It is Only Through Your Grace, Father

I could not have made it on my own.
You were with me every step of the way,
every single day.

I was never alone, never lonely.

You spoke to me, directing me, encouraging me, helping me.

Your love is absolutely amazing.
Your kindness is so wonderful.

You are so wonderful.

You are faithfulness from forever to forever.

I am so blessed to be Your child.

Blessed be Your most holy name.


My dear friends.  I apologize that I am once again late getting my post out.  I had my left knee replacement on May 7 and went to a rehab in Tupper Lake, NY on May 10 to May 23.  The surgery was successful and the rehab was most beneficial.  I am doing very well and am in out-patient therapy.  However, I am very slow with everything I do.  

God was with me all through the surgery and recovery.  Actually He has been with me ever since He thought of me and caused me to be born.  I had to learn that He was always there.  Now I can look back through my life and see His footprints and His love.  

I also know that all the prayers and love that I received from my family and friends made all the difference in the world.  
May God bless you all.  Thank you.

Anyhow, it is late Monday night and I wanted to at least touch base with my friends with an update on me and the following important news.

Knapps Station Community Church, Norwood, NY will have their annual Strawberry Shortcake Dinner 
on Thursday June 13, 2019
Dinner consists of  roast pork, potatoes, vegetable, applesauce, rolls and strawberry shortcake.
starting at 4:30 for takeouts and 5 pm for eat in.
Dinners cost
age under 5 and over 90 are free
age 5 -12 are $4.00
ages 12 to 90 are $8.00
extra shortcake is $2.50

Sorry I didn't have time put in pictures.  I will try to do better from now on.

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.

Do You Ever Wonder?

    This the swamp on Route 35 between Norwood and West Potsdam, NY.
                    I am amazed that Spring always follows Winter.

              I am amazed the earth always changes its tilt in such a way
        that the sun now warms the earth and the time of new life comes.

           Even this swamp is alive and beautiful with green and new life.

             The sun and the Son bring new life in their appropriate time

                                and make all things beautiful.

I wonder and think about all kinds of things.

I am amazed that a tiny seed can grow into a beautiful flower. 

                     Even the dandelions and wild violets are beautiful.

                      The brook near my house is alive and green.

I am so grateful that I live in a house where I can get a hot shower. I think about the technology that caused the house to be built and all the things that went into it. I think about the fact that there is electricity to pump the water into the house and heat it. And then to gently shower that heated water into a tub so I can get clean whenever I want to. I think about all the inventions that had to be thought up to make the pipes, the electricity and so on and to deliver it to my home. There are an incredible number of components that go into that one activity and I am the fortunate beneficiary.

This is only one little aspect of my life that is amazing.

I have always been amazed that I can walk upright on 2 feet. Being clumsy, I am not the most graceful person, but I am still able to walk upright.

I can think about moving the various parts of my body at will and they usually respond as I direct them to. It is amazing that I can type/keyboard this piece that you are reading, and my fingers respond appropriately to my mental commands. 

                            Even these crab apple blossoms seem to shout,
          "Look at me I am a creation of the Son and I rejoice just to be alive.

           I was created for your pleasure and to give glory to the Father."

I am amazed that I live in such a beautiful world. Winter is gone. Trees and fields are turning green. Some trees are blooming. Some flowers are blossoming. The air is warm. The sky is often a beautiful blue and the sun shines warming me to my core.

I never cease to be amazed by the world that God made for me to live in and enjoy. 

              The beauty and diversity of the world that the Lord has made 

                                  is absolutely incredible.

I am amazed that He made it beautiful and made me in such a way that I can see it as beautiful.

I am amazed and grateful that the act of love of a man and a woman can create a new life and a new person.

The list is endless, and I never stop wondering.

The most amazing and wonderful thought is that I have a Father who loves me no matter what I do and that He made all this just for me – and you.

When you wonder, wonder about that.

Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare. Psalm 40:5

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!

              You are so amazing Father. 

       Whenever I reach out, You are there.                            You take my little hand. 

          You hold me in Your mighty hand 

                   and You love me.  

          Blessed be Your most holy name.

