Car Emblem

 

I found this clever addition to the back emblem a Kia Soul auto in the parking lot of Publix Wednesday.  “It Is Well with My Soul” was written by a man who was familiar with heartache.  Horatio Spafford lost a son, was financially ruined in the Great Fire of Chicago, and lost all 4 of his daughters in a ship tragedy.  But in the midst of his loss, he wrote, it is well with my soul.  And what a great reminder on the back of a car!  Truly, it is well with my soul too!  III John 2, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”  May the dear Lord keep His strong hand upon you today, is my prayer.

Mr. Ford

When I was young, my dad had a farmer friend in Churchville, Maryland.  Mr. Briney was a Godly man and dad would take us boys with him to visit Mr. Briney every month or so.  One day after our visit, dad took us by Mr. Ford’s blacksmith shop that was nearby in the village of Level.  Mr. Ford was old and worked his forge only occasionally, but he was glad to show us boys around the place.  It was a wonder for us to look at with tools and implements all around.  When Mr. Ford passed away, his entire blacksmith shop was donated and moved about five miles to the Susquehanna State Park Farm Machinery Museum.  Sixty years later, little boys can still watch blacksmiths hand-make horseshoes using Mr. Ford’s own tools.  The tools are still working, and Mr. Ford’s memory is still in my mind.  Hey, do you have any old memories still etched in your mind of old-timers from the past?  But more important yet, will you leave any memories etched in someone else’s mind?  David said of the Lord in Psalm 143:5, “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.”  Think about the old days.  Remember people who have influenced your life.  Now make a commitment to influence someone else.  Remember how good the Lord has been to you all of these years and pass it on to the next generation.

A Boulder

 

Monday, I was late for cardiac rehab because I had a boulder in my shoe.  Well, at least it felt like a boulder.  Each step was painful, so I stopped halfway in and sat down at a bench and took my shoe off to shake it out.  Then I put my shoe back on and continued in.  But the rock was still in my shoe.  I stopped again, took off my shoe, brushed off my sock, and shook out my shoe vigorously.  Then I put my shoe back on and continued in.  The rock was still there.  So, I stopped a third time, took off my shoe, took off my sock, and turned the sock inside out and shook it … vigorously.  I turned the sock right-side-out, shook it again, put it back on, shook my show once again (vigorously), put my shoe back on, and continued my way in.  And … the rock was gone!  But so was my time!  Ephesians 5:16, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."  Hey, I did the best that I could!

Pinecones

 

The Lord has created and set into motion an awesome creation.  I was reminded of this Saturday as I raked up the pine needles all over my driveway.  Mixed in the needles were pinecones, most of which were open having dispersed their seeds.  But a few were still closed and had been blown off the tree by high winds and heavy rain the night before.  And then there were some pinecones that had been chewed open by squirrels, and their seeds had been breakfast for those little creatures.  The squirrels like to eat sunflower seeds under my bird feeders because they are easier work.  But when I am slow to refill the birdfeeders, the squirrels are hungry and must resort to the pinecones and work for breakfast.  Thousands of pine seeds fall and a few sprout into new pine seedlings.  Then others become breakfast for the squirrels.  Then just a few pinecones become Christmas decorations for my house.  And the dear Lord provides all of them!  When Noah came off the ark in Genesis 8, he was grateful to be on dry land once again.  He built an altar to the Lord and sacrificed of the extra clean beasts and fowl that the Lord had sent into the ark over a year earlier.  And when God smelled the sweet smelling sacrifice burning, He remembered mankind, the animals on the ark, and the vegetation that had just sprang back to life on the dry land.  And the squirrels were glad for the pinecones that provided seeds for them.  God said in Gen 8:22, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”  I’m so glad for God’s provision for us, and for the animals, and for the trees!  And I am extremely grateful for God’s provision of a way for me to live forever with Him in heaven.  What a wonderful plan for all eternity!