In my house, I have always reserved one wall to serve as a "Wedding Wall."  Every aunt and uncle, parent, grandparent,  child, grandchild et.al. has their wedding picture hanging there.  Including Ken and me.  I love to look at those pictures.  They are a reminder of how happy our beginnings were.

I hadn't gotten around to hanging family pictures yet, but Lisa (my little--21 years younger--sister) came and stayed the weekend with me and hung the wedding pictures for me.  The wall has never been in the same room when we moved to a new house, just wherever there was enough space for all the pictures.  This move, the only wall that had enough room was in my bedroom.  So that's where we hung them.   I woke up the next day to a wall covered with my people.  It made me smile.

As she was figuring out which picture went where, it was my job to sit across the room and say, "Up one-fourth of an inch.  Over one inch, etc." until everything was level and balanced.  It took her five hours to get them all up, and there are a million holes in the wall where we missed the placement on the first, second and sometimes third time.  But it is done.  Even and balanced.

One thing at a time, I am getting moved in.

Daniel 5:27  "You are weighed in the balances and are found wanting."  Lisa and I felt like we were never going to get those pictures balanced.  Balancing is also a problem in our lives...sometimes we give too much importance to things that don't matter.  God is "weighing" us and I sure don't want to be found "wanting" in His eyes.  His are the only balances that count.

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God told the Ephesians that  if they repented, He would give them to eat of the tree of life.

He told Smyrna, that if they were faithful he would give them a crown of life.

He told Pergamos that if they repented, he would give them the hidden manna and a white stone.

He told Thyatira that if they held fast till he came, he would give them power over the nations and also the morning star.

God told Sardis that they thought their works were enough, but that they were dead.   (Sometimes we, too, just go through the motions. )  But those of the church who were faithful would "Walk with Me in white."

He told Philadelphia that they would become pillars in the temple, and that he would write upon them his new name.

He told the  Laodiceans that if they overcame, they would sit with him in his throne.

So.  Even though most of these churches didn't please God, he held out hope that if they would repent and obey Him, he would give them something.  None of them got the same thing.

The message is that even though you may not have pleased God in the past, there is hope for the future if you repent.  You get to start over.  God is merciful.

The symbolism in all the things God gave them is typical of the book of Revelation.   As I said a couple of days ago, it is a difficult book.  I certainly don't understand everything in it.  

I have a new great-granddaughter.  "Haven."  Five children, ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  Stacy and Scott's daughter Megan now has two little girls.  And of course they are precious.  If I was in Pryor, I would be rocking them right now.

Psalms 127: 3-5a  "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children...Happy is the man  that has his quiver full of them..."

I used to tell my grandson Steven--when he was sitting on my lap--that he was my favorite grandchild.  Well, one day, as I was holding his brother, I told his brother that he was my favorite grandchild.  Steven said, "Grandmother, I have figured it out.  Whoever is on your lap is your favorite grandchild.  He was right.  They are all my favorites.

A couple of years ago I wrote about a scripture that my grandmother had hanging on her wall.

Psalms 37:25 "I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor their seed (offspring) begging bread."  Now I am old, and so far,  none of my children have had to beg for bread. "Give us this day our daily bread..."

In Revelation, Chapters 1-3, the seven churches could be described as:  1. Ephesus--Loveless.  2. Smyrna--Long suffering.  3. Pergamos--Lax.  4.  Thyatira--Loose, Libertine.  5.  Sardis--Lifeless.  6. Philadelphia--Loyal.  7. Laodicea--Lukewarm.  The "L" makes it easy to remember.

Smyrna pleased God.  Philadelphia was acceptable but was warned to hold fast.   At the end of each description, God gives each church something.  Read about them. That should get you through  chapter three.  There are twenty-two chapters.  No, I'm not going to write about all of them.

Continued...

1 Peter 3:12 "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil."

Revelation 8:3-4 "An...angel came and stood at the altar...there was much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of the saints...And the...prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand."  I can't help but wonder if all our prayers are collected through all time and offered up to God as a sweet aroma.

