The Sneeze

Due to Covid-19 pandemic this year the Graduating class of 2020 have missed out on a once in a lifeitme tradition of walking across that stage. 

They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-two students filing into the already crowded auditorium. With rich maroon gowns flowing and the traditional caps, they looked almost as grown up as they felt.

Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away tears.

This class would not pray during the commencements ----- not by choice but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it.

The principal and several students were careful to stay within the guidelines allowed by the ruling. They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families.

The speeches were nice, but they were routine......until the final speech received a standing ovation.

A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just a moment, and then, it happened. All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED!!!!

The student on stage simply looked at the audience and said, "GOD BLESS YOU, each and every one of you!" And he walked off stage...

The audience exploded into applause. The graduating class found a unique way to invoke God's blessing on their future with or without the court's approval.

​

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A Soldier Came Home Today

There was a great crowd gathered

He had been gone so long away

The sun was shining bright

It was a glorious day

Every one in town was there

even those who knew him not

ribbons of red, white and blue

from old vets to the smallest tot.

Anxiously they waited

to get a glimpse of him

Decorated, brave and true

from the battles he did win.

There he is one whispered,

all men removed their hats with respect

crossed their hearts in salute

a better homecoming no one could get.

But instead of loud hail the hero

or dancing in the street and cheers

Instead, he meets the welcome crowd

of loved ones in tears.

The flag draped casket

with honor guard at his side

home from the dirty war

Where the brave young soldier died.

This is not the hearty welcome

his sweet family had planned,

They had lost their precious boy

in the hot desert sand.

Welcome home oh soldier true

we salute your bravery,

As the mournful sound of taps

As you become a page of american history.

They didn't take your life from you

they couldn't take what you freely gave,

I salute you dear son of America

because of you, our flag can still proudly wave.

Sleep in peace young man

you deserve the very best,

with the tears of sorrow and the sound of taps

we brought you home to rest.




I'm sure you are in heaven today

and there was a grand welcome there for you.

We here on the earth will tell your story

How you served, and died, a soldier ever true.




God bless our fallen heroes

we pray that we shant forget

rest in God's perfect peace

but it isn't over yet.

keep on a praying till its over over there.



© 2003 by Sandra Griffin

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For Our Military

Dear God,

This prayer Lord, that I say tonight
Is for our troops who all must fight .
These are the troops that we all love
And so I pray dear Lord above
Please keep them safe while they’re away
And bring them home to us someday.

This prayer is not for ours alone
But for all military far from home.
I ask You to keep them safe and sound
On their way to where they're bound.
We love them all that are asked to fight
So keep them safe for us tonight.

Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us.
Bless them and their families for the selfless acts
 they perform for us in our time of need.

​

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The Yard Sale

I was at yard sale browsing through some books
I am an avid reader so I thought I'd take a look
Than I spied a treasure worth more than I could pay
In the bottom of the box a worn Bible lay

I thought surely it was put there by mistake
So I ask if it was for sale and how much for it she'd take
Oh that old book she said it's so tattered and worn
A quarter is plenty as you see the sides are torn

It belonged to my Grandma she always kept it near
But it's of no use to us nobody reads it here
I opened up the Bible verses were marked n every page
Tears stained many pages although they had turned brown with age

Than I found the verse that made my heart break
The lady said no one read it but what would she think
I simply had to show here I felt it in my heart
I felt the Bible in my hands from her it shouldn't part

It said to my children and grandchildren I love you all the same
I pray you give your heart to Jesus I ask this in His Name
I've prayed many years for you and I will until I'm gone
Don't worry about my passing for I'm just going Home

Tears began to fill my eyes and I called her aside
I said I can't take this and I showed her what was inside
She read the verse her Grandma wrote and she began to cry
I could tell that she was sorry and her life just wasn't right

She fell down on her knees right there among the crowd
Oh Father please forgive me I heard her crying loud
I know I have forsaken the way my Grandma trod
But she's left this dear old Bible to lead me Home to God

~*© Raylene Boggs*~ 2002

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Power Of Prayer

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” Jeremiah 29:13 NIV

"Sometimes even I don't feel like praying"

It's normal. Human beings are very fickle. One day you feel like you can take on the world. The next day you feel like you don't want to be in the world.

