WHEN I GOT OUT OF THE GRAVEYARD

I made a profession of faith in theLordJesus when I was ten years old. But I lived in doubt of my salvation from that very day throughout the next twenty years. At times it was worse and at times it was better. My Christian uncle died unexpectedly when I was twelve and I heard my widowed aunt say she gathered their five children and two daughters-in law around the casket and asked God to not let the circle be broken but let them all be together again in Heaven one day. I remember thinking, "I wish I could have been in that circle...maybe then God would have to be sure that I was saved before I died." I went through my teen years and kept out of gross moral sin yet went through the wordly dating scene and used the same "little" bad words at times that those around me used.
At eighteen I married and when we had our baby in 1982 I really got concerned about the Lord coming back and my baby being raptured up and me left.
I am a very shy person and my shyness could have caused me to spend an eternity in Hell. Actually my sins and my rejection of Jesus as Saviour from those sins would have sent me to Hell but my shyness was the cause of my refusing to go to the altar many times.
I talked to our neighbor who is a preacher about it. I talked to my mother-in- law, my best friend, and another friend about it. No one seemed to be able to help me. I'd thinkIwas saved for a while, then I'd think I was lost. I didn't think I was losing my salvation. I knew my Bible better than that. I just couldn't figure out if I'd ever really been saved. It was an emotional roller coaster. During some altar calls at church I was scared, yet ashamed and embarrassed to make a move. By 1986 I was a Sunday School teacher of the seven to twelve year old girls. What would people think? When I was thirty years old (1991) our church began a meeting that lasted twelve weeks! Many were saved and many got their hearts right and began to be serious about serving the Lord and living lives that were pleasing to Him. The meeting began in September and went on through November. As the meeting progressed I came more and more under deep Holy Ghost conviction. In October, I cast myself on the Lord and His mercy. I trusted Him for my soul's salvation. I told Him I was sorry for all my sins and that I was casting myself on Him and trusting His everlasting arms. I was released from that heavy burden I had been carrying.
Later I realized that when I was ten I repented of my sins. I was sorry for them and wanted to be saved, but I never believed on Him. I never trusted that He would save me. I never accepted Him into my heart by faith. It was some time later that I began to pray, "Lord, since that night I haven't doubted. I need to know if I just got assurance that night or that is when I got saved." I had been pregnant and doctors feared I was losing the baby so I was traveling back and forth to my doctor forty miles away and I was praying and seeking God's face on those eighty mile round trips. God showed me the truth I previously wrote above: That I never trusted Him at ten. I knew in my heart it was the truth. I had asked Him a thousand times to save me but I had never up to that point in 1991 cast myself fully on Him and believed that He loved me with an everlasting love and died for me and would have died for only me if needed and that He would save an old sinner like me! But hallelujah! God opened my sin-blinded eyes to the truth of the gospel that had been put in me "from a child" by my godly momma.
I did miscarry the baby and he/she went to dwell with the Father. Thank God, as David lamented, that though the baby was not to come to me I will one day go to be with the baby! At this time, I was (and still am) teacher of the young ladies (ages 18 to around 35) Sunday School class. I went right in the next Sunday and told them the whole story. They were thrilled for me. My cousin had died and our family is a bit estranged so I left Sunday School and went to the funeral home to view the body and sign the book while no one was there. I rushed back to church and lo, and behold , my pastor was standing on the front porch. I knew God was in that. I marched my shy self right up to him and quickly and concisely told him. He was so happy. He knew I had been troubled about it. I asked him if he would open the doors of the church ( for membership) that morning so I could join and be properly baptized. He did and I did. And that is the story of how I got out of the graveyard!
Are you out of the graveyard? Or are you still dead in trespasses and sins?

You must realize you are a sinner. "There is none righteous,no , not one." Romans 3:10 You will never be saved until you acknowledge you are a sinner. "For the wages of sin is death." Romans 6:23 God loves you and gave His only Son , Jesus, as your substitute. He died in your place. "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins , should live unto righteousness:by whose stripes ye were healed." I Peter 2:24 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn from your sin and turn to Him. Are you under conviction? Do you feel the heavy load of guilt? You can be out from under that load. If you refuse God's free gift of salvation you will die in your sins and suffer eternally in the fire of Hell. You don't have to. Trust Him today. Accept Him as Lord (Master) and Saviour. He is a wonderful Friend. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Come on, get out of the graveyard and begin to really live!!

