More Than Tidbits

I want to end my time with the Tidbit box with a few more tidbits. Actually, these are not mere tidbits but morsels...big, juicy, sink . your . teeth . into . them morsels!

The Lord said that we do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Every Word! Delicious truth!

morsel - a bite, a mouthful... something very appetizing, of high quality and much desired.

Oh, doesn't that describe the Word of God so well? When we desire His Word, this high quality Truth, our spirit man is nourished, satisfied, and strengthened. Natural food has this affect on these frail human shells as His spiritual food does on our born again spirits. How we need to ingest His Word! We shouldn't read just a portion of scripture as if a daily duty. We should desire it, long for it, literally crave it as an addict does a drug. The world has its addictions and none are good or of lasting value. But His Word will last forever and will continue to keep our spirits alive forevermore!

Morning, noon, and night take His Word! Receive it as a medicine to save, heal, deliver, and restore! Taste it...savor it...and yes, overindulge in it! For you cannot really overindulge. The more you take it in, the more you grow, and not with a bigger physical body, as with food! Rather, with a bigger spirit, a greater capacity to love as He has called us to love; a bigger capacity to love Him and know Him so we can be all He has called us to be.

We cannot live more than a few days without water. We have the Living Water inside us if we believe! An eternal life-giving well springing up and filling us over and over again!

Yes, we can eat, drink, and be merry if we feed on the Living God!! Hallelujah and Amen!


Love,
Sandy

Random Tidbits

Remember when you were a kid in school and you met someone new? The first thing kids always seem to want to know is what your favorite color is. So here are some tidbits about me and what my favorite things are.

My favorite colors are all shades of pink, purple, blue and green.

I love to do arts and crafts. Beaded jewelry, cross stitch, portrait and still life sketching, trying to knit, scrapbooking and embroidery are favorites. My dining room table is usually a mess because that's where I create. It is a place where I can have something cooking on the stove, answer the phone or door, keep an eye on my son Shaun and let the doggies in and out while still being able to run back and forth to craft and create!

I am the youngest of eight children though I barely know my older siblings. Of the eight of us only four remain as the others are hopefully living in heaven with our precious Mama and Daddy.

I have nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews that I have never met and probably never will. No, we are not a close family. Sad, but true. That's the way it is sometimes when one chooses the Christian road while others in the family do not.

I was raised on a farm and have always wanted to return to farm living and get out of the city. Maybe one day soon I will talk my New York husband into it.

I am an animal lover extraordinaire! I have had pets since my first birthday when one of my older brothers brought a tiny puppy to me in his coat pocket as my birthday present. His name, by the way, was Mac and he grew to be huge. I loved him for sixteen years and he probably saved my life when I was a very little girl as another big dog came after me. Mac fought the dog and I was able to run home.

Presently I share life with one darling husband, two precious sons, one sweetie pie daughter in law, one feisty little twelve year old cat, and two cute and playful long haired dachshunds.

I do not enjoy cooking but know we must eat healthy whole foods to thrive so I try to sing my way through the dinner prep and cooking. Breakfast and lunch are much easier.

I have girlfriends today that I have loved and enjoyed since elementary school.

I have dark green eyes like my daddy did and long slim fingers that can easily reach a full octive on the piano like my mama's did.

I am left handed like my daddy was though I do not hold my pen nearly upside down when I write like he did.

Like my mama, I turned completely gray in my early forties.

I love Jesus Christ with all my heart. He is my life and I am eternally grateful to Him for saving me.

My favorite foods are broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and collard greens. Yum! For dessert, ice cream, which I do not allow myself to enjoy too often.

I love to go to bed early and get up early. Early to bed and early to rise. Right, Ben Franklin?

I did not meet my sweet hubby until I was thirty years old. We were married when he was thirty one and I was thirty two.

I love to read my Bible, especially early in the morning and late at night when the house is quiet and still. My iPad is now a favorite way to study and read His everlasting and life giving Word of truth.

I used to work at a newpaper in the advertising department and in a real estate office before becoming a full time homemaker and mother.

I love music and you can hear it playing in my home most of the time, especially contemporary Christian. My favorites are Chris Tomlin, Hillsong, Passion Band, Paul Baloche, Rita Springer, just to name a very few. I have an enormous CD collection.

Well, that's probably all you have time to read about me, so, I will end another tidbit post.


It's all about Jesus,
Sandy

The Traveling Tidbits Box

 

Well, today in the mail I received the Tidbits box! I enjoyed reading all the scriptures by previous sisters. Now I guess it's my turn to share.

