Saturday’s Blog Scroll down to read:   1. Rainy Day in La.     2.  Sowing It’s a rainy day in Louisiana. But that’s not a bad thing. All of the local gardens and fields need rain. It’s been dry in Dry Creek (the world’s most overworked pun for my ears) We’ve been under a burn ban. Everything that comes our way is …

April 22, 2010 Scroll down to read: 1. My Uncle Bill 2.Training Vines 3. Making New Friends My Uncle Bill. I’ve always been proud of my uncle,  Bill Iles.  He is one of my heroes and has always been a wonderful encourager in my life and especially my writing career.  (He gave me my first journal in 1973.  I’m now …

  April 21, 2010 Pearline Reed’s wise words to her daughter Elizabeth in A Spent Bullet:  “Here’s the thing about forgiveness.  It’s a gift you give yourself.  When you forgive someone who’s wronged you, you’re giving a double  gift.  One to them, but the best gift is to yourself. It’s not about whether they deserve it or not.  Gifts often …

  Proverbs 20:12 “Ears that hear and eyes that see—the Lord has made them both.” Having gratitude is such an important thing. Gratitude is simply being thankful for all of the blessings of our lives, and that gratitude is directed at their source: God. God made a miraculous thing when he created the human body. The more I know about …

A good thought for a new day and week: A person starts to live when he can live outside himself.” -Albert Einstein

Proverbs 16:25    “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” This is a sobering but timely proverb.  It’s a reminder that we can justify anything we do but that doesn’t make it right. And that doesn’t keep us from paying a harsh price later. We should judge what is right …

April 14, 2010  Today’s 14/14 Proverb Each heart knows its own bitterness and no one else can share its joy. Proverbs 14:10 If we only knew the burdens others are carrying, we’d find it hard to hate even our worst enemies. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that we’re all fellow strugglers. And everyone is carrying some kind of burden. …

April 13, 2010 I’m back from Honduras.  I had a wonderful time with my many friends there.  However, I’m happy to be back in the Piney Woods.     Proverbs 13:20 He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.”    This is a modern …

Proverbs by the Day April 3/Proverbs 3:27 Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. We often think of sin as doing something.  Theologians refer to this as “acts of commission.”    We commit an act: hurting others and disappointing God. However, most of our sins (especially mine) are acts of omission.  …

April 2 Scroll down to read “A Man I’ve Been Looking For.” Proverbs 2:6   For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Simply said, all the wisdom of the created world lies in the Creator God.  According to the verse above, God gives this wisdom from his mouth. In other words, He speaks wisdom, knowledge, …

April 1 Proverbs 1:2-4   To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—  ESV translation   Solomon begins his collection of Proverbs with its purpose as stated in the verses above. Summed up, they speak of …

One of my hobbies is collecting rural sayings, quotes, and metaphors. “He’s as happy as a dead pig in the sunshine.”   I’ve always heard that in my neck of the woods.   When I took the above photo in Honduras, I told the villagers the saying .  When it was interpeted, they all laughed.  They’d never heard it before. Last week …

Today’s Proverb: Proverbs 29:15   The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother. It’s a fact that I strongly believe:  Children want discipline. God set it within the human heart that we desire limits.  We’ll fight those limits and stick our toe over the line to see if our parents mean what they say. …

Proverbs 28:19 He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty. “T.A.N.S.T.A.A.F.L.”    There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  If you think someone in Nigeria is, out of the goodness of their heart, going to …