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Morning Devotional...





Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' John 14:6


It is more than a little strange that persons who modestly decline to risk an opinion on matters that do not touch them at all closely, such as philosophy or science for instance, are often ready and eager to pronounce with finality on religion which above all else is vital to their welfare for this world and that which is to come. This follows the popular notion that everyone is capable of discovering for himself the true way to heaven and that one man's belief is as good as another's in any kind of weather. A second tenet in this creed is that no one has the right to question the belief of anyone else or to try to influence him in any way in religious matters. This leads naturally to the third tenet which is that we should practice complete tolerance toward every expression of religious belief, however base or ill-founded it may be, and accept it as someone's way of worshiping God even if it isn't ours.

All this has about it a certain savor of charity and slips well off the lips of politicians, who are forced to try to please everyone, and liberal ministers who find it profitable to do so. But the man who has knelt before the burning bush or heard the sound of thunder on the mount can never bring himself to sell out his soul in that manner. The man who has walked beside the sea and has heard the voice of Jesus saying "No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6), can ever get the consent of his heart thus to trifle with religion. He has been smitten with the love of God and the wonder of the cross and he can never again be tolerant in things that touch his soul and the souls of his fellow men. He will live beside, be patient with, minister to, pray for and love any religionist of whatever color or creed from a cardinal to a medicine man from the long grass, but never will he compromise the truth to stay on good terms with anyone. He may die for men, but he will never trifle with them.


No one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ. No one! No one! Because only Christ has paid the sin-debt for humankind. We cannot acknowledge as a way to the Father anything except the only way.



Father, enable me to graciously, patiently, lovingly share with others the only way.

From Devotions By Dr. Tozer

Thank you Don for this devotional.  What in the world were you doing up at 4:52 in the morning!

I have a friend who is in the heat of the battle on a daily basis against the beliefs of atheists.  It is a difficult battle and not an easy one.  When we say there is only one way to heaven we are scoffed at and called intolerant.  I don't mind being called that, when it comes to trusting mu Saviour.

Something for us all to think about.

Have been extremely tired today.  We did get to church but I sat throughout the service and am no longer trying to sing the hymns to save my energy.  I have spent the rest of the day resting but will try to stay up for a few hours this afternoon and early evening.

Pat, good idea to use a timer as it is easy to spend too long on something and not realize how long it has been.

Hi Al.  Good to see you pop in. 

Judy, sounds like Kim will learn a lot from spending the summer with you.

Ruth Ann, odd that we both had started on a little trip and then get called back because the person we were going to see was ill.  Hope she will soon be better and able to enjoy the party next weekend. 

Carol, have you ever seen flooding into your yard?  My good friend Rod's grandson had to be rescued in the North Georgia mountain when he and another camp counselor were washed away in a flash flood.  Fortunately the truck washed onto a little island and the firemen had to get them across the river on a safety line.  His parents had just arrived to visit with him when they got the news.  But all is well and he or the other fellow were not hurt.  They got some video of the rescue, which I have seen. 

Don, thanks for the new devotional for this week. 

Hello friends:

I placed an order from Sears catalogue all items were in stock  and delivery will be this coming week.

Larry: Take care of yourself.

Pat:  Setting the timer is that a FlyLady idea.

We are home from our trip to Salin to visit daughter and grandsons.  I had a lovely weekend and a good visit with Kerri.  The boys were hardly around, guess they don't have much to talk to Grandma about anymore, but at least we made the effort to see Addison before he leaves for the Air Force next week.  Kerri went shopping with me and helped me find just the things I wanted, and she also made me two lovely bracelets.  She is a wonderful cook, and talented in many other ways as well.  I pray she will be happy again, in God's timing.

My elderly friend is still hanging on.  I brought her a small vase of flowers this evening, and she was happy to see me.

Good to hear from each of you, my friends.

There you go Ruth!  Your picture has changed.  Jeanne and I talked and figured it out.  Have a great day!  Hope your Sears items come in soon for you.

We had a wonderful day yesterday.  A young man who is going into his last year at Bible College spoke,  He was very good. He is the young husband of a girl who grew up with my girls. She has a sweet baby boy Judah, who is 5 months old.  He used his love for the baby as an example of how intense God's love is for us.  In one illustration he said he had a vision of his son hanging over a cliff and someone else needing his help to safety as well.  He let go of the other person to save his son.  He felt the Spirit speak to him saying God was faced with the same decision and he saved him and let go of his Son.......What a wonderful example of salvation!   

We have cold nights here and at the moment warm days, needing extra blankets and daytime shorts.

Have a great day everyone.

