Morning Thoughts

Good Tuesday morning! How was your Monday? Mine was eventful. My sister and I went by to see out mom yesterday and it was pedicure day. We used to try to make sure she was getting regular ones from the beauty shop, but she is 90 with a pretty good case of Alzheimer’s and doesn’t like other people touching her. She’s not crazy about me touching her. So while my sister does her manicure, which is no small job, I soak her feet and rub off the dead skin and cut her toenails. And Yesterday, I soaked and rubbed her feet and legs for nearly an hour to gently rub off all the dead skin. I had to switch feet every now and again because she would yell and want me to stop on that one.   When we were finished we rubbed lotion all over the pink feet and legs and my sister painted her toes. And then, I had to have a little fuss with her about putting back on the same socks—the ones that I’d taken off that were full of all that dead skin and yuck. Because they didn’t “look dirty” on the outside s...

Good Monday morning! Are we ready to start this week? I may be a little tired today—I had a busy. but awesome time Saturday with some really great ladies in Clarksville,AR. And I started showing my house yesterday—and that’s a whole thing, thank you HGTV!  Today is Georgia Caroline’s birthday! My baby girl. My blessing baby, the miracle. The one that God sent to me when I was about to lose my Daddy (George) in a tragic accident. As if God said “Yes, it’s time for me to call GT home but I’m sending you a comfort, the best gift I have for you,” and that tiny, blue eyed, blond-headed, sweet little girl who loves Jesús with all her heart has been one of the greatest delights of my life.  “Don’t you see that children are GOD ’s best gift? the fruit of the womb his generous legacy? Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed are you parents, with your quivers full of children! Your enemies don’t stand a chance against you; you’ll sweep th...

Good Sabbath day to you. I hope this day finds you well and ready to worship the Lord our God. This day I am thinking about how great our God is and how marvelous His works are. Do you ever look back on your life and trace God’s hand of wisdom? Do you ever see how even though you didn’t necessarily care about Him, He was always caring about you and making sure of the path for your life? And even if you can’t see it, you can rest assured that He was watching over you and mapping out the plan He has in store for you. It amazes me how He so carefully guides each and every one of us. And maybe along the way we made a few poor choices, but He was there to help us, and anytime we needed Him, He would hold our hand and show us how to get back on track, just like you might do with a toddler.  “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” Psalm‬ ‭147:4-5‬ ‭ It humbles me that as great and flawless...

Good Saturday to you from Clarksville, AR. Is it wet where you are? Last night Georgia, Casey and I drove down and it rained all the way. At one point it was very difficult to see the lines in the highway so Casey tried to just tuck in behind another vehicle but alas, in the dark and the rain it was impossible to know that vehicle was exiting until we exited right along with them.  In a dark, sometimes rainy and often scary world, you have to know you are following the right leader. The leader who will take you where you want to go. A leader who is of sound doctrine that knows the way home, that will will help you run the race, keep the faith, finish the course and find the crown waiting for you. So many times we see folks diligently following, following with their hearts, an easy way because it looks good, but they are following a car that’s getting off at the wrong exit. “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, ...

Happy Friday. Can you believe we have hit another week’s end? So how was yours? It’s a lot easier to measure the success of something when it’s over than before it starts, isn’t it? Today, I’m headed to Clarksville, AR to speak in the morning. I don’t have anyway to measure the success of it today, before I do it. After it’s over, I can tell you how it went.  Once when Bob was in Bible College, we went to a service at a Jewish Synagogue and afterward we were given a tour. In the back and in the halls, there are plates on the walls, each with a name and a light by the name but less than 10 percent of them were lit. The Rabbi explained to us that these plaques were in memory of those who had passed and the light came on in the month of their death. He said “When a child is born, you have no idea what kind of a person that child will become, but when a person dies, you know what kind of a life they lived. Now, you can celebrate those who lived good lives!” I’m not so sure that’s a ba...

Happy Thursday. How are you doing? If you live close to me I just have one question for you, “Are you sick of this weather yet?” Mercy. We are going to go see my dentist Dr. Reagan this morning if he can get us in. Ton lost half of his back tooth that was cracked and it is giving him fits. Isn’t it amazing how something so very small can cause such a big, tough guy so much pain? It’s not any bigger than a sunflower seed, but it is nearly debilitating for him.  Sometimes I think we believe that about sin. It’s just this one little thing. How could it possibly hurt anything? And compare that to the rest of me, it’s hardly even worth mentioning, right? But...it can literally take you to your knees. Seriously, take you all the way down. To the point you can’t think of anything else and it has consumed you because it hurts so stinking bad. Even though it was just this one little piece of one little tooth.  “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:...

Happy Wednesday to you. How are your week been going? Here, we are in the middle of what promises to be the first of our spring floods. We’ve had a steady rain for the last couple of days and last night it turned to a wintry mix. I hear in Tulsa and Kansas City it’s been a blanket of ice since yesterday and in other places not terrible far away, it’s a balmy 77. Alas, the winter-spring transition. As one of my kids said one time, winter and spring are fighting and some days winter wins and some days spring wins. And I think we all like it much better when spring wins, like last Thursday when it was 78 and we ditched the coats and pulled out the tee-shirts!  I think it’s like that in our spiritual lives too. Winter and spring fight a lot—well more like good battles evil. I think sometimes I can almost hear the fight taking place and I’ve got to choose which side I’m going to take. There’s a part of me that wants to side with the little red guy on my left shoulder that says “awh wha...