20, Publish

What an interesting prompt Linda gave us for today, a place where we publish our thoughts with each post to anyone who may read them. So here we go…

In November of 2019, my first book was published. A silly book to some, a funny book to others and a hopeful book to many who loved their dogs who are no longer here. A book of dogs in heaven and the fun they are having playing with friends and waiting on their owner to come to heaven. You know the pictures you have seen of all your dogs waiting for you once you get to heaven…

dogs in heavdn

Yes, they are waiting.

Book 2, the sequel, 1st draft was finished on Saturday, now for the long edit process. Hope to be finished by end of month and book published by spring.

This is what happens when you retire and have nothing to do…you write, or at least I do. So find a fun thing to do and remember in all that you do… be KIND.

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Sunday Morning Surprise

Surprises are supposed to be good things …right??? Not always. It never ceases to amaze me the things satan will do to try to keep you from going to church; weather issues( 3+ inches of snow will do it for me and my southern roots), health issues and then home issues.

This morning I woke to milk being all over the floor in the kitchen – what?? Turned out it was not milk but melted ice cream. Fridge died during the night and every thing in it was dead as well…or dying. The way I looked at it – it will be there when I get home from church. Going to church anyway. I cleaned the mess off the floor and the freezer was quickly checked and what could be saved was taken downstairs to the big freezer. After lunch we tackled the refrigerator side.

IMG_20190331_133731 — Truth be known, there were some things that should have been tossed last month

So March is going out with a bang. Yippee! I guess the good thing was that due to commitments yesterday, I didn’t get to the grocery store as the normal Saturday chore.

Sunday service was great and I was glad I didn’t miss it. Worship was titled “Is It Real” and dealt with what is worship according to the scriptures and how does that translate to you. I guess satan didn’t want me hearing that message or lifting my heart in praise and worship. Sorry dude, you loose. Worship was great.

Life can throw curve balls at us and how we handle those helps us either strike out or hit a home run. I don’t strike out a lot, but do sometimes. I seldom hit a home run but once in a while it does happen. I am more of a base hitter trying to get all the way around the bases and with God’s help I usually do but I need His constant guidance knowing when to run and when to stay on base.

I pray that this week, you too get all through the bases, maybe even a home run. Feel His love as He guides your steps and honor Him with your praises. And as you are moving from base to base remember to always be kind. Kindness is a form of love and worship as he tells us “what ever you do for the least of these, you are doing it to me”. So be kind.

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With Praise and Worship We Come

worship

As our church is coming together to redefine the worship service to be more of a glory to God and not of man, today…today was amazing. The music starting the service was ‘All Creatures of Our God and King’, written by Sty Francis of Assisi in 1225 (794 years ago), music written 1623 and revised by William Draper in 1926. You could feel the electric presence of God in the room, the warmth, the love, the reverence. It was still there when we went to the ‘reaching out with hands of fellowship’ greeting. The sincere love of the people was evident, it bleed into the room of fellow Christians and visitors. Then when the sermon started Pastor Rob made a statement we knew to be true but probably didn’t think much about. Of all the many times we come into the church building throughout the week, whether it be for bible study, youth activities, choir activities, ladies circles, community activities and so on and so on, these are all activities to feed our own selves. We come to those activities to learn more about God or we are there to meet about other needs the church may have or other things we may need help with. But Sunday worship is about God. We are not there for us (but we are), we are there for worshiping our God and King. Its an entirely different purpose. God is always worthy of our praise and worship regardless of our circumstances and while we do that during the week, Sunday is the day set aside where we come together as a family(the church) and praise and worship Him together, sharing in the fellowship of love he bestows on us for us to bestow on each other. That love brings us peace, peace that can only come from God. John 14:27 tells us of Jesus explaining His peace – ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you….do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.’

So as the last verse of All Creatures of Our God and King says, Let all things their Creator bless, and worship Him in humbleness, O praise Him, Alleluia! Praise , praise the father, praise the Son, and praise the Spirit, three in one, O praise Him, Alleluia.

I don’t know if this link will work but if not go find this song on you tube and really listen to the words. There are several version, I just preferred Sovereign Grace Music, Prayers of the Saints.

https://i.ytimg.com/an_webp/MUZD0hgtSgE/mqdefault_6s.webp?du=3000&sqp=CPed3-QF&rs=AOn4CLDzKcfy3aCMFWH1RmqbF0wk3-pf_A

And as always, as you go through your day and encounter creatures of our God and King, remember He don’t ever make junk and all things have a love and a purpose so remember to always be kind.

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