 1500 people at the Home Products Dinner!

Hi everyone.  I got up a lot earlier this morning than usual so have most of the household chores done.  I have even replanted the Mums plant I got at Aldi's the other day into one of our two porch planters.  It is loaded with buds so am hopeful of a lot of nice flowers shortly.  I am about ready to eliminate all of my back patio planting as they have about had it with many dead stems.  The pepper plant has a couple of small peppers so may try to keep it to see if we can get anymore peppers from it.  Pat is now up but I needed to rest a few minutes after doing the above before trying to get her breakfast fixed.  Today should be a quiet day until Pat's 4 pm appointment and then dinner at the church at 5:30 and later Scott coming to the house.  Pat did get a new type pillow mask for her CPAP machine but will have to work with it to get it at the right strap placement to keep the air from leaking out around it as it did last night.

I saw yesterday in the paper that our Ryan's Steakhouse was permanently closed on Monday.  So we have one less place to eat here in our little town.  However, there are some other restaurants soon to open. 

Jeanne, glad you are getting the Meals on Wheels and expect you will soon learn to adjust your eating habits or best accommodate them.  How is the food?  That is certainly a good service.

Marilyn, the meals I fix are certainly not Gourmet but they are filling and are keeping us going.  I will get another reprieve tonight as we still have some leftovers for Pat's supper while Scott and I eat at the church.  How many of the Hospice training sessions do you have?

Janet, it sounds like you have been keeping very busy and I hope you were not totally exhausted from the Home Products Dinner serving you did last evening.  I have never heard of chocolate tomatoes.  We have several peppers in the refrigerator and seeing that you were chopping them and freezing them makes me think I should do the same with most of them before they turn soft.

Larry There re 11 all together (Hospice Classes) so there are 8 left. Yesterday the Chaplain taught the classon how to talk with grieving family members what not to say and what should be said instead..

Janet my neighbor has Chocolate tomatoes growing they are so yummy. perfect for just picking and eating fresh from  the vine.

Today Freckles and I will be visiting at BayCrest a residential and rehab facility  just a few blocks from  here. One of our members husband is supposed to be on hospice there, but I am n ot sure he is. Then this afternoon I have my Tai Chi practice. I really do keep busy and active, lots of walking up and down this hilly neighborhood.

I don;t eat much popcorn anymore  it gets under my dentures and drive me nuts. However I do love caramel corn.

The humidity sent me back to a/c for a couple of days, but today my windows are open and temperature and humidity are supposed to stay low the rest of the week.  That's OK by me.  I'm glad to have the a/c when it's so hot and sticky, but until this year I've been able to resist.  We don't usually have that much muggy weather to contend with - mostly only two or three days at a time, and until I wound up with the COPD I got along very well with just fans in all the windows.  So now I find myself praising the Lord for friends with a unit they don't use and are happy to set it up for me.  God is great and He does take care of His children. 

Marilyn, I think it's great the work you do with Freckles and also that you're in training for hospice care.  I never would have been able to do either - and of course now I'm pretty much on the other end of those services.   

All this talk about popcorn - I prefer my corn ground and made into tortillas!  Yep, I am a Mexican food addict    Popcorn never won me over, but a well made caramel corn, not that is a horse of a different color 

Marilyn, kudos to you for delving into the world of Hospice.  I never understood the value and impact of hospice until seeing it in action with close friends and relatives.  I am sure it will be a tough calling, but what a wonderful way to be a blessing to hurting people and families.  May God bless you in this endeavor.  In the Spring of the year, our girls used to take baby goats into the local convalescent home, and oh what cheer that brought to so many!  Animals are often very good medicine for the infirmed and the healthy!

Larry, I get tired just following your schedule!  Glad you took a break before breakfast this morning.  I've never heard of chocolate tomatos, but a few years ago Alesia planted 5 or 6 different varieties and green zebra tomatoes were my favorite.  Kind of tangy, but were they ever good!  She dehydrated a bunch of them and they made great snacks.

Jeanne, I sure hope the inventor of air conditioning was a believer, as I'd really like to shake his hand in Heaven someday!  While the cost of running it can be high, we actually ruined a relatively new set of oak furniture from the humidity back when times had us very frugal back in the 90's.  Nebraska was tough on us in a variety of ways, and the heat and humidity were the most memorable among them. 