We are told to pray.  But we are sometimes shocked when God answers our prayers.  We pray as if it was an insurance policy--just in case our own efforts don't pan out.

Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it shall be given you..."  This is Jesus speaking.

John 16:24 "Hitherto have you asked nothing in my name: ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full."  Again, Jesus speaks.

That your joy may be full!!!   That is the reason God answers our prayers.

I have a friend who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.  We have been praying for him that he would not lose his mind.  Today he went to a specialty Alzheimer's clinic in New York and they told him he didn't have it.  That he had been misdiagnosed.  He told me, "I may not have it now, but a few weeks ago...?  The prayers of my family and friends made the difference."

Talk about joy.  He was ecstatic.

My daughter Pat raises horses.  She bred a stallion that was world class, and just when he was marketable at stud, he got cancer and died.  Three years old.  It broke her heart.  She loved that horse.  She nursed him from a baby.  She told me that he (Pharaoh) was in heaven for sure because there were horses in heaven.  I believe that the book of Revelation agrees with her.  In it, John is seeing a vision of heaven:

Rev. 6:2 "And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him...went forth conquering..."

Rev. 6:4 "And there went out another horse that was red....and there was given unto him a great sword."

Rev. 6:5b  "...And I beheld and lo, a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand."

Rev. 6:8a "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name...was Death, and Hell followed with him..."

Rev. 19: ll,13b "And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war...and his name is called The Word of God. "

Remember that John called Jesus the "Word of God" in his Gospel, and letters.   John 1:1,14a "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us..."

Jesus is the Word of God.  And our Bible tells us the story of Jesus.  Read it.  Then read it again.  You don't want to be on the wrong side of the coming conflict.

We are studying the book of Revelation on Sunday mornings this month.  It is a book with a blessing for those who read it.

Revelation 1:3  "Blessed is he that reads and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand."

It is a most difficult book.  Parts of it can be understood outright, but parts of it are a fog to me even though I have read it, and heard many speakers on the subject.  There are evangelists who have spent their lives arguing one point of view or another--without resolution.  All the other books of the Bible are very readable.  But this one, well, all I can say is that God says he will bless you if you try.  So I try.  You might want to try as well.  The biggest controversy concerns the "tribulation."  The seven years, how they are divided, who will remain on earth, and who will suffer.

It helps to break it into parts of "sevens".  The first group is the seven churches.  I underlined each church name in my Bible to give me a visual reference concerning the content.  The same with the next group of seven seals, followed by the seven angels.  If you are going to try and read this book, I recommend that you break it up that way.  It gets you through eleven chapters--half the book.

Let me put it this way:  You will understand enough of it to realize that Jesus will come again.  The world will be judged.  There will be a war.  God's kingdom will be established.  And Satan will be cast out.

Rev. 12:7-8 "And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought, and his angels, and prevailed not..."  God's armies win.

That much I understand.  His kingdom is coming.  "...Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..."  That's what Jesus told us to pray for.

As reported by CNN, 33 million names were "outed" on the adultery web site that was supposed to be secure.  Secret sin.  Thirty three million.  What kind of nation are we??!!  How can God let this go on without punishment?  And then there is "Jared" the Subway guy.  Sick.  Sick.  Sick.

I wonder if people even think about accountability to God any more.  You and I do.  But we have fast become the minority.  We are dinosaurs in a world that is literally charging the gates of Hell.

When I became a Christian, everything I thought or did changed.  I gave myself to God, and as a result, my thoughts and behaviors subsequently had an underlying thought.  "Will this please God?"  He became the motivation for my life.  That is called regeneration.  You are changed when God steps in.  He changes the way you think.  About everything.

There is one simple fact about the nature of the human race.  They choose good, or they choose evil.  And the gulf between those two behaviors is wide.  And we universally recognize which is which.

