Friday, April 28, 2017

My World in April

A  cabin on the land at Muscatatuck Wildlife Refuge




          April found me rather busy. We had three dress rehearsals for our Good Friday drama. The cast requested the third one. I had to miss that one because Hubby and I had to go down to the southern part of Indiana so he could do some work for our friends who lost their mother in February. While he was helping them, our son and I went to the nearby wildlife refuge and took some pictures. 




One of the lakes, also a Muscatatuck





            Holy Week was extra busy for me. On Monday that week, Hubby told me we were leaving for Florida the next Monday. In our talking about this earlier, I had told him I didn’t think I could go until like April 30. We left on April 17. I had a Sunday school class party I wanted to go to this past Sunday.
            I had an eye exam and ordered new glasses before we left. When we returned home, I had seen they had called to tell me my new spectacles were in. I picked them up this past Monday.

I am part of a prayer group that meets on Wednesday mornings. Usually, every other Tuesday, a lady from church and I do visitation, making contact with some of our shut-ins, one in an assisted living facility, one in a memory unit of a retirement home, and three in an area nursing home. That week we had to go on Friday. On Maundy Thursday, evening, our church was invited to join a sister church for a Seder Meal service. I always find these services meaningful and instructive. I was trying to sort through summer clothes (packed away) and sweat pants to get washed.

The drama was well attended and well received. The Seder Meal was instructive. My Gluten Fee diet caused me to miss out on the Matzo Ball Soup and Communion with Matzo Bread. However, I did try one piece of Matzo bread with ground apples. AND two days later, it caught up with me.
I am working on two plays for our drama group, one I hope we can present just before Thanksgiving. The other one might be for next Good Friday. I have had to do some research on these. I even took some of my folders and legal pads to Florida, along with a small Bible and did some work on the Thanksgiving play while we were there. Right now the manuscript is 4/5 of the way of being done.
I await return the manuscript of my collection of meditations from one of my readers. I need to get with the program and work on the book proposal


With the advent of spring-like weather, I have been getting to sit on my porch. I call it “Porch Time.’ When we returned home from our vacation, our Dogwood tree we planted last year was in full bloom. 

Red Bud at the Wildlife Refuge
St. Andrews State Park, Panama City Beach Florida


                                            
Our Dogwood Tree.(Planted 2016)





Wednesday, April 26, 2017

A Spectacle of Glory:

Zondervan/ BookLookBloggers

                                  

God’s Light Shining through Me Every Day

By: Joni Eareckson Tada with Larry Libby

The title of this devotional book tells the reader what it contains. You will see God’s glory in each reading. The contents of this book are divided into monthly sections. I found the subtitle to be true, as I saw Jesus in each reading.

In the majority of the short meditations, the reader will realize that Joni speaks from her heart. Those who know her history know she has lived close to the Lord since her accident at the age of 18. Her faith is evident in each page of this book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who desires to grow closer to God. The short readings would be appropriate for use for devotions at Christian or para-church meetings or as an opening for a Sunday school class. This book may make a great gift for a young person who is going off to college.

I received a free copy of this book from Booklook Bloggers, a part of Harper Collins Publishers. This volume was published by Zondervan. All they asked of me was an honest review.


Monday, April 24, 2017

The Holy Spirit

Image result for The Holy Spirit
Slide share, net


            What do we know about the Holy Spirit of God?
            Jesus promised to send a helper to His disciples after He departed this world.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever” John 14:15-16

            The Holy Spirit was present at the creation of our earth.
“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Genesis 1:2
 
            Jesus invited the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit.
“Do not leave Jerusalem, wait but wait for the gift which my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. . . in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4

            The disciples dramatically received the promised Holy Spirit. They heard it and they saw it alight on each other.
“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” Acts 2:2-3

            Through the infilling of the Holy Spirit, the disciples received powers they had not experienced before.
“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.”  Acts 2:4

            Why am I going into all this detail about the Third Person of the Trinity?  While we were traveling back from our vacation, I sensed this urge to pray for a special writing friend. In years past, this has happened to me numerous times.

            One of the men I met while I was in college grew up about ten miles south of the town where I still live. I used to remember something that I saw when a group of us toured his fraternity house. I used to think about that at odd moments twenty years after first seeing it. This happened three times close together. Then one day, I picked up our local newspaper and saw his obituary. He had returned to his parent’s home and had succumbed to cancer.

            That day, I learned a lesson. God, through the Holy Spirit, will speak to us and even give us tasks—such as praying for someone He puts on our hearts, sending a card or making a call to one having difficulties. I have fallen short in doing this. I know I need be more faithful in doing these things.

            The Holy Spirit enabled the disciples to carry God’s message to their world. I pray that I can help carry His message to our world of today.

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...