October seems to be flying by!

SweetPea and Monkey and I spent some time together from Oct 10-12 while their folks took a trip to the mtns as they celebrated their 7th anniversary. Monkey had a softball practice the 11th, so I took SweetPea to the Carpenter Shop and McD's. She loves that indoor play place! On the 12th, we went to eat at Los Dos after church.
The 13th, SweetPea and I went to Ham's where she got to see Tigger and enjoyed her meal. She saw a friend there who also goes to Kindermusik. She was a little disappointed because the train wasn't moving and I asked the waitress and she said it was broke but they would get it fixed. It's a small train that runs on tracks over our heads!
On Oct. 16, I went to Perry Brothers for an oil change and 4 new tires on my Escort.
While they were doing the oil change, I walked to McD's and got some breakfast.
The 18th was the day of our 18th annual Harvest Sale. It was nearly 9 when I got there. The day went by faster for me, as this was the first time in 16 years that I didn't have to work in the drink room. So, I spent the time chatting with old friends and I took SweetPea to the play ground for a while. Her folks were busy serving the BBQ & Chicken & Dumplings, etc. There were 1084 plates sold. That was more than last year which is a blessing considering the economy this year.

Joan & Ernest

October has been a busy month with trips to the bank for Joan & Ernest and on Oct 6, I was able to take them to register to vote for the first time. They also needed to go to Save A Lot and Family Dollar. On the 9th, I was able to take Ernest to the clinic where they ran several tests on him. He had to go back on the 13th where they did a couple more tests and told him to call back in 10 days. He did, but they don't have all the results yet and he will call back Oct. 20.
After his clinic visit, I took him to SuperWalmart to get groceries as Joan thinks she has bronchitis and wanted some chicken noodle soup.
She is feeling better today. I took her some cough medicine last week.
She'll go to see Susan & Dr. Wilson on Oct. 29. On Monday, the 27th, I'll write a check for her to pay off their account at Badcock. I told her it is costing an extra $8 or $9 a month when paying it at $50 a month. On the 31st, she will call in her prescription for Tamoxifen.

Choicest Pearl by Pastor Bill

Scripture: Matthew 13:45
"Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl merchant on the lookout for choice pearls" NLT

The story is told of David Morse an American missionary to India who became great friends there with the pearl-diver, Rambhau. Many an evening he spent in Rambhau's cabin reading to him from the Bible, and explaining to him God's way of salvation.

Rambhau enjoyed listening to the Word of God, but whenever the missionary tried to get Rambhau to accept Christ as his Saviour he would shake his head and reply, "Your Christian way to heaven is too easy for me! I cannot accept it. If ever I should find admittance to heaven in that manner I would feel like a pauper there --- like a beggar who has been let in out of pity. I may be proud but I want to deserve --- I want to earn my place in heaven and so I am going to work for it."

Nothing the missionary could say seemed to have any effect on Rambhau's decision, and so many years slipped by. One evening, however, the missionary heard a knock on his door, and on going to open it he found Rambhau there.

"Come in, dear friend," said Morse.

"No," said the pearl-diver. "I want you to come with me to my house, Sahib, for a short time I have something to show you. Please do not say 'No'".

"Of course I'll come," replied the missionary. As they neared his house, Rambhau said: "In a week's time I start working for my place in heaven; I am leaving for Delhi and I am going there on my knees." "Man, you're crazy! It's nine hundred miles to Delhi, and the skin will break on your knees, and you will have blood-poisoning or leprosy before you get to Bombay."

"No, I must get to Delhi," affirmed Rambhau, "and the immortals will reward me for it! The suffering will be sweet for it will purchase heaven for me!"

"Rambhau, my friend you can't. How can I bear you to do it when Jesus Christ has suffered and died to purchase heaven for you!"

But the old man could not be moved. "You are my dearest friend on earth, Sahib Morse. Through all these years you have stood by me in sickness, in want you have been sometimes my only friend. But even you cannot turn me from my desire to purchase eternal bliss --- I must go to Delhi!" Inside the hut Morse was seated in the very chair Rambhau had specially built for him --- where on so many occasions he had read to him the Bible.


Prayer: Father thank you for friends who care enough to share your word. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
******Pt 2
Scripture: Matthew 13:46
"When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it" NLT

Rambhau left the room to return soon with a small but heavy English strongbox. "I have had this box for years," said he, "and I keep only one thing in it. Now I will tell you about it, Sahib Morse. I once had a son ---"

"A son! Why, Rambhau, you have never before said a word about him!"

"No, Sahib, I couldn't." Even as he spoke the diver's eyes were moistened.

