Mama Loved to Wash Clothes

March 20, 2020

I think I have finally figured out why mama liked to wash clothes so much. It was a fact around her house that nothing laid around dirty very long before she had it in the washing machine. Through the years we have talked about how mama liked to wash clothes. I was thinking about mama this morning and the first time I remember her washing clothes. It was when I was about four years old. 

We lived in a small government house out in the country on an Opp route when i was born. It was a nice house and I was born in the front room to the right of the porch. Daddy wanted some land and bought the old Holland Place out from Elba. We moved into the house on route 4. I was four years old. It was a big house with four rooms. We had two iron beds in the large living room, a dining room, kitchen and another bedroom for the boys. We had an outdoor toilet and we had little mice which I thought was just wonderful. Mama didn't think so and she soon put a stop to them.

 

Wash day came and mother, daddy and I headed straight across the dirt road in front of our house, down to the woods where there was a stream of water. Daddy had taken the old black wash pot down there and set it up beside the creek. He had stumps and had #3 washtubs setting on them. I think there were two or three tubs. A fire was set under the wash pot to heat the water taken from the stream. Mama put the clothes and lye soap, I assume, in it to wash the clothes. She had a battling stick daddy had made in which she punched down the clothes and pulled from the pot when she thought they were clean. She laid them on a stump and beat them. I didn't pay much attention because I was enjoying being in the woods near a stream of water and near them. Mama rung the clothes out by hand and then put them in the first tub of water, juggled them up and down, squeezed them out by hand and then on to the next tub. She really believed in rinsing her clothes well. After the job was done they lugged the clothes back up the hill to our house and to the clothes line out back where she hung them in the sun to dry. Mondays were usually wash day.

From that primitive way of washing clothes mama moved on to having a wringer type electric machine out underneath a shed behind the house. She no longer had to wring the clothes out by hand because the washer had a wringer up top. We just positioned them just right, sent them through and  the excess water was rung out. She used that washer for years and continued to hang the clothes to dry on the line. 

Mama and Daddy built a new house in 1960 on the Old Holland Place. I remember when mama bought her first electric washer and dryer. They were used but she didn't care. She put them in the utility room right behind the carport. I can see now why they made her so happy. Mama had come a long way.

Later in her life after Daddy died, she sold the house on route 4 and moved to Elba across the street from her son and family. She moved her washer and dryer inside her house. She could really wash clothes now. They were right beside her kitchen. We never understood why mama liked to wash clothes so much, but I think after today I have it figured out. She came a long way in her 102 1/2 years. She really did.

She loved to wash clothes.

I wore 401 overalls to school

From the time I was four years old until I married we lived by the Holland - Grimes Cemetery on Route 4, Elba, AL. I had no problem visiting the cemetery and looking at the tombstones. Here I am in my 401 overalls that Daddy bought me at Perry's Store. Mama didn't really want me wearing overalls, but Daddy had his way. Daddy wore 401 overalls and I wanted some like his.

I loved my overalls and recall the first day I wore them to school at Curtis. I was in the first grade. Leroy Rushing had a pair just like them, and I couldn't wait to show Leroy my overalls. Notice the little Sears Roebuck brown oxfords I had on, too. I got a new pair every school year. It just so happened that the morning I walked into the first grade class at Curtis with my new overalls on that Leroy Rushing was standing behind the little table and chairs talking to other class members. I came in smiling from ear to ear. He spotted me, and not my overalls, mind you, but my smile, and he bellowed out in his roughest voice, "It ain't funny, Glenda Williams, I can tell you that." I replied, "I was smiling 'cause we have on overalls alike. I didn't know what you are telling." Then he told me about someone getting killed or dying, and that's the end of that story. I don't remember if he even noticed we had on overalls alike or not. I think I'm still a little miffed about that.

As I think back about being in Mrs. Lena Grimes first and second grade class, I remember those little tables and chairs. I guess six people could sit at one table in the first grade. One day I was sitting down and decided to lean back in the chair. Well, guess what! I turned over backwards and hit the floor. It knocked the breath out of me, and that was my first and only time to experience that. It was very frightening.

