TAKE A NUMBER

To those of you who have mentioned how much you want to meet my grandmother....
Take a number and stand in line!

Dear Grandmother,
I know you are in Heaven, but this is a letter to you,letting you know that there are so many folks down here who are waiting to meet you, when they get to Heaven! They've heard so much about your delicious Banana Cake;your Guava Jelly, and how you had a pet Mockingbird,named Petie, but what I think touched their hearts the most, was, without your even trying, how you shared the love of Jesus, and allowed it to pour forth from you onto everybody around you.
So many people down here on earth can't wait to meet you,Reina Ryskamp Bouterse, and I'd kinda like to see you again,myself! Jesus Christ shines out through you, all the way down here on earth.Wouldn't it be that nice to have our testimonies say that much about us? I'm first in line and waitin' on her Banana Cake ! :p)
Becky

WILDFLOWERS

When we started off in the Garden of Eden,I don't think God planned for us to be wildflowers. I think He wanted us to bloom,exquisitely, for the word of God, but we fell into sin, and became wildflowers,instead! Lin has wildflowers planted in front of her house in Port Royal, and it is such a nice welcome to all those who come to see her. I am reminded of the tall,stately sunflower, that seemingly radiates a sunny disposition, and the people who also exhude a happy love for life. You just want to be around them;then there is the shy,little Violet, who is eager to emit the fragrance of forgiveness upon the heel that crushed it.You've seen those people too,haven't you? They're the ones who are always willing to forgive, when you've hurt them......
Perhaps the Peace Lily would be a good one to plant, because it demonstrates God's greatest two characteristic's...... peace and love.The wildflowers that fill in all those extra places are where I think I would like to be. I would be a wild flower......Wild about my Lord!
Each of us can be our own individual flower in Christ's garden, but as the body of Christ, we make up quite a beautiful boquet!
Becky

AND WE STILL KEEP SINNING

Dear Father,my love letter to You, can't begin to hold all the words I want to say to You. You mean so very much to me.Lord.
From nothing,You created our world into a paradise.....
and then we sinned!
Then You took us back, and forgave us!
and we kept sinning.......
And You took us back again,and forgave us!
and we complained and kept sinning.....
And You gave us judges, and a taste of what we complained about.......
and we kept on sinning......
Father, we just kept on sinning and sinning,and then You did the most awesome thing......
You gave us Your very own Son,Jesus Christ, as a living sacrifice for all our sins. He died on a cross in our place,so that we could be with You,in Eternity......
and yet,we still keep on sinning!
Father, will we ever learn?

LOUD MOUTH

Well,my delightful little Tree Frogs are back at it again!
Those precious, tiny creatures with their loud booming voices, are right outside of my window, and I just have to laugh. Just as I'm putting on my face in the morning, they start up. You'd think that the walls would come tumbling down, with all the noise that they make! I think God uses these little things just to male me chuckle. Isn't it creative of God to give these small creatures such a big,booming voice for His creation? Just as He did for Gideon, when He took his small scaled down army and successfully boomed down the Mideonites with shouts;trumpets, and flares. It was all God......as it should be!
God can do the same thing with us, as He can do with this tiny Tree Frog,if we'll let Him.......
He will step into our small frame and create a booming and assured voice that speaks the sound word of God, and His plan for Salvation.
Now,I can't stick to a window like that Tree Frog,but I can stick like glue to my Savior!
The Tree Frog is a true Loud Mouth, and I'm not gonna comment on that one!!!
Becky

REST IN THE WORD

Ever since my brain hemorrage,it's almost impossible for me to get up early in the morning and do any kind of "intelligent" reading,(or understanding of reading),muchless spend time in God's word. This breaks my heart too, because it is so important.I just can't focus on anything early in the morning! It doesn't stop me,however, from understanding the importance of doing this very thing!
When you think about it,our Lord spent 6 days creating and working to create everything, including us. After He created man,.....He rested! He set apart and sanctified a day of rest.
Man,on the other hand,started his first full day out, as a day of rest.....with his Father!
He was totally dependent on God.....resting in Him alone, before he began his day of work, and isn't that the way it should still be?
Rest in the word of God;abide in Him, before You start out on Your journey.
Becky

COOL!

