My father passed away in July, 2017.  I wrote in an earlier post that he bought and sold drugs, but that was not the father that I knew for most of my life.  As I was growing up, he was the man who held and comforted me when my mother was cruel.  She used to tell me a lot how ugly I was and that she never wanted me.  Being the second child of five, I never understood why mama seemed to hate me so much and love my siblings.  Nevertheless, daddy would know when I had a bad day and would smile at me in his special loving way or he would bring me a candy bar.  He always told me the story of how when I was an infant, he would sit up with me all night, holding me on his shoulder since I was having trouble breathing.  Since I was born with asthma, that story is believable although I can’t confirm it myself.  Anyway, daddy was my champion, the one who understood and begged me to come home to get married even when mama didn’t want me to marry my husband.  She thought he wasn’t “good enough” for me since he didn’t have a college degree.  Daddy just accepted that Harry loved me and welcomed him to the family.  When I was in my early twenties, my family left Virginia and moved to Florida and did not have any contact with me for several years.  I really missed all of them, but especially my daddy.  When we finally got together again, daddy had changed.  He was addicted to various painkillers and was also selling drugs.  He was unhappy with his life in Florida and was never really honest with me after that.  I couldn’t trust him because of his addiction, so I remember sending him gift cards to MacDonald’s or clothing that he said he needed.  I couldn’t send money because I didn’t know how it would be used.  By that time, my mother had passed away (when I was 31, and we had mended our relationship by then, but that is another story).  Daddy and I continued to exchange letters and talk on the phone.  Four years ago, we traveled to Florida to visit my two siblings who live there and to see daddy.  We took him out to eat and to a museum.  He was distracted and on his phone a lot.  (That’s what people who deal drugs do, apparently.). So, it was a visit, but not a great one.  It was kind of like me just checking on daddy.  For the next four years, I called weekly or he called me, always on a Sunday.  He was getting forgetful and more frail and coughing a lot.  He had been in and out of the VA Hospital and I encouraged my brother to restore his relationship with daddy; he hadn’t seen or spoken to him for about twenty years.  James did that and daddy continued to get more and more ill.  Both of my brothers were with him in the hospital the week before he died.  I had gone to Pennsylvania for a retirement party for me and then I was going to visit my daughter; after that,  I was going to turn around and head to Florida to see my father.  We did Skype with my brothers at my retirement party and again from the hospital.  I was told that daddy was dying and I wanted to head to Florida right away, but my brothers and my children were telling me that the trip and seeing daddy in his failing condition would be too much for me. (I had a stroke in 2015.). So, I continued with my plan to visit with my daughter and her family.  One week later, I got the call from my brother that I dreaded…daddy had passed away.  I had told him goodbye by FaceTime after they had moved him into hospice. James was with him when he died.  I was inconsolable; my champion, my hero had passed away.  No, he did not live a perfect life, but the daddy I knew is the one pictured above, loving and playing with my son Steven as an infant.  I miss my father and I always will.  I am thankful that James was with him and could report that daddy knew the Lord as His Savior and died peacefully.  I love you, daddy.  Happy Father’s Day.

3-2-1 Quote Me was started by A Guy Called Bloke.  I have been tagged to participate in the fun by Miraculous Smile.

Easy Rules:

• Thank the selector…Thank you, Christy Istrate at Miraculous Smile!
• Post 2 quotes for the dedicated topic of the day.  “Happiness” is today’s topic.
• Select 3 bloggers to take part in the challenge.

My 2 quotes:

”Wisdom is choosing to do now what you will be happy with later on.”-Joyce Meyer”

”Folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”-Abraham Lincoln

My three nominees:

140characterchristian.com

Efua

Jessica

I hope you enjoy this.  Happy Saturday to everyone!

Vickie  🤗

 

I would like to once again thank Cindy from realchristianwomen.com for the opportunity to share with you these last few days. My final quotation is near and dear to my heart. Corrie Ten Boom was a dear Christian lady who suffered greatly during WWII. You can read her testimony in her book THE HIDING PLACE. It’s an amazing story of God’s love and forgiveness.