I sure hope you had a lot of help in serving that many people, Janet!  And I can imagine that when it was all over, the last thing you wanted was to eat    After all that standing late into the evening, hopefully you can kick your feet up and rest them a bit today.

A pretty big weather change moved in on us yesterday, and looks to be cool and wet for a while.  We are sure hopeful for some significant moisture over the coming months, as our agricultural economy has been badly hurt by drought this past few years.  Many of our farmers only had about half their normal amount of irrigation water this summer.  But God is in control, and I trust His plan.

The song birds seem more active than normal lately, probably on a feeding frenzy before migrating to a warmer climate for the winter.  While working in my home office yesterday, I set my camera out by the bird waterer in the backyard to see what it might catch.  I had it shoot a photo every 30 seconds for a couple hours.  Several good images resulted, and a couple were kind of humorous.  Here is one of a couple fledgling Mountain Bluebirds that I named "Waterfight!"

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May you all share in the richness of His blessings today!

Like that one, Ken.  It looks like normal sibling rivalry, not wanting to share.  :-)  What a beautiful bright blue they are!   

Hi everyone on a cloudy morning here in South Carolina.  We had a very short rain shower yesterday afternoon but not enough to do any good.  Today is a full day as need to make a stop at the credit union as I pick up my friend for coffee.  Will then bring him home, and depending on how I am feeling (not very peppy at the moment) I may skip the Wisdom group today as need to get some medicine and other things at Walmart.  I will definitely utilize the electric cart there today.  If I feel up to going to the Wisdom Group will have to stop on the way home or go later in the afternoon.  However, Pat has her last Chiropractic appointment for the week at 4 pm so will just play things by ear today.  We enjoyed our time with Scott last evening.

I appreciate the postings but am going to beg off individual comments today. 

Larry, I hope you'll get some rest and get back to "peppy" again.  You do enough on your "slow" days to tire me out.   

Looks like tomorrow will be the start of sweatshirt season around here.  We should get up to around 80^o today and then not get much above 70_o for the next week.  No rain in the forecast, though, and the humidity will be staying low as well.

This afternoon my next door neighbor will take me food shopping and then once I get everything put away that will be it for the day.  I should sleep well tonight - if I can stay awake until bedtime.   

Pace yourself and don't overdo it today, Larry.  A lack of "pep" this early in the day suggests a bit of downtime for a nap somewhere along the line might be a good idea!  In any event, I pray that you will have the energy to get the essentials done and find some time for relaxed refreshment along the way!

We are on our third day of rain here, Jeanne!  Temperature today won't get out of the 50's, so I am loving it!  Hopefully this will push your way and bring you some even nicer weather.  Glad to hear you have a neighbor that helps you out.  Hopefully you have a good trip and don't get too worn down!

I'm heading off to South Dakota later today to shoot my cousin's wedding.  Will be nice to get the feel of things at the rehearsal tomorrow so at least I might look like I know what I'm doing at the actual ceremony on Saturday.  The wedding is going to be in a very small, rural church with about 200 guests, so my biggest concern is around how I will get the photos the bride wants without becoming a distraction myself.  All new, uncharted territory for me!

I am not going to get political here, but the whole rioting situation in North Carolina is beyond insane.  This must be severely testing God's patience, and I hope and pray it hastens His judgement on sin in this world.  My mind is not ready to go to the depths of where man's depravity will continue to sink if God allows this to continue.  The word 'Maranatha' repeated comes to my mind, which is roughly translated as, 'Jesus, come quickly!'   "If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed.  [Maranatha] O Lord, come!" 1Cor 16:22

Big Ken:  Your "Cold and Lonely" photo reminds me of rural places in Minnesota.  My folks were from there - farms at first - then little villages.  We raised our family at the north end of a lake in Minnesota that is now citified and can relate to the skin chilling temperatures.  Still, lots of outdoor life going on - hockey, sledding, etc.  Enjoy your stay in SD. 

Larry:  It sounds like the day you have mapped out is a tad too busy....take care. 

