Nan's Calendar

by Nan Forehand, Statesville, NC
May 14, 2012

Hi! I hope you'll take time to read this story to the end. It is such a beautiful gift that God gave us all to enjoy. It was too good to keep to myself. It is posted on my teddy bear blog at www.nansgoodwillbears.blogspot.com Please feel free to visit the site for more stories and photos. My 2013 teddy bear calendar is coming along nicely. I have several scenes floating around in my head that will be actual photos in the near future. It is such a delight to see the look on a person's face when they see the teddy photos in the calendars.
Take care and have a wonderful day. Remember the quote that I'm sharing today. It's a powerful one!! Love ya! Nan

You can keep your mind trained on that which you desire from Life and get just that! Or you can feed it on the thought of that which you do not desire and it will, as unerringly, bring you just that. Napoleon Hill

For me, there is no such thing as a typical day. Every day holds the potential for the extraordinary to happen. I must be tapped into whatever it is that brings about the extraordinary in life.
I want to share with you the story of Ms. Julia and the Tiniest Teddy.
The photo above of the teddy in my hand is an example of the size of the tiniest teddy in the story. I'm a visual kind of person, so I wanted to include this photo for you. The teddy in the story is about four and a half inches tall, is the color of caramel, and is fully jointed, much like the one shown above. It would leave more to the imagination if I only told you about the bear. I want you to feel as though you were there witnessing the event unfold before your eyes. Now, on to the story! :)

