How Can I Be Saved?

 

http://www.billygraham.org/SH_HowtobecomeaChristian.asp

The link posted above explains with crystal clarity:   

HOW TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN

If you are not sure, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you are saved and will one day spend eternity in Heaven, please go to the link above.  It's the best explanation I've seen and anyone can understand it.

Don't speculate and count on the fact that you will have plenty of time to make that decision.  None of us know how many days we have on this earth, and then it will be too late to decide.

Oktoberfest in Chattanooga!

Wow! What a wonderful Sunday we've had!  Started the day off with church and the Holy Spirit was working so mightily that the Pastor didn't even get to deliver his sermon!  People just start coming down to the altar and getting saved!  One person got baptized and another joined the church!  When you spend the week praying and are sensitive enough to move over so as not to interfere with the working of the Holy Spirit, as our Pastor is, God can work in mighty ways!  We saw that happen this morning! 

After a wonderful time in worshipping the Lord, my husband and I went to Sticky Fingers for their Sunday buffet deal!  Yum! 

After that, it was so beautiful outside, we decided to go home and shed the dress clothes and go downtown to the Oktoberfest celebration and just walk around and I was hoping to get some good orchard apples! I've been wanting some for a while now!  The apples you get in store are nothing like what comes off the trees in the fall!  I also am posting some of the pictures of the booths and the artisan wares that I snapped photos of today. 

Here are some pictures of the delicious apples I got today!

 The above picture is of glass and brass wind-chimes.

The artist that made the above wooden bowls was very interesting.  He said he just started working with wood about two years ago!  His work was beautiful as you can see.  

It looked like glass it was polished so smooth! 

There were also some vintage VW Bugs on display.  There were two "Hippy Mobiles" I called them.  

One was a camper and the other a Hippy Surfer-Mobile. :)

 

Below are the pictures of the VW Beetles! 

Hippy Camper!

 

Surf's Up Dude!

 

 

Happy Fall!!

Dream Realities

Did you ever wake up and realize you had been dreaming?  It's funny how sometimes the real world invades your sleep and molds itself into a dream.  

This morning, I was dreaming that I was out somewhere (you know how surreal dreams can be), and I had to walk home for some reason.  I was carrying a plastic grocery sack with a quart of milk in it (that's really bizarre for me!) and I had to walk down one street and it was getting dark.  Then I had to walk down this other long street and across a bridge and it began to rain and get so foggy that I couldn't see where I was going.  I was upset that here I was in the dark and rain and still had a long walk home and my husband hadn't even come out to look for me! 

Then I woke up to the sound of a train whistle blowing far away and the sound of rain.  Wait, there was something else.....  the sound of our Boxer lying at the foot of the bed loudly knawing on his rawhide bone!  I guess he figured since I was sleeping-in and he wanted to be near me, he'd get his bone and amuse himself while he waited.  

 When I fully awakened, I found that I was "annoyed" at my dear husband!  This has happened before.  The poor man has taken the blame for things he did in my "dreams"!  ha ha! I wasn't really annoyed, just mildly!  When I told him my dream and how I was upset with him in the dream for not coming to look for me and rescue me from having to walk so far alone, in the dark, and in the misting rain and fog, he said "Jeeze...  I can get into trouble even in your dreams!"  LOL

How funny is that???? We both had a good laugh about that one!

In Search of Pumpkins

This afternoon, my husband and I left the house in search of finding "The Pumpkin Patch".  We stopped at several different places to ask if anyone knew where we might find this magical place.  I had heard some friends say they were going to "The Pumpkin Patch".  I tried in vain to find out where it was.  No one seemed to know.  We drove and drove, out towards the country, where we thought we might find it. We kept our eyes open for a "sign" along the road that might tell us we were on the right path.  No such luck!  

We passed by a place called "Linda's Produce" and there were pumpkins everywhere, as well as wonderfully colorful and delicious looking produce!  We stopped!

I couldn't help myself!  Everything looked so beautiful, I had to take pictures!

Here are some of the pictures that I snapped while we were there.  Of course, I came home with several pumpkins and then we stopped at my favorite store: Hobby Lobby and I bought some Mums and the two adorable little scarecrow people that now guard my door and offer a warm welcome to all that stop by!

Aren't these little guys CUTE???












And here are the things that I purchased for my front steps and porch:

 

 

 

 

 

Great Dane Show Draws thousands to Chattanooga, TN

These bronze statues of Great Danes were at the entrance on both sides of the building we had to enter to get into where the trials were going on.  The guy on the right was just an irresistible fella we passed on the way in and he was so docile and friendly, I had to take his picture!

This afternoon, we took Sarge, our Boxer out for a walk downtown.  We wanted to take him out for some exercise and wanted to get a Starbucks also. We got our coffee and headed downtown and decided to go walking around the gardens at the Choo-Choo.  

To our surprise, there is a huge Great Dane National Championship Dog Show going on right in our own city, and we didn't even know it!  Shows you how "informed" WE are!! :) 

Anyway, it's going on through Saturday this week at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo.

While we were there, Sarge got to see some bigger dogs than he is! He loved his sight-seeing walk today!

What I couldn't get over is how beautiful and graceful these dogs are!  They are also very docile!  Each one we came upon (almost each one) let us come right up to them and pet them.  They're very sweet animals.  The only bad thing is that they have a very short life-span.  Their owners told us they usually only live 8 to 10 years.  A 10-year old dog is a really old dog in a Great Dane.  I don't think I'd ever want one because I'd fall in love with them and then it would break my heart when they died so soon.  They are gorgeous animals though.

You can click on the link below to learn more about the Great Dane Competition in Chattanooga:

http://www.newschannel9.com/news/chattanooga-985703-great-competition.html

Here are a few of the pictures that I snapped when we went back later just to walk around a bit.

