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.

This World is Not My Home

               God filled this world with incredible beauty for us to enjoy 

                                         while we are here 

                                BUT we are only passing through.   

                            We have a different final destination.

                  Photo is of little side road near Waddington, NY Fall 2018.

This finally dawned on me to the point that it’s getting ingrained in my thoughts.

What does it mean?

It means that nothing in this life is my final goal.

It means that I’m in school, in training for a different place.

A place called Eternity.

It’s where we live forever and ever without end.

The choices, the deeds, the activities we choose, the goals we work toward will direct us to our final destination.

Our behavior and choices here will determine if we like our final destination or not.

There are two possible final destinations: heaven or hell.

There are no other choices.

And everyone goes one place or the other, no exceptions.

One place is heavenly and the other absolutely is not.

Our loving Father wants us to spend eternity with Him in Heaven where life will be unimaginably wonderful.

However, He gives us free will and lets us choose to go to heaven or not.

All the while we live, God nudges and encourages us.

He gives us almost unlimited opportunities to live in such a way that we get to go to heaven, but He doesn’t force us to choose Him and heaven.

He wants us with Him in Paradise for eternity so badly that He became one of us in the person of His beloved son who lived to teach us how to live. We can only go to heaven if we are holy as God is holy and no one of us is capable of being that perfect. God knows that and made plans for us anyhow. God loves us so much that He choose that His beloved son, Jesus, would take on all the sins of all men for all time, past, present and future. Jesus chose to be tortured to death to pay for all our sins. God offers forgiveness for our sins if we only repent, tell Him we are sorry and try to not sin again. He knows we will sin again, so He keeps forgiving as long as we keep asking for forgiveness. Our debt is paid.

The road to Heaven, to spend eternity with our Loving Father, who loves us without measure requires us to love Him first and foremost, to love and treat others as ourselves and to repent our sins. Repent means to tell God we are sorry for what we have done wrong.

Somewhere along the way of learning about God and what He wants me to do and how He wants me to live, I figured out that I want to go to Heaven, that Heaven is my final home. As a result, I don’t care as much if I have all the stuff that this world tells me that I need. It isn’t as important to be first or best – except in God’s eyes. It doesn’t matter if I “win arguments”, only that I win souls for God. That does matter. I hope to see all of them and all of you when I do go home.

Will you join me? Our Father is waiting to welcome us with outstretched arms.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Philippians 3:20

                     At the end of our toils, Jesus will be waiting for us.

Prayer Requests:

So much is happening these days.  There has been terrible weather.  There was a partial shutdown of our government and thousands of people suffered terrible financial difficulties as a result.  There is a virulent flu going around and the flu shot does not prevent it.  I was very sick with that "bug."  More severe weather is expected this week.  The list of problems goes on and on.  So many people are in need.  Our country and our world are in great need and the only one we can really turn to for solutions is Our Father.  He already has all the solutions.  He tells us: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  Matthew 7:7. 

Our world needs our prayers and our acts of kindness too.  Every prayer and every act of kindness will light a candle to brighten the darkness in this world and make it a much better place to live.

May God bless you greatly, my friend and thank you in advance for your prayers and your acts of kindness. 

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 usually post every other Saturday.

Lately I have been very busy with Grandma duties on weekends 
    so I may try to post during the week.

                               Here's another one of my sunsets.
                        Sometimes I think God sends so many my way 
                          because He knows how much I enjoy them.
                            The colors are sometimes so glorious that 
                          they are almost like a little piece of heaven,
                                      my little piece of heaven
                               that I share with you, my friend.
                                            Blessings.

Come, Loving Father

        I took the photo of this magnificent sunset about a week ago.
            As you will see in the pictures that follow the prayer, 
                           the more I zoomed in on the sun, 
   the more beauty and intense color that the camera was able to pick up.
        In our prayer lives, the more we "zoom in" on God, 
                      the more JOY we find in our lives
                         and the happier we become.