My dear friends:  Please pray for the victims of the shooting in Texas.  Please pray for the families, friends, acquaintances, law enforcement and everyone involved - even the shooters.  Please pray that God may touch their hearts and the hearts of all those who would do harm to others.  Please pray that the cancer that is eating away at the goodness of this country can be cured.  Please look for acts of kindness that you can do to fight this cancer.  If we each do our little part, with the help of God we can overcome the evil and darkness.  We can bring light back to this amazing world that our Father created and bring it back to the beauty that it was meant to have.  Let us pray that there will be NO MORE SHOOTINGS!

                   The sun may be setting but there will be another day.
                  Let's work together to make it a better day for everyone. 
            As Tiny Tim in "A Christmas Carol" said "God bless us everyone."
                               And know that God will bless us all.

                             May He bless you greatly, my friend!

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 2, 2018.

                 I saw these tracks at the bridge near my house. 
                         Does anyone know what they are?

What Will You Do with Your Allowance?

                      River Road between Norfolk and Raymondville, NY

There is a pile of rocks in the middle of this field that allows the flowers to grow undisturbed.  Sometimes our disadvantages can be blessings in disguise that allow us to develop talents that we never would have considered if not for that pesky "disadvantage or disability!"

When we were born, we were each given an allowance by God. 

                           Our true colors show the brightest in adversity 
                                      as when a storm is brewing.

We were born into our family which may have lots or little money. We might or might not be beautiful or strong or athletic. We might be talented in some area. We each had a series of experiences that shaped us into the people we are now. 

Each of our positive and negative qualities is our allowance. Even negative ones can be positive if used in the right way. 

For example, someone who is stubborn is also persistent and may work very hard to achieve a goal. Someone who is not very strong or athletic may have developed skills observing others and could use those skills to help someone who is athletic to get better at their sport.

This dandelion was created by Our Maker to bloom and die to spread its seeds and birth more dandelions.

We were born and live to die to self, to bloom in the life of Our Maker,

to spread His Word and birth more Christians.

We may think we earned our skills or allowance but whatever we have, whatever we were born with or born into is not in our control. Some call it the luck of the draw. I chose to call it our allowance from God.

What does all this mean? It means that we are what we are by the grace of God and not due to anything we had control over or could earn.
What are we supposed to do with our allowance? 

I think we need to make the best with whatever we have. 

             This little pink wildflower blooms with the beauty of God 
                             despite any and all adversity.

God tells us that we need to love Him first and best. We need to follow His direction. We need to repent of our sins, which is telling God we are sorry for what we did wrong and try our best to not sin again. 

Second we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. That means we are to treat each other the way we want to be treated. I think it means we look for opportunities to help others and then do what is right even when it’s not convenient or pleasant. 

That’s also a great way to teach others about God and God’s love – by example.

            The lily of the valley is not showy but its fragrance is so sweet.
                       When we really practice what Jesus taught, 
                 we too will leave a "sweet fragrance" by our actions.

This doesn’t mean that we don’t take care of ourselves or our families. God wants us to enjoy our lives. He gave us much to enjoy. But it does mean that we owe everything we have to God and His grace. And it means that we must give our best to Him just as He gave His best to us.

God gives us everything and just asks that we give Him one tenth of our allowance. That means we get to keep the other nine tenths that He gave us! 

Would you give so much with so little return? God does. What a bargain!

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19 

And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.  Matthew 22: 37-39

                                                 Sunrise

                                   Sunset
The Lord is with you from the moment you awake until you close your eyes.  He is with you all night long and through the most difficult and the best times of your life.  He will never leave your side and He will help you through whatever comes your way.

Addendum:  One of the most important parts of our allowance is our time.  How we spend it is so important.  Our time with God is critical.  When He knocks on the door each morning, open the door, invite Him in and speak with Him as you would with your very best friend.  He's waiting patiently for you.
P.S. Some days get very hectic.  If you don't have time for a long conversation with God, send Him a quick "text" in your thoughts and let Him know you welcome Him every day.

          This picture was taken on Miner St. Canton.  

River seen on River Road near Raymondville, NY

       When we enjoy the beauty of nature 

         it would be difficult not to contemplate on the Maker 

        who provides such beauty for us to enjoy.

Please Come In, Lord

(a dialog with God)
It’s morning

I can hear you knocking at my door, Lord

Please come in

Please sit with me and talk with me

Please open my heart to listen to you and only You

Please take away all the distractions

Begone satan, you are not wanted or welcomed

Begone from my day, from my thoughts, from my words and deeds

Lord, You are welcome

I choose you, Lord, today

I ask You to please stay with me all day

Please be my constant companion and my guide

Lord, how are you today?

