Whom do you follow?

In my blog 20-40-60 I talked about the 3 periods of time in my life. This happened when I was 13. I was raised on a farm in east central South Dakota.  We were haying, and getting ready to cut grain.  My dad needed to get our car from one place to another and the men were busy, so I was asked if I would drive the car home.  All excited,  it didn't take long for me to say yes.  I was following my Uncle LeRoy to our farm;  there was an  S curve in the gravel road.  Uncle LeRoy decided to do a fish tail, you know, sort of make the back end of his car slide around the curve.  I decided to do the same!  Little problem, though: I lost control of the car and caught an approach with the front end .  After the car flipped twice,  it continued to roll 3 more times.  The last thing I saw was the car coming down on top of me.  It must not have been my time.  I don't know how or why but it stopped.  My Uncle LeRoy was my idol.  I thought anything he did was great. it  I wanted to be just like him.  Well it didn't work!  It wasn't his fault; he was just showing off.  He had no idea that I would try the same thing.  In life we have to be careful whom we decide to follow. This could have cost me my life.  

In life today it isn't any different.  We chose to follow those that we idolize more often then we should.   It could be a pastor in error, singer, movie star, the list goes on and on.  The choices that we make could result in lift or death, both physically and spiritually.  If  it weren't eternal it would be a different matter.  The choices we  should make in life should always be based on what the Bible teaches: it's the only book of truth.  If I believe something that the Bible doesn't teach,  it is error.  If I teach something that is error,  the consequences are not good.  But though we, or an Angel from Heaven,  Preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you,( Jesus Christ and Him Crucified), let him be accursed.GALATIANS 1:8 (KJV).  This is so important that Paul restates it in verse 9.  There is a song that I learned in Sunday school as a child. It went, " Oh be careful little eye what you see, and little ears what you hear, and little hand at what you do.   There's a Father up above, looking down in tender love so be careful little eyes what you see."  When you enter junk into a computer,  junk comes outand, it's the same for our minds and our spirits..  When I stand before the Lord at my judgement no one else will be there except me and my advocate Jesus.  Don't make choices that you won't be able to defend!   Decide today to ask for forgivness and ask Jesus into your heart.  If you are saved,  ask the Lord to show you if there is error in your walk with Him.  It has life or death consequences.

Whose is this, anyway??

Friday is my donut day.  I go to Casey's and buy my coffee, two donuts for myself, and every few weeks I also buy a box of day-olds for the boys at work.  Yesterday when I got to work, I started computing, in my mind, the monetary cost of "donut day".  Let's see, that's $1.29 for the coffee (which I really didn't need since we already have coffee at work, already paid for), $l.60 for the donuts,( which are my favorite food, by the way, but I didn't need them because I had cereal and milk and juice in the refrig at work).  Comes to $l50.28 a year.  Then if I include the box of "day-olds" for $3.99, say 12 times a year, that's another $47.88 .  So pretty much $200.00, plus tax.  The Lord was teaching me something about STEWARDSHIP.  With that same $200.00, I could sponsor a child in a 3rd World country for most of a year--pay for their food, schooling, and to hear the gospel!  That stopped me in my tracks--I even gave away one of my fresh donuts!

I'm not saying the Lord told me to never have donuts and coffee again.  He just was trying to show me how I could better put to use His money, because everything ultimately belongs to God.  He wants me to live my life with an awareness of Him in ALL my ways.

Del gave me this example this morning when we were talking about this.  His friend, Mike, owns some farm land.  He leases this land to a guy who pays on share-crop basis, that is, when he sells his crop, he pays a percentage to Mike.  Now, if he were the type of guy without a lot of integrity, he could lie to Mike and keep more of the money for himself.    Isn't that what we do when we, for example, keep our tithes for ourselves?

My favorite verse, which I refer to daily is Prov.3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path."
The word also says in 3Jn. 1:2 "Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper, and be in health, even as your soul prospers." KJV  The Lord wants us to prosper financially, but on his terms--it is more important to him that our souls prosper.

