After 18 months of battling cancer, she says.....

I am grateful to have a day to reflect on my many blessings.  Here are some of the things I was thankful for today:

• The opportunity to experience the joy, pride, and even frustration of being the mother of teenage boys. 
• Healthy parents.
• Siblings who jumped on planes to attend appointments with me.
• Siblings who attended appointments with mom and dad when I couldn't. 
• Siblings who sent care packages, cards, and texts.
• A family that made sure I ate well.
• A sister who hung out with me for twelve hours of surgery and chemo.
• Siblings-in-law who spent hours on the phone and internet helping me find solutions.
• Friends who wore "Vera shirts" on Fridays.
• Answered prayers.
• Strength and peace during a trying year.
• Assurance:  "To live is Christ; to die is gain."
• Laughter.
• Hair.

One of my favorite quotes is, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery; today is a gift. That's why it's called the Present."  I am so thankful each of you!  I love you!

What’s The Password

Let me say this upfront if you have been redirected back to this blog post: I’m Sorry. My intentions is not to offend you, hurt your feelings, or make you angry at me. Maybe you saw the link and clicked on it, or are a regular reader. Please understand, I am not trying to offend you. But there is a problem. It creeps its ugly head up around this time of year. It is the “Merry Christmas” uproar.

I know, I know, what am I saying?!? This is what I am saying: why are we making a big deal about this? While I cannot prove this, I would not be surprised if many American Christians believe the following fictitious account:

When a person dies, they are immediately transported to the gate of heaven. There, some historical religious person (like Paul, Peter, or maybe Gabriel or another angel) waits to either let people in or keep them out. As you walk to the door, you knock two times and a little hinged door opens up and the voice inside asks, “What’s the password to let you in to heaven?” You excitedly and emphatically answer, “Merry Christmas!” The door then swings wide open, and you enter in to heaven as  countless others stand sulking on the outside saying, “Why did I say Happy Holidays?!?”

It always amazes me as to all the people who get so bent out of shape when some department store decides to hang a banner that read Happy Holidays and not Merry Christmas. It is as if some people think that Jesus was speaking to Target, Wal-Mart, etc. and not the church when He said, “Go ye therefore into all nations…” These stores are not in the business of spreading the Gospel, they are in the business of making money. That is what they base their decision on. Christians, on the other hand, SHOULD be about the business of spreading the Gospel into all nations.

So, am I saying that you should not say “Merry Christmas”? NO. I always using the phrase because that is what I am celebrating. Here is my point: instead of getting mad at a store for taking “Christ out of Christmas,” lets get upset with ourselves for thinking it is someone else’s responsibility to do what God has commanded us to do.

So now, when I see the phrase “Happy Holidays,” it is a reminder to me about my responsibility to spread the Gospel. How about you?

Delightful children's Christmas storybook: "My First Story of Christmas"

As a mother of 5 and grandmother to 13, I have read many, many books to children through the years.  When Moody Publishers sent me "My First Story of Christmas" by Tim Dowley and illustrated by Roger Langton, I felt joy and delight to be able to read, enjoy, and review it for adults of all ages who are looking for a book for that special child - be it their own child, a dear grandchild, or one to whom they simply wish to bring a bit of joy.

"My First Story of Christmas" is a brightly colored, artistically beautiful and pleasant book to look through and learn from.  The story of our Saviour's birth is told straight forward and holds true to the Biblical account and yet is in words and tone that very young children will understand and enjoy having read to them.  I also envision the young "reader" treasuring this as a book they can read themselves.

The book is sturdy.  That is something very important if you're expecting the book to last for several years as a family treasure.  The binding is good and pages strong.

Tim Dowley's telling of the story is greatly enhanced by the beautiful pictures by Roger Langton.  The drawings are simplistic yet definitive and colorful.  I like the references to Judea, King Herod, and Bethlehem for it gives real "place" to the story and enriches the learning experience. 

This will make a wonderful gift that will be appreciated by both adults and children.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8024-1758-9    ISBN-10: 0-8024-1758-2

It Was Me!

I just found this song which played on WVGV (an online radio station our church uses regularly), and was happy to find it on You Tube! I also added it to the playlist here (click the Music tab). Enjoy! The song has a great ending!


Wait for the second part - "That Was Me".

New Song of the Month, Lyrics

At the crossroads, the choice before you:
Go your own way or hear My voice.
Tho I made you, I won't force you;
You are free to make your choice.

CH: On the left hand the way is broader,
And on the left hand all seems well.
On the left hand the way is smoother,
But on the left hand the way is to Hell.
But on the right hand, the way is narrow,
And on the right hand, the way is straight,
And on the right hand, the way's not easy,
But on the right hand, life awaits.

You cannnot stand and halt forever,
There is an end that comes to all;
Make up your mind, it's now or never
The world is nothing if you lose your soul.

The Crossroads - http://www.godlychristianmusic.com/music/play2.aspx?id=1326&type=song.mp3

This website has original songs from singer/songwriters. You have to weed through them, but there are many very nice songs to choose from. They have some really cute kid's songs and teen choruses. I am always looking for new songs to sing in church that others may have never heard of. There are also a lot of scripture songs, but be aware, not all use the KJV.