This was cool today! I was able to visit our satellite church.....
Community Bible Church/Aiken, while I was in Aiken, this weekend, and then I decided to stay for the fish fry they were having in the afternoon. They announced that they were having the pastor from the Beaufort church come speak that night....
Pastor Carl Broggi.
Woo Hoo! Did I ever change my plans to drive home after church that day! I decided to take Edie and May(who is 92), with me,to hear him. What a surprise to walk in a see Jo, from Beaufort, with her Texas Sheet Cake! (...and it was delish too!)
It doesn't get any better than this on the Lord's day, to be in another town,in the Lord's house, and to get to hear Pastor Carl give us God's word. (in 45 minutes!)
One of the CBC/Aiken ladies, told Edie,that she understood why I loved my former church as much as I did,because it was built on the word of God too....... and then Edie and May,both said the same thing, after hearing Pastor Carl, and hearing what CBC stands for.
Sure,there are differences.
There always are in the body.......
You can bet it won't have anything to do with" The Main Thing," though......
We both a have a Savior,named Jesus Christ, who gave us the gift of Salvation!
That's a pretty good common denominator,if you ask me!
Becky

QUEEN FOR A DAY

Grandmother Bouterse lived in one of those old silver Airstream trailers....(atleast that's how I remember it)
You walked into her porch area,and up a few steps into her small little living area,where the cuckoo clock was located, and between there and her tiny bedroom, was her tiny kitchen!
Her whole trailer probably took up the entire length of my bedroom, and that was small! I use to tell her that one day I was gonna go on the TV show "Queen For A Day", and tell Jack Bailey how wonderful she was, so that the clapping meter would register so high, that she would get a brand new, and bigger trailer,fit for a queen!
She would always smile, and say" you're sweet,Becky,but I already have a Daddy who's a King."!
.....and now she's living in a real live Mansion with her King!
Becky

MERCY ME!

One summer,my parents took my brother, Chris and me, on a trip out west, to see my sister. I remember being in a restaurant, where the waitress seemed grumpy and disatisfied with everything we asked of her.In fact, her whole demeanor was rude.....
I was already to get up and leave because she was so rude, when Mother reminded me to be merciful to her.........Merciful? Yep! Mama reminded me that she might have just lost someone in her family,or even her very job that day, and that I didn't know what her troubles were.....Ouch!
I didn't know why she was acting the way she was, and did not need to be her judge.
Mama knew how to get my attention too!
If you think about it, we come across people all the time who respond that way to us, and we need to be careful not to judge them. Jesus thought mercy was so important, that He told us:"blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." I don't know about you, but I love for folks to be merciful with me. The next time you come across someone who "yanks your chain," try giving them a compliment.......show them some of God's mercy, and watch the change take place right before your eyes!
Becky

RICH INHERITANCE

The day before Grandmother Bouterse died,I came into her bedroom,(because now she was living with us)and took her hand,and said"I'm here Grandmother.I love you." She squeezed my hand and shortly thereafter, she went Home to be with her precious Lord and Mama!
I'm pretty sure she was waiting on me to arrive home from school that day, to say "goodbye."
It was my duty to pick out the dress for her to wear in the casket, along with her earbobs. I bought her 6 pink sweetheart roses for her to hold......
That was one of the very hardest funerals for this girl to have to go through,folks!
She was my mainstay growing up, and I was having to let her go.I was gonna miss her something fierce, but I knew that I would see her again.....How did I know?
You don't spend your entire life,up to that point,with someone, who eats and breathes Jesus Christ, and His promises, and not have it sink in! ...........Boy, did it ever sink in,folks!
Oh, what a treasure she left me. How many times we talked about John 14, and read that scripture, where I knew without a doubt, that if Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for me(us), and that He was gonna come back one day, and take me back Home with Him.....just so I could be with Him!!! Woo Hoo!
Now, if Grandmother left me with only those words in my life.I'd say I have a pretty rich inheritance,wouldn't you?Infact,I'd say they are a great way of saying I really,really love you!
Becky

NO KIDDING!

