Month: April 2016

Don’t you just love to watch those shows where the people are searching for beachfront property on a budget or buying a home in the Caribbean? How about a condo on the beach? No? How about a house, but it will cost you more? Instead of a beachfront, you might have to settle for an infinity swimming pool that fades into the ocean or the sky.

Or maybe you are into those tiny houses. One room with a loft bedroom, with a bathroom. I lived in a tiny house once for 5 years, 720 square feet, but it was called a trailer.

I may not have a mansion here on this earth, but I know I’ll have a mansion in heaven. I used to sing that song all the time, “I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop, in that bright land where we’ll never grow old, and some day yonder, I’ll never more wander but walk on streets that are paved with gold.”

Here’s what I want my mansion to look like. The main room will be a library, with beautiful walnut bookcases full of every book I’ve ever wanted to read all the way to the top of the 14 foot ceilings, with those ladders that are attached to the wall. A walnut library table and leather club chairs will be in the middle and a brick fireplace with a dark wood mantel filled with my trophies and crown of righteousness when I’m not wearing it. A window seat in the big bay window looks out over an English rose garden.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:2-3 NKJV.

However nice my mansion will be over there, the thing I want most is my Jesus and my family surrounding me. Otherwise it won’t be heaven, it will just be a house, an empty house.

We have been overrun by some crazy flying moths. Don’t give me any advice about how to get rid of them. I’ve heard it all and it all works, but that doesn’t help my attitude. I run around the house with a flyswatter or swatting in the air trying to catch one in mid-flight.

I cleaned the pantry closet completely out, putting all the craft stuff in a box to store in some other closet. I swept down the cobwebs in the closet ceiling. I ran the vacuum and sucked up all the dog and cat food that had spilled out of the containers. No, the moths didn’t come from the dog food, although I sure thought so.
Of course the secret to keeping the moths away is removing the atmosphere that attracts them, so there’s more work ahead. Just have to find where they are coming from.

What are the “moths” in your life? Those little irritating things that make your life harder? Is there something that wastes your time? What about your money? Do you always run out of money before you run out of month? Do you watch way too much TV or play on Facebook too long? You need to find the bugs. Find out what is attracting them.

“The little foxes are ruining the vineyards. Catch them, for the grapes are all in blossom.” Song of Solomon 2:15 The Living Bible.

Those little foxes or flying moths could be ruining your life.

MOTHERS OF AMERICA

America loves mom, baseball, and apple pie. America was formed at mother’s knee. Proudly standing beside their husbands, they helped tame the Old West; labored in the factories during World War II, prayed for the troops on foreign soil who were fighting for freedom.

Mothers have made America what it is today. Have you ever noticed that when the media interview a football star after the game, he usually waves at the camera and says, “Hi, mom,” never “Hi, dad.”

Which of us can name the mother of Billy Graham? What is she known for? I’m sure she was a worker in her church, probably teaching Sunday School, but did she have a career? Did she make a name for herself in Southern society? Did she make her mark in history by running for the state senate? Not that we know of. As far as we know, the greatest thing Billy Graham’s mother ever did was raise her children to serve God.

It should make us mothers humble to realize that we hold the future of our country in our hands. We cannot do this formidable task of raising our children without divine help.

My 98-year-old mother went to be with Jesus this week. She went to work as a housekeeper and caring for children when she was a teenager, and then during World War II she worked in the Army base laundry. When her children were young, she took in washings and ironings, then went to work at the school cafeteria until she retired.

Mother was well known as a woman of prayer. She prayed for her children, as well as other people. People frequently visited our home to ask for her counsel and prayer. In her last years, she said, “I wonder why the Lord is leaving me here so long,” to which I usually replied, “your grandchildren and great grandchildren need you to pray for them.” She lived every day of her life in service to the Lord and taught her children to love and serve Him too. Her children and grandchildren are proud to be descendants of such a woman of God.

Proverbs 31:28-31 CEV, “Her children praise her, and with great pride her husband says, ‘There are many good women, but you are the best!’ Charm can be deceiving, and beauty fades away, but a woman who honors the Lord deserves to be praised. Show her respect—praise her in public for what she has done.”

Get up early this next Sunday morning and take your children to church. Give your children to God and ask Him to teach you how to raise these children for Him. At bedtime, kneel down with your children and teach them how to pray. No career, no amount of money, nothing else you do in life is as important as this.