I shared this on facebook a little while ago and thought I would share it here too.
this is what's on my mind this evening and thought I would jot down my thoughts. these are just my thoughts, that's all. but my thoughts can be dangerous for me sometimes and these were. kinda made me take a second look at me. the images are everywhere. oh, you may not even pay any attention to them now, we've seen them so much here lately. but when I see the images, I see something I don't like. what are the images? if you have read this far, you may be curious. the images of the "upraised clenched fist". when I see them, it almost makes me sick to my stomach. and I seen an image this afternoon and it just stuck. I knew I would have to knuckle down and make sense out of why it just makes me sick. like I said earlier, this is my assessment and I'm not asking for anyone's approval of my thoughts or comments either.
a little digging and this is what I learned about the upraised clenched fist. it signifies threat, rejection, arrogance, exclusion, refusal, ready to fight, anger and violence. I think we've seen a lot of all of these traits in the last few weeks. we've seen the clenched fists out in the streets committing heinous crimes. I don't know about anyone else, but it has just about made me sick. sometimes, I would like to know how people could have so much hate on the inside of them. then, I remember that at one point in time, I had just as much hate on the inside of me as the people we've seen of late, still have on the inside of them.
then a little more digging also showed me what the open hand means. it means friendship, help, peace, sharing, humility, communication and connection. to be honest, that's something we've not seen a lot of these days. that's what's missing these days. it's not missing because the church doors have been shut due to the pandemic. the church is not the building. the church is each of us who claim to know Him. where I am, there is the church. where you are, there is the church. that is only true if you know Him.
when I think of an open hand, I actually think of 2 open hands. the 2 open hands of my Savior that was nailed to the cross for my sins. all of the sudden, that's when I realized why the clenched fist makes me sick. go back up and read the traits of the clenched fist again. they have nothing in common with the open hands. other than that fact that all open hands, were indeed clenched fists until they had an encounter with Him.
the open hands of my Savior had all the traits and so many more as described by the open hands. I am so thankful for His open hands on my behalf. if He would have had a clenched fist, life for all of us would be so different. the truth of the matter, my Savior had the choice to make; clenched fist or open hands. after all, He was fully human and capable of making a decision opposite of what He made. He had a choice. He chose me. He chose you.
so, I have a choice to make and I have chosen Him. does that make me perfect? laughably, absolutely not. it makes me a sinner saved by the grace of open hands. we all have a choice to make. it's not easy being open handed all the time because people think you are weak and beat down among other things. but at this point in my life, I could care less what people think about me and just pray that people start thinking more about Him. when we take our eyes off the open and nail scarred hands of our Savior, it's easy to start to getting clench fisted and full of hate again. my hearts desire for myself is that in all my activities from this moment on in my life, I pray that my Savior sees me living my life with open hands. that is the choice that I make, and I will fully rely on Him. we all have a choice to make. I can only make my choice. have a blessed evening, hugs and love, patty
Sunday, June 28, 2020
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
What are you made of?
I wrote this last year on my birthday and shared it on facebook, but I don't think I shared it here. I hope you can relate to some of these things that has helped make me who I am.
Pigtails and pin curls.
Skinned knees and climbing trees.
Horse shoes and basketball.
Digging worms and fishing poles.
Bobby socks and new shoes.
Cornbread and fresh butter.
Pigtails and pin curls.
Skinned knees and climbing trees.
Horse shoes and basketball.
Digging worms and fishing poles.
Bobby socks and new shoes.
Cornbread and fresh butter.
Badminton and backyard volleyball.
Puppies and kittens.
Gathering eggs and chasing chickens.
Ghost stories and lightening bugs.
Licking the beaters and washing dishes.
Hanging out clothes and bringing clothes in.
Sunshine and rainy days.
Biscuits and gravy.
Monopoly and card games.
Crayons and coloring books.
Paper dolls and barbie dolls.
Bb guns and squirt pistols.
Blackberries and chiggers.
Momma and Daddy.
Grandparents and cousins.
Yoyos and jacks.
Beans and potatoes.
June bugs and butterflies.
Mud pies and pea shooters.
Buttons and barrettes.
Bow and arrows and target practice.
Cuts and bee stings.
Chicken pox and mumps.
Popcorn balls and sorghum molasses.
Measles and Mercurochrome.
Neighbors and friends.
Guns and hair bows.
A little country and a lot of Jesus!!!!
God bless each and everyone of you and just know that He loves you all. hugs and love till next time, patty
Puppies and kittens.
Gathering eggs and chasing chickens.
Ghost stories and lightening bugs.
Licking the beaters and washing dishes.
Hanging out clothes and bringing clothes in.
