BLESSINGS

BLESSINGS

I have two daughters and they are both so very special. When I have the chance to spend time with them I enjoy them all the more. They both have a way of making me feel special and are so great about helping me and taking care of me.

Cathie and her husband, Tim, live here in Memphis and they are always helping me and bringing me things such as groceries or sandwiches – or sometimes just themselves. We often watch movies or sports events together and it is always nice having them here with me. Tim is an expert on the computer and fixing things and I don't know what I would do without either of them.

Barbie and her husband, Steve, live in Southside (outside of Clarksville), TN and it is about a 3-½ hour drive from here. She tries to come about every three weeks or so and she takes me out to eat and to shop at Wal-Mart. Then we often play cards or watch TV together. Steve does not get to come very often because of his job, but I know his love always comes with Barbie and that is special to me.

I have a Bible Study/Share and Care every Wednesday morning and Cathie often comes over and makes sure everything is looking nice. Last Wednesday morning she brought coffee, a chicken biscuit, and cinnamon rolls and we had a time of just sharing and fellowshipping before she did some cleaning Then Barbie drove in from Clarksville on Thursday and we went to eat at Perkins and then shopped at Wal-Mart. That evening Cathie and Tim came over and we all enjoyed bacon and tomato sandwiches – with tomatoes fresh out of Barbie and Steve’s garden. They were WONDERFUL. The difference between home grown and store bought is absolutely amazing. And that is true of the other vegetables as well. Next time she comes she will bring cantaloupes out of their garden. Looking forward to that.

My two girls have been blessings to me all their lives. They were always willing to pitch in when I needed them, even when they were small. I have a picture of them washing dishes for the first time and remember how they thought it was great fun. It did not take them long to get over that, though.

As I look back over the years I have seen them grow up from little girls to young women,to college graduates, and now as mature women who are making a difference in their communities and I am so proud of them. The nice thing is that although they are both my daughters and have a lot of my attributes, they are also both individuals and can enjoy being different from me or from each other. At the same time there is closeness in our family that is truly wonderful and we all know that we can count on the others when we need them. That is truly a blessing from the Lord.

I can truly praise and thank the Lord for giving me not only two such wonderful daughters, but also two fantastic sons-in-law, a loving granddaughter and grandson-in-law, and a super grandson who all love me. What greater gift could I ever have than that?

Of course the very greatest gift of all is knowing Jesus as my personal Saviour – and knowing that He is that to every member of my family, too. No matter what is going on in my life I know that He is always there with me, loving me, guiding me, taking care of me, and blessing me. What a joy and a comfort to know this and realize His closeness every day.

I pray that every single person that reads this blog will come to know this wonderful Saviour and walk daily with Him. You will never regret it.

God bless each and every one of you.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE

Know it has been a while, but there has been nothing to report. But I went to the Doctor and she checked me over. My blood pressure, etc. were all very good, and then she checked my lungs. She was in back of me and I could not see her face, but my daughters were with me and they could. They said her eyes got bigger and she had such a look of surprise on her face and then she said, "Your lungs sound great!" We think she expected some signs of deterioration in my system and that is why she was so surprised. Of course we weren't, because I am doing great (except for my knees and back) and am starting to do more things like I was doing before all this hit me last March. It has been a rough five months, but I know what God told me "that I do not have cancer" and I am standing on His Word. And I am very grateful that you are all standing with me in this.

Even though I do not know how - or when - the proof of this third miracle will come, I know that it will, because of the prayers and love of my family and friends.. You will never know how much that means to me, because even though I am doing pretty well physically, the real battle is in the mind and knowing that you are all there for me makes so much difference.

Because the Doctor wrote "dong very well" on her report, I do not have to go back again for six weeks.

Other reasons I have not written sooner are:

1. Celebrated my 75th birthday (imagine being ¾ of a century old) and it was a wonderful time because ALL my family were able to be here. My daughters, Cathie and Barbie; their husbands, Tim and Steve; my grandchildren, Angela and her husband, Zach, and Ben helped me celebrate. Took pictures, received nice gifts, and enjoyed having them all with me.

The picture at the top is all my family. Standing behind me are, from l-r Angela, Steve, Barbie, Cathie and Tim. Kneeling in front of me are Zach and Ben.

2. The second reason was that I could not find where I wrote down my password so could not get
in to post a new one. But I finally remembered it and here I am.