Feelings. If we live by them, we're doomed.

Thank God there's an alternative: Doing what we have to do, not what we feel like doing.

When I don't feel like praying, here's what I do: I pray anyway. And I find that just like a lot of things in life, once you start doing something, the feeling will follow.

First motion, then emotion. Sometimes I don't feel like eating. But when I start, I want to eat more… I had to start writing this before I felt like doing it. I hate writing. I love to have written.

You get the idea.

The main thing is to settle in your head that you absolutely NEED to pray. It's not an option. Sure for a lot of people it is (because they don't know what they're missing), but not for you. The consequences would be much worse than the small effort you have to make to pray.

So you haven't talked to God lately. You haven't felt like it. No problem. Are you alone in the room right now? Can you go somewhere private? Two minutes or twenty - it doesn't matter. Say what you have to say and that's it.

Now go.

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God's Love

  

 
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace,
 Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
 Where there is doubt, faith;
 Where there is despair, hope;
 Where there is darkness, light;
 Where there is sadness, joy;

 O, Divine Master,
 grant that I may not so much
 seek to be consoled
 as to console;
 to be understood as to understand;
 to be loved as to love;
 for it is in giving that we recieve;
 it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
 and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. 

Amen

HeartsGarden

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Wisdom ~ The Chipmunk

One morning Jamie and her mother were sitting on the back patio. Mom was drinking her morning coffee and Jamie her orange juice.

"Have you memorized your Bible scripture for your Bible Class?" Mom asked. "No, not yet." replied Jamie. "Why do we have to memorize Bible scriptures anyway. We will probalby never need them again."

Mom sat quietly thinking how to answer Jamie while she took a sip of her coffee. Just then a chipmunk scurried across the back yard to the pecan tree.

The chipmunk discovered a pecan and quickly picked it up and ran across the yard, under the fence and buried it in the neighbor's yard. Mom smiled as she realized how to answer the question. "Jamie, watch that chipmunk that's running to our pecan tree." Jamie and mom sat quietly together as they watched the chipmunk once again scurry to get another pecan and carry it to the neighbor's yard to bury it. "Do you know what that chipmunk is doing?" Mom asked. "Yes," replied Jamie, "It is storing food for the winter."

"That's right," Mom replied. "And it is starting before the winter storms hit and it can not find any food. Those pecans will help it to survive." Mom looked at Jamie. "Someday you might face storms in your life, and you will not know what to do. But if you store up those Bible verses in your memory now, you will have them to fall back on during the stormy times in your life."

"I understand now," said Jamie. "Even if I could not find a Bible, and needed help in times of trouble, I would be able to remember what the Bible says." "That is right," said Mom. "There are places in the World that do not allow people to have Bibles, and if that ever happened to you, you would be prepared because you memorized many important scriptures that God has given to us to help us survive."

"Mom, I am going to study my Bible scriptures now. Thanks for helping me understand." Jamie gave her Mom a kiss and ran off to do her Bible lesson.

(Note) When Jesus lived on earth he faced temptations and trials. It was His knowledge of Scripture that protected him and helped Him obey His heavenly Father. If Jesus needed the Scriptures, we need them too.

Verses you learn now will help you in the future.

TODAYS MEMORY VERSE: 

Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You."
. . . . . Psalm 119:11 NKJV

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If My People

Today is the National Day of Prayer, a time to pause and reflect. Millions will gather to seek God's face aware of the need to connect. Our nation, once humble before the Lord with values from holy writ, Is now embroiled in a culture war with society torn and split.

There was a time when America acknowledged truth from heaven above. A time when she sat on crowded pew to learn of the Savior's love. Faithful believers employed their clout condemning slavery's perversion. Exposing the lies within and without, calling for moral conversion.