Pastor Carl spoke this morning,about some things that were an abomination to the Lord, and immediately, my mind raced back to my Grandmother Bouterse telling me almost the same thing, as a little girl!
She grew up in Kronigen,Holland, and dared not say words such as "Gah",or "Jeez", as they were too much like the words God and Jesus, and when you spoke them, you were treating the names of God and Jesus irreverently. Darn was a "no no" too, as well as "Dad Gum". In her mind,speaking that, was twisting the very words itself, and should never be said!
I never thought about these things.......and that's the problem. We don't think about the words we use many times, and how they can hurt others,or reflect our Lord!
Scripture says that our tongue is the smallest member of our body, and yet it could set a blaze, a forest fire of evil words. His word says:"My brethren, these things ought not to be this way."
No kidding!
Maybe that's why we're told to think on the things that are pure;lovely;of good report, and of good virtue.....because He knew that as we pondered those things in our heart, so would we speak and act!
Becky

TAKING US BACK

After listening to Dr. Dobson today,I too, remembered as a young child expressing my displeasure to my Mother! I simply told her that I just didn't like her anymore! However, God must have planted something within me, that wouldn't allow me to stay that way for long at all....
I would quickly write her a note,telling how sorry I was, and with tears in my eyes,ask her to forgive me.Oh,I did not like hurting her feelings at all! God places that reminder within us, to make things right, by way of the Holy Spirit, but more importantly,His word tells us to do it!
I'll never forget doing it, and I'm so glad my Mother restored that love.
I know our Lord and Savior,Jesus Christ, will never forget us doing it for Him, either.When we come to Him and ask His forgiveness, He is quick to open His arms;forgive us, and restore our relationship......
Becky

GOING THE WHOLE WAY

I watched a UTube video, that Della sent me the other day, and sat there, and just wept!Folks, this video left me so humbled and at a loss for words,I couldn't do a thing for quite awhile.
It was about a father who took his wheelchair bound son along with him, as he ran a triathalon.
He swam, as he pulled him in a boat;he road his bike,with the son in the bike basket;he ran,while carrying his son in his arms.....He went the whole way with his son, and claimed victory at the end! Oh, what a sight for my eyes, and the smile on his son's face was worth every moment!
Think about this folks......
What a Daddy to take you the whole way.
Thank You Father, for taking us the whole way too.You have gone the whole way with us, and claimed Victory for our lives.What a sight for us at the finish line!

A CLEAN PATH

Grandmother Bouterse's husband,Matt, was a retired Dutch Baptist minister, whom I am told knew the Bible much better than Grandmother, but in my little girl's eyes,I never would have believed it! He was a big tall man, and bald. When he talked about the Bible it was always hell fire and damnation......You know the type of preacher! I don't think I learned anything from him, atleast not like I did Grandmother!
He use to shampoo carpets on the side, and many times,I would come home from school to find brown paper all over the carpet in our house.You had to walk on it, so as not to track dirt on the clean rug, with your shoes.
Just like that brown paper blotted out our dirty footprints on the damp carpet, so also did the blood of Jesus Christ blot out our dirty sins and make a clean pathway to our Righteous God above.....
Becky

CUCKOO CLOCK

Grandmother Bouterse had an old fashion cuckoo clock, in her little trailer, that I just loved.That little bird would come out every hour and "cuckoo".It was my job, when I spent the night, to pull the heavy pine cone weights.(Or the pulley thingamabobs!)I guess it had something to do with winding up that kind of clock!
After she died, the clock became mine, but what's so funny..... I can't listen to it anymore.....
The continual "cuckoo-ing" drives me crazy now!I can't stay focused on what I'm supposed to be doing, if that bird keeps popping out and distracting me!
Satan likes to imitate that little bird too, and distract us....
Whenever you're going about your own business, he'll pop out of nowhere, and "cuckoo" away at you, driving you crazy(and he'll keep it up too!) until you either give in to him,or you boot him out!
I put my cuckoo clock in my closet,
but satan gets the drawer filled with the word of God!
I might have to replace my drawer.....
Becky

