Nursery Rhymes to Organize Life

One-Two: Buckle Your Shoe.
Three-four: Shut the Door.
Five-Six: Pick up Sticks.
Seven-Eight: Lay Them Straight.
Nine-Ten: Begin Again.

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God's plan for the universe, and our lives, is a plan of order. The planets, stars, and moons are set in motion. God spoke--and it happened.
Then God created man, and gave him choice. Choose God's way, or disobey. Eve disobeyed, and Adam followed. There has been chaos ever since. Throughout the history of man, God said, if you do this..., I'll do this.... Mostly man rebels and God chastises.
If we as individuals will choose God, first His salvation plan, (John 3:16) then His plan for our daily living, we can have order and harmony. Once we are saved by the believing on His Word, we then must choose daily what activities to fill our days.
The nursery rhyme above teaches children organizational skills:

One-Two: Buckle your shoe. Get up and get dressed properly. Tie (buckle) your shoes. Tuck in that shirt.
Three-Four: Shut the door. On the farm we had a saying, if you open a gate shut it. My parents would say, close the door so the flies don't come in. God says: pay attention; don't let unsavory people or habits into your life.
Five-Six: Pick up sticks. Pick up the clutter in your yard, home, or heart. Sort it out and get rid of it.
Seven-Eight: Lay them straight. Take care to keep the good things orderly. Treasures or habits, though good, can overwhelm if collected, done, or used to excess.
Nine-Ten: Begin again. The sun rises and sets, and we start our day that the Lord has made. Read our Bible; pray for those in need; go about our day being the best we can be (with the help of God), and lay our heads on our pillows, praying for a good night's sleep. In the morning, when we awake, we pray for God to guide us to do it all again.

Appreciation

"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

Psalm 118:24

I was talking with my husband just recently about a "life verse," that is, a verse to live by, and keep the Lord close. I told him that I'm not good memorizing, but I have a few verses of Scripture that I keep close to my heart. The above verse is one of them. After I quote it, I try to add, "and I will do my best to fill it up."

First of all, we are to realize that God has given us this day. Good or bad, we have another day to live and count our blessings. Not all days are beds of roses, but God plants the garden, and we are just the gardeners. Each situation is sent from God to either lift us up, or strengthen our spine. We can gripe and complain, or we can seek to help others through our own struggles. We can't control what comes by, but we can control how we react to it.

How we fill our days reflect our character and walk with God. Do we fill our days with trivial pursuits? With feeding grudges? With looking over the fence to greener pastures? Or do we fill our days with Bible reading (to get closer to our God), praying for those in our circle, and outside our circle who are struggling worse than we are? Do we remember past shortcomings in our family and friends, or do we let go of it?

Can we look out the window and NOT see God's blessings? Is the sky blue? No? Are thunder clouds hanging low? Well, does anyone near you need rain for their garden? Do you see flowers blooming? Birds nestling in nearby branches?

MY yard has hummingbirds and cardinals, petunias and roses. If I want to just see problems, I could keep looking close, and then I would miss the things just beyond. I experienced 90 degrees and "tropical" weather today in the Low Country. Some say it's too hot. I say, you don't have to shovel humidity. (I am a transplant from the north where they had a frost this week.) I am very satisfied with hot and humid, over hip deep snow and 30 below zero.

We can always find something to complain about, but that doesn't get us anywhere. Let us just look around to see that there are blessings to rejoice over.
Let us all see that "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:24

Memorial Day Weekend-Remembering What Makes America Great--STILL

As I write this, it is Friday, the beginning of Memorial Day Weekend. Many folks will be heading to the beach, going to visit families, taking a mini-vacation. Some of us will attend Memorial Day ceremonies where names of the fallen will be read, and flowers will be placed on memorials of our country's finest heroes.

Our president will not be placing a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns this year. He has delegated this honor to someone else.

Unfortunately, each generation must make a commitment to keep American free. Fortunately, they have--so far.
As I think about America and our Heroes, who made America great, and kept us free, I think of my great-great-grandfather, who fought in the Civil War. I remember my father who served in WWII in Europe. He talked little about his service, except to say "I drove a truck." He also flew a few sorties over Europe as a gunner. He always wondered if he would have enough courage to jump out in a parachute if it became needed. Thankfully, he returned home with a healed broken arm, and many unseen wounds to his soul. He told me his home-coming was very difficult, as HE didn't understand what my mother and grandparents went through with him gone to war, and THEY didn't understand the pressure and danger he lived in all that time. From the time he left to go to boot came 'til he was discharged, he never had a leave to come home.
I think now of all the "apologizing" that is being done on behalf of America by our politicians...apologizing that we are rich and powerful, or at least we were until recently, apologizing for past sins of slavery, for a manifest destiny policy that grew our country from sea to shining sea, apologizing for not being perfect, apologizing for calling those who wish to do us harm "enemies," for those who manufacture death and destruction "terrorists." I think that our soldiers now are just as brave as those at Valley Forge. I also think our Congress is still as tied up in knots as it was back in the days of the birth of our nation.

