My daddy was born in 1914 in the ridges of Northeast Alabama. He was deserted by his father when he was a school-age boy and raised by his single mother in the midst of the Great Depression. He was raised dirt-poor.
Continue reading “Daddy Bought a Nissan”Lasting Sacrifice Lingers on this Memorial Day
Memorial Day is distinguished from Veteran’s Day. We honor all veterans, living and dead. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for the ultimate sacrifice of one’s life. From what I have read, there have been over 1.1 million Americans who have died during wartime. Some from combat and others from disease.
My 4th-great-grandfather, Shadrack Whitt died at Valley Forge from disease (mostly likely smallpox). He was buried in a mass grave in May of 1778. He left behind a widow with two small boys, one was William Whitt, my 3rd-great-grandfather. Who knows the great sacrifice my long-ago grandmother and her sons endured after his death?
There was a great sacrifice of those who died in war. We honor them. There is also a continual sacrifice of the families that remain. The warriors fought and died. Their families weep and continue to grieve.
I married into the Stanley family in 1977. Robert Houston and Annie Sue Stanley blessed me with their daughter Jennie as my forever wife. They warmly embraced me as their son. This family was a Gold Star Family. By marriage covenant and love, I joined their ranks.
Continue reading “Lasting Sacrifice Lingers on this Memorial Day”Mother, the Heart of the Family
Someone said that the father is the head of the family and the mother is the heart of the family. In the beginning of Genesis, God made the man first and then made the woman from the man. God took a rib from Adam and made the woman named Eve. The rib is the skeletal protection of the heart and lungs which are some of the most vital organs of the human body.
Genesis 2:22-23 NKJV
(22) Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
(23) And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
Children naturally have a different relationship with their mother than their father. It is not supposed to be the same. God made the man and woman (father and mother) different because they needed to be a difference. Each have their own role to play. It doesn’t make one better than the other, it just means that one is better than the other at certain things and vice-versa.
Continue reading “Mother, the Heart of the Family”Pattern of Living
Sometimes, we hear people say, “Do as I say but don’t do as I do.” This quote is morphed from a warning of Jesus to His followers about the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, “Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do” (Matt. 23:3 NKJV).
We all have patterns of living. The habitual lifestyle of good or bad actions creates a pattern by which we are known. Others observe us subconsciously and purposefully. Those around us know us by our patterns. We are generally known by our lifestyle. It is not that people are judging us; they are only taking note of their observations.
Continue reading “Pattern of Living”Tell It To Your Children
One of the most powerful commandments in the Old Testament is the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The Lord commanded the children of Israel to love God with all their being. They were to tell it to their children in the morning, at night, and as they went about their day.
Continue reading “Tell It To Your Children”Lessons from Abraham: SACRIFICE OF THE SON
Remember that God gave Abraham a promised son in his old age. Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac was born. Abraham’s wife Sarah was ninety years old and passed child-bearing age even by ancient standards.
God had told Abraham that the covenant and promises given to him would flow to future generations through Isaac. All this sounds great until God commands Abraham to offer Issac as a burnt offering.
In our walk with God, at times things will not make any sense. Here is a contradiction, a son of promise is to be offered as a burnt offering. How could Isaac be a link to blessed future generations and a slaughtered son at the same time?
Continue reading “Lessons from Abraham: SACRIFICE OF THE SON”Focusing on Your Priorities in the New Year
We have flipped our calendars not only to a new month but to a new year. I have never been a big New Year’s resolution person. I do like to take the New Year as a time of evaluation. I like to see what I can do better. Some things I just need to drop. Then there are some things I need to start.
Continue reading “Focusing on Your Priorities in the New Year”The Division of the Resurrection
In my early childhood days, my mother usually bought me an Easter outfit. It wasn’t a suit. It was a pair of pants and usually a matching pastel colored shirt. She warned me to keep it nice because I would be wearing the same outfit on Decoration Day at our community cemetery. To those of you not from the Deep South, decoration day is a certain Sunday designated by the community to decorate the graves of departed family members. It often included a dinner on the ground, an all-day singing, and a community reunion rolled into one event.
Continue reading “The Division of the Resurrection”Eternal Destiny Cloaked in an Unplanned Pregnancy
The village girl who had no worldly aspirations was chosen to be the earthly mother of a Heavenly Son. Her dream was to marry a common craftsman and fill his quiver with arrows called children. She saw not much more in her future than drawing water at a village well and baking flat bread. The faithful tasks of a wife and mother for the care of her family was her hope. She dreamed of moments of joy and fulfillment scattered among the mundane. This was her only view over the horizon.
Continue reading “Eternal Destiny Cloaked in an Unplanned Pregnancy”Anatomy of a Grateful Heart
A grateful heart begins with seeing eyes to perceive God’s bounty. We see the blessings given to us as gifts beyond our efforts and intelligence.
A grateful heart hears with an ear of mercy to those who cry. We are moved with compassion just as our Savior was moved to heal and deliver.
Continue reading “Anatomy of a Grateful Heart”
Pathway Journey 