Looking out the window to see a lovely morning, my attention went to a line of geese flying south!

Heartthoughts: Covered!

Oh, no! I felt sick! Since we are trying to sell our house, we've been freshening it up to its best advantage. The floors looked a little dull, so I purchased floor cleaner/polish and applied it. It looked great! The floors glistened and brightened the whole house!

There were other areas calling for attention, and my husband got the idea to rinse paint brushes in the bathtub. By the time I discovered it, the tub was (almost) hopelessly stained! He'd also left a mop draining in the tub. I managed to scrub the bathtub clean with a lot of elbow grease and scouring pad.

I moved the heavy string mop, but I disdained wringing it, so I carried it to the kitchen. But a workman was in there, so I took the mop through the house to the porch. Looking behind me, I saw it had left a trail of drips, but I supposed they would dry soon. Imagine my chagrin when a little later I saw my path was dotted with white spots! Bleach! I hadn't known it was in the mop!

What to do? I was almost crying! Maybe I could go over the spots with the floor polish. Oh Lord, I prayed, let it work! It did! The spots were covered perfectly and everything looked as good as new! Thank you, Jesus!

I couldn't help thinking of the comparison to sin that is blotted out and forgiven when the blood of Jesus is applied to our repentant lives!

The Bible says, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin," I John 1:7. "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," I John 1:9.

Heartthoughts: Narrow Escape

"I think I will go check on the chicks and give them water," my husband said last night as we drove up from Bible study at the home of friends. The car lights illuminated the shed as he went in, and soon Howard got back in the car. "We lost a chick!" he announced grimly.

"Oh, one of them was dead?" I questioned, to which he replied that no, it had jumped out of the cage when he opened it! He had tried to catch it, but it disappeared into a dark corner. I suggested that it might show up by morning, but he was sure a cat would get it by then.

When we got inside the house and told our grandson, Adam, what happened, he quickly grabbed his coat and said, "I'll go find it!" I had little hope, but shortly he was back with the good news that he had rescued the baby chicken.

"How did you know where to find it?" I asked, amazed, but he shrugged and said, "I didn't! The cats showed me! They were crouched with their noses against an opening in the barn. I reached in and felt something soft squeezed in between a post and the wall. I thought sure it was dead, but it was fine when I put it back in the cage!"

Wow! What a relief! It reminded me of the scripture about the devil going about as a roaring lion, seeking who he could devour! "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour," II Peter 5:8.

To the helpless chick, the cats were lions! Well, a lion is just a big cat! Adam had saved the chicken's life! He was a savior for it when it was in danger and sure to be devoured! Figuratively speaking, he snatched it from the jaws of death.

The well-known evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke, says the purpose of his ministry is to "Plunder Hell to Populate Heaven!"

Where can we find sinners? They are everywhere, often searching for escape from loneliness or desperation in drugs, alcohol, or getting lost on line with so much available technology to distract from problems.

Share the good news with life-giving water from the Word of God. Be a life-saver for someone soon!

Heartthoughts: Hope

I'm noticing signs of Spring! Little fringes of of pinky-brown hang from twigs, covering the whole tree in a mist of new-leafy promise! The new season is only a couple of weeks away, and we have to set our clocks back this week-end. Not only that, Easter is imminent! Could it be our long, cold winter is on its way out? Even though it will be below freezing tonight?

We have new chicks at the farm, and the addition of a goat bought in hopes of goat-kids frolicking in the pasture come late spring/early summer. The chicks still have to be kept warm by a light at night, but we can see by their developing feathers and gangling growth that they won't need it much longer.

The Bible says we can tell when summer is coming by noticing the budding leaves: "Now learn a parable from the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near."--Jesus.

He has been speaking of the signs leading to our Lord's return. Certainly we see fulfillment of many signs in our world today. But in the future Kingdom that is to come, believers who trust in Christ will be eternally blessed and cared for. Just as the chicks will no longer need the artificial light for warmth and safety, we will be forever in the warm Light of His Presence, free from the entanglements and troubles of this world!

Our son Benjamin wrote an Easter play for his church a few years ago. In one of the last scenes, the thief on the cross who acknowledged Jesus was told the good news that that day he would be with Him in paradise. The next scene was a pre-made video clip of Jesus and the former thief running and frolicking in a field of flowers in heaven.

We may still struggle with the discomforts of winter, but look up, Easter is on its way!

Wash Day

Today I decided to hand wash a few items. The tags on the clothing gave clues as to how to care for the garments. One said, Lay flat to dry. I put it on the trampoline. The next advised: Line dry. Check. I found some clothes pins and watched the dress dance in the March wind. One went in the washing machine, and I read, Gentle Cycle. Tumble dry on low.

I followed the directions and everything came out fresh and sweet smelling! The laundry task made me think of people and their personalities. Some folks are sensitive and need the gentle cycle. They make take something wrong and think it applies to them. Their feelings may be easily hurt. Be gentle! The apostle Peter said in chapter 3, verse 8, of his epistle, "Finally, be of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous." He was speaking of husbands and wives here, but it applies to all.

Line dry. Have you ever felt you've been hung out to dry? Abandoned by someone? Just when you needed them most? Jesus says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." He is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. In Psalm 27:10, David gives the assurance that "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up."

Press with cool iron if needed. That wisdom was on one of the tags. Cool iron? How could that remove wrinkles? But the warmth of the hand of Jesus can smooth out our wrinkles of fear and worry. Once at church while praying for a need, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I wasn't standing near anyone except my husband, and his hands were at his sides. I looked around and no one was there, but I'm sure I felt the warmth of His hand.

The B-I-B-L-E, That's the Book for Me!

We had just pulled out of the driveway and hadn't gone more than a mile when I thought I heard an unfamiliar sound. We were on the way to church, hurrying to get there on time. I looked at Howard, and he didn't say anything, but I asked him, "Where is your Bible?"

I had a flashback of seeing him lift it toward the top of the car, but we had just switched vehicles and I wasn't paying much attention. He must have placed it there and forgot it!

"Back there on the road!" he said grimly. That was the sound I heard of it sliding off the car!

"What are you going to do?" I questioned in alarm. I knew it was his favorite Bible, one he had received as a gift from a ministry we support. He was turning around at the nearest side road by this time, so I knew the answer.

Sure enough, a good way down the highway I could make out something white in the middle of the road. I knew it was up to me to get out and retrieve the Bible, since he doesn't move as fast as I do, due to residual stiffness from a past surgery.

Looking both ways for busy highway traffic that zooms along from both directions, I frantically rushed to the center of the asphalt and stooped to scoop up the almost unrecognizable furled object, pages fluttering wildly in the wind. Then I saw his pen lying there, too, and hurried to scrape it up as quickly as I could before a car came by.

Telling a friend at church what happened and how scared I was of being hit, she quipped, "Well, they would at least be able to say you were chasing the Word of God!"

I had spent the ride to church straightening bent pages and smoothing wrinkles from the Holy Book, so thankful it was intact, and surprisingly, presentable again!

How important is the Word of God! The Bible tells us it is important to teach even the children! Deuteronomy 11:19 says, "And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

I just learned that our five-year-old great-grandson, Jaxon, who lives in Tennessee, has accepted the Lord and will be baptized next Sunday. When we visited with family there at Christmas, I noted how devout this little boy was. He sang the praise songs longer and louder than most of his little cousins, and readily prayed and worshiped with raised hands.

I was told that the other day his father counseled him about asking Jesus into his heart. "Now when you're ready, son, let me know, he said. A few days later Jaxon came to him and said, "I'm ready." His father led him in prayer as the child wept his way through to salvation! Another generation to love the Word!