DON'T SQUEEZE THE TUBESO HARD

You know, teaching a child about life, is a little bit like teaching them the techniques of painting. You need to give them the tools, and the rules, in order for them to learn how to paint, but you can't do it for them.Neither can you squeeze the tube of paint too hard, or you will have a mess on your hand, and you will ruin the picture!
When we are teaching our little ones about life, we need to lovingly share with them, all of God's rules, and His beauty, and "why" it remains so beautiful.......
Then, as they begin to color their own picture of life, we want to squeeze forth some of the desired results, we can do so gently, so as not to ruin the total picture.
My Mother, who was a Master Gardener, always told me, in just about everything, the phrase:"Less is Best" could be used.
Stands to reason to me.....even today!
Don't squeeze the tube so hard. They will remember the rules, if they've been given to them in love, all along!
Becky

TREE FROGS WITH A LOUD VOICE

Goodness gracious jumpin' jehosephat jellybeans!
Such a racket, coming from outside my window this morning.
Here I am, "puttin' on my face", with all this noise going on ooutside, and it's no wonder I can't hear anything else!
Ofcourse,folks, it's only those teenintsy,precious Tree Frogs, with their big booming croaks.......if that is the appropeiate word to use for that sound!(Sounds like a bass drum to me!)
One thing for sure, though......
That is one small creature, who packs one booming voice......
One that is most definitely heard!
When God made each of us, He made all of us different too, so, even if we are small in stature, He has equipt us, with His "booming" word. (If it's sharper than any two edged sword, it might as well "boom" loud and clear too!)
All we have to do, (which is the simplest thing for us) is study that word, and then, just open our mouths and talk!
Becky

THE NARROW ROAD

This is a cool one today,folks!


I surely do like going to Curves.....
Even more so, after today's thought!

If I am to only "enter by the narrow gate",
then,I need to really stay fit and trim,
both in my mind and body.......
So I can head straight through those
Pearly Gates!
(No wide and broad road of destruction
for this kiddo!)
Becky

ENCOURAGING WORDS

You know, I think there are times in our lives, when we allow ourselves to become frustrated, and perhaps depressed.......(whether from being too tired; overloaded at work, or the like.....)
We just know that's how we "think" we feel. We sort of give ourselves permission to feel this way, or rather, we have allowed the "master deceiver" to give us this permission!
We tend, at these times, to overestimate the power of satan, and underestimate the power of the Monumental Saving Grace of the Holy Spirit! It's when we remember that this life is but a vapor, albeit a very nice one, and that when we surrender our total selves to our Heavenly Father, that He can completely "revamp" our whole thought processes.
The neatest thing is, though, when we trust Him, implicitly......even when we don't see what is happening.....
That this All-Sufficient God, will accomplish what He has set out to accomplish, since the beginning of time!
He has mighty good plans for us folks......
Doesn't that encourage you?
Becky

WHO MADE THE PENGUINS MARCH?

I am simply amazed, when I watch something like,"The March Of The Penguins", that God would create two creatures, in such a way, that, when the female of the species journeys back 70 miles at the South Pole, for food, ..........the male Penguin can house the young baby under his coat, up to 3 months, and has a special compartment within his "mouth" that will sustain this new life for up to 2 days, if absolutely necessary!
Now, who but the God of the Universe, would have deemed that absolutely necessary?
Is He not all knowing, or what? Everytime I turn around, He is showing me another of His masterpieces, and they all are so ingenious!
"He is amazing God"........(and that's another of the songs I love, that describes Him so well too!)
He really gave these little guys(and gals!) some neat tricks to identify each other, in a crowd of thousands too.....
Face it folks......We can finally say in all honesty 'cause it's true!.....
"My Daddy's better than yours"!!!
'Cause my Father is the absolute best!
Becky

LIVING WATER

Your son has broken through the haze this morning,Lord. The birds are chirping away, on one of their more melodious sonnets, and the water here at Edisto is sparkling like diamonds in the nightime sky.
In this midst,You have found Mary,Kay,Sandra, and myself, and positioned Yourself in our hearts , and for this, I am forever grateful.
Somewhere, in another place, on another morning,Your "Son" will have broken through all of mankinds mental "haze", and shined forth, in His brilliance.
Heavens Chorus is singing praises to a Glorious God, and the rivers of Living Water, are gleaming in their brilliance, just from Christs' radiance alone!
In this midst, we find a multitude of "brothers and sisters in the Lord", praising and glorifying our Father, and You are positioned right in the middle of all our hearts forever and ever, amen!
Becky

THE TUG

I'm sitting here, at Edisto, watching a small tugboat, pulling two very large barge's, containing renourishment equiptment, for the sand dune renourishment project, that has been in the works, for some time, now.
It always amazes me, how something so small, can pull and move, pieces of equiptment that are so big, and twice its size! I can't imagine having such strength......
I am reminded in scripture, though, where we are told,"I can do all things, through Christ, who strengthens me."
He may be just "one" person, pulling us through, but my,oh my, the strength in that "one" person is enough to justify only one..........
Becky

FOREVER AND EVER, AMEN

**My fun attempt at paraphrasing the Lord's Prayer(.I don't know why.It can't be improved upon!)

My Father;My Abba;My King;My Savior
(Oh how precious is Your name above all names!)