Also, during this past month, Barbie and Steve celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary on August 18th, Angela had her 26th birthday on the 24th, and Ben his 24th birthday on the 15th. I am sure that Barbie and Steve never dreamed that both their children would be born in August when they set their wedding date. Ha! Although I was not able to be with any of them on their special days, did get to talk to them and that was nice. Think it is very interesting that my daughters are lacking 8 days of being two years apart – Steve and his sister, Deborah, are lacking 10 days of being two years apart – and their children, Angela and Ben, are lacking 9 days of being two years apart. Don’t know what the significance of that is, but do think it is interesting, don’t you?

DON’T TAKE LIFE - OR HEALTH - FOR GRANTED

DON’T TAKE LIFE - OR HEALTH - FOR GRANTED

It has been a while since I have written, but during these last few months I have gone through some things that I never expected to happen to me. Guess that is because for the first 74 years of my life I have been fairly healthy. The only problem I was having was with my back and arthritis in my knee. Then I caught some kind of bug last March that I could not shake off. This lead to a cough and shortness of breath. So I finally went to the Doctor on May 9th, thinking I would get a couple of prescriptions and come home, but they found fluid in my lungs and sent me straight to the emergency room. They did all sorts of tests and the Doctor there finally told me I was a “diagnostic dilemma” because they could not locate the source. So I was admitted and for the next six days they poked and prodded and tested and drew enough blood to float a ship.

Now let me share a couple of miracles. First, one of the ultrasounds showed that I had an aneurysm about 5.6 centimeters long in my aorta and they told me I would have to have surgery. Well, then they did a cat scan and it showed absolutely nothing. Now there will be some who would say that they just made a mistake on the ultrasound – but we know It was the Lord. Then they thought I had a blood clot in my lung – but they did more testing and could not find any signs of a clot anywhere in my body. TO GOD BE THE GLORY! Finally, although they could never come up with a source for the fluid in my lungs and abdomen, they came and told me that some of the cells they had tested showed they were cancerous and malignant, so they called in a specialist and she scheduled more tests – but I could do them out of the hospital. So they released me to come home. I still had fluid and they got me an oxygen tank just in case. Because I had no other pain or symptoms was why it is so intriguing to the doctors because through all the tests they performed they found that my heart is good, my kidneys are good, etc. They just could not discover the source of the fluid.

Well, took the tests and the first one showed everything was okay, and we were all believing that the results of the PET scan would show no cancer cells, but when we went to the doctor, that was not the case. She did say there were no masses anywhere, but that the cells were the worst of all cancers (adenocarcenoma – a rare kind) and that there was nothing that could be done. Chemo or radiation would not help and basically she gave me a prognosis of three to twelve months. Needless to say, that was a shock to all of us - BUT - she is a doctor that deals with this all the time and this is what it looks like to her in the natural.

But PRAISE THE LORD, we are not in the natural, but in the SUPERNATURAL, and we are still standing and believing for a third miracle, even though it did not come as we expected. So many times in the poems the Lord has given me He reminds us “not to look at circumstances, or to go by what we see or feel or hear,” so we refuse to look at the circumstances.

It took a while before I had any news and during this time I spent a week and a half at my daughter’s home. It is out in the country and I so enjoyed not only the peace and quiet, but the beautiful trees the deer, the birds and butterflies, and more, all of God’s beautiful creations. Barbie and Steve treated me like a queen. They waited on me and made sure I could get around okay. Steve cooked deer steak for me twice and it was wonderful, plus a lot of other good stuff.

It has been a tough three months and I am glad the worst is over. On Tuesday, the 24th of May, they drained 5 liters of fluid out of my abdomen. Had weighed in the morning and then when I got home and I had lost 12 pounds. That’s a lot of fluid, and yes, it was filled with cancerous cells BUT we believe that it took ALL of them out of my body.

On the day Barbie came to get me, I received a phone call from a very dear friend who walks close to the Lord and she told me that God told her to call me and tell me that “I DID NOT HAVE CANCER AND THAT I HAD AUTHORITY.” He also said that, “FOR HIS PEOPLE THAT WALK IN AUTHORITY, NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST THEM COULD PROSPER”. How about that for a good Word, and it was just the confirmation I needed. I don’t know how God is going to work it so that I have proof of my healing (I have the medical records for my first two miracles), but know He will work it out.

Anyway, when we went to the doctor on the 25th, she told us that there were cancer cells in the fluid (which we already knew) and so her prognosis did not change at all. Of course, like I said before, she is a doctor and she calls it as she sees it – in the natural. So once again I had to deal with my flesh, but again, Praise The Lord, know He is pulling me through and I am just taking one day at a time. My biggest problem right now is trying to get my strength back, but I will, in Jesus’ Name.

