THE IMPORTANCE OF MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE

One of the things I would like to pass on to you grandchildren is the importance of memorizing Scripture. When I was young I was in a church that left the idea that Scripture memory was for little children and not something for young people and adults. That is so wrong. It was the influence of the Navigators that started me to memorize passages from the Bible. There have been other ministries that have fortified it in my life. It is so important to hide God's word in your heart. When you do, it gives the Holy Spirit the freedom to remind you of Bible verses in a time of need. It will help you to think God's thoughts and meditate on Scripture. Scripture will keep you from sin and cleanse you when you get into sin. It will be used to guide you in life's many decisions. If you will memorize Scripture and meditate on it and do what it says, God has promised to bless your life. I really want your life to be blessed. Please get involved in memorizing passages from the Bible. I will be praying that God will show you how important that is. I would be glad to help you get started if you are not doing it already.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

Today I am thanking the Lord for a decision that I made on June 15, 1952. I was early very interested in spiritual things. I wasn't hearing much at the church we were attending, but I did get a lot of input from HCJB, the short wave Christian station from Quito, Ecuador. My mom thought we needed to hear more Bible, so she saw to it that we attended evangelistic meetings in Sioux City, IA. sixty miles from home. On this date in 1952 we attended a meeting in the memorial auditorium in Sioux City. Dr. Bob Cook was the evangelist. I don't remember much about the message, but I knew I wanted to be saved. I remember thinking, if I go forward I may not be able to find my parents in this large crowd, but I remember thinking, I don't care because I wanted to accept Jesus as my Savior. If I remember right, I was the first one forward. A dear lady dealt with me and led me in prayer to receive Christ. My sister, Roberta, also responded to the invitation for salvation. Our parents also ended up in the prayer room, rededicating their lives to Christ, so I didn't lose them after all. It left me so grateful that now I was a Christian and would one day go home to heaven. I have been blessed to never doubt my salvation over these sixty years. I pause today and thank the Lord for His faithful care of me since that day.

EXPOSING THE FLAWS

We just finished another "Camp Gramma" with 22 grandchildren and 12 adults. Our grand children always look forward to "cousin time" and we are thankful for that. We were together for 72 hours at our home. Things really went well, but as usual when it was over we learned of some bumps along the way. My desire would always be for things to flow perfectly, but I have learned that is not realistic with the fallen creatures that we are. My response to learning about some bumps tends to be regret, but then God showed me that this time together is to be used to expose some of the flaws that need to be worked on and brought to God in prayer. David asked God to show him those flaws in his heart so they could be corrected. "Camp Gramma" went well and there were some flaws exposed that now we can pray about and work on. God's ways are far above my ways!

CAMP GRAMMA 2012

We had the blessing of having this time with our grandchildren May 25-28 at our home this year. We had 22 grandchildren with all their parents except Roger and DeeDee. Our theme was "Guard Your Heart". I have been impressed from Scripture and from observation how important the heart is. We talked with them about how God is always looking at our heart. We talked about how hearts can be led away from the Lord and how they can become hardened. Our theme verse was Proverbs 4:23, "Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life." It was a special time to celebrate our 45th anniversary and thank God for His protection of our family through the years. We also had the special joy of baptizing Meryn on Saturday night. It was hot and windy, but we all survived. We are grateful for this time with family. These are precious kids and we want to do all we can to encourage them on to walk with the Lord.

BLESSINGS PASSED ON

Every 5th Sunday at Berean we have a Scripture memory night when we quote Scripture we have been memorizing. I had been working on Psalm 103 and quoted it Sunday night. There are many blessings in this psalm which exhorts us to bless the Lord. I was especially blessed with vs. 15-18 [15] As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
[16] For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
[17] But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;
[18] To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
In spite of our brief life, the blessing of the Lord's mercies go on and on. If we fear Him, we experience His mercies, but it doesn't stop there, His mercies go on to the grandchildren, if they will walk in His ways. It is my fervent desire to bless the grandchildren by fearing the Lord. It is my prayer that you grandchildren will walk in His ways and pass the blessing on to those after you. Bless the Lord O my soul!

RESULTS FOR 2011

I challenged the family at the beginning for those who wanted to, to record miles walked or run and Bible reading. Here are the results at the end of the year:
Rog - 1065 miles, Mary - 1234 miles
Roger - 197 miles, DeeDee 247 miles, Taylor - 10 miles, Brittany - 20 miles, Dawson - 119 miles, Cooper - 8 miles
Julie - 156 miles, Owen - 123 miles, Malia - 90 miles, Meredith - 86 miles, Brooklyn - 24 miles
June - 1020 miles, Damon - 800 miles, Maggie - 250 miles, Micah - 174, Evan - 143 miles, Eli - 100 miles, Molly - 72 miles
Elisa - 800 miles, John - 128 miles, Trey - 156 miles, Avery - 60 miles, Ethan - 21 miles, Raegan - 8 miles
Susan - 627 miles, Brendon - 150 miles, Caleb - 150 miles, Trevin - 140 miles, Meryn - 177 miles
Those reporting reading through the Bible: Rog, Mary, June & Julie
Those reporting reading the new Testament: Damon, Maggie, Micah, Evan, Owen & Malia
I trust the challenge helped us on to the GOAL.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!