Donuts, coffee--that's ok.  But God is teaching us through the simple things of life,  how to be better stewards for him.

Lord, help me to trust you and acknowledge you, even when we're spending your money!

Notes on my Catholic School Education

I attended Holy Name Catholic School from  first through eighth grade.  We were taught by the Sisters of the Order of St. Francis.  They traveled from their home office in Pennsylvania out to South Dakota, a journey fraught with worry over the terrible conditions they would encounter out here in the provinces.  

I was quite interested, and kind of intimidated, by these women, dressed as they were in veils and long black habits, and a long rosary at their side.  They all had odd names, except for their first names, which were all the same, Mary. Sister Mary Flaventia 

Sister Mary Veneranda , Sister Mary Henriella,  Sister Mary Wilhelmina (7th and 8th grades, lucky us!)  Sister Wilhelmina was kind of mean, in fact, we called her Sr. Wills a mean one behind her back, although I can't remember exactly why.   Third and fifth grade teachers were lay teachers, Mrs. Morrison in 3rd (when we had 50 kids in our class), and Mrs. Bachman in 5th (she read us all the Little House Books.)

In 7th grade, when the state mandated physical education, our PE teacher was a volunteer from the church.  She was about 4'6" tall and really old!  I can't remember her name, but I do remember, and practice some beauty tips she taught us girls.  She also taught us to square dance, which we got to do with the boys!

Mostly I remember the sisters being kind, sometimes crabby or impatient.  Were they perfect?  Absolutely not--no more than any other teacher facing a classroom of imperfect kids.

They were disciplinarians--so we learned self-discipline.

They were very firm on good manners.  We stood whenever an adult came into the room.  In fact, the girls had to curtsy, and the boys, bow when an adult entered our classroom.  

We had to say, "Good morning, Sister!" and "Yes,  Sister" and "No, Sister"  If we were going out the door, we knew to hold the door for any and all adults that were also going out.  We had to stand when called on to answer a question in class.  We certainly were well-mannered by the time we graduated from 8th grade.  It certainly set us apart when we went to public school in 9th grade.  Our teachers there told us we didn't need to stand to answer questions in class, but those habits were hard to break!!  I still have excellent manners, I am happy to say.  I don't interrupt when people are engaged in conversation, for example...

We learned to work by having to clean the new convent from top to bottom!  It was fun!

We had to sit with our hands folded on our desk, and maintain eye contact with Sister when she was speaking to us, so we learned to pay attention.

The sisters taught us a lot about not thinking "impure thoughts".  I'm sure I didn't really understand what that meant, but I know now--and I'm glad that they were faithful about teaching us.  

We also learned about staying away from "bad companions"--also a truth, which a person should know.  Many a person has been led astray by bad companions.

They taught about refraining from sin in "thought, word and deed"--something I pray about nearly every day.   We learned about keeping a short account with God--that is confessing our sins daily.  We learned that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and that he rose from the dead--both events were important for our salvation. 

Many of us, myself included, attended daily Mass before school.  We said the Stations of the Cross each Friday during lent.  We prayed the rosary in school, a practice I continued even as a teenager.  

The day of the Kennedy assassination, we were ushered down to the church, where we prayed for our President.

I have to say that we received an extraordinary education back in the 60's at Holy Name School.  We didn't always like it at the time, but looking back, I can see the important things that we were taught, in addition to the usual subjects.

Thanks, Dad, for sending me.

