Nan's Calendar

by Nan Forehand, Statesville, NC
Sept. 19, 2011

Wow! Last week was such a great week! Highlights.... Ashley started my birthday week with a beautiful scarf she knitted for me. Teddy bears continue to come in from all directions for my Nan's good will bears project with the IMH ER for the children. Thursday afternoon, I took select teddies to my bank, RBC Centura for a bake sale fundraiser (their suggestion) for the bear project. The bake sale was held on Friday. The teddies made great visuals to get people talking about the project. On Friday we had a special birthday lunch at Red Lobster (my office family and Ashley). Then, Ashley spent the afternoon with me. We went to the bank to check on the bake sale and took some wonderful cinnamon pecan coffee cake to sell. Went by the dry cleaners to pick up a dozen bears and took them to the hospital. The staff, in return, brought me a dozen bears they had collected for the project. We went back to the bank at the end of the day and much to my surprise they had raised $100.00!! Let me tell you, I can buy a lot of teddy bears with $100.00!!!! My brother in law asked me a few weeks ago, "how long are you going to do this?" I said, "as long as God continues to put teddy bears in my hands." An OR nurse at church said on Sunday that the children who need surgery are allowed to take their teddy bear in with them for their surgery. That's so awesome! Allen and I spent the afternoon on Sat. cruising around looking at cars. Yes, there is another car in my near future! I've been driving my awesome Honda Accord '92 since we bought it new when John was a tiny baby. He's 19 now and the car has 311,000 + miles on it! Allen, John and I went out to dinner with Ashley and Kris Sat. night (great time!). Pastor Mike gave what I thought was his best sermon ever on Sunday. Then we had lunch with family and John surprised me with a beautiful birthday cake!! Then, add to all that, my family and friends sent me birthday greetings throughout the day from facebook, text messages and phone calls! I love you, one and all!!!! God is good all the time and all the time God is good!! Take care and have a wonderful day. Don't waste one minute of the life God gave you! Your life is precious and your time is valuable! Love always, Nan

Good Things

by Everett Christian, McAlester, OK
Sunday, September 18, 2011

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. - 1 Corinthians 2:11-12(New International Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
3 His (Jesus) divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. - 2 Peter 1:3-4(New International Version).

A QUOTE
To your neighbors - give thoughtful consideration. Be slow to gossip, quick to sympathize, ready to help - praying all the while that God will give them the necessary patience to live next to you. - Ruth Bell Graham -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER
An open mind leaves a space for someone to drop in a worthwhile thought. - From Reminisce Magazine -
It's not the number of hours you put in but what you put in the hours that counts. - From Reminisce Magazine -
The humble demonstrates kindness, while the arrogant doesn't even notice the need. - From Lists To Live By -

NOTES
I attended Worship Services this morning. It was an uplifting and worshipful service. Hymns and choruses that were sung were "I Will Praise Him", "Give Of Your Best To The Master", "Lord, Be Glorified", "Holy Ground", "Where The Spirit Of The Lord Is", "Where He Leads" and "I Will Serve Thee." Janice Clagg and Stan McMullen blessed our hearts with a special song "God of The Mountain". Pastor J. T.'s sermon was titled "A Commitment to Community". I had lunch at home. I took a nap this afternoon. Beau decided to join me toward the end of my nap. I attended church tonight. Tonight was Missionary Night where we learn more about out Missionaries. Burlene Wilson is the Missionary President. Janice Clagg is Study Chairman and prepares the programs to be presented. If at anytime you like or dislike something in the Good Things I would appreciate an e-mail from you. The picture tonight is Treva's bulldog named Libby. It appears that Libby enjoys resting on pillows. The cats are fine. Little Girl is on the filing cabinet. I have seen all of the cats this evening including Lucy the stray. We had nice rain showers last night and also this evening. The rain has now moved on out of our area. High temperature today was 89 degrees before the rain came this evening. Low temperature this morning was 66 degrees. At 10:35 p.m. skies have cleared and the temperature is 71 degrees. I will see you next time
In Christian Love, Everett

Good Things

By Everett Christian, McAlester, OK
Saturday, September 17, 2011

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
23 Love the LORD, all his faithful people! The LORD preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full. 24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. - Psalm 31:23-24(New International Version)

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
(Jesus said) 2 "My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." - John 14:2-3(New International Version).