I believe America is still great because of so many who are still trying to get in here, however they do it. You don't see a great line of folks at the borders trying to get OUT! Even with the unemployment rate so high, illegals still try to cross the border to work, to educate their children, and to get the health care they can't get anywhere else. This, yes, is a political fireball, and answers will have to be found. But, you can't fault the country because it is so great that so many want to come.

I believe our country IS a Christian nation, it was when we became a nation, and it better continue it's Christian heritage, or fold its tent.
I believe our country should remain a friend of Israel, because God said Israel are his chosen people, and those who are friends of Israel will be blessed, and those who are not will be cursed.
I believe our country has come a long way AWAY from the Christian foundation, and we'd all better all get on our knees and repent of our worldly ways before God decides to curse US.
I believe our Soldiers, Sailors, Coast Guards and Marines should be able to count on us all for our prayer, our support, and whatever it takes to take care of them and their families.
May God Bless America, and its past, present and future Veterans!

Remembering this Special Weekend...

It's the VETERAN not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.
It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the VETERAN, not the politician, Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the VETERAN who salutes the Flag,
It is the VETERAN who serves under the Flag,
ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.
God Bless them all!!!


(Feel free to copy and forward to anyone you wish. That's how I received it.)

A Few Thoughts of the Day

Currently reading:
Of course, the Bible...daily Bible reading keeps me going, and greatly improves my patience.

Spoken from the Heart, by Laura Bush. It is a "soft" read. By this I mean, she is an excellent writer, and leads you through her life gently. I haven't finished it yet. She has some very inciteful thoughts on family and wanting children in her life.

Tell me why I can buy gas in Edgefield at $2.51 a gallon, but it costs me $2.70 in the Low Country.

Has anyone in the government realized yet that when gas got over $2.00 a gallon, that was when the economy started to tank?

Think about "legal tender." Money. If money were the only legal tender, then "oil" wouldn't be traded on the stock market, and the cost of a barrel of oil wouldn't tilt the world's economy. Many countries trade in "oil dollars" and their own economies are very volitile.

Another word about "legal tender." When our kids were young our family had a large farm. We grew various fruits and vegetables. One thing was pumpkins. We had literally tons of pumpkins each year. Most of them were sold for Halloween pumpkins...Jack-o-lanterns. Our second son was born in the fall and his hospital bill was paid with "pumpkin money." You might say, that year, pumpkins were legal tender.

I have a severe shortage of patience. I pray often this Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God." Have a blessed day. Let the Lord speak to your heart.

Cherish the Children

Many places in the Bible it mentions that God knows each of us while still in our mother's womb. Some dear friends announced the arrival of their new baby last night. So to Lauren Amanda, and all other babies, I dedicate this piece. It is NOT my original work, as will be noted at the end.

The Baby

Where did you come from baby dear?
Out of the everywhere into the here.
Where did you get your eyes so blue?
Out of the sky as I came through.
What makes the light in them sparkle and spin?
Some of the starry spikes left in.
Where did you get that little tear?
I found it waiting when I got here.
What makes your forehead so smooth and high?
A soft hand stroked it as I went by.
What makes your cheek like a warm white rose?
Something better than anyone knows.
Whence that three-cornered smile of bliss?
Three angels gave me at once a kiss.
Where did you get that pearly ear?
God spoke, and it came out here.
Where did you get those arms and hands?
Love made itself into hooks and bands.
Feet, whence did you come, you darling things?
From the same box as the cherubs wings.
How did they all just come to be you?
God thought about me, and so I grew.
But how did you come to us, you dear?
God thought of you, and so I am here.

-George MacDonald

May God Bless all babies and their moms and dads.

Greetings from the Low Country

Greetings from the Low Country.
I will be posting from time to time interesting ideas or news items I see or read about. I use several conservative sites for research: AmericanThinker.com, National review online, Fox news. I hope to present Christian theme and focus on current events. Eventually readers will be able to post comments. I am new at blogging, and internet info- sharing. I had a facebook page, but didn't like their lack of security.

I am signing off as
Char-de-whit.com