Farm Life.

Our weather here in the Pacific Northwest has been cold, and then warm, with little snow, and then cold again.  I wish it would snow in the Mountains and stay dry and warm down here, but I know this is not to be. We are fortunate to live where we are at, because of the wildlife that move about.  This year we have watched the tiny deer of last year, become older and wiser concerning how to jump our fences, and look for the  treasure of dry leaves and grass that fell last year to feed on. Some of the deer have small horn that have started to show, and it is a pleasure to watch, as they try to bunt each other, and try to show the does how tough and strong they have become.  Because we feed the birds in the winter, we are surprised at the number of  Turtle doves, Chickedee's, Dove's, Magpi's, and  Blue jay's that decend on the seeds after we come back into the house.  We have one Chickadee that has taken on the role of lookout, and will fly away at the least noise, leaving the others to scatter and take flight.  When nothing is seen, they decend  again on the bird seeds.  The Chickedee's run to a place to hide if the wind come's up, their little bodies not able to withstand the breeze. Of course the skunks have their place too, but we do not  feed them.  In fact we do not even get to close. They are cute, but if you get to close, they are prone to perfume you.  Not to sure if Tomato juice is really the answer to get rid of the order.

Seeking

Many of us go to Church and expect nothing, and therefor receive nothing. Some people are pew sitters, others use Church as a social arena, while others want a high and feel good to walk out with.
While others want to become involved with the Church and be a part in building it, but do not know how. The reason for this is because of the pew sitters, the socialize, and the, for the moment highs. These people restrict those that want to be involved, because they have their tiny groups that will not allow new people to bring their talents and gifts to the front.

We as Church members have to realise that not all newcomers are just there for a short time. Many times they are only there for a short time because they feel restricted by our actions.

May God wake up up and teach us to look for gifts and talents in all those that attend our body of believers. (The Church)

The Music

We live in an area that until a few years ago the main road was built by blasting a huge rock and cutting through it. By doing this it created a wall of rock on both sides of the highway. It was interesting to see how the cuts in the rock created different images and as the Sun shown through the cut, it caused the shadows to show different images on the highway.

On the day that I accepted the Lord and became identified with Him by baptism, we were driving home, and as we drove through the cut, I heard the most beautiful music I have ever heard. There is no music on this Earth that can compare to this. It was as though a band of stringed instruments had come together to awake the world to God's glory. The music lasted only a short few seconds, but in that time frame I knew that God had shown me that He loved me and wanted me to know He was proud of me.

We have traveled through that cut many time before they blasted the whole rock away, and try as I might the music never came back. But Praise the Lord, I had a chance to hear and know, that in Heaven the music will be more wonderful and glorious than we are able to create here on Earth.

Confused

Did you ever stop to think of how Jesus Christ was crucified? Have you ever stopped to think that man had nothing to do with what really happened? Listening to a program this morning I began to realise that not all we hear and assume is the truth.
Because the man that He created, nailed Him to a wooden cross that He created, and placed Him on a hill that He created. And because of His love for us, He forgave us and saved us from our sins.
When I see it in this way I know that nothing is done, unless He allows it. We do have a will, but we need to know that will comes from the ONE that created us.
We can use that will to do good or evil, but in the end, He will choose those that believe in HIM.
So really what is man.
Maybe we aught to not think any more highly of ourselfs that we aught to.

Trust

Proverbs 29:25
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.

We are in a world that I did not have as a child. When I was young we could walk anywhere and never be afraid. There was a lot of trust in our neighbors, friends, and strangers. This is not the way it is now. We fear the way the Government is taking control of our lives, our finances, and our health, but God tells us not to fear man, because He will keep us safe. We have to be in the Word and trusting in God only to live free. We are not under the control of man but of God!! What a wonderful feeling to look up and not fear what is going on around us.

Left out

This has been a year of not only personal pain, but mental pain. I was in an auto accident in August of 2009, and from that time one I have felt that the Doctors have not wanted to help me in any way at all. I am continually sent from one Doctor to another and always with the same story. "I don't know what to do to help you, so am sending you to a specialist, and hopefully we will be able to find an answer."
I have went into depression over no help, and always more pills. I talked to others and they also have felt they had gotten the run around.
It is also during this time that my Father passed away and I watched as my brother and sisters all told me what Dad had promised them and how they would treasure them and pass them down to their children. I was hurt mentally because my Dad never left me anything, my family has offered to share something with me, but the hurt causes me to say no. I do not understand why I was left out, and anger took its place in my heart for a short time. I felt wounded beyond what I felt I could bear. But something happened to me, and the anger left. I realized that my Heavenly Father left me a gift more precious than any one person could have done. He left me with a promise of eternal life, and a family that does not have to feel sorry for me but to share with me in that promise. A Heavenly Father that does not choose favorites, but loves us all the same. He never asks me for something but seems to go out of His way to give me all I ask for.
I feed on that love and understanding that He knows how I felt for a while. I am safe in His care.

