Someone recently told me that a depressed person had expressed his thoughts on life. He said, “Life is merely a waiting game. You wait to grow up. You wait to get a job. You wait to get married. You wait to get enough money to pay your bills. You wait for happiness. Finally you basically are waiting to die.” His morose expression of afterlife is not worth repeating. You get the idea.

I thought about this for a moment and could not agree with him in the slightest. Life is an adventure when Christ is in control of your life. The reason this person is continually depressed is because he has unrealistic expectations that are never met. Nothing he gets is good enough. My mother said something to me as a child that stuck with me my entire life.

“Honey, you will spend most of your life working. You will do dishes as long as you live. You will spend more time working than either other one thing. You can either find a way of enjoying everything you do or you can spend your life miserable. Work is what you make it – fun or work.”

These life changing thoughts were awesome. She also patiently let my sister and I play when we did dishes. In those days we heated the water on the stove and used dishpans. Oh we learned to have fun even doing dishes! Mom let us play and we enjoyed that but that wasn’t our total goal in life. Every experience was to be embraced as from the Lord.

Jesus tells us to be content with what we have. Look at life this way. If we can embrace whatever God sends us with joy because it comes from Him, we are never disappointed. I remember when our son was 1 ½ years old and had convulsions. This was very scary! I trembled as I held him on the way to the hospital. Ken and I chose to sing praises to God during that frightening trip across Minneapolis. When we got to the hospital, God had healed him and he never had anything bad happen to him as a result of those convulsions. We had peace and the joy of the Lord filling our lives. It was not pleasant but our memories are that of having our precious Lord and Savior with us through our trial. We had victorious joy!

“Without having seen Him, you love Him. Without seeing Him now, but trusting in Him, you continue to be full of joy that is glorious beyond words.” 1 Peter 1:8 CJB

I will share a question posed to me by our son when he shared this verse with me. “Mom, does that mean if I don’t have joy, I am not trusting?” That gives one something to think about!

I received this from a recent e-mail.

LEGEND OF THE CHEROKEE INDIAN YOUTH

“Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth’s rite of Passage? His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

“He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

“Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. We, too, are never alone. Even when we don’t know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

“Moral of the story: Just because you can’t see God, doesn’t mean He is not there. ‘For we walk by faith, not by sight.’

‘God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.’ J. G. Holland”

Endquote

HE GIVETH!

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,

He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;

To added affliction He addeth His mercies,

To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources

Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

His love has no limit. His grace has no measure,

His power no boundary known unto men;

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus

He giveth and giveth and giveth again.

-Annie Johnson Flint

We do not need to worry and fret over the fears and anxieties and difficulties of life. We need to take them to our Powerful Savior who wants to take them from us. We need to rejoice when we have difficulties because we know the Problem Solver. If in whatever life brings, we choose to sing praise to our God, we will truly find life to be an adventure!

“Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with promise)

that it may be well with thee,

and thou mayest live long on the earth.” Eph. 6:2-3

Wow! Do we want a good, long life? In this reference we are told that if we honor our dads we can have a good long life (See Exodus 20:12-13; Deut. 5:16). Today we want to honor our fathers. My dad certainly lived a long fruitful life and died at the ripe old age of 100 with his faculties totally intact. I miss him but my memories are precious. Here is one of his poems on dads.

DAD
by Charlie Grier

When I was a tiny tot
Someone cuddled me a lot;
Used to hold me on his knee -
Enter in my childish glee
And by story, or by song,
Entertain me all day long
He’s my Dad!

Sometimes he would counsel me
‘Bout the man he hoped I’d be.
Now I’m grown and gone my way
Father hasn’t much to say.
Still the question comes to me,
Am I all he hoped I’d be?
He’s my Dad!

Now a little “fuzzy head”
Occupies a trundle bed -
Laughs and coos – I do declare
Couldn’t do without him there!
Never knew before such joy
Could come from so small a boy -
I’m his Dad!