I sit here and wait for You to come
I welcome You into my heart and soul
I ask You to fill my being
I long for Your heavenly presence

I am empty
And You fill me up

I am insignificant
You are my everything

For many years, my heart had longed for You
I didn't know what I was seeking until I found You

Now my whole being knows that I need Your presence every day

I need Your wisdom
I need Your love
I need Your grace, Your mercy

I have humbly repented my many sins
and asked Your forgiveness
As my loving Father, my Abba,
I know that You have forgiven me
And welcomed me back into Your loving arms

I need Your essence to be complete

With You, I am as I was meant to be

My whole being rejoices when You are with me
You are the lover of my soul who makes me whole

Thank You, loving Father
for always being so accessible
Always being so present in my life

You have all of creation to attend to
And yet I matter, everything about me
is important to You

You are too wonderful for words

You dearly love all Your children
You made all of us in Your image and likeness
And we are all so precious to You

You are always present and available
for each of Your children
We only have to ask You, Our Loving Father
and You come to us

Blessed, blessed be Your most holy name

...that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:20

     This is what I saw with my eyes without benefit of a zoom lens.

            Just starting to zoom in and getting prettier.

           The sunset also gets more beautiful as it progresses.

     Never underestimate the power of prayer to affect our lives for the better.

Prayer Request:
There is so much going on in our world.  There are almost daily tragedies with shootings, crashes and so much more.  Never forget that God is in charge and will make all this right.  Please pray for the victims.  Please pray for the perpetrators.  Please pray that God will touch these people in a mighty way and prevent further tragedies.  Please pray for unity under God in our country.  Whatever you choose, please pray.  Pray for God to make all the wrongs right and know that He will in His time, His will and His way.  He does all things for our good and this too will turn out right.  Please, just pray at all times.

May God bless you greatly, my friend.

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 post every other Saturday.

The next post will be on September 1, 2018.

                  This is a moon shot that I took about a month ago.

             This world where God has placed us is absolutely amazing 

      from the sun, moon and stars down to the tiniest molecules in our bodies.

                   Everything is a testimony to God's infinite power 

                          and the incredible love He has for us.

                and God

Is Satan Out to Get You?

Satan tries his best to put barriers between us and our Father.
He finds ways to tempt us away
            from the light and love our souls crave.
Satan's way leads to everlasting sorrow and the pit of fire for eternity.
Only God can really satisfy our souls and give us true JOY and peace.
God, Jesus is the everlasting light that fills and fulfills all our needs.

Is Satan our to get you?
You can count on it.

He knows he’s going to spend eternity in the pit of fire and wants to drag every one of us along.

Misery loves company and he wants all the company he can get.

How does he do it?

Any way he can, and he has thousands of years of experience.

He knows us better than we know ourselves.

He knows all our weaknesses and how to tempt us.

The closer we get to God; the harder Satan works on us.

He knows every crack in our armor and is so skilled at working his way in. And he never gives up.

Sounds hopeless doesn’t it?

Sounds hopeless but it ABSOLUTELY is not.

I’ve learned that when I fall, when I give in to temptation and have no idea of how to get myself out of the mess that I got myself into, I pray.

And it really works. God listens. He’s waiting anxiously for us to ask and then He works His miracles.

And miracles they truly are!

He finds solutions where none existed.

It is not an instant fix.

God, Jesus, works in His time. It must be His will and His way, not ours.

Know that God works all things for our good, to benefit us and not to harm us.

And know that His love for us is limitless.

Just know that when times are at their worst. When you are at your worst. God is just a breath away, waiting anxiously for you to call. It can be out loud or just in your heart and head. He will hear and answer.

Jesus beat Satan long ago when He died for our sins and rose from the dead, defeating death itself.

Satan knows he is defeated.

Now you know it too.

No matter how bad the situation is, turn to Jesus and He will give you peace. You may still have to deal with the consequences of your actions.

But with Jesus help, YOU WIN in the long run.

You win extraordinary peace in this life.

And you win eternal life and paradise.

Satan is out to get you and me but when we turn to God, Satan loses!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

"Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 2 Kings 6:16

                               Your life can be in a shambles.

                                         When you turn to your Father, 

                       He leads on the right path through all the problems
                                          that life sends your way. 

Be blessed, my friend in the knowledge that you have a Loving Father who will always be there for you, no matter what you have done or should have done.  When you turn to Him and ask for help, when you tell Him you are sorry for your sins, He welcomes you with open arms. 

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 May 5, 2018.

               Hopefully we are done with the snow for another year.
          No matter how bleak our circumstances, there is hope on the horizon.
             With God at our side, tomorrow will be a brighter and better day.

Till I Go Home

Park in Canton, NY last fall.

God gives us so many ways to spend our days,
so many opportunities to enjoy ourselves.

What should we choose?

                 

My days are numbered, Lord.
What would You have me do with these days?