His Plan For Me

HIS PLAN FOR ME

When I stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ

And He shows me His plan for me,

The plan of my life as it might have been,

Had He had His way; and I see

How I blocked Him here, and I checked Him there

And I would not yield my will,

Will there be grief in my Saviour's eyes,

Grief though He loves me still?

He would have me rich and I stand her poor,

Stripped of all but His grace,

While memory runs like a hunted thing

Down the paths I cannot retrace.

Then my desolate heart will well nigh break

With tears that I cannot shed;

I shall cover my face with my empty hands;

I shall bow my uncrowned head.

Lord of the years that are left to me,

I give them to Thy hand;

Take me and break me, mold me to

The pattern Thou hast planned.

~Martha Snell Nicholson

Something for dads and moms on Father's Day

Educate children without religion, and you make a race of clever devils.~ Willington

TO ANY LITTLE BOY'S FATHER

There are little eyes upon you,

And they're watching night and day;

There are little ears that quickly

Take in every word you say.

There are little hands all eager

To do everything you do,

And a little boy who's dreaming

Of the day he'll be like you.

You're the little fellow's hero;

You're the wisest of the wise;

In his little mind, about you,

No suspicions ever rise.

He believes in you devoutly,

Holds that all you say and do,

He will say and do in your way

When he's grown up just like you.

There's a wide-eyed little fellow,

Who believes you're always right;

And his ears are always open

And he watches day and night.

You are setting an example

Every day in all you do,

For the little boy who's waiting

To grow up to be like you!

~Selected

More from the Mother's Day S.S. lesson

Zachary (3) was just coming downstairs carrying the hand vac. Juston (10) said that on the third step from the bottom Z sat down wearied and said, "God, help me." God sent help in form of Juston.

This was Autumn's Bible lesson on Nov. 18, 1992:

Mom: Where did Joseph of Arimathea take the body of Jesus?

Autumn(5): To a rock

Mom: Why did Pilate put soldiers outside to guard the sepulchre?

Autumn: They was afraid He would die.

Mom: Autumn, He was already dead.

Autumn: Oh.

Mom:Why did the women come to the tomb?

Autumn: To see Him dead.

Mom: No, they brought perfume... What did they find at the tomb?

Autumn: They found perfume.

Whitney (7): No, they brought perfume.

Autumn: Oh.

Mom: They found an empty tomb.

Autumn: But Momma, you just said He was dead!

We all laughed and I did much explaining. We went on.

Mom:What does 'much perplexed' mean?

Autumn: That they were very nice.

Mom: No...worried... What did the women do when the angels told them that Jesus had risen?

Autumn: They went to see Him.

Mom: No, they went to tell others. Should you tell others that Jesus is risen?

Autumn: YES!!!

Mom: What did Peter and John do when they heard Jesus was not in the grave?

Autumn: They ran to tell others!!!

Mom(laughing): No. They went to see if it was true. How long was Jesus in the grave?

Autumn: About a month and a half.

Mom: Three days and three nights, Autumn.

Autumn: Well, Mrs. Jonnie [her S.S. teacher] said about a month and a half or two months.

Mom: No she didn't. What is Easter about?

Autumn: God gettin' born.

Mom: No, that's Christmas. Easter is about how Jesus rose from the dead. Now, what is Easter about?

Autumn: God bein' a baby and gettin' on earth.




Zachary (3) had on an apron and wanted if off. He said , "Take my curtain off."


Jess was learning to ride a bike when she was about 5. She took off down her Granny Serritt's driveway and lost control and ran up onto the carport and crashed into the doorstep. Granny, standing at the doorway watching said , "Well, that was funny. Why don't you do it again?"
You'd have to know my mother to enjoy that one. She was teasing Jessica and Jessica loved it!

From my Mother's Day Sunday School Lesson

These are some things I read in S.S. on Mother's Day. Some are funny and some are serious. Hope you enjoy and get a blessing!

