TREASURES

I have some very special treasures on my bookcase. There's an old wooden, hand carved, heart shaped jewelry box,with a 1950's picture of a woman's face pasted on the lid.....Inside is a button and a few other nic-nacs;There is a 4" fleshy pink 1940's appendage doll, whose legs are missing;a letter;two 1950's Kodak Brownie color photographs; Mama's Streams In The Desert;A battered red & white miniature ship's model;a widow's mite from the Holy Land....
These are all treasures that I became familiar with at Grandmother's trailer, and still hold very dear to my heart..They were my Grandmother's and they meant something to her, and mean even more to me.
The ship, however, was made by her son,Harry,the motorcycle cop, and he made it especially for me.I played with many of these things in her trailer,as meager as they were,and loved it.They won't mean much to anyone else, except maybe my brother Michael......
We hold a place of honor in God's heart too! We are actually His treasures, and even values us so much that He places our tears in a bottle! Can you imagine a Father doing that?
I'm His treasure and He is mine.I don't keep Him on my bookcase, and He doesn't keep me on His!
We keep each other in our hearts! :p)
Becky

EVERLASTING LOVE

Fourteen years ago,today,our son David went home to be with the Lord.The day before,he had just bought a brand new car and was so excited to bring it by and show it to me. I remember it like it was yesterday folks! There are many things I remember about those days before and after that event.
Many things have changed since then, but his memory never will!
Neither will my love for him.
Many days have gone by since our Lord went Home to be with His father too.
Many things have changed since then but His Word never will!
Neither will my love for Him!
God's love and His laws will never,ever change.From now throughout eternity,it will stay the same, and it will go on..... and on....... and on!
God has loved us with an everlasting love and knowing the love I have for my son,David,I say that God's everlasting love suits me just fine!
Becky

THE LETTER OF CONTENT

Phillippians 4:4 tells us to "rejoice in the Lord always;and again I say rejoice!"
Now most of us know that on our own, this is almost impossible to do.I know I didn't want to rejoice in the death of my son;or having a brain hemorrage, and yet God says we are to rejoice.....How can we? The command doesn't mean we are to rejoice in what we are going through.It means that we can (and should) rejoice that we have a Savior that we can (and should) go to, and rejoice in, through these circumstances....and for all things!God knew before I was born,that I would lose David and have a brain hemorrage,so why not trust Him, and be content about it?
Rejoicing is a matter of my being obedient to God's word.He said I was to rejoice,so I need to do it!...It's one of those,"just do it now, and you don't need to ask questions later" things!Yes,sometimes you may feel like your circumstances are worse than anyone else's, ......but so could I! However,I think that my God created me, and He knows what I can bear.He also knows what you can bear too.If you will just trust Him enough to do the very best for you,and watch and see what He does,you might just be surprised.......
I am content with my circumstances,because I choose to be!
I am content, because my circumstances do not control me!
I am content, because I live by faith, and not feelings!
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"....Yes,even lose a child, and have a brain hemorrage, because my God is right there my side!
When everything is going wrong in the world today, we are tempted to vent our frustrations at those around us, but that's not the way God so desires His children to be.....
In order to still be content with all that's going on,we have to remember His word. His word states that God wants His children to be different under all circumstances, and this means no name calling;swearing;hitting;etc........you get the picture.
We should act, and not react, and yet,do it with a sense of calm and reasonableness in what we are doing.If we keep in mind,that "the Lord is near",watching and observing our behavior, maybe we will think twice how we act.
God gives me the strength and the grace to do everything I can do, under all circumstances.Sometimes, being anxious over things will destroy that peaceful feeeling too, so stay in tune to our Lord aand don't allow satan to have a foothold.
"Be anxious for nothing....."(it's one of those commands again)My Grandmothert's favorite was,."For who by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?".....and ofcourse I know I can't add one whit to it,so trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways acknoledge Him, and He will direct your paths."
Couldn't have said it any better myself!
Good directions for being content!
Becky

GOD OF OUR FATHERS

"....And He came unto His own,and His own knew Him not."

