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Morning Devotional...





The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Romans 8:7


Only the conquered can know true blessedness. This is sound philosophy, based upon life, and necessary by the constitution of things. We need not accept this truth blindly; the reasons are discoverable, among them being these: We are created beings, and as such are derived, not self-existent. Not to us has it been given to have life in ourselves. For life we are wholly and continually dependent upon God, the Source and Fountain of life. Only by full dependence upon Him are the hidden potentialities of our natures realized. Apart from this we are but half-men, malformed and unbeautiful members of a noble race once made to wear the image of its Creator.

Once in olden times the Lord declared that the end of all flesh had come before Him, and the years have brought no mitigation of that sentence. "They that are in the flesh cannot please God . . . The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be . . . To be carnally minded is death." By such words as these has God perpetuated the ancient sentence of condemnation. Whether we admit it or not the stroke of death is upon us, and it will be saving wisdom for us to learn to trust not in ourselves but in Him that raiseth the dead. For how dare we put confidence in anything so fugitive, so fleeting, as human life?


For life we are wholly and continually dependent upon God, the Source and Fountain of life. Only by full dependence upon Him are the hidden potentialities of our natures realized.



Gracious Father, our hope and our confidence are in You, and only You.

From Devotions By Dr. Tozer

Hi everyone.  From the rainy day yesterday we are going to have a beautiful, sunny day today and it will get up to about 54 degrees this afternoon.  We will attend church this morning and then take our Nigerian grandson out to lunch and bring him back to spend the afternoon with us.  We will start our moving preparations by asking him to clear a high closet shelf or two for us and a number of other things here in the house.  I have contacted three moving companies so we can get estimates of the cost of the move (it isn't going to be cheap, but what is).  I started trying to setup some software to visualize our furniture in each of the rooms of the new house.  I had done this when we moved here and it made things much easier. 

Carol, happy to see you are feeling better. 

Judy, you are really ahead of the game for Christmas.  We will not decorate this year as will be getting things packed up and we are going to meet our son and dil in Madison where they are serving a full Christmas meal on Christmas Day.  We will not exchange gifts as such but just spend a couple of hours together as soon we will be within 10 minutes of each other when we get moved. 

Don, thanks for the devotional thoughts for this week.  Once again Dr. Tozer has nailed the situation.

Don, thank you for this morning's devotional message from Dr. Tozer.

Larry, your plans for the next month or so seem very sensible.  The move is bound to be stressful for both you and Pat and you are wise to avoid all the other situations.  I pray the Lord will guide you.

Our senior pastor spoke for an extra ten minutes in the 7:30 to 8:30 service and you would not believe the traffic jam with cars coming in for the 2nd. service.  We go to the chapel and it was full capacity.  The huge church service next door has two morning services - we were told this is the fastest growing church in the US at this point.  Excellent news - a dither of questions on where to put the cars and deal with the deluge.  Everything is so smoothly run that they will find a way to take care of this new detail.

Off soon to meet part of the family for a late lunch. 

Good Afternoon ,  I got quite a surprise at church when one of the worship team came up to me after the service and told me that the Pastor wants to to choose a song and do a special.  So I am going to do Amazing Grace to the tune of House of the Rising Sun. It will be sometime after  the New year  and I will have to practice with the two guitar players before  I do it for the congregation. It's been a while since I have done a solo, I think the last time was in McKinleyville when I sang Hide Thou  Me. That's another song I really like

How interesting to read the comments of everyone this afternoon. I haven't felt very well this week, and didn't feel well enough to attend church today. Thanks be to the Lord that He provides godly worship services on television to give me room for thought and prayer on days I'm not up to going to church.

That should be interesting, Marilyn. I hope it goes well.

The talk of Christmas decorating and family gatherings sounds great.

Y'all have a good rest of the day,
Ruth Ann

Carol, what a wonderful accomplishment for your church!  How great it would be if we could see more of that kind of growth around the world.

Wow, Marilyn.  That's quite a compliment.  Congratulations!   

Ruth Ann, I'm not able to "get in gear" early enough for our church services any more and have learned to appreciate three services on TV from 7:00 to 9:00 every Sunday morning.

This true story was on facebook tonight...Read and enjoy.

