Category: Country Life Messages

Country Life Messages, faith, Family, Hope, Life, love, marriage, Missions, Reflection

Life and Blueberries

A. Knight

You’ve heard the quote, “Life is like a bowl of cherries”, right? It’s actually from a song (I’ve never heard it) written by Lew Henderson in 1931 and actually written as “life is just a bowl of cherries”. Well, for us, life has been more blueberries.

Today, 42 years ago, we became husband and wife in Donalsonville, GA. Quite a unique story. It’s one for the records…pun intended, as we were married in the Radio Shack. It doesn’t exist anymore, but we do–by the grace and mercy of God.

You may think blueberries is an odd way to describe us. Well, let me tell you. You know when you are picking blueberries and you are picking fast–when you get home with your bowls and buckets of berries, and blue fingers, you dump them in the sink to give them a good rinsing…and you spy little leaves, and most likely some berries that aren’t quite ready…some that are “over-ready”. There is likely even a bug or two.

You remove the leaves and any bug. The green ones that snuck in there by accident have got to go. And you remove the ones that are downright squished. You’ve already decided on the jars for the jelly or jam. They’ve been washed and prepared. I can actually still see this going on in my granny’s old kitchen with it’s unleveled floor. She would have her handmade apron on and the hot kitchen would smell like sweet berries and pie. There would be a box fan sitting on the floor working as hard as it could to pull the hot June air out of the kitchen, only to circulate it right back in through the open window screens. Another box fan propped in the dining room window pulling air out to the hot Alabama summer.

The summer of blueberries I remember most vividly was the one in ’82. We drove up to the old log homeplace with it’s huge oak trees shading the road and house, and we parked near her pale green Monte Carlo. No one lived there except birds, snakes, mice and I’m sure some other critters. But there were two or three large blueberry “trees” in the back yard. They were actually bushes, but you had to use a ladder to get the ones from the top.

I can still see that little white haired granny of mine, standing on the ladder, with her sister, Votylee down below holding on to the ladder. Two little old ladies who had no business doing that–but as they say, “somebody had to do it”, or there would be no jelly. I called out to her as we rounded the corner of the house. We talked very briefly before I came right to the point. “Granny? Guess what?”

“What”, was her instant reply, in her little granny voice. “We got married today”.

“Whaaat?” This “what” was more drawn out in disbelief. She peered down at us, holding hands under the blueberry bush. She loved Jeff to pieces. He was a fishing buddy. She knew we were dating–but she was surprised at the suddenness.

I’m sure she asked a few questions, we answered and told her of our love for one another and then left her to her berry picking. When my life had fallen apart–Granny was who I moved in with. Later, I moved in with my cousin and we shared rent in an old house very near Granny’s.

Our life has had some leaves. It’s had some green berries that were not ready to be picked–and some that were over ripe. But in all the 42 years of our lives, we have made many beautiful jars of blueberry jelly (not really jelly, just a sweet life).

We’ve had to choose to discard the leaves and berries not fit for use in the jelly–and keep (in our memories) the best ones for jelly-making. There were times, if we both sat down with you face-to-face, we would tell you how hard it was. Very few people in our lives know the depth of the difficulties. But they also know the commitment–and the dedication that we have in our love for one another, and our family.

I asked Jeff last night if he wondered at times if we would make it. He quickly said, “no”. But he knew as well as I did, we both wondered in the extremely hard times. But God.

We chose God first. We put Him first. Yes, there were times we slipped and allowed other things or occupations, people, events, circumstances to overstep the boundaries; but we realized quickly what was happening and the destruction coming, and we lined things back up in the correct order: God, one another, our children, our extended family, church/jobs, then everything else.

It takes a daily exercise of purposeful love. We are much older than the 26 and 20 year old that we were. Our love has advanced to a strength that is what it is today ONLY because of God being first in our lives. Things aren’t always pretty. Days aren’t always fully of joy and giggles. Tears have ran more times than I would care to count… but the love and peace we have today is a testament to God’s faithfulness to His own.

