Old Barns

Sometimes an afternoon drive by myself is one my favorite pastimes. 

And only someone who loves photography would understand why I stopped in the turning lane of a 4 lane highway to take pictures of this barn. I was finally able to park in their drive. 

The cows were not interested in me at all.

The next barn was just as beautiful to me. Old, weathered but still useful. How I feel some days.

Love the old barns!

Worn Out Bibles

A lady was sitting by me in church last night and leaned over and asked,  "How old is your Bible?"I smiled and "It is old." She said, "I want mine to look like that someday. I want my children to see it used and marked and leave it to them."

I thought about that this morning. I wanted to make sure I didn't have a prideful thought about it. You know we can turn anything good into something about ourselves and what we have done. 

But I believe in my heart, I am proud...proud of my Lord, proud that the Bible is freely available to me, and proud of the way it ministers to me. I realize I had to open it up, but so many times it was out of need, but I will say also out of desire for the Word to speak to me. I am also thankful. Thankful I came from a family of worn out Bibles.

I actually have a picture of my grandad on my Mom's side resting under a shade tree reading his Bible. 

Then there is the picture of my grandmother on my Dad's side heading out to church with her Bible under her arm. I have one of her Bibles now and it is worn, underlined and used. 

I have my Mom's Bible and it is marked up through out and it was one of many of her Bibles. She actually wore Bibles out!

My Dad is 85 and feeble now. I have walked in his house many times and found him leaning over his Bible asleep. Reading it and then resting in it. 

This is from my Bible. I told a friend yesterday that one of my life verses is Luke 12:48 "...From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

This verse reminds me that I have been given much, much is asked of me. I was given a Christian legacy of worn out Bibles. I should be wearing out Bibles in my lifetime. I have been given much.

HORSES AND TRIALS

I’m reading a book called “How to think like a Horse.” It tells how a horse sees objects ahead and how the object becomes a scary monster to them. I starting thinking about how this is true in our lives when we face the trials that are sure to come. 

The book explains that we need to realize when dealing with horses that their eyesight is so different from ours because their eyes are set so far apart. As a horse approaches an object he sees it with both eyes (binocular vision) but when he is about 4 feet from it, his monocular vision kicks in and he might suddenly spook or turn his head to see it out of one eye. The object passes from one field of vision to the other. If the rider allows his horse a free rein to get a good look, usually the result is no spook!

I Peter 4:12 tells us “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering.” When we are going a trial we can so easily lose our focus and be afraid. We start focusing on the circumstances and not rely on our faith in God and His guidance and strength. Our line of vision is focusing on a scary object. If we will remember to give God a free rein in our lives, we won’t spook regardless what we are going through. Let Him lead us.

Horses also have blind spots which are directly behind them or on top of them. In the wild, a mountain lion in a tree can wait until the horse walks past and jump on their back. That is why a horse is considered a prey animal and it is amazing they allow us to sit on their backs. Their instincts advise them different. 

What causes some of the trials in our lives? Isn’t there a lion out there that attacks us? 

I Peter 5:8-9 addresses this—“Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…” We need to remember this in a trial. Resist and stand firm. Verse 10 gives us the result of our obedience. We don’t spook.—“And the God of all grace…after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Linking up with Spiritual Sundays. http://www.spiritualsundays.com

Who Keeps His Oath

Psalm 15:1 "Lord who may dwell in your sanctuary, who may live on your holy hill? He...who keeps his oath, even when it hurts."

"Keeps his oath"--not as common in our world today. Today it is just changing your mind when you go back on your word.

This reminded me of a time in my life when my Dad kept his oath even when it hurt. We were living in a small house that I grew up in on Tant Road and we had outgrown it. 

Two bedrooms and one bath. Susan and I shared a room and she kept breathing my air and I was bossy to her!

When Dad heard about a man at our church selling his house in Bartlett we looked at the house and decided it was the one for us. Dad and the man made a verbal agreement that we would buy it for a certain price. 

Dad then went home and put our house up for sale. It sold quickly and the buyer and Dad made a verbal agreement until the paperwork could be drawn up. Later we received word from the man we were buying from that he had started looking at houses in Nashville where he was moving and the cost of living was higher. He would have to go up on his asking price even though he had agreed on the original price. 

Dad had a choice. He could go back on his word or we would have to move out in a few weeks. Dad wouldn't "change his mind" even though it hurt. We frantically started looking at apartments, rentals, and houses. Finally a man at Dad's work had a rental house across town that we could move into. 

Although this rental house had old dirty carpet and had been a house with several cats living in it, we started cleaning and using several bottles of Lysol and moved in. We lived there close to a year until we found a house we could afford in Bartlett.

Lesson learned--a man taught his family that his word was his oath and he made a commitment to keep it. I remembered it 50 years later.