BUZZARD, BAT & BUMBLE BEE"

In this life there are intelligent people and there are wise people and the two are quite different. Knowledge we gain from our education but wisdom must be imparted by God. In my lifetime I’ve known some really smart people who really fell short on the wisdom scale. Proverbs 2:6 says For the Lord gives Wisdom: out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. Knowledge without wisdom is a dangerous thing.

I read that if you put a Buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a Buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

 Also the ordinary Bat that flies around at night, a remarkably nimble creature in the air, can not take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

A Bumble Bee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

In many ways, we are like the Buzzard, the Bat, and the Bumble Bee. We struggle with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that the answer is so simple. The Bible tells us in James that we have not, because we ask not. In First John 5:14 we are told: And this is the confidence that we have in him that, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. The last part of that is really important, because sometimes we ask for things that are outside of His will. He being a loving Father will not give us that which will hurt us and sometimes we can not see the danger in what we want.
My youngest granddaughter was fascinated with scissors when she was very small. She was drawn to them like a magnet. She did not see the hidden danger in the shinny things that could cut paper, and once a big swatch of her hair. She was sneaky and got them sometimes when no one was looking. It was a constant battle protecting her from the danger that she could not see in this amazing object. She called them no-no’s because every time her little hand reached for them, someone said, NO-NO. Our Father in heaven knows when we make a request of Him if it will turn out to be a no-no. Like that song, I Thank God for Unanswered Prayer. Be thankful what ever the answer to your prayer, because God makes no mistakes.
Recently I watched a TV special on the effects of prayer. Studies, they found, proved that prayer actually works. I already knew that. I’ve seen prayer work in my life so many times. We don’t go to our Heavenly Father as we should. You know how when you've done something for your kids or grandchildren and they just don’t seem to appreciate it, the indifference really hurts. It must be the same way for our Father in heaven. He gives and gives and yet so often we only go to Him when things get all messed up and we are desperate. We should wake up with thoughts of praise, we should thank Him during the day and when we place our heads on our pillows at night, our last thoughts should be filled with praise. We are told that God inhabits the praises of His people in Psalm 22:3, isn't that amazing! To use my favorite son-in-laws favorite word, it is awesome, when you are praising God He is right there with you, inhabiting those praises. You can not be closer to the Master than when you are praising Him.

I GIVE YOU PRAISE IN ALL THINGS

Lillian Carol Russell

Lord I give you praise in all things, not only great but small things,

And since I've learned to give you praise with joy my heart now sings.

I wish I'd learned this long ago but in my youth I did not know,

That praising your name was a way to make your blessings flow.

My life held some hard tribulations, heartache and trials along the way,

I prayed for relief but neglected to raise prayers of praise in that day.

Now I know when the clouds gather in not to let the fear grip my soul,

If it's your will Master hold my hand while the storm clouds roll.

You tell us that we're not to worry that worry is naught but sin,

So I hold to your Word, not to let that old worry creep in.

You're an awesome God and I lift my praises to you now,

Teach me to serve you better my Lord, please Father show me how.

WHO KNEW MAMA COULD FLY

 Photography By; Alexandra McGoey

Alexandra, takes beautiful nature shots, I love this one because sometimes I feel just like this old post, still standing but mostly worn out, leaning a bit, weathered, wrinkled and gray. The world around me still filled with color keeps me going, fills my soul with song and cheers me on.

OFTEN TIMES I FALTER

By: Lillian Carol Russell

Often times I falter Lord and stumble along the way,

So busy running things myself that I forget to pray.

Then it all gets in a mess and completely out of hand,

I call on you then and cry out that I just don't understand.

When if at first I'd come to you and bathed it all in prayer,

You'd have made me understand that it all is in your care.

Some days are hard and hold more pain than I want to know,

Yet it is through the pain that you teach us and help us grow.

Teach me to slow down Lord and not to fret and worry,

How can I walk with you when I am always in a hurry?

Forgive me when I falter and please forgive me when I fail,

And help me to remember Lord that you do all things well.

I remember in the long lazy days of a summer gone by the car of my dreams, it was a new white 1959, Chevrolet Impala with the rear wings and cat eye tail lights. There were about eight of us cousins that were about the same age and we all got together as often as we could in the summer time. Mama was always willing to be our chauffeur, she loaded us into that big new car and off we'd go to the swimming hole for a day of fun at the creek. Sometimes she took us to the movies and dropped us off then picked us up when the movie was over, or took us to the drive in picture show at night. The living was easy and life was fun back then, when my cousins came to visit. One afternoon mama took us to the malt shop for hamburgers and cokes. It was before the days of safety belts and we packed in like sardines, well like sardines used to be packed, can't say that old line anymore. We sat under the shade tree at the table by the shop. The Roseland Malt Shop was the gathering place for teenagers and there were a bunch of boys there and they were clowns in the first degree. They teased and talked and suddenly they had to leave. We finished our food and got back into the car.

Floods had washed the bridge out over the Tangipahoa River and a metal suspension bridge had been put across the river until a new and better bridge could be built. What we did not know was that those boys had a very mischievous scheme planned, about eight of them had crawled along the side of that bridge and hid from view. It was a beautiful afternoon and we were riding along at a snails pace across that old suspension bridge, us girls giggling and talking with the windows down, when those boys sprung up over the side of the bridge and yelled. We all screamed as only teenage girls can scream. Mama floor-boarded that new rear winged Impala and those boys said it really flew, it was the first time anyone had seen her drive fast. Now one thing is for sure, my mother never got a speeding ticket in her whole life. She always drove below the speed limit. We knew all the boys that had done this deed, they followed us home and apologized to mama. She was not mad and laughed about it through the years, it was one of her fondest memories, the day she made the wings on that 59 Chevy Impala really do their stuff.