I am happy to accept this nomination for the #awesomebloggeraward  from Perfila at helpbreakthesilence.com.

Here are the answers to the questions she posted:

1. What is the most annoying habit that other people have? Chewing gum when they are doing a speech
2. What do you wish you knew more about? God 
3. What are you interested in that most people haven’t heard of? The Rapture
4. What’s the farthest you’ve ever been from home? Spain
5. What amazing thing did you do that no one was around to see? I gave a lady who had no money for Christmas money to buy gifts after her husband left her.  I never told her where the money came from, but she gve the “middle person” a beautiful magnet to thank her anonymous donor.
6. What do you hope never changes? My love and devotion to God
7. What is the luckiest thing that has happened to you? I won the money that I gave to the lady in #5.  It was a drawing at the apartment house that I was living in.  
8. What age do you want to live to? Until I have completed all God has for me to do on earth
9. What are you most likely to become famous for? I will never be famous, but I want to be remembered as a wife, mother and grandmother who loved her family and the Lord Jesus
10. What’s the dumbest thing you’ve done that actually turned out pretty well? I baked a cake without breaking the eggs.   A little crunchy, but it was edible

• Thank the person who nominated you
• Include the banner in your post
• Tag it under #awesomebloggeraward in the reader
• Answer the question which the nominator gave you
• Nominate at least 5 awesome bloggers
• Give your nominees 10 questions to answer
• Let your nominees know that they’ve been nominated

My nominees are :  anyone who reads this and would like to participate.  I don’t have any followers that are not Awesome Bloggers.

Questions to Answer:

1.  What is one thing about your life that you would change if you could?              2.  What current celebrity would you like to meet and why?                                         3. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?                                       4.  What is your favorite food?                                                                                                 5.  What movie could you watch repeatedly and never get tired of it?                       6.  What is your favorite season?                                                                                               7.  Which famous artwork would you hang in your living room:  Picasso, Monet or Dali?                                                                                                                                               8.  Where would you go on vacation if you could go to anywhere in the world?     9.  Do you prefer the beach or the mountains?                                                                     10.  What book have you read that has made a lasting impression on you?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since God made everything, He can be trusted to take care of us, no matter what we are going through. Life is hard.  That’s a fact!  No matter how weak or incapable I feel, I have an awesome God who is only a prayer away.  Let me tell you a true story of what happened to me when I was a young mother in my twenties.  My husband and I felt called to sell everything we could and attend Youth With a Mission in New Jersey.  At the time, our daughter was only an infant, about a year old.  We really didn’t know what we were getting into, but we felt that the Lord had called us there for training.  Well, we learned a lot about the Bible and my husband was able to go on missions trips while I remained behind with the other moms with children.  This discipleship school was not really prepared to have families with children, so there were a lot of challenges.  One of them was that we needed milk for our children, and that was not available at YWAM.  So, all the parents met together one night and just laid it out before the Lord that we had young children who needed milk.  The next morning, all of us had a gallon of milk outside our doors.  No one at YWAM admitted that they provided the milk that kept coming as long as we were there.  But God knew our need and provided it.  He cares about the little details of our lives.  He is the one I can always go to, tell him exactly how I am feeling and not be turned away. God is only a prayer away, and He is never too busy to listen.  God is good, all the time.  He is the Creator of the Universe, and He cares about me.  Amazing, isn’t it?  What has our Amazing God done for you?  Please comment.  I would love to read testimonies of God’s greatness in your life.

I am very grateful to Cindy Dawson at realchristianwomen.com for nominating me for this challenge.

I nominate Sue Love at runwithit.blog.  I will be contacting her with the information about the challenge.

My commentary on the quotation:  Keep flying!  God won’t let you down!

I have been nominated by Cindy Dawson at realchristianwomen.blog for this challenge. Thank you, Cindy for giving me another outlet for my beliefs.