One day another male classmate and I exchanged shoes. I think it was Leroy Rushing or either Murray Johns. I had on my little brown lace-up oxfords, and we decided to exchange shoes.

Immediately when we finished lacing them up, Mrs. Grimes called, "Bathroom time." "Oh!" I said, "We have to change shoes first!" Then the rush was on. We finished just in time to take our place in the line as we marched down the hall to the bathroom.

First and second grades were in the same classroom at Curtis School. Mrs. Grimes taught both grades. The first graders had tables and chairs. The second graders had desk. One day I stood up beside my desk to stretch while Mrs. Grimes was teaching the first graders. She told me to sit down. I told her, "You shut up." That's a story for another time...

Working together toward a common goal

I was born in a government house between Opp and Elba, AL. It was a nice little house, but daddy moved us to the Old Holland Place on Route 4, Elba. That's where I saw little mice running in the big room and thought they were wonderful. Mama didn't think so! We lived in that house around 14 years.

Mama had gotten a job at the Kinston Manufacturing Company. She was making about $75 every two weeks. I remember her telling daddy, "Grady, let's build us a new house. We can buy supplies every two weeks when I get paid, and you can build it." Daddy must have liked the idea because he sat down and drew the plan on a piece of paper while sitting at the kitchen table. Soon the place was selected out from the old house, string was run in the shape of the house, and Daddy got started.

Here is a picture of mother sitting on the foundation of the new house. Daddy must have worked at night on it. I see a light cord and light running from the old house in the picture. They built the house and paid for it as they went.

For the first time in all those years we had an indoor bathroom, bathtub and shower. Up until then we had an outdoor toilet with a fancy commode that Daddy had found somewhere. He rigged us up a shower on a concrete slab out behind the house and fixed us a shower head out there. That's where we got our baths when we didn't sponge off.

But the point is that people can do about anything they set their minds to do if they think they can. Mama and Daddy thought they could, and they did. They worked together toward a common goal, and they reached it. There's a lesson for us there.

Hunting in the Night with Julie and Daddy

Julie was a special dog. My uncle gave her to us, and we were mighty proud of her. She had short brown hair and the prettiest tail that curved around. I liked Julie a lot. Julie was smart, too. She could go hunting all by herself. I remember the night well when we heard Julie barking down at the edge of the woods behind our country house on Route 4, Elba. Our house was quiet, so it was easy to hear her. I had just gotten out of the shower and had shampooed my long hair. I was ready for bed.

Daddy said, "Glenda, Julie has something treed down at the edge of the woods. Go with me and hold the flashlight and let's see what she has treed." I pulled on my housecoast. He grabbed his gun, and off to the woods we headed. I guess it must have been about ten o'clock at night. Too late to go hunting, I know that for sure. Nevertheless, off we went across the field to find Julie. I shined the flashlight and there stood Julie looking up from the base of the tree. "Shine the light on up the tree," Daddy said. I did, and sure enough, there was something in the tree. Julie was so proud of her prize and that we had come to get it for her.

Daddy took aim, and he was a good shot, I have to say. Down the thing came. It didn't take long at all to know this thing was not something that should have been angered or shot! It was a SKUNK, and it sprayed all of us good. Oh my! Talk about taking your breath away? We got ourselves back to the house, struggling to just get some sort of fresh air. Julie stunk, Daddy stunk, and I stunk. I had to rebathe and wash my hair. I thought I would never get that smell out of my clothes or hair. And you know what? My daddy was so tickled he could not stop laughing.

Well, that was my first and last time to go hunting at night with Julie and Daddy. It was a "stinking" hunt for sure!

55 Years and counting

We did it! December 18, 2020 came and we celebrated 55 years of marriage. They have been wonderful years. Our goal has been to work for the Lord, and that is what we have done. It has been an interesting life, and we wouldn't change anything about it even if we could. 

