It's Been a Little While .....

I haven't logged on to my Blog in such a long time I wondered if it was still here! But, like a wonderful old friend, here it is ...

    
     Scrolling through the list of Blogs I follow I noticed some, like me, hadn't posted in a while, and that's OK since their last posts are all new to me!

     However, it's the Bloggers that have continued writing and sharing these past couple of years that touched my heart this morning.   I applaud your diligence in sharing tidbits of your life. 

     Catching up has been great and while I don't make promises I'm not sure I can keep, let's just say ...  

Hello again and see ya soon!

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Here's a little story for you...

A dad and a mom went to church one Sunday evening in separate cars.  When services were over the dad thought the mom had their child and the mom thought the dad had him; however, both were wrong. Six year old "Little Johnny" had fallen asleep on the pew during the services and both parents had left church without him.  While turning the lights off in the church building, the Pastor discovered Little Johnny just waking up from his pew nap.  Realizing the dad and the mom had made a terrible mistake, the Pastor calmly took Little Johnny by the hand and led him to his car, intending to call his parents and let them know that he would take Little Johnny home.   To further calm Little Johnny the Pastor had promised an ice cream cone on the way home.  As he was strapping Little Johnny in the backseat of his car the Pastor noticed a vehicle speeding toward the church.  He watched as the panic-stricken dad bounced into the church parking lot, slammed his car into park and jumped out before the vehicle had a chance to come to a complete stop.  Relief flooded the dad's face when he saw Little Johnny strapped in the backseat of the Pastor's car wearing a happy and content expression on his face.  Little Johnny never realized that for a brief moment that evening, he had been forgotten by his parents.  

 

I mentioned in a previous post that I've been researching my family through an ancestry site.  I've noticed many of the headstones online include the phrase GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.  It's nice to see that loved ones marked the graves as a reminder that it was important that this person be remembered by their family.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/atoach/2840067513/sizes/m/in/photostream/

My Mom and I were remembering my Grandmother last month on what would have been her 102nd birthday, Mom said, "Yes, she's GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN".   When Granny was with us she always reminded us that January the 27th was her birthday.  I smile when I remember how often she said to us, "you know, January the 27th, that's my birthday." 

My Grandmother wasn't unique in wanting to be remembered on her birthday; the truth is, we all like to be remembered.  Whether we display it to the world or keep it to ourselves, it upsets us to be forgotten.  Our spirit rebels against the idea that we are not as important to others as we thought we were. 

Have you ever felt that you were forgotten?  Imagine standing alone on the curb waiting for a ride and realizing you've been forgotten!  In that moment you feel abandoned, insignificant and your day has likely been ruined. 

Two very sad verses in the Bible to me are

Matthew 26:56 and Mark 14:50. 

Mathew 26:56, "But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.  Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled."
Mark 14:50, "And they all forsook Him, and fled."

Both verses relate the reaction of the disciples when Jesus was arrested in the Garden.  While His followers did not forget the Lord they did forsake Him. 

To forsake means to distance oneself from someone or something.   As Jesus was being arrested, the fearful disciples felt they needed to put as much distance between themselves and Jesus as they could.  Peter did try to defend the Lord with his sword, but even that feeble attempt was more out of anger and fear than bravery.  However, before we are hasty in our criticism of the disciples we must take a personal look at the ways in which we are guilty of forsaking our Lord. The disciples had been with Jesus for about 3 1/2 years, yet their fear caused them to flee. 

Jesus knew more about being forsaken than I ever will.  The Heavenly Father had to turn away from Him as He hung on the cross bearing the sins of mankind.   Mark 15:34 are the words of Jesus, "...My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"  Notice that even in His lowest, human moment, Jesus acknowledged that God was still and forevermore, HIS GOD. 

Hopefully you were not forgotten on Valentine's Day, unfortunately people may forget us and loved ones may even forsake us.  But, here's wonderful assurance:  God will never leave us nor forsake His own!  I pray that God in Heaven is your God and that Jesus is your Savior.  If you do not know Him or you have doubts about your relationship with the Heavenly Father, please go to Him in prayer ~ He will hear and answer you if you go to Him and humbly pray.




PLEASE NOTE:  For the purposes of this post the above story  of Little Johnny is a compilation of three similar, but separate stories that my Dad (a Pastor) related to us over the years.














 

HAVE A LOVELY DAY

 

"Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.   For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:37-39



I hope God's love shines throughout your day...

~Pamelyn

 

 

 

TIME OUT!

So, I took a little time away from the Blog World... 

What kept me away has been 3 little distractions 

and 1 slight frustration.

3 LITTLE DISTRACTIONS

 

• Our family enjoyed a great Christmas and New Years.  We are a large family so when we have the chance to ALL be together we "seize the day" and make it an event.  I love my big ole Southern family!

