Sunday Is Coming

Good morning from Branson, Mo.

We pray all is well with you.

The work here is going good. Small crowds this season, but God is still using us in peoples lives. We have been doing a Bible study on Wednesday nights on the names of God. It's a great study. When we pray we need to use the different names of God... what power. When we pray we need to say--------

LORD, PROP US UP....

Every time I am asked to pray, I think of the old deacon who always prayed,

'Lord, prop us up on our leanin' side.'

After hearing him pray that prayer many times, someone asked him why he prayed that prayer so fervently.

He answered, 'Well sir, you see, it's like this... I got an old barn out back. It's been there a long time; it's withstood a lot of weather; it's gone through a lot of storms, and it's stood for many years. It's still standing. But one day I noticed it was leaning to one side a bit. So, I went and got some pine poles and propped it up on it s leaning side so it wouldn't fall.

Then I got to thinking about that and how much I was like that old barn. I've been around a long time.I've withstood a lot of life's storms. I've withstood a lot of bad weather in life. I've withstood a lot of hard times, and I'm still standing too. But I find myself leaning to one side from time to time. So, I like to ask the Lord to prop us up on our leaning side, 'cause I figure a lot of us get to leaning at times.

Sometimes we get to leaning toward anger, leaning toward bitterness, leaning toward hatred, leaning toward cussing, leaning toward a lot of things that we shouldn't. So we need to pray, 'Lord, prop us up on our leaning side', so we will stand straight and tall again, to glorify the Lord.''

Stare at this barn for a second and you will see Who will help us stand straight and tall again. Have a great day, I love you, pass it on,

Don

p.s. Thanks to Ginny & Lenny for sending this to me.

Sunday's Coming

Good morning from Branson, Mo.


LaVon is still in Norman with her mother, but only for a few more days. Yeah! She is headed back to Branson.


The work here is still very rewarding. Yesterday, I visited with two families that were having health issues - family members in the hospital. You know, even when you are on the road things happen and I'm glad to be able to pray and give comfort to these. When God lead us into this ministry, I never questioned Him, we just went. I knew He knew what he was doing. You see, we have to put what we believe into action.


I pray you are following what God is leading you to do. I also thank you for praying for us, the encouraging phone calls, even the visits from some, and the financial support from a few of you.

Have a great day, love you, pass it on.

Don

"Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ." —1 Corinthians 11:1

The great philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, told a story about ducks that came from an imaginary country where only ducks live.


One Sunday morning, all the mother and father ducks headed to church with their children waddling behind them. They entered the doors and sat in their duck pews, sang songs from their duck hymnals, and gave to underprivileged ducks at the offering time.


When the duck preacher got up to proclaim the message, he was very dynamic. He opened his duck Bible and screamed,


“Ducks, you can fly! You have wings and you can fly like eagles.”


The ducks all clanged, “We can fly, we can fly!”


He asked, “Do you believe you can fly?”


Again, they shouted back, “We can fly, we can fly.”


He screamed again, “We can soar through the skies!”


They all shouted, “Amen.”


With that the pastor closed his duck Bible and dismissed his congregation of ducks.


Then they all waddled back home.


Just a simple reminder today that while your words are important, they can only go so far. So much of the work of passing on our faith takes place when we model it ourselves. To do that, we must make sure that we are working on the issues in our own lives. If we do not, the message we proclaim to others will be very similar to that of the duck pastor. After he told them they could fly, he needed to show them by spreading his own wings and soaring above the clouds.

As we live out what we believe in our lives, we can lead the way for others and make a difference for lifetimes to come.

Never judge

Thanks to my sister, Debbie, for sending this to me.

This is great!
Every day, I thank God for the Blessings that have been bestowed upon me! I ask that I not be judged until you know my full story and have walked that mile in my shoes.

Welcome Home Brothers! We are Brothers Always!
James L. Johnson (Sparks)
CPO USN-Retired Vietnam Veteran
The Patriot's Blood Is The Seed Of Freedom's Tree....Thomas Campbell

Subject: Never Judge

Never Judge.....

'Some people!' snorted a man standing behind me in the long line at the grocery store.

'You would think the manager would pay attention and open another line, said a woman.

I looked to the front of the line to see what the hold up was and saw a well dressed, young woman, trying to get the machine to accept her credit card. No matter how many times she swiped it, the machine kept rejecting it.