Those two forces war for the human soul.  You can't sit on the fence.  You either give up your life to God, or you don't.  It is not a halfway thing.  You can't say, "I'll give up these five sins, but I'm keeping these two."  And  then think that you are a better person for it.  God doesn't think like that.  He demands obedience.  Completely.  Every day.  From then on.

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Romans 8:6 "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

People are dying out there and they don't even know it.  Our mission, under God, is to tell the world about Jesus.  Tell them that the price for their sins has been paid.  All they must do to receive eternal life is to repent.  Like it says in Romans, it is a gift from God.  You can't earn it.

August 18 was my wedding anniversary.  Fifty-nine years ago I was so young.  Just starting a life with Ken.  I was so naive.  I had lived in Pryor all my life.  Other than going to Arkansas and Missouri to visit relatives, I had never been anywhere.  Pryor is a small town.  I knew everyone, everyone knew me.

I thank God for letting me grow up there.  It was Eden.  Everyone went to church.  We were for the most part Methodists, Baptists, or Church of God, with a scattering of other denominations.  On mother's day, we wore a red rose to church if our mother was living.  Children could walk home from school. The postman stopped to talk; the milkman put glass bottles of milk on the porch--that froze in the winter and popped the paper cap off--and up--two or three inches into the air.  Oleo was delivered--white--with a little yellow dye pellet inside for you to color it with.  It was probably lard.

I was born and spent my early years under the specter of World War II.  It was all I knew.  Everyday when we all  came home, someone would turn on the news to find out what happened that day overseas.  (No TV back then.)  If you had a dime, you went to the movies on Saturday, and the "shorts" would be footage of the war.   Announced by "Duh-dee-duh, diddile-diddle-dee-duh-tah-duh."  You got to go to the front lines--at the movies--every week.  War news was everywhere you turned.  Churchill and Roosevelt were a well known part of our lives.  The whole nation was united in the war effort.  Everything was rationed.  It was all normal to me, because that was all I had ever known.

The draft was always looming--but many, many joined the military because they wanted to fight.

When the war was finally over, nothing was ever the same.  Women, who had filled the jobs that men had left when they went to war--including my mom--didn't want to go back to the role they had previously held as housewives.   We were the last generation raised with a full-time mom at home.  We were all so blessed.  You don't know what you have until you don't have it any more.

Chris Eck called the other day to tell me that there is going to be a "first ever" reunion of one of Ken's squadrons--one of the ones that he was commanding officer for--VMF 331.  Or maybe it was VMA.

"I won't know anyone," I told him.  "That was fifty years ago.  No one will remember me either.  They are probably all dead.  I was only twenty-five at the time.  Everyone was older than me.  Anyone that I might remember will be in their very late seventies or eighties."

Chris insisted.  So I am going to try and go.  Pensacola.  I can just imagine myself standing around looking lost and wondering what in the world I am doing there.  But it might be fun just to go and watch the younger people and remember what it was like.  Those were the best years of our lives.  And I didn't even know it.

The children were two, six and seven.  The gulf water was two blocks from our house.  We had military housing that was wonderful.  And Ken was happy, happy, happy.  To have a squadron meant the world to him.  I understand that now.  But back then, I had no idea what that meant to him.

He had been in the MC for sixteen years, waiting and dreaming about a squadron of his own.  I, on the other hand was caught up in raising children and all that that entails.  I really didn't understand the Marine Corps.  I didn't understand what it meant to be the commanding officer's wife.  I was just hanging on and trying to figure everything out.  Twenty five years old, and had already moved ten times in the seven years since I married him.  And had given birth to four children.  Mercy.

I think about that girl that I was and wonder how she did it.  When Ken asked me to marry him, he said, "The age difference won't be a problem for me, but it will be difficult for you."  (He was eight and a half years older than me.)   That was an understatement!!

I'd do it all over again.  What a privilege to be a part of the Marine Corps.  Even though I was just on the edges.  Greatest group of people in the world.

I'm sick of TV.  I'm tired of playing solitaire.  I am weary of Sudoku, crosswords and cryptograms.  I have read dozens of books.  There comes a point when enough is enough and I have reached it.  Which probably means that I am on the verge of being back on my feet.  I must be better.

