May 19, 2018

Greetings My Friend,

I woke up first this morning, something I don't do very often anymore. While I was starting my quiet time with journaling my thoughts Junior woke up. He stretched, said something unrecognizable then the dogs one by one came over to him, to be loved on. With 8 dogs this can be quite a process, he speaks to each one, rubs on each one, then he let Cato out of the cage to take him outside for a potty call and a small walk throughout our property. For me this scene was as beautiful as watching an early morning sun rise. Enjoying the beauty of family life, I went back to my time in the Word. My overall lesson seemed to be to live out my faith. A way to do this was to read the Word, ask the Holy Spirit to teach me the lessons God has for me and apply these lessons to my life. When I had finished reading my Bible my son called me for a phone visit. I asked him about his faith, he told me how Junior taught him a valuable lesson. I found that strange because we have not been in Michigan nor talked to Mike (my son) in sometime. He has been cleaning out his basement, had bags of clothing just sitting around, he said that is when he thought about Junior. Junior sets aside an area where he has a tall laundry basket for charity. When the basket is full, he takes the things to a thrift store, anywhere that helps the disadvantaged. When we lived in Michigan, Junior worked at a place that helped the poor with food and clothes, so Mike took all the bags he had over to that place where Junior worked. Recently we have had a few discussions on how to present the Gospel to people, Junior's style can be rather blunt and to the point. His style speaks well with the type of people he knew as a young man. These people are generally on the fringe of society, their language, way of living is harsh, their speech is harsh, so they "hear" better when the Gospel is given in a no nonsense way. Mike has known Junior's style for a long time now although it was not Junior's words that spoke of the love of Christ, Junior has but it was the way he lived what he believed. As we learned through the years actions speak louder than words. The more we talked, I also saw by having a good understanding of God's principal's I was able to live what I believe. The first lesson I learned as I began my faith journey was to be the same at home as I am out in public. I also believe since Jesus was willing to follow God more than man's ways, that standing up for God's ways is important also. This tells me that if I see something is wrong with the way our government is governing our nation I need to speak up, do what I can to change the laws. I would rather go with the flow, lately though that is not what I want to do. Jesus told the disciples to take a sword with them, which means if we need to defend the Gospel as it is taught that owning a gun is not wrong. By stating my views, voting my values are ways that my actions speak louder than my words. May God bless you and keep you, make His face shine on you. Love Janet