To start I will say that I don't really feel that I know many of you. Cathy, Lidia, and Trish, you are the sisters I have felt closest to because we have shared some emails along the way. And as you, Cathy, also have a special needs son, I feel a connection in the spirit. Some of you I have never "talked" to at all. So, I thought I would try to share some information about myself to help us get to know one another a bit better.

At 62 I may be one of the oldest of the sisterhood. I started blogging about five years ago at Faith Hope and Love and through this medium I have been blessed to get to know some of the kindest Christian woman I have ever met. Being a stay at home mom of a son with autism I have had little opportunity these last twenty-seven years to get out and about and met new people. So it's good to be able to connect through the written word; to encourage and be encouraged.

I have been an up and down Christian, I am sorry to admit. I first came to the Lord at the age of twenty-three but did not stay true to Him. At thirty I once again gave my life to Jesus, but strayed, going back into the world of mediocrity. The Lord has said He does not want a lukewarm follower. Be hot or be cold but do not be lukewarm unless you want to be spewed from His mouth! I was forty-seven when I at last made a strong permanent commitment to Jesus Christ and I have never looked back. Truly He is my life, my everything and I love Him with all my heart.

When I think of a Bible passage that brings me comfort and courage it would be Proverbs 3:5-6.

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

My precious sister, Linda, now this Jesus, who led me to the Lord through a written letter when I was twenty-three, told me the Lord gave her that scripture for me and it has been my comfort and strength again and again. I was a young mother of a newly diagnosed autistic baby of eighteen months. I felt like the whole world was crashing in on my little family. I so needed a word from my heavenly Father but could not be still and comforted long enough to even hear His voice. My praying sister heard for me and conveyed His love and direction and I have kept that word in my heart ever since.

I will share more tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

It's all about Jesus,
Sandy

a few more tidbits?
i leave water for my garbage guys every week; however yesterday i made banana bread so i gave them that instead.
i send a lot of texts of funnies/songs/encouragement/prayer requests on thrusdays. (if you would like to receive them, email me your text~along with your name) i don't mass text these because prayer requests are private. the texts may all say the same thing but each goes out individually.
i suffer w/degenerative disc disease in my neck. SUCKS big time. yeah, i typed it!
i love and appreciate my husband.
i am not going to home school because it's almost all done.
it brings me joy to sit on the couch and hand stitch a quilt top.
i have brought breakfast to church for the volunteers for 8plus years
i like helping margie w/her feeding folks stuff
i like drippy messy roast beef poboys! which i make make for dinner tonight. yes, i do think so.
there are so many random things and i'm ok with that! sometimes it drives ken nuts but that's ok, too.

I find joy in doing random things on purpose. it makes folks smile.

Thanks for reading.

Becky

The tidbits box has landed! What's I'd like to start with is a big'ol thank you for the opportunity to "play" with ya'll~ a group of ladies I can call my sisters!
Secret tidbits about me (that not many-if any- knows about me)
I'm insecure about why folks say they are my friends.
I not insecure about my salvation but a bible verse that bothers me is  Rev 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
I love doing random things for no reason other than I can or to one up in love. Romans 12:10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
I live by no real way to do things. My mood changes day to day, or even moment to moment. I don't do things the same way every time which drives Ken nuts!
So for now, that's me. Now to go do some random stuff that I did or did not do yesterday just because i want to and need to go pick up the boys from school because I like doing it.
OH and my biggest peeve is when I am told that "I just don't have time to read my bible" by supposed seasoned believers. hmm. Told you~ all random stuffs!

Love to you!!

ps
I love thursdays!

Becky

The House That Built Me

My Papa and Granny Musser's house as it looks now...Tennessee Ridge, Tennessee

I love this old house...The last words my Granny ever spoke to me, other than she loved me were "Patricia, this house, is where they brought you after you were born."  You see, my Daddy's family were Farmer's. Behind this house were Barns, a Smokehouse and yes, even an Outhouse before the addition off the back, that made way for city water and a Bathroom.  

As Farmer's, families lived together...how in such a small  home did they exist?  Today, we think we need huge open spaces and the best of everything.  But, I think that we had the best of everything back then. 

We had love, we had each other, but mostly, we had God...Jesus, was a welcome member, not just a guest who was invited in during hardships and worries. He was the Head of our home...still is.

