No Words
Sunday, February 28, 2021
Sunrise
Worship
Praise
Seize the way
Holy Spirit seek
Let God speak
No words from me today
No words to say
Actions loud
Sunset
Rest
Sunrise
Worship
Praise
Seize the way
Holy Spirit seek
Let God speak
No words from me today
No words to say
Actions loud
Sunset
Rest
I enjoy looking through files from days gone by. There are so many sweet memories. In the day, Carol Kaufman and I taught the 2nd grade Sunday School class @ First Baptist Church. We did for many years. We were blessed!!! In a file labeled 2003 First Baptist Church second grade Sunday School class, these are the pictures in that file.
Tag them to the post...
God has blessed my life through every Broadway Brew barista! This picture is from 2013, my birthday, and a sweet cupcake. I was surprised. Year after year, these young people make me smile. Things change, life moves on, and each one is there for a season. I'm glad I have gotten to enjoy so many seasons of barista fun! #outonthedowntown
(and friend, Debra Reed, always there)
There is a Beatles song that has always spoken to me; Hey Jude. I always replace "her" with Christ when rolling through my mind and replacing Jude with my name.
1-2 I, Jude, am a slave to Jesus Christ and brother to James, writing to those loved by God the Father, called and kept safe by Jesus Christ. Relax, everything’s going to be all right; rest, everything’s coming together; open your hearts, love is on the way!
3-4 Dear friends, I’ve dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting—begging!—that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish. What has happened is that some people have infiltrated our ranks (our Scriptures warned us this would happen), who beneath their pious skin are shameless scoundrels. Their design is to replace the sheer grace of our God with sheer license—which means doing away with Jesus Christ, our one and only Master.
5-7 I’m laying this out as clearly as I can, even though you once knew all this well enough and shouldn’t need reminding. Here it is in brief: The Master saved a people out of the land of Egypt. Later he destroyed those who defected. And you know the story of the angels who didn’t stick to their post, abandoning it for other, darker missions. But they are now chained and jailed in a black hole until the great Judgment Day. Sodom and Gomorrah, which went to sexual rack and ruin along with the surrounding cities that acted just like them, are another example. Burning and burning and never burning up, they serve still as a stock warning.
8 This is exactly the same program of these latest infiltrators: dirty sex, rule and rulers thrown out, glory dragged in the mud.
9-11 The Archangel Michael, who went to the mat with the Devil as they fought over the body of Moses, wouldn’t have dared level him with a blasphemous curse, but said simply, “No you don’t. God will take care of you!” But these people sneer at anything they can’t understand, and by doing whatever they feel like doing—living by animal instinct only—they participate in their own destruction. I’m fed up with them! They’ve gone down Cain’s road; they’ve been sucked into Balaam’s error by greed; they’re canceled out in Korah’s rebellion.
12-13 These people are eyesores at your love feasts as you worship and eat together. They’re giving you a black eye—carousing shamelessly, grabbing anything that isn’t nailed down. They’re—
Puffs of smoke pushed by gusts of wind;
late autumn trees stripped clean of leaf and fruit,
Doubly dead, pulled up by the roots;
wild ocean waves leaving nothing on the beach
but the foam of their shame;
Lost stars in outer space
on their way to the black hole.
14-16 Enoch, the seventh after Adam, prophesied of them: “Look! The Master comes with thousands of holy angels to bring judgment against them all, convicting each person of every defiling act of shameless sacrilege, of every dirty word they have spewed of their pious filth.” These are the complainers, the bellyachers, grabbing for the biggest piece of the pie, talking big, saying anything they think will get them ahead.
17-19 But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: “In the last days there will be people who don’t take these things seriously anymore. They’ll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts.” These are the ones who split churches, thinking only of themselves. There’s nothing to them, no sign of the Spirit!
20-21 But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!
22-23 Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven.
24-25 And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time. Yes.
For me, the differences between the two readings are how one feels when called out (a warning) in their sin vs taking care of our own relationship with Christ, our sins, learning from and living out our faith in gratitude through our actions that allow others to see a difference.
Oftentimes those sinning don't see it [our/their sin] because the divide, the gap, between Holy & world has narrowed to the point of muck >goodness.
What will we do? Who will we choose to serve? Eternal God or the imploding world?
This picture is one of my very favorite of two brothers who grew up together, played pitcher and catcher in baseball together, and have worked together for forty-plus years at High Plains Concrete. The sweetest kiss from big brother, Clinton (age 2), to younger brother, Bert (9 weeks). They are best friends!!!
Oftentimes I will be moving through my day, and there is a nudge that says, "slow down; you're gonna miss what I want you to see."
I loved this shot!
On Facebook, I asked for blog topics, and this one was given; self-reliance, what does that mean to you. Wow, a tough one.
Self-reliance is to rely on one's own powers and resources rather than those of others. For me, this is twofold.
Being blessed with Asperger's, I am very dependent on others, but I am fiercely independent at the same time. I need someone to help me keep my balance. This person is my husband (the very one I prayed for and the one God told to take care of me).
I'm a control freak in that my days must be set up so that the balance and recharge work out nicely for all involved. I was called to Christ when I was six, and this relationship has been my foundation to saneness and joy. I trust God with my life, and he enriches it through those he places in it and allows the Holy Spirit to direct my path.
I love partnership. I have a tune I sing, “Anything I can do, you can do better. You can do anything better than me.” I see and acknowledge the gifts of others. I know where to go to find what is needed. This is self-sufficiency (capable of providing for one's own need) at its finest.
So, at my core, I rely on God. I believe we all need this foundation. My husband, my family, and others who "get" me allow me the atmosphere to do more than survive; they let me be me.