"Now I must tell you, for soon I will leave, and who knows whether I shall ever return? My son was a diver too. He was the best pearl diver on the coasts of India. He had the swiftest dive, the keenest eye, the strongest arm, the longest breath of any man who ever sought for pearls. What joy he brought to me! Most pearls, as you know, have some defect or blemish only the expert can discern, but my boy always dreamed of finding the perfect pearl --- one beyond all that was ever found. One day he found it! But even when he saw it he had been under water too long --- That pearl cost him his life, for he died soon after."

The old pearl diver bowed his head. For a moment his whole body shook, but there was no sound. "All these years," he continued, "I have kept this pearl but now I am going, not to return, and to you, my best friend I am giving my pearl."

The old man worked the combination on the strongbox and drew from it a carefully wrapped package. Gently opening the cotton, he picked up a mammoth pearl and placed it in the hand of the missionary. It was one of the largest pearls ever found off the coast of India, and glowed with a luster and brilliance never seen in cultured pearls. It would have brought a fabulous sum in any market.

For a moment the missionary was speechless and gazed with awe. "Rambhau!
What a pearl!"

Prayer: Father thank you for the gift of love between a father and his son.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

******Pt 3
Scripture: Romans 5:17b
"All who receive God's wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ" NLT

"That pearl, Sahib, is perfect," replied the Indian quietly. The missionary looked up quickly with a new thought: Was not this the very opportunity and occasion he had prayed for to make Rambhau understand the value of Christ's sacrifice? So he said, designedly, "Rambhau, this is a wonderful pearl, an amazing pearl. Let me buy it. I would give you ten thousand dollars for it."

"Sahib! What do you mean?"

"Well, I will give you fifteen thousand dollars for it, or if it takes more I will work for it."

"Sahib," said Rambhau, stiffening his whole body, "this pearl is beyond price. No man in all the world has money enough to pay what this pearl is worth to me. On the market a million dollars could not buy it. I will not sell it to you. You may only have it as a gift."

"No, Rambhau, I cannot accept that. As much as I want the pearl, I cannot accept it that way. Perhaps I am proud, but that is too easy. I must pay for it, or work for it."

The old pearl-diver was stunned. "You don't understand at all, Sahib. Don't you see? My only son gave his life to get this pearl, and I wouldn't sell it for any money. Its worth is in the life-blood of my son. I cannot sell this but I can give it to you. Just accept it in token of the love I bear you."

The missionary was choked, and for a moment could not speak. Then he gripped the hand of the old man. "Rambhau," he said in a low voice, "don't you see?
My words are just what you have been saying to God all the time."

The diver looked long and searchingly at the missionary, and slowly, slowly he began to understand. "God is offering to you salvation as a free gift," said the missionary. "It is so great and priceless that no man on earth can buy it. Millions of dollars are too little. No man on earth could earn it in a million years. No man is good enough to deserve it. It cost God the life-blood of His only Son to make the entrance for you into heaven. In a million years, in a hundred pilgrimages, you could not earn that entrance. All you can do is to accept it as a token of God's love for you --- a sinner --- saved by HIS grace.

"Rambhau, of course I will accept the pearl in deep humility, praying God I may be worthy of your love. Rambhau, won't you accept God's great gift of heaven, too, in deep humility, knowing it cost Him the death of His Son to offer it to you?"

Great tears were now rolling down the cheeks of the old man. The veil was beginning to lift. "Sahib, I see it now. I have believed in the doctrine of Jesus for the last two years, but I could not believe that His salvation was free. Now I understand. Some things are too priceless to be bought or earned. Sahib, I will accept His salvation!"

Prayer: Father thank you for priceless salvation through Your Son Jesus which is a free gift to all who receive him. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

9/29 Ham's to see Mickey Mouse

On Monday, 9/29, I got to take Monkey and Sweet Pea and two friends to Ham's and we got to see Mickey Mouse and a clown lady. She makes balloon animals, etc.

September 22-27 trip to MO

Sunshine and Sweet Pea took Joan and I to RDU for Joan's very first airplane ride. We flew to Tulsa where Joan's cousin, Nina and her husband, Mike picked us up at the airport. They treated us to a buffet at Pauline's which I think was still in OK. Then they drove us to their place in Carthage, MO. Tues. 9/23 Nina took Joan & I & her sister, Linda to Precious Moments Chapel, gardens, and gift shops. Later that evening, Nina took Joan & I to Walmart to get a few things that we couldn't bring with us on the plane. On Wed. 9/24 Nina took us to her sister, Janis & Mike's in Mineral Springs where we enjoyed a cookout and met Nina's brother, Ron and his friend, Nancy. Earlier in the day, we went to see Big Brutus which is a huge electric shovel weighing 11 milion pounds and 16 stories tall (160 feet). It was used in mining and operated 24 hours a day for 11 years ending in 1974. On Thurs. 9/ 25, Nina took Joan and I to the Quilt Shop and we also got to see Terri's log cabin on the inside. The refrigerator and stove looked new, but were very old fashioned. The stove had a dutch oven on top. Terri is also a frog lover and has canisters, bowls, towels, statues, and assorted nicknacks of frogs. Later that day, we got to visit with Mike's mother. She is 84 and makes jewelry. That night, we all met at the Cracker Barrel for a wonderful meal and shopping. Fri. 9/26, we went to Linda's for a lovely lunch and then visited a Candy Shop. Sat. 9/27 Mike & Nina took us to Tulsa where we were flying from to get back home. Sweet Pea and Monkey were with Dad at the airport when we arrived at 6:30 PM.