Perhaps the Mountain Bluebirds are singing to each other??

Ken, I could not agree more!  Maranatha!  Come quickly, Lord Jesus!  I try to keep a positive outlook and stay hopeful, but those are hard things to do if you watch the news!    I love your photo of the two little bluebirds scolding each other--or having a lively debate?

Well!  I wound up on the front page of The Garden City Telegram!  The photo is of me serving corn at the Home Products Dinner, and they wrote a very nice article along with the photo about the history of the dinner, etc.  I will attempt to post a copy of it, if I can get a good picture using my iPad.  iPhone still refuses to take photos.     I don't think I will volunteer to be a server again, as I paid for it with two days and nights of leg pain and sleeplessness!  Plus, I missed out on my favorite parts of the program, namely, the music!  But I can always say I did it once!

We are leaving at noon tomorrow to go to Family Day at Kansas State University.  We went to both the boys' so we have to go for Abby's, too! 

What a day we had yesterday!  I hurt so much I got very little sleep Tuesday night, slept too late once I got enough Tylenol on board to blunt the pain, skipped gym to go to Garden City as Darrel wanted to go buy--of all things--a new can opener!  Pretty sad when you can't find such a simple thing in your own town (and have to admit, he really didn't go look!)  Anyway, we had two item on our list:  Preservision vitamins for my eyes and a can of foam for some house repairs.  Went to Walmart, bought $81.50 worth of stuff in health and beauty area, back to car, and as he backed out, I said, "We came up here to buy a can opener!  We didn't buy a can opener!"  So he parked in another spot, we went back in and bought TWO can openers (don't ask me why!  and came home, still with no can of foam.  Oh, the joys of growing older!! 

Marilyn, I think it's wonderful that you and Freckles are doing those visits, and am sure the people you cheer up appreciate it as well.  Hospice does wonderful work; and like nursing, it isn't for everyone!  God bless you for caring.

Larry, do rest more.  I know I tell Janet that often, and she doesn't listen very well. 

Jeanne, you are such a blessing!  Thanks for being YOU!

Hi, friends,

I'm in for the night after a very social day today. It started with breakfast with 2 of my children. And, ended with getting together with friends for a nice supper.

Now, I'm listening to the news and checking the computer.

May y'all have a wonderful evening.

Love to all,
Ruth Ann

Janet, I'm glad you're happy with me "being me" because I sure wouldn't know how to be anyone or anything else.   

And I certainly agree that "Maranatha" is the call for today. 

Oh, I hope this day gets better!  I left for SD yesterday to attend my cousin's wedding rehearsal so that I can plan where I will be shooting photos from during the ceremony tomorrow.  My wife and daughter are meeting up in Wyoming this morning and will be arriving tonight.  About a half hour ago Alesia called me to let me know our bank sent her a "suspicious activity alert" email regarding our savings account.  I logged in and found that multiple electronic withdrawals were made over the past couple days, amounting to a significant chuck of our savings   Of course we don't recognize the name of the recipient nor have any relationship with the bank receiving the money.  This comes just three days after having to get a credit card account stopped because someone charged several thousand dollars worth of airline tickets.  This makes me want to just deal in cash and keep it in a hole in the back yard!  Lots of anger and other emotions right now, and am praying that God helps me keep things in perspective.  But I remain disgusted by a society where actions like this are so rampant.

Hi everyone on this cloudy Friday morning.  I am happy to start the day feeling much peppier than yesterday and am looking forward to a nice day at home.  I don't intend to get the car out of the garage today.  Yesterday was not a good day for me but I did get most of what I planned on doing accomplished.  If I hadn't made a commitment to my old friend to take him to coffee yesterday I probably would have stayed home.  However, he looks forward to Tuesday and Thursday's when he has a ride to coffee.  I did elect not to attend the Wisdom group at church and after I took him back to his retirement residence I did stop at Walmart and used the cart to get the few items I needed.  I came home and skipped lunch and went and laid down for about three hours, then got up and took Pat to her appointment and we decided to get a quick dinner out so stopped at Chick-fil-A.  I then went to bed about 7:30 and didn't get up this morning until about 7:30.  The housekeeper will be here later this morning and the yard was cared for yesterday afternoon.  I plan on making some chili, which we will probably have for our dinner this evening and maybe a couple of other things.  That is going to be it for today. 