Sometimes I become quite grave -
Will he always have to slave
Like his dad from dyer need,
Or, will he in life succeed?
Most of all, will heaven and earth
Be made richer by his birth?
I’m his Dad!

Listen, somewhere there’s a man
Who has tried as best he can,
For his daughter, or his boy
Who was once his fondest joy,
If he’s still alive today,
Make him happy in some way -
He’s your Dad!

Maybe, in this world of strife,
He has missed some things in life.
Don’t be proud if you have had
Privileges denied to Dad.
You owe much to him today
Try to show it in some way -
He’s your Dad

(Note — Written when John Grier, Sr. was a baby in 1941)

I love this poem, written by my brother, John Grier Sr., a number of years ago. The son of whom he speaks in this poem is now in his early 40’s.

MY WEALTH

By John Grier

I am a sergeant, tough and grim

My uniform’s spotless – my hair trim

My boots, how they glisten!

My brass, how they shine!

The Army’s my job – the glory’s Mine.

I have a son, nearly grown

His mind young, his face bold –

My logic’s funny! My thinking’s odd!

His logic’s regular! His thinking’s mod!

The boy’s my son – the story’s old.

I have a Dad, old and wise.

His life’s been long, his spirit tried.

His body, how it’s suffered!

His family, how they’ve cried!

The man’s my Dad – the records rise.

I have a Savior, strong and true.

He gave His life, He’s not through.

His death, how He suffered!

His life, How He lives!

The Lord’s my friend – The Glory’s His!

Perhaps your father was not like ours. Perhaps you never had the privilege of knowing your father – maybe he was always gone or had passed away. That doesn’t mean that you can’t experience the joy of having a Father love you. Our Father in heaven longs to be the dad you never had. The Bible says we can call our Father in Heaven, “Abba” or “Daddy.” I chose in my early 60’s to call Him “Abba” so I wouldn’t get confused with my own ‘daddy’ in my mind. I wrote this poem about my Father in Heaven.

Abba Father

By Marvine Scott

Have you climbed upon God’s lap and said

“Daddy, I’ve had a bad day.”

The Father pulls you close and whispers

“Come, child, let me hold you

And take all your fears away.”

Have you sat at the feet of Jesus

As He shared burdens to help you to ‘see’?

“Dear One” He lovingly tells you

“Lost people are dying each moment

Without anyone to tell them of Me.”

Have you sat on the Father’s knee

While He tells of His love for you?

He has provided protections from Satan

And comforts you as He conveys

Just what He wants you to do.

He tells you He’s with you always.

His weapons are at your command.

No enemy can ever defeat you

For Jesus is always beside you

And He’s right there holding your hand.

“Oh, Lord, You’re a wonderful Savior!

A glorious, Almighty Friend!

I praise and worship you, Jesus!

Oh, help me to share your burden

So that people would let you come in.”

God has many challenging things to say to Fathers. It is such an important subject that He mentions Fathers many times in the Bible.

· Father 979 times

· Father’s 147 times

· Fatherless 43 times

· Fathers 549 times

I love this verse, “Like as a father hath compassion upon his children, so hath the LORD compassion upon them that fear Him” Psalms 103:13 (JPB). When your little girl or boy crawls on your lap with a big hug and says, “I love you daddy,” does your heart thrill? What happens when you see your little child having difficulties and they run to you, their dad, for help; is your heart tender and protective toward them and their troubles? Do you see them having trouble and refuse to go to you when you could really help them? How does that make you feel? Are you filled with sorrow?

The Bible says that is what God’s compassionate heart is like. God looks upon His children with compassion. Are you having trouble? God really cares. Our Father wants to help us. Shall we let Him?

ALL YOU DAD’S OUT THERE –

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

“And hath made us kings and priests…” (Revelation 1:6)

The Bible says when we accept Jesus as Savior; we are ‘Kings and Priests.’ We are children of The King! My sister, Dee, and I used to play when we were children that we were princesses. Oh, how much fun we had! We didn’t have anything like television or computer games to distract us so we could just enjoy playing.

