O How I Need You, Father

         Just as the earth needs the warmth of the sun to survive,
                   I need the love and the grace of my Father.
               

Every moment of every day
And every step along the way

I need You so badly.

I need You to breathe.
I need You to walk.
I need You for all the parts of me to function.

I need You to help me with my pains and with my troubles.

I need You to hold the stars and the moon in place, so I can delight in them at night. 

I need you to make the sun shine to warm me and to make the grass, the flowers and the food grow, to feed my body and my soul. 

I need You to hold this wonderful world in Your loving hands and keep all its parts functioning properly to house me, until I go to heaven.

I need You to correct what is wrong in this world, so it works the way You meant it to.

I need You to direct me, to do my part to make it work right.

I ask You to make me, Your hands, Your feet and Your mouth to do Your work.

I ask You to touch me and whatever I do in a mighty way to give You all honor and glory and to spread Your love.

I humbly ask You to forgive me for all the things I do wrong. I am well aware that my sins are many and happen every day. Without Your love, mercy and grace I would be absolutely lost.

I thank You Loving Father, for the people You have put in my life. I am so blessed with wonderful family and friends.

I ask that You teach me how to treat them as You would treat them and to bring Your Love and Your Word to them by my words and actions.

I need even more than I can even think of or be aware of.

You know everything I need, and You always provide.

I thank You so much for always being in my life, even when I didn’t know that I needed You.

Thank You so much and Blessed Be Your Most Holy Name.

Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:1-5

                 Photo taken last spring near Saranac Lake, NY.
                           The beauty of this sunny day 
                   makes my heart sing praise to the Lord.

On a yummy note:  Keep June 14 available for the Strawberry Shortcake Dinner at Knapps Station Community Church.

It is a dinner not to be missed!

Prayer request:  My dear friends, please pray for the people of Puerto Rico.  They are our American brothers and sisters who are still suffering terribly from the effects of Hurricane Maria which hit them in 2017.  4645 souls have died since then!  The island is still in a shambles and the new hurricane season has begun.  If you are able to do more than pray, I humbly ask you to do whatever you can to help.  

There but for the grace of God could be any one of us. 

May God bless you greatly for whatever you are able to do!

All photos taken by Debbie unless otherwise noted.

All bible reference from the NIV
     unless otherwise noted.

If you are interested,
    you can click on the Blog Archive
    dates on the top right side of this post
    to connect to previous blog posts.

I would love to hear from you either 

    on the comment section of this blog post
    or through my email.
    debbieamcewen@gmail.com
I post every other Saturday.

The next post will be on June 16, 2018.

                This Johnny Jump Up is growing outside my garden.
                   I didn't plant it there but I am enjoying it anyhow.
              We all need to remember to bloom where we are planted,
                     even when it isn't where we think we should be.
                                God puts us where we need to be.

Home for Eternity

        From the boat launch in Ogdensburg, NY over the St. Lawrence River,
                              the sunset was spectacular Monday night.
             Is this a glimpse of the glory
      that we will see when we face our Maker?
            I ask "Have I followed Him faithfully
      and will I get to enjoy this glory for eternity?
                      I can't earn heaven,
             it's always a free gift from God
              but am I accepting this gift?
      Am I sharing this "good news" with others?

Home for Eternity

When we walk with God,
He takes our hand and guides us along.

He walks with us all the days of our lives.
He helps us over the rough spots.

He rejoices in our happy times.

Sometimes we fall. 
When we do, we need to get up,
brush ourselves off and keep going.

                   An "innocent" vine grows up an electric pole.
         How long before the vine causes problems unless it is cleaned away?
       Sin and "innocent" habits can creep up on us and cause serious problems
                     unless we clean them away.

If we get dirty,
and we will from time to time
as we walk along life's path,
we must wash our hands
to remove the dirt and sin
that we can acquire. 

God never stops offering His hand
to help and guide us. 

However, the dirt and sin
that get on our hands,
gets between us and Him. 

They prevent the closeness
that He wants us to have. 

Jesus died for us,
so we can wash away our sins
with His blood. 

We only have to admit
what we did that was wrong
and tell Him we are sorry. 

Then our sins and dirt
are washed away, gone forever.

We regain our closeness with God. 

Each time we do this,
God smiles and hugs us. 

He is our loving father
who knows we will fall from time to time. 

He just asks that we keep getting up, washing off the sin that separates us from Him and keep going. 

Our Father
wants all His children home for eternity. 

As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—eternal life. 1 John 2:24-25

                           Another beautiful sunset last week.
              Will you join Him for eternity?

                                Swamp near Lisbon, NY

                                 A swamp near Lisbon, NY
   Even swamps are decked out waiting for eternity.

