Happy Friday!

Last night exhaustion finally caught up with me and I kept falling asleep on the couch snuggled next to Bruce. So finally Bruce said “let’s just go to bed and you can write tomorrow.” I agreed and slept pretty well.

I spoke to Daddy today and he has done as much of the paperwork as he can to complete the business end of Mom’s death. And today he wasn’t sure what he was going to do as all of his errands were finished.

As for me I completed the first of the tasks on my list. I finished the paper I had begun for my intensive study class and have sent it to Bruce for editing. He is so great! I need to turn this paper in tomorrow. Since the professor lives in Minnesota an email copy will be sent sometime tomorrow.

Tomorrow will begin my second task. I have to tear apart (exegete) John 9:1-41 in preparation for the first sermon the class will deliver in preaching class. This is a huge body of text and it is due on Tuesday. Please pray for the writing and study I will do and that I will be focused and clear thinking as I study and write. I have never done this type of writing before.

Prayer: “Loving Father, as I rise from my bed of rest and prepare for today’s activities, may I be conscious of Your precious will in every detail of my being. As the servant looks to the hand of his master for instruction, may my eyes be turned to Your ways and may my ears be open and obedient to Your soft and gentle guidance. Give to Your servant a listening spirit and an obedient heart. I sincerely pray this in Jesus’ name—the name above all names. Amen.”

1 John 5: 12 “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

A very long time ago when I was a girl in school we were studying shapes in geometry. My daddy told me one time that a square was a rectangle, but a rectangle was not a square. I usually challenged my first graders with this and gave a prize if they could explain the statement. This statement seems to be a contradiction. In this scripture verse I think this type of thinking could apply. There are people who are alive, but do not have life. Life is not about what or how much you have. Life is about Whom one has. What we have in our pockets, in our homes or on our bodies is a really poor judge of what we have in our hearts. If the number of cars we have or the designer shoes we wear is the accounting of our worth then we are not worth very much because all of those things are temporal. But we who have Jesus, the Son of God as our Lord and Savior have more riches that all of the wealthiest folks the world offers. John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” Jesus offers eternal life when we enter into relationship with Him.

Eternal life is the abundance that cannot be taken away or ever be depleted from our accounts, closet, garage or our hearts. When we have Jesus we have everything and those who do not have Jesus have little. Some have abundance but have no life—but for those of us who are in Christ have life and much abundance!

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings giving thanks for the abundance of God’s grace and Presence. Say your prayers, praying especially for those who are hurting from loss, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Love you all and giving thanks for you each day, 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 only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Prayer request: Special prayers to be offered for my friends Nancy Toombs, Stephanie Burns and their families in the loss of their mother and grandmother. Peace, gc