Do want to share about a couple of good reports. First of all, we had been praying for a new car for my friend, Fran, and she won one in the St. Jude Dream House Contest. That is exciting enough, but wait until you read this next one. Another dear friend has a Goddaughter who had not yet started her period by 17, so they checked her and found that she had been born without a uterus or ovaries. Well, my friend prayed with her and for her and six month later she started having periods and they checked and she had a uterus. Last week they checked her again and not only does she have the uterus, but also two ovaries – all perfect. Isn’t that a wonderful, creative miracle by our God? Even the doctors said it had to be a miracle. So if He can do that, I know He will take care of me – and all of you, too.

Know this is long, but would like to share one more thing. My son-in-law asked me if I minded if he told his family and of course I said he could. A few days after that he received an e-mail from his sister who told him that she had read the e-mail to the family, and that night, when she was saying prayers with her grandchildren, she asked them if there was anyone else they needed to pray for, and the little grandson, 4 years old, said, “what about that other Grandma who is sick?” Isn’t that precious? At least I think it was and wanted to share it because we know how close children are to Him.
One thing I have learned through all this, and my family, too, is that none of us know when or how the Lord is going to call us home and we should all be prepared. I have a will but had not written out what I wanted as to services, etc. Now I am planning to do this so my family will know what I want and how I want things handled.

I do not know when He is going to take me home. It might be three months – three years – or even tomorrow. My prayer is that everyone who reads this will give serious thought to life, health, and the future, and especially to be prepared spiritually. Jesus is the only way – so I pray you all know Him and have taken Him for your personal Saviour.

RAINY DAYS

Yesterday and today have been sort of on and off type of rainy days, and as I was sitting here thinking about the rain, I was reminded of a story about windshield wipers that I would like to share.

WINDSHIELD WIPERS
One rainy afternoon a man was driving along one of the main streets in town, taking those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet and slick. Suddenly, his daughter spoke up from her relaxed position in her seat. "Dad, I'm thinking of something."
This announcement usually meant she had been pondering some fact for a while, and was now ready to expound all that her six-year-old mind had discovered. He was eager to hear.
"What are you thinking?" he asked.
"The rain", she began, "is like sin, and the windshield wipers are like God wiping our sins away."
After the chill bumps raced up his arms he was able to respond. "That's really good." Then his curiosity broke in. How far would this little girl take this revelation? So he asked... "Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?"
She didn't hesitate one moment with her answer: "We keep on sinning, and God just keeps on forgiving us."

And isn’t this the truth! What an awesome God we have that is ever ready to forgive us when we go to him and confess our wrongdoings! It is so nice to know that His grace and mercy are from everlasting to everlasting and that He loves us unconditionally.

The next time you are driving in the rain, I hope you will remember this little story as you turn your windshield wipers on.

Have a blessed day and remember this, too, that:
In order to see the Rainbow, you must first endure some Rain.

PETS

As I am sitting here at my computer, I can look up and see a picture of Spunky, the first dog we had after we moved to Memphis. I had told my girls that we would get one when, and if, we ever had a fenced-in backyard. Well, this came about and they were quick to remind me of my promise, so the next day we went to the animal shelter. Although we saw a lot of cute dogs, there was one who just captured our hearts and so we took him home with us (after the usual procedures of adopting a pet).

We named her Spunky and she was really the most precious dog. My Mom was living with us then and she fell in love with him, too. And although she slept on Cathie's bed every night, when we are all at home she had no favorites. We would be sitting in the living room watching TV and she would go sit by Mom, then came over by me, then Cathie and then Barbie. She truly loved us all the same. She was with us for almost 13 years and we all have many, many memories we could share. Probably the two things I remember most is how she would go to the door every school day afternoon and sit up so she could look out the storm door about two or three minutes before the girls would get home from school. Then at night, right at 10 PM, (bed time for the girls), she would go into the hall, turn around and look at them as if to say, "okay, it's time you came to bed." Needless to say, she was a very smart dog and even after my Mom went blind, and we were worried about her tripping over Spunky, she was always alert and never got in Mom's way. That was about the time that she started being more partial - and that was toward Mom. It was as if she knew and understood. Of course when we lost her, it was hard on all of us but we will never forget her.

Many people say that pets are "just animals" but for us, and I am sure many of you who have pets, they are like one of the family and we love them dearly.

Because I live in an apartment, I will probably never have another pet, but at least I can enjoy the cats and dogs that my children and grandchildren have as part of their families. May they all be as blessed, and be a blessing to them, as Spunky was to me and my girls.