I only lived here a short while...Daddy traveled to Michigan when I was 3 and got a job, saved his money, bought a car, rented a house and came for us.  Most of my life has been spent here but  in my heart...I have remained that country girl from Tennessee. 

Traditions of Biscuits made "straight from the barrel" (as Granny would say) a  good days work, caring for my home and family...putting God first, in everything...that is the story of our lives.  Simple, some would say...I feel sorry for them...I wouldn't trade being nestled together, singing Hymns in the evenings and seeing my Papa sitting at the kitchen table with his Bible open and Granny at the stove for anything.  Oh, I am so blessed sisters....

I will give thanks unto you, Lord, with all my heart;  I will tell all your wonderful deeds.  Psalm 9:1

Tidbits Of Truth

Good morning sisters...The above Church is New Hope Methodist Church in Stewart, Tennessee...where my Maternal Great Grandmother Molly Essie Buchanan Alsobrooks grew up, as did my Maternal Grandmother and of course, my Mama.  It still stands today and my Aunts are still members.
 I decided to wait a few days to start my time with you all since Donna put up her last Post, I wanted everyone to be able to enjoy her beautiful gift.
Myself, I am not a gifted writer (My Daddy was)...God didn't breathe that into my soul and mind.  My gifts are giving, mercy and exhortation.  So, sometimes they are not seen, but by God ,which is okay by me...He made me who I am and I praise Him for this.
This morning finds me working around the house, which I love!  A day to stay at home and scrub floors, bathrooms, vacuum, dust, laundrocize and later, put on a big pot of soup...don't need fancy smelling candles with the aroma of love simmering on the stove. LOL.   But, later tonight, I will light a few candles and sit by the fire and spend time enjoying my home.  I love sitting after a day of chores and enjoying the fruits of my labor...don't you?
Our Sunday School lesson and ideas for our Class of 6 and 7 year olds have been prepared and our snack is planned and supplies bought.  This, I guess is my Tidbit...To do everything to the best of your ability, especially when it comes to serving The Lord Jesus Christ.  Mama and Daddy always taught that to us, they raised 8, giving and kind children.  How?  Because they were shining examples...being there for others, loving and giving of their time and themselves,  That my dear sisters is better than diamonds and gold...I am a blessed woman.
Please pray for my Tomer and I, as we teach these wee ones tomorrow and keep our Grandbabies aware of the greatness of God and to serve Him with joy and gladness.
You are always a part of me...I love you all.

For the Love of Books, A Lasting Impact

Do you remember the name of the first book you read that left a lasting impression? 

One particular summer after completion of fourth grade, my reading interest was sparked by Anna Sewell’s “Black Beauty.”  Resting on a blanket under a big oak tree in the front yard, I read page after page, taking into heart, a story of hardship and misfortune, prosperity and joy, cruelty yet kindness, a story of life. I’ve always remembered this ditty from the book:

“If you in the morning

Throw minutes away,

You can’t pick them up

In the course of a day.

You may hurry and scurry

And flurry and worry,

You’ve lost them forever

Forever and aye.”

After that summer, my exposure to books seemed to grow immensely. Eventually I discovered which genre peaked my greatest interest. In high school reading Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken instilled in me a deep desire to read and understand poetry.....and so I did.

 

Reading poetry directed me in two distinct areas…. I particularly enjoy reading biographies/autobiographies of writers, namely poets  and I also am intrigued with the various forms of poetry. A few of my favorites:  Rainer Maria Rilke, Kahlil Gibran, Rod McKuen, Susan Polis Schultz, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Walt Witman.   

With my enjoyment of reading, there came an awareness to write. I took a creative writing class at the local college when I was twenty three  and wrote what I considered my first “real poem” at the age of twenty four.  I was well into my forties before any other  poetic inclinations broke through or began to flow allowing a serious minded adventure of  pen-to-paper.  It was about this time that Jesus entered my world bringing forth a gush of words and thoughts.  I had written a short article, devotional style which a lady from church happened upon.  She encouraged me to pursue writing more seriously and suggested a writers group for support. One thing led to another and before long others were encouraging a lean towards poetry. I attempted rhyme but became quickly discouraged with it’s sing songy, repetitive, constrained, restrictive style.

There are many whom I admire and accredit their great works to my understanding, comfort and deeper insights during difficult or challenging times.   To name a few....Elisabeth Elliott,   C.S. Lewis, Stormie Omartian, Max Lucado, John Ethridge, Ruth Graham, Billy Graham, Joni E. Tada, Joyce Meyers, Charles Spurgeon, Charles Swindoll.