April 19, 1991 (from my journal): I just asked Autumn , age 4, where she got her blue eyes and she answered, "From Jesus!!!"
My prayer for Autumn that day was a bit naive but from the heart of a 29 year old mother: Thank You, Father, for giving her those beautiful blue eyes. May they never cloud over with impurity or shame and may they never shed tears over a hurt that could have been avoided had she listened to and obeyed You.

A prayer for Whitney ( age 6): Father, bless and strengthen Whitney. Use her for Thy glory. May the devil not deceive her, keep her pure and her future husband pure for her.

Mon., August 30, 1999:
Today Zachary is ten. It's also Mrs. Jimmie and Anita Carnes birthday.
Rachel (5) wanted to fix Zachary's breakfast for his birthday. He wanted cereal. She went in kitchen, got two bowls, let Z pick which one he wanted, went back in kitchen. I heard something hit the floor. "Don't wowwy (worry) Diane Wison, I'll get it." I had to smile. As she's putting in cereal and milk she's calling out, "Don't wowwy!!" She's knows I'm afraid she can't do it without spilling. But she did. What a sweet, kind sister to do this for her brother on his birthday

Have a Good Day!

What constitutes a good day? Store clerks tell us to have a good day. We say to others, "I had a good day", or we whine, "This just isn't my day!" We ask our friends and families, "How was your day?"
Is it a good day only if things go my way? Is it a good day only if the sun shines? Is it a good day only if no one crossed us or reproved us?
It can be a good day even if things don't go my way if I realize , "All things work together for good to them that love God..." (Romans 8:28)
It can be a good day even if it rains if I realize, "The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet." (Nahum 1:3) He " sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45)
It can be a good day if I learn from my mistakes and if reproof is needed learn from that and make necessary changes. (James 1:19,20; 4:6) "He that regardeth reproof shall be honored." (Proverbs 13:18)
This isn't my day anyway. "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)
Want to have a good day? It's up to you. As Dr. Robert Cook used to say,"Walk with the King today and be a blessing!"

HAVE A GOOD DAY!!!

My Life is Changing

In the last few months there have been several "bends in the road" in my life. My mother left earth and was escorted by a band of angels to Heaven. I miss her. It's a sad, lonely feeling to have no mother to go to. Then my oldest son was married. He married a wonderful girl and they are very happy, but the day he packed up everything and left for his own new home marked the end of an era in my life. And now, bless my heart, eleven months after their wedding they've made me a grandma.
It seems only a few years ago I was a young mother living in a mobile home, happily married. My oldest four children were then from newborn to age seven. I certainly enjoyed these years when they were little, yet at the time there were occasions when I thought I could never handle it :) We didn't even have a television; didn't want one. And a computer? Were they invented yet?:) In 1989 I doubt we'd ever heard of a cell phone.
Now twenty years later, my oldest four are grown. Three of them are still at home, thank God, as well as the younger two. They still love God, church,and momma and daddy. Sunday dinners are a delight at our house with all the children, daughter-in-law, Zachary's girlfriend, and now grandbaby. There aren't enough seats for everyone, but the floor has always worked fine. I usually serve at least eleven for Sunday dinner. Well, actually Avonlea doesn't eat my cooking yet, but her precious momma feeds her a God-blessed "meal".
Yes, my life is changing--instead of my old green '83 station wagon with kids looking out of every window, I ride around in a blue '98 mini-van that seats seven but usually has no more than three occupants. Instead of searching for a pay phone to call the grandma and see if the kids are okay, I just reply to the text messages they send to ask where I'm at.:) Instead of newborn to age seven, their ages range from nine to twenty-six. We do have a television now but we have no channels. You see, we haven't cable and don't want it. We have a converter box but we unhooked it. We choose what we want to watch and we choose carefully. We're partial to "Sheffey", "Anne of Green Gables", and "Old Yeller". Once in a while we pull out an old John Wayne western or war picture, but we thank God for the T.V. Guardian on our vcr that deletes all the foul language. Yes, we have a computer and more recently, even the internet. We also thank God for cleaninter.net. The filter that reminds us to guard our eyes and "set no wicked thing" before them.
We used to eat Sunday dinners at my mother's or Ty's mother's. Now I enjoy the laughter and playful banter of my four girls in the kitchen as we rush to do the final preparations to our Sunday meal. This past Sunday Zachary even blessed us with a little guitar music. We all take our turns holding Avonlea and believe me it's a lot of turns! Juston tells of how many times Avonlea awakened last night and Paige swears she smiles at her. Whitney takes more pictures and Autumn insists on an early turn with Avonlea because she (Autumn) needs to go take a nap. Autumn is justified since she gets up through the week at 4:30! Zachary sits and looks proud (and thankful) that he has such a sweet and beautiful girlfriend. (And one that loves God and hates evil this proud mother will add). We beg Rachel to play her mandolin along with Zachary on guitar, but she refuses today. Jess leaps around like a happy deer and when she does sit it's usually near her big brother, Juston. Avonlea sleeps, nurses, sleeps, and dreams of being home away from these aunts and grandparents who keep passing her from one to the other. But before she can go home she must wait while her mom has a thirty minute romp on the trampoline with Juston and Jessica. Being pregnant for nine months, Paige has missed being able to jump!!:)
Yes, indeed my life is changing... I am growing to look like my momma, or so I've been told, and act like her as well, so my daughters tell me! I am enjoying this phase of life just as I did the ones before it. God is so good! I am so blessed. As our pastor would say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits."

