WAILING

In Pastor Larry's message today, he spoke on Revelation 1:1-8, and in verse eight
 he told how the tribes will mourn, or wail, when they see Jesus Christ coming back!
The mention of the word wail caused me to shudder, because it gave me a mental
picture of what it would sound like. When my son died, he was decapitated, and
the coroner would not allow me to go in and identify his body, so they called my
neighbor to go in and identify David in my place. As I spoke with the coroner, I will
never forget, as long as Iive, the wail that came from his mouth, upon identifying
David. It sounded like an animal! That sound will be ingrained in my head forever!
This gave me a perfect picture of just what the tribes would be expressing when they
 stand before Jesus  and are not his children!
There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth, forever!~~~~~~I guess so!
Becky

CORRECTIONS

When my book came back to me for  corrections, I had Rick look at it to see if
 he could do the editing for me. (He is such a sweetheart!) If I had only fifty mistakes, they
would be free, but I knew I had more than fifty, so  paying for them was a concern
 to me. In the mean time, Donna came down from Aiken to show me how to
 create a book on Snapfish.com,  for Project Graduation, and she asked me if I had
any pictures of David Junior that she could download onto the book.
When I went to retrieve them, I found an envelope behind the pictures with money
 that my David had given me two years ago, and had told me to hide it away for a
 rainy day! Enough to pay for corrections!
Talk about a rainy day!
See how God takes care of His children?! And I had completely forgotten that the money was there!
Becky

WHAT A GROAN!

Mike Kellogg told a story about a pastor whose friend was in a wheelchair, and about
the only thing he could do was to sip a cup of tea, and make gutteral sounds like a moaning.
Remarkably, everytime he would moan, his wife would show up by his side with a cup
of tea! He seemed to be moaning for the tea, when his words couldn't tell her that
the tea was what he wanted. She instictively understood his need.
This painted me a picture of how our prayers are interceded through the Holy Spirit
with grumblings that are taken to our Heavenly Father. When we don't know how to
pray, He will often show up and interced for us with the Father, with groanings of His
own and just the right words! The Holy Spirit instinctively understands our needs.
What a blessing that Jesus has left us this helper to be with us!
Becky

OUR STORY

When Jesus died, they thought it was the end of their story!
What they never realized was that it was the beginning of our story!
Becky

FINDING THE PAST

As I helped Kelly unpack some boxes in her new home, I heard a  sound from inside of one of the
boxes and asked Kelly what was making that noise. She said it was just an old tin
can. I knew immediately that it was my grandmother's old tin button can that I had misplaced some
fifty years ago, and now I had found it! I recognized it just by the sound coming from the buttons'
inside the can! I broke down and shed a few tears on finding it, and Kelly was a little
 mystified as to why I would shed tears over a button box.....
She remarked that she wished she could find the old green chiffon formal dress I
had given her to play in when she was little. It was her favorite play dress and she had misplaced it too,somewhere along the line. The very next box she opened up, surprised her with her
green, chiffon dress! You would have thought she won a million dollars! She held the dress up and
danced around the room. Mother with her buttons and daughter with her dress, both shedding tears!
We were both remembering things from the past which painted a picture to me of
how Jesus wanted us to remember His word. He wanted us to know it when we heard
it and to seek it and we would find it!
And we did!
Becky

CRACKER JACKS

When I was a little girl, mother would buy me Cracker Jacks, as a special treat, and it
was one of my favorite ones. I think I liked getting the special surprise inside of the box
 best of all, though! I often wondered what the surprise would be, and would gobble down
the Cracker Jacks, just so I could tear off that white wrapper and see what was inside!
Our Lord has given us a special treat too. It's my very favorite one of all too.
 I like the special surprise that it gives when you trust in Jesus........
He will take the old you,and create something new!
He gives us this box, but we have to accept it. We don't buy it! We don't do anything for it!
It's a gift from our Lord to us, because He loves us!
He bought it for us, only He didn't use money. He used the only currency.......
His rich red blood!
And He gave every bit of it too!
Let's open that box and give thanks!
Becky

