Your Eyes Must Gush Rivers of Grief, Lord.

                Does the color and JOY drain from Your loving eyes, Lord,
                  when you see the way we brutalize each other?

There is so much violence in the news.
So many people have been injured and killed.

Even children!

You made us because You love us
   and want us to spend eternity with You.

We have lost our way.

So many do not know You and even deny You.
So many do terrible things in Your name.

It must break Your loving heart.

It breaks mine.

As much as my tears flow,
   Your eyes must gush rivers of grief.

                            When we turn to Jesus and His way,
               there is light, life, peace and JOY shining through the darkness.

             

                  Out of His tears come rivers of life and beauty.        
                   Jesus is making all things beautiful in their time.

Has it always been this way?
History has not been pretty.
We have always brutalized each other.
Your Precious Son, Jesus,
   came at a terrible point in history
   when life for Your people was at its darkest.

He taught a different way then,
I know His message is still vital and relevant today.

Please guide us, guide me to do whatever we can
   to spread Your word, Your message of love.

Please help us to sow the seeds of love, of tolerance,    of forgiveness, of peace
   and of Your JOY that is never ending.

Please help us how to show others
   there is another way.

Your way

Help us to do our part to bring peace on earth
   so there are no more tears of grief,
   only tears of JOY.

                  Lord, please teach us to live Your way.  
        Help us do our part to bring light, color and Your JOY 
                   back into this dark, cold, cruel world.
              Please teach us to love as You have loved us.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, 

holy and dearly loved, 

clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 

Bear with each other and forgive one another. 

If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. 

And over all these virtues put on love, 

which binds them all together in perfect unity. 

 Colossians 3:12-14


Book Review:


Sons of Encouragement by Francine Rivers is a wonderful compilation of stories of 5 unsung heros of the Bible.  Aaron, the Priest; Caleb, the warrior: Jonathan, the prince; Amos, the prophet and Silas, the scribe whose lives are fleshed out in this set of 5 fictional bible stories.  Ms. Rivers took the actual people from the Bible wrote these men into life with human qualities and faults and ultimately with a desire to follow and serve the One True God. Ms Rives has researched the Bible and its times so carefully that her writing has the flavor of reading an unabridged biblical account of these men. 

YUMMY, YUMMY!

Knapps Station Community Church will have their annual Chicken Pie Dinner on 

Thursday September 21, 2017.

Not to be missed!

Blessing:

May you be blessed, my friend in the knowledge that you have a loving father in heaven who is watching over you all the days of your life.  He sees what is happening in this world and will guide you over the rough patches and through the hard times that come to all of us.  He will take your hand and never let go- unless you tell Him to.  His love for you is never ending and He waits anxiously for you to join Him in heaven.  Lets all meet there together! 

All photos taken by Debbie and Tim McEwen unless otherwise noted-          

     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 September 9, 2017.

                              The road at our house is now paved.  

                            There is still finishing work to be done

            but the worst of the dust and very bumpy road are ended.

Am I Vigilant Enough, Lord?

                               (Campground near Eel Weir, near Black Lake, NY)

Am I watching for the ruts in the road, for children darting out in the road?

Am I focused on the task at hand or am I distracted by other things?

Am I careful enough when I drive down the road?

Do I watch my finances carefully enough so the money stretches as far as it needs to?
Am I conscientious about the way I treat friends and family?

Am I giving You, Lord, the time, honor and glory that You deserve?

I try to do all those things but fall short so many times.

When I started my walk with You, I gave You my heart, soul, mind and all my resources.

I knew I needed to avoid temptations, the ways of the world and the wiles of Satan.

However, it’s so easy to become lax.

                       This picture is obviously out of focus.

       This happened when I was distracted, in a hurry and not careful enough. 

   
Satan keeps me busy, distracts me, gets my mind on other things and then he sneaks in.

It’s become too easy to walk on the “slippery slope” where daily living relaxes into the ways of the world.

It’s too easy to excuse behaviors and issues that are not Your Way.

I need to refocus and put EVERYTHING into alignment with Your Word, the Bible.

It’s so hard at times and I can get very confused.

Then I remember “With God all things are possible” and know You will guide me to be vigilant enough when I put my heart and soul in Your loving hands.

I pray for Your guidance.
I can’t do anything on my own.

Amen

Jesus looked at them and said, 
"With man this is impossible, 
but with God all things are possible."  
Matthew 19:26

                            When the mountain is my destination, 

                        I can try to take shortcuts across the fields 

          but I really have no idea what pitfalls or obstacles I will encounter.  

            I know I can trust You, Father, to lead me along the right paths. 

              I know You will keep me vigilant enough to arrive safely.

****************************************

Prayer, Does It Make Any Difference? by Philip Yancey  is a great book discussing various aspects of prayer such as "Why pray?" "Does God listen?" "Does He care?" "Why are some prayers answered but not others?"  Mr. Yancey does not have all the answers but he has great insights into why prayer is so vital and yes, it does make a great difference. 
Remember how much Jesus prayed!
****************************************

All photos taken by Debbie and Tim McEwen unless otherwise noted-          

     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 Wednesday and Saturday.
The next post will be August 16, 2017.

           Sometimes the "Son" is obscured by the things of this world 

   

    and we have to move ourselves to a position where we can see Him clearly.

Photo gallery for July and early August 2017

                             A rainbow at Black Lake, NY

                I "chase "sunsets  to get different colors, cloud formations, backgrounds and stages.

     I haven't edited out all the electric lines yet, sorry.

                                                                    Lilies at Montrose

                                                                 Stormy sky at Montrose

                                                   The Golf Course at Montrose

                                                       Coming North from Montrose

 

                                               A campground near Black Lake, NY

                                                 Chasing sunsets from home

                                                 An interesting moth in my mud room.

                                     

                                    Lilies at a home on our way to Saranac Lake, NY

                                             Flowers at the Hospital in Lake Placid, NY

 

 My husband has had many doctor appointments in Saranac Lake so we take our cameras and take lots of pictures on the way.  I think it's a beautiful area.  I took all the photos in this post.

                                       Church near Paul Smiths NY that is no longer used.

                                                          Wild flowers on the way home.

                                                              Boat dock at Santa Clara, NY

  

                                                           A brook near Nicholville, NY (yesterday)

                                   More scenery on the way to Saranac Lake, NY

                                         The lake across from  Saranac Lake Hospital

                                      Sunset on Lake Colby on the way home last night.