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.

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.

What Was Jesus Thinking?

                         The sun descends in glorious colors.
           The clouds reflect the sunlight adding beauty to the scene.
                            We become incredibly beautiful
                        when we reflect the majesty of God.
                            Jesus death and resurrection
                           opened the door to enable us
                to reflect that incredible beauty for all eternity.

What was Jesus thinking when He rode the donkey into Jerusalem to the shouts of “Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven.” (Matthew 21:9) knowing that a few days later the same people would shout “Crucify him” when given the choice of freeing innocent Jesus or a criminal? Was His heart heavy?

What was Jesus thinking when He taught His followers those last parables, those final lessons? (see Matthew 21:18 through Matthew 25)
Was He trying to make sure He had covered all the important points, so He could leave knowing He had prepared His followers for the enormous job ahead of them? Was He anxious? No. He knew how well they would spread His word and His Love?

What was Jesus thinking when He went to that Last Supper with His disciples? Did His heart ache knowing that both Peter and Judas would betray Him? Knowing that almost all His disciples who had pledged undying loyalty would run off leaving Him to suffer and die in unspeakable agony?

Did He also rejoice knowing that His words “This is my body and this is my blood” spoken over the bread and wine would be said by millions of followers for thousands of years as they, as we celebrate Jesus precious gift for us?

How did Jesus possibly manage going to Gethsemane? He knew His followers could not follow where He had to go. He said to His Father “Your will, not mine be done” knowing the agony that was to start shortly and last for many torturous hours. (Matthew 26:36-45)

What was Jesus thinking when His betrayer greeted Him with a kiss to identify Him for those who came to take Jesus to His horrible death? He knew ahead of time what was about to happen. Could I, could you have gone through it all? He was innocent, I am not. He knew He could call on God and His angels at any time to stop His death. He chose to continue knowing all those who would deny Him, refuse His love, sinning repeatedly. I could never have done what Jesus did. Imagine His love for us!

What was Jesus thinking when the soldiers pounded nails into His wrists and feet to nail Him to the cross after beating Him so badly that the skin was ripped off His back and His bones were showing, bleeding, His lifeblood oozing out onto the ground. The blood had dripped into His eyes from the crown of thorns forced on His head. He was beaten and bloody from head to toe. This was God in the person of His precious son who chose to accept this death, the punishment that we deserve for our sins. What did He say? Did He condemn? He said “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34

What was Jesus thinking as He died? Why did He do this? His actions say to each of us “I love you more than this life itself. I love you so much that I willingly accept the punishment that you deserve. I want you to spend eternity with me in paradise. Will you take my hand and follow Me? 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 
 Matthew 11:28-30

What was Jesus thinking when He did all this? He was thinking how much He loves you and me and wants us with Him for eternity in Paradise. 

Will you accept?

Blessing:
Be blessed my friend, knowing that we do not have to pay for our sins, that Jesus did that for us - if we only accept.

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 April 7, 2018.

                                      Spring is bringing new life.
                                     Jesus' death and resurrection
                                  bring us new life, everlasting life.
                                  Will you accept His incredible gift?
                                Photo taken at West Stockholm, NY.

Always and Forever

        "...He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul..."                  Psalm 23:2-3  King James Version
        In the midst of all the turmoil that is taking place all around us,
           we are safe and secure in the care of the Good Shepherd
                who loves us more than He loved His earthly life.
             We will still have difficulties, troubles, pain and hardship
              but He will bring us through and bring us safely home.

O Blessed Lord
You are steadfast and true, always and forever
You are love incarnate, always and forever
You are my patient teacher, my Savior, always and forever
I pledge my life, my soul, my heart, all my resources to You
I am nothing without You
I am straw in the wind without You
I would wander hither and yon without You
I know, I've been there
You give me purpose and peace
Your touch completes my being
You are the lover of my soul who makes me whole
With You, I am as I was meant to be
Without You, I am lost
Thank you, Blessed Lord for finding me and bringing me home
Where I will dwell with You always and forever.