HELPING

I just had the nicest phone call from my brother Jeff. We must have talked for about
forty minutes, atleast. He told me about his and Pam's trip out to Yellowstone and to Jackson
Hole, Wyoming, to celebrate their fifty third wedding anniversary! The topic meandered
off onto when we were small children and what it was like for us growing up.
Mind you, he is ten years older than me! He told me that he remembered
going out to grandmother's trailer park where she would often sit him down and help him
learn to tie his shoelaces. She would tell him to always be careful to help someone,
 because he might be helping Jesus unaware!
Good advice!
 Jeff often goes out to the nursing homes in Mount Dora, and delights the little ladies and
 gentlemen out there with his whistling, and his legal assistance. This is his ministry,
 just as mine is with my "Mom's Who Lost Children/ Good Grief."
To think we both owe our start to Reina Ryskamp Bouterse,....a little Dutch lady from
Kronigen, Holland, who married Rev. Matthew John Bouterse, a  Dutchman from
Rotterdam, Holland who also shampooed carpets on the side.
God is always in control and had Becky Lock's future in His hand from day one!
Actually, we owe our start to God, who had this all planned anyway!
Becky

CURFEW

Mother and Daddy always made me be home by ten o'clock on the weekends,
and at the time, I thought it seemed so unfair, because most of my friends were
able to stay out until midnight. It wasn't until much later that I realized the wisdom
of Mother's judgement.
God's word tells us to be set apart from the world in our behavior, and my parents
realized that fact. We are to be in the world, but not of the world, and by setting
myself apart then, as well as now, I can be set apart as a child of the King!
(I love  my Lord so much, that I wish God would tell me to come Home by
 ten o'clock, just so I could be with my Lord!) LOL
Becky

The Light

When I was growing up, I watched all these wonderful, uplifting movies with wonderful lyrics in them, like "Singing In The Rain" and "Oh What A Beautiful Morning." The words in these
 types of songs just carried you right out of your seat, if you were siinging along.
There was no way you could remain down, if you had been sad!I have been so disturbed by the run of movies lately with dark titles, "The Dark Side Of The Night", and Dark Avenger."
Everything is just so down and dark now. Nothing seems to reflect the light, but then, that's
what Jeus told us would happen in the latter days, didn't He?
I'm glad I've got the Light of the World to always shine for me!.....
Even in the dark, I can see the Light!
Becky

THE LIGHT OF ETERNITY

When I was a little girl, I wasn't very good with number, and I had a hard time learning
to count. David, on the other hand, was like my Father, who was a whiz at math!
 However,God calls us to number our days, and I can do that kind of counting!
In the light of eternity, when you nuber your days and live for the Lord, it is so much
better for you. I had a dear friend who had that phrase embroidered in a picture
frame over her kitchen table, and whenever her children would come home with
a C on a repot card, or bring home a bad exam grade, she would remind them,
that in light of eternity, it wasn't a big deal!~~~~What a way to look at things, folks!
What a blessing it would be if we learned to number our days, in the light of eternity!
Becky

