Blessings from One to Another

Greetings from Darling Hill. I'm so glad you stopped by. It seems like Spring today. Though the clouds obscure the sun, there's something about mud showing through on the road that reminds us that Spring is just around the corner.

Mom, the dogs and I took a walk on the road today. We donned our "grips" and trod over the ice and through the mud. As we neared my house Mom and I tried to decide what the temperature was outside. We settled on "almost 40". It's amazing what Spring Fever does to our minds - when we got home we saw that it was 33, just one degree above freezing. There is something about this time of year that lightens our mood and makes us ever so positive!

Something I have been praying about lately; getting together with ladies more often. I have had such a blessing spending time with Mom and our friend, Evelyn, in past months. The more time we spend together, the more that I realize that we draw encouragement from our times with other women. If the Lord wills, tomorrow we'll have lunch at Mom's and we've invited quite a few ladies to come up and share it with us. Three of them have lost their husbands within the last two years. They need the fellowship of one another in a way that many of us just don't understand, but we all need the encouragement of people who think like we do. There is no one on this earth who I'd rather spend time with than my husband. Some of these ladies do not have that privilege anymore. Spending time with them, especially older women, opens up my eyes to their needs and God uses them to teach me more about Him.

I don't know about you, but I tend to be somewhat of an introvert. I am forced to get out among people because of my many post office jobs, for which I am very thankful. The Lord knows just how to get me to interact with many people in that way. On those days that I have "free time" though, I often spend it doing my duties at home (which are really a joy and certainly need to be done) but much of my time is wasted on needless things too when I could be being used to help someone out, take someone to an appointment or just visiting a lady who needs some special attention or care.  All of these things take plenty of prayer and waiting on the Lord to open doors and lead through them. This blog, in itself, has been an answer to prayer. I prayed for many months about an opening to share blessings that God brings through His Word. I had hoped that  perhaps it might open an opportunity for ladies' Bible study or some sort of email or internet-type network for women of God to share their blessings too. In many ways it has! My blog reading list is growing and I do enjoy reading day-to-day things that are happening in the lives of our church families as well as others who I have come to know. Interspersed are many blessings and prayer requests, sent out through cyberspace. What I love about writing in this way is that you truly never know who is reading and who God may lead to read the precious words of our Lord which are contained in the posts. I love reading special passages that the Lord has opened up to other individuals also. "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38)

Oh, how much I have to learn! I am so glad that the Lord has given such dear lady-friends and that our "iron sharpeneth iron". I pray that we all keep looking for opportunities to encourage one another in the Lord while we sojourn through this life.

 Here are two special Dotty's (there's one dear Dotty missing. I sure miss her!). We spend a lot of time together and they're a real blessing to my heart.

"What I tell you in Darkness"

Sometimes Jesus puts us through "darkness". I read a verse in Matthew today, "What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in the light; and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops."(10:27). I am thankful for those times of "darkness", aren't you? The Lord speaks to us through hard times. I think He means for us to be quiet during those times so that He can really teach us; then after we are come back "into the light", we will have learned the lessons and can speak of them and help others who may be going through similar circumstances. This morning I was continuing in the book of Luke. Two malefactors hung on crosses beside the Lord Jesus at His crucifixion. They were both going through a "dark time". As I read the words of the repentant thief, I realized that he didn't have a lot of time to be quiet and listen, but perhaps his time in the "darkness" was just a fleeting one - he learned the lesson that God was trying to teach him. He learned in just a short time, that he was a sinner bound for hell unless he placed his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah.  Not only did he LEARN the lesson, but he preached it upon the housetops too. I don't know how many hours he hung there, hearing the people jeer and mock the Lord Jesus, but once God had taught him of his hopeless condition he opened his mouth and publicly gave testimony that he accepted Christ's death on the cross in payment for his own eternal death! What a lesson he taught!

Similarly, Jesus had shared with Peter (in Luke 22) that Satan desired to sift him (Peter) as wheat. Satan was going to tempt Peter. Jesus said that He had prayed for him, that his faith would not fail. He then said, "and when thou art converted, strengthen the brethren." That is the purpose for our dark times, our times of temptation (and sometimes even failing through the temptation)...that we can "speak in the light" and "strengthen the brethren", and "preach upon the housetops".

I'm trying to let God teach me that when I'm in a time of darkness I should keep quiet; don't talk to others about my darkness, don't read books about why I'm going through it, but listen (through His Word) and heed, waiting for Him to bring me back into the light. God gives us precious opportunities to "speak in the light" what He has taught us in the darkness.