Sunshine and rainy days.
Biscuits and gravy.
Monopoly and card games.
Crayons and coloring books.
Paper dolls and barbie dolls.
Bb guns and squirt pistols.
Blackberries and chiggers.
Momma and Daddy.
Grandparents and cousins.
Yoyos and jacks.
Beans and potatoes.
June bugs and butterflies.
Mud pies and pea shooters.
Buttons and barrettes.
Bow and arrows and target practice.
Cuts and bee stings.
Chicken pox and mumps.
Popcorn balls and sorghum molasses.
Measles and Mercurochrome.
Neighbors and friends.
Guns and hair bows.
A little country and a lot of Jesus!!!!
God bless each and everyone of you and just know that He loves you all. hugs and love till next time, patty
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
A Beautiful Day
Good afternoon Lovely people. I hope and pray that where ever you are on this planet, that you are having a beautiful day and that you recognize this is a day that Lord has made and He made it just for us!!! Yes and Amen!!!!
I haven't done anything overly special today. I planted seeds in my latest GreenStalk. An upright planter with 4 tiers to fill full of wonderful veggies. I just pray Gods blessings over my feeble efforts and I know if anything grows, it's because He heard my prayers. I assure you I know nothing about gardening. hahaha But I do know that God is faithful.
I worked on my yogurt that I started last night in Instant Pot. I put it in the fridge to get it cooled down and now I have it in my flour sack cloth lined strainer basket, draining the whey from it to make greek yogurt. It will be delicious!!!
I made a grocery order from Kroger and had that delivered a couple hours ago. I have that out of the way till I make my Aldi order later on this week. There's thing's I prefer from Kroger and things I prefer from Aldi.
I've been on face book quite a bit today responding to Happy Birthday wishes today. While I'm not crazy about big celebrations, I do enjoy the quick responses and well wishes from family, friends, acquaintances and friends of family members and their well wishes. That brings lots of joy. Sharing old pictures and funny pictures and reminiscing of days gone by and a simpler time.
As I reflect on the years I've been on this planet, I have a lot to be thankful for. And I am most thankful and grateful to God for every day of my life thus far and look with great anticipation to the days ahead. I have no idea what they will bring. I imagine there will be joy in the days ahead. No doubt, there will be lots of fun and laughter. I can just imagine, too, that there will pain and heart ache in the days ahead. I have no idea what lay ahead. One thing I do know for sure, God is already there!!! He is working ahead of me. He is designing my steps. He is my plan keeper. I don't know what the plans are, but He does. So with that in my mind, I can face each day as they come and know that nothing is a surprise to God.
The days and times in which we live are unsettling to say the least. As I struggle with all of it, my mind and heart easily slips from today to yester-year and thoughts of home, family, friends, brothers, parents, grandparents, home places, cousins, aunts and uncles and all those things oh so familiar, but some are long gone. Those are things that make it home, no matter where you are.
I can pull out the picture albums and go right back to that little kid. Quiet, shy, reserved, an observer, hard, serious, a thinker, awkward, goofy, silly, but also someone who felt and still feels things deeply. While this is going to sound silly and childish, when one of my seedlings in my little garden doesn't make it, I wonder what I done to kill it. And that makes me sad. In reality, it shouldn't, but it does.
So you can certainly understand why the events of the recent past are so unsettling. I was reared to have respect for certain things. Other people, people in authority, even titles of people deserved respect. I didn't talk back to the elders around me. If I done something that merited a spanking, I got it. There wasn't anyone that would or could stop my Momma from dispensing correction, when correction was due. You know what???? I am so thankful for that!!!!! I'm so thankful that my Momma loved me and my 5 brothers enough to discipline us!!! I truly am!!! It breaks my heart to see people that I know who have not had one second of correction in their lives. I really hate to say it, but what we see today is no discipline producing no discipline That is such a hard thing to say, but it is truth.
The Bible clearly states in several places and not necessarily in my words, but correction is a good thing and when correction is spared the child is spoiled. That is true. While I can't give you an example of Momma spanking me, I know she did. I also know she spanked my brothers. She spanked the children she kept while their parents worked. If someone didn't want their child spanked, they found another babysitter. My Momma would spank your child when necessary or you got another babysitter. End of story. hahaha
I remember we would go to visit neighbors and friends back when we was all little. When we was all in the car, my Momma would lay the law down to us about behaving. She might even tell us before we got in the car, but she always TOLD us before hand. More than likely, while visiting, she would never say a word, but she had a look and we all knew that LOOK. When we had received that look, we knew we was in trouble when we got home, most of the time there wasn't a discussion. We knew why we got the look, we was just praying she would forget that she had to use the look. She never did. We knew we would get our hide tanned and we did. Fortunately for us, we were quick and easy learners. It didn't happen often, but it did happen a time or two. To the best of my knowledge, no one we ever visited when we was all young ever dreaded seeing us come to their house. I don't reckon we ever had any critical words from neighbors, family and friends. That is something that I'm proud of today!!! But I can tell you there were some that came to our house and we dreaded to see them coming and was thrilled to see them leaving.