We aren’t rich in money–but we are wealthy in love. We’ve had times where it was hard to buy groceries and pay all the bills. In this economy even now–there are struggles, just like everyone else. But the economy should have no bearing on the love inside the hearts and four walls of a home you build as husband and wife. If you only love when things are going well–you are in for trouble.

So, on our 42nd anniversary, we want to encourage you younger people… who are “thinking” of marriage. If God is not first in your life NOW, before marriage, it will be hard to make sure He stays first later.

If you are already married, and life just has more leaves and green berries, take the time to reorganize things. Prioritize your life in the order God meant it to be. Don’t compare your husband or your wife to another person. We are all individuals. You married them knowing who they were. What you loved about them in the beginning is still there. Find it. Stop wishing things were better–be intentional about the days you have NOW. Only you, your spouse, and God, can fix what’s wrong. Don’t be too proud to seek help. Christian counseling is available. (I’m not a counselor, but I do know a great one!).

It won’t work if only one is trying. This has to be a joint effort of 100% + 100%. It won’t be perfect. But God will be with you. If you aren’t willing to try–then I’m truly sorry for your spouse. And I will pray for you–both.

Get in the Word. Pray.

If you have devotions together, fantastic. If you don’t, it’s okay. BUT have devotional time with God yourself. The rest will come in time. Pray for each other. Make that a priority in your daily devotions.

You can still make the best blueberry jelly or jam in the world–if you remove the things that have no business in the jelly jar.

And don’t forget to add lots of sugar 😉

Photo credit: Blueberries, free from Pixabay.com

Bottom photo credit: Connie Haile, photographer extraordinaire.

Country Life Messages, Family, Grandchildren, Thankful Thursdays

Love Them

A. Knight
Biscuits and gravy. Pixabay free stock photo.

…..We lived on or was surrounded by dirt roads for most all our girls lives and they were well acquainted with them.  I was that mama though, who was constantly telling them what to look out for.  You would think with all the warning I did that I never let them have fun.  But I did.  They had the privilege of growing up country.  Living in the country and enjoying every aspect and freedom it offered.  They rode their bikes down almost every dirt road in the area with cousins and friends.  They were always home when they were supposed to be.  If they got into a pickle while they were out– they had enough common sense to deal with it.  They had certain freedoms when they were adolescents, and as they were growing up–more freedom was given- as the maturity level advanced.

The WHOLE story is found here on my personal blog.

Country Life Messages, Thanksgiving

Choices

A. Knight

Tenth Avenue North has a song entitled, You Are More.  A-m-a-z-i-n-g message.  Struck me the first time I heard it.

You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.

Over and over the past few weeks it has played through my mind every time I heard of someone’s bad choice–or wrong “timed” choice-

I remembered my own bad choices.  Wrong timed choices.  Stupid choices.   But then, there was a choice that I made that changed my forever.  My God choice.  When He called, I answered.  My final answer–affecting my forever choice.

Today, I had lunch with someone dear to my heart and through the conversation –I began to see a picture.  I came back and finished editing one I had taken a few weeks ago on a weekend of “rest”… 🙂

The bridge had been ruined with years of graffiti –but it still stood. Thankfully, a good photo shop editing took care of the graffiti.  I added words and a sprinkling of snow…

I leave you with the picture–and an encouragement to look UP.

He’s guiding.

Pay attention.

Burn only the bridges that have led you the wrong way.

Happy Happy Happy Thanksgiving!

© Angie Knight- The Knightly News

Country Life Messages, Devotion, faith

Keeping Up Appearances

A. Knight

Originally posted with Internet Cafe`

Sometime last year, I removed the “fake” silk flowers from the pots stationed at my front door in sentinel fashion.

My “real” flowers had died due to lack of water, but the pretty, lacy, Creeping Jenny had survived.

I had complained about my lack of time to “green up” my thumb and a friend had suggested, “Put some fake flowers in the pot! No one will ever notice!”