I will post more pictures in a day or two.  

We plan to go back again later in the week to see some of the dog show.  

I also took more pictures around the Choo-Choo gardens.

We Live in the Land of Plenty

Psalms 81:10b says .... "open thy mouth wide and I will fill it."

We live in the land of plenty.

But, how much do we hunger for God?  How much do we look to Him alone for our daily sustenance?  

Or do we depend on ourselves; our bank accounts; our savings; our intellect, our personality and our ability to secure a good job or to earn a living?  Some people make a living depending on 'others' and getting 'hand-outs'. 

".... open they mouth wide and I will fill it."  says the Lord.

So many times, I must admit, that looking to the Lord to fill my needs is a last resort instead of the first thing that I do. 

I  have heard such humbling stories of people in other, less well-to-do countries, that have such a strong and vibrant faith and walk with the Lord. It's a moment-by-moment thing with them.  

Recently someone spoke at one of our conferences and told of a pastor in Russia that said to him, "Oh brother..... please tell the Christians in America that we in Russia are praying for them."  When asked why in the world they would pray for us?"  

The response was: 

"Because it must be very difficult to be a Christian in America 

and to walk with the Lord daily."  

The speaker, flabbergasted, asked why he would say such a thing?"  

The response? 

"Oh because you have SO MUCH in America to distract you.  

It must be very difficult to keep your eyes on Jesus and walk with him daily. 

Here, Jesus is ALL we have!"

How humbling is that?

Deuteronomy 6:6-15 (New Century Version)

⁶ Always remember these commands I give you today.⁷ Teach them to your children, and talk about them when you sit at home and walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.⁸ Write them down and tie them to your hands as a sign. Tie them on your forehead to remind you,⁹ and write them on your doors and gates.

 ¹⁰ The Lord your God will bring you into the land he promised to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he will give it to you. The land has large, growing cities you did not build,¹¹ houses full of good things you did not buy, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. You will eat as much as you want.¹² But be careful! Do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves.

 I have to agree with that Russian pastor!  

Yes, it is very difficult to be a Christian in America today and it's getting more difficult by the week, as more and more of our freedoms as Christians are being taken from us.  Why are we losing our Christian liberties?  Because we have become so comfortable in our status quo and seeking the almighty buck and the many comforts of this life and enjoying the fruits of our labors that we 

"FORGET" 

just WHO it is that brought us here and gave us our health and breath and life and intellect and abilities to do what we do and gain the lifestyles that we enjoy.

May God save us from "forgetfulness".

"And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, 

and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."  

Deut. 6:5

 

The Beauty of Death

Romans 6:23 says: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord."

Just look around you in the fall.  What is it about autumn that everyone loves so much?  It's the beauty in the colors, the smells, the cooler weather.  The beauty that we see all around us is caused by "death".  The leaves are dying and falling off of the trees and even in doing so, they are beautiful.

This is what "death" is like for the Christian, the person that has been "born again", through placing their faith in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus said that those who believe in Him will not see death!  Death is only the separation of our spirit from this body of flesh.   (John 8:51,52)  Just as the leaves die and fall from the tree in a splash of glory, so shall it be when we leave this "body of death" and open our eyes in the presence of our Lord and Savior.

There is "Beauty in death".   

Don't You Just Love Autumn?

Don't you just love fall?  When the air is cooler and the leaves are turning into beautiful reds, oranges, yellows and browns?  The air smells of decaying leaves...  why is it that this should smell so GOOD??  Fall Mums and pumpkins and gourds and hay bales.  There's no other season that brings such happy feelings and  yet regrets to me.  When fall arrives, I suddenly realize that winter isn't far behind!  But then I think of November and Thanksgiving and then Christmas just four weeks later!

Today my dear husband got up and decided he was going to do some work in our yard, now that the weather is cooler.  There is much to be done!  My back prevents me from doing much yard work anymore, so I decided to do some work on my novel today instead.  (I still have far to go on it before it will be finished.) 

There is one thing I don't like about fall though and that is that now, we will soon be facing the daylight savings time change and our daylight hours will be shorter.  I love the longer days of summer and wish we could have more daylight all year long.  But then I guess we wouldn't feel that need to "snuggle-in" as we do when it begins getting dark earlier.

The above picture was taken several years ago when my Mom carved a pumpkin.  I still remember when we were all at home as kids and my Mother entered a pumpkin-carving contest.  She made the most beautiful pumpkin into a Cinderella Coach with horsemen and a Barbie-turned-Cinderella. She won first prize!!  Then one of the kids at the judging booth lifted it up and dropped it and crashed it into a hundred pieces.  I sure am glad she got some pictures of that before it happened! 

Well....  Fall.  My favorite season!  "Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes" --  and a good book.  Life is good!               

My Mom's 80th Birthday Celebration

Just a couple of weeks ago, we went to Illinois, my husband and myself and our three daughters and three of our grandchildren.  We went to celebrate the 80th birthday of our Mother and Grandmother.  Below is a picture of this remarkable woman!  There has never been a day in her life that she has not sacrificed herself and her happiness to be sure that her family was loved and cared for.  She is greatly loved by each of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Because of the life she has lived, each of her children were saved (accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior) at an early age.  We are all well-balanced and happy individuals.  She loved her husband until the day he died, caring for him as a Mother would a child in his last days here on this earth.  No one could hope for a better legacy than what we have been given each day of her life as she taught us how to live and how to love each other and others.

We love you Mom!  You're a REMARKABLE WOMAN!

<<  Mom with her cake.

 <<<Mom loves to have fun!

Mom with her best friend of many, many years.