Little Tidbits and Updates

A few new things lately...

     Thanksgiving was a great time. I got to kick back and visit a little more than usual this time! :) I got to listen to some of Uncle Ben's great stories of when he and his brothers and sisters were younger. They were quite mischevious! :)  As always, we had an abundance of wonderful food and good, blessed times. The gathering was smaller than usual this time, but was still so much fun!

     Today I finished a baby quilt that I had been working on slowly for the past couple months. I hand stitched the little squares together into strips and then used the sewing machine for most of the rest. I finished it today. So much fun and it turned out pretty good for my first attempt at a patch quilt! :)  Chad helped me with a few things, so that was a lot of fun! -- I'll have to post pics of it soon.

     On a little more of a sad note, Chad has to leave for about 2 weeks for work. It's always rather hard on me to have him gone for any amount of time, but I will just have to keep busy with things. I think my brother Jethro will be staying with me to 'babysit' me. :)  That'll be great!

     My Aunt Rita's brother-in-law passed away on Sunday evening. It was quite sudden and unexpected. He had a massive stroke on Thanksgiving day, and the Lord took him just a few days later. Please be in prayer for his family as they mourn and make the final arrangements. --- Deaths always make me think of the Catholic belief of 'pergatory' - the hope (as I understand it)  that perhaps they can be able to pray their loved ones into heaven after they die...if they pray enough. That is kind of a sad hope to me. Isn't it wonderful that we can have a FULL assurance of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus!? What a blessed hope!

     I have been reading II Corinthians lately. There were some encouraging things in there today that got my attention. One of them was in chapter 7 verse 5:  "For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears."  The part that says, "within were fears" kinda jumped at me and I found strange comfort in that. I found it rather comforting that even Paul had fears, and to see that the Lord doesn't necessarily scorn us when we have fears, but rather God is a Father of love and He desires to relieve our fears...as it says in the very next verse. 
"Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus."  I love that God is so gentle and understanding! Where would we be if He was some tyrant??!
--- Another verse that I was encouraged by was 8:10-12. Now, maybe today I may have translated this scripture different than what it was meant to say...? I'm not sure, but I know the Spirit moves and shows different things at different times to work in the hearts of His people to comfort and encourage them. So, if this 'interpretation' seems not to be what you got out of it, please pardon me this once, for I was encouraged by this. :)   " And in this I give my advice: it is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now also you must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have."
 -- This to me kinda had a few things in it. One, I like where it says about doing something that they were desiring to do a year ago. That made me think of so many times when we get sidetracked from things we desired to do...whether for someone or start some kind of ministry, or whatever, that it is never too late. Even if you were gonna do it a year ago, you should complete it if the desire is there.  -- I like also how it says that if we have a willing mind, that seems to be the key. As long as we have that, it doesn't matter what we don't have -- the Lord is provider of all things that we need anyway. I know sometimes I can get hung up on the mind set of, "Oh if I only had that, then I really could do this!" HA! Ya right! Who are we fooling!? In the end, God knows our hearts, and if we only have a willing mind and faith in Him, "All things are possible"!

     Well, I hope those thoughts don't seem too jumbled. Sometimes my fingers can't keep up with my little thinker. :)

I hope you all have a blessed day!