This past Friday morning, May 11, 2012, I left home with 30 teddy bears contained in the two pretty, colorful cotton bags I made, cleaned and ready to be delivered to the hospital emergency department. The day before, I had placed in my car, a very tiny teddy bear. It sat in front of me on the lower area of the dashboard, between the two front seats. It wasn't the first time I have kept a little teddy in the car with me and it surely won't be the last time, either. Little did I know this particular little bear wouldn't stay in the car very long.
It was quiet as I entered the ER. Smiling, I nodded to the security guard as I passed the checkpoint, carrying the two bags, bulging with teddies. I followed through on my delivery procedure. As I walked through the door to leave the hospital, I noticed a lady standing by the exit wearing a hospital ID bracelet, holding a plastic bag of personal belongings and two containers of some sort of cold beverage in her hands. A large, black pocketbook was slung over her shoulder.
The full-figured, elderly black lady, perhaps five feet, three inches tall, asked me in her very Southern accent if I would drive her home. I was taken aback by her rather blunt question. Curious, I began to ask her some questions. "Do you not have any family or friends on the way to pick you up?" Her reply was "no". I asked her "how did you get to the hospital?" She replied, "the EMT's brought me and I don't have no way to get home. I just live down the road a little ways. Do you know where the Food Lion is?" After a moment, I knew the general area of which she referred. "Sometimes, when I feels good, I walk to the store. I'm 72 years old, but I can still walk and make my way around without too much trouble," she proudly proclaimed. She didn't want pity.
She told me she has no children and her husband is deceased. She appeared uncomfortable talking about the fact that she had no one to rely upon to take her home.
She introduced herself and with a toothless smile she told me "I'm not scared of you. Whether you take me home or not, Jesus will make sure somebody take me home. He always has before and He will this time, too." I replied to Ms. Julia, "I'm not scared of you either." I noticed the sudden, rapid beating of my heart, knowing that I'm not in the habit of picking up people, realizing that there can be a risk involved when a stranger gets in the car. As I observed her personality, I surmised that she was unequivocally a good person. She seemed harmless. The thought of any potential danger suddenly left me and I knew that as much as she trusted Jesus to provide transportation for her, I trusted Him, also to keep me safe. All the while Ms. Julia talked to me, I felt the Holy Spirit letting me know that I would be safe and that taking her home was the right thing to do.
"Ok, you stay here and I'll bring my car around to pick you up," I assured her. Ms. Julia smiled and nodded her head, obviously relieved to be leaving the hospital. I had no idea how long she had been a patient. As I walked across the parking lot, carrying my Nan's Good Will tote bag over my shoulder, I wondered as to how the upcoming event would unfold. I don't remember ever driving a stranger home before, but somehow, Ms. Julia didn't seem like a stranger at all.
When I pulled the car up to the building, she opened the passenger door of my Honda Accord and placed her large black pocketbook and the bag with her personal belongings on the back seat and shut the door. She adjusted the positions of the beverage containers as she opened the front passenger door. I held out my hand to take the containers from her while she got in the car. Her short arms had to stretch out to reach the door to close it. I felt as though I should have gone around and closed the door for her, but she strained forward, shut it and buckled up. As I handed the containers to her one at a time, she wiped the drips from them onto her tee shirt. "I make sure not to get your car dirty," she offered. "God will reward you for what you doin'" Ms. Julia assured me. "I ain't even got my teeth in and I look a mess", she told me. I replied, "you look fine to me", as we smiled at each other. "I want to tell you how I came to be at the hospital this morning," I shared. She seemed interested, as I drove away from the hospital grounds. I turned my car in the direction of the Food Lion she mentioned earlier. She was touched as I told her about how my teddy bear ministry came to be and the fact that I was there making a delivery when she stopped me as I exited the hospital. "God put you here this morning to take me home! Praise Jesus!, she exclaimed.
Ms. Julia guided me to her apartment complex. As I pulled into the parking spot and stopped the car, I told her "I can't let you leave "empty-handed". I reached down and took the tiny teddy bear from its location where it had been obviously unobserved by Ms. Julia as we rode down the street. Ms. Julia looked quite surprised. I told her to wait in the car. As she held the tiny teddy, I retrieved a copy of the poem I wrote that accompanies the teddies, from the tote bag in the trunk of my car. Then I opened the rear passenger door and took out Ms. Julia's large, black pocketbook and her bag of belongings.
As she opened the car and got out, she pulled out the key to her apartment. I followed her to the door, carrying her stuff and the poem. As she unlocked the door, she told me "now don't be scared when you come in. I'm a country girl and I wants to get back to the country." I didn't know what to expect as she opened the door. Much to my surprise, there was no furniture in the living room. The fireplace screen was lying flat on the floor in front of the darkened fireplace. There were no curtains on the windows. The carpet was in need of attention.
Ms. Julia continued on into the kitchen where she placed the two beverage containers on the clean counter. "I'm setting your pocketbook and your bag on the counter here," I told her as she looked out of the curtain-less kitchen window. There was no table or chairs upon which to set her belongings.
She walked to the back door and opened it. I opened the envelope containing my poem and said to her, "I want to share my poem with you. I don't know how good your eyes are, so I can read it if you would like." "Read it to me, baby," she said as she smiled at me. She came up beside me as I read the poem aloud. I could tell that she was touched by the story of how Nan's Good Will Bears came to be. She laughed at the funny part. I handed the poem and the envelope to her. "I want you to have this poem and the little teddy bear", I told the lady whose beautiful black skin appeared to be younger than her years. "Thank you, baby", was her reply.
"Every morning I get up, and I come in here and look out this window and say 'thank you God for another day'. Thank you, Jesus! He wake me up every morning. You don't wake me up. Nobody wake me up but Jesus." Ms. Julia raised her hands towards the mid-morning sunbeams streaming through the kitchen window. As she praised God, she became very excited.
She picked up the tiny teddy bear and clutched it to her bosom. She became emotional as she shared her story. A visit with her doctor revealed colon cancer. She told me that after he had left the room, she went down on her knees. The doctor was alarmed when he returned, seeing her on the floor. "Ms. Julia are you ok?", he asked. No response came from her. She didn't look up. "Ms. Julia, are you ok?", he asked a second time. Her lips moved in silence. When she finished praying, Ms. Julia told him as the tears ran down her face, "I didn't want to get up til I was done praying." She smiled at me as she shared her story. Not once did she complain, nor did she tell me more about the cancer.
The kitchen was clean, but to say it was sparsely stocked would be an understatement. The electric stove was missing two of the burners. As Ms. Julia continued praising God, I couldn't help but wonder. With no children and apparently no other family to help support her, who took away the furniture? Would she be leaving the apartment very soon? Why was the opened cupboard empty? Did she have enough food? She didn't ask for anything from me. She offered no explanation. I didn't ask questions. She was already uncomfortable at the hospital when I quizzed her about the absence of family or friends to come pick her up. It was a very sensitive subject for her. I just listened as she spoke of her faith.
She opened up her large black pocketbook and pulled out a New Testament stuffed with papers and then she pulled out another book of the same size. I couldn't read what was on the cover. "I never goes anywhere without my Bibles. I'm 72 years old and Jesus always with me", she said as tears fell from her cheeks. Ms. Julia began to talk about hugs and handshakes. "When somebody shake your hand, they better mean it and when they gives you a hug, they better hug you like they mean it!, she exclaimed. She talked about the shape the world is in today where people go around not seeing and not caring about their fellow man. "My brother was a deacon. He was a good man. He dead now," she said as she wiped the tears. I noticed her navy blue tee shirt was dampened by the tears that fell from her chin.
At one point, her feet left the floor as she praised God, dancing around, praising God. I was touched by her gestures, but I was not afraid. Perhaps she was not currently involved with a church family, but her faith in God was unshakable amidst adversity.
"I have to go now, Ms. Julia," I offered as she paused to take a breath. "Ok, baby girl. I know you can't stay. Thank you so much for bringing me home," she replied as she grinned her toothless grin. "God bless you, baby!", was her response. I wondered when was the last time Ms. Julia received a hug. She spoke of hugs and handshakes earlier. I looked into her soft, damp eyes and held out my arms to her. Twenty years my senior, she stood there in her kitchen, looking into my eyes and came into my arms. We held each other in Christian love, neither one aware of the time of the day, nor caring. Time stood still as Ms. Julia and I shared the embrace. It was a perfect moment that would have never happened had I not trusted God for safety and assurance that it was ok to drive her home.
Ms. Julia was a wonderful teacher even when she wasn't aware of it. Because I let go of the fear of a "negative what if" and embraced the will of God, I am able to share this beautiful story with you today.
I have thought of Ms. Julia a lot since we met. I am not worried about her. I know our God and her faith will sustain her. God will continue to place people in her path who will give her aid as needed, just as He placed me in her path on Friday to drive her home from the hospital. I will keep her in my prayers.

