Friday Blessings {#221 - 230}

{#221} – River Baptism – On Sunday, Greg and I went to Ellijay, Georgia to watch our friend, Mike, be baptized. Mike was saved several years ago, but had never been baptized. Other than my baptism in the Jordan River in Israel, I had never attended an outdoor baptism. This was a sweet time where about 50 people stood on the riverbank, singing old hymns and watching the baptism. I allowed my mind to wander back almost 100 years to a time when my grandparents probably were baptized in much the same setting. It was such a privilege for Greg and me to be invited to attend Mike’s baptism.

Mike being baptized

{#222} – Word of Blessing – Last Friday I called my publisher to order some of my When Words Won’t Come devo books. I told the sweet lady who answered the phone that I was a Warner Press author and I needed to order some of my books. After she took my order, she said, “I want to tell you how much I enjoy your devotions. They are such a blessing to me.” OH MY WORD!! I was stunned that she even knew who I was. I thanked her for blessing me in such a wonderful way by what she said. JOY!!!!

{#223} – Revelation Bible study – My Tuesday Bible study group will begin the Precept Revelation Part 2 study on August 13^th. I have already begun working through it and it is fantastic. It does take me out of my Bible study comfort zone in a few places, but that is ok. A huge bonus….Greg is working through it with me. What a blessing to study the Word with my man!

{#224} – God’s Word – If you read my Wednesday post, you recall that I have been writing out the Word of God in my Journible. The thing that really stood out to me as I ‘scribed’ Paul’s books to Timothy was Paul’s admonition to Timothy, “Preach the Word”. Never has that advice been more apropos than today. Our world needs the Word of God. It needs to hear truth. I consider this to be a ‘word’ from God for my own ministry. Focus on God’s Word.

{#225} – Manuscript – This week I submitted over half of my Hebrews Bible study manuscript to my editor, Karen. It is a very strange thing to do. There is an odd mixture of excitement and angst. Excitement because the study moves one step closer to being published. Angst because of the thoughts that run through my head and heart. “Will it be good enough?” “Is it what the Lord desired?” I’ve worked for almost two years on it, and placing the manuscript into the hands of another for review is frightening. It is almost like placing my heart into the hands of another. The blessing is that I trust my editor to speak truth to me about the manuscript, even if it is hard truth. Love ya, Karen!

{#226} – A Friend – Speaking of my manuscript….one major blessing involved in all of this Hebrews writing is my friend, Candy. She has willingly offered her time and expertise as a teacher to proof-read the document for grammar and punctuation errors. What a huge blessing to me! I owe her BIG TIME!!!

{#227} – Fresh tomatoes – We are just now beginning to get tomatoes out of our garden. I love, love, love a fresh tomato and Vidalia onion sammie with loads of mayo, salt and pepper. Mmmmm!! Now, that is a summer blessing.

{#228} – Modern Medicine – I am so thankful that we live in a day and a nation when so many medical advances are available to us. As I shared a week or so ago, my Mother has been having back issues, with associated leg pain. She went for a set of epidural injections about 2 weeks ago and she is incredibly improved. Usually she doesn’t get a vast amount of improvement after just one injection, but this time she has. We are rejoicing!!

{#229} – Privilege of Prayer – Does it just blow your mind that you and I can have a conversation with the Creator of the Universe? It does mine. We can push back the curtain on the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus Christ, and go boldly before the throne of God with our questions, concerns, requests, and conversations. Unbelievable!!

{#230} – Family – Recently we had professional family pictures taken. We included my family, my sister and her family, and my mom. I’m not perfect, and I know they would like to smack me sometimes, but I love them so much. I haven’t seen the entire set, but our photographer posted a few on FB and I downloaded them to my computer. Here are a few.