Hello to you all on this beautiful spring day. I've been away from my home and computer so much lately, I've let this blogging attempt lag badly, I'm afraid! But just wanted to wish you God's blessings...tell you I have one grandson graduating from high school in about two weeks, and what a wonderful young man he is. In today's world he stands out as a bright and shining light...and he does it without 'fanfare' and loudness or foolishness in his manner. He is a dedicated child of God, and professes that as his first love and the thing he is devoted to in his daily life. He will go to Harding University in the fall, where, hopefully, he will daily experience his college education with a group of many like-minded Christian young people. He is a quiet and rather shy young man....but we notice he has many friends and is a favorite in his graduating class. I know the Lord is going to bring out the very best in him as he matures in his college years, and also bring into his life those who will be 'signigicant' throughout his lifetime.
I wish you could know this young man....he is tall, with light-brown hair (I always thought it was red, but his mom says no! it's brown), and the bluest eyes you have ever seen. He is so handsome...a combination of his mom and his dad, and quite a likeness to his younger brother, too! The sterling quality of this grandson is his quiet, unassuming, yet intelligent, manner, his humility, and genuine love for others, his helpfulness and his kind heart. Did I mention he's a really good and smart student?! (:>) That should help in college work, shouldn't it?~ Yesterday he participated in a Texas High School
regional track meet, where he was in the high jump. He did well, but missed going to state based on number of 'misses' at the 6ft. 6in. height! I think it's amazing that anyone could get near jumping over their own body height. He is 6ft6in tall, and a little over, I believe! So, way to go, Specially Loved Grandson!!! (I specially love them all, you know!)
I know his mom and dad are going find it impossible to prevent weeping as he goes across that space to receive his high school diploma. He has been a comfort and a blessing to them. Even his younger brother has told me that he is really going to miss him! That says a great deal for this young man, don't you think?
I've entered this before...but I will do it again, as I know this is his mom's feelings as has always been mine when my own children grew into adulthood:
"Mother's Covers"
When you were small and just a touch away,
I covered you with blankets against the cold night air.
But, now that you are grown and out of reach
I fold my hands and cover you with prayer.

You can be sure we will all be covering Will in prayers to our Father as he graduates, goes to Harding, and makes a difference in this world for the good Lord!
And may the good Lord bless and keep you! With love from 'GranJan'

Hello on this lovely Tuesday morning! I hope the day is going great for any of you who check in here today!
My "hobby" (if I can call it that: it's really a gift the Lord has blessed me with, and I love using it!) is hymn-writing. I got started doing this when I dreamed 'snippets' of a song quite a few years ago, got up and wrote it down, and the next day put it into complete song form. We are so blessed to have a family that loves to sing and so we began singing these songs, as I began to write more and more.
This morning I was thinking of probably the last time I got parts of a song in a dream...while we were at the Red River Family Encampment in New Mexico. I actually got nearly all the words in a dream, and the gist of the melody! I woke up just elated and wrote it all down. I felt it was an "affirmation" of Christian parents and those who teach children the way of the Lord, and I wanted to share the words with you today, and pray they will bless your life as you parent your children!

"I Won't Go Away!"

I won't go away! I'm here to stay!
You mean too much to others who trust you each day
To explain all the wonders they see.....
Like the birds in the air, like the fish in the sea,
And I want you to know, I love you so,
I will be with you everywhere you go!
I will never give up on you now!
I will be there to cheer, and I'll never give up on you, now!

For I am your loving Father above!
I will lead you to teach all your children My love!
They are all so important to me!
More than birds in the air! More than fish in the sea...
They are made in My image, with My breath of life!
Lead them to me so that I can delight in the
Journey they make back to Me!
I will be there to cheer, and I'll never give up on you, now!

May God bless your day! May you have a heart for Him! And seek His will prayerfully, absorbing His words in the Bible.....and thank Him that we still are free to have this wonderful book available to us in America!

Good Monday morning! I was up very early this morning, sitting in my wonderful, comfy chair with my Bible (One Year Bible, great for reading thru the whole Bible in a year!) a good cup of coffee, my notebook, and thinking and praying about all my dear family.....I dozed off (hmm...why do we do that? Does age have anything to do with it?! The Lord understands, I know!) when I awoke the first lights of dawn were showing out my windows, so I flipped off the lamp and watched the day "break!" It was lovely to behold. And I had the thought run through my mind, "....thank you Lord for the wonderful daybreak....it is breaking on a 'broken world." Before I could continue I sort of got caught up in thinking about that idea...(it's sort of poetic and I wondered about words to a song, perhaps?) but anyway....I continued to pray then, acknowledging that the Lord made this world and everything in it, and He can fix it! I know His eyes are on it constantly...His word tells us, thru the voice of Jesus, "Come unto me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light!" What a comfort. We also know that He is watchful over all those who are put in place as leaders of nations and kingdoms! So, we can have peace in our hearts and concerning our loved ones, even though we do know this is indeed a "broken world" we are living in. Broken by sin...and man insisting on going "his own way" rather than the way his creator leads him!
Please keep praying, keep trusting, keep hoping, and stay in His Word daily and in prayer! You will be given this wonderful peace that the world can't understand.

