Shouting Praise

"Robin's First Hello" by Pleasant Point Inn is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Shout praises to the Lord!
With all my heart
I will thank the Lord
 when his people meet.

Psalm 111:1

It's Spring! Shout for joy!

But instead...

I take so much for granted. 

Instead of shouting praise for the sheer joy of gathering together with fellow believers, I find myself criticizing the structure, the service or the people there.  

We have so much here in the USA that we cannot be happy with what God has given us...the freedom to openly worship.  Thanking the Lord is an act of will...a conscious act...and an overpowering emotion and response to what God is doing in our lives.  All of this can be taken away in the passing of a law and we just sit back and let it happen.

I will shout praise to the Lord!

I will worship Him in the beauty of His holiness and be grateful.

Maker's Mark

Photo by Sally L. Smith

Splendor and beauty mark his craft;
His generosity never gives out.

Psalm 111:3 MSG

This was a photo taken a few days ago at dawn.  I rarely see the moon pictured like this and even though my camera is limited, I think the shot is beautiful...mainly because the subject is.

God, the Creator of Splendor, never fails to put His maker's mark on His creations.

Clouds

"Storm Clouds During Sunset," by idreamlikecrazy  CC BY 2.0

For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised:

 he is to be feared above all gods. 

For all the gods of the nations are idols: 

but the LORD made the heavens.

Psalm 96:4-5

I love clouds...ever changing, ever beautiful.  God in His wisdom provided us built-in entertainment on this earth but sometimes we take it for granted.  Look to the heavens and be amazed.

To Keep A Promise

"Where Are We Now?" by Maria Teresa Ambrosi  CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Give the Lord your God what you promised him; 

bring gifts to him, all you nearby nations. God makes everyone fear him; he humbles proud princes and terrifies great kings.

Psalm 76:11-12 GNT

As taught to us again in a recent Bible study, we Christians are "little Christs."  We are to be holy as He is holy.  We are to live our lives as a reflection of Him.  No, that is not blasphemous; it is a call to allegiance of the highest order.  When we promise God we'll serve Him, he listens to us, as usual and as He promised. God does everything He promises.

Why don't I?

Praising You

"Light of Day," by Art4TheGlryOfGod by Sharon  CC BY 2.0

 Where morning dawns and evening fades

 you call forth songs of joy.

Psalm 65:8 NIV

We enjoyed our week of mild weather and are looking forward to the first day of Spring this week.  We will be celebrating my father-in-law's 90th birthday.  

Celebration is on the way!

Dreaming of Escape

"God Is Wiser and Stronger..." by Art4TheGlryOfGod by Sharon  CC BY 2.0

God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.

2 Peter 1:4 CEV

I loved our winter but now I'm wanting Spring.  Seems we're always wanting something we don't have.  No, I won't be taking a trip to the ocean and see a sunset like the one above, but I can dream, can't I?

Is escaping our evil desires only a dream, too?  Will we ever be free of the corrupt influences in our world?  Probably the answer to each question is, "No," but I can dream, can't I.

My Heart Says, "Yes."

From vintage photo collection of Sally L. Smith

I said, “I will watch my ways
    and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
    while in the presence of the wicked.”

So I remained utterly silent,
    not even saying anything good.

Photo by Rusty Clark   CC BY 2.0

But my anguish increased;

 my heart grew hot within me.
While I meditated,the fire burned
    then I spoke with my tongue:

Psalm 39 :1-3

How I wish I could control my mouth.  I realize that it is my heart that goes wonky and I have to be right, no matter what.  But why?  Why can't I internalize my discontent and think things over before I speak?  Am I trying to make myself better than someone else?  Well, that doesn't work because I feel miserable when I speak my piece. 

 Mouth...just shut up!

Winter...Ahhhh

"Winter's Strike," by Sally L. Smith

The windstorms of winter strike,....

Job 37:9

Finally, we have enough snow to call it Winter.

  We received about 4-5 inches and many towns around us got a lot more.  When something like this happens, the whole world shuts down here...well, almost.  I'm sure there are some brave-hearts who have four-wheel drive vehicles to cart Sillysouls to the hospital when they do their cavorting on the highways.  Though we feel we are seasoned snow veterans, we are always on the lookout for road hogs and young bucks feeling their oats.  Because there are so few snow plows in this area, the roads don't get cleared for days and I've never seen a plow on our back roads.  The only clearing is the track made by the brave or desperate.  

I know this is nothing compared to you Northerners but for us in  Tennessee...we are finally enjoying a real snow day.

Thank you for the snow, Lord.

All Life Is Beautiful

"Fall Lace," by Sally L. Smith

God showed his love for us 

when he sent his only Son into the world

 to give us life.