EASTER SUNDAY

RESURRECTION DAY

On this Resurrection Day
We celebrate with joy
Because God’s Son rose from the dead
To devil to destroy

For Jesus Christ was crucified
And suffered on the cross
To guarantee eternal life
And save those who were lost

With stripes He took upon His back
And thorns pressed in His head
The spear thrust deep into His side
‘Till all His blood was shed

Yet knowing that it had to be
According to God’s will
To gain the final victory
And prophecy fulfill

For when that empty tomb was found
On that first Easter morn
It brought us a new covenant
That men might be reborn

So thank You, Heavenly Father
For all that You have done
Especially for Your Greatest Give
The life of Your Dear Son

Kay Smith Crouch


What a blessing to know that God loved us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His own Son that we might escape the punishment due us, and that Jesus would willingly take our place and die on the cross that we might know eternal life. All we can possibly need or want is in Jesus Christ. If we are restless He is our peace; if we are tempted, He is our strength; if we are unhappy, He is our joy – so that if we keep utterly depending on Him in every circumstance, life gets to e a glorious march of victory every day. Not that we’d ever get to be perfect on this earth, but in so far as we let Jesus Christ live our lives for us, victory would be the habitual thing, instead of defeat, as it is in most of us. And that kind of joyous life is what He meant us to have. It’s one thing that His death and resurrection accomplished.

You can’t even start to understand any of this unless you believe that Jesus Christ is your own personal Saviour. Except a man be born again he cannot perceive the kingdom of God. And you are born again if you believe that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” You see it was this way. The whole world was sinners. “dead in trespasses and sins.” God says that means spiritual death, which is separation from God. So, in order to have life, we must be born again from the dead, not of flesh and blood this time, as we came into our earthly families, but born of God’s Spirit, by accepting the life He offers in His Word. Into that we are born into the family of God. As for the believing, it isn’t being intellectually convinced. It is an act of the will. It is saying “I will trust myself to this thing and let God prove it to me afterward. For example, if at a meal I offered you shrimp and you said you had never tasted them and I told you they were delicious, so you tasted them and found it was true. You believed what I said enough to trust me and taste. The Bible says, “O taste and see that the Lord is good. Happy is the man that trusts in Him.” You can’t be intellectually convinced till you have tasted of course, but belief is just accepting and tasting.

It is not just dying that saves you, nor is it your good works. You see, we have all sinned, and the penalty of sin is death. Whoever is willing to accept His atonement may be saved. And it’s all up to us whether we will take it or not. It isn’t anything we can do or be. It is just taking Jesus as our Saviour, believing in Him, and taking Him at His word, having faith that He will do what He says He will do.

It is my prayer this Easter Sunday that those who do not know Him, or have not yet accepted Him, will choose to receive His gift of salvation. This is something that can be done at this very moment. For the Word says in Romans 10:9-10, ‘If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.’ Just believe in your heart and speak the following aloud.
“Jesus, I believe in my heart that You are the Son of God, that You died for my sins, and that You were raised from the dead for my justification. Forgive me of all my sins and accept me into Your Kingdom. I confess You now as my Lord and I have now become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and I am saved.”
Now know that the Father has accepted you and He is rejoicing over your decision. The next step is to start reading the Bible and finding a church that teaches the true Word of God.

If you have chosen to do this, then welcome to the Family.

A blessed Easter to everyone.

GOOD FRIDAY

GOOD FRIDAY
Today we observe the day when Jesus was beaten, reviled, and scorned, ending with His crucifixion on the cross at Calvary.
When He died He had accomplished His purpose of taking all our sins and iniquities upon Himself and paying the debt we owe so we could go free. Thus He fulfilled the words of Isaiah 53:3-9
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open his mouth.”
Imagine His loving us all so much that He was willing to go through all this, to take upon Himself our sins and their penalty of death, and who bore them all, with their shame and their punishment, that all of us who believe in Him might be free and one day go Home to Him without spot or blemish. As you give thought to this day and what it means in the lives of Christians everywhere, please think about these things and what He has done for us.

HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD

The precious blood of Jesus
How freely it did flow
Upon that cross at Calvary
Two thousand years ago

And every drop of blood that fell
Christ gave so willingly
That every man might be redeemed
And live eternally

With stripes He took upon His back
And thorns pressed in His head
The spear thrush deep into His side
Til all His blood was shed

To heal all our diseases
And take away our sin
To overcome the enemy
As we are changed within

For when He was resurrected
He set the captives free
No more can Satan overcome
For now Christ holds the key

That we be washed as white as snow
Beneath the cleansing flood
As we come to know this Savior
Who shed His precious blood
Kay Smith Crouch