Hello, again! Today is Friday, March 20, 2009! Where have the years gone? I was born in 1935 and it seems such a short life! But the Lord has richly blessed me with three wonderful children, and eight special grandchildren! They all are choosing to serve Him with gladness and faithfulness....making my heart rejoice and be glad! There is no greater joy for a Christian mother and grandmother than to know her children are faithful to the Lord God! I give Him praise and thanksgiving daily for them all! I take advantage of His great gift of prayer...interceding for them all daily...and many times daily, depending on their circumstances! (:>)
I want to encourage you to be people of constant prayer! It takes prayer to defeat Satan and all that he is throwing our way every day! Our young people especially are his targets, and we need to keep them covered in prayer to the One who made them, and can keep them safe, and turn their hearts to keep being faithful to Him!
About 42 years ago (yes, really!) a group of eight ladies in our city bonded together in a commitment to pray for one another daily. Little did we know that the Lord would bless us to still be meeting together every week in the year 2009! But meet together we do, every Thursday at noon, sharing a light meal, and our prayer needs and thanksgivings, and praying together. We are "six" in number, now, with the circumstances of life changing us. We have lost two in death, and one moved away, and years ago we added a precious sister who seems like she was with us from the start! Needless to say, we have come through a lot....the loss of one spouse tragically, the growing up of our children, the birth of our grandchildren and all the concerns connected with those "marriages and births" through the years, praying about the choices our children made and still are making, the choices of our grandchildren now, their college, work experiences, their marriages, their friendships, their struggles with Satans temptations. Now, at this time of our lives we are praying so regularly about the health of our spouses and ourselves! We are all getting much nearer the day the Lord will take us home to be with Him in eternity, and we are excited about that!
And we are praying diligently for the leadership of our country, and that God will choose to bless us and see us safely through the upheaval in America about morality, and honoring Him, as our forefathers have done. We pray for our freedoms to continue, but we know that God knows what is best for us, and is in control, no matter what happens to a country anywhere in the world. Romans 8, at the close of the chapter says that "nothing can separate us" from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus....and it names many things that could be called "crisis" saying these can never separate us from His love! What a comfort!
I encourage you to read this great chapter, and to become more and more a person of consistant, constant prayer to our Father, in the name of Jesus, His son, who is present in heaven at God's throne, pleading for us as our high priest! (Read the book of Hebrews to become more excited about this wonderful fact!)

God bless your day! Love you! GranJan

Hello! here is a great scripture for us all to think about!

Psalm 7:9: "O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure."

As we have stated in earlier posts, a Christian is only "righteous" because he has been baptized "into" Christ, and Christ becomes our righteousness~~in other words, God, the Father, sees us through the precious shed blood of Jesus, His Son!

So, the scripture for today fits us wonderfully even in these times, tho it was written by the inspired "sweet-singer of Israel," David, in the Psalms! So let us rejoice and be glad in it! And let us pray without ceasing that God will give us this resue and security in these difficult times for our nation! God bless you today...may you have a heart that is truly seeking God with honesty! He will bless it! Love, from GranJan!

Hello, this is a new day the Lord has given us! We will rejoice and be glad in it!

There's a wonderful scripture found in Zechariah 4:6, where the Lord, speaking to Zechariah affirmed His (the Lord's) power, as they were trying to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. These words we should remember today as we grow concerned about our own country and the doings all over this world:'
"So he said to me, 'this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty."
Let us prayerfully remember that the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth and all that is in it, is the powerful One in control! Let us trust Him, praying with great conviction that He will lead, direct and care for us and for our nation! God bless you today!

March has come in and here in west Texas we are very, very dry! We pray for the Lord to send us rain from His heavens! I can remember past times when the wonderful rain finally came after a long dry spell, and how refreshing and revitalizing it was! Our stock tanks are getting very low and murky, the dried winter grasses are even deader and drier looking as each day goes by. We are so thankful that we have hay to feed our livestock! And are they hungry! They practically knock my husband over when he's loading the troughs with the hay!
The other critical concern in this dry weather is the threat of wildfires. We have had one really bad one in our area in the past two weeks, destroying about 2,000 acres of pastureland and fences and some structures, though no one lost their home, thankful to say!

Do you remember the story in the Bible where Elijah prayed that it not rain and the Lord withheld rain for three years? And then he prayed again, and God sent the rain! There are many scriptures that refer to the rain coming from God....one referring to the water pots of heaven! And who could forget that rain of all rains....the flood in Noah's time!! Everytime we see a rainbow in the sky we can remember and trust God's promises following the flood that never again would He destroy all life with a flood! The rainbow is a precious, beautiful testimony of God's presence, His love for us, His promises!

If you are reading here today, I hope you will join me and many others in prayer, asking the Lord to send His wonderful rain to quench the thirst of these dry lands and water tanks and lakes! Just as His wonderful Spirit fills our dry hearts and refreshes us, His wonderful rain can fall upon our dry lands and bring revival!

On the lighter side....thinking of rain....it made me think of a little silly song
we used to sing when we were young. The words went like this:
"There was a toad sat in the road
resting from many hops!
When to his pain, the cold wet rain
Came down in great big drops!
But soon he spied a toadstool wide
And quickly crept in under!
'Hooray!" he cried, I'm free from rain,
And also safe from thunder!"

And just as the Lord cares for the little creatures in any circumstance, we can be sure He cares for us! And He hears our prayers! So pray with me for His rain! James chapter 1 teaches us to pray with faith, not doubting! God bless you tonight!