So I had plopped some lively looking silks in the pot…you know…. to keep up appearances. But since the colors of the silks had faded, it was time (long past time) to remove them from their station.

Days later as I stepped up to enter the door, I looked down and noticed all the new growth of the Creeping Jenny.

With the “fake”  removed, the little peeping, creeping ground cover had plenty of room to shoot forth in new growth! It was then that I thought of all the times we “put on” a pretty façade of having and doing the right things in life–in order to “fit in.” Yet, all the while we lack spiritual growth. Many times it’s because we have not removed the “dead or fake” from our lives, and Christ has no room to grow and mature us into what HE intends for us to be! 

“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To shew that the LORD [is] upright: [he is] my rock, and [there is] no unrighteousness in him.” Psalm 92:12-15 KJV 

Join me today in seeking to weed out what is unnecessary–the things that we tuck in just to “keep up appearances.”

The very burden of that idea of having to conform to others is what weighs us down!

God has called us to a specific walk. What He requires of me will sometimes look different than what He may require of you. But the goal is to seek HIM daily, allow HIM to do the uprooting of the fake: planting instead righteousness and all the spiritual gifts that will bring GLORY to HIS NAME!

By the way, “fake plants” have no roots. They only look good a short time as the sun fades them quickly–and when you get close—you can tell they are fake… Just in case you wondered. 

 © Angie Knight–The Knightly News. All rights reserved. Originally posted on Internet Cafe`.

Country Life Messages, faith, Family, Wanda

Musings From February~The Steadfast Anchor

A. Knight

If you have any familiarity with trees at all…you recognize this shedding trunk.

If you have any imagination at all (as Anne of Green Gables might say), you will see that the frail, even crispy slices of this tree resembles the fragile dollar bill. Yes. You heard me right.

Actually for two little girls, who had never even held a dollar bill, these pieces of crepe myrtle tree trunk fit the bill for us playing “store keepers”, selling watermelons by the road side at our grandmother’s house in the summer. To be more precise, it was “Mamo’s house”.

The road was the very old fashioned kind. (Just as everything else in those days.)  Simple sand and clay mixture. Just plain dirt. As we stood in the shade of the crepe myrtle tree, the idea of using the curling, pieces of tree bark as paper money seemed ideal to the two little girls under the age of 6.

Very few cars passed by, but that really didn’t matter. Wanda and I had fun just playing in the yard.

Outside, near the kitchen window, Mamo had a very primitive old wooden bench. The bench was quickly transformed every time we came to visit into a cook top for Wanda and me. We cooked in a tin can with water, everything from flower petals to fresh grass clippings, adding a little dirt as a substitute for salt and pepper for taste.

No, we did not “really” taste it…we just imagined it. Drawing imaginary houses in the dirt with a stick, we imagined that our houses were large and that we lived close to one another.

As adults, only parts of the childhood dreams came true.

While our houses were not large, we finally were able to live near one another for about 3 years, ending February 12, 2008.   I enjoyed the ability to be at her house within 5 minutes if needed, but the talking on the phone was a constant.

Everyday at work and every almost afternoon while going home, Wanda called both me and Aimee.

It’s sweet and funny how our conversations always wound up to one big question. Almost every single day. “What are you cooking for supper?”

Sharing recipes and ideas for organizing was a constant topic of conversation between us girls. It was these sweet memories that traipsed around in our heads and hearts as the days went by.

At Christmas in 2007, which in my mind seems like just a few weeks ago, Wanda’s skin coloring was not good and her breathing was labored. I looked at her when they came into our house for our Christmas Eve Family Supper, and without the medical training my sister, Aimee has I knew there was something very wrong. Wanda had oxygen at home to assist her, even had a portable tank, but she didn’t want to be treated as if she was having problems. She wanted to be normal. And be treated normal. No extra attention. An oxygen tank would cause others to treat her “special”. Wanda didn’t want that.