What is Your will?
Will I look back from Eternity 

    and regret what I did not do?
Or regret the ways I wasted my time?

Please guide me, Father
to make my time productive and fruitful
until the day I go home to You.
     Amen

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 

 Psalm 90:12

A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,
  a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
  a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
  a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones
     and a time to gather them,
  a time to embrace
     and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
  a time to keep and a time to throw away
a time to tear and a time to mend,
  a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
  a time for war and a time for peace.

 What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.  He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.  That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

             

              This frozen river shines with the reflected beauty of the sun.
                       You make all things beautiful in their time, Lord.
                          Please make me beautiful in your eyes.
                    Teach me to live my days for Your honor and glory.
                        Help me to follow Your commandments 
                                         to love You first and best
                             and then to love my neighbor as myself.

Blessing

May you be blessed, my friend with the joy

    of living for the Lord.

May you find peace and fulfillment

    in doing His work all the days of your life.

May you feel His love and grace in your soul
And may you find final rest in the arms 

    of your Loving Father.

                                Sunset on Lake Colby
        seen from my husband's hospital room in November, 2017.

                    When the sun sets on your days, my friend,

                I pray you see the Son coming to take you home.

                       Enjoy the pleasures that God Lord gives you

                         let Him help you through the hard times

                            and make your days count for Him.

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 next year on February 24, 2018.

                         Our last "super moon" (1-30-2018).
                            I couldn't see the red tints that were expected
                                  but it was big and it was beautiful
                                       as is all of God's creation. 

   

Are You Self-Reliant?

                       On the road to Lake Placid from Saranac Lake, NY at dusk.  

                                         Are you self reliant?  

                         Do you stand on your own like this mountain?

                           Self reliance can be very cold and lonely.  

                    Reliance on God brings incredible peace and security.

Since it is the New Year, are you making resolutions to make you into a better you? Will you eat healthier? Exercise more? Save more money? Clean out and organize your home and your life to be more efficient and better for you?

Do you rely on yourself to make things happen for you and for others? How is that working for you?

For years I thought I had to do everything for myself and prided myself in being very self-reliant. How did that work for me?

I thought as well as it could and settled for that situation.

About 4 years ago, God plucked me out of my situation and led me to the church that I attend now, Knapps Station Community Church. I had been attending a church but had not been walking with God.

At Knapps Station, God led me to take a Bible Study, to read the Bible and to pray. I began fellowshipping with other church members.

I broke my leg and needed help. My husband was very debilitated at the time and could not help much. My church family brought meals for a week. A friend took me grocery shopping and to doctor appointments. One of the church elders took Tim, my husband to his doctor appointments. They prayed for us and loved us. We could not have managed without this wonderful church family.

Gradually I came to realize that it’s ok to let others help and that I can’t do everything. I started realizing that God’s hand was working in all of this and that everything really is in His control. I began to see how helpless I am without Him and His love.

I think I had always had a measure of insecurity and thought that was just the way it had to be. I never felt much peace.

I didn’t realize what was happening until it changed. It took a while for me to progress on my walk with the Lord and look back to see where I had been and where I am now.

Now I feel incredible peace. No matter what happens, God is in control and He works all things for my good.

I still have problems and things still break down. The oven of my kitchen stove quit last night and I am waiting for a repairman to call back. God will lead me to food that doesn’t need baking and it will be great. If I can’t find what I’m looking for in a store, I ask God what He wants me to try and it always works out.

He has led me to write this blog and share my thoughts with you. I pray it has blessed you as much as it has blessed me.

I cannot read your mind and don’t know all your circumstances BUT I do know that when I surrendered to Jesus and rely on Him, my life changed greatly for the better.

My new relying on God self, wishes you the peace and blessings that you will find when you give up self-reliance and rely on the only secure Rock that truly exists.

Blessings, my friend.

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. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Luke 12:27-31

       Most of these photos of flowers were taken at Montrose, PA last summer.

                  Today is bitterly cold and very difficult for us.  

                             It is important to remember 

            that our Heavenly Father will get us through this difficulty 

                and every other problem that life will send out way.

When relying on your own abilities isn't working, remember this:

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

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 next year on January 20, 2018.

Hopefully the weather will be better by the next blog post 

                 and I'll be able to get outside and get some new sunsets.

May the Lord bless you 

   with brighter and brighter tomorrows 

   and may your New Year 

   be filled with His unending blessings and JOY.