Growing up with a single father, throughout our childhood we became incredibly poor. My family was no different from other native families, our lives were touched by the multigenerational impacts due to contact; and amongst survival of the many arrays of impacts; like other reserve families; we lived in poverty. When my father became ill, we had to move from the reserve to the city so that he could receive the care he required; however with the move, it seemed that our poverty became amplified in the city. Moving into a rented city home made it more difficult for my father to stretch the living allowance that welfare provided. For our new school clothes early that year, my father was given a clothing-voucher to shop 'sally ann's' to fulfill his children's return to school needs. Being the oldest girl, I was in charge of helping him select the second-hand clothes for all my siblings; and not understanding our financial limitations, I selected items far beyond our budget. My father would look at the price; shake his head, sending me back to the bin to search again. Being but a little child, I had no comprehension that with every shake of my father's head, it must have been validated that he was fully dependent on a welfare system, similar to the ration system of his youth. Before my father's ailing health, he managed to feed and cloth his children by working at many different types of jobs and by raising chickens, pigs and turkey's; and he was proud of this fact. Now in the city, his only income was to get a monthly welfare cheque and take whatever extra handouts the welfare worker deemed us eligible for.

In the city, we lived in the poorest district; however, our type of 'poor' made even our poor neighbours appear affluent. Our rented home was a huge run-down 3-story house with a closed-in porch that marked the entryway to our home. Having come from a one level reserve house, even the stairs leading up to the different floors of our city home provided "us kids" endless hours of amusement. Yet, as much we enjoyed our new house, like most poor kids, we definitely were aware that we were poor. Being poor meant going without. Being a single parent and having to pay rent, bills and with many mouths to feed, I am sure that my father felt the burden of what our first Christmas in the city would mean.

My father was given a small voucher to cover the price of a turkey, but it would have been unimaginable not to do the right thing and use the voucher for regular groceries and so that is exactly what he used it for. A few weeks before Christmas, being one of the oldest, my father took the hard decision to tell me the truth; we could not afford Christmas. I was bitterly disappointment, partly because I had little comprehension of the pressures that my father was under. Also, I couldn't understand the concept that Christmas wasn't free; and finally, being a naïve child, I secretly clung to some faint hope that in fact; Santa existed.

As the days passed, my father appeared more solemn. I waited for my father to tell my siblings and seen that he could not bring himself to do so, he heart was broken and his spirit seemed buried, I told him that I would break the news to my younger siblings. My father agreed that I should tell my siblings and so days before Christmas, I broke the news to my younger siblings (who, at the time seemed so much younger than I) that we could not afford Christmas that year. However, as much as I tried to convince them that we would have no Christmas, they just would not believe me. They reassured me that Santa would come, and everything would be ok. As much as I tried to remain factual in my own mind with their enthusiasm and belief, I too, could not help but become engaged in the hope that they were right.

On December 24th, I went to sleep, feeling hopeless and sad. I imagined my little brothers and sisters awakening, only to be disappointed and the heaviness of that left me feeling as if the world was crashing down on me. The thought broke my heart and I fell asleep crying. Christmas morning came and there was an eerily silence in our home. I slowly descended down the stairs along with my siblings, and as I suspected and to my bitter disappointment, there was absolutely no sign of Christmas in our living-room, then suddenly, my little sister stood by the open door to our porch, began jumping up and down, screaming at the top of her lungs, "I told you he would come". Soon, my all my siblings were jumping up and down, and screaming with utter joy. I slowly walked toward the opened door and to my total amazement; set up on our screened in porch was Christmas!

Through my tears, I could see that there was a beautiful Christmas tree filled with ornaments and sparkling lights. Underneath the tree, there was a massive amount of presents brightly wrapped and placed all around the tree. Next, to the presents were hampers of food, filled with food that would not only make our Christmas feast, but would feed us for weeks. There was what seemed like a ton of goodies for all of us kids all stuffed in stockings. I stood there openly crying with huge tears of gratitude running down my face; I thought, "Who would do this?" and "Is Santa real?"

My father stood by silently. I could see that he was fighting away emotions. He paused long enough to watch us open our presents and then began lifting the hampers of food into the house. I am sure I heard him sniffling as he passed by me.