 If I am to consider the path I take with my own writing, I most certainly will reflect on the impact of other authors and books. My deepest desire is to create an oasis for others to come to, to draw peace from. Bringing glory to God is the key focus when I begin to write; No matter the story or the experience, how difficult or tramautic life may seem in the moment, God is always there in my midst. And that is the message I pray people hear in the poems I write. The one scripture that spoke volumes to me in the initial days of writing is

Pleasant words are as honeycomb,

sweet to the soul.

Proverbs 16:24

 

For me the greatest Book I’ve ever read is the Bible….

It is where God reveals himself and where his nature and character, his truth, his forgiveness, his justice, his love is discovered.

 "Your word is a lamp to my feet 

and a light for my path."

Psalm 119:103

Thank you for reading all my posts as I've shared a few of the things that have greatly impacted me and the life I try to live out. I conclude my portion of this adventure with an an excerpt from one of the many sermons of Charles Spurgeon…..

                      "First, my friends, stand over this volume, and admire its authority. This is no common book. It is not the sayings of the sages of Greece; here are not the utterances of philosophers of past ages. If these words were written by a man, we might reject them; but O let me think the solemn thought, that this book is God's handwriting—that these words are God's! Let me look at its date; it is dated from the hills of heaven. Let me look at its letters; they flash glory on my eye. Let me read the chapters; they are big with meaning and mysteries unknown. Let me turn over the prophecies; they are pregnant with unthought-of wonders. Oh, book of books! And wast thou written by my God? Then will I bow before thee. Thou book of vast authority! thou art a proclamation from the Emperor of Heaven; far be it from me to exercise my reason in contradicting thee. Reason, thy place is to stand and find out what this volume means, not to tell what this book ought to say. Come thou, my reason, my intellect, sit thou down and listen, for these words are the words of God. I do not know how to enlarge on this thought. Oh! if you could ever remember that this Bible was actually and really written by God. Oh! if ye had been let into the secret chambers of heaven, if ye had beheld God grasping his pen and writing down these letters—then surely ye would respect them; but they are just as much God's handwriting as if you had seen God write them. This Bible is a book of authority; it is an authorized book, for God has written it. Oh! tremble, lest any of you despise it; mark its authority, for it is the Word of God." (Charles Spurgeon)

For the Love of Music

I cannot remember a time that music was not a part of my life. My father loved country music and gospel hymns and my mother enjoyed all music....I can reflect on my growing up years Saturday nights listening to the country greats Johnny Horton, Jim Reeves, Marty Robinson, Charley Pride, Johnny Cash and then switching over at a certain hour to Lawrence Welk and then later to gospel hyms. I played clarinet in high school band, sang in the chorus and in the church choir. My musical skills have greatly diminished  as I've entered my later years. Fingers aren't accustomed to the playing of an instrument anymore and my voice has all but lost the soprano abilities it once knew, but my love for music has never waned. I am an avid listener of rock and roll, 60's/70's oldies, jazz, folk, blues, country, classical, big band just to name a few.  I grew up learning, singing hymns and old time gospel, but also have a deep appreciation for the contemporary of today. Whatever genre you prefer to praise the Lord, may it flow from the depth of your heart and offer up a sweet, sweet sound...of joy, rejoicing, celebrating...one of Holiness. 

By reading the scriptures I am so renewed that all nature seems renewed around me and with me. The sky seems to be a pure, a cooler blue, the trees a deeper green. The whole world is charged with the glory of God and I feel fire and music under my feet.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasmert117537.html#x4SrOhiWjEhYlYg2.99

By reading the scriptures 
I am so renewed 
that all nature seems renewed 
around me and with me. 
The sky seems to be a pure, a cooler blue, 
the trees a deeper green. 
The whole world is charged 
with the glory of God and 
I feel fire and music under my feet.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

Henry David Thoreau

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henrydavid141463.html#RgeeASpdF0KAPRqd.99

 Thomas Merton

My Redeemer Lives

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
Psalm 104:33

Sing a New Song



Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise
 to the rock of our salvation!
Psalm 95:1

How Great Is Our God


Sing to him, sing praises to him;

tell of all his wondrous works!
Psalm 105:2

 Bless the Lord, O My Soul


If a man does not keep pace with
his companions perhaps it is because
he hears a different drummer, Let him
step to the music which he hears
however measured or far away
Henry David Thoreau

Just As I am

Music is the divine way
to tell beautiful, poetic things
to the heart. 