Friday was a good day!

Sweet Pea and I got to go to McDonald's with the indoor play area on Friday. We were expecting to meet little David there so he could have some play time, so we ordered a Happy Meal for him and one for Sweet Pea. She enjoyed playing with the other children there and I took her home when the children got so noisy, I felt a slight headache coming on. After we got back to her house, she layed on the couch quietly reading while I was resting and enjoying the quiet. Later on, after we had eaten supper, little David and his Mom, Jenn came by and I got to meet Jenn's friend, Kelli, who came up with them to help clean up the rental property.
This morning, I was able to go and watch Sweet Pea at her soccer game. She had such a good time.
I've got to take Joan to Walmart today to get some last minute things she needs for the trip. She also wants to see if they have lawn mowers there. Her's is broke and not repairable, so I told her Walmart might have one. If they don't, we can try at Lowe's.

Today, another birthday celebration

Today, my neighbor, Betty treated me and her son's mother-in-law to early bird dinner at the Golden Corral. We had a lovely visit and laughed a lot! Our waiter told us a joke. He said "did you hear what the man said whose dog had just died?"
He said "dog gone!" Jerry was very good about keeping our tea filled and keeping us supplied with clean plates and he even brought Betty some coffee when she mentioned she was cold.
CVS had the 24 pack of Dasani water on sale for $3.99 this week. It was a surprise to me that they still had some left and I was able to get 2.
Monkey had a softball game tonight and they won 6 to 4. Monkey got a hit and also scored a run. Sweet Pea and I shared a bag of pop corn and some fruit snacks. Joan's cousin Nina called me this morning. They are looking forward to our visit next week and she wanted to let us know they are taking us to eat Monday evening at a place that has catfish, (yum!) as well as a variety of other foods. Later in the week they are planning to take us to Cracker Barrel. Her sister is having us for a cookout one evening and they are going to take us sight seeing!

Another good day!

Around 12 or so, I went to Sunshine's to hangout with Sweet Pea and stay until time to go to church. Sweet Pea loves to play Dr. so I pretended to operate on her legs. We also pretended to do surgery on her sister's doll. Sunshine's SS class made lasagna for our family night supper. They had a nice variety of salads, garlic bread, delicious chocolate chip cheese cake and a couple other cakes. It was delicious! Judi read a powerful email she had received from my son and it gave me chill bumps. He's serving his 3rd deployment, this time in Afghanistan. They need our prayers.
When I got my mail this evening, I had a nice check and a letter from a friend who lives in my hometown. She finally got a computer! I'll try to email her tomorrow.
I'm so very blessed!

Joan is happy today!

Well, I finally took Joan to Walmart so she could get a suitcase. She has nearly a week to get it packed. She found one for $10 which is 19 inch and lightweight! She is really excited. She treated me to lunch today and we ate at that new Chinese restaurant near Walmart. It was very good again but she decided it wouldn't be among her favorite places as there were too many things that she shouldn't eat. She has high blood pressure and is diabetic and was told not to eat breads, etc and to avoid fried foods and salty stuff. She doesn't eat broccoli so she had to skip over a lot of stuff.
Good news, my youngest sister has a grandson and he weighed 8 lbs. 2 0z, which is exactly what his 2 yr old sister weighed when she was born!
Sweet Pea and I went to Ham's tonight which was a treat for both of us. Her meal was only 99 cents and she got to see Elmo and got a cute kitten tattoo on her hand.

This is Sunday, my favorite day of the week

Mike S taught my Sunday School class today. It was on Matthew 22:1-14. Many people were invited to the banquet in honor of the King's son, but they all decided not to go. The King sent the servants out into the highways and the hedges and invited the good and the bad (Jews & Gentiles). It is a great reminder that we need to tell everyone about Jesus, not just the people who seem interested, but all the ones who need Him the most! In worship today, we were privileged to see an ordained Deacon, Mark as he baptized his son. Dr. W. taught on Genesis 16:1-4 again where Abraham and Sarah made their own plans instead of waiting on God. After church, I went to stay at my daughter's for most of the day and enjoyed her butt roast and another piece of that delicious honeybun cake she made for me and a cup of cappuccino. My oldest daughter called me and we enjoyed talking, sort of catching up on news and prayer requests. It's been another nice day. RainBeau's parents sent a card for me with a generous check.
Sweet Pea and I enjoyed a game of PayDay and she won by $9,100. That's one of our favorite board games.