Jeanne, at noon yesterday it was only 75 degrees here, which was most enjoyable.  However, the forecast is for warmer days for the the next several days.  Glad your neighbor is helping you out but sounds like the shopping is becoming too much for you. I seem to remember you mentioning the Agency for the Aging before but perhaps they need to come for a reassessment and perhaps they can get you some help with your shopping and cleaning. 

Ken, as I indicated above I spent a good part of the day yesterday in bed resting.  In addition to being tired I just didn't feel good and was having some infrequent chest discomfort.  It has happened before so not terribly concerned. It sure is getting cool out your way.  I hope the wedding photography turned out to be an enjoyable experience. I agree with on the rioting as more and more communities seem to think because others have done it they should too.  I am not against marching in peaceful protest but there seem to be too many thugs using it as an excuse to stealing, destruction and violence.  This was certainly not what Dr. King advocated and it certainly wasn't the example that Jesus set for us.

Carol, I didn't really think much about hard winters as I was growing up in Missouri as that was just the norm.  However, I have no plans of ever moving back to Missouri or away from the South where are winters are mild although the summers are really hot.

Janet, it sounds like you are a celebrity making the front page of the newspaper.  You have now done your part so should be able to enjoy future Home Products Dinners.  The food serving should like a job for younger folks as you paid a big price with the leg pain and sleeplessness.  I hope you are feeling much better today.  I bet Abby will be glad to see you today.  You all are not the only ones going to the store for a particular item or two and ending up with other things and realizing you forgot to get what you went after.  I know it is aggravating but is one of those "not really important" items in our life.

Ruth Ann, it sounds like you were really a "social butterfly" yesterday.  Glad you had a nice time.

Ken, sorry to read of the bank problems but surely the bank will restore the money to your account as they pursue the fraudulent transactions.  I just read yesterday where seniors are becoming afraid to leave their homes for fear of attacks and robbery on the streets.  Lawlessness seems to be taking over this country.   

Look what I found!


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Ken, thanks for that photo of our celebrity!     Doesn't she look great and as though she's enjoying what she's doing?  Yup!  That's our Janet, all right. 

Good morning, I have Apples in the Crokpot that I am cooking down for Apple Butter, I think ther will only be about 3 pints by the time they are cooked down. I have at least 30 more lbs too cook and can. Some will be Apple Sauce, Morfe Apple Butter and perhaps some Apple Crumble pies for the freezer, it is going to take time for me to get this all done but I don't have any visits  next week until Saturday.

Yolu look great Janet. Sorry for all the pain in your legs and sleeplessness.

Nice picture of our Janet! 

My Windows on this laptop had a half day of working up to date.  It has been a challenge.  Don as well - we are so tired of having to change passwords. 

Our daughter was going to meet us for lunch since she had planned a light work load day - did not happen.  She works average of 13 hours a day and thought this would be a good day to meet.  So, I finished a quilt for a two-year old.  Yes, I will take a picture - it has moose, elk and bear on it - not a baby quilt and is all flannel for the cool Seattle nights.  Found a box that was going to be recycled so that saves a bit of money.  Now to contact the parents and see if they are available for it to be shipped.  A friend of mine had her beautiful gift quilt stolen from her son's door so I always remember that story. 

Well that  half of a crock pot only  made 2 pints of Apple Butter, Next time I need to add a lot m ore than 5lbs of apples. It is not one o0f the smaller Crock pots it is very large.

One of Judith's!

Thank you, Pat, for this week's devotional and I humbly thank you for choosing to use a photo of mine with Scripture to "illustrate" your devotional.

Thank you, Jeanne, for your kind and sweet compliment to my photo. It is much appreciated.

Hi everyone on a bright and clear Saturday morning.  It is going to be warmer today getting up to about 90 degrees.  I am looking forward to mid-afternoon as I have a ticket to a Barbershop Chorus and Quartet Concert.  This is their annual concert and is being held out our church in our Fellowship Hall.  Other than that I will work on getting our dinner prepared and a couple of other projects.  Yesterday was a nice stay at home day and I got the washing done and the chili made among other things. 

