IF YOU WERE GIVEN A PILE OF MANURE

Jes riding horseback with Wayne's help in Hornbrook in about 1982

Speaking of manure the story about the pessimist and optimist goes like this-- 

Chris riding in 1949 Long Beach, WA

Another story I remember about manure took place in a World War II movie called "Three Came Home."  The women used human feces to fertilize their vegetable garden.

Grandfather Jes owned a horse which he kept at his parents home.  Here is the neighbor girl riding.

When I came down with fibromyalgia I wanted God to take me up to heaven right then.  I thought like Elijah when Elijah was sure Jezebel was going to kill him. He ran away and sat under a broom tree. I wanted to sit under a broom tree like Elijah and have food and water brought to me.

Davy riding bareback in Four Lakes

Another thing I thought about doing was applying to a writers group who sponsored writers to go sit in a cabin in the woods all alone and write a novel.  They would be supplied with food and shelter for several months. I thought that maybe that way I could recuperate from my fibro.

Many people are trying to recover from PTSD these days.  Jesus said that you would have trials and tribulations so don't be surprised.  So when you are given a pile of manure, remember my friend Nan's advice: "Ask God to help you to finish well by keeping you in your senses."  She did finish well by spreading the gospel through her cooking and prayers up to her very last week of life on this earth.

Jesus calls Christians the salt of the earth.  He may actually have meant the fertilizer of the earth.  To read a blog about it click here.

PS When I find the picture of the pony that my dad and Uncle Hollie had I will post that picture also.

AN AMERICAN THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving display created by a Russian Evangelical Christian Church in the U.S.

I was taught that the First Thanksgiving to thank God for His provision in America was celebrated by the Pilgrims.  The Native Americans in the area were invited to join them and they did.  Wikipedia says this, "In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition is traced to a sparsely documented 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts, and also to a well recorded 1619 event in Virginia. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest."

My family made a big deal of Thanksgiving while I was growing up in Virginia. Because we were at least 3000 miles away from our relatives in Washington State,  Alaska, and California,  we would invite other families who didn't have relatives in the area to join us.  One year we rented a hunting lodge.  Another year we had our meal in the basement recreation room of our house on Belleview Blvd.  I haven't found any pictures of our celebrations in those years but I have found more recent pictures.

1992 Redwood City

1995 Seattle

San Carlos 1996

Califronia 1997

Lake Forest Park 1999

Redmond 2005

Redmond

Chelan

Lynnwood

California 2015

California

Carnation

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  We get to see loved ones, we have good food, we might even sing some hymns (We Gather Together To Ask The Lord's Blessing), and we don't have to shop for presents!

From Wallbuilders:

GOOD FOR NOTHING

One of my all time favorite pictures of my kids. Photo by Chris Brown.

Today I'm so thankful to God for the faith He has given my kids, their spouses, and my grandkids.  I'm thankful for my parents who took us to church and modeled in their lives, not always perfectly, being Christ followers.  

My dad, in Alexandria, Va. at Calvary Presbyterian church, taught senior high Sunday school years ago.  He told his students that they should know why they are being good or else they are being good for nothing.  I was saddened to find out that several students have not clung to their Bibles like my dad did, but have been trying to be good for nothing.  One joined the Mormon church, another one put his faith in the Masons, a third has put his faith in politics.  But at least my siblings, and a few others from his classes, have dedicated their lives to seeking after God through faith alone and not of works.

Today I read this blog about our children actually belonging to God and not to ourselves.  I'm also starting a 30 day gratefulness challenge through Revive our Hearts.  If you would like me to e-mail you the link I get each day for this challenge leave a comment on this blog.

May God turn the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous to make ready a people prepared for the Lord, Luke 1:17 b. 

Another favorite.  Photo by Chris Brown.

I get a kick out of this one.  Photo by Chris Brown.