Judy and I did talk - but the credit for Ruth's avatar goes fully to Judy.  Thank you, Judy, for successfully taking over.  It sure is a pleasure, Ruth, to see your beautiful smile every time you post! 

It's a beautiful, sunny day, but with the thermometer hovering just around 70 and a brisk breeze blowing in the open windows, it's really a sweatshirt day.  And August is usually our hottest month!  Of course, there's still a lot of August left.

Larry:  At least twice, we have seen the water in the ravine come up to the back fence and at that point it is almost level with our basement floor.  Usually from a flash flood in the hills and the fact that too much concrete has covered a shopping center about six blocks away uphill.  Another unintended consequence from planning. Your friend has to be so thankful for the flooded vehicle rescue.  In Arizona, there is a big fine for driving into water and being rescued but I can understand that it can be unavoidable at times.  I hope you are feeling less tired today.

Ruth:  Like your new picture!

Hi everyone.  Just a quick drop by this evening as the day is about gone and it has been busy.  I felt a lot better today than yesterday. 

Hi Everyone...

As some of you know and especially anyone reading my Facebook page, I had to race down to Virginia with no notice on Saturday night.  I drove all night getting here at 8 am.  Paul had had a very bad diverticulitis attack and had to call 911 to get to the hospital.  Well, I spent yesterday there twice and then today I went and stayed for a long time in the afternoon and the doctor came in at about 5:15 pm or so and said he was happy with Paul's numbers and ok'd him to go home.

So, we're now home.  He's very weak and it will take time learning to eat the food he's supposed to eat.  Very difficult going from good whole grain bread to white!!  Anyway, he'll work at it and hopefully there won't be any more 911 calls needed.

I thought of Paul when I read this poem just now....

Pat, glad Paul is home.  Now don't forget to take care of YOU while you take care of Paul!

Larry, so glad to read you had a better day.  I think of and pray for you each day.

Carol, always good to read your posts.  I wish I had a good Bible study group to join.

Busy day aruond here.  The guys got the concrete run, even though it was very hot and humid.  We got a couple of really good rains, and are thinking maybe the drought is broken now.

Not much to report, just checking in.

Pat, I'm sure Paul is glad to be home, and not needing to go back and forth for hospital visits will make things easier for you.  So now REST!  I'll be holding you both in my prayers. 

Hi, friends,

It seems time flies when we're busy. Or, not feeling great and trying to be busy anyway. 

I pretended to be a taxi driver today. One call was to take someone to the airport at 4:30am, and one call to take someone shopping at 11:00am.

Now, it's time to let the bed "rock" me to sleep.

Love to each of you. (Oh, yes, the granddaughter's fever has now broken, so she should improve rapidly.)

Ruth Ann

OK Well my post went poof last night.  It is a cool rainy day, we will work inside today.  We got a lot of sorting done yesterday, and hope to get more inside work done today.

John is laughing at my comment that my post went poof.....wait till it happens to him!    (at the computer).

Heather finally has an antenna that he can use on the road which will give him a signal to chat with me at home... We will get that at the end of the month.  It is so good to have him home.  I am conflicted: I know how much he loves his job that he would love to continue with, and I know how much I would love him at home. 

We were at a friend's home on Sunday.  They have a very energetic Australian Shepherd.  Zeek and Autumn played constantly for hours, then we put Zeek in his cage for a rest and he slept well.  When he got up he went after Autumn again and Autumn went and got a ball and brought it to me.  Then flopped down beside me as if to say "You play with him, I'm done in!"  Dogs are soo funny.

If you are in to word studies, look up the word repent, the verses on repent are so interesting when they are linked together!  Then use the same references and look at the context for each verse.  Fascinating study!

Well home for another weeks holidays this week. Getting some more work done around the house but nothing like the week we did the roof. Weather is much cooler this week which makes it much more pleasant to get things done. We are going to take a day or two to do some day trips this week though. Need to take some time off for R&R as well. As the old saying goes All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I'm dull enough so don't need to push my luck on that one. CP is really quiet this week Where are all the people. Missing reading the posts. We need to keep up the fellowship and encourage each other and grow spiritually with our contact. Glad Paul is home again. Take it from many years of experience with family members Paul, best thing you can do is follow doctors orders and things should go much more pleasantly for you. Well going to run for now. thing I will work on finishing the bathroom today as there is a threat of rain today. So we will work inside today. Don't want to get wet. Made of sugar you know LOL  Later folks God Bless.