Who resides above and above all, in the place of my heart.

Thy Kingdom's crown and glory will come, and Your will must first be done in my heart. Here on this earth, in my home, as it is done in Heaven.......

Grant me today,the sustenance, of Your own daily bread, and forgive us our debts,Oh God, as we humbly try to forgive our debtors.

Lead my footsteps not into temptation, and rescue me from the evil one.

Thankfully, Thine is always the one and only, Majestic Kingdom, and Power and Glory, Forever and Ever, amen....

Becky

ELEVEN YEARS AGO TODAY.....4/29

Remembering eleven years ago today.......
I'm glad my God is a Sovereign God......
I said........"I love you,son."

Remembering 2000 years ago......
I'm glad my Father is a Sovereign God......
"I love You Father....."
"I love You,Son.....".

On this date that resounds in this Mother's heart, I can only hold onto the promise, that I will one day see my son again, and won't that be a wonderful day?! Our God is a God of promise, and He does not go back on His word.........You Mama's who have the same resounding hearts, claim this promise from our Savior, and hold tightly to this heart that loves us so. He has a treasure in Heaven waiting for us!
Thank You all for letting this Mama tug at her heartstrings today.....even 11 years later!
God is so merciful and good..........
Becky

FATHER KNOWS BEST

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite television programs, was "Father Knows Best". It was a good, down to earth, type program, with good advice from a father, who loved Bud,Cathy and Betty.
I think the title sorta said it all though........ When we have to make hard decisions, even today, isn't it nice, to know we have a Heavenly Father that truly does know what is best for us?
I don't mind, when things happen to me, if I will stay so in tune with God, that whatever befalls me, if it's okay with Him, then it will be okay with me too!
Now, that is a truly wonderful place to be in your life....
Afterall, "Father Knows Best"!
Becky

STAND IN AWE

Can you imagine God, in Heaven, listening to the words drifting up to Him, as He hears......
"You are beautiful beyond description,
too marvelous for words.
Too wonderful for comprehension,
like nothing ever seen or heard."........
My,my can He feel our love for Him......this Holy of all Holy God's? Can He sense just how very much we long for Him and His presence?
"Who can fathom the depth of His love?".....I certainly can't, but it's when I get to the part in the song, where it says:
"I stand, I stand, in awe of You.
I stand,I stand,in awe of You.
Holy God to whom, all praise is due,
I stand in awe of You.".......
Now, this is the part where it is really hard for me to stand.
I'm literally brought to my knees when I hear this, I'm so humbled.
Oh, I love You so, my dear Lord, and Father, and if I could have written a song for You, then this song, along with "Thank You" would surely have been it!
Thank you Matt for including this......It is fertilizer for the soul!
Becky

HE REIGNS

The leaves are turning upwards, right now, and that's a sure fire sign, it's gonna rain......
I like to think, too, when we are turning our eyes, hearts and minds upwards to God, that it's a sure fire sign, that the King is gonna "reign" too!
Oh yeah!
Becky

HE IS RISEN

I guess my view of life is a little different this morning.....
I don't see an empty tomb.....
I see a place filled with life. Life that's lived to the fullest.
A place that is the very essence of life itself! Where only days ago, it was a cold, lifeless place, housing just a shell......
But out of the selflessness of "more than just a man", and the deep, deep, love that His Father had for all of mankind, He changed the expression of that tomb!
I am in awe, when I think of what He did for you and me.....and humbled too!
So, no, the tomb isn't empty to me.It's full of Christ, and His resounding Grace........
Grace that fills every heart, if we open up our own individual tombs.......
He has risen!He has risen indeed!
Whooppeedogs this Easter 2006, through eternity!
Becky

DON'T SQUEEZE HARD !

