But the Greatest of These is Love

                    As the sun shines through the clouds 
                             and reveals the beauty 
                            that only God can create, 
         His love is shining through the COVID clouds of life 
                            and revealing His love.  
             You can see His love in the eyes of those 
             who are sacrificing to take care of others.  
             So many people have stepped up to help.  
                          There are so many heroes.  
                     "Greater love has no one than this: 
            to lay down one's life for one's friends."  John 15:13

There is no greater calling than to love.
We love because God first loved us.
We are living in a time of great change.
So much is unknown.
The rug was pulled out from under us.

This COVID has totally changed our lives.
It may never be the same in my lifetime.

Everything is in God’s hands.
It always was.
We just had the illusion 
that we were in control.
There is no longer that illusion.

However, we do have control 
of how we conduct ourselves.
We can choose how we behave. 

We can choose positive.
We can choose negative.
God wins or Satan wins.
It is really that simple.

We can choose to be courteous and loving.
Or not.

We need to think about our choices because they will have eternal consequences for us.

Our choices also have immediate consequences for those around us.
Our choices matter so much to others and to God.

Think about each choice and each action as though it were your last and what legacy you would wish to leave. 

Choose love.

“If I speak in the tongues of men 
or of angels, but do not have love, 
I am only a resounding gong 
or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy 
and can fathom all mysteries 
and all knowledge, 
and if I have a faith 
that can move mountains, 
but do not have love, 
I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor 
and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, 
but do not have love, 
I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. 
It does not envy, it does not boast, 
it is not proud.

It does not dishonor others, 
it is not self-seeking, 
it is not easily angered, 
it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil 
but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails....

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 
1Corrinthians 13: 1-8, 13


I know this is a very long quotation, 
but I really love it 
and it completes this piece. 
I loved it 
long before I started my walk with God. 
It has always touched my heart. 
I pray it touches your heart too. 
Nothing is more important than love. Especially in this COVID time.

                           Spring is here 
       along with the beautiful sunsets that I love.
                 The Canada geese are back.  
               It is a time of renewal and hope.
                   I hear the peepers at night.  
                I hear the birds singing all day.  
             They don't know it is COVID time.  
              They only know it is springtime 
             and time to rejoice in being alive.  
                     And they do rejoice, 
                 giving glory to the Maker 
             who loves them and loves us.  
       "This is the day the Lord has made, 
           let us rejoice and be glad in it."  
                     Psalm 118:24

        There was a very red moon in the wee hours 
              of the morning about 3 weeks ago.  
             I had never seen one so deep a red.  
                   It appeared even redder 
            than the camera's eye captured. 
                          Is this an omen?
              Or just a beautiful phenomenon?
     Is God saying that His heart is bleeding for us 
        and for what is happening in the world?

            New grass and tiny leaves on the trees 
           greet us as we stop by the bend in the river 
       on the Potsdam Norwood Road near Norwood, NY.  
            I love the "veils" of new leaves on the trees 
                that almost hide the sky in spring.  
      God is speaking His language of love and of hope.  
                We only have to look and listen 
   and wait expectantly for what He has in store for us. 
                  God is love and God loves us!!! 



Blessings on you dear friend.
I pray you have enough to eat, 
a roof over your head 
and whatever you need to live.

I pray you can feel the love of our Father who is always close to you, 
watching over you 
and caring about everything about you.

I pray you and yours are healthy and safe and stay that way.

If you have suffered tragedy, 
if you lost your job 
and are struggling,
I grieve with you 
and know our Father is sitting beside you and grieving too. 
Our Father weeps when we weep. 
Only He can help us through this time.

Regardless of what the world says, 
God brings JOY in the morning!!

And there will be JOY again in your life!!

                These are my grandsons: 
             Mark, Luke and Kodda
               God is my first JOY.
     My grand babies are a close second.

You Just Don’t Know

                        T


You just don’t know when or how what you say or do affects someone.

You just don’t know when you may have made someone’s day with a smile or a compliment.

You just don’t know how being positive around negative people can change a situation or even a life.

You just don’t know how the little things that you do without thinking can affect people.

People are watching.

People are waiting to see what you will do.

People are thirsty for something good.

People will gravitate to the negative but soak up the positive which feeds their souls.

You just don’t know when a word said today will influence someone’s life years in the future.

You just don’t know but the angels are also watching and cheering for you to do the good things.

The demons are also watching and cheering for you to make the choices that Satan wants. You know, the negative, sinful choices.

You have free will, so you get to make that decision.

You need to know that it will follow you for eternity so choose well, my friend.

Each word, each deed matters and you just never know how much.

But now you know so think carefully and make each choice count.

Otherwise, you just don’t know…….


Blessings on you dear friend.
I pray for your safety during this most difficult of times.  I pray that this different season of our lives bring you a chance to grow in your faith.  We can only rely on God.  He alone is our rock and refuge.

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.

What Would You Have Me Learn from This, Lord?

                             The sky is gray.  Is a storm brewing? 
                     What am I facing?  What's going to happen to me? 
                                         Why is this happening?