Hi everyone.  It is another overcast day but expect the sun will be out later as it was yesterday afternoon.  I was able to sleep in a little later this morning, which I enjoyed.  My treatment went well yesterday and expect the same today.  Pat offered to go with me again today but it just isn't necessary and all that riding and sitting is difficult for her.  Nothing else planned for today other than seeing what may be involved in getting the Brother's printer, that I thought I wasn't going to be able to use, hooked up wirelessly.  Yesterday I mentioned to the housekeeper the problem we were having getting ink cartridge installed and she took a look and on the first try the cartridge slid in place so will try to put it back in service again.  It is the newest printer we have and will use it in my office and let Pat have the old reliable Canon I have used for years. 

Pat, nice to read that Paul is home and hopefully feeling better.  I am sure it will be difficult for Paul to slow down for a bit as he recovers.  Hope you had the chance to rest a bit also.  A beautiful poem. 

Janet, wish you could be a part of our Wednesday morning Bible study group. We always love to have new folks join us and our pastor is a very good teacher.  We have about 15 to 20 very dedicated folks who attend if they can.  I am having to miss for awhile as I go for my treatments but will be back the second week of September, if all goes well.  I must have missed something as have no idea why you would be running concrete--nosy aren't I? 

Ruth Ann, I think you need to get one of those taxi signs for your little car.  Of course, you would have to go through all kinds of licensing procedures and fees so guess that isn't a very good idea.   Nice of you to be helpful where you can be.  Glad to see your granddaughter is improving. 

Judy, such a cute story of Autumn wanting you to play with Zeke.  I am sure that John is torn as to retirement and continuing to drive.  Some decisions are really difficult.

John, nice to see you have a week's holiday so you can do things you want to do and as you say get some R&R. 

Larry, thanks for your comment, as I really don't recall now whether or not I mentioned the work we are doing.  Our front door is on the south, and the wind here in Kansas almost always blows from the southwest--thus the storm door has been ripped off numerous times.  Poor thing has been repaired over and over; even having two closures on it, top and bottom, doesn't take care of the problem.  Plus the fact that this building is really a metal farm shed, and not very attractive on the outside.  It is lovely inside, especially since the complete renovation following the water damage, but I have always wished for it to be more attractive on the outside.  I will take a before and an after photo, and maybe our resident gurus will help me post them so you can see what I'm yakking about.  TMI....anyway, we are having Lon the carpenter build a porch room (though totally enclosed) and the front door will be set back from the wall a little bit, and face the west.  The little room will have nice windows, and will be a place to enjoy coffee in the mornings or other activities.  I think we will enjoy the improvements a lot, even though the cost of doing anything now is unbelievable!

I have a dentist appointment in a few minutes, will try to come back and chat more later.  I wish you all a good day.  John and Judy, we can surely empathize with each other with our "home improvements!"

Thanks for changing my picture:

I am still having knee problems
My mission for today is going out to do some grocery shopping
for auntie.  I will be going to no frills then Wal Mart as they have the type of meat that works best for aunties needs.

For the knitters out there what is the best way to cast on stitches in order to have the best cuff stretch I usually get them to tight.

Janet: Will you be wishing that you chose to live in a house? Although I know of a house farther that the silo is part of the home and I do like the look.

Best be on my way.

Pat:  Hugs to Paul and you.  Such a fright for you to drive all that way in an emergency.  Those infections are really dangerous.  Prayers for total recovery.  I had no idea whole grains were problems.  The internet has all kinds of information - I had a problem once but didn't know why and never got the best information because we were out of town at the time.  Anyway, it is good you can be there. 

Ruth Ann:  Rest well. 

Janet:  We are excited about learning who the new pastor will be - it was an unanimous decision so that is good.  I sure do like the bible studies here and will look through what is offered beginning in September - besides my Wednesday morning study.  If they have a 4 month study that isn't quilt night, I would be interested.

Today is daughter's birthday and we will celebrate with her another day.  Her two children came to her office with flowers and took her to Starbucks for a coffee.  Of course, they brought her favorite dog. 

Remember to look at Mars this month as it will be over 200 years before it will be this close again.  Look when the moon rises.   

Ruth use a needle that is 2 - 3 sizes larger than the pattern calls for, that should make the cuffs loose enough for the stretch.

The church I used to go to is also getting a new pastor, looks like it will be one from London.

WE are weary tonight, supper is on the go and and will be ready in a bit.  Looking forward to my bed tonight.

Ruth, building living quarters inside a metal building had been a dream of Darrel's for years, so that's what we did.  We are in the process of selling the huge house we had lived in for years.  For the two of us, we didn't really need 6,000 sq. feet.    I don't mind it here, as I said, the inside is very nice.  And soon the front will look better, too.

