A CLEAN HOUSE

                    I was reading about Josiah this morning at II Chronicles 34 where they "came across" The Book of the Law as they were cleaning and restoring the Temple. Oh, you can just feel the drama and anxiety as Josiah tears his clothes in despair.  My question:  Will they have to "clean house" to find your Bible?
              Now, those of you who know me, know that I study my many Bibles everyday-more or less- BUT--that doesn't let me off the hook because the Holy Spirit really pierced my heart at these verses. So I prayed and reminded the Lord that this is part of my routine, but still this gnawing.. So, OK, what Lord?  Speak Your servant is listening! Then I got what He wanted me to see:  The real Temple is within us.
      Is this "house- this Temple" clean enough to find His Word not only dwelling, but active and alive within?? Or will I have to search and restore to find it?? OUCH!! The good news is that Josiah fully restored the Temple of His God and it started by a complete reading of the entire Book of Covenant!  They didn't get out by 12:00 that Sunday!!
             
Do you need to clean house today?
               
                 "Search me, O God, and know my heart;
                       Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me,
                 And lead me in the way everlasting."  Psalm 139: 23-24.

Love in Him,

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

On this Mothers Day 2012 I just want to say that I feel my legacy is well in hand with my two godly daughters.  If I went to be with the Lord today, I know they would carry on just fine without me.  It has nothing to do with anything I have done, but all to do with the Great God that lives within them. There is no greater blessing or Mothers Day gift than to know and hear from your children that they love God supremely and their families foremost.  I praise the Awesome God Who is Sovereign and Ruler over all for His great mercy toward this mother and grandmother who for most of my life did not have a clue how important showing them Jesus was.  But in these last days I now realize that it is their only hope.  Praise You God for Your Unspeakable Gift to me and my family.

Love in Him,

The Best

I realized this morning that the Lord really wants me to get back to this project Penny inspired me with 3 years ago; then disaster stuck and I have pretty much abandoned it. So in obedience I am going to post "something" today to try to "prime the pump" (probably be a littler older if you know what that means) of this well.
         If you ever do not know what to say my grandmother always said: Just say something good you are thankful for. So here goes.  I have the best family in the whole world.  I have a husband that is a rock, two daughters that are a chip off that rock and a son-in-law that tries to keep his chaotic life smooth & running..and grandkids.  Well, you know that I have the cutest, smartest, and sweetest in the whole world. I have the best church family in all of the kingdom and last but not least the One and Only True God in all the world; which is why I have all the above just mentioned.  Without Him I would be and could do nothing...but with Him... I can do all things through Christ His Son Who strengthens me.
             Now, if I behaved like I believed that (which I do) I would not have to try to leave a lasting legacy ..... it would just be a natural product of the remains of my life.
Oh God..... make it be so and thank You for all of Your blessings today, especially those I have just mentioned.
                            I close with an appropriate verse that just happens to be my favorite:

                                        "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for
                                             wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jer. 29:11

in Him,

     

ONE YEAR TRIBUTE

I remember the first time I ever met John Franklin. He was teaching a Sunday School lesson on the priesthood and he wore this Hebrew looking prayer shawl.  I knew then in a strange way that he would become a part of our lives.  Now to say that I knew he would become my son-in-law is probably pushing it a little but nevertheless he did.
               
       John was a different kind of "regular guy". OK, he was not a regular guy . He spoke his mind and he had the confidence of a giant. 


               John was all about celebration.  He celebrated everything.  From a pay raise to a cured hang nail John found some way to make a celebration out of it.  And I just know that he is having the time of his life in heaven.  Because heaven is the celebration place folks and if you are going there and you do not like to celebrate; you better get in some training before you get there. And just know, that little speech was for me.  Until I met John Franklin, I did not know how to celebrate, but I learned a thing or two in the 81/2 years he was in our family.


            John was also very serious about some things too.  He was very serious about souls being saved and people growing in the Lord. He was also serious about his family knowing that he loved them. He showed that he was serious about these two things by actions not words.  He did some of the craziest things just to show Penny how much he loved her. He also did some awfully time consuming elaborate things to minister to people so that they could see his care and not just hear it from his mouth.


       Yes, some of John's friends and family thought he was weird (even me sometimes), but I think maybe when we get to heaven and we are  reunited and all the pretenses are gone; some of us stuff shirt-traditional-Pharisees might just see that John was closer to reality than we ever thought possible ..


