HOT AIR

So many times on "The River", a storm will arise, with the clouds getting dark and menacing, and I will batten down the hatches, sure that the wind and rain will pour in, only to wait for a few minutes, and have nothing happen!...... It was a false alarm! It will look like such a threatening force, but in all reality, it's filled with nothing but hot air!
Our Christian walk can often times turn out the same way, if we aren't careful.....
Even in our churches, and in the body of Christ itself, we can "seem" like we are setting an example of godly living, filled with the force of godly wisdom, but when we open our mouths, scripture doesn't come out!
"Out of the wellspring of the heart the mouth speaks," and when it's not speaking for God and His word, then it's not speaking very good!
It can be a powerful force, but if it's not based on God's word, it's hot air!
Becky

WELCOME HOME!

I grew up in a family of five children, and my oldest sister, Bettye Ann, was thirteen years older than I was. She would come home from FSU, and that was the highlight of my weekends. She would pick me up from school, and help me pack my clothes, just so I could go upstairs and spend the night with her in her bedroom!
What a treat that was for me!
Someday, Jesus will come back for us, as He promised, and will take us back to the Home He has planned for us. He's been preparing it just for each one of us, and is anxiously awaiting the day when we will come to our Home!
This will definitely be the highlight of my life, when He comes, and it won't just be for a weekend either.............. It will be forever
Amen!
Becky

COVERED

Ofcourse you all knew that my God was going to take care of me today, and boy did He ever!
He provided Bob to call me first thing this morning to check and see how my spirits were, and how I was feeling. Then, He had JD working on the dock, and He reminded me that God was looking out after me too. I received a beautiful email from Pat in Aiken concerning how our stories unfold. What a blessing she is to me! Then, Cathy took me to lunch, and afterwards, when I stopped off at my therapy, one of my PEO sisters was there doing her therapy and she gave me a huge hug. Another friend, who works there, also encouraged me with her words. On the way home, Danielle called to ask for prayer and called back to say she was going to stop by the house on her way home from Walterboro, just to give me a hug! I have received emails and text's from my daughter just checking up on me, and various emails and notes from Sandy; Pat C. from Aiken; Erline; Charlotte; Matt; Smitty; Denise; Sandra; Jennifer and so many others that have sent emails to lift me up today.
Yes, God has Becky covered today. Of course you knew He would, didn't you? He always does cover His children with His pinions doesn't He?
Becky

THE DESIRE OF MY HEART

Today's journey will be a walk down memory lane with me, so bear with me, if you will.
Today is my one year of David's Home going, and it's kinda hard......
In the early Spring of 1972, I found myself coming home from backpacking over in Europe with La Vonne. We had been over there for two months, and I had fallen in love with an Austrian boy named Harry, and was planning to marry him. I came home, and moved to Winston Salem, NC where I took a job as a social director at an apartment complex. Somehow, this great God of ours, deemed it right for me to set up a volleyball match, for the tenants, and one of those playing was a man by the name of David Lock. I wasn't at all captivated by his demeanor at first, but he was intelligent and we talked a lot after the games and shared thoughts.
(I should have known then) He was scheduled to be a camp director in the Adirondacks that summer, and asked me if I would mind apartment sitting for him. That way, I wouldn't have to pay rent! Sounded like a plan to me!
I told this brash "older" man that I would fix him a meal before he left for New York, and he said..." What, TV, dinners?" Well, you don't tell that to 'ole Becky Ray, and get away with it! I put on the dog for him that night and when he left, and walked down the steps that night, I said, "sweet dreams", to which, he turned, and replied," they'll be of you!".... My heart fluttered butterflies!
Folks that was all she wrote, after that!
There was no more Austrian romance after that, and it was David McBrier Lock from then on!
I took him to Florida to meet my parents that November, (when Disney world opened) and I met his parents too! We planned an April 3rd wedding in 1973 and that was the beginning of 37 years together.
I learned many things about this man I was married to for 37 years.
I learned that he spent an early part of his summers on Sapelo, with the RJ Reynolds family, and while there his Father made movies of their many adventures(the old movie camera type). When David took me back there several years ago, the curator of the main house didn't know what the main swimming pool looked like back in the fifties, so David sent him the movie with the pictures of the pool and how it looked back then. He also knew of some secret hiding places that they hadn't known existed either!
Another hidden area of David's heart, that he loved, was the Boys Home in Georgetown. He faithfully sent checks to them at Christmas, and after he died, the family wanted to know who in the world they were. He had such a heart for these boys, that he had even drove up there once and met with them to see them in person, and let them know he cared for them, just because....
You see, I tell you these things, because God knew way back in 1972, that I wasn't suppose to marry Harry. He knew that I was suppose to wait for this man, David, who would drive me crazy with the holes in his shirts; his love for Vienna Sausage; his love for skeet shooting and fishing, and shrimping, but most of all, God knew that David would stand with me when our son died, and take care of me when I had my brain hemorrhage, and provide for me to be able to stay right here after God took him Home to Heaven.
You see, that's what God did for me.
Scripture says, if you delight yourselves in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart, and when He took David to Heaven to be with Him, He truly gave me the desire of my heart!
Becky