That year I got knitted slippers, mittens, scarf and a sweater. I was in bliss! The kids got so many toys and so excited; they would only pause now and then to say, "I told you Santa was real". I full heartedly agreed, each and every time.

Later, we ate a Christmas meal fit for royalty! That Christmas remained a mystery to me until, years later when I realized we were chosen by a group of people to be their 'Christmas family'. This meant a sweet group of loving people chose to give unconditionally to strangers. I don't know if they ever quite realized just how much joy they brought to us that day. They made us believe in magic, they brought bliss into our hearts; and they gave hope to the hopeless.

Today as an adult, I do my best to 'pay it forward', because of that day when they did more than provide me with knitted loveliness. The kindness of strangers wove a message of love into my heart. For me, their lesson will always remain vibrant in that 'the true meaning of Christmas is giving.'

This story is a true story of my Christmas when I was 11 years old. I hope you enjoyed it. During this time of year, may you be inspired to share your blessings & abundance so that others can believe in the magic of the season.

All my Relations,
Emily Jane Henry, (ejh)
Kihci Têpakohp Iskotêw Iskwêw

Hi everyone.  It is suppose to be nice here for the next several days with no rain and mostly sunny.  Today the housekeepers will be here and probably the yard people.  Yesterday after church we took our Nigerian grandson to lunch and then he spent the afternoon here helping in getting the sorting started by removing things from top shelves and was a big help.  Today I will have a busy day contacting a couple of mortgage companies and expect several calls.  We got a lot of stuff sorted out and some into the trash can and other items we will send to the local charity. 

Carol, you are fortunate to attend a growing church. 

Marilyn, nice you will be doing a solo.  Those days are long passed for me and now do will to sing a hymn in a lower register than written and often have to drop out of the singing and just follow along in my mind as don't have the stamina anymore. 

Ruth Ann, sure hope today finds you feeling better.  We always need to take care of ourselves and not push when we know it is in our best interest to take it easy and give ourselves time to recover. 

Judy, a very nice and inspiring story.  We never know what our unconditional gifts and caring may mean to other folks throughout their lives.  I think of the joy you see in pictures of children receiving the Samaritan's Purse Christmas boxes and know there are many other worthwhile projects to help bring a little joy to children at this time of the year. 

It's a little chilly here this morning.  In fact, at just about 9:00 a.m. it has finally reached zero (about -17 C)!!!   Not expected to get out of the 20's this afternoon - and I absolutely must go grocery shopping, with a new snow storm starting tomorrow.

You are having the same weather as we are Jeanne.  It is dull and overcast this morning,which seems to be warmer than the thermometer says.

We looked at another song in the Christmas Story, The song of Zacharias Luke 1: 68 - 79.  What a wonderful song this is, telling of what the lord was doing in their lives.

Well I have a dog to take for a walk and then baking to start. God bless you all!

We drove into the hills for a birthday breakfast for Don this morning.  We like a very old cabin by a creek that always has ducks and birds to view and the food was so ample we brought half of it back to finish tonight.  Nice to be away from the crowds and enjoying the nature even though it was a winding drive through rocks and former mining places.  Now, Don just finished fixing his favorite chair as the arm had fallen - he still likes puzzling fix-its. 

Judy:  Such a lovely story and it was great to read how appreciative the family was with their gifts. 

Just had a phone call from our friend and neighbor and she needs help putting in an ink refill for her printer - I think I will have a cup of tea  with her too.  Don is in demand!  He likes helping. 

Hi, friends,

It was great to come here tonight and read your conversations. I appreciated the quote from Facebook, too.

My sweet cousin died and her funeral was today. What a great affirmation the sermon was that highlighted the attributes of this wonderful Christian lady.

Then I took a handicapped lady to the grocery.

Now, I'm tired, and ready for some good, peaceful sleep.

May our Lord bless you real good this day,
Ruth Ann

Hi everyone on an early Tuesday morning.  I woke up about 4:30 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep so got up at 5 am as have a lot of things on my list to accomplish today, including filling out and submitting the loan application.  We are going to finance through the Federal Credit Union.  I have prequalified at two other locations but prefer having the loan at the Credit Union, I did my first electronic signatures ever on the contract for the house and now have a firm contract.  There are many details to attend to and it seems the hours fly by quickly.  I plan on staying home all day today.