The Paper Rose

This paper rose was fashioned for me by our waitress at the Chinese restaurant on my birthday. Sunshine did a beautiful job capturing this with her camera! Thank you, Sunshine.

Another terrific day!

Well, I slept extremely well last night and felt so refreshed when I got up. Sweet Pea's very first soccer game was this morning and I was able to be there to watch with Sunshine, RainBeau, and Monkey. The game went very well and Sweet Pea had a good time. After the game, I went home and picked up the pine cones and twigs from my front and back yards. While I was in cooling off, my sil came by and mowed my lawn for me. He also bought me 4 Happy Birthday balloons, one was shaped like a butterfly, one was shaped like a cup cake, one had butterflies and flowers and a pretty shade of green around the outside edge, and one had hearts and stars!
Sweet Pea and Monkey gave me the nicest birthday card for Grandma!
My sil and the rest of the family treated me at Zaxby's which is always a wonderful treat to me! Sunshine had made a delicious Honey Bun Cake for me for my birthday which we enjoyed with ice cream after we got back.
My firstborn, Raven, made me an awesome treat for this special birthday. It had lots of frogs on it and music, too. This is a gift I will treasure for ever. My sister in NY sent me a package and note and check and it arrived in the mail today. The book is a perfect size and is on Bible Trivia. She sent me several of those rubber bracelets of many different colors with Scripture on them! I'm so blessed!

What a terrific day!

Today was a terrific day! My friend, Pam treated me to Chinese at the new one near Walmart and surprised me by inviting some of my former coworkers and one of them, Belinda H. brought me a presliced lemon cake. The food was delicious and my friends all commented on how well I was able to eat with chop sticks! Yes, I even ate some jello cubes with the chop sticks! We enjoyed a wonderful visit catching up on what's going on since we last saw each other. Sharon used to work in the cafeteria on 2nd shift and Hazel worked in QC. She retired 10 years ago. When I got my mail on the way home, I discovered 7 very nice birthday cards. They were from Flo, Minaree, Doris, Robin M, Elga R, Travis C, and Velva N. It was nice to get ecards from my son and from my son-in-law. They are so thoughtful! My neighbor, Betty called me and sang Happy Birthday to me this morning. My sister, Flo called me today, Sunshine, Monkey and SweetPea called and sang Happy Birthday to me and my oldest called me this evening. She and her heart sister wished me happy b'day and many more. I'm so very blessed! God has been good to me.

Today was a good day!

First off, I slept very well and woke up feeling refreshed! It was a blessing to be able to get my hair cut for $7.99 at Great Clips with that post card. Then I went to DMV and got my license renewed for only $20. Then I got a call from my worker's comp and they are going to reissue a check that I never got in Jan. It was nice being able to pick up Sweet Pea's sister at school today and we hung out at her house and I did get to see SunShine and Sweet Pea, too. After I got home and got my mail, I found a card from Ms. Leslie, a card from Betty and a card from Pam B. I'm so blessed!

Prayer request for Betty

Please help me pray that Betty will be able to get a new refrigerator. Her's is leaking something at the back of it and we think it is refrigerant. She doesn't have any money so she needs a miracle.

What a wonderful day!

Shelia drove me to Asheboro and treated me to lunch at CiCi's Pizza. The spinach pizza was just right as was the bbq pizza. Those honeybuns were delicious! It surprised me that I only ate two of them. After we left there, we walked over to the Bottom Dollar Food Store. Shelia had thought ahead and brought some grocery bags with her and got several bags of groceries. Much of the reduced priced foods were Food Lion brand at bargain prices. Then we went to Big Lots and I found a few bargains in there and Shelia did, too. After we put our bags in her trunk, we walked next door to Hobby Lobby. They had a 50% off sale on several items that I was searching for and I only bought one skein of yarn. It was a varigated yarn just perfect for a small project I have in mind. They had a set of tote bags ready to be decorated that were a 4 pack originally priced at $6.99 so I paid $3.50 for them. One of them is purple, so I think I will give it to SweetPea and let her decorate it. I'm going to ask her to help me make some jewelry for the Harvest Sale at church in Oct.
The sky was dark and looked like it was going to rain but it held off the whole time we were up there in Asheboro. Shelia drove us back to her house and I got in my car to come home. About a mile from her house, I looked up in the sky and saw the most awesome clouds. Some were pure white on the top with sunlight through it. God is the best artist of all!

I'm celebrating my special birthday this month!

My friend from church, Shelia is taking me tomorrow to CiCi's Pizza and Hobby Lobby. I'm so excited as it has been a very long time since I've been there. I've more plans for this week and will write more later.