I wrote this to read at my baptism in 2014.  I was baptized as a child but chose to rededicate myself to God and have never looked back. It has been an incredible blessing.

On August 27, 2017, the following people from Knapps Station Community Church chose to be baptized and to rededicate themselves to God at Arbuckle Pond near Higley, New York.

                                       Jacob Frego (black t shirt) with Rev. David Tulloch

   Maddie O'Brien with Elder Charlie Frego, Rev. Dave and Elder Harvey Smith

              Isabelle Matice with Charlie, Rev. Dave and Harvey.

             William Sherman (no shirt) with Charlie and Harvey.

                 Lisa LaBrake with Charlie, Rev. Dave and Harvey

                                             Kris Rozelle

                   Kari Dufresne with Charlie (her father) and Harvey.

                            Al DeLorenzo (white t shirt) with Jacob Frego

We each struggle each day to live as Jesus taught us.
May we always remember that He stands with us 
to help us through all our difficulties and problems. 

When we dedicate ourselves to Him, 
it greatly pleases Him and it surely affects us.  

When that last day comes and the trumpet sounds, our every effort will count.  
I believe that our attitude, our best efforts 
will count more than our worldly accomplishments.

Did we love our Father with all our hearts, 
all our minds, all our strength?  
Did we love our neighbor as ourselves?  
Did we repent of our many sins? 
If the answer is yes, at least we tried our best,
if as many times as we fell down,
we got up and kept trying again and again   
then Our Father will welcome us 
to paradise for eternity.

You and your soul are priceless to God.
He desperately wants to spend eternity with You.

There are only 2 choices 
    to burn forever in agony without God
    to spend forever in paradise with Him

Choose carefully where you put your priorities.
It matters, 
you matter 
always and forever.

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 October 7, 2017.

                              When we make a covenant with God,

                    He promises to keep us in His Loving Hands forever.                                 
                                  We may stray.  We may default.
                                          God NEVER will! 

                              God is faithful from forever to forever. 

                            ...His love endures forever. Psalm 100:5

                                

I Can Hardly Wait For Tomorrow

This beautiful sunset promises a beautiful day tomorrow.  When we walk with our Father, He promises "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you."

When I started my walk with the Lord, I saw that He was already walking beside me, waiting for me.
He held out His hand and said,“Come follow me.”

I took His hand gingerly because this was a new experience.

The longer I walked with Jesus, the more I saw evidence that He had always been there, always loving me, always taking good care of me.

Wild flowers grow amid rusty barbed wire.  Jesus is with us amid all the chaos and ugliness that the world throws at us.  He makes all things beautiful in His time.

I remember the car crash when I fell asleep at the wheel. My 2 older grandsons were in the car.

The car was totaled but no one got hurt.

I hadn’t started my walk yet and only thought I had been very lucky.

I remember having pains, finding out I needed my gallbladder removed and in the process the doctor found Crohns. Since it was discovered so early, I do not suffer the terrible effects that so many have. Again I thought I was lucky.

Recently I again had abdominal pains only to discover an inflamed appendix and a cyst on an ovary. Surgery removed both. The ovary contained a benign tumor.

This time I knew how very blessed I am and knew exactly who to thank for my blessings.

As I have continued my walk, I see His hand in so many areas of my life and in the lives of others.

Just as this doe is protecting her fawn, Jesus has been protecting me and you. We may have troubles but Jesus is always with us, helping us.

The longer I walk with Him, the more I realize that I need to reach out my hand and firmly take His outstretched hand to help me.

The older I get, the more I realize that I cannot manage on my own. I make messes on my own.

When I allow God to lead, He takes me where I need to go. I may not realize it at the time. Sometimes it really seems like a wrong turn but it never is when He is leading the way.

I finally realize that when I hold His hand tightly, that I am safe and so secure. I may have troubles, pains and serious problems but with Him at my side, I will never be alone and He will lead me along the right path.

I have come to see that He is working on me, shaping me into the child that He will take home.

I look forward to the next steps on my walk. I have come to see that every step leads to an adventure with Jesus.

