Happy Thursday! This writing is later than usual. Tomorrow is the big chili cook-off at school and I have made three pots of chili. All three recipes are completely untried so who knows? It will be fun no matter what.

We got Travis off to New York late this afternoon. He will compete with the show choir and the A capella choir on Saturday. They have lots of other activities planned including a Broadway show and a dinner cruise on Sunday night. Through the years our luggage has had more fun than Bruce and I have had. Oh well, some day!

Psalm 37:25 says, “I was young, and now I am old, but I have never seen good people left helpless or their children begging for food.”

A school teacher and a handyman/door warranty repairman do not make a lot of money. And with two of us in college and one a senior in high school the budget gets stretched pretty far. Bruce worries when he thinks he doesn’t have enough door issues. I tell him that God has always taken care of us. And pretty soon the work picks back up and we are okay again. We have to make the occasional phone call to the utility companies to put the bill off until one of us gets paid and most of the time that works out, but I really don’t like doing that. I really hate to say the words to the kids, “we can’t afford it right now.” I often tell them that we try to give them all they need and some of what they want. Tonight as I was making chili I was thinking that I wish I was a better manager of money or that we made more money and that we did not have to worry about how we would be paying all of the bills. And then as I finished with the third crock pot of chili I sat down to read my Bible lessons and write to you for the night and this is what the scriptures showed me in the psalmist’s words.

Why would God teach us to walk just to watch us fall? And why would He die on the cross for us and then disregard our prayers? Do we forget the psalmist words that say, “He has put His angels in charge of you to watch over you wherever you go”? God has once again taken care of this heart and reminded me that He is watching over us all the time and will get us through. God loves us so much that He continues to bless us with what we need by meeting our needs. God’s Word is truth we can count on. The Holy Spirit is present with us at all times so we are never alone. We have the gift of prayer so that we can be in constant contact with God through Jesus. So praise God from whom all blessings flow because the greatest blessing of all is Jesus.

Take joy in the journey. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

PS I just received a text message from Travis and he has landed safely in New York. Praise God!!! gc