Sin and deliverance

   Jesus said unto Him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life:  no man comes unto the Father, but by me.  JOHN14:6 (KJV) .  Today I want to talk about Sanctification.  Fat: I have lost over-- who knows, maybe 600#. I have been on every diet plan from clubs, to nothing but meat, the same results every time, lose a lot, gain a lot.  The endless merry-go-round! One day I was listening to a Bible teacher,  Brother Larson. He was talking about how we as Christians are always willing to ask God to help when sin has taken us farther then we want to go. His illustration was,  "We'll be so quick to want to kick a youth out of youth group because we saw them smoking. While we are sitting at the table talking about his problem.  Honey could you bring us some more coffee, and oh another piece of pecan pie, my you shur make good pie, sweetie. Then when we weigh 400l# we ask God  to help us to lose weight. Willing to want help with the result of our sin, but never dealing with the sin. The sin is gluttony!"   Ouch!  That hit a nerve!  That got my attention!  I  was 397#,  on 14 medications and over 220 units of insulin.  I took him seriously.   I had been praying for help with my weight.  If we confess our sins,  He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1JOHN 1:9(KJV).  It seemed so simple, but it was hard for me to admit that I was wrong, living in a sinful condition for 55 years.  In PROVERBS it says raise up a child in the way he shall go and when he is old he will not depart from it.  As a child I was expected to eat everything on my plate, the old standard line, all the starving children in the world, my answer, send it to them.  Living to eat was a sin, and it turned into a lifestyle.  It is a subject that is very rarely addressed,  because in the church setting,  a lot of toes would be stepped on.  After I realized I was living in sin, I asked for forgiveness.   I call it a miracle.   My appetite was cut in half, then, after a while,  it was cut to a third.  In 1 year the Lord Has taken me from 397 lb. to 308 lb.  Many times people ask how did you do it?  And I always answer, " I confessed the sin of gluttony and the Lord delivered me."  I don't have a goal weight that I want to accomplish because that would be me in control.  I will be satisfied where ever the Lord takes me.  One of the benefits of the miracle is that my medicine costs  have dropped greatly.  Will it work for you ?  I don't know, that's between God and you.  Does He want to do it for you?  When we reach the point in our lives when we repent of our sin, whatever it may be, and seek the Lord's help, then he will be faithful and just to forgive.   In Proverbs it says acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will direct your paths.    

20-40-60

   This title may seem a little  different but the content is the way life was shown to me when I turned 60. The first 20 years of my life I was trying to make things happen on my terms.  I couldn't  make things move fast enough. It was during this time span that I made a lot of mistakes, but I also learned a lot of lessons.  Later Pat and I will go into more depth about some of the situations we found ourselves in.  It should encourage young people in that period of their lives, and in some cases we hope that they will find answers to where they are at in life, and the help that only Jesus can give.
    Then came the 40s. This time in our lives we went through some of the toughest times, our marital problem, financial problems,health problems, employment problems, spiritual problems, teen aged children problems.  We thought that we were set as far as life was concerned but came to find in ourselves we were desperately short.  Pat and I will spend more time in this period then in any other span of our lives.
    Then came the 60s. "It isn't over yet!" is  the theme of this time in our lives.   Everything that we see so clearly now, seemed foolish thinking then.  And the things we thought were so wise back then, well, some of them anyway, seem downright silly now!   We had the basics back then, but lacked the wisdom.  Now we have a broader, more mature view.  We aren't saying that you will be able to avoid the maturing process.  It is a necessity.  But we want to encourage you to keep on running the race, fueling it with the Word and prayer, doing it together.
  My personal salvation testimony was just the beginning.  By sharing our combined testimonies we hope to speak to all ages that find themselves in the situations we found ourselves in. The scripture in closing that has has been proven to us.  Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. ECCLESIASTES 1:2 (KJV).

Know the Truth !

    What is the truth?  There is a scripture that has been in my  spirit for a long time. Three years ago, when I left my full time employment, I knew that the Lord was starting our full time ministry. However,  by the third day,  I drove back to the parking lot and wanted to go back in and ask for my job back.  The Lord spoke to me and said don't  go back, and I listened.  Did I understand?  No, but I listened. This isn't the scripture that I referred to above, but it is another of our favorites:  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your understanding.   In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths Prov. 3:5-6 (KJV).  I am digressing, but we will talk about that another time.

    The Scripture that I've had in my heart so long is, " And you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free." Jn. 8:32(KJV).  This is how it was  was shown to me in a way that I could understand: if you let a bird out off a cage it has been set free, if you put a horse into a corral from the stable,  it has been made free. What's the difference?  Set, make, it's all the same! In my mind  I saw that the bird could go anywhere it chose to go, but the horse could only go within the parameters that were set by the corral. Both are freedoms.    Because we have the truth of the Word of God, we are free, but like the horse in the corral, we have parameters.

