John Franklin-A Living Legacy

A Living Legacy

      July 6^th, John Franklin’s first Birthday in heaven.  I’m not sure he’s having a party. I hope so because the man celebrated everything for everybody!! I know when Jesus comes and we are on the New Earth we will celebrate all things good, but I’m not sure that’s happening now, never-the-less; I can give my tribute to this man who was adored by his family and friends and respected by everyone that knew him --even if they thought he was a little weird! HA! I’ll never understand why the good die young, but God is Sovereign and we must say: “Yes Lord”.

     I have been researching and preparing for this years’ Grandmother & Papa Camp which is Red, White, Blue, & You.  As you might guess-America’s Christian heritage.  I came across something that was written about Abraham Lincoln that certainly was appropriate for him, but after I read it a couple of times I thought of my son-in-law John Franklin..

      “ He died with every circumstance of tragedy, yet it is not the accident of his death, but the purpose of his life that is remembered”..

     John Franklin’s death is and will always be a tragedy to us who loved him, but he knew his purpose and sought to fulfill that purpose everyday of his life.  Do you know your purpose?  It’s really simple.  Our purpose in life is to bring glory to God our Father who made us for Himself just because He wanted to love us.  John knew this and lived it daily.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY John, and thank you for showing us what we are here for.                                                 

                Save us a place at the table……we'll be along "da-rectly"....

                                           

Love in Him,

Lanita's Listening

    
      One of my favorite TV preachers is Charles Stanley.  He has a favorite phrase: "If you're listening, say Amen." As I began to prepare for my Sunday School lesson for Sunday I realized the new unit is going to be about Freedom. So what, you might ask.  Let me share with you the last four lessons and see what you think. The unit four months ago was Grieving and Comfort (John's moving to heaven only 1 month past); after that the month of lessons was on Leadership ( fired from a job of 32 years); the month we're ending Sunday is on Proper Perspective on Possessions (still adjusting to half the salary- I retired and am drawing Social Security and Bank Pension, but that is half what I was making. Now, as I look ahead the month of July we are going to study Freedom (Grandmother & Papa camp will be an attempt to teach our Christian heritage to the 4 grandkids ages 4-10. It's name this year is Red,White,Blue, You..and begins July 11th).

                                                                  
       Until today I had doubts about that being any fun and perhaps not age appropriate.. Now I know I am right on track.  In fact, I just believe He might be reading my mail...or ......could it be, let it be...that I am finally listening to Him.. Jeremiah 33: 3 is known as God's phone number. Believe me I know His number..for He says: "Call unto me and I will show you great and mighty things which you don't have a clue about." (Lanita's paraphrase)
      
       Pray for us as we continue to meld 2 families and especially pray for Grandmother & Papa camp. I want my grandkids to know that this is a great country that was originally founded on Christian principles. God bless our America. This land is our land, God ordained it's founding; and I want them to know that.

Love in Him,

DIRT FOR WEEDS

Now I know 2 posts in the same day is going to blow my daughter Penny from Living Above-Away, but I was reading Charles Spurgeon last night and he says in one of his Farm Sermons that we should go out into nature more often because that's where God put the first man and that being so He will connect with us there in so many different ways.  And also after reading "Lessons from Gumbo" also from  Living Above (Can you tell that I like Living Above)??  I decided to mow my yard this morning. I had used the weed eater but missed a tall blade of grass at the edge of the drive-way.  So I just bent down to pull it up the old fashioned way; you know hands & knees.

 And then came the lesson.

  It takes very little dirt for a weed to grow & flourish. Do you know that blade of grass that was causing such an unsightly view of my otherwise perfectly mown yard was in hardly no soil, just a little dirt and lodged between 2 rocks..Unbelievable!! However, if you want a plant to grow, especially one that will give you food, it takes good soil, fertilizer, water and lots of tending. So if you only want weeds in your spiritual life it doesn't take much.  Any old dirt or rock will do, no special food, and no tending.  Just do nothing and there you will have the best crop of weeds Satan can give you.  BUT if you want a flourishing crop of spiritual food you must first Know the Gardner and then sow your seed in His Word and just watch a crop of bountiful things grow, but not without tending everyday.

 Jesus has an excellent parable about this in Mark 4:1-9 . I won't go into it, but the words I will share with you from this story are: no depth and withered away.  Not words I want to be associated with!!

Remember it only takes a little doing nothing for a weed to flourish.  Pull them out everyday .. " All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing".. (Jim Elliott--I forget??? ) I know some of you out there will know who that was by.. 


Share with us:  How does your garden grow??

ANCIENT BOUNDARY LINES

God's Word is always relevant, but this morning as I ready Proverbs  22:28  which says:

"do not remove the ancient landmark which your fathers have set"

my legacy theme just jumped out at me.  When we neglect our extended family ties this is basically what we are doing.  For years I have been "away" not estranged, but just unconnected with my 2 brothers and their families; and I only live one hour away from them.  But this year has been the year of reconnecting with them and it has been such a blessing.