I remember when mother and daddy celebrated their 55 wedding anniversary. That was really something special. It wasn't long until Daddy got sick with an inoperable brain tumor and finally died. 1985, September 22 was the date. I remember it well.

Homemade biscuits

Oh my! I have been watching "Cooking with Brenda Gantt," and seeing her make biscuits. A friend, who I will not name, posted a Mama's Famous Dinner Roll recipe on FB, and I was game to try it this morning. Oh boy! I could blame it on my oven not being hot enough at 350 as the recipe suggested, my amateurism (can you believe that one?), or who knows what, but mine were not good. 

The biscuits gave me a good reminder of my daddy. All my life daddy had a little rock he would show me, or it would always turn up someway, and he said it was one of Mama's first biscuits she made when they first got married. The rock looked just like a small round biscuit baked just right, but hard as a rock. Well, it was a rock!!!

Oh Mama. It still brings a chuckle as I remember her always saying, "Oh Grady, it ain't dunn it!" Probably if daddy was still around, he would slip one of my morning biscuits in his pocket to remind me of my attempt at biscuit making and yes, he would show it to me from time to time and anyone else who would listen.

Doing something for Jesus each day

Dr. Phil McGraw has shared on numerous occasions on his daily television show how he gets up each morning and asks himself what he can do to make his wife’s day better, or more enjoyable, that day. There’s no doubt fewer marriages would end in divorce if each person asked themselves that question about their companion.

As I was thinking about that statement the other morning after reading my Bible, I thought, “What can I do today for Jesus?” Immediately, I thought of the poem below.

Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work today

He has no feet but our feet to lead men in the way

He has no tongue but our tongue to tell men how He died

He has no help but our help to bring them to His side.

We are the only Bible the careless world will read,

We are the sinner’s gospel; we are the scoffer’s creed;

We are the Lord’s last message, given in word and deed;

What if the type is crooked? What if the print is blurred?

What if our hands are busy with other work than His?

What if our feet are walking where sin’s allurement is?

What if our tongue is speaking of things His lips would spurn?

How can we hope to help Him or welcome His return?

—Annie Johnston Flint

Of course, I want to make my precious husband’s day better every day. I want to make it special and one he will long remember. At the same time I want do something for my Lord every day. I want to be able at the end of the day to look back at that which I have done and see things I have done especially for my Lord.

Mr. Rogers penned the song, “There are many ways to say I love you.” The song states ways to express our love for others. May we look for ways each day to express our love for our companion and our Savior.

Glenda's Glimpse - "I'm scared"

Honestly, I am scared. I am afraid of this virus and the danger I might face if I caught it. The danger I would put Doug in if I caught it. We take precautions as best we can, but I am still afraid. I pray about it and ask God to please protect us, and I’m thankful that He is protecting us. At the same time I know God expects us to use good sense during this time and follow the rules. 

Some say, and I know the Bible teaches, we are not to be fearful. I remember how Ananias pleaded with God when He came to him in a dream and told him to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He said he was praying and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight. 

Whoa!!! Ananias said, “Lord, I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” Ananias was afraid, but he went and did what God wanted him to do.

I remember the replies Moses gave God when God asked him to go to Pharaoh to bring His people (Israelites) out of Egypt. Who would have ever thought of talking back to God, right?  After going back and forth with God several times, Moses finally said, “O Lord, Please send someone else to do it.” God’s anger burned against Moses, and He suggested Aaron go with him to speak, and that is what they did.

Moses and Ananias were desperate. They were fearful.

God knew. He knew about Saul. He had a plan for him…a great plan, and He needed Ananias to help with His plan. God had plans to get the Israelites out of Egypt and from under the rule of Pharaoh, the King. He selected these men to help fulfill his plan.

Who is to say that we haven’t been chosen for such a time as this to execute a plan God has to redeem his people from this sinful world? Lord, help us not be afraid, but trust You as we tread life’s highway.               