After supper we had prayer and sharing, as is our tradition. We prayed long for Wanda. Mother stood before us and described the feelings and prayers that the LORD had woke her with in the wee hours of several mornings in the past few days.

“Family, you will need to be on your knees more than you ever have before, if you intend to make it in these last days. We will face things harder than we’ve ever faced. It will take prayer.   But family, the LORD reminded me to anchor to HIM—the Anchor holds.”

…those words rang over and over in my heart and mind for many days. Still they do almost weekly.

The Anchor holds.

I soon realized the truth in her words. About the Anchor.

We all did.

As life for us changed on February 12, 2008, our God did not change.  His promises that we had read all of our lives, became our life line. 

The TRUTH held us fast.

I don’t know what you are struggling with today, but let me assure you that the Anchor of Christ held us, and He will hold you….no matter what you are facing.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. 
Proverbs 3:5-6

© The Knightly News 2012

Country Life Messages, Life

Tuesday–Close off his Access

A. Knight

I am sitting on ready….for what God is going to do! What I mean is—there are things on the horizon in EacH of our lives…are we looking toward what He is about to do…or are we concentrating on the gloom and doom that the Wall Street Journal keeps predicting?

I choose to look for the beauty in what He is about to reveal! What do I see in the stolen computer? Well, a scared devil that thinks that I MUST be about to publish a BesT SelLeR! One that will reach untold sinners for CHRIST! Really? Well, it could happen. REalLy!

Let me share with you something from a book I am reading (yes, I am still reading some of the others…but this one keeps pulling me back!) “i am not, but i know I AM” by Louie Giglio.

“God is always looking for ordinary people to play significant roles in His unfolding story. And, given that He is GOD and supremely confident in Himself, He is free to choose the least among us–the slowest, the lesser-known, the last, the smallest, the poorest–to accomplish amazing, God-sized stuff.”

I mean, He is God after all. Right? Right. So here I sit. Waiting to see if He will fill the thief with remorse—-and give me the opportunity to share Christ…or possibly just by reading some of the stuff on the computer, maybe He will run as fast as he can to the nearest church. Or jail. Whichever—I pray he or she will find Christ.

One way or the other, God will be glorified. Maybe only by me not having a flailing fit and threatening to kill/clobber any suspect….God is glorified when we give our problems to Him to solve—we are releasing Him to crack His holy knuckles and show His stuff. AND while He is showing His stuff, we are showing what we are made of.

I WILL tell you that I did get mad. But I didn’t scream and holler. I wasn’t mad at Jeff, but at the thief. The one that had the audacity to open a door that was closed off to him—one that didn’t belong to him—and take what WaS NoT his.

Hmmm. Sound familiar? Sister—and any brother that might be reading…THAT is exactly what the enemy does to you and me EVERY SiNgLe DAY– when we leave things accessible! Yes, the door was left unlocked. But not on purpose. By accident. Jeff thought he locked it. Thought he’d pushed the button down to lock both doors.

If you don’t lock—seal tight—the doors of your heart and mind EVERY SINGLE DAY with the word of God—the enemy has access. Complete and total access. It’s not enough to just lock them once in a while. Just once a week. See, he is roaming the parking lot—looking for access. I bet you never thought of it like that. Neither did I. Until the computer went missing.

On Friday night, after Jeff went to bed, I went to the laundry room to pray—and cry—and whine (as I told you before)…but my prayer was, “Lord—get some glory out of this.” USE THIS. Well, it looks like He just did. I blogged it and applied to to our walk with Christ. There. He, Jesus Christ, just received glory for a crisis in my life. I was just able to use it to show myself and others that the EXTREME need in our lives is not for a makeover, but for a complete restoration of our hearts and souls! WASHING at the cross by the blood of the Lamb. The complete removal of the stains of our sins. And we are changed. No longer sinners and thieves, but now made new—white as snow. Freed from all charges against us!

