We are finally home! – Really?

Our home in the fall.

After 6,526.6 miles of travel, we arrived back to Madison Avenue, our home.  It is so wonderful to be back in our own home with our own stuff.  And how can I even explain how wonderful it has been to see our family and friends.  Oh yes, home is a wonderful place.  But yet while we were in Arizona, we were at home on E. Velvet Dr. and we had family and friends there too.  So what is home?  The dictionary says, “the place where one lives permanently, esp. as a member of a family or household”.  From that definition, I am not home yet because my permanent home is in heaven with my Heavenly Father.

Frank loves gospel music, like the Gaither’s Homecoming series.  And the funny thing is when you listen very long you will notice that much of that music talks about our heavenly home, either in expectation of getting there or of being there. As we drove along we loved seeing the change in topography knowing that seeing the rolling hills and trees (even though there were no leaves yet) meant that we were almost home.  I will be 65 this year and Frank will be 80.  Yep, we are getting older, and as that happens, the funny thing is that the expectation of our heavenly home becomes clearer.  We know that we have much more of living behind us than before us, and that is OK because that means we are closer to home.  Don't get me wrong, we are not ready to go yet.  We love life and have lots to do yet.

Some of you reading this will be able to say a “big Amen” because you understand exactly what I am saying, while others may be thinking I am a little crazy.  Here is what I will say to the second group.  The Bible says that in order to be assured of having a permanent heavenly home, we must put our trust and faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross.  Jesus died to forgive us of our sins and make us acceptable for our heavenly home.

We are in the Easter season now and I urge everyone to spend some time this year reading the account of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Read it in each one of the Gospels – it will be at least 2 chapters in each one.  It will make this season so worthwhile.  I will make it easy – just click on the links.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26&version=NIV

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+14&version=NIV

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+22&version=NIV

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+18&version=NIV

Have joyous Easter.

CHURCH

I love church!  What?  Why would I say that?  Well, I have discovered through the years that my inner-self or soul or whatever you want to call it is most contented when I am affiliated with a church.  Does it have to be a particular one?  Of course not.  Here is the funny thing.  When you are a believer, a Christian, no matter where you are, you can be in fellowship with other Christian people and it seems like you have known them forever.

The Chapel of Christian Faith, The Villages, FL

Last year when we went to Florida, we went to a church and loved it.  

Portersville Bible Church

When we are away on weekends at home we go a country church in Portersville, PA and have such a great time with the people there.  http://www.portersvillebible.com/

Arizona Community Church

We have been going to a large (about 2500 members) church called Arizona Community Church.  (We needed a map of the Campus!) We love it. We are actually singing in the 60 -70 member choir.  http://www.azcc.org/ 

Calvary Baptist Church, West Mifflin

But of course nothing can take the place of our home church, Calvary Baptist in West Mifflin.

http://www.calvarybaptistwestmifflin.com/

Jesus wants us to go to church.  His Word tells us to do it – “Hebrews 10: 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”

Many people attend a church at the beginning and the end (birth – baptism, death – funeral), and a few times in-between – Weddings, Christmas and Easter.  But there is so much more to it than this.

The most important thing in choosing a church is whether the Bible (God’s Word) is central in every sermon – not stories or feel good motivation but genuine teaching from the Word.  It is God's Word that will get you through the week or months, through trials and problems, fear and worry.  There should also be a time of Worship and Praise of our Lord during the service.

As you get to know the people at church, you have a community with whom you can share the personal things in your life like prayer concerns and requests. Fellowship and food opportunities (we love our soup luncheons at Calvary) are important opportunities to get to know God’s family.

If you are a Christian and planning to spend eternity in Heaven with our Lord and all the other Christians, why wouldn’t you want to be in that place now?

Please test this if you are not attending a church.  And by the way, it is always good to find one in your own neighborhood or community.  It makes the fellowship part much easier.  And pray that God will lead you to the right church for you and your family.

For Women

I love this time I am having with the guys.  Everyone knows how much I adore my wonderful husband Frank and my brother Bill is great. We have a great time together.  We even play cards together and I love to play cards.  But here’s the thing; I miss being with and talking to girls.

So one day we were waiting in line for our lunch at In-joy (our seniors group) and this very nice lady named Marcie started talking to me.  As it turns out she is a retired RN too.  We had a wonderful conversation – I liked her. 

A week later I was chatting with Cindy on FB and I was complaining about the lack of female connection and told her about Marcie.  Cindy said, why don’t you ask her to lunch next time you see her.  Well, God is so good.  The next time we were at In-joy, Marcie came up to me and invited me to go to a Christian Yoga class with her.  And next, we spent a day shopping.  The best part of this is that I have new friend!

Marcie and Nancy - New Friends

I once read a book called the Red Tent.  It is a fictional book about women in the Old Testament times. The women shared everything and mostly lived together helping one another with daily tasks.  Skip forward 4000 years and a woman’s spirit hasn’t changed.  Our inner make up (formed by God) is the same.  We need the female connection.

There is a very nice web site called In-courage – home for the hearts of women http://www.incourage.me.   You can also follow them on FB or Twitter.  There is an encouraging message for women everyday.  Another resource is Girlfriends in God- doing life together: http://www.girlfriendsingod.com/.  You can get a daily email devotional aimed at a woman’s needs. 

One thing I must remember though, is to be like Marcie.  I must make myself available to be the friend that someone needs.  I must be sure that the Lord will direct my path when I am faithful to Him.