Janet, good picture and it looks like you were enjoying the experience of serving others.

Marilyn, it sounds like apple week in your household.  I remember my mother and grandmother preparing apples in various ways, including apple sauce. 

Carol, It sounds like your daughter works too hard as a 13 hour day will wear a person out quickly.  Hope you enjoyed the lunch with her yesterday.  We have had a lot of packages left on our front porch or at the front door over the years but have never experienced thief of any of them.  I expect that is more of a problem in big cities and apartment buildings but one never knows.

Judith, it that a photograph that you have made to look like a painting?  I like it.

Larry,

Thank you very much for your kind compliments, too. In 2006 Alan and I went on a Scripture Distribution campaign with the Baptist Couriers for Christ to Lodz, Poland to spend 10 days with 5 missionary families there to distribute God's Word, then there was a final "rally" at the end of this time. It was a wonderfully, emotionally, God-blessed time to say the least! This photo of Alan was one of the days when we were on Piotrkowska Street, which is considered the longest tourist walking street in Europe, we were told. I tried to photo record many of the 30 Americans we were with as each of us handed out John/Romans in the Polish language and an invitation to attend the final meeting. God really moved and many received the complete Bible in the Polish language, besides many making professions of salvation. Blessed memories we have of that time.

Judith

Larry,

That is a photograph taken by Evangelist Max Alderman, but he worked with his photo to make it look like a painting. I remember seeing this little lady on the harbour walk at Halifax, Nova Scotia. You will find many street musicians along the walk. When Brother Max and his wife were with us for a meeting (Alan pastored a church there then) he stopped and snapped her photo, then created this "painted" look.

Judith, I love your avatar!  It's always so nice to see what a person looks like when reading their posts!

Thanks, Pat! Yes, I wonder what people look like when I see something they have posted someplace and there is no photo of them.   

Quote from: Judith on September 24, 2016, 10:22:07 AM

Lovely poem Judith!

Thank you, Colin, for your compliment on my poem. I truly appreciate it.

Hi everyone on this beginning of the last week of September.  It is a nice 71 degrees this Sunday morning.  This will be a busy morning as have Sunday School and Church and then need to find something to bring home for our Sunday dinner and finally a quick stop at Aldi's for just a few items.

Yesterday afternoon I did attend the 53rd Annual Concert by the Augusta Barbershop Chorus.  The theme of the show was the music of the 60's.  They have a very pleasing sound.  There were also three quartets that performed and the ladies Sweet Adeline's Augusta Chorus.  The concert turned out to be 2 hours long including a 15 minute intermission.  The real highlight of the show was an the Signature Quartet from Florida that had won the 4th prize in the recent International competition and they were excellent.  The lead was a black man with a wonderful voice.  There were about 600 people attending yesterday afternoon.  I had gone early and was able to get a handicapped parking spot close to the entrance.

Judith, that mission trip to Poland sounds like tremendous experience as you and Alan shared the Gospel. Thanks for the info on the Max Alderman photo that looks like a painting.  Our pastor is an avid photographer.  I agree with Pat that is it nice to see your avatar so there is a face with the name.   The last photo you posted is also beautiful. 

Colin,   wow has it been a long time since your name last appeared on a posting.  I do hope you will stop by once in a while and bring us up to date on your life.  Are you still writing that wonderful poetry?

Larry,

Thank you very much. I probably do better than I give myself credit for, but I am thankful for my camera and just like to try to capture a wee bit of God's creation. But no one can properly do it justice. 

Judith

Yes it has been a long time Larry and probably not many of you know I am a granda now except those who are friends with me in facebook! I have not written many poems recently but I did write one for our Ruby Wedding Anniversary which was made into a song and got played at the hotel to surprise my wife. Yes I am forty years married on the 3rd. August 2016! Dont know how to put the songs or videoes up here! Catch you all later!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9ptlo8lukM

FORTY YEARS!