What would You tell me?

My child

You know how much I love you

And I love You, too, Lord

You know I wish you well

Yes, Lord

I know you read my Book

Yes, Lord

You ask for my company

And that is what I really want, your time with me

I will teach you as the day progresses, as things come up in your life

I will speak in my still small voice and tell you what to do and what not to do

I don’t always listen well, Lord but I really want to

My willfulness gets in the way and I am so sorry

I know child

I know you are trying and that is what I seek

The harder you try, the more you will achieve and the closer to Me you will become

You will make mistakes and commit sins but as long as you keep trying your hardest and continue to repent, I will forgive you

You are now Mine and I never let go of what is Mine

Don’t ever forget that

Some days will be wonderful

Some days will be incredibly difficult

Take my hand and I will walk with you every single day of your life, shaping you and molding you into the child I will take home to paradise

Come walk with me today, child

Today is one day closer to the day I will take you Home

Thank you so much, Lord.  Amen


Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 
Revelation 3:20

     Just as the patches of grass are in the middle of this river near Norfolk, NY, 
            we are afloat in the river of life that can have so much turmoil.  
     God will take our hand and guide us home if we only invite Him in our lives.

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

Voice of the Martyrs 

Please pray for our brothers and sisters who do not have the freedom to worship as they choose.
Many suffer and die for their faith.
We are so blessed to worship as we choose.
Many died to give us this freedom
May we never lose this freedom.
And may we never take it for granted.

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

Knapps Station Community Church

Would you like a fresh Strawberry Shortcake dessert after a delicious roast pork dinner for only $8.00? Check us out on June 15, 2017.

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Why Do We Wrestle? (in prayer)

My friend Jean Oathout shares a blog post explaining why we may wrestle when we pray and why that has great value to us.  I invite you to check it out.

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The Seven R's of Restful Living - Receive Kindly Spoken Truth

I invite you to check out my friend Jane Ault's latest blog post.  She explains how listening to God's still small voice has helped her bring so much peace into her life.

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Blessing:

May you be greatly blessed my friend 

    when you accept Jesus' outstretched hand

May His still small voice guide you 

    to His amazing peace and JOY 

    that never fails you

And may you take your Father's hand as He 

    leads you home to paradise

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

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 June 17, 2017

My husband, Tim took this picture of a low flying jet from our home.  We do not live near an airport and have wondered why it was so close.

              It's never too late to invite Him in.  
          Jesus is delighted to be in your company 
                      even if it's sunset!

O Lord I Raise All of Us to You

           O Lord, You make my heart blossom when I open it to You and Your love.

I raise all these concerns, I raise all these issues, I raise all this pain and all these troubles to You O Lord.

We are so needy

We cannot manage without You and Your love, Your grace and most of all Your JOY in the morning.

                    Your "Son" light is always shining on us.

You are the Great I Am, the still small voice who is always listening, always caring, always gently whispering the right way to proceed if we only listen.

I read the prayer list and there is so much to ask, so many calling out to You.

You are only waiting for us to ask. You tell us to ask and You will answer.

You provide for the birds of the air and flowers of the field without them even asking.  How much more You will do for Your children if we only ask.

We need to remember it will be in Your time, which is perfect and it will be Your way.

Our ways are not Your ways and You know what is best for us in the long run.

You see the big picture

Farm near Morley, NY.  The field is plowed awaiting planting.  The farmer knows the plans he has for this field and what he hopes will grow.  You know the plans You have for us

You know the ending before we even get started

We can only trust You.

There is no one more trustworthy.

You are faithfulness from forever to forever.

You bring beauty to our lives at all times.  Even the dandelions add color and beauty in their time.

          Road between Bucks Bridge and Morley, NY

You are more wonderful than words.

I call out to you now on behalf of all these souls and myself too.

We need You so badly, please help us or we are lost.


My child:

You know I am here and I am listening.

Because you pray with all your heart, you touch my heart.

Know my child that I will find a way to lead you beside the still waters and restore your soul regardless of what life gives you.  Just trust in Me.

I hear about the ones who are in pain, the ones facing surgery, the ones waiting for test results, the ones who are lonely, the ones whose families are broken, the ones whose hearts are broken and all the others.

I love all of you so much.