THE RIVER

I was sitting out on the porch this morning, thinking how much my David enjoyed sitting out here and how much he loved "The River." I was reminiscing about his enjoying all the benefits of his life and the time he spent out here in his rocking chair gazing out at the marsh.
As much as I loved him though, I would never wish him to come back and be with me.....not when he was at the feet of Jesus!
And yet Jesus, when He found us missing from his life, sought after us..... And when He reached us, He found a way to return us to Him.
Actually, when He reached us, we returned to Him, for He is The Way; The Truth and The Life, and no man can go to the Father, but through Him.....
Becky

NO HUSBAND....THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

When the kids were little, David bought all of us sleeping bags from L.L. Bean. As they outgrew them, he sent them back with a note saying they had outgrown them, and asking if he could possibly get a larger size for them. They sent back four brand new sleeping bags for all of us!....Wow!
When you come to know the Lord Jesus, you become a new creature in Christ! "The old is gone.....the new has come! "You actually trade in your old self for a new, better self, just by knowing Jesus!
You don't have to buy anything or do anything, and it couldn't be any easier, either!
I have a new body and I have a new sleeping bag! ..... I can deal with that!
Just not a new husband......one was enough, and he was the best!
Becky

MY LOVING FATHER

I should have sent this one out first!
God always manages to follow me around and provide for me, doesn't He?
Does that surprise you? I had to pack everything up for my Mom's weekend, and load it up, and I'm telling you, that the elevator was a godsend!, but knowing I was going over to Edisto, and having to unload all this stuff by myself was already wearing me out! When I stopped at Kapp Lyons to pay the rent for the house, I jokingly asked if they didn't have someone who could help me unload, and she said "of course!"
They had just finished cleaning the house and were just down the road, and this nice man came right back and unload all my things for me!
And you tell me my God doesn't watch out for me?
Becky

WASHING

I took this weekend to give my Mom's a special gift. I felt led to give them a blessing that I had been given when my son, David died, and Carmen Byers came over and washed my feet while I was on the phone. In these past fifteen years, nothing has ever touched me as much as that gesture.
So I decided to do this for my Mom's this past weekend. With the help of one of the Mom's, Jennifer, I offered up a prayer after Jennifer read a small reading. I went around the room and washed each of the ladies feet, and then Jennifer so unexpectedly washed my feet in return....... That touched me so much! May He continue to touch the lives of these ladies in all they do. They mean so much to me....
Becky