Being all out honest, I will tell you that on Friday night….after the news was delivered to my pierced ears…I wanted to give that thief a piece of my mind….now, all I want to know is can I give Him Christ? Will he take Christ—as His Lord and Savior and turn from his thievin’ ways?

Let’s don’t pray for the return of the computer. Let’s pray instead for a thief to find Christ. Soon. Time is running out.

Country Life Messages

The Garden of Life (Re-run)

A. Knight

I love the colors of summer. The bright pinks, hues of blue and vivid reds—the varying shades of green in the trees and the grasses. My favorite season though, is Fall. But right now I am focused on Summer….since we are in the “heat” of it!
Several years ago while digging in a flower bed, the Lord taught me some lessons. I would like to share them with you.

The Anchor
When I first started thinking of my flowerbed, I knew it needed an anchor. Something substantial that it could rest against. Something that would help tie the flowerbed and the house together. We decided on a patio.

My husband and I worked for two days laying a solid brick patio. The bricks were very old and completely solid. They were a variety of colors, from terra-cotta colored to reds and beige. They blended well. We arranged them in a in a criss-cross design. He poured in the sand and mortar mixture to set them, we swept it in with a broom and he hosed it down and we stood back and admired the end result.

The man of the house decided that I could do the planning of the flowerbed. He would be on standby to dig the larger holes, but for the most part, it was my baby. As I began planning my flower bed, I would lie in bed at night and visualize what it might look like complete. I had in my mind the type of flowers I wanted. I started small. I laid out my design with left over patio bricks. I rearranged them to suit my plan. I wanted something unusual. Something that would please the eye and invite you to “sit for a while”.

I planned my whole flowerbed around the design of the patio. I used the left over bricks for a border. I carefully chose my flowers according to color, size and “drawability”….no that’s not a word, but I wanted to draw butterflies. After several afternoons spent digging, weeding, planting, watering and “rearranging”, it was finished. It was so small, the plants so young and tender. They needed constant attention. I watched like a hawk for weeds and dared any animal to come near my sweet little new plants.
As the seasons changed, my little plants changed too. So did I. Many things were taking place in my life. Every day that I spent working in my flowerbed, God was using that time to “weed out things in my heart and life”. I had kind of a “two for one” deal! As the years passed, my flowers were no longer small.

The Jungle
During a particular tough summer for me, I spent less time in my little garden and more time worrying and fretting over some particularly difficult circumstances in my life. One day I arrived home and realized I was living in a jungle! The crepe myrtle bush had turned into a tree and was “creeping” to my door. My lantana had grown so large; it was now taller than I was in places! My once cute little garden was now out of control. So were the problems in my life.

We can all find a point in time in each of our lives where we realize our little plants have become bigger than we have. Each passing season brings change. Some changes we welcome with open arms, some we try to run from. Nevertheless, change is inevitable.

The Solution
So what do we do with these inevitable, often uninvited changes? We determine to rise early, grab our sturdy work gloves, get out the hedge clippers, the shovel, the wheelbarrow, the hoe and rake and get to work! It will be a hot sweaty job, but I need to sweat sometimes. We all do. It washes out the impurities in our bodies (lives). It will take a lot of hard work, a lot of sweat, cutting, trimming, raking and possibly, even the moving of some plants (that I now realized were planted in the wrong place), but the end result (when you are too pooped to see straight), is well worth all the efforts.

Sometimes the processes God takes us through are painful as well. Sometimes we have to be pruned, trimmed, even cut way back to be what we should be. Sometimes, we even have to be moved. I did that with some of my plants. We even did that with a few trees. They just weren’t flourishing where they were placed originally. It was a scary process. I am not a horticulturist. I had no clue if they would survive if moved. I worried over the root system. The only thing I knew about gardening, I had learned while watching my mother and grandmothers and HGTV! You may think this is silly, but I “prayed” over my plants.

Believe it or not, the Lord answered my prayers. I knew if anyone knew anything about gardening….He did. After all……He planted the first garden!