And remember, Psalm 37:3,4 says:

Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 
Take delight in the LORD, 
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum

I have always been a patriotic person.  I can cry at a moving rendition of our National Anthem or touching words by a great president.  I never thought about going to a presidential library but we decided to go to the Ronald Reagan Library in our travels. I was very moved by what I saw.  President Reagan was truly a great man. 

Our country had many problems when he was elected.  I remember many of the issues like high interest rates and long gas lines.  I remember how he had to build pride in our military again.  He also ended the cold war. 

My brother Bill, cousins Kay and Dick and Frank and I enjoyed this tour together.  Please enjoy some of our pictures from this visit. 

You can also visit the library at 

http://www.reaganlibrary.com/reagan-library-video-tour.aspx

Simi Valley Calif.

Our Ticket To The Museum

Portrait Of President Reagan

President Frank

Vice President Nancy

President's Statement After the Attempt on His Life

Replica of the Reagan Oval Office

He Was Loved by All

Frank and Nancy with the President

Air Force One

It Was a Great Ride

The Challenger Crew Who Died in the Service of Our Country

Replica of the Berlin Wall That Was Dismantled at the End of the Cold War

Statue of Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev 

Frank's Ride with the President

Five Living Presidents

Model of the Whitehouse

The Back of the Whitehouse Showing all the Rooms

Ronald Reagan's Grave

Frank and I at the End of the Tour

The Grapefruit Story

I didn’t always like grapefruit.  I don’t remember when I started to like it.  It probably had something to do with a diet.

My brother Bill has a beautiful grapefruit tree in his backyard.  When he told me about it, I was looking forward to nice fresh, (free) grapefruit.

You know the grapefruit is like the Word of God.  Yes really, let me show you.  Look at these verses that have always remained favorites.

Ezekiel 3: 1 And he said to me, "Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, "Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it." Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.
And also. Psalm 119: 103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Just as the grapefruit provides nourishment to our bodies, the Word of God provides nourishment to our souls.

It’s a wonderful beautiful tree that was planted here by someone, probably a few years back.  My brother waters it with just a nearby hose.  The tree has beautiful leaves and can provide very much shade. It has a large amount of fruit on it now!
When I wanted to get a grapefruit, I had to use a tool to pick it.  It just didn’t fall on my head. I had to make an effort just as we have to consciously make an effort to pickup the Book and open it.

I easily picked about 8 grapefruit.  I put them in a dish to admire them for a few days.  They also added a wonderful aroma to the house. 

If you want, you can go on-line to Christianbook.com and find 4,570 Bibles to choose from.  But the important one is the one in your home.  It is probably a very nice book, some are hardcover or leather, it could be a study Bible or reference Bible, and it could be very large or very small.  Your Bible can be admired sitting on the coffee table or on the shelf.

So now comes the work.  You cannot just bite into a grapefruit like an apple.  You have to peel it. I used 2 tools in my work – a little plastic peeler and a knife.

Sometimes when we want to peel away at God’s Word we need tools to help us.  It could be a Bible study guide or even another person to explain it.  To get to the fruit, it takes an effort.

The fresh fruit tastes delicious plus the vitamins and nutrition we get from the fruit are wonderful. 

Have you had your fruit today?

It's a beautiful day!

I was just wondering if I would say this if I were back in PA at 24 degrees. (Ok, it is going to be a high of 74 here in Arizona today.)  My conclusion is YES.  The weather does not make the day.  I woke up this morning and talked to my Lord the same as I always do.  That is what makes a beautiful day.

Our trip out here was great.  We had such a wonderful visit with our friend Joanie (some may know her as Laurie Avery's mom.)  She is so much fun and so sweet to be around.  Again, friends make a beautiful day.  We didn't have to do anything else but enjoy each other.

We stayed in Arkansas an extra day because of snow.  We just didn't want to drive on wet roads and we had no deadline.  On Tuesday we drove about 14 hours.  The road was straight and the speed limit was 75 and there was very little traffic.  So we stayed in Albuquerque NM.  Going west as sun was gong down was a beauty.  I tried to capture some as we drove.

We took our time on Wednesday since we were only about 8 hours away.  We decided to take  I-25 south and then I-10 over to Tempe.  It was a wonderful ride. Frank did most of the driving. We listened to a podcast from James MacDonald and I have to mention one thing he said.  The subject was how to find the will of God.  "God's will is about who you are, not where you are."

After 2387.6 miles, it was so great to see my brother Bill.  He has a very nice house and has made us very comfortable.  (Of course I will reorganize the kitchen. He doesn't cook very much.)  We are really going to enjoy spending time with him because as you might have guessed, being with family also makes a beautiful day.

Thoughts on the new year

Just read the funniest thing from a FB friend.  Pam said, "Wow it's almost noon....this year is flying!  But you know she is right.  We can depend on the fact that this year will fly by as last year did.  

Did you get everything done you planned on doing in 2010? Of course not, we never do.  But isn't it great to make plans and have visions of what we want to do? Don't give up.  I am going to finish an afghan I started 9 years ago for my grandson.  I was going to make one for each grandchild but at this rate I am not going to live long enough!

But really the main things for me this new year are:

1.   Grow in my spiritual life - am I living a life pleasing to God?
2.   Be more sensitive to others needs - family, friends or even strangers - am I willing to put them first when needed?
3.   And I want to take care of myself mentally and physically so I am able to do one and two.

No matter what the new year brings, (little did I know last year at this time I would soon have a broken shoulder) I know that the Lord will take care of me.

Psalm 27:4-5

 One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

PS. I really do want to finish the afghan.

Happy New Year, Nancy