Jeanne, you are a lot colder up your way.  It is currently about 35 degrees here and no bad weather.  Hope you got your pantry filled yesterday.

Carol, Don is fortunate that he can fix things.  It is a good feeling to be able to help other people.

Ruth Ann, attending a funeral is very draining.  We attended the Memorial Service for a good friend last Saturday and as I looked at the communion table at the front of the church I lost it for a bit as it was like reliving the service for Stacey. 

Didn't I check in already today?  It has been that kind of a day and now time to just sit in the easy chair and read a message from Lee Strobel.  Don't know him personally but we suddenly found an email addressed here and I signed on for his messages plus Max Lucado.

May you all have a pleasant evening or morning whatever is happening in your area.   

Hi everyone on this Wednesday morning.  Yesterday was a sad day as another one of my good friends at my Friday Coffee Group and also a former member of our church, passed away Monday evening.  He wasn't feeling well on Thanksgiving and the next morning told his wife he needed to get to the ER.  He had pneumonia and a severe stroke and never got off life support.  He was a very vital 80 year old, played golf and was great with woodwork as well as being a super human being.  We just never know when the Lord may summons us.  The funeral is Friday afternoon.  This makes three friends I have lost in a matter of weeks.  This morning I have probably my last appointment with my cardiologist since I will have to find a new one at our new location.  I did get the loan application submitted to the financial institution yesterday so that takes some of the pressure off.  I can now focus on sorting, discarding and perhaps getting some things packed up for the move.

So sad Larry, We are of the age that we wind up going to funerals, not weddings any more. 

Last night we had a south east wind, boy it was cold.  I couldn't get warm no matter what John did to try to warm me up.  Just before he got up he grabbed a comforter and threw it over me, and crawled in again that did the trick.  Between the comforter and lighting the fire I warmed up and stopped aching.

Jeanne you would have had the south east winds as well.  Hope you were ok and didn't loose power.

Today is another baking day.  Cookies and more squares.  I am not going all out on baking, frankly no one needs that amount of sugar in their systems.

Have a great day God bless.

Hi friends,

I suppose the message I posted didn't make it through "the circuit" to the website.

Larry, what difficult times with loss of friends, and impending completely being uprooted, yet settled near your son and wife. I'm supporting you with my prayers.

Wow, Judy, it surely must be cold where you live! I must be a Southern gal with "thin blood." I'm already aching, and the high today was 41 degrees Fahrenheit.

Carol, there's a Father Strobel who has founded Room in the Inn (sleepovers in churches for the homeless during wintry nights) here in Nashville. Perhaps this would be your Lee Strobel. If so, I would imagine his writings would be very good.

I've done some paperwork today, cooked a bit of lunch (and supper) and counseled with a friend. Otherwise, I guess I've been a lazy daisy.

Love to each of you who come to this site.

Ruth Ann

Hi everyone on what appears will be a beautiful day here in Georgia.  This will be a rather full day as at 10 this morning the first moving company rep is coming to give us an estimate.  Then at 11:30 it is my men's Thursday luncheon.  Finally around 3:30 or 4 pm a friend will be coming over for an hour or so. Fortunately, it isn't a tough schedule and no pressure.  I have slept very well after I completed the paperwork for the loan pre-application and then for the loan itself.  The loan officer from the Credit Union called yesterday morning and said he had all he needed to process the loan and that he was locking us in on a rate of 3.875 for 45 days.  I will do more sorting, discarding and organizing today as if we take a little each day it won't to tough of a job.

Judy, you are so right about the funerals.  Glad you finally warmed up.  You might consider getting a heated mattress pad as they are wonderful.  I use mine all the time. 

Ruth Ann, thanks for your prayers and the others that are praying for our move.  I think things will go smoothly.  So far things have gone better than I expected in getting the house we wanted under contract and taking care of the loan process.  Nothing wrong with being a "lazy daisy".  I have never heard that term before and I like it.

Well, at least it looks pretty outside.  There's about another 7 inches of snow on my front porch and on my car and on the paths, all of which was cleared two days ago.  And it's snowing now.  And it's 29F.