Third of August in seventy-six
That is the day we did fix
To have our wedding that sunny day
When your father give you away
To stand so closely by my side
There you became my lovely bride
Outside the church the sun shone bright
You were a picture in your dress of white
In my heart there was no more room
I was filled with pride to be your groom

Chorous

Forty years forty years
Sharing happiness joy and tears
A life together filled with love
Blessed by God from up above
What a marriage, so many cheers
To celebrate now these forty years

A home of love was ours to be
Built together by you and me
No matter how bad the stress of life
Peace I found with you in the strife
We shared the ups we shared the downs
Our smiles added more than the frowns
If I can say how much you meant
To me all these years, you were heaven sent
To make my world to make my life
Marlene I am glad you are my wife

Chorous

Forty years forty years
Sharing happiness joy and tears
A life together filled with love
Blessed by God from up above
What a marriage, so many cheers
To celebrate now these forty years

Years that have quickly come and went
All their days with you I spent
I love you now as I loved you then
I would my dear marry you again
We had some tears but lots of joys
Truly were  blessed with two fine boys
Now we are slow and growing old
But our sweet love has never grown cold
Thanks to the Lord who sees and hears
And blessed us both these long forty years

Chorous

Forty years forty years
Sharing happiness joy and tears
A life together filled with love
Blessed by God from up above
What a marriage, so many cheers
To celebrate now these forty years


Colin Moffett

Hi from the island!

I have not posted for a long time....but come to read on a regular basis.  How nice to see Colin and Judy posting again.  Love the pictures from Ken and Judith.  Love birds and often paint them.  The third bird in the picture of birds at the bird bath, seemed to be hanging its head and saying...NOT AGAIN.

Jane, I am so very sorry about your daughter.  Have followed your posts for so many years...am still sorry that we could not meet when you visited the island.  Another missed memory.

Have made it thro another year and celebrated my 84th birthday yesterday.  Each year brings more discomfort physically but that is simply part of life.  So fortunate to live in a suite in my daughters home.  Do any of you remember our cat Squeek.  She is 20 yrs. plus and still going strong.  Seems very fragile now and needs a great deal of love and attention.  So of course...she get lots.

My niece from Australia visited this summer.  She brought her Mom and Dads ashes home to Canada and took them to where our Mom, Dad and brother are buried.  It was wonderful seeing her again and it brought my other niece out of hiding for a visit.  Both of them are university professors and I am sure they found us very boring. 

What a sad and broken world we are living in now.  Read that we are living in a Dictatorship of Relativism that does not recognize anything for certain and highest goal is ego and personal desires.  That certainly seems to describe the politicians of our world.

I spend time on a site about rescued animals and find that it helps to restore my faith in the goodness that still exists in our world.  LoveMeow.com......there are lots of them but that is my favorite.  Good people will still win in the end because God is in control.  Our garden is like a sanctuary for wild birds and rabbits, etc.  So much building going on that they do not have a place to live.  We have a large flock of Quail that have come for years, Band tail  pigeons, songbirds, etc.  Even an ornery owl. 

Time to go.  Janet, I love that picture of you.  Also like the white hair.  Mine has not really changed color except to get sprinkled with grey.  So no need for a new photo as still look the same.  Drat....

God Bless. 

Liz

Colin,

Read your poem, "Forty Years," and listened to it on YouTube. What a blessing it is! Alan and I celebrated 47 years this past August 23. We have a daughter and a son and 8 grandchildren. Thank you for sharing this with us all!

Happy Sunday all, It is cooler today and has been snowing in the mountains.  Blessed snow is so important for water for many states- we need more than has been falling in the last few years. 

Colin:  So nice to see your note, I'll listen to your music next. 

Ruth Ann:  Family and friends - they make the best days. 

Liz: Good to see you posting.  It sounds like you have had some nice visiting as well.

Judith:  I am in envy of your talents - keep it coming.  It is so enjoyable to see your work.  Thank you for your work in Poland.

Gord:  Nice for your posting as well, take care.

Larry:  Yes, all our children have lots of hours working and they take a lot of plane trips as well.  There seems to be no other choice at least at this point in their lives.  Is there any way you can find a person to come and help with meals, etc a few days a week?  It would be such a relief for both you and Pat.  Take care of yourselves. 

Colin:  That is so sweet. 

Time to lock the door on these "Thoughts for the Week".

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