RICHES REJECTED

By Marvine Scott

Nestled in a peaceful, quiet, very beautiful valley lays a calm and restful town. On the cliffs towering over the little village lives a King in a magnificent castle. For years he lived all alone since the death of his only son. He carefully watches over the activities of the people living at the foot of his mountain. They are, for the most part, unaware of his personal care in their lives.

In this village a very elegant restaurant was established whose owner was particularly careful about his garbage. He had only new, painted, clean garbage cans. All entrails or raw or spoiled meat were first put into small bags and tied before being deposited into the cans. The very poor found his garbage cans a wonderful source of good food.

Kat (short for Katchitory) was a boy about eight years of age who daily made his way to this garbage can for his meals. He was proud of this spot. He had had to fight older boys to keep it but it was his! He was dirty, ragged and painfully thin, but had circumstances been different, he would have been a very handsome young man.

Kat took a deep breath filling his lungs with the aroma of bacon, eggs, and sausage. His stomach began to growl. “I sure hope there’s good food in the cans this morning,” he thought as he eagerly began to open the can.

Kat suddenly went flying backwards as a big kid picked him up and threw him yelling: “This is MY can now! You get out!” Kat leaped nimbly to his feet as his circumstances had taught him. Fear clutched him inside but he had to win . . . he just HAD to! Kat began to dance around the other boy watching carefully for an opening. As quick as a blink, Kat would dash in and punch the kid hard in his stomach or back and be right back out again.

“Stand still ya little creep!” the older boy bellowed. But Kat just continued his little dance until the older boy gave up and left.

“I’ll be back. You can count on it!” he growled with an angry promise.

Kat was sorting the food from his can when he was addressed by a very rich white-haired man who was straight, tall and very distinguished looking.

“Young man, may I have your attention please?”

“Me? The young man gasped, his entire attention fixed upon the rich man, suddenly recognizing the King.

“Yes,” the gentleman replied. “I would like you to come home with me. I want to adopt you as my son. I will train you and prepare you for your inheritance. All you have to do is come with me and agree to do as I say.”

“Oh!” the young man spoke in astonishment. Kat couldn’t say anything for a few minutes as he pondered this new development. God live with the King? Na! He couldn’t really mean that. Never have to be hungry again? But he had just fought an older kid and won! But would he win next time? Of course he would. But still…

“Can’t you just give me the money and let me live here where I am comfortable?” Kat finally asked.

“Oh, no!” The gentleman gentle answered, ignoring Kat’s rudeness. “You must come with me and learn how to live as a gentleman. You can only receive your inheritance if you follow my instructions. But you would live in my castle with me and would never want for anything again. You would not have to sort garbage to eat. I want to make you my son!”

Sadly the young man responded wistfully, “I would love to go with you but I get such good food from this garbage can. I would miss it so much. I just cannot give up my life on the streets and my clothes and my garbage can to go with you.”

“Besides, I really don’t know if I could obey anyone either.” He added honestly.

The gentleman carefully controlled a smile as he squatted down at eye level. “Are you afraid you will be back here looking for garbage: that I will throw you out?”

“Not really, the boy bluffed. “I just like my life like it is. I cannot image wanting to go and live with someone else and having them tell me what to do. No offense?

“The decision must, of course, be yours but I would like you to know that I have chosen you out of everyone in this hamlet to be my son. You will be loved dearly. Your needs will be supplied. You will be completely trained to rule with me some day.”

“B…but,” the boy stammered, “You’re the King!”

“Yes, I am the King” was the firm reply.

“Can I think about this a while?” The boy pleaded.

“Yes, Kat, you may have until the end of this week. That will be four days. Then, if you feel you can trust me and my love, just come to the palace.” The King turned sadly away.

“Oh! How did he know my name?” Kat muttered. “Wait!” He finally yelled out to the King but the King was out of hearing distance.

End Story

Ridiculous? Yes it is! We are actually receiving this offer from Jesus Christ. What are we going to do?