Way back in the colonial days, the culture was sliding down hill, But faithful preachers knelt to pray and preached against moral ills. Edwards, Whitfield and many more proclaimed redemption's story. The gospel won this spiritual war and the colonies regained their glory.

It took about one hundred years for moral decline to grow strong. The people abandoned godly fear; the culture was going wrong. Drunkenness and love of self, a desire for selfish taking— These were the values that prevailed before the Second Awakening.

Frontier preachers and city pastors called for repentance and prayer. Thousands attended camps and preaching. The presence of God was there. The West was tamed, for the gospel restrained tremendous moral pollution. The social renewal brought us to the industrial revolution.

There was the time America shined, when her young men answered the call. Our soldiers beat back the Nazi attack fighting to save us all. This ushered in the golden era, the optimistic 50's, But spiritual decline rose in its time to dominate the 60's.

In my lifetime from the 50's on, dependence on God declined. False philosophies continued strong with messages smooth and refined. The Truth still stands on America's bookshelves simply gathering dust. If we hope to be saved from ourselves, the Scriptures are a must.

We gather today in thousands of places to petition for intervention. It is our duty to acknowledge sin, confess our inattention. If God's people called by His name will humble themselves and pray. Perhaps we will see another awakening like those of yesterday.

"If My People" written by George Cuff

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An Angel Before Me - My Father

Just now I am beginning to understand
Some of the challenges you have had;
With all of the struggles that life dealt you,
I rarely saw you sad.

You are my encouragement,
My strength and wisdom every day;
With guidance and love
In good times and bad,
You always know what to say.

You must have had times
When you needed a shoulder
Or someone to talk to about life;
You must have had times
When we didn't understand,
And you needed someone
To hold you tight.

What do you have to show
For all you have done?
Do you realize the lives
You have touched?

All the caring and understanding
You have given in this world ...
And you continue to give so much;
It must be difficult to be the only one,
We depend on for everything.

Do you know how proud we are of you?
I wonder where you've hidden your wings;
For you must be an angel ...
That would explain it,
Sent down from the heavens above;
To show all this world
Your 3 boys and 2 girls ...
The true meaning of "Love."

The greatest compliment
I could receive in this life,
And I hope someday it will be ...
Is that I am as wise and caring,
Full of love and understanding,
As my father was before me!

Author Unknown

Also see My Father' Dedication Pages

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When God Created Mothers

When the good Lord was creating Mothers ... He was into His sixth day of "overtime." An angel appeared and said, "You're sure doing a lot of fiddling around on this one!" God nodded and said, "Yes, but have you read the specs on this order? She has to be completely washable, but not made of plastic.

She has to have 180 moveable parts ... all replaceable.

She'll have to run on black coffee and leftovers.

She'll need a lap that disappears when she stands up.

She'll have to have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped finger to a disappointed love affair. She will also need six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands? ... No way!"

"It is not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord. "It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.

The Lord nodded and said, "One pair is to see through closed doors when she asks, "What are you kids doing in there?" ... although she'll already know.

She needs another pair here in the back of her head that can see the things she shouldn't have to, but things that she has to know.

And of course, she'll need a set of eyes here in front that will be able to look at a child when he goofs up. Those eyes will be able to say, "I understand and I love you," without even muttering a word."

"Lord," said the angel touching God's sleeve gently, "You had better go to bed. Tomorrow ..."

"I can't," interrupted the Lord. "I'm so close now to creating something that is so much like myself, that I just can't stop.

I've already created one who can ... heal herself when she is sick, feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger, and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a shower."



Slowly, the angel circled and carefully looked at the model of a Mother. "It's too soft!" the angel sighed.

"But she's tough!" said the Lord excitedly. "You cannot imagine what this mother will be able to do or the things that she will be able to endure."

The angel asked, "Can she think?"