A QUOTE
True worship calls for actions done with proper attitudes. - Jim Edlin -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER
A grudge is one thing that doesn't get better when it's nursed. - From Reminisce Magazine - We work so hard to keep our outside presentable when the inside is what matters. - From Reminisce Magazine -

NOTES
I had lunch with Charley and Bill. I went to the post office and then home. I took my nap with Beau snuggled close to my stomach. My house cleaning lady came at 4:00 p.m. and cleaned my house. I sat out with the cats for about 30 to 45 minutes tonight and read. I didn't send Good Things last night. I started them and then had some problems with my computer. It was after 9:00 p.m. so I decided it was too late to start over. I heard from one person who missed the Good Things. Burlene Wilson always waits for the Good Things at night and when they don't go out I usually hear from her. Thank you, Burlene, for being a faithful reader and thanks to all the faithful readers of Good Things. The cats are fine. Rascal was just here by me. After the house cleaning this afternoon, Little Girl was outside. I picked her up and took her to my bed and rested with her for an hour. Little Girl must like my bed with the new mattress because she is still there. Yesterday was a cloudy day with nice rain showers mainly in the morning. I received a little over a sixth of an inch of rain at my house. Today has been partly cloudy with a high temperature of 87 degrees. Low temperature this morning was 60 degrees. At 9:55 p.m. skies are mostly clear with a temperature of 80 degrees. I received a true cat story from Delona Martin. Delona is Flonnie's cousin. Here is her cat story: ******************************************************************************************************

DEAR EVERETT, I HAVE A CAT STORY THAT IS QUITE UNUSUAL ABOUT TOM, A CAT WE ONCE HAD. TOM WAS AN OUTSIDE CAT, ONLY COMING IN OCASSIONALLY FOR MILK OR COMPANY. THEN OFF HE WOULD GO. TOM ALSO HAD AN ATTITUDE AND A MIND OF HIS OWN, ONE MINUTE HE WOULD PLAY WITH YOU , NEXT MINUTE HE WOULD ATTACT WITH CLAWS OUT. HE WAS A BEAUTIFUL CAT , BLACK AND WHITE, LONG HAIR, ONE DAY HE LEFT FOR SEVERAL DAYS THEN CAME HOME, THEN HE DISAPPEARED FOR A LONG WHILE, NOT COMING BACK. JACK ( MY HUSBAND) WAS OUT ONE DAY AND WHEN HE CAME HOME HE SAID HE HAD FOUND OLD TOM ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD DEAD, I IMMEDIATELY WANTED TO GO TO HIM, JACK SAID HE WAS ALL DRIED UP AND HAD BEEN DEAD FOR A LONG TIME, SO WE JUST LEFT HIM IN THE PLACE WHERE HE DIED. ABOUT A YEAR LATER JUNE (MY SISTER) AND I HAD GONE SOMEWHERE ONE EVENING AND I WAS TELLING HER THE STORY OF TOM AND THAT HE WAS UNUSUAL BUT WE LOVED HIM AND MISSED HIIM, WAS I IN FOR A SHOCK FOR WHEN WE PULLED INTO THE DRIVEWAY, WHO WAS LAYING ON MY FRONT PORCH, IT WAS OLD TOM. TALK ABOUT CATS HAVING NINE LIVES, I ALMOST BELIEVE IT. **************************************************************************************************************************************

Have a Wonderful Sunday! I will see you next time.
In Christian Love, Everett

Daily Jewel

by pastor J.T. Carnell, McAlester, OK
Sept. 16 2011

“I Want to Know What Love Is”
“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." – Proverbs 3:3