O Father,has our nation of believers come to even this? Have we forgotten the God of our Fathers, in our nation? If we have forgotten You,Father,please don't forget us?
Becky

LAMB OF GOD

I have always loved lamb! Infact, we always had it at Easter,with rice and gravy;mint jelly and usually some conk peas, which are like little lady peas.
When I think about it though,lamb is the perfect picture of the Easter story.Some 1300 years before Christ,the Israelites were told to take a lamb and slaughter it.They were to wipe the blood on their doorposts,to signify that they belonged to God, and the Angel of Death would pass them by, when God claimed the lives of the first born of the Egyptians. The leg of lamb was not to be broken in the slaughter through all of this!
How prophetic!
Now,some 1300 years later,our Lord is our Sacrificial Lamb upon the cross at Easter.The One, who,being pierced in His side......died,but His bones were never broken!..Even in death, the prophecy holds true!
Does God not cover every base,or what? No wonder I love lamb!
I really love this Lamb!
Becky

FANNY FARMER

When Mama went to Stetson University,the cookbook she used,(and always used) was Fanny Farmer's "The Boston Cooking School Cookbook".It was a delight to peruse, and in so doing, I found letters and recipes written by many of her friends and family members.She wrote little notes on many of the recipes concerning those friends, and where and why the recipe had been given! .....It is a treasure,folks! One particular recipe had a newspaper article taped to it, detailing the 1972 plane disappearance of a Mount Dora doctor and his wife, from their Bahama summer home.Mama was so distressed about this,that she had written,"I miss Gloria" in the margin of the recipe!
These are such treasured memories that I can look back on,concerning Mother and her friends.It's as if I have a piece of her right here with me all the time!
I can see "OB" with her Pecan Pie, and "Other Mother" with her Chocolate Cherry Cake.They all have a story to tell........
Our Lord has given us some treasured stories to tell too.I have memories of what He has done, just by reading His word! Mama's recipes will last for as long as I take care of them!
God's recipe for Eternal Life will last for Eternity!
Becky

A WHOLESOME MEAL!

David and I stopped at Cracker Barrell,for lunch today, and I had the vegetable platter.One of my favorite combinations to get on the platter is pinto beans;fried apples;cole slaw;green beans,and sometimes,I even get the macaroni!
When Grandmother served pinto beans, she always made "Spakious"(spakee-us) to go along with it.This were tiny bits of salt pork, which were fried, and added to the bland pinto beans to give them a salty flavor.It gave them just the right amount of zest too without going too far! I was wishing I had some today, when I was eating too!
This reminded me of how we are to season our speech, when talking.We are to let our speech be filled with grace; as seasoned with salt. Just like that spakious helps flavor the pinto beans, so I know God's word will help our speech too!Infact,using God's word, gives us a wholesome meal!
Becky

SCRUB SATAN!

As David and I drove north on I-95 to Virginia Beach today,I noticed all the scrub growing behind the tall Pine Trees.The undergrowth of the scrub would have choked out the new young Pine Trees,if they didn't have a forest burn pretty soon!
In the same way,satan will infest and choke off any growth of the spirit minded person too,if we don't allow God's word to burn away any evil underbrush of satan and his scrub "rubbish"!
Becky

SETTLE DOWN!

When David drives back to Beaufort from Aiken, he always drives through the s
Savannah River Site.There's one section we drive through that houses the hot water condensation pipes that empty into a nearby lake. It is designed in a squared zig- zag formation,so as to let the heat release in a more efficient manner.
When we are heated up in anger with someone and "spout off" with angry words on our daily walk, we'd be wise to act the same way as this condensing pipe.
If we'd reshape our thoughts and move our actions in a different direction, we'd have time to release any spent up angry heat until it cools down.
Better yet,take a different direction! Fire up with God's word and really cool down!
Becky

THE TEA

***We're off and be back on Saturday!......Bec


As I was decorating for the Spring Tea,on Friday,I marveled at the variety of tables that were displayed.I don't know why it should surprise me though, because it was just as if I were looking at all the members of the body of Christ in a most beautiful, and delicate portrayal, of Christ, you have ever seen!
I saw sides of Christ that portrayed Him as the Bread of Life; I saw a side of the "member of the body of Christ" that showed His love of nature, and a side that showed me how much He loves laughter and joy. I think His beauty was shown all around, and His gentleness was evident by all the ladies participating at the Tea.Why,I even saw Him portrayed as The Living Water...... Every table represented a member of the body of Christ, by their personality, and after looking at those tables, and listening to Audrey's lovely message on refreshing yourselves in His word,I would say,we have a mighty "beautiful" Lord!.......
Becky

