I Saw a Movie Once...

Children are a blessing from the Lord

 I was asked to do a devotional for a baby shower at our church on Sunday.  This is what I have so far:

Reading from Psalm 127: 3-5  Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. 5 How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

When I was eight years old my next to the youngest brother was born in Fairbanks, Alaska where my dad was Chief of the Weather Bureau.  Then we moved to Alexandria, Virginia where my youngest brother was born when I was thirteen.  My dad had been transferred to act as the assistant to the assistant chief of the Weather Bureau.  As the oldest girl I was expected to babysit, but when I was fifteen I ran out of energy.  I watched my two little brothers destroy a Baby Ben alarm clock.  My mom asked, "Weren’t you watching them?”  I said, “Yes. I watched them destroy the clock.”  From that time on my eleven-year-old sister took over the babysitting.  I never thought I would have children as I thought they were too much work.

But the Lord blessed me with two children in spite of myself.   I struggled to take good care of them.  I also had to take care of the home, to work outside the home, and to get together with friends and relatives and keep up relationships.  Lack of sleep got to me.  One day I cried out to the Lord and told Him I needed help.  That is when I began to study the Bible and joined a group for mothers of pre schoolers.  The moral and spiritual support I got in this group sustained me.  I began to picture my children as grown up responsible citizens living good lives.  I began praying for them with a Moms in Prayer group.  Oh sure I had to try different types of discipline and rewards.  I took them to church.  I read to them every night, and prayed with them.  They grew into responsible adults.  They are a blessing and my husband and I consider ourselves blessed.

And my little brothers were a big help with my parents when my parents got up into their 80’s.  My sister had passed away so I needed these brothers to help and they did.  My children were a great help too.  So children are a blessing in more ways than one.

Now we have a son-in-law and 3 grandchildren as well.

The Best New Years Eve Ever

These happy people are brothers and sisters in the Lord who we met in La Paz, Mexico when we were living on our boat at Marina Del La Paz.  Martin Gonzalez, 4th from the left with the tie, was kind enough to preach to us on Sunday mornings at a local Baptist church before the real church had their service. 

After sailing our 40’ boat, Flyaway, to Mexico several years ago we became “stuck” on the dock at Marina De La Paz.  (Many cruisers become stuck on the dock but that is another story.)We were blessed to attend a church for cruisers and others who spoke English.  We met "Reggie the Carpenter,"  5th from the left who did some carpentry work on our boat.  His wife and daughter are next to him.  I'm next and then a gentleman I don't recall.  Next is Elaine and I believe Marie.  Don't remember the name of the baby.

About a week before New Years Eve I invited Elaine and another cruising couple along with their grandson over to our boat for New Years Eve to play games.  Suddenly we all were invited to Milton and SuSu's, (another Christian couple who are keeping the English church going),  compound that they had just purchased.  We ordered pizzas and soft drinks and several groups played Mexican Train, Balderdash, and a few other games.  I was fortunate to be in the group with the grandson of the couple from the marina.  He came up with the most creative and outlandish definitions for the words in Balderdash.  I never laughed so much in my life.  He didn't win but in my book he won the contest in creativity.

I had prayed that the couple who sailed down to La Paz with us would meet Milton and SuSu and maybe Milton and SuSu would witness to them and draw them to Jesus.  It happened and the two couples talked that night.  PTL!

As I remember we sang in the New Year with praise songs.  We didn't leave the compound until after all the people in La Paz were finished shooting their guns into the air.

 I'm looking forward to seeing these Christians some day in Paradise.

Don't be deceived

There are many, including Christians, who have been deceived by modern thinking.  Here is an essay revealing what the deceived think.

Modern Thinker’s Creed, by Steve Turner

We believe in Marx, Freud,and Darwin. We believe everything is OK as long as you don’t hurt anyone to the best of your definition of hurt, and to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage. We believe in the therapy of sin. We believe that adultery is fun. We believe that sodomy’s OK. We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything’s getting better despite evidence to the contrary. The evidence must be investigated. And you can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there’s something in horoscopes, UFOs, and bent spoons. Jesus was a good man just like Buddha, Muhammed, and ourselves. He was a good moral teacher though we think His good morals were bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same-at least the one that we read was. They all believe in love and goodness. They only differ on matters of creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.

We believe that after death comes the Nothing. Because when you ask the dead what happens they say nothing. If death is not the end, if the dead have lied, then its compulsory heaven for all excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Kahn

We believe in Masters and Johnson. What’s selected is average. What’s average is normal. What’s normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament. We believe there are direct links between warfare and bloodshed. Americans should beat their guns into tractors. And the Russians would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good. It’s only his behavior that lets him down. This is the fault of society. Society is the fault of conditions. Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him. Reality will adapt accordingly. The universe will readjust. History will alter. We believe that there is no absolute truth excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth.

We believe in the rejection of creeds, And the flowering of individual thought.

If chance be the Father of all flesh, disaster is his rainbow in the sky and when you hear State of Emergency! Sniper Kills Ten! Troops on Rampage! Whites go Looting! Bomb Blasts School! It is but the sound of man worshiping his maker.

Nobody is Perfect

Sometimes we worry that we will become like our parents.  If we have lived with our parents we know that they are not perfect.  But there is a way to avoid becoming like our parents.  In II Corinthians 3:18 it says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

In Scripture we are told to honor our parents.  This is only possible by loving them, forgiving them, and trusting God to help us do this.  If we keep our eyes on Jesus by praying, studying His Word, and modeling our lives after His, we, by God’s grace, will be more like Him.