Why did that happen?
Why are You allowing this to happen to me, Lord?

I ask and sometimes He lets me see that this world is not my home. I have not arrived home yet. I’m in school, in training. Each experience is a learning event. I am being evaluated by how I react, how I treat others as I would have them treat me. I am being evaluated on my attitude, how hard I try – even when I fail.  Am I learning?

God knows I am weak, but He cares when I keep trying, when I turn to Him for strength. He always knew I couldn’t make it on my own. He has been waiting for me to learn and accept the fact. He’s been waiting for me to turn to Him and make Him my strength. 

My flesh...may fail but God is the strength of my heart.   Psalm 73:26

He’s been waiting for my heart to soften from a heart of stone into a heart of flesh and to forgive as He has forgiven me my many sins – just because I ask, not because I could ever earn His forgiveness and will never deserve His forgiveness. 

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 
  Ezekiel 36:26

God has plans for me, plans to help and not to hurt. He as a job for me to do and I will be here until I complete that job.

He is molding me into the child He knows I can be and really am, deep down inside. I can stop Him with my willfulness. I can choose not to allow.  He did give me free will, but do I really want to use it to oppose Him?  Do I trust Him completely with my life and my future?  Do I trust the Creator of all that exists to make good plans for me?  I’d be a fool not to.

So, I put myself in His hands and when stuff comes up in my life that is difficult, that I may not want to do, I ask “What would you have me learn from this, Lord? and listen for His answers.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.    Jeremiah 29:11

                           God can change gray skies to blue.  

            There may still be clouds but the outlook is much brighter.  

               The scenery changes from gloom to brilliant beauty.  

            This is what happens to my life when I trust in the Lord, 

      when I trust that He has a plan for me and it involves teaching me, 

                               molding me into His child.

                      View is near ski jump at Lake Placid, NY.

Prayer Request:

There is so much turmoil in our country right now.  Please pray for everyone.  Please sew the seeds of kindness every chance you get.  We can only fight the darkness with God's light.  We can only fight evil with God's goodness.  And guess what?  God has already won the final battle for us. 

                          In the midst of darkness, 

                                 God brings His light and His love.  

                                 We only need to walk to the light 

                                   and to His outstretched hands.

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.

As we live our lives and trudge through the problems and heartbreaks and JOYS that life brings, we need to remember that there is a heavenly reward waiting for us when we choose to follow God's way.  God is the golden light waiting for us on the other side. His eternal reward is beyond anything we can imagine.

What Will You Do to The Walls You Meet?

                                              Each of us is "under construction".                                       

If you think of everyone you meet
   as a wall under construction, 
   what will you do when you encounter them?

Do you add bricks and mortar?   Do you smooth the mortar and settle the bricks,
   or do you loosen the mortar 
   and knock down the bricks?
  
In other words, do you build up
   or do you knock down?

Every time we interact with other people,
   we do exactly that.
Our words and actions will either build up
   or knock down others.
We can either brighten someone’s day or darken it. We can bring Jesus’ light or Satan’s darkness.

It costs us nothing to give a store clerk a kind word       but may take the sting out of
   someone else’s thoughtless remark. 
A misbehaving child may need a hug 
   more than anything else. 
He or she may have been acting out 
   just to get attention. 
An act of love can turn around a life.

Our lives consist of a series of choices
   and each choice leads us to our final destination. The love we show may be passed on.
The bricks we lay make that wall stronger. 
The lack of love only tears down walls and lives. 

When we build up, it strengthens someone else, 
   it also shores up our souls against the darkness 
   that fights every moment to take over. 
Our building up, our laying of bricks can be small 
   or large actions. 
Even a smile can brighten a day 
   and spread Jesus’ love.

Sometimes we think we don’t matter, 
   that what we do really isn’t important, 
   but it is. 

There is a battle waging in the heavens 
   for each of us. 
Light versus darkness. 
What we do, gives ammunition to one side 
   – or the other.

I choose to lay bricks. I choose light!

What will you choose?

Ephesians 4:29 tells us ”Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give good grace to those who hear.”

  We've lost the brilliant reds and orange colored trees but the sun shining on                     these golden trees is beautiful on this glorious day.
   This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!"
                   Psalm 118:24

                  This is a side road near Paul Smiths, NY a week ago.
                              I can choose to dread the snow
                 or choose to see the beauty that God places in my path
                     and edify others with the beauty that I see.

     The image of the trees on the water is only a distorted image of reality.
                                Do we only see the reflections of life?
                    For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; 
                                then we shall see face to face. 
                      Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, 
                    even as I am fully known.  1 Corinthians 13:12

                           I challenge you to choose the light
                and to soar above the evil that tries to fill this world. 
                 When you fly to the light, your heart will sing.
       Your choices to build up others will give strength to your wings
                                   and JOY to your soul.
                  When you fall short, as we all do, keep trying. 
                    God sees your efforts and loves you for it. 

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.

The next post should be in about 2 weeks.

                           

                Be blessed, my friend 
       and may your life reflect the beauty 
                of God's love in you.