My friend Mike and I were sitting at the Power Show.  It was in a small town and it was a small  crowd.  "Did you see that?"  I asked what? His reply was "I didn't think I would see that in this setting".  I looked around and said "oh".  It was quiet obvious what he was talking about.  We don't share the same faith, so I asked  how he felt about what we had seen.  His reply! If it doesn't involve me I have no problem with it. He never asked how I felt about the situation.  The difference was I had boundaries!  The  Bible gave me a instant answer to what we both observed.  Knowing the Truth in that situation made it easy to make a decision of how I felt.   If I would have tried to make Mike accept the truth of the Word, it would have turned into conflict.

           Some day my prayer is that Mike will know the Truth, so I will continue to talk to him on the
          phone, spend time with him watching tractor pulls, listen to his philosophy, love him
          Jesus does.  And maybe, if I don't grow weary in well-doing, Mike will someday be made free.

         

Three Little Words

     Our words have such power!  They have the power to encourage one another, and the power to hurt and sting.  If I could address a group of church youth or children,  that is what I would tell them.
     I know a young woman who, as a teen, was at a youth meeting in another state with a large group of teenagers from all over the country.  There were just a few girls her age that she knew from her own church.  This young lady was at that fragile point in her life where she could go either way--to go "all in" for the Lord, or to turn away.  Unfortunately, she chose to turn away because of the unkind things that were said to her by two girls in her own youth group.
     Now don't get me wrong!  I am not holding those two girls responsible for making another girl turn away from the Lord.  She made that choice herself, and can only blame herself for the problems that choice caused.  My point is that we never know how the words we say to some one can affect them.  We don't necessarily know when someone is teetering in their faith.  So maybe our words should always be kind, should be encouraging--maybe we should treat every soul as though he or she were in a fragile state.  Ps. 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."  KJV
   I heard the following story from my friend, Gayle, and I trust that she won't mind my sharing it.
A family member of hers, a young man, told her this story about himself:
     He had been raised in a Christian home, and for the early part of his life, he served the Lord.  Then at some point, he strayed.  He became involved with some people and habits that drew him away from his faith.  I can't remember all the problems he had, but let it suffice to say, his life was pretty messed up.
     Then one day he stopped at a convenience store to get some gas.  When he went in to pay, the lady that was cashiering said "God bless you"  to him as he was leaving.  Somehow, some way, God used those three little words to touch this young man's heart in such a deep way, that he slowly, but surely returned to the Lord, and is now serving him!
     Lord, I pray that the words of  my mouth would be acceptable in your sight!  

fools for God?

Let me begin by telling you a little about us.  We are a married couple who have managed to stay together , by the grace of God, for 36 years.   Our children are grown up and raising families of  their own.  Del is a school bus driver, and I am an office manager in a trucking company.  We are simple, ordinary people, but we long for more--to be used by our Lord.

By the standards of the world we live in, we aren't considered wise and successful!  For example, we didn't finish college.  We haven't saved nearly enough money for retirement.  We don't even own our own home.  We have made so many mistakes, done so many stupid thing--things our dads told us not to do--things we knew better not to do--things that hurt others.  I think you get the idea.  But the amazing thing is this:  Our God has said he would use the foolish things of this world to confound the wise!  Surely that must mean us!

At this point in our lives, more than ever, our hearts long to serve God, to honor him, to share the Gospel, to encourage fellow believers, and to lead unbelievers to Christ.
This is the sole purpose of this blog.  We hope you will visit often.  We will be sharing our testimonies, insights from the Word,  a little humor, a few experiences.  But the main thread through all we say on this blog will the Lord Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

1Cor. 3:18-19
Stop fooling yourselves.  If you count yourselves above average in intelligence, as judged by the world's standards, you had better put all that aside and be a fool rather than let it hold you back from the true wisdom from above.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God.  TLB