THE RACE

Clifford and Templeton that started out with Graham in 1945, were on fire for the
Lord, but with in five years, both Templeton and Clifford and waned in that love,
but Billy Graham went on to be one of our best known modern day evangelists!
Most people back then, would have put all their stock in the first two as making it as big
time evangelists! You never can tell, when God is involved, can you?
~~~~and we know the rest of that story!
Let us not give up hope of starting out in the Lord, but of staying the course and
finishing the race for Christ!
That's won race we will win!
Becky

CALL OUT!

When I was a little girl, Daddy built us a small concrete swimming pool. The deepest end being maybe three feet, if that much! As we grew up , he turned it into a fish pond, where I raised goldfish to sell. In order to clean it, you had to manually drain it and clean the scum out by sweeping it out with a broom. I remember one time, that I tried to clean the last vestiges of some water by using three glass milk bottles(Yes we had glass milk bottles back then!)  I slipped, and dropped one of the bottles, and accidentally fell on it, splittling my big toe bone open. I remember screaming for bloody murder too. My Daddy came running and pulled me out onto the ground and then carried me inside to safety and took care of it. Now, back then (in the dark ages) we didn't do stitches for things like that, so he held that split together and placed a very tight bandaid on it. That part on my toe is still very sensitive, to this day. The important this, though, is that my Daddy heard me, and came to my rescue!It's no different for any of us  today when we need help  and call out to God either!
This God of ours has never lost a battle, but is ready to hear us, when we call out to Him, and He will answer us.

THE HARBINGER

I just finished watching a DVD entitled "The Harbinger:, bu Jonathon Cahn, in which
he takes the prophecies of old that deals with the destruction of Israel and relates them to
modern day America. Folks, I'm telling you, I was blown away! I will try to give you
some of them in a nutshell, so sit back and be prepared to be blown away too!
First, I learned that a harbinger was an omen, or a sign of something to come......
As in the days of old, when Israel would call out to God in times of trouble, and He
would answer them, but they would not repent and return to their ways, and then another
calamity would befall them, so this process is happeing to America!
The first harbinger was that the bricks have fallen......
The second  harbinger was that we would rebuild.....
The third harbinger was that we would rebuild it much stronger......
The fourth harbinger is that there would be hewn stone.......
The fifth harbinger is there would be a spirit of defiance.......
The sixth harbinger is the Sycamore Tree.......
The seventh harbinger is the Cedar Tree......
The eighth harbinger is the vow of  the words ........

Now go back to 911, and look closely to what transpires on this day.
The  invasion of our twin towers , which cause all the base  BRICKS TO FALL.
The mayor proclaims that NY WILL REBUILD, and WE WILL REBUILD IT
STRONGER!  The go outside the city and get CUT STONE, or hewn stone,
and erect the mammoth, immpenetrable stones,  and dedicate them
with a SPIRIT OF DEFIANCE. On ground zero was a small chapel, where on  April 30th
1789, George Washington dedicated America to God, as a Christian nation, and
said that God's blessing would be lifted if we didn't follow Him. He and his
constituents walked to  a tall  SYCAMORE TREE, and prayed  this prayer.
On 911, a beam fell through that tree and destryed it, and the people replaced it with
 a CEDAR TREE, instead of another Sycamore.
 The eighth harbinger was the vow of words, which was given by the first witness
in his bid for the Democratic race in 2004, John Edwards. He quoted scripture
and  said that the Lord had said that the stones have fallen and the sycamore tree
 has been cut down, and been replaced with Cedars. This was all before it had even
 happened! Then, on September 12th, US Senator Tom Daschle said the very same
thing and said we  would rebuild them ourselves! Even our own President has stated
that we will rebuild it stronger and more secure.
Washington's prayer was to "Keep us in Holy Protection."
By the way, the only building that wasn't touched on 911, was the little chapel!
Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Becky

GOOD CAMPING

David often told me that when his scouts were camping and they were looking at a storm, he would have them batten down the hatches with extra care. They would secure the ground pegs with extra stability, so that the force of  the winds wouldn't blow the tents down.
It's the same way in any storm approaching a marriage! Either spouse must batten down their peg and stay put with full force! Satan will try every gust of wind to blow thhat marriage apart, but only whenyou keep your eyes on Christ and secure that peg, will it remain intact!
Becky

BROWN SUGAR ROLLS

One of David's favorite things for me to fix for him, were Brown Sugar Rolls.
You mixed Bisquick,with milk, and rolled it out in a big circle. You spread it
with oodles of butter, followed by scads of brown sugar. Then you rolled it up
into a jelly rolly and cut it into 1/4-1/2" slices and place on a brown sugar covered
cookie sheet and bake it for 20 minutes at 350.  They were delicious, but you had to
 lather it with lots of butter, or it didn't quite taste right. If they weren't gooey,
they weren't good! The brown sugar needed lots of butter to adhere good too!
It's the same way with the word of God. You've got to have plenty of space available
 in your life for His word to stick, so that the flavor of God's love will show up to
others.
Spread His word all over you and your life and everyone around you will want what
you're having!
Becky

THE METH HOUSE