As kids, we was always so happy when some of our cousins came to visit. Didn't matter if they lived up the road or in other states, we was so excited to see them all. They were taught to behave like we were. I love all the memories that was made back then. Time has passed and some of my cousins are no longer with us and that breaks my heart. With the passage of time, as of right now on this day, my Momma is the last one living of her generation. Daddy is gone and all my Aunts and Uncles on both sides of my family are now gone. That is such a lonely thought, that my Momma is the last one standing. I pray she has many more healthy years left in her. I believe she does. But I also know she is lonely. While she still has lots of friends, there's just something different about family and she feels it.
My Momma worked harder than any other mother I know of anywhere. She done without, so we could have school clothes. She was always last on the list for anything. Didn't make any difference what it was, she came last. She put herself there. She put herself last. She has no regrets for anything she done for us. She was always on our side. She always wanted to see her children succeed. She helped her children succeed.
My Daddy worked all his life. He was gone before sun up and home around 5 pm every day, just like clock work. He provided for his family. He taught his children about work and gave us all a work ethic that none can compare. He worked. That was his job. He set an example. That too, was his job. He never called in sick. He worked. It's not easy providing for a household of 8. If you think it is, go try it. See how hard it is. We took no government handouts. They were available. We took no government handouts. No free lunches. Nada. Zilch. He worked. He set an example. That's what some men done back then. They worked. They set an example.
Fast forward to today. What are Momma's and Daddy's doing? Rioting, killing, stealing, spitting on police officers, breaking things that's not theirs, collecting welfare, tearing down, destroying, taking, cursing, standing in hand out lines, being belligerent, hurting others, killing babies, screaming inequality. They too are setting an example.
Oh Lord God take control of this nation!!! Please put a burden and desire in the hearts of ALL parents to do right by their children. Please help them and all of us to see the error of our ways that comes from turning a deaf ear. I pray that you put a miraculous end to the hate filled hearts. I know you can Lord!!! I know you can. I feel the call of angels from heavens shore because I don't feel like I'm at home down here anymore. I don't know that I can say that this ever felt like home, but it certainly feels less and less like home. I am so thankful for the days behind me. All of them, even the bad days and there have been plenty of bad days. Every day I've lived to this day has helped make me the person I am today. So, yes, I'm thankful for the days behind me. I do look with great anticipation to the days ahead. The days behind me showed me that God was there, so I know He will be in my days ahead. I pray He will give me what is necessary to make it thru each day till He calls me home or till He calls us all home. With His faithfulness in the past, I know He will be faithful in the future and that He is already there, making a way. He is the Way Maker!!!
So, today, I reminisce of days gone by and I look to the unknown days ahead. But I do it all knowing that God has seen every day of my life to this day and He will be my guide and companion thru the days ahead. He will count all my joys and laughs and happiness. He will also catch and count all the tears that slip down cheeks. Just as He has done in the past, so will He do in the days ahead. My God is faithful!! Me, not so much!! But my God is!!!
I don't know what you think of today's blog. This was just something I needed to write down for me and decided to share it with y'all. I hope you all know my God and have a personal relationship with Him. That would be a wonderful birthday present, just knowing that someone seen the God that I serve as someone they wanted to serve too. Jesus made the way for us to be in relationship with God. Jesus saved my soul. Jesus made me whole. He can do the same for you. Acknowledge your sin, repent of your sin, ask Jesus to come into your life. He will. Then you will be in right relationship with God thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
I love you all. As much I love all of you, just know that God loves you so much more than I ever could. I pray you have a beautiful rest of the evening, a wonderful rest filled night and if you are blessed to wake in the morning, I pray you will give God glory for it!!! hugs and love, patty
I haven't done anything overly special today. I planted seeds in my latest GreenStalk. An upright planter with 4 tiers to fill full of wonderful veggies. I just pray Gods blessings over my feeble efforts and I know if anything grows, it's because He heard my prayers. I assure you I know nothing about gardening. hahaha But I do know that God is faithful.
I worked on my yogurt that I started last night in Instant Pot. I put it in the fridge to get it cooled down and now I have it in my flour sack cloth lined strainer basket, draining the whey from it to make greek yogurt. It will be delicious!!!