Pablo Casalas

O Holy Night

I WILL

I will meditate on Your precepts

And contemplate Your ways

I will delight myself in Your statutes

I will not forget Your word.

Psalm 119: 15,16

Every time I read this verse it gives me assurance of where I am in my prayer and devotional life. The verse does not say I have, or I did, it says I will meditate, I will contemplate, I will delight, I will not forget Your word.

It is a blessed employment, profitable to the soul when I determine myself to say I will read, study and apply the wisdom of God to every moment of my daily life.

My sister directed me to this scripture when I first accepted Christ into my life in 1999. 

I  have always found it a delightful reminder of her and how she sang and rejoiced with me when I came to the Lord....and I know she is singing and dancing with all the angels in heaven waiting for our blessed reunion one day

It is the first scripture that came to mind when the Adventure of the Traveling Tidbit was birthed.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE TRAVELING TIDBITS (by Donna)

At the onset of the Scarf Sister reunion, I embarked on a ten day vacation. A splendid, relaxing and joyous ten days.  Returning to work, however, called for some readjusting/ reverting to the old way of life of being awake all night, sleeping into the day.  My first shift back I was extremely tired.  When I arrived home at the end of my shift,  I took a few minutes to check/answer my emails,  facebook updates and to send a message to Cathy about finishing up the sock adventure. Before shutting down the computer, she responded to my message and also made a comment about brainstorming about the next adventure.

I headed to bed and slept a good portion of the day. Now I am not one that has many dreams or even remembers many of them, but on this particular day/night there was one that stayed with me…and I decided to share it with Cathy….and now with you….

A few of the scarf sisters were gathered, discussing where to go to lunch. I have no idea where we were, what town, or even what country, etc.  Cathy, Pat, Cheryl, Lidia, Terry, Felisol and I were people I knew in the dream.  An older couple, a short stocky man with a huge mustache and his itty bitty shy wife, were the strangers and only other participants. The man was standing outside his restaurant waving us over, trying to coerce us, with less than pleasant words, to come inside the restaurant; unfortunately,  breakfast was all that was being served and none of us wanted breakfast food. He was being very bossy and became very agitated that we wouldn’t eat at his establishment. We told him we were ladies of the  Sisterhood of the Traveling Scarf and we were looking for a place to have lunch, not breakfast and wanted to sit a bit and discuss what our next adventure would be.  

He noticed  Cathy carrying a small box , pointed at it, asked what Tidbits were, in a not so kind tone of voice. Cathy corrected him by telling him the name was Timbits and then went on to explain the history of the Tim Horton’s establishment and how Lidia had wanted to have a coffee there while she was in the US visiting from the Philippines and that one of the sister’s,  Tricia in Michigan, loved to go to Tim Horton's every Tuesday night with her friend Peg and that our beloved Canadian sisters also spoke highly of the place....He looked at the box and saw Dad Golden’s name and the John 3:16 scripture written on it for him and said He had not heard that scripture in a very long time and he started to weep because he had forgotten about God and the story of Jesus. Cathy  then told him the story of Dad Golden and how he had become the Dad of the traveling Sisterhood and explained how we were all praying for him and that he was Felisol's prayer child. 

The man apologized for being so cantankerous with us  and suggested that our next adventure should be " The Adventure of the Traveling Tidbits". After all, he said, a tidbit is nothing more than a small morsel of food and/or a small piece of news or information…and to him, it sounded like we were making it our business to spread the Good News and surely knew how to touch people with our stories....because we surely had him.

There was no other scripture given me in the dream other than the one Cathy read off the box….John 3:16

After sharing the dream with Cathy, she adopted it as the theme for the next adventure, The Adventure of the Traveling Tidbits.  The scripture verse that came alive to her is Psalm 78 1-4.   

This is how the adventure will work. 

I have obtained a Timbits box, which is collapsible and can be easily mailed. As it is passed from sister to sister, each one writes a tidbit(s), a delightful morsel, an experience of how SHE has spread the Good News and/or  how her life has/was/impacted by the sharing of the The Good News.  Write and share as many as you like, expand on the blog, but remember that the pieces of paper travel with the box from one sister to the next. Each sister also adds a scripture to the outside of the box.

I am honored, excited, happy, blessed to start off this new adventure and pray each of us receives into our hearts, the richest of  blessings and deepest and greatest of love that can only be known by meditating and sharing in the Good News of our Lord.