My Son

I received this in an email today.  It was the only email today of any real importance. I received funny emails that made me laugh. However, this one strikes home with the truth.  I pray that you take a moment to read it and apply it if you haven't already done so.  I have heard the story before but it is one that does not get old.

Take my Son

  A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art..

 

  When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.  

  

  About a month later, just before Christmas,   

There was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands..

   

He said, 'Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly... He often talked about you, and your love for art.' The young man held out this package. 'I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.'  

   

The father
 

Opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture.. 'Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift.'

 

  The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

 

  The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.

 

  On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. 'We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?'

 

  There was silence...

 

  Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, 'We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.'

 

 

  But the auctioneer persisted. 'Will somebody bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?'

  Another voice angrily. 'We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the VanGogh's, the Rembrandt's. Get on with the    

         Real bids!'

 

  But still the auctioneer continued. 'The son! The son! Who'll take the son?'

 

  Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. 'I'll give $10 for the painting...' Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

 
 

  'We have $10, who will bid $20?'

 

  'Give it to him for $10.. Let's see the masters.'

 
 

  The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son.

 

 

 

  They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections..

 
 

  The auctioneer pounded the gavel.. 'Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!'

 

 A man sitting on the second row shouted, 'Now let's get on with the collection!'

 

 
 

  The auctioneer laid down his gavel. 'I'm sorry, the auction is over.'

 
 

'What about the paintings?'
 

  'I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will.... I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.

 
 

  The man who took the son gets everything!'

  

  God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is: 'The son, the son, who'll take the son?'

 

 

  Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.

 

 

 
 
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, WHO SO EVER BELIEVETH, SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE...THAT'S LOVE

 

     

A fun Meme

I was tagged by my Sisnlove over on Jimsruby.  I have been blessed with a wonderful sister in love. She is suffering with a sinus infection right now so please say a prayer for her.

• Tag, your it!

  You have been tagged Here's whatcha do Copy & Paste to your site & don't forget to comment on mine so I can check your's out!! Have fun!!
  
  1. What is your occupation right now?
  Homemaker and keep books for my husband's business
  
  
  2. What color are your socks right now?
  None-wearing house shoes
  
  3. What are you listening to right now?
  The TV in the den 
   
  
  4. What was the last thing that you ate?
  Banana Bread
   
  5. Can you drive a stick shift?
  No even though my husband runs a transmission repair shop. My  kids never would let him teach me. Whenever he owned a manual transmission vehicle, the y would complain if he tried to teach me.
  6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Ms Dot
  
  7. Do you like the person who tagged you?
  I love My Sis n Love
   
  8. How old are you today?
  50
  
  
  9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? NONE
  
  10. What is your favorite drink?
  Coffee in cold weather, sweet tea in hot weather
  
  11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
  Only my hairdresser knows and everyone else in the salon. lol
  
  12. Favorite food?
  you can tell I love food.
  
  13. What is the last movie you watched?
  Autumn in New York
  
  14. Favorite day of the year?
  Don't have one.
   
  15. How do you vent anger?
  I tend to keep it in.16. What was your favorite toy as a child?
  Ballerina Doll
  
  17. What is your favorite season?
  Spring/Fall
  18. Cherries or Blueberries? neither my 2 least favorite
   
  
  19. How many grandchildren do you have?
  one on the way in August. yippee 
   
  20. When was the last time you cried?
    don't remember exact day. seems like all winter
  
  
  21. What is on the floor of your closet?
  shoes
   
  
  22. Who is the friend you have had the longest?
  Linda & Molly
  
  23. What did you do last night?
  Watched a movie
   
  24. What are you most afraid of? 
  I am not sure if I am but I do have concerns.  I don't dwell on fears. But I do have a reverent fear of God.
  
  25. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?
  Cheese
  26. Favorite dog breed?
  Always wanted a collie
   
  27. Favorite day of the week?
  Saturday
  28. How many states have you lived in? 3
   
  29. Diamonds or pearls? 
  Diamonds
  30. What is your favorite flower?I love Roses that you grow yourself but then again I love most any flowers.
  

We Have Snow

We finally have a good snow. When I last measure it  is 4 1/2 ".   I haven't seen this much snow in a very long time.  Probably since the blizzard of 1993.  When I was a teenager, we had snow all the time in the winter. In fact the year I was a senior we were snowed in from Christmas break until the first of February. It  had gotten to the point that I hated to see snow.  Now that I rarely see snow other than a few flurries on occasion, I am beginning to feel like a kid again about the snow.

Here are few pictures of the birds in the back yard.

As you can tell we have mostly cardinals. I am so glad because they are one of my favorite birds and they remind of my Grandmother S. who was an avid bird lover.

Happy New Year

 

Happy New Year to all  my blog friends. I pray this year is all that you hope it to be. That the Lord blesses you with good health and finds you in the center of His will.  Who knows this may be the year that our Lord comes to take us home.  Even so Come Lord Quickly.

"Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing."  

2 Timothy 4:8

We Made It Through Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is traditionally spent with my side of the family and for most years at my parents home;.  The last couple of years because of my Mothers health we have spent it at my younger brother and his wife's home.  Some of the grandkids had said that it did not seem like Christmas without being at Nana's and Pa's.  So we went back their house this year.

We knew it would be hard. Nana 's health has improved some since her stroke this past summer. However, she is still not quite the same. She is much quieter and not able to get around as easily as before.  Then with my sister- in -love's home going, we were all rather sad but trying to keep the mood light for everyone else.  But you knew that everyone missed her so.