                                                           - Glenda Williams Williams

Mama sewed enough to pay for her groceries every week

Mama was a thrifty and wise little lady. I say little because she was little. She was about 4'8" high and weighed around 107 pounds.

Mama couldn't drive, so after Daddy died she made her time count when she was able to go with someone to the grocery store or shopping.

Mama did alterations for the public until she was well in her 90's. She had a stroke at 93 years, and it shut her down basically. But, up until that time, Mama prided herself in sewing enough each week to buy her groceries. I've mentioned in a previous post of how she told me on one occasion, "I've made enough this week to buy my groceries." She didn't like to go into her bank account and spend money from her measly little Social Security check. I think the most she ever drew was $794.00 a month, if that much. But, as I said, Mama was thrifty. She didn't want for things and look to get them even if it put her in a financial bind. She owned her home, and she didn't have any debts. She owed no one when she passed away at 102 1/2 years of age. She was wise, indeed.

The thing I want to share most of all about Mama is the time when I was at her house while she was eating lunch. Often times I would go visit her on my lunch hour...just to check on her. I think she had baked an Irish potato in the microwave and had mayonnaise on it. She wouldn't eat butter or beef for anything!!! I mentioned something about what she was eating, and her reply has stayed with me ever since. She said, "Oh, I can eat enough of anything to be satisfied."

Tonight after being shut in all day due to the virus, weather, and office work I had to do, I wanted so badly to go to Captain D's and get our usual weekly meal and eat in the car. But, it was getting dark and later in the day than I cared to get out, so I dropped that idea. Then I thought of how delicious beef nachos would be from one of our Mexican restaurants in town. I mentioned it to Doug. He asked about going to get them. And then I remembered Mama's comment about how she could eat enough of anything to be satisfied. I said to Doug, "Let me see what we have in the refrigerator." There was a bowl of homemade beef vegetable soup I had taken from the freezer a few days earlier. Why, after that was warmed it was delicious with saltine crackers. And there was enough of it to satisfy us.

He thought he could, and he did

I’ve always liked the story of the little train that thought he could make it up and over the hill. As he went upward he got slower and slower, but he kept saying, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can,” and he did!

If you are friends with me on FB you know I enjoy taking pictures and this summer has brought me great joy. I have taken many pictures of the beautiful zinnias Doug planted in our yard. We’ve never had zinnias before, and I didn’t know of their beauty. I have taken several pictures of the zinnias and made online greeting cards with them.

A special treat this summer has been the beautiful butterflies who have frequented the flowers. I’ve dashed out and made pictures of several of them. Recently as the season is ending I looked out and saw a beautiful zebra butterfly on a magenta zinnia. As I went around the flower snapping pictures, I noticed something unusual about this little butterfly. Its wing was torn away partially on the left side. He was only there for a short time, and I stood in amazement as he fluttered to the sky and around the side of the house. I could tell he was having difficulty flying, but he could fly. He had a handicap, but he didn’t let it stop him. Perhaps he was saying to himself, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can,” and he could because he believed he could. I wanted to say, “Good for you. You can do it!”

How many times do we let things hinder us because we don’t think we can do it? Fear is a dreadful hinderance. I’m confident we don’t know half of what we are capable of doing because we haven’t tried! I didn’t know I could paint pictures until a friend asked me to take a college painting class with her. I didn’t know I could letter charts for preachers freehand without stencils until my brother encouraged me to try. I didn’t know I could crochet until I tried.

We’re God’s greatest creation. We can do more than we think we can, if we try.

Blocking crochet name doily

I learned to crochet when we first married. I think the first thing I made was a rug. Since then I have crocheted any number of things. One of the things I have seemingly crocheted the most is the name doily. I have crocheted them for all living Presidents and many other people.

All of the doilies are starched and blocked before they are sold to the customer. Here is an example of how I do that. I like pretty days so I can put them out in the sunshine to dry quickly.