BECAUSE OF YOU

What a blessing God has given us today. Karen drove down from Columbia and joined us for the day, and we spent some delightful sharing time with her and all the Mom's. We unwound and shared our thoughts and laughed a lot, which we definitely needed to do, and as the evening progressed we shared some special stories and had Ramelle's wonderful Chicken Pot Pie.
We then bid farewell to Karen as she drove back to Columbia after our prayers to her for travel mercies. 12 am came about way too soon, so we finally found our pillows..... and sleep! The rest of the crew arrives in the morning!
From ashes beauty, all because of You, Jesus!
Becky

WOW

As I was driving back from the "Pig" to the house over at Edisto today, the rays of the sun extended all the way down to the water, and were absolutely breathtaking!
Then, the sunset that night was another of God's masterpieces. A gorgeous magenta color. I will never get any work done if He keeps this up!
Becky

SPIDERWEBS

When I go downstairs, there are spider webs that have formed on the frame at the bottom of the stairwell. I will sweep them away, and the next morning they are right back in abundance! I just can't seem to get rid of those spider webs!
Sin is a lot like those spider webs too.
We can try to sweep it away on our own, but it will keep coming back. The only way we can get rid of it permanently, is by living a godly life, and we have to have Jesus in our lives to do that! He will remove those sins from your life and remember them no more!
Becky

THE HELP

I went to the movie the other night, to see "The Help." I grew up in the early fifties in central Florida, with a Mother and Father who taught me to love and respect others, regardless of their skin color or their station in life. So, I went in to this movie with the understanding that this did happen all over America, but in my little protected world of Mount Dora, it was a foreign concept to me. I grew up working right along side these same folks who helped Daddy, and could never understand why there were signs that said "whites drink here". I couldn't fathom why. God didn't create us that way, and my folks didn't treat them that way, so why did anyone else?
As I watched the movie, I began to understand that many of the people that felt this way did not have the love of Christ within them. There was a struggle for these folks, but as Christ told us, we would have troubles in this world, and we weren't to fear, because He had overcome the world!
I came away from the movie with a sense of appreciation that my folks had taught me to love and appreciate people for who they are.....just as they are, and for the fact that they were given the chance to stand up for their God given rights as children of the Living God, and to claim the blessings that Jesus Christ has bestowed on us all as His children.
Becky

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS

We might think we are like pretty flowers, but in all actuality, compared to Christ, we are weeds in His garden of life. We may look pretty on the outside, like Queen Ann's Lace, but it's a weed too! We can clean up real good, but on the inside we are filled with sin. Weeds grow best where there isn't good, nurtured soil, and if we aren't careful, we can continue growing those weeds, because we've choked out the good soil!
Let's make sure our soil is prepared with the nutrients of Jesus Christ so we can forever bloom where God plants us, as living arrangements to the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Becky

THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER

One of my favorite stories growing up, was "The Steadfast Tin Soldier."
This sturdy toy soldier stood on only one leg, and fell in love with a toy ballerina doll, who was placed in such a position that made her look like she was standing with only one leg too. As their journey would have it, the two toys, were thrown into the fireplace and their love melted away in the flames! Only a heart and a medallion remained when the embers died down!
God created each of us differently from the next person, and some folks find it hard to accept those differences. Remind them, that we were fearfully and wonderfully created by the Creator God of the Universe, and even He likes us just the way we are! Sometimes, He has to take us through the refiners fire to refine us and polish us, and that's not always fun, but it is necessary. We will come through with a refined heart for Christ, and a medallion of love to show the world that Jesus is Lord!
Becky

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS

We might think we are like pretty flowers, but in all actuality, compared to Christ, we are weeds in His garden of life.
We may look pretty on the outside, like Queen Ann's Lace, but it's a weed too! We clean up real good, but on the inside we are all black, and filled with sin. Weeds grow best where there isn't good soil, and if we aren't careful, we can continue growing as weeds, because we've choked out the good soil.
Let's make sure our soil is filled with the nutrients of Jesus Christ so we will forever bloom where we are planted, as the living arrangements of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Becky