Rose buds

John 15:4-5

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Abiding in Christ - His provision for us. What a wonderful place to be,

And to think He abides in us. This is so wonderful to see. 

We cannot bear fruit alone, we must be in the Vine,

Abiding in the Him brings joy and truly our lives do shine.

Bearing fruit for the Master is our service, we cannot do it alone

,Eternity will reveal our works when we bring sinners to His throne. 

I know that I can do nothing without my Savior's aid,

But all that I do is for Him and all the credit upon him is laid.(RP)

When our daughter Joy died, we purchased a rose bush. The name is Knock-out Pink.  It's our constant reminder of Joy.  I water it daily, give it Miracle Gro weekly.  Last night when watering, I counted 141 buds on it, and stopped counting.  It is amazing.  What a pleasant memory it gives us!  I am in the last phase of correcting the edited pages of our book.  I will then print a copy to be read again.  After that Laurel said she wanted to read it once more.  We are happy with her thoroughness.  Thanks so much for praying.  Today is physical therapy for Margie.   

Finally

Philippians 4:6 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

We all are anxious to some degree, and the Lord speaks now to us,

Listen up to the advice He gives and put a stop to your fuss.

If we would pray as He ordains and thank Him more and more, 

We'd be blessed so very much, and there would be more in store(RP)

With a dandy little sweeper that picks up dirt so easily, Margie has used it almost daily.  It is light, battery operated so there are no cords to trip over.  This has made me very lazy as I continued my book work.  Yesterday I decided it was about time for me to get the vacuum out and give the house a thorough cleaning.  So I did.  I also dusted.  I had the time because we, at the moment, do not have any pages book pages to clean up and put in the final manuscript.  Today perhaps more will be ready.  Tomorrow was supposed to be the deadline for us to qualify for a Christmas promotion of our book, but we know that will not happen.  That's ok.   Thanks so much for praying. 

Challenges

John 6:5 

And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

Food and water are the mainstays of life, without them we would die, 

Spiritually so we need them too and Jesus is the one who can supply.

He is the water of life, and spiritual food He freely offers to all,

And His offer is for everyone in the world, whether you are great or small.

Come to Jesus who will give you life; drink deeply from His well,

Start anew with this message of hope, and to others gladly tell.

With Jesus as Savior, you will never thirst spiritually again, 

Why not decide right now to spread the blessed word and begin(RP)

We all face challenges.  Our book is still challenging us daily.  This is not a negative.  We enjoy what we are doing.  There are processes that have to take place. For each person we suppose the way these things are handled matters much.  We are novices, and have much to learn.  Thanks for praying about this matter for us.  We appreciate it.  Yesterday we took our son out for a meal.  We had a nice time.  He returned home right after that.  

Great day

1 Peter 5:6-7 

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Humble Christians are God's desire for every one of us,

For all who follow His command for them it is a plus.

He exalts each one who humbly walks this road,

Cast your care on Him, He will gladly take your load.(RP)

Rawlie is with us and we have enjoyed having his company.  He goes back today.  He and all the family were here for the Old Settlers activities, mainly the parade yesterday.  We will be in church this morning and I will spend the rest of the day trying to complete the edited pages for our book.  As you have heard through this site, it is quite a process but we love every minute of it.  WE trust you all have a good day.  Thanks for your prayers,

Busy day

James 4:13-14

Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city,spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit. whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow.For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say,If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.

It's natural for us to be in control, we want to run our ship,

But something's missing we forget and often easily skip.

Making our plans without the Lord, leads to a big surprise,

Because our life is a vapor and acting this way is unwise.

We know not what tomorrow holds so speak no words in haste,

Depend upon the Lord, and you will not be disgraced.

Learn to say from you heart each day,This I'll do If the Lord wills,

And I know beyond a doubt this will enrich and give you many thrills.(RP)

A bright sunny day greeted us.  Our family will be busy attending the festivities of the Old Settlers Parade and other activities of the day.  Margie and I will not attend.  It is too challenging for Margie.  We are more than content to remain here.  I want to continue anyway, on the Brazil book details.  Thank you for your prayers,

Old Settlers Association

Psalm 71:6 By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of You.

Our loving Lord has watched me from before the cradle to the grave,

And when I trusted Him as Lord, He all my sins forgave.

He cares for me all along the way and I praise Him now for this,

If I do not continually praise Him, I surely have been remiss(RP)

July 25-28 is the Ferndale Old Settlers activities.  We will not be going to any of them, but some of our family members will be up today to participate.  It is a well-attended event here in our city and has been happening for many years.  Yesterday was prayer meeting for us and we always enjoy being with those who attend.  Today is hair day for Margie.  We will also go by Laurel Hick's place to pick up more finished copies of the Brazil book.  As mentioned, Gina and probably Monique will be here this afternoon.  It will be an active day.  Thanks so much for praying. 

Delight

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.1 Peter 5:8

We cannot waste a minute in our vigil with the Lord, 

The devil seeks to get us, his wrath on us outpoured.

He never gives up, and his enemies he constantly pursues,

And we must never give in because his motive is to confuse.

Our defense is sober living and vigilance from above, 

All this bathed in prayer, and our Savior's mighty love. (RP)

Yesterday we were delighted to have lunch with Lillian King in Lynden.  She attended our church when I was pastor.  Now in her 90th year, it was nice to fellowship with her while we enjoyed a meal at Dutch Mothers, in Lynden. I took the last set of manuscript pages for Laurel to read.  There are a lot of them so it will take awhile.  Margie had her physical therapy yesterday and it went well.  We appreciate your prayer support.