When I was a little girl, my Daddy use to take me aside, and show me all kinds of special features that I could do, to enhance my drawings, or paintings.......
Things like shading, and outlining, and not squeezing the tube of paint too hard! He always reminded me, that "a little bit goes a long way, Beg". I learned an awful lot from my Daddy, about my drawing, and painting techniques that I still use today.......but I learned most all of it at an early age!
This made me stop and think, that when we train our children as "little folks", we need to use some of these same principles.....
We can show our children how to draw, and the type of lifestyle to draw, but we can't draw it, or live it for them......
We can teach them to outline their lives, with God's Grace, because, when you outline your drawing's, they always stand out better, and God's Grace is the best outline ever!
Then comes the day, when you have to decide, whether you are gonna squeeze the results out of your tube of "living paint",
or gently push forth just enough color to allow it to blend in the world, with the wonderful and magnificent colors of our Lord and Savior, in an otherwise dull and dreary worl!
Don't squeeze the tube hard! It makes a mess!
Becky

UP TO SNUFF

My mother could always tell when I wasn't feeling up to "snuff". She could look into my eyes and tell if I wasn't doing too good, or not.......and she was usually right!
You know, in the same way, when we come to know our Lord and Savior,.......I mean, really snuggle up close to Him, and know Him, He's gonna show up all over our face . He will light up our countenance and radiate our smiles from here to eternity.......
There's just a warm, tingly sensation I get, when I stay in close communication with my Lord, and it's sooooooo nice!
Let's make it our desire to delight in having God show up all over our face each and every day.......
Becky

WHY MEMORY WORK?

Well, God gave me one of His special nuggets last night, and it was sooooooooo neat, I just had to share it with you! Most of you know I am on a mission to memorize the 4 chapters in book of Phillippians. What I haven't been able to figure out, in this whole process, was, why did God put it on my heart to memorize this particular book? Why was it so important to Him for me to do this? He knows how hard it is for me to memorize anything, but last night, while I was drifting off to sleep,I was going over my verses, in my head, and it just sorta hit me!....... At the present time, I am writing to the son, of a dear friend of mine, who is in prison, in Florida. He is a new believer, and in need of encouragement.
Now, I wonder where the Apostle Paul was, when he wrote the book of Phillippians???!!! Duh,Becky! What a gem, God has given me, for this young man, and how exciting. I mean the words of encouragement from one who was there, in prison, himself................so much better than anything I could ever say!
Don't we have a clevcer God?
Becky

ALARM CLOCKS

Well, my little "alarm clock birds" woke me up again, today..... here at Edisto! Infact, they even woke up Phyllis too!
Beth seemed to sleep through them though, but then, she was pretty tired after all her wedding festivities of this past weekend. It's so neat, the way God has allowed us to continue this friendship for 26 years. Such fun to be able to get together and share things.......
It's nice to have things you can count on like my alarm clock birds; like Phyllis and Beth, and most of all.......
like my Heavenly Father!
Becky

I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST

If you've ever wondered about scripture proving itself out, well, let me be the first to tell you, that it does! Most of you know, that my Women's Life class has challenged the ladies to memorize the book of Phillippians. Well, I must admit, I laughed, at first! No, I think I guffawed! There was no way, that this 59 year old brain could retain anything, muchless memorize something!
That night,though, as I talked to my Lord,I told Him, that if He wanted me to memorize it, then He was gonna have to help me ........And help me He has! He and I have delightfully taken ourselves all the way up to chapter 4........... I never in a million years, folks, could have done this on my own, so I claim scripture,"I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me".
This has been a delightful journey with Him, and a blessing. Me memorize?.....Not on my own. Not on your life!
He is THE strength for all of us.....
(I will say, that Paul has quite a way with words though!)
Becky

THE BANQUET

The Cotton Dock Plantation, in Charleston, just has to be, one of the most beautiful places,I think,that I have ever seen!........And to make it so much more special, I was at an Oyster Roast for the wedding rehearsal dinner of a former student of mine! My how time flies!
A roaring fire, with a wonderful blue grass band along with yummy, treats to munch on, completed the evening,....... only to be outdone by the presence of friends, whom I hadn't seen in a long time! There were hugs and long conversations, and eventually our goodbyes......
On our way back to the motel that night, I even managed to go over the new Arthur Ravenel bridge.... Now that was something!
As I lie here in bed, though,I imagine that someday there will be another wonderful gathering in a most beautiful setting,..... called Heaven!
I'll probably see students and teachers of mine, when I arrive; all those I haven't seen in a good while too, and a huge sumptuous banquet will be served. Unlike this one tonight, though, I won't ever have to say "goodbye", or "goodnight".......
It will just go on forever......Mmmm, so nice!
Becky

THANK YOU

When they walked in the door, everything was okay...
All barriers were down, and we understood each other, and our pain.
You see, we have been there too.......
We have lost something very precious, and now we touch life in a very different sort of way......atleast more than most people.We see things in a different way too! It's hard to describe,folks.......
I'll just say that this past weekend, at Edisto was a journey for Leslie,Charlotte,Ramelle,Cheryl,Jennifer,and myself......and for all the Mama's who have had to give up their children, long before they were ready......
This was a wonderful, weekend, where our Lord and Savior joined us, with His Precious Healing , and compassionate love.
Thank you girls! See you next March, if not this fall!
Becky