I need to be doing something useful.  I want to do something useful.  Sitting around recovering from surgery is the pits.   The doctor said that I absolutely could not work in the yard, the house, or get hot.  That I couldn't pick up anything, push or pull anything, etc. etc.  And it is over a hundred degrees outside, so I can't cheat and dig in the dirt with my left hand.  I think I am stuck.

Every night when I go to bed, I lie there and think up things that I can do the next day that don't violate instructions.  Today, I hung three pictures, but hammering with my left hand just messed up the wall. I got it done, but it wasn't pretty.

Craig and Becky came over last night and Craig put lightbulbs in my porch light and took the globe down and cleaned it.  Becky Windexed the front glass door.  Watching them work just made me feel guilty that I couldn't help.  They brought ribs, real mashed potatoes, and veggies and apple pie.  I have gained six pounds just eating and sitting.

And I have a metabolism like a freight train.  I don't gain weight.  Or I didn't ever have a problem with gaining weight.  Till now.

I guess you can tell that I am grumpy today.

"A cheerful heart doeth good like a medicine..." Proverbs 17:22

I'm working on it.

Every morning, Becky comes over and unwraps my arm, redresses it and brings me breakfast and leaves my lunch.  Every evening she comes over, unwraps my arm, redresses it and brings me supper.   Moving was the right thing to do.  I couldn't have managed  all this by myself.

When I needed help with Ken the last couple of months of his life, Pat came and stayed with us and took care of all the things I couldn't do.  I thank God for my daughters.

The fact that neither of them have to go to work anymore is a blessing for me.  The fact that they are both good people motivates them to help.  Everyone else in the family has to go to work--they call and ask how I'm doing, however.  It's nice to have people that care.  I'm glad my children like me.

Ann brought chicken salad the other day and a pecan roll from the bakery.  Breakfast and lunch.  Lisa called to say she will come back and stay the weekend with me next week and hang pictures.

I have always taken food to the sick and the grieving.  But I'm going to do better.  You have no idea what food means until you can't fix it for yourself.  It doesn't have to be a five course dinner.  Beans and cornbread work just fine.

Becky was worried that I wouldn't like a broccoli salad she had fixed for me.  Mercy.  I will eat anything that someone brings me and be thankful for it.  She makes me individual portions and freezes them for me all the time--even when I'm not bummed up.

Jesus said:  Luke 10:8 " And into whatsoever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you..."

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eats of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

Revelation 2:7 "To him that overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."  Think about that!!!  We get to eat in heaven.

When I moved, my old antique clock lost one of its spindles.  I called the mover and (surprise) he found it in the cab of the truck!!!  I told him to take it to my daughter-in-law Stacy's business.  So he did.  And they mailed it to me two months ago.  But it never arrived.

Well, Stacy called yesterday and said that the package was (finally) returned to them in shreds.  It has been two months since it was lost.  I didn't think I would ever see it again.  I told Stacy to keep it and I will pick it up some day.  I'm not going to trust the U.S.Postal Service again.  It is one of those things that can't be replaced.  I am so glad that it has been found.

It is just a pretty thing.  I don't wind the clock up because it dings every fifteen minutes and drives me nuts.  Especially at night.  But I love to look at it and wonder about who made it.  Who carved the wood.  It was done by hand, not milled by machine.

I am a sucker for carved walnut.  I can't even imagine the talent that it took to do such a thing as carve the casing for a clock.  Not counting the mechanical workings inside.  God gives us different gifts.  He makes us into something pleasing to Him.  Every talent we have is a gift from Him.

I have a lot of "things."  Useless, unnecessary, but pretty.  And the things that I like, nobody in my family wants.  It's junk to them.  So when I started packing to move, those were the things that I packed first--because I didn't need any of them.  And those are the things that I still haven't unpacked--because they are trivial and not necessary.   I am finding that as I open some of those boxes, I don't really want to mess with most of the stuff inside.  I feel lighter.  Less encumbered.   The only reason to keep something is because it belonged to someone I loved.  A remembrance.