Toni Permanents

When I was a little girl, possibly age 11 or so, mother gave me Toni permanents. She cut my hair the same length all over my head and curled it tight. This went on for many years. I guess I was happy with it for a long time. I may have been 9-11 years old here and was as happy as could be. We were at my grandparents birthday dinner out from Opp, AL. That was Herschel's studebaker I was eating on, if memory serves me correctly. I recall being fearful he might not want me eating on his car. He was very proud of it.

Going Home

I glanced out our kitchen window and immediately thought of how the lost child had returned home. There was no one there to greet him, but it was still home. He sat for the longest time on the little perch right outside the door. We’ve all done it at one time or another. Perhaps we have driven by our homeplace, and being so overcome with emotion we’ve begged to stop so we could look a little longer...and remember. Somehow home doesn’t get out of our system. We remember the good and somehow forget the bad over time. And somehow it becomes more precious as the years go by. Deep inside we always have a longing to go home just like the little bird did today.

Little babies and souls

Last night I woke around midnight thinking about the soul of man. I stood at the foot of my mother and watched her depart this life on January 8, 2014. 

You remember it was Jacob and Rachel, his true love, who were on their way to Ephrath when Rachel was in hard labor. She was having a baby boy, and the scripture says, "And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-o-ni: but his father called him Benjamin. (Genesis 35:16-18).

I watched mother's body grow still and saw the blood stop running through her veins. I knew her soul was in departing, (for she died). The question I was needing an answer to last night was when did she get that soul? I have four different Bibles on my desk as I write this and as I studied during the late hours last night.

God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). That is where Adam got his soul. But what about the little babies today? In Ecclesiastes 11:5, The Living Bible Paraphrased says: "God's ways are as mysterious as the pathway of the wind, and as the manner in which a human spirit is infused into the little body of a baby while it is yet in its mother's womb.”

The King James Version states: "As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all" (Ecclesiastes 11:5).

I shudder to think of the little souls which are being separated prematurely from their little bodies while in their mother's wombs. I cannot support, nor do I want to be friends with, anyone, who supports someone who upholds such a practice. That, my friends, is evil, and my Bible says to "shun the very appearance of evil." (1 Thessalonians 5:22)  

Written 09-27-2020 under Glenda's Glimpse, Geneva church of Christ bulletin, p.4

          

Slaves

I love reading whole books of the Bible at one sitting. Recently I read the book of Ecclesiastes. It has only 12 chapters and was written by the wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon. You will remember God told Solomon He would give him whatever he wanted, and Solomon asked for wisdom. So he was wise. We can believe that and know it to be true.

This morning I picked up the copy of my Good News Today Bible, which at one time had belonged to Luther Warrick. I picked it up at a thrift store and that is the name engraved in gold on the front leather cover. I'm sure Mr. Warrick would be delighted that someone was enjoying his Bible. Well, enough about that. I will get to my point. 

In Ecclesiastes the second chapter starting in verse four, check this out with me. Solomon said: "I accomplished great things. I built myself houses and planted vineyards. I planted gardens and orchards, with all kinds of fruit trees in them; I dug ponds to irrigate them. I bought many slaves, and there were slaves born in my household…"

Whoa!!! What did he say? "He bought many slaves, and there were slaves born in his household?" This goes back to Bible days, does it not?

I remember also that Joseph's brother sold him as a slave. He ended up in Potipher's house in a high position. He was assistant to the King himself. Joseph told his brothers years later that they meant it for evil, but God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20). 

We need to let down our buckets where we are, pour potting soil in them, and plant zinnias. That's the way I see it.

Mama's Pincushion

It really isn’t anything special, that pincushion of Mama’s, but it held lots of surprises for me recently. I use the pincushion now. Mama died in 2014 at 102.5 years, and I have her sewing machine and pincushion. Oh, I have other fancier pincushions…several of them, in fact, but somehow I feel closer to Mama each time I pick up her pincushion.

I don’t know if Mama ever had a fancy pincushion. I remember the day she told me she had made herself a pincushion. She was proud of it as she held it up for me to see, and that’s it below. She made it from a bath cloth, I think, and stuffed it with polyester stuffing. It has served us both well.