I do not always give the answers you ask.
You must trust Me.

But know that I am with you forever to the very end of time.

            I am always with you even when you don't see Me.

Know that I will walk with you every step of the way through all your trials.

Know that I walked there as a man and will never ask you to do anything that I have not already done.

I really understand what you are going through and my heart aches with you every step of the way.

Someday you will see my face and I will wipe away all your tears, all your pains will be gone and your JOY will be incredible.

In the meantime, continue to pray, it does matter and does make a difference.

Continue to fight the good fight.

Never forget how much I love you.

   After the turmoil of this life, I will lead you to the peaceful waters of eternity.

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever." Revelation 21:4  New Living Translation

Under Construction, Expect Delays

I live at a dangerous intersection that has seen many accidents including fatalities. The Department of Transportation or DOT will correct the problem by removing the highest parts and filling in the lowest parts.

They hope to achieve a much better line of sight for everyone and eliminate or at least greatly reduce the number of accidents.

I am not looking forward to the mess, the noise and the inconvenience involved. However, I am looking forward to living at a much safer intersection.

It occurs that God is a little like the DOT. I am a work in progress, complete with lots of issues, problems, imperfections and one who regularly commits sins.

God nudges and corrects me. It’s not pleasant to have my parts changed. I am a creature of habit and left to my own devices, would not change.

However, God loves me so much, He wants me to spend eternity with Him in paradise.

Since I am so imperfect and He is perfection I am not fit to spend eternity with Him unless I become righteous like Him. 

When I accepted Him in my life I became righteous.  However I have a very long way to go to become perfect and will only achieve that when I go to heaven.  God continues to spend an incredible amount of time and effort working on me.  

He loves me that much. He is willing to go that extra mile. He cared enough that He became man to teach you and me how to live. He became the flawless lamb who was the sacrifice who died to pay our sins.

He asks me to acknowledge my sins, to apologize for those sins and to try my very best not to sin again. When I do apologize, He forgives those sins, never to remember them ever again! Imagine how much He loves me – and you!

If the DOT does not do its job, more accidents will most likely happen. If we do not cooperate with God, the unthinkable will happen, we will not spend eternity with Him but will spend forever and ever burning in hell.

The DOT did not give us a choice to cooperate. God does give us a choice. He gave us free will. 

Will you choose to be a work in progress who is always under construction? Or will you choose the other way? 

Please choose wisely, my friend. I look forward to your company for eternity in Paradise.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  1John 1:9

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Book Review



Emotional Freedom by Jane Ault

My friend Jane Ault, has written a very enlightening book about freeing ourselves from emotional dysfunction so we can achieve our true potential. This book is available from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. You can also contact her on her blog (see below) to purchase it at a discounted price.



The Priest by Francine Rivers

This is a riveting, respectful, fictional account of what life may have been like for Aaron who was Moses' brother.  It gives great insight into his human side and all the difficulties and joys that accompanied the job of Priest that he took so seriously.  I borrowed it from the Knapps Station library and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

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Knapps Station Community Church

Would you like a fresh Strawberry Shortcake dessert after a delicious roast pork dinner for only $8.00? Check us out on June 15, 2017.

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


Why It's Too Soon To Give Up

My friend Jean Oathout has a wonderful post about the importance of never giving up on anyone in prayer.  You just never know when all your efforts will be fruitful.

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  Photo by Debbie McEwen

 The 7 R's of Restful Living: Remaining With Jesus
Another inspirational post by Jane Ault. Trusting in God to lead me where He wants me helps me get done what is really important. I look forward to reading the other 6 R’s of Restful Living!

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

Voice of the Martyrs 

Please pray for our brothers and sisters who do not have the freedom to worship as they choose.
Many suffer and die for their faith.
We are so blessed to worship as we choose.
Many died to give us this freedom
May we never lose this freedom.
And may we never take it for granted.

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

Blessing

My friend, may you be blessed all the days of your life with the knowledge that our Heavenly Father loves you more than earthy life.

That He became man, suffered and died a horrendous death.

He did that because He loves you so much that He wants you to spend eternity with Him in paradise.

May you always realize His mighty love and allow Him to lead you home forever.

May God bless you greatly,
        my friend!

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

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 June 3, 2017

                           Old wagon with flowers in Slab City

         "Tree face" on a rock in our front yard.  Doesn't he look ready to "spin a yarn?"