HONOR THY HUSBANDS

While I was back in Aiken, this past weekend,I stopped by Frances's house, to see her new kitchen, and the rest of the finished remodeling on her house. It was spectacular, and a long overdue project, in her eyes,I'm sure!
One of the most honoring things that she had done, though, was to take many of the childhood memorabilia, that belonged to her husband,Lewis, and place them all together, in an area around the house.I was so impressed that she was honoring Lewis and what was important to him,in his life.This spoke volumes to me of her obedience to God, on how wives should honor their husbands, and she surely had done this in a special and creative way!
What a treasure!
In the same way that Frances was honoring Lewis, we too, can also honor our Lord. We honor Him, when we place His word out in public places, where it shows for others to see.....
Not just on the coffee tables,folks, but in our hearts!
Becky

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL!

When I was a little girl,we had a grocery store in downtown Mount Dora, called "Mosteller's".
I loved to go in and visit with Hale,who was the butcher, and spend time with Rose, who worked as a cashier. One day, that stands out in my memory,though, wasn't a very pleasant one,though! It was my first criminal act at the age of 6! My mother found me walking out of the grocery store carrying 6 pieces of Double Bubble Bubble Gum,all wadded up into my hand. (I guess I was trying to hide them!)It wasn't a laughing matter when Bettye Ray got a hold of me either! She marched my little "bohonkus" right back into Mostellar's and made me tell them what I had done;apologize to them, and make restitution with all of my 35cents! I then had to give the gum back, and apologize again! I was so embarassed and humiliated! However, my life of crime came to an end,right then and there!!!
Because I had parents who cared!
I have never forgotten that lesson either!
God doesn't want us to steal His first fruits from Him, either.
If it's your talents,don't steal that from Him......Use your talents and Glorify Him!
If it's your money,don't steal that from Him either! When you hold back what you know you should give, you are stealing what is due Him.....How sad!
Our first fruits always belong to God, and only Him! Nobody is gonna march you back up to God and make you return it and apologize, like my Mother did me, but you will certainly miss out on His richest blessings when you do give to Him your best first fruits!
We have a parent who cares!
We have a lesson that we can learn from this!
Let's give Him our First and Best & Glorify Him!
Becky

YEP,THAT'S ME!

Yep,I was a little girl, and in my Mary time of life, when I played at my grandmother's trailer. I pretty much just loved my Lord in everything I did, because it was so easy and simple back then.
When I married, I first moved to Texas, and then to Aiken. I reverted into what I called the "CasseroleAholic" Martha. I was great at taking meals to folks and going to meetings, and God pretty much allowed me to do what "I" thought I needed to do.It took almost 30 years, but,it finally happened.......
Shortly after moving to Beaufort,I drove back to Aiken,for my birthday, and went to see "The Passion Of The Christ", all by myself.....It was as if,God tapped me on my shoulder at the end of that movie, (as I saw my Lord being torn to shreds), and said:
"Okay,Becky it's time for you to go back to being a Mary for good now!" ......Oh what a delightful thought!
My Lord has always been with me, but I've just changed names.
Rebecca Mary! Rebecca Martha! Rebecca Mary again!
This was truly a time when my Lord "caused all things(myMary & Martha time) to work them together for good(to His Glory!), for those who love the Lord(that's me!) and are called according to His purpose"...(my entire life!)
Yep! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
Becky

DADDY!