Those are memories that I want to keep.  To look at.  To remind me of the wonderful people that God gave me.  How blessed I am.



                                                                                                                                                                                                         

I found out something this week with my right arm out of commission.  I can't brush my teeth with my left hand.  Or brush my hair.  Lipstick, etc., etc.  I am totally inept.  It is pretty pitiful.  Which made me think about all those people coming home from war without arms or hands.  Just think of the effort they have to make to function.  Think of all the hours that they have to practice to be able to learn new skills.  We owe them such a debt--that we can never repay.  God bless them.

I am thankful for my hands.  For my bummed up right arm--I have an arm.  Which incidentally the surgeon thinks has been fixed--hopefully.  And my hand works and my fingers wiggle.  So I won't have to learn to brush my teeth with my left hand after all.  I have a two inch open wound on my right elbow that is healing from the inside out.  So far, so good.

We are such a short-sighted people.  We see what is wrong--and for the most part ignore or forget what is right--until it breaks.  And then we grieve for what has been lost.  It would be better if we got up every morning and thanked God for all the things that are going right.  All the things that we have, rather than what we haven't got.

He is so good to us.  Why do we constantly complain???  Perhaps it is because we don't take our problems to the Lord.  And don't leave them there.   We like to worry our problems to death.

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come unto me (Jesus), all of you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Rest.  Peace.  And a light burden.  I need a yoke like that.  You do, too.

There are things that Ken did that were out of the ordinary.  When he was Commanding Officer of Squadron 331 in Beaufort, there was a man that Ken thought so much of that he wrote a recommendation that he be promoted from the enlisted or warrant ranks to Lieutenant.   Those things have to go through channels, which wasn't good enough for Ken.  He hand carried the recommendation to Washington and waited there until it was approved.

I don't know who pinned the bars on Chris, but I do know that their friendship lasted through the years.  Chris called me the other day and we exchanged stories about Ken.  It was good to talk to an old friend.  He and his wife live in Calico Rock, Arkansas on the White River.

The anesthesiologist that put me to sleep Monday was a retired helicopter pilot.  I love military people.  Probably because I understand them.  It is nice when you can connect with people on common ground.  "What are you doing in medicine," I asked him.  "You were a pilot, why did you switch?

"Well, you can't afford to fly when you get out unless you are independently wealthy," he told me.

"That's why Ken quit flying when he got out.  He used to tell me that if you didn't fly every day or two that you were an accident waiting to happen."

"It's not the flying that kills you," Ken said.  "It's the thing that goes wrong that you haven't practiced recovering from over and over again.   That takes time in the aircraft."

"And that takes gasoline."

"And that takes a lot of money."

Everything went perfectly.  It doesn't hurt as bad as I thought it would.  But of course, I'm on pain killers and am as loopy as a goose.

"Come unto me all ye that are....heavy laden and I will give you rest."   Matthew 11:28

I didn't realize how heavy this arm weighed on my soul until the doctor said, "There was a lot of dead tissue inside the elbow.  I removed it all--so maybe this will stop the recurring infection."

I certainly hope so.

Becky stayed with me at the hospital the entire time, an has come home with me for 24 hours.  The doctor told me, "No lifting, pulling--no anything.  I am grounded.  And Becky wields a mean whip.

But I can type.  God is good.

I will write something more interesting than stuff about "me" tomorrow!!!!!!

This will be short.  I am on my way to surgery.  My prayer is that the surgeon doesn't damage the nerves that control my fingers.  I would be very very sad if something happened that I couldn't type or play the piano.  This blog has become the most important thing I do every day.  It brings me joy that so many of you seem to benefit.  Your cards, letters, emails and phone calls lift my spirit.

I never thought of myself as a writer, but all of you seem to think that I am.  So maybe that is what I am.  A writer.  My head is full of stories.  My heart is full of peace.