I can hardly wait for tomorrow.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,

and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

This is what the road in front of our house looks like now.  We keep wondering what's happening next?  When will it be done?  What will it look like?  Will it be the improvement that we were led to expect?  When Jesus works on us, there is no question that we will be perfect when He gets done with us.


I Just Don’t Understand, Lord

I just don’t understand, Lord, why bad things happen to good people.

I just don’t understand why such bad things happen to innocents, especially children.

I don’t understand why You answer some prayers but not others.

I don’t understand why such terrible people sometimes truly prosper.

There are so many mysteries that my little mind cannot fathom.

The sunset through dead branches and leaves.  When we die to sin, we are born again in the light of the Lord.

I also don’t understand why You love us so much all the time, even when we are rotten to the core.

I don’t understand why you give us limitless second chances for redemption in this life.

We are so imperfect and I really do speak for myself.

Milkweed flower.  God sees the beauty in all of us.  Remember, we are all made in His image and likeness.

Yet I feel Your incredible love and caring.

You are my father and I guess I don’t have to understand everything to feel Your love and know You are working in my life.

It's difficult for me to care for outside flowers but I like my orchids.  When one door closes, another opens.  God give us limitless opportunities to enjoy the beauty of His creation.

In my heart of hearts, I know You work in my best interest and in the best interest of everyone else.

I know that sometimes it’s our job to right a wrong or help someone in need. You put us in a situation to fix something that is broken, to do our part to fix a world that is broken.

I am confident You will give us whatever we need to accomplish what You want us to do.

I know You see the big picture from beginning to end and know how it all turns out and what needs to happen to get there.

God can see everything from the beginning to the end of time just as we can see all the craters of the moon at the same time.  We can have absolute confidence that He will make everything come out right in the end.

I know You love us so much that You became one of us to teach us how to live; how to love You first and best and to love one another as we love ourselves.

I know You, the Lord of all Lords and creator of all that is was tortured to death by Your creatures to redeem us from our sins and give us a way to eternal paradise with You.

There is so much that I just don’t understand but I know enough to know that I can completely trust You and Your way.

I will accept my lack of understanding in the areas that are too much for my little mind and be confident that my Loving Father has everything under His loving control.

Trust in the LORD and do good;

Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.
Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
For evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.
Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more;
And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.
Psalm 37:2-10

Spirea bush after the blossoms have fallen off.  There is such beauty in all of creation.  God is making all things beautiful - especially YOU!

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

Knapps Station Community Church

Operation Arctic Vacation Bible School.

Mark your calendars: 6 to 8 pm on July 10 to 14 (Monday to Friday)for a really cool time.  Come for the fun, the snacks, the crafts, the great music, the fellowship and learn how much God loves you.
  
Come to the puppet show and meet Bashful Little Bear, the baby polar bear, Ditty the husky puppy, the musk ox, Toothpick the Narwhale, Artie and Brownie the bunnies and more. Learn about the original Operation Arctic where the men and sled dogs traveled 600 miles across the frozen arctic to rush medicine to very sick children.

As an added bonus, there is NO CHARGE for your child to attend.

Friday night is Family Fun Night and the whole family is invited for fun and a barbecue. 

                     *************

Come and see our float at the 4th of July Parade in Norwood, NY.

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Rejoice With Your Friends is Jane Ault's latest blog post to share with us how she has learned to find Restful Living and JOY in the Lord while enjoyng her friends at the same time.

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Prayer, the Nemesis of Satan is Jean Oathout's new blog post about how we can actually become an effective opponent of the devil through prayer.

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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 always know that your Heavenly Father has your back.

You can absolutely trust Him.

When you follow Him and His ways, you can rest assured that you will end up in paradise for eternity.

May you be blessed in the assurance of your 

   heavenly "insurance policy."

It pays incredible dividends!!

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

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 July 15, 2017

The orange "thing" on the blade of grass is a snail in the field behind our house.
We have interesting "wild life".

                                                   Peonies.

Some kind of wild flowers that grow near our house.  Something (maybe that pretty doe that was in the earlier photos) ate the tops of my stella dora lilies and hostas so Tim has to photograph the wild flowers!