Wisdom & Understanding

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18 (KJV) I never will forget my very special friend Shirley; friends like her are one in a million. Her life, though not perfect, shone with the light of Jesus. She loved God and people and her generosity in every way is still a testimony of the love of Jesus Christ. She had many trials in her life, one of them being the caregiver for a parent with Alzheimer’s disease. Though she had actual physical bruises from trying to handle the outbursts of a person with the symptoms of this disease, I never heard her complain. Instead she counted it an honor to be a servant of God in anyway. When she ushered at church she did it with a smile that made many people feel welcomed. Even when she spoke a word of correction, it was done in a way that made you feel that she really cared. She suffered much in her young li...

”A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance.” Proverbs 15:13a The power of a smile is phenomenal. A smile can be something that you give and 99% of the time you’ll get one back. I love watching people, in fact sometimes I think that I may have missed my calling, I should have been a private investigator or an international spy. (smile) Because I’m really interested in people and their “stories”, I have fondly been accused of being an interrogator working for the government and a member of the FBI. Seriously though I am bold and will ask questions if I see an interesting person (I do this with tact of course). (smile) It is very interesting to observe mannerisms, cultures and accents. It must be a family thing because for a fun pastime, I along with a couple of relatives can have a whole conversation in a foreign accent. Now with all this in mind, a few days ago I walked into a real Italian restaurant. Pirone’s (pronounced Pee-ro-nees) was down the street from the county Library where I...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. I Corinthians 13:4-8a “ Love never fails”, those are the words that my late husband always ended his cards and notes to me. After so many years of marriage, I came to expect those words at the bottom of the page; and I was never disappointed. I remember especially this time of year (Valentine’s Day) this fond memory because we were married on February 14th. My husband did not have the opportunity to be forgetful of our anniversary date, because it was Valentine’s day, with hearts, chocolates and greeting card commercials advertised in every store and on TV. And he did remember each year. As we lived and grew together each year of our marriage, we learned what “Love ...

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7 You know the Holy Spirit will be our own private tutor, if we let Him. He gives personalized lessons on life when we allow Him to be a part of our everyday living. I can only sadly shake my head when I hear people trying to make God so mystical and in order to communicate with Him we have to be down right spooky! NOT SO! God makes it simple because He knows how simple we can be! LOL I love Him so much for being so understanding; I give Him all the praise. I learned about mercy the other day in such a simple and profound way. I had only been to work for about a half an hour when several staff members came in the office to inform me that a student that was trying to park in a spot next to mine had hit and damaged my car. I imagined the worst, but when I got outside I saw that the only damage was some paint that had been scraped away from the bumper, one large and long spot and some smaller ones (estimated @ body shop as ...

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3 It is a very miserable feeling when you can't feel peace. And I have been feeling that way for a while. It is a foreign feeling for me, not unfamiliar, just a foreign feeling when it happens. I know what has happened, I have allowed the "trials of life" to overwhelm me. I have allowed bad memories and concerns to over take my mind and my joy. It is a very uncomfortable feeling, like wearing an ovesized, heavy coat on a sweltering summer day! There is a story in the Bible when David is about to fight against Goliath the Giant and King Saul puts his armor on David to "help" him. When David discovers that the armor was way too big for him and that it would be cumbersome trying to fight with it on, he took it off. We all know what happens...David DID defeat the giant with only 5 stones and a sling. I know that I am carrying a burden that I am unable to carr...