Good Things

by Everett Christian, McAlester, OK GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD (Jesus said) 24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life." - John 5:24(New International Version). GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD 3 And we can be sure that we know him (Jesus) if we obey his commandments. - 1 John 2:3(New Living Translation) A QUOTE The person who does not in some way, active or not, connect themselves with some active, working church misses many opportunities for helping their neighbors, and therefore, incidentally, for helping themselves. - Theodore Roosevelt, Twenty-sixth President of the United States. THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER Everything is easier with practice except getting up in the morning. - From Reminisce Magazine - Advice is like snow - the softer it falls, the deeper it sinks in. - From Reminisce Magazine - The tongue should never be allowed to outrun the mind. - From Reminisce Magazine - NOTES Today has been partly cloudy with a high temperature of 65 degrees. Low temperature this morning was 51 degrees. Yesterday, Charley and I had lunch, drove to Stuart and picked up our brother, Abe, and then drove to the country cemetery at the community of Bohannon. We put flowers on our relatives graves. Our dad, mom, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, cousins as well as other relatives are buried there. Then we took a drive around the country looking at all the old familar places that we knew long ago. Things have changed a lot through the years. Today I had lunch with Charley. I went to the post office, came home and took a nap. At 3:00 p.m. I went to Country Mart and Family Dollar Store. At 5:00 p.m. my cleaning lady came and cleaned my house. The picture tonight is Beau. Since the last Good Things, I have received e-mails from Gail, Mary Ellen, Debra, Geneva, Burlene, Annette and Cathy Perks. Thanks for your e-mails and thanks to everyone who reads the Good Things. Maybe I shouldn't, but I think that I will share a paragraph from each of these e-mails. I hope and pray that I will never betray the trust that my friends have in me. The paragraphs will follow at the end of tonight's Good Things. The cats are fine. Most are outside at present. At 10:00 p.m. skies are fair with a temperature of 55 degrees. Have a Wonderful Sunday! I will see you next time. In Christian Love, Everett. Here are the paragraphs from the e-mails. Forgive me if you think that I should not have shared them. From Gail: Thanks to you Everett for serving in the military. You helped to secure our freedom and keep us safe. My dad was a World War II veteran and a Purple Heart recipient too. His was a chest wound and the scar was in the shape of a tic-tac-doe board. Part of one of the vertical lines missing, but we made do and he and I spent many a rainy day playing the game on his chest. Thank you again for serving your country. Gail From Mary Ellen: Everett, like all the brave men and women that are out there fighting for our country right now I thank them for their service and sacrifice. And tonight on the anniversary of you fighting on that faraway battlefield long ago, I thank you for your service as well! Thank you Everett for being brave and serving America. As you have written tonight 1 Peter 4:9-10, you use your gift of God’s love so wonderfully every time you send out the good things. Thank you for caring about all of us. We all love you. mary ellen From Debra: First, I want to say THANK YOU for your service to our country when in the military and also for your bravery during the war time - Thanking God for his safety to you and his healing as you recovered from the war injuries. Appreciate You, sharing these memories with us! So much of the past is kept "quiet" and we don't hear of days gone by, by many - Thank You for taking the time to share your days of long ago! I so enjoy hearing about what another has gone through in those days. I don't ever think that you "ramble" on, I think that you are blessed to have so much to be able to share with others and the blessings that God has given you all these years. From Burlene: I had not heard that you had received such bad injuries as you served our country. I am glad they did not leave you in pain, though. Must have been some good doctors and a fine hospital. I can say it again and again and not really give you the proper thanks you deserve, but send my gratitude to you for your unselfish service for our country. Blessings, Burlene From Annette: We got 1 inch of rain Wed. night and 2 and 9/10 yesterday afternoon!!!! From Cathy Perks: Dear Everett, thank you for sharing your war time memory. I had no idea you had been hurt!! Thank you brave man for serving so we may have freedom! I am so sorry that happened to you....and so grateful to God you healed the way you did. God Bless your sweet heart. Cathy and Ron Perks From Geneva: 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. - 1 Peter 4:9-10(New International Version). I don't know exactly what God meant by "hospitality" in that verse. I think people have always thought it to mean having people over and feeding them. That was not my gift, but I did it just the same since my husband took that verse to mean having people over and feeding them. He always thought that we should have more than enough food for that, too. Here's how the Amplified Bible says it: Practice hospilitality to one another - that is, those of the household of faith (Be hospitable, that is, be a lover of strangers, with brotherly affection for the unknown guests, the foreigners, the poor and all others who come your way who are of Christ's body.) And (in each instance) do it ungrudgingly - cordially and graciously without complaining (but as representing Him). 10. As each of you has received a gift (a particular spiritual talent, a gracious divine endowment) employ it for one another as (befits) good trustees of God's many-sided grace faithful stewards of the "extremely diverse (powers and gifts granted to Christians by) unmerited favor. That gives both the meaning and intent of the verses.