This is my quote for today because it reminds me of God’s commandment to love.  We never know what others are going through, so just be kind, always.

I nominate Pastor Unlikely at pastorunlikely.com for this challenge.

God says that he is always our refuge and will be with us no matter where we are. So when I’m feeling like I’ve dropped into a big, dark hole of discouragement, God is right there with me. In my loneliness and times of absolute frustration, God has been there with me. He is with me now. He was close beside me when I was so desolate that I could not be with my father when he was dying. The Father who always loves and understands has been with me when I raised against death and the other circumstances of life over which I have no control. Do you know the One who is always a refuge and who tells you to be strong because He is with you? There is nothing like having God as a friend!

These two topics do not seem to go together, but I will try to explain how my mind is working this morning to make the connection.  The Bible says that “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  (Proverbs 9:10). This is not the fear you feel when you hear a strange sound at night that awakens you and makes your heart beat fast.  No, I’m referring to reverence for the Lord, the respect due Him because He is the Creator and the one who hears and answers our prayers.

How does this kind of fear help us to escape the snare of death?  Well, if we fear the Lord, then we follow what He has told us to do.  And one of the things that the Lord emphasized during His ministry was to forgive others.

If you want God to forgive your sins, then you have to forgive others.  When I think about all that Jesus has forgiven me, it makes it easier to forgive others.  The Lord didn’t say that forgiveness was an option if you felt like it.  No, he stated that if you refuse to forgive others, then Your Father won’t forgive your sins.  And Colossians says you MUST forgive one another AS the Lord as forgiven you.  “Must” is something you have to do.  For example, if you want to arrive safely at your destination when you are driving, you must stop at the stop signs.  That is not a stop if you feel like it.  It’s a warning to do it in order to save your life, just in case another car is coming at the same time.  Likewise, having bitterness in your heart is like going through a stop sign.  You are taking unnecessary chances with your life.  Who does unforgiveness hurt?  Not the person you are angry with!  It hurts you!  Don’t you think your Heavenly Father knows the stress that bitterness and anger against someone causes you?  So, He who knows you best and loves you most has told you to fear HIm and in so doing to follow His advice that leads to life, i.e. forgive.  Don’t hold grudges.  I speak from experience because I used to say as a matter of routine, “Yes, of course, I have forgiven (fill in the blank), but I am not forgetting what they did to me.”  Sounds good, right?  I forgive, so I am doing what God told me to do.  Not really.  When God forgives our sins, they are removed from His memory.  He sees us through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.  (Psalm 103:12 says God removes our sins “as far as the east is from the west.”). Now, if you are honest, then you know that true forgiveness is hard.  Each time a person who has offended you comes to your mind, you should be saying to yourself that you have forgiven him or her.  Then, move on with your life and don’t dwell on the offense.  Who is helped by forgiveness?  You are! Physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Do you want to feel better?  Fear the Lord and forgive!  Over and over again…as many times as you are offended, forgive and you will reap the benefits of freedom from holding a grudge.  And perhaps in so doing, you will save a friendship or a marriage or another important relationship. Doing God’s will is always what is best for us!

I have been young and now and I old and I have enjoyed the presence of God in my life for over forty years.  He has always been there for me, just as you have been there for your children or special friends.  When I first had a newborn baby, I was amazed that she would cry and the crying would cease when I picked her up.  It was my presence that comforted her.  Likewise, when you cry out to God, His presence comforts you.  In His presence, you can have joy, knowing that God loves you and will comfort and care for you and all of your needs.  If you don’t know the path to life, it’s an easy one to find.  Just pray for Jesus to forgive your sins and come into your heart.  The real journey of life starts there; that is when you begin your journey to eternal life with the Savior of the world leading you and holding your hand.  Do you know what it’s like to be in the presence of God?  Come to Him and find Him at the end of your questions and your cry for someone to hold you.  He has been there the whole time, waiting for you to admit that you need Him to guide you on the path to life.