He taught me much during those seasons of my life in gardening and living. Somethings in my life needed to be pruned out. There were things that were keeping me from progressing in my faith. Things that were hindering my walk with the Father.

Hebrews 12:1-14
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven. Think about all he endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him, so that you don’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. And have you entirely forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you, his children? He said, “My child, don’t ignore it when the Lord disciplines you, and don’t be discouraged when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes those he accepts as his children.” As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who was never disciplined? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children after all. Since we respect our earthly fathers who disciplined us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the discipline of our heavenly Father and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always right and good for us because it means we will share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening-it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs. Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong. Try to live in peace with everyone, and seek to live a clean and holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

I love that verse I underlined “So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs.” Hebrews 12:12 NLT
Isn’t that just how we feel when we’ve been on our knees in the garden digging and pulling weeds for hours? Tired hands and shaky legs. He (the ultimate Gardener) will strengthen our hands, feet and yes our backs too!
How awesome it is to serve God! How incredible He is to attend our every need! Thank you Lord for caring about our lives, even our gardens.
(This post was originally posted July 29, 2007—but it ties in with my thought lines for this week—and my Internet Cafe` post that comes out July 29, 2008!) Hope you don’t mind the re-run!
Have a blessed day!
Country Life Messages, faith, Life

Cling to the Rock

A. Knight

You know those little cards that fall out of magazines the moment you pick one up to try to relax just a minute?
Just a breather.
That is all you need.
Just a few quiet moments in your favorite chair with your pillow and blanket and new magazine!

Then out of this magazine, several little cards float to the floor and you feel you must pick them up before you can relax and enjoy perusing your newly arrived treat!

Annoying isn’t it?

A few months ago I was a subscriber to several country decorating magazines….along with a few “how to” magazines, even a health/fitness magazine. When one would arrive, I would be so excited! The first thing I would do is stand by the garbage can and shake it real good to let all those annoying little cards fall out! Some needed more encouragement to “fall”. Some I ripped out because they made the book fall open to the same place every time I picked it up. I didn’t want my magazine to choose where I read, I would do the choosing thank you very much!

Anyway, back to my story….this is supposed to be about rocks you know.

I flipped open another annoyance and ripped it from the book and started to toss it in the trash along with its friends when something on one side caught my attention. It was a woman scaling a rock….a mountain! I could suggest you purchase a health/fitness magazine for women and maybe you would find what I found, but you might not find it. Indeed, I think I found it that day for a purpose.

I was leaning back too far from my “rock” trying to see how much farther I had to go in the journey I was on.

Confused?
Let me share what I learned from the article and from the Word of God.

According to expert rock climbers, focus on balance is the utmost importance in rock climbing. They say the “center of gravity” is always the rock and you must stay close to it at all times to maintain proper balance.

No leaning back!

Proper gear is also very important. A helmet to protect your head, sturdy harness, ropes and even the type of shoes are important. For rock climbing you don’t need heavy boots as you might for hiking. In climbing a rock face, you need to be able to get your feet into cracks and crevices of that rock for added security. Are you getting the picture?

Psalm 27:5 says, “For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.

Psalm 61:2 “From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”
Psalm 62:1-2 “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. “

Over and over again in Psalms and in much of the Old Testament we are told that God is our rock. He is our fortress, our deliverer. In Him alone we can find rest for our weary souls. Battle scared from the day to day war zone that is many of our lives. The war is with Satan. But we serve the Commander of the Army of God!

Paul instructed the people at Ephesus, to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:10 NIV

Sounds like they were gearing up for some rock climbing! Maybe it should be “rock clinging”. For with my whole heart I cling to my Rock. The God of my salvation!

Remember, no leaning back. It doesn’t matter how much farther you must go, it matters only that you travel “with” Him as your guide.

