Good Things

by Everett Christian, McAlester, OK
Wednesday, October 12, 2011

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
12 "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? - 1 Peter 3:12-13(New International Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. - Psalm 23:6(New International Version).

A QUOTE
Never dwell on the tomorrow; remember, that is God's and not ours. - E. B. Pusey, English Theologian -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER,br /> When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece. - From Reminisce Magazine - What you are is God's gift to you; what you make of yourself is your gift to God. - From Reminisce Magazine -

NOTES
I had lunch with Charley. I went to the post office. I took a nap in early afternoon. I sat outside with the cats from 5:30 p.m. to 5:55 p.m. At 6:00 p.m. I watched a Billy Graham Classic Crusade. The one tonight was from Portland, Oregon in 1992. Johnny Cash was on the program and sang "Precious Memories." Billy Graham was 74 years old in this crusade and he said he was never going to retire until God retired him. I will leave you a story tonight at the end of the Good Things. I also want to leave you with a little note tonight from Geneva about the Good Ole Days.

Here is Geneva's note:
I can't believe how similar your life on the farm was to mine. My Mother could make the best biscuits and squirrel and gravy. We had it for breakfast many times because Daddy went hunting very early. When he couldn't get any squirrels or rabbits, we had corn meal mush. I had three older brothers. The depression on the farm was better than not having a job and living in town. My husband wanted to install a pump instead of pulling up well water, but my Dad would not let him. There was never a pump there nor running water in the house nor an inside bathroom. After my Mother died, the place was sold. Now there's a huge lake there and someone plans to build a nice home there. The cats are fine. Little Girl is on the desk next to me now eating a little dry food. Rascal has made his usual trip in a time or two. Smokey was also here a little while ago. Today has been partly cloudy with a high temperature of 85 degrees. Low temperature last night was 60 degrees. At 10:05 p.m. skies are mostly clear with a temperature of 72 degrees.
I will see you next time, In Christian Love, Everett Here is tonight's story:

BIRDS
During the 18 years of my life on the farm, I guess I saw every kind of bird that lived in our part of the world. My first memory I have of birds goes back to a time when I was four or five years old. Snow was on the ground. My older brothers and sister along with some neighbor kids used a small board to prop up a larger board. A long string was attached to the small board. The string was extended to a window in the house. I remember bright red male cardinals and other birds walking around in the snow. The kids would scatter some bread or some other kind of food under the large board. As soon as the birds would get under the board the kids would pull the string from the window trying to get the large board to fall on the birds. I don't remember if they caught any birds but I doubt that they did. I remember seeing Bluebirds build a nest in an old tin bucket on a post with a hole cut in the bucket. Back then I was not tone deaf and I could hear the Bluebirds sing. I can't hear that tone at this stage in my life. I especially remember the Mocking Birds back on the farm. These birds are territorial and in one section of the farm a Mocking Bird would be singing and several hundred yards away another Mocking Bird would have a different territory and would be singing. I would marvel at the many different kinds of birds and sounds that would be mimicked. I also remember the Blue Jays. We called them Jay Birds. Sometimes we would hear a flock of these birds in the woods screaming at the top of their voice. We knew they had found a snake. We would go to the place where the commotion was going on and sure enough there would be a snake in a tree or on the ground. Then there were the Mourning Doves. They would build a very flimsy nest on a split limb or some other level place in the tree. Once I remember seeing a nest high up in a tree with a Dove sitting on the nest. I climbed the tree and as I got close to the nest the Dove fell to the ground and started hobbling off like she was hurt. Down the tree I went and took off after the supposedly crippled bird. In a little while she took off flying. She had led me away from her nest. I have only written about a few of the many, many birds that I observed in the country. Later I may do another story about other birds that I remember. In my later years I have learned to appreciate all the different kinds of birds. I have read that only God can make a tree, but I also know that only God can create a bird.