A SPRING JOURNEY

Today was the day we decorated for the Spring Tea, so I gathered all my goodies and headed over to the church and began decorating my table.Audrey is speaking on a "Spa" theme,so I fixed my table to look like a spa.I borrowed an old fashioned bath tub, from "Hollyhocks", and filled it with (pink) packaging foam bubbles, and attached miniature hand creams;lotions;soaps, and scripture on top of the bubbles.I wanted the tub to represent a time of spiritual renourishment from God's word for each of the ladies at my table.When I looked around,there were about ten tables already set up, and they were all completely different, and absolutely lovely!This reminded me,that we are one in the same,as a part of the body of Christ,and yet, we are still all different members!The head has to be God, but the body will have many members........Well, God is the head of all of us, but we have many ladies(and gents) as His members. Our personalities are all different and it showed on the decorating of each table today.We each showed the love of Christ in our own way,but He was definitely a part of it! We all have the same function,because we serve! we all have the same God,because we know the truth!
We all decorate differently,...........just because we feel like it!
Becky

UNCLE HARRY

Grandmother's oldest son was Uncle Harry, and he was a motorcycle cop for the Miami police force , and was possibly my favorite Uncle.He was struck down while attempting a police stop, and lost the use of both legs,so in his spare time,he constructed miniature ships.He built me a small red and white one,that I dearly treasure.I'm afraid that the masts have been broken, and the sails are torn, but the "Becky" still stands propped up on my bookcase! It is a reminder of the love of someone who gave so much to me, even though he had been struck down!
It is also a reminder of my Father's love for me too! Because my Father loved me so much, He was broken;torn,and struck down in His love for me.
And yet, a remarkable thing happened,He wasn't finished building "His ship"......
He projected Himself out of that tomb and arose into Heaven above,where He is completing the work the Father has for Him to do.....and that is to bring the rest of the fleet Home soon......and very soon!
Becky

PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

If man lives by every word that proceeds from out of the mouth of God,then I'd say we should be pretty careful about listening to Him,then.
Wouldn't you?
Becky

I REMEMBER BETTYE CECIL

I've written about Grandmother's three boys,Harry;Howard, and MJ,but haven't talked about Bettye Cecil! That was her baby girl.....Her one and only daughter and one whom I have found out quite alot about since she has died. Her brothers always called her skinny legs,this young girl who was born in Harrisburg,Pa, and grew up in Miami,Florida.She went to school with Joseph Cotten and was engaged to Bob Jones of the Bob Jones University fame!
Mama loved arranging flowers;was a Master Judge, and sang "O Holy Nite" every Christmas Eve ,and her beautiful soprano voice was her trademark. She loved to cook, and to bake things for people.Mama's smile was her trademark too.
Mama didn't give me scripture to live by,like Grandmother did,but she followed those principles in her daily living, and I used them as my example.Her famous words would be....."because I said so." Mama was strong, when she was really weak, and was the perfect example of someone being made strong because of Christ being in them. She could not have withstood Rectal Cancer and Dementia without Him.
"My strength is made perfect in your weakness."
Her brothers called her skinny legs!
My brothers called me that too!
God called her His child!
God called me His child too!
Harry;Howard;MJ;Bettye Cecil....and Grandmother & Grandaddy!
Boy, does God have His hands full!
Becky

