We went to Arizona a couple of months ago and spent one night with best friends from long, long ago. Imagine our surprise to randomly pick an old, well-used Bible off one of their bookcases and find this prize.
“Yep,” Gary said, “That was my very first Bible.”
It says "New Birth - Jan 4, 1970
Presented to Gary W. Elliott
By Gloria and Paul
Nichols
Date January 17, 1970"
Last February 22 was my last day at work. Sixty people were laid off right after New Years, but I got to stay on for seven more weeks. Then, thud! Don’t ask; it’s a long brutal story.
I have been unemployed for five and a half months. The long brutal wait is over.
On Monday, August 11, I begin new employment as a Technical Writer. All I can say is “Praise the Lord.” He is good. He let us drain our savings account, but always watched to make sure we never exceeded anything. Our bills are current. Our insurances are up to date. We never went without meals or gasoline. No bill collectors called. We had opportunities to donate our time and some of our resources. We had family, friends and other folks standing ever close to encourage us and pray for us. Yes, He is good.
My First Wife and I are blessed people. I’m looking forward to getting back to work. She's looking forward to it, too.
Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, praise his name; and proclaim his salvation day after day.
Psalm 96:1,2
Please enjoy other great Project Black photos at Anna Carson’s.
And visit my hats blog, too.
Today is Good Friday (talk about an oxymoron!), the day that Jesus was murdered about 2,000 years ago. Incredibly, He thought about me through the agony of that angry, rough cross and the big nails that held him onto it. Me, of all people!
And you.
"He Loved Me With a Cross"
He left a throne in heaven to come to Bethlehem.
And I will not forget the way
He loved me even then.
And everywhere He traveled
He spoke with words of love
That said He'd go to any distance
To show what I was worthy of.
And when at last the dusty road
Had turned to Calvary,
He picked up a rugged burden
So that one day I would see.
Chorus
He loved me with a cross;
He loved me with a cross.
In answer to the call of love
He loved me with a cross.
Though I could not imagine what
Loving me would cost,
My Jesus went to Calvary
And loved me with a cross.
And I would be a sinner still
Enslaved by all my sin,
If it hadn't been for Jesus
And the way He loved me then.
He loved me with a cross;
He loved me with a cross.
In answer to the call of love
He loved me with a cross
Though I could not imagine what
Loving me would cost,
My Jesus went to Calvary
And loved me with a cross.
My First Wife and I wish everyone a happy and blessed Easter weekend.
Two interesting things happened to us yesterday, February 29.
First, it was the third payday of the month, a rare February Friday for us folks that get paid every two weeks. That’s probably a once in a lifetime payday event—three in February. Maybe.
Second, for the first time in our marriage, there was enough money left in our checking account to write out a tithing check before we received that third paycheck.
Remember when you were just a little tyke? “Mom! Mom! Hey, mommy, watch what I can do!” Then you showed her the world’s most awkward somersault. “See?” And she applauded.
“Daddy! Daddy! Watch what I can do.” And you ruined a pair of new shoes when you splat your foot in a mud puddle. “See?” And Dad applauded, didn't he? Now remember when your own kids said/did the same thing? You proudly applauded, too, didn’t you? Apparently, it’s human nature to want our parents to watch what we can do.
I’ve come to believe that God is shouting the same thing to us. He must have that same urge in Himself. “Hey, kids! Kids! Hey, watch what I can do!” He’s yelling. “Lemme have a little bit of your money for a minute and watch what I can do!”
Well, that’s a paraphrase, of course. The Old Testament prophet Malachi quoted God this way: “Bring one tenth of your income into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me this way (‘Watch what I can do! Watch!’) See if I won’t open the windows of heaven for you and flood you with blessings!” (‘See?’)
My First Wife and I believe that God does math differently than we do. And He wants us to watch what He can do when we give him a tenth of what we have for a minute. So we watch and we get blessed. Somehow that little tenth opens windows.
Applaud, applaud.
My dad started a set of diaries in 1931. His last diary was 1981; his last entry on January 31, only 27 years ago. He passed away three days later.
There came a time when the diaries got lost. My brother thought I had them. I thought he had them. Where were they? Dunno. Our nieces thought we were hoarding them...
Today, January 1, 2008, he and I got together and tore into his basement. It only took an hour, but we found Dad’s diaries in the middle of a stack of old boxes. The diaries were hidden under old newspapers and notebooks. It was a moment of relief and rejoicing!
“This is a praise, Neal,” I told my brother. “This is a relief,” he replied. We had found a special family treasure that we thought had mysteriously disappeared. This is a special day.
It has fallen to me to transcribe 50 years of handwritten diaries into Word documents. Then we’ll copy those onto CDs for everyone who wants them. I hope it doesn’t take 50 years.
“…suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and say, ‘Rejoice with me! I have found my lost coin!’…”—A parable of Jesus in Luke 15:8 & 9