As far back as I can remember,I was my Daddy's little girl......
On Saturday morning's, we would get up;eat our Cheerio's together, along with Miss Wisconsin Cheese, and a glass of whole milk and ofcourse a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.
Then,Daddy would lift me up into his old black Ford "pickem-up truck;model somewhere in the early '50's. We would then travel to all his construction sites, with me sitting in his lap, so I could help drive, and see what all the men had done that week.Oh did I ever love that.Occassionally,if some of the men were working,(which back then, they still did on Saturday!) they would allow me to plaster or slab some concrete on something.That's probably why Daddy's houses were always built so well! (My personal touch) :p)
I would go around most of the morning with him, until it was time for me to come home and finish watching Sky King on TV! Daddy was a sweetheart, and when he died, at the age of 90, in 2000,I still had not had him in my life long enough!
There are some things a girl never gets over, and one of those things is the love of her Daddy.....
We have also been given a Heavenly Daddy too.
This Heavenly Daddy was in the delivery room with me, and has never left me.We go on jobs together too, and although He didn't let me sit on His lap, when he drove with me on those jobs,He has taken me down a path of righteousness that I deeply love. He has enable me to do so many things, as I travel around with Him. Now when it's time for Him to pick me up and take me back Home with Him,I will be all ready to go. I got to watch Sky King here on earth, and in Heaven,I get to be with the SKY KING of all!!
Becky

LET ME BE

Let me be a walking testimony to You and Your faithfulness, so people will seeYour goodness!
Becky

GOD IS FAITHFUL

If God is faithful,and we are His children,
Then we should inherit and develop His character traits,shouldn't we?
Becky

GOD USES DONKEYS & CHILDREN

When I lived in Aiken, and my boys were much younger,and wanting to go down in the playroom and watch TV,I would often fuss at them when they would put it on something that was unacceptable for them to be watching.I would tell them that it was damaging to the insides of their bodies and they didn't need that trash inside them!
I will never forget the day God used my oldest son,David, to teach me that same lesson.....
I had just finished fussing at them for watching one of those unacceptable programs, that they shouldn't have been watching, and told them to turn the TV off! I had told them one thing, but they were doing another! David came upstairs and said to me:" Why is it so bad for us to be watching what we are watching, while you are up here watching Dallas?"
Ouch!
If you could have hit me with a feather, you wouldn't have knocked me over any harder!
I had told them not to put trash inside of them, and yet,here I was, putting trash inside of me, and David recognized it! Instead of using a Nathan to confront me, as He did King David,He used my very own son David! I got up;turned the TV off, and never turned that program on again!I realized that what I had been saying was one thing and what I was doing, was another! My heart spoke the words, but my actions didn't follow suit and scripture has something to say about that! God didn't use a donkey to stop me in my tracks,....no siree! He used my very wise and observant son!
We talked alot about that afterwards and about the things that fill our heart, and how they should be what means the most to us.
We parents like to teach our children a thing or two, but sometimes God will use our children to teach us things,instead!
Woo Hoo!
Becky

STAY FOCUSED

When I was a "wee little thing",I took ballet,tap and toe. I was not good in tap;loved toe, and gained alot of grace from my years of ballet! One of the things that helped me in ballet, was when I did a tourjatet'.I had to keep my eyes focused on one certain point across the room, when I turned,so that I didn't lose my balance.You had to keep your eyes focused on that one point during the entire turn! This was the only way that I, or any ballerina, could make a turn, and stay upright!
God's word reminds us to stay focused on Him! When we do, we always stay balanced in everything we say and do, and I'd rather stay focused from the start.
I don't know about you, but I certainly don't want to have God use a donkey to get my attention back on Him!
He can keep you straight and focused, this great God of ours. I mean,He's so focused, that He created this world, and a gnat, at the same time!
Becky

RESTORE MY MIND!

This was a hoot this afternoon folks! I have found a bunch of prayers and short journeys in one of my journals, that I haven't a clue, as to my having written! I've read them to Nellah, and they are in my hand writing, so they are definitely mine, but I haven't a clue when I wrote them. It's like reading brand new "goodies",folks. I honestly think that the Holy Spirit snuk into my journals one night and wrote His own stuff! (Hee Hee) It's all fresh and new to this girl's brain, and I bet my Lord is just a chucklin' with me, right about now! :p)
I'm counting on the law of the Lord being perfect, because it will restore my soul, and hopefully my mind with it!
Becky