"Not only can she think, but she will be able to reason and compromise," said the Creator.

Finally the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the mother. "There's a leak in her!" the angel pronounced. "I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model."

"That's not a leak," said the Lord. "It's a tear!"

"What's it for?" asked the angel.

The Lord said, "It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, love and pride."

"Wow! You're a genius!" said the angel.

The Lord looked somber and said, "But I didn't put it there!"

~ Erma Bombeck ~

Shared from: https://digilander.libero.it

Also see also: When God Created Fathers

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Mother's Prayer

Dear Lord, it's such a hectic day,
With little time to stop and pray,
For life's been anything but calm
Since You called me to be a Mom.

Running errands, matching socks,
Building dreams with wooden blocks,
Cooking, cleaning, finding shoes
And other stuff that children lose,

Fitting lids on bottled bugs,
Wiping tears and giving hugs,
A stack of last week's mail to read
So where's the quiet time I need?

Yet, when I steal a moment, Lord,
Just at the sink or ironing board,
To ask the blessings of Your grace,
I see then, in my small one's face,

That you have blessed me all the while
And I stoop to kiss that precious smile.


Author Unknown

Image source: PennyParkerGraphics

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S-h-m-i-l-y

     My grandparents were married for over half a century, and played their own special game from the time they had met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word "shmily" in a surprise place for the other to find. They took turns leaving "shmily" around the house, and as soon as one of them discovered it, it was their turn to hide it once more.

     They dragged "shmily" with their fingers through the sugar and flour containers to await whoever was preparing the next meal. They smeared it in the dew on the windows overlooking the patio where my grandma always fed us warm, homemade pudding with blue food coloring. "Shmily" was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, my grandmother even unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper to leave "shmily" on the very last sheet.

     There was no end to the places "shmily" would pop up. Little notes with "shmily" scribbled hurriedly were found on dashboards and car seats, or taped to steering wheels. The notes were stuffed inside shoes and left under pillows. "Shmily" was written in the dust upon the mantel and traced in the ashes of the fireplace. This mysterious word was as much a part of my grandparents' house as the furniture.

     It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents' game. Skepticism has kept me from believing in true love- one that is pure and enduring. However, I never doubted my grandparents' relationship. They had love down pat. It was more than their flirtatious little games; it was a way of life. Their relationship was based on a devotion and passionate affection which not everyone is lucky to experience.
     Grandma and Grandpa held hands every chance they could. They stole kisses as they bumped into each other in their tiny kitchen. They finished each other's sentences and shared the daily crossword puzzle and word jumble. My grandma whispered to me about how cute my grandpa was and how handsome he had grown to be. She claimed that she really knew "how to pick 'em." Before every meal they bowed their heads and gave thanks, marveling at their blessings: a wonderful family, good fortune, and each other.
     But there was a dark cloud in my grandparents' life: my grandmother had breast cancer. The disease had first appeared ten years earlier. As always, Grandpa was with her every step of the way. He comforted her in their yellow room, painted that way so that she could always be surrounded by sunshine, even when she was too sick to go outside.
     Now the cancer was again attacking her body. With the help of a cane and my grandfather's steady hand, they went to church every morning. But my grandmother grew steadily weaker until, finally, she could not leave the house anymore. For a while, Grandpa would go to church alone, praying to God to watch over his wife. Then one day, what we all dreaded finally happened. Grandma was gone.
     "Shmily." It was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons of my grandmother's funeral bouquet. As the crowd thinned and the last mourners turned to leave, my aunts, uncles, cousins and other family members came forward and gathered around Grandma one last time. Grandpa stepped up to my grandmother's casket and, taking a shaky breath, he began to sing to her. Through his tears and grief, the song came, a deep and throaty lullaby.
     Shaking with my own sorrow, I will never forget that moment. For I knew that, although I couldn't begin to fathom the depth of their love, I had been privileged to witness its unmatched beauty.
S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You.
~~Author Unknown~~

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