I am so blessed.  God has been so good to me.  Looking back, I can see where he has been in everything that has come my way.  He is faithful.

How do we become the children of God?  By accepting his gift to us.  A sacrifice for each and every sin we have ever committed.  Jesus, the Lamb of God from the foundation of the earth.  His blood covers it all.  He gives us what we could never give ourselves.

Only one requirement.  Repentance.

And then, His Spirit comes to live within us.  To help us think.  To help us be strong.  To help us know what He would have us do with our lives.  To give us that peace that passes all understanding.

God bless you.

My nature is cheerful.  I am a very happy person.  I just roll with the punches.  But.....I am starting to get a little discouraged with this arm.  The infection has now spread, settled into my elbow, abscessed, and now I have to go have surgery next Monday to remove the bursa.  I hope that this does it.  I am never going to get my strength back if I can't get rid of all this infection.  (Well, that's about it for whining.)

I am optimistic that this surgery will fix part of the problem.  I am mixing optimism with prayer.  I called my brother, (Dr. Bill) and asked him about it and he said that he had the same thing, and the same surgery and to just "Do it."  So I am.

This surgeon was examining and pressing heavily into my elbow, and after a while, he looked up at me and said, "Doesn't this hurt?"  Well, duh.  But I figured he was doing what he had to do.  "Yes, it hurts a lot."

He said, "But you didn't react when I pushed on it."  And I said, "I don't react.  I figure you are doing what you need to do--so I figure that what I need to do is let you do it. So please, get done with what you are doing."

I am sure there is a lesson to be learned in all of this, but for the life of me I can't figure out what it is. I don't think that God makes us sick, or hurts us.  I think he will use it for his glory if we endure what comes our way with a confidant spirit that He won't give us more than we can bear.

So...........I hope someone out there is learning something.  I hope someone out there is gaining some knowledge from all this stuff I'm going through.  Because I'm sure not.  Therefore, it must be for you that I have to go through this???  Mercy!!!   I can do it if I think something good will come from it.

1 Corinthians 10:13 "There is no temptation (problem) taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer (let) you to be tempted above that you are able, but will, with the temptation (problem) also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it."

God is always God.  He doesn't change.  And the truth is always true--no matter what you think about it.  In today's politically correct world, it is now a hate crime to quote God's Word on some subjects that God considers sin.  Which means that we no longer have religious freedom of speech if we choose to disagree with current political policy.  But we, as a people, do not get to decide what is sin, and what isn't.  God decides that.

I can't even imagine how we got here.  I guess it was one step at a time.  In the fifties, everybody agreed on what was right, and what wasn't.  But as disobedience to the Word of God became more and more prevalent, fewer and fewer people spoke against it.  Everything you said became a personal indictment on another person instead of an indictment on Godless behavior.

And then the preachers quit talking about Hell.  Or about damnation.  Or about eternity.  Or even about what the Bible has to say about behaviors that are abhorrent to God.  It was a good way to lose your job.  It was easier to just quit talking about it.  Talk about love.  Everybody loves love.

But if you are a person who is trying to please God, you need to be aware of what types of behaviors he condemns.  And what kinds of behaviors he blesses.  Otherwise you will miss it.  The Bible is not a smorgasbord,  where you take what you like and discard the rest.  You must take it all.  The truth is always true and the Bible has been translated into everyday English so you can understand the meaning of it.  You can compare translations.  I do it all the time when the pastor says something that I am not sure is in agreement with God's Word.  Preachers aren't God.  I always check.

God is always God.  He doesn't change.  And the truth is always true.  We must hold on to that.  There is an old saying, "You don't have to hate the sinner to hate the sin."

You and I are sinners, too.  Maybe not the same sins, but to God, it's all sin.  And the road to redemption always means you must repent.  Which is not the same as being sorry.  Repentance means that you do a one-eighty and head in the opposite direction.  Permanently.

I have read nine or ten books through all this.  I am so thankful for my eyes.  Can you even imagine being blind.  What a blessing our eyes are.  A real miracle.  But without light, sight is useless.