        My life is richer because I knew him. Our family and the world has suffered a great loss because he went to heaven sooner than we think he should, but God is in control and for whatever reason He took him at 41 I will rejoice that I got to know him on this earth for as long as I did... and I can't wait to see him on the other side...And prove him wrong about so many things we disagreed on theologically..HA! Like it will make any difference then. 


       WE MISS YOU JOHN--FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS 


Love in Him,

Legacy Building Afternoon

I had a great time this afternoon with my grandchildren while their mommy is sick. It got me to thinking though.  In years to come will they remember a cloudy Sunday afternoon when their mommy was sick and grandmother played DSI games, read Bible stories, and helped with Awana bible books memorization?  We worked on the hardest twelve in the Bible.  Even Bible woman grandmother had to brush up on these 12. How would you do?

Hosea          Jonah          Habakkuk      Zechariah
Joel              Micah         Zephaniah      Malachi
Amos           Nahum       Haggai
Obadiah

These are the hardest to remember because we do not use them very much.  I mean; when is the last time  your pastor said "turn in your Bibles to Zephaniah 2"???

Anyway, I was just wondering .........someday in the future will the brother & sister be reminiscing and say: "remember the afternoon not long after our daddy died and mommy was sick and grandmother read to us, played DSI games with us and helped us learn the books of the Bible, then dressed us in our Bible hero costumes for Awanas???

Not tooting my own horn here, but just pondering where all of this will end up?  Hopefully more than just a memory, but if that's all; it was worth it to this grandmother.

We are leaving a legacy; but our question should be of what "sort" it is?

                                  Make a memory today.
                                               
                                                        It will do your heart good.


Love in Him,

AND..AND..AND

Well, it seems that grandson #3 aka J P has been the inspiration of both the Pickard women's blogs today.  J P talks very well, but sometimes he has a hard time getting it out and you can tell he's trying to get together what he wants to say and he will say "and"..."and"...."and" which I learned this morning in my One Year Bible that this conjunction is very biblical..The reading in Psalms was a psalm of Asaph(the choir director) Psalm 78:1-31, but the part I want to focus on is verses 1-8.

(1) Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!!
(2) I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, (3) things that we have heard
and known, that our fathers have told us.  (4) We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and His might, and the wonders that He has done.
(5) He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, (6) that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, ..and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Now for J P, his ands are to keep his mouth moving while he thinks of what he's going to say next. But what are all of these 9 "ands" for;  AND what can we learn here? This whole Psalm is about telling the good news about our great God to the next generation.

So, AND what??

     and known

             and His might                                              
and wonders   and appointed
                          and arise and tell
and not forget
                         and not be like rebellious fathers
     
       We have a story to tell to not only the nations, but to our very own children and grandchildren..It was commanded in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6-good reading for all)..that was not an option if you were an Israelite. The story of how God chose them and carried them and protected them and made them into His people out of all the peoples of the earth.

OH, Parents, Grandparents, Christian relatives....if we do not tell them everyday that there is still a God Who is in control and Who loves them and wants them to follow Him ....Who will?   AND will you AND will I commit to do that today?

Thank you J P. The word "And" is a very good word.

Love in Him,

OLD AGE AND GRAY HAIRS?

Grandmother & Papa

                                                      

There was a wonderful passage in our One Year Bible reading this morning that I just had to share since it speaks directly to this legacy thing that I haphazardly try to perpetuate on this blog. Now I do not consider myself "old" and I only have a "few" gray hairs, but this verse gave me such comfort that I have gone almost all day in it's strength.  Rejoice with me in God's ever faithful Word!

PSALM 71: 17-24. ESV (Yes, it's long; but it will not hurt you to read these words from the Book of Life; even if you too have already read this today.)


 17    "O God, from my youth You have taught me, and I still proclaim Your wondrous deeds.
18      So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim Your might to another generation, Your power to all those to come.      
 19 Your righteousness, O God , reaches the high heavens. You Who have done great things, O God,            
                                                  Who is like You?
20  You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth You will bring me up again. 21 You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.
                   22  I will also praise You with the harp for Your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to You with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel                                                                                                      
                   23  My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to You; my soul also, which You have redeemed.                                             
                   24  And my tongue will talk of Your righteous help all the day long, for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt.

Love in Him