God is perfect and what He does in our lives is just what we individually need! How precious to belong to a God like that.

Those who know the Lord as Savior; as we head into the day, whether we're in 'darkness' or in' the light' at this moment, I pray that we'll heed Him so that God can richly bless us as He teaches us each the lessons of life.

Dinner From a Valentine

We had a great Valentine's Day. Monday I had to work till 5:00 and then stop at a friend's house on the way home to do a few things for her. Syd was glad that I was "late" because he barely had time to get his preparations finished up. When I walked in, there was my Valentine's dinner. He had made salsa, fresh guacamole, refried beans and two huge chicken quesadillas. There was also a dozen red roses. It was just beautiful! It was also delicious. He'd been talking about making quesadillas for a few days and they were great.

We spent our Valentine's Day at a quiet little cabin on a side hill, in the woods. It was romantic. The place has electricity, running water and comes complete with two friendly dogs!  I cooked HIM dinner on Tuesday night. We had a couple small steaks and mashed sweet potatoes with steamed veggies....not so romantic, but it was yummy anyway. I had a partial bag of mini marshmallows, so did make a tiny dessert (rice crispy treats with honey nut cheerios instead).

Here, me and Lion were saying, "thanks (to Syd) for dinner and the roses". This lion was a gift from Syd several years ago. When you squeeze his paw he says, "GRrrrr--rrrr--rrr" and shivers. I take him to the post office when I'm working for Valentine's day and everyone gets a kick out of him. Ruger grabs him by the nose every chance he gets, thus the smudge.

Well, my hubby is off to work and I must get settled down to pray and read. I hope you all have a wonderful day. It's supposed to warm up for a few days in our area. The sap will run for sure!

The Eye of the Lord

I saw this "awesome" (I reserve that word only to refer to God) photo and downloaded it to my computer. It is a photo looking into a galaxy, I do not know which one. It is almost like seeing the eye of God, don't you think? This is what I thought when I saw it.

I would love to share a thought with you that I had this morning while reading in the 22nd chapter of Luke. As I read I thought of this particular picture. Jesus had been betrayed by Judas and sent to the house of the High Priest. Peter was in the courtyard, warming himself by the fire, where bystanders were declalring him to have "been with Jesus". When he denied his Lord for the third time, the cock crew and Jesus "turned and looked upon Peter". I thought about myself, and the fact that the Lord instructs me and teaches me in the way that I should go. He guides me with His eye (Psalm 32:8) and that, "the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy." (33:18). God sees when I have walked according to His will and He knows whether I have denied Him. When Jesus looked upon Peter, Peter remembered Jesus' words, "Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice", and he went out and "wept bitterly". Do I weep BITTERLY when I have denied my Lord?  The more I love the Lord, the more I will be sensitive to grieving Him. We grow to love those whom we think upon most. I pray that my mind thinks upon my Savior most of all. Oh, Father, please make my heart tender and sensitive to your eye upon my life at all times, that I will love you with all my heart, soul and mind.


The sun is shining on Darling Hill today. I hope that you're able to get out and enjoy your day and that you can come back and visit soon.

A Great Website

I just wanted to share with you readers a great website that was brought to Syd's attention at work. Syd has been suffering with kidney stones and was given a book and a website that "might help". It is HSIonline.com

This website has amazing suggestions for lowering cholesterol and cutting risk of Alzheimers. It addresses most every health issue. I won't go into depth but if you or family members are concerned about a particular health issue it is truly worth a look. I honestly thought that it was only trying to "sell me a book" at first, but after looking through it, I see that there is LOADS of information on every subject, and you don't have to buy the book to get it! I have been very concerned about getting my mother and husband OFF statin drugs for cholesterol, as they are proven "memory-stealers" and just plain, not good for you. There are two or three simple suggestions that we really want to try.

An example:
One of the suggestions for someone who may be suffering from cognitive problems: humor therapy. It was not this "laughter-therapy" that they've had in recent news. No particular "course" was being sold or suggested, but someone who is suffering from dementia-related issues can benefit greatly from humorous stories or anything that will cause belly-laughs several times per day. They did a 6 week study. One group of patients was chosen to get their daily dose of laughs. At the end of the 6 weeks they had shown significantly increased memory and mood over the group who did not go through the study. Follow-up showed that this same group continued to show elevated "good-mood" even 26 weeks after the study  had been completed! As the Bible says, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine"!

Hope you all have a great day.