Hi, friends,

It's been a bit of a busy day, with going through auto emissions tests, getting renewed auto license, getting "prettied up" by the beautician, and finding a bit to eat.  So, I'll take it easy this evening, eat a high protein snack, and rest the remainder of the day.

Seems sometimes things go awry during the holiday season. My CPAP has decided to malfunction, so I'll be calling tomorrow to find out what needs to be done to get it back to rights (or to replace it with a newer model) - this machine is about 15 years old.

Well, y'all have a good rest of the day. Much love to everyone.

Ruth Ann

I just left the deck and came in as the sun moved behind the hills.  Wonderful warm today with snow arriving Sunday.  Don is at an appointment and didn't need me so I have been trying to finish a knit sweater. 

Larry:  It is tough to lose friends and family any time of the year. I really think this move will be comforting for you and Pat to be closer to your son.  Just try not to move in a snowstorm - like we did years ago coming back to this part of the country.

JudyB:  Maybe it is time to put the woolies on so you won't be shivering - am so sorry you are aching from the cold. 

Ruth Ann:  This Strobel was an agnostic and writer in the Chicago area before he turned to Christianity.  I'll try to look up your Father Strobel. 

blessing:  Today was a very good day for Don healthwise.  It has been iffy.  He found a birthday card in the door from our very good neighbors.  It says:

                     You know you are getting old if your birthday announcement contained the word begat.

Our friend and neighbor who has had leukemia for over two years now is looking just spiffy and we had a long visit today.  He goes down and up with his health and down more often so we cherish each time with him. 

Janet:  Welcome home from your trip! 

Jeanne Lee:  Brrrrrr

Hi everyone on a chilly 27 degree morning here in Georgia.  Yesterday was a busy day but a lot accomplished including getting the first moving estimate, having lunch with the Thursday men's group and being able to hand off the responsibility for sending the weekly notification on Wednesday of where we had decided to meet.  A friend was over for a little while and then the man from the glass company came by to measure the one pane that needs to be replaced as it has lost its seal.  Today is the normal Friday coffee group, minus the good friend whose funeral is this afternoon.  I read all the postings on the three discussions I follows before I got up so hope to take less time today on the message boards so have more time for some of the many things on my list to accomplish. 

Carol, your weather sure does strange things from warm to cold.  Glad Don had a good day healthwise.  I don't think I extended a Happy Birthday greeting to Don and certainly want to do so.

Ruth Ann, always a good feeling to get the auto license renewed and the auto emissions.  Where we are moving we won't have to have the auto emissions testing. It sounds like you have had good service from your CPAP machine and it is time for a new and improved model. 

Jeanne, all I can say is BRRRR!

Well out Christmas celebrations will ber tomorrow afternoon and evening.  Doug Melaura and Elizabeth will be here.  We will miss Heather however a phone call and the promises of next year will suffice.  Her turn to visit the southern families!

This has been a full day of last minute shopping and preparations.  Very little to do tomorrow, except enjoy ourselves.

Have a great day everyone.

Hi everyone.  It is a chilly 32 degrees this morning.  After coffee I am going to pick up our Nigerian grandson and we will work on getting our shed ready for the move.  I will be taking very little from it as don't need garden tools or most of the other things in it.  As time permits there are a number of things he can also help with here in the house.  So it will be a busy day depending on the endurance Pat and I have. 

Judy, hope you have a wonderful Christmas celebration with Doug, Melaura and Elizabeth.  You are getting an early start. 

Go easy Larry, you don't need to wear yourself down too much let the youngers do the work.

Photographers our there you would love to be here with your cameras! Foggy day with hoar frost on everything!

Have a great day everyone, God bless and remember Why this season is about!

Here is a walk one person took in the winter.  Amazing story.

Quote from: JudyB on December 13, 2014, 08:45:10 AM
Go easy Larry, you don't need to wear yourself down too much let the youngers do the work.

Have a great day everyone, God bless and remember Why this season is about!

Here is a walk one person took in the winter.  Amazing story.

Larry, I agree with Judy ... take it easy!  Enjoy your day with your "grandson."

Judy, that is truly a beautiful story ... Thank you for sharing.

Thank you Jane!

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