  

Blog friends do not remove the ancient landmark which was set by your fathers.  No matter what... and I do realize there are a lot of "whats" out there to hinder this, but do all you can as often as you can to keep in touch with those that your fathers & mothers established for you.  There is a reason why God set you in that family and it was not just so you would have a sibling when you were young.  Our family ties mold us & are a tool for God to use in our lives.  Keep the home fires burning. 

REAL LIFE

Sometimes what we want to do and what we do, gets covered up by "real life".  I have been away for a few weeks now and I miss my connection in this "world".  However, there is a reason.  My work has been very hectic and my heart has been really heavy for a co-worker whose daughter is in a life threatening health situation. She has recently had a baby and she now has MRSA. It is still touch & go. So all of my extra energy has been given to prayer and support for this one in my life.  It is especially near to my heart because this young woman is my youngest daughters age (35).  To think that my Glenda or Penny could be in a situation like this just overwhelms me at times. But then I remember our great God, Jehovah- Rapha, our  Healer. I go to Him and find the comfort and energy I need to not only fill in for her mother at work, but stay the course in prayer.  So to all of Lanita'sLegacy followers please be patient.  I will return and after all, that's what legacys are made of --REAL LIFE....you have my heart...

THEN IT HAPPENED

These are the first 3 words from II Samuel 11:2 (NKJV).  As I have been preparing this week for my
Sunday School lesson on David and Bathsheba these words caught my heart and I've had a hard time getting past them.

So I want to share them with you all and maybe then I can move on the the real lesson.
However, these words are probably the "real" lesson for me individually.  When something
jumps out at you... it's usually what the Lord wants you to see.

This phrase is used 3 times in some form in the 11th chapter of II Samuel
 so that's a good indication that it is important.

In David's case he had just come home from many successful battles and life was good.
The only problem he was not where he was supposed to be.  You see the springtime was when kings went to war and David chose to stay home.
                                                 THEN IT HAPPENED!!
Things are great, all is well.  It's all good.  Life can't get any better.
                                                  THEN IT HAPPENED!!
If you know the story, you know that "IT" was David's gross sin with Bathsheba that
ultimately led to the breaking of 4 of the 10 commandments and this by the greatest king
Israel ever had... and "a man after God's own heart".

           But this is not the way THEN IT HAPPENED always is.  It could be that life is
as bad as we think it could possibly get.  Kids are driving us crazy to the point that we might
be even considering our sanity in even wanting them in the first place;
 or maybe you 're wondering whether the house note will be paid this month,
 or if it's really going to be beans & rice forever; or maybe your health is failing
or your marriage seems to be over.  Hang on THEN IT HAPPENED could be just around
the next dawn.

Something happened to change everything.  This is the way it was with David. His willful sin changed everything forever.  Forgiven yes, praise God yes, but the consequences lasted the rest of his life.

But God also changes our bad times too--just because He can & because He wills.  Have you ever had that experience?  You thought that life would never be any better and
                                                     THEN IT HAPPENED???
Night was turned into glorious day and everything changes? It might be that all that changes is
your attitude or perspective, but nevertheless life is abundant instead of redundantly unbarable.

I'd like to hear your    THEN IT HAPPENED  whether good or bad.
Because you see I happen to believe that we've all got some good & bad
                                   THEN IT HAPPENED-S
We must encourage each other and sharing our life experiences will do just that.

GOOD INTENTIONS OR GOD'S INTENTIONS

Just a short note tonight about our good intentions that might be:

                             Noble-----Logical------Uplifting----God Honoring---

But not God's Intentions or Purpose for our Life

In II Samuel  7 David wanted to build a Temple for God so he tells Nathan the prophet what he wants to do.  Nathan says:  "Sure go for it because I know God is with you"

The only problem is neither one had asked God about this God Honoring Project.

God makes it be known this is not for David to do, but his son Solomon.  So David
had to give up this dream.  For you see David's dream was too small. God had somthing much BIGGER and more important as His purpose for David's life.
                       God was going to build David a house (a dynasty)

In II Samuel 7 we find the Davidic Covenant... Which basically is God promising that there
will always be a decendant of David on the throne - FOREVER.
                    This is the "House" or lineage our Savior came from. Now David had the means. He could have said: "No, I'm gonna do this thing because in my eyes it's the right thing to do...And besides I need to build my legacy at this point"..(This is what a lot of our nation's leaders are doing instead of helping the country...oops, my politics are showing) He would have missed the great blessing God had for him and for us.
                                            
Have you ever had to give up on a dream because you realized that it was not
                                          GOD'S INTENTION for you to do it?????
How did you respond?  Check out how David responded... He sat before the
                                          Presence of the Lord and asked "Who am I"???

God desires that we be surrendered to his Purpose and not our Plans...Even if we have to
let go of a dream.
          Now I know this is hard, because I've had a few dreams I've had to let go of, but I have found that

Ephesians 3:20 is exactly correct.

"... He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us..."                


Oh that we would be surrender our Good Intentions 
for God's Intentions..  I would love to hear some of your surrendered dreams and how you
responded.