Part of Norwood Lake seen from Sober St. Road between Norwood and Norfolk, NY
Am I
annoying?
I certainly
make lots of mistakes,
commit lots of sins
some accidental
some deliberate
Sometimes
I’m good
Sometimes, I’m rotten
Sometimes I don’t even like me
Why do You
always love me?
God demonstrates His mighty love for us
in unexpected ways.
Notice the unexpected beauty He provides
in out of the way places.
I’m just a
very minor creature, no one special
But You
always treat me special
no matter what I do or don’t
do
My neighbor's trees are so pretty
You are the
Creator and Lord of all the exists
and You love me so much
I could
never do enough to earn all You do,
all You give
What would happen if we could see our world through God's eyes? Would we see how beautiful it is and would we come to realize a tiny fraction of His mighty love?
You are so
amazing
You bless me
so greatly
View from my back yard
Blessed,
Blessed be Your most holy name.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Before It’s Too Late
Some say the
end is somewhere around the bend, sometime in the future
But when?
View from dry bridge near Norwood, NY
How much
time do I have?
Can I do
everything I want and still “get ‘er done”?
I really
don’t want to go to hell
But all that
work to learn about Jesus, the Bible,
the rules, going to church
Is it really
necessary?
I want to
have fun now
I want to do
as I please
Isn’t that
what everybody says and does?
Why do I
have to be different?
I guess I like the way some of “those church people” treat me but what they do looks like so much work
They do look
happy
They invited
me to church
and said “no strings attached”
I suppose I
could go just one time
and see what this stuff is all about
They seem
really concerned, even worried about me.
They said I
need to be saved before it’s too late.
Cemetery near dry bridge Norwood, NY
But do I
really?
They said
this guy Jesus loves me.
Why should
he?
They said He
died just for me to make up for my sins
I’ve done a
lot of sinning in my time
Why should
He care what happens to me?
Maybe I’ve
done too many bad things
for Him to ever love me
They said
I’m His child and He loves me so much
that He died a terrible death just for me,
to pay for all the sins I’ve ever done or ever will do
I guess it
wouldn’t hurt to check out someone
who loves me that much.
They said
He’s reaching out His hand to me
Is the shadow reaching out to the trees like God's loving hand reaches out to us, His precious, beautiful children?
That all I
have to do is accept
that outstretched hand
and tell Him I’m sorry for what
I’ve done wrong and I can spend eternity with Him in heaven
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
Psalm 23 1-4
Otherwise
when I die, I go to the other place
that’s “hot as blazes” for eternity.
They said
Jesus is calling,
telling me that His love for me is limitless
“Those church people” said they’d help me too.
What do I
have to lose?
Maybe I
better check this out before it’s too late.
Same cemetery
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who
wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.
1Timothy 2:3-6
The Old House in Fall
Rain thrums
on her roof
Car wheels whoosh on the wet pavement nearby
Her flowers are asleep awaiting winter’s passage
Her still green lawn is littered with leaves
from her near naked trees
Inside, the clock on the wall tick, tick, ticks
Faint hums come from the computer on the desk
The old house is quietly breathing
Witnessing the passage of time
Having seen decades of season changes
Having sheltered many families
who have called her “Home”
Patiently enduring the changes
they have made to her
Patiently facing whatever awaits her.
For everything there is a season, a time for
every activity under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1
(New Living Translation)
Book Review:
Christian Caregiving by Kenneth Haugk
This book gives insight into the world to Christian Caregiving, into giving care to the whole person from a Christian perspective. It discusses that we need to provide the care and leave it to God to provide the cure. It discusses how caregivers' jobs are to meet the needs of their patients and to look to God for guidance. It discusses things like even when we pray with someone, we should ask what they would like in the prayer to make our praying as beneficial to them as possible. This book is the basis of the Caring Ministry at Knapps Station Community Church.
Jesus said, " the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his
harvest."
Matthew 9:37-38
We at Knapps Station Community Church
plant, tend, and harvest crops, but God causes the growth, the healing and
the cure in people's lives.
Our God gives us the strength and compassion to
reach out to others.
The motivation for our Christian caring is summarized in
1 John 4:19
"We love because he first loved us ".
We show our love for
others by reaching out to those in need by phone calls, sending cards, making
meals, hospital visits, nursing home visits, home visits, nursery coverage
and the power of prayer. Individuals do not have to be members of our church to be recipients of these services. We extend our minisry to anyone in our area and pray for everyone whose need is made known to us.
Our ultimate reason for caring is Jesus Christ.
Knowing this affects our identity, attitude, confidence and perspective as
a Christian Caregiver.
Knapps Station Community Church
Commentary:
Don't forget to set your clocks back tonight.
The old saying is that we "fall back" in Autumn and "spring ahead" in Spring. Let us resolve to try our best not to fall back on our old habits but to always spring ahead striving toward Our Father and our eternal home with Him.
This is my 26th blog post, the completion of my first year of blogging. It has been a great blessing for me and I am so grateful that you have shared it with me. You will bless me greatly if you join me for this next year. I would welcome your comments and suggestions to make my blog relevant and helpful for you. God's blessings on you.
The Spirit Help Us To Pray
is a new blog post from my friend Jean Oathout. You may find it informative and helpful.
When we follow Jesus,
we shine with His light and love.
Blessing:
May the blessings of our Loving Father fall on you
as the leaves fall from the trees.
And may His blessings remain with you
all the days of your life.
Blessings for you,my friend for a wonderful week
All photos taken by Debbie and Tim McEwen -
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 11-19-2016