He will instruct you as to where your feet must travel.
Go where He leads.
He will never lead you astray.
Try trusting Him.
He is the rock after all.
The “Center of our gravity”.
An Angie Story, Borrowed Blessings, Country Life Messages, faith, Thankful Thursdays, Wanda

A Day Hemmed in Prayer is Less Likely to….

A. Knight

Unravel. Ever have one of those days? Where they seem to unravel before your very eyes? I have had several. Lately. All at once.

Where do I run?

To the Master Tailor. He stands at the ready with needle in hand. Ready to put things back in order for me.

All I have to do is “stand still”…..and see the salvation of the Lord. Hemmed in by the Master. Best place to be in my opinion.

What you see here on this page was a wonderful discovery. Two Wednesday nights ago, I came home deeply burdened for a family problem. Wasn’t mine. But it hurt as if it were. As I was preparing for a small Bible Study session of just two, I began to talk to the Lord.

He heard. He listened. He answered in the most unique way. I told Him this: “Lord, Wanda would love to be here to pray with us over this. This is exactly what she loved to do. Pray for the needs of others.” And I began to cry just a bit. As I do fairly often. As I loaded the dishwasher, the prayer and thoughts were still on my mind. And all of a sudden I had an urgency to go to the little study room where I had unloaded the things from Wanda’s “sewing room” the week before. I had not looked at “everything” yet.

As a matter of fact, the thread boxes were the last thing to look into. I had plundered the cross stitch pages and packets. I had touched all the hoops, felt of all the fabrics, but had left the thread box. Why? Well, it was a clear box…and clearly full of thread. Why open it? Why indeed.

When the urgency to “do something” comes over me, I generally obey. So I left my dishes as they were, dishwasher still open and walked to the room and grabbed the box. I just looked at it.

Pretty colors all neatly lined up like jewelry ready to wear.

Then I noticed in one corner of the box what looked like several folded pieces of paper. I opened the box for closer examination. When I unfolded them and began to read, I began to weep. I said, “Lord, this is exactly what Wanda would say.” Every single verse was about prayer. She was using them to “hide in her heart” as she stitched. She was hemming her day in. She was closing the gap in all of our lives. The seam was strong. The Threads unbreakable, because she used the Thread of the Holy Spirit in her life.

When my visitor arrived, I fixed a cup of tea for each of us and we settled in to pray, share and read some Word. After she spilled her heart, I began to unfold the neatly clipped papers and spread them out on the table. As I read each one, she began to see the “thread of hope”. The thread of consistency. The lifeline of salvation available to each of us….through prayer.

Girls, this is not my usual thankful post. But I just have to share what I am most thankful for. Although I love each one of you, I am thankful most of all for Jesus. For Salvation. For the grace and mercy extended to this wretched sinner. For the prayers of many when I was far from God. For the ability to pray even now for unsaved prodigal children. For your prodigals as well as mine. I am thankful that when I hem my day —-with prayer—it does not unravel. It holds strong. After all, I have just sat before the Master Tailor.

Visit Iris for more thankful posts ~by the way, there is a winner for the give-away~
And the winner is~oh, how I wish I could have bought you each one…..but there is just one number chosen by that random number picker thingy~
Congratulations TwinkleMom!

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Country Life Messages, faith

Enjoy the View

A. Knight

Head for more views like this…

Take more breaks….

Life is full….take more time to see HIM in everything that surrounds you.

Enjoy everything the Lord has created for us…Take time as you are driving around to look at His gift of creation with new eyes…

“For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing,and all the trees of the field shall clap [their] hands.” Isaiah 55:12

May you encounter His divine blessings on every turn this next week…as you journey on with HIM. Know that though you may feel rejection from others, even if someone in your life walks away, or pushes you out…know that God will never push you out, walk away, nor will He ever reject you.

He went to a lot of trouble to get your attention. Look at the sky He created with such a grand display of colors….just today….all for you. Give Him your undivided attention for once. Take your eyes off those around you that selfishly use you….put your eyes on Him and your complete trust IN Him. He will never fail.

And as you are riding along….thank Him for the view.