• I recently joined Ancestry.com and even though I was warned by my sister, I have been consumed with researching our family tree on my Mom's side of the family.  I love those little leaves!

• Been planning a trip in late Spring to Ireland with my family!  Going to Ireland is the only item in my bucket list and I'll blog about that later.

1 SLIGHT FRUSTRATION

 

Every time I sign in to Blogger I get a creepy little message. I'm not a computer guru by any means, so I followed some suggestions from online helpers and hopefully I can continue with Blogger.  If, however you prefer, you can follow me at BlogLovin. 

Life is full of distractions and frustrations but the main thing is still the main thing.  God has blessed me with a loving family, dear friends and so many ways to stay in touch.  Thank you to those that read this little blog...

Rescue the Perishing

What could be more satisfying to a human than to be in a position to rescue another human from injury or death?  We see news reports all the time of ordinary people that do extraordinary things for people in need.  When asked, these heroes usually reply, "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."  When I see these stories I'm always reminded of the words written by Fanny Crosby, "Rescue the Perishing". 

 

This song praises the Rescuer of our souls and acknowledges the fact that we are not the rescuers ~ God is the Rescuer.   It is vital that we remind ourselves that we, as believers, are sinners saved by grace.  My perishing soul needed rescuing by God.  We, as believers, have an important part to play as witnesses to those that need a Savior, but even though we may desire to, we cannot save anyone.  Salvation is God's divine work and we must ACKNOWLEDGE God's part: 

 

Psalm 25:15, "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for He shall pluck my feet out of the net."

Psalm 121:1, 2  "I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.…;"



Then, we can IDENTIFY our part in this divine work:
Matthew 9:2-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:18-26 

• Be available for God's use in helping others.  Stay in touch with Him through daily prayer and Bible study. 
• Be a prayer warrior for others.  I believe in the power of prayer because I have experienced the power of God in my own life when others have prayed for me.
• Be a patient and loving encourager. 
• Depend on God for results.  Meeting the needs of others is God's job and the results are due to His power, grace and mercy.
• Recognize the fact that people are perishing and their greatest need is a Savior.

Finally, remember that we are the INSTRUMENT, not the healer.

Consider the surgeon and the scalpel.  In the operating room, it would be ludicrous for a surgeon  to ask the scalpel where to make an incision on a patient.  The scalpel does not have the capabilities to perform an operation without the hand of the surgeon.  The same is true when we, as sinners saved by grace, attempt to perform the divine work of God's hands in the lives of others. 

 

As I look forward to 2014 I pray that I will

ACKNOWLEDGE God's divine work in the lives of others,

IDENTIFY my part in sharing the gospel,

and strive to be an INSTRUMENT

God can use to rescue the perishing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Feels Like Christmas

  

 

I'm feeling much more "Christmas-y" this year...

It's not the weather where I live because we've had a few hot and humid days in the 80's...

It's not the shopping frenzy at the mall because I'm doing most of my shopping online...

It's not the aroma from the oven because I don't bake...

Nevertheless, it feels like Christmas...

Maybe it's because we had a crowd for Thanksgiving this year to kick off the holiday spirit...

Maybe it's because I like the way my Christmas tree turned out this year...

Maybe it's because I know what gifts I want to buy...

Maybe it's because I've been watching Hallmark Christmas movies for about two weeks already...

Actually, it's none of those things. 

 

My Christmas spirit is lifted this year because way back in January I put my complete faith and trust in the Lord and I  have no doubts that He is the Lord of my life.  CLICK HERE TO READ MY TESTIMONY 
 

 

IT FEELS LIKE CHRISTMAS...

 



...  Because when I read the Christmas story in Luke chapter 2 my heart fills with the love God bestowed on His people by sending His only Son.

... Because when I hear a Christmas carol I feel joy and can imagine the shepherds hearing stanza and verse rendered by the heavenly host about the Savior of the world.

... Because in every Christmas card I receive I think of the angel's wondrous announcement to a poor young virgin named Mary.

... Because when I see Christmas lights twinkle and shine I think of the majesty of God in heaven.


... Because when I see gifts wrapped under the Christmas tree I  know I have been blessed with the greatest gift of all...

JESUS
 IMMANUEL
 GOD WITH US.

My prayer is that Jesus is your Savior and you are

having the best Christmas season of all!

 

Merry Christmas!

Pamelyn



THANKFUL

I've been inspired by so many Facebook friends that have been sharing what they are thankful for that I've decided to make a list myself. 

 

First and foremost,

The God of my salvation



And now, in no particular order...

My family

My church family

My home

Prayer

God's Holy Word

Love

Friends

Music

Shared Laughter

Libraries

My health

Coffee

And finally,

Blogging friends like YOU that inspire me
 

 

 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!