Genesis 1:2b-3 "...darkness was on the face of the deep...and God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness."

The first thing God did was give us light.

Psalms 119:105 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

And He gave us His Word.

Matthew 5:14a, 16 "You are the light of the world....let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

And we became His light to the world.  Good works are our duty so that others can see God.

John 1: 1-2,4,9 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God....in Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.  That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world."

Jesus is the light of the world.  He made all things concerning God crystal clear.  He was in the beginning.  He is the true light whereby men can see all things clearly.

If you aren't reading your Bible, start now.  Start in the book of John.  You're going to love it.

Becky and Pat, my two daughters, managed to miss all the drama here at home.  Pat was on the the East coast, and Becky was in Paris.  They are home now.  But Ann and Lisa stood in the gap.  They said that "Those Two Girls" had better coordinate their plans for travel in the future so that one of them is here at all times.  That is probably a good idea.  I am now officially "The Problem."

Becky called in the middle of it all to say she was going to a Paris flea market, and what kind of trinket did I want her to find for me.  "I don't want stuff,"  I told her.  "Bring me French pastries."  She did. I froze them and I have been eating them for breakfast each morning.  There is nothing like real French pastry, bread and sweet rolls.  This morning I had a croissant that had been filled with French chocolate.  There is no chocolate in America to compare with real French chocolate.  Yummy.

I think I could live in France--for the food.  We usually stay on a short "Rue" where everything you could possibly want is on two blocks of the street.  Meat  and fish markets, cheese and every kind of fresh fruit and vegetable.  Chocolate shops, restaurants. You wake up every morning to the clanging of the trucks coming in from outside the city with their wares.  Everything is fresh.  You live upstairs over the street and come down to buy what you want to eat that day.  I never tire of French food.  And the crepes, Oh my.  They raise butter and cream to a new level.  I could eat fresh French butter with a spoon.  It comes straight from the farm to your table.  I see why Julia Child was so taken with it.

God has given us so many wonderful foods.  And such variety.  Think of all the kinds of fruit trees.  Nut trees.  Meats.  Vegetables.  And yeast--the perfect ingredient with which to make bread.  I could live on yeast-bread, butter and raspberry jam.

Genesis 1:29-30 "And God said, Behold, I have given to you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat;  And it was so."

I'm really glad "it was so."

I am still not well, but the doctor has said I can start getting back to normal.  Slowly.  I don't have enough strength to do it any other way anyway.  My arm is peeling.  I look like a snake shedding its skin.  I am through writing about this.  Enough.  I'm sick of it.

I have been reading a series of books set in England about Tyndale--who translated the Bible into English and was burned at the stake  by the "Church" in 1536 for doing so.  He smuggled Bibles into England so that people could read God's word in English for themselves.

There is nothing like reading God's word for yourself.  It puts to rest all the doctrines of all the churches that would try to deceive you.  It is not the church that holds the keys to the kingdom.  It is Christ.  "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done..."

Through the years I have become angry from time to time with my own church--really, not the church, but the hierarchy that sends recommendations down from above--lately their position of the role of women in the church.  But I remain a member of my denomination for three main reasons.

1.  They put their focus on missions as the primary role of the church.  Establishing churches in places that there are none, and supporting them from then on.  Missionaries don't have to come to the USA to raise funds.  We give "here" to support them "there".

2.  Every church is independent.  The local church makes all decisions concerning its own operating and financing.  People of the body serve on committees that make recommendations for approval or disapproval by the membership.  All expenditures are decided at the local level.  We can reject recommendations that come down from The Convention.  And we often do.

3. This one is the "biggie,"  for me.  We are called "People of the Book."  It is our only source of doctrine.  Everyone is encouraged to read it daily.  When disagreements arise, there are sometimes no resolutions.  But for the most part, everyone studies until they understand both sides of the question.  And the Bible is the only source of reference.  What else could you possibly need?

Find yourself a church that encourages you to read God's word, then read it.