Interestingly, at church yesterday, Pastor Mike shared a passage from 1 John 4:7-21, as he shared his "Mother's Day" message with the congregation. The title of the sermon was "Love Each Other". I smiled as he read the verses, knowing and relishing in the moment as he read, speaking of Knowing God Through Love, Seeing God Through Love, The Consummation of Love, and Obedience by Faith. I lived it on Friday morning, simply because I let my own faith in God be my guide.

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:11

Good Things

by E. Christian, McAlester, OK
Monday, May 14, 2012

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
89 Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. 90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides. - Psalm 119:89-90(New King James Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
5 Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. 6 Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. 7 God shall bless us, And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him. - Psalm 67:5-7(New King James Version).

A QUOTE
You will never win if you never begin. - Robert H. Schuller -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER
A good example is the best sermon. - From Proverbs for Daily Living -
Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. - Native American Proverb -

NOTES
Today has been a partly cloudy day with a high temperature of 78 degrees and a low temperature of 54 degrees. I had lunch with Charley and Bill. I came by the post office to pick up my mail. I sat outside a few minutes before I took my nap. I took a nap with Emmy. I sat outside with the cats from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Today has been an uneventful day so I don't have much to write. Thanks to those who responded to my e-mail last night and thanks to everyone who reads the Good Things.
The cats are fine. Little Girl is outside at present and Rascal is in the recliner. Emmy came by a few minutes ago. I have seen all of the cats this evening.
I will see you next time,
In Christian Love, Everett.

Good Things

by E. Christian, McAlester, OK
Sunday, May 13, 2012

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
43 Whoever is wise will observe these things, And they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord. - Psalm 107:43(New King James Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. - Romans 8:6(New International Version).

A QUOTE
"If your heart is as my heart," if you love God and all mankind, I ask no more: "give me your hand." - John Wesley -

A THOUGHT TO REMEMBER
Tell no one when you are wronged; tell everyone when you are blessed. - From Reminisce Magazine -

NOTES
Today has been partly cloudy in McAlester, Oklahoma, with a high temperature of 79 degrees and a low temperature of 59 degrees. I attended Worship Sevices this morning on this Mother's Day. All the mothers were asked to stand and were given a little gift. Some of the songs and choruses we sang were "A Shelter in the Time of Storm," "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord," "A Child of the King," "There's Something About that Name," "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" and "Spirit of the Living God." Pastor J. T.'s sermon was titled "A Fearless Pray(er)." Two people were baptized at the close of the service. I had lunch at home. I sat outside for a few minutes before I took my nap. Emmy napped with me this afternoon. I watched the Lawrence Welk show at 5:00 p.m. It was before the days of color in black and white. Some of you probably don't remember those days. We didn't have church tonight so people could enjoy time together on Mother's Day. I sat outside with the cats from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m. I put the garbage out on the street just before I started the Good Things. If you enjoy the Scriptures, quotes and notes on Good Things and if they have helped you in any way I would appreciate an e-mail from you once in a while. That will encourage me and keep them coming to you.
The cats are fine. Little Girl is in the den with me. I have seen all of them this evening.
I will see you next time,
In Christian Love, Everett.

