Life by Grace Alone

Mother was born at home and it would be many years before she would leave. From the family's  front door Mom could see the church the family attended and the small graveyard where family and friends were buried. My mom needed no school bus since a walk across the street would take her to the door of her school. There were 2 classrooms and only  thirteen students. One summer Mother went to Vacation Bible School. She learned a prayer.   Give me clean hands, clean words and clean thoughts, Keep me from habits that harm.Help me to work as hard and play as fair in thy sight alone as if the whole world saw. Keep me ready to do a little good every day and grow more like Christ. Amen I liked the prayer but something was missing. I realized that my mom knew there was more than what was stated in the prayer. When my daughter was nine she and I flew to see my parents. Shortly after arriving a trip to the mall  ended when we were hit by a  pick up truck, My mom and...

Many years have passed since I wrote this to my mom for her eightieth birthday. reading this reminds me how well I have been blessed.                                                                                                                              80 years, like 16, 21 and 40  is a year that should not pass without special notice. This is a marker of life that should not pass without special note. For fifty years I have observed the clear patterns of your life. It was Aunt Pauline that told me why we left our small house to live at Poppop's farm for nine years. I knew in many ways those years had been hard on you. Poppop's series of small strokes made him ha...

   My daughter in law made us a  blanket decorated with farm animals. This was a Christmas gift that stayed out after the tree and the decorations were long out of sight. On cold sleepless nights the throw kept at bay the chilly air. Steve had his medical emergency and the blanket when he finally came home became his. The blanket and her late night visits to Steve while he was in the ICU. made Kay's status of daughter number 3 crystal clear, I felt her love for us every time I stroked the softness of the fabric or saw the outline of farm figures on the blanket. Two large checks came from a former church home.  God has blessed us in a multitude of ways, Most recently we had our bathroom redone to make it more user friendly,  More than half was paid for by others , Over a year has passed since the first surgery, He has gone from near death to now preaching often and other forms of ministry, Blessing comes from many sources but I know God is the one who blesses t...