The yellow pins are all mine. I use them when I block crocheted name doilies. I imagine there are still some of mama’s pins in the cushion somewhere. But the other night I felt something hard deep inside the cushion and decided to work it out to see what it might be. It was a needle. No doubt it was one of mama’s needles which she lost long ago. Finding that needle made me wonder if there were more, so I kept digging. Sure enough I found another one. Occasionally I stuck my finger, but I kept working needles out of the cushion until I decided I needed a medicine bottle to hold them. I surely didn’t want them loose on the sofa where I was seated. I got the medicine bottle and put the needles inside and kept digging. And then I started counting the needles. I found and rescued over 25 needles deep inside that little pincushion.

Mama’s pincushion held lots of secret needles. I couldn’t help but think there was a lesson for us in Mama’s pincushion. Deep inside the much used and old pincushion were secrets, some sharp and some dull, but still secrets unknown to those around the pincushion. We might say the secrets were held in the heart of the pincushion, and that’s where the lesson is held. Just like us, deep within our hearts we have secrets. Some are dull and some are sharp. Some are good and some are bad. And the only difference is that we on the outside couldn’t see the secret sharp and dull needles inside Mama’s pincushion. But God can see the secrets deep within our hearts. He knows and He looks upon our hearts. There’s no hiding from Him. One day all secret things will be known.

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my Strength, and my Redeemer” (Psalms 19:14).

Poem by Dr. Art Williams

Don’t Wait Too Late

What will you be doing tomorrow,

If tomorrow is just like today?

What kind of life will you be living,

If you continue living the same way?

You are where you’ve been coming to-

It always works out that way.

And you’ll be right where you’re headed,

Unless you change today.

Oh many have said, “I’ll make that change,”

And then decided some other day.

But “other day,” for them, it never came

Before their lives were swept away.

What if that city, that silent city,

Could speak to us some way?

Why don’t you know that millions would say,

“Don’t wait another day!”

“For I waited, and I waited too long,” they’d say.

“For me, it’s now too late!”

What about you, my brother, sister, friend-

Why on earth do you wait?

Make the choice, the wisest choice,

That leads to life - don’t wait.

Make it now - as early, as soon as you can.

Don’t be one who waited too late.

                                           - Art Williams

In times like these

The lyrics to the beautiful song, “In Times Like These,” are on my heart this morning. Oh, the comfort Jesus, the solid rock, brings to the Christian. In times likes these people are giving up and are not able to cope with the uncertainty of each day, each hour, yea, each breath. Do you find yourself swallowing to see if by chance your throat is sore? Do you find yourself breathing deeply to see if you can get a deep breath? It is a frightening time in which we are going through but Jesus is with us as Christians. There’s comfort in His promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us. And for the Christian should death come, to be apart from the body is to be present with the Lord. What greater comfort can one ask for? I hope you know the tune to “In Times Like These” and can sing along with me. 

In Times Like These

(Ruth Caye Jones)

In times like these, we need a Savior,

In times like these, we need an anchor.

Be very sure, be very sure,

Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.

This Rock is Jesus, Yes, He's the one,

This Rock is Jesus, The only One.

Be very sure, be very sure,

Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.

In times like these, we need the Bible,

In times like these, oh be not idle.

Be very sure, be very sure,

Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.

This Rock is Jesus, Yes, He's the one,

This Rock is Jesus, The only One.

Be very sure, Be very sure,

Your anchor holds, and grips the Solid Rock.

In times like these, I have a Savior,

In times like these, I have an anchor.

I'm very sure, I'm very sure,

My anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.

This Rock is Jesus, yes, He's the One,

This Rock is Jesus, the only One.

Be very sure, be very sure,

Your anchor holds, and grips the Solid Rock.