I made a grocery order from Kroger and had that delivered a couple hours ago. I have that out of the way till I make my Aldi order later on this week. There's thing's I prefer from Kroger and things I prefer from Aldi.
I've been on face book quite a bit today responding to Happy Birthday wishes today. While I'm not crazy about big celebrations, I do enjoy the quick responses and well wishes from family, friends, acquaintances and friends of family members and their well wishes. That brings lots of joy. Sharing old pictures and funny pictures and reminiscing of days gone by and a simpler time.
As I reflect on the years I've been on this planet, I have a lot to be thankful for. And I am most thankful and grateful to God for every day of my life thus far and look with great anticipation to the days ahead. I have no idea what they will bring. I imagine there will be joy in the days ahead. No doubt, there will be lots of fun and laughter. I can just imagine, too, that there will pain and heart ache in the days ahead. I have no idea what lay ahead. One thing I do know for sure, God is already there!!! He is working ahead of me. He is designing my steps. He is my plan keeper. I don't know what the plans are, but He does. So with that in my mind, I can face each day as they come and know that nothing is a surprise to God.
The days and times in which we live are unsettling to say the least. As I struggle with all of it, my mind and heart easily slips from today to yester-year and thoughts of home, family, friends, brothers, parents, grandparents, home places, cousins, aunts and uncles and all those things oh so familiar, but some are long gone. Those are things that make it home, no matter where you are.
I can pull out the picture albums and go right back to that little kid. Quiet, shy, reserved, an observer, hard, serious, a thinker, awkward, goofy, silly, but also someone who felt and still feels things deeply. While this is going to sound silly and childish, when one of my seedlings in my little garden doesn't make it, I wonder what I done to kill it. And that makes me sad. In reality, it shouldn't, but it does.
So you can certainly understand why the events of the recent past are so unsettling. I was reared to have respect for certain things. Other people, people in authority, even titles of people deserved respect. I didn't talk back to the elders around me. If I done something that merited a spanking, I got it. There wasn't anyone that would or could stop my Momma from dispensing correction, when correction was due. You know what???? I am so thankful for that!!!!! I'm so thankful that my Momma loved me and my 5 brothers enough to discipline us!!! I truly am!!! It breaks my heart to see people that I know who have not had one second of correction in their lives. I really hate to say it, but what we see today is no discipline producing no discipline That is such a hard thing to say, but it is truth.
The Bible clearly states in several places and not necessarily in my words, but correction is a good thing and when correction is spared the child is spoiled. That is true. While I can't give you an example of Momma spanking me, I know she did. I also know she spanked my brothers. She spanked the children she kept while their parents worked. If someone didn't want their child spanked, they found another babysitter. My Momma would spank your child when necessary or you got another babysitter. End of story. hahaha
I remember we would go to visit neighbors and friends back when we was all little. When we was all in the car, my Momma would lay the law down to us about behaving. She might even tell us before we got in the car, but she always TOLD us before hand. More than likely, while visiting, she would never say a word, but she had a look and we all knew that LOOK. When we had received that look, we knew we was in trouble when we got home, most of the time there wasn't a discussion. We knew why we got the look, we was just praying she would forget that she had to use the look. She never did. We knew we would get our hide tanned and we did. Fortunately for us, we were quick and easy learners. It didn't happen often, but it did happen a time or two. To the best of my knowledge, no one we ever visited when we was all young ever dreaded seeing us come to their house. I don't reckon we ever had any critical words from neighbors, family and friends. That is something that I'm proud of today!!! But I can tell you there were some that came to our house and we dreaded to see them coming and was thrilled to see them leaving.
As kids, we was always so happy when some of our cousins came to visit. Didn't matter if they lived up the road or in other states, we was so excited to see them all. They were taught to behave like we were. I love all the memories that was made back then. Time has passed and some of my cousins are no longer with us and that breaks my heart. With the passage of time, as of right now on this day, my Momma is the last one living of her generation. Daddy is gone and all my Aunts and Uncles on both sides of my family are now gone. That is such a lonely thought, that my Momma is the last one standing. I pray she has many more healthy years left in her. I believe she does. But I also know she is lonely. While she still has lots of friends, there's just something different about family and she feels it.
My Momma worked harder than any other mother I know of anywhere. She done without, so we could have school clothes. She was always last on the list for anything. Didn't make any difference what it was, she came last. She put herself there. She put herself last. She has no regrets for anything she done for us. She was always on our side. She always wanted to see her children succeed. She helped her children succeed.