UNCLE HOWARD

The last of Grandmother's sons was Uncle Howard.He was really cool,and I loved him dearly! He was a cross between Ernest Hemingway,with his love of the sea, and Clark Gable,with his moustache, and dark hair.He was the caretaker of an island called Cocolobo(later named Islandia), which was an island off of Homestead,Florida. He was married to(Mary) the sister of Bebe Rebozo, who was President Nixon's long time friend, and I actually was able to meet him ,when he came for a visit,when I was 12! This is where I learned to eat,and fix Black Beans and Rice and Cuban Sandwhiches.
When Grandmother found out that Uncle Howard was playing in a nightclub,she stopped sending him what money she had been sending him each week.She assured him that God would bless him with the gifts that He had given him.....and He did!
That so convicted him of not playing in the night club,that he quit his job, and he stayed on the island,full time.
Grandmother touched the lives of everyone of her children....and their children! Uncle Howard's children are all in Heaven.....
Uncle MJ's are still here,but I don't get to see them much.......
Uncle Harry's son's wife and I still talk on the phone.......
The last time I saw her husband,Harry Jr., I was 9 years old!
The next time I see him,I will be eternally young!
Becky

THE FOLDED NAPKIN

When setting our dinner table, Mama always told me to place the fork to the left of the plate;the knife and spoon to the right and the napkin could be folded either under,or to the side of the fork.When you were through eating, you were to fold your napkin and place it on the table,to signify that you were finished;or having to leave,but were coming back,"
This Easter time,let us celebrate the fact,that when Jesus rose from that tomb,He was finished with death by conquering it, and left His grave clothes folded, signifying that He was coming back!
He has risen! He has risen indeed!
Becky

SEE WHAT A MORNING!

**Kristen & Keith Getty's "The Risen Christ" portrayed these words as my Easter wish for you.......


"See what a morning,gloriously bright, with the dawning of hope in Jerusalem. Folded the grave clothes,tomb filled with light, as the angel's anounce, Christ is risen!See God's salvation plan; borne in love,wrought in pain;paid in sacrifice.....
Fulfilled in Christ the man,for He lives,...Christ is risen from the dead! See Mary weeping;where is He laid? As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb. Hears a voice speaking;calling her name;it's the Master,The Lord,raised to Life again!" (Whoo!)
This just about says it all folks....except that He's coming back for us!!
(Double Whoo!)
Becky

THE RISEN CHRIST

I was planning on sending another journey today, but tonight we had choir practice, and it just had to be shared with my journeymen and women.......
We were rehearsing "The Risen Christ," which is the musical we are singing for Easter.There is a drama with it, and the orchestra is playng for all ten of the songs that we have memorized.It is no easy fete,folks, but it is absolutely beautiful to listen to!The cast has all their parts memorized, and they do an excellent job!
As I've said before,I'm not really a person with a decent voice, but I love this choir and I love this experience! These are wonderful,down to earth folks who adore our Lord so much......
Well, tonight, as Matt was leading and directing us in our last song, which was "Behold The Lamb", and was the last one we were to do as communion began, he stopped and began reading from scripture of how we were to remember that this was Jesus's sacrifice.....Oh, I can't tell you what that did to me.To know that you are in the middle of singing a song, and the choir directior is so moved by the words and what we are doing that he will take the time to stop and read those words from scripture.......What a testimony to the power of God's touching us!
These songs are something else,folks.I'm getting several DVD's,so if any of you want to hear and see for yourself what the aroma of Christ in music looks like,this will show you!
Thanks for hearing this epistle......:p)
Becky

HOMETOWN

David and I watched a Hallmark movie tonight, entitled "Candles on Baystreet."
It was a sweet movie and all about hometown kindness.A young girl returns home to die, but not before she finds just the right family for her young son.It just so happens to be the family of an old flame! What touched me about this movie, was how much stock they placed on the value of the town's people.They all came together at the end,and brought a picnic to this young girl, because she was too sick to go.This made me think about how special my own hometown of Mount Dora was, and how the folks there have always stood by me in everything that has happened to me.They were right by me,when my son died;when my folks died, and when I spent most of my life being sick......
Then there are those folks in Aiken, who are like family to me, and so special too.They have been through my brain hemorrage,and the death of my son.They have been right there, giving me encouragement with God's word, and that's what the body does!
One of these places is like a hometown to me.The other actually is my hometown.
Both are very special, because the love of my Lord was involved
In reality,though, I haven't even arrived at my real Hometown.
My real family is there, and some folks I have never met.
This is one Hometown that will last for an Eternity,folks and I can't wait to go Home to this Hometown, 'cause my Lord will be waiting!
Woo Hoo!
Becky