                              At boat launch in Madrid, NY
The Good Shepherd leads me beside the still waters and restores my soul.

                    view from my kitchen window, my little piece of eternity

       Toys donated by the people of the area for needy children         

 My Brother's Keeper

Am I my brother's keeper?

Am I responsible for anyone besides myself,
 my family, my friends?

Who is my family?

Who are my friends?

Am I not a part of the family of man?

Did not the Father bestow upon me the gifts,
talents and blessings that I enjoy every day?

Did He not direct me to share those gifts,
talents and blessings with my brothers?

Did He not say, “That which you do the least
of your brothers, that you do unto Me?"

When I die and face God for my judgement,
how will I answer Him when He asks,
“Were you, your brother's keeper?

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"  Genesis 4:9

             Handmade quilts donated for the Outreach Program 

               There are so many ways
     you can choose to be your "Brother's Keeper"
             

Thoughts for Today

Tomorrow Sept. 11th is the anniversary of one of the worst tragedies that our country has ever known.  It is the anniversary of 9/11 when our country was attacked by enemies of our very way of life. So many lives were lost both that day and in the aftermath with the search in the rubble and the exposure to toxic materials by the first respondents. Many heroes were made that day and in the days to come.  Our country has never been quite the same since.

We can respond and commemorate with hate, resentment and suspicion OR we can choose to follow Jesus" example when He was tortured to death on the cross.  Jesus is actually God Almighty, in the person of God's Son.  He had and has infinite power and control.  He could have done anything to those who hurt Him. He chose to forgive.  Jesus said "Father forgive them, they know not what they do."  

Can we at least choose kindness regardless of what others have or haven't done?  Can we set the Christian example to lead others to Christ?
They may not "deserve" to be forgiven and to receive our kindness BUT do we "deserve" all that God does for us?  I, for one, do not deserve all the love, grace, mercy and JOY that God constantly gives me.

Can we show why America is the very best of countries because of our love for our fellow man?

Ask yourself, "What would Jesus do?" and try your very best to follow His example. 

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.  Matthew 7:12


Book Review



C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity

This is an interesting background piece on one of our foremost Christian authors.  He was brilliant and started out believing there is no God.  His incredible journey led to such a strong belief in God that he lost great academic honors because he wrote arguments supporting God.  He wrote the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and many others.



Outrageous Grace

This page turner reveals what real Christian love looks like amidst heart wrenching tragedy.  Grace Fabian and her husband were missionaries and bible translators in Papua New Guinea.  Her husband was murdered.  Read how she deals with this heart break and finds "outrageous grace" in the midst of anguish. 


Knapps Station Community Church

This is my church.  I have been fed spiritually here as I never had before.

(Check out the website for directions and lots of other great information.)

It's a great place to feed your soul the "good stuff" from the Bible.

Knapps Station Community Church
3035 County Route 47
Norwood, NY
will hold its Annual Chicken Pie Supper
On September 22, 2016 in the church dining hall 
starting at 5 pm.
Menu:  
Homemade chicken pie with mashed potatoes and gravy, squash, green beans, rolls, with apple crisp or pumpkin pie for dessert.
Prices for a dinner:  $8.00 for adults, $4.00 for children, those under 5 or over 90 are free.
Takeouts are available starting at 4:30 pm
Whole chicken pies are available for $10.00 each
if pre-ordered by September 16.
Call  244-3159 or 212-9771 to pre-order or if questions.

I would also like to suggest that you check out the blog page for my friend, Jean Oathout.  I have received much good information and many blessings from her blog:

Treasures in Christ

Importunity is Toil and Travail  is one of her recent blog posts and is very inspiring.

                             A small farm near Lisbon, NY.
                       Many families in Northern New York
            used to support themselves by operating small family farms.
                                Maybe this one still does.


The Blessing

May you be blessed with a close relationship
   with our Loving Maker
May you come to know and love Him
   all the days of your life
May you learn the great JOY that comes

   from putting Him first in your life
   and treating others as you want to be treated
Your rewards will be heavenly

            I just had to add another shot of that magnificent sunset.

Blessings for you,my friend for a wonderful week. 

All photos taken by Debbie and Tim McEwen - 

  used with permission

All bible reference from the NIV unless otherwise noted

If you are interested, you can click on the Blog Archive 

  dates on the top right side of this post to connect 

  to previous blog posts

I would love to hear from you either on the comment 

  section of this blog post or through my email  

  debbieamcewen@gmail.com

I post every other Saturday 

The next post will be 9-24-2016

         Fungi growing on a tree.  I thought they were interesting.
                        Tim spotted them as we drove by.