Mother of six, mother-in-law of one, grandma of one, and oh yes, I am the mother of that good-looking, muscled guy with the really pretty girlfriend...:)

On prayer

This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend. Song of Solomon 5:16
All bare Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. Luke 4:22
What a wonderful Person with which I am able to commune. "There's a place that is wondrously fair...It glows with the light af His presence...'Tis the beautiful garden of prayer...I go with my burden and care...Just to learn from His lips words of comfort... In the beautiful garden of prayer...There my Saviour awaits, and He opens the gates to the beautiful garden of prayer..."
--Eleanor Allen Schroll
(This song was copyrighted in 1920.) I'm partial to the old ones usually.
"Prayer does not fit us for greater works; prayer is the greater work." Oswald Chambers
The chief objectives in prayer : to know Jesus, to learn His will, and to deliberately align myself with it.
"Prayers are heard in Heaven very much in proportion to our faith. Little faith will get very great mercies, but great faith still greater." --Charles H. Spurgeon
"I know that Thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from Thee."--Job 42:2
"I am not worthy of the least of all Thy mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast shewed unto Thy servant:..." Gen. 32:10
"...With him is an arm of flesh: but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words..." I Chron. 32:8
"Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in Thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto Thee." Psa. 143:8

Come to Him in the morning, trust Him, lift up your soul to Him that loves you and gave Himself for you. Our body makes us aware of the world around us, our soul makes us aware of our self, and our spirit makes us aware of God. "...Therefore glorify God in your body,and in your spirit, which are God's." I Cor. 6:20
"Nobody can pray right and live wrong and nobody can live wrong and pray right."

"God thundereth marvellously with His voice; great things doeth He, which we cannot comprehend." Job 37:5

What a great God! And He is my God, my Saviour, my Friend! I love communing with Him and meditating upon His word.









c

Being a grandmother

My dear son and my dear daughter-in-love have been a great blessing in my life. Now they have added another wonderful blessing. On May 22 a beautiful little dark-haired girl came into this world. She has been fearfully and wonderfully made by Loving Hands. She weighed 7 lbs., 9 oz. and was 20 in. long. She is doing great. And we are just enjoying looking at her and holding her and praying for her. God is soooo good. He can't be anything but good! Oh, I love Him so!
"The Lord liveth; and blessed be my Rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted." Psalm 18:46

In the dark with God

At the amusement park in May I rode the boat chute with a precious two year old. We went through a long dark, tunnel and the little lad was looking right up at me yet couldn't see me. He kept calling out my name and I'd say, "I'm right here. You can't see me but I'm here." I put my arm around him to assure him of my presence.

How many times I've been in a long, dark tunnel and looked up and called out to my Heavenly Father. His answer is a strong, secure Arm and a very sure Presence. "He has never , never failed. He will always prevail. The Lord, He is still in control." "Standing somewhere in the shadows you'll find Jesus." "Lo, I am with you always ..."

"The eternal God is thy Refuge, and underneath are the everlasting Arms..." Deuteronomy 33:27