I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength. He has proven this over and over again in my life. I never stand alone, for this is when I fall. When I partner with Christ, and he is with me, I can accomplish much.
I am a strong and independent woman, and I am a "kept" woman. This is only possible through God, who directs my path and has set things in place for me. There are times when I take my eyes off of Him, and the freedom I know goes missing. This keen awareness proves my desire for wholeness comes through the Trinity.
I am in control of myself. I am self-reliant. This looks very different for each one of us. I choose to let God guide and unfold my life in powerful ways.
There is self-centeredness. I believe we all have a bit of this that haunts us. Then, on the flip side, we need a good dose of self-care to be the best we can be for those we serve. Weigh these on the scale of living and work at keeping a healthy balance, less self-centeredness, some self-care on one side, and serving others on the other.
We must consider ourselves to be self-reliant to do any of this because everything is a choice. Yet, no one can serve two masters. We can live both in harmony; self-reliance and dependency. When Jesus is in place as Master of our lives, we become powerful in so many ways. I believe that what is true for me is true for all people. It's genius once it is discovered.
I choose the path I walk. I was blind, but now I see.
I took this photo in 2008. I'm still in awe each day of what God reveals to me through his Word and in my eyes to see.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
Growing up, my family hung out a lot with his sister's family. A few years ago, my cousin Vicky sent me some pictures. This one is in their den. We were sewing matching (dresses) cover-ups. How about that ball-fringe trim? Trending!
This photo is of my dad, John Dayton, and me. There was a turquoise leather sofa that I loved. It is always in my reoccurring dream in my beach house.
This picture is of Vicky Cox and me at a PHS/73 class reunion.
It is fun to have these memories in our family collection to remind me because I'm getting older, and memories go away sometimes!
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Hugh Robert and Lucy May Etter
Hugh and Lucy Etter, true humanitarians and longtime Plainview residents, worked quietly
behind the scenes to help people in need, even taking some into their home. They reached out to unfortunates ranging from struggling young couples and families lacking shelter to alcohol abusers seeking a way to overcome addiction. The Etters helped found the local Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon and supported those programs for many years. One of the countless men they helped wrote, “No one has helped so many, never refusing to answer a call of help, regardless of the hour of the day or night and never complaining of the verbal and sometimes physical abuse you take while helping those sick of drink.” Hugh Etter was born in 1907 in Phoenix, Arizona, and moved with his father and brother to Mason County, Texas in 1918, then to Plainview in 1921. Young Hugh worked as a cowboy in Castro County but returned to Plainview in 1925 and took employment with the John Burt Electric Company. His first job was wiring the Harvest Queen Mill. Later, he wired the Harvester Building on Fourth and Broadway and many other buildings in town. Hugh also helped a friend do carpentry on the weekends. Lucy May Hopkins was born in 1910 in Denton County, Texas. Her grandparents had been among the earliest settlers in Hale County. In 1918 the family moved back to Plainview, which they considered their home. Lucy married Hugh Etter in 1928. The couple had two daughters and also raised the two children of Hugh’s brother. They were members of the First Methodist Church. In 1939 the Etters bought a local commercial refrigeration business and operated it as Hugh R. Etter Electric. In 1948 Hugh had a hunting accident in New Mexico, almost froze to death, and lost both legs and some of his fingers. The Etters had to sell the business, and Lucy worked for Sears. After he recovered, Hugh built a shop next to their home and ran an electrical business from it. Later, both worked for the Welfare Department, and Hugh was the predatory animal control officer in Hale County for the federal government for many years. Hugh Etter died in 1991 and Lucy Etter in 1996. 2008 Centennial Circle of Honor, Plainview Texas
This text is from the City of Plainview's Centennial Circle of Honor that reminds us of many who impacted our community. My grandparents are those people.
Today I bought a sweet friend's One Day at a Time in Al-Anon book at a sale. It reminds me of my grandparents and their sacrifices to help others who found themselves on an addiction walk; because they had been there and had firsthand experience. It truly was a ministry for them.
I grew up knowing about AA and Al-Anon. I remember mostly men, but a few women sleeping it off and battling the rage inside them in the little house behind my grandparent's home. I never knew my grandfather as a drunk, but I heard a few wild stories. What I remember from hearing the stories is how strong my grandmother was.
Inside this Al-Anon book is a list of the group members with phone numbers. How precious that they had each other's support. The list of ladies I have considered friends throughout my life. How blessed I am!!!
Also in the book are the words to "Just for Today," the Al-Anon quick help.
JUST FOR TODAY
I will try to live through this day
only, and not tackle all my problems at once. I can do
something for 12 hours that would appall me if I felt
that I had to keep it up for a lifetime.
Just for today, I will be happy. This assumes to be true
what Abraham Lincoln said, that “Most folks are as
happy as they make up their minds to be.”
Just for today, I will adjust myself to what is, and not
try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take
my “luck” as it comes, and fit myself to it.
Just for today, I will try to strengthen my mind. I will
study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a
mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort,
thought, and concentration.
Just for today, I will exercise my soul in three ways:
I will do somebody a good turn, and not get found out;
if anybody knows of it, it will not count. I will do at
least two things I don’t want to do—just for exercise.
I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt; they
may be hurt, but today I will not show it.
Just for today, I will be agreeable. I will look as well
as I can, dress becomingly, keep my voice, low, be
courteous, criticize not one bit. I won’t find fault with
anything, nor try to improve or regulate anybody but
myself.
Just for today, I will have a program. I may not follow
it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from
two pests: hurry and indecision.
Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by
myself and relax. During this half-hour, sometime, I
will try to get a better perspective of my life.
Just for today, I will be unafraid. Especially I will not
be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful, and to believe that
as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.
And the prayer...
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury; pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light, and where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
These are such wise words to anyone struggling.