Thank you, Father

                       "This is the day the Lord hath made
                           let us rejoice and be glad in it."
                                            Psalm 118:24
                This is a picture of my backyard and the fields behind.
                     I greatly appreciate where He has "planted" me.
                      God is so gracious with His many blessings.


Thank you for this opportunity.

A pending surgery doesn’t sound like an opportunity
   to say thank you
   but it is.

You are giving me the opportunity to surrender
   to You and Your love,
   Your grace and Your peace.

You are giving me the opportunity for spiritual growth
   and for You to work on my soul.

You are the potter
   who is constantly tweaking His work to improve it.
I am the clay that is being tweaked.

I started out as a big lump that needed shaping.
You had a plan and started working on me.
You poked and prodded. You nudged.
You removed the excess that is not part of Your plan.

Sometimes it was painful for me.
Sometimes I didn’t want to give up that excess.

However, You are the Master Potter. 

I am only the clay.

Who knows best?
You, of course.

This upcoming surgery is another opportunity
   for You to work on me.

I am learning to trust. I am learning to have faith. It’s not always easy.
Sometimes I have control issues.

However, I need to remember
   that You made everything that exists.
You absolutely know what is best
   and how everything will turn out.

I need to remember that You are my loving Father
   and that I rest firmly in the palm of Your hand.
I need to remember that You will never let go,
   never drop me,
   that You said,
   “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

I need to remember that Your love for me is limitless
   and that You suffered a horrendous death
   to pay my way to spend eternity with You
   in Paradise.

Therefore, I know I can trust You with my surgery.

Thank you, Father. 

                         "Consider how the wild flowers grow.             
                              They do not labor or spin.
            Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor
                     was dressed like one of these." Luke 12:27

                              I found this "arrangement" 
                        growing wild beside my garage.
                        I've never seen the two color lily before.
                     It must be one of those little "God surprises"
                                 that God uses to bless us.

As I was putting this on my blog post, a tremendous storm came up.  The skies opened and the rain poured.  The wind blew hard and the thunder roared.  A very large limb broke off a tree that is against my house and the limb with all the adjoining branches fell against my house.  It partially blocked the entrance BUT there is absolutely no damage to my house.  There will be a lot of work to clean up the mess but no repairs to make.  God is so good, all the time.  He takes care of us through everything that life and Satan can throw at us.

                      This is what I saw when I opened the door 

     after the branch broke.

                   This is what it looked like from outside the house.

This is my husband starting to cut up the branch.  

We got it cleaned up in less than an hour.

"It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, 

and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain."  

Isaiah 4:4

I wrote the "Thank You, Father" prayer because I am facing abdominal surgery that may be laparoscopic or may need to be major surgery if the polyp that needs to be removed is in the "wrong" location.  I came away from the surgeon's office frazzled.  I know I'm not supposed to worry, but I was.  I called to ask for prayers from my church family and I wrote this prayer.  I am now at peace about the surgery.  It is in the hands of a very good surgeon but ultimately in the hands of my Loving Father who will take the very best care of me.  I am fortunate that the surgeon believes in prayer and I asked that he pray for me.  I am so blessed that God put me where He did, among so many Godly people who are my church family and friends.  I am loved and cared for.  I can only wish and pray for this blessing for all of you.

        Another beautiful sunset from my backyard.
              I have so many things for which to say
                                  "Thank you, Father."

****************************
Save the date.  Mark your calendar.
YUMMY  YUMMY  YUMMY
Knapps Station Community Church will have its
Annual Chicken Pie Dinner 
Thursday,  September 19, 2019 

Times:  starting at 5 pm for the dining room
     take outs will be available starting at 4:30 pm

You can call ahead for take outs if you wish
  Call Barb at 315-212-9771 
      or June at 315-244-3149 for take outs 
Or to order a whole chicken pie for $10.00
Whole pies must be pre-ordered by Sept. 12.

Menu:  Chicken pie, mashed potatoes and gravy,  squash, green beans, rolls, and for dessert either apple crisp or pumpkin pie

Prices:  Adult (ages 12-90)  still $8.00
            Child (ages 5-11)    still $4.00
            Free for those under 5 and over 90
            Take outs are available at the same prices
           
****************************

Prayer Request:  I ask everyone to pray that God softens all hearts.  There is so much division, so much hate in our country right now.  Some of you may already be praying for all the victims of the horrendous shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio from this past weekend and I encourage those prayers. I also ask you to pray for everyone who has hardened their hearts and would wish to harm anyone else.  God loves all of us regardless of the color of our skin, where we came from, how we choose to worship Him or who we love.  All lives matter.  God listens and He answers prayers.  If we all pray every week for all those with hurtful intentions, I wonder how many shootings might be prevented, how many lives might be saved and how much heartache might be prevented. Let's call this Preventive Prayer and pray with all our might.  Pray for love and peace and God's JOY to fill the emptiness of those hardened hearts.

              Just as the wax will soften 
                   when the flames melt it,
              so too will hardened hearts soften 
                 when we pray and God acts.

All photos taken by Debbie McEwen

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 have not posted regularly and I apologize to my followers.

Life, health issues and grandchildren interfere.

Mea culpa my friends.

I will try to do better in the future.

Blessing:  

I pray for God's blessings on all of you.

I pray that you experience
    His many "God surprises" 
    on a daily basis.
I pray that you experience 
    the JOY of having

   God touch your heart and soul.

You only have to allow Him in.

Blessings, my friend!!!

           This dragonfly (I think that is what it is)                       
                    is so delicate and beautiful.

          God made us all in His image and likeness.

                      Just imagine how much He loves us.

                     "For You formed my inmost being;

     You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

                             I will praise You,

        for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

                      Marvelous are Your works,

                  and I know this very well."

                                 Psalm 139:13-14
                     
                                 Thank you, Father.