We are getting another rain!  WOW!    It is already a muddy bog out front!  They had said possible quarter sized hair, so far, none, and hope we don't get any.

Carol, it's always exciting when a church gets a new pastor.  Sometimes we get disappointed badly, and I hope that won't be the case with your church.  A good pastor is worth his weight in gold.  They are to start up our small groups again, but pastor will assign us to the one he wants us to attend.  Not sure I like that idea.  All will be studying the same book by Francis Chan.

My elderly friend is still hanging on.  So sad that she must spend her last days in bed, either in the hospital or in the care home.  I love her, she's such a sweetheart.

Hello friends:

Thanks Judy I will give the larger needle  a try when I get the other ball of yarn in the mail.

I went out this afternoon doing the grocery shopping for auntie, she seems to like the surprises I had got a bag of frozen veg. to many so they are being kept in here neighbors freezer meaning that I filled her  frig.freezer thus the need to borrow space from her neighbor.

Yummy we had the last of our fresh corn for supper.


Thinking of you Pat and tell Paul to get well quick.

Carol, Janet, Larry ,John B, Jeanne, Hello.

Ruth Ann:  Did you have any more contact with Doug & Marie. that I know

Janet: Enjoy Darrel's dream

Ruth....    

Janet I giggled over your quarter sized HAIR.  I knew you meant hail, however I found it funny.

Went out and got papers for the dog cages, and a treat for all of us. We are heading to bed soon.  Tonight I suspect I will be asleep before John heads up!.

Hi everyone.  It is a dark and dreary sort of day with a 60% chance of rain. Nothing on schedule today but my trip to Athens.  I have asked Pat to go with me today as am not feeling up to par and may need her to drive.  I didn't get my printer installed yesterday.  I started the project but just didn't have the energy to complete it and doubt that I try to tackle it today. 

Janet, your little room and protected doorway facing another direction sound great and know you will enjoy it.

Ruth, hope your knees are feeling better today and not worse after the shopping.

Carol, I have't heard anything about Mars being close to the earth than it will be for another 200 years.  I marvel at someone being able to figure out that fact.

Judy, it sounds like you and John are working too hard. 

Janet, perhaps the pastor is trying to assure that people don't gravitate the the groups with their closest friends but using them as a way to let people to know each other better. 

Judy---Now, that is some coarse hair, huh?  Think I would need a new comb, for sure.      Typos can cause some funny mental pictures, can't they?

Larry, sorry to hear you aren't feeling strong today.  Hope your day isn't too stressful, nor for Pat, either.


Today is a day of errands and frustrations.  I am so glad I started the day with God, and that He is always with me.  I do have a fun tea party to attend later, though, so it's all good.

My elderly friend's arm is very swollen, and they came in to X-ray it while I was there this morning.  They think she may have fractured it as well as her pelvis when she fell.  I feel so bad for her.  She says she isn't in any pain, though.

Pat, how is Paul, and how are YOU?  I am sending my love.....

Well just got back from town. It rained here today so we went into town to do some errands and pick up a few supplies for our reno here. Yes Larry I think we are working to hard. Its that honey do list that keeps getting longer and longer. And I cant even tear the thing up as it is in Judy s head.
Janet you brought an image to my mind about that coarse hair LOL  If that was true one would need a hay fork to comb it.
Anyway going to go for now. Supper looks like its coming up so my stomach says get ready to inhale some food.

I have no clue where to start today.  Let it suffice to say that Melaura called sobbing that her Dog Gizmo was having convulsions and she didn't know what to do or how to do it.  I directed her to our vet and met her there.  The convulsions hadn't stopped for about an hour....maybe more.    Poor wee dog (a silky terrier) had made a mess in her house and couldn't stop the convulsions.  They wanted to keep him there do all sorts of tests, and give all kinds of meds to the tune of ............Wait for it..........$1000.  Poor kid she couldn't afford that, so we talked him down to one night, and do only what was necessary to stop the convulsions.  He was leaning toward the problem being epilepsy.  So today was a sad day......

I had a Doctors visit, that was good, we picked up a few things we needed for the plumbing.  Yes Larry I agree with you.

The rest of the day was a mish-mosh of running around.

Please pray for Melaura, she is a mess emotionally.

I will be gone for a few days we are going up the coast Thursday then on to Portland on Friday to spend some time with the boys and go to the Bite of Oregon festival on Saturday.

John, you gave me a grin with your comment "It looks like supper is coming up" as I pictured you about to throw up!  So it's good to know supper was about ready to go down, instead of coming up! 

Yes!  A pitchfork would be the right comb for that kind of hair!