Good Things

by E. Chrsitian, McAlester, OK
Saturday, May 12, 2012

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
(Jesus said) 34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” - John 13:34-35(New King James Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD,br /> (The Apostle Paul wrote) 12 "And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." - 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13(New King James Version).

A QUOTE
Now that we have been the recipients of such unmerited favor and grace, we can no longer hoard it for ourselves alone. - Morris A. Weigelt -

A THOUGHT TO REMEMER
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. - From Reminisce Magazine -

NOTES
I started the Good Things last night and it was raining. Lately when it rains it puts my phone out of order and my internet is on the phone line. I lost my internet connection and later in the evening it came back on but it was too late to do the Good Things. I have had a problem getting the phone company out to work on my phone because when they are ready to come out the phone is working. I will contact them again next week and try to get them to come out and fix the problem. We had rain most of yesterday and last night and early this morning. The rest of the day has been mostly cloudy. High temperature today was 73 degrees with a low of 60 degrees. I had lunch with Charley. I went by the post office and cemetery before I came home. I sat outside a few minutes before my nap. I took a nap with Emmy. At 4:00 p.m. I made a trip to Walmart for some items. I sat outside with the cats from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. I always appreciate getting e-mails and I appreciate each one who reads the Good Things.
The cats are fine. While I was sitting out with them this evening there were three chairs close together. I was in the center chair, Rascal was in the chair to my left, Itty Bitty was in the chair to my right. Beau came along and he didn't have a chair so he got in my lap and sat there until I came inside. At present Little Girl is on the sofa. Two or three times a day when I am in the recliner, Little Girl has to come and lie on my chest a few minutes up close to my neck. Part of the time she will be purring. I have seen all of the kities this evening.

I hope all of the mothers have a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
I hope everyone has a Wonderful Sunday
! In Christian Love, Everett.

Daily Jewel

by pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
May 11, 2012

“An Extravagant Relationship”
“May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. “– Proverbs 5:18,br />
Obviously not everyone reading this message will have a “wife.” I think you know who you are! Not everyone reading this message is married. So, does it have meaning to all of us? You bet it does!
First, there is something to be said about how to live life with passion! We have been down this street before on a number of occasions but I think it really applies well here. If you have a passionate relationship with Christ—the thought of going elsewhere (i.e., being tempted by the adulteress) will not have any power or persuasion over you. You realize that the love of God through Jesus will sustain you and keep you satisfied against any and every temptation.
Using the marriage analogy—the same thought applies! Going back to our discussion of verse 17 a spring is a perpetual source of pure water that flows constantly. You may attempt to plug it up, but it will find another outlet in which to flow. It is pure and wholesome as marriage was designed to be. In Old Testament times a fountain would be considered a luxury item (certainly something Solomon could afford) and was fed by a spring, so the water coming out of the fountain would be clean…pure and worth the price! The idea of drinking at one’s fountain would clearly be defined as having an extravagant, pure, wholesome and passionate relationship! The kind of relationship that God intended it to be! According to Reuters news agency, Daniel Lehner and his wife, Remy, were married December 12, 1993. Evidently they believed in doing up anniversaries in a big, big way. Before they even celebrated their first anniversary, they made plans for how they would celebrate their second. They made plans to go to one of their favorite plays—The Phantom of the Opera, by Andrew Lloyd Webber—which they had already seen many times.
But just going to the play was not enough to express their love. They wanted to make a grand gesture. So, more than a year in advance, they bought tickets for every seat in the house of New York’s Majestic Theater for December 12, 1995. That’s 1,609 seats and at that time, at a cost of nearly $17,000.
Daniel and Remy evidently love each other—and this play—deeply! As they have demonstrated, one of the marks of a passionate love is extravagance.
When Jesus walked the earth, there were people who expressed their love to him with extravagance; a good example was the woman who anointed His feet with “alabaster.” Her love and devotion to Jesus exceeded anything that prior to that time had been witnessed.
She was criticized for her extravagance—but think about the source. It came from a man (Judas) who the book of John describes as a thief. Judas’s criticism of this woman had nothing to do with her actions per se, but with how the expensive alabaster was being used. But her actions and the intent behind them were not lost on Jesus. He accepted her gift as an act of devotion!
What are we doing to show our devotion to Christ? You do not have to have a lot of money to have an extravagant love affair with Jesus, or with your husband or wife or both if it still applies!
Pastor J. T. Carnell