Remember Me

The first thread of my existence came before 1776. My colors showed red, white, and blue. Additional stars and stripes have been added to reflect the addition of each new State. I was carried in 2 world wars, a civil war, Korean war, Viet Nam, planted on the moon, carried by men of valor that lost their lives for the freedom of the United States of America. I have been brought to foreign countries, and planted at the tomb of every American soldier, I asked for nothing, and at the hands of those that do not feel the pride, I feel, I have been burned, ripped to shreds, made a mockery of, left on flag poles at government buildings and homes, with no light to show my colors at night, my tattered ends still waving proudly over this land that I was born in. Men, Women, and children have thrown me into garbage cans, spit on me, and tried to annihilate me, but I am still the banner of my country, and with pride, I will continue to wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave.I have attended every military funeral, and carefully folded to give to a grieving widow or child, and still I wave proudly. I have been carried to every nation that has come up against The United States of America, and stand beside other colors at the United Nations, never wavering in my stand for liberty and justice.I do not show emotion, nor do I shrink in shame but proudly stand for values that began long before the 19th and 20th Century.Did you know that when I am draped over a soldiers coffin that has given his life for your freedom, that the 21 gun salute stands for the sum of the numbers in the year 1776=one, 7,7,6. Add together equals 21.I am folded 13 times. The 1st fold is a symbol of life. The 2nd fold is a symbol of eternal life The 3rd fold is to honor and remember the veterans who gave their lives for the defense of their country. The 4th fold symbolizes our weaker nature as American citizens trusting in God, who we turn to in times of peace and war seeking His divine guidance. The 5th fold is a tribute to our country. The 6th fold is our pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and the Republic for which it stands one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and Justice for all. The 7th fold is a tribute to our Armed Forces. The 8th fold is a tribute to the one who entered into the shadow of death. The 9th fold is a tribute to Woman and Mothers, who through their faith, love and loyalty, have made and molded this great country, The 10th fold is a tribute to Fathers, who have also given sons and daughters for the defense of our country. The 11th fold glorifies in the Hebrews eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The 12th folds represent eternity and glorify in the Christians eyes, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And last but not least, The 12th fold with the stars uppermost reminding you of your motto, In God, We Trust.
© Jean C Prentice

Still Small Voice

I grew up in a family where God was not a part of our family, nor did we know what being a Christian was. It is very interesting to look back and see that our parents raised us by the 10 Commandments, and followed the same rule for themselves. We knew that we were loved, and discipline was handed out as merited.

My family was a military one, with members being in either the Army or the Marine, so it was only natural that we had an Army or Marines preference in our selection of husbands. Well, something must have happened to me because I fell in love with a Navy Sea Bee. The Sea Bee is the construction battalion of the Navy. When I was sixteen, the Navy was not my cup of tea. At seventeen I considered them not to be too bad, and at eighteen, I married a Navy man.

My life followed the same pattern as my parents. We associated with people that drank to excess, had more arguments than I felt other married couples had, left our children with baby sitters, and the only thing on our minds was “Me”. During this period, my life hung in the balance during the birth of our second child. While near death, I went through a dark tunnel with a brilliant light at the end. I knew if I could make it to the light I would live. My child died, and life continued on the same.

We had been married about 20 years, when one morning, I awoke and heard the words “Jeanie get baptized!” I had no idea what baptism was, so went on a search for someone to help me. I called my sister and told her what happened; there was a long pause before she told me that she also had the same feeling. I told her mine was not a feeling, but a voice, and I was alone when it happened. Her next words to me were “See if you can find a preacher to do it?” This started me on a week long search trying to find a preacher to baptize us.

I spent the next week calling all of the churches in our town asking each minister if he would baptize my sister and me. They all kept telling me I had to go to some training before they would, except for one. He asked me if we could meet with him the next Tuesday at his Church, and he would speak with us about what it was, and if we were ready. I said we were ready and both agreed to the call I was making to get baptized. He said Ok and told me where the Church was located.

The next week we met the Pastor, who turned out to be a really nice person. He asked if we knew what baptism was, and when we told him "no", he said “I could baptize my bird dog, and it would do no more good for him than you at this time”. He asked us to attend Church the next Sunday and learn what we were asking him to do. We ended up attending Church for the next two months, and then one Sunday the altar call came with the song, “Just as I am” and before I knew it we were walking down to the front of the Church. The next Sunday we were baptized and from that day forward, my three Sisters, Brother, Brother In-law, Husband, and Father accepted Jesus Christ and have been baptized.

My life has never been the same since that time. My marriage is God centered, and choices that we make now are not “Me”, but working together with each other and prayer to God to lead us in the right direction.

This is all just to say that not only are we faithful members of our Church, but due to following that still small voice, we involved others.

© Jean C Prentice

Wonder

I am setting here at my computer looking out the window, and watching the snow fall.

God, in His love, for us shows me so many things to gaze upon, to look in awe and wonder at His creation. As the wind blows, I see the snowflakes as they swirl in a Simi circle and then fall so gently to the ground, only to be followed by more snowflakes again.

I watch the deer as they paw and nuzzle the ground for hidden leaves, and other vegetation, and then bend their heads down to feed on their find.

As I enjoy the scene before me, I am reminded of the abundance of apples we enjoyed this summer, and the many that fell to the ground and not retrieved. These are also hidden in those treasured places.

A grey squirrel that has taken up residence in one of our pine trees also seeks the food that she had so carefully hidden away earlier in the fall. As I watch her, she finds and apple and holding it in her mouth, she heads for her next.

Within seconds several magpies descend upon her find, and with a boldness that makes me smile, I watch as she chases those pesky birds off. There seems to be a lot of chirping and fluttering of wings as the chase is on. With the find carefully taken to the nest, she is not seen again for a while.

As I watch this scene unfold, I am reminded of the Wise Men, as the followed the star in search of the Christ child, and were convinced by Herod to tell him where the child was once they found Him. Herod also, like the magpie did not want to put out much effort relying on others to provide.

We also sometimes follow the same pattern, relying on others to search for the hidden treasure of God’s word that is given to all who seek. My prayer is to continually search the scriptures and be fed by the word of God.

© Jean C Prentice