The meal wasn't quite as much as before but that was okay. No one had quite as much of an appetite as before.  Although we have started the tradition of having chili for the past several years.  A few traditions changed this year or were completely dropped.  Instead of my Sis-in-love bringing her Potato Salad , her daughter had that honor this year. It was delicious.  However, I had hard time eating it and not thinking of her mother for she was our designated Potato salad maker for every family gathering. She made the best.

When dessert time came it was mentioned more than once that even though a chocolate cake was there. It did not have hard candy icing.  That is my job. I let them down. I was not in the mood. I was trying to keep a tradition that my Granny always did.  She made Chocolate Peanut butter Balls.  Those things are hard work.  My hubby helped some. He said he wouldn't do that again for them.  After making all those balls and dipping them in chocolate. I just couldn't start making a cake.

Then some of mentioned that we didn't have our Christmas punch.  Mother has made that since I can remember. This was a FIRST!!! She sent Dad after an ingredient but he came home with the wrong thing.

Yes Christmas was different.  But we still had each other and we had love and no one doubted that love.  We also knew what the real meaning of Christmas and it is not all those traditions of favorite foods and places to meet. But it is THE GIFT of GOD'S SON sent down to earth as babe born in a manger to become the Savior of the World. EMMANUEL - GOD WITH US. We miss Sherry but we have the blessed hope of seeing her again because we have THE BLESSED HOPE!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

What is Your Favorite Christmas Carol, Song or Hymn

What is your favorite Christmas carol or song. ?   We all have many memories of favorite songs of this time of year.  Some of our earliest may be Jingle Bells, Jingle bell Rock, Silent Night,Oh Come All Ye Faithful or   Away in the Manger.  No matter what it is I am sure it brings back some fond memories.

  My Favorite Christmas Song is "Mary Did You Know?" Can you imagine being Mary holding your new born baby knowing that He is the Son of God and wondering what is in store for Him.  If you are a mother, you know what it is like to hold your newborn and wonder what his life will be like. If you will be able to mother him, protect him, guide him or have any wisdom at all in how to any of those things. But can you imagine what it be like to have been entrusted to bring up the Son of God until He reached the age of earthly maturity. What an awesome responsiblity?


One person who thought about the things that Mary could have thought about holding her newborn but could have not possibly known was Mark Lowry.  In 1984 he composed the following song. It gives me cold chills everytime I hear it. 

MARY DID YOU KNOW

Mary did you know, that your baby boy
Would one day walk on water?
Mary did you know, that your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters?

Did you know, that your baby boy
Has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered,
Will soon deliver you! 

Mary did you know, that your baby boy
Will give sight to the blind man?
Mary did you know, that your baby boy

Would calm a storm with His hand?

Did you know, that your baby boy
Has walked where angels trod
And when you kiss your little baby,
You've kissed the face of God?

Oh, Mary did you know?
Mary did you know?

The blind will see, the deaf will hear,
The dead will live again,
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak
Praises of the Lamb?

Mary did you know, that your baby boy
Is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know, that your baby boy
Will one day rule the nations?

Did you know, that your baby boy
Was Heaven's perfect Lamb?
And this sleeping Child you're holding
Is the Great I AM

~ Words by Mark Lowry ~
~ Music by Buddy Greene ~

Daniel's Gloves

An Anonymous Story called "Daniel's Gloves" (Author Unknown or is it? Please. Read on.) I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day.

As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street.. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, 'I will work for food.' My heart sank. I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief. We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways.

I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him.

I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car. Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: 'Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square.' Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the store front church, going through his sack. I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.

'Looking for the pastor?' I asked. 'Not really,' he replied, 'just resting.' 'Have you eaten today?' 'Oh, I ate something early this morning.' 'Would you like to have lunch with me?' 'Do you have some work I could do for you?' 'No work,' I replied 'I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch.' 'Sure,' he replied with a smile.
As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions.

Where you headed?' ' St. Louis '
'Where you from?' 'Oh, all over; mostly Florida ..'
'How long you been walking?' 'Fourteen years,' came the reply.

I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, 'Jesus is The Never Ending Story.'

Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences.. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought. He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly.. He gave his life over to God 'Nothing's been the same since,' he said, 'I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now.'

'Ever think of stopping?' I asked. 'Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me. But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles, that's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.' I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: 'What's it like?' 'What?' 'To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?' 'Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me.' My concept was changing, too.

We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, 'Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in.' I felt as if we were on holy ground.

'Could you use another Bible?' I asked. He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite. 'I've read through it 14 times,' he said. 'I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see' I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.

'Where are you headed from here?' I asked. 'Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon.' 'Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?' 'No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next.' He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things. 'Would you sign my autograph book?' he asked. 'I like to keep messages from folks I meet.' I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, 'I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope.' 'Thanks, man,' he said. 'I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you.' 'I know,' I said, 'I love you, too.' 'The Lord is good!' 'Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?' I asked. A long time,' he replied And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed.. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, 'See you in the New Jerusalem.' 'I'll be there!' was my reply. He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, 'When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?' 'You bet,' I shouted back, 'God bless.' 'God bless.' And that was the last I saw of him.

Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them.... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them. Then I remembered his words: 'If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?' Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. 'See you in the New Jerusalem,' he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will.... 'I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.'

Let's continue to pray for one another. God bless and have a nice day!