A Blessing: Job and the Millennium

Something in the book of Job thrilled my soul to read today, and I think it will for you too. What a wonderful Lord we have. So I'm working on a study about the Millennial Kingdom, and what it meant to people all throughout the Old Testament. To Adam and Eve, the promise in Gen. 3:15 meant that maybe they'd get back to the garden. To Enoch, well, in Jude he was the first man to preach about the Second Coming about 2,500 years before the first coming.

I can't believe I made the mistake of overlooking Job! To him the promise of the Kingdom meant seeing his Redeemer and having a new body.

Job 19:25-26, "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
26) And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:"

That is one of the most exciting passages in the Bible to me. Job is talking about something that Paul speaks about in I Cor. 15 - a new body. Job KNEW that his soul wouldn't simply see God, but that his weak and frail body that had been devastated by boils would one day die and be resurrected to a new and a glorious body free from disease and imperfection. Job knew it 2,000 years before Paul told us the same thing in the New Testament!

But that's not where it ends. Try to put yourself where Job was. His family, other than his wife, is dead and he's alone and miserable. Maybe he wants some recognition or understanding or something. He's one of the most dedicated servants of Jehovah, and is this how he is to die? A broken, beaten, hurting man? Is this his legacy?

Every man wants to leave a legacy. Every man wants to be remembered by something, by someone. Before Job cried the words about one day seeing his Redeemer, he said the following...

Job 19:23-24, "Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!
24) That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!"

Job wanted to be remembered and he wanted his life to count for something.

And every hurting saint ever since then has turned to the book that contains the words of Job to find peace and comfort.

God answered the prayer of Job's heart. His words were put in a book.

The best book ever written - the Bible!

My site - http://www.truthandsong.com/

My articles - http://ricksarticles.blogspot.com/

Hope Springs Eternal…or Why I Was Way Too Into This Last World Series

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;

Man never Is, but always To be blest:

The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,

Rests and expatiates in a life to come.

– Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man

While I must admit that I do not know much about this poem listed above, I have always heard the phrase, “Hope springs eternal.” Usually, it is around the time of Spring Training when fans of baseball look forward to the upcoming season. For 25+ years, there never was too much hope for the team I rooted for – the Texas Rangers. But this season was a little different. They had just made their first ever World Series the year before, and even though they lost their best starting pitcher and a couple of other players, there was still some hope. Then the improbable happened – they made it back. Not only did they make it, but they actually were doing so well that many thought of them as the favorite to win their first ever World Series title.

I will admit up front that I have never really been into watching a full, nine inning baseball game on t.v. (always enjoyed watching it in person, though), but I really got swept up in the excitement of the World Series. I am sure that many who follow me on Twitter and Facebook observed this phenomenon, as I DEFINITELY over tweeted during the last two games. To come so close twice in game six and not win was probably one of the greatest and most excruciating roller coaster rides I have been on as a sports fan.

Sports will do that to you. Well, actually, anything you become heavily invested in will do that to you. Hope makes us more involved, more passionate, more vocal, and more invested. And we do so not knowing how it will all end. I always thought that the Rangers would win game six all the way up till David Freese hit his homerun in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Yet, we often do not get that involved, passionate, vocal, or invested in the things of God. I know this may be a bit of a cheesy statement to make, but maybe it is just my way of justifying my temporary obsession with the World Series. Does this mean that we should not be passionate about anything else other than the Lord. I know some that feel that way, but I don’t feel that is the truth to take away. To me, it is a reminder of how hope motivates us to step outside of our “normal” self and say and do things that we would no longer do. And when it comes to hope, we have the greatest hope available:

Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Because of the eternal hope that fills our hearts and mind, we can and should openly rejoice and share our hope to those without any…like Houston Astros fans .

Is there anything that you found yourself becoming heavily involved and passionate about?

What are ways that we can become this passionate about our faith?

95 Theses - "...the just shall live by faith."

A replica of the 95 Theses in Schlosskirche, Wittenberg

Martin Luther Posts His Ninety-Five Theses (1517)

According to the traditional account, Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany—an event now seen as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Written in response to the selling of indulgences to pay for the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the theses represented an implicit criticism of papal policy and aroused much controversy. (copied from "This Day in History")

The 95 Theses

Much was going on during this period of history in respect to Christiandom.  Controversary within and without the established church, the Roman Catholic Church.  Dissension over authority of the Pope.  Controversary and unrest over the practice of indulgences being sold as penance for one's sins.  Interpretation and availability of the written Bible to the peoples was forbidden and much desired by those of the non-laiety.


But of even more importance that any of these very important issues was the fact that Martin Luther began to espouse and preach justification by faith.  Not by indulgences.  Not by confession to a priest.  Not by anything other than faith in the saving grace of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of man could a person be justified in the sight of God and have forgiveness for his or her sins.

"Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." Galatians 3:11-   "Now the just shall live by faith..." Hebrews 10:38