There was a song recorded in the 80's by a Rock Band known as "Foreigner." The title of the song is, "I Want to Know What Love is." The chorus of the song says: "I want to know what Love is...I want you to show me. I want to feel what love is...I know you can show me." The lead singer, Lou Gramm, co-wrote the song, writing the lyrics, and then a few years later would turn his life over to Christ. He said in an interview: "As I was writing this song I was really struggling with my life and was looking for answers. Not long after we recorded the song, I met the woman who would eventually be my wife who would then introduce me to Jesus. Obviously I was not thinking of either my wife or Jesus when writing the words - but if I were to sing it today - it would be dedicated to what the Lord has done in my life." I have been studying this verse for quite some time and I must admit I am having a difficult time getting away from it because there is so much that can be said and I will not even be able to scratch the surface of all the things that could be written! We’ve already talked of love and then yesterday referenced “faithfulness” in terms of being a loyal person…but isn’t there more we can learn from this? How can we truly grasp the kind of love this is referencing? Solomon encourages us to not let love leave us but he does not define it. Sometimes the best way to understand biblical concepts is when it comes from the pen of another…and in this case it comes in the form of one of the best hymns ever written by a man in the 17th century, Isaac Watts. Watts was not the prolific hymn writer that Charles Wesley was (his 697 hymns pale in comparison to the thousands written by Wesley), but a number of his hymns are some of the most loved and they continue to bless the Christian world today. Watts was born in 1674, thirty years before Charles Wesley, and both lived long and musically-productive lives (Watts was 74 when he died, and Wesley was 80 when he passed). Watts was the eldest of eight children, and Wesley was the second surviving son of 19 children born to Susanna Wesley and her husband Samuel. John Wesley was the oldest child of the Wesley clan. Isaac Watts was a very gifted child. By age four he had learned Latin, and by age nine, Greek. By his thirteenth birthday he had also learned French and Hebrew. But being brilliant did not open doors to the universities at Oxford or Cambridge for him. His father was known as a Dissenter, and children of dissenters were not allowed to study at the British universities. This didn’t seem to affect Watts in any significant way. His academic gifts opened doors for him throughout England , and beyond. Watts wrote poetry (in Latin) and experimented in hymn writing while still a young man. Although German Lutherans had enjoyed singing hymns for more than a century before Watts was born, the churches of England had no such tradition. Their hymns were “heavy,” lifeless, as was the mood of their public worship. Like Wesley, Watts preferred hymns that departed from the texts of the psalms, and some of his contemporaries complained that Watts’ hymns were too “worldly” for the church. He might have been considered a contemporary Christian writer of his day. Wesley’s hymns drew similar complaints, but years later. When Watts was 27 he was called to pastor a congregation in London. For the next ten years he totally immersed himself in the responsibilities of the pastorate, while at the same time he wrote books, poems, treatises, and hymns. His early success ended, however, when he became seriously ill and was forced to step aside from full-time ministry. He never fully recovered from this illness, which lasted about four years. During the next 38 years he attempted to return to pastoring, but he was not able to handle the rigors of full-time work. In 1739, at age 65, Watts suffered a stroke that left him able to speak but not write. With the assistance of a secretary, he continued to dictate his poems and hymns until he died in 1748. Perhaps his most famous hymn is one many Christian churches sing this to this day, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”
When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of Glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ, my God. All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.
See, from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all!

The last line of that song says it all! “Love so amazing!” God’s love. It is the only example of love that makes sense. It is in response to that love that we should cling to – and to let it be a visible part of our lives. It truly demands our soul…our lives…our all! That, I believe is the kind of love that we need to be examples of. There are a number of "Lou Gramm's" out there searching for something in their lives and if we can show them what love is then could it be that they just might see Christ as well?
Pastor J. T. Carnell

Good Things

by Everett Christian, McAlester, OK
Thursday, September 15, 2011

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. - Matthew 5:5(New International Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. - Ephesians 1:3(New International Version).

A QUOTE
Worship happens when you give God glory in everything you do. - James Hampton -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER
Nobody has ever measured how much a heart can hold. - From Reminisce Magazine - Starting tomorrow on the project means today is wasted. - From Reminisce Magazine -,br />
NOTES
I had lunch with Charley, then to the post office, then to the Ford Garage for new windshield wipers, then to Petsense Pet Store for canned cat food, then to Walmart for dry cat food and other items. I took my nap this afternoon. Beau decided to sleep with me this afternoon. I put treats and food outside around 6:30 p.m. but can you believe it was too cool to sit out tonight? As you know there were no Good Things last night. Yesterday Charley and I went to be with O. V's family and friends for lunch and then for the funeral. We were gone from 11:00 a.m. until after 4:00 p.m. and I was just too tired to do anything except take a nap, then take care of the cats and then sit in the recliner and read. The picture tonight is my great-grandchild, Ella, with a cat friend. We start them out early in life getting used to animals. Her father (my grandson) is a veterinarian. He said that our family's love of animals was a factor in his choice to be a vet. The cats are fine. Little Girl is sitting on the floor near my feet. Leo has been by in the last few minutes. Rascal is asleep in the recliner. Today has been cloudy with some light sprinkles of rain at different times. High temperature today was 65 degrees down from 104 degrees a couple of days ago. Low temperature this morning was 59 degrees. At 9:40 p.m. skies are cloudy with a temperature of 63 degrees. Send me an e-mail if you would like to be dropped from Good Things for any reason. I will certainly understand. I will see you next time,
In Christian Love, Everett