'It's one of them welfare card things. Damn people need to get a job like everyone else,' said the man standing behind me.

The young woman turned around to see who had made the comment.

'It was me,' he said,pointing to himself.

The young lady's face began to change expression. Almost in tears, she dropped the welfare card onto the counter and quickly walked out of thestore. Everyone in the checkout line watched as she began running to her car. Never looking back, she got in and drove away.

After developing cancer in 1977 and having had to use food stamps; I had learned never to judge anyone, without knowing the circumstances of their life. This turned out to be the case today.

Several minutes later a young man walked into the store. He went up tothe cashier and asked if she had seen the woman. After describing her,the cashier told him that she had run out of the store, got into her car, and drove away.

'Why would she do that?' asked the man.

Everyone in the line looked around at the fellow who had made the statement.

'I made a stupid comment about the welfare card she was using. Something I shouldn't have said. I'm sorry, said the man.

'Well, that's bad, real bad, in fact. Her brother was killed in Afghanistan two years ago. He had three young children and she has taken on that responsibility. She's twenty years old, single, and now has three children to support,' he said in a very firm voice.

'I'm really truly sorry. I didn't know,' he replied, shaking both his hands about.

The young man asked, 'Are these paid for?' pointing to the shopping cartfull of groceries.

'It wouldn't take her card,' the clerk told him.

'Do you know where she lives?' asked the man who had made the comment.

'Yes, she goes to our church.

'Excuse me,' he said as he made his way to the front of the line. He pulled out his wallet, took out his credit card and told the cashier,

'Please use my card. PLEASE!'

The clerk took his credit card and began to ring up the young woman's groceries.

loading his own groceries onto the belt to be included.

'Come on people. We got three kids to help raise!' he told everyone in line.

Everyone began to place their groceries onto the fast moving belt. A few customers began bagging the food and placing it into separate carts.

'Go back and get two big turkeys,' yelled a heavyset woman, as she looked at the man.

'NO,' yelled the man.

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. The entire store became quiet for several seconds.

'Four turkeys,' yelled the man.

Everyone began laughing and went back to work. When all was said and done, the man paid a total of $1,646.57 for the groceries.

He then walked over to the side pulled out his check book, and began writing a check using the bags of dog food piled near the front of the store for a writing surface. He turned around and handed the check to the young man.

'She will need a freezer and a few other things as well,' he told the man.

The young man looked at the check and said,

'This is really very generous of you.'

'No,' said the man. 'Her brother was the generous one.'

Everyone in the store had been observing the odd commotion and began to clap.

And I drove home that day feeling very American."

We live in the Land of the free, because of the Brave!

Remember ourTroops of Yesterday and Today !

Kindness is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear. - MarkTwain

A great example of why we should be kind, patient and non-judgemental.

Enjoy Life, You only get one try at it.

Blessings to you and yours

Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

'This is the day the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.'Psalm 118:24

If this doesn't touch you what does it take?

Sunday's Coming

Good morning,

It is Thursday but Sunday is coming and LaVon and I are in Norman, Ok. We are staying with her mom, helping her get back to her old ways. Yesterday wasn't a good day for her. We don't know how long we will be here or what the future holds. We ask you to be in prayer with us as we travel this road.

I read this today. As always, it fits our life.

Thanks for your emails, phone calls and prayers. You are very important to us.
Have a great day, love you, pass it on,
Don

"Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies."—Psalm 34:12-13

"Difficult times help us appreciate the good times. Without some failure, we cannot fully appreciate success.

How often do we catch ourselves saying, “I’m having a bad day”? It is an amazing fact that our brains can convince our bodies they are sick. We’re like the little boy who creates a stomachache so he won’t have to go to school. And, we also have the ability to make every day pretty good. Waking up with a positive attitude, ready to face anything in the strength of the Lord just about guarantees a good day. The Psalmist adds to the verse above with these words: “Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Good days are like mountain peaks. There is a journey, a struggle to get to the top of a mountain, but once there…the view is awesome and the climb worth it.

God wants to help us have good days. In fact, He promises to be with us for every event, every step, for every day. God gives us the confidence to find the good and to just be good! One of the best things about having a good day is that it affects everyone around us. Our good days make other people have better days. Our good days demonstrate the love of Jesus in us. And that is why we live!"

May you have a good day!