When I was growing up, I went to the Methodist Church in Mount Dora,
and we had a small little house across the street where all the kids could
meet and dance and fellowship. It was affectionately known as "The Meth
House." How sad that today this house would be a place for drugs, and we wouldn't
dare call it that! Why, when most of my age was growing up, we were flattered
 to be called a gay persoon, because it meant you were happy and jovial all the time!
No  more!Isn't it sad that these words  have all turned into such negative words,
all because of the tines.Jesus told us that there woud come a day when these things
 would happen to us, and for us to be prepared for them......
When families would go against families; when men would be lovers of men,
and storms would increase. All kinds of happenings are changing in this world of
ours, but the word of the Lord remains the same forever and ever....amen!
Becky

HYGENIC

When we learn things the correct way, we will always know when they
aren't right, when we see them any other way.
I've fixed recipes the same way that my Mother did, and I know when something
is left out of the recipe, just by how it looks or by its taste. It's important to get
things as close to their original state as possible too. I know,I tried to make David's
French Dressing without using the correct mayonnaise and it was awful! It made
a huge difference in that one small item too!
Titus tells us to be taught sound doctrine, and when we are away from it, we will
 know it when we hear it!If we know it, we won't forget it either! When we see
something that doesn't look "hygenic", as it means in the Greek, then we need to clean
 up our act and get it sound again!
Becky

COUNTING ON GOD!

This has been a day of overwhelming "stuff" for me! As most of you know,I don't
let things get to me, but today has almost undone me. I keep singing a song, though,
that we are siging in the musical, called, "I'm Counting On God." I'm having to
count on Him to see me through on all of this stuff, because I know He is not a God
of confusion or disarray. He will see me through, if I can just slow down long enough
to allow Him to do it!
It started when I pulled under the house today and the publisher called me, and told me
that my book was going to cost the public almost $40.00. I nearly frieked out! He told
 me that if I could retype the journey's and send them back to him, they would try to
to format them and make them smaller, so that they wouldn't cost so much. Now, most
 of you know that I have never had typing and I have finished typing only number six
of fifty five journeys!
.....So, I'm counting on God!
  When I finished that conversation, my neighbor came in, telling
 me that one of their two new Sea Doo's had sunk out by their dock. They worked all
morning trying to get it out of the water.
So, I'm counting on God!
 Then I received a letter from the Beaufort County Assessors  Office, informing me that
 they needed information from me about David's trust.  I had to stop everything I was
doing for everybody and figure out to whom I needed to get in touch. Thank goodness I
called the right person and they called  the  right person......Then, my priner wouldn't
work, so I had to have a friend make copy's of that part, after I had already gone to
 Staples and made copies of the first part!
I'm counting on God!
This has all been too confusing for my simple brain!
As I said, God is not a God of confusion, but I don't think these folks got that memo!
Becky

GIVE THANKS

Think on these things~~~~~
When you remember your freedoms this fourth of July, and give thanks!
When you remember the statue of Liberty and what she stands for, and give thanks!
When you ask your blessing and say your prayers, and give thanks!
When you pray for our military and all they do, and give thanks!
When you remember what freedom our Lord gave us on that cross, and give thanks!
Think on these things~~~~
And give thanks!
Becky

Up! Up! Up!

When I started learning to drive, Daddy always reminded me to go
slow around the corners, so that I wouldn't have alot of wear and tear on
my tires. He would always say,"don't cut the corners short" and I knew
what he meant. I've followed that advice over the years and saved gas
and the cost of new tires from just that one piece of advice!
Jesus didn't want us to cut cornes either. He wanted us to take our time
when we followed His word, and to not cut corners!
 Yes, it's easy to go through life in a hurry and to think we are  following
 His commands,when in reality, we are sliding around the corners of His words
 and trying to get by with as little as we can. Pretty soon, our lives will run out
of gas and we will be left flat out and out, run down, with no where to go, but down!
As for me, I think I'll stick to going around my corners slowly and keep looking
up! up! up!
Becky

Bob

Once again, God has provided for me. I decided to go for broke and get an
I-Phone. Now, those folks who  know me, understand that I grew up in the
days of the abacus, so learning something new which is Greek to me, is
very hard! I went to Susan's yesterday and looked at her phone, so I kind
 had an idea of what I was getting into, but......
I had no idea what buttons to push.....
to make a call......to answer the phone.....to get on my private fb site.....
to set up my numbrtd dince Verizon couldn't do it......how to text correctly.....
There were so many things that the salesman didn't go over and that I didn't
think to ask, so tonight, after supper,  Bob called and told me to come over and
he would help me with my phone. He and Nan are so dear to me, and he will
 never know how  much thst helprd! I heard my phone ring and I knew what to do.
God provides those special little angels to help when we need them the most, and
just maybe I might learn to text correctly on this new gadget!
In everything give thanks, and believe me, I do for Bob All!
Becky