My Daddy worked all his life. He was gone before sun up and home around 5 pm every day, just like clock work. He provided for his family. He taught his children about work and gave us all a work ethic that none can compare. He worked. That was his job. He set an example. That too, was his job. He never called in sick. He worked. It's not easy providing for a household of 8. If you think it is, go try it. See how hard it is. We took no government handouts. They were available. We took no government handouts. No free lunches. Nada. Zilch. He worked. He set an example. That's what some men done back then. They worked. They set an example.
Fast forward to today. What are Momma's and Daddy's doing? Rioting, killing, stealing, spitting on police officers, breaking things that's not theirs, collecting welfare, tearing down, destroying, taking, cursing, standing in hand out lines, being belligerent, hurting others, killing babies, screaming inequality. They too are setting an example.
Oh Lord God take control of this nation!!! Please put a burden and desire in the hearts of ALL parents to do right by their children. Please help them and all of us to see the error of our ways that comes from turning a deaf ear. I pray that you put a miraculous end to the hate filled hearts. I know you can Lord!!! I know you can. I feel the call of angels from heavens shore because I don't feel like I'm at home down here anymore. I don't know that I can say that this ever felt like home, but it certainly feels less and less like home. I am so thankful for the days behind me. All of them, even the bad days and there have been plenty of bad days. Every day I've lived to this day has helped make me the person I am today. So, yes, I'm thankful for the days behind me. I do look with great anticipation to the days ahead. The days behind me showed me that God was there, so I know He will be in my days ahead. I pray He will give me what is necessary to make it thru each day till He calls me home or till He calls us all home. With His faithfulness in the past, I know He will be faithful in the future and that He is already there, making a way. He is the Way Maker!!!
So, today, I reminisce of days gone by and I look to the unknown days ahead. But I do it all knowing that God has seen every day of my life to this day and He will be my guide and companion thru the days ahead. He will count all my joys and laughs and happiness. He will also catch and count all the tears that slip down cheeks. Just as He has done in the past, so will He do in the days ahead. My God is faithful!! Me, not so much!! But my God is!!!
I don't know what you think of today's blog. This was just something I needed to write down for me and decided to share it with y'all. I hope you all know my God and have a personal relationship with Him. That would be a wonderful birthday present, just knowing that someone seen the God that I serve as someone they wanted to serve too. Jesus made the way for us to be in relationship with God. Jesus saved my soul. Jesus made me whole. He can do the same for you. Acknowledge your sin, repent of your sin, ask Jesus to come into your life. He will. Then you will be in right relationship with God thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
I love you all. As much I love all of you, just know that God loves you so much more than I ever could. I pray you have a beautiful rest of the evening, a wonderful rest filled night and if you are blessed to wake in the morning, I pray you will give God glory for it!!! hugs and love, patty
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Where is your heart this morning?
Good morning Y'all!!! I hope and pray that wherever Y'all are today that you know and feel the presence of the Lord today. Just wanted to share what was on my heart this morning and I hope you can find some comfort in it.
Who wants a good read today? If you do, grab your Bible and turn to 1 Peter 2 and read the whole chapter. It tells us how we are to live in this world, that is not our permanent home. We are sojourners just passing thru this land. If you long for something different, just know, that's heaven calling. "This world is not my home" keeps rushing thru my mind and below is a portion of that song.
""This world is not my home I'm just a passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore
Oh lord you know I have no friend like you
If heaven's not my home then lord what will I do
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.""
There is also another beautiful hymn that keeps coming up too, "This is my Fathers world". This is a portion of that song:
""This is my Father's world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world,
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas,
His hand the wonders wrought.""
I love the nature side of my Fathers world as described in this sweet hymn of faith, but not so much the side of humanity that we are seeing today. So, while I think of rocks and trees and skies and seas, I also hear the angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I don't feel at home here anymore.
I can't possibly be the only person with a heart that is longing for heaven, but I also long to see God's people do right by one another.
Anyway, this is where my heart was this morning. hugs and love to all and have a blessed day. patty
""This world is not my home I'm just a passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore
Oh lord you know I have no friend like you
If heaven's not my home then lord what will I do
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.""
There is also another beautiful hymn that keeps coming up too, "This is my Fathers world". This is a portion of that song:
""This is my Father's world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world,
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas,
His hand the wonders wrought.""
I love the nature side of my Fathers world as described in this sweet hymn of faith, but not so much the side of humanity that we are seeing today. So, while I think of rocks and trees and skies and seas, I also hear the angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I don't feel at home here anymore.
I can't possibly be the only person with a heart that is longing for heaven, but I also long to see God's people do right by one another.
Anyway, this is where my heart was this morning. hugs and love to all and have a blessed day. patty
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