Corona Virus Homebound

The year 2020 will stand out in everyone’s memory because of the Coronavirus spreading across the world and causing such havoc. I remember as a young girl mother and daddy talking about the Great Depression. My brother told how he had a paper tablet to do his school work in. The teacher let him use half of it the first half of the year and the other half for the last half of the school year. My mother told of how sugar and necessities of life were rationed by the government. That was a date that was remembered in their lives.

In Elba in 1929 there was what Daddy called a great flood in Elba and indeed it was. He told of how he rescued people from the roofs of their houses into a boat he was riding. That date stood out in daddy’s memory. He never forgot it.

In our lives the next great flood of Elba happened in 1990 when we lost everything in our house in downtown Elba. We shoveled out our muddy belongings through the doors of the house.The things that we loved and held dear to our hearts were gone forever. That date stands out in our memory.

September 11, 1911, will forever be etched in everyone’s mind when the World Trade Center was destroyed by terrorists. The President claimed they had woken up a sleeping giant and we wouldn’t forget. He was right.

And now today as we are approaching the third week of being homebound by the laws of the land, excluding emergencies, I think of a far greater day that is coming. I look up into the beautiful clouds floating through the air and I try to imagine hearing the trumpets blowing on the four corners of the earth and seeing our Lord coming in the clouds to meet us in the air, declaring that time will be no more. That will be a day like no other. I sometimes think, “Come Lord Jesus,” so I can be alive and see it and then I remember that the Bible says no one will be cheated out of seeing that marvelous sight because It says “every eye shall see Him.” Doesn't that give you chill bumps? I am so glad that our Lord planned His return so everyone can first see Him that way.

We know that great day is coming. It is going to happen. Everyone who has ever lived will see the Lord when He returns in the clouds. He will never set foot on the earth because the earth will be destroyed by fire. We will meet Him in the air. At that time life as we know it will cease to exist. There will be no more opportunities to read our Bibles, attend services of the church, do a good deed, repent or give our lives to the Lord. Time will be no more. That will be a day we won’t have to remember. We will live with the Lord in eternity forever in that heavenly city. May we be ready to meet Him when He comes.                               

Reading Bible Through

I did it! Finally in all these years I have read through the Bible. I’ve read my Bible for years but never have I read it all the way through. It was very enjoyable and I learned a lot.

One thing I gained from reading the Old Testament is that God is long-suffering. He could have wiped the earth clean more times than just with the flood and been done with the mess that the people caused but he didn’t. He is a very patient God without doubt. But another thing I gained was He says what He means and He means what He says. He keeps His promises. He warned the children of Israel He was going to destroy Jerusalem over and over and over, and He did!  The next thing I gained was how much God loves His children. Parents can’t hold a light to Him in the love He has for His children. And patient, how patient God is. Many of us wouldn’t have put up with the things He did for half as long as He did. There are lessons for us to learn from reading the Old Testament.

God was so disappointed in the children of Israel, his chosen children, and rightfully so. One can’t read about the Israelites without comparing them to us in today’s world. I’m sure God is disappointed in us and how reckless we are with life and His gospel. Why just think about His church and how He sent His Son that we might be saved. Look at all the different denominations popping up everywhere. They might as well be golden calves the people are worshiping because everyone is teaching a different doctrine. They are doing things their way. Ignorance of the scripture abounds. Near us is a newly formed church with a sign that reads something to the effect of “About God not religion.” Really? Again, ignorance of the scripture abounds.

It chills me to hear a person say, “I’m a member of the First Church.” Really? Which church is that? Does it wear His name? Does it practice His doctrine? Is it named in Romans 16:16?

I hope the Lord will be long-suffering and forgiving toward us when we stand before Him. I beg for mercy for not being as diligent as I should have been in telling others about Him. Life’s pages are swiftly turning and golden moments are being lost to a lost and dying world. “Lord, please help us to use our time wisely and recognize opportunities when they stare us in the face. Help us to be bold in sharing the Good News of Your Word. Help us to fasten our eyes on You and the eternal reward the faithful have waiting on the other side and conduct ourselves accordingly. In Jesus Name, I pray.”