1 John 4:9

Leaves are beautiful.  Even though they are on their way to the leaf pile, they still have appeal.  I preserved this one because I love even its skeleton.

As I experience more wrinkles, saggy skin, dim eyesight and loss of hearing, I remember that life is short and to make the most of what I have left.
I have true life when I allow Christ to rule over me.

February and Birthdays

"Rachel's Birthday," by Ben Mason CC BY 2.0

It is a joyful holiday that they celebrate by

 feasting and sending gifts of food to each other.

Esther 9:19

Yeah, well, I pushed the scripture a bit to include birthdays here but you get my drift.

We have four birthdays in February...just in our immediate family with one of them today.  Our one-year-old grandson's birthday today is also my Dad's birthday who is celebrating with him in heaven.  Next month we have four more in the first half of the month.  With a family of three children with three spouses and their fifteen children, we celebrate often and we love it.

Pass the cake, please!

Thankful for This Season

Photo by Sally L. Smith

...he will send rain a the right seasons.

Deuteronomy 11:14

After a week of ice on the road, rain and fog surely look good.

We kept three of our daughter's and sil's children the past two days (the fourth one was picked up to visit his brothers and sister one of the days as well.)  Our poor daughter had a mean stomach virus over two days and could not care for them.  SIL stayed home from work one of the days to look after her and the baby and the other day was sent home from work because of sleet.  Though we love them so much, we also know why God sends children to the younger ones!

And There Was Snow

Photo by Sally L. Smith

Snow and heavy rainstorms

make us stop and think
    about God’s power....

Job 37:6-7

We don't get much snow in our neck of the woods so when we do, I try to take a photo of it...not so great but a documentation that it does exist in W TN.

It is so peaceful watching snow fall and for us misplaced Northerners it brings memories of multi-feet instead of inches.  Though we love it, we find it much easier to navigate in our older years.  

Just think...no shoveling!

Birthdays and Snow

"Front Yard" by Sally L. Smith

Do your work willingly, 

as though you were serving the Lord himself,

 and not just your earthly master.

Colossians 3:23

Of course, on our worst snow day, everything is open...school, church, and a work opportunity.  I'm thankful for all, but this is my husband's and daughter's birthday.  We were planning to eat lunch together in town.  Now we have to find a place that will have a large parking lot so we can park feet away from others. 

 The roads were awful yesterday after 2-3 inches of sleet the day before and were full of ruts from traffic.  I'm not looking forward to driving since we have to take two vehicles and I have to stay in town until 8:30 tonight.  We had more snow last night and on any other snowy day, everyone would cancel.  After two days of the West TN world shutting down, I guess everybody got bored sitting at home and wants the world to continue to spin.  Welcome to winter weather, W TN...and off to work!
Update:
Now, that's more like W TN.  School and Wed. activities at church were cancelled.  Well, it is going to be in the single digits tonight with 20 mi. an hr. wind gusts.  We had a bright, sunny, windy but lovely day today and slowly sloshed and bumped our way around doing our project and errands and we even met our daughter and family for lunch.  I'm baking a cake now and we'll share it with the Fam tonight.   Good birthday.

A Prescription For Strength

"Prescription for Strength" by Sally L. Smith

Don’t ever think that you
  are wise enough,
 but respect the Lord
 and stay away from evil.

 This will make you healthy,
 and you will feel strong.

Proverbs 3:7-8

Well....we finally got winter in the form of inches of sleet, no snow, and cold temperatures.  We went out yesterday in my wonderful husband's 4-wheel drive Chevy truck to have supper with our daughter's family...a whoppin' 4-minute drive that only took us a couple of extra minutes.  Being seasoned Northerners, we know the best way to circumvent snowy weather.  It's the ice that will throw us a curve so we are extra careful when traveling on icy roads. That's the way it is in life.
  

Stay on the right path...that of following the Lord's leading...and you can't go wrong.

(If you look closely, you can see that I got my title from a tiny vintage Bayer aspirin bottle.)

The Word Shines

New Year's Resolutions by Keoni Cabral CC BY 2.0

The Lord’s instruction is right;
 it makes our hearts glad.
His commands shine brightly,
and they give us light.

Psalm 19:8 CEV

The heavens declare the glory of God for all to see (as written in the first part of this Psalm) but it is not until we take His Word personally and allow it to dominate our thoughts and actions that we are filled with the light of His love and given indescribable joy.  

Other translations describe God's Word as perfect, sure, pure, clean and true.   We are looking for truth and purity in this world that is rotten with sin and here it is before our very eyes.  Following God's commands gives me peace.