You Are Precious in His Sight

                                   This is the 4-5 year old group 
                            at Knapps Station Vacation Bible School
                                         for 2018 Cave Quest 
                                                at snack time.
                                  Our children are precious to us.
                    Imagine how precious we all are to the Father
                            who deliberately chose each of us.


Can that be for real?

Am I special to the Creator of all that is?
Am I worthy?
Am I important?

There have been many times in my life when I absolutely did not feel special or important and certainly not worthy.

I have made so many mistakes, done so many things that I would rather not think about today. Things that I truly regret.

And yet He loves me.

He plucked me out of where I was and placed me firmly in His presence. He has always watched over me and protected me. I can look back now and see His hand in my life, guiding me, nudging me away from the bad and toward the things He wanted me to experience. I always had a choice and can remember the gentle voice calling and encouraging me. Sometimes I listened and heeded the call, sometimes I didn’t. The times when I didn’t are times I now regret.

He never gave up on me even when I deserved it. I guess God never gets discouraged and never gives up on us. He keeps working on us because He loves us so much.

Way back before anything was created. Way back when only God and His incredible love existed, He thought about you and me and He chose us because He loves us and wants us to spend eternity with Him in paradise. He knew back then all the mistakes and sins we would commit and still created us and still loves us. No matter what we do or don’t do, He never stops loving us.

Because only perfection can go to Paradise and we can never be that good, God sent His beloved Only Son to live and to die for our sins. He paid the price so imperfect you and me can spend eternity with Him in Paradise. He loves us that much. We truly are precious in His sight.

However, we can only go to Paradise if we choose to go. We must choose God and tell Him we are sorry for what we have done wrong. We cannot earn this privilege. God freely gives it to all who choose Him.

Regardless of your choice, you are precious in His sight but only those who choose Him get to spend eternity with Him.

I hope to see you there someday. 

Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.  Isaiah 43:4

                                This is most of the group.  
                There were over 70 children and over 50 volunteers
          who participated in the fun learning about and growing in Jesus
                at Cave Quest, the Vacation Bible School 2018
                     at Knapps Station Community Church.

Commentary:  We are going through a very hot spell where the temperatures reached the high 80's and low 90's and it has been very uncomfortable.  We can get relief by using fans or air conditioning.  Cool drinks and cool foods also help.  A cool breeze and shade give some relief. 

What would it be like if there were no relief?  No breeze, no fan, no air conditioning.  Nothing cool to eat or drink and there never would be.  What if the temperature got into the 300s or more and there was never any kind of relief and it went on forever and ever.  You never passed out, you never died.  You just suffered unimaginable agony for eternity.  

Did you just imagine hell?

Would you willingly choose that?

You would if you didn't choose Jesus. 

Think about it!

When you die, there are only 2 places to go and I know where I want to spend eternity.  

How about you? 

Some of our older kids

            This is most of the group who performed a puppet show 
              at the beginning and end of each day of VBS.
                          I am the one on the far left.
                            I really enjoy doing this.

       This is Miner Marlene and Tad who helped the kids learn about Jesus.

                                              Learning about Jesus.

                              Some of the 2-3 year old group.

All VBS photos taken by Beth Shanty and Stephanie Johnson

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 August 7, 2018.

        My grandson Mark having fun and learning about Jesus at VBS.

Your Choice?

Two different kinds of rainbows that I have seen in the past 2 weeks.
Both are beautiful and both are gifts from God.

        "Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it
          and remember the everlasting covenant between God
           and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” 
                                         Genesis 9:16
                     God always chooses us and all things ultimately
                                   in our best interest.
                                  What do you choose?        


Jesus tells us: I will never give up on you.
"Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

Know with confidence that you are His and He fiercely protects what is His.

Jesus, son of God prays for you. Imagine what that means, that the son of God prays to His father on your behalf!

You are so special.
You were chosen by God from the beginning of time.
You are loved beyond all measure!
So much so that God in the person of His beloved Son suffered a horrendous death to pay for your sins and mine and to buy our ticket to heaven.

God seeks us.
He knocks daily on our door.
He wants to spend eternity with us.
That’s why He created us.

He also gives us free will to choose.
He loves us so much that He will not force us to choose Him and heaven.

He wants us to take our rightful place as His chosen and beloved children.
We only have to choose to join Him.

What will you choose?

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

               Photo taken yesterday at Black Lake, NY.
                     Life has some very dark times for all of us.
                    When we choose God, He leads to still waters 
                                   and restores our souls
                     regardless of whatever life sends our way.




Prayer Request:
The people of Puerto Rico, the people in Guatamala, the people in Hawaii who are all suffering the devastation from nature's fury.

Please pray for healing for this country.  There is so much division in thoughts and actions.  We were all created by God and He loves all of us dearly.  Please pray that God helps us find common ground and work together to make our great nation the wonderful, free democracy that it was meant to be "One nation under God with liberty and justice for all."

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 30, 2018.

                          Anybody know what kind of moth this is?
                             It visited my house last weekend
                              and kindly posed for this picture.
                          I love the colors and the huge "eye" spots.